December 28, 2025 • 37 mins
We count down WPLJ’s Top 95 Albums of 1980 and trace how New York’s buying habits shaped a year when punk, new wave, and classic rock all shared the shelf. Along the way we share radio memories, personal stories, and the surprise winners that still spark debate.
• method behind the WPLJ list based on 1980 retail sales
• late 1979 albums fueling 1980 momentum
• the specials, devo, and new wave’s local footprint
• beatles rarities, mono vs stereo quirks, and Ringo vs no Ringo
• acdc’s slower NYC climb versus global dominance
• skynyrd, southern rock, and metro buying habits
• the police’s twin-album push and singalong hooks
• top 20 highlights from springsteen to the kinks
• top 10 breakdown and why billy joel tops new york
• our 2025 most listened episodes and interview standouts
• listener geography, community notes, and gratitude
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Remember Something Old
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Reach out to us at musicinmyshoes@gmail.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:34):
Hey everybody, this is Jim Boj, and you're listening
to Music in My Shoes.
That was Vic Thrill kicking offepisode 111.
As always, I'm thrilled to behere with you.
Let's learn something new orremember something old.
Jimmy, I've mentioned WPLJ 95.5FM, a former New York City radio
(00:56):
station, you know, several timesthroughout the year, including
back in April, you know, talkedabout it being uh a period of
time where I discovered a bunchof bands, mostly some of the,
you know, older bands from the60s and the 70s.
So they're new bands to me, orlearning about deeper cuts and
(01:18):
so forth, you know, just reallyexploring and advancing, you
know, what I was listening to.
And it was a really cool timefor me, it really was.
And then in July, if youremember, I found an hour of
WPLJ on the internet where Ilistened to it and I talked
about it.
Uh, Carol Miller was the DJ, andit just was really cool
(01:41):
listening to it because it hadthe commercials and you just
felt like you went back.
So, you know, it was definitelygreat looking back and
reminiscing throughout that.
So I thought on today's episode,we're gonna take a look back at
the WPLJ top 95 albums of 1980.
(02:02):
Rankings are based on retailsales of rock albums in the New
York metropolitan area.
SPEAKER_02 (02:09):
So, okay.
So it's only in the New Yorkmetropolitan area.
SPEAKER_01 (02:13):
Yes.
All right.
So it includes records from 1979that were still getting airplay
in 1980, we're still selling.
So it's a kind of a I think it'sa cool, you know, cutout of what
was going on in 1980.
So, like I said, this is notsomething where someone's
(02:35):
looking back saying these arethe top albums of 1980.
This is based on sales in 1980.
This was released.
You know, I I don't rememberwhen I got the list.
I think I probably got it beforethe end of the new year, or
maybe it was in January.
I I don't remember.
(02:56):
Okay.
But you know, I've had the listfor a long time, and it was
actually kind of like a um uh athing.
They made it look like brickwalls, almost like um, you know,
Pink Floyd the Wall.
SPEAKER_02 (03:08):
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (03:09):
And they would write in each one of these different
bricks what uh album number andwho uh did it, and every once in
a while they'd have a picture ofdifferent people, and it was
just kind of cool.
And here we are 45 years laterto talk about it.
SPEAKER_02 (03:25):
Let's get into it.
SPEAKER_01 (03:26):
Yeah, let's do it.
You know, Jimmy, I say thisoften, but I'm gonna do my best
not to go in depth about eachrecord.
Sure you are.
I really am gonna try.
Number 95, Talking Heads, Fearof Music.
This is a 1979 album.
Songs like Life During Wartimeand Cities.
Number 94, Blondie, Eat to theBeat, another 1979 album,
(03:51):
Dreaming and Atomic.
SPEAKER_02 (03:53):
Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (03:54):
Number 91, Roger Daltrey, the McVicker
soundtrack.
We talked about this.
And what you're gonna find isalmost every album here we have
talked about throughout theyear, which is kind of cool
because it's in tune with how Iwas seeing music at the time.
SPEAKER_02 (04:09):
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (04:10):
Number 86, Dire Streets, Making Movies, Skate
Away, and Espresso Love, reallygood album.
Number 80, The Specials, theirdebut album, Monkey Man and A
Message to You, Rudy.
SPEAKER_02 (04:24):
Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (04:25):
Now, WPLJ wasn't playing that that I can
remember.
I honestly do not remember.
They were a rock station, sothey weren't playing a lot of
the specials.
But this list, one more time, iscompiled by the best-selling
retail in the New Yorkmetropolitan area.
So whether they played it ornot, it's on this list.
SPEAKER_02 (04:45):
Was LIR playing the specials back then?
SPEAKER_01 (04:48):
So LIR was not the station that it became in '82,
but they did play a lot of NewWave and different stuff.
They were kind of all over theplace.
They could be playing a new wavesong.
You know, they really were allover the gamut when you you look
at it.
I can't tell you that they wereplaying that or not.
SPEAKER_02 (05:06):
Somebody must have been playing it, though.
SPEAKER_01 (05:08):
Somebody was, because it is number 80 on the
list.
Number 77, Molly Hatchet,Flirtin' with Disaster.
SPEAKER_02 (05:17):
Wow, a little southern rock up there in NYC.
SPEAKER_01 (05:19):
Yes, a little.
Man, I'll tell you what, thatwas a great song.
When it came on, that wholebeginning, it was a lot of fun
to listen to.
It really was.
Number 76, The Ramones, End ofthe Century, with Do You
Remember Rock and Roll Radio,which was my favorite song.
I know that you like the wholealbum.
Um, number 73, the BluesBrothers soundtrack, Gimme Some
(05:43):
Lovin', Everybody Needs Somebodyto Love, and Cab Callaway doing
Minnie the Brother Bruce.
Minnie the Mooch.
So, true story (05:51):
I go Christmas shopping with my daughter last
night, and we're driving, and Ijust have my phone on shuffle,
and Cab Callaway, Minnie theMooch, from the Blues Brothers
soundtrack, comes on.
And at some point, she goes,This might be the worst song I
have ever heard in my life.
And I'm like, There's no waythis is Cab Callaway.
(06:13):
It's so good.
And she starts giving herimpression of the song, and I
thought she was Scat ManCruthers or something.
Okay.
It was just so funny.
And I'm like, hey, just so youknow, I'm gonna mention you
tomorrow because I'm gonna talkabout the song.
And she was just like, anything,just so we can listen to a
(06:35):
different song.
SPEAKER_02 (06:36):
Wow.
I was just thinking that I mighttry doing many the moocher in my
solo set that I do.
Really?
Yeah, I think it'd be a funsong.
SPEAKER_01 (06:44):
Yeah.
Hidey, hidey, hidey.
SPEAKER_02 (06:47):
Yeah, I got a little audience participation.
SPEAKER_01 (06:49):
Everybody knows it, right?
Yeah.
Yeah, I don't know what waswrong with my daughter.
The worst song ever.
SPEAKER_02 (06:54):
Never.
Different people hear thingsdifferent ways.
You know, uh my daughter reallydoesn't like the song
Freefallen.
Like, what are you talkingabout?
That's the classic.
Yeah.
Really?
Yeah.
You know, she likes a lot ofgreat music, but that's one that
she doesn't like.
SPEAKER_01 (07:10):
And my daughter loves a lot of great music too.
I mean, she was on the show atone point.
She does love a lot of greatmusic.
Just Minnie the Moocher isn'tone of them.
Yeah.
72 Journey Departure.
I'm not a huge Journey fan, butany way you want it, I really do
like that song.
Great song.
SPEAKER_02 (07:28):
It's a really good song.
I mean, as uh, you know, AlChervik said in Caddyshack.
So let's boogie.
Jim's at a loss for words.
SPEAKER_01 (07:43):
Oh, sometimes, Jimmy, you just crack me up.
Let's do it.
Let's do it.
So, number 70, Beatles Rarities.
So before the anthology seriescame out in 1995, 1996, this was
a pretty cool record.
And it was just a bunch of songsthat some of it was it was mono
(08:06):
and you would only heard thestereo version.
But some of it was Love Me Do,which had Ringo Starr on drums
because the original onereleased had a session drummer,
Alan White.
So this was the first time thatyou actually got to hear Ringo
playing Love Me Do.
Which is funny because theyfired Pete Best in 1962 because
(08:28):
he doesn't fit what they want,and then they do the record Love
Me Do, and the drummer that theygot, they end up using a session
drummer instead.
SPEAKER_02 (08:38):
Maybe they didn't feel like they had the clout to
tell the record people, like,no, we're gonna use our drummer,
you know?
SPEAKER_01 (08:45):
It could be.
They had no clout at the time.
You're right about that.
SPEAKER_02 (08:48):
They were probably just told them, no, our session
drummer plays.
That's what the way we do it.
SPEAKER_01 (08:52):
The original, original version of Love Me Do
with Pete Best on the drums wasreleased on Anthology One.
So if you want to hear that one,you can go to that.
But it had uh I Am the Walrus,which has some extra beats in
it.
And it's funny because when youhear it, you go to sing and the
words haven't started yet.
(09:13):
So it's it's kind of neat.
Helter Skelter.
Now I'm not a hundred percentsure, but I remember the version
of Helter Skelter, they put iton because it has some like
beeps in different parts of thesong where it's like that they
never knew where they came from.
And at the end, it does not haveRingo Star yelling out, I've got
(09:38):
blisters on my fingers, like hedoes in the version that we all
know when he threw thedrumsticks across the studio.
Yeah.
Number 66, Farner, Head Games,with the 1980 hit Head Games.
64, Split Ends, the True Colorsalbum with I Got You.
(09:59):
Number 61, Eagles Live.
The album was released November7th, 1980.
So it it sold a lot of albums ina really short period of time to
make it to number 61.
Do you understand what I'msaying?
Yeah.
I mean, that's pretty cool thatit could do that.
Hotel California is fantastic.
(10:19):
It's the first song on thealbum.
Uh, I think The Long Run is agood version there.
I definitely like it.
I like that live album.
Number 60, Steely Dan, Gauchowith Hey 19.
Number 59, Pat Benatar in theHeat of the Night album with
Heartbreaker.
Number 58, The Talking Headsmake their second appearance on
(10:42):
the list with Remainin' Light,Once in a Lifetime, and Cross
Eyed and Painless.
Number 57, John Lennon, DoubleFantasy album, Just Like
Starting Over and Watching theWheels.
55, Joe Jackson on the Man withOn Your Radio, kind of cute.
(11:03):
53, Utopia, Adventures inUtopia, The Road to Utopia song,
as well as Caravan.
Number 52, The Doors GreatestHits.
We talked about this not toolong ago.
This came out and just kind ofreally got a ton of people back
into the doors after, you know,a period of you know nine years
(11:24):
since Jim Morrison had died.
I talked about how PLJ playedsome stuff in April that really
kind of got my interest going.
But this had Hello, I Love You,Light My Fire, Riders on the
Storm.
Number 51, yes, the drama albumwith a song that has no words,
Tempest Fugit.
(11:45):
Number 50, Leonard Skinnerd.
Leonard Skinnard, GoldenPlatinum, Greatest Hits, Double
Alb.
What's Your Name?
Sweet Home Alabama, Free BirdLive, and I Know a Little.
Everybody had this album.
That's another one of thosealbums that everybody seemed to
have.
SPEAKER_02 (12:04):
I had no idea that New York area loved Leonard
Skinnard.
SPEAKER_01 (12:09):
Big, big.
What's your name was like on theradio, like nonstop.
And you know, and of courseFreebird Live, but What's Your
Name was always on.
SPEAKER_02 (12:19):
I mean, and you know where Freebird Live was
recorded, right?
SPEAKER_01 (12:23):
The Fox Theater here in Atlanta GA.
SPEAKER_02 (12:25):
Play it pretty for Atlanta.
SPEAKER_01 (12:26):
Yes.
We'll talk about that uh in thenew year because it'll be 50
years since they recorded itthere.
I'm gonna go with June or Julyof 1976 is when they recorded
it.
Okay.
That's my guess.
We'll see on a future episode ofMusic in My Shoes.
All right.
(12:47):
Teaser.
Teaser.
Number 48, the police, RegattaDeBlanc with Message in a
Bottle, Walking on the Moon, TheBed's Too Big Without You.
That's another 1979 album.
47, Peter Gabriel, the meltalbum, because you know, Peter
Gabriel named a bunch of albumsPeter Gabriel.
And then each one had somethingabout the cover that you would
(13:09):
say, you know, Peter Gabriel 2,or you know, this was Peter
Gabriel III with the meltbecause his face was melting.
It's got I Don't Remember, GamesWithout Frontiers.
Number 46, David Bowie, theScary Monsters and Super Creeps
album, which has Ashes to Ashes,Fashion.
(13:30):
And number 42, Devo, Freedom ofChoice, Girl You Want, Whip It,
Freedom of Choice.
SPEAKER_02 (13:38):
Good stuff.
SPEAKER_01 (13:39):
Last night I put Whip It on.
I haven't listened to Whippet ina really long time.
And I put it on and I just tookmyself back to this time in 1980
because it was a you know latesummer, fall type of song.
And I just had these memories.
I could remember differentthings, you know, that I was
(13:59):
doing, different events when thesong was on, and just different
things, and it was just a coolmemory.
It really was.
SPEAKER_02 (14:06):
They didn't think it was going to be a hit either.
SPEAKER_01 (14:08):
They were wrong.
They were wrong because I meanthis is the number 42 selling
album, and it's all because ofthat one song.
I mean, Girl You Want is a greatsong.
I really like it.
Freedom of Choice is my favoriteDevo song.
SPEAKER_02 (14:24):
Gates of Steel, I love too.
SPEAKER_01 (14:25):
Gates of Steel, but Whip It is what sold the album.
It is.
Number 39, Jefferson Starship.
So this is the Freedom at PointZero album.
And it's the first album afterGrace Slick and Marty Balin left
the band and Mickey Thomas tookon the vocals, and the big hit
(14:48):
off of it was Jane.
SPEAKER_02 (14:49):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (14:50):
There you go.
I know you like that song,Jimmy.
I do.
SPEAKER_02 (14:53):
It's great.
SPEAKER_01 (14:53):
Number 37, Rush, Permanent Waves, The Spirit of
Radio, Free Will.
Number 34, Rossington CollinsBand.
I don't think we mentioned them.
I really liked the RossingtonCollins band, and I had the
cassette of anytime, anyplace,anywhere.
And the band had four members ofLeonard Skinnard.
(15:14):
And they formed after the planecrash and took a few members of
the band away.
They formed this, and I thoughtit was kind of cool.
They had a female singer thatjoined them.
Don't Misunderstand Me wasprobably the biggest song they
had, but this other song,Primetime, got a lot of radio
airplay as well.
(15:35):
Number 33, The Clash, LondonCalling, which was played on
WPLJ.
Okay.
Train in Vain, Guns of Brixton,London Calling.
I mean, you could probably nameevery song because it's a great
song.
This is one of the greatestdouble albums of all time.
SPEAKER_02 (15:53):
I agree.
SPEAKER_01 (15:54):
Number 32, another police album with Zinyana
Mandata.
Don't stand so close to me,driven to tears, and only the
police could do this.
You know, first they haveZenyana Mandata, Regatta de
Blanc, you know, all the namesof the albums.
But they have a song, Da do dodo, da da-da-da.
(16:16):
I mean, but we were singingalong with it.
We loved it.
Number 31, Neil Young and CrazyHorse, Live Rust, Sugar
Mountain, Cinnamon Girl, Like aHurricane, Hey, Hey, My.
Definitely one of the best livealbums.
Number 30, the B-52s, WildPlanet, Party Out of Bounds,
(16:37):
Private Idaho.
Number 29, Fleetwood Mac withTusk.
Over and over, Sarah, Tusk.
28, ACDC, Back in Black.
So this kind of surprises mebecause this album came out, I
believe, in July of 1980.
And it was only the 28th bestselling album in the New York
(17:01):
metropolitan area in 1980.
Yet it is, you know, one of thebiggest selling albums in the
world of all time.
SPEAKER_02 (17:11):
Yeah, it just kept on selling, I guess.
SPEAKER_01 (17:13):
It kept on selling.
It was that good that peoplekept buying it constantly.
It just never went away.
But it's got Hells Bells Backand Black, You Shook Me All
Night Long.
Number 26, Grateful Dead, Go toHeaven, Alabama Getaway, Althea,
Feel Like a Stranger.
Althea was a song that JohnMayer first heard that made him
(17:35):
get into the Grateful Dead andmade him start to discover.
And he does a great versionwhenever Dead and Company play
of Althea.
Number 25, The Car's Panorama,Touch and Go, Gimme Some Slack,
Don't Tell Me No.
Number 24, Led Zeppelin InThrough the Outdoor, All O My
Love, Hot Dog, Fool in the Rain,another 1979 album.
(17:58):
And, you know, one of thereasons that I'm I'm saying some
of the songs is hopefully, youknow, as people listen, they
could say, Oh, yeah, I rememberthat album.
You know, I need to listen tothat again and mention some of
the songs.
So if you've never heard it, youcould pick out some songs to
listen to and see what you thinkof the album.
SPEAKER_02 (18:16):
Yep.
SPEAKER_01 (18:17):
Number 23, Van Halen, Women and Children First.
And the Cradle Will Rock.
Everybody wants some.
Two really good songs there.
Number 22, Genesis with the Dukealbum, Turn It On Again,
Misunderstanding.
Not a big Genesis fan, but Ireally do like those two songs.
Number 20, Bruce Springsteen andthe E Street band with The River
(18:43):
and Hungry Heart at the time waslike it was, I think it was
played every seven minutes.
It just seemed to be on theradio all of the time.
Number 19, Paul McCartney, PaulMcCartney 2.
This one really surprises me.
I gotta be honest with you,because I don't think it's that
good.
I've talked about it before onthe show, and that it's number
(19:06):
19 on the top selling albums.
I mean, it's retail sales.
People are buying it.
It doesn't mean anything as faras airplay, but people are
investing their money for reallyone song coming up, but the good
version of coming up was on thebackside of the 45, which wasn't
even on here.
SPEAKER_02 (19:26):
Yeah, and that's not a good enough song to warrant
like an album being number 19for the year.
Correct.
SPEAKER_01 (19:33):
I agree with you.
100%.
Just really surprises me.
Number 18, The Kinks, one forthe road, the live album, one of
my favorite five, in the topfive, as a matter of fact.
Lola, Celluloid Heroes, YouReally Got Me.
Number 17, Squeeze, R.
G.
Bargie, Pulling Muscles from aShell, if I didn't love you.
(19:54):
16, Jay Giles band, Love Stinkswould come back in the song Love
Stinks.
Number 15, Pat Benatar's secondalbum on the list, Crimes of
Passion.
You better run, hit me with yourbest shot, treat me right.
Pat Benatar had a good littlerun there where she had a bunch
of songs and she was all overthe radio.
(20:15):
Pete Townsend is in that number12 with Empty Glass, Rough Boys,
Let My Love Open the Door, andGonna Get You.
Number 10, Eagles, The Long Run,their second album on the list,
Heartache Tonight, The Long Run.
Number 9, Jackson Brown, HoldOut.
We did not talk about thisalbum, and I really like this
(20:35):
album.
I got this album, a buddy ofmine, Jim.
His brother had it and waslistening to it, and his
brother, Jim, started listeningto it, and then he lent it to
me.
But it's got some good songs.
SPEAKER_02 (20:49):
Down the Boulevard.
SPEAKER_01 (20:50):
Boulevard, Hold On, Hold Out, another song, Hold
Out.
It's pretty good.
Number eight, Rolling Stones,Emotional Rescue, She's So Cold,
Summer Romance, Let Me Go.
Number seven, Dan Fogelberg,Phoenix, with the song Longer,
which was a huge hit, superslow.
(21:12):
I think it might have hit numberone in like March of 1980.
Number six, Pretender's debutalbum, Brass and Pocket,
Precious, The Wait.
Number five, Tom Penny and theHeartbreakers.
This is another 1979 album.
Damn the Torpedoes, Don't Do MeLike That.
Refugee, Here Comes My Girl,Even the Losers.
(21:34):
Wow.
What a great album.
Number four, Queen the Game,Crazy Little Thing Called Love.
Another one bites the dust.
Need your loving tonight.
We're down to the final threealbums.
Number three, Bob Seeger and theSilver Bullet Band, Against the
Wind, You'll Accompany Me.
Hirschstrut, Betty Lou's,Gettin' Out Tonight.
(21:57):
I really like Betty Lou's.
I've talked about that before.
It wasn't released as a single,but it was one of those songs
that was on the radio all thetime.
I enjoy it.
Number two, Pink Floyd The Wall,Another Brick in the Wall, Part
Two.
Comfortably Numb.
Hey You, Nobody's Home.
And the number one record on theWPLJ top 95 albums of 1980, as
(22:22):
determined by retail sales inthe New York metropolitan area,
is Billy Joel Glass Houses.
No surprise to me whatsoever.
You may be right.
It's still rock and roll to me.
I don't want to be alone.
All for Lena.
If they had done that in likeCalifornia or Florida or
(22:44):
Chicago.
Yes.
You can pick different bandsthat you would think would Billy
Joel in New York, that woulddefinitely be number one for
sure.
But that was a lot of fun goingover that.
I had made a decision in March,so nine months ago, that I was
going to do the last episode andwe were going to include that
(23:05):
there.
SPEAKER_02 (23:06):
That was fun.
SPEAKER_01 (23:07):
That was fun.
SPEAKER_02 (23:08):
I think the 96 rock charts in Atlanta probably would
have had uh flirting withdisaster, you know, Molly
Hatchet near the top, andSkinnard near the top.
SPEAKER_01 (23:17):
They could have taken all 10 spots.
Maybe.
With just the two albums.
Hey, it was good looking back at45 years for sure.
Let's look back at the top 10episodes of Music in My Shoes
from 2025 based on the amount oflistens per episode.
(23:40):
So number 10, episode 88, July1980, WPLJ, The Kinks, and the
Gopher Dance.
We just talked about that.
You know, I found the recording,Carol Miller, we listened to
that.
We talked about the Kinks Livealbum, One for the Road, and the
B-52s in Atlanta, 1990.
(24:02):
Number 9, episode 80, BillboardHits of June 80, Take Me to
Funky Town.
And we look back at BillboardHot 100 charts from June 1980,
Frank Sinatra's theme from NewYork, New York, Mount St.
Helens May 1980 eruption.
I enjoyed talking about that.
(24:22):
I really did.
I know it's not about music, butit was something at that time
that was just this big event.
And we talked about a couple ofphotographers who took pictures
that ended up dying because theywere too close.
Yeah.
But we got their photos thatcould help us see what was
actually happening very close tothe whole eruption.
(24:44):
And I I really enjoyed thatepisode.
Also, because Virginia HighlandPorch Fest with our own Jimmy
playing with the Concord Grapeswas a highlight of the show for
me as well.
Nice.
Yes.
Do you remember that, Jimmy?
Of course.
Okay.
It was a good time.
Good time.
Good, good time, good time.
(25:04):
Number eight, episode 103, MontyA.
Melnick, Ramones Tour Managerinterview.
He talked about his book On theRoad with the Ramones, Joey,
Johnny, DD, and Tommy, you know,the original Ramones from the
beginning.
You know, a great look at whatit was to be the tour manager
and kind of what he wentthrough.
(25:25):
I just felt like you were a flyon the wall hearing everything
he had to say.
I thought it was a good one.
SPEAKER_02 (25:30):
We could have talked to him all day.
SPEAKER_01 (25:32):
I think we could have.
I really do.
I think that he is just full ofso much knowledge.
And it wasn't just about withthe Ramones when he was talking
about bands that he saw.
He saw some pretty cool bands,bands that he was in.
Yeah.
I mean, it was just all over theplace.
It was just really cool.
Really was.
Number seven, episode 81, TheGoonies, a Psychedelic Rolls,
(25:58):
and Woolly Bully.
So we talked about John Lennon'spsychedelic painted Rolls-Royce,
the 40th anniversary of theGoonies, that at this point
Jimmy had never seen the movie.
SPEAKER_02 (26:10):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (26:11):
And we talked about Woolly Bully because uh I always
like a good Sam the Sham and thePharaoh song that you can
struggle trying to figure outwhat the words are.
Number six, episode 91, TheBeatles Help, and live in
Atlanta, 1965.
Beatles film Help, we talkedabout that in the album
(26:33):
soundtrack.
We had Lucy Sermon who joined usand shared her experience of
seeing the Beatles at AtlantaStadium here in Atlanta in
August 1965.
Was a fantastic guest.
So many people reached out,like, where did you find her?
How did you get her on the show?
People really enjoyed listeningto her.
(26:54):
You know, I think people enjoyhearing, you know, the famous
people that we have on that telltheir story, but people really
dug her story because they wishthat they could have been that
fan that was at the show.
And what was it like?
And she told a really good storyand was full of details and was
it was a great time.
I enjoyed it.
(27:15):
Number five, episode 102,chatting with Johnny Hickman of
Cracker.
It was awesome having JohnnyHickman on.
I thought it came across that hereally wanted to be on the show,
and you know, talking aboutCracker, talking about solo
stuff.
And he almost, you didn't haveto almost give him any
(27:36):
questions.
He was just talking away abouteverything, and I thought that
was really cool.
He broke the news that Crackerwould play the Golden Age album
in its entirety at camping inAthens in March 2026, which was
interesting because right afterhe was on the show, then all of
a sudden it started to getposted all over the internet.
(27:56):
Oh, we got the scoop.
We had the scoop there.
It was great.
Number four, number 68,conversation with Lenny Kay and
Kevin Kinney.
When Kevin Kinney confirmed thenight before that he was going
to bring Lenny Kay, guitaristfrom the Patty Smith group, an
author, a producer, I was like akid in a candy shop.
He reached out to me from theairport picking up Lenny Kay.
(28:20):
And, you know, if you rememberthe next day, Jimmy, I think I
was like, look, there's Kevinand Lenny walking down the
driveway together, and I wasjust like, this nervousness, you
know, that I had.
You know, we talked about CBGB,we talked about the 50th
anniversary of the horses album.
And to have someone that isreally not just a rock musician,
(28:45):
but an author, and really issomeone that knows so much about
music.
It was great.
I mean, he could talk aboutanything.
That's another person you couldprobably have on and talk
forever and forever.
Absolutely.
And then later that night I gotto see Lenny, Kevin, and Peter
Buck play together at Eddie'sAddict.
(29:06):
It doesn't get better than that.
What a day.
SPEAKER_00 (29:08):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (29:09):
Number three, episode 65, Vision Quest and
Vineyard Vibes.
This was the 40th anniversary ofthe movie Vision Quest,
reviewing Kevin Kinney and PeterBuck's performance at Buckley
Vineyards in LJ, Georgia, andthe 55th anniversary of the
Doors Morrison Hotel album.
(29:29):
Number two, episode 70, REMReunion and Cracker Camping,
when Michael Shannon and JasonNardousi played at 40 watt club
in Athens GA, and Michael Stite,Peter Buck, Mike Mills, Bill
Berry reunited to play one song,Pretty Persuasion.
And we talked about Cracker'sCamping 11 at the 40 watt, also,
(29:54):
which was all within, you know,roughly 10 days or so of each a
lot going on in Athens.
It was just a fun time, itreally was.
Number one, episode 105.
Kevin Kinney and Anna Jensen,her living tribute to the art of
his sound.
This is a fantastic episode.
Anna tells a story of how sheput together a tribute, you
(30:18):
know, to him, four albums, youknow, to Kevin Kinney, her
husband, and doing somethingwhile he's alive as compared to
so many tributes that happenwhen, you know, once somebody's
gone.
The Let's Go Dancing series hasso many cool musicians that are
a part of it.
We did the signed album giveawaywhere they signed a bunch of the
(30:40):
albums and a bunch of people gotto win, you know, these albums
that we sent out.
And you know, one guy actuallyposted on Facebook the signed
albums holding all four of them,and it was cool, you know.
You like to see things likethat.
This is already our ninth mostlistened to episode of all time.
That's how many people arelistening to this that quickly
(31:02):
on something that got releasedNovember 16th.
Oh, yeah.
I remember because that's mybirthday.
So, you know, if you look at it,most of the the top ten are
interviews, but there's a lot ofof common denominators, whether
it is something with KevinKinney or Driving and Crying or
R.E.M.
or Cracker, you know, it's thatseems to be things that people
(31:26):
tend to listen to a lot.
SPEAKER_02 (31:27):
Well, you asked me to make a list of my favorite
episodes of the year, and I did.
I made a list of six episodes,and you just mentioned five of
them.
So I had no idea what the mostpopular episodes were, but five
of my top six were in that topten.
My other one that I had on mylist is episode 87, uh Live Aid
(31:49):
episode.
SPEAKER_01 (31:50):
Yeah.
You know, Jimmy, the live aidepisode I was really looking
forward to doing.
It kind of was like in in 2024,we did the um 10 days in August
1969 episode.
And that episode, I did that,it's really, you know, not that
it's not for people to listento, but I did it because it was
(32:10):
important to me.
And that kind of was the way thelive aid episode was.
Right.
You know, hitting on differentthings about it, talking about
different things, sharingdifferent things about it.
It kind of was like this, if youwant to know about live aid,
boom, you can listen to this.
Or if you want to know what waslife like in August 1969 across
the world, you can listen tothat particular episode.
(32:32):
So that is actually one of mypersonal favorites as well.
Uh, number 61, the cabbage patchdolls keep falling on my head,
where I talked about working ata place where we did the birth
certificates for the cabbagepatch dolls.
And we also talked about uhraindrops keep falling on my
(32:53):
head from Butch Cassidy and theSundance Kid.
And episode 77, I should haveknown better, Glass Houses and
Damaged Goods.
We talked about when I wrote theuh letter to the radio station
and gave them like$3 or$5 ifthey would play this Beatles
song so I could get a girl tolisten to it and realize that I
(33:13):
liked her.
I was, you know, in eighthgrade, I think it was.
So those are some of my personalfavorites.
Music in my shoes has beenlistened to on six continents.
Since the show began, NorthAmerica is 89% of our audience.
If you go back a year, NorthAmerica was like 98% of the
(33:34):
audience.
Europe makes up six percent,Asia is three percent, South
America, Africa, and the Oceaniamakes up the remaining two
percent.
The top five countries Music inMy Shoes is listened to, and
there's 76 countries that listenor have listened to Music in My
Shoes at one point or another.
(33:55):
Number one, the US.
Number two, Singapore.
SPEAKER_02 (34:00):
Amazing.
SPEAKER_01 (34:00):
Number three is United Kingdom, so that includes
England and includes Scotland,Wales, where else, Jimmy?
Northern Ireland.
Northern Ireland, correct.
Number four, Germany, numberfive, Sweden.
And listeners in Frankfurt,Germany are number ten when you
(34:22):
look at the cities the mostlistened to, number ten is
Frankfurt, Germany, which I justthink is absolutely fantastic.
You know, we've talked aboutGerman listeners basically since
the beginning of the show.
We have.
And we continue to talk aboutthem.
We appreciate it.
We definitely do, without adoubt.
We appreciate everyone thatlistens to the show.
(34:43):
And you know, it means a lotwhen I see things on Facebook
and people get engaged, and whenpeople send us emails or, you
know, message us, whatever itis, you know, it's great to know
that people are listening andpeople are engaged.
So if you want, you can reachout to us at musicinmyshoes at
gmail.com.
Please like and follow the Musicin My Shoes Facebook and
(35:06):
Instagram pages.
I've really enjoyed the showthis year.
1975, you know, young Jim wetalked about and music.
Uh talking about 1980, my musiccoming of age year, 1985, a lot
of good music and my first jobs,1990, moving from New York to
(35:28):
Georgia and listening to newbands, southern bands that I had
not heard of before.
And just sharing some personalstories that explains why the
show is called Music in MyShoes.
And it's been a lot of fun.
It really, really has.
You know, we all live life to abeat, and these beats are music
in my shoes.
(35:49):
And I don't think I couldexplain it any better what it's
all about.
Looking back on, you know,five-year increments based on
what the particular year is now,this year being 2025.
So whether we talked about 70 or75 or 80 or 85 or whatever,
that's really what it comes downto.
And it's been fun.
(36:09):
I always appreciate everything,Jimmy.
It is the end of the year showfor us.
Thank you so much for being partof Music in My Shoes because it
would not be what it is withoutyou.
SPEAKER_02 (36:21):
Thank you.
Thanks for making me part of it.
SPEAKER_01 (36:24):
You are welcome.
Thank you.
And thank you to everybody thatlistens because it is great that
people want to hear my storiesafter all this time that I never
thought anyone would want tolisten to.
But it definitely brings a smileto my face and makes it a lot of
fun to come each week andbroadcast, not broadcast, to
(36:44):
podcast to you, and not just toyou right here in Atlanta, not
just to people in Georgia, butpeople throughout the United
States as well as the wholeworld.
We are podcasting worldwide.
Hey, that's it for episode 111of Music in My Shoes.
(37:05):
I'd like to thank Jimmy Guthrie,show producer and owner of
Arcade 160 Studios, locatedright here in Atlanta, Georgia,
and Vic Thrill for our podcastmusic.
This is Jim Boj, and I hope youlearned something new or
remembered something old.
We'll meet again on our nextepisode.
Until then, live life and keepthe music playing.
Hey everybody, this is Jim Boj, and you're listening
to Music in My Shoes.
That was Vic Thrill kicking offepisode 111.
As always, I'm thrilled to behere with you.
Let's learn something new orremember something old.
Jimmy, I've mentioned WPLJ 95.5FM, a former New York City radio
(00:56):
station, you know, several timesthroughout the year, including
back in April, you know, talkedabout it being uh a period of
time where I discovered a bunchof bands, mostly some of the,
you know, older bands from the60s and the 70s.
So they're new bands to me, orlearning about deeper cuts and
(01:18):
so forth, you know, just reallyexploring and advancing, you
know, what I was listening to.
And it was a really cool timefor me, it really was.
And then in July, if youremember, I found an hour of
WPLJ on the internet where Ilistened to it and I talked
about it.
Uh, Carol Miller was the DJ, andit just was really cool
(01:41):
listening to it because it hadthe commercials and you just
felt like you went back.
So, you know, it was definitelygreat looking back and
reminiscing throughout that.
So I thought on today's episode,we're gonna take a look back at
the WPLJ top 95 albums of 1980.
(02:02):
Rankings are based on retailsales of rock albums in the New
York metropolitan area.
SPEAKER_02 (02:09):
So, okay.
So it's only in the New Yorkmetropolitan area.
SPEAKER_01 (02:13):
Yes.
All right.
So it includes records from 1979that were still getting airplay
in 1980, we're still selling.
So it's a kind of a I think it'sa cool, you know, cutout of what
was going on in 1980.
So, like I said, this is notsomething where someone's
(02:35):
looking back saying these arethe top albums of 1980.
This is based on sales in 1980.
This was released.
You know, I I don't rememberwhen I got the list.
I think I probably got it beforethe end of the new year, or
maybe it was in January.
I I don't remember.
(02:56):
Okay.
But you know, I've had the listfor a long time, and it was
actually kind of like a um uh athing.
They made it look like brickwalls, almost like um, you know,
Pink Floyd the Wall.
SPEAKER_02 (03:08):
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (03:09):
And they would write in each one of these different
bricks what uh album number andwho uh did it, and every once in
a while they'd have a picture ofdifferent people, and it was
just kind of cool.
And here we are 45 years laterto talk about it.
SPEAKER_02 (03:25):
Let's get into it.
SPEAKER_01 (03:26):
Yeah, let's do it.
You know, Jimmy, I say thisoften, but I'm gonna do my best
not to go in depth about eachrecord.
Sure you are.
I really am gonna try.
Number 95, Talking Heads, Fearof Music.
This is a 1979 album.
Songs like Life During Wartimeand Cities.
Number 94, Blondie, Eat to theBeat, another 1979 album,
(03:51):
Dreaming and Atomic.
SPEAKER_02 (03:53):
Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (03:54):
Number 91, Roger Daltrey, the McVicker
soundtrack.
We talked about this.
And what you're gonna find isalmost every album here we have
talked about throughout theyear, which is kind of cool
because it's in tune with how Iwas seeing music at the time.
SPEAKER_02 (04:09):
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (04:10):
Number 86, Dire Streets, Making Movies, Skate
Away, and Espresso Love, reallygood album.
Number 80, The Specials, theirdebut album, Monkey Man and A
Message to You, Rudy.
SPEAKER_02 (04:24):
Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (04:25):
Now, WPLJ wasn't playing that that I can
remember.
I honestly do not remember.
They were a rock station, sothey weren't playing a lot of
the specials.
But this list, one more time, iscompiled by the best-selling
retail in the New Yorkmetropolitan area.
So whether they played it ornot, it's on this list.
SPEAKER_02 (04:45):
Was LIR playing the specials back then?
SPEAKER_01 (04:48):
So LIR was not the station that it became in '82,
but they did play a lot of NewWave and different stuff.
They were kind of all over theplace.
They could be playing a new wavesong.
You know, they really were allover the gamut when you you look
at it.
I can't tell you that they wereplaying that or not.
SPEAKER_02 (05:06):
Somebody must have been playing it, though.
SPEAKER_01 (05:08):
Somebody was, because it is number 80 on the
list.
Number 77, Molly Hatchet,Flirtin' with Disaster.
SPEAKER_02 (05:17):
Wow, a little southern rock up there in NYC.
SPEAKER_01 (05:19):
Yes, a little.
Man, I'll tell you what, thatwas a great song.
When it came on, that wholebeginning, it was a lot of fun
to listen to.
It really was.
Number 76, The Ramones, End ofthe Century, with Do You
Remember Rock and Roll Radio,which was my favorite song.
I know that you like the wholealbum.
Um, number 73, the BluesBrothers soundtrack, Gimme Some
(05:43):
Lovin', Everybody Needs Somebodyto Love, and Cab Callaway doing
Minnie the Brother Bruce.
Minnie the Mooch.
So, true story (05:51):
I go Christmas shopping with my daughter last
night, and we're driving, and Ijust have my phone on shuffle,
and Cab Callaway, Minnie theMooch, from the Blues Brothers
soundtrack, comes on.
And at some point, she goes,This might be the worst song I
have ever heard in my life.
And I'm like, There's no waythis is Cab Callaway.
(06:13):
It's so good.
And she starts giving herimpression of the song, and I
thought she was Scat ManCruthers or something.
Okay.
It was just so funny.
And I'm like, hey, just so youknow, I'm gonna mention you
tomorrow because I'm gonna talkabout the song.
And she was just like, anything,just so we can listen to a
(06:35):
different song.
SPEAKER_02 (06:36):
Wow.
I was just thinking that I mighttry doing many the moocher in my
solo set that I do.
Really?
Yeah, I think it'd be a funsong.
SPEAKER_01 (06:44):
Yeah.
Hidey, hidey, hidey.
SPEAKER_02 (06:47):
Yeah, I got a little audience participation.
SPEAKER_01 (06:49):
Everybody knows it, right?
Yeah.
Yeah, I don't know what waswrong with my daughter.
The worst song ever.
SPEAKER_02 (06:54):
Never.
Different people hear thingsdifferent ways.
You know, uh my daughter reallydoesn't like the song
Freefallen.
Like, what are you talkingabout?
That's the classic.
Yeah.
Really?
Yeah.
You know, she likes a lot ofgreat music, but that's one that
she doesn't like.
SPEAKER_01 (07:10):
And my daughter loves a lot of great music too.
I mean, she was on the show atone point.
She does love a lot of greatmusic.
Just Minnie the Moocher isn'tone of them.
Yeah.
72 Journey Departure.
I'm not a huge Journey fan, butany way you want it, I really do
like that song.
Great song.
SPEAKER_02 (07:28):
It's a really good song.
I mean, as uh, you know, AlChervik said in Caddyshack.
So let's boogie.
Jim's at a loss for words.
SPEAKER_01 (07:43):
Oh, sometimes, Jimmy, you just crack me up.
Let's do it.
Let's do it.
So, number 70, Beatles Rarities.
So before the anthology seriescame out in 1995, 1996, this was
a pretty cool record.
And it was just a bunch of songsthat some of it was it was mono
(08:06):
and you would only heard thestereo version.
But some of it was Love Me Do,which had Ringo Starr on drums
because the original onereleased had a session drummer,
Alan White.
So this was the first time thatyou actually got to hear Ringo
playing Love Me Do.
Which is funny because theyfired Pete Best in 1962 because
(08:28):
he doesn't fit what they want,and then they do the record Love
Me Do, and the drummer that theygot, they end up using a session
drummer instead.
SPEAKER_02 (08:38):
Maybe they didn't feel like they had the clout to
tell the record people, like,no, we're gonna use our drummer,
you know?
SPEAKER_01 (08:45):
It could be.
They had no clout at the time.
You're right about that.
SPEAKER_02 (08:48):
They were probably just told them, no, our session
drummer plays.
That's what the way we do it.
SPEAKER_01 (08:52):
The original, original version of Love Me Do
with Pete Best on the drums wasreleased on Anthology One.
So if you want to hear that one,you can go to that.
But it had uh I Am the Walrus,which has some extra beats in
it.
And it's funny because when youhear it, you go to sing and the
words haven't started yet.
(09:13):
So it's it's kind of neat.
Helter Skelter.
Now I'm not a hundred percentsure, but I remember the version
of Helter Skelter, they put iton because it has some like
beeps in different parts of thesong where it's like that they
never knew where they came from.
And at the end, it does not haveRingo Star yelling out, I've got
(09:38):
blisters on my fingers, like hedoes in the version that we all
know when he threw thedrumsticks across the studio.
Yeah.
Number 66, Farner, Head Games,with the 1980 hit Head Games.
64, Split Ends, the True Colorsalbum with I Got You.
(09:59):
Number 61, Eagles Live.
The album was released November7th, 1980.
So it it sold a lot of albums ina really short period of time to
make it to number 61.
Do you understand what I'msaying?
Yeah.
I mean, that's pretty cool thatit could do that.
Hotel California is fantastic.
(10:19):
It's the first song on thealbum.
Uh, I think The Long Run is agood version there.
I definitely like it.
I like that live album.
Number 60, Steely Dan, Gauchowith Hey 19.
Number 59, Pat Benatar in theHeat of the Night album with
Heartbreaker.
Number 58, The Talking Headsmake their second appearance on
(10:42):
the list with Remainin' Light,Once in a Lifetime, and Cross
Eyed and Painless.
Number 57, John Lennon, DoubleFantasy album, Just Like
Starting Over and Watching theWheels.
55, Joe Jackson on the Man withOn Your Radio, kind of cute.
(11:03):
53, Utopia, Adventures inUtopia, The Road to Utopia song,
as well as Caravan.
Number 52, The Doors GreatestHits.
We talked about this not toolong ago.
This came out and just kind ofreally got a ton of people back
into the doors after, you know,a period of you know nine years
(11:24):
since Jim Morrison had died.
I talked about how PLJ playedsome stuff in April that really
kind of got my interest going.
But this had Hello, I Love You,Light My Fire, Riders on the
Storm.
Number 51, yes, the drama albumwith a song that has no words,
Tempest Fugit.
(11:45):
Number 50, Leonard Skinnerd.
Leonard Skinnard, GoldenPlatinum, Greatest Hits, Double
Alb.
What's Your Name?
Sweet Home Alabama, Free BirdLive, and I Know a Little.
Everybody had this album.
That's another one of thosealbums that everybody seemed to
have.
SPEAKER_02 (12:04):
I had no idea that New York area loved Leonard
Skinnard.
SPEAKER_01 (12:09):
Big, big.
What's your name was like on theradio, like nonstop.
And you know, and of courseFreebird Live, but What's Your
Name was always on.
SPEAKER_02 (12:19):
I mean, and you know where Freebird Live was
recorded, right?
SPEAKER_01 (12:23):
The Fox Theater here in Atlanta GA.
SPEAKER_02 (12:25):
Play it pretty for Atlanta.
SPEAKER_01 (12:26):
Yes.
We'll talk about that uh in thenew year because it'll be 50
years since they recorded itthere.
I'm gonna go with June or Julyof 1976 is when they recorded
it.
Okay.
That's my guess.
We'll see on a future episode ofMusic in My Shoes.
All right.
(12:47):
Teaser.
Teaser.
Number 48, the police, RegattaDeBlanc with Message in a
Bottle, Walking on the Moon, TheBed's Too Big Without You.
That's another 1979 album.
47, Peter Gabriel, the meltalbum, because you know, Peter
Gabriel named a bunch of albumsPeter Gabriel.
And then each one had somethingabout the cover that you would
(13:09):
say, you know, Peter Gabriel 2,or you know, this was Peter
Gabriel III with the meltbecause his face was melting.
It's got I Don't Remember, GamesWithout Frontiers.
Number 46, David Bowie, theScary Monsters and Super Creeps
album, which has Ashes to Ashes,Fashion.
(13:30):
And number 42, Devo, Freedom ofChoice, Girl You Want, Whip It,
Freedom of Choice.
SPEAKER_02 (13:38):
Good stuff.
SPEAKER_01 (13:39):
Last night I put Whip It on.
I haven't listened to Whippet ina really long time.
And I put it on and I just tookmyself back to this time in 1980
because it was a you know latesummer, fall type of song.
And I just had these memories.
I could remember differentthings, you know, that I was
(13:59):
doing, different events when thesong was on, and just different
things, and it was just a coolmemory.
It really was.
SPEAKER_02 (14:06):
They didn't think it was going to be a hit either.
SPEAKER_01 (14:08):
They were wrong.
They were wrong because I meanthis is the number 42 selling
album, and it's all because ofthat one song.
I mean, Girl You Want is a greatsong.
I really like it.
Freedom of Choice is my favoriteDevo song.
SPEAKER_02 (14:24):
Gates of Steel, I love too.
SPEAKER_01 (14:25):
Gates of Steel, but Whip It is what sold the album.
It is.
Number 39, Jefferson Starship.
So this is the Freedom at PointZero album.
And it's the first album afterGrace Slick and Marty Balin left
the band and Mickey Thomas tookon the vocals, and the big hit
(14:48):
off of it was Jane.
SPEAKER_02 (14:49):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (14:50):
There you go.
I know you like that song,Jimmy.
I do.
SPEAKER_02 (14:53):
It's great.
SPEAKER_01 (14:53):
Number 37, Rush, Permanent Waves, The Spirit of
Radio, Free Will.
Number 34, Rossington CollinsBand.
I don't think we mentioned them.
I really liked the RossingtonCollins band, and I had the
cassette of anytime, anyplace,anywhere.
And the band had four members ofLeonard Skinnard.
(15:14):
And they formed after the planecrash and took a few members of
the band away.
They formed this, and I thoughtit was kind of cool.
They had a female singer thatjoined them.
Don't Misunderstand Me wasprobably the biggest song they
had, but this other song,Primetime, got a lot of radio
airplay as well.
(15:35):
Number 33, The Clash, LondonCalling, which was played on
WPLJ.
Okay.
Train in Vain, Guns of Brixton,London Calling.
I mean, you could probably nameevery song because it's a great
song.
This is one of the greatestdouble albums of all time.
SPEAKER_02 (15:53):
I agree.
SPEAKER_01 (15:54):
Number 32, another police album with Zinyana
Mandata.
Don't stand so close to me,driven to tears, and only the
police could do this.
You know, first they haveZenyana Mandata, Regatta de
Blanc, you know, all the namesof the albums.
But they have a song, Da do dodo, da da-da-da.
(16:16):
I mean, but we were singingalong with it.
We loved it.
Number 31, Neil Young and CrazyHorse, Live Rust, Sugar
Mountain, Cinnamon Girl, Like aHurricane, Hey, Hey, My.
Definitely one of the best livealbums.
Number 30, the B-52s, WildPlanet, Party Out of Bounds,
(16:37):
Private Idaho.
Number 29, Fleetwood Mac withTusk.
Over and over, Sarah, Tusk.
28, ACDC, Back in Black.
So this kind of surprises mebecause this album came out, I
believe, in July of 1980.
And it was only the 28th bestselling album in the New York
(17:01):
metropolitan area in 1980.
Yet it is, you know, one of thebiggest selling albums in the
world of all time.
SPEAKER_02 (17:11):
Yeah, it just kept on selling, I guess.
SPEAKER_01 (17:13):
It kept on selling.
It was that good that peoplekept buying it constantly.
It just never went away.
But it's got Hells Bells Backand Black, You Shook Me All
Night Long.
Number 26, Grateful Dead, Go toHeaven, Alabama Getaway, Althea,
Feel Like a Stranger.
Althea was a song that JohnMayer first heard that made him
(17:35):
get into the Grateful Dead andmade him start to discover.
And he does a great versionwhenever Dead and Company play
of Althea.
Number 25, The Car's Panorama,Touch and Go, Gimme Some Slack,
Don't Tell Me No.
Number 24, Led Zeppelin InThrough the Outdoor, All O My
Love, Hot Dog, Fool in the Rain,another 1979 album.
(17:58):
And, you know, one of thereasons that I'm I'm saying some
of the songs is hopefully, youknow, as people listen, they
could say, Oh, yeah, I rememberthat album.
You know, I need to listen tothat again and mention some of
the songs.
So if you've never heard it, youcould pick out some songs to
listen to and see what you thinkof the album.
SPEAKER_02 (18:16):
Yep.
SPEAKER_01 (18:17):
Number 23, Van Halen, Women and Children First.
And the Cradle Will Rock.
Everybody wants some.
Two really good songs there.
Number 22, Genesis with the Dukealbum, Turn It On Again,
Misunderstanding.
Not a big Genesis fan, but Ireally do like those two songs.
Number 20, Bruce Springsteen andthe E Street band with The River
(18:43):
and Hungry Heart at the time waslike it was, I think it was
played every seven minutes.
It just seemed to be on theradio all of the time.
Number 19, Paul McCartney, PaulMcCartney 2.
This one really surprises me.
I gotta be honest with you,because I don't think it's that
good.
I've talked about it before onthe show, and that it's number
(19:06):
19 on the top selling albums.
I mean, it's retail sales.
People are buying it.
It doesn't mean anything as faras airplay, but people are
investing their money for reallyone song coming up, but the good
version of coming up was on thebackside of the 45, which wasn't
even on here.
SPEAKER_02 (19:26):
Yeah, and that's not a good enough song to warrant
like an album being number 19for the year.
Correct.
SPEAKER_01 (19:33):
I agree with you.
100%.
Just really surprises me.
Number 18, The Kinks, one forthe road, the live album, one of
my favorite five, in the topfive, as a matter of fact.
Lola, Celluloid Heroes, YouReally Got Me.
Number 17, Squeeze, R.
G.
Bargie, Pulling Muscles from aShell, if I didn't love you.
(19:54):
16, Jay Giles band, Love Stinkswould come back in the song Love
Stinks.
Number 15, Pat Benatar's secondalbum on the list, Crimes of
Passion.
You better run, hit me with yourbest shot, treat me right.
Pat Benatar had a good littlerun there where she had a bunch
of songs and she was all overthe radio.
(20:15):
Pete Townsend is in that number12 with Empty Glass, Rough Boys,
Let My Love Open the Door, andGonna Get You.
Number 10, Eagles, The Long Run,their second album on the list,
Heartache Tonight, The Long Run.
Number 9, Jackson Brown, HoldOut.
We did not talk about thisalbum, and I really like this
(20:35):
album.
I got this album, a buddy ofmine, Jim.
His brother had it and waslistening to it, and his
brother, Jim, started listeningto it, and then he lent it to
me.
But it's got some good songs.
SPEAKER_02 (20:49):
Down the Boulevard.
SPEAKER_01 (20:50):
Boulevard, Hold On, Hold Out, another song, Hold
Out.
It's pretty good.
Number eight, Rolling Stones,Emotional Rescue, She's So Cold,
Summer Romance, Let Me Go.
Number seven, Dan Fogelberg,Phoenix, with the song Longer,
which was a huge hit, superslow.
(21:12):
I think it might have hit numberone in like March of 1980.
Number six, Pretender's debutalbum, Brass and Pocket,
Precious, The Wait.
Number five, Tom Penny and theHeartbreakers.
This is another 1979 album.
Damn the Torpedoes, Don't Do MeLike That.
Refugee, Here Comes My Girl,Even the Losers.
(21:34):
Wow.
What a great album.
Number four, Queen the Game,Crazy Little Thing Called Love.
Another one bites the dust.
Need your loving tonight.
We're down to the final threealbums.
Number three, Bob Seeger and theSilver Bullet Band, Against the
Wind, You'll Accompany Me.
Hirschstrut, Betty Lou's,Gettin' Out Tonight.
(21:57):
I really like Betty Lou's.
I've talked about that before.
It wasn't released as a single,but it was one of those songs
that was on the radio all thetime.
I enjoy it.
Number two, Pink Floyd The Wall,Another Brick in the Wall, Part
Two.
Comfortably Numb.
Hey You, Nobody's Home.
And the number one record on theWPLJ top 95 albums of 1980, as
(22:22):
determined by retail sales inthe New York metropolitan area,
is Billy Joel Glass Houses.
No surprise to me whatsoever.
You may be right.
It's still rock and roll to me.
I don't want to be alone.
All for Lena.
If they had done that in likeCalifornia or Florida or
(22:44):
Chicago.
Yes.
You can pick different bandsthat you would think would Billy
Joel in New York, that woulddefinitely be number one for
sure.
But that was a lot of fun goingover that.
I had made a decision in March,so nine months ago, that I was
going to do the last episode andwe were going to include that
(23:05):
there.
SPEAKER_02 (23:06):
That was fun.
SPEAKER_01 (23:07):
That was fun.
SPEAKER_02 (23:08):
I think the 96 rock charts in Atlanta probably would
have had uh flirting withdisaster, you know, Molly
Hatchet near the top, andSkinnard near the top.
SPEAKER_01 (23:17):
They could have taken all 10 spots.
Maybe.
With just the two albums.
Hey, it was good looking back at45 years for sure.
Let's look back at the top 10episodes of Music in My Shoes
from 2025 based on the amount oflistens per episode.
(23:40):
So number 10, episode 88, July1980, WPLJ, The Kinks, and the
Gopher Dance.
We just talked about that.
You know, I found the recording,Carol Miller, we listened to
that.
We talked about the Kinks Livealbum, One for the Road, and the
B-52s in Atlanta, 1990.
(24:02):
Number 9, episode 80, BillboardHits of June 80, Take Me to
Funky Town.
And we look back at BillboardHot 100 charts from June 1980,
Frank Sinatra's theme from NewYork, New York, Mount St.
Helens May 1980 eruption.
I enjoyed talking about that.
(24:22):
I really did.
I know it's not about music, butit was something at that time
that was just this big event.
And we talked about a couple ofphotographers who took pictures
that ended up dying because theywere too close.
Yeah.
But we got their photos thatcould help us see what was
actually happening very close tothe whole eruption.
(24:44):
And I I really enjoyed thatepisode.
Also, because Virginia HighlandPorch Fest with our own Jimmy
playing with the Concord Grapeswas a highlight of the show for
me as well.
Nice.
Yes.
Do you remember that, Jimmy?
Of course.
Okay.
It was a good time.
Good time.
Good, good time, good time.
(25:04):
Number eight, episode 103, MontyA.
Melnick, Ramones Tour Managerinterview.
He talked about his book On theRoad with the Ramones, Joey,
Johnny, DD, and Tommy, you know,the original Ramones from the
beginning.
You know, a great look at whatit was to be the tour manager
and kind of what he wentthrough.
(25:25):
I just felt like you were a flyon the wall hearing everything
he had to say.
I thought it was a good one.
SPEAKER_02 (25:30):
We could have talked to him all day.
SPEAKER_01 (25:32):
I think we could have.
I really do.
I think that he is just full ofso much knowledge.
And it wasn't just about withthe Ramones when he was talking
about bands that he saw.
He saw some pretty cool bands,bands that he was in.
Yeah.
I mean, it was just all over theplace.
It was just really cool.
Really was.
Number seven, episode 81, TheGoonies, a Psychedelic Rolls,
(25:58):
and Woolly Bully.
So we talked about John Lennon'spsychedelic painted Rolls-Royce,
the 40th anniversary of theGoonies, that at this point
Jimmy had never seen the movie.
SPEAKER_02 (26:10):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (26:11):
And we talked about Woolly Bully because uh I always
like a good Sam the Sham and thePharaoh song that you can
struggle trying to figure outwhat the words are.
Number six, episode 91, TheBeatles Help, and live in
Atlanta, 1965.
Beatles film Help, we talkedabout that in the album
(26:33):
soundtrack.
We had Lucy Sermon who joined usand shared her experience of
seeing the Beatles at AtlantaStadium here in Atlanta in
August 1965.
Was a fantastic guest.
So many people reached out,like, where did you find her?
How did you get her on the show?
People really enjoyed listeningto her.
(26:54):
You know, I think people enjoyhearing, you know, the famous
people that we have on that telltheir story, but people really
dug her story because they wishthat they could have been that
fan that was at the show.
And what was it like?
And she told a really good storyand was full of details and was
it was a great time.
I enjoyed it.
(27:15):
Number five, episode 102,chatting with Johnny Hickman of
Cracker.
It was awesome having JohnnyHickman on.
I thought it came across that hereally wanted to be on the show,
and you know, talking aboutCracker, talking about solo
stuff.
And he almost, you didn't haveto almost give him any
(27:36):
questions.
He was just talking away abouteverything, and I thought that
was really cool.
He broke the news that Crackerwould play the Golden Age album
in its entirety at camping inAthens in March 2026, which was
interesting because right afterhe was on the show, then all of
a sudden it started to getposted all over the internet.
(27:56):
Oh, we got the scoop.
We had the scoop there.
It was great.
Number four, number 68,conversation with Lenny Kay and
Kevin Kinney.
When Kevin Kinney confirmed thenight before that he was going
to bring Lenny Kay, guitaristfrom the Patty Smith group, an
author, a producer, I was like akid in a candy shop.
He reached out to me from theairport picking up Lenny Kay.
(28:20):
And, you know, if you rememberthe next day, Jimmy, I think I
was like, look, there's Kevinand Lenny walking down the
driveway together, and I wasjust like, this nervousness, you
know, that I had.
You know, we talked about CBGB,we talked about the 50th
anniversary of the horses album.
And to have someone that isreally not just a rock musician,
(28:45):
but an author, and really issomeone that knows so much about
music.
It was great.
I mean, he could talk aboutanything.
That's another person you couldprobably have on and talk
forever and forever.
Absolutely.
And then later that night I gotto see Lenny, Kevin, and Peter
Buck play together at Eddie'sAddict.
(29:06):
It doesn't get better than that.
What a day.
SPEAKER_00 (29:08):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (29:09):
Number three, episode 65, Vision Quest and
Vineyard Vibes.
This was the 40th anniversary ofthe movie Vision Quest,
reviewing Kevin Kinney and PeterBuck's performance at Buckley
Vineyards in LJ, Georgia, andthe 55th anniversary of the
Doors Morrison Hotel album.
(29:29):
Number two, episode 70, REMReunion and Cracker Camping,
when Michael Shannon and JasonNardousi played at 40 watt club
in Athens GA, and Michael Stite,Peter Buck, Mike Mills, Bill
Berry reunited to play one song,Pretty Persuasion.
And we talked about Cracker'sCamping 11 at the 40 watt, also,
(29:54):
which was all within, you know,roughly 10 days or so of each a
lot going on in Athens.
It was just a fun time, itreally was.
Number one, episode 105.
Kevin Kinney and Anna Jensen,her living tribute to the art of
his sound.
This is a fantastic episode.
Anna tells a story of how sheput together a tribute, you
(30:18):
know, to him, four albums, youknow, to Kevin Kinney, her
husband, and doing somethingwhile he's alive as compared to
so many tributes that happenwhen, you know, once somebody's
gone.
The Let's Go Dancing series hasso many cool musicians that are
a part of it.
We did the signed album giveawaywhere they signed a bunch of the
(30:40):
albums and a bunch of people gotto win, you know, these albums
that we sent out.
And you know, one guy actuallyposted on Facebook the signed
albums holding all four of them,and it was cool, you know.
You like to see things likethat.
This is already our ninth mostlistened to episode of all time.
That's how many people arelistening to this that quickly
(31:02):
on something that got releasedNovember 16th.
Oh, yeah.
I remember because that's mybirthday.
So, you know, if you look at it,most of the the top ten are
interviews, but there's a lot ofof common denominators, whether
it is something with KevinKinney or Driving and Crying or
R.E.M.
or Cracker, you know, it's thatseems to be things that people
(31:26):
tend to listen to a lot.
SPEAKER_02 (31:27):
Well, you asked me to make a list of my favorite
episodes of the year, and I did.
I made a list of six episodes,and you just mentioned five of
them.
So I had no idea what the mostpopular episodes were, but five
of my top six were in that topten.
My other one that I had on mylist is episode 87, uh Live Aid
(31:49):
episode.
SPEAKER_01 (31:50):
Yeah.
You know, Jimmy, the live aidepisode I was really looking
forward to doing.
It kind of was like in in 2024,we did the um 10 days in August
1969 episode.
And that episode, I did that,it's really, you know, not that
it's not for people to listento, but I did it because it was
(32:10):
important to me.
And that kind of was the way thelive aid episode was.
Right.
You know, hitting on differentthings about it, talking about
different things, sharingdifferent things about it.
It kind of was like this, if youwant to know about live aid,
boom, you can listen to this.
Or if you want to know what waslife like in August 1969 across
the world, you can listen tothat particular episode.
(32:32):
So that is actually one of mypersonal favorites as well.
Uh, number 61, the cabbage patchdolls keep falling on my head,
where I talked about working ata place where we did the birth
certificates for the cabbagepatch dolls.
And we also talked about uhraindrops keep falling on my
(32:53):
head from Butch Cassidy and theSundance Kid.
And episode 77, I should haveknown better, Glass Houses and
Damaged Goods.
We talked about when I wrote theuh letter to the radio station
and gave them like$3 or$5 ifthey would play this Beatles
song so I could get a girl tolisten to it and realize that I
(33:13):
liked her.
I was, you know, in eighthgrade, I think it was.
So those are some of my personalfavorites.
Music in my shoes has beenlistened to on six continents.
Since the show began, NorthAmerica is 89% of our audience.
If you go back a year, NorthAmerica was like 98% of the
(33:34):
audience.
Europe makes up six percent,Asia is three percent, South
America, Africa, and the Oceaniamakes up the remaining two
percent.
The top five countries Music inMy Shoes is listened to, and
there's 76 countries that listenor have listened to Music in My
Shoes at one point or another.
(33:55):
Number one, the US.
Number two, Singapore.
SPEAKER_02 (34:00):
Amazing.
SPEAKER_01 (34:00):
Number three is United Kingdom, so that includes
England and includes Scotland,Wales, where else, Jimmy?
Northern Ireland.
Northern Ireland, correct.
Number four, Germany, numberfive, Sweden.
And listeners in Frankfurt,Germany are number ten when you
(34:22):
look at the cities the mostlistened to, number ten is
Frankfurt, Germany, which I justthink is absolutely fantastic.
You know, we've talked aboutGerman listeners basically since
the beginning of the show.
We have.
And we continue to talk aboutthem.
We appreciate it.
We definitely do, without adoubt.
We appreciate everyone thatlistens to the show.
(34:43):
And you know, it means a lotwhen I see things on Facebook
and people get engaged, and whenpeople send us emails or, you
know, message us, whatever itis, you know, it's great to know
that people are listening andpeople are engaged.
So if you want, you can reachout to us at musicinmyshoes at
gmail.com.
Please like and follow the Musicin My Shoes Facebook and
(35:06):
Instagram pages.
I've really enjoyed the showthis year.
1975, you know, young Jim wetalked about and music.
Uh talking about 1980, my musiccoming of age year, 1985, a lot
of good music and my first jobs,1990, moving from New York to
(35:28):
Georgia and listening to newbands, southern bands that I had
not heard of before.
And just sharing some personalstories that explains why the
show is called Music in MyShoes.
And it's been a lot of fun.
It really, really has.
You know, we all live life to abeat, and these beats are music
in my shoes.
(35:49):
And I don't think I couldexplain it any better what it's
all about.
Looking back on, you know,five-year increments based on
what the particular year is now,this year being 2025.
So whether we talked about 70 or75 or 80 or 85 or whatever,
that's really what it comes downto.
And it's been fun.
(36:09):
I always appreciate everything,Jimmy.
It is the end of the year showfor us.
Thank you so much for being partof Music in My Shoes because it
would not be what it is withoutyou.
SPEAKER_02 (36:21):
Thank you.
Thanks for making me part of it.
SPEAKER_01 (36:24):
You are welcome.
Thank you.
And thank you to everybody thatlistens because it is great that
people want to hear my storiesafter all this time that I never
thought anyone would want tolisten to.
But it definitely brings a smileto my face and makes it a lot of
fun to come each week andbroadcast, not broadcast, to
(36:44):
podcast to you, and not just toyou right here in Atlanta, not
just to people in Georgia, butpeople throughout the United
States as well as the wholeworld.
We are podcasting worldwide.
Hey, that's it for episode 111of Music in My Shoes.
(37:05):
I'd like to thank Jimmy Guthrie,show producer and owner of
Arcade 160 Studios, locatedright here in Atlanta, Georgia,
and Vic Thrill for our podcastmusic.
This is Jim Boj, and I hope youlearned something new or
remembered something old.
We'll meet again on our nextepisode.
Until then, live life and keepthe music playing.
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