Program Reminder- Turkish Music Show on WUVT-FM

Thanks to modern technology, one does not actually need to physically be in Blackburg, Va., or the surrounding communities like Newport and Christiansburg to listen to WUVT 90.7-FM, the college radio station for Virginia Tech.

In fact, by logging on to wuvt.vt.edu, a person in Bergen, Norway, or Tashkent, Uzbekistan, can listen to the show just as well as someone in Montgomery County, presuming the links are working adequately!

WUVT is known for having a nifty lineup on Saturdays, which includes "The Turkish Show" with my friend DJ Onur from 1:00-2:30 p.m. (The image above is that of a simit vendor. We have no idea if he is in Istanbul, Edirne, Eskisehir or Yozgat, but the photo was definitely taken somewhere in Turkey). Last week, Onur played selections from pop diva Sezen Aksu, renown instrumentalist Okay Temiz, the late 'Turkish hippie' Baris Manco (he had very long hair, which is very unusual in Turkey) and the folk group Kardes Turkuler.

The Virginia Tech station also has a Greek show hosted by friend Maria which runs from 11 a.m.-1:00 p.m., on Saturdays. Last week, she played tracks from Eleni Vitali, Poli Pano and Nikos Grapsas. The show has been a mainstay of the WUVT lineup since it was started by her late husband Kriton (we believe) some 20-plus years ago.

WUVT also has a bluegrass show hosted by Peter French from 7-9 a.m. (set your alarm clocks!), the children's music and entertainment show "Hickory Dickory Dock" from 9-11 am and an Iranian music show from 2:30-4:00 p.m. (All of these are Saturday shows).

Music from area musicians can be heard on the station's program "The Local Zone" which airs on Wednesday nights from 7-9.

We checked what the station was playing today, and one of the last 15 tracks was the song "Tennessee" from the band Silver Jews (?!) off their album "Bright Fright."

I've never heard of this band....perhaps, I'm getting too old!

The Last 10 CDs I've Listened To

Here are the last ten cds I've listened starting with Turkish pop diva Sezen Aksu's "Bahane." Aksu (pictured) was the subject of an NPR features piece entitled "The Voice of Istanbul," which aired last week on April 12. I happened to actually catch it before my sister in Nepal* told me about it.

Bruce Piephoff is a Greensboro, NC, folk singer and poet who performs in North Carolina regularly, and I caught him at the Grove Winery over the weekend. My favorite song of his is "I Remember Asheville." It is not actually on the cd from him that I listened to, but you can hear it on his web site: www.brucepiephoff.com

Sonic Youth was a punk band from my the eighties and nineties that are miracolously still around and relesing albums.

Tarkan is Turkey's other pop-singing superstar. (Well, there is also Mustafa Sandal, but I'm really not a fan of his music!).

The Clash cd I listened to "Super Black Market Clash" is really a compilation of the bands songs from 1977-82. The band only released five or six records, but the NPR show "Sound Opinions" recently profiled the band's "London Calling" record which has been considered a rock classic.

The Replacements were a rock band from the eighties which was deeply inspired by the recently-deceased Alex Chilton.

I imagine everyone is probably familiar with the rest of the bands on this list, which includes Talking Heads, Guns N Roses, The Cure and Rush. If not, perhaps we are on the brink of societal collapse as the late Joe Strummer (lead singer of The Clash) once suggested........more or less!


1. Sezen Aksu "Bahane" (2003)
2. Bruce Piephoff "Fools Get Away with the Impossible" (2006)
3. Sonic Youth "Goo" (1990)
4. Rush "Grace Under Pressure" (1984)
5. Tarkan "Karma" (2001)
6. The Cure "Disintegration" (1989)
7. The Replacements "Don't Tell a Soul" (1989)
8. Guns N Roses "The Spaghetti Incident" (1993)
9. The Clash "Super Black Market Clash" (1993)
10. Talking Heads "More Songs About Buildings and Food" (1978)