If you are a copyright owner and believe that your copyrighted works have been used in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, here is our DMCA Notice.
« February 2006 | Main | April 2006 »
During a March 21st edition of CNN Headline News, a fire broke out in the studio just above the heads of the two anchors, Chuck Roberts and Linda Stouffer. You can hear the hesitation in Roberts' voice as he narrates a series of video clips, and then when the shot goes back to the two anchors, an electrical fixture blows up above Stouffer's head while she is on camera.
This never would have happened to Rudi Bakhtiar.
Here's a video clip of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, playing her Gibson SG and performing Down By The Riverside on the Chicago-based television show TV Gospel Time, sometime in the early to mid-Sixties: [download video, 6mb mpeg file or stream it from youtube here]
This clip was shot well after the peak of Tharpe's career in the 30's and the 40's, but it's the first chance I've had to see video of another one of my personal guitar heroes. Sister Rosetta Tharpe was one of the first recording artists to play lead guitar, starting to do so in the 1920's. She started playing guitar at the age of four, billed as "Little Rosetta Nubin, the singing and guitar playing miracle," as she performed at tent revivals throughout the south.
I couldn't find out much about this clip - it's from the enhanced audio CD of Shout Sister Shout, a Tribute to Sister Rosetta Tharpe, and it was part of the weekly TV show TV Gospel Time, which aired nationally in the 1950s and 60s. Our own Kevin Nutt aired this track and a batch of other TV Gospel Time recordings on this May 2002 edition of his great show Sinner's Crossroads.
Regardless of the exact date of this performance, this was a period of Tharpe's career when she was attempting a U.S. comeback, after alienating her religious fans with her secular music, and then alienating her white fans with the blues sides she cut in the 1950s. She suffered a stroke in 1970 and died in 1973.
Fans of weird spoken word records and proto psycho-babble are in for a treat. Here is the entire 1973 LP by a very strange guy from Florida named Exenogenesis. I found it at a WFMU Record Fair. You need a long attention span for this stuff, but for those who can wade through it, the rewards are rich. Others might just want to sample the hell out of it.
In between his obsessions with the numeral 666, carbon based life forms and the phrase "I Am That I Am," it becomes clear that Exenogenesis has the objective of most self-styled gurus - getting laid. In fact, his gatefold LP came with a self-addressed stamped envelope addressed to: Xxenogenesis, 300 Bayview Drive A-10, North Miami Beach, FL 33160.
I doubt his physical body still resides there. But his message and libido are timeless.
Exenogenesis Side One (mp3) | Exenogenesis Side Two (mp3)
Aficionados of the genre understand that when it comes to Cheesy Euro-Disco, it's all about location, location, location. And props. Props and location, in the opposite order. Dancing cossacks are also helpful, but not absolutely necessary. A succesful Cheesy Euro-Disco video needs to be set in outer space, a bucolic meadow, or involve power tools, football-helmet-sporting bikini babes. Or involve dancing cossacks.
This video [download it as a 9 meg wmv file or as a 22 meg mpg file here] may not fulfill the cossack policy, but it does include accordian-playing skydivers wearing Russian military uniforms. The skydivers include Alexander Beloglazoff, world-record holder for longest freefall involving an augmented seventh chord. The music is In-Grid's song Tu Es Foutu, as though you didn't already know that, you Cheesy Euro-Disco slut, you. via del.icio.us/tag/video
UPDATE: I uploaded a 22 meg mpg version of the video, then changed the original "avi" version to a wmv file, which is the actual format..
We're devastated to hear of the loss of equipment, studio, archives, and saddest of all the cats of our friends Twig and Carly of the Baltimore outfit Nautical Almanac; their three story building caught fire while they were up here in New York last week for the No Fun Fest and the loss is great. They refurbished the building themselves some years ago and dubbed it Tarantula Hill, and it quickly became an essential cog for art, music performance, and just being a backbone for Baltimore's experimental scene and all who passed through town. They've spent years constructing and hot-wiring countless pieces of found materials and creating fantastic instruments, and I had the pleasure of seeing and hearing some of them when they performed (real audio) on my radio show last October (you can see more pictures on the playlist page). In the time that I've known them, Carly and Twig have been inspiring, tremendous individuals that have shared so much with me and WFMU out of a common love of exploring sounds, and most recently Twig continued to enlighten us all by bringing up Little Howlin' Wolf to the studio a couple of months back. While I have no doubt that they will continue to make the great art that is inside them always, they could use your help. Their email hello@heresee.com is accepting Pay Pal donations, and those in the Baltimore area can check out a pretty solid lineup of benefit shows that will be going on in the weeks ahead. News and info can be found at the True Vine record store site.
Hey, WFMU bloglets! Ed Shepp here with a tender virgin postie for all y'all out there in bloglandd. So much old news is hitting the fan now that I had to weigh in with my two scents. Don't worry, though-I didn't really read the stories I'm about to mention; I got the info from headlines and hearsay: inadmissible-in-court type stuff. So you won't have to deal with complicated, hard-hitting exegesis (but maybe a few $10 words just for show) . Aiight, everybody grab a bran muffin and let's get started.
First off, something radio-sorta-related. Word on the street Howard Stern wears a wig, without which he looks "like a dentist from the Bronx, who probably sells condoms." Amazing. I never would have guessed, with his fine faux tresses and my short attention span to things-that-aren't sparkly. But now that I know of his Secret Wig of Doom, I'm convinced it's the same one Cher wore in Moonstruck. Oh, wait-that was real. Amazing.
I must admit-this wig thing has given me a whole new appreciation for Howard Stern. You see, I've been chanting at the wig temple for longer than I can remember. One of my cherished dreams of early adulthood was to be like Ray Jean (played by Tootie Ramsey) in that sitcom Living Single, sporting a new wig for every scene in each episode of my life. But then one day I decided to seize the wigged day and go buy one-a Keanu Reeves bob, maybe a James Dean pompadour-to my dismay I discovered that NOT ONE good man's wig could be found on store shelves!!! (No good crowns either, but that's a different obsession-lots of tiaras, no crowns.) I realized that if you want a really good man-wig (mawg), you have to drop a few thousand in cheddar, so I packed my dreams of endless effortless hair variety away with the 700 packs of gum I keep in-case-of-apocalypse. ...But wait! Here comes Howard Stern with his wig flapping in the breeze like a deflated tire (shhhh-can you hear it?), fanning new life into my dreams of wigdom. Thank you, Howard Stern! And good for you for having the courage to parade around in that wig! And a woman's wig no less! Amazing.
Since we're on the wig tip, I would like to take this opportunity to say the word merkin. (Click here to hear me say merkin.) I only recently found out what one was, and from Pseu Braun no less, who lives in a tent (actually, it's more like a teepee). Do you know what one is? No need to reach for the dicktionary-I'll tell you. Briefly, it's a pussy wig. Apparently they're big with bushless actresses who need to go native for a scene. Who knew?! Anyway, I've decided to endeavor to intend to collect merkins one of these days, ideally to have one from every continent. I think it would be amazing to have a Merkin Room (merkoom), where they proudly festoon the walls like the Art they are. I wonder if they come in mink. Of if they shrink. Do they stink on the pink of a fink in the clink? Are they rich in zinc like a drink of ink from the Sync Roller Rink, Inc.? Hmmm. Makes you think.
"Come to where there is excitement! Come to where there is enchantment! Come with Darondo!"
A collection of video clips (scroll down to the middle of the page) featuring 1970s soul/blues/r&b singer Darondo (surrounded by, in his words, "beautiful... plush... lovely young ladies") from his public access music video programs "Darondo's Penthouse" and "Doze Comedy Videos", posted by Ubiquity Records, which recently released a collection of Darondo's singles called Let My People Go. (Sample Darondo track: "Legs (part 1)" (RealAudio link) from Ken's show.) As the Ubiquity Records site says, "fans of Benny Hill or Chappelle Show will not be disappointed!"
It's official: This Week in Sex's marathon grand prize Bucket of Smut goes to Listener "Pirate" Theo. Arrgh! He's a devoted fan of all things WFMU, and told me a little more about his plans for the stuff he won than I really needed to know.
I like Listener Ted, as I call him, because he said, "You, Amanda, are charming." If I actually got to pick the winner myself, I might have picked him because of this, though he didn't compliment me that much until he won the prize, so I might have picked one of the people who said nice things earlier in the process.
Sorry to the losers, but thanks for playing. Remember, this is about sex, so most of the time you just don't get lucky.
Kitties. Online sexual material is obscene if anyone anywhere in the US says it
is. I say this blog is about cute kitties. Say it with me: kitties.
Meat puppets. I like meat. I like cyborgs. I have mixed feelings about the meat cyborg.
Fun facts: "Severed penises are uncommon, but surgery usually works." And: "As long as the penis is placed on ice and reattached within a few hours, the success is usually pretty good." The operative word here: usually.
We must. The Bust Doctor is easy to use. (click on pic, right)
Firstly, spray special healthful liguid on bust.
After put on bust doctor, plug in and trun on switch button.
You can adjust vibration power by button.
15 minutes per day is efficient to make good shaping bust.
Straight? Unhappy? Spoiling for a lawsuit? Justin Watt's parody of the "Gay? Unhappy?" billboards for "reparative therapy" has gotten him involved in an intellectual property rights/freedom of speech battle.
I like big books and I cannot lie. "Baby Got Book."
Poker? I don't even know her. Poker chip condoms.
Tonight (Thursday) from 6-11pm, all of WFMU's internet services will disappear, except for our humble little blog here. The blog pages will appear, but all of our MP3s and movie files will also not be downloadable during the outage.
We're facing off against the WFMU Technology Curse tonight, as Adam and Bill load up all of our servers and Cisco switches and such, load them onto a dolly and wheel them quietly past the drunk staff at our data center in New York City, ideally without waking any of them up. We hope to move into a sparkling new rack space with much better electrical protection. If you recall, last December 14th, our main Realaudio / MP3 archive server was magically transformed into an expensive paperweight, due to the creative electrical stylings of said data center, which shall remain unnamed.
During the outage tonight, you will be totally unable to download this MP3 of Barry Manilow performing the State Farm Insurance jingle to an audience of appreciatively squealing housewife-cum-teenyboppers.
{mp3s}
In the winters of 1990 and 1991, the band I was in, Uncle Wiggly, was fortunate enough to tour in Europe. These tours, and our first LP release (on the independent Nur Scheiss label), happened largely as the result of a friendship with the Austrian band H.P. Zinker, who had lived for a time in NYC. Bandleader Hans Platzgumer used to list his favorite groups thusly: "Led Zeppelin, Metallica and Uncle Wiggly."
Though the bulk of our shows were within Austria, we also played in Switzerland and Holland, with some glorious days off in Prague, Amsterdam and parts of Germany. The crowds varied from small to large, but were almost always thunderously appreciative. At the time, we had a small but solid following in New York (mostly East-Village based), but New York crowds were often jaded and scenesterish; everyone was in a fucking band. It was revelatory, then, for us to play long, three-encore sets to cheering, enthusiastic kids who may or may not have heard our one and only album. We were nobodies being received like artists.
Traveling as a band is unquestionably the way to see Europe. People opened their homes to us, we ate great (mostly free) meals, and yes, adorable teenage girls hitchhiked from one city to the next to see us play. We also had the honor of sharing bills with the cream of the Austrian underground, and though, much like NYC at the time, many bands in Europe were trying to sound like Sonic Youth and Pussy Galore, the memorable ones were all distinctly voiced with something original to offer. Aided by the fact that I was a "radio personality" at the time, I flew home with a neat stack of promo vinyl and cassettes.
Where are they now? Dunno. I haven't spoken to any of these people in years, though a few of them, Andi Haller from Loud and Maz Lauterer from Maz Paniac in particular, were good friends of ours at the time. I remember these tours and the people and places involved very fondly, especially now that I'm a full-time desk jockey and rarely find the time to make music.
Attwenger - Hans-Peter Falkner is the Jimmy Page of the ziehharmonika (accordion), and in fact bares a strong physical resemblance to the Zeppelin auteur. With drummer Markus Binder, the duo melds traditional Austrian folk music with punk and ska backbeats—wholly original, and quite something to see live. This mp3 represents side A of their debut cassette (Nur Sch. Rec!, August 1990). [Cassette Side A mp3]
die Goaß - This is the Attwenger duo's more traditional side project, where they play "Ober-Österr Volksmusik," M. Binder putting aside his drum kit to play double bass and tuba. [Plottntölla mp3]
208 Versions of Todd Colby's "Cake"
For the past ten years, I've been playing a rant by Todd Colby called Cake each week on my show. Needless to say, it's become a Kenny G classic. After the jump are 160 versions of "Cake" done by you, the WFMU listenership. Thanks to all who participated. Just amazing!
208 WFMU Listener MP3s of Cake can be found after the jump.
Erik Ott, a customer service rep at Apple Computer was fired two days after performing this love ode to a fellow Fed Ex rep at the annual Apple employee's talent show. Fortunately Ott captured his performance on tape, as well as the performances of some of his ex-coworkers: [download video, 10 mb, mpeg file or stream it from google here]
Ott's main crime (besides performing under the name Big Poppa E) appears to have been joking about leaving Apple customers languishing on hold while flirting with the sweet Fed Ex lady. It apparently left an Apple VP all agog, and two days later, Ott was out of a job. Thanks Barrett!
Hello, everybody--nice seeing you again.
My pal Punchy e-mailed me this week to point out that nothing says “Happy 15th Anniversary, now let's live forever!” like age-defying pancakes. He's right! And the best, most godliest age-defying pancakes of all are made by Pat Robertson. Yes, that Pat Robertson! The Pat Robertson with the Christian evangelical TV show that's watched by about 1 million viewers daily! The Pat Robertson who wants the United States to assassinate Hugo Chavez, the democratically elected president of big oil-producing country Venezuela!
“You know, I don't know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we're 
trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it. It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war. And I don't think any oil shipments will stop.” That's what Pat Robertson says! “We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability. We don't need another $200 billion war to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm dictator. It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with.” He says that, too! But now he's making pancakes—AGE-DEFYING PROTEIN PANCAKES!
It's amazing what Pat Robertson can do with some flour, some eggs, and some faith! I just wish I could give you the recipe for Pat Robertson's Age-Defying Pancakes, but you have to sign up with the Christian Broadcasting Network to get it, and I guess I am just not ready to defy death yet.
Don't you think Pat Robertson should send some of his pancakes to poor Ariel Sharon so he can defy death? I don't think he will, though, because he says that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had a stroke because God was mad about the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. “He was dividing God's land, and I would say, 'Woe unto any prime minister of Israel who takes a similar course to appease the [European Union], the United Nations or the United States of America.'” That's what Pat Robertson said on his 700 Club TV show. “God says, 'This land belongs to me, and you'd better leave it alone.'” God is Pat Robertson's personal pancake-eating buddy, I guess.
With all the current hubbub about South Park, Scientology, Isaac Hayes, and Tom Cruise, the mainstream media once again fails to address the real issues. It is left to us here at Beware Of The Blog, in cooperation with Les Freres Corbusier, to fill the gap.
What does the "L" in L. Ron Hubbard stand for? Love? Actually yes, but it stands for so much more. Hear the full truth here (MP3).
How did it life on earth begin? It involves an evil galactic ruler and hydrogen bombs, and it all started 75 million years ago. Don't believe it? Listen here (MP3).
Both selections are from A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant, essential listening for anyone interested in the teachings of the great L. Ron.
For those of us who live in or spend a lot of time in Jersey City, the frenzied state of overdevelopment and the massive construction projects which seem to pop up every week are enough to make us throw our arms up in disgust and shake our fists heavenward at some unseen god. (Or just move to Brooklyn.) It's a problem that's exacerbated by the fact that in most cases, most of what gets built around here is useless crap. If it's not a towering condoplex like Montgomery Greene (I'm suspicious of any living quarters with errant vowels tagged onto their names, or that are referred to as 'dwellings'... Though if you're single, inviting someone back to your 'dwelling' for a 'nightcap' is much sexier than trying to lure them to some mere 'apartment' for filtered water), it's yet another nail salon, dollar store, or washing machine repair shop. (My favorite example of late is the crappy dollar store on Newark Avenue which closed, and after months of shuttered windows and speculation on behalf of the locals as to what might open up in its place, we were finally rewarded with.... another dollar store!)
Now I've got nothing against dollar stores and nail salons, but my point is we've already got plenty of 'em. And more importantly, they don't adequately reflect the now attitude of your average Jersey dweller. We're chronic little fish over here on this side of the river, you know. And much like our Brooklyn nemesi, we have in many ways boarded ourselves up and declared that geographical conveniences be damned, Jersey City doesn't need Manhattan because we've got everything we need right here! Drive-thru liquor stores, terrifying shopping malls, the Pulaski Skyway, a great movie theater, a great radio station, and most importantly, a host of bitchin' rock bands that we've vaulted to international stardom. It's high time to do something to honor that legacy. To wit: I am pleased to present for your consideration, artist Joe Heaps Nelson's proposal for the Jersey Rocks Triumphal Arch.
R. Stevie Moore just sent me a link to Rato Records' two photo galleries (black and white and color), featuring tons of great pics from the 50's to the 70's including various celebs and non-celebs playing with records, doing radio, using tiny portable turntables, and tons of European ingenues in various stages of undress. They also clearly have a thing for Brigitte Bardot.
MP3 download: Cosmic Cheerleader
WFMU's Thursday morning web-slot wrangler, the Cosmic Cowboy, graced our broadcast airwaves last week with a squeaky clean version of his Bible Belt Fun Fest program (filling in for the absent Scott Williams) and gave WFMU listeners everywhere a much-needed dose of pep. Yes, pep. Not pepto.
Because it would be a shame for some radio moments to be lost to ephemera or buried within our vast treasure chest of archives, the WFMU office staff presents a nugget of audio glory from last week's broadcast: a clip of the Cosmic Cowboy's Freeform Cheer (MP3).
If you think you've got what it takes, tryouts are scheduled for next week. No hair-pulling, bitches.
Callum Hickey is the real Master of Puppets. His Pish Dolls and Incredible Singing Dolls perform rock classics like Motorhead's Ace of Spades on the streets of Scotland [download video, 15mg quicktime file]. So what if he didn't get Lemmy's look exactly right - what Callum lacks in puppet facial hair, he makes up for in pedal controlled marionettes - he's got thumb pedals for himself, and foot pedals for the kids to keep the Marionette groupies rockin'. This clip (of The Incredible Singing Dolls) was from the 2002 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, via Fulminatia.
