Very High Frequencies

Very High Frequencies Episode 173: White Zombie vs Rob Zombie

Very High Frequencies 173 (White Zombie vs Rob Zombie) ping pongs between songs from the last couple few White Zombie albums & remix EP’s / LP’s and the first couple solo albums and obligatory creepy dance remix album. The second Unholy Trinity, Alice, Iggy & Ozzy all make appearances. The Prince Of Darkness and his Birmingham buddies in Black Sabbath get a crunchy shout out with White Zombie covering Children Of The Grave. It’s a Transylvanian transmission , we’re blasting songs about fast cars, living dead girls, the Manson Family, and all things frightening. Beware, this episode is a Spookshow Baby! 

Very High Frequencies Episode 172: Type O Negative (This Halloween Party Sucks

Trick or treat! Very High Frequencies is a week late to the party; or is it possible every day is Halloween? VHF-172 (Type O Negative - This Halloween Party Sucks!) is an All Hallows Evening of marginal entertainment from the ghost of Peter Steele and his never merry brothers from Brooklyn. Songs about goth girlfriends, graveyard seances, creepy green lights, and the propensity for death to snatch away loved ones on a depressingly consistent pattern? Check. Check. And a twelve pack of check. If we crunch the numbers it’s a fact that everything dies. It’s the driving force that led Type O Negative to become the international goth metal legends for all eternity. Dye your hair black and light a candle for a dance macabre in the dark. Tune in, Turn Up & Download VHF -172. Happy Halloween cool ghouls, this week we’re hanging with the Brooklyn bad boys, Type O Negative.

Very High Frequencies Episode: 171 - Dylan No Dylan

Very High Frequencies 171 (Dylan No Dylan) is another high concept show. We’re letting prolific songwriter Bob stay home and write more songs while a who’s who of artists interpret his music. Just some of the bands & artists covering Mr Dylan; Cage The Elephant, Ministry, Sinead O’Conner, Silversun Pickups, Bryan Ferry, Siouxsie & The Banshees,  Ramones, Echo & The Bunnymen,  State Radio, Bad Religion, The Byrds, Todd Rundgren, Robyn Hitchcock, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, XTC, The Dead Weather, Queens Of The Stone Age, PJ Harvey,  Patti Smith, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, The Sisters Of Mercy, Neil Young & Crazy Horse,  Rise Against and more.  Very High Frequencies demonstrates the wide ranging styles and contrasting versions of some Bob songs we all know and some perhaps lesser appreciated ditties chock full of fascinating tales of all things Dylanesque .  The times they are a-Changin’ all over again.

Very High Frequencies Episode: 170 - Bongs Not Bombs!

VHF-170 (Bongs Not Bombs) presents a slew of artists that present viewpoints suggesting the notion that war may not prove to be the solution to mankind's squabbles amongst themselves. By sheer will power and the power of the peace pipe Very High Frequencies invites all to hear songs that collectively ask the listener to consider giving peace a chance. Bands & artists on this week's show include The Black Angels , Shriekback, Ministry, Skinny Puppy, T.S.O.L., Killing Joke, Nine Inch Nails, Talking Heads, Rob Halford & Fight, PIG, The Sisterhood, Tricky, The The, Revolting Cocks, The Lords Of The New Church, 1000 Homo DJ's, Todd Rundgren with Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, The Doors, David Bowie, and John Lennon & The Plastic Ono Band. As the whole wide world seems to be on fire join Not  Dead Yet Mike on a mission to spread the message; "Bongs Not Bombs", on this week's Very High Frequencies show. Peace pipe is optional but highly recommended.

Very High Frequencies Episode: 169 - Candlemass

The Scandinavian Gods crush all the living with an ominous thunderous roar. Prepare thy doom! Worship the Sabbath. Kneel for the Priest. Like a Rainbow Rising, this week on Very High Frequencies 169 (Candlemass). It's Stockholm, Sweden's biggest metal export. Since 1985 Lief Edling's led the Epic Doom Metal band through a perhaps surprisingly wide variety of heavy music. As the primary songwriter and lyricist, Lief also handles the low frequencies with Geezer Butler informed chops. Slowmo Iommi is certainly the template musically. Last year's Sweet Evil Sun is the 13th Candlemass album. Hear classic epic doom tracks from a bunch of the bands output. Tracks from the groundbreaking first album,1985's Epicus Doomicus Maximus, still sound powerful today. The album was a huge influence to like minded  musicians. Songs from  that major work wail alongside the  usual Very High Frequencies mixture of demos, covers, outtakes, heavy favorites, solo albums, and related side projects. We also share some amusing band chit chat, reminiscing touring way  back in 1988 with their very loud idols, Motorhead. The sad realization of a profound lack of girls at the early shows bothered the  group. Crying in his mug of mead, Lief explains, "We weren't glam or hair metal; just five pretty ugly guys from Stockholm, Sweden. No girls in the audience? Boring!!" Fortunately, after 13 albums, half a dozen vocalists, and worldwide popularity, Candlemass is still finding new ways to acknowledge the Scandinavian Gods! This week on VHF-169, Lief Edling and his Epic Doom Metal band Candlemass pulverize all mortals with the Hammer Of Doom!

Very High Frequencies Episode 169: Arthur Lee & Love

This week on Very High Frequencies 168 we're tripping out with  legendary Laurel Canyon singer, songwriter, imaginative lyricist and ground breaking musician, Arthur Lee and his multi racial  psychedelic band, Love. Their 1966 Proto punk classic , 7 & 7, still rocks hard. The third Love album, Forever  Changes has been widely acknowledged as a milestone work of the '67 Summer Of Love. The band's communal dilapidated mansion in the  hills of Laurel Canyon was the subject of the song The Castle. Most of the group got very strung out on heroin while  living there. Unwilling to tour far from their dealers the band preferred multiple night shows at one location, like the Fillmore West. Live shows in the  early days were very popular must see events with all the cool members of the Stones and the Yardirds among their fans. Eventually drug busts and the strong arm of the law led to incarceration for  much of the band. Even mainman Arthur Lee spent some time in prison, but enjoyed much success later in life, mainly performing in England and Europe, always big markets for the  music of Love. This week hear some of Not Dead Yet Mike's favorite songs that Arthur Lee and his Psychedelic band Love put out between '66 & '74.

Very High Frequencies Episode: 168 Blue Oyster Cult

Very High Frequencies 167 is all about the first ten years of long running outfit, Blue Oyster Cult. The hard working group released six studio albums and two big selling live albums in a decade filled with constant touring. Stylistic changes, multiple singers and songwriters, as well as evolving recording technologies ensured a surprisingly wide variety of BOC music was created. Huge radio hits in the mid seventies are still being used in films and television shows. The Shakespearean song, Don't Fear (The Reaper) helped cement the band as a commercial entity with a bigger fan base than the bikers and heads the band played for in the early days. The episode  is packed with B-sides, live tracks and deep studio cuts to fill out the show and demonstrate the range the band had. Alternative  music fans might be surprised to hear a set of songs featuring the work of long time friend of the band and collaborator, the punk poet Patti Smith. VHF-167 (BOC) might just blow your mind!

Very High Frequencies Episode: 167 -History of Hard Rock pt 2

This week on Very High Frequencies Not Dead Yet Mike conducts the second advanced course on the history of hard rock; and it's transition to heavy metal. Starting with 1970 and winding down the lesson in 1984, before hair metal caused grunge to  rule the airwaves and MTV. Defining slabs of guitar dirges by Sabbath, Zep, Deep Purple, Alice Cooper, UFO, Rainbow,and the like, along with some of the innovators of the eras that eventually found success with much lighter fair. By '79 bands shied away from long tunes, in part influenced by punk. 1980 was the beginning of The New Wave of British Heavy Metal, many of these groups are still touring today. Angel Witch, Witchfinder General and their ilk may not have sold a lot of albums but you can still spot their band logos on battle vests at festivals nowadays, and perhaps  tellingly by the  guys in Metallica. Early eighties introduced Chicago's Trouble and Danes Mercyful Fate, represented here with absolutely  metal songs. An early track by the aforementioned four horseman of the Apocalypse, the hugely popular despite their heaviness, Metallica is  quite brutal compared to their later output. Like it's  predecessor, episode VHF-113,  this week VHF-166 is part two in the History of Hard Rock and It's Transition to Heavy Metal. 

Very High Verquencies Episode: 165 - The Cars

Very High Frequencies takes a peek in the  rearview mirror this week with Boston's The Cars. During their initial run, from '78 to '87, the band released six studio albums in ten years. Straddling the white line between New Wave and pop, the music was bursting with energy, packed with ear candy hooks and clever lyrics that could be interpreted in many ways. Main man Ric Ocasek grew his mixing skills, eventually becoming an in demand producer. Like many artists and bands that achieve huge early success - the first album selling six million copies alone - the band hit the Laws Of Diminishing Returns. By 1987, Door To Door comparatively sold about one million copies. Huge sales by today's standards but considered a disappointment at the time. Founder Ric Ocasek passed away September 15, 2019 so this show is in tribute to the four year anniversary of the death of an innovator in the realm of rock music, especially New Wave. VHF-165 (The Cars) has a ridiculously successful bunch of the radio & MTV hits while forgoing commercial ballads in favor of deep cut B-sides and non studio album tracks. Let the good times roll!

Very High Frequencies Episode 164: Eric Burdon & The Animals

VHF-164: Eric Burton & The Animals explores the transition from an English R&B covers band to a US based psychedelic rock group. Perhaps too prolific for the average fan, in 1968 Eric released three albums including a double album. Your host, Not Dead Yet Mike has found many sonic gems among the deep tracks. Forgoing the huge hit for another show, let's get swept up with the Summer Of Love when peace and harmony seemed to be in our grasp. We cover songs from '65-'68 including a few tunes featuring a young guitarist named Andy Summers that went on to make it big with The Police. Nobody sings like Eric Burdon, who's still rocking at 82 years old. He has been a member of Ringo Starr 's All-star Band recently. Check out why The Animals are one of the most popular of the British Invasion groups. Shout outs from Eric to Jimi and his majesty, Prince Jones.