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Eddie writesTop Five Reasons You Should Attend CHIRP’s Road to 107.1FM Party at Lagunitas This Monday
by Eddie Sayago
There are many reasons to avoid Mondays. It’s the beginning of the work week. It is cold, now that autumn has arrived. And sometimes, the weekend was so hectic there is no smooth transition into whatever you've got going on Mondays.
So going out on Monday evening is probably a bad idea. Except it isn’t. This Monday shindig with your friends at CHIRP is just want you need. At this event, we have...
1. Local Beer
Lagunitas has been a welcome addition to the Chicago craft beer scene since they opened their brewery in the West Side in 2014. For this occasion, Lagunitas drafts will be $5 each. If you plan accordingly, maybe it is possible to try some of their lesser known beers, like the Aunt Sally or the Born Yesterday pale ale. Plus, if Monday is a day free from work or other professional commitments, they have a tasting tour at 1pm and 3pm.
2. Top Notch Pizza and Snacks
The animated (in name only) character Daria once said that there is "no moment in life that can’t be improved with pizza.” Included in your ticket (available here) is some fine pizza and appetizers from Bacci’s, the same folks who bring you the jumbo slices with a free pop. As a native South Sider who was within walking distance from a Bacci’s, there were fewer joys than grabbing a jumbo slice with a free pop for only a few bucks.
3. Local Music
CHIRP Radio prides itself by playing local bands, and what better way to celebrate that than by having one of those bands perform live. In between rounds of Little Sumpin and trying not to stain your tie with pizza, Impulsive Hearts will perform some surf pop jams, which may just allow attendees to perform that summer is over and it will still be a cold, dark Monday outside.
4. Defeat the “Case of the Mondays"
Monday gets a bad rap. It’s the beginning of the work or school week. If you’re lucky, this day follows two wonderful days off from the workplace or class. Instead of going home to watch whatever the networks are calling “fall’s best new (insert genre)” or election coverage, why not spend the evening with CHIRP, and give yourself a pat on the back for...
5. Support Local Media
CHIRP just raised over $23,000 in the latest pledge drive, a new record. Maybe you donated, in which case, thank you. If you didn’t, this would be a great way to financially support us. All the net proceeds benefit the station, and every dollar counts. Your ticket, which is only $10, could help pay for streaming fees, rent, printing out posters or flyers for future events, and allowing us to continue to provide high quality programming to thousands of people in our community.
Tickets are $10 and can be purchased here.
Clarence Ewing: The Million Year Trip writesTop Five Underrated Musicians from Extremely Successful Rock Bands
This one goes out to those who appreciate the work of the New York Yankees, Microsoft, and Mcdonald's. Who cheer on the scrappy go-getters like Sony Music and Amazon.com and cheer on Mark Zuckerberg when his bank account swells up another $10 million.
OK, not really. But yeah, kinda. History, after all, is written by the winners, and there are times when winners must get their due. Especially when the whole overshadows the individual parts. This is very much true in the music world, where the brilliant work of individual musicians can get overlooked from time to time for any number of reasons.
Is it possible for someone who’s part of a group that’s sold millions of records and made untold sums of money to be considered “underrated?” I say, in certain aspects, yes. I believe there are some groups that have achieved certified legend status that have members who still don’t quite get the full credit they deserve. Like these five....
Clarence Ewing: The Million Year Trip writesTop Five Songs the Republicans Could Use for Their Convention
So far, the 2016 Republican Party National convention in Cleveland has been, to borrow a phrase from Jay and Silent Bob, “clown shoes.” Failed insurrections. Plagiarized keynote speeches. Guest appearances by Scott Flippin’ Baio.
Now it’s been revealed that the band Queen would rather the GOP not use their song “We Are the Champions” as soon-to-be nominee Donald Trump’s entrance music. Just another in a long line of artists and bands who do not want their music associated with this particular party.
What would be some appropriate music to use for this occasion? In the spirit of bipartisanship, I want to help. So here are some suggestions based on what I've seen and heard and read about the state of the GOP these last few months, with an important caveat to whoever it is running operations for the convention - YOU MIGHT WANT TO GET PERMISSION FIRST.
Jenny Lizak writesCelebrate Pride With These LGBTQ Artists!
by CHIRP DJ Jenny Lizak
Happy Pride Month! Let’s celebrate with these ten songs from LGBTQ musicians…
“Fast Girls” by Sarge: Elizabeth Elmore spins a tale of meeting a girl at a Punk rock show that she can’t stop thinking about.
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“Wut” by Le1f: It’s still not easy being openly gay in the world of Hip-Hop, but Le1f doesn’t pull any punches with this hit.
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“Rebel Girl” by Bikini Kill: It’s rumored that riot grrl Kathleen Hanna wrote this song as a tribute to Joan Jett.
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Eddie writesTop 5 Prince Songs Covered by Other Artists
by Eddie Sayago
Prince was (it’s tough to not type “is”) more than an electrifying artist and performer. He elevated music to a new level. He defied what a musician, performer, and person could be. As our finest ruler in music royalty (and oddly fitting that he takes the spotlight from an actual monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. On her 90th birthday nonetheless.), he could do anything. He played encores well over an hour after the show ended. He made everyone attempt to call him The Artist Formerly Known as Prince for nearly a decade. Hell, he appeared on Muppets Tonight as a singing farmer and on New Girl as himself, poking fun of his persona (“Oh, how rude of me, I haven’t given you enough time to freak now. You may do so now.”).
Here are five of his songs performed by six artists...
"Kiss" by Tom Jones/Richard Thompson
Prince was practically a genre. Just about everyone has covered a song of his either on record, on stage, during karaoke, or during a jam session with friends. Two British artists on each end of the musical spectrum and with illustrious careers of their own bring their own swagger to one of the most iconic songs in pop music.
Jones, no stranger to combining sex appeal with his vocal performances, originally began performing “Kiss” during a Vegas residency shortly after “Kiss” debuted in 1986. Avant-garde group the Art of Noise saw Jones live and wanted to collaborate with the man behind “It’s Not Unusual”, “She’s A Lady”, and the delightfully campy and raunchy “Sex Bomb.” That combo resulted in Jones’ first foray on MTV and a Top 40 hit in the US and a Top 10 in his native UK. Thompson, the folksy singer-songwriter extraordinaire best known for “1952 Vincent Black Lightning”, delivers a boldly confident performance of “Kiss” in front of a live audience, which was later featured in his album 1000 Years of Popular Music.