The PopCulteer
May 21, 2021

{Updated Special Note: Due to technical issues that disrupted the broadcasts of the shows listed below, they will be re-run Friday at 7 PM for Sydney’s Big Electric Cat, and at 9 PM for MIRRORBALL. They will also air in their regular encore timeslots and will be repeated next Friday in their regular spots. We apologize for the inconvenience}

Your PopCulteer is still playing catch up after a bunch of doctors appointments (all of which went reasonably well) this week. We did manage to deliver a full slate of our AIR music specialty programming this week, and that means that Friday afternoon we offer up new episodes of MIRRORBALL and Sydney’s Big Electric Cat. The AIR is PopCult’s sister radio station. You can hear these shows on The AIR website, or just click on the embedded player at the top right column of this blog.

At 2 PM, Mel Larch uncorks a new MIRRORBALL! The AIR’s showcase of classic Disco music presents a collection of the Disco hits of Earth, Wind and Fire, one of the funkiest and most musically accomplished of the Disco-era dancefloor hitmakers. Check out this assortment of EWF gold…

MIRRORBALL  25

Earth Wind and Fire
“Boogie Wonderland”
“Getaway”
“September”
“Let Your Feelings Show”
“Can’t Let Go”
“Runnin'”
“Fantasy”
“And Love Goes On”
“I’ve Had Enough”
“Got To Get You Into My Life”
“Let’s Groove”
“Let Me Talk”
“Shining Star”

You can hear MIRRORBALL every Friday at 2 PM, with replays Saturday at  Midnight and 9 PM, Sunday at 11 PM, Monday at 9 AM, Tuesday at 1 PM and Wednesday at 7 PM, exclusively on The AIR.

At 3 PM, Sydney Fileen graces us with a mixtape treasure trove of the hits of Stiff Records, probably the most important New Wave record label. Sydney brings you a complete collection of all the Stiff Records stalwarts, from Nick Lowe and Elvis Costello to The Damned and the Pink Fairies to Tracy Ullman and The Pogues. Stiff Records was all over the map, stylistically, but they somehow made all this diverse music come together and change the face of pop music. You’ll hear pub rock, punk, pure New Wave, Ska, folk, and even a little Jazz…and it all managed to shove its way into the elevator known as New Wave Music in the 1980s.

Check out this playlist…

BEC 072

Nick Lowe “And So It Goes”
Ian Dury and the Blockheads “Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll”
Elvis Costello “Watching The Detectives”
Lene Lovich “Lucky Number”
Madness “One Step Beyond”
Ten Pole Tudor “Three Bells In A Row”
Rachel Sweet “B-A-B-Y”
Members “Solitary Confinement”
Theatre of Hate “The Hop”
Pink Fairies “Between The Lines”
Richard Hell “Blank Generation”
The Adverts “One Chord Wonders”
Jill Read “Maybe”
Wreckless Eric “Whole Wide World”
Yachts “Suffice To Say”
Larry Wallis “Police Car”
Jane Aire & The Belvederes “Yankee Wheels”
Graham Parker “Back To Schooldays”
DEVO “Jocko Homo”
Kirsty MacColl “They Don’t Know”
Jona Lewie “I’ll Get By In Pittsburgh”
Desmond Dekker “Israelites”
Dave Stewart & Barbara Gaskin “It’s My Party”
John Otway “Green Green Grass of Home”
Department S “Is Vic There”
Billy Bremner “Loud Music In Cars”
Tracy Ullman “You Broke My Heart In 17 Places”
The Equators “If You Need Me”
The Pogues “Dark Streets of London”
The Bele Stars “Sign of the Times”
The Untouchables “Wild Child”
Jamie Rae “Pretty One”
Dr. Feelgood “Don’t Wait Up”
Furniture “Shake It Like Judy Says”
Jakko “Dangerous Dreams”
Tyla Gang “Styrofoam”
Alberto Y Los Trios Paranoias “Kill”
The Damned “New Rose”

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.

That’s what’s on The AIR Friday, and that is this week’s PopCulteer. Check back because we have a fresh post every day and if all goes well, next week I’ll be posting reviews of graphic novels, toys and more.