Bob Ezrin & Amber Mark

Bob Ezrin

Bob Ezrin, the "producer's producer," has been behind the boards for many blockbuster epic albums over the years. He shares stories with Jim and Greg about working on classic albums by Pink Floyd, Alice Cooper, Kiss, and Peter Gabriel. Plus, up-and-coming R&B singer Amber Mark shares the song that got her Hooked on Sonics, and Greg drops a quarter into the Desert Island Jukebox.

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Bob Ezrin

Back in 2011, Jim and Greg were joined by super producer  Bob Ezrin. When we say super, we're not just referring to his commercial success, but to his sound. Bob Ezrin makes big, epic albums like The Wall, Destroyer and collaborated on a staggering 10 records with metal god Alice Cooper. He also produced Lou Reed's Berlin and the self-titled solo debut from Peter Gabriel. He talked with Jim and Greg about reuniting with Cooper for Welcome 2 My Nightmare and shared studio tidbits. Now we know what a prankster Roger Waters was and how Ezrin captured the crying sounds in "Oh Jim." And who knew Peter Gabriel had such a good sense of humor?

This interview was one of our favorites so we thought we’d share it again.

Hooked On Sonics: Amber Mark

Amber Mark

Amber Mark is a young, up-and-coming singer whose sound is a mixture of R&B, soul and pop. Mark recently made a splash with her EP 3:33am, a record about the sudden passing of her mother. Critics lauded her strong voice and evocative lyrics, and she's currently signed to the British independent label PMR with distribution through the famous Interscope Records. Amber Mark shares that the artist that got her "Hooked on Sonics" is Michael Jackson, and the song that made her love music was the percussive "Working Day and Night" from his Off the Wall album. Listen to Amber tell the story of first hearing the song and the unique experience of sitting in the V.I.P. section at Michael's concert in Munich.

Greg

2017 has been a challenging year for many people, and Greg's pick for the desert island jukebox gave him some solace from the recent turbulence. Inspired by a cover he saw performed by Ted Leo, Greg chose "It’s O.K." by the Portland  punk band Dead Moon. Led by a husband and wife duo, Dead Moon was extremely DIY - doing almost all of their own recording and surrounding duties. Recently, Fred Cole (the husband in the duo) passed away. Greg wanted to play this song as a tribute to him, and to encourage others that even though "we've all seen better days…it's okay, yeah we love you anyway."

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