Rough Sundays

From a gorgeous apartment overlooking the bay in Southern Japan, it’s yet another deep dive into the beautiful bins of a 1950s-80s Tokyo and beyond, with not one, but two of those incredible City Pop tracks, a big-band, throwback, some sixties hippy happenings and the catchy collab done with the guy from Daft Punk’s dad… and much more. Half an hour of Japanese Old School goodness, get in there!

From an expensive-and-unplanned hotel room in Osaka comes a deep-dive into all things 60s, 70s and early 80s Japan. A few tracks explaining "kawaii", to crooners you'll know of, but probably not know (we'll change that), to some husky female vocals and, of course, more of our current addiction: City pop. That, plus a whooooooole lot more. It's Rough Sundays, back to the Japanese Chapters! 

Coming to you from the Pink City of Jaipur, India, it's probably the world's best Sunday Morning Gospel, Blues, Funk and Soul podcast coming to you from Jaipur, India. Featuring haunting vocals from Son House, the lady who invented rock n' roll, the band that would have been The Wailers if not for The Wailers, funk + sitar crossovers, New Orleans funkiest drummer, plus sounds of the Sufi, of Delhi traffic, of hidden temple chants and of India during Holi WOW IS RIGHT so press play, enjoy a cup of coffee or something stronger ... and let us handle the next half hour. It's Rough Sundays!

What was supposed to be—supposed being to key word here—the world's first ever Sunday Morning Wake-Me-Up Podcast recorded from Everest Base Camp ended up just being from Kathmandu and host Aric S. Queen just talking about it WE'RE SORRY but to make up for it, it's a return to the original format of old timey gospel, jazz from The Queen, some Cannonball(s), acapella from a Xhosa group from South Africa and much, much more. So sit back, pour something strong (no judgement), and let us handle the next 37 minutes. It's Rough Sundays! No, seriously!  

Tulsa Time. Keys To Tulsa. Chandler moves to Tulsa. Our little city has occasionally popped up in pop culture, but few are aware that town has its own subgenre of music . In this week’s Rough Sundays, we deep dive into the casserole that makes up this movement—from Dust Bowl beginnings to dreamy doowop, over to Southern Swing and finally to what it sounds like today. So sit back and spend 32 Midwestern minutes with us as we learn all* about that Tulsa Sound.

*Hardly.

In the 17 years this show has been around, we’ve never done a Sunday morning wake-me-up from the state of Oklahoma. What gives, right? This week, we remedy that with an extra long show, featuring music exclusively from the 46th state, featuring songs about murders, songs done by junkies, songs done by folks who narrowly missed out on dying with Buddy Holly, plus a few more upbeat tales. From rockabilly to old country, Nancy Sinatra’s guardian angel and we even dip our toe into the Tulsa Sound. So put on a strong black cup of coffee, fry you some sausage gravy, sit on the front porch while the storms roll in and let us handle the next 45 minutes or so. 

From right up against Route 66 and in the midst of much mirth, it's our 81st episode and our yearly Christmas Extravaganza! Reaching back way, way into the good old stuff—even turn of the century tracks—all holiday-themed and mostly-Motown... with a handful of New Orleans magic as well. Plus stories. Plus more music. An hour-and-40-minutes of it, to be exact. So you focus on your cup of something cheerful, and leave the rest to us. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!