GARAGE TO STADIUMS Music History Podcast

Picture a 1970s American teen, dressed as Frank N. Furter from Rocky Horror, interviewed on local TV outside a suburban cinema. That fearless teen grows up to be Michael Stipe, lead singer of R.E.M., the first alternative band to achieve global commercial success, from its origins in tiny Athens, Georgia.  On this episode you'll learn:
How Athens, Georgia became the unlikely spawning ground for several successful bands.
How R.E.M. created a memorable sound by combining punk, pop music, southern rock and R'n'B  
Why Pearl Jam and Nirvana cited R.E.M. as a major trailblazer, and influence on their sound
How an onstage near-tragedy changed the band forever... 
The college radio strategy the company employed to build its credibility and momentum
Why R.E.M. turned down the offer to write a theme song for the popular TV show Friends
The first alternative band to experience mass commercial success, R.E.M. occupies an influential position in music history, inspiring many bands with their fiercely independent spirit and sound. Astonishingly, the band first heard on 1980s college radio went on to sell 90 million albums.   
Guest Bio - Peter Ames Carlin, author & journalist
Peter appeared on our Bruce Springsteen episode. In addition to writing a best-seller about Springsteen, he's chronicled Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys and Paul McCartney of The Beatles. His new book, The Name of This Band is R.E.M., has just been released.   

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Transcript for this episode

Listen to how a true California sound was born… from musicians who didn’t even come from California. In the late 1960s, four young artists arrived in Los Angeles from completely different corners of America. Blending country, rock, and soaring harmonies, Eagles captured the spirit of the American West and helped launch a new musical movement. Over the decades they would sell more than 150 million records and secure 2 of the top 4 spots in album sales in history. This is their journey from the garage to stadiums.  In this episode, you'll learn: 
How their childhoods shaped the music they would create
The superstar who gave Eagles their first big break in Los Angeles
The personality clashes that simmered behind the harmonies
Why the band deliberately changed their sound at their peak
The onstage threat of violence that foreshadowed the band’s breakup
Who shaped their sound - and the artists they went on to influence

Guest Bio
The guests for this episode are the authors of Eagles: Up Ahead in The Distance Eagles are our two guests, Steve Caparelli and Rick Forgo. They have authored a trilogy of books chronicling the incredible rise of this quintessential band.
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This is an astonishing story of the human spirit. Travel back to early 1960s Motown when an 11-year old child prodigy mysteriously appeared on the scene. Stevie Wonder rose from deep poverty, a fractured home and a significant physical disability to become one of the most influential musicians of all time.  As you will hear, he was also a master of innovating new sounds, producing hits across many musical genres - soul, R'n'B, rock, reggae, pop, funk and more. In this episode you'll learn:
The incredible story of Stevie's birth and difficult family life 
How Motown records was formed by an unexpected source, and then discovered Stevie
The ultimatum by a young Stevie that changes his economic situation 
How a knock on a random door in New York resulted in Stevie's greatest albums
How a terrible accident changed Stevie forever 
About his diverse set of hits from various genres
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Guest Bio
Paolo Hewitt  has followed Stevie's career for decades. Paulo was a writer for UK music magazines, New Musical Express and Melody Maker, where he both interviewed Stevie Wonder and reviewed several of his albums. Paulo has also written extensively about the hiphop scene and has authored books on several artists. He appeared on two very popular Garage to Stadiums episodes to discuss the careers of David Bowie and Oasis.

Experience the improbable ascent of The Band — five road-worn club musicians from forgotten rural towns who for years played beer-soaked barrooms, drove endless highways and dragged battered amps across borders. And then fate intervened for these four young Canadians and one Southerner. The result: the music they invented was the opposite of the psychedelic rage of the late ’60s — blending country, blues, R&B and story-telling into songs that reshaped rock’s future, leaving its mark on Crosby, Stills & Nash, The Eagles, The Beatles, and The Rolling Stones. In this episode you'll learn:
1. How relentless touring of bars and clubs forged their otherworldly chemistry
2. The incredible accident of timing that launched them from bar gigs to the global stage
3. Their controversial world tour that changed modern music
4. The internal challenges that began to hinder The Band's chemistry
5. How one member went on to be the musical architect of several famous Hollywood movies
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Guest Bio
Craig Harris, is the author of The Last Waltz: The Full Story of The Band, a musician who has performed with a member of the band and the host of the Craig Harris show on WAMU-FM, Bluegrass/Country.

Rewind to the early 1990s, when a high school dropout from Aberdeen, Washington, turned his angst into anthems. This is the story of Nirvana—a band that took Seattle-based grunge from garage floors to global stages - with a rebellious yet melodic sound that resonated with a generation.  In this episode, we uncover:
How Kurt Cobain felt like a fish out of water in his small-town upbringing 
The two legendary bands that inspired Nirvana’s signature sound 
A hidden clue about Kurt in the Smells Like Teen Spirit video you likely missed...
A previous surprising clue about Kurt in their first-ever demo single 
Bassist Krist Novoselic’s unheralded backstage role in the band's success 
How Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl became Nirvana’s seventh—and final—drummer 
Who the hit song About a Girl was really written for....
About our Guest
Michael Azerrad is the author of The Amplified Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana, an extensively illuminated version of his classic 1993 Nirvana biography Come as You Are, named as one of the 50 greatest rock books ever written by the UK's prestigious music magazine Q. Michael was also a former contributing editor for Rolling Stone, and he wrote the famous Rolling Stone cover story on Nirvana from 1992 in which Kurt wears a homemade T-shirt that says "Corporate Magazines Still Suck".

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