Death, Sex & Money - The Thrills and Heartbreaks of Being a Funk Rock Pioneer

When musician Chris Dowd was 19, shortly after graduating from high school, his band Fishbone got signed to Columbia Records. The group was made up of Black teenagers in Los Angeles, who combined several musical genres—funk, punk, ska, metal, reggae—into a new exciting sound in the late 70’s. They influenced countless other bands but struggled to find lasting commercial success. This week on the show, Chris talks to Anna Sale about being a teenage rock pioneer who stepped away from the group in 1994. He also discusses his close friendship with the late Jeff Buckley, his trouble with alcoholism after Jeff's death, and what it's been like to rejoin Fishbone and go on tour. Fishbone songs featured in this episode: Skankin’ to the Beat Ugly Adolescent Regressive Behavior Party at Ground Zero Cubicle Love is Love Last Call in America (feat. George Clinton) Housework Watch Fishbone’s 1991 performance on SNL: This episode was produced by Cameron Drews and Daisy Rosario. Get more Death, Sex & Money with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of DSM and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts.

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Death, Sex & Money - The Thrills and Heartbreaks of Being a Funk Rock Pioneer is an episode from Culture Gabfest.

This episode is 54:33 long.

This episode was published on Apr 28, 2026.

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