Greg Easterling's Blog

Weekdays Midnight - 5am

Beginning Feb. with Gabriel
Posted:Wednesday, 02/01/2012 at 04:02am by Greg Easterling
We began the month of February this morning with Peter Gabriel, featuring his 1986 record, So, Gabriel's fifth and most successful solo album. So went platinum after spending three weeks at #2 on the Billboard album chart with two Top Ten singles("Sledgehammer" and "Big Time").

It really was the big time at last for the onetime Genesis lead singer and longtime solo artist since 1975 when he bid farewell to his original band. So represents that all too rare intersection of creativity and commerce: an innovative record that also achieved pop success. To his credit, Gabriel would keep moving forward with successive releases without overtly trying to duplicate the album that brought him his greatest commercial success. We listened to side two this time featuring "In Your Eyes", "Big Time" and "Mercy Street".

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Another Time for Terry
Posted:Tuesday, 01/31/2012 at 03:01am by Greg Easterling
Today's the birthday of Terry Kath, the original guitar player for the band Chicago and a founding member of the group. We try and remember Terry on this date every year with an album side from his era with the band, 1967-1978.

This morning we featured Chicago V released in the summer of 1972, the band's first single lp following four multi disc efforts. It's another quality record from the band that took their name from our city. That came after the Chicago Transit Authority told them they couldn't continue to use their name! So they shortened it and the rest is history...

We listened for Terry's vocals and guitar on Side 1, featured most prominently on "Now That You've Gone" and "Dialogue, Parts 1&2", the latter alternating lead vocals with Peter Cetera.

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Last Time Live/The Beatles
Posted:Monday, 01/30/2012 at 04:01am by Greg Easterling
It was on this date in 1969 that The Beatles made their final public performance. Oddly enough it happened on the rooftop of the building that housed Apple Records in London...an impromptu performance in the middle of a weekday that drew scores of people listening in the street below. The informal concert was staged for the film documentary Let It Be but the ending was not scripted: Police intervened to stop the show since it was causing too much of a commotion.

This morning we featured the companion record, Let It Be, an album that The Beatles eventually abandoned, leaving producer Phil Spector to finish much to Paul McCartney's dismay later. But Let it Be is what it is and despite the circumstances of The Beatles coming apart, a lot of the album is very good, recapturing some of the early rock and roll energy of the band. We listened to Side 1 which includes the classic title track plus "Two Of Us" and "Across The Universe."

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Rest of the week....Macca and Dylan
Posted:Friday, 01/27/2012 at 04:01am by 0
We hit the midpoint of our week Weds with an early one from Paul McCartney...his second solo album, Ram, released in the spring of 1971. Like Paul's self titled debut, Ram also has a certain homespun, homemade quality although there's other musicians involved this time. There's plenty of good songs here too and we heard some of the most familar ones on Side 1. Highlights included "Too Many People" and "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey". Paul shared credit with wife Linda on this one. Ram is officially credited to Paul AND Linda McCartney in this pre-Wings phase.

After Triple Play Thursday, we finished up the week earlier this Friday morning with Bob Dylan. It was his late 1970 release New Morning which struck a subdued but hopeful note at a time when things were anything but that in the nation or the world.

Dylan was very much in demand as a cultural icon but instead he chose to retreat from the limelight with his music returning to a simpler, more folk and country influenced sound. This was a trend that had started with previous albums such as John Wesley Harding and Nashville Skyline but Dylan had begun 1970 with the release of the heavily criticized Self Portrait album which seemed sloppy, random and uninspired to many. New Morning came out later in the year and reassured his many fans that all was not lost! We tracked Side 2 which included the title track, "The Man In Me" and "Father Of Night".

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This Week...Cheap Trick/Kansas
Posted:Wednesday, 01/25/2012 at 03:01am by Greg Easterling
Monday was Robin Zander's birthday....he's the longtime lead vocalist for Cheap Trick, the great Illinois band that hails from Rockford with a strong following here in Chicago of course.

To celebrate Robin's birthday, we tracked a whole side from Cheap Tricks's 1979 album, Dream Police. It was the follow up to the big Budokan live record and did very well here, peaking at #6 on the Billboard album chart, selling platinum as well. We chose Side 2 this time which included "Voices".

We dug a little deeper into our vinyl vault on Tuesday morning for Kansas and their notable 1977 release, Point Of Know Return. Following the lead of the previous album, Leftoverture, this record made the Top Ten, hitting #4 and staying relatively high on the charts for 33 weeks.

Point Of Know Return was written and recorded by the strongest Kansas lineup including guitarist/songwriter Kerry Livgren and lead vocalist/songwriter Steve Walsh. Within a few years, philosophical differences would disrupt the band with both Livgren and Walsh leaving at different times. Only Walsh would eventually return on a permanent basis although Livgren has occasionally appeared with the band over the years. We listened to Side 2 which featured the big hit, "Dust In The Wind".

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Catching Up...Some Girls
Posted:Tuesday, 01/24/2012 at 04:01am by Greg Easterling
We featured the Rolling Stones last week on our Thursday Artist Portrait and tracked a side from their recently reissued Some Girls album, originally released in 1978.

Some Girls has become the Stones' best selling album of all time and is also viewed by many as their finest post Exile On Main Street effort. It certainly reestablished their supremecy as "the world's greatest rock and roll band" at a time when classic rock was being edged out by disco, punk and new wave. As they often did, the Stones absorbed some elements of then current styles and churned out songs like "Miss You" and "Shattered".

We listened to Side Two this time, a wide ranging affair which begins with the Jagger's cornpone country delivery of "Far Away Eyes", followed by the hard rocking "Respectable" and Keith's vocal turn on "Before They Make Me Run".

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Catching Up...Paul Simon
Posted:Saturday, 01/21/2012 at 09:01am by Greg Easterling
Wednesday we had one of the finest American songwriters of our day, Paul Simon. After the decision was made to end Simon and Garfunkel, Paul carried on solo.

Our first listen to Simon without Garfunkel came with the release of the self titled Paul Simon album in early 1972. This wasn't Paul's first solo effort since there was an earlier LP recorded and released only in England before Simon and Garfunkel made it big over here. However for most of us, this was Paul Simon's first real solo statement. There's an abundance of great songs here cutting across a variety of styles played by a number of ace New York session pros. This was much less of a grandiose sounding affair than Simon and Garfunkel's final album and that's probably a good thing. We listened to Side Two this time; highlights included the single, "Me and Julio Down By The Schoolyard".

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Electric and Acoustic
Posted:Wednesday, 01/18/2012 at 04:01am by Greg Easterling
It was mid-January of 1969 when Led Zeppelin's first album dropped. It's hard to remember the days when the names Jimmy Page and Robert Plant might draw a blank from your average rock fan but this was such a time!

One thing's for sure though, Zeppelin didn't stay unknown for long. Through relentless touring, FM radio airplay and word of mouth, they were well on their way to become one of the biggest bands of all time, rivaling The Beatles, Stones and Who.

The first album was one of the heaviest we'd ever heard but there was plenty of variety too. Acoustic guitar passages, influenced by traditional English folk, pipe organ sounds like the kind you might hear in church and two Chicago blues numbers written by our own Willie Dixon. We listened to Side 2 this time including "How Many More Times" and "Your Time Is Gonna Come".

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U2 and MLK
Posted:Monday, 01/16/2012 at 03:01am by 0
We kicked off a new week of late night vinyl with U2 and a side from their 1984 LP, The Unforgettable Fire. It's a record that demonstrates the continuing musical evolution of the U2 sound, heavily influenced by two talented producers involved with this project, Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois.

The themes in U2's music were changing too, moving beyond Ireland and the UK, looking across the ocean to the U.S. It's reflected in the song titles: "4th Of July", "Elvis Presley and America", and "MLK". The less obviously titled "Pride(in the name of love)" is intended as a tribute to the hero of our civil rights movement, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as we observe the national holiday in his memory today. We listened to Side One which also includes "A Sort Of Homecoming" and the title track.

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SRV & REO
Posted:Friday, 01/13/2012 at 03:01am by Greg Easterling
We featured Stevie Ray Vaughan yesterday as part of our Thursday Artist Portrait with a side from his somewhat overlooked third album, Soul To Soul from 1985. It was a record on which he branched out a bit musically beyond the scorching blues rock of his first two releases for a slightly more soul/r&b kind of feeling.

Two more pieces were added to Double Trouble, keyboards and saxophone as SRV continued to tinker with the sound of the band. Still though, the focal point was always SRV's brand of bluesy guitar and his classic solos on a mix of originals and cover songs. We tracked side 2 this time including "Change It" and "Life Without You".

We finished up the week this morning with the biggest album of REO Speedwagon's long career. Hi Infidelity, released in 1980, spent 15 weeks at #1, an incredible run that yielded a #1 single as well as another one that made it to #5.

It was the culmination of many albums and tours, a journey that began modestly in the late 1960s when REO's original members got together in Champaign, Illinois where several were attending the U of I. HI Infidelity features the classic lineup of REO including Kevin Cronin on vocals and Peoria's Gary Richrath on guitar. We listened to Side 1 this morning.

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Advisory Board Login

Saturday, Feb 4, 2012
11:00pm	The Deep End
Sunday, Feb 5, 2012
7:00am	Rock 'n Roll Roots Three Dog Night (3hrs)
8:00pm	Sunday Night Star Mike Stasinopoulos of Chicago (1hrs)
9:00pm	The Classics Classic Rock with Folk and Country Roots (2hrs)
Monday, Feb 6, 2012
3:00am	Overnight Album Side The Rolling Stones
10:00am	Ten @ 10 1985
1:45pm	One 45 @ 1:45 Bob Marley
5:00pm	Lost & Found
9:00pm	Long One @ 9 Bob Marley
10:00pm	Ten @ 10 Replay 1985
Tuesday, Feb 7, 2012
3:00am	Overnight Album Side Dave Mason
10:00am	Ten @ 10 1972