Ongoing History of New Music

My Chemical Romance became one of the biggest emo bands on the planet, but their journey to stadium-sized success was anything but smooth. In this episode, we trace the band's story through ten traumatic moments that shaped their career, from Gerard Way witnessing 9/11 and the band's early struggles to lineup upheavals, addiction battles, devastating injuries, heartbreak, breakups, reunions, and the tragic fate of former drummer Bob Bayar.

These experiences shaped the music that made MCR an icon for an entire generation.

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If there was ever a Big Bang moment for alternative rock, 1976 might be it.

In Part 2 of our look at the birth of alternative rock, we follow punk's rise from New York to the UK, where bands like The Ramones, the Sex Pistols, The Clash, and The Damned helped kick off a musical revolution. What started as a small scene became the foundation for just about every form of alt-rock that came after.

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1976 wasn't just another year in music. It marked the birth of punk rock and launched alternative culture as we know it. From the gritty stages of CBGB to the first records by the Ramones, Blondie, Patti Smith, and Talking Heads, we trace how a handful of outsiders sparked a movement that would eventually become alt-rock. It's the story of rebellion, creativity, and a year that changed the sound of modern music.

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Ever wonder which pieces of technology changed music forever? From Thomas Edison’s phonograph and the invention of the microphone to the Walkman, the iPod, and today’s streaming platforms, we take a geeky trip through the biggest innovations that transformed how music is created, recorded, distributed, and enjoyed.

Plus the stories behind headphones, magnetic tape, synthesizers, CDs, and digital recording, while looking ahead to what AI and future tech could mean for music.

If you love music, gadgets, and the stories behind how we got here, this one’s for you.

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Think we were done with alt-rock one-hit wonders? Not quite.

After our original deep dive into the biggest alternative one-hit wonders since 1976, the emails and DMs kept pouring in.

You pointed out...rightfully so... songs we missed, artists we overlooked, and a few bands that many people think are one-hit wonders but actually aren't.

So we're back for one more sweep through the archives.

Along the way, we uncover some fascinating stories about mysterious bands, unlikely hits, and artists who built entire careers on a single song. We also set the record straight on acts like a-ha, Fastball, Tonic, Orgy, Lit, and others who don't quite fit the one-hit wonder label.

No rankings. No logarithmic formulas. Just great songs, surprising backstories, and a little unfinished business.

Because sometimes all you need is one hit.

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Trip-hop was one of the coolest sounds of the 1990s, blending hip-hop beats, dub, soul, and moody atmospheres into something completely new.

And to be honest, I can't believe we haven't done a deep dive on it yet!

So it's time to fix that.

We trace its roots from the streets of Bristol to artists like Massive Attack, Portishead, Tricky, and DJ Shadow, exploring how a dark, experimental underground movement became one of alternative music's most influential sounds.

This is the story of Trip-Hop

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Most of us have at least one band T-shirt stuffed in a drawer or hanging in a closet. Maybe it's a concert souvenir, a vintage find, or a shirt you've worn so often it's barely holding together. But where did band T-shirts come from, and how did some of them become worth thousands of dollars?

I think it's time to dig into the surprisingly fascinating history of band merch, tracing its roots from the early days of Elvis and The Beatles through the explosion of rock, punk, metal, and grunge culture.

Now to get the full story, I talk with vintage band T-shirt expert James Applegarth of Toronto's Defunkd Vintage about rare finds, iconic designs, and why collectors are willing to pay a fortune for the right shirt.

Whether you're a serious collector or just someone with a closet full of concert tees, this is the story behind one of music's most enduring pieces of memorabilia.

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After surviving some of the darkest years of his life, John Frusciante returned to the Red Hot Chili Peppers and helped create some of the biggest albums of their career. But for John, success has never been simple.

On part 2 of "The Long Strange Trip of John Frusciante", we go through his second and third acts: Grammy wins, solo projects, artistic reinvention, another surprising departure from the band, and the comeback nobody expected. It's the story of a brilliant, complicated artist who refuses to stand still.

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John Frusciante might just be rock’s ultimate survivor.

So let's trace the wild, unpredictable journey of the Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist, from teenage guitar prodigy to the creative force behind Blood Sugar Sex Magik, through addiction, isolation, and a near-fatal collapse that almost ended everything.

Along the way, we explore his rise with the Chili Peppers, his troubled relationship with fame, his dramatic exit from the band at the height of their success, and the dark years that followed. But this is also a story of recovery, redemption, and one of the most remarkable comebacks in modern rock.

It's Part One of the long, strange trip of John Frusciante, and trust us, the story is only getting started.

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What happens when music meets neuroscience? This time, we take a fascinating trip inside the human brain to explore why music can make us dance, cry, smile, remember, and even get chills.

From dopamine rushes and musical memory to live concert highs and the science behind your favourite songs, we uncover some of the weirdest and most amazing connections between music, the brain, and the body.

And, you'll learn why certain songs hit so hard, why we can't resist a good groove, and what researchers are still discovering about the soundtrack of our lives. It's science, music, and plenty of mind-blowing facts all rolled into one episode

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Pop-punk is one of those musical contradictions that somehow makes perfect sense. Punk was supposed to be loud, fast, and rebellious. Pop was all about hooks and mass appeal. But somewhere along the way, the two got together and created one of the biggest movements in alternative rock.

In part two, we pick up the story in the early 1990s as grunge begins to fade and bands like Green Day, The Offspring, Rancid, and Bad Religion help bring punk into the mainstream. From the explosion of Dookie and Smash to the rise of the Warped Tour and the global success of Blink-182, we'll look at how pop-punk went from underground clubs to selling millions of records around the world.

We'll also explore the backlash from punk purists, the genre's evolution through the 2000s, and why pop-punk continues to find new generations of fans decades later. Whether you grew up on Green Day and Sum 41 or you're just discovering the genre, this is the story of how punk and pop became one of rock's most unlikely partnerships.

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Punk rock comes in a lot of different flavours, but few have had the impact of pop-punk. In Part One of this series, we dig into how a genre that was supposed to be the enemy of pop music ended up borrowing some of its best ideas.

From the Ramones and Buzzcocks to Bad Religion, Descendents, Hüsker Dü, and Social Distortion, we'll follow the bands that started mixing punk's speed, attitude, and DIY spirit with melody, hooks, and songs you couldn't get out of your head.

We'll also look at the underground scene that helped shape the sound and set the stage for bands like Green Day, Blink-182, and The Offspring to take over the world.

It's the story of how punk and pop learned to get along... and changed alternative rock forever.

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When someone dies, our first reaction is disbelief...we’re stunned...that’s immediately followed by a need to know what happened...how?...where?...it’s only natural...we need information to help us process the news and the emotion that comes with it...

The next stage is might be “could anything have been done to prevent this?”... “Could someone have helped or intervened?”...In some cases, perhaps...in the case of health issues, maybe not...

And finally, there’s this:... “could what happened to that person happen to me?”...again, totally normal.

When it comes to the death of a famous musician, there’s an additional aspect to processing the news...chances are we never knew this person as, you know, a person...our only relationship with them has been as a fan...so why does their death affect us?

Here’s a possible answer...although we never knew them, it was through their music that we learned more about ourselves...and in a way, when they die, a little of us dies, too.

This might only cause us to go deeper into what happened...we just need to know, to make sense if it, and to put everything to rest the best we can...yes, some people get very nosey and gossipy and intrusive, but there’s always a way to handle what’s known through the public record: family statements, doctors’ accounts, police reports, coroners’ testimony, toxicology examinations, and autopsy results.

And we often can’t look away because we just need to know...this is “the last moments of, part 2”

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Ever wonder what really happened in the final hours of some of music's biggest stars?

This time, I want to retrace the final hours and days of some of rock's most legendary figures.

From heartbreaking health battles to shocking accidents and devastating personal struggles, these are the stories behind the headlines as we piece together the events that led to their final moments and explore the questions, mysteries, and tragedies that still surround them today.

Some stories offer answers. Others leave us with even more questions.

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In part two of our series, we continue to figure out why buying concert tickets has become one of the most frustrating consumer experiences…and why it’s always been that way.

From the evolution of ticketing from physical box offices and early computer systems to the rise of Ticketmaster, we want to understand how service fees, scalping, exclusive venue contracts, and industry power struggles shaped the modern ticket market.

Through artists like Pearl Jam and the Grateful Dead, we find out how economics, technology, and demand transformed concerts into a high‑stakes business, setting the stage for today’s world of instant sellouts and dynamic pricing.

All in the hopes of you getting that concert ticket that you've been waiting for, in the virtual line-up.

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Buying a concert ticket should be simple and easy...but has it ever been?

In this two-part series, we're going to try to unpack the surprisingly long, messy, and often corrupt evolution of ticketing, from ancient Greek theatres to the rise of computerized systems in the late 20th century.

We'll dig into how tickets evolved from physical tokens and box-office lineups to early computer-driven services like Ticketron, Select-A-Seat, BASS, and the early days of Ticketmaster.

We've seen persistent problems that never seem to go away: scalping, service charges, bribery, counterfeit tickets, unequal access, and frustrated fans. From the very first rock concert disaster in 1952 to the technological growing pains of the 1970s and ’80s, there were never any “good old days” when it came to buying tickets.

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Movie soundtracks once shaped the direction of popular music...and nowhere was that more true than in alternative rock.

This week, we go back into the Ongoing History vault to trace the evolution of movie soundtracks from their early, days to their cultural impact in the ’80s and ’90s. These are albums that helped define, amplify, and sometimes completely redirect alternative music.

From the electronic shock of A Clockwork Orange to the cult chaos of The Rocky Horror Picture Show...from the John Hughes films that introduced a generation to British alt‑rock, to era‑defining releases like Singles, Judgement Night, The Crow, and Trainspotting...this is an exploration of how film and music collided at exactly the right moments.

Soundtracks may not dominate the charts the way they once did, but their influence is everywhere.

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There was a time when Canadians didn’t believe in Canadian music...unless someone else told us it was good first.

To celebrate Canada Day, we're exploring how that mindset changed, and how Canada went from cultural insecurity to producing one of the most influential rock movements of the 1990s. From early radio bias and the “Guess Who?” prank, to CanCon rules, FACTOR funding, the rise of FM radio, and the national impact of MuchMusic, this is the long story of how a domestic music industry was built...piece by piece.

We trace the conditions that led to the CanRock explosion of the ’90s, spotlighting key artists and moments along the way: Rush, Martha and the Muffins, Blue Rodeo, The Tragically Hip, Sloan, Our Lady Peace, I Mother Earth, and many more.

We also dig into the demographics, economics, and cultural shifts that turned Canadian bands into hometown heroes...and international stars.

It took decades, smart policy, and a generation ready to embrace its own voice...but the payoff was enormous.

This is the story of how Canadian rock found its confidence…and changed everything.

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Rock music is supposed to belong to the young...but history tells us a different story.

This time, we look at artists who refused to quit, even as the years passed and the industry insisted their time was over.

From Deborah Harry breaking through with Blondie in her 30s, to James Murphy reinventing himself with LCD Soundsystem at 35, to Leonard Cohen becoming a global icon in his 50s, these are the musicians who proved that success doesn’t always come on schedule.

They've had to deal with ageism baked into the music business, the realities of grinding it out for decades, and the moments when persistence, timing, and reinvention finally collide.

It’s a reminder that while breaking through gets harder with age, it’s never impossible...and sometimes, the best work comes later.

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What happens when a band loses its lead singer?

Usually, it’s the end...but not always.

In this episode, we explore 18 bands that survived... and sometimes thrived... after changing singers.

From Stone Temple Pilots and Sublime to Alice in Chains, Faith No More, and New Order.

Losing your singer doesn’t have to mean the end… but surviving it is one of the hardest things a band can do.

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