This series of posts covers my long, beloved history interacting with the medium of radio, including the music that flowed through the airwaves. When I write about my time in radio, I almost always focus on the student-run broadcast outlets … Continue reading Radio Days — March 1995 Adds for WMAD-FM
SUNNY WAR Anarchist Gospel (New West) — Sunny War was based in Los Angeles for several years, but she was born in Nashville and spent many of her formative years in that storied music city. Not so long ago, she … Continue reading Medium Rotation — Anarchist Gospel; Eye of I
62. Pretenders, Learning to Crawl (1984) Around a year after their release of Pretenders II and following the tour that supported it, Chrissie Hynde convened a band meeting. Bassist Pete Farndon was told of his ouster from the group, a … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #62 to #60
Much as I admire the ambition and sonic sweep the National often bring to their music, I must admit that nothing they do hits me in the solar plexus quite like those instances when they strips things down and have … Continue reading This Week’s Model — The National, “Eucalyptus”
65. Elvis Costello and the Attractions, Punch the Clock (1983) As he did from time to time, Elvis Costello decided he wanted to make an album with broader appeal. Following the critical drubbing and commercial disappointment of his 1981 country … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #65 to #63
The band Drugdealer, which is mainly an outlet for Los Angeles singer-songwriter Michael Collins, manages to make it seem like the pop-rock music of the nineteen-seventies never really went away but remaining in a blissful state of perpetual, gentle revision … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Drugdealer, “Lip Service”
THE WAEVE The Waeve (Transgressive) — Maybe no one out there was wishcasting into being a pairing of mad-genius musician about town Graham Coxon and former Pipette Rose Elinor Dougall, but their debut together under the name the Waeve is … Continue reading Medium Rotation — The Waeve; New York City
These posts are about the songs that fell just short of crossing the key line of chart success, entering the Billboard Top 40. Every song featured in this series peaked at number 41. After being raised in Brooklyn, New York, … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Near Misses — “Superman”
68. The Bongos, Numbers with Wings (1983) The Hoboken, New Jersey band the Bongos spent years toiling away without much attention from the music industry at large. They’d manage to release music on a couple small labels, including the U.K. … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #68 to #66
Back Earth, Wisconsin is a village located in the western portion of Dane County, around twenty-five miles from the state capital. The 2010 census tallied the population at just a few dozen residents over thirteen hundred. It is the home … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Ratboys, “Black Earth, WI”
Coffee for Two 