• The Ledge #553: Miscellany

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    Every now and then it’s nice to have a show without any real theme, and that’s what we have tonight. Instead, it’s really just a collection of records I’ve been listening to over the last few weeks, and interesting collection of various genres that represent over 50 years of great rock and roll. There’s a handful of recent releases side by side with all time classics. There are veteran bands that are brand new to me, and relatively new artists that I’ve been obsessed with over the last few months.

    Of course, there’s also this week’s selection for the “52 Weeks of Teenage Kicks” subtheme. I’ve got a homegrown talent by the name of Link West, and his mainly acoustic version is a really nice change of pace. He also contributed a little piece of spoken word audio where he talks of his love of the song and his history of playing it in his original band in Columbus, Ohio. He describes the tune as “50% bubblegum, 50% booty call”. I can’t argue with that.

    Link West’s version marks a run of (at least) three straight weeks of listener contributions, but of course I always want more. Nothing would make me happier than an entire year of brand new versions of one of my favorite songs of all time. If you don’t have the capabilities to record your own cover, please reach out to any musician friends to contribute their version. If you have any questions, or if you have a version set to go, please contact me at paulisded@gmail.com

    For more information, including setlists, head to http://scotthudson.blogspot.com

     

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  • The Ledge #552: Covers

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    With my brain focused on “Teenage Kicks” covers these days, it seems natural for me to put together another show of nothing but covers of classics tunes from the past. And tonight’s show could not have been timed better, as today Kepi Ghoulie of the Groovie Ghoulies put our a fabulous covers record, Full Moon Forever. Plus I’ve uncovered a number of other great new remakes the last few days, including Juniper’s lofi redo of “James” by The Bangles, Devil Love’s lovely tribute to Big Star’s “Thirteen”, and a trip back to my childhood with Jenny Dee & The Deelingquent’s rousing “Fox On the Run”.

    But, of course, the main focus is on the “52 Weeks of Teenage Kicks” series, and tonight features the very first submission! It may be a bit fitting that said cover is by the one and only Malibu Lou at Rum Bar Records!!! Yes! He’s a huge fan, as you can tell by the accompanying email: “It’s one of my top 5 personal favorite songs ever. I covered it many years in many bands!! Here’s a demo version of Malibu Lou & The Attackers performing it circa 96 in NYC!!”

    I couldn’t be more thrilled, and I’m also so pleased to receive a couple other submissions that I’ll be airing during the next two shows. Please, please, please, if you love the song and have any sort of musical talent, or have some friends with a band that could do the song justice, record a cover and send it to paulisded@gmail.com!

    For more information, including setlists, head to http://scotthudson.blogspot.com

     

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  • The Ledge #551: 1993

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    I have to admit that tonight’s show made me feel like an old man. Sure, I’ve done shows devoted to individual years on a regular basis, but I’ve fully understood that the songs featured on a broadcast like last week’s 1978 tribute were nostalgic looks at the past.

    But tonight’s show featuring (almost) nothing but tunes from 1993 didn’t feel like a nostalgia trip. These songs don’t feel like they are 30 years old. I swear they were released just a few years ago. Maybe it’s because I still have such a connection to records like Archers of Loaf’s Icky Mettle. Or the fact that Bikini Kill’s “Rebel Girl” still packs the same punch it did back when it was released. Plus, I’ve obviously spent plenty of time with all of the solo albums released by former members of The Replacements.

    Even this week’s second edition of my “52 Weeks of Teenage Kicks” dates back to 1993, and in a weird sort of twist was the reason I came up with this idea. As I said last week, I had earlier realized that I owned quite a few versions of the song. But I had read on Facebook that a great Minneapolis band from the early 90’s, Loose Rails, were back together and playing a show around Christmas. I loved their 1992 album, Red Turns To Green, on Crackpot Records, and I believe I even interviewed them back then before they played here in Sioux Falls.

    So with this news that they were doing some gigs once again, I went to discogs to see if they had some music other than that album. Sure enough, they had also released a trio of singles around that same time, and their final single featured a version of “Teenage Kicks”! That led to a Facebook plea for anybody who had a copy of that cover, and Matt Potts from Loose Rails actually sent me a physical copy of the seven inch! 

    With the tune added to my folder of covers, it seemed like an obvious idea so I’m so happy to be airing their version on this episode. Once again, I would love for any band or label who has either recorded their own cover of the tune or maybe once played it live to submit their versions for future instalments of the series. I’ve already received a couple of submissions, and a few promises. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask! Just email paulisded@theledge

    For more information, including setlists, head to http://scotthudson.blogspot.com

     

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  • The Ledge #550: 1978

    Posted on by theledge Comment

    Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been hinting that I’ll be starting 2023 with a big announcement. Well, tonight’s the night!In my eyes, “Teenage Kicks” is a perfect pop song; the greatest punk-inspired single of all time. Two minutes and 27 seconds of rock and roll at its finest. The sentiments are the same youthful expressions of the original rock and roll explosion of the 1950s. Instead of Little Richard or Jerry Lee Lewis boogie woogie piano, it’s buzzsaw guitars that accompany Undertones vocalist Fergal Sharkey’s desire for that “girl in the neighborhood” that he wishes “was mine she looks so good”. It’s the musical template later utilized by Husker Du, Pixies, Green Day, and hundreds of other pop-punkers for decades to come (for better or worse).Since I love the song so much, I have found myself collecting all kinds of versions over the years. In fact, a little glance at my master iTunes library a few months ago showed that I owned over 30 covers of this tune. Just two weeks ago, I discovered that a Minneapolis band I loved in the 90s had released a remake as a now rare b-side (more on that next week). With that in mind, I decided that The Ledge broadcasts of 2023 are going to include a sub-theme called “52 Weeks of Teenage Kicks”. Every show this year is going to kick off with a version of this wonderful tune, and I want to include my musical friends in this adventure. I’m sending out a plea to labels and bands to submit new versions that I will definitely fast track onto the playlist. Don’t worry about the musical style. Want to record a solo acoustic version? I’ll take it. Want to somehow transform it into a screeching death metal rattle? Go for it! Add some loops. I’ll even accept autotune!Tonight’s first episode of 2023 is going to begin at the source. The Undertones’ original classic kickstarts two hours of legendary tunes from one of my favorite years of rock and roll – 1978. It was the year I discovered Elvis Costello, Wreckless Eric, Boomtown Rats, Devo and so much more! The “normals” may have been somehow grooving to Kansas and Head East but I was jumping around in my bedroom to The Clash and The Jam!

    To submit a version of “Teenage Kicks”, please email it to paulisded@gmail.com

    For more information, including setlists, head to http://scotthudson.blogspot.com

     

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  • The Ledge #549: New Releases

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     I’m sure plenty of veteran Ledge listeners are confused right now. A new release episode at the end of the month? Aren’t those shows scheduled for the first Friday of the month? What’s going on here?

    Well, here’s the deal. I’ve come up with a sub-theme for 2023. This will be a yearlong theme that will affect every single show, and I have a main theme set up to introduce this next week. So 30 hours before 2023 begins, I started broadcasting the first 2023 new release episode as my final episode of 2022. Make sense?

    There’s really not much difference between airing it now and in seven days. Yes, there would inevitably be a few new tunes worthy of inclusions, but I’ll make sure the February episode is jam-packed. And, honestly, I was really excited to present to everybody a bunch of tracks from a brand new Replacements tribute album. Graduate Unskilled – Un Tributo ai Replacements, which can be found at this bandcamp site , is an intriguing nineteen track collection of Replacements cover tunes that I’m sure my Ledge listeners will love.

    Along side those tunes, there’s the usual mix of new power pop, garage, punk and indie rock tunes. As usual, there’s a set devoted to our friends at Rum Bar Records. There’s even a track from a concept record devoted to an old Scooby Do episode!

    I would love it if every listener bought at least one record I played on either of these shows. These great artists deserve to be compensated for their hard work, and every purchase surely helps not only pay their bills but fund their next set of wonderful songs. And if you buy these records directly from the artist or label, please let them know you heard these tunes on The Ledge! Let them know who is giving them promotion!

    For more info, including setlists, head to http://scotthudson.blogspot.com

     

    Download MP3 here


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  • The Ledge #548: Annual Rock and Roll Christmas Party!

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    The annual Ledge holiday special is probably the easiest show of the year to put together…but not for the reasons you probably assume. Yes, it would be a breeze to just cull tracks from the same favorite Christmas albums year after year. Nobody would even notice if I ever repeated a song or two.

    But I’m thrilled that year after year there is a plethora of new holiday tunes to check out. More and more artists put out Christmas albums. More and more labels put out new compilations. And, most importantly, more and more artists are using their bandcamp pages to put out surprise individual tracks that are quite often free!

    So this year’s show is, with a handful of exceptions, brand new tunes! If you enjoy great punk, indie, Americana, and power pop there should be something here for you. There’s also no silly novelty songs (well, maybe one). There’s no maudlin weepers. Musically, each and every song would fit at home on a “normal” episode of The Ledge. So crank this at your family gathering!

    I would love it if every listener bought at least one record I played on either of these shows. These great artists deserve to be compensated for their hard work, and every purchase surely helps not only pay their bills but fund their next set of wonderful songs. And if you buy these records directly from the artist or label, please let them know you heard these tunes on The Ledge! Let them know who is giving them promotion! 

    For more info, including setlists head to http://scotthudson.blogspot.com

     

    Download MP3 here


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  • The Ledge #547: Best Albums of 2022

    Posted on by theledge Comment

    Once again, this obsessive mind spent weeks and weeks overthinking this year’s list. Notes were taken. Records were spread out all over the living room. iTunes searches revealed some forgotten gems. But I can once again say that this was a fabulous year for music, as evidenced by this countdown show. Veteran bands made comebacks. New bands made big splashes. Multiple genres revealed new life. It’s a great time for music geeks. So here is my list of the year’s 40 best records (although I only aired 30):

    Continue to http://scotthudson.blogspot.com to read the list.

     

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  • The Ledge #546: Runners Up

    Posted on by theledge Comment

    The process of compiling my annual list of the year’s best albums rarely varies. It usually begins in mid-November with a combination of notetaking and mental obsessing. Then over Thanksgiving weekend I begin putting ideas into various categories that I couldn’t even try to explain. Finally, the first couple of weeks of December sees this list finally coming together.

    As you may expect, that initial list is much longer than the official post of the best of the year. There can be anywhere between 60 and 100 records vying for inclusion. This week’s show comprises the 31 records that were in consideration before that final cut.

    But that’s not to say that these records are not as good as my “chart toppers”. No, these days there’s a fine line between a what makes the top ten and what makes the lower rungs. All of these records are fabulous albums that deserve to be heard by everybody. This is why the first time ever I’ve put together this “runners up” episode. 

    I would love it if every listener bought at least one record I played on either of these shows. These great artists deserve to be compensated for their hard work, and every purchase surely helps not only pay their bills but fund their next set of wonderful songs. And if you buy these records directly from the artist or label, please let them know you heard these tunes on The Ledge! Let them know who is giving them promotion!

    For more information, including setlists, head to http://scotthudson.blogspot.com

     

    Download MP3 here


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  • The Ledge #545: New Releases

    Posted on by theledge Comment

    I am proud to present to you the final new release episode of The Ledge of 2022. It’s been quite a year, full of fabulous new punk, power pop, garage, and indie rock. I’m now in the process of creating my “best of 2022” list that will be unveiled in two weeks.

    Tonight’s episode is truly a wordwide collection, as not only are there fabulous new tunes from the usual American and Canadian cities but there are trcks from Japan, Sweden, Italy, Spain, France, and the UK. There’s also a great set of 90’s shoegaze from Minneapolis that has just been compiled on a record called Southeast of Saturn, Vol. 2 on Third Man Records. As usual, there’s also a fun little set of new tunes from our friends at Rum Bar Records.  

    I would love it if every listener bought at least one record I played on either of these shows. These great artists deserve to be compensated for their hard work, and every purchase surely helps not only pay their bills but fund their next set of wonderful songs. And if you buy these records directly from the artist or label, please let them know you heard these tunes on The Ledge! Let them know who is giving them promotion!

    For more information, including setlists, head to http://scotthudson.blogspot.com

     

    Download MP3 here


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  • The Ledge #544: Power Pop, Pt. 2 (The Present)

    Posted on by theledge Comment

    Last week’s show featured classic power pop tracks from the past. This week, we take a look a the current state of the genre with 40 tracks of fabulous guitar-driven pop music. In fact, the vast majority of these tracks are from 2022, with a handful of tunes from 2021 and 2020. The oldest song of the bunch dates back to 2014, and that tune from The Cry! was selected to be paired with the brand new single by lead singer Tommy Ray.

    It should be to nobody’s surprise that a good portion of the show compiles highlights from Big Stir Records as they are the without a doubt the gold standard of new music of this type. Author S. W. Lauden’s influence also extends beyond the books he compiled with co-author Paul Myers. Not only does he appear on a couple of the Big Stir tunes broadcast in this episode, his suggestions resulted in quite possibly the most exciting set of the show.

    I would love it if every listener bought at least one record I played on either of these shows. These great artists deserve to be compensated for their hard work, and every purchase surely helps not only pay their bills but fund their next set of wonderful songs. And if you buy these records directly from the artist or label, please let them know you heard these tunes on The Ledge! Let them know who is giving them promotion!

    For more information, including setlists, head to http://scotthudson.blogspot.com

     

    Download MP3 here


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