Here we have the ever-present B52s in their prime. The entire concert was captured on what appeared to be Black and White 16mm film. Hardcore fans have already seen this. The typical fan may not have. I can’t think of better way to celebrate National Quiche Lorraine Day, which is today!
The song appeared on their second major label release, Wild Planet.
I got a chance to see them a few years ago. They had a kick ass back up band. The three remaining members Fred Schneider, Kate Pierson, Cindy Wilson held down the vocals like they were still in their 30s. It was like a celebration.
Sadly they are on their farewell tour now. If you get a chance to see them this year, take it.
Someone apparently used a VHS to record an episode of VH1 Behind The Music, including commercial breaks, as it aired on cable TV in 1999. The episode focuses on Weird Al Yankovic and treats us to interviews with Mark Mothersbaugh (Devo), Dr Demento, Doug Feiger (The Knack) and The Weird One, himself.
Many years later someone attempted to transfer the video cassette recording to digital. It seems to have been captured at slower and glitchy frame rates. The contrast is low so everything is grayed out. The sound quality is basic to bad. You can probably find the DVD in a public library if you really want. The YouTube title says “High Quality”. This is a lie.
Still, this beast is watchable and entertaining. It helps if you are a fan of His Weirdness. Furthermore, it’s fascinating because of the commercials. It’s like a time capsule.
Do you think a Tampon or a maxi-pad could feel like a diaper? Do you remember what it feels like to wear a diaper? Well apparently this was a huge problem in 1999 and it needed to be addressed on VH1. Watch for the commercial in the video.
But why would a feminine hygiene product manufacturer want you to know about Weird Al? They didn’t. At the time there was a pretense that the companies running advertisements during live broadcasts were sponsoring the content that it interrupted. This was a carry-over from old time radio and early television.
We cover Yankovic a lot around here and his music is always in rotation on the live stream. We’ve even created a T-Shirt design in his honor. Order one today!
May 15th is International Family Day. It was founded by the United Nations in 1994. What better way to mark the occasion then with a song about the Beverly Hillbillies? The poorest and most rural family imaginable becomes fabulously wealthy by a lucky strike. Hooray!
Weird Al included the music video in the 1989 movie UHF which he co-wrote and starred in. The film is now considered a cult classic and everyone should check it out. The song is a parody of “Money For Nothing” by Dire Straits and the recording features guitarist Mark Knopfler.
Another Saturday, another Caturday. Here we have a lovely jazz-pop rendition of a gothic new wave hit for The Cure. I love this version by Melody Mendis and we play it all the time on FunHouse Radio.
The album that this song was released on is called Love & Madness. It features a number of great cover versions and is worth checking out. -WA
It’s hard to write about this one because the lyrics say it all. Let’s face it. Well meaning people around the world are currently being manipulated by lunatics.
The phrase is thought to originate in a 1919 remark by Richard A. Rowland about the founding of United Artists. It may have been an allusion to Edgar Allan Poe’sThe System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether, published in 1845.
I found the music video for the 1981 version by Fun Boy Three. The video is passable but the audio sounds low-fi and mono. It appears that it was recovered from a vhs tape of a live broadcast. This is all the record label seems to have at the moment. Perhaps the original film has been lost.
We play the 1981 version, but the song has been recorded many times. The 2019 version by The Specials is much more true to the rock-steady ska style and has flashy modern production. I almost want to reverse engineer the EQ curve and apply it to the original track.
Take a moment to do The Ska today, Rudy. It feels good.
Today is National Space Day! We celebrate it on the first Friday in May. Ponder the mysteries of the universe with us for the rest of the day on our live stream.
A Canadian Progressive Rock band called Klaatu first recorded this rather bizarre soft-art-rock number back in 1976. The band got it’s name from the alien visitor character in the classic science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still.
The Day The Earth Stood Still, still frame
“The idea for this track was suggested by an actual event that is described in The Flying Saucer Reader, a book by Jay David published in 1967. In March 1953 an organization known as the “International Flying Saucer Bureau” sent a bulletin to all its members urging them to participate in an experiment termed ‘World Contact Day‘ whereby, at a predetermined date and time, they would attempt to collectively send out a telepathic message to visitors from outer space. The message began with the words…’Calling occupants of interplanetary craft!'” (John Woloschuk, member of Klaatu)
E.S.P. by Klaatu
Klaatu’s version was released as a 7 inch single and then included in their album E.S.P. This radio station would love to get first pressings of these. It’s on the “grail list”.
The version by The Carpenters was recorded in 1977. The session crew consisted of 160 musicians. The track charted in both the US & Canada. The full length version clocks in at over 7:00 minutes. That’s amazingly long for a charting single.
Today is Cinco De Mayo. Despite being Mexican in origin, the occasion is celebrated mostly in the United States. It’s become something like a Mexican St Patrick’s day. Just like St Patrick’s Day, you get to drink alcohol while trying on someone else’s culture; or perhaps celebrating your own.
In the nation of Mexico the yearly occurrence is hardly an occasion to celebrate. To them it’s about as exciting as Founder’s Day is to Americans. Have you even heard of Founder’s Day? It’s on November 28.
So in a way, the holiday itself has been “framed”. Enjoy the track!
Can you think of other occasions on our calendar that are excuses to drink and play ethnic?
I don’t even know if I would ever play this song on the radio. It really looses something without the video. I am referring to a rather strange cover version of the David Bowie Classic – “The Man Who Sold The World” as performed by Bubbles. Bubbles is actually a character that appears on The Trailer Park Boys, an ongoing TV series that you can find on YouTube and IDK where else. This monster was created in 2016, the year Ziggy Stardust left our tiny planet.
The video is what makes this song worth listening. The vocals are terrible and usually unintelligible. In this way he is pissing all over David Bowie. As an avid Bowie fan, I have a hard time tolerating that but then I remember that David had a good sense of humor about himself.
I am ultimately won over by the crappy low budget production value of this video and all the mugging and posing. Bowie was all about mugging and posing.
So I love this track. Yes it sounds terrible but it goes with the gag video and thus is a fitting tribute.
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