THIS Sunday, January 31 – 12 Noon to 3 PM on WTSR FM 91.3 in Trenton, NJ or anywhere in the world at www.wtsr.org :
A special edition of the Oldies But Goodies Show, “THE DAY THE MUSIC DIED”. We will be paying tribute to the three Rock and Roll Stars who lost their young lives in a plane crash over Clear Lake, Iowa on February 3, 1959. Of course, we are talking about Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper. Mike Piazza will feature their music, trace the events leading up to the tragedy, and feature the artists who were influenced by them. Also, performing live in the studio will be Ed Marra, the only Buddy Holly tribute artist sanctioned by the Buddy Holly Estate in Lubbock, Texas. While other stations will hardly mention the anniversary of this event we will pay tribute to the young talents who had such an impact on Rock and Roll. FORGET BUDDY HOLLY???????? THAT’LL BE THE DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 8 PM – St. George Theatre in Staten Island, NY:
Mike Piazza will be presenting live, on stage:
Kenny Vance & The Planotones – “Looking For An Echo”
The Duprees – “You Belong To Me” / Have You Heard”
Vito Picone & The Elegants – “Little Star” / “Little Boy Blue”
Joe Favale & The Emotions – “Echo”
Barbara Harris & The Toys – “A Lover’s Concerto” / “Attack”

For tickets call the St. George Box Office at 718-442-2900 or go to Ticketmaster or www.stgeorgetheatre.com

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 8PM – Bergen Performing Arts Center in Englewood, NJ :
Mike Piazza will be presenting live, on stage:
Kenny Vance & The Planotones – “Looking For An Echo”
Fred Parris & The Five Satins (We will pay recognition to the group for having the Number 1 song (by a landslide) on our recent Listener Voted Countdown on WTSR) – “In Te Still Of The Night” / “To The Aisle”
The Marcels – “Blue Moon”/ “Heartaches”
The Chiffons – “He’s So Fine” / “One Fine Day”
Cleveland Still & The Dubs – “Could This Be Magic” / “Don’t Ask Me To Be Lonely”

For tickets call the Bergen Performing Arts Center at 201-227-1030 or go to www.bergenpac.org

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 14, VALENTINES EVENING, 7 PM – Keswick Theatre in Glenside, PA :
Mike Piazza will be presenting live, on stage:
Charlie Thomas & The Drifters – “Under the Boardwalk” / “Up On the Roof”
Earl “Speedo” Carroll & The Cadillacs – “Speedo” / “Gloria”
The Marcels – “Blue Moon”/ “Heartaches”
La La Brooks, Original Lead Singer of The Crystals – “Da Doo Ron Ron” / “He’s A Rebel”
Johnny Farina of Santo & Johnny – “Sleepwalk” / “Teardrop”
Charlie Gracie – Philadelphia’s FIRST Rock and Roll Star !!!!!!! – “Butterfly” / “Fabulous”

For tickets call the Keswick Theatre Box Office at 215-572-7650

Beach House
“Teen Dream”
4 Stars out of 5

Teen Dream,” the third release from Baltimore’s Beach House, is one to be talked about, be it from blogs or hipster friends who think they know more when it comes to cool new music.

Making the leap from indie label Carpark to Sub Pop, Victoria LeGrand and Alex Scally make slightly dark, hypnotic music that’s impossible to turn away from. Lush, atmospheric and delicate pianos from Scally seamlessly lend themselves to the sometimes-quiet but often-soaring vocals from LeGrand. Fans of Grizzly Bear might recognize LeGrand’s vocals from her guest appearance on their hit single “Two Weeks,” from their latest album, “Veckatimest.”

The single “Norway” demonstrates Scally’s dextrous and intricate piano work while LeGrand’s alto vocals provide their standard gorgeous and haunting aura to the song.

The always-under-the-radar buzz band of 2009, Beach House is looking like the next indie band to “blow up” in 2010. Included with their physical CD is a DVD with videos for every song, including a bonus one, each by different directors, just to add that crazy-cool Beach House touch.

Key Tracks: “Norway,” “Used to Be,” “Zebra”
-Melissa Virzi
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Vampire Weekend
“Contra”
3 Stars out of 5

Following the unlikely success of their 2007 debut, Vampire Weekend found themselves in a difficult situation. The haters who had been calling them out from the start for their privileged backgrounds and pilfering of African music were eager to watch the band fall into the dreaded sophomore slump on its second album. Unfortunately for them, “Contra” works on everything that made the band so appealing in the first place without coming across as tired or repetitive.

“Contra” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Charts, becoming only the 12th independently released album to do so since Nielsen Soundscan began in 1991. Despite the band’s current media saturation, the new record is more musically experimental than its predecessor. Sure, the chirpy guitars, piping keyboards and Ivy League lyrics are still there (singer Ezra Koenig rhymes “horchata” with “balaclava” on the album’s opening song) but the songs reveal an expanded musical ambition within the quartet. “White Sky” finds Koenig using his voice to create a sort of squawking vocal hook and “Cousins” employs break-neck guitars and drums to create an absolutely frenetic lead single.

The success of “Contra” not only affirms Vampire Weekend’s musical prowess but means they’ll never have to worry about flavor of the week or one-hit wonder status ever again. Koenig and the kids are here to stay.

Key Tracks: “White Sky” and “Cousins”
-Chris Payne

Wednesday January 13 at 8 PM
Comedian Chris Rush live on the air via telephone interview.
www.chrisrushcomedy.com

The snowpocalypse in December forced us to reschedule Bess to January 16th – but she will be joining the Electric Eclectic crew at 10:30am.

Bess will be performing some accoustic songs, talking about her upcoming 2010 release & her 2009 Travel Back EP, gossiping about being on touring & recording with Ingrid Michaelson & Jenny Owen Youngs, and more!

For more info check her website at www.bessrogers.com.

Check out Electric Eclectic with Ryan & Samantha every Saturday morning from 9am-12pm and Thursday nights from 8pm-12AM. And while you are at it join the Electric Eclectic Facebook page!