In our season finale, comedian, writer, actor and podcaster, Paul F. Tompkins sits down with Deborah and Joel to talk about his love for 'Til Tuesday's 1986 album Welcome Home. Paul talks about listening to the album while working at Hats in the Belfry in Philadelphia, moving to L.A. during the aftermath of the Northridge quake, the surreal experience of becoming friends with Aimee Mann, weird doctors, the time in his life when he made the decision to commit to comedy and being on stage and...

Actress, writer and author June Diane Raphael sits down with Deborah and Joel to talk about Joni Mitchell's iconic 1971 album Blue. June talks about discovering the album in high school through a big crush, her feminist awakening through music, being a full grown woman at the age of 11, learning about sex, a very special recording in a Fisher Price recording as a kid and so much more! Plus Deborah and Joel's particular songs I Will by The Beatles and Take Me With U by Prince. Subscribe,...

Actor, writer and comedian Matt Besser joins Deborah and Joel to talk about Oingo Boingo's 1981 album, Only a Lad. Besser talks about growing up in Little Rock, the impact new wave had on his life, spending summers in Santa Fe learning to break the rules, Rocky Horror Picture Show with friends and so much more! Plus Joel and Deborah's particular songs, Gypsy by Fleetwood Mac and Since You've Been Gone by Kelly Clarkson. Subscribe, Listen, Enjoy Rate and Review! *Fun side note! We recorded all...

Actress and musician Tawny Newsome joins Joel and Deborah to talk about her love for Stevie Wonder's 1976 album Songs in the Key of Life. Together they talk the pure genius of Stevie Wonder, first concerts, weird songs for auditions, albums you're born into, outlet malls and so much more! Plus Deborah and Joel's particular songs Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've) by Buzzcocks and Sweet Baby James by James Taylor! *Fun side note! We recorded all of these episodes before the...

Actress, writer and artist Keiko Agena (Gilmore Girls, Prodigal Son) sits down with Deborah and Joel to talk about what the Spin Doctors' 1991 album Pocket Full of Kryptonite means to her. Keiko talks about leaving school behind and moving to L.A., couch surfing, working at Lens Crafters, shaving her head, playing a music obsessed Lane Kim on Gilmore Girls and so much more! Special shoutout to Kelly in the booth! Plus Joel and Deborah's particular songs, My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It)...

Actor and filmmaker Colin Hanks sits down with Joel and Deborah to talk about his passion for the Red Hot Chili Peppers' 1991 album Blood Sugar Sex Magik. Colin takes us on a deep dive into all things Chili Peppers, growing up in Sacramento, the freedom that music brings in middle school, early MTV and so much more! Plus Joel and Deborah's particular songs, "Shadows of the Night" by Pat Benatar, and "You Go On Ahead (Trumpet, Trumpet II)" by Sunset Rubdown! Subscribe, Listen, Enjoy Rate and...

Actor, writer and comedian, Eugene Cordero sits down with Joel and Deborah to talk about Boyz II Men's 1991 album Cooleyhighharmony. Together, they talk about Eugene's experience growing up first generation Filipino in Detroit, Motown, trying to make his own Boyz II Men type band and awkward school dances. They also discover together that "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" is a cover(!), and so much more! Plus Joel and Deborah's particular songs, "Round The Bend" by Beck, and "Today"...

Actress, writer and distillery owner, Kirsten Vangsness sits down with Joel and Deborah to talk about her strong connection to Hounds of Love by Kate Bush and how it shaped her young life. Kirsten takes us all on a journey through the album, complete with her own mythology surrounding the album. Together they discuss epic journeys to find elusive songs pre-Internet, how deeply personal a song or album can be (and how hard it can be to share it with others), witches and all things Kate Bush....

In our season 3 premiere, actor, comedian and author Thomas Lennon sits down with Joel and Deborah to talk about his passion for The Smiths' 1984 untitled/self titled(?) album. Together they take a deep dive into the history of The Smiths, their short time together as a band, and how they shaped Tom's life. Will Tom ever get Johnny Marr to follow him on social media? Does it benefit bands to record their albums twice? What would cause Tom to walk out of a Morrissey concert? All these...

Join Joel and Deborah for a brand new season of This Particular Album is Very, Very Important to me - coming April 7th!

The ever so talented and brilliant Rachel Bloom joins Deborah and Joel to give a standing ovation to Stephen Sondheim’s Original Cast Recording of Assassins. The conversation starts with a couple of not great massage stories and moves to swooning over Sam Cooke. Rachel then tells us how she went to an open-air school near the beach in SoCal where everything was sunny and surf-forward. Perfect right? Well, no. Peel back the curtain and you’ll see some darkness. She navigated some mental...

The talented and hilarious - and in another life, AR rep - Ego Nwodim sits down with Deborah and Joel to share her love of (sigh, oh Kanye) Kanye West’s debut album, College Dropout. They talk about how the complexities of the man make it difficult but not impossible to gush over this incredible album. This is what it’s like to mourn for an artist who’s..still alive. Find out what Ego did in the middle of an improv practice years ago that Deborah never forgot. Listen to Joel hit the non...

Actor Jason O’Mara joins Deborah and Joel in the Los Feliz equivalent of an Irish snug to share his love for the Hothouse Flowers’ first album, People. The most successful debut album of an Irish band in Irish history set up the perfect concert with perfect music during the perfect summer for Jason. They talk about high school turmoil, rugby and the saxophone - the most “jacuzzi” of instruments. They all connect over Irish soul music, how being a teenager is hard and what it’s like to be an...

The hysterical, smart and fun Bryan Safi sits down with Deborah and Joel and unleashes his love for Hole’s “Live Through This.” They all agree this album ROCKS. They talk about the trashy mosaic herself (Deborah Tar-...sorry, Courtney Love) and the, let’s say, messed up circumstances surrounding this album’s release. Bryan shares what it was like growing up having religious parents, a very popular brother and feeling like an outsider in El Paso, TX. Well, Bryan was popular too but his brother...

The hilarious, charming, and impressive in so many ways Demi Adejuyigbe joins Deborah and Joel to discuss his love for Radiohead’s In Rainbows. Once again the subject turns to “sad music” and the struggle with it being a pejorative term. Demi reveals how he willed himself to be a Radiohead fan through the only research that matters - listening to their entire body of work over two weeks. He gave each album two days and what a relief it is that he gave them another shot after Pablo Honey....

Actor, writer, photographer, musician, Charlotte, NC native Brian Huskey shares the profound impact The Velvet Undergound’s self-titled third album had on him. Deborah warns us to not first hear “The Murder Mystery” in the In-n-Out drive-thru while your infant daughter is in the back seat. Joel reveals how very very passionate his high school band was about not playing a particular song. They talk about primitive art, the art you make as an undergrad and how accidentally close it is to...

Carl Tart sits down and embarrasses himself by singing the praises of Pretty Ricky’s debut album, Bluestars. Well “embarrassed” is the term he uses but we simply must give the man a break. This album came out when he was 16! After he came back to his high school looking trim following a weird 6 months in Mississippi! When there were now parties to go to and girls were starting to look at him, you know, differently! Yep. “Grind on Me” time. And AIM time too! What a time to be alive! They talk...

Lauren Lapkus sits down with Deborah and Joel to share her love of Sun Kil Moon’s Ghosts of the Great Highway. They talk about the weirdness of starting college, having no friends in college, making new friends in college or if you should break away from previous high school friends in college. They talk about how it’s wrong to shame a person who hasn’t yet seen or heard a particular movie, book or album - very important to the premise of this podcast!  But wouldn’t you know literally seconds...

Grant O’Brien shares his love for the original studio cast recording of Jesus Christ Superstar but stresses it’s not his favorite musical. It’s glorious, it’s weird and not a little problematic from time to time. He reveals the sexual confusion he had while in Catholic school and how he connected with his not-cool-enough-to-be-a-hippy father over musicals. Wait. Not cool enough? Grant’s Dad rode his bike with his twin brother all the way from Ohio to New York City to see the original Broadway...

Deborah and Joel sit down with the great Jamie Denbo and hear about her love for Carole King’s Tapestry. Man what an album! Deborah and Jamie bond over how it all really started with Really Rosie. We learn that Jamie inadvertently (well, advertently) bullied Deborah into having a baby and why Carole King’s voice makes us all feel good and safe. We discover the pressure to like something in college, even Ska! There was a STARK difference between Deborah and Jamie’s (Jewish) summer camp and...

Kulap Vilaysack sits down with Deborah and Joel and shares her love for Janet Jackson’s The Velvet Rope. She explains how she escaped walkable Eagan, wound up in very un-walkable downtown LA and later found herself making out with her (yellow-tinted sunglasses sporting) future husband in his very drivable Camry (We don’t take any money from Toyota...but we will). We discover a brand new hilarious take on a very very important moment in Deb’s history we’ve discussed before. Sorry Deborah’s...

Season Two starts with the great Al Yankovic (weird ex-college DJ) sharing his love of Devo’s third studio album, Freedom of Choice. **Almost coincidence alert** Deborah almost went to the same college as Al but when visiting the campus got turned off when she saw other students wearing...shoes? Too fancy for our Deborah! Joel shares yet another memory about learning about love from Air Supply and that isn’t even the most embarrassing thing he admits in this episode. That nice girl caught him...

This Particular Album is Very Very Important To Me is coming back for its second season! Subscribe now.

Ty takes Joel and Deb through the year - the year when apparently all music was made - when he was overwhelmed, broken-hearted, let down and hangin’ around. Radiohead’s 1997 album got him through a tough, life-changing year. Deb likes Radiohead but is happy to give his ticket to Joel. There’s a moment on the album where for Joel it feels like his best friend (which just happens to be a robot) is hugging him and telling him everything’s going to be OK.