The Thrills and Heartbreaks of Being a Funk Rock Pioneer

When musician Chris Dowd was 19, shortly after graduating from high school, his band Fishbone got signed to Columbia Records. The group was made up of Black teenagers in Los Angeles, who combined several musical genres—funk, punk, ska, metal, reggae—into a new exciting sound in the late 70’s. They influenced countless other bands but struggled to find lasting commercial success.

This week on the show, Chris talks to Anna Sale about being a teenage rock pioneer who stepped away from the group in 1994. He also discusses his close friendship with the late Jeff Buckley, his trouble with alcoholism after Jeff's death, and what it's been like to rejoin Fishbone and go on tour.

Fishbone songs featured in this episode:

Skankin’ to the Beat

Ugly

Adolescent Regressive Behavior

Party at Ground Zero

Cubicle

Love is Love

Last Call in America (feat. George Clinton)

Housework

Watch Fishbone’s 1991 performance on SNL: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xl7e88

This episode was produced by Cameron Drews and Daisy Rosario.

Get more Death, Sex & Money with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of DSM and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Death, Sex & Money show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/dsmplus to get access wherever you listen.

If you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is deathsexmoney@slate.com.

Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(556)

How Much Should You Spend on a Wedding?

This week, listeners share what it’s like to plan a dream wedding when money and family relationships lead to conflict and compromise. We hear from couples with vastly different ideas of what they wan...

7 Jul 41min

Emmy-Winner Jeff Hiller Returns! Talking Bodies and Money in a Changing Hollywood

A lot has happened in Jeff Hiller’s life since he was last on the show in 2024. Last year he won an Emmy for his role on the HBO show Somebody Somewhere and then went viral for his sincere and funny ...

30 Jun 51min

Was Dad Being a Creep? And Other Childhood Memories to Decipher

Growing up, whenever Anna Konkle's parents fought–which was frequently–she usually sided with her dad. As she got older, she started to see those memories differently. Was her dad actually the bad guy...

23 Jun 52min

Spouses Peter Dinklage and Erica Schmidt on Bad Interviews, Fame, and Parenting

Actor Peter Dinklage and playwright Erica Schmidt have been married for two decades, and even though they’ve collaborated on projects, it’s rare for them to do an interview together. That’s why we wer...

16 Jun 1h 10min

Something Rotten at Stanford

Theo Baker was seventeen when he enrolled at Stanford and stumbled into one of the biggest stories on campus: academic misconduct allegations against the university's president. His reporting eventual...

9 Jun 50min

A Sex Party Love Story

Romy Holland is a Berkeley mom whose meet-cute happened at a raucous sex party. That night she had sex with dozens of men, one of which would become her husband. In this episode, Romy talks about the ...

2 Jun 48min

The Parent-Child Anxiety Trap

Anna talks to Alexis, a parent whose 8 year old son has an anxiety disorder, about what it was like attending a therapy program designed for parents of anxious children. Plus, Anna talks to the founde...

26 Mai 36min

A Brat Pack Star Remembers How to Have Friends

The actor and travel writer Andrew McCarthy used to be a member of one of pop culture’s most famous friend groups: The Brat Pack. He starred in movies like Pretty in Pink and St. Elmo’s Fire and palle...

19 Mai 50min