Out Of The Vault - Show #14 – DJ’s and The Radio – 8/4/12

Download the podcast (MP3). To save the file to your computer, right click the link and choose "save as".

Mott The Hoople – AMERICAN PIE (EXERPT) – is a song by American folk rock singer-songwriter Don McLean. Recorded and released on the American Pie album in 1971, the single was a number-one U.S. hit for four weeks in 1972. The song is a recounting of "The Day the Music Died" — the 1959 plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper (Jiles Perry Richardson, Jr. – a former radio DJ) — and the aftermath.  This version was taken from “The Ballad of Mott:  A Retrospective”, released in 1993.  Recorded at the Uris Theater, NY, circa 1972.

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – THE LAST DJ - is the title of a song written by Tom Petty and recorded by his band, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. It was released in September 2002 as the lead single from their album of the same name. The song was banned by many stations owned by Clear Channel Communications for being "anti-radio."  Petty told Mojo magazine that in this song, "Radio was just a metaphor. ‘The Last DJ’ was really about losing our moral compass, our moral center.”  Petty told Jim DeRogatis that the song is a story "about a D.J. who becomes so frustrated with his inability to play what he wants that he moves to Mexico and gets his freedom back. The song is sung by a narrator who's a fan of this D.J.”.

Mark Germino and The Sluggers – REX BOB LOWENSTEIN – written by Mark Germino, and taken from his CD, “Radartown”, 1991.

Wall of Voodoo – MEXICAN RADIO – is a song written and performed by the band Wall of Voodoo, and produced by Richard Mazda. The track was initially made commercially available on their 1983 album Call of the West.

------

The Blasters – BORDER RADIO -  Written by Dave Alvin, and taken from “The Blasters Collection  1991”  Originally released on “The Blasters”, 1981.

John Hiatt – PIRATE RADIO – Written by Hiatt, and released on “Little Head” his fourteenth album, released in 1997. 

Bruce Springsteen – RADIO NOWHERE – "Radio Nowhere", written by Springsteen, was the first single released from his 2007 studio album “Magic”.

Jason & The Scorchers – DRUGSTORE TRUCK DRIVIN’ MAN – Taken from their CD “Clear Impetuous Morning, 1996.  Written by Roger McGuinn and Gram Parsons, it was first released in 1969 on the Byrds’ album “DR. BYRDS & MR. HYDE” The song details a moderately unpleasant on-air exchange between Emery and Roger McGuinn, the lead singer of The Byrds, concerning their 1968 appearance at The Grand Ole Opry. In that performance, the Byrds attempted unsuccessfully to convince traditional country music fans that their developing country rock sound was a legitimate part of the tradition. They were met with jeers and catcalls, in what may be interpreted as a sign of the increasing animosity at the time between rural or working-class (mostly Southern) whites (represented by Opry attendees and Emery's listeners) and young devotees of the counterculture (represented by the Byrds, with their long hair and "hippie" attire). This song is dedicated to the recently deceased Perry Baggs, drummer for Jason & the Scorchers.

-----

George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Band – DEVIL’S RADIO –  Written by George Harrison, released on his CD Cloud Nine, 1987 after a five-year hiatus from his recording career.  This version is from his “Live in Japan” CD, 1992.

The Clash – THIS IS RADIO CLASH – This is a song by The Clash. Released as a single in 1981, it is not featured on any studio album, but is included in the track listing of their compilations: “The Singles”. “The Story of the Clash, Volume 1”, “Singles Box”, “The Singles (2007)” and “Clash on Broadway.”  "This Is Radio Clash", like their previous single "The Magnificent Seven", is a dub reggae, rap, punk-funk song that was influenced by old school hip hop acts from New York City, like the Sugarhill Gang and Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five^.  This live version was recorded on November 27^th, 1982 at a show in Kingston, Jamaica.

 --------

Elvis Costello & The Attractions – RADIO RADIO – "Radio Radio" written by Elvis Costello, was a single by Elvis Costello and The Attractions released in the UK in October 1978. The song had already appeared on the US version of their second album, This Year's Model, released earlier that year. The song is a protest song concerning the commercialization of radio broadcasts and the power wielded by the recording studios and radio companies who decided what songs were heard over the airwaves, especially the more politically explicit side of punk rock. The lyrics claim, "You better shut up or get cut out/They don't wanna hear about it/It's only inches on the reel-to-reel" and "They don't give you any choice 'cause they think that it's treason," a veiled reference to the Sex Pistols' "God Save the Queen".  This version was taken from the (originally Promo Only) release, “Live at the El Mocambo”, recorded in Canada in March 1978.

Joan Jett – ROADRUNNER – Written by Jonathan Richman, and recorded by Richman’s band The Modern Lovers with producer John Cale (previously of the Velvet Underground) in 1972. It was first released as single and in 1976 on The Modern Lovers' long-delayed but highly acclaimed debut album. The song was also recorded by Joan Jett on a 1986 single, and again for her album of covers, “The Hit List”, 1997, where this version appears.