Completely Conspicuous

I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite albums of 1979. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - Jay turned 12, Phil turned 10 in '79 - "My Sharona" was the top song on the Billboard Hot 100, lots of disco - Rod Stewart hit it big with "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy" - New wave was getting attention - A wealth of great albums - Jay's favorite non-top 5 albums: The Knack, Graham Parker and the Rumour, Supertramp, AC/DC, Joe Jackson with two classic albums - Phil's non-top 5 faves: Bob Marley, Blondie, Joy Division, Pink Floyd, Gang of Four, XTC, Michael Jackson, Neil Young, The Cars, The Police, The Kinks, Van Halen, Elvis Costello, Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, Prince, Talking Heads - Phil's #5: Joe Jackson's killer debut is just packed with great, punchy songs - Jay's #5: Pink Floyd with an epic concept album, their last great record - Phil's #4 and Jay's #2: Neil Young ends an amazing run of albums with a killer (and heavy) reco

I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite albums of 1978. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - Jay turned 11, Phil turned 9 in '78 - Big festivals, including Texxas Jam - Lots of disco on the singles chart - Phil's favorite non-top 5 albums: Ramones, Blondie, The Who, The Clash, Elvis Costello, Jerry Garcia Band, Bob Marley, Rolling Stones, The Jam, Devo, Bob Seger, AC/DC, Tom Petty, Little Feat, Big Star, Marvin Gaye, Springsteen, Warren Zevon, Cheap Trick - WKRP in Cincinnati on DVD and music licensing (UPDATE: Turns out a bunch of the music was restored on a recent DVD set) - Cheap Trick At Budokan is one of the greatest live albums ever - Jay's favorite bubbling under albums: The Police, Rush, Dire Straits, The Who, Peter Gabriel - Phil's #5: Neil Young revisits the laid-back sound of Harvest - Phil's #4 and Jay's #4: Talking Heads explore a more danceable sound - Phil's #3: Debut from The Police made a big splash

It's part 2 of my Zoomtastic conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our favorite music of 2020. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - On to our top 10 - Kumar's #10: Dan Bejar with another great cinematic Destroyer album - Breitling's #9: A hooky rock record from Bully - Kumar's #9: METZ with an accessible yet pummeling record - Breitling's #8: Spectres with a disconcerting release - Kumar's #8: Jeff Rosenstock has become a reliably excellent indie rock stalwart - Breitling's #7: Hop Along's Frances Quinlan goes solo - Reppin' for the new movie Sound of Metal - Kumar's #7: Boston act Eldridge Rodriguez with a sweeping, epic album - Dog walkin' time - Breitling's #6: The Psychedelic Furs with the superb comeback album nobody expected - Kumar's #6 and Breitling's #4: Sadie Dupuis (aka Sad13) branches out with a pop-driven release - Breitling's #5: A true banger from IDLES - Kumar's #5: The Coriky album is as close to a Fugazi reunion as we're gonna get - Kumar's #4: Greg Dulli delivers a compelling sol

It's part 1 of my Zoomified conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our favorite music of 2020. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - This podcast is not affiliated in any with MovieFone. - The first time in nine years that we're not talking the year in rock in the same room - No live shows after early March - Breitling last saw Hallelujah the Hills at Great Scott last November, Kumar saw Drive-By Truckers at Somerville Theater in March - Devastating economic impact on all the non-musicians who work to put concerts together - If approved, Save Our Stages act would aid live venues - Many independent Boston-area venues have already closed - Great Scott may reopen in a new location - No touring means no income for many smaller artists - Streaming royalties need to be updated and increased - The Breitlings enjoyed Strange Brew recently - Plenty of livestreams, free, for charity and for profit - Bandcamp Friday has been a good way to

I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite albums of 1977. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - A startling number of great releases in '77; a lot of terrific debuts - Singles chart was topped by disco and pop: Rod Stewart, Andy Gibb, Streisand, KC and the Sunshine Band, Engelbert Humperdinck - Jay's non-top 5 faves: Ramones had two albums, Sex Pistols, Johnny Thunders, the Damned, Richard Hell, Iggy Pop, Cheap Trick had two, Bowie had two, Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, Rush, Neil Young, The Clash, Wire, Max Webster  - Jay: My dad had disco mixtapes, - This was recorded before Johnny Lydon said he had flea bites on his dong - Phil's non-top 5 favorites: Grateful Dead, Television, Jackson Browne, Billy Joel, Elvis Costello, the Kinks, AC/DC, Dead Boys, Queen, Linda Ronstadt, Wire, Clapton - The cover of Queen's News of the World scared young Phil; Kmart had a cleaned-up alternate cover - Jay's #5: Peter Gabriel's solo

I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite albums of 1976. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - America was all about the Bicentennial in 1976 - Disco was picking up steam - Arena rock and MOR was huge - Phil's non-top 5 favorites: Eagles, Zeppelin, Steely Dan, Bowie, Zevon, J. Geils Band, Rolling Stones, Boz Scaggs, Joni Mitchell, Bob Marley, Burning Spear, Peter Tosh, Wings, AC/DC, Aerosmith, Seger, Modern Lovers   - Like a lot of '76 records, don't love a lot of them - AC/DC re-released Dirty Deeds five years later in the U.S. - Bob Seger liked the double entendres - Jay's non-top 5 faves: Max Webster, Blondie, Judas Priest, Thin Lizzy, Blue Oyster Cult, Queen, Stevie Wonder, Tom Petty - Phil's #5: Jerry Garcia solo release spawned some Dead staples - Jay's #5: Aerosmith continues their strong mid-70s run - Phil's  #4: Petty's stellar debut - Jay's #4: Zeppelin releases a sprawling, epic album - Phil's #3: Dylan's las

I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite albums of 1975. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - RIP to EVH - We both saw VH in 1986 - In '75, Phil turned 6, Jay turned 8 - "Love Will Keep Us Together" was the #1 song of the year - Disco was starting to emerge - The S.N.A.C.K. concert - Phil's non-top 5: Parliament, Burning Spear, Patti Smith, Aerosmith, Pink Floyd, Grateful Dead, Joni Mitchell, Steely Dan, Fleetwood Mac, Neil Young, Dylan and the Band - Jay's non-top 5: AC/DC, Rush, The Who, Supertramp, Springsteen, McCartney/Wings - Phil's #5: The Who tries some different sounds - Jay's #5: Pink Floyd follows up a classic with another classic - Phil's #4 and Jay's #3: Bowie moves into another phase - Jay's #4: Queen breaks through with "Bohemian Rhapsody" - Phil's #3 and Jay's #2: A gut-wrenching release from Neil Young - Phil's 2: Dylan's 15th album is one of his best - Phil and Jay's #1: A double album that highlights

I'm joined by guest Brian Salvatore as we remember the greatness of Eddie Van Halen. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Last spoke in late March but feels a lot longer ago - We've been fascinated by Van Halen's career, the good and the bad - Eddie had dealt with cancer before - Death still came as a shock - Plenty of musician deaths this year: Neil Peart, Andy Gill, David Roback, Kenny Rogers, Bill Rieflin, Bill Withers, Adam Schlesinger, John Prine, Florian Schneider, Pete Way, Peter Green - Eddie was iconic and eternally youthful - Brian: First video I remember seeing was "Jump" - Played on Letterman a few times - Jay: Stopped listening to VH in '91 and didn't again for almost a decade - The "Right Now" video was surprising - Dropoff in quality after Roth left - 2012's A Different Kind of Truth was a decent way to go out - Hopefully there will finally be some archival VH releases - Who buys greatest hits albums? - Eddie's guest appearanc

I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite albums of 1974. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - Phil finally got a haircut - In '74, Phil turned 5, I turned 7 - Capt. and Tennille got married, Sonny and Cher got divorced - "The Streak" was a big hit - Phil: Looking back, liked more songs than albums in '74 - Not a long list of albums we liked - Radio was the main source of how people discovered music at that time - Phil's likes: Linda Ronstadt, Little Feat, Bob Marley, Lou Reed, Gram Parsons, Big Star, Van Morrison, Clapton - Jay's likes: Rush's debut album, Genesis, The Who, Queen, Steely Dan, Aerosmith, Zappa - The various, very different, phases of Genesis' sound - Queen is more popular than ever - Jay's #5: Supertramp's breakthrough - Phil's #5: Another great Stevie Wonder album - Jay's and Phil's #4: Neil Young with a mellow classic, powered by "honey slides" - Jay's #3: Big Star with an underrated power pop gem - Phi

I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite albums of 1973. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - "Tie a Yellow Ribbon" was big in '73 - Dark Side of the Moon spent 741 weeks on the Billboard albums chart - Big singles from Jim Croce, Paul Simon, Roberta Flack, Stories, Joe Walsh, Stealers Wheel - Jay's bubbling under albums: Wings, Queen, Lou Reed, Steely Dan, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, John Lennon, Sabbath - Marvin Gaye: Not a subtle man - Phil's bubbling under: Bob Marley and the Wailers, ZZ Top, Grateful Dead, Gram Parsons, Rolling Stones, ELP, Iggy and the Stooges - Jay's top albums: NY Dolls, Bowie, Pink Floyd, The Who, Led Zep - Dark Side of the Moon has been so overplayed over the years, but still a great album - Phil's top albums: Allman Brothers, Elton John, Bowie, The Who, Led Zep - The ridiculous coincidences of HBO's Vinyl - Quadrophenia is the last great Who album - The underrated John Paul Jones - Jay's favori

I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite albums of 1972. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - Re-recording because of audio issues - Missed the podcast's 14th birthday - In '72, Phil turned 3, Jay turned 5 - Big tours going on: Pink Floyd, Zeppelin, McCartney - Different concept of band longevity back then - A lot of soft rock on the singles chart - Phil's faves: Neil Young, Bowie, Elton, Stones, Allman Brothers, Grateful Dead, War, Jackson Browne, Van Morrison, Lou Reed, Big Star, Stevie Wonder, Little Feat - Pete Townshend's solo debut - Jay's faves: Sabbath, Steely Dan, Stones, NY, Lou Reed, Big Star, T. Rex, Alice Cooper, Roxy Music, Bowie - Favorite song from favorite album:  "Jack Straw (live)" (Phil) and "Moonage Daydream" (Jay) - Did audiences appreciate what they were seeing back then? - Sometimes people have too much fun at shows - Next time: 1973 Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts. Subscr

It's part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our favorite music of the year so far. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - Breitling's #10 and Kumar's #8 - Jangly indie pop sounds from Australia - The lack of touring is really hurting bands and fans - Breitling's #9 - A Matmos side project, "a niche of a niche" - Kumar's #10 - All-star post-punk act out of LA - Kumar's #9 - The loud/loud dynamic - Breitling's #8 - Solo album from singer of Hop Along - Breitling's #7 - Ambient electronic from an Italian musician in his 60s - Bandcamp Friday has been a big hit this year - Kumar's #7 - New band from Ian MacKaye, Amy Farina and Joe Lally - Harking back to Fugazi's sound - Kumar's #6 - Texas-based act with members from the Riverboat Gamblers and Rise Against - Breitling's #6 - Another great Slumberland release - Breitling's #5 - Dream pop from the Ukraine - Kumar's #5 - Indie rock stalwart continues evolving his sound - Ku

It's part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our favorite music of the year so far. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - R.I.P., Great Scott - Big blow to Boston rock scene - Venues, bars, restaurants are going out of business all over the country - Breitling and college friends have resurrected their old radio shows on Mixcloud - Parcheesi Redux is on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays - Now 17 weeks in - Music industry is at a standstill - Touring has ceased altogether - RATT's back, baby (thanks to Geico) - Livestreams have become a thing - There's no money in album sales anymore - Breitling: Have been listening to more music this year - Breitling's faves outside the top 10: Jesse Gallagher, Hum, Phoebe Bridgers, Katie Day - Kumar's on the bubble picks: EOB, Jeff Rosenstock, Peel Dream Magazine, Porridge Radio, Savak - Next time: On to our top 10 Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast direc

I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite albums of 1971. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - The disappointing ZZ Top Sixpack box set - Early Bob Seger is good - Started seeing more solo albums - The rollercoaster ride of Doors fandom - Jay's faves (not #1): Rolling Stones, McCartney, Marvin Gaye, Funkadelic, Sabbath, Lennon, Bowie, the Who - When you've heard songs you love too many times - Jay's #1 - Zeppelin's pinnacle - Don't need to listen to it anymore - Licensing songs to death - Don't understand people who listen to the same music they did 30 years ago - Country music is the new pop - Phil's faves: Allman Brothers, Sly Stone, John Prine, Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Joplin, CSNY, Elton, Traffic, Nick Drake - Phil's been listening to a new album every day during quarantine - Phil's #1 - The Stones were in the middle of a killer run - A band that was greater than the sum of its parts - A few more from Jay:  T. Rex, Ki

I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite albums of 1970. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - Phil's got some quality hockey hair going - Going to go through our favorite albums of each year from 1970-2020, starting with '70 - We were both under the age of 3 - Pretty varied list of favorites from that year - Popular music was splintering into many different genres - FM radio was pretty freeform - Radio was the main way to discover music back then - Some interesting tour pairings - Altamont was an abrupt end to the hippie era - Big deaths in 1970: Hendrix and Joplin - Phil's favorites (except #1): The Who, CSNY, Neil Young, Led Zep, Van Morrison, Derek & the Dominoes - Jay: Not a Clapton fan - Phil: Kinks, Beatles, George Harrison, McCartney, Miles Davis, Bowie, Joni Mitchell, Chicago, James Taylor, Elton, Stones - Phil's #1 - The Dead's best studio album - Jay: Deep Purple, Hendrix, Funkadelic, Black Sabbath, Stooges  -

I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss the final Grateful Dead studio album Built to Last. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - Built to Last released on Halloween 1989 - Jay had just graduated from college, Phil was a junior - Jay: Don't remember this album even coming out - Phil: It's not memorable - Felt like band was going through the motions - Brent Mydland dominated the album with four songs - He was suffering from depression; died a year later - Maybe Garcia and Weir didn't have enough good material - Fall '89 Dead shows are considered the band's last great run of concerts - Tried the same recording technique as previous album but it didn't work - Garcia said Mydland's songs were better - Final song is really bad - Phil: They had enough material to record another album - You can find version of them online - Garcia started getting into drugs again - Concert performances suffered - Band members started doing other projects - A cou

I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss the Grateful Dead album In the Dark. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - We originally planned to do this in early March, but then something happened - In the Dark was released in July 1987, seven years after the last Dead studio album - Phil had just graduated from high school, Jay was going into junior year of college - The band had been playing the songs in concert for years - Jerry Garcia had gone into a diabetic coma in '86 - Had to re-learn how to walk, talk, play guitar - Band was renewed after his recovery - CDs were just starting to get popular - We both didn't get CD players until 1989 - First CDs: Phil's was 10,000 Maniacs, Jay's were Cult, the Who, Joe Jackson - The Best of Steve Miller was a college staple in the '80s - Recorded live in an empty theater - "Touch of Grey" was all over MTV and rock radio that summer - Very catchy single - Phil: Album was breath of fresh air after two dis

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we discuss quarantine life. Show notes: - Recorded recently via Skype - What's the first thing you'd do post-COVID? - All the big movies got pushed back to later in the year or 2021 - Some movies are going straight to streaming - When will we feel comfortable at crowded concerts again? - If touring slows down, how will musicians survive? - Artists may have to go directly to fans for support - Lou Barlow started a subscription service - Artists have done similar things for years: Rundgren, Prince - Might see more music made by artists stuck at home - Suddenly we have a lot of time to listen to records - Jay: Daughter's into the Beatles now - When you know songs you hate by heart - Appreciating '70s-era McCartney - Bad production really stands out on mix playlists - Does anyone remember dynamics? - Self-improvement activities to catch up on - Brian: No time to do any of it so far - Jay:

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we discuss quarantine life. Show notes: - Recorded last week via Skype - Homeschooling is hard work - A month in, the hoarding continues - Brian's second-grader has a lot of schoolwork - Brian was down in Florida to spend a few days at spring training - Had planned to visit family in Arizona in March, but decided not to - Virus moved quickly - Brian saw Jonathan Richman concert in March - Jay: Was supposed to fly to California for a conference in March, but it was canceled - Had tickets to Archers of Loaf concert in mid-March that was canceled - Jay: Working from home full-time - Brian: Trying to find non-screen activities for the kids - We're spending a lot of time with our families, which isn't a bad thing - We've never had a situation like this where everything is shut down - A lot of people are out of work or unable to work right now - No sports to watch during one of the best time

This week, I'm joined by author Greg Renoff as we discuss the new book he wrote with legendary rock producer Ted Templeman. Show notes: - Greg's first book was 2015's Van Halen Rising - Five years later, people are still discovering it - Wrote about the early years of VH from a fan's perspective - The band filled a void when their debut came out - That book led to Greg's new book, Ted Templeman: A Platinum Producer's Life in Music - Templeman came to book signing for Van Halen Rising - Greg later pitched the idea of a book about Templeman - Book looks at his start as a musician and the albums he worked on as a producer - Renoff wanted to add more structure to Templeman's recollections - Book's out on ECW Press on April 21 - Took a few years to put together before the editing process - Did a lot of interviews with Ted, exchanged many emails - He didn't want to dwell on controversy too much - Book starts with his childhood in Santa Cruz