Air Week: August 11-17, 2025 Atlantic Records, Pt. 4 – 1952 Atlantic Records was the most influential, significant and important independent record label to come out of the late-1940s, during a time when there were many great, small indie labels being born. What gave Atlantic the advantage over Specialty, Chess, Modern, Vee-Jay, Exclusive, King, etc is the breadth of material, variety of music styles and the sheer number of hit records that led to the Rock n’ Roll explosion of the mid-1950s. Mat...
Aug 10, 2025•59 min
Air Week: August 4-10, 2025 Atlantic Records, Pt. 3 – 1951 Atlantic Records was the most influential, significant and important independent record label to come out of the late-1940s, during a time when there were many great, small indie labels being born. What gave Atlantic the advantage over Specialty, Chess, Modern, Vee-Jay, Exclusive, King, etc is the breadth of material, variety of music styles and the sheer number of hit records that led to the Rock n’ Roll explosion of the mid-1950s. Matt...
Aug 03, 2025•59 min
Air Week: July 28-August 3, 2025 Atlantic Records, Pt. 2 – 1949-50 Atlantic Records was the most influential, significant and important independent record label to come out of the late-1940s, during a time when there were many great, small indie labels being born. What gave Atlantic the advantage over Specialty, Chess, Modern, Vee-Jay, Exclusive, King, etc is the breadth of material, variety of music styles and the sheer number of hit records that led to the Rock n’ Roll explosion of the mid-195...
Jul 27, 2025•59 min
Air Week: July 21-27, 2025 Atlantic Records, Pt. 1 – 1947-49 Atlantic Records was the most influential, significant and important independent record label to come out of the late-1940s, during a time when there were many great, small indie labels being born. What gave Atlantic the advantage over Specialty, Chess, Modern, Vee-Jay, Exclusive, King, etc is the breadth of material, variety of music styles and the sheer number of hit records that led to the Rock n’ Roll explosion of the mid-1950s. Ma...
Jul 20, 2025•59 min
Air Week: July 14-20, 2025 Varetta Dillard Varetta Dillard might be a footnote in R&B and Rock n’ Roll history, having only scored 3 R&B charting records, but her body of recorded work speaks for itself. She was more than just a Ruth Brown impersonator, though she could sound a lot like her idol. Dillard was also part of pop culture, having waxed a tribute record to the recently deceased Johnny Ace (“Johnny Has Gone” in 1955) and making the top 10 with it. She scored 2 R&B shuffle hi...
Jul 13, 2025•59 min
Air Week: June 23-29, 2025 Lloyd Price: The Specialty Sides Lloyd Price would become one of the great hit-makers of early Rock n’ Roll, but this is the story of the “soul that came BEFORE Rock n’ Roll.” Lloyd was just a kid when bandleader and talent scout, Dave Bartholomew brought him to Cosimo Matassa’s J&M Studio in early 1952 to make a record of a tune he had heard Lloyd singing. “Lawdy Miss Clawdy” hit #1 during the summer of ’52, becoming an instant classic and contributing to the R&am...
Jun 22, 2025•59 min
Air Week: June 16-22, 2025 Julia Lee During the 1920s, Kansas City was the heart of Jazz and the epicenter of American Music. George E. Lee and His Novelty Singing Orchestra was one of the most popular bands in that town at that time. At the center of the band, playing piano and singing was Julia Lee, the sister of bandleader George E. Lee. Julia was a fantastic singer with a powerful voice. We begin this week’s program, dedicated to Julia Lee, with one of her earliest records, “He’s Tall, Dark ...
Jun 15, 2025•59 min
Air Week: June 9-15, 2025 Johnny Otis This week, the Juke In The Back is proud to honor the late, great Johnny Otis. He was a true renaissance man. Otis was a singer, songwriter, drummer, bandleader, talent scout, record label owner and radio / TV show host and that’s not everything he did. He was the son of Greek immigrants, growing up in a mostly Black section of Vallejo, CA during the 1920s and 30s. He not only absorbed Black Culture, he became a part of it, changing his last name to Otis in ...
Jun 08, 2025•59 min
Air Week: June 2-8, 2025 Boogie Woogie Rhythm & Blues Boogie Woogie has the natural ability to make you wanna tap your toes, shake your hips and just all around feel good! The blues style of Boogie Woogie piano features a strong left hand, playing repeated bass lines, leaving the right hand free to improvise around the keys. This produces an uptempo, rollicking feel with a solid groove that makes you want to get up and dance. Men such as Pete Johnson, Albert Ammon, Meade “Lux” Lewis and Fats...
Jun 01, 2025•59 min
1940s & â€50s Rhythm & Blues At the end of the Second World War, economics forced the big bands to trim their once great size and thus, the Jump Blues combo was born. Between 1946-1954, rhythm and blues laid the tracks for what was to become Rock n†Roll. So how come, 70 years later, this vibrant and influential music is still so unknown to so many? Matt The Cat is going to change that with the radio program, “Juke In The Back.†These were the records that you couldnâ€t hear on the ...
Jul 28, 2020•1 min
