59: Field Guide to 1976

Musician and music connoisseur John White joins us as a guest panelist for the entire episode, as we look back on the year of our bicentennial, 1976, just in time for Independence Day. The Cincinnati Reds, better known as the Big Red Machine, were on their way to a second straight World Series title, led by Joe Morgan, Johnny Bench and George Foster. Sluggers Mike Schmidt and Dave Kingman were mashing in the National League, while rookie pitching phenom Mark Fidrych was taking the American League by storm. Popular music had its own mashers in 1976 – namely, prog and its keyboardists. Progressive rock's reach spread across the country and FM radio dial, from The Alan Parsons Project to Boston to Manfred Mann's Earth Band. Live albums also dominated the landscape, with classics from Lynyrd Skynyrd, Rush and Bob Seger.