Episode 003: Inauguration Day Special, 2009!

Obama-Rama! Inauguration Day Special, 2009! Political Music For Political Times!

I have to admit, I haven’t looked forward to an Inauguration Day for as long as I can remember, so it was really cool to put together a mix for a show like this. And, of course, a huge challenge, too. Having never gotten “political” on my show before, and having never put together a mix like this ever before, I was nervous and cautious as to what I should play. I wanted to focus on somewhat optimistic songs looking to the future, pausing only three times to really put in any amount of critique. It have to say, it was not easy; most of the time, when artists get political, the results are rarely pretty.

Suffice it to say, I think I managed to put together a really stunning selection of tunes to welcome our new President. I hope, if nothing else comes across in this broadcast, that I convey my sincere hope that the future is going to be all the more interesting with Mr. Obama in the White House.

Now, onto the show:

1.) Slightly Newish Opening. I’m still trying to get this right. I’ll probably fool around with new variations on this as the show develops. If anyone out there wants to try their hand at it too, I would be much obliged.

2.) “The American In Me.” (The Avengers) This might be difficult to believe, but I consider myself a patriot, and I think that almost anyone who is critical of the government needs to also come to terms with the fact that WE Are The Government. “Ask not what you can do for your country, but what your country can do unto you.” I’m almost positive that the Avengers wanted that song to sound critical of the current government, but I like to think that it’s also loaded with a second meaning: WE are in control of who has the power, not the other way around.

3.) “Presidents Of The Past.” The first big segment of the show is dedicated to songs about Presidents of the past. There are two extremely critical songs in this segment (“Another Political Poem” & “Ronald Reagan”), and my only real defense is that they are both meant largely as jokes: King Missile III is described as, if anything, a Novelty Act, and Men’s Recovery Project wrote a song critical of Reagan in the mid 90’s, which can hardly be topical no matter how you analyze the lyrics. (Side note: reversing the swears from poorly-recorded seven-inch is hard enough, but I realized that in the process of doing so, I actually drew more attention to the swear than if I had just let it play on it’s own. Oh well.)

I guess the biggest problem with the songs featured here is that they are all presented as humorous. Even They Might Be Giants’ earnest attempt to tell the life story of James K. Polk is hard to take seriously when you consider this is the same band that brought us “Particle Man” and a hit single about a night light. Even when I try to take politics seriously, it’s hard not to go for the joke first.

I end this segment with a song by Elton & Betty White, “If I Were The President.” While I thank DJ Revolting Earwig on the air for introducing me to this particular song, I must thank Cheryl Albrect for introducing me to Elton & Betty originally. She came into a copy of their “Sex Beyond The Door” cassette when she used to be a journalist in the late 80’s, and has been turning people on to their music ever sense.  DJ Revolting Earwig discovered Elton & Betty through her, and eventually uncovered another cassette album, “The Best Of Elton & Betty” through diligent Inter-Web research. Rumor has it that Elton & Betty will have a new boxed set released soon, despite a lack of input from Elton White’s manager. We’ll see if this ever comes to fruition.

4.) “Running For Mayor.” I went through a huge Jello Biafra phase when I lived in Eugene, and collected almost all of his albums when I worked at Barnes & Noble. I was so inspired by his “Runny For Mayor” story that I began a ‘zine campaign that required me to do some legal research at City Hall, and I toyed with the idea of running for a City Council position as part of a ‘zine project. At least, enough to start looking into the process. It wasn’t too much later that moving to Portland became an option, and so I quickly abandoned the idea in favor of setting up shop in PDX. However, the story has always stuck with me as one of my favorites, and it seemed appropriate given it was Inauguration Day. Hopefully, someone will be inspired to carry on the flame. The music behind Jello Biafra is from John Carpenter’s “Escape From New York” Expanded Soundtrack, which includes cues named, “President at the Train,” “Romero and the President,” and “The President Is Gone.” I felt it was appropriate, given the eerie paranoia present in both Biafra & Carpenter’s music.

5.) “Looking To The Future.” This is probably the most convoluted segment of the show. I was trying really hard to be optimistic, yet Patriotic, and it was really hard to walk that fine line without resorting to the kind of critical songs I played in the first segment. So, I went a little broad, and tried to include “America” in some way, while trying to grab some of that upbeat feeling I was trying to capture. (I did this with the background music throughout, too.) I don’t know if I entirely succeeded, but it’s a good mix of songs that I love, and sometimes that’s what counts. I was particularly proud of getting “Surf Wax America” in the set; I’m a huge fan of the first few Weezer albums, and this song in particular captures the bittersweet-pessimism-with-a-hint-of-hope that really embodies how I feel about politics as a whole.

Anyway, I hope you dug the show. Don’t expect too much more politics in the near future. It’s not my specialty, and more to the point, I’d much rather focus on other things.

Thanks again for everyone who tuned in. Next week, get ready for the premiere episode of “Blasphuphmus Radio Theater Presents,” which begins retrocasting the 1940 classic radio serial, “The Adventures Of Superman!” Audience Participation could be really, really promising on this one…

Part I
01.) The American In Me * The Avengers * The Avengers
02.) Tioga * The American Dream * Everything You Always Wanted To Know About 60’s Mind Expansive Punkadelling Garage Rock Instrumentals But Were Afraid To Ask.
03.) Another Political Poem * King Missile III * Royal Lunch
04.) Ronald Reagan * Men’s Recovery Project * Normal Man 7″
05.) Jimmy Carter Says Yes * Gene Marshall * The American Song-Poem Anthology
06.) Richard Nixon * Rod / The MSR Singers * The American Song-Poem Anthology
07.) James K. Polk * They Might Be Giants * Factory Showroom
08.) If I Were The President * Elton & Betty White * The Best Of Elton & Betty

Part II
09.) All American Twist * The Champs * All American
10.) Running For Mayor * Jello Biafra * I Blow Minds For A Living
11.) President At The Train * John Carpenter * Escape From New York Soundtrack
12.) Romero And The President * John Carpenter * Escape From New York Soundtrack
13.) The President Is Gone * John Carpenter * Escape From New York

Part III
14.) President King’s Theme * Brendan Smalls * Home Movies Soundtrack
15.) American Eagle * Bruce Haack * Listen Compute Rock Home
16.) The American Metaphysical Circus * The United States Of America * The United States Of America
17.) Love American Style * The Mr. T Experience * Milk Milk Lemonade
18.) Surf Wax America * Weezer * Weezer
19.) It’s My Thing * The Presidents * Sensacional Soul