The Hustle

To celebrate The Hustle's 1st Birthday, we created a full circle moment. This week's guest is Mark Brzezicki, drummer of the iconic Scottish band Big Country! You may remember in the intro to The Hustle that I recorded a year ago, I mentioned that the suicide of Big Country's lead singer Stuart Adamson was an inspiration for me creating a place where I could let my favorite unsung artists know how much I love them. Here we are 52 conversations later and still going strong! Mark and I discuss what Stuart was like as a man, the ups and downs of being in the band, what everyone is doing now, and some of the session work Mark's done to maintain a career. With all the joy these artists have brought to our lives, they deserved better. 

http://www.bigcountry.co.uk/

In this special Prince-themed bonus episode of The Hustle, we're joined by popular blogger and host of the beloved Stuck In The 80s podcast, Steve Spears, another die-hard Prince fan. We discuss what he meant to us, his legacy, our faves, and the rumors surrounding how he died. Huge thank you to Steve for being our special guest!

http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/80s/

American Noise were one of the great "should-have-been" bands. They were one of the hottest tickets in the thriving Cleveland rock scene of the 70s when they were signed by legend Richard Perry and sent to LA to work on their debut album. Released in 1980, their self-titled masterpiece is a power-pop lovers dream. However, the label didn't get behind them and American Noise dissolved into obscurity. Over the years, however, that album has grown a deserved reputation as "the great lost guitar record". 

George Sipl was American Noise's keyboardist and has been a successful musician and audio engineer for over 30 years now. We discuss some of his enduring jingles, studio wizardry he's especially proud of, what exactly was fueling Cleveland in those days, and his often turbulent collaborations with legend Eric Carmen, including his contributions to mega-hits "All By Myself" and "Hungry Eyes". Do yourself a favor and rediscover American Noise!

Todd Pipes was the lead singer of Deep Blue Something, who hit it big in 1995 with the seminal "Breakfast at Tiffany's" which reached #5 on the US charts. Sadly, it was their one and only hit and after a couple more albums that received less attention, the band slowed way down. Todd is now an English teacher in Dallas and makes music when he wants to, including an excellent ep from last year called Locust House. We talk about music in the 90s, the aftermath of having such a big, divisive hit, and the other bands they blew off the stage. My personal feeling is that there has always been more to this band than "the hit" and the deserve to have the rest of their music discovered.

http://deepbluesomething.com/

Ranking Roger is a music and style icon that needs no introduction. He was a founding member of one of the most important and beloved alternative/ska bands of all-time with the English Beat. Then, he and fellow front man Dave Wakeling broke off and formed General Public to even greater chart success ("Tenderness" #27 in 1984). Today the former partners function as two separate groups - Dave carries on as The English Beat in the states while Roger is The Beat throughout the rest of the world. We discuss the dynamic between the two, the state of potential reunions, Roger's excellent solo work, and his views on marijuana. And, he announces new Beat music coming in 2016!

http://www.thebeatofficial.com/

Phil and I discuss several of his collaborations including...

Talk Talk

Seal

Terence Trent D'Arby

Jai

When In Rome

Dubstar 

OMD

Flesh for Lulu

Heaven 17

Suggs

http://www.philspalding.com/

http://www.liver4life.org.uk/

Phil Spalding has been an in demand session bassist for almost 40 years now. His highest profile gig from an American perspective was probably when he was a member of that short-lived supergroup GTR, who had a big hit with "When the Heart Rules the Mind" which reached #14 in 1986. Since then he's collaborated with everyone from Seal to Terence Trent D'Arby to Right Said Fred to Elton John, all the while living as a full-blown drug addict. Thankfully, he's been in recovery for 11 years now and serving as best he can to help others in the same situation. Here is his amazing story!

http://www.philspalding.com/

http://www.liver4life.org.uk/

Hipsway were a Scottish band in the mid-80s that scored one hit in the states off their first album with "The Honeythief" in 1986, one of the finest singles of its era. That was about it for Hipsway, however, and after one more album that was barely released the guys parted ways. What's interesting about lead singer Grahame Skinner is that he's been a part of numerous other bands, both before and after, that were even better and deserved to be discovered, but mostly weren't. Today he manages a cafe in Glasgow, while making killer music as The Skinner Group when opportunity presents itself. 

http://www.grahameskinner.com/

Guadalcanal Diary were one of the seminal College Rock bands of the 80s. With a sound forever described as "like REM", over the course of four albums they gained success and respect by playing the pop game by their own rules. But, by the end of the decade the band broke up and frontman Murray Attaway set off for a solo career. Unfortunately, that only last one album, after which he decided to step away from the music business altogether. For the last 25 years, he's lead a life similar to many of us - working in IT and web design. 

Murray is a legend of alternative rock and continues to be viewed as one of the most respected songwriters of the 80s.

Carlos Alomar is a legend, plain and simple. Off and on for over 40 years, he was David Bowie's rhythm guitarist, musical director, collaborator, co-songwriter and friend. In the history of Bowie's music, there are fewer people more responsible for the sound than Carlos. Today he is a director at Stevens Institute of Technology and you can tell from this interview that teaching comes naturally to him. He also continues to collaborate with artists lucky enough to have him. He's lead an amazing, charmed life. 

https://carlosalomar.wordpress.com/