What Difference Does It Make

Paul Myers has just completed his Canadian trilogy. Previously, he authored the definitive biographies on Barenaked Ladies and Kids In The Hall. He now takes on one of the most popular Canadians ever, with his latest book, John Candy: A Life In Comedy. Paul discusses the process of getting to know the larger-than-life personality that was John Candy, and learns that John was more than just a comedic genius. Paul is also the host of the⁠ Record Store Day Podcast⁠, and he's got a few amazing stories to share with us, including his encounters with Neil Finn of Crowded House. This episode is sponsored by ⁠⁠⁠⁠The 80s Cruise⁠⁠⁠⁠. Use promo code "WDDIM" to receive $250 in onboard credit. Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The80scruise.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for all the info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We talk turkey....and pie...and candy and occasionally about songs that make us think about Thanksgiving. This Thanksgiving episode from 2018 reminds us of how fortunate we are to have food, friends and music in our lives. We talk about Golden Girls, hippies throwing away trash and learn about the word "mondegreen". We are also very thankful to you for listening. Be thankful for three FREE months of Amazon Music courtesy of your 80s music aficionados at What Difference Does It Make.  We are a proud member of Pantheon Podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Russell Hitchcock, the legendary lead singer of Air Supply, is having quite a moment. With over 100 million records sold worldwide, the band is soon to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and an Air Supply feature film is currently in production. Russell joins the podcast to share what these milestones mean to him, to reflect on Air Supply’s enduring legacy, and to reveal how he and bandmate Graham Russell have kept their musical partnership—and friendship—strong for five decades. Los Angeles Fans: We’re giving away a pair of tickets to see Air Supply in Los Angeles  at the YouTube Theater on November 28th! It’s easy to enter. Simply like us on Instagram and tell us your favorite Air Supply song. Winner will be chosen November 17 This episode is sponsored by ⁠⁠⁠The 80s Cruise⁠⁠⁠. Use promo code "WDDIM" to get $250 in onboard credit. Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠The80scruise.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ for all the info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thanks in small part to the band Spinal Tap, November 11 (11/11, get it?), has been decreed National Metal Day. To honor this majestic day we present to you, Nöthin' But A Good Time: The Uncensored History of the '80s Hard Rock Explosion. Authors Tom Beaujour and Richard Bienstock did an intensive dig into the musicians and insiders involved in the scene that launched the careers of Mötley Crüe and Poison on the west coast and Twisted Sister and Quiet Riot on the east. Our talk with Tom and Richard gets into the highs and lows of so many of the bands that many first saw on MTV's Headbanger's Ball. This episode is sponsored by ⁠⁠The 80s Cruise⁠⁠. Use promo code "WDDIM" to get $250 in onboard credit. Go to ⁠The80scruise.com⁠ for all the info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's not a repeat if you haven't heard it before, so this is the perfect time to revisit Dave's favorite holiday and the one Holly tolerates because candy is involved. We talk about our favorite Halloween songs and movies that Holly has yet to see…Dave is still waiting to discuss Ed Wood with her. Plus, Holly thinks Echo & The Bunnymen's "Killing Moon" is a love song until she learns the terrifying truth. It's a dead man's party, so who can ask for more!  We are a proud member of Pantheon Podcasts. This episode is sponsored by ⁠⁠⁠The 80s Cruise⁠⁠⁠. Use promo code "WDDIM" to get $250 in onboard credit. Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠The80scruise.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ for all the info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Eric Vetro is a true Hollywood story with a twist. A small town boy from Gloversville, New York has big Hollywood dreams to sing. The twist is that he does not become a star, but he now trains the biggest Hollywood stars like Ariana Grande (Wicked), Timotheé Chalamet (A Complete Unknown) and Austin Butler (Elvis) to transform their singing voices. His latest undertaking is to train Jeremy Allen White to sing like Bruce Springsteen for the film, Deliver Me From Nowhere. Eric lends his voice to our podcast to tell us his own very unique story. Podcast cover photo credit: Ken Sawyer This episode is sponsored by ⁠⁠The 80s Cruise⁠⁠. Use promo code "WDDIM" to get $250 in onboard credit. Go to ⁠The80scruise.com⁠ for all the info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Warren Zanes' recent career trajectory has landed him in Nebraska…specifically, Bruce Springsteen's 1982 album, Nebraska. Warren’s book, Deliver Me from Nowhere: The Making of Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska, was released in 2023 to critical acclaim. Warren also hosts the concert performance of Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska: A Celebration in Words and Music. It's currently airing on PBS and features performances by Emmylou Harris, Eric Church, Noah Kahan, The Lumineers, Lucinda Williams, and Lyle Lovett. Last, but definitely not least, there is a film version of Warren's book, directed by Scott Cooper and starring Jeremy Allen White as Bruce Springsteen. Warren Zanes joins us on the podcast to give us his insight into Bruce Springsteen's masterwork. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Matt Piucci and Steven Roback from Rain Parade join the podcast to celebrate the reissue of their second album, Crashing Dream, which is loaded with extras and live tracks. We chat with Matt and Steven about the origins of the band, the 80s Paisley Underground scene, and how they created that crazy pool picture for their album cover. This episode is sponsored by ⁠⁠The 80s Cruise⁠⁠. Use promo code "WDDIM" to get $250 in onboard credit. Go to ⁠The80scruise.com⁠ for all the info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As we conclude our year-long look at the music played on radio station KROQ in Los Angeles in 1988, we turn to the one-and- only Moon Unit Zappa. Moon's been busy, as her ⁠Moon Unit Tea⁠ business is thriving, and her memoir Earth To Moon is recently out in paperback. Moon now steps into our virtual studio to talk about the top ten songs the World Famous KROQ played back in 1988. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You may not recognize the name Danielle Claman Gelber but your pop culture references were forever altered by shows Danielle developed like Beverly Hills 90210, Melrose Place and The X-Files, to name just a few. It also turns out the band Oasis is one of her absolute favorites and so Danielle and her good friend Holly embarked on a trip across the pond to witness their reunion at Wembley Stadium in London. We get all the details, as well as her career story, as these besties reminisce about their good times together. As a well-deserved finale, we also look back on songs 20 to 11 from the KROQ 1988 year end playlist. This episode is sponsored by ⁠The 80s Cruise⁠. Use promo code "WDDIM" to get $250 in onboard credit. Go to The80scruise.com for all the info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chris Vos named his band The Record Company because he thought his band would never get signed. Turns out, not only did they get signed but The Record Company are now ten years and counting into their career. The band now has to its credit, four critically acclaimed albums and six top 10 AAA radio singles with "Off The Ground" and "Life To Fix" hitting the top spot. Chris joins the podcast to talk about the genesis of the band's roots and where he sees the band as it heads into their second decade. This episode is sponsored by ⁠The 80s Cruise⁠. Use promo code "WDDIM" to get $250 in onboard credit. Go to The80scruise.com for all the info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Spider Stacy of The Pogues joins our podcast just at the start of their all too brief Eastern North American tour to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of their classic album, Rum, Sodomy & The Lash. Spider talks up all the musicians in their current lineup and gives us some thoughts about the late, great Shane McGowan. This episode is sponsored by The 80s Cruise. Use promo code "WDDIM" to get $250 in onboard credit. Go to The80scruise.com for all the info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kat Corbett has been one of our favorite radio personalities since she started at KROQ in Los Angeles at the start of the 2000 millennium. Her enthusiasm for music is contagious. You can now hear her daily on both Sirius/XM's Lithium and PopRock channels. Right now, you can hear her origin story and her opinion on songs 30 to 21 from the 1988 KROQ year end playlist. This episode is sponsored by ⁠The 80s Cruise⁠. Use the promo code WDDIM to get $250 of onboard credit per cabin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dave Kendall may be best known in the US for his work as the host of the MTV Alternative Music Show, 120 Minutes,  from 1986 to 1992. Today, he's living in Thailand, and is a producer/reporter with the Bangkok Post TV channel, and a host/producer on the travel show Destination Thailand. We invited Dave into our virtual studio to discuss his current passions, from global warming, to his love of the music he played back in the day on MTV, as we look back at songs 40 to 31 from the 1988 year-end KROQ charts. This episode is sponsored by The 80s Cruise. Use the promo code WDDIM to get $250 of onboard credit per cabin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

August 10th is Duran Duran Appreciation Day. As it turns out, not only are we self-proclaimed Duranies, but our guests love the Fab 5 as well. So for this episode, we've compiled comments and observations from our past guests (and ourselves) about the music we love so much by Simon, John, Nick, Andy, and Roger. Happy Duran Duran Appreciation Day! Sponsored by ⁠The 80s Cruise⁠ Use promo code WDDIM for $250 of onboard credit Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You can call Rob Tonkin a whole lot of things: Music Industry Executive, Marketing Man, Media Creative, but now you can add a whole new title: Author. Friend of the Podcast, Rob Tonkin joins us to talk about a whole new venture. It's his memoir, and for SEO purposes we won't mention the title, but it reveals a whole new side of Rob. If we were to describe how much of a person Rob is, we might say, "a whole”. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jason Pettigrew may be best known for his 27 years as editor-in-chief at Alternative Press magazine, but besides being an editor, journalist, and DJ (you might have caught his opening set at the Cruel World fest), he is first and foremost, a music fan.  His fandom for the band Ministry led to his striking up a friendship with Ministry frontman Al Jourgensen.  Jason has authored the 33 1/3 book Ministry's Land Of Rape and Honey, a chronicle dedicated to one of Jason's favorite albums of all time. Jason steps into our studio to talk about the band, while also offering up his strong opinions on songs 50 to 41 from the 1988 KROQ year-end playlist. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From her newly-released books on Cher and Taylor Swift, to her recent featured articles in the LA Times and The Onion's A.V. Club, it's clear Music Journalist Annie Zaleski has a lot on her plate. Somehow, she found the time for us to discuss all that's going on in her world, as well as take a look back at the year 1988 and offer up her opinion on songs 60 to 51 from Los Angeles radio station KROQ’s year-end playlist. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lori Majewski is one of us, a true 80s music fan. Her career started with Lori sneaking into hotels and airports because she wanted to meet her favorite artists. She now rubs elbows with many of those same people.  Her book, Mad World: An Oral History of New Wave Artists and Songs That Defined the 1980s, celebrates the New Wave music phenomenon. You can hear her bring those stories to life every day on SiriusXM's 1st Wave. Her weekly feature, Lust For Lists, weaves together a playlist highlighting special events or themes from our favorite decade.  Lori now uses her super 80s music knowledge to share with us her thoughts on the music played on the World Famous KROQ in Los Angeles, as we take a look at the year 1988, and focus in on songs 70-61. Sponsored by The 80s Cruise Use promo code WDDIM for $250 of onboard credit Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Being an 80s music podcast, it's no surprise that when we learned music journalist Gary Graff authored the book, 501 Essential Albums of the ’80s, we would have to talk with him. Naturally, whenever there is a list deemed "essential", there will be debate, and so we had questions such as, "Why this one and not that one?". It's a good talk, and one that will inspire you to think about your own essential 80s music albums.   Sponsored by The 80s Cruise Use promo code WDDIM for $250 of onboard credit Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices