60 Songs That Explain the '90s - Mailbag

Episode Date: December 21, 2022

Rob is joined by ‘Bandsplain’ host Yasi Salek to read some of your fan mail and answer questions. Why do you live in Ohio? Which band do you regret not having an episode on? Nirvana or Pearl Jam? Tune in to hear Rob answer these questions and more. Host: Rob Harvilla Guest: Yasi Salek Producer: Justin Sayles Associate Producer: Jonathan Kermah Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

An Instagram post gets an unexpected boost. A TikTok catches in the algorithm. Sometimes that's all it takes to launch someone into internet fame. But then what? This Blue Up is a new podcast documentary that reveals how social media stardom is made. It's a different kind of fame. That's not always as glamorous as it looks. From Spotify and the Ringer Podcast Network, I'm Alyssa Bereznak.

You can listen to This Blue Up on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. This is pretty weird, actually. It's just been pointed out to me that this is weird. My name is Rob Harvilla. This is 60 songs that explain the 90s. Ordinarily, before I say that, there are 2,000 words or so of minor incidents from my life. But that is not the case this time because this is a mailbag episode, the proverbial mailbag episode in which listeners email or DM me questions.

and I answer them, just trying to magnify the awkwardness of this process. And I figured I needed help to do this. And so I would like to welcome to the show. Once again, for either the third of the fourth time, I forget, the great Yassie Salick of Bansplaine and internet-renowned, Yassi, thank you for being here for this experience. Thank you for having me. Hello to the overlap listeners of Bansplian 60 songs.

So this, I hope I'm doing this right, but I just have a giant Google doc of very incisive questions about the show about me, about the 90s, et cetera, and Yasi is going to be reading them and I am going to be answering them. If this

is disastrous, like that'll be fun as well. But we're just going to see how this goes. Yasi, you've had a few mailbags, bands playing mailbags. Do you have any advice, you know, just process-wise on how to do these well or to live through them in any event?

Yeah, I think just like don't take it personally and speak from the heart. Okay. And that's all I have. Okay. Don't take it personally. Those are my two, those are really my two tenets of life in general. Don't take a person to speak from the heart. So apply it here as well.

Be cringe, but be free. Correct. Always. Okay. All right. Well, let's, I guess we're just going to get right into this. Yassi, would you like to read the first question, please? I would be honored.

Okay. This is from Alex via email. Hi, Rob. Why do you live in Ohio? You have the opportunity not to, it seems. This man said, this man didn't just say, why do you live in Ohio? He said, why do you live in Ohio? Given the fact that it seems to me you could live literally anywhere else.

I felt like they set the proper tone. Oh, it's extremely rude. I guess it's redundant to say that I laughed very hard when I read this email. This is the entirety of the email. I've decided not to answer this if that's okay. I don't know if it's breaking protocol. I guess formally I'm going to pass on this question,

but I just, I wanted him to get to ask it. So there we go. Yeah. There's your non-answer. Yeah, Alex. Also, Ohio's cool. Ohio's very cool. Wherever you live, Alex. Okay, this next one is from Adam, also via email. He said, it's two-parter.

Number one, how much did you plot out the initial group of 60 songs in advance? Okay, it's more of a four-parter, but he slid it under the guise of a two-parter, because the first part has three songs, or three, uh, three-class. How much room did you give yourself to revise things over time? What about the final 30? That's number one. That's the number one question. Well, this, it started with just a series of arduous Google Docs, right? Possibilities that I poured over with my intrepid editor, Justin Sales.

And that was the foundation, but a certain amount of arbitrariness and chaos and random decision making, I think, is central to this operation, right? Like, I want to allow myself to wake up one day and be like, I want to listen toriamos all week and then just talk about Tori Amos. And so, so that's what I have done. Certainly, when we decided to do an additional 30, that changed things a little bit, like huge songs that I might have done sooner. You know, I was able or figured that I should push a few of those closer to the end. And, like the heavy hitters or whatever, you know, that there was a minor reshuffling of the order

once we had a little more wiggle room. But still, it's just there's a foundation of songs that we should probably get to and then songs that I really want to get to. And then over top of that, there's just the chaotic, you know, day-to-day arbitrary nature of what I feel like listening to and talking about. Beautiful. It's a beautiful answer.

Thank you. Part two. what band do you most regret not including the list of 90 and why is it super chunk it's a tricky question that was a trick that was it's like five it's a two-part question with five questions and also a true question and an answer this and its own answer at the end brilliant work honestly adam genius genius mailbag maneuver here nobody nobody is not included at this point, even at this point, right? Like, we have whatever, seven, eight episodes left.

And, like, anything can happen. Like, I don't just say that, but I don't know what the next eight episodes or whatever of this show are. I, that sounds hard to believe. And yet, if you've ever listened to the show, I think it might be very easy to believe. And so Super Chalk could very well be one of the eight remaining episodes. There are certainly, you know, things that I think I might do or things that I think I should do.

but on the other hand, like, literally anything is possible. So let's, let's super chunk still have a chance, as does everyone, as does how bizarre or whatever. Primitive radio bots. There we go. Okay. This is from Judd. I don't know if you'll answer this one, but I will read it anyways. Say.

Why is it so funny to start a sentence with say? Say. Email. Yeah. It's like, man. say it is there is an old-timey it's like you just picture it's his fedora is cocked just so yeah yeah yeah say rob okay say i'm curious about the arbitrariness of 60 songs in my mind i imagine this was initially conceived of as 90 songs that explained the 90s and you got the green light and started

putting everything together only to decide that 90 episodes was being ambitious so you scaled back by a third but then you got going of the show on subtraction and you decided, nah, let's shoot for 90 by the end of 2022. Only that did turn out to be ambitious, and they'll probably end up being 87. Was it anything like that? Quick sidebar. Babe, Judge, I need you to work on your interior life

and maybe just devotes a slightly less of it to Rob's process of making 60 songs. I just want better for you, Judd, is what in your imagination. That's all I'm saying. I think Judd may have thought more about my process than I have yet. The arbitrariness of the number of 60, I think I've said before that like 90 songs was logical and like had a certain ring to it, but I didn't think that anyone would like the show. And I was daunted by the idea of launching a show with 90 in the title and then getting canceled after like four episodes and like being very embarrassed. 60 songs is still a lot of songs.

like that's always marginally less embarrassing, but like 30 was too few, right? And so 60 was decided on as like a weird, you know, mean within my various anxieties going into this. It just rolls off the tongue, I guess, is the simplest way to put it. It was, it was an arbitrary round number halfway between what I thought made the most sense and what I thought I was actually capable of. That makes sense? There's a second part to this question. Of course there is. Of course there is.

Also this. It seems like musicians hit their creative peaks in that late 20s to mid-30s range. Thinking of artists that experienced that sweet spot in the 90s, are there any that, in your opinion, went on to create their best work in the decades that followed? And I mean consistently, not the occasional one-off bit of inspiration amidst a sea of mediocrity, a la you two's Vertico when does stress the torso yes is he saying that

vertigo is like the one-off amid the yes I think so yeah okay I'm gonna resist the urge to talk about whether that's true a superchunk is a good example of this I would say I tend to like Superchunk now more than I did in the 90s actually

I think they have aged gracefully and I think you could argue that they've you like their more recent work more than you like their 90s output or you just like their 90s output more now than you did the 90s? I think I like them better now than their 90s stuff. Wow.

I don't know how hot, how incendiary you take that is necessarily. That would be a blaze. Yeah, totally. Okay. That's a good answer. And you didn't only just say it because it was the band that was mentioned in the question previous. That's right.

I love Lamp situation. that that worked out that worked out pretty well um okay thank you for your time judd this one is from Leah she says please list out your top 50 or like maybe five trip out oops I took too many mushrooms albums

for research I love that she's asking you this I think that we may have previously discussed this over email at some point me and Leah I might be imagining that. I only have one album I can really recommend for mushrooms, and it's the soft bulletin by the flaming lips. I have exactly one mushroom's experience.

I took them with my brother, and we sat in a car in a parking lot, in a freezing colds, Cleveland, Ohio, winter, and just listen to the soft bulletin, you know, with like the heater running. And then we went back in our parents' house and played video games for several hours. and like everything was funny.

Like, I don't know if I've ever been funnier in my life to anyone than I was to myself for that period of time. And the Flaming Lips made a very, perhaps too obvious, but nonetheless, excellent soundtrack to the first part of that experience. So just put that one on repeat. You know, put a spoonful, weighs a ton on repeat. And I think, I think you'll have a decent time. What a beautifully pure experience. That's a very nice way to say lame, but I do appreciate it. You did it with your brother and the snow.

I think we watched Seinfeld after a while. He had like the DVD of like season three of Seinfeld. And then we were no longer really able. Oh, you weren't like teen. You were like a full adult. Mechanically. I was in my early 20s, mid-20s somewhere. So you weren't going to your like parents' house.

No, we were home for Christmas. My parents are probably not going to listen to this, so it's probably fine to blow up our respective spots. During this part. Yes. Okay, cool. Great, great answer. This next question is from Kirby. Is there an episode of 60 songs that you wish you could redo, a song that you regret choosing?

And then there's like two or three other songs, but I'll let you answer that first. I don't think there's anything I wish I could redo. I have a specific feeling I get when I'm overly intimidated by like the weight of a song. Dr. Dre for some reason, nothing about a G-thing. It's not that I dislike that episode, but I just, I did not feel as light or light-hearted or whatever. Like there was just so much context and like people love that song so much and the, you know, the LA riots of it all and just there. There are moments when the weight of history makes me, and I worry consequently makes the show, like, sort of less frivolous, you know, and light, you know, the way I sort of envision it or prefer it would be, you know? And so I think sometimes with really big songs, really big artists, when there's a lot of backstory, a lot of history, when I have a sense that, like, people have already written billions of words about Dr. Dre and the chronic, etc.,

Like that all starts sort of weighing on me and like I can hear it. I can hear it in my self or whatever, but I hope it's not as apparent to other people that I'm like a little more cowed, you know, by the context of it. That makes a lot of sense. I feel that way when I do an ours that has like a wee bit of sexual misconduct, just a scotch of sexual misconduct. That's, there's a lot of that as well.

A little bit less fun. Okay. the rest of this question is, I would love to know what kind of music the other people in your life love to listen to. What kind of music did your parents, okay, Barb listens to you too and everyone knows this, and or siblings listen to. What are your kids' favorite 100 Geck songs? Does your wife like Olivia Rodriguez, et cetera? As you stated, my mother is a huge U-2 fan. My dad loves Bob Seeger, Jim Crocey, Garth Brooks, a little steely Dan, things of that nature.

He does not like U-2 at all. He does not attend any of the U-2 concerts that my mother has attended. My wife loves Paul Simon. My wife loves Erica Badoo. Janet Jackson, people of that nature. My kids, I don't think they're familiar with 100 gecks, but they went through a period of like liking this terrible video game music for a game called Friday Night Funkin.

It was like very, very intense pounding chip tune like dance music that was very 100 gex. It was like hyper pop. I don't know the crossovers, but it's just my sons are like sort of dancing around the room listening to it and it's terrible. I don't know if my wife has heard Olivia Rodriguez at all, but I think I think she would like her fine. Nobody really cares about the 90s, you know, 1% as much as I do in this house at this point. They sort of just sidestep around whatever it is I'm listening to or mumbling about. They sort of leave me alone or try to. Well, that'll change when I move into the guest room in Ohio.

Alex, okay, because Ohio is actually a cool place to live, and I will be really really locating there. Okay, this is from Jan. Hello from the Philippines. Anyway, will you ever have video episodes? Hello, no, absolutely

not because I look weird when I talk. It's the only way to put it. I have resting Wynce face. When I talk, it appears as though I am in pain. Right now, Yassi is laughing right now because I look pained. The Prince of Wend.

I say this. Yes. It's bizarre. It's very strange. The few occasions when I've been on somebody else's podcast and there's been a video elements, my wife will see them and be like, did you know that there was video? And I was like, yes. Is like, is anyone else seen this? I was like, I don't know. Hopefully not. Like no video here ever. That is for, that is for your own protection. You're like a living embodiment of like a deep sigh. There we go. Yes. I am just the grimace emoji wearing a hoodie. with glasses in Ohio. Where you chose to live. I choose to live. Yes, I could leave if I wanted to, but I don't. And nobody knows why. So.

Okay, this question came on through Twitter from Rupa D. Hey there. So I've been going to these 90s dance parties and the playlists are as delightful to my 30-something self as they would have been blasphemous to my teen self. we're talking Nirvana followed directly by Shania Twain, parentheses. Okay, that particular juxtaposition was blasphemous at any age, but my teen metalhead self would have been appalled at how happy I am to dance to the backstreet boys these days.

What do you think of this development of the 90s being treated as a genre unto itself? On one hand, it's refreshing to see that people's tastes are so much more eclectic now and that identities are no longer so clearly and strictly delineated along the lines of music. but it also feels like something's being lost rewritten or is this something that just happens to every generation I do think it came up almost immediately on the show with the gin blossoms right like the gin blossoms right like the gin blossoms are a 90s band quote unquote like ever clear right or put it are having been going on these tours for like five or six years now that are like explicitly billed is like 90s tours they're playing 90s music with like whatever like fastball and people like that. I think there is, there's always that collapse, right?

Like 80s music, like everybody knows or everyone has an idea of what's 80s music that totally elides the complexity of the 80s himself. But I do think it happens, it's happened more to 90s, the 90s, than any other decades since. Like, there's obviously bands and sounds and records that you can associate with the 2000s,

you know, with the aughts. Aquas. Are we go. Is that? There we go. Yes. I don't know.

I'm so sorry. It doesn't. That doesn't feel as confined to one decade as the 90s do. And I don't know if that's just because the 90s hangs together as a concept better than the aughts or the 2000s. Like if it's just a branding issue or if there is some quality to the 90s that sort of groups everything together, the far that we get. get from it. Like, I've said it a few times here, I think, but I went to a hard rock festival that was supposed to have Soundgarden headlining, like, a few days after Chris Cornell died. And so everybody was sort of in mourning, and Bush played at this festival, and Bush

paid tribute to Chris Cornell by covering the one I love by REM. Oh, what are you saying? And I stood there and I was just completely baffled because like in 1995 or whatever, those were three different bands ruling three different like continents each on its own planet. Right. And just that that was the moment where the 90s feel like it truly collapsed for me. Was Bush paying tribute to Soundgarden's frontman by covering REM? Like that's, I.

But again, like someone like a little. Olivia Rodriguez, right, is coded as 90s because she combines like Shania Twain with Alonis Morissette or whatever. Like I, that's always going to happen. But that was the exact moment when 90s, various bands and songs from the 90s all collapse into 90s music for me personally. And it sure does seem like that happened more or more intensely to the 90s than any other decades since, at least. I sometimes think that it has a little bit to do with. like, well, 80s and 90s anyways, where there were these like really specific types of

production that tended to like color large swaths of music that came out in that time. So then we sort of like anything that was made in the 80s doesn't even like those like replacements 80s all. You know what I mean? Everyone was just like, this is what drums sound like. Yeah, exactly. The gated drums, right. Now, that's true.

And the distortion, like the distorted guitars. You know, which cross over, even to Shania and Backstreet Boys to an extent. Yeah, that's absolutely true. That is just there's a production aesthetic that crosses several genres, you know, and most strongly. You did. I helped. Okay.

This is an email from Nairie. I was wondering if there might ever be a special episode on why 90s music was so bonkers, genre bending, and unlike anything before or sense. For my money, it was largely the confluence of the sound scan era, meeting up with a moment in time where artists could record themselves more easily than ever. I'd love to hear more about your perspective on this era on the industry side. Heck, 60 things that explain how we got songs in the 90s. It's a very catchy title. Bonus points also for Heck, which is a very, this show.

She probably lives in Ohio also. Probably. I think the sound scan era is a very astute observation, right? Like, because it did seem in retrospect like everything changed. And suddenly like Garth Brooks, you know, as a number one artist and NWA is a number one artist, you know. And then you have Nirvana knocking off Michael Jackson from the top of the charts. And that's sort of seen in retrospect and maybe even felt at the time as like this massive sea change, you know, that I think alone explains why the 90s was so bonkers. I think with sound scan, other kinds of music made by very different kinds of people could be super popular.

It could hit number one, could be classified as pop music, you know, and be classified as pop stars in a way that wasn't as possible in the 80s. And the internet sort of looming by the end of the decade and sort of starting to dominate via Napster even, you know, before Y2K came around. like that's another factor. But I do think that sound scan was a bigger deal in real time, you know, and Nirvana knocking off Michael Jackson, you know, an MTV changing over, you know, on the rock side at least, from Guns and Roses to Nirvana, you know, from headbangers ball to the buzz bin, like all of these things happening, just redefined pop and pop star in a really dramatic way that I don't think necessarily has a mirror in the 80s or in any other decade.

Amen. Amen, brother. The next question is from Mike. Number one, another two-partner. How do you determine what artist slash song best represents the era slash mood you're attempting to explain, i.e. picking a mob deep song over a gnaws or gangstar song, et cetera. I think X to the next girl would be a great episode, which I still might do. But I don't think that I pick via, I think I pick artists and not eras.

Like I'm obviously trying to balance, you know, multiple things here, multiple genres and, you know, geographical locations, et cetera. But I do think like the Mob Deep episode, I just really wanted to talk about Mob Deep, you know. And I just got, sure. And I just got very into them. And it was certainly helpful that, you know, they represent, you know, Queens Bridge and that kind of music. And that's a good chance to get into the knob. of it all, but I think I go from the song or from the artist outward

you know, and I'm trying to hits every genre, era, and mood within the 90s, but it starts with my being attracted to do a specific song or specific personalities, you know, within an artist.

Oh, yeah. Okay. Next question. Number part two. This same question. Can you please just keep this podcast going forever, even if you go to other decade, which does not specify which other decade. I'll see what I can do.

We might just jump to the 30s. I'll just do. We'll go straight. Beethoven, like, 1400s or 1,400. I have no idea on, but this is how bad it? We'll just, we'll just sub in you saying the actual era of Beethoven later. Yes, we'll just. You'll have a fix that in post, but...

We'll go straight from NeoSwing to actual swing. That's what we'll do. That's what we're doing next. Just play her piano ditties. There you go. Okay. This is from Catherine via Twitter. But, okay, she has one good part for the question, maybe.

How much does the personal connection to a song play a role in your choosing? I think part... Another thing I'm trying to balance is, like, personal connections versus is not so personal connections. There are weeks, episode, songs where I figure I'm going to talk a little bit more about myself and, like, my relationship to this song when I was a teenager or whatever, and other weeks where I'd rather have, like, more of a 50,000-foot view of things, you know, and I figure out people are just tired of hearing, you know, about my basketball career in junior high or

whatever, and I'd rather just talk about whoever it is, right? And so I try and space those out as well, songs that have a very personal, you know, and meaningful connection to me versus songs that don't necessarily. And like that frees me up to like attack it from other angles or just not gas on about myself for a little while, which I think is helpful. Can I ask a follow-up question? Please do. Which episode slash song do you do have the most personal connection to? Huh. And why was it super

trying to this guy? The one where I suddenly started talking about romantic foibles was I can't make you love me and like I don't know why that happened. It's not that I don't have a personal connection to that song but that's not what I would have guessed. Like if we're going in real time,

something like nine inch nails, right, or pavement, you know, like I had smashing pumpkins even, right? Like I was sort of a bass old rock kid teen you know and so all the big teenage feelings that i had tended to be soundtracks by like

the usual suspect buzzbin dudes right and so like radio heads creep you know radio heads i think that was so personal to me and i know those records so well that i almost recoiled from that a little bit and i like at least tried to not go entirely the personal angle on that one you know i'm trying to parcel out, you know, my teenage angst as much as possible, but certainly it's most activated, you know, by like the growling dudes that we all know and love. I'm really going to say a controversial opinion, which is that I think that that's what people come here for. Yeah.

My teenage. Okay. I trust you, Judge. What else is on the menu, but honestly. That is pretty much it. Yeah. Okay. This question is from Ross via Twitter.

so I'd actually have loads, but to boil it down to one. Ooh, Ross, maybe British. Is the list a purely personal, subjective one, or have you included songs artists? You dovetails nicely into the last question. Songs, artists that you care for less than others, that you feel represent the 90s or some aspect of it. There's also a second question.

Sure. I don't think there's anybody that I'm holding my nose and including, you know, that I don't like personally, but like is important to the 90s, right? I think the binary there is whether I was familiar with them and was like listening to them in real time in the 90s, right? Which isn't always the case. Like, honestly, someone like Selena, right? You know, I sort of knew a handful of hits and I had a sense of her importance, but like I had not done the deep dive into her until, you know, long after, you know, the peak of her career, you know, And that was, it doesn't happen often and I try and do it sparingly, but I, sometimes I want to jump into someone that, you know, I've always been curious about them and I know a little bit, but not nearly enough.

And like, I, trying to learn about it in retrospect is sort of an interesting challenge to me and hopefully translates to like a different kind of episode that, again, is not based on my personal shit, but still can be revelatory in other ways, theoretically. Was Wump, there it is, one of the ones that you just, like, wanted to know, you just wanted to know more about? I did. I wanted the full Wump versus Woot, debates, you know, battle, civil war, et cetera. Like, I'd always wanted to get into that. And I finally was able to do that. And that was extremely gratifying. That's an excellent example of this. I think for everybody. Okay. So he says, actually, I'll risk a second one. Have you abandoned a song during writing or research? That's actually a good question. Because there wasn't enough of a story there,

or there was, but it wasn't interesting or funny enough. Famously looking for funny songs. Yeah, I can't think of anything that I started and then stopped. And it's like, I just can't do it. There's been artists where I, for a long time, I couldn't figure out what song I was doing. And I would even be halfway through an episode and still not entirely sure of what song I was going to pick.

That's not really the case with Pearl Jam, but Pearl Jam obviously is a case for like, if I'm, am I going to do a live, am I going to do like Vitology, something off Vitology because I love that record. Am I going to do Yellow Leadbetter is like a kind of deepish cut but it's sort of deepened with time. And obviously I went with Yellow Ledbetter.

I think I struggle sometimes with the song, the specific song with an artist I know I want to do, but I can't think of a time when like, the entire thing is just sort of collapsed on me midway through. But, you know, there's still time for that to happen. And I would be very excited if it did, actually. I would have been corduroy. I almost did that too.

It's really neither here, neither here nor there, to be honest. The waiting drove me mad. Somebody, somebody emailed me and was like, my wife is a huge Pearl Jam fan, and she is so mad that you picked Yellow Leadbetter. She's just been walking around grumbling and cursing you because you pick the wrong song. I just don't know what to do about that. I'm very sorry. Please apologize.

You had to absorb that now. Take it into your soul and carry it with you forward. This email is from Becky. My question is benign. But my friend and I have, uh-oh, we've come across a word. I don't know how to pronounce. V-a-Metly? That's right, thank you.

Viamately disagreed on which song you sometimes select for an artist. Just for everyone's knowledge, I am not dumb. I simply learned, I read a lot of the child and I didn't have a lot of friends. So I learned all these words by reading, but I had never heard them out loud. And so to this day, I have some pronunciation issues. I have never mispronounced anything on this show. You never mispronounced anything. Yeah, until just now, I did it for the first time.

time ever. Just now, it's very embarrassing. I can't relate to your, to your plight, but I do sympathize with it. Okay. So her and her friend have strongly disagreed on which song you sometimes select for an artist. So how much do you lean into the, wow, these questions are really, are a little, our conversation, perfectly mirroring. How much do you lean into the explain, in quotes, versus how much you really just like a song I want to put it on repeat? For example, I was blown away to only recently discover that better man is in, not in fact everyone's favorite Pearl Jam song.

Better Man would have been a good too. That seems pretty obvious that it's not everyone's favorite. The explain is pretty meaningless. I don't know if that's clear at this point, but like the arbitrary nature of this show is very important to me, and that extends even to the word explain. Like,

it was supposed to be pompous and funny and impossible, and I think it has proven to be. And so I don't think I necessarily am thinking about which one explains which one is most exemplary of I'm not using that word right but you get me I try to avoid the usual suspects all the time I guess yellow lead better would be another example of that like it's obviously you can just pull up Spotify and see what the most popular song is you know and that can guide you in one sense like if I'm going to do oasis like if I'm not going to do wonder wall I need like a very good reason and obviously I just did wonder wall but I sometimes the

guests like smashing pumpkins, I did mayonnaise because your friend in mind, Bill Simmons, wanted to do mayonnaise, right? I try and mix it up a little bit and sometimes hit the usual suspects because there's a lot to talk about and sometimes try and pick something slightly more offbeat or less popular just because I think there's more of a story there. So that's another thing I'm sort of balancing is like what you expect versus what you hopefully don't necessarily expect. It just occurred to me that both our shows have explained in the premise. I think I told you that during some other show of ours a very long time ago.

It is very strange, isn't it? Did I rip you off or did you rip me off? I think it's the eternal question. Zykeyes do you think. There we go. Yes. Okay. The next question is from Brady.

I'm sure this will be a somewhat redundant question. but how much do you work to ignore hindsight? Examples that come to mind are the Bjork and Pavement episodes, where Bjork was much more omnipresent at the time than massive attack or Portishead, but arguably defined a genre or future examples of the genre less so. Ditto Pavement versus other contemporary Indies like Cebedo or the Elephant Sixth bands. No one would claim Neutral Milk Hotel defined indie music in the 90s, But in hindsight, dot, dot, dot, dot.

There is a second part, but I'll hold the beat here. I don't recall Bjork being like so much huger at the time than massive attack in Portishead, or that being the reverse now necessarily. I do think like neutral milk hotel, like Elephant Six in general is a good example. Like in the mid-2000s, right, like in the aeroplane over the sea was like the greatest record ever made for a critical perspective for a lot of people. And like, that's maybe less true now. Like, what was popular in the 90s versus what we remember is being popular in the 90s? Like, I get that there's a difference there. Like, I loved Sebado, you know, in the 90s. And I,

I still do, but like, I'm not listening to them all the time. Like, I totally get the question. But I do think I'm trying to do the show. Another thing I'm balancing, I guess, is as I remember it in real time versus as like younger people now seem to think of the 90s, right? Like I, Sunny Day Real Estate would be an example of a band that seemed very huge to me at the time, but are not like the biggest 90s band that you would think of now. But I'm trying to balance how huge they loomed for me when I was a teenager, you know, versus as an adult, I guess.

And so everyone has their own 90s and everyone has the 90s. and everyone has in the 90s that they grew up in and the 90s that they remember now. And I am just trying to mix and match those in my head. Go off. Second, how much do you have to subsume your own preferences for the quote-unquote greater good? I doubt all of the songs and the episodes meant something to you then and now. for example you said yourself that so how's your girl is the best album of 1999 hell yeah shut up prince paul shout out shout out shout out the handsome handsome boy modeling school

um but do you have to bury that feeling because it's not a consensus opinion though it is mine this is a tangentially related to something you've answered a bunch of times but if you want to answer it please go ahead i love the handsome boy modeling school record i don't know if that's my favorite of 1999 but yeah i i i don't i want to also include at times in certain episodes my own arbitrary you know personal opinions you know and like bands that i loved at the time like morphine is an example of this is a band that i really really really loved throughout the 90s and still do you know and there are another one you don't think of them immediately but like i know that if i ever did that episode, I would love doing it, you know, and it would be gratifying and I probably should just go

ahead and do it. So I don't know if that qualifies as subsuming my preference for the greater good, but I think I'm just always balancing, you know, what I feel like doing versus like the list of songs that, like, I think you kind of have to do if you want to be honest and do like a full or quote unquote full survey of what the decade actually was like in real time and what was popular. real time. You're like Batman. Exactly. I don't know how you mean that, but exactly. Because you're subsuming your desires for the future. That's right. I'm sacrificing myself for the health of God of Gotham City.

But your darker impulses. Okay. That's right. Towards morphine. Okay. Matthew on Twitter says, I am assuming you limited yourself to one song from an artist or group for this podcast. But if you could have done a second episode or song for an artist, what song would you have liked it to be? It's a pretty good question. I think the closest I can get there is Mariah Carey. Right? Like I did all I want for Christmas is you. Like first of all, that was very early in the show. So that was a much, much shorter episode. Like I'd like that episode fine,

but it's it was a very- Something else we share in comment. Yeah, right, right. It was, it was just, it was a very different vibe than the vibe I would bring to it now and also sort of focusing, like, that was when her memoir, people were still very much reading, talking about processing her memoir. So it focused on that, like, her life story. And of course, you know, her Christmas record and its dominance now. But like an episode on fantasy, you know, the ODB remix in particular, like that's a massive moment, you know, in the 90s in terms of several styles of music colliding. And the way pop music would be defined going forward. et cetera, et cetera.

Like, there's plenty of Mariah Carey material left theoretically for a second episode. I probably won't do that in the ends, but like, on the other hand, anything is possible. So forget I said that. Jessica on Twitter said, not a question or a gripe. Just a note to say the Pearl Jam episode is blaring in the car at 2 a.m. On the way to hospital. Ooh, maybe Jessica's British. Going into labor.

So it was the daddest way possible for my husband to enter parenthood, which is not wrong. No offense to me, but I can't imagine like a worse soundtrack to that drive. Someone told me they listened to Bansplain while they were in labor. Yeah. I was like absolutely praying for your child. I was going to say like just the drive at two, I understand that 2 a.m. driving your pregnant wife, you're in the labor wife to the airport. And you're like, you want to listen to anything, baby.

And it's me talking about yellow lead better. Exactly. Then I went boop-boop. Boop me in that circumstance. If you are on labor and your husband attempts to play this show, boop the hell out of me, I authorize you to boop me in that circumstance. No offense to that guy. And congratulations, by the way.

But shit, that sounds awful. And I'm sorry. Okay, the next question is from John. My question for you, which has been asked countless times over the past years from quote-unquote old guys like me, is do you think rock music will ever come back to the mainstream? Oh, hell yeah. I was wondering when we were going to get this question. I feel like the internet has taken away a sense of subculture that led to a number of these scenes

or artists you've highlighted from emerging. On top of that, I have a hard time naming a lot of actual new bands. Rock acts these days seem to be one person with studio musicians, which is cool, but leads me to wonder how much we are missing through the lack of collaboration that would come with a band of people with various tastes and backgrounds. Anyway, maybe I'm just being a curmudgeoning old man as I enter my mid-30s. I'm going to fucking kill myself. Feel free to tell me that dude. Okay, I'm sorry, Rob, just one second. I'm just going to take this for a second. John. I'm tapping you in. Babe, John, first of all, mid-30s, are you unwell? Like, there's so much.

many good new rock bands so many i think maybe you're just not looking in the right places because they aren't omnipresent or that we don't have an mtb or monoculture but there's babe throw through all fucking rock towards omaha you'll hit four guys in a good shoegaze band i promise you there's so many don't you agree rob sorry i'm angry i'm angry that he's in his mid 30s and he called himself old you really really got upset at that i i'm not going to disagree with you on this i i i'm I'm surprised at myself that Lenny Kravitz, I don't believe, has ever come up on this show yet. We have to rectify that somehow. But I just looked up when the Lenny Kravitz hit single, Rock and Roll is Dead was released, and it was 1995.

I was wondering where you were going with this. This is not a new issue. And I didn't know about the Omaha Shugays scene. You know, I'm going to take, I'm going to take Yassie's word on that. I made a playlist. I'll share it with you. I please share me the Omaha Shugays. playlist. You're not going to find the new rock bands on this show. Unfortunately, that is a deficiency. That is my fault. And I do apologize. But they are, I believe, out there.

Yeah. Good luck. John. Okay. This is from someone called not Chester Lemon on Twitter. Are we done? Or the 90s it for mono? Damn, these, did you order these questions? I did order these. Okay. We're in a little death. Are we dead blocked right here? This is going to get a little grim. Delightful.

Are we done? Are we done? I'm 31. Is it over for me? Were the 90s it for monoculture music Apex Mountain for us? Did pop music die on Y2K? Well, that's simply not true. Louis Cabaldi is out here thriving.

Let's not drag Lewis Capaldi into that. I love Louis Cabaldi. I have a friend who gets very angry at the misuse in his view of the term monoculture, right? Like when people say like, oh, Game of Thrones was the last late monoculture. He just gets really. He's, oh, he's extremely fun. He's a delightful human. And I am both joking and very sincere.

I just thought, are we done? Was the funniest, was the second funniest question I was asked after. Why do you live in Ohio? Did pop music die on Y2K? I think that the internet is responsible for whatever not Chester Lemons, anxiety is, right? Because I did feel in the 90s like I didn't really have any options or I had very limited options. And I was limited to whatever MTV or the radio was serving me, right? And I sort of picked and choose from within that block, but I couldn't really get out of that block.

Then I went to college and like I could mix it up a little bit. But like I do think I do associate the 90s with like a lack of choice. You know, that was objectively not true, you know, from the 2000s forward, from Napster forward. And I can't figure out how much of that is technological and how much of that is personal. But in, you know, but it's it did feel different and it did feel like your taste was dictated to you more than. than now. I think some people could stand to have some taste dictated to them if we're being fucking honest with each other, babe.

Okay, that's first of all. That's all. Okay. That's all I have Chad. Tap 4 on Twitter. Gorgeous, the trifecta. Is music dead? It's obviously not, but I would love to hear you argue against the take anyway.

Lewis Capaldi, babe. I just said it just. Right. Shugays in Omaha. Louis Capaldi. What more do you need? There we go. They will carry it.

Yes. Is rock dead? Are we dead? Is music dead? I think I got that in the right order. Possibly music should have been before. Are we dead? But is music dead?

Maybe. That's all I'm going to say. I don't agree with that at all. It's not dead. Music's going to be fine. Beethoven. Okay. Nate on Twitter said, how has this show affected your relationship to memory? So much of what you write about is inspired by how these songs connected to your life when you were young, or how these specific moments or trends intersected or deflected against your own life and interests.

Do you trust yourself to remember these cultural movements as they occurred? Or have you had to reconstruct the context and make best guesses? Nate said you're an unreliable narrator, bitch. That's what he said. verbatim, that is what Nate said. I have to agree with Nate on that. I think obviously I am having to reconstruct and make best

guesses and am remembering it the way I want to remember it versus the way it happened. And I guess that's kind of one of the things that's most interesting to me about this whole process. The more specific, the memory that I have, and the more it means to me, the more suspicious I am of it,

right? The more that I suspect that I sort of engineered it and I've sort of written it to be the way I wish it was versus how it was. Like that gap between nostalgia and reality is very, very interesting to me and is sort of driving the entire show. It's like, am I explaining the 90s or am I explaining how I wish I was or had been in the 90s? Okay. This is from Robert via email. Hey, Rob, is there a 90s song that you didn't really connect with when it came out that has become increasingly more meaningful to you with age and life experience? No, definitely not. Probably Tom Petty's, it's good to be king, would be an example of this. Bonnie Rates, I can't make you love me, would be an example of this. I think the artists at the time,

like, they were what, probably in their 30s, who seemed like ancients to me, who seemed like grizzled veterans, you know, on their last legs. as humans. Now that I am older than they were at the time, I think I can appreciate them a little bit better. This also applies to say Aerosmith, but yes, the people who struck me as impossibly old at the time, I think I now view differently now that I, myself, am impossibly old. Okay. That answer.

Impossibly old, just like that guy doesn't have their third. produce. This is from Lauren. Are there any songs you were or are afraid to cover on the show? I don't know about afraid, though maybe afraid is right. Like, as you sort of said, like, people, very complex moral situation. Aaliyah is an example of someone who I was actively afraid to cover for or talk about for a long time. because and I ended up talking about

probably for too long like do you talk about R. Kelly like too much do you talk about him not at all like how do you handle stuff like that there's a little bit of you know that with Dre as well of course I so people with artists situations with a

moral dimension I what I just want to avoid doing what I do actively fear doing is lapsing into like a very special episode speak right like I can feel myself getting too stern. The 902.00

that was about euphoria, but it was ecstasy. Do you remember that one? I do not remember that one. The Save by the Bell episode, right? I'm so excited. Jesse Spottos. She took Adderall. I think it was Adderall. So I

also don't want to do the thing where I am enlightened 22 man passing judgment, you know, like I, because that would be ridiculous as well. And so those kinds of stories and situations I am trepidacious about, though I do most of the time eventually do them. Like cop killer, you know, not for the same reasons, but like that's just a very freighted topic, obviously, and I was sort of nervous about it for a long time and finally found a way I think to get

through it. But I sort of parcel out like more serious songs and issues, you know, and try to approach them, you know, with respect, but not like too much overbearing serious. I guess. Okay. Next question's from Josh. What was the thought process that led to bringing on an R.E.M. Hater for night swimming.

Legit Q, because that's the only episode I've heard, where the guests came out and shouted a song. This came up also somewhere else that I was having a conversation because that song is so, oh, yeah. Oh, okay, I know why. It was, yeah. In our draft episode, which I don't know if it will be out. Whatever.

Surprise. No draft. Anyways, yes, that's one of the best REM songs of literally all times. Please continue. People are still mad at me about this. Howard Beck, the sports writer, tweets me periodically just to complain about this. I do feel bad about this. Jay Caspian Kang, who is a wonderful writer and podcaster and sinker, he was the guy who

came on and shat on night swimming. And he did that because I asked him to. I should be absolutely clear that he did what I was hoping he would do. I thought it would be funny and I thought it would be helpful as just a different way of approaching it to have at least one episode where the person didn't like the song, right? Like just as a contrast. And I wanted somebody,

I wanted it to be somebody where I knew somehow that they specifically didn't like that artist or better yet that song. And like Jay had a thing where he would just complain about night swimming on Twitter at random periodically. And also because I too love night swimming and R.A.M. so much, like I expected that episode to be extra florid, you know, and Rob's teenage feelings, et cetera. And I thought it would be a helpful sort of balance, you know, counterbalance to that. Like this would be a good episode to sort of pull me back from the brink, you know, of my teenage angst a little bit. by having somebody come on and say, you know,

it's not really that good a song, right? But like, it was still pretty jarring for people. Like, I, I was thrilled with how Jay approached that. I probably don't need and probably will not ever do that again.

Just because I don't, I just impulsively, I don't instinctively, I don't think I ever want the show to get too negative. But I, I thought it was helpful to do it just the one time. Yeah, you learned your lesson,

didn't you? Sorry. I guess I did. I guess I did learn my lesson. People are still mad at me, and that's, that's okay. I'm kind of mad when it comes back up. I get a little upset. This question is from Eric.

It came via Instagram. Big question. Why doesn't the song play automatically after the pod now? Did the licensing change? Literally, why do people care about this kind of stuff? It's absolutely insane to me. They'd be watching like industry and shit, and they just want to know what's happening behind the scenes.

I am surprised that people, were bummed about this, but the answer is, the technical answer is that we were part of Spotify's music and talk program that combines podcasts with actual Spotify song files, and

now we're not. And that's not being a part of that gives us just a little more flexibility. Theoretically, we can be on charts, podcast charts. theoretically, we can be in Spotify wrapped, which I don't think we can when we were tied to a song, to a track.

but it bums me out that people are still bummed out about this to the point where I've considered making playlists that consist of my episode and then the song just like two-track playlist just to recreate the experience that people apparently had. But I'm sorry, I'm sorry about that. But that's the boring reason why we don't have the song anymore.

You just boop over to the fucking song, bitch. It's not the whole. Okay. This is from Andy on Twitter. What's one song you wish you could cover for this series but can't do to Spotify issues and why is it friends in low places? Damn, another one of these tricky little motherfuckers who answered their own question. The super chunk principle. It is an interesting hypothetical question now that I am not tied to having the Spotify track play after the podcast.

Could I do a song that's not on Spotify? This would also apply, of course, to say De La Sle. But yeah, Garth Brooks. Garth Brooks is a pretty good example of that. It's interesting. I'm still mulling that over, but I am aware of the fact that I maybe have a freedom now that I did not previously have.

If I may be so bold. Please. You can't explain the 90s about doing Garth Brooks, but no one remembers that like nine of the years of the 90s, Garth Brooks dominated the billboard charts almost every week, every year. It was just nonstop Garth Brooks. And the other year it was Chris Gaines. Right, absolutely.

That's right. When you came out, old magician's style. Chris Gaines was kind of hot. I'm not going to lie to you guys. Okay. Okay. Next question. Johan.

Number one, two-parter. It's more of a common than you're going to be two-parter. Best Pink Floyd album. I don't see how this is related at all to this show or any of this, but please continue with your best Pink Floyd album. it's the one it's the live one that was like a box set and it had a light it had an LED red light that was constantly blinking my buddy it's called pulse i think i think it's a live album and it just had a very obnoxious package and my buddy dan had it and like his cd rack right like when we would be playing super mario card or whatever i would look over and the pink floyd live album light would be blinking you know off in the distance. That's the best Pink Floyd record. Follow up question.

Did you do any other stuff besides playing video games and sitting in cars listening to music when you were high school? Not really, no. No. No, okay. That was like 95% of it. Yeah.

Number two, did you have a long hair in the 90s? I'm actually dying to know the answer to this question. And if the answer is yes, I'm going to need a photo. immediately. Well, I was going to say, I don't think there is anything about me, my personality, my voice, my life experience that suggests for one second that I have ever had long hair in the 90s or any other time. I am the shortest hair-sounding dude, whoever hosted a podcast. I have never had long hair. It just gets bushy. It just acquires. It just sort of accumulates like a bird nest type atmosphere. It's not good.

for anybody. So it wasn't for lack of trying. It was just because you could not pull it off. I guess. Yeah, you're right. Correct. I'm just curious, I mean, I think every man in the 90s had a dalliance with long hair, I thought.

Okay. This is from Mark on Twitter. Regarding the mail bag, we can either go with, it feels like you're intentionally withholding every time you go out of your way to no longer say, don't get involved these days. Oh, is that your catchphrase? Like, God damn, we're just beautiful song as don't get involved?

That's the closest equivalent I have to your actual catchphrase, yes. Or why don't you say don't get involved anymore? Whichever finds its way to the pod. Love you, buddy. Can't believe a white dude made me cry whilst talking about our lady Selena. Huge compliment. And then the hard emoji, the hard eyes. And then the hard eyes.

I don't receive that emoji very often. I think I did start doing a neurotic sort of thing in my head where it's like I don't want to say don't get involved too much and then I stopped saying it entirely and then my brother-in-law gave me a don't get involved t-shirt for my birthday and I sort of wear that around and then feel weird because I'm wearing a t-shirt with my semi-catchphrase on it. I do think that I'm trying to parcel out that don't get involved a little more sparingly these days. Now that I say this out loud, I'm going to go back now and see actually how many times I have said it on the show. I'm going to guess six. That's it? I'm probably, I'm probably do. Okay, fine.

12. I think I'm probably due in any event. It's the little. eight episodes without a don't get involved sign is about to flip back to zero, I suspect. This conversation doesn't count. It's going to come up soon, I suspect. Nothing like making a podcast to become painfully aware of your own just brain-dead vocal affectations. Do you have that issue with goddamn gorgeous? Like, have you ever stopped yourself from saying it?

I want to die. I don't know why it keeps why I can. keep saying it. I don't understand why my brain is so broken and addled that like it's the only words I can string together and it's going to go on my fucking tombstone. I'm going to have done so many things with my life, God willing, and still when I die, they're going to say that. And I did it to myself. That's a very grim answer, but truthful as well. Okay. Also, we can cut this curve, but it, Christina Hendricks put it on her drink menu at her bar at her party. It said it at the bottom. I have a picture. Like it was, there was a drink called the goddamn gorgeous beautiful rosé or whatever.

No, it said like, it was like, have a goddamn gorgeous beautiful time or something. In insane. How much time did you spend was this? Did you talk to her? Like, did you hang out? I was like literally hang out with her like sitting on the floor until 2.30 in the morning with like six people and her dogs. We'll talk about it later. Okay. That's right. Cut all that, babe. That's, that's Tensel Town stuff. We got to keep off the pot.

Okay. This next question, Kurt's like, could you just not? Next question is from Alberta on Twitter. This question only works if you have watched Top Gun or Top Gun Maverick. At what point during these two movies would be a perfect moment to needle drop tub thumping by Chumbawwamba. I have been thinking about this question for 72 hours.

Have you seen Top Gun? Maverick first of all? I haven't not no. Okay. My friend Mike, my good friend Mike has seen Top Gun Maverick about 2,000 times at this point. Like every time like what are you doing? He's like I'm watching Top Gun again. We've been texting back and forth

about this. It's mostly been him texting me but like we I've identified well he has helped me but there are three possibilities. Top Gun the original Top Gun is probably just the volleyball scene. Top Gun Maverick. Three possibilities. One when he is thrown out of the bar when

Tom Cruise is playfully thrown out of the bar, you know, and he lands on the surf, and that's like I get down and get up again. And then he sees Rooster playing piano through the window, and he's reminded of Goose. And like, it pivots too quickly to a very emotional moment, so I don't think that's the right

part to do it. The second was when he and Rooster, when Maverick and Rooster are running across a runway late in the film, I don't want to spoil the circumstances, but it's sort of a very stressful time. And like, I, there would be a nice undercutting of the tension of the moment to put tub thumping there but i think it would be too whimsical at that point and so my friend mike rejected that as well the answer is the dog

fight football scene because like there's like the rousing i get knocked down i get up again moment but also like the pissing the night away like the trumpet solo etc there's a wistful melancholy like sunset quality to that scene as well that i think would also be compliment by tub thumping. So the answer is the dogfight football scene. This was an excellent question. I liked this question very much. Sorry for doing that to you just now. I think it would be great to see Chumbawamba's famously anti-capitalist anarchic band. This music used in a blockbuster Hollywood film about the military. I was going to say, no greater fan of the military industrial complex than Chumbabamba.

What crass song do you think would best soundtrack? the Barbie movie as directed by Greta Gerwig. Okay, the next question is from Courtney on Instagram. Question, do I need a pick between Nirvana and Pearl Jam? I always felt that pull between the two camps. Nirvana was cooler and more important, but I liked Pearl Jam more. Am I cheesy? I don't recall personally as a teenager having to pick one or the other.

Like, I read now, of course, at Kirkland. Really? Okay, because I, it's, it's, it. In retrospect, like Kirk Cobain obviously, like, talk trash about them. Like, they're slow dancing backstage at the VMAs. Like, there was a professional or personal rivalry. But I don't remember, like, in the battleground of junior high or high school, like, the Nirvana versus Pearl Jam being Jets and Sharks or whatever.

Was that your experience? I wanted to ask you about this as well, because I don't remember any kind of you had to choose sides, really, with any two bands from the period from the 90s. I really remember it with them too. And it's funny because it came up in conversation with a Scottish friend. And he was like, I don't even put them in the same. That's crazy. And I was like, yeah, but I think in America,

they were really pitted against each other. But you don't remember that. But I totally remember that. I feel like it was in press. And at like school, it was very much like telling of like what kind of person you were. You know? Okay.

And Nirvana, obviously, it was the much cooler, tougher. It was an edgier. Yeah. Like, like, where his pro jam was like maybe like, the more like jockey. It does not make my friends really like in my opinion. Like my friends really liked Alison Chains, but really did not like smashing pumpkins so much.

And like they really hated pavement, you know, when I started getting into pavement. But I don't, I think that's sort of a different issue. But yeah, I was just, I was very curious if you had any kind of experience like that because I didn't.

Like I just, you liked alternative music, quote unquote. you know and you were fine with whatever you preferred whatever band you preferred within that blanket well to answer Courtney you can like whatever you like that it's really there we go it's very kind of you to say Joshua from Twitter says has a stranger ever recognized you from your voice is a stranger recognize you from your wins uh no the only time I was approached in public is when I was at a the Spoon Interpol show in Columbus,

and I was wearing a Steely Dan t-shirt, and I noticed that the two gentlemen to my left, both of them were also wearing steely Dan t-shirts. And then I tweeted, I'm standing here at the Spoon and Interpol show, and there are three men in a row wearing stealing Dan t-shirts, and I'm one of them. And somebody who was in that crowd,

who read that tweet, then found me based on the fact that they, I think they knew I was like, unnaturally tall or whatever. And I just, that was somebody who had to listen to the show. And that's the only sort of public conversation I've ever had with anybody. That was the only time you've been recognized.

Exactly. Because you are recognized constantly, right? I don't think my Instagram, my Instagram presence is not nearly strong enough, you know, to be, to be recognized with any regularity or really at all,

you know, but it's just, if you see a wince, if you, if you see a wincing, man with glasses at Kroger, you know, it's probably me. Okay. Steve, via email, have you gotten any feedback from the artists you've covered?

I don't believe I've gotten any feedback from this show. Prior to this show, I think in 2019, I wrote like 20,000 words about summer girls by LFO. And I interviewed a member of LFO who, after the article was published, was displeased with the article, both for some factual issues and because of, you know, sort of my jocular dismissive, whimsical tone, you know, toward his song, which is, which is, you know, it is a bummer, but it's, that's, of course, totally is right. So that's, that's, that's the only feedback I've, I've gotten from a 90s artist recently, and it sort of turned me off feedback from anybody. So I, I would desire to not have any feedback from anybody else,

if that would be all right. Yeah, people ask this. lot as if we want that. And I'm like, I pray, I pray every night that these artists do not listen to these episodes or are not aware of them, to be honest. Yes. That's staying as obscure as I can. Yes. Next question is from John via Twitter. Mailbag question. The interplay with you and Yossi Salic, that's me. Oh my God. It's super awesome. Very sibling vibe going on. I don't know how I feel about that. To be honest with you, I don't like it. personally. I love how you talk about the musical elements and Yossi covers the more emotional and lyrical elements. Why do you seem to discount the emotional elements and how they feel today?

Just today. Like, just because the emotions appeal to teenage you doesn't mean they can't have a valid emotional element today when Yossi is on. She brings the emotional element to light. You could consider exploring the emotional resonance. you could consider exploring the emotional resonance today without the aid of Yassi or just invite Yassian more often. If you're not capable, Rob, of handling the emotional element, you could. No emotion. I'd like to answer this question with a question, which is Yasi, did you write this question? Is this a fake Gmail account?

I would never call us sibling vibe. That's super whatever is it. I don't know why it's gross. Everyone knows what the dynamic is, is that I'm the teenager and Rob is my dad. That's a less weird vibe to you than siblings?

Yeah. Okay. Well, I have some emotions about that. Generally speaking, I try and be as not emotional as possible. No emotions on the show. Just vibes. No emotions, just vibes.

And also kind of rude. Yossi never talks about the music. Okay, cool. So I'm just out here not knowing about music. John. Okay, next question is from JT on Twitter. Is there a song from one of your earlier episodes that you wish you could dive deeper into? I feel like the format was much more brief starting out.

Personally, would love to hear one of your current style monologues, 10K words or more, about The Rain or Hey, Jealousy. Has it ever been more than 10K? I think it was once. I think Pantera was over 10. hey, that was bizarre. I don't know what happened. Yeah, I mean, any of them, right? Like, you ought to know, hey, jealousy, cream,

the rain would have been awesome. Yes. Like, the first 10 episodes or so are, like, literally, like, one-fifth to one-tenth as long as they are now. And it would be awesome to go back to any of those. But, like, I reread them recently. I'm not going to re-listen to them because, fuck, no. but like I they they they they're they're fine for what they are which is a guy who's never tried to do a podcast before trying to do a podcast like I think they are they are they are okay enough to

live on as like part of this show but like yeah it's that they're the modern the current version of this show is a very different thing and it would be fun just to do it all over again but I also think that my editor Justin sales would just kill me at that point and I'd like to avoid that if possible. Justin says he likes the longer episodes. That's what he told me about both of our shows. Matt says, here's a question. It's 1993 and you play for a mid-tier baseball team.

Dodgers question mark. Rude. And you get to pick a walkout song. What's your walkout song? Kiss by Prince, I think is the pretty clear answer for me. It's like, now batting. Rob Harville, like, do do, do, do, do it. you don't have to be and it fades off

I'm not familiar. Can you sing more of that? No. You are absolutely familiar and I'm not going to I'm not doing any part of that again but that is definitely my answer. I'm sure you can I wonder if Prince would have authorized anyone in 1993 to license his song for that purpose.

I kind of doubt it but that the kiss is definitely what I would have used. Okay. Final question. if you do an episode on Neo Swing, are you going to fuck it up? This is so many layers to this question. Are you going to fuck it up by doing like Cherry Poppin Daddies or some bullshit?

This implies that there is like a correct and honorable version of doing a Neo Swing episode. Is that how you're interpreting it as well? Well, in any of, I emailed this guy back and asked him what I should do if I do Neo Swing and he sent me several thoughtful suggestions. I had a nice little exchange with this dude. And then he was super knowledgeable on the topic of Neo Swing,

and he made some excellent points. And I'm going to keep those to myself for now. But that was very funny. I saw both Cherry Popin' Datties and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy in like a six-month span, you know, spanning 1997, I assume. Yes. Yeah, big swingers on our J-Time. Exactly.

This is from Chris over email. I want to know. Did your opinions of any of these songs change for better or worse during your reporting and research? For example, I never particularly liked smooth. It's a hot one. But then I listened to that episode and bam, my small heart grew three sizes that day. I love it now, having been exposed to more background and context. I'm a smooth fan for life.

You're doing God's work out here, Rapa. I don't think there's any song that I disliked going into it. Something like achy, breaky heart, right? I can't say that that is near and dear to my heart and a huge part of my teenage years and my emotional upbringing, but I think that I could still appreciate, you know, Billy Ray Cyrus's arc, you know, and plights almost, you know, and the same with smooth, almost. Like, I do like these songs that sort of endure as these huge monolithic, like, kind of cheesy moments in real time, but they have actual human emotions, you know, and people attached to them. So I always go back to Janet Jackson as somebody who I loved her 80s stuff but didn't have the same emotional connection to her 90s stuff and like through doing an episode on Together Again and the Velvet Rope.

Like I finally got the Velvet Rope like as an emotional experience and not just like a critical like I understand that this is a really good and important record. Like I finally got that record the way I'd always got in control or Rhythm Nation. There's almost every song I come away liking more, or at least knowing more about, or at least having thought much more about. But I don't think there's any song that I started disliking and ended liking. Like, I have to go into it, having a little bit of affection for it. That's funny, how much we get the same questions. Okay. Just cut and pasting from bands playing.

And to the rest of you who don't listen to bandswain, you already know what you can do with yourself. Okay, the last question, the last question, this is the last question, is from Dan over email. When you sign off at the end of each episode, there is this deep sadness in your voice, as if you are exhaling, dread and despair. Are you sad that the episode is over, sad that you still have more songs to cover, or sad that this hell of a podcast run is almost at an end? Man, you're really telegraphing some shit, babe. I think in the same way that I have resting Wince face. I think that at the end of an episode, I am usually a little tired and my voice is a little raggedy and I am consequently the most myself.

And so I think that the wince that is naturally in my face is best conveyed by the dread and despair in my voice at that moment. And that's the dread and despair with which I ordinarily talk and move about my daily life. And it's just, that's the moment. The outro. Thank you for listening. Thanks to our producers. And now, feel free to go and click on the thing that lets you play smooth by Santana.

Right. Like, I just, I'm retrans, I'm transitioning back into the real world and being my real despair-induced self. You're the weariest man, alive. That's right. That's my answer. How did this go, do you think? as a veteran of the mailbag process. I thought it went great.

I mean, you're much better at speaking than I am. We've gone over that a million times. You just answered these questions so thoughtfully. I was usually just off the cuff being like, what is this? I don't care. Next question.

Who? What? I don't know. So much better than mine. I thought it went great. Thoughtful answers. People know more about you. You retained a little mystery,

which is always important. I guess so. 10 out of 10. well I can't thank you enough for being a part of this process Yossi you're welcome Rob anytime for my brother it's the least I could do for my brother who's also my dad

is the least I could do well I guess the only thing left for me to do is to maximize the dread and despair in my voice when I say that that's our show thank you very much to our guest this week Yassi Sallick thanks as always to our producers Jonathan Kerma and Justin Sales and thanks as always to you

for listening and now without further ado please go listen to Superchunk We'll see you not next week but soon Thank you.