Music that flipped the script?

[Muse]

I'm a college radio DJ, and our station's studios are inaccessible because pandemic. So, the DJs have been creating our weekly 3 hour shows at home, each in their own way with equipment and music they have cobbled together. Instead of broadcasting live from our air studio, we create digital files of our shows for scheduled airplay at least a week later.

Our annual fundraiser, like most of the stuff we do, is customarily live... DJs with a pitcher in the studio playing music and asking for donations. But this year, nothing's live, we create MP3s or WAVs of our ~3 hour shows and upload the files to a server (i.e. one file-show a week) and our station engineer makes them play on schedule. Same with the fundraiser (FR). Because of covid, we're mostly doing this solo (no pitcher, just the DJ) working with DAW software (e.g. Protools, Audacity, Reaper, Garageband, Cakewalk, etc.).

I'm trying to work up my FR show. Want to keep listeners, i.e. want them to enjoy what I'm doing, the music I'm playing, want to hear the rest of my show, like what they're hearing, donate online (a crowdfund), of course.

So I had an idea: play special music, very special music. Music that flipped the script. Music that blew minds. Music that changed the course of music history, music that presaged a sea-change in artistic thought and creativity.

Sounds good but not sure how it's gonna work. Some of the things that blew minds historically can sound like a cliche now because people are so used to them.

Ideas? I'm into just about every kind of music.

 

[BarkingGhostar]

I thought you were like in your sixties, man.

 

[lxskllr]

What's your normal show?

 

[sdifox]

Aria special.

 

[DigDog]

that's new?
which station? i'd like to catch a stream of youze.
We used to Dj on WZBC back in 1998.

 

[Muse]

that's new?
which station? i'd like to catch a stream of youze.
We used to Dj on WZBC back in 1998.

We're KALX, University of California Berkeley radio, broadcasting at 90.7FM, 500 watts from the Berkeley hills across the SF Bay Area.

We stream from our website in several formats:

KALX 90.7FM Berkeley

www.kalx.berkeley.edu

We were 10 watts from 1967 until about 1981, then upgraded to 500 watts, started streaming 15-20 years ago I guess. I've been a DJ there since October 1980.

 

[Muse]

I thought you were like in your sixties, man.

You wanna see my ID? What did I do?

 

[Muse]

What's your normal show?

Well, these days it's on 3PM PDT, Wednesdays. What do I play? Dang near everything, you name it. Music!!! We have mic breaks around every 20 minutes. It's free form radio but we have guidelines, protocols. 2 PSA/hour, station mentions, stuff like that. We have some public affairs shows, all created "in house," although right now in people's own houses (!) cause the pandemic. Great public affairs programming.

I've played around 10,000 different artists, a total of around 25,000 different selections from LPs, CDs, 7", 12" records, whatever. I've done close to 1600 shows, averaging 3 hours. Back in the early 1980s our shows were 4 hours long. I've been on all hours of the day. My first show lasted 6 months, started at 2AM and went to 6AM, then my show moved to 6AM - 10AM, etc. I like afternoon shows now, not a night owl any more.

 

[DigDog]

Muse, i hesitate to talk about music, because it's one of those things that i am convinced i know far too much about, and any discussion is a potential argument.

.. i'll try to help, but, this kind of "help", or contribution, needs to be made face to face. Anyway,

1. i love a bit of that old techno from the 80s and early 90s. By which i mean all those white label 45' that were crude, but extremely experimental.
Modern music exists that mimics that era, you need to do your own investigation (sources on youtube). Experiemental is good, but, needs to be handled with care.

2. cheap commercial shit is still the N1 driver in radio. You have to accept that stuff like Mariah Carey and Rihanna will always dominate, and that even an educated listener will have some "base" desires. There are ways to work around that; i like to throw in remixes of popular music. Vandalism does some amazing remixes of famous stuff, a Postemodern Jukebox is always a favorite.

3pm wednesdays is not exactly hardcore and you don't want to freak out your audience. ideally, if you have ONE track that's edgy but you think they can appreciate it, you will build up to that. Do not be afraid to use the old classics - Madonna, Areosmith, anything that's cheap commercial trash but you know it will get them hooked. the end justifies the means.
We used to pad out our airtime with Bob Marley aaaaaallll the time, and we played Acid / Psy / Progressive / Trance otherwise. But then again, we have fridays graveyard shift in 1998.

3. Try to streamline yourself to the programs that came before you. There is nothing that makes you forget a radio station like tuning in to listen to a program you loved last week, and be met with Uzbeki folk choirs because you are 10 minutes too early.

 

[Muse]

Muse, i hesitate to talk about music, because it's one of those things that i am convinced i know far too much about, and any discussion is a potential argument.

.. i'll try to help, but, this kind of "help", or contribution, needs to be made face to face. Anyway,

1. i love a bit of that old techno from the 80s and early 90s. By which i mean all those white label 45' that were crude, but extremely experimental.
Modern music exists that mimics that era, you need to do your own investigation (sources on youtube). Experiemental is good, but, needs to be handled with care.

2. cheap commercial shit is still the N1 driver in radio. You have to accept that stuff like Mariah Carey and Rihanna will always dominate, and that even an educated listener will have some "base" desires. There are ways to work around that; i like to throw in remixes of popular music. Vandalism does some amazing remixes of famous stuff, a Postemodern Jukebox is always a favorite.

3pm wednesdays is not exactly hardcore and you don't want to freak out your audience. ideally, if you have ONE track that's edgy but you think they can appreciate it, you will build up to that. Do not be afraid to use the old classics - Madonna, Areosmith, anything that's cheap commercial trash but you know it will get them hooked. the end justifies the means.
We used to pad out our airtime with Bob Marley aaaaaallll the time, and we played Acid / Psy / Progressive / Trance otherwise. But then again, we have fridays graveyard shift in 1998.

3. Try to streamline yourself to the programs that came before you. There is nothing that makes you forget a radio station like tuning in to listen to a program you loved last week, and be met with Uzbeki folk choirs because you are 10 minutes too early.

TBH, when you say Marriah Carrey nothing comes to mind. Sure, I've "heard of her," but we don't play her on the station, I suppose there may be some of her records in our huge library (over 120,000 items now), but I've never sat down and spun one at the listening stations.

I do NOT listen to commercial radio. I do play some commercial stuff, but a lot of it I have never heard, even the ubiquitous stuff because I just don't care to put the huge effort that keeping abreast of the commercial scene would require. Besides, it would poison me, having to absorb all that stuff. More important to me is loving the music I hear, loving the music I play on my show and getting my listeners (at least some of them, you can't reach all people) to really love and get excited listening to my shows.

The time of day I try not to pay attention to. I try to fight mental compartmentalization, so not paying attention to what time it is, is essential.

It's impossible to be consistent. Unless you do block programming, which we don't do, except for a handful of short specialty shows (1 hour at midnight). My eclecticsm forbids that, anyway. I'm not afraid to be edgy. In fact one DJ said my show puts them on edge (that was 25 years ago). I change, my show has changed, can't say exactly how, I haven't been listening to my old shows (but have a great many saved as MP3 or cassettes). I do have my data... I know the artists, track names, etc. for the shows I've done in my self-created database. I've played Madonna and Aerosmith, but not for a couple decades, pretty sure (coulld look it up, but yeah, pretty sure).

A DJ said about my show some years ago "you never know what you'll get." I kind of like that. I don't want them tuning into me thinking they know what to expect. I prefer them thinking, I wonder what he could be doing today, right now? We are required to play 4 new tracks per hour, so I sprinkle an average of 4/hour of our "feature play" in the sets, usually starting each set with one of those. The rest is stuff I figure sounds good in that context.

 

[DigDog]

ok so, the question is, who are you trying to appease, 1. your boss, 2. your audience, 3. yourself.
Each answer has its own merits, advantages and disadvantages.

See, music that was revolutionary, is something that needs to be taken into context. What is a major stepping stone in Drum&Bass is nothing for someone outside of that scene. Only within a certain framework, can one make suggestions as to what to play.

1. if you play to appease your boss, you can easily do a good job and get paid.
2. if you play to appease you audience, they do not have the expansive knowledge you have, you have to break new things to them, slowly.
3. if you play for yourself, you have both the highest potential for success, and for failure.

Here in london we have possibly the worst radio i have ever heard. Two of the guilty parties are Heart and Magic, both of which play out of a winamp playlist (i shit you not), and it's just randomized out of the same shit very day, and it's terrible as well. I won't name names, because those are performers who can totally play their part in a good playlist, IF you use them wisely. Not just string together the lamest easy-listening songs that exist. You know, nothing wrong with Dance With My Father (L.Vandross) but you really don't want to pair it with Ain't No Sunshine, I Say A little Prayer, Such Great Heights, all that sentimental soul shit, and - i am serious - this is ALL they do, every day, 24/7/365.

Obviously i listen to pirate radio, like, proper, illegal broadcasts. Tweaking that knob every bus stop because they broadcast out of a burned toaster. Great music, i have no idea what the name of the songs are, but, that's not a good business formula.

 

[Muse]

I don't have a boss, actually. The station manager's opinion doesn't even exist unless I break some rule and she gets catty. Break an FCC rule and she can suspend or fire you. Play a song with "shit" etc. in it, look out. But you can censor that out so the audience doesn't hear it, then you're good. Doesn't matter how obvious that is... it's crazy, but that's the way it's been since I guess Reagan.

I don't get paid, I'm a volunteer, as are all the DJs.

I don't play stuff to appease anyone, including my audience. That's the beauty of college radio... the freedom. I have never considered selling my abilities on commercial radio.

Yeah, I play for myself. I get frequent calls telling me what a great job I'm doing. The calls (during shows) really help keep the spirits high. A great call can make your day. It's like an auditory smile.

There's a London band whose leader likes to email me, that's great stuff. He and the band stay up at night and listen to me (other DJ's too, I'm sure) and once in a while he shoots off an email I see when I get home.

Here's one:

Date: Mon, 11 Jul 2016 23:10:01 +0000

The Muse is in fine fettle, we hear ya in London!

Their band is Trench City, kind of afrobeat/ska outfit.

I like Heart, actually, a great band in their day. I played them some. They are good enough, stand the test of time enough I could drop one of their songs into a set these days.

yeah, see, I detest "easy listening." Moreso, music that could pass as elevator music if you just turn the volume down some. That's an acid test for me, that mental exercise.

Yeah, pirate radio. when I started here, we had more than one DJ who'd done that on Radio Caroline off the British coast.

We are NOT in business. We DJ's make nothing! Literally. A few of us do related gigs: Record store, solo DJ gigs in clubs, or working the door, or sound, booking, etc., weddings, one guy managed a small record company, that kind of thing. A few are in bands, etc., make recordings.

 

[IronWing]

If I understand the question then this will take awhile as I peruse my collection and think about things.

The first music that comes to mind that fits your idea is the MC5's 1968 Kick Out the Jams album. There was nothing like it before and whole genres of it after.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I just listened to Dire Straight's "Money for Nothing" the other day, at the time, that was somewhat cutting edge. A bit edgy too, with the lyrics.

I used to love to listen to college radio, 88.9 WSRS (Maybe WERS?) FM here in Boston. I think I even donated once or twice.
i think that was Emerson (?) College Radio.

That's the thing that I loved about college radio station(s) - the uniqueness. You could be listening to a show one hour, and it might be folk music, and then the next hour might be trance or techno. It was/is great!

 

[lxskllr]

Igor Stravinsky, Robert Johnson, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Frank Zappa, the Ramones. Maybe you can do something with that list. Fill it in a little, and try to workout decent segues.

 

[Muse]

If I understand the question then this will take awhile as I peruse my collection and think about things.

The first music that comes to mind that fits your idea is the MC5's 1968 Kick Out the Jams album. There was nothing like it before and whole genres of it after.

I have that LP. I saw it in a bin (used) at local shop in 1970 and it just looked special and bought it. Kick out the jams, mutherfucker!

 

[Muse]

Igor Stravinsky, Robert Johnson, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Frank Zappa, the Ramones. Maybe you can do something with that list. Fill it in a little, and try to workout decent segues.

I won't lie... I had a list of around 50 (?) artists I picked off the top of my head the last few days and every one of those artists is on it... except Zappa, who absolutely belongs there. THANK YOU! BTW, I played Zappa to finish off my show 2 weeks ago, on Sept. 16 of this year, here's my note on it in my data:

WATERMELON IN EASTER HAY [Zappa's "best guitar solo ever" - Dweezil]

To prove what I said, here's the list I had before starting this thread:

Marley, bob
Mozart
Bach
Bowie - space oddity
Miles
Charlie Parker
Coltrane
Ornette
Beatles
Stones
Love
MC5
Elvis
Beethoven's 5th 1st mvmt
Jolene - Dolly Parton
Stravinsky
Weather Report - Jaco Pastorias
Sex Pistols - GSTQ
Cream
Dylan
Robert Johnson?
Aretha?
Incredible String Band?
John Cage?
Laurie Anderson?
AC/DC?
Herbie Hancock???
Yoyo Ma?
Blind Willie Johnson?
Toots !!!
Doors?
Janis?
Hendrix?
Ramones?
Elvis costello
Muddy
Howlin' Wolf
Jackson Browne?
Johnny Cash
Ray Charles
Van Morrison
Joni Mitchell
Mavis
Some hip hop pioneers
Led Zeppelin
Neil Young
John Mayall
Bartok
Gershwins
Bernstein
Bill Monroe
Hank Williams
Beastie Boys
Ritchie Havens
Little Richard
Chuck Berry
Silvester Sly

 

[IronWing]

I was thinking about Bill Monroe and Laurie Anderson as well.

 

[IronWing]

Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Clara Ward sort of inadvertently invented rock and roll when they went electric with their gospel guitar music.

 

[IronWing]

Also, The Black Keys spearheaded a rock rivival in an era when rock had all but disappeared from the national scene (local rock scene was still there but no real national acts).

 

[Spacehead]

My offers. Some might fit you're qualifications & some might be just because i like them & i think they might fit you're qualifications.

Maddox Brothers and Rose
Pink Floyd
Alan Parsons Project
Tangerine Dream
Hawkwind
Kraftwerk
Brian Eno
Glenn Gould

Well, these days it's on 3PM PDT, Wednesdays.

I've been meaning to ask when you're on. I'll try to remember some evening.

 

[DigDog]

check out this edit a guy made of watermelons, it really is something: AAAnd it's gone. taken down by youtube. Shit.

anyway, my argument is that, it doesn't matter if you play zappa, what matters is which song you pick, and when you play it. You totally can play a zappa song inappropriately, just like you can play a britney spears song and make it epic. The point is that music programming should follow your stream of consciousness, *what* music you use to do so does not matter. Like, if you take me to a dark place, i'm happy to listen to The Man Who Sold The World, but i don't want it as an opening song. How does each song fit inside of the setlist. What purpose does it fill. These are the questions that you need to answer.


Just to be clear, as someone who's worked in discos, went to music college, studied classical music at Santa Cecilia, i got all those you listed, and more. I will tell you a few i like, but understand that there is no magical "finding the ultimate band" trick, music is what you make of it.
The Pixies
they got to be, to me, the best rock band to have ever existed.
Dead Milkmen
some of the material is awesome, some is shit. I really like the album Belzebubba.
Lawnmower Deth
it's just one album, "ooh crickey", but it's made of gold.
Punk. tons and tons of punk. As they have never studied their instruments, they had a lot of chaos, but also a lot of creativity. DRI, NOFX, even Crass ...

in jazz, i like eric dolphy, i love oscar peterson, michael petrucciani

and i was a massive fan of keith jarret, which i do not really recommend you try to listen to, as the material is VERY hit and miss,
but my really big revelation was Masada, the free jazz band led by John Zorn, of whom i recommedn the 10 original Masada studio albums, and Naked City (watch out, it's a wild ride), and Spillane.

i tend not to play stuff like Ramones, because i feel that it's a personal experience to listen to them, not something that's easy to share.

I love Aqua. You either love aqua, or don't understand aqua.

Ultraviolence - Killing God is a masterpiece.
Emmanuel Top - Asteroid.

Postmodern Jukebox, the NYC band Tragedy (comedy metal covers of famous cheesy hit singles, like More Than A Woman or It's Raining Men)..

of course i lived through the new soul era, so i'm down with aretha franklyn, sam cooke, percy sledge, wilson picket, i.e anything that made the Blues Brothers soundtrack; or the Animal House soundtrack.

i dont really dig classical music, a little bit of it is epic, but most of it is sooooooo fucking boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooring

unz unz techno music will always have a special spot in my heart, i love 80s experimental stuff, but im just not gonna spend 10 hours typing to explain what it was all about.

Metal is cool. I really, really like Manowar, if you can stand how cheesy they are. That's part of the attraction, it's not really stuff to be taken too seriously, but at the same time it's really epic and emotional.
Metal was great when it was Ozzy singing Iron Man, or when Sepultura were singing about police death squads. Having rich white kids scream in angst is not really the same.

 

[DigDog]

i don't think i have made my point sufficiently.

Ministry's The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste is a great album. Tin Machine 1 is a great album. Tina Live In Europe is a great album. These 3 are really, really good and you CANNOT make a playlist out of their songs and expect it not to suck.

Listening to a song should generate in you a special feeling that will tell you what song should come next. In a song, the importance of a note is based on the notes that came before it - tthe same holds true for a setlist. Listen to a song until the end and you should instictively know which song needs to come after.

I know this sound like some "use the force" bullshit but i promise you it's all true.

 

[IronWing]

On the classical side, Arvo Part changed the world. He took some of Philip Glass’ ideas and turned them into music.

 

[DigDog]

i dunno man, we had one CD, Te Deum (1993) at Berklee, and we all thought it was boring. YMMV.