Archived
Shows from 2002
12.29.02 EPISODE 39: NEW YEARS EVE
"This
is the time of year people like to sum up what happened. You know, evaluate everything.
Make stupid lists and of course tell a bunch of lies about what we're going to
do next year."—Little Steven
12.22.02 EPISODE 38: CHRISTMAS
"Somehow "Happy Winter Solstice" just didn't have the right ring to it. So it
became "Merry Christmas," baby! Like most things, all based on an ancient religion,
you know the pagans and the Zoroastrians and cats like that. But this end of the
year time, this Winter Solstice thing, man, is like the superbowl of religious
activities. I mean all kinds of action going on. Indigenous people from Native
America are celebrating Mother Earth. Scandinavia is celebrating their Earth Mother
feasting to ensure abundance in the coming year."—Little Steven
12.15.02 EPISODE 37: DETROIT
"You are deep in the Underground Garage. Where we are engaged in a Thanksgiving,
a confession, an open acknowledgement that gives thanks to a town that is spiritually
and philosophically very much our parent. Although being that the arrogant, iconoclasts
Detroiters tend to be, they'd probably disown us anyway as their bastard children.
But the DNA sample would test positive, baby!"—Little Steven
12.8.02 EPISODE 36: SOPRANOS
"January 1999 and that ridiculous box in the living room known as your television
was starting to get interesting. A new dramatic series known as The Sopranos debuted
on a cable channel called Home Box Office.... the coolest show on TV also happens
to have the coolest music. And we are dedicating the show to it."—Little Steven
12.1.02 EPISODE 35: THE GOOD, THE
BAD, AND THE STILL UGLY (REPEAT)
"1963, Riverside California.... Rick
Brown singing, Steve Whiting on bass. Drummer Rick Moe. They would add a wildman
steel guitar player named Glen Campbell (no relation)... Somewhere late ’64 early
’65 they start getting freaky like the Yardbirds.... You know, much more elaborate
sound pictures begin to happen, feedback, mid-eastern melody, what would soon
be psychedelic but they’re a little ahead of their time and they are not fitting
in..... The Misunderstood become the Children of The Sun."—Little Steven
11.24.02 EPISODE 34: IN LIKE FLINT
(UPDATED REPEAT)
"…Radio. It's really futuristic in that it doesn't show
you a bunch of digital pictures and pretty colors the way, you know, most mediums
do these days. Insulting your intelligence at every opportunity. It mysteriously
engages your mind and stimulates your imagination with nothing but words and music."—Little
Steven
11.17.02 EPISODE 33: MARTY SCORSESE
"Christmas 1972, Scorsese goes to some friend's house for dinner. There is Time
magazine film critic Jay Cox and actress Verna Bloom. Two important things happened
here. Jay and Verna introduced Marty to a guy named Bob DeNiro and Verna mentions
to her friend John, who was a road manager of a band and wanted to get into movies,
that Marty has a script called Season of the Witch…"—Little Steven
11.10.02 EPISODE 32: FRANK BARSALONA
"He felt a bands live performance was as important, and maybe more important,
than their records. This was unprecedented and totally radical thinking. He was
like records, hits, whatever… they'll come. But if a band is great live, they'll
have longevity. If they have a hit… then that's icing on the cake. He proved that
theory over and over and over again, and helped create the entire rock era." -Little
Steven
11.3.02 EPISODE 31: TEXAS
"Last picture show. Last detail. Last movie. Last tango in Paris. Last temptation
of Christ. Last DJ. Other than a word in a title and a certain obvious fanatic
finality…What do they all have in common?" –Little Steven (Listen to find out!)
10.27.02 EPISODE 30: HALLOWEEN
"Halloween is definitely one of the coolest holidays. I mean, these cats in Ireland
called the Celts started the whole thing 800 years before Christ…They celebrated
the end of summer, October 31st. It was their New Years' party. The Celts called
it Samhain. They believed life and death came together at this time. All laws
of time and space were suspended allowing the spirit world to interact with the
living. Oh yeah!"—Little Steven
10.20.02 EPISODE 29: BARBARELLA
IN BOSTON (REPEAT)
"And the Sex Pistols ended the set. One of the greatest
rock 'n' roll bands ever, in my opinion, making one of the greatest rock albums
ever. I hope you caught their reunion in 1996. It was fantastic. I went backstage
and begged them to stay together and they laughed at me."—Little Steven
10.13.02 EPISODE 28: 77 SUNSET
STRIP (REPEAT)
"Ain't nobody going to keep us from living life to its
fullest capacity, baby…Give me more freedom, not less. Give me more choices, not
less!"—Little Steven
10.6.02 EPISODE
27: MURRAY THE K (REPEAT)
"There were no singers until the British Invasion.
Everybody had instrumental bands. The only reason why they had singers in England
was because, let's face it, they had nothing else to do. Global warming or no
global warming, the sun comes out for about an hour in England. We're talking
about once a month. That's why the British Invasion happened…"—Little Steven
9.29.02 EPISODE 26: GROUCHO
"Death is no impediment in the Underground Garage. We are not prejudiced about
such things. Black, white, Arab, Jews, young, old, straight, gay, artist, scientist,
alive, dead—we don't care. A member of the family is a member of the family. Everybody
is equal in the Garage."—Little Steven
9.22.02 EPISODE 25: HARD
DAY'S NIGHT
"Just in case you thought your band was popular, girls screamed
and cried throughout the movie [A Hard Day's Night] and during the film
would occasionally run down the aisles and physically attack the screen. I kid
you, not."—Little Steven
9.15.02 EPISODE 24: MEXICAN
INDEPENDENCE
"Now, Question Mark says he's from Mars. You hear that and
laugh right? But then you meet the man and then you, I don't know. Have you seen
him lately? Go check out Question Mark and the Mysterians. First of all, they
are great. It's a great show. He looks exactly the same as he did in 1966. I was
six inches away from him. I talked with him for an hour. He looks exactly the
same. Consider that before you laugh."—Little Steven
9.8.02 EPISODE 23: BACK
TO SCHOOL
"…All I know is, I still feel that little twinge of anxiety
around this time of year. After all this time, I'm still relieved I don't have
to go [to school]. I mean, half the battle is getting up that early. My body was
born on rock 'n' roll time. Literally, I was born at 5:30 in the afternoon. I
just wake up as night falls."—Little Steven
9.1.02 EPISODE 22: GIRLS OF SUMMER
"'Help
Me Rhonda,' [Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys' main writer] very real cry for help
in 1965. [The Beach Boys] stopped touring in winter '64, having suffered from
a nervous breakdown. Trying to get three albums out a year and four, five or six
singles over the year, man, you know. I don't know how those cats did it in those
days."—Little Steven
8.25.02 EPISODE 21: JACK NITZSCHE
"Our
format here is the coolest rock songs ever recorded. We don't care if they are
50 minutes old or 50 years old, we have no particular interest, respect, or relationship
in, for, or with chronological time. Chronological time is something imposed up
on us by society to control us. To sure make us stay too busy to realize we're
working too hard."—Little Steven
8.18.02 EPISODE 20: BRITISH INVASION
"What we do is Garage Rock—all 50 years of it. The direct influence of the bands
of the British Invasion remains the single most significant defining characteristic
of the entire modern, contemporary garage band movement. The movement began in
the late-70's, early-80's…"—Little Steven
8.11.02 EPISODE 19: THE TRIP
"The Underground
audience is the best. You are the most musically informed, the most enthusiastic
and the most loyal. You're the best. I love you, baby. Keep them emails coming."—Little
Steven
8.4.02 EPISODE 18: MANHATTAN
"I just
want Aerosmith's next album to be totally 60's, baby. I am convinced that they
can pull it off. This new song ["Girls of Summer"] is 60's, what can I tell ya.
The further they get from the 60's, the more 60's they're getting. And the more
I love it."—Little Steven
7.28.02 EPISODE 17: CANADA
"You ain't
dreamin' baby. We are real here. Everything else outside, that’s the bad dream....The
eternal dance party knows no time or space. Chronology and Geography do not deter
us or divert us from our mission to play the coolest songs ever recorded." —Little
Steven
7.21.02 EPISODE 16: JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF
THE MIND
"We started with the coolest song in the world this week, and
this is the only place where you can hear it. From the new album The Rising,
Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band-"Counting on a Miracle"…Out a week from
Tuesday [July 30]. Super Tuesday…Make a statement. Riot at the record store. Peaceful
riots. Parties in the parking lots. First record with the entire E-Street Band
in 18 years!"-Little Steven
7.14.02 EPISODE 15: PIRATE RADIO
"July 20, 1965, Columbia Records
released Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone," which goes all the way to #2 on the
pop charts and with that, in my opinion, the art form of rock was born."—Little
Steven
7.7.02 EPISODE 14: JOHNNY COOL
"The Beatles' "When I Get
Home" from their third album A Hard Day's Night. One of several great songs
not included on the American version of the album at the time. The English versions
of their albums and the American versions were different until Sgt. Pepper,
I believe. Their eighth album…Happy birthday, Ringo. July 7th. You don't look
a day over 25, son."—Little Steven
6.30.02 EPISODE 13: BARBARELLA IN BOSTON
"And the Sex Pistols ended the set. One of the greatest rock 'n' roll bands ever,
in my opinion, making one of the greatest rock albums ever. I hope you caught
their reunion in 1996. It was fantastic. I went backstage and begged them to stay
together and they laughed at me."—Little Steven
6.23.02 EPISODE 12: 77 SUNSET STRIP
"We
also are determined to play you the coolest songs ever recorded within our self-imposed
limitations. Sometimes that means a cool song that fits in, even though the group
may not be garage at all or most of their songs don't fit, ya know. That's all
right. What matters is that you get two hours of inspiration, motivation, energy
and an energy infusion to help you make it through the next week. That's what
counts."—Little Steven
6.16.02 EPISODE 11: MURRAY THE K
"There
were no singers until the British Invasion. Everybody had instrumental bands.
The only reason why they had singers in England was because, let's face it, they
had nothing else to do. Global warming or no global warming, the sun comes out
for about an hour in England. We're talking about once a month. That's why the
British Invasion happened…"—Little Steven
6.9.02 EPISODE 10: BYE BYE BIRDIE
"I got to say Ann Margaret has
got the sexiest scene in any movie ever in Bye Bye Birdie. This movie is
the most PG, clean cut, '50's teenager fantasy movie ever made, right…Anyway,
she does this song "How Lovely To Be A Woman," right, and I thought maybe I remembered
it being sexy because I was a kid when I saw it, ya know. But I saw it recently
and it's still incredible…I don't care if you're fifteen or fifty; this scene
is one of the very few totally legitimate reasons to continue to live."—Little
Steven
6.2.02 EPISODE 9: THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY
"All
the pioneers in the 50's are important, but as far as garage rock goes, nobody
touches Bo Diddley. Bo Diddley's beat alone would do it. He gave the Pretty Things
their name."—Little Steven
5.26.02 EPISODE 8: STAR TREK
"My
father was an actor. By 1969, my father acted like he wanted to kill me, I'll
tell you that. We were the generation gap you read about. That was us. What I
put that poor guy through. He was an ex-Marine, Republican, and I'm the only freak
for 30 miles in any direction. Of course, we reconciled later and became good
buddies. But in the Sixties, he was Benny Goodman and I was Moby Grape." —Little
Steven
5.19.02 EPISODE 7: HOBOKEN A GO-GO
"Most of what you hear with
us is the roots of and the influences of what gets played the rest of the time
on this station. The point is to take two hours a week to turn you on to something
that perhaps you don't know or maybe haven't heard for a while."-Little Steven
5.12.02 EPISODE 6: BIRTH DEATH INFINITY
"One cool new song can
make my day. My whole week sometimes. I play it over and over and over, just like
I did when I was a kid growing up. A cool new song to me is like an essential
part of your genetic make up that has been missing and you didn't realize it until
you found it. I listen to it constantly until it becomes a part of the fiber of
my body, of my consciousness. It makes you feel complete somehow—more whole."—Little
Steven
5.5.02 EPISODE 5: OUR MAN FLINT
"When things get tough at work
or you get bored, or getting tense, you will be transported back to the underground
garage. It all will be all right. A smile will come to your face 'cause you know
you are not alone, baby. No matter who or what is bugging you, you know you can
let it go because you know something they don't. You know what's cool! You have
touched the face of God, baby. Right here. You have an All Access pass to the
flow of the life energy itself. Taste it anytime you need it. It'll take you anywhere
you want to go. Let's take a trip."—Little Steven
4.28.02EPISODE 4: FLOATING CRAP GAME
"All lyrics changed
in 1965. Actually the whole world changed in 1965. That's when Bob Dylan went
from completely changing folk music forever by bringing the rock 'n' roll attitude
to it. He completely changed pop music forever by bringing a folk music consciousness
to that. And that cosmic confluence of Dylan's lyrics, the Beatles' pop genius,
and the Stones' street level, sexy, primitive, garage style, created a new art
form called rock." —Little Steven
4.21.02 EPISODE 3: ENTER THE DRAGON
"How cool is George Harrison.
He's what got me and kept me attached to the Beatles all those years…. How boring
life would have been without George Harrison. How pivotal. It would be impossible
for me to live without him. Thankfully he's everywhere. All around me, inside
me, all the time." —Little Steven
4.14.02 EPISODE 2: THE SEQUEL
"The air was actually slick with
excitement. Palpable. I could still feel it. Taste it. Dreams get made on nights
like this. Real magic. That's how I felt. The headliner ended up having such a
profound effect on me…. The show that they did that night would forever be in
my Top 5 performances of all time…I never felt the true power, the true potential
of live rock 'n' roll until that moment. It was the Rascals." —Little Steven
4.7.02
EPISODE 1: IT'S ALIVE!
"We'll be playing what is called Garage Rock. What
is Garage Rock? Well if you talk to 10 different people, you'll get 10 different
answers on that one…. It's just back to basic guitar. It's basic drums with a
little attitude and a direct connection to the 60's before the machines took over.
We'll be playing everything from early-60's—roots and garage to the contemporary
wave of garage bands out there right now, recording and performing. "—Little Steven