MA-119 - The Insect Lounge - An ’80s Re-Creation

            When arriving in the OKC area in late 1974 at seventeen, my tastes naturally gravitated to stations like  “Rock 100 -- the KATT” or  KOMA, AM-1520, which at the time played top-40 hits by groups like the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac.
            However, thanks to my wonderful parents (mostly Mom), I’d been exposed to classical music through many compilations of classical music melodies, which usually proved to be only excerpts from composers’ signature works.
            I soon encountered KCSC, the classical music station from Edmond, OK’s Central State University.  It became a constant go-to friend throughout the college years and married life, into the 1980s.  And to the present day, even after they treacherously changed their call letters.
            Beginning around 1980, I discovered an exciting fact:  After midnight, the sometimes-stuffy classical music was replaced by cutting-edge, new music that wasn’t being played on the other radio stations I knew about.  Several of these acts, such as the Pretenders or Devo, later became big names.
            Another socially important thing the student DJs did:  On the night of December 8, 1980, these guys played every Beatles song, in alphabetical order by title, all night long.
            Since I was a normal working stiff, I couldn’t stay up all the time and listen into the wee hours of the morning.  So, I tuned the radio in, popped a cassette into my deck, and hit “RECORD” -- a real catch-as-catch-can operation, as you may imagine.  I listened the next day and being hi-tech (in my own mind) because I owned two component stereo cassette decks wired “in sequence,” I re-dubbed the songs I liked, assembling my own compilation of new favorites.
            I named my anthology tape after the KCSC radio show, “The Insect Lounge.”  I listened to that dang tape so often that I could remember the set list, even after I lost the actual cassette.  And being a compulsive type (had you noticed?), I eventually tried online to find all the songs I remembered.
            Speaking of remembrances of “The Insect Lounge” on KCSC, I’m not alone:

• ·      bio of unnamed DJ who worked on “Insect Lounge” show http://fun-dj.com/bio
• ·      audio on YouTube referencing “Insect Lounge” show https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwaD39b9tWs
• ·      blog post mentioning memories of the show http://jamescaseysjournal.blogspot.com/2012/03/recovering-my-memories-1st-computer.html
• ·      another blog post  https://markdrubin.blogspot.com/2006/05/there-but-for-grace-of-god-go.html

            My quest came to encompass the other fun songs I found along the way My “It [verb beginning with ‘E’] from the 1980s” series, still all available from various posts here.
            Well, I finally found all the songs I remembered!  They are herewith presented, the track sequence dictated by how I dubbed them thirty-plus years ago.  Of course, all the art is generated and mangled by yours truly.

01 - Shut Up and Dance - Pearl Harbor and The Explosions   1980  (4:02)
02 - I Get Around - The Bakersfield Boogie Boys   1980  (2:17)
03 - Message of Love - The Pretenders   1981  (3:24)
04 - We Are the Nowtones - Blotto   1979  (3:37)
05 - Once in a Lifetime - Talking Heads   1980  (4:18)
06 - Don't Stand So Close to Me - The Police   1980  (3:57)
07 - I'm in Gear - The Insect Surfers   1980  (3:41)
08 - Whip It  (Live) - Devo   1980  (2:53)
09 - Girl U Want  (Live) - Devo   1980 (2:56)
10 - Sheila - The Greg Kihn Band   1981  (2:49)
11 - Do the Nip - Aunt Helen   1980  (3:31)
12 - Dancin' with Myself - Billy Idol   1980  (3:17)
13 - Debi - The International Broadcasters   1980  (3:13)
14 - White Sweater - Romeo Void   1981  (4:46)
15 - Turn Me Loose - Loverboy   1981  (5:34)
16 - What's He Got - The Producers   1980  (2:30)
17 - She's Got a Big Boyfriend - Blotto   1980  (3:25)

MA-119 - The Insect Lounge - An '80s Re-Creation REGULAR VERSION WITH SEPARATE TRACKS -- 2021 LINK

            The unknown platter-spinners cross-faded some of the tracks, so of course that’s how I received them.  These are  Tracks 3-4, 5-6, 8-9, and 13-14.  If you want a cross-faded experience of the music, here’s the single-file version.

2021 LINK -- MA-119 - The Insect Lounge - An '80s Re-Creation (single-track mp3)


            My special thanks to spavid at Willfully Obscure blog.  He provided Track 11, and his suggestions inspired me to finally locate Track 13, after a fruitless search through about 2000 releases on Discogs.
           
            I hope at least a few people in the Great Internet Beyond can find a little escapist fun and joy in these songs.

            And worlds of gratitude to the unknown student platter-spinners of KCSC in the early 1980s!
 
  We'll be back on Monday with something wild, or old, or ... who knows?