WFMU's Beware of the Blog

Chain Gang: Enemy of Ritz Bouncers, Friends of Tibet

Even though they played out last in 2005 at CBGB (after an over-decade-long absence) and released their last record in the early 90's, don't assume NYC's El Chain Gang are not keeping up with the times. Perhaps they just haven't felt the need to comment on current events since the days of Son of Sam, but that has changed. Thanks to the Music Director from Who Walk In Brooklyn for the heads up on an event surely as historic as the Olympics, even if it is a new recording over a slowed down remix of an old song. But it's still better than that New Order World Cup song. Sorry, no free MP3. Give them your 99 cents and also see their movie (finally, but don't ask me where).

Nate Wooley and Ryan Jewell live on WFMU (MP3s)

Trumpet player Nate Wooley and percussionist Ryan Jewell played a live set with Jesse Kudler at Brooklyn's Issue Project Room earlier this month. They also recorded two great solo sets of free-jazz+noise-informed improv, which aired on WFMU this week, and can be downloaded below.

Nate Wooley
live on The Long Rally w/ Scott McDowell 7/30/08 [view playlist]
Nate Wooley - live improv on WFMU (mp3)

Jersey City local Nate Wooley stopped by the WFMU studios a couple weeks back to record a live set of solo trumpet stylings for the Long Rally.  Wooley manages to simultaneously be of the jazz tradition and to shatter it completely.  He plays often and in various configurations of jazz, improv and noise collaborators, is active in a number of established groups like Melee, Daniel Levin Quartet, and Blue Collar, and is seemingly at home in any improv situation.  In this set, he plays through a guitar amp sans mouthpiece and uses small mouth movements, spit and breath to whip up some noise, fuzz, and feedback into a heady froth.

And somewhat related, more trumpet action from Beware of the Blog posts past here and here. -- Scott McDowell

Ryan Jewell
live on Talk's Cheap w/ Jason S 7/28/08 [view playlist]
Ryan Jewell - live improv "WFMU=PFC" (mp3) engineered by Joe Belock

Experimental percussionist and electronic composer Ryan Jewell hails from Columbus, OH. Jewell performed solo, with a snare drum (but no sticks), Emergen-C in a bowl of water, a microphone in his mouth, and various unnameable instruments. Check out the video excerpt:

Jewell was last here in December, drumming with his housemates in Psychedelic Horseshit (BT posted video here). I posted some of his music on the blog here.  He has released solo work on labels from Chocolate Monk to Teen Action, and his extensive list of collaborators includes C Spencer Yeh, Tatsuya Nakatani and Greg Kelley.

HEADS UP: Ryan Jewell will be performing in a duo with Greg Kelley at Brooklyn's Issue Project Room on September 20th 2008, w/ Cooper-Moore and DJ Brian Turner!

Live audio is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States license

Confuse - Spending Loud Night 7"

As with most other levels of extreme culture, Japan has a lot to offer grind fans.  Although hardcore didn't reach blinding speed until the early '90s, one of Japan's most intense hardcore bands came a few years earlier.  Confuse started out in 1984 and recorded not too many songs, all of which (to my knowledge) are collected in a 'fan club edition' CD.  Since any copy of that CD you'll find today is certainly a bootleg, I don't feel guilty about sharing the choice portion - 1987's Spending Loud Night 7".  The production is completely disgusting.  The trash can drum sound alone makes the record.  Add noisy, feedback saturated guitar solos and you've got a classic hardcore 7".  The most enigmatic track has got to be Merciless Game for its sudden edits and a sound that ranges from full out noise grind blitz to noisy Ramones to noisy pre-Dinosaur Jr. or something like that.  No joke.  Some pretty cool youtube footage is up too, although the live performance isn't really as intense as recordings would suggest.  And how come only the guitarist has a mohawk?!!

Confuse - Absolute Power Armaments of Old Man

Confuse - Hate War

Confuse - Merciless Game

Confuse - Spending Loud Night

I gotta get back to the garden, hope they've got spa service and valet parking...

...and a place to keep my peace and love package.

Groucho Saves The Day

For the 1969 Fall TV season, ABC tried to make waves with Music Scene, a new music variety show that combined Shindig and Laugh-in. Musical guests included a lot of variety, as well as the A-list likes of Janis Joplin, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Jerry Lee Lewis, and James Brown. Unfortunately, the show presented many of these artist in pre-recorded scenes that lacked any real verve.

Originally, the show was hosted by a rotating cast of six comedians (including a young Lily Tomlin), but six un-funny episodes later, only one remained, David Steinberg. His intellectual sarcasm made him a more than affable host, but the format change didn't help the ratings, and the show was canceled after only a few months on the air.

But that lead to a moment of inspired brilliance. For the final episode, Steinberg was able to convince a very good friend of his to appear and co-host the show. Since this was the end of the series, I'm guessing nobody really cared if the co-host had anything to do with the context of the show. And so, much of the last episode of Music Scene was given over to un-scripted moments with the original cultural anarchist: 79-year-old Groucho Marx.

Genius on the Black Side (MP3s)

1. Where Is the Love?
2. Shame
3. Le Freak
4. Up From the Skies
5. You Stepped Into My Life
6. Soul Man
7. Higher and Higher
8. Don't Cost You Nothin'
9. I'm Just Wild About Harry
10. This Will Be
11. Ain't No Sunshine
12. I'm Every Woman
13. September

Here's a baker's dozen of PSAs circa 1980 for you soul and Motown fans. Created by the Social Security Administration, Genius on the Black Side was a series of five-minute radio fillers that met the FCC requirement for public service programming and threw a little bit of current rock into the mix. Narrated by James Earl Jones, each episode gives you some background on the artist, a highlight of Social Security benefits, and a piece of a hit song.

The production values on this are well above anything that was coming out of PSA production circles at the time, and it's easy to hear how seamlessly this would have flowed into urban- or rock-formatted stations. They're well-researched, interesting, and slick. In short, someone loved this project.

I love the Energy Hogs as much as the next DJ who has to work PSAs into a show, but I love these a lot more. The album identifies these tracks as Shows 53-65, which means there's more to be found out there somewhere.

That's Jimi Hendrix doing "Up From the Skies." Until next time, don't forget, Social Security benefits do not arrive automatically. You need to apply for them.

Pauline Oliveros on Kenny G

Join Kenny G as he welcomes the 76-year-old experimental music legend Pauline Oliveros back to Intelligent Design, today (July 30th) from Noon - 3pm. Pauline will be sharing the pop music of her youth with us which directly influenced her later experiments.

We'll be listening to everything from Spike Jones and the Harmonicats to Les Paul & Mary Ford, as well as some recent compositions and improvisations from her.

You can here an mp3 archive of the show by clicking here.

New podcast: Airborne Event Dronecast

WFMU is pleased to announce the addition of a brand new podcast to our roster: Airborne Event Dronecast.

Dan Bodah, who enchants the airwaves each Sunday morning (6-9am) with his freeform program, Airborne Event, will now be doing double-time, filling your MP3 player with a weekly transmission of drones found in the field.

Space out to lovely field recordings, sometimes manipulated or layered into multitrack compositions, featuring droney atmospheres like waterfalls, generators, frogs, subway trips, machines, etc.

Click here to subscribe via iTunes.

Click here to subscribe via other readers.

Ballad Of Jimmy Hoffa - MP3

Tom Lee  -  Ballad Of Jimmy Hoffa  (3:16)

Today marks the 33rd anniversary of the disappearance labor leader Jimmy Hoffa, former president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the  union representing truck drivers and warehouse employees, as well as workers in almost every occupation imaginable, according to their website.

Hoffa became the Teamster's president in 1957 when the prior president was convicted of bribery and sent to prison.  In 1964, Hoffa himself was convicted of jury tampering and fraud and subsequently sentenced to 15 years in prison.  After serving only about half his time, however, President Nixon granted him a pardon on the condition that he not engage in direct or indirect management of any labor organization until at least 1980.  Nevertheless, at the time of his disappearance, Hoffa was believed to be engaged in an effort to recapture the leadership of the Teamsters.

On July 30, 1975, Hoffa's schedule called for a lunchtime meeting with mobster Anthony Giacolone and New Jersey Teamster official Anthony Provenzano at the Machus Red Fox restaurant in Bloomfield Township, Michigan, about 25 miles northwest of downtown Detroit.  Hoffa left for the meeting and was never seen again.  His disappearance, and the resulting speculation of where his body might be found, fueled a constant supply of newspaper stories and television coverage for many years to come.  Although his body was never found, he was officially pronounced dead in 1982.

The Son of Sammy Petrillo

It was Wednesday July 30th. It was fair in Brooklyn. I was working Juvenile out of Spazz Central. My partner is Bingo. The boss is Mr. Jiggs.

There was a spike in 207 activity in the Sammy Petrillo Case. Sixteen years after closing the file, Shawn Patrillo stepped forward claiming to be the prodigal son of Sammy Petrillo. Hailing from Yonkers, New York, Patrillo settled in Dallas, Texas where he took up ventrilo--hold on.

Spazz. Yes. Yes. That's right. Yes. I'm on my way.

Just got a 417 on Jerry Lewis at LVS.

Flash/Firefox/Windows issue on Blog

A few listeners using the most recent versions of Flash 9 on Firefox on Windows have reported problems playing audio on the blog as well getting youtube to play more than 2 seconds of any given video (a problem quite a few other people seem to be having). We are looking into the problem.

In the meantime we recommend:
1) Downgrading to Flash Version 9,0,47 available here: http://blogfiles.wfmu.org/DG/flashplayer9r47_win.exe
2) Clearing out your cache.

This seems to solve the problem for most people. Give it a try.

Fake Beatles No. 15: The Mystery of 'Peace of Mind/The Candle Burns'

Most Fake Beatles songs are properly attributed to non-Beatle sources. However, there are a few that belong to one particular subset of the genre at hand but with a murkier provenance — namely, Beatles outfakes. These are tracks that, for one reason or another, are either mistaken for rare or missing actual Fab Four songs or else are presented as such, mostly by bootleggers, either carelessly or deliberately. In the first post of our series, we presented one such outfake, "Have You Heard the Word," by the Fut, which the Beatleggers would have you believe is the genuine article.

The list of Beatles outfakes range from the plausibly Beatlesque "Have You Heard the Word" to tunes that fooled only the most Beatles-starved or most credulous listeners ("L.S. Bumble Bee," by Peter Cook & Dudley Moore, for example). There is, however, one song that has been circulating among collectors for more than 30 years that still stirs up "is it or isn't it" debates — "Peace of Mind" (aka "The Candle Burns").

The most common origin myth for "Peace of Mind" posits that it was a demo recorded by John Lennon ca. 1967-68, whose lead vocals are supported on harmonies by Paul and George and instrumentally by some guitar picking, perhaps a bass, and a backward tape-loop vocal intro. As the story goes, the song was then discovered in the trash at Apple Records in 1970 — and then fell into the hands of hardy bootleggers, where it has since appeared on a number of Beatle boots in the '70s and '80s, including 20x4 and Strawberry Fields Forever (the bootlegging part is verifiable, at least).

Though a number of Beatleologists accept this version of events, welcoming "Peace/Candle" as a lost Beatles artifact of their psychedelic era, many more say its poor musical quality and meandering lyrics instead negate its veracity. In fact, others have claimed it as a lost Syd Barrett track, which has afforded it placement on Pink Floyd bootlegs as well! A third theory offers that it was the handiwork of the Apple-signed band Trash. If none of these parties is actually responsible, no one else has indeed spoken up to take credit for the song.

Listen and decide yourself: Bogus Beatles or the Real Deal? (As for where your esteemed columnist stands on the issue, cf. the title of this series.)

The Beatles(?): Peace of Mind/The Candle Burns [MP3]

 

Remembering The Membranes – 1988 Interview

In preparation for the upcoming WFMU Radio Greats Weekend, I've been sorting through old tapes of my WFMU radio show (I refuse to call them "airchecks"—that's down there with saying "imprint" instead of "record label" if you ask me—"check, check, is this mic on?") and I came across this entertaining interview with England's The Membranes.  The Membranes were three (sometimes four) funny-as-hell lads from Blackpool, and for pretty much their entire existence as a band I was a huge fan.  In fact, one of my first dates with the young woman who eventually became my wife was a Membranes' show at Maxwell's in Hoboken.  This was originally aired in 1988, when the band were here on tour promoting what was then their latest album, Kiss Ass...Godhead!, and songs from the album are sprinkled throughout the 34-minute interview.  The interview was recorded in the old production room, the "B" studio of WFMU's former headquarters under the Upsala College Froeberg Hall dormitory.  The Membranes talk fast (especially John Robb, the lead singer and obvious "wit" of the band), but it's worth listening closely to hear them rap about Steve Albini, Hammer of the Gods, Slade, their favorite Beatles' albums, "cans" vs. "headphones" and where drummer Coofy Sid got his name, among many other things.  Just don't mention The Fall or visas.  If you listen hard, you can hear WFMU radio great Bronwyn C. chuckling in the background.  The presentation ends with an impromptu sloppy doo-wop station i.d. followed by The Membranes' signature song, "Everyone's Going Triple Bad Acid, Yeah!"

I present this interview here as an mp3, rather than on the radio, as it's a bit long and worthy of being preserved in its entirety.  Thanks to the generous offer of DJ Daniel Blumin, I'll be celebrating my 15 years on the air (1984–1999) with Daniel, on August 10, from 3–6 a.m. ET, playing choice excerpts of the music, humor and occasional mental breakdowns that characterized my show.  Also joining us will be musicologist, author, former WFMU broadcaster and Dark Beloved Cloud records impresario Douglas Wolk.  We'll also be presenting musical extracts from The Stork Club program.  Hear us there!

The Membranes - Interview 1988

More Bernie Green Than You Can Stand

Several months ago, I posted my favorite tracks from the album "Bernie Green Plays More Than You Can Stand In Hi-Fi". I have since received a few requests to post the entire album, and today I am answering those requests.

The entire album is posted below, along with a poorly made composite of the back cover (the recording information at the bottom center shows the seam, but the rest is readable), which contains a whole bunhc of entertaining and informative liner notes. The only thing missing from the back cover is the credit (underneath the instrumentalists) for Bernie Green as the arranger, and the caption under the picture at bottom right, which identifies the sailor pictured as being Mr. Green himself.

Enjoy!

Bob Purse

Bernie_Green_-_1_La_Sorella (MP3)
Bernie_Green_-_2_Mister_Peepers_Theme (MP3)
Bernie_Green_-_3_Ragging_the_Scale (MP3) Bernie_Green_-_4_Railroad_Train_Samba (MP3)
Bernie_Green_-_5_The_Virtuous_Orchestra (MP3)
Bernie_Green_-_6_Caesars_Soliloquy (MP3)
Bernie_Green_-_7_National_Emblem_March (MP3)
Bernie_Green_-_8_A_Frangesa (MP3)
Bernie_Green_-_9_Saxophobia (MP3)
Bernie_Green_-_10_Concerto_For_Calliope (MP3)
Bernie_Green_-_11_Summer (MP3)
Bernie_Green_-_12_Double_Blues (MP3)
Bernie_Green_-_13_Idyl (MP3)
Bernie_Green_-_14_The_Peanut_Vendor (MP3)

Back Cover (JPG)

Orera

Swank vocal/jazz combo from Georgia (then-USSR), reminiscent of an all-male equivalent to France's Les Double Six, or perhaps, a less linty Five Neat Guys. Thanks to Robin Edgerton.

this ain't no disco

      It's not often that you get a chance to play a highly unusual instrument.   And doubly so when that instrument happens to be a very old building in Downtown Manhattan.  Until August 24th that is exactly what artist and musician David Byrne is asking you to do.  Using an ancient organ as the keys, he has transformed a grand old hall in the 1908 Battery Maritime Building into an entirely acoustic super-keyboard.  Emptying out the guts that would formerly have created tones, and replacing them with long tubes connecting to radiators, cut up pipes and other clanking bits, Byrne has substituted the architecture of the building for the music making core of the antique organ. 
     Visit this piece for a chance to experience a part of old maritime New York, and to watch how everyone responds to the music making moment that the event offers you.  Many people were initially afraid to touch the keyboard when I visited on Friday, to be responsible for the sounds that everyone will hear.  But once they realized these sounds are nothing like the musical notes we expect, the freedom to play and experiment offered up an opportunity to make noise without a pre-established sense of accomplishment in mind.  A few musicians took center stage and really pushed the experience to a much more interesting moment and I was happier for it.  Not too say "only musicians need apply", but I thought what a wonderful chance to mess about with this sound making device, on a truly massive scale.  Sort of like being let into a cathedral when everyone was out to lunch and getting a chance to play Motorhead.  So pop on "Ace of Spades" and get your air piano chops up to speed.  You've only got a few weeks to hurry down to play the building.  And while you're at it, visit the waterfalls, again.  I went a second time because I had a friend in town from LA, and it was another wonderful and unique experience. 

WFMU Radio Greats Weekend, August 8-10

Tune in as legendary WFMU DJs from years past drop by to help celebrate 50 years on the air. Special guests and rare airchecks galore! See the schedule below, and visit this page for more details.

Friday, August 8
  - A salute to great WFMU listeners on Bronwyn Knows Best (6-7pm).
  - Meredith Ochs drops by Downtown Soulville (7-8pm).
  - Pseu sits down with Neal Adams on Thing with a Hook (8-11pm).
  - Rich will be airing a new "Wreck This Mess" from Bart Plantegna and a new "Midnight Matinee" from John Schnall (11pm-2am).

Saturday, August 9
  - Nicholas Hill pays a visit to Shrunken Planet (6-9am).
  - Jim Price will air tapes of himself, R. Stevie Moore, The Vanilla Bean and George Flores from WFMU in the 70's (9-10am).
  - Wildgirl swings by Michael Shelley's program (10am-1pm).
  - Fool's Paradise will feature guest host, The Hound (1-3pm).
  - Danny Fields, David Newgarden, and Wildgirl invade the Cherry Blossom Clinic (3-6pm).
  - Rob W. features Matt Ostrowski, The Ex in 1992, and David Newgarden (6-9pm).
  - Mark Allen yuks it up with Michael Goodstein (9pm-mid).

Sunday, August 10
  - Daniel Blumin hosts Douglas Wolk, William Berger, and Stork Club archives (3-6am).
  - More goodies from the Stork Club vaults on Airborne Event (6-9am).
  - Freeform pioneer Vin Scelsa chats with Glen Jones (noon-3pm).
  - DJ Steinski drops by Debbie's show (3-5pm).
  - Airchecks of John Narucki can be heard on Teenage Wasteland (5-7pm).
  - Hova & Belinda plus R. Stevie Moore on Gaylord Fields' show (7-9pm).
  - Bethany airs more great Stork Club archives (9pm-mid).

Guinea Pig Festival in Peru

The one-day festival includes an animal show and fashion contest which features the guinea pig, Then dinner is served.

Robbie The Werewolf (MP3s)

The late great Robbie "The Werewolf" Robison pioneered the genre of beatnik monster comedy folk, but not many followed in his footsteps. His one and only LP "At The Waleback" was recorded live in 1964, and while it is sort-of-famous for its great cover (look to your right), it is really hard to find. However, here it is in digital form, music and banter and all, as high-quality MP3s:

Vampire Man | Drums and Guns | My Little Brother | Frankie-Stein | That Judge | Censored Man | Count Dracula | Lucifer | Streets of Transylvania | Rockin Werewolf | Inside Story of Flamenco | Tiptoe Thru The Wolfbane | Censored Dooley

Later on, Robbie would be a founding member of the band Clear Light. Unfortunately, he passed away a few years ago. Read more about him here.

Your Mid-Summer Dose of Peter Lorre Audio

Many the past girlfriend has been confused by my love for Old Time Radio. There is no question that OTR fans are predominantly male. I'm not sure why this is, but I imagine it's because women have taste. For me, a lot of OTR's appeal has to do with the sound quality, the movie serial-esque music and the plethora of unbilled but familiar sounding character actors. I always get a big thrill when I hear Arthur Q. Bryan as a vacuum salesman or June Foray as a cowhand or Paul Frees as anything. Part of the fun is that gratification one gets from identifying the mystery voice. Of course Peter Lorre was no mere character actor, but his voice is one of the most enjoyable to listen to as he sweats, screams or murders.

Peter Lorre starred in a painfully neglected radio series titled Mystery in the Air that was filled with nice sinister touches. I was filled with that aforementioned gratification when I first heard an episode and realized that the voice of the announcer on the show was that of Henry (soon to be Harry) Morgan from Dragnet, M*A*S*H and thousands of other shows. Lorre became the host of a repackaging of OTR re-runs in the late fifties, in which he would introduce episodes of The Whistler, Inner Sanctum or Mr. and Mrs. North that did not necessarily feature him in the cast. Some of these are also featured below.

Mystery in the Air
The episode The Black Cat is insane. Peter Lorre gets crazier and crazier throughout the episode until he breaks down completely - it is the epitomy of those wild Peter Lorre impressions you always see in cartoons but never actually seem to see Peter Lorre do himself. A must listen.
Here's an episode in which Peter Lorre plays a creepy hypnotist and magician who has an unhealthy competitiveness with another creepy hypnotist and magician.
Listen to eight simultaneous episodes via an automatic audio player here.

Suspense

Probably the most famous of the intense radio dramas of the forties and fifties, Suspense, unlike its many copy cats, featured some of the biggest Hollywood giants in starring roles. It also featured an expensive live orchestra with music often composed or conducted by the legendary Bernard Herrmann. Here we have four episodes featuring Peter Lorre.

Til Death Do Us Part (1942)
The Devil's Saint (1943) 
A Moment of Darkness (1943)
Nobody Loves Me (1945)

Guest Appearances
Inner Sanctum with Peter Lorre
The Martin & Lewis Show with guest Peter Lorre
Lorre on a 1939 edition of The Jack Benny Show
Peter Lorre appears in an episode of the popular but over rated comedy Duffy's Tavern
Mr. and Mrs. North with host Peter Lorre