DISGRACELAND
Disgraceland is the award winning music podcast hosted by Jake Brennan that explores the alleged true crime antics and criminal connections of musicians we love like Jerry Lee Lewis, the Rolling Stones, Taylor Swift, David Bowie, Cardi B, the Grateful Dead, Amy Winehouse, Bob Marley, and more. Disgraceland is a scripted, single voice narrative storytelling podcast that melds true crime, music history, mystery, and misadventure. Disgraceland is not a journalistic podcast. It is an entertainment podcast inspired by true events. Certain dialogue and scenes are sometimes fictionalized for dramatic purposes as they are in most scripted entertainment based on true events. Sources and credits for each episode are available at disgracelandpod.com. Full scripted episodes are released every Tuesday. Bonus “After Party” episodes are released every Thursday. Disgraceland is available wherever you get your podcasts.
Episodes
March 20, 2023 • 43 min
Part two of the N.W.A story finds the group dead center in America’s crosshairs, due in part to their own violent behavior, and at a crossroads creatively. Death Row’s Suge Knight, Public Enemy’s Chuck D., and a young hustler from the east coast all ride shotgun to Dre, E, Cube, Yella and Ren as the group finds itself having predicted yet another one of America’s darkest moments.
To see the full list of contributors, see the show n...
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March 20, 2023 • 45 min
N.W.A, the self proclaimed “most dangerous group in America,” were seen as violent, thuggish, profanity-spewing criminals, but they had nothing on those who were sworn to serve and protect them in South Central Los Angeles. The group’s hard hitting beats and reality rhymes launched a “gangsta rap” trend in music that still thrives today, and their album Straight Outta Compton predicted one of the most notoriously violent events in ...
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March 18, 2023 • 40 min
Gun fights, heroin trafficking, burglaries, kidnapping threats, intra-band infidelity and the greatest rock ‘n’ roll record ever made, Exile on Main St. The Rolling Stones created this album as fugitives––tax fugitives––exiled from their homeland to the French Riviera and desperate to keep their career afloat after a near decade of scandal and near financial ruin amidst a cast of colorful characters including Gram Parsons, Anita Pa...
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March 17, 2023 • 37 min
Cardi B is one of the biggest artists on the planet and one of the most successful female hip hop artists of all time. She is accused of two counts of felony assault stemming from a fight in a Queens strip club. Her public brawl with rival Nicki Minaj is well documented as is her rise from the Bronx to superstardom via strip clubs and reality television. It’s the stuff of legend, as is her big personality and unique form of feminis...
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March 17, 2023 • 42 min
Slick Rick has one of the most iconic voices in hip hip history. His style is completely his own, and his success owes as much to his delivery as it does to his hustle. Slick Rick worked hard to get to the top, and once he made it he was nearly cut down by drugs and violence - violence inflicted upon him by someone from his inner circle. Listen to hear how Slick Rick fought back and continued his flow.
To see the full list of contr...
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March 16, 2023 • 40 min
Rocka Rolla Disgos. It's been a wild week. Jake is riding high off a win for the show at the Ambies in Vegas, a trip to Maine, and yes, your listener messages. Not to mention Mick Jagger assassination attempts, All Quiet's Oscar wins, and the greatness of 90s movies. Hit up 617-906-6638 to join the after party and hear from Jake yourself.
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March 15, 2023 • 38 min
Johnny Cash took no shit. Was a total original. Could maneuver that big baritone around a ballad or a rave up like nobody’s business. He also burned down a national forest, crashed cars, overdosed, was arrested for drug trafficking, and was obsessed with June Carter. Their love affair is one for the ages. Through it all, Johnny maintained his sense of empathy and his big heart. His story is unlike any other. Listen to Disgraceland ...
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March 15, 2023 • 46 min
Rehab, arrests, fights, hitting on Prince Harry, dramatic stage breakdowns, slagging off the press, Amy Winehouse was a rockstar’s rockstar and she was also one of the greatest musical talents of the past 20 years. Her voice was unlike any other. She modernized jazz. She gave weight to pop. When she was inspired, she was untouchable. Driven by her muse, haunted by her addictions, and harassed endlessly by the paparazzi, Amy Winehou...
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Otis Redding was nearly shot by James Brown while performing at an after hours club. He played sweet soul music to crowds of KKK sympathizers. He took the stage in his hometown despite a threat on his life. But as the former VP of Stax Records once said, Otis was an overcomer. He overcame danger, violence, and fear, in order to focus his sights on unprecedented commercial success. But in his great quest to jump from R&B to pop, Oti...
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March 13, 2023 • 46 min
XXXTentacion was one of Generation Z’s most talented hip hop stars but his ascent was marked by violence and drama; beatdowns, beefs (what’s up, Drake?) and abuse. XXXTentacion’s music quickly rose from Soundcloud to the top of the charts due in part to the relative loneliness and alienation he repped in his lyrics, sentiments his audience quickly latched onto. XXXTentacion’s connection to his audience was (and still is even in dea...
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March 13, 2023 • 47 min
The Grateful Dead became one of the most influential bands of all time and propelled themselves with improvisation, LSD and an ethos of “freedom”. Through drug busts and CIA surveillance, they thrived and created one of the largest, most fervent and commercially consequential fan bases of all time. Freedom, LSD and improvised blues in the key of bummed the fuck out on this episode of Disgraceland.
For a full list of contributors, s...
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March 10, 2023 • 47 min
Ike Turner very well may have invented rock ‘n’ roll; Tina Turner is one of the most electrifying entertainers to ever take the stage. Together, the pair ascended to icon status through the music they made together. But the couple’s road to the top was anything but smooth. It was rough and violent. Ike Turner, for all of his talent as a musician, was abusive and heavily addicted to cocaine, and in the end did everything he could to...
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March 10, 2023 • 37 min
Snoop Dogg, (AKA Calvin Broadus) has worn many hats: inmate, pimp, Martha Stewart’s BFF. In 1994, Snoop was the biggest name in hip hop, yet his career was about to be derailed just as it was taking off due to the murder of Philip Woldemariam, a murder that Snoop was being charged with. The streets that made Snoop, the streets he came up on and that infiltrated the raps he made and the smooth style he patented, were the very same s...
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The After Party celebrates the Lynyrd Skynyrd episode, provoking the question: how does Jake decide which episodes deserve two parts or even their own series? In other corners of the party, a listener reviews Rocka Rolla lager, the new Disgraceland partnership with Orono Brewing. Jake reviews Chris Rock. And a very special phone book reading from Hill Valley, California.
Join the party: leave Jake a message at 617-966-6038
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March 8, 2023 • 38 min
Grunge, grief, the Grateful Dead and a “teenage whore.” Part 2 of the Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love story picks up with Courtney’s ascent and the couple’s heroin hazed pregnancy. An escape from rehab and a punk as f*ck group hug for Gen X.
This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners, including suicide. If you’re thinking about suicide or are worried about a friend or loved one, call the Suicide Prevention ...
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March 8, 2023 • 45 min
Kurt Cobain is a celebrated and defiant icon of Generation X. His wife, Courtney Love, was once the most hated woman in America. Courtney, like Kurt, was unapologetic, fierce, determined, ambitious, authentic, and a total hypocrite. They were both totally in love and for a minute shined brighter than most. They challenged gender norms and the music industry patriarchy and reluctantly played the roles of their generation’s John and ...
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March 7, 2023 • 40 min
Lynyrd Skynyrd’s lead singer, Ronnie Van Zant, was a violent bully from the mean streets of Jacksonville, Florida. He tried to maim one of his guitar player’s hands with a broken bottle. He knocked out his piano player’s teeth not once…but twice. He held a gun to his drummer’s head during rehearsal. And when his bandmates followed suit with their own debauched antics, Ronnie turned their drug-and-alcohol flirtations with death into...
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March 2, 2023 • 36 min
Jake covers it all in this week's After Party: his thoughts on the latest pod episode, our Cocaine Bear coverage on YouTube (yes, it involves music), and oh yeah, Jake's wife finally made him watch The Matrix.
Send Jake your own messages about what he should watch, listen to, read, or even write in future Disgraceland episodes. Hit him up at 617-906-6638 and you just might hear yourself on air soon. Come join the After Party.
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February 28, 2023 • 41 min
Mac Miller was threatened by the most powerful man in the world. Rejected by some of the most powerful tastemakers in the music industry. Dumped by one of the most popular singers in the universe. He worked tirelessly to overcome these challenges, transforming his art and thus transforming himself. But it wasn’t an easy road. An unexpected backlash to his debut LP led him down some previously unexplored and increasingly dark rabbit...
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February 23, 2023 • 52 min
Friend of the pod and incredible documentary filmmaker Tiller Russell (Netflix's Night Stalker: Hunt for a Serial Killer and the upcoming Waco: American Apocalypse) chats with Jake about AC/DC's connections to Richard Ramirez, the weight of dealing in crime stories, and much more. In other corners of the After Party, Jake shares details of his recent trip to Daytona and catches up on your messages. Join the party and leave your own...
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