Radio Free Charleston and The Swing Shift both begin two-part specials today on The AIR. You can tune in at The AIR website, or just listen on this little embedded radio doohickey…

At 10 AM and 10 PM our latest Radio Free Charleston digs into the archives of our video program and brings you songs recorded especially for RFC between eight and ten years ago. Opening with the now-Mrs. PopCulter, Mel Larch performing a wordless song composed for the FestivALL Catfish, this episode contines with music from The Clementines, InFormation, Doctor Senator, A Place of Solace, T.J. King and more. Many of these songs were recorded on location at The Empty Glass, The Blue Parrot, UUC, Sam’s Uptown Cafe and other recognizable venues around town. This is the first of two special installments of Radio Free Charleston that dip into the vaults to bring you classics that you won’t hear anywhere else. Next week we bring you part two of our raid on the video vault.

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Mel Larch “Siren Song of the Catfish”
The Clementines “Soundscape #1”
InFormation “Angry All The Time”
Barrelhouse Bonnie and Ko “Memphis In May”
Doctor Senator “Awkward Social Situation”
Synergy Collective “Awry”
A Place Of Solace “Thirty Seconds”
The Coal Men “Outside Looking In”
Lonely Town “Lonely Town”
Marcie Bullock with Steve Himes “Just So You Know”
T.J. King “Bad Things, Good People”
The Button Flies “Butch Bottom”
Hellblinki “Bella Ciao”

Radio Free Charleston can be heard Tuesday at 10 AM and 10 PM, with replays Thursday at 2 PM, Friday at 8 PM and Saturday at 11 AM and Midnight, exclusively on The AIR.

At 3 PM stay tuned to The AIR for the beginning of another two-parter, The Swing Shift, devoted to one of the most important concerts in the history of pop music.  This week you can hear the first half of Benny Goodman’s historic 1938 concert at Carnegie Hall, which prior to this show had been reserved for classical music only. With a band that already included Harry James, Lionel Hampton, Teddy Wilson, Gene Krupa and more, for this performance Goodman invited a host the best Swing musicians around to sit in for extended jam sessions. You will hear legends like Count Basie and Lester Young jumping in on these recordings.

Next week we’ll bring you part two of this historic concert.

You can hear The Swing Shift Tuesday at 3 PM, with replays Wednesday at 7 AM, Thursday at 7 PM and Saturday at 9 AM, only on The AIR. You can also hear all-night marathons, seven hours each, starting at Midnight Thursday and Sunday evenings.

I hope you enjoy these special episodes of the show, and return next week for the conclusions. These shows were assembled so that we’d have something special for you guys laid out in advance, since your humble correspondent will be tied up in Wheeling this weekend