On Thursday It’s ‘Here Comes The Night,’ Dan Fogelberg, and Joni Mitchell & James Taylor Live in London, October 24, 2024

Good morning, musicologists, and welcome to The Mermaid Lounge! Today we start out the day with songs about the night. Then it’s a Dan Fogelberg Spotlight, and Joni Mitchell & James Taylor live at the Paris Theater.

Here’s Thursday’s musical lineup:

9:00 a.m. Here Comes The Night: Various Artists

We start the morning with songs about the night from Warren Zevon, The J. Geils Band, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Them, The Beatles, Van Morrison, Patti Smith, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Bruce Springsteen, The Kinks, Electric Prunes, Phoebe Snow, Joe Walsh, The Eagles, The Doors, John Cougar Mellencamp, Poco, Emmylou Harris, The Animals, Neil Diamond, The Rolling Stones, Don McLean, Steve Winwood, The Traveling Wilburys, Sam Cooke, Jimmy Cliff, Bonnie Raitt and more!

4:00 p.m. In The Spotlight: The Music of Dan Fogelberg

Dan Fogelberg was one of those guys who kind of fell through the cracks, and I have absolutely no idea why. A great singer and songwriter who can boast one of the absolute best albums ever made at any time with Souvenirs.

8:00 p.m. Joni Mitchell & James Taylor Live at The Paris Club, London, UK, October 29, 1970

Yes, of course they were ‘a thing’ at the time, but it’s a great concert nevertheless.

One more early morning shift and I’m a closer for a couple of days. But don’t you worry. The Music Mermaid shifts into control to make sure we get this done. The button is below.

We Celebrate Tom Petty’s Birthday Today and Give You Our Big Reggae Playlist in Between, Sunday, October 20, 2024

Good morning, Petty lovers! Today we give you a Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Sandwich with some great reggae in between!

Here’s your Sunday Funday lineup:

We start out by airing a new-to-the-station concert from The Heartbreakers’ Damn The Torpedoes tour. This one was broadcast on the legendary King Biscuit Flower Hour.

2:00 p.m. The Best of Reggae & Ska: Various Artists

This afternoon, we give voice to the Reggae music genre with Bob Marley & The Wailers, Bunny Wailter, Prince Buster, Desmond Dekker & The Aces, Peter Tosh, Jimmy Cliff, Judy Mowatt, Laurel Aitken, Marsha Griffiths, Rita Marley, Toots & The Maytals, The Jiving Juniors, Derrick Morgan and more!

8:00 p.m. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Under The Covers

The same qualities that make The Heartbreakers a great original rock and roll band make them the world’s best cover band, bar none. Today we give you some of their best covers.

It’s a beautiful day here today and I hope it is where you are as well. Just add a little music and it gets even better. Come celebrate the birthday boy with us. The button is below.

Friday Brings The Heartbreakers, Jimmy Cliff and Volume Three of Our ‘Love Street’ Series, October 4, 2024

Good morning, Tom Petty fans! Today begins our Petty weekend as we celebrate his life and musical legacy in all of its forms. It’s also the final installment of our ‘I See You Live on Love Street’ series…for now.

Fans gather to mourn the death of Tom Petty at his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles, California, after it had been announced that the musician had died at the age of 66. © Sheri Determan Where: Los Angeles, California, United States When: 02 Oct 2017 Credit: Sheri Determan/WENN.com

We’re nearly there (the weekend). And here’s your musical lineup:

9:00 a.m. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Live and Loving It!

We open up with a few hours of what we consider The Heartbreakers’ best live performances. However, we do concede that this particular playlist could use a serious updating. We will tend to that soon. In the meantime, it’s still pretty great.

3:00 p.m. In the Spotlight: The Music of Jimmy Cliff

To understand the importance of Jimmy Cliff all you need to do is read the opening paragraph of his Wikipedia entry: “James ChambersOM (born 30 July 1944), known professionally as Jimmy Cliff, is a Jamaican skarocksteadyreggae and soul musician, multi-instrumentalist, singer, and actor. He is the only living reggae musician to hold the Order of Merit, the highest honour that can be granted by the Jamaican government for achievements in the arts and sciences.” Feel free to read on and learn more!

We close out the night with our final installment of this Laurel Canyon playlist with Little Feat, Linda Ronstadt, Harry Nilsson, Gram Parsons, Leon Russell, Crabby Appleton, Rita Coolidge, Dan Fogelberg, the Souther, Hillman, Furay Band and more!

We’re on the case 24/7 at no cost to the listening public. And there are no commercial interruptions so other folks can sell you stuff you don’t really need. The button is below.

Past the Hump With ‘Here Comes the Night’, Ringo Starr’s All Star Band, and Curtis Mayfield, Thursday, August 22, 2024

Good morning, music lovers. Here we are headed for the weekend with songs about the night, Ringo and his All Starr Band and the still brilliantly relevant Curtis Mayfield.

Here’s today’s musical mayhem:

9:00 a.m. Here Comes The Night: Various Artists

Yes. We know it’s morning, but we’re opening up with songs about the night from Warren Zevon, the J. Geils Band, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Them, The Beatles, Van Morrison, Patti Smith, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Bruce Springsteen, The Kinks, Electric Prunes, Phoebe Snow, Joe Walsh, The Eagles, The Ronettes, John Cougar Mellencamp, The Doors, Poco, Emmylou Harris, Neil Diamond, The Animals, The Rolling Stones, Don McLean, Steve Winwood, The Traveling Wilburys, Sam Cooke, Jimmy Cliff, Bonnie Raitt and more!

4:00 p.m. Ringo Starr & His All Starr Band Live at The Green Theatre, Los Angeles, CA, August 2, 2008

We here believe that Ringo deserves our spotlight with a full photo. The man is the best drummer on the planet and has been a popular musical artist in his own right (with more than 40 albums and sold-out shows everywhere) since the breakup of The Fab Four.

Tonight we finally get another one off the list with a Curtis Mayfield spotlight. He was a brilliant singer, songwriter and guitarist. He was also the one of the most consequential soul and politically conscious African-American musicians in music history.

We’re at Midweek With ‘Here Comes The Night’, Badfinger Live in St. Louis, and a Pink Floyd Spotlight, Wednesday, July 24, 2024

Good morning, musicologists around the globe. We’re already at midweek here and we’ve got songs about the night time, live Badfinger, and a Spotlight featuring Pink Floyd.

Here’s your midweek lineup:

9:00 a.m. Here Comes The Night: Various Artists

We kick off the morning with songs about the night from Warren Zevon, J. Geils Band, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Them, The Beatles, Van Morrison, Patti Smith, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Bruce Springsteen, The Kinks, Electric Prunes, Phoebe Snow, John Cougar Mellencamp, Joe Walsh, The Eagles, The Doors, Poco, Emmylou Harris, Neil Diamond, The Animals, The Rolling Stones, Don McLean, Steve Winwood, The Traveling Wilburys, Sam Cooke, Jimmy Cliff, Bonnie Raitt and more!

4:00 p.m. Badfinger Live at The Cowtown Auditorium, St. Louis, MO, April 7, 1972

This afternoon we have the absolute best band ever signed by Apple Records in Badfinger live in Missouri.

8:00 p.m. In The Spotlight: The Music of Pink Floyd

To close out the day’s programming, we move to Pink Floyd, certainly one of the earliest British pioneers of psychedelic rock.

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We Keep It Simple On Monday With ‘The Best of Reggae & Ska’ and ‘The Original Sixties Rotation’ EP, July 22, 2024

Good morning, musicologists everywhere! We are back to Monday, Monday again and we’ve got some great stuff waiting in the wings!

Here’s your musical lineup:

10:00 a.m. The Best of Reggae & Ska: Various Artists

Time to bust this one out again! We’ll hear Bob Marley & The Wailers, Prince Buster, Desmond Dekker & The Aces, Peter Tosh, Jimmy Cliff, Judy Mowatt, Laurel Aitken, Marcia Griffiths, Rita Marley, The Jiving Juniors, Derrick Morgan, The I-Threes and many more!

3:00 p.m. The Original Sixties Rotation: Various Artists

One of our original playlists that morphed into a monster and split in two. In this volume you’ll hear The Beatles, The Monkees, Sonny & Cher, Joe Cocker, Simon & Garfunkel, Little Eva, The Everly Brothers, the Searchers, Dusty Springfield, The Drifters, The Dave Clark Five, Johnny Rivers, Bob Dylan, The Animals, Petula Clark, The Rolling Stones, Procol Harum, The Turtles, Del Shannon, The Temptations, James Brown, Fontella Bass, The Box Tops, Blues Image, Booker T & The MG’s, The Four Tops, The Lovin’ Spoonful, Them, The Left Banke, Fats Domino and many more!

Before, in between and all through the night it’s our big, wide Open Stream. And today is no exception. We’re totally free and we’re also totally free of commercial advertising. Use the button below.

We’re At Midweek With Our ‘House’ EP, the Band Called Love In The Spotlight, and Surf Music! Wednesday, July 3, 2024

Good morning, surfer dudes and dudettes…and everyone in between. We are kicking off summer this week here in The Mermaid Lounge and we’re beginning a Summer of Love celebration tomorrow, so stay tuned!

Here’s your midweek musical lineup:

9:00 a.m. The #BecomeUngovernable House Playlist: Various Artists

This was one of our very first (and small) playlists that grew into our little musical manifesto. You’ll hear Barry McGuire, The Temptations, Edwin Starr, Peter Tosh, T. Rex, The Beatles, The Who, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Bob Dylan, Country Joe & The Fish, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Bob Marley & The Wailers, Joan Baez, CSNY, Pink Floyd, The Animals, Ten Years After, Plastic Ono Band, Sam Cooke, The Rolling Stones, Joni Mitchell, Jimi Hendrix, Three Dog Night, Jimmy Cliff, The Association, Richie Havens, Marvin Gaye, Phil Ochs, Janis Joplin, Tom Rush, Pete Seeger, Nina Simone and more!

Nope. Not music about love. But music from the band named Love, one of the best of the sixties bands that you may not even know. It was Tom Petty who got me started on Love. It was not an intuitive discovery. If you have heard of them, then congratulations! If you haven’t, give a listen.

8:00 p.m. Going To Surf City: Various Artists

Surfer music is a musical genre all its own, and we haven’t spun this one in forever, so it’s time to break it out. You’ll hear The Beach Boys, Dick Dale & His Deltones, The Trashmen, The Challengers, Jan & Dean, The Surfaris, The Chantays, The Blue Stingrays and more! And here we have another connection to Tom Petty. The Blue Stingrays are essentially The Heartbreakers without Tom Petty, playing some of the coolest surfer music on record, and led by one of the best guitarists on the planet, Mike Campbell.

‘The Best of Reggae & Ska’, ‘Soulsville, USA’ and ‘Live’ Mudcrutch Are All On Tap For Monday, May 20, 2024

Good morning, workforce! We’re all back at it for another week and we aim to start it off on a great note with a pretty eclectic lineup!

Here’s your Monday, Monday lineup:

10:00 a.m. The Best of Reggae & Ska: Various Artists

We love this playlist, but it’s a first pass. We are poised for expansion and, perhaps, splitting it into two volumes, but I digress. You will hear Bob Marley & The Wailers, Prince Buster, Desmond Dekker (with and without The Aces), Peter Tosh, Jimmy Cliff, Judy Mowatt, Laurel Aitken, Marcia Griffiths, Rita Marley, The Jiving Juniors, Derrick Morgan and more!

4:00 p.m. Soulsville, USA: The Music of Stax Records

There’s Motown and then there’s Stax, where the ‘house’ band was the great Booker T & The MG’s. In addition to Booker T, you’ll hear Albert King, Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, The Staple Singers, Carla Thomas, Eddie Floyd, Isaac Hayes, The Dramatics and more. By the way, the Stax documentary produced by HBO begins streaming today!

7:00 p.m. Mudcrutch Live at The Fonda Theater, Hollywood, CA, June 26, 2016

We’ve got a Mudcrutch Monday on tap today as we give you their live performance from the band’s great 2016 tour. Still kicking myself for missing them at Boston’s House of Blues, but at least I have this!

Yes, it’s Monday and Mondays suck in general, but they don’t have to. Just join us here. We’ll make your life better. And we’re free.

We Begin Anew With Emmylou Harris, The Best of Reggae & SKA and Music From ‘The Queens’, Monday, April 1, 2024

Good morning, music lovers! It may be April Fool’s Day, but we’re not fooling around here in The Mermaid Lounge. After a day off from programming we’re back with some great programming selections!

Here’s your April Fools Day lineup:

10:00 a.m. Emmylou Harris With The Daniel Lanois Band Live at Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London, UK, November 23, 1995

On her eighteenth studio album, Wrecking Ball, Emmylou Harris moved away from her traditional acoustic sound to work with Daniel Lanois. I don’t need to write a trove of stuff here when you can read this great review from Pitchfork. We start the day with her live performance with The Daniel Lanois band in 1995. Hear it for yourself.

2:00 p.m. The Best of Reggae & Ska: Various Artists

We will be expanding this soon, but for now it’s a pretty damned good playlist. You’ll hear Bob Marley & The Wailers, Prince Buster, Desmond Dekker & The Aces, Laurel Aitken, Derrick Morgan, Jimmy Cliff, Peter Tosh, Judy Mowatt, Bunny Wailer, Rita Marley, The Rhythm Aces, Marcia Griffiths, the Jiving Juniors and more!

7:00 p.m. Long Live The Queens: Various Artists

Haven’t spun this one for a while, but we give you Koko Taylor (The Queen of The Blues), Aretha Franklin (The Queen of Soul), Irma Thomas (The Soul Queen of New Orleans), and Linda Ronstadt (The Queen of Rock) all in one very enjoyable playlist. Don’t miss it.

Time flies when you’re having fun, and we are having fun here in The Mermaid Lounge. It’s already April and we’re easing into a new approach here and we’ll be adding new artists that have been on the waiting list for a while. Keep us tuned in.

Linda Ronstadt’s Final AOW, ‘Folk Music From A-to-Z’ and a Jimmy Cliff Spotlight on Sunday, March 24, 2024

Good morning, musicologists! It’s Sunday in The Lounge and we have our final AOW in the series today, along with our ‘Folk Music From A-to-Z’ EP and Jimmy Cliff later.

Here are your Sunday Funday programs:

This album was one of the very first we featured back in 2019, and it’s our final AOW as we’ll be using the slot for other programming. This album turns 50 this year, and it stands the test of time. Ronstadt’s fifth studio album was her final for Capitol Records and the album that finally put her on the map. There was no turning back. The rest is music history.

12:00 p.m. Folk Music From A-To-Z: Various Artists

I remember the great folk music revival of the sixties, much centered around the Greenwich Village area. However, folk has a long history and was the catalyst for protest music. You’ll hear Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, John Prine, Dave Van Ronk, Odetta, Yusuf/Cat Stevens, Bruce Springsteen, The Beatles, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Arlo Guthrie, Bonnie Raitt, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, The Band, Eric Andersen, Tom Rush, Judy Collins, Nanci Griffith, Jesse Winchester, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Lead Belly, Tim Hardin, The Kingston Trio, Simon & Garfunkel, James Taylor, Phil Ochs, Townes Van Zandt, The Carter Family, Neil Young and more!

8:00 p.m. In the Spotlight: The Music of Jimmy Cliff

Jimmy Cliff is a reggae, ska, rocksteady, soul singer, musician and multi-instrumentalist. He is the only living reggae musician to hold the Order of Merit, the highest honor that can be granted by the Jamaican government for achievements in the arts and sciences. Tonight we have him In the Spotlight.