In the early 1970s, LA’s Sunset Strip was the epicenter of the rock'n'roll universe. Drugs, sex, private planes, limos, destroying hotel rooms –   it wasn’t a myth. At at the center of it all, were groupies. It’s a story we all know – but it’s never been told from this perspective. This season, on Lost Notes, we bring you GROUPIES: The Women of Sunset Strip, from the Pill to Punk. The real, riotous, rock'n'roll stories of the girls who lived it all, hosted by Dylan Tupper Rupert, from KCRW and Golden Teapot.

An audio folk story examining the tradition of Black watermelon long-haulers, who drive to farms in the South for watermelon and sell them in Black neighborhoods around the US.

KCRW’s acclaimed music documentary podcast, Lost Notes, returns for its fourth season. Co-hosts Novena Carmel (KCRW) and Michael Barnes (KCRW / KPFK / Artform Radio) guide you through eight wildly different and deeply human stories, each set against the kaleidoscopic backdrop of LA’s soul and R&B scene of the 1950s-1970s. Support KCRW’s original programming like Lost Notes by donating or becoming a member. This season of Lost Notes kicked off with the story of “Tainted Love” – and, more specifically, the story of its original singer, Gloria Jones. Despite a fascinating and wide-ranging career that stretched over decades, Gloria largely suffered the indignity of being a one-hit wonder who never even enjoyed having that one hit for herself. But as anyone who heard our episode knows, Gloria Jones was responsible for so much amazing music … with a life story to match. Now, we conclude our season by hearing it all from Gloria herself, from the original recording of “Tainted Love” to her songwriting career at Motown and her life with Marc Bolan of T. Rex – as well as the 60th anniversary of that legendary and iconic song. Gloria sat down with Michael Barnes at KCRW in July of 2024.

KCRW’s relationship with Fela Kuti goes back to 1980, when KCRW’s Tom Schnabel and Roger Steffens were connected with the mighty Afrobeat innovator while he was still imprisoned in Nigeria. Six years later, once Fela was free and clear to tour internationally, he came to Los Angeles and visited KCRW in person, again with Tom Schnabel. The connective tissue between these two events is Sandra Izsadore, who returned to KCRW for the first time in decades to talk with Lost Notes co-host Michael Barnes about meeting Fela in LA in 1969, and her essential role in the creation of the Afrobeat genre. It’s safe to say that without Sandra, there would have been no Fela as we came to know him soon thereafter. And that’s no exaggeration.

KCRW’s acclaimed music documentary podcast, Lost Notes, returns for its fourth season. Co-hosts Novena Carmel (KCRW) and Michael Barnes (KCRW / KPFK / Artform Radio) guide you through eight wildly different and deeply human stories, each set against the kaleidoscopic backdrop of LA’s soul and R&B scene of the 1950s-1970s. Support KCRW’s original programming like Lost Notes by donating or becoming a member. On Wednesday, July 17, Lost Notes welcomed the legendary Larry Mizell to KCRW’s Annenberg Performance Studio for an incredible evening of stories and music about his pioneering work with his brother Fonce in 1970s Los Angeles. Anyone who’s been keeping up with the show will already know about the Mizell Brothers  … but if you’re new to the family, we encourage you to stop right now and back up to our episode on Larry and Fonce Mizell from earlier in the season. The Mizells’ story is so rich and amazing that it deserves to be heard from the very beginning. And if you know their story, then this week’s episode is going to be extra-special. Today we bring you our live, in-person conversation with a man who, along with his brothers, helped create the sound of Los Angeles in the 1970s: Mr. Larry Mizell.

While we're off this week, we want to introduce you to a new show made by our pals over at Maximum Fun. It’s called Primer – and it’s all about exploring music from outside the English-speaking world. This season is all about Japanese City Pop and features artists like Tatsuro Yamashita, Hiroshi Sato, Taeko Onuki, Haruomi Hosono, Mariya Takeuchi. We'll catch you back here for more Lost Notes in July.

Talking Heads’ 1984 film, Stop Making Sense, has long been regarded by critics and fans alike as one of the greatest concert films ever made. A new A24 restoration of the film is out in theaters now. Director Jonathan Demme dropped in on Deirdre for a guest DJ set while the film was still in theaters. Demme sat in for SNAP No. 172 on November 8, 1984, spinning a wild selection of his favorite music — including the premiere of a then-unheard Talking Heads song — and discussing the making of the now-iconic film.  Read on for their conversation and dive into his song choices with our Jonathan Demme Spotify playlist. 

Our second of two Lost Notes bonus episodes for this summer. This one is about The Student Teachers. In 1977, a group of music obsessed friends got together and decided to form a band. Most of them were still in high school and almost none of them had even picked up an instrument before, but they lived and breathed the New York City music scene and wanted nothing more than to be a part of it. They worked in record stores, ran fan clubs, and spent every second they could together, hanging in clubs like CBGB’s and Max’s Kansas City — clubs they’d eventually headline.  Soon after they formed the band, they played a practice gig at one of their high schools and took off from there. They spent their days studying for physics tests and practicing for French finals and spent their nights drinking White Russians and rubbing elbows with their rock heroes.  In their two years together, they headlined their favorite clubs, went on tour, made recordings, got interviewed on the radio, opened for Iggy Pop and hung with David Bowie in the recording studio. As the decade came to a close and they got a little older, their love for each other dwindled, and the band imploded. But what a beautiful and wild ride it was. This is the story of the Student Teachers, in their own words. 

The new season of Lost Notes will be here in September. Meantime, this summer, we’re sharing a couple of bonus episodes. Fifty years ago, an unlikely musical group evolved out of the Oakland chapter of the Black Panther Party. They were called The Lumpen. And although they quickly gained a following for their air-tight funk, they were always meant to be much more than mere entertainment. Peter Gilstrap reports on the rise and fall of an unlikely R&B group born out of social upheaval.

The strange story of the postwar pop standard "Nature Boy" and its enigmatic creator, eden ahbez.

Legendary DJ/crate-digger Cut Chemist professes his love for Cymande’s 1972 self-titled debut.

A global pop icon appears in a most unexpected place in this story from Pod Planet’s Clive Desmond.

We resurface a story from Falling Tree Productions that takes a look at the empowering flip-side of pop fandom.

The legendary Robyn Hitchcock was a firm favorite of Deirdre’s throughout the 1980s. Stepping away from his backing band, The Egyptians, Hitchcock stopped by SNAP in April 1989 to play a short acoustic set of songs which would later feature on the following year’s classic solo album, “Eye.”