Van Halen were the most powerful band in the world in 1984, this is the story of that journey, their career-defining LP "1984" and an in-depth discussion with album artist Margo Z Nahas.

You've seen them at yard sales, you've noticed them in 2nd hand shops, you may have actually owned or listened to them in the past, but do you know the history of the 8 track tape? It's pretty fascinating and it's thanks to innovators and businessmen like Earl 'Madman' Muntz and Bill Lear that started the personal music craze. Hear the story along with some secrets various artists his within the tracks of the 8 track tapes!

Concrete Blonde was a phenomenal Southern California band who had great songs and lucky enough to be recognized for their work; hits like "Joey", "Heal It Up", "Mexican Moon", "Caroline", "Tomorrow Wendy", "God Is a Bullet"....I could go on..... Lead singer Johnette Napolitano joins us to talk about her incredible career, the songs, the stories and why the music always needs to be the most important focus in this industry. Johnette also grew up in SoCal and has many stories of working with and around legends of music and art.

In 1969 the MC5 released their debut album "Kick Out The Jams" and, although the band was relatively short-lived, this release set the pace for future punk rock and garage bands around the world. Today we dive deep into this record as well as speak to Wayne Kramer about the stories, the controversies, the band's other releases, what it was like being in the MC5 and his life since. For more info on Wayne's recent activities go to JailGuitarDoors.org.

Pt 2 of 2: John Tefteller scours the world for some of the rarest records; his collection of Blues 78s is unmatched, many of them the only copies in existence! John hunts for these records, spends remarkable sums purchasing and restoring them so he can share his finds with the world. Today he tells some stories and shares some music with The Vinyl Guide audience!

John Tefteller scours the world for some of the rarest records; his collection of Blues 78s is unmatched, many of them the only copies in existence! John hunts for these records, spends a remarkable sum purchasing and restoring them so he can share his finds with the world. Today he tells some stories and shares some music with The Vinyl Guide audience!

Audio mastering engineer Cameron Henry takes a break from mastering records for the studio "Welcome to 1979" to speak with us and share the science behind a good sounding record. We start at the basics and work our way through why vinyl is the preferred medium for so many audiophiles worldwide.

We're on the road, this time to Japan which is a cratedigger's version of heaven, without all that annoying harp music. We visit Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and Hiroshima for an unprecedented record roadtrip extravaganza, give tips for those of you planning to make the excursion one day, plus we speak to two great shops, Best Sounds in Shimokitazawa in Tokyo and Hitozoku Records in Kyoto!

Guns & Roses had some controversial ideas for their debut album cover and the one they selected caused issues with several record stores worldwide. Today we discuss the artwork from renown artist Robert Williams and the story of GnR's multiple covers for Appetite for Destruction. We also stop by Warbler Records and talk to the owner about what it's like to own the best record shop in Santa Barbara California.

This week we speak to Tesco Vee, founder of Touch & Go fanzine, record label and lead singer of the band The Meatmen. Tesco tells us his history, shared stories from the early days of punk in the US including the time he danced on SNL during Fear's infamous performance. Fans of punk rock will not want to miss this episode!

What will happen to your body when you die? Jason at AndVinyly.com has an option; get your ashes pressed into vinyl records to be enjoyed by your loved ones. Hear his interview as well as some discussion on cratedigging in Northern China. I travel to the city of Dalian and made a video of a record hunt, available on Facebook.com/vinylguide.

In the late 80s there were 2200 independent record shops in the UK. By 2009 there were just 269. Graham Jones documented this demise in the book and DVD "Last Shop Standing", available at www.lastshopstanding.com . Plus we discuss the 7 errors in the first US pressing of The Beatles White Album.

Still down-under for the 2nd part of our 2 part cratedigging expedition through Melbourne Australia. In this episode Steve from Greville Records in Prahan shares tales of Monster Magnet, Metallica & the Beastie Boys stopping by the oldest record shop in the city, Benny of Wax Museum manages an underground record shop at Flinders Street train station & Nick from Collectors Corner talks about his legendary shop in the Melbourne CBD.

This week we're in glorious Melbourne Australia connecting with some of the best record shops of the city! We visit Heartland Records in North Melbourne to hear the history of one of Melbourne's great rock record shops and then to Northside records, the soul, jazz and afrobeat center in the suburb of Fitzroy, where we learn about some new music and how to cratedig in Africa!

Jay Millar, record dude for Sundazed Music & Modern Harmonic, shares his stories, opinions and experiences working in United Record Pressing, the largest vinyl pressing plant in the United States. He also shares his stories of special projects including Microfiche Records w/ vinyl turntable sports games and putting together the blood-filled records from "The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends", a charity project led by Wayne Coyne. 

The Amen Break is the most popular, most used, most sampled drum beat in history, and it's appeared on over 2000 separate recordings and spawned new music genres. Hear the story of the song, the track, the sample and the man behind it. We speak to Richard L Spencer, owner of the song 'Amen Brother' and the Amen Break.

Eric Spitznagel goes on a journey to find the old record collection. Not copies of the records, the exact ones! The story is detailed in his new book "Old Records Never Die" and he shares some of the tales on today's podcast (buy his book here!). Plus we discuss a little known Pink Floyd secret message on their LP The Wall.

John Lennon inadvertently plagiarized a Chuck Berry song that was owned by a mobster and hatched a plan with Phil Spector to correct it. What could go wrong? As it turns out, quite a lot! This is the story of a John Lennon record that sold less than 1500 units and was a huge embarrassment to Lennon, Capitol Records and the Beatles.

We also speak with Port Of Sound Record Shoppe in Costa Mesa California and discuss other thingamajigs related to vinyl records.

The Vinyl District is an awesome website as well as application for Apple iOS and Google Android smart phones and we speak to the founders about their contributions to the vinyl community. Plus I share an announcement regarding The Vinyl Guide podcast and discuss the hard-to-find status of Prince records.