Aylesbury, UK resident Paul Marfleet first heard "Meat Is Murder" by The Smiths on a cassette in his family's home, and their politically strident/musically adventurous second album took hold of his young ears and wouldn't let go. Our romp through the 80s continues with this 1985 gem... "I wish I could laugh, but that joke isn't funny anymore" Spotify Episode Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1EF9nwioyvjJ7uAXHMSxTl?si=4e08db4e40e14d0e

Returning guest, artist/musician Beatriz 'Betty' Monteavaro wears her 80s heart on her sleeve. For this episode, she again set the controls for 1981 and brought a record that melded Burundi beats, spaghetti westerns, Native American imagery (and some questionable cultural appropriation) into the campy one-of-a-kind chart-topper "Kings of the Wild Frontier" by Adam and the Ants. "You might not like us now, but you will!" Spotify episode playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7IBmGTf9fFSpUSsYlEnCHy?si=761f58a250f84d83

This week's guest Eric Lazier makes the case that British performer and Fairport Convention co-founder Richard Thompson is woefully unheralded as both a guitar player and songwriter. As evidence, he brought us Thompson's 1991 release "Rumor and Sigh". Case closed! Spotify Episode Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2jNlSWY19fmH5WGrohm8kU?si=13137db76c604c77

When he's not tearing faces off in various musical projects - 'To Live and Shave in LA' & 'NH Meth' to name two - Tom Smith leads a genteel life in Hanover, Germany, so it's only fitting that he brought Hanover's own 39 Clocks and their sophomore classic "Subnarcotic" to the table for perusal. Their songs of urban decay and rainy night insanities sung - subversively for 1982 - in English set them apart from the German New Wave of the time, and they managed to turn their love of the Velvets, Suicide and 60's garage-rock into their own "psycho-beat" sound that STILL sounds weirdly ahead of its time! Spotify Episode Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0nuGkgwlbGudOR86XRbPhV?si=a0087348127e4e82

MuteAnt Sounds Netlabel owner Jay Reeve was your average New Jersey teen in the early 90s, listening to metal and whatever was considered alternative at the time - until he heard Fugazi. With 1990s "Repeater", Ian MacKaye and co. opened up his mind - and ears - to a sound he didn't even know he needed...but he did. "...when we have nothing left to lose, you will have nothing left to use." Spotify Episode Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0AqfpcV92NusARm9GsyBGb?si=ba869e72a0c64e10

A brief description of our podcast. Tune in every week! "Why did you come here? Where did you go wrong? You heard the siren's call And then, you heard the siren's song..."

When Miami comedian/drag queen Shelley Novak (aka Tommy Strangie) was navigating the early-80s as a gay teen in Saugus, MA, no performer loomed larger as an icon and roadmap towards the future than Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders. We convened at the secret lair of South Beach noise impresario Rat Bastard and took a deep-dive into their often-maligned sophomore record Pretenders II. Along the way Shelley references Gloria Estefan, Judd Hirsch, Kate Bush, Timothee Chalamet and more as we desperately try to keep up. This episode is rated FABULOUS!

Dashboard Confessional's Chris Carrabba has been known to wear his heart on his sleeve, and when we met up with him in a Nashville hotel room he was not shy in professing his love for all things R.E.M., especially their 1988 major label debut "Green" With R.E.M.s move to major key rock songs and bigger sounds, some fans felt like they were losing their "little indie band from Athens, GA". Thankfully, as a kid of 13 blissfully lacking the baggage of hindsight, Chris was able to appreciate his first foray into a group he would eventually take a deep dive into for what it was - a great pop-rock record by a band poised to take on the world.

Good evening, how's everybody doing?!? For this special Bonus Episode we asked our Patrons to choose a live album that got them high, and they did NOT disappoint! Turn it up, and get those lighters in the air...

John Strohm has had quite the eclectic musical career, from co-founding the indie-rock bands Blake Babies and Antenna to playing both drums AND guitar at various times for The Lemonheads to being named President of Rounder Records. Underneath it all he's an admittedly obsessive music fan, and he joined us in a Nashville hotel room to discuss a record that he came to a little late but soon discovered was ingrained in his musical DNA: "Sweetheart of the Rodeo" by the Byrds. With the addition of Gram Parsons and some key session musicians, the Byrds concocted a one-off country primer that confounded many at the time but went on to influence so much of what would eventually be coined 'Country Rock', Alt-Country' and 'Americana'. Warning: deep dive ahead...