TEASER - 176: Danpilled Extended Universe: Michael McDonald (with Matthew Perpetua)

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Fluxblog’s Matthew Perpetua returns to the show to continue our Danpilled series, this time taking a look at one of the main contributors to their sound, the singer Michael McDonald, who has just released his memoir What a Fool Believes, co-written with Paul Reiser.

Through a look at some of our favourite McDonald songs we discuss his long and productive career, from his troubled childhood to his collaborations (musical and otherwise) with Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, to the way he applied what he learned from Steely Dan to his leadership of the Doobie Brothers and his influence on singles through the seventies and eighties. Sober since the mid-nineties, he’s enjoyed a second wind as an artist and pop culture icon in the 21st century through sampling, guest appearances on the music of contemporary artists and as a central figure of the whole concept of Yacht Rock.

Plus: Matthew’s thoughts on the Disney era of the X-Men with the release of Deadpool & Wolverine!

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The legendary Michael McDonald “Ride like the Wind” SCTV skit

The Doobie Brothers performing “What a Fool Believes” live in 1981