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    Music

    How We Heard It

    Veteran entertainment journalists, music columnists and longtime friends Wayne Bledsoe and Chuck Campbell host ”How We Heard It,” a breezy and sometimes offbeat take on how music and movies got to where they are today and where it’s all going.

    They break down who are the most promising Generation Z singers one minute and the next they debate who are the most overrated acts from the past. Sexy songs, soundtracks, controversies and weird movies find their way into the discussion, and they also weigh in with recommendations on who to hear and what to see in music and film from the past and present.

    Wayne and Chuck have more than 65 years of experience in professional journalism between them, but they don’t waste time indulging in scholarly breakdowns of their institutional knowledge. Instead, they share behind-the-scenes stories about their odd, funny, inspirational and embarrassing encounters with celebrities, managers, fans and readers. And they laugh at themselves and each other. A lot. Because being an entertainment journalist does that to you.

    An important third voice in the ”How We Heard It” podcast is engineer John Baker, himself a musician and producer who reins in Wayne and Chuck when they need it. John’s tastes are a little bit Wayne and a little bit Chuck, and he’s a friendly sort.

    Wayne’s primary role in his nearly four decades at the Knoxville News-Sentinel was his work as an entertainment writer and critic. He currently hosts ”The Six O’Clock Swerve” weekly radio show on WUTK, 90.3 FM in Knoxville, he’s a former Grammy nominee, and he’s an organizer of the annual concert series ”Waynestock: For the Love of Drew and Rylan.” He’s also an artist and unconventional garden writer – see more at www.waynebledsoe.com.

    Chuck started his career in journalism at the Daytona Beach News-Journal in Florida before joining the staff in Knoxville. He has reviewed more than 5,500 albums, and his column was distributed by the New York Times, Gannett, Cox News Service and the Scripps Howard News Service. He was an entertainment and travel editor in both Florida and Tennessee and a regional news planner for Gannett’s South Region.

    ”How We Heard It” is a Cozy Planet Productions podcast recorded at The Arbor Studio in Knoxville, Tennessee. Send requests, comments and suggestions to HowWeHeardIt@gmail.com

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    Copyright: © Copyright 2024 All rights reserved.

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    Latest Episodes:
    Songs about moms (and by moms and for moms) May 02, 2026
    Show notes

    For many of us, our mothers are among the most important, most loving, and perhaps most complicated, people in our lives. And not coincidentally, mothers have been consistently referenced throughout history in most every art form - including music.

    So with Mother's Day looming, the hosts of "How We Heard It" have chosen to highlight mothers in music. Songs about mothers range from the nostalgic and sweet to the melodramatic and heartfelt. Others are humorous or weird, and still others throw focus on bad moms - because they're out there too.

    But your hosts don't stop there. They also bring personal stories about mothers to the table, and they talk about how having children can redirect an artist's career, from their vision to their output.

    Also, the episode explores how some of the most popular women singers in modern music reacted when their own daughters became performers, and the hosts also hazard a guess at what kind of mothers some popular young singers would make if they become moms - including the most popular singer so far this century, who has indicated her intentions to do just that.

    What's your mother of all songs about motherhood?

    These stellar song titles made us want to listen Apr 25, 2026
    Show notes

    A great song title is like a snappy headline: It grabs you and pulls you in with just a few words.

    With so much riding on that kind of first impression, you'd think more artists would strive to come up with the best song titles possible. Yet in truth, many artists settle for ordinary and unimaginative titles all the time.

    That's their loss.

    This week the hosts of "How We Heard It" reveal some of their favorite attention-grabbing song titles. Some made them laugh, some made them cringe, and some just made them want to hear the song to find out what is going on. It turns out some are meaningless, some have double meaning and some are just bizarre.

    Titles that made the list vary from "The Devil Wears Panties" to "Delicious Demon," from "Angst in My Pants" to "Hot Pants Explosion" and from "Everything Reminds Me of My Dog" to "I Wanna Be Your Dog."

    Some of these songs were popular with the mainstream, including "The Sound of Silence," "Hotline Bling" and "Smells Like Teen Spirit"; others, like "Teenage Lobotomy," "Kiss Me Where It Smells Funny" and "The Homecoming Queen's Got a Gun," cultivated a cult following. And others, like "Ashtray Heart," "Take the Skinheads Bowling" and "Tell That Girl to Shut Up," were strictly underground. Meanwhile, the artists include everyone from The Beatles and Bob Dylan to Muse and Fall Out Boy to Olivia Rodrigo and The Weeknd.

    With all the bland song titles out there, it's time to celebrate those that stand out.

    These songs about rain are flooded with emotion, from romance to doom Apr 18, 2026
    Show notes

    We have a complicated relationship with rain.

    We need it to grow our crops, to keep our bodies of water at the right level and to hydrate our own bodies. But just as it gives us life, it can take it away with devastating floods and catastrophic drought.

    Yet rain is associated with far more than our physical needs. It touches off almost every kind of emotional reaction, varying from one person to the next.

    A gentle rain may bring feelings of cleansing refreshment, relaxation or a gloomy malaise. By contrast, hard rains and storms can trigger uneasiness and fear or excitement and sensuality. When rain seems never-ending, or by contrast when it seems like it will never come, it can make us feel helpless.

    On this week's "How We Heard It," your hosts look at how songwriters have used rain to convey themes. Artists throughout the ages have manipulated rain to make us laugh, to make us cry, to make us celebrate and to make us reflect.

    You might be surprised at how many rain-themed songs there are washing through our consciousness.

    Awesome artists made these awful songs! Apr 11, 2026
    Show notes

    Even the best of us have bad days - including your favorite musicians.

    That explains how top-shelf artists can produce a clunker of a song. We try to forget these songs, explain them away as somebody else's fault, justify them as an important learning moment, and maybe even claim that they aren't so bad when we know they are simply terrible.

    In this week's episode of "How We Heard It," the hosts drill down to the worst of the worst by the best of the best - including terrible songs by the likes of The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, The Kinks, Leonard Cohen, Bruce Springsteen, Prince, Madonna, R.E.M. and many more.

    No one is spared as these sonic disasters are dissected. And a special shoutout is given to all the promising collaborations that were abject failures (including tantalizing pairings credited to the likes of David Bowie/Mick Jagger and Paul McCartney/Stevie Wonder).

    But don't worry. It's all done with love.

    Why we hate these popular movies! Apr 04, 2026
    Show notes

    Every popular movie has a dedicated group of haters, whether it's the Oscar winner that few people saw, the critical favorite that left everyone depressed or the box-office smash with the formulaic plot and predictable ending.

    Although the hosts of "How We Heard It" consider themselves big movie fans, they have their limits. So in this week's episode they reveal what movies disappointed them, made them angry or actually prompted them to walk out of the theater or turn off the TV.

    Some of these movies were celebrated with awards by Hollywood insiders when much better films should have won. Some of them were critically acclaimed far beyond merit. And some of them were terrible "popcorn" movies without an ounce of originality.

    Then there are those inconceivably popular actors who seem to ruin everything they appear in, and absurd special effects that would draw the scorn of a 3-year-old.

    But your friendly hosts often disagree with each other this week, and one man's cinematic feast is something another would have swept into the compost heap.

    Hear them make their points and bicker with each other, and ask yourself where do you stand: Are these movies awesome or awful?

    What would we do if the world had no music? Mar 28, 2026
    Show notes

    What would we do without music?

    It's a question the hosts of "How We Heard It" hated to even contemplate.

    Would this mean we wouldn't have songbirds? Would we not hear the wind in the trees or the waves in the ocean? What about the rhythm of a heartbeat? Would humans not hum or whistle?

    Even if those elements were in play, imagine no concerts, no music at games or bars, no music to accompany driving or workouts, no music at weddings, church services or funerals.

    Then the hosts decided to modify the question: What if music existed, but it weren't commercially available to us? If we didn't have agency over our music, we couldn't create playlists, share music with friends or use it for romance.

    A lack of music, or even a lack of control over the music we hear, would limit out ability to bond with others and likely decrease our empathy. It would also make music less effective as a means of comfort or relief from depression, thus leading to feelings of isolation.

    And what about those whose careers are intertwined with music? Your hosts - which include two music journalists and a musician/producer - consider what they might be doing without music.

    Let's just say you wouldn't want them as your psychiatrist.

    Here's why young people don't like "classic" rock or pop Mar 21, 2026
    Show notes

    Last week the hosts of "How We Heard It" explored the many reasons people stop listening to new music as they get older.

    The bottom line: New music speaks to us less and less as we age, our friends stop listening to new music so we don't have anyone to share the experience, we have less time to absorb new music, and our aging brains find new music difficult to process. (Myth: New music was better in our youth than it is today.)

    This week your hosts look at another major (though not quite as pervasive) phenomenon: Why don't young people enjoy the classic acts and hits from before their time?

    Some of their reasons are similar to those of the older listeners not listening to new music: For example, young people tend to listen to what their friends enjoy (which tends to be new music), and they often feel disconnected from artists in the past and put off by the themes and lifestyles of those artists.

    And there are more reasons - from the production values of the past to the vast library of popular music that exists today, accumulated over some 70 years. Where do you even start?

    Ever the problem-solvers, the podcast hosts offer suggestions on how music lovers of all ages can find and sample undiscovered music and enhance their lives.

    If you refuse to budge from one era of music, you're only denying yourself joy.

    Why do we give up on new music as we age? (It's not what you think.) Mar 14, 2026
    Show notes

    Many of us fall in love with music around puberty and it plays an important part in our lives as we transition into adulthood, get through school and break out on our own.

    Music helps us shape our identity and bonds us with our friends. It's there when we're lonely or feeling isolated. It's there when we experience infatuations and find love. It consoles us when we lose love or suffer other kinds of heartbreak. The artists we most admire feel like an unofficial part of our families.

    But somewhere along the way - maybe in our late 20s or early 30s - many of us lose interest in new music and simply replay the music of our youth. We tell ourselves new music isn't as good as the music we grew up with, but we're only fooling ourselves.

    We tell ourselves new music doesn't relate to us anymore, but many of those artists who made music when we were young are still making music, often more mature music, and we aren't listening to their new material.

    Could it be we're too busy with life to keep up with music? We aren't interested anymore because our friends aren't interested anymore?

    Maybe and maybe.

    It could also be that your brain simply finds it harder to process new music and you're just physically more comfortable with the rewards of the nostalgic power of familiar music than you are with the challenge of getting to know something new.

    This week on "How We Heard It," your hosts explore the myths and realities of the changing role music has in our lives and practical ways you can continue to experience the joy of new music, which is good for your mental and physical health.

    You could even fall in love with music all over again.

    How we met ... and other memories triggered by music Mar 07, 2026
    Show notes

    In 2025 the hosts of "How We Heard It" decided to dig through their individual music collections just to see what they would find, and they turned up music they had long forgotten as well as music they didn't even know they had and music they didn't even recognize.

    And with many of the discoveries came memories of their pasts and realizations about the evolution of music and the changes in their individual tastes in music.

    They funneled their discoveries into an episode of the podcast in November, which prompted another dig through the collections and another episode in December.

    The guys are at it again this week, and this time what they find triggers memories of everything from sharing music with their families to an emotional encounter in Berlin, as well as the discovery of bizarre music they haven't thought about in years.

    This week Chuck and Wayne also remember how they met, initially pitted against one another as natural rivals until they realized their skills and interest in music made them a well-rounded team, not two like-minded opponents locking horns on a music battleground.

    More importantly, it was the beginning of a friendship that has endured for decades.

    Have you looked through your music collection lately? You might be surprised about what you find and how it makes you feel.

    These are some of the best hooks in music history! Feb 28, 2026
    Show notes

    Every song's got to have a hook - or at least it does if you want it to be popular.

    A song can have the best vocalists, the best instrumentalists and the best lyrics, but unless it has a great hook, it'll never be all that it can be. And unlike words, voices and music, it's hard to articulate how hooks even work; they hit us on a primal level that can't fully be explained.

    The most common hook in popular music comes with a punch - for instance, it's often in the chorus, where the song's title is directly or indirectly referenced and the arrangement rides a crescendo. But sometimes a hook is in the verses or the bridge, sometimes it's an instrumental passage like a guitar solo, and sometimes it's a sudden pivot, like a dramatic change in tempo.

    One-hit wonders frequently find the magic to a good hook only once, while more savvy artists have a knack for hooks.

    On this week's episode of "How We Heard It," your hosts talk about some of the greatest hooks in modern music history, whether they came from Buddy Holly or Motown, The Who or The Kinks, David Bowie or Cheap Trick, New Wave or disco, Sheryl Crow or Weezer, Kendrick Lamar or Mariah Carey, and Olivia Rodrigo or Taylor Swift.

    Have you ever been captivated by a song and you aren't sure why? It was probably the hook.

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