Since the early 70′s ELO has been more than just a band. They became a global phenomenon selling more than 50 million records world wide. Today their music is more popular than ever and XRT is proud to celebrate all that is ELO with The Electric Light Brunch Sunday morning at 10am with your host, Johnny Mars.Get More ELO

“ The original work, released March of 1973, turns 38 this month.
” Just when you thought having a vinyl copy,  cassette, CD, and mp3 file, maybe even a bootleg 8-track, of your favorite album was enough: Think again. One of the most successful rock albums of all time, Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, gets the Nintendo computer game remake. Brad Smith, a musician and computer scientist who works in the gaming industry, offers us a chance to listen to this classic work as an old-school video game. The Journey Begins Here

Feb 12, 1956 a drunken band goes into a New York City recording studio…wait, is this a joke? No. It was on this day 55 years ago that Screamin’ Jay Hawkins recorded his most famous song: “I Put a Spell On You.” With wild operatic swagger and gurgling, alcohol-fueled bravado, he unleashed a raw, guttural track that he was too drunk to remember; blacking out during the recording process does that to you. He later had to learn the song from the recorded version. Disc jockey Alan Freed offered him $300 to pop out of a coffin onstage and Jay created a wild persona that included gold and leopard skin costumes, voodoo props and a skull-on-a-stick. Thus becoming a pioneer in the Shock Rock field. The song was selected as one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs That Shaped Rock & Roll.Read More From Johnny Mars

It’s Monday, the Chicago Bears are done, It’s still Winter…what does one do to pass this ugly time? I say this calls for a little “cenesthetic hallucination.” Say what?

Just follow the link and get ready to for a total head-rush at your job. Staring at your hand will never be boring again.Continue With Johnny Mars

From newer artists like Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Andrew Bird and Peter, Bjorn and John to classic musicians like Paul Simon, John Lennon…even the theme from the Andy Griffith Show, whistling has played a part in these and countless other songs.

But after hearing Terri Hemmert play Edward Sharpe’s joyful song, “Home” I wondered about the dark side of whistling… does it have to be a HAPPY tune whenever there’s whistling involved? Let’s pucker up and blow out a list that will be a bummer in the summer. Just to prove they’re there.

Pucker up and post your comments below:more

“ It was the song that really made The Rolling Stones, changed us from just another band into a huge, monster band...
” Mick Jagger Back in the day when Keith Richards slept like a normal human, he woke one night with an inspiration: The words, “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction” and a three-note guitar riff. Or as Keith put it, “Two minutes of ‘Satisfaction’ and 40 minutes of me snoring.”

Regardless, he and Mick Jagger took to writing the song from this dream, finishing it in a Clearwater, Florida hotel on May 6,1965.

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On April 29, 1976, after playing a show in Memphis, Bruce Springsteen went to Graceland in an attempt to meet his idol, Elvis Presley. Instead of waiting patiently at the front gate (perhaps the intercom wasn’t working), Bruce jumped the fence and was promptly detained by the King’s security detail. At that point the Boss tried anything, even telling the guards that he was on the cover of Time & Newsweek in the same week. he was quickly shown off the property.

A better strategy might have been:

1. “Hey, I just wrote a song for Elvis and I want to play it for him”
2. Dr Nick was at my show and gave me a package he wanted me to deliver.”
3. OR?…

Click “more” to leave your comment…more

Johnny Mars was born and raised on the west and northwest sides of Chicago. After putting his right hand through a plate-glass window playing sports he decided to pursue what he considered a less aggressive hobby: Music. He found out later that the music he loved best was often the most aggressive. With every dime he could beg, borrow or steal from his folks he bought records. It was the beginning of a joyous routine that continues to this day…except for the stealing part.more