By Karen Glauber
At every moment of the day, someone else’s lyrics are running through my head. More often than not, as I recently told Todd Rundgren, they’re his words (“Same here” was his not-unexpected response).
I was thrilled to relinquish the role of my life’s music supervisor this past weekend to Chris Muckley, whose SiriusXM/Pandora “Indie 500” countdown on the XMU channel was the most compelling radio I’ve heard in years. The Top 500 was based on more than a decade of XMU airplay and “thumbs up” ratings from Pandora listeners (Pandora is now under the SiriusXM umbrella). I recognized about 90% of the songs on the countdown within the first 30 seconds and could easily warble along to the Top 100. Every time a song that I worked came on the radio, I excitedly told my son, “Mommy worked this song!” Julian, who thinks about Minecraft most of the time, ignored me (although he does recognize Britt Daniel’s voice by now). So many Spoon songs on this countdown—I’ve worked at least 15 Spoon songs since “I Turn My Camera On” was released in 2005.
Because I know you’re wondering, here is the Top 10 from the Indie 500 countdown: #10 Vampire Weekend “A Punk,” #9 Arctic Monkeys “Do I Wanna Know?” #8 Yeah Yeah Yeahs “Maps,” #7 LCD Soundsystem “All My Friends,” #6 The Strokes “Last Night,” #5 Pixies “Where Is My Mind,” #4 Franz Ferdinand “Take Me Out,” #3 The Shins “New Slang,” #2 Modest Mouse “Float On,” and #1 Arcade Fire “Wake Up.” You can listen to the countdown on the SiriusXM app, which I still haven’t figured out how to use.
This week’s race for #1 at Modern Rock will likely go to Shaed’s “Trampoline” by a photo finish (pun intended) over Catfish and the Bottlemen’s “Longshot.” Congrats to the Caroline team, especially Marisa DiFrisco, for a job well done! Capitol’s Gary Gorman repeatedly proves that he’s the best at what he does.
Ted is on his way to Philadelphia for John Allers’ WRRF 12th Birthday Celebration. Instead of ponies and cupcakes, WRFF has assembled its biggest lineup to date, with The Lumineers, Death Cab for Cutie, Grouplove, Phantogram, The Revivalists, and more (including current U.K. chart-topper Lewis Capaldi). Ticket prices ranged from $39.50 to $100, and the show will be a sell-out at 24,000 tickets by tomorrow. If you build it, they will come. It helps that The Lumineers, moments away from another #1 Alt song with “Gloria,” haven’t played the market in two years, not to mention an incredibly strong lineup. Tiered ticketing for radio shows is key. WKQX’s upcoming Picniq, which also has The Lumineers headlining, is at more than 20k tickets sold. Keep in mind that both shows are coexisting with huge festivals coming to their markets: Firefly in Philly and Lollapalooza in Chicago. Give your audience what they want.
Speaking of Phantogram, Republic’s Amanda Dobbins and Drew Hauser dropped their brand-new single, “Into Happiness,” this morning! It’s soooo good!
Why are there no direct flights from LAX to Louisville? On June 12, I’ll be on a 6am flight (connecting in Dallas) to join you at The Gathering, which has replaced SXSW as the must-attend radio powwow for programmers. As the alcohol flows, so does the conversation, although I’m not sure what anyone remembers at the confab’s conclusion. I’m most excited to see these two bands: Cherry Glazerr and Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes. The latter's new single, “Crowbar,” is a one-listen smash. You will love them both. Last Wednesday, Andrew Harms, Chris Muckley, Spotify’s Allison Hagendorf and legend Matt Pinfield stood front-and-center with me at the sold-out Fonda Theatre to watch Ireland’s Fontaines D.C. open for recent Ivor Novello winners/Partisan Records labelmates Idles. Some of you might have seen Fontaines D.C. perform “Boys in the Better Land” on The Tonight Show, or, like Jeff Morad, caught them at SXSW and immediately added the song at WEQX. Remember seeing Arctic Monkeys on their first tour? The energy is comparable, and singer Grian Chatten is also a star, a la Alex Turner. They’ll be back in September for a headline tour.
SONGS IN MY HEAD: The Echo in the Canyon soundtrack from the Andy Slater-directed documentary of the same name. The Mamas & the Papas’ “Go Where You Wanna Go,” covered by Jakob Dylan f/Jade Castrinos, is one of the many highlights.
