New Additions for May (So Far)

As always, we are constantly adding new music to Vinyl Voyage Radio.  Here are some new additions to our library for May, 2017.  Most of the albums are from the 80s--just in time for Manic Monday!

AiV this Month: K-Tel's "After Hours" from 1982

On this month's edition of Adventures in Vinyl, we are taking a time trip back to 1982 for K-Tel's .  This album featured Rick Springfield, Lindsey Buckingham, ABBA, George Benson, Air Supply...and many, many more.

Perhaps not one of K-Tel's best, After Hours still has plenty going for it.  Over half of the songs appeared on the Billboard Year End Chart for 1982.  And, like all their albums in the 1980s, K-Tel went with quality over quantity.  This album has only 15 songs and very little editing.  These are mostly full versions, unlike those found on their compilations in the 70s when they tried to fit as many songs as possible on an LP.




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

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

K-Tel's "Radio Active"--Eclecticism at its Best

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 2001was 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:

• 12 pm Saturday (all times Central)
• 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.

It's 1984 on Adventures in Vinyl. Get Ready for "Sound System"

1984 was the year I got my driver's license.  It was also the year of the Macintosh computer. Night Court premiered on NBC and a gallon of gas cost $1.10. Michael Jackson was severely burned while filming a Pepsi commercial and his album Thriller was the best selling album for the second year in a row.

It was a stellar year for movies as well:  Ghostbusters, Amadeus, Gremlins, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom---just to name a few.  Entertainment Weekly recently argued that 1984 was the greatest year for films ever, even better than 1939.

It was also the year K-Tel released Sound System, which features songs from Huey Lewis and the News, Pat Benatar, the Police, the Kinks and Styx.




Take a trip with us to 1984 on Adventures in Vinyl.  Sound System is the featured album for July Plus, movie clips, trivia and music from 1984 as well.   

Adventures in Vinyl is the only radio show dedicated to the magic of the K-Tel record compilation.  It can be heard on Vinyl Voyage Radio (all times Central):

Saturday 11 am
Sunday 4 pm
Tuesday 1 pm
Wednesday 2 am
Thursday 10 am

Next on the Turntable: Believe in Music from 1972

On this month's Adventure's in Vinyl, we are going to the early years of K-Tel.  In fact, this is the oldest K-tel album I have.  It is Believe in Music and it came out 40 years ago, which is obvious from the garish cover void of any sense of the songs contained on the vinyl.  But that's okay, in 1972 K-Tel was still developing it's iconic look.

This album has my favorite Cher song:  "Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves." It also has the 70s favorite, "Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)."  This, of course, is one of the greatest one-hit wonders of all time.  Although Looking Glass released two albums, nothing would not come close to the success of that song.  I recently came across a picture of the band.  Not what I expected:

 

The album also has a song by Rick Springfield.  Yes, that Rick Springfield.  The one who sang about "Jessie's Girl" in the 80s.  The song on this album is "Speak to the Sky," off of his debut album, Beginnings. 

 

Believe in Music was released in late 1972 and contains hits by Rod Stewart, the O'Jays, Five Man Electrical Band and Eric Clapton.  And get this:  Donny Osmond is on the album twice.  Double the Donny.  Here is the commercial:

Adventures in Vinyl is the only radio show dedicated to the lost art of the K-Tel record compilation  The show can be heard on Vinyl Voyage radio on Saturday mornings, 11 am (central) and Sunday afternoons at 4 pm.  It also streams several times during the week.  Click here for the complete schedule.

K-Tel's "Hit Express" This Month on Adventures in Vinyl

After a Retro Repeat September, Adventures in Vinyl returns in October with a new episode.  This K-Tel selection comes from 1982, a big year for me.  It was the year I started high school.  Later that year I got my first real computer:  a Commodore 64 (which I still have, by the way).  It was the year of E.T.: The Extraterrestrial and Poltergeist.  It was also the year of Hit Express.

This is the second 80s album we have played on Adventures in Vinyl.  By the 1980s, K-Tel had changed it's format.  Instead of editing songs in order to fit as much as possible on a side, the 1980s saw K-Tel offering more complete songs (at least the radio versions).  Therefore, there aren't as many songs on a K-Tel album as there were a decade earlier.  This album has fourteen songs; about seven less than a 70's K-Tel.  But that's okay.  There are some great treasures on this album from the early 80s:

• Human League
• Phil Collins
• Rick Springfield
• Loverboy
• Joan Jett and the Black Hearts
• The Police

....and, as they used to say in the commercials:  "And Many More!" 

Join us for a nostalgic trip back to 1982.  We'll play the album in it's entirety, plus sample trivia, history and movie memories from 1982 as well.

Adventures in Vinyl can be heard at 11 am (CT) Saturday and 4 pm (CT) Sunday.  You can also catch Adventures in Vinyl during the week:  Tuesday at 1 pm and Thursday at 10 am.

Plus, if you can't catch Adventures in Vinyl at these times, let us know when you would like to hear it and we will play it for you at your convenience.  How's that for a personal playlist?

Adventures in Vinyl:  The only radio show dedicated to the lost art of the K-Tel record compilation.

Dena's Mix--Friday Night in Mix Tape Memories

This should really be called the "Rick Springfield Mix."  On a 1 hour mix tape, the Aussie/Soap Opera Star/Rock Star/Author appears some 7 times.  And most of the songs that my friend, Dena, placed of Rick Springfield's are those that you did not hear on the radio.  No "Jesse's Girl," for example.

This will be very interesting broadcast, from a logistic point of view.  You see, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) has defined the standards for internet radio.  And you can only play 3 songs by a single artist in a 3 hour time period.  Ooops.  Playing Dena's Mix will, therefore, break copyright law.  And I can be fined upwards of $500,000 if caught.

But what the hell.  Let's live life on the edge, shall we?

This mix was made most likely in 1984.  Many of the songs come from that year.  And it was the year I began to drive and I distinctly remember playing this in the car--which happened to be a Ford Pinto station wagon.   Otherwise known as my "chick magnet."

I remember getting this Mix Tap from Dena.  She was (and still is, of course) a Rick Springfield fan.  As a result, I have seen Rick Springfield numerous times.  I can still sing along to some of the songs.  Funny story:  we were involved in Tech Theatre (any "techies" out there?) and she had placed a large Rick Springfield poster up in the tool room.  There it remained for many, many years. 

So, there is a lot of Rick Springfield here.  But there is more as well:  Genesis,  the Beatles,  Styx, the Police, Duran Duran, and Pink Floyd.

So join us at 9 pm CT on Mix Tape Memories for "Dena's Mix."

An encore broadcast will air on Monday evening, 8 pm CT.