R.E.M. "Half A World Away"

Here's a secret I've never told anybody:

I used to work at The Gap.

The idea of me working in a) retail, or b) fashion, is so far removed from any reality that anyone who knows me would associate with my life, that they'd be forgiven for thinking I was kidding.

But no, for a brief period right after college, I worked at The Gap.

Let me just cut to the chase:  I was terrible at it and I didn't last very long in this job.  Within a couple of months, I quit, and my employment there was never mentioned again.

Probably most telling about my tenure there, was that the thing I found most interesting about the job was the music they played in the store.  In those days, there were cassette tapes, sent from the home office, that played over and over and over.  They were pre-programmed with hip, modern music.

I was fascinated by the idea that someone at Gap-Central was creating these mixed tapes, particularly because they seemed to mirror my own personal tastes.

One night, after the store had closed and we were cleaning up, I noticed that the cassette that had been repeating all evening had no less that three R.E.M. songs.

"Whoever puts together these tapes must really love R.E.M." I said to my manager.

He clearly wasn't at all a music fan, as he responded, "Uh, who?  Oh, is this them?"

He listened for another 10 seconds or so, to a song he had to have heard dozens of times over the course of the last work week.

Then he gave his "Dismissive One Sentence Review."

"This singer is kinda whiny."

It was never going to work between me and The Gap, nope.


Hear the song on Youtube.

Green Apple Quick Step "Los Vargos"

Here's another Weekend Post:

"Hey, let's sign a band that sounds like Stone Temple Pilots!  But no one will notice because they have a girl singer too!"


Hear the song on Youtube.

Weekend posts are a chance to revisit songs that have happy memories, not of anything in particular, other than just hearing the tunes.

Many of these songs were tracks that I played during my 90s stint as an Alternative/Modern Rock radio show.  They're tunes that I hardly hear these days, but are fun to revisit.

Click on the "Weekend Posts" label below, to see other posts like this.

Violent Femmes "Breaking Up"

Here's another Weekend Post:

After cult success in the 80s, the Violent Femmes briefly broke up, then reformed, then the drummer left, then they returned in the mid-90s with a bit of a come-back in a world where the cult bands had suddenly come up from the underground.


Hear the song on Youtube.

Weekend posts are a chance to revisit songs that have happy memories, not of anything in particular, other than just hearing the tunes.

Many of these songs were tracks that I played during my 90s stint as an Alternative/Modern Rock radio show.  They're tunes that I hardly hear these days, but are fun to revisit.

Click on the "Weekend Posts" label below, to see other posts like this.

The Eagles "Ol 55"

Let's face it.  People have strong feelings about The Eagles.

Really strong feelings.

That makes them a bit of a quandary for MVY.  And I had to do some thinking on the subject, due to a recent note from a listener.

He wanted to know why we played The Eagles version of "Ol 55."  He pointed out that the songwriter, Tom Waits, has said he doesn't like that version himself.

Sometimes I think that when people write the station, they really just want a one word response, like "Okay."

But sometimes, I feel the urge to explain myself, in probably too much details.

So, The Eagles . . .

On the one hand, The Eagles fit pretty sonically well with MVY.  Polished acoustics, well-crafted songwriting, the occasional blazing guitar lead, harmonies that directly descend from CSNY.  All that works.

On the other hand, The Eagles represent the antithesis of an MVY artist, in the sense that if it's a hit somewhere else, we're likely to leave it alone.  We'd rather play the road less traveled.  The critically-acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful.  We'll play the deep album cut, over the mass appeal hit.

This distinction is not really something the audience ever thinks about.

So the folks who live On The One Hand, request The Eagles, with some frequency.

Trying to skate the line, we do something with The Eagles, that we don't do with too many other artists.  We only play part of their catalogue.

Normally, a band is either IN with us, or they are OUT with us.  If we've decided to play them, like The Allman Brothers, we play most everything, even the hits.  If we've decided that they are already well-covered by Classic Rock, like The Doors, we don't play anything, even the obscurities.

With The Eagles, there is no sense of MVY playing "Hotel California" or "Heartache Tonight" or "Tequila Sunrise."  Because you can hear those songs right now, by just spinning the dial.  They're burnt out, and unnecessary for us.

But we do want to represent The Eagles, so we play songs like "The Last Resort."  That's one you are less likely to hear on a Classic Rock station.

For the same reason, we played "Ol 55."  It's a pretty deep cut.

But I have to admit, the listener who wrote in is right.

The cover tune doesn't do much for me, either.  The Tom Waits original is much better.

So yes, I pulled The Eagles version of "Ol 55" from the playlist.  And I kept the Tom Waits version in (we've been rotating the two, for years).

Someday, I'll probably grow a pair, and decided to weed out the last few Eagles cuts from the entire playlist.

But until then, I'll just enjoy waiting to receive the wrath of Eagles Haters, in the Inbox.

Read the article:  "Woman Allegedly Attacked Roommate For Listening To The Eagles"


Hear the song on Youtube.

Bhi Bhiman "Walk Of Life"

I've been enjoying Bhi Bhiman's covers EP, particularly his deadpan cover of AC/DC's "Highway To Hell."

But I love how he not only did a deadpan cover of "Walk Of Life," he posted a deadpan video cover featuring the stonefaced Buster Keaton engaging in some old school sports bloopers.


See the Buster Keaton/Bhi Bhiman video on Youtube.


See the original Dire Straits video on Youtube.

Rocket From The Crypt "He's A Chef"

If you asked me, say, 3 years ago, if I was gonna go see the Yo Gabba Gabba set at Life Is Good, I'm sure I would have responded, "Hell No."

We're pretty selective about what we let our kids (5 and 3 years old) watch.  Partly because we try to be thoughtful, attentive parents.  Partly out of necessity.

The necessity part, is that in our efforts of control our spending, we decided a long time ago to ditch all but the most basic cable.  So my wife had to forgo new episodes of "Project Runway."  I have to get my dose of "The Daily Show" from the web.

And the only real option for the kids, is whatever PBS Kids is offering.

While we treat Barney and Caillou like the pariahs they should be considered . . . pretty much everything else on PBS Kids is gold.  Curious George, Sesame Street, Dinosaur Train?  All very cute and educational.  Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood?  Totally worthy of bearing Fred Rodger's name.  Peep And The Big Wide World?  Quack may just be the funniest character on television.  And Word Girl?  It totally brings back some of the wacked 70s sensibility that I remember and love so well, while being generally hilarious.

And its a good thing I can find something enjoyable in these shows, because we try to limit the screen time in the house, which means that the kid's screen time, is MY screen time.  At least until they are in bed for the night.

We can't shield the kids from a non-PBS world, so they do watch Nickelodeon and Disney, etc, when we're at the grandparents.  But the good educational shows on those channels pale in comparison.  And the bad ones are horrible.

I can't even look at those creepy faces of The Doodlebops or The Wiggles, or some of the other garish, loud and annoying shows.

So when the kids brought home a DVD from the library of "Yo Gabba Gabba" I made some kind of disgusted frowny face, but figured they'd watch it once and then I'd return it quietly in the dead of night, never to be mentioned again.

But I watched a little bit of it.

That first time through was not unlike that first time you take a little too much cough medicine.  When it ended you weren't quite sure what just happened and had to check that the floor was no longer undulating.

Repeated viewing became more pleasurable, filled with plenty of laughable "What the hell?" moments of non-sequitoriums.

And then come the guest stars.

Biz Markie, Devo, Weezer, The Roots, The Flaming Lips, The Aquabats (one of the band members is the show's co-creator), Jack Black and The Shins, just to name a few.

I think the tipping point for me was when I realized, "Holy Shit, Rocket From The Crypt has actually reformed, and I learned it via DJ Lance."

If Yo Gabba Gabba has become the refuge for 90s punk rock, then I guess I can warm up to the fact that it's weird, loud and non-educational.

So yes, on Sunday, I was singing, "My name is PJ, P-p-p-p-p-J.  And I like to dance!"


Hear "He's A Chef" on Youtube.


Hear "I Like To Dance" on Youtube.

Mark Knopfler "Privateering"

Usually, in my musical world, a new Mark Knoplfer album is a big deal.  In fact, one of his last records was voted Number One for the year by MVY listeners.

I'd heard about "Privateering" well over a year ago.  We got an advanced download, to check it out.  Knopfler mounted a big tour, supporting Bob Dylan.

And then, nothing.

Turns out Knopfler was between labels in the US.  So while the record was out, around the rest of the world, we're just getting it now.

So enjoy this new, not-that-new Knopfler.


Hear the song on Youtube.

And a playlist of more videos featuring songs from the record, here.

The Waybacks "Beyond The Northwest Passage"

You meet a lot of interesting people in my job.

The first time I talked to Sprague Theobald was when he called in to win the Mindbender.  I can't remember the question exactly, but it related to shipwrecks or underwater life or something like that.  On the call he told me that he'd just been scuba-diving off the Rhode Island coast, exploring a wreck.

I also learned that he happened to work next door to the office MVY used to have in Newport, RI.

Not long after, and because of this connection, we got involved with Sprague's Northwest Passage trip.

Just a few weeks before they were to set sail, Joe Gallagher and I went down to a Goat Island dock, and I remember walking aboard the "Bagan" thinking, "This is it?"  It wasn't much bigger than a party/fishing boat.

The Northwest Passage is a trip of almost mythical proportions.  Many have tried to sail from the East Coast to the West Coast of North America, using a northerly route.  Many have died trying, trapped in the ice.

But because of Global Warming, it seemed as if the route was opening up again.  If they could time things just right, there would be a window of opportunity to navigate the ice and break through.

This is what I knew about his plan to traverse the Northwest Passage.

What I didn't fully know, was that his crew was largely comprised of his estranged adult children, and others close to the family.

I know Sprague had set out to make a documentary about the changes he would see in the Arctic.  What he returned with was something that is also highly personal, as a large portion of the trip, and therefore the film, is effected by the relationships of the people aboard.

During the initial trip, Sprague was calling in reports to MVY whenever Satellite communication would allow him to send us MP3s from the arctic.  And around that time, The Waybacks had a new album that just happened to include a song called "Beyond The Northwest Passage."  It became the unofficial theme song of our coverage.

We pulled the song out of the library this week, as we prepare for Sprague's much less dangerous sail, from the mainland to The Vineyard.

He'll be at the MV Film Center on Wednesday night, to show his finished documentary, "The Other Side Of The Ice," with a book signing and Q&A to follow the screening.  And part of the ticket price supports Friends of mvyradio.

For more on the screening, visit the MV Film Center site.

Note that if you are not on the Vineyard, but want to come to the show (I know many of our friends in the Woods Hole/Marine Sciences community will be interested), you can take the 6:15 boat from WH over to the Island.  It's a short walk to the MV Film Center.  And the screening will be over in plenty of time to hop back on the 9:30 boat to return to the mainland.




Hear The Waybacks on Youtube.

Mudhoney "Pump It Up"

Here's another Weekend Post:

From the same compilation as yesterday: "Freedom Of Choice: Yesterday's New Wave Hits As Performed By Today's Stars" which came out in 1992.


Hear the song on Youtube.

Weekend posts are a chance to revisit songs that have happy memories, not of anything in particular, other than just hearing the tunes.

Many of these songs were tracks that I played during my 90s stint as an Alternative/Modern Rock radio show.  They're tunes that I hardly hear these days, but are fun to revisit.

Click on the "Weekend Posts" label below, to see other posts like this.

Superchunk "Girl U Want"

Here's another Weekend Post:

This early 90s cover of a Devo songs always satisfied my jones for feedback-y guitar wallop . . .


Hear the song on Youtube.


Hear the Devo original on Youtube.

Weekend posts are a chance to revisit songs that have happy memories, not of anything in particular, other than just hearing the tunes.

Many of these songs were tracks that I played during my 90s stint as an Alternative/Modern Rock radio show.  They're tunes that I hardly hear these days, but are fun to revisit.

Click on the "Weekend Posts" label below, to see other posts like this.