Radio Rumpus Room has been broadcast on KFAI-FM in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota since April 1991. Each Friday, hosts Ron and Jean serve up a platter full of surf, hot rod, '60s garage, rockabilly, hillbilly twang, primal pop, primitive rock'n'roll and a bit of psychedelia to our on-air and Internet listeners. Twelve years of our playlists, plus RealAudio archives of past and recent shows are on-site. Since July 2006 we've been posting our weekly playlist to our MySpace blog as well. The two most recent shows are archived for two weeks at www.kfai.org . The Radio Rumpus Room website is also the home of the Bird Dance Beat page, a discography devoted to the reissued sounds of the '60s rock'n'roll of the Upper Midwest.
Theme shows: We generally do a different theme show once a month (barring an interference due to Pledge Drive). Some of our reoccuring specials are: Hot Rods To Hell (a tire-shreddin' staple for 14 years); The Day The Surf Stood Still (an all-surf show in the middle of Minnesota's winter, 11 years on); Hot Brakes, Cold Beer And Truckin' Favorites (truckdrivin' show); Big Beat Badger Blowout (Wisconsin '60s garage, four years on); Bird Dance Beat (Minnesota '60s garage, five years on); Dance CRAZE! (shake it!); Radio Rumpus Room Goes Commercial ('60s radio spots by and about rock artists); Flying Saucers Rock'n'Roll (extra-terrestial theme); See You Later, Equator! ('60s bands from the Southern Hemisphere); Mind Melt and 60 Miles High (psych shows); RRR Is Turning Japanese (all Japanese bands); Tall Corn Stomp! ('60s surf and garage bands from Iowa and the Dakotas); Flying Saucers vs The Red Menace: Songs and Sounds of the Cold War! (civil defense and the Red Scare); Smothered In Covers (all cover songs); She Shows No Mercy (savage women rockers); Two-Wheel Show Stoppers: A Spring Scooter Scramble (all motorcycle songs); Gary Usher: Genius Or God?; and of course Halloween and Christmas shows when it works out.
Ongoing events: In addition to the continuing weekly radio show we used to host the monthly First Saturday Surf Stomp at the Hexagon Bar in Minneapolis. Featured was a revolving cast of surf and instrumental rock bands, with usually a twang or vocal group included in the mix. After three-and-a-half years we decided to give the hosting duties a rest; last show for us was January 2008. We'll be involved in similar events, but for now we're taking a break from live events. We've also hosted the Radio Rumpus Room Hootenanny! series, featuring a mix of bands from the RRR musical melting pot: surf, twang and rock'n'roll. Radio Rumpus Room was the primary media sponsor of the Minneapolis Messaround car shows and the Twin Cities Riot multi-day blowout.
Website 1: Our original site at www.radiorumpusroom.com has playlists going back to 1995 along with the Bird Dance Beat guide to Midwestern rock of the '60s. (Lately this has been the last place I post the playlists, so check first at our KFAI program page [see next item] and then here if you need to see it sooner.)
Website 2: More good stuff at our KFAI program page. (This is the first place the playlist gets posted.)
Submissions for airplay: Please send us your CDs and vinyl for spinning on Radio Rumpus Room. Take a look at our playlists, and if you think your sound fits in with the stuff we play, please mail what you have to:
KFAI Fresh Air Radio
ATTN: Radio Rumpus Room, Box 23
1808 Riverside Ave.
Minneapolis, MN 55454
Friend requests: We're not jerks, but we are selective. Really, we deny a lot more requests than we accept. If by your profile it's obvious you play or are a fan of our kinds of music, you're in -- it's that simple. We want this list of friends to reflect what the show is about; we're not interested in amassing a big tally for the sake of numbers alone. No offense to anyone intended -- that's just the way it is. Also, we don't accept invites from commercial ventures, or folks whose profile is set to "private." Lastly, oversized or just plain obnoxious "comments" art will be deleted at the whim of cranky old Ron. Thanks friends -- see ya again soon. Your place or ours!
