Ep. 206 - Back From The Philippines And Right In To And Roll Hall Of Fame 2026 Picks And Snubs

I come back from the Philippines and shake off brutal jet lag before diving into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2026 results and the snubs that still make no sense. We argue about what “counts” as rock, why the Hall’s side categories feel like a loophole, and how New Wave legends like Talking Heads, The Cure, The Police, and The Cars hold up when you actually test the label. 
• trip highlights from the Philippines and the reality of a 12-hour time jump 
• Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2026 nominees and the predictions we made 
• the final 2026 inductees and why some picks feel obvious 
• Mariah Carey’s absence and the case for uniqueness versus popularity 
• frustration with Early Influence and Musical Excellence categories and what they imply about the rules 
• 2025 versus 2026 class comparison and which year feels stronger 
• the Big Four of New Wave debate and why genre labels get slippery 
• why a familiar Cars song suddenly becomes an obsession 
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If you like this podcast SHARE it. If you have any ideas or suggestions for the show you can email us at: milkcratesandturntables@gmail.com

Transcript

Back After A Long Break

Scott McLean 0:18

Facebook Facebook YouTube Always pay attention to the stuff to the universe I've been gone for a couple of weeks. Gone for a couple weeks. I haven't done an episode in what three weeks, I think. So uh yeah. That intro was by the XX, and the name of the song is actually intro. So let me go over here and check what I need to check, make sure everything is uh up and running. Is it up and running? Is it going? It is. I'm seeing myself. Let's see if I can hear myself. Let's see. Intro. Yeah. Yeah. All right.

SPEAKER_02 1:31

Is it up and running?

Scott McLean 1:32

I'm back. So you got you know, I always gotta check these things.

SPEAKER_02 1:35

I'm seeing myself.

Scott McLean 1:37

I always gotta check these things. Back to the music. So yeah, I was gone for been gone for three weeks. Last week was a recovery week. Because the prior two weeks I was in the Philippines, which is it's just a great, amazing place. A little bit of everything there. Saw the sunrise over the mountains at the beginning of the week, and at the end of the other week, I watched the sunset over El Nedo, which is an island off of the Philippines, off of Luzon, and maybe has to be easily a top ten greatest sunsets in the world. I get to see it live. When the sun goes down, it looks like a big red nuclear reactor. It's really a sight to see. So, yeah. And I believe uh before I left, we I had talked to Jack,

Philippines Highs And Jet Lag Lows

Scott McLean 2:50

I don't know what episode it was. So coming back from the Philippines, they're 12 hours ahead. Going there was an easier adjustment. Um coming back was a little rough because they're 12 hours ahead. So yeah, you find yourself waking up at uh weird hours. Like I my wife and I not by plan, but we would seem to wake up around two, between two and three in the morning. And you're wide awake because you your body clock is like, hey, it's only three o'clock in the afternoon. Um well, you know what? I'm missing something in the background, aren't I? Yes, I am. Only I noticed it, but you know, and there it is.

SPEAKER_02 3:32

All right.

Scott McLean 3:34

And you know what? No, Iron Man's good.

SPEAKER_02 3:37

I'll have to turn him on.

Scott McLean 3:38

Iron Man on. Um, yeah, it's it's a big adjustment. So you find yourself just kind of wide awake at two, three, and now I know how insomniacs feel. Yeah, insomniacs, I I I feel for you, man. People that can't sleep late, and you're waking up and you're just fucking up all night. Yeah, I feel for you. Because it did kind of suck because then by like nine, ten in the morning, I'm exhausted. And it's the beginning of the day. Like, what the hell? And then the jet that's what kind of kicks the jet lag in. So we didn't have jet lag going over there, but we had jet lag when we got back, and that really adds to it. Um but took a week to get my shit together. I got my shit together. I'm back. Let me have some of my turbo iced coffee. Yeah, and I don't know for the for the viewers. Let's see which way do I go. I had my studio redone. I got a new floor, and you see over there, I got a new platform. It's kind of like the theater seating. There's a double recliner up back there. Yeah, sometimes you just got to do the improvement. Uh, so yeah, before I left, Jack and I had had a discussion. Let me see what's going on in the chat. Hold on. All right, here we are. Patty, nice to see you again, Patty. Thank you. Good evening. Jim Harris, King of the Villages. Welcome in. Big head Todd. I'm here. Entertain me. You know, I kind of fucking missed that guy. Even though I had three weeks off. Kind of missed him. For a minute. Yeah. Uh, let me see. That was just old age you were feeling. Well, that does not, that that's a contributing factor. I'm not gonna lie. I'm not gonna lie. I I am I am older, but I still got this gun, buddy. Look at that. You know, you know what that is, buddy. My forearms are bigger than your calves. So always were and always will be. So you can talk all you want, big head Todd. Uh yeah, so Jack and I had had that discussion, right? We had that Hall of Fame, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame discussion. Jack came out of a retirement temporarily, and uh we made our lists. And now he wrote it down. I didn't write it down, but I knew how this would play out, and he's like, no, no, no, this, this, this, that, like he always does. So let's let's get right into it. Let's get into who got inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. First of all, let me let me pull up who was eligible. Let me see. Uh give

Studio Changes And Chat Catch-Up

Scott McLean 6:40

me one second. Um Gemini and just say, give me the list of everybody that was eligible. Come on, Gemini, you can do it. Oh, of course it. Give me the list of everybody that was eligible to go into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. So it was Jeff Buckley, Phil Collins, Melissa Etheridge, the Black Crows, Mariah Carey, Billy Idol, Lauren Hill, Iron Maiden, In Excess, Joy Division, New Edition, Oasis, Pink. That needs to go. Shade, Shakera, Lutha Vandros, and Wu Tang. Now, I know that Jack, in all Jack's infinite wisdom, for all you Jack fans out there. Oh, Jeff Buckley is gonna get in. Jeff Buckley's gonna get in. Jeff Buckley needs to get in. You know how influential Jeff Buckley is. And my question was: who the fuck is Jeff Buckley? That's the question people ask. Who the fuck is Jeff Buckley that he should be in the Rock Hall of Fame? He's like the Black Crows. Black Crows should be in. Black Crow should be in. I don't know about the Black Crows either. I like him, but I don't know. And I think we both picked Phil Collins. Um I thought Mariah Carey should be in. Melissa Etheridge, I said no. I believe Jack said yes. Uh Billy Idol, I think we both agreed. Uh Lauren Hill, I think we both said it shouldn't be in there. Iron Maiden, I think was a 50-50. I might go out on the limit and say maybe. I remember I had a thought about Iron Maiden, and I'm not going to say whether it was uh I think I was on the fence with them and maybe thought they wouldn't get in. I don't know. Uh I thought NXS would get in. I think he thought so also. Joy Division New Order. We both knew New Edition wouldn't get in. Oasis, we both said would get in. Pink, we both said wouldn't get in. Sade, I said would get in. He said she wouldn't. Shakira, Luther Vandros, I said, I believe I thought should have been in. And Wu-Tang Clan, I don't think should have been in. So, with all that said, let me pull this up on the screen. And uh, let me go over here. How come it's not doing this? Augy, son. This is gonna fucking play you. See, I haven't done this in three weeks, so now I'm playing this whole uh let me get this is gonna drive me crazy. All right, let me get this off. Fuck. See, I and for the record, I rushed again. I rushed this whole thing again. So what I'm gonna do is this. I'm just gonna delete that. I'm gonna do an add a scene. Go to media, go to screen.

SPEAKER_03 9:50

Chrome tab. Share.

Scott McLean 9:57

Bear with me now. Again, I haven't done this in a while. Here we go. So the class of 2026 inductees, Oasis. We both said yes. Iron Maiden, I'll say I I called it. Oh my god. Joy Division in New Order. I think we both agreed. Phil Collins, I think we agreed. Um Billy Idol. I remember his list was longer than mine. Sade, he said she wouldn't get in. I said she would get in. I knew she would get in. I can't believe Mariah Carey didn't get in. I'm still kind of surprised at that. Um yeah, still a little surprised at that.

SPEAKER_02 10:41

Let me check this over here. Oh well, it doesn't matter. Chat.

Scott McLean 10:52

Yeah, and uh Luther gets in. Luther gets in. Again, Jack has the list. I'm gonna say I'm always a Luther fan, so I'm gonna say Luther got in.

Rock Hall Nominees And Our Predictions

Scott McLean 11:05

I I called it. But I know Jack had picked Jeff Buckley, Melissa Etheridge, the Black Crows. So I win. I I win. That's it. I win. Jack loses. Not here to defend himself? I don't care. Because I'm gonna read something to you here. Let me uh get back out of this. I'm gonna read something to you here. I got a text from Jack the other day. And Jack said, I think you won our rock and roll hall of fame discussion. Of course I did. Of course I did. No black crows, no Jeff Buckley. This is from Jack. I'm not making this up. I'll let you read it if I can. I don't know if the camera's gonna pick it up like that. I don't know. I can go close. No, it's not gonna pick it up. I don't know why it does that. I have to do an adjustment. But no black crows, no Jeff. You're smart. I'm dumb. You're attractive. I'm not a good looking man. I at least he was right on those things. Jack know he knew what he was talking about there. Ha! Damn right on both levels. Jack. Jack. Uh so yeah, that's who's getting in. Now there is a another list. It's like a sub-list. And I I I have an issue with this. Let me pull this up. Let's do this. I have an issue with this. I I don't like the way it kind of goes, how they do this.

SPEAKER_01 12:50

Now it's not there. Did I delete that? Hold on. Dun dun dun. All right.

SPEAKER_02 13:01

Let's try it again. Screen. Cancel. Fuck me.

Scott McLean 13:10

Bear with me. Bear with me. Don't don't don't go anywhere.

SPEAKER_01 13:19

Screen. Window is a window.

SPEAKER_02 13:22

Yeah, here we go.

SPEAKER_04 13:27

Share. Okay.

Scott McLean 13:46

And I'm back again. You're fucking kidding me, right? Richie Rock. What's up, baby girl? Motherfucker. Out of scene. Media. Screen. Here we go. All right. I'm back on track again. So they have these these sub-categories. I'll just agree. I agree to everything. Let me see if I can get to it. Or was it on the other one? It was on the other one. God damn it. See, this is I I do this all the time. This is an odd though. So switch this out. Let's get rid of this one. Let's get rid of that. Okay. I'm I'm getting to my point here. Trust me.

SPEAKER_02 15:02

Maximum screen shares.

Scott McLean 15:03

What the fuck?

SPEAKER_02 15:04

See, they changed shit on me all the fucking time. Let's just delete this. Remove source. Remove source. Let's try to win.

SPEAKER_03 15:24

Screen. There we go. All right.

Scott McLean 15:35

So you have these subdivisions, nominees who missed out, and then you get the quick recap. Um I'm fucking irritated right now. I am so fucking irritated right now. I had it all set up too. It doesn't matter. Fuck you. Ah. All right. Get rid of all of this. Twenty-five inductions, feature exhibits, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Let's see where we're at with this. It's not even up on the screen.

SPEAKER_03 16:23

Alright. I'll just read it.

Scott McLean 16:32

Give me a list of all the people that got inducted in different categories. This is horrible. Give me a list of everybody that got inducted into different categories. See, I rushed it tonight. I I was I was teaching a fucking class. Suzanne, hey Suzanne. Alright, so you have, here we go. The early influencer. Let me get this off the screen. Get out of here. Let me go back up here. Better stop cussing. I'm telling the Joe Shaw, my boy Joe. Suzanne, Leo, I can do it. Yeah, it's great when I'm, you know, the numbers always go up when I'm fucking bonded. It's like the old King of Facebook show. I always got more views when I was crashing. So you have this. You have these categories, and these people technically can say they're in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But Luther Vandros, okay. Early influence award. Artists who style directly influenced and evolved rock and roll. See, I hate this shit. I hate this shit. This is just a cheap way of putting people into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. So you got Celia Cruz, the queen of salsa. Celia Cruz was very influential. I I remember when she passed away, uh, she's big in the Latin community. Huge, huge. Like the Aretha Franklin of the Latin community. Um her her uh her coffin was coming through Miami International. I was working there at the time, and of course I worked behind the scenes. So I went over there just to see the casket, and it was like out on the it's not on the tarmac, it's on the tarmac, it's not the flight line, it's on the tarmac where the planes pull up, and they were getting ready to load the coffin, and it was like people from all over the airport came out there. If you had a badge that could get you out onto the flight line, and it it was it was kind of crazy. It was there was a lot of people there watching this coffin, like a lot of people were affected when she passed away. Um so I I can understand that. But why isn't she just in the Rock Hall of Fame?

unknown 18:58

Right?

Scott McLean 18:59

Early influencer ward. Then you got Fela Kuti. So I think Jack was saying Fela Kuti should have been in. He's been saying that for a while. Well, now he's in. So now does that mean that these people don't get to get in on the big list? Like, okay, you're in. Now you're you're kind of done. This is it. Uh Queen Latifa. Okay, hip-hop-wise, she was good. She was good. I I listened to her back in the early 90s, mid-90s. MC Light. Like again, I listened to her early 90s, mid-90s, late 90s. I I I, you know, I'm a hip-hop guy. I liked them, but early influence. So she so she was the first solo female rapper to release a full album, MC Light. But Queen Latifer is a hip hop pioneer. So

The 2026 Inductees And A Victory Lap

Scott McLean 20:00

what the fuck is the difference? What the fuck is the difference? Um and and and so it's always that thing. So the so she released an album. Rock and roll Hall of Fame, really? This is the shit I've been talking about, people. I'm just gonna say it. This this is that DEI shit. They're just squeezing people in. Grant Parsons, the father of cosmic American music and country rock. I I I knew of Graham Parsons. I know of him, but I've never really listened to him. I know he's had a couple of pop hits. Um you got the Musical Excellence Award given to musicians, songwriters, or producers who influence, whose influence had a dramatic impact. So what is then what is the criteria for to be on the big list? Is it all of it? Is it all of it? Are these people only fit one category? Rick Rubin. Rick Rubin is fucking Rick Rubin, he's a legend. But he only makes it onto the Musical Excellence Award into the Hall of Fame. Legendary producer, co-founder of Def Jam. I mean, that's right there in itself. Legendary. Linda Creed, prolific songwriter for the Philly Soul Sound. Arif Mardin, legendary producer for Atlantic Records, Jimmy Miller, producer known for his era-defining work with The Rolling Stones. The Amet Erdigoon Award, honoring non performing industry professionals. Ed Sullivan. Okay. I'm good with that. Ed Sullivan gets in to he's in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I guess he's got a spot now. Maybe he should have been on Big list. Fucking Ed Sullivan. Right? Jody McDonald, so surprised Mariah Carey didn't get in. And who's Jeff Buckley? Exactly. Fucking exactly.

unknown 22:14

You know what?

Scott McLean 22:14

Let me show this on the stream. Let me put this up on the so you can see that. You know what? Now I gotta let me do the uh there we go. Graphics, the graphics gotta look a little better than that. There we go. At least you can see yourself now. If you say something, T-ball participation award trophies, big head tired.

unknown 22:38

Yep.

Scott McLean 22:40

I think you're supposed to read it out loud. I don't know. I I lost track of what I was even talking about. Let's see. Uh and so on the quick comparison. Class of 2025, performers with bad company, Chubby Checker, Joe Cocker, Lindy, uh Cindy Lopper, Outcast, Soundgarden, and the White Stripes. So let's go back 2025 and 2026. So what do you think is a better list? All right, let's let's do that. 2025, once again, was bad company, Chubby Checker, Joe Cocker, Cindy Lauper, Outcast, Soundgarden, and the White Stripes. Now let's go up to 2026. Verse Oasis, Iron Maiden, Phil Collins, Joy Division slash New Order, Billy Idol, Sha Da Day, Wu Tang Clan, Luther Vandros. What is a better? What's a better list? What's a better list? That's an interesting comparison. Bad company's probably better than everybody on this year's. Chubby Check is Chubby Checker, Joe Cocker, Cindy Lauper, Outcast, Middle of the Road to me, Soundgarden, okay, and the white stripes. I think I like this year's better. Oasis, Phil Collins is a monster, Oasis is a monster. Billy Idol was a monster. Sade, huge. Luther, huge. I I think this year's list was better. Yeah. Yeah, list two. I think that would be this year's, Patty says. This year's as much, yeah. I think it's better. So there you have it. That that's who got in. Um, we already talked about the bands themselves. I think um someone had posted on Facebook that they were stunned that Sade got in over Mariah Carey. Sade is Sade. I mean nothing to take away from Mariah, because I uh I I always I'm a big advocate for her to get into the to the Hall of Fame, but Sade is Sade. She came first, and there was never anybody like her again. That's the thing. Mariah is a pop star, and there's been pop stars since her. Sade is that's that is it. She's a unique animal right there. Um still looks good, too. Go look up, go check her out on Google. Like Sade today. Still looks good. Still looks good. Always a beautiful woman. Nigerian, I think. Yeah. Might be underrated in the girl department. Sure. Those Nigerian girls. Who knew? The Nigerians knew that's who. So yeah, that's what we got there. Let me see what uh I know I had something else. Let me I gotta fight this. I'm gonna have to fight this shit again. Get rid of this. Let me get rid of this. I think it's there. Be there. Come on, just fucking be there. Be there. Come on. Chrometab, you're not there. Uh let's go to window.

SPEAKER_02 26:24

Is it this one? I don't think it's this one. Let me open this. Share. No, it's uh let me go over here. Alright, here we go.

Scott McLean 26:42

I got it. Let's take a look at this.

SPEAKER_01 26:48

Is it gonna pop up on the screen? Come on. Come on, you can do it.

Scott McLean 26:54

You can do it. Now my fucking now it's just I got the fucking Oh, I fucking hate this.

SPEAKER_01 27:03

Here we go. Okay. But it didn't come up on the other screen.

Scott McLean 27:12

What the fuck is going on here? Let's get rid of this. Hide. Over here. Over here. Here we go. Okay. Back on track. You would think I would sit down and kind of work this out before anything.

SPEAKER_01 27:33

So. Does that go full screen?

Scott McLean 27:37

Alright. Who are the big four of New Wave? Who's the big four of New Wave? So I think the majority of the people watching grew up in the 80s, 70s, and 80s. And New Wave, of course, came after the punk, then post punk, then New Wave. And postpunk and new wave kinda they kind of flirt together in the in the same world.

SPEAKER_01 28:07

Why aren't I up on the screen? What the hell's going on here?

Scott McLean 28:16

Skip add. I should be on the screen, but I'm not on the screen. Why aren't I on the screen? There I go. Yeah, okay. So if you were to think who the big four are of New Wave, let's see, the number of incredible artists who fall under the New Wave umbrella is both impressive and befuddling. The genre emerged in the late 70s initially as a way to describe the evolution of punk from rambunctious noise to more melodic sound. But as the 80s dawned, New Wave became the catchphrase, a label often placed upon the band that featured a catchy hooks and synthesizers. And there was a lot of them. Ooh, Cynthia Lauper. As such, people often struggled to define exactly what New Wave sounded like, especially other subgenre terms like post-punk, indie rock, alternative started popping. Alternative came after New Wave. So here we go. In some ways, a band undefined creative boundaries helped by helped to make it great. Anything that could be New Wave was the right style and attitude, as long as the energy of pop hooks was somewhere in the mix. The eclectic intellectualism of the talking heads, that's new wave. The reggae folk fusion of the police, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Let's just get to the fucking list. Alright, here we go. The talking heads. Alright. Would you say they are the big four of New Wave, though? Would you? I guess. When breaking down what makes a band Big Four worthy, things like artistic merit, commercial success, influence on other artists, and having a lasting legacy all come into play. I mean, I'm not disputing this. Talking heads, check all these boxes. David Byrne fronted group explored, uh exploded out of New York's music scene, blending art, rock, plunk, blah, blah, blah, into a brand of new way perfection. Classic tracks like Psycho Killer, Once in a Lifetime, Burning Down the House still sound as fresh today as they did back in the 70s and 80s. And I would agree with that. I would agree. Talking heads also created engaging visuals that helped completely redefine what rock what a rock band could look and sound like. Decades later, artists who followed still hail them as inspirational further proof of the group's timeless impact of music. The Cure. I think everybody, everybody like, I put up those which song do you like better? And if I The Cure is a tough one to beat. Whenever I put a song up, I I try to match them up evenly, but I also try to I always try to predict an outcome. I think who's probably gonna win. And there's like Led Zeppelin, I just stopped doing it because everybody always picks fucking Led Zeppelin. I can put it up against, I don't know, the fucking Star Spangled banner and somebody's gonna take, you know, when the levee breaks. It's it's just one of those things. Uh The Cure, I think, is one of those bands. No matter what song you put up that people know, because you know, people like the cure, but they don't, they're not

The “Side Door” Hall Of Fame Categories

Scott McLean 31:40

total cure fans. Like they like the songs they hear on the radio, they like the videos, but do they go deeper? That's that's what I always if I played a cure song that wasn't, you know, a popular song, would anybody pick it? Right? Probably not. But I think the songs that they did put out have that kind of they left that impression, they have that influence on people. Uh there may be some squabbling about including the cure in our big four. Uh the band went through periods of punk, post-punk, and goth labels. Some fans may prefer to New Wave. How do you define the band as a matter of opinion, ultimately an unnecessary exercise in splitting hairs? Without question, the cure was a generational act, fusing dark, emotive, lyrical content within finely crafted melodies. Frontman Robert Smith's distinctive croon remains one of the most recognizable voices in all of rock, and his leadership uh and with his leadership, the band surged to become one of the 80s biggest bands. Okay. The police. Are the police new wave though? Like, would you call the police new wave? I don't think so. I I really don't think so. No. I think the pre the police are just they're rock. They're kind of they're, you know. I don't know. I don't think that I don't, I never looked at them like New Wave. What the police were able to do during their brief classic era is remarkable after forming in 77. Tree Up made of singers, uh, made up of singer, bassist Sting, guitarist Andy Summers, and drummer Stuart Copeland. We all know that. Blah, blah, blah. They hit Roxanne, Can't Stand Losing You, So Lonely. I mean, great albums. All their albums are great. All their music is great. Uh, the police proceeded to release an album a year for the next three years, uh, Regatta Them Blanks and Yada Mandada, Ghost in the Machine, each of them gathering multi-platinum sales. Uh, because those albums have more good songs on them than bad. They really do. Which is you have good songs on an average album, you have good songs, you have eh, songs, and you go like that. Song sucks. I don't think I've ever listened to a police album, and I've listened to all of them, that I can't think of a sucky song by them. There might be songs that are overplayed, but I never listened to one of them and go, that song sucks. Canary in a coal mine. It's a fucking irritating song. Canary in a coal mine. I'll let you be the judge. I uh I've been wanting to do this anyways. I I haven't played any real music that's gonna get me uh uh uh a copyright fucking warning from YouTube, so now I go out of my way to do it. Uh Canary in a coal mine. Here we go. Let's see how irritating this song is. This is a this is an irritating song. Right right off the bat. I don't hate this up tempo. I mean, it's all gets catchy. It's got a good beat, you can dance to it. I don't know. Definitely, definitely, definitely not one of their better songs.

SPEAKER_02 35:25

Irritating song.

Scott McLean 35:29

Uh, the fifth and final album, Synchronicity. What a way to go out with an album like that, right? Just it's like if you two quit after Joshua Tree, which I think a lot of people, a lot of people would wish they had. Me not being one of them, but um the Cars, there you go. One of the primary cast characteristics of New Wave music is its polished pop-leaning style, an evolution that maintained Punk's energy, but brought in a more radio friendly sound. No act made, a better use of ear-catching melodies than the Cars, the beloved Boston band, fronted by Rick O'Kasick. So interestingly, um Ben Orr, right? Ben Orr, or it's like Ben Orzebeck or something. He he's originally from, I think, Cleveland. He's Slavic or something. If you see, he's buried with his family. It's in Ohio. Um, and if you look at his, I saw a picture of his gravestone. And it's just a simple, very simple, and it's next to, it looks like, uh a couple of family members. And they're all like probably, it's probably like maybe two feet at the highest off the ground. It's got the 45-degree slant with the nameplate, and his says Benjamin Orr. It doesn't, but next to it you could see whatever relative, you can see it says Orza back or whatever it was. Um, which I thought was interesting. And you see it, and it's very simple. It's a very simple headstone. Unfortunately, he he he you know, of course, he passed away from uh pancreatic cancer, which was um, you know, I I didn't really appreciate it. Like I didn't at the time, it didn't really bother me. I grew up with a cars, and cars in Boston. It was kind of I was kind of thought it was oversaturated after a while. So like you stop really when you're around it so much, you just kind of stop. Um let me see, the police are not new wave uh or alternative, they would just pop band, yeah. The cars are pop also. Tears for fears. I don't think tears for fears. Um, so I never really like, you know, I loved him, but it was just like, okay, it's like it's like my brother, you know what I mean? It's like, yeah, it's just my brother. You know. Um, but then after he passed, you start to really you realize what a contribution he did have as far as you know his his voice and his talent. Um, but in front of his headstone is people bring little little cars. There's a fucking pile of little like matchbox cars or Hot Wheels right in front of me. I thought I thought that was pretty cool. No one's spray painted shit on there, no one's leaving fucking whiskey bottles or you know, whatever, fucking skulls, none of that shit. Everything was just cool. But so I I I I compare I compare um the situation in the cars to the situation in Fleetwood Mac. And I think I've said this before. So in Fleetwood Mac, you have two primary lead singers, and it was Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie. Right? Both of them have you know songs that charted multiple times, multiple songs, and you have the cars with primarily two lead singers, Rick O'Kasick and Ben Orr. And the question I always ask is who has better songs? I I know that's a question for for taste, you know. Um but for the most part, let me all right, let me get this off the screen.

SPEAKER_02 39:36

Uh you go back over here. Take this down.

Scott McLean 39:41

There we go. So I I I always ask, like, who's who's got better songs? Christine McVee? Who who do you like? Christine McVee or Stevie Nicks? Like, if you had to choose an like a best of.

SPEAKER_03 40:01

Sorry, I don't understand.

Scott McLean 40:03

I'm trying to fucking explain it to you. Do you understand that? I don't even I I don't know who that was. Sometimes I don't understand myself. So um so who, you know, who do you like better? Christine McVee, Stevie Nicks. If you had a choice of like, okay, I want to listen, just it's one or the other. It's Sophie's choice. Rick O'Kasick or Ben Orr? You know, I mean, Ben Orr sang some of their legendary songs, but so do Rick O'Kesick. So it's kind of hard to choose. But I'll tell you what, this song, I have been uh uh you've heard me talk about it before when you rediscover a song, and when you you like you hear it again and you're like, oh shit, that's a good fucking song. Like I forgot how good that was, because either you haven't heard it in 25 years, literally sometimes, or you've heard it so much. Like I had this whole, I use whole lot of love as an example. Whole lot of love, yeah. I heard it a million times growing up. Every fucking party I went to and went through, oh whole lot of love came on. It's just a big, it's a big song. Then you're like, I had enough of that shit. Enough. But then you're driving along one random Wednesday at fucking, I don't know, 2.30 in the afternoon, and whole lot of love comes on, and you're like, I'll listen to it, and you're like, damn. Wait a minute. I fucking like this song again. Like, well, I I don't know how that happens. I don't know if it only happens to me. I don't think so. But I think I think it happens. You just rediscover something. This song, I heard it on either a Facebook reel or like a TikTok fucking video that someone posted or something. But I have been fucking obsessed with this song by the Cars. That it soon be it's like at this point in my life, it's my favorite Cars song of all time. And I I love every song on Candy O. Candio, I think, is the is their best album. Um let me see. Uh, Music Relic show. Uh, without a doubt, Christine McVee or Ben Orr. Perry light fingered Perry Devich the AI. I you know what, buddy? I think I'm with you. Oh, by the way, let me stop right here. I have to say, while I have light fingered Perry Devich the AI, while I have him here, I watched the Music Relish podcast. I get a kick out of it. I don't watch all of them, but I watched them. And the other day I was watching

2025 Versus 2026 And The Sade Debate

Scott McLean 43:00

one. Now, some people know, and some people don't. There's new listeners, there's old listeners, there's listeners that have been here from the beginning, like Big Head Todd and Patty, and a few other people, that uh uh Mark Smith and Luke Calicchio were were uh they sat in for like a year. They did they did a lot of episodes on this, and unfortunately, it came to a thing where something happened and it's it's just a thing, and well, that we had to discontinue that partnership, which kind of, you know, looking back, it might have been able to be handled a little better. Uh, but at the time it was just it just happened, right? We all do or say things that sometimes we kind of look back, and you're not a hundred percent like, oh, I really fucked up, but you kind of have that kind of when the dust settles and the feelings and emotions kind of slide away. You're like, yeah, you're kind of sorry that it kind of went down like that in a way. Like it's just not 100%. It's just that little bug in the back of your head. So I'm watching Music Relish uh the other night, and they they always have good topics. And I I I love the whole format and the style of it, and um the way they they're very, very consistent. And uh unlike me. They are very consistent. And it was surprising. They started talking, they showed the video. Perry put up the video uh by the the the what is it the the the Sundells or something like that for dirty water and you know Boston, you're my home and all that, and I know that probably I kind of pop up because I'm their friend from Boston. Well, two out of three. So, but but that's the point. During their discussion, Lou, who's who we had a falling out, um Lou actually, and I I kind of was I I was wondering if I I don't know why I was wondering if something was gonna get brought up because it's Boston thing. And uh Lou says he he brought out a fact like Lou always does. Lou is very good, he's very, very good. Um and uh he said, I believe we talked about this on Milk Crates and Turntables. And he then he had a little like afterwards, like uh, what did he say, like, in another time or something like that. But I Perry, you can tell him I said this if you're still watching. I was pleasantly surprised, and I was kind of cool. I was like, that was pretty cool. That was pretty cool. You know, I I always liked Lou. Uh I liked him better than Mark. No, don't don't don't think that. I love the movie. I love all of them. Um but Perry, if you want to deliver the message, say that, you know, I I I appreciated that he mentioned it. It showed that he doesn't hate me as much as he used to. I just think it was pretty funny. And Patty, she commented in about the when Mark and Louis, it was great while it lasted. Exactly. Exactly. It was. Um, so yeah, I I I'm glad Perry popped up. It reminded me, I wanted to mention that that I was pleasantly surprised that Lou mentioned the podcast. Um which which was good, which is good. But anyway, back to the song. See, that's that's what I do. I fucking trail off, don't I? I trail off. Perry says, I will be done. Um I trail off. I I don't, it's fucking my PTSD or something. I don't know. But I don't, I do that all the time. And I'm like, if I was watching this, I'd be like, get to the fucking point. As I continue to ramble on, and I'm gonna get to the point right now. I promise you. This song, I've been obsessed with this song for about a month now. I I I absolutely fucking love this song. I love this song, and I don't care what's gonna happen. YouTube, give me a copyright strike. But this song is I fucking love this. I don't know what it is. I don't know what it is that I'm so obsessed with this fucking song now. It's Hot Geat City. I just I don't know why. It's I fucking love it. It's the way that it changes transitions. It has it has beautiful transitions. And in the rhythm, the the the backups thing it's just all fucking work. This is the part I love this this little break. I love that it moves to another. It's like layers. It it's just the way it's the way it's it's just produced. It I don't know.

The Big Four Of New Wave

Scott McLean 48:56

Then it starts that build again. All you need is what I just love the way it builds, and then it hits that whole Jackie section. Then it drops back down again. I don't know, and the harmonies in the background are fucking beautiful. I just I've been obsessed with this fucking song. And I literally, so you ever have the earworm? We all do. We all do. That fucking song that won't get out of your head. This song's been stuck in my head, and I like it. I like it. I I just I have no problem doing this on fucking like a goldfish. Just keeps looping and looping and looping around in my head. Uh Lightfinger Perry says uh very synth-oriented. Yeah, again, there's that aspect of it. But I just love the production of it. I love the you know what it is, it's kind of like it's almost Beatle-esque in a sense. Now, I'm not comparing it to a Beatles song, but it's Beatle-esque in a way where the Beatles of Paul McCartney and John Lennon could like Paul McCartney songs are notorious for that type of production. That type, like Uncle Albert. Uncle Albert is a perfect example. Uncle Albert is almost like three different songs or four different songs in one song. This gives me that kind of feel where you start off at this point, then you're in a whole nother like world of the song, and then it goes back to the beginning and it just crescendos up. I don't know. I fucking can't explain it. I'm glad I got that off my chest because I I'd tell myself this and I would argue with myself. Well, I don't know. That's stupid, but uh I'm not the brightest bomb in the house sometimes. This big head Todd would want to tell you that. Big head Todd with the skinny calves. He's got it all upstairs. He got it all on the chest and shoulders and back, and you know, he's got that he's got a V frame, or he used to. I don't know, he's old now, but then his legs are like like my finger. I gotta take these shots while I have them. Um Dave Phillips, Dave Phillips has he has this stuck in his head. Why the hell would Dave Phillips have this song stuck in his head? I don't know. Dave said I Dave Phillips, I had the fucking Colmadina in my head. Ah, rest in peace, Toadload. Dude, I'll tell you what, when this came out, I think it was like 87.

SPEAKER_04 52:05

87, yeah.

Scott McLean 52:07

Toadlock. So or 88, it came out like 88.

SPEAKER_05 52:12

So the girls were told.

Scott McLean 52:14

I I came home on mid tour. So I got there, I got to the Philippines in in December 1987. And then in D in then the following year, I got there in December, yeah, December 88. I was going home for a month. I was going home on midtor because I was there for a two-year, two-year bid. And uh, you know, when you go to the States, one of the things you looked for was new music, because in the Philippines, all you got for new music was what people brought back. So somebody would go back home and they would, it was VHS tapes back then, right? They would load up like on MTV or whatever fucking video, local video channel that they had. And and Big Head Todd knows what I'm talking about, and they would come back um with the like a whole two hours or three hours of videos, and you would go to these video bars, like your favorite video bar, and uh the DJs, or they were more they they played music, but for the most part, the video bars played videos, so they were VJs, and you would give them the eight the the the your VHS and they they could copy it. So that's how new music came. And when I got to got back home, uh this song had come out. It hadn't been to the Philippines yet. Funky Cole Medina. So I remember putting it on a VHS tape, and I I I brought it with me um along with some other new music. Um and uh I I introduced it to a lot of the video bars in the Philippines. It was pretty cool. It was pretty cool. Uh but that's how we got our music back then. Like back then when you watched uh what is the Today Show? Was it the no? I don't know, but you you're watching yesterday's fucking it's live, but it was yesterday because Far East Network or Force Entertainment Network uh was what we got, and they everything would come in late. So anyway, all right, listen, I think I'm I think I'm done now. I think I'm done. Not bad. I got my shit together at the end. Uh, after not doing this for three weeks, you would think that after all this time, I would be so so you do think that sometimes as a podcaster, as a live streamer, you think you know it. It's and when you think you got it, you get got like I did today. And you people who watch and listen uh faithfully, and I appreciate that. Um, you've seen me get got more than a couple of times. You can't just walk into this. I got everything in front of me, I get everything cool, I got my laptop here, I'm watching myself while I'm doing this on the screen, and you know, but there's always that one thing. There's that one thing that fucking pops up, and that is the life of a live streamer. You gotta be on your game, you gotta come in and you gotta be prepared all the time. And you would think after like, I don't know, 180 episodes of the King of Facebook live stream, that I would have learned something, but evidently I didn't. And if you ever want to watch that mess, just go to YouTube and type in King of Facebook show. Uh Jesus. I should start replaying those. I should start replaying those on Friday nights on Facebook. Just for just for all the time. There's a whole, like I said, there's

Music Nostalgia And What’s Next

Scott McLean 55:40

like 180 episodes, and they're all at least an hour long. Some of them are two hours. So but they were fun. They were fun. That they were the that show is what led me to this, and I I I think I'm doing alright. Um Patty says, Thanks, Scott. Another great show. Yes. Yes, yes, yes. Uh Dave Phillips, King of the 45s. It's the rhythm. The rhythm and the beat. Yeah, it's uh isn't that wild thing, right? I think that's the uh the the beat. No, uh Jamie's crying. Jamie's crying, right? Yeah, well, I don't know. I'm not gonna play it again. I'm already in enough trouble with fucking YouTube. So, anyways, all right, everybody. Uh thanks for watching, thanks for listening. If you like it, share it. If you didn't like it, well, thanks for watching and listening for 56 minutes and 29 seconds. Bighead Todd, welcome home. Yep, from my other motherland. I'm going back to the Philippines. It looks like we'll be going back in January. I'm going back with six other veterans. Bighead Todd, if you want to join the bunch. You know everybody that you pretty much know everyone's going. It's guys we worked with. So it's six other veterans, great friends of mine, is my brothers in arms. We we have our reunion every year. And uh a few of them went to the Philippines last January. Uh, they went also into El Nido, which is one of the places I went to, and I went to El Nido, which has El Nito in the Philippines, has literally, I I am not now I'm dead serious, easy, easy top ten, possibly top five greatest sunsets in the world. Literally in the world. It is fucking amazing. If you're friends with me on Facebook, you saw pictures of it and you saw a video of it. I did a live stream of it uh from the Philippines, and uh big head Todd says they couldn't handle the two of us the first time. That's true. We're older and wiser now, my friend. And we will be going to Angeli's City, by the way. Todd. So um, yeah, so uh we decided as a group, you know, we're all older guys now. We're in uh late 50s, mid-late 50s, early 60s, that uh let's just do it one more time. So seven of us veterans are gonna be going back to the other motherland where it all began, where we all met, where we all weren't great friends, you know, we didn't we knew each other because we worked with each other, but we didn't always hang with each other. Uh and also they're coming in on the 23rd. I will be doing for my Vets Connection podcast. Um I think six or seven of them are coming here. I'm gonna be interviewing them one at a time, and we're gonna kind of talk about I'm not they're not gonna be long interviews, but I want to kind of talk about our friendships, how we met, uh, what their thoughts were of the Philippines. Do they because it was a really fucking crazy place at the time. Uh Dave Phillips, King of the 45s, my dad told me all about it when he was there in World War II. Yeah. And it just got crazier after that, I'm telling you. But I'm sure it was crazy then too, my friend. But I'm going to be interviewing them. Uh, and it's it's it's for my podcast, but it's also for prosperity because we're all still alive. And I say this, I know this is a music podcast, but um we're all still alive, we're all still healthy, and I think it's good since I do this to get it, get it down and record it. I think it we'll all be better for it down the road. I think we we will be glad that uh we did it, and I'll be glad to host it and put it together, and it will probably be you know multiple episodes that I'll all you know. I always put it out on Facebook and LinkedIn and YouTube and all that, but uh, they're coming in on the 23rd, so uh I'm gonna I'll be working most of the time they're here interviewing them at my studio, at my other studio. Uh maybe I'll set up something in here. We'll see. I don't want to, I got my cameras all right over there. Um so yeah, that's it. And back see, I drifted again. I drifted again. Okay. I don't know. I maybe maybe I should take my maybe I should take my medication. What? I can at least I'm honest. Anyway, uh as I always say, uh doing this show for you to quote my favorite artist, Morrissey. The pleasure, the privilege is mine, and I will be back next Thursday. Well, they'll be in town, I think, next Thursday. Next Wednesday. Maybe I'll do it. I'll be on Wednesday. I promise you. Not that you care, but anyway, alright, I gotta go.