DISGRACELAND

Charlamagne Tha God. Wendy Williams. Robin Quivers. The names are familiar, but the stories of their trials and triumphs in the radio industry may not be. Amplify Color reveals the empowering and inspirational stories of individuals who left an undeniable impact on the radio industry despite the challenges and battles they faced. Each week, host Ryan Cameron chronicles the history of Black radio through the story of a trailblazer who made a long-lasting impact on the medium that we know and love today. Subscribe to Amplify Color now wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cappadonna may have taught a lot of the guys in Wu-Tang Clan how to rhyme, but he wasn’t around when the group first formed and released their incredible debut album. Because Cappadonna was in Rikers Island, doing time for someone else’s crack rocks. When Cap was released, the Clan welcomed him as the honorary tenth member of the group. But he brought someone else into the fold, too. A shady character who, unbeknownst to Cap and the rest of the guys, wasn’t what he seemed … a federal informant testifying in two major cases, one involving the mob. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Sign up for our newsletter and get the inside dirt on events, merch and other awesomeness - GET THE NEWSLETTER Support our Advertising Partners: Fabric: meetfabric.com/disgraceland Factor: factormeals.com/disgraceland50 Code: DISGRACELAND50 ZBiotics: ZBiotics.com/DISGRACELAND  Code: DISGRACELAND Liquid IV: liquid-iv.com/disgraceland Code: DISGRACELAND Follow Jake and DISGRACELAND: Instagram YouTube X (formerly Twitter)  Facebook Fan Group TikTok Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At just 15 years old, Inspectah Deck had to learn how to hold his own against older, more dangerous convicts when he was sent to jail for selling crack to an undercover cop. It wasn’t the first time he did hard time. Multiple stints behind bars gave him nothing but time – to reflect, to strategize, to learn how to rap, and to take that new skill and use it to turn his life around on the outside. But years later, the bad decisions of his youth were just some of the reasons why the the NYPD, the ATF, and the FBI were so interested in his groundbreaking hip-hop group. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Sign up for our newsletter and get the inside dirt on events, merch and other awesomeness - GET THE NEWSLETTER Support our Advertising Partners: Factor: factormeals.com/disgraceland50 Code: DISGRACELAND50 ZBiotics: ZBiotics.com/DISGRACELAND  Code: DISGRACELAND Liquid IV: liquid-iv.com/disgraceland Code: DISGRACELAND Follow Jake and DISGRACELAND: Instagram YouTube X (formerly Twitter)  Facebook Fan Group TikTok Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wu-Tang episodes are back, and it's got Jake talking Inspectah Deck and Cappadonna. Plus your emails, cartels, Tiny Desk, and U2. What other artists are worthy of a whole season of Disgraceland? Get in touch at 617-906-6638, on socials @disgracelandpod, or disgracelandpod@gmail.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wu-Tang Clan were inspired by more than just other musicians. They were kung fu film fanatics, and they used the mythology of countless movies to build their own world. Like the films of Bruce Lee, whose classic kung fu epic Enter the Dragon is baked into Wu-Tang's first album title. In this archive episode from BADLANDS, Jake Brennan's other show about the intersection of entertainers and true crime, hear all about how Bruce Lee got into so much trouble as a kid in Hong Kong that his parents banished him to the place of his birth: America. There he found all kinds of new trouble to get into. He upset kung fu traditionalists with his revolutionary style of fighting. He challenged long-held perceptions in racist Hollywood. He was an outsider determined to change the system the hard way – but did bringing about change cost Bruce Lee his life? To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com/badlands. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The After Party returns this week while DISGRACELAND takes a break from our full season on the Wu-Tang Clan, and Jake is talking the Wu's influences, Ringo Starr, Bruce and Brandon Lee - and of course your voicemails, texts, and DMs. What other artists are worthy of a full season in Disgraceland? Let Jake know at 617-906-6638, disgracelandpod@gmail.com, or on socials @disgracelandpod, and come join the After Party. After Party is brought to you by FUM - go to https://tryfum.com/ and use the code DISGRACELAND to save 10% off when you get the Journey pack today. After Party is brought to you by Blueland - get 15% off your first order by going to https://blueland.com/disgraceland Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ringo Starr’s first show as the Beatles’ new drummer was nearly ruined by a hostile audience that wanted him out of the band. Although he was finally accepted as one of the Fab Four, he was still targeted by those who did not wish him well. French-Canadian separatists in Montreal threatened to kill him. Mexican Federales tried to lock him up and throw away the key. And a decades-long running gag that he wasn’t creatively on par with his fellow Liverpool lads nearly undermined his legacy. It wasn’t until Ringo conquered his own beaucoups of blues that he got the respect he deserved and the world recognized him for what he is: in the words of his old mate John, “the greatest.” This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners and includes descriptions of domestic violence and suicide. If you're thinking about suicide, or are worried about a friend or loved one, call the Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Sign up for our newsletter and get the inside dirt on events, merch and other awesomeness - GET THE NEWSLETTER Support our Advertising Partners: Factor: factormeals.com/disgraceland50 Code: DISGRACELAND50 Rocket Money: rocketmoney.com/disgraceland Code: DISGRACELAND ZBiotics: ZBiotics.com/DISGRACELAND  Code: DISGRACELAND Liquid IV: liquid-iv.com/disgraceland Code: DISGRACELAND Follow Jake and DISGRACELAND: Instagram YouTube X (formerly Twitter)  Facebook Fan Group TikTok Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we take a quick break from the Wu-Tang Clan season to release an archived episode of DISGRACELAND on Ringo Starr, and Jake is talking the connections between the two, as well as some juicy music history of the past and present. Is Zach Bryan the first artist to get arrested while he was at the top of the charts? Who is your favorite Wu-Tang member? Drop Jake a line with any of your thoughts at 617-906-6638, on socials @disgracelandpod, or disgracelandpod@gmail.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ghostface Killah allegedly tried to steal three thousand dollars from a parking lot attendant. They said he was shot in the neck and shoulder in Steubenville, Ohio, shortly before the RZA went on trial for attempted murder. Or so the story goes. And it is true that he was busted with a .357 Magnum, hollow-point bullets, and a bulletproof vest during a routine traffic stop. It was stories and transgressions like these that led the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms to dig deep into Wu-Tang Clan’s past in order to build a new narrative that the music was merely a front for organized crime – a narrative that would soon go all the way to the FBI. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Sign up for our newsletter and get the inside dirt on events, merch and other awesomeness - GET THE NEWSLETTER Support our Advertising Partners: ZBiotics: ZBiotics.com/DISGRACELAND  Code: DISGRACELAND Liquid IV: liquid-iv.com/disgraceland Code: DISGRACELAND Follow Jake and DISGRACELAND: Instagram YouTube X (formerly Twitter)  Facebook Fan Group TikTok Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As a teenager, Method Man won $800 on a $5 bet in a dice game. He used those winnings to set himself up as a crack dealer on Staten Island. Dealing was dangerous. Meth was chased by drug squads and dragged down the street when a potential buyer stole his product. His life was saved by a friend who pulled him out of the wrong place at the right moment – a moment in which he literally dodged a bullet. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our full season on Wu-Tang Clan continues, and Jake is talking Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Cash, and 50 Cent, and asks which Wu-Tang member is your favorite? Let him know at 617-906-6638, on socials @disgracelandpod, or disgracelandpod@gmail.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Corey Woods, aka Raekwon, was addicted to the styles, sounds, and crimes of hip-hop street culture in the 1980s. He sold weed, coke, and later crack to fund his expensive taste in clothes and parties. But that life wasn’t all glamor. He was shot four times and nearly killed when he was caught in the crossfire. And times were changing. The NYPD launched a street-level anti-drug task force to target low-level dealers – dealers like Raekwon, who found life as he knew it was about to suddenly change. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bobby Diggs (aka the RZA) grew up on a steady diet of kung fu movies and hip-hop music. As a kid he hung around junkies and prostitutes in Times Square. As a teenager he hustled dime bags of weed to day traders on Wall Street. But on Christmas Eve 1991, in Ohio, he was caught up in a shooting that landed him in a fight for his life. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week in the pre-party, Jake reads your emails about Metallica, Gang Starr and more, and looks back at some important events in musical history. Stay tuned this week for the season 13 premiere on The RZA, kicking off Disgraceland's 10 episode serialized season all about Wutang Clan. Get in touch with Jake at 617-906-6638, on socials @disgracelandpod, or disgracelandpod@gmail.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jake dives in to the Wu-Tang Clan as DISGRACELAND embarks on a new season all on the group. Are they the best super group of all time? If not, who is? Plus, Bumblefest, Low Cut Connie, and your correspondence. Get in touch at 617-906-6638, disgracelandpod@gmail.com, or on socials @disgracelandpod, and come join the After Party. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This month we launched an all new season of BADLANDS, and we’re bringing you a preview here. This is the show where DISGRACELAND host Jake Brennan blends history and true crime to tell the transgressive stories of some of the biggest names in Hollywood, including the mysterious deaths of Marilyn Monroe and Natalie Wood…Tim Allen’s former career as a low-level drug dealer…the curse of the movie Poltergeist…how porn star John Holmes got caught up in the infamous Wonderland murders…and more episodes on Winona Ryder, River Phoenix, Gianni Versace, Robin Williams, Heath Ledger, Sharon Tate, Robert Downey Jr., and so many more. Search BADLANDS to hear 70+ episodes, including this new episode on Johnny Depp. Johnny Depp prefers the shadows to the limelight, whether he’s building a bomb with Hunter S. Thompson in the Rocky Mountains, or downing bootleg quaaludes laced with arsenic. After emerging as the leading art flick actor of the 1990s, prodding paparazzi’s desire to paint him as a “novelty boy” often drove him to outbursts that ended in arrests, wrecked hotel rooms, and a miffed Kate Moss and Roger Daltrey. Yet even with camera flashes constantly lighting up his private life, plenty of mysteries still surround Johnny Depp…including the unsolved disappearance of his former Viper Room co-owner – who went missing just days before he was supposed to testify against Johnny in court. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wu-Tang Clan made history with some of the most compelling hip-hop music of all time. They also made enemies with the NYPD, the ATF, and the FBI – the latter of which classified them as a "major criminal organization." The story of Wu-Tang's rise from the streets of New York to the world's stage is full of hustle, paranoia, bad drug deals, police shootouts, federal informants...and it's also the subject of the 13th season of DISGRACELAND. The first serialized season of DISGRACELAND starts Tuesday, September 5th, with new episodes dropping every Tuesday and Thursday, and bonus mini episodes every Monday. Rocka rolla. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week in the pre-party, Jake reads your emails, looks back at the very first episode of Disgraceland, and looks ahead to Season 13. Stay tuned this week for season 13's trailer, hitting your feed on August 29th. Get in touch with Jake at 617-906-6638, on socials @disgracelandpod, or disgracelandpod@gmail.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week's re-release of the second part of the Notorious BIG episode comes along with somenew developments in Tupac's murder case - and maybe related to BIG's murder. Who do you think killed BIG? What about Tupac? Jake also talks Prince's acting career, nü metal, new metal, and non-biopic music movies. Drop Jake a line about these topics at 617-906-6638, disgracelandpod@gmail.com, or on socials @disgracelandpod, and come join the After Party. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In part two of the Notorious B.I.G. story we see the young star trying to deal with life after the death of his rival (and one-time friend), Tupac Shakur. We also get a glimpse into the motivation behind the making of his final album, the aptly titled, Life After Death and get deep into the mystery behind his still unsolved murder. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week in the pre-party, Jake weighs in on Mark David Chapman, Morgan Wallen's record-breaking hit, and the ongoing Lizzo controversy. What are your thoughts? Let Jake know at 617-906-6638, on socials @disgracelandpod, or disgracelandpod@gmail.com, and stay tuned for the special re-release of part 2 of our episode on the Notorious BIG, dropping on August 22nd. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this installment of the After Party, we kick off our 50th anniversary of hip-hop by revisiting the two-part episode on The Notorious BIG. Jake asks about the biggest musical beefs of all time, he wants to know what job you're NOT doing while listening, and about your tattoo regrets. Let Jake know at 617-906-6638, disgracelandpod@gmail.com, or on socials @disgracelandpod, and come join the After Party. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Notorious B.I.G. entered adulthood as a crack dealer and left this world as one of the most famous hip-hop stars of all time. He was murdered mysteriously and before that was arrested almost too many times to count. He eventually altered the course of hip-hop with the release of his debut album, Ready To Die, an album that served as a soundtrack of sorts for the highly publicized, dangerous, violent beef between himself and his one-time friend, fellow rapper, Tupac Shakur. But that whole saga almost never happened. Find out what changed the course of Biggie Smalls’ life and ultimately led to his untimely demise in part one of The Notorious B.I.G. story. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week at the pre-party, Jake addresses what constitutes "not great music," Cardi B throwing the mic, and the growing allegations against Lizzo, and responds to your emails. What are your thoughts on the Lizzo allegations? Let Jake know at 617-906-6638, on socials @disgracelandpod, or disgracelandpod@gmail.com with your answers, and stay tuned for the special re-release of our two-part episode on the Notorious BIG, dropping on August 15th and 22nd. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's Velvet Underground week in Disgraceland, and Jake is wondering if they are the most influential rock band? Plus voicemails, texts, Keith Jarret, FIDLAR, and the question: what are your favorite end-of-the-workday songs? Let Jake know at 617-906-6638, disgracelandpod@gmail.com, or on socials @disgracelandpod, and come join the After Party. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Velvet Underground put a spike in the status quo. They sang candidly about heroin, speed, and S&M. Their members included drug dealers and junkies. Their stage show was so perverted that it offended even the most liberal of peacenik hippies. Their benefactor and so-called manager, Andy Warhol, was nearly killed in an assassination attempt that shocked the country. But their songwriter, Lou Reed, wanted more than shocking headlines and offensive stage shows. He wanted to be a rock ‘n roll star. He wanted to have big hits. And he’d do anything to get what he wanted – even if it meant pushing everyone else out of the way. For the full list of contributors, visit disgracelandpod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hank Williams defined the genre we now call country with a guitar in one hand and a bottle of booze in the other. In between stints in the local drunk tank, he cultivated a knack for blue-collar blues that would spread far beyond the backwoods South Hank called home. His self-proclaimed “hillbilly music” logged him more than 30 hit songs and membership at the Grand Ole Opry, fulfilling Hank’s lifelong dream. But his frequent bouts with the bottle would ultimately strip him of that membership, sending him from the Ryman Auditorium to the sanatorium – and ultimately, an early grave. For the full list of contributors, visit disgracelandpod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Sonny Rollins week, Jake ponders the powers of talent and craft, and what makes musicians great. Plus, your voicemails, texts, and DMs. Who is the GOAT musician? What are the best duets? What's your desert island Dead album? And is talent or craft more important? Jake wants to know at 617-906-6638, disgracelandpod@gmail.com, or on socials @disgracelandpod, and come join the After Party. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Homemade bombs, bricks of weed, deranged stalkers, an old family curse, an attempted presidential assassination, and one of the most violent murder crews in American history. It's all happening in a brand new season of Badlands. Badlands Season 8: Hollywoodland launches August 9, 2023, with new episodes on Johnny Depp, Bill Murray, Jodie Foster, Sigourney Weaver, Brandon Lee, Humphrey Bogart, Joan Crawford, and Jane Fonda. New episodes are released every Wednesday, with bonus episodes released every Friday. Badlands is a true-crime anthology podcast from Jake Brennan, creator and host of the award-winning music and true crime podcast DISGRACELAND. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sonny Rollins did time at Rikers Island twice: first for armed robbery and again for using dope. He was a fiend and a pickpocket. He nearly got himself killed when he ran to Miles Davis’ defense after a bloody scuffle with a cop outside Birdland. At the same time, Sonny Rollins was universally acknowledged as the greatest living tenor saxophone player. But he wanted to get better. He knew he could kick dope and kick petty crime. He also knew that in doing so, he could improve his own playing. So at the age of 29, at the height of his musical powers, he disappeared. He left thousands of dollars on the table and retreated to the Williamsburg Bridge in New York City, where he practiced nearly every day, alone, for hours at a time – in hopes that his life would turn around. This episode features Copper Nelson on saxophone. For the full list of contributors, visit disgracelandpod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of the Pre-Party, Jake talks Sonny Rollins and the myth of the sixties. Jazz heads, what are your recommendations? And which rock star would you want showing up at your high school reunion? Let Jake know with a text or voicemail at 617-906-6638, on socials @disgracelandpod, or disgracelandpod@gmail.com with your answers, and stay tuned for our episode on Sonny Rollins, dropping on Tuesday August 1st. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jake connects his a-ha moment with country to the greats, specifically this week's DISGRACELAND subject Merle Haggard. Jake takes voicemails, texts, and DMs, and offers his best post-punk bands list. What are your top five music movies of all time? Introduce yourselves! Hit Jake up at 617-906-6638, disgracelandpod@gmail.com, or on socials @disgracelandpod, and come join the After Party. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Merle Haggard was what authorities liked to call a “repeat offender.” He was arrested for riding trains, for skipping school, for stealing cars, for robbing gas stations, and for attempting to knock over a restaurant – during the Christmas Eve rush. He was committed to juvenile halls, correctional facilities, and reform schools 17 times, and 17 times he escaped. When he was arrested for the final time, he was sent to do hard time at San Quentin. He turned 21 in prison. And it was in prison that he found the freedom he’d been running towards his whole life – freedom that was delivered from an unlikely source. For the full list of contributors, visit disgracelandpod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jake kicks off Merle Haggard with some insight on the legendary criminal musician, and provides some updates on current artists caught up with the law. We take a minute to remember the late Jane Birkin, and Jake takes some emails. What musicians are still in need of biopics? Let Jake know with a text or voicemail at 617-906-6638, on socials @disgracelandpod, or disgracelandpod@gmail.com with your answers, and stay tuned for Merle Haggard, dropping on Tuesday July 25th. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Britney Spears’ 13-year conservatorship was an arrangement so strict and unfeeling that it left her without any control of her career, loopy on lithium, and completely silenced for the sake of seeing her sons and boyfriend. As Britney suffered in silence, she worked nearly non-stop, generating more hits — and revenue — so her father could claim his cut of the profits. But after hundreds of shows in Las Vegas and $137 million in box office sales, Britney buckled and told her conservators “no.” Then her social media went radio silent in 2019. This is the story of what came next — and how Britney Spears finally broke free.  For the full list of contributors, visit disgracelandpod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

No musician owned pop music quite like Britney Spears at the turn of the century. After graduating from Mississippi tween queen to full-fledged American superstar, her fame exploded at a time when tabloids circled celebrities like prey. 30 to 45 predatory paparazzi would follow Britney’s every move during 12 to 14 hour shifts, eager to document the collapse of her marriage and social circle. As her public image crumbled, it’s no wonder Britney ended 2007 with a bald head and a “blackout.” The conservatorship that came next, however, surprised everyone—even Britney herself. This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners, including domestic violence and suicide. If you're thinking about suicide, or are worried about a friend or loved one, call the Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255. For the full list of contributors, visit disgracelandpod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week's After Party, Jake is talking the classic film Almost Famous, John Lee Hooker's baseball song Grinder Man, and taking your voicemails and texts. Who are the greatest English groups of the post-punk era? Does New Order make the cut? Jake wants to get to know you. Plus, what is "it" about your favorite artists? was 1994 the best year for music? Is Almost Famous the best movie about music? And what is so appealing about Jon Bon Jovi? Let Jake know at 617-906-6638, disgracelandpod@gmail.com, or on socials @disgracelandpod, and come join the After Party. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New Order proved that a rock band could make dance music and actually become cooler in the process. The musical hybrid they created helped define the sound of the 1980s. It also defined the growing subculture in their hometown of Manchester, England, specifically at the Haçienda, the nightclub they owned. But beyond a fine time, the club scene brought gang violence, a notorious crime family, cocaine, ecstasy, a mental breakdown, and an arrest at the height of New Order’s fame. For the full list of contributors, visit disgracelandpod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's New Order week in DISGRACELAND - and speaking of new orders, Morgan Wallen's reign has finally been usurped! Jake takes emails and DMs, gets in to some current music history-in-the-making, discusses a lost episode, and asks the question: who invented rock n' roll? Send a text or leave a voicemail at 617-906-6638 or on socials @disgracelandpod with your answers, and check out the next episode on New Order, dropping on Tuesday July 18th. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After a week's break from the After Party, Jake catches up on voicemail, wraps up our musical mashup conversation, and explores Billboard's top rap groups kerfuffle. We get into season two of The Bear, Fourth of July songs, and Jake offers some insight into his own history. What is your favorite hip hop group? Can you recommend some weird, obscure 90s hip hop? Leave a message for Jake at 617-906-6638 or on socials @disgracelandpod, and come join the After Party. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On May 22, 2017, a terrorist detonated a bomb outside Ariana Grande’s performance at Manchester Arena. The blast killed 22 people. It injured over a thousand more. The attack remains one of the most heartbreaking events in music history. Parents were terrified. Younger fans suddenly feared going to concerts. But Manchester’s story doesn’t end on May 22, or in the days that followed. It ends with one woman organizing the One Love concert, healing a new generation of young pop devotees. This is the story of hope in the face of terror. This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners, including graphic depictions of violence. For the full list of contributors, visit disgracelandpod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week in DISGRACELAND brings a new episode on Ariana Grande. Jake ponders what it takes to become a mega pop star, responds to listener emails, and reviews Billboard's selections for their top ten rap groups of all time. What is it about Taylor Swift for you? What makes her such an incredible, larger-than-life figure? How do you feel about Billboard's top ten? Send a text or leave a voicemail at 617-906-6638, or on socials @disgracelandpod with your answers, and stay tuned for the latest episode of Disgraceland on Ariana Grande, coming on Tuesday, July 11th. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In honor of Independence Day, Jake continues to reflect back on clips from past DISGRACELAND episodes that best demonstrate the America that we know and love. In Pt. 2 of this special episode, we revisit moments featuring Whitney Houston and the Star Spangled Banner, James Brown and his old fashioned American work ethic, the Beach Boys' Dennis Wilson tearing down the PCH in Sam Cooke's old Ferrari, Gram Parsons and the origins of Cosmic American music, and many more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy Independence Day! Jake is celebrating the Fourth of July by looking back on clips from past DISGRACELAND episodes that best demonstrate the America that we know and love. Featuring scenes about Ray Charles and the aftermath of 9/11, Skip James and the Washington Monument, Frank Sinatra and the Kennedys, the Grateful Dead's Pigpen and the old, weird America, and many more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's the 4th of July, and we’re celebrating by dropping TWO compilation episodes of the most all-American Disgraceland stories. Jake talks Danzig’s birthday, Pink assaulted in the UK, and euphemism songs - plus responds to voicemail and texts! What’s on your playlist for the Fourth? Who are the best emcees and rap groups? Let Jake know at 617-906-6638 or disgracelandpod@gmail.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week's After Party, Jake is digging into why he loves and hates Aerosmith with a dive into a personal story from his way back machine. We ask the question: is it worth it to meet your heroes? More Hüsker Dü, more Fidlar, and more of your voicemails, texts, and DMs. Leave a message for Jake at 617-906-6638 or on socials @disgracelandpod and come join the After Party. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At their peak, Aerosmith was sex, drugs, and rock and roll in the flesh, wrapped up in spangly scarves and jumpsuits. They crossed target practice with black tar heroin. Trained roadies how to feed them cocaine onstage. Frontman Steven Tyler claims he spent $6,000,000 on coke alone. Their chemical highs launched them to career highs that were equally staggering, until addictions and attitudes splintered the band into solo projects and a shadow of the band they once were. No group ever lived on the edge the way Aerosmith did – even when they were dangerously close to teetering over it. For the full list of contributors, visit disgracelandpod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's Aerosmith Week and Jake is honoring our Bad Boys from Boston by diving into hilarious sex euphemisms in song titles. Can you think of a cheesier euphemism than "walking the dog"? In this mini episode, we're also talking about Ike Turner Jr. getting arrested for cocaine possession, reading some of Billboard Magazine's list of top 50 hip-hop groups, and more. Who's your number one hip-hop group of all time? And how do you think Glenn Danzig celebrated his 68th birthday? Send your answers to Jake at 617-906-6638 or to disgracelandpod@gmail.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week's After Party, Jake is ready to dive into this week's Disgraceland episode on Lil' Kim, and to talk about how her career thrived after she was released from prison. A Disgo shares a literal heartbreaker of a story about the 2004 Red Sox, Jake talks Hüsker Dü and FIDLAR, and so much more. Jake also wants to know which musician had the best post-prison career - Lil' Kim, Merle Haggard, Lil Wayne, or Paul McCartney? Send a message at 617-906-6638 or on socials @disgracelandpod and come join the After Party. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lil’ Kim is the queen of hard core. She practically invented hard core sex positivity with her raunchy raps and head-turning getups. She survived a hard core beef that ended in a spur-of-the-moment shootout. Then she became the first female rapper to serve hard core time in prison…and release a full-length album from her cell. As Lil’ Kim blazed through the 1990s and early 2000s with searing bars about what she did in the bedroom, listeners idolized her unpolished and truthful takes on feminine sexuality. But in the end, it was a reckless lie that put her behind bars. This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners, including domestic violence. For the full list of contributors, visit disgracelandpod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's Lil' Kim Week here in Disgraceland and Jake is talking about her bizarre and forgotten late-90s collab with Tommy Lee, Paul McCartney using AI to create one final Beatles record, a $300 limited-edition Steve Nicks boxset, and so much more. Jake also wants to know, can you think of any other weird music collaborations? What are your thoughts on an AI-generated Beatles album? And who is more likely to end up in a true crime documentary about themselves, Miley Cyrus or Taylor Swift? Send a text or leave a voicemail at 617-906-6638 or on socials @disgracelandpod with your answers and stay tuned for the latest episode of Disgraceland on Lil' Kim, coming on Tuesday, June 20th. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on the After Party, Jake is sharing an interview he did with Foo Fighters' guitarist Chris Shiflett at this year's Boston Calling Music Festival. They're talking about how inaccurate guitar tutorial videos inspired Chris's new podcast, "Shred With Shifty", about Chris's beginnings in the Santa Barbara punk scene, and so much more. Leave your own message for Jake at 617-906-6638 or on socials @disgracelandpod and come join the After Party. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jimi Hendrix spent much of his life pursuing a great escape. Escape from his abusive childhood home. Escape from his court-ordered time in the Army. Even an escape from his own band, the Experience, who he felt limited his groundbreaking sound. But when two wannabe mobsters lured Jimi into a hostage situation with the promise of heroin, Jimi came face to face with the most extreme – and rarely discussed – escape of his life. For the full list of contributors, visit disgracelandpod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to the new weekly Advance Mini Episode, the FIRST communique of the week where we'll set the table for everything we'll be discussing and listening to this week in DISGRACELAND. Jake talks Jimi Hendrix, Morgan Wallen, Britney Spears, the Foo Fighters, and more. What are your thoughts on Morgan Wallen? Who are the top 5 Hip Hop MCs? And can you ever separate the art from the artist? Call 617-906-6638 with your answers and let us know your thoughts, and stay tuned for the latest episode of Disgraceland on Jimi Hendrix, coming on Tuesday June 13th. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the 1970s, The Eagles made taking off into the upper stratosphere of the charts look easy. Their near decade-long reign of rock afforded them hobbies like dismantling hotel rooms with chainsaws, playing chicken with private jets, and joining delirious drug dealers on high-speed Corvette rides. But after nearly a solid decade of stadium sell-outs, No. 1 singles, top-selling albums and enough cocaine, sex and tension to make even the hardest, wildest, ’70s rock ‘n’ rollers cry uncle, the Eagles had burned out. They were at the top of their game in a decade that they owned, yet somehow, the greatness they sought had destroyed them. For the full list of contributors, visit disgracelandpod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From games of chicken on private planes to one member surviving a private plane crash, the Eagles as a group very narrowly survived themselves. During their early days, they dosed out on Peyote and reimagined and reconfigured a new FM sound for the ages that would result in unimaginable success and excess. When their debut record was released on Geffen Records in 1972, America couldn’t have been more ready for their breezy, countrified Southern California sound. Yet something else came with their that heady, golden age of California in the 1970s, that era of endless cocaine, groupies, money, and excess beyond anyone’s wildest dreams. As the Eagles would soon learn, that “peaceful easy feeling” they were peddling wasn’t built to last. For the full list of contributors, visit disgracelandpod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week in the After Party, Jake is ready to dive into the latest Disgraceland episode on Jeff Buckley, and to talk about his crazy influences, like Nina Simone, Edith Piaf, and more. We're also talking your Paul Simon album recommendations, why working out to disco is so great, and much more. If you wanna let Jake know what your favorite disco song is, or why you don't like disco, send a text or leave a voicemail at 617-906-6638 and come join the After Party. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeff Buckley released his only studio album, Grace, at the height of grunge rock. But it didn’t sound like grunge. It sounded like nothing else out there. It defied categorization. It was full of originals and covers, some complex and cerebral, others straight-up pop. From the pissed-off punk takes to the Eastern-influenced meditations, the constant was Jeff’s voice. A voice unlike any other. A voice that could do anything. A voice that was singing out loud on May 29, 1997, when Jeff Buckley, just 30 years old, waded into the Wolf River in Memphis…and never came back. For a full list of contributors, see the show notes at disgracelandpod.com. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/disgraceland and get on your way to being your best self. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With graduation season once again upon us, Disgraceland looks back at the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when Jake was asked to deliver a virtual commencement address to the graduates of that very peculiar year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jake has been basking in the New England sunshine and listening to some John Coltrane. But first, we're talking about how moved 15-year old Jake was when he heard Eazy-E for the first time and going through your top three Disgraceland episodes. What artists moved you when were 15 years old? Let Jake know via text or voicemail at 617-906-6638 or on socials @disgracelandpod and come join the After Party. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Long before he created a paradigm-shifting hip-hop supergroup, Eazy-E lucked into life as a Compton drug dealer when he discovered a dead man’s hidden stash of money and cocaine. He used the lessons of hustling on the streets when he went legit and became a media mogul. He also became a target. He was extorted. His life was threatened. And it was later discovered that he was on the kill list of a white supremacist group that planned to start a war in the aftermath of the Rodney King trial and the L.A. riots. For a full list of contributors, see the show notes at disgracelandpod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

George Harrison famously survived the dissolution of the Beatles, a bust by London’s drug squad, a potentially bloody visit from the Hell’s Angels, and a few rounds with cancer. But on the final day of the 20th century, his strength and faith were put to the ultimate test. A crazed fan, convinced that the Beatles were evil and George was a sorcerer who had possessed him, broke into George’s Friar Park estate in the dead of night with one goal: to murder George Harrison. For a full list of contributors, see the show notes at disgracelandpod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ike Turner very well may have invented rock ‘n’ roll; Tina Turner is one of the most electrifying entertainers to ever take the stage. Together, the pair ascended to icon status through the music they made together. But the couple’s road to the top was anything but smooth. It was rough and violent. Ike Turner, for all of his talent as a musician, was abusive and heavily addicted to cocaine, and in the end did everything he could to bring his wife down with him. This is the story of the couple's rise, Ike’s ultimate demise, and Tina’s triumph. For a full list of contributors, see the show notes at disgracelandpod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jake is back from his trip to Rhode Island and he's recommending some more music, including a Taylor Swift song or two. But first, we're talking Justin Bieber, parents of pop stars, and more. Let Jake know what your top 3 Disgraceland episodes are at 617-906-6638 or on socials @disgracelandpod and come join the After Party. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Justin Bieber is the pop star who went from preteen heartthrob to pure hedonist seemingly overnight. He raced into a bumpy adulthood when he mixed drag racing with a DUI. His frat bro of a father steered him towards a life of intense partying that encouraged smoking hazardous amounts of pot on private planes. The boy who once sang the hit single “Baby” was suddenly an unbearable man, barreling towards an early death with a smug attitude. Americans called for his deportation. One deranged fan plotted his murder. And it was up to Justin to exit his life in the fast lane – before it was too late to say sorry. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Taylor Swift has a list of stalkers longer than her stadium tour setlists. One drove over 900 miles to hand-deliver his “love” letters to her then-record-label, Big Machine Records. Others have showed up to her homes bearing rope, lock picks, and tools to break her windows. The threats on her life have become so persistent that her security team once installed facial recognition software at the venues she performed in, specifically to distinguish her stalkers from her fans. While making some of the most recognizable pop songs in music history, Taylor Swift also became one of the most recognizable women in the celebrity sphere – a title that on many occasions has nearly cost her life. This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners, including descriptions of stalking and sexual assault. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1977, the world’s most controversial band didn’t stop when they were dropped by their major label only months after they were signed. John Lydon, Steve Jones, and the Sex Pistols continued their feud with the corporate music world, the English monarchy, and a horrified public. It was a struggle made all the more difficult by the introduction of the group’s most volatile member, a junkie who was barely clean–or competent enough–to find his way around four strings. The band’s grand plan to conquer America royally backfired and ultimately led to an explosive and bloody downfall. To paraphrase Neil Young, "this is the story of a Johnny Rotten," but it’s also a story about how great music can shock, scandalize, and galvanize the world.  To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Punk rock’s greatest debut record was penned by a singer who saw traditional rock ‘n roll as a disease that needed to be eradicated and a sex-addicted guitarist who stole wallets, bikes, cars, and more than a few pieces of musical equipment to outfit the band. They cut their teeth performing for hardened criminals at a maximum security prison. They destroyed other bands’ gear and slept with their girlfriends. They scammed the working class system that had scammed them for years, by convincing the biggest record label in the world to release their controversial music. And they did all of this before the most infamous Pistol of all ever strapped on a bass guitar and pretended he knew how to play. This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners, including self-harm and child sexual abuse. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Best-selling author and former guitarist of the Del Fuegos Warren Zanes talks with Jake about interviewing the Boss for his new book, Deliver Me from Nowhere: The Making of Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska, touring with the Del Fuegos in the '80s, and more. A brand new Disgraceland episode on Justin Bieber comes out next Tuesday and a Badlands episode on James Dean comes out next Wednesday. Leave your own message for Jake to reply to at 617-906-6638 or on socials @disgracelandpod and come join the After Party. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Unprovoked killing sprees. Nightclub gunfights. Mafia assassinations. True crime stories and modern folklore make up the backbone of many of the characters from Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska, one of the Boss’s greatest albums. Which ones are real, and which ones are myth? This is the story of those stories: the story of the making of Nebraska. This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners, including graphic depictions of violence. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pink Floyd’s original frontman, Syd Barrett, did so much LSD that he experienced a mental breakdown just as the band began to achieve mainstream success. His drug use began as mind-altering inspiration for his art, but quickly became a coping mechanism for the demands of commercial success. He became paralyzed in front of television cameras. He detuned his guitar until it was literally unplayable and refused to perform alongside his band. Then he stopped showing up at all. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jake is still watching music videos on his TV like it's 1991 and teases Season 12 of Disgraceland, which hits your feeds on Tuesday, May 16th. He also wants to know what Gov't Mule records and books to check out and what your favorite '80s and '90s music videos are. Leave a message for Jake to reply to at 617-907-6638 or on socials @disgracelandpod and come join the After Party! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mafia assassinations, drag racing, extortion, eternal life, and doing time at Rikers Island and San Quentin. Find out which music legends are featured in Season 12 of Disgraceland. New episodes drop every Tuesday starting May 16th, with bonus After Party episodes dropping every Thursday. Rocka rolla. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jake is slowly recovering from the Bruins' humiliating loss the other night but is ready to talk about the latest Badlands episode on Richard Pryor, how a hardcore kid like him got into Bruce Springsteen, and more. He teases a wacky 60-second video on Billy Idol, now available on our YouTube channel, @disgracelandpod. Let Jake know who your favorite '80s pop stars are at 617-906-6638 and come join the After Party. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Richard Pryor was one of the funniest people who ever lived. He elevated stand-up comedy to an art form. But the real life that informed his stand-up – a life of pool halls, brothels, stabbings, shootings, and lots and lots of cocaine – was a source of constant pain. A pain that he managed with a freebase habit so out of control it nearly killed him before he was even 40 years old. This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners, including descriptions of domestic violence and suicide. If you're thinking about suicide, or are worried about a friend or loved one, call the Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255. To see the complete list of contributors, visit disgracelandpod.com/badlands. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When a mystery arsonist set Tom Petty’s house on fire in the late 1980s, he barely escaped with his life. But there was another danger looming around the corner — a heroin addiction that drove him into a pit of isolation from his family, his fame, and his bandmates. Petty barely hoisted himself of it. The Heartbreakers’ bass player, Howie Epstein, wasn't so lucky. After the first phase of Tom Petty’s career burned to the ground, the stage was set for a descent into depression, dependency, and a triumphant turn-of-the-century return.  To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. This episode is sponsored by by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/disgraceland and get on your way to being your best self. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chuck Berry was imprisoned numerous times. He was a victim of violent systemic racism and accused of horrific acts of sexual depravity. He also invented rock ‘n’ roll. Chuck Berry was as complex a character as he was influential as a musician. Throughout his career he found himself in numerous dust ups with authorities; some of them justified, most of them not. And through it all, whether he cared or didn’t, Chuck Berry made great music—literally some of the greatest music ever made. To view the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Selena Quintanilla Pérez ushered in the Golden Age of Tejano music in Texas with a meteoric rise up the charts and into the hearts of her fans. Her fans saw her as more than just a pop star — she was family. Selena was about to take her fame and her family to the world stage when a tangled web of deceit, betrayal, and jealousy would result in her untimely death at 23. To view the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jake is back in the studio after getting some R&R down in Florida last week and is making his way through your texts, emails, DMs and voicemails. But first, he's talking about what kind of artist makes a great Disgraceland episode, William Hurt in Body Heat, and why channel surfing is better than streaming. A new season of Badlands launches next week on May 3rd with a Richard Pryor episode and a new bonus episode called Wrap Party. Leave your own message for Jake to reply to at 617-907-6638 or on socials @disgracelandpod and come join the After Party! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Misfits were truly unique. Scary. Violent. Angry. Nihilistic. These words can easily describe not only their music, but also the band as people, particularly frontman Glenn Danzig. Rumored to have been arrested for grave robbery, locked up abroad and inciting riots here in the States, the Misfits blazed a path of annihilation trading on fictional B-movie and scandal rag imagery to create one of the most enduring cult followings of all time and combating the very real sense of alienation that fueled Danzig’s creativity and violent behavior. To view the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Willie Nelson left Nashville and reinvented himself in Austin, Texas as the ultimate outsider. It was a metamorphosis from freak flag flier to mainstream mainstay that is rife with tales of drug smuggling, arson, and international run-ins with Johnny Law. Not to mention a lifelong association with grifters, con men, and thieves, and how that led not only to one of the most publicized busts of a superstar in the 20th century, but also to an extended family fueled by karma and loyalty. This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners, including suicide. If you’re thinking about suicide or are worried about a friend or loved one, call the Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255. For a full list of contributors, visit disgracelandpod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Broke and depressed, Willie Nelson almost joined the 27 Club on a snowy Nashville street late one night – before he’d even sold a single song. He drank, smoked, and cheated his way through multiple marriages. He was nearly beaten to death by an angry husband in a parking lot. He wielded a shotgun and a rifle during a shootout on his own property. And after ten years of trying to make it on Music Row, he had the courage and the confidence to start all over again after a fire threatened to destroy the world he was living in. To view the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bootlegging whiskey, acid tests, grass, and songs about murder. The origins of the Grateful Dead are fascinating and not what most people think. Born out of the tradition of “old, weird America”; bluegrass, jug band music and deadly folk tales, the Grateful Dead, as young adults, were into some strange stuff and we are all better for it. The band would go on to create their very own “new, weird America” due in part to the cultural impact they would have over their near 40-year career. But their connection to the traditional music that spawned them was due in large part to their harmonica player, singer, and keyboardist, Ron “Pigpen” McKernan, who lived “the life” so authentically that he died at the age of just 27. This is the Grateful Dead origin story and the Ballad of Pigpen. To view the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chet Baker, with his natural talent, unique voice and beautiful looks was known as “the James Dean of Jazz.” He was also a savage junkie and part time criminal. A one of a kind musician, his soft singing style and romantic playing enraptured Hollywood, the jazz world, and Europe. However, violence, crime, and drugs led to numerous prison stints and to one of the most mysterious deaths in music. Who or what killed the great Chet Baker? To view the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jake dives deep into the chilling, new Skip James episode and tries to explain what makes an Irish rock 'n roll band just sound so.... Irish. Sharon Tate and Poltergeist are now re-released into the Badlands feed, wherever you listen to podcasts. Plus, Jake listens to your pleas for an INXS episode and wants to hear what your favorite '80s horror movies and Irish rock bands are. Leave your own message for Jake to reply to at 617-907-6638 and come join the After Party. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ice-T stoked the wrath of the President of the United States, led the life of a successful jewel thief, ran with one of LA’s most notorious street gangs, the Crips, and was a soldier in the US Army. Along the way, he invented gangsta rap. But it wouldn’t be rap music that would threaten his career—it would be hardcore music, particularly the song “Cop Killer” from his punk band, Body Count. To view the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Skip James’s most famous lyric was “I’d rather be the Devil” and he put his money where his mouth was. He is believed to have shot a man dead, spent time as a pimp and a bootlegger, and womanized up and down the United States. Skip may have eventually found religion, and even recognition as the last great bluesman to be discovered by white America, but all that devilish living–and a possible hex–would bring his lifestyle to a brutal end. To view the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Establishment strikes back in this second installment of the Rolling Stones time in Swinging London. UK pop star Donovan is busted, a precursor to the Stones Redlands bust. Mick Jagger is in jail looking at hard time. The tabloids and the coppers are in league to bring down the disruptive Rolling Stones while the myth of Keith Richards is born. To view the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

London was swinging. Keith Richards was in jail. The Kray Twins were menacing about. Brian Jones was on too much LSD. Aristocrats were tripping over themselves to hang out with the Rolling Stones. England was smitten. The London Establishment was freaking out and the Stones’ manager wanted to know one thing: Would you let your daughter marry a Rolling Stone? To view the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Few pop artists achieved the dizzying creative and career highs that Prince did. An artist who famously stayed away from drugs and most anything that would cause him to lose control, Prince was aided in his legendary musical output by a small army of creative alter egos, who helped him maintain control and helped him reign supreme as one of the greatest pop musicians of all time, until of course, all control was lost. To view the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jake has been into everything from disco to Dylan's Christian era this week, but he's making time for a testimonial to the MC5's greatness, to announce fresh Badlands content coming your way, and field your suggestions and recommendations. Leave Jake your own message to respond to at 617-906-6638 or on socials @disgracelandpod and join the After Party Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the late seventies, Studio 54 was the place to be for musicians and celebrities alike. John Lennon, Mick Jagger, Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen and others all famously hung out at the notorious club where hedonism was part of the venue’s allure. The success of Studio 54 was sudden and massive, resulting in mountains of cash, cocaine, jealousy, revenge, an FBI raid, and an ironic ending for one of its owners. To view the full list of contributors, see the show notes at disgracelandpod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

MC5 embodied revolution in a way most bands only pay lip service to. The Detroit cops sent riot squads and even a tank to break up their shows, and even raided their house. They were the only band to play at the infamous protest outside the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Their radical manager, John Sinclair, wrote manifestos allying with the Black Panthers and declaring rock ‘n’ roll THE vehicle for revolution. But by the 1970s, all that idealism curdled into the classic story of broken record deals, drugs, crime, and jail, with redemption only possible through personal, not political, revolution. To view the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nipsey Hussle was more than just one of this generation’s most promising voices in hip hop. He was a social activist, a community leader, and an aspirational entrepreneur. His death was senseless and set off grief-stricken testimonials from some of the biggest names in hip hop as well as from some of the biggest names in our culture – period. It also set off a riot in the streets of Los Angeles – the streets where he came up and where he was shot down. He was taken from us too soon and we’re still searching for answers. To view the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ozzy Osbourne, along with his bandmates in Black Sabbath, invented heavy metal, and throughout Ozzy’s post-Sabbath solo career he would invent new, self-destructive forms of sabotage. Arrested at an early age for breaking and entering, Ozzy Osbourne refused to conform to societal norms and common decency. He would go on to be arrested numerous times and escape too many near-death experiences to recount, including a plane crashing into his tour bus that would ultimately kill a dear friend and bandmate. To view the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Run DMC is directly responsible for elevating hip hop to previously unimagined heights. They took rap music into an entirely different direction and helped mainstream the genre. They were beloved as musicians, innovators, and people – none more than their DJ, Jason “Jam Master Jay” Mizell, which makes understanding his senseless murder near impossible. Who killed Jam Master Jay and why? And why are there literally zero suspects when there were numerous eyewitnesses? To view the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joe Exotic, the gun toting, mullet wearing, polyamorous subject of the hit Netflix series Tiger King was more than just a murder-minded conman. He could sing! You saw those videos. We did too. As a singer, Joe’s voice belied the tortured Everyman experience of some of the best country music crooners, hinting at deep trauma resulting from unspeakable loss, assault and violence. Most of which was for the most part, left on the cutting room floor of the popular Netflix series and is on display in this special Covid-19 bonus content episode of Disgraceland. To view the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Little Richard is the originator. Without him it’s hard to imagine the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Elton John or even Led Zeppelin. He blazed a trail through popular culture that previous to him did not exist. His music was completely original for the time, the essence of rock ‘n’ roll, filled with impassioned energy, fueled at times by large quantities of drugs and always brimming with sex. The sex, the drugs, and the party for Little Richard, it was as endless as the manic energy that drove his music and it all nearly derailed him––several times––landing him behind bars and on the wrong side of the gun.  To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jake's been listening to guitar greatness and has some classic recs to share. But first, he's fielding your recs in a packed mailbag of Disgo texts, VMs and DMs. We're talking the Mets, we're talking Lou Reed and Badlands get some fan love, and a whole lot of you are talking about your Top 5 Movies lists. Hit Jake with your own message at 617-906-6638 or on socials @disgracelandpod and come join the After Party! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jay Z’s career defies easy categorization. His artistry and business sense are as influenced by his past career as a drug dealer as they are anything else. Jay Z has reached unprecedented heights as an entertainer and an entrepreneur, and it almost never happened. All because of a stabbing. A stabbing that was influenced by that same street hustle that created “Jay Z." To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At the end of the 1960s, Sly Stone was at the center of a groundbreaking musical movement that intended to break down barriers of race and genre, all in the service of making people happy. But at the dawn of the 1970s, Sly Stone suddenly was not happy. His L.A. mansion was overrun with cocaine, PCP, guns, and bodyguards. He was strongarmed by the Black Panthers. He thought his own bass player hired someone to kill him. He drew the attention of local law enforcement. Before long, he was crossing paths with cops from coast to coast, busted time and again for drug offenses – including when he went on the lam under a false name and was declared a fugitive from justice. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Post Appetite For Destruction, Guns N’ Roses embodied the word “dysfunction." As the band prepared for their follow up release, singer Axl Rose was losing a very public battle with the press while heroin and alcohol threatened to completely derail the band. Axl’s “recovered memories” continued to fuel his erratic behavior and thus he continued to drive his band closer and closer to the edge. It all came to a head in St. Louis at the infamous Riverport Riot. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Few hard rock bands lived the life portrayed in their songs as authentically as Guns N’ Roses. Singer, Axl Rose was driven by deep-seated demons that drove the creation of his band’s legendary debut album, Appetite For Destruction as well as his legendary bad behavior. His band was hardly any different. Nearly dysfunctional from drug use and excess, their record label feared they would all die before their first album was even released. Listen to part 1 of Guns N’ Roses saga, complete with highly entertaining cameos by David Bowie, Joe Perry, Mick Jagger, and others. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the aftermath of the Manson Family murders, Hollywood was gripped with fear. Various investigations stitched together a deluded White Album-inspired explanation of the killing spree. But Dennis Wilson knew the truth—that he had made a terrible, irreversible mistake and that now, the sunny dream of the '60s was over. The nightmare it brought about haunted him to his final days. For a full list of contributors, see the show notes at disgracelandpod.com. This episode is sponsored by Microdose Gummies. To learn more about microdosing THC, go to Microdose.com and use code DISGRACELAND to get free shipping and thirty percent off your first order.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the summer of 1968, the Beach Boys’ drummer Dennis Wilson invited a hippie guru and his grungy harem to squat in his Pacific Palisades home. Dennis was the handsome California surfer that his brother Brian wrote all those hit songs about, while the hippie cult would soon be infamous the world over as the Manson Family. What happened when the Wilsons met the Mansons would forever change Dennis, the band, and American history itself. For a full list of contributors, see the show notes at disgracelandpod.com. This episode is sponsored by Microdose Gummies. To learn more about microdosing THC, go to Microdose.com and use code DISGRACELAND to get free shipping and thirty percent off your first order.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jake dives under the hood of the unique, new 2-part Lou Reed episode. He teases the over-the-top insanity of the Bjork stalker story, now available for your eyes to binge over on our YouTube channel, @disgracelandpod. And your calls texts and e-mails cover everything from great spring albums to Top 5 Movies and episode requests. Leave your own message for Jake to reply to at 617-906-6638 and come join the After Party. This episode is sponsored by Microdose Gummies. To learn more about microdosing THC, go to Microdose.com and use code DISGRACELAND to get free shipping and thirty percent off your first order.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Rolling Stones, the most dangerous band on the planet, envisioned their free concert at the Altamont speedway outside San Francisco as the triumphant capstone to their 1969 tour: a west coast Woodstock, and a celebration of free love and hippiedom. But the festival, thrown together in under seventy two hours and with security managed by Hell’s Angels paid in beer, was fated for a tragic and violent end... just like the ‘60s themselves. For a full list of contributors, see the show notes at disgracelandpod.com. This episode is sponsored by Microdose Gummies. To learn more about microdosing THC, go to Microdose.com and use code DISGRACELAND to get free shipping and thirty percent off your first order.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lou Reed blurred the lines between fact and fiction when it came to his past. To him, it was all a walk on the wild side anyway. After exploring his life in Part 1 through his lyrics for the Velvet Underground songs “The Gift”, “Waiting For My Man”, “Heroin” and “The Murder Mystery”, Part 2 continues through the songs “Rock And Roll”, “Sweet Jane”, “Run, Run, Run”, “Venus In Furs”, and “I’ll Be Your Mirror,” because tall tales and music led Lou all the way home. For a full list of contributors, see the show notes at disgracelandpod.com. This episode is sponsored by Microdose Gummies. To learn more about microdosing THC, go to Microdose.com and use code DISGRACELAND to get free shipping and thirty percent off your first order.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lou Reed is one of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll characters of all time, one known to lie and exaggerate his own mythology during interviews about his past. In this special 2-part episode, Lou’s origin story with the Velvet Underground runs straight through Manhattan transgressions, murder mysteries, drug abuse, and all the other crimes, criminals, and antisocial behavior depicted in Lou’s legendary lyrics. This episode is sponsored by Microdose Gummies. To learn more about microdosing THC, go to Microdose.com and use code DISGRACELAND to get free shipping and thirty percent off your first order.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A$AP Rocky’s upbringing; Harlem, Riker’s, and his own instincts and sense of history informed his world view: A view that included not only a healthy respect for the healing powers of LSD, but also a healthy distaste for the political maelstrom surrounding cartoon president Donald J. Trump. The irony is that A$AP Rocky’s own behavior led him straight into the political fray—jailed in an international incident and, in the end, in need of the unlikeliest of political allies to help him escape. For the full list of contributors, visit disgracelandpod.com This episode is sponsored by Microdose Gummies. To learn more about microdosing THC, go to Microdose.com and use code DISGRACELAND to get free shipping and thirty percent off your first order.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Whitney Houston was The Voice. A stunning beauty. An early MTV star and leading actress. But when she passed away in a hotel suite bath, the music industry gala downstairs that she was supposed to attend went on without her. How did it all come to this? The drugs and her husband Bobby Brown weren’t answers, just ways to avoid the question: what was the private tragedy of Whitney Houston? For a full list of contributors, visit disgracelandpod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On a single Saturday in 2000, Marshall Mathers assaulted two separate men with a pistol and fought with his wife outside a nightclub, resulting in lawsuits and charges that hung over the completion of his original trilogy of albums. For that one day, the rap persona Slim Shady had escaped into the real world. How had Slim Shady come to be, and why had he gotten out? For a full list of contributors, visit disgracelandpod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Spring is here and Jake is listening to his all-time springtime records. Peter Tosh and Keith Richards are out on YouTube @disgracelandpod. And a dedicated Disgo comes through with our first submission for the Recommendations Part theme music! Leave your own messages for Jake to respond to at 617-906-6638 and come join the After Party. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Madonna always knew her life would be art. She rose through the late 70s New York scene reinventing pop iconography and feminism alike. But whether it was Toronto police threatening her for indecency, her short-fuse husband, Hollywood bros exploiting her charisma, or far worse, Madonna learned quick: the world doesn’t know what to do with a truly free woman. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Iggy Pop pushed rock further than anyone before him, committing to live acts of sex, sickness, and rumored suicide on stage. From his cocaine fueled bromance with David Bowie, to his search for inspiration in the voodoo rituals of Haiti, Iggy Pop never just crossed the line between art and madness. He bled all over it, and danced on the stains. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Motown Records is one of the most successful musical industry endeavors of all time. The music and the megastars Motown produced, like Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, and the Jackson 5, defined a generation. But that success is marred by rumors – rumors that the record label and its innovative owner were controlled by the "black hand" of the white American mob. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Led Zeppelin were the biggest band on the planet. The great white shark of the seventies. They defined excess. The designed the avatar for the heavy metal rock star; themselves. Along the way there were violent brawls, car crashes, lots of cocaine, alcohol, satanic sexual rituals and a very freaked out David Bowie. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Part two of the N.W.A story finds the group dead center in America’s crosshairs, due in part to their own violent behavior, and at a crossroads creatively. Death Row’s Suge Knight, Public Enemy’s Chuck D., and a young hustler from the east coast all ride shotgun to Dre, E, Cube, Yella and Ren as the group finds itself having predicted yet another one of America’s darkest moments. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

N.W.A, the self proclaimed “most dangerous group in America,” were seen as violent, thuggish, profanity-spewing criminals, but they had nothing on those who were sworn to serve and protect them in South Central Los Angeles. The group’s hard hitting beats and reality rhymes launched a “gangsta rap” trend in music that still thrives today, and their album Straight Outta Compton predicted one of the most notoriously violent events in American history. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gun fights, heroin trafficking, burglaries, kidnapping threats, intra-band infidelity and the greatest rock ‘n’ roll record ever made, Exile on Main St. The Rolling Stones created this album as fugitives––tax fugitives––exiled from their homeland to the French Riviera and desperate to keep their career afloat after a near decade of scandal and near financial ruin amidst a cast of colorful characters including Gram Parsons, Anita Pallenberg, starlets, aristocrats, drug dealers, junkies and thieves. All of the chaos contributed to one of Keith Richards’ and Mick Jagger’s finest creative achievements, a wholly new and unique interpretation of America. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cardi B is one of the biggest artists on the planet and one of the most successful female hip hop artists of all time. She is accused of two counts of felony assault stemming from a fight in a Queens strip club. Her public brawl with rival Nicki Minaj is well documented as is her rise from the Bronx to superstardom via strip clubs and reality television. It’s the stuff of legend, as is her big personality and unique form of feminism. Her trial looms, but has Cardi B already committed and admitted to a crime that is possibly far worse? To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Slick Rick has one of the most iconic voices in hip hip history. His style is completely his own, and his success owes as much to his delivery as it does to his hustle. Slick Rick worked hard to get to the top, and once he made it he was nearly cut down by drugs and violence - violence inflicted upon him by someone from his inner circle. Listen to hear how Slick Rick fought back and continued his flow. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rocka Rolla Disgos. It's been a wild week. Jake is riding high off a win for the show at the Ambies in Vegas, a trip to Maine, and yes, your listener messages. Not to mention Mick Jagger assassination attempts, All Quiet's Oscar wins, and the greatness of 90s movies. Hit up 617-906-6638 to join the after party and hear from Jake yourself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Johnny Cash took no shit. Was a total original. Could maneuver that big baritone around a ballad or a rave up like nobody’s business. He also burned down a national forest, crashed cars, overdosed, was arrested for drug trafficking, and was obsessed with June Carter. Their love affair is one for the ages. Through it all, Johnny maintained his sense of empathy and his big heart. His story is unlike any other. Listen to Disgraceland to hear how Johnny Cash played with fire both figuratively and literally. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rehab, arrests, fights, hitting on Prince Harry, dramatic stage breakdowns, slagging off the press, Amy Winehouse was a rockstar’s rockstar and she was also one of the greatest musical talents of the past 20 years. Her voice was unlike any other. She modernized jazz. She gave weight to pop. When she was inspired, she was untouchable. Driven by her muse, haunted by her addictions, and harassed endlessly by the paparazzi, Amy Winehouse’s story is tragic and all too familiar, but her music and the way she expressed herself was entirely unique. To see the complete list of contributors, visit disgracelandpod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Otis Redding was nearly shot by James Brown while performing at an after hours club. He played sweet soul music to crowds of KKK sympathizers. He took the stage in his hometown despite a threat on his life. But as the former VP of Stax Records once said, Otis was an overcomer. He overcame danger, violence, and fear, in order to focus his sights on unprecedented commercial success. But in his great quest to jump from R&B to pop, Otis Redding crossed over in more ways than one. For a full list of contributors, see the show notes at disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

XXXTentacion was one of Generation Z’s most talented hip hop stars but his ascent was marked by violence and drama; beatdowns, beefs (what’s up, Drake?) and abuse. XXXTentacion’s music quickly rose from Soundcloud to the top of the charts due in part to the relative loneliness and alienation he repped in his lyrics, sentiments his audience quickly latched onto. XXXTentacion’s connection to his audience was (and still is even in death) unique and powerful. Their connection via social media-fueled him, inspired him and ironically alienated him, just like his penchant for violence. What, if any of it, all led to his untimely demise? For a full list of contributors, see the show notes at disgracelandpod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Grateful Dead became one of the most influential bands of all time and propelled themselves with improvisation, LSD and an ethos of “freedom”. Through drug busts and CIA surveillance, they thrived and created one of the largest, most fervent and commercially consequential fan bases of all time. Freedom, LSD and improvised blues in the key of bummed the fuck out on this episode of Disgraceland. For a full list of contributors, see the show notes at disgracelandpod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Snoop Dogg, (AKA Calvin Broadus) has worn many hats: inmate, pimp, Martha Stewart’s BFF. In 1994, Snoop was the biggest name in hip hop, yet his career was about to be derailed just as it was taking off due to the murder of Philip Woldemariam, a murder that Snoop was being charged with. The streets that made Snoop, the streets he came up on and that infiltrated the raps he made and the smooth style he patented, were the very same streets he could not leave behind. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The After Party celebrates the Lynyrd Skynyrd episode, provoking the question: how does Jake decide which episodes deserve two parts or even their own series? In other corners of the party, a listener reviews Rocka Rolla lager, the new Disgraceland partnership with Orono Brewing. Jake reviews Chris Rock. And a very special phone book reading from Hill Valley, California. Join the party: leave Jake a message at 617-966-6038 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Grunge, grief, the Grateful Dead and a “teenage whore.” Part 2 of the Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love story picks up with Courtney’s ascent and the couple’s heroin hazed pregnancy. An escape from rehab and a punk as f*ck group hug for Gen X. This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners, including suicide. If you’re thinking about suicide or are worried about a friend or loved one, call the Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255. For a full list of contributors, visit disgracelandpod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kurt Cobain is a celebrated and defiant icon of Generation X. His wife, Courtney Love, was once the most hated woman in America. Courtney, like Kurt, was unapologetic, fierce, determined, ambitious, authentic, and a total hypocrite. They were both totally in love and for a minute shined brighter than most. They challenged gender norms and the music industry patriarchy and reluctantly played the roles of their generation’s John and Yoko by way of Sid and Nancy all while making great music, but only one of them would make it out of the nineties alive. To see a full list of contributors, visit disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lynyrd Skynyrd’s lead singer, Ronnie Van Zant, was a violent bully from the mean streets of Jacksonville, Florida. He tried to maim one of his guitar player’s hands with a broken bottle. He knocked out his piano player’s teeth not once…but twice. He held a gun to his drummer’s head during rehearsal. And when his bandmates followed suit with their own debauched antics, Ronnie turned their drug-and-alcohol flirtations with death into hit songs. Lynyrd Skynyrd even wrote their own eulogy. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jake covers it all in this week's After Party: his thoughts on the latest pod episode, our Cocaine Bear coverage on YouTube (yes, it involves music), and oh yeah, Jake's wife finally made him watch The Matrix. Send Jake your own messages about what he should watch, listen to, read, or even write in future Disgraceland episodes. Hit him up at 617-906-6638 and you just might hear yourself on air soon. Come join the After Party. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mac Miller was threatened by the most powerful man in the world. Rejected by some of the most powerful tastemakers in the music industry. Dumped by one of the most popular singers in the universe. He worked tirelessly to overcome these challenges, transforming his art and thus transforming himself. But it wasn’t an easy road. An unexpected backlash to his debut LP led him down some previously unexplored and increasingly dark rabbit holes, where he found not only creative rebirth–but the point of no return. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Friend of the pod and incredible documentary filmmaker Tiller Russell (Netflix's Night Stalker: Hunt for a Serial Killer and the upcoming Waco: American Apocalypse) chats with Jake about AC/DC's connections to Richard Ramirez, the weight of dealing in crime stories, and much more. In other corners of the After Party, Jake shares details of his recent trip to Daytona and catches up on your messages. Join the party and leave your own message for Jake to reply to at 617-906-6638 and follow @disgracelandpod on socials. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the 1980s, AC/DC’s biggest fan was a notorious serial killer. The band was an international best-selling hit machine, and members like the late Bon Scott and die-hard Angus Young became rock icons. But when the press caught wind of the disturbing fandom of the serial killer Richard “The Night Stalker” Ramirez, the news quickly dragged the world’s most fun, pure rock ‘n’ roll band straight down the highway to hell and into the center of a media firestorm around Satanic Panic and the inspirations of a murderer. This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners, including graphic depictions of violence and sexual assault. To see the complete list of contributors, visit disgracelandpod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jake celebrates Disgraceland's 5 year anniversary happening this week! Season 1 just re-released, Season 11 just started with 50 Cent, and Jake talks about it all. And he's caught up on some of your viewing recommendations--hit Jake up with your own recs, questions, and stories at 617-906-6638 and join the After Party! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson was dealing crack by the age of 10, born into the height of the epidemic in Queens. He faced possession charges while still in high school, made a career as a dealer after, got stung and raided by cops, but always had his mind on the mission: to get rich, or die trying. And when he found out he was going to be a father, the idea of getting rich through music rather than drugs suddenly made a whole lot of sense. But it would still take a horrifying nine-bullet wake-up call to finally push him to peak achievement. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Disgraceland’s 5 year anniversary is next week!! Jake looks back at Season 1, forward to Season 11, then dives into the now by responding to your calls and messages. Join the After Party by leaving your own message at 617-906-6638 and follow on social and YouTube @disgracelandpod. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Shootouts, drug running, crashing cars and planes, and walks on the wild side. It's almost here: find out which musical icons are featured in Season 11 of Disgraceland. New episodes drop every Tuesday starting February 14th. Rocka Rolla. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jake does a deep dive on the one and only Miles Davis, touches on artists he isn't touching (for now), teases big things coming for Disgraceland in February, and replies to your texts DMs and VMs. Leave your message for Jake to respond to at 617-906-6638 and join the After Party. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When it came to music, Miles Davis wasn’t about no safe, tired yesterday bullsh*t. After kicking his heroin addiction, he traded bespoke suits for fringe jackets and spearheaded an experimental blur of jazz and rock, eclipsing his contemporaries with a complete reinvention of himself. But the second act of Miles’ life came fraught with failures and new fixes, including a wrecked Lambo, two broken legs, and a mountain of coke and pills so massive that Miles almost never made it down the other side. This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners and includes descriptions of domestic violence. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Miles Davis is jazz’s first and only rock star, with the rap sheet to prove it. He did enough cocaine to run down the entirety of 52nd street, and pimped out women when performing wasn’t paying the bills. At one point, his heroin habit was so public that clubs who had once welcomed his brilliant bebop instead froze him out completely. When he wasn’t vying to keep his rightful spot in jazz’s upper echelon, he was doing time at Rikers Island or dodging racist cops on the prowl for any junkie they could find. Miles Davis invented cool, but nearly destroyed himself in the process. This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners and includes descriptions of domestic violence. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jake comes in hot from a cold studio in snowy New England with this week's bonus episode. Flashback to Jake's hardcore zine days for a key Paul McCartney take, find out the ties between all the Season 8 episodes now binge-able in your feed, hear your calls, texts and Disgo community feedback, and share your pop culture recommendations with Jake at 617-906-6638. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1960s London, for young guitar enthusiasts, believing that “Clapton is God” was practically the 11th Commandment. In 1970 he lent his big, sticky tone to yet another band: Derek and the Dominos. The group’s white-hot blues burned bright for barely more than a year, but their impact was massive. Guided by drug, alcohol and heartbreak free-fall, Eric Clapton created one of rock’s most recognizable guitar riffs, while drummer Jim Gordon contributed God’s great piano coda. Except Gordon was guided by something far more sinister — something that started with incessant voices in his head, and ended with a hammer, a butcher knife, and a dead mother. To see the full list of contributors see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The original Woodstock was a literal disaster, declared so on its first day by the state of New York. There were fights, onstage, armed black-shirted hippie gestapo on patrol, and most notably, two dead kids on record. The festival was born of violence, sparked into existence out of organizer Michael Lang’s standoff with hillbilly armed guards and cops from down in Florida. The lasting image of Woodstock as a time of idyllic harmony is a nostalgic gimmick, as is the 1970 documentary about the events that took place up in Bethel, New York that fateful weekend. If any director were to make a truly realistic movie about Woodstock, their film would be an unhinged disaster movie. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Woodstock is remembered as the generation-defining moment when the baby boomers demonstrated to the world the power of peace, love and communalism. In reality, what went down at Old Man Yasgur’s farm in August 1969 involved extortion, deaths, countless overdoses, near-mass electrocution, and a state of emergency. Not to mention a restless crowd that doubled in size seemingly every time festival producer Micheal Lang lifted his head to survey the drug-addled chaos. All he wanted was a new kind of festival—a celebration of utopian hippie idealism. Instead, for three long, lawless days, Lang got much more than he bargained for during one of the messiest moments in American music history. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Black Sabbath are solely responsible for conjuring the diabolical power of heavy metal. When guitarist Tony Iommi lost his fingertips as a teenager, he turned to a less painful style of playing— a style that produced a new, genre-defining type of gloom and heaviness. The band climbed through the seven circles of British podunk hell to international rock star success, but the lore of their dark imagery compelled the freaks to flood out of the woodwork and to their shows. Despite composing songs that warned against the evils of the occult, Black Sabbath attracted legions of devil worshippers, occultists and 1970s freak-flag-flying practitioners of the dark arts. Kids went mad for their metal. Critics hated it. And much to the band’s dismay, Satanists found their battle cry in the heavy gloom that Black Sabbath had awakened. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fleetwood Mac’s mid-’70s merger with the musical duo of Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks changed the course of the band forever, propelling them to Top 40 mega-fame and cocaine-fueled excess. At the core of it all were rampant Rumours — both the album and the literal gossip. Breakups, divorce, drama: the same intra-band personal dynamics that stressed the group simultaneously led to the creation of one of the top-selling albums of all time. For Fleetwood Mac, Rumours was how the truth came out. And over 40 years later, there’s still a lot that needs clearing up. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Few bands can boast a rock ’n’ roll lore at the level of Fleetwood Mac. The band lost not one but two guitarists to cult-like religious freaks. Two band members were arrested on gun charges. They encountered doom brought on by drugs, money, and Jesus Christ. Most famously, the band involved themselves with each other romantically in ways that brought on jealousy, distrust, anger, divorce and resulted in one of the most successful albums of all time. From their earliest days as an English blues band to the pop superstars they would become in the mid to late ’70s, one thing about Fleetwood Mac never faltered: They always had talent — and drama — to spare. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tommy James came up during a time when the music industry was in part controlled by New York’s Italian mafia. And for a period in the 1960s, that power was centralized at Roulette Records. The record label was run by convicted extortionist Morris Levy and operated in partnership with the Genovese crime family. Tommy James’ hits were sanctioned by the mob, the same mob that would threaten not only his career, but his life. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gunned down onstage by a delusional fan who thought his metal heroes had stolen lyrics from him, Dimebag Darrell Abbott blazed a savage new trail in hard rock during his short time on this earth. Weaned on Eddie Van Halen, Dimebag Darrell would wow the guitar gods he bowed down to as a teenager and gave metal a groove that the music had been lacking before Pantera made their first definitive statement, Cowboys from Hell. Though they made mean music, Darrell and his brother Vinnie were always accommodating and accessible to their fans, which may have been their fatal flaw. To see the full list of contributors see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ray Charles was hooked on heroin, arrested by federal agents, and once survived a near-death plane ride by helping the pilot - as a blind man. He invented R&B. He was powerful enough to bring black and white culture into one. He was a genre-melding musical genius. Despite being born into a literal dirt poor existence in the Jim Crow era Deep South, despite going completely blind by the age of seven, and despite his addiction, Ray Charles influenced everyone from the Beatles to Belushi. And he made some of the greatest music of all time. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the early 1970s, John Lennon was suspected of conspiring to disrupt an American political convention and contributing to a paramilitary terrorist organization. Authorities took notice. So much so that the President of the United States took action to have the so-called “smart Beatle” deported. Lennon’s politics were way more violent and revolutionary than simply imagining all the people living life in peace and harmony. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Despite his reputation as “the safe Beatle,” Paul McCartney was a badass. He took wild artistic risks, rubbed elbows with truly dangerous characters and because of his crimes, did hard time in one of the world’s most notorious prisons. His public spats with Beatles bandmate John Lennon are the stuff of legend, as is the “Paul is dead” conspiracy at the end of their time together as a band, but the truth may be even stranger. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There's so much content hitting this feed, where to even start? Jake touches on the death of Dimebag Darrell and lightning rounds all the Season 8 episodes going wide for the first time, the launch of the new @disgracelandpod YouTube channel, and of course, replies to your suggestions about what he should write about, read about, and watch. Send your messages to Jake direct at 617-906-6638 and join the After Party. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week Jake shares his sense of a deep connection to Gram Parsons, one of Disgraceland's season 7 subjects, formerly exclusive and now free to binge in your podcast feeds everywhere! Billie Holiday too. Meanwhile, Jake takes listener asks for future episodes and puts a call out to all Disgos to find him his next 30-minute, light, end-of-night TV show. Kick in your answers at 617-906-6638 by call or text, and join the After Party. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lil Wayne grew up on the mean streets of New Orleans. His father split when he was two, and his stepdad was shot before he was a teenager. Wayne poured his pain into his rhymes and started cutting tracks for Cash Money Records, seeing hip-hop as the only way out of a violent scene. When his mother forced him to quit rapping, the only way out Wayne saw was suicide. Miraculously, he survived and went on to become one of the most successful artists of all-time, staying true to his roots throughout all his triumphs and tribulations. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oasis were the biggest band on the planet for a moment. They famously warred with Britpop rivals Blur, and the Brothers Gallagher feuded with each other in public and came to blows numerous times behind closed doors. The success of their massively popular second album skyrocketed the band to international fame and brought unwanted, intense pressure from the British tabloids, causing frontman Liam Gallagher to slide into a drunken stupor that would threaten to break up the band and distract Noel Gallagher from doing what he did best: write songs. All of the dysfunction, humor, hedonism and hooliganism that is Oasis comes to a head in this, the second part of the Oasis saga. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Few bands have come from as little and made as much of themselves as Oasis. Along the way they were wildly entertaining — unlike anything England or the United States had ever seen — and fully committed to the life of the rock star and to making the greatest rock ‘n’ roll music the world had ever heard. Through it all they famously fought, with fans, with police and with each other. They drank excessively and did copious amounts of drugs and didn’t care who knew about it. They were England’s new rock ‘n’ roll saviors and they were stacked with Beatlesesque hooks and Sex Pistols-inspired attitude and seemingly, always, on the verge of breaking up. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The New York Dolls were one of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll bands of all time. They came to life when their hometown of New York City was coming apart at the seams in the midst of rising murder, rape and burglary rates. Their drummer drowned. Their bassist was nearly murdered. Their guitar players despised their singer and the only thing their singer loved more than Archie Bell was himself. This of course was all part of the act. The self-destruction, the violence, the intra-band squabbling, but it was of course also part of the band’s reality. They were too pure to last. They were born to lose. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lil’ Peep was a once-in-a-generation talent. Poised to become a new Cobain, Bowie or Dylan, but whose life was cut short by an overdose that’s still mysterious. Depression, anxiety and a unique fusion of hip-hop, emo, grime and raw, empathetic lyrics resulted in a deep connection to fans that in the end, may have done him in at the tender age of 21. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At the height of their world-changing and culture-defining popularity, the Beatles faced death threats in foreign countries, an unfair tax rate in their own country that forced them to stash heaps of undeclared cash in brown paper bags, and the sudden suicide of their manager. But none of this could break up the band. Nor could LSD smuggling missions, drug busts, extramarital affairs or the deranged fans who came to their houses. Listen to learn what really tore the Beatles apart. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Beatles caused fans to enter into manic states, literally. People died because of it. The band swallowed more pills than food in their early years. They took acid by accident and changed the course of popular music forever as a result. Aside from all the screaming fans and the drugs, beating at the heart of Beatlemania was always just “a great little band.” Listen to learn how the Beatles saved America from certain doom with some of the most exciting music ever made. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sniffing glue, hooking for drug money, hurling rocks at the Beatles, and writing infectious sunshiny melodies about their grimy reality, the Ramones were what the world needed in 1976. As rock ‘n’ roll was getting bloated with excessive experimentation and unfortunate forays into disco, four cretins from Queens stripped it all away to two-minute three-chord anthems with hard, fast backbeats and buzzing guitars. They adopted the same surname to solidify their brotherhood, and they lived like brothers and fought like brothers to the very bitter end. Listen to hear how the Ramones saved rock ‘n’ roll. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

No musical artist better personified the hedonism of the ’70s than David Bowie. He captivated the imaginations of music fans all over the world with a dizzying array of creative alter egos; Major Tom, Ziggy Stardust and the Thin White Duke among them, and his obsession with occultist Aleister Crowley drove him down a dark, excessive hole filled with cocaine, orgies, arrests, fascism, death and madness that very nearly destroyed him. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In part two of the Tupac Shakur story, we see the young star trying to deal with life behind bars and giving in to the patronage of the notorious Suge Knight of Death Row Records while getting into the mud with the Notorious B.I.G. in a deadly game of East Coast West Coast beef. We also get a glimpse of what Tupac Shakur might have achieved had he not gone to Las Vegas on that fateful night back in 1996. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tupac Shakur was many things. He was a supremely talented MC and was wildly charismatic in front of the camera. He was also violent, angry and completely unable to keep himself out of trouble. Part one of his story traces his rise through the radical influence of his Black Panther lineage, the deadly violence that seemed to follow him wherever he went, and the inevitability of both prison and superstardom. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gram Parsons is one of the most influential musicians in rock ‘n’ roll that you’ve maybe never heard of. He created a form of music that has been copied by everyone from the Eagles to Ryan Adams. He directly influenced the Rolling Stones’ greatest album, possibly the greatest rock ‘n’ roll album of all time, Exile on Main Street. And when he died his body was stolen and unceremoniously disposed of. This is the story of Gram Parsons' life, death and very strange aftermath. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Billie Holiday ascended from the rough and tumble streets of Baltimore and Harlem, through reform school, brothels, and Welfare Island, right to the top of the music game. Her childhood fascination with “whorehouse music” filled a void in her lost innocence, but she soon found a second stabilizer: Heroin. Just when her sensational “Strange Fruit” brought her to Columbia Records, her dependency on hard drugs landed her behind bars. Her mesmerizing voice ensnared listeners unlike any other jazz singer of her day, but in the end, it was narcotics that eventually ensnared Billie Holiday and sealed her fate. This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners and includes descriptions of sexual assault. To see the full list of contributors see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. This episode was previously exclusive and is now available wherever you get your podcasts.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jake shares some HUGE news with you Disgos, responds to your messages (including a lead on the mysterious Paganini character from the last episode), and reviews what he's been watching and listening to at the end of 2022. Join the After Party and leave your own message at 617-906-6638 or on socials @disgracelandpod. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Got a Disgraceland pitch? Know a cover that beats the original? What are you reading watching and listening to? Jake closes out Season 10 of Disgraceland with a fan mailbag deep dive. Leave your own message at 617-906-6638 and join the After Party. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mama Cass’ role as Hollywood’s hippie den mother pulled her into the orbit of troubling company during the “Summer of Love.” The former singer of The Mamas and the Papas thrived in Laurel Canyon's social circles, which included her close friend Sharon Tate and Sharon’s husband, filmmaker Roman Polanski. But Cass’ alleged involvement in some of the long rumored-hedonistic events put her at the center of a counter-narrative that explosively disrupts the supposed motive for the Manson family murders. Decades later, there’s plenty to debunk about the final years of Mama Cass’ life— including a silly, fat-shaming myth surrounding her death that has persisted for nearly 50 years. This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners, including domestic violence and graphic descriptions of violence and sexual assault. To see the full list of contributors see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The wildest on-stage freak outs (and even deaths), Jake's master movie list, your texts calls and emails, and of course... the down low on the latest episode in our extended Manson coverage: the Mamas & the Papas Part 1. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cass Elliot, AKA "Mama Cass" from The Mamas and The Papas, broke the mold of female pop superstardom and shattered expectations of what women in music “should” be. She also was arrested in London for theft, dated international drug dealers, and tanked what was supposed to be a career-defining solo performance while flying high on Iranian hashish. To this day, the biggest controversy swirling around the singer is her connection to the 1969 Manson Family murders. Her actions during the so-called “Summer of Love” might even be why the motive for the murders America has come to accept as fact…is actually entirely false. To see the full list of contributors see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Charles Manson the Music Man, the tale of Trent Reznor's time in the Cielo Drive murder house, and Jake's latest takes on All Quiet on the Western Front, White Lotus, and your listener messages. Leave your own message at 617-906-6638 and join the After Party! This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners, including domestic violence and graphic descriptions of violence and sexual assault. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In and out of juvie and jail since childhood, Charles Manson learned guitar in prison from the last of the great Depression-era gangsters. He also made music industry connections in jail like the Rolling Stones’ road manager. During the "Summer of Love", Manson bounced from prison and took his act to San Francisco, formed a drug-soaked sex cult, moved the whole Family to L.A., and before you could say “celebrity orgy,” he was hanging with Neil Young, the Mamas and the Papas, and the Beach Boys. Charles Manson was about to be the breakout star of 1969…at least in his own mind. This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners and includes graphic depictions of violence. To see the full list of contributors see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Spade Cooley was one of Postwar America’s biggest celebrities and most talented musicians. He was also a violent drunk and homicidal psychopath with no heart. Mean, jealous, abusive, and almost totally driven by the deep-seated insecurity that he wasn’t good enough for any of the women who flocked to see him in concert, on television, and on the movie screen, Spade Cooley couldn’t bear the thought of his wife with another man so he he did the unthinkable—and what followed was, at the time, the trial of the century. To see the complete list of contributors, visit disgracelandpod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rick James may have been born into a life of crime, but he was determined to make his way in life through music. He intimidated George Clinton, inspired Prince, and more than likely saved Jim Morrison’s life. Rick James was rock ‘n roll’s Zelig. He was also sex-crazed, dangerous, and heavily addicted to crack cocaine. These three traits led to two separate arrests for the kidnapping and torture of two different women. Listen to this episode of Disgraceland to hear the tale of the one and only Superfreak, Rick James. To see the complete list of contributors, visit disgracelandpod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Big Lurch didn’t just rap about standard hip-hop culture; he rapped about serial killers like Jeffrey Dahmer and horror movie villains like Freddy Krueger. In the process, he contributed to a sub-genre of hip-hop called “horrorcore." He also smoked way too much PCP – so much that he could not separate his horrorcore lyrics and the horror movies he watched from reality. The result? Unspeakable. Not just murder. Cannibalism. To see the complete list of contributors, visit disgracelandpod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Keith Moon of the Who was the prototype for rock drummers, both onstage and off. His drumming was wholly unique. Like his bandmates' behavior, it was violent, and like his personality, it was electric. Everyone loved Keith Moon aka “Moon The Loon” and it seemed that people never tired of his always hilarious and sometimes violent, drunken hijinks until one fateful night when a crew of British skinheads took issue with the drummer’s rockstar excess. The results were disastrous. To see the complete list of contributors, visit disgracelandpod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Marvin Gaye was born into a God-fearing home to a sweet, wholesome mother and crossdressing, philandering, pentecostal preacher father who ruled his children with an iron fist. Despite his tense upbringing, Marvin Gaye found his calling—music—and used it as his ticket out of his repressive home life. He chased away his shame and followed his muse to the top of the charts; through a sea of cocaine and sex, becoming one of the biggest and most gifted entertainers of all time before sinking into addiction and depression and ultimately winding up back at home with his parents. This was a move that would prove to be more devastating than any of his volatile sexual relationships and more deadly than any drug he’d ever taken. To see the complete list of contributors, visit disgracelandpod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

GG Allin, the notoriously transgressive punk rocker, pushed the limits further than anyone before or after. For GG, there were no limits. No laws. He lived and performed well outside the boundaries of the mainstream and saw himself as the leader of what he called "The Rock 'N Roll Underground," for whom he pledged he would one day make the ultimate sacrifice: commit suicide on stage. Listen to this episode of Disgraceland to hear about GG Allin's final days. Buckle up, Sickos. To see the complete list of contributors, visit disgracelandpod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brian Jones invented “The World’s Greatest Rock ‘N Roll Band," The Rolling Stones, but would find himself kicked out of that band just a few years after helping rocket him and his bandmates to international success. He was ousted because of his excessive drug use and his abuse of women and shortly after bottoming out, Brian Jones was found dead at the bottom of his swimming pool under somewhat mysterious circumstances. To see the complete list of contributors, visit disgracelandpod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lots of country music stars wear the black hat but none of them wore it with more authenticity than Johnny Paycheck. Johnny Cash may have bragged about shooting a man “just to watch him die” but Johnny Paycheck actually pulled the trigger. He was a true outlaw and totally hardcore – hardcore honky tonk. To see the complete list of contributors, visit disgracelandpod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Frank Sinatra had it all, then lost it all, then got it all back tenfold. He was a man of extreme talent, confidence and insecurity. And he had powerful and dangerous friends. He orchestrated some of the greatest music ever made. And he also orchestrated an alliance between two friends—mob boss Sam Giancana and John F. Kennedy—that would help the latter win the White House and, in the end, prove disastrous for Frank and the country. To see the complete list of contributors, visit disgracelandpod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mötley Crüe frontman Vince Neil totaled his Ford Pantera on a beer run, and in the process took the life of his friend Razzle Dingley, drummer for Hanoi Rocks. Bassist Nikki Sixx survived multiple heroin overdoses. Guitarist Mick Mars walked away from a blackout drunk drowning and drummer Tommy Lee lived through his own Caligula-like Sunset Strip sexcapades. Mötley Crüe, a degenerate band of death-cheating rock gods has us asking, “how are these dudes still alive?” Maybe they’re the undead. To see the complete list of contributors, visit disgracelandpod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

John Lennon was a walking contradiction: a violent pacifist and a creative genius marred by creative inconsistency. Just as he was getting his groove back he was gunned down by Mark David Chapman, a self-loathing narcissist obsessed with his contradictory hero, as well as Lennon’s musical rival, Todd Rundgren and J.D. Salinger’s angsty Holden Caulfield from The Catcher In The Rye. Hear how all of these factors and more contributed to the musical icon’s senseless murder in the second chapter of a two part Disgraceland episode. To see the complete list of contributors, visit disgracelandpod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

John Lennon was a walking contradiction: a violent pacifist and a creative genius marred by creative inconsistency. Just as he was getting his groove back, he was gunned down by Mark David Chapman, a self-loathing narcissist who was obsessed with his contradictory hero, as well as with Lennon’s musical rival, Todd Rundgren and J.D. Salinger’s angsty, Holden Caulfield from The Catcher In The Rye. Hear how all of these factors and more contributed to the musical icon’s senseless murder in the first installment of a two part Disgraceland episode. To see the complete list of contributors, visit disgracelandpod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What happens when the hardest working man in show business takes a break? Idle hands are indeed the devil’s workshop. This episode will detail James Brown’s scorching career as well as the scorching high speed chase he led cops on that led to his arrest and jail sentencing for drugs and firearms. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In March 1996, “King of the Club Kids," promoter Michael Alig, after appearing on TV’s Geraldo and on the cover of New York magazine, bashed his friend and DJ Angel Melendez in the head with a hammer. The body was then dismembered and stuffed into a duct-taped cardboard box. Alig proceeded to tell anyone who would listen—including his friends from the raging '90s NYC club scene—what he had done. The problem was, Alig’s well-known, over the top, and depraved behavior was such that no one believed him. “Has anyone seen Angel?” “He’s dead. I cut him up and put him in that box over in the corner.” To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Who killed Tupac? Who killed Biggie? The answer has been right there out in the open for years. This episode looks at the lives and deaths of both rap superstars, the east coast/west coast beef and the media’s culpability in driving a highly sensationalized narrative that ultimately led to the murder of both men. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bob Marley is known as the peace and love reggae superstar, but the truth of who he really was is a bit more complicated. After gunmen raided his home, putting bullets into him, his wife, his manager and his guitar player, Bob survived. But the lives of his assassins—all of them—were eventually brought to violent, horrific ends. And their killers were never found. Many think the perpetrator was an angry young man from the Trenchtown ghetto, who was called, by those who feared him, “Screwface." Was it Bob Marley, Rasta Vigilante? To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Arlington, Texas rapper born Taymor Travon McIntyre was involved in two killings by the time he was 17. Arrested on murder charges and placed under house arrest until hearings were to take place, Tay-K sawed off his ankle bracelet and announced to the world via Twitter that he was going on the run. He made it from Texas all the way to New Jersey, where he recorded his most infamous song, “The Race,” detailing his time on the lam. The song’s lyrics and video blurred real life and art and quickly went viral, garnering more than 100 million downloads. It also worked as a set of clues for authorities to use to piece together the young fugitive’s whereabouts. The viral nature of the song and video, the ensuing Twitter phenomenon, and infamy surrounding the young fugitive also caused tipsters to come out in droves and eventually led to Tay-K’s arrest. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the 1970s, the world regarded the Rolling Stones as an insular band of hedonistic and glamorous pansexual junkies. But all of the trouble they’d stirred up during the ’60s and early ’70s would be dwarfed by the mess they would cause in Canada in 1977. Up until that point, the band’s money and collective luck had been enough to fend off destruction. But the scandal they embroiled themselves in touched the highest levels of government, and threatened to destroy the band and their as-yet indestructible guitar player, Keith Richards. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

TLC’s Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes was known as “the crazy one.” She did, after all, burn down the mansion of her boyfriend, NFL player Andre Rison. But given the fact that it was done after one of many domestic assaults, Disgraceland sees Left Eye as a badass—and not “the crazy one.” This episode digs into what really happened that night, who Lisa Lopes really was as a person, and the details surrounding her own premature death. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1968, Van Morrison was hiding out from the New York City Mafia in Boston, Massachusetts. Recently the victim of a physical attack from a Genovese crime family member, Morrison was desperately trying to piece together a band to complete what would become his landmark creative statement, Astral Weeks. One of the musicians who would help him achieve this goal—a young, handsome guitar player from Emerson College named Rick Philp—would mysteriously go missing and eventually wind up dead. Disgraceland pieces together this story using, as one of many sources, the critically acclaimed book Astral Weeks: A Secret History of 1968 by Ryan Walsh. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Never has there been a more extreme form of musical rebellion than Norwegian Black Metal. The genre’s founding band, Mayhem, its sister act, Burzum and supporting cast of musicians with names like, Necrobutcher, Hellhammer and Dead horrified Norway in the early nineties with supreme acts of terror, satanic ritualism, murder, arson and cannibalism. By the time the ashes settled and the corpse paint chipped away, numerous band members would be dead or in jail, convicted of arson and or murder… and a new generation of young metalheads would find their way to satanism through blast beats and dead notes. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sam Cooke was a lot of things: soul superstar, civil rights champion, whip smart entrepreneur. But he was also a serial womanizer with an unbridled libido. On December 11, 1964, Cooke was shot to death by Bertha Lee Franklin, manager of the Hacienda Motel in Los Angeles. The killing was ruled a justifiable homicide due to Cooke’s unruly, drunken behavior, which involved him holding another woman captive in his hotel room and allegedly raping her earlier in the evening. With full appreciation of the #MeToo moment we are currently all living through as a culture, Disgraceland, with fresh eyes, looks into this crime and the successful effort by Sam Cooke’s family and powerful music industry colleagues to salvage his legacy and reputation by personally discrediting his victim. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It has long been believed that punk rock icon Sid Vicious died of a heroin overdose. That is true. However, new evidence suggests that his overly affectionate and increasingly dependent mum gave him a fatal hotshot in a final, maternal act of mercy. Listen to find out why. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The night before Jerry Lee Lewis’ fifth wife died, she made a phone call to her mother. She told her that she was thinking of leaving the rock ‘n’ roll pioneer, but that he wouldn’t let her. She also made a second call—this one to the sister of her high school sweetheart, making plans for the sister to come take her away from Jerry Lee later that month. Then … in mid-sentence the phone went dead. The next day, Mrs. Jerry Lee Lewis was found dead. Placed nearly on top of a perfectly made bed in the newlywed couple’s guest room. Despite the bruises on her body, the blood under her fingernails, the scratches on her husband’s hands, and the mountain of other physical and anecdotal evidence, the death was ruled an accident. Did Jerry Lee Lewis kill his wife and get away with murder? To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices