In this episode of Prisoners of Rock and Roll, we’re diving into the shadows of the stage—the bass players, the four-string rebels who hold down the low end.. These aren’t just rhythm keepers; they’re the heartbeat of rock, the growl in the gro
Prisoners of Rock and Roll is a show where we talk about music, the people who make it, and the everlasting effect it has on us. Today’s episode is personal. Last week, we lost Ryan’s dad John McCusker – he was a South Philadelphia icon who alw
In this episode of Prisoners of Rock and Roll, we’re stage-diving into the sweaty, dusty madness of Lollapalooza—a festival that started as a punk-rock farewell tour and turned into a genre-crushing, culture-shaping juggernaut with more lives t
On this episode of Prisoners of Rock and Roll, we’re stepping into the grimy, graffiti-smeared chaos of CBGB—the legendary Bowery dive that became punk’s ground zero. A Cathedral of Misfits.Picture this: December 1973, Hilly Kristal, a former
On this episode of Prisoners of Rock and Roll, we’re jumping in our musical memory machine and going back 30 years to 1995. Rock and roll still ruled the charts and alternative music was still a thing. We got great albums from Alice in Chains,
Michael Jackson is one of the most influential artists in music history. His talent was undeniable, his impact was massive, and his life… well, it was complicated. On this episode of Prisoners of Rock and Roll, we’re talking about the King of P
We’re back! On this episode of Prisoners of Rock and Roll, we’re flipping on the tube and talking about television theme songs! These are the tracks that play during the opening credits and get stuck in your head for the rest of the week.From
Our fourth annual Christmas episode! The holidays are supposed to be the happiest time of the year, but let’s face it – some of us are feeling less holly jolly. In our 4th annual Prisoners of Rock and Roll Christmas episode, we’re celebrating h
In this episode of Prisoners of Rock and Roll, we’re taking a walk on the dark side and diving deep into one of the most provocative and iconic songs in rock history: Sympathy for the Devil by The Rolling Stones.This isn’t just a song; it’s a
Live was one of the most popular bands of the post grunge era. After entering the alternative music scene in 1991 with a spiritual album called Mental Jewelry, they became one of the biggest bands of the mid 90s on the backs of Throwing Copper
We’re shining a spotlight on one of the last bands standing from the grunge era: Pearl Jam. While so many of their Seattle peers have either burned out or faded away, Pearl Jam’s still out there, rocking stadiums, dropping albums, and staying t
On this episode of Prisoners of Rock and Roll, we're heading into the dark, twisted world of Ozzy Osbourne and diving deep into two of the most legendary heavy metal albums of all time: Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman. Make no mistake: th
In this episode of Prisoners of Rock and Roll, we’re cranking up the volume on some of the greatest fictional bands from movies and television shows. Groups that were born on the screen and sometimes even crossed over on the real music charts.
In 1985, a group of musicians came together to raise awareness about the oppressive, racist government in South Africa. Organized by Steven Van Zandt, the group calling themselves Artists United Against Apartheid was, according to music critic
Bob Marley is one of the most famous figures in reggae music. On December 3, 1976, seven gunmen stormed into Bob Marley’s home in Kingstown, Jamaica and opened fire, wounding the singer, his wife, and members of his inner circle. The assassinat
Rock and roll got really big in the 1970s. We don’t mean in terms of popularity, although it had that going for it too. We mean the sounds got big. The audiences got big. The performances got big. Arena rock was loose definition for commercial,
There are few rock and rollers in the last 40 years more synonymous with the piano than Elton John and Billy Joel. These iconic singer songwriters have sold over 450 million albums, had 90 top 40 hits between the two of them, and played tons of
The Moscow Music Peace Festival was a two-day rock concert held in August 1989. Held during Mikhail Gorbachev’s period of Glastnost, Russia allowed a handful of western rock and roll acts to perform for the first time in Moscow, and over 100,0
Get ready to step into the ring as we explore the electrifying tag team of professional wrestling and rock and roll in this episode of Prisoners of Rock and Roll. We’re going to take a look at the iconic rock and wrestling era of the late 80s,
Chess Records was an independent record label created on the South Side of Chicago in 1950 by two Polish immigrants named Leonard and Phil Chess. As one of the most important blues labels of all time, Chess Records captured the electric sound o
Lights, camera…rock and roll! Music plays a huge role in film, and in this episode of Prisoners of Rock and Roll, we’re taking another look at movie soundtracks. Soundtracks have given us some incredibly iconic songs over the last 80 years. Pu
Get ready to climb into the musical memory machine and take a trip back to 1994 as we revisit the music that came out 30 years ago. It was a year that defined our generation when Kurt Cobain took his own life. We got important albums like Purp
The Doors were one of the most influential and iconic bands of the 1960s – they built a dark counterculture sound on a foundation of Ray Manzarek’s organ playing that combined elements of poetry, blues, rock and roll, jazz, and psychedelic musi
Rock and roll and cars are a classic combination. In fact, the very first rock and roll song, Rocket 88, was about a car. So get ready to rev your engines and hit the open road because on our next episode of Prisoners of Rock and Roll, we're s
We’re rock and rollers at heart here at the Prisoners of Rock and Roll, but we both have a soft spot for Christmas music. In our annual Christmas episode, we decided to hope in a one horse open sleigh and take a trip down memory lane to the cla