Wednesday MidDay Medley
Produced and Hosted by Mark Manning
90.1 FM KKFI – Kansas City Community Radio
TEN to NOON Wednesdays – Streaming at KKFI.org

Wednesday, September 23, 2026

Marilyn Maye + Michelle Shocked + Spike Hellis + Zachary Van Benthusen

1. “It’s Showtime Folks”
   from: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack to All That Jazz / 1980
   [WMM’s theme song]

2. Marilyn Maye – “Guess Who I Saw Today”
   from: The Magic of Marilyn Maye: Live at Jazz at Lincoln Center / Blue Engine / Jan. 16, 2028
   [Blue Engine Records, the in-house record label of Jazz at Lincoln Center, is proud to release The Magic of Marilyn Maye: Live at Jazz at Lincoln Center. Marking the first album release in a decade from the renowned vocalist, actress, director, and arranger, this collection spotlights some of Marilyn Maye’s most unforgettable performances on Jazz at Lincoln Center’s stages over the years. The Magic of Marilyn Maye: Live at Jazz at Lincoln Center is available now on all major streaming platforms now. For more info:t jazz.org/marilyn.
   Recorded across all of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s stages—Rose Theater, The Appel Room, and Dizzy’s Club—The Magic of Marilyn Maye: Live at Jazz at Lincoln Center captures the full breadth of Maye’s artistic command in spaces that have become a second home to her. Produced by Lisa Schiff, Jazz at Lincoln Center Chair Emeritus, the album features collaborations with top-notch performers including the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, with whom Maye delivers a show-stopping medley of Johnny Mercer tunes. // Marilyn Maye McLaughlin was born April 10, 1928. She is 98 and still performing live. She is an American singer, musical theater actress and masterclass educator. With a career spanning eight decades, Maye has performed music in the styles of cabaret, jazz and pop music. She has received one nomination from the Grammy Awards and had commercial success as a recording artist. // Maye was raised in both Kansas and Iowa. With her mother’s encouragement, Maye performed onstage and on the radio during her childhood. In her teenage years, she had her own radio program in Des Moines, Iowa. Maye performed locally during the 1940s and 1950s until being discovered in 1963 by Steve Allen, later appearing on his television show. She also began a 76-episode run on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. This led to her signing a recording contract with RCA Victor. // Between 1965 and 1970, Maye recorded a series of albums for RCA. Her debut studio album Meet Marvelous Marilyn Maye was released in 1965. Producer Joe René brought Maye Broadway show tunes to record prior to them appearing in musicals. Many of these songs were issued by RCA as singles and some became successful. Three singles reached the American adult contemporary top ten: “Cabaret” (1966), “Sherry!” (1967) and “Step to the Rear” (1967). // By the 1970s, the nightclub circuit began to disappear and Maye found performing work elsewhere. For two decades, she made regional appearances in musicals like Hello, Dolly!, Mame and Follies. She also continued her recording career, releasing an album of music from Hello Dolly in 1985 and a tribute album of songs to Ray Charles in 2005. She also continued working across the United States in smaller venues. In 2006, she gained attention after performing in New York City at the Mabel Mercer Foundation. This led to Maye gaining a new audience in her late seventies and a renewed interest in her concert appearances. Now in her nineties, Maye has continued to appear regularly in concert. // Marilyn Maye McLaughlin was born on April 10, 1928 in Wichita, Kansas to father Kenneth and mother Lyla McLaughlin. She was named after Marilyn Miller, a 1920s singer and performer. Maye’s cousin was Broadway actress Joy Hodges. Her father was a pharmacist who relocated the family to nearby Topeka where he ran a drugstore. During this period, her mother encouraged her daughter to sing and perform. “Mother was a very strong lady, so thank God I had talent, because she was determined to make me a singer,” she told Theatre Mania in 2007. Lyla McLaughlin had her daughter begin singing and dancing at age three. She also had Maye train with a classical vocal coach in Topeka. // At age nine, Marilyn won a Topeka talent contest. This led to her landing a 13-week radio spot on WIBW and she earned a total of three dollars, which would be equivalent to $66 in 2024. In 1939, she performed in a children’s revue program in Topeka’s Jayhawk Theatre. In her childhood, Marilyn’s parents divorced. Her mother relocated to Des Moines, Iowa and Marilyn moved with her. By age 13, she was performing inside ballrooms often singing big band music. Since she was underage, prompting Maye’s mother kept a book where to record the false ages of her daughter to remember to tell it to agents. She had own her weekly radio program during her teenage years in Iowa. She often skipped her high school Spanish class so she could make regular radio appearances. In 1946, Marilyn graduated from East High School in Des Moines. // Following her 1946 high school graduation, Maye became a staff vocalist for WHAS radio in Louisville, Kentucky. There she performed with combos and orchestras. She then embarked as a solo performer throughout the Midwest United States, including nightclubs in Chicago, Illinois. Among her Midwest gigs was the President Hotel, located in the downtown district of Kansas City, Missouri. At the hotel she met dancer Jimmy De Fore, whom she later married. De Fore became the opening act in her shows. // After marrying De Fore, Maye relocated permanently to Kansas City. During this period, the couple operated a children’s dance studio in Kansas City. De Fore taught dancing and Maye taught singing. Maye also took on a gig as the permanent performer at Kansas City’s Colony Steakhouse. She worked alongside pianist (and her now second husband) Sammy Tucker. She remained at Colony Steakhouse for 11 years. The arrangements and musical routines she developed at the Colony would later be used on her first albums. Maye then recorded her first album in an attempt to bring her to the attention of major record labels. In 1961, the Holly record label released Marilyn…the Most. It featured compositions by Midwest writer Carl Bolte, Jr. and was a locally distributed album in Missouri. // In 1963, Maye was performing at a nightclub when she was heard by television personality Steve Allen. He was also brought to the attention of her debut album, which impressed him enough to book her for several appearances on The Steve Allen Show. She also continued to perform at the Colony Steakhouse in Kansas City. Maye performed on The Steve Allen Show a total of six times. On the sixth show, she was heard by a label executive from RCA Victor. She officially signed with the label in 1965. Maye then began recording with Joe René, who produced her first RCA Victor album. Titled Meet Marvelous Marilyn Maye, the album was released in August 1965 and featured liner notes from Steve Allen. It was given a positive review from Billboard magazine, who named it a “Pop Special Merit” pick in its weekly list of albums. // Maye was discovered by Steve Allen in the early 1960s. Her performances on his television program led to a recording contract with RCA Victor that brought Maye commercial success during the decade. Maye was then heard at a New York City nightclub by Ed McMahon of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. He advocated for her to appear on the late-night television program and she first appeared there in 1966. Maye went on to appear on The Tonight Show for a record 76 times, the most of any music artist. RCA Victor also released two albums of Maye’s material in 1966. This began with the release of a live LP titled The Second of Maye. It was recorded at The Living Room in New York City and featured accompaniment from Maye’s husband’s quartet. A studio project titled The Lamp Is Low was then released in October 1966. Most of the tracks were new material that were cut in a jazz style. // After recording “I Love You Today” for an upcoming musical, producer Joe René was inspired to bring Maye more show tune material. In 1966, René had Maye record “Cabaret” from the Broadway musical of the same name. Released as a single, “Cabaret” became her breakthrough recording. In 1966, it reached number nine on America’s Billboard adult contemporary chart. It was followed by “Sherry!”, which would appear in the Broadway show of the same name. Similar to its predecessor, “Sherry!” climbed into the top ten of the Billboard adult contemporary chart. Both were included on Maye’s fourth studio album titled A Taste of “Sherry!” (1967). It was her next single that became her most commercially successful recording. Taken from the Broadway musical How Now, Dow Jones, Maye’s version of “Step to the Rear” reached number two on the adult contemporary chart in 1968. It was then included in Maye’s fifth studio album of the same name. // Now in popular demand, Maye made appearances on many popular television programs. During this period, she appeared periodically on The Ed Sullivan Show, The Dick Cavett Show, The Merv Griffin Show and The Mike Douglas Show. She continued to be a concert attraction in New York City’s nightclub circuit. She also performed at political functions, including Iowa Governor Robert D. Ray and US Senator Bob Dole. In 1966, she was nominated by the Grammy Awards for Best New Artist, but ultimately lost to Tom Jones. In 1969, “Step to the Rear” began being featured in televised advertisements for the Lincoln and Mercury automobiles. Maye recorded the song with new lyrics to match the advertisement. She received a new car from Lincoln–Mercury for several years. // RCA Victor kept Maye under contract until 1970 and she continued recording a steady output of material. Her sixth studio album The Happiest Sound in Town appeared in 1968. That same year, the song “Feelin'” became a top 20 single on the Billboard adult contemporary chart. A duet with Ed Ames titled “Think Summer” also reached the adult contemporary top 20 during this time. RCA issued Maye’s final studio album with their label in 1970 called Marilyn Maye, Girl Singer. // Maye departed RCA Victor by 1970. She found less work on the nightclub circuit as supper clubs declined in popularity. “I was too late to have a big career,” she told Theater Mania. “It was amazing that I was able to as much as I did in the 1960s, and even more amazing that I was able to carry on into the ’70s — because by that time, of course, music had totally changed.” The only concert work she could find was on the American West Coast, which had limited availability. Meanwhile, she maintained consistent appearances The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson throughout the decade. She made her final performance there in 1979. // Maye also started appearing in regional theater productions during the 1970s. She played a series of shows at the Starlight Theatre in Kansas City, Missouri. This began in 1970 when she starred as Dolly Levi in Hello, Dolly!. She also performed in the Starlight’s production of Can-Can. “I performed the part of Pistache and loved singing ‘C’est Magnifique’ each night,” she told Playbill magazine. In 1973, she appeared at the Starlight again in The Doc Severinsen Show. In Houston, Texas she played the lead in Mame. In 1990, Maye auditioned for the lead in a regional production of Follies. After the role was given to another actress, Maye was instead giving the supporting role of Carlotta. // Maye also continued her career as singer and recording artist. She took her concerts to performing arts centers and smaller venues around the United States. In 1981, she began working with Billy Stritch who has since been her off-and-off accompanist and music director. On her own Marilyn Maye Records, she released a studio collection called Marilyn Maye Sings All of Jerry Herman’s “Hello Dolly”. Released in 1985, the album was a collection of songs from the original musical. Writer of the show Jerry Herman penned the album’s lines notes, calling Maye an “extraordinary combination of acting and singing talent”. // More studio albums followed. In 2005, she released a studio album of songs first recorded by Ray Charles. Titled Maye Sings Ray, the album was also released on her own record label. Author Will Friedwald praised the disc, commenting that “she takes Brother Ray’s signatures and refits them for herself while retaining the essence of the original.” Maye released another studio album in 2005 featuring songs she performed on Johnny Carson’s show called Super Singer – A Tribute to Johnny Carson. The disc included “Here’s That Rainy Day”, which was Carson’s favorite song Maye sang. // despite her age, Maye stated to many publications that she refused to retire and continued performing. In 2006 at age 78, Maye gained notable attention after performing at New York City’s Lincoln Center for the Mabel Mercer Foundation. With encouragement from Billy Stritch and her lawyer, Maye went on to perform at New York’s Metropolitan Room where she reportedly “blew the roof off”. From there, began returning to New York City with more frequency, doing nearly ten shows yearly. In April 2007, she returned to New York and did a 14-show engagement. “Now in her mid-70s, combines Broadway brass and jazz scooby-do with such a natural feel for both that they become twin styles that you can hardly tell apart,” wrote Stephen Holden of The New York Times. // At age 80, she returned in 2008 to the Metropolitan room with a new stage show of Cabaret music called “Love on the Rocks”. The program featured both popular nightclub songs, along with more recent covers such as songs by James Taylor. Maye continued to draw concert work in other places such as Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Sioux City, Iowa and Provincetown, Massachusetts. In the 2010s, Maye continued a regular concert schedule throughout the United States, including continual New York City engagements. In 2010, she performed at a Carnegie Hall concert in celebration of Stephen Sondheim’s 80th birthday. In both 2011 and 2012, she performed at Feinstein’s at Loews Regency. // Approaching the age of 90, Maye was featured in a 2018 episode of CBS Sunday Morning, with a profile by Mo Rocca. When she was 93, Rocca profiled her again for the television program. Maye discussed the loss of concert work due to the COVID-19 pandemic and how she continued to perform outdoors when indoor nationwide shutdowns occurred. At age 95, Maye made her solo concert debut at Carnegie Hall. The concert drew positive reviews from critics who remarked at the singer’s age and vocal ability. “Maye is a master of the American songbook and for two solid hours, she had the crowd eating from the palm of her hand,” wrote Ryan Leeds of the Manhattan Digest. “For this writer who has, for some time, marveled at the breadth of her talent and endurance, she is The Unstoppable Marilyn Maye,” wrote Stephen Mosher of BroadwayWorld. // Nate Chinen of NPR called her “one of our greatest living songbook singers”. The New York Times called her “the last of a great generation of American Songbook singers.” Ella Fitzgerald (a friend of Maye’s and a fan of her work) referred to Maye as “the greatest white female singer in the world”. Her version of “Too Late Now” was included in the Smithsonian Institution recordings of the 20th Century. // Maye has been the recipient of awards and honors in her later years. In 2008, she received a Distinguished Arts Award from the Governor of Kansas. Other honors include the Jazz Heritage Award, the Kansas City Jazz Ambassador’s Award of Excellence, the Elder Statesmen of Jazz Award, and lifetime achievement awards from both the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame and Kansas City’s CODA Jazz Fund. She was given a lifetime achievement award by the American Jazz Museum and inducted into its Walk of Fame. She has also received lifetime achievement awards from the Great American Songbook Foundation, Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation, and the Chicago Cabaret Professionals Association. On September 18, 2012, the Native Sons and Daughters of Greater Kansas City honored Maye with the organization’s Outstanding Kansas Citian Award.// Maye has been married three times. She also had one long-term partnership. At age 18, she married her first husband who was a dancer. The pair briefly moved to Florida before divorcing one year later. Maye later cited his gambling and alcohol addictions for the marriage’s demise. Her second marriage was to Jimmie De Fore. Their union resulted in Maye’s only child, daughter Kristi Tucker. Maye’s daughter is a singer and vocal instructor in KC. Tucker is employed at the Marley School of Dance in Overland Park, KS. Her third marriage was to Jazz performer Sammy Tucker. He adopted Maye’s daughter. However, she found him abusive and their marriage also ended in divorce. Maye was involved in a long-term relationship with a man for roughly ten years. When the pair ended their relationship, Maye purposely sang “I Will Survive” on The Tonight Show and told her partner to watch the show.]

[Marilyn Maye plays The Folly Theater, 300 West 12th St. KCMO, Friday, September 25, at 7:30pm]

10:06 – Interview with Marilyn Maye

Legendary musical icon Marilyn Maye who plays The Folly Theater, 300 West 12th Street, KCMO, on Friday, September 25 at 7:30pm. Marilyn Maye celebrated her 98th birthday April 18, on stage at 54 Below, New York’s Broadway themed supper club, doing what she has done for nearly nine decades interpreting the American songbook in front of her adoring fans. She is an American singer, musical theater actress and masterclass educator who appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson 76 times. At age nine, Marilyn won a Topeka talent contest that led to her doing a 13-week radio spot on WIBW. By age 13, she was performing inside ballrooms singing big band music. At 98 she is preparing a 10-show run at 54 Below in New York City, November 17 thru 28, and a 4-show run at Birdland in New York City, December 31 thru January 3, 2027. The New York Times called her “the last of a great generation of American Songbook singers.” Ella Fitzgerald (a friend of Maye’s and a fan of her work) referred to Maye as “the greatest white female singer in the world”. More info at www.follytheater.org

Marilyn Maye thanks for being with us this morning on Wednesday MidDay Medley.

Welcome back to KKFI 90.1 FM and Congratulations on Marilyn on her beautiful new LIVE album: The Magic of Marilyn Maye: Live at Jazz at Lincoln Center

Recorded across all of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s stages—Rose Theater, The Appel Room, and Dizzy’s Club—The Magic of Marilyn Maye: Live at Jazz at Lincoln Center captures the full breadth of Maye’s artistic command in spaces that have become a second home to her. Produced by Lisa Schiff, Jazz at Lincoln Center Chair Emeritus.

Marilyn Maye celebrated her 98th birthday April 18, on stage at 54 Below, New York’s Broadway themed supper club, doing what she has done for nearly nine decades interpreting the American songbook in front of her adoring fans.

At 98 she is preparing a 10-show run at 54 Below in New York City, November 17 thru 28, and a 4-show run at Birdland in New York City, December 31 thru January 3, 2027.

Marilyn Maye lives in and loves New York City!

Marilyn returns to play The Folly Theatre here in Kansas City, her “home town.”

In 2008, Marilyn received a Distinguished Arts Award from the Governor of Kansas. Other honors include the Jazz Heritage Award, the Kansas City Jazz Ambassador’s Award of Excellence, the Elder Statesmen of Jazz Award, and lifetime achievement awards from both the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame and Kansas City’s CODA Jazz Fund.

She was given a lifetime achievement award by the American Jazz Museum and inducted into its Walk of Fame. She has also received lifetime achievement awards from the Great American Songbook Foundation, Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation, and the Chicago Cabaret Professionals Association.

On September 18, 2012, the Native Sons and Daughters of Greater Kansas City honored Maye with the organization’s Outstanding Kansas Citian Award.

Marilyn Maye was “discovered in 1963” by Steve Allen, later appearing on his television show. Marilyn Maye appeared periodically on The Ed Sullivan Show, The Dick Cavett Show, The Merv Griffin Show and The Mike Douglas Show. She also began a 76-episode run on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.

Started in radio At age nine, Marilyn won a Topeka talent contest. This led to her landing a 13-week radio spot on WIBW and she earned a total of three dollars. Following her 1946 high school graduation, Maye became a staff vocalist for WHAS radio in Louisville, Kentucky.

At age 95, Maye made her solo concert debut at Carnegie Hall. The concert drew positive reviews from critics who remarked at the singer’s age and vocal ability. “Maye is a master of the American songbook and for two solid hours, she had the crowd eating from the palm of her hand,” wrote Ryan Leeds of the Manhattan Digest. “For this writer who has, for some time, marveled at the breadth of her talent and endurance, she is The Unstoppable Marilyn Maye,” wrote Stephen Mosher of BroadwayWorld.

Nearly nine decades of constant performing: Radio, Television, Stage, Clubs, Concert halls

Nate Chinen of NPR called her “one of our greatest living songbook singers”. The New York Times called her “the last of a great generation of American Songbook singers.” Ella Fitzgerald (a friend of Maye’s and a fan of her work) referred to Maye as “the greatest white female singer in the world”.

Marilyn Maye thanks for being with us this morning on Wednesday MidDay Medley.

Marilyn Maye plays The Folly Theater, 300 West 12th St. KCMO, Saturday, September 25, at 7:30pm More info at www.follytheater.org

10:24

3. Marilyn Maye – “Put On A Happy Face”
   from: The Magic of Marilyn Maye: Live at Jazz at Lincoln Center / Blue Engine / Jan. 16, 2028
   [“Put on a Happy Face” is a popular song with lyrics by Lee Adams and music by Charles Strouse. It was introduced by Dick Van Dyke in the 1960 stage musical Bye Bye Birdie. // Blue Engine Records, the in-house record label of Jazz at Lincoln Center, is proud to release The Magic of Marilyn Maye: Live at Jazz at Lincoln Center. Marking the first album release in a decade from the renowned vocalist, actress, director, and arranger, this collection spotlights some of Marilyn Maye’s most unforgettable performances on Jazz at Lincoln Center’s stages over the years. The Magic of Marilyn Maye: Live at Jazz at Lincoln Center is available now on all major streaming platforms now. For more info:t jazz.org/marilyn. Recorded across all of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s stages—Rose Theater, The Appel Room, and Dizzy’s Club—The Magic of Marilyn Maye: Live at Jazz at Lincoln Center captures the full breadth of Maye’s artistic command in spaces that have become a second home to her. Produced by Lisa Schiff, Jazz at Lincoln Center Chair Emeritus, the album features collaborations with top-notch performers including the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, with whom Maye delivers a show-stopping medley of Johnny Mercer tunes.

[Marilyn Maye plays The Folly Theater, 300 West 12th St. KCMO, Saturday, September 25, at 7:30pm]

10:27 – Underwriting

4. FLVMING CR3VTVR3S – “4GET U (DEMO)”
   from: 4GET U (DEMO) – Single / FLVMING CR3VTVR3S / Jan. 16, 2020
   [“4GET U (DEMO)” eventually became “Forget U” track 5 on the debut 10-track album from FLVMING CR3VTVR3S called Vol II, released January 25, 2021. Prior to this album, from July 2014 to December 2020 FLVMING CR3VTVR3S released 15 singles, and then released two 13-track albums: Vol III on October 30, 2021, and Vol IV on February 5, 2022. // FLVMING CR3VTVR3S is also known as Christian O’Reilly. He is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and visual artist embedded deep within the Kansas City underground DIY music and art community. Known for a distinct, avant-garde ethos that challenges traditional boundaries, O’Reilly has built a reputation across the region for his prolific output in left-of-the-dial garage rock, noise punk, and sub-underground art rock.” Christian is also a celebrated archivis

10:31 – Interview with Zachary Van Benthusen

We are very happy to welcome back to the WMM show, Zachary Van Benthusen, a musician, actor, model, filmmaker, playwright, scene maker and producer. Fascinated by his dad’s Kiss records hanging on the walls when he was in 1st grade, he dressed up like Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley for halloween. In 2nd grade Zachary dropped out of school as part of an “unschooling” movement. He took guitar lessons with “Fast” Johnny Ricker, and at 9 he served as a guest DJ on 90.1 FM playing The Doors, and Pink Floyd. As a 12 year old he started working with Paul Mesner Puppets while also starting a photography business. When Zach was 16 he was modeling underwear for Late Night Theatre, and at 17 was writing plays with The Coterie Theatre’s Young Playwrights Roundtable. Zachary has worked in film & video. He has collaborated on music & videos for SSION, with musician & director Cody Critcheloe. Zachary has been a collaborator with Whoop Dee Doo and has worked with the band Nature Boys. For five years Zachary played music with the band Lazy and produced videos for the band.

Zachary Van Benthusen Thank you for being with us on Wednesday MidDay Medley

The last time Zach was on WMM was September 28, 2016, to introduce us to the the Chicago punk/electronic/performance art band ONO who Zach brought to KC for an incredible show that we will never forget.

We just heard music from a former bandmate of Zachary’s, Christian O’Reilly aka FLVMING CR3VTVR3S.

Zachary has brought us several tracks from friends who don’t get much spotlight, and next up Peterson Pistol.

10:35

5. Peterson Pistol – “Power House”
   from: Demos EP / Erica & Andrea Peterson / August 10, 2014
   [Originally released as a single on October 5, 2013. Originally released as DATED now called Peterson Pilot and centered around sisters Erica and Andrea Peterson. Erica Peterson and Andrea Peterson are multidisciplinary creators, musicians, and collaborative artists rooted in the independent underground scene of the Kansas City metro area. Best known for their shared contributions to local lo-fi music and experiential art initiatives, they have heavily influenced the DIY culture of the region.]

10:39 – More Interview with Zachary Van Benthusen

Today our social guest co-host is, Zachary Van Benthusen, a musician, actor, model, filmmaker, playwright, scene maker and producer. For this radio episode, Zach brought along his beautiful mother Jane Prewitt Watkins, and grandmother Patty Prewitt.

Zachary Van Benthusen, Jane and Patty, Thank you for being with us on Wednesday MidDay Medley.

10:42

6. BACXTE – “BACK AND FORTH”
   from: A WAY / BACXTE / September 13, 2014
   [Produced by PSYCH-O-DELIC GANGBANG. One of multiple singles, EPs and albums BACXTE has releaed since their 10-track debut on January 28, 2011. // BACXTE is Brandon Gay, an underground multi-disciplinary visual artist based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Operating within a fiercely independent, counterculture niche, Gay has utilized several distinct, provocative monikers and creative projects throughout his career, including Psych-O-delic Gangbang, Baxcte, Thugees, More info at www.romanceholocaust.bandcamp.com]

10:44 – More Interview with Zachary Van Benthusen

Today we are joined by our friend, Zachary Van Benthusen, a musician, actor, model, filmmaker, playwright, scene maker and producer. Fascinated by his dad’s Kiss records hanging on the walls when he was in 1st grade, he dressed up like Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley for halloween. In 2nd grade Zachary dropped out of school as part of an “unschooling” movement. He took guitar lessons with “Fast” Johnny Ricker, and at 9 he served as a guest DJ on 90.1 FM playing The Doors, and Pink Floyd. Zachary has worked in film & video. He has collaborated on music & videos for SSION, with musician & director Cody Critcheloe. Zachary has been a collaborator with Whoop Dee Doo and has worked with the band Nature Boys. For five years Zachary played music with the band Lazy and produced videos for the band.

Zachary Van Benthusen Thank you for being with us on Wednesday MidDay Medley

10:47

7. Couch Serf – “Soft Targets”
   from: Mercies / Couch Serf / October 17, 2025
   [Written by Couch Serf. Mastered by Tim Harte. Album art by Couch Serf and Patrick Rocha. Couch Serf also released the 17-track album, Your Anxiety Is Valid, on December 5, 2024. Couch Serf also released the single “Going 95” on July 3, 2023. Couch Serf also released the spilt EP with Twin Boyfriend on May 3, 2023. Couch Serf is Jonathan Brokaw. // Jonathan “JB” Brokaw is a singer, guitarist, and songwriter in the Kansas City, Missouri DIY and punk music community. Known for his eclectic, high-energy, and often experimental songwriting. Brokaw was the creative engine behind several notable underground KC bands: Salty and Lil Toughies. Salty’s PRESERVATION BLUES (2017) and DRY RUB (2019) we’re part of WMM Best Recordings of 2017 and 2019.]

10:51 – More Interview with Zachary Van Benthusen

Today we are joined by our friend, Zachary Van Benthusen, a musician, actor, model, filmmaker, playwright, scene maker and producer. As a 12 year old he started working with Paul Mesner Puppets while also starting a photography business. When Zach was 16 he was modeling underwear for Late Night Theatre, and at 17 was writing plays with The Coterie Theatre’s Young Playwrights Roundtable. For five years Zachary played music with the band Lazy and produced videos for the band.

Zachary Van Benthusen Thank you for being with us on Wednesday MidDay Medley

Brave Boy is next, and Zach is hanging out to help us interview Spike Hellis a segment he set up for the show.

10:54

8. Brave Boy – “Take You Away”
   from: “Take You Away” – Single / Brave Boy / December 29, 2023
   [Mary Harrison on vocals; Eric Harrison on guitar, bass, synthesizers; and Chad Duncan on guitar. Inspired by the Joyce Carol Oates short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? // Brave Boy is a Wichita-based band blending the gauzy elegance of dreampop with sharp-edged rhythms and a theatrical sense of release. Formed by married duo Mary and Eric Harrison, Brave Boy crafts emotionally vivid songs that shimmer, pulse, and unravel — drawing from a wide palette of synthpop, glam, shoegaze, and angular art rock. More info atwww.braveboymusic.com]

10:59 – Station ID

9. Spike Hellis – “Teardrop (Kisses)”
   from: Spike Hellis / Over-Pop / April 1, 2022
   [Engineered, recorded & produced by Spike Hellis. Mastered by Evan Conway @ rec center Los Angeles, CA, 2020-2021. Cover artwork by Buvard. Special Thanks to our family, friends and therapist (!!) // Spike Hellis is Cortland Gibson and Elaine Chang (Lainey ), the Los Angeles-based electronic duo became fully formed on October 31, 2019. Following the release of their first EP Crisis Talk in 2020, they self-released their debut full-length under their imprint Over-Pop in April 2022. They’ve since toured relentlessly across North America, Europe, and Latin America with no end in sight. The band’s new album Successor was released by Over-Pop records. More info at: www.spikehellis.com]

[Spike Hellis plays Replay Lounge, 946 Massachusetts St., in Lawrence, Kansas on Wednesday, September 23, at 10:00pm with DJ Hylle, and Soulfire Sky.]

[Spike Hellis plays Union Library 1317 Union Ave, KCMO in West Bottoms Thur, Sept. 24, at 9:00pm.]

11:03 – Interview with Cortland Gibson & Lainey Chang of Spike Hellis

Spike Hellis recently release their new 10 track album Successor. Spike Hellis plays Replay Lounge, 946 Massachusetts St., in Lawrence, Kansas on Wednesday, September 23, at 10:00pm with DJ Hylle, and Soulfire Sky. Spike Hellis plays Union Library 1317 Union Ave, KCMO in West Bottoms Thur, Sept. 24, at 9:00pm. Spike Hellis is Cortland Gibson and Lainey (Elaine Chang), the Los Angeles-based electronic duo became fully formed on October 31st, 2019. Following the release of their first EP Crisis Talk in 2020, they self-released their debut full-length under their imprint Over-Pop in April 2022. They’ve since toured relentlessly across North America, Europe, and Latin America with no end in sight. The band’s new album Successor was released by Over-Pop records. More info at: www.spikehellis.com

Cortland Gibson thanks for being with us on Wednesday MidDay Medley

Cortland and Lainey are excited to be back in the area for the shows at Replay Lounge, 946 Massachusetts St., in Lawrence, Kansas TONIGHT on Wednesday, September 23, at 10:00pm with DJ Hylle, and Soulfire Sky. And TOMORROW Night Spike Hellis plays Union Library 1317 Union Ave, KCMO in West Bottoms Thur, Sept. 24, at 9:00pm.

Spike Hellis formed on October 31, 2019.

Spike Hellis recently released their new 10 track album Successor.

11:10

10. Spike Hellis – “Crisis”
    from: Crisis Talk / Over-Pop / March 27, 2020
    [Recorded & mixed by Spike Hellis in Los Angeles, CA. Mastered by Colin Knight @ Paradise Records, January 2020. Special thanks to Susan Subtract, our family, friends and therapist. // Spike Hellis is Cortland Gibson and Elaine Chang (Lainey ), the Los Angeles-based electronic duo became fully formed on October 31, 2019. Following the release of their first EP Crisis Talk in 2020, they self-released their debut full-length under their imprint Over-Pop in April 2022. They’ve since toured relentlessly across North America, Europe, and Latin America with no end in sight. The band’s new album Successor was released by Over-Pop records. More info at: www.spikehellis.com]

[Spike Hellis plays Replay Lounge, 946 Massachusetts St., in Lawrence, Kansas on Wednesday, September 23, at 10:00pm with DJ Hylle, and Soulfire Sky.]

[Spike Hellis plays Union Library 1317 Union Ave, KCMO in West Bottoms Thur, Sept. 24, at 9:00pm.]

11:11 – More Interview with Cortland Gibson & Lainey Chang of Spike Hellis

Spike Hellis recently release their new 10 track album Successor. Spike Hellis plays Replay Lounge, 946 Massachusetts St., in Lawrence, Kansas on Wednesday, September 23, at 10:00pm with DJ Hylle, and Soulfire Sky. Spike Hellis plays Union Library 1317 Union Ave, KCMO in West Bottoms Thur, Sept. 24, at 9:00pm. Spike Hellis is Cortland Gibson and Elaine Chang aka Lainey, the Los Angeles-based electronic duo became fully formed on October 31st, 2019. Following the release of their first EP Crisis Talk in 2020, they self-released their debut full-length under their imprint Over-Pop in April 2022. They’ve since toured relentlessly across North America, Europe, and Latin America with no end in sight. The band’s new album Successor was released by Over-Pop records. More info at: www.spikehellis.com

Cortland Gibson and Lainey Chang thanks for being with us on Wednesday MidDay Medley

Spike Hellis plays Replay Lounge, 946 Massachusetts St., in Lawrence, Kansas on Wednesday, September 23, at 10:00pm with DJ Hylle, and Soulfire Sky

Spike Hellis plays Union Library 1317 Union Ave, KCMO in West Bottoms Thur, Sept. 24, at 9:00pm.

Cortland Gibson thanks for being with us on Wednesday MidDay Medley

The band’s new album Successor was released by Over-Pop records.

More info at: www.spikehellis.com

11:18

11. Spike Hellis– “No Bite”
    from: Successor / Over-Pop / August 7, 2026
    [Spike Hellis is Cortland and Lainey, the Los Angeles-based electronic duo became fully formed on October 31, 2019. Following the release of their first EP Crisis Talk in 2020, they self-released their debut full-length under their imprint Over-Pop in April 2022. They’ve since toured relentlessly across North America, Europe, and Latin America with no end in sight. The band’s new album Successor was released by Over-Pop records. More info at: www.spikehellis.com]

[Spike Hellis plays Replay Lounge, 946 Massachusetts St., in Lawrence, Kansas on Wednesday, September 23, at 10:00pm with DJ Hylle, and Soulfire Sky.]

[Spike Hellis plays Union Library 1317 Union Ave, KCMO in West Bottoms Thur, Sept. 24, at 9:00pm.]

12. ssshheee – “Molecules (Anais Nin)”
    from: The Bridge / ssshheee / March 26, 2026
    [This album’s experimental electronic sound is influenced by entertaining authors, X-Files marathons, radio static. Written recorded and produced by ssshheee/ // ssshheee is Hannah Hurrle is a versatile multimedia artist, designer, and experimental musician whose creative career spans the vibrant indie scenes of both Kansas City, Missouri and Green Bay, Wisconsin. Blending visual communication with experimental sound design, she explores the intersection of fine art, community-focused design, and underground music.”]

11:28 – Underwriting

13. Michelle Shocked – “Steppin’ Out”
    from: The Texas Campfire Tapes / Cooking Vinyl / 1986
    [The Texas Campfire Tapes is the first album by American singer and songwriter Michelle Shocked. The album was recorded on a Sony Walkman during an impromptu set performed by Shocked around a campfire at the Kerrville Folk Festival in Texas; the recording was made by Pete Lawrence, founder of the Cooking Vinyl label, on his first visit to the US. It was then released by Cooking Vinyl in 1986 and Shocked moved over to Europe to support and promote the album, which was subsequently released by Mercury Records. The album reached the top spot on the British independent record chart. It was remastered and reissued in 2003 as a two-CD set called Texas Campfire Takes by Shocked’s own label, Mighty Sound.]

[Michelle Shocked plays Greenwood Social Hall, 1750 Belleview, KCMO, on Thurs, Sept 24, 7:00pm]

14. Michelle Shocked – “When I Grow Up”
    from: Short Sharp Shocked / Capital – Mercury / August 15, 1988
    [Short Sharp Shocked is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Michelle Shocked, released in 1988 by Mercury Records. It was remastered and reissued in 2003 as a two-CD set by Shocked’s own label, Mighty Sound. The title Short Sharp Shocked is a play on the phrase “short, sharp shock”. The photograph of Shocked that appears on the album cover was taken by Chris Hardy of the San Francisco Examiner at a protest in San Francisco during the 1984 Democratic National Convention. The front cover of the 2003 reissue decontextualized the original photograph by closely cropping it to Shocked’s face, but the back cover features it in full, with the restraining officer’s eyes not obscured by airbrushed-on sunglasses like the front cover of the original Mercury release. The title and cover image are similar to those of the 1984 album Short Sharp Shock by the English punk rock band Chaos UK, who would respond by titling their 1989 album The Chipping Sodbury Bonfire Tapes after Shocked’s 1986 album The Texas Campfire Tapes. // Q magazine’s Robert Sandall wrote, “Where this album hits hardest is in the playful unpredictability of [Pete] Anderson and Shocked’s arrangements,” and observed, “‘When I Grow Up’ … introduces a jazzy, acoustic bass shuffle, then starts bouncing miscellaneous sound inserts around beneath the vocal. From here, it’s pretty much all stops to the thrash metal finale at the end of side two.” Including the album in its best-of-the-year round-up, Q commented, “Her excellent band revels in every opportunity she gives to cut loose and take chances, which heightens the spontaneous feel of her raggedy vocals. Second albums can often be a disappointment, but this is a firecracker.” Short Sharp Shocked was voted the fifth-best album of 1988 in The Village Voice’s year-end Pazz & Jop critics’ poll. // Retrospectively, Rolling Stone critic Adrian Zupp described Short Sharp Shocked as Shocked’s “high-water mark” and, with its “confluence of home-grown musical styles”, her “tribute to her geo-cultural roots and, inadvertently, her own uniqueness.”]

[Michelle Shocked plays Greenwood Social Hall, 1750 Belleview, KCMO, on Thurs, Sept 24, 7:00pm]

11:35 – Interview with Michelle Shocked

Michelle Shocked was born in Dallas and raised in the soaking humid Piney Woods of east Texas, Michelle Shocked grew up in a large fundamentalist Mormon family before leaving home at sixteen. She put herself through the University of Texas at Austin, earning a degree in Oral Interpretation of Literature while becoming increasingly involved in political activism.

Before she was a celebrated recording artist, Shocked was a fixture of the American punk underground. Flying a mohawk and a safety pin for a nose ring, while busking on the streets with her mandolin and fiddle, she sprang, fully-formed, from the San Francisco hardcore scene. She was arrested in 1984 at the Democratic National Convention in San Francisco and again at the Republican National Convention in Dallas, and the iconic San Francisco Examiner photo of her arrest, in a police chokehold, subsequently became the cover image of her debut studio album, Short Sharp Shocked.

“You can be poor anywhere,” she figured, making her way to Paris to join the resistance against Reagan’s Cold War provocations: squatting in Amsterdam while working with a pirate radio collective, joining fellow pirate radio activists in Madrid to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of Franco’s death, enlisting at a women’s peace camp in Sicily, vagabonding Europe—from Finland to Morocco—on a counterfeit rail pass poached in Brixton, and survived on the remnants of the Old Left’s mutual aid network. Music was never the plan. Activism was.

That unlikely journey would eventually produce one of the most unconventional careers in contemporary American music—one that has continually crossed the boundaries between folk, blues, swing, gospel, politics, faith, and storytelling while remaining defiantly independent at every turn. Activist and musician Michelle Shocked emerges with the release of her audio memoir, Bootleg This! Which you can fiund at https://michelleshocked.supercast.com/

Michelle Shocked plays Greenwood Social Hall, 1750 Belleview, – Thurs, Sept 24, 7:00pm

Michelle Shocked Thanks for being with us on WMM

14 Full Length albums, hundreds of recorded songs, huge catalog of really great songs. Songs that I would place next to the best songs of John Prine.

She said you can be poor anywhere – Caught up in the cycle of homelessness that swept across America in the 1980s, Shocked searched for an alternative. She made her way to Paris, hitchhiked throughout Europe, busking on the streets of Madrid , surviving on her wits, and a daily ration of alfalfa sprouts. The vagabond lifestyle was far from ideal. At an anti-cruise missile peace camp in Sicily, she was raped by a Green Party comrade. Settling on Amsterdam for the interim, she worked for a pirate radio station and shared a squat with a stranded British reggae band from Birmingham. She was still poor, but she was free.

In 1986 Shocked returned to Texas, to the annual songwriters’ gathering at the Kerrville Folk Festival, to volunteer and hang out with her friends, to listen to their new songs and play her own. In those days (and for that matter, still today) Shocked was determined to credit her inspiration from fellow Texas songwriters Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt. An Englishman who said he was a journalist heard her one night out among the campfires and asked if she would play her songs for his Sony Walkman. He never got around to mentioning that he was actually a partner in a brand new British independent record label. She played him some songs out there that night, his tape recorder sitting on a log as the crickets sang bucolic background vocals and the trucks downshifted, and she told some stories. She did not know it at the moment, but just like some of her heroes, Leadbelly and Muddy Waters, she was being “field recorded.” That tape of her music, made on a Walkman with weak batteries so that it ran far too quickly when played back at normal speed, got played repeatedly on the BBC.

It was a friend who owned a phone that got the call. “Your record is on the charts,” was the information the label, Cooking Vinyl had to report. “What record?” Shocked inquired. It had been named The Texas Campfire Tapes and it was to be her “debut” recording. Figuring she had nothing much to lose, Shocked saw it as her chance to offer up her two-cents worth. She had grown up in a tradition of bluegrass and blues, of Texas swing and singer-songwriters, and now Michelle Shocked was an authentic British pop phenomenon.

She played her first show, her first show ever, at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall. She had planned on activism, not a music career. Over the next eighteen months, Shocked found herself working for a manager who was also her booking agent and who was also her record label owner. Shocked remembers, “the label was shopping me to major labels, licensing my record around the world, booking gigs, collecting commissions and my royalties, and shipping me and my guitar C.O.D. It was as if I’d fallen into a new job at the circus getting shot out of a cannon.” Despite the disarray, she had a plan.

Shocked risked signing with a major label (Mercury) for the sake of attempting to change the system from within. She turned down the label’s advance for the sake of owning her work. And she had another plan too. She had organized her songs into a trilogy that was meant to show where she had come from — not just show the listener, but to also remind herself as well. After her first taste of circus-cannon celebrity, she was leaving something more substantial than breadcrumbs behind her to mark her way back home, a trail of remarkable songs. The first part of her trilogy was called Short Sharp Shocked (1988). She was introduced to producer Pete Anderson, known for his commercial success with Dwight Yoakum. The album they made together became an instant classic, so much so that when they returned to the studio a year later, most everyone presumed they would automatically set forth on Short Sharp Shocked II.

Captain Swing (1989) was a lot of things, but it was not Short Sharp Shocked II. The album took advantage of her Texas roots to pursue her notion that swing was more than just a style that the mere act of music swinging shot past style. Her use of horn arrangements emphasized Michelle Shocked ‘s diverse songwriting skills. Categories now, did not apply. The final phase of her trilogy, named Arkansas Traveler –before she had even recorded Short Sharp Shocked — had always been meant to be a tribute to the fiddle tunes she had played with her father and brother on mandolins, banjos and such. She pursued the hidden roots of that music and those old familiar tunes. Writing new lyrics, trying out new ways of playing the oldest of tunes, writing new tunes that sounded ancient, she traveled three continents to play with her heroes and her peers and a few rank strangers. Pops Staples, Doc Watson, Gatemouth Brown, Jimmie Driftwood, Taj Mahal, and Allison Krauss were part of the adventure. Recorded on steamboats, in log cabins and even recording studios, Arkansas Traveler (1992) was a triumph, and if even she did not know what was next, she knew she had made her way back home.

Following her instincts, she began exploring gospel traditions while attending an African-American church in Los Angeles, where she was living on a houseboat. Shocked began writing a gospel record. On the day her next recording was to begin, she entered the studio to discover that her label was refusing to issue payment before the session even started. Shocked recounts, “I was taken into a closed-door meeting with the head of business affairs, who informed me that the label was no longer going to promote my music because I cut too good a deal for myself!” Her catalog was continuing to sell steadily; the label wanted the masters back. She left the office and she never went back — not until the day she arrived to collect what she had owned all along.

Michelle Shocked plays Greenwood Social Hall, 1750 Belleview, KCMO, Tomorrow – Thurs, Sept 24, 7:00pm

Currently touring the show across the United States, Michelle Shocked presents a solo show that weaves a carefully-curated catalog of compositions with personal reflections drawn from her remarkable so-called career. Audacious, interactive, and ultimately deeply human, it’s a rare opportunity to experience a true iconoclast: up close, unfiltered, ever-evolving, and in her own words.

An acclaimed singer/songwriter known for her uncompromising independence and her inimitable lyrics and mnemonic melodies, Shocked was catapulted into an inadvertent recording career in the ‘80s by a cassette tape bootleg released in England. In the record deal bidding war that followed, The Texas Campfire Tapesphenom emerged triumphant, with ownership of both her master recordings and song copyrights. Three Grammy-nominated albums (her Mercury Trilogy) were released over the next five years, launched by her signature song, “Anchorage.” The albums Short Sharp Shocked, Captain Swing, and Arkansas Travelercemented her reputation as a singular songwriter, blending roots music with sharp storytelling and a refusal to fit into any one genre.

Shocked started at the top, but playing by her own rules has never been easy, and came at a steep price: determined to change the system from within the music industry, and following a behind-the-scenes power struggle at Polygram Records in 1992, Shocked found herself exiled from the business for five years. Not allowed to record, but not able to leave the label, she successfully asserted her 13th Amendment rights, won her artistic freedom, and established her own label: Mighty Sound.

Free from major-label constraints, Shocked embarked on one of the most prolific periods of her career. With Mighty Sound, she released a remarkable series of albums including Deep Natural (with the companion album Dub Natural), a digital reissue of Kind Hearted Woman, Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, Got No Strings, Mexican Standoff, ToHeavenURide, and Soul of My Soul, continuing to develop new musical idioms while maintaining complete creative control.

But controversy and reinvention would remain recurring themes. In 2013, remarks made during a workshop performance intended to road-test new material from Indelible Women (a still-unrecorded song cycle the artist considers her magnum opus) triggered a high-visibility defamation campaign fueled by agentic AI and “outrage metrics” which effectively banished her from the public eye for more than a decade. Rather than retreat, Shocked fanned the flames by withdrawing her entire catalog from distribution while continuing to create new work (including the forthcoming Musical Chairs and Shocking Red) and re-examining a life spent at the intersection of art, faith, politics, and free expression. The result is Bootleg This!.

Forty years after her legendary bootleg debut—having managed to extricate herself from the biggest bootleg operation the world has ever seen with complete ownership of an amazing, critically acclaimed, internationally recognized catalog—the Grammy-winning, battle-scarred, music-industry veteran returns with a vengeance. The live performances in Edinburgh connect directly with the release of her audio memoir, Bootleg This!. Hers is a fiercely original voice shaped by Texas folk, blues, with storytelling and spiritual conviction.

“Whether you start at the top or the bottom, it has no bearing on your artistic purpose,” said the artist. “They can take away everything else, but my compulsion to solve songs never left me. The art of resilience is in remaining whole.”

For decades, Shocked has remained that same resilient force of nature—touring relentlessly, collaborating widely, and building an idiomatic body of work that defies categorization, from folk to punk to swing to gospel… and beyond.

Michelle Shocked – Roadworks 2026 tour

Nov 16, 2026 To Be Announced Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States
Nov 15, 2026 To Be Announced Wichita, Kansas, United States
Nov 14, 2026 Sidecar Austin, Texas, United States
Nov 13, 2026 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States
Oct 18, 2026 Duluth, Georgia, United States
Oct 16, 2026 Virginia Beach Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States
Oct 11, 2026 Baltimore Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Oct 10, 2026 Virginia Beach Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States
Oct 09, 2026 Greensboro Greensboro, North Carolina, United States
Oct 08, 2026 Raleigh Raleigh, North Carolina, United States
Oct 07, 2026 Charlotte Charlotte, North Carolina, United States
Oct 06, 2026 Charlotte Charlotte, North Carolina, United States
Oct 04, 2026 City Winery Nashville Nashville, Tennessee, United States
Oct 03, 2026 Louisville Louisville, Kentucky, United States
Oct 02, 2026 Washington Washington, District of Columbia, United States
Oct 01, 2026 Philadelphia Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Sep 30, 2026 Boston Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Sep 29, 2026 New York (NYC) New York, New York, United States
Sep 26, 2026 Columbus Columbus, Ohio, United States
Sep 25, 2026 Indianapolis Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Sep 24, 2026 Kansas City Kansas City, Missouri, United States
Sep 23, 2026 Omaha Omaha, Nebraska, United States
Sep 22, 2026 Minneapolis Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
Sep 20, 2026 Milwaukee Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States
Sep 19, 2026 Detroit Detroit, Michigan, United States
Sep 18, 2026 Beachland Tavern, The Beachland Ballroom & Tavern Cleveland, Ohio,

SHOW DESCRIPTION

Surviving a 13 year blacklist, activist & musician Michelle Shocked has emerged with the release of her audio memoir Bootleg This! https://michelleshocked.supercast.com/

Forty years after her legendary bootleg debut, the Grammy winner returns with a vengeance.

An act of defiance — this tour is breaking the blacklist, disturbing the silence. Slinging stories and songs set carefully like stones; a fusillade of human emotion in an air-punching F**k Yeah.

Calm, confident, controlled with a lethal focus. Balanced and battle-bitten, sharing tales of media misadventures fused by a set of select songs.

“You can’t take the art out of the artist. Creative labor has value; stolen art has potent power.”

“I knew it would work — I just didn’t know it would work so well.

“Michelle Shocked is a true trailblazer who knows how to play with fire” – Rolling Stone

Michelle Shocked – we love you! You came into our lives when we need your music. Your music has been used in our own stories about our own survival.

We always knew that you question authority in a manner that is courageous and fearless
We still need you, even now more than ever. Thank you for going on tour

Michelle Shocked Thanks for being with us on WMM

Michelle Shocked plays Greenwood Social Hall, 1750 Belleview, KCMO, Tomorrow – Thurs, Sept 24, 7:00pm

11:54

15. Michelle Shocked – “Liquid Prayer”
    from: Soul of My Soul / Mighty Sound / 2009
    [In 1995, Shocked contributed an original song to the soundtrack for the film Dead Man Walking called “Quality of Mercy”. In 1996, she released a studio version of Kind Hearted Woman on the short-lived Private Music label. // Starting in 2002 with the release of Deep Natural, Shocked established her own label, Mighty Sound. She reissued expanded versions of her entire catalog, made possible by having retained complete ownership of her work when she signed with Mercury in 1987. // An acoustic version of her song “How You Play the Game” was featured as the opening and credits soundtrack on the DVD of the 2004 documentary film Bush’s Brain. //Shocked continued to make music as an independent artist. In June 2005, she released a trilogy of albums called Threesome (Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, Mexican Standoff and Got No Strings). In May 2007, she released the album ToHeave. ” Soul of My Soul remains Shocked’s last released recording to date. She toured consistently through 2013, then took time off before resuming live performances and touring in 2016. // Shocked is a vocal critic of Spotify and its low pay rates for artists, declaring that “None of my music will be on there until they commit to a sustainable rate rather than suing songwriters.” She has also refused to allow her music to be on iTunes, YouTube, or Amazon Music.]]

[Michelle Shocked plays Greenwood Social Hall, 1750 Belleview, KCMO, on Thurs, Sept 24, 7:00pm]

16. Noel Coward – “The Party’s Over Now”
    from: Noel Coward in New York / drg / 2003 [orig. 1957]

For WMM, I’m Mark Manning. Thanks for listening!

Next week, on Wednesday, September 30, we’ll talk with Shaun Crowley of Manor Records, Colin Halliburton of The Roseline, and Jesse Kates of The Sexy Accident.

You can find our playlists at: www.wednesdaymiddaymedley.org & www.kkfi.org
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Thank you to KKFI Staff: Chief Operator – Chad Brothers, Director of Development & Communications – J Kelly Dougherty, Volunteer Coordinator – Darryl Oliver, and Office Manager Book Keeper – Shaina Littler.

THANK YOU to everyone who donated to KKFI’s Summer Fund Drive during WMM we had a total of 33 people donate a total of $3513.50. THANK YOU SO MUCH!

This radio station is more than the individual hosts of each individual radio show. It is a collective spirit of hundreds of people, setting aside ego, to work for the greater good of community building and the goal of keeping our airwaves, non-commercial, and open! Thank you to programmers who create content for over 85 locally produced radio shows & volunteers who made extra effort to keep our station alive.

Our Script/Playlist is a “cut and paste” of information.
Sources for notes: artist’s websites, bios, wikipedia.org

Wednesday MidDay Medley in on the web:
http://www.kkfi.org,
http://www.WednesdayMidDayMedley.org,
http://www.facebook.com/WednesdayMidDayMedleyon90.1FM

Show #1166