gts176 “shmegabyte”
You should follow Wynken Blyken and Nod, not Hewlett Bitcoin and Jobs.
01-00 The Shadow – The Computer Calculates But The Shadow Knows (1964)
— a note about the opening piece: The radio show “The Shadow” started in 1937 with Orson Welles in the title role. He left after a year when Hollywood came a-courtin’, but the show continued on MBS until 1954. I recently saw a few documentaries from early last century, and noticed microphones in front of historical orators bearing the logo “MBS”. Learned years ago about the Mutual Broadcasting System but forgot about that early competitor to NBC and CBS, until recently reminded. MBS cancelled “The Shadow” in 1954, but the staff were pretty keen on bringing it back. ‘Comeback’ episodes were recorded in 1964, this clip is from one of them. 1964 was an important year in computer history, as IBM had just released the iconic System/360. Once the producers despaired of selling the concept to a new radio syndicator, this episode of “The Shadow” as well as another titled “Air Freight Fracas” were released on vinyl in 1968.
01-01 Freddy Cannon – Swan 4078 – Transistor Sister (1961)
— part-owned by Dick Clark, Philadelphia’s Swan Records was swatted in the “payola” radio scandal of the 1950’s. But after Dick Clark was forced to divest, the label was lucky enough to license USA rights to the 2nd single by The Beatles: “She Loves You” in 1963. With the ensuing windfall, Swan had the financial comfort to record some really nutty things for the rest of the 1960’s.
01-02 Polecats – Mercury 251 – Make A Circuit With Me (1982)
— out of London, some putate them as a possible spark to the Stray Cats.
01-03 Supercar & Mikaela – Pepper 0530392 – Computer Love (1999)
— vocalist “Mikaela” is Michela Fortunato Gaudino of Italy. Supercar only released two singles.
01-04 Patrick D. Martin – Patrick D. Martin 101 – Computer Datin’ (1981)
— Martin attempted to become the English Punk ambassador to Nuremburg Germany, opened a clothing shop, released a handful of songs before attempting this album.
01-05 Carol Rich – Computered Love (1984)
— a true throw-away B-side, Carol just needed something to back her self-released single “Tokyo Boy”, which was hot in the Alps in 1984 but failed to seize Switzerland’s entry at Eurovision, which is the one spot where Switzerland doesn’t desperately cling to neutrality. She succeeded a few years later with “Moitié, Moitié” but finished 17th overall at Eurovision in 1987. Rich’s last try finished in 4th place at Eurovision, in 1991.
01-06 Gay Ann Hart – I’m In Love With An IBM Machine (1964?)
— the provenance for this record is scant thus suspect. It is possible that it is a recent AI forgery. Another song on the LP (unobtainable at present) is a ringer for a tune copyrighted in 1964 and, as noted above, 1964 was the year of the computing landmark IBM System/360. If this an AI forgery, it was almost certainly trained on the vocals of Louise Berryman.
02-01 Money Mark – Push The Button 01 – Push The Button (1998)
— bass guit on this is by Sean Taro Ono Lennon, son of a more famous couple. This here Mark is Mark Ramos-Nishita, who was a carpenter. He was contracted to fix the entry gate of the house rented by the Beastie Boys when they moved to Los Angeles from Brooklyn in 1989. And the rest is history, as they say. Last week on this show we heard a song off the Beastie Boys’ 2007 album “The Mix-Up”. Money Mark is credited as co-author of that record.
02-02 Too Much Joy – Green Eggs And Crack 204 – Drum Machine (1987)
— by 1994, William Wittman had taken over on bass guitar, and by 1997 the band had called it quits, saying “the commercialism of the music business has taken the joy out of performing”. Today, Whittman plays bass for Cyndi Lauper.
02-03 MxPx – On The Cover 03 – Drum Machine Joy (1995)
— out of Washington State, they claim the bandname isn’t sexual, it stands for Magnified Plaid. Yeahp, yepsure.
v02-04 Daft Punk – Human After All 09 – Technologic (2005)
— third album from the innovative and influential French duo. Not many tunes get a repeat appearance on this show, this one earns it.
02-05 Peri Winkle – Ouroboros 04 – Non-Binary Operating System (2025)
— this is Norwegian artist Claudia Cox, the inspiration for her debut album rising from 2022, when: “I was in an acrobatic accident where I had a near death experience. I fell from 3 metres head first into a stage floor. Brutal, it all happened so quickly and I was extremely lucky to survive this accident. I broke my nose, left arm, and ligaments in my right wrist. For 6 months I was bedridden.”
03-01 Prince – Fantasia 105 – Computer Blue
— still known as Prince to me, an unofficial release of his rarities has this, and a wealth of other oddities by a fairly odd highly talented person.
03-02 Darrell Stern & Bob Kaliban – Schoolhouse Rock-Science Rock 10 – Scooter Computer And Mr Chips (Introduction) (1982)
— Schoolhouse Rock was cancelled by ABC in 1985, after the Scooter Computer series of spots was supported (and merchandised) by Texas Instruments. When an outcry of public nostalgia resurrected Schoolhouse Rock in 1996, the Scooter Computer bits were skipped, deemed obsolescent. Most of the Scooter Computer episodes were released by Disney in 2002, but still not this one.
03-03 Anji Cakebread – Magnet 119 – Dear Computer (1978)
— only single by the band, and after it appeared on web video, sparked an online reunion of the band after 30 years. Heart-warming.
03-04 Vengaboys – Groovilicious 229 – Cheekah Bow Bow (That Computer Song) (2000)
— more a producer-driven project than a band, this 8th single by Danski and Delmundo of the Netherlands was their first to fail to chart in the UK top-ten. Even the mighty always fall?
03-05 Catherine – DOS Records 8701 – Operating System (1987)
— nothing known about Catherine Meades, but the copyright for this was renewed in 2007, so there must be someone out there who knows.
04-01 Leon Chappel – Capitol 2167 – Automatic Mama (1952)
— with Horace Leon Chappelear in his early twenties, the Lone Star Cowboys relocated from Texas to Lousiana, invented Western Swing music, and it took another 20 years for a major label to pick them up.
04-02 Android Sisters – Ruby 5: The Land Of Zoots 219 – Digital Dream (1998)
— mixed among the tales of PI Meatball Fulton, appear oddities by the Android Sisters.
04-03 Kraftwerk – Computer World 102 – Pocket Calculator (1981)
— little-known but highly-regarded, this was Kraftwerk’s only taste of success in the USA, ridiculously simplistic on purpose, but listen on headphones and…
04-04 Vasti Jackson – Stimulus Man 05 – My Computer (2011)
— covered by Koko Taylor in 1993, pushed into a solo career by Katie Webster, Vasti finally got his Grammy in 2017.
05-01 Bad Religion – Against The Grain 13 – 21st Century (Digital Boy) (1990)
— freely admitted that they took parts of this from “21st Century Schizoid Man” by King Crimson.
05-02 Chuck Prophet – Night Surfer 01 – Countrified Inner-City Technological Man (2014)
— out of San Francisco, Chuck still tours with his wife, Stephanie Finch on keyboards.
05-03 Yusef Lateef – The Doctor Is In …And Out 203 – Technological Homosapien (1976)
— narrated by Robert Cunningham who also plays bass. Flute, of course by Lateef.
05-04 Porcelaine – La Foire Aux Animaux 02 – Machin & Machine (2012)
— vocals by Mélanie Scala. Found by serendipity, while researching tunes by the Swedish thereminist Aux Animaux.
05-05 Lothar & The Hand People – Presenting… Lothar & The Hand People 101 – Machines (1968)
— fled Denver to NYC in ’66, Rolling Stone called them “good-time music played by mad dwarfs”. Lothar was the name of the band’s theremin.
06-01 Four Bitchin’ Babes – Gabby Road 04 – Cyberspace (1997)
— led by Christine Lavin, who is the niece of Pat Crawford Brown, of the “Sister Act” films, also seen as Ida in the TV series “Desperate Housewives”.
06-02 unknown – Trapped On The Internet
— likely produced by some goofball at a big-market morning radio show, by my estimate, late 1990’s.
06-03 Armin van Buuren – Armind 1677 – Computers Take Over The World (Extended Mix) (2022)
— producing music since 1990, this Nederlander hit his peak fame in the handful of years on either side of 2010. Armin earned his law degree in 2003.
06-04 Jessi Slaughter & Gene Leonhardt – Because I Back-Traced It (Remix) (2010)
— preceded here by a clip from the original viral video of Jessica Leonhardt (usernames: “Jessi Slaughter” and “Kerligirl13”) along with her father. The author of this “remix” is an unsung hero of internet humor. Jessi today ID’s as the now-male Damien Leonhardt. Gene was arrested for punching his daughter in 2011, and shortly afterwards died in jail, of a heart attack. The whole sordid tale behind this is readable on the Wiki, if you’re a twisted little curious freak.
06-05 Paul Holcomb – DJ Ted’s Techno Tubes (2006)
— just recently, as children in gov’t cannot play with each other, heard that one of the 40 airports in the US where flights were to be reduced, was the Ted Stevens International Airport in Alaska. Wow, they actually named something after this guy.
06-06 Listen With Sarah – 2006-10-01 Andy Kershaw Session – Bored Of Techno/Can’t Speak Now, World Wide Hula (2006)
— the genius behind this is Sarah Nelson, whose 2007 EP “The World Of Listen With Sarah” included a different version of this on-air recording. The EP’s liner notes say thank-yous to John Peel, Bill Hicks, and… Dishpig.
… and a bonus track…
07-01 Me And The Kinky Hamsters – Lola (2001)
— no idea. You know, you clue me in OK friend?