Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you with a title like that--”Not-so-grand finale”. What a horrendous name--I mean that word--”finale”--it sounds so...final.
So here’s the scoop. Nearly three years ago, I sent a fan letter to a presenter whose radio show I heard, and really liked. I thought this guy did a bang up job with his show. It was one of the most exciting hours of radio I’d heard in a great while. I just wanted to tell him “thanks, great job”.
That presenter turned out to be none other than Jordan Thomas, and he thanked me, and graciously invited me to send him a demo. As in “hey, you wanna be one of us?”
Blew me away. I mean, wow--Jordan was giving this American dude from Sacramento, California an opportunity to foul up the British airwaves. Who wouldn’t jump at the chance? Thus began the Tuesday Night Diner, which morphed into the California Diner. I became “Chef Mike”, cooking up musical treats for two hours each Tuesday evening.
I tell you all that to tell you this: This week marks the last two hour, Tuesday edition of the California Diner. My choice. I wasn’t asked to leave. And no, I’m not leaving in disgrace, like so many American politicians do, and then cover up with some bogus “I’m stepping back to spend more time with my family lalalalalala...”. I mean hell, I’m not even leaving.
But I am taking what the showbiz folks call a “hiatus”, or the educational folks call a “sabbatical”. So what’s that supposed to mean?
Well, I’ll be going off the air here at Recharged for several weeks (unless you hear some random replays of my shows). I’ll be back around late May or so, just around the time everybody else goes on their summer vacation. Go figure, I’m always the one to do things backwards. A couple of things came up in life that require my attention--namely, moving house. Yes, you know the drill. Sell some stuff, pack, move, and unpack the rest. Tell folks your new address on a need-to-know basis. It’s a lot. Plus work. Plus my other radio show at Twirl Radio.
So what happens after that? Well, I will be back. I’m not sure what form my new show might take. It might even be called something like “The California Diner”. It might have shorter business hours. But I will remain a proud member of Recharged Radio in good standing. I’ll be stepping up and writing articles for our fine publication Sound of the Suburbs. And presenting to you the greatest indie music available today, from California and beyond.
So I want to especially single out a few people who have really been of great assistance in getting me going and helping me fit in here at Recharged. Jordan Thomas, our boss of everything. One of the nicest, wittiest guys around, even if he tries to convince you otherwise. Minki Malkin, our 50ft webmistress, staff grammarian, voiceover artist, and presenter. Alex Watson, our musical guru, who hauls in great treasure troves of music and knows more about music than most people will ever learn. “Silent” Dave Chapman, our tech guy who holds it all together, and comes through with the digital rescues from time to time. And all the rest: Caz, Jim, Jamie, Rob, Pete1, Pete2, Rodrigo, Andy1, Andy2, Justin, Jarrod, and geez, who else am I missing? It’s not intentional if I’ve missed someone.
And more importantly, thanks to the loyal listeners, without whom, my show would fall on deaf ears.
And most importantly of all, a HUGE thanks to all the great musicians (and their PR-type people) who have let me play their music on my shows. Without you guys, my show would essentially be a pretty boring talk show.
Dammit, I’m not going away. Why does it sound like I am?
So this week, we’ll play a lot of music that has meant the world to me. And when I come back in a month or so, I’ll continue to do so.
In the meantime, keep listening to Recharged Radio. Go to the Great Escape if you’re in Brighton, UK on May 10th. And if you’re not--refer to the previous point--because we’ll be broadcasting it live (and podcasting it later), as goes our annual tradition.
MN2BDNC. Music needs to be driven, not controlled. Live it. And see you when I get back.
Tune in to the California Diner, Tuesday night, 8:00-10:00 p.m. (GMT), 12:00-2:00 p.m. Pacific, only at Recharged Radio—www.rechargedradio.com.
See you then!
Chef Mike
mike(at)rechargedradio.com
MN2BDNC
The Taters - Such A Good Day
Sparklejet - The World Before Longitude
Mad Tea Party - Every Way
The Vertigos - Rubix
Poplord - World Bends Down
The Handcuffs - Miss You on Tuesday
Maple Mars - Transcendental Guidance
Throwback Suburbia - Sinking Feeling
Bud Rogers - Santa Monica Sunshine
The Fuegos - Against the World
Laurie Biagini - The Heart Of The Song
The Whiskey Saints - Every Little Thing
Baby Scream - Powerpop Crush
Sweet Sweet Concorde - Armadillo Man
Peter Daltrey and Damien Youth - Blue Girl Eyes
Maxi Dunn - The Neglected Gambit
Sound Sessions - Be My Shaper
The Scratch - Homely Crackle
Skip Heller - Fools Like Me
Vegas With Randolph - The Better Part
The Corner Laughers - The Perfect Weather
Blake Jones & The Trike Shop - Who's Got a Light
Man or Mouse - Jackson
Duncan Faure - Man Of A Thousand Dreams
Lindy LaFontaine - Free To Breathe
Joe Swidenbank - Coming Up For Air
The Big I Am - Right About Now
Nushu - Here's To Feeling Free
Sal Valentino - Lovin' Fallin'
Tom Alford - Wasp Lands On Sunflower
Well, your old Chef Mike doesn’t have a lot of new news this week. As we say here in the States, “I got nothin’!”.
Well, not really “nothin’”, poor grammar notwithstanding. I’ve simply got two hours of the finest indie music available for your ears. This week is spring break, the time that people take off before Easter. And since it is, I’m going to give you a bit of a break from my usual carrying-on. I just want to let you know that there is a whole bunch of great new music this week, including tracks from A Band Called Mithras, Starr Saunders, and The Vickers.
www.abandcalledmithras.com
www.reverbnation.com/starrsaunders
www.thevickers.eu
So Happy Easter, Passover, and any other holidays I may have missed. Most of all, enjoy the time with your family, and save some time for new music!
Hey! Recharged Radio now has a magazine! It’s a free monthly music e-zine called Sound of the Suburbs (not to be confused with our radio show of the same name--oh heck, go ahead and confuse it--we don’t mind!) It’s our joint effort with our friends at Perfect Pop Co-Op. You can get it on the left hand side of the home page of Recharged Radio. Just scroll down a bit, and get reading!
If you'd like to make a request, just drop me a line at mike(at)rechargedradio.com. If you'd like to become an honorary California citizen, drop me a line at the same address. And if you'd like to hear all this great music—simply tune in to the California Diner, Tuesday night, 8:00-10:00 p.m. (GMT), 12:00-2:00 p.m. Pacific, only at Recharged Radio—www.rechargedradio.com.
See you then!
Chef Mike
mike(at)rechargedradio.com
MN2BDNC
Go National - Begin, Begin, Begin
A Band Called Mithras - I Know What I Know
Starr Saunders - We Were One
Dollface - You To Lose
Jet Electro - Walter Cronkite
Emily Zuzik - This Time Around
Ben Swidenbank - Girl (Leave That Animal Tonight)
Imani Hekima - Nothing's What It Seems
Debora Iyall - A Girl In Trouble (Is A Temporary Thing)
The Vickers - Baby G
Dave Stephens - Mr. Wonderful
Allen - Hold Me Tight
Nushu - Another Rainy Weekend
Popdudes - Desperation Time
Maxi Dunn - You Took The Sunshine From My Heart
Lannie Flowers - Circles
The Corner Laughers - 8:18
Sound Sessions - Be My Shaper
Apple Rabbits - Wrong Again
Dylan Walshe - Your Belly Not Mine
Hail The Size - Hot Mom
The Little Philistines - Hot Phone
Laurie Biagini - The Invisible Guy
Bud Rogers - Slave To Passion
Duncan Faure - In The Right Place
Kama Linden - Better Late Than Never
Rob One - Flames
The Corner Laughers - I'd Rather Count Cormorants With You
Heiskell - The Chubby Guy Song
Beth Thornley - Still Can't Hide
Blake Jones & The Trike Shop - Everybody's Got an Andy Story
Rich McCulley
