

Let It Roll
Pantheon Media
"Let it Roll" is a podcast about the history of popular music from the 19th Century to the 21st. Proud part of Pantheon - the podcast network for music lovers.
Episodes
Mentioned books

May 12, 2025 • 42min
Technoroll 7: Hi-NRG Kept the Dance Going In the Early 80's
Hosts Nate Wilcox and Ryan Harkness continue their discussion of “Last Night A DJ Saved My Life - The History of the Disc Jockey” by Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton with a look at how Hi-NRG, the sound that emerged in the post-disco backlash club scenes of London, San Francisco and New York, spawned the most successful production/songwriting team of all-time and provided a soundtrack for tragedy.
GO TO THE LET IT ROLL SUBSTACK TO HEAR THE FULL EPISODE -- The final 15 minutes of this episode are exclusively for paying subscribers to the Let It Roll Substack.
Also subscribe to the LET IT ROLL EXTRA feed on Apple, Spotify or your preferred podcast service to access the full episodes via your preferred podcast outlet. We've got all 350+ episodes listed, organized by mini-series, genre, era, co-host, guest and more.
Please sign up for the email list on the site and get music essays from Nate as well as (eventually) transcriptions of every episode.
Also if you can afford it please consider becoming a paid subscriber to support the show. Thanks!
Have a question or a suggestion for a topic or person for Nate to interview?
Email letitrollpodcast@gmail.com
Follow us on Twitter.
Follow us on Facebook.
Let It Roll is proud to be part of Pantheon Podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

May 12, 2025 • 41min
Technoroll 5: Disco Begins In New York
Nate Wilcox and Ryan Harkness continue their discussion of “Last Night A DJ Saved My Life - The History of the Disc Jockey” by Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton.
Today's topic is the early days of disco in New York when an innovative wave of DJs like David Mancuso and Francis Grasso created a dancer’s utopia in Manhattan.
GO TO THE LET IT ROLL SUBSTACK TO HEAR THE FULL EPISODE -- The final 15 minutes of this episode are exclusively for paying subscribers to the Let It Roll Substack.
Also subscribe to the LET IT ROLL EXTRA feed on Apple, Spotify or your preferred podcast service to access the full episodes via your preferred podcast outlet. We've got all 350+ episodes listed, organized by mini-series, genre, era, co-host, guest and more. Please sign up for the email list on the site and get music essays from Nate as well as (eventually) transcriptions of every episode. Also if you can afford it please consider becoming a paid subscriber to support the show. Thanks!
Have a question or a suggestion for a topic or person for Nate to interview?
Email letitrollpodcast@gmail.com
Follow us on Twitter.
Follow us on Facebook.
Let It Roll is proud to be part of Pantheon Podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

May 6, 2025 • 42min
Technoroll 6: Disco Blows Up in the Late 70's
Today Nate and Ryan continue their discussion of “Last Night A DJ Saved My Life - The History of the Disc Jockey” by Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton with a look at the high water mark of disco -- Studio 54, Saturday Night Fever, the Bee Gees and the backlash.
GO TO THE LET IT ROLL SUBSTACK TO HEAR THE FULL EPISODE -- The final 15 minutes of this episode are exclusively for paying subscribers to the Let It Roll Substack.
Also subscribe to the LET IT ROLL EXTRA feed on Apple, Spotify or your preferred podcast service to access the full episodes via your preferred podcast outlet. We've got all 350+ episodes listed, organized by mini-series, genre, era, co-host, guest and more.
Please sign up for the email list on the site and get music essays from Nate as well as (eventually) transcriptions of every episode.
Also if you can afford it please consider becoming a paid subscriber to support the show. Thanks!
Have a question or a suggestion for a topic or person for Nate to interview?
Email letitrollpodcast@gmail.com
Follow us on Twitter.
Follow us on Facebook.
Let It Roll is proud to be part of Pantheon Podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apr 21, 2025 • 41min
Led Zeppelin flew their folk flag high
Hosts Nate Wilcox and Dave Thompson conclude their mini-series discussing Dave's book An Evolving Tradition: The Child Ballads in Modern Folk and Rock Music -- buy the book to support the show.This episode covers the 1970s high water mark of folk rock in the UK Led Zeppelin's controversial third album, and where folk has gone since. GO TO THE LET IT ROLL SUBSTACK TO HEAR THE FULL EPISODE -- The final 15 minutes of this episode are exclusively for paying subscribers to the Let It Roll Substack.Also subscribe to the LET IT ROLL EXTRA feed on Apple, Spotify or your preferred podcast service to access the full episodes via your preferred podcast outlet. We've got all 350+ episodes listed, organized by mini-series, genre, era, co-host, guest and more. Please sign up for the email list on the site and get music essays from Nate as well as (eventually) transcriptions of every episode. Also if you can afford it please consider becoming a paid subscriber to support the show. Thanks!Have a question or a suggestion for a topic or person for Nate to interview? Email letitrollpodcast@gmail.com Follow us on Twitter. Follow us on Facebook.Let It Roll is proud to be part of Pantheon Podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apr 14, 2025 • 40min
Technoroll 4: Jamaica's Sound System Culture Birthed Ska, Reggae, Dub
Nate Wilcox and Ryan Harkness continue their discussion of “Last Night A DJ Saved My Life - The History of the Disc Jockey” by Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton. Buy the book and support the show.Today Nate and Ryan take a look at Jamaica’s unique sound system scene which spurred the creation of ska, reggae and dub and directly influenced the creation of hip-hop. GO TO THE LET IT ROLL SUBSTACK TO HEAR THE FULL EPISODE -- The final 15 minutes of this episode are exclusively for paying subscribers to the Let It Roll Substack.Also subscribe to the LET IT ROLL EXTRA feed on Apple, Spotify or your preferred podcast service to access the full episodes via your preferred podcast outlet. We've got all 350+ episodes listed, organized by mini-series, genre, era, co-host, guest and more. Please sign up for the email list on the site and get music essays from Nate as well as (eventually) transcriptions of every episode. Also if you can afford it please consider becoming a paid subscriber to support the show. Thanks!Let It Roll is proud to be part of Pantheon Podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apr 7, 2025 • 56min
Fairport Convention and Pentangle led the UK folk-rock movement
Hosts Nate Wilcox and Dave Thompson continue their mini-series discussing Dave's book An Evolving Tradition: The Child Ballads in Modern Folk and Rock Music -- buy the book to support the show.This episode covers the emergence of UK folk-rock out of the hippie, psychedelic ballroom scene in the late 1960s. Dave and Nate discuss the formation of Pentangle a sort of super group comprised of Jacqui McShee (vocals); John Renbourn (vocals and guitar); Bert Jansch (vocals and guitar); Danny Thompson (double bass); and Terry Cox (drums). They also discuss the formation and evolution of Fairport Convention from a band modeled on the Jefferson Airplane to the greatest and most influential of the UK folk-rock groups. GO TO THE LET IT ROLL SUBSTACK TO HEAR THE FULL EPISODE -- The final 15 minutes of this episode are exclusively for paying subscribers to the Let It Roll Substack.Also subscribe to the LET IT ROLL EXTRA feed on Apple, Spotify or your preferred podcast service to access the full episodes via your preferred podcast outlet.We've got all 350+ episodes listed, organized by mini-series, genre, era, co-host, guest and more. Please sign up for the email list on the site and get music essays from Nate as well as (eventually) transcriptions of every episode. Also if you can afford it please consider becoming a paid subscriber to support the show. Thanks!Have a question or a suggestion for a topic or person for Nate to interview? Email letitrollpodcast@gmail.comFollow us on Twitter. Follow us on Facebook. Let It Roll is proud to be part of Pantheon Podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mar 31, 2025 • 34min
Recast Technoroll 3: UK DJ Culture Develops With Northern Soul
Nate Wilcox and Ryan Harkness continue their discussion of “Last Night A DJ Saved My Life - The History of the Disc Jockey” by Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton." Buy the book and support the show! In this episode, Nate and Ryan discuss the uniquely British dance culture called Northern Soul where the kids of the British rust belt just wouldn't let go of their favorite up-tempo 60s soul and kept the style alive into the 1980s.GO TO THE LET IT ROLL SUBSTACK TO HEAR THE FULL EPISODE -- The final 15 minutes of this episode are exclusively for paying subscribers to the Let It Roll Substack.Also subscribe to the LET IT ROLL EXTRA feed on Apple, Spotify or your preferred podcast service to access the full episodes via your preferred podcast outlet. We've got all 350+ episodes listed, organized by mini-series, genre, era, co-host, guest and more. Please sign up for the email list on the site and get music essays from Nate as well as (eventually) transcriptions of every episode. Also if you can afford it please consider becoming a paid subscriber to support the show. Thanks!Have a question or a suggestion for a topic or person for Nate to interview? Email letitrollpodcast@gmail.com Follow us on Twitter. Follow us on Facebook. Let It Roll is proud to be part of Pantheon Podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mar 24, 2025 • 48min
Paul Simon dived into the UK folk scene at a key time
Hosts Nate Wilcox and Dave Thompson continue their mini-series discussing Dave's book An Evolving Tradition: The Child Ballads in Modern Folk and Rock Music -- buy the book to support the show.This episode discusses the UK folk scene from the peak of skiffle and Lonnie Donegan through the network of UK folk clubs who featured an open mic format that produced many of the leading talents of the coming UK folk-rock movement. We also discuss Paul Simon's sojourn to the UK during a career lull for Simon & Garfunkel and how he scored the biggest Child Ballad hit with an arrangement he "picked up" from a UK Guitarist. GO TO THE LET IT ROLL SUBSTACK TO HEAR THE FULL EPISODE-- The final 15 minutes of this episode are exclusively for paying subscribers to the Let It Roll Substack.Also subscribe to the LET IT ROLL EXTRA feed on Apple, Spotify or your preferred podcast service to access the full episodes via your preferred podcast outlet.We've got all 350+ episodes listed, organized by mini-series, genre, era, co-host, guest and more. Please sign up for the email list on the site and get music essays from Nate as well as (eventually) transcriptions of every episode. Also if you can afford it please consider becoming a paid subscriber to support the show. Thanks!Have a question or a suggestion for a topic or person for Nate to interview? Email letitrollpodcast@gmail.comFollow us on Twitter.Follow us on Facebook.Let It Roll is proud to be part of Pantheon Podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mar 17, 2025 • 41min
Recast Technoroll 2: The First DJs On the Radio and In the Clubs
Nate Wilcox and Ryan Harkness continue their discussion of “Last Night A DJ Saved My Life - The History of the Disc Jockey” by Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton. In this episode, Nate and Ryan go way way back to the beginnings of the 20th Century and discuss the very first radio DJs -- including Sybil True the first female radio DJ who started in 1913 -- and the first club DJs including the now-infamous Jimmy Savile.GO TO THE LET IT ROLL SUBSTACK TO HEAR THE FULL EPISODE-- The final 15 minutes of this episode are exclusively for paying subscribers to the Let It Roll Substack.Also subscribe to the LET IT ROLL EXTRA feed on Apple, Spotify or your preferred podcast service to access the full episodes via your preferred podcast outlet.We've got all 350+ episodes listed, organized by mini-series, genre, era, co-host, guest and more. Please sign up for the email list on the site and get music essays from Nate as well as (eventually) transcriptions of every episode. Also if you can afford it please consider becoming a paid subscriber to support the show. Thanks!Have a question or a suggestion for a topic or person for Nate to interview? Email letitrollpodcast@gmail.comFollow us on Twitter.Follow us on Facebook.Let It Roll is proud to be part of Pantheon Podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mar 10, 2025 • 43min
Bob Dylan Made the US Folk Boom and Then Bust
Hosts Nate Wilcox and Dave Thompson continue their mini-series discussing Dave's book An Evolving Tradition: The Child Ballads in Modern Folk and Rock Music -- buy the book to support the show.This episode discusses the peak of the Folk Boom in the US with the rise of Peter, Paul, & Mary, Ian & Sylvia, Judy Collins' continued success and the rise of Bob Dylan. We cover Dylan's use of Child Ballads as source material and his ultimate abandonment of the scene.GO TO THE LET IT ROLL SUBSTACK TO HEAR THE FULL EPISODE-- The final 15 minutes of this episode are exclusively for paying subscribers to the Let It Roll Substack.Also subscribe to the LET IT ROLL EXTRA feed on Apple, Spotify or your preferred podcast service to access the full episodes via your preferred podcast outlet.We've got all 350+ episodes listed, organized by mini-series, genre, era, co-host, guest and more. Please sign up for the email list on the site and get music essays from Nate as well as (eventually) transcriptions of every episode. Also if you can afford it please consider becoming a paid subscriber to support the show. Thanks!Have a question or a suggestion for a topic or person for Nate to interview? Email letitrollpodcast@gmail.comFollow us on Twitter.Follow us on Facebook.Let It Roll is proud to be part of Pantheon Podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices