Each Faux Show has a main theme and several mini-themes. On average, about 10-15 songs are based on the main theme. Occasionally the main themes are super themes where all songs in the show are based on the main theme. The mini-themes are sets of several songs based on a theme that ties them together for a reason other than the main theme.

Mini-themes (new ones added all the time)

2 for “Two”day: This is a play on the old classic rock format of “2 for Tuesday”, but since the Faux Show is released on Sunday I have replaced “Tuesday” with “Today” or “Twoday”. Get it? It is simply two songs by the same artist (or person).

3 Chunks of Funk: This is a set of 3 funk songs. I like funk music.

3 Chunks of Punk: This is a set of 3 punk songs, with a broad definition of what is punk.

’90s Hits: This is a set of songs that were hits in the ’90s, with a focus on the late ’90s.

A Little Bit of Soul: This is a set of songs with a focus on soul music from the ’60s and ’70s, because sometimes you need some soul in your flow.

A Little Jazz: This is a set of two or three jazz tunes. The artists cover all spectrums of jazz. There is a goal in including this theme: jazz is one of the most misunderstood forms of music and is treated by many people as music that only certain people can understand. The goal is to show that everyone can enjoy jazz and should not be scared to do so.

A Little Latin Jazz: This is a set of Latin jazz songs (see above).

All Hail Jim Steinman: This is a set of 3 songs produced by Jim Steinman, because sometimes you need to listen to something overly dramatic and bombastic.

As Seen On TV: This is a set of songs, usually from K-Tel albums, especially those that I owned as a kid.

The America’s Cup: This is a set of yacht-rock songs.

Bad ’80s: This is a set of songs with a focus on Top 10 hits from the ’80s that you probably don’t want to ever hear again. Why would I do this? I don’t know.

Bang Your Head: This is a set of songs from the Metal genre. All forms of metal are fair game.

Bet You Never Heard This: This is a set of songs with a focus on songs that I would imagine most people do not know, but were favorites of mine at some point in my life. The goal is to present artists that are not well known as opposed to unknown songs by popular artists.

Born to Sing Soul: This is a set of songs focused on the greatest soul singers. Jermaine Jackson need not apply.

Catch a Fire: This is a set of reggae songs. The name of this mini-theme is taken from the Bob Marley and the Wailers album, as if that wasn’t obvious.

City Pop: This is a set of City Pop songs, a genre of music popular in Japan in the late ’70s and ’80s.

Classic Rock Radio: This is a set of songs that would have been heard daily on classic rock radio stations in the ’80s, before classic rock started to include Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nirvana, and Collective Soul.

The CMJ New Music Report: This is a set of songs that were popular on college radio in the ’80s and early ’90s. The CMJ New Music Report was a publication put out as part of the College Media Journal. It ranked the songs currently being played on college radio.

Creation, Duplication, Inspiration, Theft: This is a set of original songs, covers, songs/artists influenced by those songs, and songs that sample from other songs or copy other songs, possibly ending up in court.

Difficult Listening: This may only be one song. The focus is on music that most people would not consider enjoyable to listen to. This does not mean music that I don’t like (for example, you will not find much modern country or modern rap music on the Faux Show) but rather artists or songs that push the boundaries of music, such as experimental electronic music, dissonant noise, avant-garde jazz, and so on.

Down at the Crossroads: This is a set of blues songs. The name of this mini-theme is based on the parable that Robert Johnson met the devil at the crossroads and sold his soul for the ability to play the blues.

Electronic Music: This is a set of songs that showcase the use of electronics throughout the history of recorded music, such as synths, tape effects, computers, and other digital techniques.

Facing My Waterloo: This is a set of songs from the Eurovision contests.

Faux Junior Recommends: This is a set of songs recommended by Faux Jr.

First Ladies of Jazz: This is a set of songs by the original female jazz vocalists, usually from the ’30s.

The Get Down: This is a set of songs by rap artists, usually from the ’90s and earlier, with a focus on music that uses sampling. I stole the name from the Netflix series about the origins of rap music in the ’70s.

Get the Led Out: This is actually just a reason to play Led Zeppelin once in a while, because sometimes you have to get the Led out.

Happy Birthday: This is a song selection choice as much as a mini-theme. Since the Faux Show is released on Sunday, these are artists (or people) who’s birthdays are that Sunday’s date.

Hit: This is a song selection choice as much as a mini-theme. Sometimes you just need to hear something familiar.

Hollywood Hits: This is a set of songs from Hollywood soundtracks.

Hoo Goo Foo Spoo: This is a set of songs by Hoodoo Gurus, Goo Goo Dolls, Foo Fighters, and Spoon, or other variations of this ridiculous concept.

How Did I Miss This One?: This is a set of songs from albums that I didn’t listen to when they were originally released and I am only now checking out.

I Want My MTV: This is a set of songs from the glory days of MTV in the early to mid ’80s.

I Write the Songs: This is a set of songs by singer/songwriters.

I’m A Little Bit Country: This is a set of songs by country artists, usually from the ’70s and earlier. Yes, I used to watch the Donny & Marie television show.

In Memoriam: This is a song selection choice as much as a mini-theme. It is occasionally used when artists have recently died.

Kindiegarten: This is a set of songs with a focus on those maligned, underappreciated artists who make music for children. This is a multi-million dollar segment of the music industry. Many of the artists are more talented than many current pop stars and deserve our attention.

Lady Soul: Similar to the Born to Sing Soul mini-theme, but female artists only, please.

Laughter is the Best Medicine: A selection of stand up comedy.

Let’s Dance: This is a set of songs that would have been heard in dance clubs when the songs were popular.

Let’s Take a Trip Around the World: This is a set of songs that brings together artists from countries other than the United States, with an emphasis on non-English speaking nations.

New: This is a song selection choice. I like to discover new music, so most shows have new releases by both old and new artists. “New” is usually music from the last few months.

New Wave: This is a set of songs from the late ’70s/early ’80s that would have been considered New Wave at the time, with a focus on British artists.

Nicknames: This is a set of songs by artists who go by “nicknames” (e.g., Freddy “Boom Boom” Cannon).

Piano People: This is a set of songs by piano playing pop musicians.

Random Word Generator: This is a set of songs based on words provided by the website randomwordgenerator.com.

Record Store Day: This is a set of songs from records recently purchased.

Records from the Stacks: This is a set of songs from old records I pull out of my collection, with a focus on stuff at least 50 years old.

The Redcoats Are Coming: This is a set of songs from the original British Invasion of the early-mid ’60s.

Sax in the ’70s: This is a set of songs from the ’70s that feature saxophone.

Seal of Approval: This is a set of songs by one musician with a connection to another musician. This may be records produced by an artist, artists who influenced another artist, and so on.

Shake Out the Sillies: This is a set of songs that are humorous in some way.

Shake Your Booty: This is a set of disco songs.

Solo Beatles: This is a set of four songs, one by each of the Beatles as solo artists.

Spending My Allowance: This is a set of songs that I bought as 45 rpm singles when I was a kid.

Take Off to the Great White North: This is a set of songs by Canadian artists. The name of this mini-theme is taken from the Bob and Doug McKenzie SCTV sketches.

ThreePete: This is a set of three songs by artists named Peter, Pete, etc.

Too Old to Rock and Roll: This is a set of new songs by old (or really old) artists. The name of this mini-theme is taken from the Jethro Tull album/song of the same name.

Top 10 R&B Crossover Hits: This is a set of songs that charted in the R&B Top 40 and also in the Billboard Top 10.

Two Minute Warning: This is a set of songs that are less then two minutes long.

Unsung Heroes of Rock and Roll: This is a set of songs by artists from the ’40s and ’50s (occasionally the ’60s) who had an influence on the early history of R&B and Rock and Roll. This is arguably my favorite mini-theme, so I have to keep myself from including it in every show. I stole the name of this mini-theme from a book written in the ’70s by Nick Tosches. It is one of the best music books ever written and is now, thankfully, back in print after years of searching through used book stores in order to buy it for friends as gifts.

Main Themes

A new Faux Show is released every Sunday.

Radio Faux Show Volume 1, Number 1 (March 7, 2021): Theme – Produced by Tony Visconti

Radio Faux Show Volume 1, Number 2 (March 14, 2021): Theme – Les Is More

Radio Faux Show Volume 1, Number 3 (March 21, 2021); Theme – All Gates Open

Radio Faux Show Volume 1, Number 4 (March 28, 2021): Theme – Fleetwood Mac

Radio Faux Show Volume 1, Number 5 (April 4, 2021): Theme – The Anti-Folk Movement

Radio Faux Show Volume 1, Number 6 (April 11, 2021): Theme – Keyboardist Ralph Schuckett

Radio Faux Show Volume 1, Number 7 (April 18, 2021): Theme – ’80s Album Openers

Radio Faux Show Volume 1, Number 8 (April 25, 2021): Theme – The Songs of Leiber and Stoller

Radio Faux Show Volume 1, Number 9 (May 2, 2021): Theme – Tarheel Born

Radio Faux Show Volume 1, Number 10 (May 9, 2021): Theme – I Come From a Land Down Under

Radio Faux Show Volume 1, Number 11 (May 16, 2021): Theme – Spending My Allowance

Radio Faux Show Volume 1, Number 12 (May 23, 2021): Super Theme – Creation, Duplication, Inspiration, and Theft

Radio Faux Show Volume 1, Number 13 (May 30, 2021): Theme – Bob Dylan

Radio Faux Show Volume 1, Number 14 (June 6, 2021): Theme – Drummer Roger Hawkins

Radio Faux Show Volume 1, Number 15 (June 13, 2021): Super Theme – Electronic Music

Radio Faux Show Volume 1, Number 16 (June 20, 2021): Theme – A Whole Bunch of Birthdays

Radio Faux Show Volume 1, Number 17 (June 27, 2021): Super Theme – Saxophones

Radio Faux Show Volume 1, Number 18 (July 4, 2021): Theme – Silver Anniversary

Radio Faux Show Volume 1, Number 19 (July 11, 2021): Theme – ’70s Singer/Songwriters

Radio Faux Show Volume 1, Number 20 (July 18, 2021): Theme – Harlem Cultural Festival

Radio Faux Show Volume 1, Number 21 (July 25, 2021): Theme – Golden Anniversary

Radio Faux Show Volume 1, Number 22 (August 1, 2021): Theme – Songs that Peaked at Number Forty on the Billboard Pop Singles Chart (Artists A-C)

Radio Faux Show Volume 1, Number 23 (August 8, 2021): Super Theme – California Artists

Radio Faux Show Volume 1, Number 24 (August 15, 2021): Theme – Sparks

Radio Faux Show Volume 1, Number 25 (August 22, 2021): Super Theme – Around the World in 30 Songs

Radio Faux Show Volume 1, Number 26 (August 29, 2021): Theme – Television Show Theme Songs

Radio Faux Show Volume 1, Number 27 (September 5, 2021): Theme – 10-Year Anniversary

Radio Faux Show Volume 1, Number 28 (September 12, 2021): Super Theme – Music from 2021 (So Far)

Radio Faux Show Volume 1, Number 29 (September 19, 2021): Theme – As Heard on TV

Radio Faux Show Volume 1, Number 30 (September 26, 2021): Theme – Days of the Week

Radio Faux Show Volume 1, Number 31 (October 3, 2021): Theme – A Whole Bunch of Birthdays

Radio Faux Show Volume 1, Number 32 (October 10, 2021): Super Theme – Female Artists A-Z (Part 1 – A to M)

Radio Faux Show Volume 1, Number 33 (October 17, 2021): Super Theme – Female Artists A-Z (Part 2 – N to Z)

Radio Faux Show Volume 1, Number 34 (October 24, 2021): Super Theme – Halloween

Radio Faux Show Volume 1, Number 35 (October 31, 2021): Theme – Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Snubs

Radio Faux Show Volume 1, Number 36 (November 7, 2021): Theme – First of October

Radio Faux Show Volume 1, Number 37 (November 14, 2021): Super Theme – The Beatles

Radio Faux Show Volume 1, Number 38 (November 21, 2021): Theme – Peaked at # 40 (Artists D-F)

Radio Faux Show Volume 1, Number 39 (November 28, 2021): Super Theme – Merry Xmas

Radio Faux Show Volume 1, Number 40 (December 5, 2021): Super Theme – Happy Holidays

Radio Faux Show Volume 1, Number 41 (December 12, 2021): Super Theme – Ring Them Jingle Bells

Radio Faux Show Volume 1, Number 42 (December 19, 2021): Super Theme – Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

Radio Faux Show Volume 1, Number 43 (December 26, 2021): Super Theme – Best of 2021

Radio Faux Show Volume 2, Number 1 (January 2, 2022): Super Theme – In Memoriam 2021 (Part One)

Radio Faux Show Volume 2, Number 2 (January 9, 2022): Super Theme – In Memoriam 2021 (Part Two)

Radio Faux Show Volume 2, Number 3 (January 16, 2022): Theme – extraterrestrial

Radio Faux Show Volume 2, Number 4 (January 23, 2022): Theme – Silver Anniversary

Radio Faux Show, Volume 2, Number 5 (January 30, 2022): Theme – Themeless

Radio Faux Show, Volume 2 Number 6 (February 6, 2022): Theme – Bestsellers

Radio Faux Show, Volume 2 Number 7 (February 13, 2022): Theme – Desert Island Discs

Radio Faux Show, Volume 2 Number 8 (February 20, 2022): Theme – Embrace the Unknown

Radio Faux Show, Volume 2 Number 9 (February 27, 2022): Theme – Contractually Obligated Disco Recordings

Radio Faux Show, Volume 2 Number 10 (March 6, 2022): Theme – Kinks Kovers

Radio Faux Show One Year Anniversary (March 7, 2022): Fantasy Top 40 Countdown

Radio Faux Show, Volume 2 Number 11 (March 13, 2022): Theme – Springbok Puzzle “Play That Beat”

Radio Faux Show, Volume 2 Number 12 (March 20, 2022): Theme – Music Is History (1971-80)

Radio Faux Show, Volume 2 Number 13 (March 27, 2022): Theme – Music of Ukraine

Radio Faux Show, Volume 2 Number 14 (April 3, 2022): Theme – New Music

Radio Faux Show, Volume 2 Number 15 (April 10, 2022): Theme – Bassist Richard Davis

Radio Faux Show, Volume 2 Number 16 (April 17, 2022): Theme – 10-Year Anniversary

Radio Faux Show, Volume 2 Number 17 (April 24, 2022): Theme – Album Openers

Radio Faux Show, Volume 2 Number 18 (May 8, 2022): Theme – Better Late Than Never

Radio Faux Show, Volume 2 Number 19 (May 22, 2022): Theme – Recently Listened To

Radio Faux Show, Volume 2 Number 20 (June 5, 2022): Theme – Random Artists A-Z

Radio Faux Show, Volume 2 Number 21 (June 19, 2022): Theme – Country Crossover Hits

Radio Faux Show, Volume 2 Number 22 (June 26, 2022): Theme – Was It A Top 40 Hit?

Radio Faux Show, Volume 2 Number 23 (July 3, 2022): Theme – Peaked At # 40 (Artists G-J)

Radio Faux Show, Volume 2 Number 24 (July 10, 2022): Theme – Best of 2022 (So Far)

Radio Faux Show, Volume 2 Number 25 (July 17, 2022): Theme – Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Snubs Part One (Female Artists)

Radio Faux Show, Volume 2 Number 26 (July 24, 2022): Theme – Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Snubs Part Two (Personal Selections)

Radio Faux Show Blog One Year Anniversary: A Look Back (July 27, 2022)

Radio Faux Show, Volume 2 Number 27 (July 31, 2022): Theme – Music From 1972 (Part One)

Radio Faux Show, Volume 2 Number 28 (August 7, 2022): Theme – Music From 1972 (Part Two)

Radio Faux Show, Volume 2 Number 29 (August 14, 2022): Theme – Around The World In 29 Songs

Radio Faux Show, Volume 2 Number 30 (August 21, 2022): Theme – Trouser Press Record Guide

Radio Faux Show, Volume 2 Number 31 (August 28, 2022): Theme – Some Of My Favorite Records You May Not Have Heard Before

Radio Faux Show, Volume 2 Number 32 (September 4, 2022): Theme – Food

Radio Faux Show, Volume 2 Number 33 (September 11, 2022): Theme – Born in 1922

Radio Faux Show, Volume 2 Number 34 (September 18, 2022): Theme – Artists With One-Word Names (A-Z)

Radio Faux Show, Volume 2 Number 35 (September 25, 2022): Theme – National Recording Registry Part One (Pre-1955)