Crack The Sky, Recher Theatre
This is the first show we've been to in a couple of years when we didn't either grab a setlist off the stage or copy down the tracks played. But among the great tunes we heard were Rangers At Midnight, Ice, A Sea Epic, Hold On, Surf City, a couple of tracks from the new album "The Sale" including Patriot, and a cool Beatles medly with encore Hot Razors In My Heart to close. The clasic Crack songs (from the first two albums) sounded much closer to the originals with Joe and Joe back in the lineup. John went crowd surfing right over our heads during the encore.
John surrepititiously stuffed a water bottle in his pants towards the end of the show and sang a few bars before giving up and pulling it out to the amazement and great humor of us there right up front.
There are more photos from the show on our flickr site.
A day of silence
Our webcasts will be devoid of music today as we observe the Internet Radio Day of Silence. If you value internet radio, please consider letting your lawmakers know.
Pretty vinyl
Today on the Lumpy Gravy Radio Show we will feature a few selections from colored vinyl in our library. Each of the pictures below is a thumbnail so if you'd like to zoom in on the high resolution version, be my guest.
First, we have Devo's "Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!" on Warner Brothers Records, 1978.The curious device to the left of the turntable is our custom phonium copuler designed by Michael Ketter.
Here's the album cover art.
And, one more view of the vinyl.
On stunning clear red vinyl, we present an LP from the J. Geils Band, "Bloodshot," on Atlantic Records, 1973. To answer your implied question, there is no connection between the J Geils Band and Bill Cooper's "Behold A Pale Horse."
Finally, here's a special promotional LP by Pink Floyd on pink vinyl. This one's unopened and I intend to leave it that way, so we will have to pick another Floyd tune to spin today.
Clear Channel streams
I normally abstain from giving the Big Beast of radio any publicity, but thanks to a tipoff from DCRTV I discovered Clear Channel's new FormatLabs service, offering 75 webcasts to compete with all us microbroadcasters and iPodders. There's also a article in Radio and Records announcing the new service.
The streams are all 32 kbps/22 KHz stereo webcasts in the Microsoft Windows media format. Winamp does not like them, and the open source Media Player Classic I strongly prefer to Microsoft and Real's crappy bloatware doesn't like the streams either. Lauching any of the FormatLabs streams lauches Windows Media Player.
I've been sampling the "The JazzCLUB" (channel 401) and "RadioRadio Classic Alternative" (channel 703) for a while now and they're playing some nice music.
This almost makes up for the spam that Clear Channel's Ticketmaster service keeps sending to my e-mail accounts.
The Sterilles
I'm on the rag
Get me a Kotex
How about a Pamprin
I hate men
I'm on the rag
I'm on the rag
I swollen like a pig
Get me a Pamprin
My boobs hurt
I'm on the rag
I'm on the rag
Get me a Kotex
I'm on the rag
I hate you
I hate me
'cause I'm on the rag
I'm on the rag
I'm on the rag
Get me a Kotex
I'm on the rag
I hate you
I hate me
'cause I'm on the rag
I'm on the rag
I hate men
Don't even think about it tonight
Of course I'd be wearing white
I'm on the rag
I'm on the rag
Get me a Kotex
I'm on the rag
I hate you
I hate me
'cause I'm on the rag
I'm on the rag
I'm on the rag
Get me a Pamprin
I'm on the rag
I hate you
I hate me
'cause I'm on the rag
I'm on the rag
I'm on the rag
Get me a Pamprin
I'm on the rag
I hate you
I hate me
'cause I'm on the rag
I'm on the rag
Get me a Kotex
I'm on the rag
I hate you
I hate me
'cause I'm on the rag
And I can go horseback riding and swimming and even put it in my sock!
Crack The Sky, Recher Theater, November 26, 2005
A most excellent time at the first Crack The Sky show we've been able to attend in almost two years. Paul Newman opened and played (in no particular order) Needle and the Damage Done, Old Man, Back Porch, Mean Mr. Mustard/Polyethene Pam, Grasshopper, Nobody Home (Pink Floyd), Nature's Way (Spirit).
Another fantastic Crack The Sky show, topping out at around three hours. Not only did I manage to grab a setlist, I was also invited on stage by JP during Walrus! Here is the setlist.
- Nuclear Apathy
- From The Greenhouse
- All Fly Away
- Zoom
- All American Boy
- White Music
- Hold On
- Skin Deep
- Ice
- Acoustic Set (JP, Rick, Bobby)
- We Want Mine
- Living With The Lights On
- A Night On The Town (With Snow White) (Rick Solo)
- Animal Skins
- Louisiana (the Randy Newman song with JP solo on keys)
- Flashlight
- I Don't Have A Tie
- Lighten Up McGraw
- A Sea Epic
- Wet Teenager
- She's A Dancer
- Surf City
- Hot Razors
- I Am The Walrus
cosmik de-Evolution 1
The first cosmik de-Evolution radio show features Jerry and Merl from the Record Plant in '73, and a couple of tasty bits from the Dead's run at Utica in March, 1973. This was broadcast on 975pirateradio.com on Tuesday, November 15, 2005, at 9pm eastern daylight time.
Garcia/Saunders
The Record Plant, Sausalito CA
July 8, 1973
- Someday Baby
- My Funny Valentine
- Thatıs Alright Mama
- Itıs Too Late
- Finders Keepers
Grateful Dead
Utica Memorial Auditorium, Utica, New York
March 22, 1973
- Beat It On Down The Line
- Jack Straw
- Wave That Flag
More vinyl from the shore
I inherited another album collection last weekend. This collection is nowhere as large or diverse as Mark's, but has it's gems nonetheless. I will forever remember this pile of vinyl because it came from my sister and parents, it includes a couple of Crack The Sky albums, and when I saw Peter Frampton's "I'm In You" I immediately and by instinct started singing
I have been in you, baby, you Have been in me, and we have be So intimately entwined And it sure was fine
..which upset Jane.
- 38 Special - Special Forces
- 9 1/2 Weeks - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
- AC/DC - High Voltage
- Aerosmith - Live Bootleg
- Beach Boys - 20 Golden Greats (Capitol UK)
- Believe in Music (K-Tel 1972)
- Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band - The Distance
- Boston - Don't Look Back
- Bryan Adams - Reckless
- Chuck Mangione - Save Tonight For Me
- Crack The Sky - Animal Notes
- Crack The Sky - Classic Crack
- DC Star Picture Disc (has a sticker that says Harmony Hut $6.98 072882)
- Eagles - One Oof These Nights
- Emotions (K-Tel 1977)
- Genesis - Three Sides Live
- Good Vibrations - Beach Boys (Best of) (1975)
- Huey Lewis and the News - Picture This
- John Fogerty - Centerfield
- John Waites - No Brakes
- Journey - Departure
- Journey - Frontiers
- Journey - Infinity
- Journey - Raised On Radio
- Journey (1975)
- Kiss - Animalize
- Lionel Ritchie - Can't Slow Down
- Loverboy - Keep It Up
- Lynyrd Skynyrd - One More From The Road
- Lynyrd Skynyrd - Pronounced leh-nerd skin-nerd
- Lynyrd Skynyrd - Second Helpings
- Lynyrd Skynyrd - Street Survivors (original cover)
- Peter Frampton - I'm In You
- Pink Floyd - Meddle
- Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
- Quiet Riot - Mental Health
- REO Speedwagon - Good Trouble
- REO Speedwagon - Wheels Are Turnin'
- Robin Williams - Reality What A Concept
- Steve Perry - Street Talk
- Styx - The Grand Illusion
- Ted Nugent - Weekend Warriors
- The Tubes - Outside Inside
Rock on!
A big load of V1YnL
A couple of weeks ago I was given the role of caretaking for an album collection, which will no doubt blend into the Big Pile we have here. Jane's brother Mark ran out of room for these, so they're here now and we're gonna play as much good stuff as we can from them. Many of these LPs are from Jane's collection, which explains all the girly stuff. As far as we can tell there's at least three girl collections in this mix, man. Requests for songs to play from this list on Lumpy Gravy are most welcome.
Mark's Records
transcribed on March 25, 2005 by Lw and Jane
Yes, there are a few dupes in this collection.
- 97 Underground The Beast From The East Volume 1 *Maryland local metal 1987
- AC/DC Back In Black
- AC/DC For Those About To Rock
- AC/DC Let There Be Rock
- Alabama Mountain Music *vf/nm
- Alabama The Closer You Get
- Alice Cooper Love It To Death
- America
- America's Greatest Hits
- Angel Live Without a Net (2)
- Average White Band
- Bachman Turner Overdrive II
- Bachman Turner Overdrive Not Fragile
- Bad Company
- Bad Company
- Barry Manilow This One's For You
- Barry Manliow Live (2)
- Beach Boys Good Vibrations Pickwick
- Beatles Introducing The Beatles Vee Jay Records LP 1062 *p
- Beatles 1962-1966 Apple missing first LP
- Best of Deep Purple Scepter Records *nm
- Billy Joel 52nd Street
- Billy Joel An Innocent Man
- Billy Joel Piano Man
- Billy Squier Signs of Life *Ames $6.99 sticker
- Black Sabbath Live Evil
- Black Sabbath Mob Rules
- Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Volume 2 (2) *f
- Bobby Vinton, The Many Moods of (2) *f
- Boston
- Brewer & Shipley Tarkio
- Bruce Springsteen Born in the USA
- Carole King Tapestry
- Carpenters *original, drug fair $4.49 price tag
- Carpenters A Song For You
- Carpenters A Song For You *original, drug fair $4.49 price tag
- Carpenters Now and Then
- Cars Candy-O *nm
- Cheap Trick Dream Police
- Cheech and Chong Big Bambu
- Chicago 16 *nm
- Chicago 17
- Cinderella Long Cold Winter *nm
- Creedence Clearwater Revival, Best of, on K-Tel Records
- Culture Club Color By Numbers
- Culture Club Color By Numbers
- Dave Clarke 5 Coast To Coat
- Deep Purple Perfect Strangers
- Def Leppard Pyromania
- Derek and the Dominos Layla *f
- Dio The Last In Lane
- Dire Straits Brothers In Arms
- Disco Teen '65 Columbia Record Club
- Don Williams Listen To The Radio
- Duran Duran Seven and the Ragged Tiger
- Earth Wind & Fire Spirit
- Electric Light Orchestra Out of the Blue
- ELO's Greatest Hits
- Elton John Friends soundtrack
- Elton John Goodbye Yellow Brick Road *vf
- Elvis Costello and the Atractiions Armed Forces
- Encyclopedia of 100 Rock 'n' Roll Super Hits Records 3 and 4 (2) TVP Records, has everything from the Shirrelles to Gladys Knight to Jimi Hendrix
- Eric Clapton 461 Ocean Boulevard
- Fleetwood Mac Mystery To Me
- Foghat *Bearsville 1972
- Foreigner Agent Provacateur
- Four Seasons Gold Vault of Hits *f
- Frank Marino & Mahogany Rush Live
- Estefan, Gloria Gloris Estefan and Miami Sound Machine Let It Loose *nm
- Estefan, Gloria Gloria Estefan Cuts Both Ways *nm
- Godspell
- Great Train Robbery *autographed to Mark
- Heart Dreamboat Annie
- Honeymoon Suite
- Browne, Jackson Lives in the Balance *nm
- Jan & Dean Little Old Lady From Pasadena
- Jessy Dixon and the Chicago Community Choir Open Our Eyes Gospel Record Co. (Savoy Record Co) Newark NJ *mint
- Jimi Hendrix Experience Smash Hits
- John Cougar Nothin' Matters and What If It Did
- John Cougar Nothin' Matters and What If It Did
- John Denver Aerie
- John Denver Back Home Again
- John Denver I Want To Live
- John Denver Poems Prayers and Promises
- Juice Newton
- Kiss Ace Frehley
- Kiss Alive (2)
- Kiss Double Platinum
- Kiss Gene Simmons
- Kiss Peter Criss
- Kool and the Gang Wild and Peaceful
- Kool and the Gang Wild and Peaceful
- Led Zeppelin
- Led Zeppelin III
- Led Zepplin 4
- Leo Sayer Endless Flight
- Lionel Ritchie Can't Slow Down
- Max Webster Universal Juveniles
- Metallica And Justice For All
- MFSB Love Is The Message
- Miami Sound Machine Primitive Love *nm
- Moe Bandy & Joe Stumpley Just Good Ol' Boys feat. Holding The Bag
- Molly Hatchett Beatin' the Odds
- Molly Hatchett Double Trouble Live (2) *nm
- Molly Hatchett The Deed Is Done
- Monkees Headquarters Colgem Records *p
- Monkees More of the Monkees Colgems Records *p
- Monkees Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd.
- Moody Blues Days of Future Passed
- Moody Blues Seventh Sojurn
- Motley Crue Shout At the Devil
- Motley Crue Too Fast For Love
- Mountain Nantucket Sleighride
- Nugent, Ted Cat Scratch Fever
- Nugent, Ted Double Live Gonzo (2)
- Nugent, Ted Free For All
- Nugent, Ted Weekend Warriors
- Ohio Players Fire
- Olivia Newton John Don't Stop Belivin' *some serious scratches
- Original 50s & 60s Pickwick Records
- Osmonds Homemade
- Ozark Mountain Daredevils
- Ozzy Osborne Bark At the Moon
- Ozzy Osborne Bark At the Moon
- Ozzy Osborne Blizzard of Oz
- Collins, Phil Face Value
- Poison Open Up and Say Ahh! *nm
- Quiet Riot Condition Critical
- Raspberrys
- Ratt Out of the Cellar *Ames $6.99 sticker
- REO Speedwagon Ridin' the Storm Out
- Rhinoceros Satin Chickens *f
- Ricky Skaggs Don't Cheat In Our Hometown *vf
- Robin Trower For Earth Below
- Rod Stewart Da Ya Think I'm Sexy (Special Disco Mix) b/w Scarred and Scared
- Rod Stewart Never a Dull Moment
- Rolling Stones Hot Rocks Greatest Hits 1964-1971 (2) *vf
- Rolling Stones It's Only Rock 'n' Roll
- Ronco presents Sound Explosion 1975 pop
- Sammy Hagar Three Lock Box
- Scorpions Love At First Sting *original cover Ames $6.99 sticker
- Seals & Crofts Greatest Hits
- Shelly West West By West
- Sly & the Family Stone Greatest Hits
- Star Power K-Tel Records 1977
- Statler Brothers The Originals *nm
- Steely Dan Can't Buy a Thrill
- Steve Miller Band The Joker
- Styx The Grand Illusion
- Thirty Eight Special Rock and Roll Strategy
- Thomas, B.J. Sings His Very Best
- Twisted Sister Stay Hungry
- U2 Live Under a Blood Red Sky
- Van Halen Fair Warning
- Warner Bros Hard Goods (2) *WB compilation, includes FZ Cosmik Debris
- Yes 90125
- Yes Fragile
- ZZ Top Eliminator *vf
- ZZ Top Tres Hombres *broken LP :(
plus a dozen or so records without sleeves and a few 45s, including this prize:
Business Letter Dictation, three 45s made by Dictation Disc Co.
- record 139a speed 90 wpm Bill Owens
- record 139b speed 100 wpm Charles Woods
- record 12a speed 110 wam(sic) Bill Owens
- record 12b speed 120 wam(sic) Jim McKay
- record 121a speed 130 wpm John Causier
- record 121b speed 140 wpm Ed Jordan
Condition if not noted is good or less.
Continental coverage
Saturday, February 26, 2005, 2300, 7415. Our twenty third show. Best signal we've heard in a while for our show today. New listeners from Ohio, Arizona and Washington, way cool. Michael and Ganja checked in at 4:20.
I was very trepidacious about this show at going on 30 minutes to airtime. Our relay was handled perfectly by Monticello, though; our free form playlist prevailed, and we had a great time.
Airchecks are here for your amusement.
Warm-up on the 'net:
- Clear Light - Black Roses
- Edgar Winter - Tobacco Road
- Pacific Gas & Electric - Staggolee
- Pink Floyd - Julia_Dream
- Viking Kittens - Electric Six Gay Bar
- Spiderman theme [1967 vinyl]
- They Might Be Giants - Spiderman
- Devo - Secret Agent Man
- Conception Corporation - Love of Grass
- Peter Gabriel - Schock den Affen
On WBCQ:
- Looney Tunes 1937
- This is Media Network
- Frank Zappa - Uncle Remus - Apostrophe
- Richard Hell and the Voidoids - Blank Generation
- Blue Öyster Cult - Then Came the Last Days of May - Blue Öyster Cult
- Theme from The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
Dr Becker's Magic Mushrooms are brought to you by Milkhouse Manor Piano Movers and Brain Surgeons in sunny Still Pond, Maryland. Yes, come on down to the milkhouse and Allan and Kenny'll set you straight. A wake and bake 420 f00kin' schlob company.
- Lowell George and the Factory - The Loved One - Lightning Rod Man
- Todd Rundgren - International Feel - A Wizard, A True Star
- Ah jeez
- Bugs Bunny Prototype - Goin a little fast (1938)
- Squeeze - Slap And Tickle
- Dr Feelgood - Watch Your Step - Malpractice
- Paul McCartney - Medicine Jar - outtake
- Weather Report - And Then - Mr. Gone
- Paddy Roberts - The Woodpeckers Hole
- Bob Newhart - The Siamese Cat
- The Beatles - Window Window - Celluloid Rock
- Ian Dury & The Blockheads - Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick
- Ren and Stimpy - Don't Whiz on the Electric Fence
- Frank Zappa - Wonderful Wino - Fillmore East 1970? (Beat the Boots)
- Mantanooska Thunderbuck - Plastic Jesus - December 1975
- Wow! What a weekend on WBCQ
- Raymond Scott - Powerhouse
What is Lumpy Gravy?
While surfing, I came across a most excellent web site that has made available, in it's entirety, Chris Federico's excellent Zappology, A Detailed Listen to the Music and Lyrics of Frank Zappa. The Zappology is arranged by album release, and a detailed analysis of the Lumpy Gravy album is well worth the read. This will hopefully provide some more insight into the whys and wherefores of our radio show.
...and if you think you deserve a raise...
I was listening to a recent broadcast of the Church of the Subgenius Hour of Slack and heard a live version of a short track we played on the October 23 edition of the Lumpy Gravy Radio Show. Fortunately the Rev. Stang identified the band performing this fine track live at one of the Church's Devivals, and I've updated our show's track list to give proper credit to MAN's excellent song "FIRED." You are also encouraged to check out the quicktime video of this track and other cool MP3s.
Back when MTV didn't suck
I found this in my local used record store today. It looks like it dates back to the early eighties and the beginning of MTV
"Have you 'stereo-ized' your TV? Hear MTV: Music Television in stereo on your FM receiver. For details call your local cable company.
"You'll Never Look At Music The Same Way Again."
All Fly Away
Crack The Sky, Criminal Records, 1983, and never released on CD. Here's a spiffy quality vinyl rip from my archives.
Your golden bombs go off
Your military struts its stuff
You buy and sell and waiting for the big one
Tales that the money's gone
Keep 'em ignorant and stripped of song
Feed the fire, Peace remains the thin one
Oh no, you'll see they'll be crying in your streets
When the Dancer, the Teacher, the Writer...all fly away
the Players, the Painters
I see you black and white
Computerized and very right
Guns on every door and every window
You're the picture of security
Keep 'em, ignorant and you're worry free
No one hears the music at Ground Zero
Hey hey, my my, Crack The Sky will never die
We just finished a weekend with Crack The Sky, our first weekend consisting of two shows. Friday night an acoustical "unplugged and unzipped" event gave us a view of the band not often seen, hosted by 98 Rock's Sara Fleisher.
Paul Newman opened with a great set including Neil Young's "Needle and the Damage Done" and "Hey Hey My My" (including the title of this article), Little Feat's "Willin'", and the Kinks' "Celluloid Heroes" ("..You can see all the stars as you walk down Hollywood Boulevard.."). Paul made my evening by playing his own "Back Porch" from the album Paul Newman and the Crunch, and the lost Crack The Sky song called "Grasshopper".
The highlights of the unplugged show included John's acoustic version of "Nuclear Apathy" and Rick's "A Night on the Town (With Snow White) to start the Crack The Sky set, a ZZ Top version of "Living With The Lights On", a spiffy jazz version of "Surf City", and the first ever known live versions of "Animal Skins", "All Fly Away" (from World In Motion I), "Sleep", and "Play On".
The setlist, courtesy of Rev Deb, was:
Nuclear Apathy (JP solo)
A Night on the Town (with Snow White)
Livin' with the Lights on (ala ZZ Top's LaGrange)
All Fly Away
Animal Skins
She's a Dancer
Lighten Up McGraw
Ice
Invaders from Mars
Sleep
Long Nights (w/JP on piano, and Glenn on guitar!)
I wanna be John Lennon
Surf City (swing version)
Robots for Ronnie
Rangers at Midnight
I don't have a tie
From the Greenhouse
Play on
Hot Razors
Encore
I am the Walrus
For the electric show we made sure we were as close to the stage as possible, first of all to get a good view of the band, and second, to escape the drunken assholes who always seem to gather within the first twenty feet surrounding the stage and detract from the experience.
Black Madonna, featuring Ian Palumbo on drums, offered up a nice performance to open
The setlist for the electric show follows:
From The Greenhouse
White Music
Nuclear Apathy
All Fly Away
Zoom
All American Boy
Skin Deep
Rangers At Midnight
John Lennon (inclduing A Day In the Life)
Wet Teenager
Living With The Lights On (ZZ Top version)
Ice
Lighten Up McGraw
Coconuts
She's A Dancer (including jazzy version)
Hold On
Surf City
Hot Razors
Encore
Play On
I Am The Walrus
For our efforts, we were able to catch John's guitar pick following Zoom, and we grabbed our first concert setlist!
There have been a lot of tweaks and tweezes of the band's big library, including the ZZ Top-esque "Living with the Lights On" and the jazzy versions of "Surf City", which we heard on both nights. I believe the "She's A Dancer" performed last night was the cleanest, tightest and closest to the LP version ever performed. Bobby joined lead lyrics in "Coconuts".
A most enjoyable weekend. Happy birthday Max!
Boat Drinks Radio
For archival purposes, documented here is the current active 'island' playlist from Boat Drinks Radio on Live365.
Shortly we will begin a variant Boat Drinks Radio program on weekends on our 975 Pirate Radio webcast.
'Island' Playlist:
Beach Boys - All Summer Long
Beach Boys - God Only Knows
Beach Boys - Good Vibrations
Beach Boys - Kokomo
Beach Boys - Surfin Safari
Blondie - The Tide Is High
Bob Marley and The Wailers - Buffalo Soldier
Bob Marley and The Wailers - Could You Be Loved
Bob Marley and The Wailers - Exodus
Bob Marley and The Wailers - Get Up Stand Up
Bob Marley and The Wailers - I Shot The Sheriff
Bob Marley and The Wailers - Is This Love
Bob Marley and The Wailers - Jammimg
Bob Marley and The Wailers - No Woman No Cry
Bob Marley and The Wailers - Redemption Song
Bob Marley and The Wailers - Satisfy My Soul
Bob Marley and The Wailers - Stir It Up
Bob Marley and The Wailers - Three Little Birds
Bob Marley and The Wailers - Waiting In Vain
Brian Wilson - South America
Brian Wilson - Your Imagination
Carrick High School - Steel Drum Paradise12
Gipsy Kings - Caminando Por La Calle
Gipsy Kings - El Camino
Gipsy Kings - Liberte
Gipsy Kings - Mosaique
Gipsy Kings - Nina Morena
Gipsy Kings - Passion
Gipsy Kings - Serana
Gipsy Kings - Soy
Gipsy Kings - Trista Pena
Gipsy Kings - Vamos Bailar
Gipsy Kings - Viento Del Arena
Gipsy Kings - Volare
Harry Belafonte - Angelina
Harry Belafonte - Come Back Liza
Harry Belafonte - Jamaica Farewell
Harry Belafonte - Jump in the Line
Harry Belafonte - Kingston Market
Harry Belafonte - Matilda
Harry Belafonte - Sweetheart from Venezuela
Jimmy Buffett - A Pirate Looks At Forty
Jimmy Buffett - African Friend
Jimmy Buffett - Ballad Of Spider John
Jimmy Buffett - Biloxi
Jimmy Buffett - Boat Drinks
Jimmy Buffett - Brown Eyed Girl
Jimmy Buffett - California Promises
Jimmy Buffett - Changing Channels
Jimmy Buffett - Cheeseburger in Paradise
Jimmy Buffett - Christmas in the Caribbean
Jimmy Buffett - Coast Of Marseilles
Jimmy Buffett - Coconut Telegraph
Jimmy Buffett - Come Monday
Jimmy Buffett - Cuban Crime Of Passion
Jimmy Buffett - Defying Gravity
Jimmy Buffett - Distantly in Love
Jimmy Buffett - Domino College
Jimmy Buffett - Elvis Imitators
Jimmy Buffett - Everlasting Moon
Jimmy Buffett - Fins
Jimmy Buffett - First Look
Jimmy Buffett - Frank and Lola
Jimmy Buffett - Grapefruit - Jucy fruit
Jimmy Buffett - Havana Daydreamin
Jimmy Buffett - He Went To Paris
Jimmy Buffett - I Have Foune Me a Home
Jimmy Buffett - I Heard I Was In Town
Jimmy Buffett - Incommunicado
Jimmy Buffett - Island
Jimmy Buffett - Jolly Mon Sing
Jimmy Buffett - Kick It In Second Wind
Jimmy Buffett - Knees of my Heart
Jimmy Buffett - Little Miss Magic
Jimmy Buffett - Livingston Saturday Night
Jimmy Buffett - Love And Luck
Jimmy Buffett - Lovely Cruise
Jimmy Buffett - Manana
Jimmy Buffett - Margaritaville
Jimmy Buffett - Middle Of The Night
Jimmy Buffett - Money Back Guarantee
Jimmy Buffett - Nautical Wheelers
Jimmy Buffett - On A Slow Boat To China
Jimmy Buffett - One Particular Harbour
Jimmy Buffett - Pencil Thin Mustache
Jimmy Buffett - Pre-You
Jimmy Buffett - Ragtop Day
Jimmy Buffett - Sending The Old Man Home
Jimmy Buffett - Son Of A Son Of A Sailor
Jimmy Buffett - Stars Fell On Alabama
Jimmy Buffett - Stars on the Water
Jimmy Buffett - Steamer
Jimmy Buffett - Survive
Jimmy Buffett - Take It Back
Jimmy Buffett - Tampico Trauma
Jimmy Buffett - The Captain And The Kid
Jimmy Buffett - The Great Filling Station Holdup
Jimmy Buffett - The Pascagoula Run
Jimmy Buffett - The Wino And I Know
Jimmy Buffett - They Don t Dance Like Carmen No More
Jimmy Buffett - Tin Cup Chalice
Jimmy Buffett - Treat Her Like A Lady
Jimmy Buffett - Twelve Volt Man
Jimmy Buffett - Volcano
Jimmy Buffett - When Salome Plays The Drum
Jimmy Buffett - When the Coast is Clear
Jimmy Buffett - Who s the Blonde Stranger
Jimmy Buffett - Why Don t We Get Drunk
Steel Drum Classics -Jamaica Farewell
UB 40 - Can t Help Falling In Love
UB 40 - Red Red Wine
UB 40 - The Way You Do The Things You Do
Ziggy Marley and The Melody Makers - A Who A Say
Ziggy Marley and The Melody Makers - Beautiful Day
Ziggy Marley and The Melody Makers - Conscious Party
Ziggy Marley and The Melody Makers - Dreams Of Home
Ziggy Marley and The Melody Makers - Have You Ever Been To Hell
Ziggy Marley and The Melody Makers - New Love
Ziggy Marley and The Melody Makers - Tomorrow People
Ziggy Marley and The Melody Makers - We A Guh Some Weh
Ziggy Marley and The Melody Makers - We Propose
Ziggy Marley and The Melody Makers - What s True
The New Year With Timtron
We had a quiet New Year's Eve. Jane didn't get off from work until 11, so we avoided various parties and enjoyed a quiet evening at home. Just by chance scanning the shortwave dials, though, we were treated to a Radio Timtron Worldwide marathon that started promptly after Amos and Andy ended at 1215am eastern time on 7415 and 5105. Tim is still going strong here at 1:42am (0642 UTC) January 1. Rock on!
Fun with the iTrip
After two or three months on backorder, the iTrip FM transmitter accessory for my iPod MP3 player arrived on Friday. It took so long that my 30GB iPod is now obsolete, having been replaced by a 40GB model.
There are a number of disheartening reviews about the iTrip on the 'net, but I can honestly say that I am impressed with this tiny accessory. Sure, sound quality is nowhere near line input, and it's a Part 15 device so it's coverage is rather limited, but it's a mini radio station and it works!
Here are a couple of config notes. I long ago removed the horrible MusicMatch software that is the standard iPod synchronization app for Windows users. I much prefer MediaFour's XPlay to the crappy MusicMatch. Unfortunately Griffith's iTrip software assumes you are running MusicMatch and refuses to install without it.
However there is an easy workaround for this. iTrip configurations, such as the transmit frequency and LED status, are set by tone combinations. For example, there's a little MP3 called "87.9.mp3" that plays the tones that set the iTrip to it's default 87.9FM (coincidentally this is the default frequency for Radio Free Mount Aity, but I digress). Fortunately the iTrip installation CD has all the little MP3s to set frequency and turn on and off the LED in uncompressed form. So it's really trivial to copy them to the iPod and create a iTrip playlist.
Stop molesting little boys, you FREAK!
I miss Wesley Willis already. Even after his passing earlier this year, his music retains its topicality through this wonderfully accurate portrait of Michael Jackson.
Thanks to Rev. Norel Pref for sharing this with us in alt.binaries.slack.
Pirate Juliet
Sunday, November 30, 2003, 0610, 7415. Pirate Juliet is playing "Lawyers, guns and money" and "Werevolves of London" in a tribute to Warren Zevon. Thank you, Scott, for sponsoring her show, Janice's show is cool.
Trimulcast?
Sunday, November 30, 2003, 0400, 5105//7415//9330. Tasha Takes Control on three WBCQ's tonight, all coming in clear at the start of the hour. At 0455 it appears 9330 has gone off air but the other two frequencies are both still coming in loud and clear. 5105 was powered down very quickly after Tasha's show ended.
Canvas Prog Hour
We're catching up here on internet activity, after three days on the road and 22 hours without power or internet. Matt's just uploaded two new Canvas Prog Hour shows. Canvas Prog Hour is a two hour journey into the state of progressive rock that is always enteratining and very cool. We may sneak in a couple of Canvas Prog Hours this weekend on our radio free mount airy stream, as well as after hours on the WBCQ console feed stream.
Bluegrass on shortwave
Thursday September 11, 2003, 0200, 5050. A couple of good ol' bluegrass gospel tunes from WWRB in Tennessee, a refreshing change from all the paytriots and Bible Beaters usually heard here. F deejay telling us "they are from the pig state of Indiana" followed by a very mellow "beyond the shadow of a drought". Slightly disturbed but strong signal on 5050. Devolved into somewhat boring contemporary christian folk-style music. Mentioned a mailing address in Bossier (booz-e-rr), Louisiana at 0216.
Timtron interviews Joe Walsh
Here is Timtron's interview with Joe Walsh, noted ham and guitarist for the Eagles, which was done earlier this summer on the MV Katie and broadcast on Radio Timtron Worldwide on August 9. This was snarfed off of WBCQ's internet stream -- thanks to Scott for making sure the stream was up and online for us!
Tobor Radio does 116 hours
On Monday night, I fired up Tobor the CD Server and started a Shoutcast stream from nine CDs picked by Dr. Becker for a test. The machine performed admirably, continuously spinning an 80 hour playlist until this afternoon, when the SCSI chain timed out and the server hung.
From the shoutcast server log:
This corresponds to the error message on Tobor's console:
Four hours shy of five days (~116 hours) continuous streaming isn't too bad for a test run, though.
Tobor Radio
We're putting the final touches on Tobor, our big CD server project. Earlier today I replaced a failed power supply and installed and verified the last two CD-ROM drives. Tobor now has 23 CD-ROMs online, all powered by OpenBSD 3.2 running on a vintage Pentium 133 with 32 megs of memory.
The final burn-in test consists of wiring Tobor to a LAN and streaming music off his many CD-ROMs. Next to him, I have a P266 running Windows 2000 acting as a shoutcast source, and the P266 sends a stream back to my main machine in the basement running a shoutcast server, which is then available for testing from the internet.
Tobor and his companion external CD tower are very large and heavy, which makes it difficult (if not impossible) to move him to the basement for tinkering. And I'm sure that Jane would not appreciate a CD server in the dining room. So, Tobor lives in the garage. Tobor has a 3com 10/100 ethernet adapter, which we crosswired to the P266. The P266 has a nifty Linksys USB 802.11b wireless LAN adapter, which is used to communicate back to the basement and internet via an equally nifty wireless access point.
Tobor serves up tunes very well in a streaming environment. I observed CPU utilization between 2 and 5 percent streaming MP3s and no higher than 12 percent streaming a compressed waveform. I believe the unit will handle at least five simultaneous streams with no problem, and probably more.
Beware of dirty CDs. If a CD-ROM in Tobor is dirty or has bad tracks, the system hangs as the SCSI system starts generating media errors on the console. This can be extremely annoying when selecting a dozen selections from one directory on a CD-ROM that Tobor does not like. Winamp will scan each file as it adds it to the playlist, and the system shuts down while it's processing a chain of SCSI media errors.
Here is the output from mount(8):
And here is Tobor's boot message:
Low budget webcasting
Good ol' Comcast is capping upload bandwidth for it's cable modem users, like myself, to 19.2K. This is done mostly because cable modem customers aren't allowed to put any services on the 'net, like web servers, and for surfing the net it's download speeds that really matter. Besides, they'd love to sign you up for a business class account if you want any kind of upload bandwidth.
I'm not interested in putting up a web server on my comcast account. I have a more than capable web hosting provider for that. However, I'd really like to send a live music and entertainment stream once in a while to an audio server out on the net. Last night, I built and ran such a beast.
The same problem with upload bandwidth is a bigger concern for dial-up accounts. I was building and configuring a computer to help an international shortwave radio station send a live stream of it's console feed to an internet streaming server. Right now, their primary means of getting on the internet is a dial-up account. They've been doing this for some time now, thanks to Dr. Becker's wizardry. The same scheme can be used to send a low bandwidth stream from a severely capped cable modem connection.
First, you start out with a reasonably equipped computer. In this experiment we used a Pentium II-450, with 128MB of RAM and a 10GB HDD. The system has a nice SoundBlaster PCI card which will handle the hardware side of encoding an audio feed. I installed Windows 2000 Workstation on the computer, and it was happy with this and ready to go.
The machine has a 3Com 3c905 10/100 ethernet card, and I salvaged two US Robotics Courier external modems to support a dial-up. The hardware checked out okay.
Next, I installed Winamp 2.81. Note, the tricks we're doing requires the "classic" Winamp. The new Winamp does not work with our broadcasting tools, just yet.
The next software needed is the Shoutcast DSP plug-in, that facilitates redirecting Winamp'e output to a Shoutcast or Shoutcast-like streaming server. This version is a little older than what Shoutcast is shipping, because we want to use a low bandwidth output setting that the newer versions of the plug-in don't support.
Finally, to support all different kinds of MP3 encoding schemes, we need to install the MP3 CODEC and supporting files. This is the final piece of the puzzle, and now we're ready to webcast.
Through experimentation and experience with this technology, Dr. Becker recommends a setting of 16/11 mono as an optimal setting for dial-up use. Considering the low encoder setting, I thought music would sound really crappy. However, once we poked a couple of holes in the firewall and started up a Shoutcast server to test the feed on, I was surprised at how well the stream sounded. It's not CD quality by any means, but it's not like listening to music that sounds like it was recorded inside a coffee can either.
Our test consisted of running a live stream of a small sample of Radio Free Mount Airy's music and entertainment library across the net to Dr. Becker's Shoutcast server in Kansas, which he then relayed to WBCQ's studio feed (which is offline right now, hence this activity in setting up a new streaming computer). We ran that stream overnight and it was surprisingly reliable and listenable. It was a lot of fun, too!
The last thing, which I didn't test but should work just fine, is running a true live feed. Presumably you'd have your mikes and mixers and various audio sources run through a mixer and other audio hardware and gizmos, and fed directly into the sound card's microphone input. It is easy to tell Winamp to take input live from the mic input rather than use a library of wave files and MP3s like I did. This will increase your CPU and memory requirements, but our PII-450 should handle this with cycles to spare.
This setup should reliably stream over a 33.6 dial-up, if line conditions are good. It helps to have a better quality modem, like the USRs I have sitting around from my BBS days.
Radio Caroline returns to WBCQ
As promised, Radio Caroline, Europe's seminal classic rock station, returned today to WBCQ. It's now running five days as week at 4PM ET (2100 UTC) on 9335. Remember that WBCQ runs 9335 with carrier plus upper sideband, which makes the signal a bit more stable. The signal's coming in strong and clear here this afternoon, but it's a bit washed out by the fading so characteristic of this time of day.
We could do without the strong and annoying utility interference on 9330. Starting about 2130, persistent two to four second data blasts bother WBCQ's signal so much as to make it unlistenable. Fortunately this interference stopped after a few minutes.
I suppose we have no method to complain about interference, since domestic shortwave broadcasts are, by definition, intended exclusively for foreign audiences.
Marion's memories are close to ours
As Lopez once said, "And now, something very, very, special."
Marion Webster started her shortwave show this evening with the Liberty Bell Launch, from an Edison cylinder record made in 1904. Jane and I were immediately taken aback by this musical selection, as it reminds us of a certain British comedy show that is, along with Marion, one of our favorite listening pleasures.
Then, as if we weren't completely engrossed in a conceptual continuity moment, Marion played a selection by Ada Jones, called "Cheyenne", that reminded us of the soundtrack from a classic Bugs Bunny cartoon.
We're presenting here the Liberty Bell Launch and Cheyenne, as recorded off of WBCQ's console feed. We hope you enjoy these musical selections as much as we do. If you like this, please consider supporting Marion's show on WBCQ. Marion offers any show for $10 on CD. Contact Marion at:
Marion's Attic
PO Box 583
Coventry, CT 06238
Complete synchronization acheived
Tasha wasn't able to deliver her show this evening, which is a bummer. But instead, we were treated to a rebroadcast of last week's show. This time we're grabbing Tasha's wonderful audio enlightenment from the web stream that Complex Variables Studio presents, and it's a rebroadcast of last week's show. So, once again, we're nostalgic for Key West -- when we heard this show as it was originally broadcast, we were there.
Timtron plays Crack the Sky
This is a true Conceptual Continuity moment. It is very rare when my musical tastes and my hobby intersect so perfectly. I just finished posting pictures we took at Crack The Sky's recent performance at the Thunder Dome in Baltimore on November 23.
And, on the Radio Timtron Worldwide show this afteroon, Timtron played Crack The Sky's "Ice" (0158 UTC on Sunday, December 29, 2002), on 7415 KHz shortwave worldwide via WBCQ.
Timtron's weekly radio show is by far our favorite. There's always something cool to listen to. If we ever chose to make our own radio show, it would be very close to Tim's both in spirit and in content. He is the best.
A Christmas memory
Two years ago tonight, we were woken up from a nice slumber with our freaking fireplace on fire. Twenty five thousand dollars worth of damage later, and the worst freaking Christmas on record, we emerged from the stinky mess into a six month house renovation featuring the worst of scumbag insurance adjusters, wood butchers, and contractors whose idea of getting a job done was to wait for seven weeks before showing up to screw up mounting a lousy piece of drywall. We ended up doing the majority of the renovation ourselves, thanks to Jane's brother Mark, the ultimate restoration expert. From this experience we learned to hang the Radio Free Mount Airy flag high and proclaim No more wood butchers!
To commemorate this event, we present Christmas On Acid, which I heard for the first time on a pirate shortwave broadcast on December 24, 2000. Those days we could use Napster to search for cool music, and I indeed found this tune on Napster around mid-day on December 25, 2000. Little did we know that 12 hours later the song would prophetically come alive with gingerbread men dancing around the tree, on fire.
Goodbye, Capital Centre
The Washington Post is reporting today that the Capital Centre was destroyed today in a ceremonial explosion.
Looking up at my collection of ticket stubs framed on the wall, I'm reminded of the time I spent at the Capital Centre. I had floor seats for Yes on February 12, 1984, on their 90125 tour. Their stage setup included a big flying-saucer disc shaped like the drawing on the album cover. I remember the cool humidity seeping from the plywood covering the hockey rink's ice.
I saw ZZ Top there on May 27, 1986, way up in the nosebleeds in section 204. I saw the revived Lynyrd Skynyrd there twice, in 1987 and 1988, as their fading tribute band was winding down before being revived again and again in later years.
I remember seeing Iron Maiden at the Cap Centre on a cold evening in January, 1985. Maiden's pyrotechnics and music were top notch.
I saw the Grateful Dead twice at the Cap Centre. For some reason I don't remember very much from the show on September 12, 1987. However on September 5, 1988, I happened to be visiting Town Hall in College Park when I was given a pair of tickets to the Dead show in the Budweiser sky box. That was surreal, watching the throng of Deadheads in a suite twenty feet above the crowd. I have several recordings of Dead shows at the Cap Centre, including one I had a chance to go to but declined -- September 27, 1981. I now regret passing up this show to study for a Chemistry exam.
Robert Plant did a Honeydrippers set when I saw him there on July 30, 1985.
The last show I saw at the Capital Centre was Fleetwood Mac, on Sunday, November 30, 1997. The outrageous $75 ticket was probably the most I've ever paid for a concert, but since Jane really, really likes Fleetwood Mac, it was $150 well spent. By then, they'd renamed the Cap Centre "US Air Arena," as was the trendy thing to do in the 1990s.
By the time I write this, the arena with the sloping top that looked like a Pringles potato chip will be history, to be replaced by a mall. That's just what Prince George's County needs. If it were up to me I'd return the Cap Centre parcel to parkland, like it was thirty years ago.
A breath of hope on the radio
I have to admit, I don't listen to FM radio at all anymore, unless I'm in my vehicle. But, like most of my peers, I'm in traffic on the way to and driving away from work every weekday -- at least seven and a half hours a week. I try to keep calm from the ever persistent road rage tendencies by listening to music. There's nothing like a crufty Dead show from 1969 in rush hour traffic.
But sometimes I don't have a disc to spin, so I try and spin the dial to see what's on.
Kirk, Mark and Lopez are okay in the morning. I've been listening to Lopez doing news on the morning ride for at least twenty five years. Larry the Cable Guy's call-ins are almost always hilarious.
But these guys don't play any music, and worse, they're so popular with the "young adult male" demographic that they play, like, six or seven minutes of the most annoying commercials ever heard, in blocks two or three times an hour. I've heard that stupid Microsoft certification training commercial so many times, that even now the people making the commercial are saying "you've heard this commercial a thousand times, but..."
And as interesting as KML often is, they unfortunately have really stupid and annoying sidetracks into topics like wrestling and nascar, with commentary from classic people-who-need-to-get-a-life.
As the father Owl said in the classic cartoon I Love to Singa, "Enough is too much!"
So, what do we have left to listen to? I have de-programmed all Clear Channel-owned stations off my car radio (like DC-101 in Washington and B-104 in Baltimore), not just because Clear Channel has, in many ways, contributed to the destruction of American commercial radio, but because the Clear Channel-owned stations play a continously sterile playlist of highly programmed shit you've heard a thousand times before, and/or shit they'd like to cram down your throat because the record company that owns the music has paid them a lot of money to do so.
What's left to listen to?
The Greaseman is back; even though he's only on AM, his home-studio-produced show via WGOP is strong and steady on my commute to work, and he never fails to entertain.
Then I heard that Towson University's FM station was dropping their new-age jazz format for "adult album alternative".
I couldn't make WTMD's transition, because I was in-transit to Orlando and Melbourne to learn about some cool secure wireless networking technology. But on my first commute back to work after the snow day last week, I tuned to FM 89.7.
Wow.
I have a new favorite on my dial, even though their signal's right on the border here in Montgomery County. WTMD is doing an all-music format, liberally mixed with local music. Way cool. They're public radio, and not feeding from the slop mindlessly programmed by the commercial radio clones.
HFS is a far away memory, now -- there's not a personality on that station that's not an annoying boob. I zapped 99.1 for 89.7 on my car radio in a heartbeat, and I will send WTMD a couple of bux for the holidays. In fact, I will send them some bux every time they ask for contributions from now on, as long as they continue the format they're playing today -- the format they're basing their future on -- the format that I optimistically hope knocks the Clear Channels off the air. WTMD's rebirth is truly a breath of fresh air and hope for the FM band.
Crack the Sky at Thunder Dome
It's that time of the year. For four years straight, we've made the pilgrimage to Crack The Sky's annual Saturday-after-Thanksgiving show. This time it was at the Thunder Dome, the same venue we caught the band at their last show back in the summer. And as usual, the band did not disappoint. We made it to our regular location, left of center stage in front of Rick Witkowski's monitor, and settled down for a great show.
The first opening band was an odd local band called Sustained in Jade. The second opening band was Voicebox, who also opened for CTS at their last Thunder Dome show.
The Crack the Sky set list was as follows: Sleep, White Music, From the Greenhouse, Zoom, All American Boy, Skin Deep, Rangers at Mignight, I don't have a tie, A Sea Epic, Go, Ice, Coconuts, USA, Hold On, Surf City, Day Tripper, Strawberry Fields Forever, You can't do that, I feel fine, Back in the USSR, The End, Hot Razors, and Walrus/Flashlight. The last few tunes we transcribed from the setlist on the stage -- we had to cut out a bit early this time and missed the end, bummer! I hope I got the tune list right (someone correct me if I'm wrong).
Zoom has morphed; there are new pieces to the song, some more guitar and improvisation, that we hadn't ever heard before. Danny Palumbo introduced the band. Carey played Bassman's guitar through the first few tunes. Paul helped out with acoustic at the start of the show. No backup singers this time -- the boys had to do their own backup, and they did fine. Brenda was passing around for signature the coolest scrapbooks I've ever seen, to be given to Bassman's family -- that was very touching, well done. Thunder Dome was packed. I hated to have to cut out early. Good to see the crowd there, and those of you who missed it, see you next time!
Update (December 4, 2002, 5:30pm):
Here are some photos from the show, via bghd's post on the bulletin board.
Here are more photos from the show at the opening band's site.
Check out Brenda's very cool pictures from the show on the CTS Archives site.
Towson State's FM to go AAA
The DC Radio/TV site is reporting that Towson State University's WTMD FM 89.7 will switch from it's hokey new-age-smooth-jazzy music format to Adult Album Alternative (AAA) on Monday December 2. This is good news for those of us who enjoy the music on Annapolis' WRNR, but can't receive it because of the Ugly Music Station that blocks out WRNR's 103.1 here.
WTMD transmits at 10,000 watts. It's signal barely makes it to the DC line 20 miles southeast of here, though. I fondly remember the old days when this station was WCVT and had a mixed format of classical and rock music. Good riddance to "The Breeze".
The only other station besides WRNR that comes close to this cool eclectic rock format is WKHS's simulcast of the University of Pennsylvania's XPN, but alas, Kent County High School's 17.5KW on FM 90.5 is too weak to make it to Mount Airy.
Update (December 2, 2002 5:40am): DCTRV points us to an article with an opposing viewpoint in the Baltimore Sun that bemoans WTMD's format change.