The new year brings with it a new schedule on The AIR, and Wednesday brings new episodes of Beatles Blast and Curtain Call. You can listen at the website, or on this embedded radio player…

In the morning, following our regular 7 AM replay of the previous day’s episode of The Swing Shift, we will bring you up to date with Prognosis at 9 AM and Psychedelic Shack at 11 AM.  At noon tune in for Word Association iwth Lee & Rudy, followed by 90 minutes of The AIR Music Mix.  After two-and-a-half years, On The Road with Mel is going on hiatus.  Life Speaks to Michelle Zirkle will relocate to a weekend timeslot, but will return for special new episodes through the week as Michelle’s schedule allows. Beatles Blast will stay where it was, at 2 PM. You can find the playlist for this week’s new Beatles Blast (hosted by Your PopCulteer, himself) at the bottom of this post.

At 3 PM Curtain Call, Mel Larch’s weekly showcase of the best of musical theatre, will expand to three hours, with each week’s new hour followed by two classic replays.

This week Mel’s new hour of show tunes is packed with treats from new shows like The Prom and Here Lies Love and even a few non-Broadway surprises.  Mel also takes note of The Lights of Broadway Show Cards, which I’ve written about here.  Check the playlist:

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“Love Thy Neighbor” from The Prom
“Luck Be A Lady” from 2 AM At The Sands (featuring Andrew Samonsky)
“Swing” by Donna Murphy and company from the 2004 production of Wonderful Town
“The Little Things You Do Together” from Company
“Dreams & Ice Cream” from Ushers
“What A Movie” from Leonard Bernstein’s A Quiet Place (Libretto by Stephen Wadsworth
“A Perfect Hand” from Here Lies Love
“Nowhere To Go But Up” by Angela Lansbury from Mary Poppins Returns
“Metaphor” from Fantastiks
“The Greatest Show” by Pentatonix (from The Greatest Showman Reimagined)
“The Souvenir’s of Second Best” from Lautrec
“Touch Me” from Behind The Iron Mask
“Who Needs The Young” from Bat Out of Hell
“Cheering For Me Now” by Lin Manuel Miranda

Curtain Call can be heard Wednesday at 3 PM, with replays Thursday at 7 AM and 8 PM and Saturday at 6 PM. An all-night marathon of Curtain Call episodes can be heard Wednesday nights, beginning at Midnight.

Prior to that, at 2 PM, Beatles Blast will look at the recent Super Deluxe Edition of The Beatles “White Album” and will present five of the Esher Demos that were NOT recorded and released by the Beatles, followed by the eventualy commercial releases of songs by solo Beatles, or in one case, by a friend of the band that was signed to Apple Records. We wrap of the show with covers of songs from The White Album. Here’s the playlist:

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The Beatles “Revolution 1 (Take 18)”
The Beatles “Circles (Esher Demo)”
George Harrison “Circles”
The Beatles “Junk (Esher Demo)”
Paul McCartney “Junk”
The Beatles “Child of Nature (Esher Demo)”
John Lennon “Jealous Guy”
The Beatles “Not Guilty (Esher Demo)”
George Harrison “Not Guilty”
The Beatles “Sour Milk Sea (Esher Demo)”
Jackie Lomax “Sour Milk Sea”
CSN&Y “Blackbird”
Souixsie and the Banshees “Dear Prudence”
They Might Be Giants “Savoy Truffle”
Greg Hawkes “Goodnight”