Episode 90 of RFC

RFC 90 "Hellblinki Sextet Shirt" from RFC Archives on Myspace.

RFC 90: Ending The Year With A BANG!

December 29, 2009 by rudy panucci

The show you see above this text (orhere, if WordPress is being difficult) is our 90th episode over all, and our 34th this year! We decided to end 2009 with a bang. 

This show features new music from Eva Elution, WATT 4and Drop Ded Phred, plus a new Kitty Killton short by Scott Elkins, fresh DEVO hat animation fromFrank Panucci, and a plug for an upcoming series of Blues shows at the Plough Inn, in London….England.

The host segments and the song by WATT 4 were shot at The Empty Glass less than 24 hours before this show is being posted here at PopCult. This is the first time we’ve had a multi-camera song by a band on the show with such a short turn-around. 

Episode 89 of RFC

On this classic episode of Radio Free Charleston, you will see the much-anticipated (at the time) 2009 Christmas episode of Radio Free Charleston. Being a Christmas show, there was only one thing we could call this edition of RFC–”Terry Funk Shirt.” This extra-long episode is packed with music from Molly Means, Joseph Hale, Todd Burge, and Melanie Larch with The Diablo Blues Band. There’s also some classic animation from the British studio Halas and Batchelor, plus a news flash about a visit from Saint Sputnik. The original production notes, from which we self-plagarized much of the above paragraph, follow the ad and the video. These being old, old notes, don't expect all the links to work.

Twisted Holiday Greetings From Radio Free Charleston

December 16, 2009 by rudy panucci

Episode 85 of RFC

This is the remastered version of our 2009 Radio Free Charleston Halloween special,”HallowEast Shirt.” We feature music from Unknown Hinson, The CYAC musical, “The Blob,” The Big Bad and Flare Baroshi. We also have a Mini Movie, and a few extra treats along the way.

Our host segments, featuring members of The No Pants Players and were shot in various locations in Charleston’s East End–the home of HallowEast!. Jeff Bukovinsky, Mandy Petry, Joe Wallace and Duncan Stokes met up with the RFC crew they proceeded to skip from location to location, shooting our little comedy bits, aided and abetted by Mel Larch, Mark Wolfe and Amy Williams.

Many people consider this our best Halloween episode. It was also one of our longest episodes to date, and was easily out most ambitious shoot.

You can find the original production notes, complete with antique links that don't work, below the video.  Supplemental production notes for the remaster can be found HERE.

It’s Halloween On Radio Free Charleston

October 28, 2009 by rudy panucci

Above, you see our epic 2009 Radio Free Charleston Halloween special,”HallowEast Shirt.” If the show isn’t up there, that means that it escaped and can be found here. I’m going to post very detailed production notes about part of the show in Friday”s PopCulteer, but we do have some folks to thank for making this year’s Halloween show happen.

Episode 80 of RFC

Please Note: Many links may be dead, and all contests ended long ago.

20 Years Of RFC, with Blue Million, Go Van Gogh, and GI Joe

September 7, 2009 by rudy panucci

RFC 80 “No Pants Players Shirt” from RFC Archives onMyspace.

Above, you may take a gander at Radio Free Charleston’s 80th episode, “No Pants Players Shirt.” This edition of our local music and animation program has a bit of a nostalgic feel to it. We recorded our host segments outside of WV Radio Corp, which is the building, from which the RFC radio show debuted, twenty years ago, this week.

Our musical guests are both veterans of the radio days. Go Van Gogh, Stephen Beckner, Timothy Rock, Mark Beckner and Johnny Rock, appear via a vintage video for their song “Shut Up, I Love You.” While Blue Million is seen in a performance recorded just a couple of weeks ago here in Charleston.

We also have “Digitally Assaulted Charleston #2,” a short animated bit by yours truly. You’ll also get to see The GI Joe Adventure Team and you still have time to enter The First Great Guitar Giveaway from Radio Free Charleston and Route 60 Music. If you don’t see the video player at the top of this post, that means that Don Blankenship has hacked this website and is trying to keep you away from the good music. Go here to see the show.

Episode 79 of RFC

Please note that links may be dead and any contests are long over with an are no longer valid, but Route 60 Music is still a great place to get your musical needs met.

Win A Free Guitar, Catch Music By Melty Melty, The Drunken Gentlemen And Douglas Imbrogno On RFC 79

August 25, 2009 by rudy panucci

RFC 79 “DOMO Shirt” from RFC Archives on Myspace.

Above you see “DOMO Shirt,” the 79th episode of Radio Free Charleston. In this episode you will find the special means by which to enter The First Great Guitar Giveaway! You’ll also get to hear music from Columbus Ohio’s Melty Melty, The Drunken Gentlemen and Douglas Imbrogno, backed up by Casi Null and Jeff Ellis.

In addition to tall that, you get a brand-spanking-new Plant Ro Duction Mini Movie, and our host segments, which were filmed just last night (as I write this) at Appalachian Power Park. We decided to tape there because RFC’s camera mistress and resident diva, Melanie Larch, was called in at the last minute to sing The National Anthem. If you can’t see RFC 79 at the top of this post, click here to watch it.

Episode 78 of RFC

This week we bring you a really cool episode of Radio Free Charlestons from August, 2009, although it has elements of April Fool's Day in it. “Kirby Captain America Shirt” is loaded with great stuff. Our 78th episode included music by Tofujitsu and Deni Bonet, plus brilliant animation by Nina Paley.

The April Foolish part of the show is the fact that the host segments, in which I claim to be on Charleston's West Side, were actually shot in Pittsburgh.  Although many people thought that this was a sly comment on the number of movies set in West Virginia that are actually filmed elsewhere, the truth is that we shot these during a last-minute surprise birthday week trip to visit my sister who lives in the Pittsburgh area. If we hadn't shot our host segments while we were up there, the show would have been delayed.

That wasn't really an option. Deni Bonet was included on the show to promote an appearance at LiveMix Studio, and delaying the show would have meant that the show and the accompanying notes in the Charleston Gazette would have hit after her performance. So we sort of had to multi-task and turn a quick fun trip into a host segment shoot.

Which was a shame, because shooting in one city while claiming that we were still in Charleston was an idea I had on file to use in an April Fool's Day show. I actually kept that idea on file and used it in April, 2011 for episode 125. We just used a different city. Production notes follow the video, with lots of dead links.

Deni Bonet, Tofujitsu and “Sita Sings The Blues” On RFC 78

August 13, 2009 by rudy panucci

Up above you see “Kirby Captain America Shirt,” the latest, and longest, episode of Radio Free Charleston. If you’re seeing raw code (it happens sometimes, probably due to sunspots) go tothis link where you can watch the show.

In this week’s RFC you get tons of music from Tofujitsu (Sean Richardson and Karen Allen) and former Mountain Stage band member, and legendary violinist, Deni Bonet. Our animation is by Nina Paley, an excerpt from her feature film, “Sita Sings The Blues.”

Host segments were shot on the West Side of Charleston, on a little-traveled scenic outlook. Really. Would I lie to you?

Episode 77 of RFC

This is the first episode of Radio Free Charleston that was produced and posted independently of the Charleston Gazette. When it first went live in August, 2009, it was posted directly to MySpace.

And that's why it's being re-posted again, because MySpace turned out to be a bag of idjits. We have taken the oppurtunity to remaster it into psuedo hi-def at this writing, in May, 2014.

This episode features music by Universes and OVADA, both recorded at The Empty Glass, plus a snippet of The Contemporary Youth Arts Company’s 2008 production, “Jack The Ripper,” featuring Ryan Hardiman who has done just under 300 local musical theater productions since.

The timing for bringing this show back from limbo couldn't be better. Universes was a duo consisting of Jason Reese and Justin Gardner. After a while, Universes sort of faded away, and Jason joined the group, Farnsworth, which was another duo, this time with Chris Vance.

Farnsworth, has decided to change things up a bit, and they've brought in a new member--Justin Gardner. So it's sort of like a reunion of Universes, or a supergroup, or a Rugby team or something. 

Editors note: Hours after writing this, we discovered that the new member of Farnsworth is not Justin Gardner, but is in fact a different guy named Justing.

Sadly, Ovada has not yet gotten back together, but we're still hoping. Rad, Joseph, are you listening?

Our title shirt was from the band, Joy Division. Our location was on the East End of Charleston, and our "Fake Rudy" at the end was the one I was asked not to use when the show was hosted on the Gazette servers.

The original production notes follow the video. Keep in mind that the links is busted, prolly.

Universe And OVADA Fire Up RFC 77

August 5, 2009 by rudy panucci

Radio Free Charleston’s latest episode is RIGHT UP THERE! Click on it and watch it. In the event that you see nothing up there but raw code, that means that printer’s devils have snuck over from the print version of the newspaper. You can thwart them by watching the show at THIS LINK.

This episode features music by Universes and OVADA, both recorded at The Empty Glass, plus a snippet of The Contemporary Youth Arts Company’s 2008 production, “Jack The Ripper,” featuring Ryan Hardiman, who can be seen this weekend in “Rent.”

Episode 76 of RFC

Radio Free Charleston’s 76th episode, “Peace Sign Shirt,” was the last episode of the show hosted on the Charleston Gazette servers, and it features two long songs by Option 22 and Suburban Graffiti, punctuated by a Plant Ro Duction Mini Movie, and a couple of important announcements.

The remastering of this show involved me going in and doing some major post-production surgury on the Suburban Graffiti song. Don't get me wrong--the song is great, but my recording of it left a lot to be desired.I was just learning to use the Zoom H4 at this point and ran the lines in to the recorder too hot, leaving us with a shrill, yet muddy sound.  I went back in and through the wonders of digital filters and compression made the song more listenable, but it still doesn't quite do the group justice.

Option 22 fared better, since we had a great recording to begin with.

After this episode of RFC, we began posting the show directly to MySpace, which turned out to be a disaster when they unceremoniously dumped all their video uploads, which is why we now find ourselves remastering and re-uploading the older episodes of the show to YouTube.

You can find the original production notes below the video, Be warned that most links are just deader than hell.



RFC 76: Option 22 And Suburban Graffiti

July 22, 2009 by rudy panucci

Radio Free Charleston’s 76th episode, “Peace Sign Shirt,” isONLINE NOW! This episode features two long songs, punctuated by a Plant Ro Duction Mini Movie, and a couple of important announcements.

Our music is by Option 22 and Suburban Graffiti, and each song clocks in at around the seven-minute mark, so we kept everything else to a minimum this time around.

Episode 75 of RFC

This landmark edition of RFC featured music by The Pistol Whippers and Unknown Hinson, both legends of honky-tonk psycho-billy stage. We also had a snippet of Princeton’s Option 22 over the end credits. 

With this being our third anniversary, we took it upon ourselves to corner a few really cool people with our camera to get them to say nice things about us. Among those who weren’t quick enough to escape are Ann Magnuson, Necrobutcher (featured in the OSCAR-nominated movie “The Wrestler”), wrestling legends Gypsy Joe and Bull Pain and GWAR’s late front-man, Oderous Urungus. 

The really cool thing is that it looks like we recorded Necro and Gypsy Joe in the same place we recorded Ann. 

 Host segments were shot in and around the late and lamented LiveMix Studio during their Fourth Of July party. How could we not include our old friends and allies at LiveMix in the celebration?   

When it was originally posted I was not happy with the audio during the Unknown Hinson song, “Peace, Love and Hard Liquor.” It was muddy and out of sync. While remastering this show, I took the opportunity to tinker with it further and while it’s far from perfect, it’s much better than it was. The original production notes for RFC 75 can be found below the video...

Three Years! 75 Shows! Unknown Hinson! The Pistol Whippers! RFC 75 is LIVE!

July 6, 2009 by rudy panucci

Radio Free Charleston celebrates three years of terrorizing the internet with local music, film and animation with our 75th episode! “Unknown Hinson Shirt,” our third-anniversary Rock And Roll Extravaganza, is online now!

This landmark edition of RFC features music by The Pistol Whippers and Unknown Hinson, both legends of honky-tonk psycho-billy stage. We also have a snippet of Princeton’s Option 22 over the end credits.

With this being our third anniversary, we took it upon ourselves to corner a few really cool people with our camera to get them to say nice things about us. Among those who weren’t quick enough to escape are Ann Magnuson, Necrobutcher (featured in the OSCAR-nominated movie “The Wrestler”), wrestling legend Gypsy Joe and GWAR’s front-man, Oderous Urungus.

Many thanks to the kindness extended by these fine folks.

Episode 74 of RFC

Radio Free Charleston’s seventy-fourth episode, “RFC Trax shirt” is from June, 2009.  This show features music from then Morgantonians, J Marinelli and Slate Dump, plus special announcements from Mad Man Pondo and Tofujitsu, as well as a Plant Ro Duction Mini Movie. The music from this show all featured one-man bands.

We also continued the First Great Guitar Giveaway with Route 60 Music, which has now been over for quite some time. Don't bother trying to enter.But please do visit Route 60 Music and tell them you heard about it on RFC.

Host segments and our end credit bed were shot during FestivALL 2009 in Davis Park, during the “Art On A Stick” sale and open stage. You’ll hear RFC’s old buddy, Jerry Fugate, singing and playing Mandolin as we show you some of the sights of the day.

One unfortunate thing about this show is that I had to bleep J Marinelli's song, and due to a few computer crashes, no longer have the original video available to restore. After this show we had two more episodes that were hosted on servers belonging to The Charleston Gazette. After that point we were free to go uncensored.

Original production notes, complete with dead links, follow the video.

J Marinelli and Slate Dump, Plus Surprises in RFC 74

June 25, 2009 by rudy panucci

Radio Free Charleston’s seventy-fourth episode, “RFC Trax shirt” is online now! This show features music from Morgantown’s own, J Marinelli and Slate Dump, plus special announcements from Mad Man Pondo and Tofujitsu, as well as a Plant Ro Duction Mini Movie.

We also continue the First Great Guitar Giveaway with Route 60 Music, which will kick off just as soon as we iron out the last technical bugs. As soon as we get the contest page working, the contest will run for one full month. Keep checking PopCult for updates. We’re working on it as fast as we can. Thanks for your patience. This is our first contest, and we’re learning as we go.

Episode 73 of RFC

This week we bring back one of the most powerful musical episodes of Radio Free Charleston.From June, 2009, RFC's 73rd episode, “Aqua Teen Hunger Force: The Movie Shirt” was shot around downtown Charleston with street art in the background, and it featured music from OVADA and The Limbs. We also have a Plant Ro Duction Mini Movie.

In the background of this show, you will see part of the “Coming And Going” art installation by Mark Wolfe, and “Celebrate,” by Amy Williams with Chris Dutch. Mark’s work features life-sized black-and-white photos of some of Charleston’s most notable people (and one schlub you can see at Taylor Books). “Celebrate” was an evolution of Amy’s “Press 2 For Spanish” street work from 2008, expanded now to include Italian and Arabic. You’ll see those peeking over my shoulder and around my back in the host segments for this pre-FestivAll show.

The dynamic music from Ovada, a collection of great musicians from Parkersburg, and from The Limbs, a one-man-band from Denver is considered by many to be a high point from our first 100 episodes. Please note that the Route 60 Music Great Guitar Giveaway spot has been excised from this remastered edition of the show. You can still see it in other shows from this era. And you should still visit their location in Barboursville for all your musical needs.

You can read the original production notes below the video, but any links are probably all messed up and crap.

OVADA, The Limbs, The Guitar Giveaway: RFC 73 Behind The Scenes

June 17, 2009 by rudy panucci

Radio Free Charleston’s 73rd episode, “Aqua Teen Hunger Force: The Movie Shirt” is online now. This episode, shot around downtown Charleston with street art in the background, features music from OVADA and The Limbs, plus a Plant Ro Duction Mini Movie, and The First Great Guitar Giveaway, in conjunction with Route 60 Music.

In the background of this show, you will see part of the “Coming And Going” art installation by Mark Wolfe, and “Celebrate,” by Amy Williams with Chris Dutch. Mark’s work features life-sized black-and-white photos of some of Charleston’s most notable people (and one schlub you can see at Taylor Books). “Celebrate” is an evolution of Amy’s “Press 2 For Spanish” street work from last year, expanded now to include Italian and Arabic. You’ll see those peeking over my shoulder and around my back in the host segments for this pre-FestivAll show.

Episode 72 of RFC

Radio Free Charleston’s seventy-second episode, “Sulu Nation Shirt,” was posted in June, 2009, and it contains a lot of "firsts." This episode featured music from The Scrap Iron Pickers and Whitechapel District. We also had a guest appearance by The Chemical Valley Rollergirls, who were just beginning back then. Host segments were recorded at a CVRG practice at Skateland in Campbell’s Creek. We also have Frank Panucci's "Porklips" in this edition of RFC and a 90 Second Art Show.

This was a fun show to produce, with a cool host location and lots of action. It was really cool bring Scrap Iron Pickers on. This instrumental progressive metal powerhouse was real bright spot on the local scene, and it'd be really cool to see some kind of reunion soon.

Whitechapel District is still performing, with a somewhat different line-up. Stay tuned to PopCult for details of their upcoming shows. Of course, the Chemical Valley Rollergirls are also still going strong and winning bouts all over the region.

The original production notes follow the video, but don't expect the links to work. 

Radio Free Charleston 72: Rollergirls, Pickers and The District

June 10, 2009 by rudy panucci

Radio Free Charleston’s seventy-second episode, “Sulu Nation Shirt,” is online now! Watch it quick, they don’t seem to have much of a shelf life these days. This episode features music from The Scrap Iron Pickers and Whitechapel District. We also have a guest appearance by The Chemical Valley Rollergirls, who coincidentally enough are holding tryouts June 30 at Skateland in Campbell’s Creek, where we shot our host segments this time.

Episode 71 of RFC

Radio Free Charleston number 71, “Golden age Batman Shirt” was originally posted in May, 2009.  This episode of Charleston's local music, film, animation and weirdness program included new music from WATT4, vintage music from Hitchock Circus, a Plant Ro Duction Mini Movie, and a special appearance from IWA East Coast‘s Mad Man Pondo and a friend.

We concluded “Mark Beckner Month" with two songs from his Nashville band, Hitchcock Circus. This was a homecoming for Mark, who was a regular on the old RFC radio show as a member of Go Van Gogh and The Tunesmiths. Mark has since rejoined with his brother, Stephen, to form The Nanker Phelge, who have a new CD coming out in a few weeks.

WATT4 was recorded at The Blue Parrot. This line-up of the band is back together and is currently rehearsing for future shows.

Mad Man Pondo’s “friend” was Oderus Urungus, the lead singer and mastermind behind GWAR. These clips were originally created to promote Oderus' wrestling debut, which happened in the summer of 2009. RFC was greatly saddened to learn of the passing of Dave Brockie, the human vehicle for Oderus.

The original production notes are below the video, complete with questionable links.

Hitchcock Circus, WATT4 And Oderus Urungus: RFC 71 Is Live!

May 26, 2009 by rudy panucci

Radio Free Charleston number 71, “Golden age Batman Shirt” is online now! This episode of your local music, film, animation and weirdness program includes new music from WATT4, vintage music from Hitchock Circus, a Plant Ro Duction Mini Movie, and a special appearance from IWA East Coast‘s Mad Man Pondo and a friend.

Episode 70 of RFC

This edition of your local music, film, animation and art webcast was jam-packed with music and other short bits of coolness. The music is from Barebones, the accapella group who debuted on RFC just a few weeks before this episode, plus we continued “Mark Beckner Month” with a couple of performances that feature Mark: one solo, and one supporting his brother Stephen while jamming on an old Go Van Gogh tune.

As if the music weren’t enough, we also had a 100-second art show, this time showcasing the work of Leia Bell, a promo clip for “Viva le Vaudeville,” and the debut of “A Plant Ro Duction Mini Movie.”

RFC 70: Barebones, Beckner And “Burn The Hairy Man”

May 20, 2009 by rudy panucci

The seventieth episode of Radio Free Charleston,”Holy Hand Grenade Of Antioch Shirt” is online now!

Episode 69 of RFC

May 2009 was "Mark Beckner Month" on Radio Free Charleston. Mark is a long-time friend and was a fixture on the radio incarnation of RFC as a member of both Go Van Gogh and The Tunesmiths. To this day he still shows up as a member of The Nanker Phelge.

However, in May 2009, he was preparing to play his first real show in Charleston in years, since he'd relocated to Nashville back in the 1990s. It turned out to be quite the homecoming, since unbeknowest to me, he was returning to town for good.

I had a wealth of archival material and new video featuring Mark, so I decided that, as a way to plug his "return" show with his band, Hitchcock Circus, I would devote an entire month of shows to Mister Mark Beckner.

We kicked it off by digging deep into the vaults to present "Go Van Gogh: The Sad Truth," a mockumentary starring the band, which I had totally forgotten about, directed by Timothy Rock, the bassist for GVG. Stephen Beckner showed it during a movie night at his house, and I started wondering why it seemed familiar. Then it got to the scene where I'm crouched over a toilet blaming the band for the RFC radio show getting cancelled, and it all came back.

It turns out I was the cameraman and was the offscreen interviewer in addition to my cameo as myself. I have this bad habit of forgetting really cool things that I've done.

I was able to get a copy of the film from Stephen, and trimmed it a bit for time so I could present it as an episode of RFC. This is one of the few RFCs that doesn't have the opening theme, and with this 2014 remastering, I have correcting one shocking omission--after the end credits and remastering card, I put the "Ya-Hooo" guy back in.

The original production notes are below. Don't mind the links, they're probably a mess.

Go Van Gogh: The Sad Truth…RFC 69 Notes

May 13, 2009 by rudy panucci

Radio Free Charleston’s very special sixty-ninth episode is online now! This is a departure episode for us, as we present an edited version of Timothy Rock’s 1992 documentary, “Go Van Gogh: The Sad Truth.” This film depicts the aura, the bubble of success that surrounded this almost-mythic band. It stars Go Van Gogh, themselves, Johnny Rock, Tim Rock, Stephen Becknerand Mark Beckner. 

It’s the kick-off of “Mark Beckner Month” here on Radio Free Charleston, as we celebrate the pending return to the Charleston area of Mark’s Nashville-based band, Hitchcock Circus. Hitchcock Circus will be playing at LiveMix Studio on May 30–their first gig in town since 1995. Every episode of RFC in May will feature Mark in some manner or another.

Episode 68 of RFC

RFC Flashback: Episode 68

May 17, 2014 by rudy panucci

Radio Free Charleston 68, “Axiom Starliner Shirt,” is back online.  This episode of your favorite local music, animation and film show featured music from Jeff Ellis and Marcie Bullock. We also had the first edition of The Radio Free Charleston Financial Report, as well as the debut of the cutest li’l cute cartoon show in the history of cuteness, “Cuticles.” neither of those segments ever appeared in the show again!

Host segments for this show were shot late one Sunday evening in the parking lot at the Nitro Marketplace shopping center. “Why there?” You ask? I honestly have no idea. It seemed like a good idea at the time. The green ball cap seemed like a good idea, too, but it sure looks stupid on screen. The shirt was from the movie, “Wall-E.” This episode also includes the ultimate onscreen URL joke, in case you were wondering which show that one was in. You can find the original production notes below the video, but keep in mind that they're old and the links probably don't work.

Jeff Ellis, Marcie Bullock, RFC 68 Is CUTE!

April 29, 2009 by rudy panucci

Radio Free Charleston 68, “Axiom Starliner Shirt,” is online now! This episode of your favorite local music, animation and film show features music from Jeff Ellis and Marcie Bullock. We also have the first edition of The Radio Free Charleston Financial Report, as well as the debut of the cutest li’l cute cartoon show in the history of cuteness, “Cuticles.”

Episode 67 of RFC

From April, 2009, comes "Earth To Eros Shirt," a show named after John Lancaster's old band. We never managed to get E2E on the show, but we have had John on a few times. Our host segments were shot at The Convenience Store on Summer's Street, which is still going strong, almost five years later.  This show contains our comedy interview with the store's owner, Scott Shapiro, which illustrates why I hardly ever do interviews on Radio Free Charleston.

Music from Go Van Gogh and A Place Of Solace highlight this episode. We also featured a trailer for the movie "The Bride and Grooms" and the phenomenal young Bradley Wilkerson Sings! Actually, a deal to record The West Virginia Symphony Orchestra fell through at the last minute, so I did the first-ever "rerun" of a segment and reused the animated video "Requiem For Pepperland" that I created--in just a couple of days--for a then-twenty-year-old demo by Go Van Gogh.

Our other musical guest, A Place of Solace, finally appeared fifty episodes after I wore one of their shirts on the show. It all comes around.  It is great to see Bradley Wilkerson at his peak and in his prime. This is how he should be remembered, not his eventual decline and sad end.

Production notes, complete with dead links and such, follow the embedded show.

RFC 67: The Convenience Of Solace

April 22, 2009 by rudy panucci

Radio Free Charleston Episode 67, “Earth To Eros Shirt,” isonline now! This edition of our show features our first “rerun” musical segment, plus new music from A Place Of Solace, A new trailer for Butch Maier’s film, “The Bride And The Grooms,” and the phenomenal young Bradley Wilkerson Sings! The afore-mentioned rerun segment is the animated music video for “Requiem For Pepperland” by Go Van Gogh, brought back by popular demand. This is our special “deadline crunch” show, as I try to maintain a weekly schedule through April in the face of major-league scheduling adversity.

Episode 66 of RFC

RFC 66 "Yankees Jersey" from RFC Archives on Myspace.

RFC 66 Notes: Biscuits In Paradise

April 16, 2009 by rudy panucci

Radio Free Charleston’s sixty-sixth episode, “Yankees Jersey,” is online now.  This installment of the longest-running local music and animation show at TheGazz.com features a song from the CYAC musical “Norman Rockwell’s American Paradise,” written by Dan Kehde and Mark Scarpelli, plus a tune from Electro Biscuit, a band consisting of Kai Haynes, Greg Wegmann and RFC Big Shot Brian Young, who coincidentally happen to be the owners of LiveMix Studio, Charleston’s coolest intimate venue and the home base of Radio Free Charleston.

We’ll also see the exciting debut of Charleston’s newest teen sensation, Young Bradley Wilkerson! That’s him to the left of this text.

Our animation features a glimpse into the evil mirror universe, as we see how the Anti-Rudy would introduce a song on the evil version of Radio Free Charleston.

Episode 65 of RFC

Radio Free Charleston 65, “Give Peace A Chance Shirt,” was first posted April 8, 2009. This episode showcased two songs performed by Bare Bones, an acapella group consisting of Bill Kimmons, Becky Kimmons, and Mark Davis. 


We also present the short film “FOOTLUCY”, starring the late Joe McComas. Plus, there’s animation by Wallace Padillo.   If it seems odd that I keep saying "Bare Bones Acapella," rest assured that it's all in your perception and is not a sign that I thought the word "acapella" was part of their name.  The original production notes, dead links and all, appear below the video. 


In the meantime, please visit the PopCult blog and our Facebook page for information on our current episodes while this site is still under construction. Radio Free Charleston is still going strong, with both the full-length program and our new RFC MINI SHOWs, and we expect to hit episode 200 head-on in the Spring of 2014.
You may notice that this introduction appears in many of the posts that you see in this blog. The reason is simple. We have embedded the shows at a fairly hefty size, and they sort of run outside the template. This is not a huge problem if our posts have a lengthy preamble before we plop in the video, but in some cases we need some extra padding so that the listing of the blog archives over on the right side of the screen doesn't overlap the video, thus impeding your enjoyment of our nifty video product. So we stick this opening in here, along with an ad, to take up space.

RFC 65: Bare Bones and Joe McComas, Behind The Scenes

April 8, 2009 by rudy panucci

Radio Free Charleston 65, “Give Peace A Chance Shirt,” isonline now! This episode showcases two songs performed byBare Bones, an acapella group consisting of Bill Kimmons, Becky Kimmons, and Mark Davis. We also present the short film “FOOTLUCY”, starring the late Joe McComas. Plus, there’s animation by Wallace Padillo.

Episode 64 of RFC

For April Fool's Day 2009 I decided that I wanted to pull a fairly elaborate, yet profoundly stupid prank. The plan was to run production notes promising a very special episode with new music from Paul McCartney and Peter Buck, of REM, plus an exclusive new animated short film by Pixar and then pull a biat-and-switch and instead supply a third part to our 2008 Halloween Special, "RFC Horror Theater."

And so we did. Music is by Whistlepunk and Mark and Steve Beckner with Alan Young. Mark, Steve and Alan were recorded live at LiveMix Studio at the same time that we shot the host segments, and this may be the only time in the history of RFC that the show's host introduced a band "live" with them in the room.

For the host segments, a last-minute schedule SNAFU meant that Kitty Killton could not reprise her role as "Celeste the Zombie Supermodel," so we had to have a vocal stand-in to explain her absence. Liz McCormick, Brian Young and Mel Larch return as studio zombies and Rudy reverted to his "Count Rudolph" identity.

The episode truly captured the Halloween spirit...in April.

Animation is vintage Amiga work by Frank Panucci, and this is also the only episode where a musical guest had to be pressed into running camera because we had too many people on screen at the same time.

 From April, 2009 comes episode 64 of RFC "Radio Free Charleston Horror Theater Part Three." You can find parts one and two HERE. After the video you will find the original, fake production notes from April Fool's Day, and after that, the real production notes. As always, the links may stink.

When RFC Is 64: Sir Paul McCartney, Peter Buck and Pixar Come To Radio Free Charleston!

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Who would’ve thought that Radio Free Charleston would ever land a Beatle? Well, in the latest episode of RFC, we not only managed to lure Sir Paul McCartney to LiveMix Studio, but we also snared R.E.M’s axeman, Peter Buck, and animation fromPixar Studios, plugging their upcoming summer blockbuster, “Up.”

Radio Free Charleston 64 is ONLINE NOW!  Follow the jump for all the dirt on what has to be our biggest show ever!

Episode 63 of RFC

From March, 2009, Radio Free Charleston 63 is “Bauhaus Shirt.” This was yet another music-packed episode, featuring new tunes from Stephen Beckner, The Buttonflies, and returning for a second week in a row Tofujitsu. We also have a five-second appearance from WVU Mountaineer Football’s all-time leading scorer, Pat McAfee (before he played in the Super Bowl for the Indianapolis Colts) and by popular demand, the return of vintage beer commercial animation.

Host segments were shot in an undisclosed location in the hills surrounding Charleston. There are reports that this undisclosed location bears an uncanny resemblance to the deck behind Sean Richardson and Karen Allen’s house, but we are sworn to secrecy. Also, it was raining that day.

This episode picks up my major SNAFU from last week, where I ran the wrong song by Tofujitsu.  This episode really does have "Clap On, Clap Off" in it, and we milked the situation for some humor.Original production notes follow the video, but the links are questionable.

Pat McAfee kicks off RFC 63, with Stephen Beckner, The ButtonFlies and Tofujitsu!

March 25, 2009 by rudy panucci

The latest edition of Radio Free Charleston, “Bauhaus Shirt”, isonline now! This is yet another music-packed episode, featuring new tunes from Stephen Beckner, The Buttonflies, and returning for a second week in a row Tofujitsu. We also have a five-second appearance from WVU Mountaineer Football’s all-time leading scorer, Pat McAfee and by popular demand, the return of vintage beer commercial animation.

Episode 62 of RFC

Radio Free Charleston episode 62 is back online! This installment, from March 2009,  featured music from Tofujitsu (That’s Sean Richardson and Karen Allen) and The Bible Beaters. We also brought you a trailer for Butch Maier’s “The Bride & The Grooms,” which debuted at Park Place Stadium Cinema in April 2009. Our animation is vintage stuff, with a cow rescuing two ducks from a racial stereotype.

Host segments were shot on an unseasonably hot Monday afternoon in March.  This show is called “Action Comics Shirt,” and this episode is notable for me completely screwing up the title of Tofujitsu's song--totally. I misidentified it even while editing and mixing and introducing it. The song in this show is “Pop Up,” and it is a lovely song, but it’s not “Clap On, Clap Off.” That was the song I was supposed to include  in this episode.This is worth noting because it set up a very elaborate series of gags in the next week's episode.

You can find the sort of original production notes and comments (with a tacked-on apology and tons of dead links) below the embedded video.

RFC 62: Bride, Grooms, Tofu, Jesus and Politically Incorrect Cows.

March 10, 2009 by rudy panucci

Radio Free Charleston episode 62 is online now! This installment features music from Tofujitsu (That’s Sean Richardson and Karen Allen) and The Bible Beaters. We also have a new trailer for Butch Maier’s “The Bride & The Grooms,”which will be playing at Park Place Stadium Cinema in April. Our animation is vintage stuff, with a cow rescuing two ducks from a racial stereotype.

Host segments were shot Monday afternoon in the sweltering heat of Summer’s Street right before Mel and I crashed aShouts And Hollers meeting.  This show is called “Action Comics Shirt,” after the coolest shirt I’ve found in quite a while.

(Ruditorial Note: A special feature in this episode is my major screw-up! I managed to edit, mix the audio for, and introduce the WRONG SONG for Tofujitsu.  Sean pointed it out in the comments below.  The song in this show is “Pop Up,” and it is a lovely song, but it’s not “Clap On, Clap Off.” That was the song I was supposed to include  in this episode. Instead, look for it in a future installment of RFC.  And kids, make a note, this is what happens when you edit video while hopped up on Orange Cream flavored Whoppers. Please, eat your candy responsibly.)

Episode 61 of RFC

Radio Free Charleston's sixty-first episode, "SHINDIG Shirt" is back online almost exactly five years after it was originally posted. In this episode, we feature three triumphant returns from musical acts who got their start in the Charleston area, then moved away, before the draw of their hometown brought them back for return engagements.

Our musical guests are John Radcliff, back in town for a visit after moving to Parkersburg; SHINDIG, direct from Louisville: plus a special treat from the RFC archives: Brian Diller performing at the Empty Glass in the early 1990s, after he moved to Nashville.

We did film this episode in 3D, by the way.

We also have animation from Frank Panucci, and a message from author, Brian J. Hatcher.  You may have seen Brian in the PopCulteer Friday starring in his new webshow with Kevin Pauley, The Reel Deal. I told ya he'd been on RFC before (he was on episode 24, too).

Production notes are below the video, and are probably chock-full-o'-dead links.

RFC 61: Prodigal Sons Return in 3D!

February 25, 2009 by rudy panucci

Radio Free Charleston’s sixty-first episode, “SHINDIG Shirt” isonline now!  In this episode, we feature three triumphant returns from musical acts who got their start in the Charleston area, then moved away, before the draw of their hometown brought them back for return engagements. The cool thing is that I didn’t realize this theme until after I dropped off the show at the Gazz office. It wasn’t on purpose. It was some kind of karmic kismet-certainly more impressive thematically than the running gag about 3D that I thought tied the show together.

Episode 60 of RFC

The 60th episode of Radio Free Charleston, our post-Valentine’s Day 2009 valentine to Taylor Books, is back online. The music, host segments, and 60 Second Art Show were all recorded at Taylor Books and/or the Cafe and Annex Gallery one night in February 2009. The music was recorded on consecutive nights in January 2009.

Our music this week was from Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen, Joseph Henry (now Hale) and John Radcliff. The “60 Second Art Show" features a quick look at the work of Taylor Book’s Annex Gallery regulars Eric Pardue and Charles Jupiter Hamilton. Our animation this time is by the mystery man known as P-Dox.

Taylor Books, of course,  remains a cultural oasis in Charleston. Original production notes follow the video, but many links may be deunfedacated. Comments are included, too. 

In Appreciation Of Taylor Books: Production Notes For RFC 60

February 17, 2009 by rudy panucci

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The 60th episode of Radio Free Charleston, our post-Valentine’s Day valentine to Taylor Books, is online now. (and is the bigg  The music, host segments, and 60 Second Art Show were all recorded at Taylor Books and/or the Cafe andAnnex Gallery.  The music was recorded on consecutive nights in January, and the rest just last Monday evening.