The Hustle

Mark Opitz is probably the most important Australian music producer in that country's history. Beginning in the mid-70s with AC/DC's Powerage album, Mark went on to define a generation's worth of rock music with his style he coined "sophisto-punk". In 1978 is produced the Angel's landmark album Face To Face and his legendary status was cemented. From there it was other Australian icons like Cold Chisel, Divinyls and Australian Crawl, as well as global phenoms INXS. Other credits we discuss in this interview are the Hoodoo Gurus, the Ocean Blue and even Kiss. In 2012 Mark published his memoir "Sophisto-punk: The Story of Mark Opitz and Oz Rock" which is an insightful look into all he's accomplished. Over the course of this chat you'll hear some great music and excellent stories.

http://www.markopitz.com/

In the world of ska and the history of British alternative rock of the 70s and 80s, Neville Staple is practically royalty. Coming up with the pioneering Two-Tone group The Specials, Neville and his bandmates not only cut an indelible image stylistically, but politically as well by displaying blacks and whites cohabitating in the same band during a time of political unrest in the UK. After releasing one of the greatest debut albums in history, as well as a more expansive, but worthy follow up, Neville, Terry Hall and Lynval Goulding created the Fun Boy Three which expanded their musical palette even wider. After two albums they too called it quits. Today, Neville reunites with the Specials on occasion, but his primary focus is the Neville Staple Band, who released an excellent album last year called The Return of Judge Roughneck. Neville is a legend and changed a lot of people's lives, including mine! 

http://www.originalrudeboy.co.uk/

Filmmaker Blair Foster is a 2-time Emmy winner and co-director of the documentary "Rolling Stone: Stories From the Edge" which chronicles the cultural impact of Rolling Stone magazine and its founder Jann Wenner on it's 50th anniversary. The film, which debuted on HBO last fall, is being expanded and is now available on iTunes and other streaming services. We dissect the format of the film, the choices she and co-director Alex Gibney made, the impact the magazine and its founder have had on popular culture and the life of a documentarian. We also discuss the other music-related documentaries she's worked on including films on George Harrison, James Brown, Frank Sinatra, and the now infamous Eagles documentary. 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/tv-season/rolling-stone-stories-from-the-edge/id1333566965

The Motels were one of the most successful bands to emerge from LA's New Wave scene. Lead by the unique vocals of frontwoman Martha Davis, the band scored three top 40 hits, including "Only the Lonely" and "Suddenly, Last Summer" which both peaked at #9 in 1982 and 1983 respectively and are still mainstays today. Eventually, Martha went solo in the mid-80s, but by then the wave had petered out and the spotlight had moved on. Since then, Martha's remained a draw on the nostaligia circuit, but today she and the Motels are putting their heart and soul behind their brand new album, The Last Few Beautiful Days, which was just released last week. She's a wonderfully open woman and very candid about the ups and downs of life as an artist. Plus, the new album is excellent!

http://www.themotels.com

BulletBoys burst on the scene at the height of 80s hair metal with the super sexy "Smooth Up In Ya" in 1988. During the glory days of 80s rock, they partnered with Van Halen producer Ted Templeman on three classic albums before grunge began wreaking havoc on them and everybody else. Though Marq and his band may have slowed down, they never completely went away. They've been enjoying a creative resurgence recently with their excellent comeback album Elefante from 2015 and their brand new disc From Out of the Skies which was released last week. Marq and I discuss his early days in Motown, choosing hard rock over r&b, starting out on the Sunset Strip, and what he did during the band's lean years. He's a really good dude! 

http://www.bulletboysofficial.com/

Nick Heyward has built a reputation as one of Britain's finest songwriters. His initial success came by fronting Haircut 100 in the early 80s and scoring major hits with "Love Plus One" and "Fantastic Day". Bad vibes led him to leave the band and go out on his own where he had continued success with standards like "Whistle Down the Wind" and "Kite". He's also racked up several excellent solo albums including 2017's wonderful Woodland Echoes, his first disc in almost 20 years. Here we talk about why he left Haircut 100 and how that relatively small period of time has overshadowed the rest of his career in some ways. We also talk about what took him so long to put out another solo album and what he's working on now. He's a beautifully funny and engaging guy and one of the best there's ever been at what he does.

http://nickheyward.com/

Jon and Jan review the last couple of months, discuss plans for the future, and answer some of your mailbag questions.

Everybody remembers Ray Parker Jr. taking over the world in 1984 with the Ghostbusters theme. But, there is so much more to his story. He was one of the most sought after session guitarists of the 70s playing with everyone from Stevie Wonder to Marvin Gaye to Seals and Crofts. He also wrote hit songs for artists like Leo Sayer and Rufus with Chaka Khan, not to mention racking up a bunch of his own hits like "The Other Woman" and "A Woman Needs Love (Just Like You Do)" as both a solo artist and as the frontman for his funk band Raydio. As he says in this conversation, "Ghostbusters" was just "gravy on the steak". Here we talk about his whole career, but the big news is that Fran Strine, director of the acclaimed Hired Gun documentary, has begun work on a Ray doc called Who You Gonna Call, which launched an Indiegogo campaign last week. Here is the link to donate. Enjoy!

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/who-you-gonna-call-music/x/2404155#/

Jon once again joins Steve and Drew from Suburban Underground to play great songs (Jon's are, anyway) from the side projects of prominent alternative rock stars. We also rip each other new ones in the process. Who do you think comes out ahead with the best taste? And be sure to subscribe to SU on your favorite podcatcher for your weekly alternative mix tape. 

https://suburbanunderground.podbean.com/

In the states, Level 42 may only be seen as two-hit-wonders thanks to the massive success of "Something About You' and "Lessons in Love" in the mid-80s. But around the rest of the world, Level 42 were viewed as a seriously complex group merging funk, r&b, jazz and rock in ways few others have ever done. Founding members bassist Mark King and keyboardist Mike Lindup finally closed up shop in the mid-90s, but reunited in 2006 and have steadily toured the world ever since. In this deep chat, Mike and I go over the band's history, the stories behind some of their songs, his excellent, but under-heard solo album, and what he's up to now. There's also a hilarious Bill Murray story at the end. On a personal note, this is a big one for me as Mike owns my all-time favorite singing voice.

https://mikelindup.com/

https://www.level42.com/