NeverEndingWonder Halloween Radio Empire Online for 2009

The NeverEndingWonder Halloween Radio Empire has hit the cyber-airwaves for the 2009 Halloween season.

Every year for the past nine years I have broadcast three stations of Halloween themed music for fans of Halloween the world over. They're all back this year for another five weeks of shivers, shenanigans, silliness and sinister, shadowy delights.

NeverEndingWonder Radio broadcasts a freeform mix of music ranging from some of the earliest music ever recorded, to brand new releases, including big band, blues, jazz, popular, classical, folk, rock, punk, Goth, electronic, psychobilly, punkabilly, gothabilly, horrorpop, metal, avante-gard, experimental and other styles, as well as horror and sci-fi soundtracks classic and contemporary. Also, twice a day (starting October 1st) we'll be presenting an hour of spooky and scary old time radio shows.

New this year, we've added a plague of Zombie music, including more Zombina & The Skeletones, Zombie Girl, Zombie Ghost Train, Zombie Night in Canada, The Great Erotic Zombie Shakedown and more! Halloween garage classics, some devilish Halloween music from the 20s & 30s, Rocky Horror Norwegian cast, spooky Halloween soundscapes from In a World, the brand new release from horror rock band The Horrorgans and more!

New soundtracks this year include House of 1000 Corpses, Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street, The Crow Soundtrack & Unreleased Score & many more!

The Voices of Halloween series is back this year, expanded to include the voices of Halloween fans from around the world- NeverEndingWonder Halloween Radio is ONLINE NOW!

Welcome to Weirdsville presents our unique mix of Halloween themed novelty hits and comedy, everything from the familiar Monster Mash & Purple People Eater, to a plethora of obscure music you'll have a hard time finding anywhere else! Dickie Goodman, Spike Jones, Weird Al, Allan Sherman, Killer Tomatoes- it's all here! Welcome to Weirdsville is ONLINE NOW!

Halloween on Broadway will be back with strange & unusual musical theatre- Rocky Horror, Phantom of the Opera, Little Shop of Horrors, Sweeney Todd- those are only the beginning! Dance of the Vampires, Silence of the Lambs The Musical, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Jane Eyre and much more! New this year: Norwegian version of Rocky Horror and a new version of Hunchback of Notre Dame by former Styx keyboardist Denis DeYoung. Halloween on Broadway will return October 1st!

Come join the fun with the most unique, most interesting Halloween radio station on the Internet!

NeverEndingWonder.com

The Insane Uncle Ozma will be back for his popular live broadcast marathon October 30 & 31! We'll be giving away personally autographed photographs of Vampire hottie Brooke Lewis! See NeverEndingWonder.com for details.

I Want YOU To Be On Halloween Radio!

Every year for the last nine years I have, during the month of October, broadcast three Halloween Radio Stations on the Internet.

Last year I added a new feature titled "Voices of Halloween," which featured specially recorded Halloween greetings and memories by some horror industry greats (the legendary Forrest Ackerman in what was one of his last communications with fans, RIP dear Forry- and the great David Hedison from the original The Fly and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea), some up and coming industry pros as well as musicians, composers, directors, actors, horror hosts, effects and makeup artists, and more.

This year I would like to open up the Voices of Halloween series for all fans of Halloween and Horror. If you would like to record a Halloween greeting or memory for broadcast, I'll include it on the station this year! There are two ways to submit pieces-

1) I have a toll-free number you can call in and record your messages on. This option is limited to people in the USA and Canada. (Sorry folks- I can't afford international rates!)

2) If you know how to make mp3s, record your message on your computer and email it to me! This option is open to everybody everywhere!

If you're interested, send me a leave a comment here and I'll give you complete instructions. I'm getting a late start this year, so don't procrastinate! Do it now!

Looking forward to HEARING from you all.

Voices of Halloween 2008 participants:


Voices of Halloween 2008

Indie Music Explosion!

The Summer Music Mix is over!

Long live the Indie Music Explosion! Well- until October 1 anyway.

Today over 20 new Independent artists went into rotation on NeverEndingWonder Radio! I'll update this post with more details as soon as I get the time.

Here are some of the new artists/releases you can hear on NeverEndingWonder Radio this month. I'll add pictures, descriptions & links when I can!

Adam Rafferty - Chameleon

F & M - Every Light Must Fade

Michael Samson - A Still Motion

The Guy - Only Human

The Radiant - The Radiant I & The Radiant II

Pars Keeling - End of Ride Revisited

Vanja James Music

Paul Avgerinos - Love

Atwater, Donnelly - The Weaver's Bonny

Random Touch - A Way From the Heard

The John Moran Corperation - Train Ride

Gail Rodgers - Winterhymn

Eric Roberts - In a Silent Place

Richard Bliwas - Yarrow Stalk Bridge

Strangefire - Shazbot Munkie

Cory Mervin Coons

Jessie Murphy In the Woods - Eight Belles

Polka Floyd Show - Live at the Ohio Theatre

Richard Bliwas - Walk the Bike

James Nihan - Rays of Light

Dominic - The Eye of God

Tret Fure - My Shoes

Acoustic Ocean - Light Returning

Mammut - Karkari

Sky - The Twins: Mesa Times & Silent Ears

Sky - Love in Grace

Monika Jalili - Elan

Zydecosis - Zydeco All Night

Alejadra O'Leary - Nothing Out Loud

John MacLean - Letters Home

Gregg Rollie Band - Rain Dance Live

Irene and Her Latin Jazz Band - A Song of You

Paul Lawler & Paul Speer - Wonders

Astro Al - Naughty Kitty

Music From the Film - World War Tree

Ed Palermo Big Band - Eddy Loves Frank

Ongoing Technical Issues

EDIT: Problems fixed some time ago. Everything working fine. Feel free to tune in!

Apparently the modem was not the cause of my connectivity issues. I continue to have problems keeping NeverEndingWonder Radio on the air. Two nights last week I had seven hour windows where I was unable to send data fast enough to keep the stream going.

This morning the data poblem started at 8:30 AM and it's still going on at 5 PM. This is the longest this problem has gone on, on a single day.

To be honest I don't know how much longer I'll keep NeverEndingWonder Radio on the air. Why bother paying to broadcast a station nobody can listen to? It never got more than a few listeners anyway. Lots of "admirers" but not many actual listeners.

So, anyway- if you have problems listening, my apologies. There's nothing I can do about it.

EDIT: Things seem to have stabalized again, for the last several days, so please- TUNE IN!

What If Musicals Were Real?

People who hate musicals always have the same argument: "People just don't spontaneously burst into song and dance." This attitude has always struck me as the basic definition of someone with a stick up their ass. I'll make no secret of it- I love musicals. When I was twelve years old my mother took me to see a local production of "Man of La Mancha" and it changed my life. Literally. I spent the next 25 - 30 years of my life involved in every aspect of theatre imaginable.

Musical theatre to me is the highest form of performance- it combines the sacred ritual of theatrical performance with music- an art form that bypasses your thinking mind and reaches directly into your heart and soul.

Well, what if people did actually spontaneously burst into song and dance? What would the world be like? How would people react? On March 23rd of this year the people in the train station in Antwerp, Belgium got to ponder these questions. Okay- it was a publicity stunt for a television show, but it's really an amazing event. After only two rehearsals 200 dancers filled the station and as the song "Do Re Mi" poured forth from the loudspeakers they performed their own version of the song. Check it out:




Now really- after watching that, don't you feel like bursting into song and dance yourself? Look how happy all those bystanders look! I'll confess that my co-workers and I sometimes DO sing to each other on the job. We've even been known to break into dance a few times. It helps us deal with the craziness of the environment around us. So- all you musical haters out there- remove your sticks and have a little fun. Share some joy with the people around you! Next time things are getting you down - SING! DANCE! Make the world a little happier.


P.S. - I can't stop watching this video. I must have watched it at least 20 times in the last 24 hours. It brings me to tears. Why can't the world be more like this?

Here's another little clip. An impromptu musical in a mall food court. This could be happening right where I work. It's not as cool as the Antwerp Sound of Music, but it's pretty cool.

TECH MAINTENANCE DOWN TIME

On Tuesday, June 30, I will be taking the station off the air for a few hours to go get a new cable modem. Hopefully this will solve the problems I've been having with connectivity for the past several weeks.

New modem has been online for about 8 hours. Hopefully this will be the fix!

Technical problems

If you've tried tuning in late at night lately you've probably had some problems staying connected. For the past five nights in a row my internet has turned to crap for a couple hours at a time. I've tried everything and nothing seems to help. Just as in the past, there's nothing to do but hope it clears up soon.

My sincere apologies.

UPDATE: Last few days I've only had a few minor drops so maybe this problem is fixed. Everyone please come back! I miss you!

Summer Music Mix!

That's right- NeverEndingWonder Radio is now featuring its SUMMER MUSIC MIX- the most unique assemblage of Summer related music you'll find on the Internet! We're featuring Summer hits like Summertime Blues, Summer Breeze, Summer Wind, Summer of 69, In the Good Old Summertime, Summer Rain and on and on- including over 40 versions of one of the greatest songs ever written- the Gershwin's Summertime.

But of course we don't stop there. You'll hear songs about bbqing, hot dogs, ice cream, watermelon, vacation, the ocean, islands, gardens, flowers, fishing, fish, dolphins, heat, the Sun, swimming, the circus, calliope music, marching bands, and that's just the beginning

You'll also hear steel drum bands, marimba bands, Soca music, Hawaiian music (including historic ukulele recordings, Keola Beamer and Don Ho!), the Beach Boys, surf music, Calypso music, Exotica, and mixed in with it all are vintage drive-in theatre intermission and snack bar announcements.

New to the Summer Mix this year:


Jesus Christ Surferstar.
How could we top last year's anthology of Frank Zappa songs done surf style? How about an entire two disc collection of the songs from Jesus Christ, Superstar, done surf style?





Hawaiian Mud Bombers - Mondo Primo
The Surf Zombies
Urban Surf Kings - Surf Vs. the Flying Saucers
A trio of modern surf bands showing that the surf idiom is far from dead!


Guitar Sounds of Hawaii - Moon Over Maui
I have no idea who is behind "Guitar Sounds of Hawaii" but they play some dynamite slack key guitar!


Waitiki - Charred Mammal Flesh - Exotic Music for BBQ
A kind of neo-surf/garage/exotica hybrid, Waitiki make some great music!


Rick Wakeman - Sea Airs
That's right- the progressive keyboard genius from Yes plays contemplative piano tunes based on the sea!

That's not all- I'll be adding plenty of other Summer themed music as the weeks go by. All scheduled shows are still playing, as are sets of great indies, electronic, blasts from the past, comedy music and experimental weirdness, but the Summer Mix is predominant.

Tune in, sit back and enjoy the Summer!
NeverEndingWonder Radio
Or with iTunes, go to the radio section>Eclectic and find NeverEndingWonder Radio!

Lots of Obscure Psychedelia, Some Classic Rock & Some New Indies

I've recently added four volumes of the "Love, Peace & Poetry" series- a very cool series of anthologies collecting psychedelic music from various countries. I've added the volumes collecting Brazilian, Mexican, Latin American and Japanese music from the 1960s and 1970s. Really cool stuff that shows United States and Europe were not the only places to feel the psychedelic influence.



Also added three volumes of the Girls in the Garage series showcasing early rock n roll by women.

Stone the Crows - Teenage Licks
Great bluesy/hard rocking band from the 60s with vocals by Maggie Bell.

Frank Zappa - Cruising With Ruben and The Jets
When this album was originally released there was no indication it was a Frank Zappa album.It was simply released as "Cruising" by some band named Ruben and The Jets. If you were a Zappa fan, however, there was no mistaking his twisted take on doo wop music.

Casey Redmond - Real Life Adventures of a One Man Band
Cool five song EP from crazy man Casey Redmond who pens songs like Ian King of Beers and Rockin' the PTA. Reminds me a bit of an acoustic Link Wray. He promises a full album of monster songs for Halloween! I'm waiting!


Jennings - Storybook EP & Femtastic
Powerful singer/songwriter Mary Jennings has a strong voice and a varied musical palate to enthrall us. Her Femtastic release includes two discs- one fully produced and one "stripped down." It's an interesting and revealing technique. We get to evaluate the songs on several levels. The more recent Storybook Ep reveals songwriting just as strong, but with a somewhat more polished production. Both worth a listen.

Korla Pandit - Exotica 2000
Korla Pandit, who, like Yma Sumac had created an elaborate alternate identity for himself, was one of the founding father of Exotica music. Unlike other Exotica practitioners like Martin Denny or Richard Lyman, Pandit didn't pepper his music with musical tricks and sound effects- it was just him and his Hammond B3. He came to fame in a daily 15 minute TV show in which he simply played his unusual arrangements of songs on his organ while he stared intently at the camera. He was a sensation.

I've also been beefing up my selection of Summer music. We switch to our Summer music lineup on June 1st and we've got some great surprises for you!

You can hear all this music on NeverEndingWonder Radio
Or tune in via iTunes by going to the radio section and finding us in the Eclectic section.

Richard Bliwas - Uncovered

I was listening to Richard Bliwas' new release, "Uncovered" and wondering what was going on. This latest CD from jazz pianist/keyboardist Bliwas contains 17 tracks and ten of them are covers. But the name of the CD is UNcovered. And there are pictures of baskets everywhere- front, back, inside- even the disc itself is printed with a woven basket graphic.

Bliwas reveals a wealth of influences here- show tunes like "I could Write a Book," a venerable standard (That Old Black Magic), several Lennon/McCartney compositions, even a folk song and a country tune - all surrounded by Bliwas originals. Then I realised what he was doing. Bliwas is showing us his musical influences, his heritage- he's uncovered them for us, and like a great basket weaver, these influences are woven together with Bliwas' own unique style, the strands and twines of this basket revealed to us in its complex pattern.

Here is Malvina Reynolds' "Little Boxes" as you never thought you'd hear it- bubbling and bleeping with Richard's intricate rhythms and time structures. Same with Lennon & McCartney's "Julia." Bliwas turns it into a haunting evocation of memories as his voice weaves in and out of the melody along with piano runs and organ fills. "That Old Black Magic" seems like a magical spell of its own- the various elements swirling and mixing together to create a unique yet familiar potion.

Listening to the album creates a tapestry of forces and emotions. It's a bit like an experimental jazz version of The Residents Third Reich and Roll. Richard Bliwas is a brave musician- - he has uncovered his musical past for us and woven it into a brand new creation, a unique vision. It's a lovely, startling, rewarding basket. Pick it up, feel it, listen to it, explore it. It's a wonderful treasure.

Check out Richard's website:
Richard Bliwas

And tune in to hear Uncovered on NeverEndingWonder Radio:
NeverEndingWonder Radio
(Or in iTunes, go to the radio section and find NeverEndingWonder Radio in the Eclectic category)