Ric Ocasek:
Primarily known as being a songwriter/singer/guitarist in The Cars, Ric Ocasek had a background in music for many years prior to forming The Cars. He met future Cars bassist Ben Orr in 1965 and a few years later they would form a band in Cleveland, Ohio. They performed in different bands together around the Columbus area and around Ann Arbor, Michigan before finally relocating to Boston. In the early 1970s, Ocasek and Orr formed a band called Milkwood that would also feature Greg Hawkes who would go on to play with them in The Cars. Milkwood were not a rock band, but a folk band that played music in the style of Crosby, Stills & Nash. They even recorded and released an album on Paramount Records entitled How’s The Weather that was released in 1972. The album failed to chart and the band was dropped from the label. Ocasek and Orr would team up with Elliot Easton (future Cars guitarist) in his band Cap’n Swing. The band’s demo got airplay on WBCN in Boston, but the band were rejected by several labels. The band was reorganized with a different drummer and bassist to better fit Ocasek’s style of songwriting. Ben Orr took over on bass and David Robinson, best known as being drummer in The Modern Lovers took over on drums. Ocasek played rhythm guitar and sang lead vocals on several tracks, Orr took lead vocals on the others. Elliot Easton played lead guitar while Greg Hawkes joined on Keyboards.
Renaming themselves The Cars, their music, written primarily by Ric Ocasek was extremely catchy. In addition to this, underneath the music there was a 50’s rock influence that ran deep, amongst other influences such as Roxy Music, The Velvet Underground and power pop. This all combined with a punk/new wave aesthetic and after having their 1976 demo played on WCBN repeatedly, the band signed to Elektra Records. The Cars first album featured several hit singles (“Just What I Needed”, “My Best Friends Girl”, “Good Times Roll”), as well as other songs that would receive a lot of attention such as “You’re All I’ve Got Tonight”, and “Moving In Stereo”. The Cars remained on the charts for 139 weeks. It is one of the strongest debut albums from that time period. Along with the music, lyrically, Ocasek and The Cars explored the subject matter differently. While they may seem to be happy pop songs, many of the lyrics are not what they seem at first glance. The Cars early albums were all produced by Queen producer Roy Thomas Baker. He added a slick element to the production of their songs. They went on to play and record albums until 1988. Ocasek released several solo albums starting with Beatitude in 1982. The music often experimented with technology and song structures, this is apparent on some later Cars albums and Ocasek’s solo albums. In addition to all this, Ocasek also took on a producer role following his time with The Cars. He would go on to produce Weezer’s debut album, Guided By Voices Do The Collapse, Bad Brains Rock For Light, Jonathan Richman’s I’m So Confused and many others. Ric Ocasek left a lasting imprint on the music he created and helped to produce.
Daniel Johnston:
Daniel Johnston is known for his lo-fi cassette recordings. During the 80s and 90s he recorded a large majority of his best-known work on cassette tapes on a boom box recorder and would hand them out the friends/fans around Austin, Texas. His music is often folk based and he has been called an outsider folk artist by many. As stated on his website “Daniel Johnston has spent the last 20 or so years exposing his heartrending tales of unrequited love, cosmic mishaps, and existential torment to an ever-growing international cult audience.” Throughout his life Johnston also battled mental health issues that caused him to be in and out of institutions, but in the end he triumphed over his illnesses with his art. He created music prolifically and art. He would often draw characters that would wind up on his album covers. Perhaps his best-known album was, Hi, How Are You, which was his sixth album. Originally released in 1983, the album varied in its content from his earlier albums. Johnston also experimented with tape and noise collages on this album. This album would receive a wider distribution when it was reissued in 1988 on vinyl via the Homestead record label.
In 1985, Johnston was featured on an episode of The Cutting Edge on MTV. His live performances combined with his unique way of recording/delivering his music generated great interest in Daniel Johnston. In 1988, he travelled to New York to record 1990 in a proper studio with producer Mark Kramer. The album was originally intended to be made up of all studio recordings, but due to his mental health conditions during the making of this album, he was not able to complete the planned album studio sessions. As a result, 1990 is a collection of studio recordings, live recordings and home recordings. Johnston signed to Atlantic Records in 1994 following further surges of interest in his music after Kurt Cobain was seen wearing a t-shirt of Johnston’s Hi, How Are You album cover on TV. The resulting album on Atlantic was entitled Fun. It was not a commercial success and Johnston was dropped from the label in 1996. Johnston continued to make music despite this collaborating with artists such as Yo La Tengo, Jad Fair, Okkerevil River and many others. He was the subject of the documentary film The Devil and Daniel Johnston in 2005. In 2010, Johnston released Beam Me Up! In 2012 he released a comic book called Space Ducks and it also featured a corresponding soundtrack featuring music from Johnston and other artists. Jeremiah The Innocent is the name of the frog drawing that graces 1983’s Hi, How Are You. In 1993, Johnston was commissioned to paint this image on the wall outside of the then record store Sound Exchange. The mural remains and is a part of Austin, Texas for anyone to discover, much like Johnston, his music and influence.
David Berman:
David Berman is perhaps best known for the music that he created with indie rock band Silver Jews. Prior to forming Silver Jews, Berman formed a band while at studying at University of Virginia. The band called Ectoslavia, featured Stephen Malkmus (who he would often collaborate with) and Bob Nastanovich (of Pavement). Ectoslavia would often feature a lot of noise and static beneath their melodic pop songs. After graduating the group relocated to Hoboken, New Jersey. They would adopt the name Sliver Jews to make tapes in their apartment. It was around this time that Malkmus formed another band Pavement. As Pavement began to take off, people began to think that Silver Jews was a side project of the band, despite proceeding them and being led by Berman. Their first single was 1992’s “Dime Map of the Reef”, which featured ultra lo-fi aesthetic. It was released on Drag City records. The first Silver Jews album was 1994’s Starlite Walker. They went on to much acclaim releasing The Natural Bridge in 1996, American Water (1998), Bright Flight (2001), Tanglewood Numbers (2005), Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea (2008). Their 2008 release proved to be their last. In 2005, Silver Jews embarked on their first ever tour. The lineup of the band would feature a rotating cast of musicians throughout their existence with Berman remaining as the only constant member. In addition to this, Berman released a book of poetry in 1999 entitled Actual Air. In 2009, he released another book. This time it was a collection of drawings/cartoons entitled The Portable February.
In 2019, after not releasing any music for eleven years, Berman announced a new band and album called, Purple Mountains. The lyrics drew on themes of the strains of depression and his marriage, among other topics. Released in July 2019, Berman was set to go on tour in August 2019, but it was cut short when he was found dead three days before the tour was to begin. Berman would battle with depression throughout his life. In the mid 2000’s he dealt with drug abuse. He would address many issues in his lyrics. He famously said that he worked on his words more because he “couldn’t rock out harder than everybody, or overcome people with mastery like Jack White of the White Stripes”. As a result, the music that Berman created with these lyrics were layered in multiple possible meanings and embodied indie rock often with a striking poignancy and with a sense of humour and wit in a great literary sense. He received critical acclaim for his abilities as a lyricist, which connected with fans on many levels. The music is something you have to experience to fully understand, but a recent article in the New Yorker may have said it best. They said that David Berman “had a gift for articulating profound loneliness in ways that felt deeply familiar, which in turn made you feel less alone.”
Show 793 (Originally Aired On September 21st, 2019)(Ric Ocasek, The Cars & Daniel Johnston Tribute):
1. The Cars - My Best Friend's Girl (1977 Demo)
2. The Cars - Don't Cha Stop
3. The Cars - Night Spots
4. Milkwood - With You With Me
5. Daniel Johnston - True Love Will Find You in the End
6. Daniel Johnston - Casper
7. Daniel Johnston - Lennon
8. Daniel Johnston - Walking the Cow
9. Vivian Girls - Sick
10 Amyl & the Sniffers - Control
11. B Boys - Pressure Inside
12. Pottery - Lifeline Costume
13. Mark Sultan - Filthy Rat
14. (Sandy) Alex G - Southern Sky
15. Rick White - Tomorrow
16. Leonard Cohen - The Goal
17. Brittany Howard - History Repeats
18. Iggy Pop - Love Missing
19. Pixies - Los Surfer Muertos
20. Sprinters - Ending
21. Jale - All Ready
22. Deke Dickerson w/ Bloodshot Bill - Bad Biscuit
23. Bloodshot Bill - Shark Tank
24. The Sadies - Lay Down Your Arms
25. The Sadies - Venison Creek
26. Paul Jacobs - Waiting for the Grave
27. Foggy Tapes - Can't Stay in Bed All Day
28. Shotgun Jimmie - Blues Riffs
29. Fontaines DC - Big
To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for September 21.
Show 791 (Originally Aired On September 7th, 2019)(Ann Arbor Blues Festival 1969, Frankie Cosmos, Animal Collective, Lou Reed, Supergrass):
1. Mississippi Fred McDowell - John Henry (Ann Arbor Blues Festival 1969)
2. Big Mama Thornton - Ball and Chain (Ann Arbor Blues Festival 1969)
3. South River Slim - Grinnin in Your Face
4. Necking - No Playtime
5. Fontaines DC - Hurricane Laughter
6. Otoboke Beaver - S'vll vous plait
7. Frankie Cosmos - Windows
8. The Glow - Lose
9. Animal Collective - Ballad of Reverend War Character
10. David Bowie - Dollar Days
11. Orville Peck - Dead of Night
12. Nap Eyes - Roll It
13. No Museums - Fangs That Once Were Teeth
14. Heavy Trash - Dark Hair'd Rider
15. Demon’s Claws - Hunting on the 49
16. The Gruesomes - Unchain My Heart
17. Lou Reed - Kill Your Sons
18. D.O.A. - Rent a Riot (1978 Demo)
19. Pointed Sticks - Out of Luck
20. The Danks - What We're Doing
21. The Jackets - Be Myself
22. Miles Davis - Carnival Time
23. Pekoe Cat - My Baby
24. A Savage - Untitled
25. Those Pretty Wrongs - Ain't Nobody But Me
26. The Scenics - Gotta Come Back Here
27. Supergrass - Mansize Rooster
To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for September 7.
Show 790 (Originally Aired On August 31st, 2019) (Ann Arbor Blues Festival 1969, Jonathan Richman, Shotgun Jimmie, Protomartyr, David Burman Tribute):
1. Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers - That Summer Feeling
2. Klaus Nomi - Lightning Strikes
3. The Flaming Lips - Feedaloodum Beedle Dot
4. Black Midi - Bmbmbm
5. Nots - Built Environment
6. Butchers - Golden Sugar
7. Silver Jews - Living Waters
8. Silver Jews - The Frontier Index
9. Silver Jews - Smith & Jones Forever
10. Silver Jews - Transylvania Blues
11. Silver Jews - Sometimes a Pony Gets Depressed
12. Silver Jews - Aloysius, Bluesgrass Drummer
13. Purple Mountains - That's Just the way That I Feel
14. Red Mass - Crooked
15. Red Mass - Bored
16. Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Chicken Dog
17. R.L. Burnside - Miss Maybelle
18. Muddy Waters - Long Distance Operator (Ann Arbor Blues Festival 1969)
19. Bloodshot Bill - It'll Be You
20. Catl. - Waiting List
21. Mac DeMarco - Little Dogs March
22. The Vondells - 2 Tone Blue
23. Shotgun Jimmie - Sappy Slogans
24. Shotgun Jimmie - One Trick Pony
25. Louder Than Death - Baby Huey
26. 3ft - Evening Song
27. Protomartyr - Principalities
28. Protomartyr - King Boots
To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for August 31.
Show 792 was a repeat of an episode that originally aired in August 2019. Download/stream this episode here and find the playlist here.
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