Radio Free Charleston, the flagship show on the The AIR hits a milestone this week It’s not the first time we’ve hit it, but you can listen at The AIR or on this embedded player…

Tuesday at 10 AM and 10 PM The AIR presents a special episode of our flagship show, Radio Free Charleston.  It’s our 100th show on The AIR, but to be honest, it’s not really our 100th show. It’s not even our first 100th show.

Let me explain: Radio Free Charleston debuted on broadcast radio (WVNS in Charleston) on Labor Day Weekend in 1989. This first version ran 33 episodes before office politics and petty jealousy caused it to be cancelled in 1990. With the aid of Douglas Imbrogno and The Gazz, RFC made a triumphant return as an online video show in 2006. This version of the show is “Volume 2,” and it’s still running, albiet not nearly as frequently as it used to. We’re up to episode 218 of the video version of RFC, and we have another 78 episodes of The RFC MINI SHOW to add to the mix.

In 2014 Radio Free Charleston became part of Voices of Appalachia, an internet radio station that had a great mix of programming, but was beset by persistant technical issues. By January, 2016 the station had morphed into “OnTheAIRadio”, and in July of that year I assumed ownership of the station and shortened the name to “The AIR.” We re-started Radio Free Charleston with a new number one, and it’s taken me about three years to crank out 100 editions of “RFCv4.”

So while it’s cool to hit a milestone, like our 100th show, the truth is it more like our 469th show. Still, the milestone must go on, and we decided to pay tribute to our first 100th episode (which you can see HERE) by including the audio from the entire video episode in this show. Since that 100th episode was only 38 minutes long, we’ve included some rare bonuses, like Hasil Adkins performing the first local song ever broadcast on RFC, Brian Young singing and playing guitar and of course, Clownhole.

This is all part of our look back at thirty years of Radio Free Charleston, which we plan to do all year long, so you might as well get used to it.

Here’s the playlist for RFCv4100:

Hasil Adkins “Big Red Satellite”

RFC v2 100 including:
The Charleston Playhouse Quartet “RFC Theme”
“Hair Rage” trailer by Scott Elkins
Hellblinki “Sanjula’s Junk”
Shakespeare Trailer
The Nanker Phelge “I’m Coming Home”
“Courting Disaster” promo
Eva Elution “I Don’t Want To Die”
David Synn “The Last Flight of Icarus”
Jeff Ellis “Fade”
Rudy, Mel Larch, Kitty Killton, Steven Allen Adams intro the RFC Medley

Brian Young “The Swinging Man” (Black Flag)
Clownhole “Heads On Fire”
John Radcliff “Rock N Rolla”
Three Bodies “Shingles and Tar”

Radio Free Charleston can be heard Tuesday at 10 AM and 10 PM, with replays Thursday at 2 PM, Friday at 8 PM, Saturday at noon and Midnight, and Sunday at 3 PM exclusively on The AIR.

We also have a brand-new episode of The Swing Shift debuting today at 3 PM. This edition of our weekly hour of the best Swing Music of the last century features only one announcement segment by your PopCulteer, as he blew his voice out producing Radio Free Charleston.  Here’s the music you get this week:

The Swing Shift 064

The Cat’s Pajamas “Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives To Me”
The Hot Swing Sextet “N.R.C. Jump”
Tullia Morand Orchestra “Guargale”
Gin Gypsy “Peaches”
Jennifer Wharton “Softly As In A Morning Sunrise”
The Clash “Look Here”
The Puppini Sisters “It Ain’t What You Do”
Ryal Crown Revue “Walkin’ Like Brando”
The Holcombe Family String Band “The Great Fire Of Armley”
Zazu “Stand By Me”
Richard Geere “Soul and Body”
Kieth Emerson “Big Horn Breakdown”
Duke Ellington “In A Sentimental Mood”
Cab Calloway “We The Cats Shall Hep You”
Robbie Williams “Puttin’ On The Ritz”

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.