Episódios

  • OS93: Mean Old World

    OS93: Mean Old World
    Mar 10 2026
    It’s been just about a year since Professor Mikey pulled out an Old School podcast entitled Brave New World. You can dial it up anytime anywhere you get your podcasts. I bring this up only because there are those who may think this particular episode is flying just a little too close to the 21st Century sunshine in tone and manner. Like Icarus singing “Here Comes the Sun” after a long cold lonely winter, this particular theme may indeed get singed wings and a quick trip down to terra firma.Enough similes and beatitudes. The theme for Old School episode 93 is MEAN OLD WORLD.Most of us need no convincing that there is a lot of meanness afoot. Not rudeness, not antipathy, just plain old rotten meanness. The kind you get from a portion of the population made up of jerks, tightwads, miscreants, lost loves, and bill collectors.So how can a set of music temper the ill effects of a Mean Old World. It ain’t easy, but this Old School lesson plan will try.Exhibit A.Humans are wired with what psychologists call negativity bias. Bad news grabs our attention faster than good news because, evolutionarily, ignoring danger could get you eaten by a tiger.So the brain remembers insults, losses, and dangers much more vividly than pleasant moments.Which leads to the famous newsroom rule: “If it bleeds, it leads.”Turn on the news from commercial radio, a source that fears for it’s FCC license. Or from public radio, an outlet that can no longer rely on government funding to supplement the truth.Media coverage amplifies that paranoid instinct we all share, focusing on disasters, war, and the price of eggs, rather than slow improvements. Over time that creates the feeling that everything is going to shit—even when many long-term indicators are improving.Then there is declinism–the belief that society is going to hell in a handbasket. For a long time now, at least ever since we began receiving instant news, we feel everything used to be better. So nostalgia and the love of old time rock and roll becomes even more important.Another weird fact. Where most people feel the world as a whole is getting worse, they feel their own lives will improve.Today we are going to spin tunes much older than that. Cautionary hits and deep cuts from more hopeful times. Are times better now than when these joints dropped. It is too heavy for me, that’s why I hide in an imaginary radio school with the curtains drawn and the volume cranked. We begin with a little show and tell from two honor students.Duane Allman plays a 1930s Dobro/Regal wooden-body resonator guitar using a Coricidin bottle for a slide. Eric Clapton accompanies him on acoustic guitar, with both playing in open G tuning.Welcome to Professor Mikey’s Old School, this is episode 93. Mean Old World.Mean Old World - Little WalterKing Heroin (Inst) - James BrownMean Old World - Duane Allman & Eric ClaptonMean Woman Blues - Roy OrbisonMama He Treats Your Daughter Mean - Ruth BrownMean and Evil - Elmore JamesMe and the Devil - Gil Scott-HeronEvil - Howlin’ WolfMean to Me - Dean MartinMean Mr. Mustard - The BeatlesKilling Floor - Electric FlagLonesome, On’ry, and Mean - Waylon JenningsWorld of Trouble - Big Joe TurnerMean When I’m Mad - Eddie CochranThe Unknown Soldier - The DoorsWar - Edwin StarrMean Old World - Sam CookeEnjoy the Silence - Depeche ModeCruel to be Kind - Nick LoweProfessor Mikey here, getting ready to put a cap on the nasty and draw the shades temporarily on Episode 93 of Old School, Mean Old World. It gets really mean out there, but the music can smooth those cosmic rough edges, especially with songs like our closer from Nick Lowe. A true cure for a world gone mean.If you are curious about the songs you just heard, you can listen to this podcast again anywhere you get your podcasts. The playlist is actually written down on the Old School newsletter which you can ready or subscribe to for free anytime at professormikey.substack.com.This episode had its share of samples and easter eggs along the way, including clips from the movie Devils Advocate with Al Pacino and Keanu Reeves, the instrumental background to James Brown’s “King Heroin,” Jack Nicholson in “A Few Good Men,” a real Coca Cola commercial with Roy Orbison, Kevin Spacey in “The Usual Suspects,” James Spader in the TV Series The Blacklist now available on Netflix, HBO’s series The Sopranos, The David Letterman Show with guest star Eminem, and US Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon. Any and all music heard resides within the public domain or is used within the guidelines of fair use provided for in Section 107 of the copyright act of 1976.I’m Professor Mikey, join me next time on Old School. It gets really mean out there, but the music can smooth those cosmic rough edges, especially with songs like our closer from Nick Lowe. A true cure for a world gone mean.Here’s the link from our most recent world view:Thanks for reading and listening to Professor Mikey's OLD...
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    1 hora e 3 minutos
  • OLD SCHOOL Redux 4 (Episodes 11,12,13,14)

    OLD SCHOOL Redux 4 (Episodes 11,12,13,14)
    Feb 11 2026
    About once a year when Professor Mikey gets overloaded by projects and time tripping (human flight is possible, you must focus on the negative spaces) we revisit the early sessions of Old School when each episode included around four songs and ran about 15 min. Now that I’m told by the experts that podcast attention spans run about 45 secs I should be seeing the errors of my ways. Still, I hang on to the fantasy that listeners and audio explorers alike enjoy hearing whole songs, even though every Top 40 hit or Underground classic may hit the three minute mark, or even stretch into the unknown that comes with 7-minute tunes. Remember Alan Shepard’s first space flight was just 15 minutes, 22 seconds, two minutes shorter than Iron Butterfly’s “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida.”The original texts that accompanied these early episodes are included below and you can find those shows online at professormikey.substack.com. I think you will enjoy this foursome that includes LA garage, London prog rock, Memphis soul, original blues that inspired Led Zeppelin, excursions into the unknown, and the banshee bop from a St. Patrick’s Day jukebox.That’s the long and short of Professor Mikey’s preschool in the Old School episodes Eleven through Fourteen, where the Past is a Blast!SOMETIMES GOOD GUYS DON’T WEAR WHITE The StandellsThe Standells from Los Angeles will always be remembered for taking their garage sound all the way to number 11 on the pop charts with their ode to Boston “Dirty Water.” Lead singer/drummer Dick Dodd had been a Mousketeer on the Mickey Mouse Club. Larry Tamblyn, on the keyboards, was the brother of Russ Tamblyn who had starred in West Side Story. Tony Valentino had left Italy to go to Hollywood, and Gary Leeds eventually found himself in the Walker Brothers. They are caught on film in “Get Yourself a College Girl,” and “Riot on Sunset Strip” and even appeared in the TV sitcom The Munsters. As far as bands go, they have a great gritty sound and they really capture the summer of ’66, in that precious time after the British Invasion and before psychedelics. Here’s the Standells from their first album and Some Times Good Guys Don’t Wear White…BACK STREET LUV Curved AirCurved Air emerged on the prog rock scene in London in 1969 when members of the band Sisyphus added female singer Sonja Kristina Linwood. They took their name from a Terry Riley composition, “A Rainbow in Curved Air.” The vocals were the last step in their puzzle, but a very big part of their sounds were the sonic violin antics of Darryl Way. The band lasted from 1970 to 76, but time has not been particularly kind to this band. One of the reasons could be sloppy remasters of their CDs. With that in mind, we go back to the original vinyl and hear a forgotten masterpiece.SON OF SHAFT The Bar-KaysThe Bar-Kays were a Memphis soul ensemble that began life as an instrumental group, then faced the solemn task of rebuilding after major tragedy. Four members of the original group died in the plane crash that also claimed the life of Otis Redding in December of 1967. Trumpeter Ben Cauley survived the crash, bassist James Alexander had missed the flight. The group they assembled would back Isaac Hayes on his album Hot Buttered Soul. Cauley and his new guitarist Michael Toles also played on the Shaft soundtrack, which brings us to this cut, recorded Christmas Day 1971 with singer Larry Dodson.OLD SCHOOL #12 Led Zeppelin UncoveredThe Plebs 1964, Otis Rush 1956, Muddy Waters 1962Led Zeppelin is one of the most litigated bands in history. Like The Beatles, it is a big payday for any artist when a jury of their peers finds even a snippet of a song may originated elsewhere. Forget that Jimmy Page, John Bonham, Robert Plant, and John Paul Jones (the bassist who stole his name from a famous navy admiral), might have improved the original. Bottom line, when an artist sells nearly 300 million albums, there is a significant bottom line.The band maintains all titles were researched for proper accreditations. Memphis Minnie was listed as a songwriter for “When the Levee Breaks,” updated by Led Zep 1971, and received healthy residuals. Randy California of Spirit sued over “Stairway to Heaven,” claiming the opening notes were way to close to his instrumental composition “Taurus” from 1968. His heirs were still in court when California passed in 1997. The dispute ended in Zeppelin’s favor in 2020.For a good legal brief on Led Zeppelin in court, check out this testimonial from Rolling Stone.Today we hear three tunes from the first Zeppelin LP that were mostly controversy free. “Babe I’m Going to Leave You” came from a Joan Baez recording of a song written in the Fifties by Anne Breton. Here we get it from the pop prep rambling Plebs. Willie Dixon was correctly identified as the composer of the other two songs, as we hear pre-Zep versions of “I Can’t Quit You’ from Otis Rush and Muddy Waters on “You Shook Me....
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    1 hora e 6 minutos
  • OS92 Psychedelic Ceremony

    OS92 Psychedelic Ceremony
    Jan 24 2026
    Professor Mikey here, going through boxes of forgotten psychedelic gems. There’s a little bit of everything: RUBIES, diamonds, sapphires.No sooner had the garage phase of rock and roll kicked in when it was joined in an electrical romance by the sounds of psychedelia. Mind bending songs of fever dreams and mutated fairy tales took up their own hallucinogenic airspace. Artists expanded their horizons with kaleidoscopic under the counter pharmaceuticals. The mind blowing effects of LSD, mescaline, magic mushrooms, and what ever else might bend reality altered normal brainwaves into fountains of color and memory. The stars became a dot to dot puzzle and the consciousness expanding less than legal substances connected the dots.Before we overdose on the introduction, self realize that this is not a history of psychedelics, its just a walk in the wobbly woods. From late 1966 until half past Woodstock, music in general got a synthetic kick in these very personal moonlight serenades.Author Michael Hicks explained :“To understand what makes music stylistically “psychedelic,” one should consider three fundamental effects of LSD: dechronicization, depersonalization, and dynamization. Dechronicization permits the drug user to move outside of conventional perceptions of time. Depersonalization allows the user to lose the self and gain an “awareness of undifferentiated unity.” Dynamization, as [Timothy] Leary wrote, makes everything from floors to lamps seem to bend, as “familiar forms dissolve into moving, dancing structures”... Music that is truly “psychedelic” mimics these three effects.pSYCHEDELIC cEREMONY pLaYLiStis everybody in? the doors with william burroughsmy crystal spider sweetwaterLSD / midnight to six man the pretty thingsNo silver bird the hooterville trolleyValleys of neptune jimi hendrixMagic colors teddy robin and the playboysMy mirage iron butterflyMatilda Mother pink floydparallelograms linda perhacsthe red telephone lovetwo heads jefferson airplanethe sounds ten years aftera thousand shadows the seedspsychedelic shack the temptationsitchycoo park small facesMusic created under the influence of LSD and other psychedelic drugs—primarily known as psychedelic rock or acid rock—is designed to replicate, enhance, and mirror the altered states of consciousness induced by these substances.Technically and stylistically, this music is described by several core characteristics:1. Sound and Studio TechniquesMusicians used cutting-edge production to mimic the sensory effects of a “trip,” such as depersonalization and dechronicization (the bending of time).Layered Audio Effects: Frequent use of extreme reverb, phasing, flanging, and echo to create swirling, disorienting soundscapes.Tape Manipulation: Use of backward tape loops and reverse recording to create surreal, dreamlike atmospheres (notably in The Beatles’ “Tomorrow Never Knows”).Panning: Moving sound aggressively from one side of the stereo track to the other to create an immersive, moving “soundstage”. 2. InstrumentationPsychedelic music often incorporates non-traditional or electronic instruments to expand the listener’s sonic reality. Electric Guitar Effects: Heavy use of feedback, fuzzboxes, and wah-wah pedals.Exotic Influences: Integration of Indian classical instruments like the sitar and tabla to provide “Eastern flavors” and drone-like textures.Early Synthesis: Use of keyboard instruments like the Mellotron (an early sampler), the theremin, and electronic organs to provide haunting or “trippy” textures. 3. Compositional StructureThe music often departs from standard 3-minute pop formulas. Fluid Structures: Abandonment of traditional verse-chorus-bridge formats in favor of disjunctive or free-form arrangements.Extended Improvisation: Lengthy, “rambling” instrumental jams and solos (central to bands like the Grateful Dead and Pink Floyd) that allow for musical exploration.Tempo and Key Changes: Sudden shifts in rhythm and unconventional time signatures meant to create a sense of instability or “vibrant textures”. 4. Lyrical ThemesLyrics often diverge from straightforward narratives to explore the internal landscape. Abstract and Surreal: Use of whimsical, esoteric, or dreamlike imagery that often alludes to the drug experience itself.Literary Inspiration: Many songs drew from authors like Aldous Huxley or Timothy Leary (whose The Psychedelic Experience manual heavily influenced The Beatles).Philosophical Focus: Exploration of inner consciousness, social transformation, and a sense of “unity” or “interconnectedness”I hope you’ve enjoyed this Psychedelic Ceremony on Old School. The previous hour or whatever it eventually ended up being was not intended to endorse or condemn hallucinogenic drugs, but rather to explore some of songs that were heavily influenced by this mystery trend, mostly of the late 60s. I find the edgy, weird, and a lot of fun so if you have some favorites you ...
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    1 hora e 11 minutos
  • OS#39a: New Year's Revolution

    OS#39a: New Year's Revolution
    Jan 1 2026

    Welcome to a Retro New Year’s celebration from the before times! Professor Mikey, a firm believer in the healing and hopeful aspects of music, takes off on another holiday musical expedition, this time to discover the heart of everybody's favorite midnight party.

    What is a Lang Syne? And how Auld is it? What do Bing Crosby, Spike Jones, and Blind Lemon Jefferson have in common? Do New Year's Resolutions really work? Is the best New Year's duet of all time sung by Otis Redding and Carla Thomas? And what's Carl Sagan doing in here? Don’t say he is back to tell us not to look up!

    These and other timely questions are answered in this full hour celebration of New Year's music. Plug in and buckle up, it’s going to be a bumpy year. Get ready for Blues classics like Smokey Hogg's "New Year's Eve Blues" from 1948, a New Year's Eve 1970 appearance by Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, an absolute wacko resolution romp with the City Slickers and many, many more. The genres melt into each other, the human condition gets a good going over, and we all resolve to be better next year!

    Happy New Year, push play, and be sure to click and download New Year’s Revolution to your podcast player!

    Playlist

    What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve? King Curtis

    Happy New Year Spike Jones and His City Slickers

    Let's Start the New Year Right Bing Crosby

    Happy New Year Blues Blind Lemon Jefferson

    Auld Lang Syne John Fahey

    Auld Lang Syne Frank Sinatra/Dean Martin

    Auld Lang Syne The Beach Boys

    Auld Lang Syne The Cucumbers

    New Year's Resolution Otis Redding/Carla Thomas

    What a Year for a New Year Dan Wilson

    A Glorious Dawn Carl Sagan

    Happy New Year Lightnin' Hopkins

    New Year's Eve Blues Smokey Hogg

    New Year's Resolution Blues Roy Milton Solid Senders

    New Year's Resolutions Scary Gary Alan

    What Are You Doing New Year's Eve Nancy Wilson

    The Closing of the Year The Musical Cast of Toys feat. Wendy & Lisa

    Auld Lang Syne Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians

    Professor Mikey's OLD SCHOOL is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support the leap into 2026, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.



    This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit professormikey.substack.com/subscribe
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    56 minutos
  • OS90: Lounging Around the Christmas Tree

    OS90: Lounging Around the Christmas Tree
    Dec 21 2025

    There is something about true lounge music that is slightly radical. It’s not another kind of rock n roll. I haven’t had that much egg nog. But still it is a departure for most of these artists because of the audiences they were used to playing to.

    You’ve seen them, smoking and knocking down martinis two at a time. Hanging out in the clubs and hotel hideaways on Mad Men. Providing seductive and mysterious backgrounds in old movies. Everybody dressed to the nines, our parents and grandparent’s generations, looking for a late night don’t kiss don’t tell hookup.

    But when the biggies of that era of music switch to Christmas music, there’s a bit of a warm and wacky disconnect. Somewhere, deep down, the singer knows he or she shouldn’t be singing in a swanky saloon. The old suave crooner know they should be home with the first wife and her children on Christmas, not showing up sometime before New Years with a limo full of toys.

    It’s for the kids, you know? And that damn cowboy Gene Autry made a mint right next to the old corral when he had 15 minutes left in a recording session and relented to his wife’s wishes and recorded “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”

    All that aside, here is a glimpse at that diamond ring and Cadillac world from a place way in the future. It’s a Marshmallow World of White Russians and Hot Buttered Rums, and baby, it’s cold outside.

    The Old School format is slightly different here. I took some mixer’s liberties that this music usually doesn’t experience. It has a more presentational form because it was created for public radio stations around the company to use over the holidays and perhaps move some Santa in the snow to make a small donation to an industry that has received nothing but coal lumps all year long.

    So hop on for the ride. It’s slick, its hot, its ritzy and glitzy and downright weird at points. Perfect for a celebration, for background while you are ripping into presets, for whatever floats your Deville. Think of it as mink seatcovers from another time.

    Merry Christmas Baby, you sure did treat me nice.

    —Professor Mikey

    Professor Mikey's OLD SCHOOL is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

    Thanks for reading Professor Mikey's OLD SCHOOL! This post is public so feel free to share it.



    This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit professormikey.substack.com/subscribe
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    1 hora
  • OS89 - Chill Christmas

    OS89 - Chill Christmas
    Dec 16 2025
    Ever since I was a tot with a tape recorder, I attempted to make annual mixtapes as others might try to fashion handmade Christmas gifts. As my studios got better the quality of the tapes got better. They progressed from cassettes to CDs to digital on and on into the future.This year, to avoid too much extra work during the holidays, I’m, posting the 2010 offering “Professor Mikey’s Chill Christmas” basically in it’s original version. It’s been offered to public radio stations via the Public Radio Exchange for 15 years. CHILL Fact #1 — The Coldest Planet“Quick chill check: the coldest planet in our solar system isn’t Pluto — it’s Uranus. Temperatures there dip to nearly minus 370 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s cold enough to make a snowman reconsider his life choices.”The format is similar to the semi-regular Old School offering save for a particular detail. For the original Christmas tapes I did most of not all of my talking in the opening couple of minutes, leaving the rest of the hour (sometimes longer) as one long set. None of this “that was here come” radio jive. Huh-uh! My take was people might like to hear me saying Merry Christmas ya’ll for a bit, then they would prefer I shut up and give them a nice long stretch of hits, misses, quirky unknowns, comedy, lost commercials, and anyything else that might seem needed to complete an audio fruit cake.CHILL Fact #2 — Coldest Temperature on Earth“The coldest temperature ever recorded on Earth was minus 128.6 degrees Fahrenheit, measured in Antarctica in 1983. At that temperature, exposed skin freezes in seconds — which is why nobody hosts Christmas there.”So journey with me now back to 2010. It’s not all oldies, there are a lot of 2008 and 2009 Indie Yule offerings in there. Obama was in his second year in the White House, as the snow gently fell upon the Rose Garden.CHILL Fact #3 — Coldest Drink on Record“The coldest drink ever served? A martini chilled with liquid nitrogen can hit temperatures below minus 320 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s technically drinkable… briefly… and best enjoyed by people with very good dental insurance.”Key Issues for Americans in 2010:Economy & Jobs: The top concern, with widespread worry about unemployment (nearly 10% nationally, higher for youth/minorities) and creating jobs after the recession.National Security: Defending against future terrorist attacks remained a high priority.Budget Deficit: Growing concern about the national debt and government spending.Energy: Dealing with the nation’s energy problems was a key concern, though slightly less than the year before.Financial Stress: Money, work, and the economy were major sources of stress for individuals.CHILL Fact #4 — Why Winter Sounds Quieter“Snow absorbs sound. That’s why winter nights feel hushed and intimate — like the world put down its phone and leaned closer to the music.”CHILL Fact #5 — Chill Before the Fridge“Before refrigerators, people cut blocks of ice from frozen lakes and stored them in sawdust. In some places, that ice lasted all summer. Which explains why old-time cocktails were so serious about their chill.”Major Events Shaping Concerns 2010:Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: A major environmental and political disaster that dominated headlines, leading to criticism of the government’s response.Affordable Care Act (Obamacare): Passed in 2010, it sparked national debate and division over the government’s role in healthcare.Political Polarization: The rise of the Tea Party movement reflected deep partisan divides, particularly around economic issues and government’s size.Here is some of the original CHILL language:The word “chill,” as it relates to weather, was first used in England sometime before the 12th century. Thomas Beckett himself might have said the word CHILL to describe a sensation of cold accompanied by shivering. Chill, as in to chill out, took another 800 years to properly evolve. According to the Oxford Dictionary of Modern slang, it was first used in the Reagan era, around 1982. As an intransitive verb, used mainly in the United States, the modern definition of CHILL means “to become less tense, relax.”A little later in linguistic history, the Urban Dictionary reports an expanded version of the term “chillin’ like a villain.” To wit, to relax in such an overtly leisurely manner that one mimics the actions of a criminal who is so removed from society because of his evil deeds that he has no choice but to surrender and retreat into a state of absolute serenity. Example: “I’m so chillin like a villain I’m just illin.” To rest like one has no care in the world. To unwind and relax as though a major burden has been lifted.Thanks for reading Professor Mikey's OLD SCHOOL! This post is public so feel free to share it.The new meaning of chill puts a whole other twist on this year’s seasonal soundtrack. Become less tense? Relax? Absolute serenity? Can you think...
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    1 hora
  • WORLD WAR II RADIO CHRISTMAS (Enhanced)

    WORLD WAR II RADIO CHRISTMAS (Enhanced)
    Dec 5 2025

    Hello and happy holidays from the war zone! This edition is mostly about the audio which you can click on above. Subscribers can download it as a podcast. This show was originally aired in 2023, but it is evergreen to go every December from here on out. If you are a member of the Greatest Generation, or have one as friend or family, you will get a kick out of V for Victory and X for Xmas. Compiled from archival sources, it rolls like a tank into Berlin, blaring radio broadcasts, big bands, commentators, celebrities, and many more memories that bring you home for Christmas.

    As we get further away in time from the second World War, we tend to lose track of what life felt like during wartime.

    America’s entry into World War Two began 17 days before Christmas on Dec 8, 1941. For the next five holiday seasons “peace on earth” went on hiatus.

    What you’ll hear is not a history of World War Two, or a sugar plum romp through precarious yuletides. Most of this originated at Christmas time and was constantly by interrupted by breaking bulletins. It is a sound montage that features the newscasters and entertainers of the time communicating with their vast unseen audiences.

    It is a dark time. For much of the world, 1941 marks the third year of a war that has seen the German occupation of many European countries. War does not take a holiday.

    On the radio, it’s bombs and jingle all the way, starring Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, the Andrews Sisters, Abbot and Costello, Fats Waller, Benny Goodman, Judy Garland, Francis Langford, Dinah Shore, Glenn Miller, and the men and women of the greatest generation.



    This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit professormikey.substack.com/subscribe
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    59 minutos
  • OS88- Freedom of the Press (I Heard the News)

    OS88- Freedom of the Press (I Heard the News)
    Nov 18 2025
    Professor Mikey here in the Old School, with a podcast that celebrates Freedom of the Press, the true buzz you get when you are kept aware of the world going on around you by true professionals who have no fear about job security because they have been hired to tell the truth.You got it. A rock and roll Old School episode that shouts out the greatest of newspapers like the New York Times , Mother Jones, and Rolling Stone. The best news reporters, like Walter Cronkite, John Chancellor, Clark Kent, and Kaitlin Collins. The best journalists like Lester Bangs, Anderson Cooper, Lillian Hellman, and Hunter S. Thompson. The list goes on. But this is a cautionary tale because we really only think about Freedom of the Press when it is under attack.Before we rock, take note that in 2005 American newspapers reached 50 million readers. Today that number is down to below 20 million. Newspapers are shutting down at the rate of about ten a month. Over the last 20 years 2,866 newspapers have vanished.Being aware of the news was always on the minds of rock stars. Like Elvis said:“I heard the news, I heard the news, I heard the news. There’s good rocking tonight.) John and Paul read the news today, oh boy. Bob Dylan knew you didn’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.Any relationship between the news of the past and what’s happening today is strictly intentional. I’m just waiting for Rachel Maddow to quote Janis Joplin: “Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose.”The number of newspapers are down, but great news coverage is available on your phone. If you ever hear anyone publicly bashing news and truth, justice and the American way be suspicious. Be very suspicious.Coming up we drop the needle on REM from their 1987 album Document. Joe McCarthy, the junior senator from Wisconsin made a lot of headlines in the early 50s as he carried out an honest to witch witch hunt across government and military lines in an attempt to out alleged communists. Finding Communists in the State Department was McCarthy’s generations weapons of mass destruction. What tripped him up was the Freedom of the Press, as championed by Edward R Murrow. Here’s the story behind the song Exhuming McCarthy from REM:The First Amendment is always #1 on the charts and it should be in our hearts and minds.Thanks for reading Professor Mikey's OLD SCHOOL! This post is public so feel free to share it.🇺🇸Freedom of the Playlist🏴‍☠️📻Extra Extra*Tommy Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1975)/Sunday Papers*Joe Jackson (1979)/Yesterday’s Papers*The Rollling Stones (1967)/News of the World*The Cure (1978)/Newspaper Mama*Peter Combe (1988)/Get Your Paper*Eddie Fisher (1953)/You Haven’t Done Nothing*Stevie Wonder (1974)/Don’t Believe the Hype*Public Enemy (1988)/The Revolution Will Not Be Televised*Gil-Scott Heron (1971)/TV Weatherman*Lothar and the Hand People (1968)/Exhuming Joe McCarthy*REM (1987)/ Pledging My Love*Johnny Ace/The Late Great Johnny Ace*Paul Simon/A Day in the Life ()*The Beatles (1967)/7:00 News-Silent Night*Simon and Garfunkel (1966)Amendment 1️⃣Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.Most of what you have just heard was inspired by the news of the day, something that has been protected by our revolutionary forefathers since 1789 when it was ratified in the original Bill of Rights. Much of this has referred to the importance as well as the commonality of a free press. Our closing set however is a bit more personal. Songs about how we remember where we were or what we were doing when we heard disturbing news.It begins with Johnny Ace, a 25 year old singing star who accidentally took his own life backstage in Houston Texas on December 25, 1954.Early reports suggested a game of Russian Roulette. Later eyewitness reports said that Ace had been drinking, and was merely playing with his pistol. As for “Pledging My Love” it hit #1 on the R&B chart on February 12, 1955 and stayed there for 10 weeks. Sad but true Johnny Ace became the first act to reach the Billboard pop charts only after death.Nearly 30 years later, Paul Simon wrote about the event in the second song in the set.” In that one he mentions another artist, who sings in the following song about the demise of a 21 year old Irish socialite. Because this song is so famous, Old School decided to air a lesser known version of various outtakes recorded in January and February of 1967, about a month after the fatal car accident that inspired the work in the first place.As we near the 60th anniversary of the recording of the last song, Paul Simon returns with partner Art Garfunkel to perform a Christmas song that was first recorded in 1905. The duo recorded it over a series of 1966 headlines, ...
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    58 minutos