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Radio Popehat II: Electric Boogaloo

Oct 6, 2011
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This saturday, from 2-5pm United States eastern time, I will return to the radio station I blogged about earlier for a short, free-form radio show.  Readers interested becoming listeners, in hearing my Lord Humungusesque voice, or simply a collection of rather unusual music strung together with a logic unique to me, are encouraged to listen live at 89.3 fm (if you live in a the Research Triangle area of North Carolina) or online by clicking here.

As mentioned in the earlier post, I will take requests, either by telephone (I announce the number frequently during the show), or here in comments.  For instance, a song from Marian Call's new album will be played in the opening minutes of the show.  As a bonus, I won't be as technically inept as I was last time (when I hadn't played DJ for almost ten years), because I've done five shows in the past two months. Radio DJ'ing is not like riding a bike: you do forget, but I've knocked off the rust.

Request rules, since I wasn't clear enough about them the first time:

The station's format is "popular music of the 20th and 21st centuries".  This means I will not play Stravinsky.  "Popular music" doesn't mean Top 40.  It means, in this context, "not classical".  I expect to play rock, pop, jazz, blues, hip hop, country, old-time and bluegrass, gospel, funk, big band, electronic, and "world" music (whatever that means) in the course of the show.

Your request needs to be something really good or really special, as defined by you and, just as importantly, by me.  If you would like for me to play a song by an 80s cheese pop novelty band like M or Thomas Dolby, I'll probably beg off, because M and Thomas Dolby suck.

Your request should be neither too popular nor too obscure.  I won't play "Stairway to Heaven" because you and I have both heard it a zillion times. Your cousin Irving may play in Kalamazoo's finest Klezmer band, but if they haven't released an album on a label with moderate distribution, I can't play it because the station's large music library won't have it.  (At the same time, we do have an awful lot of music, accumulated over almost forty years of the station's existence.)

Free-form radio is getting rare.  A good free-form show is rarer still.  I like to think I'm good at it because I've been doing it a long time, and I get better every time I play.  Listen, and if you're not careful, you might learn something.

Last 5 posts by Patrick Non-White

17 Comments
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17 Comments

  1. SPQR  •  Oct 6, 2011 @11:05 am

    What are the odds of a Kinky Friedman song?

  2. Patrick  •  Oct 6, 2011 @11:05 am

    Quite high.

  3. bill.  •  Oct 6, 2011 @11:13 am

    The older I get the harder it is for something new to grab my attention. So this short list is about all I'd recommend from the last 2 years.

    2011:
    John Doe's new album, Keeper. I like his rockabilly remake of "Painting the Town Blue."

    Jared Mees and the Grownups, Only Good Thoughts Can Stay. "Graverobbers," "Hungry Like a Tiger"

    Mr. Pauer, Soundtrack. "Escaping"

    Mirah & Thao, Thao & Mirah. "Sugar and Plastic," "Rubies and Rocks," "Squareneck"

    Sallie Ford & the Sound Outside, Dirty Radio. "Miles," "Thirteen Years Old," "Write Me a Letter"

    From 2010:
    check out Deep Schrott, a German bass saxophone quartet (I especially like their cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Oh, Well."). Love Is All, "Early Warning;" The Mynabirds, "Numbers Don't Lie;" Carolina Chocolate Drops, "Hit 'Em Up Style;" Joan Armatrading, "Diamond;" Tallest Man On Earth, "King of Spain;" The Eels, "The Man."

  4. A.G. Pym  •  Oct 6, 2011 @12:02 pm

    Some Mary Gaultier, please – something from "Filth and Fire," especially the first track. Looking forward to it.

  5. Sue  •  Oct 6, 2011 @12:18 pm

    Thomas Dolby, 'Airhead' or 'Keys to your Ferari' or ' One of our Submarines' (he does some really interesting stuff like N.E.O. too.)

    Julie London 'People Who Are Born in May'

    Little Jimmi Dickens 'May the Bird of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose'

  6. Jack  •  Oct 6, 2011 @12:41 pm

    Twisted Sister!

  7. Patrick  •  Oct 6, 2011 @12:57 pm

    No.

  8. Brian Dunbar  •  Oct 6, 2011 @12:57 pm

    Free Bird!

    Kidding.

    'Lee Harvey was a friend of mine' by Homer Henderson

    'A Leader On Losing Control' by Corb Lund

  9. Brian Dunbar  •  Oct 6, 2011 @1:25 pm

    Also – Slaid Cleaves is always a good listen.

  10. Jim Hall  •  Oct 6, 2011 @2:34 pm

    Don't know if you like Buffett, but "Don't Stop the Carnival" has some excellent (to me) unappreciated and unplayed stuff. "Old Truth Teller" and "Hippolyte's Habitat" come to mind, but there are other things you may or may not like better.

    I probably won't get a chance to listen, but have fun.

  11. Brian Dunbar  •  Oct 6, 2011 @2:35 pm

    Is the show archived? I may or may not be near a computer on Saturday

  12. Andrew  •  Oct 6, 2011 @3:38 pm

    Does Zapp & Roger count as an 80s cheese pop novelty band? Because their "Computer Love" is a pretty special song.

    Other thoughts:

    "Sad Gay Life", Aluminum Group (late 90s lounge pop)
    "Your Lips Are Red", St. Vincent (creepy, weird, densely orchestrated, romantic)
    "Come Alive", Janelle Monae (a nice crazy person pick-me-up ditty)

  13. Patrick  •  Oct 6, 2011 @3:53 pm

    The show may be archived Brian, but I may not be able to tell you about that because it might be considered a copyright violation by someone if I told you how to access that.

    I love Zapp, Andrew. And I've been enjoying St. Vincent's new album.

  14. Brian Dunbar  •  Oct 6, 2011 @4:53 pm

    copyright violation

    Hunh. I never thought about that. Cops and sergeants always spoil a good time.

  15. Ali  •  Oct 7, 2011 @5:10 pm

    Boards of Canada- Roygbiv

  16. ScottH  •  Oct 7, 2011 @7:23 pm

    John Doe – yes! Maybe something from Poor Little Critter On The Road.

    I second Boards Of Canada: Kid For Today or Sixtyten.

    And more Tackhead, please. What's My Mission Now? , Mind At The End Of The Tether or Half Cut For Confidence all kick ass.

  17. bill.  •  Oct 8, 2011 @4:19 am

    Just realized that Susan recommended two songs from Thomas Dolby's Aliens Ate My Buick. I agree, this is one of the overlooked classics from the 1980s.

    My favorite overlooked classic, and one of my favorite albums ever, is Don't Stand Me Down, the last album by Dexy's Midnight Runners. This Popmatters review is a decent overview. Though for a review that literally kicks the entire concept of subtlety in the balls, I don't think you can surpass this one

    And what everybody missed, distracted by the smokescreen of the smart clothes…and the unwavering dignity…was the humour. No, a more savage word than that, comedy. The lacerating absurdity of those moments of pseudo-mundane banter between Kevin and Billy is at least superior to the complete works of Becket, Pinter and Mike Leigh combined. Those awkward silences, the ungainly flurries when both speak together, "Derek And Clive" without the punchlines. The ensuing awareness that every second of the music is alive, quivering, exposed, that anything could happen at any instant. That an event is just around the corner. On this record, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE. It's not divorced from real life, it's distilled from it.