2 posts tagged “kfsr 90.7”
I used to be a radio disc jockey, I went by the name of "DJ Drivel-Head" (it was a bit of a joke because it was really "dri-vu-head" and it was also a nod to Elastica's song "Line Up".) I worked for KFSR 90.7, which is where Emelia heard the Parcels, so I guess our station played some good indie stuff back then.
My time slot was pretty bad, it was every Thursday from midnight to two in the morning and I really didn't think I had regular listeners (although there were these two girls that would call and talk every week).
Anyway, I stopped DJing around 1996, and about seven years later, I received a message from one of my fans:
I used to actively listen to your show for the first hour (blank tape cued up and ready), then I would go to bed and just let the stereo record the rest of the show. After I woke up, there were usually one or two songs I would choose to "keep" and put them on a "keepers" tape. One day, I listened to the tape I had left to record while I slept, and the whole block was really good. The whole tape automatically became a "keepers" tape. The first song was bedside manners, and I started recording too late to get the lead-in, intro information about the name of the band or song. In case you're curious, and you think it would be nostalgically interesting to know what you played in that one night, it was...
He then proceeded to name all the songs, in the correct order and what I said about each song (they were: Mazzy Star, Jesus and Mary Chain, Morrissey, Lush, Frente, Echobelly, Miranda Sex Garden, and They Might be Giants).
The strangest part ? He had recited these from MEMORY!! Apparently he had lost the tape and was telling me what he remembered because he listened to the tape over a million times! He said that he recorded too late for the introduction of "Bedside Manners" so he didn't know who the artist was... well it is a b-side from my favorite band, Sleeper!
Sleeper, is of course, from the London-area, in England. They were originally called Surrender Dorothy (a reference to the Wizard of Oz), but changed their name on account that there were already several bands registered under that name in the UK.
They settled for Sleeper, which was a reference to Woody Allen's film. They were signed to a small indie label called Indolent in the UK.
I first heard of them in 1994 when my friend Mark, who came back from France, lent me the Alice in Vain EP and Swallow EP. I fell in love with Louise Wener when I met and interview the band in real life in 1995 and have been a loyal fan since then.
Currently, Louise Wener is a novel writer, penning Goodnight Steve McQueen, The Big Blind (aka The Perfect Play), and The Half Life of Stars. She's also a part-time columnist at the Guardian. As for the other band members, I think Andy Macclure is a computer-guy who's living with Louise. Jon Stewart, guitarist, teaches music and as session musician (he is the guitarist on Mel C's Reason album) and sometime band manager. Not really sure what Diid Osman is up to.
Trivia: For a short time, Sleeper was known as Sleeper UK because there was already an established punk band called Sleeper.
PS, Sleeper is probably my all-time mondern favorite band, at least when they were active. I've created a fanzine and website devoted to Sleeper (www.louisewener.com), which have been around since Sep 1996! If you are new to Sleeper, I suggest checking out "Nice Guy Eddie", "What Do I Do Now?", and their massive hit, "Inbetweener".
I first heard the parcles on my local college radio station 90.7 (which is broadcast out of Fresno State) many years back. Anyway, there was a DJ there named Bad Andy. His was the show I tuned into the most. I heard this song called "green means go" and it was awesome. A couple of days later he played another song "snappy new haircut" and it sounded a lot like the other. The band was called The Parcels and I was smitten. I looked them up and found that they had just broken up! Anyway, I recieved the album "Have a Go with The Parcels" as a gift and it always manages to make me happy. "She's a Good Witch" is my favorite. There is also an ep called "oh, what a busy day", but it is sold out and I have never even heard it! Even though they are broken up and have been now for around six years, I still wanted to share them here. The Parcels are a super cute twee pop trio.
They were:
christian elton - guitars and vocals
aj naito - drums
melissa wysocki - bass and vocals
From what I've gathered, aj doesn't drum anymore. He's into acting and has been at it for a couple of years now, mostly indie and student films. He's also done some music videos, but wouldn't reveal which ones. Ooh, I wonder which they are! Anyway, he seems really nice.
I got the most info out of christian. After the parcels split, he started another band called the dares, but they only played two shows. After the dares split he and two other members formed a "poptronica" trio called home economics. they tried to shop around their demo, but nobody seemed interested so they split as well. He quit playing for awhile, but has recently started playing in two other groups. He currently plays bass for PANDA RIOT (poptronica) and he's starting a new band with his own material that should be picking up where the parcels left off (sort of)! Woo! Their still unnamed though.
As for melissa wysocki. I'm not sure exactly what she's up to but she's been in a few bands it seems. One I'm sure of is called the snow fairies, but they just recently broke up as well.
I know that it wasn't necesary to gather all this info, but I really liked the parcels, I had forgotten about them and I wanted to know what they were up to. If you wanna buy "have a go" you can get it at Shelflife Records. I hope everything linked up alright.
Adios!
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