Ork Records may not have become a household word during its 5-year tenure from 1975-1980, but it certainly help set the stage for several music revolutions that ended up sweeping the world. From its powerful first release by TELEVISION (“Little Johnny Jewel”), Ork Records culled many of the most innovative underground rock and pop bands from around New York City (and sometimes Memphis and the UK) to serve up a 45RPM stew that would ignite imaginations everywhere. The best of Ork was recently compiled and re-released by Chicago obscurity reissue label Numero Group, and the first CD of this astonishing 2-CD set is featured on this GE episode. Punk/DIY origins exploding, fellow music geeks!

Songwriting duo CHRIS DIFFORD and GLENN TILBROOK wrote the vast preponderance of the catchy/witty repertoire for their band SQUEEZE circa 1978-1981, and this episode of GE celebrates some of their best work on the 4 LPs released during those years.  Ride that New Wave, fellow music geeks!

The first hour of this special episode of GE is firmly ensconced in the sounds of New Wave as practiced in the last 20 years, culminating in an extremely goofy interview with local heroes THE Y AXES.  The second hour descends into the madness that was German Schlager-esque soundtrack music from the late ’60s/early ’70s.  Don’t even ask, just listen… Plenty of aural cognitive dissonance for you, fellow music geeks!

Welcome to Geek EmaNation at a brand new time!  This exciting debut show features 2 engaging “experimental pop” artists:  Zarko from PROGRESS BAND (who performs live in the studio!) and BILL NELSON (in his various recorded incarnations including BE BOP DELUXE).  Barriers being pushed in a big way this time around, fellow music geeks!

This week the GE Show takes you completely down under with an exploration of some memorable yet mostly forgotten New Wave sounds from Aussie bands from 30+ years back in time.  Re-hear the sounds of SPLIT ENZ, MIDNIGHT OIL, HUNTERS AND COLLECTORS, HOODOO GURUS, MENTAL AS ANYTHING, and SKYHOOKS amongst many others, and ponder on how the harsh climate and Aboriginal atrocities made for some unusual and often compelling music.  Time to hit the land of Oz, fellow music geeks!

The disco/funk era got fully transmogrified by the purveyors of “New Wave” in the 1980s.  New and often disturbing elements of dissonance and anxiety replaced the drug-fueled positivity of the previous decade.  Hear some of the greatest and oddest dance sounds from 30 years back, including BUSH TETRAS, PYLON, B-52s, TRIO, KLAUS NOMI, NINA HAGEN, AU PAIRS, NENA and plenty of others on yet another danceable episode.  Funk up your post-punk, fellow music geeks!

It’s birthday time for the Rock’N’Roll Nurse, and he’s taking the opportunity to do his most self-indulgent show yet!  All music played on this episode will be vinyl recordings that the RnRN contributed to between 1987-2012.  Hear rare “hits” by the likes of DASHING MARBLES, FUDGETUNNEL!, BALD COW, CHEEZE, GAG, TASTY BUSH, and many others.  It’s a self-promotion explosion, fellow music geeks!

The early 1980s were a great time for New Wave in San Francisco, with 415 Records promoting plenty of great local acts like TRANSLATOR, WIRE TRAIN, RED ROCKERS and ROMEO VOID.  They also were responsible for this stellar compilation of largely (criminally!) overlooked bands like The OFFS and The MUTANTS, among others.  Get on that local New Wave, fellow music geeks!

GE takes yet another trip back to the swinging ’80s with this compilation from Columbia Records from 1984.  Hear the sounds of WHAM!, EUROGLIDERS, ROMEO VOID, BANGLES, DAVE EDMUNDS, RED ROCKERS and I AM SIAM as they were smushed together for this promo-only LP.  Another day for New Wave, fellow music geeks!

In 1981 2 sampler records of so-called “New Wave” music were released by Columbia Records as an inexpensive introduction to a bunch of newly signed bands, including The PSYCHEDELIC FURS, OMD, and TOMMY TUTONE among others.  Hear how a second “cheap peak at today’s provocative new rock” attempted to market and sell New Wave just as Slash Magazine’s Claude Bessy was declaring that “there is no such thing as New Wave”.  Hear the sounds used to sell the scam, fellow skeptical music geeks!