Jun 30, 2026 · 10 min · 10 segments
This week on The Rock Pod, Jimmy dives into the story of The Greg Kihn Band. From their power-pop roots in the San Francisco music scene to chart-topping hits like "The Breakup Song" and "Jeopardy,"…
all right so before there was a greg ken band there was a kid from baltimore named greg ken like countless musicians of his generation greg's life changed after seeing the beatles on the ed sullivan show suddenly music wasn't just entertainment it became an obsession and in the early 70s greg packed up and moved west to northern california the san francisco music scene at the time was full of jam bands and psychedelic leftovers from the hippie era Greg wasn't interested in 10-minute guitar solos.
He loved catchy songs, three-minute rock and roll, hooks, melodies, the stuff that made you sing along in your car.
That philosophy would eventually become foundation of the Greg Ken Band.
The Greg Kent Band officially came together in 1976.
The original lineup featured Greg Kent on vocals and guitar, Steve Wright on bass, Robbie Dunbar on guitar, and Larry Lynch on drums.
They were signed to the quirky independent label Berserkly Records.
Seriously.
home to artists who valued great songwriting over flashy trends.
The band released albums steadily through the late 70s.
Critics loved them.
Fans loved them.
Radio, well, not so much.
But not yet.
For years, they were one of those bands your cool friend knew about before everybody else.
One thing that made the Greg Ken band different was their work ethic.
They toured relentlessly, club after club, city after city, night after night.
Greg later joked that they practically lived on the road.
And that's what eventually paid off.
By 1981, they were ready for a breakthrough.
all right so before there was a greg ken band there was a kid from baltimore named greg ken like countless musicians of his generation greg's life changed after seeing the beatles on the ed sullivan show suddenly music wasn't just entertainment it became an obsession and in the early 70s greg packed up and moved west to northern california the san francisco music scene at the time was full of jam bands and psychedelic leftovers from the hippie era Greg wasn't interested in 10-minute guitar solos.
He loved catchy songs, three-minute rock and roll, hooks, melodies, the stuff that made you sing along in your car.
That philosophy would eventually become foundation of the Greg Ken Band.
The Greg Kent Band officially came together in 1976.
The original lineup featured Greg Kent on vocals and guitar, Steve Wright on bass, Robbie Dunbar on guitar, and Larry Lynch on drums.
They were signed to the quirky independent label Berserkly Records.
Seriously.
home to artists who valued great songwriting over flashy trends.
The band released albums steadily through the late 70s.
Critics loved them.
Fans loved them.
Radio, well, not so much.
But not yet.
For years, they were one of those bands your cool friend knew about before everybody else.
One thing that made the Greg Ken band different was their work ethic.
They toured relentlessly, club after club, city after city, night after night.
Greg later joked that they practically lived on the road.
And that's what eventually paid off.
By 1981, they were ready for a breakthrough.
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