Hallelujah, We Love Him So! We're doing the Mess Around back to the earliest days of soul music with The Genius, Ray Charles, and his self-titled 1957 debut LP! After a childhood marked by tragedy, Ray Charles learned to read braille sheet music and arrange songs. After moving from coast to coast and back again to find work, Ray's intuition for melody and his passionate vocals finally started to land him on the charts and earn record deals. His eponymous album (later reissued as "Hallelujah, I Love Her So) features fourteen of his biggest early hits, from the wailing Drown In My Own Tears to the zip and pep of I've Got A Woman! He would change the course of music as we know it... but how does this early record compare?

After learning all about Charles' past, we invite The Mixtaper back for some Fact Or Spin! He'll teach us about Ray's affinity for chess, an improvised scramble that turned into a crossover pop hit, and we'll explore the fascinating world of limited edition postage stamps. Then we break down the album track by track and discover what exactly about his music makes him a legend. We'll talk nostalgia, famous covers, and anagrams as we learn to Care Rashly about Ray Charles this week!

Are any of these tracks sleeper hits for you? Did you look up all the interesting new stamps after the episode (like we did)? Had you ever heard the word "philatelic" before? Be honest. Like, subscribe, rate, comment, follow... do all the things and we'll see you next week for another album!

Keep Spinning at www.SpinItPod.com!

Thanks for listening!

0:00 Intro

3:17 About Ray Charles

11:34 About Hallelujah I Love Her So

18:40 Awards & Accolades

20:20 Fact Or Spin

21:13 He's A Chess Grandmaster

30:54 He Ran Out Of Songs

35:05 He Has Memory Expansion

37:58 He Has A Unique Stamp

47:44 Album Art

50:49 Ain't That Love

52:29 Drown In My Own Tears

55:12 Come Back Baby

56:57 Sinner's Prayer

58:12 Funny (But I Still Love You)

59:44 Losing Hand

1:01:05 A Fool For You

1:02:02 Hallelujah, I Love Her So

1:04:08 Mess Around

1:06:06 This Little Girl Of Mine

1:07:09 Mary Ann

1:08:16 Greenbacks

1:10:09 Don't You Know

1:11:15 I've Got A Woman

1:13:38 Final Spin

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We're dancing on the sand this week as we rank and review Rio, the sophomore album by Duran Duran and a staple of the early '80s New Romantics movement. Featuring some of the band's biggest hits in Hungry Like The Wolf, Save A Prayer, and the title track, this record also includes some cult classics like the ambient soundscape of The Chauffeur! Learn how the Fab Five leveraged provocative music videos to dominate MTV and lead the charge for the Second British Invasion. Rio is a meticulously constructed record, with a vibrant energy and a cigar-inspired aesthetic to match. How will they fare in our ratings?

James & Connor will talk about their love for early '80s music. Then we get into the band's sci-fi name origins, Girls On Film, and the three unrelated Taylors. The Mixtaper Mixtaper is back for Fact Or Spin, where we set sail on Drum The Cursed Yacht, flee some non-imminent bulls, and talk about the 1987 hit movie Mannequin. We learn all about the dangers of shooting videos in Antigua and Sri Lanka, discover the role Hungry Like The Wolf played in a grisly murder trial, and explore the loving intervention behind Hold Back The Rain. It's a one-of-a-kind episode for a one-of-a-kind band!

Would you ever wear such sharp earrings? How hungry do you think a wolf can get? Do you prefer the band's energetic new wave sound or the sweeping soundscape of The Chauffeur? Let us know in the comments and on social media!

Keep Spinning at www.SpinItPod.com!

Thanks for listening!

0:00 Intro

2:31 About Duran Duran

8:55 About Rio

19:03 Awards & Accolades

19:40 Fact Or Spin

21:09 Duran Dudrum

29:34 Duran Duryachtin'

33:51 Duran Durunning With The Bulls

36:29 Duran Durannequins

42:20 Album Art

44:31 Rio

47:36 My Own Way

50:00 Lonely In Your Nightmare

51:30 Hungry Like The Wolf

56:03 Hold Back The Rain

57:39 New Religion

59:07 Last Chance On The Stairway

1:00:07 Save A Prayer

1:02:42 The Chauffeur

1:04:17 Final Spin

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If you've been Waiting All Your Life for a follow-up to our Rascal Flatts episode (18), this is your time!! With the band officially re-formed and on their own redemption tour, we figured the Year Of Redemption was the perfect time to check out their self-titled debut album! After Me And My Gang pierced our nostalgic rose-colored glasses, we'll learn if getting right down to the DNA of Rascal Flatts' boy band-esque country sound can recalibrate our perceptions. After a fortuitous founding in a Nashville club, Jay, Gary, and Joe Don introduced themselves to the world with memorable tracks like Prayin' For Daylight, This Everyday Love, and I'm Movin' On. With sleek harmonies, hooky choruses, and a family-friendly polish, find out what's made the band so unreplicatable over the decades.

James & Connor will talk about why Me And My Gang went sideways and dive deeper into the band's founding. A lot has changed since Episode 18! We'll revisit Hot Chicken Takeover (RIP) and the creation of Spinny, and then talk about what Rascal Flatts has been up to for the last five years (and why reunion seemed so out of reach)! Then The Mixtaper shocks us during Fact Or Spin as we learn the expensive REAL origins behind the band's name, visit a secret supper club, and learn to Walk The Llama Llama... it's truly deep-cut, must-see Rascal Flatts lore. Some Say it's a redemption, I say... take a listen and decide for yourself this week.

Do you feel the Rascal Flatts nostalgia? Are you more into the rock-leaning Me And My Gang, or the sleek polish of their 2000 debut? Did you ever imagine they'd collab with the JONAS BROTHERS?! Let us know your rascaliest, flattest thoughts in the comments and on social media! Like and subscribe for more next week!

Keep Spinning at www.SpinItPod.com!

Thanks for listening!

0:00 Intro

0:26 Last Time: Me & My Gang

6:24 About Rascal Flatts (The Band)

8:44 About Rascal Flatts (The Album)

16:56 The Reunion!

19:50 Awards & Accolades

20:57 Fact Or Spin

22:22 They Are Rascal Flatts 2.0

27:46 Gary's Secret Supper Club

31:27 They Were Almost In The Emperor's New Groove

37:55 Jay DeMarcus Got Electrocuted

43:46 Album Art

44:19 Prayin' For Daylight

46:43 This Everyday Love

49:23 While You Loved Me

52:29 Some Say

54:03 See Me Through

56:28 One Good Love

57:59 It's Not Just Me

59:22 Waiting All My Life

1:00:41 From Time To Time

1:02:44 Long Slow Beautiful Dance

1:05:25 I'm Movin' On

1:07:42 Final Spin

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