Podcast
The Bad Piano Player
Hosted by John Wing Jr. · EN
A weekly musical podcast diving into popular music of the 20s, 30s, and 40s.
30episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Billboard Bottoms of the 70s
2w ago00:46:22Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailThis week, the bad piano player goes back to the 1970s, and finds some classics hiding in the cellar of the Billboard top 100. Hope you can drop by for the memories. Tunes ahoy!
Transcribe →Baby Songs II
4w ago00:36:12Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailThis week, the bad piano player returns to a topic that got the most downloads last season. And I’m not just doing it to enhance my popularity in Taiwan. Please enjoy Baby Songs Two!
Transcribe →Harry Warren IIII
Jun 900:43:54Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailThe Bad Piano Player returns to a stalwart, a composer everybody knows and nobody knows with our fourth Harry Warren episode. Seven fabulous songs from the master of melody and progression, with Lyrics by Johnny Burke, Gus Kahn, Al Dubin, Ira Gershwin, Edgar Leslie, Mort Dixon and Joe Young. Only the best for my listeners. Tune in for tunefulness!
Transcribe →Lew Brown
May 2600:33:04Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailThis week the bad piano player features lyricist Lew Brown, born Louis Brownstein in Odessa , Russia in 1893. He estimated that he had collaborated on more than seven thousand songs in his career. We’re learning a small percentage of those for this episode. Tune in!
Transcribe →Gus Kahn II
May 1200:38:28Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailThis week the bad piano player rights a great wrong and finally does a second Gus Kahn episode. The lyricist extraordinaire, who worked with literally every major popular song composer from 1915 to the early 1940s. First featured in season 1, episode 11, he makes his encore appearance now in season 7, episode 186. Words for the tunes, my friends.
Transcribe →Clarence Williams -Blues 2
Apr 2800:37:22Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailThis week, the bad piano player does his second-ever Blues episode, featuring composer Clarence Williams, 1893-1965. Six of his best, five provided by our special friend Norman. Tune in for some blues history and some great blues played by a bad pianist!
Transcribe →Cy Coleman On Broadway
Apr 1400:37:52Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailThis Fortnight Tuesday, the bad piano player returns to Broadway to feature a great composer who was active on the Great White Way for more than forty years. Tune in for the Cy Coleman story and stay for the songs.
Transcribe →Grab Bag IIII
Mar 3100:33:56Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailThis week, the bad piano player pulls together six songs from the (kind of) miscellaneous file and makes a wonderful episode out of them. We call it Grab Bag Four. Tune in and see if you can spot your favorite!
Transcribe →George Meyer
Mar 1700:37:52Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailThis week, the bad piano player goes even further back into obscure composers of the American songbook, to find George Meyer 1884-1959, born in Boston and wrote a lot of music, including the classic For Me And My Gal, which, you guessed it, we won't be doing. Tune in for the tunes, stay for the lyrics!
Transcribe →Tom Waits 4 No Man
Mar 300:38:12Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailThis week, the bad piano player finally gives a songwriter a rare fourth episode. We had to find six really depressing Tom Waits songs, but luckily, he wrote a lot for us to choose from. No repeats fourth T Waits. Tune in and wallow in the Brechtian mood swings on this one, kids.
Transcribe →