Talking 80s Music

2011-03-08T01:34:00.000-08:00

For your enjoyment, below are the collected works from the series Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy. The show ran from 2006 to 2011 with a majority recorded live. During that time we covered a lot of material and it is great to have it all in one place. (So go browsing that artist list on the side.) We also talked to some great people... from fans of the show to artists that made the decade worth remembering. Here's a definitive interview list for you:

King Swamp's Walter Wray

Information Society's Paul Robb

Red Flag's Chris Reynolds

The Nails' David Kaufman

Former Vixen drummer Roxy Petrucci

Alvin And The Chipmunks

Boys Don't Cry's Nick Richards

Dwight Twilley

Gary Wright

Former Sheriff/Alias guitarist Steve DeMarchi

Alan Parsons

Buggles/Asia/Yes keyboardist Geoff Downes

Quarterflash's Rindy And Marv Ross

Jon Mikl Thor

Martha Davis of The Motels

The Outfield

The Knack bassist Prescott Niles

Ron Keel

Robbie Grey of Modern English

Culture Club guitarist Roy Hay

Foghat drummer Roger Earl

Former TNT vocalist Tony Harnell

Former King Kobra/Signal vocalist Marcie Free

Andy McCluskey of OMD

Diverse bunch there. The list of artists that we wanted to interview and also do episodes of the show on was immense but our time ran out. It happens. The above listed artists were very gracious with their time which makes their episodes 'must listen' material for fans. (Consider them extensive Behind The Music episodes as told by the artist themselves.) We had a blast doing the show and thank our listeners and guests for making it an amazing run.

EPISODE208 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2011-01-08T22:38:00.000-08:00

Every good story has a final chapter, a final disclosure or final word. (Sure sounds like we're over-using the word 'final' to me.) Erasure help us shut the book on Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy after 208 episodes and 4+ years. There is a reason. Not only are the duo a major influence on Martin's musical eclecticism but they fulfill the request of our long-time listener Linda. (We also threw in an Aerosmith retrospective mix for Ben -- who was AWOL.) You'll hear a retrospective mix, live version of "Leave Me To Bleed," "Don't Suppose" and "How Many Times?" as well as a few calls from listeners.

It's a bit trite to say 'how hard it is to say goodbye.' (I mean, there are tons of songs about it.) But when you attack anything with passion for a prolonged period of time, it's unbelievably difficult to set it aside. It helped to have so many listeners there for the last show and to hear from them. We can only hope that as this series remains available for more and more new listeners that they develop the same passion and determination to see what else is out there. The 1980s were more than the few hit songs that still get played ad-nauseum on some radio stations. We hope that this starts your personal journey into finding your own gems. Although there were technical issues, we wouldn't want to go out any other way. Martin does have a personal video project in the works during a little down-time, a new project in development and you can find out more of what he's up to at http://www.MartinHennessy.com or look for him on Facebook. It's going to take some adjusting but he has said that something new could happen by this summer.

EPISODE207 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2011-01-01T01:17:00.000-08:00

Our last pre-recorded show, we promise. This week, we focused on Basildon's own Depeche Mode. If longevity were a measure for success (on top of millions of albums sold and countless #1's), Depeche Mode would be right up on top of most lists. The fact that they keep cranking out well-received music and songs that still mean something to people can attest to that. Anyhow, we follow their story and play a retrospective mix, live version of "My Secret Garden," "Dangerous" and "I Want You Now" in an effort to give you a broad representation of who they are without playing hit after hit.

As part of Martin's Classics, he played a song called "Intro (The Harmonica Man)" by Fields Of The Nephilim. Short but sweet and another one of those to play in a dark room. Amazing to think that we probably couldn't have done this or last week's shows if we still had 20 minutes of news or so. (We had to re-encode at a lower rate to fit restrictions for the last two shows.) As we mentioned last week, the team have New Year's day to recover and gear up for next week. It's been an amazing ride and a terrific year over here and we can only wish the best to you and yours. During the show Martin also mentioned hearing from you next week. We'd love to have any of the show's listeners take a moment to call in if they can around 1pm (PST) as we say our goodbyes. Without you, we would hear a lot of echoes and Martin would have been typing these... (You really didn't want to see that.)

EPISODE206 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2010-12-24T22:28:00.000-08:00

This week we turned our focus on Duran Duran. Sure, there is a whole backstory on Martin's connection with the band. What he doesn't tell you is that he at one time was seriously considering auditioning (even talked with and picked up a tape of instrumental originals to write vocals over) for a heavily Duran-inspired local band. But, the Duran Duran made a big impact on his approach to music and the appreciation thereof. Here he gives you the low-down, plays a retrospective mix, live tracks and album tracks.

We decided that this and next week will be pre-recorded episodes... meaning no calls or chat room but plenty of free time for the staff. (About time!) Anyhow, as we get closer, he'll be going through a huge list of all the bands that he wanted to cover and didn't and it's pretty lengthy. Pretty good timing for this episode seeing as it's the same week they release their new studio album, All You Need Is Now, at iTunes. We would like to wish everyone the best during the weekend and holiday.

EPISODE205 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2010-12-18T15:56:00.000-08:00

This week on Talking 80s Music, we set our sights on one of the greatest stories of post-punk and modern rock... the story of the bands Joy Division and New Order. Three shared destinies, some heartbreak and a lot of great music. Expect to hear a Joy Division retrospective mix and live version of "Means To An End" as well as New Order retrospective mix, "Every Little Counts" and "Touched By The Hand Of God." A great primer for those just scratching your head reading this.

Last week we started playing a "Martin's Classic" song... you know, something he dusted off that you might not have heard before (but it in his iPod favorites.) You got to hear a cover of "Since I Fell For You" by Johnny Diesel & The Injectors. Martin would urge you to just buy that self-titled album for your own Christmas or Hanukka gift to unwrap next week. Speaking of next week, the next two episodes of the show (on Duran Duran and then Depeche Mode) will be pre-recorded so they will be available mid-day leading up to our final show on Jan. 8th. Have a great holiday season!

EPISODE204 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2010-12-11T15:16:00.000-08:00

There is something to be said for an artist crossing over from one genre to another. It used to be more eventful than it is now despite the fact that there are more genres defining recording artists. Several acts brought country music to the mainstream charts during the decade... Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton, Alabama, Linda Ronstadt, Ronnie Milsap, John Denver, Willie Nelson, Crystal Gayle, Juice Newton and Eddie Rabbitt. This week we focused on the late singer-songwriter Eddie Rabbit, playing a lengthy retrospective mix, "Step By Step" and "She's Comin' Back To Say Goodbye."

We made some changes this week and ended with an announcement. First, we have halted our news reporting. This will be a good change for the next few episodes. It was time. Second, we've added a "Martin's Classic" song that we'll play each week. This week, he played Real Life's 1983 song, "Burning Blue," off their debut album Heartland. Lastly, we've announced an end to the show. It's been a tough decision to know when this journey would end and we'd never get through all the artists we'd like to focus on. What we can do is go out in style with a few more of Martin's favorite acts. Martin is planning to wrap up the show with two live episodes (and two recorded during the holidays) and take some time off before launching a new show.

EPISODE203 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2010-12-04T17:48:00.000-08:00

There really isn't anyone else like Ozzy Osbourne. If you put him on a magazine cover, you'd know exactly what to expect. He stands among his music peers as someone who has endured and pushed the boundaries of the heavy metal market. This week, we look at his immense career and the rollercoaster that has been his life. We play a retrospective mix of his solo work, a live version of "Crazy Train," the album track "Rock 'n' Roll Rebel" and "Crazy Babies" -- one song for each of the guitarists he'd recorded with during the decade.

There's always a first time for a problem. Today, the SIP lines for Talkshoe were locked up. What this means in English is that we weren't able to call in to record, let alone start, our show this week. So, we hung out in the chat room with some of the normal listeners and recorded it later off the air. The wheels are turning over and over on our side of the screen and we'll come up with a remedy if they don't.

EPISODE202 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2010-11-27T18:31:00.000-08:00

There aren't many bands that were only around for 5 years and left as big a footprint as Manchester's The Smiths. This week, we look at their career as well as that of vocalist Morrissey. So, you can say it's a two-for-one special. We play retrospective mixes for each as well as specific tracks ("Work Is A Four Letter Word" and "Everyday Is Like Sunday" respectively) by each to show different aspects of their sound and range.

Sure we focused on the band and the lead singer but, for those that would like the bigger story, also look into Johnny Marr's work with The The, Electronic, The Healers, Modest Mouse and the Cribs. (Because there was no way we were going to be able to get that in this episode without going over 2 hours.) With all the countless 'best of' collections out there, you should at least have a few from the Smiths in your collection. Shouldn't you?

EPISODE201 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2010-11-20T17:52:00.000-08:00

There are many many amazing stories of artist from the 1980s. Heck, it's the reason we do this show. Some of those stories are happy, sad, intense and reflective but Martin has a thing for the tales of those overcoming adversity. This week, we put Bonnie Tyler under the microscope. No spoilers... but expect a lengthy retrospective mix, "Here She Comes," "Don't Turn Around" and a live hits medley. If anything, this episode is a great reminder that Bonnie was much much more than her hit, "Total Eclipse Of The Heart."

EPISODE200 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2010-11-13T16:38:00.000-08:00

This week we celebrated our 200th episode. Once you start something, you never know where it will go -- could be a short-lived project or something more. Martin keeps finding the latter. To top off a milestone, he turned to Andy McCluskey of Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark (or OMD.) The group have reunited and released a new album, History Of Modern, and at this time they are touring Germany. Andy lays it all out for us from their history, present and future while giving a few choice tidbits about how "If You Leave" almost never happened. We play our retrospective mix, "Of All The Things We've Made," a live version of "Enola Gay" and the new song "New Holy Ground."

We'll keep it short this week but we'd like to thank you for going with us on this journey. 200 weeks of recordings and, oddly enough, some people have heard them all. Special thanks go out to Mich, Steve and Johnny for being our backbone in the chat room. You just can't surround yourself with enough good people.

EPISODE199 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2010-11-06T17:04:00.000-07:00

This week on Talking 80s Music, we were joined by one of melodic rock's premier voices -- Marcie Free. We talk to Marcie about her early years, work with King Kobra and Signal during the 1980s as well as the launch of Unruly Child. Shouldn't spoil it by typing it all here but it's a great story of perseverance that leads up to an amazing new studio album, Worlds Collide, by Unruly Child that is out now. We play a retrospective mix from King Kobra and Signal, King Kobra's "Tough Guys," Signal's "Arms Of A Stranger" and Unruly Child's new single, "Very First Time."

Martin had a great time here, as you can hear it. Then again, there are some strong thoughts to take away from this show. No spoilers... promise. We definitely urge you to go check out the new album and let them know what you think at their UnrulyChild.net site's forum area. Lots going on for next week and we'll tell you more about it then. But we did mention to our listeners that if they'd like to record an MP3 200th birthday wish and email it, they can do that.

EPISODE198 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2010-10-30T15:20:00.000-07:00

Halloween is definitely one of if not Martin's favorite holiday (heck, that's actually his normal desktop photo above.) So for this week's episode of Talking 80s Music goes somewhere we haven't before -- original songs from 80s horror films. We played classic songs by Paul Zaza, Gerard McMahon and Steve Parsons from the films My Bloody Valentine, Lost Boys and The Howling II. Sure, you might not recognize the names, you do know the movies and you should recognize these songs by artists we really should have heard more from. We urge you to turn off the lights and listen to the second half of the show in the dark to really get the effect of the songs.

Everything rolled along pretty well for this show. No major issues and it made for a quick edit. We'd also love to hear your favorite horror songs of the 1980s in our comments area below. We tried to avoid some overplayed songs and ones by artists we would do full episodes on (The Ramones, AC/DC, etc.) Have a great Halloween folks!

EPISODE197 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2010-10-23T17:38:00.000-07:00

This week, we turned our attention on Norwegian metal act TNT and their former vocalist Tony Harnell. Tony joined us live and discussed his work with the band, his new Round Trip album with The Mercury Train and his recent projects. We also played a TNT retrospective mix as well as the 1989 single, "Tonight I'm Falling," and the new song "Anywhere But Here" by Tony Harnell And The Mercury Train.

Martin had a great talk with Tony and it should be noted that there was a slight delay during the interview leaving a little dead air in the conversation. We decided to leave it in there as it's a mess to edit out and it gives you the show as it is. (Remember, we said less editing awhile back.) Which also goes to note that we left a few more flubs than normal. The audio hum has returned to one of the microphones but we'll be looking into that soon. Overall we hope it was as informative as it was fun.

EPISODE196 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2010-10-16T16:00:00.000-07:00

This week we were joined by Foghat's Roger Earl. We discuss their history, wine and -- of course -- their new studio effort, Last Train Home. There is nothing wrong with a band that goes back to their roots. If anything, it's like sharpening the scalpel before the next surgery. We play a retrospective mix of their singles from the 1980s, the 1981 single "Live Now - Pay Later" and "It Hurts Me Too" off the new album.

Once you hear the show, you will understand how much Martin likes the album. He wanted to spend the rest of this post talking just about it but he's supposed to have a review up at 80s Music Central soon for it (so, we're going to conserve energy here and wait for that.) Otherwise, everything went well technically and can't complain.

EPISODE195 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2010-10-09T15:46:00.000-07:00

This week, we turned our magnifying glass on punk/glam rock hybrid The Lords Of The New Church. They could be called a punk supergroup but they didn't stay punk... they merged genres not often associated with the punk sound to create an almost gothic rock appeal. Sure, Madonna changes her sound every album and we have expectations that she'll continue to do so. But there is something about seeing 4 guys leave a similar discipline and create a new template. Expect to hear a retrospective mix, classics ("Open Your Eyes" and "Dance With Me") and the live track "Apocolypso."

Sometimes struggles are worth it. Martin fought with the mic before the show (and won... it seems) as the recording was probably the clearest it has been since purchasing that item. Everything went really well and things are hopping. We are also closing in on episode #200. No idea what will come but you either go big or you go home.

EPISODE194 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2010-10-02T15:24:00.000-07:00

This week on Talking 80s Music, we focused on the life of late blues/rock/jazz artist Jeff Healey. Often cited as one of the best blues guitarists of the decade, he and the Jeff Healey Band were a breath of fresh air and recorded, "Angel Eyes," an enduring wedding song for many. We played a retrospective mix, "My Little Girl," "When The Night Comes Falling From The Sky" and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps."

Technically-speaking, things went well and we are getting past some of our limitations on the live show. (We just take a short break to call back in.) It's never easy to talk about an artist that has passed away but, to Martin, this was a story that had to be told. One thing that he forgot to mention is that Healey's final jazz album with the Jazz Wizards, Last Call, was released in April. It must be said that retinoblastoma is something that with early detection can be treated. Take plenty of photos of your children (as if you have to be told that.)

EPISODE193 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2010-09-25T17:12:00.000-07:00

There is a point in the history of 80s music when the implementation of electronics became more and more prevalent. This week on Talking 80s Music, we talked with a man that was part of that wave -- singer-songwriter Peter Godwin. We talked about his recording career, videos, lyric writing for Steve Winwood's latest album, his new project Nuevo and his Find My Fans Reissue Campaign on Facebook. We played a retrospective mix of his solo singles, the album track "Over Twenty One" and the Nuevo song "Rain Won't Come."

Technology can be a bear but after bumps and glitches we rode that wave and wound up with a classic episode. It must be noted that Mr. Godwin spent some time in the chat room talking with our listeners endearing us to him even more. We can only urge you to go and add the above mentioned fan page in an effort to get his recordings reissued. Add your voices to the masses.

EPISODE192 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2010-09-18T17:49:00.000-07:00

This week on Talking 80s Music we were lucky enough to talk with singer-songwriter Stan Bush just days after the release of his new studio album, Dream The Dream. It was a great chance to talk to him about the new release, his work on soundtracks, his 1986 classic "You've Got The Touch" and much more. We play a retrospective mix, the 1997 version of the aforementioned song and "I'm Still Here" off his new album.

Martin had a great time with the show despite being under the weather. Once it got over to editing we noticed that our host Talkshoe.com wasn't allowing anyone to download any of the previous episodes. Until that was fixed, we couldn't upload a new one. Thankfully, everything seems to be fixed early on Sunday morning but we still worry about how long the episodes have been unavailable.

EPISODE191 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2010-09-11T16:09:00.001-07:00

This week we decided to expand our exploration of music genres by looking at the New York rap trio the Beastie Boys. No one blurred the edges of hip-hop, rock and punk more than they did as they evolved from a hardcore punk act to a multi-million album selling act. We threw together a retrospective mix, played their first international hit ("She's On It") and dusted off the 1989 demo of "The Sounds Of Science."

There was a lot going on during this episode and as there are many fans of the show that are more interested in new wave, metal or rock... we have a mission here to talk about the music of the 1980s. Yes, there may be a day we do a show on Vangelis or some other area of music but never let it be said that we get stagnant or repetitive. Technically, the sound was better than normal (could be how we separated our cabling.) So many things planned for the next few shows. Have a great weekend!

EPISODE190 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2010-09-04T18:04:00.000-07:00

We took a little time out to look at the importance of the rhythm section. To hit the point home (that a good band can't succeed with a bad pulse), we focused this week's show on talented bassist/vocalist/composer/producer Deon Estus. The man created a groove within a little group called Wham! that turned pop music on it's ear and brought us his own top 5 hit "Heaven Help Me." Deon was kind enough to call us on his way into Las Vegas for a performance tonight at Monte Carlo's Brew Pub with Boys Don't Cry & Friends (you really should have seen them live by now.) We played the previously mentioned hit as well as "Me Or The Rumours" and "Spell."

We experienced some slight audio issues (he was driving on his way through the desert so some audio drops are to be expected and a new mic hum emerged) but everything came out well. Left a lot of the show unedited and think it sounds a bit better... maybe more human that way. No robots over here. Martin is off relaxing before he heads out to see Boys Don't Cry & Friends live. Not often that he can see 3 different people that he's interviewed live on stage in their own environment.

EPISODE189 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2010-08-28T17:34:00.000-07:00

This week we catch up on an act we planned to talk about some time back... The Proclaimers. If there were ever a reason to focus on them, it would be to dispel any notion that they are one of those 90s bands that came out of nowhere and disappeared. (None of that is true.) Expect to hear a retrospective mix, "Throw The 'R' Away," "I'm On My Way" and a live version of "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles.)" We also announce a live interview for next week's show.

If there is a regret here it is that there wasn't a better live version of "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" as the quality isn't great. The loud crowd also takes away from the feel but, if anything, you get an idea of how much their fans get into the show. Everything else went pretty well and it's amazing how a few subtle changes can fix annoying problems. We still need a fix for Eyebeam but it isn't hurting us to have Martin call back in every 15 minutes or so. (We don't think he works enough.)

EPISODE188 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2010-08-21T15:21:00.000-07:00

This week on Talking 80s Music, we will look at the career of California singer-songwriter Jackson Browne. The decade would be one of discovery for the artist as he continued to crank out memorable hits and strike a balance between artist and activist. Expect to hear a retrospective mix and live tracks ("That Girl Could Sing," "Lawyers In Love," "I Am A Patriot" and "In The Shape Of A Heart.")

Everything is going pretty well over here. It looks like, for the time being, we will keep the 15 minute rule for the live show (where we will be having a few gaps allowing us to clear the mic) until a more suitable work-around or patch fixes the issue. The show is even getting edited a bit quicker and, yes, you are getting a more natural show as we leave in some editable stammerings.

EPISODE187 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2010-08-14T15:11:00.000-07:00

This week on Talking 80s Music, we went a little more modern rock as we talked about Coventry, England's The Primitives. Don't know them? We'll we'll fix that... it's our job. They scored several U.K. hits that also received a lot of airplay at U.S. college radio stations. Expect to hear a retrospective mix as well as their singles "Crash," "Way Behind Me" and "Sick Of It."

So, we found a short-term fix for our audio software issue (we just take a momentary break and call back in every 15 minutes.) We'll keep hoping a better option surfaces in the future. We also replaced the USB audio adapter that came with our microphone with an iMic. Tremendous difference. So, we're actually pretty pleased with how things came out. Have a great week!

EPISODE186 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2010-08-07T17:59:00.000-07:00

We interviewed Asia/Buggles member Geoff Downes a little over a year ago. We had promised our listeners then we'd focus on a related band soon. This week on Talking 80s Music, we made good on that promise as we turned our attention on... Yes. Expect a retrospective mix, "Tempus Fugit," "I'm Running" and a live version of "Leave It." Sure, we could have played all the big singles but that'd be like showing only the tennis matches Andre Agassi won during a tennis retrospective... sometimes it's the fights, the losses, the exhibitions and the overlooked battles that mean much more.

Thankfully we had our listeners in the chat room this week as they caught some technical problems. Sure, we made a few attempts to fix some previous issues but as Mich said in the chat room, "Sometimes you just want to kill Murphy." We made it through and are only stronger for it.

EPISODE185 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2010-07-31T20:47:00.000-07:00

This week, we turned our focus on one of the most unavoidable voices of the decade... the late Laura Branigan. Expect to hear an extensive retrospective mix, her often overlooked first single ("Looking Out For Number One") and a single of hers that you may have forgotten ("I Found Someone.") With all her hits, it's a shame that we might hear "Gloria" once in a blue moon on an 80s radio station... her 'best of' belongs in your collection.

It looks like we figured out one of our call-in issues and we now only have some tinkering to do with the mic. Fun episode and it was great to see all the participants in the chat room. It's too bad we couldn't just play everything of hers for you but I think this is a great launch pad for those that need a starting point.

EPISODE184 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2010-07-24T16:29:00.000-07:00

Martin's birthday episodes can always have mixed results. This year we focused on one of his favorite acts, The Connells. It was hard to pick just a few songs this week but it may be his bias. Expect to hear a retrospective mix, "Darker Days," "Fun And Games" and "Maybe."

First off, thanks to all those that stopped by the chat room to celebrate Martin's birthday. We also want to send our best wishes to one of our listeners, Linda, who is undergoing back surgery shortly. We decided to try out some new technology (moved to Eyebeam -- which is the full version of X-Lite for calling in to the show) and found it's limitations. This meant that the live show had some audio drops but we made it through and it'll be a day or so with tech support to remedy the issue for next week. If you go on vacation and leave the house a mess, it'll probably be a mess when you get back. Hopefully our technological mess won't take as long to clean up. There is a slight microphone chirping that we want to correct as well. One chore at a time.

2010-07-06T09:50:00.001-07:00

You're probably wondering where the latest episode of Talking 80s Music is. Martin mentioned during the show that he's be uploading shows while on vacation and doing one live from Oregon. Upon further reflection, he was spending most of the trip preparing for the shows instead of spending time with his family. This is his first lengthy vacation in years and we had to tell him that the show can wait. So, fear not, he should be recharged by the time he returns later this month to talk about the Proclaimers.

EPISODE183 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2010-06-26T16:55:00.000-07:00

This week we took a look at the short solo career of singer-songwriter (and later producer) Jon Astley. Expect to hear his singles ("Jane's Getting Serious" and "Put This Love To The Test") and "But Is It Commercial."

Yes, this is the first of a few pre-recorded shows as Martin is getting ready for a much needed family vacation. The news is still in there, so they aren't recorded that far ahead of time. But he did get to exchange a few quick emails with this week's artist. It says a lot about why this show does what it does when it can't find a good biography out there on an artist that had two hits on the U.S. charts. We fill in that gap... with the help of Mr. Astley himself.

EPISODE182 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2010-06-19T21:36:00.000-07:00

This week on Talking 80s Music, we decided to talk about our third Beatle so far... the late George Harrison. From Beatles lead guitarist to solo hit-maker to Wilbury, Harrison touched many mediums and has an enduring legacy. Expect to hear a retrospective mix, Martin's favorite Harrison single ("All Those Years Ago") and the often skipped 1988 single "This Is Love."

We decided to make this our last live episode for the next two weeks as we get ready for our West Coast tour. (Used record stores in the previously mentioned areas will be in trouble.) Our next live show will be on July 10th from Oregon's beautiful Coos Bay. We decided to make this show a bit more of a rough edit and for some reason there was a minute or so gap when talking about the Traveling Wilburys... meaning we will probably have to do an episode there to fix that. Happy Father's Day to all it pertains.

EPISODE181 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2010-06-12T17:47:00.001-07:00

We know that you've been wondering what's been going on with Irene Cara. The knock-out voice that dominated the radio with songs like "Fame," "What A Feelin'," "Why Me?" and "Breakdance" has a new double-CD on the way with her new act Hot Caramel. We talked with her this week about the new single, "Kiss And Walk Away," as well as her earlier hits. Expect to hear the new song, a retrospective mix and "The Dream (Hold On To Your Dream)."

Got a late start due to a technical faux pas (thanks for catching it Steve) but once things got going, we were rocking. Wish we had better quality during the interview but something was wonky on both sides of our phone lines. It is about content, right? We're just happy that it came out as well as it did and we got to celebrate the works of a great performer.

EPISODE180 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2010-06-05T22:25:00.000-07:00

This week we talk with Culture Club guitarist/keyboardist Roy Hay live and discuss the band, the reunions and his upcoming appearance with Boys Don't Cry & Friends on June 12th at The Canyon Club. We play a retrospective mix and live tracks ("I'm Afraid Of Me" and "Church Of The Poison Mind") as well as take a surprise call.

It couldn't have been more of a pleasure doing that interview. We did have some issues but we worked around them. Never give up. No idea why we couldn't see the live callers updated in the chatroom, then lost our phone connection and during the edit noticed that part of the interview wasn't there (hence a slight change in audio quality when the interview starts.) But, it's talking with these people and sharing their stories that are most important.

EPISODE179 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2010-05-29T18:22:00.000-07:00

This Memorial Day weekend we paid tribute to the late songwriter/vocalist Ronnie James Dio by focusing on his work with Dio. We could have done a whole episode on each phase of his career but we may get to another piece of the puzzle another time. We played a retrospective mix, a live version of "Stand Up And Shout," "Mystery" and "Naked In The Rain." Quite varied but also important tracks in understanding what the man and the band brought to the heavy metal dinner table.

As you'll hear during the show, we took the plunge and tested out a few technical changes. The live recording fared well for the first 30 minutes (and then started getting choppy.) Could be the program we are using to call in. We'll be testing out a few other options before next week's show. Hopefully you enjoy the new sound as we keep trying to better the show.

EPISODE178 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2010-05-22T15:45:00.000-07:00

There are just some songs that are tied to the 1980s. "I Melt With You" is among a small handful that make us recall the decade as a whole. This week, we talked with Modern English frontman Robbie Grey about the group's history, the song and touring prior to the release of their new studio album, Soundtrack. We played a retrospective mix, "Gathering Dust," "Someone's Calling" and their new single, "It's Ok." The single is available at iTunes and the album comes out next week.

We really have to thank Mr. Grey for his time and insight. Martin was able to mark-off another artist from his dream interviews list (yes, he does have one.) Technically, where do we start? We got a little chirping sound during the interview -- let's pretend they are birds, shall we? The chat room and live recording didn't happen for a second week due to call-in issues. We have resolved ourselves to record next week's show with the Macbook as a lot of these problems should be alleviated for the live show.

EPISODE177 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2010-05-15T18:00:00.000-07:00

This week, we focused on one of the most dynamic voices of the decade... Gloria Estefan -- a true hit-making sound machine. We played an extensive retrospective mix, early single "Prisoner Of Love," a live version of "Falling In Love (Uh-Oh)" and the often overlooked soundtrack song, "Hot Summer Nights," from Top Gun. You don't find as many careers burn as brightly as hers. The only things that are missing from her recording career would be a one-night only live double-CD and a French-language album. She's got some time, though.

Sometimes when technology evolves and updates come along we pretend that everything is going to work out perfect. We are often deluded and just wrong. This was one of those moments. For some reason, we weren't able to get any audio working via Talkshoe and went with our last resort... recording it offline. Yet, even that has some downfalls. The mic can be soft at times and using noise cancellation in the edit can create some odd distortions. As you may hear. So, as a whole... we made it through and are going to take our next steps toward doing the show from the Macbook.

EPISODE176 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2010-05-08T19:04:00.000-07:00

This week on Talking 80s Music, we will focus on late singer-songwriter Robert Palmer. We will feature a retrospective mix and live tracks ("You Are In My System," "Hyperactive" and "Early In The Morning") while showcasing his versatility and experimentation. If variety is the spice of life, his singles collection is a jalapeno.

No problems this week with the show. Strike that... there were a few moments when audio dropped but we corrected it in post-production. Wish we could pin it down. News is back but we do want to trim it down some (as it will lead you to the main web site.) Otherwise, everything is well. A happy Mother's Day to all our listeners to which it applies.

EPISODE175 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2010-05-01T16:26:00.000-07:00

This week on Talking 80s Music, we decided to take another listener request and focus on Scottish new wave act Aztec Camera and their principal singer-songwriter Roddy Frame. Expect a retrospective mix, live version of "Oblivious," their first single "Just Like Gold" and their later single, "The Crying Scene." Sometimes it's almost too easy to call someone a chameleon when all they are doing is evolving musically and pushing their own boundaries. One such act would be Aztec Camera.

Of course, we mess with things as soon as they start working well. It is human nature. So, we started late with a call-in issue, experienced audio drop in a few sections and lost our connection to the news we posted online. At least two problems were able to be edited in post-production to fix them and the other forces listeners to visit our new news section. This could be a blessing in disguise. We couldn't entirely go away from the news as the knowledge is what keeps fans on their toes (and keeps Martin full of it... knowledge.)

EPISODE174 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2010-04-24T20:01:00.000-07:00

This week on Talking 80s Music, we focus on Texas singer-songwriter/guitarist Charlie Sexton. Releasing some of his earliest music at the age of 15, he would release his solo debut album two years later, become an in-demand session guitarist, formed a band and, during the last few years, became Bob Dylan's guitarist. Expect to hear a retrospective mix, a live version of his hit "Beat's So Lonely" and "Don't Look Back."

Fun episode. Yes, it's our last one with the news section included as we've put our work there to rest. We will feel our way around it for future episodes but it should free things up quite a bit. There were some oddities with the show technically speaking. The audio recorded during the live show didn't come through as well as we'd like (sounded a little tinny.) We couldn't help the audio on the live track as it has a little hum from the television production it came from. He didn't record much live so it is one of the few documents we have to showcase his ability on stage. So, we have to take what we get. But our thanks go out to Linda for requesting a Charlie Sexton episode at our Facebook group area.

EPISODE173 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2010-04-17T18:58:00.000-07:00

This week on Talking 80s Music, we take a look at the strut, swagger and sensuality of iconic U.K. rock act The Pretenders. Expect to hear a massive retrospective mix, a live version of "Middle Of The Road" from Live Aid and their 1981 single, "The Adultress," by the Chrissie Hynde-led ensemble. So much to cram into one episode but they've just had one of those careers. We also played a 1981 single called "Rock Hard" by Fallout in memory of their (and Carnivore/Type O Negative) vocalist Peter Steele.

Technically, everything went well. Made an announcement the day before about the coming end to the 80s Nuts Newsletter after over a decade (nearly 12 years) celebrating the decade. What does that mean for future shows? Well, we will not be focusing on the news for 20+ minutes each week. If a news article get mentioned in conversation, we'll try to put a link up for you or something. It also means that we can focus on that specific artist each week and take more of your calls. It'd be good to hear what you think about some of them but, otherwise, the future remains the future and we will adjust accordingly.

EPISODE172 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2010-04-10T17:42:00.000-07:00

Last month was the 16th anniversary of the passing of multi-instrumentalist Dan Hartman. This week on Talking 80s Music, we will celebrate the short career of a man who touched many different genres and made him a hot commodity in the recording studio. We played a retrospective mix, "Heaven In Your Arms," "We Are The Young" and "Waiting To See You." Hopefully, this dispels any myths that Hartman was a 'one-hit wonder.'

We also debuted a song, "Eat Me Alive," off Ratt's upcoming album, Infestation. You can download your version of it here. Everything went pretty well otherwise. Martin did mention placing a link here going to our Facebook group page to make it easier for you to interact with each other and help us define what some of our 'must-do' episodes are.

EPISODE171 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2010-04-03T16:07:00.000-07:00

This week on Talking 80s Music we turned our focus on reunited Swedish rock act Treat. We talked about their history and played a retrospective mix, a few singles ("Rev It Up" and "You're The One I Want") and a new song, "Roar," off their new studio album, Coup De Grace. Sure, they didn't become a household name in the U.S. during the decade but that's what we are here for.

Of note, the Frontiers Records release of Coup De Grace recently debuted at #12 on the Swedish charts, higher than any of their previous albums (of which Pleasure Principle went to #17 in 1986.) Martin has taken on a new mission which, after listening to the show, he hopes you join in on. Call your local rock radio station and urge them to play Treat's "Roar" -- call them a few times. You can use a handy little tool like the Radio-Locator to find those phone numbers. It's shocking what just a few calls can do and wouldn't it be great for Treat's time to finally come?

EPISODE170 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2010-03-27T15:38:00.000-07:00

This week on Talking 80s Music, we look at a short-lived pop act named Tight Fit. It's not often a band starts as a producer's project, scores a hit, changes all its member, scores a few more hits, changes all its members, scores no hits and then re-emerges. You'll hear several ("Back To The Sixties," "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," "Fantasy Island" and a recent cover of M People's "Movin' On Up") singles and get a chance to consider what something cheesy.

We also included a few samples from upcoming albums (a live version of "Change" by John Waite and a cover of "Love Hurts" by Triumph.) But wild to see how much we packed into the show, but kept it short. That means, a quick edit and Martin is off to see a country concert. (He doesn't see many of them.)

EPISODE169 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2010-03-20T16:35:00.000-07:00

This week on Talking 80s Music, we turn our focus on late rocker Van Stephenson. He burst into the decade with 3 albums earning two big singles ("Modern Day Delilah" and "What The Big Girls Do") before joining country act Blackhawk for the next decade. We played those singles as well as soundtrack songs "Make It Glamorous" and "No Secrets." We were also lucky enough to have Aaron Phillips dig up an old interview he did with Blackhawk in 1994 as they were promoting their debut single. Aaron called in and we talked about that interview.

We also talked with Aaron about the timely relaunch of his Totally 80s Online station this week. Great to see him back and see a bunch of people pop in for the show. No technical glitches and if anything, it was one of the quickest post-show edits we've been able to do. If there is one issue with it, it would be the interview quality but that can't be helped. That means, once things start going too well, we have to start worrying or fiddle with new hardware/software.

EPISODE168 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2010-03-13T19:49:00.000-08:00

This week on Talking 80s Music, we turn our focus on late teen icon Andy Gibb. In just over a decade, Gibb went from being a #1 hit-maker to hosting a television series to Broadway to dealing with addiction and to mounting his comeback. We will share that story as well as feature a retrospective mix, a few singles ("Desire" and "All I Have To Do Is Dream") and a special version of "I Can't Help It."

Despite only releasing one album, After Dark, during the decade, Gibb made an impact on 80s pop culture on the radio and on television. This was a must-do episode. No problems technically. (Which is a good reason to take our time in making hardware changes.) We also mentioned Affliction clothing during the show and our friend's Web site. Drop by and see what they have.

EPISODE167 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2010-03-06T16:35:00.000-08:00

This week on Talking 80s Music, we celebrate the return of melodic rock act Giant and their new album, Promise Land. There are always songs that you hear and just expect it's another band. This episode gives us a chance to remedy a misconception that Foreigner had a few other hits that didn't make it on their albums. We played two songs ("I'll See You In My Dreams" and "I'm A Believer") from their 1989 debut, Last Of The Runaways, as well as "Believer Redux" and "Promise Land" off their new album (heading to stores next week.)

It's hard to imagine a band sounding like themselves yet changing their vocalist. Ok, sure, Journey did it on their last album but that doesn't happen often while also retaining their services as a writer on 7 and guitarist on 2 tracks. A lot of fun. Only a few hiccups in the live chat room as the live feed had a few spurious moments. Martin has dedicated this episode to his new nephew Leyton Matthew Hennessy born on Friday night.

EPISODE166 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2010-02-27T19:07:00.000-08:00

This week on Talking 80s Music, we turned our attention to Los Angeles-based heavy metal act Keel. We talked with vocalist/guitarist Ron Keel about the band's history, their 25th anniversary reissue of The Right To Rock and their new album, Streets Of Rock & Roll. We played a retrospective mix, the new version of "The Right To Rock," and both "Brothers In Blood" and "Does Anybody Believe" (off the new album.)

Martin has been mentioning how much he loves the new songs all week and we are all excited to see this band get new material out there. We also featured a sample of "Finger On The Trigger" from Asia's upcoming album, Omega, and the song "Toutes les auiguilles dans le rouge" off of Buzz's latest release, Cyberclash: Live @ Aligre FM-Paris. No major issues technically but it was another long show. At least we made it all fit in just under 2 hours.

EPISODE165 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2010-02-20T18:14:00.000-08:00

It was with a heavy heart that we focused this week's episode of Talking 80s Music on Los Angeles-based rock act The Knack. Singer/songwriter Doug Fieger lost his battle with cancer on Feb. 14th. We were lucky enough to talk extensively with Prescott Niles about the band's history to give you a deep insight into what made them rock. We played a short retrospective mix and album tracks ("I Want You" and "Radiating Love.")

It isn't often that we set a record for our longest interview and not a minute of it was wasted. So, our thanks go out to Mr. Niles as he arranged time for us last minute as things are really busy over there with him. We also want to point fans over to a letter he wrote about Doug at the Doug Fieger Memorial Page on Facebook. Martin also mentioned a video of Prescott playing "My Sharona" with his daughter Liv (on lead guitar) and son Gabe (on drums) that you just have to see. Technically, the show went great but, due to it going over 2 hours in length, we had size issues. This episode would have been a 128MB file but we are restricted to 100MB per episode so we cut the audio Kbps from 128 to 96.

EPISODE164 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2010-02-13T21:16:00.000-08:00

This week on Talking 80s Music, we investigate the allure and longevity of Grammy-winning U.K. pop/jazz ensemble Sade. We will also play a retrospective mix, the album version of "Smooth Operator," a 1988 recording of "Paradise" and a sample of the title track from their new studio album, Soldier Of Love.

Sade has always been an episode that we wanted to do for the show. Something about the easy grace that flows through their songs. Technically, all went well. We are just a few weeks from testing out a few changes and our hopes are for the better. Otherwise, we will keep forging a wide but varied path leaving nothing but dust in our wake.

EPISODE163 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2010-02-06T17:44:00.000-08:00

We are all about pushing our boundaries here and this week we had our first interview with a full band. Tony Lewis, John Spinks and Alan Jackman of The Outfield joined us live from London to talk about their career, the music business and their forthcoming new studio album. We even had our own wardrobe malfunction... well, kinda... you need to catch the show. You get to hear a retrospective mix, "Baby I'm Crazy," the first song to surface from their new album as well as live versions of "All The Love" and "Your Love." Several fans also joined in to ask a few questions.

We now know that we can handle more callers and may try to do more live interviews (although a little difficult for some that are on the other side of the world.) Martin said something afterwards about there being nothing like talking to a band you admire and enjoy to get you excited about doing this type of show. Our thanks go out to the band and Brent Bitner for a very special episode. Make sure you stop by their Web site at TheOutfield.com to check for updates, sign up for their newsletter, follow them on MySpace, Twitter and Facebook.

EPISODE162 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2010-01-30T16:47:00.000-08:00

This week on Talking 80s Music, we talked with singer/songwriter Martha Davis of The Motels about her songwriting, recording and a ton of new projects in the works (including her new children's album Red Frog Presents 16 Songs For Parents And Children.) A powerful voice and a sharp pen, Davis has created some amazing hits that are part of our Motels retrospective mix. We also feature a live version of the band's "Closets & Bullets" from 1980.

There are many artists that find themselves hidden behind a band name later in life. You can probably name a bunch of acts that you enjoy that you have no idea who the singer/songwriter behind those songs may be. Just something to think about as we focused on one such artist this week. Next week will be a special call-in episode, so we urge you to find a way to catch it live and interact with the band. I won't print who it is here but you can find out in this latest episode of the show.

EPISODE161 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2010-01-23T20:04:00.000-08:00

This week on Talking 80s Music, we celebrate the life and legacy of late R&B vocalist Teddy Pendergrass. The man made women swoon and forced men to purchase his albums in hopes to get the same effect on the ladies. We expect to play a retrospective mix, "Can't We Try," "Never Felt Like Dancin'" and a very special live track.

The idea for a Teddy Pendergrass episode had been gestating for awhile and, with his passing, we had to move it up. Some amazing music in his catalogue that hopefully sits on your iPod or in your collection. Few bumps in the road technically this week, if at all.

EPISODE160 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2010-01-16T21:54:00.000-08:00

Last week on Talking 80s Music, we focused on New Zealand's Split Enz... but we purposely didn't mention the latter project by bandmates Neil Finn and Paul Hester, Crowded House. That's because we would spend this week talking about the Crowdies. We played a retrospective mix, "Hole In The River," "Into Temptation" live and live acoustic versions of "Throw Your Arms Around Me" and "Better Be Home Soon."

We had several visitors during the show which included mega-Go West fan, Trish. There is something fun about connecting with other people just as passionate about their music. Many plans for the next few weeks... just can't spoil it yet.

EPISODE159 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2010-01-09T19:10:00.000-08:00

This week on Talking 80s Music, we look to a little island called New Zealand and focus on the band called Split Enz. Evolving from progressive rock to punk to pop, the band would have several hits before finding greater success separately. Expect to hear a retrospective mix, their rare non-album single "No Exit," "I Wouldn't Dream Of It" and a live version of their classic "Message To My Girl." Sure, we could have made a 2 hour episode out of this but also wanted to leave a little something for a future episode about their even more successful spin-off band.

Word from in the chat room was that the audio sounded better than ever. Do we believe them... yes, because we have to. Think we chose a good mix of fast, slow, well-know and lesser-known tracks for this one to showcase more of their range. Yes, Martin did mention the CES that he attended this week. His dream is to host the show live at one of those locations someday... Tommy Lee was running around there this year.

EPISODE158 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2010-01-02T17:21:00.000-08:00

One must start off the new year right, right? This week, Talking 80s Music focused on the recent release of the Park Lane Archives. The compilation collects 22 demos and exclusive rarities from the Park Lane Studios in Glasgow Scotland -- which can be viewed as a historical record of the 'Scotrock' music scene. We featured songs by Bourgie Bourgie ("Breaking Point"), the Jazzateers ("16 Reasons") and the Kevin McDermott Orchestra ("Wheels Of Wonder".)

For some reason, as the episode went on, we forgot that it was a light news week (still... as the holidays always seem to do that.) So it was a good reason to throw other lingering thoughts out there like update people to the 80s Music Icons Facebook App. But a good start to the new year and a few bands for fans of Scotrock to investigate.

EPISODE157 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2009-12-26T15:10:00.000-08:00

This week we celebrated the start of our 4th year of Talking 80s Music. Oddly timed, as it also comes right before the end of this decade. It also marks nearly 30 years since the start of the 1980s. So, we decided to do a countdown of the 25 biggest U.S. singles of the 1980s to commemorate the event. Quite an undertaking and, if anything, Martin has a new respect for Casey Kasem, Shadoe Stevens and anyone else that does countdowns.

To ensure that everything went well, we recorded the countdown earlier so there is a noticeable jump in audio quality. Not much we could do to correct for that. We did this so we could get back to our families to help take down Christmas trees, stockings and all. From all of us, to all of you, have a happy new year!

EPISODE156 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2009-12-19T18:30:00.000-08:00

With Christmas and other winter holiday celebrations going on during the upcoming week, we figured we'd look at other forms of giving. Many charity singles and albums were released during the decade and we felt that it's a good time to focus on some of those. We play a charity retrospective mix, Cliff Richard & The Young Ones' "Living Doll," Stop The Violence's "Self Destruction" and Band Aid II's "Do They Know It's Christmas?" So many overlooked songs and some really hard to find. Probably about time they come out with a compilation of those tracks.

As we look back on the recording, it's too bad more of these songs aren't available digitally as they'd still be making money for the charity of their choice. (And it'd help the quality of a few songs in the mix.) Very happy with how everything else came out overall. This is the last episode in our 3rd year running and our appreciation goes to goes out to each of you, our listeners. Enjoy the holidays!

EPISODE155 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2009-12-12T15:08:00.000-08:00

We'd been feeling the metal urge and this week we turned our focus on a man that can literally bend metal on stage... Thor's Jon Mikl Thor. We talked with him about his career and featured a few live ("Lightning Strikes" and "Warriors Of The Universe") and studio tracks ("Thor Against The World" and "Call Of The Triumphant".) We can now say we've had our strongest show yet.

Beware your electronics when talking to the Norse god of thunder as something happened to our audio during the interview (crackling) and after. We've replaced our sound card. As you can tell, the audio sounds crisper. Definitely a blessing from the gods.

Thor
"Call Of The Triumphant" (mp3)
from "Best Of Thor (Vol. 3)"
(Smog Veil Records)
Buy at iTunes Music Store
Buy at Rhapsody
Buy at Napster
Stream from Rhapsody
Buy at Amazon MP3
More On This Album

Thor
"Thor Against The World" (mp3)
from "Thor Against The World"
(Smog Veil Records)
Buy at iTunes Music Store
Buy at Rhapsody
Buy at Napster
Stream from Rhapsody
Buy at Amazon MP3
More On This Album

EPISODE154 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2009-12-05T20:47:00.000-08:00

This week on Talking 80s Music, we touched on one of the bigger teen heart-throbs of the 1980s... Corey Hart. Some great music came from the Canadian singer/songwriter but for some reason it never manifested overseas (i.e. England.) We put together a retrospective mix, played an unplugged version of "Never Surrender" as well as "Eurasian Eyes" and "I Am By Your Side." Well worth taking our Corey Challenge we mention during the show -- play any of his hits other than "Never Surrender" and "Sunglasses At Night" to one of your friends and see if they can guess the artist.

We had a great time working on this episode. Has to be the content. Maybe it's also knowing that we provided some of our listeners with the missing puzzle pieces that make up the bigger picture of this artist. Did notice a few problems with the live version that were corrected later. If this continues, we may have to tweak a few things again.

EPISODE153 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2009-11-28T16:43:00.000-08:00

This week, we focused on Wide Boy Awake -- the short-lived project by former Adam & The Ants bassist Kevin Mooney. No retrospective mix necessary as we touched on all their singles ("Chicken Outlaw," "Slang Teacher," "Billy Hyena" and "Bona Venture.") If people are known by the company they keep, Wide Boy Awake will be remembered kindly as their songs appear on many compilations of the decade.

We also played a demo of the new OMD song, "Sister Marie Says," and sample of "Ain't Gonna Die" from Bruce Kulick's upcoming album, BK3. What better way to hear what's coming to stores near you next year. Technically, we had a slight problem calling into the chat room and starting the show. For some reason the software dialpad wouldn't let us enter our passcode, making us start a little late. But otherwise, all went well.

EPISODE152 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2009-11-21T22:46:00.000-08:00

This time, we celebrated Paul McCartney week. The singer/songwriter released his new live CD/DVD, Good Evening New York City, this week and we gave away a copy of it during our show (with a trivia question.) We will also feature a retrospective mix and a few singles ("Take It Away," "No More Lonely Nights," "Press" and "Put It There") he released during the decade in an brief overview of his illustrious career.

Don't think that more fun could have been had during this show. Martin was able to touch on some of his favorite McCartney songs and remind a few people out there about some of his singles that got brief airplay but are still running around your heads. When it came time to give away the copy of Good Evening New York City... a few of the callers that were holding out for the trivia contest dropped out (the show went longer than normal.) The first call in was from Martin's cousin Johnny... well, he thought it was. You'll understand after hearing it. (Without a second caller behind them, they got a rare second chance and won.)

EPISODE151 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2009-11-14T16:55:00.000-08:00

This week on Talking 80s Music, we decided to fill in another historical gap by explaining away any notion that Cyndi Lauper just appeared out of nowhere screaming "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun." Stardom is seldom sudden and often their early work to get to that level goes unnoticed. To fix this we showcased her short-lived band Blue Angel and exposing you to a rockabilly-ish side of one of the eighties most recognized artists. We featured their "I Had A Love," "Maybe He'll Know," "Take A Chance" and "I'm Gonna Be Strong." Their album is well worth purchasing.

Had a great time working on this episode. There is something about reminding people of the music they should have heard and their radio stations are unlikely to play. We also played a sample of Slash's cover of "Paradise City" featuring Cypress Hill and Fergie as well as, "Amazing," the first single off Steevi Jaimz' latest album. Technically, all went pretty well. Had to amplify the mic towards the end of the show which added some static. Thinking that the playing of the songs is slowly knocking the mic level down but we'll mess with it later.

EPISODE150 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2009-11-07T18:45:00.000-08:00

This week we turn our eighties obsessed peepers on the solo career of Jane Wiedlin of the Go-Gos. Often overlooked, Wiedlin's voice is necessary voices in 80s music. We play a brief retrospective mini-mix, "Blue Kiss," "Inside A Dream" and "Whatever It Takes." We could have spent longer on her but we'll get to hear her more when we do a full episode on the Go-Gos.

Nothing really technical to note. Tough week though. Dedicating this episode to the late Fred Sicks. Everything is going well otherwise and have a few interviews in the works. No, I'm holding it back until it's in the can and ready for your consumption.

EPISODE149 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2009-10-31T20:34:00.001-07:00

This week's episode of Talking 80s Music fell on Halloween. Despite being Martin's favorite holiday, it's also the excuse he used to delve into the often creepy and disturbing side of rock music by focusing on industrial powerhouse Skinny Puppy. We featured their classic tracks "Smothered Hope," "One Time One Place," "Shadowcast" and "Tin Omen" in an effort to cover their career.

Still keeping our fingers crossed (and knocking on wood) as it must be said that the show has been sounding better technically. Thought of throwing in a bunch of Halloween sounds but... this wasn't an glossy show. We considered a few live tracks but the bass end of the songs we looked at were almost non-existent yet oh so necessary for showcasing a band like this.

EPISODE148 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2009-10-24T22:06:00.000-07:00

This week on Talking 80s Music, we filled a historical gap by focusing on the Joe Perry Project. A lot of people think that Aerosmith has just been a juggernaut since the 1970s but there was a low moment when the band was without their guitarist as he walked... a different way. We played live versions of "Let The Music Do The Talking" and "Once A Rocker, Always A Rocker," "East Coast, West Coast" and a clip of "We've Got A Long Way To Go" from his new solo album, Have Guitar, Will Travel. It's an interesting story for fans and rock-a-holics alike. If anything, it leaves you with questions. What would have happened if the albums were promoted properly? Would the amazing success of Aerosmith have happened without this fractured moment? Did corporate sabotage keep fans from hearing great music? You'll have to answer those questions on your own.

Before we get to the technical stuff, we've been asked by our sponsors to get as many listeners to fill out this survey for us about the show. We'd be very appreciative if you do. Anyhow, using the system we have set up, we've eliminated the hum in the last few episodes. Don't see us playing with things to make them any worse. Did have a fun time on this show and our future episodes look even more promising.

EPISODE147 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2009-10-17T19:36:00.000-07:00

This week on Talking 80s Music, we celebrated the life of one of the most powerful set of lungs in R&B... the late Luther Vandross. Quite a bit of work to cover a man that was very busy during the decade as a solo artist, backing vocalist and arranger but we do our best to do right by him. Expect a big retrospective mix, a live version of "A House Is Not A Home" as well as "I'll Let You Slide" and "Give Me A Reason." The mix is well worth paying attention to as you can see how diverse an artist he was by just a sampling of some of his work.

Need to put that link up for you to see a young Luther with his group Listen My Brother on an episode of Sesame Street. See if you can spot him. Went a bit longer on this episode than we expected but there is just so much to cover that leads you to his career and after our decade of focus. Had a lot of fun but a lot more work than normal. Must say that it sounds pretty good in the final mix. Good shows are what keeps us going and this could be one of them.

EPISODE146 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2009-10-10T18:41:00.000-07:00

This week we had been thinking about getting a little healthier. A little jogging, eating better and taking our vitamins. So we're going to work on your musical health and get you your Vitamin Z -- the kind created in Sheffield. We'll focus on the band's two studio releases (1985's Rites Of Passage and 1989's Sharp Stone Rain) and even feature a song you should recognize. Great band to stump your friends on.

One of the best sounding episodes that we've done in awhile (from the microphone side.) And, oddly enough, we just changed back to our older mic. Go figure. The first two songs should have a little pop to them as they come from a vinyl source. Fun music and we had our first visitor from Egypt in the chat room.

EPISODE145 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2009-10-03T20:22:00.000-07:00

This week, we figured that it was time to talk about one of the biggest icons of a single music genre and they don't get any bigger than late reggae artist Bob Marley. We played a retrospective mix (focused on his last two albums and singles), a bootleg of "Could You Be Loved" recorded in 1980 at Rockpalast and the unlikely posthumous collaboration, on "Roots, Rock, Reggae," with Steven Tyler and Joe Perry.

Fun episode where we also previewed a sample from Cinderella's upcoming live album. Noticing some vocal audio issues during the show and hope to rectify it. Might try to route the microphone differently next week.

EPISODE144 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2009-09-26T18:01:00.000-07:00

This week on Talking 80s Music, you hear The Truth, the whole Truth and nothing but The Truth as we focused on the U.K. act of the same name. Expect a retrospective mix of some of their singles, "A Step In The Right Direction," "Weapons Of Love" and, the very hard to find theme from the 1987 film The Hidden, "It's Hidden," to cover the many different phases of their career. Listen and ask yourself how many bands they sound like. The vocals on their biggest U.S. hit, "Weapons Of Love," remind Martin of the late Robert Palmer.

The mixing did seem to go too well but the problem remained that we had a mic that almost disappeared in the mix. To fix that, we had to accept a constant hum in the background... or some intermittent static. We opted for the static. This does mean we have to look at some changes for the next show. But overall, we had a great time and met some new listeners.

EPISODE143 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2009-09-19T19:38:00.001-07:00

It was a death that rocked the music world at the beginning of a new decade and ended a brilliant career short. This week on Talking 80s Music we turned an eye on John Lennon. His output during the 1980s was limited to two albums (you could add Menlove Avenue but that was mainly early outtakes) but he did have an affect on the music of the 80s and we remind you how. We featured clips from one of his last interviews, a retrospective mix and demos of the songs "I'm Losing You" and "I'm Steppin' Out."

Quite an interesting journey. Sometimes you really don't think about how much an artist affects you until you focus your attention explicitly on them. Overall, no major technical hitches. Towards the end of the show we had people in the chat room from the U.K. and New York which weirded Martin out a little. (Lennon born in Liverpool, U.K. and ending his life in New York.) In retrospect, songs titles like "I'm Losing You" and "I'm Steppin' Out" sound like departures and are creepy as well. Still a little static in the background but not enough to annoy.

EPISODE142 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2009-09-12T17:54:00.000-07:00

This week on Talking 80s Music we dig deep to uncover the short history of Rockwell. Yes, you probably remember his biggest hit "Somebody's Watching Me" but he wasn't a 'one-hit-wonder.' We dispel that myth, go into his history and hopefully leave you with less questions than we start. Features a retrospective mix, "Knife," "He's A Cobra" and "Carme'." There really isn't as much information out there about Kennedy William Gordy. Maybe that will change in the future. During the show we also previewed the song "Next Time Around" from Mr. Big's upcoming live album.

We noticed that we left out the Chart Flashback which will return for double duty next week. Technically, nothing too wrong on this end. A little hiss but no hum. It does seem that there was some audio cut-out during the songs for those in the chat room. But they also had trouble staying connected to the chat area. Oddly enough, a new update of Firefox was released today so... this could have a lot to do with it. Let's hope it is resolved in future updates.

EPISODE141 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2009-09-05T17:10:00.000-07:00

This week we headed to the Pacific Northwest to visit with Portland's Quarterflash. We featured a retrospective mix, a few live tracks ("Harden My Heart" and "Right Kind Of Love"), a sample of "Opening Doors" from their latest album Goodbye Uncle Buzz and our interview with vocalist/saxophonist Rindy and guitarist Marv Ross. This is definitely one packed episode.

Made some adjustments this week. We tested out our new microphone (until the other one comes back from repairs.) We can deal with static more than we can a hum or buzz (no bees were harmed in the studio.) So far, so good. We also had a few new faces drop into the chat room which means more people are finding the show (live or otherwise.)

EPISODE140 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2009-08-29T18:01:00.001-07:00

This week on Talking 80s Music we look at the brief but successful career of London's Breathe. Not many bands have made as strong an impression with just two releases but Breathe could have done it just with their 1988 debut All That Jazz. We featured a retrospective mix, "Any Trick (Like A Monkey)" and "In All Honesty." Check out vocalist David Glasper's MySpace page.

The final edit does sound better than we thought. It might not sound like it but it is killing us over here to have to use the noise reduction setting just to cancel out the microphone hum which in turn can add a little echo as well as drops in my voice. So we will be going shopping this week for a cheap interim mic while the other one gets replaced. We just don't quit and are committed (or should be) to getting you your fix each week.

EPISODE139 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2009-08-22T21:32:00.000-07:00

This week we look at the rise of New Jersey rock act Danzig. No, they didn't just come out of nowhere. We will play a retrospective mix, "She Rides" and live versions of "Twist Of Cain" and "Am I Demon." Well worth seeking out their 1988 self-titled debut album. Turn off the lights and beat up some furniture with us.

We decided to work in one of our regular after-show callers, Ben, this week. Came out pretty good and we hope to mix in others in the future. Still got the line noise from the microphone and had to process the audio. This tends to drop the softer vocals more so some things get pretty soft. Not able to invest in new equipment at the time so we have to keep trying to work around it. All is well and just getting better.

EPISODE138 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2009-08-15T18:31:00.000-07:00

We touched on the passing of writer/director/producer John Hughes during last week's episode. This week on Talking 80s Music we decided to do something unusual. His films played a huge role in our perception of the 1980s and the soundtracks... well, we'll talk about how they relate to all seven of his directorial theatrical releases of the decade. Those films get a soundtrack retrospective mix and we feature songs by Karla DeVito ("We Are Not Alone") and Kirsty MacColl ("You Just Haven't Earned It Yet Baby.")

The good news is that we figured out our live audio issue and resolved it. Now we are focusing on the microphone hum. Editing out the noise works in smaller doses but can create an echo effect. Changing out the microphone is a possibility but we just picked this one up a few months back. The noise isn't as bad as before (appears for awhile and disappears) and some of that could be due to the soft noise reduction we ran on the audio during the edit.

EPISODE137 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2009-08-08T20:03:00.000-07:00

This week we spent our second week in Germany to focus on synthpop/dance act Camouflage. It's easy to misunderstand a band once they have a big hit single. Some continue striving to create the same song over and over again to regain that ever elusive hit. Camouflage produced two strong albums during the 1980s and found themselves treading water as a duo only to reunite for some solid efforts recently. That is evidenced by our retrospective mix and we also featured a remix of "That Smiling Face," "Love Is A Shield" and "The Great Commandment 2001.) Believe the scholars, read the readings... they are worth investigating.

You often hear the phrase "one step forward, two steps back." This episode was our two steps back. The live sound in the previous episode was good. This week, there was no sound (except in the studio) when it came to sound effects and music. Luckily, we can always fix that in post-production but a real shame. Hope to have that resolved next week.

EPISODE136 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2009-08-01T17:29:00.000-07:00

This week on Talking 80s Music we traveled (no driving) to Germany to focus on metal act the Scorpions. We played a retrospective mix and live versions of "The Zoo" and "Dynamite" while giving an overview of their career which has seen them sell over 75 million albums worldwide.

Today we gave our new software a test drive and it held up well. We will now be able to take your calls regularly and our live listeners will get better audio quality. Our next project will be tracking down a background noise but our first guess is that it's a line problem with the microphone. Should be easier to correct than the earlier issues we just resolved.

EPISODE135 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2009-07-25T17:20:00.000-07:00

We were planning to present a little more metal but, looked at the calendar, and decided to let Martin pick 3 personal favorites to feature this week on Talking 80s Music. It's his birthday the following day so expect to hear songs by Jules Shear ("Steady"), Rodger Hodgson ("Had A Dream (Sleeping With The Enemy)" and Marty Balin ("Hearts.") Part of the appeal of these songs isn't that they are just good songs but that they received good airplay and you'd be hard pressed to find a radio station that has played them recently.

There was a bit of pressure in the chat room to get the software issues taken care of to increase the quality of the music during the live show. We just need time to tinker with it. Don't want to go a week or more without a show because we deleted something we needed, had a conflict or couldn't get something to work. It'd also be nice to take your calls and maybe pose a question of the week. One step at a time.

EPISODE134 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2009-07-18T21:09:00.000-07:00

Sometimes circumstances force us to veer from our schedule. We had planned to do this episode a few weeks ago but, wouldn't you know it, the King Of Pop passes away forcing a quick adjustment. But, we can now return our focus on Canadian rock/pop act The Payolas this week on Talking 80s Music. We plan to feature their most memorable hit (we shouldn't have to see it), "Never Said I Loved You" and their most recent single, "Shark Attack." There is something about the fusion of ska, rock and new wave... even better if it's a well written song.

Technically, the show went great. Great to see a few listeners that have been AWOL for awhile. Was able to sneak out with very few injuries. Still looking at changing software but we'll look into it in a few weeks. Not worth messing with something that is working 90% well when the unknown could be less.

EPISODE133 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2009-07-11T18:11:00.000-07:00

This week we focused on Asia (the band, not the continent.) 'Supergroup' is a word that's been tossed around a lot recently so why not look at one of the biggest ones during the early 1980s. We talked with keyboardist Geoff Downes about his career, the bands he's been with and the reunion of the original Asia. We also play a retrospective mix of their singles as well as live versions of "Only Time Will Tell" and "The Smile Has Left Your Eyes." Definitely try to catch them right now while they are on tour now.

Looks like we will have to do more tweaking to give a better live experience. Sure, only a small percentage of our listeners get to hear it live but that doesn't mean we'll neglect them. We'll work on using the new software next week as we expect to have more free time. Great to see Linda join our regular crowd of misfits in the chat room to see what really goes on during an episode recording.

EPISODE132 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2009-07-04T18:36:00.001-07:00

This week on Talking 80s Music, we talked with legendary producer and Alan Parsons Project mastermind Alan Parsons about his career, role as a producer and new DVD project. We also featured a retrospective mix, a live version of "Games People Play" and the beautiful "Old And Wise." If you haven't heard the group before, go out and listen to as much of their stuff that you can. They hit the ethereal, haunting, beautiful and dark while focusing on an overall theme for each album. That Essential Alan Parsons Project collection can be found at Amazon.com.

Tried out the newer software (vEmotion and Gizmo5) before starting the show and we had too many issues (for some reason no music tracks played through.) We decided to go back to what we know works already and not mess with things quite yet. Next week should be the first back-to-back interview episode for the show. Hopefully, more of those to come.

EPISODE131 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2009-06-27T23:10:00.000-07:00

This week we had everything planned. We were going to focus on the Payolas but as reports of Michael Jackson's passing arose on Thursday afternoon... we knew we had to rise to the occasion. What does that exactly mean? Well, when the biggest musical icon of a decade passes away and you do a show about that decade... you drop what you are doing and get current. The negative aspect of this was that our prep time was nil and had to fly by the seat of our proverbial pants. We featured a massive retrospective mix, live version of "Billie Jean" and his first U.K. #1 single "One Day In Your Life."

This was possibly our highest attendance ever in the chat room. I think that I can understand why. Michael left some big tracks across our cultural landscape. It is also hard to separate the personal from the musical. Feel like sharing your thoughts on the singer's musical legacy? You can join and open a discussion at our Talking 80s Music group at Facebook. Otherwise, yes, it was a really long show (we originally were in the room for 2 hours and 30-something minutes) -- meaning lots of editing. Finished right before midnight. Pushed back our changes to our sound effects/music software for the live show to this next week. Then again, we heard some good things about the sound after changing the levels during the song. We'll see.

EPISODE130 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2009-06-20T21:37:00.000-07:00

This week on Talking 80s Music, we head to Switzerland to talk about the jazz/pop duo Double. Their hit single "Captain Of Her Heart" is possibly one of the most overlooked gems of the decade. If anything, after this you could win the next time you are playing songs back and forth trying to play Who's That Artist? We will remedy that by giving you an overview of their career (playing the aforementioned hit, "Devils Ball" and Kurt Maloo's solo track "Young King") and talk about the latest release, 2006's Kurt Maloo vs Double's Loopy Avenue. Check out more of his projects at http://www.myspace.com/kurtmaloo.

This week we intended to try something new with the chat room. When we call into the show, the song quality is usually lacking (as the Talkshoe system is meant more for human voice.) We planned to attempt a software change and wound up pushing it to next week. The positive changes we are looking for are: 1) better music audio quality 2) allow calls in the middle of the show 3) make the live show as enjoyable as the final version. Our fingers are crossed.

EPISODE129 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2009-06-13T18:29:00.000-07:00

Update episode... What? Well, scheduling conflicts happen. Sometimes we catch a few of our previously featured artists after we do a show about them. This is our first one. So, there will be no music featured this week but we do talk music with former Sheriff and current Alias guitarist Steve DeMarchi. We featured Sheriff in episode #115 and Alias in #117. Both would be well worth catching as this episode will fill in some of the blanks.

Unexpectedly, lost our Internet connection in the middle of the show. So there is a little dead space during the news section in the earliest version. We recovered and it isn't as noticeable as one would think. May be testing some new software out next week and if that works, you may hear more from our chatroom as we'll try to take more calls.

EPISODE128 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2009-06-06T18:26:00.000-07:00

We often strive for balance in the show and while browsing our show archive we felt that R&B needed to be shown some love. So, this week on Talking 80s Music so we focus on The Jacksons. Sure, they had a healthy career before the 80s (as the Jackson 5) but if asked to name a few of their hits that decade, many would list ones by Michael. We play our retrospective mix, "This Place Hotel" and "Nothing (That Compares 2 You.)"

This episode went pretty well. Should be testing a few new things next week as we try to enhance the live experience of the show as the music should sound better live. Oddly enough, our next show has no music as we will focus on our first update interview (of an artist we've featured previously.)

EPISODE127 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2009-05-30T19:15:00.000-07:00

We saw many charitable collaborations during the decade. You can count many of them on your fingers. This week on Talking 80s Music we focused on the often overlooked 1985 project, Hear 'N Aid, that raised over $1 million for famine relief in Africa. We played their lengthy, "We're Stars," as well Y&T's "Go For The Throat" and a live version of Accept's "Up To The Limit." The project was definite who's who of metal talent.

During the show we learned something new... we have educational value. A listener in Mexico joined us in the chat room and told us that he's been learning English by listening to 80s music and our show. We've previously mentioned our international audience and, until now, hadn't really considered that people were getting the show for its language content as well as music. Some of it does make sense as the news section text does appear on 80sMusicCentral.com (without the sarcasm) allowing contrast and comparison. We can only hope that we don't slaughter our own language too much.

EPISODE126 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2009-05-23T15:42:00.000-07:00

We dove back into a little more obscurity this week on Talking 80s Music as we focused on U.K. new romantic duo Seona Dancing. If you are scratching your head, it's alright. They only released a pair of charting singles but, as always, there's more to the story. You see, vocalist Ricky Gervais didn't wind up becoming lost to time. You most likely have seen his films, television series or stand up comedy. If anything, he's a little embarrassed by it all (as you can see in the YouTube video we post below.) We played the songs "More To Lose," "You're On My Side" and a remix of "Bitter Heart" during the show.

First, we'd like to heartily welcome our friends in the Czech Republic who have become our 2nd biggest downloaders/listeners. I guess, if you cover music from all over the world, you should expect the whole world to listen. Thank you for your support. Second, we wanted to tell you something that was left out of the show. We have been in contact with several of the acts that we've previously featured on the show but couldn't get an interview done in time. As a way to rectify this, we are planning a few 'update' episodes that will feature those interviews (usually two at a time.)

EPISODE125 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2009-05-16T22:23:00.001-07:00

There are few times that we try to hit you over the head with something you should know already. Why would we do that? Well, sometimes the most glaring gaps in our musical landscape are big holes waiting to be filled. Heck, even this week, someone in the chat room drew a blank to this week's artist. So we decided this week to pay tribute to late legendary blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan and feature a few clips of his guitar-work that appeared on hits you should know as well as a few live tracks ("Cold Shot," "House Is A Rockin'" and "Crossfire") that were recorded in Asbury Park at the end of 1988. A sad story but a brilliant musician.

Had a few odd moments in the chat room this week. Here and there, we had glitches in the chat area (should probably try the other version of the software next week.) A lot of new friendly faces popped in. Long episode trying to squeeze a lot of information in. The edit went up later that night after Martin got back from his niece and nephew's birthday party. (They really got a kick out of his interview with the Chipmunks last year.) All is well otherwise and we are all eagerly awaiting some downtime. Have a great week.

EPISODE124 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2009-05-09T19:12:00.000-07:00

This week we remained in Australia to focus on the short-lived alternative pop rock act The Screaming Tribesmen. Not enough of a recording history for a mix but we played some gems like "Igloo," "Living Vampire" and their sole U.S. chart hit "I've Got A Feeling." (We placed the video for the latter below.) One thing that really stands out in listening to them is they bear a semblance to bands like Primal Scream with a bit more vocal harmonics.

We are finishing up posting the episode early this week (even noticed something missing but we'll see if someone complains.) There were a few more chat room issues for some of the listeners but I'm happy that we got to meet some new podcasters as well as music fans. We have a few other goodies in store for you in the next few months but they will unravel on their own. To all the mothers listening to our show, have a great Mother's Day!

EPISODE123 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2009-05-02T19:09:00.000-07:00

Icehouse isn't a name that gets repeated often and you quite possibly might have missed their music entirely (if you were were sleepwalking through the decade), but with every album, their hits kept coming and charting more, higher and abroad. So, we hope to thaw your heart to a band -- you just might recognize once you hear them -- during this episode of Talking 80s Music. We feature one of our retrospective mixes as well as "Great Southern Land" and "Nothing Too Serious."

It's been a crazy week. Went to Disneyland and got back Thursday. That meant that we had from then until the show started to get the news collected, edit music and get focused. Little bit of insanity can't hurt. The show started a little late (about 12 minutes) as we had some audio issues. For some reason, our headphones weren't working. Wish I knew why that happened. Went with the last resort of rebooting with the headphones on... and voila. Hope you enjoy.

EPISODE122 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2009-04-25T23:42:00.000-07:00

This week on Talking 80s Music,we felt that it was time to break out the thermometer and check your Metal Health. There isn't anyone that that phrase is more connected to than Quiet Riot. (Rightly so as they were the first heavy metal band to have a top 5 hit and #1 album during the same week.) We featured a retrospective mix, live tracks ("Party All Night" and "Run For Cover") recorded in 1984 and, "Stay With Me Tonight," the only single released without Kevin DuBrow on vocals. A very rich history and catalog has been left behind them and we urge you to do a little shopping... as 1983's Metal Health should be in every rock fan's arsenal.

Busy episode and a lot of new people in the chat room. It is like working the high-wire with a net. If someone says something entirely idiotic, you'll get called on it and be able to correct it quickly. Martin got the show edited and posted before taking last week's contest winners to see Rick Springfield, Eddie Money, Lou Gramm and John Waite. He checked in 4 hours into the show (yes, it really went that long) and said the concert performances just got better and better. Hope to hold another one sometime in the near future. So, either plan your Vegas trips or relocate.

EPISODE121 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2009-04-18T21:59:00.000-07:00

This week on Talking 80s Music, we turned our spotlight on Utopia... no, not the place. We featured the Todd Rundgren-led power-pop band in a retrospective mix as well as their singles "Crybaby" and "Feet Don't Fail Me Now." So many enjoyable and diverse songs to choose from but we believe you now know your Utopia from your Undertones.

We were able to hold a giveaway this week for the Rick Springfield, John Waite, Lou Gramm and Eddie Money concert on Apr. 25th via the show and newsletter. The problem for many readers and listeners was that it was in Las Vegas and 7 days from now. We wound up holding our drawing for newsletter subscribers with Mark McNiece winning. Despite having only 20+ listeners in the chat room, we opened it up to Twitter and Facebook members and... Teri Mann won tickets. (Just beating out another listener.) So, all is right with the world and Teri (and guest) and Mark (and guest) will join Martin (and guest) at the concert.

EPISODE120 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2009-04-11T23:33:00.000-07:00

On Mar. 25th we (the music community) lost an impact artist -- someone who affected several of the music charts in the 1970s and 1980s. This week on Talking 80s Music, we focused our attention to the music and career of Dan Seals and do our best to pay tribute to an often overlooked crossover artist. We featured a retrospective mix, "My Old Yellow Car," "One Friend," "Love On Arrival" and an interview with him recorded in 1990. We also took calls from Aaron (about the interview and the station) and Ben (about Aerosmith, gaming and his PC woes.)

Crazy day to do show editing as we had an Easter egg hunt to go to (didn't hurt that food was there.) That meant a late night doing the audio edit. Listening to it after the final edit, there is some sound degradation in the interview audio. It is understandable after being chopped up multiple times. Can't thank Aaron enough for sharing his interview with Mr. Seals for this special episode.

EPISODE119 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2009-04-04T18:20:00.000-07:00

The sounds of industrial music... we haven't really talked that much about the genre in the last two years but this week we corrected that. We will discussed the new documentary, Metal Machine Music: Nine Inch Nails And The Industrial Uprising, as well as featured a few tracks by trailblazers Throbbing Gristle ("Medicine For Catholic Sex (Love Song For Paula)," Einsturzende Neubauten ("Steh Auf Berlin") and Cabaret Voltaire ("Code" 12" mix). Definitely hit the trio of art forms and varieties that make up industrial music. If you have a weak heart, turn the volume down on the first song. Otherwise, they each have big discographies that are well worth researching

Had a very scary week when it came to the office computers and finally resolved the issues the day before the show. Everything went well and things seem to be looking up (knocking on wood.) We must thank all of you that join us in the chat room for the live recording of the show as well as download it. And also very cool to see a few listeners finding us on Facebook (the show page as well as Martin's profile.) Knowing that the show means that much to you makes it even more worth continuing.

EPISODE118 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2009-03-28T19:10:00.000-07:00

Photo by Bill Markle

This week we checked in with the Dream Weaver himself, Gary Wright. We talked about his hits, his sound and a little about his work during the 1980s and now. We featured a retrospective mix and samples of songs (the new version of "Love Is Alive" and "Silent Choirs Of Snowflakes") off his latest releases -- The Light Of A Million Suns and Waiting To Catch The Light. (We can't recommend the former enough as it earned a 4.5 out of 5 in a recent review at 80s Music Central.) Want to check out his work before hearing the show? Check out his site, TheDreamWeaver.com.

We discovered the chat room issue we were having last week. It seems that if someone hits Shift and Enter at the same time in the room... things go wacky. Hope they fix this as it becomes hard to keep up with conversations and interact with the listeners. The success of the 80s Music Icons Facebook application is heartwarming. Fans for Motley Crue, Duran Duran, Neil Diamond and Madonna are meeting the challenge of keeping their favorite artists on top. Recently added Aerosmith, Cyndi Lauper and AC/DC... should be interesting where they wind up next week.

EPISODE117 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2009-03-21T19:35:00.000-07:00

In the final episode of our 3-show run discussing the branches formed by Sheriff, we discussed the other 40% (Freddy Curci/Steve DeMarchi) that joined former members of Heart (Roger Fisher, Steve Fossen and Mike Derosier) to form Alias. We played a mix of 3 of their singles from their debut album as well as samples (of "Perfect World," "Woman Enough" and "All I Want") from their long-awaited sophomore effort, Never Say Never.

We made it through the show alive. For some reason, the chat room software was really wonky. The first time I've ever seen an issue with it and not with the audio. Thankfully, we were able to see remarks and chatter from the guests and still meet a few new people. The only audio issue observed was stream bleeding when we took a call from Ben which rendered a decent talk, about the new changes to Rock Band and Guitar Hero (the Van Halen edition coming) and Steven Tyler's birthday, useless.

EPISODE116 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2009-03-14T22:44:00.000-07:00

In our second of three episodes talking about Sheriff and its splinter groups, we turned our focus this week on the 40% of the band that formed Frozen Ghost. More successful in Canada, the duo of Arnold Lanni and Wolf Hassel scored a U.S. hit with "Should I See" from their 1987 debut album. Expect to hear that, "Beware The Masque," "Dream Come True" and a low-quality bootleg version of "Promises" recorded in Ottawa in '91 or '92. They are quite possibly the one band you never heard of but really should have. Who says history can't be fun?

Chat room was busy again for the first half of the show. It seems that some were getting disconnected from the room. This means that our technical issue last week probably wasn't just our issue as they were tinkering with things. Otherwise, all went well. Then again, a higher quality recording of "Promises" would have been nice but you have to work with what you have and every subsequent audio compression only kills the clarity (not that there was much to start with.) So much to do and lots of projects coming.

EPISODE115 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2009-03-07T22:37:00.000-08:00

This week, we started a 3-week run discussing U.S. chart-topping Canadian act Sheriff and the groups they formed after they split up. We played several live tracks ("California," "Living For A Dream," "You Remind Me" and "When I'm With You") recorded in 1983 at The El Mocambo in Toronto. We could have just played studio tracks for this act but they only have one album. Instead, we decided to showcase that material in a form you don't get to hear from them.

I really never considered technical difficulties would occur when starting this series back in 2006. Guess I never considered Murphy's Law. So, today was just one of those days. We even got into the chat room 15 minutes early. It seems that the Talkshoe wasn't releasing the call (which usually tells you "You are now unmuted" when you connect to the show) or that Skype wasn't connecting well enough to be recognized by Talkshoe. Poor Ryan was there in the room patiently waiting for the show to start and I feel like we let him down. Had to record it all offline in the studio and it came out alright.

EPISODE114 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2009-02-28T20:12:00.001-08:00

This week we talked with pop/rock singer-songwriter Dwight Twilley about his career and his upcoming Gigatone Entertainment releases. We featured one of our retrospective mixes as well as samples of the songs "Runnin'" (off of 1999's Tulsa) and "47 Moons" (the title track of his 2005 album) to showcase some of his more recent releases. We literally did catch him after wrapping up the recording of his next studio album, Green Blimp. The one thing that is clear, Twilley Don't Mind making some beautiful new music. Enjoy.

Quite possibly one of the most enjoyable episodes we've had so far and likely the most attended, as there were a lot of people popping into the chat room. Our show has always had three goals: education, enlightenment and entertainment -- in that order. We don't have the time to be the Biography channel but we try to make sure you walk away understanding more about our featured acts than when you heard the show. Enlightenment may be stretching it but we like to open our listeners up to music they may have missed (due to lazy DJs, being born after the 80s, etc.) so they understand more about the thousands of albums released during the decade. We won't profess to being entertaining but the attempt is made and we can only hope to do justice to these performers as an artist advocate.

EPISODE113 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2009-02-21T23:12:00.000-08:00

This week on Talking 80s Music we decided to focus on Sonic Youth's guitarist/singer/songwriter Thurston Moore. We skirted the band's history (as they are something to consider for another episode) and focused on Moore's solo work and featured "Frozen Gtr" and "Fri/End" from his 2007 album, Trees Outside The Academy. Martin has now added it to his shopping list after listening to the tracks a few times.

We've mentioned here before about our not taking callers for awhile due to technical issues. Well, we tried to make up for it by getting in conversations with some of our chat room regulars as well as a friend of Martin's that was one of the first subscribers to the 80s Nuts Newsletter over a decade ago. A great surprise and we were able to make it work (with a lot of post-editing.) Might attempt to do that again at the end of every month or so. Maybe.

Thurston
"Frozen Gtr" (mp3)
from "Trees Outside the Academy"
(Ecstatic Peace)
Buy at iTunes Music Store
Buy at eMusic
Buy at Napster
Buy at Amazon
Buy at GroupieTunes
More On This Album

Thurston
"Fri/End" (mp3)
from "Trees Outside the Academy"
(Ecstatic Peace)
Buy at iTunes Music Store
Buy at eMusic
Buy at Napster
Buy at Amazon
Buy at GroupieTunes
More On This Album

EPISODE112 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2009-02-14T21:16:00.000-08:00

This week's episode fell on St. Valentine's Day. We originally had another featured act planned but postponed it to bring you something more appropriate for the holiday... Heart. The 1980s weren't just kind to the Wilson sisters -- they had honed their fusion of hard rock and folk into an explosive force led by Ann's soulful voice and Nancy's guitar-work. Harmony and melody made Heart one of the most dominant groups of the decade. We talked about their start, recording career and latest album as well as featured one of our retrospective mixes, "Shell Shock" and "Wild Child (live)." Having sold over 30 million albums worldwide, the timing couldn't be more appropriate. We did leave out their Lovemongers career but we could be holding that for another day.

We had a short week where we played catch-up for all the time we missed while Martin was away in Sacramento. He and the family made it back alright but when you cut a chunk of time out of the your regular schedule, things start to seem rushed. Technically, the show went well and there were a few new faces that popped up in the chat room. Life is good. Happy Valentine's Day!

EPISODE111 - Talking 80s Music with Martin Hennessy

2009-02-07T17:54:00.000-08:00

So far, this is our first anticipated episode that was not be recorded live. As timing would have it, Martin was to be in Sacramento celebrating his grandmother's 90th birthday at the very time of the show. So, he recorded it earlier before driving up there. This week's show was meant to show the pieces that seem to be missing in the career of Santana. We all know how their original Latin rock fusion affected the 1970s and their imaginative collaborations of the late 1990s and 2000s that have met with unprecedented success. But what about that gap in the middle? Here we featured their singles ("You Know That I Love You," "Winning" and "Hold On") that best represent the band as they were finding their way during the decade.

We discovered that as amazing as it is to do our show live, it has become a crutch. You see, the timing and interaction of the live show is critical to the flow of it. We tried to record it cold in the studio. We did that for a few episodes when we first started. It just didn't feel the same. We can assuredly say that we will do everything we can possible to do very few episodes off-schedule and if necessary, we will just change the recording time/date. The show is every bit about you as it is the news and the music played. We love to hear from you. Send us your questions, thoughts or heck... maybe we'll even read a short concert review from you if it comes in. But we discovered your part during this episode. Thank you.