Tape Spaghetti

Shoegaze: How My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive & Ride Lost the Battle and Won the War

In the early '90s, bands like My Bloody Valentine, Ride, Slowdive, and Lush transformed walls of distortion, oceans of reverb, and enough guitar pedals to bankrupt a smal

Lead Belly Part 2: How Huddie Ledbetter Helped Create The Beatles & Inspired Nirvana

No Lead Belly, no Beatles? Sounds like clickbait, but the musical family tree makes a surprisingly convincing case. On this episode of Tape Spaghetti, Scott and Blake wr

Lead Belly Part 1: Death, Prison & the Birth of a Legend

Long before Kurt Cobain's legendary performance of “Where Did You Sleep Last Night?” on MTV Unplugged, there was Lead Belly. Wandering folk hero. Convicted killer. Music

The Tragic Life and Death of Marvin Gaye

Marvin Gaye made some of the most beautiful music ever recorded, but behind it was a life defined by a constant struggle for control. On this episode of Tape Spaghetti,

Ringo Starr, Phil Collins & Kirk Hammett: The Replacements Who Changed Everything

Getting kicked out of a band is no fun at all. But what happens when losing the “wrong” person turns out to be exactly the right move? This week on Tape Spaghetti, Scott

Paul Simon’s Graceland Problem

What happens when incredible music collides with impossible politics? In this episode of Tape Spaghetti, Scott and Blake dive into the tangled history of Paul Simon's Gr

The Assassination Of John Lennon Makes Absolutely No Sense

Everyone knows John Lennon was murdered outside the Dakota on December 8, 1980. Far fewer know just how strange and unsettling the full story really is. In this episode

How The Beatles Fell Apart While Making The White Album

Unclear creative direction, bizarre experimentation, and a rudderless band of twenty-somethings. Sounds like the making of a half-baked album by a bunch of nobodies, righ

How Fake Music Is Bleeding Real Artists Dry

For better or worse, streaming changed the music business forever. But it also created an entirely new kind of crime. Or actually, a whole bunch of new kinds of crimes.

How Country Music Tried to Destroy the *Dixie* Chicks

Before they became the most controversial band in country music, the Dixie Chicks were absolutely unstoppable. In this episode of Tape Spaghetti, Scott and Blake unpack

The $36 Song That Terrified the FBI (Mike Mitchell of The Kingsmen)

Before punk rock, before arena rock, and before garage rock was a thing, there was "Louie Louie." In this special episode of Tape Spaghetti, Blake shares his remarkable c

Chuck Berry, Dick Clark & Rock ’n’ Roll’s Payola Scandal

Paranoid about the algorithm? Totally understandable. But, if you're yearning for the good ol' days when records zipped to the top of the charts on the strength of catchy

Sugar Ray, Smash Mouth, and the One-Hit Wonders That Weren’t

Pop music simply wouldn't be the same without one-hit wonders, those flash in a pan artists who capture the listening public's imagination... for about 5 minutes. But, wh

Jim Sullivan Drove Into the Desert and Disappeared

A struggling musician drives into the New Mexico desert with a guitar, a trunk full of records, and dreams of making it in Nashville. He is never seen again. This week o

The FBI vs. The Fugs

How obscene does your band need to be for the FBI to get involved? In this episode of Tape Spaghetti, Scott and Blake dig into the band that found out the hard way: The F

Gram Parsons’ Friends Stole His Body and Burned It

There are a good many outlaw country artists. But Gram Parsons might be the only one whose outlaw status followed him to the grave...and then back out of it. In this epi

The Beach Boys Made a Rap Song… And That’s Not the Worst Part

The Beach Boys undoubtedly changed pop music forever. But they also cut an album so strange that it's basically been erased from music history. In this episode of Tape S

Waylon Jennings, Cocaine, and a DEA Raid Gone Wrong

Waylon Jennings didn't just sing songs about being an outlaw. He genuinely became one. In this week's Tape Spaghetti, Scott & Blake discuss the life and legend of Waylon

Neil Young Got SUED for Not Sounding Like… Himself?

A big ol' multi-million-dollar record deal, a rebel artist, a major corporate label, and "total creative freedom." What could possibly go wrong? In this episode of Tape

The Dark Secret of Portland’s Roseland Theater

As a native Pacific-Northwesterner with roots in the music scene, our very own Blake Wyland is verifiably Portland-proud. But this week he delves into one of the city's d