What the HELL Were You Thinking?

Each Summer we do a deep dive series on a topic and this year we go back 29 years (give or take) for the tale of the Summer of OJ! Will this podcast break any new ground? No. Will it treat the subject with the respect it deserved, sadly, also, no. Will you learn something? We wouldn't bet on it. But you MIGHT be entertained. (Maybe, no promises.) Summer Series 2023 kicks off Monday, June 5th with the OJ shows starting one week late.

See you on the Freeway!

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Show Notes Episode 407: Rock Against Drugs

This week Host Dave Bledsoe records a public service announcement as part of his probation agreements because he was caught pissing behind a dumpster. (Again) On the show this week we head back to the 1980’s when Nancy Reagan was harshing everyone's buzz because she could never handle her high! (We could have told her never to smoke up with Caspar Weinberger!) We are talking about the ill fated and barely remembered time that rock and roll told us NOT to do drugs. (So there would be more drugs for them to do!)

Along the way we learned that Dave lied to his mother about drinking and doing drugs. (Still does) Then we dive right into Just Say No and how it failed in every conceivable fashion. (Damn near killed Willis!) Then we explain the rationale behind MTV running commercials where rock stars actually had the balls to tell the kids not to do drugs. (Come on, Vince Neil, really?) Then we close out by explaining the REAL reasons kids did drugs. (It made us look cool.)

Our Sponsor this week is Dave Bledsoe, who has a very important message the courts want you to know. We open with Sam Kinison explaining why RAD was so dumb and close with Travis Gidney explaining why he was late for a job interview.

 Show Theme: Hypnostate Prelude to Common Sense

The Show on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheHell_Podcast

The Show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/whatthehellpodcast/

The Show on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjxP5ywpZ-O7qu_MFkLXQUQ

www.whatthehellpodcast.com

Give us your money on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/Whatthehellpodcast

The Show Line: 347 687 9601

Closing Music https://youtu.be/Sk1Hn14OFWk

We are a proud member of the Seltzer Kings Podcast Network! http://seltzerkings.com/

Citations Needed:

Bon Jovi admits to drug dealing past

https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/51035/Bon-Jovi-admits-to-drug-dealing-past#:~:text=BAD%20BOY%3A%20Bon%20Jovi%20has,growing%20up%20in%20New%20Jersey.

Robert Cox, Man Behind the ‘Just Say No’ Antidrug Campaign, Dies at 78

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/23/business/media/robert-cox-man-behind-the-just-say-no-antidrug-campaign-dies-at-78.html

JUST SAY NO, OR ELSE: CELEBRITIES AS CULTURAL ADVOCATES IN THE WAR ON DRUGS

https://rucore.libraries.rutgers.edu/rutgers-lib/68025/PDF/1/play/

To Reach Teens: Rock Stars Speak Against Drugs

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-06-14-op-7154-story.html

Gene Simmons Doesn’t Drink or Do Drugs Because of His Mother

https://ultimateclassicrock.com/gene-simmons-drugs/

SAYING YES TO LIFE

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1986-12-07-8604010612-story.html

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Show Notes Episode 406: Ladies and Gentlemen, Rock and Roll

This week Host Dave Bledsoe attempts to convince a Gen Z bartender he was one of the original MTV VJs only to learn the bartender has never heard of MTV. (Is that like a Tik Tok thing?) On the show this week we take you back to the origins of the music video and the channel they created. (VH-1!)

Along the way we discover that Dave wasn’t there when MTV debuted because he was not allowed to up past his bedtime. (Things haven’t changed really, he usually passed out around 7 PM.) Then we dive right into the long association of music and moving pictures, even when the moving pictures had no sound. Then we take on the long and winding road that leads to August of 1981 and the music video network that had very, very few music videos. (There were a LOT of Flock of Seagulls videos on repeat in the early days.) Finally we explain the incredible impact the genre of music videos themselves had on a generation and the music industry. (Turns out the record companies could make a lot of money showing half naked women dancing in front of a stage!)

Our Sponsor this week is Dave TV the only all music video channel left on television, not affiliated with David Lee Roth and available in limited markets, mainly northern New Jersey. We open the show with the first few minutes of MTV and close with Lucy May Walker testifying in a brutal true crime story.

 Show Theme: Hypnostate Prelude to Common Sense

The Show on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheHell_Podcast

The Show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/whatthehellpodcast/

The Show on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjxP5ywpZ-O7qu_MFkLXQUQ

www.whatthehellpodcast.com

Give us your money on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/Whatthehellpodcast

The Show Line: 347 687 9601

Closing Music: https://youtu.be/-6WWO6c7ud8

We are a proud member of the Seltzer Kings Podcast Network! http://seltzerkings.com/

Citations Needed:

AP WAS THERE: The Beatles invade America in 1964

https://apnews.com/article/80fd83172d9a4535a8a4e75874a9a1d9

Wikipedia: American Bandstand

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Bandstand

Wikipedia: Burt Sugarman’s Midnight Special

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Midnight_Special_(TV_series)

The Music Video, Before Music Television

https://www.history.com/news/the-music-video-before-music-television

The Creation of MTV: How Do You Market a Brand New Medium?

https://bettermarketing.pub/the-creation-of-mtv-how-do-you-market-a-brand-new-medium-98045afed23b

Michael Jackson and His ‘Billie Jean’ Music Video Changed MTV

https://twobees.org/michael-jackson-billie-jean-changed-mtv/

Pretenders interview: the magic of songwriting and how MTV killed rock'n'roll

https://www.loudersound.com/features/pretenders-interview-the-magic-of-songwriting-and-how-mtv-killed-rocknroll

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The show is quasi-dark this week to show support for the Writers Guild Strike. We aren't in the Union, but we stand with the Union.

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Show Notes Episode 405: Juuuuuust A Bit Outside

What the HELL Movie Night Watches Major League

This week Host Dave Bledsoe demands his drinks be free or he will release the Wrath of Jobu on this establishment. (The bartender booted his ass out for cultural appropriation) On the show this week it is a What the HELL Movie Night where we talk about Major League! 

Along the way we discover that Dave was as bad at baseball as he was/is everything else in life. (Swung on and missed is basically his romantic life in a nutshell.) Then we dive right into 1989’s feel good classic about a plucky band of misfits who somehow pull together and find a way to overcome their limits and discover anything is possible if they work together. (To be honest this describes about 80% of all movies made in the 1980’s) So grab your glove and bottle of Jack Daniels and head out to the ballpark for Major League!

Our Sponsor this week are the Mahwah Monsters, the hottest beer league softball in Mahwah township for the past six months! We open the show with the card you never leave home without and close with Matt Woods begging for his shot in the game.

Show Theme: Hypnostate Prelude to Common Sense

The Show on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheHell_Podcast

The Show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/whatthehellpodcast/

The Show on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjxP5ywpZ-O7qu_MFkLXQUQ

www.whatthehellpodcast.com

Give us your money on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/Whatthehellpodcast

The Show Line: 347 687 9601

Closing Music: https://youtu.be/9PwoXTND7TY

We are a proud member of the Seltzer Kings Podcast Network! http://seltzerkings.com/

Citations Needed:

A LEAGUE OF ITS OWN

https://vault.si.com/vault/2011/07/04/a-league-of-its-own

Wikipedia: Bob Uecker

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Uecker

Wikipedia: Marge Schott

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marge_Schott

25 of the best baseball movies ever

https://www.mlb.com/news/best-baseball-movies-of-all-time-c301609142

What Happened to Baseball?

https://lindynewsletter.beehiiv.com/p/happened-baseball

The 1990s: To Hell and Back

https://thisgreatgame.com/1990s-baseball-history/

Baseball as an American Metaphor

https://www.csmonitor.com/1993/0621/21121.html

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Show Notes Episode 404: Cheap Nightly Rates

This week Host Dave Bledsoe tries to remember his friend’s phone numbers when he NEEDS to make a call, but the jailor won’t give his cell phone and he can’t remember their numbers. (Gavin had to come bail him out, again) On the show this week we report on yet another of the long and bloody wars we fought in the 80’s and 90’s, this time, the brutal Long Distance Wars!

Along the way we learn why Dave never liked to talk on the telephone. (Bitter memories of never having a girlfriend to talk to!) Then we dive right into the creation of the long distance calling plan. Meaning we spend half the show explaining the history of long distance telephone service in the United States. Eventually we get around to telling you about that time in the 90’s when Americans were pitted against one another as they were forced to take sides in the brutal Long Distance Wars. (MCI families versus AT&T families did not speak to each other for nearly a decade!) This was the way of things until finally the 10-10 321 Treaty was signed and peace was restored. (Until cell phones came along and all the sudden we were even MORE divided than before!)

Our Sponsor this week is Phast Eddie’s Phone Cards, when you need to call long distance but don’t want the Feds listening on your number, think Phast Eddies. We open the show with Gieco’s perfect parody of phone plan commercials and close with Djangofire covering Muddy Waters’ long distance choices.

Show Theme: Hypnostate Prelude to Common Sense

The Show on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheHell_Podcast

The Show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/whatthehellpodcast/

The Show on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjxP5ywpZ-O7qu_MFkLXQUQ

www.whatthehellpodcast.com

Give us your money on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/Whatthehellpodcast

The Show Line: 347 687 9601

Closing Music:https://youtu.be/hAD8qRaStwk

We are a proud member of the Seltzer Kings Podcast Network! http://seltzerkings.com/

Citations Needed:

The Science Behind It: Telephones

https://ext.vt.edu/content/dam/ext_vt_edu/topics/4h-youth/makers/files/ww1-science-behind-it-telephones.pdf

1870s – 1940s: Telephone

https://www.elon.edu/u/imagining/time-capsule/150-years/back-1870-1940/

How does a long-distance call work?

https://electronics.howstuffworks.com/question354.htm#:~:text=Your%20long%2Ddistance%20carrier%27s%20switches,a%20blink%20of%20an%20eye.

1910 – Long Distance Telephone Rates From New York

https://stuffnobodycaresabout.com/2017/06/12/1910-long-distance/

AntiTrust III :: The Break-up of AT&T and the Story of MCI

https://www.cybertelecom.org/notes/att_antitrust.htm

1998 Long Distance Phone Rates Pricing Survey

https://www.consumer-action.org/news/articles/1998_long_distance_phone_rates_pricing_survey

Long-Distance Price War Heats Up With AT&T; Cuts : Telecom: Phone company drops residential rate to 7 cents a minute, 24 hours a day, in bid to secure its dominant position.

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-aug-31-fi-5244-story.html

Wikipedia 10-10-321

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10-10-321

WAS LONG-DISTANCE CALLING A SCAM?

https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/was-long-distance-calling-a-scam

Uncited Additional Reading:

https://eightiesbaby.net/2020/01/24/landline-week-the-long-distance-and-collect-call-wars/

https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/case-studies/attmci-long-distance-phone-wars-mci-introduces-friends-family

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-distance_calling

https://money.cnn.com/1999/09/12/expert/moneytalk/index.htm

https://www.nytimes.com/1990/08/05/business/all-about-phone-cards-the-latest-front-in-a-long-distance-telephone-war.html

https://www.consumer-action.org/news/articles/1998_long_distance_phone_rates_pricing_survey

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/2004/08/05/so-long-to-long-distance/5cd227fb-0235-4900-9d6a-63acf2c25745/

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Episode 403: Not Today, Not On Rex Manning Day

This week Host Dave Bledsoe invites a “friend” home to check his 10 inch only for her to discover he was talking about his record albums. (And in penis department he is more like a cassingle) On the show this week we celebrate Rex Manning Day by taking you back to the glory days of the record store!

Along the way we learn how Dave keeps trying to deal with his childhood through buying things rather than go to therapy. (Also, binge drinking is NOT therapy no matter what your “doctor” told you Dave.)  Then we dive right into the two great record store movies, though one is arguably greater than the other, Empire Records and High Fidelity.(For record, the greater one was Empire Records) Then we take a walk through the history of the record store, from its humble beginning as mom and pop shops in every town and the rise of Tower Records all the way through to their eventual downfall from Big Box stores and the internet.  (Amazon didn’t kill record stores, WalMart did) Finally we talk about the incredibly unlikely revival of vinyl and the indie record store. (We genuinely have to thank Hipsters for bringing it back.)

Our Sponsor this week is Whipped Cream Records, the record store that only stocks Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass’ Whipped Cream and Other Delights, because every vinyl collection is legally required to have a copy.  We open with Rob talking about his record store and close with Rex Manning saying no more.

Show Theme: Hypnostate Prelude to Common Sense

The Show on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheHell_Podcast

The Show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/whatthehellpodcast/

The Show on Youtube:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjxP5ywpZ-O7qu_MFkLXQUQ

www.whatthehellpodcast.com

Give us your money on Patreon  https://www.patreon.com/Whatthehellpodcast

The Show Line: 347 687 9601

Closing Music:https://youtu.be/DQdvuWqm3Ow

We are a proud member of the Seltzer Kings Podcast Network! http://seltzerkings.com/

Citations Needed:

Rex Manning Day: Maxwell Caulfield Thrilled ‘Empire Records’ Celebrated Yearly

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/rex-manning-day-maxwell-caulfield-thrilled-empire-records-celebrated-yearly-4163455/

IMDB: Empire Records

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112950/

How "Empire Records" Became The Unlikely Film Of A Generation

https://www.buzzfeed.com/annehelenpetersen/how-empire-records-became-the-unlikely-film-of-a-generation

Record Store Day Turns 10: Founders Break Down Its Past, Present and Future

https://www.billboard.com/pro/record-store-day-2017-founders-10th-anniversary-vinyl/

How many Americans are still buying vinyl records?

https://today.yougov.com/topics/entertainment/articles-reports/2019/04/12/record-store-day-2019-records-generations-poll

Wikipedia: Vinyl Revival

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinyl_revival

Uncited Additional Reading:

https://uproxx.com/filmdrunk/empire-records-20-year-retrospective/

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2020/jun/22/empire-records-90s-cult-classic-starring-liv-tyler-and-renee-zellweger-is-ripe-for-a-comeback

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/68787/14-fun-facts-about-empire-records

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_Records

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Show Notes Episode 402: Gene Gene the Dancing MACHINE

This week Host Dave Bledsoe plops a brown paper bag over his head and tries to pass himself off as the unknown drunkard. (The bartender gonged him out of the bar. Again.) On the show this week we are talking about one of the most influential TV shows of all time. (For certain Gen X podcast hosts anyway): The Gong Show.

Along the way we discover that Dave was not always the small, apathetic slacker he is now, he once had dreams. (Small, apathetic slacker dreams) Then we dive right into the creation of a talent show panel game show that broke barriers in the mid 1970’s. (Admittedly the barriers were to good taste and decency.) We follow the show’s inception as a fairly banal talent show into the pop culture phenomena that explains why large brass gongs are featured in every low rent talent show in America. (Talent shows are the largest single sales driver in the large brass gong market, after Nights in White Satin and Bohemian Rhapsody.) We talk about the secret ingredient that made the show click with TV audiences (raunchy humor) and why it eventually was kicked off daytime television. (raunchy humor and Jaye P Morgan’s lovely breasts.) Finally, we wrestle with the complicated legacy of the show today. Also, Gene Gene the Dancing Machine!

Our Sponsor this week is the St. Cyril & Methodius Roman Catholic Church of Boonton NJ annual Talent Night open audition call for the 36th largest Catholic talent show in northeastern New Jersey. We open with the trailer for the Gong Show Movie and close with the Gene, Gene the Dancing MACHINE!!!!

Show Theme: Hypnostate Prelude to Common Sense

The Show on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheHell_Podcast

The Show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/whatthehellpodcast/

The Show on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjxP5ywpZ-O7qu_MFkLXQUQ

www.whatthehellpodcast.com

Give us your money on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/Whatthehellpodcast

The Show Line: 347 687 9601

Closing Music:https://youtu.be/EnBEmdxE_LA

We are a proud member of the Seltzer Kings Podcast Network! http://seltzerkings.com/

Citations Needed:

Major Bowes Amateur Hour

https://www.otrcat.com/p/major-bowes

Wikipedia: The Gong Show

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gong_Show

45 Years Ago: 'The Gong Show' Makes TV Crazy 

https://ultimateclassicrock.com/gong-show/

The Inspired Insanity of The Gong Show

https://www.vulture.com/2012/03/the-inspired-insanity-of-the-gong-show.html

Jamie Farr discusses "The Gong Show"

https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/interviews/jamie-farr

Uncited Additional Reading:

https://www.toomanythoughtsmedia.com/gong-show-oral-history/

http://www.tvparty.com/recgong.html

https://www.dannylockin.com/death.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Barris

https://www.metv.com/lists/11-gong-worthy-facts-about-the-gong-show

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