The Radio Ga Ga Podcast

Though Maggie Rogers began songwriting in her teens, it wasn't until Pharrell Williams critiqued her masterclass at NYU when she got her big break. Many of the songs on "Heard It In A Past Life" deal with this overnight success and all the waves of emotion that come with that. She says "Heard It In A Past Life" was the introduction that she never really got to make. We discuss all the different production and writing styles reflected on the album, as well as Maggie's synesthesia and writing process.

"After Hours" is like a film noir in album format. It depicts the rise and fall of an anti-hero, The Character, as he admits that his loneliness is more unbearable than he lets on. In this episode, we discuss The Weeknd's whole visual campaign around "After Hours," including an important series of music videos and appearances where The Weeknd showed up with facial bandages. Also, we'll discuss his evolution from releasing music anonymously to becoming one of the biggest pop stars in the world.

Even though metal isn't at the top of my list, "Colors" is one of the most interesting albums I've heard in a long time. Between The Buried And Me is a progressive metal band made up of virtuosos and friends, most of whom have been playing together since high school. Whether you're already a fan or just curious, my guest Job Fickett is amazingly helpful. He helps guide us through the world of modern prog metal, explains the different vocal styles, and shares all the reasons BTBAM is his favorite band.

One of my personal goals for 2021 was to listen to a LOT more new music, or at least "new" to me. In this episode, I'm sharing 10 albums I just listened to for the very first time recently. To be fair, a few of these just came out in 2021 so they are actually new. But a lot of these, I wish I would've listened to much earlier. If you're like me and are looking for a refresh of your old go-to playlists, listen to this episode.

Though we know Mariah Carey as a high-maintenance diva, there's a LOT more to the story. She grew up in an incredibly turbulent environment with a family that could have very easily kept Mariah down (and keeps trying to). Her professional and personal life also merged in her early 20s, when she married a music exec who treated her like a prisoner. We'll get into Mariah's desire to shift "Daydream" to a more R&B sound, her signature whistle tones, and the earliest years of her global success. Episode 1 of 2.

I always thought of R.E.O. Speedwagon as an '80s band, but their breakthrough album, "Hi Infidelity" from 1980 was actually the band's ELEVENTH album. Formed in 1967, R.E.O. spent basically the first decade of their career struggling to expand past their Midwestern roots. We'll talk about their major change in sound over the years, and how the pressure to go pop worked really well…until it didn't. Also–the Bo Diddley beat, a Joe Cocker ripoff, and how Netflix's "Ozark" brought R.E.O. back from the dead.

"Come On Over" is still the all-time best-selling country album, and one of the best-selling albums of all time in any genre. In this episode, we explore Shania Twain's rise to pop-country fame, from her early days as Eilleen Twain in Timmins, Ontario all the way to Nashville. Things were extremely difficult for Shania most of her life growing up, but she fought every step of the way to earn her spot in country music's storied history. Also: Mutt Lange, "shopping" for songs, and Tim the German Shepherd.

American composer Bernard Herrmann is most remembered for his spooky, suspenseful film scores in collaboration with directors including Alfred Hitchcock, Orson Welles, and Rod Serling. From the shower scene in "Psycho" to some of our favorite episodes of "The Twilight Zone," Herrmann was a master at creating dramatic tension and character development through music. We'll talk about some of his most memorable pieces, his early use of the theremin, and modern composers who still adapt Herrmann's work today.

Musically and lyrically, "Dirt" was far more sinister than anything that had come before it in grunge music. Nearly half of the album's songs are explicitly about heroin addiction, which we'll find is the one true villain in the Alice In Chains story. In this episode, we talk about how metal impacted the earliest days of Seattle grunge, the vocal harmonies between Layne Staley and Jerry Cantrell, who "Rooster" is, and how drug abuse brought one of the best bands of the early '90s to a screeching halt.

Listening to Halsey is like touching a wire you know is going to give you a shock. But you touch it anyway, letting little sparks of electricity bolt through you. She's an artist who has grown on me over the past few years, and her story is wild. The road was difficult for Halsey, then her entire life changed basically overnight. From the release of "Manic", to her openness about her life and struggles, she's setting the bar for what it means to be a pop star in 2020.

We all know Jimi Hendrix, one of the most legendary and influential musicians to ever walk the planet. But there's a lot about his life we don't hear about. In this episode, we talk about Jimi's rough childhood and life before he had a guitar in his hands, his time in the Army's 101st Airborne Division, and rise to music fame in the late '60s. We'll end with a track analysis of "Axis" Side 1, including two of my all-time favorite Hendrix tracks: "Spanish Castle Magic" and "Little Wing." Episode I of II.

In this episode, we dive into the world of Ivy League indie pop with Vampire Weekend's third studio album. Though much of the indie world fell in love with this band from the start, some music media pegged Vampire Weekend as privileged, waspy Columbia grads using cultural appropriation to their advantage. My guest Jerry Bell explains how the band rose to popularity, overcame assumptions to bring more international music to the forefront, and evolved both together as a band and as individuals.

Get ready to dance! In the second installment of our series, we talk about the artists that brought disco to the mainstream including Donna Summer, the BeeGees, and Gloria Gaynor. There's also a number of other artists who created songs just to join the trend, including the Rolling Stones, Dolly Parton, and even the Grateful Dead. We'll talk about the elements of disco music, what it was like going to the disco, and of course, all the classic songs heard on the dance floor. Episode 2 of 3.