• 311
    Feb 9 2025

    CHILL! This rap-rock-metal-funk-reggae outfit was dominating the modern rock charts before the term nu-metal was coined. Armed with positivity, a turntable, and marijuana enthusiasm, they carried a mid 90s nation mourning the end of grunge. It's 311 week!

    We come clean up top about our varying levels of adoration for the band 311 before talking about them for 2 hours. The loveable lads from Omaha make their TV debut with "Down" on Conan, and then proceed to play it again and again for the next six years. Josh Freese fills in for Chad Sexton on Recovery in Australia amid the Transistor era. "Amber" and "Love Song" give us some pop reggae chart topping goodness on Carson Daly and Leno. And Jon has a panic attack trying to explain Nick Hexum owning a private island while doubting that any band could be this nice.

    Want to watch along with us? Check out the links below for the performances discussed this week!

    Down, 8/23/1996 on Late Night with Conan O'Brien

    Down/Beautiful Disaster/What Was I Thinking, 1/24/1998 on Recovery (Australia)

    Amber/Down, 3/13/02 on Last Call with Carson Daly

    Creatures (For a While), 7/18/2003 on The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn

    Love Song, 6/11/2004 on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

    Don't Tread on Me, 8/5/2005 on Jimmy Kimmel Live!

    Hey You/It's Alright, 6/9/2009 on Jimmy Kimmel Live!

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    2 hrs and 11 mins
  • Elvis Costello with Connor Ratliff
    Jan 26 2025

    His live TV debut on SNL has gone down as maybe the most famous moment in late night music history. But the decades that followed were just as surprising, rebellious, and at times baffling. It's ELVIS COSTELLO week!

    Joining the show is comedian, actor, and Elvis Costello historian Connor Ratliff (Dead Eyes, Tiny Dinos, The George Lucas Talk Show)! Connor does his best to walk the guys through the overwhelming twists and turns of Elvis' 50 year career. We of course begin with Elvis and the Attractions act of rebellion on SNL in 1977. Joan Rivers has Elvis on The Tonight Show in 1984 and lots of tissues are involved. The 90s bring collaborations with string quartets and Burt Bacharach, plus a very public feud with bassist Bruce Thomas that plays out on late night. And we end with Elvis as the elder statesman fronting The Roots on Fallon in 2009.

    Want to watch along with us? Check out the links below for the performances discussed this week!

    Watching the Detectives/Radio Radio, 12/17/1977 on Saturday Night Live

    I Hope You're Happy Now/Peace in Our Time, 12/12/1984 on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson (Joan Rivers guest hosting)

    Taking My Life in Your Hands/Jacksons, Monk, and Rowe with The Brodsky Quartet, 3/16/1993 on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

    You Bowed Down, 8/26/1996 on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

    I Still Have That Other Girl with Burt Bacharach (4:25 mark), 9/29/1998 on The Late Show with David Letterman

    45, 9/29/1999 on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

    High Fidelity/(I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea with The Roots, 11/20/2009 on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

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    2 hrs and 30 mins
  • Red Hot Chili Peppers
    Dec 29 2024

    We're following up Christmas day with the second most famous resurrection story of all time. Except this California band rose not just once, but twice from the ashes. It's RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS week!

    The clips this week surprisingly begin all the way back in 1984, with the first iteration of the band performing with the energy of 8th graders on Thicke of the Night. Clips on Arsenio and Letterman show the transformation from Hillel Slovak and Jack Irons to John Frusciante and Chad Smith. John bombs Under the Bridge on SNL in 1992 and Anthony Kiedis is not pleased. One of the biggest comeback records of all time is on display with Grandmaster Flash on The Chris Rock Show. And the Billboard Game this week forces us to examine the mind blowing chart domination of Taylor Swift.

    Want to watch along with us? Check out the links below for the performances discussed this week!

    True Men Don't Kill Coyotes/Get Up and Jump, 3/16/1984 on Thicke of the Night

    Fight Like a Brave/Organic Anti-Beat Box Band, 9/29/1987 on The Arsenio Hall Show

    Higher Ground, 3/30/1990 on Late Night with David Letterman

    Stone Cold Bush/Under the Bridge, 2/22/1992 on Saturday Night Live

    Aeroplane, 2/13/1996 on The Late Show with David Letterman

    Around the World, 9/24/1999 on The Chris Rock Show

    Dani California/Snow ((Hey Oh))/Interview/By the Way, 11/21/2006 on Later...with Jools Holland

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    2 hrs and 24 mins
  • Queens of the Stone Age
    Dec 15 2024

    Pounding robotic trance desert stoner rock. Is that enough adjectives to describe what is maybe the last great mainstream hard rock band of the 21st century? We find more to use. It's QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE week!

    For a band often described as "The Josh Homme Project", we find ways to discuss the careers of way too many musicians on the show this week. Early clips on Conan and Kilborn capture the short-lived magical chemistry of Homme and bassist Nick Olivieri. Our biggest cheat clip ever on the show brings us to the Werchter, Belgium rock festival in 2002 featuring Dave Grohl and Mark Lanegan. Homme surrounds himself with a shifting cast of band members across the 2000s, including a one-song appearance by Will Ferrell. And we discuss the outsized influence and legacy of QOTSA in the dying landscape of modern mainstream rock music.

    Want to watch along with us? Check out the links below for the performances discussed this week!

    The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret, 11/14/2000 on Late Night with Conan O'Brien

    Song for the Dead, 6/29/2002 on MTV2 Rock Werchter

    No One Knows, 2/20/2003 on The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn

    Little Sister/In My Head, 5/14/2005 on Saturday Night Live

    3s & 7s/Sick Sick Sick, 5/11/2007 on Transmission UK

    I Sat By the Ocean/If I Had a Tail/Interview/My God is the Sun, 5/14/2013 on Later...with Jools Holland

    Emotion Sickness, 12/14/2023 on Jimmy Kimmel Live!

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    2 hrs and 20 mins
  • The Carpenters
    Dec 1 2024

    Remembered as schmaltzy elevator music, this sister-brother duo dominated the charts for much of the 1970s. Driven by the one-of-a-kind voice of Karen Carpenter and the orchestration of brother Dick, they epitomize the former power of television monoculture and the murky arc of cultural memory. It's THE CARPENTERS week!

    Almost unlike any other group covered on the show, the clips this week are bountiful, explanatory, and filled with medleys. A recent viral clip of Karen ripping it up on drums on Your All American College Show in 1968 kicks off the podcast this week. The Carpenters play a medley of Burt Bacharach covers for skeptical injured vets at the height of the Vietnam War. Karen steps out front for the first time in 1973 on Johnny Carson. The Carpenters' first of many TV specials in 1976 is both illuminating and extremely silly. And we discuss the tragic demise of Karen and the mark left by her across culture.

    Want to watch along with us? Check out the links below for the performances discussed this week!

    Dancing in the Street, 8/31/1968 on Your All-American College Show

    (They Long to Be) Close to You/Knowing When to Leave/Making It Easy on Yourself/(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me/I'll Never Fall in Love Again/Walk on By/Do You Know the Way to San Jose?, 11/8/1970 on The Ed Sullivan Show

    Superstar/Rainy Days and Monday/Goodbye to Love/Mr. Guder, 11/6/1973 on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson

    The Carpenters' First Television Special, 12/8/1976

    Please Mr. Postman/Merry Christmas, Darling/I Need To Be In Love/Christmas Medley, 12/24/1978 on Bruce Forsyth's Big Night

    (Want You) Back in my Life Again, 11/2/1981 on The Merv Griffin Show

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    2 hrs and 25 mins
  • Yeah Yeah Yeahs with Matt Ozelius
    Nov 17 2024

    Garage Rock. Indie Sleaze. Electronic Dance Pop. This Brooklyn trio has done it all across a surprisingly long career, out lasting almost all of their early 2000s NYC contemporaries. It's YEAH YEAH YEAHS week!

    Joining the show this week is Boston-based musician Matt Ozelius! As drummers for him in recent years, Matt weighs in on the great debate over who is better behind the kit-Jon or Alex-before diving into the theatrical TV appearances of Karen O and co! The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are on Letterman a lot, and unfortunately Dave is a weird creep for over a decade. A garden-themed performance of "Maps" on the MTV Movie Awards is equally pretty and impressive. A broadway choir backs up the band in 2013, and Karen sings on top of molten lava nine years later on Kimmel.

    Want to watch along with us? Check out the links below for the performances discussed this week!

    Date with the Night, 6/26/2003 on The Late Show with David Letterman

    Maps, 6/5/2004 on The MTV Movie Awards

    Gold Lion, 3/29/2006 on The Late Show with David Letterman

    Down Boy, 7/26/2007 on The Late Show with David Letterman

    Zero, 4/14/2009 on The Late Show with David Letterman

    Sacrilege, 4/5/2013 on The Late Show with David Letterman

    Burning, 9/29/2022 on Jimmy Kimmel Live!

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    2 hrs and 12 mins
  • Pearl Jam with Ryan Agate
    Oct 20 2024

    Inarguably the biggest and most successful band of the grunge era, they persisted while others could not. They fought the man at every turn, did it their way, and are an undeniable live juggernaut. It's PEARL JAM week!

    Joining the show as our second-ever returning guest is show promoter and pod-favorite Ryan Agate aka Ryan the Terrible! Back to back performances on SNL capture the big early moments of Pearl Jam, including a super rare 3-song stint a week after the death of Kurt Cobain. David Letterman can't get Black out of his head, has the band on his show multiple times, and ultimately inducts them into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Jeff Ament wears lots of hats. And Ryan and the guys somehow watch multiple movies and tv series during the record.

    Want to watch along with us? Check out the links below for the performances discussed this week!

    Alive/Porch, 4/11/1992 on Saturday Night Live

    Not For You/Rearviewmirror/Daughter, 4/16/1994 on Saturday Night Live

    Hail Hail, 9/20/1996 on The Late Show with David Letterman

    Wishlist, 5/1/1998 on The Late Show with David Letterman

    World Wide Suicide/Severed Hand/Alive, 5/6/2006 on Later...with Jools Holland

    Alive/Given to Fly/Better Man/Rockin' in the Free World, 4/7/2017 on The Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

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    2 hrs and 30 mins
  • The Cranberries
    Oct 6 2024

    They're quietly one of the most successful bands of the 90s, selling over 50 million records over the course of their career. Dominating the softer side of alt-rock radio, they took over America out of nowhere as the biggest Irish band since U2. It's THE CRANBERRIES week!

    We begin this week with two very different performances of "Dreams" and "Linger" on the Irish late night show Kenny Live, with the two clips 9 months apart across 1993. The album No Need to Argue is a massive hit and the group shows it off with a dirgy performance of "Zombie" on SNL. The Cranberries burn out hard by 1996, and a clip on the MTV VMA's makes that pretty clear. And we discuss the unique global superstardom of the late great Dolores O'Riordan, exemplified by our first clip ever from the Annual Vatican Christmas Concert in 2001 hosted by da pope!

    Want to watch along with us? Check out the links below for the performances discussed this week!

    Dreams, 3/6/1993 on Kenny Live

    Linger, 12/18/1993 on Kenny Live

    Zombie/Ode to My Family, 2/25/1995 on Saturday Night Live

    Salvation, 9/4/1996 on the MTV Video Music Awards

    Promises (11:15 mark), 4/26/1999 on The Late Show with David Letterman

    Analyse/Panis Angelicus/Little Drummer Boy/Silent Night, 12/24/2001 on the 9th Annual Vatican Christmas Concert

    Tomorrow, 2/7/2012 on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

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    2 hrs and 22 mins