The Radio Ga Ga Podcast

This episode is a little different! I'm diving deep into an interesting and creepy production technique called backmasking. Listening to music backward can be traced back to the invention of the phonograph in the 1800s, and has since been associated with subliminal messaging, censorship, and in some cases, it's an homage to the devil himself. I'm sharing all my favorite examples, including The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Motorhead, Tool, Prince, Pink Floyd, ELO and so many more. Be warned, this is a creepy one!

Though Maggie Rogers began songwriting in her teens, it wasn't until Pharrell Williams critiqued her masterclass at NYU when she got her big break. Many of the songs on "Heard It In A Past Life" deal with this overnight success and all the waves of emotion that come with that. She says "Heard It In A Past Life" was the introduction that she never really got to make. We discuss all the different production and writing styles reflected on the album, as well as Maggie's synesthesia and writing process.

Though we know Mariah Carey as a high-maintenance diva, there's a LOT more to the story. She grew up in an incredibly turbulent environment with a family that could have very easily kept Mariah down (and keeps trying to). Her professional and personal life also merged in her early 20s, when she married a music exec who treated her like a prisoner. We'll get into Mariah's desire to shift "Daydream" to a more R&B sound, her signature whistle tones, and the earliest years of her global success. Episode 1 of 2.

It's Weezer week on Radio Ga Ga! The history of this band and its frontman, Rivers Cuomo, is pretty nuts. Cuomo was obsessed with metal growing up, idolizing Ace Frehley of KISS & shredding guitar in his own metal bands. And this was after growing up in the Yogaville ashram, practicing spirituality instead of toys and cartoons. In this episode, I explain how he got from the ashram life, to hair metal, to Harvard, to being the king of modern nerd rock. Bring your singing voice and your Flying =W=.

"Continuum" is the album that changed John Mayer's trajectory in the best way. I'm covering a lot of ground in this episode, including which song on "Continuum" single-handedly turned me into a fan of his (and why I wasn't for the longest time), how "Back to the Future" inspired Mayer to play the guitar, and the medical condition that made him think he might never sing again. We'll talk Dead & Co., all of Mayer's relationships and the songs they inspired, and what's on the horizon for him in 2019.