It is here: the 11th annual Vinyl Christmas, streaming now until December 27.
We have thousands of tracks, all taken from vinyl albums. If you are old enough, you may remember the albums that were sold by hardware stores like True Value and Ace Hardware. Plus, Firestone and Goodyear also famously sold albums, too.
These albums are great and we have several dozen in our collection. Our newest edition is this one from True Value:
This one is from 1978. The first True Value "Happy Holidays" album came out in 1965. So this is a Christmas tradition at its best. Here is an ad for the Goodyear album, Great Songs of Christmas, which sold for $1 in 1969:
And yes, we have that one in our collection, too!
So tune in to Vinyl Voyage Radio to listen to these gems from the past.
Most radio stations that play Christmas music often over-play certain songs -- and neglect the classics. Not here at Vinyl Voyage Radio. We have an extensive collection of Christmas Classics -- all on glorious vinyl! And that is the what Vinyl Christmas is all about!
Since we started doing this in 2012, our collection has grown and keeps growing. We have classics from the 40s to today -- everything from Sinatra to The Four Seasons, from Arthur Fiedler to 101 Strings, from R2D2 & C3PO to Ferrante & Teicher. And all of played from original vinyl.
So grab a cup of hot chocolate (or a hot toddy) and tune in from December 21-December 27 for the best Christmas mix on the planet.
On the platter is a 45 rpm disc from 1981 -- The Little River band with "The Night Owls." I don;t know about you, but this one brings me back! Listen on wednesday, 11am and 11pm (Eastern).
this song reminds me of the short-lived "Night Owls" digital TV program that aired in select markets in the early 80s. I wrote about this 10 years ago. Check it out below the picture.
(From February, 2013)
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 River Band song and thought it would make a good theme to the program.
Nite-Owl premiered in September of 1981 and was attracting some 75,000 viewers a night within a year. The company then expanded and started charging a fee, but it soon died out by 1984.
Here's a promo for the premiere of Nite-Owl from 1981:
The service was provided via teletex, which was hooked up into the computers at the Chicago Sun-Times. The editorial office for Keyfax was located in Elk Grove Village where editors typed up the copy and sent it back to WFLD in Chicago over a telephone line. The service was paid for through advertising placed between the 100 or so pages that scrolled throughout the night.
Nite-Owl, although archaic by today's standards, was really ahead of its time. It foreshadowed 24 hour news channels and internet RSS feeds. It looked much like the on-line bulletin boards and dial-up services of the early and mid-1990s. Remember Prodigy and Compuserve? Nite-Owl looked just like those 1990 internet gateways.
It's a brand new month here at Vinyl Voyage Radio, and you know what that means! New music! We have 20 new albums streaming, with double doses on Thursdays. Take a listen.
Another special Halloween is queued up here at Vinyl Voyage Radio! We have our annual Haunted Mansion vinyl recording ready to go! Plus some great mixes from our friend, J-Bones.
The ghouls take over the airwaves at 1 pm, playing some of the best spooky music out there. And then, we have J-Bones and other specials lined up to cover all of your Halloween needs. This special Halloween stream lasts until midnight, Eastern.
The Haunted Mansion in Story and Song
2:00 pm EST
This is a Vinyl Voyage tradition, played from my vinyl copy bought at the Magic Kingdom in 1976, featuring "Grim, Grinning Ghosts." This is a classic.
J-Bones Gravest Hits
3:00 pm EST
Pumpkins, King Kong, Zombies and some Haunted Mansion. These are some of J-Bones' favs.
Monster Mocktails
4:30 pm EST
This mix features the likes of Miley Cyrus, the Doors, Johnny Winter, John Lee Hooker, the Champs and many more! Plus trailers of course and lots of Elvira!
Gloom, Despair, and Agony on Me
6:30 pm EST
This is a glorious mix of the most melancholy Halloween tunes. You'll hear some Johnny Cash, The Beatles, The Four Tops, Margot and the Nuclear So & So's and many more. Plus, Vincent Price makes an appearance as well.
Color Me Pumpkin Orange
8 pm EST
This mix features obscure movie promos, and a wonderful selection of Halloween themed songs that are "drenched in Halloween goodness." The artists include Louis Prima, the Specials, Cab Calloway, the Monkees, Cher, Harry Nillson, Radiohead and many, many more.
The Voodoo Show
10 pm EST
This mix features songs about ults, graveyards, spider and snakes and bugs, witches and many more!
We have a new Halloween Mix from J-Bones! He has been making the best and most eclectic Halloween mixes for years, and we are privileged to stream them on Vinyl Voyage. On Saturday, October 28, we will be premiering his new mix, "Gloom, Despair, and Agony on Me" at 9pm, Eastern. This is a glorious mix of the most melancholy Halloween tunes. You'll hear some Johnny Cash, The Beatles, The Four Tops, Margot and the Nuclear So & So's and many more. Plus, Vincent Price makes an appearance as well.
This week on the SONG OF THE WEEK, we are spinning a great track from Nancy Sinatra. "Summer Wine" features vocals by both Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood. The two of them will go on to record three albums together. This is the start of it all.
Nancy in London was her third album released in the year 1966. And it is great. Listen to the Song of the Week on Wednesday, 11am and 11pm, Eastern. It is then repeated throughout the week.
We have surpassed the 300th episode of The Song of the Week and going back to the artist we started with six years ago!
We are spinning a great song from their 2003 release Ohio. As anyone knows who has listened to the Song of the Week, I am a huge fan of this band. In fact, we have played more songs by Over the Rhine than any other band in the last 6 years. Here's the breakdown:
TOP 5 BANDS PLAYED on the SONG OF THE WEEK
5: The Beatles, Pat Benatar, The Rollings Stones, The Who with 5 songs each
4: Frank Sinatra with 6 songs
3: U2 with 7 songs
2: Bruce Springsteen with 8 Songs
1: Over the Rhine, with 9 songs
Well, make that 10 songs after this special episode. We are spinning "Professional Daydreamer."
Over the last 6 years, we have played 312 songs covering the years 1938-2023. Out of all of the spins, the year that we played the most was 1978, followed by 1970, 1973 and 1968.
We have also played 2 78s, 1 cassette single, a few 8tracks, 1 12" single and 31 45s.
A new episode of the Song of the Week drops every Wednesday morning at 11am (EST) -- it then repeats at 11pm(EST). You can also catch repeats throughout the week.
It's that time of the year and you know what that means! A new mix from J-Bones! JB, from F-This Movie has been making awesome mixes featuring ghoulish songs for years. His mixes are legendary (Like JB himself!)
And since it is Halfway to Halloween, I received a new mix in the mail from JB, who is currently hanging out on the West Coast. This one is called Monster Mocktails, featuring songs about Monsters, of course. But also drinks and drinking. A great combination.
This mix premieres on Vinyl Voyage Radio on Friday night, 8pm (Central). But if you can't wait until then, listen on-demand via Mixcloud. Just click on the little play button below and you'll start hearing this wonderous mix featuring the likes of Miley Cyrus, the Doors, Johnny Winter, John Lee Hooker, the Champs and many more! Plus trailers of course and lots of Elvira!
Burt Bacharach was one of the most influential composers of pop music in the last 60s years. On the next episode of the Detention Club, we will listen to the many times Sinatra and Friends recorded compositions from the famed composer. We'll hear tracks from Sinatra, Perry Como, Tony Bennett, Sammy Davis, Jr. and Nancy Sinatra.
On the next episode of the FS Detention Club, we are visiting the cities of Chicago and New York, two cities loved by Sinatra and Friends. This episode is dedicated to songs featuring Chicago and New York. In fact, some of Sinatra's most recognizable songs are about those two cities!
Also in this episode are songs from Sammy Davis, Jr., Tony Bennett, Liza Minnelli and Nancy Sinatra.
If you missed "Love Songs" on the FS Detention Club, listen now On-Demand. This episode features Love Songs from Sinatra and friends, plus a great block of music from Nancy Sinatra and her brother, Frank Sinatra, Jr. The highlight, though, is a great duet featuring Lena Horne and Sammy Davis, Jr.
Yes, the FS Detention Club is back, better than ever! Catch Bruce Janu with Tiny Mike every week for a new episode. The 2023 version of the Detention Club features music not just from Frank Sinatra, but from his friends and family, as well.
Episode 001 is called, "Sinatra and Friends and The Beatles" and explores the relationship between singers of the American Songbook and the Beatles' songs they covered.
Listen to Episode 01 at the following times, Eastern:
The Vinyl Voyage Radio Roku Channel is back! The old channel expired and was removed. If you listened to the station in Roku in the past, you will have to install the channel once again. You can do it from the Roku channel menu or you can log into Roku online and add your channel there.
Join me for the first episode of The Song of the Week for 2023. I'll be spinning a great track from Nightflight to Venus by the underrated Boney M, a discopop group from West Germany. The track: "Rasputin."
Listen on Wednesday, January 4 at 11am and 11pm, Eastern. Repeated then throughout the week.
