Shows
What the Riff Next GenWhat the Riff?!? Close-Out Episode for 1965-1995What the Riff!?! has finished covering every month from January 1965 to December 1994, and we are thrilled that you have listened with us as we review the great bands, songs, and happenings of this 30-year time span. In this episode, we bring back Brian Dickhute, one of our co-founders of the podcast, and review what we have learned, experienced, and enjoyed about this period of songs and podcast. We also feature a number of songs that were either missed in our coverage of the times, or that were important to us individually.Eruption by Van HalenWayne br...
2025-07-2845 min
What the Riff Next Gen1971 - October: Elton John "Madman Across the Water"Although this album was the fourth Elton John studio album, it was also the third album released in 1971. John had released a film soundtrack album and a live album previously in the year. Madman Across the Water is a more progressive album than his previous outings, containing nine tracks with all but the final track exceeding four minutes. Elton John also had Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman sit in on the sessions for two of the tracks, playing Hammond organ. Although it went to number 8 on the US Billboard 200 chart, it did not do as well in his nativ...
2025-07-2143 min
What the Riff Next Gen1974 - June: Lynyrd Skynyrd ”Second Helping”Lynyrd Skynyrd was a success with their debut album, and continued to build a fan base when they opened for The Who on their Quadrophenia tour. Many of the songs on their debut album were staples of their concerts in Jacksonville, Florida, where they had built their style over the years since the 60's. Therefore it was not a sure thing that they would be able to sustain their success over time. Those concerns were put to rest when they released their second album.
Second Helping, a southern colloquialism for getting more of the same thing at the...
2025-01-2733 minWhat the Riff Next Gen1974 - June: Lynyrd Skynyrd ”Second Helping”Lynyrd Skynyrd was a success with their debut album, and continued to build a fan base when they opened for The Who on their Quadrophenia tour. Many of the songs on their debut album were staples of their concerts in Jacksonville, Florida, where they had built their style over the years since the 60's. Therefore it was not a sure thing that they would be able to sustain their success over time. Those concerns were put to rest when they released their second album.
Second Helping, a southern colloquialism for getting more of the same thing at the...
2025-01-2733 minWhat the Riff Next Gen1985 - December: Talking Heads “Little Creatures”The Talking Heads is known as one of the more quirky bands of the 70's and 80's, and terribly innovative in their approach to both music and performance. Consisting of Tina Weymouth on bass, Chris Frantz on drums, Jerry Harrison on keyboards and guitar, and fronted by David Byrne on vocals and guitar, the Talking Heads helped to shape the landscape of alternative and new wave rock through the 80's and 90's. They really hit mainstream consciousness with their fifth album called "Speaking in Tongues" in 1983. They followed this up with the live album "Stop Making Sense," which showcased the...
2025-01-2044 minWhat the Riff Next Gen1985 - December: Talking Heads “Little Creatures”The Talking Heads is known as one of the more quirky bands of the 70's and 80's, and terribly innovative in their approach to both music and performance. Consisting of Tina Weymouth on bass, Chris Frantz on drums, Jerry Harrison on keyboards and guitar, and fronted by David Byrne on vocals and guitar, the Talking Heads helped to shape the landscape of alternative and new wave rock through the 80's and 90's. They really hit mainstream consciousness with their fifth album called "Speaking in Tongues" in 1983. They followed this up with the live album "Stop Making Sense," which showcased the...
2025-01-2044 minWhat the Riff Next Gen1972 - July: Leon Russell “Carney”One of the great underappreciated singer-songwriters of the rock era was Tulsa, Oklahoma native Claude Russell Bridges, better known as Leon Russell. Russell was a musician and songwriter with records spanning rock, folk, country, gospel, bluegrass, and blues who began playing piano at the age of four. He went to the same high school as David Gates (from Bread), and the two collaborated as a group called The Fencemen early on. Russell went to Los Angeles and worked as a studio musician. The list of folks he worked with is huge, including Jan and Dean, the Beach Boys, George Harr...
2024-07-1533 minWhat the Riff Next Gen1972 - July: Leon Russell “Carney”One of the great underappreciated singer-songwriters of the rock era was Tulsa, Oklahoma native Claude Russell Bridges, better known as Leon Russell. Russell was a musician and songwriter with records spanning rock, folk, country, gospel, bluegrass, and blues who began playing piano at the age of four. He went to the same high school as David Gates (from Bread), and the two collaborated as a group called The Fencemen early on. Russell went to Los Angeles and worked as a studio musician. The list of folks he worked with is huge, including Jan and Dean, the Beach Boys, George Harr...
2024-07-1533 minWhat the Riff Next Gen1981 - November: Rick James “Street Songs”Let's get this out of the way up front: when you think of rock albums, Rick James is not the artist that immediately comes to mind. But when former founding podcaster Brian Dickhute comes back and wants to do the album, we find it difficult to deny him.
James Ambrose Johnson, Jr. was born in Buffalo where he was in a number of groups and bands as a teenager. He joined the US Navy Reserves to avoid being drafted, then moved to Toronto in 1964 where he formed the rock band “The Minah Byrds.” Unfortunately he failed to let Uncl...
2024-07-0836 minWhat the Riff Next Gen1981 - November: Rick James “Street Songs”Let's get this out of the way up front: when you think of rock albums, Rick James is not the artist that immediately comes to mind. But when former founding podcaster Brian Dickhute comes back and wants to do the album, we find it difficult to deny him.
James Ambrose Johnson, Jr. was born in Buffalo where he was in a number of groups and bands as a teenager. He joined the US Navy Reserves to avoid being drafted, then moved to Toronto in 1964 where he formed the rock band “The Minah Byrds.” Unfortunately he failed to let Uncl...
2024-07-0836 minWhat the Riff Next Gen1969 - December: The Rolling Stones “Let It Bleed”The Rolling Stones released their tenth US studio album (eighth in the UK) entitled Let it Bleed at the end of November, 1969. The band had worked on the material in the studio off and on through most of the year, with recording beginning in earnest back in February of 1969 (though work on "You Can't Always Get What You Want" began in November of the previous year). The album would reach number 3 on the US album chart and number 1 on the UK charts, and would produce some of the best known standards of the Stones' collection.
The band ex...
2023-10-0239 minWhat the Riff Next Gen1969 - December: The Rolling Stones “Let It Bleed”The Rolling Stones released their tenth US studio album (eighth in the UK) entitled Let it Bleed at the end of November, 1969. The band had worked on the material in the studio off and on through most of the year, with recording beginning in earnest back in February of 1969 (though work on "You Can't Always Get What You Want" began in November of the previous year). The album would reach number 3 on the US album chart and number 1 on the UK charts, and would produce some of the best known standards of the Stones' collection.
The band ex...
2023-10-0239 minWhat the Riff Next Gen1980 - January: Pink Floyd “The Wall”Pink Floyd would score another big hit and some mainstream crossover success with their eleventh studio album, The Wall. Originally conceived by bassist Roger Waters, The Wall explores the self-isolation of a cynical rock star named Pink, and portrays events in his life from the loss of his father, to childhood trauma, to the pressures of rock stardom as bricks forming the wall. Parts of the story are autobiographical from Waters, and parts naturally are based on former front man Syd Barrett. The album was a commercial success, the most successful double album of all time, the second most pop...
2023-01-3043 minWhat the Riff Next Gen1980 - January: Pink Floyd “The Wall”Pink Floyd would score another big hit and some mainstream crossover success with their eleventh studio album, The Wall. Originally conceived by bassist Roger Waters, The Wall explores the self-isolation of a cynical rock star named Pink, and portrays events in his life from the loss of his father, to childhood trauma, to the pressures of rock stardom as bricks forming the wall. Parts of the story are autobiographical from Waters, and parts naturally are based on former front man Syd Barrett. The album was a commercial success, the most successful double album of all time, the second most pop...
2023-01-3043 minWhat the Riff Next Gen1988 - March: Robert Plant “Now and Zen”If Now and Zen, the fourth studio album by Robert Plant, sounds like Led Zeppelin, there's more reason for that than just the fact that Plant was the lead singer for the band. In addition to continuing use of computerized technology in the album, Plant also incorporated more blues and Middle Eastern elements into his music. He also had his Led Zeppelin band mate Jimmy Page contributing guitar to a couple of tracks.
Plant wanted to create an album that created electronic music with a more soulful sound than was typical at the time. He also benefitted fro...
2022-04-1144 minWhat the Riff Next Gen1988 - March: Robert Plant “Now and Zen”If Now and Zen, the fourth studio album by Robert Plant, sounds like Led Zeppelin, there's more reason for that than just the fact that Plant was the lead singer for the band. In addition to continuing use of computerized technology in the album, Plant also incorporated more blues and Middle Eastern elements into his music. He also had his Led Zeppelin band mate Jimmy Page contributing guitar to a couple of tracks.
Plant wanted to create an album that created electronic music with a more soulful sound than was typical at the time. He also benefitted fro...
2022-04-1144 minWhat the Riff Next Gen1967 - February: Cream ”Fresh Cream”British rock supergroup Cream debuted their first studio album entitled Fresh Cream in January 1967 in the United States, following the December 1966 British release. Eric Clapton was on guitar and vocals, Jack Bruce was on bass, harmonica, piano, and vocals, and Ginger Baker was on percussion and vocals.
Clapton had come out of the Yardbirds, and both Baker and Bruce had been in the Graham Bond Organisation together. Ginger Baker approached Clapton about joining a new band, and Clapton agreed with the condition that Bruce be used as the bassist. Baker and Bruce had a tumultuous relationship, with Bake...
2022-03-1432 minWhat the Riff Next Gen1967 - February: Cream ”Fresh Cream”British rock supergroup Cream debuted their first studio album entitled Fresh Cream in January 1967 in the United States, following the December 1966 British release. Eric Clapton was on guitar and vocals, Jack Bruce was on bass, harmonica, piano, and vocals, and Ginger Baker was on percussion and vocals.
Clapton had come out of the Yardbirds, and both Baker and Bruce had been in the Graham Bond Organisation together. Ginger Baker approached Clapton about joining a new band, and Clapton agreed with the condition that Bruce be used as the bassist. Baker and Bruce had a tumultuous relationship, with Bake...
2022-03-1432 minWhat the Riff Next Gen1970 - March: The Guess Who “American Woman”Who is the finest rock band to come out of Winnipeg, Canada? That's right, The Guess Who. In January 1970 they released their sixth studio album, American Woman, and were riding the wave of one of their most commercially successful albums in March. This album took a harder rock direction from their formerly psychedelic and pop sound, and would produce their only number 1 hit in the US, making them the first Canadian band to top the American Hot 100 chart.
The Guess Who got their name in 1965 when their record label, Quality Records, released a single under the name “Guess...
2020-08-2436 minWhat the Riff Next Gen1970 - March: The Guess Who “American Woman”Who is the finest rock band to come out of Winnipeg, Canada? That's right, The Guess Who. In January 1970 they released their sixth studio album, American Woman, and were riding the wave of one of their most commercially successful albums in March. This album took a harder rock direction from their formerly psychedelic and pop sound, and would produce their only number 1 hit in the US, making them the first Canadian band to top the American Hot 100 chart.
The Guess Who got their name in 1965 when their record label, Quality Records, released a single under the name “Guess...
2020-08-2436 min