Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation, Winter 2021, Episode One: Dear Stella’s Stefanie Drexler

February 2, 2021June 1, 2021 ~ Alan Haber's Pure Pop Radio ~ Leave a comment

By Alan Haber – Pure Pop Radio

It is comforting to know that, even as a sudden burst of winter fury blankets the landscape outside the cramped yet comfortable Pure Pop Radio studio with snow, snow, snow, the forecast for the world inhabited by melodic pop musicians is maintaining its clear-skies-and-smooth-sailing posture–sailing more in the metaphorical sense rather than the literal, although great records by great recording artists often do sail to the top of the charts.

I could easily see Dear Stella’s wondrous Time Zones EP, released late last year to much acclaim, rising to the top of the charts this year, or sailing there, if you prefer, because it really is that good. Time Zones’ six song playlist starts with “Time Machine,” a cheery burst of insanely creative, passionate force-of-good-naturedness recalling Jellyfish and other such there-are-no-limits-to-what-we-can-achieve-if-we-put-our-minds-to-it merry music makers, and ends with a quieter-by-many-yardsticks ballad, the very pretty “Brighton Beach” (not the one in Brooklyn, New York, and I made sure to ask).

Stefanie Drexler is Dear Stella — Stefanie Drexler

I was so captivated by Dear Stella’s initial release, on which Stefanie Drexler (she is Dear Stella) sings her heart out with the help of members of melodic pop’s usual suspects club (Bleu, Eric Barao, Kai Danzberg, and David Myhr), that I thought a talk with her would be a good addition to the current crop of Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation shows.

The young Austrian singer-songwriter and I gathered together on Zoom for a lively, rather charming chat, during which I found out many interesting things about this up-and-coming artist, such as: she sang harmony vocals on an Air Supply recording, toured for a week in a band that opened for the B-52s, was a big fan of Britney Spears, and earned a Masters degree in popular music research.

That’s a pretty good list of achievements all by itself, but of course there is more, which you can discover by watching and listening to my chat with the multitalented and multifaceted Stefanie Drexler below, brought to you in See! Hear! Pop!, Pure Pop Radio’s finely-tuned, video-riffic sight and sound format. And below our 45-minute-long back-and-forth, you can hear three of the great songs featured on the Time Zones EP.

Enjoy.

Where to Get It: Amazon, Bandcamp, Apple Music

Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation, hosted by Alan Haber, is the internet’s premier talk show presenting melodic pop music artists talking about their work. New episodes appear here exclusively on the Pure Pop Radio website. Podcast versions of previously-aired episodes are archived here.

Alan Haber’s Pure Pop Radio is the premier website covering the melodic pop scene with in-depth reviews of new and reissued recordings, and a wide variety of features.

We Welcome Singer-Songwriter Stefanie Drexler, aka Dear Stella, to Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation Next Tuesday, February 2

January 28, 2021 ~ Alan Haber's Pure Pop Radio ~ Leave a comment

By Alan Haber – Pure Pop Radio

This week’s post, from just two days ago, featuring a somewhat psychedelic iteration of the phrase “Can I Pet Your Cat,” stretched into a somewhat out-of-whack statement of purpose, was not without purpose, as you may have imagined.

The post was designed to see if the phrase, simply stated, rang any bells for fans of the kind of melodic pop we feature in these hallowed pages. Perhaps some bells were found to be ringing; if so, jolly good. You knew, being so well informed, that the phrase “Can I Pet Your Cat” can be seen on the green t-shirt worn by Austrian singer-songwriter Stefanie Drexler, who records under the name Dear Stella, on the cover of her tremendously entertaining, six-song EP entitled Time Zones.

I am thrilled to announce that Stefanie joins me for the first Winter 2021 episode of Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation this coming Tuesday, February 2 at 11:45 am EST, right here and exclusively on the Pure Pop Radio website. All of our In Conversation interviews are presented in See! Hear! Pop!, Pure Pop Radio’s finely-tuned video-riffic sight and sound format, which draws you into the back and forth on offer like no other process imaginable.

Perhaps you have been enjoying Dear Stella’s Time Zones EP and suggesting to your friends that they join you in experiencing its wonders. If so, well, that’s a beautiful thing. If you haven’t yet heard any or all of the six songs on this terrific EP, two of them await you below. Go on, listen…I’ll wait.

There. Pretty swell, right? Every year, untold numbers of albums, EPs and singles are released by both new and new-to-you melodic pop artists. Dear Stella’s EP rises to the toppermost of that poppermost, in my opinion, drawing on a variety of approaches to the song as employed by such well-known purveyors of pop as Bleu, Eric Barao, David Myhr, Kai Danzberg, and Jellyfish, all of whom figure directly or indirectly in Stefanie’s songs. From the opening, joyous, smiling and catchy kitchen sink approach of “Time Machine” to the gorgeous closing ballad, “Brighton Beach,” which draws a knowing parallel between distance and affection, Time Zones is nothing less than one of the best releases of 2020.

And you’ll get to hear all about this so-very-very-good collection of songs this coming next Tuesday, February 2, right here on the Pure Pop Radio website, when Stefanie Drexler joins me on the latest episode of Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation, presented in See! Hear! Pop!, Pure Pop Radio’s finely-tuned video-riffic sight and sound format. Don’t miss this joyful, rather charming 45-minute-long chat.

Sit back and enjoy two songs from the Time Zones EP to whet your appetite for next Tuesday’s in-depth discussion. Enjoy listening to “Time Machine” and “Brighton Beach.”

See you back here in just five days–Tuesday, February 2, at 11:45 am EST.

Where to Get It: Bandcamp, Amazon, Apple Music

Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation, hosted by Alan Haber, is the internet’s premier talk show presenting melodic pop music artists talking about their work. Interviews are presented in See! Hear! Pop!, Pure Pop Radio’s finely-tuned video-riffic sight and sound format. New episodes appear here exclusively on the Pure Pop Radio website. Podcast versions of previously-presented episodes are archived here.

Alan Haber’s Pure Pop Radio is the premier website covering the melodic pop scene with in-depth reviews of new and reissued recordings, interviews, and a wide variety of features.

Pure Pop Radio, the Radio Station, Says Goodbye after 25 Years

December 9, 2020 ~ Alan Haber's Pure Pop Radio ~ 2 Comments

By Alan Haber – Pure Pop Radio

After 25 years, Pure Pop Radio, which began in 1995 as a weekly show on WEBR Radio in Fairfax, Virginia, and more recently was reborn as a 24-hour internet radio station, is going off the air for good. The station will stream its final catchy stretch of melodic pop songs at the end of the day on Sunday, December 13.

The Pure Pop Radio website will, however, forge on and continue to provide reviews of new and reissued albums, EPs and singles, and host new episodes of Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation, the internet’s premier melodic pop talk show. Articles, such as the ongoing series I Love that Song!, will also continue to appear in the new year.

I have loved working on Pure Pop Radio; in recent years, though, I have found it more difficult to do the work necessary to keep the station running at peak efficiency, thanks to medical problems that have gotten progressively worse. So, it is with a heavy heart that I have come to the realization that it is time to retire one of the great loves of my life.

Nothing has given me more pleasure than helping to spread the word on the greatest melodic pop music in the universe. It has been my pleasure, and my honor, to play music on the radio from artists as diverse as Bill Lloyd, Andrew Gold, David Myhr, Jeffrey Foskett, the Legal Matters, Tony Rivers, the Spongetones, Ray Paul, Lannie Flowers, Dave Caruso, Dropkick, Lisa Mychols, Scott McPherson, Michael Carpenter, the Beach Boys, the Beatles, Richard X. Heyman, Emitt Rhodes, Scott Gagner, Dana Countryman, and a whole host of other artists.

Likewise, it has been my pleasure and honor to interview on the radio many of the artists whose music I have played through the years, including most of the artists mentioned above and others like Joey Molland, Paul Revere, Doug Fieger, Graham Gouldman, Kevin Godley, and on and on. Various independent record labels have helped with great support over the years, from Not Lame, Kool Kat, and Permanent Press to Futureman, Sundazed, SpyderPop and Big Stir. Apologies to those labels and artists I have forgotten to mention; trust that you are all in my thoughts and in my heart.

As I look forward to continuing my work helping to promote great, melodic pop music here on the Pure Pop Radio website, I find myself thinking about the person who first suggested that I begin and ultimately maintain a web presence: James Cribb, who created an umbrella site called TWOMP (The Work of Many People), where the first Pure Pop Radio website appeared back in the late 1990s. Thanks, James.

It’s hard to let go of something that means so much to you; the last song streaming on Pure Pop Radio hasn’t begun playing yet, but I already miss the sound of catchy choruses, deeply-felt melodies and harmonies, and sleigh bells.

I truly appreciate everyone’s support of Pure Pop Radio through the years. Thanks from the bottom of my heart. I hope I will continue to see you around here; a new episode of Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation will be posted next week, a charming conversation with a new artist whose work is already making waves through the indie music community. I will return early in the new year with reviews and my annual Favorite Records of the Year feature.

Until then, enjoy the final days of Pure Pop on the radio, and see you back here next week for another edition of Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation.

Thanks for your time, as always, and thanks again for your support.

Alan Haber’s Pure Pop Radio is the premier website covering the melodic pop scene with in-depth reviews of new and reissued recordings, and a wide variety of features.

The Pure Pop Radio station brings the greatest melodic pop music in the universe to your waiting ears, 24 hours a day (listen by clicking below).

Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation, Fall 2020, Episode One: The Flat Five’s Kelly Hogan and Nora O’Connor

November 17, 2020 ~ Alan Haber's Pure Pop Radio ~ Leave a comment

By Alan Haber – Pure Pop Radio

Five strong, they possess the tools of their miraculous, imaginative trade; when they slap, strum, pick and make thwoopping sounds in concert with their able-bodied voices, they distinguish themselves from nearly all other like-minded musicians who ply their trade in the recording studio and on stage. Lately, they have had to limit their collective ply to the recording studio; in the age of COVID-19, venturing out to play is unthinkable, considering the global state of play.

“If only we could play a f****n’ show,” the Flat Five’s Nora O’Connor says genuinely and honestly after a quick sigh, for it is on the stage that Nora and Kelly Hogan and Alex Hall and Casey McDonough and Scott Ligon, whose brother Chris, who isn’t in the band, writes the songs that the Flat Five warble brilliantly, gather to relate Chris’s clever and wildly imaginative lyrical wordplay and musical playlets with creative precision.

The Review
For now, the Flat Five from Chicago, from the Windy City and not from anywhere else, mind you, enjoin themselves within Alex’s popular Reliable Recorders. In there, they plug in and turn on and subsequently bring Chris Ligon’s beautifully and cleverly written tales of people who wind up here, there and possibly everywhere to life with harmony singing par excellence. The Flat Five’s joyous new album, Another World, their second long player that is even better than their first, a delectable spinner entitled It’s a World of Love and Hope that came out in 2016, is proof of everything.

“The song is our higher power,” says Nora, a truth borne out by snappy songs like “Drip a Drop,” which toasts the elixir known as pure and giddy happiness with wordplay extraordinaire (“My baby shakes like Tina Turner’s daughter / He runs around the house in just a little top / On his behind you can set a glass of water / He Hully Gullys and don’t ever drip a drop”).

The deeply felt ballad, “The Great State of Texas,” sung empathically by Kelly, tells the sad tale of a prisoner behind bars in the aforementioned great state who experiences a series of last meet-and-greets with things both mundane and personal before stating that “the great state of Texas is taking my” (beat, beat, beat, beat, beat) “life.” It’s a heartbreaking ballad that cuts deep.

Of course, there is much more to savor on Another World, and if you think the proverbial coinkidink is in play when you note that the word “world” appears in the title of both of the Flat Five’s albums, know that although it seems that there is absolutely no coinkidink in play, there actually is. It’s just that the world being referred to could be on the moon, could be an escape from the craziness of our lives, as it is in Another World’s jaunty closer, “Over and Out” (“Over and out the page has turned / the train has left the station…”).

The Interview
Listen to (and watch!) Nora O’Connor and Kelly Hogan wax poetic about all of the above and a whole lot more as my very special guests on the first in a new series of Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation shows, appearing below (you’ll be able to hear the show on our Pure Pop Radio station soon). This interview is presented in See! Hear! Pop!, Pure Pop Radio’s finely-tuned video-riffic sight and sound format (make of that what you will, will you?).

Please note that, due to copyright considerations, this interview is scoped, so the songs spoken about do not play when I say they will and, instead, play below. So listen to the interview and then listen to “I Don’t Even Care” and “The Great State of Texas,” which should propel you to, after all is said and done, purchase Another World, another in a series of wonderful albums by Chicago’s Flat Five.

Without further ado, here are the Flat Five’s Nora O’Connor and Kelly Hogan in conversation with me, Alan Haber. Enjoy.

Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation with the Flat Five’s Nora O’Connor and Kelly Hogan

Where to Get It: Amazon, Bandcamp, Apple Music

Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation Flashback: Andrew Gold Guests (11-1-97)

July 29, 2020May 17, 2021 ~ Alan Haber's Pure Pop Radio ~ Leave a comment

By Alan Haber – Pure Pop Radio

Just released by Esoteric Recordings in England is a mammoth seven disc box set (six CDs and one DVD), bringing together Andrew Gold’s releases on the Asylum records label and adding a host of unreleased tracks, live recordings, promotional videos and BBC-TV performances.

This pretty-much-everything-under-one-roof dream package is a good excuse to feature my first live, on-air interview with Andrew, which took place on November 1, 1997, just prior to the release of Greetings from Planet Love, his loving tribute to all things Beatles- and 1960s-esque billed under the group name The Fraternal Order of the All.

Andrew spent 90 minutes with me, as his kids romped around the kitchen table, talking about Greetings from Planet Love and playing and commenting on tracks from across his magnificent catalog. He was a lively guest with a great sense of humor, quipping and laughing a lot the whole way through. It was Andrew’s first of many appearance on the old, weekly Pure Pop Radio show.

During the show, we played 11 songs from Andrew’s catalog, including several from Greetings from Planet Love, his first recordings with Graham Gouldman under the group name Common Knowledge, which led to the duo Wax (Wax UK in America), and much more. Because I wanted to present this interview today, there wasn’t enough time to list the songs played; I will add that list to this post soon, along with links to listen to said tracks.

Enjoy my first, live interview with the great Andrew Gold, from the November 1, 1997 edition of Pure Pop Radio, broadcast on WEBR-FM in Fairfax, Virginia. I’m very proud of it. I hope you love it like I do.

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Listen to my first live interview with Andrew Gold from November 1, 1997 by clicking the play button on the following player, or click on the Pure Pop Radio button to the left to download (then right click and choose “Save audio as” to save the file to your computer). (This interview is presented in scoped format; the songs have been removed due to copyright concerns.)

Listen to a wide selection of previously-aired Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation interviews by clicking here.

Alan Haber’s Pure Pop Radio is the premier website covering the melodic pop scene with in-depth reviews of new and reissued recordings, and a wide variety of features.

Pure Pop Radio brings the greatest melodic pop music in the universe to your waiting ears, 24 hours a day.

The Pure Joy of the Laurel Canyon Sound of the 1960s: Fernando Perdomo Talks About Echo in the Canyon, a Glorious, Heartfelt Film and Album Celebration, on Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation

June 27, 2019May 17, 2021 ~ Alan Haber's Pure Pop Radio ~ Leave a comment

By Alan Haber – Pure Pop Radio

Put a guitar in Fernando Perdomo’s hands–you pick the genre–and you’ll get a performance that will knock your socks off or, alternatively, blow your mind.

Perhaps both, if you catch him on an especially good day.

Perdomo talks with me about the Laurel Canyon sound of the mid-1960s and the film that celebrates it–Echo in the Canyon, now playing at a theater near you–on this week’s all-new edition of Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation (listen below). (We also talk about the groovy soundtrack album.)

Echo in the Canyon is the glorious, passionate big-screen celebration of the Laurel Canyon sound of the mid-1960s that found music makers like the Mamas and the Papas, the Byrds and Buffalo Springfield making history and touching hearts around the world with their soon-to-be-classic recordings, waxed at some of the most famous studios in history. The film deftly spins a magical, melody-rich tale, told through interviews with iconic performers like David Crosby, Michelle Phillips, and Jackson Browne, and performances by the Echo in the Canyon band, headed by Jakob Dylan.

Perdomo, who plays in the Echo in the Canyon band along with such stellar musicians as Geoff Pearlman, Matt Tecu, and Jordan Summers, talks about how he got this golden gig and what it was like to play with such heavyweight guests as Beck, Stephen Stills, and Neil Young. The film, now playing in theaters nationwide, is memorialized on the powerful soundtrack, produced by Andrew Slater, who also directed.

The soundtrack releases on CD tomorrow, June 28, and on vinyl August 2. Thirteen classic songs are featured, including the Byrds’ “Goin’ Back,” the Mamas and the Papas’ “Go Where You Wanna Go,” and Buffalo Springfield’s “Expecting to Fly.” Here is a taste of the great sounds contained in the film and on the soundtrack:

Listen below to my in-depth interview with Fernando Perdomo, talking about the 1960s Laurel Canyon sound and this moment’s magical, musical experience, Echo in the Canyon, on this week’s all-new edition of Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation.

Listen to my interview with Fernando Perdomo about the 1960s Laurel Canyon sound memorialized in Echo in the Canyon by clicking the play button on the following player, or by clicking on the Pure Pop Radio button to the left to download (then right click and choose “Save audio as” to save the file to your computer).

Be on the lookout for the announcement of the next all-new edition of Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation, coming soon.

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Listen to a wide selection of archived Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation shows by clicking here.

Alan Haber’s Pure Pop Radio is the premiere website covering the melodic pop scene with in-depth reviews of new and reissued recordings, and a wide variety of features. We’ve been around since the first weekly Pure Pop Radio shows, which began broadcasting in 1995, and the 24-hour Pure Pop Radio station, which ended last August.

Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation, hosted by Alan Haber, is the Internet’s premier talk show presenting melodic pop music artists in conversation about their work. New episodes appear here exclusively on the Pure Pop Radio website. Podcast versions of previously-aired episodes are archived here.

Welcome to your number one home for coverage of the greatest melodic pop music in the universe from the ’60s to today.

Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation this Thursday, June 27: Fernando Perdomo Joins Alan Haber for a Celebration of the Film Sensation, Echo in the Canyon

June 24, 2019May 17, 2021 ~ Alan Haber's Pure Pop Radio ~ Leave a comment

Fernando Perdomo talks about the Echo in the Canyon film and soundtrack on Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation this Thursday, June 27

By Alan Haber – Pure Pop Radio

Oh, what it must have been like, wandering through Laurel Canyon in Los Angeles in the mid-1960s, among the songwriters and performers who struck gold in the Hollywood Hills and draped the burgeoning folk-into-folk-rock landscape with hit after lasting hit.

Echo in the Canyon is the glorious, passionate big-screen celebration of the Laurel Canyon sound that found music makers like the Mamas and the Papas, the Byrds and Buffalo Springfield making history and touching hearts around the world with their soon-to-be-classic recordings, waxed at some of the most famous studios in history. The film deftly spins a magical, melody-rich tale, told through interviews with iconic performers like David Crosby, Michelle Phillips, and Jackson Browne, and performances by the Echo in the Canyon band, headed by Jakob Dylan.

Pure Pop Radio favorite Fernando Perdomo, the “it” musician of the moment, whose imaginative, passionate playing elevates music being made in genres far and wide, from pop to prog and back again, talks with me during the second in the new series of Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation shows about becoming a member of the Echo in the Canyon band, giving unique, widescreen insight into the project. The show debuts here on the Pure Pop Radio website this Thursday, June 27.

The Echo in the Canyon band is currently entertaining filmgoers at certain film showings with exciting live performances that help to turn audiences in cities across the country onto the gospel that is the Laurel Canyon sound. The magical band performs era-defining songs like the Mamas and the Papas’ “Go Where You Wanna Go” and the Byrds’ (by way of Gerry Goffin and Carole King) “Goin’ Back,” testifying to the ongoing vitality of the music that helped to shape a generation and beyond.

Echo in the Canyon is now playing in theaters nationwide; the soundtrack, produced by Andrew Slater, who also directed the film, is powered by the core band (Geoff Pearlman, Matt Tecu, Jordan Summers and Perdomo, among others) and guests such as Beck, Stephen Stills, and Neil Young. The soundtrack releases on CD this Friday and on vinyl August 2. Thirteen classic songs are featured; two can be heard above and another, Love’s majestic “No Matter What You Do,” can be heard below:

Don’t miss Pure Pop Radio favorite Fernando Perdomo, a member of the Echo in the Canyon band, talking with me about the film, soundtrack and live performances during the second in the new series of Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation shows. The show debuts here on the Pure Pop Radio website this Thursday, June 27.

Stay tuned for announcements of more all-new Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation shows, coming soon.

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Alan Haber’s Pure Pop Radio is the premiere website covering the melodic pop scene with in-depth reviews of new and reissued recordings, and a wide variety of features. We’ve been around since the first weekly Pure Pop Radio shows, which began broadcasting in 1995, and the 24-hour Pure Pop Radio station, which ended last August.

Welcome to your number one home for coverage of the greatest melodic pop music in the universe from the ’60s to today.

Gather Ye Hippies! Join Hands, Flower Children! The Summer of Love is Alive Once Again on Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation

June 21, 2019May 17, 2021 ~ Alan Haber's Pure Pop Radio ~ Leave a comment

By Alan Haber – Pure Pop Radio

It’s a lovefest of epic proportions: 20 musical merrymakers, gathered together on the stage of the Count Basie Center for the Arts, sending good musical vibes out to an all-ages audience thirsty for the sumptuous sounds of the Summer of Love and Woodstock eras.

It’s a gathering of waiting angels, hip to the sounds filling the vaunted Basie structure. And those sounds? Why, it’s Glen Burtnik’s Summer of Love Concert; the performance from last March is contained in all its peace and love and glory on the just-released, whole-lot-of-fun two-CD set from Jem Records.

Burtnik, a longtime (20-plus years!) Pure Pop Radio favorite and one of the lovely Weeklings, and Tony Pallagrosi, manager of the Weeklings and producer of this momentous, warmhearted, exciting CD, spoke at length and in-depth (the only way we do it!) with me about this Summer of Love Concert release, zeroing in on what goes into crafting the concert, and how the songs, performed so passionately by the cast, connect with the audience. I’m thrilled to present this outtasite conversation as the first of this new series of Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation shows.

“They were pulling up gold out of the ground for the first time,” said Pallagrosi, looking back at the classic rock pioneers whose work is performed during the Summer of Love concert. Classics from the Turtles, the Doors, Joe Cocker, and the Mamas and the Papas to the Lemon Pipers, Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, and Sly and the Family Stone are the order of the day; master of ceremonies Burtnik pulls off a 17-song show that will put a smile on the face of anyone who loves great, classic pop and rock music.

Here are some of the songs that make the Summer of Love Concert CD sing:

Listen to my in-depth interview with Glen Burtnik and Tony Pallagrosi below. Get Glen Burtnik’s Summer of Love Concert 2-CD set at Amazon. Peace, love and good vibes to all!

Listen to my interview with Glen Burtnik and Tony Pallagrosi, talking about the new Summer of Love Concert CD, by clicking the play button on the following player, or click on the Pure Pop Radio button to the left to download (then right click and choose “Save audio as” to save the file to your computer).

Listen to Glen Burtnik and Tony Pallagrosi talk about Glen Burtnik’s Summer of Love Concert CD, in conversation with Alan Haber.

P.S. Look forward to the announcement of next week’s all-new episode of Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation. The announcement is coming this Monday, June 24. This new show’s a good one, and quite timely! Think: California…

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Listen to a wide selection of archived Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation shows by clicking here.

Welcome to your number one home for coverage of the greatest melodic pop music in the universe from the ’60s to today.

Klaatu Celebration Week Concludes: John, Dee, Terry (and Alan) Pick Favorite Klaatu Songs

August 31, 2018May 17, 2021 ~ Alan Haber's Pure Pop Radio ~ 2 Comments

klaatu sir army suit cover

By Alan Haber – Pure Pop Radio

Picking your favorite songs by your favorite artists can sometimes be a fairly unreliable exercise, because your three favorites today might be totally different tomorrow.

Nevertheless, John Woloschuk, Dee Long, and Terry Draper were happy to play the favorite songs game when I spoke with them recently. Each of them chose three Klaatu favorites, and here they are, along with three of my favorites because, well, I wanted to play, too (my choices appear at the bottom of this page) (right-click on the audio streams to save them to your computer).

And with today’s post, we wind up our weeklong celebration of Klaatu’s Sir Army Suit, released 40 years ago this month. It’s been a lot of fun walking down memory lane; we hope you’ve had as good a time as we have.

John Woloschuk talks about three of his favorite Klaatu songs

Dee Long talks about three of his favorite Klaatu songs

Terry Draper talks about three of his favorite Klaatu songs

Alan Haber: Proud Music Geek! And now, without further ado, here are five of my favorite Klaatu songs (“Sub-Rosa Subway,” from 3:47 E.S.T., resides in its own little exalted corner of my brain and so does not appear here):

“Blue Smoke” | Magentalane (1981)
Originally titled “The List of Endangered Species,” this blazing rocker from Klaatu’s fifth and final album features particularly perky piano, John Woloschuk’s sitar, and Terry Draper’s stylish slide trombone, and rocking guitars too (crunchy and otherwise), all dressed up in the band’s usual fanciful wrapping. (John talks about this song here.)
“All Good Things” | Endangered Species (1980)
Short (under two minutes) and particularly sweet, this wistful, acoustic song, last in the running order on the Endangered Species album, also has an interesting story (John tells the tale here). Surely one of John’s prettiest melodies.
“Hope” | Hope (1977)
The glorious second Klaatu album’s closing and title song sports another of John’s prettiest melodies and offers up as positive a message as anyone could summon. Note the creative bass line that perfectly complements the melody. John told me that when he wrote this song, he was working above his pay grade. “When faith gives way to fear/When motivation disappears/All is lost if one abandons hope,” he sings. Words for every beating heart.
“Calling Occupants (Of Interplanetary Craft)” | 3:47 E.S.T. (1976)
This signature song, a grand statement if ever there was one, leads off Klaatu’s eclectic first album. Anything I could say here would be superfluous, especially since John and Terry, who co-wrote the song, speak so eloquently about it in their interviews posted above (Dee also talks about it). I will say, however, that any song that preaches friendship–even friendship across the galaxies–is okay in my book.
“Perpetual Motion Machine” | Sir Army Suit (1978)
Dee Long’s sprightly toe-tapper about the gift you didn’t know you needed is one of four solo written numbers on Sir Army Suit (he cowrote “Silly Boys” with John). What it’s really about, though, is anyone’s guess, but its lyrics speak to the collector in me (“You can have one today just send right away/We deliver right to your home”), so I’ll go with that.

radio1 Alan Haber’s Pure Pop Radio is the premiere website covering the melodic pop scene with in-depth reviews of new and reissued recordings, and a wide variety of features. The 24-hour Pure Pop Radio stream ran from 2013 to August 25, 2018. Welcome to your number one home for coverage of the greatest melodic pop music in the universe from the ’60s to today.

Classic In Conversation: Meet Ben Folds

August 13, 2018May 17, 2021 ~ Alan Haber's Pure Pop Radio ~ Leave a comment

Listen to this Classic Ben Folds Interview from 1996 as You Lose Yourself in the Just-Released Box Set, Brick

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The release of the massive, 13-disc box set Brick (Edsel), covering all of the Ben Folds Five and Ben Folds solo releases and a whole lot more, prompted me to set the WAYBAC machine for March 26, 1996–just one year after the original, weekly Pure Pop Radio show began.

On that day, more than 22 years ago, I conducted a short but oh-so-sweet interview on the run with the great Ben Folds, just after his high-energy (read: energetic and LOUD) Ben Folds Five show at Washington, D.C.’s 9:30 Club concluded. The self-titled, first Five album had been released only seven months prior, but you would never have known it by the roaring reaction from the packed crowd.

My power-packed chat with Ben began just outside his dressing room and continued down to the stage where he and his band set to breaking down his setup and packing their instruments and equipment into a waiting U-Haul truck. This included Ben’s 1972 well-worn Baldwin piano, a well-used specimen if ever there was one. Ben and I talked about his approach to playing piano, being compared to Elton John and Billy Joel, and his love of the Buggles’ “Video Killed the Radio Star,” which the band played that night and subsequently covered on record. And lots more.

This is one of my favorite interviews that I’ve done over the years. I hope you enjoy it.

Listen to my interview with Ben Folds from March 26, 1996 by clicking the play button on the following player, or click on the Pure Pop Radio button to the left to download (then right click and choose “Save audio as” to save the file to your computer). (This interview is presented in scoped format; the songs have been removed due to copyright concerns.)

Listen to a wide selection of previously-aired Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation interviews by clicking here.

ppr radio purple background - inset Pure Pop Radio plays the greatest melodic pop music from across the decades, 24 hours a day (broadcasts end August 25). Listen by clicking on the Live365 Listen Now button at left. Hear us once and you’ll be a listener for life. Join us, won’t you? You’ll be glad you did!