A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs

Song 186: “Frownland” by Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band

This episode is on “Frownland” by Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band, and is the third part of a trilogy following the episodes on the GTOs and Frank Zappa. Click the f

Song 185: “Peaches En Regalia” by Frank Zappa

This episode follows on from the episode on the GTOs. These two make up two parts of a three-part story, and I’m hoping to have part three, on Captain Beefheart, up befor

Teaser Trailer: It’s a Superpower??

Some of you will have seen me talk in the past about a site called The Daily Tism, a satirical news site by and for autistic people which is run by some friends of mine,

Song 184: “The Captain’s Fat Theresa Shoes” by the GTOs

This episode took longer than normal to come up because, as you’ll see from the episode itself, I’m releasing it simultaneously with the next episode, on Frank Zappa. The

Song 183: “Pinball Wizard” by the Who, Part 2: “His Disciples Lead Him In”

Apologies for the delay in posting this episode — health issues have continued to affect me. They *seem* to be improving, but I should also mention here that some of the

Song 183: “Pinball Wizard” by the Who, part 1: Always Playing Clean

Apologies for the delay in posting this episode — I had a chronic illness flare-up and a frankly awful January. With luck, part two of this story will be up before the en

Song 182: “Many Rivers to Cross” by Jimmy Cliff

This episode, we look at the song “Many Rivers to Cross”, the birth of reggae, and the career of the late Jimmy Cliff. Click the full post to read liner notes, links to m

Song 181: “Proud Mary” by Creedence Clearwater Revival

This episode, we look at the song “Proud Mary” and the brief but productive career of Creedence Clearwater Revival. Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more

Song 180: “Dazed and Confused” by Led Zeppelin, Part Two — “Inspiration is What You Are to Me”

For those who haven’t heard the announcement I posted, songs from this point on will sometimes be split among multiple episodes, so this is the second part of a two-episo

Song 180: “Dazed and Confused” by Led Zeppelin, Part One, The Song Remains the Same

For those who haven’t heard the announcement I posted, songs from this point on will sometimes be split among multiple episodes, so this is the first part of a two-episod

PLEDGE WEEK: “Light Flight” by Pentangle

Erratum: At one point here I say “Cannonball Adderley” when I mean “Nat Adderley”. This episode is part of Pledge Week 2025. For five days this week, I will be posting o

PLEDGE WEEK: “Fruit Tree” by Nick Drake

This episode is part of Pledge Week 2025. For five days this week, I will be posting old Patreon bonus episodes to the main feed to encourage people to subscribe to my Pa

PLEDGE WEEK: “Living in the Past” by Jethro Tull

This episode is part of Pledge Week 2025. For five days this week, I will be posting old Patreon bonus episodes to the main feed to encourage people to subscribe to my Pa

PLEDGE WEEK: “Pictures of Matchstick Men” by The Status Quo

This episode is part of Pledge Week 2025. For five days this week, I will be posting old Patreon bonus episodes to the main feed to encourage people to subscribe to my Pa

PLEDGE WEEK: “La conferencia secreta del Toto’s Bar” by Los Shakers

This episode is part of Pledge Week 2025. For five days this week, I will be posting old Patreon bonus episodes to the main feed to encourage people to subscribe to my Pa

Announcing Pledge Week 2025

Transcript It’s that time of year again, the time that regular listeners have come to know as Pledge Week, where for five days (this time from Tuesday through Saturday,

Song 179: “Kick Out the Jams” by the MC5 (Public Clean Version)

This episode, we look at the song “Kick Out the Jams” by the MC5, and the brief career of the most revolutionary guitar band of the sixties. Click the full post to read l

Song 178: “Who Knows Where the Time Goes?” by Fairport Convention, Part Two: “I Have no Thought of Time”

For those who haven’t heard the announcement I posted, songs from this point on will sometimes be split among multiple episodes, so this is the second part of a two-episo

Song 178: “Who Knows Where The Time Goes?” by Fairport Convention, Part One, Going Electric

For those who haven’t heard the announcement I posted, songs from this point on will sometimes be split among multiple episodes, so this is the first part of a two-episod

Song 177: “Never Learn Not to Love” by the Beach Boys, Part 4: “Sometimes I Have A Great Notion”

For those who haven’t heard the announcement I posted, songs from this point on will sometimes be split among multiple episodes, so this is the third and final (and very,