Theme Songs with Dave and Steel
A music-based podcast from the guys who made 'Off the Chain.' Every episode presents a handful of songs around a specific theme.
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This week’s theme was “Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic.” Dave and Steel were joined by their old friend Mark and played songs by Dan Baird, Led Zeppelin, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Death Cab for Cutie, Modest Mouse, RJD2, and The Ramones.
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This week’s theme was Oceania, meaning that the show focused on music by artists from Australia and New Zealand. This week Steel and Dave played songs by Tjupurru, AC/DC, Sarah Blasko, Flight of the Conchords, Sampa the Great, and Camp Cope.
Featured image by Martin Snicer Photography 
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Happy New Year! Our first episode of the year features sea shanties and is dedicated to the Aubrey-Maturin novels, which Steel read for the first time in 2017. Steel & Dave play classic naval themed songs from Stan Rogers, The Decemberists, Jackshit, Katey Red & Big Freedia, The Beach Boys, Louis Killen, Jeff & Gerrett Werner, Fud Benson, and Loudon Wainwright. Enjoy!
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This week Dave and Steel were joined by Dave’s sister Melissa to talk about music to clean your house to, with great tunes from LCD Soundsystem, Rufus Wainwright, James Brown, The Eagles, Radiohead, and Bomba Estéreo. You’re in for a couple of extra special treats this week as well, as they also talked for a while about the worst things they’ve had to clean (a lot of poop talk, since Dave’s a nurse and all three guests are parents), and Toad the Wet Sprocket’s bassist (and international sex symbol) Dean Dinning.
Featured image: Ben Lelis, “The Mop,” CC-BY-NC-ND 2.0
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This week’s theme was “kids music you don’t hate.” Every parent knows that there’s plenty of kids music out there that’s just plain dreadful. This episode is designed to help you find great music that you and your kids will both like. Our old friend Amy joined us to play songs our kids like by Priscilla Ahn, Jurassic 5, the Old 97s, Toots & The Maytals and Julien Baker.
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The theme of this week’s episode was “Strange Voices” meaning that we played music by beloved artists with unusual vocal stylings. This week’s show featured music by Victoria Williams, The Mountain Goats, Anonhi (formerly Antony of Antony & the Johnsons), Sigur Ros, Aldous Harding, Tom Waits, and Woods. Enjoy!
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Ooooooooooh! This week Dave and Steel were joined by their old friend Jordan Faux for a special Halloween edition of Theme Songs. The theme for the week was “spooky songs,” and we played bonechilling tunes by Interpol, Mick Gordon, Napoleon XIV, Monkeygrinder, Phil Collins, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, and Henry Hall.
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This week’s theme was Codependency/Independence. Steel’s sister-in-law Jennie Bastian joined the two hosts to discuss how we can prevent sexual assault and harassment and best support its victims, and then the trio played great tunes from Waxahatchee, Tina Turner, John Prine, Fiona Apple, Lesley Gore, and the Isley Brothers.
Sexual assault is a major problem in our society. To get a better sense for the size and scope of the issue, you may want to refer to some facts and statistics gathered by the National Sexual Violence Research Center. Just as distressing, RAINN estimates that nearly 2/3 of all sexual assaults are ever reported to the police.
Our love and concern to all those who have suffered sexual violence or harassment. We believe you and want to do what we can to prevent this kind of behavior in the future, to provide the support and care you need, and to seek justice for those who have and are being wronged.
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Our theme this week: songs that, despite their popularity, were secretly (and sometimes) wildly inappropriate. Dave and Steel are joined by Steel’s old friend Katie and play shockers by Benny Mardones, Bob Seger, Lour Reed, The Police, Dave Matthews Band, and Clarence Carter. The lesson of this episode in case you didn’t already know it: all the creepiest, skeeziest characters in music (life?) are men. Watch out, everybody, and stay safe.
Here’s a gallery of some of the men whose music is featured on today’s show.
Featured image by Piano Piano!
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This week’s theme: “Story Songs,” featuring songs that tell a story and tell it well. This week Dave and Steel were joined by their old friend Alan and share miniature gems from The Decemberists, Death Cab for Cutie, Cat Power, Jens Lekman, Bishop Allen, and Steve Earle.
Featured image: art from The Crane Wife by Carson Ellis