Highway Hi-Fi Podcast

Tax Scam Record Labels (Episode 98)

Today, we look at the albums and labels that were born to lose money. The artifacts of music industry mischief and copyright chicanery. So, go ahead and file an extension

Non-Human Music, Part 1: Animal Bands (Episode 97)

Animals and robots might seem like strange bedfellows for rock albums, but once you know what you’re looking for, they are hard to miss. There are hundreds of examples of

Underwater Music (Episode 96)

On today’s episode, we’re casting our line out as far as we can to reel in a history of a music style that is as expansive, deep, majestic, and mysterious as the oceans t

It's Another Gourd-jus Halloween Mix (Episode 95)

We hope to be back with a fresh batch of episodes very soon! Highway Hi-Fi is a proud member of the Pantheon Music Podcast Network - Home of the Finest Music Podcasts Lea

Blob Dylan: Halloween Sounds (Episode 94)

In today's episode, we take a break from taking breaks and present a mix of sounds and music to unnerve you. Highway Hi-Fi is a proud member of the Pantheon Music Podcas

Ringo Tribute Songs (Episode 93)

From 1963 to 1967 hundreds of songs about the Beatles, but not by the Beatles, were issued by no-name artists on tiny fly-by-night labels. An unimaginable amount of these

The Music of Spaghetti Westerns (Episode 92)

In this episode, we track the legacy of the music of the grittiest of film styles. Scores of scores that are riddled with bullet holes, whiskey bottles, scattered cards,

Famously Bad Musicians (Episode 91)

Nobody intentionally builds cathedrals to mediocrity. Music criticism, and really society in general, is often preoccupied with defining, declaring, and debating superlat

Bagpipers at the Gates of Dawn (Episode 90)

Bagpipes are a sonorous and ceaseless instrument. Almost comically so. The traditional Scottish Bagpipe is the loudest unamplified instrument known to man. Decibel levels

Non-Holiday Holiday Show! (Episode 89)

It’s that time of year again, where we get pretty sick of hearing about Christmas. For this, unbelievably, our fourth Christmas episode we are going to carry on the tradi

Puppet Records: Records for Dummies (Episode 88)

In the early 20th century, a puppet fervor slowly crept across the America, like rust on a Chevy Nova, as travelling shows made puppeteers into full fledge celebrities, p

Satanic Fanatics: Sounds of the Occult (Episode 87)

Almost as long as humans have mastered the ability to record the environment around them, they have desired to record the world that is just beyond them. A perfectly logi

Music History in Graphic Novels (Episode 86)

In this episode we look at how graphic novels are pushing the boundaries of pop music history, bringing new perspectives and fans. Where life imitating art is just as  po

Rock Star Commercials (Episode 85)

As radio, and eventually television, became a fixture in American homes, a celebrity culture was solidified. With this fascination for the people that we hear and see alm

Experiential Microgenres: Night Bus, Late-Night Grocery Run, & Pink Motel (Episode 84)

Night Bus, Late Night Grocery Run, & Pink Motel are microgenres that represent their own experiential sound, where the songs are held together by the atmospheres they inv

Albums Conceived in Institutions (Episode 83)

There is an unproductive trope of there being a fine line between genius and madman. Constantly, we are encouraged to believe that the works of “artists in asylums” are s

The Women Who Pioneered Experimental & Electronic Music (Episode 82)

There is a long history of the unjust treatment of women musicians whose contributions were often overlooked, dismissed, or stolen. Sadly, it’s likely to be a long future

Desert Island Recordings: The Pod by Ween

Ween set forth on a career-long ambition to tear down standard music industry conventions by hook or by crook. To take that which is weird, obnoxious, and unclean, and sh

The Music of Cults, Part 2 (Episode 80)

Today’s episode is a continuing examination of the strange bedfellows of cults and music. Last time, we discussed some of the more academic reasons why leaders and their

The Music of Cults, Part 1 (Episode 79)

Cults can manifest themselves in any number of ways. They deal in the currency of human beliefs….religious, political, racist, or terroristic beliefs. And can be delivere