Oh, gosh.
Steph just says we're on. Right or wrong.
Hey, welcome to What's Good with John and Joyce.
And, what's good is we're hanging out together.
You and I, this time.
You know, I'm laughing because we feel like we did
a such a great show before this. Just talking.
Right?
You know, about music, and they're the behind the scenes
stuff that, And we're thinking we have a show here.
We have a couple of shows of the behind the scenes.
But Joy, something near and dear to our heart.
And by the way, welcome to What's Good with John and Joyce,
available on all streaming platforms.
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Which is, good thoughts, you know, just to show that will relax you
when you listen to it and gets you away from the news and all that stuff.
So that's why we call it what's good, because we only talk about what's good.
That's right.
We are here to talk about something near and dear to our heart today.
Music, music, music choice.
Any music just soothes the soul.
It's therapy.
It is therapy.
Imagine a world without music.
No healing.
There was always a world with, I think they were always like making music
and banging rocks.
Making music reminds me of an old song called troglodyte
that was a big hit in the 70s.
How good they came, man. Cave woman
look it up.
Okay, 1971 RCA song, thankfully,
by the Jimmy Castor Bunch.
Check it out, because some of your folks are saying, this guy's nuts.
Watch this. Okay, but go look it up.
The Jimmy Jimmy Castor Bunch troglodyte did Jimmy Castor Bunch, right?
Do other things, too?
Yeah, they had a song called Ape Man. Okay.
Yeah, you'll hear it every now and then.
But, you know, if you're under 50 years old, that was his niche.
Yeah. Like, hey, it was all troglodyte.
Did he do a Halloween song or, mole ape man?
I guess they could both be considered. Yeah.
Halloween. Yeah.
Well, we'll talk about that and our Halloween show next month.
No more.
They didn't have the catalog, of course, the Fab Four,
but they did have a couple of those Beatles.
Well, I'm wearing the Beatle shirt because this is the first album
that I ever bought.
To say I
love the Beatles would be a grand understatement.
Yes, as my mother said one day she walked into my room
and she said, first, I'll tell you what she said.
She said, Joyce, can't you do anything in moderation?
Or why are you such an extremist?
And I said, what? She took a picture of me.
I have that picture someplace, and I'm standing
a mist on my walls.
I mean, it wasn't just a poster of the Beatles.
It was the length of the the wall, right?
All all four of them.
And this one and that one.
And I had a shirt on and I have pins on, and it's like, what?
What are you talking about?
You know, but I loved what was it about them that really got your attention?
You know, something?
It was like an awakening within me.
And some people thought that I love the Beatles
like I wanted to marry a Beatle.
I wanted to be a Beatle.
I even got a guitar.
And I would sit listening to them and I would try to play I, I have no talent.
No talent where you have a lot of other areas.
Yeah, but playing music or singing is not one of them,
but I was, I got immersed into it prior to that,
because I was the youngest of three, I, I listened to what they were playing.
So I was always playing in the house.
Bob Dylan or Joan Baez or something like that.
But when the Beatles hit, I can't explain
that phenomenon that happened because it happened world wide.
I got an explosion.
Yeah, that really resonated within me.
So much so that
when I was 12 years old, I walked to the big library
in New Haven, Connecticut, and I had the idea
that I bet one of their phone
numbers is listed in an old directory that I could find.
So I went and asked the librarian, could I see
some old phone books from England?
She said, sure, we have them.
That's just that was genius.
I, I was just like in Liverpool, right?
Specifically.
So I found George Harrison's mother's name
in Liverpool, a market lane.
And guess what I did called, I called, and at that time you had a pay.
Right. So I just a lot of money.
I just prayed my mother and father wouldn't see the bill,
but I called in his sister Louise answered, and I told them hello.
I was, yeah, and then I'm a huge fan.
I live in the United States, blah blah blah.
And she said, give me your address.
So I gave her my address and they sent me paraphernalia.
You know, a sketch of George.
And then I'm so sorry, we're going to talk music, but that's fine.
This music. Yeah.
So the next thing I did is I wrote her, and I asked if she would send me
a list of, girls my age
in the neighborhood who lives on Mac Lane.
If they want to become pen pals with American girls.
Now, in this day and age, it would be emails.
But I asked for addresses she sent me.
So she sent me about 30 addresses and.
And I called ABC and New Haven 13 waves.
That was my first job in radio.
Let's listen to waves in case you want to win it. Yep.
And I
asked if they would like to do a contest,
and the winners of contests would get the names of a person
that lived on market slang for George Harrison's, you know, connection.
And they did.
And then I did another one through George Harrison's
sister called rings for Ringo.
And so then but waves called me.
It was like, I think there was Tracy, who was a deejay at the time,
and asked me if I'd like to come in and discuss the Beatles.
No, I was 12 years old. They had no idea.
So when they saw me, it was like, oh, it was like this.
You thought you were maybe 18, 19, 20?
Yeah, yeah.
So they did let me like, I don't know,
like pull new stories and things like that.
Well, what a great program and just,
just how benevolent she was to set you up with all those pen pals.
Oh, she's wonderful.
But in the 80s, when I had a party at my house
and I probably was silly enough to show all my paraphernalia
and signed albums and everything, they were there were gone.
Taken.
Really? Yeah.
Don't know who to this day don't even want to know.
But, it's like, oh gosh, it's just not all of that good.
But that was my, you know, beginnings
of music and being so happy listening to it.
It really was. Yeah.
And my parents couldn't understand it at all.
I got thrown out of elementary school class because I came
in one day with my pins all over my jacket, and I cut my hair
like the Beatles had the bangs.
I did the I did the whole thing.
And, the, the sister, because it was a Catholic school, wouldn't let me in.
And I was sent home.
And then my mother was just like,
so I just fixed my hair, so, you know,
it didn't look like a Beatles cut and took all the pins off me.
Well, seems like every generation goes through that because, you know, when
when Sinatra came out, you, though, the Bobby Sox was all went crazy.
And a lot of the the Navy men didn't like him
because they were a little bit jealous of him or whatever.
And then, of course, when Elvis came out, you know, it was Elvis
mania and, and, he was banned by all the churches.
He was the devil. Yeah. And all that.
And you look at the stuff that he did now and the Beatles and it's tame, right?
Compared to a lot of stuff you, you see nowadays.
So what was your first album?
Oh mama or CD?
I mean, because you were always working in radio.
I know, I know, I mean, prior to that, usually they say when you when you're like
11, 12, 13 years old, that's when your music taste is kind of formed.
That's when you start really acknowledging music.
So you know, late 60s, early
70s really was like my my jam for a while.
But I really, I really can't remember because music
was always playing in our house all genres.
My mom and dad loved everything.
Yeah, that had the old 78 were playing jazz.
We're playing gospel, blues, rock and roll, rhythm, all blues.
Oh yeah, yeah, it was like a melting pot in my house.
So we heard it all and I loved it all.
And I was never a musical snob.
I loved it all.
Whether it be watching Soul Train or The Lawrence Welk Show
or Brian Campbell, Johnny Cash, you know, it didn't make any difference.
I loved it all, whether it was rock, pop, country, rhythm and blues.
So I grew up that way.
And still to this day, I never want to lose that childlike innocence, right?
And I still listen to a lot of new music,
and I probably know the new music as well as any 18, 19, 20 year old.
And it's great.
The top 40 music of today, because I have to play with my deejay business. Yes.
Yeah.
You know, and I and I played on the radio and I top 40 and whatever
you keep hearing over and over, sometimes it does grow on you.
It does. Yeah.
There's a lot of good new music out when people have a tendency.
So when they get older they think, oh, nothing like the old right?
Right. I don't buy that. I don't buy that. I buy it at all.
And we can continue to grow and evolve because I don't want to be that person.
Oh, the old days were the best days and well, no, these are the good old days.
As Carly Simon said in her song.
Yes, yes, I think right, right. Yes. Yeah.
These are the good old days.
So I was thinking of like songs that made me happy.
Right. So what? Like what songs would.
Well, what I don't know, like what would uplift you?
Maybe you didn't go through.
Did you go through the angst of a teenage girl?
Oh, I remember back in the day when your, your biggest challenge was who
you going to go out with over the weekend or are you what's your what?
Your mom was going to pack for lunch the next.
Right, right.
It seemed so trivial compared.
But when I when I remember growing up hearing songs like Build Me Up Buttercup,
foundations, that's a song Your Mama Don't
Dance, rocking pneumonia and the boogie Woogie flu in the early 70s, mid 70s.
Crocodile rock.
Yeah, you know, a bad, bad Leroy Brown, all the fun stuff.
And I loved a lot of the R&B disco stuff.
Yeah, of the 70s. I loved rock n roll.
I love the country, I, you love I mean, Elvis met Elvis.
Really? Yeah.
Wait, Elvis really cross country.
Also, Elvis was the gospel.
Elvis is the only artist who's in 5 or 6 different halls of fame.
She's in the Rock Hall of Fame, the blues, the country gospel.
I think he's in some of the rockabilly.
He's he's in them all. Have you gone to Graceland?
I have, you have.
I have no reason why.
It was a lot smaller than I thought.
It was pretty gaudy, really.
But what blew my mind
was the big giant museum with all the gold and platinum records
from all over the world and like, keys to the city.
So any time he go to a city, mayors would meet with him, governors
and presidents would go to his movie sets and meet with him.
Yeah. I mean, the guy was like, incredible.
I mean, how how super, super popular he was and still is in 2025 and still is.
I don't think there's been anyone like him.
Nope.
As far as solo artist, no, nobody Comes close.
And the Beatles.
So Elvis and the Beatles are probably the two
the biggest icons of all time in music, right?
Bar none.
If you want to go. My record sales to both of them.
The Beatles really opened the doors for the ink for the England.
I mean, the Mersey Beat came over here,
Dave part five and yeah, Peter and Gordon and all those great bands.
Yeah, we started to hear about them and yeah, that that's where my mind was.
Right? You know, I wanted to be there.
I wanted to live in Liverpool and, and just be part of that scene.
And, and you and I met when I was working at peel.
Both working at peel are in the 80s.
And we just connected right away, which led to the podcast
now that we're doing together,
which is wonderful, which we were doing, I think promotions and things that,
PR when we were in, in New Haven, New Haven, Connecticut,
up on the second floor, they had the studio
and they had the couch, and they had a pool table table,
and we'd have to close the door sometimes because we'd be going on
the radio talking. Right.
I did on Rock with Van Halen in the pools, you hear the sound of the
the balls, you know, in the background clacking and scratching.
Exactly. It's like, guys, can you hear we're on the air here, you know?
And yeah, great.
But it was just so much fun because it was so loose
and it was a community appeal at the time.
It was a real community.
I used to love staying there after hours when I could because, you know,
I was that teenage mom.
So I had little kids at home.
But, the lich.
Oh, no such luck ever happened to the Lich.
Lich, if you listen to this, contact us please.
We love the Lich working with him.
Loved him great man and had a passion for music.
Second to none, second to none.
He was a music encyclopedia. This guy.
Oh, yeah, he was.
He, he did a show with Jimmy Cop, like I know on PBS.
Love, Jimmy conflict from Live Nation.
Thank you, Jimmy, for everything you contributed to our state and beyond.
You know, Shelly Finkel, Jim coppock yeah, his fabulous
but lich I would go into the studio,
you know, after 5:00
and he would crank journey.
Oh, I mean, he loved drank it and I loved it.
Yeah.
And he would be
playing drums on the counter, you know, because he, he was a drummer, I think.
Yeah. Yeah, he always had the bandana on.
He always had the bandana on. Yeah, yeah.
And and, like this.
Not suspenders. What do you call it? The,
Like the denim jump thing.
Yeah.
Like a, like a farmer style.
Yeah. Almost like the farmers, but you know.
Yeah, yeah, but he was a very unique style.
Really unique.
But just think of the great people we worked with over the years in radio.
Yeah, I mean, there's too many to mention, but we work with some of the greats,
you know, here in the Connecticut marketplace and beyond.
Well, that's what launched my business for over 20 years,
working with Michael Bolton and Mariah Carey
and everything, John Mellencamp, Carly Simon, Billy Squier, right.
Worked with that one? No, no, I wanted to work. Do you see these?
Do you notice that I've got Billy Squire Pinson never work with Billy Squire.
No really I thought you know he's the one I wanted to love.
Billy Squire.
We're supposed to meet with him.
It was me Michael.
And we were at Sherman's
Tavern, which is now the Union, restaurant.
We're talking to some local Connecticut, so.
Yeah, but it's.
Well, Billy Squire was, playing with rat round and round.
Round around the New Haven Coliseum.
So, he was invited to join Michael
at Sherman's Tavern on the green,
and I was so excited.
I was like, oh, this is it.
I'm finally going to get to meet him.
I love his music.
I love the fact that he wrote his music like he produced his videos at all.
He really did.
And that's what I respect about a lot of musicians when they can do that.
And I think,
his keyboard player at the time probably did more to Allen.
Saint John showed up and but Billy wasn't showing up,
but there was no cell phone then to call.
Coliseum was already closed. Right.
What are we going to call?
So we waited.
They left and they left with, you know, I had a bottle of.
They had a bottle of champagne on the table.
So I said, I'm just going to sit here and wait.
So I just kept sippin it, sipping away.
And then I realized like an hour later, okay, this is not going to happen.
And when I went to get up, John, I was so drunk,
I didn't even
realize it until I thought, oh my God, I can't walk, right?
So I had to hold on to table,
get myself out, gingerly walk, gingerly walk to my car.
Sorry to say.
Yeah. Jerome.
Oh, I didn't know how else to get home.
Yeah, I drove really slowly and I was thanking God that he made it home.
I didn't get arrested. That's grace.
But yeah, but.
So that was my almost meeting with Billy Squier.
But he's one of the ones that he eluded.
He eluded me.
But when he played in concert and open up for Queen to.
Yes, that's the concert I saw with my husband to be,
Wayne Wayne and rest his soul.
Love you Wayne. Yes, yes.
And I loved him so much that night
because we took my son's, we took a friend of theirs,
and he said to me, come up to the stage, go up to the stage.
And I thought, I love this guy.
He gets this.
He's not jealous that I love Billy Squier.
And he was comfortable enough in himself, so he was comfortable in his own skin.
Oh yeah.
Yeah. So he's got a great photo.
We'll probably put up of Billy on stage and.
Yeah, it's a really
it's a really good photo and some of Queen as well, but I didn't.
I loved Queen, but I love Billy. Right.
You love that.
Oh yeah.
So dance around and, you know, it was fun.
It was just such a fun night. Good memories.
Radio is meant not to work with Billy Squier.
Because you know what?
Sometimes you don't want to meet your heroes.
You don't want to meet your heroes.
But here's what happened.
What happened with me, anyway? Working.
I was always backstage.
Whether it's Oakdale Theater backstage, Palace Theater, backstage,
opening my own business, working with artists backstage and stuff happens.
Like who didn't get their backstage passes, joist or some.
I was always called, I was there, I was meeting with,
the radio people or whatever.
There would be someone on a microphone saying, Joe Joyce,
can you please come to this room and please come to the green room or whatever?
I'm sure you put out a lot of fires, too.
Yes, a lot of fires.
So then I started to not enjoy going to concerts
because it brought back memories of work.
Yeah, instead of enjoying it.
So the one concert I did not want to meet my the guy
that I also really look because I just love music was Johnny Mathis.
So I asked Wayne to cover that show for me
because usually, you know, he would take pictures, but
then you'd have to make sure that their, their writer was met and all that.
And Wayne could do that and he knew, you know the
talk about the writers I mean what they are kind of demanding of.
Yeah.
Like like what's on their list to make sure they got the right water or
like the green Eminem's or something, that that was always the story, right?
Yeah, I meant so I went and covered another show that night.
It was Jay Leno that what they were also doing in Hartford.
So I went to the Jay Leno Show.
I left Wayne with Johnny Mathis.
Oh, geez.
And I came home and I said, so how did it go?
And we just said to me, oh, Joyce.
He said, this is this show you shouldn't have missed.
He said, Johnny Mathis cooked for us all.
Oh, no, that's right.
He was quite the chef from what I and he all just sat around talking to him.
And in memory I could hear my heart breaking again.
And the thing is, he was a big track star too.
Yes, I do remember.
Yes, I saw a documentary on him, you know, super sweet.
Yeah. Johnny Mathis. Yeah.
So it was Johnny Mathis.
I didn't get to me, but I just.
So you know, and I.
And also Julie Andrews, I had Wayne cover Julie Andrews
because she's just so, you know, I think she played
in the original production of My Fair Lady in the 50s.
My, my wife and I went to see it locally here in Connecticut at the Ivy.
That's why not when we talk about movies.
That's one of my favorite musicals.
My Fair Lady could have danced. We have her.
But she was such a lady that when Audrey Hepburn met her.
And Audrey Hepburn even said, you should have had that role.
She said, my dear, it was meant for you. Yes.
You know, it was very gracious.
Thank you all that if it was meant to be, it would have been her role.
Yes, but but, you know, Julia wasn't hurting too much, you know.
So Wayne covered that show for me because I thought, I don't want to find out.
She's a prima donna or a diva again,
not only the best, but his pictures of her
that she's in her bathrobe with her glasses on and she didn't care.
She was just sitting comfortable in her own skin.
Yeah, yeah.
That's fantastic. Yeah.
And we've been very fortunate, Joyce, between the two of us, to meet
so many great entertainers over the years, all different genres.
I know you've worked with a lot of comedians too, that you've really enjoyed.
I really love the you know, there's not one comedian that I didn't have.
And of course, one of my favorites, Regis Regis was love, Regis Philbin.
Wonderful. Love them. Yeah.
So down to earth. Yes.
What he was on TV was exactly how he was.
You know, off TV.
Well, I used to love, you know, with him and Kathie Lee,
but also when his wife came on. Joy. Joy.
She was great. Yeah, they were great together, as is.
Like Kelly now with Mark, there's just no synergy between them.
Great combo too.
Yes. Yeah.
So speaking about music, I just okay.
You know,
so Michael because I spoke about Michael because Michael Bolton, I met him
well I met him at Toad's place, you know, really going to his real name.
Yeah, it was Michael below. And he was with blackjack.
They were great.
We were playing them the two of them had kind of a harder rock sound.
Well, that's the Michael Bolton that I knew best.
Leather pants. Yes, yes.
You know, bandana around his neck and yeah, he was rock and roll.
He was rock and roll.
But he wrote music and he wrote Laura Branigan's.
How am I supposed to live with that? Do it.
You know, so many, so many great, heartfelt songs
and, behind the scenes, they, you know, decided
with the record company that that's the way he should go.
But he was always a rocker.
Yeah, you know, at heart.
And but he had a big female following, especially with his huge, big,
big, big following.
So when he was at Toad's place, I would see the,
the women they see of women singing along to his first untitled
album, Michael Bolton, that came out in 1983
and it was hardly out, but they were singing along to every song.
Must have shocked him.
Looking out, oh, I didn't know my song, so let me tell you, I said that to him.
I said, did you see them?
And he said, Joyce, I wear glasses.
I didn't have my contacts.
Oh no, he said, it's all a blur.
I said, keep doing that because you have this dreamy
look in your eye looking out at the audience,
and maybe if you could see them really clearly, you know,
you might not have that, that look, I mean, I think he's put contacts.
Of course, you know, and probably had laser.
Maybe he doesn't even need glasses.
But it was in that moment, you know, that I thought,
Holy moly, this guy's got that
charisma, you know, has got that,
you got the it factor, which, you know, the great ones have.
So when they came up to apply to do an interview.
Yeah, I think he did it with Brian Smith, Brad, Brian Smith and Barbra.
They were a great team. I think Brian works.
I don't even think Barbara was there yet.
I think it was just Brian de radio doing something at the station.
Oh, wow. Radio.
Yes, yes, I'm it's a car dealership and it's an a car dealership.
So is it really. Yeah. Okay.
So Jeff, see, you know that guy on the tree plug for Brian?
Call us. Yeah. Yes, Brian. Great.
Great guy, great talent.
Yeah. Yeah, really great guy.
But I remember he he was speaking to
Michael and I had this idea of
like what to do, like how to bring the fans together
because working at NPR, that's where the calls would come through.
And I think I may have mentioned this to you before, where people
would call and say, you know, my, my daughter's dying.
I mean, really sad stories
and like the Starlight Foundation or, you know, what other foundation?
There's so many people they deal with nationwide
and they just wanted to meet like
Michael or Kelly Lewis with the news or whatever.
Did you work with you?
I know, but when you came up to the station,
yeah, we had great conversations afterwards.
I remember being on the air when he was there with 38 special, the New Year. Yes.
That was that was the show. Wow. That was the show.
So let me go back to like manifestation for a second.
Where we first began our show was talking about this.
So it was when MTV
first really hit the airwaves.
The journey had a, a video out,
and in the background was a woman with a clipboard.
And I said to myself, I want that job.
I want to be that person behind the scenes, working this somehow.
And it was at, that show
with Huey Lewis and 38 special,
I have my clipboard because we had contest winners from polar,
and I was part of, like, organizing things.
And I looked at myself, looked down.
I said, oh my God, I am this woman with the clipboard.
This is what I invested.
Yeah.
So that was really an eye opener for me because I'm laser focused on things like,
I love hard, the Beatles, right, Billy Squier yes.
I mean, I didn't manifest him, but that's okay.
You still have time. He still looks good.
Yeah, sure.
I hear you sing in a way, yes.
But, Yeah.
But music has always been so healing, so healing for me.
I remember on Michael's first and, you know, his first album
was, Fool's Game.
Now, I loved Fool's Game.
That was really uplifting. It was like intense.
I mean, the one that really got my attention was that's
What Love Is all About. I remember that being his first mega hit.
Yeah, that was the first, like, ballad power ballad that he wrote.
Yes. And soul providers like one of my favorite soul profile
all time, like, steel bars.
City bars? Yes. With Bob Dylan. Yes.
But the one that I wore.
Oh, yes.
And I had a vinyl CD playing this, and I wore it out
because it was a bad time romantically in my life with someone way.
Eventually more than a few of those I eventually married.
No. Oh, really?
Yes, I did, so, But it was.
I almost believed you.
I almost believe, but it was it was therapeutic for me
because it cut out all the sorrow,
and it made me feel like I wasn't alone because Michael wrote that, you know?
So it really was healing. What do they say?
Sad songs say so much.
Oh, like the Elton John's song.
Oh yeah. Yeah, it really does.
You know.
Or no, nobody likes sad songs, but they do, you know, Ronnie Milsap or
so many of those songs.
I love speaking to you about music because it's sort of like the Bible in a way.
You remember who sang it.
I remember the name in the Bible I can remember, like what?
What resonated with me.
You can give me the passage where it okay, well, you've got a great memory.
Well, the thing is, like at the radio station, we geek out a lot.
We'll have conversations, fellow deejays, and we'll talk in song titles about it.
I mean, and it's really geeky, but we have so much fun with it,
no matter what genre.
So as we wrap up, I just want to give a special
not because it's of The Beatles, Michael Bolton, Billy Squire,
got emotions in motion.
How I love that song.
I love Everybody Wants You to find it.
You know it's you in the dark.
Yeah, my gosh.
Yeah. Also Barry Manilow.
Yeah. Great. Great entertainer.
Everything that he did, Bon Jovi, Whitney Houston,
Tina Turner, I mean, I'm a big fan of all of them.
Music that really shapes our lives.
And each and every day in our house.
Joyce music is playing.
Yeah.
And we've had, you know, we have it going on in the morning all throughout
the day, you know, whether it be, you know, rock, you know, soul,
rhythm and blues, Christian music we like as well, smooth jazz.
It's all going on a classical music classic.
Love it. You ask me mostly just soothes us. Right.
But we're doing some work in the morning, right around the house.
So why don't you tell us what your favorite songs are?
You can leave us a message in our bio.
We've got a link, but you can message us on Facebook
BR on there and give us ideas for shows you would like.
Absolutely.
Talk to us, talk to us where this is interactive and we appreciate you
because without you there's no show and maybe we'll have you on the show.
That'd be great.
Yes, yes, that's what's good with John and Joyce.
Right.
So thank you so much. And, check us out.
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Yeah, subscribe as well. Till next time.
There's a song in our hearts, right? Keep on singing.
Love that. Bye for now.