2020

Good Morning, Students! Yes. It’s true I return to retail hell today. I must say I enjoyed the five solid days in the DJ chair. If this job paid, I’d take it.

***Antoine “Fats” Domino. Was anybody playing rock n’ roll before him?***

Here’s your lesson for today:

December 29, 1956: Fats Domino spends his 11th week at the top of the R & B chart with his song Blueberry Hill.

December 29, 1958: Lonely Teardrops by Jackie Wilson was #1 on the R & B chart.

December 29, 1962: Bob Dylan played the Troubadour folk club in London.

December 29, 1964: The Liverpool Youth Employment Services announced that some applicants were having difficulties getting jobs because their Beatle haircuts and clothing was unacceptable to employers. Oh, puhleeeze.

December 29, 1966: The Jimi Hendrix Experience made their TV debut on the UK show Top of the Pops where they performed Hey Joe.

Also on this day, The Beatles began recording Penny Lane.

December 29, 1967: Singer, songwriter, and guitarist Dave Mason leaves the popular and successful band Traffic for a solo career. Rumor had it that he did not enjoy sharing co-writing duties with Steve Winwood.

December 29, 1969: Sly & The Family Stone release the single Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Again).

December 29, 1970: Norman Greenbaum (native of Malden, Massachusetts) released the great song Spirit in The Sky, a sixties anthem if there ever really was one.

December 29, 1971: America released it’s self-titled first album.

December 29, 1973: Jim Croce’s Time in a Bottle tops the Hot 100, the second of three posthumous hits for the late singer/songwriter.

Also on this day, Elton John’s fine album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road was #1 on the Album chart for a third week.

December 29, 1980: Singer-Songwriter Tim Hardin was found dead in his apartment of a heroin overdose at the age of 39. He is best known for If I Were A Carpenter (a hit for Bobby Darin in 1966; the Four Tops in 1968), as well as Reason To Believe (a hit for Rod Stewart in 1971).

Born On This Day

December 29, 1941: Ray Thomas, singer, composer and flautist for The Moody Blues was born on Stourport-on-Severn, England.

December 29, 1942: Rick Danko, co-lead singer and bassist for The Band was born in Green’s Corner, Ontario, Canada.

December 29, 1946: Marianne Faithful was born in Hamsted, London.

And that is your lesson from the College of Rock n’ Roll Knowledge for today!

Our Antidote To Christmas Music: Bob Dylan with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, The Band and MOONDOG MATINEE, and Later It’s That Sweet Soul Sound, Thursday, December 24, 2020

Good Morning, Musicologists! Here we are on holiday, and we’ve got the perfect antidote to that bad Christmas music that I know is playing in ACE Hardware today. Luckily, I’m here in The Mermaid Lounge.

***Dylan and Petty. Does it get any better? Not from where I’m sitting.***

Here’s your Christmas Eve day programming!

11:00 a.m. Bob Dylan with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Live in Sacramento, June 12, 1986

One day, Bob Dylan asked Tom Petty to go on tour with him. There’s a reason why all these guys wanted The Heartbreakers around. You’re about to find out just exactly why. In return, all of the members of The Heartbreakers credit Dylan with teaching them the importance of adjusting plans, songs, and being more spontaneous on stage. It was a marriage made in music heaven.

4:00 p.m. Album of The Week: Moondog Matinee by The Band

I could go on and on about The Band, undoubtedly one of the great treasures in American popular music. They may have started as Dylan’s back-up band, but they carved their own very real place in music history.

7:00 p.m. That Sweet Soul Sound: Various Artists EXPANDED AND UPDATED!

This is a great playlist to close out today’s programming. We’ve added some new music, so we’ve added some new songs to the playlist. We hope you’ll enjoy hearing Otis Redding, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, Diana Ross & The Supremes, Mary Wells, James Brown, Rare Earth, The Box Tops, The Marvelettes, Jackie Wilson, The Temptations, Ann Peebles, Bill Withers and many more!

It’s Christmas. Time to pack it in. Be done with the pursuit of capitalism, and tune in to a radio station with no ulterior money-making motives. We don’t ask you to subscribe. We don’t ask for your credit card. We don’t ask for personal information because we don’t intend to sell you anything. We’re here for the music, believe it or not. If you choose not to believe, then all I can say is that you have no idea what you are missing.

www.tinyurl.com/Ungovernable-Radio

We’re Getting Ahead of The Game Here at The College of Rock n’ Roll Knowledge: 12/15/2020

Yeah, we are. We’re back in the mines tomorrow, and we need to get a jump on our week here in The Mermaid Lounge. This is a pretty brutal day here in rock history. I got writer’s cramp just putting this thing together.

***Dusty gets deported from South Africa after a concert near Cape Town. Apparently she crossed the line and sang to a multiracial audience. Bad Dusty.***

Here’s today’s lesson in useless information:

December 15, 1956: Fats Domino had one of the biggest R & B songs of all time with Blueberry Hill. On this day it remained at #1 for a ninth week. There is no denying that this guy was a rock n’ roll pioneer.

December 15, 1958: A new soul artist named James Brown made his debut on the R & B charts with a song called Try Me.

And in the meantime, Jackie Wilson’s Lonely Teardrops took over the #1 spot on the R & B charts this day.

December 15, 1962: The Beatles played two shows at the Majestic Ballroom in Brkenhead, Merseyside, England. At midnight, the first ever Mersey Beat poll awards show took place. As the winners of the poll, The Beatles then closed the festivities at 4:00 a.m.

December 15, 1964: The Beatles release the album Beatles ’65.

Also on this day, Dusty Springfield is deported from South Africa after performing in front of a multiracial audience at a show near Cape Town.

December 15, 1966: The trumpets and cellos are recorded for the song Strawberry Fields Forever by The Beatles at Abbey Road Studios in London.

December 15, 1967: The Beach Boys met the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in Paris where they were taught Transcendental Meditation.

Also on this day, just a few days after its release, The Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour album went Gold. It will hold the top spot on the Billboard Hot 200 album chart for eight weeks and will receive a Grammy Award nomination for Best Album.

The Who released the album, The Who Sell Out.

December 15, 1969: John Lennon gave his last live performance in England at a UNICEF Benefit in London. Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Delaney & Bonnie, Billy Preston, and Who drummer Keith Moon also took part.

December 15, 1970: Creedence Clearwater Revival released another winning album in Pendulum.

December 15, 1975: Paul Simon released the single, 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover.

The Eagles remained on a roll, releasing the single Take It To The Limit on this day in 1975.

December 15, 1979: The Long Run by The Eagles held on to the #1 position on the Album charts for the seventh week.

Born On This Day

December 15, 1919: Max Yasgur, owner of the farm in New York where Woodstock was held in 1969, was born in New York City.

December 15, 1939: Cindy Birdsong, a member of the Supremes beginning in 1967, was born in Mount Holly, New Jersey.

December 15, 1942: Dave Clark, drummer for The Dave Clark Five, was born in Tottenham, England.

December 15, 1946: Carmine Appice, drummer with the Vanilla Fudge and Jeff Beck, was born in Staten Island, New York.

And thankfully, we are at the end of today’s lesson! Back with the line-up later.

“Wildflowers & All The Rest” Debuts, Johnny Rivers In The Spotlight, and Some Great Soul Later, Sunday, October 18, 2020

Good Morning, Music Lovers & Petty Fans Alike! We’ve got a great array of music on tap and — as you may have suspected — Wildflowers & All The Rest is our Album of The Week! It’s an amazing volume of work. I’ve already passed through once. The only question was how it would be presented.

We’ll do that in bursts, but we will have one airing in its complete form before the end of Tom Petty Month. We’ll also air the segments twice a week at various times.

***Tom Petty in the studio during the recording of the original Wildflowers album.***

Here’s your line up for Sunday Funday!

11:00 a.m. Album of The Week: Wildflowers & All The Rest by Tom Petty NEW!

Today’s Airing: Live Wildflowers

There’s a ton of new material here. It’s a revelation about how the guy worked, how he worked with his band, and where he was at the time all of that great music made its way out. We’re starting with all the best damned live versions of Wildflower songs.

3:00 p.m. In The Spotlight: The Music of Johnny Rivers

Johnny Rivers, ,a favorite here in The Mermaid Lounge. One of the best damned singers, songwriters, and record producers many will probably never know. His style encompassed rockabilly, folk, blues, and good old time rock n’ roll. You might want to tune this in.

7:00 p.m. That Sweet Soul Sound: Various Artists

This is one sweet playlist with Otis Redding, Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight, Fats Domino, Roberta Flack, Jackie Wilson, The Marvelettes, The Supremes, and many more.

So, it’s a day of rest. Give it a rest. Tune in. Turn on. Drop out. It’s the only way to unwind. We’ve got great music. And it’s all fucking free. You got a problem with that?

www.tinyurl.com/Ungovernable-Radio

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Live, the DJ’s Favorite R & B Stream, and Our Album of The Week, Thursday, September 17, 2020

Good Morning, Ungovernables! We have some great stuff on tap today here in The Mermaid Lounge, and we’re wishing Heartbreakers’ bassist Ron Blair a belated birthday!

Here’s your Thursday line-up:

11:00 a.m. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Live at The Grand Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, October 16, 2002

We’re a day late, but today we are celebrating Heartbreakers bassist Ron Blair’s 72nd birthday (yesterday). He was an original founding member of the group who left, then came back after the death of Howie Epsein.

Their concert in 2002 after the release of The Last DJ, and turned out to be one of their strongest concerts ever.

The set list for this show appears under the Playlist tab on the blog.

3:00 p.m. Album of The Week: The Lost Tapes by Valerie Carter

Another airing of this great collection of never-before-released songs by the little girl with the big voice. Valerie Carter is a joy to behold.

7:00 p.m. DJ’s Choice: My Favorite R & B Stream

We’ve got a great couple of hours of music here, including cuts from The Temptations, Aretha Franklin, Al Green, James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Martha & The Vandellas, Jackie Wilson, Bill Withers and many more!

This is about 7 hours of programming in a 24-hour day. The rest and in between is all wide-open streaming of the best music of your lives. No lie. We’re free. No commercials. And no useless chatter.