Episodes

  • REWIND - Ray Charles: Busted for Heroin and Busting Genres with the Best Damn R&B

    REWIND - Ray Charles: Busted for Heroin and Busting Genres with the Best Damn R&B
    Jul 4 2024
    Ray Charles was hooked on heroin, arrested by federal agents, and once survived a near-death plane ride by helping the pilot - as a blind man. He invented R&B. He was powerful enough to bring black and white culture into one. He was a genre-melding musical genius. Despite being born into a literal dirt poor existence in the Jim Crow era Deep South, despite going completely blind by the age of seven, and despite his addiction, Ray Charles influenced everyone from the Beatles to Belushi. And he made some of the greatest music of all time. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. This episode was originally published on July 13, 2021. To listen to Disgraceland ad free and get access to a monthly exclusive episode, weekly bonus content and more, become a Disgraceland All Access member at disgracelandpod.com/membership. Sign up for our newsletter and get the inside dirt on events, merch and other awesomeness - GET THE NEWSLETTER Follow Jake and DISGRACELAND: Instagram YouTube X (formerly Twitter) Facebook Fan Group TikTok Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    44 mins
  • Gianni Versace: Sly Stallone, Madonna, Elton John, a Serial Killer, and the Death of the Sun King

    Gianni Versace: Sly Stallone, Madonna, Elton John, a Serial Killer, and the Death of the Sun King
    Jul 2 2024
    Gianni Versace was a runway iconoclast who outfitted the likes of Madonna, Demi Moore, Prince, Sylvester Stallone, and Don Johnson. He lived like Louis XIV and counted Princess Di and Elton John among his friends. He was plagued by rumors of ties to the Calabrian mafia and a secret health diagnosis. Those rumors continued to persist long after he was gunned down by a serial killer who had been on the lam after murdering four other men in three states. This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners, including suicide and graphic depictions of violence. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. To listen to Disgraceland ad free and get access to a monthly exclusive episode, weekly bonus content and more, become a Disgraceland All Access member at disgracelandpod.com/membership. Sign up for our newsletter and get the inside dirt on events, merch and other awesomeness - GET THE NEWSLETTER Follow Jake and DISGRACELAND: Instagram YouTube X (formerly Twitter) Facebook Fan Group TikTok Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    49 mins
  • REWIND - Prince: Control, Ecstasy, Dark Funk and Fentanyl

    REWIND - Prince: Control, Ecstasy, Dark Funk and Fentanyl
    Jun 28 2024
    Few pop artists achieved the dizzying creative and career highs that Prince did. An artist who famously stayed away from drugs and most anything that would cause him to lose control, Prince was aided in his legendary musical output by a small army of creative alter egos, who helped him maintain control and helped him reign supreme as one of the greatest pop musicians of all time, until of course, all control was lost. This episode was originally published on June 9, 2020. To view the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. To listen to Disgraceland ad free and get access to a monthly exclusive episode, weekly bonus content and more, become a Disgraceland All Access member at disgracelandpod.com/membership. Sign up for our newsletter and get the inside dirt on events, merch and other awesomeness - GET THE NEWSLETTER Follow Jake and DISGRACELAND: Instagram YouTube X (formerly Twitter) Facebook Fan Group TikTok Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    46 mins
  • Bonus Episode: Scene Showdown, Partying With Tyson, and Juvenile Stickups

    Bonus Episode: Scene Showdown, Partying With Tyson, and Juvenile Stickups
    Jun 27 2024
    This week in the After Party, Jake talks different music scenes, balancing points of view, this week's DISGRACELAND episode on Bobby Brown, and of course your emails, texts, DMs, and voicemails. What is the greatest music scene of all time? Let Jake know at 617-906-6638, disgracelandpod@gmail.com, or on socials @disgracelandpod, and come join the After Party. To cop some new merch, head to disgracelandpod.com/merch now! To hear an extended version of the After Party with a story about a young Bobby Brown holding up a convenience store - and the punishment that followed - and more from the DISGRACELAND community, become a Disgraceland All Access member at disgracelandpod.com/membership. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    31 mins
  • Bobby Brown: Cocaine Chicken, Horny Ghosts, and His Prerogative

    Bobby Brown: Cocaine Chicken, Horny Ghosts, and His Prerogative
    Jun 25 2024
    Bobby Brown thrusted and gyrated his way to the top of the charts with Don’t Be Cruel, one of the biggest records of the late 1980s and an album that brought hip-hop’s hard-knock sensibilities to R&B. But fame did not change the Boston bad boy. At the height of his superstardom, Bobby Brown was arrested onstage for violating a lewd act law. He claimed to have a sexual encounter with a ghost at his lavish Atlanta mansion. And his party-hard ways may have been the reason why Mike Tyson shockingly lost a fight and thus lost his undefeated heavyweight title. This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners, including domestic violence and police brutality. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. To listen to Disgraceland ad free and get access to a monthly exclusive episode, weekly bonus content and more, become a Disgraceland All Access member at disgracelandpod.com/membership. Sign up for our newsletter and get the inside dirt on events, merch and other awesomeness - GET THE NEWSLETTER Follow Jake and DISGRACELAND: Instagram YouTube X (formerly Twitter) Facebook Fan Group TikTok Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    39 mins
  • REWIND - Van Morrison: Astral Weeks, Movement and Murder

    REWIND - Van Morrison: Astral Weeks, Movement and Murder
    Jun 21 2024
    In 1968, Van Morrison was hiding out from the New York City Mafia in Boston, Massachusetts. Recently the victim of a physical attack from a Genovese crime family member, Morrison was desperately trying to piece together a band to complete what would become his landmark creative statement, Astral Weeks. One of the musicians who would help him achieve this goal—a young, handsome guitar player from Emerson College named Rick Philp—would mysteriously go missing and eventually wind up dead. Disgraceland pieces together this story using, as one of many sources, the critically acclaimed book Astral Weeks: A Secret History of 1968 by Ryan Walsh. This episode was originally published on April 3, 2018. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Sign up for our newsletter and get the inside dirt on events, merch and other awesomeness - GET THE NEWSLETTER Follow Jake and DISGRACELAND: Instagram YouTube X (formerly Twitter) Facebook Fan Group TikTok Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    32 mins
  • Bonus Episode: Justin Timberlake, Eighteen Banners, and Ghostwriter Grandstanding

    Bonus Episode: Justin Timberlake, Eighteen Banners, and Ghostwriter Grandstanding
    Jun 20 2024
    This week in the After Party, Jake talks boring versus exciting news, charitable organizations, this week's DISGRACELAND episode on OJ Simpson, and of course your emails, texts, DMs, and voicemails. What charitable organization benefiting victims of drunk driving should Jake donate to? Which three disgraced athletes would you team up with for your fantasy charity golf tournament? Where were you when OJ Simpson was leading police on a chase in his white Bronco? Drop a line at 617-906-6638, disgracelandpod@gmail.com, or on socials @disgracelandpod, and come join the After Party. To hear an extended version of the After Party with a story about OJ's ghostwriter and his connection to the murder case, and more from the DISGRACELAND community, become a Disgraceland All Access member at disgracelandpod.com/membership. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    27 mins