Shows
The Buster Mungus DiariesThe History of the 2 Minute Pop SongSend us a textThe length of the typical pop song has averaged around the 3 minute mark since the beginning of recorded music. In this episode we examine how the length of a pop song is shrinking and moving closer to the 2 minute mark despite all the technological advances over the past 100+ years.
2021-11-241h 11The Buster Mungus DiariesThe Peter Gunn Theme From Start to FinishSend us a textWe walk through the history of the Peter Gunn TV theme from its origin in 1958 to its influence on the surf music scene to a massive resurgence in the 1980s. We travel through time with Henri Mancini, Sara Vaughn, Duane Eddy, Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix and many more as we look at how each artist changed or added to the concept of the coolest TV theme to ever grace the boob tube. Music from Peter Gunn became the number one album in the country on Billboard magazine's charts and stayed there f...
2021-08-011h 17The Buster Mungus DiariesMontreal DiscoSend us a textPerhaps the most telling statistic I’ve come across about disco and more specifically about the Montreal disco scene was that the police reported in 1970 that 80% of Montreal’s missing young people could be found in discothèques.During the 70s, for some people, disco was all empty glitz and glamour, smoke and mirrored balls and the pinnacle of 70s exhibitionism. Montreal exemplified those qualities during a time when the the city’s greatness was dissolving after reaching its high watermark during Expo 67. Moreover, disco’s origins were far gritt...
2020-10-221h 12The Buster Mungus DiariesEvery Sample from the Beastie Boys "Hey Ladies"Send us a textWe examine all 17 samples from the Beastie Boys "Hey Ladies" and then play the full length versions of each sample so you can get a feel for where the samples lived prior to being used by the Beastie Boys. While most cuts are readily available digitally, several took some deep diving at the used record stores in my area in order to get copies that could be digitized for the show.If you’re like me, you expected the Beastie Boys second album, 1989’s Paul’s Boutique, to be filled with the sa...
2020-09-091h 48The Buster Mungus DiariesThe myth of the first Rock & Roll song part 2 of 4Send us a textDiscussing the 1930s musical evolution as it pertains to tracking down the first Rock & Roll recording. Includes music from Count Basie, Benny Goodman, Bob Wills & Texas Playboys and Big Joe Turner to name a few.
2020-08-221h 12The Buster Mungus Diaries4 Spectacular Live Albums!Send us a textIn this episode we take a look at 4 of my favourite live recordings of all-time. I grew up during the decade of the live album. You were nobody until you had a live album in those days. It announced your triumphs over the previous album releases and marked your maturity, usually with a multi gate fold, poster sometimes included, double LP. The albums are fabulous in their own right, but they do provide a glimpse at musicians/bands when the material is paired with great engineering and a fantastic performance. Consider th...
2020-07-301h 31The Buster Mungus DiariesMisirlou from Start to FinishSend us a textIn this episode we take a look at the history of one of the most recognized and widely covered surf songs -- Misirlou.We trace the song from its origin as a middle eastern folk song in the 1920's through to its re-invention as a modern day surf classic from Dick Dale, to its impact on cinema goers as the theme song for Quentin Tarantino's 1994 film Pulp Fiction.
2020-07-061h 17The Buster Mungus DiariesBubblegum Cover VersionsSend us a textIn this episode we look at classic Bubblegum music and those artists influenced by it. The cover version is the highest compliment an artists can make to honour the music that influenced their own musical journey. Each nugget is cleverly paired with a cover version illustrating the relationship that a good song has to its performer.
2020-06-061h 04The Buster Mungus DiariesDo Musical Genres Really Exist?Send us a textSo, if genre boundaries are evaporating, and presuming post-genre music doesn’t become a genre and cancel itself out, will anything replace them?What we’ve seen in the past 20 years is that consumption methods have broadened attitudes, music has changed to reflect that, and attitudes have then changed even further.We examine the evolution of musical genres and delve into what makes a classification system work. For show notes, links, videos, and show related Playlists, head over to www.bustermungus.com.
2020-03-2053 minThe Buster Mungus DiariesThe Cramps (Demos, Bootlegs and Originals)Send us a textWe take a look at those camp kings the Cramps and their early music illustrating their success by playing the original songs by the original artists, the Cramps demos and live bootlegs and then finally contrast those efforts with the final album version.Listen to the growth and evolution of Cramps classics from their first EP such as Human Fly, The Way I Walk and Domino or the ULTRA RARE Red Headed Woman from the same sessions. Then blast head first into the first two albums with Sunglasses After D...
2020-02-181h 19The Buster Mungus Diaries(Ghost) Riders in the Sky from Start to FinishSend us a textIn this episode we take a look at the history of one of the most widely post WWII "Covered" popular songs in the ASCAP database.From its humble beginnings as a European folk song to its re-appearance during the American Civil War as a melody for a drinking song, to its eventual use as the basis for a song about a cautionary tale warning a cowboy that if he doesn't change his ways, he will one day join the damned cowboys doomed to try to “catch the Devil”s herd across thes...
2020-01-311h 15The Buster Mungus DiariesThe myth of the first Rock & Roll song part 4 of 4Send us a textAfter examining the developments and evolution of American popular music from the turn of the century from the 1920's, through the 1930's & the 1940's, we examine the culmination of styles and circumstances that evolved during the 1950s.Did Rock & Roll appear before Elvis or Chuck Berry? Could it have been under our noses this whole time, or could yet be discovered in the music we'll play in this episode.
2019-12-221h 07The Buster Mungus DiariesThe myth of the first Rock & Roll song part 3 of 4Send us a textExamining the lead up to the 1950s, there were many forms of popular music that laid the foundation for the definition of Rock & Roll that we know today. Rhythm and Blues, Swing, and Hillbilly music all come together during the 1940s to illustrate hints of Rock & Roll around every turn.Maybe this episode contains the first Rock & Roll song ever recorded . . .
2019-12-041h 26The Buster Mungus DiariesThe myth of the first Rock & Roll song part 1 of 4Send us a textNick Tosches says it best | ”It is impossible to discern the first modern rock record, just as it is impossible to discern where blue becomes indigo in the spectrum."So why so many think that Jackie Brenston made the first rock ‘n’ roll record? Well for a start, Sam Phillips was fond of telling people that it was. Bringing you into the folds of the shows purpose, is to better understand where modern forms of popular music are evolving from and how their history has become entrenched in our...
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