Completely Conspicuous 564: Purple Rain

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we discuss the music of 1984. Listen to the episode or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

- Recorded via Zoom

- Phil's #5: A strong return for the Pretenders

- Half the band died after the previous album

- Jay's #5 and Phil's #3: An interesting new direction for U2

- Moody, atmospheric production from Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois

- Phil's #4: Audacious debut by the Smiths

- Another influential college rock act

- Phil as the edgy alt-rock kid at freshman orientation

- When bands split up into two versions and keep touring

- Jay's #4: Another great record from the Replacements

- Paul Westerberg's songwriting continued to mature

- Jay's #3: An epic double concept album from Husker Du

- No fancy reissues for SST releases

- Phil's #2: A classic live album from a band that released a great one only a few years earlier

- The expanded version's better than the original

- Jay's #2: R.E.M. continues building their legacy with a second standout album

- A lot of fans jumped off the bandwagon after the next album

- Phil and Jay's #1: A tour de force from Prince

- All killer, no filler

- Favorite songs: "Life During Wartime" (Phil), "Purple Rain" (Jay)

Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 563: Round and Round

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we discuss the music of 1984. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

- Recorded via Zoom

- Phil was 14 going on 15, Jay was 16 going on 17 in '84

- Phil: Watched a lot of MTV

- "College rock" was emerging

- Music was drenched in synths

- Jay: Saw my first concerts

- Hair metal was making a splash

- Thrash metal was new and exciting

- Billy Squier's tough year

- Phil's non-top 5 albums: Bowie, Kinks, Deep Purple, Dio, Van Halen, Ratt, Springsteen, Los Lobos, Sade, Meat Puppets, Husker Du, Minutemen, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Replacements, R.E.M., Run DMC

- Phil loves him some Ratt

- Jay's non-top 5s: Rush, Iron Maiden, The Cars, INXS

- Saw INXS a few years later at Radio City Music Hall

- To be continued

Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 562: Perfect Circle

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we count down our favorite albums of 1983. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

- Recorded via Zoom

- Phil's #5: U2's second release of '83

- Captured the band's fiery live show

- Jay's #5: Iron Maiden continues its U.S. breakthrough

- Part of the mainstream acceptance of metal

- Phil's #4: The solo debut of Stevie Ray Vaughan

- SRV got a lot of comparisons to Hendrix

- Jay's #4 and Phil's #3: Talking Heads' highest-charting album

- Several songs were overshadowed by Stop Making Sense versions

-Jay's #2: Replacements start hitting their stride

- The start of a great run of albums

- Jay's #3 and Phil's #1: U2 busts out in the U.S.

- Phil: Still disappointed to miss them on this tour

- Phil's #2 and Jay's #1: R.E.M.'s studio debut was massively influential

- Jay: Saw them on Letterman making their network TV debut

- Favorite songs: "Surrender" (Phil), "Talk About the Passion" (Jay)

Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.