Completely Conspicuous 641: The Troubled Teens

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we discuss rock stars and retirement. Show notes: - Recorded recently via Skype - David Lee Roth recently announced his retirement - Should more aging rock stars retire? - Robert Plant isn't trying to be the Golden God anymore - Bruce Dickinson and Rob Halford can still deliver high-energy metal performances - Shut it down, Clapton - Ozzy's been doing retirement tours for 30 years - KISS keeps playing "final" tours - DLR actually predicted his retirement in a 1991 video - Jay: Never saw Dave play with VH - VH changed the hard rock game - Dave and Sammy are different kinds of clowns - Dave only did a few solo albums after 1991 - DLR's image radically changed as his looks did - Bands keep touring into their 70s and 80s - Grant Hart looked pretty rough toward the end of his life, but kept touring - Similar to athletes who don't know when to hang it up - Ringo Starr has the right idea: Let the young guys do the heavy lifting - Ozzy and Sharon have issues with writing credits - To be continued Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts and anywhere else you get 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.

26 Okt 202153min

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about our favorite music of 1987. Show notes: - Recorded in the backyard of CompCon HQ - Jay's non-top 5 albums: Terence Trent D'Arby, Pixies, The Cure, Prince (The Black Album), Sonic Youth, Def Leppard, Guns N' Roses - It's easier to listen to bro-country or classic rock than look for new music these days - Phil's #5: GNR's debut took a few years to really take off - Jay's #5: The Cult goes for a hard rock sound - Jay's #4 and Phil's #1: U2 with a massive mainstream breakthrough - Phil's #3: The Cure with a killer double album - Jay's #3: R.E.M.'s last album on IRS, embracing a big rock sound - Phil's #2: The Grateful Dead go mainstream - Jay's #2: The Replacements' last great album - Jay's #1 and Phil's #4: Prince tries out many styles, makes social commentary - Favorite songs: "One Tree Hill" (Phil), "Sign O' the Times" (Jay) 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.

13 Okt 202157min

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about our favorite music of 1987. Show notes: - Recorded in the backyard of CompCon HQ - In '87, Phil was 17 going on 18, Jay was 19 going on 20 - The Bangles had the #1 single of the year with "Walk Like An Egyptian" - Another big year for movie soundtracks - A lot of female pop artists hit big - Jay: Concerts I saw included Genesis, Peter Gabriel, Motley Crue, Jon Butcher Axis and U2 - Phil: Saw INXS, U2 twice, Sting, Smithereens - Bruce Willis released an album - Starship churns out the crap - Many bands changed their sound in the '80s to stay "relevant" - Phil's non-top 5 albums: INXS, Hoodoo Gurus, the Smiths, Husker Du, Dinosaur Jr., Jane's Addiction, Midnight Oil, 10,000 Maniacs, George Harrison, Sinead O'Connor, Bowie, The Tragically Hip - The meteoric rise and quick decline of INXS - That time Husker Du went on the Joan Rivers Show - 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.

5 Okt 202146min

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about our favorite music of 1986. Show notes: - Recorded in the backyard of CompCon HQ - Phil's #5: Solid effort from the Pretenders, which was basically just Chrissie Hynde at this point - Jay's #5: Metallica hits their high point - Neighborhood dogs start chiming in - Phil is a big fan of Ratt n' Roll - Phil's #4: The debut of the Van Hagar era - Eddie fully embraces synths, poppier sound - Didn't realize until recently that the riff of "Best of Both Worlds" is identical to Kool and the Gang's "Celebration" - Jay's #4: David Lee Roth's out VH's VH - The best Dave solo album - Phil's #3 and Jay's #2: R.E.M. starts embracing power chords - Jay's #3: John Lydon teams up with studio musicians to create a classic - Steve Vai, Ginger Baker and others show up - Phil's #1: The Smiths in the middle of a strong run of albums - Johnny Marr elevates this album - Phil's #2 and Jay's #1: Husker Du's last great record - First major label album featured more pop hooks - Grant Hart and Bob Mould each bringing in great songs - Favorite songs: "Bigmouth Strikes Again" (Phil), "Don't Want to Know If You Are Lonely" (Jay) - Check out my Spotify playlist "Hits of the Year," which collects all the favorite songs we picked from 1970 onward 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.

21 Sep 202138min

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 1986. Show notes: - Recorded in the backyard of CompCon HQ - Jay was 18 going on 19 in '86, Phil was 16 going on 17 - Nine of the top 10 selling albums of '86 came out the year before - Older artists make comebacks - Pop and hair metal were big - Boston finally released its third album - Phil's non-top 5s: Talking Heads, Smithereens, Prince, Run DMC, Beastie Boys, XTC, Bad Brains, Gene Loves Jezebel, Love and Rockets, World Party, Dead Milkmen, B-52s, Luka Bloom, Feelies, Joe Jackson, Pet Shop Boys, Sonic Youth, Rolling Stones, Dylan, Steve Earle, DLR - Jay's non-top 5s: David & David, Peter Gabriel, Iron Maiden - 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.

15 Sep 20211h 1min

Celebrating the show's 15th birthday with a look back at some key moments over the years. Show notes: - Going the clip show route - Episode 2: The early days - Episode 72: The first guest, featuring Jay Breitling - Episode 141: Talking about mixtapes, including recordings I made when I was 13-14 - Episode 146: Talking to Amanda Guest about college radio - Episode 186: My visit to Seattle, which got off to a strange start - Episode 253: Ric Dube and I break down "Smokin' In the Boys Room" - Episode 315: Brian Salvatore and I torture ourselves by listening to Van Halen III - Episode 494: Talking about drug-related concert experiences with Phil Stacey. 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.

4 Aug 202133min

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about growing up as sports fans. Show notes: - Recorded on the way home from Tree House Brewing - We still don't get esports - Bands who sing songs about sports - Weezer at the Winter Classic - Short attention spans and sports - Sports gambling is big business - Super Bowl prop bets are popular - Shohei Ohtani is the greatest baseball player we've seen in a long time - Luck is a big factor in fantasy baseball - The occasional Toronto championships - Some people don't like sports - Getting blown off by Rickey Henderson - Jay: Both daughters played competitive sports - Roped younger daughter into becoming a Leafs fan - Watching your team lose sucks, but it's not the end of the world 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.

28 Juli 20211h 5min

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about growing up as sports fans. Show notes: - Recorded on the way to Tree House Brewing - Phil: Grew up watching sports with his dad, playing sports with his brothers - Watched a lot of tennis in the late '70s/early /80s - Both read the sports page of the local paper - Collecting sports cards was a big hobby - Jay: Began watching hockey with dad, quickly became obsessed - Played street hockey with the neighborhood kids - Phil: We played outside with no supervision all day - Now we don't let our kids go anywhere on their own - Imagining you're a pro athlete - Memories of church league hoops - Jay: We played "foot hockey" (aka soccer with a tennis ball) every day at recess - Street hockey got serious, playing teams from across town - No fun playing sports against your boss - Jay: Parents wouldn't let me play organized youth hockey - Didn't play sports the first two years of high school because of multiple moves - Good way to make friends - Jay: Played a lot of sports after college - Played soccer, hockey, golf, tennis - It's no fun when people start acting like jerks - Started getting involved with coaching youth sports when kids started playing - Some parents take their kids' sports way too seriously - Let your kids enjoy themselves - Sports fans can be really dumb - Going to games as a kid - Baseball is a major sport, but it's getting tough to watch a whole game on TV - The kids love the e-sports - 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.

20 Juli 20211h 18min