We go back to November, 2007, for a show that features the Radio Free Charleston debut of Mark Cline Bates, who will be performing Friday, August 8, at Live on the Levee at Haddad Riverfront Park, starting at 6:30 PM. For that show Mark will be backed by The Carpenter Ants. In this classic show, he’s heard solo, recorded at the old Unity Church, during one of Ron Sowell’s open mic nights.
Our other musical guests are most of The Voo Doo Katz, recorded live at the La Belle Theater in South Charleston, and RFC regular John Radcliff, performing in the kitchen at LiveMix Studio. We also feature animation and the first installment of “The Android Family.”
You can read the original production notes, bum links and all, for this episode Below the jump.
Production Notes For Number Thirty!
November 8, 2007 by rudy panucci
It’s hard to believe Radio Free Charleston has hit 30. It’s all downhill from here. The knees will go. The hair will get thinner and grayer. The show will have to go to the doctor regularly for all kinds of invasive examinations. But let’s concentrate on the positive things. Radio Free Charleston episode 30, “Freedom Of Choice Shirt,” is online now, and it’s jam-packed with great music and weird stuff.
Our musical guests are singer-songwriter Mark Bates, recorded live at the Unity Open Stage, The Voo Doo Katz, recorded live at the La Belle Theater, and RFC regular John Radcliff, performing in the kitchen at LiveMix Studio. We also feature animation and the first installment of “The Android Family.”
We ran into Mark Bates at the very first Unity Open Stage that we attended last year. This open mic night, hosted by Ron Sowell, takes place on the second Friday of every month at the Unity Church in North Charleston (there’s one this Friday, starting 7:30 p.m.). We asked Mark to be on the show that night, but lost touch and only reconnected when he opened for Seven Minutes Till Midnight at South Charleston’s LaBelle Theater over the summer. On the night, that we helped tape Jeff Ellis for The Gazz, we also recorded Mark at the Unity Open Stage. Later that night we recorded Doctor Senator, and they’ll be back on the show next week. It was a very productive evening.
Mark will be hosting a Tuesday night jam session every week at Tiffany’s in St. Albans. If anybody knows the address of Tiffany’s, please post it in the comments. I’m still trying to track it down. Give me some directions, too. I wanna go next week.
We also have the VooDoo Katz. The Katz are Mark Davis-vocals and percussion, Deron Sodaro-vocals, bass and percussion, Ammed Solomon-drums, Andy Park-guitar and vocals, and Kai Haynes, bass, vocals and percussion. You may have read about their new CD over in the Soundcheckgazz blog last week. The performance we feature on the show was recorded live at the LaBelle Theater in South Charleson on Sept. 9 at the Leigh Bowlin Support Concert. The band was not at full strength that night. Ammed couldn’t make it. However, they still sounded fantastic. Deron Sodaro took over lead vocal duties from Mark Davis for the Kai Haynes song, “Magic,” which is featured on their new CD, “Glimpse.”
RFC Big Shot Melanie Larch and I caught the Voo Doo Katz last Saturday at Capitol Roasters Cafe, and had a blast. If you get a chance to hear the Katz, jump on it.
You probably remember the incredible songwriter and guitarist John Radcliff from a slew of previous episodes of Radio Free Charleston. He appeared on episodes 16, 17, and 18 of RFC (all of which are currently in Internet limbo waiting to be brought back) and he was featured as a member of The Feast Of Stephen, who reunited in episode 23. And if you’re a college football fanatic, check out Rad’s College Football Songbook. It’s good sports-oriented fun.
Playing under our end credits, we’re treated to an alternate take of John’s song “Writing’s Hard,” which has been up as a YouTube clip for months. As you can see below.
Rad sends word that he will probably be on hand for the big Radio Free Charleston night at the LaBelle Theater on December 9. This is going to be a wild night with 90 minutes of the best of RFC, followed by a semi-acoustic jam session featuring guests from previous shows. Check out the flyer:
If you want to download that flyer from the link above, feel free to print tons of them at work and plaster the town with them.
RFC viewers also get their first look at “The Android Family” in this edition of the show. Already a universally-acclaimed cult classic, expect many many more installments of this series of shorts that depict the life of a family of nasty androids as they try to fit in to society.
The host segments this time were shot at the Northgate Business Center, very close to the airport. As astute viewers may be able to ascertain. The shirt is a bootleg shirt with DEVO’s “Freedom Of Choice” album cover on it. My kid sister got it for me for my birthday, and you have to have a pretty cool kid sister if she gets you bootleg DEVO shirts!
We are going to try and mess with the fabric of the universe a bit by delivering our next show in one week! If all goes well, you’ll see episode 31, featuring Doctor Senator, Raymond Wallace, new animation from my brother Frank, and more in just seven days! Host segments will not be shot near an airport.
And don’t forget to visit the RFC MySpace page for even more detailed production notes, video clips, and information about upcoming live events. You can even add us as a friend, and use us as a reference when applying for a car loan.
9 Responses to “Production Notes For Number Thirty!”
Bella Donna says:
Mark Bates = awesome. I hope we see him back on RFC again.Ah, the Android Family. So funny, and yet so disturbing at the same time.Not only was it great to see the VooDoo Katz on camera, but to see the dedication to Derrick Kirk as well. He was a great musician whose contributions to the local scene are deeply missed.Longtime Listener says:
Oh man, it’s great to see the VooDoo Katz on RFC. Too bad you couldn’t show them with Derrick. Still, it was classy to dedicate the show to him. The man deserves to be remembered.Mark Bates was pretty great, too. And I’m a longtime fan of Radcliff.I loved “The Android Family” and can’t wait to see more.That animated tribute to Jennifer Ziegler was very touching.This was one of your best shows yet. Just watch out for the low-flying aircraft and black helicopters.Mountain Woman Phd says:
This is the first edition of your show that made me cry. The animation was so moving, yet seemed unlike your usual fare. Then when I saw the dedication at the end, not only to the young lady, but to Derrick Kirk, I started bawling like a baby.I really enjoy the goofy things and the light happy fare you usually provide, but it was nice to see that you can also bring us serious, beautiful things, too.The music was just wonderful, as usual. Your introductions were very entertaining too. I don’t know how you managed to concentrate with all that noise.But it’s nice to see some heartfelt, serious content on the show, too.Chris Tic says:
Hey, I really dug Mark Bates. Did you ever find the address for Tiffany’s?When’s the next Android Family?Great show. Could’ve used more Geisha, though.The Dude says:
Good music, but man, The Android Family nearly made me wet my carpet. You gotta give us more of that.Strident Weiner says:
More Android Family! Give us what we want or we will tear down your internets!Not The Heart Guy says:
Followed your link from MySpace. This show rocks! Why do the archives only go back to episode 19?Mexican Romeo says:
Great show. Loved the Mark Bates tune, and the Voo Doo Katz are always good. I’d seen the Radcliff song before. The animation was very touching.But the stars of the show are the airplanes and the Android Family. Killer stuff.Matt Salazar says:
Okay, that was a treat to make coming back to the office after a long weekend worth the drive. Great music this time. The animation was different, in a good way. I have to agree with the other comments–the Android Family stole the show.Hope to make it out to the La Belle next month.
