Completely Conspicuous 680: Welcome to the Occupation

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite American artists. Show notes: Jay's take after seeing Goose Took us a while to get into the show Phil's #6: Phish took over the jam band crown from the Dead Jay briefly met Trey Anastasio at UNH before they got famous Goose hasn't been accepted by the entire jam band audience Jay's #6: Originally had Van Halen ranked higher, but dropped them because of the Hagar years Combined Eddie VH's revolutionary guitar work with DLR's showmanship Eddie inspired a generation of guitarists and Dave inspired a generation of hard rock singers Phil's #5: Steely Dan spits in the face of being called "yacht rock" Went from a live act to a studio perfectionist act to a live act again Fagen and Becker were demanding taskmasters Jay's #5: The imperfect perfection of the Replacements They self-sabotaged whenever things were about to break for them Never got to see them live Phil's #4 and Jay's #3: The singular genius of Jimi Hendrix Hugely influential guitarist and performer Must have blown a lot of minds when he was around Jay's #4: Pixies were a major influence on the alternative rock sound that shaped the '90s The band's first stint (1986-93) was epic Introduced weirdness into indie rock Still touring behind their classic material but making new music as well Phil's #3 and Jay's #10: Talking Heads were art school kids who became big Part of the CBGB scene of the '70s that went in a lot of different directions Explored a lot of sounds and influences Phil's #2: The Allman Brothers Band invented and transcended Southern rock Persevered through deaths and changing trends Jay's #2: No arguing with the greatness of Prince Hundreds of hours of unreleased music Was super talented at multiple instruments Was Prince the best all-around musician of the 20th century? Phil's #1: Duh, it's the Dead Inspired an entire subculture There are literally hundreds of Dead cover bands Jay's #1: The pride of Athens, GA, R.E.M. Helped create the "college rock" scene that grew into alternative rock Blew up in the early '90s Distinct career phases Michael Shannon and Jason Narducy have been covering R.E.M. albums in their entirety the last three years To be continued Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple 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.