Let The NEW Roaring Twenties Begin!

We are kicking off the New Year with a schedule shuffle and more newness:

MONDAY: Finally, DJ D.J. Henry won't be so lonely anymore, as DJ ARB will precede "Record Roulette Club" with her tasty "Cannibal Stew," formerly served up on Thursdays. To kickoff the week the right way, dig in 1pm-2pm EST. 

TUESDAY: Otis Fodder has moved again, this time his big 4-hour record hop "Friendly Persuasion" swings and slithers its way into your earballs from 11am 'til 3pm EST.

THURSDAY: A rad new show now follows Jan Turkenburg's festival of scratchy 78s, and it's called "The Lost Media Archive." B.C. Sterrett spins "Cool and Strange Music, Ephemeral Media, Found Sounds, Private Press and Outsider Music" from noon to 1pm EST. Ursula1000 is moving his spectacular "Sounds Spectacular" show up an hour, 1pm to 2pm.

Wednesday's and Friday's schedules remain the same. No live shows on the weekends now - nuthin' but the screamin' stream which, by the way, has a whole mess o' new tracks added. UNGAWA!

TWO NEW SHOWS

Anyone checked the Sheena's schedule lately? We have 2...two...TWO big shows debuting this week. By an astounding coincidence, they are both hosted by Jan Turkenburg.

• "Yes, We Have No Mountains" - Wednesdays 1 - 2pm (EST): Dutch beat, rock and pop, roughly between 1960 - 1980.
• "Sounds Under 64 Not Allowed" - Sundays 1 - 2pm (EST): 78 RPM antiquities.

Zounds, what sounds!

Muhammad Ali's Other Fights

Here's a silly thing I wrote that has nothing to do with anything, really. Just thought it was amusing. And hey, it's the WFMU Hellraiser going on now!  Couple more weeks to pledge your monies to keep us from suffering the sad fate of so many other college and public stations in America lately: most recently, WNYC cancelled most music programs in favor of news and talk, and WBAI shut down after 46 years. These follow on the heels of a number of universities realizing that they can monetize their stations the way they do their football teams, and cancel original programming in favor of the the usual NPR Garrison Car-Talk canned programs.

Where it says "Credit My Pledge To:," scroll down and pick any Sheena's Jungle Room show, if you would be so kind. Doing so lets the station know that we have supportive listeners. Thanks, you groovy peoples!

Anyway. On with the stoopid:


You've heard of the Thrilla in Manila
The Rumble in the Jungle one night
but do you recall
Muhammad Ali's Other Fights?

There was...

The Shake-a in Jamaica
The Fight Between 2 Guys in Van Nuys
El Shock-o! in Morocco
The Boxing Match-uwan in Saskatchewan

Rope-a-Dope in Constantinople
The Hysterectomy in Schenectady
The Fightin' in Brighton, The Brawl in Sioux Falls
Rope-a-Dope Alley in Antelope Valley

Gettin' Raucous in Secaucus, High Jabs in Skylab
The Hostilities in the Hebrides
The Meltdown at Chernobyl, The Reprove in the Louvre
Have a Ball in Cape Canaveral

The Defenestration at the United Nations
Vitriol at the North Pole
The Brouhaha in Kalamazoo, ha ha
The Battlin' at The Vatican

The Haters in an Elevator
The Fracas at the home of Jim Backus
I remember back when Muhammad Ali
was still known as Lew Alcinder!

---------------------------

and then there's:
https://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2008/07/ali-and-his-gan.html
https://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2007/01/365_days_17_the.html

-MrFab

Otis Moves, Martinibomb Grooves

Otis Fodder's "Friendly Persuasion" has moved from Wednesday evenings to Sundays 2 - 6 pm Eastern time. He debuted at his new time yesterday. Grooovin....on a Sunday afternoon...

This move has promoted Martinibomb to stretch out to a big-ass THREE hours, now that he has no one following him. What will he do with his extra time? The mind reels!

DJ Maxx Bass guests on "Medium Cool"

This Wednesday from 4-6pm on Medium Cool (www.wfmu.org/playlists/mp) I welcome my friend and guest DJ, Maxx Bass to Sheena’s Jungle Room for a 2-hour live session recorded inside Clinton Street Records and Stereo. 

With a name like DJ Maxx Bass you could be forgiven for believing he’s a DeeJay who only plays Miami Bass. But you would, of course, be dead wrong. The truth is, Maxx is the kind of DeeJay with an encyclopedic knowledge of music that reaches far beyond that of ordinary DeeJay’s.  He is the kind of DeeJay who can play anything and everything and usually does.  As a resident at nearly all of the best nightclubs in Portland. You can catch him playing music nearly any night of the week at venues like, Dig a Pony and his infamous STRUT night at The Sandy Hut.

Since 2010 you can find him keeping vinyl alive for the people at Clinton Street Record and Stereo. With an ever-changing rotation of new and used vinyl along with vintage audio equipment which his partner, an electronics whizz, fixes and sells in the shop. He’s also part of the Albina Music Trust initiative. A group focused on preserving Portland’s R&B and Funk scene of the post-jazz era.

It’s been a delight to know him for over 20 years. He’s one of the kindest and most generous people I’ve ever met. If you ever find yourself in Portland, Oregon make sure you put Clinton Street Records on your itinerary. You will not be disappointed.  For more information about Clinton Street Record and Stereo please visit their website at clintonstreetrecordandstereo.com. 

-Martinibomb

"The Jolly Pineapple" pt 5

Our multi-talented host of Friday's "Hour of Crap," Don-O, gifts us with his comic set in the world's greatest type of establishment, the tiki bar:

part1
part2
part3
part 4

And now, a new, New NEW story!

 To be continued..!

The Sheena's Jungle Room Summer Blockbuster

New shows alert! The final stage of the

Sheena Summer Blockbuster begins this week with the addition of FIVE big new shows, starting Monday with: 

-the groovy Now Sounds of "LoriHajiTura," hosted by the hardest working (wo)man in show business, DJ Georgy Girl; yes, she already hosts the soundtrack/library sounds of "High Waisted Modernists" on Wednesdays and the psych/garage nugget-fest "The Flange and Frigate" on Fridays.
-Otis Fodder's move to Wednesdays brings another hour to his show (yep, you now get 4 hours of "Friendly Persuasion"); 
-Thursdays now have a lineup: international club DJ ARB presents a tasty "popcorn" mix of "Cannibal Stew": "...an hour of goodies from the late '50 & early '60s."
-followed by the legendary lounge-tronic DJ and recording artist Ursula 1000 with his new show "Sounds Spectacular." I've been a fan of the man ever since he came out of the '90s lounge revival - I bought his debut album "The NOW Sounds of Ursula 1000" back in the day.
-Friday starts with FMU O.G. Jason Elbogen's 3-hours of craziness and obscurities, a man who's been spinning at WFMU since 2005.
-followed by Jan Turkenburg, all the way from The Netherlands; you've heard his fill-in mixes, now he's gone "solo", raiding the thrift-stores of Europe for groovy old records. 

None of your old faves have left, no-one is being replaced - just more added to the party. 

This follows on the heels of thousands - and I do mean THOUSANDZZ - of new tracks that have been added to the Jungle Room stream. Apart from massive amounts of the (un)usual trashy rock n soul, exotica, lounge sleaze, thrift shop vinyl, stoopid novelties, and tasteless niteclub comics you've no doubt come to expect from us, there is now far more '60s/'70s UK/Euro soundtrack/library grooviness; vintage radio promos (I particularly like the Dutch "disco" jingles); electronic high weirdness; a bit more Middle Eastern/belly-dance action; and big-Afro funk. And plenty more indescribable audio oddities. 

As of July (to quote one of Ursula 1000's album titles), all systems are go-go!

"The Jolly Pineapple" pt 4

Sorry for the lack of updates here, but we just wanted to give you all a chance to donate to the extra-long fund-raising Marathon. And if you did, you are allowed to read the next episode in Don-O's tiki bar drama-dy, "The Jolly Pineapple."

"The Jolly Pineapple" pt 1
"The Jolly Pineapple" pt 2
"The Jolly Pineapple" pt3

WFMU's Marathon: 2 Weeks of Mirth, Merriment, Music, and (Hopefully) Money!!

Sheena doesn't usually charge a cover to enter her Jungle Room, but if you want the hedonistic orgies to continue, she's got to pass around the hat. Yes, WFMU's fundraising Marathon starts today, and the goal is (*gulp*) $1,500,000. An intimidatingly large amount, which is why we need all of you to help. Your money will go to the entire station - the main broadcast station, the on-line ones (like us), all the mp3s you can spend a lifetime downloading from "WFMU's Beware of the Blog," live shows at the station's studio theater Monty Hall, live events held elsewhere that WFMU stages and promotes, and who know what else. WFMU is truly a beacon of brilliant bizarre culture, and in these crappy times, we need it MORE THAN EVER!! No?

Don't worry, Sheena's programming will continue as usual. NO endless talk-fests, like other public radio fund raisers. It's still an endless party, but you've got 2 weeks ('til March 17) to be an extra-special totally-rad patron of the Jungle Room, and it's absurdly easy. Really, you have no excuse not to! First, check Sheena's schedule. Pick a show, say, "The Record Roulette Club" on Mondays, click on it and you'll see a banner up top; click where it says "Pledge Now!" and fill out the form. 

The DJ premiums are AMAZING. Scroll to the bottom of this page for the Sheena premiums and you'll see what I mean. The DJs have compiled vinyl (or, in Spacebrother's case, shellac!) obscurities from their personal collection that you are simply not going to find anywhere else. In the case of the "High-Waisted modernists" premium, you even get an original "spooky" short story, with sound effects. Martinibomb's album is a collection of original sound-collage dance tracks, never before released! Also, pick out a snazzy t-shirt. And dig that coaster! Because what's a swanky (all-day) nightclub without cocktail-ware? 

That you can do anytime. But if you're present during a live DJ's show, prizes will be given away to $20 or more pledgers, and what prizes they are: we're talkin' stuff like Norton Records gift packs (Sun Ra perfume?!), and gobs of great vinyl, CDs, DVDs, and books. Once you pledge, you can kick back, sip something nice, and listen guilt-free. Aaaaahhhh.... Now doesn't that feel nice?

"The Jolly Pineapple" pt 3

The adventures continue! 
"The Jolly Pineapple" pt 1
"The Jolly Pineapple" pt 2

What WILL happen next to our hapless hepcats? Tune in next week for the next thrilling episode!

...formerly "The Pink Pussycat Lounge"

The original name of this station was "The Pink Pussycat Lounge, " and that name sometimes still pops up in promo materials, DJ comments, etc. Sorry for the confusion! We've moved the Lounge to the secret VIP room in Sheena's. 

But there really was a Pink Pussycat Lounge in ye olde Hollywood. The Rat Pack hung there (hence the punny name of some of their dancers), and gals could learn the tools of the burlesque trade there. Look, "Peeler Lawford" is performing tonight!

"The Jolly Pineapple" pt 2

What It's Like Inside Sheena's Jungle Room

I don't know who these people are, or even where I got this picture, but this is quite obviously one of the greatest pictures ever taken.

"The Jolly Pineapple" pt 1

Makin' the comix scene now with "The Jolly Pineapple," an exclusive web-comic. This  serialized adventure into a tiki bar in the neighborhood of Sheena's Jungle Room is drawn and written by our own Don-O, host of Fridays' "Hour of Crap":

To be continued!

"Medium Cool" Just Got Cooler

This past Wednesday marked the debut of the now big two Two TWO hour "Medium Cool." Your host Martinibomb took the coolness factor from 'medium' to 'large' as he spun an extra dose of ultra swanky, snazzy, jazzy, loungey cha-cha, greasy rock'n' roll, as he will do for two solid hours EVERY Hump-Day from now on.

"Bar Wars": Original Fiction

In the 1950s, there were parodies of everything from children's stories to Shakespeare speeches done in hip jazz slang. TV comic Steve Allen published and recorded "Bop Fables," radio DJ Don Morrow recorded the similar "Hip Fairy Tales," and monologist Lord Buckley practically made a career out these wiggy goofs. (Dig Don-O's tribute to Thee Most Hip Aristocrat.) I think there's still a lot of mileage left in this entertaining strategy, and so, in an effort to resurrect this now-neglected genre, I have attempted to make hip the least hip, nerdiest thing in all of squares-ville: 'Star Wars.' Can it be done? Can "Star Wars' actually be made into something cool?! Cast your glimmers onto what I'm blowin' here, and diggeth for yourself:

A long time ago, in a galaxy real far out, a hip stud named Luke Streetwalker was opening up an album of some  kooky electronic jazz that he found in a thrift store when an 8 x 10 glossy of a real gone gal fell out. It was signed "to Oobie-Doobie Kenoobie...Love, 'The Pineapple Princess' Kumoniwanna Laya."  "Crazy!," exclaimed Luke, eyeballin' the doll, "Man, that is like some fiiine dining." Flipping the pic to its b-side, he saw that she had written a note asking for help, some jazz about being held prisoner by one DJ Cross Fader. Thinking that Oobie-Doobie Kenoobie might be related to that OG Ben Kenoobie, Luke made it to Ben's pad and found him looking as pimped-out as ever in a green suit, matching hat, and cane, scat-singing over a Lou Reed track.

Ben admitted that, yes, Oobie-Doobie was his old stage handle, and that he'd been beefin' with Cross Fader for years. "The two of us go back like spinal column," said Ben. "Man, that cat is the squarest.  I'd be throwing down, say, some Johnny Cash, and he'd be makin like Donny Osmond. We're talkin cube city, dad. Now Miss Laya is the queen of the scene. He knows if he can keep chicks like her off the stage, the Top 40 Army can take over."

Luke just about flipped his lid: "We've got to make with the rescue routine, Jack, like nows-ville!"

"Cool your jets, youngblood," said Ben. "I know someone who can help us: Han "Sax" Solo. This cat's a baaad Mutha Theresa. Let's split for the Sheena's Jungle Cantina. Man, that joint's the most!" Ben wasn't woofin'. Sheena's Cantina really was the most, with a side of toast. Giant, space-suit wearing tikis stood guard by the front door, while inside, green-skinned Martian babes in beehive hairdos and bikinis were dancing the Physicist Twist, while Robbie the Robot was doing The Robot, and Mr. Spock was breakdancing. The bartender Cornelius the chimp was serving his signature exotic cocktail, the Mai TIE Fighter. Some patrons were still wearing the glasses they handed out at the latest cinema craze, 4-D movies.

On stage, the fave poet of space-beatniks, Alien Ginsberg, was reciting: "Man...or Astro-Man..? THAT is the question!," while backing him, Han "Sax" Solo was blowin', as his hairy trumpet player was layin down some Miles-type vibes. And, just to confuse things, his vibes player was layin down some Miles-type trumpet. After their set, they all sat together, and Luke said to LeeBacca, the hirsute sideman, "Spiffy duds! Where'd you collar that costume, dad?" When the creature let out an inhuman roar, Luke realized that he had goofed - LeeBacca was an alien, a wookie, to be precise. "Sorry pops, I just figured you were a 'furry'!"

Sax Solo said he could get them to Cross-Fader's club, the Death Bar, in his souped-up '65 Ford "Millennium" Falcon, but once they hit the spot, they'd be on their own. When they pulled up to the Bar and saw the long line of punters trying get past that all-black painted exterior, they knew that the scene was gonna get hectic.

First, they had to deal with the doormen. Saying "We're on the list" or "I'm with the band" didn't cut it. When Luke tried, "Hey man, like, we're here to rescue Laya, dig?" the goons came on all frantic-like and told security on their walkies to get hip to the party crashers. Taking advantage of the confusion, Luke flashed his fake i.d. and they all barged inside, including Solo and LeeBacca. Those two had come off all commercial at first, but now they wanted to sit in? Maybe some things were more important than making that dough-re-mi after all...like, makin' Laya.

Inside the bar was mad hecticism. Luke and his band were buggin' out left and right trying to dodge all the white-and-black clad security ickys. At one point they were almost crushed to death by falling record crates in the dj booth. The whole scene was starting to look like a stone-cold drag until Luke found Laya hiding under the pool table. Despite all she'd been through, she was looking all reet in her form-flattering sarong. Luke let out a low whistle, then said, "Baby, we got to boost. It's gonna get real EC Comics around here pretty soon. Y'know, like, gruesome?" "I'm hip," Laya said, grabbing his hand. "Let's blow this popsicle stand."

Meanwhile, Oobie-Doobie Kenoobie and DJ Cross Fader confronted each other, and their inevitable showdown began. Turns out they had both studied martial arts under the famed grand master Yoda Man. 

Cross Fader said in his high nasal voice: "You're such a sucker, Oobie-Doobie! Why don't you join the Square Side? It will be like old times!"

"Like when we played together in the Jet Eye Nights? Man, you were so cool back then you were practically a bag of frozen peas. And this bar used to be so hip, it was half pelvis. Why you jivin' now, Fader? "

"You know what happened, Kenoobie," answered Fader, pushing his glasses up his nose. "I saw how much money..."

"Don't say it!"

"...I could make in..."

"Noooo!"

"COUNTRY LINE DANCING!"

Visibly weakened, Kenoobie nonetheless attempted his lethal trademark move, the Flying Ewok Fist. But Fader knocked him flat after zipping thru the air and kicking him in the head. A little too late to the gig, Luke crashed the scene and smacked Fader with a pool cue. Dazed, Fader fell into the alley out back and was promptly rolled by a gang of greasers.

Inside, the celebratory shindig was just getting started. Cats and their kitties were sippin' fine wine, blowing gage, and even started kickin the gong around. Solo and Lee commandeered the bandstand and were really cookin', and I mean with gas, baby. Tho, despite requests,  Solo announced LeeBacca would not play "Wookie Wookie, Lend Me Your Comb": "He hates that song."

Laya chirped a few numbers with them, then came down to cut a rug with Luke. Finally she said, "Say daddy, I wanna fall back to my pad. What say we make like a tree and leave?"

"I'd like to Laya!," said Luke eagerly, before realizing how uncool that sounded.  He then said: "I mean, I'd like to...Laya." And that is the ultimate, I mean like, the end.

Behold! The World's First Robot DJ

Today, Wednesday, GeorgyGirl welcomes a new innovation in radio - a robot DJ! Yes, Marion the Librarian spins the finest vintage production library soundtrack music at 3pm EST. Apart from Marion's hilarious jabber, you'll dig the cool, crazy, kooky tuneage. Only, and I mean ONLY, on Sheena's Jungle Room.

Don-O's Lounge Ad of the Week: The Sands and Caesars

Two joints in the South Bay area of Los Angeles.

"Say baby, why don't you come out to see my show? I'm playing at the Sands. Yeah, then I got a gig at Caesars...Well, no, not exactly the ones in Vegas...Ah c'mon darlin', don't be like that. This Caesars is on Pacific Coast Highway! Man, you gotta dig that ocean view! Baby...baby..?"

TWO New Shows: "High Waisted Modernists" and "Medium Cool"

And the veritable avalanche of new shows keeps comin! Tomorrow (Wednesday), following "The World's Worst Records," DJ GeorgyGirl debuts her OTHER show (she of Friday's '60s nugget-fest "The Flange and Frigate"), "High Waisted Modernists." It's a groovy trip thru mostly '60s/'70s lounge soundtrack/library instrumentals + spoken word/dialogue bits. 3pm-4pm Eastern time.

And that's followed by "Medium Cool,'" hosted by long-time Portland-area radio legend Martinibomb. Check out his cool loungy sound-collage beatz! Some of which can be heard in the Jungle Room stream. Wed., 4-5pm EST. It's called Hump-Day, so let's get a-humpin'!  

Lounge Ad of the Week: The Aloha

According to classicsandiego.com:(1950-1965) The Aloha Club was a burlesque tiki bar on Third Avenue’s sailor’s row, under management of Gaspare ‘Jasper’ Matranga. Jasper hailed from Sicily, as did his brother and cousins. He was the enforcer for the Matranga family, allegedly a hitman in the Los Angeles mob. His family moved in and started taking over downtown bars in the late 1940s. Along with their other clubs next door The Cuckoo Club and the Club Royal, The Aloha Club stayed open until 2am nightly. It featured music Billy Jones and his Beachcombers, a five-piece combo, with sultry burlesque acts of Dorothy Eddy,Vivian Lee, Joy Damon‘in the flesh!’ And B-Girls galore – waitresses who mingled with the sailors, enticing them to gamble, buy more drinks, and God knows what else. The city passed an ordinance outlawing the practice, giving San Diego Vice one more excuse to raid the bars. 

 In 1954, Matranga was arrested for felony assault against one of his patrons. During an argument, he hit Alvero Gonsalves in the face with a bar glass. The fisherman required 21 stitches, and courageously pressed charges. Matranga spent a week in jail, after which a friendly judge saw the altercation as merely a misdemeanor, and let him off with a $1000 fine, giving Jasper permission to go back home to Sicily for ‘a long-planned’ vacation."

Quite a joint, eh? Since the goons were sent packing, we can enjoy our imaginary night at The Aloha in peace, with Sheena's Jungle Room providing the soundtrack. Mai Tais all around!

DJ Henry's RECORD ROULETTE CLUB

Yet another new show hits the Jungle Room: this Monday 2pm EST marks the debut of 'Record Roulette Club,' hosted by a guy who is actually named DJ! Clearly, Daniel J. Henry was born to jockey them disks. And what might one expect in this hour of power? "Kind of like taking your parents record collection and getting drunk in a Radio Shack. Rock and Roll, Rhythm and Blues, Garage Punk, Regular Punk and Old-Fashioned Weirdos. Hopefully you have the patience for this fast-paced sonic impatience. Not recommended for the fan of 4 minute songs."

Conveniently working within this channel's sound-collage aesthetic, Henry throws in all manner of groovy sound bites in between songs. 

Today's nerdy, uptight, sexless society would have you believe that rock (among other things) is dead. Yeah, well, we think THEY'RE dead. So let's re-work that Bay City Rollers chestnut to sing, "M-O-N! D-A-Y! Afternoon!"

Cratedigger’s Lung - catch it

Don’t miss the debut of “The Cratedigger’s Lung Adventure Hour,” tomorrow, Nov. 30 at 7pm, EST. 

A one-hour exploration of excavations from the farthest reaches of humanity’s hellish collective brain, through records, tapes, CDs, mostly scoured from country bumpkin thrift stores, creepy charity shops, backwoods junk stores, and even the internet. We don’t judge, we just play ‘em. Hosted by Rich in Washington.

Rich is a long-time DJ at Portland’s KBOO, host of “Radio Lost and Found,” and “Kill Ugly Radio,” and fill-in for WFMU’s Tony Coulter show. WILD sounds, kids, you’ll want to be huffin’ this stuff!

Don-O's Lounge Ad of the Week: NOW in the "PORPOISE ROOM"

For "all-porpoise" entertainment, look no further than the Hour of Crap, with your host Don-O, every Friday afternoon, only on Sheena's Jungle Room.

The World's Worst Records

Joining the crew of live show DJs is best-selling (well, at least 'pretty good-selling' writer) Darryl Bullock, of the great blog "The World's Worst Records," and it's two spin-off books. If all goes well - keep in mind, this station is in it's infancy - the show will debut tomorrow (Wed, Nov 14) at 2:00 pm EST for an hour of merry music and investigative history into the mental-cases that made these records. It's info-tainment!

Welcome To WFMU's New Online Station

Greetings, my friends!  Welcome to the internet's new home for lowbrow radio, an audio stream running 24/7. Parental guidance suggested!  

Yes my friends, being up to no good has never felt so good. Join the lowlifes living' the high-life! Elvis himselvis once sang,"Hey buddy, don't you be no square." But if you are, fear not! Simply by listening to this station, you ARE cool. 

In a back room cluttered with bowling trophies and errant g-strings, Mr Fab, whose prior convictions include the Music For Maniacs blog and the sound-collage project RIAA, is programing the station, as live-show DJs Otis Fodder, Don-O, GeorgyGirl, and Spacebrother Greg prance merrily about in an orgy of pagan hedonism. 

We cannot keep this a secret any longer. Let us punish the innocent. Let us reward the guilty. My friends, can your heart stand the shocking facts about...Sheena's Jungle Room?!?