Steve Spears has just released a book based on his popular podcast, entitled Stuck In The 80s: 20 Years of Conversations with Pop Culture Icons Who Defined a Decade.   We are thrilled Steve guests on our podcast to share a few amazing stories he's accumulated over the years, including a few awkward moments. Steve has also been a big part of The 80s Cruise, and he dispenses some fun tidbits from his ten years hobnobbing with our favorite 80s music icons.

Danny Goldberg  joins the podcast to share how he helped Bonnie Raitt, Stevie Nicks, and Nirvana among many others reach such incredible heights, and also to discuss the reissue of his sixth book, Bumping Into Geniuses: My Life Inside Rock 'N' Roll.

Harold Bronson may be best known as one of the co-founders of Rhino Records, but when he was a student at UCLA, he was in a band called Mogan David And His Winos. The band made one album, fusing all their influences. The result came out in 1973 and was entitled Savage Young Winos. It became a cult classic, but has been out of print since 1976. Enter Liberation Hall Music, which has re-released the album with additional demos, live recordings from that period, and two tracks f

Author Steven Blush has just completed his rock trilogy, When Rock Met Disco, When Rock Met Reggae, and the just-released When Rock Met Hip-Hop.  Steven recalls times spent with Rick Rubin, The Beastie Boys, Run DMC, and Russell Simmons, and the huge influence they had on the 80s music scene and pop culture.

Paul Rees, was actually on young lad living in Scotland during the heyday of Album Oriented Rock (AOR) But the distance away from American radio created a fan in Paul and now we have Raised On Radio: Power Ballads, Cocaine & Payola – the AOR Glory Years 1976-1986. It's an oral biography of the critically derided yet monumentally popular radio rock, when Journey, Boston, REO Speedwagon, Toto, and more ruled the airwaves. Paul joins the podcast to fanboy about his favorite arti

Roddy Bottum is one of the founders and keyboardist of the iconic band Faith No More. In his memoir, The Royal We, Roddy shares his coming-of-age and out-of-the-closet stories in a pre-tech-boom San Francisco. He joins our podcast to chat about the bands, his upbringing, his addictions, and how he managed to survive it all with a sense of humor.

Arielle Nissenblatt, Founder and Head Curator with Earbuds Podcast Collective AND a 2026 Podcast Hall Of Fame Inductee, joins our podcast to share her origin story and insights into the industry. She then steps out of her comfort zone and into our favorite topic, 80s music! Arielle offers up her Millennial opinion on music from 1989 based on Los Angeles radio station KROQ's 1989 year end playlist.

Andy Greene, Senior Writer for Rolling Stone, has been with the storied magazine since 2004. Andy shares with us his origin story of how a shy, young boy from the suburbs of Cleveland finds his way to New York City to write about his idols and rub shoulders with artists like Phil Collins and Bruce Springsteen. We also asked his opinion on the music played on Los Angeles radio station KROQ in 1989, specifically songs 100 to 91 from their year-end playlist.

Paul Myers has just completed his Canadian trilogy. Previously, he authored the definitive biographies on Barenaked Ladies and Kids In The Hall. He now takes on one of the most popular Canadians ever, with his latest book, John Candy: A Life In Comedy. Paul discusses the process of getting to know the larger-than-life personality that was John Candy, and learns that John was more than just a comedic genius.

Russell Hitchcock, the legendary lead singer of Air Supply, is having quite a moment. With over 100 million records sold worldwide, the band is soon to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and  an Air Supply feature film is currently in production. Russell joins the podcast to share what these milestones mean to him, to reflect on Air Supply’s enduring legacy, and to reveal how he and bandmate Graham Russell have kept their musical partnership—and friendship—strong

Thanks in small part to the band Spinal Tap, November 11 (11/11, get it?), has been decreed National Metal Day. To honor this majestic day we present to you, Nöthin' But A Good Time: The Uncensored History of the '80s Hard Rock Explosion. Authors Tom Beaujour and Richard Bienstock did an intensive dig into the musicians and insiders involved in the scene that launched the careers of Mötley Crüe and Poison on the west coast and Twisted Sister and Quiet Riot on the east.

Eric Vetro trains the biggest Hollywood stars like Ariana Grande (Wicked), Timotheé Chalamet (A Complete Unknown) and Austin Butler (Elvis) to transform their singing voices. His latest undertaking is to teach Jeremy Allen White to sing like Bruce Springsteen for the film, Deliver Me From Nowhere. Eric lends his voice to our podcast to tell us his own very unique story.

Matt Piucci and Steven Roback from Rain Parade join the podcast to celebrate the reissue of their second album, Crashing Dream, which is loaded with extras and live tracks. We chat with Matt and Steven about the origins of the band, the 80s Paisley Underground scene, and how they created that crazy pool picture for their album cover.

As we conclude our year-long look at the music played on radio station KROQ in Los Angeles in 1988, we turn to the one-and- only Moon Unit Zappa. Moon's been busy, as her ⁠Moon Unit Tea⁠ business is thriving, and her memoir Earth To Moon is recently out in paperback. Moon now steps into our virtual studio to talk about the top ten songs the World Famous KROQ played back in 1988.

Your pop culture references were forever altered by shows Danielle Claman Gelber developed like Beverly Hills 90210, Melrose Place and The X-Files, to name just a few. Oasis is one of her absolute favorite bands so Danielle and her good friend Holly went to see them this summer in London. We get all the details, as well as her career story. As a well-deserved finale, we also look back at we also look back on songs 20 to 11 from the KROQ 1988 year-end playlist.

Chris Vos named his band The Record Company as he thought his band would never get signed. Turns out, not only did they get signed but The Record Company are now ten years and counting into their career. The band now has to its credit, four critically acclaimed albums and six top 10 AAA radio singles with "Off The Ground" and "Life To Fix" hitting the top spot. Chris joins the podcast to talk about the genesis of the band's roots and where he sees the band as it heads into

Kat Corbett has been one of our favorite radio personalities since she started at KROQ in Los Angeles at the start of the 2000 millennium. Kat joins What Difference Does It Make podcast to talk about her origin story and off up opinions on songs 30 to 21 from the 1988 KROQ year end playlist.

Dave Kendall may be best known in the US for his work as the host of the MTV Alternative Music Show, 120 Minutes,  from 1986 to 1992. Today, he's living in Thailand, and is a producer/reporter with the Bangkok Post TV channel, and a host/producer on the travel show Destination Thailand. We invited Dave into our virtual studio to discuss his current passions, from global warming, to his love of the music he played back in the day on MTV.

ason has authored the 33 1/3 book Ministry's Land Of Rape and Honey, a chronicle dedicated to one of Jason's favorite albums of all time. Jason steps into our studio to talk about the band, while also offering up his strong opinions on songs 50 to 41 from the 1988 KROQ year-end playlist.

ason has authored the 33 1/3 book Ministry's Land Of Rape and Honey, a chronicle dedicated to one of Jason's favorite albums of all time. Jason steps into our studio to talk about the band, while also offering up his strong opinions on songs 50 to 41 from the 1988 KROQ year-end playlist.