Episode 36 of No Sleep Til Sudbury takes place in Wilton, Connecticut, conducted from two comfy chairs inside the home belonging to my pally from the valley, mister Ian O’Malley.

I’d heard a lot of the hilarious stories from his VH1 days previously, but not these – among them his drunken nickname for Sting, Keith Richards’ preferred method of quaffing scotch, and Roger Waters’ rules when meeting fans. O’Malley is one hell of a storyteller, and he blends sentiment with humour without peer. You gotta hear this.
 

O’Malley’s playlist:

Pink Floyd – On The Turning Away

The Rolling Stones – Slave

The Police – Invisible Sun

Tom Petty – Wildflowers

Rush – 2112

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Want your mind blown? Listen to this episode.

Semiotic researcher Charles Leech drops by to explain how and why we get goosebumps when we hear certain songs, and how rock music almost didn’t exist if not for a guy called Palestrina.

Charles relates some utterly fascinating facts and logic surrounding the science of music in this episode. I’m still shaking my head.
 

Leech’s playlist:

Palestrina – Missa Papae Marcelli

Richard Wagner – Prelude, and Liebestod

New Order – The Perfect Kiss

Grouplove – Tongue Tied

The Beatles – She Loves You

Dear Rouge – Wanna Wanna

Silversun Pickups – Drained

Annie Lennox – Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye

Colin Hay – I Just Don’t Think I’ll Get Over You

Nick Drake – River Man

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Author Jamie Blaine is a guy I could talk music with for days and days. In Episode 34, Jamie and I contemplate Halloween and talk about some Halloween-ish bands and their music. You know – KISS, Alice Cooper, Marilyn Manson, and so on.

No real playlist this time, but the chat is great and gets a little deeper than I anticipated.

Happy Halloween!

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Hunters Bay Radio 88.7FM’s on-air personality and afternoon drive host Sarah Coombs joins me for Episode 33 of the No Sleep ’til Sudbury episode series. Sarah is doing some very cool stuff at Hunters Bay Radio – no format! Just like WKRP!

Sarah’s playlist features a little bit of everything – some aggression, some sadness, some happiness, and some chill. And, something impossibly cool happens at 4:03. Check it out!
 

Coombs’ playlist:

Sinead O’Connor – Troy

Rage Against The Machine – Killing In The Name Of…

Nine Inch Nails – Something I Can Never Have

The Pixies – Broken Face

Martin Sexton – Diggin’ Me

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Making his triumphant return to the No Sleep ’til Sudbury show for episode 32 is mister Jay Jay French, back to talk about Lou Reed, David Bowie, The Beatles, and loads of other things.

Jay Jay also concedes that the Canadian Rockies are better than the American Rockies, what he stole from Judas Priest, the songs he used to soundcheck with Twisted Sister, and the Eagles song they used to cover(!). And, he gives me a metaphor that I’m totally stealing for my next book.

French’s playlist:

The Beatles – Side Two of Abbey Road

David Bowie – Oh! You Pretty Things

David Bowie – Changes

AC/DC – Whole Lotta Rosie

Mott The Hoople – All The Young Dudes

Velvet Underground – White Light, White Heat

Lou Reed – Walk on the Wild Side

Lou Reed – Satellite of Love

Oasis – Live Forever

Oasis – Don’t Look Back in Anger

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Stephanie Riley drops by the studio in NSTS Episode 31 to discuss some very personal sentiments related to her having read All My Favourite People Are Broken. I’m fascinated that her stories actually lend validation to the purpose of Broken, which is to urge people to look more deeply into the reasons why they’re so emotionally compelled by certain songs. So not only are people actually reading my books, they’re learning things from them!!

All this, folks, and the soothing calypso sounds of Boney M too.
 

Riley’s playlist:

Jose Feliciano – Feliz Navidad

Boney M – The Brown Girl in the Ring

Brenda Russell – Piano in the Dark

Michael Jackson – Thriller

Whitney Houston – Didn’t We Almost Have It All

Eric Carmen – Hungry Eyes

The Dells – Heart is a House For Love

Guns N’ Roses – Sweet Child of Mine

Taylor Dayne – Love Will Lead You Back

Quincy Jones – You Put a Move On My Heart

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The Dock 104.1FM on-air personality Josh Duncan joins me in Episode 30 to talk Motorhead, Sabbath, Nirvana, and a little Simon & Garfunkel.

Josh and I have a great chat, including the strange emotional dichotomy of The Hip’s final show, the last record I was actually excited about buying upon its release, the irony of alternative becoming mainstream, and Ozzy’s unfortunate 80s Bea Arthur phase.

And by the way, Josh’s dog is named Ronnie James Dio. True fact.
 

Duncan’s playlist:

Motorhead – Ace of Spades

Simon & Garfunkel – Sounds of Silence

The Tragically Hip – Grace, Too

Nirvana – Smells Like Teen Spirit

Black Sabbath – War Pigs

Bob Marley – Three Little Birds

Steppenwolf – Snowblind Friend

Bad Religion – New Dark Ages

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In Episode 029 of No Sleep Til Sudbury, my pal and massive punk rock fan Colin Lumsden returns to the studio to further discuss the songs that stir him emotionally, all the while continuing to impress me with incredible degrees of knowledge.

During our discussion we consider the contradictions of punk as a mainstream concept, that the lack of musicality in punk is in fact the entire point, and the fact that I may or may not have a soul.

Not many people I know get more out of music than Lumsden does. Towards the end of the interview he shares some very powerful realizations with brutal honesty, in turn capturing the very essence of everything I’ve tried to do with this show.
 

Lumsden’s playlist:

Oasis – Don’t Look Back in Anger

Rancid – Honor Is All We Know

Sex Pistols – Anarchy in the UK

Social Distortion – I Was Wrong

John Lennon – Imagine

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It’s my distinct pleasure to host one of the nicest guys in rock and roll in Episode 28 of NSTS, Def Leppard guitarist extraordinaire Phil Collen.

Phil and I cover a lot of ground in our chat – Hysteria’s 30th anniversary, Sting’s sublime bass lines, that he was asked to join Iron Maiden in 1981, his blues band Delta Deep, what he learned about being a guitar player from Mutt Lange, and the fact that my high school art class pencil sketch of he and Steve Clark was given an A+. Really wish I had saved that thing.
 

Collen’s playlist:

David Bowie – Moonage Daydream

Sex Pistols – God Save The Queen

Al Green – Tired of Being Alone

The Police – Walking on the Moon

Sly and the Family Stone – If You Want Me To Stay

Jimi Hendrix – Fire

Led Zeppelin – When The Levee Breaks

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In Episode 27 of NSTS, Brad Jemmett and Kent Bailey both return to the studio for the fourth and final installment of their Golden Age of Hip Hop segment, and it’s Bailey’s turn to trash talk Jemmett’s playlist. And he doesn’t pull punches.

House of Pain, 2 Live Crew, and Jeru the Damaja all get talked about, but Bailey saves the best for last when he critiques Jemmett’s last pick. Check it out!

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