Professor Mikey’s OLD SCHOOL

River Deep, Mountain High ERIC BURDON & THE ANIMALS

For the double album LOVE IS, Eric Burdon and the New Animals opened with a cosmic go at a mysterious two-year-old classic. The stories around the original Phil Spector production of “River Deep, Mountain High” are true horror show. Take after take in serious LA Gold Star studio heat. No air conditioning. Phil swore he could hear it in his porcelain bowl size headphones. Tina tossed her shirt and sang a few hundred takes in her bra. Wrecking Crew wrecked. Confusion, clashing personalities (especially Phil and Ike Turner), and Dennis Hopper snapping pictures.For Eric Burdon’s version, also recorded in LA, he decided it was all about Tina Turner.Enjoy. It’s a long song, plenty of time to subscribe to the Old School You Tube Channel.River Deep, Mountain High When you were a young girlDid you have a rag dollThe only doll you ever ownedWell you can treat meThe way you used to treat that rag dollBut hurry up cause I'm gettin' oldAnd I get older baby, day by dayAnd it gets stronger baby, let me sayAnd it goes deeper baby,Than you'll ever knowStand back baby, and watch my love growAnd do I love you, my oh myRiver deep, mountain highIf I lost you would I cryBet your life, babyWhen you were a young girlDid you have a puppyThat always followed you aroundWell you can treat meThe way you used to treat that puppy, babyI swear I'll never put you down, no I won'tAnd I get thankful baby, in every wayAnd it gets less painful baby, let me sayAnd I'm gonna love you every night and dayLook out baby, my love way is comin' your wayYes it isAnd do I love you my oh myRiver deep, mountain highAnd if I lost you would I cryBet your life, babyI love you baby like a flower needs the springI love you baby like Aretha Franklin needs to singAnd I love you baby like a schoolboy loves his pieI love you baby, river deep, mountain highWell take it higher, higherBy Phil Spector, Jeff Barry, Ellie GreenwichTrivia: The “New Animals” featured Andy Summers, late of Soft Machine and nine years before he joined The Police. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit professormikey.substack.com/subscribe

The Last of the Rockstars ELLIOT MURPHY

“THIS IS A TEST…this is only a test.”Officially OLD SCHOOL SINGLES is a new section on the Retrofit newsletter. Hopefully you’ve been checking out the long form Old School episodes, which will continue, they are just more of a giant Tetris and AI can’t quite do them yet. But I’m sure where there is hope there is a “Sugary Sleep Baroque Playlist for Dreaming” full of Boccherini and electronic riptides hatching somewhere as easily as the sparks that hotwired the great turtle Fords and Chevys Neal Cassady’s rode to Central City. They turned the engines, then powered the AM radios that gifted the soundtracks of generations. Chrome and cowboy boot kicked, thumping metal dashboard war radios which are now about to become things of the past.But the music goes on.So many great songs that I run across flashes of brilliance, discovery, power chords, and nonsense on a daily basis. SINGLES is a way to shine the light on solitary tunes designed for the short attention spans, the five or six minute drives, the typical commercial breaks, whatever ever reason you may be needing a handful of seconds for filler that sound so much better than sped up lists of side effects.As usual, these will show up first in Substack, the newsletter you are reading which you can subscribe to for free and see them show up slightly more regularly than the behemoth-a-thons, although those won’t go away. Professor Mikey continues to deep dive into a half century of records and CDs. Old School SINGLES should show around podcast sites so you should see them on Apple, Spotify, Stitcher, and whatever place works for your podcasts. That’s why I need to run a test at this stage.And new to the list is the Professor Mikey’s Old School channel on YouTube. It’s like running a rock station on Mars from here, but it’s kind of fun. Thanks so much for listening and having put in some serious detention in this creaky and getting older by the minute school. I’ll explain more later. A subscribe on YouTube would definitely help. I like to play good requests and learning about new old bands is such a kick. I think it’s so cool that vinyl refused to die. This is fun working under the pretext of education. And the web is the weirdest radio ever. I can’t tell you how to fix a toilet or drywall, but I can find a song you once loved the best, or one you can’t believe you missed, or one you just need to hear to help put the pieces together on the great and wonderful puzzle of joy we know as music.So we start at the end with Elliott Murphy’s epic vision “The Last of the Rock Stars” (1973). I have no idea what it did on the charts or how it went over in Milwaukee but I do know it confronts like Dylan and takes you elsewhere. Probably on a motorcycle. Probably with a guitar. And definitely with a harmonica.And it’s just a single.“Had this been an actual alert…” This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit professormikey.substack.com/subscribe

Raining on Prom Night (Abridged)

Hey Old School enrollees! Welcome to a special abridged edition of Old School #47 Raining on Prom Night. This was designed for those who don’t think they have 100 min to devote to a 1961 soggy prom experience, and for YouTube, where the bots are working overtime blocking entire episodes over copyright issues.Without preaching, DJs are having a tough time in this digital age not because they are trying to rip off the musical artists they enjoy, but because so many publishing houses have blocked certain songs. Artists are the last people to get paid, and that goes triple for DJs, who love and want to promote the music. I’ll preach on this another time, but this version contains all cleared songs.It’s a maze out there. Many tunes are blocked from Russia, like that’s going to have an effect on their senseless war on Ukraine. I’m fine with that.Most songs, especially the old ones I play for people who want to remember the old days, and even bigger for young people who want to piece together the threads they are weaving for their own journey of music discovery, have been sucked up in long ago massive deals that left artists as well as publishers without residuals or claim to the music that came from their hearts.YouTube is caught up in this silliness. You’ll find 50 versions of Johnny Angel by Shelly Fabres posted by Joe Blow and Winning For Old Farts and god knows whoevre else on YouTube, but when Professor Mikey puts it in an Old School it causes the whole show to be banned like a kid’s book in Florida.So enjoy this show. YouTube gets far more exposure than Substack, and I’m trying to cast a wide net here. Back up one newsletter if you want the whole episode, or better yet tune in on your favorite podcast developer Spotify and Apple, who want to make sure the descendants of Shelly and her Angel Big Poppa get a check for 58 cents this year.Bongos!—The Rest here is from the original post in case you missed it.FOR a beat down of pure syrupy nostalgia, there’s nothing like an Old School prom night. Unless it’s an old basketball court gymnasium prom night. Or a Kiwanis Hall.Everyone is in their teens which means they will never look better. Small town princesses in their royal gowns, awkward guys all greased back and stiff in their rented tuxedos. Becoming a grownup is a mystery just a few miles down the road.Maybe if the music glides into romantic and dreamy, things might slow down a bit. The lights go low, the geometry teacher can’t see how close you are dancing.Before the limo arrives, the weather does its thing. It starts raining on prom night. Windshield wipers swipe back and forth, spreading droplet jewels before more fall. Uncomfortable but flashy dancing shoes go splashy through the puddle. Inside you can hear the Thunder under the Marshals and the Fenders.The rain is falling, the night is calling, some of the corsages have been in the freezers for close to 70 years. Much of this predates classic rock. So I guess it’s Baroque. It’s definitely romantic. And it’s coming down cats and dogs.Prom culture, like teen culture, has not stood still. For this playlist we hover pretty much around the late Fifties into the early Sixties. The oldest song is from 1952, but it has such staying power it was required on prom setlists for over 20 years.A couple of modern tunes from 1966 are present, just to keep the sass in tact. But mostly the prom sweet spot coincides with the peak years for doowop, a genre that takes to the floor after the Blues and just ahead of Soul.The greatest hits of Doowop were associated with Proms at one time or another. Heartfelt love songs that drifted through dreamy harmonies. All the sweetness and tenderness that true love can inspire in the poetry of an uncertain era. The importance of Doowop is a big chapter in any popular music history. Tonight however we are in love with the possibilities of everything working out just right for ever and ever.NEW SCHOOL PROM FILLERA girl usually tries on 10 dresses before she finds the perfect prom ensemble! Corsages were meant for the waist! Teens usually spend $1,500 on their prom including tickets, limo, dresses, and flowers! 62% of prom-goers take home memorabilia to remember their prom night 15% of girls see prom as equal importance as their wedding Prom Industry earns about $4 Billion each year! The average prom proposal costs $325 Most girls shop for their dress 3 months before their prom. Source: Ambassador Limousines Weird Prom FactoidIn 1975 Susan Ford (President Gerald Ford’s daughter) invited her peers to the White House to have their prom! Her father was not in the states that night so the Secret Service took it upon themselves to be the chaperones. It was held in the East Room. Once the night was over the students went on the Presidential yacht and cruised underneath the stars!But there’s still a dozen or maybe two dozen (its really dark in here) couples, and this is serious heartfelt intoxicating busy time. The DJ shuts up, the only music that’s going to work for the up close and personal is one long dreamy set of heaven snt Doo . The flamingoes have wet feathers because it’s still raining on prom night.The ProgramWalking in the Rain THE RONETTESCrying in the Rain THE EVERLY BROTHERSA White Sport Coat and a Pink Carnation MARTY ROBBINSAt the Hop DANNY AND THE JUNIORSLoillipop THE CHORDETT7 Little Girls Sitting in the Back Seat THE AVONSBorn Too Late THE PONI-TAILSWIshin’ and Hopin’ DUSTY SPRINGFIELDPopsicles and Icicles THE MURMAIDSIt Might As Well Rain Until September CAROLE KINGTeenager’s Romance RICKY NELSONJohnny Angel SHELLEY FABRESVenus FRANKIE AVALONRhapsody in the Rain LOU CHRISTIERumble LINK WRAYHe’s a Rebel THE CRYSTALSChico’s Girl THE GIRLSAngel Baby ROSIE AND THE ORIGINALSHurt TIMI YURONothing Takes the Place of You TOUSSAINT McCALLI Love How You Love Me THE PARIS SISTERSAll These Things THE UNIQUESI Only Have Eyes for You THE FLAMINGOSOnce Upon a Time ROCHELL AND THE CANDLESIn the Still of the Night THE FIVE SATINSTonight Tonight The Meello KingsThere’s a Moon Out Tonight THE CAPRISRemember THE EARLSThe Angels Listened In THE CRESTSYou Belong to Me THE DUPREES 1962Eddi My Love THE CHORDETTESCome Softly To Me THE FLEETWOODSI Love You So THE CHANTELSEbb Tide THE RIGHTEOUS BROTHERSFor Your Precious Love THE IMPRESSIONSFor Your Love ED TROWNSENDIt’s Raining On Prom Night CINDY BULLINS from GREASDEBlue Moon THE MARCELSFIND OLD SCHOOL ON YOUTUBE This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit professormikey.substack.com/subscribe

OLD SCHOOL #47 Raining on Prom Night

FOR a beat down of pure syrupy nostalgia, there’s nothing like an Old School prom night. Unless it’s an old basketball court gymnasium prom night. Or a Kiwanis Hall.Everyone is in their teens which means they will never look better. Small town princesses in their royal gowns, awkward guys all greased back and stiff in their rented tuxedos. Becoming a grownup is a mystery just a few miles down the road. Maybe if the music glides into romantic and dreamy, things might slow down a bit. The lights go low, the geometry teacher can’t see how close you are dancing.Before the limo arrives, the weather does its thing. It starts raining on prom night. Windshield wipers swipe back and forth, spreading droplet jewels before more fall. Uncomfortable but flashy dancing shoes go splashy through the puddle. Inside you can hear the Thunder under the Marshals and the Fenders.The rain is falling, the night is calling, some of the corsages have been in the freezers for close to 70 years. Much of this predates classic rock. So I guess it’s Baroque. It’s definitely romantic. And it’s coming down cats and dogs.Prom culture, like teen culture, has not stood still. For this playlist we hover pretty much around the late Fifties into the early Sixties. The oldest song is from 1952, but it has such staying power it was required on prom setlists for over 20 years. A couple of modern tunes from 1966 are present, just to keep the sass in tact. But mostly the prom sweet spot coincides with the peak years for doowop, a genre that takes to the floor after the Blues and just ahead of Soul. The greatest hits of Doowop were associated with Proms at one time or another. Heartfelt love songs that drifted through dreamy harmonies. All the sweetness and tenderness that true love can inspire in the poetry of an uncertain era. The importance of Doowop is a big chapter in any popular music history. Tonight however we are in love with the possibilities of everything working out just right for ever and ever.NEW SCHOOL PROM FILLERA girl usually tries on 10 dresses before she finds the perfect prom ensemble! Corsages were meant for the waist! Teens usually spend $1,500 on their prom including tickets, limo, dresses, and flowers! 62% of prom-goers take home memorabilia to remember their prom night 15% of girls see prom as equal importance as their wedding Prom Industry earns about $4 Billion each year! The average prom proposal costs $325 Most girls shop for their dress 3 months before their prom. Source: Ambassador Limousines Weird Prom FactoidsIn 1975 Susan Ford (President Gerald Ford’s daughter) invited her peers to the White House to have their prom! Her father was not in the states that night so the Secret Service took it upon themselves to be the chaperones. It was held in the East Room. Once the night was over the students went on the Presidential yacht and cruised underneath the stars!But there’s still a dozen or maybe two dozen (its really dark in here) couples, and this is serious heartfelt intoxicating busy time. The DJ shuts up, the only music that’s going to work for the up close and personal is one long dreamy set of heaven snt Doo . The flamingoes have wet feathers because it’s still raining on prom night.The ProgramWalking in the Rain THE RONETTESCrying in the Rain THE EVERLY BROTHERSA White Sport Coat and a Pink Carnation MARTY ROBBINSAt the Hop DANNY AND THE JUNIORSLoillipop THE CHORDETT7 Little Girls Sitting in the Back Seat THE AVONSBorn Too Late THE PONI-TAILSWIshin’ and Hopin’ DUSTY SPRINGFIELDPopsicles and Icicles THE MURMAIDSIt Might As Well Rain Until September CAROLE KINGTeenager’s Romance RICKY NELSONJohnny Angel SHELLEY FABRESVenus FRANKIE AVALONRhapsody in the Rain LOU CHRISTIERumble LINK WRAYHe’s a Rebel THE CRYSTALSChico’s Girl THE GIRLSAngel Baby ROSIE AND THE ORIGINALSHurt TIMI YURONothing Takes the Place of You TOUSSAINT McCALLI Love How You Love Me THE PARIS SISTERSAll These Things THE UNIQUESI Only Have Eyes for You THE FLAMINGOSOnce Upon a Time ROCHELL AND THE CANDLESIn the Still of the Night THE FIVE SATINSTonight Tonight The Meello KingsThere’s a Moon Out Tonight THE CAPRISRemember THE EARLSThe Angels Listened In THE CRESTSYou Belong to Me THE DUPREES 1962Eddi My Love THE CHORDETTESCome Softly To Me THE FLEETWOODSI Love You So THE CHANTELSEbb Tide THE RIGHTEOUS BROTHERSFor Your Precious Love THE IMPRESSIONSFor Your Love ED TROWNSENDIt’s Raining On Prom Night CINDY BULLINS from GREASDEBlue Moon THE MARCELSFIND OLD SCHOOL ON YOUTUBE This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit professormikey.substack.com/subscribe

OLD SCHOOL #46 Sgt Peppers Only Covered Hearts Club Band

The Beatles released Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band on June 1, 1967. The Summer of Love was on. It literally blasted out of every car, every house, every apartment, all summer long. It defied description. It was rock, it was circus music. It was pub music. It was a raga.  It was symphonic, it was unhinged. It came from Liverpool, from India, it came from the sky with diamonds.Chances are it resides in your collection in more than one form. Capitol vinyl, Apple vinyl, 8-track, 4-track, cassette, reel to reel, CD, picture disc, bootleg, boxed set, wav file, mp3, mp4, FLAC. If it holds recorded sound, there is copy of Sgt Pepper.One of the more unusual facts is that it is one of the few record albums that has had every song it contains covered by another artist. More than one artist, I’m thinking of Cheap Trick in particular, issued their own version.The Beatles spent an unprecedented four months and $100,000 on their new album, “Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band” (Capitol SMAS 2653, mono and stereo). Like fathers-to-be, they kept a close watch on each stage of its gestation. For they are no longer merely superstars. Hailed as progenitors of a Pop avant garde, they have been idolized as the most creative members of their generation. The pressure to create an album that is complex, profound and innovative must have been staggering. So they retired to the electric sanctity of their recording studio, dispensing with their adoring audience, and the shrieking inspiration it can provide.The finished product reached the record racks last week; the Beatles had supervised even the album cover — a mind-blowing collage of famous and obscure people, plants and artifacts. The 12 new compositions in the album are as elaborately conceived as the cover. The sound is a pastiche of dissonance and lushness. The mood is mellow, even nostalgic. But, like the cover, the over-all effect is busy, hip and cluttered.Like an over-attended child “Sergeant Pepper” is spoiled. It reeks of horns and harps, harmonica quartets, assorted animal noises and a 91-piece orchestra. On at least one cut, the Beatles are not heard at all instrumentally. Sometimes this elaborate musical propwork succeeds in projecting mood. The “Sergeant Pepper” theme is brassy and vaudevillian. “She’s Leaving Home,” a melodramatic domestic saga, flows on a cloud of heavenly strings. And, in what is becoming a Beatle tradition, George Harrison unveils his latest excursion into curry and karma, to the saucy accompaniment of three tambouras, a dilruba, a tabla, a sitar, a table harp, three cellos and eight violins. —New York Times, June 18, 1967Today though, Old School presents the complete Sgt Pepper with each song recorded by a different band. It is not only a testament to the broad appeal of the Beatles, its also a great lesson how different a cover version can become, especially when the cover artist is trying to make a unique and personal statement with music that is stamped onto everybody’s brain.It’s an alternate universe version of the most famous work from an act you’ve known for all these years. Picture yourself in a boat on a river with tangerine trees and marmalade skies, and please don’t text while reading the news today oh boy.A signed copy of The Beatles' album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band has been bought at auction in the US for $290,500 (£191,000). The selling price far exceeded the $30,000 (£19,700) originally estimated for the rare LP record.Old School presents Sgt Peppers Only Covered Hearts Club Band!Side one…Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE With a Little Help from My Friends JOE COCKER Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds WILLIAM SHATNER Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds MERCURY REV Getting Better GOMEZ Fixing a Hole CHEAP TRICK She’s Leaving Home RICHIE HAVENS  Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite EDDIE IZZARD Side Two…Within You Without You SONIC YOUTH When I’m Sixty-Four JOHN DENVER Lovely Rita FATS DOMINO Good Morning Good Morning THE TRIFFIDS Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise) EASY STAR ALL STAR A Day in the Life THE FALL Bonus A Day in the Life WES MONTGOMERY@ PLUS Super Secret Hidden Mystery Track 💿And the pressure of performing the capper, A Day in the Life, fell on The Fall. It also came from the 1988 compilation Sgt Pepper Knew My Father, which comes up anytime the conversation gets around to Beatle and specifically Sgt Pepper Covers.  It was assembled by the British New Musical Express to celebrate the 21st anniversary of the original, and to raise money for the charity Childline. I’ll get a good link for the collection and put that, along with the other songs you heard on this edition of Old School, and put up a playlist on the YouTube Channel which you can find globally except in Russia and Belarus at Professor Mikey’s Old School. I hope you enjoyed Old School # 46 Sgt Peppers Only Covered Hearts Club Band. You can subscribe to the podcast on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s free, and it also comes in my handy newsletter where you can subscribe at Retrofit.Substack.ComThis podcast is produced for educational purposes. Any and all music heard in this program resides within the public domain, is licensed through the podcast carrier, or is used within the guidelines of fair use provided for in Section 107 of the copyright act of 1976.Join me next time on Old School where it is always open enrollment and there is no co pay unless you really want to.Like all Beatle songs, they sound better when you hear the original. There are some stellar covers, as we heard today. We would have closed the show today with this version of A Day in the Life, but missing out on the words might have blown our minds out in a car. So here is the fabulous jazz version which takes the original out of the London fog and sets it down on the night beach at Malibu. It’s by Wes Montgomery.Thanks for listening to Old School! See you next time. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit professormikey.substack.com/subscribe

OLD SCHOOL .45 Gunfusion

This title may be a bit off putting, but it is there for a reason. Just by listening to our favorite music from the latter half of the 20th century, we know times have changed.Most of these songs were recorded in a time when our country had more people than guns. That isn't the case today, and that fact alone makes some of this seem more distant than it really is.Guns in music are as old as war itself. There was a patriotic glorification that might made right and when the chips were down the guns were drawn.As the years progressed after World War II, a gun might get pulled in a song about the Old West. The sounds of gunfire might make for a dance beat later on. But as the world changed the role of guns in our music took on a more ominous presence.There's no politicizing here, just facts about the music and the times they were presented. We are even going to start with a funny song about a guy who's wife is gunning for him because she caught him out drinking beer.Stick with it if you can. We learn a lot about ourselves by the times in which we live, and the soundtrack only reflects the reality.So take cover, here comes  A high caliber playlist that takes aim on a subject that will break your heart, as the Rolling Stones will soon tell you. Lets start off with a bang as the Japan Ground Self Defence Force Eastern Army Band presents a banging conclusion to Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, complete with real M101 105 millimeter Howitzers.From out of the west, Marty Robbins and big iron gene Pitney with the theme song to the John Wayne Jimmy Stewart classic the Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and Sting hung his head in 1996. A big hit for Johnny Cash in 1958 is a good lesson for all, don’t take your guns to town which transcends us from the old west in to the new West.Harry Chapin was savaged by the critics for what you are about to hear. No singer/songwriter, not even Rod McKuen, apotheosizes romantic self-pity with such shameless vulgarity. Not only does Chapin write about it obsessively, he will, at a moment's notice, trash his own lumpish songs by bawling in a voice that is both ear-splitting and off-pitch. The most that I can say for this kind of wretched excess is that it is impossible for one to remain emotionally neutral to it. Chapin has the courage of his convictions, and the sheer insistency with which he advertises his case of emotional diarrhea does carry some energy and invoke some sympathy. — Stephen Holden, Rolling StoneArtistic choices are made in specific times, and when Chapin recorded Sniper for his second album release in 1972, society wasn’t being held hostage by an inevitable next mass shooting. Chapin’s song refers to the events in Austin Texas of Aug 1, 1966.A 25-year-old Ex-Marine sharpshooter began the day by murdering his wife and mother with a knife. From there he lugged seven legally purchased guns and a machete in two foot lockers to the University of Texas campus. He fatally shot 3 people in the university’s main building, then made his way up 28 stories to the clock tower observation deck. In 96 minutes he killed eleven more while wounding 31 others before he was shot dead by Austin police. At the time the shocking even was viewed as a an American tragedy. We know now it was only a preamble.Harry Chapin’s subjects for his story songs were often victims of bad timing and missed opportunities. Harry was a good guy, and his best song was about a father who wished he had spent more time playing catch with his son. He was a humanitarian and a key participant in the creation of the Presidential Commission on World Hunger in 1977. He died at 38 in a car accident. As it stands Sniper is a horror story of over the top misplaced empathy. Historical note, the victims in the song have fictional names, and Harry doesn’t give the snipers name.The first school shooting of the modern era occurred at the Grover Cleveland Elementary School in San Diego on Jan 29 1979x. A bored 16 year old who lived across the street from the school barricaded herself in her home and opened fire as parents arrived to pick up their kids at the end of the school day. Brenda Spencer killed the principal and a custodian while wounding a police officer and eight children. When a reporter asked her why she did it she delivered her now famous reply. “I Don’t Like Mondays.”” Years after she said she didn’t remember saying it, then wrote an eerie note to Bob Geldolf of the Boomtown Rats, thanking him for making her famous. Her sentence was life with the possibility of parole after 25 years. She just turned 61, still in prison, up for parole in 2025.Warren Zevon with the story of Roland the Headless Thompson gunner. A mercenary who lost his head in pursuit of his goals, but kept right on firing.Today’s Old School Podcast was called Gunfusion. Most of these songs were cautionary tales about firearms, recorded in a time before things got completely out of hand. It’s fascinating to think many listeners heard these powerful tunes for the first time.  Situations are never hopeless, scenarios are never inevitable. Listen to this whenever you need comfort or noise, then maybe save it on a hard drive or in a time capsule. Check back in ten years and see what happened.This podcast was produced for educational purposes. The music heard in this program resides within the public domain, is licensed through the podcast carrier, or is used within the guidelines of fair use provided for in Section 107 of the copyright act of 1976. Please share if it feels right, and remember to subscribe to my free newsletter at Retrofit.Substack.com. You can find the Old School podcast there as well as on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, and YouTube.Click HERE for the YouTube Video Playlist that includes all the podcast songs plus rarities, vinyls and video.Bang Bang NANCY SINATRA (1966) Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker) THE ROLLING STONES (1973) Saturday Night Special LYNYRD SKYNYRD (1975) Stagger Lee LLOYD PRICE (1959) Shotgun JR WALKER AND THE ALL STARS (1965) Hey Joe THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE (1966) In Search of Little Sadie BOB DYLAN (1970)Shotgun Willie WILLIE NELSON (1973) Pistol Packin’ Mama BING CROSBY & THE ANDREWS SISTERS (1943)Big Iron MARTY ROBBINS (1959)Ballad of the Well Known Gun ELTON JOHN (1972)(The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance GENE PITNEYI Hung My Head STING (1996)Don’t Take Your Guns to Town JOHNNY CASH (1958)Sniper - HARRY CHAPIN (1972)Gun GIL SCOTT-HERON (1981)Millie Pulled a Gun on Santa Claus DE LA SOUL (1991)Janie’s Got a Gun AEROSMITH (1989)I Don’t Like Mondays THE BOOMTOWN RATS (1979)Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner WARREN ZEVON (1978)Tommy Gun THE CLASH (1978) This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit professormikey.substack.com/subscribe

OLD SCHOOL REDUX - OS #1, #2, #3

Professor Mikey blew through the one year anniversary of the Old School podcast just as attendance was picking up with more podcast subscribers and the all new YouTube Channel. So now we have the rad but delightful situation of new listeners wanting older episodes.Hence the first Old School Redux. This one combines the first three episode from way back in early 2022. I started with short episodes until I figured out what I was doing. I’m still on that road. Of course you can navigate back to those first three baby steps on Substack, but this one gives you a chance to hear them in one commute with out having to go clicky crazy.Enjoy, subscribe, rock on!Sincerely,Professor MikeyOLD SCHOOL #1 Are You Ready?Pacific Gas & Electric 1970, Mink DeVille 1980, The Shangri-Las 1965Introducing a new Retrofit podcast feature straight from the Old School!This show began as a one-song one-off crafted for college radio audiences as well as truants. These listeners craved the deep dope that reeked of obscurity and cool. From the funky halls of this way back institution you could be the first kid on your block to hear something from 40 years ago that rang with spirit and originality. Or perhaps there’s a sample in it that collected mold on the sound shelf until a master DJ dripped it from a beaker into a beat track.Scholars and Professor Find Musical Common GroundFor the podcast version of Old School, the plan is to tell short stories about two or three songs, then actually play these rare wonders in real time. Radical, right? It’s all done in the name of music education. Total class time: around 12 minutes but since I get to write the rules I’m keeping them short.The sound closet I’m pulling from covers over 50 years and is stacked with albums, CDs, cassettes, videos, reel-to-reels. Lots of genres, scattered promos, unintentional rarities, lost vinyl that hasn’t felt a needle in decades. It’s an expanding universe.The Retrofit newsletter continues with articles, photos, and other feature podcasts. The Old School podcasts will arrive in your mailboxes just as your newsletters do. Hopefully it will be that surprise bolt of inspiration from the Fifties through the Nineties you were needing.Thanks for tuning in and please oh please share with friends! This is how your desert island joint gets found bobbing around in the podcast ocean.You can subscribe to it as you do your other podcasts and it will show up in that cue. In case you want to hear them in sequence or whatever.The goal is to keep it surprising and lively, to offer a take as to why the work was created, and why it didn’t make the standard forever cemetary hit lists. It’s not a countdown or programming based on sales. Please comment, offer suggestions, and send Professor Mikey on scavenger hunts into the unknown.Once again, we open the Old School, the detention hall of the forgotten, the obscure, the unknown, the diamonds in the rust!Are you Reddy?This week on our first Old School podcast!Thank you for reading RETROFIT. This post is public so feel free to share it.OLD SCHOOL #2 Hold On to Your LunacyHere’s another edition of Old School which dropped for the first time on Retrofit yesterday. This week while we introduce this new podcast feature the Professor Mikey lesson plan calls for an episode a day Tues-Fri then take Super Bowl Weekend off!No real schedule is set, it’s pretty much play and see, but at least once or twice a week sounds about right. Thoughts? Lemme know.Hold on to Your Life PSYCHOTIC PINEAPPLESubscribedJanitor of Lunacy NICOIs You Is or Is You Ain’t My Baby? BUSTER BROWNOLD SCHOOL #3: Hard to Believe the Night PlanetDevo live is a hard charging example of the de-evolution that threatened to zap the 80s into something caring and generous. Hang on to your red helmets!Be Stiff 🌎 Planet Earth DEV0Mersey inspired Glenda Collins was a small part of the British Invasion, a bundle of pop protest from Joe Meek’s quirky stable. Here she is, slamming the nukes in favor of ending world hunger.It’s Hard to Believe it GLENDA COLLINSBombs and missiles are here to stay It's hard to believe it, but I do They hit the moon with mice and men One day they'll send 'em back again It's hard to believe it, but I do How can they spend a million on a rocket head When there's millions on Earth in need of bread? It's hard to believe, but they do We're all in for a shock and soon When we find living creatures upon the moon It's hard to believe it, but I do I don't need a telescope to see What our future on Earth is gonna be Don't you disguise it, no, no, not for me I put my plea for all it's worth Let's first make this a better Earth I really believe it, yes I do I really believe it, yes I do I really believe it, yeah yeah, don't you? It's hard to believe it, but it's true I really believe it, yeah yeah, 'cause it's true I really believe it, yes I doMinimalistic and sullen, the Brits who shortened their name from “Troglodytes” wowed both side of the Atlantic in 1965 with “Wild Thing.” Here they are less than a year later, so successful they don’t want to do their own yard work. Lead vocalist Reg Presley, a big influence on Iggy Pop, left us in 2013.Night of the Long Grass THE TROGGSPreview week for Old School, the new podcast from Retrofit, continues tomorrow with some down to earth spaciness. Remember you can hear the episode through the player at the top of this page. Even easier, click on “listen through your podcast app” at the top right and this episode can be stored with your other podcasts. You can also access previous episodes of Apple iTunes, Stitcher, and Tune In! Thanks so much for checking it out!— This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit professormikey.substack.com/subscribe

OLD SCHOOL #44 Spring Break ’73 Part 2

All right! We are back to wrap up one of the wildest Spring Breaks of the 20th Century. If you haven’t heard Spring Break ‘73 Part One, you can listen to this for what radio professionals call “stand alone content.”  Flip just one back in your podcaster so you can hear the segment that has Bowie, T Rex, Dr John, Smoke on the Water.A lot of what we are soaking up has become the canon for Classic Rock Ruin My Music Radio, but they are always too busy giving away tickets to something you don’t care about to offer any context. These songs just get moved around like disc jockeys being reassigned to Cleveland.Here in Professor Mikey’s Old School we offer context, unbelievable stories, and the most daring feat of all, whole songs. So when we left off we’d just heard some island sweetness from the first summer of reggae as far as most of us were concerned. If you subscribe to the newsletter and Retrofit.Substack.Com you got a copy of the complete album released by Lee Scratch Perry and the Upsetters that spring, Blackboard Jungle, a masterpiece of dub. It is also available on the YouTube playlist for these spring break joints.Spring Break 73 Part 2 starts off on the water also, with the guys who added heat and cheeseburgers to every summer. Then we are off for obscurities, lost motel keys, misplaced pool bags, and all the other sketch stuff that goes down on a normal Spring Break 73 Part 2. With all this great 1973 music, you might be asking yourself if anything else made news that year. And you could easily answer “YES.”On January 20 President Nixon was sworn in for a 2nd term he would not finish. The Supreme Court in Roe vs Wade  by a 7-2 majority ruled in that the Constitution upholds an individual’s right to privacy and generally protects a pregnant woman's liberty to choose to have an abortion.On that same day Henry Kissinger flew off to Paris to initial the accords that would end the Vietnam War for the United States. And before American newspaper editors could figure a headline for such an historic day, former President Lyndon Johnson died of a heart attack at age 64.Also in ‘73… Secretariat became the first horse to win the Triple Crown in 25 years. Billie Jean King won the women’s single title and Wimbledon, then kicked Bobby Riggs in the nationally televised “battle of the sexes.” Thomas Pynchon published GRAVITY’S RAINBOW. Kurt Vonnegut wrote Breakfast of Champions. The American Psychiatric Association overturned a 100 year old position by declaring that homosexuality was not a mental illness. American Graffiti was released. And a new NFL rushing record was set by O J Simpson. Sail On Sailor THE BEACH BOYSFree Ride THE EDGAR WINTER GROUPBlinded By the Light BRUCE SPRINGSTEENRocky Mountain Way JOE WALSHCosmic Wheels DONOVAN Wishing Well BAD COMPANYO.D.’d On Life Itself BLUE OYSTER CULTNo More Mr Nice Guy ALICE COOPERStuck in the Middle STEALERS WHEELIf You Want Me to Stay SLY AND THE FAMILY STONEDo the Strand ROXY MUSICTrash THE NEW YORK DOLLSMoonshake CANAlright Alright Alright MUNGO JERRYMidnight Train to Georgia GLADYS KNIGHT AND THE PIPSOoh-La-La FACES CLICK HERE FOR THE COMPLETE VIDEO PLAYLIST TO SPRING BREAK ‘73This podcast is produced for educational purposes. Any and all music heard in this program resides within the public domain, is licensed through the podcast carrier, or is used within the guidelines of fair use provided for in Section 107 of the copyright act of 1976. If you feel your music should be omitted from any show, send a written request to retrofit@substack.com.Old School is brought to you by Retrofit, a private newsletter to which you can subscribe for free of by donation at retrofit.substack.com.  I’m Professor Mikey, thanks for listening.Thank you for reading RETROFIT. This post is public so feel free to share it. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit professormikey.substack.com/subscribe

OLD SCHOOL #44 Spring Break ’73 Part 1

Welcome to Old School as we go back in time to an important Spring Break. I’m Professor Mikey, about to see how many people and 8-tracks I can cram into a Volkswagen Baja.Here we are a half century since the Spring Break of 1973. Whatever was imbibed, whatever was consummated, it’s all in the past, long ago and forgotten.Except for the music.Here are a few kegs worth of b******g tunes that blasted out of speakers in the front doors, back doors, and a woofer that blocked the rear view window. We are off for some well deserved mayhem from Ft Lauderdale to Cancun, from Maui to Lake Tahoe, from South Padre Island to Cabo. If you were there you know what I mean. If you weren’t, welcome to some sand slicing surf pounding sick sounds of the early ‘70s. Little Darlin’ its been a long cold lonely winte r. Literally. This is the first Spring Break since the end of the war in Vietnam, so freedom comes with some extra salt around the rim.1973. The Beatles have been broken up for 3 years, disco is in the very near future. Rock and roll has yet to die, there’s some glam and some fabulous herbal reggae sounds in the air.  Movies like Where the Boys Are have sanitized the rite of Spring Break, and MTV is still way in the future. Dr Dre in in 3rd grade. Eminem is in diapers, and Carmen Electra has just ruled over her first birthday party.The music is split between AM haircuts and FM cool kids. Riding high on the Top 40 charts are butt thumpers like “The Night the Lights went out in Georgia” and “Tie and Yellow Ribbon Around the Old Oak Tree.”Thank goodness for underground radio. Led Zeppelin has a new lease on Houses of the Holy and Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon is the place to be, just beginning a 10-year stay on the charts. Unfortunately I’ve left both of those off of this edition because a) you probably already have heard them on your playlist and b) copyright issues.But thanks to some other great albums that were out at the time, we don’t have to groove to the sounds of little Jimmy Osmond.So here we go. We are hot and loaded for a spring road trip. The target date is April. There’s a couple of long haulers left over from late ‘72. But the cutoff is May of ‘73 so you can get the full flavor of a Spring Break in the time of Nixon. Imagine a president winning by a landslide just 5 months after the Watergate break in. Man, when old people rule the world it is really something!Let’s start off with something serious and religious, something that commemorates the time of the seasonOLD SCHOOL Number 44. Spring Break ‘73!Surfs up. But what’s that on the water?Smoke on the Water DEEP PURPLE On Feel the Noize SLADESearch and Destroy THE STOOGESPanic in Detroit DAVID BOWIE20th Century Boy T REXLove Train THE O’JAYSTreat Her Like a Lady THE CORNELIUS BROTHERS AND SISTER SLEDGEDixie Chicken LITTLE FEATRight Place, Wrong Time DR JOHNSuperstition BECK, BOGERT, APPICEPusherman CURTIS MAYFIELDDid You Ever Love Me? FLEETWOOD MAC SPECIAL FULL ALBUM Blackboard Jungle THE UPSETTERS with LEE “SCRATCH” PERRYStir It Up BOB MARLEY AND THE WAILERSI Shot the Sheriff BOB MARLEY AND THE WAILERSThe Cisco Kid WARNutbush City Limits IKE AND TINA TURNER This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit professormikey.substack.com/subscribe

OLD SCHOOL #43 It’s All Good

If you have listened to any of the previous podcasts, you know that Old School is not just an oldies show. Professor Mikey likes to dig into the old stuff not because of where it appeared on the charts as much as what it added to the culture. And what it sounds like and how it makes you feel after it has been sleeping in the grooves for a half century. Every record tells a story don’t it.This show could have been a lot easier. Search songs that have happy in the title and hit go. But I was looking for attitude, which is a bit of a difference.I don’t pit old music against new. But…songs about bedrock happiness and well being are pretty rare today, unless a country artist gets a new car or a new girlfriend. Happiness is equated to money and that’s about it. Not everything. Hey it’s pop music, right?But there was a time in music when the audience didn’t have a lot of money so they needed songs about establishing a positive attitude with what they brought to the table. It’s a fine line. Find happiness in nature and well-being and good deeds. Regardless of what’s up when you are asked how you are doing, you might say “it’s all good.” It’s all good used to be the mantra for everyone, although they acknowledged it with a “Fine, thank you.”So the stage is set for positive vibrations with some serious attitude. We are going to drop the needle on a few different eras, and hear how artists equated  well placed self confidence  through their music while their audiences got  little lessons in peace of mind. This is episode number 43 of old school. It’s All Good!Feelin’ Alright JOE COCKER 1969The Right Time RAY CHARLES 1959But I Was Cool OSCAR BROWN JR 1960Glad All Over DAVE CLARK 5 1964I’m So Glad CREAM 1966It’s a Good Day PEGGY LEE 1946You Make Me Feel Good THE ZOMBIES 1964Good Thing PAUL REVERE AND THE RAIDERS 1966Good Thing FINE YOUNG CANNIBALS 1989Get on the Good Foot JAMES BROWN 1972Oh Yeah THE SHADOWS OF KNIGHT 1966Happy Time TIM BUCKLEY 1969Happiness Runs DONOVAN 1968It’s Gonna Work Out Fine IKE AND TINA TURNER 1961It’s Wonderful THE RASCALS 1968This podcast is produced for educational purposes. Any and all music heard in this program resides within the public domain, is licensed through the podcast carrier, or is used within the guidelines of fair use provided for in Section 107 of the copyright act of 1976. If you feel your music should be omitted from any show, send a written request to retrofit@substack.com.Old School is brought to you by Retrofit, a private newsletter to which you can subscribe for free of by donation at retrofit.substack.com.  I’m Professor Mikey, thanks for listening. 🥳Happy birthday Nancy!* Now on YouTubeRETROFIT is a reader-supported publication that includes the OLD SCHOOL podcast. Consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit professormikey.substack.com/subscribe