Sunday, September 27, 2015

Transmission 6315 - Look At Us But Do Not Touch



The perfectness of Utopia, the dedicated followers of Saint Julian, a beauty from Greek mythology and the antics of coastal birds inspire music from Todd Rundgren, Be Bop Deluxe, Seagulls Screaming Kiss Me, Kiss Me, XTC, The Teardrop Explodes, Lee Hazlewood & Nancy Sinatra, Phaedra and Tangerine Dream

T6315 is a 1:13:53 mp3 you can download here.

"I'm gonna' open up your gate"

RFW

*In Greek mythology, Phaedra is the daughter of Minos and Pasiphaë, wife of Theseus, sister of Ariadne, and the mother of Demophon of Athens and Acamas. Phaedra's name derives from the Greek word φαιδρός, which meant "bright".

** The top illustration is Phaedra, a 1880 painting by Alexandre Cabanel. The one below is Phaedra as  realized by Zahiruddin Babar Moghal.


Saturday, September 26, 2015

Transmission 6215 - Wailing Sounds


Male Humpbacks sing to females to display their desires and Sperms use clicks as a personal calling card. RFW also uses songs, while adding snaps, crackles and pops to milk a play on words for all it's worth. Celebrate the last few days of our 10th Anniversary with Screaming Lord Sutch & His Heavy Friends, The Hollies, The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, Lou Reed, Red Guitars, Television, The Sonics, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Uncle Ben & His Wild Rice, Bob Marley & The Wailers, Ireland's own Stiff Little Fingers and Adrian Belew

T6215 is a 1:02:05 mp3 that you can download here.

"The Whalers(?) - hmm, that don't sound like no reggae music - that's Irish reggae, darlin'"

RFW

* The bonus coda is Ballet For A Blue Whale by Adrian Belew from Desire Caught By The Tail.

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Transmission 6115 - Hindsight Is 20/20


I had a great time reading the December, 1979 edition of Trouser Press. The features, reviews and ads for albums that were new then and 36 years old now made a great menu for today's session in the RFW Time Machine. Enjoy this look in the rear-view mirror featuring Jules & The Polar Bears, Shoes, The Police, Root Boy Slim & The Sex Change Band, Joe Jackson, Cheap Trick, Fleetwood Mac, Buzzcock, Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, Blondie, The Undertones, Skids and XTC!

T6115 is 1:09:52 mp3 that you can download here!

"get teenage kicks right through the night"

RFW

*Many thanks to my radio brother and wonderful friend Marc Miller who sent me the aformentioned remarkably preserved rock and roll relic as a trivia contest "prize" for correctly answering Trouser Press. You continue to inspire me - hope to see you soon!


Sunday, September 20, 2015

Transmission 6015 - Bye-Bye, So Long, Farewell


How could this have happened so quickly? Answers to this and other mysteries of life are supplied by The Happenings, Jane's Addiction, Love Sculpture, Sly & The Family Stone, The Who, David Bowie, Primal Scream, Julian Cope, Roxy Music, The Stompers, Joe Elliot's Down And Outz, Nutz, Fad Gadget and Primus!

T6015 is 1:06:36 mp3 that you can download here!

"sometimes I wonder what I'm gonna' do"

RFW

* The Stompers, led by my old East Boston High School pisan Sal Baglio, is a Boston institution. Find one of the lps (the debut is a fave) or see them live if you get the chance - "oh-oh-oh oh"!

Saturday, September 19, 2015

Transmission 5915 - Thank Christ


The RFW 10th Anniversary radiates with a dangerous dose of Queen, The Libertines, The Stone Foxes, Barrence Whitfield & The Savages, David Bowie, Captain Beyond, David Gilmour, Mike Oldfield, Crack The Sky and Groundhogs!

T5915 is 1:13:49 mp3 that you can download here!

"So it seems for peace we can thank the bomb" 

RFW

*Special thanks to my radio brother and rock historian Carter Alan for Dates & Sympathy.

** CJ Wohlman is my 16 year old (punk) son who I rent out a small space in the archives to in return for child labor. His teenage ears, endless creativity and warped sense of humor continues to amaze and impress me! Today's Curtis' Corner is explosive! 

Friday, September 18, 2015

Transmission 5815 - Unfold And Emerge


Like Buddah, we take seven steps in ten directions (obligatory Anniversary reference) and blossom with Julia Lee &  Her Boyfriends, Santana, Radio Head, Emerson/Lake & Palmer, Argent, Medeski/Martin/Wood & Scofield, The Yardbirds, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and Savoy Brown!

T5815 is a 1:02:20 mp3 that you can download here!

"you alone can bring my lover back to me" 

RFW





*Pianist and singer Julia Lee (1902-1958) recorded a lot of songs about sinful substances, from pie and cake to alcohol, most of which originated with the Kansas City blues tradition that Lee herself grew up in. However, her most overt song about unsavory habits did not, surprisingly, originate as part of the blues tradition, but was in fact a number from a Hollywood musical. In 1934, the lyricist and later producer Sam Coslow wrote "Marihuana" (as it was then spelled) for the film Murder At The Vanities. Cannabis was then still legal in many states, but it was already a taboo and risque subject for a mainstream pop song. Coslow later changed the title, and some of the lyrics with it, to "Lotus Blossom."

Excerpt courtesy of Jazz.Com.



Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Woodkid Fourviere!





For one of the first Curtis' Corner segments, my son CJ turned us on to the wonder of Woodkid. Most of us missed the lavish tour featuring an orchestra and impressive multi-media accompaniment. 

As a part of out 10th Anniversary celebration, RFW remedies that with the full show!

Woodkid = magnifique!


Sunday, September 13, 2015

Transmission 5715 - The World Has Not Yet Awake


Early morning lurid dreams mingle with music by Bob Mazurek & The Exploding Star Orchestra, Beck, John Cale, Lou Reed, Prince, King FiFi and Queen Elizabeth!

T5715 is a 59:11 mp3 that you can download here

"Remove your helmet of poisonous thoughts"

RFW  

Saturday, September 12, 2015

Transmission 5615 ~ Beginning The Ending


The RFW 10th Anniversary Opposite Of Go Show comes to a grinding halt with Grateful Dead, Aerosmith, The Black Crowes, Albert King, Van Morrison, The Black Keys, Foxboro Hot Tubs, Adrian Belew, Jeff Beck, The Clash, The Pretenders, The Kinks, Jane's Addiction, The Eric Burdon Band and The James Gang!

T5615 is a 1:09:50 mp3 that you can download here

"I've been half a million places,
I've seen half a million people who stare,
I've been a star and down and out,
I've been put on, sat on, punched and spat on,
They've called me a faggot, a spiv and a fake,
They can knock me down and tread on my face,
They can't stop the music playing on"

RFW

Friday, September 11, 2015

Transmission 5515 - Draw


Luv, a variety-pac of Jacks and six-string desperados provide the ammunition for 10th Anniversary music by Love Sculpture, Love & Rockets, Love, Jack Bruce & Robin Trower, Derringer, AC/DC, Chris Spedding, Bo Diddley, Mink Deville and Gunslingers!

T5515 is 1:06:16 mp3 that you can download here! 

"they say he's bad as Jessie James"

RFW

Sunday, September 06, 2015

Transmission 5415 - Under The (Pleasure) Dome


The Wohlman Archives during the RFW 10th Anniversary month, where every oyster delivers a pearl and a good who-ha is always welcome! Cover yourself with Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Stevie Wonder, Stevie Salas, Beck/Bogart & Appice, Cluster & Eno, Matmos and Walter/Wendy Carlos!

T5415 is a 1:02:55 mp3 that you can download here

"shooting stars never stop, even when they hit the top"

RFW

Saturday, September 05, 2015

Transmission 5315 - Rubbing Dissension Raw


The force caused by movement or annoyance is but one of the subjects explored during the continuation of the RFW 10th Anniversary! Feel the texture of Robert Fripp, King Crimson, John Zorn's Simulacrum, Cornelius, Imagine Dragons, Television, Friction, Axiom Funk, Funkadelic, New Ghetto Express, The Doughboys, Willie Dixon, Nathaniel Mayer and Hound Dog Taylor & The Houserockers!

T5315 is a 1:10:06 mp3 that you can download here!

"there's too much contradiction"

RFW

Friday, September 04, 2015

Transmission 5215 - Score


Back in September of 2006, RFW was a long dreamed of project that technology finally made possible. The first Transmission (HAL 1) was heard by my immediate family, a few close friends and and a handful of advanced music fans that discovered the then new blogosphere!

Here we are in September of 2015, a time when terrestrial radio sucks, Pandora/Spotify and the other dozen or so internet music sites that come and go daily are cold and sterile and the only real entertaining music shows are compliments of a select handful of fellow musicologists that dedicate their time and money to make art!

Now let's talk about you, the Radio Free Wohlman Family. You are 430,000 + strong and you listen in 194 counties around the world. My family and friends listen occasionally (usually when I force the issue), but you listen every week because you get it - I applaud you!

I would do RFW even if I was the only one who heard it, but because of you - it has become larger than me, you or the artists (the real inspiration). Together we are bigger, better and more relevant than any corporate product designed for soulless lemmings unwilling to take chances, experiment and indulge in the kitchen-sink mentality!

This show, the month-long celebration and the next ten years are awaiting you - are you ready? 

Let's jump into the cake with The Chambers Brothers, Tho Doobie Brothers, The Allman Brothers, Vernon Reid, Bauhaus, T. Rex, The Arcs, Keith Richards, Gary Clark Jr., Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton & Steve Winwood!

T5215 is a 1:08:03 mp3 that you can download here

"we've got this music"

RFW