Happy Birthday, Tom Petty! We Open and Close Our Programming Today With The Heartbreakers, Friday, October 20, 2023

Good morning, Petty-ologists! We are celebrating today what would be Dr. Tom Petty’s 73rd birthday by opening and closing our programming with The Heartbreakers! In between, we’ve got singer-songwriter Sam Cooke!

Here’s your musical lineup:

11:00 a.m. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Under The Covers

We’ve got two of these playlists going. This is actually one that came out on CD several years ago that is out of print, but we managed to find one on Discogs. The same qualities that make Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers the best damned rock n’ roll band on the planet are the same qualities that make them the best damned cover band on the planet. See for yourself.

4:00 p.m. Singer-Songwriter Series: The Music of Sam Cooke FINAL AIRING!

The ‘King of Soul’ takes his final spin as our featured singer-songwriter for this week. We’ll have a brand new artist tomorrow.

8:00 p.m. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: The Best of ‘Live’ Wildflowers

We haven’t aired this one since the Wildflowers & All The Rest box was released. This is a great day for us to put it back into circulation. This was an amazing project, a true labor of love curated by Petty’s family and bandmates. For this disc, they carefully chose what they believe to be the best live performances of songs from the Wildflowers period.

Join us in The Mermaid Lounge as we celebrate the birthday anniversary of one of the greatest musical geniuses who ever strapped on a Rickenbacker. He was a great musician, songwriter and guitarist, but most of all he was one of the good guys of music, respected by all, and still missed by his fans, whom he adored.

Monday Brings Valerie Carter, Bob Dylan, and Our ‘Between Heaven & Hell’ Playlist, October 9, 2023

It’s the beginning of another work week, and we’re here to make this day at least a bit more pleasant for you all. We start off today with the late, great Valerie Carter.

Here’s your musical lineup:

11:00 a.m. In the Spotlight: The Music of Valerie Carter

We open up with the little girl with the big voice, who was so loved and respected by her musical peers. Aside from her own brilliant collection of albums, she sang with Linda Ronstadt, Don Henley, Little Feat, Jackson Browne, the Outlaws and James Taylor. She wrote the song Cook With Honey (a hit for Judy Collins) and co-wrote songs with Jackson Browne and several other artists. Carter left the planet way too soon, and today we put her In the Spotlight.

3:00 p.m. Bob Dylan: Rare Performances From the Copyright Collection (1962-1966)

Some early live performances from the amazing Mr. Dylan, including recordings from the artist’s coffeehouse era (Gerde’s Folk City, 1962), his mythic 1963 breakout concerts at New York’s Town Hall and Carnegie Hall, a duet with Joan Baez from the historic March on Washington (August 28, 1963), definitive performances from his European and world tours of 1965 and 1966, and moments from the 1964 and 1965 Newport Folk Festivals and more. Not to be missed.

7:00 p.m. Between Heaven & Hell: Various Artists

Not an EP, but a good one. You’ll hear the Ozark Mountain Daredevils, Tom Petty, The Eagles, Steve Winwood, Lucinda Williams, John Lee Hooker, Fats Domino, the Grateful Dead, Foo Fighters, Bruce Hornsby & The Range, Van Morrison, Roberta Flack, The Byrds, The Grass Roots and more!

Monday, Monday all over again but, hey, it isn’t all bad when you’ve got this great music floating around you all day. We’re not just on when we have programs to run. We are here all the time for your listening pleasure at absolutely NO charge and with no commercial advertising. See for yourself. Your ticket to musical nirvana is right below this line.

Labor Day Brings a Desmond Dekker Spotlight, a New ‘Working Songs’ Playlist, and The All-Girl Revue Three, Monday, September 4, 2023

We celebrate the contributions of the American worker today, and we’ve got a brand new playlist about working at the mid-afternoon time slot. Read on for more!

Here’s the musical layout:

11:00 a.m. In The Spotlight: The Music of Desmond Dekker

We start off with a bit of Reggae this morning from Desmond Dekker, with and without his Aces, as we jump-start the day.

I expect this one to evolve over time as have many of our other playlists. This go-around, you’ll hear Van Morrison, The Staple Singers, Canned Heat, Janis Joplin, Tom Petty, Maria Muldaur, Bob Dylan, Jim Croce, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Little Feat, Elvis Costello, Arlo Guthrie and more.

7:00 p.m. The All-Girl Revue, Volume Three: Various Artists

We have several volumes of this playlist and that is how our ‘Ladies Day Out’ EP evolved over time. We go to Volume Three, where you’ll hear Aretha Franklin, Dolly Parton, Joni Mitchell, Carole King, Linda Ronstadt, Carly Simon, Judy Collins, Bonnie Raitt, Susan Tedeschi, Melissa Etheridge, The Shirelles, Melanie, Emmylou Harris and more!

We End the Month in Style and Kick Off the July 4 Weekend With Petty’s Top 100 Songs and Townes Van Zandt’s Final Turn as Our Singer-Songwriter on Friday, June 30, 2023

Good morning, musicologists! We kicked off Memorial Day weekend with The Beatles Top 100 and today we kick off July 4th weekend with Tom Petty’s Top 100.

Here’s today’s musical lineup:

10:00 a.m. Tom Petty’s Top 100 Songs

I might add, in no particular order. That would be too tall a task. This is Petty as founding member of The Heartbreakers, Mudcrutch and The Traveling Wilburys, as well as a solo artist. We celebrated our ‘other’ House Band at the beginning of summer, and we celebrate (mostly) The Heartbreakers today as we enter the dog days of summer.

8:00 p.m. Singer-Songwriter Series: The Music of Townes Van Zandt FINAL AIRING!

Today is Townes Van Zandt’s final turn as our featured singer-songwriter, but it won’t be the last time you hear from him here. We’ve gotten our hands on some great live performances. Tomorrow we’ll have a brand new singer-songwriter to introduce.

In between our only two pieces of programming today, we’ve got our big, wide Open Stream courtesy of The Music Mermaid. We never really know what she has in store for us. That’s entirely up to her, but we do know that she has impeccable taste in music.

Songs About Trains, Dolly Parton Takes Her Final Turn, and Petty & Campbell Close Out the Programming on Cinco de Mayo!

Good morning, music lovers! Today we debut a new playlist about trains, another popular topic of musicians of all genres, Dolly Parton takes her final turn as our featured singer-songwriter, and we feature The Heartbreakers at the end.

Sunrise over a rail line in rural Alberta, Canada

Here’s your musical landscape:

11:00 a.m. Train Tracks: Various Artists NEW!

Today we debut a great playlist about trains and, believe me, they come from all genres. Trains are a popular topic for musical artists like Joni Mitchell, Guy Clark. Linda Ronstadt, Bob Marley & The Wailers, Seve Winwood, Rod Stewart, Pete Seeger, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, the Flying Burrito Brothers, Laura Nyro, Professor Longhair, J.J. Cale, Chicken Shack, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, the Boogaloo Swamis, Wendy Waldman, Gladys Knight & The Pips, Lucinda Williams, The Guess Who, Paul Simon, Rosanne Cash, Taj Mahal & Ry Cooder and more!

4:00 p.m. Singer-Songwriter Series: The Music of Dolly Parton FINAL AIRING!

We hate to see her go, but Dolly Parton’s taking her final stage call as this week’s featured singer-songwriter. But don’t despair! Tomorrow we debut a great new artist as you will see.

8:00 p.m. Tom Petty & Mike Campbell: The Dynamic Duo

Speaking of songwriters, Tom Petty is right at the top of the list (his day will be coming), and he has had help from Mike Camp, his sidekick for many years, on many Heartbreaker songs. We debuted this playlist over three years ago and it never gets old. Tonight we air it to close out our programming.

We’ve made it to the end of the week and it’s Cinco de Mayo. For many it’ll be party time after hours. But for those who choose to party at home, we’re on 24/7 at no charge to you at any time. And better still, we do not accept commercial advertising, so there’s nothing to clog up the airwaves.

Monday Rears Its Ugly Head But We’ve Got the Music You Need With Our ‘Water, Water Everywhere’ EP and No Nukes Later, March 27, 2023

It’s a back to the work week Monday here in The Mermaid Lounge, and we’ve got some great music for you today, including our first airing of the ‘No Nukes’ concert.

Here’s today’s lineup:

11:00 a.m. Water, Water Everywhere: Various Artists

We’ve said this before, the earth is composed of 71% water, and today our radio station is as well. Water is a popular topic for musicians and you’ll hear about it from Paul McCartney, Deep Purple, Joe Cocker, Simon & Garfunkel, The Beatles, Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Browne, Otis Redding, Neil Young, America, Johnny Rivers, Elton John, The Doobie Brothers, Valerie Carter, Bob Dylan, Alison Krauss & Union Station, Al Green, Loggins & Messina, Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band, Linda Ronstadt, Spirit, The Grass Roots, The Beach Boys, Lindisfarne, Van Morrison, Bonnie Raitt, Carole King, Steely Dan, Tom Rush, Donovan and more!

7:00 p.m. The No Nukes Concert, Madison Square Garden, September 21, 1979 NEW!

Last week we aired The Concert for Bandladesh, the very first “cause” concert and the brainchild of George Harrison and Ravi Shankar. Tonight we air No Nukes, a 1979 concert from MUSE (Musicians United for Safe Energy), a group consisting of Jackson Browne, Graham Nash, Bonnie Raitt, Harvey Wasserman, and John Hall. This activist group formed shortly after the Three Mile Island accident in March of 1979. Participating artists in the concerts included Jackson Browne, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Bonnie Raitt, Crosby, Stills and Nash, James Taylor, Carly Simon, Tom Petty, Jesse Colin Young, Gil Scott-Heron, Dan Fogelberg, Poco and more.

Yes, the work week has indeed begun once again, but the music is still playing here in The Mermaid Lounge. If you’re lucky enough to work in an office, close your door, pull up a tab and put on some great background sounds. If you stream music in your work environment, give us a shot. We’re on the web, after all. Just plug us in.

We’re Sliding Toward The Weekend With Bobbie Gentry & Some Friends at BBC Studios, Our ‘Rock, Blues & Ballads’ Playlist, and our AOW, Thursday, June 16, 2022

Good Morning, Musicologists. We’ve got some great new stuff to start off the day today as we’ve discovered a Bobbie Gentry BBC Studios performance with a couple of friends along for support.

A couple of friends dropped by to help Bobbie Gentry out with her BBC Studios show

Here’s Thursday’s lineup:

11:00 a.m. Bobbie Gentry Live at The BBC Studios, London, 1968-1969 NEW!

This was a great find, given the fact that Bobbie Gentry was always a bit reclusive and shunned the limelight. She just wanted to write songs for other people. But she did perform live music, and she did so at BBC Studios in 1968 and 1969. Maybe she brought Donovan and James Taylor along for moral support! We’re glad she did!

3:00 p.m. Album of The Week: American Tune by Eva Cassidy

We’re winding down on this week’s album selection as we’ve reached our next-to-last airing here. The final will be sometime on Saturday. Don’t wait too long!

7:00 p.m. Rock, Blues and Ballads, Volume One: Various Artists

I know. It’s about time I got volume two together. And I totally agree, so it’s on my weekend list. But this one’s pretty damned good and we haven’t heard it in a while. You’ll hear Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Browne, Warren Zevon, Van Morrison, James Taylor, Aretha Franklin, Tom Petty, Delbert McClinton, Bonnie Raitt, J.J. Cale, Dusty Springfield, Neil Young, Paul McCartney & Wings, Long John Baldry, Randy Newman, Maria Muldaur, Ry Cooder, Gregg Allman, Linda Ronstadt, and more!

We’re sliding steadily toward the weekend here in The Mermaid Lounge, although I’ll grant you it’s not getting here fast enough this week. But good music goes a long way toward making the work week easier, so give us a shot. Because we play some seriously good shit with absolutely no commercial interruption, no chatty disc jockeys who’d rather talk than play music, or cost to you. Not one penny. And we’re open 24/7. What more do you want?

Monday Rolls Around Again and We’ve Got Some ‘Live’ Guess Who, Jackson Browne In the Spotlight, and Some ‘Drivin’ Songs’ Later On, June 13, 2022

Here we are again from The Mermaid Lounge on another back-to-work day. If you’re working where you can listen in, just pull up a tab and make your day so much brighter right here.

It’s a ‘first’ here in The Mermaid Lounge as we kick off today’s programming with some ‘live’ Guess Who!

Here’s your back-to-work lineup:

11:00 a.m. The Guess Who Live at The Ambassador Theater, St. Louis, MO, May 6, 1974 NEW!

The Guess Who is, without a doubt, a fantastic band. We’ve got some of their stuff in our rotation, but we’re on the hunt for all of it. That’s where we found this gem. As we expand our horizons for the summer, we’re kicking off the day with this live performance which was broadcast on KSHE 95FM.

3:00 p.m. In The Spotlight: The Music of Jackson Browne

It’s time to put Jackson Browne back In the Spotlight. It has been a while. Every time we hear this playlist we’re reminded why he’s considered one of the greatest song writers of all time.

7:00 p.m. Drivin’ Songs: Various Artists

And then, we close out the night with songs about driving. But it doesn’t stop there. Some of these songs may not actually be about driving, but they help you go just a little bit faster than you were originally planning. Hey, that’s why they’re driving songs. You’ll be riding with The Doobie Brothers, Tom Petty, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Beatles, The Grateful Dead, The Eagles, Emmylou Harris, Van Morrison, Chuck Berry, Bob Dylan, Gladys Knight & The Pips, Golden Earring, CSNY, Linda Ronstadt, Willie Nelson, The Kinks, The Byrds, The Moody Blues, Deep Purple, Rare Earth, Canned Heat, Bruce Springsteen and more!

Start your Monday with a little boost from The Music Mermaid here in the Lounge. We’ve got several new playlists to unveil this week, and we start today! We’re on 24/7 totally free of commercial advertising and at absolutely no cost to you. What’s not to love?

Sunday We Celebrate Tom Petty’s Top 100 Songs, Intro Our New AOW by Alison Krauss, and Take You Through The Night With Our ‘In Your Dreams’ EP, May 29, 2022

We’re shaking things up a bit here for the Memorial Day Weekend. It has nothing to do with patriotism. That’s an ugly word these days. It’s about the music, people. And we’ve got plenty of it.

Today we give you Tom Petty’s Top 100, as a solo artist, a Heartbreaker, with Mudcrutch, and as Charlie T. Wilbury Jnr.

Here’s your Sunday lineup:

8:00 a.m. Album of The Week: Forget About It by Alison Krauss NEW!

Released in 1999, this album by Alison Krauss is categorized as “country, bluegrass, and adult contemporary” (whatever that means). Critical commentary on this one is that in spite of the dobro and mandolin, Alison Krauss is a pop star at heart. Please. I never listen to critics. If I did, I wouldn’t have the album collection I do. Music is in the ear of the beholder. And life is too short to listen to shitty music. Regardless of what they call it, this is a great album.

10:00 a.m. Tom Petty’s Top 100 Songs UPDATED!

We started at 50 songs the first time we aired this; then moved up to 65. To hell with it, Petty’s up to 100 now and he deserves to be there. We’ve got Petty solo, as a Heartbreaker, with Mudcrutch, and as Charlie T. Wilbury Jnr. Most are original compositions. Some are covers. Some were only ever done as part of ‘live’ performances. No matter. The man is a musical godsend. I think we’re pretty measured on this station, and tend to underplay our house bands to remain in control. Today, we get to do the opposite.

7:00 p.m. In Your Dreams: Various Artists

We do not normally play an EP at 7:00 p.m. but that changes today. We take you into the evening hours with our ‘In Your Dreams’ multi-artist EP. We have a lot of listeners at night from other countries, and it’s only fair they get exposure to some of these. So, there you have it. You’ll hear Nanci Griffith, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Aerosmith, Crowded House, the Moody Blues, Van Morrison, The Eurythmics, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Fleetwood Mac, Roy Orbison, The Mamas & The Papas, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Jimmy Buffett, The Allman Brothers Band, Supertramp, Randy Newman, Aretha Franklin, Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris, Bob Dylan, Widespread Panic, The Youngbloods, Jimmy Ruffin, Jackson Browne, Mudcrutch, Patsy Cline, Joe Walsh, Bruce Springsteen, k.d. lang, Dusty Springfield, and more!

Get on it, people. We’re moving into the bowels of summer in fine form here with our house bands at the helm. Join your friends from around the world who know what we’re all about! We’re free 24/7, and our rotation is unmolested by advertising. You can’t go wrong here.

It’s Open Stream Thursday With Trifectas and Our Album of The Week, April 21, 2022!

Good Morning, Streamers! We’ve got a great Open Stream Thursday here with Trifectas at the top of each hour starting earlier than usual! Read on for details!

Here’s your Trifecta Thursday line-up:

10:00 a.m. Aretha Franklin

11:00 a.m. Bob Marley & The Wailers

12:00 p.m. Dusty Springfield

1:00 p.m. Jimi Hendrix

2:00 p.m. Mudcrutch

3:00 p.m. Album of The Week: Common Sense by John Prine

This will be the next-last-airing of this great Prine album. The final will be on Saturday and then on Sunday, we’ll have a brand new selection!

4:00 p.m. The Beatles

5:00 p.m. Stevie Wonder

6:00 p.m. Van Morrison

7:00 p.m. Tom Petty (solo work)

It’s a great day to tune in, turn on, drop out, as a famous man once said. So why not do it with #BecomeUngovernable Radio? Hang out with The Music Mermaid because, as you all know, she has impeccable taste.