Listen Up! Streams Live Every Monday 2pm to 4pm EST.

There are many ways to hear the Listen Up! Radio program. Those wishing to hear it live can do so by going to the G-Town Radio Homepage during the broadcast time and clicking on one of the feed options.  You can also access the feed via the very cool site Soundtap that lets you hear other HUMAN POWERED  non-commercial stations programs as well.

Those of you on the go, can also download a smartphone app.

Also, if you miss the show (or want to hear it again), you can access a stream on Mixcloud and for a limited time, shows are even available to download here on a Listen Up! landing page.

Show 016: Cool Britannia – Playlist and Archived Stream

This week, Listen Up! brings you two solid hours filled with British Mod and Freakbeat sounds along with other 60’s Brit Pop pounders!

Follow the Listen Up! Blog and/or “like” the show on Facebook . Both serve as an addendum and a means to interact with the program.

Playlist (Artist -Title- Album – Year of song)

Opening Theme

Man or Astroman – Maximum Radiation Level – Experiment Zero – 1996

Background Music

Selected works from composer John Barry

Bonzo Dog Band – Cool Britannia – Gorilla – 1967

The  Creation – Biff Bang Pow – Our Music Is Red With Purple Flashes – 1967

The Action – I’ll Keep Holding On – The Ultimate! Action – 1966

The Eyes – When The Night Falls – Nuggets II: Original Artyfacts From The British Empire And Beyond – 1965

The Quick – Bert’s Apple Crumble – The Mod Scene – 1967

The Syn – Grounded – Original Syn – 1967

John’s Children – Desdemona –  Nuggets II: Original Artyfacts From The British Empire And Beyond – 1967

The Human Instinct – Pink Dawn –Staircase to Nowhere – 1968

The Pretty Things – Midnight to 6 – The Singles A’s & B’s – 1966

The Syndicats – Crawdaddy Simone – You’re Holding Me Down – 1965

The Wards of Court – How Could You Say One Thing – The Mod Scene -1967

The Rolling Stones – Citadel – Their Satanic Majesties Request – 1967

The Chants R&B – I’m Your Witch Doctor – Nuggets II: Original Artyfacts From The British Empire And Beyond – 1965

The Pete Best Combo – The Way I Feel About You – Beyond The Beatles – 1966

The Primitives – You Said – Nuggets II: Original Artyfacts From The British Empire And Beyond -1965

The Poets – That’s The Way It’s Got To Be – The Immediate Records Story – 1965

The Birds – No Good Without You Baby – The Collector’s Guide to Rare British Birds – 1965

The La De Das –How Is The Air Up There? – Nuggets II: Original Artyfacts From The British Empire And Beyond – 1966

The Mark Four – I’m Leaving – Maximum Freakbeat -1965

The Move – Fire Brigade – The Move Anthology – 1968

The Idle Race – Imposters Of Life’s Magazine – Back To The Story – 1967

The Troggs – 66-5-4-3-2-1 – Trogglodynamite – 1966

The Score – Beg Me – The Mod Scene – 1966

Eyes of Blue – Supermarket Full Of Cans – The Mod Scene – 1967

The Flies – I’m Not Your Stepping Stone – The Electric Crayon Set: Rubble, Vol. 5 – 1966

The Who – So Sad About Us – A Quick One – 1966

The Kinks – Victoria – Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) – 1969

The Attack – We Don’t Know – The In Crowd – 1967

The Fire – Father’s Name Was Dad – Chocolate Soup For Diabetics – 1968

The Small Faces – Understanding – The Anthology 1965-1967 – 1966

The Buzz – You’re Holding Me Down – Joe Meek; The Alchemist of Pop – 1966

The Downliners Sect – Why Don’t You Smile Now – Nuggets II: Original Artyfacts From The British Empire And Beyond – 1965

Les Fleur De Lys – Mud In Your Eye – Nuggets II: Original Artyfacts From The British Empire And Beyond -1966

The Yardbirds – Stroll On – Ultimate! – 1966

The Open Mind – Magic Potion – Nuggets II: Original Artyfacts From The British Empire And Beyond – 1969

Denis Couldry & The Next Collection – I Am Nearly There –Freakbeat Scene -1968

The Blue Stars – I Can’t Take It – Trans-World Punk Rave-Up Volume Two – 1966

Timebox – Poor Little Heartbreaker – The Deram Anthology – 1969

Billy Nichols – London Social Degree – Real Life Permanent Dreams – 1968

Click on the Mixcloud button to hear the archived stream.

Radio Unnameable

Radio Unnameable Documentary Trailer from Lost Footage Films on Vimeo.

In 1963, one man radically transformed the FM dial.  RADIO UNNAMEABLE tells the story of the groundbreaking New York disc jockey Bob Fass and his innovative use of the airwaves to inform, entertain and encourage dialogue amongst listeners.  His program is entirely free form, there’s no telling what might happen next.  It is a place to hear great music, conversations with artists and activists, audio experiments, and where the average listener can discuss local and international issues, from problems with landlords in the Bronx to the war in Afghanistan.  Bob Fass is still on the air today, approaching 50 years behind the microphone, and he remains as vital and current as ever.

Radio Unnameable’s orbit of listeners are active participants and a key component to the program.  Bob Fass’s goal was to create a participatory democracy on the air, utilizing this community as an organizing tool, working with listeners to stage protests and events, such as the 1967 “Sweep-In” where listeners gathered to clean up a Lower East Side block during a garbage strike.  He has talked callers down from bad trips and even averted a suicide attempt.  Parallels can be drawn to today’s innovations such as Facebook, Twitter, flash mobs, etc..  The listeners were “citizen reporters” and on Radio Unnameable, every voice is heard.

Listen Up! Gets Some Press From Collectors Quest and Inherited Values

Recently Deanna Dahlsad (avid collector of many things, but especially kitschy) interviewed me for the websites Collectors Quest and Inherited Values.

I’ve known Tom Casetta, host of a weekly radio program Listen Up! (on Internet radio station G-Town Radio), for over a decade now. He’s my music guru. If I have a question about records, bands, music history, or just want to discover something cool to listen to, I contact Casetta. I figured it was time to share the resource.

Hey, Tom, pretend I don’t know you… How long have you been collecting records?

I started acquiring records at a young age, but I probably started to seriously seek out music during high school. It was more a means to discover these records, bands, and singers I was reading about. I grew up in a time where vinyl LPs were the main format and I didn’t pay much attention to the fact I was suddenly gaining a decent size library.

Did you consider yourself a record collector originally?

Not at all and I still don’t. I obviously collect records, but I don’t look at them as these sacred museum pieces.   < read rest of interview at Collectors Quest.

 

Can you tell me the story of your radio show? Was it inspired by your collection — or just a way to rationalize it?

I am currently doing a weekly radio program on the Internet radio station G-Town Radio called Listen Up!. Each week, I guide you through a labyrinth of music shining a beacon on the unsung, should-be-sung, and will-be-sung recordings that clutter the maze’s dusty corridors. The station is based in a Philadelphia neighborhood called Germantown and it offers diverse programming originating from this community in Philadelphia that can be shared through the wide range of the Internet.

The Listen Up! show in some ways does rationalize my record collection as it serves as the library for much of the source material of the show. I love sharing these recordings with the public and exposing them to music perhaps they may not have heard of before. I want to share that excitement, infusing my personality into the show. It’s pretty much you, the listener, hanging out in my music library for two hours.

As a DJ, how liberating is today’s digital world?

I don’t see it that much different. I still approach my shows the same way as before.  < read rest of interview at Inherited Values.

Show 015: A Mid-Afternoon Hush – Playlist and Archived Stream

This week, Listen Up! takes you on a mind-expanding journey filled with the dreamy grooves and gentle, nuanced rhythms of the acid tinged folk sounds from the golden era of the late 60’s and early 70’s and beyond. Leave the busy hum in this world of tomorrow behind.

Follow the Listen Up! Blog and/or “like” the show on Facebook . Both serve as an addendum and a means to interact with the program.

Playlist (Artist -Title- Album – Year of song)

Opening Theme

Man or Astroman – Maximum Radiation Level – Experiment Zero – 1996

Heaven & Earth – Feel the Spirit – A Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble Vol. 1 – 1973

Dr. Strangely Strange – Strangely Strange, But Oddly Normal – Kip of The Serenes – 1970

Mark Fry – The Witch – Dreaming With Alice – 1972

Carol Batton – Bee –Ing

Mellow Candle- Silver Song – Swaddling Songs – 1972

Nick Drake – Time Has Told Me – Five Leaves Left – 1969

Roy Harper – Forever – Sophisticated Beggar – 1966

Pearls Before Swine – Translucent Carriages – Balaklava – 1968

The Byrds – Here Without You – Mr. Tambourine Man – 1965

Jonathan Wilson – Ballad Of The Pines – Gentle Spirit – 2008

Samara Labelski – Fired To – Spectacular Of Passages – 2005

Linda Perhacs – Hey, Who Really Cares – Parallelograms – 1970

The Holy Modal Rounders – One Will Do For Now – The Moray Eels Eat The Holy Modal Rounders -1968

Carol Batton – Trees Come Back To Life In Winter

Bonnie Dobson – Winter’s Going – Bonnie Dobson – 1969

Trees – She Moved Thro’ The Fair – The Garden Of Jane Delawney – 1970

Susan Christie – Paint A Lady – Paint A Lady – 1970

Donovan – Curry Lady – Open Road – 1970

Wendy & Bonnie – By The Sea – Genesis – 1969

The Incredible String Band – My Father Was A Lighthouse Keeper – Earthspan – 1972

Pentangle – When I Get Home – Reflection – 1971

Sunforest – Magician In The Mountain – Sound of Sunforest – 1969

Tyrannosaurus Rex – Elemental Child – A Beard Of Stars – 1970

Devendra Barnhart – Hey, Moma Wolf – A Cripple Crow – 2005

Fairport Convention – Meet On The Ledge – What We Did On Our Holidays – 1968

Talk with Giant Skyflower Band –  Rainbows and Dreams (with Worms Singing) –  Blood of The Sunworm  – 2007

Click on the Mixcloud button to hear the archived stream.

An Oral History of the Coolest Shoes On Earth

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David Marchese/SPIN:  Go into any garage or basement where a high school band is thrashing away. Go into a stadium where rock gods are hurling lightning bolts. Go anywhere people are making music, and — without being too weird about it — look at their shoes. There’s a good chance you’ll see Converse Chuck Taylor All Stars. As much as jeans and guitars, Chucks are part of the rock’n’roll look, but nothing achieves ubiquity by accident, let alone simple, cheap, and let’s be honest, blister-inducing, non-arch-supporting rubber-and-canvas sneakers. Rarely has a consumer product had as unlikely a life as the now 80-year-old shoe, which pulled off a nifty and unintentional cultural crossover, moving from basketball courts to CBGB — a shift that took Converse decades to understand and then, finally, exploit. Here, athletes, artists, and industry insiders consider the history of the shoe heard around the world…< More

Show 014: These Are Not My People (A Tribute To Joe South) – Playlist and Archived Stream

Listen Up! pays tribute to the late Joe South who passed away last week. He didn’t get much credit outside of the snobbiest rock snob circles, but the man wrote some classic tunes that became huge hits for other artists, like “Hush,” “Rose Garden,” “Down in the Boondocks,” and “Games People Play.” Hey even laid down some tasty guitar work on Aretha Franklin and Bob Dylan albums.

The songs of Joe South are passionate and righteous, empathetic and generous and those are under appreciated qualities these days. All the more reason to pay tribute to the songs and session work of Joe South (from South’s own fantastic recordings as well as a few covers of his songs).

Follow the Listen Up! Blog and/or “like” the show on Facebook . Both serve as an addendum and a means to interact with the program.

Playlist (Artist -Title- Album – Year of song)

Opening Theme

Man or Astroman – Maximum Radiation Level – Experiment Zero – 1996

Background Music

King Curtis – Games People Play – Wounded Bird – 1969

Veijo  Airaksinen – Rose Garden – Mr.Frosty – ?

Joe South – Hush – Games People Play – 1969

Joe South – The Purple People Eater Meets The Witch Doctor – The Rockin’ South – 1958

The A-Bones – I’m Snowed – Daddy Wants a Cold Beer and Other Million Sellers – 2004

The Tams – Untie Me – Time For The Tams – 196?

Joe South – Games People Play – Games People Play – 1969

Bryan Ferry – Walk A Mile In My Shoes – Another Place, Another Time – 1974

Joe South – What Makes Lovers Hurt One Another – Don’t It Make You Want to Go Home? – 1970

Kelly Hogan – The Greatest Love – The Joe South Tribute Record – 2005

Joe South – Mirror Of Your Mind – Anthology A Mirror Of His Mind – 1968

Ben Vaughn – Dark Glasses – Mono USA – 1994

Arthur Alexander – Concrete Jungle – The Monument Years – 196?

The Believers – Soul Raga Simmerin’ – Voyages into Psychedelia – 1968

Tommy Roe – Sheila – At The Hop – 1962

Bob Dylan – Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again – Blonde on Blonde – 1966

Aretha Franklin – Chain of Fools – Lady Soul – 1968

Joe South – Million Miles Away – Don’t It Make You Want To Go Home? – 1969

Joe South – Children – Anthology A Mirror of His Mind – 1970

Joe South – Fool Me – Joe South – 1971

Ron Silva & The New Believers – I Knew You When – The Joe South Tribute Record – 2005

Joe South – Rose Garden – Introspect – 1969

Chuck Prophet – Don’t It Make You Want To Go Home? – The Joe South Tribute Record – 2005

Paul Revere & The Raiders – Birds of  a Feather – Indian Reservation – 1971

Joe South & The Believers  – Hearts Desire – 1968

Joe South – Party People – Games People Play – 1969

The Barracudas – Down In The Boondocks – Bucket Full of Brains 45 –  2006

Gene Vincent – Gone Gone Gone – The Crazy Beat of Gene Vincent – 1963

Joe South – Don’t Throw Your Love to The Wind – Introspect – 1969

Joe South – All My Hard Times – Introspect – 1969

Joe South – These Are Not My People – Games People Play – 1969

Click on the Mixcloud button to hear the archived stream.

Show 013: Try To Change the World With a Plastic Platter – Playlist and Archived Stream

This Monday’s show (Sept. 3rd): Try To Change the World With a Plastic Platter. It is Labor Day and Listen Up! could celebrate those factory workers, the miners and the people who build our roads and our bridges. But nope, instead we are  going to celebrate the labors of the music star.

The excesses of grueling tours, and the dealing with record labels and industry scum will all be sung. So share the life a rock star this Monday afternoon.

Groupies, French champagne and other perks not included.

Follow the Listen Up! Blog and/or “like” the show on Facebook . Both serve as an addendum and a means to interact with the program.

Playlist (Artist -Title- Album – Year of song)

Opening Theme

Man or Astroman – Maximum Radiation Level – Experiment Zero – 1996

Background Music

Various versions of the song “Wheels”

Talk with Chet Atkins “Wheels” in background

The Byrds – So You Want to Be a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star – Younger Than Yesterday – 1967

Art Brut – Formed A Band – Bang Bang Rock and Roll – 2005

Sleater-Kinney – Entertain -The Woods – 2005

Wreckless Eric – A Popsong – Big Smash – 1980

The Clash – Garageland – The Clash – 1977

Talk with Chet Atkins “Wheels” in background

Nick Lowe – I Love My Label – A Bunch of Stiff Records – 1977

Graham Parker – Mercury Poisoning – Squeezing Out Sparks – 1979

The Sex Pistols – EMI – Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols – 1977

Jeffrey Lewis – Don’t Let the Record Label Take You Out to Lunch –  It’s the Ones Who’ve Cracked That the Light Shines Through – 2003

Talk with James Last “Wheels” in background

Yo La Tengo – We’re An American Band – I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One – 1997

Ben Vaughn – Rhythm Guitar – Ben Vaughn Blows Your Mind – 1988

Redd Kross – Play My Song – Neurotica – 1987

The Frampton Brothers – The Beginning Of The End Of The Fun Years – File Under F For Failure – 1999

Talk with The Shaggs  “Wheels” in background

The Smiths – Paint a Vulgar Picture – Strangeways, Here We Come – 1987

Badfinger – Hey, Mr. Manager – Head First – 1974

Warren Zevon – Even A Dog Can Shake Hands – Sentimental Hygiene – 1987

Aimee Mann – Nothing Is Good Enough – Bachelor #2 -2000

French,Frith,Kaiser,Thompson – Now That I Am Dead – Invisible Means – 1990

Talk with Billy Vaughn “Wheels” in background

Mose Allison – The Getting Paid Waltz – My Backyard – 1990

Mojo Nixon and Skid Roper – Where the Hell’s My Money? – 1986

Frank Zappa – Rudy Wants to Buy Yez a Drink – Chunga’s Revenge – 1970

Talk with The Jumping Jewels ‘Wheels” in background

The Rolling Stones – The Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man – Out of Our Heads – 1965

Belle and Sebastian – Seymour Stein – The Boy with the Arab Strap – 1998

Gang Of  Four – Producer – Attack Of The Killer B’s – 1983

Dead Kennedys – Pull My Strings – Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death – 1987

Todd Rundgren – An Elpee’s Worth of Toons – Todd – 1974

The Kinks – The Moneygoround – Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One – 1970

Talk with The String-a-longs “Wheels” in background

Mott The Hoople – Saturday Gigs – Shades Of Ian Hunter & Mott The Hoople – 1974

The Frogs – I Only Play 4 Money – Starjob -1997

Talk with NoMan “Wheels” in background

Click on the Mixcloud button to hear the archived stream.

Show 012: Modern Adventures In Classical Music – Playlist and Archived Stream

This week Listen Up! explores the world of “serious” music. Listen to the music that descends from the classical tradition and its relationship with popular and traditional music. Hear the works of classical composers alongside boundary crossing sounds from those in the popular music world. We will also be joined by emerging composer Thomas LaVoy . Thomas LaVoy is a pianist, singer-songwriter and composer of contemporary classical music.

Follow the Listen Up! Blog and/or “like” the show on Facebook . Both serve as an addendum and a means to interact with the program.

Playlist (Artist -Title- Album – Year of song)

Opening Theme

Man or Astroman – Maximum Radiation Level – Experiment Zero – 1996

Bell Orchestre – Salvatore Amato – Recording a Tape the Colour of the Light – 2005

Little Scream – The Lamb – The Golden Record – 2011

Arcade Fire – In The Backseat – Funeral – 2004

Nico Muhly – Fire Down Below – I Drink the Air Before Me -2010

Interview w/ Thomas LaVoy

Thomas LaVoy– White Stones – Performed by The Westminster Choir

Thomas LaVoy – 19

Shipwreck Party – Keep Hidden

Thomas LaVoy – Death’s Protest –  Performed by The Westminster New Music Ensemble

Renaissance – Kings and Queens – Renaissance -1969

Robert Fripp & The League of Crafty Guitarists – Asturias – Show of Hands – 1991

Yat-Kha – Love Will Tear Us Apart – Recovers – 2005

Frank Zappa – Peaches en Regalia – Hot Rats – 1969

David Bowie – Lady Grinning Soul – Alladin Sane – 1973

Dead Can Dance – Severance -The Serpent’s Egg– 1988

Bjork – Oceania – 2004

Background Music:   Beach Boys – Our Prayer – Smile – 1967

Petra Haden – I Can See For Miles – Petra Haden Sings: The Who Sell Out -2005

Click on the Mixcloud button to hear the archived stream.

R.I.P.: Byard Lancaster, 1942-2012

Philadelphia jazz saxophonist and flautist Byard Lancaster died Aug. 23 from pancreatic cancer. He was 70. Lancaster was a spiritual, questing instrumentalist who’d played with some of the most inventive avant-garde musicians ever, such as Sun Ra, McCoy Tyner, Sunny Murray, and Khan Jamal. In the decades that followed his early fame, he became a local institution, playing saxophone and flute on the streets, in subway concourses, and at clubs around the city. Porter Records has reissued a lot of his gripping music; it’s never too late to explore.