Los Angeles peeps will have something to look forward to on Wednesday besides the usual smog, traffic, and people that look like famous people that probably are actually famous people.
ATV reader Mitzye got in touch with me to let me know about the pending return of Album Sides Wednesday on KSWD-FM “100.3 The Sound.”
The popular series as the name suggests, pulls the station turntables out of storage for an entire day’s worth of album sides 100% spun from vinyl!
That’s good news for music-heads like you and I. The bad news is that you’ll have to be in the Los Angeles area to hear it – the station doesn’t stream the day of programming, which is likely due to DMCA streaming rules and regulations regarding the prohibited streaming of multiple songs from the same artist.
I’d love to be listening to Album Sides Wednesday, but unless I get a really kick ass antenna to grab the radio station’s Los Angeles signal here in Cleveland, it’s probably not going to happen – so I’m counting on all of you to enjoy it for me!
Here’s the complete press release including a quote from a famous fan of the series – Jackson Browne!
VIVA VINYL!
THE SOUND SHARES ITS FAVORITE SIDES
WITH SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Rock Station Readies Its Turntable And LPs In Anticipation Of
2009’s First Album Sides Wednesday
For Immediate Release:
(Los Angeles, Calif. ) – MP3’s are amazing but nothing compares to hearing your favorite albums – Exodus, Rumours and War – in their original, analog format. On January 21, 2009, 100.3 The Sound/KSWD-FM will present the first Album Sides Wednesday of the year, giving radio listeners an opportunity to enjoy entire LP sides unedited and uninterrupted for one whole day.
Avid record collectors, ardent music lovers and casual listeners will be able to hear rock’s landmark album sides – from Pink Floyd’s epic Wish You Were Here to the Rolling Stones classic Let It Bleed – the way the artists intended and in the medium in which they were originally released. With Album Sides Wednesday, The Sound brings back the music-first culture that initially made FM popular. In keeping with the spirit of radio, the daylong program will only be heard via the airwaves and not be streamed online. Says Sound DJ Mimi Chen, “The FM radio of the past was dominated by memories of Metromedia stations, stations such as The Mighty Met, WMMS, WMMR, among others. I had the honor of working at two of them – WMMR in Philadelphia and KSAN in San Francisco. At these stations, I could play whatever I wanted and I was given choices within categories. The Sound is an homage to this freedom, harkening back to Album Oriented Rock as well as ‘All Over the Road,’ just like in the past, the demand for this is stronger than ever.”
Album Sides Wednesday first launched on November 19, 2008 to rave reviews from Sound listeners. A West Covina listener e-mailed the station to say, “Truly amazing. This has to have been the best day in radio that I have experienced in over 40 years. Neil Young, Grateful Dead, The Who, Rolling Stones, Supertramp, Fleetwood Mac, whole sides of albums…every pop, every scratch…. it was wonderful. I just couldn’t stop listening.”
A Newport Beach resident agreed, “Whoever came up with the idea of playing classic vinyl, one side at a time, is a brainchild! What a great day of listening and the stories behind some of the vinyl played, were also fun to listen to. I’m inspired to hook up my turntable again.”
In addition to fans, musicians are taking notice of The Sound’s format like singer-songwriter and record collector Jackson Browne who adds, “It’s good that LA has a radio station that actually plays songs from an artist’s body of work and not just from playlists that are generated by marketing teams, repeated over and over. The Sound honors the music in ways that corporate radio is unable, or perhaps afraid to do.”
Heartened by the excitement for Album Sides Wednesday, The Sound’s Program Director Dave Beasing has planned additional Album Sides Wednesdays for 2009. Says Beasing, “We express as many different sides as our veteran rock fan listeners embody and we are committed to growing a station that reflects our audience’s decades-deep music taste. Bringing back rock, especially Album Oriented Rock, is a vital part of our plan.”
Sounds like fun, doesn’t it? Learn more about The Sound via their website!
This is spectacular! I live in L.A. and I’ll be listening on Wednesday. I rarely listen to commercial radio anymore for reasons Jackson Browne articulates in your post, so I hadn’t heard about this new feature.
I love ths idea! It reminds me of “The Seventh Day” program that ran on some LA area FM station back in the ’70s: seven complete albums played back to back. Good times.
I live in LA, and totally dig this station. They’ve got a good thing going and I hope they don’t succumb to the demands of Top 40. We need more stations like The Sound.