Music writer Chris Charlesworth joins us to discuss his new book, Just Backdated, which depicts his years writing for Melody Maker in the seventies. Every music lover would kill for a job like this and Chris was the lucky guy that had it. He befriends his favorite band (the Who), sleeps with groupies, parties with everyone, lives the high life in NYC, goes to concerts every night, and hangs out with all the rock stars of the decade. The book is so fun you won't believe it or put it down. Enjoy! 

https://www.amazon.com/Just-Backdated-Melody-Maker-Seventies/dp/1915858259

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We've got a unique twofer for you this week. First up is Mr. Big frontman Eric Martin! Eric had been at it for a decade before Mr. Big happened. He fronted bands in the Bay Area and recorded a solo albums that were as poppy as it gets. Luckily, Mr. Big worked out and they just completed their "last" tour and released the live album, The Big Finish as a memento. They've been extra busy beecause they also released a new album earlier this year. He didn't have much time, but we get into his early days, the post "To Be With You" period, and what his plans are now. Then we hear from Bossa Nova royalty Bebel Gilberto! Her dad was the legendary Joao and her step mom was Astrid, but she's built her own incredible career taking her native music into the future. She chats with us for a bit while making lunch about it all. Enjoy! 

The wonderful Carlos Alomar returns to discuss the new Luther Vandross documentary, Luther: Never Too Much. Carlos and his wife Robin Clark have been friends with Luther since high school and that friendship extends from their first group together, Listen My Brother, to them all being introduced to David Bowie for the Young Americans album and beyond. The film shows his launch as one of the greatest male r&b vocalists in history, his many talents as a writer and arranger, his battles with weight, his untimely death, and his complicated personal life. You only have to hear Luther's voice to recognize he's one of the best there's ever been. This incredible film allows us to get to know the man who was as beautiful as his voice and Carlos fleshes it all out for us. 

Ska Week concludes with author Daniel Rachel and our discussion on his fantastic new book, Too Much Too Young: The 2 Tone Records Story. This essential document tells the story of one of the most revolutionary record labels created to release some of the most revolutionary music ever made. Created by Jerry Dammers in the late 70s, 2 Tone was meant to be a safe place for interracial bands like the Specials and the Selecter to release the hottest ska music happening at the time. Eventually, the label launched other legends like Madness and the English Beat as well, but only lasted a few years. This discussion gets deep on the issues of race and class and how they play a part in the story. The book is as incredible as the movement and music itself. Enjoy! 

Bassist Horace Panter has been a valuable and reliable sideman for his entire career. He starts out as a founding member of the Specials, contributing mightily to the magic sound of that revolutionary band. After their demise, he joined forces with Dave and Roger to form General Public and rode that wave for a few years. Since then, he's been around for nearly every version of the Specials including the Neville Staple fronted version in the 90s and the Terry Hall reunion version of the 2000s. These days he's mostly retired and doing what he wants. We hear stories of the ups and downs, his last interactions with Terry Hall, his art career, and much more. Enjoy! 

We're kicking off "Ska Week" with a conversation with author Marc Wasserman about his new book, Sole Savation: A Gen X Love Letter to the English Beat. Marc writes beautifully about his tough childhood - specifically a broken family life and poor health - and how the band's last album, Special Beat Service, got him through all of it while also informing his lifelong love of music and ska. These are sentiments we share on the Hustle so Marc and Jon go deep on what the band means to them. It's the first of three episodes this week focusing on the ska revolution of the early 80s. Enjoy! 

www.diwulf.com/products/skaboom-an-american-ska-and-reggae-oral-history-by-marc-wasserman-by-marc-wasserman

www.patreon.com/c/thehustlepod

We continue celebrating Morrissey's guitarists this week by hearing from longtime collaborator Boz Boorer! The love of rockabilly runs deep with this group and was central to Boz and Moz hitting it off. Boz stuck around for decades and co-wrote many of Moz's best songs including "The More You Ignore Me", "Maladjusted", and "Jack the Ripper". Right now he's about to release a solo album called Morrissey: Reimagined which is him and a bunch of friends doing wild covers of the classics we know. Boz discusses how the two of them work, his current status in the band, his days in the Polecats, and his love for rare vinyl. Enjoy! 

The wonderful Dean Pitchford returns to the podcast to deep dive the gargantuan soundtrack to 1984's Footloose. After winning the Oscar for "Fane: in 1981, Dean set about creating the entire world of Footloose - the songs, the screenplay, etc. It's gone on to sell millions and millions of copies and never left the zeitgeist. Dean goes track by track giving us all the stories behind the songs. He also catches us up on his induction in the Songwriters Hall of Fame (the same ceremony that included R.E.M.) and tells us the story of the Carrie musical he worked on back in the day that never quite made it to the stage. He's a legend and we're lucky to have him back! 

For the next two weeks we're celebrating the guitarists that make Morrissey the artist he was. First up is the great Alain Whyte! Alain was brought on in 91 to simply mime behind Moz in a video, but once they realized how much they had in common musically, he stuck around for the next several years, not to mention he co-wrote many of his best songs like "Alma Matters", "Glamorous Glue" and "Billy Budd" to name only a few. Though he's been out of the Moz orbit for a while, his impact is still felt today and he's taking this on the road. In addition to focusing more on a solo career now, he's also opening some shows for Modern English starting this week! Alain chooses to keep it positive, but you'll learn a lot about the writing process and his love for music is infectious (there are many tangents). Enjoy!