It was January 1st, 1962 when The Beatles; John, Paul, George and drummer Pete Best entered into the recording studio for their much anticipated audition for Decca Records.
Their manager Brian Epstein exhausted just about every possibility of having his boys signed to a recording deal. He was running of options fast.
The Beatles recorded fifteen tracks on that New Year’s Day, all chosen by Epstein. One of the tracks was a song from 1935 called “September In The Rain.” Read More…
I can’t believe it’s September already! Being a longtime Bruce Springsteen fan, I always remember his birthday is September 23rd. He’ll be 71…can you believe it? Here are videos for my top five Bruce songs…what are yours? Let me know in the comment box below, and I’ll put together a list of YOUR favorites!
Read More…
Hi, hope you’re doing well.
With a lot of at home time going on, I’ve found myself diving back into some interests that I’ve let slip for a few years. One of those is my interest in jazz. I still feel like I know woefully too little about it; its origins, its personalities, and its timeline. So I’ve been doing what any pandemic-bound, public broadcasting-loving American would do: I’m revisiting Ken Burns’ 2001 PBS docuseries Jazz. (Keith David, Wynton Marsalis, and slow pans of black & white photos of a bygone era. What more could you want?) Read More…
I got my hands on an Armed Forces Radio Network broadcast of the Grand Ole Opry from Feb 18th 1950, starring Hank Williams, Sr. Well, today he’d be recognized as the star, even though Opry management was carefully to equally weight their acts back in the day. Which unavoidably brings up some other things that happened “back in the day.” Read More…
Back in March when everything started changing, I had anticipated that come summertime, everything would be back to “normal”. We’d all be out seeing shows, visiting our friends & family, and talking about just how different this past spring season was.
Now that the different spring has extended into the summer and we’re heading into the fall, I can say I’ve settled into what I call my “new normal”: watching the city from my living room windows; excitedly waiting for my next delivery of anything; and checking various music websites to see who’s doing what. Read More…
Summer is much more my kind of thing. It’s encouraged me over my 23 years in Boston to hear native Bostonians…shall we say…”enthuse” about how they hate Winter. This has had the beneficial effect of letting me, a California emigre, off the hook during nasty cold snaps. As in, it’s not just me.
But this summer has easily been the most brutal of my Boston years. How long did we have a solid heat wave with high humidity, two months? Maybe a couple weeks more? Anybody experience delirious visions of creatures from Venus looking at us saying, “noooo that’s OK, we’ll just stay here at home this summer – where it’s comfortable.” Hey Stevie Wonder, how about making an album for this year called Hotter Than Venus? I still don’t want to give up the summer. But If I don’t see 90+ degrees with high humidity for, hmm, maybe the rest of my life, it’ll be too soon. Read More…
We may not be able to be together in person for music, but we can surely be together online for music — we have the technology!!
Come one, come all, and join Lorraine and Bennett Hammond on September 14 at 8:00 for an “After The Dance” Jam Session, live streaming on their Facebook Page. This is a fun, all levels jam — come to play, or just come to listen and watch!
And next, we are thrilled to announce the first in our Online Instructor Concert series: September 28 at 8:00pm, featuring Christopher James! We didn’t want to wait another whole year to see and hear our fantastic instructors, so we plan to bring them to you live each month throughout the 2020-21 academic year. Read More…
This month we will explore some of the history of Irish music and how people accessed it. We start in the early 1900’s in the New York City music and vaudeville halls, very popular with an ever growing immigrant population.
In the 1920’s and 30’s, technology brought music to a wider and wider audience. Early phonograph recordings of artists like fiddler Michael Coleman and appearances on radio programs made musicians household names. Read More…
I hope everyone has had a fun and relaxing (as much as we can these days) Summer. We’ve certainly had a unique few months and I hope the music and programming you’ve been hearing on WUMB has provided you a little escape.
We’ve been busy in the world of Programming so I’d like to provide a little update:
New music continues to come in. Even though artists may not have live performances at the moment they are still releasing terrific new albums. Be on the listen for more! Read More…
Message from the Membership Office:
Thank you for your continued support of WUMB!
The Membership Office continues to run on a limited schedule. Thank you for your patience during this time as we work to process donations and keep operations running.
Please note that voicemail will be checked and calls will be returned whenever possible, but the best way to contact the Membership Office will be via email at wumb.membership@umb.edu.
Please feel free to reach out if you have questions.
General Issues: wumb@umb.edu
Membership: wumb.membership@umb.edu
Keep safe, and be well!
Sincerely,
Anita Lee
WUMB Membership Director Read More…