Category: In The Spotlight

We’ve Got Nearly An All-Brit Saturday With Our Great ‘British Are Coming’ EP, Dusty Springfield, and John Mayall! Then There’s LIVE DEAD! Later, March 26, 2022

Good Morning, Kids! It’s Grand Central Saturday here in The Mermaid Lounge as we bring you a nearly All-Brit Saturday. Read on for details!

The British Invasion and beyond here today!

Here’s today’s line-up:

10:00 a.m. The British Are Coming: Various Artists

We celebrate The British Invasion (and beyond) today with our great EP. You’ll hear The Beatles, The Who, Dave Mason, Electric Light Orchestra, The Zombies, The Hollies, Petula Clark, Lulu, Dusty Springfield, Small Faces, Led Zeppelin, The Kinks, Queen, Dave Clark Five, The Bee Gees, Moody Blues, Rod Stewart, George Harrison, Them, Herman’s Hermits, Gerry & The Pacemakers, Badfinger, The Yardbirds, Traffic, Elton John, Pink Floyd, Yes, The Animals, Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, Spencer Davis Group, and more!

4:00 p.m. Album of The Week: The Sun Is Shining Down by John Mayall FINAL AIRING!

Yes, it’s the final airing of our great Album of The Week by the Godfather of British Blues, John Mayall. He brought along some of his friends on this one. Tune it in to find out who. (I’ll give you just one hint. One guy used to play with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers.)

7:00 p.m. In The Spotlight: The Music of Dusty Springfield

The early evening brings us a real treat, as we put Dusty Springfield In the Spotlight. Dusty brought us her special brand of blue-eyed soul for nearly five decades, and she’s a Mermaid Lounge favorite for sure.

10:00 p.m. LIVE DEAD! The Grateful Dead Live at Barton Hall, Cornell University, New York, May 8, 1977

This is not a new performance, but a requested repeat. We’ve had a few people ask for this one over the past month or so. The last time we played it was back in 2020, so it’s like new. Many consider this to be the finest live Grateful Dead performance ever. I don’t know how you choose one out of the many they’ve had over the years, but here it is!

It’s Saturday and the first full day of the weekend. What could be better than adding some great music to the mix, free of charge, with no mouthy DJs and no commercial interruption? Come on. You know you want to.

The British Are Coming!

We’re at Week’s End With Our ‘Music From Laurel Canyon’ EP and Shawn Colvin In the Spotlight, Friday, March 25, 2022

Good Morning, Musicologists! We continue now with our celebration of Women’s History Month as we put Shawn Colvin In the Spotlight, but we kick it off early with our ‘Music From Laurel Canyon’ EP!

We start the day off with a visit to Laurel Canyon and some musical memories!

Here’s today’s line-up:

9:00 a.m. Music From Laurel Canyon: Various Artists

Laurel Canyon was a breeding ground for some of the biggest names in music for two generations. It started in the sixties with bands like The Doors, The Lovin’ Spoonful, and The Mamas and The Papas, John Mayall, and spilled over into the seventies with Linda Ronstadt, The Eagles, Jackson Browne and many more. In addition to those artists, you’ll hear The Monkees, The Beach Boys, Joni Mitchell, Manassas, Bonnie Raitt, John David Souther, Canned Heat, Harry Nilsson, Carole King, James Taylor and more!

7:00 p.m. In the Spotlight: The Music of Shawn Colvin

Shawn Colvin is one of those amazing singer-songwriters who has, somehow, flown under much of the radar out there for many years. She is best known for her 1998 Grammy Award-winning song, Sunny Came Home, but that’s not all she’s accomplished in her career. You can read more about Shawn Colvin right here. And best of all, if you don’t know much about her music, you can tune it in tonight and see for yourself.

Join your friends this morning. We’ve got listeners on from Chile, Greece, Italy, Ireland, the UK, Germany, Netherlands, Portugal, Faroe Islands (they’re becoming regulars), Spain, Israel, Canada, Japan, Brazil, Australia, and France! We’re free. We accept no advertising, so there are no commercial interruptions, and we never ask you for personal information. What’s not to like?

JUST DO IT.

It’s Tuesday Bluesday With The Blues Project and B.B. King On Tap, March 15, 2022

Good Morning, Bluesologists! We’ve got another Tuesday Bluesday on tap here in The Mermaid Lounge and we’ve got some great live music from The Blues Project, and B.B. King In the Spotlight a bit later!

B.B. King will close out our blues programming for the day a bit later!

Here’s your Tuesday Bluesday programming:

11:00 a.m. The Blues Project, Recorded Live at The Matrix Club, San Francisco, CA, September 7-15, 1966

The Blues Project did a one-week residency at the fabled Matrix Club in San Francisco in September of 1966, which was recorded and made an unofficial release. People often ask who was in The Blues Project, so here we go: Bass/Flute-Andy Kulberg, Drums-Roy Blumenfeld, Lead Guitar-Danny Kalb, Organ-Al Kooper, Rhythm Guitar-Steve Katz.

3:00 p.m. Album of The Week: The Traveling Wilburys, Volume 3

Back for the second airing of this great album by this great supergroup. Hands down, every time a poll is taken, The Wilburys ride the top of the “Best Supergroup” list. As one music critic said, The Traveling Wilburys are the only supergroup worthy of being called either a group or super. Or something to that effect. And I confess I rarely put much stock in music critics. But this time I agree.

7:00 p.m. In the Spotlight: The Music of B. B. King

We close out our Tuesday Bluesday programming with the master of da blues and his best friend, Lucille. And that’s the way it should be.

So, kids. If you’re a blues lover, this is always a good day to have your first experience with us. Know what I mean? Because not only do we give you the blues, but before, in between, and after you get our wide Open Stream 24/7. And we won’t cost you a cent. Honest.

Tuesday Bluesday!

We Start the Week With Mudcrutch Monday Madness, J. Geils In the Spotlight, and Lukas Nelson & POTR Live Later, March 14, 2022

Good Morning, Mudcrutch Lovers everywhere! We haven’t had Monday Madness for a bit, so it’s time to bring it back to the airwaves. We kick things off at high noon today. Until then, it’s wide Open Stream!

It’s a Mudcrutch kind of Monday here in The Mermaid Lounge! (Photo by Dennis Callahan)

Here’s your musical line-up:

12:00 p.m. Mudcrutch Monday Madness!

Yes, we’re back with the entire Mudcrutch catalogue, including that great live version of Hungry No More recorded at Boston’s House of Blues in 2016. As someone in attendance that night said to me, “It was like the Second Coming.”

4:00 p.m. In The Spotlight: The Music of The J. Geils Band

Yeah, we have Boston’s original Bad Boys right here, Aerosmith notwithstanding. And we’re putting them In the Spotlight this afternoon.

7:00 p.m. Lukas Nelson & Promise of The Real Live at The Boathouse, Newport News, Virginia, June 14, 2020

Willie’s boy is back tonight with a great live performance. There’s a reason why Neil Young takes these guys on the road with him. See for yourself.

It’s a Monday. They’re rough on the psyche every week, but you’ll feel better with some good music to get you through the day. We’ve got it here. And at no charge whatsoever to you. Join your friends from The Netherlands, Ireland, Brazil, Faroe Islands, Portugal, the UK, Germany, France, Mexico, Peru, Spain, and points beyond today!

Just Push Play.

It’s a Sunny Day Out There and We’ve Got Our ‘Ode To Morning’ EP and Nanci Griffith In The Spotlight Later, Friday, March 11, 2022

Good Morning, Musicologists! I personally love the morning with the sun up shining into The Mermaid Lounge. It’s a perfect day to spend with our ‘Ode To Morning’ EP. Later, it’s Nanci Griffith.

In the Spotlight today is Nanci Griffith, a singer-songwriter who kept one fot in folk, and the other in country.

Here’s your musical landscape for Friday:

11:00 a.m. Old To Morning: Various Artists

We have our EP about the night time, so you know we’d have to put one together about the morning hours, and it’s pretty damned good. You’ll hear Nanci Griffith (In the Spotlight later), The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Dusty Springfield, Linda Ronstadt, Alison Krauss & Union Station, Electric Light Orchestra, Emmylou Harris, Harry Nilsson, The Wallflowers, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Norah Jones, Todd Rundgren, Jefferson Airplane, Joni Mitchell, Foreigner, Gram Parsons, Townes Van Zandt, Badfinger, Chris Hillman, Hot Tuna, Fairport Convention, B.B. King, Cat Stevens and more!

7:00 p.m. In The Spotlight: The Music of Nanci Griffith

It sounds like marketing bullshit, but it’s the truth: Nanci Griffith was an American treasure. She was a singer-songwriter who was raised in Austin, Texas, and lived in Nashville. She kept one foot in folk music, and the other in country, and her beautiful voice was more than capable doing justice to both genres seamlessly. Nanci Griffith made many appearances on Austin City Limits beginning in 1985, and won a Grammy Award for her album, Other Voices, Other Rooms in 1994. She passed away in August of 2021 at the age of 68. If Nanci Griffith has fallen through the cracks on your musical journey, tune her in tonight.

We are here every day spinning the tunes (that’s, of course, simply for imagery in this computerized age), we’re on 24/7, and we never cost you a penny. You won’t have to “subscribe” to our service. You won’t be asked for a credit card. And we certainly will never ask you any personal information. We have our own problems here.

Morning Has Broken!

The Women Dominate the Day With Nina Simone, Joni Mitchell, and Bonnie Raitt, on Thursday, March 10, 2022

It’s International Women’s Week and we continue to celebrate here in The Mermaid Lounge. We have some great programming on tap for you today. So, come celebrate with us.

Bonnie Raitt, Joni Mitchell and Nina Simone represent the women of music today!

Here’s Thursday’s musical landscape:

11:00 a.m. In The Spotlight: The Music of Nina Simone

Nina Simone was an American singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, and civil rights activist. Her musical style married many genres, including jazz, blues, folk, classical, gospel and pop, and is often referred to as The High Priestess of Soul.

3:00 p.m. Album of The Week: Home Plate by Bonnie Raitt

We say this every week, so why stop now. We are winding down on this week’s Album of The Week. This will be the second-to-last airing of Home Plate, so time’s a wasting if you want to hear it here. Saturday will be the final airing before a new selection is made.

7:00 p.m. Joni Mitchell Live at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, CO, July 30. 1983

There are not many people who do not know Joni Mitchell. Her influence on pop music is legendary. She helped to expand and legitimize the folk music genre, but her repertoire covers many genres. In addition to folk music, Joni has drawn on pop, jazz, rock, and classical as she sings about romance and womanhood, as well as social and philosophical beliefs. She’s a woman of many musical styles and colors.

Come on, ladies. Get on this great International Women’s Week ride before the carnival is taken down. (Quite frankly, we consider every week women’s week, but we’re playing more than usual this week.) We run 24/7 at no charge to anyone; hell, we don’t even request personal information. Nor to we track it for our advertisers. And that’s because we do not accept advertising. Get the picture yet?

Ladies In Charge!

It’s Tuesday Bluesday and We Celebrate The Blues and Women’s Week Together, March 8, 2022

Good Morning, Bluesologists! Yes, it’s Tuesday Bluesday and today we manage to deliver the blues and continue our tribute to the women of music quite handily, I must say!

We’ve got The Best of Chicago Blues on tap this morning!

Here’s your Tuesday Bluesday line-up:

11:00 a.m. The Best of Chicago Blues: Various Artists

Yeah, this one is scheduled for an upgrade in the near future, but it’s still pretty damned good. You’ll hear Otis Rush, Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Bo Diddley, Willie Dixon, Koko Taylor, Howlin’ Wolf, Magic Slim, Son Seals, Lonnie Brooks, Buddy Guy, Sonny Boy Williamson, and more! My friend Dave loves the Chicago Blues. He tunes it in every time.

4:00 p.m. Album of The Week: Home Plate by Bonnie Raitt

It’s perfect that this is our album of the week. Call it serendipity. Although Bonnie Raitt refuses to be pigeon-holed into one specific style of music and has expanded her repertoire over her long career, she is still a blues artist at heart and every song she makes has that blues aura about it. This album delivers on that. And did I mention that she plays that slide guitar like she was practicing in the womb?

7:00 p.m. In the Spotlight: The Music of Marcia Ball

Here we have another great female blues artist who has been at it for nearly half a century. Born in Orange, Texas and raised in Vinton, Louisiana, she’s more than qualified to sing the blues. USA Today once described Marcia Ball as “a sensational, saucy singer and superb pianist… where Texas stomp-rock and Louisiana blues-swamp meet.” If you don’t know her by now, perhaps this is an excellent time to get to know her.

Every Tuesday is a blues day here in The Mermaid Lounge, and we are always on the hunt for great blues music to add to our repertoire. Join listeners today from Canada, Mexico, Portugal, Spain, Greece, Germany, Netherlands, Ireland, the UK, and points beyond. We’re totally free 24/7. The music never stops.

Tuesday Bluesday!

We Barrel Into Women’s Week With A Broad Spectrum of Programming From The Pioneers, on Monday, March 7, 2022

Good Morning, aficionados of music, particularly women’s music. Let’s face it, women still get the short end of the stick in the music world. And I’m not talking contractually. I’m talking as someone who listens to other radio stations and knows that women still do not get enough air time.

These are just a few of the women you’ll hear today!

Here’s your opening day line-up:

11:00 a.m. The All-Girl Revue, Volume Four: Various Artists

We’ve got five volumes of this so far, and this is the one we haven’t heard in the longest time. So, today is the day we break it out. You’ll hear Linda Ronstadt, Nicolette Larson, Shawn Colvin, The Shirelles, Phoebe Snow, Gladys Knight & The Pips, Rosanne Cash, Bonnie Raitt, Lucinda Williams, Carole King, Valerie Carter, Petula Clark, Aretha Franklin, Dusty Springfield, Lydia Pense & Cold Blood, and more!

3:00 p.m. In The Spotlight: The Music of Aretha Franklin

It’s only fitting that the first one In the Spotlight this week is the undisputed Queen of Soul, the first woman ever inducted into the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame, and whose career spanned a half century.

7:00 p.m. Linda Ronstadt & Friends: Duets and More

In spite of her incredibly successful solo career and her position as the Queen of Rock during the 70’s, Linda Ronstadt always preferred singing with others and dreamed of being in a girl group. She finally achieved that when she joined up with Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris for the Trio albums. Here you’ll hear her sing with J. D. Souther, Randy Newman Ry Cooder, Hoyt Axton, Wendy Waldman, Neil Young, Ann Savoy, Paul Simon, Rosemary Clooney, Aaron Neville, Maria Muldaur and more. And you’ll hear her as lead vocalist, background singer, and harmony singer.

Every week is women’s week here in The Mermaid Lounge. People who listen to us regularly already know that. But this is a very special week, and we’re very happy to put the pedal to the metal and give you that little extra. We’re always free, and we’re always on the air 24/7. What could be better?

WOMEN’S WEEK!

We Hit Our Midweek Stride With a Totally Motown Day Here In The Mermaid Lounge, Wednesday, March 2, 2022

Good Morning, R & B Lovers! We’re at midweek and we will feature the second airing of our new M is For Motown EP, and we will put Stevie Wonder In the Spotlight later!

Here’s your Motown programming:

10:00 a.m. M is For Motown: Various Artists

We sure do love our soul and R & B music here in The Mermaid Lounge. We have an EP called A Little Bit O’ Soul which is also quite popular with listeners, but this is a fairly new EP covering just Motown artists. This is only its second airing. You’ll hear The Spinners, The Jackson Five, The Temptations, The Supremes, Jimmy Ruffin, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, The Isley Brothers, Martha & The Vandellas, Al Green, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Kim Weston, Tammi Terrell, Edwin Starr, The Marvellettes, Billy Preston, Mary Wells, Gladys Knight & The Pips, Eddie Kendricks, Rare Earth, Jr. Walker & The All Stars, and more!

7:00 p.m. In the Spotlight: The Music of Stevie Wonder

Stevie Wonder’s name is synonymous with Motown. His first song, Fingertips, was released in 1963, and was a number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 when he was just 13 years old, making him the youngest person ever to top the charts. Since then, he has become a pioneer in R & B, soul, funk, jazz, pop, and rock. He reached the pinnacle of his success in the seventies. Tune him in tonight for a real treat.

Before, in between, and after the programming, we’ve got wide Open Stream courtesy of The Music Mermaid. As you well know, she has impeccable taste in music and makes sure it’s playing 24/7 without commercial interruption or endless DJ chatter. What could be better?

MOTOWN!

We Close Out The Month With Music Banned On The Airwaves, The Animals, and Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Live, Monday, February 28, 2022

Good Morning, Music Lovers! February certainly is a short month, but we’re closing it out in style with some excellent programming, including a brand new playlists of songs banned ’round the world!

Hard to believe this song was banned, but that’s what happens when you “Imagine there’s no heaven.”

Here’s your musical programming for today:

11:00 a.m. Banned On The Airwaves: Various Artists NEW!

This certainly isn’t an EP, but it was fun to put together. Thanks to my compadre Dave Denton for the idea! These are songs that have been banned from different locations around the world, not just here in America. Some of them defy logic, I must say. For example, My Generation by The Who was banned by the BBC because they felt it was disparaging to people who stutter. Sailing by Rod Stewart was banned because of the war in the Falkland Islands (incidentally, this was not the only nautical song banned at this time). God Only Knows by the Beach Boys was banned because, well, God just wasn’t used in rock n’ roll music. This Note’s For You by Neil Young was banned because it was anti-capitalist.

In addition to these guys, you’ll hear Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (yes, it’s true), The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Shirelles, Billy Joel, Paul Simon, Van Morrison, and more. There’s a list of songs and artists under the Playlist tab. Scroll down to the bottom. By the way, this is not an exhaustive list.

3:00 p.m. In The Spotlight: The Music of The Animals

The Animals were certainly one hell of a band. Steeped in R & B, the blues and rock, they were formed in Newcastle upon Tyne in the early sixties, then moved to London when they began to gain traction. Eric Burdon was the perfect lead vocalist for this band.

7:00 p.m. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Live at The PPL Center, Allentown, PA, September 16, 2014

Speaking of great bands, we give you The Heartbreakers live on the Hypnotic Eye tour. It’s hard to believe that a band can produce such brilliant material over a forty-year span, but this album proved to be one of The Heartbreakers’ finest ever. Sadly, this would also be their final album ever as Tom Petty would prematurely pass into the great wide open a week after their 40th Anniversary Tour in 2017. Nevertheless, their music lives on eternally here in The Mermaid Lounge.

The set list for this show is also under the Playlist tab. Again, scroll down to the bottom.

Come on, folks. Music makes nearly all things tolerable. The only exception would be the GOP, but I digress and we don’t want to ruin the mood here. Hey, we’re anti-capitalist too. We don’t charge you anything to tune us in. We don’t ask for a credit card or personal information. In fact, we will have no bloody idea who you are. So do it.

IMAGINE.