2025-08-03 playlist & stream

Aug 03

1st set

They Might Be Giants – It’s Spare the Rock

ID

They Might Be Giants – I Can Add

[Brandi 20

[Joanie 20

Joanie Leeds & Joya – Curious (new)

ID

[Pierce 20

Pierce Freelon & Nnenna Freelon – ABC You a G feat. Stella

[Pop Ups 20

The Pop Ups – Outside Inside

ID

Dan & Claudia Zanes – Long Hot Summer Nights

[Zanes 20

[WJFF – Red Yarn ft. 123 Andres – I Hear America Singing

[KUTX – Lyle Lovett – Bears

[WFNU – The Deedle Deedle Dees – Zora

2nd set

[Terry HPSP 20

Elizabeth Mitchell – Bright Morning Star

ID/prep to rock 

They Might Be Giants – Don’t Spare the Rock

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CandyBand – Godzilla/Iron Man

[Parker Woodland 20

Parker Woodland – The World’s On Fire (And We Still Fall In Love)

[Gene Davis 20

The Que Pastas – Common Denominator

[Justin 20

Justin Roberts – Better Day Than Saturday (new)

ID

3rd set

Madness – Our House

Marshall from Tumble – Sometimes Butt (new)

ID

Brady Rymer – Sunny Side Up (new)

[Divinity Roxx 20

Divinity Roxx – LOL Laugh Out Loud

[Mega Ran 20 

Mega Ran – Good Morning (new)

ID

They Might Be Giants – Nonagon

They Might Be Giants – Spare the Rock

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A birthday greeting from Jeff Giles

Aug 01

Jeff Giles has been a friend of mine for a very long time now—as he notes below, it’s been a long time since he stopped away from doing anything related to family music, but the friendship has remained. He’s also the mind behind and coproducer of Keep Hoping Machine Running, a fantastic Woody Guthrie tribute record on my little label. And he’s a fantastic writer and you should all subscribe to his blog right now. Thanks to him for these kind words:

Like a lot of people, I largely stopped listening to the radio at some point in the ’90s, driven away by a combination of factors that included focus-grouped playlists, rampant consolidation across the dial, and the increased portability of my own music library. Much as it pains me to admit it to anyone reading this, I haven’t really missed it much; when presented with the choice between listening to whatever I choose or subjecting myself to an ad-supported concentric circle, there are usually perilously few reasons to opt for the latter.

That has everything to do with the current state of radio, however, and nothing at all to do with the magic of the medium. At its best, radio has always had a wonderful ability to connect us, and in the small pockets where program directors and DJs are still free to follow their muse, that still holds true — perhaps more than ever. There’s a reason that DSPs keep experimenting with “AI” “DJs,” and that reason is this: Even in the era of infinite streaming playlists, there’s still nothing like being guided to new musical frontiers by a friendly, knowledgeable voice.

“A friendly, knowledgeable voice” is as good a phrase as any to describe Bill Childs. The driving force behind Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child, Bill is just as delightfully droll, kind, and curious in person as he is on the air. I can no longer recall how we met, but I’m pretty sure it happened when I was at the mast of a relatively short-lived kindie site. The fact that our friendship has persisted long after the site went bust tells you everything you need to know about Bill — chiefly, that he does what he does because he means it, not because it holds any transactional value.

This approach appears to be going the way of the dodo in our increasingly profit-driven media landscape, but it still pays dividends. Sometimes they’re financial — as with the thousands of dollars that Spare the Rock has raised for various charities with its series of non-profit compilations — and sometimes they’re worth more than money. Connecting with people; sharing ideas. Shining a light on independently made and released art. Conducting community outreach. These are all things that sound sort of quaint and/or vaguely aspirational to a lot of folks these days, but for a long time, they were part and parcel of what radio not only could be, but what it had a civic responsibility to do.

I can picture Bill bemusedly chuckling at all this highfalutin praise, and as usual, he probably has a point. After all, you don’t need to think about love over gold, late-stage capitalism, or radio in general in order to enjoy Spare the Rock; you just need a functioning ear or two, a little time, and a willingness to let yourself be taken on a journey by a host who’s got a wonderful knack for shepherding discovery. It’s kid-friendly, sure, but it isn’t for kids. That’s the key to the show’s success, and why it’s lasted through multiple moves, countless life changes, and Bill’s youthful cohosts aging out of their regular posts. Cheers to a great 20 years, and here’s to many more.

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