Psychoacoustics X Psychedelic Furs = Beautiful Chaos

WORT Music Playlists

What was that song I heard? Who was the artist, what is the album title, where can I get it? Where can I find the entire playlist for a show?

Click on the Playlists button to bring up a calendar where you can choose any date to find the playlists for that day. If you can’t find the right playlist or the song you’re looking for, your best bet is to call the station the next time that program’s on and ask the host yourself. If that’s not possible we may be able to help you, but please have as much information as possible at hand when you contact us, such as: approximate day and time the music was played, what type or genre of music it was, who hosted the show and any other information you remember about the selection and we’ll do our best to track it down.

Contact Information

Music Director: Sybil Augustine – musicdirector@wortfm.org (for music submissions, charts and tracking, promotional exchanges for music events and following up on volunteer applications or other requests. Please include specifics in your subject line, such as “Hiphop Music Submission” etc, )

Digital Production Director: Aaron Scholz – aaron@wortfm.org (for record donations and sales, promos recording volunteers, etc.)

Music Calendars: Submit your events online here or send by email to calendar@wortfm.org

How do I get my music played on WORT?

We accept submissions in most genres and styles of music, focusing on noncommercial, out-of-the-mainstream, independent releases (check out our playlists and music charts for more information.) It may take up to a few weeks for us to review and process your submission so we appreciate your patience, and feel free to contact us to follow up. Please send your music, indicating any tracks with language that needs to be aired after 10 pm and including a one-sheet description and any biographical and tour information, to WORT Music Director, 118 S. Bedford St, Madison, WI 53703 and/or to musicdirector@wortfm.org.

We do accept digital files on .wav or mp3, but currently we still prefer CDs to digital submissions because it’s the quickest way to get it into the hands of our programmers and onto the airwaves, though we have a growing digital library. Digital submissions should be .wav or other lossless files, or high quality mp3s [128-320 kbps.]

You can follow up or “track” your submissions by email, or call 608-256-2001 on Wednesdays between 1-4 pm CST to ask if we received it, has it been reviewed, has it been added to our library, and what kind of airplay it’s getting—e.g. light, medium, heavy or charting. Thanks and we look forward to hearing your music!

Enjoy the July 21 edition of Psychoacoustics, comprised entirely of music by X and Psychedelic Furs, available on-demand through WORT’s website and app until Aug. 4! Hosts Rev. Velveteen and Bad Sister Heidi’s playlist consists mostly of vinyl records, including tracks from X’s “Live at the Whisky A Go-Go On The Fabulous Sunset Strip” (1988, Rhino/Elektra) courtesy of the late Jamie Cowles by way of The Vampire Cabbie, both great friends and supporters of the station. The show also heavily features songs from X and the Furs’ 2020 albums, both acclaimed by critics and fans as a return to their roots after decades without either of them releasing new material. Tickets are available online or at the door.

Also, be sure to tune in to Psychoacoustics for an exclusive interview with X’s John Doe about his new solo album Fables in a Foreign Land on Thursday, July 28 from 8-11 pm CDT!

What tunes will the bands be playing tonight at the Sylvee? Read on to find out!!

This 2022 tour features the full original band line-up: Exene Cervenka (vocals); John Doe (bass, vocals); Billy Zoom (guitar) and DJ Bonebrake (drums.) Formed in 1977, X quickly established themselves as one of the best bands in the first wave of LA’s flourishing punk scene and legendary leaders of a punk generation. In 2017 the band celebrated their 40-year anniversary in music with a Grammy Museum exhibit opening, a Proclamation from the City of Los Angeles and being honored at a Los Angeles Dodgers game where Exene threw out the first pitch and John Doe sang the National Anthem.

Setlist by X

X‘s setlist changes a bit from night to night. They often start out with a different song and vary the list by 3-4 tracks each show, but always rely heavily on material from Under the Big Black Sun, Alphabetland and Los Angeles. They’ve been including the same 2 cover songs in every show and always end their set by playing “Soul Kitchen“ with no encore.

Breakdown of songs by album:

Under the Big Black Sun – 5
ALPHABETLAND – 4
Los Angeles – 3
More Fun in the New World – 2
Wild Gift – 2
Covers – 2

The Psychedelic Furs touring lineup remains Richard Butler (vocals); Tim Butler (bass); Rich Good (guitar); Mars Williams (saxophone); Amanda Kramer (keyboards) and Zachary Alford (drums.) Chicago resident Mars Williams is well-known to Madison audiences for his avant jazz-oriented solo performances presented by Bluestem Jazz here at Garver Feed Mill and most recently, last December at North St. Cabaret. Born out of the UK rock scene and led by vocalist and songwriter Richard Butler and his bass-wielding brother Tim, The Furs especially thrive live in concert having headlined the U.K.’s famed Glastonbury Festival, performing at sold out gigs at the California’s Hollywood Bowl and continuing to tour quite regularly around the globe.

Setlist by The Psychedelic Furs

On the other hand, the Furs‘ set remains pretty much the same every night. They include many crowd favorites, dropping their most well-known song “Pretty In Pink” mid-set. They’ll play half of the 12 tracks on the latest release and 4 more from their classic sophomore album Talk Talk Talk. A single encore consists of 2 songs, one of which – “Heartbreak Beat” – was actually their only Top 40* hit in the U.S. (*Contrary to what one might think, “Pretty In Pink” never did crack the charts in the States but of course, most people know it very well from the John Hughes film named after the song.)

“India” is the first track on Psychedelic Furs’ self-titled debut, introducing a sound they called “beautiful chaos” with the six members competing for musical attention within the song. The record was produced by Steve Lillywhite who was also working with another up-and-coming band, U2, around this time. “India” is the very first song ever composed by Richard Butler when he was just fifteen.