Joe Hardtke
@publicradiopunk.bsky.social
Records radio shows for Wisconsin Public Radio. Dreams up sound design for To the Best of Our Knowledge. Thinks way too hard about record production and unappreciated pop music...
www.ttbook.org
www.ttbook.org
Pinned
Joe Hardtke
@publicradiopunk.bsky.social
· Nov 26
Why ‘radical listening’ is key to public radio’s future
"Building radical listening and field recording into our program offerings announces to the audience that we understand our public service role as custodians of culture and media representation."
current.org
Get out your microphones!
We’re going to save America by recording its ambience. At least that’s what I’m arguing for over at @currentpubmedia.bsky.social
Have a read (and a listen…)
current.org/2024/11/why-...
We’re going to save America by recording its ambience. At least that’s what I’m arguing for over at @currentpubmedia.bsky.social
Have a read (and a listen…)
current.org/2024/11/why-...
Reposted by Joe Hardtke
If some guy stole my shit and made millions off it while wiping out my job prospects, and you, as my friend, bought that guy's cheap mass market replica of my shit, you and i would for obvious reasons have a problem. It being a massive company, not a guy, actually makes it even more of a problem.
December 8, 2025 at 5:14 AM
If some guy stole my shit and made millions off it while wiping out my job prospects, and you, as my friend, bought that guy's cheap mass market replica of my shit, you and i would for obvious reasons have a problem. It being a massive company, not a guy, actually makes it even more of a problem.
I mean, Leppard were never really a “hair” band, so the guy’s opinion is suspect anyway.
I think they were talking more about bands like Ratt, but Def Leppard always kinda sucked
I love the hair bands, and I won’t apologize for it.
Give me some Bon Jovi and Def Leppard, and I’m happy.
And the posters I had on my wall drove my mother insane. Bonus!
Give me some Bon Jovi and Def Leppard, and I’m happy.
And the posters I had on my wall drove my mother insane. Bonus!
December 6, 2025 at 4:41 AM
I mean, Leppard were never really a “hair” band, so the guy’s opinion is suspect anyway.
It had a lot to do with how record companies were selling CDs, especially for rock and alternative artists.
They held back commercial singles to get you to buy the album, or marketed promo only singles to certain markets.
Apple has five AAA Top 20 hits but only one Billboard Hot 100 due to this.
They held back commercial singles to get you to buy the album, or marketed promo only singles to certain markets.
Apple has five AAA Top 20 hits but only one Billboard Hot 100 due to this.
I’m sure this is true for many people of different ages but a thing I really liked about growing up in the 1990s was that a band with one weird radio hit would have a whole discography of good stuff that only you wanted to hear. The Butthole Surfers, Ween, Fiona Apple—they all had exactly one hit
December 3, 2025 at 12:42 PM
It had a lot to do with how record companies were selling CDs, especially for rock and alternative artists.
They held back commercial singles to get you to buy the album, or marketed promo only singles to certain markets.
Apple has five AAA Top 20 hits but only one Billboard Hot 100 due to this.
They held back commercial singles to get you to buy the album, or marketed promo only singles to certain markets.
Apple has five AAA Top 20 hits but only one Billboard Hot 100 due to this.
Every Breath You Take
With Or Without You
Love Hurts
I Will Always Love You
Without You
Love The Way You Lie
You’re Beautiful
Crash Into Me
He Hit Me (It Felt Like A Kiss)
I Will Possess Your Heart
The One I Love
Hello
I Will Follow You Into The Dark
Why do people not read lyric sheets?!?
With Or Without You
Love Hurts
I Will Always Love You
Without You
Love The Way You Lie
You’re Beautiful
Crash Into Me
He Hit Me (It Felt Like A Kiss)
I Will Possess Your Heart
The One I Love
Hello
I Will Follow You Into The Dark
Why do people not read lyric sheets?!?
Fleetwood Mac 's "Silver Springs" is a trending sound right now at least on Insta, and people are using it for ... their wedding videos and getting brunch with friends.
they hear "you won't forget me" and go "awww 🥹"
🫠 You don't even need to know the background, just actually listen to the song
they hear "you won't forget me" and go "awww 🥹"
🫠 You don't even need to know the background, just actually listen to the song
November 27, 2025 at 11:44 AM
Every Breath You Take
With Or Without You
Love Hurts
I Will Always Love You
Without You
Love The Way You Lie
You’re Beautiful
Crash Into Me
He Hit Me (It Felt Like A Kiss)
I Will Possess Your Heart
The One I Love
Hello
I Will Follow You Into The Dark
Why do people not read lyric sheets?!?
With Or Without You
Love Hurts
I Will Always Love You
Without You
Love The Way You Lie
You’re Beautiful
Crash Into Me
He Hit Me (It Felt Like A Kiss)
I Will Possess Your Heart
The One I Love
Hello
I Will Follow You Into The Dark
Why do people not read lyric sheets?!?
Reposted by Joe Hardtke
I really wish we'd stop calling them climate "skeptics" or "vaccine skeptics", if you jump off a cliff we don't call you a "gravity skeptic"
November 25, 2025 at 8:18 PM
I really wish we'd stop calling them climate "skeptics" or "vaccine skeptics", if you jump off a cliff we don't call you a "gravity skeptic"
This single (and album) changed my life.
November 25, 2025 at 2:22 AM
This single (and album) changed my life.
The album that kickstarted my Bowiephilia.
Now I have just about everything he recorded.
Now I have just about everything he recorded.
November 8, 2025 at 7:53 PM
The album that kickstarted my Bowiephilia.
Now I have just about everything he recorded.
Now I have just about everything he recorded.
Reposted by Joe Hardtke
40 years ago we’d have congressional hearings falsely accusing metal bands of putting backwards messages in their songs that told kids to kill themselves & now we have a planet-killing chatbot that’s all like “bet you won’t commit suicide chickenshit bitch” & the government is like here’s $5 billion
November 8, 2025 at 4:23 AM
40 years ago we’d have congressional hearings falsely accusing metal bands of putting backwards messages in their songs that told kids to kill themselves & now we have a planet-killing chatbot that’s all like “bet you won’t commit suicide chickenshit bitch” & the government is like here’s $5 billion
Indeed.
Changed my ears forever.
Changed my ears forever.
October 28, 2025 at 11:35 AM
Indeed.
Changed my ears forever.
Changed my ears forever.
I think about this a lot. There is an argument that “Hysteria” is the Mount Everest of the form. Mutt and the band threw everything they could at the structure of rock and this was as much as it could take and still wildly succeed.
Try to do more and it’s nonsense. Try to do less, it’s reactionary.
Try to do more and it’s nonsense. Try to do less, it’s reactionary.
It's interesting that Mutt Lange production would prove a bit of a dead end in rock, which would instead sort of swallow its own tail over its own ideas of authenticity over the ensuing decades, and that it would instead get transplanted to country
October 26, 2025 at 12:36 PM
I think about this a lot. There is an argument that “Hysteria” is the Mount Everest of the form. Mutt and the band threw everything they could at the structure of rock and this was as much as it could take and still wildly succeed.
Try to do more and it’s nonsense. Try to do less, it’s reactionary.
Try to do more and it’s nonsense. Try to do less, it’s reactionary.
Revisiting Kiss a bit since Frehley’s death.
They’re really not that great a band, if we’re honest. They stumble on a hook, then underserve it with single-entendres.
But this! This song has a great feel all the way through. Wonder if Frehley actually played on it.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m_c...
They’re really not that great a band, if we’re honest. They stumble on a hook, then underserve it with single-entendres.
But this! This song has a great feel all the way through. Wonder if Frehley actually played on it.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m_c...
Kiss - Sure Know Something
YouTube video by KissVEVO
www.youtube.com
October 19, 2025 at 2:38 AM
Revisiting Kiss a bit since Frehley’s death.
They’re really not that great a band, if we’re honest. They stumble on a hook, then underserve it with single-entendres.
But this! This song has a great feel all the way through. Wonder if Frehley actually played on it.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m_c...
They’re really not that great a band, if we’re honest. They stumble on a hook, then underserve it with single-entendres.
But this! This song has a great feel all the way through. Wonder if Frehley actually played on it.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m_c...
There are some days I feel this is the best song Prince ever recorded.
Today was one of those days. So was yesterday. Maybe tomorrow, too…
Today was one of those days. So was yesterday. Maybe tomorrow, too…
October 18, 2025 at 11:04 PM
There are some days I feel this is the best song Prince ever recorded.
Today was one of those days. So was yesterday. Maybe tomorrow, too…
Today was one of those days. So was yesterday. Maybe tomorrow, too…
Women don’t care about the Cybertruck.
The wonderful woman in my life wants only one thing.
The wonderful woman in my life wants only one thing.
October 18, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Women don’t care about the Cybertruck.
The wonderful woman in my life wants only one thing.
The wonderful woman in my life wants only one thing.
Reposted by Joe Hardtke
1/ A longtime Wired editor just wrote a mush-brained essay about how he totally missed the political rot of Silicon Valley (& still doesn't get it).
But in the late 1990s, a Wired journalist warned of a toxic ideology bubbling up from tech. Paulina Borsook has largely been erased. Let's change that
But in the late 1990s, a Wired journalist warned of a toxic ideology bubbling up from tech. Paulina Borsook has largely been erased. Let's change that
September 24, 2025 at 6:36 PM
1/ A longtime Wired editor just wrote a mush-brained essay about how he totally missed the political rot of Silicon Valley (& still doesn't get it).
But in the late 1990s, a Wired journalist warned of a toxic ideology bubbling up from tech. Paulina Borsook has largely been erased. Let's change that
But in the late 1990s, a Wired journalist warned of a toxic ideology bubbling up from tech. Paulina Borsook has largely been erased. Let's change that
Reposted by Joe Hardtke
Becoming increasingly clear we’re gonna have to build a parallel infrastructure for all the media we really love. The reason all of this is happening under the color of law is hyperconsolidation, dissent being traded straight up for merger approval, or fear of harassment.
September 18, 2025 at 12:22 AM
Becoming increasingly clear we’re gonna have to build a parallel infrastructure for all the media we really love. The reason all of this is happening under the color of law is hyperconsolidation, dissent being traded straight up for merger approval, or fear of harassment.
One of his very best singles. And that’s saying something.
September 10, 2025 at 11:54 PM
One of his very best singles. And that’s saying something.
Reposted by Joe Hardtke
Remember when Tuesday ruled cuz new CDs came out??
August 19, 2025 at 8:53 PM
Remember when Tuesday ruled cuz new CDs came out??
Haven’t watched it in a while but Timberlake’s face.
Iggy to the suits: “FEEL the music. Feel SOMETHING.”
Iggy to the suits: “FEEL the music. Feel SOMETHING.”
August 14, 2025 at 12:58 PM
Haven’t watched it in a while but Timberlake’s face.
Iggy to the suits: “FEEL the music. Feel SOMETHING.”
Iggy to the suits: “FEEL the music. Feel SOMETHING.”
I guess I have three therapists.
August 3, 2025 at 2:26 PM
I guess I have three therapists.
Reposted by Joe Hardtke
I love David Lee Roth saying “the reason the critics like Elvis Costello more than us is because they all look like Elvis Costello.” And also Tokyo Storm Warning rules. Blood and Chocolate is solid. I’m sure Costello hates Halen. Music is a land of contrasts
Notes on Camp: on David Lee Roth
The case for a Camp reading of one of rock’s greatest frontmen
bit.ly
July 29, 2025 at 4:58 AM
I love David Lee Roth saying “the reason the critics like Elvis Costello more than us is because they all look like Elvis Costello.” And also Tokyo Storm Warning rules. Blood and Chocolate is solid. I’m sure Costello hates Halen. Music is a land of contrasts
Reposted by Joe Hardtke
With Tom Lehrer's passing, I suppose this is a moment to share the story of the prank he played on the National Security Agency, and how it went undiscovered for nearly 60 years.
July 27, 2025 at 9:01 PM
With Tom Lehrer's passing, I suppose this is a moment to share the story of the prank he played on the National Security Agency, and how it went undiscovered for nearly 60 years.
This is, by some distance, my favorite John Mayer song.
PORCELAIN
YouTube video by Neil Cicierega
m.youtube.com
July 27, 2025 at 3:29 PM
This is, by some distance, my favorite John Mayer song.
Reposted by Joe Hardtke
I miss having shared cultutal moments that aren't traumatic.
July 22, 2025 at 2:46 AM
I miss having shared cultutal moments that aren't traumatic.
Reposted by Joe Hardtke
Don't look now, the Brewers have a better record than the Dodgers. 👀
July 20, 2025 at 4:03 AM
Don't look now, the Brewers have a better record than the Dodgers. 👀
fyi I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing, performed by Aerosmith, was a a smash hit off the Armageddon soundtrack.
oddly, the song Armageddon It by Def Leppard was *not* on the soundtrack to the movie Armageddon.
oddly, the song Armageddon It by Def Leppard was *not* on the soundtrack to the movie Armageddon.
July 18, 2025 at 11:50 PM