Very High Frequencies

VHF-319 (Godflesh) on this week’s episode of Very High Frequencies Not Dead Yet Mike plays a little bit from all ten of the highly influential bands studio albums as well as some of their dub remixes. 
Godflesh released their self titled debut EP in 1988. The unique mixture of programmed percussion with heavy bass and droning guitars complimented with depressing guttural vocals garnered recognition in extreme music circles right away. There wasn’t another group experimenting with a sound quite like theirs. So points for originality. Ministry were fans and often wore their T-shirts. Fear Factory was inspired by the band and even did a cover of their pre- Godflesh project, Fall Of Because. 
By the nineties Godflesh upped the hip hop influences and went in a dub direction. Around 2015 the band swung into a more industrial metal sound. Justin Broadrick, Guitar, Vocals, Programming and BC Green, Bass, Programming, have a new Godflesh album coming out soon called Decay. The first single has been released, Living/Ending. We’re checking that track out as well as some of their other songs from their other nine albums as well as some of their amazing dub remixes. The Birmingham band is still being innovative and evolving. This episode of Very High Frequencies is the Yang to the Yin of Justin Broadrick’s shoegaze project, Jesu. 
It’s a pretty heavy episode on VHF-319 (Godflesh), you have been warned!

VHF-318 (Ladytron) features tracks from all eight full length albums the British band has released. The band  took their name from a song by Roxy Music.  Ladytron formed in 1999. After a few EP’s they released their first album in  2001 and put out their most recent album earlier this year. 
Up until 2023 the band was a four piece, with synth player Reuben Wu stepping aside due to his photography business demands.  Helen Marnie is lead vocalist and  plays synthesizer, Daniel Hunt plays synthesizer, guitar, bass and backing vocals, and Mira Aroya is also a vocalist and plays synthesizer too. She occasionally sings in Bulgarian. 
As the decades have passed the music has evolved over time. Early songs were less produced and had a retro new wave sound. The band refers to their music as “electric pop”. The latter material is much more layered and there’s a wider range of instrumentation.  
It’s a dance party this week on Very High Frequencies Ladytron show. Put on your comfy shoes and turn up the volume for VHF-318 (Ladytron).

VHF317 (Jesu) Justin K. Broadrick is best known as the guitarist, singer and programmer of Birmingham extreme music icons Godflesh, which started releasing music in 1988.
Around 2003 JK put Godflesh on hiatus. He created a post-metal shoegaze project, Jesu. It’s pronounced “Yay-Zoo”. Jesu has released a half dozen full length albums as well as a whole bunch of EP’s. Not Dead Yet Mike has chosen a few of his favorite Jesu songs for this week’s Very High Frequencies. 
In typical VHF fashion we also check out a couple cover songs that Jesu has released. The Syd Barrett era Pink Floyd track Chapter 24 gets an interesting interpretation and Robert Smith gets a shout out with a heavily distorted version of The Cure’s morbid masterpiece, The Funeral Party. 
In a strange twist of fate Justin Broadrick plays guitar, as Jesu, on two songs on the new Phoebe Bridgers album. The album is currently number one on many charts! It seems inconceivable that JK is being heard by millions of people who really don’t know him at all, but Phoebe personally requested him, so we’re happy for him and his unexpected success. We aren’t going to be playing those tracks but…
…Justin has also announced a new Godflesh album. We will save that for another episode of Very High Frequencies. It’s a dub heavy post-metal shoegaze episode on VHF-317 Jesu). 

VHF-316 (Bryan Ferry) presents a bunch of the solo music that the English singer songwriter has released outside of his hugely popular band, Roxy Music. 
Not Dead Yet Mike has chosen tracks from some of the more rocking Bryan Ferry albums and is letting another DJ explore the Jazz releases. With big radio and club hits such as Slave To Love, Kiss & Tell, Boys And Girls, and The Right Stuff, the suave and elegant front man has enjoyed tremendous success. Known for an impressive live performance Bryan has kept his fans dancing throughout the Eighties and well into the Nineties and beyond.
Of course Very High Frequencies checks out some of the imaginative cover songs Bryan has released over the years. From obvious choices like Dylan, to unexpected interpretations of artists such as The Velvet Underground, it’s probably no surprise that Bryan makes them all sound like his own compositions.
Perhaps the highlight of this week’s episode is Bryan’s contribution to the motion picture soundtrack for Ridley Scott’s 1986 film, Legend. The bittersweet song “Is Your Love Strong Enough?” is perhaps familiar with fans of Nine Inch Nails, from the cover by NIN side project, How To Destroy Angels on the soundtrack for The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. 
Nobody does the sophisticated ladies man crooning about a broken heart quite like Bryan Ferry. It’s a dance party this week on VHF-316 (Bryan Ferry).

VHF-315 (Ministry) Uncle Al has announced the forthcoming Ministry album, Hate To Go - Take Out or Delivery. He insists it’s the final Ministry album although he’s said that repeatedly in the last fifteen or so years. Very High Frequencies is gonna check out the first single, Burned Out. 
From there, it’s a spin through tracks from the mid eighties right up until the last full length album. 
Expect samples from several decades of different U.S. presidents, as well as insightful pontifications from long deceased friends of the band, such as free thinker William S. Burroughs and L.S.D. guru Dr. Timothy Leary. Several recurring lyrical themes emerge; primarily a suggestion to “connect the dots “. Trying to find some sort of order to what may seem unconnected random events that engulf us all. 
The role of the media, from  news networks resembling  propagandists to pharmaceutical advertising causing mental overdoses gets examined repeatedly. Television and the internet, it seems, have become something of a double edged sword that may not be motivated to be trustworthy and prone to financial and political manipulation. The military industrial complex and the nation’s propensity to engage in so called forever wars is another motif that’s examined. Violence for profit just might be making somebody’s stock portfolio soar. War economies are a boon for big business and Uncle Al is following the money. He wants to declare peace but he needs your help! 

VHF-314 (Echo & the Bunnymen) On this episode of Very High Frequencies Not Dead Yet Mike takes a spin through every E&TB album that Ian McCulloch has sung on. We check out tracks from 1980’s debut album, Crocodiles, right up to the brand new single, “Brussels  Is Haunted” off the forthcoming album, Apples For Issac.
For the group’s first five albums the band members remained consistent, featuring guitarist Will Sergeant, bassist Les Pattinson, drummer Pete de Freitas, and singer and rhythm guitarist Ian “Mac” McCulloch. 
We examine a bit off of 1980’s Crocodiles, 1981’s Heaven Up Here, 1983’s Porcupine, 1984’s Ocean Rain and 1987’s self titled album.
Mac quit the band in 1988 and put out a couple solo albums that weren’t particularly successful. Even more bizarre, the other three band members formed a new version of Echo & the Bunnymen with a different singer and released an album in 1990 that failed to attract previous fans. The record label dropped them and they broke up.
After that less than successful period, perhaps surprisingly, Mac and Will started a new band called Electrafixion in 1994 that was heavier than Echo and inspired by the Grunge rock that was popular at the time. They released one album, Burned, in 1995. While the music was fairly strong the album didn’t sell as well as the record label wanted. 
By 1997, with Les back on bass, Echo was officially reformed , putting out comeback album, Evergreen, to wide acclaim. Sadly Les bailed after the tour for the album.
Since then Will and Mac have recorded another half dozen studio albums. What Are You Going To Do With Your Life? (1999), Flowers (2001), Siberia (2005), The Fountain (2009), Meteorites (2014), and soon to be released, Apples For Issac (2026). 
We are sampling something off each of those albums as well as a couple non-album tracks too. This week it’s Liverpool’s second biggest band, Echo & the Bunnymen on VHF-314 (Echo & the Bunnymen).

VHF-312 (Rozz Williams - Half Alive) cherry picks through about a baker’s dozen of the iconic deathrocker’s various musical projects, including his groundbreaking band, Christian Death. With their debut album, 1982’s Only Theatre Of Pain, featuring former Adolescents guitarist, Rikk Agnew, the template was established for countless goth rock bands. Not Dead Yet Mike has chosen a few tracks from that legendary album as well as some live versions of songs from the album. 
We will be hearing something from each of the other Rozz Williams fronted Christian Death albums, either studio versions or live. 
We check out Rozz’s band with Eva O., Shadow Project. Tracks from the first two studio albums and some live songs, as well as a couple demos, demonstrates that Rozz was not a one trick pony. 
Always reinventing himself, Rozz released a studio album with former Christian Death bandmate, Gitane Demone, called Dream Home Heartache in 1993. We will hear from that interesting collaboration as well as some remarkable live performances from their tours in ‘93 - ‘94. 
Rozz also covered a lot of other artists material. On this Very High Frequencies we blast some covers of Iggy & The Stooges, Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground, Roxy Music and an entire set of David Bowie songs.
Rozz released music sporadically between 1981 to his suicide on April Fools Day, 1998. A unique talent that was often far too much for the mainstream, we invite you to marvel at just some of the art he and his many collaborators created. Like Jimi Hendrix before him, there has been a fair amount of posthumous Rozz Williams releases, primarily from live shows, still being released twenty eight years after his death. That proves how appreciated and well remembered he was. It’s all on VHF-312 (Rozz Williams - Half Alive).

VHF-313 (Mercyful Fate) is packed with tracks from the highly influential extreme band. The Danish metal band formed in 1981, releasing their first EP in 1982 and first full length album, Melissa, in 1983. Featuring the corpse paint wearing frontman, King Diamond, the vocalist sings in multiple ranges including a high pitched falsetto. Many of the lyrics of Mercyful Fate deal with supernatural themes. Occult motifs predominate with graveyards, vampires, devils, Egyptian pharaohs, witches and the living dead all making appearances. HP Lovecraft and Edgar Allen Poe are influences as well as historical legends.
Another aspect that set Mercyful Fate apart from their contemporaries was the twin lead guitar attack of Hank Sherman and Michael Denner. With Prog rock style complex changing time signatures and fiery guitar solos on top of solos, the template for countless metal artists was established. Combining the speed and energy of Punk rock with the heaviness of bands like Judas Priest and Black Sabbath was radical in the early eighties.
After two albums in the eighties the band went into hiatus as King Diamond created his solo band under his own name.  Dropping the satanic lyrics and creating story lines of a morbid nature was certainly less controversial and easier for record label promotion. 
After a ten year rest and several King Diamond albums and tours Mercyful Fate reformed in 1993 and eventually released another five albums. The final MF studio album was released in 1999. We check out songs from the lion’s share of their releases on this episode of Very High Frequencies.
Despite that lack of new material the band has continued to perform live to great acclaim. King Diamond has said he’s been busy working working on a new Mercyful Fate studio album as well as another King Diamond album. That longevity is a testament to the huge world wide fanbase that Mercyful Fate has been able to attract. 
It’s legendary Danish band Mercyful this week on VHF-313 (Mercyful Fate).

VHF-311 (Black Sabbath) is a tribute to the late English vocalist, Ozzy Osbourne, who passed away just about one year ago, on July 22, 2025. 
Not Dead Yet Mike has selected  two tracks off every Black Sabbath studio album that features Ozzy on vocals. That’s nine albums. 
First off, we’re checking out the reformation album, 13, released in 2013. While the album sadly does not include original Black Sabbath drummer, Bill Ward, it does have Tony Iommi on guitar and Geezer Butler on bass and lyrics. 
Moving backwards in time we check out a track from 1978’s Never Say Die!, 1976’s Technical Ecstasy, 1975’s Sabotage, 1973’s Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, 1972’s Vol. 4, 1971’s Master Of Reality, and two albums released in 1970, Paranoid, and the self titled first album, Black Sabbath. Then we do the whole sequence again, from 2013 to 1970 with an even cooler set of Sabbath songs.
In typical Very High Frequencies fashion we are skipping some of the more overplayed songs like Paranoid and Iron Man  and blasting some deeper cuts instead. Not Dead Yet Mike has also inserted a few quips from the Prince Of Darkness himself, Ozzy, pontificating on his life and legacy. We’re celebrating the Birmingham legend on this week’s episode of Very High Frequencies. Be sure to crank up the volume for VHF-311 (Black Sabbath).

VHF-310 (Type O Negative & The Sisters Of Mercy - Cover Songs) features the popular alternative music bands performing interpretations of a wide variety of artists and groups songs. Not Dead Yet Mike has managed to string together a whole show of the two bands playing other people’s music. 
Type O Negative were quick to apologize for their inability to properly play their favorite cover songs. Peter Steel often said he was sorry for mangling cover songs in the live setting. Of course it was his NYC self depreciation coming through and his sarcastic sense of humor that audiences found appealing. Chants of “You suck!” from the audience were a regular occurrence. The band seemed to enjoy it!
Type O Negative were fairly honored that their musical hero, Neil Young, was quoted as saying that their cover of Cinnamon Girl was the worst he’d ever heard. Regardlessly it was a fairly successful alternative radio hit.
Just some of the other Type O covers are tracks by Deep Purple, Santana, Black Sabbath (twice!), Seals & Croft, Status Quo (with Ozzy), and the Beatles.
While Type O Negative may have been apologetic for their covers we can be fairly certain Andrew Eldritch reckons The Sisters Of Mercy made superior versions than the original artist. The band has performed a lot of cover songs throughout their long history. This episode features SOM covers of songs by Leonard Cohen, The Stooges, The Rolling Stones, Dolly Parton, Hot Chocolate, Bob Dylan, Suicide and Pink Floyd. 
It’s two alternative music legends on this week’s Very High Frequencies. Don’t miss VHF-310 (Type O Negative & The Sisters Of Mercy - Cover Songs).