Only Three Lads - Classic Alternative Music Podcast

**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

**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

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

"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

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

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

Our newest member of the 'Three Timer Club,' renowned music journalist / author / photographer Michael Goldberg, joins us this week to discuss some of the most iconic images of the classic alternative era. What are some of the photos, logos, and icons that come to YOUR mind?The first-ever collection of Addicted To Noise founder and former Rolling Stone senior writer Michael Goldberg's photographs, Jukebox: Photographs 1967-2023 (Hozac Books), features an impressive array of underground figures and outcast luminaries captured in their natural habitat, most seen here for the first time anywhere. Bridging the gaps between the late ‘60s psychedelic era, primitive first-wave ‘70s punk and soul & reggae, as well as never-before seen images of country & folk iconoclasts and rule-breakers across the spectrum of all that is captivating, and even including some modern artists still making waves, Jukebox is a riveting photography collection that truly feels as good as it looks. The photos in JUKEBOX are drawn from the thousands he’s taken over the years. Included are photos of the Sex Pistols, Crime, the Ramones, the Avengers, Devo, the Nuns, the Clash, Tom Verlaine, Lou Reed, John Cale and the Dils as well as Tom Waits, Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile, Janis Joplin, Ben Gibbard, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Muddy Waters, Toots and the Maytals, Patti Smith, Bettye LaVette, the Who, Neil Young, Jonathan Richman, Townes Van Zandt, the Flamin’ Groovies, and many many more.Photos from JUKEBOX will be on display from July 25 through September 22, 2024 at the Haight Street Art Center in San Francisco, where the exhibition, We Are the One: San Francisco Punk 1970s & 1980s, curated by Goldberg, will also be featured during those two months.Oh, and bonus! We play the latest in a series of world famous O3L games, "Record Rack of the Mind."Proud members of the Pantheon Podcasts family. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join Jeffrey Clark, a filmmaker who co-produced the compelling documentary on Gary Young and Pavement, as he shares insights into this rock n' roll wild man's journey. Clark discusses the creative evolution of the documentary, its challenges, and the collaboration with the band. Discover how Gary's larger-than-life persona influenced music and live performances. The conversation also reflects on generational shifts in concert experiences, highlighting the chaos and joy that defined Gary's entertaining spirit.

From the Bay Area to the Central Valley to the Redwood Forest, this punk rock was made for you and me. Since the late '70s, Northern California has been a hotbed of punk rock activity. San Francisco sat at the epicentre of the first wave, with bands like Crime, Dead Kennedys, Avengers, Chrome, The Mutants, and The Nuns bringing the house down at the legendary Mabuhay Gardens. East Bay bands like Green Day, Operation Ivy, Rancid, and The Mr. T Experience ruled the punk revival of the late '80s and beyond. But, all over the northern part of California, great bands sprouted up in cities like Stockton, Santa Cruz, Davis, and Fulton. This week, we'll cover some of the great punk singles from the area, from familiar favorites to obscure treasures. What better Third Lad for this assignment than Northern California alternative music legend Jeffrey Clark?!? Jeffrey got his start as the singer/songwriter in early '80s Stockton garage/psych/synth combo The Torn Boys, whose recordings were recently released by Independent Project Records as 1983. Following the demise of the band, Jeffrey departed for LA with Torn Boys bandmade Grant-Lee Phillips (later of Grant Lee Buffalo fame) and formed the moody, mystical, marvelous Shiva Burlesque, who released two LPs - their eponymous debut in 1987 and Mercury Blues in 1990. Jeffrey subsequently released two cinematic, gorgeous solo records - Sheer Golden Hooks in 1996 and If Is in 2009. But wait, there's more: This renaissance man also founded one of the most acclaimed film festivals in North America, the Nevada City Film Festival; he revitalized the legendary Independent Project Records with label founder/Savage Republic guitarist Bruce Licher; and, he co-produced the documentary Louder Than You Think: A Lo-Fi History of Gary Young & Pavement. Oh, and did we mention that he's practically a member of the Wu-Tang Clan??Speaking of Louder Than You Think, you may recall our recent episode where we chatted with director Jed I. Rosenberg and co-producer Brian Thalken. We made sure to chat with Jeffrey about the film as well, so stay tuned for a separate mini-episode on Thursday for more of our discussion!Special thanks to Paul Richison for the amazing guest suggestion, and to Josh Mills from It's Alive! Media for the incredible coordination. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last episode, you heard the thrilling, incredible rock n' roll stories of the Hollywood Stars' Scott Phares and Jeff Jourard. This week, we conclude our epic conversation by revealing each of our Top 5 LA Albums!The Hollywood Stars were THE "It Band" on the Sunset Strip in the early '70s. Originally concocted by legendary Hollywood impresario and cult figure Kim Fowley to be LA's answer to New York Dolls, the Stars' mix of glammed-up hard rock and pop hooks made them mainstays at clubs like the Whisky a Go Go and the Starwood. Bands like Journey, the Runaways, and Quiet Riot opened for them. Iggy Pop joined them on stage. John Lennon attended their performances. Their songs were covered by Alice Cooper ('Escape') and KISS ('King of the Night Time World'). Every major label wanted to sign them, eventually recording a debut album in 1974 for Columbia with Eagles producer Bill Szymczyk. But fate had other plans for the Hollywood Stars...a shake up at Columbia's west coast division led to the band being dropped before the album was released (and would remain that way until 2013, when Shine Like A Radio: The Great Lost 1974 Album surfaced), and the original incarnation of the band broke up. The remnants of the band would finally release an eponymous debut album for Arista in 1977, but that was effectively the end of the Hollywood Stars' story...until now.Following the success of their archival release, the band would get back together in 2018 for live shows and new recordings, with original lead vocalist Scott Phares returning to the fold. Their brand new 2024 album, Starstruck, finds the band in fine, rockin' form.The current version of the band also includes a veteran guitarist with more incredible rock n' roll stories to tell, Jeff Jourard. Jeff played with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers during the recording of their first album - the motorcycle jacket you see Petty wearing on the cover was Jeff's - but his departure from the band as they left for England meant that his sole credit on the record was a "Heartfelt Thanks." After that, Jeff teamed up with Martha Davis to form the Motels, co-writing their oft-covered classic 'Total Control.' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices