What Difference Does It Make

Dave Sloan and Holly Cantos

Welcome to What Difference Does It Make. Dave and Holly talk all things 80s, but mostly music.

  • 46 minutes 42 seconds
    Paul Rees Was Raised On Radio

    Paul Rees was a young lad living in Scotland during the heyday of Album Oriented Rock (AOR). From a distance, Paul became a fan of American radio and the artists played on those stations, which led him to write the book Raised On Radio: Power Ballads, Cocaine & Payola – the AOR Glory Years 1976-1986.  It's an oral history of the golden era of critically derided, yet monumentally popular radio rock, when Journey, Boston, REO Speedwagon, Toto, and others ruled the airwavesPaul joins the podcast to chat about his book, and to fanboy about his favorite artists from this era.

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    27 February 2026, 8:00 am
  • 55 minutes 44 seconds
    Please Refer To Roddy Bottum As The Royal We

    Roddy Bottum is one of the founders and keyboardist of the iconic band Faith No More. In his memoir, The Royal We, Roddy shares his coming-of-age and out-of-the-closet stories in a pre-tech-boom San Francisco. He joins our podcast to chat about the bands, his upbringing, his addictions, and how he managed to survive it all with a sense of humor.

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    20 February 2026, 8:00 am
  • 48 minutes 2 seconds
    Valentine's Day 80s music favorites

    We at What Difference Does It Make love love and what better way to say it, than with a song from the 80s? We discuss a number of our favorites that make us feel all warm inside. Happy Valentine's (and Gal-entine's) Day!

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    13 February 2026, 8:00 am
  • 1 hour 1 minute
    Arielle Nissenblatt Podcasts On This And That

    Arielle Nissenblatt, Founder and Head Curator of Earbuds Podcast Collective AND a 2026 Podcast Hall Of Fame Inductee, joins our podcast to share her origin story, and insights into the industry. She then steps out of her comfort zone and into our favorite topic, 80s music! Arielle offers up her Millennial opinion on music from 1989 based on Los Angeles radio station KROQ's year-end playlist.

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    6 February 2026, 8:00 am
  • 1 hour 10 minutes
    Andy Greene: Rolling Stone Magazine's Secret Weapon

    Andy Greene, Senior Writer for Rolling Stone, has been with the storied magazine since 2004. Andy shares with us his origin story of how a shy, young boy from the suburbs of Cleveland finds his way to New York City to write about his idols and rub shoulders with artists like Phil Collins and Bruce Springsteen. We also asked his opinion on the music played on Los Angeles radio station KROQ in 1989, specifically songs 100 to 91 from their year-end playlist.

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    30 January 2026, 8:00 am
  • 39 minutes 53 seconds
    1989 KROQ Countdown

    And so it begins again, as we start our look at the top 106.7 songs played on radio station KROQ in Los Angeles in 1989. Upcoming episodes will feature ten songs each and a special guest, but for this episode, we’ll look at the bottom seven songs, 106.7 to 101, based on the station's year-end playlist. It's quite a start to the last year of 80s music, and a fine intro into the type of music featured on The World Famous KROQ.

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    23 January 2026, 8:00 am
  • 51 minutes 29 seconds
    Pop Culture In 1989

    The year 1989 was more than just the number...another summer...the sound of the funky drummer. It was the year we first fell in love with The Simpsons, the Game Boy, and The Arsenio Hall Show. It was also the year of amazing movies, and of course, music. While we can't do a "We Didn't Start The Fire" type of song with the year, we can revisit as much as possible in under sixty minutes. Tune in and bust a move!

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    16 January 2026, 8:00 am
  • 39 minutes 52 seconds
    80s Rock Star Commercials

    Back in the 80s, we thought they were selling out. Turns out, they were ahead of the curve. Rolling Stone’s Andy Greene rounded up some of his favorite commercials featuring 80s rock icons from David Bowie and Genesis to Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson. We revisited those ads, plus a few more we couldn’t forget, to bring you this special episode celebrating 80s music commercials.

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    9 January 2026, 8:00 am
  • 53 minutes 7 seconds
    Bill Janovitz Lets The Cars Story Be Told

    New York Times Bestselling author Bill Janovitz is a founding member of the Boston-based band Buffalo Tom. Bill's latest book on fellow Boston musicians is called The Cars: Let the Stories Be Told. It features a foreword from The Cars’ Greg Hawkes, and full participation from all three surviving band members. It’s the definitive book about The Cars, and Bill joins the podcast to share some details about this Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band.


    There's still time to get on https://the80scruise.com/https://the80scruise.com/ waitlist, sailing February 27 to March 6. Use the promo code WDDIM to get $250 in onboard credit.

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    2 January 2026, 8:00 am
  • 44 minutes 13 seconds
    New Year's 80s Music Favorites

    Another holiday classic filled with some great 80s music! We celebrate our new year's traditions, new year's resolutions, the history behind toasts and of course, all our favorite music we play to usher in the new year. 

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    26 December 2025, 8:00 am
  • 35 minutes 6 seconds
    Christmas Music Favorites

    What Difference Does It Make, the 80s music podcast, celebrates our favorite 80s Christmas songs. Holly tells us how she wooed her future husband with some skiing lessons and we also do a wrap on a couple old school hip-hop classics.


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    19 December 2025, 8:00 am
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