What Difference Does It Make

Founding member of The Cure and Rock Hall Inductee, Lol Tolhurst, joins the podcast to chat about his second book, entitled GOTH. It's a deep dive into the dark Romanticism of Goth music. Of course, since we like to keep things upbeat, we also discuss the eclipse, family, sunny California, and his new album, Los Angeles, with his old friend Budgie, drummer from Siouxsie & The Banshees, and Jacknife Lee, producer of records by U2, REM, and Taylor Swift. Yes, we are mentioning Taylor Swift in our episode about Goth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dylan Chambers is one soulful dude, as a listen to his EP For Your Listening Pleasure! will prove. His first single, "High (When I'm Low)," featuring LunchMoney Lewis and Dave Koz, will immediately put a smile on your face. Dylan steps into our studio to discuss his beginnings in Arlington, Texas, and his many collaborations with artists from Mark Ballas, (of Dancing With The Stars fame), to Aldae, co-songwriter of “Flowers", by Miley Cyrus. To top off our episode, Dylan plays an acoustic set for us that culminates with Hall & Oates "Sara Smile". Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Foreigner is one of the world's best-selling bands of all time, with worldwide sales of more than 80 million records, but they are not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Yet. Rick Wills, bassist for the band, joins the podcast not only to push for Foreigner's entry into the Rock Hall, but to chat with us about his renowned career, including stints playing with David Gilmour, and discovering he was owed a lot of money as the co-writer of Peter Frampton's "Do You Feel Like We Do". Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy April Fools' Day! What songs make you smile? For Dave it's a knowing wink from an artist that knows this music can be ridiculous and yet, still love it. For Holly, it's music that makes her do a goofy dance or reminds her of her children. We go from pop and rock to dance and folk. We also learn during our Pop Quiz that, even though Holly is a stickler for "word crimes", she's not as strong when it comes to 80s lyrics. We are a proud member of Pantheon Podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pearl Harbour has a deep love of Rockabilly music. So much so that instead of recording another album on a major label with Pearl Harbor and The Explosions, she left the band to record a solo record. The result was the 1980 release, Don't Follow Me, I'm Lost Too. Unfortunately, the album was slightly ahead of its time, missing out on the 80s rockabilly revival from bands like The Stray Cats and The Blasters. Fortunately, we now have this re-release. Pearl joins the podcast to relive those times including stories about contributions from members of The Clash and Ian Dury & The Blockheads. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We use the holiday of St. Patrick's Day to recognize a number of our favorite artists from The Emerald Isle. While we have a hard time pronouncing names like Cathal McGarvey, Seamus Ennis and Liam Ó Maonlaí, we certainly do love the music they created. So raise a pint to the Irish and Happy St. Patrick's Day! Sláinte! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dave Tarnowski, like everyone, has voices in his head, confirming and/or denying his worst fears. Unlike everyone, Dave has created an Instagram Account around the concept, with 2.2 million followers and counting. He has now turned that social media success into a book, entitled Disappointing Affirmations: Unfollow your dreams! However, for this episode, Dave talks about his true loves, Nick Cave, The Cure, and 80s teen sensation, Tiffany. We do manage to talk about the book as well, and Dave gives us the scoop on how he created the idea behind the memes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dave Beasing joins the podcast this week. Dave is the CEO of Sound That BRANDS, a company that helps Brands tell their stories through audio-based marketing content…aka PODCASTS! Dave also has his own stories to share about growing up in Omaha, and his long career in radio. After the stories, Dave adds his thoughts about a ten-song chunk of music played on The World Famous KROQ in Los Angeles back in 1987, specifically #80-71 from the year-end chart. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ireland native and radio geek, Enda Caldwell, has been heard on Atlantic 252, Radio Luxembourg, Today FM and Radio Nova in Ireland, Kiss in The UK, and many other radio stations worldwide, like 106.5 Rivera Radio in Monaco. He’s currently the afternoon drive host at New York's EDM station, Pulse 87. However, in this episode, Enda steps into the way-back machine to talk about his career, and to review some of the music played on The World Famous KROQ in Los Angeles from the year 1987. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Karen Glauber is the President of HITS Magazine. She started her career with the legendary label, A&M Records, back in the 80s. She's also got strong opinions about the music. This makes her the perfect guest for our look at the music the World Famous KROQ in Los Angeles played back in 1987. This week we look at songs 100 to 91, based on their year-end chart. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We at What Difference Does It Make love love and what better way to say it, than with a song from the 80s? We discuss a number of our favorites that make us feel all warm inside. Happy Valentine's (and Gal-entine's) Day! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The What Difference Does It Make Podcast begins our 1987 musical journey with an analysis of songs 106.7 to 101 from the World Famous KROQ 1987 year-end chart. The bottom of the chart includes novelty songs (Swinging Erudites, Mojo Nixon), cover songs (Ball Of Confusion), and bands that have been forgotten over time (The Silencers). We're here to bring them back to life, and to determine whether they shall be deemed worthy to remember, or sent back into the ether. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It was quite a year, from U2 and The Beastie Boys, to Spuds McKenzie and 21 Jump Street. While we can't cover it all, we start off a new season of What Difference Does It Make with a look back at some of those iconic moments from 1987. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Veteran music journalist Katherine Yeske Taylor steps into our virtual studio to tell the tales of 20 badass musicians that she documented in her book, She’s a Badass: Women in Rock Shaping Feminism. The book features candid conversations about Feminism with Twenty Inspiring Female Artists including Ann Wilson (Heart), Exene Cervenka (X), Gina Schock (The Go-Go’s), Suzi Quatro, Suzanne Vega, Tanya Donelly (Throwing Muses, Belly), Amy Ray (Indigo Girls), Orianthi, Amanda Palmer, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, we take you to the edge...as in the Western Edge exhibit currently featured at the Country Music Hall Of Fame in Nashville. Western Edge examines the close-knit community of Los Angeles-based singers, songwriters, and musicians who, from the 1960s through the 1980s, embraced country music, frequented local nightclubs, and created and shaped the musical fusion known as “country-rock”. We get into that and a whole lot more with Michael Gray, VP of Museum Services, and Michael McCall, Senior Writer and Editor of the Country Music Hall Of Fame. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Well, the saying goes, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.", but as Holly says, "I would be happy if we could have another year like this year." So we now look back at 2023 with a few highlights from our chats with many memorable guests. If you're new to What Difference Does It Make, this might very well be a good place to start, or simply a good place to catch up on what you've been missing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Another holiday classic filled with some great 80s music! We discuss our new year's traditions, new year's resolutions, the history behind toasts and of course, all our favorite music we play to usher in the new year. We are a proud member of Pantheon Podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's the holiday season once again so Holly and I present to you this timeless classic episode...now with actual music! Dave's favorite holiday song is "Fairytale of New York" by The Pogues. Holly goes all in on Chanukah music with Matisyahu, The Maccabeats and we talk about how the names mentioned on Adam's Sandler's classic tune by remarking that many names might be lost on a younger generation. Do you think people in their 20s might know Ann Landers or Dear Abby? Get three FREE months of Amazon Music courtesy of your 80s music aficionados at What Difference Does It Make getamazonmusic.com/wddimpodcast Your 80s music aficionados at What Difference Does It Make are proud members of the Pantheon Podcast family. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ilana Kaplan uses her superpower ability to read the 1000 page Barbara Streisand memoir, My Name Is Barbra, in only three days! Ilana wrote the book review for the Los Angeles Times, and now joins us not only to discuss Babs, but Britney Spears, Sophia Coppola, and a preview of her own upcoming biography on Nora Ephron. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Friend of the show, Annie Zaleski, joins us this week to talk about the stories behind 100 beloved Christmas songs. It's also the title of her new book, This Is Christmas, Song by Song: The Stories Behind 100 Holiday Hits. We can’t get through all 100 songs, but we hit on many of our favorites. It's the episode to get you into the spirit of the season! Are you now in the mood for some Christmas Music? Check out this Amazon Music playlist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices