EPISODES 81 - 90
EPISODE 90: Bagpipers at the Gates of Dawn
Bagpipes are a sonorous and ceaseless instrument. Almost comically so. The traditional Scottish Bagpipe is the loudest unamplified instrument known to man. Decibel levels range upwards of 110, which puts them far closer to thunderclaps and power tools than pianos and oboes. And if the deafening sound doesn’t get you, then the constancy of its noise certainly will. The chanter of a bagpipe is open, which means that once a piper has used the blow stick to fill the bag, the instrument cannot (and will not) be silenced until all the air is released. The spectacular implacable multi-dimensional soundscapes made by a stand of pipes are typically more unleashed than controlled. In fact, it requires technical playing to create an allusion of articulation and tone accents. In essence, the player bends to the will of the instrument, not the other way around...its the anti-Theremin. The power seems to be a tempting inclusion to engorge the depths of songcraft, yet, there have been so few popular musical artists who have attempted to integrate bagpipes into their songs. Even fewer used bagpipes on a regular basis.
In today’s episode, we are going to explore the tenuous relationship between the sack and the song. To find the brave souls who marched into the mainstream with nothing but pipes, pride, provocations, and piercing pandemonium. We are going to lift the kilt on one of the world’s most maligned and misunderstood music-makers. So, take a deep breath and blow as hard as you can, squeeze your bag tightly, finger your chanter nimbly, and don’t stop until you or your audience passes out….because we are startin’ to tartan. Today, bagpipes in popular music.
Listen Here:
The Four Records Featured on this Episode:
Rufus Harley - Eight Miles High
Dorothy Ashby - Soul Vibrations
Vulcans - Dr Spock
William Loveday Intention - Hollis Brown
Notes from the Show:
Article by Sheila Liming in the Atlantic
Nino and April's Bagpipe Dance
Bon Scott Statue
Rufus Harley on "I've Got a Secret"
Honey BLO Majesty
EPISODE 89: Non-Holiday Holiday Show
It’s that time of year again, where we get pretty sick of hearing about Christmas. For this, unbelievably, our fourth Christmas episode we are going to carry on the tradition of taking an episode to talk about some of the weirder, smaller stories that we’ve wanted to cover, but wouldn’t fit in with a full-length turntable talk. A veritable cornucopia of record oddities. So, sit back and get ready to have your stockings stuffed with some fascinating tales of rock star mishaps and vinyl vanities. Stoke your fire, spike your eggnog, and don your winter’s cap, cause you’re about to be visited by the ghost of music history’s past.
In this episode, we have stories about Fake American songs, the censorship roots of Mr Trololo, Monster Mash Assassinations, the man with vinyl vision, Disney's sci-fi glamband, computer programs on records, and Joe eating muffins with Vincent Price. Join us, won't you?
Listen Here:
The Four Records Featured on this Episode:
Billy Ward & the Dominoes - Christmas in Heaven
Harlem's Children Chorus - Black Christmas
The Fuzztones - Santa Claus
Pee Pee Dynamite - Groovy Christmas and New Year
Other Links for the Show:
Adriano Celentano - Prisencolinensinainciusol
Kempa's Article on Vinyl Data
Chris Sievey's Camoflauge
Chris Sievey's The Biz Game
EPISODE 88: Puppet Records
In the early 20th century, a puppet fervor slowly crept across the America, like rust on a Chevy Nova, as travelling shows made puppeteers into full fledge celebrities, particularly the self-proclaimed “America’s Puppet Master” Tony Sarg who was instrumental in creating visually appealing versions of classic children’s tales and bringing to life puppets in live action and animated films. Concurrently, ventriloquism acts were breaking from music halls and vaudeville shows to find superstardom led by duos of Arthur Prince and Sailor Jimmy, the Great Lester and Frank Byron Jr., and, of course, Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy. America got wood for talking wood.
The rise of radio, television, and film provided even broader platforms for puppeteers and ventriloquists to spread their infectious amusements. In a world before special effects, making inanimate objects come alive felt magical and more real than still nascent animation. It was children’s television that really embraced puppets as Howdy Doody and Burr Tillstrom's Kukla and Ollie were beamed directly into the impressionable minds of the baby boomers. Lambchop lovin’ Shari Lewis, sweater-clad Fred Rogers, and googly eyed Jim Henson all followed suit shortly after making themselves and their creations into international superstars.
At about the same nuclear age time frame, you couldn’t throw a stone without hitting a socially awkward (and probably sexually frustrated) kid unsuccessfully practicing throwing his voice with a shiny new Emmett Kelly or Mortimer Snerd dummy emulating their heroes like Jimmy Nelson, Bil Baird, and Paul Winchell. They would spend hours listening to instructional records on letter substitutions and tongue positioning. The craze permeated far and wide as even Miss America contestants chose ventriloquism for the talent portion of the show. We even got so lazy that we decided to let robots run our puppets as animatronics started popping up all over place like Disneyland, Showbiz Pizza, and Chuck E Cheese.
In this episode, we are going to stare into the cold dead eyes of the dummies. We are going to explore why and how adults mimicking mannerisms into lifeless masses became the preeminent evangelical apparatus. And how things went so far off the rails. So, dim the lights and focus the spotlight. Put on your duck tail tuxedo. Tip your top hat jauntily askew. Straighten your bowtie. Stick your hand up the bottom of your favorite inanimate object and throw your voice as far it goes. Join as we walk through the uncanny valley of the dolls. Just don’t let us see your lips move. Today, the wacky world of puppet records, you dummies.
Listen Here:
The Four Records Featured on this Episode:
Preacherman - Age of Individualism
Mahmoud Ahmed - Tezeta
RD Burman & Asha Bhosle -Duniya Mein Logon Ko
Penny & The Quarters - You and Me
Mentioned in the show:
Let My Puppets Come (NSFW)
Little Nieto Cover
Special Thanks for their Puppetmastery Knowledge goes to:
Micah from the Music of Mind Control
Mike from PIAPTK
Ken Scott's Archivist
And LP Cover Lover who had lots of great Puppet Record Pics:
EPISODE 87: SATANIC FANATICS
SOUNDS OF THE OCCULT
Almost as long as humans have mastered the ability to record the environment around them, they have desired to record the world that is just beyond them. A perfectly logical endeavor, as all recorded music is somewhat supernatural, especially when cocaine and LSD are involved. Recorded sound is by its very nature taken from another place, a distant place, and thrust into a moment where it doesn’t belong and couldn’t exist without human manipulation. The technology that unlocks these past dimensions surely mustn't stop there...what other realms can be explored.
The auditory products that are made with an ear for the unknown are fascinating relics. Some believe what they are hearing are examples of mass delusion. Some believe that they are powers that should have never been unearthed. Some believe they are misunderstood manifestations of science. Is it the ungodly work of degenerate fiends or feigned evil of unenlightened opportunists? Either way, you’ll be left dismayed, disgusted, disturbed, delighted, and full of dread as we venture through darkened hallways of paranormal recordings, satanic priest rituals, spell incantations, occult rock, and pagan folk. So, light your black candle, dust off your grimoire, pour some blood in your skull goblets, evoke your antichrist, buff your crystal balls, and sacrifice ‘em if you got ‘em. Today, we explore the sounds of the occult and occultists.
Listen Here:
The Four Records Featured on this Episode:
Coven - Black Sabbath
Lucifer (Mort Garson) - Exorcism
Bonnie Stillwatter - Devil is People
Plus - Wrath: "Gemegemera"
Resources:
Medium: Paranormal Field Recordings and Compositions
Occult Voices – Paranormal Music, Recordings of unseen Intelligences 1905-2007
Thanks to Micah from WFMU's Music of Mind Control for helping us dig up some of this craziness.
Edison's Spirit Phone
Rosemary Brown
Gundella
Early use of the "Devil Horns" at a Coven Show. Suck it, Gene Simmons.
EPISODE 86: Musical History in Graphic Novels
In this episode we look at how graphic novels are pushing the boundaries of pop music history, bringing new perspectives and fans. Where life imitating art is just as possible as art imitating life. How like the inked pages themselves, the books color their stories to accentuate their ideas and themes. Lighter, darker, more intense, more fanciful, more realistic, more fantastical. Entire biographies or genres are carefully condensed into imaginative visions. Adaptations that leave lasting impressions that are not necessarily bound by what is real. So move back in your mother’s basement, fire up the Batmobile, and bring out the shoebox of old Zippy the Pinhead comics. In this episode, we explore the symbiotic relationship between music history myth-building and graphic novels.
Listen Here:
The Four Records Featured on this Episode:
Shelly Duvall - He Needs Me
The Coolies - Cook Book
The Fall - How I Wrote Elastic Man
The Clique - Superman
Some of the Graphic Novels mentioned in the episode:
Nick Cave - Mercy on Me
Hip Hop Family Tree
Paul is Dead
The Fifth Beatle
Baby's in Black
Johnny Cash - I See A Darkness
Cass Elliott - California Dreamin'
Robert Johnson - Love in Vain
Incantations of Daniel Johnston
Ramones - Gabba Gabba Hey
Glenn Gould - Life Off Tempo
Billie Holiday
Monk
Opera Adaptations
Tunes!
Theft
Fantagraphics
Z2 Comics
EPISODE 85: Musicians Peddling Products on TV & Radio
As radio, and eventually television, became a fixture in American homes, a celebrity culture was solidified. With this fascination for the people that we hear and see almost daily, there was a longing to understand them. A striving for connection that lets people feel like they really know who this star is and maybe, one day, that star could know who they really are as well. These conditions of idol worship created a lucrative playing field for companies to draw upon the status of fame to sell their goods. Beyond the normal response that music can invoke in listeners, the draw was much stronger if the message came from a recognized, trusted, and desirable source. Today, we explore the literal commercialization of rock music.
Listen Here:
The Four Records Featured on this Episode:
David Greaves - Sauce Master
Julian Cope - Beaver
Hair & Skin Trading Company - Go Round
Geraldine Fibbers - Dragon Lady
Some of the best of the best:
EPISODE 84: Experiential Microgenres:
Night Bus, Late-Night Grocery Run, & Pink Motel
Night Bus, Late Night Grocery Run, & Pink Motel are microgenres that represent their own experiential sound, where the songs are held together by the atmospheres they invoke rather than a specific set of rules or location in time and space. The music, primarily captured on singles, was created by private press or no name labels with dreams of making it big or at least making a few bucks. The mood of these micro-genres provides a faded snapshot of the 1980s with a depraved combination of the excess and frivolity of popular styles of the time: RnB, disco, funk, AOR, and synthpop.
Our episode today is being co-hosted by two cosmonauts of musical taxonomy, Candace and Micah, who launch themselves into the darkest recesses of the musical spectrum and bring back the fragments of unremembered sounds out of the oblivion. They explore musical trends that are mostly forgotten or intentionally pushed away from mass society for its own protection. They have worked diligently to find homes for the “square peg” music that certainly exists, but is, as of yet, unrecognized as a cohesive micro-genre. Music that is little known outside of the basement dwelling record trolls plastered to their discogs, mixclouds, and youtubes.
Listen here:
The Four Records Featured on this Episode:
Jack Adkins - American Sunset
Omega - Gyöngyhajú Lány
Jonathan Richman - That Summer Feeling
Lewis - I Thought The World of You
Episode Links:
Listen to Micah's show on WFMU, Music of Mind Control
Archives for WFMU shows hosted by Micah & Candace: Night Bus & Low Rent Grooves/Pink Motel
Wild Dreams Video
Spotify Mix
Preacherman and TJ Hustler
Interested in a romantic evening....Commack Motor Inn
EPISODE 83: Institution Albums
Desert Island Recordings IX
There is an unproductive trope of there being a fine line between genius and madman. Constantly, we are encouraged to believe that the works of “artists in asylums” are somehow this perpetual motion machine where mental illness fuels creativity which, in turn, fractures the creator even more creating a cycle toward an inevitable dark end, where we are only left with the work to scrutinize or admire. The truth is a lot less dramatic, but no less sad. Social circumstances, interpersonal relationships, biology, substances, and societal expectations each play relevant roles in determining the well-being of every person: artist, genius, or just the poor soul sleeping on the street. Art and artist are separate. Just as a mental condition and person are separate. Influenced and interlaced, certainly, but we so often forget that works do not define the person, rather the person defines the work.
Many of us are captivated by albums that were created while the artists were in mental hospitals. They are rare artifacts that unfortunately end up defining the artist for their careers while giving an undue amount of weight to the condition of their mind rather than the beauty within it. The artistry that comes from the pain and confusion of confinement . . . in a hospital and in one’s mind. The records are snapshots of musicians on the brink that utilized songs to communicate their struggle or alleviate suffering. Today, we are exploring Institutional Albums by Roky Erickson, Skip Spence, and Daniel Johnston.
Listen Here:
The Records Featured on this Episode:
The Beach Boys - Johnny Carson
Songs: Ohia - Soul
EPISODE 82:
The Women Who Pioneered Experimental & Electronic Music
The Women Who Pioneered Experimental & Electronic Music
There is a long history of the unjust treatment of women musicians whose contributions were often overlooked, dismissed, or stolen. Sadly, it’s likely to be a long future as well. This is on the top of the extra effort and persistence that it took to establish themselves in a sexist business that is stacked against female creators and performers. In particular, the development of experimental and electronic music has been established on the skills of a number of women artists who made monumental and transformative contributions to forward-thinking, technology-minded music. Unfortunately, many of these artists remain far too obscure for their importance in progressing the genre. This episode is an examination of the unsung women who shaped the sounds during the formative years of electronic music.
Listen Here:
The Four Records Featured on this Episode:
Buffy Stainte Marie - God Is Alive, Magic is Afoot
Ruth White - Litany of Satan
Delia Derbyshire - Ziwzih Ziwzih OO-OO-OO
Laurie Anderson - Sharkey's Night
The #1 Denver Dr Who fan wore this headpiece.
EPISODE 81: The Pod
DESERT ISLAND RECORDINGS VIII
Ween set forth on a career-long ambition to tear down standard music industry conventions by hook or by crook. To take that which is weird, obnoxious, and unclean, and show it as important as the falsely pristine parts of life. They were never more successful in this endeavor than on their 76 minute slog of a second record, The Pod. Recorded alone together in Dean and Gene Ween’s apartment that was a converted barn smack dab in the middle of a horse field while both were suffering through mono and high on, well, probably everything. The record sounds like you need to scrape off layers and layers of shit and grime to get the pop tunes hidden within. Underneath the juvenile jokes, the impressive assemblage of vulgarity, fast food orders, molasses-dipped song-smithing, sonic fuckery, squishy atmosphere, and overall friendly misanthropic posturing is a solid and comprehensive American pop music revue. Dinner theater at the slaughterhouse.
So, tonight’s offering...another scoop of isolation but this time with a heaping of flies, scotch guard, and glandular fever. If you’ve ever woken up and found that someone had taken a deuce on your kitchen floor, you’ve already sort of heard this masterpiece. The sludgiest, brownest record of Ween’s illustrious decades long trouncing of indie music. Come on, it's a beautiful night for a walk on the beach, wouldn't you say?
Listen Here:
The Records Featured on this Episode:
Ebony Rhythm Band - Drugs Ain't Cool
PJ Harvey - When Under Ether
Listen to Fewer Owls, mentioned in this episode!
Pictures of the Pod Locale