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:
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?
