Monday, January 30, 2012

What K-Tel Album Should be Featured in February?

I am at a loss:  with so many K-Tel albums to choose for February's edition of Adventures in Vinyl, I am not sure what to pick.

Therefore, I am leaving it up to you.  Vote below for the K-Tel album you would like to hear on February's edition of Adventures in Vinyl. (vote below)


Super Bad (1973): Isaac Hayes, Joe Tex, Millie Jackson, Staple Singers, James Brown
Hit Machine (1976):  KC & the Sunshine Band, Frankie Valli, Elton John, Kiss, War, Rick Springfield
Hot Lights & City Nights (1979): Jacksons, Village People, Sister Sledge, Blondie, Instant Funk
Pure Rock (1981): ZZ Top, Pat Benatar, Foreigner, Heart, Eddie Money, Styx, Foghat



Sunday, January 29, 2012

What's Next for Vinyl Voyage Radio?

A year ago, I started this radio station.  During the holidays back in 2010,  I started going through my old record collection, fixed a turntable and rediscovered the joy of vinyl.  One thing was for sure:  I have a lot of old K-Tel albums.  These albums not only represented formative years of my childhood, they also were interesting musical time capsules of the 1970s and 80s.

As a result, Vinyl Voyage Radio was born in February 2011 and I started hosting the K-Tel-themed show, Adventures in Vinyl, which featured a different K-Tel album every month.  It's been fun hosting the show and becoming reacquainted with the music, history and memories. 

We've been on the air now for just about a year.  Over the year people from all over the world have listened.  Recently, the station has clocked hours from Israel, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Belgium, Ukraine and Mexico.  Total listening hours is relatively small, however.  Just under 1000 hours in 12 months.  If we were a commercial station we would have been out of business that first month.

But we are not commercial.  Although it does cost us to run the station, the fee is relatively small.  Hosted by Live365, we are able to keep costs down while Live365 pays the royalties for every song we play.  The station is run off a computer in my basement.  We have about 150 hours of music loaded and that number increases regularly as I record more vinyl into the computer.

So I had to decide whether or not to continue for another year.  Today, as I was listening to K-Tel's "Music Machine," I was placing all of my K-Tel albums into a brand new record case my parents gave to me for Christmas.  And then it struck me:  I have much more K-Tel to share.

I don't know how many people have listened to Adventures in Vinyl.  I know my mom has.  Perhaps she is the only one.  I don't know.

So I made a decision:  as long as I still have K-Tel, Vinyl Voyage Radio will remain on the air.

For a few days coming up, we will most likely go silent as we make different arrangements with Live365 (and I try to clear a major virus off of the computer).   But we will be back in early February playing great music the way it should be:  on glorious vinyl.

And if no one listens, that's okay, too.  This isn't about getting the most listeners or making money.  It's about music. And if one person, somewhere in the world, enjoys the trip through my record collection, then it is worth it.

Friday, January 13, 2012

Music Machine: A 1977 K-Tel Classic

In 1977, robots were all the rage.  After all, the most popular movie of the year introduced the world to two of the most famous robots of all time:  R2-D2 and C3PO.  It would only make sense that K-Tel would cash in by putting the previous most famous robot on the cover of it's new compilation album, Music Machine.  That robot is, of course, "Robby" from Forbidden Planet and Lost in Space.  Here, he dances to the various hits of 1977 in the commercial aired for the album:


Music Machine is the featured album on this month's Adventures in Vinyl.  It is actually a pretty good album. In fact, all but one of the songs appears on the Year End Billboard Hot 100.  On this album you will find Foreigner, Andy Gibb, K.C. and the Sunshine Band, Manfred Mann, Elton John and even Bill Conti with his theme song to the movie Rocky.

The album came with two posters as well: one of Andy Gibb and the other of K.C. from K.C. and the Sunshine Band.




Adventures in Vinyl can be heard on Saturday morning 11 am (CT), Sunday at 4 pm (CT), Tuesday 1 pm (CT), Wednesday 2 am (CT) and Thursday 10 am (CT). 

This may be the last chance to hear Adventures in Vinyl.  We have been on the air for a year and our subscription on Live365 will run out February 3.  We are not sure we will be continuing the station.  If you've been listening for awhile, thank you.