Pledge drive/ ZMF/ Thanks

The WZMF tapes went over well with listeners on last night's showgram, as did the late '70s stuff and, gosh darn it, the 80s at 8:30. We raised more than $1,500. Thanks to those of you who made pledges. The identity of my 80's 'desert island discs' can now be revealed. As I said on the air, I simply went with the first three that came to mind without too much deep thinking. They are, in no particular order: The Smithereens "Especially for You," X's "Wild Gift" and the Replacements "Let It Be." I will join Richard next Wednesday night during Alt Farm Rock for the spring pledge drive. I also will make an appearance next Monday morning with Brent and Pat on the Monday morning drive time show.

ZMF (!), the late '70s, '80s keepers

By God, it must be the WMSE spring pledge drive and I must be preparing for a special showgram. I decided to play some of the cassette recording from the last night of WZMF-FM (98.3) on March 23, 1979 and other tunes from the late 70s -- the years leading up to the birth of WMSE in 1981. That will happen between 6 pm and 8:30pm Wednesday night April 27. On the '80s at 8:30 I will feature two or three "desert island discs (actually LPs)." They're only somewhat deep and not entirely surprising but you will need to tune in to get the scoop. See you then.

(John Doe) and Jill Sobule at Shank

Let me start my discussion of the John Doe/ Jill Sobule show Monday night at Shank Hall by saying Jill Sobule is a talented, appealing, smart, compelling singer/ songwriter and guitarist. Her material is strong its own right, but I was there to see John Doe and unfortunately I got about 45 percent John and 55 percent Jill. Their harmonizing and interplay was entertaining and added a nice dimension to the show. They also did several songs from their new joint CD “A Day at the Pass.” The turning point may have been about half way into the show when they asked for requests. The small audience of about 55 blurted out none for John (I inexplicably went blank despite owning many X and John Doe albums) and about a half-dozen for Jill. It was almost like John and Jill took that as a cue to do more Jill tunes. The closing song of the encore was Sobule’s 1996 hit “I Kissed a Girl.” Fun show but I would’ve liked to get more John and less Jill. I did get to chat with him for a minute after wards and he said he will be releasing a new solo disc in late summer/ early fall.

We're not gonna talk about winter (playlist 4/13/11)

Hey it was warm yesterday for my showgram. I take no responsibility for what has happened since Wednesday night. Eighties at 8:30 feature was Jonathan Richman as the leader of the 80s "wimp rock" movement. I also played Ben Vaughn. Jonathan will be in Madison May 7 at the Orpheum. He's doing the Chicago-Madison-Minneapolis I-94 tour and skipping our fair town :(

Here are this week's new tracks

6 pm hour

Dengue Fever -- Family Business
(Here is link to a video promoting their new CD: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fiVpVikdc4
Mountain Goats -- High Hawk Season
The Kills -- Future Stars Slow
Vivian Girls -- Take It As It Comes
Dodos -- Black Night
TV on the Radio -- You

7 pm hour

Bass Drum of Death -- Nerve Jamming
Mike Watt -- Hammering Castle-Bird Man
Low -- Witches
Semi Twang -- Do Right
Chain and the Gang -- Detroit Music
Obits -- Everything Looks Better in the Sun
PJ Harvey -- The Glorious Land

Recurrent (4-12 months old)

Gang of Four -- I Party All the Time
Paul Weller -- Find the Torch, Burn the Plans

8 pm hour

Kurt Vile -- Puppet to the Man
Jad Fair -- All the Angels Say Go to Her (new best of)
Panda Bear -- Tomboy

The '80s at 8:30

Jonathan Richman

Fender Stratocaster
Chewing Gum Wrapper
Those Conga Drums
Dancing Late at Night
Vincent Van Gogh

Ben Vaughn

M-M-M Motor Vehicle
She's a Real Scream
I Dig Your Wig