Completely Conspicuous

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Ric Dube as we look at the career of '70s pop star Leo Sayer. I've also got music from Nude Beach, The Vaselines and Happy You. Show notes: - Recorded at More Lost Time world HQ - Check out our new web series Trust Fund Challenge - Just watched the 1969 grindhouse flick The Babysitter - Rated X then, pretty tame by today's standards - Our society's pruder in some ways, more open in others - Leo Sayer was discovered by David Courtney and Adam Faith - Ric: Sayer was less threatening than Elton John or Barry Manilow - Adam Faith was a British teen idol in early '60s - Sayer and Faith had a falling out over money - Sayer struck out at first - Roger Daltrey recorded a Sayer song - Sayer's version of "Giving It All Away" sounds like Elton - Some weird album covers - Dube: Sayer looked like a mime who sings - British guys who sound American and vice versa - To be continued   Music: Nude Beach - For You The Vaselines - Last Half Hour Happy You - Chummy   Completely Conspicuous is

Part 2 of the latest installment of Driving with Kumar as I share some thoughts while driving to and from my 25th college reunion. I've also got music from Ty Segall, Wormburner and The Pharmacy. Show notes: - No regrets about college years - Could have graduated a semester early, but chose to stay for full year - Got a job before I graduated - Worked first few months at newspaper while also working weekends at supermarket - Moved to Massachusetts after a few months - Lived in 10 different places in a decade - One apartment I shared with three women; a year later, it was all guys - Nearly got married in mid-20s - Went to Homecoming in '93 and passed on a party to go home and watch World Series - Toronto won Series on Joe Carter HR that night - Went up to UNH a lot the first few years after college - On drive home - Lots of drunken kids when I arrived at 2:30 - Wandered around through a mass of partying young people - Eventually found class of '89 tent and my old roommate - Saw some f

Part 1 of the latest installment of Driving with Kumar as I share some thoughts while driving to my 25th college reunion. I've also got music from Sleater-Kinney, Coaches and The Cherry Wave. Show notes: - Coached in a youth soccer tournament before driving up to University of New Hampshire - Haven't gone to a college reunion before - Still see many friends from college on occasion - Nearly flunked out freshman year - Switched from engineering to journalism and turned it around - Worked for newspaper for six years after college - Journalism majors use theirs skill in different ways now - College was my first time away from parental discipline - Real partying began when grades improved - Did not drink in high school - First weekend in college, that changed - Freshman year roommate had a tough time - Sophomore year roomie was super busy with activities - Moved off campus junior year - Unlucky in love - Always hung out with both nerds and jocks - Ate a lot of junk food - To be continued

Part 3 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1996. I've also got music from Ex Hex, Jessica Hernandez and the Deltas, and Mini Dresses. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Check out Brian's new radio show Unsolicited Mixtape - Brian's #5 - Olivia Tremor Control made Brian's favorite Elephant 6 album - Jay's #5 and Brian's #4 - Frank Black had a tough task following up Teenager of the Year - Moved to a rawer sound - In the middle of an excellent stretch of solo music - Jay's #4 - Weezer's underrated (at the time) masterpiece - Brian's #3 - Ween goes to Nashville - Serious musicianship behind silly songs - Jay's #3 - Afghan Whigs' Black Love was a cinematic concept album - Serious Quadrophenia feel on the ballads - Brian's #2 - Fountains of Wayne's debut was also underrated - Jay's #2 - Sloan bounced back from short-lived breakup to put together a brilliant album - Trading a Ween mix for a Sloan mix - Brian's #1 - Pinkerton was the first album Bria

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1996. I've also got music from King Tuff, Purling Hiss and Young Adults. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Check out Brian's comics podcast The Hour Cosmic - Brian: Beck's Odelay was just outside my top 5 - New album's okay, but not great - Brian: Cake, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Wrens' Secaucus - The endless wait for the new Wrens album - Brian was supposed to play piano with the Wrens but got sick - Sticking up for Stone Temple Pilots' album - Jay: STP were equal opportunity ripoff artists - The '90s brought new wave of festivals: Lolla, Gathering of the Vibes, HORDE, Ozzfest - Jay: No desire to go to Bonnaroo or Coachella - Nothing better than seeing a band in a club - Jay: Dug albums from D Generation, Sebadoh, Luscious Jackson, Johnny Cash, Chixdiggit, Brainiac, GBV, Maxwell, Westerberg - Singing the praises of Live at Drew's - Brian: Belle and Sebastian, Bill Frisell - Frisell did the soundtrack to a

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1996. I've also got music from Whirr, Withered Hand and Super Medusa. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Check out Brian's comics podcast The Hour Cosmic - In '96, Jay was 28 going on 29 - Brian: 13 going on 14 - Grunge was fading, pop was back in a big way - Two versions of "The Macarena" were on top 100 singles chart - Brian: At the time, didn't feel like a pop year - Bush made an album with Steve Albini - Lots of unsuccessful followups: Ugly Kid Joe, Kriss Kross - Metallica's Load lived down to its name - Strange year for Van Halen: Twister soundtrack, followed by greatest hits album with two DLR songs - VH went through three singers in a matter of months - Michael Anthony, Everyman - We deconstructed VH III in eps 315 and 316 - Nickelback's first album came out in '96 - KISS reunited with original lineup - Hip hop went mainstream - New acts on the rise, like The Roots, Outkast, Wu Tang Clan - Roots

Part 3 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion about society's obsession with celebrity. I've also got music from SW/MM/NG, Gold-Bears and Weekend. Show notes: - The Brits love them some Arctic Monkeys - Matt learns how to do Twitter - Getting followed by dead authors and weirdos - Desperate for celeb RTs - Positive Twitter interactions - Jay: Old friend has been writing about celebrities for a few decades now - PR jobs require a different mindset - Meeting your heroes can be problematic - Searching for Jagger - In the presence of Howard - Rock star deaths - Dying young does wonders for an artist's legacy - Brando's death isn't well remembered...by Matt, anyway - How dumb would we be if we had money?   Music: SW/MM/NG - Some Dreams Come True Gold-Bears - From Tallahassee to Gainesville Weekend - Hazel   Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review! The SW/MM/NG song is on the album Feel Not Bad on Old Flame Records. Download the song for

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion about society's obsession with celebrity. I've also got music from Creepers, Naomi Punk and Hooray for Earth. Show notes: - Scandal rags are still popular - Celebs and social media can lead to trouble - Now everyone's got a camera to catch your every mistake - Michael Richards was beloved until he screwed up - People will turn on celebs in an instant - The strange life of Tom Cruise, Entertainment Robot - Doing interview junkets must be mind-numbing - Supreme Court nominee was rejected in the '80s because of pot smoking - The media mastery of Bill Clinton - Public perception matters - Asking the wrong question - Jay: Meeting Stephen Colbert was pretty cool - Jay: Sat next to Jordan Knight of New Kids on the Block on a flight once - People will stand for hours just to get shown on The Today Show - Suing Naked Dating reality show for...being naked - To be continued   Music: Creepers - Stuck Naomi Punk - Television Man Hooray for Earth - Airs   Completel

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion about society's obsession with celebrity. I've also got music from The Wytches, Aan and Little Racer. Show notes: - Celebrity deaths - Jay: Robin Williams' death hit me hard - We don't have royalty so celebs fill that role - Getting rich doesn't necessarily equal happiness - Americans are surprisingly fascinated by the British royal family - Dealing with fans could get annoying after a while - Matt was at Boston ComiCon hyping his book - Check out his YA superhero novel The Indestructibles - Saw some minor celebs like Jason Momoa and John Barrowman - What do you say to an actor or musician you admire? - Matt met Susan Sarandon while working at Museum of Science - Jay: Met my favorite hockey player and I was a dork - Many movies filmed around here and people flock to watch - People will do anything to get onscreen - Worked with a guy who was on a short-lived reality show - Matt went to college with actor Charlie Day - The lameness of celeb interviews du

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Ric Dube as we examine the back story of '70s hitmakers Hamilton, Joe Frank and Reynolds. I've also got music from Owl John and Benjamin Booker. Show notes: - Recorded at More Lost Time world HQ - Check out our new web series Trust Fund Challenge - Playboy Records had Barbi Benton signed to a deal - RD: Hef likes "female impersonator impersonators" - Benton guested on many '70s TV shows like Fantasy Island and The Love Boat - She released five albums that hit the country charts - Worked on Playboy After Dark - Show had many great musical guests - Playboy Records made HJFR keep Reynolds in the name after he left - HJFR had their biggest hit in '75 with "Fallin' in Love" - Drake sampled it and was sued by Playboy Enterprises - Poor Dennison - Singer Dan Hamilton died in '94 of Cushing's Syndrome - Three subsequent singles bombed - Album only went to #82, even with a #1 hit - Bad distro - Band probably didn't make much money from sales - MST3K had a good HJFR reference - The

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Ric Dube as we examine the back story of '70s hitmakers Hamilton, Joe Frank and Reynolds. I've also got music from The Hush Now and Kingdom of the Holy Sun. Show notes: - Recorded at More Lost Time world HQ - Check out our new web series Trust Fund Challenge - The adventures of Steve Austin Astronaut - Hamilton, Joe Frank and Reynolds were synonymous with '70s AM pop - "Don't Pull Your Love" was their first big hit in '71 - Singer does an Elvis impression - Song written by Lambert and Potter, who had hits with many artists - Guys from HJFR were in the T-Bones, who had a hit in '60s with "No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach Is In)" - An "offshoot" of the Ventures, an instrumental band that made tons of records covering hits - Session musicians made the albums - T-Bones were put together to tour and later they formed HJFR - The Wrecking Crew was a famous session band that cranked out hits - Reynolds left HJFR in '72 - Second HJFR album stiffed - Ric: A bunch of Ventures

Part 3 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1989. I've also got music from Ty Segall, Spoon and J. Mascis. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Check out Brian's comics podcast The Hour Cosmic - Jay's #3 - Neil Young rebounds from a long, strange decade - Led to a fruitful stretch of albums - Jay's #2 - Bob Mould moves beyond Husker Du - Inspired new direction and sound - Our picks for #1 are the same - Pixies at their peak - Doolittle covers all facets of the band's sound - Brian saw them several times when they toured behind Doolittle in the last decade - Brian: Latest live incarnation of Pixies is more energized - Bad choice for first single with "Bagboy" - Frank Black was prolific, but he can't keep up with Bob Pollard - Next up: 1996 - Popular music was shifting again   Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!   Music: Ty Segall - Susie Thumb Spoon - Rent I Pay J. Mascis - Every Morn

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1989. I've also got music from Stickers, Cretin Girls and Ex-Cult. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Check out Brian's comics podcast The Hour Cosmic - Brian: Pump was the best post-reunion Aerosmith album - Tom Petty's Full Moon Fever is decent - Jay's bubbling under picks: The Cure, Smithereens, Tragically Hip, Lou Reed, XTC, Michael Penn, Cult, Faith No More - Brian's bubbling under picks: Fugazi, Tin Machine, CVB, Elvis Costello, Dylan - The strange career of Dave Navarro - Jay: Good releases from Stone Roses, Hoodoo Gurus, Big Audio Dynamite - Brian: Joe Strummer took a long time to release a good post-Clash album - Brian's #5 - McCartney's comeback album - Jay's #5 and Brian's #4 - Nirvana's debut was under the radar - Jay's #4 and Brian's #2 - Paul's Boutique was a major shift for Beasties - Brian recommends the Kathleen Hanna doc, The Punk Singer - Brian's #3 - De La Soul brought a different feel

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1989. I've also got music from Radiator Hospital, Sex Hands and Priests. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Check out Brian's comics podcast The Hour Cosmic - In 1989, Brian was 7 and Jay graduated from college - Jay: Never saw the Indiana Jones sequels - Brian: A lot of records I liked, few that I loved - Jay: Seeds of Seattle sound came out in '89--Nirvana, Soundgarden, Mudhoney, Screaming Trees with crucial early albums - Madchester scene: Stone Roses, Happy Mondays - Jay: Started seeing club shows in Boston 'burbs - Great local scene now: Speedy Ortiz, Krill, Pile, Soccer Mom - Waiting for The Best Show to return - In '89, alt-rock was coming into its own - R.E.M., B-52's both hit it big - Brian: Mid-'90s indie rock bands formed, as did swing acts - First Green Day EP came out - Classic rock tours started making big bucks: McCartney, Ringo, Stones, Who - Tin Machine marked Bowie's return to rock - Kids

This week, it's an episode of Driving With Kumar as guests Dave Olson and Phil Stacey join me to discuss whether the album is an endangered species. I've also got music from Speedy Ortiz, Dead Stars and Parquet Courts. Show notes: - Recorded on the way to Fenway Park - A BBC radio exec proclaimed the album is about to be extinct - "Playlists are the future" - Phil: Listen to a lot of albums by new or unfamiliar artists on Spotify - Much different listening experience when we were kids - Dave: Worked in restaurants as a kid and brought mix tapes to listen to - Albums brought more lasting satisfaction - Phil: Song order is interesting - Sometimes an album only has 1 or 2 good songs - Deep cuts - Hunting for B-sides - Digging through back catalog - The vagaries of bubblegum pop - Kids don't listen to albums as much anymore - Phil likes the jam bands - Commercial radio is in rough shape - Music sales are a fraction of what they once were 20+ years ago - The power of licensed music in movies and TV

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our favorite music of the first half of the year. I've also got music from Johnny Foreigner, Soccer Mom and Protomartyr. Show notes: - Recorded at Clicky Clicky World HQ - JB: Ava Luna does not fake the funk - JK: Johnny Foreigner comes back with another excellent album - They also dropped a surprise live album recently - JB: Soccer Mom's full-length debut did not disappoint - JK: Protomartyr has an interesting back story - JB: Engineer Jeff Zeigler has worked on most great recent albums out of Philly - Nothing's Guilty of Everything is exceedingly loud but pretty - Wear earplugs, kids - JK: Parquet Courts continues to refine their sound - The Strokes were another band who came out to much acclaim - Critical comparisons are often ill-informed - JB: Perfect Pussy is female-fronted hardcore - JK: Stephen Malkmus has had an interesting and rewarding solo career - JK: Bob Mould keeps the rock vibe going - JK: Afghan Whigs release first

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our favorite music of the first half of the year. I've also got music from Hallelujah the Hills, She Sir and The Collected Fictions. Show notes: - Recorded at Clicky Clicky World HQ - A farewell to Moviefone - JB: Forced to listen to lite rock radio at work - Frozen vs. High School Musical - Rock stations play the same old catalog stuff - Regional radio leanings - JK's radio show Stuck In Thee Garage is almost a year old - The debut of Clicky Clicky Live - JB's honorable mentions: New Mendicants, Steiner, The Collected Fictions, The Wrong Shapes - Ovlov's breakup/reunion - JK's honorable mentions: Hallelujah the Hills, The Hold Steady, Krill, Speedy Ortiz, Mastodon - JB: La Ligas Menores makes good indie pop out of Argentina - JK: The War on Drugs' Lost in the Dream has an '80s feel - JB: Krill has best song imagining oneself as poop - JK: F'd Up combines gruff vocals with intricate arrangements - JB: She Sir is a two-piece from Aus

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Brian Lewandowski as we discuss working, childhood homes and corporal punishment. I've also got music from The Afghan Whigs, Lubec and Dum Dum Girls. Show notes: - Brian: Writing for a prepper show called America Unplugged - Getting your news from Pat Robertson - Visiting your childhood home - Jay: Toronto suburb I once lived in tripled in size within a few years - Brian hasn't been back to Buffalo since '93 - Corporal punishment was once acceptable - Brian: Worst punishment was kneeling - Don't eat your vegetables, kids - Louis CK is doing his own thing - Brian saw Eels (without Steve Perry) - Unconventional frontmen - Jay: Never had to see the Wiggles - Dan Zanes' children's music is pretty listenable - Brian liked Raffi - The Creationism Museum looks fun - Preparing for the End Times - Great ideas come in unlikely places - Dream journals - Brian has similar dreams over and over - We worked out some issues   Completely Conspicuous is available through

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Brian Lewandowski as we discuss writing for reality TV, early jobs and freelancing. I've also got music from The Vaselines, Jawbreaker Reunion and Kittyhawk. Show notes: - Brian's doing freelance work for The Sportsman's Channel - "Inhumane interest stories" - Worked on a Sarah Palin-hosted show - Writing ads for a new Penn Gillette show - Jay: Never seen It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - Tales of Brother Dave, who once had a following - Supermarket jobs - Working on the night crew - Brian's brush with a suicidal/homicidal security guard - Bill Murray's showing up in random places - When you're younger, you tend to bond more closely with co-workers - Brian's getting along with himself these days - Working from home - Brian took a break from comedy but is now writing jokes again - Back up your online work - To be continued     Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!   Music: The Vaselines -

Part 3 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1986. I've also got music from Los Campesinos!, The Fresh & Onlys and The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Check out Brian's comics podcast The Hour Cosmic - Brian's #3 - Feelies' second album was very influential - Jay's #3 - R.E.M. debuts heavier guitar sound - Band kept going too long - Brian's #2 - They Might Be Giants got off to great start - Lots of NJ love - Jay's #2 - Husker Du's amazing stretch - '80s production techniques hurt some great albums - Grant Hart dominated Candy Apple Grey - Brian's #1 - Camper Van Beethoven released two albums in '86 - Jay's #1 - '86 was the year of thrash - Metallica at their best - Drawbacks to sound fidelity with MP3, but convenience is worth it - Hair metal also thrived in '86 - Next up: 1989   Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!   Music: Los Campesinos! - Little