History in Five Songs with Martin Popoff
by Pantheon Media
July 16, 2025 8:35 am
History in Five Songs with Martin Popoff is the show that aims to make grand and often oddball hard rock and heavy metal points through a narrative built upon the tiny idea of a quintet of songs. Buttressed with illustrative clips, Martin argues quickly and succinctly why these songs – and the specific sections of these tracks – support his mad professor premise, from the wobbly invention of an “American” heavy metal, to the influence of Led Zeppelin in hair metal or to more succinct topics like tapping and twin leads. The songs serve as bricks, but Martin slathers plenty of mortar. At the end, hopefully he has a sturdy house in which this week’s theory can reside unbothered by the elements. At approximately 7000, Martin has had published in books more record reviews than anybody in the history of music writing across all genres. Additionally, Martin has penned approximately 85 books on hard rock, heavy metal, classic rock and record collecting. Proud part of Pantheon – the podcast network for music lovers.
Recent Episodes
History in Five Songs Episode 316: Bands Ruined by Funk
4 days agoHistory in Five Songs Episode 315: Metal Classics That Sold Nothing
2 weeks agoHistory in Five Songs Episode 314: When Writing Credits Matter
3 weeks agoHistory in Five Songs Episode 313: What did you do during hair metal?
4 weeks agoHistory in Five Songs Episode 312: Unexpected AOR Albums
1 month agoHistory in Five Songs Episode 311: Covers, not grunge, killed hair metal.
1 month agoHistory in Five Songs Episode 310: Struggling with the Greatest New Wave Bands
2 months agoHistory in Five Songs Episode 309: New Wave’s Pub Rock Problem
2 months agoHistory in Five Songs Episode 308: Who invented new wave?
2 months agoHistory in Five Songs Episode 307: Knighted Rock Stars
2 months ago