Completely Conspicuous 496: Dead Ahead

I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we dig into the catalog of the Grateful Dead, starting with the band's 1967 debut. Listen to the episode below or download directly.


Show notes:
- Recorded at CompCon world HQ
- Other podcasts have focused on catalogs of U2, R.E.M., Phish, The Tragically Hip
- Looking at the Dead album by album
- Phil's a tie-dyed in the wool Deadhead, Jay has only superficial knowledge of the band
- Phil: Got into the Dead in the mid-'80s, saw them live in '89
- Attracted by the musicianship, lyrics
- Live is where the band really shines
- Songs would be played live years before it showed up on an album
- Band's biggest hit, "Touch of Grey," was first played live in '82 but became a single five years later
- Self-titled debut has a different sound than the one they evolved into
- Recorded in four days
- Only got up to #73 on album charts
- Mostly covers of folk and jug band songs
- Band took a lot of speed during recording, which shows in the songs
- Garcia rips on guitar throughout
- Not too much jamming on record
- Psychedelic rock was starting to happen in general
- Live versions of these songs were much longer
- Most Dead shows were 2.5 to 3 hours
- Jay: Really liked "Cold Rain and Snow," "Viola Lee Blues"
- "Sitting on Top of the World" bears some resemblance to Allman Brothers
- Phil: Garcia was very prolific, always playing guitar
- Bob Weir gave up the short shorts for cargo pants
- John Mayer plays with Dead and Co. now
- Surviving Dead guys are in their 70s now
- Not your typical Dead album
- The band didn't like how it was recorded
- Next up: Anthem of the Sun

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. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Stuck In Thee Garage #243: October 26, 2018

Halloween is a fun time of year. On Stuck In Thee Garage, I played two hours of songs for the occasion. It's a great soundtrack for when the zombie apocalypse begins...if it hasn't already.

This playlist is stopping for a quick pint:

Hour 1
Artist - Song/Album
Exit Group - Plastic Coffin/Adverse Habitat
The Breeders - Walking With a Killer/All Nerve
The Horrors - Jack the Ripper/Strange House
Black Mountain - Florian Saucer Attack/IV
Black Sabbath - Children of the Grave/Master of Reality
Soundgarden - Incessant Mace/Ultramega OK
Big Chief - John's Scared/Platinum Jive
Siouxie and the Banshees - Cities in Dust/Tinderbox
PJ Harvey - Long Snake Moan/To Bring You My Love
The Cult - King Contrary Man/Electric
Brainiac - This Little Piggy/Hissing Prigs in Static Couture
Tenacious D - Tribute/Tenacious D
Spinal Tap - Back From the Dead/Back From the Dead
Scissorfight - The Gruesome Death of Edward Teach/New Hampshire
Queens of the Stone Age - Head Like a Haunted House/Villains
Rollins Band - Monster/Get Some Go Again
Sugar - Judas Cradle/Beaster

Hour 2
TV On the Radio - Let the Devil In/Escape to Cookie Mountain
The Afghan Whigs - Demon in Profile/In Spades
Lou Reed - Waves of Fear/The Blue Mask
Barrence Whitfield and the Savages - Hangman's Token/Dig Thy Savage Soul
Ozzy Osbourne - Spiders/Bark at the Moon
Panthers - Goblin City/The Trick
Kam Fong - Get Behind Me Satan/From the Bottom of the Sea
Faith No More & Boo-Ya T.R.I.B.E. - Another Body Murdered/Judgment Night soundtrack
Mondo Generator - Mental Hell/Dead Planet
Future of the Left - You Need Satan More Than He Needs You/Travels With Myself and Another
Johnny Foreigner - Stop Talking About Ghosts/You Can Do Better
Jay Reatard - Blood Visions/Singles 06-07
Eagles of the Death Metal - Chase the Devil/Death by Sexy
Dead Moon - Walking On My Grave/What a Way to See the Old Girl Go


 

Stuck In Thee Garage #242: October 19, 2018

It's not hard to get lost these days. Sure, there's GPS and smartphones to help guide us, but it doesn't take long to lose yourself if you're not careful. This week on Stuck In Thee Garage, I played songs about being lost in hour 2.

This playlist is long gone and far away:

Hour 1
Artist - Song/Album
Swearin' - Dogpile/Fall Into the Sun
Body Type - Palms/Body Type EP
Charly Bliss - Heaven/Heaven
Bad Moves - One Thing/Bad Moves
Daughters - The Reason They Hate Me/You Won't Get What You Want
Fucked Up - Living in a Simulation/Dose Your Dreams
Joyce Manor - Fighting Kangaroo/Million Dollars to Kill Me
Low - Rome (Always in the Dark)/Double Negative
Mark Lanegan & Duke Garwood - Save Me/With Animals
Kurt Vile - One Trick Ponies/Bottle It In
Obnox - Enter the Hater/Bang Messiah
Electric Six - (It Gets) (A Little) Jumpy/Bride of the Devil
Fred Thomas - Good Times Are Gone Again/Aftering
Pill - Midtown/Soft Hell
Culture Abuse - Bee Kind to the Bugs/Bay Dream
The Hang Ups - 2 U Now/Korda 4 Comp
Thin Lips - What If I Saw You On the Street/Chosen Family

Hour 2: Lost
Buffalo Tom - Lost Weekend/Skins
Minutemen - Lost/3-Way Tie (For Last)
LVL Up - Total Loss/Hoodwink'd
Elliott Smith - Let's Get Lost/From a Basement on the Hill
The Afghan Whigs - I Got Lost/In Spades
Shearwater - Lost Boys/Rook
Pixies - Where Is My Mind?/Surfer Rosa
The Posies - Looking Lost/Success
Mac McCaughan - Lost Again/Non-Believers
Okkervil River - Lost Coastlines/The Stand Ins
The Clash - Lost in the Supermarket/London Calling
David Bowie - Love is Lost/The Next Day
Joy Division - She's Lost Control/Unknown Pleasures
A.C. Newman - You Could Get Lost Out There/Shut Down the Streets
Matthew Sweet - Lost My Mind/100% Fun
Guided By Voices - Sad If I Lost It/Mag Earwhig!
Sloan - I Can't Sleep/Never Hear the End of It

Stuck In Thee Garage #241: October 12, 2018

The 1980s were a weird, wild decade. It was all about excess, and this week on Stuck In Thee Garage, I played '80s hard rock in hour 2.

The "I know you are, but what am I?" playlist:

Hour 1
Artist - Song/Album
Laura Jane Grace - Apocalypse Now (& Later)/Bought to Rot
Joyce Manor - Think I'm Still in Love With You/Million Dollars to Kill Me
Fucked Up - Tell Me What You See/Dose Your Dreams
Idles - Never Fight a Man With a Perm/Joy as an Act of Resistance
Chain & the Gang - Why Not?/Best of Crime Rock
High Rise - Last Rites/High Rise II
The Dirty Nil - Pain of Infinity/Master Volume
Billy Moon - Already There/Punk Songs
Oh Sees - Nail House Needle Boys/Smote Reverser
Slothrust - Fever Doggs/The Pact
Painted Doll - She Talks to Mirrors/Painted Doll
Peel Dream Magazine - Qi Velocity/Modern Meta Physic
The Goon Sax - Love Lost/We're Not Talking
Murder By Death - True Dark/The Other Shore
Guerilla Toss - Green Apple/Twisted Crystal
Tony Molina - Give He Take You/Kill the Lights
La Luz - Lonely Dozer/Floating Features
Jo Passed - Left/Their Prime

Hour 2: '80s hard rock
AC/DC - Shoot to Thrill/Back in Black
Van Halen - The Full Bug/Diver Down
David Lee Roth - Shyboy/Eat 'Em and Smile
Def Leppard - Rock Rock (Till You Drop)/Pyromania
Motley Crue - Live Wire/Too Fast For Love
Guns 'N Roses - Nightrain/Appetite for Destruction
Ratt - Wanted Man/Out of the Cellar
Judas Priest - Some Heads Are Gonna Roll/Defenders of the Faith
Iron Maiden - Flight of Icarus/Piece of Mind
Scorpions - Blackout/Blackout
Dio - Stand Up and Shout/Holy Diver
Thin Lizzy - This is the One/Thunder and Lightning
Motorhead - Dancing on Your Grave/Another Perfect Day
Ozzy Osbourne - Diary of a Madman/Diary of a Madman