The Hustle

Who doesn't love a good list! Music nerds especially will spend hours debating one topic or another. Author Gary Graff returns to the show to discuss his new book - 501 Essential Albums of the 90s. Gary discusses the process for compiling the book, the writers involved, covering various genres and, most importantly, what was and wasn't included! Be sure to tell us what you would have made your list! www.patreon.com/c/thehustlepod

WARNING: EXTREMELY SENSITIVE CONTENT Ken Stringfellow was a founding member of the Posies, who enjoyed a long career as one of the best power pop bands of the 90s and beyond. He also held down recurring gigs with REM, Big Star, Giant Sand and many others as well as a solo career. In 2021 this was all upended when three women accused him of sexual assault. Since then almost all of his musical partners have distanced themselves from him and he's had to (almost) start over from scratch. This year he released his first album since his world imploded called Circuit Breaker which is about as primal a creative response to this as you'll ever hear. Ken joins us this week to tell his side of the story. It's a tricky subject that we chose to approach journalistically and neutrally. We apologize in advance if anyone is triggered by this conversation as that was not our intention.  www.patreon.com/c/thehustlepod  www.rainn.org/resources www.kenstringfellow.com

Like it or not, this is the year of Redd Kross! This underappreciated power pop band is coming at you with an assault of good stuff in 2024. They have an incredible new self-titled album, a memoir called Now You're One of Us, and a fantastic new documentary called Born Innocent: The Redd Kross Story. Jeff and Steven McDonald started out as pre-teens in the hardcore scene in Southern California, but matured into one of the great, if unsung, bands of the 80s and 90s with albums like 1990's Third Eye and 1993's epic Phaseshifter. As is so often the case, mainstream success never came knocking, but the band has carried on for decades consistently releasing great music. Steven joins us this week with the film's director Andrew Reich to discuss the whole career, being kidnapped at 12 (crazy story), how to deal with success not happening, and tons more. If you don't know Redd Kross, now's the time to get involved!  www.reddkross.com www.reddkrossfilm.com www.patreon.com/c/thehustlepod

This week is synth pioneer Peter Godwin! In the 70s he was a part of the very arty and European band Metro who are best known for being the originators of the song "Criminal World" that was covered by Bowie for the Let's Dance album. Peter went solo and recorded the worldwide hit "Images of Heaven" that still lives on today as well as an album and some EPs, but the rest of his career has been sort of mysterious. Recently, Cherry Red released a 2-disc set of this fruitful period called The Polydor Years that includes all the songs and remixes you could want. We also discuss other artists he's worked with like Steve Winwood, his songs being placed in TV shows, and how living in France energizes him. Enjoy!    www.cherryred.co.uk/peter-godwin-the-polydor-years-2cd?srsltid=AfmBOopTpSlkuNEUi_0JND1IajHqkFBpsYnfePYGbhrhv99NRqTpk3AX   www.patreon.com/c/thehustlepod