Even Flow, Alive & Black Friday!

Speaker 1 This episode is sponsored by 5-Hour Energy. Caffeine just got a flavor upgrade with what they call tasty caffeine, 17 bold flavors that actually taste good.

Speaker 1 You know that midday moment when your brain just stalls out, but you still have a full list of things to do? Well, that's when I reach for a 5-Hour Energy shot.

Speaker 1 Each tiny two-ounce shot has about as much caffeine as a 12-ounce premium cup of coffee, but with zero sugar and zero crash.

Speaker 1 It's big flavor, packed into the smallest, easiest bottle, perfect for tossing in your bag, in your car, really anywhere.

Speaker 1 And since it's still fall, they've brought back the ultimate seasonal favorite, pumpkin spice. Ah, yes, pumpkin spice.

Speaker 1 A little cinnamon, a little swagger, sweet, rich, and totally cozy without being heavy.

Speaker 1 Fuel your day with tasty caffeine, available in store and online at 5hourenergy.com or get it delivered by Amazon. Give yourself a caffeine flavor upgrade with 5-Hour Energy Shots.

Speaker 1 Get yours in store and online, 5Hnergy.com or on Amazon today.

Speaker 1 This episode is sponsored by Jack Archer. As a man, finding a good pair of pants can feel impossible.
Jack Archer's Jet Setter tech pants make that easy. These are the one pair you need.

Speaker 1 They're built with advanced fabric sourced from Japan that resists wrinkles, stains, and odors. Whether it's a long flight, a workday, or a night out, these pants do it all.

Speaker 1 With customizable fit options and thousands of five-star reviews, trust us, these are the one pair of pants you'll actually want to wear every day.

Speaker 1 And they just launched a matching blazer in the same unbelievable fabric, all for an amazing price of $249 for the suit. It's a no-brainer.

Speaker 1 For a limited time, get 15% off using the code getjack at jackarcher.com. Again, that's the promo code getjack at jackarcher.com for that 15% off, your entire order.

Speaker 2 And thanks to Jack Archer for being a sponsor of the commercial break.

Speaker 2 On this episode of the Commercial Break.

Speaker 2 I do

Speaker 2 feel

Speaker 2 like they had a rehearsal space that was cold. That sounds familiar to me.
So I'm going to go with that one. You're correct.
Yeah. Correct.
Yeah. I think that.

Speaker 3 Although it seems like any of them could be true.

Speaker 2 Any of them could be true. But, you know, you don't sleep in your car when you're on tour.

Speaker 2 You're in a van or you're on a bus or something. I mean, you could sleep in the van, but you don't sleep in your own car.
It's not like you're following the guys around. I'll catch up with you.

Speaker 2 Hey, it's me, Eddie Venner, and my station wagons. I mean, it just doesn't make much sense.
Yeah.

Speaker 2 The next episode of the Commercial Break starts now.

Speaker 2 Oh, yeah, Cats and Kittens. Welcome back to the Commercial Break.
I'm Brian Greene. This is my dear friend and the co-host of this show, Kristen Joy Hoadley.
Best to you, Chris. Best to you, Brian.

Speaker 2 Best to you out there in the podcast and streaming universe. Thanks for joining us.
We appreciate it.

Speaker 2 Here we are again, stream number two of the day. That's okay.
I forgot the noise. That's okay.
I know, I noticed. Yes.

Speaker 2 There you go. All right.
I'll put that in in post. Fuck it.
We'll do it in post.

Speaker 2 We'll do it live.

Speaker 2 But once you're doing it live, it's just a whole different thing. You can't go backwards.
I guess I could restart the show, but then that would sound stupid to the people who are watching live.

Speaker 2 Whatever the fuck, who cares? No one cares. No one cares.
Well, it's Friday after Thanksgiving if you're listening to the recorded version of this.

Speaker 2 If you're not, you're watching us on streaming, then it's not Friday after Thanksgiving. We'll put it that way.

Speaker 2 And I associate that day, that particular day, that Friday after Thanksgiving, with music.

Speaker 2 Because when we were kids, it would be a popular thing, even for young kids, like eighth, ninth, tenth grade, to get tickets to go see Driving and Crying

Speaker 2 at the Fox Theater. It was a benefit show that Driving and Crying did every year for like 12 years on that Friday after Thanksgiving.

Speaker 2 And even when they stopped doing it, then there was always some kind of music. It was a good night to go to the bars.
Well, it was.

Speaker 3 I remember doing that and getting together with all your friends, drinking.

Speaker 2 People come in town.

Speaker 2 Music. All of it.
All of it. Maybe a little Rochambeau.
A little kid's margarita. A little hoity-toity.

Speaker 2 You know what I'm saying?

Speaker 2 A little bit of the old Colombian marching powder.

Speaker 2 I don't do it, but I knew people who did do it. Yes.
And they made me do it.

Speaker 2 And then I also knew people who didn't make me do it, but I did it behind their backs. That's the kind of mean drug it was.
It would take you over.

Speaker 2 Anyway, music and that and Thanksgiving, the day after Thanksgiving, go hand in hand. It's just, for me, at least, it was always live music the day after Thanksgiving.

Speaker 2 So it's befitting that Chrissy and I just are watching the videos like everybody else is of Stephen Wilson Jr.

Speaker 2 from the CMAs. We were on last night.
Last night as we're recording this.

Speaker 2 The CMAs are not something that I would normally watch. I'm not, I don't mind country.
Quite frankly, country music is pop music. Pop music is country music.
It all kind of sounds the same now.

Speaker 2 There is no difference. And there's good country music, like there's good other kinds of music too.

Speaker 2 I don't consider Stephen Wilson Jr. a country artist, but that's my perspective.
That's my purview on the whole situation.

Speaker 2 You found him a year ago. That's right.
Keen-eyed listeners will know that I was popping around the internet and I had been following

Speaker 2 three years ago. I talked about how down the street from where we're recording this, a guy that I had known many years ago from the music scene owned a print.

Speaker 3 Jamland Productions. Shout out.

Speaker 2 Jam Lamb Productions. Shout out.
Old school Jamland. Where's that, Pete? Pete still owns Jamland Productions.
I don't know how it's doing.

Speaker 2 I think they're doing bingo nights now or something like that.

Speaker 2 But shout out Jamland Productions. I knew a guy who went on to own a print shop, like an actual print shop, like printing shit, like t-shirts and hats and stickers and all this other stuff.

Speaker 2 And then he moved his print shop into his house. And when he moved his print shop into his house, he was such a lover of music.
And he knew like Angie Apero, Francisco Vidal.

Speaker 2 He was big into like the Southeastern music circuit when I was,

Speaker 2 you know, jamming. Yeah, when I when Chopper Johnson and 33 Penis were taking over the Southeastern music circuit by Southeastern, I mean, mainly our practice space, but we were good there.

Speaker 2 And sounded great.

Speaker 2 He decided he's going to install a bunch of cameras and really super professional audio equipment and was going to invite some of his favorite bands to come play in his fucking basement.

Speaker 2 And I've seen pictures of like tour buses rolling up to this residential neighborhood.

Speaker 2 It's affluent, but it's a residential neighborhood and unloading their shit to go into the print shop, quote unquote. So you can now go to YouTube, live at the print shop, is the name of the channel.

Speaker 2 It's the name of the Instagram, it's the name of everything. Give them some love because we're about to play some of their stuff.

Speaker 2 But he invited, he saw Stephen Wilson Jr. in a bar in Nashville.
And Stephen Wilson Jr. was becoming big in Nashville in like 22 and 23 after he put out an album called Son Son of a Dad,

Speaker 2 after his father passed. And then he went on tour.
He was opening up for people and he started to gain some notoriety. Never heard a voice like this before.
The way he plays guitar is haunting.

Speaker 2 It's a revelation. He is uniquely original.
I mean, I don't know if you can be uniquely original, but he's extraordinarily original in his songwriting, in his music, and it is beautiful.

Speaker 2 And I don't know anybody who I've listened to this that doesn't think so. It's just

Speaker 2 he's incredible. he's an incredible singer-songwriter, and he's in his late 40s and now just coming into his own.
I love that, I love it too.

Speaker 2 He's got a very unique aesthetic to his band, to the to his merch, to the he's just unique in all ways. And I love it, and I love him.

Speaker 2 And he recorded an album live at the print shop where he did a version of Stand By Me as a cover, and then he did a song that he had not done on an album.

Speaker 2 And it's called i'm a song and that song to me the song i'm a song is just so fucking incredible that anytime i listen to it it gives me chills and and still 150 times in it gives me chills so i'm gonna play it here on the show i don't know if this is a lot i don't care really you know whatever what are they gonna do you know what are you gonna do take down the commercial break

Speaker 2 stronger men than you have tried So I want to play this live at the print show. Oh, sorry.
It just

Speaker 2 kind of started there. But let me go over the explanation because he's going to talk about his dad and how his dad thought this was his favorite song.

Speaker 2 So, this is I'm a song from Stephen Wilson Jr., live at the print shop. Go check this out on YouTube, give them the views too.

Speaker 2 All right, here it is.

Speaker 2 Yeah, I'll play it.

Speaker 4 It's a tough one for me to play,

Speaker 4 but I'll do it anyway.

Speaker 4 This is called I'm a Song. And it was my dad's favorite song of mine.
He told me it was his favorite song ever. This was like one of the last conversations we ever had.

Speaker 4 And this is one of those,

Speaker 4 why don't you just sing it conversation songs? And this is one of those songs that I told him, no, I don't do that.

Speaker 4 So I'm going to do that.

Speaker 2 I'm the showman in San Antonio

Speaker 2 The middle of the rodeo

Speaker 2 And daddy's hand that you used to hold when you walk back to the car

Speaker 2 I'm a sound of the county fair Ferris wheel kisses high up in the air A sip of brandy when your soul is bare and you need to share your heart

Speaker 2 I'm a word that'll hit you, that'll get you where you're going So you never go there alone

Speaker 2 I'm a melody glued to the memory that you can't shake when it comes on

Speaker 2 I'm the part of you that you listen to riding in the radio all night long

Speaker 2 I'm a song

Speaker 2 I'm a song

Speaker 2 I was there the day you learned to drive

Speaker 2 The first time that you got high

Speaker 2 I even helped you realize she wasn't right for you

Speaker 2 You fall down, I picked you up again I helped a boy become a man When your best friend died, I helped you cry

Speaker 2 and finally turn him loose.

Speaker 2 I'm a words, it'll hit you, it'll get you gone. So you never go there alone.

Speaker 2 I'm a melody glued to the memory that you can't shake when it comes on.

Speaker 2 I'm a part of you that you listen to riding in the radio all night long.

Speaker 2 I'm a song.

Speaker 2 Whoa,

Speaker 2 whoa,

Speaker 2 I'm a song

Speaker 2 I'm a song

Speaker 2 I'm the part of you that you listen to writing in the radio on

Speaker 2 I'm the words it'll hit you, it'll get you where you're going. So you never go there long.

Speaker 2 I'm a melody glued to the memory that you can't shake when it comes on.

Speaker 2 I'm the part of you that you listen to riding in the radio all night long.

Speaker 2 I'm a song.

Speaker 2 Whoa,

Speaker 2 whoa,

Speaker 2 I'm a song.

Speaker 2 I'm a song

Speaker 2 Whoa,

Speaker 2 whoa,

Speaker 2 I'm a song

Speaker 2 I'm a song

Speaker 2 I'm a song

Speaker 2 Whoa,

Speaker 2 I'm a song

Speaker 2 I'm a song

Speaker 2 I'm a song

Speaker 2 I'm a song

Speaker 2 Wow, wow, I mean incredible

Speaker 3 Yeah,

Speaker 2 I know words no words no words do that song justice. It's an incredibly beautiful song

Speaker 2 written beautifully.

Speaker 2 And the music that goes with it. Yes.
And he's making all that noise with just one guitar and nylon strings. It is quite amazing.
It is like very few people play nylon strings, first of all.

Speaker 2 Second of all, I know why he's playing the nylon strings because it's the percussion, the bass, and the guitar at the same time.

Speaker 2 He's keeping time by snapping the guitar like that. He's using the nylon strings to give it that deep, rich sound.

Speaker 2 He's using a guitar that is old and rickety because it probably has some, it's probably comforting to him, but then there's only that kind of guitar can make that kind of sound.

Speaker 2 And then he's putting a voice on top of it that you mentioned, Eddie Vetter. It does have an Eddie Vetter-ish quality to it.
He's singing through his nose and with a closed throat.

Speaker 2 But, you know, he grew up listening to the same music we listen to.

Speaker 3 Yeah, yeah, the 90s, you know,

Speaker 3 alternative stuff, along with some country. I mean, it's kind of got like a little Willie Nelson in there, too.

Speaker 2 Bruce Springsteen is one that comes to mind, but then now he's covered Smashing Pumpkins. He's covered, I think he did an Allison Chain song.
I think he did another one.

Speaker 2 He's covering a lot of the songs that we grew up with that you can tell. I think he does, I think if...

Speaker 2 You asked him to, he could cover a Pearl Jam song pretty well, but he's not going to do that because he also knows that his voice resembles Eddie better and he doesn't want to come across as a parody.

Speaker 2 But mark my words, Stephen Wilson Jr. will do a Pearl Jam cover at some time in the near future, and we're all going to be blown the fuck away.

Speaker 2 Because also, the way that he's using his voice is unlike Eddie Vetters. He's just got a tone to it that

Speaker 2 it's just different. It's different.
Anyway, Stephen Wilson Jr. is a revelation to me.
I haven't liked music this much in a long time, and it just hits me in the giggles.

Speaker 3 The rest of the world's catching on.

Speaker 2 The rest of the world's catching on. The CMA's got him first, but

Speaker 2 it won't be long before he is everywhere.

Speaker 2 His tickets are hard to get. They are very expensive.
He came to Athens, sold out the Georgia theater, and I thought, okay, that's close enough.

Speaker 2 I don't think he's been to Atlanta

Speaker 2 as a main act

Speaker 2 yet.

Speaker 2 Because he says when he's playing the print shop, and this came out in 24, he says this is the first time I have played music in Atlanta.

Speaker 2 I've been here, but this is the first time I played music in Atlanta. So

Speaker 2 when I looked for the Athens, for the Georgia theater tickets, they were like $400

Speaker 2 for standing room. At the Georgia theater, there are no seats.
It's standing room. That's what you do.
I mean, up in the balcony, I suppose. But so $400 to go see Stephen Wilson Jr.

Speaker 2 probably would have been worth every dime.

Speaker 3 Yeah, you know, that was a great show.

Speaker 2 Yeah, this guy, this is like a generational talent, in my opinion. So last night on the CMAs, he does a cover that he did at the print shop, and it was Stand By Me.
So now let me see.

Speaker 2 We'll play that one while we're on Stephen Wilson Jr. kick.

Speaker 2 Let's play that one. Let me see if I can cue that up here.
Here you go.

Speaker 2 For those of you listening, guitar only, him and a guitar.

Speaker 2 In the night,

Speaker 2 the night has come

Speaker 2 Now the land is dark

Speaker 3 and I'm on you still got that guitar busy on

Speaker 2 your seat The safety blanket

Speaker 2 won't shed a single tear

Speaker 2 just as long as you,

Speaker 2 just as long as you

Speaker 2 stand by

Speaker 2 me.

Speaker 2 So won't you stay

Speaker 2 by

Speaker 2 me?

Speaker 2 Won't you, won't you

Speaker 2 stand

Speaker 2 by me,

Speaker 2 stand by me,

Speaker 2 don't you stand by

Speaker 2 And every skirt

Speaker 2 that we look upon

Speaker 2 should ever tumble and fall

Speaker 2 devil's mountains they ever crumble into the sea

Speaker 2 into the sea.

Speaker 2 No, I won't be free.

Speaker 2 No, I won't be faith.

Speaker 2 Just as long as you,

Speaker 2 just as long as you

Speaker 2 stand by

Speaker 2 me.

Speaker 2 I want you stay

Speaker 2 by

Speaker 2 me.

Speaker 2 Won't you, won't you

Speaker 2 stand

Speaker 2 by me,

Speaker 2 stand by me,

Speaker 2 won't you stand

Speaker 2 by

Speaker 2 me?

Speaker 2 Won't you stand

Speaker 2 by

Speaker 2 me?

Speaker 2 Won't you stand

Speaker 2 by me?

Speaker 2 Won't you stand

Speaker 2 by

Speaker 2 me

Speaker 2 on you, yeah,

Speaker 2 yeah.

Speaker 2 Wow. Yeah, wow.
Generational talent.

Speaker 2 A generational talent for sure. This guy is out of control.
The only thing that I worry about with Stephen Wilson Jr., first of all, I want to point out that he's using so much reverb on his voice.

Speaker 2 If that stadium that he was in right then was empty, his voice would sound like that. He's putting so much reverb on it.

Speaker 2 It's a master stroke on how to use effects correctly.

Speaker 2 And his voice needs that to make it so

Speaker 2 in your face. You feel like you're in a huge room listening to someone without a microphone.
And

Speaker 2 this is someone at the top of their game. It does.
The only thing that concerns me about Stephen Wilson Jr. is that we are seeing him at the very tippy-tippy top of his game.

Speaker 2 And I wonder how long he can keep it up with that voice screaming like that. I hope he can do it, but we've seen other screamers in the past not keep up with that kind of vocal ideation.

Speaker 2 But, you know, we'll see. I hope.
I love Stephen Wilson Jr. I've loved him since the moment I caught him and I turned Chrissy onto it.
I was like, you got to listen to this guy.

Speaker 2 I started sending it to everybody. I was kind of like a little obsessed, actually.
I was like, you got to listen to this guy. You got to listen to this guy.
I send him my brother.

Speaker 2 And everyone that I've sent it to is like, oh my God, that's crazy. And I'm like, yeah, I know, right? What's this guy come from? He's our age.
He was a...

Speaker 2 chemical engineer for like a cereal company or something, like a food company. He was a golden glove boxer.
He grew up poor. His dad raised raised him.

Speaker 2 His mom was like in a series of abusive relationships.

Speaker 2 Real sad story, but he managed to like pull himself up and out and he became a very well-paid like chemical engineer, food engineer, whatever for a food company.

Speaker 2 And then he was writing songs on the side for people in Nashville until somebody, one of the engineers in the studio said, you

Speaker 2 got to be the voice of these songs. And he's like, nah, man, look at me.
I'm 43 years old. You think I'm going to be a fucking rock star? And he's like, yes, I do.
You need to do these songs.

Speaker 2 Why are you giving them to other people? And he took a chance and wrote an album. It did okay, mildly in Nashville.

Speaker 2 And then the second one, Son of a Dad, I think that's when people really started taking notice. Do yourself a favor, get into Stephen Wilson Jr.
Those are like two of like 12.

Speaker 2 He's got like, you know, 30 songs out there now, but 24 of them are just beautiful. And Live at the Print Shop is probably the best live version of some of these songs that I've seen.
So go watch it.

Speaker 3 Yeah, it's about, what, an hour long and just

Speaker 2 six, eight songs, something like that. He talks a lot about his lives.
Yeah, he does.

Speaker 2 It's beautiful. Anyway, okay, listen, we just, we couldn't, I couldn't let it slide.
I had to talk about Stephen Wilson Jr. again.
I tried to get him on the show. We reached out to his people.

Speaker 2 We reached out to the guy from live at Print Shop

Speaker 2 in typical. commercial break fashion.
No one responded to us. No, I think Stephen Wilson's people did get back to us and they said, listen,

Speaker 2 thanks for asking, but right now he's got a lot on his plate, yeah, and uh, right now, he's letting the music speak for him, and and that's okay.

Speaker 2 I haven't seen him do too many interviews, I think he was on two like late night shows.

Speaker 2 Uh, I think he went on Jimmy Kimmel, I think he was on Fallon, and then I also believe he did like one podcast, but of course, it wasn't ours.

Speaker 2 But he also, he's not the shits and giggles kind of guy, like maybe this is just not the place for him to come air his you know, musical laundry. Though, Steven, always an open door.

Speaker 2 You know, if you want to to come stream in front of six people, we're here for you.

Speaker 2 We're here for you. If you need that kind of promotion, that kind of promotion.

Speaker 2 Yeah. If you need a technically

Speaker 2 disastrous show to show up to, I would love to get Stephen Wilson here and have him be the first artist that plays for us. We wanted to do that.
We wanted to do this music series.

Speaker 2 Yeah, I said, let's, I, I said, hey, reach out to Stephen Wilson's people. Tell them we have a studio in Atlanta that's pretty nice and they have actual engineers that can help him set up his shit.

Speaker 2 And he can come and he can talk and he can play us a few songs. But I can also understand that when you're on the rise like this, there's probably a lot that's pulling at you.
And your management,

Speaker 2 they're doing the right thing when they're saying no to the commercial breaks of the world. They're like, you don't need them.

Speaker 2 You need to focus, focus, focus. You're playing the CMAs, Jimmy Fallon, and Jimmy Kimmel.
You don't need the commercial break.

Speaker 2 But I say all that to say that I got mad respect, mad respect for what's going on with Stephen Wilson Jr. Hey, Lauren, Lauren's on our stream right now

Speaker 2 at the commercial break on

Speaker 2 YouTube, youtube.com at thecommercial break or slash the commercial break.

Speaker 2 And if you want to know when we're going live in the future, follow us at the commercial break on Instagram, and we'll let you know just a couple minutes ahead of time, usually Tuesdays through Thursdays, sometime between noon and 3 p.m., Chrissy and I are going to make an effort to be here streaming the show.

Speaker 2 And then, of course, you can always listen a couple days later on the RSS feed, as you always have been. So, but get involved in the conversation.

Speaker 2 Last episode we recorded, we had a lot of people commenting and in the comment section.

Speaker 2 And also, we are working on, working on, I'm not going to promise when, but in the next couple of weeks, we'd like to be able to invite people on to like jump in with their cameras.

Speaker 2 Yeah, maybe we'll do a little like fun test.

Speaker 3 A test and maybe like a holiday.

Speaker 2 Well, we can, yeah, we can always go stream and then not run it on the RSS feed if it doesn't work out. Do you know what I'm saying? So

Speaker 2 yeah, so maybe what we'll do is we'll do a special holiday something or other. So just stay tuned.
Follow us at the commercial break. We'll, of course, let people know.

Speaker 2 And maybe in that case, the smaller numbers, the better while we work out all the technical issues. Yeah, I still haven't done it.
I don't know how to do it.

Speaker 2 But a few people in the stream right now, thanks if you're streaming. And thanks always, as always in the podcast universe.
Let's take a break and we're going to play a game. Yes.
When we get back.

Speaker 5 Hey, it's Rachel, your new voice of God here on TCB. And just like you, I'm wondering just how much longer this podcast can continue.

Speaker 5 Let's all rejoice that another episode has made it to your ears, and I'll rejoice that my check is in the mail.

Speaker 5 Speaking of mail, get your free TCB sticker in the mail by going to tcbpodcast.com and visiting the Contact Us page.

Speaker 5 You can also find the entire commercial break library, audio and video, just in case you want to look at Kissy, at tcbpodcast.com. Want your voice to be on an episode of the show?

Speaker 5 Leave us a message at 212-433-3TCB. That's 212-433-3822.
Tell us how much you love us, and we'll be sure to to let the world know on a future episode. Or you could make fun of us.
That'd be fine too.

Speaker 5 We might not air that, but maybe. Oh, and if you're shy, that's okay.
Just send a text. We'll respond.

Speaker 5 Now I'm going to go check the mailbox for payment while you check out our sponsors, and then we'll return to this episode of the commercial break.

Speaker 1 This episode is sponsored by our longtime sponsor, Squarespace. I am working on a new project, Information TBD.
It's very secretive.

Speaker 1 It's very hush-hush around here because, you know, podcast secrets are a thing. Anywho, there is only one all-in-one website tool that's designed to help my new project stand out and be successful.

Speaker 1 And that one tool is Squarespace. Squarespace can help me through every step of the process.
The launch, the scaling, the branding, and the growth.

Speaker 1 No matter what part of the journey I am on, Squarespace is an all-in-one website platform, so it'll cater to my needs every step of the way.

Speaker 1 There are so many benefits, services, and tools built into Squarespace. I would need a 10-minute commercial to name them all.

Speaker 1 Cutting-edge design, search engine optimization tools, domain management, analytics, email campaigns, the ability to host videos, and most importantly, the ability to get paid.

Speaker 1 So, if you've been thinking about building or upgrading your website, now's the time to head to squarespace.com/slash commercial for a free trial.

Speaker 1 And when you're ready to launch, make sure to use the offer code commercial to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or a domain. That's squarespace.com/slash commercial.

Speaker 1 Then be sure to use the code commercial when you're ready to launch. Squarespace has been with the commercial break for a long time, and we have been with Squarespace for even longer.

Speaker 1 This is a company we trust, it's a product we use, and there's one overarching reason why. It makes my life easier.
Go build yourself a beautiful website, squarespace.com/slash commercial.

Speaker 1 And thank you to Squarespace for being a sponsor of the commercial break.

Speaker 6 Thank you for calling the Bamba's Comfort Line. Bambas make socks, slippers, tees, and underwear made with the highest quality materials.
Press one for comfort, two for style, three for a donation.

Speaker 6 You chose style. Bambas is styles for whatever you enjoy.
You can run in bombas, lounge in babas, dress them up, dress them down, but always give back in bombas.

Speaker 6 Because with every item purchased, another is donated. Bambas, comfort worth calling for.
Go to bambas.com/slash audio and use code audio for 20% off your first purchase.

Speaker 6 That's bombbas.com and use code audio.

Speaker 2 All right, you know that guy?

Speaker 2 The people who represent this country are a bunch of fucking shitheads because I just read a story. You know that Dan Crenshaw, the guy who wears the eye patch? Yeah.

Speaker 2 Representative wears the eye patch. He's no longer allowed in Mexico after an alcohol-related

Speaker 2 fucking Mexico. He's a congressman.

Speaker 2 Unbelievable. What you have to do

Speaker 3 there to get kicked out. Wow.

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 2 I've been kicked out of a few places in Mexico, but not the actual country. Yeah.

Speaker 2 But I guess when you're a congressman, you do have a lot more eyeballs on you. All right, let's play a game.
Chrissy's got a music related to truths and a lie.

Speaker 3 I do in the vein of, first of all, everything 90s is new again. I'm convinced, and everybody loves the 90s.

Speaker 3 And in the vein of just listening to Steven and kind of the Eddie Vetterish, you know, a little voice like that. It reminds me that you are such a huge Pearl Jam fan.

Speaker 2 I am.

Speaker 3 You are. And we even went to the show.
We did.

Speaker 2 We went to the show together. That's right.
It was so much fun.

Speaker 2 It was a ton of fun. Actually, the other day, my iPhone

Speaker 2 popped up pictures. Yeah, I think because we had been at the State Farm Arena.
Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 It was like concerts at State Farm Arena, which were mainly just pictures of us at Pearl Jam, but then there were a couple other pictures of other shows I've seen. So, okay, I'm up for this.

Speaker 3 Nice. So it's a two lies and a fact Pearl Jam in 90s edition.

Speaker 2 All right, let's see how good my brain is working today. Okay, okay, let's see.
All right, here we go. Yeah.

Speaker 3 Okay, that's some. This is where I'm going to say three different statements.
Okay. You're going to tell me which one is the fact.

Speaker 2 Okay.

Speaker 3 Okay, the first statement is,

Speaker 3 the name of this little round is 10 out of 10.

Speaker 2 Okay. Okay.

Speaker 3 A, the band wanted every album title to be a number at first.

Speaker 3 Okay, B, 10 was named after NBA player Mookie Blalock's jersey. Mm-hmm.

Speaker 2 C,

Speaker 3 fans originally thought the album cover was a swimsuit ad.

Speaker 2 It would be B. You're correct.
Yes. Mookie Blaylock.
Yeah, tell us more about that. So Pearl Jam was actually named the Mookie Blaylock Band.
That was their original name.

Speaker 2 But because Mookie Blaylock did not know who the fuck Pearl Jam would become, he did not care for them using his name. And they got a copyright infringement.

Speaker 2 They got a cease and desist from the attorneys for Mookie Blaylock, who was a Hawks player, an Atlanta Hawks player, award number 10.

Speaker 2 Yes. And

Speaker 2 so Jeff Ahmed, who's the bassist, was a huge NBA fan. And if you look anytime behind

Speaker 2 Pearl Jam behind Jeff on his bass stack, the speakers behind him, you will see that he has these little bobbleheads, these NBA bobbleheads that he'll switch out. But Mookie is always there.

Speaker 2 So there's always a mad respect for Mookie Blaylock.

Speaker 2 And if you are a true Pearl Jam, like aficionado and collector, you can find a poster with the Mookie Blaylock band named on it from like the first six months of them in existence,

Speaker 2 but not much else because, of course, they got the cease and desist, so they don't put out merch like that anymore.

Speaker 3 Did they become friends with Mookie?

Speaker 2 I think they had. They had to.
I think they did. Yes.

Speaker 2 I think they did. Yeah.
They had to. There you go.
Good. There you go.

Speaker 3 Okay. Here's round three: Even Flow, Even Chaos.

Speaker 2 Oh. Okay.

Speaker 3 A, the band recorded Even Flow more than 50 times. B, they intended it to be a reggae song.

Speaker 2 Even flow. Even flow.
Even flow. Eman.

Speaker 2 Thoughts arrive like butterflies. Eman,

Speaker 2 call your mama.

Speaker 2 I love it.

Speaker 3 Okay, see where the lyrics were written while Eddie was floating in a sensory tank.

Speaker 2 Huh.

Speaker 2 Yeah, I don't believe that any of the songs on 10 were recorded 50 times. I think this, and I certainly don't think it's supposed to be a Reiki song.

Speaker 2 That's a pretty obvious lie. So it's got to be the sensory tank or a, I imagine that it's the sensory tank, though.
I don't recall reading about this.

Speaker 3 I like the sensory tank.

Speaker 2 But they recorded it

Speaker 2 50 times. More than 50 times.
Wow. Listen, I do know.

Speaker 3 Like for the one album?

Speaker 2 Man.

Speaker 2 So a lot of the songs on 10 were written before Eddie

Speaker 2 was even part of the band. They were written on a demo tape.
They sent the tape to Eddie, who was living down in San Diego, surfing mainly. This is why I think the sensory tank made sense.

Speaker 2 And he was a gas station attendant. And he was a gas station attendant.
That's what he was doing for a living. And he lived in a tiny room that he'd sublet with like six other surfer dudes.

Speaker 2 And he would write the lyrics on the walls. He would write some of these lyrics in notebooks and on the walls.

Speaker 2 And so when somebody told Mother Lovebone was essentially Pearl Jam, Jeff Ahment, Mike McCready, Stone Gossard, they were all kind of traveling in the same circles. Mother Lovebone,

Speaker 2 the lead singer, died and they were left with nothing to do. They got together, they started writing songs.
They were looking for a singer.

Speaker 2 Someone who knew someone, I think it was someone having to do with red-hot chili peppers, sent the tape down to Eddie Vetter.

Speaker 2 They knew he was a singer, and they said, hey, listen, you know, listen to this and let us know. And he recorded over it.
He dubbed it with the tape in the background, essentially.

Speaker 2 Played the tape, then dubbed his own voice, wrote a lot of those lyrics off the rip or read it off his wall or out of his notebook, sent it back to them.

Speaker 2 And so my understanding is that that album was recorded in about a 10-day period, totally, with Brendan O'Brien, just like, boom. But, you know, you could do it 50 times in 10 days, I suppose.

Speaker 2 Or it just took 50 times to get it right.

Speaker 2 I do have heard Mike McCready say that the guitar solos and that, which are now world famous, you listen to Even Flow, you listen to the guitar solos, that they were,

Speaker 2 that it took a long time to get those down, but I didn't know 50 times. That's a lot.
That's a lot. That's yeah.
All right, okay.

Speaker 3 Well, you're doing well so far. Thank you.

Speaker 2 Here we go. Doing a little history lesson.
I know, I enjoyed this.

Speaker 3 I knew that I knew this would be a good one for you. Okay, round four.
Yes. Jeremy spoke, dot, dot, dot.
Then MTV panicked.

Speaker 2 Yes. Is the name of this? Okay.
Okay.

Speaker 3 A, MTV banned the Jeremy video for showing Eddie eating raw fish.

Speaker 2 B,

Speaker 3 the video director later quit the music industry industry from the stress.

Speaker 2 Or C,

Speaker 3 the original ending was even darker than the final cut.

Speaker 2 Hmm.

Speaker 2 I think that this has got to be

Speaker 2 C, though I think there is some

Speaker 2 truth to the rumor of B.

Speaker 3 With the video director

Speaker 2 from the stress. Yes, yes, because it was a big deal at the time.
Yes, even Flow. I mean, Jeremy

Speaker 2 was one of the most popular videos MTV had ever seen, but MTV got so much heat for that particular video because, of course, it shows, it's the story of a child who shoots himself in class.

Speaker 2 And the video in and of itself, the one that ran, is pretty... graphic.
It shows him blowing out his brains and then blood all over the children.

Speaker 2 But it doesn't show the actual blowing out of the brains. But I think the ending may have been darker, the original version.

Speaker 3 Yeah, they're right. The ending, the original ending was even darker.

Speaker 2 But the director got so much heat for that video.

Speaker 2 He went on to do movies, I believe, but he got so much heat for that that he considered leaving the industry, leaving the music industry, like the video industry. Yeah.

Speaker 2 Because

Speaker 2 it was a difficult time.

Speaker 2 And little fun fact, that was the last video that Pearl Jam would do for MTV or anywhere else for a very long time, for like 23 years.

Speaker 2 They were done. They were done.

Speaker 2 They didn't think it was necessary to make videos.

Speaker 3 And it wasn't.

Speaker 2 It wasn't. They did just fine.
They did okay.

Speaker 2 They did okay for themselves. Yeah.

Speaker 3 exactly okay here we go round five okay veter's adventures oh okay here we go i think i know where this is going okay go okay a eddie veter once lost his wallet surfing before a show okay

Speaker 3 b he performed part of a concert while hanging upside down

Speaker 2 c he toured with a portable sauna for vocal warm-ups uh c sounds a little too pretentious though i like they keep throwing in the saunas yeah they keep on throwing in saunas and i i don't know i i don't don't know, but it doesn't sound like Eddie Vetter to me.

Speaker 2 I would say,

Speaker 2 well, he certainly has performed parts of concerts hanging upside down, so that sounds like it might be true.

Speaker 2 And it also sounds like it might be true that he lost a wallet before he surfed because he's a big surfer. So I'm just going to say A for Titan Giggles.
Okay, it was B. You're right.

Speaker 3 Yeah, and we do know about his climbing and hanging upside down.

Speaker 2 I saw it. You saw it upside down.
I saw it live, right? At the Fox.

Speaker 2 I saw it at the Fox Theater, and then I saw it again at La La Palooza.

Speaker 2 But eventually, they put a stop to it.

Speaker 2 People threatened to poll gigs because the insurance companies were saying that they weren't going to insure him if he, in fact, got up off. If he got offstage, then it was over.

Speaker 2 Like, game over, they were going to stop the show. And the bandmates themselves were pressuring Eddie to stop it because they were really concerned.

Speaker 2 He was so into it. He was so into it.
But, you know, Stone Gossard said, he's going to die in front of us. And

Speaker 2 then it's going to be the most tragic thing that ever happened.

Speaker 2 So I think he did that for the first two or three years. Of course, the Even Flow video is

Speaker 2 or alive are the two videos where you think of where Eddie's just acting like a maniac running around. And,

Speaker 2 you know, that was his thing. That was his thing.
That was his thing. Yeah.

Speaker 3 Okay. Well, good job.

Speaker 3 Here we go. Well, this way, I think we've talked about this before, but

Speaker 3 round six was Ticketmaster Wars. Oh, yeah.

Speaker 2 I mean, that was a big deal. It's a big deal.
Yeah. But we'll skip that one.
We'll skip that one. I mean, the Pearl Jam knew Ticketmaster was.
I was specified before Congress about high ticket fees.

Speaker 2 Yes. And

Speaker 3 which are still around.

Speaker 2 And for two years, for two tours, they did it themselves. They did their own ticketing.
And that turned into a major disaster for them. That was a real problem.

Speaker 2 They had a lot of issues because Ticketmaster just does what they do very well. But they knew that the $3

Speaker 2 fee that Ticketmaster was charging was highway robbery, and they hated it. And they felt that it was rigged, and that ticket brokers were getting in the middle.

Speaker 2 This is like the baby ticket brokers, like, you know, individual humans that were like buying five or six tickets a day.

Speaker 3 Right, that would stand outside turtles.

Speaker 2 Yes, that would stand outside turtles or the Fox Theater or whatever.

Speaker 2 You know,

Speaker 2 they knew, and they went to Congress and they tried to get it stopped. But of course, Congress in its infinite wisdom, 29 years later, still doing the same shit.

Speaker 2 So now Congress is like, oh, oh, yeah, Ticketmaster sucks. Oh, they do.
They did back then, too. They still haven't done anything different.
Not a goddamn thing.

Speaker 3 Now they just include it's an all-inclusive fee.

Speaker 2 But

Speaker 2 in the United Kingdom, thank you, my UK brethren.

Speaker 2 In the United Kingdom, they are signing into law this week a law that says it is illegal to sell tickets higher than face value, essentially killing the aftermarket or at least the public aftermarket for tickets.

Speaker 2 There's always going to be a black market for it. Yeah, you can call your buddy and he can say, hey, you know, I'll charge you an extra 200 bucks to buy these tickets.
But

Speaker 2 it's a first step in combating what has become an out-of-control situation with these ticket fees. God, it really is.
It's nuts. Okay.

Speaker 2 Okay.

Speaker 3 Here we go. Round seven.
Alternative 90s madness.

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 2 Sounds like an episode of the Love Connection.

Speaker 2 She showed her name. She showed her knee.
I see a nipple. Wow.

Speaker 2 Okay, here we go.

Speaker 3 A, the first Limp Biscuit album was produced by Eddie Vetter.

Speaker 2 Nope.

Speaker 3 B, radio stations sometimes labeled Pearl Jam as drug music. C, Nirvana once opened for Pearl Jam at a country fair.

Speaker 2 Okay,

Speaker 2 this has got to be B because I don't believe that Pearl Jam ever opened up for Nirvana. And I certainly know that Eddie Vetter did not produce Limp Biscuits first album.

Speaker 2 Thank God. Yeah, thank God.
So that's got to be B.

Speaker 2 Sometimes they labeled it drug music.

Speaker 3 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 Which sounds right. So a little history lesson in how the 90s went down,

Speaker 2 why this music became so popular. Atlanta has a lot to do with that.
That's true. 99X.
99X, because

Speaker 2 there was a radio station in Seattle, a college radio station, I believe, and then there was a station in Los Angeles. But here on the East Coast, 99X was our alternative station.

Speaker 2 And it was the first station to flip into what they called alternative format, alternative rock or alternative format. And they,

Speaker 2 a bunch of rogue employees at this radio station owned by Cumulus now, but by Dickie Broadcasting then literally got together and overnight found music from Seattle and other places that were being played in like college stations and, you know, under the underground scene.

Speaker 2 And

Speaker 2 it was crazy. If you listen to the story of it, there's like literally a documentary that was made about this.
It's a shitty YouTube documentary.

Speaker 2 But all the players involved, Leslie Fram and all these people were these program directors. They got together and I still, I still remember

Speaker 2 when they flipped that music, when they flipped that station. I was listening when they flipped that station.
It happened at like, I don't know, like 12 at night or something like that.

Speaker 3 They usually do it at midnight, yeah.

Speaker 2 And I still remember, and overnight, it became a sensation here in the city and throughout the country. And everybody soon followed.

Speaker 2 Within a year, the alternative stations were everywhere because it became very popular music. They were playing Nirvana when no one else was playing Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins.

Speaker 2 If I'm not mistaken, I can't remember what the first song on 99X was playing.

Speaker 3 You just said it the other day.

Speaker 2 Yes,

Speaker 2 it's not Nevermind.

Speaker 3 I thought it was maybe a Pearl Jam.

Speaker 2 It wasn't a Pearl Jam song.

Speaker 2 First song. Yeah, we just talked about that a little while back.

Speaker 2 On 99X

Speaker 2 Manta.

Speaker 2 Video Killed the Radio Star. Really? Okay, well, there we go.
I thought that was the first one on MTV. That was the first one on MTV also.

Speaker 2 But it was Video Killed the Radio Star. But anyway,

Speaker 2 in that first couple of minutes, so Nirvana was played also. But not Nirvana's.
Nevermind, Nirvana's Bleach album, because I don't think Nevermind was out yet. True.
Because 99X came online.

Speaker 2 Oh, maybe it was. It was October 26, 1992.
Anyway, okay. Anyway, that's a little history lesson.
I love it. Atlanta, we were early in on the game.
Yes, we were. Yeah.

Speaker 2 Now we just play shitty dance music

Speaker 2 and 80s pop music. I know.
Yeah, there's no more radio stations left. 99X is still around, by the way.

Speaker 3 There is a station out of Minneapolis. It's an NPR station.
It's called The Current. Jeff and I listen to it.
It's good. It's independent and it's great.

Speaker 2 I don't know if it could convince me to turn off my satellite radio, but

Speaker 2 there's just no place. There's no Kingmakers anymore.
Maybe there shouldn't be, but there's no Kingmakers anymore. 99X was a Kingmaker.
If you got your music played on 99X.

Speaker 3 Turned onto that station then. Yeah, yeah.
Okay. Okay.
Round eight.

Speaker 2 Yeah. Soundgarden sound off.
Ooh.

Speaker 2 Ooh, the rivalry.

Speaker 2 The rivalry was really Nirvana and Pearl Jam. That's true.
Because Soundgarden and Pearl Jam were friendly from the get.

Speaker 2 Okay.

Speaker 3 A. Chris Cornell and Eddie Vetter once recorded an entire album of lullabies b

Speaker 3 the temple of the dog album featured early pearl jam members c

Speaker 2 soundgarden and pearl jam shared a rehearsal warehouse okay well of course it's b because uh pearl temple of the dog i love that

Speaker 2 it's an excellent album it's an excellent album

Speaker 2 still to this day yeah it's one of the first album first cds that i ever bought when after kind of alternative music started to take over and it's an excellent album for beginning to end.

Speaker 2 And it is Eddie Vetter's debut with Pearl Jam members. Here's a fun fact.
Before one lick of 10 was recorded, Hunger Strike was recorded.

Speaker 2 I'm going home. I'm going hungry.

Speaker 2 Yeah, that is Eddie Vetter's debut essentially on the scene. And

Speaker 2 he recorded that with Chris Cornell.

Speaker 3 I remember hearing that and I was like, what is this?

Speaker 2 What is that? Yeah. As a matter of fact, I think the song came out before Pearl Jams 10 came out, so people kind of knew that he was on the scene long before.

Speaker 2 But those videos, it's at that time period, like I think those videos all started to come out right within weeks of each other. Yeah,

Speaker 2 okay, let's do it. I like this.
All right, all right. Here you do.
I'm winning. You are winning.
Winning. Winning.
Hashtag winning. Hashtag winning.

Speaker 3 Okay, here we go. Round nine: 90s fashion crimes.

Speaker 2 Oh,

Speaker 3 of course, it involves a little flannel. Of course.
Okay. A flannel shirts surged in price because of Pearl Jam and Nirvana.
B Adidas released an official Pearl Jam sneaker.

Speaker 3 C, Eddie Vetter had a contract with Levi's.

Speaker 2 Okay, Eddie Vetter never had a contract with Levi's.

Speaker 2 If you know anything, if you even know like 10% of history about Pearl Jam, then you know that there's no contract with Levi's. He wasn't a fashion model.

Speaker 2 He was the anti-fashion model.

Speaker 2 I can imagine that flannel got hot to trot right after

Speaker 2 you're correct. Yes.

Speaker 3 flannel, God, it was everywhere. The Doc Martens, the flannel.

Speaker 2 It was everywhere. I did not actually, fun fact about Brian, I never got into the flannel.
You didn't? No, I don't even think I owned a flannel

Speaker 2 many years later. Doc Martens, yes.
I was all about the Doc Martins for sure. But I never wore like flannel.
I never wrapped one around my waist.

Speaker 2 It wasn't my thing.

Speaker 2 Yeah. I was a little bit more fashionable than that.
A little bit. Not much, but a little bit.
Tidal, little bit.

Speaker 2 Okay.

Speaker 3 All right, round 10.

Speaker 2 Are we good on time? Yeah.

Speaker 2 Yeah. We're good.
Let's do this one and then we'll take a break. Okay.

Speaker 3 Round 10, MTV shenanigans.

Speaker 2 Oh, the shenanigans of MTV. Uh-huh.

Speaker 3 Okay. Okay.
A, MTV gave Pearl Jam best new artist, but they refused the trophy.

Speaker 3 B, Eddie Vetter once showed up to the VMAs in shorts and hiking boots.

Speaker 2 C,

Speaker 3 MTV once censored a speech where Eddie protested microwaves.

Speaker 2 Okay, that's not true.

Speaker 2 What? How did that come up? I think Eddie knew. I think Eddie had a few protests in his time, but I don't think it had to do with microwaves.

Speaker 2 I know for a fact that he used to wear shorts and hiking boots a lot, especially during the early days. And I don't think they refused that artist award.

Speaker 2 I think they actually accepted the artist award. And I think it was the only award they ever accepted from MTV.
So it's B. It is B.
Yes. They're correct.
Yes.

Speaker 2 Look at me. I got it.
I'm so good at this. Okay.

Speaker 3 Wow, I know there's more to come.

Speaker 2 All right. We'll be back.

Speaker 2 Let me do something Brian has never done. Be brief.

Speaker 5 Follow us on Instagram at the Commercial Break. Text or call us 212-433-3TCB.
That's 212-433-3822. Visit our website, tcbpodcast.com, for all the audio, video, and your free sticker.

Speaker 5 Then watch all the videos at youtube.com/slash the commercial break. And finally, share the show.
It's the best gift you could give a few aging podcasters.

Speaker 2 See, Brian, that really wasn't that difficult now, was it? You're welcome.

Speaker 7 Finding the perfect gift for a creative artist is tough. Buying online feels impersonal, and you often have to guess at the right fit.
This year, visit a Brother Authorized Sewing Center instead.

Speaker 7 Shop the exclusive Brother Gift Guide for their high-end sewing and embroidery products, instant rebates, and gifts with purchase. Give a gift that inspires, backed by local experts.

Speaker 7 Find your nearest Brother sewing center or dealer today using the dealer locator button at brother-usa.com.

Speaker 8 There's a lot of pressure to choose the perfect gift, but with Omaha Steaks, you can put all that gift anxiety aside.

Speaker 8 From effortless holiday hosting to unforgettable gifts, Omaha Steaks delivers the world's best steak experience.

Speaker 8 When you gift Omaha Steaks, you're gifting USDA-certified tender steaks, premium proteins, elegant sides, and decadent, indulgent desserts.

Speaker 8 Omaha Steaks offers unrivaled quality and variety, and every bite is backed by their 100% guarantee.

Speaker 8 Every steak is perfectly aged to maximize tenderness and hand-cut by master butchers in America's heartland.

Speaker 8 Grass-fed, grain-finished beef has more marbling for exceptional flavor and is the choice of steakhouses and professional chefs around the world.

Speaker 8 Right now is the perfect time to save on delicious gifts and holiday hosting favorites. Save big on gourmet gifts and more holiday favorites with Omaha Steaks.

Speaker 8 Visit omahasteaks.com and for an extra $35 off, use code T-Bone at checkout. Terms apply.
See site for details. That's Omahasteaks.com.
Promo code T-Bone. Crown Coin Cecilo, the place to be.

Speaker 2 Crown yourself a winner and play for free. Sign up now and join the fun.
There's endless fun for everyone.

Speaker 9 Sign up now to Crown Coins, America's number one social casino. Use promo code CCC for an exclusive welcome bonus and start winning today.

Speaker 2 Crown Coin Casino.

Speaker 2 You're number one.

Speaker 10 Code valid for new users only. No purchases necessary.
Voterware prohibited by law 18 plus. Terms and conditions apply.

Speaker 2 Okay, we're back. We're playing a little

Speaker 2 two truths. Oh, one truth and a two two lies and a truth, whatever the fuck it's called.

Speaker 2 Two lies and a fact. Two lies and a fact.
Two craps and a fact. I don't know what I'm talking about.
I could have done fact or crap, but that we'll play that next time.

Speaker 2 Next time we'll play two facts and a fact. It's going to be easy for you.
I've got to make them harder. Yeah, next time we'll ask the audience to give us two facts and a crap.

Speaker 2 And that'll be a fun game to play. And then you and I will have to decipher and we'll see if we can beat the audience.
Oh, I love that. Okay, we're playing a 90s music version of this.

Speaker 2 It's been mainly focused on Pearl Jam right now. So, okay, go.
Let's do this.

Speaker 3 Okay, round. Okay, this is the next round.
Okay. Peak 90s weirdness.

Speaker 2 All right. I think I can go.
I think I can go here.

Speaker 2 I think I got my 90s pop trivia pretty good. You did.
Pretty good.

Speaker 2 Okay.

Speaker 3 A is

Speaker 3 a Connecticut radio station once played alive on repeat for 24 hours. B, Eddie Venner once lent his boat to Chris Cornell, dot, dot, dot, and it sank.

Speaker 2 C,

Speaker 3 90s parents believed Pearl Jam albums contained subliminal satanic messages.

Speaker 2 Okay. I'm sure there's some truth to C, but I do believe that, no,

Speaker 2 maybe that's not Pearl Jam.

Speaker 2 I feel like A has some truth to it, but I think it's probably C.

Speaker 3 Oh, okay. No, you're right, A.
Go with your instinct.

Speaker 2 Okay, A.

Speaker 3 A, The Connecticut radio station once played a live on repeat for 24 hours.

Speaker 2 Yes, it's I know that there's some parents who got up in arms about Pearl Jam. I remember reading about it, but A.

Speaker 2 It was labeled drug music. Yeah, it's labeled drug music.
That's right. Druggies.
Those drugies. Drugies.
Yeah, by the way, Pearl Jam's not drug music.

Speaker 2 Pink Floyd is drug music, even though they don't want it to be.

Speaker 2 I will say that there is a story that I remember hearing about a DJ who put it on repeat for 24 hours.

Speaker 2 And after 12 hours, the station manager came to the Connecticut radio station because it's like one of those tiny stations, like independent stations, and was like pounding on the door.

Speaker 2 And I think, if I remember correctly, they had to like call the police to get the DJ

Speaker 2 out of the studio.

Speaker 3 Wow, he was standing in the principal.

Speaker 2 Yeah, he was standing on principle. He's standing on business.
That guy was.

Speaker 2 Yeah, it's good. It's good.

Speaker 2 No one remembers the DJ's name, but hey, you know, whatever.

Speaker 3 There should be a little documentary about that.

Speaker 2 The day 24 hours of live.

Speaker 3 he was probably doing some Columbia marketing.

Speaker 2 Yeah, that's right.

Speaker 2 It was drug music.

Speaker 2 I mean, back then, you'd have to press like repeat on the CD player or something. Yeah, every time.

Speaker 3 Okay, next round. Okay.
Grunge lore.

Speaker 2 Oh, here we go.

Speaker 3 A early Pearl Jam rehearsals happened in a basement heated only by amps.

Speaker 3 B, Eddie once slept in his car for two weeks during the first tour.

Speaker 2 Okay. Or C, Jeff Ahmat used to sew his own wallet chains.
Jeff Ahmed used to sew his own wallet chain. Sounds like,

Speaker 2 sounds false, but could be true.

Speaker 2 I do feel

Speaker 2 like they had a rehearsal space that was cold. That sounds familiar to me.
So I'm going to go with that one. You're correct.
Yeah. Correct.
Yeah. I think that.

Speaker 3 Although it seems like any of them could be true.

Speaker 2 Any of them could be true. But, you know, you don't sleep in your car when you're on tour.

Speaker 2 you're on a you're in a van or you're on a bus or something i mean you could sleep in the van but you don't sleep in your own car it's not like you're following the guys around i'll catch up with you hey it's me eddie better in my station wagon i mean it just doesn't make much sense

Speaker 2 yeah and you have to remember about it about pearl jam in general is that this is a pretty uh lickety split that when we say a lot of times on this show we talk to people overnight sensation sensations never happen overnight this is one of the rare exceptions to that pearl Jam literally put out an album, and within six months, they were international superstars.

Speaker 2 Eddie Vetter was on the cover of Time Magazine hanging from the rafters. Yes, he was.

Speaker 2 So, and

Speaker 2 they had a big argument at Time Magazine, Kurt or Eddie, and they put Eddie on it, and that kind of started a little beef. So, I mean, neither of them wanted to be on the cover of Time Magazine.

Speaker 2 But I guess that's only only people only say that when they're not the one chosen to be on Time Magazine. magazine, you know what I'm saying?

Speaker 3 So, you know, you can always just get one printed. Yeah,

Speaker 2 that's what Trump does.

Speaker 2 Okay.

Speaker 3 The next round: lyrics and legends. Okay.

Speaker 2 Okay. A.

Speaker 3 Eddie Vetter wrote black in 15 minutes. B, daughter was originally called brother.

Speaker 3 C, yellow leadbetter has official printed lyrics.

Speaker 2 Yellow Lead Butter does not have a lyrical lady.

Speaker 3 I know, and that's one of our favorites.

Speaker 2 I don't think, hey, you know, don't call me brother.

Speaker 2 I don't think that's it. So I think it's got to be a.
You're right. You're right.
Yeah.

Speaker 3 Brother is a different song. Brother is a different song.

Speaker 2 They do have a song called Brother.

Speaker 3 And Led Better famously has no official lyrics.

Speaker 2 Yeah, but I do also know the song about daughter, and that was also written in about 15 minutes. It was written very quickly, and they did it in a shed behind the studio.
Really? Yeah.

Speaker 2 And this is their second album, which, by the way, is the fastest-selling album of all time, is Pearl Jam's Versus, which is the following to 10.

Speaker 2 Yeah, these guys did it. I mean, they're the great American rock band, for sure.

Speaker 3 They really are.

Speaker 2 Okay,

Speaker 3 this is another round. TV Time Warp.
Okay. Pearl Jam A.
Pearl Jam once guest starred in an episode of Baywatch.

Speaker 3 B, Eddie Vetter turned down a cameo on Friends. Or C, the band appeared in a Simpsons couch gag.

Speaker 2 I think this is. It's Baywatch, right? Yeah, it's Baywatch.
Yes. Eddie Vetter was on Baywatch.
Slowly down.

Speaker 2 That's right.

Speaker 2 With flannel shirts,

Speaker 2 chain wallets, flannel shirts are flying.

Speaker 2 It's definitely not Baywatch. We can be assured of that one.

Speaker 2 But I do think they were on The Simpsons, if I'm not mistaken.

Speaker 2 I think that's it. But, you know, Eddie could have very well been asked to be.
Does he have any connection to The Friends? I don't know.

Speaker 3 Yeah, well, that was it.

Speaker 2 That was it? Yeah, that was the case. He turned down the cameo.

Speaker 3 But it does seem like that Pearl Jam was somehow in the Simpsons.

Speaker 2 Pearl Jam has got to be in on The Simpsons in all the Simpsons episodes. Pearl Jam has to have been touched on.
They did everything. I mean, everything.
They're on once a week for the last 86 years.

Speaker 2 So, okay. All right.
I didn't know that Eddie Vetter was asked to be on Friends. Turned it down.
Turned it down. What? Principle.
Listen. Standing on business.
Standing on Friends.

Speaker 2 Standing on business. I'm not going to be on Friends.
The biggest show in the world. I'm the biggest singer in the world.
Yeah. Okay.
But Eddie roundly denounced.

Speaker 2 Yeah, he roundly denounced fame in general. But I mean, I think he said in later years, you know, I just didn't know how to handle it.
And so it's fair enough.

Speaker 3 I mean, to go from zero to zero

Speaker 2 overnight. And everybody's looking at you and everybody's reading into your lyrics and it all has this meaning.
And, you know, it's really the soundtrack.

Speaker 2 They are the soundtrack of a generation, part of the soundtrack of a generation.

Speaker 2 And his songs specifically, the songs that he wrote on 10 and verses and all these albums, the lyrics are, they're just a little bit deeper than some of the other stuff that was coming out.

Speaker 2 And that includes Nirvana or Soundgarden. That's not to knock either of those bands.
They also had great songwriting and great lyrics.

Speaker 2 But there's something about the way that Eddie Vedder sings some of those songs, like Black or Daughter or, you know, Elderly Woman Behind a Counter in a Small Town, which is a crazy fucking

Speaker 2 name. But, you know, you get what I'm saying is that Eddie kind of,

Speaker 2 he had like an endearing quality to his voice and his lyrics. And it didn't help, it didn't hurt.
The guy was pretty fucking handsome.

Speaker 2 So, I mean, you know, he's certainly the best looking of the bunch, that's for sure.

Speaker 2 Even though Kurt was pretty handsome.

Speaker 3 Well, Chris Cornell was

Speaker 2 a good looking guy, too. Yeah, they all were.
They were all models. I know.
Yeah. Okay.

Speaker 3 Here we go. Next round.
CD store chaos.

Speaker 2 Okay.

Speaker 3 Okay. A, stores put anti-theft spider alarm cables on Pearl Jam CDs.

Speaker 2 Okay.

Speaker 3 B, versus sold nearly a million copies in a week without radio play.

Speaker 2 Okay.

Speaker 3 See, some stores refused to sell Vitology because they thought the cover looked haunted.

Speaker 2 Ooh, I could see maybe any of these being true, but I know that there was radio play for Versus, though I think the number is right. They sold a million copies in a week.

Speaker 2 But Daughter was a single. Daughter was the first single from that album, so it had radio play.

Speaker 2 I remember hearing it the first time that they played it on 99X.

Speaker 2 But maybe it wasn't an official release. I don't know.

Speaker 2 Official single. I don't know.
My gut tells me that could be true. I could see how people would want to put anti-theft on CDs.

Speaker 2 I have no idea. It's one of those cables that

Speaker 2 goes around the CD. But I don't see them putting it on every single CD of Pearl Jams.
That seems like a big effort for one band. All right.
So let's throw that one in the trash.

Speaker 2 So I think,

Speaker 2 what was the third one?

Speaker 3 Some stores refused to sell Vitology because they thought the cover looked haunted.

Speaker 2 No store refused to sell Vitology. That's ridiculous.
I mean, it doesn't look haunted. It's the picture of the book, Vitology.
That's what it is. So throw that one in the trash.
So it's got to be B.

Speaker 2 It was B. Okay, there you go.
Sold a million copies in a week. A million copies in a week without radio play.

Speaker 2 It did have radio play, but what they're saying, I think, is without an official single being released. So people were just, DJs were just picking songs out of there.

Speaker 3 All right. Okay.
We got a couple more here.

Speaker 3 Okay. Round, this next round.
Retro tech lies.

Speaker 2 Okay.

Speaker 3 Okay. A laser disc was marketed as the vinyl of video.

Speaker 3 B, Pearl Jam released a song only on Laser Disc as a joke. Or C, the Nintendo 64 was originally called the Ultra 64.

Speaker 2 Oh. So this is kind of more 90s.
Yeah, there's more 90s. Okay.

Speaker 2 LaserDisc, I don't see why anybody would call it the vinyl.

Speaker 2 I mean, that just sounds stupid. It's like we're going backwards to go forward.
That sounds stupid.

Speaker 2 I think it was Ultra 64.

Speaker 2 You're correct. Yeah.

Speaker 2 Ding, ding, ding. It sounded familiar for some reason.
Ultra 64. Yeah.

Speaker 3 That was the OG name.

Speaker 2 Okay, I like it.

Speaker 3 Okay, here we go. Next round.
Nostalgia Nuggets. Okay.

Speaker 2 A.

Speaker 3 Magic Eye posters.

Speaker 2 Remember those? I do remember them. I had one.

Speaker 3 You'll stare at them and you'll see it.

Speaker 2 Yes, you'll see yourself in the magic eye

Speaker 3 magic eye posters were banned in some schools for inducing hypnosis okay b

Speaker 3 surge soda was pulled because kids kids kept mixing it with espresso

Speaker 2 which sounds like you might have done probably okay it's what i do now it's currently what i do see beanie babies were insured by some people for ten thousand dollars i could see any of those being true but i think that it's got to be the the

Speaker 2 magic eye poster was banned by somebody. That sounds right.
Yeah. Oh, it's C? It's C.
Yeah. Beanie Babies were insured for $5,000.
Yeah, of course it's the crazy.

Speaker 2 There's some idiot out there with this little boo-boos are insured right now. You know that they are.
You know that they are. Of course.
Where's my Dick Tracy collection?

Speaker 2 I need to insure it from Lloyds of London. Well, and then we're going to put it in the free port.

Speaker 2 Yeah, we're going to put it in our own free port, the lower middle-class free port, the one where you put all your junk. Also known as a self-storage yet.

Speaker 3 Okay, next round. Cassette Life.

Speaker 2 Okay.

Speaker 3 Okay, A, the first printing of 10 on cassette had a misprinted song name. Okay.
B, rewinding pearl jam cassettes with a pencil was 20% faster.

Speaker 2 Okay. All right.
That's so stupid.

Speaker 3 C, drugstores kept grunge tapes locked up because teens were stealing them.

Speaker 2 Oh, I could see.

Speaker 2 I could see either A or C being true. I don't think I've ever heard, like, you know, I have a bunch of posters.
I've bought some of them on collectible websites.

Speaker 2 I haven't heard of a, like a tape misprint being sold, but it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. I'm gonna go with A.

Speaker 3 Yeah, A, it was the printing.

Speaker 2 Oh, okay. All right.
There you go. See? I could see it being true.

Speaker 3 The first printing. I'm sure how many, God, how many printings do you think that went through? 10?

Speaker 2 10? Yeah. Oh, you mean the

Speaker 3 album 10.

Speaker 2 Oh, God. It's got to be on its 89th printing.
It had to have gone through so many printings.

Speaker 2 I mean, Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall have been reprinted every year since they came out, and they consistently show up in the top 10 album sales. It's crazy.

Speaker 2 Okay, I got one more left. Okay, go.

Speaker 3 Okay, 90s pop culture chaos.

Speaker 2 You're making it sound like the 90s. I mean, the 90s is kind of weird.
It's kind of wild.

Speaker 2 You know, I just watched yesterday, I just watched Howard Stern interviewing Dave Grohl from back in 2011 and talking about

Speaker 2 when Kurt died and what happened after all of that. Dave's perspective on what happened all over that.
It's a fascinating look at a really interesting time for everybody.

Speaker 2 And it brought me back to the day that I, the moment that I heard that on 99 Acts, the moment that I heard that, and then all of the kind of chaos that came after that and who did it and who done it and what's going to happen.

Speaker 2 Oh, God, I know. You know,

Speaker 2 yeah. Okay, go ahead.
All right.

Speaker 3 A, you could buy a Pearl Jam branded pager in 1996.

Speaker 2 Sheesh.

Speaker 3 B, 90s teens believed listening to grunge and headphones caused ear mold.

Speaker 2 Okay. Or

Speaker 2 C,

Speaker 3 Columbia House lost millions because people ordered C Ds under fake names.

Speaker 2 Okay, that's C, of course. Yeah.

Speaker 2 Columbia House used to do this thing. Yeah.

Speaker 2 100 CDs for a penny. Yeah.
And what it really was, you were entering a club where your card would get charged $19.99 a month forever and ever for like three years.

Speaker 2 So you actually, and then you'd continue to get these CDs that they would pick at forever and ever.

Speaker 2 You never seem to get your 100 CDs. I did that one time.
I did it too. Every time I did it.
Yeah, my dad let me do it. And I remember he was pissing and knowing him for years.

Speaker 2 And then they'd, you know, it'd be like... They kept sending bills.
Yeah, they kept sending, well, they kept sending bills to charge the card or whatever. And my dad would have to pay it.

Speaker 2 So he didn't want to ruin his credit. And then they'd send you like Huey Lewis and the News's 12th album

Speaker 2 as when you're in the CD of the month club and no one cared about Huey Lewis and the News' 12th album. Do you know what I'm saying? It was whatever album they had extra of they would send you.

Speaker 2 And it ended up being a real fucking ripoff for everybody involved.

Speaker 2 But, you know, hey,

Speaker 2 you got the first 10 CDs you wanted. Yeah.
Then you got 100 CDs no one wanted.

Speaker 2 All right.

Speaker 3 All right. That was fun.
You did a great job.

Speaker 2 Yeah, no, thank you. That was a good one.
I like that. I like that.
I like that. Good job, Chrissy.

Speaker 2 Nice work. Good questions.
Other ones. Prompted good conversation.
Okay, all right. I'll rely on you.
You're the game girl. Okay.
You're the game girl. You go for it.

Speaker 2 If you need me to help, you know, just call me. I mean, I could tell you that after the show is over, but you know, hey, call me.

Speaker 2 Call me. You know my number.
Yes.

Speaker 3 Dial it up.

Speaker 2 We don't talk to each other unless we're here. Yeah.

Speaker 3 Not 100 times a week.

Speaker 2 Yeah, 100 times a day.

Speaker 2 Okay, all right. So thanks, everybody, who's joined us.
Thanks, everybody who's joined us on the streaming and commenting and all that. We really appreciate it.

Speaker 2 If you are listening after this has been recorded and you want to jump in at the commercial break on Instagram and we'll let you know when we're going live and stay tuned.

Speaker 2 We intend to allow people to jump into the stream and join the show. And maybe next time the game we play can be your game.
You can pick the two craps and a fact or whatever. We'll figure it out.

Speaker 2 Yeah, the topic. Yeah.
And we'll, whatever it is, we'll figure it out. Maybe you can jump in and join us, break down a video or comment on on something we're talking about.

Speaker 2 So please get involved by following us on Instagram first at the commercial break and then pay attention.

Speaker 2 We'll, you know, we'll give you that information a couple minutes, 30 minutes before we go live.

Speaker 2 And then you can fought, then you can watch us slash the commercial break on YouTube, youtube.com slash thecommercial break on Twitch, TCB Podcast, and on kick, TCB Podcast.

Speaker 2 Also, you can go to our website, tcbpodcast.com. All the audio, all the video, you can get your free sticker by giving us your address, and we'll send you a free sticker, no must, no fuss.

Speaker 2 If you're interested, 212-433-3 TCB, that's 212-433-3822. Questions, comments, concerns, contents, ideas, we take them all.
I'll be happy to respond, you know, within the year. I'll respond.

Speaker 3 A reasonable amount of time.

Speaker 2 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Listen,

Speaker 2 I know, I know I'm going to get it. And I know as soon as I start responding, I'm gonna get it, but it's just we didn't have a phone for now.

Speaker 2 Now we do, and I'm sorry, you know, I also have to, whatever, there's a lot of stuff on going on in my life. You understand? I got to think about Pearl Jam trivia all day.

Speaker 2 Surprised I remembered any of that. That was a good job.
Thank you. All right.

Speaker 2 Happy Thanksgiving. Hope everyone has a great holiday.
Yes. I guess that's all I can do for today.
I think so. Tell you that I love you.
I love you. Best to you.

Speaker 2 Best to you out there in the streaming and podcast universe. Until next time, Chrissy and I will say, we must say, and we do say goodbye.

Speaker 11 Hey, Ryan Reynolds here, wishing you a very happy half-off holiday because right now, Mint Mobile is offering you the gift of 50% off unlimited. To be clear, that's half price, not half the service.

Speaker 11 And Mint is still premium unlimited wireless for a great price.

Speaker 8 So that means a

Speaker 11 half day. Yeah? Give it a try at mintmobile.com/slash switch.

Speaker 12 Upfront payment of $45 for a free-month plan, equivalent to $15 per month required. New customer offer for first three months only.
Speed flow after 25 gigabytes of networks busy.

Speaker 12 Taxes and fees extra. See mintmobile.com.

Speaker 13 This is Marshawn Lynch, aka Beast Mode, checking in this holiday season. Everybody out here stressing, shopping, rapping, cooking.

Speaker 13 But me, trying to kick back, marshmallow sports, and go green on my Pros Picks lineups. Right now, ProzPicks is getting into the festive spirit where new users get $50 instant in lineups.

Speaker 13 When you play your first $5, it's real simple to play. Pick two or more players, pick more or less on their stat projections, and you can win big.
Real simple, real quick.

Speaker 13 I'm talking two-minute tops, faster than heating up leftovers. Mix and match players from any sport all season long on prize picks.

Speaker 13 Available in 45 states, including California, Texas, Florida, and Georgia.

Speaker 14 Download the Prize Picks app today and use code Spotify and get $50 instantly in lineups when you play $5.

Speaker 14 That's code Spotify on Prize Picks. get $50 instantly in lineups when you play $5.

Speaker 14 Win or lose, you'll get $50 in lineups for just playing. Guaranteed.
Prize picks. It's good to be right.

Speaker 8 Must be present in certain states, visit PrizePicks.com for restrictions and details.

Speaker 15 Tito's handmade vodka is America's favorite vodka for a reason.

Speaker 15 From the first legal distillery in Texas, Tito's is six times distilled till it's just right and naturally gluten-free, making it a high-quality spirit that mixes with just about anything.

Speaker 15 From the smoothest martinis to the best Bloody Mary's. Tito's is known for giving back, teaming up with nonprofits to serve its communities and do good for dogs.
Make your next cocktail with Tito's.

Speaker 15 Distilled and bottled by Fifth Generation Inc., Austin, Texas. 40% alcohol by volume.
Savor responsibly.

Speaker 16 This is not a drill. You can now legally trade on football in California.
That's right. You can now legally trade sports on Calci.
Chicago and San Francisco are looking like a coin flip.

Speaker 16 Chicago is trading at 45% to win. That means if you put 100, you get 223 back with a win.
Check the live odds, and for a limited time, use code iHeart and get $20 when you trade 100.

Speaker 16 K-A-L-S-H-I, Cauchy, trade on anything.