Ignored           Obscured             Restored

When I was a teenager growing up in New York’s Hudson Valley, I would listen to WNEW-FM out of New York City.  At 60 miles north of the city, we were right on the edge of how far the radio station’s signal would travel.  But I would tolerate the signal fading in and out to hear the best music being broadcast by the coolest DJs.

A few weeks ago, I stumbled upon a hip website that has a history of the station and offers a plethora of airchecks.  I went deep down into the rabbit hole.

I particularly enjoyed an interview of John Lennon that Dennis Elsas conducted in the WNEW studio on September 28, 1974.  Lennon came in to chat with Elsas and to play a few of his favorite records as well as to share a few cuts from his new album Walls and Bridges which had been released just 2 days prior.

John Lennon interview with Dennis Elsas

One of the songs John chose to play was “Showdown” by The Electric Light Orchestra.  He described them as “Son of Beatles.”  Then he gave me the idea for this SotW!  In his setup for “Showdown,” he said:

“Now for those people who like to know where licks and things come from which I do, ‘cause I’m always making little things myself, this is a beautiful combination of ‘I Heard it Through the Grapevine’ by Marvin Gaye and ‘Lightning Strikes Again’ Lou Christie.  And it’s a beautiful job with a little ‘Walrus’ underneath.”

Are you curious to hear what Lennon heard?  Let’s do it!

Enjoy… until next week.