Name that 90s alternative/punk song
September 5, 2020 1:37 AM Subscribe
In the early-mid '90s my local college radio station's late-night punk/alternative/etc. show played a song that has stuck in my head but I've never been able to find. It might have been called "Broadcast Day," and it ended with an old-fashioned "This concludes our broadcast day" sample. A few more details inside. I would love to be able to confirm I am not remembering a song I made up out of whole cloth, and ideally be able to find it and hear it again.
The lyrics are something like "Just like me/Can't you see what's going on?/How can it be/Can't you see what's going on?"
These are astonishingly difficult strings to Google--as is anything like "broadcast day song"--and I might not have remembered the words quite right anyway.
The show's playlist was eclectic but leaned toward punk, but the song as I remember it sounded more like Ned's Atomic Dustbin than the more hardcore punk. I'm pretty sure it's not them, though (it's definitely not "Kill Your Television" or anything off their easily-available albums). The band was almost certainly American or British. It was probably contemporary to when I heard it, but might have been older.
It aired on the now-defunct WESQ out of Wesleyan in Rocky Mount, NC, and the show was called the Cool Punk Alternative Progressive Whatever Type Show.
The lyrics are something like "Just like me/Can't you see what's going on?/How can it be/Can't you see what's going on?"
These are astonishingly difficult strings to Google--as is anything like "broadcast day song"--and I might not have remembered the words quite right anyway.
The show's playlist was eclectic but leaned toward punk, but the song as I remember it sounded more like Ned's Atomic Dustbin than the more hardcore punk. I'm pretty sure it's not them, though (it's definitely not "Kill Your Television" or anything off their easily-available albums). The band was almost certainly American or British. It was probably contemporary to when I heard it, but might have been older.
It aired on the now-defunct WESQ out of Wesleyan in Rocky Mount, NC, and the show was called the Cool Punk Alternative Progressive Whatever Type Show.
Might be a shot in the dark here, but... Alternative Ulster by Stiff Little Fingers has lyrics that sound a bit like what you describe.
posted by MiG at 10:28 AM on September 5, 2020
posted by MiG at 10:28 AM on September 5, 2020
Response by poster: Miko - Yeah, I have seen that one--it's currently the only search result for the name of the show that isn't from something I wrote. I'm not quite to the point where I want to reach out to that individual human yet--hoping someone else remembers it instead!
MiG - That's not it, sadly. The song I'm remembering is less punk-punk and more indie-punk than that.
posted by rhiannonstone at 12:07 PM on September 5, 2020
MiG - That's not it, sadly. The song I'm remembering is less punk-punk and more indie-punk than that.
posted by rhiannonstone at 12:07 PM on September 5, 2020
The Queens Of The Stone Age album Songs For The Deaf has a lot of radio style bits in it, maybe something off that?
posted by InfidelZombie at 2:05 PM on September 5, 2020
posted by InfidelZombie at 2:05 PM on September 5, 2020
Sounds vaguely similar to PCP by the Manic Street Preachers (1994) -- it ends with a dialogue sample and the chorus has the same rhythm as the lyrics you posted.
posted by rollick at 4:55 PM on September 5, 2020
posted by rollick at 4:55 PM on September 5, 2020
Response by poster: Not that Queens of the Stone Age album, it was released in 2002, and this song isn't any older than 1997 (more likely 1990-1995).
Not Manic Street Preachers' PCP, either--still too hard/punk-y. And the clip at the end of the song I'm looking for is specifically the words "This concludes our broadcast day."
That does make me realize, though: it might be possible that I'm conflating two songs, one with the lyrics I remember and the other with the clip.
posted by rhiannonstone at 6:40 PM on September 5, 2020 [1 favorite]
Not Manic Street Preachers' PCP, either--still too hard/punk-y. And the clip at the end of the song I'm looking for is specifically the words "This concludes our broadcast day."
That does make me realize, though: it might be possible that I'm conflating two songs, one with the lyrics I remember and the other with the clip.
posted by rhiannonstone at 6:40 PM on September 5, 2020 [1 favorite]
"Open Your Eyes" by the Avengers? Has much of the lyrical concept you're talking about but none of the "broadcast" stuff, so it might be a longshot
posted by kensington314 at 12:10 AM on September 6, 2020
posted by kensington314 at 12:10 AM on September 6, 2020
This made me instantly think of End of Radio by Shellac. Lyrics vary a little by performance but all basically start with “As we come to the close of our broadcast day”. However, the song is from 2007. :(
posted by chappell, ambrose at 5:24 AM on September 8, 2020
posted by chappell, ambrose at 5:24 AM on September 8, 2020
This thread is closed to new comments.
WESQ 90,9 FM
Jason Decker, 3400 Wesleyan Blvd., Rockymount NC 27804, (919)
985-5266
The Cool Punk Alternative Progressive Whatever Type Show is on
every Wednesday night from 9 until midnight. Bands are encour-
aged to send in their vinyl, cassettes, or CD's for airplay and stop
by for an interview.
posted by Miko at 5:58 AM on September 5, 2020 [1 favorite]