Episode 28: Hootie & the Blowfish, "Cracked Rear View"

03/19/19 • 49 min

Hootie & the Blowfish came on to the scene just as grunge's mainstream moment was ending. And the timing couldn't have been better. After years of angst saturating the airwaves, four nice guys from South Carolina brought the uplifting sound we didn't know we needed. In this episode: Why Darius Rucker isn't actually "Hootie" (and who is), why nostalgia is becoming increasingly sellable, and the gears that turned at the exact right moment to make "Cracked Rear View" one of the best-selling albums of all time.

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Episode 27: John Mayer, "Continuum"

"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.

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Episode 29: The History of the Parental Advisory Label

In this episode, we discuss the black and white Parental Advisory label that is still today printed on the cover of albums containing explicit content. We'll discuss why & how the label was introduced in the '80s, the major backlash it received, and the musicians that stood up in front of Congress defending themselves and their peers' rights to free speech. I also discuss what power the label has anymore, if any, based on how the music industry – and the devices we use to listen to music – have changed.