Between the Notes

In this episode we talk about last month's major bruhaha over nothing  - that time Hall sued Oates.

Depending who's doing the counting, this is either Episode #35 or Episode #36, but what's really important is our take on Christmas music. Thanks to all of our fans for a wonderful first year of Between the Notes! 

While this episode is mostly about the making of Deep Purple's seminal album Machine Head, we also get into the technology of the Mobile Unit and the general music of the early heavy metal era.

Purely from a listening point of view, there has never been a better time to be a music fan, but with so many available options, what's the best way to listen?

Even pop music is just so angry and morose anymore. Is the culture or the art driving the depression?

After a three-month hiatus, Jack and Bob are back in the comfy confines of Music Dog Studios talking about what's been happening lately, Taylor Swift, the Monkees and a bunch of other stuff.

...when you're busy making other plans. Jack and Bob go off script in this week's episode to talk about some really important things it was time to share with you all. 

The surprising reaction most people had to the tragic life and passing of an immensely talented singer with a troubled soul.

If not for a tragic war time accident, the guy who invented stereo would be considered one of history's greatest inventors, alongside Edison, Tesla and Bell.

Jazz requires no lyrics because the sol of the music is in the music itself. No other jazz musician approached the spiritual like saxophonist John Coltrane.  

When musicians play together, or music fans listen together, our brains begin to work as one - the pre-wired magic of the shared musical experience.

One of America's first pop hits and the first feminist anthem. Find out the intriguing backstory behind the song we think we know all the words to.

When it's from the heart and not just an attempt to capitalize on the news of the day, the right song at the right time can indeed change the world.

For a brief moment in the early 1970s Welsh band Badfinger ruled the pop world, but unscrupulous businessmen and changing fortunes turned their rock and roll fantasy into a rock & roll tragedy.

Do musicians have the right to voice their political opinions? (Hint: Of course they do) But does voicing that opinion possibly alienate them from their audience, and should they care if it does?

How a pretty decent double-live set changed the music industry forever.

Largely forgotten today, Three Dog Night was one of the biggest bands of the Seventies and the role they played bridging doo-wop and rock paved the way for the boy bands of the future.

In this week's episode we wonder how many original members need to be in a band before the band becomes a scam?

He may not have been the fastest, or most technically proficient but he is the most influential. To celebrate International Drummer's Month (who knew?) we ask if any other drummer in the modern age had as great an impact as Ringo Starr.

Thanks to technology, we no longer have common cultural and communal experiences, and this hurts us in ways we're only beginning to figure out.   

There's no doubt most of the music we listen to is (and has been) mostly a bummer. Is it a problem when teenagers listen to the bummed out worldviews of troubled twenty-somethings?

There are hundreds of rock & roll urban legends, but for whatever reason, stoner urban legends are just a little more fun to talk about.

Marian Anderson possessed an amazing voice - considered the finest contralto of the modern era - and she was a quiet force to be reckoned with in the struggle to overcome racism in our entertainment and politics. She is truly an American Hero. 

Is it possible to grow old gracefully in the music business, and if not, who's fault is that? Plus, we wonder out loud if the  music industry is inherently misogynisitc.

It's an uncomfortable question: Is it appropriate to enjoy art made by less than perfect people, or in some cases, absolutely heinous people? Michael Jackson's legacy changed as he grew older, but Phil Spector's reputation coincided with the art he was creating. Do we tacitly approve of their actions by listening, or  not? 

After interviewing scores of rock & roll icons over the years, this is the story of how one afternoon spent hanging with a personal rock & roll icon in Memphis was at once a fabulous fan moment and a melancholy realization that all that glitters is not gold.  

Our St. Paddys' Day special takes a look at some Irish bands that may not household names, but are fabulous editions to anyone's musical library, whether you're celebrating St. Patrick's Day or not.

Who benefits from organized rock ensembles that perform an end-of-year recital, the kids or everyone else? If kids aren't creating on their own during their most creative years, do the rest of us suffer? In this episode we wonder out loud if School of Rock is killing creativity.

Elvis was a pioneer, a driving force in rock & roll and popular music and a punk who broke the rules and scared parents everywhere. He has also been non-humanized, ridiculed and written off as a sad and lonely drug addict. The question is, which Elvis is the Elvis that matters?

If you've got one near you, go spend an afternoon rifling through the bins - it will do your soul good. If you don't have one near you, Jack and Bob take you back to a place that is most definitely missed - even if you've never actually been inside a real one.

Also in this episode: Not impressing a Marhsall Tucker Band Fan, the Earth Shop in Point Pleasant, NJ, Tower Records, LA, Camelot Music, the Good Rats, trouble at Wendy's when asking for Polynesian Sauce. 

In this week's episode, music fan and host Jack explains to music industry and record label veteran (and co-host) Bob how the record labels can help their own cause while making music better for everyone. If you're a music fan, you're going to agree with one of them.

This week Jack and Bob discuss how technology is making witches and warlocks of us all. The sheer act of listening to music the way we do it today would have gotten us burned at the stake just a short 500 years ago. 

Is our noisy world disconnecting us from our music and ourselves? Is constant background noise causing anxiety and isolation? This week Jack and Bob take a look at how a world of constant noise changes our relationships with music and each other.

This week, Jack and Bob explore how music and culture changed over the decades in the past 100 years. Do you identify with the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s - or all of them?

Check out the amazing things that happen in your head when you listen to music! Jack and Bob take a look at your brain on music.

Mentioned in the episode: University of Central Florida: Your Brain On Music. https://www.ucf.edu/pegasus/your-brain-on-music/

Daniel J. Levitin - The World In Six Songs: How the Musical Brain Created Human Nature: https://www.ucf.edu/pegasus/your-brain-on-music/

Welcome to Between the Notes! Our first episode take a look at the best - and sometimes only - friend a music fan might have - the radio DJ, with a little mixtape analysis thrown in for good measure.