Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Completely Conspicuous 340: Behind the Lines


Part 1 of my conversation with guest Ric Dube as we examine the back story of '70s hitmakers Hamilton, Joe Frank and Reynolds. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").



Show notes:
- Recorded at More Lost Time world HQ
- Check out our new web series Trust Fund Challenge
- The adventures of Steve Austin Astronaut
- Hamilton, Joe Frank and Reynolds were synonymous with '70s AM pop
- "Don't Pull Your Love" was their first big hit in '71
- Singer does an Elvis impression
- Song written by Lambert and Potter, who had hits with many artists
- Guys from HJFR were in the T-Bones, who had a hit in '60s with "No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach Is In)"
- An "offshoot" of the Ventures, an instrumental band that made tons of records covering hits
- Session musicians made the albums
- T-Bones were put together to tour and later they formed HJFR
- The Wrecking Crew was a famous session band that cranked out hits
- Reynolds left HJFR in '72
- Second HJFR album stiffed
- Ric: A bunch of Ventures albums probably don't have the Ventures on them
- HJFR replaced Reynolds but contract with Playboy Records required them to keep old name
- Many bands are named after the musicians
- To be continued

Music:
The Hush Now - Arthur Come On, Really You Can't Be Serious
Kingdom of the Holy Sun - Thirteen Eyes

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The Hush Now song is on the forthcoming album Sparkle Drive. Download the song for free at Soundcloud.
The Kingdom of the Holy Sun song is on the self-released EP Thirteen Eyes. Download the song for free at KEXP.

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Completely Conspicuous 339: Reeling in the Years, 1989 (Part 3)


Part 3 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1989. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:
- Recorded via Skype
- Check out Brian's comics podcast The Hour Cosmic
- Jay's #3
- Neil Young rebounds from a long, strange decade
- Led to a fruitful stretch of albums
- Jay's #2
- Bob Mould moves beyond Husker Du
- Inspired new direction and sound
- Our picks for #1 are the same
- Pixies at their peak
- Doolittle covers all facets of the band's sound
- Brian saw them several times when they toured behind Doolittle in the last decade
- Brian: Latest live incarnation of Pixies is more energized
- Bad choice for first single with "Bagboy"
- Frank Black was prolific, but he can't keep up with Bob Pollard
- Next up: 1996
- Popular music was shifting again

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

Music:
Ty Segall - Susie Thumb
Spoon - Rent I Pay
J. Mascis - Every Morning

The Ty Segall song is on the album Manipulator on Drag City Records. Download the song for free at KEXP.
The Spoon song is on the album They Want My Soul on Loma Vista Recordings. Download the song for free at KEXP.
The J. Mascis song is on the album Tied to a Star on Sub Pop. Download the song for free at KEXP.

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Sunday, August 3, 2014

Eight Miles High

Checking in from Williamsburg, Virginia, where we're on vacation for the next week. We've been keeping ourselves busy with visits to Colonial Williamsburg, Water Country and a ropes course in our first few days here, but I wanted to take a little time to celebrate an anniversary today: Eight years ago on this very day, I created the first episode of Completely Conspicuous.

It's hard to believe the show's been a going concern since 2006, when podcasting was still a new and strange development. Now podcasting's fairly mainstream, at least in terms of the number of shows and the audiences they've grown. It hasn't become the huge moneymaking platform that some predicted it would, but it's been interesting see how some folks have indeed used a podcast to create new careers for themselves. Certainly folks like Marc Maron, Chris Hardwick and Adam Carolla have been able to reach new heights and build audiences and followings and yes, make some money out of the deal.

That certainly hasn't been the case for me, but then, I never thought it would. CompCon's been a labor of love and something that I've enjoyed doing over the years for the sheer fun of it. When the show was part of the Podshow network, I ran ads to cover my expenses, but when Podshow/Mevio started falling apart, I was just as happy to pay my $20 a month to have Libsyn host the show.

I've never had a huge audience and honestly have never cared to pimp the show to get one. I like talking to people about things that interest me. Fortunately, I've had friends who have contributed greatly to the show over 338 episodes: Jay Breitling, Ric Dube, Brian Salvatore, Matt Phillion, Brian Lewandowski, Phil Stacey and many others. I thank all of them for helping make the show what it is.

I'm still going to keep cranking out the episodes as long as I feel like doing the show. Hopefully you'll listen in. If not, that's cool, too.