Way back in the ancient pre-internet times, you had to listen to the radio and hope against reason that they'd play something interesting that you hadn't heard before. In Eugene and the surrounding areas, there were three hours a week you could count on: KLCC's Modern Mono every Friday night from 11:30pm until 2:30am.
I don't know for sure but I believe the show was started by Lenny Goldberg aka Lenny Tone (visit his blog here) who was eventually joined by Dave Damage. Not sure when Lenny departed but Dave was doing the show by himself by the time I discovered it in late '82 as an impressionable 12 year old. Modern Mono played the first local music that I ever heard and broadened by musical horizons on a weekly basis. Dave eventually stopped doing the show and Lucy Kerley aka Lizzard started it back up on KRVM, I think that was sometime in '84 or early '85?
I managed to hold onto a few tapes of the show during the Dave Damage period but it depresses me to know that at one point I had 30 or 40 hours worth and this is fewer than 10. I did manage to contact Dave directly, he saved a few shows but they are with his brother. We're working on a way for the tapes to find their way to me so I can digitize and add more shows to this page but this project has been brewing for a long time so what I've digitized below may be all that survives:
10/8/83 - partial show, 124 min.
10/29/83 - partial show, 12 min.
1/6/84 - partial show, 76 min.
1/13/84 - partial show, 92 min.
2/3/84 - complete show, 86 min.
Unknown date (Tape 3) - partial show, 63 min.
Unknown Date (Tape 15) - partial show, 49 min.
Wow--thanks for all your efforts here and for your blog! Much appreciated.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely find on the internet, thank you for posting this! Dave had a command of the airwaves that is hard to find or even imagine being done now. Even he didn't understand the originality of the anarchy that he was creating. If you're from Eugene, this is the pure deal from the early 80's. If you grew up in the 2000's, it probably sounds pretty tame. But this is the rough, hilarious underbelly of your hometown when Minneapolis was Music City and we were Mayberry. Someone needs to make a T-Shirt out of the Modern Mono logo.
ReplyDeleteFantastic. Do you have any of Lucy's shows?
ReplyDeleteModern Mono was radio at its best..thanks for the article and recordings. My one cassette of MM got played into extinction, best wishes to the whole crew!
ReplyDeleteRC Stilwell
In the mid-80s for a brief period, I was the DJ for the "Radio '80s" lead-in to Lucy's show on Sunday nights at KRVM, which was a gas, and I even got to host a couple times when Lucy was out. I loved that gig.
ReplyDeleteI still have a stack of playlists that she sent everytime she played our band. What ever happened to Lucy?
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ReplyDeleteI started listening to modern mono 1982 and continued listening on Lucy's show on KRVM until she went off the air about 1989. I have a about 10 tapes. Some are full shows some partials. Working on digitalizing them.
ReplyDeleteI lived in Eugene in the 80's and used to listen to Modern Mono during the Lucy Liz-ard era. Amazing disc jockey, she knew her shit as was sooooooo cool on air. And god what a vinyl collection. Surf punk from the 50's and psychedelic garage bands, stuff to make your head explode, man I miss her show!
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