History in Five Songs with Martin Popoff

372 episodes

History in Five Songs Episode 369: Lowering the British blues boom
22/07/2026 | 37 mins.
In Episode 369 of History in Five Songs with Martin Popoff, Martin argues how rock bands from the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin to Fleetwood Mac and UFO escaped the creative limits of the British blues boom. He posits that their willingness to evolve into hard rock, heavy metal, prog, and pop ultimately defined their greatest successes.

The Rolling Stones – “Street Fighting Man”

Status Quo – “Oh Baby”

Black Sabbath – “Hand of Doom”

Aerosmith – “Woman of the World”

UFO – “Rock Bottom”

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History in Five Songs Episode 368: Your guitarist is a distraction.
14/07/2026 | 36 mins.
In Episode 368 of History in Five Songs with Martin Popoff, Martin explains how replacement guitarists can become welcome or unwelcome distractions by transforming a band's sound, identity, songwriting, or fan perception. He highlights memorable examples from acts like Yes, Whitesnake and Fleetwood Mac.

Yes – “Changes”

Whitesnake – “Slip of the Tongue”

Dio – “Big Sister”

Fleetwood Mac – “Second Hand News"

Thin Lizzy – “The Holy War”

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History in Five Songs Episode 367: How crazy was 1991?
14/07/2026 | 33 mins.
In Episode 367 of History in Five Songs with Martin Popoff, Martin dives into why 1991 stands as one of rock's most transformative years. He traces the remarkable flood of landmark hard rock, metal, grunge, and more that redefined the music landscape in just a few extraordinary months.

David Lee Roth – “Baby’s on Fire”

Van Halen – “Runaround”

Ozzy Osbourne – “Desire”

Soundgarden – “Face Pollution”

R.E.M. – “Losing My Religion"

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History in Five Songs Episode 366: The Four Pre-Perfect Strangers Albums
30/06/2026 | 36 mins.
In Episode 366 of History in Five Songs with Martin Popoff, Martin traces the four key albums recorded by future Deep Purple members before their reunion on Perfect Strangers. Martin further explores how disparate projects with Whitesnake, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, and Gary Moore set the stage for one of rock's most celebrated comeback albums.

Gary Moore – “Don’t Take Me for a Loser”

Whitesnake – “Saints an’ Sinners”

Rainbow – “Stranded”

Black Sabbath – “Hot Line”

Deep Purple – “Perfect Strangers”

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History in Five Songs Episode 365: Where Guitar Takes a Back Seat
23/06/2026 | 38 mins.
In Episode 365 of History in Five Songs with Martin Popoff, Martin explores the many ways guitar can fade into a supporting role in rock and metal. Bands like Rush, Twisted Sister, and Genesis demonstrate how songwriting, vocals, keyboards, rhythm sections, or dominant personalities can overshadow what is typically the genre’s central instrument.

Rush – “Red Sector A”

David Lee Roth – “Hot Dog and a Shake”

Twisted Sister – “Burn in Hell”

The Stranglers – “Water”

Genesis – “Abacab”

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About History in Five Songs with Martin Popoff

History in Five Songs with Martin Popoff is the show that aims to make grand and often oddball hard rock and heavy metal points through a narrative built upon the tiny idea of a quintet of songs. Buttressed with illustrative clips, Martin argues quickly and succinctly why these songs - and the specific sections of these tracks - support his mad professor premise, from the wobbly invention of an “American” heavy metal, to the influence of Led Zeppelin in hair metal or to more succinct topics like tapping and twin leads. The songs serve as bricks, but Martin slathers plenty of mortar. At the end, hopefully he has a sturdy house in which this week’s theory can reside unbothered by the elements. At approximately 7000, Martin has had published in books more record reviews than anybody in the history of music writing across all genres. Additionally, Martin has penned approximately 85 books on hard rock, heavy metal, classic rock and record collecting. Proud part of Pantheon - the podcast network for music lovers.

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