Episodes

  • WORLD WAR II RADIO CHRISTMAS (Enhanced)

    WORLD WAR II RADIO CHRISTMAS (Enhanced)
    Dec 5 2025

    Hello and happy holidays from the war zone! This edition is mostly about the audio which you can click on above. Subscribers can download it as a podcast. This show was originally aired in 2023, but it is evergreen to go every December from here on out. If you are a member of the Greatest Generation, or have one as friend or family, you will get a kick out of V for Victory and X for Xmas. Compiled from archival sources, it rolls like a tank into Berlin, blaring radio broadcasts, big bands, commentators, celebrities, and many more memories that bring you home for Christmas.

    As we get further away in time from the second World War, we tend to lose track of what life felt like during wartime.

    America’s entry into World War Two began 17 days before Christmas on Dec 8, 1941. For the next five holiday seasons “peace on earth” went on hiatus.

    What you’ll hear is not a history of World War Two, or a sugar plum romp through precarious yuletides. Most of this originated at Christmas time and was constantly by interrupted by breaking bulletins. It is a sound montage that features the newscasters and entertainers of the time communicating with their vast unseen audiences.

    It is a dark time. For much of the world, 1941 marks the third year of a war that has seen the German occupation of many European countries. War does not take a holiday.

    On the radio, it’s bombs and jingle all the way, starring Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, the Andrews Sisters, Abbot and Costello, Fats Waller, Benny Goodman, Judy Garland, Francis Langford, Dinah Shore, Glenn Miller, and the men and women of the greatest generation.



    This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit professormikey.substack.com/subscribe
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    59 mins
  • OS88- Freedom of the Press (I Heard the News)

    OS88- Freedom of the Press (I Heard the News)
    Nov 18 2025
    Professor Mikey here in the Old School, with a podcast that celebrates Freedom of the Press, the true buzz you get when you are kept aware of the world going on around you by true professionals who have no fear about job security because they have been hired to tell the truth.You got it. A rock and roll Old School episode that shouts out the greatest of newspapers like the New York Times , Mother Jones, and Rolling Stone. The best news reporters, like Walter Cronkite, John Chancellor, Clark Kent, and Kaitlin Collins. The best journalists like Lester Bangs, Anderson Cooper, Lillian Hellman, and Hunter S. Thompson. The list goes on. But this is a cautionary tale because we really only think about Freedom of the Press when it is under attack.Before we rock, take note that in 2005 American newspapers reached 50 million readers. Today that number is down to below 20 million. Newspapers are shutting down at the rate of about ten a month. Over the last 20 years 2,866 newspapers have vanished.Being aware of the news was always on the minds of rock stars. Like Elvis said:“I heard the news, I heard the news, I heard the news. There’s good rocking tonight.) John and Paul read the news today, oh boy. Bob Dylan knew you didn’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.Any relationship between the news of the past and what’s happening today is strictly intentional. I’m just waiting for Rachel Maddow to quote Janis Joplin: “Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose.”The number of newspapers are down, but great news coverage is available on your phone. If you ever hear anyone publicly bashing news and truth, justice and the American way be suspicious. Be very suspicious.Coming up we drop the needle on REM from their 1987 album Document. Joe McCarthy, the junior senator from Wisconsin made a lot of headlines in the early 50s as he carried out an honest to witch witch hunt across government and military lines in an attempt to out alleged communists. Finding Communists in the State Department was McCarthy’s generations weapons of mass destruction. What tripped him up was the Freedom of the Press, as championed by Edward R Murrow. Here’s the story behind the song Exhuming McCarthy from REM:The First Amendment is always #1 on the charts and it should be in our hearts and minds.Thanks for reading Professor Mikey's OLD SCHOOL! This post is public so feel free to share it.🇺🇸Freedom of the Playlist🏴‍☠️📻Extra Extra*Tommy Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1975)/Sunday Papers*Joe Jackson (1979)/Yesterday’s Papers*The Rollling Stones (1967)/News of the World*The Cure (1978)/Newspaper Mama*Peter Combe (1988)/Get Your Paper*Eddie Fisher (1953)/You Haven’t Done Nothing*Stevie Wonder (1974)/Don’t Believe the Hype*Public Enemy (1988)/The Revolution Will Not Be Televised*Gil-Scott Heron (1971)/TV Weatherman*Lothar and the Hand People (1968)/Exhuming Joe McCarthy*REM (1987)/ Pledging My Love*Johnny Ace/The Late Great Johnny Ace*Paul Simon/A Day in the Life ()*The Beatles (1967)/7:00 News-Silent Night*Simon and Garfunkel (1966)Amendment 1️⃣Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.Most of what you have just heard was inspired by the news of the day, something that has been protected by our revolutionary forefathers since 1789 when it was ratified in the original Bill of Rights. Much of this has referred to the importance as well as the commonality of a free press. Our closing set however is a bit more personal. Songs about how we remember where we were or what we were doing when we heard disturbing news.It begins with Johnny Ace, a 25 year old singing star who accidentally took his own life backstage in Houston Texas on December 25, 1954.Early reports suggested a game of Russian Roulette. Later eyewitness reports said that Ace had been drinking, and was merely playing with his pistol. As for “Pledging My Love” it hit #1 on the R&B chart on February 12, 1955 and stayed there for 10 weeks. Sad but true Johnny Ace became the first act to reach the Billboard pop charts only after death.Nearly 30 years later, Paul Simon wrote about the event in the second song in the set.” In that one he mentions another artist, who sings in the following song about the demise of a 21 year old Irish socialite. Because this song is so famous, Old School decided to air a lesser known version of various outtakes recorded in January and February of 1967, about a month after the fatal car accident that inspired the work in the first place.As we near the 60th anniversary of the recording of the last song, Paul Simon returns with partner Art Garfunkel to perform a Christmas song that was first recorded in 1905. The duo recorded it over a series of 1966 headlines, ...
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    58 mins
  • OS87: "6 7-Minute Songs" *Free Version*

    OS87: "6 7-Minute Songs" *Free Version*
    Oct 28 2025
    Apologies for your inbox getting this twice, but there was a bit of a glitch yesterday when I so carefully posted this episode a 6:07 am. I have a series of little boxes to check on this end, and missed the free/paid section kaboom. Paid subscribers were fine, those you who have received free subscriptions from me are the same as paid (I’m always happy to deal those out, just ask), but for many there was this insidious paywall. That in turn screwed up Spotify to whom I have made a solemn promise never to touch their money so they can play the artists we all love to hear and rake in the bank. Other podcast carriers who carry Old School kind of got broadsided also. SO! Here is the show, sent as free, that will fix all that chain of Old School distribution and get the show out there for all the people who have time to hear 6-7 minute songs, return to the glorious past of rock and roll and blunt the effects of the current future where we are caught like in the really cold part of Frozen. Enjoy, share and Cher alike. (Yes, Cher appears in this newsletter. See if you can find her. Answer to the mystery in the next episode with the working title “Freedom of the Press (I Heard the News)” come soon, free and in living color to a screen near you. Rock on.I knew nothing about the South Park/TikTok thing about 6 7 when I first saw that episode, but I thought hey, I feel a podcast coming on. Now the world has had about 40 crises since that was a thing for a day or two, but I think you will like the show that it inspire.,Put bluntly this is a simple show made up of six 7-minute songs. Back in the day of free form FM Underground the long song became a thing along with long sets with lots of segues and minimum chatter. Focus groups found out listeners tune in to music stations to hear music. Pay them and send they home.These six seven minute songs were fun to listen to for the most part, and if you were pulling a 6 or 7 hour shift, it meant you might get a little break. Hell Inna Gadda Da Vida was 17 minutes of Iron Butterfly flight, long enough for the DJ to go outside and have some fresh open air. Or it might make for a reasonable bio break, or a trip across the street to the convenience store to grab a 67 cent hot dog and a quarter soda, and be back just in time for the song to end.But I digress. Here we are in a worse future than anyone ever imagined. It’s like we are in the in between times that come after the good Old School days and the New Hope that starts off all the Star Wars Movies.Here is a quick unguided detour to 1971, ‘77, ‘71’ ‘85, ‘84’ and ‘85. It is a flow set and not a subject set, a lot of these were war horses on classic rock stations and now they have completely disappeared from the airwaves, just like all the good times. Can you dig it? I knew that you could. The newsletter has a coded playlist. But no spoilers means no front announces, no backsells, no rock critics, but maybe a few 18 year olds listening to these songs for the first time and putting their reactions up for 3 million viewers on YouTube. Hear are Six Seven Minute songs with no interruptions. Memories, discovery, and a rocking trip to anywhere you want to go. Old School # 87: “Six Seven Minute Songs.”Quick explanation courtesy of NBC’s “The Today Show”What Do Kids Mean When They Say 67?It doesn’t mean anything, which means that it can mean everything. Know what we mean?Oct. 21, 2025, 9:15 AM MDTRachel AskinasiIs your child walking around the house answering all questions with the words “six seven”? Are you deeply confused as to what it means? The TODAY.com team is here to help.You may be seeing it written out on social media as “67,” implying a pronunciation of “sixty-seven,” but it’s actually being said as “six seven” and often is accompanied by a double hand gesture you would use to tell someone that you’re weighing two options. The term flooded TikTok — the app currently shows 1.1 million related videos — and made its way into everyday text-speak and slang. Despite its prevalence, many people don’t actually know what it means. One TikTok user made an explainer video essentially saying that the phrase has so little meaning that it can be used in a wide variety of ways that, ultimately, do make sense to the user.Got it?Back announce:“Can’t You Hear Me Knocking” – The Rolling Stones → 1971 (from Sticky FingersWe started with the Rolling Stones and they’re 1971 album Sticky Fingers, the one with the zipper cover that caused so many problems when they tried to ship it in normal album boxes were ripping into the backside of the other albums. After the main part of the song, the band continued playing, thinking the tape had stopped. One of the more famous accidental jams of rock ‘n’ roll happened because they thought the tape and stopped, rolling the subterfuge was orchestrated by saxophone the sax Bobby Keys, Mick Taylor playing guitar on his first complete ...
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    55 mins
  • WITCHES BREWPUB

    WITCHES BREWPUB
    Oct 21 2025
    The Witches of Eastwick. Ronald Dahl ‘s Witches. The witch of Blackbird Pond pond. Wendy the good witch. Sabrina the teenage witch. Marvel’s Scarlet Witch.No matter how many buckets of water you empty, how many stakes you ignite, how many houses you drop on them, the wonderful witches of pop culture never fly completely away. They cast spells, ring bells, read books, and light candles. Samantha Stevens used to wiggle her nose to tidy up her 1962 living room.With all their hocus pocus, they hardly have time to put down the broom, to kick back and relax. Where do they go to bend an elbow with their friends, enjoy an autumn brew, and maybe light up a Salem?For that answer, we have come to the groove yard of golden goodies. Music celebrates the weird sisters, rarely discriminating between good and bad witches. Obviously Professor Mikey has spent a little too much time in the witches brew pub. I blame that midnight happy hour and the eye of newt calamari. And the music! The juke boxes Blair witch projects long after the witching hour.Old School loves to trick or treat at the Witches Brewpub. Keeps you out of Halloween traffic, clarifies multiple levels of focus, and thumps floorboards with a music too fun to be forgotten. After a few tall ones, you note the devil’s jukebox is exhaling brimstone, hemlock and headbangers. Serious observations, swinging cats, witched up rockabilly thugs, enchanted troubadours, all celebrating the risings of the moon on a time of bewitched and bothered rock and roll. All these song were created inspired by enchanted women of healing, magic, and strength. And flight.🅆🄸🅃🄲🄷'🅂 🄱🅁🄴🅆🄿🅄🄱 🄿🄻🄰🅈🄻🄸🅂🅃THE WITCH The Sonics 1964 MAD WITCH Dave Gardner 1957 WITCHCRAFT Frank Sinatra 1957 WITCH QUEEN OF NEW ORLEANS Redbone 1971 SHE’S MY WITCH Kip Tyler 1958 MY GIRLFRIEND IS A WITCH October Country 1968 THE SALEM WITCH TRIAL Kiriae Crucible 1968 THE WITCHWOOD The Strawbs 1971 WITCH’S PROMISE Jethro Tull 1970 BURN WITCH, BURN Circus 1967 WITCHCRAFT IN THE AIR Betty LaVette 1962 WITCH HUNT Rush 1981 WITCH GIRL The Mystrys 1966 YOU MUST BE A WITCH The Lollipop Shop 1968 SEASON OF THE WITCH Brian Auger and Trinity w/ Julie Driscoll 1967 DING DONG THE WITCH IS DEAD Sammy Davis Jr. 1966Witches Brew ShapeshifterIngredients:* 1.5 quarts lime sherbet* Green food coloring, optional* 1 2-liter bottle lemon-lime soda (like Sprite), chilled* 2 cups pineapple juice, chilled* Dry ice, gummy worms, and gummy eyeballs for garnish, optional* 1 can pumpkin puree (15 oz)* 1/2 cup brown sugar* 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon* 1/4 tsp ground ginger* 1/8 tsp ground nutmegIn a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg until smooth.* Add the lime sherbet to the bowl and stir until it is mostly melted.* Add the lemon-lime soda and pineapple juice to the bowl and stir until everything is well combined.* If you want to add green food coloring to give it a more witchy look, add a few drops now.* If you want to add dry ice for a spooky smoke effect, be sure to follow all safety precautions when handling it.* Serve in glasses with gummy worms and gummy eyeballs as garnish if desired.Enjoy your Witches’ Brew with pumpkin!1. Wicked Witch of the West: From L. Frank Baum’s “The Wizard of Oz,” this iconic character is known for her green skin and flying monkeys. 2. The Sanderson Sisters: Winnie, Mary, and Sarah Sanderson are the witches from the movie “Hocus Pocus.” 3. Gandalf and Saruman: Wizards in J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings” series, they are often referred to as wizards but share many characteristics with traditional witches. 4. Bellatrix Lestrange: A prominent dark witch in the “Harry Potter” series created by J.K. Rowling. 5. Elphaba: The green-skinned protagonist of Gregory Maguire’s novel “Wicked,” which also inspired a popular musical and monster movie franchise. 6. The Witch in “Snow White: The evil queen who uses magic to try to eliminate Snow White. 7. Circe: A character from Greek mythology known for her magical abilities, featured in various works of literature. 8. The White Witch (Jadis): A character from C.S. Lewis’s “The Chronicles of Narnia” series, known for her ice-cold magic.* Sycorax is an unseen character in William Shakespeare's play The Tempest (1611). She is a vicious and powerful witch and the mother of Caliban, one of the few native inhabitants of the island on which Prospero, the hero of the play, is stranded.* The Grand High Witch. In The Witches (1990), based on the 1983 book of the same name by Roald Dahl, the Grand High Witch is the all-powerful leader of the world's witches. She maintains children smell like dog droppings.🐕💩Professor Mikey's OLD SCHOOL is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other ...
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    59 mins
  • OS#29A PiPe DREaM ... Audio Enhanced

    OS#29A PiPe DREaM ... Audio Enhanced
    Sep 21 2025
    Zzzzzzzz…..One likes to think that as soon as someone finds an agreable podcast (namely this one) they go back scrolling through older episodes to fill their spare time. Of course that is not the case so that, along with my rigorous attitude of keeping up a algorythmically correct posting schedule, the habits of the usual suspect Old School student body is particularly difficult to chart, predict, or analyze.But there are some episodes you should not miss. The pipe of dreams was creatively passed down from Samuel Taylor Coleridge and other British dope champions to the rockers of the Age of Aquarius.“Pipe Dream” is one of those terms that gets totally misunderstood. We live in a time of piping and dreaming, so naturally many people believe the term is inspired by drugs.Though the narcotic reference is probably the more enticing, for years the phrase itself had little to do with inhaling and/or inebriation. In fact a pipe dream was pretty innocent.It radiated—hope. Like the definition from the Cambridge English Dictionary:An idea or plan that is impossible or very unlikely to happen: “Her plans are not realistic - they'll never be more than a pipe dream.”Still, the roots of calling out a pipe dream for what it really is, have basis in history. According to the Grammarist website:A pipe dream is an unrealistic and unattainable goal, an impossible hope. The pipe alluded to in this term is a smoking pipe, but the substance being smoked is not tobacco. Pipe dream stems from the practice of smoking opium, and though many English writers turned to opiates for inspiration, the term pipe dream originated in the United States. In the mid-1800s to the late 1800s, the western United States was rife with opium dens, places where opium from China was sold and smoked.So there it is. The pipe dreams that became subjects of various drug songs, especially in the hallucination we know as The Sixties, were grounded in this tradition. It involved touching a flame to something that grew in poppy fields. In those woozy times, dreams of rock and roll stardom rode side by side with rampant munchies and urges to tie dye the curtains.This episode includes A-Listers (Rolling Stones, The Byrds, Donovan), faded flames (Spooky Tooth, The Blues Magoos), art rockers (Procol Harum, Soft Machine, Lamb), and those obscured by the years and stale smoke (The Sound Sandwich, World Column.)You’ll find some related videos below, but don’t get all buzzy and forget to listen to the podcast itself. Keeping it rolling for 5 minutes is as good as a like to a blind horse. Listening it to it for an hour in traffic will shorten the trip considerably. Giving it an electronic vote of confidence is the equivalent of a field goal through goal posts on a Harvest Moon.Still, there is hope this Old School podcast will get a zillion downloads and ultimately elevated by Apple, Spotify, or whatever your favorite delivery system may be…No matter what definition grabs you🎸The TITLES in BOLD are what you will hear on the podcast. The various videos (VV) are alternate tunes by the bands who made the pipe.PIPE DREAM The Blues Magoos (1967)LOST IN MY DREAM Spooky Tooth (1969)QUEEN OF DREAMS The Strawbs (1972)IN ANOTHER LAND The Rolling Stones (1967)MIND GARDEN The Byrds (1967)LANTERN GOSPEL World Column (1968)SONG FOR A DREAMER Procol Harum (1971)APOTHECARY DREAM The Sound Sandwich (1967)SLEEPWALKERS Lamb (1971)HEMPSTEAD INCIDENT Donovan (1967)WHY ARE WE SLEEPING The Soft Machine (1968)I HAD TOO MUCH TO DREAM LAST NIGHT The Electric Prunes (1967)Professor Mikey's OLD SCHOOL is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Thanks for listening. Sweet dreams… This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit professormikey.substack.com/subscribe
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    1 hr and 1 min
  • OS#86: 1965 Summer of Soul Volume 2

    OS#86: 1965 Summer of Soul Volume 2
    Aug 19 2025
    Greetings. Professor Mikey here, still basking in the hot soul sun of 1965. You don’t have to have heard our previous episode in order to listen to this one. But Summer of Soul Vol 1 has a lot of things you will be expecting to hear. For this edition, it is certainly more of the same. The first full year of the British Invasion was rocking the planet. The the sounds of the Mersey beats combine on the radio with great American soul power, and careers for the likes of James Brown, the Supremes, Stevie Wonder and more, were launching like 21st century outer space exploration startups.There’s a lot of music left to unpack, so insert headphones. It’s one thing that the Booker T and the MGs song Plum Nellie that’s going on in the background will no doubt inspire a Led Zeppelin lick in about 4 years. But there is so much more. We are about to get started with a twin spin from Otis Redding that includes a song that Aretha Franklin will cover quite soon.Get in the groove, we have another hour of summer to move smooth. It’s the 1965 Summer of Soul Volume II. Things go better with soul. And a little respect.Respect OTIS REDDINGI Can’t Turn You Loose OTIS REDDINGRide Your Pony LEE DORSEYAgent Double Oh Soul EDWIN STARRSome Other Guy RICHIE BARRETTTake Me in Your Arms KIM WESTONBack in My Arms Again THE SUPREMESOo Wee Baby FRED HUGHESI Don’t Know What You Got LITTLE RICHARDHold On JOE TEXBoy from NYC THE ADLIBSCandy THE ASTORSI Take Whatever I Want SAM AND DAVESnatch It Back and Hold It JUNIOR WELLESTracks of My Tears SMOKEY ROBINSON AND THE MIRACLESRainbow GENE CHANDLERHurt So Bad LITTLE ANTHONY AND THE IMPERIALSAsk the Lonely THE FOUR TOPSWhen Otis Redding cut Respect in ’65, it was a man pleading with his woman. Two years later, Aretha Franklin flipped it on its head — and turned it into a demand that redefined the song forever.”“ I Can’t Turn You Loose. “This wasn’t just another single — it became his stage theme. The horns blast, Otis shouts, and the crowd knows they’re in for a ride.New Orleans. Lee Dorsey’s Ride Your Pony, produced by Allen Toussaint. James Brown himself admitted he stole a few tricks from this groove.Spy games in soul music? Edwin Starr thought so. His first hit, Agent Double-O Soul, let him ham it up onstage in a tux with a toy gun — years before War made him a household name.Back in Liverpool, the Beatles never recorded Richie Barrett’s Some Other Guy, but they loved it. One of the earliest TV clips of the band shows them rocking it live at the Cavern (above).Kim Weston’s Take Me in Your Arms didn’t catch fire in ’65, but a decade later the Doobie Brothers turned it into a monster hit.The Supremes with Back in My Arms Again. This was their fifth straight number one — tying the Beatles at the time. Pure Holland-Dozier-Holland.From Chicago, Fred Hughes and Oo Wee Baby. He had the smoothness of Sam Cooke — but never quite broke through.Rarity: Little Richard’s I Don’t Know What You Got. One of the few studio cuts where a young Jimi Hendrix actually backed Richard on guitar.The Boy from New York City by The Ad Libs. In the ’80s, Manhattan Transfer brought it back to life, but in ’65 it was pure street-corner pop.Out of Memphis and Stax Records came The Astors with Candy. Booker T. & the MG’s were behind them — bopping the Memphis sound.From the Stax label, Sam & Dave with I Take What I Want. Written by Isaac Hayes and David Porter.Junior Wells and Snatch It Back and Hold It. Guitar duties? Buddy Guy.One of Smokey Robinson’s personal favorites: The Tracks of My Tears. Years later, the Library of Congress picked it for the National Recording Registry. Gene Chandler, the ‘Duke of Earl,’ reinvented himself mid-decade with smooth ballads. Rainbow showed he wasn’t just a one-hit wonder.Little Anthony & the Imperials with the heartbreak ballad Hurt So Bad. Linda Ronstadt would cover it 15 years later and land in the Top 10 all over again.The Four Tops with Ask the Lonely. It didn’t climb as high as their later smashes, but Levi Stubbs’ voice here — that raw ache — proved why he was Motown’s secret weapon.Its going to Hurt So Bad to leave the Soul Summer of ‘65 Volume 2. If you havent heard Volume 1 yet, there’s a link at the bottom of the page on Substack, where you can subscribe to the Old School newsletter for free anytime and be the first kid on your block to get the latest podcasts. You’ll find that at professormikey.substack.com.1965 was a pivotal year for the Civil Rights movement, as well as the soul music charts. Some of the most iconic and pivotal tunes of the year came right in the middle of the decade. Remember this is a free podcast, subscriptions and likes always work well, so thanks in advance. This podcast is produced for educational purposes. Any and all music heard in this program resides within the public domain, is licensed through the podcast carrier, or is used within the guidelines of fair use ...
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    1 hr and 14 mins
  • OS#86: 1965 Summer of Soul Volume 1

    OS#86: 1965 Summer of Soul Volume 1
    Aug 1 2025

    Hey Old Schoolers. Professor Mikey here with another attempt to bring the past back to where it belongs. In our hearts and minds. If I were building a time machine school bus, I’d make sure it had a great sound system before it had anything else. Especially a search engine. Ha ha.

    Old School loves the underground years, but in ‘65 a lot of things were getting figured out. The British Invasion was full on and the USA had surrendered to the long hair, the mersey beat,mini skirts and swinging London.

    But they all share something in common besides the paisley pants, and swinging London. All these groups and many more were enchanted and influenced by the stone cold grooves blasting out from Black America. The Stones loved the Muddy Waters of the Chicago Blues. John Paul George and Ringo stopped in the name of love to groove on those Motown harmonies. Eric Burdon lived in the House of the Rising Sun.

    So for this show we are going to the songs that were powering American soul trains and soul radio. Putting them together sounds like a street symphony of wisdom and groove, inspired by the restless need to be free and totally expressive through a music that was ascending to new heights.

    If you had the opportunity to find a late night soul station in the summer of ‘65 this is some of what you might have heard. Put on your high heel sneakers, don’t be too proud to beg, sugar pie honey bunch. Old School is turning it over for episode 86.

    It’s the Soul Summer of ‘65, in the midnight hour, in any hour. As a culture, Papa’s got a brand new bag.

    Thanks for reading Professor Mikey's OLD SCHOOL! This post is public so feel free to share it.

    Professor Mikey, about to wrap up episode 86 of the Old School, “1965 Summer of Soul.” The obvious problem, this old jukebox has swallowed up all my dimes, and there are still lots of great songs we haven’t heard yet. So lets do this. Lets make this Volume 1, and we will come back at you with a Volume 2 for our next episode. The music is already there, including more Otis Redding, more Supremes, more Marvin Gaye, plus some lesser known artists like Gene Chandler, the Marvelows, Mel Carter, Lee Dorsey, and even a 60s comeback from Little Richard. 1965 Summer of Soul Volume 2, coming soon to Substack or a podcast player near you.

    If you like the show, forward it to a friend. Professor Mikey’s Old School is produced for educational purposes, and the chance to get your groove on. The music we hear is either in the public domain, cleared by the podcast providers, encouraged by the artists and their families, or is used within the guidelines of Section 107 of the copyright act of 1976, wherein the definition of “fair use” becomes especially muddy. We prefer Muddy Waters.

    A free subscription to my newsletter takes a second and its the fastest, easiest way to get the latest episode, plus roam the stacks of what has come before. Do that at professormikey.substack.com. Come see about me.

    Thanks for listening, rock on with your bad self, and keep the music coming. Stay safe, stay cool, and keep it Old School.

    And be sure to have a good answer when you they ask you “What were you known for?”

    1965 Summer of Soul

    Midnight Hour Wilson Pickett

    Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag Pt 1, 2, 3 James Brown

    The Jerk The Capitols

    Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch) The Four Tops

    Shotgun Jr. Walker and the All-Stars

    Boomerang Jr. Walker and the All-Stars

    The Clapping Song Shirley Ellis

    Iko Iko The Dixie Cups

    Do I Love You Billy Stewart

    See Saw Don Covay

    Uptight (Everything’s Alright) Stevie Wonder

    All or Nothing Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles

    Yes I’m Ready Barbara Mason

    Tonight’s the Night Solomon Burke

    I’ve Been Loving You To Long Otis Redding

    The Birds and the Bees Jewel Akens

    Ain’t That Peculiar Marvin Gaye

    Stop! In the Name of Love The Supremes



    This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit professormikey.substack.com/subscribe
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    1 hr and 3 mins
  • OS#24 Poolside '63 🎧Audio Enhanced🏊🏽‍♂️

    OS#24 Poolside '63 🎧Audio Enhanced🏊🏽‍♂️
    Jul 21 2025

    Summer’s here and the time is right for podcasting at the pool! (Player above, Apple and Spotify links below.)

    This show is a reunion of sorts. Attendees are solid gold seniors who had no relation to each other, other than their heydays and their expiration dates. They hooked up for one mad love affair in the Troy Donahue-Connie Stevens summer of 1963, then went their separate ways. Sometimes they might see one another on a Rhino oldies collection, but other than that they were cast into that great audio convalescent care stack-o-wax we know as Golden Oldies.

    It’s a great bunch once you get to know them. Collectively they represent one of the last summits of pop culture before The Beatles hit the beaches and the rest of the fab but gear British Invasion followed. Culturally, what was on the horizon was the equivalent of sound coming to the movies.

    The artist contributions are significant. They offer a sweet last snapshot of Fifties culture that lingered well into the early Sixties. Focusing their talents on the singles market, still the only game in town, they were a mixture of young talent and old business. They played by rules that had been around too long and still managed to deliver unique and original product. Cool, young, and under contract, they rocked the radio, jolted the cash registers, and spoke to young people.

    There were so many songs that charged this magical last summer of the before times. This is only the tip of the iceberg floating in the deep end. Some of these songs haven’t been played next to each other in over a half century. They still play well together, unaware of the future, masters of their space in their time. On the beach.

    Poolside ‘63 listeners weren’t thinking of all these cultural changes as they showed up in their swimsuits with their beach towels, their lotions and potions, their flotation devices. The pool was for fun and relaxation and the tunes blasting the chlorine filled air just felt right. It felt loud.

    Special thanks to the artists who made this magic summer so unforgettable, to DJ B. Mitchell Reed, to the Coca-Cola Company, to The Chantays on Lawrence Welk) to Japan, to the Bronx, to Saigon, to country, to the blues, to jazz and everything else that got shaken up in this sound kaleidoscope from an endless summer.

    IT’S MY PARTY - Lesley Gore

    THE MONKEY TIME - Major Lance

    DA DOO RON RON - The Crystals

    SUKIYAKI - Kyu Sakamoto

    EASIER SAID THAN DONE The Essex

    IF YOU WANNA BE HAPPY - Jimmy Soul

    HEATWAVE - Martha and the Vandellas

    FINGERTIPS PT 1 & 2 - Little Stevie Wonder

    SALLY GO ROUND THE ROSES - The Jaynettes

    IN DREAMS - Roy Orbison

    PIPELINE - The Chantays

    SURF CITY - Jan and Dean

    YOU CAN’T SIT DOWN - The Dovells

    DENISE - Randy and the Rainbows

    HE’S SO FINE - The Chiffons

    MY BOYFRIEND’S BACK - The Angels

    WIPEOUT - The Surfaris



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