Completely Conspicuous 660: When Schlitz Rocked America
Release Date: 07/29/2025
Completely Conspicuous
Part 3 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about concerts we'd like to go back in time to see. Show notes: Jay: Bowie on the Ziggy Stardust tour in 1973 Never saw Bowie Phil: Grateful Dead's famous Cornell show 5/8/77 The Holy Grail for Deadheads Jay: Canadian art rock weirdos Max Webster in southern Ontario 8/9/79 Band split up in 1981 as singer-guitarist Kim Mitchell went solo Opened for Rush in the U.S. in the mid- to late '70s Phil: The Stones at the Boston Garden, 1972 Jagger and Richards were arrested in Providence and Boston mayor bailed them out in time for the Garden...
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Celebrating 19 years of podcasting with part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about concerts we'd like to go back in time to see. Show notes: On to our top 10 shows Phil's are in chronological order, Jay's in no particular order Phil: Neil Young and Pearl Jam on their short Euro tour, 8/26/95 in Dublin PJ standing in for Crazy Horse The Velvet Sundown, lame AI band Jay: The Clash from June 1980 at Hammersmith Palais 31 songs from throughout their career The Clash opened for the Who on the Schlitz Rocks America tour Apparently Schlitz was once a big name in beer Phil: Stevie...
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Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about concerts we'd like to go back in time to see. Show notes: We're taking advantage of time machine technology That time Zebra opened for their own Zep cover band We're listing specific shows So many great artists to choose from YouTube makes it easier to see a lot of shows you missed Honorable mentions Jay: Surprise show by the Stones at a small Toronto club in '77 Two shows were turned into a live album decades later Phil: Bob Marley and the Wailers in London, Monterey Pop, Bowie on Diamond Dogs tour, Sleater-Kinney in Berkeley,...
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Part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about our favorite music of 2025 so far. Show notes: Counting down our favorite albums Breitling's #6: Dan Bejar with another well-done Destroyer album "Slacker Sinatra" singing about aging Kumar's #6: Striking solo effort from Tunde Adebimpe Breitling's #5: Shoegaze goodness from NJ's High Kumar's #5: Dax Riggs with fuzz-laden goth grunge Breitling's #4: Digging the Estonian dream pop from mariin k. Kumar's #3: Impressive 15th solo album from Bob Mould plays to his strengths Still kicking ass into his mid-60s Breitling's #3: Boston trio...
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Part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about our favorite music of 2025 so far. Show notes: Drinking some Italian beer Rock is dead commercially Billboard album chart contains nearly no rock Fleetwood Mac's Rumours still riding high for some reason Festival cancellations: Bonnaroo, Boston Calling next year, Lollapalooza Too many festivals, high ticket prices Black Sabbath farewell show Lots of big rock deaths: Brian Wilson, Sly Stone, David Johansen, Marianne Faithfull, etc. We saw Hallelujah the Hills recently and it was glorious Kumar saw some shows: Frank Black,...
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Part 4 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we crown the winner of a March Madness-style tournament featuring our favorite rock artists. Show notes: Round 3 begins The Smiths vs. Led Zeppelin James Brown vs. Rush Rolling Stones vs. The Cure The Clash vs. The Police U2 vs. The Replacements The Who vs. Talking Heads Tom Petty vs. Neil Young The Beatles vs. David Bowie Round 4 The Final Four The Championship Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in...
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Part 3 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we wrap up the second round of a March Madness-style tournament featuring our favorite rock artists. Show notes: Round 2 forced some difficult choices The Smiths vs. Spoon Led Zeppelin vs. Prince James Brown vs. Queens of the Stone Age Rush vs. Allman Brothers Band Rolling Stones vs. Beastie Boys The Cure vs. The Afghan Whigs The Tragically Hip vs. The Clash The Police vs. Mark Lanegan Stevie Wonder vs. U2 Sonic Youth vs. The Replacements The Who vs. Beck Talking Heads vs. Dinosaur Jr. Tom Petty vs. Pixies Neil Young vs. Steely Dan...
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Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we wrap up the first round of a March Madness-style tournament featuring our favorite rock artists. Show notes: Finishing up the rest of round 1 Stevie Wonder vs. the Pretenders Talking Heads vs. U2 St. Vincent vs. Sonic Youth Elvis Costello vs. the Replacements R.E.M. vs. the Who Beck vs. Dire Straits Jimi Hendrix vs. Jason Isbell Dinosaur Jr. vs. Foo Fighters Drive-By Truckers vs. Tom Petty Pixies vs. Fleetwood Mac Neil Young vs. Sleater-Kinney Steely Dan vs. Husker Du Van Halen vs. Blondie White Stripes vs. the Beatles J. Geils...
info_outlineCompletely Conspicuous
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we talk our way through a March Madness-style tournament of our favorite rock artists. Show notes: We left out artists that we both didn't like: Grateful Dead, Black Sabbath, Radiohead, Joni Mitchell, Phish, Iron Maiden Also had to leave off a number of artists just for space considerations: Ramones, AC/DC, Feelies, Breeders, Camper Van Beethoven, etc. Some tough matchups in round 1 with randomized seeding The Smiths vs. PJ Harvey Spoon vs. Courtney Barnett Led Zeppelin vs. Bob Dylan The Cure vs. Prince Elton John vs. James Brown...
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Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about bad songs from good artists. Show notes: Songs we hate by artists we love Phil's #6: U2 makes a misstep Bono's talking tough Jay's #6: A #1 hit from Cheap Trick featuring outside songwriters The power ballad became huge for hard rock bands Phil's #5: AC/DC hits it big after losing their singer Jay's #5: When the biggest band tries to get weird Phil's #4: When GNR decided to cover Dylan They had lots of bad covers Jay's #4: When Aerosmith hit #1 with a soundtrack ballad Late-period Aerosmith is tough to take Phil's #3: The Smiths...
info_outlineCelebrating 19 years of podcasting with part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about concerts we'd like to go back in time to see.
Show notes:
- On to our top 10 shows
- Phil's are in chronological order, Jay's in no particular order
- Phil: Neil Young and Pearl Jam on their short Euro tour, 8/26/95 in Dublin
- PJ standing in for Crazy Horse
- The Velvet Sundown, lame AI band
- Jay: The Clash from June 1980 at Hammersmith Palais
- 31 songs from throughout their career
- The Clash opened for the Who on the Schlitz Rocks America tour
- Apparently Schlitz was once a big name in beer
- Phil: Stevie Ray Vaughan on 9/21/85 at the Capitol Theatre
- Jay: PJ Harvey on the Rid of Me tour in '93
- Saw her on the next tour in '95
- Phil: Talking Heads on the Speaking in Tongues tour in Oct. 1983 in Billerica, Mass.
- Jay: I would've picked the 1980 tour with Adrian Belew on guitar
- Jay: Living Colour at TT the Bears in Cambridge, Mass. in the summer of '88
- Taped the show off the radio simulcast on WBCN
- Killer show before the band blew up the next year
- Phil: U2 on the War tour in March 1983
- Jay: Prince's Purple Rain tour at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse
- Prince was the biggest musician in the world at the time
- Phil: The Pretenders at the Paradise in Boston in 1980
- The band's original lineup was so good
- Jay: Went with a December 1981 Pretenders show in France
- To be continued
Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts. Subscribe and write a review!
The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.