The Cowsills Podcast

The Cowsills are back! The last episode may have been released just one week ago, but Bob, Susan, and Paul have been on the road performing in the Happy Together Tour all throughout August. This weeks' episode is their debut back on the airways. The trio start off with some stories from the road and your favorite segment, Paul Puffer Fish.

Their guest this week is John Hall of the rock band Orleans.
John Hall was a child prodigy -- studying piano at 5, playing French horn, guitar bass and drums by 12. He started playing in the clubs of Georgetown and Greenwich Village by 18, recording an album for MGM and then another for Columbia. At 21 he wrote and directed music for both Broadway and off-Broadway. He has seen great success over the years and is a real treat to have on the show.

John shared the origin of the name Orleans, what to expect in the future, and more.

Song of the Week: Still the One by Orleans

In 1965, Ann Moses had a dream job. At eighteen years old, she was the youngest editor ever of the hottest teen magazine in the country, Tiger Beat.

Ann traveled the world, interviewing the Monkees, Paul Revere and The Raiders, the Bee Gees, the Osmonds and more. She visited Elvis on the set of one of his movies and joined the hottest rock stars in the recording studio. As a correspondent for the London-based New Musical Express from 1968-1971, Ann covered America’s British Invasion photographing the Rolling Stones and the Who.

Fast forward 50 years as Ann Moses joins the Cowsills in this week's podcast episode. Ann shares what it was like to spend every day with the stars we all loved as kids and spills everything she couldn’t tell you in the pages of Tiger Beat.


http://annmoses.com

Today's guest is Gary Puckett, the frontman of The Union Gap. The Cowsills have a personal connection with Gary from having opened for him back in the day and now sharing a stage at the upcoming New Orleans Jazzfest.

The Union Gap was one of the most successful musical groups of the sixties.
Gary's unmistakable signature voice garnered six consecutive gold records and top ten Billboard hits. Gary Puckett has performed on more than thirty network television shows and prime time specials during his career, even adding a command performance for the President and Prince Charles at the White House.

After the Union Gap was disbanded in the 70s, Puckett had success as a solo artist with the 1971 album The Gary Puckett Album.

In this episode, Gary talks about his debut band, The Outcasts, how he almost became a doctor, and how Jerry Fuller surprised him at a show. He shares his original plan to stand out from all other rock bands and beyond.

http://www.garypuckettmusic.com

Today's guest is fellow podcaster and original lead singer/drummer of Rare Earth, Peter Rivera. Peter is considered to be one of the premier singers/drummers of all time. His passion for music and unsurpassed talent earn him standing ovations wherever he plays.

Peter shares the story of how his start to drumming was all due to him getting hit by a car, the band's journey up the charts, and more!

Song of the Week: I Just Want To Celebrate by Rare Earth

Today, the Cowsills bring on two talented musicians, Dennis Scott and Jonathan Pushkar. The two have been called to create music from a young age -- Johnathan began playing guitar at age 10 and writing songs in his early teens and Dennis began his entertainment career at the age of 7 as an actor on Broadway. The Cowsills had the pleasure of working with Johnathan and Dennis on their Mr. Rogers tribute album.

Johnathan’s biggest influences were pop artists of the 1960s; acts like The Beatles, Herman's Hermits, The Searchers, The Beach Boys, and The Monkees.  Later, he came around to “That Thing You Do!” and Fountains of Wayne, which infused a modern influence on his music. Johnathan's release of his most recent project, Compositions feature modern songs with a vintage twist.

Dennis Scott is a two-time Grammy Award winning songwriter/producer/writer has left no corner of the children's music industry unexplored. His songs have been recorded by such artists as Ray Charles, Faith Hill, Kathie Lee Gifford, The Muppets, and more. Dennis’ work has been featured on stage and television in shows such as Sesame Street, Magic School Bus, Clifford the Big Red Dog, and Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade to name a few.
The group discuss their upcoming projects and more in this week's episode of The Cowsills Podcast.

Song of the Week: Won't You Be My Neighbor

This week, Gunnar Nelson joins The Cowsills to share a story of perseverance and a can-do mindset. Gunnar Nelson is a singer-songwriter and musician who, with his twin brother Matthew Nelson, is a member of the multi-platinum-selling band Nelson.

Entertaining was a family affair for Gunnar -- his father was pop star Ricky Nelson and his mother was actress Kristin Harmon, the sister of TV superstar Mark Harmon, while his paternal grandparents were bandleader Ozzie Nelson and singer Harriet Nelson. Gunnar, Paul, Susan, and Bob all share stories about making music with your family and having fun doing it.

Gunnar dives into how music saved him, celebrating the 30th anniversary of the autobiographical album after the rain, and the authenticity in his new project.

Today's guests are the multi-talented Pat and Debby Boone.

Pat is a singer, composer, actor, writer, television personality, motivational speaker, and spokesman. He sold more than 45 million records, had 38 Top 40 hits, and appeared in more than 12 Hollywood films. Billboard claims Boone as the second-biggest charting artist of the late 1950s. Until the 2010s, Boone held the Billboard record for spending 220 consecutive weeks on the charts with one or more songs each week.

Debby is a three time Grammy award winning artist, author, and actress best known for her 1977 hit, "You Light Up My Life", which spent ten weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Throughout her career, Boone has appeared in several musical theater productions and has co-authored many children's books with her husband.

In this episode, Pat shares his recollection of Elvis Presley feeling starstruck opening for his shows, how the Osmond's sparked Pat's inspiration from bringing his daughters into the band, and Debby shares both the start to her music career and childrens book release.
We even had a quick appearance by the great Producer Michael Lloyd!

Songs of the Week:
Ain't That A Shame by Pat Boone
You Light Up My Life by Debby Boone

Hey Casters! How are you? How are you liking Casterville? Let us know at [email protected]!

In this episode, we debut our new segment, I've Got Good News. Instead of some negative gripes, we've decided to share some good things going on!

Today's guest is Troy Elich from the American vocal rock and roll group, The Vogues. We're so lucky to have The Vogues on the Happy Together tour this summer and maybe even sharing a tour bus. Troy was a fantastic guest. We talk about the history of The Vogue and planning out laundry and eating habits during our upcoming tour.

Song of the Week: Greenfields by The Vogues

This week we go full force into the Pauly Pufferfish Segment, where Paul Cowsill shares a plethora of random facts he has accumulated. We follow it up with our gripe segment, where Paul throws in a few extra fun facts he has.

Our musical guest this week is Jules Alexander of The Association. Now you may be thinking, didn't you already have The Association on? Each member of the band offers a unique perspective with their own behind the scenes stories to share. Jules joins the show today to share his side and details on The Association's new music project.

Song of the Week: Cherish by The Association

If you watched Showtime in 2011, you're probably familiar with our documentary, "Family Band: The Cowsills Story"
This doc ran multiple times a day every single day for 2 years straight. Today's podcast guest is the director and creator of that documentary, Louise Palanker.
Along with directing, Louise is a writer, producer, filmmaker, author, photographer, comedian, podcaster, musician/songwriter, teacher, and co-founder of Premiere Radio Networks.
We share the crazy story of all the speed bumps to putting together the doc.

We also answer a few more questions from you Casters! If you have any questions you'd like us to answer, send us an email at [email protected].

https://www.louisepalanker.com

Song of the Week: He Walks