Download the printed 2009 Mayhem guide: here

Short Descriptions for Mayhem Specials

Doing it to Death

Sunday Mayhem 3 Midnight to Midnight
Hosted by Spliff Skankin, Hawkeye Joe, Mr. Lucky, Kevin O'Dante and many more..

The 2nd Annual 24 hour James Brown Birthday tribute featuring all things James Brown; JB's, Maceo, James Brown's Funky People. Live recordings, rare tracks, alternate takes, interviews, testimonies, dance contest. ..

Harping about Jazz

Tuesday Mayhem 5 10am to 2pm
Hosted by Goodwrench

The Harp is an instrument not usually associated with Jazz, but there are a few skilled practitioners over the decades that have managed to successfully exploit the unique characteristics of the instrument in a Jazz context. This special will examine the work of classic Jazz harpists such as Alice Coltrane and the incomparable Dorothy Ashby, as well as contemporary artists like Zeena Parkins and Anne LeBaron.

Candy From the Current Bin: A Tribute to Chris Gaffney

Tuesday Mayhem 5 6pm to 7pm
Hosted by Art Crimes

Dave Alvin talks to Art Crimes about “A Man of Somebody's Dreams: A Tribute to the Songs of Chris Gaffney," a multi-artist collection produced by Dave to honor his good friend (and former Guilty Man), the late Chris Gaffney. Among the many contributing artists are Dave’s current band, The Guilty Women, as well as Calexico and Los Lobos.

Bagpipes East and West

Tuesday Mayhem 5 7pm to 10pm
Hosted by Sal9000, Art Crimes & Cousin Mary

Sal9000 presents a tribute to Bulgarian bagpiper Kostadin Varimezov, Art Crimes reveals Celtic bagpipe traditions, and Cousin Mary brings us music from the USA featuring bagpipes (jazz, rock, etc.).

Don’t Quit Your Day Job

Thursday Mayhem 7 9pm to midnight
Hosted by Cadillac Margarita and Neil Grovel

We want to expose those brave souls who have made the crossover from actor to singer and in some cases, singer/songwriter (eek!) There have been many attempts made over the years for artists to prove that they are super multi-talents. We want to share the hi (and low) lights, of said efforts. Other infamous celebrity outings may make appearances as well.

Rough Edges - The Fred Frith Special

Saturday Mayhem 9 Noon to 4 pm
Hosted by Max Level

An afternoon visit with this legendary guitarist/composer. Fred will bring us up to speed on his latest projects, fill us in on some of the back story, and may possibly attempt to name somebody cool that he hasn’t worked with. We’ll hear recent concert recordings too!

Rhythm of the Rails II

Saturday Mayhem 9 4pm to 8pm
Hosted by The Pocatello Yardmaster

A continuation of the special started last year by Cousin Mary. Celebrate National Train Day with KFJC. Railroad songs of all stripe will be played. Songs about trains, hobos, and engineers will be covered as well as songs inspired by and songs using trains as metaphor.

Hog Heaven!: The Cochon Records 10th Anniversary Special

Saturday Mayhem 9 8pm to 12am
Hosted by Neil Grovel

Screw the swine flu! Cochon Records has been makin’ bacon and infecting our brains & ears over the last 10 years! You’ll squeal with delight when this little piggy roots around & hogs the airwaves with its gluttonous music catalog, hammed up interviews with label co-founder Manuel Gutierrez and porked up live performances by such savvy singing sows and rip roaring razor backs Mirror Mirror. Celebrate Cochon’s 10th Anniversary you swine! Hand sanitizers & face masks optional.

Double Dutch Delight

Sunday Mayhem 10 midnight to 3am
Hosted by Goodwrench

Utrecht is the 3rd largest city in Holland, rich in history and home to many excellent though lesser known electronic music producers. This special will provide an introduction to the work of Maarten Van der Vleuten and the team of Jeroen Brandjes and Natasja Hagemeier, most often known as the Connection Machine. Van der Vleuten has had his hand in everything from house to ambient to icy abstraction, while the Connection Machine specializes in deep, Detroit-derived techno.

Too Cool for School 10th Anniversary Special

Tuesday Mayhem 12 7pm to 10pm
Hosted by Cynthia Lombard

The first installment of "Too Cool for School" aired on Mayhem 18, 1999. In this celebratory special, Cynthia Lombard will play some of her favorites from the past decade's worth of shows on KFJC and will count down her most-played tracks/artists.

The Cuckoo, She's a Pretty Bird

Thursday Mayhem 14 Noon to 2pm
Hosted by Art Crimes

The traditional song “The Cuckoo,” as sung by Clarence Ashley in 1929, served as one of the guideposts to the mysteries of traditional song for many a young folksinger who might have set a banjo on their knee during the American Folk Revival of the late fifties and early sixties. Whether they had any idea of what the song is about is another story entirely, as Ashley’s version collapses numerous ancient threads into one inscrutable quilt of a song. Art Crimes attempts to peel away some of the layers with folksong scholars Rennie Sparks (of the Handsome Family) and author Greil Marcus, but we’ll all still be scratching our heads afterwards.

Get your vitamin B-3

Thursday Mayhem 14 9 to 11pm
Hosted by Cousin Mary

The Hammond B-3 is THE jazz and blues organ -- tune in for 2 hours of pure joy! Warning - it's gonna get funky....

X Marks the Spot

Saturday Mayhem 16 3pm to 6pm
Hosted by Mr. X

"X" stands for the mysterious, the unknown (or unknowable) quantity, or paradoxically, a focus on an exact spot. This special will focus on bands and tunes dealing with the letter "X" in its various aspects.

Everyday is a Neu! Day

Saturday Mayhem 16 6pm to 10pm
Hosted by Jawbone and Dr. Strangely Strange

The short-lived duo Neu! (1972-1975) were a seminal band of the Krautrock scene from Germany. Pioneers of the Motorik sound and what would later be called Ambient, they influenced many artists, such as PiL, David Bowie, Brian Eno, Hawkwind, Joy Division, Radiohead, Negativland and Legendary Pink Dots. Michael Rother and Klaus Dinger made just three albums during their initial incarnation as Neu! in the early seventies—“Neu!”, “Neu! 2” and “Neu! ‘75”, but this special will also delve into the spin-off bands Harmonia, La Dusseldorf and Michael Rother’s solo works, as well as pay tribute to Klaus Dinger who passed away on March 20th, 2008.

Parallel Grooves

Sunday Mayhem 17 Midnight to 3am
Hosted by Goodwrench

Parallel Recordings was started by SF techno/ambient producer jason Williams (Velocette) in 1997 after Jonah Sharp's Reflective label. The label features outstanding work from Williams as well as Jonah Sharp and Kit Clayton. This special will examine choice bits from the Parallel catalogue as well as Williams' earlier work for Reflective.

Kiddie pr0n

Sunday Mayhem 17 9pm to midnight
Hosted by Johnny Darko

Enjoy innocence the second time around. Revitalize and rejuvenate with children’s songs & story time. Enjoy FUNderful cheery songs galore, blissfully ignorant of the Christianity it empowers. Together, we shall discover harmless yet meaningful alternatives to Megan’s Law liability.

Fred Neil: Other Side Of This Life Part I

Monday Mayhem 18 7pm to 11pm
Hosted by Pete Dixon & Joe Schlabotnik

Pete Dixon and Joe Shlabotnik examine the life and music of Fred Neil who is best known for penning the hit theme song to the movie Midnight Cowboy called Everybody's Talkin'. He helped many of the musicians in Greenwich Village get their start. He had a rich baritone voice and a unique rhythmic style of playing the 12 string guitar. The special will include much of Fred's music and interviews with John Sebastian, Vince Martin, Pete Childs, Ric O'Barry and Bob Ingram as they give us insight into Fred's complicated nature and try to reason why he turned his back on music while still in his prime.

Mallets in Wonderland, Pt 1

Tuesday Mayhem 19 10am to 2pm
Hosted by Cousin Mary and Art Crimes

In the first installment of this survey of mallet-played instruments, we’ll hear xylophones, vibraphones, and marimbas as used in Jazz, R&B, Soul and Pop, from swing with Lionel Hampton to Johnny Otis, Brill Building hits, Motown, Brian Wilson, and (unavoidably) the Baja Marimba Band.

Fred Neil: Other Side Of This Life Part II

Tuesday Mayhem 19 7pm to 11pm
Hosted by Pete Dixon & Joe Schlabotnik

Pete Dixon and Joe Shlabotnik examine the life and music of Fred Neil who is best known for penning the hit theme song to the movie Midnight Cowboy called Everybody's Talkin'. He helped many of the musicians in Greenwich Village get their start. He had a rich baritone voice and a unique rhythmic style of playing the 12 string guitar. The special will include much of Fred's music and interviews with John Sebastian, Vince Martin, Pete Childs, Ric O'Barry and Bob Ingram as they give us insight into Fred's complicated nature and try to reason why he turned his back on music while still in his prime.

Mallets in Wonderland, Pt 2

Thursday Mayhem 21 10am to 2pm
Hosted by Pax Humana and Art Crimes

In the second installment of this survey of mallet-played instruments, we’ll explore the Gamelan orchestras of Bali and Java, as well as Lou Harrison’s compositions for Americanized Gamelan. We will also hear the Balafon (gourd xylophone) of West Africa in a variety of settings.

Night and Day of the Sun

Friday Mayhem 22 Midnight to Midnight
Hosted by Spliff Skankin, Hawkeye Joe, Nancy Reagan, KFJC Jazz Kollective and many more.

The annual 24 hour Sun Ra birthday tribute. Featuring rare recordings, live music, lectures, interviews, jam sessions, Sun Ra fashion show, Sun Ra history, new Arkestra recordings and much more.

2010: A Music Odyssey

Saturday Mayhem 23 7am to 9am
Hosted by SAL 9000, and special guests Dennis Gonzales, Wally Fields and actor David Shire.

2010: Odyssey Two, written by Arthur C. Clarke, was made into a film entitled '2010: The Year We Make Contact'. This music odyssey will explore the film score and feature special guests, including an interview with music score writer David Shire, Dennis Gonzales (curator of the 2001: a Space Odyssey exhibit), and Wally Fields (voice actor of HAL9000). The show will feature other guests from the film.

8-Bit is enough!

Saturday Mayhem 23 12pm to 3pm
Hosted by Johnny Darko

Original BGM on the fab four home systems who popularized 8-bit music: The Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Master System and Turbographics 16. Hacker hits ripped from the core CPU's and the minds of composers Koji Kondo (Super Mario, Zelda), Hidenori Maezawa (Contra, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) and co-composers Manami Matsumae & Yoshihiro Sakaguchi (Mega Man series).

I LIKE IT LIKE THAT! Part 1

Saturday May 23 3pm to 6pm
Hosted by Ann Arbor and Rocky Rococo

Our focus is Latin Soul and Boogaloo from New York, NY in the 1960s and '70s. We'll dance through pre-Salsa New York exploring the artists, bands, influences and styles of Latin Soul.

Day of Gristle

Saturday Mayhem 23 to Sunday Mayhem 24 6pm to 6pm

Hosted by Mr. E and friends

This will be a continuation of the 2002 Day of Gristle. This version will focus on new material released since 2002, as well as some essential earlier material. We will include some new interviews as well as the existing interviews from 1979 and 2002. We will set up the Gristle Lounge again to screen the TGV collection released in 2008.

A Decade of Ghostly

Sunday Mayhem 24 6pm to 10pm
Hosted by Cat Collider and Johnny Darko

Since 1999 Ghostly International out of Ann Arbor Michigan has been pumping out 12” singles with a Detroit sound. Focusing on the groups Midwest Product, Mobius Band, and Solvent, we will celebrate the label's first 10 years.

All the Best Empty Cowboys Have Chinese Glass Eyes

Monday Mayhem 25 7pm to 9pm
Hosted by Pete Dixon and Zero Gravity

For years, the debate between Pete Dixon and Zero Gravity has raged…which is the better Pete Townshend solo album, Empty Glass or All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes? It was inevitable that they would one day take this to the airwaves. With Dixon in the Glass corner and Gravity defending Chinese Eyes, they will examine both LPs, providing insights into the lyrics and historical background. PLUS: KFJC listeners get to weigh in with with their own vote on which album they like best at http://kfjc.org/petevote/

Adults Whim

Tuesday Mayhem 26 10pm to 2am
Hosted by Johnny Darko

Follow the sick and twisted minds of Williams Street Studios (aka Adult Swim) through their similarly disjointed and misunderstood music. Lead by joint executive VP’s Mike Lazzo and Keith Crofford, this small studio is responsible for such original programming as Superjail!, Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, Robot Chicken, The Venture Bros., and Aqua Teen Hunger Force. While Adult Swims hours run from only 10pm-6am, its cult following is massive, among them the musical elitists. To satisfy their insatiable need for eargasms, the men and women behind Adult Swim have sought out the weird and the eclectic artists to orchestrate the mad sounds behind their programming. Underground artists to be featured include: J. G. Thirlwell (aka Foetus, Stereo Maximus) who composed the soundtrack for The Venture Bros., the 3-fingered, nearly 70 year old country singer Billy Joe Shaver (wrote for Elvis, Willie Nelson & David Allen Coe) who did the theme music for Squidbillies, and Neil Hamburger who contributed his live signature jokes to the Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! as a guest star on episode 9 “Hamburger”.

X-Minus One, Part 2

Wednesday Mayhem 27 12pm to 2pm
Hosted by Joe Ed Dick

From 1955 to 1958 X-Minus One was a radio showcase for the leading science fiction magazine of its era, Astounding Science Fiction, featuring dramatizations of stories by some of the leading writers in the field. Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, Ray Bradbury, Robert Sheckley, Frederic Pohl, Fritz Leiber, Theodore Sturgeon, Philip K. Dick, James Blish, Frank M. Robinson, William Tenn, Robert Silverberg, Poul Anderson and Robert Bloch were among the writers whose stories were adapted for the show. Every Wednesday this Mayhem, from 12-2pm, Joe Ed Dick will introduce a quartet of stories from the half hour series.

Black to the Future

Wednesday Mayhem 27 7pm to 10pm
Hosted by Tarantula

An exploration of "Afro-Futurism" examining the link between African America and Sci-Fi.

The Child Ballad Jukebox

Thursday Mayhem 28 10am to 2pm

Hosted by Art Crimes with support from Ann Arbor

Harvard professor Francis James Child (1825-1896) completed his “Popular English and Scottish Ballads” in 1896, a multi-volume project containing 305 ballads that dated back to as early as the 13th century. Many of the ballads Child collected are among the most well-known songs of the English-speaking world, and many are still sung today, although some have changed greatly over the years. English and American versions of the Child Ballads evolved separately, with titles, characters, and place names changing to reflect a singer's own community, and sometimes the more magical aspects of the ballads were reinterpreted or simply discarded by Americans, leading to very different stories being told depending on where you stood. Marsha Genensky of Anonymous 4, Rennie Sparks of the Handsome Family, and English folksinger June Tabor pick some of their favorites, while Art Crimes inserts the quarters into the Child Ballad Jukebox.

Delsin Demystified Pt 1

Thursday Mayhem 28 10pm to 2am

Hosted by Goodwrench

This 2-part special provides an introduction to the stunning catalogue of Amsterdam's Delsin label, founded by Marsel Van Der Wielen (AKA Peel Seamus) in 1996. This label is home to artists like Newworldaquarium (Jochen Peteri / Ross 154), Vince Watson, Sandor Caron, $tinkworkx, DJ Aardvarck, Optic Nerve, Future Beat Alliance and many other producers of the deepest of techno.

Delsin Demystified PT 2

Friday Mayhem 29 10pm to 2am

Hosted by Goodwrench

This 2-part special provides an introduction to the stunning catalogue of Amsterdam's Delsin label, founded by Marsel Van Der Wielen (AKA Peel Seamus) in 1996. This label is home to artists like Newworldaquarium (Jochen Peteri / Ross 154), Vince Watson, Sandor Caron, $tinkworkx, DJ Aardvarck, Optic Nerve, Future Beat Alliance and many other producers of the deepest of techno.

I LIKE IT LIKE THAT! Part 2

Saturday Mayhem 30 3pm to 6pm
Hosted by Ann Arbor and Rocky Rococo

Our focus is Latin Soul and Boogaloo from New York, NY in the 1960s and '70s. We'll dance through pre-Salsa New York exploring the artists, bands, influences and styles of Latin Soul.

Who the Hell Is Mickey Jupp?

Saturday Mayhem 30 9pm to midnight
Hosted by Zero Gravity

For over 40 years, Southend-On-Sea’s Mickey Jupp has been making great records, championing a traditional rock & roll sound with a wry lyrical wit. He has been lauded by critics and peers alike. His songs have been recorded by Dr. Feelgood, Dave Edmunds, Nick Lowe, Gary Brooker, Roger Chapman, the Searchers and many others. But you've never heard of him...until now. Zero Gravity will be hosting a 3-hour Month of Mayhem Special overviewing the career of this remarkable songwriter.

24-Z

Sunday Mayhem 31 Midnight to Midnight

Hosted by Art Crimes, Jawbone, Max Level, Maybelline, Nancy Reagan, Studebaker Hawk, Ann Arbor, Bobo Z, and Burnt Weenie.

Frank Zappa, American Composer (1940-1993), has a catalog of over 80 official albums and several times that many unofficial ones. Numerous tribute bands, as well as some very brave orchestras, have kept his repertoire alive, both onstage and in recordings made after his passing. We can’t possibly play it all, but our crew of specialists will investigate their favorite aspects of the Zappa oeuvre.

Harping On About Jazz, Pt. 2

Tuesday Junehem 2 10am to 2pm
Hosted by Goodwrench

The first installment of "Harping on About Jazz" examined the beginnings of Jazz harp, pioneered in the early '30s by classical/jazz harp prodigy Casper Reardon, and ended up with the early works of jazz/soul harpist Dorothy Ashby.This was just a part of the picture... The second half of the special will continue on from this foundation and include the work of Alice Coltrane, Carol Emanuel, Zeena Parkins and other standard-bearers of the harp as used in modern jazz. If you didn't think there was such a thing as jazz harp, tune in for a big, big surprise.