Completely Conspicuous 525: Shakedown Street

I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss the Grateful Dead album Shakedown Street. Show notes: - Recorded at CompCon world HQ - First ep of the new decade - Shakedown Street came out in '78 - Lots of musical stuff happening: Disco, punk, new wave, hard rock - Disco wasn't as bad as everyone made it out to be - Jay: No guilty pleasures: If you like it, you like it - The Dead were coming off a triumphant '77 - This was a contractually obligated studio album - Lots of influences thrown in: Funk, disco, African jazz, rock - Met with savage reviews - The version of "Good Lovin'" here pales in comparison to the live version, especially when Pigpen sang it - The last album with Donna and Keith Godchaux - Title track gets slagged as bad disco, but we dig it - Shakedown Street is now the name of the merch area at Dead & Co. shows - Pressure was on from Clive Davis for them to have hits - This album was produced by Lowell George of Little Feat - Seen as a disco album, but it's pretty diverse musically - The Dead weren't a great studio band - Mickey Hart stepped up with three songs - Phil: "I Need a Miracle" might be the best song on the album - "Stagger Lee"  has an interesting history; versions were covered by many different artists - Jay: The Nick Cave version is the best, and the most profane - Album was scattered because of different influences plus substances - "All New Minglewood Blues" is a pretty rockin' cover - Dead appeared on SNL that year - Ends with a Garcia-Hunter love ballad that works - Jay: Liked about half the songs on the album - Next: 1980's Go to Heaven Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts and anywhere else you get podcasts. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.