A VERY SPECIAL BONUS RADIO SHOW THIS WEEK. I am so excited to share with you something I never thought I would hear again in my lifetime.
Let me set the scene for you. It's 1997. Alternative rock radio is playing things like Third Eye Blind's, \"Semi-Charmed-Life,\" Sugar Ray's \"Fly,\" and a song I'm sure you've never heard before, \"Everlong\" by the Foo Fighters.
On October 15th, 1996, Matador/Capitol Records released \"Now I Got Worry\" by The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. It was their follow-up to \"Orange\" which contains \"Bellbottoms\" (which a new generation knows as that awesome song from Edgar Wright's, \"Baby Driver.\")
I was good pals with JSBX drummer Russell Simins back in the 90's. I'll talk about it a bit more on this week's episode of I DID THIS FIRST! Russell was like a cool older brother and for my birthday one year, I believe my 19th, he gave me copies of \"Exile on Main St.,\" \"#1 Record\" and \"Here Come The Warm Jets.\" To say he helped send me down the right path would be putting it mildly.
Were The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion getting a ton of radio airplay in 1997? Were they on MTV beyond 120 Minutes? No. To give you further perspective, \"Spiceworld\" the second album from The Spice Girls came out a few weeks after \"Now I Got Worry.\"
The 90's were a strange time. While I was at opening night of the film \"Spice World\" with a bunch of friends and even once attended a Spice Girls concert at Madison Square Garden (Ginger had already left), by that time I had also probably seen The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion play I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY TIMES on the East Coast.
I'll let myself do the talking here, but you're about to push play on a very RARE live radio performance by The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion that hasn't been heard since 1997. I only got a copy of it myself over the weekend.
Radio is a very disposable medium. This is something I thought was lost FOREVER. I'm not sure he wants to be identified, but thanks to the man who was smart enough to run a DAT player in 1997 and nice enough to get it working again in 2020.
Enjoy this piece of my 90s archive. I've got a few more things to share from my time in radio. In the meantime I think it goes without saying this is TO BE PLAYED AT MAXIMUM VOLUME.
THE BLUES IS STILL #1!
For all things JSBX, Pussy Galore, Boss Hog and more visit: shoverecords.bandcamp.com