Completely Conspicuous 574: Bigmouth Strikes Again

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about our favorite music of 1986. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

- Recorded in the backyard of CompCon HQ

- Phil's #5: Solid effort from the Pretenders, which was basically just Chrissie Hynde at this point

- Jay's #5: Metallica hits their high point

- Neighborhood dogs start chiming in

- Phil is a big fan of Ratt n' Roll

- Phil's #4: The debut of the Van Hagar era

- Eddie fully embraces synths, poppier sound

- Didn't realize until recently that the riff of "Best of Both Worlds" is identical to Kool and the Gang's "Celebration"

- Jay's #4: David Lee Roth's out VH's VH

- The best Dave solo album

- Phil's #3 and Jay's #2: R.E.M. starts embracing power chords

- Jay's #3: John Lydon teams up with studio musicians to create a classic

- Steve Vai, Ginger Baker and others show up

- Phil's #1: The Smiths in the middle of a strong run of albums

- Johnny Marr elevates this album

- Phil's #2 and Jay's #1: Husker Du's last great record

- First major label album featured more pop hooks

- Grant Hart and Bob Mould each bringing in great songs

- Favorite songs: "Bigmouth Strikes Again" (Phil), "Don't Want to Know If You Are Lonely" (Jay)

- Check out my Spotify playlist "Hits of the Year," which collects all the favorite songs we picked from 1970 onward

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 573: It's Tricky

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 1986. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

- Recorded in the backyard of CompCon HQ

- Jay was 18 going on 19 in '86, Phil was 16 going on 17

- Nine of the top 10 selling albums of '86 came out the year before

- Older artists make comebacks

- Pop and hair metal were big

- Boston finally released its third album

- Phil's non-top 5s: Talking Heads, Smithereens, Prince, Run DMC, Beastie Boys, XTC, Bad Brains, Gene Loves Jezebel, Love and Rockets, World Party, Dead Milkmen, B-52s, Luka Bloom, Feelies, Joe Jackson, Pet Shop Boys, Sonic Youth, Rolling Stones, Dylan, Steve Earle, DLR

- Jay's non-top 5s: David & David, Peter Gabriel, Iron Maiden

- 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 331: Reeling in the Years, 1986 (Part 3)

Part 3 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1986. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").


Show notes:
- Recorded via Skype
- Check out Brian's comics podcast The Hour Cosmic
- Brian's #3
- Feelies' second album was very influential
- Jay's #3
- R.E.M. debuts heavier guitar sound
- Band kept going too long
- Brian's #2
- They Might Be Giants got off to great start
- Lots of NJ love
- Jay's #2
- Husker Du's amazing stretch
- '80s production techniques hurt some great albums
- Grant Hart dominated Candy Apple Grey
- Brian's #1
- Camper Van Beethoven released two albums in '86
- Jay's #1
- '86 was the year of thrash
- Metallica at their best
- Drawbacks to sound fidelity with MP3, but convenience is worth it
- Hair metal also thrived in '86
- Next up: 1989

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

Music:
Los Campesinos! - Little Mouth
The Fresh & Onlys - Animal of One
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Simple and Sure

The Los Campesinos! song is on the soundtrack to the movie Benny and Jolene. Download the song for free from Stereogum.
The Fresh & Onlys song is on the album House of Spirits on Mexican Summer Records. Download the song for free from KEXP.
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart song is on the album Days of Abandon on Yebo. Download the song for free from 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.

Completely Conspicuous 330: Reeling in the Years, 1986 (Part 2)

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1986. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").


Show notes:
- Recorded via Skype
- Check out Brian's comics podcast The Hour Cosmic
- Sammy Hagar's lyrical prowess
- Sam Halen?
- Jay: Saw VH and DLR touring separately in summer of '86
- The sad tale of Jason Becker
- Amnesty International's Conspiracy of Hope tour featured U2, Peter Gabriel, Sting
- Led to ill-fated Police reunion
- Bands that formed or released debut albums in '86: NWA, 2 Live Crew, Buffalo Tom, Pixies, Throwing Muses, Goo Goo Dolls, Firehose, Big Audio Dynamite
- A comeback of sorts for Neil Young
- Ramones album was plagued by bad '80s production
- Jay was conflicted about XTC's "Dear God"
- Brian's #5 album
- Jonathan Richman's mostly under the radar career path
- Jay's #5
- Eat 'Em and Smile out-Van Halened Van Halen
- Brian's #4
- Mark Sandman's pre-Morphine act, Treat Her Right, released debut
- Jay's #4
- John Lydon put together a crack session band including Steve Vai and came up with a great album
- Lydon was set to tour in Jesus Christ Superstar but show was cancelled
- To be continued...

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

Music:
Superchunk - Untied (live)
Bottomless Pit - Fleece (live)
Lazy - Party City (live)

The Superchunk song is part of the band's Epitonic Saki Session. Download the set for free at Epitonic.
The Bottomless Pit song is part of the band's Epitonic Saki Session. Download the set for free at Epitonic.
The Lazy song is part of the band's Epitonic Saki Session. Download the set for free at Epitonic.

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.

Completely Conspicuous 329: Reeling in the Years, 1986 (Part 1)

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1986. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").


Show notes:
- Recorded via Skype
- Check out Brian's comics podcast The Hour Cosmic
- Brian was 4 in '86; Jay was (cough) 18 and in college
- Jay: Watched a lot of MTV that year
- Brian: Paul Simon's Graceland was huge
- Peter Gabriel became a megastar
- Van Halen and David Lee Roth split up and released albums
- Brian: Musically, 1986 was all over the place
- Nine of the top 10 selling albums were released in '85
- Album sales were enormous back then
- The Bangles hit big with "Walk Like an Egyptian"
- Springsteen's Live 1975-85 was a big box set release
- First year of Rock Hall of Fame
- Rush and KISS were shocking admissions to Rock Hall in recent years
- Hair metal was thriving; even Judas Priest poofed up their hair
- Hip hop hit hard: Beasties and Run DMC made big impressions
- Aerosmith's career was revived thanks to Run DMC
- Brian: Worst moments include band breakups (Black Flag, Minutemen, Smiths, Dead Kennedys)
- "That's What Friends Are For": Great cause, awful song
- Lionel Richie went from cool in the Commodores to cheesy
- Deaths: Phil Lynott, Richard Manuel, Cliff Burton, Benny Goodman, Scatman Crothers
- Boston's long-awaited third album
- The Vinnie Vincent Invasion took hair metal to ridiculous extremes
- Wank guitar was all the rage
- To be continued...

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

Music:
Fucked Up - Paper the House
Mudhoney - Touch Me I'm Sick (live)
Two Inch Astronaut - Part of Your Scene (live on WVAU)

The Fucked Up song is on the album Glass Boys on Matador Records. Download the song for free at Matablog.
The Mudhoney song is on the EP Mudhoney on Top! KEXP Presents Mudhoney Live on Top of the Space Needle. Download the song for free at KEXP.
The Two Inch Astronaut song is available for free download (in exchange for your email address) as part of Exploding in Sound's EIS Sampler 2013-2014 on Bandcamp. 

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.