The Velvet Underground put a spike in the status quo. They sang candidly about heroin, speed, and S&M. Their members included drug dealers and junkies. Their stage show was so perverted that it offended even the most liberal of peacenik hippies. Their benefactor and so-called manager, Andy Warhol, was nearly killed in an assassination attempt that shocked th ... Show More
Yesterday
Townes Van Zandt: Dreaming Hit Songs, Detox, and Waiting Around to Die
Country songwriter Townes Van Zandt was an incredible talent who toiled in obscurity. Most of his albums never sold more than a few thousand copies. Like his idol, Hank Williams, he was willing to push aside everything to chase the muse – everything but the bottle. And like Hank ... Show More
38m 42s
Mar 6
Public Enemy: Revolution, Scandal, and a Message Louder than a Bomb
Public Enemy were revolutionaries – both in their message and their music. In the 1980s and 1990s, they elevated hip-hop to an art form. They did this with Chuck D's booming voice, Flavor Flav's comic levity, and the auditory assault of the Bomb Squad's production. But with that ... Show More
39m 54s
Jul 2025
Australia's Gangster King of Sin: Abe Saffron
Abe Saffron rose from wartime wheeler-dealing to become the king of Sydney’s underworld, a man whose appetite for sex, money and scandal was unmatched by any other Aussie gangster in the swinging Sixties. Saffron paid everybody off, brought Sinatra to Sydney, and hosted Sinatra. ... Show More
1h 1m
Apr 2025
559. The Rolling Stones: Satanic Majesties of Sixties Rebellion (Part 2)
"We're not worried about petty morals." What happened to the Rolling Stones in 1967 to see them on the brink of imprisonment and mass censure, while at the height of their success, with fame, fortune, mansions, world tours, and best selling albums to their names? Was Brian Jones, ... Show More
1h 8m
Apr 2025
558. The Rolling Stones: Sex, Drugs and Rock ‘n’ Roll (Part 1)
What are the origins of Britain’s original bad boys, The Rolling Stones? Where did they all come from and how did they meet? What was it about the 1960s, with its air of sexual liberation, newly elected Labour government, and rising youth culture that allowed them to burst onto t ... Show More
1h 8m
Feb 2025
This Moment in Music History for 02-27-2025
On February 27th, 1967, a groundbreaking album was released that would forever change the landscape of rock music: "The Velvet Underground & Nico" by The Velvet Underground. Produced by the legendary Andy Warhol, this debut album was a daring exploration of taboo subjects such as ... Show More
2m 3s
Oct 2024
Ep491 - Stephen Pearcy | Sex, Drugs, RATT and Roll: My Life in Rock
<p>Stephen Pearcy, lead singer and frontman of the rock band RATT, visits Google to discuss his book "Sex, Drugs, RATT and Roll: My Life in Rock."</p> <p>Women. Spandex. Drugs. Hair spray.</p> <p>Welcome to heavy metal rock 'n' roll, circa 1980, when all you needed was the right ... Show More
40m 31s
Apr 2025
The 'Ndrangheta's Notorious Kidnapping Gang Wars
Today the ‘Ndrangheta, Calabria’s clan-based Mafia, is one of the world’s richest and most powerful drug trafficking organizations, worth an estimated $55 billion. But it wasn’t always like that. From the 1960s, as European politics went mad, the group glommed onto a new fad taki ... Show More
48m 23s
Feb 2025
I Fought the Law: The Death of Bobby Fuller
In 1966, Bobby Fuller was a rising rockstar. His eponymous band and their song "I Fought the Law" was climbing the charts when he suddenly died. As is the case with many rockstars, theories about his death abound. Was his death really an accident or suicide, or could it have been ... Show More
37m 1s