Special Episode: New Artists/New Crimes Revealed

A special look at the new artists we’re covering in 2026, along with a peek back at how we got started, where we’re going, and some listener favorites through the years. See omnystudio.com/listener https://omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:01Speaker 00

  This is exactly right.

• 0:13Speaker 01

  OnDeck is built to back small businesses like yours. Whether you're buying equipment, expanding your team, or bridging cash flow gaps, OnDeck's loans up to $400,000 help make it happen fast. Rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau and earning thousands of five-star TrustPilot reviews, OnDeck delivers funding you can count on. Apply in minutes at ondeck.com. Depending on certain loan attributes, your business loan may be issued by OnDeck or Celtic Bank. OnDeck does not lend in North Dakota. All loans and amounts subject to lender approval.

• 0:56Speaker 02

  And for adults with type 2 diabetes and known heart disease, Jardiance can lower the risk of cardiovascular death, too. Prescription Jardiance, Empagliflozin, 10 or 25-milligram tablets, are used to lower blood sugar along with diet and exercise in adults with type 2 diabetes. Jardiance is not for use to lower blood sugar in people with type 1 diabetes, and not for people with type 2 diabetes who have severe kidney disease. Serious side effects include increased ketones in blood or urine, and infection in the area between and around the anus and genitals called the perineum. Both may be fatal. Severe allergic reactions, dehydration, urinary tract or genital yeast infections in men and women, and low blood sugar. Stop taking and tell your doctor right away if you have nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, tiredness, rash, swelling, trouble breathing, or swallowing.

• 1:38Speaker 02

  Tell your doctor about lightheadedness, weakness, fever, pain, tenderness, redness, or swelling in the perineum. You may have increased risk for lower limb loss. Call your doctor right away if you have new pain or tenderness, sores, ulcers, or infection in your legs or feet. To learn more about Jardiance 10 or 25-milligram tablets, ask your doctor, visit jardiance.com, or call 1-888-968-6648.

• 2:12Jake Brennan?

  Wait a minute, wait, what's happening here? What's, what happened to the Mellotron? What are we doing? Why is this sounding different? Well, listen, your ears are not playing games with you. We are doing things a little different today. We're bringing you a special episode of Disgrace Land, a sneak peek behind the scenes, a preview of our upcoming season of episodes for you guys, the faithful Disgrace Land listener, the Disco, and a primer on all things Disgrace Land, what this show is, what exactly a Mellotron is, for our new listeners, which eight years into this, we are grateful to still be welcoming. So, as you know, this show, Disgrace Land, it may have true crime at its core,

• 2:55Jake Brennan?

  but it's also about great music. Unlike that music I played for you at the top of the show, that wasn't great music. That was a preset loop from my Mellotron called Jerry Lee's Dead Wife MK2. I played you that loop because I can't afford the rights to "God's Plan" by Drake. And why would I play you that specific slice of "North of the Border Cheese"? Could I afford it? Because that was the number one song in America on February 13th, 2018. And that was the day that we released the very first episode of this podcast, the Disgrace Land Podcast, an event that introduced a new concept to the podcasting game, the chocolate and the peanut butter,

• 3:39Jake Brennan?

  the fire and the rain snoop, and Martha Martin and Lewis, Lewis and Clark, Kent State and state of the art, state of mind, state of grace. Disgrace, Disgrace Land. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I'm talking about the now un-fuck-withable combo of music and true crime. Because I'm Jake Brennan, and this, if you haven't been able to tell, is a special episode of Disgrace Land.

• 4:24Jake Brennan?

  Okay, I'm as inspired as I've ever been creatively, guys. And it's because of the new episodes that we have coming up in the next few weeks, actually throughout the year, but in the next few weeks especially, just because I love the musicians we're covering, these iconic, mythical, legendary artists. That's not the only reason. It's also because these are some of the more true crime-y stories that we've uncracked. The first two specifically, I'm talking about new Disgrace Land episodes on Patti Smith and Grace Jones. And then also a couple more episodes, one that delves into the insane ascent into superstardom, followed by an acute descent into addiction with Depeche

• 5:05Jake Brennan?

  Mode, followed up by a dive into what really happened the night Taylor Hawkins died and a look into who Dave Grohl really is. Dude's had a pretty shit couple of years, that whole baby mama thing on top of the loss of Taylor. We get into that story in our Foo Fighters episode that'll be here soon as well. So, to the discos, you know there will be revealing facts in these stories. Revelatory tidbits unearthed from our research, presented with edge-of-your-seat storytelling that you just can't get anywhere else, and all wrapped up in our award-winning sound design and scoring, per usual. For the new listeners, if any of this sounds over the top, I assure you that it's not, until it is. Disgrace Land's music

• 5:47Jake Brennan?

  and true crime brand of storytelling isn't sensational, but it is dramatic AF. Everything is based on deep research and is properly sourced, often from firsthand accounts, detailed in the autobiographies of these artists, but that only accounts for part of the drama. The drama mostly comes from the true crime aspect of these stories. I've been saying this for years, most musicians, most rock stars, hip-hop stars, country artists, old jazz heads, whatever, punk rock dudes, doesn't matter what genre or from what scene they come or came, most musicians, they're more like feral narcissistic animals than they are functioning members of society, and this is exactly what makes them so damn interesting.

• 6:31Jake Brennan?

  I know because I used to be one of them, but I'm not anymore. I'm just a middle-aged dad who reads a ton and hangs out with his wife and kids. But back to my point, musicians, they're not like us. They've seen and done things we never will. And they've had things happen to them that thankfully will never happen to us. What things, you ask? Crimes, true crime. When we look at the biographies of these rock stars through the lens of true crime, which is all we do here, through the lens of both the crimes they've committed and the crimes that have happened to them, then we get a peek into just how dramatic and batshit crazy these artists, their lives are. And it makes for wild storytelling.

• 7:15Jake Brennan?

  Storytelling about rock stars with crimes involving not just murder, but cannibalism, the occult, drug trafficking, and everything else you can imagine. But back to the research, deep research has always been at the core of Disgrace Land. And the result is often not just banana stories like the story of Big Lurch, the hip-hop star who ate his roommate, or revealing facts like the UK crime wave that the Beastie Boys inadvertently inspired. But a lot of times, the result is truths, hidden truths that are uncovered, truths that disrupt the popular narratives about our favorite artists that we've been forced to accept, but that have been wrong all along.

• 7:55Jake Brennan?

  Michael Hutchins from Inexcess did not die from auto erotic asphyxiation like we were told. Charles Manson didn't kill because he was obsessed with the Beatles. In fact, the entire Helter Skelter true crime saga is mostly BS. And Mama Cass Elliot didn't die from choking on a ham sandwich. Let's chill on the historical fat shaming. Okay, this, this age we're in, this age of artificial intelligence, this, this torrent of information, this information war that's going on right now. Part of what we do here is we try to get to the truth of the story, or at least to the most interesting version of the story. And I love it. I've loved it since the beginning. I've been doing this for eight

• 8:39Jake Brennan?

  years now. And these next stories we got coming up have me as excited as anything that we've done to date. These stories aren't just true crime. They're, of course, like I just said, they're, they're filled with amazing facts that DisgraceLand has come to be known for. Discos know these facts, the ones I mentioned earlier about Michael Hutchins and Charles Manson and Cass Elliot and a bunch of others. And new listeners every day are learning these facts as well, because this is the podcast for the musically obsessed and the true crime heads, the outsiders, the independent thinkers, the ones who know that the best history is the history they try to bury, the stories they didn't want told, and the kind that you're going to end up telling someone else. All right, listen, I'm going to take a quick break, and I'll be back in a flash with more on our upcoming

• 9:22Jake Brennan?

  Patti Smith episode, a reveal of some of the other artists that we're going to be covering in 2026, and a look back into some of the best stories from our archive of over 250 episodes on different musicians, as well as a little bit of history from DisgraceLand, how we got our start, how we all came together, and where we're taking this in the future. I'll be back in a flash.

• 9:57Speaker 04

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• 10:28Speaker 05

  This is Troy Millings. As someone who travels a lot for work, I really appreciate a premium airport experience. With the Delta Sky Miles Reserve Business American Express Card, it truly feels like you can have it all. For a limited time, new Delta Sky Miles Reserve Business Card members can earn 200,000 bonus miles, the highest miles offered this year. Card members can also enjoy 15 visits to the Delta Sky Club each medallion year when flying Delta, and you can unlock unlimited Delta Sky Club access after spending $75,000 in purchases on your card during a calendar year. Those are benefits you can get behind. You also get four one-time guest passes each medallion year, so you can bring a friend or colleague along.

• 11:11Speaker 05

  15 Sky Club visits plus four guest passes? That's up to $950,000 annual value. Value estimate based on a $50 per visit rate to purchase additional visits or bring a guest to the Delta Sky Club. It's the kind of premium access that helps you feel right at home and at ease, no matter where you're headed. Apply today at www.delta.com/podcast. Offer ends November 4, 2026. Minimum spending requirements and terms apply.

• 11:42Speaker 06

  I have type 2 diabetes, but I manage it well. It's a little pill with a big story to tell. I take ones daily, Jardiance, at each day's start.

• 11:55Speaker 02

  And for adults with type 2 diabetes and known heart disease, Jardiance can lower the risk of cardiovascular death, too. Prescription Jardiance Empagliflozin 10 or 25-milligram tablets are used to lower blood sugar along with diet and exercise in adults with type 2 diabetes. Jardiance is not for use to lower blood sugar in people with type 1 diabetes, and not for people with type 2 diabetes who have severe kidney disease. Serious side effects include increased ketones in blood or urine and infection in the area between and around the anus and genitals, called the perineum. Both may be fatal. Severe allergic reactions, dehydration, urinary tract or genital yeast infections in men and women, and low blood sugar. Stop taking and tell your doctor right away if you have nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, tiredness, rash, swelling, trouble breathing, or swallowing. Tell your doctor about

• 12:38Speaker 02

  Light headedness, weakness, fever, pain, tenderness, redness, or swelling in the perineum. You may have increased risk for lower limb loss. Call your doctor right away if you have new pain or tenderness, sores, ulcers, or infection in your legs or feet. To learn more about Jardiance 10 or 25 milligram tablets, ask your doctor, visit jardiance.com, or call 1-888-968-6648.

• 13:03Speaker 07

  I'm Malcolm Gladwell, host of Smart Talks with IBM. I spoke with Dr. Laura Jayhai of Cleveland Clinic about how advanced computing is helping shorten the path from medical discovery to treatment.

• 13:16Speaker 08

  The moment that there is a compound that someone in a lab thinks it would be effective to treat a certain disease, it takes about 10 to 13 years from that moment to when that drug is on a shelf for a patient. A big part of that gap could be computationally solved. Better simulation of compounds, designing drug trials that are more efficient, that would finish faster. That was the motivation to bring computational tools and technology closer to biomedical researchers.

• 13:50Speaker 07

  Learn more about how Cleveland Clinic and IBM are using AI and quantum computing to revolutionize biomedical research at ibm.com/smarttalks.

• 14:04Jake Brennan?

  Okay, so sometime back around 2017, I was working at an ad agency, if you can believe that, as a music supervisor. Basically, you know the music that you hear in commercials? Well, there are people who source and arrange for that music to be in those commercials, and I was one of those dudes for a minute. Sort of, I say sort of because I was really bad at my job and I knew that I was going to get fired. And I was thinking about what I was going to do for work to support my family. This is a time when I had gotten, like a lot of people, super into podcasts. I was really into what was sort of the first generation of elevated storytelling in podcasting. Shows like Crime Town and Serial, S-Town, My Favorite Murder. These shows had just launched and I was obsessed.

• 14:49Jake Brennan?

  So I thought I'd make a podcast. And by doing so, I'd demonstrate that I could work with audio. I could work in audio. And then maybe someone would hire me in some capacity to work for them. Like, maybe I get a gig making podcasts for some cool company or something. This thinking happened because at the time, when I knew that I was gonna get fired and I was about to need a job, I asked my wife and I asked my friend Adam the same question. If you could hire me to do one job for you, what would it be? And they both gave me the same answer. They both said a different version of, I'd pay you to tell me stories. Now, this came as a surprise because after years of being in bands and driving around

• 15:32Jake Brennan?

  the country in shitty vans with my bandmates who were telling me the opposite, telling me that I needed to go get myself kidnapped so that I'd have some new stories to tell. You know, I was, I was kind of pumped to learn that there were actually people interested in what I had to say, even if it was just my wife and one of my best friends. And the point is, I got this validation, this sort of vote of confidence, right as I was becoming a podcast listener. So naturally, I decided to start my own podcast and I wanted to start a podcast that I wanted to listen to, a music podcast. I'd just become a dad a couple of years before this and I was, I was reading Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain's excellent book, Please Kill Me, which is an oral history about the

• 16:17Jake Brennan?

  origins of punk rock. If you haven't read it, you have to read it. It's great. It's got all these great stories about Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, the Ramones. And I remember thinking, again, this is right after becoming a dad. You become a dad, you become a parent. I don't know what it's like for moms, but for me, just a lot of, a lot of shit changes, perspective shifts. I remember thinking, wow, I love the music these people make and I always have and I always will, but I wouldn't let these dudes in the same room with my children. That was an actual thought that I had. I may have been sleep deprived at the time, but I did have it. And then I thought about all the music history that I'd read throughout my life and the stories that I like to retell, that I like to recount.

• 17:00Jake Brennan?

  And they were always the stories that were most revealing, sure, but they were the stories that involved crimes that these rock stars either committed or got caught up in. And this is because as a kid, I was absolutely captivated, owned actually by- The book Helter Skelter. And then about a year later, I read Truman Capote's In Cold Blood, which aside from the Old Testament is like the first true crime book and more on the Old Testament comment in the Patti Smith episode, you'll know what I'm talking about, but I digress. True crime books owned me in high school. And then later, as a young adult, the historical fiction of James Elroy, that got its claws into me as well. So I thought, well, I want to make a music podcast that I want to listen to. I want to hear

• 17:41Jake Brennan?

  the stories from music history that aren't surface level, that aren't on the rock star's Wikipedia pages, the stories that oftentimes aren't part of the musician's chosen narrative, the stories that didn't make it into the cheesy biopics. And I want these stories told to me like my favorite directors tell stories with their own point of view and with dramatic edge of your seat, in your face, action gripping theater of the mind. All these ideas came to me and gave me my building blocks for what this show would become and what it has become. And I knew that the first story I had to tell was a story about Jerry Lee Lewis, the story of the rock and roll pioneer, the one they literally nicknamed the killer and

• 18:24Jake Brennan?

  how he allegedly got away with murdering his wife. Now Jerry Lee Lewis lived about a half an hour from Elvis Presley's Graceland. But what did they call Jerry Lee's home? Disgraceland. My first podcast episode gave me the title of this show. Here's a clip. The first thing they noticed was the absence of Mr. Lewis. The second thing they noticed was how the body of Mrs. Lewis was situated or placed neatly on a fully made bed in a guest room, not in her bedroom with her newlywed husband in a guest room. The EMTs checked for vitals while Lottie Jackson, Jerry Lee's caretaker of more than 10 years, knocked

• 19:08Jake Brennan?

  on his bedroom door. Within seconds, the killer emerged. The EMTs quickly noticed the bright red scratches on the back of Jerry Lee's hand. You know, the kind. They kind of looked like scratches your cat would make, except Jerry Lee didn't own a cat. Blood was also visible on Jerry Lee's robe and on his slippers. There was a pile of bloody clothes in the bathroom, a rivulet of blood on a door, more blood on the carpet. Broken glass was scattered across the floor throughout the house. There was blood on Sean's dead hand, in her hair, on her clothes, and on a bra that was in another room.

• 19:49Jake Brennan?

  Dirt all over her body, bruises on her arms, on her hip. Her fingernails were broken with something that looked a lot like blood underneath them. All of this physical evidence on and around a woman lying dead on top of a neatly made bed that wasn't hers, in a guest room in her own home, down the hall from where her newlywed husband slept alone. Stranger than that, the evidence wouldn't even be reported until after the grand jury convened. Is it any wonder that they found no indication of foul play? All right, guys, if you know Disgrace Land, if you're one of our longtime listeners,

• 20:32Jake Brennan?

  you know that we've come a long way from that episode, episode one, and I know many of you, most of you have been here since episode one, and I thank you. I am so grateful to you guys for your commitment to this show. It means more than I can possibly express, and I'm stoked for you to hear where we're taking this. I'm stoked for the new listeners that are coming into the show every week. I see you, I see your DMs, I get your emails, the comments on Spotify, on Apple Podcasts. I want you guys to know that was episode one, okay? Our next episode on Patti Smith will be episode number 270. 270.

• 21:15Jake Brennan?

  And the Patti episode is not about Patti Smith murdering anyone like that Jerry Lee Lewis episode, allegedly, but it's super true crime-y. More on that and the other artists that we're covering coming up in the coming months, right here after this break in Disgrace Land.

• 21:33Speaker 06

  We'll be right back after this. Wur, wur, wur.

• 21:38Speaker 01

  Cash flow crunch? OnDeck's small business line of credit gives your business immediate access to funds up to $200,000 right when you need it. Cover seasonal dips, manage payroll, restock inventory, or tackle unexpected expenses without missing a beat. With flexible draws, transparent pricing, and control over repayment, get funded quickly and confidently. Apply today at ondeck.com. Funds could be available as soon as tomorrow. Depending on certain loan attributes, your business loan may be issued by OnDeck or Celtic Bank. OnDeck does not lend in North Dakota. All loans and amounts subject to lender approval.

• 22:09Speaker 05

  This is Troy Millings. As someone who travels a lot for work, I really appreciate a premium airport experience. With the Delta SkyMiles Reserve Business American Express Card, it truly feels like you can have it all. For a limited time, new Delta SkyMiles Reserve Business Card members can earn 200,000 bonus miles, the highest miles offered this year. Card members can also enjoy 15 visits to the Delta Sky Club each medallion year when flying Delta, and you can unlock unlimited Delta Sky Club access after spending $75,000 in purchases on your card during a calendar year. Those are benefits you can get behind. You also get four one-time guest passes each medallion year, so you can bring a friend or colleague along.

• 22:52Speaker 05

  15 Sky Club visits plus four guest passes? That's up to $950,000 annual value. Value estimate based on a $50 per visit rate to purchase additional visits or bring a guest to the Delta Sky Club. It's the kind of premium access that helps you feel right at home and at ease no matter where you're headed. Apply today at www.delta.com/podcast. Offer ends November 4, 2026. Minimum spending requirements and terms apply.

• 23:36Speaker 02

  And for adults with type 2 diabetes and known heart disease, Jardiance can lower the risk of cardiovascular death, too. Prescription Jardiance, Empigliflozin, 10 or 25-milligram tablets, are used to lower blood sugar along with diet and exercise in adults with type 2 diabetes. Jardiance is not for use to lower blood sugar in people with type 1 diabetes, and not for people with type 2 diabetes who have severe kidney disease. Serious side effects include increased ketones in blood or urine, and infection in the area between and around the anus and genitals called the perineum. Both may be fatal. Severe allergic reactions, dehydration, urinary tract or genital yeast infections in men and women, and low blood sugar. Stop taking and tell your doctor right away if you have nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, tiredness, rash, swelling, trouble breathing, or swallowing. Tell your doctor about lightheadedness,

• 24:20Speaker 02

  weakness, fever, pain, tenderness, redness, or swelling in the perineum. You may have increased risk for lower limb loss. Call your doctor right away if you have new pain or tenderness, sores, ulcers, or infection in your legs or feet. To learn more about Jardiance's 10- or 25-milligram tablets, ask your doctor, visit jardiance.com, or call 1-888-968-6648.

• 24:45Speaker 07

  Hello, hello. I'm Malcolm Gladwell, host of Smart Talks with IBM. Imagine your business depends on a system you didn't build and don't fully control. For years, it works perfectly. It's fast, reliable, affordable. So over time, more and more of your operations rely on it. Then one day, the terms change. What once felt flexible now feels difficult to leave. Moving to another provider or bringing those capabilities back under your own control could take years, cost millions, and disrupt the business in the process. That's the challenge of digital sovereignty. Businesses today rely on all sorts of third-party systems:

• 25:27Speaker 07

  cloud platforms, data pipelines, AI models, software tools. Most days, these systems operate quietly in the background. But when something changes, like costs go up or rules shift, organizations are forced to confront how much control and flexibility they actually have. So to understand the challenge up close, I traveled to Paris to speak with IBM's Annapola Assis Anaxas CIO, Giovanni Daniele, two people who think about these questions every day.

• 26:01Speaker 07

  Hear the full conversation at ibm.com/smarttalks or wherever you get your podcasts.

• 26:10Jake Brennan?

  Okay, Patti Smith is about as beloved an artist as you can find, mainly because, well, her music is incredible and she's just a great all-around artist, a multi-hyphenate artist. She's a writer, a musician, obviously, a poet. She's also a survivor. Now, unlike so many of the artists that Patti Smith admired, some of them like William S. Burroughs, themselves criminals, unlike those artists she admired, and unlike many of the artists that she came up with, Patti Smith survived. And I argue in this new episode on Patti that true crime is the reason that Patti Smith survived. More specifically, what Patti

• 26:51Jake Brennan?

  Smith learned from true crime. It taught her how to avoid being a victim of a crime, how to avoid being a rock and roll casualty. Everything from the crime and grime and death that she was exposed to when she was living at the Chelsea Hotel with Robert Mabelthorpe, to her time in New York in the late 70s during the 44 caliber Son of Sam killings, to her mother's fascination with the first true crime of the century, the kidnapping and the Lindbergh baby, all that, plus Patty getting up close and personal with 70s New York street hustling, pimps, heroin, the bloodstained apartment walls and chalk outlined sidewalks that she was forced to live in and around, all of it. All of this true crime

• 27:32Jake Brennan?

  taught the quote-unquote "godmother of punk" how to not become a victim and how to survive and also develop some pretty surprising taste in television. Okay, this is the most revealing thing to me. Serial crime fiction, Patti Smith, the high priestess of art, binging CSI and Law and Order. I did not see that coming. Guys, she's just like us, just like us, Patti Smith. Anyways, that Patti Smith episode, I'm beyond excited for you to hear this. It's coming next week, I promise you. You may know the Patti Smith story, but you're not gonna, you don't know this story. You're not gonna hear it like this, okay? Now, before that Patti Smith episode, we're gonna have a bonus after-party episode. That's coming up on Thursday, per usual. Typically, for new listeners, Disgrace and releases new stories

• 28:17Jake Brennan?

  every Tuesday. These are the artist-centered, music and true crime scripted and sound-designed episodes that I've been talking about, each on a different artist and the crime or crimes that they've been involved with. It being Tuesday, when the episode that you're listening to right now is released. Normally you'd get a fully scripted, sound designed episode here on an artist. But we do trailers a couple of times a year. And rather than just dropping a trailer into the feed that was like three or four minutes long, that just had clips from shows, I figured I'd put a little more meat on the bone, give a little bit more of an explanation in here, spend some time discussing, you know, where Disgraceland's at, where it's been. We blew by 200 episodes. We didn't even mention it, 250 episodes as well. We're at 270.

• 29:01Jake Brennan?

  So I just felt like it was time, you know, we're gonna, we're gonna, we're gonna wake up in a, in a couple of months, we're gonna be at 300 episodes. So I just figured it was time to kind of reset as we share what's coming up with the discos who have been listening forever and give a lay of the land to the new listeners who have come in over the past few months, weeks, days, whatever. Okay? So that's what we're doing here. So that's the Patti Smith episode coming up next week. There will be a bonus after-party episode before that, released on Thursday, per usual. So typically for new listeners here, Disgraceland releases new stories every Tuesday. These are artist-centered music and true crime scripted and sound designed episodes that I've been talking about. Now on Thursdays, we release bonus chat episodes.

• 29:45Jake Brennan?

  The bonus after-party episodes are where I take your calls and respond to your texts and DMs and emails, typically in relation to questions and comments listeners have on that week's full episode on the artist we cover. Historically, we've released our archive episodes, our rewind episodes, episodes from our archive of over 260 stories from different artists, from every genre, musicians you love, musicians you've never heard of, but are going to love their stories. These archive episodes historically were released on Fridays. They are now going to be released on Sundays. The reason we release archive episodes once a week, like, think of it like a rerun on

• 30:30Jake Brennan?

  television, is because we get new listeners coming in all the time in emails and DMs requesting artists, frankly artists that in some cases we covered years ago. So we figured resurfacing these artists made sense to give new fans exposure. You know, plus Disgraceland is, it's evergreen content. You can re-listen to these stories over and over again, like you can re-watch a movie or re-binge a TV series, et cetera. Okay? Now, on all those episodes, those 270 episodes, it's hard for me to pick out a favorite, but if you're looking for some highlights from the archive, some of the stories that discos regularly talk to me about are the recent Lady Gaga two-part episode that got a lot of heat, and the murder mystery that's

• 31:13Jake Brennan?

  at the origin of Gaga's story, the Grateful Dead unwittingly turning American youth onto LSD after being manipulated by the CIA, that's always gotten a lot of action, the story about the Norwegian black metal scene and the church burnings, the murder, the cannibalism, there's Sid and Nancy, Kurt and Courtney, The Stones, The Beatles, Amy Winehouse, that's another one that gets, always gets a lot of, a lot of mentions, a lot of action, and I'm gonna have my guy Matt here, who's producing this episode, lay a clip from the Amy Winehouse episode in right here.

• 31:52Jake Brennan?

  The cameras, their flash, the intrusive shouts from members of the paparazzi and their commands, "Do this, don't do that, how's Reg? When was the last time you saw Blake? When are we getting new music?" To Amy, it was white noise. As disruptive as it was, she could no longer register it. She'd walk down the street and affect her thousand-yard junkie stare. It wasn't difficult. She'd done her time in the shooting gallery. Even if she was off smack, and even if she was drunk, she knew how to project the gaze. Amy would trick herself into thinking about something else, music, always music. She'd watch her voice as if the sound of it was a physical thing that could be tracked visually. Amy would take a melody, sometimes one of her

• 32:35Jake Brennan?

  own, something she was working on. These days, it was usually a classic from the Torch Songbook, from one of the jazz greats she admired and studied, Sarah Vaughan or Tony Bennett. And Amy would imagine that melody passing over her lips and rising up into the sky, floating freely without the limitations of this cruel world. It would move with ease around the clouds from left to right, slinking and sliding over the imagined bars of some cosmic scale, a sonic manifestation of the emotion welling up inside of it. A heavily mascarred vision board, like one of those transparent acetate sheets that music school teachers would place on old viewfoil projectors, layered over the reality of the unwanted fame that complicated her world,

• 33:19Jake Brennan?

  the same world she tottered through alternately on four-inch heels and bloody ballerina shoes.

• 33:27Jake Brennan?

  All right, that's Amy Winehouse. I should also probably mention that I was in Texas a little bit ago, and I ran into a fan, and a musician, actually, who brought up our Diddy episodes, which I love, our Sean Combs episodes. We have two, we have part one and a part two. But if we're talking about disgraceland hip-hop episodes, the Jay-Z episode is my favorite.

• 33:56Jake Brennan?

  December 1st, 1999, Midtown Manhattan, the Kit Kat Club, the release party for the heavily anticipated solo debut by Q-Tip from A Tribe Called Quest. Sean, Puffy Combs, Lil' Kim, Busta Rhymes, and Lil' Cease, all on the scene. Jay-Z rolled up late and deep with his entourage behind him. At the bar, Lance on Rivera. Jay spied him, confronted him with a bootlegging allegation. "Fuck that, fuck you, I didn't bootleg shit. Who do you think you even talk to? Fuck out of my face." Jay headed back to the bar, blinders on, rage pulsing, darkness closing in. That feeling of being fucked with, losing control, being disrespected,

• 34:39Jake Brennan?

  dissed and dismissed, unacceptable. In Jay's previous occupation, when you were disrespected, and especially if someone took money out of your pocket, you not only stood your ground, you let that motherfucker know you were not to be fucked with by any means necessary. It was survival, and here, right now, in the Kit Kat Club, that familiar survival instinct kicked in and took over.

• 35:07Jake Brennan?

  Jay turned around, feet aligned, straight back to Un, bottle in one hand, knife in the other. He got up on him quick. Witnesses say Jay spoke direct, à la Michael Corleone to Fredo. "Lance, you broke my heart." And then smashed the bottle over Un's brother's head, a quick distraction before plunging the five-inch blade into Un's gut. Fuck you, bootleg boy. Let that be a lesson.

• 35:32Jake Brennan?

  All right, that's Jay-Z in Disgrace Land, and I'll be back right after this. I know, I know, I've been saying I'm gonna do this for the last two breaks, but I'll be back right after this with a reveal of which new artists we are covering in the coming months here in Disgrace Land.

• 36:00Jake Brennan?

  All right, thanks for hanging out with me today in this special episode of Disgrace Land. Hope you dug the peak behind the curtain, a little Disgrace Land history. But now, to the matter at hand, our new episodes, our new stories. Next week, our brand-new episode on Patti Smith, which you can tell by now I'm very excited about. And then after that, our new episode on Grace Jones, who I was surprised to learn that the iconic 80's star was basically a walking true crime. Then, as I mentioned before, Depeche Mode, Foo Fighters. And after that, finally, our long-requested episode on a real dirtbag, Ian Watkins from

• 36:38Jake Brennan?

  Lost Profits. The musician's crimes are unspeakable, and if I'm being honest, guys, I'm not really sure how I'm even gonna tell this story, but I'm up for the challenge. Then we get into our episode on Stevie Ray Vaughan, followed by a story on Christina Grimm, the singer from The Voice, who became super-famous, super-quick, and was tragically murdered. After that, we've got episodes, check this out, on the following: Weezer, Adele, Blur, Elastica, George Jones, Fiona Apple, Wendy O. Williams. Yes, this goes, I listened to all the voicemails, read all the texts and the emails suggesting Wendy O. Williams. It's coming. Later this year, episodes on T-Rex, Alanis Morissette, Nick Cave,

• 37:23Jake Brennan?

  maybe, still haven't decided on Nick Cave, Slipknot, Nico from the Velvet Underground, Slayer, the Allman Brothers, and, and, and I am working my way up into, assuming I can conjure the appropriate amount of constitutional fortitude, to cover Courtney Love to kick off the fall string of DisgraceLand episodes. That's a lot of stories, okay? I hope it was worth your hang here. But as always, we need more stories, okay? I didn't even get into the 2026 fall and winter episodes, aside from mentioning Courtney. So, Discos, keep the recommendations coming, 617-906-6638. Call and leave me a voicemail, send me a text

• 38:02Jake Brennan?

  or an email at [email protected]. And, and, and, and the DMs are open, @disgracelandpod on Instagram, TikTok, sometimes Facebook, and pretty much never on X. But you know, sometimes, I guess. Let me know which rock stars and musicians you want us to cover in DisgraceLand. Again, 617-906-6638, [email protected], @disgraceland on the socials. And if you want a more formal say into who we cover, if you want a larger role in the selection process of artists, become a DisgraceLand All-Access member on Patreon or Apple Podcasts and get access to the Disco Community Chat, connect with other DisgraceLand listeners,

• 38:44Jake Brennan?

  and music and true crime obsessives, and unlock exclusive and ad-free content by going to disgracelandpod.com to sign up. All right, Discos, so much gratitude. I appreciate you. Thanks for hanging out with me in another episode. This one a special episode of DisgraceLand. Can't wait to talk to you all again in the after-party coming up next. And man, I'm so looking forward to hearing what you have to say about this Patti Smith episode. All right, it's been real, but now I gotta get out of here and go do some research. Rock and roll.

• 39:27Speaker 00

  He's a bad, bad man.

• 39:30Jake Brennan?

  Hey guys, time to dust off your detective skills while unwinding in the Caribbean on Virgin Voyages' second true crime voyage. It's back by popular demand, this five-night, adults-only escape sets sail March 20th, 2027, to Grand Turk in the Beach Club at Bimini. The difference between this year and last will be that I will be on the cruise this year, along with Zeph, and he and I will be taping a live version of DisgraceLand, along with podcast hosts from Exactly Right's Buried Bones, Podcast of the Year Award winners Wisecrack, and other fan favorites. Get on this cruise with us, guys, and enjoy live podcast recordings, behind-the-scenes storytelling, exclusive meet-and-greets, and immersive

• 40:11Jake Brennan?

  true crime programming throughout this one-of-a-kind voyage. Head over to www.virginvoyages.com/truecrime to secure your spot.

• 40:20Speaker 04

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• 40:51Speaker 09

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• 41:47Speaker 10

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• 41:51Speaker 05

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