History in Five Songs Episode 337: Missed the Pre-Grunge Window
In Episode 337 of History in Five Songs with Martin Popoff, Martin examines rock and metal bands that “missed the pre-grunge window” by failing to release one more album before grunge’s 1991 breakthrough wiped out their commercial momentum.
Whitesnake – “Judgment Day"
Foreigner – “Counting Every Minute”
Accept – “Monsterman”
UFO – “Mean Streets”
Blue Öyster Cult – “Del Rio’s Song”
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35:14
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35:14
History in Five Songs Episode 336: Snuck One in Before Grunge
In Episode 336 of History in Five Songs with Martin Popoff, Martin ponders the bands who managed—through timing, luck, pivots, or pure momentum—to sneak in a successful album just before grunge exploded and reshaped the entire rock and metal landscape.
Alice Cooper – “Little by Little”
Pantera – “Domination”
Judas Priest – “Hell Patrol”
Metallica – “Holier Than Though”
AC/DC – “Let’s Make It”
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34:51
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34:51
History in Five Songs Episode 336: Snuck One in Before Grunge
In Episode 336 of History in Five Songs with Martin Popoff, Martin ponders the bands who managed—through timing, luck, pivots, or pure momentum—to sneak in a successful album just before grunge exploded and reshaped the entire rock and metal landscape.
Alice Cooper – “Little by Little”
Pantera – “Domination”
Judas Priest – “Hell Patrol”
Metallica – “Holier Than Though”
AC/DC – “Let’s Make It”
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34:51
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34:51
History in Five Songs Episode 335: Motörhead and Saxon as Doppelgangers
In Episode 335 of History in Five Songs with Martin Popoff, Martin traces the parallel rise, stumbles, and enduring legacies of Motörhead and Saxon, showing how the two bands evolved like true heavy-metal doppelgängers across debuts, classics, live albums, missteps, and comeback eras.
Motörhead – “Keep Us on the Road”
Saxon – “Out of Control”
Motörhead – “Marching Off to War”
Saxon – “Hole in the Sky”
Motörhead – “When the Eagle Screams”
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35:37
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35:37
History in Five Songs Episode 334: Why a Rock ‘n’ Roll Song?
In Episode 334 of History in Five Songs with Martin Popoff, Martin digs into why so many rock, metal, and even punk bands slip old-school 1950s-style rock-and-roll rave-ups into their albums, exploring the roots, motives, and surprising examples behind this enduring musical quirk.
Whitesnake – “Bloody Luxury”
Kiss – “Let Me Go, Rock ‘n’ Roll”
Accept – “Burning”
The Clash – “Brand New Cadillac”
Rush – “In the Mood”
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History in Five Songs with Martin Popoff 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 a sturdy house in which this week’s theory can reside unbothered by the elements. At approximately 7000, Martin has had published in books more record reviews than anybody in the history of music writing across all genres. Additionally, Martin has penned approximately 85 books on hard rock, heavy metal, classic rock and record collecting. Proud part of Pantheon - the podcast network for music lovers.
Listen to History in Five Songs with Martin Popoff, A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs and many other podcasts from around the world with the radio.net app