Steve Atkins and Blake Bennett talk about some of their favorite rock & roll from both sides of The Big Pond. They tackle the great debate: from the UK to the USA, who *really* knows how to rock?
Final round! Last chance to chase those winter blues away with some cheery sunshine. It's the sunshine of your love and you are the sunshine of our lives. Don't let the sun catch you crying, there's a lot to be thankful for. We wish you all a joyous and wonderful holiday season and a Happy New Year!
Ooh! I bet you thought that was the Beach Boys! But nope, it's the Sunrays, and believe me when I say they live for the sun. Even heroes wear sunscreen though--there's only one Sunshine Superman who gets away with soaking up the sun. Chase away those SAD winter blues with our Sunny Songs series.
Did you soak up the sun? Did you tell everyone to lighten up? Well Sunny, it may not be a lazy Sunny Afternoon, but winter can still be a time to stand up, stretch the Kinks out, and say "Good Day, Sunshine!"
If you're in a part of the world that's getting the cold and the wind and the rain and the snow, it's time to add some sunshine to your day! We'll talk about fun sunny songs, from The Beatles to One Republic and everything in between.
One of the greatest Concept Albums of all time gets a full exploration: Sargeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles. English co-host Steve Atkins talks in detail about the culture and everyday life that informed the stories in every song.
The incredible story of Blue Oyster Cult, Imaginos, and a random-access myth decades in the making.
From Ziggy Stardust to Marilyn Manson, we discuss legacy Concept Albums, ideas that span multiple artists, one inspiring the other. This is part 2 of a 4-part episode series.
Recorded on Memorial Day (US) 2024, we take you on a four-part journey through some amazing Concept albums. There are far too many to discuss them all, so we carefully curated curiosities just for you.
Love is all around us and the world needs love. It's easy to show your love and to feel the love of others, whether it's a smile from a neighbor or greeting a friend. We wrap this up with one great message from The Beatles
Nearly through - are you feeling the love? Spreading the love, spreading the joy, we hope you love the 1960s and songs of love as much as we do.
We continue our journey through the love of the 1960s, spreading happiness and love all around
We're back! After a down year, here we are with some of the best love songs of the 1960s
It's a big day for Steve! Join our Jubilation Celebration of the Island Nation's Coronation Situation! We celebrate with silly behavior and royalty-themed music.
It's a big day for Steve! Join our Jubilation Celebration of the Island Nation's Coronation Situation! We celebrate with silly behavior and royalty-themed music.
As we wrap up our look at the famous musicans whose parents were also famous musicians, we can't help but think about how delightful it must be to grow up with musical talent and encouragement and yet how hard it also must be to step out of mom or dad's shadow and do things your own way. We celebrate these hard-working entertainers for all their efforts to bring better music to the world.
We share some great examples of the children of musicians who went on to themselves become famous musicians.
We go further into the very famous, their famous kids, and how a good legacy can bring good music across the generations.
We've been waiting to do this one for quite a while! Let's talk about how famous musicians have children who in turn grow up to be famous musicians! It's a huge industry, and as they say, 'The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.' Some amazing talent came from learning beside mom or dad, and we love being able to share that with you.
We wrap up sharing with you a lot of later-career songs and appearances that you may not have heard of. Did you know she did a song with her daughter? Did you catch her appearance on the TV show 'Glee'? Did you know she released albums through Hallmark? Yes, the greeting card and movie company--that Hallmark.
Beyond 'Grease', beyond 'Xanadu', we have a singer who truly cared about others and tried to make the world a better place.
Olivia! We Honestly Love You! Stepping into the '80s we get Xanadu, and we get Physical--hey, it's healthy!--and we go through all the pop hits too.
We were sad to hear of Olivia Newton-John's passing and felt it very important to share how much of her career beyond the iconic movie 'Grease' leaves a legacy.
And so we wrap up with a reminder that if Europe flies to Venus, they'll be very disappointed with the weather up there. Looking ahead, there's hope. We have each other and together we'll get through this thing called 'history in the making'. Until next time! Because there will BE a next time!
David Bowie! Bob Dylan! Jimmie Rodgers! One of these things is not like the other...but that's okay, they all worry about the world. Or, in the case of Jimmie Rodgers, at least America. Maybe the Korean War, maybe the Vietnam War, maybe any one of the dozens of other wars that have taken place around the world in the last 75 years. Let's see how far we get when we think about the way the world turns.
Thought about the Apocalypse lately? Maybe in 1980s terms? Nena says it's very very super-scary...but she also says that everyone's a superhero, everyone's a Captain Kirk! So we should get through this.
It was a long summer break, but through it all, we knew the world wouldn't end...and now we're here to make sure you know it too! Things may seem rough right now, but we'll get through it because we always have. Inspired by the Billy Joel song "We Didn't Start the Fire", we wrap some past and present looks at the world around some great trivia and positive fun.
An amazing talent whose star is rising, Michelle "Shimmer" Johnson takes the time to tell us all about her music career, her metal band Circle the Wolves, and her favorite female artists who inspire her the most. Join us, learn a lot about the music industry, and hear some great new music!
An amazing talent whose star is rising, Michelle "Shimmer" Johnson takes the time to tell us all about her music career, her metal band Circle the Wolves, and her favorite female artists who inspire her the most. Join us, learn a lot about the music industry, and hear some great new music!
An amazing talent whose star is rising, Michelle "Shimmer" Johnson takes the time to tell us all about her music career, her metal band Circle the Wolves, and the favorite female artists who inspire her the most. Join us, learn a lot about the music industry, and hear some great new music!
An amazing talent whose star is rising, Michelle "Shimmer" Johnson takes the time to tell us all about her music career, her metal band Circle the Wolves, and the favorite female artists who inspire her the most. Join us, learn a lot about the music industry, and hear some great new music!
Well, now the cat is out of the bag and the hound dog's been crying all the time. Congratulations, that Devil Woman was a Devil in Disguise - how did we not see that one coming? Who wins - Elvis or Cliff Richard? Who is the one true King of Rock & Roll? Find out now, because there is no part 5!
Wise men say, only fools like us debate the truth of Rock & Roll: Elvis is King! Hail to the King, baby. But wait! Cliff Richard has far more top singles! He's still recording and performing. He got knighted by Her Majesty, which is almost like royalty! My, what a dilemma we have. if only Rock & Roll weren't so big and complicated. Join us for the battle and find the answer to the question: from the UK to the USA, who really knows how to rock?
Sometimes those soft ballads sound like a lullaby, but no sleeping on the job Mister Limey! You have to do your best to prove the point: is Cliff Richard truly the King of Rock and Roll or a Knight in the Royal Rock & Roll Chess Set? Tunes to get up and dance and true declarations of love to people or inanimate objects (does a 'Living Doll' count as 'inanimate'?)
We all know that the King of Rock and Roll is Elvis. Or is he? Perhaps on one side of the Big Pond, the King is someone else? Have we stumbled into an alternate universe? Was Thanos involved? No--but we did happen across a Cliff. Cliff Richard: the "English Elvis". See what you think.
Why do they say "When Pigs Fly"? Why not gorillas? Can you blame Duran Duran for wanting to Unionize those underground Snake kids? You know, the ones in the music video? They look downright impoverished! We wrap up our fun exploration of animal songs with some interesting trivia and kind-hearted well-wishes to you and the rest of the animal kingdom.
Would you swim with the alligators? Rock out with the crocodiles? (Oh Susie, how you broke our hearts!) What if I told you there was a collection of dirty used frisbees in it for you--would that sweeten the deal? Okay, well, if you have other things to do...I guess we'll be here talking about animals and trying not to stand up too fast in shallow waters.
It's a rough life out there - I tell ya, it's a jungle. A jungle full of monkeys with posh accents and the occasional walrus. It can be dog eat dog. It's even harder to handle with that monkey on your back (gesundheit). Join us as we continue our exploration of why animals tell us so much about ourselves.
We begin our amazing SIXTH YEAR with a look at why animals mean so much and how clever poets made their ways something we can use to relate to ourselves. Whether you're a Wild Thing or just an Animal, a Walrus (or Paul, or not?), we have something to share for you.
Thank you so much for being part of our journey through Season Five! As we think about entering our SIXTH YEAR of doing this show, with people in over 80 countries downloading the show, we're delighted to bring on the Christmas tunes and good cheer.
Rounding out the storytime - "Read to me again from the book of bad ideas!" - we focus on emotional issues: ignoring the warnings, being happy when maybe a bit of worry is warranted, and bottling it all up because Melissa Manchester turns out to have difficulty putting together a good pep talk. We hope you enjoy the last chapter of Bad Advice (from Good Songs)
From mixing your alcohols to mixing alcohol with driving, to bad driving, we've got it all as we continue our journey into bad, bad advice. Great songs and fun music and silly fun as we get...well, silly!
Skydiving naked? Stepmother is an Alien? You might be radioactive! Let's make sure no one Wang Chungs tonight, or tomorrow, until we're all very clear what exactly a Wang Chung is. Bad advice and lots of laughs today.
We have fun with good songs that have bad ideas. Take these completely unseriously and have a laugh when Smokey Robinson and the Miracles suggest relationships aren't for you, or Stephen Stills goes the opposite direction and tells you to have all kinds of intimate relations with whoever's on hand.
We enjoy the lighter side of dreams, with The Monkees and Weird Al, and Bobby Darin, the man gifted with two first names. This is a chance to enjoy your favorite dream songs or go out to our YouTube playlist from this episode to be motivated and inspired.
Sometimes a Daydream Believer can think that Life is But a Dream, and Dream On. We won't make that mistake - it's hard to stay awake when Roy Orbison is singing a Dream Song, but it's easy to be excited about sharing all these great tunes with you and telling you the history behind them.
Songs about Dreams and Dreaming, from Elvis telling you where to go (in a nice way!) to Oasis reminding you not to stop until you get there. These are inspirational, sometimes surreal, and definitely dreamy. Well, mostly. It is Halloween soon.
Did the dark side of that last episode scare you? It's okay, we bring this journey in for a safe, secure landing as we move through the stuff of dreams. Mister Sandman may not have liked Roy Orbison calling him a candy-colored clown, and Enter Sandman may have been a tale of candy-colored revenge, Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong, the Mamas and the Papas, and Pink Floyd letting Roger Waters run amok with a dream of future history from long ago.
All good things must come to an end, but this end of the Beginnings and Endings leaves you with a sneak peek and a new beginning: the show's next topic! In between those things is an ending episode with a middle full of great musical beginnings and endings. Confused? It'll all make sense in the end.
Suddenly vinyl is back! And now the old folks have the joy of explaining to young people that some record players would automatically lift and return the player arm when the album got to the end, while other record players would just let the stylus flap back and forth against the edge of the record label, looping through empty slack in the needle groove. Except when The Beatles decided to fill that groove with something groovy, hidden right there at the end (and now returned in digital form)
By the time you left 2020 for 2021, you were probably asking yourself, "Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?" If you were caught in a landslide, with no escape from reality, we wouldn't blame you. Spend time with us to talk about some great beginnings and endings to your favorite songs or songs you've never heard before
2020 was rough, but in 2021, Life's Been Good anyway. We look at memorable, interesting, and fun beginnings and endings to famous songs.
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