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play.list 3.2 [3-29-09]

for those that know me personally, you've heard my many stories about how i grew up in the middle of nowhere, USA. culture for many was a steady diet of winger, skid row, skoal and a mullet. if you were into new wave, punk, DIY culture or anything slightly off center, chances are you got called a "fag" and people always wanted to fight you or you would just get attacked. seriously! it's still hard for me to understand how something offering a different point of view from the majority can cause such upheaval in peoples lives. but looking back throughout society's history it seems to have always been that way. but for whatever reason, as a teenager, living an hour and half from any major metropolitan center, life was dark indeed ;-)

music was always an escape for me and like for many, saved me many times. i owe a big debt to my aunt patty who introduced me to new wave back in the early 80's. she would make me cassette copies of flock of seagulls, duran duran, split enz, the cars, inxs and other staples of that period (circa 82-85). i became aware a bit early that there was more out there that was edgier and sounded very different than what was being offered by the garbage kasey kasem and mainstream commercial radio were serving up. in these pre-internet days, there was really no way to hear what else was out there. it's kind of hard to fathom today when almost nothing is rare or inacessable, but it's very true.

then in the summer of 87 while laying in bed late one night listening to the radio on some cheap sony walkman knock-off, i came across a weak signal that was playing something that was VERY different than anything else i had ever heard on the radio. it turned out to be the pet shop boys "it's a sin" single which was just released a few weeks prior. every night after that i kept flipping the dial trying to find that station and see whatelse i could discover. fortunately over the course of the summer i was able to lock in on the station number with a better radio and was sure to preset 100.7 on the dial. i was exposed to so much great new music that summer. new order, guadalcanal diary, flesh for lulu, kate bush, love & rockets, jesus & mary chain and the list goes on. little did i know that when i went back to school that fall, very few people (probably under 10) were actually into the new wave scene or even knew what it was. but for the most part we stuck together and i have some pretty great memories from that time. we stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the mullets with our hair cuts, vision street wear and cure t-shirts, but in retrospect it was quite a bit of fun.

this months blog.cast is a big trip down memory lane with a 3 hour playlist assembled from requests from my friends that were rabid WXXP listeners and some of my favorite bands and tunes that were played by the station. i've been meaning to do this particular broadcast for a few years now, but with all the recent reconnections i've made with many of my friends from those years and our frequent mentions of "XX" this seemed like as good a time as any to pay my tribute to the station "that dared to be different."

WXXP 100.7 RIP 1986-1988.

enjoy.

SOME "WXXP" LINKS:
+ WXXP LEGACY
+ WXXP OFF AIR [FROM 1988]
+ WXXP MYSPACE TRIBUTE
+ DJ BIRD'S DIATRIBE

PLAYLIST: [subject to change]

• Alphaville: Big In Japan [Single Version]
• Voice Of The Beehive: I Say Nothing
• The Primitives: Crash [For Kelly who made me cassette copy of this album nearly 21 years ago]
• Ziggy Marley & The Melody Makers: Tumblin' Down
• Gene Loves Jezebel: Twenty Killer Hurts
• Flesh For Lulu: Postcards From Paradise
• The Godfathers: Birth, School, Work, Death
• The Housemartins: There Is Always Something There To Remind Me
• The Cure: One More Time
• New Order: 1963
• The Church: Under The Milkyway
• XTC: Dear God [For Sheep]
• Shona Laing: Glad I'm Not [A Kennedy] (for Jennifer)
• The Jesus And Mary Chain: Sidewalking
• Julian Cope: World Shut Your Mouth
• Karel Fialka: Hey Matthew
• Depeche Mode: Get The Balance Right
• China Crisis: Arizona Sky
• Pet Shop Boys: It's A Sin (XX Mix)
• Love & Rockets: No New To Tell [For Kirk]
• Men Without Hats: O Sole Mio
• Midnight Oil: The Dead Heart
• Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians: Flesh No. One [Beatle Dennis]
• The Railway Children: A Pleasure
• The Mighty Lemon Drops: Fall Down Like The Rain
• The Mission UK: Wasteland
• Morrissey: I Know Very Well How I Got My Name
• Siouxsie & The Banshees: Song From The End Of The World
• Balaam and the Angel: I Love The Things You Do To Me
• Black: Everything's Coming Up Roses
• Jon Astley: Jane's Getting Serious
• Public Image Ltd: Seattle
• Shriekback: Go Bang!
• Tonio K. I'm Suppose To Have Sex With You
• The Soup Dragons: Head Gone Astray [For Frank]
• Stump: Charlton Heston
• The Sugarcubes: Birthday
• T-Bone Burnett: The Talking Animals
• Guadalcanal Diary: Litany (Life Goes On)
• The Wooden Tops: Stop This Car
• Kate Bush: Running Up That Hill
• Talking Heads: Blind
• The Screaming Blue Messiahs: I Wanna Be A Flintstone
• Big Pig: Breakaway
• The Affordable Floors: Wedding Ring
• Echo & The Bunnymen: People Are Strange
• Faith No More: We Care A Lot
• REM: It's The End Of The World As We Know It [And I Feel Fine]

Labels: 100.7, darren smith, deb brady, dj bird, new wave, pittsburgh, post-punk, WXXP

posted by jason sloan @ 10:59 AM 2 Comments