Today we have a reminder that, just twelve days ago, we dropped a new episode of Radio Free Charleston (volume two: the video show) right here into this blog.
Rather than send you scrambling to scroll down to find this great show that has music from Brian Diller, The Velvet Brothers, Trielement and Elektro Biscuit, plus animation and a cool movie trailer from Jake Fertig, how about I just drop it right here?
Wasn’t that easy. Now you don’t have an excuse not to watch it, and I have a blog post for today, which is pretty cool considering that I’m in New York City trying to enjoy a couple of shows with my lovely wife even though I’m bedeviled by seasonal crud (not COVID).
BTW, except for a technical glitch or two, and two posts that were deleted under the threat of a frivilous lawsuit, we’ve had a fresh post in PopCult every day since August 18, 2013. I missed the tenth anniversary last August because so many other anniversaries happen in August.
Anyway, some of our efforts are…lesser than others. But that’s no reason not to enjoy the show!
It’s a still a new year, and we have a new batch of STUFF TO DO in and around the Charleston/Huntington WV area this weekend.
As I have been copying and pasting of late, this a good time to remind you that THIS IS NOT A COMPLETE LIST OF EVENTS. It’s just a starting point, so don’t expect anything comprehensive, and if you feel strongly about me leaving anything out, feel free to mention it in the comments.
Live Music is back at Taylor Books. There is no cover charge, and shows start at 7:30 PM. Friday Khegan McLane takes the stage. Saturday Maddie Starcher & Riely Imlay perform at the beloved bookstore/cafe/art gallery.
The World Famous Empty Glass Cafe has some great stuff this week to tell you about. Wednesday evening Schaefer Ball happens. I’m not sure what or who that is, or what time, but it’ll happen. Thursday at 5:30 PM it’s the Helping Hour with Swingstein & Robin. Thursday at 10 PM Justin Shaw Steele, Sugarbelli and Nolan Collins rip up the stage. Friday Tim Courts plays during happy hour. Later on Friday Laid Back Country Picker, Luna and The Mountain Jets and Amos Steele Company shower the Glass with fine Americana. Saturday it’s a punk showcase, and you can check below for the graphics for this and other weekend shows.
Please remember that the pandemic is not over yet. It’s still a going concern with the ‘rona surging again. And now there are seasonal allergies, the flu, falling ieces of Boeing aircraft, Winter Storms dancing around the area, nasty little Congresswomen throwing punches and other damned good reasons to be careful. Many people who have very good reasons are still wearing masks, and many of us, understandably, are still nervous about being in crowds, masked or not. Be kind and understanding while you’re out.
Keep in mind that all shows are subject to change or be cancelled at the last minute.
If you’re up for going out, here are a few suggestions for the weekend, roughly in order…
We pay tribute to Kai Haynes this week on The AIR as we premiere an all-new episode of Radio Free Charleston. It’s a bittersweet, and a little downbeat episode, but his music was so filled with life that you can’t stay sad when you hear it. To tune in you simply have to point your cursor over and tune in at the website, or you could just stay here and listen to the cool embedded player elsewhere on this page, or scroll down for the embedded lo-fi version.
This three-hour show brings you two hours of our usual mix of local, independent and downright nifty music, plus a special third hour that is mostly the music Kai made. You can hear it at 10 AM and 10 PM Tuesday.
You can hear Radio Free Charlestonevery Tuesday at 10 AM and 10 PM, with tons of replays throughout the week.
Repeating what I wrote last Friday, Kai Haynes, a titan among Charleston musicians, died after suffering a brain-bleed shortly before Christmas.
Kai’s musical accomplishments, from being a key part of the early Mountain Stage band to performing with too many local musical acts to list here, as well as his expertise in audiophile sound systems and his partnership in LiveMix Studio are only part of a life well-lived.
Kai was a great friend, a devoted father, a man who was extraordinarily kind and generous with his knowledge and just an overall quality human being. Kai was one of the three partners in LiveMix Studio, without whom the 2006 revival of Radio Free Charleston never would have happened. Kai appeared on several episodes, and ran camera on several early episodes of the video show.
We open every hour of the show this week with a track from the 1978 album, “First Impressions” by the band, JOI, which included Kai, along with Bob Thompson, Louise Pearson, Jim Pearson and Gordon Cupit. This rare album is blissful progressive and soulful jazz fusion, and the first song you hear this week features Kai singing lead on “WV Blues.”
Our third hour also opens with a track from JOI, but also includes the full performance by Elektro Biscuit at LiveMix Studio in 2009. Elektro Biscuit was Kai’s band with Greg Wegmann and Brian Young. Recently, with the addition of vocalist, Nicole AC, they’ve been performing as The New Old Souls Band. We brought you one song from this EB set on the latest RFCvideo show. We wrap up the hour with a track by The Bob Thompson Trio, which included Kai on bass, and a tune by Hot Chocolate that Kai and I had talked about years ago at LiveMix.
A musical memorial to Kai is planned for March, and PopCult will have full details as soon as they become available.
In addition to Kai’s music, we also have our usual eclectic mix of songs, but you may notice that my voice is fairly well shot this week. I’ve picked up a nasty bug, and it’s lowered my range about three octaves. Making matters worse is the fact that, due to a looming magazine deadline, I had to record next week’s show right after this one, so Mr. Froggy voice will be around for another week.
Despite my voice and the sadness of losing Kai, I think this show is a pretty solid example of the kind of high-quality music we bring you on a regular basis. We have a tune from a brand-new Chicago-based Zydeco band, Le Travaillant, plus newly-released music from The Settlement, Skafish, Wall of Voodoo, Todd Burge, Novelty Island and more.
Check out the playlist below to see all the goodies we have in store (live links will take you to the artist’s pages where possible)…
hour three
Joi “Seven In, Seven Out”
Elektro Biscuit live at LiveMix 2009
“Crawfish Boogie”
“A Latin Thing”
“Wasp In The Room”
“The Elephant and the Butterfly”
“The Original”
“Rio”
“Dysfunctional” Bob Thompson Trio “Forbidden Fruit”
Hot Chocolate “Heaven Is In The Backseat of My Cadillac”
You can hear this episode of Radio Free Charleston Tuesday at 10 AM and 10 PM on The AIR, with replays Wednesday at 9 AM, Thursday at 2 PM, Friday at 9 AM, Saturday at Noon and Midnight, and Monday at 11 AM, exclusively on The AIR. Now you can also hear a different episode of RFC every weekday at 5 PM, and we bring you a marathon all night long Saturday night/Sunday morning.
I’m also going to embed a low-fi, mono version of this show right in this post, right here so you can listen on demand.
Then at 1 PM we have MIRRORBALL, followed at 2 PM by Curtain Call. At 3 PM we bring you two classic episodes of The Swing Shift.
You can hear The Swing Shift Tuesday at 3 PM, with replays Wednesday at 8 AM, Thursday at 9 AM, Friday at 8 PM and Saturday afternoon, only on The AIR . You can also hear all-night marathons, seven hours each, starting at Midnight Thursday and Sunday evenings.
I’ll be honest with you, I’m not sure what today’s art is supposed to be. It’s fine-line Sharpie on paper for pens, with more than one ruler and straight-edge in play, and I think at one point I was going to try to draw a building or five, but it’s really just an elaborate, mindless doodle with pointless shading, iffy perspective and way too much time invested in it.
It’s almost a half-assed third-rate imitation of M.C. Escher but it’s unfinished if that’s what it was supposed to be.
Which it wasn’t, really. I just started with a blank sheet of paper and by the time I decided that I wasn’t terribly inspired, it was filled.
To see it bigger try clicking HERE. Maybe you ca figure out what it was supposed to be.
Meanwhile, Monday on The AIR, All day Monday we are running episodes of Herman Linte’s Prognosis because he hits a milestone birthday today, and we didn’t have time to get him a present and mail it to London. It begins at 7 AM Monday, and runs for 24 hours, bringing you the twelve most recent episodes of our Prog-rock showcase.
This video has been one of my holy grails for over forty years.
Every few years I’d go to YouTube to see if anybody had found it and posted it, but only bits and pieces had turned up.
While I wasn’t looking, back in 2022, someone uploaded this entire concert by Joe Jackson’s Jumpin’ Jive, which was broadcast once or twice on USA Network’s Night Flight (a major inspiration of mine) and as far as I know, never released commercially.
When Joe Jackson, waylaid by an illness that broke up his band after three albums, delved into the music that was played by his father, a big band musician in the UK. He recorded the album, Joe Jackson’s Jumpin’ Jive, and it triggered a love of Swing Music in my brain that continues to this day. You can hear it often on The AIR, as I host The Swing Shift and even drop the occasional Swing tune into RFC.
I remember watching this on Night Flight, and getting my dad, who loved Swing, to watch with me.
Now I get to see it again, and so do you. It’s Joe Jackson leading a tight band through classics made famous by Louis Jordan, Cab Calloway, Glenn Miller and more.
Here’s the setlist, which includes two songs that the band never recorded:
Intro Jumpin’ With Symphony Sid Jack you’re Dead Is You Is Or Is You Ain’t My Baby? We The Cats (Shall Hep Ya) San Francisco Fan Stomping At The Savoy You’re My Meat What’s The Use Of Getting Sober (When you’re Gonna Get Drunk Again) Tuxedo Junction Minnie The Moocher Five Guys Named Moe How Long Must I Wait For You? Jumpin’Jive
For the first RFC Flashback of the new year, we travel once again to February, 2009 for Radio Free Charleston‘s sixty-first episode, “SHINDIG Shirt.” In this episode, we feature three triumphant returns from musical acts who got their start in the Charleston area, then moved away, before the draw of their hometown brought them back for return engagements.
Our musical guests are John Radcliff (on his second show in a row), back in town for a visit after moving to Parkersburg; SHINDIG, direct from Louisville: plus a special treat from the RFC archives: Brian Diller performing at the Empty Glass in the early 1990s, shortly after he moved to Nashville. This is purely a coincidence of perfect timing, since we just featured Brian on the latest episode of RFC six days ago, but rather than being part of an elaborate plan, we just happened to pull up this episode while going in chronological order.
But it does give us the chance to remind you that Brian is at The Bridge Road Bistro tonight. See the graphic for it over there?
We filmed this episode in 3D, by the way. It’s one of my favorite gags in the entire run of the show.
We also have animation from Frank Panucci, and a message from author, Brian J. Hatcher. Read the original production notes here.
PopCult Note: This edition of The PopCulteer was fully-written before the news broke yesterday that Kai Haynes passed away. I couldn’t let that go unmentioned, so I’ve amended a brief obituary to the beginning of this week’s column, but I wanted to include a note to explain the abrupt shift in tone.
Kai Haynes: 1950-2024
We lost one of the good ones yesterday. Kai Haynes, a titan among Charleston musicians, died after suffering a brain-bleed shortly before Christmas.
Kai musical accomplishments, from being a key part of the early Mountain Stage band to performing with too many local musical acts to list here, as well as his expertise in audiophile sound systems and his partnership in LiveMix Studio are only part of a life well-lived.
Kai was a great friend, a devoted father, a man who was extraordinarily kind and generous with his knowledge and just an overall quality human being. Kai was one of the three partners in LiveMix Studio, without whom the 2006 revival of Radio Free Charleston never would have happened. Kai appeared on several episodes, and ran camera on several early episodes of the video show.
This hits hard, and I plan to link to more extensive tributes to Kai in the coming weeks. My most heartfelt condolences go out to Kai’s family, bandmates, friends and fans.
A musical celebration of Kai’s life is being planned for March. We’ll have full details as those plans come together.
I can imagine Kai in heaven now, reuniting with old friends and lining up new gigs, just as soon as he rewires the place to make it sound better.
Chuck Video Number One
The Maestro, Chuck Biel is at it again. He has a new music/video projects in the works for this summer, and he’s produced a teaser video for it, which is fairly self-explanatory:
T.A.M.I.L.D.A.A. will be unleashed upon the world in a few months, and any project that blends improvisational progressive metal music with interpretive dance and ballet has my attention. We’ll keep you posted on further developments, details and cryptic messages.
Chuck Video Number Two
This video is from my buddy (and master GI Joe replica and fantasy box-maker) Chuck Van Voorhis, and it’s a killer music video for his music project (which you can hear on recent episodes of Radio Free Charleston) Sgt. Van and the Highway Dogs. Chuck has taken “Animal Farm,” one of the tunes from his excellent instrumental album, and used AI to create a pop culture mash-up video that has healthy doses of Clint Eastwood, Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, Fast and Furious and Toy Story, all combined into what looks like a movie trailer from an alien world in an alternate dimension…
…my favorite is Mexican Space Elvis, although Elvis at Giza and Clint Eastwood combined with John Doe from the band, X, is pretty cool, too. This is a clever and fun use of AI that doesn’t take itself too seriously.
New Webcomics
We have a couple of cool new webcomics to tell you about,and we’re a little behind, so you’ll have to play catch-up.
Frist we have Ms. Tittenhurst: Finder of Lost Things, by Scott & Jennifer McCullar. In this new series, with a character seen in THRILL SEEKER COMICS™ ANTHOLOGY, A divorced college student from Texas at the outbreak of World War II takes on the role of private investigator for a detective agency where she has previously served as secretary in the deep south Mississippi River port city of St. François de Port. With hips, lips and a quick quip… does our rookie Dame Detective Ms. Dottie Tittenhurst have what it takes to be a gumshoe wearing high heels?
This is a great blast of retro-pulp action, and you can read more about and order a hard copy of the first issue of THRILL SEEKER COMICS™ ANTHOLOGY, HERE.
Next up we have a reboot of Flash Gordon, the long-running science fiction comic strip that was turned into an awful 1980s movie. After a few years of domancy, the strip has been rebooted, written and drawn by Dan Shadke, with a nice, sleek, modern style, and you can read it HERE. Check out a recent Sunday page…
It’s a fun updating of a classic strip, and one that fumigates some of the stench of that horrible movie (I was not a fan of the movie, by the way).
That is this week’s PopCulteer. Check back for fresh content in PopCult every day, as well as all our regular features.
It’s a new year, and we have a new slate of STUFF TO DO in and around the Charleston/Huntington WV area this weekend and also next Tuesday.
As I have been copying and pasting of late, this a good time to remind you that THIS IS NOT A COMPLETE LIST OF EVENTS. It’s just a starting point, so don’t expect anything comprehensive, and if you feel strongly about me leaving anything out, feel free to mention it in the comments.
Our feature image this week was swiped from the Instagram page of WWE Superstar, Shotzi. It shows what happens when you do a faceplant on the canvas while maybe wearing a wee bit too much makeup. She’s fine, and in fact just got married the next day…and wrestled and did karaoke later on the same night.
We have a big, big show to tell you about that happens Saturday night. Eight days after his triumphant return to Charleston (as seen on the latest RFC video show, and heard on our radio show) Brian Diller performs in the intimate setting of The Bridge Road Bistro, in South Hills. Brian recenty released his first full-album, covering music he’s created over the last 45 years, and you can read my interview with him HERE.
You may glean the details of Brian’s show at The Bridge Road Bistro right here…
Live Music is back at Taylor Books. There is no cover charge, and shows start at 7:30 PM. Friday Ty McClanahan takes the stage. Saturday Alondra Johnson performs at the beloved bookstore/cafe/art gallery.
Affinity is back! For the first time in 4 years, and with the help of CYAC, Afton Myers, Susannah Atkins, and Grace Javins are excited to present Affinity live in concert! Join them for a night of music featuring covers, original songs, and more—located in the Elk City Playhouse 218 Washington St W at 7pm January 5th & 6th. Tickets are available HERE.
The World Famous Empty Glass Cafe has some great stuff this week to tell you about. Thursday at 10 PM Kenny Booth hosts another Shred Night. Friday Tim Courts plays during happy hour. Saturday Button Lee and The Memphis Rundown invade the Glass at 10 PM. Check below for the graphics for their other weekend shows.
Please remember that the pandemic is not over yet. It’s still a going concern with the ‘rona surging again. And now there are seasonal allergies, the flu, flaming Japanese aircraft, Foreign companies lining up to get Hyperloop-sized tax credits from the state, drunken New Year’s babies and other damned good reasons to be careful. Many people who have very good reasons are still wearing masks, and many of us, understandably, are still nervous about being in crowds, masked or not. Be kind and understanding while you’re out.
Keep in mind that all shows are subject to change or be cancelled at the last minute.
If you’re up for going out, here are a few suggestions for the weekend, roughly in order…
You may feel a little deja vu Wednesday afternoon, as The AIR brings you another very special episode of Beatles Blast. You can tune in at the website, or just stay right here and listen to the convenient embedded radio player lurking elsewhere on this page.
At 2 PM (EST)Beatles Blast brings you an hour that explores the recently-released expanded edition of The Beatles 1967-1970, AKA “The Blue Album.”
Just like with last week’s show, dedicated to The Red Album, music histrorian, Kevin Howlett did all the heavy lifting. This week’s show collects all three parts of the recent audio documentary about The Blue Album that he wrote and produced for The Beatles’ website, with the addition of one Beatles tune at the start, an intro from yours truly, and a bonus cover at the end that sees Teenage Fanclub doing their version of “The Ballad of John and Yoko.”
Howlett’s documentaries include interviews with all four Beatles, as well as with folks like George Martin, Brian Wilson and others.
The Red and Blue albums were the first compilations released by EMI/Captiol under a new contract negotiated by Allen Klein in 1973. For many people who weren’t quite old enough while The Beatles were making new music, these two 2-LP sets were their introduction to the band.
The new reissues, along with the improved sound quality, also expand the track listing of each album by 50%, correcting some of the more glaring omissions from the original release.
Last week Beatles Blast wrapped up 2023 with Howlett’s look at The Red Album.
Beatles Blast can be heard every Wednesday at 2 PM, with replays Thursday at 11 PM, Friday at 1 PM, and Saturday afternoon.
At 3 PM (EST) on Curtain Call, Mel Larch brings you two encore episode from almost exactly one year ago. These are two parts that present most of the musical, Ragtime.
Curtain Call can be heard on The AIR Wednesday at 3 PM, with replays Thursday at 8 AM, Friday at 10 AM, Saturday at 8 PM and Monday at 9 AM. A six-hour marathon of classic episodes can be heard Sunday evening starting at 6 PM, and an all-night marathon of Curtain Call episodes can be heard Wednesday nights, beginning at Midnight.
Also on The AIR, Wednesday at 11 PM, The Comedy Vault brings you the first new episode of the year, with an hour of vintage stand-up from Patton Oswalt.
We welcome the new year in style this week on The AIR as we premiere an all-new episode of Radio Free Charleston! You simply have to point your cursor over and tune in at the website, or you could just stay here and listen to the cool embedded player elsewhere on this page.
This three-hour show, hot on the heels of our latest video episode, brings you two hours of our usual mix of local, independent and downright nifty music, plus a special third hour. You can hear it at 10 AM and 10 PM Tuesday.
You can hear Radio Free Charlestonevery Tuesday at 10 AM and 10 PM, with tons of replays throughout the week.
We open the show this week with a newly-released live track from The Settlement, then we run the gamut from unreleased 40-plus year-old music by New Wave legend, Skafish, to killer local music from Hello June, Todd Burge, Buni Muni and more, and then we even sneak it a very rare not-too-offensive song by GG Allin.
Our third hour is a fresh-out-of-the-oven bootleg recording (used with permission) of an hour of Brian Diller’s show last Friday night at The ROQ, below the old Quarrier Diner. I believe Brian is playing at the Bridge Road Bistro this weekend,and I’ll have full details of that this week in STUFF TO DO.
It was great seeing Brian again in Charleston, and in this recording you’ll get to hear his introductions to the songs and lots of cool stories from his 45-year career making music.
You can also see Brian, along with The Velvet Brothers, Trielement, Elektro Biscuit and a movie trailer by Jake Fertig in our latest video episode, which I’m dropping right here…
You can hear this episode of Radio Free Charleston Tuesday at 10 AM and 10 PM on The AIR, with replays Wednesday at 9 AM, Thursday at 2 PM, Friday at 9 AM, Saturday at Noon and Midnight, and Monday at 11 AM, exclusively on The AIR. Now you can also hear a different episode of RFC every weekday at 5 PM, and we bring you a marathon all night long Saturday night/Sunday morning.
I’m also going to embed a low-fi, mono version of this show right in this post, right here so you can listen on demand.
Then at 1 PM we have MIRRORBALL, followed at 2 PM by Curtain Call. At 3 PM we bring you two one-year-old episodes of The Swing Shift.
You can hear The Swing Shift Tuesday at 3 PM, with replays Wednesday at 8 AM, Thursday at 9 AM, Friday at 8 PM and Saturday afternoon, only on The AIR . You can also hear all-night marathons, seven hours each, starting at Midnight Thursday and Sunday evenings.
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