From the Archive: Flashback Friday – 1991
In the interest of prolonging the weeklong indulgence of nostalgia for college radio days, I’ll use the weekly dip into the archives to focus on an artist that I suspect a few folks well-versed in the arcana of me were … Continue reading From the Archive: Flashback Friday – 1991
A Week of Fridays: Sugar, “A Good Idea”
This coming weekend, I will take to the airwaves of WWSP-90FM, my college radio alma mater, as part of their annual reunion weekends. It will be my first time presiding over a radio program in nine years and my first time on 90FM in over fifteen years. I commemoration, I’m devoting this week to slightly displaced “One for Friday” posts, touching on each of my five years as a student broadcaster. To borrow a line from Robyn Hitchcock, “I didn’t write these songs; they wrote me.” I took my time getting through college. I didn’t want to leave. Sure, a certain fear of … Continue reading A Week of Fridays: Sugar, “A Good Idea”
A Week of Fridays: The Smithereens, “Top of the Pops”
This coming weekend, I will take to the airwaves of WWSP-90FM, my college radio alma mater, as part of their annual reunion weekends. It will be my first time presiding over a radio program in nine years and my first time on 90FM in over fifteen years. I commemoration, I’m devoting this week to slightly displaced “One for Friday” posts, touching on each of my five years as a student broadcaster. To borrow a line from Robyn Hitchcock, “I didn’t write these songs; they wrote me.” Other bands meant more to me personally and yet others were more dominant on the WWSP-90FM airwaves, … Continue reading A Week of Fridays: The Smithereens, “Top of the Pops”
A Week of Fridays: Too Much Joy, “King of Beers”
This coming weekend, I will take to the airwaves of WWSP-90FM, my college radio alma mater, as part of their annual reunion weekends. It will be my first time presiding over a radio program in nine years and my first time on 90FM in over fifteen years. I commemoration, I’m devoting this week to slightly displaced “One for Friday” posts, touching on each of my five years as a student broadcaster. To borrow a line from Robyn Hitchcock, “I didn’t write these songs; they wrote me.” I’ve written about Too Much Joy’s Cereal Killers before, detailing my chilled-to-the-bone quest through the record stores … Continue reading A Week of Fridays: Too Much Joy, “King of Beers”
A Week of Fridays: The Primitives, “Sick of It”
This coming weekend, I will take to the airwaves of WWSP-90FM, my college radio alma mater, as part of their annual reunion weekends. It will be my first time presiding over a radio program in nine years and my first time on 90FM in over fifteen years. I commemoration, I’m devoting this week to slightly displaced “One for Friday” posts, touching on each of my five years as a student broadcaster. To borrow a line from Robyn Hitchcock, “I didn’t write these songs; they wrote me.” Tracy Tracy hung over the beat up old mattress in my college bedroom. Well, she was there in … Continue reading A Week of Fridays: The Primitives, “Sick of It”
A Week of Fridays: Violent Femmes, “Fool in the Full Moon”
This coming weekend, I will take to the airwaves of WWSP-90FM, my college radio alma mater, as part of their annual reunion weekends. It will be my first time presiding over a radio program in nine years and my first time on 90FM in over fifteen years. I commemoration, I’m devoting this week to slightly displaced “One for Friday” posts, touching on each of my five years as a student broadcaster. To borrow a line from Robyn Hitchcock, “I didn’t write these songs; they wrote me.” My inaugural year at WWSP-90FM was a whirlwind. I was atypically forthright in inserting myself into the station … Continue reading A Week of Fridays: Violent Femmes, “Fool in the Full Moon”
College Countdown: CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 163 – 161
163. The House of Love, “Christine” Released in 1988, “Christine” was the third single by the London-based band the House of Love, but it was the one that made all the difference. Their first two releases, “Shine On” and “Real Animal,” sold softly, and there was a clear sense that their label, Creation Records, was close to slotting them in the interesting failure category. The label was reportedly weighing whether or not to fund a third single when the band delivered an attention-getting live performance at London’s the Town & Country Club. Wanting to capitalize on that buzz, Creation sent the House of … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 163 – 161
From the Archive: Used People
Several weeks back, I offered up several short reviews I’d written for the “Best of 1992” episode of our movie review show on the radio. On the back of one of those pages was a true rarity from my time doing that program: a hand-written script. I wonder if that means I wrote it in an odd place, far away from a word processor, as if I needed to get my animosity down as quickly as possible, hoping to lose none of my spite for the film in question in the journey to a more familiar writing space. Regardless, from … Continue reading From the Archive: Used People
One for Friday: World Party, “Put the Message in the Box”
World Party had a Top 40 hit while I was in high school, pushing into the hallowed portion of the U.S. charts with “Ship of Fools,” their first single. Presumably, then, that song and the album it derives from, Private Revolution, represent the high water mark for the band Karl Wallinger started after he walked away from the Waterboys. My memory shapes the history a little differently, though. I remain highly susceptible to mentally enhancing the value of those albums that arrived sometimes during my first couple of years at my college radio station. That’s partially due to nostalgia, but it … Continue reading One for Friday: World Party, “Put the Message in the Box”
My Misspent Youth: Spider-Man/Human Torch by Dan Slott and Ty Templeton
I read a lot of comic books as a kid. This series of posts is about the comics I read, and, occasionally, the comics that I should have read. Sometimes I begin one of these posts by conceding that I’m about to abuse the word “youth.” Given the limited series Spider-Man/Human Torch, written by Dan Slott and drawn by Ty Templeton, made its debut in 2005, well past the point I could reasonably claim a fresh-faced innocence, I should probably be offering that sheepish qualifier now. Instead, I’ll note that “youth” can be a relative term. At least, the right … Continue reading My Misspent Youth: Spider-Man/Human Torch by Dan Slott and Ty Templeton
Coffee for Two 