The JAM Yearbook

Grab your popcorn and fountain sodas, Matt and Jim are making a soundtrack to their lives. Wait a minute! Didn't these guys just do this year by year? Well, kind of. This time they are less focused on the best songs in their lives and focus more on the times the music followed them through life. Music shaped them both in many ways through social circles and making life choices. Sometimes it was profound, but most of the time it was all wrapped around the good times they were having. Matt and Jim pick 10 songs each. Each decade of their lives from the 1970s through the 2020s has to be included.

*Disclaimer: Jim does not hold a boombox over his head outside your window (or does he??)

August 2023 has come and gone. What are you doing still listening to music from 1982? There's a lot of great new music that's been released! Ok. It's not all great, but a lot still is. A young Van Halen emerges. Al Green returns. Matt and Jim discover new female artists are absolutely killing it with great releases. Looking for something new to listen to? We've got you covered. Come check out the music we recommend and better yet, the stuff we warn you to avoid!

Put on your captain's hat and hop aboard as Matt and Jim take everyone on a cruise through the seas of smooth 70s and 80s jams. Where did the term Yacht Rock come from? How long has it been around? There are some big names you're sure to remember and artists you may think you've never heard of, but you'll know every lyric to their hit song. Has Yacht Rock ever influenced modern day music? Grab a life jacket and a drink with a little umbrella in it. Matt and Jim are about to cast off.

Welcome to the new format of The JAM Yearbook! The refresh button has been pushed and Matt and Jim begin their exploration of new music by recapping the best (and worst) that 2023 has offered from January through July. Avoiding the charts is intentional. Their goal is to help you find what might not be right on the surface. They have a lot of praise for some aging rockers, but the gloves come off when they discover country rap. Revisionist albums have become a thing now, but are they all necessary? Rap, rock, punk and metal: none of it has been absent from 2023, but what's been good and what deserves to be avoided? Check out the show as Matt and Jim try to share as much as they can!

Matt and Jim have come full circle. They began the show with Version 1971 and now they are completing the years of music in their lifetime in 1972. Like other years in the 1970s, '72 does not disappoint. There were HUGE debuts and highly influential albums released. Matt and Jim celebrate what may have been the best year of Soul music they have stumbled across. Just saying some of the names of these songs can cause spontaneous sing-a-longs. So join them as they wrap up the years in another episode filled with some special music.

This week Matt and Jim arrive in the year 1994. Grunge and alternative radio is practically the new pop. The world is stunned by the loss of Kurt Cobain. Mud slinging fun dominates Woodstock '94 while Jim catches a rose from Wayne and a set by the Beastie Boys at Lollapolooza. Matt thinks 1994 might be fatigued, but finds some gems from the past. Jim attends the Throwing Copper album release party and may have had a hand in introducing Ed Kowakczyk to his wife. It's the final year in the 90s, and still possibly the best year for Weezer. Let the name checking fun begin!

The 2000s are a wrap! This week Matt and Jim go to 2003 and cover the final year from the 2000s. It's not unlike most of the other years from the 2000s with some good music to take away and some better left behind. The sounds are shifting as nu metal peaks but the emo/pop-punk scene is ready to reach over and take the wheel. 2003 just may be the year that women stole the crown on pop music. When they pick their final songs from the 2000s, how full-indie will Matt go? Is Jim going to leave us with more cheesy pop music? Have a listen to Version 2003 and you just may find out!