Welcome to My Weekly Mixtape, a podcast that
takes the classic mixtape approach to building
a modern playlist. I'm your host, Brian Colburn.
Tonight, we are going to go back in time for
a bonus TuneStyles Throwback episode because...
This week, it's the Super Bowl. So what better
time than to revisit this really fun episode
that Jay Sweet and I did with Justin Pennick,
co -host of the Talking Giants podcast, where
we dove into some of our favorite Super Bowl
halftime show moments of all time. Now, to put
this in perspective, this show was recorded in
2021 during COVID. So the Super Bowl halftime
performances of the weekend. Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg,
Eminem, Mary J. Blige, and Kendrick Lamar, as
well as Rihanna and Usher's halftime performances
are not included in this discussion, but we are
talking about pretty much everything else. Now,
like always, if you like what you're hearing
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that's patreon .com forward slash myweeklymixtape.
So let's go back in time and... wax poetic about
Super Bowl halftime shows and apologies in advance
if you're not a New York Giants fan, because
this is one of the few chances in all the years
I've been music podcasting to talk about the
New York Giants. Jay, I've talked about music
all the time on this show, and anyone that knows
me knows I'm passionate about music, my kids,
and the New York football Giants. Anybody that
knows me. Yep, yep. One of my favorite podcasts
that I listen to outside of the music sphere
of all of our friends that we talk about all
the time on the show is a show called Talking
Giants. And I am very excited to bring one of
the hosts of Talking Giants onto TuneStyles today
to talk a little sports music with us. It's very
exciting. Yeah, so please welcome Justin Penick
from Talking Giants. Justin, thank you for joining
us, man. Brian and Jay, it's awesome to be on
with you guys. This is honestly... A great honor,
because usually when I'm asked for interviews,
it's about, oh, just let's just talk about football.
And eventually you talk so much football, it
kind of gets a little tiring. You kind of get
a little kind of gets a little old. But this
is so fun. Like this is, you know, I'm about
maybe two years into this whole podcasting thing.
And this is one of the first times I'm not really
like talking sports, which is kind of cool, kind
of neat. Yes. So because you said you don't like
going on shows and talking about football and
talking about sports, Jay, why don't we ask him
some questions about football and sports before
we get to that? Yeah, right. Considering that
the show is Dr. Day and I'm right. Considering
that the show that you host is about Giants football.
Now, in full disclosure, I am not a fan of the
blue. Now, I rooted for the blue. What was it?
Ninety ninety two. When they won? Against the
Bills? Yeah. 90 -91 against the Bills. Yeah,
91. That was the one. Because I am a Dolphins
fan, and I have to root against the Bills. Right.
So I was very happy that the Giants did win in
91. And for a little while, I admit that I did
carry a little bit of, all right, if I'm going
to live in New York, I might as well. Go blue
for, you know, for at least, you know, as long
as the Dolphins suck, which unfortunately, what's
the running tally in the 37 years since they've
seen it? seeing the turf inside a Super Bowl
stadium. Yeah, so anyway, you now have this podcast,
Talking Giants. Tell us a little bit about how
it came together and in its current format and
how you and Bobby Skinner have built the program
up over the last couple of seasons. Yeah, so
I started a podcast in 2018 called Bleeding Blue.
And then eventually I did that for about two
years, 2018 season, 2019 season. Did it with
a good buddy of mine, David Powis. We found some
success. We really hit our stride, especially
during the summer when I was able to go to training
camp. I did a lot of live streams, did a lot
of social media content. We were knocking out
podcasts. Pretty much every day in the month
of August, we had a podcast episode out previewing
a player. And we kind of found some momentum,
found our stride a little bit. Bobby Skinner,
we connected during that 2019 season. I eventually
joined Talking Giants at the start of 2020. Giants
is a part of John Boy Media. It's a John Boy
Media company. It's actually funny. I started
podcasting because of John Boy and Jake, what
they were doing at Talking Yanks. If you're a
Yankees fan, even if you're a baseball fan, I
feel like you know the John Boy Media YouTube
channel and their breakdowns. So I started podcasting
because of him, even before he had the YouTube
channel, even before he did the breakdowns. And
now to kind of be with that company, to be in
their company and to be a company man, kind of
two years later, like I've said before, I'm kind
of young. It's kind of like a dream come true,
so to speak. So Bobby Skinner, we connected during
2019 season, had a lot of success during 2020
when I joined Talking Giants. And we're looking
forward to attacking the offseason. And we're
growing on the YouTubes. We're now the highest
rated and most rated Giants podcast in the world.
It's kind of very proud to say that and very
humble, very thankful to say that. So yeah, we're
gonna have a lot of fun. So we're gonna talk
Super Bowl. halftime shows now see now i don't
think it's entirely accurate to say what was
your favorite performance because this is going
to be all subjective as to who our favorite artists
are right not necessarily you see tom petty's
was my favorite performance because i was there
well and he's your favorite he is your favorite
he is my favorite artist so that that just timed
out perfectly but as a third prong to that i
made 20 bucks off that halftime show there you
go because during the second quarter they handed
everybody a sheet of paper and said be ready
to sing along with these tom petty classics so
i called my folks and bet them 20 bucks that
i can predict the entire set list in order and
they took me up on it and as soon as as soon
as halftime was over my father called me up and
said They gave you the lyrics to something. You're
so full of shit. There's no way you guessed that.
Put one over on your parents. Wow, man. But we
flew into Vegas before the Super Bowl, and I
actually threw 20 bucks on Eli winning the MVP
and the Giants winning. We ended up winning a
couple hundred bucks, which paid for, I don't
know, one tenth of one of the tickets. But it
felt good. It felt good. So, yeah. So you're
right, Jay. These are Super Bowl halftime shows,
but some of them like trivia. Does anyone on
that know who the first Super Bowl halftime show
was? No, not not at all. And there's a reason
for that. For the first two decades of the Super
Bowl halftime show, it wasn't the musical experience
that we have known. It's not the spectacle. It
was. The Super Bowl one featured the University
of Arizona Symphonic Marching Band, Grambling
State University Marching Band, Al Hurt, and
the Anaheim High School Anaheim Steppers Drill
Team and Flag Girls. Wow. The halftime shows
used to be like the Rose Bowl parades. It was
all marching bands. Sure. And they always went
above and beyond for the Super Bowl to get the
biggest and best marching bands. Much later into
the Super Bowl story that rock artists started
joining the fold. The first rock artist that
we would call rock to perform at the Super Bowl
would be Super Bowl 22, 1988, when Chubby Checker
came out and performed with the Rockettes. And
even then, that was more towards the marching
band side of things. But they were just dabbling
and testing the waters with Chubby Checker. That's
how it slowly morphed into the Super Bowl that
we know today, the halftime show. Well, I think
what happened in Super Bowl XXI, the beginning
of the halftime show, because that's the Super
Bowl that also the Giants are in. Giants won
against the Denver Broncos 39 -20. Yes. George
Burns comes out of his balloon, comes out of
some Disney balloon with Snow White. Snow White
on his arm, cigar in the other hand. And he said,
pretty girl, little too young for me. And I'm
thinking to myself, how Georgie, Georgie, how
young do you need him? And he's smoking this
cigar and then he introduces the band. So I think
maybe they looked at themselves at that point.
It's like, yeah, maybe let's not get I don't
know who George Burns is, by the way. He seems
like a wild guy. Let's not have George Burns
come out of a Disney balloon of Mickey Mouse,
Mickey Mouse ears with snow white on his arms
and saying, cute, cute girl, a little too young
for me. Let's change it up and let's get some
more. Let's get some better accent here. Yeah.
Yeah, well, my parents, where I told you the
story of how I went to with my wife to the 2007
Super Bowl, my grandfather was actually one of
the labor foremen that helped build the original
Giants stadium. So my father had been on the
Giants list for many years up until that point.
And that's how my parents ended up with Giants
season tickets. And they went to. Super Bowl
21. I was out there with them, but I stayed with
my uncle and cousins for that day and watched
the game at home while they were at the Rose
Bowl. But it was still I asked him, what do you
think of the halftime show? He goes, interesting.
It was there. But it wasn't like when we went,
my dad's like, you know, you get to see Tom Petty
and I got to see, you know, the land of make
believe marching band songs. It's definitely
come a long way. Now, again, after Chubby Checker,
Jay, Super Bowl 23. They brought out an Elvis
impersonator. What? I can't even. An Elvis impersonator
called Elvis. I can't even say it. Elvis Presto.
Oh, no. And they did a mix of like stray cats
and Elvis songs. And it was really, really bad.
Really bad. And this is 1989. Now, I'm going
to remind you, in 1989, I was almost 15. won
Super Bowl XXIII. I mean, that just goes to show
you guys, there's not a lot of Super Bowls that
we are, you know, we're still young into this
thing. And then Super Bowl XXV, which was another
Giants Super Bowl, Jay, you know where I'm keeping
this connected here. That's the one I'm fairly
sure I watched, maybe not entirely sober. Well,
that was the new kids on the block where the
halftime show along with Disney characters again,
because Walt Disney did the Super Bowl. But the
difference was, and I remember this visually
because we were at my parents' friend's house.
They showed the halftime performance after the
game because it was right during Operation Desert
Storm. And they cut to the news during halftime
because of everything going on. But I remember
watching new kids on the block. And, you know,
at the time I was. In high school, I was like,
okay, so they did pop acts. And this is where
the NFL said, wait a minute, we're onto something
here. And the rest, honestly, for the most part,
is history of rock acts becoming into it. And
I don't want to name any other ones now because
I'd like to try to get into some of all of our
favorites here at the Topic at Hand. So, Justin,
being our guest, you got 54 different choices
here. What are some of your favorite Super Bowl
moments? So there are some obvious ones, and
I want to save some obvious ones, but there was
some that I was rewatching. I kind of want to
start off with Diana Ross in 1996. Okay. I have
a whole thing. I have a whole thing. There was
so much going on. There was too much going on.
And Diana Ross, not typically football music
where you want to get pumped up and get ready
for the second half and party. Bruce Springsteen,
absolute party. That was a party like the energy
that he brought. Diana Ross brings energy. It's
a different kind of energy. But there were so
many dancers on the stage, so many people on
the field being part of the show. And this is
before they had fans. This is before they had
fans actually on the field. And they were part
of the show where it feels like more like a concert.
Right. But there were people on the field and
they were bumping into each other like they were
all a part of the show. The camera would go onto
the field and people. Oh, excuse me. They were
squirming. So early on to the show, they also
released like probably a thousand balloons in
the air. And I'm thinking to myself, well, what
was the aftermath of that? Where did they go?
What section did they land in? Or just people
outside the state? And I'm talking about like
thousands. And it wasn't individual balloons.
They were all just together. They just released
them into the air. We don't care. Okay, so her
costume changes were awesome. Now kind of like
to the music, to the show. Her costume changes
were awesome. Whenever a child choir is used,
it pulls up my heartstrings. You get some bonus
points. I think Bruno Mars used a child choir
to start. It automatically gets the goosebumps
flowing in you. I get goosebumps during Ain't
No Mountain High Enough, church choir vibe, and
child choir, so you get double bonus points.
She ends with I Will Survive with more costume
changes, and then a helicopter appears. And she
says, oh, here comes my ride. She gets on this
helicopter, sits on the edge and just flies away.
That was the halftime show. So and I'm also thinking
to myself, there are hundreds of people on this
field. There are so many dancers on this stage.
Where are they landing this helicopter? They
landed it right on the stage. They strap her
in. She waves and flies away. Take me higher.
That was the song that that was playing as she
was flying away. Oh, my God. The puns, the puns,
the puns. She's like flying through the air going,
you get it yet? You get it? You see a song playing?
I'm up here now. So it was low key a favorite
of mine. You know, there's some obvious favorites
and I think we'll get to it. But that was an
underrated one where it was part of like Diana
Ross is awesome. You know, she has insane hits,
great hits, but doesn't really fit football.
And there was just so much going on. All right,
I'm going to see you with that one, and I'm going
to follow up with my number three, Jay, if you
don't mind, because this is actually the year
following the one Justin just mentioned. This
was Super Bowl 31, and it took place in 1997.
And the lineup, to me, was just one of the coolest
lineups you ever got at the Super Bowl. The Blues
Brothers, ZZ Top, and James friggin' Brown. Now,
on paper, you're like, that seems a little odd.
But you get the Blues Brothers coming out on
stage. You had Jim Belushi playing the role for
John. And you had John Goodman in his role that
he would eventually play in Blues Brothers 2000
on stage. You had the full Blues Brothers band.
They come out with Everybody Needs Somebody to
Love, which my wedding theme was based on the
Blues Brothers for our entrances. And then Soul
Man. That was like their quote unquote hit from
television. And as they're finishing that, James
Brown follows up on stage and they go into, I
got you, I feel good, and get up, sex machine.
As only James Brown can do it. And you're thinking,
wow, that's odd. That's like a weird transition.
And then all of a sudden, the Eliminator drives
out onto the field. Up on stage is ZZ Top for
Tush and Legs. And then all the artists, Blues
Brothers, ZZ Top, and James Brown do Gimme Some
Lovin' by the Spencer Davis Group. And they jam
it out. Now, obviously, they're all singing to
backing tracks. We know. You're not fooling anybody.
We get it. We understand. These are not live
performances. And we'll talk about this when
we get to Bruno Mars at some point. But we know
that these were either pre -recorded or they're
using the... actual song the studio recording
and just kind of throwing some reverb on it which
i think that's exactly what they did for uh zz
top songs but don't hold me to that i think james
brown's vocals and the blues brothers vocals
were pre -recorded but regardless they have to
do that for technical reasons because as like
justin mentioned you're wheeling out three stages
and 5 000 people for a 15 minute performance
that you don't have time to sit there and get
mics checked and everything else. And you're
not just going to run a mixer off of one of these
floating stages and just plug in an XLR and be
like, all right, send it out to 10 million people.
So we get it. It's the spectacle that goes along
with the songs. So that was definitely a spectacle.
I love the Blues Brothers. They're iconic in
pop culture. And then, I mean, ZZ Top is legendary.
And James Brown, one of the greatest soul artists
of all time. I mean, that was just a fun who's
who. I just vividly remember watching it as a
kid, loving it, saying, like, this was a hell
of a lot of fun. And it was the first Super Bowl
that I remembered that was that much fun, even
more so than Michael Jackson. And I, you know,
just because of all these different artists coming
together. So, Jay? So, you want to get to Bruno
Mars. That would be my number three. And I'll
say this. Look, Bruno Mars, I like Beyonce. I
think she does really, really well. Coldplay,
I... Take it or leave it. I'm not a big fan of
Coldplay. But when they revealed Bruno Mars in
for the Uptown Funk with Mark Ronson was just
unbelievable. And that cemented, I think, Bruno
Mars' place in pop royalty. That was such a fun
performance. That performance was one of those
ones where when I was watching it, I said, you
know what? We're looking at a future legend.
Like this is a guy whose name I think you will
be hearing 30 years from now because he showed
off his prowess behind the drums. He rocked out,
obviously bringing the chili peppers up here.
Here's where my, my little rant on the prerecorded
flea on purpose, didn't plug his basin and was
jumping up around and spinning around and like
at some points he would even hold the base showing
it was not plugged in. That was just his way
of like, this is all fake, but we're having fun
up here. That's like the middle finger that as
only the Chili Peppers could do it. But the way
that Bruno Mars and his band conducted himself
on that stage, you saw somebody that could span
generations. My parents were sitting there going,
this guy is awesome. Obviously, my kids were
there losing their minds because they love that
song at the time. And they were really young
at the time. And my wife and I saw three generations
of people enjoying one artist. That speaks to
longevity. And that has not happened a lot in
the 2010s. A lot of the times I'm sitting there
going. Right. And there's like a group of people
that really love it. Like Coldplay. Sorry, Coldplay.
I'll say, I mean, I don't hate them. I just I've
never been a huge fan. That was probably one
of my least favorite Super Bowl halftime performances.
I get it. They're hugely popular. Sorry to all
the Coldplay fans out there. I just felt like
it was watered down compared to some of the other
Super Bowls. I feel like some of the Coldplay
fans feel like it's very culty. Like you either
you love them and you really love them. Like
that Coldplay is your go to. Or it's like, eh,
you can kind of do without. And people that really
love it get on you. A little culty. A little
bit. Yeah, I could definitely, that's a good
way to put it. And then pretty much with all
halftime shows or life in general at that point,
you always have to be on the lookout for that
moment that could become bigger than the event
itself. And in the case of the J -Lo and Shakira
performance, the meme that came from Shakira's
part of the performance lived on for several
weeks after the performance. Katy Perry with
the shark with left shark. Yeah, for sure. Left
shark. And then obviously the big one will slip.
Yeah. I mean, really, does anybody name one song
Janet Jackson performed during that whole set?
Either one of you go ahead. Don't look it up.
You see, you can't. No one can. I didn't. To
be honest. I mean, and listen, we joke and it's
funny and it's true. But the only I only saw
that on on replays on the news because I was
working that night. And I could not see the game.
And I couldn't watch the halftime show because
I'm covering it. So there was no way for me to
even know what was going on. And when I saw it
afterwards, I... I mean, I could have told you
what she's saying. Didn't she do Rhythm Nation?
I could. Maybe. But the point is, and I'm not
saying that the performance was bad. I'm saying
that the story event of that happening overshadowed
anything that possibly could have happened. And
in the world we live in now with instant access
to millions of people's opinions, that's why
Left Shark. Right. Became such a big thing for
Katy Perry. Again, overshadowing the performance.
So funny. And like I mentioned, the Shakira meme
from last year. I loved JLo and Shakira. One,
there are three main beats of that performance
that did it for me, that put this into the top
three for me. One, two Latina ladies who were
singing in their own language, which I think
a lot of times, I've told you a couple of times,
Bri, where a few of the the artists from New
York City would come through New York One when
I was working up there and they would bring,
you know, we would get to interview them for
New York One Noticias, which was great. I love
Spanish pop. Like, I think it's amazing. It's
a lot of fun. It's sexy. It's great. It's good
music. There's a reason why so many of those
songs cross over to American pop radio. 100%.
100%. And I think they brought that to the table
and I think that was a first, really, in terms
of Super Bowl halftime shows. Secondly, Both
of those women are in their 40s, are they not?
And I'm sorry, they were singing? They both looked
amazing. And the production quality of the show
was top notch. I mean, yes, it was frenetic.
It was crazy. It was all over the place. But
that's the feel of that music. And I completely
understand. But my thing was, I felt like they
tried to cram too many songs in. You've got like
this 12 minute time limit. Okay. And where like
the other side of the spectrum, when Tom Petty
performed, he did four songs. And he did most
of each of those songs. Same thing with Springsteen
when they did the whole classic rock run. They
did two or three, maybe four songs. Kind of at
the point that Justin was talking about earlier.
The Black Eyed Peas was when they started mashing
in different bands and guest appearances really
heavily and trying to put in as many songs as
possible where it becomes a medley. But depending
on the pace of that medley, it just again, I
knew. I'd say three quarters of the songs that
they performed and 25 % I didn't know, but they
were changing so fast. I almost felt myself having
a hard time keeping up. That was my only critique.
I thought the performance was fantastic. I think
all the performances on these, honestly, there's
never really been a, maybe Elvis Presto. But
Brian, like you said, if they're, you know, they're
fitting in so many songs in a span of 12 minutes,
right? With multiple artists. And that's, I actually,
this is a little bit of a, Hot take, but it's
just how I felt at the time. I didn't fully appreciate
what JLo and Shakira did until I was able to
rewatch the performance the next day on YouTube.
At the time, I felt overwhelmed. I felt like,
whoa, that was too much. We were running around.
We were doing a lot. The brilliance of those
two women, even before they stepped on the stage,
was very apparent. After the performance, it
was done, especially Super Bowl halftime shows.
I feel like they have the tendency to take a
little long. The beginning is always like, all
right, what are we getting into here? Which is
why I think Bruno Mars' beginning was awesome
with the child choir and then drums. It's like,
okay, we're in. Two big Ws right there. So it
took me until the next day to really appreciate
their greatness because of kind of how much was
going on, Brian. But Jay and Brian, I agree with
kind of both of your points. It was brilliant.
two awesomely talented women, but it also was
a lot. And that's the risk that you run with
fitting in too much in the span of 12 minutes
to make it so much of a production. Sure, and
I'm sure that both of them were so excited that
they just wanted to get as much, you know, in
there of their own catalogs as they possibly
could. But it was a true testament to where you're
sitting there going, oh, I know that one, I know
that one too. Because, you know, being... Jay,
we have talked about this over the last 15 years,
how we've gravitated away from radio and the
radio that we do get is, you know, you're in
the car with somebody and they'll change the
station. Maybe they listen to the radio more
than I do. And you'll catch a song here or there,
but it's not. The same where everybody was listening
to specific stations and we all kind of honed
in in the 80s and early 90s where we had our
cluster of stations and we knew the music we
were getting out of it. Now it's very much music's
coming from everywhere. And I think a lot of
songs are in our vernacular, but we don't necessarily
know them until they're presented to the world.
And one example of that would be the song Zombie
Nation. Oh, yeah, yeah, for sure. Most people,
when they hear that. What? I've never heard that
song. Yes, you have. Yes, you have. And they'll
argue with you. I've never heard a song called
Zombie Nation. And yes, you have. And then when
they hear it, oh, that's what that's called?
And that's a good example of what I was going
with there. It was very exciting when Daddy Yankee
crossed over with Despacito. And it just helped
propel that momentum of what Shakira was doing,
what J -Lo was doing. And I mean, Shakira has
done many, many Spanish -speaking albums. And
they're fantastic. The music's great. And her
voice is brilliant. I enjoy her 100%. I don't
always understand everything she's saying, and
that's okay. Music is a universal language. I
think we've all said that many times in our lives,
let alone on this show. But for the most part,
I mean, J -Lo playing Selena and bringing Tejano
music into the pop culture, really opening up
those doors. Gloria Estefan, for crying out loud.
And Miami Sound Machine was also a Super Bowl
halftime performer in the 90s. They were, because
if I'm not mistaken, Mr. and Mrs. Gloria Estefan,
are part owners or were part owners of the Miami
Dolphins. Oh, I did not know that Dolphins fan.
Yes, I do. So, Justin, we still have a bunch
of Super Bowl halftime shows to talk about. So
what's your number two? My number two. Now, I
just publicly bashed him on social media because
I do not like his voice. But again, Super Bowl
halftime show more a little bit more about a
performance. Bruce Springsteen is my number two
Super Bowl halftime show. I rewatched it today.
And I was thinking to myself, let's just give
it a try. Let's just let's just give it a try.
Give Bruce a chance is usually for somebody who
never really listens to Bruce because I just
I don't like the sound of his voice. It's not
pleasing to my ears. And this is somebody from
New Jersey. And that is that's a sin to say.
And I recognize that I recognize I'm a bad guy.
I recognize this. OK, you're a traitor to your
kind, Justin. I am. I really am. I actually lost
15 followers because of some of my beliefs on
Bruce Springsteen. Wow. This past weekend. Yeah.
Note to self, don't bash the boss. Check. It
was a good tip down. But I watched it and I said,
man, I hate myself for not loving the boss. I
hate myself for not loving him because the energy
that he brought, it made the rest of the E Street
Band look like they were sleeping. And that's
nothing against the E Street Band. And also there's
an iconic shot. When he slides with the guitar,
the crotch shot just right into the camera. And
he's laughing. He's laughing because he knows
America just got to see his crotch. And then
he gets up and he still continues to play. So
what a halftime show. Even though, like I said,
don't like the sound of his voice, at least record
it. I think live is a little bit better. It's
a little bit more pleasing to the ears. But yeah,
what a halftime show. What a show. Bruce Springsteen's
performance was. up there with Tom Petty's to
me. It didn't make my top three list because
I have another one at number two. Obviously,
there's no shock what my number one is, so we'll
just wait for later for that. But Bruce Springsteen's
was a classic example of how a rock band can
bring the house down. They came out on that stage
and tore it up. And they're a stadium band. So
this is what they do. They're made to play stadiums.
You're not going to see a Bruce Springsteen in
the E Street Band at a Birch Hill nightclub or
a Starland Ballroom. I'd love to. On Broadway?
On Broadway, but that was just him and a guitar
at $700 a ticket. Yeah, I guess. So Jada, did
Bruce make your top three? No, no. Okay. No,
but I enjoyed that performance for sure. Yeah.
My number two now is from 2007, the year before
Tom Petty. And it was the best example of how
taking a medley of songs and making it work and
being so iconic as a moment in music history
is Prince's Super Bowl 41 performance. Yep. opening
up with the we will rock you intro from queen
which everybody knows is like the sports anthem
let's just be honest and then the opening organ
of let's go crazy there's no like really that
was taylor made and then the rest of his performance
by bringing out in doing proud mary and all along
the watchtower and then a friggin foo fighter
song Because the Foo Fighters covered Darling
Nikki back in the 90s when the color and the
shape came out and Prince heard it and liked
it and kind of extended his love for the Foo
Fighters with his version of Best of You, which,
my God, dude, is just incredible. And then ending
the performance on Purple Rain during a real
honest to God rainstorm. Yeah. I mean, really.
This was just such a perfect moment. Yeah. The
guy directing that performance must have been
just sitting there going, I'm directing history.
Because he was. That Purple Rain guitar solo
in the pouring rain as he's just, dude, I'm getting
goosebumps just reliving it, talking about it.
Absolutely. That's my number one. That's your
number one? That's my number one, too. Oh. Wow,
I just cleared out the house with everyone's
number one. There you go. Man. So back to you
for your number one, which I think nobody will
be surprised by. Nobody's going to be shocked
about. But honestly, there's a reason, though.
Being there in person. Yes, it was looking at
the back of a curtain. Yeah. But I was still
in the same room as Tom Petty. And it was so
amazing because he's one of my favorite artists.
But at the same time. We were still having fun
at that point, just taking in the moment that
we were at the Super Bowl. Because when I walked
into that game, I kept saying to her, you know,
I had my shocky jersey on. I said, you know,
I'm just happy to be here. The Patriots are 18
-0. My wife's whole family, my in -laws, they're
all from New England. They're all Pats fans.
I said, I'm just happy to be here. I literally
am just thankful that I'm getting this opportunity.
I know that the Giants probably won't win this
one, but man, they gave them such a good run
in week 16 of that season. Let's just hope for
the best. And I was a calm Zen. I had my during
the game. I had a Patriots fan before the game
drunk come up to me as we were walking around
the Super Bowl experience and start yelling in
my face of how he hated Shockey. And I'm looking
at my wife going, I don't want to get thrown
out. And all of his friends were around him going,
dude, stop it. We don't want to get thrown out.
So literally, the friends brought us around while
the one friend took this guy off. They're like,
we're so sorry. Like, really cool Pats fans.
Like, for the most part, everybody we talked
with, except for the fact that they all were
saying to me, hope you guys enjoyed that you
paid money to watch the Giants lose because this
is the crowning of the 19 -0 season and you're
just here to witness it. And we were talking
with a couple behind us in line that told us
father and son, God bless them. They're really
nice folk. And he said, you know, they asked
us how much we spent for the tickets. And we,
as giant season ticket holders, got them for
the base price that year of a cheap $750 per
ticket. Cheap, considering what they go for now.
And he told me, he's like, well. My son and I
have bonded over football since he was a kid,
so I paid $3 ,500 a seat to watch him witness
the perfect season so we could live it together.
Ouch. And he goes, I'm really sorry that you
and your wife wasted $1 ,500 to watch the Giants
lose. And I said, chances are you're right. I
said, but God forbid the Giants pull out an upset
at David and Goliath's story. When you're walking
to your car tonight, just say to yourself, seven
thousand dollars. And I looked at my wife as
we're walking to the car and said, God, I hope
I don't run into that guy. He's going to murder
me in this parking lot. And as luck would have
it, he probably would have because they definitely
pulled the upset. And by the way, thanks for
that, because the Dolphins still retain the perfect
season. Yes. So, Justin, I got to I got to ask
being we are merging in some football talk here.
As a Giant fan, that day has to resonate with
you as one of the greatest moments for a Giant
fan. What are some of your thoughts about that
game? I mean, to me, the second Super Bowl where
they beat them the second time, all that did
was give me a lifetime of bragging rights against
my entire in -laws and extended family. Because
every time I go up there, they pick on me about
the Giants. And over the last, I don't know,
seven years, they've had a good thing. But I
always look at them and go. We beat you twice
in the Super Bowl. The Patriots have to beat
the Giants three times in the Super Bowl before
you're allowed to talk shit to me. So I think
I've got at least my lifetime of leniency now.
Especially what that second one did is it. That
cemented Eli Manning's legacy. 100%. Because
that was his team. That was on his arm. That
was on his back. So that was awesome to see if
you were just an Eli fan. And then especially
since Michael K's show, he actually said that
summer. I feel like I'm an elite quarterback.
They asked him one of these cliche phrases, do
you think you're elite? And Eli Manning's not
going to come out and say no, kind of put him
in a tough spot. So that's what that second one
did. If you're a big fan of Eli, that was like
his big moment, more than 07 in my opinion. But
what 07 did, especially against Bill, former
Giants defensive coordinator, and Tom Coughlin
was the wide receivers coach for those kind of
Super Bowl teams in the 80s and early 90s too.
So it was former Giants coaches, but Bill has
always been the one that I feel like was more
highly regarded in Giants land and within Giants
fans. We always wanted Bill. We always wanted
Bill Belichick to take over after Parcells, and
we were always kind of jealous of what the Patriots
were doing. And Coughlin was on his way out.
if they didn't make playoffs, that your coffin
was going to be fired. There were going to be
questions about Eli Manning. Maybe even if they
lost in the first round to the Tampa Bay Bucs
against John Gruden, which I don't view John
Gruden as a great coach, by the way. I think
he inherited a pretty good team from Tony Dungy,
but neither here nor there. They were on their
way out because that would have been three years
straight of first -round playoff exits, and they
didn't even win the division that year. They
got into the wild card because of Ahmad Bradshaw
having an awesome run in a snowy game against
Buffalo. What it really did, I think I draw a
lot of similarities. If you're a Giants fan,
if you're an older Giants fan, I draw a lot of
similarities between 2007 and 1987, where obviously
1987 when they won the Super Bowl, then it was
decades of bad football and bad play. But even
you got just a similar feeling that if the Giants
were going to let go of Coughlin and if they
were going to somehow have Eli Manning not work.
They were going to enter into a huge period of
instability that the Giants are not familiar
with. The Giants are not familiar with constantly
moving on from head coaches without some sort
of success. Even with Fossil, they won an NFC
championship. They're not familiar with instability
maybe at the quarterback position. They had Sims
for over a decade. They had Y .A. Tittle for
a long period of time. They're familiar with
it if they're at the bottom of the barrel, which
you didn't feel like the Giants were at the bottom
of the barrel in... 05, 06, and then 07. So they
were about to enter a very big period of instability
in an unknown period. But what that victory did
is it cemented the New York football giants back
as the New York football giants as one of the
most successful franchises in the National Football
League. So that's what it really did. And for
me, I was a fan for life. That's what it did
for me right there. You know, seeing Tyree with
the helmet catch, Jay Alford, like I said, Jay
Alford, that sack, that's a moment I look back
on and I just smile every time I see it and I
see the hit and I go. I just clinch up and I
know it's coming, but it gets me every time.
So it made me a fan for life after that moment
and couldn't be more thankful for that game.
Awesome, awesome. Now, did we get everybody's
top three here? I want to make sure that no one
missed out, right? No, I think we're all good
here. Now, our friend Amanda from the Strike
a Chord podcast brought up one that actually
none of us talked about. and was a very memorable
Super Bowl halftime show. It was the year that
MTV took over and tried to make it the TRL of
Super Bowl halftime shows, and they brought out
NSYNC, Britney Spears, Mary J. Blige, Nelly,
and then for the rock crowd, they brought in
Aerosmith. And I'll say this. It was a good show.
A lot of the Aerosmith purists were, you know,
Britney Spears singing Aerosmith songs. Hey,
dude, shut up. She's got a good voice. It's not
awful. It was a merging of the genres. People
were offended that Aerosmith did Walk This Way
with NSYNC. I'm like, they did Walk This Way
with Run DMC. They're all about merging with
other bands. I was just going to make that point
where we've said many times on this show, right
from my mouth, Aerosmith is a band that blends.
They've reinvented themselves so many times over
their career that of course they're going to
do Walk This Way with NSYNC. And of course it's
going to kick ass because NSYNC was awesome.
Like, I'm sorry. I'm not ashamed to admit that
I liked NSYNC. They had a good thing going at
the turn of the century. And I think out of that,
Justin Timberlake is an amazing performer. If
you're looking at people who pick up the mantle
for the purple one, it's going to be... Justin
Timberlake, it's going to be Bruno Mars. What
else do you need? Now, Frank also wrote in, U2
after 9 -11 was pretty powerful. Oh, absolutely.
That's a tough one for me. The return to normal.
Yeah, that was hard to watch. That's all I'll
say. Not because it's U2. We joke about U2, but
beautiful, beautiful performance. but it literally
puts a lump in my throat just talking about it
here. It was emotionally driven for sure. That
was the season that ushered out my exodus from
New York City the first time following the attacks.
And we haven't talked an awful lot about that
here, but boy, that was a really, really dark
time. Yeah, yeah. And I think they did a pretty
good job. I mean, they had a pretty big... responsibility
yeah going into that show i would not have wished
that on and yeah that at all now steve wrote
in tom petty 100 so i'm glad i'm justified there
Jamie wrote in Bruno Mars really surprised me.
Even my dad loved it. And he never heard of them,
which speaks to our point. Exactly. He crossed
over generations. The kids loved it. Our generation
loved it. And our parents loved it. That makes
you an icon moving forward. And then finally,
Brian wrote in Prince. Can you make it rain harder?
Really? Like I'm hearing that in a Chandler Bing
voice. Can it rain any harder? Like that moment.
Really? And then Springsteen. So he's echoing.
Everybody here, Tom Petty, and then Lady Gaga's,
which was also. We didn't talk about her either.
Hers was fantastic too. Yeah. The song You and
I. I love that freaking song. She can do no wrong.
I love everything Gaga does. Tammy and I, my
wife, we're watching A Star is Born. Yes. And
I love Bradley Cooper because he's Bradley Cooper.
He's Rocket freaking Raccoon. And every time
that young woman opens her mouth, it's just the
most, normally the most beautiful sound comes
out of it. You could take all of the early Fame
Monster stuff, and sure, it's glam pop, but her
voice is solid. Oh, her voice is absolutely incredible.
I mean, I can't say enough good things about
her voice. I mean, she did an album with Tony
Bennett, and it worked. Why? Because she can
actually sing. Absolutely. You can't just sit
on a track with Tony Bennett if you don't have
the range to be able to sing in that jazz style.
Exactly. Whereas she could use her auto -tune
on her voice artistically. And it works. But
she can also belt out with the best of them without
any effects. And that works too. So I don't mind
autotune as a tool in certain songs. I mean,
even Cher used it on Believe as like a tool of
her vocal line. And we know Cher can sing. But
for people that only use autotune, which makes
you question if they even can sing. Yeah, and
her transition. Right. The transition from being
what she was at the start. I know, Jay, you kind
of mentioned this, but how what she was doing
at the start and all the extracurriculars that
was attached. And now it's like, oh, now we know
Lady Gaga, not because of what she wears. We
know Lady Gaga because of her voice, because
of her talent. And I think that's rare. I think
that's rare for some. And it's also smart by
her to get her foot on the scene where odds are
the sad thing is in today's world. She may have
not been as famous as she is right now if she
had not have done that. And that's a shame, but
smart, but also very glad it's worked out to
now. You know, when we think of Lady Gaga, we're
not thinking of the meat dress. We're thinking
of her voice and her talent. So there are three
women, female vocalists, modern that I would
consider modern. Anything after 1995. 95, somewhere
around there. Christina Aguilera has an amazing
voice. And unfortunately, we didn't get to hear
it early in her career. We got to hear it later
in her career after she did the... Oh, what was
that song, Ryan? With the horns, where she took
off and did the big band thing for a minute.
Candyman. Candyman. Thank you. Candyman and Ain't
No Other Man are like the two that I love from
her. Yeah. That was such a fun album. Yeah. And
then all of a sudden it's like, whoa, wait a
minute. This 16 year old like Disney kid can
sing. Right. And then there's Lady Gaga and Ariana
Grande. Okay. That kid has a freaking voice.
And you know what? When I realized it was not
during any of her performances, which any of
her records that I've heard. You're going to
say Fallon, aren't you? When she was on Fallon.
Yes. Doing all the voice impressions. Their voice.
That's the moneymaker right there. Oh, definitely.
Now, Justin, I'm not going to let you get away
with this show without talking about something
here. I've seen, you know, we're friends on Twitter.
And, you know, I've been following your feed
and listening to the show. And I know. how large
of a fan of Shania Twain you are. And Shania
Twain has performed at a Super Bowl halftime
show. I'd like to know, because you talk about
her as your highness and how you have her on
this pedestal of greatness, how the hell didn't
she make your list, just out of curiosity, being
one of your favorite artists? I did not. I think
Shania Twain's halftime show fully personifies
who she is as an artist. I didn't like, first
of all, only one song. She only got one song,
and it was a backtracked version of Man, I Feel
Like a Woman. Now, I think back in the day, before
she had Lyme's disease, and before she went through
her divorce with Mutt Lang, and before she even
just parted ways with Mutt Lang, because Mutt
Lang is a musical genius in his own right, I
think she had an amazing voice. Amazing, amazing
voice. I don't know, maybe 2003, 2002, if she
was going through some vocal troubles. But like
we said before, the backtrack isn't necessarily
just because you have a bad voice. It's because
you have so many people, so many things going
on. And it's just not realistic sometimes to
have the actual person sing when there's so many
moving parts. Putting Shania Twain on the national
stage like that, that was not who she was as
an artist. I think why I love Shania, and let
me even just preface it this way. How big of
a Shania Twain fan I am since she has come back.
So 2015, I have seen her every opportunity I
can get. I have seen her a total of four times,
twice in concert, rock this country tour now
tour. And then I went to Las Vegas. I went to
her Vegas residency in Caesars. You're still
the one. And then I just went to the one in December
before COVID went to the Let's Go Las Vegas residency.
So my mom bought Come On Over in 97 and we would
play it in. her Jeep Grand Cherokee growing up
on CDs. I am young enough for CDs. I will say
that. Not young enough for record players or
anything like that or cassette tapes, but I'm
young enough for CD players. So we listen to
Come On Over in the car and just, you know, that's
how I was introduced to music. So it wasn't even
at that point. one of those things where I could
fully appreciate just how diverse that album
is. Ninth best -selling album of all time, by
the way. We sometimes forget this. Top 10 selling
album of all time, Come On Over. So I didn't
get to appreciate just how diverse it was. So
then I put it down for a few years. I go through
my musical stages, phases. And then in high school,
I just start, you know, I just want to listen
to some songs from my childhood. So I start playing
Come On Over again. I'm like, oh my God, this
is great. There's no... We talked about, you
know, you have to eat, right? And you have to
eat and you have to fit a certain brand. You
have to fit a certain category of country, pop,
rock, whatever. And that's how you're going to
get to your audience. And that's what's going
to sell. Shania didn't have that. You know, I
would say definitely her first album, her self
-titled album, that was an album she didn't write.
But The Woman and Me, kind of mostly country.
She blended in a little bit of rock, but especially
the come on over and up albums were just everything.
For Up, she made three different versions of
the same songs because she didn't want to fit
a certain box, a certain category. It's like,
oh, you want to put me in a box? Here's three
different versions of the same songs. So you
can't. You literally can't. So I love Shania
Twain. Love her backstory. Love her upbringing.
She went through a lot of adversity. And I love
the way that she kind of approaches music and
the way that she was really a trailblazer for
a lot of artists. I don't think there is a Taylor
Swift. I don't think Taylor Swift makes that
transition from country to pop and is the bitch.
biggest superstar in the world right now if it
was not for Shania Twain trailblazing that path
for her. You are absolutely right. I was going
to say 100%. She is the Garth Brooks to male
country music crossing over for what she did
for female artists and pop. You would not have
a Taylor Swift. That's a great point. And now
you have it. Don't forget to check out Talking
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until next time. Enjoy the tunes and the Super
Bowl.