Completely Conspicuous 544: In the Light

I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite albums of 1975. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

- Recorded via Zoom

- RIP to EVH

- We both saw VH in 1986

- In '75, Phil turned 6, Jay turned 8

- "Love Will Keep Us Together" was the #1 song of the year

- Disco was starting to emerge

- The S.N.A.C.K. concert

- Phil's non-top 5: Parliament, Burning Spear, Patti Smith, Aerosmith, Pink Floyd, Grateful Dead, Joni Mitchell, Steely Dan, Fleetwood Mac, Neil Young, Dylan and the Band

- Jay's non-top 5: AC/DC, Rush, The Who, Supertramp, Springsteen, McCartney/Wings

- Phil's #5: The Who tries some different sounds

- Jay's #5: Pink Floyd follows up a classic with another classic

- Phil's #4 and Jay's #3: Bowie moves into another phase

- Jay's #4: Queen breaks through with "Bohemian Rhapsody"

- Phil's #3 and Jay's #2: A gut-wrenching release from Neil Young

- Phil's 2: Dylan's 15th album is one of his best

- Phil and Jay's #1: A double album that highlights all the different facets of Zeppelin's sound

- Favorite songs: "Tonight's the Night" (Jay), "In the Light" (Phil)

- Things were happening

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 543: You Really Got Me

I'm joined by guest Brian Salvatore as we remember the greatness of Eddie Van Halen. Listen to the episode below or download directly.

Show notes:

- Recorded via Skype

- Last spoke in late March but feels a lot longer ago

- We've been fascinated by Van Halen's career, the good and the bad

- Eddie had dealt with cancer before

- Death still came as a shock

- Plenty of musician deaths this year: Neil Peart, Andy Gill, David Roback, Kenny Rogers, Bill Rieflin, Bill Withers, Adam Schlesinger, John Prine, Florian Schneider, Pete Way, Peter Green

- Eddie was iconic and eternally youthful

- Brian: First video I remember seeing was "Jump"

- Played on Letterman a few times

- Jay: Stopped listening to VH in '91 and didn't again for almost a decade

- The "Right Now" video was surprising

- Dropoff in quality after Roth left

- 2012's A Different Kind of Truth was a decent way to go out

- Hopefully there will finally be some archival VH releases

- Who buys greatest hits albums?

- Eddie's guest appearances

- Jay: First became aware of VH in 1980 when Women and Children First came out

- Eddie had been quiet for several years

- Roth was doing a Vegas residency and opening for KISS just before the pandemic shutdown

- Missing live music

- Plenty of livestreams to check out

Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts and anywhere else you get 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 542: Raised on Robbery

I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite albums of 1974. Listen to the episode below or download directly.

Show notes:

- Recorded via Zoom

- Phil finally got a haircut

- In '74, Phil turned 5, I turned 7

- Capt. and Tennille got married, Sonny and Cher got divorced

- "The Streak" was a big hit

- Phil: Looking back, liked more songs than albums in '74

- Not a long list of albums we liked

- Radio was the main source of how people discovered music at that time

- Phil's likes: Linda Ronstadt, Little Feat, Bob Marley, Lou Reed, Gram Parsons, Big Star, Van Morrison, Clapton

- Jay's likes: Rush's debut album, Genesis, The Who, Queen, Steely Dan, Aerosmith, Zappa

- The various, very different, phases of Genesis' sound

- Queen is more popular than ever

- Jay's #5: Supertramp's breakthrough

- Phil's #5: Another great Stevie Wonder album

- Jay's and Phil's #4: Neil Young with a mellow classic, powered by "honey slides"

- Jay's #3: Big Star with an underrated power pop gem

- Phil's #3 and Jay's #1: Bowie closing out his glam period with a bang

- Phil's #2: Steely Dan featured a ton of guest musicians

- Jay's #2: Lou Reed releases a killer live show

- Phil's #1: Joni Mitchell hits it big with a jazzier sound, with help from Cheech & Chong

- Backed by Tom Scott, who later was bandleader on both the Pat Sajak and Chevy Chase late night shows

- Favorite songs: "Raised on Robbery" (Phil), "Diamond Dogs" (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 541: The Great Gig in the Sky

I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite albums of 1973. Listen to the episode below or download directly.

Show notes:

- Recorded via Zoom

- "Tie a Yellow Ribbon" was big in '73

- Dark Side of the Moon spent 741 weeks on the Billboard albums chart

- Big singles from Jim Croce, Paul Simon, Roberta Flack, Stories, Joe Walsh, Stealers Wheel

- Jay's bubbling under albums: Wings, Queen, Lou Reed, Steely Dan, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, John Lennon, Sabbath

- Marvin Gaye: Not a subtle man

- Phil's bubbling under: Bob Marley and the Wailers, ZZ Top, Grateful Dead, Gram Parsons, Rolling Stones, ELP, Iggy and the Stooges

- Jay's top albums: NY Dolls, Bowie, Pink Floyd, The Who, Led Zep

- Dark Side of the Moon has been so overplayed over the years, but still a great album

- Phil's top albums: Allman Brothers, Elton John, Bowie, The Who, Led Zep

- The ridiculous coincidences of HBO's Vinyl

- Quadrophenia is the last great Who album

- The underrated John Paul Jones

- Jay's favorite: Iggy and the Stooges with a blistering comeback

- Full of snarl and punk attitude

- Phil's favorite: Pink Floyd

- Favorite songs: Jay - "Search and Destroy"; Phil - "The Great Gig in the Sky"

- R.I.P., Chadwick Boseman, who was amazing in Get On Up, a 2014 biopic about James Brown

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 540: Freak Out in a Moonage Daydream

I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite albums of 1972. Listen to the episode below or download directly.

Show notes:

- Recorded via Zoom

- Re-recording because of audio issues

- Missed the podcast's 14th birthday on Aug. 3

- In '72, Phil turned 3, Jay turned 5

- Big tours going on: Pink Floyd, Zeppelin, McCartney

- Different concept of band longevity back then

- A lot of soft rock on the singles chart

- Phil's faves: Neil Young, Bowie, Elton, Stones, Allman Brothers, Grateful Dead, War, Jackson Browne, Van Morrison, Lou Reed, Big Star, Stevie Wonder, Little Feat

- Pete Townshend's solo debut

- Jay's faves: Sabbath, Steely Dan, Stones, NY, Lou Reed, Big Star, T. Rex, Alice Cooper, Roxy Music, Bowie

- Favorite song from favorite album:  "Jack Straw (live)" (Phil) and "Moonage Daydream" (Jay)

- Did audiences appreciate what they were seeing back then?

- Sometimes people have too much fun at shows

- Next time: 1973

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 539: Half and Half

It's part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our favorite music of the year so far. Listen to the episode below or download directly.


Show notes:
- Recorded via Zoom
- Breitling's #10 and Kumar's #8
- Jangly indie pop sounds from Australia
- The lack of touring is really hurting bands and fans
- Breitling's #9
- A Matmos side project, "a niche of a niche"
- Kumar's #10
- All-star post-punk act out of LA
- Kumar's #9
- The loud/loud dynamic
- Breitling's #8
- Solo album from singer of Hop Along
- Breitling's #7
- Ambient electronic from an Italian musician in his 60s
- Bandcamp Friday has been a big hit this year
- Kumar's #7
- New band from Ian MacKaye, Amy Farina and Joe Lally
- Harking back to Fugazi's sound
- Kumar's #6
- Texas-based act with members from the Riverboat Gamblers and Rise Against
- Breitling's #6
- Another great Slumberland release
- Breitling's #5
- Dream pop from the Ukraine
- Kumar's #5
- Indie rock stalwart continues evolving his sound
- Kumar's and Breitling's #4
- Another cinematic effort from Canuck genius
- Breitling's #3
- Powerful release overshadowed by the pandemic
- Breitling's #2 and Kumar's #1
- Political hip hop as an art form
- Never more timely
- Kumar's #3
- Atmospheric new release from an alt-rock OG
- Kumar's #2
- Striking record from Boston-based indie rock act
- Breitling's #1
- UK indie act "like Elliot Smith making a Teenage Fanclub record"
- Looking forward to new releases from Sam Prekop, Katie Day, Bob Mould, IDLES, Fontaines DC, Psychedelic Furs
- When will concerts happen again?
- Probably dependent on a vaccine
- Liability is a big factor in whether shows come back

Completely Conspicuous is available through the Apple Podcasts directory. 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 538: The Middle of Nowhere

It's part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our favorite music of the year so far. Listen to the episode below or download directly.


Show notes:
- Recorded via Zoom
- R.I.P., Great Scott
- Big blow to Boston rock scene
- Venues, bars, restaurants are going out of business all over the country
- Breitling and college friends have resurrected their old radio shows on Mixcloud
- Parcheesi Redux is on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays
- Now 17 weeks in
- Music industry is at a standstill
- Touring has ceased altogether
- RATT's back, baby (thanks to Geico)
- Livestreams have become a thing
- There's no money in album sales anymore
- Breitling: Have been listening to more music this year
- Breitling's faves outside the top 10: Jesse Gallagher, Hum, Phoebe Bridgers, Katie Day
- Kumar's on the bubble picks: EOB, Jeff Rosenstock, Peel Dream Magazine, Porridge Radio, Savak
- Next time: On to our top 10

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. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.