Today’s episode has a completely different format than the other episodes of The Little Lighthouse. The entire show is a bit longer today and it’s fully dedicated to one book. The book is called Early ’70s Radio, The American Format Revolution and it’s written by the good friend of our show Kim Simpson from Austin TX. Some of you may remember him as a solo artist and as a band leader of The Mad Dukes. He was a guest on our show a few years ago in Salt Lake City. Today he and I chat about his book about the early ’70s radio in USA, what led to it and how it influenced the world around it and the radio of today. The book is a result of Kim’s several years of research and it’s based on his doctoral dissertation in media studies. Although it’s an informative and detailed academic work, it is also full with trivia and stories about forgotten moments in history of pop music that it feels as if shopping in a fun thrift shop. We also had Kim playing on his guitar five ’70s medleys which parallel the chapters of the book. So, we hope this is will be fun for you all and perhaps you will also consider getting Kim’s book as well. All info about the book can be found on Kim’s blog www.early70sradio.com.
All songs performed by Kim Simpson:
Rubber Duckie;
Brand New Key;
You’re Having My Baby;
School’s Out;
We’re an American Band;
Walk on the Wild Side;
Close to You;
Fire and Rain;
I Am Woman;
(For God’s Sake) Give More Power to the People;
Living for the City;
Me and Mrs. Jones;
The Fightin’ Side of Me;
Uneasy Rider;
Behind Closed Doors.
Some really exceptional new records today. First, we have Tommy Womack, a new singer songwriter from Nashville. Then Kevin Gordon. This native of Monroe LA, now living also in Nashville, made a new record Gloryland which is a true masterpiece and it got a lot of very nice attention in the music press these days. Canadian rocker Eamon McGrath also has a new record out Young Canadians. The concept is loosely all things Canadian, but it also mentions a ghost of Bob Stinson. I will go out on the limb and say that with this record McGrath establishes himself as the greatest young songwriter of today and finishes the race for the best record in 2012 already. It’s hard for me to imagine that it’s even possible to make a record as good as this one by the end of the calendar year. And then there’s also Jack White with his new album Blunderbuss. Swedish paisley poppers Plastic Pals are also represented today with their new single.
New names in today’s show is the Portuguese duet called New Kind of Mambo and The Horrors from Cedar Rapids in Iowa. New Kind of Mambo has a new ep on their bandcamp page (free download) and Horrors have a new album called Vent produced by one of the heroes of this show Greg Cartwright. Tough Shits is another new band today with a self titled album. Deer Tick have new ep called Tim and we check it out in today’s show, by exploring connections between John McCauley and Paul Westerberg. Howe Gelb expanded the line up of his Giant Sand and now they are Giant Giant Sand – 12 people total in the new line up. Giant indeed. Freedy Johnston, Jon Dee Graham and Susan Cowsill put the record out as The Hobart Brothers and Lil’ Sis Hobart. We heard them all together for the first time a year ago in Flashlite 123 and now their first official album At Least We Have Each Other is out.
Today’s show is filled with some very interesting come backs. Ed fROMOHIO Crawford, who used to be in fIREHOSE, has a new album out with his new band FOOD, which also includes Eric Vermillion (ex Gumball) on bass. The new record is an ep called Four Pieces Form Candyland. 80s roots rockers Del Fuegos are also back with an ep called Silver Star. Going deeper in the past for the old masters, we have Dr. John returning to his voodoo psychedelic roots with the help of Dan Auerbach. And the Texas troubadour Ray Wylie Hubbard is also back with a great new record called Grifter’s Hymnal, sounding incredibly fresh. We also have the new record for the Drive-By Truckers keyboardist Jay Gonzalez called Mess of Happiness, which offers a very sober take on power pop, compared to alcohol drenched Americana of his native band. Today we also represent the latest studio record for the French band Magnetix called Droque Electrique. We had their live recording in our previous show. This time in our segment called Live in Cleveland we have Cleveland’s own New Salem Witch Hunters.
The first part of the show is filled with crazy garage rockers. We have Thee Exciters and Johnny Throttle from England, Dan Sartain from Alabama and we round things up with the French duet The Magnetix with a segment from their live show this Sunday in Cleveland. Then we turn to veterans. Rich Hopkins and The Luminarios are here with a new double album. One cd contains a set of truly exceptional new songs and the other cd is ambiental in nature. Wedding Present are also back with the new record and so is Holly Golightly. We also pick one song by Vince Gill from the new tribute record to one of my favorite writers Mark Twain.
Gentleman Jesse is back with the new collection of perfect garage power pop tunes packed onto a new album called Leaving Atlanta. Jeannette, formerly of The Chubbies, now A Brokeheart Pro, has a new album out as well. It’s a companion to her first novel called Josephine The Outlaw King. Lee Ranaldo (ex Sonic Youth) is also back with a very nice retro styled psychedelic record called Between The Times And The Tides with a bunch of conventionally written tunes. The new names today is the blues singer with great vocal Janiva Magness, Tinko – new band from Cleveland and Pajaro Jack, Spanish alt-rock band. Kitty Daisy and Lewis are three siblings who’s mom Ingrid Weiss was in Raincoats and father Graeme Durham is a famous record studio owner and engineer from England. Rock on yall!
Today we start off with the new album for the Memphis area rockers Lucero. Then we introduce a new singer songwriter from Nova Scotia, Mike O’Neill who showcases his talent on the new album called Wild Lines. Another new name in the show is also Alabama Shakes, a band from Northern Alabama that combines soul, southern rock and punk rock into an interesting mixture of genres. Terry Malts comes from California and he is also new in our lineup. Cheyenne Marie Mize is a singer songwriter from Louisville KY with an interesting debut ep We Don’t Need, although I think I do need it. And in the end, Scarcity of Tanks return with three(!!) new albums Vulgar Defender, Fear is Not Conscience, Sensational Grade. In our live in Cleveland series, we have Eilen Jewell and her awesome interpretation of Shakin’ All Over.
Interesting premier in this show is the New Multitudes album, which marks this year as a 100 years from when Woody Guthrie was born. It’s another project where the Guthrie’s estate hands out his old unseen lyrics to modern day artists to write new tunes to the old words. First project like that was back in 1998 when Jeff Tweedy and Billy Bragg joined forces on Mermaid Avenue. It’s interesting that the Guthrie’s estate approached old Tweedy’s friend from the Uncle Tupelo days, Jay Farrar. He then also approached Will Johnson from Centro-matic, Yim Yames from My Morning Jacket and Anders Parker from Varnalinen to help him out in the completion. The whole thing turned out very well, Farrar’s singing wasn’t this good in ages and tunes fit the lyrics like a glove. Starting with this show, we will begin with a new segment, Live in Cleveland, which will feature live recordings from various bands on their Cleveland shows. We start with a new song for the Cleveland roots rock band Jack Fords, the band which also premiers at the Little Lighthouse today. Whitehorse is a duet from Canada that consists of singer-songwriters Luke Doucet and Melissa McClelland and we feature them for the first time at todays show. Their self titled album is full of well crafted songs. Today we have John Wesley Coleman again, this time with a new solo album Last Donkey Show. Chrome Cranks are back with the new album Ain’t No Likes In Blood. And sadly, today’s show is dedicated to Davy Jones, one of the Monkees, who passed away on February 29 this year after a sudden hear attack.
Today’s show is dedicated to Michael Davis, the original bass player of the loudest band on earth MC5. He died on February 17 this year after liver failure at the age of 68. We also catch up with another legend Andre Williams who has a new record out. Bruce Springsteen also has a new one out. English new wave legends Wire have a live record out and John Wesley Coleman teamed up with Morgan Coy for a strange little extended play which features new songs in full studio arrangement and also in more stripped down acoustic style.
Julian Cope continues with his steady concept of putting out double albums with songs obsessed by the middle east and politics. Listening to that stuff is a learning experience. The new record is called Psychedelic Revolution. We also have the new album for John Larson, who we know from the Marlowes. We used to play them few years ago when they were active. Larson now has a new record, also a concept album, all songs are about music. Free from the Rolling Stones baggage Bill Wyman plays standards with his new band Rhythm Kings and we check out their new live record Live Communication. The new names today are The Good And The Bad. Their concept is numerology. The new record is called 18 to 33 and all songs are numbered from 18 to 33. PG Six are also a new band, they hail from Brooklyn and they don’t have a particular concept, other than sticking pretty strictly to the retro psychedelic sound. Royal Baths come from the San Francisco garage punk scene, but they all relocated now to Brooklyn.