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There are three bands from the early 70s that defined "power pop": The Raspberries, Badfinger, and Big Star. Named after a famous grocery in the Memphis area, Big Star became one of the most influential bands this side of the Atlantic. Perhaps their influence wanes only in comparison to the Velvet Underground. The two main personalities of this band, Alex Chilton (who sang one of the top smashes of 1967 with the Box Tops, "Letter") and Chris Bell (a meticulous studio-phile), wrote heartbreakingly earnest tunes that were instant ear candy. The only thing that impeded their success was technology.

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Hailed by critics, but mostly ignored by the recording buying public for several years after its release, the album, Dixie Chicken by Little Feat, highlights the songwriting, singing, slide guitar playing, and flute playing by the band's defacto leader, Lowell George. This is a band's band. And many other artists had hits with songs from this album. Listening to how this album seems steeped in the swamp rock of the south, it's hard to imagine the band had a mentor and proponent in Frank Zappa, with whom Lowell George played with.

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This episode looks at the second album by the man many consider the epitome of anthem rock. Yet on this album, the songs seem more loose, more oriented on toward the town Springsteen and his bandmates knew so well, Asbury Park, NJ. This is not your typical Springsteen album and it is territory he has not really revisited since this album was released in 1973. 

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These are some outtakes that we just couldn't keep in the last couple of episodes. For amusement only.

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In Episode 33 we look at Johnny Cash's 81st(!) album, American Recordings. Produced by legendary rap and hard rock producer Rick Rubin, the album is a comeback of sorts for and introduced him to a new group of younger listeners. It's a sparse album, just Cash and his guitar, and serves to showcase Cash's voice and songwriting talents. It's Cash at his most vulnerable, standing it stark contrast to the mythology of "The Man in Black". NOTE: The audio on this edition is not on par with previous episodes. We're still trying to work the kinks out of new recording set up with all of us in the same room. We appreciate your patience.  

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ELO started off as a side project by two members of the very successful band from Birmingham, England, the Move. Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood wanted to explore ways to incorporate symphonic arrangements into their progressive, yet poppy, chord progressions that each had begun to perfect. Soon after, Wood absconded with integral members of the newly formed ELO, leaving Jeff Lynne in charge with a skeleton crew. On this, the band's fourth album, the vision seemed to become reality and perhaps that is what makes this album all the more poignant: it is an album about a Walter-Mitty type character trying to live in his fantasy world of Eldorado.  

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In this episode we look at an album that has explicit lyrics written by a man who now writes children's tunes for Disney: Randy Newman's, Gold Old Boys. It's a character-driven album with songs carefully crafted and arranged by a man who comes from an extended family that has made a name for itself composing film scores. Randy Newman himself became a sought-after composer soon after releasing this album. 

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Released in 1978, Blondie's third album, Parallel Lines, became their biggest album largely off the strength of the most popular song of 1979, Heart of Glass. The making of this album is interesting: the band was given six months to make the record, yet it was finished in six weeks, despite the producer calling Blondie the worst band he'd ever worked with. Loathed by members of the burgeoning 1970s NYC music scene for its disco appeal, Blondie, one of the last bands to sign a recording deal from that era, became the scene's best-selling groups. And Tony introduces many of our listeners to the Nerves, whose lead guitarist wrote two songs for this album.

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This week's episode focuses on a relatively obscure Van Morrison album, Veedon Fleece. It's an album about wondering around Southern Ireland, despite being recorded in Los Angeles and New York. It's a personal album for Morrison, recorded soon after his divorce from Janet Planet.

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Ray Charles loved country music and it is evident on what most call his most successful album artistically. It was also his most successful album commercially and introduced a lot white audiences to "the genius".  In this episode we explore what made this album so compelling and why Charles decided to cover traditional country songs with sophisticated arrangements that made a lot of these songs really swing.

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