The Record Player
Jeff Giles and Matt Wardlaw
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Top 10 The Record Player Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best The Record Player episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to The Record Player for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite The Record Player episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
Nirvana - Incesticide (1992)
The Record Player
12/12/22 • 56 min
This week marks the 30th anniversary of the release of Nirvana's Incesticide.
Liz Barker joins Jeff and Matt to discuss seeing the Seattle legends when she was 15, the personal impact of Incesticide and why it remains a favorite for her as a music fan.
We discuss a number of subjects, including the interesting encounters and bonding experiences at concerts, plus how the members of Nirvana used their platform to speak important truths.
If you're like us, you've heard the radio hits by Nirvana a lot. Maybe you never need to hear them again. You might enjoy taking a quick trip off the usual beaten path by listening to Incesticide.
Check out Liz's excellent newsletter, it was fun till he started getting serious.
Read the Incesticide liner notes by Kurt Cobain.
How about some books? We'd suggest Danny Goldberg's 2019 memoir about his time working with Kurt and Nirvana, Serving the Servant. There's also a book that centers its discussion around Incesticide. and that one is called Dark Slivers: Seeing Nirvana in the Shards of Incesticide.
Thanks as always for listening! Please check out our Patreon if you enjoy these episodes. We'd love to have you as a member of our Record Club. There are over 100 exclusive posts for members.
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Bruce Springsteen - Tunnel of Love (1987)
The Record Player
10/29/22 • 76 min
Nashville songwriter Fred Wilhelm (Rascal Flatts, Faith Hill, Little Big Town) is with us to discuss Bruce Springsteen's classic Tunnel of Love album. As his Instagram bio says, "I'm a songwriter. I make stuff up." We think he's being modest.
Fred shares his personal connection with Tunnel of Love and tells us why he still maintains such a strong connection with the album. We also discuss the life of a songwriter (named Fred) in Nashville.
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Bonus Track: Spencer Proffer (Quiet Riot, Guns N' Roses)
The Record Player
10/11/22 • 52 min
Producer Spencer Proffer arguably became a household name with his work on Quiet Riot's Metal Health, which became the first heavy metal album to hit number one. But that's just one sliver of his fascinating career.
Spencer joins Matt for a special Bonus Track to discuss his career, including The Day the Music Died: The Story of Don McLean's "American Pie," which is streaming now on Paramount Plus.
He shares updates on the documentary that he's currently working on about fellow legendary producer Eddie Kramer (KISS, Jimi Hendrix, Rolling Stones). We discuss his own work with Aussie singer-songwriter Billy Thorpe ("Children of the Sun"), Guns N' Roses, Clive Davis and lots more.
Spencer also tells us how he ended up pivoting to working on television, film and multimedia projects with his company Meteor 17.
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Al Jarreau - Breakin' Away (1981)
The Record Player
11/15/24 • 59 min
You might know Brian Wecht as Ninja Brian. Or maybe you know him as Trey Magnifique. Perhaps, you just know him as Brian and that's fine too. Matt and Jeff were just thrilled to have him on the podcast to talk about Al Jarreau's mighty fine Breakin' Away album. But there were conditions. First, an impromptu 20 minute discussion about Kenny G. You'll see. Is there a Chicago reference followed by some scathing condemnation? You know there is.
As it happens, Brian, er, Trey Magnifique has a new holiday EP, Let it Blow, available now as you're listening to this. We talk about that and you should buy it and give Brian some of your hard-earned money that you were planning to spend on Christmas cookies. Was Jim Morrison on the receiving end? What does it all mean? I guess it means that we had a really fun and extremely random conversation with Brian that covers a lot of different topics. Which frankly, it feels like that's exactly what needed to happen.
Our thanks to Brian for spending time talking tunes with us. We look forward to having him back on the podcast soon! Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, but also follow him on BlueSky. You know he has a podcast, right? It's called Leighton Night and you can listen here.
P.S. This episode has some filthy language. You kind of expected that, didn't you?
P.S.S. Jeff and Matt are on BlueSky as well.
The Dave Brubeck Quartet - Buried Treasures (1998)
The Record Player
03/11/23 • 78 min
With Matt's dad in declining health, Jeff suggested that today's album should be "one for Dad." We discuss Dave Brubeck's Buried Treasures, an archival release which was originally recorded across three nights in Mexico City back in May of 1967. Notably, Dave took the stage with his quartet, featuring legendary saxophonist Paul Desmond, bassist Eugene Wright and drummer Joe Morello. As Brubeck writes in the liner notes, the concerts were recorded for Bravo! Brubeck!, an album that had a "Latin American themed" concept.
Bravo! Brubeck! was released that same summer and the concept for the record meant that anything that didn't fit the theme was left on the shelf. Which means a lot of material went unheard for years. The Buried Treasures release gave Brubeck fans a fresh round of cuts from what had been an extremely inspired run of shows. The liner notes, written by Brubeck, offer an extensive look behind the curtain of the performances. A separate booklet details Brubeck's history with Columbia Records. All of this makes for a fascinating journey into the world of Dave Brubeck if you're up for the trip.
But that's just one part of today's episode. We discuss a number of different topics, including dads and parents in general, the sacrifices they make that we often don't know about until years later -- and getting a chance to repay the gifts. Some debts can never be truly repaid, but the gratitude lasts a lifetime. This one's for you, Dad.
P.S. Get yourself a copy of Philip Clark's book, Dave Brubeck: A Life in Time. It's a must.
Rickie Lee Jones - Pirates (1981)
The Record Player
02/13/22 • 138 min
Rickie Lee Jones' 1981 album Pirates emerged on the other side of what had been a complex period for the artist. Her 1979 self-titled debut charted top five on the Billboard Album Charts and her single "Chuck E.'s in Love" performed similarly well.
Touring extensively, her popularity continued to rise as additional media exposure, including a performance on Saturday Night Live, further elevated her profile. She would face challenges both personally and professionally as she began planning for her sophomore album.
Singer-songwriter Steve Poltz joins Jeff and Matt to look back at Pirates and everything surrounding the album. He goes deep with rock and roll war stories from his own career and we discuss Stardust and Satellites, his newest solo album.
As we get started, Steve shows us a bunch of personal memorabilia that he has on his walls. Here's a video of that portion so you can actually see what he's showing us!
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Bonus Track: Stan Lynch on Ringo Starr
The Record Player
02/24/22 • 45 min
On the heels of our conversation with David Wild regarding Ringo Starr's Time Takes Time album, which turns 30 this year, we went a bit deeper. (As if David's great interview with Don Was in that same episode wasn't impressive enough....)
Former Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers drummer Stan Lynch (a talented producer and songwriter himself) had the pleasure of co-writing a song for the Ringo album called "Don't Know a Thing About Love." He got on the phone to share his memories of writing the track with Richard Feldman, enlisting Sheryl Crow to sing on the demo and lots more.
Stan has new music on tap for release this year from The Speaker Wars and also, The Chefs, his band with Dan Baird, is readying a second course (read: second album). He gives us an update on both pending releases.
Show Notes:
Our conversation with David Wild regarding Ringo Starr’s Time Takes Time (with David’s bonus interview with Don Was regarding his work on the Ringo album).
Thanks to Dan Baird for connecting us with Stan
Georgia Satellites - Lightnin' in a Bottle: Live in Cleveland 1988
Stan is organized.
Stan’s parents
The Speaker Wars, Stan’s latest band.
The Speaker Wars and Andy Timmons
The Speaker Wars - "Never Ready to Go"
Andy Timmons - Electric Truth album
The 30th anniversary of Ringo Starr’s Time Takes Time album
Stan’s song on Ringo’s album, “Don’t Know a Thing About Love”
Richard Feldman
Eric Clapton - “Promises”
June Pointer - “Love Calling”
The birth of “Don’t Know a Thing About Love”
Writing for Ringo
Sheryl Crow
Stan’s history with Don Was
Was (Not Was) = awesome
Going to hear the finished song
Meeting Ringo
All roads lead to Ringo
Stan sitting in with Ringo and the All-Starr Band
Ringo Starr, the drummer
Stan’s impression of the Get Back documentary
The demo of Stan’s song vs. what ended up on Time Takes Time
New music from Stan and Dan Baird - the second album from The Chefs
Someone/Anyone Todd Rundgren tribute
Was Stan a Rundgren fan back in the day?
Stan and The Speaker Wars have recorded different versions of “No Matter What” for a Badfinger tribute
Cassingle: Meat Loaf
The Record Player
01/22/22 • 31 min
On the heels of the news regarding the passing of Meat Loaf, Jeff and Matt share some of their individual memories and experiences with his music. We're also discussing carbonated beverages (thanks, Sloane Spencer!), a recent book by Daryl Gregory that's worthy of your reading time, Dweezil Zappa's excellent Van Halen podcast and other topics. See the show notes below for more details.
Cassingle Notes:
The passing of Meat Loaf
Losing control of your art
The long road to the success of Bat
Jeff’s UCR article on Meat Loaf and Steve Popovich of Cleveland International Records
An unexpected wedding ritual involving “Paradise by the Dashboard Light.”
Seeing Meat Loaf live for the first time in the ‘90s
Meat Loaf’s Bat Out of Hell tour on Rockpalast in 1978
Matt's interview with Bruce Kulick about playing in Meat Loaf's band on the Bat Out of Hell tour.
Reader Mail
Bonnie Raitt’s ‘70s albums on Warner Brothers
Book recommendation: Revelator by Daryl Gregory
Podcast recommendations: Bubble Bottles and also, One Hit History, hosted by Sloane Spencer
Favorite carbonated beverages
Dr. Pepper vs. Mr. Pibb
Bob Seger - The Fire Inside retro t-shirt
Regional and small batch sodas - Fizzy Izzy Root Beer is awesome!
Rocket Fizz
“I’ve listened to 10 hours of you assholes over the past few days” - Jason Hare
Jason Hare keeps receipts
Linda Martell - "Color Me Father"
Holly G and Black Opry
Dweezil Zappa’s Van Halen podcast is awesome
Details on the next episode!
Closing remarks -- leave us reviews on your favorite podcast platform!
The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)
The Record Player
03/27/22 • 71 min
Guitar maestro Andy Timmons joins Jeff and Matt for a unique conversation about the classic Beatles album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Having recorded his own version of the album, Timmons has spent a good amount of time exploring the music of the Liverpool group, both as a musician and many times, simply a music fan. He brought his guitar and it was a true joy to talk with Andy.
His new album, Electric Truth, is out this week and deserves your ears. We enjoyed hearing the stories about how the record came together. In general, Andy is a fellow music nerd like us and we can't wait for a chance to speak with him again down the road.
Show notes are right here.
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The Music of the Olympics (1984-1992)
The Record Player
06/07/24 • 59 min
In 1984, Christopher Cross added a unique new entry to his discography. "A Chance For Heaven" was selected as the official swimming theme for the Olympics. I bet you didn't even know there was an official swimming theme that year, did you? Neither did we. Discovering that factoid during our episode about Christopher's 1985 album, Every Turn of the World, was enough to send us out on an important quest.
What if we were to discuss the Olympics soundtrack albums for 1984, 1988 and 1992? That's the task that Jeff and Matt decided to tackle on today's episode of The Record Player. It's not an easy one, because none of the three volumes are on streaming. Which means, YouTube to the rescue!
Here's streaming links for all three volumes:
The Official Music Of The XXIIIrd Olympiad Los Angeles 1984
1988 Summer Olympics Album: One Moment in Time
Barcelona Gold (1992) - note that a few songs are not streaming officially, but 12 songs are. You'll get the point. But here's the complete rundown.
This is a wide-ranging discussion that explores the bulk of the first two compilations track-by-track with scattered thoughts on Barcelona Gold, because we were at the clock limit and honestly, the tone of the song curation changed with Barcelona Gold in a way that felt less specific to the Olympics. But where else are you going to find En Vogue and Damn Yankees back to back on the same album? That's a really good question.
There are references along the way to the Ghostbusters soundtrack, the We Are the World album and a bunch of other things -- including the most excellent Little Feat-related tribute album from the '90s, Rock & Roll Doctor: A Tribute to Lowell George. Streaming the Lowell tribute appears to be a bit of a chore -- it's on Apple Music at the very least, but finding it on Spotify was an elusive task.
Anyway, we talk about some things and you've got some fresh listening material to enjoy now as well. Thanks as always for listening and don't forget to visit Jefitoblog for even more thoughts from Jeff. Have a good weekend!
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FAQ
How many episodes does The Record Player have?
The Record Player currently has 143 episodes available.
What topics does The Record Player cover?
The podcast is about Music, Music History, Podcasts and Music Commentary.
What is the most popular episode on The Record Player?
The episode title 'Nirvana - Incesticide (1992)' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on The Record Player?
The average episode length on The Record Player is 63 minutes.
How often are episodes of The Record Player released?
Episodes of The Record Player are typically released every 6 days, 4 hours.
When was the first episode of The Record Player?
The first episode of The Record Player was released on Dec 15, 2021.
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