Lots of country music stars wear the black hat but none of them wore it with more authenticity than Johnny Paycheck. Johnny Cash may have bragged about shooting a man “just to watch him die” but Johnny Paycheck actually pulled the trigger. He was a true outlaw and totally hardcore – hardcore honky tonk. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. This episode was originally published on August 14, 2018. To listen to Disgraceland ad free and get access...

This week in the After Party, Jake talks trusting our institutions, myths and conspiracies, the new Disgo Book Club, this week's DISGRACELAND episode on Bob Dylan, and of course your emails, texts, DMs, and voicemails. What story from pop culture do you call BS on? Get in touch at 617-906-6638, [email protected], or on socials @disgracelandpod, and come join the After Party. To hear an extended version of the After Party with a story about yet another motorcycle accident in Bob...

Bob Dylan was booed at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival – but not for the reason you’ve been led to believe. He went from Folk Music Jesus to Rock ‘n Roll Judas, alienating thousands of fans with ear-splitting, confrontational music. Many of those fans heckled him. One even tried to attack him on stage with a knife. He returned home from a European tour that nearly killed him….only to get into a motorcycle accident that, it was said, left him either disfigured, paralyzed, or dead. To see the...

Motown Records is one of the most successful musical industry endeavors of all time. The music and the megastars Motown produced, like Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, and the Jackson 5, defined a generation. But that success is marred by rumors – rumors that the record label and its innovative owner were controlled by the "black hand" of the white American mob. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. This episode was originally...

This week in the After Party, Jake talks the recent Sean Combs developments, the new Disgo Book Club, this week's DISGRACELAND second-part episode on Marilyn Monroe, and of course your emails, texts, DMs, and voicemails. Which explanation of Marilyn Monroe's death do you think is most plausible? Let Jake know at 617-906-6638, [email protected], or on socials @disgracelandpod, and come join the After Party. To hear an extended version of the After Party with a deep dive into one of the...

The conspiracy theories surrounding Marilyn Monroe’s death in 1962 continue to entertain the imaginations of those obsessed with celebrity and scandal. The stories, many of them fantastical and one of them true, feature cameos by the likes of President John F. Kennedy, his brother Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, and Rat Pack members Frank Sinatra and Peter Lawford. Somewhere in the pile of countless rumors, innuendos, and crackpot theories is a closer understanding of exactly what...

When a mystery arsonist set Tom Petty’s house on fire in the late 1980s, he barely escaped with his life. But there was another danger looming around the corner — a heroin addiction that drove him into a pit of isolation from his family, his fame, and his bandmates. Petty barely hoisted himself of it. The Heartbreakers’ bass player, Howie Epstein, wasn't so lucky. After the first phase of Tom Petty’s career burned to the ground, the stage was set for a descent into depression, dependency, and...

This week in the After Party, Jake talks the impact of departing icons, jealous exes, this week's DISGRACELAND episode on Marilyn Monroe, and of course your emails, texts, DMs, and voicemails. Which celebrity death affected you the most? Is Marilyn Monroe the biggest icon in entertainment history? Has anyone else captured the public’s imagination for such a long period of time? Does the mystery around her death contribute to our fascination? Get in touch at...

Marilyn Monroe is one if not the greatest Hollywood stars of all time. She rose from orphan to icon by creating an on screen character America could not peel their eyes away from. And she did it all while battling anxiety, depression and addiction. Along the way she bedded, married and otherwise conquered America’s most impressive men; Joe DiMaggio, Arthur Miller, Frank Sinatra and President John F. Kennedy to name a few and her relationship with JFK and his younger brother Attorney General,...

When Frank Farian first laid eyes on Rob Pilatus and Fab Morvan, he saw everything he wasn’t. They were handsome, young, and Black. But Frank had something they didn’t. He had power. So, Frank offered them a devil’s bargain. Almost overnight, Milli Vanilli’s debut album went five times platinum and scored a Grammy nomination. But when the lie at the center of their success started to unravel, Rob and Fab would discover the hard way the difference between star power and real power. From...

Chet Baker, with his natural talent, unique voice and beautiful looks was known as “the James Dean of Jazz.” He was also a savage junkie and part time criminal. A one of a kind musician, his soft singing style and romantic playing enraptured Hollywood, the jazz world, and Europe. However, violence, crime, and drugs led to numerous prison stints and to one of the most mysterious deaths in music. Who or what killed the great Chet Baker? To view the full list of contributors, see the show notes...

This week in the After Party, Jake talks the uncanny fascination with Beat poets, their numerous run-ins with musical icons, this week's DISGRACELAND episode on William S. Burroughs, and of course your emails, texts, DMs, and voicemails. Which icons, living or dead, do you think are overrated? What are your thoughts on Burroughs and his place among the Beats? Drop a line at 617-906-6638, [email protected], or on socials @disgracelandpod, and come join the After Party. To hear an...

William S. Burroughs was a literary icon whose novel Naked Lunch, one of the signature works of the Beat Generation, was banned and went on trial for obscenity. His writing inspired generations of musicians, from the Rolling Stones and Patti Smith to Nirvana and Sonic Youth. But long before all that, in 1951, when he was an unknown and mostly failed writer, William S. Burroughs made the most fateful decision of his life when he pointed a gun at a highball glass balanced on top of his wife’s...

This week in the After Party, Jake talks humans' fascination with true crime, crossing the line, this week's DISGRACELAND episode on Garth Brooks, and of course your emails, texts, DMS, and voicemails. What artist would you be least surprised to find out is a serial killer? What do the real Garth Brooks fans feel about all this? Get in touch at 617-906-6638, [email protected], or on socials @disgracelandpod, and come join the After Party. To hear an extended version of the After Party...

Garth Brooks has more albums that have sold over 10 million copies than any other artist in history. He cut one of the biggest record deals in history – bigger than Madonna or Prince, a deal matched at the time only by Michael Jackson. His live shows are just as big, like when he triggered an actual earthquake in Baton Rouge. But it was along Garth Brooks’ seismic tour route that online detectives began to suss out a rumor…a rumor tying together the cities in which Garth Brooks performed and...

This week in the After Party, Jake talks collaborations, new genres, this week's DISGRACELAND episode on Public Enemy, and of course your emails, texts, DMS, and voicemails. Which artist has best represented the world in a "folk music" way? What are your thoughts on PE's Fear of a Black Planet? Let Jake know at 617-906-6638, [email protected], or on socials @disgracelandpod, and come join the After Party. To hear an extended version of the After Party with a story about Public Enemy's...

Public Enemy were revolutionaries – both in their message and their music. In the 1980s and 1990s, they elevated hip-hop to an art form. They did this with Chuck D's booming voice, Flavor Flav's comic levity, and the auditory assault of the Bomb Squad's production. But with that revolution came scandal. Their hype man allegedly tried to shoot his neighbor while high on crack cocaine. Their so-called "Minister of Information" was so controversial that his words alone nearly derailed the...

Marvin Gaye was born into a God-fearing home to a sweet, wholesome mother and crossdressing, philandering, pentecostal preacher father who ruled his children with an iron fist. Despite his tense upbringing, Marvin Gaye found his calling—music—and used it as his ticket out of his repressive home life. He chased away his shame and followed his muse to the top of the charts; through a sea of cocaine and sex, becoming one of the biggest and most gifted entertainers of all time before sinking into...

This week in the After Party, Jake talks actors committing fully, this week's DISGRACELAND episode on Heath Ledger, and of course your emails, texts, DMS, and voicemails. What are your top five favorite fight scenes? What is your favorite Heath Ledger performance? Is Heath one of the best actors of the early 2000s? Do you believe Debbie Harry about encountering Ted Bundy? Drop a line at 617-906-6638, [email protected], or on socials @disgracelandpod, and come join the After Party. To...

Heath Ledger’s preparation for and disappearance into his movie roles is legendary, and it’s what helped him play repressed cowboys, junkies, and maniacal clowns equally well. His research led him to junkies who taught him how to properly shoot up using a stolen prosthetic arm and fake blood, and to a personal diary full of cut-and-paste madness. The paparazzi, however, mocked Heath’s method, and took their public quarrel with him to duplicitous lengths. To see the full list of contributors,...

Sniffing glue, hooking for drug money, hurling rocks at the Beatles, and writing infectious sunshiny melodies about their grimy reality, the Ramones were what the world needed in 1976. As rock ‘n’ roll was getting bloated with excessive experimentation and unfortunate forays into disco, four cretins from Queens stripped it all away to two-minute three-chord anthems with hard, fast backbeats and buzzing guitars. They adopted the same surname to solidify their brotherhood, and they lived like...

This week in the After Party, Jake talks great films, this week's new DISGRACELAND episode on Kobe Bryant, and of course your emails, texts, DMS, and voicemails. What are your top five Tarantino films? Who are your top five NBA players? Who's your favorite athlete who's a musician on the side? Get in touch at 617-906-6638, [email protected], or on socials @disgracelandpod, and come join the After Party. To hear an extended version of the After Party with insight into Bryant's rapping...

He was a professional killer. A warrior trained from birth. A member of the deadliest squad of assassins in The Association. But that was before he tried to go solo. And before they tried to kill him. They made one mistake though – they didn’t finish the job. Now the Black Mamba is back and he won’t stop until he’s got his hands on the ultimate prize – the assassin’s ring – and his revenge on the ex-partner and boss who double crossed him. This episode contains themes that may be disturbing...

Selena Quintanilla Pérez ushered in the Golden Age of Tejano music in Texas with a meteoric rise up the charts and into the hearts of her fans. Her fans saw her as more than just a pop star — she was family. Selena was about to take her fame and her family to the world stage when a tangled web of deceit, betrayal, and jealousy would result in her untimely death at 23. To view the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit...

This week in the After Party, Jake talks trusting the government, the April Fool's DISGRACELAND episode on John Denver, and of course your emails, texts, DMS, and voicemails. If you could be any musician, who would you be? Drop a line at 617-906-6638, [email protected], or on socials @disgracelandpod, and come join the After Party. To hear an extended version of the After Party with some insight into next week's episode on Kobe Bryant, a special "trailer" from that episode, and more...