Welcome to History in Five Songs with Martin Popoff!

As the show notes explain…

This is the show that aims to make grand and often oddball hard rock and heavy metal points through a narrative built upon the tiny idea of a quintet of songs. Buttressed with illustrative clips, Martin argues quickly and succinctly why these songs—and the specific sections of these tracks—support his mad professor premise, from the wobbly invention of an “American” heavy metal, to the influence of Led Zeppelin in hair metal or to more succinct topics like tapping and twin leads. The songs serve as bricks, but Martin slathers plenty of mortar. At the end, hopefully he has sturdy house in which this week’s theory can reside unbothered by the elements.

It’s on Spotify, iTunes and a few other places you might get your podcasts, but here are two good links:

As of my October 2019 site update, I’ve done:

  • Episode 1: Led Zeppelin in Hair Metal
  • Episode 2: The Birth of American Heavy Metal
  • Episode 3: Doom Metal
  • Episode 4: Guitar Tapping
  • Episode 5: Double Bass Drums
  • Episode 6: Proto-Metal Pt. 1
  • Episode 7: Proto-Metal Pt. 2
  • Episode 8: Dirty Hair Metal
  • Episode 9: Who Invented Heavy Metal?
  • Episode 10: New Wave of British Heavy Metal
  • Episode 11: ‘Honorary’ New Wave of British Heavy Metal Pt. 2: From the UK
  • Episode 12: ‘Honorary’ New Wave of British Heavy Metal Pt. 2: Not Even British!
  • Episode 13: Choirs of Angels
  • Episode 14: Twin Leads
  • Episode 15: Metallica’s Production
  • Episode 16: 2020 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nominees: The Five Heavies
  • Episode 17: New Wave of Swedish Heavy Metal
  • Episode 18: The Birth of American Power Metal
  • Episode 19: The Birth of European Power Metal
  • Episode 20: Martin Birch
  • Episode 21: Original Punk for Metalheads
  • Episode 22: How Lars Ulrich Invented Hair Metal
  • Episode 23: Hair Metal Goes Grunge
  • Episode 24: Rick Rubin When It Mattered
  • Episode 25: Go to Vancouver and Try Harder
  • Episode 26: Twice Bad Timing: Angel, Moxy, Rex, Starz and Teaze
  • Episode 27: The (blank) Deep Purple
  • Episode 28: Brain Augmentation for Rush Fans
  • Episode 29: Neil Peart: 12-Panel Man
  • Episode 30: The Roots of Grunge
  • Episode 31: The Very, Very Strange Story of Ram Jam
  • Episode 32: Swan Song Records
  • Episode 33: Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
  • Episode 34: Off the Deep Purple End
  • Episode 35: Circumstances: Rush and Judas Priest in the ‘70s
  • Episode 36: Who Invented Punk?
  • Episode 37: Halford and Dickinson – The Doppelheadbangers
  • Episode 38: Second Wave Heavy Metal: European Division
  • Episode 39: Hard Rock Shark-Jumping
  • Episode 40: Second Wave Heavy Metal: American Division
  • Episode 41: Jason Bonham
  • Episode 42: The AC/DC Family
  • Episode 43: The Birth of Thrash
  • Episode 44: Montrose and Van Halen
  • Episode 45: Shocked by Synths
  • Episode 46: The Foreigner Effect
  • Episode 47: Bands of Individuals
  • Episode 48: Access Denied: Canucks in the ‘80s
  • Episode 49: Weird Solos
  • Episode 50: White Album Contrivances
  • Episode 51: Paul “Tonka” Chapman
  • Episode 52: Firing Robert Plant
  • Episode 53: Blue Album Covers
  • Episode 54: Heavy metal? Not us.
  • Episode 55: Tom Werman and Twisted Sister
  • Episode 57: Faith No More and Commericalism
  • Episode 56: The Motörhead Family
  • Episode 58: Blues for Metalheads
  • Episode 59: Tormented by EPs
  • Episode 60: Give the People What They Want
  • Episode 61: The Next Van Halen
  • Episode 62: Problem with Top NWOBHM
  • Episode 63: Bluesy Hair Metal
  • Episode 64: NWOBHM or Not?
  • Episode 65: 300th Anniversary Tour
  • Episode 66: Strictly Commercial
  • Episode 67: Eddie Van Halen
  • Episode 68: Smarty Pants Metal
  • Episode 69: Heaviest US Albums of the ‘70s
  • Episode 70: Imaginos and Re Imaginos
  • Episode 71: Southern Rot
  • Episode 72: Lee Kerslake and Ken Hensley
  • Episode 73: Crazy Ideas
  • Episode 74: Not in the Rock Hall
  • Episode 75: This Album’s Too Long
  • Episode 76: Singer Equals Band
  • Episode 77: Southern Rock by Proxy
  • Episode 78: Proggers Gone Solo
  • Episode 79: NWOBHM Compilations
  • Episode 80: Five Females: A Wyrd Congruence
  • Episode 81: Novelty Singles
  • Episode 82: Queen and Novelty
  • Episode 83: New Way to Rank Zep
  • Episode 84: Top Five Single Live
  • Episode 85: Outshined
  • Episode 86: Worst Five Single Live
  • Episode 87: The Mod Revival
  • Episode 88: Kiss and Trends
  • Episode 89: This Album’s Too Long
  • Episode 90: Live Albums of New Songs
  • Episode 91: World’s Biggest Living Rock Stars
  • Episode 92: World’s Biggest Dead Rock Stars
  • Episode 93: Chameleons
  • Episode 94: The Next Led Zeppelin
  • Episode 95: Rough Patch Successes
  • Episode 96: Part II Albums
  • Episode 97: No Longer Punk
  • Episode 98: Cusp Albums
  • Episode 99: Gotta Move
  • Episode 100: Answering Your Questions
  • Episode 101: Not Under-Rated
  • Episode 102: Here Comes Success!
  • Episode 103: The Start of Punk in Canada
  • Episode 104: Heavy Metal Shuffle
  • Episode 105: Half-Time Shuffle
  • Episode 106: Over the Top
  • Episode 107: One and Done
  • Episode 108: How Bands Deal with Loss
  • Episode 109: Best Last Songs Ever
  • Episode 110: You had to be there
  • Episode 111: You didn’t have to be there
  • Episode 113: The Last Great NWOBHM Albums
  • Episode 112: Self-Produced Albums
  • Episode 114: Anthem
  • Episode 115: Best First Songs Ever
  • Episode 116: Recording Badly on Purpose
  • Episode 117: The Birth of Post-Punk
  • Episode 118: Hair Metal’s Twilight Years
  • Episode 119: Reggae in Hard Rock
  • Episode 120: Made for Japan
  • Episode 121: Greatest Hits Plus
  • Episode 122: Best NWOBHM Bands NOW!
  • Episode 123: Legendary Albums Not Certified.
  • Episode 124: Re-Recording the Old Hits
  • Episode 125: Kerrang!’s Top 100 Songs… in Issue #1
  • Episode 126: Kerrang!’s Top 100 Albums… in Issue #4
  • Episode 127: British Metal in the ‘90s
  • Episode 128: Metallica or Megadeth? In 1990.
  • Episode 129: Those electronic drums sound good.
  • Episode 130: Elevated by a Cover Version
  • Episode 131: Dubious Cover Version Decisions
  • Episode 132: Drum Hooks
  • Episode 133: Epic Drum Intros
  • Episode 134: Drum Flourishes
  • Episode 135: Early Mutt Lange
  • Episode 136: The Shadow Album
  • Episode 137: Glam Rock
  • Episode 138: The US Response to UK Glam
  • Episode 139: The Next Def Leppard
  • Episode 140: Favourite Requiems
  • Episode 141: Songs Critical of the Music Biz
  • Episode 142: Light Band Heavy Single
  • Episode 143: Fadeouts
  • Episode 144: Pub Rock
  • Episode 145: Bands with Angry Fans
  • Episode 146: Is there a NWOBHM Sound?
  • Episode 147: The Last of the First Mods
  • Episode 148: The First Great Productions
  • Episode 149: Guest Female Vocals
  • Episode 150: Proto Progressive Metal
  • Episode 151: Senior Singer Report Card
  • Episode 152: No Bottom End
  • Episode 153: No Top End
  • Episode 154: How heavy can it get?
  • Episode 155: The “It” Band
  • Episode 156: When Thrash Slowed Down
  • Episode 157: Solo Albums from Drummers
  • Episode 158: Songs About Radio
  • Episode 159: Psychedelic ‘90s Metal
  • Episode 160: The Jim Morrison Complex
  • Episode 161: First a Guitar Solo
  • Episode 162: Concept Album Flops
  • Episode 163: Grunge from Away
  • Episode 164: The Birth of Stoner Rock
  • Episode 165: Self-Titled
  • Episode 166: Songs You Shouldn’t Cover
  • Episode 167: Consensus Worst Songs
  • Episode 168: No Category Bands
  • Episode 169: Consensus Best Songs
  • Episode 170: Short-Lived Genres
  • Episode 171: Chorus First
  • Episode 172: Started as Psych
  • Episode 173: That One Massive Album
  • Episode 174: That Undeniable Song
  • Episode 175: Stand Alone Singles
  • Episode 176: Rock ‘n’ Roll Medley
  • Episode 177: Title Track Weirdnes
  • Episode 178: Snowglobe Bands
  • Episode 179: New Romantic: An Alternate Path
  • Episode 180: Worst Album Titles
  • Episode 181: Best Album Titles
  • Episode 182: Sounds like “Kashmir”
  • Episode 183: Punk Explained Right Away
  • Episode 184: Was hair metal born in Canada?
  • Episode 185: Famous Last Words
  • Episode 186: The Pasha Sound
  • Episode 187: Second Album, New Band
  • Episode 188: Third Album, New Band
  • Episode 189: History of Annoying Band Names
  • Episode 190: Bad Song Title Bands
  • Episode 191: Bands with Outside Lyricists
  • Episode 192: Good Drum Sounds
  • Episode 194: Making Bass Interesting
  • Episode 195: Paying Your Dues
  • Episode 196: Slow Songs
  • Episode 197: Why go solo?
  • Episode 198: Heavy Metal Gallop
  • Episode 199: Why is this depressing?
  • Episode 200: Triple Anniversary Show
  • Episode 201: Asterisk Bands
  • Episode 202: The Ballad
  • Episode 203: Bands Get Smarter
  • Episode 204: But for That One Song
  • Episode 205: Triple Crown Rockers
  • Episode 206: Bands That Went New Wave
  • Episode 207: Grunge Requiems
  • Episode 208: Glad They Went Poppy
  • Episode 209: UFO and Thin Lizzy as Doppelgangers
  • Episode 210: Zeppelin and Sabbath as Doppelgangers
  • Episode 211: What’s the point of this band?
  • Episode 212: Drummers. Who’s left?
  • Episode 213: I can’t unhear that.
  • Episode 214: This band’s “Smoke on the Water”
  • Episode 215: Song Title Non-Starters
  • Episode 216: Finding Value in Instrumentals
  • Episode 217: This Band’s (Police Album)
  • Episode 218: Hair Metal Wins by ‘70s Bands
  • Episode 219: Hair Metal Fails by ‘70s Bands
  • Episode 220: Hair Metal Skips by ‘70s Bands
  • Episode 221: Recalled Reactions from 1976
  • Episode 222: Recalled Reactions: Big Debut Albums
  • Episode 223: Bands Rarely Copied. But Not Never.
  • Episode 224: Sequencing
  • Episode 225: Heaviest ‘70s Live Albums
  • Episode 226: The Bruce Springsteen Family
  • Episode 227: New York City as Inspiration
  • Episode 228: Corporate Solo Albums
  • Episode 229: My Top Five Albums: A Pre-Chorus Study
  • Episode 230: My Shadow Top Five Albums: A Breaks Study
  • Episode 231: Birmingham’s Black Sabbath Family
  • Episode 232: Celebrating Snare Drum
  • Episode 233: OTT Hair Metal Songs
  • Episode 234: They Shrunk the Boogie!
  • Episode 235: First Gear Singers
  • Episode 236: Fifth Gear Singers
  • Episode 237: Genius
  • Episode 238: A Different Kind of Genius
  • Episode 239: Biggest Heavy Metal Stars
  • Episode 240: Producer Chris Tsangarides
  • Episode 241: Contrarianism
  • Episode 242: This Band’s British Steel

Also, come on over and join the facebook group for the podcast. It’s pretty active with debate and suggestions: https://www.facebook.com/groups/915971612134877/