Completely Conspicuous 452: The Honor Roll

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about our favorite music of 2016. Listen to the episode below or download directly.
 

Show notes:
- We are not Moviefone
- Rough year for musician deaths
- Trump's top 3 albums
- The return of protest music?
- Clicky Clicky HQ is fully Alexa-ized
- The kids love the vinyl (well, the hipsters do, anyway)
- Albums are back, sort of
- Crowdfunding albums is becoming more prevalent
- Breitling's bubbling under albums: A Giant Dog, Thin Lips, Bent Shapes, Yr Poetry, Pinegrove, Horse Jumper of Love, Guillermo Sexo, California Snow Story
- Kumar's: Used Cassettes, Savages, Dino Jr., Radiohead, Split Single, Preoccupations, Descendents, Johnny Foreigner, Terry Malts, Hallelujah the Hills, Kristin Hersh, I Don't Cares, Nick Cave, Gord Downie, PJ Harvey
- Downie teamed with comics artist Jeff Lemire on combo album/graphic novel
- Breitling's #10
- Cold Pumas back with a hot new release
- Kumar's #10
- Possibly the last Tragically Hip album
- Different sound courtesy of producers Kevin Drew and Dave Hamelin
- Breitling's #9
- Boston's Strange Passage reminds of early Ride
- 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.

Completely Conspicuous 451: Reeling in the Years, 1990 (Part 3)

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.

Completely Conspicuous 450: Reeling in the Years, 1990 (Part 2)

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.

Completely Conspicuous 449: Reeling in the Years, 1990 (Part 1)

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.

Completely Conspicuous 448: Well, That Happened

Part 3 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss the aftermath of the election. Listen to the episode below or download directly.
 

Show notes:
- Check out Matt's book Like a Comet: The Indestructibles Book 4
- Keeping friends after the election
- It's getting personal
- The canary in the coal mine
- Reading things that you know will annoy you
- Forced lefty
- Giving up on the presidency
- Don't encourage the Kardashians
- Romney's changed, man
- Matt's next book is changing because of the election
- Forget art forged from pain, we'll take mindless pop
- Social media as free therapy
- The Electoral College's relevance
- Changing demographics

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.

Completely Conspicuous 447: The Aftermath

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss the aftermath of the election. Listen to the episode below or download directly.
 

Show notes:
- Check out Matt's book Like a Comet: The Indestructibles Book 4
- Jay: Not moving to Canada
- None of those celebs is leaving the country
- Enthusiastic votes for Trump
- Parallels to Brexit
- Plenty of protests when Obama was elected
- Scandals didn't hurt Trump
- Clinton was a very Republican-safe candidate
- Covering politics for a newspaper can change you
- When Matt was dissed by the new Lt. Gov.
- Oh, Gary Hart
- Politicians and sex
- 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.

Completely Conspicuous 446: Picking Up the Pieces

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss the aftermath of the election. Listen to the episode below or download directly.
 

Show notes:
- Check out Matt's book Like a Comet: The Indestructibles Book 4
- Thought this was going to be a very different show
- Didn't expect a Trump victory
- Social media was raw the day after the election
- Family and friend disagreements
- You can't change anybody's mind on social media
- Friendships are ending over the election
- Hiding or unfriending people
- Plenty of blame to go around
- People don't fact check things before passing them along
- Thanksgiving could be disastrous this year
- Many people may avoid it altogether
- A whole group of people got left behind and Trump tapped into that
- A deplorable soundbite
- Promising everything
- We're insulated in Massachusetts
- Oh, Florida
- Dealing with post-election feelings
- Racist and dumb is quite the combination
- 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.

Completely Conspicuous 445: Reeling in the Years, 1985 (Part 3)

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.

Completely Conspicuous 444: Reeling in the Years, 1985 (Part 2)

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.

Completely Conspicuous 443: Reeling in the Years, 1985 (Part 1)

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.

Completely Conspicuous 442: Mars Needs Guitars

Part 2 of my conversation with author Greg Renoff as we discuss the rise and fall of the guitar hero. Listen to the episode below or download directly.
 

Show notes:
- Recorded via Skype
- Buy Greg's book Van Halen Rising at Amazon or get a signed copy from the Van Halen Store
- Flash guitar in the '80s: VH, Motley Crue, Ratt, Quiet Riot
- Ratt was once replaced on a bill by Molly Hatchet
- Billy Squier's downfall
- Molly Hatchet unsuccessfully tried to pull a "ZZ Top"
- The hair metal bubble burst
- The '80s shredder trend
- Fast forwarding to the solos
- Oh, Vinnie Vincent
- Looking for the new Warrant
- The influence of Guitar Hero
- Learning about Slash
- We need guitars

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.

Completely Conspicuous 441: Holding Out for a Guitar Hero

This week, it's part 1 of my conversation with author Greg Renoff as we discuss the rise and fall of the guitar hero. Listen to the episode below or download directly.
 

Show notes:
- Recorded via Skype
- Buy Greg's book Van Halen Rising at Amazon or get a signed copy from the Van Halen Rising Store
- Greg: As a kid, started playing stepfather's old acoustic guitar
- An uncle got him into Hendrix, Clapton, Leslie West
- Jay: First guitar hero was Jimmy Page
- Zeppelin II was the gateway
- Greg: Realized early that I'd never be able to play like Eddie VH
- Jay: Played guitar on and off over the years, never seriously
- Childhood friend plays in a Journey cover band
- Greg: Guitar was a good way to blow off steam
- Big band Hendrix?
- Jay: Other early favorites were Pete Townshend and Dave Davies
- The evolution of Clapton
- Early '70s were marked by great players like Iommi, Blackmore and Michael Schenker
- Jay: Got into Sabbath and Ozzy in the early '80s
- Gary Moore was an underrated guitar monster
- Building your music collection via music clubs
- 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.

Completely Conspicuous 440: Radio Daze

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Matt Wardlaw as we discuss the decline of rock radio. Listen to the episode below or download directly.
 

Show notes:
- Recorded via Skype
- Check out Matt's podcast Lost Together
- Van Cherone: Matt defends Van Halen III
- Eddie VH's lack of new material
- Buy Greg Renoff's great book Van Halen Rising
- Eddie sounds good again
- Age is becoming a factor
- Jay: Saw both DLR and VH in 1986
- The MTV effect
- Early '80s video production values
- Videos pushed songs to greater success
- In defense of "We Built This City"
- Videos boosted careers of artists like ZZ Top, the Cars and Huey Lewis
- Rock stations added non-music programming
- Satellite radio is nice, but not a must-have
- Matt uses Apple Music
- Bands aren't making much money from streaming
- The money is in touring and merch, not albums
- Home taping didn't kill the music industry

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.

Completely Conspicuous 439: Turn Up the Radio

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Matt Wardlaw as we discuss the decline of rock radio. Listen to the episode below or download directly.
 

Show notes:
- Recorded via Skype
- Check out Matt's podcast Lost Together
- Matt first got into radio as a kid in Odessa, TX
- Jay: Started listening to AM rock stations in Toronto in late '70s
- Matt later moved to Cleveland area, heard a lot of Canadian bands on radio there
- The enduring popularity of Trooper's "Raise a Little Hell"
- The thrill of the chase: hunting for B-sides and imports
- Learned about music via radio and magazines
- Countless hours in record stores
- In Boston, the rock stations have dwindled
- Cleveland's WMMS has gone part talk, part classic rock
- Curated radio experience is becoming more rare
- Jay: Listen to combo of podcasts, college radio and online stations
- Matt had a metal show for several years
- Classic rock acts can't get new stuff played anymore
- Playing new material live vs. "the hits"
- Billy Joel stopped making new music in early '90s
- Touring is where the money is for classic rock acts
- 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.

Completely Conspicuous 438: Roll the Bones

Part 3 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we discuss fantasy sports. Listen to the episode below or download directly.
 

Show notes:
- No interest in daily fantasy sports
- Big ad blitz when daily fantasy leagues hit the scene
- The kids love the gambling
- Sports gambling is much easier now
- Vegas now has an NHL franchise
- The Super Bowl is more spectacle than game
- "I call him Gamblor"
- Senior citizens take buses to casinos
- Playing in multiple leagues is no guarantee of winning money
- When the commissioner is dishonest
- Like pickup sports, you want to have fun with friends in fantasy leagues
- The single worst pick in fantasy hockey history
- Let's hear it for Lichtenstein

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.

Completely Conspicuous 437: The More You Know

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we discuss fantasy sports. Listen to the episode below or download directly.
 

Show notes:
- Jay: Renewed interest in baseball in the past year
- Watching sports without cable TV can be tricky
- Head-to-head format can be tough
- Paying attention to statistical details
- When fantasy leagues go bad
- Our fantasy hockey league fell apart because of money
- The problem with having people you don't know in the league
- We had our draft, started the season and then shut it down
- Hockey can be tough because it's harder to find people who really know the game
- Jay: Work football league got rid of kickers
- So many sources of draft information
- 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.

Completely Conspicuous 436: Games of Chance

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we discuss fantasy sports. Listen to the episode below or download directly.
 

Show notes:
- Fantasy sports is big business
- Rooting against your favorite team
- Phil: Got into fantasy baseball in early '90s
- Jay: Started a league in '91 with work friends
- Paid a service to compile stats reports
- So much more now to distract you from draft prep
- Started with AL-only league
- Early fantasy football league started decades earlier
- Jack Kerouac created his own fantasy baseball league with fictional players and teams
- Strat-O-Matic started in early '60s
- Cards and dice game, similar to D&D
- The joys of Mattel Intellivision
- Sports betting is popular
- Takes enjoyment out of the game
- The house always wins
- The fun of the fantasy draft
- Auction leagues require more involvement, longer draft
- 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.