The PopCulteer
April 21, 2023

You’ve worked hard all week and now we reward you with a new episode of MIRRORBALL, on The AIR, bringing joy and dancing to all you Disco fanatics.   The AIR is PopCult‘s sister radio station. You can hear these shows on The AIR website, or just click on the embedded player found elsewhere on this page.

Getting right to that, at 2 PM, Mel Larch uncorks a new MIRRORBALL! The AIR’s showcase of classic Disco music departs from its normal format of presenting Disco-era delights and shines its multi-colored spotlight on three artists who have spent the last four decades keeping Disco alive.

While Disco alledgedly faded from America’s conciousness sometime in the early 1980s, there were–and are–true believers keeping the beat and making sure the dancefloors don’t fall silent. This week Mel pays tribute to three artists who, either through cover songs, or original compositions in the classic Disco style, have kept us shaking our groove things into a new millenium.

Pet Shop boys, Jimmy Somerville and Kylie Minogue have stood strong and proudly defended the Disco Hill, and this week we bring you a Disco salad of all three

Check out the playlist…

MIRRORBALL 073

Pet Shop Boys “Go West”
Kylie Minogue “Fine Wine”
Jimmy Somerville “You Make Me Feel”
Pet Shop Boys “To Step Aside”
Kylie Minogue “Magic”
Pet Shop Boys “Saturday Night Forever”
Kylie Miogue “Real Groove”
Jimmy Somerville “Travesty”
Kylie Minogue “Where Does The DJ Go?”
Pet Shop Boys “Radiophonic”
Jimmy Somerville “Strong Enough”
Kylie Minogue “Dance Floor Darling”
Jimmy Somerville “Never Can Say Goodbye”
Pet Shop Boys “I Don’t Know What You Want, But I Can’t Give It Any More”
Jimmy Somerville & Sarah Jane Morris “Don’t Leave Me This Way”

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 we bring you an encore of a classic episode of Sydney’s Big Electric Cat from September, 2016.  This was another show where Sydney Fileen educated the masses on the finer points of New Wave history.  Rather than send you to a link, we’ll just re-post the playlist here…

The playlist:

After The Fire  “Der Kommisar”
Dave Edmunds  “I Hear You Knockin’”
Eddie and The Hot Rods  “Teenage Depression”
Dr. Feelgood  “Milk and Alcohol”
Roogalator  “Cinncinnati Fatback”
Flamin’ Groovies  “Slow Death”
Elvis Costello and The Attractions  “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace Love and Understanding”
Ian Dury and The Blockheads  “What A Waste”
The Ramones  “Teenage Lobotomy”
Talking Heads  “Life During Wartime”
The Damned  “New Rose”
Plastic Bertrand  “Ca Plan Por Moi”
Buzzcocks  “Ever Fallen In Love”
Kraftwerk  “Trans Europe Express”
Falco “Der Komissar”
The Dickies  “Pretty Please Me”
Lene Lovich  “Blue”
Joe Jackson  “A Slow Song”
New England  “Walking Wild”
M  “Keep It To Yourself”
Mike Batt with the LSO  “Voices In The Dark”
Men At Work  “Be Good Johnny”
Spoons  “Walk Across The Water”
The Passions  “I’m In Love With A German Film Star”
Sham 69  “The Kids Are United”
Spandau Ballet  “Chant No 1”
Altered Images  “Happy Birthday”
The Smiths  “Please, Please Let Me Go”
Nina Hagen  “TV Glotzer (White Punks On Dope)”
Bill Nelson  “In The Forest of the Storms”

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. Two classic episodes can also be heard every Sunday, starting at 10 AM.

And that is this week’s PopCulteer. Check back every day for fresh content because it makes you a smart feller, or something.