Fee Waybill, lead singer of The Tubes takes us on his musical journey as the band moves from cult status to striking it big, after landing producer David Foster for their classic album, The Completion Backward Principle. His solo album, Fee Waybill Rides Again was produced by his best friend, Richard Marx. Fee has appeared in many cult film classics, from Xanadu to The Fabulous Stains to Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. His next dream is to play King George in Hamilton, so he can sing "You'll Be Back". It's all true, and it's all on the What Difference Does It Make podcast.Hear The Tubes music for free with a month of Amazon Music. getamazonmusic.com/wddimpodcastWe are a proud member of Pantheon Podcasts.

This week, we step back from the task of asking questions, and instead let Bob Bland of the Bend & Scoop podcast inquire into our record collection with a segment he calls, "Is That Your Vinyl Answer".Here is your friendly reminder to subscribe to our podcast as we release new episodes every Friday. Reviews are also appreciated!Video clips from each episode can be found on the What Difference Does It Make YouTube page.Get a month of Amazon Music for free. getamazonmusic.com/wddimpodcastWe are a proud member of Pantheon Podcasts.

You might know Lawrence Gowan as the keyboardist and songwriter for Styx for the past 20 years. Canadians know Lawrence Gowan as the artist with two top-ten albums from the 80s, Strange Animal (1985) and Great Dirty World (1987), as well as numerous top ten singles, including "Criminal Mind", Juno award winner for best video of the year in 1985. Needless to say, we dig into his entire career, up to and including his latest album with Styx, Crash Of The Crown.Listen to all music by Styx and Lawrence Gowan with a one month free subscription to Amazon Music courtesy of What Difference Does It Make. getamazonmusic.com/wddimpodcastWe are a proud member of Pantheon Podcasts.

Gary Myrick has had quite an adventurous musical journey. This Texas native left for greener pastures in Los Angeles and formed Gary Myrick & The Figures. Any fan of the film Valley Girl will remember their 80s song, "She Talks In Stereo". From there, it was on to London to meet up with former Clash bassist, Paul Simonon, and Nigel Dixon to make up the band Havana 3AM. Today, Myrick's adventures include motorcycles, his dogs, his 12 string guitars, and his love of the blues. This brings us to Gary Myrick's latest album, Forever (Adventures In 12 String) . The album covers the songs that inspired him, the songs he created with The Figures and Havana 3AM, as well as some originals all played on the 12 string guitar. You'll hear all about Gary's (mis)adventures in this episode of What Difference Does It Make.Hear Gary Myrick's Adventures in 12 String on Amazon Music with a free one month subscription. https://www.getamazonmusic.com/wddimpodcastWe are a proud member of Pantheon Podcasts.

Kurt Larson, lead singer of Information Society, is quite an interesting guy. First of all, he's only a part-time rock star, as he spends most of his days composing music for video games. We learn all about video games, the forgotten 80s music format CD +G, and of course, we get the 4-1-1 on their 1988 top ten hit "What's On Your Mind (Pure Energy)", and the hoops they had to jump through to get Paramount's permission to use Leonard Nimoy's voice. And, oh yeah, they have a new album out now called, "ODDfellows".Want to listen to "ODDfellows" by Information Society? Sign up for a free month of Amazon Music courtesy of What Difference Does It Make.We are a proud member of Pantheon Podcasts.

If you're a fan of 80s music like we are, you might say some of your favorite bands are The Police, REM, Squeeze, The Go-Gos, The Alarm, The English Beat and The Bangles. First of all, we would say you've got great taste in music. We'd also say it was artist manager and music executive Miles Copeland that helped usher in this 80s music renaissance. Miles documents his successes and failures in his book, Two Steps Forward, One Step Back: My Life In The Music Business. He shares his insights and some of the crazy cast of characters he's managed in his legendary career.Get three FREE months of Amazon music, courtesy of your friends at What Difference Does It Make. getamazonmusic.com/wddimpodcastWe are a proud member of Pantheon Podcasts.

Most of us initially learned about Gary Kemp though his work as the musical architect for the 80s band, Spandau Ballet so naturally we wanted to touch on everything surrounding the band. But first things first, as we launch into a talk about the creation of his cool new album, INSOLO, his work stepping into David Gilmour's spot in Nick Mason's Saucerful Of Secrets and his excellent podcast, Rockonteurs. Gary also gave us a history lesson on all that went into the Blitz Kids club scene in the late 70s to early 80s.Get three FREE months of Amazon Music courtesy of your 80s music aficionados at What Difference Does It Make.We are a proud member of Pantheon Podcasts

Grammy-nominated folk singer and songwriter, Mary Gauthier, steps into the virtual What Difference Does It Make podcast studio and gives us inspiring insight into the process and healing nature in the creation of songs. Mary's book, Saved By A Song, touches on the songs that inspire her, as well as the songs she's written, to provide insight into her transformation from a restauranteur battling addiction into a beloved songwriter.Hear the audiobook version of Saved By A Song for free, courtesy of What Difference Does It Make. audibletrial.com/wddimpodcastWhat Difference Does It Make is a proud member of Pantheon Podcasts.

Midge Trubey has quite a story. Back in the 70s, Midge found an opportunity to create a business by providing Rock Stars everything they need when they come into town. Turns out stars like Lionel Ritchie and Kenny Rogers like it when they can have a freshly prepared meal while on tour! Rock Doesn't Roll on an Empty Stomach: Stories and Recipes from a Rockin' Cook's Journey Fueling America's Biggest Touring Bands of the 70's And 80's is the book, which is part memoir, part cookbook. It was a delicious treat to hear about some of Midge's encounters along her amazing journey.Get three free months of Amazon Music courtesy of the 80s music podcast, What Difference Does It Make. getamazonmusic.com/wddimpodcastWe are a proud member of Pantheon Podcasts.

What do you do when the creative juices are still flowing twenty years after your band breaks up? Well, in the case of The Jenny Thing, you get the band back together and release a new album. Lead singer/songwriter Matt Easton joins the What Difference Does It Make Podcast to talk about what led to creation of their new album, American Canyon. Matt gets into the details of the music, the videos, and that time the band appeared on Star Search.Get three months of Amazon Music courtesy of your 80s music podcast, What Difference Does It Make. getamazonmusic.com/wddimpodcastWe are a proud member of Pantheon Podcasts.

Kristin Hersh might be best known as the singer-songwriter in the band 80s music band, Throwing Muses, but she is also an acclaimed author. Her latest book, Seeing Sideways, takes us on an emotional journey as she reflects on thirty years of creating music, raising kids, and maneuvering her way around the trauma she has faced in balancing the two. Kristin is a true independent spirit. We were delighted to welcome her into the virtual What Difference Does It Make studio to share her thoughts on life as an artist.Get three months of Amazon Music for free (including Throwing Muses, 50 Foot Wave, and Kristin Hersh solo work) thanks to your friends at What Difference Does It Make. getamazonmusic.com/wddimpodcastWe are a proud member of Pantheon Podcasts

Darren Brady-Harris gained fame as nerdy Cliff in the iconic 80s teen movie, 16 Candles. He's also one of the most passionate music fans we've ever met. Darren loves to talk 80s music, and he calls it like he sees it. This makes him the perfect guest, as we count down songs 10 to 1 from the KROQ 1984 year- end chart. Darren is also the former music director for the student-run radio station at UCLA, and as such, has many opinions, which he is very willing to share with us. Could Echo & The Bunnymen possibly be a better band than U2? Who's better: English Beat or General Public? 1984 brought us Purple Rain, but is it possible that Welcome to The Pleasure Dome by Frankie Goes To Hollywood, and Run-DMC's debut were better albums? All will be revealed, as well as how a kid sitting in the front row of a movie screening was selected to be the best friend to John Cusack and Anthony Michael Hall in a John Hughes film.Get three months of Amazon Music for free getamazonmusic.com/wddimpodcastWe are a proud member of Pantheon Podcasts.

Singer/songwriter Kat Goldman has a unique insight into the music industry, and writes about it in her book Off The Charts. Like anyone who has stepped onto a stage to entertain for a living, Kat has experienced many highs and lows. She shares it all with a charming sense of humor and awareness, which makes her a great guest for our podcast.You can hear Kat's music by signing up for three free months of Amazon Music. getamazonmusic.com/wddimpodcastWe are a proud member of Pantheon Podcasts.

Her name is Annie and she dances on the sand...whenever she hears the album Rio by Duran Duran! Writer Annie Zaleski joins us in the virtual What Difference Does It Make podcast studio to talk about her 33 1/3 book, Rio. Like us, Annie is a self-described 80s music nerd, so were thrilled to nerd out together over all the details that made this band, and in particular, this album. It gave us a "cherry ice cream smile".Give a listen to Rio by clicking on the link and receive three free months of Amazon Music. https://www.getamazonmusic.com/wddimpodcastWe are a proud member of Pantheon Podcasts.

Simply put, Dan McGrath is a huge Depeche Mode fan, I mean his initials are DM. The Creative Director of No Sheet Music and soon to be member of the duo cover band "Master and Servant", that plays only music by duos, steps into our virtual studios. We discuss songs 20 to 11 based off radio station KROQ in Los Angeles' year end chart from 1984. We let Dan chose this ten song chunk because it not only contains two Depeche Mode songs, but also the song the What Difference Does It Make podcast team thinks should have been the number one song for that year.Get three months of Amazon Music for free getamazonmusic.com/wddimpodcastWe are a proud member of Pantheon Podcasts.

Many of you know Jose Perez Navarro as the original anchor of Contacto Deportivo or as the play by play announcer for World Cup games since 2002. What you may not know, is his career started in radio back in his hometown of Guadalajara, Mexico. He is particularly passionate about music from the 80s which is why we happily invited Jorge Perez Navarro into our virtual What Difference Does It Make studios. The original idea was to talk about songs 30 to 21 from the 1984 year end chart from radio station KROQ in Los Angeles. We manage to do that but we mainly touch on Jorge's love of Air Supply, Elton John and music from the late, great Jim Steinman.Get a free audible book courtesy of the What Difference Does It Make podcast. https://www.audibletrial.com/wddimpodcastWe are a proud member of Pantheon Podcasts.

People listening to KROQ in the mid 80s got the good fortune to hear "Mega-mixes", a medley of songs from artists like Duran Duran and Pet Shop Boys that stretched out into one ten minute jam. The man responsible for these mixes is Christer Modig, aka Swedish Chris. Chris steps into our What Difference Does It Make virtual studios and discusses exactly how a high school kid from Sweden landed at KROQ in Los Angeles. In between stories, we discuss songs from the 1984 KROQ year end chart. This week we look at songs 40 to 31.We also invite you to subscribe to our YouTube page for more shenanigans.We are a proud member of Pantheon Podcasts.

Our favorite Los Angeles radio station is 885FM, so it was very cool to get Marc "Mookie" Kaczor into our virtual What Difference Does It Make studios. Mookie has turned us on to so many new artists that it was great to return the favor and introduce him to some of our favorites as we look at the songs KROQ played back in 1984. This week we focus in on songs 50 to 41 which covers everything from Prince to Killing Joke. Oh, and if you know Dave Grohl, please put him in touch with Mookie. He needs a favor.We are a proud member of the Pantheon Podcast family.Subscribe to Audible and the first book is free courtesy of What Difference Does It Make. Just go to audibletrial.com/wddimpodcast

JC Douglas, steps into the What Difference Does It Make virtual studios to discuss songs 60 to 51 from the 1984 KROQ year end list. This ten song chunk of songs really encapsulates why the music was so influential to our burgeoning musical taste. In this episode, we cover artists from Lou Reed to The Time to R.E.M. and our titular song from The Smiths shows up as well. J.C. the "Hyperactive" Canadian can be heard afternoons on 89.9 The Wave in Halifax, Nova Scotia,Enjoy a free Audible book courtesy of What Difference Does It Make.We are a proud member of Pantheon Podcasts

We continue our celebration of March Metal Madness with Nöthin' But A Good Time: The Uncensored History of the '80s Hard Rock Explosion. Authors Tom Beaujour and Richard Bienstock did an intensive dig into the musicians and insiders involved in the scene that launched the careers of Mötley Crüe and Poison on the west coast and Twisted Sister and Quiet Riot on the east. Our talk with Tom and Richard gets into the highs and lows of so many of the bands that many first saw on MTV's Headbanger's Ball.Get a free audible copy of the book compliments of What Difference Does It Makehttp://audibletrial.com/wddimpodcastWe are a proud member of Pantheon Podcasts.

We all miss the connection of live music, and that's why we're so happy a movie like Long Live Rock has been released. This rock documentary pays tribute to the many factors that explain our passion for rock music AND rock festivals. The film features many of the musicians, the people working behind the scenes, and of course, the fans. AreJay Hale, drummer for Halestorm, director Jonathan McHugh, and producer Gary Spivack step into the virtual What Difference Does It Make studio to discuss everything that went into making this film. They are passionate rock fans, one and all!We are a proud member of Pantheon Podcasts

Russ Borris, Music Director at WFUV in New York enters our virtual studios and immediately throws down some knowledge. 1) "Duran Duran is Life" 2) Flight of The Conchords are Hall & Oates 3) When it comes to Masters of The Universe, Leech is so much cooler than Moss Man. He also asks the important questions like, "What is the difference between an Alligator and a Crocodile and "Why was Poison a bigger band than Warrant?" The world may never know, but what we do know is that in-between all the shenanigans we manage to discuss songs 70 to 61 on the 1984 KROQ in Los Angeles year end chart.Get three FREE months of Amazon Music courtesy of your 80s music aficionados at What Difference Does It MakeWe are a proud member of The Pantheon Podcast Network.

Kyle Meredith, Music Director at WFPK in Louisville and host of his own podcast Kyle Meredith with... is ready to step in the ring with Holly and Dave and offer up his opinion on the year that was 1984. In this episode we look at songs 80 to 71 from radio station KROQ in Los Angeles' year end chart. Kyle may have been a young child in the 80s but he has strong opinions on the music played during this time and because of his love of the decade, we welcome Kyle as an unofficial member of Gen X. The music countdown on the countdown can be heard on our music playlist page.Get three FREE months of Amazon Music courtesy of your 80s music aficionados at What Difference Does It MakeWe are a proud member of Pantheon Podcasts. The podcast network for music lovers.

Carmel Holt, creator and host of Sheroes Radio, steps into the virtual What Difference Does It Make studios. We dig into Carmel's musical origin's and lessons learned as Music Director at WDST in Woodstock and WFUV in New York. We also discuss why her intense love of music discovery led to her creation of Sheroes. Always the pro, she learned early on to "always prep" and so Carmel is ready to give her opinion on songs 90 to 81 from the 1984 KROQ in Los Angeles year end chart.To hear all the songs discussed, check out our Spotify playlist. You can also find all songs at WDDIMPodcast.com on our playlist page.Get a free month of Audible courtesy of What Difference Does It Make at audibletrial.com/WDDIMPodcastBig thanks to AKG for their supportWe are a proud member of Pantheon Podcasts.

Dave knew he had found a new friend when he saw Joel ...clad in a Wilco t-shirt...at his daughter's soccer game. They bonded easily over music and sports. Dave was also happy to discover another good friend, in Joel's wife, Melissa Gould. She is warm, with a great sense of humor. While learning to live with his MS diagnosis, tragedy struck when Joel passed away in 2013 at the age of fifty. Melissa then found herself alone, a young widow with a young daughter. She chronicles her journey in her memoir, Widowish. While it is a heartbreaking story, Melissa uses her experience as a writer for TV and film to bring lightness and humor into her story. Widowish is beautifully crafted, and both Holly and Dave found that Melissa was a perfect guest for the What Difference Does It Make Podcast. We are a proud member of Pantheon Podcasts. The podcast network for music lovers.Listen to a free audiobook of Widowish, courtesy of What Difference Does It Make