We roll into our 80s hard rock showdown, where we put ACDC’s Back in Black, Van Halen’s 1984, and Guns N’ Roses’ Appetite for Destruction under the brightest light we know: track-by-track comparison. Jump meets It’s So Easy; Panama squares off with Nightrain; Hot for Teacher tangles with Paradise City. The fun isn’t just the score—it’s how those matchups rewire your nostalgia.

From there, we zoom in on live recordings that changed how we hear legends: Elton John’s 1970 trio storm on 17-11-70, and The Doors’ final Jim Morrison concert, a difficult night for him by all accounts, that closes on the aptly chosen "The End."

Minute with Jimmy unwraps the shockingly modern birth of Little Richard’s Tutti Frutti—those opening syllables were a drum part first—and why 1955 still sounds like tomorrow. We close on the Jim Carroll Band’s People Who Died, a song that once felt like pure punk adrenaline and now reads like a roll call of lives that shaped us. If you love rock history, live albums, and the way songs become landmarks, you’ll feel right at home.

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A smiling John Lennon on Monday Night Football. A blunt 1970 interview that cut through the post‑Beatles haze. A late‑night Bermuda epiphany triggered by the B‑52s. We stitch together these scenes to tell a clear story of return, risk, and the ache of what never happened.

We revisit Lennon’s sharp takes on early solo albums, then jump to Howard Cosell’s halftime chat where “It’s always in the wind” floated a reunion hope. From there we follow the thread to Double Fantasy: phone‑call songwriting with Yoko, the decision to interleave their tracks, and the electric but shelved Cheap Trick‑backed version of I’m Losing You. The music reveals a man choosing domestic honesty over spectacle, and that choice rings loud on Watching The Wheels and Beautiful Boy. We also sit with the shock of December 8, 1980—how news broke live on TV, how radio turned into a vigil, and how listeners discovered deep cuts and new meanings in the days that followed.

The legacy keeps evolving. Anthology 1 brought Free As A Bird to life from a worn cassette, reminding us that imperfections can feel truer than polish. New restoration tools now separate voices from tape hiss, reframing classics without erasing their warmth, and sparking debate around releases like Now And Then. We dig into early Beatles gems, Pete Best’s late payday, and why Rubber Soul still feels like the band’s great hinge moment. Seasonal staples make an appearance too—Lennon’s reflective Happy Xmas and McCartney’s gloriously divisive Wonderful Christmastime—because these songs hold our calendars as much as our hearts.

Come for the stories, stay for the connective tissue: how culture, technology, and memory keep Lennon present. If this journey moved you, follow the show, share it with a friend who loves The Beatles, and leave a quick review so more listeners can find these conversations.

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Some years don’t just produce great records—they redraw the map of how we listen. We dive into 1970 as a living, breathing turning point, starting with the Velvet Underground’s Loaded to George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass, with detours into Derek and the Dominoes, CCR, and the Partridge Family. Stories of edits, covers, charts, lawsuits, and misheard lyrics tie together what makes songs endure.

• Velvet Underground’s Loaded, Lou Reed's last album with the band
• Who Loves the Sun, Sweet Jane, and Rock and Roll
• Phish’s Halloween cover and the life of influence
• George Harrison’s triple-album surge and wall of sound
• My Sweet Lord, What Is Life, and a-list session players
• Derek and the Dominoes, Bell Bottom Blues, and Layla
• Jim Gordon’s studio legacy and tragic downfall
• pop joy with the Partridge Family and TV-to-radio crossover

Learn Something New or
Remember Something Old

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Contact us at musicinmyshoes@gmail.com with your own musical memories.

Send us a one-way message. We can’t answer you back directly, but it could be part of a future Music In My Shoes Mailbag!!!