WPRB Princeton 103.3 FM

New Jersey's Only Radio Station

WPRB is a community-supported, freeform radio station. Our FM signal (103.3) serves central New Jersey, Philadelphia, eastern PA and the northern tip of Delaware. We reach a global audience at wprb.com.

Uneasy Listening

Apr 20, 2024 8:00 PM – 11:00 PM

Music

With Commie Francis

Music from all different genres from the 1910s to the 2020s. On a lyrical theme for the first two hours, FREEFORM MADNESS for the last hour.

WPRB IS 83 MEMBERSHIP DRIVE SPECIAL

1983! The forgotten year of the 80s! Pethie started a tradition of us doing shows based on the age of WPRB. So WPRB had its 83rd birthday in December so this is our 1983 show! we missed 1982 which is TOO BAD but we're ready to do extra good by 83! And remind you about the magic and importance of community supported no holds barred freeform radio!

pledge.wprb.com

If we make our goal of lucky 13 donations (one time or recurring, any amount) I Commie Francis will perform Chumbawamba deep cut karaoke live on the air with Shaina from Song People and Green Plums! Shaina came all the way from Philly for this, it is seriously going to rule, let's make this happen! i also have HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT so get ready!

pledge.wprb.com !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

8:01 PM		Bay City Rollers Saturday Night Rollin' Arista 1974
8:04 PM		Marcus 1983 Psychedelic Moods Collectables 1996 orig 1966
8:07 PM		Set Break: ---------------------------------------------------- DJ speaks over Kraftwerk - Tour de France (instrumental)
8:12 PM		CRUCIFIX Annihilation Dehumanization Corpus Christi 1983
8:13 PM		Anti-Matter Infatuation Infatuation / Digital Dance Prehistoric Records 1983
8:18 PM		Herbie Hancock Rockit Future Shock Columbia/Legacy 1983
8:22 PM		Set Break: ---------------------------------------------------- DJ speaks over New Order - Murder
8:30 PM		Subhumans Song No. 35 Evolution Bluurg Records 1983
8:32 PM		Icicle B Pres de Chooz Colour Chart V/A Colour Record 1983
8:35 PM		Book of Love Henna I'd Rather Be in Philadelphia Burn Potential Records 1983 Philly!!!!!!
8:38 PM		Blitz Into the Daylight Second Empire Justice Anagram 1983
8:40 PM		Set Break: ---------------------------------------------------- DJ speaks over Single Handed - The morning Carrousel
8:47 PM		THE COMES W - Ka - Me No Side Dogma Records 1983
8:49 PM		Cocteau Twins in Our Angelhood Head Over Heels 4AD 1983 for pethie!
8:52 PM		Proletariat Avoidance Soma Holiday Radio Beat 1983
8:54 PM		Kebab Weekend No Big Business 2 Anything But Records 1983
8:57 PM		Set Break: ---------------------------------------------------- DJs speak over Philip Glass - "A Gentleman's Honor" (instrumental)
9:01 PM		Sisters Of Mercy Burn The Reptile House Merciful Release 1983
9:06 PM		Lyres Help You Ann I Really Want You Right Now / Help You Ann Ace of Hearts 1983 for Slouch because I dunno why
9:08 PM		Wipers Doom Town Over the Edge Zenorecords 1983
9:12 PM		Las Chicas Del Pais El Bufeo Yo Me Bufeo Funny 1983
9:15 PM		New Order The Village Power, Corruption & Lies WM UK 1983
9:18 PM		Set Break: ---------------------------------------------------- DJ speaks over Kraftwerk - Tour de France (instrumental)
9:25 PM		Orchestral Manoeuvres In the Dark Genetic Engineering Genetic Engineering Telegraph 1983
9:30 PM		Lewisite Daimei Mitei Siteseeing Cragale 1983
9:32 PM		The Call Back to the Front Modern Romans Mercury 1983 for Dana K I CHALLENGE YOU
9:36 PM		The Fall Ludd Gang Man Whose Head Expanded Single Rough Trade 1983
9:38 PM		Los Monaguillosh Ciclos Voces en la Jungla - EP Lollipop 1983
9:40 PM		Set Break: ---------------------------------------------------- DJs speak over New Order - Murder
9:50 PM		The Rats Broken Wire Telephone In a Desperate Red Whizeable Records 1983
9:53 PM		R.E.M. There She Goes Again Radio Free Europe IRS 1983
9:57 PM		The Jim Carroll Band Voices I Write Your Name Atlantic 1983
10:00 PM		T.H.E. Rutto T.H.E. Ei Paluuta Ikbal 1983
10:00 PM		Set Break: ---------------------------------------------------- DJs speak over Single Handed - The morning Carrousel
10:09 PM		George Clinton You Shouldn't-Nuf Bit Fish You Shouldn't-Nuf Bit Fish Capitol Records 1983
10:12 PM		Set Break: ---------------------------------------------------- DJs speak/sing "I Wish That They'd Sack Me" by Chumbawamba
10:19 PM		The Chameleons Don't Fall Script of the Bridge Statik Records 1983
10:23 PM		The Bongos Tiger Nights Numbers With Wings RCA 1983
10:26 PM		Wards 6 O'Clock The World Ain't Pretty and Neither Are We self released 1983
10:27 PM		Angst Another Day Angst Happy Squid Records 1983
10:29 PM		Cabaret Voltaire Animation R The Crackdown Mute 1983 another Pethie fave!
10:34 PM		George Kranz Din Daa Daa Din Daa Daa - Single George Kranz 1983
10:38 PM		Set Break: ---------------------------------------------------- DJs speak over Philip Glass - "A Gentleman's Honor" (instrumental)
10:46 PM		Philip Glass The Photographer: "A Gentleman's Honor" THe Photographer Philips 1983
10:50 PM		The Mob Another Day, Another Death Let the Tribe Increase All the Madmen Records 1983
10:52 PM		Trotz Allem Brutalo Trotz Allem Soilant 1983
10:54 PM		Set Break: ---------------------------------------------------- DJs speak over Single Handed - The morning Carrousel
10:57 PM		The Romantics Talking In Your Sleep In Heat Nemperor 1983

Chat is archived.

lets gooooooo

wOOOOOOOOOO

Hi Pethie! Hi Commie!

Hey Ho Let's Go

Hello Richard! Hello Rob!!

Hello Richard and Hello Pethie!

hi everyonnne!!!!!

Hi Rob!

KEEP IT GOING!

Hi Commieeeeeee!

1983 is the year the Subhumans released The Day the Country Died

And hi, everyone!

oh i am aware, thank you kelly!

Hello Kelly! Hello Jon!

commie and pethie!!! hellooooooo

Just love that band so much :)

Hi Rob!

Hello Kelly and TAndy!

Good evening Pethie

I have cleared my calendar for this one.

Wise move, Solomon.

TAndy, hi!

THANK YOUUUUUU ROB

from dehumanization to orange production!

Can I make a request?: More Pethie in the mix, please!

man i was turning me down but it was NOT ENOUGH i guess!

🎸🔥🔥

This rules

I will louden up

Others in the chat with better ears than I may disagree.

Commie & Pethie, are you taking requests?

If we have it, and it's 1983!!

Minor Threat "Out Of Step" from the album of the same name?

More Pethie is always a good call

💥🌈deejay dream teaaaaaaam🦄💥

But Rockit is good too

i keep forgetting this was a herbie track

Yes, Rob!

Thank you for playing this Commie!

you're welcome!!

Hi Commy and Pethie!

Anything from The The's Soul Mining on the playlist tonight?

Hi Ossy!

@Kelly- not sure yet, perhaps!

8 pledges to go!! Thank you to everyone who has donated so far!

Good evening!! M & I are listening here in Pittsburgh after a long day of volunteering.

I'm delighted to say that pledged earlier this week (during Habitat Enrichment), otherwise I would shower yinz with riches.

thank you for showering your riches on Krista, she deserves it!

Jon Solomon tricked me into pledging during his show but you are always on fire Commie. The Lyres on Ace of Hearts. Top notch. Mass Ave forever.

on fyre even! thanks Marcus! Jon is exceedingly pledgable, I understand

I am a trickster (though not in Trixter)!

Hello Alastair!

jon also stole over the edge from my playlist

Yes, Krista is the best, so happy you pledged during her show!

Krista's show this week was especially ridiculous. I loved it.

1983: The Groceries, formed by Princeton students, release their one and only album.

where my MrM at

🖤💀

Ask and ye shall receive! Hello MrM!!!

hell yeah batsignaled

That's impressive. Who else can you summon? What is the limit on these powers?

we are now at 7 donations i think? or 8?

Jon Solomon has thrown down the gauntlet, more info in a moment

I count 7.

I didn't play Over the Edge!

secret deejay pledge quotas

Don't make Jon Solomon angry!

how did they get speak n spell to say what they wanted it to say????

I missed your selection from Second Empire Justice! Maybe there's still time for something from The Blood: False Gestures... or Jerry's Kids Is This My World?

both excellent choices but i don't have them with me!

You probably don't have the ultra rare Necros: Conquest for Death then... enjoying the show regardless!

i dunno how i missed jerry's kids!

haha i have a.... version of that. but not with me

i do have some extremely rare hc from VERMONT to play later

Nice, thank you Commie! 1983 was a pretty good year it turns out

Deep Wound: 1983

i actually DO have that!

not with me though. too much cussing

my husband owned a record store in western mass, a few copies of that came through

Hey, thanks for the love. I made dinner tonight and I've got the radio on. The slight static only improves it.

Baby Rivka sleeps right through pretty much anything on the radio, makes it nice to drink a Hydration Cube Beverage. (That's the weird name for the German water flavor cubes from Aldi)

Hi Krista! ❤️Aldi❤️

daskalteseis.bandcamp.com

Someone earlier in this chat mentioned The Groceries, a band led by Andy Gomory (WPRB '79). Their 1983 album is no longer their only album, since they released a follow-up (on Bandcamp) in 2023 and 2024! https://groceries2.bandcamp.com/

Also, when I was on-air on WPRB in 1983, I liked to play "The Orchids" off of Psychic TV's then-new 1983 LP "Dreams Less Sweet."

I remember when WPRB would play the Groceries back in 1983.

Yesssssssssssssss Fred and Tooooooodyyyyy

Yes, The Groceries got a lot of play in their day. Andy G's next band The Swinging Pistons (with Billy Tucker of Regressive Aid) got even more!

Ooooh, I loved Regressive Aid!

The Rats is a great pic! I must admit we WPRBers barely knew what Fred & Toody were up to in 1983, though everyone already loved The Lollipop Shoppe single!

"There She Goes Again" is sometimes said to be about Edie Sedgwick, whose posthumous birthday is today (4/20).

i love hearing what college radio stations were into in specific years. for serious the best little cultural slice

What was the Bath Boy of 1983, I wonder?

A lot of people played "Never Never" by Feargal Sharkey's solo project The Assembly on WPRB in 1983, when it was new.

Had Sam Cooke lived, what would he have said about the Velvet Underground's swipe of his "Hitch Hike"?

in 1983 you played the Fall just as much as you do today. And i thank you for that.

Regressive Aid's only LP did come out in 1983! After that, Henry Rollins poached every member of the band (except its front man Billy Tucker) to become the Rollins Band, which is what made Regressive Aid fall apart.

That record is amazing. I play it sometimes on my show

We played The Fall all the time in 1983. But in those days, we played The Birthday Party as much as we played The Fall!

oh i think we just made our goal?? jon can you double check?

"Mutiny In Heaven" is The Birthday Party's best song, and it came out (on a 12"45) in 1983!

I will check but not before I share my delight that our own Mike Lupica is a citation on the Regressive Aid Wikipedia page.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regressive_Aid

That is a marvelous tidbit!!!

I count 12 pledges + one so that's 13 in my book!

Jon, that page mentions City Gardens. That's taking it way back

I'm reading the comments (for a change) here - https://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2006/04/what_the_world_.html

The Rats that we heard are different from the Akron band that recorded "The Rat's Revenge (Part 1)", a 1965 song I first heard on WPRB in 1983.

Sounding amazing!!

There is nothing better than DJs singing on-air and doing a great job of it!

This is such a lovely end for the fund drive <3 excellent singing

👏👏👏👏👏

Amazing

Another local record that got a lot of play on WPRB in 1983 was "Dead Rock'N'Rollers" by Detention.

thanks guys!

So happy to hear Chameleons

Bravo, Bravo, Commie and Shaina!

I swear WPRB had a version of Dead Rock'N'Rollers with alternate lyrics at some point. Perhaps on a Cart?

I should listen to The Chameleons more.

Detention reunited at the Court Tavern shortly after Jim Carroll died, but I'm told they did not alter that song's lyric about him.

This Bongos track got a lot of play on WPRB for obvious reasons! And yes, Dead Rock'N'Rollers was on a cart as well as a 7"45, so maybe it was a different version.

Artificial Artifacts were a Detention-like band that also got a lot of play, probably more circa 1985 than 1983. Their entire output was on carts! They were way ahead of their time on the "no physical formats" tip!

WPRB would play Hyacinth Girl from Winter Hours in 1983

The band that does "Santa's Cadillac!"

yes christmas favorites wards!

Yes, we played "Hyacinth Girl" by Winter Hours and also "My Boyfriend" by The Cucumbers, who were a female-led Winter Hours-type NJ band!

Did Brooke Shields matriculate in 1984?

Brooke Shields matriculated in 1983 (with me) and was my classmate in the Great Class of 1987.

Popping in to say Hi! Enjoying the show on the drive home

In 1983, "Neil Armstrong" was the WPRB hit off that Angst record!

Helloooooo Liz Bot!

Hey Peth!

shaina just did a fist pump when i said "Philip Glass"

Re Philip Glass: In 1984, Princeton University loaned me a van so I could drive a dozen students to the Brooklyn Academy of Music to catch a performance of "Einstein On The Beach." I think they subsidized the ticket price, as well!

Thank youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu commie and pethie 🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹

fun show! Cheers!

Thanks to everyone for listening and thanks to all the folks who pledged! Marvelousnesss!!!

Thanks, jimboooooooooooooooo

Great episode! I apologize for bombarding you with the nostalgia it evoked!

📻🎶🖤

@Ken Katkin we love nostalgia!

Great show! See you both soon I hope.

You never told us what Eating Club you bickered

This Romantics song is heavily ripped off from "Super Freak" by Rick James!

This song was the line dance for Soul Train on April 14 1984

Thank you for a great show!