The Hustle

For a while there in the 90s Blur were one of the biggest bands in the world. Global dominance didn't last long, but for some people, especially in the UK, they're still legends. After years of making music for Film and TV, drummer Dave Rowntree has just released his first solo album, Radio Songs, which sounds like you might imagine someone adept at scoring might sound. In this conversation, Dave discusses the transition from band drummer to musician for hire, why the time was now for a solo album, his days with Blur, Oasis, and the stories behind some of the songs. We're lucky to hear from artists like Dave. Enjoy!

2022 was an excellent year for The Hustle Podcast, and Jon, Andy & Jan give their thoughts on the last quarter, and on their top ten  episodes for the year.

Jan goes bold, and predicts a specific episode will be hard to beat for the winner for the 2023 edition of this recap. Catch the reasoning behind that.

Watch out for some interesting updates at the Q1 recap.  Yeah, it's 3 months away yet, but you'll never believe it if we told you now, so we won't 

Who would have guessed when Alphaville recorded "Forever Young" way back in 1984 that it would go on to be the anthem that it is today? That's just one of several surprises in this band's career. They've taken many artistic risks over the years, never standing still for too long, and their fans have always stood by them. Recently, they turned their classic songs over to a German symphony and the result is Eternally Yours, which brings compelling new arrangements to the songs you know. Lead singer Marian Gold joins us to discuss the band's history, the new album, Bowie, and everything else. 

This week is another one of the greatest producer/engineers of all time Stephen Lipson! Lippy first made a name for himself when a little song he produced called "Driver's Seat" became a hit. Then, when he joined up with Trevor Horn's production crew, it was off to the races. We discuss their collaborations on albums by Grace Jones, Simple Minds, and Propaganda. From there he broke off to do his own thing and we get to hear stories on the Stones, Bruce Hornsby, Sinatra, Whitney Houston, Cher and especially Annie Lennox, who he's worked with extensively. For the last few decades he's worked closely with Hans Zimmer on movie music, including being on the team that won an Oscar for Billie Eilish's Bond theme, No Time To Die. The stories (and the honesty) never let up. Enjoy! 

Yes keyboardist and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Tony Kaye returns to the show to discuss the making of Yes's 1987 album Big Generator. The band was not in a good place when producer Trevor Horn brought them together for the 90125 album. Because that album was such a surprise hit, the team came back together for the follow up, only to have more dysfunction and infighting. Surprisingly, with hits like "Rhythm of Love" and "Love Will Find a Way", the album became another hit almost in spite of itself. Tony recounts all the ups and downs, songs he co-wrote, tension with Trevor Horn, and much more. Fascinating story for an excellent album that's sometimes overlooked by its predecessor. Enjoy! 

We're kicking off 2023 and celebrating 400 episodes with one of our most desired guests - the great Trevor Horn! Known as the man who "invented the 80s", Trevor discusses his groundbreaking work with artists like Seal, Yes, Simple Minds, Grace Jones, Marc Almond, Frankie Goes to Hollywood and ABC as well as his adoption of technology to achieve his creative goals. More importantly, Trevor recently released a sort of autobiography called Adventures in Modern Recording: From ABC to ZTT that recounts his career in 24 songs and includes in depth stories with everyone mentioned above, as well as his own work in the Buggles and Art of Noise as well as Band Aid. Every page of this book is filled with juicy stories about his experiences making some of the greatest music ever made. It's essential reading. We've been waiting a long time for this one! Technology didn't completely cooperate, but we did the best we could. Enjoy! 

We're closing out 2022 with another twofer! This week we get to hear from 80s pop starlet Tiffany. At 16, Tiffany became the youngest female singer to reach #1 when "I Think We're Alone Now" took over the world. Pop stardom can be fleeting though, and in a short time she had to rethink her career. Since then she's done a little bit of everything - country and dance music, acting, cooking shows and more. Last month she released her latest album, Shadows, which is a fantastic collection of rock songs. She fills us in on everything she's up to these days. 

Guitarist Ivan Julian is a punk rock lifer. Though born in the states, Ivan became a professional musician when he moved to London and started touring with The Foundations in 1972. Eventually he made his way back to NYC and was a principle of the CBGB scene and founding member of Richard Hell and the Voidoids. Even though their lone album, Blank Generation, is considered  classic, the band didn't last long. Ivan has started a few other bands over the years, played with artists like The Clash, Matthew Sweet and Shreikback, produced bands like the Fleshtones, and released his own solo albums. In fact, he has a new one, Swing Your Lanterns, set for release in February and it's fantastic. Ivan discusses all of it, the uniqueness (or not) of being a black man in the punk world, and more. Enjoy! 

This week is a super fun twofer. First up is the delightful Lisa Loeb. She talks about her new radio show, Where They Are Now, her love of David Bowie, her more recent albums, her dabbles in children's music, and much more. She's as wonderful as you think she'll be. Then we hear from drummer Steve "Smiley" Barnard. Smiley has been one of the UK's most in demand musicians for 30 years. He started with the Mock Turtles but then spent a couple years play with Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros and even a gig with Robbie Williams. These days he's got multiple jobs - a member of Archival, drumming with the Alarm, owning a studio, producing, and his own solo career. There's a reason they call him "Smiley" and it's infectious. You'll love it! 

Author Joel Selvin joins us this week to discuss the re-release of his 1998 book Sly & the Family Stone: An Oral History. When Joel originally put this book together in the 90s, there was nothing even close to a definitive history of Sly and his band. Even today, it still stands as a striking and horrifying account of a musical genius torpedoed by drugs and the band members and family members that were affected, including the ones that followed him down. Also, Joel and I discuss his work on Sammy Hagar's incredible memoir RED. Joel has a long and rich history of music writing to discover. You'll love this.