Amy's Robot

Stump the Band night on WFMU

It's fundraising marathon time at WFMU 91.1 FM, one of the only independent radio stations in the NY area, and the best. WFMU got its start as a college radio station at Upsala College in East Orange, NJ, which closed in 1995. Since then, the station has been independently run, and is totally listener-supported.

They're located now in Jersey City, and it's still really hard to get reception in most parts of Manhattan. Luckily, you can listen to the station online. Tonight's fundraising programming features the annual Yo La Tengo request-a-thon from 8-11 pm, in which listeners pledging $65 or more get to request any song in the world, and Hoboken's own Yo La Tengo will play it live from the studio. This event has been very successul in past years, and the band say they're excited about tonight. "It's live, it's messy, and it's always fun," says bassist James McNew. "And it's exhausting." Last year's show involved some collaborations with station staff and friends of the band: a DJ sang lead vocals on "Tonight's the Night" by Rod Stewart while the band struggled through the music, and Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubley's niece sang on requests for "Build Me Up, Buttercup" by The Foundations and "Hey Ya!"

Yo La Tengo's own music doesn't exactly captivate me, but they always seem like genuinely great people in interviews, and the concept of this show is irresistible. If anyone gets the band to do "Talk Dirty to Me" by Poison tonight on the air, I will personally match your pledge.

categories: Media, Music
posted by amy at 1:22 PM | #