Offbeat Tracks: Recent Episodes
Max Meiners and Danielle Chilton
Sharon Brown is an interesting story. A talented session musician turned dance music diva, and our first subject who has also been on The People's Court!
Would a band named after a Nietche principle ever truly live up to its philosophical name? Surprisingly, yes -- but Florida Man and his army of singers made some great dance music and pop ballads along their journey.
You probably know Lulu from a hit movie and theme song from the 1960s, but today we're looking at her personal declaration of independence in the form of a '90s eurohouse album.
Today we're looking at the Cincinnati group that launched the career of two legendary producers.
In 1987, Liza Minnelli wanted to make a pop album, so her record label set her up with the Pet Shop Boys. This was the result.
The one and only pop album released by Carrie Fisher's half-sister in 1990, and boy does it just SCREAM 1990!
It's no secret by now that Alanis had a couple of pop albums before she was the Alanis that the world knows. We decided it was time they get the respect they deserve.
Before there was Big Time Rush, and significantly after there were The Monkees, there were the Guys Next Door. And boy were they cheesy.
Now known as a versatile at-least-quadruple threat, the great Vanessa Williams kicked off her music career with an album chock full of delicious dancepop and beautiful ballads.
She may have recorded one of the greatest ballads in the history of pop music and kickstarted the career of one of pop music's all-time greatest singers, but we spend most of this episode pining for the release of the song she sings in Beat Street.
Two guys approach superproducer Arthur Baker with the idea of making an entire album based on the Dhar Braxton single "Jump Back (Set Me Free)," and he jumped right on it.
Are Propaganda more German than Kraftwerk? At what point must a band record under a different name? We're back from our summer break, and we tackle this and more in our most German episode yet!
The two-hit wonder that you probably thought was a one-hit wonder! (Though we still aren't convinced their second hit actually exists.)
It's that time again! Connor is back with us, and we're perusing all the oohs, ahhs, and wtfs of Eurovision 2019.
It's time for a Superlatives episode, and this time we're tackling non-dance songs that were covered as club cuts (mostly in the '90s, because people couldn't seem to stop doing it then for some reason).
One man retires from a life of academia to make an album in his bedroom, and ends up being credited by many as the lone savior of dance music.
A Jesse-Johnson-formed band that spent two albums exploring the dancepop side of the Minneapolis sound.
Did you know that Paula Abdul's feline friend made an album of his own? He's kind of a bad kitty.
The incredibly fascinating story of how a young mobile DJ, a budding producer, and an accounting student changed the face of dance music.
You know two of their songs, but have you ever heard any of the others? There's some good stuff here. Also, they aren't British - who knew! (Not us.)
In 1984, a 15-year-old girl from New York gets signed to a big band label after her dad sends in a demo tape. She then makes three albums of fabulous pop music before fading into obscurity, except for once to make a theme song to an SNL movie.
Serving additional duty as both a pop culture snapshot and perhaps the soundtrack to Danielle's intimate moments, several popular artists, bands and composers collaborated in 1984 on a soundtrack album for the Olympic Games.
First emerging in the late '70s as part of the Philly sound, this week's artist quickly grew into her chops as a singer-songwriter in the fabulous world of disco and Hi NRG.
A look back at Evelyn "Champagne" King's 1985 album that never even cracked the Billboard 200, and we don't understand why, because it's pretty darn fantastic.
Have a big job interview? About to talk to a hottie who intimidates you? About to carry the creme brulee you just made down three flights of stairs to your car and drive it to your mom's house? Whatever the situation, these are the songs that get us pumped up, and we're sure they'll work for you too.
You probably know her from her bout with Freddy Krueger and her haunting horror theme, but today we're gonna talk about the rest of her music career!
Shedding some light on the enigmatic group and their mysterious frontwoman responsible for a couple of the most recognizable dance hits of the early '90s.
Why, if there are indie musicians who own the rights to their own songs, might they have 'Til Tuesday to thank? What video game character does Danielle think Aimee Mann should play in a movie? Listen to this week's episode for these answers and more!
Can you name more than one of their songs? If not, listen to this week's episode, because you've been missing out!
Two important firsts this week on Offbeat Tracks: Our first interview, and our first resurrection. Both with the same guy.
The most modern artist we've covered, but we think you'll agree that they fit in. Join us as we discuss this most mysterious yet incredibly charming synth songstress.
This week we're discussing a truly unsung legend of pop music, specifically the part of her career where she was, in fact, singing.
His name may have only been one letter, but he put out three very different albums in his (relatively) short career under this name, and we're breaking them down this week. Did he creat the world's first synthpop song? You decide along with us.
Two for the price of one this week as we discuss a lesser-known Vince Clarke project that produced a second lesser-known Vince Clarke project!
This week we're discussing one half one tenth of the DeBarge family discography, because Chico's two '80s albums were pretty damn fantastic.
What happens when the New York pop art scene collides with the burgeoning technology of sampling? Ebn-Ozn, that's what.
Perhaps the only band that gets called a one-hit wonder for two different songs in two different countries, we review the first three albums by the British art school kids who got their band name from Star Trek.
A panned movie that happens to have an incredible Hi-NRG aerobics soundtrack! John Travolta and Jamie Lee Curtis crotch thrusting in '80s workout attire - why are you not listening yet??
Our first-ever listener-submitted episode idea! We're discussing the incorrigble, goofy, and oh-so-stylish sisters from Hackney who dominated the UK charts in '87 and '88.
Staying in England this week, but we're talking about a very interesting fella with a big heart, leftist politics, and a Tascam 4-track recorder.
Two lads from England who spent the '80s recording under two different band names but staying both very British and very '80s the entire time.
Back already, it's another edition of the Offbeat Trivia Challenge! This time, we quiz each other about the artists we've covered and our favorite absurd comments over the last two years. Thank you so much for listening to us for 100 episodes!
A woman whose unmistakable voice you've no doubt heard, just maybe not in song (yet). How did she survive her busy 1985?
From her early days making mellow gold softballs to her heyday in hard-hitting Hi-NRG, this week we scope out the career of (probably) the only person whose real name sounds faker than her stage name.
A model-turned-pop-techno act and another entry in the "Europeans making records in other languages than their native one" binder. Stay until the end for a special message.
We couldn't possibly have anything bad to say about charity singles, right? Well, put two weird British radio DJs - one with a mullet - at the helm, and let's see.
This week it's a duo from Canada who jumped into the sampling craze of the late 1980s and then tried a few different things that really didn't work for them in the 1990s. Do you want to hustle? Do you want to salsa?
It's that time of the year - Happy Eurovision Week! We bring in a friend of ours who also loves Eurovision and share our picks among (and point and laugh a bit at) this year's entries!
Offbeat in so many ways - a British band that didn't have any hits in Britain, and one-hit wonders whose less popular hit is the one more often included in throwback compilations and playlists. What exactly was the deal with Naked Eyes and their obsession with fire?
We go about as offbeat as we've ever gone this week and discuss an album written entirely in gibberish. Guaranteed to make hu gvarpa gu schtep qwinn glorp gorble schtack fengin hungin huveppa grappa dip.
Sure, their name is extra, but the concept is anything but: Two guys who hated rock music set out to make music out of anything that wasn't guitars and drums. The result is a career that - with a couple of breaks - is still cranking today!
As we promised you 10 episodes go, we're spending Episode 90 discussing what we feel are the qualities that most define the music of the 1990s.
We're already travelling back to the Pacific Island nations this week to discuss a group from New Zealand that made an unexpected worldwide ripple in the mid 1990s.
If you're a casual '80s music listener, you've probably never heard of Maria Vidal. If you're into '80s dance music, you probably see her as a one-hit wonder who had a club hit with a movie theme. Either way, this week, we're here to tell you about the rest of her catalog that you've (probably) never heard!
Up this week it's Aussie dance-pop duo Koo De Tah. Join us as we hold a clinic in mid-'80s pop, and declare ourselves as official federal ambassadors (which we're pretty sure we have the authority to do).
We're back, and we're talking Hi-NRG - specifically the undisputed king of it, the guy who gave the finger to classical music training and a career in boxing to screw around with synths and drum machines.
This week, we analyze what it really means to be a one-hit wonder, straight from the mouth of a lady who holds that distinction.
What other show could possibly deliver you such a cool, sexy trio of ladies who fused together everything that was great about Klymaxx and 1987? We're just that type of podcast.
Easily the strangest act that we've covered yet, and probably the only band to attempt to fuse new wave and the spirit of the wild west.
You surely know of Wham!, but did you know that two of their backup singers were totally besties who continued on in the world of dancepop after GM went solo?
We're doing something a bit different for this Superlatives episode: We've each made a list of the five things that we think are the biggest definers of '80s music.
You probably know her as a comedienne, but for a few years in the early '80s, Tracey Ullman dominated the charts in the UK and managed to land one hit here in the US. Even if you're familiar with that one hit, join us as we analyze all her homeland chart toppers.
Is porn's loss disco's gain? We tackle this question as well as several about the strange porn-viewing habits of Baby Boomers in this week's disco romp through the discography of an actress-turned-musician whose iconic track you've definitely heard.
Kick off 2018 with some offbeat adult contempo! Despite cowriting and first recording one of pop music's most iconic ballads, most US listeners don't know about her. We'll take you through Jennifer's career from schlager-pop songstress to '90s new age nightingale.
We're celebrating Christmas this year by doing talking about absolutely nothing related to Christmas. Instead, we're discussing the pride of Annapolis, MD, a group that made the transition from disco to funk to R&B dancepop!
It's our 75th episode, and to celebrate, we've invited our buddy Lee DiGeorge from Something, Something Birds on to pit us against one another in an Offbeat Trivia Challenge! See how you fare! Would you have beaten us? Probably not, but try anyway. No one likes people who don't try. Thank you for 75 episodes!!!
An album from 1988 that we were sure was dead forever has unexpectedly re-risen and has a brand new remastered release! Join us as we talk about the album that Tori Amos has inexplicably ignored for the last 30 years.
We haven't done an episode about a recently departed pop weirdo in a while; frankly because nobody that we really like has died. Until this past week, that is. So here's a look at David Cassidy's only 1980s album.
Max's girlfriend Kyle joins us this week to discuss a couple of Scottish scene girls who hit it big in Japan but were too angsty to make a second album. Danielle enjoys that we're talking about happy music with dark lyrics.
This British family band had a whole slew of hits, so why don't we ever hear about them? We hit the highlights of their numerous hits this week and take time to fawn over many of their outfits, too.
What happens when a bunch of moody art school kids buy a bunch of synths and drum machines? Tune in this week and find out!
Listener discretion advised!! We bring you our next superlatives episode a week early, for (hopefully) obvious reasons as we each offer up five of our favorite raunchy, nasty, grimy, positively filthy tracks. Pack Q-Tips.
It's been a while since we've talked italo-disco or French stuff, so this week we bring you an Italian guy who wanted to be French.
Taking two years to rev up and then appearing and disappearing from the public conscious in one brief ångström of pop music, Boy Krazy is pretty much the epitome of early '90s pop.
We MIGHT like you better if you listen to this episode. Check out the short but sultry and attitude-y career of the finest no wave group ever to come from San Francisco.
We figured it was only right to give the wife of last week's topic a proper career exploration. Our buddy Genie joins us as we step through her two brilliant pop albums.
The mysterious Nikki. We literally aren't even sure what his real name is, but this one-album wonder is worth a listen anyway, so join us as we do so this week!
Our discussion of the queen of gothy noisy dance-rock leads us to coin a few new terms for genetalia.
Another Offbeat Tracks first: Our first adult comtemporary artist! Journey with us through the brief but varied career of this British songstress.
We like to use these Superlatives episodes to talk about artists that we don't usually get to talk about, so why not discuss our favorite offbeat tracks by artists that everyone knows?
You probably know Sylvester's disco hits from the '70s, but we'll bet you've never heard his underrated 1984 electro Hi-NRG album! Allow us to introduce you to this overlooked classic.
A glamourized musical biopic about the formation of The Village People with a lot of super gay disco tunes and Caitlyn Jenner in hot pants? Count us in!
How did one woman manage - in four songs - to cover human genetic evolution, the American uptight view of sex, the magic of everyday banality, and her fears about the return of Nazism? Find out this week as we pore over the only four songs ever recorded by what may be our most offbeat artist yet.
We weren't expecting to open another FBI (Forensic Baltimora Institute) investigation so quickly, but scratching the surface of the credits of Corona's early singles led us to more and more questions. Does the lady we see on their album and single covers and in their videos ever actually sing? Find out in this week's episode!
A tip so hot and controversial that we felt the need to found our own pop music forensic investigation bureau? That's right. Find out what the (potential) scandal is with ol' Balty as we italo dance our way through this week's episode.
This week, we're serving up a tall stack of Akron new wave, topped with midwestern working class sensibilities. Grab a booth or a table and hear what makes The Waitresses so fun and relatable.
It's our one-year special! We look back on our favorite funny and touching moments over one year(!) of doing this ridiculous show. Thank you for listening!
You probably only know one Toni Basil song, so we thought we'd fix that for you. Check your shopping list, call your friends in Devo, and put on whatever shoes it's easiest for you to lock in, cause it's time to dance!
Both this week and next, we'll be discussing two women who are unsung heroes of the new wave scene. We begin with Karla DeVito, who toured with Meat Loaf and then dropped two very killer (but very different) albums on two very different labels, while pausing somewhere in the middle to write and record one of Max's all-time favorite songs.
Ever heard something in a song that just makes you stop and think - Uh, wtf? With what we listen to, we certainly have, so here are ten of our favorite WTF moments in music.
Who wants to know? Who wants to know about this '90s one-hit wonder (who may be forging a comeback)? If you answered 'you,' download this episode.
A guy who we were pretty sure was British (spoiler: he isn't!) who made a brief splash on US charts in the late 1980s, and a member of the elite club of 'Two-Hit Twofers.'
This week, Max is here for the music and Danielle is here for the celebrity opinions as we discuss short-lived British act Eighth Wonder. We'll explore the ups and downs of their brief career, from Grade-A dancepop to Take-It-Or-Leave-It film noir jazzpop.
Italo-disco, synthpop, new wave, Hi NRG -- Trans-X had it all! Choose between a 3D Dance and a Monkey Dance as you hit the floor with us and step through this geeky Canadian electronic group's '80s singles.
An all-time favorite offbeat artist of ours! Check out her unique blend of synthpop and classical, as we light you up like a liner that is cruising the Atlantic.
After last week's diatribe, we're back to our old devices with another mysterious Canadian. She dropped a couple of freestyle singles in the late '80s, at some point (probably) earned a psychology degree and purchased a TR-909, then left us one amazing eurohouse album in the '90s before disappearing forever. If you know where Pobi is, or if you happen to be her, let us know, eh?
Music: The great unifier. That's the idea, anyway. This principle certainly seems to be holding true for Europe, at least, as all its countries come together each year to celebrate some differences and set others aside all in the name of making awesome (or sometimes really, really weird) music. We'll give you some history of the contest, touch on some iconic songs, a few personal favorites, and then preview this year's competition!
This week we're discussing a professional cheerleader who became a dancepop superstar! No, not her - another one!
Perhaps the only instance in music history of an artist choosing a stage name that's lamer than their actual name. Goddess was certainly fitting, though, for this one-album wonder, so join us as we explore her early italo days, her one album of pop perfection, and her later works of wokeness.
In our fourth Superlatives episode, we tackle an admittedly difficult subject for us: Songs that we used to hate, but now we like. We tend to stand by our musical snap judgments, so this was not an easy list to compile.
Where is Rockwell? Why did he release three albums in three years and then disappear completely from the music industry? We wildly speculate with very little evidence on these questions and more this week amid a lot of killer music.
Are they a boy band, or just young, dreamy British sophisti-poppers? We use discussion of some of their great songs this week to dissect what sends a song off the rails from cool to nerdy, invent a word for said derailing, and, of course, to further mock the British.
From All In The Family to alt-rocker, Danielle Brisebois has had quite the career. This week we discuss her (so far only) two albums and her journey from the small screen to the stage to the big screen.
Say the name of this episode out loud and hopefully you'll get it faster than we did! Everybody knows their biggest hit, but we're spinning our favorite Lipps, Inc. deep cuts this week. You'll need a sequined suit and some roller skates to play along at home.
A self-taught guitarist from St. Louis who moved to Minneapolis in the early '80s to dive into the funk scene before eventually releasing three very underrated solo albums by the end of the decade. Good gawd!
Check your braids, spike your top, make sure your earring-nose chain is connected, and dance with us through the career of an underappreciated prodigy of synth and drum programming (as well as many other instruments).
In need of a new attitude? One emergency neutron dance through this inimitable soundtrack and you'll be stirring it up with gratitude in no time. The heat is on! Axel F!!
Sticking with last week's theme of underappreciated '80s nerds, this time we're looking at philosophy enthusiast Green Gartside and his band Scritti Politti. If you're from the US, then to you they're a one-hit wonder, but if you're from the UK, you know them as having a handful of synthpop hits in the middle of the decade. This episode is really just an excuse to comb through Max's favorite album of the decade.
Falco rides again! Through your ears, anwyway. Put on your nicest suit, slick your hair back, and head with us down to the nearest symphony hall and/or bath house as we remember this euro-geek who deserved far more attention than he got during his life.
What are the best songs to get down and dirty to? How do you define "sexy"? These are just a couple of the questions we tackle in our third superlatives episode.
Canadian disco! Meet Voggue, a two-album wonder who kept the golden disco sound alive (sort of) well beyond the golden era.
We honor the late pop star, whom we both admired very much, by each picking our favorite deep cuts and forgotten singles.
You may know Jane as a founding member of The Go-Gos, or as a dead singing telegram girl, or as Joan of Arc, but we know and love Jane for her fabulous solo career, which we take a very DIY trek through today.
An album that helped propel us into the '80s, all the while cementing The Purple One's hypersexual image. Step through it track by track with us, and try not to get your feet wet.
A true offbeat icon, Diane Warren has written some of contemporary pop's most well-known and highly-regarded ballads and power ballads. We list off her popular stuff and then dive into some of the tracks you may not have heard or didn't know that she wrote.
Everybody has their set of favorite pop Christmas tunes. We've made our lists, checked each other's twice, and now we're sharing them with you to get you in the spirit of the season this week. I mean, as much as either of us enjoys doing that. Which is not very much.
Big hair, gender bending, Hi NRG synths and drum machines - what's not to love about this titan of '80s dance music?
For our second superlatives episode, we thought it fitting to talk (an admittedly broad definition of) protest songs. Hear what our favs are, and send us yours!
Rush rush to the dancefloor (not the yeyo) and get down with us to one of the greatest soundtracks of all time!
If you listened to pop radio in the '90s, you heard a Sophie B. Hawkins song. She's one of the multitude of artists of that era who slipped through the popularity cracks and is left dancing in the memories of those of us who can't get enough of Clinton-era hippie pop. We revisit Sophie's first two albums and touch on what she's been up to since then, including rewriting one of her hits for a Presidential candidate!
Happy birthday to the pioneering DJ, producer, and remix artist responsible for a multitude of dancefloor smashes! We go through our favorite Jellybean singles and remixes and plead for him to regrow his beautiful hair. Also, Max loses his mind laughing at Danielle's stupid joke about dolphins.
Happy Halloween! Enjoy listening to our suggestions for your spooky party playlist tonight.
If you've ever listened to an R&B song from the early or mid 1980s, chances are very good that you've heard some of Kashif's work. Although not a household name to mainstream audiences, his work was instrumental in shaping where R&B music would go for the entire decade. This is our tribute episode to a guy we think more people should know about.
Regina wrapped her hair up in tubes, put on some parachute pants, dropped one pop album on us in 1986, and then disappeared forever. Hear all about her new wave roots, her unreleased second album, and her most recent sighting as we step through her very brief but very fashionable career.
Have you ever needed something to listen to while studying, something to listen to in the bath, and something to listen to while having deviant encounters in '90s underground clubs, but only had enough money for one CD? Today's your lucky day!
After seeing her in concert, we knew we had to do a Taylor Dayne episode. Did you know about her two singles released under a different name, or her connection with Russian nightclubs? Listen and learn!
For a guy who's had this many hits, you'd think more people would remember that they remember him! As we sail through Richard's first four albums, we try to figure out why his singles stay lodged in the corner closets of our brains that never get cleaned out.
For our first Superlatives Episode, we decided if we could correctly identify a song we love that the other one hates. This, of course, trails off into a discussion about the songs we actually hate and why we hate them.
A family that chose music over lawn care! Hear the story of how they made it from the Hawaiian Inn to playing to a completely empty football stadium. Oh, and they were arguably one of the biggest teen acts of the late '80s too!
We strip down one of Danielle's favorite albums of all time, looking past the pageantry to try to figure out why this thing tanked.
We revisit the short-lived ultra-fame of this German duo and try as best we can to do their story justice and keep it about the great music.
An oddball, one-album duo from Miami, started by a radio DJ and almost stopped by George Clinton. What a story!
Even the Queen of Pop had to start somewhere. In honor of her birthday, we jump back to the late 1970s and follow the genesis of her brilliant debut album, which has her most solo writing credits and was made despite producer squabbles.
A girl group named after a song by another girl group! How deliciously '80s indeed. Find a pom-pom, make it into a wig, and sing along with us through the short career of these dance-pop delights.
We revisit a group that dumped two sexy singles into a trashcan and then disappeared forever.
We go poppin' and lockin' into the weird wild sounds of LA street dancers in 1983, and wonder what Lucinda Dickey is up to these days.
For our debut episode, we thought it fitting to pay tribute to the most beautiful woman who ever lived, a sultry pop goddess like no other: Vanity. We run through the life and career of Miss Denise Matthews and attempt to make peace with the abrupt shift in her life and subsequent abandonment of her fame.