Christmas at the end of May

On this day in 1942, Bing Crosby recorded the Irving Berlin song "White Christmas" with the John Scott Trotter Orchestra and the Ken Darby Singers. The morning after Irving Berlin wrote "White Christmas" he went to his office and told his secretary, "Grab your pen and take down this song. I just wrote the best song I've ever written — hell, I just wrote the best song that anybody's ever written!" The song only took Crosby 18 minutes to track. Since 1942, this recording has sold over 400,000,000 copies, making it the biggest-selling record of any kind ever. Today we have the song Bing Crosby by BABY I LOVE YOU. Happy Friday!

MP3 of the Day

On this day in 1954, the Alfred Hitchcock film, Dial M for Murder opened at New York's Paramount Theater. The movie was filmed in 3-D, but most theaters showed it in the traditional 2-D format. In 1998, Andrew Davis directed a remake of Dial M for Murder called A Perfect Murder that starred Michael Douglas, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Viggo Mortensen. Today we have the song World Encyclopedia Of Twentieth Century Murder by THE LUCKSMITHS from their album A Good Kind Of Nervous.

MP3 of the Day

While we were in San Francisco this past weekend, we learned that on this day in 1937 the Golden Gate Bridge opened to the public. Over 200,000 pedestrians walked the 4,200-foot-long suspension bridge, which connected San Francisco and Marin County. On May 28, the bridge opened to cars. Today we have the song Golden Gate Bridge by ROSE MELBERG.

SF set-list

Hey, Thanks so much to everyone who made it out to see Tullycraft this past weekend in San Francisco. We had a lot of fun, and it meant a lot to us to see so many friendly faces there. If you didn't make it to the show, these were the songs we played:

Josie
Georgette Plays a Goth
Every Little Thing
Ticket Tonight
Willie Goes To The Seashore
If You Take Away The Make-Up, Then The Vampires Will Die
Dollywood
Bored To Hear Your Heart Still Breaks
Superboy & Supergirl
The Secret History Of Devil's Paw
The Punks Are Writing Love Songs
Our Days In Kansas
Rumble with the Gang Debs/Pop Songs...
Knockout
Twee
______
Yeah, Oh Yeah (Magnetic Fields cover)
Bailey Park
Miss Douglas County

SF Popfest!

Tullycraft will be arriving in San Francisco today. (Some of us are headed to the airport right now). Lock-up your minibars with these three on the prowl. Check out the: Three Imaginary Girls SF Popfest Podcast for a terrific popfest preview. See you at the Richshaw Stop tomorrow night. Happy Friday!

Tonight in Sacramento!

Bunnygrunt is playing tonight at R5 Records in Sacramento, CA. And there's also a rumor that they might be playing a house party later in the evening. How much fun does that sound? Today we have the song Frankie Is A Killer by BUNNYGRUNT. I kinda wish this song was called "Frankie joined The Killers" - and it was about someone named Frankie who recently joined the band The Killers.

SF Popfest Preview #6

As part of this year's San Francisco Popfest, Let's Whisper aka Colin Clary + Dana Kaplan (both of The Smittens) will be playing a free Acoustic Picnic Show in a Local Park on Sunday, May 24th (around 1pm). The exact location will be announced Sunday at noon. Today we have the song Snowy Sunday Afternoon by LET'S WHISPER.

MP3 of the Day

Peter Mayhew was born on this day in 1944. The 7 foot 3 inch tall British born actor is best known for playing Chewbacca in the Star Wars movies. Mayhew now lives in Granbury, Texas - he became a US citizen in 2005. At the ceremony in Arlington, Texas, he jokingly noted that he didn't get a medal at this ceremony either; a reference to the Star Wars scene in which Luke and Han both received medals but Chewbacca did not. Although, Mayhew (as Chewbacca) was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the MTV Movie Awards in 1997. Today we have the song Chewbacca/Clique Town by NEW BAD THINGS from the Robin Hood 7".

Ticket Tonight

If you're planning on going to the Tullycraft show in San Francisco this Saturday (May 23rd) and you don't have a ticket yet, you may want to buy one in advance. We had a bunch of friends that couldn't get into the Popfest show in NYC last year because it was sold-out. I could be completely off base here, we may be playing to a room with a dozen people in attendance (we've certainly done it before). Either way, hopefully, we'll see some of you at The Richshaw Stop on Saturday night. Tickets for the show may be purchased here. Today's MP3 is the empty set mix of the song Ticket Tonight by TULLYCRAFT.

SF Popfest Preview #5

Super-group, Still Flyin' will be playing at The Rickshaw Stop on Thursday, May 21st, as part of this year's San Francisco Popfest. The show is all-ages and tickets may be purchased here. Today we have the Still Flyin' song The Hott Chord Is Struck. Happy Friday!

MP3 of the Day

On this day in 1973, America's first space station, Skylab, was successfully launched into orbit around the earth. Obscure even by indiepop standards, producer Pat Maley fronted a band also called Skylab. And guess what? Skylab featured Tullycraft's very own Jeff Fell on drums as well. I think some people think we're joking about all the bands Jeff has been in… we’re not. They existed barely a year, but managed to release a cassette in 1996 titled, Redstone. Today we have the song Saturn V by SKYLAB from the Redstone cassette.

NYC Popfest Preview #2

If you're trying to get over the news about The Lucksmiths breaking-up, you can catch another indiepop legend, Rose Melberg (Tiger Trap, Gaze, The Softies..) at the Cake Shop (in NYC) on Sunday, May 17th. She will be appearing as part of this year's NYC Popfest. Advanced tickets for this show are sold-out.... but additional tickets will be available at the door. Today we have Rose Melberg covering the Buck Owens/Rose Maddox duet Loose Talk from her album, Portola.

SF Popfest Preview #4

As part of this year's San Francisco Popfest, the lovable (and almost always inebriated), Bunnygrunt will be playing at Annie's Social Club on Friday, May 22nd. The show is 21+ and tickets may be purchased here. Today we have one of my favorite newish songs: Where Eagles Dare, Pt 2 from the kings of Missouri, BUNNYGRUNT.

MP3 of the Day

On this day in 1982, New Order released a 7 inch and a 12 inch version of the single "Temptation" on Factory Records in the UK. The single reached #29 on the UK singles charts. In 1987, the song was completely re-recorded and released on a singles compilation called Substance. This version (known as "Temptation '87") is one of New Order's best-known recordings, mostly due to its appearance on the Trainspotting soundtrack. On April 18th, 2009, the original 1982 7 inch version of the single was re-released in the US with its original b-side, "Hurt" as part of National Record Store Day. Today we have the original 12 inch version of Temptation by NEW ORDER. If you listen close, the vocal track on this version features an audible scream during the song's intro. Bernard Sumner has since explained that the scream was due to fellow bandmates putting a snowball down his shirt during the recording.

SF Popfest Preview #3

Easily the cutest band out of Vermont, The Smittens, will be playing at the Rickshaw Stop as part of this year's San Francisco Popfest on Saturday, May 23rd. As an added bonus, Tullycraft will be playing that evening as well! The show is all-ages and tickets may be purchased here. Today we have the song Something Sassy by THE SMITTENS w/ background vocals featuring me... it's true! Happy Friday.

NYC Popfest Preview #1

As part of this year's NYC Popfest, the Swedish band, Radio Dept. will be playing at The Bell House on Saturday, May 16th. Tickets for the show may be purchased here. Today we have the song Where Damage Isn't Already Done by THE RADIO DEPT.

MP3 of the Day

On this day in 1998, 20 year old, Kerry Wood made his fifth career start in the Major Leagues as a Chicago Cub. He would throw a one-hit, no walk, 20-strikeout shutout against the Houston Astros, breaking Bill Gullickson's single-game rookie record of 18 strikeouts in 1980. This outing is considered by many to be among the most dominant pitching performances in the history of baseball. To date, Wood and Bob Feller are the only two pitchers to strike out their age in one game (at age 17, Feller struck out 17 batters in one game in 1936). Today we have The Rainbow Connection by THE LOVES.

SF Popfest Preview #2

As part of this year's San Francisco Popfest, the Swedish band, Springfactory will be playing at Annie's Social Club on Friday, May 22nd. The show is 21+ and tickets may be purchased here. Today we have the song Get Out Of Bed by SPRINGFACTORY.

MP3 of the Day

On this day in 1984, the John Hughes directed film, Sixteen Candles was released in the US. The movie starred Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall, and Michael Schoeffling as the very popular senior, Jake Ryan. Today we have 8 Sleeves by the band DREAMDATE from their album Patience.

MP3 of the Day

On this day in 1992, Sub Pop Records released The Way of the Vaselines: A Complete History. The album compiled all of the tracks from the band's Son of a Gun EP (1987), Dying for It EP (1988) and one album, Dum-Dum (1990) - each of these had previously been released on 53rd & 3rd Records. On May 5th, 2009 Sub Pop will release: Enter the Vaselines a deluxe-edition reissue of The Way of the Vaselines. Today we have a live version of Teenage Superstars from the The Vaselines/Beat Happening cassette (recorded in 1988), and released on K Records in 1991. Happy Friday!