
Only Three Lads - Classic Alternative Music Podcast
Only Three Lads is a lively podcast celebrating the Golden Age of Alternative Music from the '70s, '80s & '90s. Join Uncle Gregg, Brett Vargo, and a variety of ”Third Lads” as we share our Top Fives, stories, and news about the music we love, and have a lot of fun along the way! Whether you‘re into indie, punk, new wave, Britpop, power pop, synth pop, shoegaze, grunge...or whatever...there is going to be something for you to discover and love. Part of Pantheon Podcasts.
Latest episodes

Sep 28, 2024 • 40min
O3L Presents: Weekend Six Pack, Vol. 16 - September Gurls
Unwind with a new six pack of tunes on this final weekend of September. This month's theme is "September Gurls" (what, too obvious?), as we spotlight recent tracks from a few of indie music's finest female-fronted or female-prominent bands. This week, you'll hear:
Scary Pierre - 'Piece of Mind' (from Boys Club)
Lightheaded - 'Bright Happy Girls' (from Combustible Gems, Slumberland Records)
Shapes Like People - 'When The Radio Plays' (single, Jangleshop Records)
Whitney's Playland - 'Corridor of Dreams' (from the Martin Newell/Cleaners from Venus tribute Tales of a Kitchen Porter, Dandy Boy Records)
Cinema Lumiere - 'Wishing It Was Sunday' (from Wishing It Was Sunday, Subjangle)
Circe Link & Christian Nesmith - 'The Magician' (from Arcana)
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Sep 24, 2024 • 1h 57min
E236 - New Wave-to-Spiritual Singer Debra Cohen - Top 5 Spiritual Songs
Holy O3L! No, that's not some sort of Batman-style exclamatory remark...it really is a Holy O3L. Or at least as close as we get. This week, we discuss spirituality in music, as we count down some of our favorite spiritual songs...which happens to run the gamut from Mahalia Jackson to Beastie Boys to the Grateful Dead, and many stops in between. Along the way, we talk about catfish Robert Plant, real Peter Frampton, Greeks in short shorts, F.A.'s, relationship advice, gators, and so, so much more with this week's Third Lad, Debra Cohen! This is Only Three Lads like you've never heard.Debra Cohen began her music career as a New Wave rocker in the early '80s. Her band opened up for Joan Jett & The Blackhearts at legendary Rathskeller ("The Rat") in Boston. They had a regional radio hit with their single "Boston Nights." Debra's song "Dreamin" was discussed to be covered by INXS. Everything seemed to be going her way, until the rock n' roll temptations of drugs and alcohol nearly cost Debra her life...and it was at her darkest moment that she found God. After a stint fronting a blues band in the '90s, she left the music business behind and studied Judaism. In recent years, Debra has rebranded herself as a spiritual pop/rock singer/songwriter. You can learn more about her musical journey at https://debracohenmusic.com.Proud members of the Pantheon Podcasts family. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sep 17, 2024 • 2h 4min
E235 - Carl & Dana from 'This Is Rock n' Roll Radio' - Top 5 Ramones Songs
Hey ho, let's go! This week, we're all about one of the most influential, important, and let's not forget, fun , bands of the era - Ramones. Joining us for our discussion is Dana Bonn and Carl Cafarelli from This Is Rock ‘n’ Roll Radio, airing Sunday nights from 9:00 pm - midnight ET on Syracuse’s SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, featuring the "best three hours of radio on the whole friggin' planet".Carl is also an incredibly gifted music scribe, writing the must-read daily music blog Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) and in many fine publications. Relevant to today's topic, He has also published Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation with the Ramones, culled from his interviews with the band. His latest book, The Greatest Record Ever Made (Volume 1), features insightful, passionate, humorous essays on 145 of his favorite songs across all genres.The Ramones were an American punk rock band formed in New York City in 1974. Known for helping establish the punk movement in the United States and elsewhere, the Ramones are often cited as the first true punk rock band. The Ramones ranked number 26 in Rolling Stone magazine's 2004 list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time and number 17 in VH1's 2012 television series 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock. In 2002, the Ramones were ranked the second-greatest band of all time by Spin, trailing only the Beatles. On March 18, 2002, the original four members and Tommy's replacement on drums, Marky Ramone, were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility. In 2011, the group was awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. (Thanks, Wikipedia.)Stream This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio at: https://ec3.yesstreaming.net:4280/api/links/?t=web&l=ne&c=1&fbclid=IwAR2sdklgIfqVCG1_E3I-bkPwbCFqbnFPJbQ95V4bveYs1g5o4jHEQjZNVx0, or on the Radio Garden app as WESTCOTT RADIO.Buy Carl Cafarelli's books at: Amazon.com : carl cafarelliBoppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do): Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) (carlcafarelli.blogspot.com) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sep 10, 2024 • 1h 58min
E234 - Author Dave Dawson ('Pop Idle') - Top 5 Underrated Male Singers
Which male singers do you feel deserve more love and respect? That, dear friends, is the question we ponder this week with someone who knows - veteran circuit singer Dave Dawson.Dave's new book, Pop Idle: 30 Years on the Road as a Professional Singer, is an honest, humourous, insightful look at life on the bottom rung of the showbiz ladder. Like hordes of others, best-selling author Dave Dawson has spent decades crisscrossing the UK as a solo full-time professional musician. During his 30 years on the road, he has performed thousands of shows before tens of thousands of people, yet still remains one of the army of anonymous entertainers who literally sing for their supper, as part of the Never Ending UK Tour. From pubs to clubs, dives to luxury hotels, theatres to gardens, and hen nights to care homes, there’s hardly a live environment that he hasn’t encountered, enjoyed or endured.Along the way, he’s had brushes with fame and fandom, strippers and stalkers, crooks and colourful characters, pissed-up punters and prima donnas… and has banked a wealth of experience at the brunt of the live music circuit.You may also know Dave Dawson as Dave Philpott, who appeared with us last season to discuss his bestselling book series of bonkers letters to pop stars with real replies - Dear Mr. Kershaw, Dear Mr. Pop Star, Grammar Free in the UK, and Dear Catherine Wheel.Oh, and despite the tendency to poke a little fun at Hanson's ubiquitous 1997 earworm 'Mmm Bop', Taylor Hanson probably is underrated. Listen to the Tinted Windows album for proof of that! But we won't let that fact stand in the way of a bit.Proudly part of the Pantheon Podcasts family. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sep 5, 2024 • 1h 20min
E233 - The BellRays - Top 5 Albums of 1973, Part 2
**Part 2! Hear our Top 3 Albums of 1973. More music! More fun! More infectious Lisa laughs!We're havin' a party this week! Joining us for a lively, laugh-filled exploration of 1973 albums is the heart and soul of The BellRays, singer Lisa Kekaula and guitarist Bob Vennum, who have been gloriously blending high octane punk, powerful soul music, deep blues, gritty garage rock, and whatever else they want to throw into the stew, since 1990. This is a band that defies expectations or pre-conceived notions and transcends any one genre or scene. Their music is all about energy and feel, and that makes them authentic no matter what the style is. To quote their 2020 compilation, It’s Never To Late To Fall In Love With the Bell-Rays. For some of you, it may be this very day when you listen to this podcast. In fact, it’s actually the perfect time to fall in love with the BellRays, because they have a brand new album of blazing rock n' soul, Heavy Steady Go!, and are embarking on a tour on September 5, 2024 - playing some headlining dates on the west coast before heading out for a North American tour with Social Distortion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sep 3, 2024 • 1h 25min
E232 - The BellRays - Top 5 Albums of 1973, Part 1
**Part 1 of 2! The second half of our conversation comes out on September 5, 2024.**We're havin' a party this week! Joining us for a lively, laugh-filled exploration of 1973 albums is the heart and soul of The BellRays, singer Lisa Kekaula and guitarist Bob Vennum, who have been gloriously blending high octane punk, powerful soul music, deep blues, gritty garage rock, and whatever else they want to throw into the stew, since 1990. This is a band that defies expectations or pre-conceived notions and transcends any one genre or scene. Their music is all about energy and feel, and that makes them authentic no matter what the style is. To quote their 2020 compilation, It’s Never To Late To Fall In Love With the Bell-Rays. For some of you, it may be this very day when you listen to this podcast. In fact, it’s actually the perfect time to fall in love with the BellRays, because they have a brand new album of blazing rock n' soul, Heavy Steady Go!, and are embarking on a tour on September 5, 2024 - playing some headlining dates on the west coast before heading out for a North American tour with Social Distortion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aug 30, 2024 • 33min
O3L Presents: Weekend Six Pack, Vol. 15 - Labor of L-U-V
Head into your long weekend with six recent tracks that we think you will L-U-V!
The Ekphrastics - ‘A Good Day For Sailing’ (Harriet Records)
Wut - ‘Mingling with the Thorns’ (HHBTM Records)
Eighteen Hundred and Froze To Death - ‘Old Painful’ (Resident Recordings)
Greaser Phase - ‘Lonely Hearts Killers’ (Shambotic)
Eljin Marbles - ‘Art Is Love Is God’ (Intellectual House of Pancakes)
Sunset Rubdown - ‘Cliche Town’ (Pronounced Kroog)
Thank you for helping us support new music! Show your love to these artists by buying physical media or merch, going to see some live shows...heck, social media follows and streams help as well!Americans, have a great Labor Day weekend...everyone else, have a great regular weekend!L-U-V,Brett & Uncle Gregg Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aug 27, 2024 • 1h 36min
E231 - The Apartments' Peter Milton Walsh - Top 5 Winter Songs
"Top 5 Winter Songs? A winter themed episode, lads? In August?!? Good timing, doofuses!"We hear you, imaginary (and, frankly, rather rude) podcast critic. And our retort is that our friends in the southern hemisphere are still firmly in the grips of winter. For example, our Third Lad this week, one of the greatest songwriters that Australia has ever produced (and an artist who is on the short list of Brett's musical heroes), Peter Milton Walsh from The Apartments!PMW has led the Apartments in various incarnations since 1978, starting with the spiky indie pop of the EP 'The Return of the Hypnotist' on The Go-Betweens' Able Label. After brief stints with The Go-Betweens and Ed Kuepper's post-Saints band The Laughing Clowns, the Apartments reformed in 1984 with the classic single "All You Wanted." Their first full length, 'The Evening Visits...And Stays For Years', followed in 1985 on Rough Trade, with the 1987 single "The Shyest Time" featured on the John Hughes soundtrack for Some Kind of Wonderful. Among the Apartments' string of breathtakingly gorgeous, diverse records are 'Drift' (1993), 'A Life Full Of Farewells' (1995), 'Apart' (1997), 'No Song No Spell No Madrigal' (2015), and 'In And Out Of The Light' (2020). For the uninitiated, Welcome to Walsh World!Peter stopped by in between sessions for a forthcoming record. Just as a small forewarning, we recorded our lists afterwards...so any juvenile, off-topic or off-colour side conversations about pillows, tank tops, getting lost in department stores, or Art Garfunkel lookalikes are no reflection on the pure class of Mr. Walsh. Hopefully, to quote the man himself, we didn't "take something good and make a mess of it".Special thanks to Marc Shea from the great fellow Pantheon show Performance Anxiety for the introduction, and much gratitude to Peter's wife Kate for the coordination. This was an incredible thrill for us!Proud members of the Pantheon Podcasts family. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aug 20, 2024 • 1h 54min
E230 - Peter Jesperson (Twin/Tone Records, Replacements' Manager/Co-Producer) - Top 5 Replacements Songs
If you will dare, we will dare. "Children by the millions" have been waiting for the episode where we cover the music of one of the most influential and pioneering bands of the alternative era - heck, one of the greatest rock n' roll bands ever, period - The Replacements. And what better Third Lad could we hope for this week than the man who discovered, signed, managed, and co-produced the Mats, Twin/Tone Records co-founder Peter Jesperson?!Peter stops by to recount the early days of the Twin Cities scene and Twin/Tone; the moment Paul Westerberg handed him the Replacements' first demo; his biggest disappointments and surprises among Twin/Tone artists; the Mats' transition to a major label; getting the Replacements into the Rock Hall; an update on late era guitarist Slim Dunlap; and many more memories, as we reveal our Top 5 Replacements Songs. Peter's essential memoir, Euphoric Recall, is out now. Euphoric Recall: A Half Century as a Music Fan, Producer, DJ, Record Executive, and Tastemaker: Jesperson, Peter, Fricke, David: 9781681342719: Amazon.com: BooksMany thanks to Josh Mills from It's Alive! Media & Management for the introduction and coordination.Proud members of the Pantheon Podcasts family. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aug 16, 2024 • 29min
O3L Presents: Weekend Six Pack, Vol. 14 - The Heat Is...Yawn
For those of us in the Northern Hempishere, we are deep into the "Dog Days of Summer." Is anyone else sick of the heat?!? Well, before the dog days are over (to quote Florence & The Machine), cool off with a six pack of new tunes from:
The Meringues - 'Shambles'
Sissyhiya - 'Kristen Stewart' (Skep Wax Records)
Gregorov - 'Gasterbeiter ide za Beč'
LMS8 - 'Love Connection' (The Beautiful Music)
Giant Day - 'Ignore The Flood' (The Elephant 6 Recording Company)
Greg Williams - 'This Life'
Enjoy your weekend! Thank you for supporting new music, including the artists on this episode! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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