The PopCulteer
August 25, 2023

Your PopCulteer is hitting the road again this weekend (August is a bit of a minefield of important anniversaries) for a mini-trip to celebrate my ninth wedding anniversary. Because of that I’m rushing to complete a few PopCult posts (including a big video for Sunday) and don’t have a lot of time for our Friday column.  Sydney Fileen has come to my rescue with a brand-new episode of Sydney’s Big Electric Cat, premiering this afternoon on The AIR, but first we have a couple of brief and sad wrestling notes.

With the sad news of the passing of legendary wrestler, Terry Funk, after years of failing health,  on Wednesday, wrestling fans were stunned by the awful news that Windham Rotunda, known to WWE fans as “Bray Wyatt” unexpectedly passed away at the age of 36 the next day.

Wyatt was considered one of the most creative minds in wrestling, and had been off TV battling a severe case of COVID since February. It was said to be “life and career threatening,” but he was recently reported to be well on the way to recovery and was expected to return to WWE television shortly.  Reports are that he suffered a heart attack Thursday. I was a fan of his work and even reviewed his action figure back in 2020. He brought a fresh sense of macabre surrealism to the ring, and fans were eagerly awaiting what he would do next.

PopCult’s condolences go out to the friends and family of Funk and Rotunda/Wyatt. The wrestling world was far more entertaining thanks to their efforts.

Party Out Of Bounds On The AIR

On a less somber note we have to tell you about a new episode of Sydney’s Big Electric Cat. The AIR is PopCult’s sister radio station. You can hear these shows on The AIR website, or just click on the embedded player at the top right column of this blog.

At 2 PM, we bring you a encore of a cool, random episode of Mel Larch’s Disco Showcase, MIRRORBALL, from March of 2021. Here’s the playlist:

MIRRORBALL 047

ABBA “Gimme, Gimme, Gimme”
Kool And The Gang “Fresh”
A Taste of Honey “Boogie Oogie Oogie”
El Coco “Cocomotion”
Peaches and Herb “Freeway”
Amii Stewart “Knock On Wood”
Carol Douglas “Doctor’s Orders”
Chic “Dance, Dance, Dance”
Donna Summer “Hot Stuff”
Ubass “My Disco”
The Jacksons “Dancin’ Machine”
Vicki Sue Robinson “Turn The Beat Around”
Van McCoy “The Hustle”

You can hear MIRRORBALL every Friday at 2 PM, with replays throughout the following week, Saturday at 9 PM, Sunday at 11 PM, Monday at 9 AM and Tuesday at 1 PM.

At 3 PM, Sydney Fileen graces us with special mixtape-style new episode of Sydney’s Big Electric Cat. This week Sydney delves deep into the history of Athens Georgia’s brightest party lights, The B-52s.

This plucky band from Athens didn’t reach their greatest US success until well after the end of The New Wave era, but throughout the early 1980s they carried the torch for New Wave Funky Weirdness internationally, with major chart success in Australia and the UK. With a ringing endorsement from none other than John Lennon, the B-52s appeared in Paul Simon’s movie, “One Trick Pony,” and on American television programs like Guiding Light, Saturday Night Live and others.

Sydney has assembled a collection of tracks from the B-52s first four albums and a couple of singles, and she winds up with a live version of their biggest post-New Wave hit, just to keep everybody happy.

Check out the playlist…

Big Electric Cat 107
The B-52s

“Rock Lobster”
“Planet Claire”
“52 Girls”
“Dance This Mess Around”
“There’s A Moon In The Sky (Called The Moon)”
“Downtown”
“Party Out Of Bounds”
“Give Me Back My Man”
“Private Idaho”
“Devil In My Car”
“Stobe Light”
“Mesopotamia”
“Thorw That Beat In The Garbage Can”
“Nip It In The Bud”
“Legal Tender”
“Whammy Kiss”
“Song For A Future Generation”
“Butterbean”
“Queen of Las Vegas”
“Big Bird”
“Summer of Love”
“Girl From Ipanema Goes To Greenland”
“Housework”
“Wig”
“Ain’t It A Shame”
“Communicate”
“Love Shack (live)”

Sydney’s Big Electric Cat is produced at Haversham Recording Institute in London, and can be heard every Friday at 3 PM, with replays Saturday afternoon,  Monday at 7 AM, Tuesday at 8 PM, Wednesday at Noon and Thursday at 10 AM, exclusively on The AIR. Classic episodes can be heard Sunday morning at 10 AM.

That’s what’s new on The AIR Friday, and that is this week’s PopCulteer. Check back for our regular features every day. Sunday we’re posting our video of the JoeLanta/PowerCon Mega Road Trip.