Special Episodes Episodes

If you thought we were done talking about 1976… think again. Dave and Milt kick things off by emptying the mailbag from our "all substitutions" listener episode, reading your comments, handing out a few well-deserved shout-outs, and revealing the song listeners were most eager to kick to the curb: "Misty Blue." That officially closes the book on one of our favorite summer experiments. Then it's off to the movies as the guys head back to July 1986 and count down the biggest box office hits light...

ave and Milt revisit the week ending July 10, 1976, letting listeners vote on a replacement Billboard Top 10 drawn from 25 Hot 100 songs that never reached the top 10. They count down the survey results including the majesty of Steely Dan; the funk of Parliament; the whimsy of ABBA; and a poppy Queen. Once and for all, what were the Doobies doing dancing with Rerun on TV? Why is Milt talking about his hot buns? Did Billie Joe and Bobbie Sue get away with it or die in a hail of bullets? WHAT WILL...

Dave and Milt announce a listener survey to vote on a new “substitution” Top 10 for the July 10, 1976 chart as part of their bicentennial-week trilogy, sharing shout-outs (including a Spotify playlist by Jason Hedman) and an email from Richard Holmes in Hawaii. For this episode they instead count up the Billboard Hot 100 “bottom 10” (positions 91–100) for that week, discussing each track’s background: Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis Jr.’s “I Hope We Get to Love in Time,” John Handy’s jazz crossover ...

This week on Past Tens, Dave and Milt welcome a fresh face to the show: new intern Jason, a Tulane University student possibly as obsessed with music as the Past Tens bozos. Jason talks about catching A$AP Rocky's "Don't Be Dumb" Tour at TD Garden, surviving the madness of Jazz Fest, and introduces Dave and Milt to the wonderfully bizarre world of YouTube legend Nardwuar. Meanwhile, Dave finally crosses a major movie off the bucket list, sharing his thoughts after watching 2001: A Space Odyssey...

Dave and Milt hit record for a special edition of Past 10s marking the end of an era: the final episode of Stephen Colbert’s Late Show. But instead of hopping into the Billboard Hot 100 time machine, the boys pivot to late-night television, counting down their Top 10 Gen X-era talk-show hosts — complete with favorite moments, grudges, nostalgia, and the occasional completely unnecessary tangent. Along the way: Michael speed-runs a Chinese-food dinner before airtime, Dave delivers another rivetin...

Dave and Milt plug into one of rock nerd-dom’s favorite barstool arguments: Rolling Stone’s freshly dropped list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Solos Ever. Naturally, they treat it less like gospel and more like a karaoke machine somebody spilled beer on. Using the list as a launching pad, the boys unveil their own rankings, judging solos not by how many fingers caught fire, but by the stuff that actually matters — memorability, emotional punch, whether the solo lifts the song into another zip code,...

Dave and Milt open with banter about expensive VIP options, coffee vs. tea, and then discuss the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame class heavy with British performers (Phil Collins solo, Billy Idol, Oasis, Iron Maiden, Joy Division/New Order, Sade), plus Wu-Tang Clan and Luther Vandross, and hip-hop influence picks like Queen Latifah and MC Lyte. Inspired by the Brit-heavy class, they switch the podcast format to the UK singles chart for week ending 18 April 1987, counting down: “Living in a Box” by Li...

Dave and Milt crack open a special Past Tens where the subject is none other than the human moonwalk, Michael Jackson—timed nicely with the looming biopic that’s about to remind everyone just how absurdly dominant this guy was. We’re talking voice, moves, mystique, and that little side project with Quincy Jones that somehow turned into the most unfair three-album heater in pop history. Ground rules: solo MJ only. Sorry, Jackson 5—you’ll always have “ABC,” but you’re sitting this one out. From t...

Dave and Milt are doing what they do best: arguing about music like it matters (because it does). This time, they’re counting down their favorite opening lines from 1970s songs — with Milt, naturally, gravitating toward lines that drop you immediately into a vibe, a scene, or a full-blown attitude problem. They go back and forth like two guys at a bar who won’t let the other finish a sentence, firing off picks like “Life in the Fast Lane,” “Renegade,” “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” “He’s Misstra Kno...

Dave and Milt (the Chart Meister, not the Chart Master) celebrate what might be their 300th episode—give or take a few missed weeks and some lazy counting—by ditching the usual Billboard time-travel format and revisiting excerpts from their very first Past Tens episode from June 2019. They roast their early scripted, nervous energy, debate why certain catchphrases and categories stuck (Bad Remake, What the Fuck Were We Thinking, Never Heard Of It), and reminisce about recording in a Boston studi...

Dave and Milt open with shout-outs to a five-star review from the mysterious “BeanieGirl6” and an email from listener Jack (now in Houston) defending Edward Bear and sharing trivia about Roberta Flack’s inspiration. They then rank the 2025 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 17 nominees by “worthiness,” focusing on their top 10 while also predicting who will be inducted, using athlete analogies and ChatGPT-generated sandwich comps. Their top 10 includes Iron Maiden (#10, their biggest disagreement), Jo...

Dave records an episode of the Past Tens: Top 10 Time Machine podcast without co-host Milt (who is away on a winter trip or something) and brings on his brother Adam Yas as guest co-host. Each present a personal top 10 list of the greatest opening lines of 1980s songs, alternating picks and briefly discussing why each first line stands out. Adam explains his criteria: lyrical quality, vocal delivery, the artistic statement/arrival moment for the artist, and whether the line opens a great song. ...

This week on Past Tens: A Top 10 Time Machine, Milt and Dave crank the amps, lace up the shell-tops, and dive headfirst into one of the great musical collisions of the last 50 years: when rock and hip hop stopped flirting… and started throwing punches together. Our guest is Steven Blush — rock journalist, historian, and author of When Rock Met Hip Hop. The guy knows this terrain cold. We’re talking real-deal moments where guitars and 808s didn’t just coexist — they rewired the culture. We star...

We took Past Tens on the road for the first-ever Animated Movie Draft, recorded from a friend’s house in Vermont—which immediately set the tone: cozy, loud, slightly unhinged, and absolutely competitive. Four teams entered, rules were explained (and immediately bent), and chaos followed. The teams: No Capes (Andy and David), How to Train Your Landau (Addie and Dylan), Ka-rin & Stumpy (Milt and Karen), and Everything’s Fein (Michael and Nicole). The mission: draft the greatest animated movies of...

Dave and Milt fire up the DeLorean and head straight for the 1980s—specifically, the Grammy Awards’ Record of the Year decisions, many of which now feel… let’s say debatable. With equal parts reverence and side-eye, the guys re-litigate whether the Grammys nailed it, blew it, or flat-out whiffed. Spirited debates, personal memories, a few “wait—that won??” moments, and plenty of good-natured sniping as each year gets put back on trial. Along the way, there are trivia detours, surprise segments,...

Hop in the Time Machine and buckle up, because in this episode of Past Tens, Dave and Milt do what they do best: stare directly into the pop-culture sun and ask, “So… how did we get here?” The fellas break down Billboard’s Top 10 songs of 2025 — praising the bangers, questioning the head-scratchers, and revisiting a few familiar names that refuse to leave the charts (looking at you, Bruno). Along the way, they dig into artist backstories, chart momentum, and whether these songs are future classi...

Live from the glamorous crossroads of America (a Best Western in Sheboygan, Michigan), Dave and Milt roll out the red carpet—or at least a slightly wrinkled hallway runner—for the Second Annual Tennies, our totally prestigious, minimally regulated awards honoring the very best moments of the podcast year that was. This is the episode where we look back, point, laugh, occasionally wince, and then laugh harder. We hand out trophies (imaginary, but emotionally heavy) for categories like Best Guest...

On this holiday-themed episode of Past Tens: A Top 10 Time Machine, Dave and Milt crank up the festive vibes with a full-blown pop-culture trivia throwdown—covering Christmas songs, movies, TV episodes, and other seasonal nonsense we all pretend not to love (but absolutely do). Along the way, they pause to address the elephant in the studio: the growing list of celebrities who’ve inconveniently passed away shortly after being mentioned on the pod. Is it coincidence? A curse? Or just the most un...

On this very special episode of Past Tens, your beloved hosts — one recovering from surgery, the other recovering from life — roll out something brand new: The Starter Kit. Think of it as the musical tasting menu nobody asked for but absolutely needed. We each pick a band. We give you the essentials. You pretend to take notes. Everybody wins. Dave kicks things off with Duran Duran, because nothing says “starter kit” like a band that basically invented the MTV era and then refused to leave. ...

Ladies and gentlemen, what you are about to experience is nothing less than a rollicking romp through the gilded pantheon of televised tomfoolery! In this extraordinary edition of “Past Tens: The Top 10 Time Machine,” your indefatigable host Dave, with the unparalleled, inimitable chartmeister Milt sidelined by injury, in steps a stupendous subsititution, the incomparable Mark Gerber! The duo embark upon a triumphant return to that most spectacular, most ludicrous, most magnificently melodramati...

Just when you think you know the answers to 80s music trivia, we start changing the questions. Here you go, Machiners. 5 rounds. 5 questions each round. Choose wisely.

There once were two hosts, Milt and Dave, Whose duets made the time charts behave. From Loggins and Nicks, To Bowie’s slick mix, They delivered the hits that we crave. They told tales of songs thopics 00:59:10 Paul McCartney & Michael Jackson — Say Say Say 01:00:05 Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper — Shallow 01:01:20 Barbra Streisand & Barry Gibb — Guilty 01:02:10 Johnny Cash & June Carter — Jackson 01:03:05 Michael Jackson & Janet Jackson — Jam (Heavy D cameo love) 01:04:05 David Bowie & Bing C...

Dave and Milt reminisce about MTV's cultural impact following the announcement of its shutdown after 44 years. They share personal stories and memories from appearing on the classic MTV game show 'Remote Control.' Dave and Milt each recount their episodes, including detailed behind-the-scenes antics, their interactions with other contestants, and hilarious moments with Colin Quinn and other cast members. They even encounter a young Adam Sandler. The duo wraps up by honoring MTV's significant inf...

Milt and Dave fired up the Time Machine and landed smack in September of 1991, when mullets were plentiful and Blockbuster late fees could bankrupt you. We’re running down the box-office champs—from Arnold blowing stuff up in Terminator 2 to Billy Crystal roping cattle in City Slickers, with pit stops at Woody Harrelson’s baby-faced cameo in Doc Hollywood and the horror sequels nobody really asked for. Along the way, we: Trade war stories about seeing these flicks in sticky-floored theaters. ...