This week, rock out with Vintage Vinyl.
As mentioned before, I have one of the coolest Lawrence jobs ever, working at Liberty Hall. My love for movies really transcends just about everything except for my love of music. Wait, and coffee. Well okay, I guess it doesn’t really transcend everything, but most things for sure.
I was working on Thursday and my coworker and I were trying to decide what movie to watch next. That’s probably the greatest thing ever, being literally surrounded by thousands of DVDs and having to choose which one to view. In this case (and most cases, really) I deferred to her, saying she should pick one because I had no preference. And this, dear readers, is how I finally came to see “Pirate Radio” for the first time.
For those of you who have seen this movie, and who listen to my show (and read this blog for that matter), you’re probably pretty surprised by this confession. Believe me, I am too. I remember sitting down once years ago, trying to watch it, and being otherwise distracted. As such, I never got through it. But last night… oh my. This movie is incredible! And the soundtrack… I was in heaven. When we’d finished watching it, we were both too apathetic to find another movie so we started it over again and this time, I really paid attention. And I was so blown away.
See, this movie contains elements of everything I love. Such as:
– The 1960s
– British people
– British Invasion rock
– American 60s rock
-Rebellion
– Philip Seymour Hoffman
– That cute guy from “Bridesmaids” and “The IT Crowd”
– That funny guy from “Shaun of the Dead” who isn’t Simon Pegg
– The guy who plays Murray on “Flight of the Conchords”
– Records
– Philip Seymour Hoffman
Anyhow, in regards to my show, I’ve been dialing it back a bit the past couple weeks. Last week was “Movie Music” which went quite well, and before that was funk and soul. Things have been quiet in the studio, to fit my quiet thoughts. As I’ve said in other posts, the music I choose for my shows generally reflects the mood I’m in and I’ve definitely been sucked into hibernation mode lately. I mean, come on… It gets dark at 5 p.m. And granted, this is my absolute favorite time of the year and I love fall and cold and wind and changing leaves and hot drinks and dense meals and all that, but sometimes…I move too quickly to a winter state of mind.
That being said, watching “Pirate Radio” was the kick I needed. That music really set in my bones and I was reminded of all the raucous dancing in which I used to participate at the Replay and friends’ houses and my old apartment. These were epic dance parties that would rage until four in the morning, and I miss that so much. I’m getting mellow in my old age!
It can be difficult at times to do my show because there’s not often audience feedback. Playing these records for friends, or for a gig, is one thing. Sitting in a wicked radio station by myself at 11 p.m. on a Wednesday night, drinking coffee and jamming records (and possibly partaking in some at-the-turntable-shimmying) is quite another. But I have decided to stop caring about that, and to start bringing the noise. This Wednesday, I’m returning to my roots and I’ll be spinning some of the loudest, raucous, rocking music from the 1960’s that I have. We will have The Kinks. And The Rolling Stones. And The Guess Who. And many, many others. I may not be Philip Seymour Hoffman, but I will do my best to invoke “The Count.”
by emily scholle
Tune in to Vintage Vinyl every Wednesday night from 10 p.m. to 12 a.m. Just do it.