Saturn’s Favorite Music the Podcast

Laura and guest Mary Lanphier talk sensual zombies, the musical uses of press on nails, and compare the Genesis's 1970s way out prog rock sound to its 1980s adult contemporary incarnation. Plus we cover what may be the greatest key change in pop music history. Songs include Harry Belafonte's "Zombie Jamboree," Dolly Parton's "9 to 5," Genesis' "Land of Confusion," and Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You." 

Jenny is back. In this episode we discuss a Kinks song that turns personal tragedy into warm nostalgia and we wonder at the delta between the influence of Kinks songs and their U.S. chart positions. We veer between trying to figure out what electric boots and mohair suits look like and exploring Biblical references in Elton John songs. And no mere mortal can resist the evil of our last selection. Cue the Vincent Price laugh. 

Jamie Robinson of the classic hip hop podcast Mr. Throwback Thursday is here to discuss progressive rock, 90s power ballads, and yacht rock harmonica because, why not? We get into the bpm of "Hold on to the Nights" by Richard Marx, and what the Moody Blues "Nights in White Satin" has in common with "O.P.P." by Naughty By Nature. Laura reveals the first single she ever bought. Plus we add two songs to the happy sounding songs about sadness playlist. Earth Wind and Fire's "September," and Supertramp's "Take the Long Way Home" round out this episode's list of songs. 

We welcome self-proclaimed adult contemporary fan Denise Goetz for an episode with musical styles that range from Christian rock to grunge. Denise explains her judging system, “If I can’t sing along or be part of it, I’m not interested." We discuss exclusive versions of songs created by vinyl skips, take a nostalgic look back at Detroit's City Club and revisit the spat entertainment reporters tried to gin up between Amy Grant and Madonna.  Denise worries that fans of Pearl Jam and Bruce Springsteen might come after her. Things get dark as we delve into the story behind "Jeremy." Songs this episode include Amy Grant's "I Will Remember You," Pearl Jam's "Jeremy," Jesus and Mary Chain's "April Skies" and Billy Joel's "A Matter of Trust." You won't believe which of these artists leads down a path to naked men.

Jenny and Kara Hunter join us in an episode dedicated to 1970s guilty pleasures. There is discussion of picardy thirds, paradiddles, classical music radio voices and cold endings. We wonder at the plethora of versions of "I Write the Songs" released in 1975. Kara decides to change her name to Dragon and reveals her dream radio format-- all Abba all the time. We consider whether you can still be a "Dancing Queen" if you are over the age of 17.  Plus we try to decide whose version of "Hazy Shade of Winter" was better, Simon & Garfunkel or The Bangles. Captain and Tennille, Barry Manilow, David Cassidy and, for some reason, Lenny Kravitz are part of the freewheeling conversation. 

In this episode of the Saturn's Favorite Music podcast, guests Justin and Jane return to explore the adult contemporary phenomenon of sophisti-pop and ask whether Air Supply could crash the world economy. There is a hit song that you might not know was co-written by Kenny Loggins, a duo who met during a tour of Jesus Christ Superstar, and a song that managed to land entirely off Justin's radar despite being a top 20 AC hit. The celtic rock band Enter the Haggis gets another name drop. The Monkees elbow their way into a conversation about record executives manufacturing hits and Laura adds another song to her "Cheery Sounding Songs About Dysfunctional Relationships" playlist. The featured artists are The Doobie Brothers, Curtis Stigers, Swing Out Sister and Air Supply. Can you guess which of these artists always rubbed Justin the wrong way?

In this episode Laura and music teacher Kara Hunter examine the songs that two DJs would have put on the air in 1992 if their adult contemporary format would have allowed it. Only one of the songs in this episode cracked the top 40. Can you guess which one it is? Along the way we discuss sonic departures including the Kinks' social commentary in "Shangri-La," and a very non-extreme track by the band Extreme. During a discussion of Nirvana's "Lithium" we muse on the fate of the album cover's naked baby and we even discuss a Depeche Mode solo project that had reviewers critiquing the audience more than the music.  

Laura and author Lisa Peers discuss Detroit's influence on music, rock inspired novels, where rock stars do their laundry and a bagpipe infused cover of a song originally recorded by a Dutch Elvis impersonator.  Songs this episode include Rod Stewart's "Rhythm of My Heart," Sting's "Fortress Around Your Heart," Wilson Philip's "Hold On" and The Surfaris "Wipe Out." Plus they talk about Lisa's new novel Motor City Love Song. 

In Episode 12 of the Saturn's Favorite Music podcast, Justin and Jane return to revisit songs about the seas. Justin explains why he is not a fan of the title of the Little River Band's "Cool Change." We discuss days of the week songs with the Mamas and the Papas' "Monday Monday." We go acoustic with Jim Croce's "Operator" and peak 1992 adult contemporary with Celine Dion's "If You Asked Me To."  Resident horse expert Jane explains how many hands it takes to measure a typical horse. (Hint: More than five.) 

Jenny Hunter is back for an episode that is surprisingly upbeat for a set of songs that cover the temporal nature of existence, nostalgia and the end of the world as we know it. Also Leonard Bernstein. Songs include Al Stewart's "Year of the Cat" and "Time Passages," Chicago's "Beginnings" and R.E.M.'s "It's the End of the World As We Know It (and I Feel Fine)," the only track that is less than six minutes long, but which makes up for it with the length of its title. Jenny talks about the best moments at Chicago concerts and Laura and Jenny explore whether there is a reference to Trump in a 1987 R.E.M. song. 

Laura calls in musician Will Hoppey to talk about  Don McLean's “American Pie” and Steely Dan's “Deacon Blues” — two very different long songs with one thing in common: they’ve rescued a lot of DJs and working players over the years. The conversation wanders from radio-cart disasters and EBS tests gone wrong and why surrounding yourself with better musicians is the best career move you can make.

Nick Bean is back to talk about Broadway, Liza Minelli and jazz hands. Nick laments never being rickrolled when Rick Astley's “Never Gonna Give You Up” was a meme. Bruce Springsteen's “Human Touch” leads to a discussion of when you need an uplifting song and when it's more cathartic to wallow in the sadness. And there are divergent opinions on Arlo Guthrie's “Alice's Restaurant.” One of the hosts gives it an A, while the other thinks it is 20 minutes of his life he'll never get back.

Vinyl rules in this episode. A 1969 stoner anthem crashes a small-market radio shift as the wrong Lee Michaels song is played on air, the conversation wanders through hidden vinyl tracks, chateau recording studios in France with Elton John, the surprise appearance of Styx’s “Plexiglass Toilet,” and the classical roots of Eric Carmen’s All By Myself. Plus, a personal bombshell: Jenny reveals her all-time favorite song.

Fan favorites Jane Taylor and Justin Miller are back for an episode that starts on a yacht and ends in a hotel you may never be able to leave. They kick things off with Christopher Cross’s “Sailing,” which leads to waiting room music, funerals with questionable playlists, and the stodginess of the Grammy Awards. They compare and contrast Cross's “yacht rock” with the MTV video yachts of Duran Duran as they take up “Rio” and reveal their favorite Duran deep cuts. Elton John’s “The One” leads to a comparison with “Your Song,” and a discussion of intimacy, distance, and how love songs age. After a detour into the question of what the best song of the 70s might be, the episode closes with a long stay at the Eagles’ “Hotel California,” touching on desert road trips, childhood fear, resorts that are past their prime, and strangely ineffective cutlery. 

In this episode, Laura is joined by performer and self-proclaimed “lyric guy” Nick Bean to talk through a deceptively simple stretch of early-90s radio playlists — and the rules hiding inside them. From the Dave Clark Five's blunt persistence to Rod Stewart’s affectionate Motown tribute that buries The Temptations deep in the mix, the conversation moves to inspiration, authority, and who gets positioned as “variety” rather than default. The heart of the episode centers on two back-to-back songs by women — Gloria Estefan’s Coming Out of the Dark and Mariah Carey’s Vision of Love — and the broadcast logic that once said they shouldn’t sit next to each other. Along the way, Laura and Nick unpack vulnerability, gendered expectations in music and comedy, the difference between empowerment and display, and what it meant to hear genuinely new voices at the moment they arrived.

On this episode of Saturn’s Favorite Music, Laura Lee welcomes back fan-favorite guest Jenny Hunter for a deep dive into adult-contemporary greatness, confusion, and accidental murder ballads. They tackle the eternal sing-along that is The Beatles’ “Hey Jude,” grade Phil Collins’ infinitely repeating “One More Night,” question the chart-smashing mystery of Kenny G’s “Sentimental,” and attempt to solve the soft-rock true-crime puzzle of Richard Marx’s “Hazard.” Along the way, they debate bathroom songs, circular breathing, karaoke-booth reverb, suspicious rivers that don’t exist, and why a melodic ballad somehow involves a possible homicide.

Clara hangs her first apartment posters in Saturn’s Favorite Music—and Episode 4 dives into the soundtrack behind them. Laura Lee sits down with her niece, Sophia, a musical-theater fan, who listens to Primal Scream, The Sugarcubes, The Cure, and The Stone Roses for the very first time. From the surreal swirl of “Birthday” to the moody sprawl of “Fascination Street,” Sophia gives fresh, sharp takes on songs that shaped early-90s alternative radio. And when “Made of Stone” turns out to be both catchy and lyrically grim—“everything a car crash is not”—the discussion becomes a perfect example of how tone and meaning collide in the music of the era.

On this episode of Saturn’s Favorite Music, Laura Lee sits down with longtime friends Jane Taylor and Justin Miller for a free-wheeling trip through the darker corners of 80s/90s alternative: Ministry’s “Every Day Is Halloween” and “N.W.O.,” Nine Inch Nails’ “Head Like a Hole,” and Tones on Tail’s “Go!”. They trace the jump from synth-pop to industrial, misheard lyrics and buried samples, club dance-floor memories, and why a “boppy bop-bop” goth anthem and a supposedly unlistenable industrial track can both still feel strangely cathartic in 2025.

In this episode, Laura Lee and Jenny Hunter focus on some of the staples of early 90s adult contemporary radio. They talk about time travel, cheery songs about dysfunctional relationships, MTV Unplugged, and whether anything is ever truly “uncool” if it still gets stuck in your head. The conversation jumps from small-market radio station “clock hours” to Lennon–McCartney “rejects” that sound exactly like Beatles songs, before landing on Vanessa Williams’ comeback. Jenny shares what it was like to watch Williams become the first Black Miss America in a not-very-enlightened living room, and how “Save the Best for Last” feels like a quiet, satisfying rebuke to the people who tried to take her down. There are letter grades, a cat named Moses, cassingle memories, and a brief fantasy about an alternative-rock Barry Manilow covers album—but mostly it’s two friends revisiting the AC hits that filled the air between grunge explosions, and finding more there than just background music. 

On the premiere episode of Saturn’s Favorite Music, Laura Lee sits down with longtime friend Doc Shea to launch the series with a wildly eclectic first hour that jumps from Pearl Jam’s “Even Flow” to Steely Dan’s “Peg,” with plenty of emotional whiplash in between. Along the way they explore Michael Bolton's oeuvre including songs that are a bit stalkier than you remembered, Kenny G’s “Songbird,” and an unexpectedly deep and hilarious detour into the cultural afterlife of the Monkees. It’s a fast-moving mix of radio memories, soft-rock sincerity, alternative breakthroughs, and joyful overanalysis—setting the tone for a show where the music always takes you somewhere slightly unexpected.

What music would you have heard if you worked in a small radio station in the early 1990s? Saturn's Favorite Music will answer that question. Author Laura Lee and guests will take a deep dive into the music references in the novel of the same name one by one. Reading the book is not required. It's all about the music. You'll get background on the songs you loved or loved to hate. There will be adult contemporary hits as well as the songs the DJs loved from alternative to classic rock and the British Invasion. Join us as we dissect the music and lyrics, and decide which songs stand up and which should be left behind.