Category Archives: Music

Shortwave Radio Recordings: Helliniki Radiophonia

It’s been a while now since 9,420 kHz–a former Voice of Greece frequency–should have gone off the air. Fortunately, it has not.

The station is no longer referred to as the Voice of Greece; it’s now a relay of ERT Open, otherwise known as the Helliniki Radiophonia (you’ll hear this name in the station ID).

Friday evening, I recorded nearly four hours of Helliniki Radiophonia because I love the music programming they air during weekends, yet I rarely stay up late enough to listen live. With this recording, I’ll enjoy Greek music most of my working day today–and you can, too!

Simply click here to download an MP3 of the full recording, or simply listen via the embedded player below.

The music begins, in earnest, a little after 17:00–enjoy:

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Video: 1940s-era holiday treat from Tommy Dorsey (c/o a vintage rig)

Shortwave Radio Recordings: beHAVior Night

Wilco’s “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot” and shortwave radio

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After posting our articles about Joe Strummer and Peter Gabriel, Mike Barraclough writes:

“Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is my favourite shortwave radio related album, I was a fan of the band anyway so when I read about the theme I was really looking forward to the album and was not disappointed.

Reprise rejected it for not being radio-friendly, somewhat ironic given the theme, after streaming it free they released it through Nonesuch to critical acclaim and is to date their best selling one.

“On YHF, Wilco use short-wave radio as a metaphor for communication in a relationship. Short-wave radio allows people to speak who are not in physical proximity, but there’s no guarantee that the coded messages will be received successfully, and atmospheric interference is a given. People involved in a relationship often find their communication imperfect and cryptic, not unlike the experience of those relying on radio. After all, language itself is inherently flawed, inaccurate, and misread—a code often misinterpreted; further complicating matters are external distortions and distractions—a metaphoric radio static. With all of this interference, can we ever succeed in communicating with someone else?”

[Quote taken from this article.]

I later went to see them live at the Hammersmith Apollo.

My favourite track, Poor Places, includes the Irdial recording of the Yankee Hotel Foxtrot numbers stations fading in at the end on top of the music. They hadn’t sought permission to use this so Irdial sued them for copyright breach and won, think it was an out of court settlement. Halfway through the gig they started playing this number, I was waiting with great anticipation for the numbers station recording to fade in during the closing of the song, one I remembered hearing regularly on shortwave from back in the 60s, but was disappointed, just noise came up over the music. Guess the out of court settlement meant a ban on using it live.

Many thanks for sharing this, Mike! I like Wilco too, though haven’t seen them live yet–but I hold out hope as they have been known to venture into my part of the world.

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Joe Strummer: influenced by world travel–and shortwave radio

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SWLing Post reader, Chris, writes:

“After reading your piece on Peter Gabriel it reminded me of Joe Strummer and the Clash and the Mescaleros… The album and song London Calling was written from a huge influence from the BBC World Service…. Need I say more about the song?

Shortly before his death in 2002, Joe recorded an album called at Global A Go-Go along with a song of that title track. The first line in the song is “World Service Bulletin” and references many cities around the world wanting great rock and roll music…

I know there are also interviews with him stating that growing up his father was a diplomat and he lived in various countries. He would tune in to the BBC World Service to get rock music from home!

The Clash ended up taking on a worldly sound in their later recordings. During Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros, it was all world music!

The latter is still one of my top three albums of all times!

Shortwave radio is the reason why I love world music.”

Same here, Chris–shortwave radio is directly responsible for my interest in any and all forms of music. Growing up, the variety I could hear on shortwave was beyond anything I could hear locally. I think many SWLs share this global connection.

Strummer via the World Service

After receiving Chris’ message, I did a little more research because I vaguely recalled a program on the BBC World Service that was hosted by Joe Strummer, though I never had the opportunity to hear it live.

Fortunately, I uncovered the original Joe Strummer’s London Calling via PRX. SCORE!

I’ve embedded the first episode below: an introduction to the series where you’ll hear a little about Joe in the first half hour and in the second half, the first episode of the original Joe Strummer’s London Calling.

This is an amazing collection–actually, that’s an understatement. I’m already on the third episode and will probably listen to the whole series by the end of the week (if not end of day).

Click here for the full list of shows via PRX.

This has all prompted me to order Rock Art & The X-Ray Style by Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros. Thanks, Chris: amazing stuff…

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Peter Gabriel: inspired by shortwave radio

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Peter Gabriel Photo by By Skoll World Forum (Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship Ceremony) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Peter Gabriel Photo by By Skoll World Forum (Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship Ceremony) via Wikimedia Commons

SWLing Post reader, Chris, writes:

Your recent post about John Lennon triggered my memory about an interview I heard years ago with Peter Gabriel. He too had a fascination with Shortwave Radio listening and it inspired some of his music.

Chris then shared a link to the following promotional video for the Real World 25 music collection with Peter Gabriel’s introduction:

“I was listening to shortwave radio in a village about seven miles away from here. As night came, you’d suddenly pick up all sorts of radio stations that you couldn’t in daylight. So that was quite mysterious to me and beguiling…and I would explore all sorts of strange sounds, noises and music.”

Real World Records is Peter Gabriel’s label–and Real World 25, a three-disc collection, is the story of their first 25 Years. I listened to samples of songs and purchased my own copy. At $17 US, it was a no-brainer; I love world music (as well as Peter Gabriel’s music) and appreciate anything that Gabriel would consider for his label. (Note: the CD set is actually less expensive than the MP3 album at time of posting.)

Chris also noted this quote from Peter Gabriel, which describes his “obsession” with shortwave radio and its influence on his hit song, “Here Comes The Flood.” Via the website Planet Jeffro:

“When I wrote this song [Here Comes The Flood] I had an obsession with short-wave radio and I was always amazed at the way in which the radio signals would become stronger as daylight faded. I felt as if psychic energy levels would also increase in the night. I had had an apocalyptic dream in which the psychic barriers which normally prevent us from seeing into each others’ thoughts had been completely eroded producing a mental flood. Those that had been used to having their innermost thoughts exposed would handle this torrent and those inclined to concealment would drown in it. (‘Peter Gabriel’ by Armando Gallo, Omnibus Press, 1986.)”

Fascinating! I particularly like this live version of “Here Comes The Flood:”

Chris, I owe you a debt of gratitude: while I’ve been a fan of Peter Gabriel for well over two decades, I never knew about his connection with shortwave radio. Time to revisit some of his tunes with that in mind…

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