This Week’s Theme: Songs I Recently Heard On The Radio

The original concept of the Radio Faux Show originated from my desire to produce a weekly radio show like those I worked as a deejay at a college radio station decades ago. This week’s show is focused on the opposite side of the concept. That is, this is a show focused on me as a radio listener instead of a deejay. Listening to the radio is still possible for anyone with the basic technology required, but we no longer live in a world that is ruled by radio. When I was a kid, listening to the radio was the best way to hear new songs or listen to songs you already know. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t have some other method for listening to music, but radio was always a prime focus of my day. I would do homework while listening to classic rock; I would drive around town listening to the local radio stations; my parents would play the radio in the car every time they drove anywhere. Driving is especially the time I associate with radio listening. I have lived through all the eras of car stereo technology available to me throughout my life – 8-Track, cassette, CD, satellite, and streaming – but while those technologies have replaced each other over the years, radio has always been present in my car.

Recently, I decided to listen to the radio primarily while driving around. I always have the radio there as a resource, but normally I stream music and radio is just the music that plays while I’m choosing what to stream. Listening to the radio as a primary option was a conscious choice I made over the last couple of weeks, mostly for the simple reason that I wanted to take a break from having to think about music so much and just let the radio gods do their magic for me. This is always a hit or miss option, but I have 12 radio presets in my car so there is always a lot of variety available. My presets are focused on college stations, jazz, oldies, classic rock, old school soul, and a couple of mixed-genre stations, so the variety is there, and I can almost always find something that isn’t talk, ads, or garbage. This exercise was nostalgic in its final effect because the stations I listen to are almost all focused on music I listened to when I was a much more avid radio listener. It was also nostalgic because it has been so long since I gave up control of my driving music and just went with random chance. The end result was a success and I have to say I enjoyed it. I am not going to turn to radio as my sole music choice moving forward, but it was nice to learn that I can still turn to the original music option and not be disappointed.

The songs in this week’s show are presented in chunks by style, much like I could have heard them in the car, as I tend to stick with a specific station until a song comes on that I don’t want to hear. Instead of the normal breakdown of categories and information about the artists and songs, this week’s blog is presented as a radio show script that follows the playlist selections in order. Feel free to imagine the voice of Casey Kasem as the narrator if it makes you feel good to do so.

You Are Listening To KFOE Radio…

…where the only thing missing is the radio.

Track 1: Back in 1982 their memory wasn’t the only thing that was sold, as this song was the second biggest hit of the year. Kicking off this week’s show, here’s The J. Geils Band with their #1 hit, “Centerfold.”

Track 2: Next up, here’s “On The Dark Side” from John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Band. It was the hit from the soundtrack to the 1984 film Eddie and the Cruisers and is the best Springsteen imitation of the era.

Track 3: It took Bryan Adams six years to finally break out from his best young Canadian rocker title and make it to the American Top 40. This is the second of three 1984 hits that started his rise to become one of the biggest stars of the decade. Here’s “Cuts Like A Knife.”

Track 4: “Take the Money and Run” is one of many hits recorded during the 1976 sessions that produced Steve Miller’s albums Fly Like An Eagle and Book Of Dreams. The sessions were so fruitful that both albums were smash hits, and the run of Top 40 singles they produced started with this one.

You’re listening to the KFOE Radio Show, where variety is our goal and music is our soul.

Track 5: Joe Tex is an artist that you’ve probably never heard of, even though he produced a string of R&B hits between 1965 and 1968. “Skinny Legs and All” is one of his silly ones, but also one of his biggest.

Track 6: Some people may remember Clarence Carter for his 1986 double-entendre song “Strokin’.” Others may remember him for this 1970 song, “Patches,” which was his final Top 40 hit. However, he is now best known for his holiday funk classic “Back Door Santa,” which is the sample that gave Run DMC their holiday classic “Christmas in Hollis.”

Track 7: It’s Bootsy baby. Bootsy Collins had many aliases, but the best may be “Bootzilla.”

Track 8: Even if you don’t give a good cahoot about it, “Respect Yourself” is still the second Top 40 hit for The Staple Singers.

Bringing you the hits of the ‘80s, it’s KFOE Radio, because we all want our MTV.

Track 9: Heed the warning of Hall and Oates. Watch out boy. Here she comes. She’s a “Maneater.”

Track 10: You know it’s “Take On Me” by A-Ha as soon as that opening bar comes through.

Track 11: Madness scored their first hit with “Our House.” They released a string of great singles in the early 1980s that should have all been hits, but they only had two.

Track 12: Songs From The Big Chair was one of the best albums of the MTV era. Tears For Fears were one of the most sophisticated groups of the era. “Shout” was their biggest hit.

KFOE Radio is your home for classic rock. Kick out the jams.

Track 13: By the way, which one’s Pink? Maybe if you’d gotten an education, you would know that Pink Floyd is a band, not a person. Don’t be just “Another Brick In The Wall.” Eat your meat.

Track 14: Next up, Tom Petty “Runs Down A Dream.” Nice.

Track 15: Head East should have been a one-hit wonder with “Never Been Any Reason,” but the world isn’t fair.

Track 16: Dire Straits WERE a one-hit wonder for six years, thanks to their 1979 smash “Sultans of Swing,” before they dominated the airwaves in 1985 with their album Brothers In Arms.

Track 17: The weirdest accomplishment of the MTV era was that three dudes who made a career out of playing Texas blues in the 1970s became international superstars. ZZ Top are the last Top 40 band, alphabetically, and “Legs” was their first Top 10 hit.

Oh yeah, we’ve got the funk at KFOE Radio. And the old school soul. It’s a vinyl revolution!

Track 18: Any day you hear some Stevie Wonder is a good day. “Superstition” is about as good as that gets.

Track 19: “Pick Up The Pieces” was the debut #1 smash for Scotland’s AWB. The Average White Band were the funkiest thing on the other side of the Atlantic in the 1970s.

Track 20: Every town has one. Here’s “Annie Mae’s Cafe” by Little Milton.

Track 21: “Reunited” by Peaches and Herb is old school.

KFOE brings a mix of the ‘70s, ‘80s, ‘90s, and more. All music, all the time.

Track 22: The Police were once the biggest band in the world, and it all started with “Roxanne” and her red light.

Track 23: John Mellencamp spent six years struggling to break it big before “Hurts So Good” hit #2 in 1982.

Track 24: That’s the letter U and the numeral 2, and who gives a shit? U2, that’s who. They are from Ireland, and “One” was on their album Achtung Baby.

Track 25: The Spin Doctors didn’t last long in the spotlight, but they wrote some catchy songs in the early ‘90s. This one is called “Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong.”

Track 26: Weezer has been writing catchy songs for over twenty-five years, including “Beverly Hills” from their 2005 album Make Believe.

KFOE Radio plays it all! Even head bangers. Rock!

Track 27: “Jump” was the only #1 hit for Van Halen.

Track 28: What better way to end the show than with the madman Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train?” All aboard!

Thanks for listening (and reading)!

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