Part 3 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1991. Listen to the episode below or download directly.
Show notes:
- Check out Brian's podcast Input/Output
- Brian's #3
- The final Pixies album with original lineup
- Jay's #2
- Do we need to hear Nevermind again?
- Symbolically historic
- Raw vs. polished
- Brian's #2
- Tribe Called Quest brought a serious jazz feel to their sound
- Focused on the groove, not samples
- Jay's #1
- Matthew Sweet swings for the fences
- Sick guitar work from Lloyd and Quine
- Susanna Hoffs doesn't age
- Brian's #1
- Mike Mills gets his due
- Peter Buck's mandolin phase
- Still plenty of great records we didn't discuss
- The Costello-McCartney experiment
- School of Fish had the song of the summer of '91
- What's next?
- The early '90s were chock full of good stuff
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
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.
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1991. Listen to the episode below or download directly.
Show notes:
- Check out Brian's podcast Input/Output
- Albums that didn't make our top 5 of '91
- Brian: Feelies, Slint, Prince
- Skipping a Prince show
- Jay: Mudhoney, Pearl Jam, Screaming Trees, Temple of the Dog
- Brian: Firehose, De La Soul, Cohen tribute, Jonathan Richman
- No more "Hallelujah" covers, please
- Tribute albums were big in the '90s
- Jay: Tragically Hip, Dinosaur Jr., Fishbone, Nation of Ulysses, Swervedriver
- Jay's #5
- Soundgarden's game-changer
- Brian's #5
- Primus makes its mark
- Jay's #4
- The best Smashing Pumpkins album
- Corgan's off the rails now
- Brian's #4
- Ween's weirdest record
- Jay's #3
- Teenage Fanclub went from unknowns in the U.S. to indie darlings
- To be continued
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
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.
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1991. Listen to the episode below or download directly.
Show notes:
- Check out Brian's podcast Input/Output
- Wrapping up our look at the music of the years 1980-1999
- 1991 really kicked off the '90s musically
- Brian was 9, Jay was 23
- Alt-rock took off in '91
- Big year for Metallica
- Plenty of pop and one-hit wonders
- Bryan Adams and Color Me Badd had strong years
- Big efforts from A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, NWA and Public Enemy
- Styx had a song land in the top 100 singles
- Rock radio was still rooted in classic rock
- Billboard switched to Soundscan charts
- Freddie Mercury died on same day as Eric Carr of KISS
- Van Halen's slide into irrelevancy
- Since '91, VH has released three albums with three different singers
- Red Hot Chili Peppers hit their peak
- Albums Jay liked in '91: RHCP, Live, Spin Doctors
- Quintessential '90s tunes
- Talking Heads officially split
- To be continued
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
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.
Part 3 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1990. Listen to the episode below or download directly.
Show notes:
- Check out Brian's podcast Input/Output
- Jay's #3 album of 1990
- Public Enemy was controversial
- Homophobia was pervasive back then, especially in hip hop
- PE scared white America
- Brian's #3
- They Might Be Giants was in the middle of a classic run of albums
- Song-a-Day Hotline
- Jay's #2
- After a decade of weirdness, Neil Young re-established himself as a rock icon
- Took Sonic Youth and Social D on the road
- Brian's #1 and Jay's #5
- Kim Deal and Tanya Donelly teamed up
- Deal stepped out of Black Francis' shadow
- Brian's #2
- Pixies release their surfiest album
- When 3/4 of Pixies crossed paths with some interesting neighbors
- Jay's #1
- Jane's Addiction's tour de force
- Scored an accidental video and radio hit with "Been Caught Stealing"
- Starts out fast and punchy, ends with side 2 of long, epic songs
- Perry Farrell's transition from out-of-control rock freak to hippie uncle
- One more year to go: 1991
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
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.
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1990. Listen to the episode below or download directly.
Show notes:
- Check out Brian's podcast Input/Output
- Albums that just missed our top 5 of the year
- Alice in Chains inspired a ton of copycat acts
- World Party paid homage to many influences
- Brian was a big Pantera fan in high school
- Social Distortion's classic era
- Living Colour came into their own with second album
- Warren Zevon teamed up with the non-Stipe members of R.E.M. to do a covers album
- Elektra comp Rubaiyat featured unlikely covers
- Mark Lanegan's first solo album established his dark bluesy side
- Ride was on the crest of the shoegaze wave
- Brian's #5
- Ween established their eclectic reputation
- The strange journey of Sim Cain
- Jay's #4
- Fugazi at the peak of their powers
- Brian's #4
- Primus at their least jokey
- To be continued
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
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.
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1990. Listen to the episode below or download directly.
Show notes:
- Check out Brian's podcast Input/Output
- Things are getting weird
- The Decline of Western Civilization docs are fascinating
- In 1990, Jay was 22-23 and Brian was 8
- The '90s were still kicking off
- Pivotal events were still yet to happen
- Stevie Ray Vaughan died young
- 2 Live Crew came to prominence
- Oh, Milli Vannilli
- Disposable pop seemed to fade for a while
- Hammer and Vanilla Ice
- Madonna: Publicity generator
- Metal was tailing off after a strong decade
- Hip hop was getting stronger
- New Jack Swing was the thing
- Alternative rock was paving the way for Nirvana's breakthrough
- Pop charts were topped by the likes of Wilson Phillips and Roxette
- Sinead O' Connor's wild year
- Bands formed: Bikini Kill, Cracker, Body Count, Spin Doctors
- What about Tool?
- Broke up: Death of Samantha, Game Theory, Starship
- To be continued
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
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.
Part 3 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1985. Listen to the episode below or download directly.
Show notes:
- Check out Brian's podcast Input/Output
- Jay's #5
- Brian: "I'm a major label sellout guy" when it comes to R.E.M.
- R.E.M. started getting rock radio airplay in '85
- When MTV News was a thing
- The evolution of Stipe
- Brian's #2
- The Pogues: A love 'em or hate 'em band
- Shane McGowan has teeth now
- Jay's #2
- Two great Husker Du albums in '85
- New Day Rising gets the edge over Flip Your Wig
- Rock concert business was focused on arenas in '85
- Indie rock acts had to forge their own way
- Brian's #1 and Jay's #5
- Camper Van Beethoven's interesting debut mixed a lot of styles
- Jay forgot about the Replacements
- Trouble Boys, the Replacements bio, is excellent
- Mats reunion may not be over
- Jay's #1
- Pete Townshend's last great work
- Ambitious project about the London projects where he grew up
- Since then, he's focused on Who tours and licensing
- McCartney can't stop/won't stop
- Next up: 1990
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
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.
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1985. Listen to the episode below or download directly.
Show notes:
- Check out Brian's podcast Input/Output
-
Bands that formed in '85: Bevis Frond, Big Dipper, Crowded House, Guns
'N Roses, Hootie and the Blowfish, Jane's Addiction, Radiohead
- Bands that split up: Minutemen, Hanoi Rocks, Kajagoogoo
- Brian's bubbling under albums: Prince, Minutemen, Jonathan Richman, Angst, Big Audio Dynamite
- The importance of Mick Jones
- Jay: Smiths, INXS, Cure, Dinosaur Jr., Rush, Jesus and Mary Chain
- Brian's #5
- Beat Happening specialized in lo-fi pop
- Brian's #4
- Not the best Talking Heads album, but a decent one
- Jay's #4
- The Cult established their goth sound
- To be continued
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
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.
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1985. Listen to the episode below or download directly.
Show notes:
- Check out Brian's podcast Input/Output
- 1985: Jay graduated from high school, started college in the fall
- Jay was 17 going on 18, Brian turned 3
- Jay: Listened to a lot of AOR, hard rock, metal
- Started getting into U2
- The year of rock charity
- Undercurrent of college rock
- MTV was growing
- Style over substance
- Strange collection of songs on the Hot 100
- A lot of songs released in '84 carried over to '85 charts
- Hard rock and metal albums were selling well: Ratt, Dokken, Twisted Sister
- Indie rock's influence wouldn't be felt for a few more years
- The launch of VH1
- PMRC hearings put spotlight on explicit lyrics
- Warning labels had the opposite of intended effect
- DLR left Van Halen in '85: Did he jump or was he pushed?
- DLR's book is fascinating and insane
- Rock bios are a mixed bag
- To be continued
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
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.
Part 3 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1995. Listen to the episode below or download directly.
Show notes:
- Recorded live from Brian's back porch in Ringwood, NJ
- Check out Brian's podcast Input/Output
- Brian's #2
- Rentals' debut is on par with Weezer's best
- Brian's #3 and Jay's #2
- Jay: Saw Foo Fighters' first tour, opening for Mike Watt
- Foo debut came out of nowhere
- Grohl released a solo album a few years earlier
- First two Foo albums are standouts
- The problem with Audioslave
- Gord Downie goes out doing what he loves
- Radiohead's The Bends just missed both our lists
- Brian's #1 and Jay's #3
- Mike Watt called in every favor he could
- GBV's Alien Lanes dropped out of Jay's top 5
- Chock full o' good songs
- Jay's #1
- PJ Harvey expands her sound beyond guitar rock
- Next up: 1985
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
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.
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1995. Listen to the episode below or download directly.
Show notes:
- Recorded live from Brian's back porch in Ringwood, NJ
- Check out Brian's podcast Input/Output
- Brian's bubbling under albums: ODB, Morphine, Boss Hog, Hum
- Brian Salvatore: Humbuster
- Jay's bubbling under: Rancid, Mad Season, Elastica, Matthew Sweet, Yo La Tengo
-
Brian: White Zombie, No Doubt, Oasis, Presidents of the USA, Smashing
Pumpkins, Goo Goo Dolls, Flaming Lips, Bowie, Sleater-Kinney
- Jay: Urge Overkill, Chris Whitley, Helium, Garbage, Bjork, Wilco, Neil Young, Jawbreaker
- Brian's #5
- Rancid blasts through an excellent album
- Jay's #5
- One of the two Rocket from the Crypt albums released in '95
- Melding horns with punk guitars
- Brian's #4
- Kim Deal's non-Breeders band
- "The most GBV-sounding Breeders record"
- Josephine Baker was not in the Breeders
- Jay's #4
- Pavement's post-breakthrough record
- The original title didn't cut it
- To be continued
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
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.
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1995. Listen to the episode below or download directly.
Show notes:
- Recorded live from Brian's back porch in Ringwood, NJ
- Check out Brian's podcast Input/Output
- Baby Ben hanging out
- In 1995, we were on to the second-generation grunge bands
- Bands were copying Bush and Stone Temple Pilots
- Brian was 12-13, Jay was 27-28
- Jerry Garcia died
- More '95 deaths: Eazy E, Shannon Hoon
- Back then, you checked out music based on a review
- Blind Melon's rise and fall
- Beatles released new song
- Bill Berry had a brain aneurysm during an R.E.M. show
- Van Halen released their last Hagar album
- Superhero movies in the '90s
- Singles charts had a lot of R&B, some jam rock
- Jay tells his Trey Anastasio story again
- Cursing Greg Ginn
- Jay: Listened to Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness for first time in 20 years
- Formed in '95: Blonde Redhead, N SYNC, Pedro the Lion, Eels, Sleater-Kinney
- Broke up in '95: Grateful Dead, Bronski Beat, Dire Straits, Drive Like Jehu, Oingo Boingo, Kyuss, Sugar
- To be continued
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
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.
Part 3 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1981. Listen to the episode below or download directly.
Show notes:
- Recorded via Skype
- Check out Brian's podcast Input/Output
- Brian's #3
- Prince starts pushing the envelope
- Prince in the '80s was nearly untouchable
- Jay's #3
- A childhood favorite
- Moving Pictures encapsulated everything Rush had been working toward
- Side 1 was killer
- Brian's #2
- Kraftwerk ran with robotic sounds
- A version is touring again
- Jay's #2
- The Police start to become a commercial success
- Stewart Copeland's drumming was revolutionary for the time
- Should Brian drop big coin to see Sting and Peter Gabriel live?
- Brian's #1
- Damaged is close to the definitive Black Flag album
- Jay's #1
- Van Halen's creative peak
- Angrier sounding
- Next up: 1995
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
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.
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1981. Listen to the episode below or download directly.
Show notes:
- Recorded via Skype
- Check out Brian's podcast Input/Output
- Elvis Costello released two albums in '81
- Solo albums from Phil Collins, Debbie Harry, Ronnie Wood, Peter Cetera, Lindsay Buckingham
- Bands formed: The Alarm, Anthrax, Metallica, Bangles, Beastie Boys, Butthole Surfers, Run DMC, Sonic Youth
- Broke up: Bay City Rollers, Steely Dan, Wings, Buzzcocks
- Bubbling under albums
- Brian: Ramones, Kinks
- Jay: Phil Collins, The Who, Tom Petty, Billy Squier
- A few years later, Squier kills his career with "Rock Me Tonite" video
- Brian: Lounge Lizards debut, Tom Tom Club, Replacements, Pretenders
- That time Brian pissed off Lurie on Twitter
- Jay: Gun Club, Black Sabbath, Motley Crue, Def Leppard, Gang of Four
- Brian's #5
- Byrne and Eno basically invent sampling
- Jay's #5
- The Stones bounce back with odds and sods collection that hits big
- The last time they weren't considered a nostalgia act
- To be continued
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
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.
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1981. Listen to the episode below or download directly.
Show notes:
- Recorded via Skype
- Check out Brian's podcast Input/Output
- In 1981, Jay was 13 and Brian wasn't born yet
- Jay: Lived in Canada for most of the year, then moved to U.S.
- Listened to a lot of hard rock and AOR
- Toronto radio was cool but a few years from becoming heavily formatted
- A lot of solo albums
- Beginnings of indie rock
- Lots of soft rock on the charts
- The Stones had a resurgence in '81
- Old rockers were in their 30s and 40s then
- Death of Lennon hung over the music scene
- Hall and Oates left a strong legacy of pop hits
- The puzzling Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame selection process
- The strange popularity of Steve Miller
- "Under Pressure" has become bigger as years passed
- MTV's debut in August 1981
- USA Network premiered "Night Flight"
- REO Speedwagon's one breakout year
- Ozzy's comeback continues
- To be continued
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
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.
Part 3 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1999. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").
Show notes:
- Recorded via Skype
- Check out Brian's new podcast Input/Output
- Brian's #3
- Magnetic Fields play every style of music on 69 Love Songs
- Jay's #3
- Beck funks it up
- Beck stopped experimenting years ago
- Brian's #2
- Brian's favorite Pavement album, but not Jay's
- Band was falling apart
- Jay's #2
- Sloan's concept album...about themselves
- Brian's #1
- Sigur Ros sing in an unidentified language
- Loud, droning orchestral sound
- Jay's #1
- Built to Spill released some epic guitar jams
- Lamenting shows we missed
- Jay: Learned about Built to Spill via Napster
- Next up (in a few months): 1981
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
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.
