The LNBE Podcast
Mike Rispoli presents: The LNBE Podcast—"Literally Nothing, But Everything."
It’s a mix of personal stories, life lessons, and hot takes, all told like you're on the phone with your most unfiltered friend.
No experts. No advice. Just vibes, opinions, and faith-based curiosity.
The LNBE Podcast
Episode 72 - Nothing but the Real Influencers
Mike runs his mouth about why Taylor Swift is more pop product than pop pioneer—and gives overdue flowers to the artists who actually changed the game. From the Beatles’ studio experiments to Hendrix’s chaos, from Sabbath’s darkness to Van Halen’s speed, this episode breaks down the legacy of rock, the hypocrisy of censorship, and the double standards baked into music history. Also featuring: Axl Rose’s sex tape, Miley’s VMA twerk, and why Greta Van Fleet needs to chill.
If you would like to share your opinion, send an email to lnbemedia@gmail.com and don't forget to follow me on Instagram and TikTok @thelnbepodcast.
all right. So I'm at the bar and I'm trying to make small talk with the customer as a bartender, does we end up getting onto the topic of music? And I ask the person who their favorite artist was, and she said that her favorite artist is Taylor Swift and my response was saying Taylor Swift is your favorite artist is like saying Kim Kardashian is your favorite porn star. Like what did she really do to change the industry? Because, look, I don't hate Taylor, but people act like she's single-handedly changing the game. Meanwhile, we act like some of the most genre-defining artists ever are just footnotes in Spotify's back catalog. So this week again, because, one, I don't really have anything else to talk about and two, a few of you have told me that you like when I talk music, so I'm going to give Rocket's name flowers, the good, the bad and the bad shit. So let me get this out of the way. I am not a beatles fan, mostly because I just can't stand john lennon. The guy talked peace because he wrote imagine, but then behind closed doors, he was bullying everyone around him and slapping his first wife around just to cheat on her with yoko. Yeah, bro, imagine you actually weren't an asshole. I mean, was the guy who shot you actually a fan or was he just someone that you bullied into oblivion? And no offense, I'm sorry. Have you seen Yoko? I mean, john wasn't really anyone to write home about either, but, unlike John, yoko had a voice that matched her face. Just bad. You ever see the video of John and Yoko playing with Chuck Berry? And Yoko just starts doing what I can only call a whale's mating call into the mic. Even Chuck looks around like dude. What the fuck cut this mic with? That being said, from what I know, chuck Berry wasn't also the greatest guy either offstage. So I feel the same way about him and his music when it comes to the guitar, incorporating blues and country into rock music, especially with his solos, and creating the duck walk that Angus Young adopted. But at least he didn't hide his asshole-ishness behind the music.
Mike:But even I can admit, as much as I might not be a fan, I can respect the Beatles and how much they did to actually change music as a whole. Because, yeah, you had artists like Elvis and Chuck Berry, little Richie, fats Dominoes, all those guys. But until the Beatles hit the scene, rock was not truly mainstream. And plus, without the Beatles you probably don't have concept albums, like you don't have really multi-track experiments. No, sgt Pepper probably means that you don't have Pink Floyd's the Wall or even Queen, and there's definitely no Kanye's my Beautiful Dark-Soyced Fantasy. So yeah, lennon was a hypocrite, but musically with the Beatles he's kind of a game changer. But then if the Beatles built the studio, hendrix burned it down and rebuilt it with a wah pedal, cause the guy took what Chuck Berry did and said raise it to 11.
Mike:Hendrix didn't just play the blues, he took it and compacted it into a diamond, because without Hendrix, guys like Jeff Beck or Clapton probably don't push the envelope further with their own styles. I mean, jimmy brought effects, distortion and just full-out chaos. He was the first one to say, yeah, I can play a solo with my teeth and you're gonna feel that shit in your soul. And he still kept it musical. It wasn't just noise, it was actually art, and I friggin' love Hendrix.
Mike:Talk about covers from a couple weeks ago. He was also a great cover artist. He saw Bob Dylan and said I can do it better, and he fucking did All along the watchtower. You ever hear bob dylan's version on the radio? No, you haven't. I definitely can say I haven't. Or even hey, joe, the original is by a guy named billy roberts, but hendrix version is not only iconic but he has a top 10 solo of all time in it.
Mike:And then also before Metallica, before Slipknot, before your favorite Screamo TikTok band, we had Sabbath, and Sabbath was dark. They were the first band to really make riffs sound like death was knocking. And it's funny because I think people assume Sabbath came out after Zeppelin. But Sabbath actually put their debut album before Zeppelin had theirs. So arguably, some of the do-me-type riffs that Zeppelin came out with doesn't really happen without Sabbath. And honestly, who doesn't like Ozzy? Someone's going to have to verify this for me. But were the Osbournes the first reality TV family? Because if that's the case, then fuck the Kardashians. Ozzy did it first. Ozzy was literally one step ahead of everyone when it came to both music, ingenuity and television. Although I will say Zeppelin brought some of the heavy and made it sexy, like if Sabbath was the demon, zeppelin was the devil in tight pants. You couldn't even tell if Robert Plant was trying to summon Satan or seduce your mom, but either way you were listening.
Mike:And then, in the 70s, enter Van Halen. And I'll say it Van Halen is probably one of the most defining bands of the 70s and 80s. That band should have Beatles-level hysteria because of what they did the speed, the sound. Without Van Halen you do not have modern rock or any modern rock guitar player in any facet period or any modern rock guitar player in any facet period. I've said that before. I'm going to keep saying it. Also, I might be biased, because Van Halen is probably my favorite band. I even like the Sammy stuff. There's no wrong that Eddie Van Halen could do in my eyes. I mean, the dude even hops on Michael Jackson's Beat it and makes pop respect the guitar. I mean the dude even hops on Michael Jackson's Beat it and makes pop respect the guitar. Eddie Van Halen transformed music and literally every band in the 80s was just a Van Halen wannabe.
Mike:No one is out here today trying to mimic Taylor Swift. That's influence. But even if people say that rock is dead, you can kind of see it everywhere in pop. Like you think Sia's weird vocal layerings happen without Peter Gabriel pushing boundaries? Do you think that Ed Sheeran's global sound happens without Toto and Talking Heads experimenting with global sounds? Decades ago, hell, taylor Swift wouldn't even exist without the pop evolution, bands like Fleetwood Mac and Blondie started. You don't get synth pop without glam and you definitely don't get stadium pop without arena rock. But then, with influence, comes hypocrisy right, because Guns N' Roses drops Appetite for Destruction in 1987.
Mike:And Rocket Queen literally features audio of Axl Rose having sex with a bandmate's girlfriend. Some of this I might have already said in past episodes. You might hear it again. It's whatever. Like I said, I don't really got much to talk about. So what you get is what you get this week. But Axl Rose literally has it on record that he put out a sex tape and that album had no warning label, no public outrage, just platinum record. Meanwhile, shannon Sharp catches heat in 2024 for allegedly putting out audio of him hooking up, and everyone's acting like it's some new scandal. Axl did it first and he beat you by 35 years and no one batted an eye.
Mike:Now flip the script, because in 1988 NWA dropped straight out of Compton just one year after Appetite for Destruction comes out, and that's when we suddenly get the first ever parental advisory sticker. So let me get this straight White rock stars can sing about heroin groupies and record their sexcapades like it's a bonus track, but when black artists call out police brutality. That's where we draw the line, that's where we go. But think of the children? I don't know. It's not just just censorship, I think it's just selective outrage, like one group gets to be raw and authentic and then the other one gets to be labeled as a threat. Make that one make sense.
Mike:But it's also not the first time that something like that's happened. Right, because elvis got banned from being filmed below the waist because he dared to have rhythm in his hips, and moms in the 50s were clutching pearls like they just saw Satan in a sequin cult. But then you get Jim Morrison allegedly flashing the crowd mid-show. In the 60s, I think that happened. And then in the 80s, or even if you look at the carnal little sins tour on youtube, tommy lee turned concerts into a where's waldo game for his dick. So, uh, even the red hot chili peppers, I think they used to just straight up wear tube socks and that was all they wore. Can you imagine that? Like a band just comes out just dressing tube socks, like God forbid, they get sweaty and it falls off. That takes a shitload of confidence that I just do not have. I can only imagine what that tour merch looked like, but what's that transformed into today?
Mike:Miley Cyrus twerking at the VMAs. Yet everybody's losing their mind over that. So let me get this straight when dudes act out, it's rebellious, but when women do it, it's inappropriate. That's the double standard and it's baked into both race and gender in music history. Now let's be real. Half of rock's legacy isn't just sound, it's spectacle. But the minute that Miley Cyrus twerks on stage at the VMAs, the world collectively has a moral stroke. Suddenly everyone's a youth pastor. Why? Why is it iconic when men do it, but inappropriate when women do it? Like when harry styles wears a dress, it's considered edgy and vogue approved. When doja cat wears a body paint suit, it's too much. When cardi b sings wop, which is a fucking terrible song, but I'll defend it in this. The senate wants to hold a hearing, but Axl Rose singing the song? It's so Easy and it's a 100% kosher. Meanwhile, motley Crue was doing rolls off strippers and lighting each other on fire, and we're just here to pretend that these glam rock dudes weren't dressed like drag queens with a drug problem. If Madonna had done half of what Ozzy did, like biting heads off bats and pissing in the Alamo, she'd probably still be in prison.
Mike:This isn't about shock value. I think this is about control and who's allowed to be wild and who's allowed to break the rules. And it's always the same answer it's men, especially white ones, because they get to be rebellious. Everyone else it's quote unquote too much. So maybe the reason that women, queer artists and people of color keep pushing the boundaries now is because rock already taught them how. They weren't just allowed to do it back then. But here's the thing Rock's not dead, it just changed clothes.
Mike:Like Thunder Mother, who's a great all-female Swedish band, and listening to their music you can definitely tell that they have influences from ACDC, deep Purple and definitely Jimi Hendrix. But then there's also Greta Van Fleet, who's just repurposing an old sound and making it more modern. I mean, here's a hot take. I personally cannot stand Greta Van Fleet. It's one thing to have influence on a band. It's another one to completely copy their style and sound like that lead vocalist. Whoever that guy is like dude, just go do a led zeppelin cover band. Even the guitarist like it is. So down to the team, mimic worthy. It's like I understand that your lyrics are different, but you guys are just led zeppelin 2.0. Like I want to hear ingenuity, I don't want to hear copycats, but that's also just me. But also I gotta give them credit because if it wasn't for greta van fleet, people probably don't look back and listen to led zeppelin. And it's funny.
Mike:I remember talking to somebody about this and he's just like you. You know, robert Plant went on an interview and said how much he loves Greta Van Fleet. Well, what's he gonna say? That he hates the sound that he himself created. I mean, that would kind of be like ACDC coming out and saying that they hate the band. Except because the first time I heard Balls to the Wall, I legitimately thought that was an ACDC song, because the guy's voice sounds just like Bon Scott. But you know, what Accept didn't do Was totally copy ACDC's sound. Like even all those bands in the 80s who all mimicked Van Halen, they all had their own unique style and sound. Greta Van Fleet is literally just Led Zeppelin 2.0. Like, make it different. That's all I'm asking. Like I'm sorry, if I want to listen to Led Zeppelin, I'm going to listen to Led Zeppelin. I'm not going to listen to Greta Van Fleet. So, yeah, you know what.
Mike:Say what you want about Taylor Swift, but she's not an influential artist, she's just high selling, and why, I don't know. She's a 35 year old who still writes lyrics like she's 16 years old, like her music never really evolved, and you know what? I'll give it to you that she went from country to pop, so her sound actually did change. Okay, that's a valid argument, but the main problem I have is her writing is just constant. It's just always the same. I mean even pantera. They started out as a glam metal band and then became one of the heaviest metal bands of the 90s, but with that, their songwriting also changed to match the style. All those bands that I mentioned earlier the beat, beatles, van Halen, pink Floyd they all changed their sounds as they got older. Metallica is famous for changing their sound, and you know what that's.
Mike:What defines good from great, in my opinion, is the fact that you can change your style and evolve as an artist, both musically and lyrically. And one, keep your fan base and two, Continue writing hit after hit. You know who? Taylor Swift panders to Fucking Disney adults, the people that never learned how to grow up. So I don't know, I'll leave it up to you guys. You guys let me know if you guys think taylor swift is actually an influential artist, or if you think that daddy's money ended up ultimately buying her fame. But if you like this rant tuned history lesson, you know what to do follow, share and leave a comment to boost the pod. And if you're still mad that I come for taylor swift, I'll be accepting hate mail at lnbe media@ gmail. com, or at @thelnbe podcast on Instagram and TikTok. Thank you so much for listening. Until next time, keep it loud and we will catch up next week.
