Saturday, September 29, 2007

HAL56- IT AIN'T NOTHIN' BUT A PARTY

They're dancin' on the ceiling and they're dancin' on the floor - you're on the guest-list for our 1st Birthday Bash! Turn this up and start jumpin' to the sounds of Rare Earth, J. Geils Band, Led Zeppelin, Argent, Kool & The Gang, Earth, Wind & Fire, Chicken Shack, Emitt Rhodes, The Beatles, Bryan Ferry, Lowell Fullson, Randy Newman, Sam Cooke, Sufjan Stevens, Uriah Heep, Robert Fripp, Hauruomi Hosono, Kenso, Manitoba, If, Madder Lake, Kim Fowley, Thin White Rope, Kings Of Leon, Jesie Allen, Lee "Scratch" Perry, The Replacements, Prince, Patti Smith and Peter Hammill.

HAL56 is a 2-part 128k mp3 made loud to be played loud!

Part 1 is 59MB and 1:04:29 in length.

Part 2 is 60MB and 1:05:26 in length.

"the radio is blastin', someone's knocking at the door, I'm lookin' at my girlfriend, she's passed out on the floor"

RFW

Friday, September 28, 2007

Transmission 19507

The 1st Birthday Celebration continues with The Apocalypse End (2007), a remixed update of HAL2, which was originally posted on RFW on October 5, 2006. It is a set I have been perfecting since 1979, this now being the latest and ultimate version. The text of that post, which is available for viewing in the Past Transmissions section, sums up my feelings about the powerful Francis Ford Coppola movie that this homage is built upon.

Today's show stars The Doors, The Clash, The Stooges, The New York Dolls, Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon, Nico, Buckethead, Patrick Gleeson, Richard Beggs, Bernard L. Krause, Mickey Hart, Airto Moriera, Martin Sheen, Robert Duvall, Marlon Brando and an incredibly talented supporting cast of musicians, actors, editors and recordists.

T19507 is a 111MB 256K mp3 1:00:53 in length made loud to be played loud!

"the horror"

RFW

* The response to The Apocalypse End has been so great that I have re-mastered the show at 256k! Thanks for all of your e-mails and I hope you continue to enjoy this very special Transmission of Radio Free Wohlman for years to come!

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Transmission 19407

Our 1st Birthday Party has been really enjoyable, as I raid the Live Archives and answer questions submitted by you from around the world! Tonight we spotlight a few of my faves:

Rock Star Encounter - Bruce Springsteen

Vocalists - Rod Stewart & Greg Lake

Guitarist - Jeff Beck

Drummer - Carl Palmer

Keyboardist - Keith Emerson

Bassist - Stanley Clarke

As I mention, these picks seem to change depending on the time of day, but this list serves the purpose of today's musical celebration quite nicely. Enjoy!

T19407 is a 65.4MB 128k mp3 1:11:29 in length made loud to be played loud!

"Now I know your mama she don't like me 'cause I play in a rock and roll band"

RFW

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Transmission 19307

For the 3rd installment of our 1st Birthday Celebration, I open the RFW Mail Box and answer often asked questions such as - What is/are/was your :

Favorite Song - Good Vibrations

Favorite Artist - Brian Wilson

Favorite Bands - The Beatles & The Rolling Stones

First Concert - Humble Pie in 1971

Most Memorable Concerts - Genesis in 1975, The Who in 1971 and King Crimson in 1995!

T19307 is a 57.4MB 128k mp3 1:02:42 in length made loud to be played loud!

"Caryl Chessman sniffs the air and leads the parade, he knows in a scent you can bottle all you've made"

RFW

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Transmission 19207

Our 1st Birthday Celebration continues with a fine batch of collectible rarities from early RFW including Bridge School Bowie, 1970 Pink Floyd, Swedish TV Beatles, the anti-fab Residents and David Werner at The Whisky!

T19207 is a 65.3MB 128k mp3 1:11:20 in length made loud to be played loud!

"I'm sorry everybody, if we haven't done everything we could have done we've tried"

RFW

Monday, September 24, 2007

Transmission 19107

Time flies when you're having fun - and I'm having more fun with Radio Free Wohlman than I have ever had in over 30 years of radio! To celebrate our 1st Birthday Week, I plan on retracing the first days of the blog. Today's show consists of the first 5 song posts - before the studio was up and running. Dance and take a ch-ch-ch-chance with The Beatles, Primal Scream, David Sylvian, Touch, The New Yardbirds and Jaco Pastorius with Jimmy Page. Blow out the candles and make a wish!

T19107 is a 64.3MB 128k mp3 1:10:15 in length made loud to be played loud!

"This radio station was named Kowalski, in honour of the last American hero to whom speed means freedom of the soul"

RFW

Saturday, September 22, 2007

HAL55 - Multi-Colored Mirrors

We break out our cosmic crayons and come in colors with help from Peter Michael Hamel, Hot Chip, Chroma Key, La Peste, The Rolling Stones, Cream, The New York Dolls, Johnny Thompson Quintet, Los Chijuas, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Le Orme, The Shirelles, The Impressions, Phil Manzanera, Traffic, Irish Coffee, Stereolab, Pink Floyd, Moby Grape and Green Milk From The Planet Orange.

HAL55 is a 2-part 128k mp3 made loud to be played loud!

Part 1 is 55.2MB and 1:00:20 in length.

Part 2 is 62.4MB and 1:08:13 in length.

"but the rainbow has a beard"

RFW

Friday, September 21, 2007

Transmission 19007

It's Friday night so paint your toes, call up your friends and give me a loud and proud Hallelujah! We also (toe) jam with Mr. Bungle, Tubeway Army. Otomo Yoshihide, Nine Inch (toe)Nails, Ronnie Montrose, Spaced Out and the Mikkel Nordso Band. This little piggy went to .....

T19007 is a 56.1MB 128k mp3 1:01:17 in length made loud to be played loud!

"oh my beautiful liar, oh my precious whore"

RFW



Thursday, September 20, 2007

Transmission 18907

Mr. Alphabet Says today's show is as easy as ABC. Let's put these ever-popular letters to good use with songs from The Glove, ABC, The Jackson 5, Niney & Max, Lee "Scratch" Perry & the Upsetters, Classics, America, Big Star, Captain Beefheart, Abba, The Bears, City Boy and Microfilm. Tell me what you think of me!

T18907 is a 57.1MB 128k mp3 1:02:27 in length made loud to be played loud!

"No - get up girl, show me what you can do""

RFW

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Transmission 18807

We cry, cruise, rock and loose it at the end of this scattered but effective session in the Wohlman Archives. You will need tissues, vaseline and your tight leather outfit for selections from Godley & Creme, Elmore James, Tal Ross, Lyle Lovett, Eric Amble & Roscoe's Gang, Buick MacKane, Mutiny, John Hiatt, Willie DeVille, Elvis Presley, The Jeff Beck Group and The Residents.

T18807 is a 57.1MB 128k mp3 1:02:21 in length made loud to be played loud!

"Q -How big are you? A- Party size"

RFW

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Transmission 18707

After posting today's RFW Editorial, I thought it was only fitting to dedicate a show to the memory of our dearly departed old friend. Tune in for Electric Light Orchestra, The Ramones, The Kinks, Private Lightning, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, Rage Against The Machine, Jet, Wilco, The Raspberries, XTC, Elvis Costello and The Velvet Underground!

T18707 is a 57.6MB 128k mp3 1:02:55 in length made loud to be played loud!

"then one fine mornin' she puts on a New York station, she couldn't believe what she heard at all, she started dancin' to that fine fine music, you know her life was saved by Rock 'n' Roll"

RFW

A RADIO FREE WOHLMAN EDITORIAL

RADIO IS DEAD - LONG LIVE ROCK & ROLL

I am not sure of the exact date, but it is official - Rock & Roll Radio is dead. The cause of death was murder in the 1st degree and the responsible parties are still out there free as a bird. The days of innovative, stimulating, educational and reverent programing are over - gone and doomed to walk the earth as a tortured ghost. The shameless and selfless act that took our tried and trusted friend from us was unnecessary and premeditated!

Why this type of reaction now(?) - you may ask. I received a very nice note yesterday from a fan of the Radio Free Wohlman podcasts. In it, he bemoaned, "If only 'real' radio was so interesting and thoughtful". A compliment that I very much appreciated, but one that set off an inner rage. A realization that the thing that I loved the most was history, vanished, a thing of the past. Something to be spoken of with fond memories and stories from days gone by. Why - how did this happen?

Every city had them - radio stations that turned us on to great music every day. Personalities that were more best friends than faceless strangers. Programmers that understood the art of weaving a set of tunes that were diverse, yet interconnected by some thread of continuity. Stations whose logos we were proud to wear on our chest or on the bumper of our car. They provided the soundtrack to our lives and they were there for us in times of joy and sadness.

As a broadcaster that worked for terrestrial radio for over 30 years as a host and programmer, I was fortunate enough to have lived this on both sides (of the record). I also saw the killers face. I know the guilty party. It was a slow death - a gradual poisoning of sorts. But you do not need a CSI team to unravel the mystery. Consultants and corporations whose need and greed for ever-growing profits and self-preservation are the culprits at fault!

Collections of thousands of albums and songs (and the ability to play them) were slowly whittled away over the years as the plan to serve the lowest common denominator was put into effect. The end result is terrestrial radio as you know it today. What is usually referred to as "the same old shit". Playlists of a few hundred songs played ad infinutum until the joy of hearing them and their very life has been snuffed out. What was once a source of enlightenment and joy is now a graveyard of artists and DJs never to been heard from again.

I give credit to the satellite companies and their very noble attempt to resurrect this ghost from the past. I also self-servingly, yet genuinely look at my fellow podcasters and bloggers of the world and see a glimpse of what could be the prophetic return of the musical messiah.

But the evidence is in and the verdict of guilty has been reached by a jury of us that grieve over our loss of both rock & roll and the radio stations that were once our companions.

Radio is dead - long live rock and roll!

RFW

Monday, September 17, 2007






Transmission 18607

King Crimson announces our theme of Neil & Jack & Me - Neil being Neil Young, Jack referencing Jack Nitzsche and yours truly posing as Me! First off is the question concerning the correct pronunciation of Jack's last name. Is it Nee-chuh, Nee-Chee or Ni-chee? I found an article where he answered (and I paraphrase) that it is open to interpatation! For the sake of this show we went with the first. The show covers a great solo performance by Neil in 1974, Jack's solo work and collaborations with Neil and ends with the haunting theme to One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest! For me the research and music was entertaining and educational - I hope you feel the same!

T18607 is a 57.7 MB 128k mp3 1:03:06 in length made loud to be played loud!

"you're all just pissin' in the wind"

RFW
For whatever reason, Blogger hade a typeface bug when composing today's post. It seems to occur when I attempt a mult-picture feature. You may not even notice, but that type of shit bugs me (no pun intended). The normal layout will hopefully return tommorrow!

Saturday, September 15, 2007

HAL54 - THE RETURN OF SMR

Today's SMR or Spontaneous Music Reaction exercise is slightly different from our past experiments. This time, instead of working from a supplied word, I use only the sound and subject matter as the stimulus. It's the equivalent of a band improvising on stage - live, unrehearsed and in the moment. The next note is influenced by the note that preceded it. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't - today we nail it!

You have the weekend to enjoy selections from Michael Nesmith, Harry Nillson, Black Sabbath, Gong, XTC, The Kinks, Iggy Pop, David Bowie, Lou Reed, Hawkwind, Jimi Hendrix, The Mahavishnu Orchestra, The Dream, Terje Rypdal, John Mayall and The Olivia Tremor Control.

HAL54 is 2 part 128k mp3 made loud to be played loud!

Part 1 is 58.0MB and 1:03:21 in length.

Part 2 is 59.3MB and 1:04:50 in length.

"down with nudity, breast that are bare and pubic hair"

RFW

The picture above depicts a reaction-time experiment, using a Hipp Chronoscope and a Cattell Gravity Chronometer, much like those that James McKeen Cattell and his students regularly performed at the University of Pennsylvania. The time taken for the subject to begin reading a word displayed in the chronometer, at left, is being determined. The Hipp chronoscope is started by the dropping of the screen. It is stopped by the subject reading the word aloud, which opens the lip key in the subject's mouth. To explore this fascinating man and his studies deeper visit http://www.psych.upenn.edu/history/cattelltext.htm.

Friday, September 14, 2007

Transmission 18507

It's all about rock and a touch of blues during our Friday shaker and mover. Roll with Cheap Trick, Grand Funk Railroad, Montrose, Marc Bonilla, The Black Crowes, Humble Pie, Peter Frampton, The Rolling Stones, Muddy Waters and Led Zeppelin*. Turn it to 11!

T18507 is a 63MB 128 mp3 1:08:54 in length made loud to be played loud!

"Do you want a do a number with me?"

RFW

* The very beginning of our last selection by Led Zeppelin decided to stick in the player, but it sounded like a Page effect. Let's just call it the RFW Breakdown Glitch Mix!

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Transmission 18407

X marks the spot in this rousing walk thru the Wohlman Archives. You have nothing to fear from John Cale, Fear Itself, Julian Cope, Porcupine Tree, The End, Flamin' Groovies, The Ramones, Caribou, The Beach Boys and The Monkees!

T18407 is a 56MB 128k mp3 1:01:11 in length made loud to be played loud!

"X Box is a god to me"

RFW

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Transmission 18307

Assume the lotus position, tune up the sitar and bang on the nearest tabla for our raga-thon! Not necessarily artists from India, but sounds obviously influenced by the Eastern form and structure. Our musical nirvana includes The Beatles, The Serpent Power, Sir Yehudi Menuhin, Vampire Rodents, Canned heat, Krokodil, Nebula and Wolfgang Dauner's Et Cetera.

1st Century CE Greek traveller Apollonius Tyanaeus once said "In India, I found a race of mortals living upon the Earth, but not adhering to it, inhabiting cities, but not being fixed to them, possessing everything, but possessed by nothing".

T18307 is a 56.7MB 128k mp3 1:01:59 in length made loud to be played loud!

"the farther one travels, the less one knows"

RFW

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Transmission T18207

A few necessary ingredients to set the mood - mutual consent, condoms, imagination, toys, stamina and this show! Get down with Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Mark Ronson, The Budos Band, Amy Winehouse, Flipper, Tago-Mago, Nine Inch Nails, Babyshambles, John Wagner Coalition, Prince, Kraftwerk and King Crimson. Cigarette?

T18207 is a 56.5MB 128k mp3 1:01:47 in length made loud to play loud!

"and I love what you do, don’t you know that you’re Toxic"

RFW

Monday, September 10, 2007

Transmission 18107

What do Boston, Beacon Street Union, Eraserhead and Pixies all have in common? Peter Ivers!

We sample one of Boston's finest late 60's band - Beacon Street Union, an ex-member and one of the city's favorite sons - Peter Ivers, the soundtrack to the David Lynch acid-fried excursion into family life - Eraserhead and an Ivers/Lynch cover version from a source of Beantown musical pride - Pixies! Not for the squeamish!

T18107 is a 61.6MB 128k mp3 1:07:18 in length made loud to be played loud!

"In Heaven everything is fine"

RFW

Saturday, September 08, 2007

HAL53 - THE NOTEBOOK SESSIONS #3

We dip back into the master list of odds and ends for a rocking 2 hour transmission of RFW. Fragmented ideas become a whole featuring Pete Townshend, The Kaleidoscope, Peter Gabriel, 801, Roxy Music, Primal Scream, Klaus Doldinger's Motherhood, The Sights, The Wildhearts, The Apples In Stereo, The Beatles, David Gilmour with David Bowie, Kiss, Black Sabbath, John McLaughlin, The Smoke and Kim Fowley. Left-overs have never tasted so good!

HAL53 is a 2 part 128k mp3 made loud to be played loud!

Part 1 is 55.7MB 1:00:55 in length.

Part 2 is 59.4MB 1:04:54 in length.

"you float in my new pool, deluxe and delightful"

RFW

Friday, September 07, 2007

Transmission 18007

Turtles, tortoises and terrapins are all stars in today's amphibious adventure! Join a variety of our aquatic friends as we come out of our shell with Tortoise, Can, Jean-Luc Ponty, Egba, Schneider TM, Four Tet, Janis Joplin, The Turtles and The Grateful Dead. Pizza anyone?

T18007 is a 61.6MB 128k mp3 1:07:19 in length made loud to be played loud!

"I guess I’m just like a turtle, that’s hidin’ underneath its horny shell, but you know I’m very well protected —I know this goddamn life too well "

RFW

Thursday, September 06, 2007

Transmission 17907

I had a very vivid dream last night. It was about an evil attempt to turn the world population into zombies using radio waves. (They) offered lucrative jobs, houses and cars to radio veterans, such as myself, so we would be tricked into carrying out their sinister plot. In the end, I led a rag-tag motley crew of terrestrial radio resistant misfits into battle - killed the malignant Program Director, blew up the main transmitter, stopped the zombies and saved the world! I smell a movie!

Here's the soundtrack in advance : Goblin, Fela Kuti, Scientist, Rocky Erickson & The Aliens, Guitar Wolf, Frank Zappa & The Mothers, The Wildhearts, The Zombies, Magma, Sufjan Stevens and Abiogenesis.

T17907 is a 56MB 128k mp3 1:01:11 in length made loud to be played loud!

"I Walked With A Zombie last night"

RFW


Today's picture is a still from Zombi 3 by Lucio Fulci available at stomptokyo.com.

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Transmission 17807

Blurring the lines between techno, hip-hop and rap, our international beat-fest takes you around the world and right down your street. I funk you just to the see the look on your face with Elektric Music, Kraftwerk, Axiom Funk, Bill Laswell, Yoshinori Sunahara, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Haruomi Hosono, Schneider TM, Peeping Tom, Prince and Yoko Ono remixed by DJ Spooky. Sweet!

T17807 is 58.1MB 128k mp3 1:03:32 in length made loud to be played loud!

"she killed John Lennon, shot him down cold"

RFW

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Transmission 17707

All this week at WMBR, Cambridge , past and present colleagues are celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Late Riser's Club , of which I was an original host back in 1977. After listening to yesterday's show featuring my old friends Greg Reibman, Albert O and Blowfish and doing a 34 minute cameo today (download here), I am flooded with memories of my early days of radio, playing punk and it's various offshoots in the basement studios on the MIT campus. If your in the Boston area, please check out the party as described in the picture.

In honor of this landmark program, that still airs to this date, I start today's show with choice tunes that remind me of my Boston radio roots. Pogo to the likes of 999, Althia & Donna, DMZ, The Forgotten Rebels and Peter Dayton. We then jump into the RFW Time Machine for classics from Bo Diddley, Johnny Otis Show, Bob & Earl and The Shirells and end with random selections from Primal Scream, U.K. Squeeze, Brian Setzer, Los Lobos, Dyan Diamond, Blue Oyster Cult, David Werner and David Bowie.

T17707 is a 59MB 128k mp3 1:04:27 in length made loud to be played loud!

"Nah pop no style, a strictly roots "

RFW

For a great video of Althea & Donna performing Uptown Top Ranking visit You Tube .

Monday, September 03, 2007

Transmission 17607

We have a whale of a time hangin' out in the the S section of the Wohlman Archives. Unlike our Z-A May S show-this time the artist's first or last name, the group name or the song title starts with the featured letter. Spoil yourself with bookend Secret Machines , Secret Chiefs, Seventh Wave, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Sean Lennon, Silkie, Smith, Stories, Spider Man, Frank Zappa, Hard Stuff and Sonic Youth. Why(?) - just for the S of it!

T17607 is a 58.6MB 128k mp3 1:04:4 in lenght made loud to be played loud!

"softly smile, I know she must be kind"

RFW

Saturday, September 01, 2007

HAL52 - WORK HARD/PLAY HARD

RFW raises it's glass to the salt of the earth with our Labor Day Weekend extravaganza! You relax and let me do all the work courtesy of Barrington Levi, Bob Marley & The Wailers, The Viceroys, Junior Murvin, Nosferatu, The Drones, Janis Joplin, Leaf Hound, The Faint, Marianne Faithful, Devo, Bo Diddley, Alice Cooper, Growl, Camberwell Now, Lyle Lovett, Bob Dylan, The Animals, The Butterfield Blues Band, Field Music, Todd Rundgren, Hank Ballard & the Midnighters, Bob Seeger & the Silver Bullet Band, Pete Townshend and Rush. Let's drink to the hard working people!

HAL52 is a 2 part 128k mp3 made loud to be played loud!

Part 1 is 55.4MB and 1:00:34 in length.

Part 2 is 60.9MB and 1:06:36 in length.

"they call me the Working Man, I guess that's what I am"

RFW

The picture above is courtesy of the Yamhill County Historical Society, Lafayette, OR. For more facinating photos visit them at http://www.co.yamhill.or.us/pics/Yamhill/.