What’s New - 7/11/05

 I know, I know…long time no hear.  But, it’s been a busy couple of months.  Not only is Retrograde on a second station (WWPR, 1490 AM, Bradenton, FL – Tuesday nights 10-11), but I just finished off a major road trip that took me on alternating weekends to: New York City; Ft. Wayne Indiana; Mobile, Alabama; Orlando, Florida; Rensselaer, Indiana (with side trip to Chicago, Illinois!).  But, the show never missed beat (pardon the lame joke!) and I’m back in Sarasota for the time being.  If you want to keep up with some of my more mundane activities, go to my new web site at www.robertshuster.com and visit my blog.  

As far as major happenings with Retrograde, I’ve got an interview with GBH coming up soon and a show devoted to the best new releases of 2005 coming up.  So tune in and tell a friend! 

Backstage Gossip: Good News, Bad News, Good News: First, the good news: Rowetta, the sultry voice of the Happy Mondays has recorded a track "Stop Crying Your Heart Out" for the movie soundtrack CD for Mr.& Mrs. Smith; the bad news: it’s only available on the UK release of the CD.  Good news does prevail; Rowetta has inked a deal with Gut Records and should have an album out in September.  For more info (she’s been VERY BUSY!!!) go to http://www.rowetta.com…Bob Mould, will be releasing his latest CD, Body of Song on the Yep Roc label on July 26.  Bob is joined on the album by Brendan Canty (Fugazi) and ex-Sugar band mate, David Barbe.  A European tour is scheduled for this fall with US dates to follow…Also on Yep Roc: The Fleshtones are scheduled to release their latest CD, Beachhead on August 9…Viva La Patti: Patti Smith was awarded of one of France's highest cultural honors, the prestigious insignia of Commander of the Order of the Arts and Letters by French Cultural Minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres at an AIDS benefit concert in Paris on July 10.  No word if Jerry Lewis was in attendance.  In the meantime, Patti is working on a new album, her first of cover songs, along with European and New York City dates for the balance of the summer…GBH will be playing three dates in Florida on their current US Tour: 7/24 (Sunday). The Social, Orlando, 7/26 (Tuesday) Culture Room, Ft. Lauderdale, FL and 7/27 (Wednesday) State Theater, St Petersburg FL.  A special note: All three shows are All Ages!  For additional info, contact the venues or visit the GBH web site at www.punkjunkies.com…RIP: Karl Mueller, bass player for Soul Asylum who passed away June 17 after a battle with throat cancer.  He was 41…

What’s New - 3/29/05 

The New Year is off to a smashing start and Retrograde is going strong into its third year.  Most of this year’s shows have been the infamous theme shows.  The theme shows have included a Valentine’s Day show dedicated to Sex Pistols, a review of 2004’s top new releases (it took TWO shows to do that!), the annual Retrograde St. Patty’s Day party and even a Retrograde Spring Break Party.  On April 4^th, the trend continues with a Halloween in April show dedicated to Robert’s trip to New York City for the World Horror Convention.  The show will feature Dark and Gothy tracks from Retrograde’s scariest artists, including a cut from the new Morrissey CD, Live at Earl’s Court.  Then, on April 11^th, Retrograde will be doing a salute to the Big Apple with artists like Blondie, Patti Smith, The Ramones, etc.  If you like this style of programming (or not…), have ideas for other themes, or any other feed back, e-mail the show at retrograderadio@yahoo.com .

Rebecca update: For fans of Retrograde cohost Rebecca Overdorf, she is alive and well.  She can be seen on occasion on Home Shopping Network (HSN) and she will be appearing at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (FL) on April 3^rd.  The race will be on ESPN; check local listing for times.  No word yet on when she will return to the airwaves.

 Backstage Gossip: New CD’s in the store by Erasure, Billy Idol, Marianne Faithful, Swing Out Sister, a solo CD by Graham Coxon of Blur, and a live CD by none other than Morrissey.  Also due out this year are CD’s from the Pixies, House of Love, Bob Mould, New Order and a “live in the studio” CD from the UK Subs.  No word if there will be new material on the Subs CD…RIP: Kid Krupa, longtime guitarist for the Revillos passed away earlier this month at the tender age of 43.  In addition to his work with the Revillos, Kid Krupa also did session work for such people as Roger Daltry and Bonnie Tyler.  Visit the Revillos web site at www.revillos.co.uk and you can pay your respects on the Memorial Page…Doin’ Good For The Hood: Michael Aston of Gene Loves Jezebel will accompany a couple of bike riders cross-country to raise both money and awareness for the treatment and cure of epilepsy.  For updates from the road, go to http://www.genelovesjezebel.net. After this road trip, it’s off to the UK with Gene Loves Jezebel for a series of live dates to coincide with the UK release of Exploding Girls.  BTW, for those of you coming out of a coma, Michael Aston IS the official owner of the name of Gene Love Jezebel.  For proof, go to http://www.genelovesjezebel.com/trademark.html…

What’s New - 02/20/04

Backstage Gossip: "Handsome" Dick Manitoba of the Dictators has just turned 50 and is working on an autobiography tentatively titled, Manitoba Eats New York!, while bandmate Andy Shernoff, along with Keith Streng and Bill Milhizer of the Fleshtones, and Paul Johnson of the Waxing Poetics have joined forces in a band called The Master Plan. They have released a CD called Colossus Of Destiny and may at some point do some live gigs… Paul Weller is working on an album of cover tunes with no release date given yet… Erasure is also in the studio New York City working on an album, with an on-line diary of the progress on the band’s web site, http://www.erasureinfo.com … The Damned, The Buzzcocks, The Undertones, Slaughter & the Dogs, The Beat, The Meteors, SubHumans are on the bill for Academy In The UK at Birmingham Academy in the UK (like, duh!) on May 2…Keen Eddie, the TV series that featured songs by Daniel Ash now has been given a second chance on the Bravo network…

What’s New - 01/12/04

Retrograde Radio is proud to announce that on Monday night, January 19th, Retrograde will have live in its studio Dave Taylor, former keyboardist with Pere Ubu. Dave played in the band during the late 70's and appeared with them when they played such legendary venues as Max's Kansas City. He will talk about his time in Pere Ubu, as well as his relationship with past and current members of Pere Ubu, as well as other projects he's involved in.

Backstage gossip: Neville Staple of The Specials will be releasing a double CD titled, The Rude Boy Returns. One CD is live with Ranking Roger making a guest appearance on a couple of tracks. The other CD will feature studio material…Former Black Flag frontman Henry Rollins will start off the first couple of months of 2004 with a spoken word tour, including a stop a Orlando’s House of Blues…It Pays to be a Pack Rat: Richard Hell has sold-out; sort of. His personal papers, including such items as set lists from his days with The Voidoids, have recently been purchased by New York University….Temp to Perm: Pete, the Finnish bass player from No Direction is now a permanent member of The Vibrators, with Robbie Tart departing due to other commitments.

Sorry for the sloth in updating the page, but I was busy finishing a novel and Rebecca got married. Our bad!

Anyway, just a short programming note that Retrograde will be on hiatus December 22^nd and 29^th to give both of us a well deserved break. But never fear, Retrograde will return to the air on January 5, 2004 with both Rebecca and I at the helm.

I would also like to thank everyone who supported us in 2003. I also would like to thank those artists who graciously allowed themselves to be interviewed by Retrograde: Lydia Lunch, The Vibrators, The UK Subs, Joey Image, Gidget Gein, The Pork Dukes and our favorite ex-CBGB waitress, Margaret Taylor.

In 2004, look forward to hearing more from Retrograde: more interviews, more music, more rants; more of everything. In addition, I promise better and more consistent updates to the web page, along with some long overdue pictures. Also, stay tuned for a special guest appearance (and some call in friends!) near the end of January.

Backstage gossip: First Rebecca, now Elvis Costello. The bespeckled one has recently tied the knot to jazz chanteuse Diana Krall…C’mon Everybody, Let’s Jump on the Bandwagon: Not to be outdone by the flurry of Pop Standard tribute albums being churned out, Nina Hagen has released Nina Hagen BigBand Explosion, a collection of torch standards, including "Fever", "Let Me Entertain You" and "Over the Rainbow"…Stiff Little Fingers will be in the US the first week of February, but will go no farther south than Washington, D.C. However, they will cop some sun later in the month when their tour heads to Italy before returning to the UK in March…Old Slits Never Die: I know it’s now old news, but Ari-Up of The Slits and The True Warriors headlined a Joe Strummer benefit in NYC on December 22^nd. BTW, Ari-Up spends her time between London, Jamaica, and New York, performs, designs clothes and raises three kids…I know it’s a little early, but July 15-18, 2004, the Wasted Festival (formerly Holidays in the Sun) will be held in Morecambe, England (somewhere near Liverpool, or so I’ve been told). The above-mentioned Ari-Up, The Vibrators, The UK Subs, 999, Anti-Nowhere League, The Dickies, are among the confirmed artists. Go to the http://www.holidaysinthesun.net for more info…

Lastly take care and have a Happy Holiday Season!!!

What’s New – 8/25/03

What I did on my summer vacation by…hey, wait a minute, wrong story. Anyway the big news is Retrograde is back after taking the better part of the month of July off (we’re a bunch of lazy sods!). Due some technical glitches, the WTMY site was also down. Plus, my dog ate my homework, the other kids made me do it, etc… Anyhow, just to recap:

The July 12^th gig a Kadi’s Corner Pocket was a blast! A big thank you to all who came out (better late than never!) and thanks to Steve at Ground Xero for donating gift certificates and WTMY’s Valerie Silver for getting us the equipment.

Retrograde’s Rebecca and Robert made a splash on the Venice, FL theater scene with their work in the Venice Little Theater’s "Theater in a Blender" production of Twilight Zone episodes on July 22-24. A special thanks to the cast and crew for making the show a rousing success and a lot of fun.

So, what now for Retrograde: More live gigs, more witty banter, and as always, the best punk/new wave/alternative music from the 70’s, 80’s and early 90’s plus the music these artists making today. With that in mind, it’s time to get back to work!

Backstage Gossip:

This just in: On August 21^st, one of punk’s truly big men (6’5"-300 lbs.) Wesley Willis passed away after a long illness. Willis was prolific songwriter and performer who was a personal favorite of Jello Biafra (go to http://www.alternativetentacles.com/jelloonwesley.htm for Jello’s tribute). For more information on Wesley, his life and his music, go to http://www.alternativetentacles.com/wesleywillis.htm …Gene Loves Jezebel has released a new album, "Exploding Girls" on August 12^th with Rolling Stone already calling it "…a smoldering, melodic meditation…" Sounds like Michael Aston has got a winner on his hands…Joining Larry Flynt, Arnold, and Gary Coleman in the race for Governor of California is TSOL’s Jack Grisham. For more info, go to http://www.grishamforgovernor.com. If this doesn’t work out, TSOL has new album, Serious, due out on September 23^rd. According to the one time candidate for mayor of San Francisco, Jello Biafra he has declined to run to keep from taking away votes from Gary Coleman… On The Road Again: Blondie will be in Europe & the UK this fall, Billy Friggin’ Idol is doing a North American tour (casinos, clubs, theaters and outdoor venues) from now until October…KMFDM will begin an assault on America this fall, including an all-ages show in Tampa at the Masquerade on November 9^th…