Podcast

Welcome to History in Five Songs with Martin Popoff!

As the show notes explain…

This is the show that aims to make grand and often oddball hard rock and heavy metal points through a narrative built upon the tiny idea of a quintet of songs. Buttressed with illustrative clips, Martin argues quickly and succinctly why these songs—and the specific sections of these tracks—support his mad professor premise, from the wobbly invention of an “American” heavy metal, to the influence of Led Zeppelin in hair metal or to more succinct topics like tapping and twin leads. The songs serve as bricks, but Martin slathers plenty of mortar. At the end, hopefully he has sturdy house in which this week’s theory can reside unbothered by the elements.

It’s on Spotify, iTunes and a few other places you might get your podcasts, but here are two good links:

As of my October 2019 site update, I’ve done:

Episode 1: Led Zeppelin in Hair Metal
Episode 2: The Birth of American Heavy Metal
Episode 3: Doom Metal
Episode 4: Guitar Tapping
Episode 5: Double Bass Drums
Episode 6: Proto-Metal Pt. 1
Episode 7: Proto-Metal Pt. 2
Episode 8: Dirty Hair Metal
Episode 9: Who Invented Heavy Metal?
Episode 10: New Wave of British Heavy Metal
Episode 11: ‘Honorary’ New Wave of British Heavy Metal Pt. 2: From the UK
Episode 12: ‘Honorary’ New Wave of British Heavy Metal Pt. 2: Not Even British!
Episode 13: Choirs of Angels
Episode 14: Twin Leads
Episode 15: Metallica’s Production
Episode 16: 2020 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nominees: The Five Heavies
Episode 17: New Wave of Swedish Heavy Metal
Episode 18: The Birth of American Power Metal
Episode 19: The Birth of European Power Metal
Episode 20: Martin Birch
Episode 21: Original Punk for Metalheads
Episode 22: How Lars Ulrich Invented Hair Metal
Episode 23: Hair Metal Goes Grunge
Episode 24: Rick Rubin When It Mattered
Episode 25: Go to Vancouver and Try Harder
Episode 26: Twice Bad Timing: Angel, Moxy, Rex, Starz and Teaze
Episode 27: The (blank) Deep Purple
Episode 28: Brain Augmentation for Rush Fans
Episode 29: Neil Peart: 12-Panel Man
Episode 30: The Roots of Grunge
Episode 31: The Very, Very Strange Story of Ram Jam
Episode 32: Swan Song Records
Episode 33: Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
Episode 34: Off the Deep Purple End
Episode 35: Circumstances: Rush and Judas Priest in the ‘70s
Episode 36: Who Invented Punk?
Episode 37: Halford and Dickinson – The Doppelheadbangers
Episode 38: Second Wave Heavy Metal: European Division
Episode 39: Hard Rock Shark-Jumping
Episode 40: Second Wave Heavy Metal: American Division
Episode 41: Jason Bonham
Episode 42: The AC/DC Family
Episode 43: The Birth of Thrash
Episode 44: Montrose and Van Halen
Episode 45: Shocked by Synths
Episode 46: The Foreigner Effect
Episode 47: Bands of Individuals
Episode 48: Access Denied: Canucks in the ‘80s
Episode 49: Weird Solos
Episode 50: White Album Contrivances
Episode 51: Paul “Tonka” Chapman
Episode 52: Firing Robert Plant
Episode 53: Blue Album Covers
Episode 54: Heavy metal? Not us.
Episode 55: Tom Werman and Twisted Sister
Episode 57: Faith No More and Commericalism
Episode 56: The Motörhead Family
Episode 58: Blues for Metalheads
Episode 59: Tormented by EPs
Episode 60: Give the People What They Want
Episode 61: The Next Van Halen
Episode 62: Problem with Top NWOBHM
Episode 63: Bluesy Hair Metal
Episode 64: NWOBHM or Not?
Episode 65: 300th Anniversary Tour
Episode 66: Strictly Commercial
Episode 67: Eddie Van Halen
Episode 68: Smarty Pants Metal
Episode 69: Heaviest US Albums of the ‘70s
Episode 70: Imaginos and Re Imaginos
Episode 71: Southern Rot
Episode 72: Lee Kerslake and Ken Hensley
Episode 73: Crazy Ideas
Episode 74: Not in the Rock Hall
Episode 75: This Album’s Too Long
Episode 76: Singer Equals Band
Episode 77: Southern Rock by Proxy
Episode 78: Proggers Gone Solo
Episode 79: NWOBHM Compilations
Episode 80: Five Females: A Wyrd Congruence
Episode 81: Novelty Singles
Episode 82: Queen and Novelty
Episode 83: New Way to Rank Zep
Episode 84: Top Five Single Live
Episode 85: Outshined
Episode 86: Worst Five Single Live
Episode 87: The Mod Revival
Episode 88: Kiss and Trends
Episode 89: This Album’s Too Long
Episode 90: Live Albums of New Songs
Episode 91: World’s Biggest Living Rock Stars
Episode 92: World’s Biggest Dead Rock Stars
Episode 93: Chameleons
Episode 94: The Next Led Zeppelin
Episode 95: Rough Patch Successes
Episode 96: Part II Albums
Episode 97: No Longer Punk
Episode 98: Cusp Albums
Episode 99: Gotta Move
Episode 100: Answering Your Questions
Episode 101: Not Under-Rated
Episode 102: Here Comes Success!
Episode 103: The Start of Punk in Canada
Episode 104: Heavy Metal Shuffle
Episode 105: Half-Time Shuffle
Episode 106: Over the Top
Episode 107: One and Done
Episode 108: How Bands Deal with Loss
Episode 109: Best Last Songs Ever
Episode 110: You had to be there
Episode 111: You didn’t have to be there
Episode 113: The Last Great NWOBHM Albums
Episode 112: Self-Produced Albums
Episode 114: Anthem
Episode 115: Best First Songs Ever
Episode 116: Recording Badly on Purpose
Episode 117: The Birth of Post-Punk
Episode 118: Hair Metal’s Twilight Years
Episode 119: Reggae in Hard Rock
Episode 120: Made for Japan
Episode 121: Greatest Hits Plus
Episode 122: Best NWOBHM Bands NOW!
Episode 123: Legendary Albums Not Certified.
Episode 124: Re-Recording the Old Hits
Episode 125: Kerrang!’s Top 100 Songs… in Issue #1
Episode 126: Kerrang!’s Top 100 Albums… in Issue #4
Episode 127: British Metal in the ‘90s
Episode 128: Metallica or Megadeth? In 1990.
Episode 129: Those electronic drums sound good.
Episode 130: Elevated by a Cover Version
Episode 131: Dubious Cover Version Decisions
Episode 132: Drum Hooks
Episode 133: Epic Drum Intros
Episode 134: Drum Flourishes
Episode 135: Early Mutt Lange
Episode 136: The Shadow Album
Episode 137: Glam Rock
Episode 138: The US Response to UK Glam
Episode 139: The Next Def Leppard
Episode 140: Favourite Requiems
Episode 141: Songs Critical of the Music Biz
Episode 142: Light Band Heavy Single
Episode 143: Fadeouts
Episode 144: Pub Rock
Episode 145: Bands with Angry Fans
Episode 146: Is there a NWOBHM Sound?
Episode 147: The Last of the First Mods
Episode 148: The First Great Productions
Episode 149: Guest Female Vocals
Episode 150: Proto Progressive Metal
Episode 151: Senior Singer Report Card
Episode 152: No Bottom End
Episode 153: No Top End
Episode 154: How heavy can it get?
Episode 155: The “It” Band
Episode 156: When Thrash Slowed Down
Episode 157: Solo Albums from Drummers
Episode 158: Songs About Radio
Episode 159: Psychedelic ‘90s Metal
Episode 160: The Jim Morrison Complex
Episode 161: First a Guitar Solo
Episode 162: Concept Album Flops
Episode 163: Grunge from Away
Episode 164: The Birth of Stoner Rock
Episode 165: Self-Titled
Episode 166: Songs You Shouldn’t Cover
Episode 167: Consensus Worst Songs
Episode 168: No Category Bands
Episode 169: Consensus Best Songs
Episode 170: Short-Lived Genres
Episode 171: Chorus First
Episode 172: Started as Psych
Episode 173: That One Massive Album
Episode 174: That Undeniable Song
Episode 175: Stand Alone Singles
Episode 176: Rock ‘n’ Roll Medley
Episode 177: Title Track Weirdnes
Episode 178: Snowglobe Bands
Episode 179: New Romantic: An Alternate Path
Episode 180: Worst Album Titles
Episode 181: Best Album Titles
Episode 182: Sounds like “Kashmir”
Episode 183: Punk Explained Right Away
Episode 184: Was hair metal born in Canada?
Episode 185: Famous Last Words
Episode 186: The Pasha Sound
Episode 187: Second Album, New Band
Episode 188: Third Album, New Band
Episode 189: History of Annoying Band Names
Episode 190: Bad Song Title Bands
Episode 191: Bands with Outside Lyricists
Episode 192: Good Drum Sounds
Episode 194: Making Bass Interesting
Episode 195: Paying Your Dues
Episode 196: Slow Songs
Episode 197: Why go solo?
Episode 198: Heavy Metal Gallop
Episode 199: Why is this depressing?
Episode 200: Triple Anniversary Show
Episode 201: Asterisk Bands
Episode 202: The Ballad
Episode 203: Bands Get Smarter
Episode 204: But for That One Song
Episode 205: Triple Crown Rockers
Episode 206: Bands That Went New Wave
Episode 207: Grunge Requiems
Episode 208: Glad They Went Poppy
Episode 209: UFO and Thin Lizzy as Doppelgangers
Episode 210: Zeppelin and Sabbath as Doppelgangers
Episode 211: What’s the point of this band?
Episode 212: Drummers. Who’s left?
Episode 213: I can’t unhear that.
Episode 214: This band’s “Smoke on the Water”
Episode 215: Song Title Non-Starters
Episode 216: Finding Value in Instrumentals
Episode 217: This Band’s (Police Album)
Episode 218: Hair Metal Wins by ‘70s Bands
Episode 219: Hair Metal Fails by ‘70s Bands
Episode 220: Hair Metal Skips by ‘70s Bands
Episode 221: Recalled Reactions from 1976
Episode 222: Recalled Reactions: Big Debut Albums
Episode 223: Bands Rarely Copied. But Not Never.
Episode 224: Sequencing
Episode 225: Heaviest ‘70s Live Albums
Episode 226: The Bruce Springsteen Family
Episode 227: New York City as Inspiration
Episode 228: Corporate Solo Albums
Episode 229: My Top Five Albums: A Pre-Chorus Study
Episode 230: My Shadow Top Five Albums: A Breaks Study
Episode 231: Birmingham’s Black Sabbath Family
Episode 232: Celebrating Snare Drum
Episode 233: OTT Hair Metal Songs
Episode 234: They Shrunk the Boogie!
Episode 235: First Gear Singers
Episode 236: Fifth Gear Singers
Episode 237: Genius
Episode 238: A Different Kind of Genius
Episode 239: Biggest Heavy Metal Stars
Episode 240: Producer Chris Tsangarides
Episode 241: Contrarianism
Episode 242: This Band’s British Steel
Episode 243: Ancient Sabbath Reviews
Episode 244: Ancient Zeppelin reviews
Episode 245: Ancient Zeppelin Reviews Part 2
Episode 246: Covers on Debuts
Episode 247: Wrapping Up the Album
Episode 248: Metal History in First Verses
Episode 249: First Person Perspectives
Episode 250: Their Future in One Song
Episode 251: Barely Written Songs
Episode 252: Joke About The Police
Episode 253: Albums That Don’t Deserve the Love
Episode 254: Goofy Riffs
Episode 255: Golden Era Quo Intros
Episode 256: Heavy Metal Duets
Episode 257: The Devolution of Sabbath Intros
Episode 258: Greatest Band of All Time
Episode 259: That Jukebox in Your Head
Episode 260: The Battle of 1976
Episode 261: AC/DC, Alice in Chains and Thrash
Episode 262: Shocker: The Old Bands Invented Hair Metal
Episode 263: Genesis and the Worst Year in History
Episode 264: Peter Gabriel Makes Everyone Better
Episode 265: Why did the NWOBHM fail?
Episode 266: Is Black Sabbath progressive metal?
Episode 267: Locating the Rolling Stones Sound
Episode 268: UFO Spotted over the NWOBHM
Episode 269: Old Band, New Guy, NWOBHM
Episode 270: LP Band to CD Band Starkly
Episode 271: More Famous Last Words
Episode 272: Late-to-Arrive Hair Metal Bands
Episode 273: 1979 Was the Worst Year for Rock
Episode 274: Exiled Rockers on Fire
Episode 275: Which Deep Purple era has the best intros?

Also, come on over and join the facebook group for the podcast. It’s pretty active with debate and suggestions: https://www.facebook.com/groups/915971612134877/