WFMU's Beware of the Blog

More Shakin' Jake (MP3s)

Last week I wrote about the passing of Shakey Jake Woods. Since then I received even more Jake audio, thanks to Ed Special and John Griffin. MP3s follow after the jump, but let's first give it over to Ed Special.

===========

Shakin Jake Woods
born August 24, 1925 in Little Rock, Arkansas
died September 16, 2007 in Ann Arbor, Michigan

I met Jake around 1973 here in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Standing on the corner of State and William streets, playing his guitar.
I thought I heard him say "On the move".
Are you saying "on the moon" or "on the move" I asked.
He said "Gotta have both of 'em".

Archie Club News #15

Throughout the nineteen sixties, seventies and eighties, most issues of Archie Comics featured a two-page spread titled Archie Club News. The banner at the top of the page announced, "ARCHIE CLUB MEMBERS send in your reports and be eligible to win cash prizes in the Archie Series Magazines." The results of this venture were generally irrelevant notes sent in like, "Dear Archie, I want to tell you about Citizen Band Radios..." Often what was sent in appeared to be part of a class project. Elementary school children were in the process of learning how to write letters and encouraged by a teacher to send something Riverdale way. Sometimes the letters were weird or even profound and other times prophetic or just silly. The following letter originally appeared in Laugh #236, November 1970:

Dear Archie,

How would you like to start out on a peaceful trip to Europe, and end up in a Russian invasion?

365 Days #273 - For Mature Adults Only (mp3s)

Album liner notes:

Incredible! Impossible! In! Those were a few of the reactions of people when they heard about a show with teenagers entitled FOR MATURE ADULTS ONLY! You can thank a teenager for that title! Who ever heard of trying to bridge a generation gap by letting the teenager have his own say about life and faith and love? Who ever heard of a professor of theology loving teenager poetry and reading it in public? Who ever heard of a coffee house on stage? All of these improbable situations were part of the experiment in youth communication entitled FOR MATURE ADULTS ONLY. We wanted the teenager to be heard. So we collected poems, cries, prayers and words of teenagers across the country. We met kids like Debbie, Mike, Jan and their friends. Then we let them be heard and felt in the show. The show was first presented in the auditorium of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis in March of 1968. The response was so dramatic that the International Walther League invited the cast to appear at it's Convention in August, 1968. Mosann Enterprises then offered to record and promote major portions of the show for the benefit of youth groups across the country.

MP3:
01 The Martin Luther High School Chorus and Norman Habel - For Mature Adults Only (2:09)
02 Norman Habel - Juan (1:23)
03 Don Hunter - Listen (Juan's Song) (2:33)
04 Norman Habel - Tim (1:22)
05 Robert Edwin - Black Shadows (Tim's Song) (2:23)
06 Norman Habel - Michelle (2:15)
07 Corky Hale - Tomorrow Calls (Michelle's Song) (2:53)
08 Norman Habel - Mike (1:31)
09 Robert Edwin - Christ Is Changing Everything (2:36)
10 Norman Habel - Jan (1:03)
11 Corky Hale - One Little Piece Of Mystery (3:03)
12 Norman Habel - Willie (2:02)
13 Don Hunter - Adam Was A Man (2:34)
14 Norman Habel - Debbie's Song (2:46)

I parted with this record a number of years ago but was able to find an image online of the front cover. I also remember seeing another version of the cover being adorned with photos of the performers and brief text years ago but never picked that one up.  On the 2003 run of 365 Days the title track (#1) and Michelle (#7) were featured.

- Contributed by: Otis Fodder

Image: Front Cover

Media: LP
Album: For Mature Adults Only
Label: Fortress
Catalog: 768
Date: 1968
Credits: Dr. Norman Habel, Narrator
The Martin Luther High School Choir (Long Island)
Richard Koehneke, Piano
Joe Newman, Trumpet
Chuck Raney, Guitar
Eric Gale, Bass
David Dahline, Drums
Larry Mohr, Saxophone
Corky Hale, Harpist (on Michelle)

Subway Gunman Bernard Goetz and His Pet Squirrel

"Her teeth are like chisels..."

Thanks to Pamela and peapod8

365 Days #272 - Fantastic Family Fitness Fun, Session 1 (mp3s)

MP3:
01 Jean Nidetch - We're Gonna Make It with Weight Watchers! (1:04)
02 Mary Lou Retton - Intro (0:48)
03 Carol Hensel - Whip It (3:22)
04 Joanie Greggains - She Blinded Me With Science (5:06)
05 Dr. Charles A. Bucher - Slimnastics (1:24)
06 Bonnie Purden - The Most Beautiful Girl In The World (1:49)
07 Alan De Mause - Standing Slow Stretches (4:45)
08 Jacki Sorensen - Sweet Caroline (3:04)
09 Linda Fratianne - Another One Bites The Dust (3:24)
10 Joanie Greggains - Stayin' Alive (3:21)
11 Six Second Pulse Count (0:15)
12 Dr. Charles A. Bucher - Slimnastics (0:50)
13 Jacki Sorensen - Sing (2:57)
14 Nancy Kabriel - Stretch and Glow (2:58)
15 Gloria Roeder - Limbering Up Exercises (3:26)
16 Jon Devlin - Rhymical Jogging (1:38)
17 Cathy Colligan - Sing, Sing, Sing (2:49)
18 Debbie Reynolds - Abdomens and Buttocks (5:25)
19 Joanie Greggains - America Sings (4:11)
20 Marcy Muir - Copacabana (4:00)
21 Mary Lou Retton - It's Your Move (2:59)
22 Linda Fratianne - Pac-Man Fever (3:37)
23 Gymnastikmit Brigitte - Wake Up In The Morning (4:35)
24 Stu Apaker - Jumps From Two Feet (0:42)
25 Jon Devlin - Isolations (2:23)
26 Miss Piggy - Stereau Warmup (2:05)
27 Gymnastikmit Brigitte - Caracas (4:43)
28 Dr. Charles A. Bucher - Slimnastics (1:53)

Don't stop there now. You've got the spirit! Download more workout favorites from WFMU:  Pierre Raymonde's Erotic Aerobics, Arnold Schwarzenegger's Total Body Workout, Cathi Stout's Hips and Abdomen, Master Gunnery Sergeant Bill Dower's Armed Forces Workout, Robert Preston's Chicken Fat, Lynn Roberts' Chicken Fat, Leslie Harris and The House Of Fire's Jogging For Jesus, Bonnie Prudden's Leg Exercises, and Ern Westmore's Facial Exercises! Now stop and take a rest! You deserve it! I'll be back before the end of the year with another volume of workout favorites!

- Contributed by: Dr. Polly Phittness

Image: Cover

Layer Tennis

Graphic design geeks rejoice..."Layer Tennis" has arrived. Every Friday at 2 pm the folks at Coudal Partners host a match between two designers who go head to head volleying tweaks to photoshop files back and forth. Each designer has only 15 minutes to make their changes before sending things back over. I think there are some elements they are given ahead of time that they must use which makes it kind of like Iron Chef for designers.

It looks like they are still working out the kinks of presenting this thing "live" (there's a play by play that's a bit hard to follow and the images take awhile to get uploaded) but it's still a lot of fun and a great concept. I am especially looking forward to Week 3 when Steve Harrington laces up.

First match is in progress. More about Layer Tennis here.

Video Four-Pack V.6 (A Gun Called Tension, Panther Burns, Bob Wills & his Texas Playboys, Pain Teens)

Been a while since I've shown my face around here. Be assured, it's because I've been hard at work plotting out the details of WFMU's next concert in the Free Music Series, and establishing the equally sinister details of my last regularly scheduled radio show this Monday night at 8 PM. Yep, I'm sitting out for the new schedule to re-charge my batteries, but the Anti Static podcast will soldier on, and I expect to hear you all grumbling "Not this asshole again..." as soon as you hear me filling in for your favorite WFMU DJ.

Anyway, I didn't come here to talk about myself, I came here to show off some music that I like, since I won't be doing that quite so regularly for the next 9 months. To wit, here's four videos by artists that have nothing to do with one another aside from me liking them a whole lot.

Starting at the top left:

1. A Gun Called Tension performing the song "Gold Fronts". Perfect mix of ringing guitars and most other things I often find myself liking about music. They have another track called "There is a War" [Real Audio] that I also like a whole lot, and their overall presence suggests an equal dedication to the big rock and mix unt scratch realms. Don't let me even hear you think the term "rap metal".

2. Tav Falco & the Amazing Panther Burns as featured in some French documentary. The sad fact that this legendary roots & twang ensemble are not more revered by the modern garage crowd is one of the six greatest crimes in music of the last 250,000 years. Between the live footage and the French subtitles, the uber-cool Tav Falco cruises around town with the lovely Lorette Velvette and explains his vision. Here's a listen link to hear the band perform "Red Headed Woman" [Real Audio] from their very first live show in 1979.

3. The Pain Teens quickly scare away the light-hearted and manage to deeply disturb everyone else with their college radio "hit" from the "Born in Blood" album. I've never been to Texas, but I've long contended that any place that could produce both George W. Bush and bands like the Pain Teens must have had something terrible happen to it when it was young. Years later, the band put out another record called "Destroy Me, Lover" which nobody else seemed to like besides me. Take a listen to the song "RU 486?" to compare and contrast. [Real Audio]

4. Bob Wills & his Texas Playboys. Just because that Pain Teens video was sooo creepy, I feel like I need to lighten the mood, and who better to do it than the king of Country/Swing?

WFMU at the Atlantic Antic this Sunday!

Hey locals, make sure you come out to this Sunday's Atlantic Antic -- Brooklyn's mightiest of street fairs -- and find the massive WFMU tent, to be situated between Hicks and Henry Streets in Brooklyn Heights. An exaltation of WFMU DJs and volunteers will be offering a bounty of swag, information on our next Free Music Series concert, eyeballing the tubesocks, and enjoying the sweet sounds of Jones & X. Ray as delivered by the crappiest-looking ghetto blaster you've ever laid eyes on. There will be live music at the nearby Magnetic Field stage from Mary Weiss, the Black Hollies, Swingin' Neckbreakers, and DJ Todd-o-Phonic Todd. Stop by to say hi any time between 10 AM and 6 PM!

Related listening: Beastie Boys - Shadrach [Streaming Real Audio]

(Features the immortal lyric: So I'm out pickin' pockets at the Atlantic Antic / And nobody wants to hear you cause your rhymes are so frantic...)

I Am Married to the Berlin Wall

On June 17th, 1979, a Swedish woman was joined in matrimony by the Berlin Wall. She now goes by the name Wall Winther Berliner-Mauer and she is the author of a website that honors her beloved, now-deceased historic communist icon. (First posted to this blog by Brian Turner.)

Surely she jests? No, I don't think so. She explains the sincerity and depth of her feelings within her page on objectùm-sexuality.

There she writes, "Even as a child a child I was able to communicate with objects and relate to objects. I realize that this might sound strange to people in the western society, but I think one has to remember that in other cultures Animism is a part of their life."

She obliquely mentions having sex with her object of affection. I can only imagine what this might have entailed. (Most likely staged from the west end, don't you think?)

You'll see she also runs a musuem in Linden showcasing miniature models of the Berlin Wall. And Guillotines.

If your own loved ones are fortunate enough to not have been destroyed by an edict of Ronald Reagan's, please don't forget to send them an e-postcard.

(My favorite part: "These pages are handcoded.")

For more on objectùm-sexuality fetishes I highly recommend this web page dedicated to "car play" ("Tire burnouts, boots and shoes on the car pedals").

365 Days #271 - The Postelfonia's BmG 223 - Eerste Bestelling (First Delivery) (mp3s)

These are female employees of the former Dutch national post and telephone company PTT, singing foreign tophits on side A and Dutch traditionals on side B. I transferred the A-side for you, as they are the most peculiar, at least in my opinion. According to the sleeve notes they were known from television performances at the Protestant Christian Broadcasting Society, NCRV. Perhaps that explains why this was released by BmG records, a label only known by religious recordings: BmG = Band met God = Bond (or link) with God.

Furthermore it says that they also sang a lot at "relaxation and party evenings". By looking at both the titles and at the dresses we can pinpoint the period in which this was released quite adequately.

MP3:
1 Selectie Mary Poppins (3:06)
2 Congratulations (2:23)
3 Let The Sunshine In (2:11)
4 Hava Naguila (2:26)
5 Puppet On A String (2:27)
6 As Tears Go By (2:48)
7 A World Of Our Own (2:06)
8 There's A Kind Of Hush (2:12)
9 Casatchok (3:09)

Sometimes small parts of lyrics are in Dutch. Casatchok is completely in Dutch. The song is about a Wolga boatsman falling in love....

- Contributed by: Jan Turkenburg

Images: Front, Back

Image of the Day: Kevin Sheilds Guitar Rig

Just in case you were curious..... by contrast, the Ramones take a more simplified approach (and seem to have one toy missing from the rig above: a tuner. Perhaps one could be hiding in there somewhere).  

via Guitar Geek

Out Of Context Cinema: Zero Hour!

Seem familiar?

365 Days #270 - I ain't got nobody... much (mp3s)

MP3:
1 Little Wonder Records - I Ain't Got Nobody Much (1:32)
2 Little Wonder Records - Hot Hands (1:37)
3 Little Wonder Records - Jane (1:41)
4 Little Wonder Records - Just As We Do (1:25)
5 Little Wonder Records - When Your Down In Louisville (1:37)
6 Ozzie Williams - Subway In Toronto (2:35)
7 Ozzie Williams - Sunday In Toronto (2:35)

Some nice historical recordings here, with lots and lots of surface noise.. LITTLE WONDER RECORDS.. 5 of them! "I Ain't Got Nobody Much" is my favorite for a couple of reasons, it is a time tested good tune, and i noticed that they dropped the word "much" from later releases, in the title and song. This very well could be the first recording of this tune, since the records are entering their 99th year (give or take).

Also i have Ozzie Williams on the London label singing 2 ditties about my hometown of Toronto (early 50's) and amusing if anything... but they say "Toronto" like 50 times in each song!!! Enjoy.

- Contributed by: Evil Pain Clown

Image: I Ain't Got Nobody Much

meterRruidos

Lots of people talk down to little kids and treat them differently. Not here at WFMU where we've always played lots of kid created music.  Jr and the Soulettes (real audio link) are a long time favorite as are the mighty Eyeball Skeleton. David Soldier and Da Hip Hop Raskalz got lots of airplay last year and that recent  Home Schooled comp on Numero is also worthy of mention.

And now from Spain there's the meterRruidos, a group of 4-11 year olds making some noise pieces that would not be out of place on a few shows here at the station. Last Visible Dog, watch your back.

grupo2-1
el primer single de su próximo redondel

Link (via the great Music for Maniacs)

“Hear and see, O Zeus! Let your decrees be straight and fair!

And I will speak to Perses the naked truth:
there was never one kind of strife.  Indeed on this earth
two kinds exist.  The one is praised by her friends,
the other found blameworthy.  These two are not of one mind.
The one - so harsh – fosters evil war and the fray of battle.
No man loves this oppressive Strife, but compulsion
and divine will grant her a share of honor.
The other one is black Night’s elder daughter;
the son of Kronos, who dwells on ethereal heights,
planted her in the roots of the earth and among men.
She is much better, and she stirs even the shiftless on to work.
A man will long for work when he sees a man of wealth
who rushes with zeal to plow and plant
and husband his homestead.  One neighbor envies another
Who hastens to his riches.  This strife is good for mortals.”

(If you read the rest of my article, I promise I’ll give you a full record’s worth of 60s psych from New Zealand!)

365 Days #269 - A bit of Turkish Pop, Eurovision style (mp3s)

MP3:
1 Gökben - Şiribim Şiribom (1:56)
2 Gökben - Ve Bir Gün Sen (3:27)

The music on this 45 is almost as cool/bad as the cover. I dunno if it was Sandy Shaw's "Boom Bang a Bang" (or was that by Lulu... I don't care enough to Google it) that started this lurching, bouncy Oompah beat Europop, but the form certainly has longevity. There are still echoes of it today in half the bloody Eurovision Song Contest entries, especially from the Eastern Mediterranean.

This is a seventies example of the genre, and it pulls out all the stops. Just don't blame me if "Şiribim Şiribom" is stuck in a loop in your cranium for days after you hear this.

- Contributed by: Jon Allen

Images: Front Cover, Back Cover

Attempt at WFMU Summer Radio Mascot Idea Fails, We Move Forward Into Fall Schedule

This was going to be WFMU's summer. With the omnipresence of every out-of-town satellite upstart and other non-area stations taking over promoting outdoor NYC/Metro NJ events, we thought it was time to get our crap together and get a real live WFMU Mascot to appear at assorted CinnaBon openings, Jersey City Street Fairs, and Todd P concerts. The result, "Exit 14B Bird", didn't go over so well, in fact, he was asked to leave 5 out of 6 remote broadcasts we had scheduled (pictured: leaving the Bergen County fairground). We decided it was probably in everyone's best interest to retire our friend (especially since Jim Henson's people were fairly irate). So, it's back to doing what we do best, radio. And it's an all new Fall schedule, effective Monday October 8th with some new voices and some seasoned FMU vets returning to the mic. You can check out the schedule, which runs until June 2008 in table form here, or long form with program descriptions here. Happy fall, everybody.

365 Days #268 - Outtakes from the 2003 365 Days Project - Part III (mp3s)

In 2003 on the first run of the 365 Days Project there were a lot of contributions that did not make it online.  Now in 2007 we are compiling those tracks into volumes for your download.  Here we go with volume 3 in the ongoing series.

Sony sues DRM authors (CD malware fiasco update)

Just throwing out a follow-up to my 2005 articles on Sony's malware CD's (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4):

Two months ago, Sony-BMG filed suit against one of the two companies it paid to make this nasty software.  There are some rather amusing details in Ed Felton's article and comments.

September Songs - 38 of 'em (MP3s)

There are only a few days of September left, so here are 38 versions of Kurt Weill's beautiful (and misleading) September Song:

James Brown   |   Lee Hazelwood   |   Santo and Johnny

Lotte Lenya   |   Walter Huston   |   Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra

Gene Bianco   |   The Harmonicats   |   Arthur Lyman

John Lennon   |   Django Reinhart   |   Bryan Ferry

Charles Mingus   |   Duke Ellington   |   Errol Garner

Ian McCulloch   |   Lindsay Buckingham   |   The Young Gods

 Lou Reed   |   Hank Penny   |   Earl Bostic

Scatman Crothers  |   Artie Shaw   |   Chet Baker

Chico Hamilton   |   Dean Martin   |   Dee Dee Bridgewater

Delcos   |   Dion and The Belmonts   |   Harry James and His Orchestra

Jimmy Durante   |   Mill Brothers   |   Nat King Cole

Nate Butler   |   The Platters   |   Ronnie Scott Quartet

Sarah Vaughan   |   Stan Kenton (w/ June Christie and The Four Freshmen)

I've been featuring this song throughout the month on my show, and while I haven't posted every single version that I've played on the air, most of the better ones are here. Nothing beats the James Brown version from his 1970 LP Soul on Top, on which he was backed up by the Louis Bellson Big Band, with arrangements by Oliver Nelson.

September Song was written by Weill (with lyrics by Maxwell Anderson) for the 1938 musical Knickerbocker Holiday. Walter Huston (father of John, Granddad of Angelica) introduced the song when he played Pieter Stuyvesant in the original production, and scored a hit with the 78 version of it while the show was still in its first run. In the play, the peg-legged Stuyvesant sings the song to Tina, the lovely Town Councilor's daughter, in the hope of rushing her into marriage against her better judgment. Peg-leg Pete uses the shortening days of September and the onset of winter to convince Tina to give herself to him and not to his rival, Brom Broeck. (Tina marries Broek in the end.)