Get Your K-Tel Fix Anytime

One of my first records ever was a K-Tel album entitled, "Music Power" from 1974.  It had songs by Brownsville Station, Dawn, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Barry White and the Grass Roots. Plus, many artists you probably have not heard, such as Stories, Lighthouse, Natural Four and the Raspberries.  Nonetheless, that album kicked off a decade of buying K-Tel albums.  Currently, I have over 50 albums in my collection and I constantly forage through resale shops and record stores looking for these gems.

One the reasons I started this station was to highlight these K-Tel albums---not only as relics of a by-gone era but also a celebration of a pop-cultural phenomenon that all of us who grew up in the 70s and 80s were a part.  Adventures in Vinyl was born.

The first episode of Adventures in Vinyl aired on this station in February of 2011. The concept was simple: I'll play an entire K-Tel album while placing the album in the year it was released with news, pop culture, movies and music.   We have aired over 30 episodes with many more to come.

Now, we are excited to announce that these episodes are available on-demand via Mixcloud.   Ever. Single. Episode.

Now, you don't have to wait for the episode to air, You can listen at any time. The current episode is loaded in the player.  If you want to see the other albums, click the "up next" and scroll through the list.

Enjoy.

Adventures in Vinyl by Vinyl Voyage Radio on Mixcloud

More Options to Listen to Vinyl Voyage Radio

We recently cut the cable cord.  That's right: goodbye Comcast!

Instead of cable, I installed a large antenna in our attic and we bought a Roku 3 streaming player. We've gone back to watching network TV (I get about 50 digital channels over-air) and stream our shows via Netflix and Hulu Plus. All for more than half of what cable costs.

The cool thing about Roku is that I can stream Vinyl Voyage.  This was great at Christmas as I was able to saturate the house with a vinyl Christmas.  And it was easy.

On the Roku player, you add "channels."  And Live365 has a channel for Roku.

In fact, it is now easier than ever to stream Vinyl Voyage Radio.  In addition to Roku,  Live365 is supported by the following devices:

SONOS PLAYER

TiVo

LOGITECH SQUEEZEBOX






There are many more option available.  Visit the Live365 site for a complete list of supported devices.

Not only that, but there are Live365 apps available for your smartphone.  With Bluetooth capabilities, you can easily listen in the car.

The 3rd Annual Retro Christmas is on the Air!

Re-live your Christmas memories...all on glorious vinyl.  Now until December 28, 2014.

It's Time for a Vinyl Christmas!

Yes, it's that time of the year.  On Sunday, December 21 the Vinyl Voyage will go all Christmas music all the time.  Until Saturday, December 28.

Relive your Christmas memories with great songs from Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra, Vikki Carr, and many, many more.  Remember those old Christmas compilation albums?  Yes, we have them. Compilations you could buy from Ace Hardware and True Value.  Christmas Memory compilations. These compilations featured great singers, plus orchestras such as Boston Pops, Robert Shaw Chorale, Henry Mancini and the Vienna Boys Choir.

This isn't the music you hear today too much on the radio.  No Mariah Carey here.  Or Wham!

Just pure Christmas memories.

Only on Vinyl Voyage Radio.

Merry Christmas!

Click here for the live feed.

This Month on AiV--K-Tel's "Radio Active"

This month ion Adventures in Vinyl, we are going into the archives for a great episode from 2012. Here is the original article.

In 1982, K-Tel did it again with Radio Active. This album demonstrates one of the more endearing things about K-Tel albums: variety. On this album we have powerhouses like the Who and the Police with the Commodores and Rick James. I've said it before and I'll say it again: the whole concept of "shuffle" advocated by Apple with the introduction of the iPod in 2001 was a concept pioneered by K-Tel decades earlier.

When Apple announced the iPod, one of the selling points was to have access to a variety of different music at your fingertips. On October 23, 2001, Steve Jobs demonstrated the new iPod, featuring his own playlist and his ability to move between very different types of music. The songs on Steve Jobs' playlist? "Building a Mystery" by Sarah McLachlan, "Porcelain" by Moby, "Sweet Sixteen" by Chuck Berry, "One Week" by Bare Naked Ladies and "Like a Rolling Stone" by Bob Dylan. Although you can't randomly shuffle an album, one of the iPod's primary functions is to deliver music, sometimes in a very eclectic way. K-Tel was doing that throughout the 70s and 80s.

And one needs to look no farther than Radio Active to see this in practice. Radio Active contains 14 songs from 1980-1981. The artists include REO Speedwagon, the Police, Blondie, Devo, the Moody Blues, Genesis, Rick James, the Commodores, Pat Benatar, Hall and Oates, Rick Springfield, Carl Carlton and the Who. Most of the album falls in the pop/rock genre. On side two of Radio Active, however, the very popular "No Reply at All" by Genesis is preceded by Rick James and his funky "Super Freak." Funk meets pop rock. Steve Jobs demonstrated this ability of the iPod in 2001. He showed how you can move from the Beatles to Yo-Yo Ma. The crowd oohed and aahed at this demonstration, apparently forgetting that you could get the same kind of eclecticism 20 years earlier by throwing a K-Tel album on the turntable.

Radio Active is a solid K-Tel album. It had only 14 songs and marks a time when the company was less inclined to edited the songs in order to fit more music on an LP. By the 80s, K-Tel was going more for quality rather than quantity, ditching its "20 Original Hits. 20 Original Songs." tagline. This month on Adventures in Vinyl, take an eclectic trip back to 1982 through the magic of K-Tel. Radio Active is the album of the month and we will play it in its entirety.

You can listen to Adventures in Vinyl  (all times Central):

12:30 pm Saturday
4 pm Sunday
1 pm Tuesday
2 am Wednesday
10 am Thursday

Adventures in Vinyl is an exclusive production of Vinyl Voyage Radio and the only radio show dedicated to the glory of the K-Tel record compilation.

K-Tel's Disco/Non-Disco Album--Disco Mania, 1976

This month on AiV, we are going back to 1976 for K-Tel's Disco Mania.

As a kid, I loved this album.  And the main reason I loved this album were for two songs:

"Rock and Roll All Nite" by Kiss and "Kung Fu Fighting" by Carl Douglas

There are some bonafide disco hits on this album.  But there are many other decidely non-disco songs, too.  Along with Kiss, Styx also appears on this album.  As does Bachman Turner Overdrive.

Listen to this entire album on Adventures in Vinyl, the only radio show dedicated to the lost art of the K-Tel record compilation.

Saturday, 12:30 pm
Sunday, 4 pm
Tuesday, 1 pm
Wednesday, 2 am
Thursday, 10 am

Last Chance to Hear "After Hours" on AiV

This weekend will be your last chance to hear the After Hours, the 1982 classic from K-Tel.  This album features Rick Springfield reminding us not to talk to stangers.  The Little River band wants you to take it easy on me, as well.

In addition, this album features Lindsey Buckingham, Air Supply, Paul Davis and Journey.

Check out the commercial below:





Adventures in Vinyl can be heard at the following times (central)

Saturday, 12:30 pm
Sunday, 4 pm
Tuesday, 1 pm
Wednesday, 2 am
Thursday, 10 am