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The CHIRP Blog
Clarence Ewing: The Million Year Trip writesWhat’s Up at CHIRP Radio (Week of Sept. 7)
NEW MEDIA:
-
The next edition of CHIRP's Factory Sessions, featuring She Speaks in Tongues, will debut on Wednesday, Sept. 9
- CHIRP Radio continues its Volunteer: Stories of Philanthropy series with a profile of Sheeenita Robinson and her efforts in Neighbors Creating Neighborhoods
- Bobby Evers interviews Lydia Loveless about her band’s European tour and upcoming documentary film
- The Gig Poster: Mavis Staples
- Ron Harlow lists his favorite Chicago Cubs walk-up songs
- Friday MP3 Shuffle: Happy Birthday, Martin Chambers!
COMING UP THIS WEEK:
- CHIRP Radio and Kickstand Productions present Jessica Lee Mayfield to Beat Kitchen on Friday, Sept. 11
- CHIRP Radio co-hosts live music and DJ sets at the 3rd annual City Made Fest on Saturday, Sept. 12
TOP OF THE CHARTS:
The top of CHIRP Radio's album charts for the week of Sept. 1 2015:
1. Beach House, Depression Cherry (Sub Pop)
2. Destroyer, Poison Season (Merge)
3. WHITEGOLD, WHITEGOLD (self-released)
Click here to check out who else is on CHIRP charts!
Clarence Ewing: The Million Year Trip writesFriday MP3 Shuffle: Happy Birthday Martin Chambers Edition
[Photo from Fanphobia.net]
It’s once again time to give the drummer some as we wish Happy Birthday to Martin Chambers of The Pretenders. Chambers gave up his job as a driving instructor in London upon meeting with singer Chrissie Hynde, a transplant from Akron, OH working at the music paper NME, and forming a new group that instantly clicked as soon as he got behind the skins. As a Punk-flavored Rock band with the Pop skills to appeal to general audiences with songs like “Brass in Pocket,” “Message of Love,” and “Talk of the Town,” The Pretenders were perfect for the first wave of bands that provided MTV with sound and pictures.
However, the group was twice struck by tragedy early on as guitarist James Honeyman-Scott and bass player Pete Farndon both died of drug overdoses as the band was approaching the top of its game. Nonetheless, a brief late ’80s-early ‘90s hiatus from the group notwithstanding, Chambers has kept the faith and helped keep the band going with Hynde all these years. Give the man props by pressing the “shuffle” button on your MP3 player and sharing the first 10 songs you hear…
Greg Kantowicz writesThe Gig Poster: Mavis Staples
Who: Mavis Staples
Where: Chicago Auditorium Theatre
Bobby Evers writesAn Interview with Lydia Loveless
By Bobby Evers
Since the release of Somewhere Else, her breakout album from last year, Lydia Loveless has been keeping busy. She’s toured the US and Europe, releasing covers of Prince, Kesha, and Echo and the Bunnymen, and launched a kickstarter campaign for a new Lydia Loveless documentary which began filming earlier this summer. I was able to speak with Lydia over the phone before she played the Green Music Fest in Chicago this past June.
BE: So first, let’s talk about your recent European tour.
LL: Yeah, that was the whole month of May. We did quite a few countries. We did Germany, France, Italy, Spain. We normally just do Scandinavia, and we’ve done Spain once before, but yeah, it was really cool. It was our first 5-piece European tour.
ronharlow writesTop Five Chicago Cubs Walk-Up Songs
by Ron Harlow
The Chicago Cubs have a long list of lasts. Wins and losses aside, they were the last major league baseball team to install lights in their home ballpark. This year, they became the last to install a video replay board. This season also features a subtler addition to the list – the Cubs are the last big league team to fully allow their players to use a walk-up song.
A walk-up song is what’s played over the ballpark’s loudspeakers as the batter walks up to the plate. The home team lets each individual player choose whichever song he wants to hear just before facing a 90-mile-per-hour projectile. It can be any song and for any reason. Over the summer, the walk-up song becomes a part of a player’s identity.
The Cubs experimented with walk-up songs in 2010, but decided to stick with traditional organ music. Today, ownership is intent on modernizing Wrigley Field. The walk-up song is a modern quirk in a sport that’s reluctant to change, and creating a playlist is much less expensive and time-consuming than constructing a video board.
Here are my top five 2015 Cubs walk-up songs:
1. “No Diggity” by Blackstreet
Kyle Schwarber was three years old when this R&B classic was released. Ever since the rookie sensation was called up from the minors in June, I’ve developed a Pavlovian response to “No Diggity.” Schwarber is a phenomenal hitter, so hearing his walk-up song signals my brain that something good is about to happen.