A (Mostly) 80s Music Podcast: What Difference Does It Make?

A (Mostly) 80s Music Podcast: What Difference Does It Make?

Dave and Holly, your 80s music aficionados, talk to the artists and music industry insiders that made it the greatest decade for music.

Episodes

Father's Day Music Favorites

June 13, 2025 • 42 mins
We love our Dads. We wouldn't be who we are without their constant presence in our lives. Naturally, that also means we've incorporated their music into our lives. We have quite a few songs that remind us of our Dads, and we share our memories with you in our special Father's Day episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Scott McCaughey Gets His Oar On The Minus 5

June 6, 2025 • 48 mins
Imagine someone unfamiliar with Scott McCaughey, asking him the name of his band. It's not an easy question to answer.  Over a four decade career, indie rock cult hero, Scott McCaughey, has been a member of so many bands, including R.E.M., Young Fresh Fellows, Baseball Project, Filthy Friends, and Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3, to name a few. But The Minus 5 has remained one of the most enduring projects of his storied résumé.  A...
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Murray Attaway Plays Tense Music

May 30, 2025 • 48 mins
Murray Attaway, formerly of Guadalcanal Diary, one of college rock radio's favorite bands in the 80s, joins the podcast to talk about his new solo album, Tense Music Plays. It's the first album from Murray in more than 30 years, so we wanted to find out what he did upon dropping out of the music business, and what prompted his return. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Gen X Summer Song Favorites

May 23, 2025 • 57 mins
Friend of the show, Craig Rosen, keeps us on our toes as we ping-pong back and forth from proms to fashion to movies. We try to stay on target as we discuss our favorite summer songs from the 70s and 80s. We are a proud member of Pantheon Podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Annie Zaleski Celebrates Cher

May 16, 2025 • 44 mins
Whether it's Taylor Swift, Harry Styles, or Duran Duran, music journalist Annie Zaleski immerses herself in each project. Now Annie takes on a true icon: Cher. The book is called I Got You Babe: A Celebration Of Cher. This gives us a chance to revisit all our favorite Cher moments, from her variety show with Sonny, to her fashion sense, to her movies. Cher has always fascinated us, and so we turn to Annie to figure out why Cher mea...
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Mother's Day Music Favorites

May 9, 2025 • 59 mins
Whether we like it or not, our moms shape who we are, and influence how we feel about so much in our lives. This episode is devoted to the music that is embedded in our DNA, thanks to our mothers, or in Holly's case, for her children. Dave goes to showtunes, movie musicals, and one-hit wonders from the 60s and 70s. Holly's mom is all Classic Rock and 90s Alternative. It's an emotional episode filled with bad singing, dancing, and S...
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Suzanne Vega: Flying With Angels

May 2, 2025 • 49 mins
Singer/Songwriter Suzanne Vega has been recording her songs of personal reflection and social issues for more than 40 years. Her latest record, Flying With Angels, is her first full-length album of new music in over a decade. Suzanne joins the podcast to talk about the album, family life, and getting her start playing the New York folk scene in the early 80s. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Vicki Peterson and John Cowsill: Long After The Fire

April 25, 2025 • 37 mins
Vicki Peterson and John Cowsill have been married since 2003. Vicki is a member of The Bangles, along with her sister Debbi. John Cowsill is a member of the platinum-selling family band, The Cowsills. So it’s been a long time coming for Vicki and John to release their own debut Americana album, comprised of songs written by John’s late brothers, Barry and Bill Cowsill. The album is titled Long After The Fire, and is out now. The co...
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Paul Rappaport Glides Over Hollywood

April 18, 2025 • 63 mins
It's good to be Paul Rappaport. As the head of Rock Promotion at Columbia Records, Paul rubbed shoulders with the likes of The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, and Alice In Chains. It was Paul's creativity and enthusiasm that contributed to his success in getting his artists' music played on the radio. It's all documented in his book, Gliders Over Hollywood: Airships, Airplay And The Art Of Rock Promotion. Learn more about your ad choic...
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One To One: John & Yoko

April 11, 2025 • 43 mins
Sam Rice-Edwards, co-director and editor for the rock documentary One to One: John & Yoko, joins the podcast. The film centers around the One to One benefit concert for the Willowbrook State School in New York, an institution for special needs children. Sam shares with us some of the details about how he and co-director Kevin Macdonald were able to sort through tens of thousands of hours of previously unseen archival footage to cre...
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Squirrel Nut Zippers Go Back O' Town

April 4, 2025 • 54 mins
Jimbo Mathus, frontman for the Squirrel Nut Zippers, joins the podcast to reminisce about his music origins, and how he landed in Chapel Hill, leading to the massive success of the band. Squirrel Nut Zippers continue to tour with their own unique brand of Americana music with their Jazz From The Back O' Town show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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April Fools' Day Music Favorites

March 28, 2025 • 58 mins
Happy April Fools' Day! What songs make you smile? For Dave it's a knowing wink from an artist that knows this music can be ridiculous and yet, still love it. For Holly, it's music that makes her do a goofy dance or reminds her of her children. We go from pop and rock to dance and folk. We also learn during our Pop Quiz that, even though Holly is a stickler for "word crimes", she's not as strong when it comes to 80s lyrics. Learn m...
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Stuck On The 80s Cruise

March 21, 2025 • 83 mins
Christopher Cross might sing of sailing away, but does he feel that way about cruises? Man on the scene, Dave Sloan steps onto The 80s Cruise with his guests Steve Spears and Brad Williams, from the Stuck In The 80s podcast, to discuss how they became involved in this 80s lifestyle. They also offer us their unique take on songs #80 to #71 from the KROQ 1988 year-end countdown.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/a...
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St. Patrick's Day 80s Music Favorites

March 14, 2025 • 42 mins
We use the holiday of St. Patrick's Day to recognize a number of our favorite artists from The Emerald Isle. While we have a hard time pronouncing names like Cathal McGarvey, Seamus Ennis and Liam Ó Maonlaí, we certainly do love the music they created. So raise a pint to the Irish and Happy St. Patrick's Day! Sláinte! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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The Music Discovery Of WXPN's Bruce Warren

March 7, 2025 • 69 mins
Bruce Warren's title on LinkedIn may say he's "Chief of a lot less Stuff at WXPN”, but we think he's just being modest. For more than 30 years, Bruce has helped shape the sound of one of the most influential public radio stations today, 88.5 WXPN in Philadelphia. He is also a producer and one of the people that helped create the widely popular syndicated radio show, World Cafe. Bruce is ready to move on to his next adventure, as he...
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Geoffrey Himes Explains The Ins And Outs Of Country Music

February 28, 2025 • 44 mins
You might be familiar with Outlaw Country, but now there's a new subgenre of American country music. Author Geoffrey Himes' latest book, In-Law Country: How Emmylou Harris, Rosanne Cash, and Their Circle Fashioned a New Kind of Country Music, 1968-1985. Geoffrey joins the podcast to explain this extraordinary music that, much like Outlaw Country, managed to create hits outside the traditional sound coming out of Nashville. Learn mo...
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Gary Kemp Brings Us To This Destination

February 21, 2025 • 50 mins
Gary Kemp is clearly a busy man. He's got his podcast, The Rockonteurs, with fellow musician Guy Pratt, his tour with Nick Mason’s (Pink Floyd) band Saucerful of Secrets, and acting with his brother Martin Kemp in their most recent mockumentary, The Kemps: All Gold.  He’s also added a new album to his discography, This Destination. The album finds Gary in a reflective mood, looking back on life with his family and band mates. Does ...
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True Fables Of Jason Narducy

February 14, 2025 • 56 mins
Jason Narducy is living his musical dream. He plays songs with the artists that helped frame his musical taste. It all started at the tender age of ten, playing in his punk band, Verböten. This year, he will tour with Michael Shannon to perform R.E.M.'s 'Fables of the Reconstruction' and more. It will be followed immediately by a tour playing alongside Bob Mould to support his latest album, Here We Go Crazy. You can also catch Jaso...
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We Found Love With Annie Zaleski

February 7, 2025 • 43 mins
Happy Valentine's Day! We here at What Difference Does It Make love love songs, and so does Annie Zaleski. So much so, that she wrote a book about some of her favorite love songs, entitled We Found Love, Song by Song: The Stories Behind 100 Romantic Hits. Annie joins the podcast to talk about her favorite songs, from Fred Astaire and Frank Sinatra, to Adele and Usher. Simply put, if you love love, you will love this episode. Learn ...
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The KROQ 1988 Countdown With Craig Rosen

January 31, 2025 • 55 mins
Friend of the show, Craig Rosen, joins us for a record-setting fifth time. On this occasion, we look at songs 90 to 81 on the 1988 KROQ year-end chart. What do we learn? Craig's English teacher embarrassed him in the high school halls, he is still freaked out just by thinking of The Exorcist display at a local theatre, and as always, all roads lead to REM. Of course there's also great 80s music to discuss. Time may have forgotten s...
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