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You might know Brian Wecht as Ninja Brian. Or maybe you know him as Trey Magnifique. Perhaps, you just know him as Brian and that's fine too. Matt and Jeff were just thrilled to have him on the podcast to talk about Al Jarreau's mighty fine Breakin' Away album. But there were conditions. First, an impromptu 20 minute discussion about Kenny G. You'll see. Is there a Chicago reference followed by some scathing condemnation? You know there is.

As it happens, Brian, er, Trey Magnifique has a new holiday EP, Let it Blow, available now as you're listening to this. We talk about that and you should buy it and give Brian some of your hard-earned money that you were planning to spend on Christmas cookies. Was Jim Morrison on the receiving end? What does it all mean? I guess it means that we had a really fun and extremely random conversation with Brian that covers a lot of different topics. Which frankly, it feels like that's exactly what needed to happen.

Our thanks to Brian for spending time talking tunes with us. We look forward to having him back on the podcast soon! Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, but also follow him on BlueSky. You know he has a podcast, right? It's called Leighton Night and you can listen here.

P.S. This episode has some filthy language. You kind of expected that, didn't you?

P.S.S. Jeff and Matt are on BlueSky as well.

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Rob Baker of The Tragically Hip joins Matt to discuss the 35th anniversary of the band's 1989 debut, Up to Here, which is being celebrated with a lavish box set featuring a wealth of previously unreleased content. The box set is available today digitally and will be released in a variety of physical formats on Nov. 15. You can order your copy of the box set here.

The conversation with Rob was wonderfully free-flowing and numerous topics are discussed, including of course, stories from the time period that Up to Here was in the works. But also, Rob and Matt dig into the band's early struggles before they secured their first label deal, the challenges they've had in locating and preserving their archival material, recording in unique locations and even a humorous Rush story, just to name a few things.

In addition to the new box set for Up to Here, fans can also enjoy No Dress Rehearsal, the new four-part documentary on Amazon Prime. There's also a new book. So it's a good time to be a fan of the Tragically Hip and it was a real pleasure to speak with Rob to hear some stories. Fellow longtime fans will enjoy this conversation and we appreciate Rob's time!

P.S. Our comrade Allison Rapp also had a recent conversation that will be of interest to Hip fans. She spoke with bassist Gord Sinclair to discuss his love of Joni Mitchell's music for her Joni podcast and it's a chat you won't want to miss!

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Professor Louis Moore joins Matt and Jeff to discuss his essential new book, The Great Black Hope: Doug Williams, Vince Evans and the Making of the Black Quarterback. Our engaging discussion with Lou took us deep into the history of Black quarterbacks and athletes in general in the NFL and he talks about the journey he took as he was writing the book. However much progress you might think has been made in the NFL (and beyond), this discussion -- and Lou's book -- will remind you that there's a lot that still needs to be addressed.

Lou also shared his history as a music fan and the formative experiences he had as a listener growing up, and why Life is...Too $hort is still one of the most important albums in his collection. We had a blast speaking with Lou and if you haven't had a chance to check out his book yet, you'll really want to after hearing this conversation. Our thanks to Lou for writing this book and the time he spent with us to talk about it! You can visit his official website and read more information about his career to date below.

P.S. You can skip the intro and go right to our conversation with Lou, which begins at 10:02.

About Professor Louis Moore:

Louis Moore is a Professor of History at Grand Valley State University. He teaches African American History, Civil Rights, Sports History, and US History.

His research and writing examines the interconnections between race and sports.  He is the author of two books, I Fight for a Living: Boxing and the Battle for Black Manhood, 1880-1915 and We Will Win the Day: The Civil Rights Movement, the Black Athlete, and the Quest for Equality, and has an Audible lecture, African American Athletes Who Made History. In addition, he has two Audible lectures, African American Athletes Who Made History and A Pastime of Their Own: The Story of Negro League Baseball. He has also written for various online outlets including The New York Daily News, Vox, The Global Sports Institute, First and Pen, and the African American Intellectual Historical Society, and he has appeared on NPR, MSNBC, CNN, and BBC Sports. The co-host of the Black Athlete Podcast, his latest book, The Great Black Hope: Doug Williams, Vince Evans and the Making of the Black Quarterback is out now.

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This is almost a "lost episode" of sorts. To pull the curtain back a bit, we recorded this episode back in July and then promptly got busy with a bunch of other things. So if you hear a mention or two that sound a bit dated, there ya go. What remains is a fun discussion that we had regarding Robert Wyatt's 1974 album Rock Bottom. We examine where Robert was career-wise in 1974 as he was continuing to evolve his solo work following his time with Soft Machine and subsequently, Matching Mole. Fellow prog aficionados and those who like a good, weird album, just generally, this one's for you.

P.S. As we get into the fall, we've got a bunch of fresh episodes ready to roll and you'll be hearing them here in the coming weeks! Thanks for listening and for your ongoing support of The Record Player!

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The guys end summer break with a completely random "accidental Cassingle," as Jeff tagged it. There are discussions of Funyuns (which still exist!), Taco Bell, concept albums, Jeff's new book, asbestos, kids who swear a lot, new music from Jon Anderson of Yes, the upcoming solo album from Warren Haynes and other subjects that are probably being forgotten. We got together to record a simple introduction for our next podcast episode....and this happened. Anyway, it's been a good summer away, but we've all missed you!

P.S. Don't play this particular episode around your kids. There's some swearing.

P.S.S. Apparently Funyuns are 55 years old this year! It's time for them to start pulling their weight around here.

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Our latest Bonus Track features a conversation with author and journalist John Barry, who covered Woodstock '94 as it happened. Thirty years later, he joins Matt to share some of his memories of the experience. Music fans will also be interested in the book that John wrote about Levon Helm's incredible second act with the Midnight Ramble and other events that happened during the later years of his career.

Levon Helm: Rock, Roll & Ramble - The Inside Story of the Man, the Music and the Midnight Ramble is an essential read for fans of Levon and the Band. John shares the story of how the book came together and some of the Levon memories he's really grateful for.  You can read John's latest articles at the Times Union website and he also has an ongoing newsletter, Quicksand.

Big thanks to John for the conversation!

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Jeff and Matt love nothing more than coming across obscure AOR gems. Jesse Colin Young's 1982 album, The Perfect Stranger, fits into that category. Featuring guest appearances by Carly Simon, Michael McDonald, Bill Payne and Fred Tackett of Little Feat and Timothy B. Schmit of the Eagles, The Perfect Stranger also finds Jesse surrounded by an unbelievable cast of many of the era's best session players.

Jesse tells the guys how he came to work with producer Michael James Jackson on The Perfect Stranger, which he describes as an album he'd never made before - and it was an experience he ultimately didn't repeat.

We also discuss his current songwriting contest with Future Youth Records. They're seeking to help inspire young songwriters from 18-24 to "use their unique voice to inspire change. Jesse knows a thing or two about that, having been the voice for "Get Together," the inspiring and unifying hit he released in 1967 with the Youngbloods. Entries for "The Perfect Stranger" songwriting contest are being accepted through August 15. Good luck!

Jesse also tells us about the early days of the No Nukes movement, which he co-founded, his struggles with Lyme Disease and his memoir that he recently completed. We also ask him how many times he saw the Freedom Rock commercial in the '80s.

It was a delight speaking with Jesse and for the first time, you can now find The Perfect Stranger on your favorite digital service, wherever you get your music, so dig in!

P.S. Jeff has been quite busy. He has a new book out and he continues to write even more good words beyond that at Jefitoblog.

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Podcasting pioneer Jimmy Pardo hosts the award-winning podcast, Never Not Funny. But he also puts his name behind a lot of good things. Witness his annual Pardcast-a-Thon, which provided nine hours of laughs from Sarah Silverman, Patton Oswalt, Dave Holmes, Jon Cryer and numerous others -- INCLUDING DAVID FOSTER -- raising over $125 thousand dollars for charity in the process. For $25 you can purchase an archive of this year's performances and if you like to laugh, we highly recommend that.

Jimmy is also a big fan of '80s AOR music and the only rock band with horns that you need to have in your life, Chicago. Which means that when we needed a friend to help us talk about Chicago 17 in honor of its 40th anniversary, Jimmy came right over to "Stay the Night." Okay, wait. We're taking that last part back. Here's what we can promise about today's edition of the podcast: You will hear three guys talking for more than an hour about Chicago 17 -- before and beyond -- making obscure band/Peter Cetera references and other things we can't remember now that it's been several days since we recorded this. Short version: you will probably enjoy this.

Thanks to Jimmy as always for hanging out with us. Visit Jimmy's Records & Tapes for even more music nerd fun.

Visit Jefitoblog.com for even more Jeff Giles.

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This is a flashback moment to our previous podcast, 1991: The Year AOR Ate Itself. For those of you who didn't hear that podcast series, you'll be interested to hear this episode, which aired July 5, 2021. In my memory (note: I'm making this up), we decided to celebrate Independence Day by talking about Foreigner's first album without Lou Gramm, Unusual Heat.

Even though that's not true, we did have a lot of fun discussing Unusual Heat with our friend Ben Arthur, who brought a really interesting perspective as a fellow artist to this discussion. It was Jeff who had the idea overall for the AOR podcast and I'm really glad we did it. We had a lot of fun talking about some of our favorite albums from 1991 and who knows, maybe we'll visit another year from the '90s -- or even the '80s -- one of these days. In the meantime, there's 12 other episodes of this '91 'cast if you enjoy what you hear today. Dig in!

We've both been tied up with life stuff, but will be back with a fresh episode this week -- and it's another one of our favorite albums (I don't think I'm wrong in saying that, but we'll find out, won't we?). In the meantime, enjoy this conversation regarding a Foreigner album you've probably never heard!

P.S. Ben is back with a new season of his SongWriter podcast. Check out the initial episode here!

Related:

An article at Ultimate Classic Rock from Jeff and Matt regarding Unusual Heat, featuring interviews with Johnny Edwards and Mick Jones. 

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Our latest Bonus Track features a great conversation with the legendary Leland Sklar and director Denny Tedesco regarding his film, The Immediate Family. That's right, someone finally made a movie about Lee Sklar, Danny Kortchmar, Waddy Wachtel and Russ Kunkel. If you're a liner notes nerd, you know those names!

Here's one example:

Jackson Browne's Running on Empty album was one where the music fans got to be part of the process. Because it was recorded live on stage in concert -- and at other points along the touring trail, backstage, in hotel rooms and even on the tour bus - it was a unique and often chaotic experience for those involved in the recording.

As Sklar told me, Running on Empty was unlike anything he had ever been a part of. While bands and artists are very used to the uncomfortable nature of playing new material in front of an audience that's just there to hear the hits, Running on Empty captured moments with Browne and the band where they were playing new songs that the audiences hadn't even had a chance to get on an album yet, because they hadn't been recorded.

For Sklar, it was just one experience of many songs and albums that he's played on across the decades. While he's worked with countless names, there were a few that kept coming up -- guitarist Waddy Wachtel, guitarist Danny Kortchmar and drummer Russ Kunkel. The four became known as The Section, the '70s heir apparent to The Wrecking Crew of the '60s. Collectively and often together, they've played on thousands of albums.

In more recent years, they've acquired a new moniker, one which fits well with their connection to the legendary albums they played on by Warren Zevon, Linda Ronstadt, Carole King, Don Henley and many others -- The Immediate Family. Adding vocalist Steve Postell to their ranks, they've put out several albums.

But it was Tedesco who decided to tell the story of the guys, through the words of their famous employers and associates. He's well-suited for the task, having put out a film about The Wrecking Crew, the group of session musicians that featured his father, guitarist Tommy Tedesco. He saw the natural throughline that connected that collective with what Kortchmar, Wachtel, Sklar and Kunkel continued with the Section.

The Immediate Family is a fascinating journey, one which weaves together valuable history as recounted by those who were there. The film was recently released on DVD and Blu-ray and continues to screen nationally. You can find further details at immediatefamilyfilm.com.

I loved chatting with Denny and Lee -- and it was exciting to hear some details from Denny about his next project, a movie about Wolfman Jack that's currently in process! Can't wait!

P.S. I mention it during the episode, but here's a direct link to Leland's YouTube channel.

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