RockPopandRoll
A look at music that was rock, pop, and radio of the 1980's, with takes on the greatest, the worst, the underappreciated, and the burned. It's a deep dive into the retro greatness of the decade, at the intersection where rock music, pop music, power pop, guitars, drums, memorable tunes, and guilty pleasures come together. Longtime radio rock DJ and music writer Rob Nichols hosts, along with his artist and writer friends, to dig into the music.
Episodes
Man, there are a lot of great live albums. Writing some notes before the podcast, I thought, "Well, there are a lot more terrific/memorable/important live records than I'm going to be able to do."
Knowing the inherent imperfections of doing a podcast episode on the best live albums, we rock forward anyway. Let the arguments begin.
As September dawns, we listen to a slew of late summer new music from classic rockers, outlaw country icons, and 80s garage rock heroes. Some of it is great (talking about you, Ray Wylie Hubbard), and a couple are not, plus there's a surprise turnaround for a band that always seems a little bit too self-important for its own good - or mine.
Intrigued? Me too. Let's rock.
Jeff Lynne = Electric Light Orchestra, right? That's his legacy. That's what is front and center. I argue that his career as an album producer for other rock and roll artists is equally important and enduring. And I think ELO is great and a lot more groundbreaking in making a unique kind of rock music, overshadowed by the sheer heft and sweetness of a big bag of hits.
So in this episode, we rewind to the rockers h...
One week from the summer of 1985. Top 40 radio, pulling ballads, pop-rock tunes, and a surprising amount of new wave-ish music, plus a couple of straight-up rockers. We listen to what was on your hit music radio station on July 6, 1985, and play the songs that were at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. Do we like them all? No way. Are there some surprises? Yes. A perfect little summer exercise. Does the music sti...
In his career with Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers - a group in the conversation for "Who is the greatest American rock and roll band ever?" - guitarist Mike Campbell's rare lead vocal was on a track called "I Don't Wanna Fight" from Echo.
Other than that, Campbell did a whole bunch of other-than-lead-vocal work to help make the band, recordings, and live show sound the way they did for 40 years. Now, without Petty, he carries that...
Alt-Country. Americana. The line that led to The Bottle Rockets. Gram Parsons to Crazy Horse to Skynyrd to Jason and the Scorchers to Uncle Tupelo and a whole lot of Seger/Petty in between. A show loosely finding that line and hearing the rock and roll and country of it. The Bottle Rockets. Loud and acoustic. Electric and smart. And greasy and Midwest gritty. Let's go.
Peter Frampton has a new album, "Carry The Light," and a career that is weirdly misunderstood. We listen to the new album - a first listen - and talk about his legacy - deserved or not. Hear some rock tunes. Get out a talkbox and remember 1976, plus what came before that (Humble Pie), and after, to get to a new album in 2026. Is it any good? We decide.
Two things that drive me batshit crazy with radio stations and the way they present their versions of rock and roll:
1. The same four songs from every artist, played over and over and over and...
2. The loss of discovery and creativity.
You don't listen to the radio anymore? Got it. Me neither. At least not in the traditional, find-the-station-on-the-radio way. I do, however, listen to terrestrial stations, those with a...
They’ve been fired from tours for speaking their mind, they’ve broken up more times than a high school couple, and yet, they remain as the band that still carries the flag for 70s-inspired blues-rock. Stones-rock. Faces-rock. And they have stayed around long enough to inspire new bands to keep doing the old rock thing. Their sound blasts back to 1972. The Black Crowes’ debut album was a crunch of rock a...
Steve Earle is rock and roll, he is country, and Earle has deep roots in early Americana all the way back to Guy Clarke, Townes Van Zandt, and Rodney Crowell, among many. A songwriter first, I found him with his "Guitar Town" release back in 1986. Listened to the second album, the Springsteen-esque "Exit 0", a lot, and when 1988's "Copperhead Road" album came out, we turned it up loud. With this episode, I wanted to listen to...
Classic rock and roll bands and artists releasing new music? What's the point? Is it worth a listen? Do we discount some excellent rock from these bands just because it's not 1987? Or is it a shell of their sound and original fire?
Def Leppard has a new song, in conjunction with a run at the Sphere in Las Vegas. We take a first listen. Then we look at the past 12 months of rock and roll releases from bands l...
The thumping, pumping, Telecaster-driven, snare-smashing roots rock and roll of the 80's (and into the 90's) shaped my world. Drove my inspiration for finding more of "that". Looking back, some of "that" lasted. And some of the bands and their songs went into the vault of lost rockers, and some even made it out to rock some more.
This podcast jumps back about 10 years to when I was digging into the roots of my roc...
As we enter 2026, we dedicate a podcast episode to remembering the rock and roll artists (and some pop music icons, too) who passed away in 2025. We remember some of the greats and the overlooked individuals who made an impact on music - and RockPopandRoll, particularly in rock music. From Ozzy to Sly to the architect of bubble gum music, we remember and listen to some of the great music they created that lives on.
Can anyone put together a Santatacular set of rock and roll/Americana/roots-rock Christmas/Holiday songs? Hell, yeah, someone can.
I’m your guy.
We’re gonna take a look and listen to the best, oddest, dustiest, loudest, semi-legendary holiday rock music. My top 20, countdown style. Songs you can sing along to every time you hear the damn thing, or tunes that should have been more than a holiday lost cl...
As time passed since Todd Snider passed away on November 14, I've been crawling around, hearing some music that I'd put aside. Some of it is Todd's music, especially his post-Nervous Wrecks output. Along the way, I found the purported Todd Snider Playlist of 2018, listing the top songs that he'd listened to that year. I took it as real. Don't know if it is. Still, I recorded this podcast episode by taking it at face val...
Americana rocker. Songwriter and troubadour, proudly following the Prine/Kristofferson/Jerry Jeff lineage. Amazingly great, connective live performer. Loved the band he had as Todd Snider and the Nervous Wrecks. His solo writing and singing are from the soul. He died the weekend this was recorded. Just 59 years old.
Sad.
And I'm grateful to have heard him.
Take a ride with us through some of my favorite moments and songs by Todd.
Jefferson Starship is an oddly overlooked band on classic rock radio. In the annals of late 70s-into-the-80s corporate AOR radio rock and roll, they sat firmly and fittingly with Boston, The Cars, REO, Styx, Foreigner, and the rest of that gang.
While those bands still get their four cuts played repeatedly on the classic rocker stations (and burn those few cuts out), Jefferson Starship was quietly placed to the side. Hm...
So many great cover songs. My list is really long. That's why we have part two. Find Waylon Jennings, Todd Snider, Tom Petty, Pat Green, Cheap Trick, and a bunch more. Pretty simple, really. Dive into the magic on Rock Pop and Roll.
John Fogerty's influence in rock music is somehow underrated - he's a quiet titan of rock and roll. The rocket blast that was CCR was short (around 1968-72), and he took long breaks from his music. He was burned by a contract held by a man, according to Fogerty, who stole royalties and made bad investments with their money, and held all the rights to those CCR songs - rights taken when the band broke up and Fogerty needed to get ou...
email: rockpoprollpodcast@gmail.com
website: www.rockpopandroll.com
(Some of) My Favorite Covers:
From the earliest days of rock and roll, cover songs have been a vital part of the music’s forward movement, drawing on its past.
Long before we knew about digital discovery, one of the fastest ways for new artists to connect with audiences was to reimagine an ...
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