Punch Up the Jam
| Punch Up the Jam | |
|---|---|
Punch Up the Jam cover art, 2017-2020 | |
| Genre | Music, Comedy |
| Language | English |
| Cast and voices | |
| Hosted by |
|
| Production | |
| Length | 60–90 minutes |
| Publication | |
| No. of episodes | 192 |
| Original release | December 13, 2017 – December 22, 2022 (5 years) |
| Provider | Headgum |
| Updates | Weekly |
| Related | |
| Website | headgum |
Punch Up the Jam was a music and comedy podcast created by Miel Bredouw and Demi Adejuyigbe in 2017. It was later hosted by Bredouw with a variety of intermittent co-hosts including Chris Fleming and Rob Moose. After Bredouw's departure, it was revived by the podcasting network Headgum with hosts Andrew and Evan Gregory. Their last episode aired in 2022. The podcast discussed popular singles, including their production, instrumentation, vocals, and lyrics, and often ended episodes with a "punched up" version in which some element of the song was rewritten in a comedic way [1][2][3].
Most podcast episodes featured a comedic guest, including notable comedians such as Ayo Edebiri, Chris Fleming, Adam Conover, Amir Blumenfeld, Jake Hurwitz, Nicole Byer, Weird Al Yankovic, Negin Farsad and others. Bredouw and Adejuyigbe also performed multiple live shows across the United States.
Format
[edit]The show's theme music is a mash-up of "Pump Up the Jam" by Technotronic and "You Can Call Me Al" by Paul Simon.
Episodes begin with an enthusiastic introduction of the comedic guest. Together with the guest, the hosts then discuss one popular single for the entirety of the episode. The discussion often begins with some discussion of the song's history and trivia regarding its writing and production.[3] The hosts then walk through the song section by section, often clipping just a verse, chorus, or bridge, discussing and critiquing the instrumentation, vocals, and lyrics.[1] After discussing the entire song, almost every episode includes a "punched-up" version in which a host produces a parody that changes the original song's music or lyrics in a comedic way [1]. Some songs, however, are praised as "unpunchable" and thus no punch-up is aired. Finally, each interview ends with the hosts and guest offering their own "unpunchable jam" of the week as music recommendations.[4] These were curated into a Spotify playlist by Adejuyigbe from 2017 through 2019.[a][3]
Bredouw and Adejuyigbe recorded multiple episodes live, including episode 15 in Austin, Texas ("Mambo No. 5"), episode 54 at PodCon in Seattle ("Send Me On My Way" with Griffin McElroy), episode 80 in Los Angeles ("Two Princes" with Jon Gabrus and Alice Wetterlund), episode 86 in Seattle ("Santeria" with Ian Karmel), and episode 87 in Portland, Oregon ("Ghostbusters" with Open Mike Eagle and Neil Cicierega).
History
[edit]
Punch Up the Jam was produced by the Headgum network. The first episode aired on December 13, 2017, and the podcast was originally hosted by both Bredouw and Adejuyigbe.[3] On the 77th episode, on July 4, 2019, Adejuyigbe announced that he would no longer be involved with the show.[5]
Beginning with episode 91, Bredouw continued the show as its sole host. Throughout the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, Bredouw often co-hosted the show with Chris Fleming. The podcast was also expanded to feature commentary from musician and music theorist Rob Moose, which was referred to as the show's "weatherman" segment. The final episode of the show with Bredouw hosting was posted on December 24, 2020 [6].
A year later in December 2021, the podcast format was revived by Headgum with Andrew and Evan Gregory of the Gregory Brothers as hosts [7]. The Gregorys hosted the show until December 22, 2022, when the show was again retired.
Reception
[edit]Punch Up the Jam has received praise from numerous outlets, including Lifehacker,[4][8], The Oregonian,[9], Metro[1] Vulture,[10][3] Time,[11] and Pitchfork.[2] It was included in annual "Best of" lists by the Comedy Bureau[12] and Buzzfeed[13] in 2018, Time[11] and Vulture[14] in 2019, and Popsugar[15] in 2023. Writing in 2019, Mark Kramer with Vulture praised the show, saying "Bredouw and Adejuyigbe put more work into each episode than some podcast hosts do in a season, pulling out individual tracks, researching the artist, and creating the Punch Up from scratch".[3]
In 2020, Punch Up the Jam won the award for "Best Podcast Created and/or Hosted by a Woman" from Discover Pods [16]. In 2022, the podcast was nominated for "Best Music Podcast" in the People's Choice Podcast Awards
Episode list
[edit]Bredouw & Adejuyigbe
[edit]Bredouw
[edit]Gregory Brothers
[edit]| Episode | Song | Guest | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 141 | Punch Up The Jam - Trailer | — | December 8, 2021 |
| 142 | "Wonderful Christmastime" by Paul McCartney | Weird Al Yankovic | December 16, 2021 |
| 143 | "Do They Know It's Christmas?" by Band Aid | — | December 23, 2021 |
| 144 | "Feel Like Makin' Love" by Bad Company | — | December 30, 2021 |
| 145 | "Because of You" by Kelly Clarkson | Akilah Hughes | January 6, 2022 |
| 146 | "Deja Vu" by Olivia Rodrigo | Tim Daniels and Tom Reynolds | January 20, 2022 |
| 147 | "Conga" by Miami Sound Machine | Jiji Lee | January 27, 2022 |
| 148 | "Brass Monkey" by Beastie Boys | Amir Blumenfeld | February 3, 2022 |
| 149 | "I Won't Back Down" by Tom Petty | Kristen Bartlett and Jason Gore | February 10, 2022 |
| 150 | "The Gambler" by Kenny Rogers | — | February 17, 2022 |
| 151 | "Flavor of the Weak" by American Hi-Fi | Jake Hurwitz | February 24, 2022 |
| 152 | "Upside Down" by Diana Ross | Gaby Dunn | March 3, 2022 |
| 153 | "5 Years" by Björk | Negin Farsad | March 10, 2022 |
| 154 | "Sexy Bitch" by David Guetta ft. Akon | Justin Richmond | March 17, 2022 |
| 155 | "I Want It That Way" by Backstreet Boys | Jack Douglass and Erin Breslin | March 24, 2022 |
| 156 | "Como Me Quieres" by Khruangbin | — | March 31, 2022 |
| 157 | "The Reason" by Hoobastank | Mano Agapion | April 14, 2022 |
| 158 | "Manic Monday" by The Bangles | — | April 21, 2022 |
| 159 | "Levitating" by Dua Lipa | Connor Ratliff | April 28, 2022 |
| 160 | "Dust in the Wind" by Kansas | — | May 5, 2022 |
| 161 | "With Arms Wide Open" by Creed | Markiplier | May 12, 2022 |
| 162 | "Bring Me To Life" by Evanescence | Michael Gregory | May 19, 2022 |
| 163 | "I Get Around" by The Beach Boys | Tim Daniels | May 26, 2022 |
| 164 | "Beggin" by Måneskin | Daniel Thrasher | June 2, 2022 |
| 165 | "Mr. Blue Sky" by ELO | Amy Miller | June 9, 2022 |
| 166 | "Frontin" by Pharrell | Negin Farsad | June 16, 2022 |
| 167 | "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)" by My Chemical Romance | Gianmarco Soresi | June 23, 2022 |
| 168 | "Imagine" by John Lennon | Arthur Meyer | June 30, 2022 |
| 169 | "We Built This City" by Starship | — | July 14, 2022 |
| 170 | "Barbie Girl" by Aqua | Sammy Smart and Emily Gonzalez of Too Scary; Didn't Watch | July 21, 2022 |
| 171 | "I Need To Know" by Marc Anthony | Rachel Green and Kirsten O’Brien of Boss Bitches | July 28, 2022 |
| 172 | "I'll Make Love To You" by Boyz II Men | Carl Tart | August 4, 2022 |
| 173 | "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley | — | August 11, 2022 |
| 174 | "Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)" by Looking Glass | Jon Gabrus | August 18, 2022 |
| 175 | "Thinking Out Loud" by Ed Sheeran | — | August 25, 2022 |
| 176 | "Everytime We Touch" by Cascada | Annie Rauwerda aka Depths of Wikipedia | September 1, 2022 |
| 177 | "The Lazy Song" by Bruno Mars | Shelby Wolstein and EJ Marcus | September 8, 2022 |
| 178 | "Shine" by Collective Soul | — | September 15, 2022 |
| 179 | "Octopus's Garden" by The Beatles | Reilly Anspaugh | September 22, 2022 |
| 180 | "Rude" by MAGIC! | Wolves of Glendale | September 29, 2022 |
| 181 | "Goodbye Earl" by The Chicks | — | October 6, 2022 |
| 182 | "Young Americans" by David Bowie | Julian Shapiro-Barnum | October 13, 2022 |
| 183 | "Lovely Day" by Bill Withers | Michael Gregory | October 20, 2022 |
| 184 | "Replay" by Iyaz | Phil Jamesson | October 27, 2022 |
| 185 | "Eye of The Tiger" by Survivor | Arthur Meyer | November 3, 2022 |
| 186 | "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" by Green Day | Joanna Hausmann | November 10, 2022 |
| 187 | "You're Still The One" by Shania Twain | Jiji Lee | November 17, 2022 |
| 188 | "A Long December" by Counting Crows | Pat Cassels | December 1, 2022 |
| 189 | "One Headlight" by The Wallflowers | — | December 8, 2022 |
| 190 | "Sugar" by Maroon 5 | Ena Da | December 15, 2022 |
| 191 | "Y.M.C.A." by Village People | — | December 22, 2022 |
| 192 | Introducing: Wayne Brady's What If?! with Jonathan Mangum | — | March 20, 2025 |
See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ↑ See § External links.
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 "Podcast of the Week: Punch Up The Jam with Miel Bredouw and Demi Adejuyigbe". Metro.co.uk. January 27, 2019. Retrieved April 4, 2019.
- 1 2 "What Comedian Demi Adejuyigbe, Perhaps the "Weird Al" of His Generation, Is Listening to Right Now". Pitchfork. November 7, 2018. Retrieved April 4, 2019.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Kramer, Mark (8 April 2019). "Want to Try Punch Up the Jam? Start Here". Vulture. Retrieved 10 March 2026.
- 1 2 Douglas, Nick (15 October 2019). "The Best Podcasts for Discovering New Music". Lifehacker. Retrieved 10 March 2026.
- ↑ "Punch Up The Jam – 77 – Kiss From a Rose (w/ Travis McElroy)". Headgum. Retrieved July 4, 2019.
- ↑ "Punch Up The Jam - 'Fast Car' by Tracy Chapman (w/ Chris Fleming)". Headgum. Retrieved 10 March 2026.
- ↑ "Punch Up The Jam - 'Wonderful Christmastime' by Paul McCartney (w/ Weird Al Yankovic)". Headgum. Retrieved 10 March 2026.
- ↑ Passell, Lauren (18 November 2022). "12 Pop Music Podcasts That Slap". Lifehacker. Retrieved 10 March 2026.
- ↑ Njus, Elliot (29 Apr 2020). "45 podcasts to pass the time and (maybe) make you smarter during isolation". The Oregonian. Retrieved 10 March 2026.
- ↑ "This Week in Comedy Podcasts: Punch Up the Jam Reviews 'Nookie'". Vulture. August 3, 2018. Retrieved April 4, 2019.
- 1 2 Dockterman, Eliana (20 Dec 2019). "The 50 Best Podcasts to Listen to Right Now". Time. Retrieved 10 March 2026.
- ↑ Kroeger, Jake (2 January 2019). "The 100 Best Things in Comedy We Were Witness To In No Particular Order of 2018 – The Comedy Bureau". The Comedy Bureau. Retrieved 10 March 2026.
- ↑ Furlan, Julia; Bryan, Scott; Lane, Tim (8 February 2018). "27 Podcasts You Need To Start Listening To In 2018". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 10 March 2026.
- ↑ "The Year in Comedy Podcasts". Vulture. 10 December 2019. Retrieved 10 March 2026.
- ↑ Purhar, Simrin (15 April 2022). "The 27 Best Comedy Podcasts of 2023". Popsugar. Retrieved 10 March 2026.
- ↑ Goldberg, Kevin (9 November 2020). "Announcing the winners of the 2020 Discover Pods Awards". Discover Pods Awards. Retrieved 10 March 2026.