That Record Got Me High Podcast

In November 1973, Rolling Stone record reviewer Stephen Davis infamously slagged Elton John's double album 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road', calling it - among other things: "a big fruity pie that simply doesn’t bake". Ahem. Now often regarded as Elton and lyricist Bernie Taupin's magnum opus, returning guest and music-biz veteran Ralph Cavallaro joins us as we unpack the record that recently ranked number 112 on Rolling Stone's 2020 li...

For one of our first episodes back in 2018 (S1E3), we discussed 'Hunky Dory' by David Bowie with then co-host Barry Stock. Honestly, though, for our first 20 episodes or so we were still finding our way and weren't even playing any music clips at that point. So when this week's guest, musician David J (Bauhaus, Love and Rockets), suggested taking on Bowie's fourth studio album, we couldn't resist revisiting this stone cold classic ...

New York City singer/songwriter Robert Scheffler joins us this week with an artist Rob somehow slept on all these years - Aimee Mann. Her second full-length, 1995's "I'm With Stupid", is the one that did it for Robert, and her deceptively biting songcraft and the record's dense, layered guitars made a true believer of your humble host.

Songs discussed in this episode: Voices Carry ('Til Tuesday cover) - Gang Green; Always, Excuse T...

For this special BONUS Episode, we asked our Patrons to send in a short song - less than 2 minutes - that got them high. As usual, they did NOT disappoint!

Songs discussed in this episode: Fingertips - They Might Be Giants; Time: The Donut of the Heart - J Dilla; Just Another Soldier, Shit You Hear At Parties - Minutemen; Manifest - The Weakerthans; Game Of Pricks - Guided By Voices; Abra Cadavor - The Hives; Maybeline (Buddy Holly...

This week's guest, musician Arad Evans (The Whimbrels, Glenn Branca's Ensemble, Heroes Of Toolik), chose to discuss a record by groundbreaking New York City band Television that's NOT 'Marquee Moon'! The bands follow-up to that classic album, 1978's 'Adventure', is sometimes overlooked, but the clever songwriting and magnificent dual-guitar orchestrations of Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd prove that their iconic debut was no fluke.

Bob Dylan's fifth studio album - and his first  to incorporate electric instrumentation - 1965's 'Bringing It All Back Home', marked a seismic shift in popular music that can still be felt today. This week's guest, Buffalo, NY-born singer-songwriter and rock-and-roll lifer Willie Nile, joins us to dissect this stunning game-changer of a record.

Songs discussed in this episode: Subterranean Homesick Blues (Bob Dylan cover), Vagabond...

There's no getting around it, 'Magic and Loss', Lou Reed's sixteenth studio album released in 1992, is NOT a particularly easy listen. While often musically beautiful in an elegantly understated way, the themes of death and the relentless toll it can take on both the dying and ones who love them are both universal and at times uncomfortably personal. Returning guest, Canadian documentary filmmaker Alan Zweig, is here for all of it.
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Musician, songwriter and producer Chris Stamey (The dB's, Big Star Quintet) FINALLY ushers Todd Rundgren into the TRGMH universe with the 1971 release: Runt. The Ballad of Todd Rundgren. This beautifully written, performed and produced collection of songs totally fit teenage Stamey's 'lonely guy in a room by yourself' vibe at the time, and remains to this day one of his favorites.

Songs discussed in this episode: Be Nice To Me (Liv...

Returning guest Les Norris (Radiobaghdad) channels his 16-year-old self as he joins Rob to unpack Circle Jerks' 1985 release, 'Wonderful'. Keith Morris and company dialed down the tempos and leaned into the metal for this, their fourth studio album, but at the end of the day their killer riffs and biting - at times goofy - sense of humor won us over. 

Songs discussed in this episode: Fortunate Son (CCR cover) - Circle Jerks; Pillz ...

Returning guest Tim Hinely (Dagger Zine, Where The Wild Gigs Were) brings us Dallas, TX band Old 97's and their 1997 breakout release 'Too Far To Care'. Coming up during the alt-country boom of the 90s that also included bands like Wilco and Son Volt, their love of both Hank Williams AND punk rock shines through on this fine collection of tunes.

Songs discussed in this episode: Iron Road - Old 97's and Waylon Jennings; New Madrid -...

Originally known as The Hammersmith Gorillas, UK's The Gorillas were often thought to be the missing link between Hendrix, glam and punk. This week's guest, musician Philip King (Felt, Lush, The Jesus and Mary Chain), brings us their smashing debut album, 1978's 'Message To The World'

Songs discussed in this episode: You Really Got Me, Leavin' 'ome - The Hammersmith Gorillas; Factory Grime - Crushed Butler; Brand New Cadillac - The...

This week we take another swing of the hammer of the Gods with Led Zeppelin's 3rd release, Led Zeppelin III. Our guest Karen Haglof came up in the Minneapolis indie music scene in the late 70s, eventually moving to NYC and playing in several of no wave pioneer Rys Chatham's guitar ensembles and later with Band Of Susans, before taking a break to earn a medical degree and join the hematology / oncology department of New York Univers...

This week, Ellia Bisker and Jeff Morris of Brooklyn based Goth-Folk duo Charming Disaster joins us to discuss PJ Harvey, and her stunning 1995 release 'To Bring You My Love'. 
"Little fish, big fish, swimming in the water
Come back here, man, gimme my daughter..."

Songs discussed in this episode: Love Will Tear Us Apart - PJ Harvey & Tim Phillips; Black Locust - Charming Disaster; Rid Of Me, Reeling - PJ Harvey; Sixteen, Fifteen, F...

Fresh off a tour with his band mssv (Mike Baggetta, Mike Watt & Stephen Hodges), guitarist/songwriter Mike Baggetta brings us a record he received as a gift when he was in High School that changed the course of his musical life moving forward: the mindblowing 1996 release by guitarist, composer, and producer David Torn, 'What Means Solid, Traveller?'

Songs discussed in this episode: Network Of Sparks: The Delicate Code - David Torn...

Musician Knox Chandler (The Psychedelic Furs, Siouxsie and the Banshees) has made a career of using his guitar to create unique, otherworldly sound-scapes, working with a diverse array of acts including REM, Depeche Mode, Grace Jones, Marianne Faithful, Cyndi Lauper and many others. It's no surprise then, that the record that 'got him high' as a young man - and continues to astound and inspire him - is The Jimi Hendrix Experience's...

For this special BONUS Episode, we asked our Patrons to send in a song where the guitar playing (be it a lead, riff, whatever...) gets them going, and got them high!

Songs discussed in this episode: Funk #49 - James Gang; Killer Queen - Queen; Another Nail In My Heart - Squeeze; God Save The Queen - The Sex Pistols; Gypsy - Fleetwood Mac; Touch And Go - The Cars; Marquee Moon - Television; Street Fighting Man (Live) - The Rolling S...

Break out your glitter and stick some stars on your face, we're going full-on glam this week as author, artist and performer Robert Dayton (Cold Glitter: The Untold Story Of Canadian Glam) brings us Vancouver, Canada's Sweeney Todd and their 1975 self-titled debut. The band had a revolving door of members throughout the years - including a 16 year old Bryan Adams at one point - but this version with singer Nick Gilder and guitarist...

Regular listeners of the show are already aware of Rob's lifelong love of all things The Damned. This week's guest, Karl Ueberbacher (Phoenix Records), brings us their third release, 1979s classic - and highly influential - 'Machine Gun Etiquette'. Is it the perfect punk record? What does that even mean?? Let's smash it up and find out!!

Songs discussed in this episode: Smash It Up (The Damned cover) - The Offspring; 1970 - The Sto...

Strap in kids, this week's guest, A&R Executive, playwright and composer Dan Waldkirch, brings us the third studio album by Eureka, CA experimental band Mr. Bungle, 'California'. This weirdly dark, schizophrenically eclectic 1999 release may not be for everyone, but if you're of the musically adventurous ilk, might be just what the doctor (of Psychiatry) ordered.

Songs discussed in this episode: Won't You Be My Neighbor (Live, 2020...