The Hustle

John Aizlewood is a British music writer and broadcaster, contributing over 30 years of thoughtful interviews to UK publications like The Guardian, The Sunday Times, The Evening Standard and (my beloved) Q Magazine. But, I became aware of him as one of the talking heads on the AXS TV program "Rock Legends" where he can be found alongside other British music experts telling the stories of the legends of rock. If you've seen the show, you know John has a very distinct and unique way of expressing his perspective that's highly entertaining (plus, his accent is the best). Here we talk about how Rock Legends is put together and how to conduct a successful interview, as well as some of his best stories from his time in music. He also picks some of his favorite songs to discuss and we debate a few things. Enjoy! 

http://www.johnaizlewood.com/about.php

Linda Clifford was one of the most successful disco divas of the late 70s. While being signed to Curtis Mayfield's Curtom label she racked up a bunch of hits on the R&B and Dance charts including a handful of #1s like "Runaway Love" and "If My Friends Could See Me Now". She worked hard during the disco era releasing six stellar albums in three years, but by the mid-80s when tastes had changed Linda decided to step away to raise her family. Time has been good to Linda however and not only is she currently touring as one of the First Ladies of Disco with other legends like Martha Wash and Evelyn "Champagne" King, but Blixa Sounds is rereleasing four of her classic albums from this era on cd on 8/24. Here we talk about her time as an actress, what it was like working with luminaries like Mayfield and Isaac Hayes, the controversy surrounding her being crowned Miss New York in 1966 and how her life changed when her hit "Red Light" was featured on the soundtrack to the smash hit Fame. Linda is a wonderful woman and deserves this late-career surge!

http://thelindaclifford.com/

http://firstladiesofdiscoshow.com/

http://blixa.com/

Grant Lee Buffalo were one of the very special bands to come out of the 90s alternative rock scene. They combined their own blend of moody folk-rock with unconventional stories of the American West. Paul Kimble was the bassist, but also, more importantly, served as the producer of the band's first three albums (Fuzzy, Mighty Joe Moon, and Copperopolis). Unfortunately, before production began on their fourth album, Paul was sacked and the band released their fourth and final album without him. Soon after, frontman Grant Lee Phillips went solo and has enjoyed success ever since. Paul is very candid about some of the struggles he's had over the years, but also lays claims to his successes like producing other artists and working on his soon to be released solo album. I love the guests that don't hold back and tell it like it is and Paul does that. Enjoy! 

http://www.grantleebuffalo.com/

Cherry Vanilla has done and seen just about everything. She's a recording artist, actress, author, publicist and groupie. Just a few of her career highlights include being a part of Warhol's Factory scene and acting in his play "Pork," being a publicist for David Bowie in the early 70s, putting out two excellent glam rock albums - Bad Girl in 1978 and Venus D'Vinyl in 1979 - and touring Europe with a pre-fame Police backing her up (including Sting and Stewart Copeland), and enjoying the free love culture of classic rock n' roll with the likes of Bowie AND his wife Angela. She's written a book about her many exploits called "Lick Me: How I Became Cherry Vanilla" that is free on Kindle and Audible. I tried to have an insightful discussion on sexual politics and morality and I'm not sure I quite got there, but it was certainly entertaining either way. Enjoy!

http://cherry-vanilla.com/

Billboard Magazine lists B.J. Thomas among the top 50 most played artists of the modern era. This shouldn't be surprising considering his career goes back over 50 years and features songs that have become standards at this point like "Hooked On a Feeling," "(Hey Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song," and, of course, "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" from 1969's Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. In this conversation B.J. discusses how he was selected to sing that song, how his spiritual awakening helped him overcome alcoholism, the time he met John Wayne, and how he came to sing the theme to Growing Pains. He's still going strong and next week is his 76th birthday! 

https://www.bjthomas.com/

Vanilla Fudge was a band unlike any other doing something no one had done before or since. They basically set the template for hard rock with their 1967 debut album by taking current pop hits and slowing them way down, adding loads of psychedelia, and toughening up the sound. This revolutionary idea was a huge influence on bands like Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple who were both openers for the Fudge back in the day. Unfortunately, after that debut album broke down barriers with their #6 version of the Supremes' "You Keep Me Hanging On", the follow up album, The Beat Goes On, was an unmitigated disaster and they never quite got the momentum back. Singer and organist Mark Stein would go on to work with artists like Tommy Bolin and Dave Mason after the Fudge ended, but today the band is reunited and playing many gigs a year including several in 2018 headlining Hippiefest. Mark shares his stories about the ups and downs of his career, what it's like influencing so many legends, but remaining relatively obscure, the solo album he's currently toying with, and the time he worked with Michael Jackson. Enjoy! 

http://vanillafudge.com/

http://www.mark-stein.com/

If you think about it, the Range were really more of a super group. A bunch of highly sought after professional musicians came together around the creative leadership of newcomer Bruce Hornsby to form an excellent unit that recorded some of the most enduring hits of the 80s ("The Way It Is," "Mandolin Rain," "Look Out Any Window" and many more). Bassist Joe Puerta had already had some success with his original band Ambrosia, which employed a young Bruce late in its run, but his life changed massively once the Range began to take hold in 1986. The band put out three seminal albums before Bruce decided to go it alone in the early 90s. Here Joe talks about how the Range came together, how the Grateful Dead influenced Bruce's musical direction, and his ability to pick hits. Enjoy! 

Jon and Jan welcome special guest, listener Andy Schaal for the latest recap episode. They discuss their thoughts and behind the scenes stories from the May and June episodes and debate Andy's chosen topic of Most Underrated Artists/Bands. Thanks again for the support, Andy! 

Drummer Chris Joyce was one of the founding members of Simply Red and an essential part of their sophisto-pop sound and early success. But, even though they were getting big around the world and scored two #1 hits in the US ("Holding Back the Years" and "If You Don't Know Me By Now"), it was about to get even bigger. In 1991 they released their fourth album, Stars, which went on to be one of the biggest selling albums in UK chart history (and was mostly ignored in the US). Unfortunately, Chris was sacked just as the recording of Stars was about to take place. In this candid conversation we discuss what went wrong and how he felt at the time. His career since has seen some extreme highs and extreme lows, but today he is in a really good place and running his own drum school outside of Manchester. In my opinion, Simply Red hasn't been as good since he left! 

https://cjschoolofdrums.co.uk/

Once again Jon sits down with our buddy Paul Underwood of Glory Days Radio, only this time it was to list their Top 5 favorite producers. We hope you enjoy this lively, and opinionated, conversation and please let us know what you think! 

https://www.facebook.com/magic1380glorydays/

https://glorydaysradio.podbean.com/