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by Cousin Justin:
While I was on my recent trip to Saint Maarten I stumbled across a great radio station. With everyone streaming online I figured it would be a great start to create a list of free online streams of great radio stations. Comment with your favorite and I will add it to this original post.
Island 92 FM Saint Maarten- Their tag line is-Rock, Blues & Good Time radio, can’t say that I disagree. Best listened to with beer in hand while on the beach.
WEMU 89.1 Ypsilanti, MI-Eastern Michigan University’s local/NPR Station: great American Routes show Sat 4-6, plus top notch daily jazz.
We came across this strange funk/soul 12″ single by CJ Surge on Boston Heights a while ago. We sold it for about $40 to a European DJ. I couldn’t find any info on it, but someone just commented and said that it was a recording by Charles Johnson aka The Electrifying Mojo of Midnight Funk Association fame.
It turns out, the Electrifying Mojo was a Detroit DJ who was instrumental in turning people on to the Detroit techno sound that is now legendary and has influenced the entire genre of the music. This DJ - real name Charles Johnson - aka The Electrifying Mojo - aka CJ Surge, ran the late night segment of The Midnight Funk Association, an “eclectic” program that aired on Detroit stations WGPR, WHYT, and WJLB (I got the tour of WJLB’s studio and met Bushman when I worked briefly for Clear Channel) that blended funk, soul and techno.
The intro to the show was given by The Electrifying Mojo, over a track called Momento by the art of noise. It went like this:
“Will the members of the Midnight Funk Association please rise. Please go to your porch light and turn it on for the next hour to show us your solidarity. If you’re in your car please honk your horn and flash your lights, wherever you are. If you’re in bed, get ready to dance on your back, in Technicolor. And get ready for the MFA. The word is… Don’t say no, say triple-whammy-whoa. Hold on tight, don’t let go. Whenever you feel like you’re nearing the end of your rope, don’t slide off. Tie a knot. Keep hanging, keep remembering, that it ain’t nobody bad like you. This session of the International Midnight Funk Association is being called to order. Electrifying Mojo presiding. May the Funk be with you. Always…”
Anyway, I had no idea this was CJ Surge. Whoever left that comment - thanks for the info and shedding light on this historical radio show and Detroit techno pioneer. It aired from 1977 through the mid 80s - so I was just a youngster then.
Apparently, he lives in Amsterdam, hangs out at his favorite cafe everyday, controls the jukebox, and then hosts an internet radio program.
It’s funny, because his name keeps popping up around me. First, I noticed an ad for one of his latest blues CDs in Big City Rhythm and Blues magazine, called Fattening Frogs For Snakes, Country Blues Vol. 2. Then, I read about the White Panther party that he formed and the havoc they caused in Ann Arbor in early 70s, according to a text book about the history of Ann Arbor I found in the school I work at that was written for elementary school students. The author obviously disliked Sinclair’s work, whipping up a mental picture of long haired hippies turing the city upside down with their far left radical views that threatened the state of good ol’ Ann Arbor the way Allen and Rumsey had dreamed it up when they purchased the original acreage along the Huron River.
I can picture him there at the 420 cafe in Amsterdam, a group of stoned disciples gathered ’round, listening to tales of the good ol’ days of the music of the MC5, overthrowing the Ann Arbor government, and fighting unjust drug laws.
Joihn Sinclair authored the book Guitar Army, named after a Rationals song, that tells the story in his words of what was going on at that time. It was recently reissued. I think I’ll check it out, I haven’t read it.
Every Saturday from 4-6. 89.1 on your dial in the Ypsilanti area, or you can listen to the streaming version here. I’m listening right now.
Eastern Michigan University owns this fine public radio station.
At 7:00, I’ll switch over to the University of Michigan’s WCBN to hear Brian Tomsic’s Dancehall Reggae show.
Justin is a Sirius sattelite fan. I can dig it, but you gotta support those local public radio stations. Another good one is Wayne State University’s WDET in Detroit.
