The Great Song Podcast

The Righteous Brothers classic "Unchained Melody" draws the ire of your humble hosts in this Us vs. the World Rivalry Week episode!

Favorite guest Joey Abbott joins us to roast a classic, and we also learn about:

- Why it's called "Unchained Melody" to begin with

- Whoopi Goldberg's non-eyebrows

- The UK absolutely CANNOT get enough of this song

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One of Joe Walsh's biggest songs landed on both the Eagles' Hotel California follow-up and the soundtrack to a true cult classic, The Warriors. This week we've got Joe Walsh's drummer and co-writer Joe Vitale to talk all about his time with Joe, with Crosby, Stills and Nash, and of course Eagles.

And a bonus special guest drops in to make some time and try to guess the plot to The Warriors. Enjoy!

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It's a celebration episode, and we're diving deep into one of our personal favorite bands, the kings of CCM hard rock in our books, the legendary Disciple! We have a great conversation with frontman Kevin Young about being on the front end of modern rock in the Christian music space, keeping it real when it means turning down upward mobility, never growing up, and more, including:- The Art of the Scream-  Massive Stump the Genius collapse- “Rock and roll is a sport.”

It's our first foray into a certain style of early 2000's rock scene, and we've got one of the shining gems of that era to dig into--Puddle of Mudd's "Blurry" with lead singer and writer Wes Scantlin! Plus:

- Some real music theory nerdiness

- Bach and Flack, and you can keep that Hall and Oates nonsense

- Random WWE results and JP’s most random sports stat ever.

We're reaching all the way back to our Season 4 finale for this Greatest Hits episode--it's big, it's long, and it's epic, just like any great Meat Loaf song. Relive the great stories behind the song, the man, and that oh-so-spicy guest vocal on "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That).

Singer-songwriter-legend-best guy Dave Barnes returns to the show to break down a feel-good classic, ripe with utmost possibility, England Dan & John Ford Coley's signature hit, "I'd Really Love to See You Tonight." There's a warm wind blowing, and it's making us wistful. You'll laugh, you'll live, you'll love. Plus:

Our traditional 10 minutes of hot takes and shenanigans with Dave

Rob’s worst hot take!

Twinkies, roaches, and Sting

Mustache snare

Seals, Seals, and seals (feat. Seal)

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Fact 1: It's a mouthful to say "Family by David Guetta feat. Bebe Rexha, Ty Dolla $ign and A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie."

Fact 2: It's a perfect song for The Great Song Podcast, and a more than perfect song for the Fast and the Furious (which we're pushing for).

Fact 3: It's written by a country group! Track 45 aka Ben, Jenna, and KK Johnson, and you're gonna meet them and love their family vibe and harmony.

Plus:

The fairy tale-level story of Ben Johnson’s first song cut

Mixed-modal melody!

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An absolute smash soundtrack from an all-time nostalgic '80s classic, Rocky IV, produced this enduring hit. Plus a really fantastic interview with the man himself, Robert Tepper. These are all ingredients for a solid gold episode, and that's exactly what this is. Tepper time!

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It's THE iconic Easter jam of the 20th Century, and we're gonna talk ALL over it. We're getting in the weeds with CCM legend Don Francisco about his signature hit, the royalties and fame it didn't bring, and the famed Dolly Parton cover thereof. It's a special Easter early release--enjoy "He's Alive!"

Plus:

- Eat your heart out, Hotel California!

- “If you don’t give a crap about Easter, this song is still an absolute masterclass in production.”

- Skipping Sunday School for a blackjack game, and how it led to Don’s hall-of-fame career

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This Greatest Hits episode originally aired in October 2021. A fan-favorite guest, a fan-favorite band; what could be better? Oh, maybe the funniest bit ever to grace the show. Enjoy our re-release of "Magic" from Season 8's Magic Month.

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Longtime friend and guest co-host Joey Abbott joins the boys to continue Magic Month with one of the greatest hits from one of the greatest American bands, The Cars! Ric Ocasek and company deliver all kinds of goodness in this week's show, and we deliver all kinds of silliness, including:

- The missing lyric from “Magic”

- Rob gets sonned by his own son

- NASCAR plays the hits

- JP loses it

Thanks for listening and supporting, as always!

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What can you say about this song? It could have been a hit in multiple genres, but it found a loving home in the vocal folds of country icon Steve Wariner, who rode it atop the charts for much longer than a weekend. Musically untouchable with a great story, and several great stories from the artist himself--Steve joins us to talk about The Weekend, getting fired by Chet Atkins, singing the theme song for Who's the Boss, and writing a song for a certain Amazonian superhero.

Be sure to check out Rob's new effort, Cinema Snack Bar!

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(Original air date Feb. 10, 2021 - Season Seven Opener)

We kick off Season 7 with one of the biggest American rock bands in history, and one of their most iconic albums! Plus we chat with the album's titular inspiration, CCR drummer Doug "Cosmo" Clifford! In this episode:

- The “Do Not Play on Radio” list CCR landed on

- How CCR’s Woodstock performance almost got derailed by a paper rock

- Fogerty, California Swamp Rock, and random saxophone solos

- Doug “Cosmo” Clifford’s new 30+ year old album!

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Whitney Houston becomes our first official two-time covered artist, and it's only fitting that we enlist the help of our only two-time multi-artist guests! George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam, aka Boy Meets Girl ("Waiting For a Star to Fall," writers of "How Will I Know" and "I Wanna Dance With Somebody") talk with us about their original intentions for one of Whitney Houston’s breakout hits, the *other* artist that almost recorded “Waiting For a Star to Fall,” and the art of making yourself show up in difficult times.

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One of the most prolific prog progenitors in the world--the incomparable Neal Morse of the Neal Morse Band, Transatlantic, Flying Colors and so many more--joins the program this week to talk about the making of his sprawling epics, working with long-time collaborators like Mike Portnoy and Randy George, and how the heck does he remember how to play all this stuff?

The premier hard-rock power trio The Winery Dogs have just released their highly-anticipated third record, and we've got frontman and guitarist Richie Kotzen (who you may remember as the incredible guitarist featured in our Patreon-exclusive Poison episode) to tell us about the process of writing, jamming, and making musical magic with bandmates Mike Portnoy and Billy Sheehan.

Let the wizardry commence! 

Plus:

Telecasters and Stratocasters

Something “nobody knows” about Richie’s solo on Poison’s “Stand.”

“Fulfill my music fantasy.”

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Name the most successful Seattle acts of the 1990's and there's one name that you may initially forget to include--but right up there among the Nirvanas and the Soundgardens sits a quirky power-pop trio whose 1995 debut took over MTV and the pop-rock landscape. As they gear up for a new high-quality re-release of that iconic debut album, Presidents of the United States of America's Chris Ballew and Dave Dederer join us to recollect playing Mount Rushmore, pranking Beck, and possibly inspiring Chris Pratt's Johnny Karate.

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Season 11 kicks off with a bang and a big ol' tongue! Rolling Stones bassist Darryl Jones joins Rob and JP for some conversations about auditioning for the Stones some 30 years ago, playing for Sting, and flexing on Miles Davis.

Plus:

Apostrophes and parentheses galore!

“Oops, we recorded this in the wrong key.”

Pick up the phone!

From the studio that brought you The Great Song Podcast, it's Cinema Snack Bar! Rob and Zeke will be bringing you the movies you love and the foods that helped make them what they are. You'll learn fun facts and stories, recast each movie with the guys, and maybe learn a new recipe! Episodes launch March 7. Subscribe now! 

This. Friggin. Guy.

Wayne Kirkpatrick is one of THE hit songwriters of modern music history. You've heard his work sung by the likes of everyone from Garth Brooks and Eric Clapton to Michael W. Smith and Amy Grant, with a little Chris Gaines and Little Big Town thrown in just for fun.

From pop to CCM to country and even Broadway, the mega-hits just keep coming from an absolute legend with the pen, and we're extremely excited to bring you an XL finale celebrating Wayne's genius. Get ready for a lot of music, and a lot of wisdom from one of songwriting's great minds.

Thanks for listening and supporting, and thanks for a great tenth season!

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“It’s everything I hate about the Titanic song, but slower.”

Yes yes yes, it's Rivalry Week once again--when we typically go head to head. But this season...there's a twist.

Rob and JP are BOTH taking on a worldwide smash. "You Raise Me Up," which you may know from from funerals, weddings, and awful tributes of all kinds, is this season's target, and we're going to give you the full story of its creation, court battles, and weirdest pop culture appearance.

Buckle up, folks--we are united in our hatred, and the gloves are off.

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One of the finest songwriters on this here planet (and JP's #SpotifyWrapped top artist!) joins us this week to talk about writing, bowling, and note-taking in the digital age. It's a serious geek-out week for our boy JP, so enjoy the even higher level of enthusiasm as we chat with Andy Gullahorn!

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This week we're dissecting one of Rob's favorite albums, the Meat Puppets 1994 album Too High to Die, the album that, along with Nirvana's Unplugged in New York, cast the band into the national spotlight.

Meat Puppets drummer and band historian Derrick Bostrom joins us for a thorough, if curmudgeonly, conversation about the band's penchant for weirdness, frustrations with the industry, and hopes for the future.

Thanks so much for listening!

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Lester Chambers is part of the legendary Chambers Brothers, whose blend of folk, rock and psychedelic soul broke minds and barriers from the 1960s on, and who are at the forefront of Questlove's award-winning 2021 documentary, Summer of Soul.

This week we're covering The Chambers Brothers' absolutely iconic track "Time Has Come Today" in all its 11-minute glory, and spotlighting Lester's current involvement in Moonalice, a record-breaking group in their own right.

Get ready for a real trip and some real talk! Thanks for listening!

It's time to spend a little time with the breezy rock boys from San Diego! Yes indeed, Jon Foreman of Switchfoot is here to talk about the band's newest release, this is our Christmas album, his changing methodology over 25 years of recording and touring, and his beloved Padres. All that and more, including:

Al Pacino’s cat!

A bag of yams!

“God doesn’t need a lawyer; your job is to be honest.”

Thanks so much for being a Producer!

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Our most special guest of all time—Rob’s amazing wife Crystal—joins the show as we celebrate and dive into Rob and Crystal’s new EP, “Wedding Songs and Love Stories,” available today at your favorite streaming service, as well as on Bandcamp.

Yacht rock time once again at The Great Song Podcast, and we’re sailing the high seas of Destin, Florida(?) with the captain of our hearts, Sir Bertie Higgins! This absolute earworm will have you reaching for the margarita mix and grilling shrimp by the basket, swaying with an old love. Plus:

How this song is an auditory message in a bottle that really worked!

The top 5 movie quotes of all time

“I lip synced the whole tour.”

Bertie Higgins on Burt Reynolds, Roy Orbison, and playing the first US Rolling Stones show

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Just get past your initial reaction and admit you love this song. You do, we do, and that's fine. Now that we've said it out loud, let's dig into an era-defining hit from the glam rock days, with co-writer Alan Hewitt of...The Moody Blues? Yep! We'll cover all that and more, including pie chat, ghost guitarists, and more Harriet Beecher Stowe than you’d probably expect.

The greatest hard rock bassist of ALL TIME joins the show to celebrate five years of The Great Song Podcast! Billy Sheehan's cred is unquantifiable, and his work with David Lee Roth, Steve Vai, Mr. Big and SO many others proves it without a doubt. Billy sits down with us to talk about the new project from Talas, his career and style, and much more. Get ready for a wild ride! Thanks for listening, and here's to the next five years! Plus:

- Pat Boone Does Dio 

- “This song already has a hand in my shirt.” 

*Editor’s Note* Our interview audio for this episode is straight from Zoom, as opposed to our typical multi-track approach. That being said, it’s slightly lower in quality than what you have come to expect from us. Due to a last-minute situation, this was all we had to work with. Thanks for understanding. 

Episode 10.08

’70s September closes with one of the greatest hits of the decade, “Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl),” and we’ve got writer/singer/guitarist Elliot Lurie here to tell us about the true Brandy, the massive integration of the song into Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and much more!

It's time for an XL episode, because we couldn't choose just one song to help us chronicle the 50+ year career of the band that created the Americana genre. Founding Dirt Band member John McEuen joins us as we talk about a handful of our favorites from the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Also:

Rob’s terrible Norm Macdonald impression

Sparsely-worded choruses galore!

“And we wondered what took so long.”

“He was a nice, drunk guy.”

Working in the Disneyland magic shop with Steve Martin

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