The Hustle

Steady Freedy. It doesn't rhyme, but it should because that's what singer/songwriter Freedy Johnston has been. Since the early 90s, Freedy has been releasing consistently wonderful music with his crystal clear voice - never phoning it in and never anything less than great. But, his career got off to a wobbly start and might not have happened at all. He sold part of his family farm in Kansas to finance his second album, Can You Fly,...

The narrative for Colin Hay's career goes like this - fronts huge pop band (Men at Work) who explode on the scene, win Grammys and a ton of hits in a short amount of time, goes solo, releases incredible album after incredible album to a small cult that love him but with no commercial success. That may be partially true, but that cult has gotten so big and the reputation so strong, is it even a secret anymore? He's about to take the...

The Pogues would be forgiven for thinking they shouldn't carry on after the death of frontman Shane MacGowan. It was his voice and songwriting that gave the band that extra special spark. Luckily, they won't be putting the band to bed just yet. Founding member Spider Stacy joins us this week to discuss their decision to get back out there in front of the fans on tour this fall, celebrate their legacy, and keep those incredible song...

One of the brightest lights of the Britpop splash of the 90s were Kula Shaker. They successfully merged guitar-driven rock with psychedelia with strong Indian themes so seamlessly there was no one else like them. After two successful albums and huge singles like "Tattva", "Govinda" and "Hey Dude", and with frontman Crispian Mills on the verge of a nervous breakdown, the band took a break for a few years before storming back in 2007...

Bands like Seven Mary Three couldn't have existed any other time but in the 90s. Grunge was king, guitars were heavy, and bands were full of angst. This formula served them well when "Cumbersome" landed at #1 on the rock charts, but the label didn't get behind much else and despite the band carrying on for a decade playing to a rabid fan base, they never had another hit (or much respect). Lead singer Jason Ross joins us this week t...

The mind of Tim DeLaughter must be an interesting place to spend some time. In the 90s he fronted the esoteric rock band Tripping Daisy that saw a lot of success with their second album I Am an Elastic Firecracker and the hit "I Got a Girl" in 1995. After their guitarist died of an accidental drug overdose, Tim masterminded the wholly unique Polyphonic Spree - the collective of 25 or so musicians clad in robes creating quasi-spirit...

Steve Barton returns to the show this week to fill us in on a couple of new goodies from his world. First of all, a live Translator album called Beyond Today: Live at the Farm San Francisco 1986 was just released and it's a treat for longtime fans. It's a live document of what was meant to be their last show from the original run. Of course, they've since reunited for shows over the years, but this album shows a band letting it all...

What can you say about the Beach Boys that hasn't already been said? Especially now with the recent passing of leader Brian Wilson, the band is back to the forefront where they deserve to be. Former member Al Jardine recently released a new EP called Islands in the Sun and he and I talked about it two days before Brian died. That fact gives a unique spirit to this interview as it will likely go down as one of the last Al gave that ...

If all you've heard from Nada Surf is their novelty hit "Popular" from '95, you'd be forgiven for not knowing they morphed into one of best bands in the world over the last 25 years. Starting with 2002's Let Go, the guys have released a constant stream of nearly perfect records and continue to mature in a beautiful way as evidenced by last year's Moon Mirror. This week front man Matthew Caws joins us to talk about their incredible ...

We don't throw the word :"icon" around here too often, but when you're a founding member of two of the biggest Goth Rock and Alternative Rock bands ever, the label is deserving. David J is partly responsible for shaping an entire culture, not many can say that. This week sees the release of two new ambitious projects - one a book of poetry called Rhapsody, Threnody & Prayer, as well as a new album of some of those poems put to ...

David Lowery has cracked the code for having it all. In the 80s he fronted the beloved Camper Van Beethoven who rose to (indie) fame with "Take the Skinheads Bowling" and "Pictures of Matchstick Men" and sounding like no one else at the time. Then, when they broke up in the early 90s, he started Cracker which was even more successful commercially with huge hits like "Low" and "Get Off This". Eventually, he found a way to merge the ...

Writer Gary Graff returns to discuss the release of the 501 Essential Albums of the 80s. When he was on a few months ago to discuss the 90s version, we explored the process for creating the list, who contributed, and how they decided what made it and what didn't. This time we go straight to the fun stuff - what was missing! It makes for a friendly, but impassioned debate, which is exactly the point of books like this. Enjoy! 

Australia has been blessed with some of the greatest songwriters of all time. On their Mount Rushmore has to be Robert Forster and Grant McLennan of the Go-Betweens. What started out as spiky post-punk, eventually morphed into some of the most lush and perfect pop music ever made. If you don't believe me, listen to 1988's immaculate 16 Lovers Lane for proof. Not feeling they'd gained a big enough audience, the guys parted ways for ...

When a musician as legendary as drummer Stan Lynch invests his time and efforts into a new project, I want to know what it is. His new band is called The Speaker Wars and they make the exact kind of American rock and roll you'd expect with Stan's pedigree. The new self-titled album will be out this month. Stan and I also discuss his time with Tom Petty, his relationship with the other guys, what gets him excited about making new mu...

We were happy to hear from Midge Ure again to discuss his upcoming appearance at the popular Cruel World festival. Piggybacking on that is a short tour of some U.S. cities with fellow 80s synth luminaries Blancmange. We get into these, his upcoming Catalog tour where he'll bring out many of the less obvious singles from his long career and tons more. He's a true gentleman and one of rock's greatest treasures. Enjoy! 

This week we're celebrating 10 eventful years with the lovable Limahl! The guy has maintained a career in the public eye thanks to two gigantic hits and a relatively small catalog - just one album with Kajagoogoo and three on his own. That's not much, but the legendary look and sound still carries a lot of weight and nostalgia. He just released his cover of "A Horse With No Name" which you wouldn't think would make sense and yet it...

We've said it before, but the 90s were the peak time for "chick"-fronted alternative rock bands. There were so many good ones and among them was that dog. fronted by this week's guest, Anna Waronker. They only managed three albums, but they made a great impression. Anna put out a couple solo albums, but she also pivoted to making music for TV which she's done successfully for a while. She currently does the music for Yellowjackets ...

With as "out there" as Geggy Tah's music was, and as clever as their biggest hit "Whoever You Are" was, it would be easy to not take them seriously. The thing is, they were serious about being as creative as possible and seeing what music could be without any borders. The duo of Tommy Jordan and Greg Kurstin produced three albums in the mid 90s that explored songs as if they were found art projects, mixing in whatever instrument or...