Completely Conspicuous 660: When Schlitz Rocked America

Celebrating 19 years of podcasting with part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about concerts we'd like to go back in time to see. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

• On to our top 10 shows
• Phil's are in chronological order, Jay's in no particular order
• Phil: Neil Young and Pearl Jam on their short Euro tour, 8/26/95 in Dublin
• PJ standing in for Crazy Horse
• The Velvet Sundown, lame AI band
• Jay: The Clash from June 1980 at Hammersmith Palais
• 31 songs from throughout their career
• The Clash opened for the Who on the Schlitz Rocks America tour
• Apparently Schlitz was once a big name in beer
• Phil: Stevie Ray Vaughan on 9/21/85 at the Capitol Theatre
• Jay: PJ Harvey on the Rid of Me tour in '93
• Saw her on the next tour in '95
• Phil: Talking Heads on the Speaking in Tongues tour in Oct. 1983 in Billerica, Mass.
• Jay: I would've picked the 1980 tour with Adrian Belew on guitar
• Jay: Living Colour at TT the Bears in Cambridge, Mass. in the summer of '88
• Taped the show off the radio simulcast on WBCN
• Killer show before the band blew up the next year
• Phil: U2 on the War tour in March 1983
• Jay: Prince's Purple Rain tour at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse
• Prince was the biggest musician in the world at the time
• Phil: The Pretenders at the Paradise in Boston in 1980
• The band's original lineup was so good
• Jay: Went with a December 1981 Pretenders show in France
• 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 659: Journey Through the Past

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about concerts we'd like to go back in time to see. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

• We're taking advantage of time machine technology
• That time Zebra opened for their own Zep cover band
• We're listing specific shows
• So many great artists to choose from
• YouTube makes it easier to see a lot of shows you missed
• Honorable mentions
• Jay: Surprise show by the Stones at a small Toronto club in '77
• Two shows were turned into a live album decades later
• Phil: Bob Marley and the Wailers in London, Monterey Pop, Bowie on Diamond Dogs tour, Sleater-Kinney in Berkeley, James Brown at the Boston Garden in '68, Beatles in Hamburg or the rooftop set, Prince on Purple Rain tour, Phish in '98, Steely Dan in '74  
• Jay: JB at the Soul Train studios in '73, the Police in '79, Iggy and the Stooges in '73, Zeppelin in '70, Mission of Burma's first farewell in '83, Drive Like Jehu in '94, Black Sabbath in '70, Iron Maiden in '81 with their original singer
• The Police jumped on the new wave bandwagon and brought energy and skill to it
• Sabbath's had interesting line items in their recording budget
• Shout out to CompCon intern Lily
• 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 658: Hits to the Dome

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about our favorite music of 2025 so far. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

• Counting down our favorite albums
• Breitling's #6: Dan Bejar with another well-done Destroyer album
• "Slacker Sinatra" singing about aging
• Kumar's #6: Striking solo effort from Tunde Adebimpe
• Breitling's #5: Shoegaze goodness from NJ's High
• Kumar's #5: Dax Riggs with fuzz-laden goth grunge
• Breitling's #4: Digging the Estonian dream pop from mariin k.
• Kumar's #3: Impressive 15th solo album from Bob Mould plays to his strengths
• Still kicking ass into his mid-60s
• Breitling's #3: Boston trio with a dumb name and a great album, (T-T)b
• Kumar's #2: Mclusky returns after 21 years with a razor-sharp ripper
• Breitling's #2 and Kumar's #4: Surprise return to thunderous form from The Men
• Kumar's #1: PUP's fifth album finds them exploring more mature themes while still kicking ass
• Breitling's #1 and Kumar's #7: The four-album magnum opus from Hallelujah the Hills exceeds expectations
• Many guest appearances among the 54 songs
• Looking forward to new releases from the Lemonheads, Sloan, Superchunk, Pile, Wednesday

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 657: Charts Schmarts

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about our favorite music of 2025 so far. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

• Drinking some Italian beer
• Rock is dead commercially
• Billboard album chart contains nearly no rock
• Fleetwood Mac's Rumours still riding high for some reason
• Festival cancellations: Bonnaroo, Boston Calling next year, Lollapalooza
• Too many festivals, high ticket prices
• Black Sabbath farewell show
• Lots of big rock deaths: Brian Wilson, Sly Stone, David Johansen, Marianne Faithfull, etc.
• We saw Hallelujah the Hills recently and it was glorious
• Kumar saw some shows: Frank Black, Shannon/Narducy, Gang of Four, Bob Mould
• Breitling will see Oasis in Mexico, as one does
• Who's the Who's drummer?
• Breitling's bubbling under albums: Whirr, Winter, Lunchbox, Pink Floyd reissue, Rough Francis, The Get Quick, Autocamper, Viagra Boys, Thalia Zedek Band
• Kumar's list: Kinski, Ty Segall, Civic, Cameron Keiber, Dean Wareham, Pulp, Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, The Bug Club, Turnstile, The Tubs, Kestrels, Lifeguard, Hotline TNT
• Breitling's #10: An electronic collab between Mark Pritchard and Thom Yorke
• Kumar's #10: Sophomore release from Horsegirl explores mellower sounds
• So much music to listen to these days
• Breitling's #9: Ambient situation delivered by William Tyler
• Of Bills Frisell and Laswell
• Kumar's #9: Post-punk ripper from Charm School
• Kurt Loder is still with us
• Kumar's #8: Heavy Spoon influence on the new album from The Convenience
• Breitling's #7: Dean Wareham is still bringing it
• 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 656: The Battle of Evermore

Part 4 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we crown the winner of a March Madness-style tournament featuring our favorite rock artists. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

• Round 3 begins
• The Smiths vs. Led Zeppelin
• James Brown vs. Rush
• Rolling Stones vs. The Cure
• The Clash vs. The Police
• U2 vs. The Replacements
• The Who vs. Talking Heads
• Tom Petty vs. Neil Young
• The Beatles vs. David Bowie
• Round 4
• The Final Four
• The Championship

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 655: Bracketology

Part 3 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we wrap up the second round of a March Madness-style tournament featuring our favorite rock artists. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

• Round 2 forced some difficult choices
• The Smiths vs. Spoon
• Led Zeppelin vs. Prince
• James Brown vs. Queens of the Stone Age
• Rush vs. Allman Brothers Band
• Rolling Stones vs. Beastie Boys
• The Cure vs. The Afghan Whigs
• The Tragically Hip vs. The Clash
• The Police vs. Mark Lanegan
• Stevie Wonder vs. U2
• Sonic Youth vs. The Replacements
• The Who vs. Beck
• Talking Heads vs. Dinosaur Jr.
• Tom Petty vs. Pixies
• Neil Young vs. Steely Dan
• Van Halen vs. Beatles
• Pearl Jam vs. David Bowie
• Next: The final two rounds

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 654: The Battle Rages On

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we wrap up the first round of a March Madness-style tournament featuring our favorite rock artists. Listen below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

• Finishing up the rest of round 1
• Stevie Wonder vs. the Pretenders
• Talking Heads vs. U2
• St. Vincent vs. Sonic Youth
• Elvis Costello vs. the Replacements
• R.E.M. vs. the Who
• Beck vs. Dire Straits
• Jimi Hendrix vs. Jason Isbell
• Dinosaur Jr. vs. Foo Fighters
• Drive-By Truckers vs. Tom Petty
• Pixies vs. Fleetwood Mac
• Neil Young vs. Sleater-Kinney
• Steely Dan vs. Husker Du
• Van Halen vs. Blondie
• White Stripes vs. the Beatles
• J. Geils Band vs. Pearl Jam
• Nirvana vs. David Bowie
• Coming soon: Round 2, with more tough decisions

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 653: Smarch Madness

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we talk our way through a March Madness-style tournament of our favorite rock artists. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

• We left out artists that we both didn't like: Grateful Dead, Black Sabbath, Radiohead, Joni Mitchell, Phish, Iron Maiden
• Also had to leave off a number of artists just for space considerations: Ramones, AC/DC, Feelies, Breeders, Camper Van Beethoven, etc.
• Some tough matchups in round 1 with randomized seeding
• The Smiths vs. PJ Harvey
• Spoon vs. Courtney Barnett
• Led Zeppelin vs. Bob Dylan
• The Cure vs. Prince
• Elton John vs. James Brown
• Pavement vs. Queens of the Stone Age
• Buffalo Tom vs. Rush
• Allman Brothers Band vs. Soundgarden
• The Kinks vs. The Rolling Stones
• Alice in Chains vs. Beastie Boys
• Bob Marley vs. The Cure
• Joe Jackson vs. The Afghan Whigs
• The Tragically Hip vs. Velvet Underground
• The Clash vs. Iggy Pop
• Stevie Ray Vaughan vs. The Police
• Sloan vs. Mark Lanegan
• To be continued with the rest of Round 1

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 652: From Bad to Worse

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about bad songs from good artists. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

• Songs we hate by artists we love
• Phil's #6: U2 makes a misstep
• Bono's talking tough
• Jay's #6: A #1 hit from Cheap Trick featuring outside songwriters
• The power ballad became huge for hard rock bands
• Phil's #5: AC/DC hits it big after losing their singer
• Jay's #5: When the biggest band tries to get weird
• Phil's #4: When GNR decided to cover Dylan
• They had lots of bad covers
• Jay's #4: When Aerosmith hit #1 with a soundtrack ballad
• Late-period Aerosmith is tough to take
• Phil's #3: The Smiths get preachy about animal rights
• Let's hear it for Bovine University
• Morrissey with ham-fisted lyrics about vegetarianism
• Jay's #3: R.E.M. had a couple of stinkers
• A version of the song ended up on Sesame Street
• Phil's #2: Punk rock upstarts go acoustic
• Green Day ended up becoming very mainstream
• Jay's #2: Bowie and Jagger with a very '80s abomination of a cover
• Video premiered during Live Aid
• Phil's #1: A definitive low for the Police at their most successful time
• Andy Summers wrote some bad songs every so often
• Jay's #1: Genesis with an all-timer of an offensive song
• The video alone is brutal
• Blame it on Mike Rutherford  

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 651: That's Right, We Bad

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about bad songs from good artists. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

• Songs we hate by artists we love
• Jay: Radiohead's "Fake Plastic Trees" is so whiny it turned me off the band for a few years
• Songs you hate vs. songs you're sick of hearing
• Phil: Nirvana had some dumb songs
• Phil's dishonorable mentions: Songs from Bowie and Jagger, Beck, XTC, Pink Floyd, Dire Straits, the Cars, Bob Seger 
• Phil bashes the Brits 
• Jay's dishonorable mentions: Songs by Soundgarden, Van Hagar, Rush, U2, Lou Reed
• Sammy Hagar's lyrics are...something
• Phil's #10: One of the Stones' bigger hits
• Jay's #10: Zeppelin goes honky tonk with meh results
• Phil's #9: Frat boy antics from the Beastie Boys
• Jay's #9: Andy Summers let his freak flag fly in the Police
• Phil's #8: The Dead goes disco with some rough lyrics
• The late '70s saw lots of rock acts try disco
• Jay's #8: Macca had some missteps, including his first teamup with MJ
• Phil's #7: The Beatles stumbled with an avant garde instrumental
• Maybe it was the drugs 
• Jay's #7: Dee Dee Ramone tries rapping with hilariously bad results
• 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 650: Rip This Joint

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

Show notes:

• Our top 10 concerts in no particular order
• Phil: Banged up and seeing his first Dead show in Foxborough in 1989
• The show is popular with Dead fans
• Jay: Caught Mike Watt backed by the Foo Fighters in their first Boston appearance in '95
• Phil: 12 days after that Dead show, saw the Who at the same venue
• A 3-hour show for the 20th anniversary of Tommy
• Jay: The one area appearance by Them Crooked Vultures in '09
• Supergroup with Josh Homme, Dave Grohl, John Paul Jones
• Phil: McCartney at Sullivan Stadium in 1990
• The tour book phenomenon
• Jay: Two shows in one night--The Amps followed by Mighty Mighty Bosstones
• Phil: U2 show on St. Patrick's Day '92 in Boston, Achtung Baby tour
• "Put it in H"
• Jay: Also a U2 show; September 1987 at the Boston Garden
• Phil: Dylan at Endicott College in October 1992
• Tickets purchased at a local jewelry store
• Dylan almost didn't play because a heater wasn't working on stage
• Jay: Electric performance from Nick Cave's band Grinderman at House of Blues
• Phil: Pearl Jam at the Orpheum in April 1994
• A few days after Cobain's death
• Jay: Front row at the Orpheum for Sugar, November 1994
• Bob Mould's last tour with Sugar
• Phil: Neil Young at the Wang Center in 2018 with Jay
• Neil was solo, telling stories between songs
• Gotta see some of these older artists while they're around
• Jay: Pearl Jam in April '92 at tiny club Axis
• Just before PJ blew up
• Phil: Dead & Co. at Fenway in summer '23
• $60 cheese pizza 
• Jay: Last month seeing Sloan in Toronto with my daughter
• Played their first album front to back
• Only concert I've ever seen in Toronto
• Phil: Phish playing third show in three nights at Mansfield
• Jay: Ty Segall at the late lamented Great Scott in 2014
• So loud the floor was shaking
• Jay: No issues with seeing shows by myself
• Phil: Goose at MGM Fenway last year
• Played lots of covers, including the odd 36-minute jam
• Jay: First time seeing the Tragically Hip at the Paradise in April '91
• About 25 people there, but the band killed it
• Saw the band many times after that

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.