Allison Hagendorf: The Future Of The Radio DJ

    The rock n’ roll blog is back once again with the fresh rock music announcements and input from someone, who gives the generation Z’s point of view. This is Gen Z Talks Rock Music, and the topic of day is a podcast on Spotify with a female DJ that interviews rock stars and plays rock music. I will state my opinion on this new radio platform, and I will have a bio section on the DJ, who hosts the podcast.                                                                      This radio disc jockey has talks rock legends like Joan Jett, Brian Mays and Roger Taylor of Queen, Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins of The Foo Fighter, Sammy Hagar from Van Halen, Tommy Lee from Motley Crue and many more rock stars on her podcast. This playlist turned into a podcast started in 2021 and it is a celebration of the past, present, and future of rock music. She is the global head of Spotify’s rock department. This is the podcast called “Rock This” hosted by Allison Hagendorf.

Allison Hagendorf Bio:

    Before I go into my opinion about the podcast, I will have a bio section on the host of the show. Allison Hagendorf was born on March 5, 1982. Hagendorf began her journey in the music industry as an employee in A&R at Sony Music’s Columbia Records and Epic Records. What someone does in A&R or artist and repertoire is recruiting new talent for the record company. Hagendorf would find new talent globally for Columbia and Epic Records and she would oversee the album production of the new talent. Hagendorf’s famous recruitments were finding the metal band, Lamb Of God and Juliet Simms. Hagendorf would sign and develop Juliet Simms herself. She would manger Simms’s solo career and band career with the Automatic Loveletter.

    Hagendorf’s next chapter of her music career would be a music television personality. She would host the music talent show called, “The Next” on the CW Network. “The Next” was a show searching nationwide for undiscovered artists to give them a chance for stardom. Then on AXS TV, Hagendorf hosted live broadcast of music festivals like the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. Around the same time, she hosted multiple shows on Fuse TV including “Fuse Top 20 Countdown” and “Backstage At The Z100 Jingle Ballsooza.” Hagendorf would eventually team up with AOL and T-Mobile to create “Signature Sounds With Allison Hagendorf,” which was an original music travel series. Hagendorf would travel across the country to showcase music from past and present. Also, Hagendorf would dabble in writing for a music advice column called “Sound Advice” for Maxim.

    In January 2016, Hagendorf would announce to the public, she is the new global head of Spotify’s rock department. She would start creating rock and alternative playlists for Spotify that caters to all rock listeners like “Rock This.” “Rock This” is a playlist with the newest rock artists and songs being released to the public. This playlist in 2021 would be the foundation for Hagendorf’s podcast called “Rock This With Allison Hagendorf.” The first season of 24 episodes is completely out on Spotify. Every Friday, she released an episode interviewing rock legends and playing the latest artists and songs in the genre of rock. If you want to learn more about Allison Hagendorf’s superstar life, then check out the link below. Allison Hagendorf Biography, Age, Husband And Net worth. (informationcradle.com)

Gen Z Opinion On “Rock This With Allison Hagendorf”

     I think “Rock This With Allison Hagendorf” is an innovation to the world of radio, because it combines the podcast with the radio music show. Spotify releasing this hybrid of podcast and streaming music was a response to Pandora’s version of this concept and I think it is better. Pandora’s version has a popular artist talking about the songs and then playing songs. I feel Spotify’s version of this concept feels more like a show than talking between the songs. For instance, “Rock This With Allison Hagendorf “is has a format that every episode follows that makes it more of an organized radio show. Hagendorf’s show starts with rock news and then she plays a song celebrating an anniversary of it’s release. Then she talks about and plays the newest rock songs and artists rising on the rock charts. After the new songs, she plays a tune by the rock artist that she is interviewing and then the hour interview begins. Once the interview ends, Hagendorf talks about and plays songs from interviewee and songs that influenced the interviewee.

    Personally, I am not a huge fan of the podcast, because people talking can’t hold my attention and I get bored very easily. I rather listen to music than podcasts in any task that keeps me busy. However, “Rock This With Allison Hagendorf” has my full attention, because of a few reasons. First, it has a perfect balance of playing music and of a podcast. It is almost like a radio program with a disc jockey announcing the song before it’s played and interviewing a musician that comes to the station. The only difference about this show on Spotify than radio is it is prerecorded not live. I really enjoy this format due to it has breaks from talking with the music portion of the show.

    Second, Hagendorf is such an entertaining and fascinating person to listen to. She keeps me listening, because I love hearing her personal stories about the connections with a specific rock song from her childhood. I also cherish that she is so knowledgeable about music, and I am into learning new things about songs that I love on her show. Then she can interview anybody, because she does an amazing job with keeping the conversation on topic and she moves the conservation along with her thoughtful segues. I also like that she is funny, which makes the interview with the rock star much more fun and interesting. Then I think she is very relatable to her audience, because I can relate to her being passion about music and being a fan girl, when meeting her favorite musicians.

    Third, I love listening to the stories of these rock legends, because I am fascinated with learning about how they write songs and how they became rock stars. I think I am obsessed with the musicians’ stories, ever since I read Paul Stanley’s book called “Backstage Pass,” which I did a book review in a previous blog. I watch YouTube channel now called Professor Of Rock, who talks about the stories of how rock songs were written. This is why I love “Rock This With Allison Hagendorf,” because I learn so much about my favorite rock musicians and their songs.

    Hagendorf has been an important figure in the rock music world. Hagendorf’s show, “Rock This With Allison Hagendorf,” is a cool mix of the music and the podcast. She tells her audience about the latest upcoming rock stars with their newest song that she has discovered and interviews my favorite rock stars. If you have the time to listen to this podcast, then I totally recommend to all my readers, who like rock music. I have put a link to listen to “Rock This With Allison Hagendorf” on Spotify and I have linked songs by the guests that she interviewed on her show. Let me know, what you think of Allison Hagendorf’s career and her show on Spotify. Also, let me know what your favorite podcast is to listen to. This was Gen Z Talks Rock Music, but make sure to come back for more rock n’ roll blogs.

Rock This with Allison Hagendorf | Podcast on Spotify

Joan Jett ‎– Bad Reputation - YouTube

Van Halen - Why Can't This Be Love - YouTube

Queen - Killer Queen - YouTube

Mötley Crüe - Kickstart my Heart - YouTube

Foo Fighters- Times Like These - YouTube

Smashing Pumpkins - Bullet With Butterfly Wings - YouTube

Bush - Machinehead - YouTube

Blink 182 - I Miss You - YouTube

Rage Against The Machine - Bombtrack (Audio) - YouTube

Guns N' Roses - Paradise City - YouTube

Pearl Jam, Jeremy - YouTube

Graeme Edge: The Moody Legendary Drummer Plays The Blues

    Gen Z Talks Rock Music is back with more breaking rock news from a person, who is an old man that found the fountain of youth, because there is no way a guy that young is a rock n’ roll expert. Today, I will talk about the sad news about another legendary rock drummer that has pass away, who was the co-founder of an icon progressive rock band from the 1960’s to the 1980’s. I am going to discuss the life of this rock star and his top 10 best drumming songs. Then what made him such a simple drummer and person from his bandmates and what makes him underrated.

    This musician was the engine room of this legendary rock band as he was an important piece to this band’s sound. The band and him started in 1965 with a progressive and psychedelic sound with a base of rhythm and blues and they were part of the British Invasion, which included the Rolling Stones, The Beatles, The Who, and this band. This band was heavy influenced by The Beatles as they would use techniques that The Beatles made popular with their albums. This musician’s band became famous for the experimental album named “Days Of The Future Passed” with two top 10 hits with “Nights In White Satin” and “Tuesday Afternoon.” They would have a resurgence in the 1980’s, when MTV made their song, “You’re Wildest Dreams” famous. This is the life of Graeme Edge part of the band, The Moody Blues.

Graeme Edge Bio:

    Graeme Edge was born on March 30, 1941, in Rochester, Staffordshire, which is a village and a civil parish in England. Edge was only 6 months of age, when his family moved to the major city of Birmingham in England. He was another musician that was surrounded by music. Edge’s mother was pianist for silent movies, while his father, grandfather, and great grandfather were all music-hall singers. However, Edge wouldn’t pick up playing drums later in his life as he trained to be a draughtsman, who is making drafts of blueprints, technical plans, and legal documents. This job wasn’t permanent as he wanted to be involved with the music scene and he became manager of a group called The Blue Rhythm Band. Edge as the manager would involve helping the band find a roomy place to practice and move the equipment from place to place. Edge became fascinated with watching the drummer of Blue Rhythm Band fool around and play the drums and it was first time he became interested to play the drums.

    Edge would get his opportunity to play drums for The Blue Rhythm Band, when their original drummer quit. This is the first time that Edge played professionally for a band as he just dabbled here and there on the drums. This gig would only last for three weeks as the band found a replacement with his own drum kit. The Blue Rhythm Band is just one of the bands that Edge put together and play drums for as he helped formed The Silhouettes and Gary Levene and The Avengers.

    When Gary Levene and The Avengers broke up in 1964, Edge formed The R&B Preachers with later members of The Moody Blues, who were Clint Warwick and Denny Laine and this band would be shorted lived. He would keep in contact with Warwick and Laine and then recruit Ray Thomas and Mike Pinder to form M&B 5. They would later change the name to The Moody Blues and came out with their first album called “The Magnificent Moodies.” The Moody Blues would have a number one song on this record called “Go Now” and they would have rock star status for over 50 years. He died peaceful at his home in Bradenton, Fla. on November 11, 2021, at the age of 80. Here is a link below if you want to learn more about Graeme Edge’s extraordinary life. Graeme Edge - The Moody Blues (moodybluestoday.com)

Why Graeme Edge Is An Underrated Musician:

    I think Graeme Edge is an underrated musician because he had more talent than drumming skills. He wasn’t like Carl Palmer or Charlie Watt, who were the last two drummers I blogged about, that he was unique in the way he played or an entertaining showman. He was a simple drummer that kept the beat and could keep up with the time of the song. What made him talented was his songwriting as he would write poems for some of the Moody Blues’ songs, and he was co-writer in a lot of The Moody Blues’ songs. These poems would open or close out their songs and it really set the Moody Blues apart from other rock bands. Edge’s well-written poems is such a highlight of what he contributed to the band, because he always was able to capture the tone and atmosphere of the song. Then he was always in the songwriting process as he helped and co-wrote songs with his band members. He was such an essential band member to The Moody Blues, because he contributed so much to the band with his drumming and poetry.

Graeme Edge’s Bandmates’ Thoughts On Their Drummer

    Moody Blues’ bassist, John Lodge, and guitarist, Justin Hayward, had kind words to say about their friend and bandmate. After Edge passed away, Hayward went on Facebook to tell the world, how much Graeme Edge meant to him. He said, “When Graeme told he was retiring I knew that without him it couldn’t be the Moody Blues anymore. And that’s what happened. It’s true to say that he kept the group together throughout the years, because he loved it.” Hayward really felt that Edge was the glue that kept The Moody Blues together for all those years, because he cared about it like it was his child. Lodge posted on his Twitter about the passing of Edge, and he said, “To me he was the White Eagle of North with his beautiful poetry. His friendship, his love of life and unique style of drumming that was the engine room of The Moody Blues.” Lodge really felt he was something special to the band with his poetry, drumming, and happy-go-lucky personality.

    Edge was a legendary rock n’ roll star with his band, The Moody Blues, from the 1960’s to the 1980’s. He bought a unique element to his band, which was the beautiful poems. Poems in rock music wasn’t a common thing, until Edge wrote them for The Moody Blues. This would become a trademark for the sound of The Moody Blues. Edge was known for being an all-around musician as he entertained people with his lyrics, and his drumming. Here are links of my top 10 poems and drumming from Graeme Edge. Let me know, what you think of Graeme Edge and the Moody Blues in the comments below. Also, put in the comments if you know and like any songs featuring poems or verbal parts in the song. This might be the end of a Gen Z Talks Rock Music blog but come back next week for another rock n’ roll blog.

The Night: Nights in White Satin - The Moody Blues [1967] [Full Version Remastered] - YouTube

The Moody Blues - Departure & Ride My See-Saw (1968) HD - YouTube

The Word & Om - The Moody Blues - YouTube

The Moody Blues: In The Beginning- Lovely To See You - YouTube

The Moody Blues: The Dream- Have You Heard- Parts I&II - YouTube

Higher And Higher - YouTube

Beyond - YouTube

The Balance - YouTube

I'm Just A Singer (In A Rock And Roll Band) - YouTube

After You Came - YouTube