Completely Conspicuous 564: Purple Rain

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we discuss the music of 1984. Listen to the episode or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

- Recorded via Zoom

- Phil's #5: A strong return for the Pretenders

- Half the band died after the previous album

- Jay's #5 and Phil's #3: An interesting new direction for U2

- Moody, atmospheric production from Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois

- Phil's #4: Audacious debut by the Smiths

- Another influential college rock act

- Phil as the edgy alt-rock kid at freshman orientation

- When bands split up into two versions and keep touring

- Jay's #4: Another great record from the Replacements

- Paul Westerberg's songwriting continued to mature

- Jay's #3: An epic double concept album from Husker Du

- No fancy reissues for SST releases

- Phil's #2: A classic live album from a band that released a great one only a few years earlier

- The expanded version's better than the original

- Jay's #2: R.E.M. continues building their legacy with a second standout album

- A lot of fans jumped off the bandwagon after the next album

- Phil and Jay's #1: A tour de force from Prince

- All killer, no filler

- Favorite songs: "Life During Wartime" (Phil), "Purple Rain" (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 563: Round and Round

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we discuss the music of 1984. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

- Recorded via Zoom

- Phil was 14 going on 15, Jay was 16 going on 17 in '84

- Phil: Watched a lot of MTV

- "College rock" was emerging

- Music was drenched in synths

- Jay: Saw my first concerts

- Hair metal was making a splash

- Thrash metal was new and exciting

- Billy Squier's tough year

- Phil's non-top 5 albums: Bowie, Kinks, Deep Purple, Dio, Van Halen, Ratt, Springsteen, Los Lobos, Sade, Meat Puppets, Husker Du, Minutemen, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Replacements, R.E.M., Run DMC

- Phil loves him some Ratt

- Jay's non-top 5s: Rush, Iron Maiden, The Cars, INXS

- Saw INXS a few years later at Radio City Music Hall

- 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 322: Reeling in the Years, 1984 (Part 2)

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1984. 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 #5
- Pretenders are very underrated
- Chrissie Hynde got a late start in rock
- Jay's #5
- Saw R.E.M.'s first national TV appearance on Letterman
- Brian's #4
- Minutemen covered a wide range of styles
- Mike Watt's interesting career
- Scott Asheton, R.I.P.
- James Williamson went from playing with Iggy to become a Silicon Valley exec
- Jay's #4
- Van Halen inadvertently helped create hair metal
- Brian's #3
- Meat Puppets created a unique sound
- Most people became aware of them a decade later
- Jay's #3
- Replacements' sound evolved from punk to more mature rock
- Brian's #2 was his #1 when we started talking
- Jay's #2
- Husker Du was coming into its own in '84
- So much good music on SST in the early to mid-'80s
- Brian's #1
- Gordon Gano wrote first two Violent Femmes albums while in high school
- Serious gospel undertones
- Jay's #1
- Purple Rain was a masterpiece
- Jay chronicled 1984 in a diary reprinted on Kumar's Blizznog
- Next up: 1986

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

Music:
Hallelujah the Hills - Pick Up an Old Phone
Feral Jenny - Law & Order
Red Sea - Down with the Crown

The Hallelujah the Hills song is on the album Have You Ever Done Something Evil? on Discrete Pageantry. Download the song for free at Stereogum.
The Feral Jenny song is on the EP Bedrooms. Download the song for free at Bandcamp.
The Red Sea song is on the EP Yardsticks for Human Intelligence. Download the song for free at 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.

Completely Conspicuous 321: Reeling in the Years, 1984 (Part 1)

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1984. 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
- 1984: Brian was 2, Jay was 16
- A pivotal year for college/indie rock
- Husker Du, R.E.M., Minutemen, Meat Puppets, Replacements
- Aerosmith reformed, Yes bounced back
- Classic lineup of Deep Purple reunited
- The '80s wank guitar movement started with Yngwie Malmsteen
- Early days of hip hop, thrash
- Hair metal was emerging as a commercial force: Ratt, Twisted Sister, Dokken, Whitesnake, Bon Jovi
- Van Halen's 1984 was huge
- Eddie VH embraced synths
- The beginning of the end of the Roth era of VH
- MTV was a bigger hitmaker than radio
- The middle of a bad stretch for Paul McCartney
- Older artists rebounded: Kool and the Gang, Chicago, Stevie Wonder
- Miami Vice incorporated MTV-style techniques
- The video as movie trailer
- Death of Marvin Gaye
- Billy Squier's "Rock Me Tonite" debacle
- The negative power of a bad video
- Crappy solo work from Bowie, Billy Joel, Steve Perry
- Don Henley sucks
- The pop and marketing genius of Madonna
- Awesomely bad breakdance movies: Breakin', Body Rock, Beat Street
- Brian's albums outside top 5: Black Flag, Queen
- Jay: U2, The Cars, Rush, INXS, The Cult
- To be continued

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

Music:
Nancy - I Want One
Benjamin Shaw - Goodbye, Kagoul World
The Men - Different Days

The Nancy song is on the album Nancy LP. Download the album for free at Bandcamp.
The Benjamin Shaw song is on the album Goodbye Cagoule World on Audio Antihero. Download the song for free at Soundcloud.
The song by The Men is on the album Tomorrow's Hits on Sacred Bones Records. Download the song for free at Soundcloud.

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.