Rock 'n' Roll Rabbit Hole

’Wagon Wheel’: Bob Dylan Meets Old Crow Medicine Show at the Song We Love to Hate

That's right, we did it. The unrelenting "Wagon Wheel" gets the deep dive in this episode, as Butch and Kevin grit their teeth and trudge forward. This tune, which is played now by pretty much every cover band in the galaxy, started with a Bob Dylan demo. It was then completed by Ketch Secor of Old Crow Medicine Show. And then Darius Rucker, Hootie himself, decided to record it, thus ruining it forever. A few notes:

• Beer of the Week took the form of Terrapin Hopsecutioner IPA. Nomnom.
• We had to have a bourbon sidecar to get through this one, and that bourbon was Heaven's Door 10 Year. Heaven's Door, of course, is Bob Dylan's whiskey brand, so we deemed it appropriate.
• The song describes a hitchhiking journey to Raleigh, N.C.
• Is the song bigger than the group itself? How did it get so popular?
• Kevin, of course, mentions the Knack. Again.
• The song, of course, is based on a crude demo that Dylan recorded in the 1960s. Secor would later hear it and decided to "finish" the tune for Dylan. The two share songwriting credits.
• Why, Hootie? Why?

’The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald’: Gordon Lightfoot and the Ultimate Story Song

On this episode, Kevin and Butch take a deep dive into "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," a classic true story song by the great Gordon Lightfoot about the freighter that sank into Lake Superior in 1975, taking all 29 crew members down with her. A few notes:

• Beer of the Week is, of course, Edmund Fitzgerald Porter by Great Lakes Brewing Co. What else would it be?
• Wait, there's no chorus in this song?
• It's based on an Irish tune Lightfoot remembered hearing as a child, and he basically just told the story in the song as factually as possible, albeit with some enhancements to add visuals and drama.
• It narrowly missed winning a Grammy and narrowly missed being a No. 1 tune in America (though it did hit No. 1 in Lightfoot's native Canada).
• Interestingly, new evidence as to what caused (or didn't cause) the wreck came to light in recent years, prompting Lightfoot to change one part of the lyric when he performs the song live.
• The song got a shout-out in an episode of "Seinfeld." You can check out a clip here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A57tT30peaM
• And if you ever wondered what the first two hours of MTV looked like, here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJtiPRDIqtI (So much Rod Stewart ...)

’Money For Nothing’: Dire Straits’ Misunderstood MTV Classic

Hey, we're back! Sorry for the long hiatus, but we had a big show with the band and had to get a new drummer ready. It didn't help that Kevin messed up his back and was laid up for a bit. But Kevin and Butch return for another episode, this time focusing on "Money For Nothing," the memorable Dire Straits hit that ended up being a bit misunderstood and even controversial. A few notes about the episode:

• This week's beer was Spotted Cow, the much-loved Wisconsin staple brewed by New Glarus Brewing.
• We also had a Bourbon of the Week as a sidecar, that being Barrell Bourbon Batch 033.
• The guitar sound was inspired by ZZ Top.
• The animation was groundbreaking for its time and helped make it an MTV hit -- even though frontman Mark Knopfler wanted nothing to do with making a video.
• The song became controversial for some of the language used, but Knopfler wrote the song from the point of view of a "stupid" character.
• Nikki Sixx believes the character on which the narrator is based was watching a Motley Crue video when Knopfler overheard him. Knopfler famously was in an appliance store when he heard two workers making fun of the musicians on a wall of televisions showing MTV.
• There was a guy who used to make prank calls back in the late 1980s/early 1990s who used the name Mark Knopfler on his "victims." Here's an example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8teY54fMsxY (please excuse the language ...)
• There's even a tribute page to the guy: https://phonelosers.com/mark/comment-page-3/

’Jack and Diane’: From Johnny Cougar to John Mellencamp in One Stroke

In this episode, Kevin and Butch tackle the Americana classic "Jack and Diane" by John Cougar, aka, John Cougar Mellencamp, aka John Mellencamp. We talk about how the original lyric was interestingly different, how the song was built in studio -- it almost didn't make the cut -- and perhaps most importantly, what it meant for John Mellencamp's career. A few points:

• Beer of the Week: Dragonfly IPA by Upland Brewing, which is based in Mellencamp's current hometown.
• When the song was recorded, drummer Kenny Aronoff was afraid he was about to be replaced by a drum machine. His improvisation helped make the song what it was.
• Guitarist Mick Ronson had a pivotal role in making the song unique, as well.
• The hosts tell some personal stories about the song, as they were both 16 when the song was popular. The phrase "Hold onto 16 as long as you can" was impactful for both of them at the time.
• Butch and Kevin also discuss two alternate versions of the song built around the phrase "Suckin' on a chili dog" from the song.
• The first is performed by Clownvis Presley and can be heard here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQrxIlGsMNQ
• The next is by TikTok star Tom McGovern and can be heard here: https://www.tiktok.com/@tommcgovern27/video/6928145194365783302
• Clownvis later had Tom on his podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2gOnJhpj7k

’That Thing You Do!’: The Wonders, Tom Hanks and the Greatest ’Fake’ Song Ever

The Tom Hanks-written and -directed "That Thing You Do!" was the surprise, feel-good hit movie of 1996, and the film's theme song of the same name not only was nominated for multiple awards, it also hit #41 on the Billboard charts. Credited to fictional band The Wonders, the song was actually written by Fountains of Wayne's Adam Schlesinger and sung by Candy Butchers' front man Mike Viola. So, is it a real song or a fake song? If it hit the actual charts, it's real, right? Butch and Kevin talk about how the song came to be, its place in music and much more on Episode 3 of Season 2 of Rock 'n' Roll Rabbit Hole. A few notes:

• This week's beer of the week was The Truth IPA from Rhinegeist Brewing. We also tasted a new bourbon which is available only in Kentucky: Green River Distilling Co. Straight Bourbon Whiskey.
• Schlesinger's demo was chosen from roughly 300 submissions for the title track song, even beating out a song co-written by Hanks himself.
• The song sounds like a lost Beatles song, which is not a coincidence, as the film itself is filled with real-life Beatles parallels.
• The actors who made up The Wonders learned the songs, rehearsing for weeks to ensure realism. In this behind-the-scenes video, Hanks says “They had to go to rock 'n' roll bootcamp.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqohLGt0-lc
• In a 17-minute Zoom reunion interview from 2020, The Wonders tell some fun stories from the filming of the movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5iQambZAfk
• Here's the Youtube to the original Adam Schlesinger demo for "That Thing You Do!" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFtKFB0gtpw