Whither Gangs?

I told someone last week that I've always had that Groucho Marx inclination - "I don't care to belong to any club that would have me as a member" - although in some senses WRFL & the other radio stations I've been involved with are kinds of clubs & I was happy they had me as a member (though of course deejays is generally a solitary activity).  But is WRFL a gang?  We should be getting our jackets any day.

I should've written something about how an average day at WRFL makes Sons Of Anarchy seem tame.

"Gang" has many meanings & we're not just going to talk about street gangs or biker gangs or gang bangs or bang gangs tonight.  (I don't think we're going to be talking about gang bangs at all, actually.  They're gross.)  The songs will explore all kinds of gangs.  But I do need to start reading up about gang activity in the United States.

The show's on tonight (!) from 10 to midnight (Eastern) on 88.1 fm WRFL.  You can listen at if you so choose.  You don't even have to be part of the WRFL gang!

Preface To Gangs: Unedited Gangsta

I'll talk a little tomorrow about Gangsta Rap & even play a couple of songs, but I can't play their full, unedited versions.  Even with safe harbor, WRFL doesn't allow so many bad words & n-bombs.  Which is a shame.  A couple of these songs are kind of amazing.  Here are their original versions courtesy of Youtube - listen tomorrow to the show for awkward edits:





Interestingly, both unedited versions are longer than their radio-friendly versions.

The Obligatory Post About "Breaking Bad"

I watched Breaking Bad.  I enjoyed the hell out of it.  I am going to miss it.

I mean, I've watched every episode of lots of television shows now, & usually I keep watching them long after I've stopped enjoying them (Weeds, anyone?).  It was nice to have a series stay strong to the very end.

I find myself looking at this picture I posted to Facebook with the line "Breaking Bad's shocking ending spoiler alert!":

I thought it might make me a little sad, but I now find this picture a little creepy.  I mean, the more I think about it, the more I feel like this is not the picture that the actors posed for.  Aaron Paul looks really, really confused & a little uncomfortable.  Bryan Cranston looks the very definition of  bemused.  Why does Anna Gunn seem so pleased?

There's got to be another, more posed photo of the three of them in bed.  There's got to.

I'll go look around for it now.

Also, if you're up at 5am tomorrow morning, I'll be on the radio.  Just putting it out there.

Self Help Radio 092713: Lines

Here's something dumb: every time I think of songs about "lines," the Thompson Twins song "Lies" pops into my head, but I hear the chorus as "Lines, lines, lines, yeah."  I should've played it.  That would have shamed my brain & its diminishing powers!

Instead, here are a bunch of songs about lines.  All different kinds of line.  You can see the list below.  You can listen to the show at the Self Help Radio web site, or you can listen to the show direct-like by clicking here: part I &/or part II.

Thanks for listening between the lines!

(part one)

"On The Picket Line" Manhattan Chorus _Songs For Political Action: Folkmusic, Topical Songs, & The American Left 1926-1953, Vol. 1 - The Leftist Roots Of The Folk Revival
"Rock Island Line" Lead Belly _Lead Belly & Woody Guthrie: Folkways, The Original Vision_
"I Walk The Line" The Everly Brothers _The Price Of Fame_
"Walkin' Down The Line" Bob Dylan _The Bootleg Series, Vol. 1_

"Lines" Noh Mercy _Noh Mercy_
"Walked In Line" Joy Division _Still_
"Parallel Lines (Demo)" Subway Sect _Babylon's Burning: The Rough & Ready Rise Of Punk 1973 - 1978_
"Head Lines" George Carlin _On The Road_

"Life On The Line" Fad Gadget _Under The Flag_
"Laugh Lines" Cocteau Twins _Peppermint Pig_
"All Lined Up" Shriekback _Care_
"88 Lines About 44 Women" The Nails _Mood Swing_

"White Lines (Don't Do It)" Grandmaster Flash & Melle Mel _The Best Of Sugar Hill Records_

(part two)

"The Bottom Line" Big Audio Dynamite _This Is Big Audio Dynamite_
"Disco Hotline" National Lampoon _That's Not Funny, That's Sick_
"Telegraph Line" Jaime Aff & Christine Langner _Schoolhouse Rock: Science Rock_
"Breaking Lines" The Pastels _C86_

"Between The Lines" The Sullivans _The Sullivans_
"Circle Line" Rodney Allen _Happysad_
"Sign On The Line" The Fizzbombs _Sign On The Line_
"Waterline" Lloyd Cole _Lloyd Cole_
"High Tension Line" The Fall _Shift-Work_

"I'm The End Of The Family Line" Morrissey _Kill Uncle_
"Going For A Walk With A Line" Momus _Folktronic_
"Punchlines" The Lucksmiths _A Good Kind Of Nervous_
"Wichita Lineman" Optiganally Yours _Spotlight On Optiganally Yours_

"Grey Lines" Arson Welles _Inside The System Is The Spark_
"Crooked Lines" The Go-Betweens _Bright Orange Bright Yellow_
"End Of The Line" Nina Simone _Four Women_