FRESH AIRWAY TO HEAVEN
Robert Plant is the former lead singer of the band Led Zeppelin, one of the most influential pioneers of heavy metal music. Plant was born in West Bromwich but grew up in Halesowen, formerly Worcestershire, now part of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley. He left school in his mid-teens and developed a strong passion for the blues, abandoning a promising career as a chartered accountant to become part of the Midlands blues scene.[1] His early blues influences included artists such as Robert Johnson, Bukka White, Skip
James, Jerry Miller and Sleepy John Estes. Plant did various jobs whilst pursuing his music career, one of which was working for the major British construction company Wimpey in Birmingham in 1966 laying tarmac on roads. He also worked at Woolworths in Halesowen town for a short period of time. He cut three obscure singles on CBS Records [2] and sang with a variety of bands, including The Crawling King Snakes, which brought him into contact with drummer John Bonham. They both went on to play in the Band of Joy, merging blues with newer psychedelic trends. Though his early career met with no commercial success, word quickly spread about the “young man with the powerful voice”. [via WIKIPEDIA]
ALSO, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, two of the original members of the band Aerosmith, talk about the group’s long and spectacular run. Starting in the 1970s, the band had such hits as “Dream On,” “Walk This Way,” and “Sweet Emotion.” Tyler and Perry also became famous for their drug and alcohol abuse, earning the nickname the toxic twins. Drugs, sex and self destruction were a part of their image, and part of their attraction. In 1997 the band collaborated on the book Walk This Way which traced their rise from the music scene in New England.
RADIO TIMES
Hour 1
Philadelphia theater adaptation of Shakespeare’s Isabella. This production features a mortician who stages a play using nude actors playing corpses. We’ll talk with members of the Pig Iron Theater Company, DAN ROTHENBERG director of Isabella, CHARLES CONWELL who plays the mortician, and LISI STOESSEL the associate set designer/makeup designer for Isabella. Isabella opens Friday night and will continue through September 15 at the ICE BOX Projects Space in Philadelphia. Isabella is showing as part of this year’s Live Arts Festival and Philly Fringe. Listen to this show via Real Audio | mp3
Hour 2
JONATHAN LETHEM’s new book is You Don’t Love Me. Through the story of a struggling LA Band, Lethem explores the creative process and the question of “who owns art?” He joined us to talk about it, his other novels, and the launching of his Promiscuous Material Project which encourages other artists to share his material. This is a rebroadcast, so tune in but don’t call in! Listen to this show via Real Audio | mp3
THE WORLD CAFE
The New York based band White Rabbits visit David Dye on the World Cafe to play some songs from their debut album, Fort Nightly. This sextet’s lineup includes two drummers, producing a sound driven by their bold, hard-hitting rhythm. Hints of big band grooves, reggae vibes, and afro-beat hold down the foundation under piano and obscure lyrics. Fort Nightly is as fascinating as it is refreshing.
JEFFERSON AIRPLANE: White Rabbit