Ongoing History of New Music

Here’s a warning right from the outset: this is going to be a weird program…the performs and the music we’re going to talk about are famous because of their weird, shocking behaviour…they set out to get our attention—and they did… Some of us appreciated what they were doing…but the vast majority didn’t get them at all…they were branded as sick, deviant, sociopathic, psychopathic, and even criminal… Yet all found some measure of fame within certain corners of the rock universe…their antics may seem tame now, even quaint…but if we put these images and behaviors in the context of the times, it seemed like that antichrist’s musicians were on earth, ready to lead the young dancing and singing towards the apocalypse… So, if you’re listening to this program, please look around and asked yourself this question: “won’t someone please think about the children?”… This is a look at some of the weirdest and most shocking rockers of all time… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is the second part of our examination of the legendary Alt-Rock scene known as "Goth", and this time we go from mid 80's... right up to today. Goth has always had a bad rap, so in our deep dive, we'll try to clear everything up.. This is "Good Goth-Part 2" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Goth has always had a bad rap and that's not fair to the music, the fans and the fashion so we're going to try to clear everything up with our deep dive. But don't worry...no one's going to get hurt. We are going to examine the Alt-Rock scene from the early 70's, and take it right up to today. This is "Good Goth...Part 1" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When you’re the lead singer in a band, you’re pretty much guaranteed to get all the attention…after all, you are the visual and audio focal point for pretty much everything… Yeah, there might be a hot guitarist or someone else flashy in the group, but for the 99% of the time, the spotlight is on you…which is fine if you’re the lead singer… But if you’re not?...what if you’re the schlep on bass or drums?...what if you’re the newest member of the band and you haven’t earned the right to claim any of the glare…maybe you have something to say…or maybe you have something to sing… Chances are you’ll get shouted down, ignored or buried…but not always…i’ve found some very, very good songs where the second voice in the band—or the third or the even the fourth has stepped-up big-time to grab centre stage, even for just one single song…and here’s the thing: you might not even know it… This is a look at some times when the lead singer took a step back and handed the mic to a second voice Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Friday, August 16, 1974, was a hot summer day in New York City…it was 31 degrees, but the humidity made it feel a lot hotter…and if you were down in the Bowery amidst all the concrete, it was hotter still...and it smelled. But what happened that night, when a bunch of punks took the stage at a scussy dive bar called "CBGB's", would change music forever. This is the story of the original Ramones. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Most of us probably go through a phase where we decide to make music for ourselves…maybe we’ll do it alone, or perhaps we want to be part of a band. The first thing you need to do is decide what instrument you will play…once you do that, you have to narrow things down to the exact make and model of that instrument. When you’re starting out, your dream instrument is probably out of reach financially, so you make do with whatever you can afford…but you never lose sight of one day owning an iconic rock’n’roll machine of some sort. It might be a guitar…and if it’s a guitar, you will inevitably have an opinion on amplifiers…perhaps you’re into keyboards…you might covet an expensive grand piano…or you have your eye on a particular line and model of electronic keyboard….the same applies to drums. So what are these iconic instruments? What instruments are famous and desired by musicians worldwide, regardless of their level of expertise ?...and what about these particular music-making things that make them so desirable? Let’s investigate…this is a look at the most iconic instruments—the goats of the tools of rock’n’roll. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After World War II, Germany was destroyed…the country was divided…the east was under the control of the USSR…the west was in democratic Europe…and then there was berlin, sitting in the east but cut into different zones dominated by the Russians, the Americans, the British, and the French. Most history books look at the political and military side of things…what we don’t hear about nearly as much as how Germany society was rebuilt…imagine being a young person who is too young to have been in the military…what prospects did you have growing up in a divided country ruined by war. This is where art comes in…art is always downstream from whatever is happening in society…and in the case of West Germany, many artists wanted things to be different. Young German musicians had some very serious ideas of what needed to be done…many were into rock…but they were determined to create rock that was different from what was being made in the UK and America. And they certainly didn’t want anything resembling traditional German music…it had been tainted by the nazi legacy…it was time for something new, different, and away from the status quo. There were experiments in the 50s that were pretty radical and, frankly, all over the place…but the results of these experiments began to coalesce into something by the end of the 60s. Within a few years, something distinctly German had emerged…it rocked (in its own way)…it had elements of psychedelic music…things could either be extremely structured or open to wild improvisation…it certainly wasn’t from any blues tradition or normal rock conventions upon which British or American rock was built. The structures of some compositions weren’t exactly what you could call normal—at least not in the context of rock…and occasionally, things got political, but not necessarily in a protest sense. By the middle 70s, we had a new distinctly German sound…the scene was very diverse in terms of sonics, but there was a Teutonic purpose underlying everything. The Germans just called it “German rock”…the British, however, gave it another name…it was supposed to be a joke, but the name stuck…and looking back, this sound, approach, aesthetic, and name can be found throughout many different corners of the rock. This is an explanation of thing that has become known as a “Krautrock”…and believe me, you’ve heard it more than you realize. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What do you remember from history class back in school?... Maybe a few dates and events…maybe the names some important people…and probably how dull a lot of history classes were. I remember being inundated with a bunch of facts—which was fine (i guess), but it didn’t really make history come alive, you know? ...and it didn’t have to be this way. History is more than this country going to war with that one, who married who to create what royal alliance, and which explorers went where to inflict harm on what indigenous people…there are many other branches of historical study. There’s social history, economic history, the history of science and technology, technology—and (my favourite) stupid history…these are stories of how civilization changed because of stupid people and stupid things…and if we were taught stupid history alongside all the record stuff, those classes would have been a whole lot more fun. For example, in 1545, winemakers in Saint-Julien, France, were in a panic because their vines were being eaten by weevils…these vineyard owners were so upset that they brought legal action against the bugs. This was all very formal…documents were drawn up and the weevils were appointed a defense lawyer by the court…there was a trial with a judge and when it was all over, the weevils were found guilty of, well, being weevils and eating grapevines. Almost a year later, the presiding judge issued a proclamation demanding that the weevils cease and desist with their ravaging of the vineyards…dumb, right?...but believe it or not, the weevils listened…the infestation stopped almost overnight. There was not any kind of weevil problem for 40 years…and when they showed up again in 1587, the vineyards again took the bugs to court… the result of that case is lost to time…i love it…that is wonderful stupid history. Music has its own stories like this…yes, there are things that require serious sober study…but then there’s also the stuff that makes you think “that really didn’t happen—did it?”. Oh, yes it did…this is another round of stupid history, the music version. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There are plenty of thankless jobs out there…think about the people who have to work outside in all kinds of weather…line workers for power companies…garbage collectors… construction workers. Same goes for prison officers, nurses, teachers, and first responders of all types…i could go on, but you get the idea…so much needs to go on behind the scenes for us to be able to live our lives. There are dirty jobs but someone’s gotta do it…for the most part, they do their jobs so well that we don’t even think about them…but if not for these people, society wouldn’t function. Now let’s look at the music industry…the performers get all the glory, but we’d know nothing of them if it wasn’t for the massive support they get from people in the background. That includes support staff at record labels and management companies, publicists, assistants, and thousands of other positions that helps make the music happen. One of the most important positions is paradoxically both visible and invisible…if they do their jobs well, they’re ghosts…but if they don’t, things don’t go so well…in fact, they may not go as well. I’m talking about roadies, members of the road crew, the people who enlist in the army that’s necessary to put an act on tour…without their expertise, long hours, and willingness make sure everything always goes smooth, there would be no live experience. They say that if there ain’t no audience, there ain’t no show…but if there ain’t no road crew, then their ain’t nothing at all. This is a history of the men and women who make live shows happen…it’s the story of roadies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At its best, rock is a transcendent experience, something that takes us somewhere away from the ordinary, the normal, and the safe…there’s a huge fantasy element to it…done right, rock removes us from this universe and transports us someplace completely different where anything could happen—at least for a little while. Sometimes the music alone is enough to take us there…but there’s so much more that can be done to enhance the experience. Costuming, for one…make-up and wild hair make a nice addition…how about going hard on the visuals and theatrics?...sure!...why not?...can’t hurt…how about dropping in some sci-fi…good…what about sex and horror and shock and the occult and then really, really exaggerate everything?... Bring it on. And you know what else might be fun?...a big dollop of sexual ambiguity…that’ll freak people out. What I’ve just described is a lot of today’s music…the rock era has been around long enough and has gone through so many bouts of extremism that it seems like there’s we can’t be shocked by anything a rock star does anymore. But there was a time in the very late 60s and early 70s when a specific group of artists were very shocking…they did and said things that were so outrageous and wild that they kinda knocked the planet around on its axis a little bit. They also set in motion some knock-on effects that changed everything about rock…and then they became extinct…but the influence and fallout from that four or five-year period is still being seen and felt today…you just have to know where to look. This is the surprising history of glam rock…it still lives and it can still make things very interesting. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is the fifth edition of an occasional series called “The Rock Explainer.” The idea is to explore the strange, unexplained, and traditional aspects of rock culture that don’t get enough attention and analysis… In many cases, we just accept these things and don’t question them as much as we should…but if we stop for just a second and cock a quizzical eyebrow and actually ask the question, then it’s possible to review new things about music that you might never have imagined… Where do accents go when people sing?...why do artists sing the melody lines when they perform live?... How come we hear lyrics wrong?...let’s answer those questions and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The mp3 had a spectacular rise…the tech was everywhere…it brought music and the industry into the digital era. But like almost everything in this universe, it has a finite lifespan…it’s still with us and in many ways is still ubiquitous in some circles, but things have changed. And yes, it did kill the music industry—at least the old one that insisted on selling fans their music on pieces of plastic I’m going to try to tell the story of how mp3 technology came into our lives—and how it is slowly leaving it. It’s a story with all kinds of twists and turns…there are heroes and villains…there are casualties and survivors…and one thing is for sure: music has been forever changed in a billion different ways. This is the rise and fall of the mp3. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ever been to a concert and wondered "How do they make all of this work?". "How have I not gone deaf?" or "Why does the dude on stage wearing what looks like a pair of ear-buds?" Well we're here to answer those questions and more as we delve deep into the history of concert sound... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Maybe it was the first time you saw your favourite musical. Maybe they played a set list that you thought was perfection. Maybe you were front and centre and the singer crowd surfed right over your head! So sure...an absolutely legendary gig! But what about those gigs that redefined alt-rock? Those concerts or shows that stand out as legendary for what came after them? The bands they inspired or the lasting legacy of that show on the audience? Well we're going take a look at 8 of them and try to explain why they are so legendary in the history of alt-rock Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People who study such things say that the human brain—this folded lump of mostly fat—has a pretty good hard drive…the average adult brain has a capacity of about 2.5 petabytes…put another way, that’s 2.5 million gigs…that’s a lot. We’re talking personal memories, facts, academic education, learned behaviors, and muscle memory…there are also special places where things like musical memories and lyrics are stored. Some memories remain rock solid, barring some kind of injury or illness…but because we’re always experiencing new things, we forget other stuff as new experiences crowd out the old stuff. As a result, things fade…significant details about something can start to fade away within days—even hours or minutes, depending on circumstances surrounding that memory…some will become corrupted—which is why eyewitness accounts are often considered unreliable in court…and it’s not like we can download a backup of our memories—at least not yet. This is why it’s a good idea to a little maintenance on the hard drives in our head…and that can be as simple as doing a refresh…how?...but stopping for a little history…a quick study on where we’ve been, what we’ve done, and what’s happened to us…think of it as pressing “F4” on a keyboard a bunch of times. John Lennon said “life is what happens when you’re making other plans” …and the more time goes by, the more plans we might have made…inevitably, we forget some of life. And that’s why if we want to know why things are the way they are—and where things may go in the future—we have to hit “F4” every once in a while. This is such a program…it’s part ten of the 100 greatest rock moments of the millennium so far…how many of these things do you remember?...and have you even thought of them in this way?...let’s find out with moments 10 through number 1. Songs in this episode: The Strokes - Someday Linkin Park - One Step Closer Metallica - St. Anger U2 - Vertigo BoyWithYuke - Toxic The Tragically Hip - Ahead By A Century (live) Sum 41 - Over My Head (live) Pocket Gods - Who Do I Have To Sleep With To Get On This Spotify Playlist? U2 - Where The Streets Have No Name Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’ve been talking about life beyond earth for decades…and one of the best places to look (for starters) are the moons of Jupiter and Saturn…wouldn’t it be cool if we could land a probe on one of them to have a little look around? ...but that won’t happen for decades, right? Wrong…it already happened…in 2005, the Huygens probe descended to the surface of Titan, the largest moon of Saturn…it was a monumental achievement in space exploration. Oh…forgot that that one, huh? ...okay, let’s try another. Anyone remember when an entire country went bankrupt? ...you would if you were from Iceland…in 2008, the entire Icelandic banking system collapsed forcing the nation to declare bankruptcy…but Iceland recovered by actually holding bankers accountable and initiating a series of financial reforms that are worth studying by other countries. Don’t remember, huh?... One more. What about the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010…it was the largest marine oil spill in history and cause an incredible amount of environmental and economic damage…they even made a movie about it along with a bunch of documentaries. My point is that news and world events come at us so fast and from so many angles, they occupy all our attention for a hot minute…but then we either become overwhelmed, bored, or distracted by something else…we move on and forget—or bury the information deep. I sometimes think we’re approaching the human limit of being able to process all the information that comes at us every second…and if we can’t do that, we can’t learn any lessons from the past, we can’t understand why we are where we are now, and we can’t even predict where we might go in the future. That’s why it’s important for us to stop, look back and to see what happened…this is chapter 9 of “the 100 greatest rock moments of the 21st century—so far” . Songs in this episode: Moby - Porcelain Chris Cornell - Nothing Compares To You Linkin Park - In The End The White Stripes - Blue Orchid Thea Gilmore - Mainstream U2 - Until The End Of The World (live) Jack White - Lazaretto Eagles of Death Metal - I Love You All The Time Man With No Name - Teleport Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How many times have you been told to “live in the moment?”…it usually comes with statements like “the past can’t be changed, the future is unknown, so all you can do is experience the present to the fullest extent of your being”. In other words, be more like a dog…i’m always watching my bull terriers go about their day…they don’t worry about the past and have little concept of the future…it’s all about eating, sleeping, doing their business outside, playing, and demanding affection…and when they engage in any of those things, they are all-in. A lovely idea, but humans don’t work that way…heaven forbid that we get lost in our thoughts—or worse, get bored—standing in line at the checkout…let’s avoid those awkward moments with ourselves and not have to be in that moment. But maybe whipping out the phone at every available second is a defense mechanism…we live in a world with so much change that we need constant distraction from how quickly things are moving… doom-scrolling isn’t healthy, but it is a way to say “stop the world, i want to get off” for a few minutes. But reality is that time is a linear thing that goes only in one direction…and if you don’t live in the moment at least sometimes, you’ll miss everything that’s happening, that has happened, and that will happen. That’s the purpose behind this ten-part series…it’s a recap of the 100 most important things that have happened in rock this millennium so far…we’re up to chapter eight…how many of these items have you missed or forgotten about because you haven’t been living the moment? Songs in this episode: Oasis - Aquiesce Tim Hawkins - YouTube Sparks - iPhone Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Californication (live) Radiohead - Bodysnatchers The Ramones - Blitzkreig Bop The Clash - London Calling The Beatles - Tomorrow Never Knows U2 - I Will Follow (live) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s wild how so much in this universe is connected in ways we don’t understand…there’s something in quantum physics that Einstein called “spooky interaction at a distance”. Quantum theory says that you can have a particle-like, er, this one here—which is connected to another identical particle billions and billions of light-years away. And if I give this one a flick—boop!—I just booped its twin on the other side of the universe at the same time…change it here, and it changes there instantaneously…yeah, I know, it’s freaky…but that’s how quantum physics works. History can be like that, too…you poke at this one person, this one thing, this one event, and it has an effect on another person, thing or event way over there. It doesn’t happen instantly because our existence is in the universe ruled by classical physics where such things can’t happen…but in retrospect, you see how one little thing in the timeline can unleash a series of cascading events and unintended consequences. This is why I believe every once in a while, I believe it’s important to stop to look at how we got to where we are today…reviewing and studying the past is a way to understand the present…and if we’re careful, we might be able to use this information to predict at least some of the future. This is episode seven of a ten-part series that’s looking back on what happened in rock through the first 25 years of the 21st century…let’s see if we can’t put a few more pieces together. Songs in this episode: Stone Temple Pilots - Interstate Love Song (Live acoustic at 228 Yonge Street) The Breeders - Cannonball Twenty-One Pilots - Stressed Out Kraftwerk - Robots Led Zeppelin - Rock'N'Roll (Live at the O2) St. Vincent - Los Ageless Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart The White Stripes - Icky Thump Sam Roberts - Don't Walk Away Eileen (Live at SARS-Stock) Metallica - I Disappear (Napster demo version) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you’re a Boomer, a Gen Xer or an early millennial, this is going to hurt. If someone says “25 years ago,” now, they mean something that happened in the 1900s, not in the 21st century. Despite how it might feel, the 90s weren’t just 20 years ago…neither were the 80s…if you’re a certain age, you know exactly what I’m talking about. This hurts, too…at some point, you’re going to hear a kid talk about a song that came out “in the late 1900s”…ouch. We’re already a quarter of the way through the 21st century. I still find that hard to process. On the other hand, younger Millennials, Gen Zed kids, and Gen Alpha, first 25 years of the 2000s is recent history…if that’s you, you’re still getting caught up…and if you’re in those special years when you develop your musical awareness, you’re probably a sponge for information…what did I miss?...and how did we get to where we are now? Whatever your perspective, this series of “ongoing history” episodes aims to help…this is part 6 of our look back at the 100 greatest moments in rock for the millennium—so far. Songs in this episode: The Killers - Mr. Brightside (Original Demo) Radiohead - Karma Police U2 - Vertigo Alice In Chains - We Die Young Veruca Salt - Laughing In The Sugar Bowl Limewire - Knot Tool - Fear Inoculum Royal Blood - Figure it Out Foo Fighters - Times Like These (Live London) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People love lists…magazines, broadcasters, and websites are always publishing them…the ones that seem to get the most attention are those that rank a specific thing from worst to best. And let’s be honest: most of these lists are designed to court controversy, to create arguments, and to get people talking about how things got ordered and why or why not someone or something should be at number one…i get it. But not all lists are created equal…some are just supposed to keep track of something…what to buy at the grocery store…errands that need to be done…things you need to pack for a trip. Then there’s middle ground…lists that keep track of something while attempting to slot them in some order of importance, influence, or impact. Such lists will still result in arguments and debate over how things were ranked—which is fine—but the primary purpose of such a list is an attempt to remember what happened. We’re already 25% the way through the 21st century…and with the pace of life, it’s harder and harder to keep up with what happened this week let alone over the last quarter-century. That’s why everything once in a while it’s important to stop, take a breath, look around, and try to remember what happened…and once we account for that, we can get a better idea of why we’ve ended up where we are: the advances we’ve seen, the mistakes we’ve made, and the happy (and unhappy accidents) that have occurred—and maybe, just maybe, figure out where we’re going. This is chapter five of the 100 greatest rock moments of the millennium—so far. Songs in this episode: Cruisebox - On A Podcast The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army Patti Smith - Elegie Black Keys - Lonely Boy Metallica - Seek And Destroy (live) Green Day - American Idiot Rage Against The Machine - Killing In The Name Of Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Round and Round Foo Fighters - Learning to Fly (live) Nirvana - Polly Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices