The Hustle

The Porcaro family is rock royalty. They made everything they touched better from their incredible session work to the many Toto hits and Grammys. Steve Porcaro has recently released a new solo album called The Very Day that shows him cleaning house. Most of these songs have been sitting around unfinished for decades so he finally committed to perfecting them (with help from friends like Michael McDonald and Jason Scheff) and getting them out in the world. Steve joins us this week to discuss the process of completing this album, as well as stories from his long session career. There's working with Quincy Jones and David Foster, there's working with Earth Wind and Fire and the Brothers Johnson, and there's his feelings on the many afterlives of "Human Nature" which he wrote and appeared on Thriller. I wish we could have talked for hours! 

Steve Porcaro

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Author Bill Kopp returns to the podcast to discuss his latest book, What's the Big Idea: 30 Great Concept Albums. The great thing about Bill's writing is that he often shines a light on music that is underappreciated. These 30 albums aren't the obvious ones, but completely worthy creations that deserve a spot in your collection. We also get into why artists choose to make them, whether they're fun or work, why they're often long, and what went into him selecting these particular options. Bill was on a couple years ago to discuss his book on San Francisco's 415 record label. We love him around here. Enjoy and prepare to take notes! 

What's the Big Idea: 30 Great Concept Albums - new book by BILL KOPP - from HoZac Books

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Percussionist Lenny Castro has made a career out of being an ingredient that makes everything he touches better. He's been one of the most in-demand musicians of the last 50 years and was even an official member of Toto for many decades. Would classics like "Africa" and "Rosanna" be what they are without him? Doubtful. He's also the best thing about Christopher Cross's "Ride Like the Wind" and ONJ's "Physical". We also discuss a bunch of his session work with people like Stevie Wonder, Robert Palmer, and Fleetwood Mac. He's "mostly" retired now but keeps getting pulled in because he's so good and even just completed a tour with John Mayer. He's the best and we're lucky to hear from him. Enjoy! 

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The musical mind of Barry Adamson was so cinematic he created soundtracks for movies that didn't exist. Until they did. He starts out with the essential post-punk band Magazine, who released some of the best albums the genre had to offer. He was restless though and after time in Visage and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, he committed the music in his head to tape with the solo album, Moss Side Story and never stopped. Barry's music has always had a heavy cinematic quality which lead to him eventually scoring films, of course. Last week he released his new album, SCALA!, which is the soundtrack to the new documentary on the legendary art-house cinema in London which was a gathering place for him and artsy people like him for decades. We get to hear stories about all the stops along the way in his musical journey, working with people like Nick Cave and Midge Ure, growing up bi-racial, and more. Enjoy! 

Barry Adamson

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By running Boston's Fort Apache studio with partner Sean Slade, Paul positioned himself at the forefront of the underground, indie sound that was suddenly above ground. His resume includes all time classics like Radiohead's Pablo Honey (featuring "Creep") and Hole's Live Through This, but also well-respected benchmarks by Buffalo Tom, Morphine, Pixies, Uncle Tupelo, Dinosaur Jr., and the Lemonheads. There are even fascinating outliers like Joe Jackson and Warren Zevon. We get into all of this and a ton more. He's still at it today too. Paul helped shape the sound of that pivotal time in rock history. We're lucky to hear from him! 

Paul Q. Kolderie | Music Producer, Engineer and Mixer

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