Clutch, Alice In Chains, Smashing Pumpkins, & More Albums That Remind Me of My First Year In Radio

[@dustyoldtapes580]

I was that kid calling up the radio station, wanting to know why the new Skid Row or Dokken song wasn't getting more airplay, based solely off past glories, or "because it's a good song, maaaan!" '95 was astronomical twilight for '80's bands. Your "Home of Rock 'n' Roll" tried to keep bands like Foreigner, who came from the golden age of AOR, afloat, but this was their last hurrah. But yeah, '95 was really all about Collective Soul, and Live, and Better Than Ezra and that fucking Blues Traveler song.

[@spectrerecords]

Hey Robert! Thanks for all the videos and sharing your experience in radio! Your story about playing Clutch because it was a "great song" and being turned down reminded me about my experience in radio. As a kid, I wanted to be a radio DJ to share the music I was excited about and wasn't hearing on the radio. I grew up listening to KROQ in Los Angeles in the 1980s and after moving to Reno, NV in 1989 I really missed alternative radio. I loved listening to Rodney Bingenheimer - his specialty show played stuff that was so different than anything else you heard during the week - new and classic british punk and glam, American underground, early LA punk, the Monkees. There was nothing but classic rock, Top 40, country, and smooth jazz in Reno in the early 1990s. The college station was 98% classical and news had a guy who played great stuff after midnight on Saturdays(?) but that ended. In 1992, my high school TV and Radio class toured the new "alternative" radio station - which converted from a heavy metal station the year before, kicking off the new broadcast format with "Smells Like Teen Spirit". I asked how the songs we heard were chosen and why we didn't hear other bands and they explained what a "Programming Director" was... I knew immediately I didn't want to be that kind of radio DJ.

[@RobertFithen]

Yeah, the Rodney Bingeheimer type of DJ is definitely a specialty thing. It's more of who he is as a credible music celebrity that allowed him to have such a show.

[@Moses-b4w]

Jesus man, I can listen to you for days. You are freakin hilarious and a great story teller. You really spike my mood. This time period you are talking about is when I was building my music taste, so yeah, lot of grunge and alt rock, some I still cherish, others I ask myself what the heck I was thinking when I bought that particular album. But music, among other things, is also about memories and particular events and people tied to it. Today, living a mostly uneventful boring life, I am more careful in the way I pick up music, more based on the quality and emotional side of it than any particular event in my life. Sounds boring, as it will leave no story behind, but that is what being 50 might do to you, although I am still in love with music as I ever was. Well, cheers again for bringing a smile on this sad face of mine, and memories of livelier days.

[@RobertFithen]

Thanks!! I appreciate the comment. Life gets tedious.

[@ChrisEstey]

First year in radio ... this was a magnificent memory mile. Love this insider outlook on history and the radio biz. Bravo, and more, more!

[@RobertFithen]

Thanks! I will probably do more from the radio years in the future.

[@andyshacks7812]

Not heard the Ted Nugent story before,so it really made me chuckle 😅. I needed that !

[@garyscarpulla100]

Hi Robert, I'm glad you mentioned the Misery video. I did the color grade on it from 35mm film so the label was def behind them. It was directed and shot by Matt Mahurin, one of the few actual geniuses I had the good fortune to work with. I also pulled an all nighter for In The Meantime with Jake Scott, great session memories. My favorite video I did with Scott was Ver. 1 of Mother Mother with Tracey in the TV, shot in one take and we only graded that one take which was a ballsy move. Anyway, sounds like there's a lot of similarities of your early days in radio and my time in post production. It was wild and a great time for rock. Keep up the great work

[@RobertFithen]

Thanks! We also played "Mother Mother". Sounds like you've had quite an interesting time. You should do some videos about it. I would definitely be interested.

[@garyscarpulla100]

@RobertFithen Thanks Robert, yeah I have some stories, lots of characters back then both in front of and behind the camera. Most artists were really cool, some were just weird and a few were absolute asshats. David Lee Roth and KRS-One were two of the nicest and most genuine. Mother Mother was a great song. Few things on that one, that was Tracy's mom cleaning the house, Tracy was in playback on the TV and it was legitimately shot in one continuous take. The only other video I worked on that had no edits at all was Stay (I Missed You) by Lisa Loeb. Ethan Hawke directed that. Man we smoked a lot of cigarettes during that session.

[@rameybutler-hm7nx]

Great video lots of wierd f'ed up memories for me, remembering these songs. Thank you i needed that.

[@shortfuseartstudio]

I remember hearing the F bomb in Heaven Beside You. Same thing with The Who and "who the f are you??". I always waited for it and pointed it out to my friends like I was the smart music guy or something 😂

[@daveh8980]

The ending of that Spacehog song sounds exactly like the beginning of Roundabout by Yes. 😂

[@RobertFithen]

YES it does.

[@daveandreahoward8203]

I was out of my on the beach years and back in radio...but it was country radio...which existed in a different side universe. Active rock and urban would follow in 2000.

[@jontoyman]

😊😊😊😊

[@BillyFromTheHills01]

Clutch is one of my favorites. Pretty much all their stuff is awesome.

[@sawboss216]

That was smashing Robert! Was a big Collective Soul fan from the outset. First two albums...great. They fell off the map after that.

[@brunohebert1351]

wait till he becomes "THE Smashing Robert" sorry couldn't resist....

thanks for bringing back the memories, 1995 the year before I tuned 30

[@thelongspring]

I was 12 in 1995 so this is killing me. All I did was listen to the radio in those days. I was outside Chicago and listened to WKQX all day. So much bad 90s rock. I do still love Presidents of the USA, that first Spacehog album, and Astro Creep 2000. But Collective Soul, Seven Mary Three, Candlebox, and all those Eddie Vedder/Kurt Cobain clones were just torture. Then Nu-Metal exploded and shit got so much worse.

[@RobertFithen]

Oh yes, it only got much much worse.

[@vergevinyl]

I found myself laughing so hard at times 😂!

[@seancurran3603]

Just popping in to say hello. Three hours from now I will be relaxing with an adult beverage while Robert reminisces. Can’t wait.

[@arzabael]

Thirty minutes if the Fith

[@CatsTracksandCarts]

Hello Robert. I just wanted to let you know you're doing an awesome job and I enjoy your videos. I've been debating on making my own videos for a while now and I think I have an unique take on music reviews. I was wondering if I could run the idea by you and get your opinion? If not, no worries, keep on keeping on my friend.

[@RobertFithen]

Thaks! Sure you can

[@CatsTracksandCarts]

@RobertFithen I appreciate it. So, my rough idea is to pick a month/year and choose a video game and an album to review. I was thinking more so shorter reviews and more obscure releases. So, if I picked September 1991, I'd review a video game and an album released in that month of 1991.

[@thebeatles114]

@@CatsTracksandCarts Thats sounds like a good idea to me anyway!

[@baileydute1]

The 90s rock scene was pretty interesting. It was the last prominent decade for rock music before the synthesized stuff took over.

[@thethewestexit]

Had a total flashback when you mentioned the Kim Mitchell song, I used to hear it working third shift at a grocery store, I always thought I was mishearing it, surely he wasn't singing "might as well go for a soda," but sure enough...

[@RobertFithen]

That song probably sounded fitting at a grocery store. It sounds like a cola commercial.

[@SeanKagalis]

The summer after High School graduation for me was 1995. Thanks for the wayback machine. That year I liked: The Bends - Radiohead Nihil - KMFDM Not A Pretty Girl - Ani Di Franco Olympian - Gene Grandpaw Would - Ben Lee s/t - Ben Folds Five Born To Quit - Smoking Popes Dear You - Jawbreaker Southpaw Grammar - Morrissey Clueless Soundtrack s/t - Garbage Here's Where The Strings Come In - Superchunk The Sacrilicious Sounds of... - The Supersuckers Lost Somewhere Between The Earth and My Home - The Geraldine Fibbers Let Your Dim Light Shine - Soul Asylum ...And Out Come The Wolves - Rancid Insomniac - Green Day What's The Story? (Morning Glory) - Oasis Natalie Merchant - Tigerlily King For A Day... Fool For A Lifetime - Faith No More Yes - Morphine A Boy Named Goo - Goo Goo Dolls Resident Alien - Speacehog s/t - Menthol Willing To Wait - Melissa Ferrick Relish - Joan Osbourne Everything I Long For - Hayden and I love Dog's Eye View. *ducks*

[@R3TR0R4V3]

Haha, I love it.. You tell it like it is. 😎 Good man! 👍

[@RobertFithen]

Thanks!

[@ChromeDestiny]

Kim Mitchell was formerly from Canadian band Max Webster in the 70's and very early 80's, they were labelmates of Rush and were eccentric art rock guys with intricate musicianship, sort of like 70's Zappa but with cleaner lyrics meets Tormato period Yes, sometimes not far off from Gentle Giant and a lot of their later songs were about partying. Kim Mitchell got pretty goofy and toned down most of the technical stuff when he went solo. He had another song I couldn't believe was real when I was a kid called I Am a Wild Party that had obnoxious 80's synth and a weird breakdown about being a chicken. Go For a Soda made some inroads in the States, it was seen as kind of an AA/ Mothers Against Drunk Driving anthem. Alanis Morrissette's edgy makeover was kind of hard for me to take seriously cause I remember her having an earlier pop career in the early 90's with a goofy song called Too Hot which was kind of like a proto version of Katy Perry's later Hot 'n' Cold.

[@RobertFithen]

That's the thing about the "Go For Soda" song. It doesn't sound legitimate. It sounds like something that was actually made for a campaign or a TV show.

[@Love_Street]

Part 1 and 2 were great ❤!

[@RobertFithen]

Thanks!

[@CatDadChris]

I graduated HS and started college in 1995 and I remember all of the songs from then and I knew most of the older tracks too. Kim Mitchell was in Max Webster, is that the reason he got airplay? I had never heard of Max Webster until a Patrick stream a couple years ago.

[@juanmeowmix1530]

I think it was because the song was used as that time for an anti drunk driving campaign.

Battlescar by Max Webster a little better than the soda song

[@RobertFithen]

We never played Max Webster and I also had never heard of him until decades later. The Kim Mitchell song really stuck out.

[@CBCDs]

I couldn't think of "Thirty Three" from Mellon Collie so I just re-listened. Haven't heard that in a long long time. I love that song too. Galapogos is another good one. Lots of great songs from that album. Love hearing stories about your radio days

[@RobertFithen]

His voice is much calmer on those songs.

[@shawndaniels1691]

Thanks for the smashing pumpkins rant! Great video as usual! Alanis morrisette does suck!

[@jamescampbell7605]

"PEACHES" is still played every now and then on WCYY here in Maine.

[@danielking1850]

I love Kim Mitchell... 80's/90's Canadian arena rock... he's still around... that was like his only song to be played in the USA.

[@RobertFithen]

I've never heard anything else from him and haven't heard that song in years.

[@danielking1850]

@@RobertFithen Lager and Beer is a great song from that same album... catchy... probably would have been a better choice from the label to introduce him to America.

[@shortfuseartstudio]

I saw Alanis Morissette at ACL Fest last year. Thousands of women singing You Ought To Know was a scary moment for me and my buddies. We were waiting to see Foo Fighters, but felt like were hearing war drums in the Congo. It was scary!

[@willhouse]

That Billy Corgan buzzer-siund story is absolutely *wonderful* also: S.C.O.T.S. is still together & they still tour all over the US! They're actually kinda' venerable now.

[@willhouse]

fave S.C.O.T.S. tune of late btw: music.kzbin.info/www/bejne/jKCrg3-dhs-Zj7c

[@RobertFithen]

I need to check out their more current material

[@willhouse]

@RobertFithen Not much has changed: still just guitar, bass & drums, still goofy

[@aminahmed2220]

Awesome video have a great day Robert ❤😊

[@brandonio_granger]

I love me some Southern Culture on the Skids (SCOTS). I'm glad they're still going. They've consistently put out great albums even to this day.

[@daveandreahoward8203]

Amen! Love SCOTS!

[@RobertFithen]

I only know of the earlier ones. I need to check out some of the more current albums.

[@daveandreahoward8203]

@@RobertFithen I would recommend the live record, DoubleWide And Live. Rick Miller on the guitar is a barn burner.

[@nocturnal-io9vq]

Yikes, that would have been a terrible feeling, thinking you're going to get fired after just barely getting started - all because of the Nuge! I'm amazed you still have all of those CDs, especially since some of them are so awful, ha ha! Great stories and reminiscing!

[@RobertFithen]

I'm too nostalgic to throw them away.

[@nocturnal-io9vq]

@@RobertFithen Understandable! Especially since they have such a strong association with your 1st year in radio (collector's curse as well, ha ha)!

[@davidspinney2023]

Kim Mitchel was in a band called Max Webster that did OK. then he had the "go for a soda" then a little later "patio lanterns" I liked them they were commercial and kind of hard rock as well. I guess it was a Canadian thing like April Wine or Stampeders

[@CDRabbitHole]

Letters to Cleo AND Veruca Salt mention?! Two of my favorites still

[@Pauldjreadman]

Robert, i’m taking your advice with regard to buying something and selling something you don’t play or just for space so my collection doesn’t go well explode I’ve just to vinyl in one place :) I used to broadcast on online radio from 2005 to 2015 and my favourite thing was interviewing band and when possible in house performances. I was on an indie station amd luckily there were no restriction except my own, which weren’t that many rules aside from the quality aspect. The one artist that should have got way more attention is accoustic musician Blackdoghat. The song writing quality is insane. One one artist that I call “A Organic musician, Jesus Hooligan. When I first heard Get my a Rope Ladder? “GAAAAAASP” pure gold.

[@RobertFithen]

I'll have to check them out.

[@AsItShouldBePodcast]

Oh jeez, Go for Soda. Used to hear that on the radio regularly for the brief time in 1984 when it apparently had "promotion" behind it.

[@RobertFithen]

It must have had some kind of major push because the song is terrible. It probably wasn't soda though. lol

[@TheChadTI]

5:57 Cumberbun. Yes, that thing got plated like it was every track on Who's Next rolled into one. Then bands like that would come to town and draw 140 people...

[@dustyoldtapes580]

My local rock station did not play Metallica at all until Load came out. Really. Across the Delaware Bay was another station out of Atlantic City who played "Enter Sandman" and "Nothing Else Matters." That was it. On Two fer Tuesday, they played them both.

[@garywerner5672]

I didn't care mush for 'Everything Falls Apart' either but the rest of the album is pretty good. I still listen to it once in a while

[@Mark54115]

That was hilarious !.....😂

[@catherine6653]

Dolly Parton made a bluegrass cover of Heaven Let Your Light Shine Down by Collective Soul. Maybe you will like this version better. 😊 She won a Grammy for this.

[@RobertFithen]

Probably not, if it won a Grammy.

[@listen_to_records444]

“Fucking Silverchair” 😮😂

[@jcm78]

TIL “Everything Falls Apart” was recorded by a band named Dogs Eye View, not Matchbox 20.

[@busmekanx]

Loved the sarcasm, Kim Mitchell is huuuuge in Canada, Max Webster was as big as Rush, but better. Never hit it in USA did your with rush, all friends. Record company was pushing him with MADD paying for song, trying to found American as in Canada it's called Pop not Soda. But good video. I had Presidents cd loved it

[@GeeAitch-r1r]

I agree with your Max Webster assessment... those quirky studio albums were classic, esp. the first two, Canadian rock at its best

[@davidellis5141]

I've never heard an edited version of Who Are You. I wonder if MCA received an FCC exemption for the F word towards the end of the song due to the status of the group.There is still an incarnation of Collective Soul that plays in nameless clubs in nameless cities !

[@mrdjproductions3070]

So many of those cd singles back then had multiple versions of the songs. Top 40 edits, chr edits, etc. were you told which version to play?

[@RobertFithen]

Yes, but usually there was only an edit and album version. We usually played the album version.

[@danmoss2080]

So right about Corgan’s voice! That’s some horrible mid 90s stuff. Never heard Dogs Eye View - ugh! Thankfully we had Teenage Fanclub, Blur and Black grape here in the UK!

[@RobertFithen]

I wish we could have played Teenage Fanclub. We only played one song by Blur ("Song 2"), too bad we couldn't play more from them.

[@GeeAitch-r1r]

Too funny about Kim Mitchell... others have mentioned it here so I won't carry on too much, but that song..WHY that song? I remember it from the 80's high school dance... why o why... were they playing it in mid 90's ? They could have put on Max Webster's Hangover... which totally would have worked on such a station you described format wise... And, as far as Alanis Clitoris goes... we just won't go there. Great Part Two here... Cheers!

[@PsycheDerek.]

Robert's radio career was almost gone-zo!

[@RobertFithen]

Thankfully, it was in the wee hours.

[@scottmoenster]

Go for a soda that album was produced by Joel Walsh. That’s why it was something. 28:45

[@juanmeowmix1530]

Great video Robert. I'm curious, in that time period what did you think of Type O Negative. I really liked them in high school in the 90s, and stuck them. They toured almost non stop. Shame Pete died. They would've been the band I would have seen the most.

[@RobertFithen]

I heard them in college. It was the earlier stuff. We never played them on commercial radio.

[@johnfronczek2658]

I was a teenager from 1992 to 1998. From 1994 to 1997, I even had a subscription to Rolling Stone Magazine. I remember some of those modern rock bands, but I preferred classic rock. I liked the Steve Miller Band, Pink Floyd, and Led Zeppelin over The Smashing Pumpkins, Silver Chair, and Alice In Chains.

[@RobertFithen]

We played all of that.

[@membersonlydave]

can you do a video on your thoughts of the entire butthole surfers discography and why they should be in the rock and roll hall of fame. they just remastered their earlier albums this year and they are worth a listen!

[@Raypirri]

Rant on Robert! Maybe you had a secret fantasy about Alanis Morrisett…that’s why the lyrics hurt you so much!😝Love your work Dude.

[@RobertFithen]

Thanks!

[@daveandreahoward8203]

How about "Banditos" by The Refreshments!

[@daveandreahoward8203]

Or "Jenny Says" by Cowboy Mouth.

[@daveandreahoward8203]

Or "Hobo Humpin Slobo Babe" by Whale.

[@RobertFithen]

We played that and Cowboy Mouth, but it was the following year.

[@Nazz1967]

Should check out the aussie band The Hard ons

[@dongordon4464]

I remember three times finding Red Hot Chili Peppers tapes that had been ripped out of the player and tossed onto the street. I may not know much, but I know that "Rap" sucks.

[@brunohebert1351]

Well, looks like Alice In Chains summed up that profanity regulation well: it's fucked up ;-) Did your station receive demos by unsigned artists? In France, one station had a program dedicated to that at some point. They'll play the song and if it was terrible, some roast would be in order and then they'll crush the records/cd/tape The program was called Le Presse Puree or "potato masher"... I think Meat Grinder would be more appropriate here as a title (of course, it was a recorded sound, they would never smash the thing live on radio) Rarely, it was pretty good so they would save it for its destruction fate. I also remember this one station that on prime time, they decided to play a field recording of the Amazon forest for 2 hours... non stop, no commercial breaks only the "You're listening to Skyrock" (I think it was the name of the station) No profanity rule in France so some radios could go crazy... But yeah, back then FM radio was, especially to us kids, internet/youtube/streaming all in one

[@RobertFithen]

Only on my specialty Sunday night show would we played local unsigned bands. Usually one song per show. I don't think any commercial station in the US would do something like playing a field recording of nature for two hours.

[@progman14-q7i]

First . Great video Robert as always

[@RobertFithen]

Thanks!

[@Joe-ny2up]

27:26 lol

[@PrankZabba]

Thanks for reminding me why I gave up on music in the 90s. The only one I saw I liked was The Presidents one. Back when a gimmick could last a year or so. As for who the hell Kim Mitchell is, then that just proves how Canadian bands go unnoticed in the states. Considering he was the main guy in the band Max Webster. Maybe that explains all those stupid ass cd covers that say Featuring Kim Mitchell. Max put out a huge box set a few years back, and can't believe they screwed up big time by not including 2 songs off their only best of album. Like talk about screwing up royally...anyways, throw on Akimbo Alogo cd and play Rumour Has It. It will be the heaviest thing he has ever done. Not like i followed music in the 90s, because it all kinda sucked. But I'm surprised that Better Then Ezra wasn't one of these cds. Guess thats a different year. And yeah. Is that where the band Nashville Pussy got their name from?

[@RobertFithen]

Yes that's where the name came from. Probably the only band named after on stage banter

[@davidspinney2023]

They had some terrible sounding Rock music at that time we had a station called the Bear I am sure they played stuff like that

[@TheChadTI]

4:13 So many tracks/bands like this. It's all politics.

[@RobertFithen]

Yes, it was all about the promotional dollars.

[@SuperWarren83]

WE LOVE YOU,ROBERT,BUT PLEASE DON,T SING....................lol

[@jimmymelendez1836]

That's the best part.

[@therecordchanger4038]

Awful.

[@thebeatles114]

Awesome video, Robert! Finally someone that realises that Alanis Morrisette's songs are the worst, god her music is awful. Back in the mid to late 90's did you play any Britpop like Blur, Oasis, Suede, etc?

[@RobertFithen]

The two US Oasis hits and "Live Forever" "Song 2" from Blur ("Girls & Boys" was too pop). No Suede.

[@thebeatles114]

@@RobertFithen Wow, the thing about Blur is that they had so many tunes that what you hear on the radio is just scratching the surface. I suppose you didn't play any of the smaller bands as I'm not sure if they even were noticed in the States, like Pulp, The Lightning Seeds, Republica, Shed Seven, Elastica, Cast, Space, and a ton more that I could mention...

[@RobertFithen]

@thebeatles114 i played them at home, but not on the radio.