This series of posts covers my long, beloved history interacting with the medium of radio, including the music that flowed through the airwaves.

I went back to my favorite place last night. Due to the ongoing generosity of both the current student leadership of WWSP-90FM and Wayne Edwards, longtime holder of the station’s Sunday 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. time slot, I took to the Central Wisconsin airwaves last night. The first set was devoted to Labor Day, as you can likely discern, but the rest of the playlist was basically a free-for-all. Well, most of it. I kicked off my last hour with a track off of Copper Blue, the debut album from Sugar, in commemoration of the thirtieth anniversary of its original release happening that very day. Considering I was filling in for Wayne, a very devoted fan of all thing Bob Mould, giving that song a prime place was practically an obligation. Of course, as obligations go, this one was a pure pleasure.

For posterity’s sake, and my own record-keeping, this is my playlist from Then and Now on September 4, 2022:

Billy Bragg, “There Is Power in a Union”
The dB’s, “Working for Somebody Else”
R.E.M., “Finest Worksong”
The Rainmakers, “Drinkin’ on the Job”
Swamp Thing, “Forgot How to Work”
The Flaming Lips, “Feeling Yourself Disintegrate”
The Avalanches, “Flight Tonight”
Elefant, “Misfit”
Los Lobos, “Don’t Worry Baby”
Paul Kelly and the Messengers, “Dumb Things”
Black Kids, “I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance with You”
Wings, “Medicine Jar”
The Jayhawks, “Real Light”
Hurray for the Riff Raff, “Rhododendron”
Meat Puppets, “Whirlpool”
The Beths, “I’m Not Getting Excited
‘Til Tuesday, “What About Love”

Fiona Apple, “Sleep to Dream”
Sunflower Bean, “In Flight”
XTC, “We’re All Light”
Kirsty MacColl, “There’s a Guy Works Down at the Chip Shop Swears He’s Elvis”
Elvis Costello, “The Other Side of Summer”
Prince, “I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man”
Stealers Wheel, “Stuck in the Middle with You”
The Havalinas, “Bottle of Wine”
Primus, “Is It Luck?”
Social Distortion, “Story of My Life”
Hunters and Collectors, “The Way You Live”
Erasure, “Love to Hate You”
Cat Power, “Living Proof”
Momma, “Motorbike”

Sugar, “The Slim”
Translator, “Everywhere That I’m Not”
The Jesus and Mary Chain, “Come On”
St. Vincent, “The Nowhere Inn”
The Triffids, “A Trick of the Light”
Everything But the Girl, “Missing”
Stereo MCs, “Connected”
Red Hot Chili Peppers, “Show Me Your Soul”
Ride, “Twisterella”
Lucy Dacus, “Hot and Heavy”
Television, “Friction”
Modest Mouse, “We’ve Got Everything”
Mad Season, “Artifical Red”

Previous entries in this series can be found by clicking on the “Radio Days” tag.