Hi - So I’ve been playing my favorite records on the radio every Sunday night on WEXT and Episode #2 is now available here or on your podcast app.
Here’s a little backstory for the scratchy records I play in this episode:
As I’ve been doing these shows, I’ve been noticing that a lot of the big deal foundational music in my life is stuff I found when I was in my early 20’s, just after I moved to New York City. That’s a picture of me and my pals back then. I’m the guy picking his fingernails. And disappointingly, it appears that I’m wearing sweatpants…? This is just before I turned 20 with the band of my boyhood dreams, Jonathan Fire*Eater. From left to right we see Matt, Stew, Paul, me and Tom. Jeez I got lucky to have these great guys in my life. This pic was taken by Matt’s dad, Fred Barrick, in August of 1994 at our pad at 176 Suffolk Street, days after we arrived in New York City to make a go of it as musicians.
And yeah most of the records I play on this episode date back to those wild days, so some are pretty scratched up.
The Jonathan Fire*Eater gang listened to a lot of great stuff together back then like the Pogues and the Cramps and Tom Waits but on the side I was also getting very deep into early rock ‘n’ roll — The Ronettes, The Crystals, Dion, Arthur Alexander, Ben E. King, The Fleetwoods and all things Leiber & Stoller. So, this is a lot of what I cover in Episode #2.
And I don’t wanna go too far down memory lane here, but here’s a clip from a Jonathan Fire*Eater interview backstage at Irving Plaza that’s weirdly relevant to this week’s episode. I think it’s the only Jonathan Fire*Eater video interview online. Anyway, the interviewers (who appear to be high school kids) ask us what our favorite music is and, right on cue, I talk about the same Leiber and Stoller collection that I go on and on about in this episode. Ha. I’m pretty consistent I guess. Always on message. For decades. I’m like the Bernie Sanders of indie rock.
Anyway I hope you enjoy the songs and the chatter. Apparently I talk too fast but I’m just trying to give a little context and also to make sure you understand how much I love this music and how good it feels to find music that you love.
The Walter Martin Radio Hour airs every Sunday night on WEXT in upstate NY at 97.1 / 106.1 or online online at wextradio.org. All episodes will become available to stream on this Substack every Friday morning.
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And thanks for all the nice notes about Episode #1 and please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or thoughts or requests or anything—i love talking about music..and I respond. ✌️❤️
Walter Martin Radio Hour #2