Rock & Roll Shin-Soo Choo (Audio)

We kick off the show talking baseball, covering the playoffs and some notable stats from the 2016 season. We then discuss the Desert Trip music festival that was held over two weekends in Indio, California. To close, we give our votes for each of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominees, which were announced last week.

In anticipation of the incredible Desert Trip music festival, we team up to create dream setlists for Paul McCartney, Neil Young, The Rolling Stones and Roger Waters. Check out episodes 55 and 64, respectively, for our Bob Dylan and Who setlists. Get ready for our requests for deep cuts and incredible collaborations.

We welcome uber Who fan Betsy Blodgett for this special episode devoted to The Who. We examine Pete Townshend's perfectionist behavior, Roger Daltrey's voice, John Entwistle's underrated songwriting and the impact of Keith Moon's death. We also have a fantasy island album draft and create a dream setlist.

We look back on 1981, a year that split us in two. In baseball, a mid-season strike quite literally split the MLB season into two halves, resulting in playoff and non-playoff teams that defied logic. Popular music was also split in two as a pair of momentum-gaining genres - metal and new wave - began to define the decade.

Ryan Budds is a comedian and writer who has recently launched his own podcast, Trivia With Budds. We chat with Ryan about getting started in comedy, opening for Dennis Miller and dealing with hecklers. Ryan also discusses his new podcast, Trivia With Budds, which takes his bar show to the internet. We also try stumping Ryan with a few trivia questions of our own. This interview has a bit of everything and culminates in a live rodent invasion in Ryan's backyard.

Bob Balch joined Fu Manchu in 1996 as the lead guitarist. He's since founded Sun & Sail Club and the guitar lesson website PlayThisRiff.com. In our interview, Bob discusses his Fu Manchu sound, early musical influences and helping design a custom axe for Reverend Guitars. He also shares stories about his first guitar lessons as a kid and attending California Angels baseball games with his dad, who once got to hang with Leslie Nielsen in an airport.

Drummer Joe Winters helped found The Steepwater Band in 1998. By 2005, the band was headlining the Chicago Blues Festival and touring throughout the United States and Europe, sharing the stage with Gov't Mule, Buddy Guy, Wilco and many more. In our interview, Joe discusses the making of the band's new album, Shake Your Faith, along with the advantages of getting the band's music licensed for use on TV and in film. Joe also shares stories about trading phone calls with Eddie Van Halen and being a bat boy for the 1983 Chicago White Sox.

Musician and music connoisseur John White joins us as a guest panelist for the entire episode, as we look back on the year of our bicentennial, 1976, just in time for Independence Day. The Cincinnati Reds, better known as the Big Red Machine, were on their way to a second straight World Series title, led by Joe Morgan, Johnny Bench and George Foster. Sluggers Mike Schmidt and Dave Kingman were mashing in the National League, while rookie pitching phenom Mark Fidrych was taking the American League by storm. Popular music had its own mashers in 1976 – namely, prog and its keyboardists. Progressive rock's reach spread across the country and FM radio dial, from The Alan Parsons Project to Boston to Manfred Mann's Earth Band. Live albums also dominated the landscape, with classics from Lynyrd Skynyrd, Rush and Bob Seger.

We look back on 1996 - a pivotal time for our music tastes and the beginning of a dark time for baseball. While we listened to new albums by Pearl Jam, the Black Crowes and Rage Against the Machine back then, we've since grown fond of Olivia Tremor Control, Zakk Wylde and Cowboy Junkies. The start of MLB's super-steroid era resulted in ridiculous numbers across the league. Chris Hoiles hit the only cliche game-winning grand slam in MLB history and a relatively obscure pitcher won the AL Cy Young award. Oh yeah, and the Yankees won their first of a few World Series titles. Sorry, no video is available for this episode.

We look back on 1986 - a fascinating year in rock and roll and Major League Baseball. While we listened to David Lee Roth, Poison, and Georgia Satellites back then, we've since grown fond for New Order, Steve Earle and Kraftwerk. Peter Gabriel and Dire Straits videos dominated MTV and still hold up today. In Major League Baseball, we dig deeper on the dominance of and challenges facing the 1986 World Series champion New York Mets and its eclectic mix of characters, including Dwight Gooden, Keith Hernandez and Gary Carter.