logo
episode-header-image
Jan 2025
43m 40s

🎸 Fender Stratocaster: The Guitar That ...

Wondery
About this episode
This one guitar didn’t just change music — it permanently cranked it up to 11. From Buddy Holly’s crisp riffs to Jimi Hendrix’s flaming solos (literally, he lit one on fire), the Fender Stratocaster is the most iconic electric guitar of all time. It inspired the Beatles AND Eric Clapton, became the axe of choice for everything from punk rock to reggae, and c ... Show More
Up next
Sep 2025
🎬 That’s a Wrap on Season 1 | 51
But you can still get Nick & Jack every day! Follow The Best One Yet, our daily news show delivering 3 stories in 20 minutes. Where business meets pop-culture. Listen on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-best-one-yet/id1386234384Listen on Spotify: https://open.spot ... Show More
6m 2s
Sep 2025
📺 SNL: The Snickers Bar of Saturday Night | 50
When Johnny Carson, 1970s late-night king, declared he wanted another day off, it left NBC with a hole in their weekend lineup. 11:30pm Saturday night wasn’t exactly the hot time slot… so the network recruited a quiet Canadian comedy writer named Lorne Michaels to produce a live ... Show More
42m 25s
Sep 2025
🎧 Sony Walkman: The Analog Icon That Led to a Digital Revolution | 49
In postwar Tokyo, two engineers were tinkering with rice cookers and busted home radios when they stumbled across a new kind of audio technology: magnetic tape. It inspired them to create a range of ahead-of-their-time tape recorders — and the success took Sony from small repair ... Show More
41m 43s
Recommended Episodes
Jun 2019
Gibson vs Fender - The Stratocaster Blasts Off | 3
Gibson's Les Paul sets a new standard for the solid-body electric guitar, and rival guitar maker Fender needs to respond. The company does so in 1954 with a sleek, futuristic guitar unlike anything else on the market: the Stratocaster. It's a hit.With their higher volume and heav ... Show More
24m 29s
Jun 2019
Gibson vs Fender - Loud and Clear | 2
It's 1950, and Fender's first solid-body guitar, the Esquire, is the laughingstock of the music industry. To guitar makers used to elegantly made hollow-body guitars, Fender's thin, simple plank of solid wood is a joke. But its bright, powerful sound and lack of feedback make it ... Show More
26m 53s
Jun 2019
Gibson vs Fender - Les and Leo | 1
In the 1930s and ’40s the market for electric guitars is growing, but it’s hindered by the instruments’ flawed designs. But a small group of mavericks is rethinking the guitar for the electronic age.One of them, guitarist Les Paul, tries unsuccessfully to convince one of America' ... Show More
25m 24s
Sep 2024
166- Was G&L Leo Fender’s biggest MISTAKE?
<p>After he sold Fender and exited his collaboration with Music Man, Leo Fender founded a brand-new company that would play host to his final electric guitar and bass innovations. Leo called G&amp;L Guitars the best instruments he ever made – the problem was that by the time he f ... Show More
46m 38s
Jul 2019
Gibson vs Fender - Les Pauls Unleashed | 4
In the 1960s, rock'n roll's popularity continues to grow. But one of the genre's most popular guitars, the Les Paul, is no longer being made. Now the guitar's namesake must convince an out-of-touch Gibson to put the favorite guitar of Eric Clapton and Keith Richards back into pro ... Show More
21m 38s
Sep 2021
Louder! How the electric guitar conquered popular music
Whether it be a kerrang, a chop, a blistering solo, some finger picking or a subtle flange, the electric guitar is one of the defining sounds of the 20th century. Without it – and its constant companion, the amplifier - popular culture would be unrecognisable today: no big gigs, ... Show More
39m 39s
Jan 2025
🇺🇸 “47’s Favorite Number” — Trump’s Report Card. Bumble’s Boomerang CEO. Gmail’s AI Clippy.
On Trump’s 1st day back in the White House… We’ll tell you his most important economic number.Bumble’s founder is returning as CEO… So we found the stock performance of Boomerang CEOs.Gmail and Microsoft are forcing everyone to buy their AI… because AI has an innovator problem.Pl ... Show More
21m 5s
Sep 2020
Guitar Gods: Jimi Hendrix vs. Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton had earned a reputation as “God” in the mid-‘60s for his virtousic guitar work in R&B-inspired British bands like the Yardbirds and John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers. Then an unknown American named Jimi Hendrix hit London in 1966 and changed the game entirely. Hendrix’s un ... Show More
54m 30s
Aug 2021
Les Paul & Leo Fender Part I
<p>The story of Les Paul and Leo Fender defines rock and roll music. Listen in to part one of the tale of these two musical rivals. </p><p> </p> Learn more about your ad-choices at <a href="https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com">https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com</a><p>See <a hr ... Show More
43m 46s
Oct 2022
Guitar stars: Strumming through the ages
Get ready to shred! Joy and cohost Buddy are building the most epic guitarchestra (aka guitar orchestra) in this week’s episode — so they’re auditioning some of history’s most notable guitar players. Jazz innovator Charlie Christian shows off his strumming solos, which made score ... Show More
30m 27s