DISGRACELAND
Double Elvis Productions
You know the myths. You’ve seen the biopics. But if you’re the kind of music fan who craves the rest of the story—the stuff they buried or cleaned up for streaming and theaters—this is your podcast. DISGRACELAND is the award-winning show that reveals the deeply human, highly dramatic, true crime–fueled chaos behind legendary musicians like Amy Winehouse, Jerry Lee Lewis, Sean “Diddy” Combs, the Grateful Dead, Blondie, and more. While we dig into the dark side, we do so with reverence for the artists—and an understanding of the extreme highs, lows, and personal costs that come with fame and making great art. This is music history like you’ve never heard it—edge-of-your-seat stories exploding with drama and the kind of information that’ll make you dangerous at dinner parties.New, fully scripted and sound-designed episodes drop every Tuesday. On Thursdays, we hand the mic to you—and feature listener voicemails, texts, and emails in our interactive bonus episodes. And on Fridays, we revisit the wildest stories from our 250+ episode archive with “Rewind” drops that’ll transport you back into music history’s most entertaining moments.DISGRACELAND is not a journalistic podcast—it’s an entertainment podcast inspired by true events. Certain dialogue and scenes are occasionally fictionalized for dramatic effect, as is common in scripted entertainment based on real stories. Sources and credits for each episode are available at www.disgracelandpod.com.To hear every episode ad-free—and get access to exclusive monthly episodes, weekly bonus content, and stories too wild for the main feed—become a Disgraceland All Access member at www.disgracelandpod.com/membership.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jun 19, 2018 • 31min
Michael Alig: If a Club Kid Kills, Stuffs the Body in a Box and Tells The World About It Will Anyone Listen?
In March 1996, promoter Michael Alig, the "King of the Club Kids," after appearing on TV’s Geraldo and on the cover of New York magazine, bashed his friend and DJ Angel Melendez in the head with a hammer. The body was then dismembered and stuffed into a duct-taped cardboard box. Alig proceeded to tell anyone who would listen—including his friends from the raging '90s NYC club scene—what he had done. The problem was, Alig’s well-known, over the top, and depraved behavior was such that no one believed him. “Has anyone seen Angel?” “He’s dead. I cut him up and put him in that box over in the corner.”To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com.This episode was originally published on June 19, 2018.Sign up for our newsletter and get the inside dirt on events, merch and other awesomeness - GET THE NEWSLETTERFollow Jake and DISGRACELAND:InstagramYouTubeX (formerly Twitter) Facebook Fan GroupTikTok To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jun 12, 2018 • 28min
Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G.: The Media Did It
Who killed Tupac? Who killed Biggie? The answer has been right there out in the open for years. This episode looks at the lives and deaths of both rap superstars, the east coast/west coast beef and the media’s culpability in driving a highly sensationalized narrative that ultimately led to the murder of both men.To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com.Sign up for our newsletter and get the inside dirt on events, merch and other awesomeness - GET THE NEWSLETTERFollow Jake and DISGRACELAND:InstagramYouTubeX (formerly Twitter) Facebook Fan GroupTikTok To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
May 29, 2018 • 39min
Bob Marley: Rasta Vigilante
Bob Marley is known as the peace and love reggae superstar, but the truth of who he really was is a bit more complicated. After gunmen raided his home, putting bullets into him, his wife, his manager and his guitar player, Bob survived. But the lives of his assassins—all of them—were eventually brought to violent, horrific ends. And their killers were never found. Many think the perpetrator was an angry young man from the Trenchtown ghetto, who was called, by those who feared him, “Screwface." Was it Bob Marley, Rasta Vigilante?To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com.This episode was originally released on May 29, 2018.Sign up for our newsletter and get the inside dirt on events, merch and other awesomeness - GET THE NEWSLETTERFollow Jake and DISGRACELAND:InstagramYouTubeX (formerly Twitter) Facebook Fan GroupTikTok To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
May 15, 2018 • 26min
Tay-K: A Nationwide Manhunt and Art Imitating Life
The Arlington, Texas rapper born Taymor Travon McIntyre was involved in two killings by the time he was 17. Arrested on murder charges and placed under house arrest until hearings were to take place, Tay-K sawed off his ankle bracelet and announced to the world via Twitter that he was going on the run. He made it from Texas all the way to New Jersey, where he recorded his most infamous song, “The Race,” detailing his time on the lam. The song’s lyrics and video blurred real life and art and quickly went viral, garnering more than 100 million downloads. It also worked as a set of clues for authorities to use to piece together the young fugitive’s whereabouts. The viral nature of the song and video, the ensuing Twitter phenomenon, and infamy surrounding the young fugitive also caused tipsters to come out in droves and eventually led to Tay-K’s arrest.To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com.Sign up for our newsletter and get the inside dirt on events, merch and other awesomeness - GET THE NEWSLETTERFollow Jake and DISGRACELAND:InstagramYouTubeX (formerly Twitter) Facebook Fan GroupTikTok To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
9 snips
May 1, 2018 • 33min
The Rolling Stones: Sleeping With the First Lady and Trafficking Heroin
Dive into the wild world of the Rolling Stones in the chaotic 1970s. From scandalous affairs involving Canada's First Lady to their infamous secret performance at El Macombo, the band's escapades are anything but ordinary. The intertwining stories of rock and roll fame, addiction, and legal woes reveal the darker side of their legendary status. Amid political intrigue and media frenzy, unexpected compassion from a judge gives the band a shot at redemption, proving that even rock gods can find a way out of trouble.
Apr 17, 2018 • 31min
Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes: Hit Me Again and I'll Burn Your House Down
TLC’s Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes was known as “the crazy one.” She did, after all, burn down the mansion of her boyfriend, NFL player Andre Rison. But given the fact that it was done after one of many domestic assaults, Disgraceland sees Left Eye as a badass—and not “the crazy one.” This episode digs into what really happened that night, who Lisa Lopes really was as a person, and the details surrounding her own premature death.This episode was originally published on April 17, 2018.To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com.Sign up for our newsletter and get the inside dirt on events, merch and other awesomeness - GET THE NEWSLETTERFollow Jake and DISGRACELAND:InstagramYouTubeX (formerly Twitter) Facebook Fan GroupTikTok To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Apr 3, 2018 • 30min
Van Morrison: Astral Weeks, Movement and Murder
In 1968, Van Morrison was hiding out from the New York City Mafia in Boston, Massachusetts. Recently the victim of a physical attack from a Genovese crime family member, Morrison was desperately trying to piece together a band to complete what would become his landmark creative statement, Astral Weeks. One of the musicians who would help him achieve this goal—a young, handsome guitar player from Emerson College named Rick Philp—would mysteriously go missing and eventually wind up dead. Disgraceland pieces together this story using, as one of many sources, the critically acclaimed book Astral Weeks: A Secret History of 1968 by Ryan Walsh.This episode was originally published on April 3, 2018.To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com.Sign up for our newsletter and get the inside dirt on events, merch and other awesomeness - GET THE NEWSLETTERFollow Jake and DISGRACELAND:InstagramYouTubeX (formerly Twitter) Facebook Fan GroupTikTok To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mar 20, 2018 • 35min
Norwegian Black Metal: Satanic Rebellion, Murder and Worse
Never has there been a more extreme form of musical rebellion than Norwegian Black Metal. The genre’s founding band, Mayhem, its sister act Burzum and supporting cast of musicians with names like Necrobutcher, Hellhammer, and Dead horrified Norway in the early nineties with supreme acts of terror, satanic ritualism, murder, arson, and cannibalism. By the time the ashes settled and the corpse paint chipped away, numerous band members would be dead or in jail, convicted of arson and or murder… and a new generation of young metalheads would find their way to satanism through blast beats and dead notes.To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mar 6, 2018 • 34min
Sam Cooke: An Insatiable Libido and a Justifiable Homicide
Sam Cooke was a lot of things: soul superstar, civil rights champion, whip smart entrepreneur. But he was also a serial womanizer with an unbridled libido. On December 11, 1964, Cooke was shot to death by Bertha Lee Franklin, manager of the Hacienda Motel in Los Angeles. The killing was ruled a justifiable homicide due to Cooke’s unruly, drunken behavior, which involved him holding another woman captive in his hotel room and allegedly raping her earlier in the evening. With full appreciation of the #MeToo moment we are currently all living through as a culture, Disgraceland, with fresh eyes, looks into this crime and the successful effort by Sam Cooke’s family and powerful music industry colleagues to salvage his legacy and reputation by personally discrediting his victim.To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com.This episode was originally published on March 6, 2018.Sign up for our newsletter and get the inside dirt on events, merch and other awesomeness - GET THE NEWSLETTERFollow Jake and DISGRACELAND:InstagramYouTubeX (formerly Twitter) Facebook Fan GroupTikTok To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Feb 20, 2018 • 39min
Sid Vicious: Love Kills... Even a Mother's Love?
Explore the turbulent life of punk icon Sid Vicious, intertwined with themes of love and destruction. The podcast reveals how his complex relationship with his overly affectionate mother may have led to his tragic overdose. Discover the chaotic romance with Nancy Spungen, marked by addiction and violence, that ultimately spiraled into despair. Delve into their shared darkness during a fateful night at the Chelsea Hotel, illuminating the profound impact of love and pain in Sid's final moments.
