Pastor Dick comes to you
November 7, 2015 10:55 AM   Subscribe

Over 30 years of Over The Edge radio episodes have been made available on archive.org. Starting in 1981, Over the Edge ran weekly on KPFA until the death of host (and Negativland contributor) Don Joyce. Stream-of-consciousness audio collages punctuated topical themes that would extend over many episodes. posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon (22 comments total) 35 users marked this as a favorite
 
Excellent! The Professor here. I did a dozen or so shows with Don. They're somewhere else on the archive.org site.

There are some shows missing from the collection and some of the years are off, but this is just great.
posted by mikeand1 at 12:16 PM on November 7, 2015 [3 favorites]


"Recently the band sold Don Joyce's Chevy Nova to raise money for an upcoming rerelease."

I remember when he got that car. A listener donated it after Don did a whole show threatening not to do the show anymore unless somebody gave him a car.
posted by mikeand1 at 12:19 PM on November 7, 2015 [4 favorites]


Can anyone convert archive.org music content into podcasts? Because that seems like a good idea in this case.
posted by Going To Maine at 12:31 PM on November 7, 2015 [2 favorites]


I like that podcast idea. I think it's as simple as adding an RSS feed and a release schedule, maybe sending a contract sealed in blood to Apple to get listed on iTunes. Assuming the license for the original work allows it. I must be dumb; is there a license disclosed anywhere in this archive?

I was a big Negativland fan in the late 80s / early 90s, it was like nothing else I'd heard. Except maybe a little bit the Tape Beatles, and later on Emergency Broadcast Network. Remix music before remixing became A Thing thanks to hip hop.

But it hasn't aged well. I have a hard time even listening to Escape from Noise now, much less the not-quite-as-tight productions like Big 10-8 Place or Dispepsi. OTOH I've been watching bits of the No Other Possibility film and it's charming. The Weatherman has the most amazing voice, the Fetch my Cigarettes section is great. They're behind the Doggy Diner dog heads.
posted by Nelson at 12:58 PM on November 7, 2015


> Can anyone convert archive.org music content into podcasts?

Should be doable by copying the URL of the link for the RSS symbol next to the "941 Results" at the top of the right column and pasting into the podcast app-of-your-choice. But when I tried that I got the stream for some other show ('The Universe').
posted by ardgedee at 1:04 PM on November 7, 2015 [1 favorite]


This is great. Thanks.
posted by benito.strauss at 1:10 PM on November 7, 2015


I had somehow not heard about his death and am now feeling the weirdest mix of sorrow over the loss and elation at all these episodes being freely available. Thanks for posting this.
posted by contraption at 1:13 PM on November 7, 2015


Previously: Don Joyce obit thread.
posted by ardgedee at 1:18 PM on November 7, 2015


Okay, scratch what I said earlier. This is a working podcast URL, but (in iTunes at least) it only loads the 50 most recent posts.
posted by ardgedee at 1:31 PM on November 7, 2015 [1 favorite]


NINE HUNDRED AND FORTY-ONE SHOWS. I'm pretty sure that I've just set aside the rest of my life to get through this treasure chest. I had The Sample Show, A Piddle Diddle Disneyland, Zapped! They Saved Zappa's Moustache, a bunch of Pastor Dick, and a lot more on tape back in the day.

This was more than one man's labor of love -- because, after all, we the public helped. And hindered. And occasionally yelled FUCK YOU over the airwaves forty-two times.
posted by delfin at 2:29 PM on November 7, 2015 [2 favorites]


Suddenly, I wish my commute was much much longer.
posted by lownote at 3:55 PM on November 7, 2015 [1 favorite]


Not to sidetrack, because i did listen to this show fairly regularly from 1983-1991, but KPFA and KPFB, and KFCF in Fresno (that was their local Central Valley handle) was my lifeline as a teen. Shows such as this, the Reggae and "World Music" shows and Maximum Rock and Roll kept me alive when i was young. Plus i know a surprising amount about geo-politics that is still relevant, still applicable and still unfolding because of KPFA's political call-in shows. Can't wait to dive into this.
posted by Conrad-Casserole at 5:24 PM on November 7, 2015


My god. My god!

I've never heard this show, never even heard of this show. And now it is going to change, or at an absolute minimum ruin, my entire life.

Thank you, Internet. You proved almost worthwhile tonight.
posted by waxbanks at 5:24 PM on November 7, 2015 [1 favorite]


I was introduced to the show through the Negativland CD mixes in the early 1990s, and then heard the re-broadcast tapes on CIUT before live internet streaming made KPFA available.
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 5:48 PM on November 7, 2015


booooooop
posted by mintcake! at 7:07 PM on November 7, 2015


I stayed up late to listen to this every Sunday night (and occasionally call in): yet another reason why I couldn't stay awake at school on Mondays. So much nostalgia from the theme music!

OK archive.org, now do No Other Radio Show!
posted by moonmilk at 8:29 PM on November 7, 2015


the not-quite-as-tight productions like Big 10-8 Place

That sir, is their masterpiece.
posted by davebush at 7:08 AM on November 8, 2015 [1 favorite]


Be that as it may, everyone knows you need to have tight production if you want to be successful in the music business.

A Big 10-8 Place is my favorite too
posted by contraption at 8:50 AM on November 8, 2015


Oh don't get me wrong, I still love Big 10-8 Place. I still have my bag of mulch that came with the release packaging. I still get a big smile when I ride BART through the East Bay. I'd listened to that album for years before I'd ever been to the Bay Area, so I had no idea what Lafayette or the Big Chairs were. Now I like Contra Costa County almost all of the time.

So when I say that one of my formerly favorite albums hasn't aged well, I say it with love. Going back to Negativland studio albums now it's much easier to differentiate all the amazing music editing they were doing vs. the underlying music that was made. Now that every fucking pop song on the radio has a bunch of sample editing in it, the cleverness of Big 10-8 Place seems a little less unique. And I don't love listening to it nearly as much as, say, DJ Shadow's Endtroducing. Which has a similar collection of eclectic samples but musically works better. For me, at least.

Speaking of which, did DJ Shadow ever hang out with Negativland? Was he ever on Over the Edge? A quick Google search comes up empty. I guess they're different generations but there's so much in common musically...

I'd love a whole Metafilter post on The Weatherman. He seems fascinating.
posted by Nelson at 9:18 AM on November 8, 2015 [1 favorite]


His homepage is wonderful.
posted by contraption at 11:30 AM on November 8, 2015 [2 favorites]




MEFI'S OWN™ JASON SCOTT, YOU ARE A NATIONAL TREASURE! Thanks so much for posting these.
posted by not_on_display at 7:50 PM on November 17, 2015


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