Wednesday afternoon The AIR brings you brand-new episodes of Beatles Blast and Curtain Call!  You can tune in at the website, or if you’re on a laptop or desktop, you could just stay right here and  listen to the convenient embedded radio player lurking elsewhere on this page.

At 2 PM Beatles Blast returns with a new show that’s a cool mix of curiosities and covers, and it begins with new tunes by Juian Lennon and Ringo Starr. After a cool start like that, and a few lesser-known songs written by Paul, John and George, we launch into a mini-mixtape of jazzy/funky covers of Beatles songs, and end the program with a brief show of respect from the roof of Apple Corps.

Just check out the playlist…

Beatles Blast 084

Julian Lennon “Every Little Moment”
Ringo Starr “Let’s Be Friends”
Mary Hopkin “Goodbye”
John Lennon “Move Over Ms. L”
Doris Troy “Ain’t That Cute
Ella Fitzgerald “Hey Jude”
George Benson “Because/Come Together”
Oscar Peterson “Yesterday”
Paul Lamb “Norwegian Wood”
Wes Montgomery “Eleanor Rigby”
Stan Webb “She Loves You”
Dr. Sin “Dig A Pony”
Monty Alexander “Let It Be”
Jane Duboc “Across The Universe”
Fred James “I’m Down”
The Beatles “God Save The Queen”

Beatles Blast can be heard every Wednesday at 2 PM, with replays Thursday at 11 PM, Friday at 1 PM,  and Saturday afternoon.

At 3 PM on Curtain Call, Mel Larch starts off with a preview track from Almost Famous, the new musical based on the Cameron Crowe 2000 movie, which starts previews on Broadway next Monday.

For the remainder of this week’s Curtain Call, Mel  presents one of her favorite shows, one that debuted on Broadway in 1980, but hasn’t had a Broadway revival since.

A Day in Hollywood / A Night in the Ukraine is a musical comedy that’s made up of two basically independent one-act plays, with a book and lyrics by Monty Python-associate Dick Vosburgh and music by Frank Lazarus. Additionally, songs by other composers are incorporated into the score. The musical premiered in the West End and then ran on Broadway, and it’s a real gem.

The first act, A Day in Hollywood, is a revue of classic Hollywood songs of the 1930s performed by singers and dancers representing ushers from Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. Jerry Herman even guest-composed the opening tune.

The second act, A Night in the Ukraine, is loosely based on Anton Chekhov’s one-act play The Bear, but it’s presented in the style of a Marx Brothers movie. We follow Serge B. Samovar, a lawyer based on Groucho Marx, as he attempts to collect a 1,800 ruble fee from Mrs. Pavlenko – a wealthy widow. Other characters in this act include Gino (a Harpo Marx-inspired character), Carlo (a Chico Marx-inspired character), Nina, and Constantine (arguably a character inspired by Zeppo Marx).

It’s a bit of Marx Brothers-inspired madness, one that led the estates of the famed comedy team to sue the producers and win, only to have that decision overturned on appeal. It’s a landmark publicity rights decision that is an intriguing footnote to a show that is a loving tribute to the comedy of the Marx Brothers.

Curtain Call can be heard on The AIR Wednesday at 3 PM, with replays Thursday at 8 AM, Friday at 10 AM, Saturday at 8 PM and Monday at 9 AM. A six-hour marathon of classic episodes can be heard Sunday evening starting at 6 PM, and an all-night marathon of Curtain Call episodes can be heard Wednesday nights, beginning at Midnight.

Also on The AIR, Wednesday at 11 PM, a new edition of The Comedy Vault features more legendary standup comedy from Bob Newhart. The Comedy Vault can be heard every Wednesday at 11 PM, with the new episodes replayed a couple of weeks later, Monday at 8 PM.