It’s that time of the year, Jay’s back at the beach with the family and brings on Michael Weddington and brother, Daniel Pflager, to join the conversation. Michael poses the following question, when you first hear a song, what makes a song when you first listen to it? Is it the music, the vocals, or the lyrics? What catches your ear first? We discuss and then listen to some picks from Michael & Daniel.

Songs:

Grainne Duffy - “Blue Skies”

Christina Vane - “Long Way Home (Live)”

Miley Cyrus feat. WATT, Elton John, Yo-Yo Ma, Robert Trujillo, Chad Smith – “Nothing Else Matters”

Nick is up next with something old, something new, and something blue(sy)…it’s Three for Thursday!

Songs:

Frank Zappa & the Mothers - “The Duke - Take 2 (live at the Whiskey a Go Go, 1968)”

Mabe Fratti - “Kravitz”

Wilco - Hot Sun

Finally, Greg is pumped about a French music website that he’s just discovered. Radiooooo.com calls itself the Musical Time Machine. Visitors can select from nearly any country in the world, and a decade and listen to a curated radio station full of the music that would have played at that place and time. It’s really cool to play with, you should check it out.

Greg’s clips all came from Radiooooo.com this week.

Don Henley is back in court. With the criminal case to get back the original Hotel California lyrics thrown out, he’s turned to a civil lawsuit. Jay brings us the story.

Song: Mdou Moctar - “Funeral For Justice”

News with Nick this week includes a governor cutting a state’s arts budget, an update to the Young Thug trial, and a remembrance of producer Peter Collins (Rush, Bon Jovi), who died last week at the age of 73.

Song: Church Chords - “Apophatic Melismatic”

Finally, Greg catches us up on this year’s Glastonbury Festival on a Heard it Through the GREGvine.

Songs:

Black Pumas - “More Than a Love Song”

Idles - “I’m Scum”

Coldplay - “Fix You (featuring Michael J Fox)”

Greg catches us up on his week and then fills us in on Kendrick Lamar’s Juneteenth Concert. Officially called ‘The Pop Out - Ken & Friends,’ the show has been described as a victory lap that united Los Angeles. Lamar’s friends ended up being Dr. Dre, YG, Tyler, the Creator, Roddy Rich, Schoolboy Q, Steve Lacy, and others. Reports also referenced a large attendance by celebrities, athletes, and both members of the Bloods and the Crips. Aside from joining with the crowd to celebrate his victory in his Drake beef, Lamar focused his message on unity and it seems to have resonated. It is already being called one of the biggest moments in hip hop history and Snoop has declared Kendrick Lamar the West Coast King.

Song: Kendrick Lamar - “Not Like Us (Juneteenth Live)”

Jay brings us some new rock songs this week, curated in the Classic Rock section of Loudersound.com. The guys give their opinions on ‘the best new rock songs you need to hear right now.’

Songs:

iNi Kamoze, Salaam Remi - “Here Comes The Hotstepper”

Massive Wagons - “Missing On TV”

Bones UK - “Bikinis”

Orange Goblin - “The Fire At The Centre Of The Earth Is Mine”

Mr Big - “Up On You“

Finally, Nick breaks the news that our end credit music generation provider, Suno.ai, is being sued alongside Udio by the RIAA & all four major record labels for copyright infringement. The AI music generation services are being accused of plagiarizing unlicensed music digested and fed into the AI models. Suno CEO claims they refused discussing the matter and Udio has a nice song in response to the accusations. It’s all new ground for the courts and sure to be interesting to follow as both services claim the index of songs digested to be proprietary information.

Song: Sam Evian - “Wild Days”

Get ready for it! This week on "News with Nick" we have a special report from returning guest, Ciri Kline, on the music game app Soundmap. He joins us on his 14th birthday and reveals his picks from the local vinyl store. In other news, Scooter Braun quits music management and George Strait breaks the concert attendance world record.

Song: MF Doom - “Doomsday”

Greg is up next with a Three for Thursday. We start with a clip from MF Doom’s 2005 “Live at Planet X,” continue on to “Inner Glimpse” by Freddie Hubbard and McCoy Tyner, and finish up with the latest single, “Flea” by St. Vincent.

Songs:

MF Doom - “Live from Planet X”

Freddie Hubbard and McCoy Tyner - “Inner Glimpse”

St Vincent - “Flea”

Jay closes us out with an update to the story, first discussed a few years back, about the unreleased Wu-Tang Clan album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin. Purchased for $2 million in 2015 by Pharma-Bro Martin Shkreli, the album was seized by the government in 2018 when Shkreli was convicted of securities fraud. The album was auctioned yet again in 2021 by the U.S. Justice Department to the NFT collectors PleasrDAO (Crypto-Bros). The binding original purchasing agreement stipulated that the album could not be commercially exploited until 2103. PleasrDAO, whose stated purpose is to honor "anti-establishment rebels" and wishing to return the music to the people, has been selling shares of the album as NFTs. PleasrDAO has stated that each share of the album sold would reduce the album’s release by 88 seconds. Jay had to get in on this…and he brings us a clip of the album to play.

Songs:

Hermanos Gutiérrez - “Barrio Hustle”

Wu-Tang Clan - clip from Once Upon a Time in Shaolin

On a recent episode of the new show Reflector, the breakdown of the Young Thug trial has captivated Jay. At question is the admissibility of lyrics as evidence in a trial. We dig in further than our original conversation about the subject back in an earlier episode. The podcast kicks off with the PMRC Senate hearings and Frank Zappa’s involvement, which a time-tested way to hook Jay into any topic.

Song: Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder - “Pig in a Pen“

Nick celebrates his grandfather, Alfred E. Gill, who passed last week at home at the age of 95, with a “Three for Thursday: Granddad Edition.”

Songs:

Peter, Paul and Mary - “The Lemon Tree”

The Rooftop Singers - “Walk Right In”

Joni Mitchell - “Both Sides Now”

Finally, Greg recaps the incredible work of producer and engineer, Brendan O’Brien. O’Brien was featured on a recent Rick Beato episode and Greg highly recommends you check it out.

Songs:

Black Crowes - “Hard to Handle”

Red Hot Chili Peppers - “Give it Away”

Red Hot Chili Peppers - “Under the Bridge”

Stone Temple Pilots - Trippin’ On A Hole In A Paper Heart”

Pearl Jam - “Better Man”

Rage Against the Machine - “Bulls on Parade”

Happy Birthday Greg!

Greg dissects “The Lick,” the musical phrase found in countless jazz and pop songs over the past century. It’s been used by Stravinksy & Coltrane, Santana & Herbie Hancock, Pink Floyd & Prince. What is it and why has it been described as the Wilhelm Scream of jazz?

Song: Alex Heitlinger - “The Lick” (YouTube compilation of past performances of “The Lick”)

Jay brings us another birthday celebration, as June 4 marked the 40th anniversary of Bruce Springteen’s iconic album “Born in the U.S.A.” The album was recorded over a two year period between 1982 and 1984, with songs originating from the same demos that became the album “Nebraska,” Jay’s favorite Springsteen album. “Born in the U.S.A.” is an album that Jay came to appreciate later in life, but one that he’s come to love as much as millions of other fans around the world.

Songs:

Bruce Springsteen - “Downbound Train”

Bruce Springsteen - “Born in the U.S.A. (1982 demo)”

Before jumping into our final topic, the guys discuss last week’s homework, Billie Eilish’s new album, “Hit Me Hard and Soft.” The reviews are mixed. Then Nick presents the details of the Justice Department’s case against Live Nation/Ticketmaster, which appears to aim to re-breakup the merged organization. The implications of the lawsuit can’t be underestimated and could reshape the future of live music.

Song: Billie Eilish - “Lunch”

We kick things off with a special guest this week. Nick’s youngest son, Charlie Kline, joins us to recount seeing his favorite artist, NF, in concert last week at CFG Arena. Charlie particularly likes his positive lyrics and was excited to share his favorite moments from the show.

Songs:

NF - “Time”

NF - “When I Grow Up”

Next up, it’s Heard It Through the GREGvine. The hardcore band, Knocked Loose, dethroned Taylor Swift for a moment on streaming services with their single “Suffocate,” Billie Eilish & Taylor Swift have beef, and Greg has some thoughts about a slew of recent tour cancellations.

Song: Knocked Loose - “Suffocate”

Jay wraps up the episode with Round 3 of “Top of the Charts.” Nick and Greg face off in the 90’s pop music trivia game that Jay received from Aunt Patti about 25 years ago. Can Nick pull off a upset or will Greg defend his title? You’ll soon find out on “Top of the Charts!”

Song: Billy Strings - “Little White Church”

After evaluating all possible options for the 250th episode of You Should Check It Out, Greg, Jay, and Nick landed on a good old fashioned hang out (plus Greg has a new “Tales From the Concert”). Thanks for listening!

Songs:

NF - “Hope”

Frank Zappa - “Punky’s Whips (Baby Snakes)”

IDLES - “Mother”