It's no secret that the Beatles had an anti-American agenda. They were, after all, communist agents.

We here at Luxuria Music have always tried to do our part to keep the evil influence of the Beatles from infiltrating our playlists. Except, that is, for that one day a year when we celebrate the death of their leader, John "Vladimir Ilyich" Lennon. Every year on the aniversary of his assassination, we take a little time out from our holiday shopping to gloat at the heroic removal of this most insidious agent of chaos.

I'm sure you all remember "C'mon Live A Little's" glorious paticipation in this grand event. This Saturday, we'll take a fond look back at Lux's Big Beatles Day. What (aside from senseless violence) could be more all-American than reruns?

Consult your local listings!

Programming note: this episode will debut on October 11th, and be rebroadcast on October 18th.

Here at Bostworld Headquarters, we look forward to Saturday as we do no other day of the week. If we didn't know better, we'd think it was Friday, we love it so much.  In fact, we can't wait for you to get Internet radio in your car, so we can provide drive-time programming for those unfortunates for whom Saturday might as well be Friday.

Sometimes we've gotta wonder about "C'mon Live A Little" host Derrick Bostrom: is he lazy, stupid or just inconsiderate? 

I found this album as I did most of my records — for a buck at a thrift store down in Phoenix somewhere. But I had not idea how dear it was until recently when one of my fellow deejays at LuxuriaMusic told me he’d give his life for it. Seems its lead off track, “Swinging London,” was included on the second volume of “The In-Kraut,” a popular series of groovy German pop obscurities from the sixties and seventies. Oddly enough, this album doesn’t appear to have found its way onto any of the share sites on my short list. Either nobody else has it, or the blogosphere has issued a collective thumbs down on this album. Either way, I quickly passed it along to my friend — and his life was spared. And since the links are still good, I figured I pass them along to everyone here.

This is a terrific two record set. I’ve played several tracks on my own LuxuriaMusic show. Hopefully, listeners will find it enjoyable enough to overlook the fact that the first track from side four is screwed up. Perhaps someone else will crawl out of the woodwork and present me with a better copy. I’d be much obliged.

Marina Records, the label that released the “In-Kraut” series has a perfectly concise back story for Hazy Osterwald. And since the last couple of weeks have been kind of hectic (not one but two air conditioner breakdowns, two vehicles in the shop, and a storm that blew 85-miles-per-hour winds through town, causing millions of dollars in damage and demolishing thousands of trees — including one of mine), you’ll have to forgive me if I lift a paragraph directly from the Marina site:

“…one of Switzerland’s most successful music exports, and surely one of Europe’s hardest working men in showbiz. Starting out with the Hazy Osterwald Sextet way back in 1949, he constantly toured the globe - often playing up to 300 dates a year. He appeared in movies, scored huge hits (“Kriminaltango”, 1959), ran his own record label (Mabel) and even owned a string of nightclubs (Hazyland). Though his first love was swing (writing arrangements for Teddy Stauffer as a teenager!), he always kept in with The In-Kraut. After a couple of line-up changes he even renamed his sextet to the more “now”-sounding Hazy Osterwald Jet Set - and cut such cool tunes as “Swinging London.” Osterwald’s fantastic band - honed to perfection by constant live engagements - delivers a true knock-out performance. The Jet Set included John Ward (drums), Curt Prina (organ), Bob Glower (saxophone), Peter Meller (guitar), Franco Bussmann (bass) and Hazy himself on trumpet.”

Visit BOSTWORLD to listen to this album

If your answer to the above question is "yes," we hope you'll consider checking in with us at 3PM (Pacific Time) for "C'mon Live A Little," the show that crams as much music as it can into a broadcast hour. For the record, that's just just a couple minutes shy of 60 minutes worth, allowing for the occasional commercial or station ID. But what's a couple minutes among friends? What remains promises to be pure ear candy. Once again, host Derrick Bostrom has cobbled together a typically puerile selection of tracks which are sure to get you off your feet -- if not to dance then certainly to do housework.

This week on "C'mon Live A Little," host Derrick Bostrom salutes the fruition a dream long held by so many of us: the rerelease of "Love Got In My Way" by Joe E. 

Join us this Saturday at 3pm, Pacific time, to hear a generous selection from this epic album, along with other greats from the world of vanity, including Joe Ferrara, Danny Darrow, Lois Costello, Frederick Michael St. Jude and many other incredible artists you've never heard of before and most likely will never hear of again. We'll also celebrate the 31st anniversary of the King Of Rock And Roll with a few unused backing tracks from some of Elvis' greatest mid-70s studio sessions. And just to sweeten the pot, we'll throw in a track by television's immortal Burt Convey. This is one show you don't want to miss.

Programming note: this episode will debut on August 16th, and be rebroadcast on August 23rd.

How was everyone's July? Are you glad to put it behind you, or do you look back at last month with wistful nostalgia? I know they say the "dog days" of summer are officially unleashed in August, but I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. I suppose it depends on whether you a "dog person" or not.

Used to be, when a popular musical group fell from favor, they’d “reinvent” themselves, ditching their perishable old shtick in favor of whatever “sound” was currently in vogue. They’d take this route as long as they could before finally being put to pasture on the oldies circuit. Albums from this period would often have “today!” or “now!” in the title (eg. “Junior Samples NOW!”). Or perhaps they’d take a more up-front approach, like “Count Basie In A Slightly Less Archaic Groove,” or allude to some sort of sudden rejuvenation, like band singer Jayne Morgan’s 1967 comeback L.P., “Fresh From A Nap.” Sometimes, they’d attempt a full-scale graft of another artist’s style, as in “Robert Goulet Tries To Sing The Contemporary Hits of Ron McKuen” or Mel Torme’s “Kickin’ It With Jobim.”

But all kidding aside, one cannot understate what a boon the rock mainstream could be to an artist schooled in the older jazz styles. An innovative arranger could make much more expansive use of strings and voices (as Les Browns has done here with his “Super” Sounds Of Renown) without falling prey to the limitations of the “sweet band” style. Sure, to the ears of a young unsophisticated rock fan, it may ALL have seemed like “schmaltz.” But in the hands of an ambitious bandleader, even a song like “Something” or “Michelle” could afford a group much more wiggle room than material like “Little Things Mean A Lot” or “Aren’t You Glad You’re You.”Big Band star Les Brown’s long career had already included such highlights as giving Doris Day her big break, backing up Buddy Love in Jerry Lewis’ “The Nutty Professor,” serving as musical director for both the Steve Allen and Dean Martin television shows and accompanying Bob Hope on his tours in Vietnam. But for his 1972 album on the Daybreak label, Les Brown attempted what he called “the most radical change of musical direction we’ve ever taken.” Into its marvelous pop art jacket, Brown packs “New Horizons” with enough funky Beatles, bossa, Carole King and Jesus Christ Superstar vibes to achieve an effect which, according to the liner notes, “reflects the conflicts and stresses of the 1970’s as no other act on record has succeeded in doing.” And while that’s a pretty high mark to aim for (a goal usually reserved for such stratospheric acts as Black Oak Arkansas or Captain & Tennille), Brown and his group comport themselves in a manner entirely appropriate for inclusion 35 years later here at Bostworld.

 Visit BOSTWORLD to listen to this album

"Staycation" was funny for about negative thirty seconds, wasn't it? Well, here at the Bostworld headquarters of "C'mon Live A Little" (America's favorite Saturday afternoon program currently airing on Luxuria Music in the 3PM Pacific Time slot), we aren't so much home-bound by economic constraint as we are duty-bound to stay put and create new episodes until every last one of you is sufficiently entertained. If truth be told, our host, Derrick Bostrom, has bigger fish to fry than so-called "high" gas prices. Today, he's feeling torqued about how that little closed-fist "high five" of solidarity they've used for years at the salt mine where he works has been labeled by the mainstream media cloud as the "terrorist fist bump." Even worse, not a single one of the plebes he spends his days around even knew of this development! We're talking major societal stratification here folks! 

But nevermind; if you're reading this, then you probably still have your internet access all paid up for this month, so you should be good to go. Feel free to join us then this week as we bring you the kind of musical diversion you've come to expect from the "C'mon" crew. We've got sides from Adam & Eve (yes, THE Adam & Eve), Ray Davies, Roy Ayers, Chico Arnez, Pete Moore, Tony Hatch, Ronnie Aldrich, Kai Warner, Max Gregor and The United States Department of Transportation, who reminds you that if you must drive during this vacation season, please be sure to do it on an empty stomach. Excess food intake behind the wheel is not only a distraction, it can also lead to what folks in the transportation business call Torpid Digestive Syndrome, or post-meal sleepiness.

Programming note: this episode will debut on July 19th, and be rebroadcast on July 26th.

You know, around this time of year, my thoughts always turn to the things that make America great. I'm of course talking about tropical themed adult beverages, records on the backs of cereal boxes, paintings by animals, and of course internet radio. This week on "C'mon! Live A Little," we spotlight the best of consumer culture in a very special episode devoted to jingles, incidental music, sales convention shows and other detritus from the Great American Capitalist Wasteland. Well, it would be a wasteland were it not for all this fabulous music.

Join your host, Luxuria's own Derrick Bostrom, this Saturday at 3PM, Pacific Time, as we celebrate such magnificent organizations as Nestles, Tupperware, American Standards, Westclox, Campbell's, Wendy's, Budweiser, Chevrolet, RCA, and many, many more! Hey: don't let the bear market get you down. If you don't get out there and CONSUME, the terrorists win! What are YOU gonnna do with YOUR stimulous check?

Programming note: this episode will debut on July 5th, and be rebroadcast on July 12th.