The Throwback Podcast

The schoolgirl outfit! Those pigtails! That song! Those hooks! Britney Jean Spears took off like a rocket and changed the pop landscape when she dropped her debut LP ...Baby One More Time on January 12, 1999. Back then, Dan and Bob were just college freshmen who normally wouldn't have been interested in bubblegum pop, but this wasn't normal. This was Britney. Let's go back 22 years and revisit -- or visit for the first time -- the album that started it all. 

2020 may have been an unmitigated disaster, but... actually, no, never mind, there is no 'but'. 2020 sucked. That said, the soundtrack to 2020 was pretty great! In this supersized double episode, Dan and Bob look back at the year that was, and pick their 15 favorite songs. Which one will end up on the vaunted Throwback Podcast Playlist? That's for YOU to decide. 

Back in the mid-90's there was a lot of hype around a "second British invasion" -- but outside of Oasis, Blur, and Radiohead, and a few decently sized blips on the Modern Rock radar, it never really materialized in the States. So while the folks in the U.K. were losing their minds over Pulp, Elastica, Supergrass, the Manic Street Preachers, James, and the bands that influenced them, young Bob and Dan were wandering around Pearl River wishing they had a podcast where an overseas listener could provide them with the ultimate Britpop Playlist. Lucky for them, that's exactly what happened. Enjoy this Patreonie-inspired masterpiece chock full of Listener Mail and Britpop classics. Crikey!

Aruba, Jamaica, ooh, we want to take you back to November 1988 (we'll get there fast but then we'll take it slow, I promise). Dan and Bob were just a couple of 2nd grade Karate Kid II fans back then, but that didn't stop them from doing the Locomotion and getting all up in their feels like the rest of America. If you love Yacht Rock but wrestle with the term "Yacht Rock", you're gonna love November '88.

It's Dealer's Choice Week on The Throwback Pod. This week, your daring dealer Dan goes back to 2007 to push play on Because Of The Times, the third offering from a gang of southern Strokes on the verge of becoming HUGE. This foreplay to Fiery Sex didn't take off in the U.S. but it definitely has a couple of big Fans in the garage. Sit back and get ready for the Entourage of 00's Music... and we mean that in a good way.

On October 6, 2020 we lost a legend. It's time to throw a little respect toward one of the greatest (or perhaps THE greatest) rock guitarist ever, Edward Lodewijk Van Halen by revisiting Van Halen's best selling album, 1984. If you love synthesizers and hot legs, this is the podcast for you.

Let's go back to 1993, when Pop Music was everything, Bob and Dan weren't friends, and a trio of Sisters With Voices were burning up the charts. None of that matters, though, in an episode where Bob has a revelation that changes EVERYTHING. 

IT'S BEEN building up to this: Barenaked Ladies week on the Throwback Pod. Following a Gretzky-like run on Canadian radio in the mid-90's, the melodic nerd rockers crossed the border and broke through big time with 1998's Stunt. From "One Week" to "It's All Been Done" to a Sleepy Sex Mix masterpiece, the boys dig into this Juno Award winning mega-seller. IT'S BEEN a long time coming.

In 1987 INXS ruled the world. Led by a Mount Babemore frontman and a trio of brothers who, at the time, had all of their fingers, Australia's favorite sons dominated the late 80's with a cavalcade of catchy singles off their album Kick. So many hit singles. So much amazing sax. So many conversations about Michael Hutchence's hotness. And, for the first time in the history of the podcast, the guys get mad at Oasis! (Noel, specifically. He knows what he did.)

Twenty-five years ago this summer, the ponytailed drummer from Nirvana bet on himself and released a solo album under the moniker "Foo Fighters". I think that gamble paid off. Let's go back to 1995, when a secretly funny and charismatic dude made the jump from the one of the most important rock bands of the 20th century to one of the biggest rawk bands of the 21st. 

Look at the stars, look how they shine for you... then accept the fact that it's Coldplay week on the Throwback Pod. This week, Dan and Bob dig into everyone's favorite mopey Brits' debut album, Parachutes. Did Chuck Klosterman get it right when he said "Coldplay is absolutely the shittiest fucking band I've ever heard in my entire fucking life" or did Chris Martin & co. actually write a post-BritPop masterpiece? Let's find out.

Fighting with Jay-Z? Pissing off Papa Roach?? Corrupting Lifehouse??? Before he was a sports broadcasting titan, Matt 'Money' Smith lived a whole other life in the music industry. On the latest Throwback Pod, Money regals the boys with stories of his time in the “biz” — and dives deep on 2004, a pivotal year during his time at the legendary KROQ in Los Angeles.

Here's a little ditty about Bob and Dan, two American kids doing the best they can. This week, they're going alllllll the way back to 1982 to check out a murder's row of Billboard Top 10 singles. Disco, Southern Rock, New Wave, Yacht Rock, and whatever you want to call Juice Newton- it's all there. Also breaking news, one of our heroes discovers he's actually a John Cougar Mellancamp fan! Surprised? So was he.

In 2004, an incompetent President mishandled a life-or-death situation and drew the ire of millions of angry citizens who hated how much he was hurting our country. Sixteen years later, the world is obviously a much different place. And this week, Bob and Dan are in a garage ready to tackle Green Day's epic George Bush-blasting rock opera, American Idiot. Throw in some Patreonie email questions and a deeper-than-expected dive into Incubus' shockingly impressive catalog, and you have an episode even Billie Joe couldn't sneer at.

Twelve years ago Dan, Bob, Jason Zumwalt and Nikki Glaser spent countless nights hanging out, having fun, and listening to Tom Petty together in the Hollywood Hills. Now they're back at it again. This week, Nikki surprises her old friends by crashing a recording session and digging into Wildflowers with the boys. Sure, they're in different time zones and roughly a dozen years removed from Peak Fun, but that won't stop them from talking about things that matter, like Everlast, St. Louis Raya, hot dads, and the Velvet Teddy Bear. 

I want to say a little something that's long overdue: It’s Beastie Boys week on the Throwback Pod. The guys travel back to 1994 to revisit Ill Communication, the album that returned the NYC hip hop legends to superstar status. The guys also discuss Dan’s enhanced efforts on the promotional front and Bob shares a playlist to take you *out* of the mood.

Twenty-four years ago Bob and Dan were high school sophomores, bands like Oasis, Soundgarden, and Goldfinger were climbing the charts, and human beings were group-hugging and triple-kissing like there was no tomorrow. Turns out, that was as good as it gets. Let's go back in time to our 1950's -- the 1990's -- and check out the Top 10 Modern Rock tracks from this week in 1996. 

The Strokes are back! Their new album, The New Abnormal, is not just the only good thing to happen in 2020, but it's also one-way-triggered Bob and Dan into revisiting Julian & The Boys' old catalog. Which brings us to First Impressions Of Earth, their divisive 2006 LP that either signaled an exciting new direction for the lo-fi NY rockers, or the beginning of the end. Or maybe both? How does this album hold up, and how does it sound now knowing the Strokes still had some gas left in the tank? Let's figure that out. But first, we've got to travel back to '06, a simpler time when the only social distancing that took place was Drew Barrymore trying to get as far away from Dan as possible. 

Dan is turning 40 and the guys are back in the garage -- six-feet apart, of course -- to revisit the album that made Trent Reznor your girlfriend's secret goth weirdo rock star sex god. Deadbolt the doors on Cielo Drive, join the march of pigs and move yourself closer to God. Let's take the downward spiral together.

The album: Pieces Of You. The artist: Jewel. The audio: not great, but considering this was our first 2-Garage remote podcast, c'mon, cut us some slack! This week, the guys are drinking alone, together, and listening to the "Courtney & Wyatt's Choice" Patreon-poll winning Pieces Of You from beginning to end for the first time ever. Will the conversation about Alaska's folk-singing superstar devolve into a shallow debate about who deserves a spot on 90's "Mount Babe-more"? C'mon, cut us some more slack!