Last week, someone announced over e-mail that there were a bunch of free books and CDs on the third floor... so naturally I went to take a look. Man, there were some stinkers in there--a week later, and those stinkers are still there. One CD did catch my eye, though, Duluth Rocked, Volume 3: Radio Play '70-'81. Given my love for the local music, why not? Plus, the price was right. So I took it back to my desk and put it on. It was about what you might expect, some 70s era rock bands that were obviously listening to a whole lotta Zep', Jefferson Airplane, Moody Blues, etc.
Most of it was pretty good... better than the retreads on classic rock radio. My favorite lyric was from "Starship Rider" by Atlantis II:
She claims to be a real starship reader
Invades my dreams this little starship rider
You won't believe she is a starship rider
But you will see she is a starship rider
OK, so it's a little cheesey, but I like it. Sue me. I'm sure the lyrics to the bands I like now will be no less trite in a quarter century. But the real question was, how did we get it at MPR?
So a quick search of "Duluth Rocked" on Google provided the MPR story produced over two years ago. It is fascinating. Also, you can take a look at the Duluth Rocked Web site, which gives the story something like this: Long ago in days before radio consolidation, radio stations played local music. Crazy, I know, It's hard to imagine it, but it's true. And Duluth... well, Duluth rocked. And this is a collection of the bands that got the most radio airplay in the 70s. Bands like Winterwood, Crazy Blame, Whiskey River, Loose Change, M.A. Freepress are all represented here; transferred from vinyl to a modern day CD.
Of course this opens up all sorts of questions: What's the future for musicians on local radio? Do you remember any of these bands? What would a compliation of this nature look like in another 25 years? What do you think?
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Brett Baldwin, Web Producer, Minnesota Public Radio
Talk about Minnesota Music at mnmusic.gather.com or talk about Duluth Life at duluth.gather.com
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