Rock Under Fire

Welcome to the Beehive! It's the 100th and final episode ever of the Rock Under Fire podcast. It's all about hot takes as Mike Derrico is joined by Marisa Baldassaro, Heather Drain and Michael Lee Nirenberg in over two hours of too many topics to list. But we'll try...let's see...there's random takes on Chuck Berry, the early days of the Internet, Joy Division, Brian Eno, the Gun Club, Def Leppard, Michael Monroe, Iron Maiden, Thin Lizzy, the Traveling Wilburys, Tom Petty, Billy Joel, Phil Collins, Marisa's Vince Neil imitation, about a dozen different takes on Kiss, including the question..."is Kiss misogynistic," and a whole lot more. It must have been in the stars, but we saved the most insane episode by far...for last. Thanks to all our supporters over the years. We had a small audience but we had a blast. Thanks for listening. Peace. luv, rock and roll...

Rock Under Fire host, Mike Derrico is a freelance writer, pop cultural historian, and author of the books, AUTUMN AND EVERYTHING AFTER: The Murder of John Lennon, Evolution of Bruce Springsteen & the Birth of the Reagan Era (2020), THE LOCKER NOTES, a novel (2021), and the forthcoming ...AND THE CATHEDRAL FELL TO THE GROUND: The Lonesome Death of Rock and Roll (November 2023).

Michael Lee Nirenberg, in his fourth time on the podcast, is a writer and director whose most celebrated recent works have been his 2014 documentary Back Issues: The Hustler Magazine Story, and his 2020 book Earth A.D. the Poisoning of the American Landscape and the Communities That Fought Back.

Heather Drain, in her second Rock Under Fire guest spot, is a writer who veers between the worlds of esoterica film, wild music, heart-born words, and prose that is dark, rich, quirky, and often undefinable. In the nonfiction realm, her work has appeared on the print and digital pages of Dangerous Minds, Diabolique, Video Watchdog, Art Decades, just to name a few. Her prose has appeared in both the Women in Horror Annual, as well as the 2020 anthology, The Blind Dead Ride Out of Hell: A Literary Tribute to the Amando de Ossorio.

Marisa Baldassaro is a writer and fellow hater currently putting the finishing touches on her latest project, a Dory Previn zine, discussed earlier this season on Rock Under Fire (Ep. 79). Marisa has also co-hosted several episodes of Rock Under Fire during Season 3.

When you get to share a personal story with an author about one of his works 41 years later. Some Rock Under Fire moments are worth their own bite-size episode. From Mike's 2020 interview with Creem Magazine managing editor and author of Loudmouth, Robert Duncan.

Purchase Robert Duncan's Loudmouth

The conversation is all over the map in Episode 98 as Mike is joined by his cousin Paul to discuss vinyl records, jazz, lip-synching, live bands playing to tracks, Kiss, and Mike's highly-detailed take on John Lennon's murder. Paul Sisolak is a content editor and freelance writer specializing in personal finance, consumer trends and music.

ROCK UNDER FIRE...THE FINAL SEASON

The Locker Notes, a novel:

From the outskirts of Viktoria Park in the heart of Kreuzberg, it's midnight in Berlin. Mike and an anonymous guest in a very random trail of assorted thoughts...some rock & roll...some not so rock & roll.

ROCK UNDER FIRE...THE FINAL SEASON...Ep. 97

We're down to the final five Rock Under Fire episodes ever! In Episode 96, John K and Greg return to flip the script on Mike in an attempt to interview him as well as talk London, green screens, our favorite concerts, the seat cushion trend of the mid-80s, the horrors of AI, indie book publishing and the closing of long time Fords institution, the Liberty Tavern.

ROCK UNDER FIRE...THE FINAL SEASON

The Locker Notes, a novel: