Disinfect
“Disinfect” finds acclaimed music journalist Matt Diehl and career crate digger Maurice Bernstein joining forces to air out music’s worst songs – disinfecting stinking sacred cows to the most godawful guilty pleasures.
Matt Diehl, Maurice Bernstein · Esther Yoon
Show overview
Disinfect has been publishing since 2020, and across the 2 years since has built a catalogue of 11 episodes. That works out to roughly 15 hours of audio in total. Releases follow a roughly quarterly cadence.
Episodes typically run an hour to ninety minutes — most land between 55 min and 1h 19m — though episode length varies meaningfully from one episode to the next. None of the episodes are flagged explicit by the publisher. It is catalogued as a EN-language Music show.
The catalogue appears to be on hiatus or wound down — the most recent episode landed 4.3 years ago, with no new episodes in over a year. The busiest year was 2020, with 7 episodes published. Published by Esther Yoon.
From the publisher
“Disinfect” finds acclaimed music journalist Matt Diehl and career crate digger Maurice Bernstein joining forces to air out music’s worst songs – disinfecting stinking sacred cows to the most godawful guilty pleasures.
Latest Episodes
Ep 11Van Halen III – Misunderstood Masterpiece, Monolithic Misfire, Or Both? (Special Guest: Brad Tolinski, author of Eruption: Conversations With Eddie Van Halen )
“Van Halen III” remains the most derided – and endlessly debated – album from its namesake band and late, great guitar god. Reeling from a series of tragedies – including the exit of Van Halen’s hitmaking singer, Sammy Hagar – Eddie Van Halen joined with new vocalist Gary Cherone of Extreme to redefine the band in his own image. The results proved to be one of the most notorious commercial and critical disasters in pop-music history. But is “Van Halen III” as bad as its reputation? To find out, “Disinfect” went to the edge with special guest Brad Tolinski – leading Van Halen expert and author of the acclaimed “Eruption: Conversations with Eddie Van Halen.”
Ep 10Not Feeling the Noise: Mining the Worst Heavy Metal Covers (Special Guests: Tom Beaujour and Katherine Turman)
Best-selling authors Tom Beaujour (“Nothin’ But a Good Time”) and Katherine Turman (“Louder Than Hell”) guest on "Disinfect" to bring hellfire to the worst heavy metal covers of all time – from Quiet Riot’s annoying noise to Danzig’s desecrations, and beyond...
Ep 9And the Award for Worst Eurovision Winner Goes To... (Special Guests: International comedy sensations Rob AndristPlourde and Greg Shapiro)
How does the pop-music Olympics turn out the worst pop music? As such, Eurovision’s dramatic return in 2021 got us thinking… What are the worst winning songs in Eurovision history? For help, we turned to our special guests, international comedy sensations Rob AndristPlourde and Greg Shapiro, for the Euro insider take on music’s biggest (and cheesiest) annual ritual.
Ep 8Cheesesploitation: Sammy Davis Jr. Destroys Isaac Hayes' "Theme From Shaft" (Special Guest: Carl Hancock Rux)
Award-winning recording artist/poet/writer/performer Carl Hancock Rux joins the "Disinfect" hosts to roast Sammy Davis Jr.'s disastrous, unintentionally hilarious cover of Isaac Hayes' blaxploitation classic, "Theme From Shaft"...
S1 Ep 7Why In Hell Did Barbara Streisand Massacre the David Bowie Classic “Life On Mars”?
Did you ever dream of hearing Barbara Streisand perform a multi-octave diva massacre of David Bowie’s classic “Life On Mars”? Nope – not us, either. But she went there – making for one of the worst cover songs we’ve aired out yet...
S1 Ep 6Why? Meet The Atrocious Rap-Rock Cover of Eazy-E’s “Boyz-N-The-Hood” (Special Guests: Murs And Slug of Felt)
Warning: you can’t unhear Dynamite Hack’s atrocious alt-rock cover of Eazy-E’s gangsta-rap classic “Boyz-n-the-Hood.” Special guests Murs and Slug of acclaimed hip-hop duo Felt share their outspoken thoughts on the subject...
S1 Ep 5Exclusive Interview: Grammy-Winning Producer/Artist William Orbit On Making Madonna's "American Pie," "Ray of Light" – And Beyond!
In a “Disinfect” exclusive interview, William Orbit reveals what went right and wrong in making Madonna’s “American Pie." He doesn't stop there – the Grammy-winning producer/artist also goes deep behind the scenes on “Ray of Light,” that secret ABBA cover, and much more...
S1 Ep 4Madonna's "American Pie" Was Voted The Worst Cover Ever. Is It?
A BBC listener poll voted Madonna's take on "American Pie" the #1 worst cover song in pop music history. What do you think? Learn what the experts say in the latest episode of "Disinfect"...
S1 Ep 3Moby, Steve Albini, & Arthur Baker On Covering "Love Will Tear Us Apart"
“Disinfect" returns to the scene of the crime – turning to experts Moby, Steve Albini, & Arthur Baker to analyze just how awful Paul Young's cover of the Joy Division' classic "Love Will Tear Us Apart" really is...
S1 Ep 2Is This the Worst Bob Marley Cover of All Time?
In episode 2 of “Disinfect,” hosts Maurice Bernstein and Matt Diehl investigate whether the Pat Travers Band’s version of “Is This Love?” indeed proves to be the worst Bob Marley cover in music history...
S1 Ep 1The Worst Joy Division Cover Ever?
For the debut episode of “Disinfect,” acclaimed music journalist Matt Diehl and crate-digging Giant Step honcho Maurice Bernstein commence their exploration of the worst covers ever. They launch the series by airing out the sacrilegious awfulness of Paul Young’s pop-soul take on Joy Division’s beloved post-punk classic, “Love Will Tear Us Apart.”