I was pleasantly surprised by the reaction from our occasionally snobbish friends at KCMU circa 1989 to the eponymous major label debut by Indigo Girls (who I'm assuming need no introduction, but maybe millennials have no idea who I'm talking about; well, I guess this record is as good a place to start as any). Of course, my familiarity with this album is based on the massive popularity in 1989 of the song "Closer to Fine," which was all over mainstream rock radio the summer I turned 13. To the gang at KCMU early that year, this was a new record from a powerful pair of women they'd never heard of with a kickass batch of songs. Sure, it was on a major label, but this was 1989; you couldn't be snooty about what records a label might choose to gamble on.
Indigo Girls have kept on keeping on over the intervening decades. They released a new album last year and have a busy touring schedule. I don't see any Seattle-area performances on the calendar yet, but they do have a performance in October with the Spokane Symphony Orchestra. Maybe DJ "Hostess," who wrote half of the glowing comments below, will make the road trip out.
"Two women - two guitars. These gals are soulful alright. Strong vocals to boot! Play.""Great phone response too!"
"Great album, lots of calls on 'Kid Fears'!"
"'Center Stage' powerful! Take a bite boys!"
"OK OK, I gotta write again! 'Center Stage' is great! I went + bought this + have enjoyed it muchly!"
"Very good harmonies. Kinda folksy + that's OK by me. 'Closer to Fine.'"
Today, over five and a half years after my post about Lida Husik's 2nd album and its reception at KCMU, I decided to share her very first album. Way back in 2010, I was lamenting whatever oversight had led to Ms. Husik's not being on Wikipedia, and expressing excitement that she was working on her …
Madison noisemeisters Killdozer certainly had their fans at KCMU, if the reaction to 1986's Burl EP is to be believed, but it seems their loyalty was being tested by the covers collection For Ladies Only. From 25 years in the future, it's hard to remember that heavy, noise-laden (and maybe ironic?)…