Completely Conspicuous 561: Rainbow In the Dark

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we discuss the music of 1983. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

- Recorded via Zoom

- Jay was 15, Phil was 13 in '83

- Jay: Moved to NH from WA halfway through the year

- Was pleasantly surprised by the variety of radio stations in Boston area

- First year CDs went on sale in the U.S.

- The U.S. Festival made a splash that summer

- KISS took off their makeup

- The Police had the #1 song of the year

- Some good pop songs among the top 100 singles

- Phil's non-top 5 albums: Quiet Riot, Def Leppard, Motley Crue, Billy Idol, Dio, Bowie, Huey Lewis, Yes, Neil Young, Madonna, the Fixx, the Police, ZZ Top, Rolling Stones, B-52s, Genesis

- Jay's extremely brief time in a band

- Jay's non-top 5s: Robert Plant, Metallica, Kinks, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Ozzy Osbourne

- To be continued

Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Stuck In Thee Garage #366: March 26, 2021

The audience is a crucial part of the entertainment equation. If there's nobody to see Ozzy Osbourne bite the head off a bat, did it actually happen? This week on Stuck In Thee Garage, I played songs about fandom in hour 2. No narcs included, man.

This playlist is too cool for this planet:

Hour 1

Artist - Song/Album

Squid - Narrator (feat. Martha Skye Murphy)/Bright Green Field

Billy Nomates - Heels/Emergency Telephone

Sleaford Mods - Glimpses/Spare Ribs

Maximo Park - Partly of My Making/Nature Always Wins

Ian Sweet - My Favorite Cloud/Show Me How You Disappear

Cloud Nothings - Nothing Without You/The Shadow I Remember

The Hold Steady - Heavy Covenant/Open Door Policy

Reigning Sound - A Little More Time/A Little More Time With Reigning Sound

The Natvral - Runaway Jane/Tethers

Paul Jacobs - Cherry/Pink Dogs On the Green Grass

TV Priest - Powers of Ten/Uppers

Nick Cave & Warren Ellis - Old Time/Carnage

METZ - Negative Space (7-inch version)/Automat

Brant Bjork - Too Many Chiefs...Not Enough Indians/Jalamanta

Green River - Strange Ways/Live at the Tropicana 1984

Hour 2: Fandom

Arctic Monkeys - Brianstorm/Favourite Worst Nightmare

Mudhoney - Overblown/Singles soundtrack

Bad Brains - Banned In D.C./Bad Brains

The Ramones - Judy Is a Punk/Ramones

George Harrison - Apple Scruffs/All Things Must Pass

Brendan Benson - Biggest Fan/Alternative to Love

Cheap Trick - Fan Club/In Color - The Unreleased Steve Albini Sessions

Tenacious D - Lee/Tenacious D

The Reds, Pinks & Purples - The Biggest Fan/Uncommon Weather

Sloan- Penpals/Twice Removed

Weezer - Across the Sea/Pinkerton

Beastie Boys - No Sleep Till Brooklyn/Licensed to Ill

Van Halen - Light Up the Sky/Van Halen II

Rush - Limelight/Moving Pictures

Frank Black - I Heard Ramona Sing/Frank Black

The Hold Steady - Chillout Tent/Boys and Girls In America

Drive-By Truckers - Let There Be Rock/Southern Rock Opera

Completely Conspicuous 560: High Fidelity

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Eric Green as we pay tribute to the cassette tape. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

- Recorded via Zoom

- Eric with the Mr. Belvedere reference

- You had to be sneaky to tape record a concert

- Physical media holds its allure for fans of a certain age

- Never got into 8-track tapes

- Jay: Have a bunch of blank tapes, but haven't made a mixtape since 2000

- Eric: As a kid, made a mini-audio documentary about Van Halen on cassette

- Metallica started tapers' pit at their concerts

- Then a few years later, they led the charge against Napster

- Eric: Still purchase music on vinyl or CD, some MP3

- Don't listen to cassettes as often anymore, but will pop one in when the mood hits

- Bootlegs are the big thing he goes back to

- Jay: Wrote on my blog about the various mixtapes I made over the years

- Tapes definitely transport you to a different time

- Do greatest hits albums matter anymore?

- Reissues of great albums are popular

- Some bands like the Who or the Stones have a ridiculous number of hits comps and live albums

- Fond memories of the cutout bins

- Various cassette storage methods

- Jay: Got rid of the jewel cases for most of my CDs

- Sometimes vinyl and cassettes can sound bad

- Cassettes were great for comedy albums

- Jay: Had to get Eddie Murphy's Comedian album on tape so my mom wouldn't hear it

Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Stuck In Thee Garage #365: March 19, 2021

A face can tell you a lot about a person, although that's become a lot harder since we're all wearing masks. Nevertheless, I played songs about faces in hour 2 of Stuck In Thee Garage and I pity the fool that doesn't find it rocktastic and compelling.

This playlist will pound your eardrums:

Hour 1

Artist - Song/Album

Shame - Water In the Well/Drunk Tank Pink

Maximo Park - Versions of You/Nature Always Wins

Mogwai - Supposedly, We Were Nightmares/As the Love Continues

GHLOW - Not Fit For This/Slash and Burn

Corvair - Sailor Down/Corvair

Crumb - Trophy/Trophy

Teenage Wrist - Wear You Down/Earth Is a Black Hole

Paul Jacobs - Underneath the Roses/Pink Dogs In the Green Grass

Glitterer - Fire/Life Is Not a Lesson

Ryan H. Walsh - Public Domain/Public Domain

Fridge Poetry - Somewhere Else/Half the Battle

Cloud Nothings - A Longer Moon/The Shadow I Remember

The Reds, Pinks & Purples - I'm Sorry About Your Life/Uncommon Weather

Hardship Post - Silver Suit/Murderecords Singles 1993-1998

The Super Friendz - Come Clean/Murderecords Singles 1993-1998

Zumpano - The Only Reason Under the Sun/Murderecords Singles 1993-1998

Thrush Hermit - Giddy With the Drugs/Murderecords Singles 1993-1998

 

Hour 2: Faces

Pixies - Broken Face/Surfer Rosa

Protomartyr - Same Face In a Different Mirror/Consolation EP

Velocity Girl - Your Silent Face/Single

Courtney Barnett - Nameless, Faceless/Tell Me How You Really Feel 

Ty Segall - Mr. Face/Mr. Face EP

Parquet Courts - Fall On Yr Face/Tally All the Things You Broke EP

My Dad - Uncle Bacon Face/Mouth Bleeder

The Young Leaves - Boot to the Face/Life Underneath

Soundgarden - Face Pollution/Badmotorfinger

Savages - No Face/Silence Yourself

The Muffs - Funny Face/Blonder and Blonder

Bob Mould - Kid With Crooked Face/Beauty & Ruin

INXS - Face the Change/The Swing

Ladyhawk - Faces of Death/Shots

King Khan & the Shrines - 69 Faces of Love/What Is?!

The Rolling Stones - I Just Want to See His Face/Exile On Main Street

The High Numbers - I'm the Face/Odds & Sods

The Angels - Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again/The Angels

Iggy & the Stooges - Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell/Raw Power

Completely Conspicuous 559: Tapeheads

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Eric Green as we pay tribute to the cassette tape. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

- Recorded via Zoom

- Eric's first time on the show since '15

- R.I.P. to Lou Ottens, inventor of the cassette tape

- Eric: Got into music via cassettes in the '80s

- You could make your own mixes

- Jay: Would tape songs off the radio in late '70s/early '80s

- Jay: Currently have hundreds of tapes but nothing to play them on

- Tapes were cheaper than vinyl or CDs

- Fun memories of browsing in record stores

- Tapes were big for bootlegs

- Huge in the early days of hip hop (The Get Down is on Netflix)

- Home taping didn't ruin the music industry, MP3s did

- Guardians of the Galaxy helped popularize cassettes

- CDs were initially marketed as indestructible and perfect sounding

- Jay: Spent hours listening to tapes in the car or on a Walkman

- To be continued

 

Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Stuck In Thee Garage #364: March 12, 2021

Oh jeez, it's crazy to think we're 25 years away from 1996, but here we are. This week on Stuck In Thee Garage, I played songs from 1996 in hour 2. 

It's a great playlist, dontcha know?

Hour 1

Artist  - Song/Album

St. Vincent - Pay Your Way In Pain/Daddy's Home

The Reds, Pinks & Purples - I Hope I Never Fall In Love/Uncommon Weather

Shame - March Day/Drunk Tank Pink

Iceage - Vendetta/Seek Shelter

Fridge Poetry - Lights O&O/Half the Battle

Mogwai - Ceiling Granny/As the Love Continues

Art d'Ecco - Head Rush/In Standard Definition

TUNS - My Memories/Duly Noted

Ryan H. Walsh - The Guest List/Public Domain

Paul Jacobs - Day to Day/Pink Dogs on the Green Grass

Cloud Nothings - Oslo/The Shadow I Remember

Editrix - Sinner/Tell Me I'm Bad

Goat Girl - Where Do We Go?/On All Fours

Nick Cave & Warren Ellis - Hand of God/Carnage

Mister Goblin - At Least/Four People In an Elevator and One of Them is the Devil

The Hold Steady - Me and Magdalena/Open Door Police

Hour 2: 1996

The Prodigy - Firestarter/Fat of the Land

The Chemical Brothers - Setting Sun/Dig Your Own Hole

2Pac - California Love (feat. Roger Troutman and Dr. Dre)/All Eyez On Me

Beck - Novacane/Odelay

The Afghan Whigs - My Enemy/Black Love

Pearl Jam - Hail Hail/No Code

Sebadoh - On Fire/Harmacy

The Tragically Hip - Ahead By a Century/Trouble at the Henhouse

R.E.M. - E-bow the Letter/New Adventures In Hi Fi

Sloan - A Sides Win/One Chord to Another

The Posies - Please Return It/Amazing Disgrace

Wilco - Outtasite (Outta Mind)/Being There

The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Wail/Now I Got Worry

Frank Black - You Ain't Me/The Cult of Ray

Fred Schneider - Whip/Just Fred

Completely Conspicuous 558: Steppin' Out

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite albums of 1982. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

- Recorded via Zoom

- Phil's #5: Steely Dan singer goes solo

- Jazzy feel is a logical extension from Gaucho

- Jay's #5 and Phil's #3: R.E.M. makes its debut with iconic EP

- Influential on many bands who followed

- Different sounds coming out of the underground

- Phil's #4: His image has been tarnished, but Michael Jackson released a monster album

- Videos from this album broke a lot of ground

- Being mistaken from MJ

- Jay's #4: Peter Gabriel stays weird but starts breaking through in the U.S.

- Dark subject matter and interesting sonics

- Set himself up for huge commercial breakthrough in a few years

- Jay's #3: Mission of Burma's first full-length album

- Wasn't well-known, but very influential on alt-rock artists

- Played with U2 in Boston

- Jay's #2: Another influential debut release, this time from Bad Brains

- Ferocious live performers

- One of the great album covers of all time

- Phil's #1: A jazz-influenced masterpiece from Joe Jackson

- No guitar to be found

- Very cosmopolitan feel

- Phil's #2 and Jay's #1: Prince breaks through to the mainstream

- Prince didn't care what anybody thought about him

- In the middle of an incredible run of great albums

- When mixtape songs are taken too literally

- Favorite songs: "Breaking Us In Two" (Phil), "Delirious" (Jay)

Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Stuck In Thee Garage #363: March 5, 2021

With spring on the horizon, that means here in the northeast, birds will be returning from their winter migration. There are still plenty of birds who stick it out over the winter, but in the spring, that population multiplies exponentially. It's a good thing in my book, except when they crap all over my car. Anyhoooooo, this week on Stuck In Thee Garage, I played songs about birds in hour 2 that will make you flap your wings and shake your tailfeathers.

Hey, it's a living:

Hour 1

Artist - Song/Album

Cloud Nothings - Sound of Alarm/The Shadow I Remember

Shame - Alphabet/Drunk Tank Pink

Nick Cave & Warren Ellis - White Elephant/Carnage

Fuzzed Out - Sitting With My Back to the Wall/Fuzzed Out

TUNS - We Stand United/Duly Noted

The Natvral -  Why Don't You Come Out Anymore?/Tethers

Glitterer - Try Harder Still/Life Is Not a Lesson

Winter - Violet Blue/Single

Ian Sweet - Show Me How You Disappear/Show Me How You Disappear

Hand Habits - 4th of july/dirt

The Hold Steady - The Prior Procedure/Open Door Policy

Kiwi Jr. - Nashville Wedding/Cooler Returns

Dale Crover - Untrue Crime/Rat-A-Tat-Tat!

Ex-Hyena - Distance Is a Trigger/Artificial Pulse

Nero Kane - Magdalene/Tales of Faith and Lunacy

TV Priest - Journal of a Plague Year/Uppers

 

Hour 2: Birds

Buffalo Tom - Birdbrain/Birdbrain

Iggy Pop - Vulture/Post Pop Depression

Sebadoh - Bird In the Hand/The Sebadoh

Prince - When Doves Cry/Purple Rain

White Reaper - Eagle Beach/The World's Best American Band

They Might Be Giants - Birdhouse In Your Soul/Flood Live in Australia

King Tuff - Birds of Paradise/The Other

The Wedding Present - Birdsnest/Going, Going...

The White Stripes - Little Bird/De Stijl

The Black Angels - Doves/Directions to See a Ghost

Cornershop - Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)/When I Was Born for the 7th Time

Robert Pollard - Serious Bird Woman (You Turn Me On)/Normal Happiness

Paul Weller - Fly Little Bird/As Is

Neil Young - Hawks and Doves/Hawks and Doves

Wilco - Hummingbird/A Ghost Is Born

R.E.M. - King of Birds/Document

 

 

Completely Conspicuous 557: Senses Working Overtime

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite music of 1982. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

- Recorded via Zoom

- Callback to the CompCon eps looking at '82-2000 with Brian Salvatore a while back

- My lists changed since then

- In '82, Jay turned 15, Phil turned 13

- Jay: The only full year I spent in Washington state

- Jay: Was big into hard rock and metal, which I listened to on my Walkman

- John Belushi died; the woman who sold him the drugs had ties to the Band and Gordon Lightfoot

- Top single of the year was Olivia Newton-John's "Physical"

- Phil's non-top 5 picks: Pete Townshend, Led Zeppelin, Neil Young, Jerry Garcia, Lou Reed, The Who, Tom Petty, XTC, Talking Heads, Billy Squier, Genesis, Duran Duran, Rush, Dire Straits, Elvis Costello, Robert Plant, English Beat, The Clash, Men at Work, Stray Cats

- Senses Working Overtime was almost the name of this podcast

- The power of MTV to make or break artists back in the '80s

- Phil had a connection to Lee Rocker of the Stray Cats

- Jay's non-top 5's: Iron Maiden, Van Halen, Judas Priest, Misfits, Scorpions, Phil Collins, The Cure

- To be continued

Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.