The Walter Martin Radio Hour airs every Sunday night at 8pm on WEXT in upstate NY at 97.1 / 106.1
I lived a real-life dance party fantasy once at my friend Norm’s wedding in about 2008. He’d asked me to prepare some dance music for a “late night dance party across the road.” It was a June wedding at an old 1950’s summer retreat in the Catskills — a place that looked remarkably like the place in Dirty Dancing. Anyway, after a beautiful wedding, late night came and about fifty sweaty people were packed into this little cabin going totally ape-shit.
So this week I ask you to close your eyes and come with me. I’m going to take you to that little rock ‘n’ roll dance party cabin in the Catskills. Loosen your tie, kick off your high heels and grab a drink.
I do believe in my heart that dancing wildly to this kind of music (real songs with real lyrics and real emotion) can bring a huge amount of joy and human connection so I’m glad this episode has reminded me that I need to get out on the dance floor more often. But, to be honest, I only have one dance move and I stole it from my dad.
On this episode, we go through some thrilling stuff and I tell a few clunky stories and reminisce about when I used to sometimes DJ in New York City. And I inadvertently turn this episode into a sort of tutorial on how to DJ at a dance party (if the dance party is filled with people who like to go totally ape-shit and who understand that dancing to loud scratchy records of great songs with great singers and great bands is one of the best things a person can do).
I fancy myself a lifelong crate-digger (*one who nobly searches through crates of records at cool record stores and finds interesting music through hard work) but it seems I often forget the original (very unhip) source of some of the foundational music in my life: 80’s comedy movies. I actually realized on the air while making this episode that the 80’s movies that I watched as a kid (Vacation, Animal House, Dirty Dancing, Mermaids, The Outsiders, Stand by Me, The Big Chill etc…) were responsible for turning me on to a ton a my favorite music. I guess it’s a pretty uncool way to get into some very cool music but, however it happened, I’m very thankful that it did.
Enjoy!
✌️❤️-walt
As always, I don’t do any prep research or Googling for these shows, I just use information that’s in my head or on the record sleeve in front of me. Please enjoy some occasional old-school imprecise information and please send me any corrections.
And if you have any questions, requests, complaints, comments or recommendations please let me know below. Thanks for listening.
You can add the podcast version of this radio show to Apple podcasts from my Substack and it’ll update weekly (that’s what I’d do).
Featured Artists:
Shirley Ellis
The Troggs
Doris Troy
Tommy Tucker
The Kingsmen
Lavern Baker
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Charlie and Inez Foxx
Joe Cuba Sextet
Walter Martin Radio Hour #10