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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:
    These strange songs came out of nowhere! Dec 13, 2025
    Show notes

    You never see them coming, and yet they never stop coming.

    From the beginning of popular music to today, offbeat songs just keep pushing into our consciousness. As much as we’re conditioned to respond to formula-based songs that fit into established genres, the outliers just keep catching our attention and burrowing into our brains.

    Over the decades, there’s been a singing nun and chanting monks, weird mini-musicals from the likes of Queen and Paul McCartney, unlikely foreign-language acts promoting red balloons, taxi drivers and whatever “Gangnam Style” was. Unconventional instruments, animals (including the performer who thought she was a cow), cheerleader-esque songs and mashed-up genres also found fame. And in just the last year we’ve seen the charts topped by everything from a song based on a Korean drinking game to a country hit that was completely invented by AI.

    On this week’s “How We Heard It,” your hosts explore some of the strangest songs that have ever been made - funny, bizarre, racy, disturbing, catchy … and sometimes annoying in the long run.

    Expect the unexpected!


    Here’s our (satirical?) gift list for your favorite performers! Dec 06, 2025
    Show notes

    Snappy holidays, y’all!
    The snarky Santas of “How We Heard It” have been making a list of what the biggest names in modern music should get for their behavior this year.
    We’re not talking about golf clubs and spa days. Instead, these are intangible gifts the artists need, even if they don’t realize it.
    Your hosts bounce from sarcasm to sincerity as they distribute their tidings on naughty and nice performers from across genres and age groups, including young pop stars like Benson Boone and Olivia Rodrigo, country artists such as Morgan Wallen and Jason Aldean, and old rockers like Mick Jagger and Jimmy Page.

    Find out what your hosts would give Beyonce, The Weeknd, Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar, Rihanna, Bad Bunny, Madonna, Justin Timberlake, Nickelback and more.
    Yes, Nickelback. They haven't been THAT bad, have they?


    Need to cheer up, calm down or blow off steam? Try these songs! Nov 29, 2025
    Show notes

    Feeling out of sorts?
    Join the crowd.
    We're full-tilt into holiday season and most of us might be feeling the blues ... or feeling chaotic ... or feeling like we're about to go off on someone. Or all of the above.
    We all have our go-to therapy songs that help us get through a rough patch. But sometimes our sonic medicine can't get the job done.
    Never fear! In this episode of "How We Heard It," your hosts have a collection of songs that can change your mood.
    You've maybe forgotten about some of these suggestions, and you've likely never heard of some of the others. So lend them an ear and let them fix what ails you.
    Chuck, John and Wayne have got your back!


    This podcast topic took unexpected turns! Nov 22, 2025
    Show notes

    Your hosts of the "How We Heard It" podcast usually have a general goal in mind when they pick a topic ... but when they came up with this idea, they had no clue what they were in for: "Hey, let's dig through our music collections and just see what we find."

    Keep in mind that these guys have each amassed thousands of albums and compact discs (and even some 8-track tapes for Wayne), accumulated over decades thanks in great part to record companies sending the guys an avalanche of free music, hoping for reviews.

    Amazingly, Wayne and John independently decided they wanted to start the podcast with the same artist. And Chuck quickly remembered he didn't like the smell of the cardboard in album covers and had never even listened to many of the artists in his collection.

    On this week's episode, the guys talk about some of their initial findings, their random systems of filing and storing their collections, some hidden gems they turned up, and some unexpected, funny and baffling memories that surfaced with their research.

    The guys came up with ample podcast material when they had barely made even a dent in their collections, so they decided they'll dig deeper for future podcasts.

    Meanwhile, have you poked around in your music collection lately? You might be surprised by what you find.


    Controversial singers! ... And why we'll never have another Dolly Parton Nov 15, 2025
    Show notes

    Seems like every day another performer has said the wrong thing or done the wrong thing. And if we like them, that's just more spice in the sauce. And if we don't, we just hate them even more.

    But the controversy wheel just keeps on spinning, regardless of how you feel. It could be a manufactured scandal, like a diss track, or something out of control, like an act of violence. Sometimes it's hard to know if it was planned or not - you know, like when one singer pulls the top off another singer during the Super Bowl halftime show.

    On this week's episode of "How We Heard It," your hosts spin through some of the biggest and some of the strangest controversies ignited by musicians, either by design or by accident.

    They poke through scandals from recent years and look back at some from decades ago to see how they hold up now. For example, most of Madonna's shenanigans from the 1980s seem rather tame by today's standards. But on the flipside, you might be surprised (and disappointed) to learn how many of your favorite singers from classic rock days were routinely sleeping with underage fans ... and how it generated relatively little concern back then.

    Your hosts also look at the current social environment and how performers are forced into controversy against their will and how stars are no longer allowed to be neutral about issues. This is why Taylor Swift couldn't be another Dolly Parton, even if she tried. (Why is everybody always mad about everything all the time?)

    So join us and find out if your favorite singers have been naughty or nice ... and if it changes how you feel about them, for better or worse.


    Sweet, sour and salty: great songs about giving thanks Nov 08, 2025
    Show notes

    The United States may have an official day of gratitude every November with Thanksgiving, but for many of us, most every day could be a day of appreciation.

    A sincere "thank you" is rewarding for everyone: It feels good to say it and it feels good to hear it.

    However, appreciation can be complicated and "thank you" may come with a twist. Sometimes we're grateful (in hindsight, at least) for the lessons we've learned from difficult people. Sometimes we feel generalized happiness for family and/or friends. Sometimes we're just thankful to no one in particular that we're happy for no reason in particular.

    And of course sometimes expressions of gratitude are just a cover for dark feelings.

    In this episode of "How We Heard It" your hosts sift through an array of old and new songs that directly or indirectly express gratitude. Artists include Ariana Grande, Harry Styles, The Kinks, Sly and the Family Stone, The Beatles, Big Star, Natalie Merchant, Taylor Swift, Bob Hope, Elton John, Louis Armstrong, Rihanna, Gwen Stefani, The Beach Boys, Backstreet Boys, Alanis Morissette, James Taylor, Small Faces, Kool & the Gang, U2, Spice Girls, Boyz II Men and many more.

    Thanks for listening!


    Sometimes words just get in the way Nov 01, 2025
    Show notes

    When we're listening to music, most of us tend to focus on the singer. And why not? Singers spell it out for us. They give us a human voice, and the words, to understand the meaning of songs.

    But we don't always need someone holding our hand and walking us through a song. Sometimes the lyrics are trite and the vocals are lame.

    With instrumentals, you get to choose your own adventure. You can feel the music and define the meaning to suit yourself. Without all those words getting in the way, you can be absorbed into the sonic wonderland of a song and come up with feelings that you tailor for yourself.

    This week your "How We Heard It" hosts explore the beauty of instrumental music and the freedom it gives its listeners, whether they just need background noise to clean house or they need to focus without distraction.

    Instrumentals are more common in some genres - such as classical, jazz and bluegrass - but they exist in all forms, be it on soundtracks, in lounges or at nightclubs. And your hosts even drift into altered-state uses of instrumental music - like if you're trying to sink into a meditative sleep or even astral project.

    So, buckle in and let them take you away.


    Music's biggest feuds - from the vicious to the absurd! Oct 25, 2025
    Show notes

    Face it, everyone loves a good fight. And musicians and singers are always adding an extra layer to their entertainment value - intentionally or accidentally - by engaging in battles with their peers.

    Some of these feuds are exaggerated and some are underplayed. Some have an obvious bad guy while in others it seems like both parties should share the blame. Some seem to be about nothing, and others seem to be about everything.

    It seemed like the stakes couldn't have been higher than they were in the recent Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar feud ... that is, until you remembered Tupac Shakur vs. The Notorious B.I.G. (both of whom died from drive-by shootings just months apart).

    Internal wars chipped away at some of rock's best bands - from the Beatles and The Kinks to Pink Floyd and Fleetwood Mac. Meanwhile, some of the most iconic singers were locked in bitter rivalries, including Prince and Michael Jackson as well as Axl Rose and Kurt Cobain.

    Then there were the entertaining battles of the divas - Cher vs. Madonna, Elton John vs. Madonna, Whitney Houston vs. Mariah Carey, Mariah Carey vs. Jennifer Lopez. ... And we'll never forget the most inexplicable feud that just seems to go on and on: Kanye West vs. Taylor Swift.

    This week your hosts of "How We Heard It" recap all of these fights and many more - the ones that made them laugh, the ones that made them wince and the ones that made them scratch their heads.

    They also take a look at the artist who seems to be fighting the entire world. Even if you've never heard of her.


    What's gotten into everybody? We're possessed! Oct 18, 2025
    Show notes

    Summer's done, and now we're hurtling toward the darkest, coldest days of the year. So forgive us if we aren't feeling ourselves.

    It's as if an evil force has taken over our souls. ... Could this be what it feels like to be possessed?

    In the spirit of the season, this episode of "How We Heard It" explores the phenomenon of possession as portrayed in the movies. Your hosts - veteran entertainment journalists and horror-movie aficionados Wayne Bledsoe and Chuck Campbell - compare notes on one of the most lucrative subgenres in the film industry. (John Baker's along for the ride, too, though he doesn't like scary movies.)

    There are the old-school priest-and-holy-water possession movies popularized by "The Exorcist" franchise (well, at least the first and third installments), and subsequently everything from the "Conjuring/Annabelle/Nun" world to solo shots like "Late Night with the Devil," "Jennifer's Body" and "Immaculate."

    Then there are location-oriented hauntings and possessions, from "The Amityville Horror" and "The Shining" to "Evil Dead" and "Paranormal Activity." And, of course, curse-oriented movies like "The Ring," "The Grudge" and "Drag Me to Hell."

    And who can forget that creepy boy from "The Omen"?

    We've all felt like that kid from time to time.


    These cover songs might blow your mind! Oct 11, 2025
    Show notes

    Cover songs often aren't what they should be. Many are pale and pointless facsimiles of the original songs, and others even take off into some new direction for no reason whatsoever.

    Rude.

    So this week the "How We Heard It" guys let their imaginations run wild, freewheeling through music history (from 60-odd years ago to today), mixing and matching some of the most popular songs of all time to an expansive variety of distinctive artists, old and new.

    They make inspired choices as they spitball ideas, conjuring some songs you just know would be great, some you'd at least want to check out and some that would doubtless be terrible.

    There are no rules to the game - artists who are long dead could be called upon to cover new songs just as easily as new artists could be called upon to cover old songs (with AI, anything is possible). As a result, Aretha Franklin, David Bowie, Karen Carpenter and Prince can be called upon just as easily as Lady Gaga, John Legend, Billie Eilish and Benson Boone.

    Who would cover the Beatles? Who would the Beatles cover? You'll likely be surprised who the guys pick to cover Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off," John Lennon's "Imagine," Bette Midler's 'Wind Beneath My Wings," Blondie's "Call Me" and R.E.M.'s "It's the End of the World as We Know It (and I Feel Fine)" - just to name a few.

    Find out what very different songs they have in mind for Lana Del Rey to cover and the unthinkably bizarre (albeit tantalizing) pair they'd pick to remake "Old Town Road" by Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus.

    Free your mind and play along.


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