Once I found my way to the student-run radio station in college, I’d found my home. This was true to such a degree that I was quick to chose spending time there over my actual home some hundred miles away. During the winter break of my freshman year, I made the obligatory trip home from Christmas, but begged off on staying much longer, noting the extraordinary need at the station for extra hands. This was true. 90FM was, with great pride, a station that didn’t operate under the philosophy that a break from school was a break from broadcasting. What’s more, the Program Director at the time indicated that he could use assistance in sorting through a backlog of albums that had accumulated, especially with the avalanche of new releases that were expected shortly after the first of the year.

We started that project by pulling out a huge stack of records from the music cabinet, taking them to the production studio and trucking through them one by one. For the most part, these albums were all discarded. They were either part of the dredge that labels used to dribble out at the end of the year or had been justly shunted aside in the first place. In the midst of all that were a few records that merited extra attention, however. One of those was a self-titled, self-released record from a band called The Frogs.

This was well before I knew anything about the band: their unique fashion aesthetic, their insane live shows, their intentionally offensive lyrics. As far as the lyrics, in retrospect, this album contained a few hints about that part of the band’s sensibility. Overall, though, it was just a solid pop album, filled with quick songs, great hooks. Once we figured out the band was also from Milwaukee, always a plus for those of us fighting the good music fight in central Wisconsin, the album became a station favorite.

Subsequent releases from The Frogs held less appeal (and often included lyrics that totally prevented radio play), but this one stands as a reminder to me that great music can arrive at the most unexpected times, from the most unexpected sources.

The Frogs, “Whether U Like It Or Not I Love U”

(Disclaimer: The album, as far as my research can tell, is out of print. Probably well out of print. It does, however, seem that you can buy music directly from them through their MySpace page. My posting of this track is not intended to infringe upon their ability to pull in cold, hard cash in exchange for their musical efforts. Therefore, if someone with due authority to do so asks me to remove the song from the Interweb, I will gladly comply. Especially this time. The guys in The Frogs sorta scare me.)