All the music...and half the guilt!

Plus featured artists (who else?) The Mothers of Invention.

Monday 5/12/08 10PM-Midnight.

Last night as I lay on the prairie,

And looked at the stars in the sky,

I wondered if ever a cowboy

Would drift to that sweet bye-and-bye

Riders in the Sky are coming to Fairfield this Wednesday, May 7th, and if you're not familiar with them you ought to be (and you obviously missed Toy Story 2 and the Pixar short For the Birds, for which they provided music).  read more »

Laura Nyro, and later Joni Mitchell and Bonnie Raitt were among the first women to break out of the 60's 'chick-singer' mold and establish themselves as successful solo artists, songwriters and musicians.

This week's program will feature some of the women who followed in their footsteps, from the 70's through the present--women who have never achieved major stardom, in many cases, but who have created a unique body of work as singer-songwriters and/or musicians. Featured artists will include Ellen McIlwaine, Christine Lavin, Linda Lewis, Cassandra Wilson, Victoria Williams, Camille, and more.

Monday 4/28/08, 10 PM-Midnight

Much as I love putting together those completely self-indulgent themed sets for this show, I've noticed that a lot of great music I've been meaning to play hasn't gotten aired because (a) it didn't fit into any of the theme sets and (b) there hasn't been any time left in the show after playing the aforementioned theme sets.

So tonight's show, and at least occasional future shows, will feature new music--that is to say, music which may or may not be new to the world but is at least new to me and in all likelihood to KRUU listeners as well: a funky Balkan-gypsy brass band; a pop group who play only toy instruments; a Bob Wills tribute band; maybe a yodeling record or two and all kinds of fundamentally nifty stuff that'll put hair on your gray matter.

Monday 4/21/08 10PM-Midnight CST

It's April 14th:

Do you know where your W-2 form is?

'Salute to Money'

And: King Kong is 75 years old this month--grab the nearest screaming blonde and go climb the tallest building in your neighborhood. I.W.H. offers its kongcratulations.

Monday night 10PM-Midnight.

[Rebroadcast Sunday 12am]  read more »

Between 1968 and 1976 Apple Records released music not only by The Beatles, group and solo, but by artists as diverse as James Taylor, The Modern Jazz Quartet, Billy Preston, Badfinger and Mary Hopkin.

In many cases these recordings were produced by one or another of the Beatles and/or had one or more of the Beatles playing on them and/or featured songs written especially for them by one of the Beatles. This program will feature some of the best of the Apple singles--mostly the non-Beatles releases except for a few lesser-known B-Sides.

[Rebroadcast Sundays at 12am]

Songs about fools, jokes and laughter--from 1923's "Okeh Laughing Record" through Frank Zappa's "Dancin' Fool" and beyond--

on

The Intercranial Whizbang Hour.

10PM-Midnight Monday March 30

[Rebroadcast 12am Saturdays]

Forget about "Across the Universe" in space: The Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction" was rocking the cosmos back in the 70's, also courtesy of NASA.
In honor (if you want to call it that) of Valentine's Day, this week's Intercranial Whizbang Hour will begin with an hour of "Satisfaction", as performed by artists across the chronological and artistic spectrum, from Otis Redding to Cat Power, including a version by The Residents which has been known to end parties and clear rooms in under 30 seconds.

It all starts at 10PM Monday night CST.

Almost exactly 40 years ago--January 10th, 1968, to be exact--rising star Joni Mitchell was recorded live (from the soundboard, it seems like) at Club 47 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

She had just been signed to the Reprise record label and her first album wasn't due to be released for several months. She performs several songs from that album, plus "Chelsea Morning" and "Both Sides Now", plus a number of songs she never officially recorded or released later.

The sound quality isn't perfect and there are a few glitches from the original reel-to-reel recording, but it's a wonderful performance by a young artist (who still refers to herself as Roberta at one point) just at the blossoming of her career.

The nearly hour-long performance will be aired this Monday, Feb. 4th, at around 10:30 PM.

A new Beatles song! Yay! Apparently axed from the Anthology sessions which brought us "Free as a Bird" and "Real Love", this new tune, "Now and Then", like the other two has as its basis a John Lennon voice-and-piano demo given to the other three Beatles by Yoko. Work on the 'Beatles' version was never completed (though there is talk that McCartney may yet finish and release it) but it's well worth hearing as it is. I'll be airing both the demo and work-in-progress versions somewhere around 10:30 PM Monday, 1/28.
Ryan Shaw is a young singer who has that raw, 60's-style soul music sound down like you wouldn't believe. Think Sam & Dave, Junior Walker (especially "Shotgun"--Shaw does an update called "Do the 45"), and early Temptations. A good chunk of Shaw's first album "This is Ryan Shaw" will be featured during the show.  read more »