Once upon a time, there was Jefitoblog. It was loved by many in the land. But one day, Jefitoblog left us. Some say it was the result of a crappy webhost, some say it was the result of its author getting caught with a male prostitute. But whatever the reason, Jefitoblog was gone, and so was the will of the man behind it. Some thought he might never write again. But write again he eventually did, forming a behemoth site called Popdose, allowing him to not only share his own love of pop culture, but the love of many of other pop culture aficionados. There were many who helped bring it to fruition, but perhaps none more important than the guest on this, the 20th episode of The Popdose Podcast.
Peter Lubin is legendary in the music industry. As an A&R man, he has worked with some truly awesome and varied artists, including Peter Gabriel, Phish, the Moody Blues, John Mellencamp, Def Leppard, They Might Be Giants, and many, many more. And he’s been heavily involved in many other parts of the music industry as well, some of which you will hear about on this very podcast. In fact, there was so much fascinating conversation that a bonus ‘cast will be released in the not-so-distant future. What you won’t find here is the story of Pete’s involvement in getting Popdose up and running. He’s too humble to bring it up, but no worries — we’ll draw that story out of him sooner or later.
So sit back and enjoy a discussion on the state of the music industry, secrets on how to obtain a job you’re wholly unqualified for, and of course a few mother jokes dropped in here and there. But don’t you worry, there aren’t too many — mainly since Pete seems to have mastered the secret raconteur’s trick of speaking without ever taking a breath. Next time, we will get in a joke about your mom, Pete!
The Popdose Podcast, Episode 20: Pete Lubin! (1:13:11, 67.0 MB), featuring Jeff Giles, Jason Hare, and Dave Lifton, with special guest Pete Lubin.
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0:00 Your three co-schmucks banter a little before Pete gets on the line. We discuss Jason’s athletic activities, and Dave’s too (not a typo). We talk about “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight),” and Dave actually wasn’t the one to bring it up. Meat Loaf is discussed, which brings us, sadly, to Mellowmas. We recall last month’s episode featuring Jason’s dad Gary and rave about the amazing show Louie.
18:21 We welcome Pete to the podcast! Gosh, there’s so much in the net 50 minutes that it’s hard to mention it all — and that would spoil the fun of hearing it for the first time anyway. But you’ll hear how Pete got his start in the business as a teen in New Haven, his work with famous publicist Howard Bloom, Columbia Records and Mercury Records, his early days as the publicist behind a number of artists like synthesizer great Larry Fast and Moody Blues keyboardist Patrick Moraz, how he signed Peter Gabriel, his time working with Robert Cray…the list goes on! You’ll also hear Pete’s thoughts on what drives record deals these days and the tricks he used to figure his way out behind the business. There’s also talk about some guy named Lefschmutz? I may have that spelling wrong. Either way, you don’t want to miss this, if only because you’ve probably never heard the term “venal hyenas” before.
EnDOSEments
52:28 Pete endoses Kickstarter and all it’s done to help artists obtain funding and attention for projects in a way they never would have been able to do in the past. He cites an artist he loves, Antje Duvekot, as a great example. And a great discussion follows. (Song: MÁ¶tley CrÁ¼e, “Kickstart My Heart.” (Really, Dave? Really?))
57:30 Jason endoses Spotify and mentions the new Kanye/Jay-Z album, Watch the Throne, as an example he wouldn’t have listened to without it. (Song: Kanye West, Jay-Z, “Made in America”)
59:53 Jeff endoses the group Spirit Family Reunion. Read Jeff’s interview with vocalist and guitarist Nick Panken. (Song: Spirit Family Reunion, “When My Name is Spoken”)
1:05:06 Dave endoses the new Fountains of Wayne album, Sky Full of Holes. (Song: Fountains of Wayne, “A Road Song”)
And that’s it for this month’s podcast! Thanks again to Pete for joining us on the show — stay tuned for our special bonus episode featuring more great insights from Mr. Lubin. And as always, if you like what you hear, please leave us a review on iTunes, and don’t forget to visit our Facebook fan page as well as the Popdose Twitter feed. Thanks for listening and we’ll see you next month!
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