Tag Archives: wfmu

Tuneage

The Freeform Station of the Nation Still Needs You

As I stated in this post, WFMU is currently in the midst of its annual pledge marathon, and could sure use your help. I will be pitching in tomorrow from 3 to 6pm during Terre T’s show. She’s the first WFMU DJ I listened to many moons ago, and I still tune in every Saturday to hear her spin the best punk/garage/glam/psychedelia on The Cherry Blossom Clinic.

This year, a donation to her fine program gets you not only a CD with many rockin’ rarities which you will not find anywhere else on Earth so don’t even try, but also a special Cherry Blossom Clinic apron! And what could be more rockin’ than keeping your clothes free of flour while making a souflee?

So call tomorrow from 3 to 6 to donate to her fantastic show, and to WFMU. You might even get to speak to yours truly and have me ask you to repeat the spelling of your last name eight times. If you can’t wait for 24 hours, feel free to use the handy dandy pledge widget to your right. DO IT.

The Funny, Tuneage

TomThon 2011 is Go!

The annual WFMU Pledge Marathon has begun, and The Freeform Station of the Nation needs you. Yes, you. And you. And even you. If you can swing it, please use the handy dandy WFMU Pledge widget to your right to donate today.

Just in case you are not aware: WFMU (91.1 on your FM dial in the NYC area, streaming at WFMU.org) is a 100 percent listener-supported radio station that broadcasts out of Jersey City. None of their funding comes from the gubment. Very little (if any) comes from corporate entities. None of the DJs are paid. The vast majority of the labor needed to keep the place up and running comes from volunteers.

Why? Because it is one of the only radio stations in the tri-state area–and America–where people can play pretty much whatever they want. In a world where most frequencies are programmed, and in many cases DJ’ed, by robots, WFMU remains a bastion of The Human Element.

Perhaps the very idea of a radio station seems quaint to you, in our world of MP3 players and fax machines, but I strongly disagree. I have been introduced to so much awesomeness thanks to WFMU, whether it’s music or comedy or just plain talk (although nothing they do could be described as “just plain”). Things that I never would have heard of otherwise, and wouldn’t even think to seek out. And I know that I would not have heard any of it on any other radio station. On any other thing, period.

My love for The Best Show on WFMU is well documented. What Tom Scharpling and Jon Wurster do on that show would be impossible to do anywhere else. No other station would give them the amount of time needed to make their “mayhem” happen. Not NPR, and certainly not Clear Channel-dominated commercial radio. And The Best Show is just the tip of a very deep iceberg. That is why WFMU needs and deserves support.

Continue reading TomThon 2011 is Go! →

The Funny

Chris Elliott on the Best Show – TONIGHT!

I usually shy away from topical announcements on this site, particularly for events that are occurring within a 24-hour window. However, I did so a while ago when one of my comedy heroes, Martin Short, appeared on The Best Show on WFMU. So I feel duty bound to do it again, because on tonight’s installment, host Tom Scharpling will share the airwaves with Chris Elliott.

Good god, I love Chris Elliott. The mere mention of his name brings a smile to my face. His appearances on David Letterman basically invented the Late Night Talk Show. Without Chris Elliott, whither Conan O’Brien? Nither, I say.

For Get a Life alone, he deserves to be bronzed and placed atop a comedy pedestal. Get a Life was like the Velvet Underground of comedy nerd-dom. Few people watched it, but everyone who did went on to do amazing things. Oh, and I watched it, too.

If you haven’t seen Eagleheart, Elliott’s new Adult Swim show, get on it. It’s basically Walker: Texas Ranger starring him as an ass-kicking, name-taking marshall, and is every bit as great as that premise implies.

To hear him be awesome on the radio tonight, tune into 91.1 on your dial at 9pm sharp. Or if you’re not in the NY area, go to WFMU.org to listen over the interwebs. DO IT.