19 November 2021

KALX - MAD MAX

Another KALX (Berkeley, CA) broadcast from the cassette archives left by Pat Wright. An unbelievably killer mix of tunes from THE CLEAN, SUBWAY SECT, URBAN GUERRILLAS, POTENTIAL THREAT, THE BRISTLES, BOB VIDONE, FINNICUM, ANTIETAM and loads loads more, hosted by DJ Mad Max. Even if the magic and excitement of radio (particularly experimental college radio) might be lost on a generation that can quite literally click a link or access a stream and hear virtually (or...virtually hear) anything they can imagine, it's impossible to overstate how important these stations and these DJs were. Obviously the Bay Area was already well versed in punk and underground sounds by 1985 or so (when this broadcast was taped), but you were still juiced when you learned about a new band from Oklahoma before hearing SUBTERFUGE blaze into THE HYPNOTICS. Old Man Escape over here is gonna put his foot down and declare that you just can't get that experience from a digital file. Not even this one, which I encourage you to download. 


KALX - MAD MAX
An editing snafu vanished tracks by PRIMAL SCREAM, ED GEIN'S CAR and THE THINGIES. So maybe some of the magic of the unknown is manifesting in the files after all.,,,

1 comment:

FiveGunsWest said...

My band, the Ophelias, did a few gigs at the station back in 85. I also played there with a few other bands, most notably the Slow Poisoners a little later on. Great post. Loved KALX and KUSF in the day. Can't get them up here in the mountains, since I and many others were priced out a few years ago. Thanks again Wiz.