BTOC Behind The Orange Curtain

College Rock - Before ‘Indie’ or ‘Alternative’, College Rock was the most commonly used term for new music existing on the periphery of established trends. The term derives from the student-run radio stations on college campuses of the 1980s, which picked up new waves much faster than the commercial channels. This was at a time when the boundaries between mainstream and underground music were far less porous than today. Bands Featured: The Replacements, Pixies, Hüsker Dü, The Pogues, Dead Kennedy's, Elvis Costello, The House Martins, The Stone Roses, Janes Addiction, Suzzane Vega, Camper Van Beethoven, 10,000 Maniacs, Billy Bragg, Nirvana, The Dukes of Stratosphere, The Call, The Mighty Lemon Drops, The Connells, The Cult, The Colourfield, Flesh For Lulu, The Lucy Show, and Red Hot Chili Peppers.  

Power pop is a form of pop rock based on the early music of bands such as the Who, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds. It originated in the mid-1960s as young music fans began to rebel against the emerging pretensions of rock music, and developed mainly among American musicians who came of age during the British Invasion. The genre typically incorporates melodic hooks, vocal harmonies, an energetic performance, and "happy"-sounding music underpinned by a sense of yearning, longing, or despair.   Bands Include: The Spongetones, Squeeze, 20/20, Nick Lowe, The Smithereens, Let's Active, The Posies, Material Issue, Gin Blossoms, The Rembrandts, Jellyfish, Dramarama, and The La's.

This week we will look Christmas in the 80’s and bands that either covered or wrote originals for the holiday season.   Bands Include: Billy Idol, Fishbone, The Pretenders, Band Aid, The Waitresses, U2, The Pogues, The Alarm, Siouxsie & The Banshees, Queen, WHAM!, The Ramones, The Primitives, XTC, Eurythmics, Alison Moyet, Hoodoo Gurus, Young Fresh Fellows, Odds, Pet Shop Boys, Erasure, and Billy Squier.

This week we will look at 80’s bands from the Land Down Under, Australia.  Specifically the music scene of Pub Rock which would launch such Iconic Bands such as INXS and Midnight Oil. Pub rock is a style of Australian rock and roll popular throughout the 1970s and 1980s, and still influencing contemporary Australian music in the 2000s decade. The term came from the venues where most of these bands originally played — inner-city and suburban pubs. These often noisy, hot, small and crowded venues were not always ideal as music venues and favored loud, simple songs based on drums and electric guitar riffs. Bands Include: The Saints, Midnight Oil, INXS, IceHouse, Men at Work, The Church, Divinyls, Hoodoo Gurus, Crowded House, The Lime Spiders, and Boom Crash Opera.

Welcome to part 2 of the second US festival held 1983. This week we will continue to look at the US Festival focussed this week specifically on Day 3. Tonights show has an amazing line up of iconic bands from the 80’s.  Bands Include: Berlin, U2, Missing Persons, The Pretenders, David Bowie, and the Hoodoo Gurus (Critical Cut Artist)

This weeks episode we will look at the famous US Festival of 1983.   Steve Wozniak, cofounder of Apple and creator of the Apple I and Apple II personal computers, believed that the 1970s were the "Me" generation. He intended the US Festivals, to encourage the 1980s to be more community-oriented and combine technology with rock music. The first was held Memorial Day weekend in May of 1983. Join me as we look at the festival, some of the bands that played, interviews, and the music from the 1983 US Festival.   Bands Include: Divinyls, INXS, Wall of Voodoo, Oingo Boingo, Flock of Seagulls, The English Beat, Stray Cats, Men at Work, The Clash & Wolfgang Van Halen (Crandall's Crucial Cut)

Welcome to another episode of Behind the Orange Curtain. This week we will look at the 1982 US Festival. The goal for the month of November is to look for threads and themes of thankfulness and giving.  If there is one individual who gave the most in the 80’s when it came to live music and his personal wallet, it was Steve Wozniak of Apple Computer and we are thankful for the historic events that he created in the world of live music and festivals. Bands In this Episode: Gang of Four, The Ramones, Oingo Boingo, The English Beat, Talking Heads, The B-52s, The Cars, The Police, Men at Work (Crucial Cut Artist)

This week we will look at 80’s bands that have siblings in them. The goal for the month of November is to look for threads and themes of thankfulness. Bands with siblings have been happening since the beginning of organized music. The harmonies, creativity, synergy, and camaraderie are an essential part of the song writing process. I will attempt to provide insight into the sibling relationship, the band origin, and I will look to introduce in some instances some deeper cuts, when possible giving you you a deeper dive into some of you favorite bands from the 80’s.   Bands Covered Include: The Bangles, Felony, The B52's, Cowboy Junkies, The Del Fuegos, Devo, Flock of Seagulls, Gene Loves Jezebel, INXS, Jesus and the Mary Chain, The Meat Puppets, Men Without Hats, The Psychedelic Furs, Spit Endz, Crowded House, UB40, The Replacements, and the Ramones (Crandall's Crucial Cut)

As we are now into the week of All Hallows Eve, this episode focus' next a band from Los Angeles, Ca. That would change Halloween forever in the 80’s for us here in Orange County with their Annual Halloween shows at Irvine Meadows and Pacific Amphitheater. The featured band we will look at next week is Oingo Boingo. so join me as we pull back the Orange Curtain and look at the history of the band led by lead singer Danny Elfman that would escalate him to movie soundtrack stardom. Songs Included: You Got Your Baby Back, California Girls, Only A Lad, Violent Love, Ain't This The Life, Little Girls, On The Outside, What You See, Controller, Grey Matter, Private Life, Nothing To Fear, Who Do You Want To Be, No Spill Blood, Nothing Bad Ever Happens To Me, Gratitude, This Buds Fo You (Oingo Commercial), Just Another Day, Dead Man's Party, Stay, Elevator Man, We Close Our Eyes, Not My Slave, Winning Side, Goodbye Goodbye, I'm Gonna Be (The Proclaimers)

Tonights show is purely focussed on Echo & the Bunnymen’s released singles from 79-87 and there is no doubt that they had an impact not only in the states, remaining under the mainstream radar, but flying ever so much higher in Southern California and especially Orange County. Songs Include: The Pictures On My Wall, Rescue, The Puppet, Do It Clean, A Promise, Over The Wall, The Back Of Love, The Cutter, Never Stop, The Killing Moon, Silver, Seven Seas, Bring On The Dancing Horses, The Game, Lips Like Sugar, Bedbugs And Ballyhoo, People Are Strange, and (Oingo Boingo) I Am The Walrus.