Back to Basics

Now that the mighty WMFO CD burner is alive and well in Studio A again, I can take the show back to its origins: ripping albums I've never heard before in the hope that gold lies within.

I've got a sizable stack of record store, thrift store and show finds for just this purpose. What will you hear? I don't know. I haven't even heard them, but IT'S A WONDERFUL NEW BESTLINE WORLD holds hope for fans of promotional albums.

Tune in on Wednesday from 7PM to 9PM for records that could change your life. If you're in the Boston area, just tune your radio to 91.5 FM. Outside of Boston, point an Internets browser toward wmfo.org and enjoy our FREE streams in your choice of Windows Media or iTunes.

I'll be doing a few of these shows to clear up the backlog, and I'll also be playing my new favorite PSA.

Celebrating Edward R. Murrow (MP3)

International Trucks (1:12)

April 26 marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of Edward R. Murrow, a broadcasting pioneer who wrote the book first for radio reporting during World War II, then later for long-form television reporting. Murrow's decision to face off against the the forces of Senator Eugene McCarthy's Communist witch hunt is well-documented in George Clooney's GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK.

I first learned about Murrow in high school, thanks to a teacher who was a fan and presented his CBS documentary HARVEST OF SHAME, dealing with the plight of migrant farm workers, each year around Thanksgiving. Murrow's belief in "the box" as a tool for enlightment and exposing corruption hit a chord with me and made me a fan of both journalism and documentaries, and later broadcasting. As fellow Murrow fans are no doubt aware, the name of this blog and my radio show are a play on Murrow's I CAN HEAR IT NOW.

This MP3 is an announcement for International Harvester's 1957 50th anniversary convention. Murrow was a highlight of the event, providing a televised interview of some of International Harvester's top executives.

It's interesting to note that in the modern age, a journalist would shun these corporate gigs to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interests. Walter Cronkite was pilloried by his journalism colleagues after agreeing to appear in infomericals in 2003, and Mike Wallace was greeted with skepticism by news agencies after he took commercial assignments to pay his bills. One surviving example of Wallace's work is The Zenith 2G Tonearm from the original 365 Days Project.

Those restrictions were less common in the 1950s, so here's a rare chance to hear Murrow discuss something other than the news. It even ends with an alternate version of his trademark signoff, "Good bye, and good luck."

Rare Paul Davis (MP3s)

LT Sound Demo, Side 1
LT Sound Demo, Side 2

Paul Davis, best known for his 1977 hit, "I Go Crazy," passed away from a heart attack on Tuesday at the age of 60. Davis was a staple of FM radio when I was growing up, and I remember "Cool Night" and "65 Love Affair" playing on warm summer nights as I rode around in the car with my parents.

Paul Davis also has a connection to this blog, as this particular album, THE LT SOUND DEMO ALBUM, was the very first MP3 posted here, back in the days when I was hosting files on MySpace and had to chop everything to bits to get around their file size limits. The original posts are here and here, if you want some more specific details on the tracks. The older links no longer work, but I've posted both sides of the album above, in their entirety and at a higher sample rate.

The album is a promotional piece for LT Sound processors, narrated by Lacey Thompson, Jr. What makes it unique is that Thompson had access to the original studio masters for Davis' COOL NIGHT album, so you'll get to hear parts of Davis' songs without all the production, including some raw lead and harmony vocals.

Source materials like this are very rare, so this should be a treat for Davis fans, giving you a chance to hear what goes into a pop album.

Party's Over. Please go home.

Back when I was in college (there was another guy named Bush in the White House, to clarify date and time), a combination of music, dubbed VHS movies and a large dorm suite in a renovated hotel made my room a popular place for nonacademic gatherings. As there was always booze flowing about the room, this was great fun until about 2 in the morning, when every host must confront one of the great truths of parties:

Some people just don't want to leave.

I had an import copy of ELTON JOHN'S GREATEST HITS that I kept handy for the stragglers. Track 1 was "Your Song," and the combination of gentle piano and Elton's cooing vocals induced enough drowsiness to send most of the night owls packing. None of the guests ever suspected it was deliberate, even those who spent several nights a week hanging around. My roommate was the only other person in on the scheme, and when he got tired, I'd get a request for Elton.

Let's face it, when you've got a room full of the inebriated to clear, choosing the right music is essential. This was reinforced for me last year, when Schadenfreudian Therapy posted the outstanding Turd in the Punchbowl mix, which takes a far more aggressive route in dispatching the stragglers. It's a must-download packed with some hilarious gems.

As the warmer weather tends to bring guests out of their IKEA-furnished winter hibernation to seek canapes and adult beverages at other people's homes, I thought I'd use this week's show to present two mixes suitable for emptying a room. From 7-8PM Eastern Daylight on Wednesday, it's "Have a Good Night," a collection of slumber-inducing songs that will deflate the wildest gathering.

Then, from 8-9PM, it's "Please Leave!" featuring songs ranging from the troubling to the screeching, including many tracks from the Hear It Wow archives.

Listen live on 91.5FM in the Boston area, or listen online for free in your choice of Windows Media or iTunes at wmfo.org.

If you're looking for some light supper music or want to hear how AC Rowe tried to compete with MUZAK, you'll enjoy this week's post of Customusic on WFMU's Beware of the Blog. More Customusic will be popping up on WFMU's site in the coming weeks.

Save the Planet? Why Bother

With all the talk of food riots and the morality of dumping corn in our gas tanks while developing countries starve, I'm reminded of a heckler I squared off against in a comedy club not so long ago. She was rather drunk and clearly a greenie.

"Don't you want to save the planet?" she hollered from her seat about halfway back in the room, which she'd been alternately kneeling and sitting on, somtimes Indian-style, sometimes with both feet on the floor.

"No," I deadpanned.

"Why not?"

"I find most of it wet and easy to drown in. The rest of it's dirty and has too many people."

"What about the trees?" she screamed.

"I hate trees," I responded, dipping into my stock lines. "As someone who occasionally drinks and drives, trees are my mortal enemy along with their processed cousins, the telephone poles."

Drunk herself, she took this opportunity to fall off her chair laughing. Yes, I actually made someone fall on the floor laughing, although any good comic will tell you that it's points off for each of the stages of intoxication.

This brings me to the topic of this week's show, which happens to be Earth Day, which happens to be April 22, 2008. I'll be joined in the studio by Boston comic Arielle Goldman, who, as a child, took part in one of those giant Earth Day concerts that we used to have in football stadiums. Arielle will be sharing songs from a CD of her singing group, including compositions by Jill Stein, former Green Party candidate for governor of Massachusetts. Said songs to be complemented by an array of envirorock from the likes of U2, Squeeze, The Pretenders and Midnight Oil, to name a few.

It happens Wednesday, April 16th from 7-9PM on 91.5 FM in Boston or wmfo.org if you're anywhere else in the world. After the show, you can stay tuned to hear me mutilate an in-studio performance as I attempt to engineer for our local music show, On the Town with Mikey Dee.

Why Is Radio So Darned Repetitive?

One of Boston's standup comics has a great line: "I don't listen to the radio anymore because I like to hear more than eight songs." How we got from freeform to overly formatted radio is a factor of focus groups, ratings, and the capitalist reality that everthing has to be not just about making money, but making more money with each passing year.

The death of commercial freeform is well-documented in Jim Ladd's excellent Radio Waves (Amazon link). If you haven't read Jim's book, it's a must, taking you from the pioneering efforts of Tom Donahue to the ultimate demise of America's last commercial freeform station.

While I can understand the KISS franchises of the world keeping this week's flavor on heavy rotation for the ADD-addled kids, it gets irritating when classic rock and Jack stations keep dipping into the same set of tracks day after day. Boston's WZLX used to advertise that they had the area's biggest music library. They stopped doing that when listeners realized they only played a tiny portion of it. Another Boston station plays Badfinger's "No Matter What You Want" with such regularity that you can set your watch to it.

So tonight, I'm protesting. I'm playing the same eight songs over and over for my two-hour show, although I am doing it a little differently. I'll start out playing the originals, then fill out the time with cover versions. All in the same order. Great if you like "Popcorn," "The Windmills of Your Mind," "Heart of the Country" or "MacArthur Park."

It all kicks off at 7PM EDST on 91.5FM in Boston, or online at wmfo.org, now offering your choice of Windows Media Player or iTunes to get your free listen on. I had fun putting this show together, and I think you'll like the results.

Who likes trucker songs?
Everyone likes trucker songs. If you don't like trucker songs, it's only because you haven't heard any. Get on over to WFMU's Beware of the Blog for my latest post, which features country legend Ed Bruce singing the praises of Cummins engines. This isn't the heartbreaking woe that flows from Red Sovine's pen, but an upbeat song that's all the more relevant with diesel prices crippling America's trucking industry.