2009 Brought The Biggest Melody Bar Reunion Yet

...and you missed it, didn't you? Actually, from the crowd I saw, that's not likely - there were so many people packed into the New Brunswick Elks' Lodge for The 2009 Melody Bar Reunion that the line extended out the door and around the corner of the block.

<snark> And once you got in, it was HOT, it was CROWDED, and one of the toilets had overflowed, so really, it was just like the Melody, wasn't it? </snark>

In truth, it looked like more people were having a great time that the Melody could have physically held on any one night, so it's good that the dance floor at the Elks' is so huge. Stiffy Biceptz' slideshow of classic images ran on autopilot throughout the night, providing at least a glimpse of Matt Pinfield (who we hear is still on the way.) Matt was kind enough to call Ed Wong and I (and likely the rest of our crew, including Pat Pierson, Lisa Uber, Pete Santiago and Andrew Prescott) heroes on his show yesterday morning, so we've got that going for us. Which is good.

Once again, Dramarama's "Anything, Anything" tore the roof off the place - though I believe we managed not to play Happy Mondays' "Step On" twice (or even once.) No issue - with so many classics to play, you can't fit 'em all in every time. I managed to do an almost exclusively vinyl-based set, at least 'til Stiffy wanted to hear "I Want To Be A Flintstone" from Screaming Blue Messiahs, which I luckily had on my iPod. (We're a resourceful group, us DJs. We were pretty much ready for any format, except perhaps 8-track.)

We drank the place dry by midnight, and we still carried on 'til they kicked us out at 1AM (a deal's a deal.) A few die-hards (myself included) staggered out to R/Syn NextUnderground at the Corner Tavern (which, unlike the Melody Reunion, will be there next Saturday and for the foreseeable future) to keep the lights on, and I'm sure there was an afterparty somewhere. Me, I had to get my stuff back to the Hyatt first, and trust me, the vinyl doesn't get any lighter with age.

Facebook users who know me will see lots of shots taken by Laura Schneider and Pat Austin, who were only two of the many ad-hoc paparazzi lurking about. Stiffy just danced (though I do him a disservice by using the word "just".)

We'll be putting it all up for your enjoyment all day on Saturday, March 6, assuming our capture of it comes out successfully (I should know how good it sounds tonight.)

In the meantime, check out Altrok's Daily Retro for today (11:30am-1:30pm Eastern) when we'll have a number of Melody Bar tracks inevitably in the mix - then stay tuned, because it gets even better when you hear the new stuff we've picked afterward. (Though we're biased.)

Altrok Radio Music Update #227

Firstly, the important stuff:

Altrok Radio is at http://www.altrokradio.com

Please remember to tune in whenever you can - every hour you listen turns into more visibility for the station; we show up higher in search listings, and such like that. And if you'd like to help us keep the stream running, check out the advertisers if they appeal to you; your interest actually helps fund us.

And in the interest of keeping you interested...well, you *do* know about our new daily retro feature, right? No? Well...

ALTROK'S DAILY RETRO

WEEKDAYS, 11:30a-1:30p EASTERN

...hosted by Sean Carolan (often referred to hereabouts as "me".)

Now then, we've got songs to let you know about.

This week, our Grinders (the stuff we play heavily) include music from:

- Lohio
- The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart
- Peter Doherty
- Pete And The Pirates
- Dirty Projectors
- Pendulum

Plus we've got newly-added music:

- A Place To Bury Strangers - I Know I'll See You
- Asobi Seksu - Me And Mary
- The Bloodsugars - Bloody Mary
- The Damnwells - 55 Pictures
- DANANANANAYKROYD - Black Wax
- Depeche Mode - Wrong
- Empire Of The Sun - Walking On A Dream
- The Gay Blades - O-Shot
- The Maccabees - No Kind Words
- Morrissey - Something Is Squeezing My Skull
- The Sexy Kids - Sisters Are Forever
- Spinnerette - Ghetto Love
- The Tombots - Accounts And Thoughts From A Staircase
- White Lies - Farwell To The Fairground
- Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Zero

Our Newly-Added Classics:

- Eddie & The Hot Rods - Do Anything You Wanna Do
- The Jam - Precious
- The Mighty Mighty Bosstones - Someday I Suppose
- The Mission UK - Wasteland (Anniversary Mix)
- Oingo Boingo - Goodbye Goodbye
- Pop Will Eat Itself - Let's Get Ugly
- Rockpile - When I Write The Book
- Seona Dancing - More To Lose (Original Extended Version)
- Siouxsie And The Banshees - This Town Ain't Big Enough For The Both Of Us
- Paul Westerberg - Dyslexic Heart

And don't forget the R/SYN Underground night, every Saturday at the Corner Tavern in New Brunswick, where Drew and IronMike keep you dancing with the most advanced playlist this side of the Atlantic (and where, occasionally, yours truly might show up and spin a coupla tracks...ya never know.)

Finally, by now you've heard that THE MELODY BAR REUNION was a smashing success - lines wrapped around the corner in order to keep capacity somewhere near sane, and the music was fantastic...and you'll be able to hear it all for yourself on Saturday, March 6, when The Melody Bar Reunion Replay plays back on Altrok Radio all day long!

- Sean Carolan
Altrok Radio
On your computer now at http://www.altrokradio.com
On the radio Fridays at 10pm, at 90.5 The Night

Depeche Mode, "Wrong" - New Single Added To Altrok Radio

Every Altrok station has it, and you'll hear it sometime in the next four hours...no matter when you tune in.

You're welcome.

Take A Deep Breath - It'll Be A Great (Melody Reunion) Weekend

With a few moments to spare, here's a reminder of things that are happening in the very near future:

• First and foremost, there's the third Old-School Melody Bar Reunion (which Ed Wong likes to refer to as the Melody ReFlux) happening at the New Brunswick Elks Lodge on Saturday, February 21 (that's tomorrow!) As always, entry is free of charge, but limited to those likely to have been at the Melody before 1993 (e.g. you've gotta be 36 to enter., though if you're able to get in, you can bring one other person of any age. ID will be checked at the door.) The customary slide show will be up and running, and the music, again provided through the good graces of Ed's mobile setup and Pete Santiago's spare turntable, will be authentically propulsive. And when you see Stiffy Biceptz, keep back 500 ft. The music starts promptly at 7PM, and wraps up at 1AM (and remember, there'll be a customary Elks Club Pause at 11pm for sixty seconds. It's what they do.)
  
  
• The standard R/Syn NextUnderground night at New Brunswick's Corner Tavern is in full force as well, serving as the under-36 club all night long, and as the after-party starting at 1AM until 2AM.
  
  
• I've been previewing tonight's Altrok Radio FM Showcase and I can confidently say it's something you won't want to miss. Sure, I'm biased, but when you've got new Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Spinerette (that's Brody Dalle fronting the project) and Morrissey, not to mention White Lies and classics from The Mission UK and Rockpile, you know there's a good show on tap - that's 10PM Eastern at 90.5 The Night.
  
  
• And otherwise, those who've been following the G-Rock Radio debacle may have noticed that the main "Bring Back G-Rock" Facebook page (the one with 10,560 members when last I looked) has a new administrator...and there are I'd like to see happen, because I'm the kind of guy that wants to make everyone happy. We'll see how successful I am.

Altrok Radio Music Update #226

Firstly, the important stuff:

Altrok Radio is at http://www.altrokradio.com

Please remember to tune in whenever you can - every hour you listen turns into more visibility for the station; we show up higher in search listings, and such like that. And if you'd like to help us keep the stream running, check out the advertisers if they appeal to you; your interest actually helps fund us.

And in the interest of keeping you interested...well, you *do* know about our new daily retro feature, right? No? Well...

ALTROK'S DAILY RETRO

WEEKDAYS, 11:30a-1:30p EASTERN

...hosted by Sean Carolan (often referred to hereabouts as "me".)

Now then, we've got songs to let you know about.

This week, our Grinders (the stuff we play heavily) include music from:

- Doves
- The BPA
- The Race UK
- U2
- The Joy Formidable
- The Answering Machine

Plus we've got newly-added music:

- Animal Collective - My Girls
- Camera Obscura - My Maudlin Career
- Peter Doherty - Last Of The English Roses
- Florence & The Machine - Dog Days Are Over
- Franz Ferdinand - No You Girls
- The Last Shadow Puppets - My Mistakes Were Made For You
- The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - Everything With You
- Passion Pit - Sleepyhead
- Polly Scattergood - Nitrogen Pink
- School Of Seven Bells - Half Asleep
- Sky Larkin - Fossil, I
- The Thermals - Now We Can See
- Two Door Cinema Club - Something Good Can Work
- Wire - Are You Ready
- Wire Daisies - Rocket Girl
- The Wombats - My Circuitboard City

Our Newly-Added Classics:

- The Cramps - Green Door
- The Cure - Never Enough (Big Mix)
- Joe Jackson - One More Time
- Nick Lowe - Let Me Kiss Ya
- Mission Of Burma - Academy Fight Song
- The Psychedelic Furs - Into You Like a Train
- The Smiths - Panic
- Talking Heads - (Nothing But) Flowers

And don't forget the R/SYN Underground night, every Saturday at the Corner Tavern in New Brunswick, where Drew and IronMike keep you dancing with the most advanced playlist this side of the Atlantic (and where, occasionally, yours truly might show up and spin a coupla tracks...ya never know.) In fact, it'll be serving as the under-36 club and after-party for...

...THE MELODY BAR REUNION! This Saturday, February 21! New Brunswick Elks, Livingston Av, 7PM-1AM. 36-and-over only, please (spouses excepted.) Fun. To. Be. Had.

- Sean Carolan
Altrok Radio
On your computer now at http://www.altrokradio.com
On the radio Fridays at 10pm, at 90.5 The Night

Melody Reunion, Just About a Week to Go

It's hard to believe it's only about a week to go before the Melody Reunion 2009. The DJ's are ready, the music is ready and best of all Pinfield is ready. I think it's going to be a great time once again. I hope my old ass (and knees and back) can dance all night long.

As a final reminder, the event is Saturday February 21st at the Elk's Club in downtown New Brunswick. Doors open at 7 pm and we go until 1 am. The event is free to attend, and proceeds from the bar go to the Elk's charities. At eleven we take a five minute break from the music for a traditional Elk's celebration, then rock our way to 1 am.

As this is the Pinfield Era/Old School Melody reunion, the age restriction at the door is 36 and up. If you spouse is younger, they get in, that's fine. But please do not bring underage folks with you, as they will not get in. We are expecting a big crowd, and have to keep things under control. Big John will be running the door and he knows who is who.

I look forward to seeing you all there on Saturday.

Stiffy

Lux Interior's Dead (And Sirius XM Isn't Feeling Very Well, Either.)

Too damn soon at 60. Cramps co-founder and lead singer Lux Interior had a heart problem, and it caught up with him. What he left us is incredible. He'll be missed - but if it hasn't happened already, it'll be a hell of a wake.

Meanwhile, if Sirius XM doesn't figure out how to pay its bills in a few days, it'll file Chapter 11. I've been watching the cackling on the radio boards, but it really sounds a lot more like whistling past the graveyard. Sirius XM runs on a business plan that absolutely depends on there being disposable cash floating around, and that's not what's happening in 2009. That said, there's a bunch of satellites in the sky devoted to this service, and they're not going to evaporate - my bet is that there'll be something for your satellite radio to pull in regardless of whether Sirius XM goes out of business ... though you may not be willing to pay for it.

Altrok's Daily Retro is coming up today at 11:30 on Altrok Radio - meanwhile, Altrok's G-Aid plods along with fairly unspectacular listener numbers. It's almost like Press Broadcasting made the right decision when they pulled the plug on G-Rock Radio. But you don't have to pay for any of it, so we've got that going for us (though you could click on one of the ads at the bottom of this page every once in a while, y'know...)

Understanding Radio In One Minute Or Less: Ready...Set....

You've heard this on AltrokRadio.com before, but as a final gravestone on G-Rock Radio's final repose, it bears repeating...

To understand radio, one must ask "what is Radio's product? This is a free market, right? So in this market, what do they sell?"

It's not music - they don't make money from that. (It's illegal, in fact - at least unless you say that's what you're doing, and who wants to listen to that?)

But if they're playing the right music to the right audience, they make money because that audience tells the ratings services they're listening, and advertisers pay to be put in front of that audience...

That's right. Radio's customers are its advertisers. Their product is the attention of their listeners. The customer, by the way, is always right, but the only time the listener is right is when they can prove that they are listening.

And once you understand that, everything else falls into place - G-Rock Radio's demise, WCBS's disappearance (and reappearance), and just about every brain-dead move the powers that be in radio and television have ever made.

That said, if a station can, for a low cost, expand listenership to a group of people they'd normally have no business attracting, it's in their best interest to do it.

(Helloooo, HD2.)

A Program Note

In case you actually wanted to hear any of the new music we posted about before...well, we fixed the radio station. It was broken. Now it's working just fine.

No, really. Duct tape is strong stuff.

Altrok Radio Music Update #225

Firstly, the important stuff:

Altrok Radio is at http://www.altrokradio.com

Please remember to tune in whenever you can - every hour you listen turns into more visibility for the station; we show up higher in search listings, and such like that. And if you'd like to help us keep the stream running, check out the advertisers if they appeal to you; your interest actually helps fund us.

And in the interest of keeping you interested...well, you *do* know about our new daily retro feature, right? No? Well...

ALTROK'S DAILY RETRO

WEEKDAYS, 11:30a-1:30p EASTERN

...hosted by Sean Carolan (often referred to hereabouts as "me".)

Now then, we've got songs to let you know about.

This week, our Grinders (the stuff we play heavily) include music from:

- Vivian Girls
- Little Comets
- Asteroids Galaxy Tour
- Frightened Rabbit
- Morrissey
- Flashguns

Plus we've got newly-added music:

- All Girl Summer Fun Band - Something
- The BPA - He's Frank (feat. Iggy Pop)
- Fleet Foxes - Mykonos
- Flogging Molly - Requiem For A Dying Song
- Fol Chen - No Wedding Cake (Rafter Remix)
- Iran - I Can See The Future
- Johnny Foreigner - Lea Room
- The Joy Formidable - Cradle
- The Last Dinosaurs - Thousands Of Years
- Nickel Eye - Dying Star
- Pendulum - Showdown
- Pete And The Pirates - Blood Gets Thin
- TV On The Radio - Halfway Home
- White Lies - Death

Our Newly-Added Classics:

- The B-52's - Give Me Back My Man
- Blancmange - Blind Vision
- Buzzcocks - You Say You Don't Love Me
- Captain Sensible - Brenda Parts 1 & 2
- Concrete Blonde - Still In Hollywood
- The Doves - I Wouldn't Know You From the Rest
- The Hoodoo Gurus - What's My Scene
- Madness - Michael Caine
- New Order - Temptation
- Time Zone - World Destruction

And don't forget the R/SYN Underground night, every Saturday at the Corner Tavern in New Brunswick, where Drew and IronMike keep you dancing with the most advanced playlist this side of the Atlantic (and where, occasionally, yours truly might show up and spin a coupla tracks...ya never know.)

Last but not least, February 21 is fast approaching, and that means it's time for this year's Melody Bar Reunion. New Brunswick Elks, Livingston Av, 7PM, 2/21. A fine fete will be had.

- Sean Carolan
Altrok Radio
On your computer now at http://www.altrokradio.com
On the radio Fridays at 10pm, at 90.5 The Night

So, How D'ya Like Altrok's Daily Retro?

As you might expect from a feature named "Altrok's Daily Retro", we've managed to provide a brand new two-hour retro show, with yours truly along as your host, every day at 11:30am Eastern since we began it three weeks ago ... and it's showing no signs of letting up. You're out there and you're listening, which is great...

...but have you got any suggestions? Use the feedback link under the big Altrok logo above, and we'll try to line them up for next week.

(Of course, we'd like you to stick around after the Daily Retro to hear all the new music we've picked that goes along with all those retro tracks...so please do that as well. And do check out our advertisers - when you do, they help keep us alive.)

The Damned On Craig Ferguson?

Why was I not informed? And doing "Neat Neat Neat", I might add. This happened about three months ago, on October 30:



(If you click through to the YouTube page, you can watch in high quality...)

Altrok Radio Music Update #224

Firstly, the important stuff:

Altrok Radio is at http://www.altrokradio.com

Please remember to tune in whenever you can - every hour you listen turns into more visibility for the station; we show up higher in search listings, and such like that. And if you'd like to help us keep the stream running, check out the advertisers if they appeal to you; your interest actually helps fund us.

And in the interest of keeping you interested...well, you *do* know about our new daily retro feature, right? No? Well...

ALTROK'S DAILY RETRO

WEEKDAYS, 11:30a-1:30p EASTERN

...hosted by Sean Carolan (often referred to hereabouts as "me".)

Now then, we've got songs to let you know about.

This week, our Grinders (the stuff we play heavily) include music from:

- HTRK
- Noisettes
- The Prodigy
- Detachments
- The Wonder Stuff
- Lily Allen

Plus we've got newly-added music:

- The Answering Machine - Lightbulbs
- Dirty Projectors - Knotty Pine (with David Byrne)
- Doves - Jetstream
- Flashguns - Timehouse Blue
- Franz Ferdinand - Bite Hard
- Friendly Fires - Skeleton Boy
- Frightened Rabbit - Set You Free
- Hot Chip - Transmission
- Keith - Up In The Clouds
- Lohio - Modern Days
- Willie Nile - Game Of Fools
- The Soft Pack - Beside Myself
- Titus Andronicus - Arms Against Atrophy

Our Featured Classics:

- The Chameleons - Up The Down Escalator
- The Delgados - Mr Blue Sky
- P.J. Harvey - The Letter
- The Heads - Papersnow (feat. Andy Partridge)
- Ministry - NWO
- The Police - Roxanne
- The Style Council - Speak Like A Child
- Tears For Fears - Change (Extended)
- Violent Femmes - American Music

And don't forget the R/SYN NextUnderground night, every Saturday at the Corner Tavern in New Brunswick, where Drew and IronMike keep you dancing with the most advanced playlist this side of the Atlantic (and where, occasionally, yours truly might show up and spin a coupla tracks...ya never know.)

Last but not least, February 21 is fast approaching, and that means it's time for this year's Melody Bar Reunion. New Brunswick Elks, Livingston Av, 7PM, 2/21. A fine fete will be had.

- Sean Carolan
Altrok Radio
On your computer now at http://www.altrokradio.com
On the radio Fridays at 10pm, at 90.5 The Night

E-Commerce Or Corruption? Ticketmaster Scalps Tickets To Its Own Customers

I'm sure it seemed like a good idea when they thought up the scheme, but there were a few eyebrows raised by Ticketmaster when, as soon as Monday's release of tickets for Bruce Springsteen's upcoming Izod Center shows sold out, it redirected potential ticket buyers to its TicketsNow broker subsidiary. TicketsNow is a web-based aggregator for ticket brokers that offer the tickets they acquire at a substantial markup.

Looks like one pair of those raised eyebrows were owned by a state legislator. Funny, that.

Let's look at the way that the ticket industry seems to work:

- Ticketmaster has certain well-known channels it sells tickets through.

- Ticket brokers have routinely gamed the system Ticketmaster has set up so that they could be sure to acquire a large inventory of popular show tickets.

- Now, if I were Ticketmaster (and had no scruples) I'd look the other way when these sorts of shenanigans happen. Why? Because Ticketmaster's job is to sell tickets, and absent any ethical concerns, that's what it's doing. I'm sure the brokers' practices have always resulted in more sales for Ticketmaster (who, at the same time have shifted the risk involved in selling the tickets to the brokers.)

- The arrangement has also guaranteed windfall profits for brokers, who might eat the outlay if the tickets turn out to be not so popular, but in general make money hand-over-fist.

- Ticketmaster then creates TicketsNow, a way for brokers to increase the visibility of the tickets they've gamed the system to acquire. The logic here probably went something like this: "We'll put 'em right in front of the people who are actively demanding them - and collect an additional fee from the brokers for listing the tickets! What could be better? We're finally getting a piece of the after-sale markup for these tickets!"

- Potential concertgoers start to wonder how all these tickets became available at a substantial markup on the day of sale.

- Some of these people, shut out of the ticket-buying opportunity for a mature artist like Springsteen, are state lawmakers.

- Oops.

"It has always worked this way" will be the claim from Ticketmaster, "we just streamlined the process."

"Then it has always been this corrupt" will be the response from lawmakers...at least ones worth electing again.

We'll see.