Not many people can say they changed the cultural landscape of a city. This guy can. Legendary promoter Gary Topp is my guest this week on NSTS. 

Topp and his business partner Gary Cormier would come to be known as The Garys, a concert promotion colossus that introduced Toronto to Punk and New Wave, having brought bands like The Police, MC5, Talking Heads, and The Ramones to the city for the first time. They were also responsible for the riot that was The Last Pogo, but I’ll let Gary tell that story. Don’t miss this.  

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Former Wargasm bassist, writer, and friend of the show Bob Mayo joins me this week on NSTS to chat about more songs I’ve never heard.   

Regular listeners will remember that Bob has told some pretty courageous personal stories on the show previously, and that he’s an incredibly authentic individual. Recently he was asked to give a talk at MIT about, in his own words, how heavy metal didn’t necessarily save his life, but certainly gave him one. Bob is definitely the real deal.  

Mayo’s playlist:

Blue Oyster Cult – The Golden Age of Leather

Gillan – Abbey of Thelema

Immolation – Fostering the Divide

Voivod – Neutrino

Wishbone Ash – Lifeline

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

As discussed last week on NSTS, 1991 was the year that grunge exploded. However, the scene was still very much in its infancy – hard rock and heavy metal were still the most dominant version of rock.

So this week, in addition to talking about U2, Garth Brooks, and Lollapalooza, we look at the two most powerful heavy rock bands of 1991 – Guns N’ Roses and Metallica. Axl Rose made history doing something no artist had ever done before with the Illusion records, and the recording of Metallica’s Black Album was so intense that three of the four band members would get divorced before it was completed. Don’t miss this.  

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

I’m pretty stoked about this week’s episode, which focuses on the rise of the Grunge movement of 1991 – the stories behind how Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and other acts came to found this musical movement.  

The most interesting aspect of what people understood to be ‘grunge’ is that many of the bands thought to represent the genre, including Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots, and Alice In Chains, really weren’t grunge at all. So what were they really? And what was really responsible for the eradication of hair bands in 1991? Hint: it wasn’t grunge… 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS