Pat Francis Provides Rock Solid Fun
I spoke with a fellow Cheap Trick fan about his excellent show and one of our favorite records.
Hello and welcome to another issue of Michael’s Record Collection. Thank you, as always, for your time. Speaking of time, I wonder if you would be willing to take a moment of yours to write to me at MichaelsRecordCollection@gmail.com and let me know if you are strictly an MRC newsletter reader or if you also listen to the podcast and/or watch the YouTube videos. I’d like to get a sense of how much crossover there is. Thanks in advance.
Today I’m going to introduce you to one of my favorite music podcasts. As is the case with most of the music podcasts I listen to, Rock Solid is a show that makes me think differently about the music in my collection and enhances my overall experience as a music fan. Be sure to check out my interview with Rock Solid host
Pat Francis is in his 11th year as host of the Rock Solid podcast. When it comes to the podcast game, that makes him an institution and he’s likely a lot more influential on other music podcasts than he realizes. Rock Solid is “the comedy podcast for all things music, both new and classic,” and Francis, a standup comedian, along with a rotating cast of co-hosts, simulates the experience of sitting around the house listening to records with your friends.
I stumbled upon Rock Solid one day in October of 2017 because of a tweet by former professional soccer player Alexi Lalas, who was promoting his guest spot on Pat’s show to discuss the music of Def Leppard. The two went album-by-album and each picked songs to spotlight and often argued (in a playful way) about their favorites.
I enjoyed the banter and the music discussion, and I’ve been hooked on Rock Solid ever since.
“I actually I didn't even come up with the idea,” Francis said of his long-running show. “A couple guys from another podcast that I used to be on a lot just sat me down and they said they were going to start like a podcast network. And they said, ‘We want you to be the first show on our network.’ And I said ‘I can't do a podcast. I don't know what to do a podcast about.’ And they said, ‘You love music. You can do a music podcast.’ And I was like, ‘Okay, well, I can't do it by myself. I need a co-host.’”
After some discussion, a plan was formulated, and Gary Lucy was tapped to co-host.
“We just turned the mics on, and we didn't plan anything out other than the topic,” Francis said. “We didn't do a test show. We didn't really even talk about it. We just showed up, turned the mics on, and that's it. And you can still find that first episode everywhere.”
Lucy and Francis did the first 130 or so episodes of Rock Solid together before Lucy moved on to do other things. Francis brought in a rotating cast of funny co-hosts who loved music as much as he did to provide listeners with something a little different from week to week — different voices, different perspectives, and different musical interests.
“I wanted to have a rotating (cast), and I wanted to have some female voices. So, I got Christy Stratton, April Richardson, Murray Valeriano, and Mike Siegel and I call that the classic lineup,” Francis said. “They became the rotators and I was able to keep that up for quite a few years with really rotating them in — girl, boy, girl, boy every week.”
Pat’s nephew Kyle Dodson became a producer and show sidekick for a while before moving to New York, chiming in from time to time, running the soundboard, and looking up information on the web in real-time.
While the show has often been about the various hosting combinations discussing an artist or musical topic, Rock Solid has also long had guests from the music world come to the studio as well. Prior to the pandemic, Francis had the use of a studio where his wife taught screenwriting classes, and he put together an impressive list of guests over the years, but it was never an interview-of-the-week type of show (not that there’s anything wrong with that!). However, once the pandemic hit, things changed.
“During the pandemic we had to give the studio up,” he said.
So, out of a bit of necessity, Francis pivoted somewhat and started using Zoom — reluctantly at first, although he’s comfortable in that medium now — to do artist interviews, and that has opened up his show to even bigger and better guests because he doesn’t have to solely rely on those who live near him in the Los Angeles area — even though that’s a fairly dense area in terms of musicians per square mile. Over the course of the last year alone, Francis has had such rock icons as AC/DC’s Brian Johnson, Judas Priest’s Rob Halford, Scorpions’ singer Klaus Meine, Foreigner’s Lou Gramm, Steve Howe of Yes, and Monkee Micky Dolenz, among others.
After having had a couple of guests in the early days, the first big musical celebrity on Rock Solid was Melissa Etheridge, and it changed the way Francis thought about the show.
“I still remember right after I recorded that episode, me and Gary, and I was in my car on the way home, and I was just so elated,” he said. “I'd never felt like this after the podcast, because I was giddy and she was so lovely. I mean, it was one of those things where you're like, ‘I can't believe that just happened. Did that just happen?’ I guess it did.”
One of the things that helps Francis get such high-profile guests is his tenacity. If Pat wants a guest, he’ll continue to pursue that guest to the best of his ability. Persistence without becoming a nuisance is an art form and Francis seems to have mastered it.
Rock Solid still has episodes with his rotating cast of co-hosts mixed in with his interview shows, and it’s still going strong. Francis said he will continue to do it for as long as he enjoys it, but even though it’s work getting guests, as well as planning, recording, editing, and promoting the podcasts, it’s difficult to imagine him stopping. It’s obvious (and, for me, relatable) how passionate he is about music and how much he enjoys talking about it with his co-hosts and with his celebrity guests.
So, how does Rock Solid change the way I think about music?
When the show topic is an artist’s catalog or a period in a musical career, it makes me think about which songs I’d pick out to spotlight during a similar discussion. When Rock Solid goes track by track discussing an album, it makes me want to play that album, whether it’s new to me or I’ve heard it a thousand times. And when there’s a musical guest, there’s always something illuminating that comes out of the conversation that makes me want to revisit something from that artist’s catalog.
You can get the Rock Solid podcast on just about all the major podcast platforms. And you can find out more about his work at his website, rocksolidpodcast.com.
Pat is a huge fan of the band Cheap Trick. Knowing this, after my conversation with him about his show and podcasting in general, we discussed the band’s essential live album, At Budokan. That album was both his and my first exposure to their music because of the hit single “I Want You to Want Me.” We both owned the record as kids and we both still play it and love it. To see our full conversation about Rock Solid and Cheap Trick’s At Budokan, watch the video below.
Thanks again for reading Michael’s Record Collection. Please consider passing this issue of the newsletter along to a music lover you know.