Hojo and Hunnsy’s Hard Rock House

If you thought the arrival of a new year would stop your two favourite old rock fools chunnering on endlessly about rock music you’re sorely mistaken. Episode 26 sees HoJo and Hunnsy trying to figure out why concerts are now announced months in advance, whether Jon Bon Jovi has filched more ideas from Honeymoon Suite, why Rammstein are sex people and whether Hunnsy wearing a loin cloth is a good marketing ploy. And if that tremendous set of topics doesn’t get us as many listeners as ‘The Rest Is History’ then we may as well give up!

• Please note Hunnsy gets the name of Frank Brunos trainer wrong - if that in itself doesn't intrigue you, nothing will

Episode 25 is here to help you shake off the post-festive period blues as your two favourite old gumbies return to the podcast fray with an action-packed session where HoJo shows off about getting a phone call from his old Iron Maiden buddy Steve ‘Bomber’ Harris, then comes back down to earth explaining the massive tiff he had with Ted Nugent back in 1986. It’s feather dusters at dawn! And if all that isn’t exciting enough, Hunnsy raves about Starz, while HoJo reveals what a big man he is by lauding the debut album by… Ted Nugent! Peace and goodwill to all men! (who play on ten)

Episode 24 is here, full to bursting with Yuletide fun and frolics. Your favourite old rockers discuss their best rocking Xmas records before ceding the floor to long-suffering wives Sahra and Louise who gamely agree to a quiz that tests their knowledge – or rather lack of knowledge – of hard rock music. Elsewhere Hunnsy draws your holiday attention to 1981’s classic ‘Earthshaker’ by Y&T, while HoJo goes striktly for konnoisseurs with Scottish band Baby Chaos’ ‘Ape Confronts Cosmos’ from 2020.

Episode 23 is here to slap you about the chops with Hunnsy running the debut album by The Rods up the critical flagpole and HoJo somewhat surprisingly going all LA with Van Halen’s ‘1984’ album. Elsewhere our dynamic duo pay tribute to Birmingham’s most enthusiastic current headbanger and HoJo remembers the time when he was given an audience in Wolverhampton – yes, Wolverhampton! – with metal’s Mr. Showbiz David Lee Roth.

Episode 22 descends from the heavens as HoJo and Hunnsy talk about all sorts of rock ‘n’ roll shenanigans. Can you believe that once upon a time rock journos like HoJo were sent to the Bahamas to hang out with Anthrax for a week? What went wrong in the world?! Plus! Are rock ‘n’ roll cruises a worthwhile pursuit? Does Ted Nugent still shoot animals? And are Anthrax’s ‘Volume 8: The Threat Is Real’ and the debut album by The Throbs any cop? 

Strap yourselves in for a wild ride as Episode 21 sees Hunnsy bringing the Cult’s controversial third album ‘Electric’ to the table of discussion. Want to know what Metallica’s Cliff Burton told HoJo about the band? Here’s where you’ll find out. Plus, the boys investigate what on earth was going on back in the ‘80s when Kerrang! was featuring New Model Army, Prince and Duran Duran in its pages? You can’t blame it all on the drugs! Plus! Why on earth don’t the French like whiskey sours?!

Who would have thought it? Episode 20 is here, and HoJo and Hunnsy are weirdly in sync with their album picks of Torme and Gillan. Spooky! But how did Hunnsy’s mum end up drinking wine with the Gillan band? And why on earth did she turn down Bernie Torme’s headband? Plus! Poor press releases. Diss names that were handed out to Kerrang!, Metal Hammer and RAW. And which album by Spanish rockers Baron RoJo has a pic of HoJo on it?

He’s one of the nicest men in rock and his dress sense was once inspired by The Thompson Twins. But don’t let that put you off! Yes, it’s Wild Horses, UFO, Gary Moore and Moggs Motel multi-instrumentalist Neil Carter, who dropped by the pod to discuss why he was called Hammie, whether Pete Way even needed to be plugged in, ‘The Bouffant Years’ with Gary, judging cats, and why Neil gave hard rock up for many years to tech clarinet! So what are you waiting for? Get listening!

Praise be! Episode 19 is with us, and we’ve only gone and got ‘im on! Listen to a few glorious minutes of our Neil Carter interview here, then check out the full-length version! Meanwhile, Hunnsy’s “frothing at the gills” over Lions In the Street and their Stonesy rock ‘n’ roll, while HoJo wants you to investigate The Angels’ ‘Dark Room’, the album AC/DC would have made had they gone to art school and smoked lots of dope! Plus! The important question! Where do you stand on the great metal hair debate? 

Hallelujah! Episode 18 is here, and Hunnsy’s going balls to the wall for Accept, HoJo gets all teary eyed over the majesty of Tommy Bolin, and recounts the bizarre ‘trains, planes and automobiles’ story of the superhuman effort he made to grant Accept their first Kerrang! cover story back in 1982.

It’s all about ‘Lettergate’ in  Episode 17 of HoJo & Hunnsy’s Hard Rock House as HoJo recounts the sorry tale of Blackfoot and the X-rated correspondence they once sent him that was intercepted by his mum! Plus! Hunnsy goes wild for UFO’s ‘The Wild, The Willing And The Innocent’ and HoJo investigates the timeless appeal of Grand Funk’s ‘We’re An American Band’.

HoJo’s feeling a little bit poorly this week, but is he ready to take off his metal breastplate and retire to bed? Is he buggery! Not when there’s music to discuss and laughs to be had over John Waites 1984 album ‘No Brakes’, the one that featured colossal US Number One ‘Missing You’. There‘s also a dissection of music by Finnish rocko/pompy/folksome/popmongous outfit Von Hertzen Brothers, as well as the absolutely unwhackable story of Hunnsy being beaten around the head by Noodles from The Offspring who, incidentally, had only just finished pissing on his own glasses! Rock? It’s a weird and wonderful world alright…

Hold on to your headbands! Episode 15 is here and there’s mucho music for the old men of rock to get their false teeth into. Is Diving For Pearls the greatest undiscovered AOR band of them all? And if so, why did their guitarist end up in ‘Seinfeld’? Did ‘80s rocker Billy Squier create hip hop? But did he also star in the worst promo video of all time? And don’t miss out on the brilliant tale of how HoJo got arrested with British rockers Vardis in a pub near Manchester in the early ‘80s! His mum was livid!

Our latest – maybe greatest – episode asks the questions other pods are too chickenshit to go near! Did UFO’s Phil Mogg really call HoJo in 1984 pretending to be the tax man? Should Bon Jovi be paying Black ‘N Blue royalties? Does Quireboys singer Spike honestly look like he’s spent the night in a damp sleeping bag in a dustbin? And why didn’t HoJo have a clue what brown powder was when Pete Way was on the hunt for it?

HoJo and Hunnsy bemoan the fact that they never managed to bag a top-level LA rock girlfriend because they never went to legendary ‘80s club hangout The Cathouse. HoJo reveals why Disneyland After Dark ruined his life in the ‘80s and wonders where New American Shame have been all his life. But without a doubt the big issue of this week’s episode is what the f*ck has happened to Tom Keifer’s leg?!

Here we go again with another deep dive into the delightfully daft world of classic hard rock. Hunnsy’s been listening to Angel’s ‘Sinful’, wishing he had guitarist Punky Meadows’ hair, and worrying whether vocalist Frank DiMino is in the Mafia. HoJo’s going all art-rock-meets-grunge with Masters Of Reality, and we have a sad update about Ozzy’s dwarf! But the flaming hot topic of the week is this. When is the right time for rock bands to admit that they’re way past their sell-by date and should just knock it on the head?

HoJo and Hunnsy are hard at work strategising about how they can get their metal-hating kids the appreciate the glories of hard rock. Looks like they’re failing. Has anyone got any ideas? Meanwhile, the boys dive into albums by Night Ranger and Wild Horses. Also, what on earth does Hunnsy’s daughter mean when she says Nuno Bettencourt is ‘leng’? What’s the greatest opening track on a debut album? Why did HoJo meet Ozzy Osbourne’s own personal dwarf back in the early ‘80s? And where is he now?

The boys are riding into town tonight by the light of the moon to discuss The Dan Reed Network’s first album and whether it was the only good thing to come out of that awful funk metal movement? Plus! Who remembers The Cult’s ‘Cyril Walker’? Was HoJo a clairvoyant when writing about Duran Duran’s Andy Taylor in Kerrang! back in ’84? And will Hunnsy follow Tommy Lee’s example and wave his penis at his tomato plants? The ruddy marvellous 10th episode of HoJo & Hunnsy’s Hard Rock House is here right now to enlighten you on the issues that really matter in the world of loud!

Have the boys taken leave of his senses when they say Enuff Z’Nuff and Donnie Vie are better than The Beatles? Listen as they mount a spirited defence of this controversial viewpoint. Also, when’s the moment when you simply check out of listening to a band’s new releases, and why does it happen? Plus! Is HoJo honestly excited by the return of ‘post hair metallers’ Vain? And why on earth has someone asked Tommy Lee if he’s ever read early 20th century French highbrow novelist Marcel Proust?!

The excitable old stagers of rock are back with another dive into the music they’ve been listening to, featuring bad boys Rock City Angels and acceptable grungers Alice In Chains. Plus! Understanding Klaus Meine’s insane dancing, waiting for the social media pile-on after HoJo and Hunnsy dare to criticise Bon Scott, and trying to figure out why a Portuguese frontman who plays ‘leg guitar’ isn’t a superstar?!