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Avoiding your unfinished home projects because you're not sure where to start. Thumbtack knows homes so you don't have to don't know the difference between matte, paint, finish and satin or what that clunking sound from your dryer is. With Thumbtack, you don't have to be a home pro, you just have to hire one. You can hire top rated pros, see price estimates and read reviews all on the app. Download today. Think advertising on TikTok isn't for your business? Think again. With TikTok ads, we went from 250,000 downloads to over a million downloads in less than a year. I'm Eve, I'm Anam and we're the co founders of Alinea. Alinea Invest is an investing app for Gen z. We run 50 new ads per week with three variations thanks to TikTok Smart plus campaigns. If you're not advertising on TikTok, you're missing out. Drive more app downloads only on TikTok. Head over to get started.TikTok.com TikTok ads Hey discos, need a little more Disgrace Land in your life? Just a touch to get you through. Yeah, me too. This is the podcast that comes after the podcast. Welcome to Disgraceland. The Afterparty welcome to the Disgraceland bonus episode. A little thing we like to call the After Party. This is the show after the show. The party after the party. The bridge to gate from one full episode of Disgraceland to the other. The backyard to dig into the dirt. Our mission? To uncover the truth, to confront the myth, to reclaim the story. On this bonus episode, we're talking about the criminal enterprises that have infiltrated music culture. Digging into the music that you vibe on when you are recreating. Rewinding back from the Nitrous Mafia to the Italian Mafia with Tommy James and the Shondells previewing next Week's episode on Dr. John. And we get into your voicemails, texts, DMs, and as always, a whole lot of Rosie. This is the podcast for the musically obsessed, the outsiders, the independent thinkers who know that the best history is the history that gets buried. Disgraceland is where I tell the stories they didn't want told. The kind you'll end up telling someone else. All right, discos, let's get into it. Recently, the so called Nitrous Mafia was linked to a murder outside a 2025 Phish concert in Virginia. Historically, throughout the history of popular music, the Italian Mafia has been linked to numerous crimes. Paola, extortion, racketeering and of course, even murder. Other criminal enterprises, violent Jamaican kingpins, illegal drug chemists, South Boston ticket scalpers and Do It Yourself commie bootleg artists have all left significant marks on music culture. But why? Why have criminals so strongly impacted the world of music? Italian mafioso, nitrous oxide peddlers, Jamaican sound system gangs, Soviet bootleggers, ticket scalping syndicates, psychedelic chemists and the Brotherhood of Eternal Love. All of these criminal enterprises successfully infiltrated and undoubtedly impacted music culture. From the earliest days of recorded music up through the 1980s, the Italian mafia's influence on the music industry could be felt everywhere. Mobsters determined which songs got played on the radio through payola, the act of bribing DJs and programmers to spin specific records. Wise guys used muscle and extortion to build and control a lucrative network of jukebox operators whose machines helped popularize records and that Mafia connected executives profited off of. See our next rewind subject Tommy James as exhibit A and Chuck Berry, Frankie Valli, and basically the entire MCA artist roster in the 1970s as Exhibits B, C and D respectively. In fact, the Chicago mob's influence on MCA records was so strong in the 1970s that Rolling Stone magazine claimed MCA stood for Mafia controlled artists. The so called Nitrous Mafia, the balloon people who infiltrated the docile community of Fish fans, the ones we cover in this week's full episode of Disgraceland, continue to run their own extortion rackets, wage turf wars and enforce a code of silence straight out of a Scorsese film. Recently, like I said, the group was linked to a murder outside of a 2025 Fish concert in Virginia back in the 1950s and up through the 1970s in Jamaica. Sound systems, essentially street parties powered by giant PA systems. These massive amalgams of speakers and cables and turntables and amplifiers were the engines that ran the Jamaican music scene. Sound systems, both the parties and the literal equipment were big business. Without Jamaican sound systems, the Jamaican music economy would wouldn't have been possible. Many Jamaicans relied on music to put food on the table and thus relied on powerful sound systems. Sound system operators, Jamaican legends like Duke Reed, an ex cop turned enforcer, and Cox and Dodd, a one time cricket prodigy, hired the original Rude boys, Violent street Tufts, to protect their sound systems and to even sabotage sound systems operated by rival music promoters. Violent tussles over turf and stolen equipment were common, as were shootouts when rival crews tried hijacking dances. Most infamously when gunmen raided a Duke Reed party in Kingston, leaving several wounded criminally minded Sound system operators in Rudeboys created the foundation for ska and reggae music distribution and promotion. Without them, there would be no reggae, quantifiably one of the most listened to styles of music on the planet. Ticket scalping syndicates. From the salty dude outside the garden trying to get you to bite on floor seats for Aerosmith back in the day, to modern bot farms that buy up thousands of tickets the instant they go on sale and flip them at 10 times the price to line the pockets of gangster resellers and corporate ticket brokers. These corrupt agents and practices are so rampant that we as consumers have largely just accepted them. The simple act of buying a concert ticket is proof of music culture crime hiding in plain sight. This example here might be the craziest. Back in the day in Soviet Russia, independent minded music lovers known as, excuse the pronunciation here, runtkinat, pressed their own bootleg rock records, albums by the Rolling Stones, the Beatles and Elvis Presley onto discarded X ray film X rays with images of ribs, skulls and spines. And they then cut those x rays into 7 inch discs, burned holes into the center of the discs with cigarette butts, and used specifically made DIY machines to cut grooves into the discs at 78 RPM. All so they could hear and profit off of band music. Half a world away in the United States, the Brotherhood of Eternal Love, a California commune turned LSD cartel, funded a near psychedelic revolution through smuggling, counterfeiting and large scale acid production. The Brotherhood of Love supplied drugs for the Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix and countless other artists who cemented the hippie dream counterculture ethos with the Baby Boomer generation, the most economically consequential generation in American history. But why? Why do criminal enterprises like the Brotherhood of Eternal Love or the Nitrous Mafia, the Italian Mafia and others. Why do they so frequently infiltrate and ultimately influence music culture? Because every culture that promises freedom ends up breeding its own. Outlaws, musicians and criminals are operate from the same playbook. Defiance, risk, charisma, self invention and control outside the system. This playbook created a playing field ripe for corruption. After all, outlaws, like musicians, chase the same thing freedom on their own terms. I'll be back with your voicemails, texts and more right after this. At Designer Shoe Warehouse we believe that shoes are an important part of, well, everything from first steps to first dates, from all nighters to all time personal bests, from building pillow forts to building a life for all the big and small moments that make up your whole world. DSW is there and we've got just the shoes. Find a shoe for Every you from brands you love at brag worthy prices at your DSW store or dsw.com hey everyone, I'm Josh Radner and I am so excited to tell you about how we Made your Mother a rewatch podcast Looking back at How I Met yout Mother. And I'm here with Craig Thomas who co created the show along with Carter Bayes. Hi Craig. Hey Josh. Somehow it has been 20 years since since the show premiered that seem I'm gonna check the math on that. Ten years since it went off the air and we thought that made this a perfect time to look back, see what the hell we did and why the show still seems to resonate with fans around the world today. Follow and listen to How We Made youe Mother wherever you get your podcasts. Shopping is hard, right? But I found a better way. Stitch Fix Online personal styling makes it easy. I just give my stylist my size, style and budget preferences. I order boxes when I want and how I want. No subscription required. And he sends just for me pieces plus outfit recommendations and styling tips. I keep woodworks and send back the rest. It's so easy. Make style easy. Get started today@stitch fix.com Spotify that's Stitch Fix.com Spotify all right, so we are back here in the music and true crime saddle, as they say and, or at least as I say. And you know, before I get too far into last week's Question of the week and your answers, your voicemails, your texts, you know, in that past B block, we stumbled upon something that I found to be very interesting, something I kind of knew about. And it was the Jamaican sound system operator history and all the violence and crime that's connected to that history. And we talk about some of this in the episodes that we've produced on Jamaican artists like Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. We haven't really driven hard into the paint on this subject and it's really interesting to me. I'm really fascinated by the crime that is at the bedrock of these music history genres. Music history economies. In often cases, these genres may have not even come to be if it weren't for these criminal elements back in the day. So we unpack this a little bit more in the exclusive section of the afterparty today, this whole sound system operator Jamaican music history piece that we dug into in the B block here. Seth and I get into it a little bit later. Coming up in the exclusive part of the afterparty, you can access that content by becoming an all access member. Just go to Disgracelandpod.com to sign up. Just five bucks a month for the time being that I know I've been saying this over and over again, the price is going up. We've been delayed. So you can take advantage of that and you can still get it at $5 before the price does increase. And I promise you, it is increasing. So that's coming up later for All Access members. All right, that's there for you. What I want to do now, I want to get into your voicemails and your texts and, you know, I was struggling when we did the fish episode. I was struggling to think of a good question. And I just kind of went super basic, super, super simple. You know, obviously when people go to see fish, they're getting fucked up. Some aren't, some are. You know, I have my go tos. You know, I'm about two maybe, maybe three bourbons deep. I know what I'm listening to. You know, everybody imbibes in their own way. Everybody unwinds in their own way. And I thought it would be interesting to ask this question, you know, what do you listen to when, as one of you put it, you're recreating? So let's check out some voicemails and texts from you guys on this question of the week, inspired by, of course, the fish. And check out this voicemail here from the 5, 6, 3. Judy.
A
Hi, Jake. This is Judy from the 563. And I finally can answer a question without having to think too much about it. But what do I like to listen to when I am recreating? And it's a great album, very underrated. I don't hear anything about it. Never heard much about it. But Beck's Midnight Vultures, it's great. It is just a high for all of your senses. The horn, the crazy lyrics, the visual that are put into my head while listening to it, it's just wonderful. I love it. Keeps you in a good mood. It does not disappoint. So I'm curious to hear what you think about that album, Rocka Rolla.
B
JUDY I love Midnight Vultures. It's not my favorite Beck album, and my favorite Beck album is Sea Change, which is not. It's not something I want to listen to when I'm. When I'm recreating, as you say. But Midnight Vultures definitely is. I can see that for sure. Crazy lyrics. Lyrics are amazing. The visuals, great. Just I hear you on the feel good piece. That's. That's kind of what I want. I want to get into when I. When I'm recreating, I'm stealing your word here. I love it. I want to get into stuff that makes me happy, stuff that makes me feel good, stuff that puts me, as you said, in a good mood and does not disappoint. I don't want to get too heavy. You know, I think when I first started recreating, back when I was a younger man, I would listen to heavier music, both literally heavy music and figuratively heavy music. But, you know, I like to keep it light these days. I don't know if that's a sign of getting old or not, but. Judy, excellent pick here with Midnight Vultures. Let's see what the 703 has to say on the subject.
A
Hey, what's up, Jake? Hey, this is eric from the 703. I think you left a message asking about what do you like to listen to when you have edibles. I just really started taking edibles, so I guess I'm kind of a newbie at this. But anyway, what I like to listen to when I'm doing edibles, man, what I really enjoy. You're gonna laugh. Is I really like the Pet Shop Boys. Early. Early Pet Shop Boys. Don't get me wrong. Definitely early Pet Shop Boys. I guess that's it. Take care. Bye.
B
All right, 703 Pet Shop Boys. Not. Not just any Pet Shop Boys. Early Pet Shop Boys. You know what I'm going to do for you, 703? Next time I'm recreating, I'm going to listen to little West End girls. This song is incredible by the way. West End Girls. You know, this is going to pair well with Beck's Midnight Vultures as well. I think you guys have stumbled into a sort of a good little vibe here for a playlist. Could have used you on the mixtape mixology session we had with the Patreon listeners a couple weeks ago last week. That was fun by the way, if you were in on that. Still have made the mixed taste. But hey, it hasn't even been a full seven day. Actually, it has been actually seven days. Eight days. And I'm going to get into making those tapes soon and get them out to you guys. My boy is in the 781. Back in the bean hits us up. Let's hear what he's got to say.
A
Jake, what up? Your boy is just checking in. Lets talk about the fish. Yes. Am I guilty of going to a fish show? Yes. Am I guilty of going to a Trey Anastasio show? Yes. Am I guilty of crossing paths and Hanging out with the balloon people. Yes. That being said, thank you for the light layer of anxiety that this episode triggered. I enjoyed it. I will listen to it again next week. Thank you again. Keep up the great work. Disco disco.
B
Ish. It's been a minute. Thanks for getting at us. Did not mean to inspire any level of anxiety. I like how you're sort of insinuating that the music you listen to when you recreate is of course fish. And with the balloon people you're kind of bringing it around full circle there. But did not mean to trigger the anxiety anxiety there. And I I actually dig how you're you just low key mentioning that you're going to go back and listen to this again next week, which is awesome. And now I want to know more about your Disgraceland listening habits. So please let us know. Stay in touch. Don't be a stranger. Ish. Always appreciate your voicemails and your texts. Speaking of texts and speaking of recreating the 978 writes in. You know what would be dope? An episode about Snot between the life and death of Lynn, the Straight up album after his death and his short lived replacement Tommy Vex later from Bad Wolves being a complete piece of shit. You know, someone was heavy on this snot thing about a year or so ago and we lost track of it. I just part of me can't take this serious, but part of me feels like I have to and I have to look into this on the recreating question. 301 King Gizzard in the Lizard Wizard When I first heard this name I didn't take them seriously. And of course they've become their own sor of musical phenomenon. And yeah, I can't say that I've ever just as I've never seen fish on purpose. I've never listened to King Gizzard in the Lizard wizard on purpose either. But I will. I'll have to get into that. 412 writes in hey, as a person that first smoked the weed back in the 1980s, got to say we all listen to Peter Frampton. Do you feel like we do when we smoked? Oh boy. These days I like stuff with a solid groove or a beat so I can just vibe out. But yeah, the old school weed smoking experience. Peter Frampton Highly recommend Frampton. I feel like someone once said that that Peter Frampton album was issued to every kid in suburbia when it came out in the. Didn't it come out in the late 70s though? Was it the 80s? I don't know. Huge. The Frampton the Frampton came to me late. You know, I was never a real big Frampton fan, but I get it. I completely get it. 303 Text in Hey, as a member of Gen X, which I call the Great Sampler Platter Generation, my musical tastes remain very broad. MTV exposed us to pop, metal and hip hop and I fell into the jam scene early in college along with and enjoyed everything that came with it. I fell in love with the fish, they're saying the Fish. I fell in love with the Fish from Vermont most of all and have traveled all over the country chasing their music and the scene. So what does an older fan spelled P H A N do when it's time to chill? Well, I like to listen to the sounds of Fish the Fish. I've gone down a rabbit hole sticky with the roots of hip hop. James Brown, Parliament Funkadelic, Curtis Mayfield, Rick James, and I love sharing it with anyone who will listen. My kids have got me into anime, modern pop and hip hop. MF Doom, who you should cover is my favorite so far. I love exploring all the different avenues that brings me down and I'm glad I came across your podcast back in 2018. CC Living in the 585-repping the 303 and 303 in the 585 sends in a bunch of photos here of his record collection, which looks kind of similar to my record collection. The first three albums Curtis Mayfield right here and Tribe Called Quest, Midnight Marauders, Bob Marley and the Whalers, Mothership Connection by Parliament, Doing it to Death by the jbs. I literally have all of these records that you're showing myself on vinyl. I do not have this Beastie Boys comp, however, which is in your last frame. Thanks for getting at us. 585 303. You know, as you were describing yourself, being a member of Gen X and what you're exposed to through MTV and how Fish the Fish from Vermont hit you when you got into college. Really just describing so many of my friends that I grew up with who are on that exact same trajectory. Bill Alitalo, if you're listening, I'm talking about you specifically. Just, you know, Fish was just there for us. There's perfect timing. Perfect. 617-906-6638 if you guys want to get at me about anything related to your recreational habits, your affinity for fish, your record collection, whatnot. Obviously this Question of the Week was inspired by the madness that accompanies the music of Fish from this week's full episode. We've got more madness coming up in the rewind slot this week with the Tommy James and the Shondell's episode. And this is really the Mafia madness that inspired the B block of this episode. And some of my favorite double Elvis production is in this upcoming episode on Tommy James and the Shondells. And if you like old school gangster stories, you're going to love this episode. So do not sleep on it. Check it out and do not sleep on what we've got coming your way next week by request. I can't remember who, which disco, which member, which All Access member or which listener requested Dr. John. There were a couple of you, but we've got that episode coming your way next week on Tuesday and it's a really good one. I'm really excited about it. And the theme for our Dr. John episode, we could have gone in a million different directions, but the theme is really, it's really about healing and it's about healing through music. Okay. I know there are music therapists out there who listen to this show. So if you want to hit me up and talk about, you know, healing through music, that's great. For those of you who are not in sort of the music healing profession, but feel that you in your life, in your past, in your day to day perhaps are healed by music as I do, feel free to reach out. 617-90-66638 this is going to be the question of the week next week and let me know what music has healed you. What music does heal you. I don't mean for this to sound like a Mel Robbins episode or I don't even really know what Mel does, but I just assume it's this type of thing or some sort of like self help stuff. That's not what I' here. But just it doesn't have to be heavy. It can be, it can be the music that you listen to to get you out of your funk. It could be funk music that you listen to to get you out of your funk. It could be. I mean that's kind of my jam. You know, whenever I'm feeling like run down by the day or I'm in a bad mood, you know, I gravitate towards funk. I gravitate towards R and B, Earth, wind and fire, chic, Sly Funkadelic, all that stuff that's, that's kind of that in jazz is probably, are probably the two genres that I listen to the most instrumental jazz music, bebop in particular. In the morning when I'm getting going, when I'M writing. I find it the perfect accompaniment to just grind, to just sit there at the keyboard and write and write and write. And then, you know, throughout the day when I'm just kind of trying to motor through everything that I've got to do, and in particular when I feel bad and I feel like I need to be uplifted, it's funk, it's R and B, it's soul. So what is it for you? That's what I want to know. On the heels of the Dr. John episode that's coming your way on Tuesday, hit me up. 617-906-6638. Send me a voicemail. I love hearing your voices. You can also send me a text if you're shy. 617-906-6638 can hit me up. Disgracelandpod on the socials. I'll be back right after this. All right, guys, football season is, I gotta, I gotta admit, it's fun this year. It's gotten fun. It's got, you know, some, some, some teams that aren't usually good are good. And my team is one of them. And the New England Patriots are 8 and 2 right now. They are atop the AFC East. They are the second seed in the AFC playoffs right now behind the Colts. I believe the Colts have a better divisional record than the Patriots have. Patriots lost to the Raiders and yeah, and I don't think the Colts have lost to anyone in the division anyhow. 8 and 2. And we didn't see this coming. None of us did. And if you did, kudos to you, but I think you're lying. And it's got me really excited, but it's also got me super, super cautious. All right, so listen, this is the 60 second sports rant in under 30 seconds and it's once again sponsored by our friends at 5 Hour Energy and their new pumpkin spice flavor, your favorite fall drink. In an energy shot, you can pick up a pumpkin spice 5 hour energy shot available online at 5hourenergy.com or Amazon. Matt, give me the ticker. Let's go. Let's get into this. Listen, the New England Patriots, the long suffering New England Patriots, the Tom Brady less the Bill Belichick jettisoned Patriots have not made postseason since way, way, way back in 2022. Way back when Joe Biden was president, when Stranger Things was only in its fourth season of television and Top Gun Maverick had just saved Hollywood. Way back then was the last time the Pats played in the playoff game and they lost. They got destroyed, actually, by the Buffalo Bills. And it's been a dark, dark couple of years since. Three years to be precise. So this year, now that we clearly have a quarterback who can play and we clearly have a coach who can stoked on the future. And the future is now, right now, as in 2025 this season. But can we pump the brakes, please, on the rampant happy talk around this team? The New York Times playoff simulator projects the Patriots going 134 and finishing with the best record in the AFC. This might happen, but let's not talk about this insanity and let's not upset the football gods. They're an angry, fickle lot. They disperse swift judgment in the form of torn Achilles and unnecessary concussion protocol. I want the Patriots to make the playoffs as much as the next Pats fan. But as the Manning who shall not be named, you know, the one who beat us in the super bowl twice said, I'm not superstitious, but I'm a little stitches. So let's lay off. Let's chill. Let's. Let's chill on the happy talk and let's see what happens. All right, that was the sports rant sponsored by five Hour Energy's new Pumpkin Spice flavor. These new Pumpkin Spice five Hour Energy shots are fall in a bottle and bring that classic pumpkin spice flavor that we all know and love. Our favorite fall drink. In an energy shot in, you can pick up a Pumpkin Spice 5 Hour Energy Shot available online at 5 Hour Energy.com or Amazon. As I just read that, guys, I had an image of myself that did not look that dissimilar from the the announcer from the film Slap Shot. And I don't know, I felt like I was channeling that dude a little bit. The guy with the hairpiece. I. I don't have a hairpiece, despite what some people may have said. Anyhow, I love talking sports and I love that you guys are here for it and I love that you indulge these little sports rants. Thank you so much. I also love talking music and crime, as you know. And so much of the content that you guys hear is driven from conversations between Seth and I. Sometimes they're purposeful conversations around work, sometimes they're just conversations around things that we're listening to or that we've just sort of learned. You know, reels we've come across on Instagram or whatever, just things we've seen on the Internet or things we've uncovered from the research we're doing on various artists. And we just get talking and it spurs all this conversation and that then drives the conversation that we each have in the after party and in Zest's wrap party over in the Hollywoodland feed, which you guys should be subscribed to. And of course, in the conversations with you guys that we have, oftentimes the subjects that we cover and that we dedicate a lot of man hours to, to producing our episodes, those subjects are driven from conversations that we have with each other. And that is certainly the case with the fish episode this week. I'm not sure which listener brought fish to my attention first, nor am I sure which Dr. John listener brought Dr. John to my attention. I should really start making a record of this, I guess, so I can thank you guys properly. Oftentimes, I never would have thought of fishing. We never would have thought of the nitrous mafia either if it weren't for one of Zest's friends who he was talking to, who hipped him to that whole scene. We know a lot about music. We don't clearly. We don't know everything about music history. And you guys know a ton and you just keep it coming. You know, if you're, if you text us these ideas, if you send us voicemails and you don't hear back from me, don't take it personally. You know, we try to answer as much as we can. We try to get into the emails, we try to get into the, the DMs, we try to unlock all the voicemails, all the texts. If we don't get back to you, we do see it all. And oftentimes it colors literally the content that we end up choosing to engage with and produce. So keep it coming. And it's all conversation driven, just like the conversation between Szeth and I and the exclusive section of the After Party that's coming up here shortly. As I mentioned before, I think that's based on the talk we had regarding the sound system operators in Jamaica that was driven from the B block here. If you want to hear more on that insanity, you can do so by becoming an All Access member. Just go to disgraceandpod.com to sign up. Five bucks a month before that price goes up. And you're going to get exclusive content here in the After Party. You're going to get the exclusive mini episodes every week pretty much. And we've got more content coming your way through Patreon as well that we're planning. So get in, become an All Access member today. Aerosmith, the Rolling Stones, Elvis Presley, the Beatles. These are just some of the artists we mentioned in this episode of the afterparty, we've got, I don't know, 10 episodes on the Beatles. No, I think it's nine. And I think we have six on the rolling Stones. Matt will, I don't know, choose a couple of his of his favorites, and he'll include the episode information in the show notes to this bonus episode so you can easily navigate to those huge archive guys. I think we're up to 257 full episodes right now. It's a lot of stories and a lot of artists, and they can all be accessed in. In the Disgraceland archive. All right, let's recap, shall we? This week's full episode on the Fish is available for you right now. Number two, new mini episode for All Access members on the nitrous mafia in connection to a recent murder. You're going to want to hear that. All right, number three, rewind episode on Tommy James coming up right after this. Number four. Next week comes our new episode on Dr. John. Five. Zeth gives you those Hollywood and crime vibes over in the Hollywoodland feed, so make sure you're subscribed. Number 661-7906-6638. Your voice keeps us digging into the dark corners of music history. So keep calling, keep texting with your answers to this week's question of the week or with whatever else you guys want to talk about. 7. Don't forget discos. This isn't just content. It's a community. A community of the obsessed. No one cares about music, books, records, and the crime and grime. It ties them all together like you do. And that is a disgrace. All right, on August 15, 2004, Phish played what they thought was going to be their final show. It wasn't. And here's what America was listening to on that day, according to the billboard charts. Number one, slow motion juvenile featuring soulja slim. Last week, one weeks on 16. Peak position one. Two. Lean back terror squad. Last week, three weeks on chart eight. Peak position two. Number three, confessions part two, usher. Last week, two weeks on chart 16. Peak position one. Number four, turn me on, Kevin Little featuring Spraga bands. Last week, six weeks on Chart 13. Number five. Quit talking and start mixing. Cut it.
Date: November 13, 2025
Host: [DISGRACELAND by Double Elvis Productions]
This bonus "Afterparty" episode of DISGRACELAND dives into how various criminal enterprises—from the Nitrous Mafia at Phish concerts to the Italian and Jamaican mafias—have infiltrated music culture. The host unpacks how organized (and disorganized) crime has shaped the economics, mythos, and evolution of music in the U.S. and beyond, while weaving in listeners’ stories about what they listen to while “recreating.” Upcoming and past DISGRACELAND episodes and community engagement are spotlighted throughout.
[03:12 - 09:24]
Nitrous Mafia at Phish Shows:
The Italian Mafia’s Grasp:
“The Chicago mob's influence on MCA records was so strong in the 1970s that Rolling Stone magazine claimed MCA stood for Mafia Controlled Artists.” — Host [05:45]
Jamaican Sound System Gangs:
“Without them, there would be no reggae, quantifiably one of the most listened to styles of music on the planet.” — Host [08:09]
Ticket Scalping Syndicates:
“The simple act of buying a concert ticket is proof of music culture crime hiding in plain sight.” — Host [09:00]
DIY Bootlegging in Soviet Russia:
“X-rays with images of ribs, skulls and spines … burned holes into the center with cigarette butts … so they could hear and profit off banned music.” — Host [10:06]
Psychedelic Chemists & the Brotherhood of Eternal Love:
[11:22]
“Outlaws, like musicians, chase the same thing: freedom on their own terms.” — Host [11:48]
[13:22 - 21:00]
“I want to get into stuff that makes me happy, stuff that makes me feel good, stuff that puts me … in a good mood and does not disappoint.” — Host [14:53]
[25:00+]
“Let me know what music has healed you … it doesn’t have to be heavy. Could be funk that gets you out of your funk.” — Host [31:49]
For DISGRACELAND listeners, the intersections of crime, music, and culture are inextricable and fascinating—and not just in history, but right outside the stadium gates. The community adds its own voice, sharing the records that soundtrack their own chaos and escape, while the host ties these personal rituals back to larger undercurrents of crime, subversion, and creativity that have always pulsed beneath the music we love.
For more dark music history and off-the-record stories, explore the DISGRACELAND archive, become an All Access member, and keep the conversation going.