Airwaves

by Brian Golslow

Two summers ago, WCUW DJs Dave Lyon and Dave Goldberg found themselves with two tickets to what would turn out to be Black Sabbath's ill-fated Great Woods show. Like most music fans at the time, they looked at the metal warriors and their headbangin' followers as musical dinosaurs to be ridiculed as they sadly accept their self-pitying fate that seemed to have forever cast them as the true inspiration for Spinal Tap. To have some fun, they explored the station's record library and put together a "special" for metalheads. "We played it as a goof," Lyon explains. "But when we went back and listened to the music, we realized there's a lot of great metal out there. Since then, we've been discovering a lot of great stuff, new and old."

Metal, or hardcore, as it is labeled these days, has made a major resurgence. "This year, I see bands taking themselves a lot more seriously," Lyon says. "They're working real hard to make a positive tape or CD. They're not playing around -- they're taking the time to pay attention to production and producing quality CDs."

Since Chillum's Eric Godin took over the booking of Sir Morgan's Cove weekly 18+ shows, the Dave and Dave Show, which airs Thursdays from 9:30 to 11 p.m. on WCUW (91.3 FM), has been working with the club, interviewing bands and holding ticket giveaways. "Eric's been working hard to bring bands from around the country to Worcester. There are lots of great bands there every Thursday," Lyon declares, adding he's looking forward to talking with Sleestack, who should visit the city in May. The Boston-based group's self-titled CD is "a Sam Black Church kind of thing that brings back fond memories of seeing Cobalt 60 at Bowlers."

Other recent Lyon favorites include "Day After Day" from a live tape of the East Coast Psychos recorded at the Cove (they've since visited the recording studio to work on their debut CD), Liquid Soul's "World on a Leash" ("a little jazzy kind of thing with scratching"), and the ultimate Worcester music-scene collection, Union Station (Headstrong). "I encourage everyone to go out and buy this CD. There's a lot of hard work and effort that went into producing it. What better way to support your scene?" hypes Lyon, whose favorite track is Super Creb Star Dynomax's "Learn to Crawl."

Bands of all genres should send their material (CD, vinyl, cassettes) to the Dave and Dave Show c/o WCUW, 910 Main Street, Worcester 01610.

LELAND RUCKER, managing editor of the Colorado-based Blues Access magazine, will be the featured guest this Friday (April 4) on WCUW's The American Roots Rock Radio Program, hosted by Worcester Phoenix contributor Mark Edmonds. "He'll be talking about this month's issue, which features the fourth installment of a piece that chronologies the life and times of blues-rock legend Paul Butterfield." The Movers, who'll appear at Gilreins later than night, are slated to be in the studios around 7 p.m.

The rest of April includes interviews with the Blue Hornets and rockabilly great Sleepy LaBeef on April 11 and surf-guitar legend Dick Dale on April 18. "They're scheduled, but they don't appear until they really appear," Edmonds laughs. The longtime host is organizing a concert to raise funds for WCUW's equipment fund. Bellevue Cadillac, the Blue Hornets, Stone Crazy, and Pete Henderson's Fatwall Jack are slated to appear at the Northborough Fish and Game Club on May 18. Listen to WCUW Fridays from 5 to 8 p.m. and Saturdays from 6 to 9 p.m. for more details.