Completely Conspicuous

This week, it's part 1 of my conversation with author Greg Renoff as we discuss the rise and fall of the guitar hero. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Buy Greg's book Van Halen Rising at Amazon or get a signed copy from the Van Halen Store - Greg: As a kid, started playing stepfather's old acoustic guitar - An uncle got him into Hendrix, Clapton, Leslie West - Jay: First guitar hero was Jimmy Page - Zeppelin II was the gateway - Greg: Realized early that I'd never be able to play like Eddie VH - Jay: Played guitar on and off over the years, never seriously - Childhood friend plays in a Journey cover band - Greg: Guitar was a good way to blow off steam - Big band Hendrix? - Jay: Other early favorites were Pete Townshend and Dave Davies - The evolution of Clapton - Early '70s were marked by great players like Iommi, Blackmore and Michael Schenker - Jay: Got into Sabbath and Ozzy in the early '80s - Gary Moore was an underrated guitar monster - Building your music c

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Matt Wardlaw as we discuss the decline of rock radio. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Check out Matt's podcast Lost Together - Van Cherone: Matt defends Van Halen III - Eddie VH's lack of new material - Buy Greg Renoff's great book Van Halen Rising - Eddie sounds good again - Age is becoming a factor - Jay: Saw both DLR and VH in 1986 - The MTV effect - Early '80s video production values - Videos pushed songs to greater success - In defense of "We Built This City" - Videos boosted careers of artists like ZZ Top, the Cars and Huey Lewis - Rock stations added non-music programming - Satellite radio is nice, but not a must-have - Matt uses Apple Music - Bands aren't making much money from streaming - The money is in touring and merch, not albums - Home taping didn't kill the music industry   Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closi

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Matt Wardlaw as we discuss the decline of rock radio. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Check out Matt's podcast Lost Together - Matt first got into radio as a kid in Odessa, TX - Jay: Started listening to AM rock stations in Toronto in late '70s - Matt later moved to Cleveland area, heard a lot of Canadian bands on radio there - The enduring popularity of Trooper's "Raise a Little Hell" - The thrill of the chase: hunting for B-sides and imports - Learned about music via radio and magazines - Countless hours in record stores - In Boston, the rock stations have dwindled - Cleveland's WMMS has gone part talk, part classic rock - Curated radio experience is becoming more rare - Jay: Listen to combo of podcasts, college radio and online stations - Matt had a metal show for several years - Classic rock acts can't get new stuff played anymore - Playing new material live vs. "the hits" - Billy Joel stopped making new musi

Part 3 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we discuss fantasy sports. Show notes: - No interest in daily fantasy sports - Big ad blitz when daily fantasy leagues hit the scene - The kids love the gambling - Sports gambling is much easier now - Vegas now has an NHL franchise - The Super Bowl is more spectacle than game - "I call him Gamblor" - Senior citizens take buses to casinos - Playing in multiple leagues is no guarantee of winning money - When the commissioner is dishonest - Like pickup sports, you want to have fun with friends in fantasy leagues - The single worst pick in fantasy hockey history - Let's hear it for Lichtenstein Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we discuss fantasy sports. Show notes: - Jay: Renewed interest in baseball in the past year - Watching sports without cable TV can be tricky - Head-to-head format can be tough - Paying attention to statistical details - When fantasy leagues go bad - Our fantasy hockey league fell apart because of money - The problem with having people you don't know in the league - We had our draft, started the season and then shut it down - Hockey can be tough because it's harder to find people who really know the game - Jay: Work football league got rid of kickers - So many sources of draft information - To be continued Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is cour

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we discuss fantasy sports. Show notes: - Fantasy sports is big business - Rooting against your favorite team - Phil: Got into fantasy baseball in early '90s - Jay: Started a league in '91 with work friends - Paid a service to compile stats reports - So much more now to distract you from draft prep - Started with AL-only league - Early fantasy football league started decades earlier - Jack Kerouac created his own fantasy baseball league with fictional players and teams - Strat-O-Matic started in early '60s - Cards and dice game, similar to D&D - The joys of Mattel Intellivision - Sports betting is popular - Takes enjoyment out of the game - The house always wins - The fun of the fantasy draft - Auction leagues require more involvement, longer draft - To be continued Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of

Part 3 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1995. Show notes: - Recorded live from Brian's back porch in Ringwood, NJ - Check out Brian's podcast Input/Output - Brian's #2 - Rentals' debut is on par with Weezer's best - Brian's #3 and Jay's #2 - Jay: Saw Foo Fighters' first tour, opening for Mike Watt - Foo debut came out of nowhere - Grohl released a solo album a few years earlier - First two Foo albums are standouts - The problem with Audioslave - Gord Downie goes out doing what he loves - Radiohead's The Bends just missed both our lists - Brian's #1 and Jay's #3 - Mike Watt called in every favor he could - GBV's Alien Lanes dropped out of Jay's top 5 - Chock full o' good songs - Jay's #1 - PJ Harvey expands her sound beyond guitar rock - Next up: 1985    Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1995. Show notes: - Recorded live from Brian's back porch in Ringwood, NJ - Check out Brian's podcast Input/Output - Brian's bubbling under albums: ODB, Morphine, Boss Hog, Hum - Brian Salvatore: Humbuster - Jay's bubbling under: Rancid, Mad Season, Elastica, Matthew Sweet, Yo La Tengo - Brian: White Zombie, No Doubt, Oasis, Presidents of the USA, Smashing Pumpkins, Goo Goo Dolls, Flaming Lips, Bowie, Sleater-Kinney - Jay: Urge Overkill, Chris Whitley, Helium, Garbage, Bjork, Wilco, Neil Young, Jawbreaker - Brian's #5 - Rancid blasts through an excellent album - Jay's #5 - One of the two Rocket from the Crypt albums released in '95 - Melding horns with punk guitars - Brian's #4 - Kim Deal's non-Breeders band - "The most GBV-sounding Breeders record" - Josephine Baker was not in the Breeders - Jay's #4 - Pavement's post-breakthrough record - The original title didn't cut it

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1995. Show notes: - Recorded live from Brian's back porch in Ringwood, NJ - Check out Brian's podcast Input/Output - Baby Ben hanging out - In 1995, we were on to the second-generation grunge bands - Bands were copying Bush and Stone Temple Pilots - Brian was 12-13, Jay was 27-28 - Jerry Garcia died - More '95 deaths: Eazy E, Shannon Hoon - Back then, you checked out music based on a review - Blind Melon's rise and fall - Beatles released new song - Bill Berry had a brain aneurysm during an R.E.M. show - Van Halen released their last Hagar album - Superhero movies in the '90s - Singles charts had a lot of R&B, some jam rock - Jay tells his Trey Anastasio story again - Cursing Greg Ginn - Jay: Listened to Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness for first time in 20 years - Formed in '95: Blonde Redhead, N SYNC, Pedro the Lion, Eels, Sleater-Kinney - Broke up in '95: Grate

Part 3 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about our favorite music of the first half of 2016. Show notes: - Kumar's #4 and Breitling's #3 - Hallelujah the Hills releases another fine album - Kumar's #3 - Third in Bob Mould's kickass trilogy - Don't wait on a Husker Du reunion, Mould's current band is the real deal - Indie rockers in their 50s are still bringing the heat - The problem with being U2 - Breitling's #2 - The Car Seat Headrest kids are playing the rock - Kumar's #2 - Possibly Iggy's last rock record - Breitling's and Kumar's #1 - Bowie's last album, released three days before he died - A consistent electronic sound - Breitling: Looking forward to new Johnny Foreigner, Eros and the Eschaton, Urusei Yatsura comp, reissues from Rocketship and the Lilys - Kumar: Anticipating new albums from Teenage Fanclub, Dinosaur Jr. and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds   Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review

I celebrate a decade of podcasting with part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about our favorite music of the first half of 2016. Show notes: - Kumar: Thin Lips, Woods (formerly Meneguar) on list of bubbling-under albums - Breitling's #10 (list is in no particular order) - Pinegrove blends emo and alt-country - Kumar's #10 - Savages brings the heat - Breitling's #9 - Nothing comes into its own with the loud rock - Kumar's #9 and Breitling's #8 - A Giant Dog plays hard rock with an indie twist - Kumar's #8 - Welcome return of Paul Westerberg, teamed with Juliana Hatfield - Breitling's #7 - Thin Lips is Superchunk-descended - Kumar's #7 - Possibly the last Tragically Hip album; was produced by Broken Social Scene's Kevin Drew - Breitling's #6 - Bent Shapes are Boston's premier indie pop act - Kumar's #6 - Parquet Courts continues to make interesting records - Breitling's #5 - DIIV's double album is full of beautiful dream pop - Kumar's #5 - Black Mountain adds

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about our favorite music of the first half of 2016. Show notes: - Biggest trend so far: Death - A whole generation of musicians is in senior citizen territory - Ticketmaster settlement is as useless as TM normally is - "Stairway to Heaven" lawsuit ended the right way - Breitling plays law-talking guy - Tidal tries to start its own bidding war - Ultimate strategy is to get paid and get out - The free tier for streaming services will eventually go away - Bandcamp's iffy stats - Breitling's not-quite-top-10: New Dog, Horse Jumper of Love, Guillermo Sexo, Gold Muse, California Snow Story, Yr Poetry - Kumar's bubbling under list: Radiohead, Ty Segall, Modern Baseball, Future of the Left, Halfsour, Used Cassettes - To be continued   Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!   The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss the difficulties of avoiding cynicism. Show notes: - Check out Matt's new book Like a Comet: The Indestructibles Book 4 - People are desperate for fame - Matt auditioned for season 2 of The Real World - The savvy of Boston Rob - Chewbacca Mom is pushing it - Trump tapped into a vein of discontent - He's got a way with nicknames - We've got issues - Fat, but not happy - It's not a bad thing to be cynical - Changing your Twitter icon or FB profile pic is pointless - David Cameron and the pig's head - Sinking to meme level - The Internet never forgets - Power + opportunity = Bad life choices - We're going to remain cynical Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clic

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss the difficulties of avoiding cynicism. Show notes: - Check out Matt's new book Like a Comet: The Indestructibles Book 4 - It's hard not to be cynical these days - Politics are infuriating in general - Soccer hooligans can spread joy, too - Getting cynicism drummed into you as a young reporter - Kids, don't go into journalism - NIMBY remains a strong force - Matt made the mistake of going to back to newspapers a few years ago - Facts, schmacts - Saying something stupid won't tank your campaign anymore - Tapping into frustrated and angry voters - Blindly loyal political supporters - Stupid can win - People are tired of hearing from so-called experts - Jay: Reality TV makes me cynical - The Duggars had a show because they had 19 kids - Some people find The Bachelor fascinating - So many kids these days have the drive to become famous - The abnormal lives of huge celebrities - Tom Cruise can't rel

Part 3 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1981. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Check out Brian's podcast Input/Output - Brian's #3 - Prince starts pushing the envelope - Prince in the '80s was nearly untouchable - Jay's #3 - A childhood favorite - Moving Pictures encapsulated everything Rush had been working toward - Side 1 was killer - Brian's #2 - Kraftwerk ran with robotic sounds - A version is touring again - Jay's #2 - The Police start to become a commercial success - Stewart Copeland's drumming was revolutionary for the time - Should Brian drop big coin to see Sting and Peter Gabriel live? - Brian's #1 - Damaged is close to the definitive Black Flag album - Jay's #1 - Van Halen's creative peak - Angrier sounding - Next up: 1995    Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1981. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Check out Brian's podcast Input/Output - Elvis Costello released two albums in '81 - Solo albums from Phil Collins, Debbie Harry, Ronnie Wood, Peter Cetera, Lindsay Buckingham - Bands formed: The Alarm, Anthrax, Metallica, Bangles, Beastie Boys, Butthole Surfers, Run DMC, Sonic Youth - Broke up: Bay City Rollers, Steely Dan, Wings, Buzzcocks - Bubbling under albums - Brian: Ramones, Kinks - Jay: Phil Collins, The Who, Tom Petty, Billy Squier - A few years later, Squier kills his career with "Rock Me Tonite" video - Brian: Lounge Lizards debut, Tom Tom Club, Replacements, Pretenders - That time Brian pissed off Lurie on Twitter - Jay: Gun Club, Black Sabbath, Motley Crue, Def Leppard, Gang of Four - Brian's #5 - Byrne and Eno basically invent sampling - Jay's #5 - The Stones bounce back with odds and sods collection that hits big - The

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1981. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Check out Brian's podcast Input/Output - In 1981, Jay was 13 and Brian wasn't born yet - Jay: Lived in Canada for most of the year, then moved to U.S. - Listened to a lot of hard rock and AOR - Toronto radio was cool but a few years from becoming heavily formatted - A lot of solo albums - Beginnings of indie rock - Lots of soft rock on the charts - The Stones had a resurgence in '81 - Old rockers were in their 30s and 40s then - Death of Lennon hung over the music scene - Hall and Oates left a strong legacy of pop hits - The puzzling Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame selection process - The strange popularity of Steve Miller - "Under Pressure" has become bigger as years passed - MTV's debut in August 1981 - USA Network premiered "Night Flight" - REO Speedwagon's one breakout year - Ozzy's comeback continues - To be continued   Completely Conspi

Part 3 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we discuss how our musical tastes have changed over the years. Show notes: - Artists we missed at first but now love - Phil's #2 - Dismissed Phish initially, focused on the Dead at first - Jay's #2 - Got into Bob Mould and Sugar first, then backtracked - Husker Du: Great catalog, bad production - Phil's #1 - Overlooked because of constant radio play - Classic rock stations don't play new music by classic artists - Jay's #1 - Always a Bowie fan, but started really getting into him in the last few years - Bands we never got into - Phil's #3 - Never a big metal guy - Metallica never did it for Phil - Jay's #3 - Never understood popularity of Dave Matthews Band - Phil's #2 - Respect the Boss but never got into him - Don't compare him to Mellencamp - Jay's #2 - STP seemed like they were ripping off other bands - Phil thought Nine Inch Nails were dumb - Phil's #1 - What's the big deal about Radiohead? - Jay: Hated "

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we discuss how our musical tastes have changed over the years. Show notes: - Artists we just stopped listening to - Phil's #1 - Smashing Pumpkins had a strong run in the '90s - Corgan's pretentiousness ran its course - Jay's #1 - Went back and forth, but finally stopped listening to the Doors in early '90s - Phil: Morrison became a drunken buffoon - Artists we missed first time around but discovered later - Phil's #3 - Drive-by Truckers bring together different styles and sounds - Jay's #3 - Huge body of work, but didn't start listening to Nick Cave until a decade ago - Phil's #2 - Blues-rock from Tedeschi Trucks Band - Jay's #2 - Bad Brains was an electrifying punk act - Phil's #1 - Parquet Courts can play short punk songs and larger, artier stuff - Jay's #1 - Knew about Velvet Underground for years, but really got into them in last 15 years - Artists we missed at first but now love - Phil's #3 - Checked out M

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we discuss how our musical tastes have changed over the years. Show notes: - Revisionist band history - Bands we once loved but now dislike - Phil's #3 - Liz Phair got off to a strong start, disappointed afterward - Jay's #3 - Huge artist I enjoyed as a kid - Billy Joel stopped releasing new pop music in the '90s - Phil's #2 - Love his first band, hate the solo stuff - Sting's elevated the art of pretentious douchiness - Jay's #2 - It's trendy to hate this band now - Used to dig the Eagles - Henley's personality turned me off the band - Phil's #1 - Coldplay lost their way - Jay's #1 - Red Hot Chili Peppers haven't aged well - Liked them in my 20s, "but now they're just stupid" - Bands you just stopped listening to - Phil's #3 - Lenny Kravitz got too slick and repetitive - Jay's #3 - Big fan of hard rock as a kid, but hair metal lost its appeal - Phil's #2 - Boston-area rock fans grew up on Aerosmith - After they