(Above: Gift with purchase.) A few years ago music fans were subjected to Rebecca Black's "Friday," a song that, while not fantastic, also wasn't as purely terrible as people claimed that it was. (I mean, the poor girl got threats over it. What's wrong with people?) What we learned from the process of "Friday" becoming … Continue reading So you wanna be a rock and roll star: Dora Hall, “Did He Call Today, Mama” (1965)
Author: Len
One night in college radio, End of Semester Edition: WLRA-FM, May 3, 1988
(Above: They should have let the kid walk.) There was a commercial for Pillsbury Cookies in the 80s that my wife and I quote often. You may remember it (if not, allow me to remind you). There was a kid threatening to run away from home, and Mom gets him to stay by making cookies … Continue reading One night in college radio, End of Semester Edition: WLRA-FM, May 3, 1988
Rest in peace, Bob Dorough: Schoolhouse Rock, “Lolly Get Your Adverbs Here.”
Bob Dorough passed away on April 23, 2018 at the age of 94. That's not a name most people recognize, but if you are an American between, say, 30 and 50, you are intimately familiar with his work and may not even realize it. In fact, you may owe him a debt of gratitude. Dorough … Continue reading Rest in peace, Bob Dorough: Schoolhouse Rock, “Lolly Get Your Adverbs Here.”
Bookends at fifty: Simon and Garfunkel, “America” (1968)
(Above: What was Frances McDormand's line from Almost Famous?) Fifty years ago today - April 3, 1968 - Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel released the LP Bookends. This was one of the first LPs that I recovered from my parents' stash upon finding that they had more than just 45s in a box. (I touched … Continue reading Bookends at fifty: Simon and Garfunkel, “America” (1968)
Forty years ago in Chicago: The WLS Top 45s, April 1, 1978
(Above: No one has ever doubted this claim.) April Fool's Day 1978 would have been at the end of fourth grade for me. By this time I was starting to add my own records into the pile of vinyl that I had inherited from my parents (written about variously here and here, among other places). … Continue reading Forty years ago in Chicago: The WLS Top 45s, April 1, 1978
Greatest misses: Duke Baxter, “Everybody Knows Matilda” (1969)
(Above: The song's not quite as trippy as the picture sleeve.) In August of 1969 a record made a brief appearance on the Billboard Hot 100, stalling at #52. It was a fun little number about an almost-but-not-quite-one-night-stand (if we can invent that terminology) with a seemingly popular girl named Matilda. Just who sang the … Continue reading Greatest misses: Duke Baxter, “Everybody Knows Matilda” (1969)
The gift that kept on giving: My first 45s, 45 years later (Part 2)
(Above: Clearly Mom wanted the records in the basement. That's usually where they end up.) In the last post I explained that I received my first record player 45 years ago, and started rifling through my parents' records. This past weekend I went through a few thousand 45s, found the original records I inherited, and … Continue reading The gift that kept on giving: My first 45s, 45 years later (Part 2)
The gift that kept on giving: My first 45s, 45 years later (Part 1)
(Above: The box of records that used to belong to my parents. I've had it for 45 years.) Think back to when you were a kid. What was the one gift that you received that you remember more than any of the others? The one that, though you didn't know it at the time, changed … Continue reading The gift that kept on giving: My first 45s, 45 years later (Part 1)
So long, WLUP: Songs I learned from “The Loop”
Word spread rapidly this morning that Merlin Media, who had been trying to sell Chicago's WLUP, finally found a buyer: the Educational Media Foundation. EMF serves the contemporary Christian format over satellite to its affiliates. The format, called "K-Love," has been on the air on a signal out of suburban Elgin for some time, but … Continue reading So long, WLUP: Songs I learned from “The Loop”
Great lost hit: Paul Carrack, “Don’t Shed a Tear” (1987)
(Above: The One Good Reason LP) One of the things that gold-based formats consistently get wrong is an over-reliance on the same songs over and over. I know I've ranted about the "decades" channels on Sirius XM before, but they serve as a perfect example of "not going deep enough." Deeper lists equal low cumulative … Continue reading Great lost hit: Paul Carrack, “Don’t Shed a Tear” (1987)
45 Ruminations Per Megabyte 