Leave Work Now! With Rick Koster

Author Lewis Shiner discusses his latest book "Outside the Gates of Eden." Shiner brings his experience as a musician - he once played in the house band at a Dallas club called Boogers - to writing about music.

Roger Joseph Manning Jr. and former Jellyfish and Imperial Drag bandmates Eric Dover and Tim Smith have released a new EP as The Lickerish Quartet. Manning talks with Rick Koster about the band's new music, the reissues of his solo albums, touring with Beck and Cheap Trick, and the challenges of making melodic pop music in beat-driven musical landscape. The Lickerish Quartet - "Lighthouse Spaceship" Roger Joseph Manning Jr. - "Too Late For Us Now" Jellyfish - "That Is Why"

You've heard of one-hit wonders, but what about one-album wonders? We talk about some of our favorite artists that released one great album with no follow-up. Toy Matinee – “Remember My Name” Wild Tchoupitoulas – “Brother John” Hughes-Thrall – “Who Will You Run To” Pat Metheny & Lyle Mays – “It’s for You” The Autumn Chorus – “Three Jumps the Devil” Armageddon – “Buzzard” Lauryn Hill - "Everything is Everything" Mother Love Bone - "Stardog Champion"

Rick shares memories of Elvis Presley, including the time his father took out a full-page ad in the local newspaper to brag about selling Elvis a mobile home, and the time one of Rick's band-mates impersonated Elvis in order to supply the band with beer.

The New London Drone Orchestra, a loose collective of as many as 18 musicians, makes ambient music that. is based largely on in-person improvisation. When the coronavirus pandemic hit, members of the group recorded separate individual performances in isolation that were shared and mixed to create an album, "Isolation/Collaboration." Members Tim Wolf and Pamela Wilson joined us to talk about the album. "Isolation/Collaboration" is available at https://enterthecircle.bandcamp.com/album/isolation-collaboration and on most streaming services.

There are some rock venues that everyone knows even if they never saw a show there. The Winchester Lounge in Odessa, Texas is not one of them. But Rick got to meet members of many soon-to-be-famous bands there. Like the time he bought breakfast for the guitarist of Quiet Riot, who had no cash, on the day they hit number on eon the Billboard chart.

The Rolling Stones' new single "Living in a Ghost Town" a few weeks ago to little fanfare. Did it get lost in all the coronavirus news, or are people just over The Rolling Stones?

Rick and Peter speak with drummer Tom Trombley and producer Richard Brukner about The Reducers' new live album "Live in Montville." The album comes from a cassette tape recording of a backyard concert in 1980, three years before the band released their first album. You can hear the album at https://reducers.bandcamp.com/album/live-in-montville

Canceled tours. Delayed album releases. Loss of income. When the coronavirus forced everyone to stay home, many musicians had to quickly adapt to the new reality. We spoke with singer/songwriter Daphne Lee Martin, pianist/vocalist Eric Stevenson of Pocket Vinyl, and guitarist/vocalist Noah Feldman of Fleet and Noah & The Flood about the awkwardness of live streaming shows from their living rooms, and trying to stay creative during times of fear and sadness.

Do all Young People think that songs with real instruments sound like they're from the 80s? Songs we discussed: Von Hertzen Brothers - Long Lost Sailor New Radicals - You Get What You Give The Darkness - I Believe in a Thing Called Love

As he gets older, Rick is finding that the nostalgia evoked by his all-time favorite albums evokes feelings of melancholy instead of joy.

Rick and Peter share favorite memories of jazz great Ellis Marsalis and Fountains of Wayne bassist/songwriter Adam Schlesinger, both of whom died from complications related to coronavirus.

Who actually likes singing "Happy Birthday?" Rick proposes some alternative ways to measure 20 seconds at the bathroom sink to make sure you are properly washing your hands.

Rick recalls better times - the day he spent in the early 1990s drinking scotch with Roger Kahn, the late author of "The Boys of Summer."

Luanne Rice's new novel "Last Day" will launch with at Bank Square Books on Saturday Feb. 1 as part of The Day's new book club Read of the Day. While that's two weeks away, Hygienic Art's 41st annual Salon des Independants show opens this weekend.

It's going to rain on Halloween this year, and Rick is not okay with towns trying to postpone trick-or-treating. Halloween is full of memories for both Rick and Pete - like the time Pete walked into a nursing home and realized his costume was totally inappropriate, or the incident that made Rick realize he was too old to dress up and knock on doors. Links: Rick's List - Halloween Tombstone Edition UFO hits Wolf Den on their farewell tour Garde hosts showing of original "Godzilla"

Rick and Pete reflect on Justin Hayward's show with Mike Dawes at The Garde, and recall times they went along to see someone else's favorite band.

Justin Hayward of the Moody Blues plays at the Garde Arts Center on Saturday. The Moody Blues, and Hayward's songs in particular, were a big deal to a young Rick Koster.   Songs we discuss:   “In the Beginning / Lovely to See You” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AukFsBv2oDY  “Watching and Waiting” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHCtqq8GDxA “The Actor” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFHUJeTHznk “Are You Sitting Comfortably?” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPcPApPO20s “The Western Sky” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KCUeg54CUI

Rick's band used to cover songs from movies in the eighties. Pete's musical taste was defined by movie soundtracks of the nineties. Are films still a major vehicle for popular music, or have video games taken over?

We were supposed to talk about something else today, but our sound check turned into an entire episode. Rick sneaks into a Brian Wilson sound check, while Pete looks for help facilitating sound checks at local candidate debates.