Vinyl Voyage Radio

Today, as I was playing some songs on the radio, I came across the Little River Band's 1981 hit, " Night Owls ."  The video for this song was a common sight on late night video programs and in heavy rotation in the early days of MTV.  But I was reminded of something else: Nite-Owl on Channel 32 in Chicago. Does anyone else remember this?  Nite-Owl was a program that dominated the early hours on WFLD-TV in Chicago and consisted of news, weather and sports all provided by funky computerized block graphics played with a soft-rock soundtrack of popular hits and muzak from the time.  I was in junior high  and found myself staying up late, mesmerized by the high-tech (for the time) computer graphics.  One night in 1981, I was at my friend's house across the street and we turned on Nite-Owl after Saturday Night Live and fell asleep to the blue glow and soft music emanating from the tv. I distinctly remember hearing that Little...

This month we are celebrating the 20th episode of Adventures in Vinyl .  That's right, we have highlighted 20 K-Tel compilations over the last 2 years.  And we have many more to go.  After all, K-Tel produced over 160 compilation albums between 1971 and 1985. In the month of February, we are featuring a compilation from 1981:   Dimensions . This album features Juice Newton, Pat Benatar, Air Supply and one of my personal favorites from 1981:  Billy Squier. In 1981, I received Billy Squier's album Don't Say No for Christmas. "The Stroke" was all over the airwaves in 1981.  And I played that album until it was worn out.  Pat Benatar, too.  Big fan.   Air Supply, not so much. But then again, that is the magic of K-Tel.  Going over these old records I am still amazed at the eclectic nature of the song selections. And Dimensions is no different: Dimensions is the featured album this month on Adventures in Vinyl :  the ...