The Summer Before the Summer of Love - July 1966

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July1966

In the Summer of 1966, you could feel that change was in the air. It was almost tangible. The 1950’s roots of rock and roll swelled and then ebbed, and then found itself revived again with the arrival of the Beatles in 1964. By 1966, inspiration and creativity were the two main ingredients in pop music, and artists drove the music business more than vice-versa. It was thirty-nine years ago – it sounds like it could have been yesterday, like it should have been yesterday, but it might as well have been centuries ago. Today, the music business no longer operates like this, but at least we still have the songs and memories of an era when music became the driving force for a burgeoning youth culture, defining a generation as an entity unto itself. Today’s pop music is lost in a morass of corporate culture, profiteering, niche marketing, and crass categorization. Back in 1966, it was all just about the music.
Here’s a list of tunes that are to be covered in today’s show;

1) Summer in the City – The Lovin’ Spoonful
2) Wild Thing – The Troggs
3) Sunny – Bobby Hebb
4) Little Red Riding Hood – Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs
5) I Saw Her Again – The Mamas and the Papas
6) They’re Coming to Take Me Away – Napolean XIV
(as a ‘Great Miss’)
7) Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat – Bob Dylan (as a featured album track from the Summer of 1966)
8) Mother’s Little Helper – The Rolling Stones
9) Lady Jane – The Rolling Stones
10) I Couldn’t Live Without Your Love – Petula Clark
11) Trains and Boats and Planes – Dionne Warwicke
12) (fade-out – “Trains and Boats and Planes – Fountains of Wayne

Oh, I should point out one caveat – our poor, harried engineer, Mike Tietjen, was having a bad day and the levels go array from time to time, along with a few missed cues…you get the idea. The show opens with Mike bringing up the wrong microphone, resulting in about ten seconds of echoing silence…oops. Never mind, underneath the gaffs is a pretty fun show.

That about sums it up – lots of diversity, boatloads of creativity, crammed into one hour of music (and talk) that still sounds fresh, wonderful, and new almost four decades later. Hope you enjoy it!

East Coast vs. West Coast

My brother Greg and I were having an interesting discussion last week about the difference between East Coast and West Coast music, or, more specifically NY and Boston vs. LA and SF. I know that on the surface you might not see much of a difference. After all, both areas are metropolitan, overtly liberal and inundated with the same music. But, we were arguing that there is a difference in taste between East and West and we were able to kill the better part of an hour and a bottle of rum discussing it.

If I were a real writer I suppose I could research this topic and identify sales trends for various records before writing about it. But I'm not. And besides, it is more fun to be an asshole without a clue.

So, with nothing more than an opinion, here I go. I argue that the East is much more likely to like an artist who is an "artist", in quotes. For example, take Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, or more recently, the Strokes. Now, I know these guys all sell records on both coasts, but I'd bet lunch that sales per capita is much higher in the East Coast vs. West. Any objective listener would have to agree that all of these bands sound like crap. Poor recording quality, lousy vocals, dead simple song structure, and only a passing familiarity with their instruments. So what is it that makes them so appealing? They are artists. They may sound like crap, but they artists, and that sells records on the East Coast.

Now, about the West Coast. I should start by saying that I am not proud of what I'm about to say. It makes us left coasters look bad. But, what the hell. We are much more likely to be attracted to shiny happy and overproduced bands. We care about recording quality, vocals and musicianship. Unfortunately, most of these qualities are often associated with record label control. These are the type of bands that are dismissed immediately on the East Coast because they are not "artists", rather, they are products of consumer culture created in a hermetically sealed studio. So who fits this bill? Lenny Kravitz. Foo Fighters. Smashmouth (ugh!). Green Day.

Of course there are some bands that manage to sound good and retain their identity as artists and thereby manage to attract bi-coastal audiences. Who fits this bill? U2. ColdPlay. David Bowie.

Have I succeeded in my effort to offend everybody (except the South and the Midwest... I'll get to you soon)? What would you put on the quintessential East Coast List? West Coast List? Cross-over list?

American Hit Radio - October 1964

Play the Show!!!
October 1964

Here’s yet another blast from the past, courtesy of the American Hit Radio program. The subject here is the month of October 1964, when each of these songs debuted on the pop charts….
Talk about the good old days of pop radio. Try to imagine (or if you’re as old as I am, try to remember) a time when the Beatles would release a new two-sided hit single e very few months, Motown was inundating us with one fabulous gem after another, and dozens of other artists were truly inspired to create something new and different. That was 1964. Hrere’s a list of songs that appear in this program;
1) Out of Sight – James Brown
2) Leader of the Pack – The Shangri-Las
3) Baby Love – The Supremes
4) Come a Little Bit Closer – Jay and the Americans
5) You Really Got Me - The Kinks

6) Orphan Girl – Emmylou Harris (as a featured ‘new’ track – from her new compilation)
7) Shambala – Three Dog Night – (another featured track – from the soundtrack for Rob Zombie’s movie, “The Devil’s Rejects”)

8) Ringo – Lorne Greene (as a “Great Miss”)
9) I Feel Fine – The Beatles
10) She’s a Woman – The Beatles

Shaddup and Listen Volume 4

Podcast: Shaddup and Listen Volume 4
Format: MP3
Size: 67.8 MB
(To listen, right click on the link above and save it to your computer.)

This is a chestnut from the Shaddup and Listen Club brought to us by Tom Ryan. He labeled this one "Yet Another Pointlessly Eclectic Collection of Songs..." I don't remember the exact date we originally received this disk, but I'd guess it was about two years ago. Tom's disks have generally been accompanied with a letter describing the disk, but that's long gone. So at this point I can't even tell you what is on it and/or what Tom was thinking. Here's what I know:

1) David Mead - Flamin' Angel
2) ?
3) XTC
4) Bryan Ferry - As Time Goes By
5) Ella Fitzgerald
6) Crowded House - Weather with You
7) Richard Thompson
8) ?
9) Bjork
10) Coldplay
11) Radiohead
12) The Kinks
13) Pete Yorn
14) Vulgar Boatmen
15)Badly Drawn Boy
16) Robyn Hitchcock
17)
18) Bob Dylan

Perhaps Tom can update us with this info later...

My 2 second review: Songs 10 - 18 are great and coherently organized. Otherwise the disk is a schizophrenic tour of a tortured psyche. Anybody who would put Ella Fitzgerald and Bjork on the same disk is just begging for psychotherapy and heaping dose of haldol.

Enjoy.

Message to Epic Records: You Suck

I was hoping to write a review of The Dead 60s today. I just bought their CD and loved the "Riot Radio" track I'd heard on the radio. But I can't. It turns out that Epic, the record company that released the record, doesn't trust me (or you, for that matter) enough to allow me to listen to the CD on my computer. They've instituted some ridiculous DRM (Digital Rights Management) scheme and treated me, a customer of theirs, like a common criminal. They presume I will copy it, burn thousands of copies and cut into their profits.

Well, that wasn't my plan, but if they are afraid I will cut into their profits, I'll be glad to do so now:

Do Not Buy "The Dead 60s."

You won't be able to play it in the media player of your choice (iTunes in my case) and you will be treated like a nefarious bootleg smuggler simply for buying their CD.

How's this for a user experience? I put the CD in my computer and iTunes didn't recognize it. I tried Windows Media Player (a last resort in my opinion) and same thing. Then after 15 minutes, some window pops up on my computer asking me if I agree to the Dead 60's license agreement. Huh? Curious, I click OK, and it proceeds to install a proprietary player on my computer. Unbelievable. I didn't buy some Top Secret Classified Government secrets. I bought a CD. All I want to do is play it. And, here's the clincher... the copy protection is stupid. I could easily circumvent the copy protection... anybody with a kindergarten education can. But that's illegal. So I won't. I will simply return the CD and flip a high holy fuck you to the jerks that set this up.

I don't know why the record companies are so damned stupid. I purchased the CD. I have the right to consume it. If they choose to deny me that right they lose me as a customer. Dead 60's and Epic, may you rot in hell you greedy, short-sighted, stupid fucking bastards.

Themes Songs for a Convertible!

Play "Theme Songs for a Convertible"
RagtopTunes

This is a string that I just cannot let go of…
A few weeks back, Geoff and I began comparing notes on what we considered to be the best Summer tunes. Not only was it fun to compile the list, it was even more fun to compile the radio show that included many of our choices (well, OK, it consisted mostly of my own choices). Geoff responded with a rather interesting list of songs that he considered ideal for driving with the top down, and I liked his idea enough to compile another theme program, this time using both of our choices for the best ‘ragtop tunes’.
This show includes some great summer cruising music, including
1) Low Rider – War
2) Shot of Laughter – Sugar Ray
3) Coconut – Nilsson
4) Catch My Disease – Ben Lee
5) Summer Wasting – Belle and Sebastian
6) A Change – Sheryl Crow
7) Green Light – NRBQ
8) Que Onda Guero – Beck
9) Peace and Love - Fountains of Wayne
10) Big Sur – The Thrills
11) All Day Music – War
12) Cruisin’ – Smokey Robinson
13) The Way You Move – Outkast
I’d like to thank Geoff and Heidy for making this show especially easy for me, since both of you compiled most of the selections!
Tom Ryan

5 CDs - July 11th.

OK, so here it is, my first shot at compiling a weekly list of my five favorite CDs of the moment. The rules are the same as with the previous entries. 5 CDs, 3 songs each, trying to convince you that you NEED these disks.

There is only one disk here that was on my previous installation, Ben Kweller's On My Way. I decided to include 3 different tracks from the CD this time just to keep things fresh.

Podcast: 5 CDs You Need to Buy – July 11, 2005
Format: mp3
Size: 49.3 MB
(To listen to this podcast, right-click the link above and save it to your computer.)

Disk 1. The Futureheads - The Futureheads
I posted about this disk last week. I was encouraged to buy it by an amazing description on Amazon.com. Link to post. The disk came, and it didn't disappoint. I don't know how to describe it without stealing from that excellent AMZN description, so forgive me, but here I go. It is like XTC meets the Clash, circa 1982. It is loud, unpredictable, sometimes bad, and often amazing. I've included three tracks here that highlight why I think this band has a brilliant future.

Track 1. Hounds of Love. First, I have to say this. Any band that has the audacity to cover Kate Bush Hounds of Love, much less a band of English punks, has my immediate respect. These guys take the original song and turn it into a high energy frollick with bizarre harmonic vocal parts, buzzing guitars, and quick-stop freneticism. More than any other track, this song highlights where this band can go. It also highlights what is mostly wrong with the band. Their own songs are not this good. But, with the right songs, their treatments, energy and creativity are inspiring and humbling. Futureheads, you rock.
Track 2. Danger of the Water. This track is far from typical for the Futureheads. It is a slow ballad/dirge/gregorian chant, with no guitars or drums. But it is nothing less than arresting. I can't stop listening to it. It has a quiet urgency that can't be ignored. This song also shows off what I like most about their other songs, namely that they use vocals in a creative way. Vocals are instruments and they use them very imaginatively on this album.
Track 3. Carnival Kids. This track is very typical for this album: high energy English punk with pop overtones and lots of creative vocals. I especially love the way that the song breaks down at the end and turns into a toe-tapping masterpiece. I love this song! This is the future of music. This is the futureheads.

Disk 2. Magnetic Fields - I
I was first introduced to Magnetic Fields with their last release, 69 Love Songs, which was a major investment in time and money. I normally hate double albums. And triple albums? Forget it. But I had the pleasure of getting to know Magnetic Fields with having to buy the album(s), and only listening to them one at a time... as it should be. I, the follow-up to 69 Love Songs, is another concept album, although somewhat less grand in scale. This album contains 14 songs, all beginning with the letter I, all about Love. I guess once you starting writing songs about love it is hard to stop. I can't recommend this album highly enough. It is filled with short masterpieces -- all but 5 of them clock in under 3 minutes. They are short endearing, mostly acoustic, late night, literary ramblings about love and relationships. If you haven't heard Magnetic Fields before, prepare yourself. They are like nothing you've ever heard. What can I say about them? I don't know where to begin, so I will create a list. Their songs sound like they are from a play... not destined for radio. They use acoustic bass. The singer's voice is a deep baritone, yet he is one of the most vulnerable singer's I've ever heard and he is unmistakably gay. Magnetic Fields is a unique experience and if you aren't listening to it you should be.

Track 1. I Don't Really Love You Anymore. Just 2 minutes and 33 seconds of fun, light-hearted break up music. "It's true, that for you, I'd move to Equador, but I don't really love you anymore."
Track 2. I Don't Believe You. The lyrics in this song, like most Magnetic Fields songs makes me laugh out loud. How many songs do you know that use the word "ampersand" in them? And the first line of the song is an immediate hook for me: "So you say you quote love unquote me."
Track 3. I Die. The quiet beauty of this song leaves me speechless. I find myself waiting on tenterhooks for the stringed instrument (what is that thing... so beautiful) to answer the melody with a 1 second delay. Pristine.

Disk 3. The Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots.
This is an amazing concept album by perennial underground favorites, The Flaming Lips. The album is set in a post-apocalyptic future overrun by robots, ala Terminator, with Yoshimi, a female Japanese Marshall Arts expert as our savior. Bizarre? Yes. But don't let that stop you. This album is an amazing accomplishment and will reward all those who give it their full attention.

Track 1. Fight Test. This is the first track on the album and it is a great opener. It has a sweet sound and introduces the listener to the bleeps and blips that cover the whole album. This song is about… well, I’m not sure what it is about. I’m guessing here… they are hiring an army to fight the robots and they have fight tests, but this guy is an artist and not willing to fight.
Track 2. One More Robot/Sympathy 3000-21. I grabbed the first three tracks from this album, all in a row, and shared them here so that you didn’t lose the continuity of the album. This track is about a robot companion, unit 3000-21, that begins to feel emotion when it is comforting its owner. There is a lot to love about this song. The bassline is pretty cool and almost mechanical, overrun by creepy keyboards and singer Wayne Coyne’s squeaky vocals.
Track 3. Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt. 1. In this song, our heroine, Yoshimi takes on the pink robots… “cause you know that it’s demanding to defeat those evil machines.” “You won’t let those robots eat me.” This song, in addition to being beautiful, is extremely hilarious and catchy. You’ll find yourself humming it all day. “She’s gotta be strong to fight them so she’s taking lots of vitamins. ‘Cause you know it’d be tragic if those evil-natured robots win.” I always love a song that can be many things and this is a perfect example. It is sweet and poignant and hilarious at the same time.

Disk 4. Ben Kweller – On My Way.
I already wrote about this disk in my last 5CDs collection, so I won’t add too much more except to say that these tracks highlight another side to the CD – a softer side.

Track 1. My Apartment. A song about “My apartment, the place where I go to hide from the world outside.” I’m sure a lot of us can relate to this song from our apartment days, holing up inside, and blocking out the world. Again, as before, these tracks highlight what a talented songwriter Ben is. Don’t let the garage-band production fool you. The songwriting on this CD is top notch.
Track 2. On My Way. I have no idea what this song is about. But it is beautiful. It is just Ben and his guitar strumming through some unusual and disconnected set of stories. I actually spent the last 10 minutes trying to see if I could parse the lyrics and figure out what he was talking about. Here’s what I got:
Verse 1. He’s going to murder somebody with some Karate he learned in Japan.
Verse 2. He’s going to break into somebody’s house, steal their stuff and sell it.
Verse 3. He’s spacing out at a concert.
Verse 4. He is making friends with a kids 10 years his junior who lives across the street.
Verse 5. He found a girl. He’s teaching her to sing and buying her a ring.
See what I mean? Is it just me, or is this total nonsense. And it is the title track. Oh well, I like it a lot anyway.
Track 3. Hear Me Out.
Another great track. This is a perfect example of why this album is so great. It is filled with little gems like this one. This song is a perfect quiet garage rocker, almost a ballad, and filled with sweet verses and rollicking choruses. Perfect.

Disk 5. Beck – Guero.
I’ve purchased a lot of Beck CDs over the years and I have found them to be simultaneously impressive and annoying. This CD, Guero, is by far the most listenable CD he has ever produced. You don’t have to skip past every other track (as on Odelay) and you won’t fall asleep (as on Sea Change.) It is filled with track after track of just good, fun and toe-tapping songs with goofy lyrics and mind-bending U-Turns.

Track 1. Qué Onda Guero. As I mentioned earlier this week this song is the new theme song for my convertible. It is a perfect soundtrack for crusing down the street in an old convertible, enjoying life, digging the scene.
Track 2. Girl. Like most good Beck songs, this one is full of surprises. It starts with a super catchy melody line that sounds like it is played by the Mario Bros. Then track morphs into a serious sounding groove, followed by a sunny chorus. I love it when a song can take you places, and this song certainly does that.
Track 3. Go It Alone. Y’know how some songs evoke imagery, not through lyrics, but just by their sound? This song is like that. It has a cinematic quality, like it is the soundtrack to a movie. Great groove.

So, what are your 5 CDs right now? Let me know.

5 CDs You Need to Buy

Podcast: 5 CDs You Need to Buy
Format: mp3
Size: 39.2 MB
(To listen, right click the link above, and save as a file on your computer.)

For those of you not familiar, Tom created this beast called the Shaddup and Listen club, which started as disks of random tunes that would get sent to us at random intervals. Eventually, we, the recipients of these disks, launched a counter-strike and started creating our own S&L Disks. And, now, we have this Web site, shaddupandlisten.com.

What follows is one of the S&L disks created by me in November 2004. This disk was part of a series of S&L disks we agreed to create called 5 CDs you need to buy. The idea was to choose three tracks from 5 CDs in an effort to convince the recipients that these were 5 CDs they really needed to buy. I'm not sure how successful I was in my choices. Which CDs did you guys buy?

I think this would be an interesting exercise each week, to create a list of 5 CDs that I think everybody should buy. The list wouldn't have to change every week but it should reflect my thoughts on what I think the top 5 hot and fresh (relatively) CDs are right now.

November 2004

Well, here it is, The Shaddup and Listen Club Volume 7 - 5 CDs You Need to Buy.

This was a hard task. I’ve spent the last several months struggling my with my selections, adding artists, removing artists, creating lists, deleting lists. If you remember the rules of the game -- 5 CDs, three tracks each -- it sounds simple. But it is not that easy!

Implied in the rules is the understanding that you don’t already own the CDs. So, I needed to choose 5 CDs that you probably don’t already own. Sorry Tom, but for you this would have been an impossible task. I assume you already own all of these. J

I feel I should apologize to some of the artists who made amazing CDs I didn’t include here. If you don’t already own the following CDs, go out and buy them. I didn’t include them here because I assume you already own them, they are already huge hits, or they are more than a couple of years old. My sincerest apologies to:

David Baerwald – Triage A very intense album with some of the fattest bass lines I’ve ever heard… listen to this on headphones!
Daniel Lanois – Acadie Hated this album for years… now it is in my Top 5. Is it possible to be both dream-like and folk-ish?
Pete Yorn – Musicforthemorningafter An amazing talent. Pete Yorn has a very interesting voice. I feel like I know him.
Emmylou Harris – Wrecking Ball Who knew? She is amazing and this album is, in my opinion, her best.
Los Lobos – Kiko Their most adventurous album. A must listen.
Ben Folds Five –Whatever and Ever, Amen Take Joe Jackson’s first album, and put it to piano… and you have this -- great energy, fun songs, tons of heart.
Fountains of Wayne – Utopia Parkway Is this America’s greatest pop song writer? I think so.
Guster – Lost and Gone Forever A good band becomes great with the help of Steve Lillywhite.
The La’s – The La’s Only one album… Steve Lillywhite again. One pissed off songwriter who gave up on music forever after.
Semisonic – Feeling Strangely Fine Good, good, good. Love it.

And so many more! Gomez. Modest Mouse. Coldplay. The Postal Service. Sufjan Stevens. (added more here after the fact: Dungen, The Shins, Radiohead, Flaming Lips, Geraint Watkins, New Pornographers, Magnetic Fields, Komeda, Spoon.)

Buy these CDs!

CD 1: Rufus Wainwright – Want One
This CD is like no other in my collection. It has an operatic quality to it, dramatic, artful, sophisticated, and romantic. You won’t be able to rock out, but you will be intrigued and entranced.
Oh What A World – Track number one from the album. I feel like I should be wearing a tux when I listen to this track.
My Phone’s on Vibrate For You – Hilarious and melancholy at the same time. Amazing!
Movies of Myself – This track is the closest to radio-friendly that you’ll find on the album. It actually has a beat.

CD 2: Eels – Daisies of the Galaxy
You may remember a band from the 80’s called A Man Called E. They had a hit with Hello Cruel World. Anyway, that band and this one were both fronted by “E” (Mark Everett.) You’ve probably heard a few songs by Eels too, such as Novacaine for the Soul. His stuff is sometimes brilliant and sometimes terrible, but always interesting. Listen to these three songs and I think you’ll see what I mean.
I Like Birds – My kids love this song, and so do I. I don’t understand it, but I don’t care.
Flyswatter – This song is a great creepy song. Again I don’t know what the hell he’s talking about. Field mice, head lice, spiders in the kitchen. Don’t think twice ‘bout whatever keeps you itchin’. Ice water, Flyswatter, gonna get you through the day.
Untitled – This was an untitled/hidden track at the end of the album, sometimes called Mr. E’s Beautiful Blues. This song can make any rainy day seem sunny. But, once again, what the hell is he talking about?

CD 3: Ben Kweller – On My Way
I just discovered this guy about a month ago and now I can’t stop listening to the CD. I listen to it twice a day, every day. It has a stripped down garage band feel. You can almost hear the orange shag carpet on the walls. Now I’ve picked up his earlier album and an EP he did with Ben Folds and Ben Lee, called the Bens -- Highly recommended!
I Need You Back – Track number one from the album. A perfect song. Listen to it on headphones. The guitars are coming from opposite speakers.
Hospital Bed – This song cracks me up! It is completely hilarious and it has one of the best, most rocking choruses I’ve ever heard. I love the interplay between the piano and the guitar.
The Rules – I love the way this guy can write such a simple song and make it so damned interesting.

CD4: Old 97’s – Fight Songs
Here’s where the CD takes a turn South. How do you feel about alt-country? Not sure? Take Chris Isaak and Neil Young, blend well, let sit for 10 years, and you have Old 97’s (and Wilco, for that matter.) If you like the first two songs here, you’ll like Old 97’s earlier stuff a lot. I you like the last song, Lonely Holiday, you’ll like the lead singer, Rhett Miller’s, solo album… I love that album!
Jagged – A song about how we all felt in High School, jagged, uncomfortable, lonely, and in desperate need of medication!
What We Talked About – The soundtrack for a Mexican standoff. It sounds like it should be in a Quentin Tarantino film.
Lonely Holiday – The album is packed with songs like this -- perfect pop songs about love and loneliness. I could go on all day about how great these songs are.

CD5: Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Imagine driving alone at two in the morning on two-lane freeway through Nebraska with a cup of coffee in your hand… the radio comes in and out… then this music squeaks through the speakers from God only knows where.

And if that doesn’t sell you, then you should buy this album based on the lyrics of the first song alone:

“I’m an American aquarium drinker,
I assassin down the avenue…
“I want to hold you in the bible black pre-dawn
You’re quite a quiet domino, bury me now.”
I Am Trying to Break Your Heart – This song sets the mood for the whole album and could have been an album in itself. I wish it would never end.
Heavy Metal Drummer – “I miss the innocence I’ve known, playing Kiss covers, beautiful and stoned.” ‘nuff said. And don’t miss the Gary Wright sound in the Chorus outro. I’m there.
I’m the Man Who Loves You – More 70’s style pop. It sounds like something America might have played. Great, GREAT SONG! I love the way it starts as a complete train wreck and ends that way too.

--Geoff

P. S.

Hey, I am already thinking ahead to the next themed S & L Club. “Best First Album Ever” What would it be? Cars? Pretenders? Other?

I look forward to getting your CDs!

If I Had a Radio Station...

podcast: If I Had a Radio Station
format: mp3
size: 57.2 MB
(note: to play this podcast, right-click, save it to your computer, and play.)

I'm on a rant now, complaining about the sad state of radio in my area. Here I go again... If I had a radio station here's what the first hour on the air would sound like:

Hounds of Love - The Futureheads
On My Way - Ben Kweller
Qué Onda Guero - Beck
Miracle Drug - A.C. Newman
The Recluse - Cursive
Heroes and Villains - Geraint Watkins
Our Hospitality - Komeda
Polar Opposites - Modest Mouse
Ghosts for Hire - The Standard
The Laws Have Changed - The New Pornographers
Won't Be Home - Old 97's
Jonathon Fisk - Spoon
Za - Supergrass
The Summer - Yo La Tengo
I Wish I Had An Evil Twin - The Magnetic Fields
I'm A Wheel - Wilco
Middle of Nowhere - Hot Hot Heat
Midnight Jam - Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros

There would be a focus on independent and local artists and a distinct lack of the "hits" being peddled by the record labels. It would be a place you could go to discover new artists and hear the "never-played" tracks from the artists you like. There would be no talking over tracks. And, get this, I would even play multiple tracks by the same artist... in a row! Remember that? When radio stations would actually play the entire side of an LP record? There would be a respect for the music. Every track would get an introduction. We'd learn more about the artists. In short, it would be everything that modern commercial radio is not. It would be good.

LIVE-8

LIVE-8
Click Here to Play the Show!


Okay, you’ve probably heard enough about this already…or maybe you haven’t. If you haven’t logged on to www.one.org yet, then you certainly have NOT heard enough. Don’t worry, it won’t cost you anything, and it takes a remarkably minimal amount of time. Go on, do it, then come back here, listen to this program, and feel good about yourself for doing something that is so simple and yet so important. This edition of American Hit Radio features music by a few of the participating artists at Live-8, including U2, Paul McCartney (as a member of the Beatles here), R.E.M., Travis, Coldplay, and Pink Floyd. Enjoy the show, and while listening, LOG ON to www.one.org