DISGRACELAND

Bonus: Cliff Booth, Papa John Phillips, and the Myth of California Dreamin’

John Coltrane, too many kids’ baseball games, and a growing obsession with Quentin Tarantino’s next movie. Plus, how Tarantino changed my mind about the Mamas and the Pap

Buddy Holly: Did the Rock ‘n’ Roll Pioneer Shoot Down His Own Plane?

“The day the music died” refers to February 3, 1959, as that was the day the plane carrying Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper crashed, killing everyone on b

Britney Spears (Pt. 1): Trauma Pop

No musician owned pop music quite like Britney Spears at the turn of the century. After graduating from Mississippi tween queen to full-fledged American superstar, her fa

Britney Spears (Pt. 2): Lithium, Las Vegas, and a Long-Awaited Emancipation

Britney Spears’ 13-year conservatorship was an arrangement so strict and unfeeling that it left her without any control of her career, loopy on lithium, and completely si

Bonus: Good Vs. Evil, Brian vs. Keith, Blind Melon, and Buddy Holly

Halloween is over. Evil fading toward good, and grace. Thanksgiving is upon us. Keith Richards’ quiet charity vs. Brian Jones, the irredeemable Stone. Plus, we hear from

Shannon Hoon: Blind Melon, Bee Girls, and the Courage to Say Yes

Blind Melon's Shannon Hoon lived for freedom—on stage in drag, tripping at Woodstock, or swinging mic stands at security guards. From Lafayette to Los Angeles., his journ

Madonna (Rewind): Music as Sex and Sex as Power in the Reign of the Queen of Pop

Madonna always knew her life would be art. She rose through the late 70s New York scene reinventing pop iconography and feminism alike. But whether it was Toronto police

Bonus: Reggie Watts’ Ego Was Too Big to Kill

Unpacking Reggie Watts and the wolves in sheep’s clothing. Corrosive evil. The bad guys (from music history) hiding in plain sight. Plus, Reggie Watts had us talking abou

Reggie Watts: Is Reggie Watts the Guy Your Mother Warned You and/or Your Sister About?

On this episode: an unprecedented comedic talent, the power of celebrity, and the power of Ketamine. The death of Reggie Watts’ ex-girlfriend Katherine McCollough and all

AC/DC Pt. 2 (Rewind): Dirty Deeds, Dead Friends, and Murder for Hire

This is the story of the greatest rock ’n’ roll band on earth. AC/DC was forged in discipline, sharpened by grief, resurrected by obsession … and nearly undone by one fin

AC/DC pt. 1 (Rewind): A Satanic Serial Killer, A Police Man Hunt, and a Media Witch Hunt

In the 1980s, AC/DC’s biggest fan was a notorious serial killer. The band was an international best-selling hit machine, and members like the late Bon Scott and die-hard

Bonus: Real Evil in Rock ‘n’ Roll. Is There Any?

Alice Cooper, As I Lay Dying, the death of Cronos from Venom, and the Halloween season and all the horror movies and dark soundtracks we’re listening to have us asking…is

Alice Cooper: Vampires, Nightmares, and Resurrection Rock

Alice Cooper’s life was a nightmare—but it was all real. This is the story of addiction, illusion, and the ultimate act of survival. Alice Cooper wasn’t just a shock-ro

Michael Alig (Rewind): If a Club Kid Kills, Stuffs the Body in a Box and Tells The World About It Will Anyone Listen?

In March 1996, promoter Michael Alig, the "King of the Club Kids," after appearing on TV’s Geraldo and on the cover of New York magazine, bashed his friend and DJ Angel M

Bonus: Tupac Murder Sentencing and Losing My Religion

For Tim Lambesis, life begins and ends with himself and his band, As I Lay Dying. We go into faith-based music and discuss the sentencing of Duane “Keffe D” Davis, closin

As I Lay Dying: Are Phonies Running the Christian Metal Scene?

As I Lay Dying was one of the pillars of Christian metal when the genre crossed over to the mainstream in the 2000s. And then their frontman, Tim Lambesis, tried to hire

Eminem (Rewind): Taking His Shot, Pulling a Glock, and Facing the Real Slim Shady

On a single Saturday in 2000, Marshall Mathers assaulted two separate men with a pistol and fought with his wife outside a nightclub, resulting in lawsuits and charges th

Bonus: Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, Kurt & Courtney Conspiracies, and…Constipation?

In this week’s After Party, Jake discusses the spirited online response to our Nirvana episodes and wonders why Courtney Love continues to be the the target of vitriol an

Screamin’ Jay Hawkins: Was Screamin’ Jay Hawkins Murdered?

He was an operatic vocalist made famous by his song “I Put A Spell on You,” a song he performed throughout the conservative 1950s while jumping out of a coffin on stage.

Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love Pt. 2: Suicide Samurai

Grunge, grief, the Grateful Dead and a “teenage whore.” Part 2 of the Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love story picks up with Courtney’s ascent and the couple’s heroin-hazed pr