I call myself Chucky T because the music I like to collect and share is timeless – just like Chuck Taylor’s 1923 design for Converse All Star Hi-Tops. If you’ve asked yourself once too often “Who stole my radio?” then you have come to the right place. Because I am all about resurrecting retro.
In the first hour of my show I’ll be resurrecting the archetypical American rhythms and stylings of Post-WW2 to just yesterday with an emphasis on artists currently performing and recording. We’re talkin’ barefoot Blues, saddle shoe Swing, and hi-heel sneaker Old School Soul. And occasionally I’ll toss in a little vintage New Orleans, classic R&B, 70’s Funk, Gospel, Zydeco, or Boogie Woogie Piano into the pot.
I’m hoping that’ll hook you into hanging around for the second hour when I try to introduce you to today’s artists from every corner of the world who are re-inventing the Soul, R&B, and Funk of yesteryear, pumping it up with irresistible dance rhythms and jazzing it up with the greasy growl of the Hammond B-3 organ, chicken scratch guitar, and funky horn ensembles.
This music is so new and so under the radar that reviewers are all over the place and ultimately unsuccessful in their attempts to classify it into genres. These are contemporary artists steeped in the Soul of Motown, Stax, and Muscle Shoals but giving it fresh, new punch. Talented bands from all over the globe who are basing their sound on those originally created by Booker T & The MG’s, Ramsey Lewis, and others and taking it to a whole ‘nuther place. Big sounding 21st-Century Funk that’s almost Jazz with its soaring horn improvisations. And there’s no way you can sit still when I share some of the butt-bumpin’ N’Awlins brass coming out of The Big Easy these days!
So join me every Monday night (6-8 ET) as I try to shake you out of your back-to-the-work-week-woes with some toe-tappin’, thigh-slappin’, hip-shakin’ tunes that are sure to put a smile on your face and some bounce in your dance step. Heck, if you can’t dance to it, I don’t cotton to it!
And if you’re otherwise occupied on Monday nights, don’t worry about it. WHUP saves all of its shows at least two weeks for you to listen to at your convenience anytime/anywhere you have an internet connection. My last two are at the bottom of this page.
I’ve also been putting hour-long, themed music mixes “up in the cloud” now for years on Mixcloud. And PLEASE feel free to email me (ResurrectingRetro@gmail.com) with your comments, suggestions, and requests.