rrr radiothon

Radiothon Last Week Went Rather Well… Wanna Listen?

3:21PM Jess McGuire | Woo! Clem and yours truly are now both resting up after a rather full on last week in which we – and all the other volunteers on Melbourne community radio station RRR – attempted to inspire listeners to subscribe to the station for another year in a festival of begging known as Radiothon. Everything went rather well, and I thought I might pop some mp3s for your listening pleasure (or pain, depending on perspective) over the next week. You know, if you’re into it. My show I’d Rather Jack’s Radiothon Spacktacular ended up turning into a massive party. Joined on the night by Clemmy, as well as a host of musicians including The Ukeladies, The Brutals, Lilith Lane, Abby Dobson & Matt Gurry, Damian FitzGerald aka Underwaterman, Talei Wolfgramm, and the handsome Dan Kelly – and a bunch of boozing buddies who came in to watch the action live on air – I could not be happier with how the evening turned out. Thanks to everyone who subscribed, and remember – it’s not too late to go to rrr.org.au and put your money where your mouth is! It’s NEVER too late! Alright, on to the mp3s. Soon I’ll pop up some magic from Talei & Damian, Dan Kelly, Dave McCormack re-doing OutKast, and the freakiest cover of Haddaway you’ll ever hear as provided by The Drones, but for now, I thought I’d bang up me and The Bastow’s contributions to the evening. JUMP! FOR OUR AUDIO-LOVE! More »

I’d Rather Jack Radiothon Spacktacular On RRR!

1:56PM Jess McGuire | Hello good readers, As you may or may not be aware, I present a “cult” (that means “not too many listeners because it’s on very late, although the masturbating truck driver massive are a loyal audience”) radio show on Melbourne’s RRR 102.7FM called I’d Rather Jack. On this show, I get to play whatever the damn hell I like (so playlists tend to include Stiff Little Fingers followed by Kylie followed by Otis Redding followed by Girls Aloud followed by The Drones followed by Angie Hart followed by Billy Ocean followed by YOU GET MY POINT) which is sort of great – especially the Billy Ocean part. I have RRR to thank for this rare wireless-molesting freedom. More »

RRR’s Radiothon – Subscribe To Transference!

4:21PM Jess McGuire | Dear readers, Literally AS I TYPE the beautiful Clem Bastow, our wonderful Associate Editor, is on the airwaves giving the wireless-loving public a serving of Radiothon fuelled delight as presenter of the RRR drive program ‘Transference’. She’ll be joined this afternoon by Little Red, Guy Blackman AND the handsome (and recently returned from overseas) minstrel/PathWords freak Dan Kelly. Listen now on 102.7FM if you’re in Melbourne, or stream from rrr.org.au. And most importantly, SUBSCRIBE! Tomorrow night I’ll be hosting my own Radiothon show at the very glamorous time of midnight, where I’ll be joined by Clem and a host of music gods, but more details about that later. More »

Last Night’s RRR Radiothon!

12:11PM Jess McGuire | What an amazing evening of music, and we say that with some degree of objectivity. No, really! We had a stack of pre-recorded genius from wonderful artists who generously donated their time to lay down “tracks” of cover songs – and they were fucking awesome! The atrociously handsome Dan Kelly not only did the world’s best John Butler impression for a station id (we’re trying to get the audio up here as we speak, stay tuned…) but he also performed a stunning and utterly unexpected rendition of Rod Stewart’s “Maggie May”! Patrick J Bourke* of Dallas Crane fame offered up a version of Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time”, iconic Australian music figure Stephen Cummings gave us Jason Donovan’s “Too Many Broken Hearts”, Lisa Mitchell from last year’s Australian Idol performed a lovely cover of “What I Like About You”, and SPOD worked some magic on Beyonce’s “Check On It”. Dave Graney and Clare Moore got their smooth on in the name of community radio with “Hard Times”, Melbourne’s own The Basics gave us an exclusive live recording of “Ebony and Ivory”, and Little Red moved us all with their a cappella interpretation of “Heal The World”. But that wasn’t where it ended! We also had a host of surprise LIVE performers! The Good Intentions belted out Chumbawamba’s “Tubthumpin”, Ground Components – WITH A PIANO ACCORDION, FOR FUCKS!! – played Dallas Groundies’ grandpa’s song “Louis the Rat” and inspired a massive singalong, the ridiculously talented Sime Nugent crooned “The Greatest Love Of All”, and a supergroup consisting of members from Good Intentions, Eurobeat 3, The Drones, Ground Components – as well as Sime Nugent and Angie Hart – all contributed to a gorgeous take on Dire Straits’ “Walk Of Life”. AND JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT YOUR HEAD WAS GOING TO EXPLODE? Angie Hart and Dan Luscombe from The Drones did a last minute duet of “Islands In The Stream”. All in all, a marvellous show. Thank you to all who subscribed to RRR during I’d Rather Jack, and if you didn’t? Do it now! On what motherfucking station will you see a line up like that delivering the goods with nothing to gain except perhaps access to a free slab of beer? rrr.org.au is the station, but if you’re not Melbourne based, then we heartily recommend you support your own local community radio station any time of the year… It’s where the magic happens, people. *Also a fellow member (along with Defamer Australia) of hip hop duo The Septics. More »