Transcript
music
Gentle, trilling music with a steady drumbeat plays under the dialogue.
promo
Speaker: Bullseye with Jesse Thorn is a production of MaximumFun.org and is distributed by NPR. [Music fades out.]
jesse thorn
I’m Jesse Thorn. It’s Bullseye.
music
“Huddle Formation” from the album Thunder, Lightning, Strike by The Go! Team.
jesse
My guest, Billy Gibbons, doesn’t need much introduction. He’s the guitarist and primary singer in ZZ Top. You know ZZ Top, right? [“Huddle Formation” fades out to be replaced with “Sharp Dressed Man”.] Of course, you know ZZ Top.
music
“Sharp Dressed Man” by ZZ Top. Clean shirt, new shoes And I don’t know where I am goin’ to Silk suit, black tie, I don’t need a reason why They come runnin’ just as fast as they can ‘Cause every girl crazy ‘bout a sharp dressed man [Music fades out as Jesse continues.]
jesse
At this point, ZZ Top are basically, literally iconic. Giant beards, sunglasses, thick, bluesy guitar riffs. Maybe you know them from MTV in the ‘80s, or their records from the ‘70s, or maybe you just know them as an idea that’s around. But behind that idea, behind the idea of ZZ Top is something a lot more interesting: the band ZZ Top! A psych-influenced blues rock band that is still cutting great records to this day. They have a fascinating story, too—one that is covered wonderfully in the recent documentary, ZZ Top: That Little Ol’ Band from Texas. A quick heads up, Billy and I recorded this interview about a week before we started producing and recording Bullseye from home. So, that’s why we sound like I am in the same room as him, complimenting his outfit. I was in the same room as him, complimenting his outfit, because he was dressed head to toe. [Music fades in, headed by a grumbling, mumbling sound from the vocalist.] Anyway, before we get to the interview, let’s play a ZZ Top classic, “La Grange”.
music
“La Grange” by ZZ Top. Have mercy A haw, haw, haw, haw, a haw A haw, haw, haw Well, I hear it’s fine If you got the time And the ten to get yourself in A hmm, hmm And I hear it’s tight [Music fades out as they speak.]
jesse
Billy Gibbons, welcome to Bullseye. It’s great to have you on the show.
billy gibbons
Bullseye it is, we is here.
jesse
It is rare—I have to say this, Billy—it is rare that somebody comes on this program so significantly more fitted than I am. [Billy laughs softly.] So, let’s talk about, for our at-home listener—I see a pocket square with what looks like a crocheted edge. [Billy confirms.] What else is going on, here? What have you got on your—around your neck? There’s a—
billy
Well, I gotta rattle the chain, first, to let you know it’s… it’s a collection, actually. At the very bottom, and this is what gets everybody—they say, “Gee whiz, that—isn’t that a belt buckle?” I said, “Yeah.” And they said, “Well, is there a significance to it?” And I said, “Well, I collect the mail down on Sunset Blvd. next to Boot Star, which is a famous western haberdashery—cowboy boots and pearl snap shirts—but under glass, they had this belt buckle. And it’d been there—I’d started to, kind of… get curious. It had been there for two years. And it was a Clint Orms—a famous silversmith who does—kind of known for his western belt buckles. And I said, “Well, uh, I’d like to make a move on that belt—” “No, you can’t have it.” [Jesse laughs.] I said, “Well, it’s really—” “No. It’s incomplete.” I said, “Well—in what—in what manner?” “Well, it’s missing the keeper and the tip. We only have the buckle and we just would feel better about not letting it go like that, incomplete.” Fortunately, that sales agent took a lunch break and the girl stepped forward and she goes, “Gee whiz, it’s been here for two years. What’ll you give me?” I said, “Well, it’s marked at $200.” She goes, “What? You got 20?” [They laugh.] I said—I said, “Okay!” So, you know, I was right down the street from Koontz Hardware, on Santa Monica. Went in there. For $1.99, I got the motorcycle lobster-clasp key fob, and I came back directly—and by this time, I’m next door picking up mail and the sales agent happened to glance out the window and saw me stroll by, and he said, “Wait a minute! I—I—you owe me $200!” I said, “No. It’s $180.” [They laugh.]
jesse
Let’s talk a little bit about Texas, where you are from. Did you grow up listening to the radio stations that were not in Texas, but outside of Texas—just over the border—that were, you know—that were there because there were no regulations on how powerful your signal could be. These, like, famous stations that broadcast all the way to Wisconsin, or whatever?
billy
Oh, yeah—the line of X stations—the delineation, in Mexico, the—well, let’s go back to the twenties. When commercial radio was just starting to become popular, it was the US and Canada that divided the entire AM bandwidth between them, leaving nothing for Mexico or Cuba. And shortly thereafter, the FCC was formed and immediately they decided that 50,000 watts was the ceiling. That was as—that was as bold as they would allow. And to give you some idea what 50,000 watts would be—WLS 50,000 out of Chicago, WLAC out of Nashville. You could hear—you could WLS out of Chicago all the way to South Texas.
jesse
And what could you hear on those stations that you wouldn’t have heard on stations based in the states?
billy
Oh, the—well, they started broadcasting. They turned the transmitter on, in the morning, and they didn’t start broadcasting until six in the evening. And it took that long for the place to warm up. I mean, it was pretty insane. But you’d hear advertisement—and the shows were all 15 minutes in length. So, you had evangelist preachers, J. Charles Jessup. You had Zeke Manners selling piano lessons. 100 baby chicks for a dollar. Things that were really interesting and it lasted up ‘til the—I guess the late seventies. But it was the healing preachers that really got to you. They were—they were something else. Yeah. J. Charles Jessup, [whispering] “I’m going to the island of Chandelier. I know some of you brothers and sisters have been doing things like smoking cigarettes and cigars. You ladies have been wearing nylons. But I’m going to the island of Chandelier and I’m gonna pray for you, brothers and sisters. I’m gonna plant my knees in that beach sand and let that salty seawater tickle my toes. And when the worm turns to moon and the moon the turns to butter, I’ll be praying for you.” [Jesse chuckles.] “Now, I know that you must understand an undertaking of this magnitude requires a great deal of money. So, send your love offering to me, care of XERF. Cash, check, or money order. And we’ll send you a pair of thought-provoking soul slippers, with your favorite psalm on the sole. And every step you take will fly up to our man, up there.” [Laughs.] Craziness!
jesse
Your dad was a musician. What kind of musician was he?
billy
Well, he did everything. He started off—he was from England, and he came over with his five brothers. And his dad, my grandad, was a glove maker. And during the great migration—end of the 1800s, into the early 1900s—fine leather goods came from England, Italy, and Russia. And, of course, back through Europe and—they didn’t like each other very much, until they decided to come to the United States. They laid their arms down and they all ganged together, and they went to upstate New York. And the town of Gloversville, where they made gloves. Still there. And that’s kind of what started my dad off on the entertainment side of things. One said, I asked, and I said, “Well—how did you get in the entertainment game?” He said, “Well, my five brothers and I went to the glove factory to have lunch with our dad, and when we left, we were walking home and we looked at each other and said, ‘We need to think of something quick, ‘cause we ain’t doing that.’” [Jesse chuckles.] So, they all picked up a musical instrument and my dad—they had a ragtime group called The Jazzy Five, that started it off. And later they got so good, they started landing the contracts at Saratoga Springs, Lake George, all the joints up around the Catskills, you know. So, my dad—from a ragtime jazz band to playing the piano in silent movies and then it just kind of developed into a thing. That’s kind of the background.
jesse
Did you expect to go into entertainment because he had been in entertainment?
billy
I think so. I think I can—I think it was—it was there, and I can remember being, like, three or four and—but in 1955, my mom took my sister and I to see Elvis. He was playing a big show in Houston, Texas, at the—at the coliseum, the Sam Houston Coliseum. And I’ve got a vivid memory. The recollection of that impact was not to be denied. It was there I was like, “Mmm [laughs], yeah, I wanna do that!”
jesse
And you was—you were really young! [Billy agrees.] I mean, we’re not talking about when you’re 14.
billy
No, I was—I was five. And then a couple of years went by and we started collecting records—the portable record player. I was lucky enough to—my sister and I had one. One was in her room. I had one. And we had a housekeeper that was just a music fanatic. And if my mom would go out shopping, we’d hurry over to the housekeeper and we’d ask her to give us the names of the records that we could—we could give the list to our mom, you know, to come back with the records that… you know, she would buy this stuff not knowing what it was. “Where’d you—where’d you kids get that stuff? [Laughing.] Turn that down!” But and then, in 1957, the next piece to the puzzle fell in the line. My dad said, “Get in the car, we’re gonna go.” He said, “I’ve got some business to do. You can come with me.” He was going to Bill Holford’s outfit—ACA, a big recording studio. They’re—the two big recording studios in Houston was Bill Quinn’s outfit, Gold Star, and Bill Holford’s outfit was ACA. So, I remember getting out of the car and we walked in and my dad led me into the studio, and he said, “Now, I want you to sit here.” He said, “I’ll be in the office, if you need anything. You can come get me. But—” He said, “I think you’ll like it.” He said, “There’s an orchestra coming in and you can watch ‘em make a record.” And that was pretty exciting. It turned out that it was B.B. King. And, man, they marched in, set up, and there I was sitting, in the corner. And that pretty—when B.B. struck it, that pretty much sealed the deal. [Jesse chuckles.] It was—okay! That I wanna do! Now, the irony to that piece to the puzzle, when B.B. King was turning 80, there was a project that had been dreamed up to celebrate B.B.’s 80th birthday, and they had invited a different group of ten different guest artists. And they invited me to participate and I was so flattered. I said, “Gee whiz, to play with B.B.—I mean, that’s—to actually make a record with B.B. King.” And I was with my buddies, Tom Vickers and Bob Merlis. They had kind of spearheaded this arrangement. And on the way over, I said, “By the way,” I said, “have they selected a song? Is there something that we should know?” And they said, “Well, as a matter of fact, yeah. It’s a song called ‘I’m Tired of Your Jive’.” And I said, “Yeah! I know that one! I heard it when I was seven years old! I saw B.B. King play it.” And we finally got to the studio and it was really interesting to walk into the control room. There was Bobby Bland and B.B. King telling stories from the Memphis days—waaay back. And we sat there for the better part of an hour and finally B.B. noticed I’d entered the room.
billy
“Ooh, okay, you’re here!” I said, “Oh! I’ve been—I’ve just been listening to the wonderful stories and the Sunbeam Mitchell of Memphis and Club Paradise—all the spots, you know.” So, he said, “Well, are you tuned up?” He said, “Let’s go make some noise.” I said, “Alright.” Got out there, strapped up, and he said, “Well, let’s go in there.” And he pointed across the room. And I said, “Well, B.B.,” I said, “That’s the singing room.” He said, “Yeah! You’re gonna play the guitar and you’re gonna sing with me!” And I said, “Well, okay, but I got—I gotta tell you, B.B., I’m White!” [They laugh.] So—and he got a big kick out of it. But off we went! And it was quite fun, man. It was—I was getting down with it.
jesse
I think that because ZZ Top’s sound is so distinctive, it’s easy to imagine that, like, you started making records that sounded that way when—or you started playing, like, you know, sock hops with a band that sounded that way in, you know, 1960. But by the time you were a teenager in the mid-sixties, it was like full British Invasion time. And by the time you were in a band that was having real success, it was a psychedelic rock band, very inspired by the 13th Floor Elevators. And I wanna hear a little bit of the—your band was actually, like, named almost in tribute to the 13th Floor Elevators—that’s how much of a—how inspired you were, by them. [Billy affirms.] Let’s take a listen to a little bit of your first big band’s one big hit. And by big hit, I mean small, regional hit.
music
“99th Floor” by The Moving Sidewalks When I woke up this morning I didn’t feel so good Then my baby told me I’ll make you feel like you should So, we got on an elevator And then we shut the door Baby, we won’t stop We won’t stop ‘til we get to the 99th floor [Music fades out as they resume talking.]
billy
Yeah. [Laughs.]
jesse
That band got you on the bill with some pretty amazing artists—not least of whom was Jimi Hendrix. How did you get on the road with Hendrix, with that band?
billy
Well, going back to your point of inspiration was genuine. When the Elevators hit, I think 1966 was their breakout track, “You’re Gonna Miss Me,” and they were living in Houston, at the time. And there was a big house—they called the Louisiana House. It was on Louisiana. And it had been cut off and had been interrupted by the construction of Highway 59, which came to a close at the edge of downtown Houston. And they didn’t take the house down. And yet it was nearly—it had been destroyed by this looming overpass of this freeway. So, the families moved out and it sat for a long time. And then some developer got a hold of it and turned it into these cubicles. So, the Sidewalks—we, the four of us—moved in. The Elevators were occupants. They were living there. And that was really a turning point, you know. We had this band—Billy G and the Ten Blue Flames—and then the psychedelic thing started to kick in and the Elevators were so instrumental in—from Texas, these guys? Making this kind of music? It was nearly unheard of. Well, it was—it had been unheard of. They invented it. So—
jesse
Your band was called The Moving Sidewalks because you felt all bands should be named after modes of pedestrian conveyance. [They laugh.]
billy
Well, the Elevators go up, the Sidewalks go forward. We thought that was—you know, in step. And then “99th Floor” came around. And then that led up to Jimi Hendrix. How did The Moving Sidewalks land a spot with Jimi Hendrix? Well, I had some friends that—The Jimi Hendrix Experience, the first record came out in England and we had gotten a copy sent over and we were just mesmerized with what was in those grooves. The Hendrix thing was exploding. And, somehow, shortly thereafter the phone rang, and we had an agent down there in Texas and he said, “You’ve got an invitation to play with this fella. His name’s Jimi Hendrix.” And we just, like, wide-eyed jumped at the chance. We said, “Sure, let’s do it.” And that kind of started it off. In order for the Sidewalks to fulfill the contract, we were expected to play for 45 minutes. And we were just starting to develop our own catalog. We had—we had followed the Elevators and we started branching out to this psychedelic thing. But we learned how to play a couple of Jimi Hendrix songs—“Foxy Lady” and “Purple Haze”—and I remember—
jesse
Just, like, to fill out your set and meet the—to be able to do your time.
billy
Yeah! We had—so, I’ll never forget the first night. We were gonna close the show and we decided that some of the—the stronger material was “I’m a Man” followed with “Foxy Lady” and “Purple Haze.” And over in the shows, I saw this guy with his arms folded. And it was Jimi Hendrix. And I was like, “Oh! Well, uh, okay. We’re gonna—uh—” We plowed through it and we took a bow and as we’re walking past, he grabbed me and he said, “I got to get to know you. You got a lot of nerve.” [They laugh. Jesse agrees.] I went, “Oh, okay!”
jesse
[Laughing.] He wasn’t wrong! He’s like, “Hey! I gotta go on, next! That’s my encore you just did!”
billy
We became fast friends. But, yeah, yeah.
jesse
Even more with ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, in just a minute. When we come back from the break, we’ll ask him a question you’ve probably wondered aloud for a very, very long time: will he ever shave off his beard? It’s Bullseye, from MaximumFun.org and NPR.
music
Bluesy transition music.
jesse
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promo
Music: Thumpy ambient music. Speaker: In the United States, Black people as a whole have less access to good healthcare, to education, and job opportunities than other groups. But who do we even mean when we say Black people? Who counts as Black? It’s a question this country has been trying to answer from the very beginning. Listen on NPR’s Code Switch podcast. [Music fades out.]
promo
Music: Mellow ukulele music plays in the background. Jordan Morris: Welcome! Speaker 1: Thank you. Speaker 2: Thanks! Speaker 3: No problem. Thank you. Jesse Thorn: These are real podcast listeners, not actors. Jordan: What do you look for in a podcast? Speaker 1: Reliability is big for me. Speaker 2: Power. Speaker 3: I’d say comfort? Jordan: What do you think of this? [Loud metallic crash and clanging.] All: Ooh. Speaker 2: That’s Jordan, Jesse, Go! Speaker 1: Jordan, Jesse, Go!? Speaker 2: They came out of the floor? [Loud thump.] Speaker 1: And… down from the ceiling? Speaker 3: That… can’t be safe. Speaker 1: I’m upset. Speaker 2: Can we go now? Jordan: Soon. [Music that sounds like it would have backed a 1990s commercial starts.] Jesse: Jordan, Jesse, Go!: a real podcast. [Music fades out.]
jesse
Welcome back to Bullseye. I’m Jesse Thorn. My guest is Billy Gibbons, singer and guitarist in the legendary rock band ZZ Top. The band’s story is recounted in a documentary called ZZ Top: That Little Ol’ Band from Texas. It’s streaming now on Netflix. Just as the, you know, the British Invasion artists who—or post-British Invasion artists who were mimicking the blues and coming up with something pretty different, you know, had their own thing going—all those Eric Claptons and so forth—when you guys started playing the kind of structures and basic elements of blues music, you came up with a whole other thing. Like, it’s a—it’s a different aesthetic.
billy
Yes. Yes. Uh, early on, we discovered that we were not gonna be the next Bob Dylan. That was something that everybody can aspire to. And yet, at the same time, it was—it was a pretty lofty notion. And at the juncture, when we were trying to get our feet on the ground, the idea of embracing that secret language of the blues—so much of it was based on double entendre and it was a lot of—a lot of entertaining secret messaging. And we decided to take it in that direction and, you know, when you’re 18 you’re still prone to cutting up and, you know, having a good time with it. And I think that’s what—that’s what separated ZZ Top. It wasn’t really to be taken so seriously. And—although the dedication and the, you know, the hours of practicing was heavily serious. And yet, at the same time, you know, we were just having a good time.
jesse
Well, let’s hear a little bit from ZZ Top’s first album, from 1971—which, by the way, was called ZZ Top’s First Album. This is “(Somebody Else Been) Shaking Your Tree.”
music
“(Somebody Else Been) Shaking Your Tree” from the album ZZ Top’s First Album by ZZ Top. Well, I’m tryin’, yes, I’m tryin’ just to get a line on you Where you been? (Where you been?) But I’m havin’ trouble puttin’ a find on you I’m wearin’ thin (Wearin’ thin) Somebody else been shaking your tree Supposed to be saving all that stuff for me [Music fades out as Billy speaks.]
billy
We always thought that was inspirational. So, [chuckles]—“So, you named your first ‘ZZ Top’s First Record’, so you know there’s gonna be more.”
jesse
There’s a great scene in the documentary where the engineer you worked with on your second record is describing trying to find a way to make your sound big while your manager is insisting that it only be single tracks. So, we only just hear the band as it plays, live. And there’s only three of you, so there’s a limited number of ways to enlarge the sound of three people playing three instruments, right? [Billy confirms.] Somebody sends the manager out for barbeque, and double-tracks your guitars.
billy
Yes. While the cat’s away, the mice were playing. We didn’t tell the manager that the barbeque joint was 35 miles away. [Jesse laughs.] So, we had a good two hours to kind of beef it up. And, ironically—or coincidentally—when the barbeque arrived with the manager, who was a little bit befuddled, we took a break and then he said, “Roll tape.” And here was this enlarged effect. And, fortunately, he liked it. He didn’t quite know how it happened. So, we just kept shut—we kept—we kept quiet about it and we insisted, for the rest of the sessions, the remainder of the week—that, “Oh! We gotta have barbeque again! We got—can you go get that barbeque, again?” So, these little two-hour windows were—that was, kind of—it was—it was growing pains, but it really enlarged the sound.
jesse
And not just that it was two tracks of guitar on top of each other, but that A) the tracks had to be simple enough that you could double them. Which is to say, like, you couldn’t—you couldn’t get too crazy, ‘cause you had to be able to play it over again, the same. And also, that the second time around, the engineer went in and futzed with your guitar to just make it sound [chuckling] a little out of tune. Like, he’s like, “I literally—” he describes like, just pulling on the strings. [Billy affirms.] To de-tune them just a—just a tiny bit.
billy
Well, you get that width. If you play exactly on top of it, it disappears. And it is difficult to get that strident. This is long before any software program would line it up. But then, you also got the bonus of that slight de-tune. And, brother, you talk about—it’s bigger than a Buick. It gets wiiide. But that’s the beauty, the engineering prowess—that was Robin Hood Brian’s. And he had so much experience and he was not shy. He brought—he brought all—he pulled out all the stops. He knew that—he liked what we were doing, and he pitched in and said, “Yeah, alright. Play it again and let’s make it bigger.”
jesse
By the time the band was—hit its first peak, in the late 1970s—you went on this—you went on this national tour called The Worldwide Texas Tour that, in the documentary about the band, Billy Bob Thornton describes as being like a cross between rock and roll, rodeo, and a circus. Because you had not insignificant numbers of live animals onstage. [Chuckles.] Like, there’s footage of you in this—in the documentary. You’re wearing, like, flared pants nudie suits, or something. [Billy chuckles.] Like, it is a truly extraordinary spectacle. And it’s the first time we have—it seems like you have this idea that, like, “Oh, the story—like, the thing that we can get people to understand what we’re doing is this is Texas for the world.” Right? Like, this is something about Texas that we can share with anybody and everybody.
billy
Oh, yes. Um. But—
jesse
It’s also ridiculous. Like, I wanna be clear [laughing], it is goofy as heck!
billy
It was so crazy, yeah! Ridiculous. Well, the byline was, “Taking Texas to the people.” [Jesse laughs.] And, you know, the idea started—I think we were sitting around one of the rehearsal sessions and one thing led to the next and the next thing we’re—we’ve got ten semi-trucks being painted as this giant mural from the beaches through the central plains over to the mountains and then the menagerie entered the picture.
jesse
There’s a buffalo. There’s some buzzards. There’s a longhorn cow.
billy
Yep. A javelina pig that—we had a little plexiglass pyramid at the end of the stage which was shaped like this bottom part of the state of Texas. And inside this glass pyramid were two live rattlesnakes. So. [Jesse cackles.] It was—it was—so, I said—oh, we went up north and it got cold. And the snakes went into hibernation. Well, that wasn’t gonna be anything interesting. So, the question is, “Where do you go to get fresh rattlesnakes that are still awake?” [Jesse continues to break into laughter.] We had to go back to Texas. You know, it was hot, and it was—it was ridiculous.
jesse
Have you ever thought about throwing it all away? By which I mean, just shaving off your beard for a while? [Chuckles.] And, like, wearing a wig if you need—if you need to do a spot show?
billy
Yeah—no.
jesse
A face wig. I don’t know what a face wig is called.
billy
Well, we’re wearing one. [Laughs.] Oh man. I don’t think we could get away with it. [Jesse laughs.] Number one, we’re not sure what’s in—behind these whiskers here. [Chuckles.] So, I think we’re pretty much stuck with it, yeah. Yeah. Plus, we’re lazy. You know, the big question is, “Do you sleep with the beard under the covers or over the covers?” That’s kinda like, “Well, I don’t know. I’m asleep. I couldn’t tell you.”
jesse
Well, Billy Gibbons, I’m so grateful that you came to be on Bullseye. It was really nice to—it was really nice to meet you and learn about your amazing career.
billy
Well, you’ve hit the Bullseye on many levels. This has been most enjoyable. Let’s keep it going! [Jesse chuckles.]
jesse
Billy Gibbons! ZZ Top’s immensely charming documentary, ZZ Top: That Little Ol’ Band from Texas, is streaming now, on Netflix. Check their website for tour dates coming up, once—you know—once bands are touring again.
music
Bluesy transition music.
jesse
That’s the end of another episode of Bullseye. Bullseye is currently being produced out of the homes of me and the staff of Maximum Fun, in and around Los Angeles, California—where… unlike Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, I had what I can only describe as a mental break and shaved my beard off. It was, uh, unsuccessful! [Laughs.] Looks awful. So, uh, despite the health benefits, I think I’m just gonna—just gonna grow it right back. Our show is produced by speaking into microphones. Our producer is Kevin Ferguson. Jesus Ambrosio is our associate producer. We get help from Casey O’Brien and our production fellow is Jordan Kauwling. Our interstitial music is by Dan Wally, also known as DJW. Dan has made a collection of music used on Bullseye available pay-what-you-will, on Bandcamp. Search for DJW Bullseye, there. It’s great tunes to, you know, read a book by or whatever. Our theme song is by The Go! Team. Thanks to them and their label, Memphis Industries, for letting us use it. If you’re hosting any parties with your immediate family members, at home, you should get one of their records. And, uh… if [laughs]—if you have some time on your hands, we have tons of interviews in our back catalog. If you’re maybe into hearing more from rock and roll legends, maybe check out John Cale, from The Velvet Underground. Or Elvis Costello. That’s two pretty good ones! We interviewed ‘em! All of those available on our website, at MaximumFun.org, and almost all of them available in your favorite podcast app. We’re also on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Just search for Bullseye with Jesse Thorn. You can keep up with the show there. And I think that’s about it. Just remember: all great radio hosts have a signature sign off. [Music fades out.]
About the show
Bullseye is a celebration of the best of arts and culture in public radio form. Host Jesse Thorn sifts the wheat from the chaff to bring you in-depth interviews with the most revered and revolutionary minds in our culture.
Bullseye has been featured in Time, The New York Times, GQ and McSweeney’s, which called it “the kind of show people listen to in a more perfect world.” Since April 2013, the show has been distributed by NPR.
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