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 28, 2023 • 43 min
Lou Reed blurred the lines between fact and fiction when it came to his past. To him, it was all a walk on the wild side anyway. After exploring his life in Part 1 through his lyrics for the Velvet Underground songs “The Gift”, “Waiting For My Man”, “Heroin” and “The Murder Mystery”, Part 2 continues through the songs “Rock And Roll”, “Sweet Jane”, “Run, Run, Run”, “Venus In Furs”, and “I’ll Be Your Mirror,” because tall tales and ...
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March 28, 2023 • 41 min
Lou Reed is one of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll characters of all time, one known to lie and exaggerate his own mythology during interviews about his past. In this special 2-part episode, Lou’s origin story with the Velvet Underground runs straight through Manhattan transgressions, murder mysteries, drug abuse, and all the other crimes, criminals, and antisocial behavior depicted in Lou’s legendary lyrics.
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March 27, 2023 • 52 min
A$AP Rocky’s upbringing; Harlem, Riker’s, and his own instincts and sense of history informed his world view: A view that included not only a healthy respect for the healing powers of LSD, but also a healthy distaste for the political maelstrom surrounding cartoon president Donald J. Trump. The irony is that A$AP Rocky’s own behavior led him straight into the political fray—jailed in an international incident and, in the end, in ne...
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March 24, 2023 • 40 min
Whitney Houston was The Voice. A stunning beauty. An early MTV star and leading actress. But when she passed away in a hotel suite bath, the music industry gala downstairs that she was supposed to attend went on without her. How did it all come to this? The drugs and her husband Bobby Brown weren’t answers, just ways to avoid the question: what was the private tragedy of Whitney Houston?
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March 24, 2023 • 39 min
On a single Saturday in 2000, Marshall Mathers assaulted two separate men with a pistol and fought with his wife outside a nightclub, resulting in lawsuits and charges that hung over the completion of his original trilogy of albums. For that one day, the rap persona Slim Shady had escaped into the real world. How had Slim Shady come to be, and why had he gotten out?
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March 23, 2023 • 42 min
Spring is here and Jake is listening to his all-time springtime records. Peter Tosh and Keith Richards are out on YouTube @disgracelandpod. And a dedicated Disgo comes through with our first submission for the Recommendations Part theme music! Leave your own messages for Jake to respond to at 617-906-6638 and come join the After Party.
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March 22, 2023 • 45 min
Madonna always knew her life would be art. She rose through the late 70s New York scene reinventing pop iconography and feminism alike. But whether it was Toronto police threatening her for indecency, her short-fuse husband, Hollywood bros exploiting her charisma, or far worse, Madonna learned quick: the world doesn’t know what to do with a truly free woman.
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March 22, 2023 • 44 min
Iggy Pop pushed rock further than anyone before him, committing to live acts of sex, sickness, and rumored suicide on stage. From his cocaine fueled bromance with David Bowie, to his search for inspiration in the voodoo rituals of Haiti, Iggy Pop never just crossed the line between art and madness. He bled all over it, and danced on the stains.
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March 21, 2023 • 45 min
Motown Records is one of the most successful musical industry endeavors of all time. The music and the megastars Motown produced, like Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, and the Jackson 5, defined a generation. But that success is marred by rumors – rumors that the record label and its innovative owner were controlled by the "black hand" of the white American mob.
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March 21, 2023 • 49 min
Led Zeppelin were the biggest band on the planet. The great white shark of the seventies. They defined excess. The designed the avatar for the heavy metal rock star; themselves. Along the way there were violent brawls, car crashes, lots of cocaine, alcohol, satanic sexual rituals and a very freaked out David Bowie.
To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com.
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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.
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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.
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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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