Yo La Tengo- Request-A Thon 2020 (25th Anniversary!)

Every spring for the past 25 years, Yo La Tengo has been on the airways at WFMU-FM in Jersey City, New Jersey taking and performing requests during their annual Request-A-Thon. This incredible feat is the highlight of the station's fundraising marathon where listeners can pledge money to help support the operations of the radio station. WFMU is a listener-supported independent community radio station and is committed to unstructured-format broadcasting. Yo La Tengo has lent their talent and generosity to the station with an annual 3 hour slot performing live requests from listeners that pledge $100 or more. For the band, almost nothing is off-limits, there are songs that regularly get requested and songs they don't know, sometimes performing them for the first time. Through it all, they are good sports and are game to try any weird and obscure requests, and this year is no exception.

Fortunately, this year's show took place about a week before COVID started shutting down gatherings and live performances, otherwise Yo La Tengo might not have played live in studio. Though I don't live anywhere near New Jersey, listening to this show is a highlight of my year and one of these years I'll listen live and pledge. I promise I will find out the date for 2021's program and participate in the fundraiser. In fact, it's never too late to pledge and donations to the station can be made here: https://pledge.wfmu.org/donate?step=landing 
Thanks to beatpop on Dime for once again recording and sharing the show. I look forward to next year!
Enjoy!

Please do NOT sell or profit from this recording!
Do NOT convert to lossy formats (except for personal use)
Please share!

Yo La Tengo
25TH Annual Yo La Tengo Requestathon!
Live on Todd-o-phonic Todd's show
with Gaylord Fields and Evan Funk Davies
WFMU-FM's Monty Hall
Jersey City, NJ USA 
March 07, 2020
7 sets from 3-6pm

Broadcast live over 91.1 WFMU-FM, Jersey City, NJ USA.

Lineage:
WFMU-FM > Sony XDR-F1HD > Edirol R-09HR (44.1/16) >
Sony Soundforge 10 > FLAC level 6 aligned on SB

Set 1:
01 - The Tra La La Song (One Banana, Two Banana) (1:45)
02 - Making Time (1:51)
03 - I'll Come Running (3:27)
04 - Death of a Clown (2:40)
05 - Meet on the Ledge (2:59)

Set 2:
06 - Moscow Nights (2:11)
07 - Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow (2:41)
08 - Morgus the Magnificent (2:26)
09 - She's Like Heroin to Me (2:16)
10 - If and When (2:39)

Set 3:
11 - It's a Rainy Day, Sunshine Girl (3:10)
12 - Heart Of Glass (2:53)
13 - Here Comes the Sun (2:28)
14 - Our Lips Are Sealed  (2:47)

Set 4:
15 - Green Onions (2:58)
16 - Last Days of Disco (5:50)
17 - Werewolves of London (4:51)
18 - Who Loves the Sun (2:10)
19 - Love Is the Drug (2:38)
20 - I'm Down (2:26)

Set 5:
21 - Corona (2:17)
22 - Ice Cream Man (2:56)
23 - Psycho Killer (4:07)
24 - Rebel Rebel (3:13)
25 - I Wanna Be Sedated (2:15)

Set 6:
26 - Outdoor Miner (2:31)
27 - Henry (1:05)
28 - Hey Joe (3:44)
29 - Gates of Steel (3:08)

Set 7:
30 - Baby's on Fire (2:00)
31 - Wild Honey (2:53)
32 - Peter Gunn/Annette's Got the Hits (8:48)

With references to:
Annette's Got the Hits - Redd Cross
Skin Deep - Nick Lowe
Cold Rain and Snow - Grateful Dead
Melody Nelson - Serge Gainsbourg
No More Pushing Joe Around - Daniel Johnston
Family Affair - Sly & The Family Stone
Senses Working Overtime - XTC
Carry On Wayward Son - Kansas
Brandy (You're a Fine Girl) - Looking Glass
Runaway Train - Soul Asylum
Speed Racer Theme
Annette's Got the Hits - Redd Cross

Total Running Time: 1hr 36min 16sec

Personnel:
Georgia Hubley - drums, vocals
Ira Kaplan - guitar, keyboards, vocals
James McNew - bass

YO LA TENGO- 2020-03-07 Monty Hall, WFMU-FM Jersey City, NJ FLAC. rar

Yo La Tengo- Request-A-Thon 2019

Once again, Yo La Tengo performed on WFMU-FM (out of Jersey City in the good ol' USA) for an afternoon of accepting fundraising pledges in exchange for a song. This annual, Request-a-Thon has had the honour of having Yo La Tengo live-on-air taking your requests for something like 24 straight years, if that's true it's simply amazing! As a music fan outside of the listening zone of New Jersey (though, I'm sure online is a possibility) I await for someone to post the show so I can hear YLT always interesting covers and I'm more than eager to share it here. I've posted the last three years broadcasts along with a couple others from the early 2000's and to make it easier to access the previous posts, I've started to add tag labels (at the bottom of the post). For example, at the bottom of this post, if you click Yo La Tengo or WFMU, the search will bring up the other posts with the same label, easy eh?

In case you're not completely familiar with the format of the all request live-on-air show, here's an excerpt from Yo La Tengo's page:
  Anybody who pledges at least $100 gets to make a song request, and we will do our best to play it.  And if you’ve heard this show before you are well aware that all too frequently our best, to quote Eric Burdon, just ain’t good enough.  This is the 24th year in a row that we’ve done this, and you’d think we’d have it down by now.  

A word or two about these requests.  We will not be consulting computers, phones or anything else to help us play these songs, relying strictly on our “wits” and a lifetime of listening to records.  We do not pretend to know every song ever written, and by the end of the afternoon, you’ll be wondering if we in fact know even one.  If you are of a mind to give us a couple of choices, or “any song by _____,” you’ve got a better chance of hearing us try to take your request.  Whether that’s a good thing or not remains to be seen.            

As the show goes by, the requests tend to pile up faster than we can keep track of them, so pledging in advance will increase the odds that we play your song. We swear on a stack of Hit Paraders that the four of us will know nothing of the requests until after the show begins.

Special thanks to Yo La Tengo and WFMU-FM for making this recording available. WFMU-FM is a listener supported, independent community radio station. It is the longest-running freeform radio station in the U.S.

Donations to the station can be made here:
https://pledge.wfmu.org/donate?step=landing
Enjoy!

Please do NOT sell!
Please do not trade this in lossy format.
Convert to lossy for personal use only.

Yo La Tengo
Live on Todd-o-phonic Todd's
Request-a-Thon with Gaylord Fields and Evan Funk Davies
WFMU-FM's Monty Hall
Jersey City, NJ USA
2019-03-09
7 sets from 3-6pm

Broadcast live over 91.1 WFMU-FM, Jersey City, NJ USA.

Lineage:
WFMU-FM > Sony XDR-F1HD > Edirol R-09HR (44.1/16) >
Sony Soundforge 10 > FLAC level 6 aligned on SB

Set 1:
01 - Rumble (Originally by Link Wray) (2:03)
02 - For Pete's Sake (Originally by The Monkees) (2:03)
03 - Daydream Believer (Originally by The Monkees) (2:47)
04 - Puff The Magic Dragon (Originally by Peter, Paul and Mary) (2:00)
05 - Be My Baby (Originally by The Ronettes) (2:53)

Set 2:
06 - Rock n Roll High School (Originally by Ramones) (1:45)
07 - I'm A Man (Originally by Spencer Davis Group) (2:28)
08 - Mother-In-Law (Originally by Ernie K Doe) (1:54)
09 - Autumn Sweater (Originally by Yo La Tengo) (4:54)
10 - Agitated (Originally by the electric eels) (1:48)

Set 3:
11 - Girls Just Want To Have Fun (Originally by Cyndi Lauper) (2:01)
12 - Panic In Detroit (Originally by David Bowie) (2:06)
13 - Ya Ya (Originally by Lee Dorsey) (2:35)
14 - He's Frank (Originally by the Monochrome Set) (3:21)
15 - Betty Lou's Got A New Tattoo (Originally by the Creep) (1:59)

Set 4:
16 -  TV Party (Originally by Black Flag) (2:05)
17 -  Cast A Shadow (Originally by Beat Happening) (2:16)
18 -  Lay Lady Lay (Originally by Bob Dylan) (2:33)
19 -  Synthetic World (Originally by Swamp Dogg) (2:47)
20 -  Rock And Roll (Originally by the Velvet Underground) (3:16)

Set 5:
21 - Get Dancin' (Originally by Disco-Tex and Sex-o-lettes) (1:38)
22 - Cowgirl In The Sand (Originally by Neil Young) (2:40)
23 - Ever Fallen In Love (Originally by Buzzcocks) (2:20)
24 - Can You Get To That? (Originally by Funkadelic) (1:46)
25 - You Really Got Me (Originally by The Kinks) (2:21)

Set 6:
26 - Theme from M*A*S*H (OST) (1:19)
27 - Chewy Chewy (Originally by Ohio Express) (2:40)
28 - Unsatisfied (Originally by the Replacements) (2:38)
29 - She's Not There (Originally by the Zombies) (2:16)
30 - Babysitter (Originally by Ramones) (3:15)

Set 7:
31 - Ain't Got No Home (Originally by Clarence "Frogman" Henry) (2:16)
32 - Mickey (Originally by Toni Basil) (2:36)
33 - Anything Could Happen (Originally by The Clean) (2:15)
34 - Poison Ivy (Originally by the Coasters) (2:03)
35 - She Cracked (Originally by the Modern Lovers) (3:09)
36 - Re-Make/Re-Model (Originally by Roxy Music) > Medley of Requests (5:56)

With references to:
Auntie Grizelda - Monkees
Why?
The Beautifule Ones - Prince
Bumpy Ride - Mohombi
I Am A Scientist - Guided By Voices
Kids - MGMT
The Beautiful Ones - Prince
What Do I Get - Buzzcocks
Follow Me Around - Radiohead
Always Everytime
Do You Love Me - Kiss
See The Sky About To Rain - The Byrds
New Girl In School - Freedy Johnston
Sweet Child O' Mine - Guns N' Roses
Insane Clown Posse/X-Ray Burns

Total Running Time: 1hr 30min 59sec

Personnel:
Georgia Hubley - drums, vocals
Ira Kaplan - guitar, vocals
James McNew - bass
Bruce Bennett - guitar, vocals

YO LA TENGO- 2019-03-09 WFMU-FM Jersey City, NJ FLAC .rar

Yo La Tengo- Murdering Even More Classics 2018

Sorry for the lack of posts in 2018. I've been caught up in my local NHL team's playoff run that just ended on Sunday afternoon. Really, the Jets aren't the real excuse since I follow the NHL playoffs regardless of what teams are in, but I pay special attention to (my favourite team) the Blackhawks and of course, the Jets. I've been busy! Work, eat, watch hockey, sleep...repeat. This has been going on pretty much everyday since April 11th, so you get the picture.

Just like the playoffs, a springtime tradition wouldn't be complete without the annual WFMU-FM's Request-a-Thon featuring the always amazing, Yo La Tengo. This year's radio event aired March 10th with Yo La Tengo fulfilling the requests of listeners that pledged money to hear the band bravely work their magic with their near perfect renditions of the hits as they remembered them. Actually, they sound pretty tight this year and yup, I think they're getting better each year! Though I don't live anywhere near the New Jersey area code, I look forward to hearing this set and it's definitely a highlight of my busy, unexciting life. Enough talk, there's lots of music to get to.
Enjoy!

Please respect the original poster's request:
Please do NOT trade this in lossy format. 
Convert to lossy for personal use only.
and mine: DO NOT SELL!
  
YO LA TENGO
Live on Todd-o-phonic Todd's
Request-a-Thon with Gaylord Fields
WFMU-FM's Monty Hall
Jersey City, NJ USA
2018-03-10
6 sets from 3-6pm

Broadcast live over 91.1 WFMU-FM, Jersey City, NJ USA.

Lineage:
WFMU-FM > Sony XDR-F1HD > Edirol R-09HR (44.1/16) >
Sony Soundforge 10 > FLAC level 6 aligned on SB

Set 1:

01 - I Wanna Be Your Dog (3:51)
02 - Have I The Right (2:08)
03 - These Days (1:35)
04 - Wall Of Death (3:12)
05 - Let The Sunshine In (1:36)

Set 2:

06 - Whip It (2:06)
07 - It's Your Thing (2:01)
08 - U.S. Blues (3:16)
09 - Yes It's True (2:14)
10 - Cinderella (2:51)
11 - Point That Thing Somewhere Else (4:39)

Set 3:

12 - Winterlong (3:16)
13 - Can't Help Falling in Love (2:12)
14 - I Can Hear the Grass Grow (2:18)
15 - Rebel Rebel (3:22)

Set 4:

16 - Shame Shame Shame (2:19)
17 - I'm Not Your Stepping Stone (3:17)
18 - Take Me Home, Country Roads (1:57)
19 - Dancing In The Dark (4:56)
20 - Down By The River (5:23)

Set 5:

21 - A Song From Sub Pop (1:40)
22 - I Think We're Alone Now  (2:31)
23 - Gimme Some Money (1:09)
24 - Venus In Furs (4:42)
25 - Bastards Of Young (2:48)

Set 6:

26 - Evil Woman (1:59)
27 - Rock Island Line (1:21)
28 - Goin' Back To Marlboro Country (2:31)
29 - Children Of The Revolution (2:16)  
30 - My Generation > Medley of Requests (11:25)

With references to:

Don't Change - INXS
Dead Moon Night - Dead Moon
It's The End Of The World As We Know It - REM
Free Fallin' - Tom Petty
Manic Depression - Jimi Hendrix
Second Cousin - Flamin' Groovies
Cruel To Be Kind - Nick Lowe
Talking Blues - Bob Marley
Helter Skelter - The Beatles
Look Through Any Window - The Hollies
Fox On The Run - The Sweet
Satellite of Love - Lou Reed
You're An All-Star - Smash Mouth
I Need To Know - Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers
Baby Blue - Badfinger
My Generation - The Who

Total Running Time: 1hr 31min 05sec

Personnel:
Georgia Hubley - drums, vocals
Ira Kaplan - guitar, vocals
James McNew - bass
Bruce Bennett - guitar, vocals

WFMU-FM is a listener supported, independent community radio station.
It is the longest-running freeform radio station in the U.S.
Donations to the station can be made here:
https://pledge.wfmu.org/donate?step=landing
playlist:  http://www.wfmu.org/playlists/shows/77816

YO LA TENGO- 2018-03-10 Monty Hall, Jersey City, NJ- WFMU-FM FLAC. rar 

I've been informed the RAR file may be corrupt and there has been trouble opening and playing the file. I'm posting an alternative WinZip link for the same show and please let me know either way if it works or not. If the WinZip works I will use this in the future. Thank you!

YO LA TENGO- 2018-03-10 Monty Hall, New Jersey, NJ- WFMU-FM FLAC. zip

Yo La Tengo- Murdering The Classics 2017

Where I live, March is a month where we look forward to an early spring and hope that within the next month the snow will melt and the temperature will climb above 0 C (or 32 F for you US readers). March is also the month WFUM-FM in Jersey City, NJ holds their annual pledge drive to raise funds to sustain operations. And even though I don't live in New Jersey or even in the country, I look forward to Yo La Tengo's annual" Request-a-thon murdering the classics" only Yo La Tengo can do. I've been lucky enough to listen to the recordings for most of the years and I marvel and envy Yo La Tengo for the amazing job they do every year. This might sound weird, but their live recordings from the radio broadcast is always a highlight of the year for me and while I'm listening I usually sport a huge grim on my face...so good!

As with last year's version of "Murdering the Classics", I grabbed this from Dime and I want to share it with the readers here that are not members of Dime. Please respect the original posters request: Please do not trade this in lossy format. Convert to lossy for personal use only. 
Enjoy!

Yo La Tengo
Murdering The Classics 2017

Live on Todd-o-phonic Todd's
Request-a-Thon with Gaylord Fields
WFMU-FM's Monty Hall
Jersey City, NJ USA
2017-03-18
7 sets from 3-6pm

Broadcast live over 91.1 WFMU-FM, Jersey City, NJ USA.

Lineage:
WFMU-FM > Sony XDR-F1HD > Edirol R-09HR (44.1/16) >
Sony Soundforge 10 > FLAC level 6 aligned on SB

Yo La Tengo Murders The Classics, Set 1:

01 - Don't You Just Know It (Huey "Piano" Smith) (2:16)
02 - Maybe I'm Amazed (Paul McCartney) (1:39)
03 - Daddy's Gonna Tell You No Lie (Barron/Sun Ra) (2:03)
04 - Day-O (The Banana Boat Song) (Traditional) (1:34)
05 - Psychotic Reaction (Count Five) (2:07)

Yo La Tengo Murders The Classics, Set 2:

06 - Runaround Sue (DiMucci/Maresca) (1:54)
07 - Stop Your Sobbing (Ray Davies) (2:45)
08 - All I Have To Do Is Dream (Boudleaux Bryant) (1:45)
09 - Who Do You Love? (Bo Diddley) (2:24)
10 - Yellow Submarine (Lennon/McCartney) (1:19)

Yo La Tengo Murders The Classics, Set 3:

11 - What Is Life (George Harrison) (2:43)
12 - (There's Gonna Be A) Showdown (Gamble/Huff) (2:39)
13 - Shy Town (Lois) (2:49)
14 - El Paso (Marty Robbins) (2:18)
15 - Volunteers (Balin/Kantner) (2:47)
16 - Little Latin Lupe Lu (Bill Medley) (2:27)

Yo La Tengo Murders The Classics, Set 4:

17 - Like A Hurricane (Neil Young) (5:42)
18 - Walk Away Renee (Brown/Calilli/Sansone) (3:24)
19 - Papa's Got A Brand New Bag (James Brown) (2:01)
20 - Wey Wey Hep Uh Hole (w/ Todd-O-Phonic Todd) (Robyn Hitchcock) (3:33)

Yo La Tengo Murders The Classics, Set 5:

21 - Get Back (Lennon/McCartney) (2:59)
22 - When You Were Mine (Prince) (4:02)
23 - So You Want To Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star (MCGuinn/Hillman) (3:22)
24 - I Love Rock'n'Roll (Merrill/Hooker) (2:39)
25 - Expressway To Yr. Skull (Sonic Youth) (5:40)

Yo La Tengo Murders The Classics, Set 6:

26 - Rumble (Grant/Wray) (2:10)
27 - The Concept (Norman Blake) (3:42)
28 - (Don't Go Back To) Rockville (R.E.M.) (3:11)
29 - California Man (Roy Wood) (2:24)

Yo La Tengo Murders The Classics, Set 7:

30 - Burning Love (Dennis Linde) (2:31)
31 - Shake Some Action (Jordan/Wilson) (4:54)
32 - Sister Ray (Lou Reed) > Medley of Requests (13:03)

With references to:
Top of the World (Carpenters)
Green Lights (NRBQ)
I'm Set Free (Velvet Underground)
Cool (Pylon)
Got To Get You Into My Life (The Beatles)
MC Solaar track with French cuss word (nice try Carlos J)
20th Century Boy (T Rex)
I've Been Tired (The Pixies)
Four Strong Winds (Ian and Sylvia Tyson), mixed w/ Powerman (The Kinks)
I Was The Fool Beside You For Too Long (Yo La Tengo)
Mother of Pearl (Roxy Music)
Driver's Seat (Sniff'n'The Tears)
I Won't Let It 'Appen Agen (Slade)
You Painted Your Teeth (Jandek)
Here Today (Beach Boys)
The Smiths
Take A Chance On Me (Abba)
Heart of the City (Rockpile - Nick Lowe)
Let's Spend The Night Together (Rolling Stones)
Memphis Tennessee (Chuck Berry/John Cale)
Godzilla (Blue Öyster Cult)
Metal Guru (T Rex)

Total Running Time: 1hr 41min 03sec

Personnel:
Georgia Hubley - drums, vocals
Ira Kaplan - guitar, vocals
James McNew - bass
Bruce Bennett - guitar, vocals

YO LA TENGO- 2017-03-18 Murdering the Classics 2017 WFMU-FM FLAC rar.

Yo La Tengo- Murdering The Classics 2016

photo: Carlie Armstrong (Pitchfork)

 Every March, WFMU holds their annual two week fundraising marathon. WFMU is a listener-supported independent community radio station in Jersey City, NJ. and the funds raised go towards keeping the station alive and the fundraising marathon relies on pledges and donations from it's listeners. Listeners are rewarded with prize giveaways and special surprise guests. It's become an annual tradition to have guests such as Yo La Tengo, who returned to play cover song requests for $100 /per pledge. I'm not exactly how many years YLT have performed during the fundraising drive, I'd estimate maybe 20 years(?) and it's definitely a show I hope surfaces each year somewhere. If you're not familiar with this format or Yo La Tengo's cover versions, have a listen to the officially release, Yo La Tengo Is Murdering The Classics released in 2006. It compiles highlights from past WFMU fundraiser performances from 1996-2003.

The setlist for the 2016 request show is conveniently split into six sets editing the banter, so it's an hour and a half of loose, sloppy fun, and not too serious covers of many classic songs. Part of the appeal is these off-the-cuff performances from Yo La Tengo is the challenge to improv their way through even the most obscure requests. Good humor and amazing musicianship from this always interesting band.

I pulled this recording from Dime and it's just too good not to share here. Thanks to the original poster, beatpop! The request from the original poster: "Please do not trade this in lossy format. Convert to lossy for personal use only". I'm posting this in it's original format (FLAC), so please respect the posters request.
Enjoy!!

YO LA TENGO
Murdering The Classics 2016

Live on Todd-o-phonic 
Todd's Request-a-Thon with Gaylord Fields
WFMU-FM's Monty Hall
Jersey City, NJ, USA
March 12, 2016
(6 sets from 3-6pm)

Broadcast by 91.1 WFMU-FM, Jersey City, NJ USA.
Lineage:
WFMU-FM > Sony XDR-F1HD > Edirol R-09HR (44.1/16) >
Sony Soundforge 10 > FLAC level 6 aligned on SB

Yo La Tengo Murders The Classics, Set 1:

01 - Dead Flowers (Jagger/Richards)  (3:05)
02 - Tears Of A Clown (Wonder/Cosby/Robinson)  (2:07)   
03 - Train Kept a Rollin' (Bradshaw/Mann)  (2:06)
04 - Don't Bring Me Down (Jeff Lynne)  (2:13)
05 - Beast Of Burden (Jagger/Richards)   (2:11)
06 - American Squirm (Nick Lowe)  (2:15)

Yo La Tengo Murders The Classics, Set 2:

07 - She Loves You (Lennon/McCartney)  (2:34)
08 - Stir It Up (Bob Marley)  (1:32)
09 - That's Entertainment (Paul Weller)  (2:03)
10 - Accident (Brian McMahon - The Electric Eels)  (2:38)
11 - Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere (Daltrey/Townshend)  (2:05)

Yo La Tengo Murders The Classics, Set 3:

12 - Those Were The Days (Adams/Strouse) > Those Were The Days (Fomin/Raskin)  (1:44)
13 - I'm A Little Dinosaur (Jonathan Richman)  (2:03)
14 - Tell Me Something Good (Stevie Wonder)  (3:18)
15 - Nobody But Me (Ronald Isley/Rudolph Isley/O'Kelly Isley, Jr.) (2:53)

Yo La Tengo Murders The Classics, Set 4:

16 - Queen of Eyes (Robyn Hitchcock)  (2:22)
17 - Hybrid Moments (Glenn Danzig)  (1:41)
18 - My Heart's Not In It (Yo La Tengo)  (2:45)
19 - Spirit In The Sky (Norman Greenbaum)  (2:08)
20 - Walk Away Renee (Brown/Calilli/Sansone)  (2:50)
21 - Surfin' Bird (Frazier/White/Harris/Wilson Jr.) (2:46)

Yo La Tengo Murders The Classics, Set 5:

22 - Dance This Mess Around (Pierson/Schneider/Strickland/Wilson/Wilson)  (4:04)
23 - Totally Wired (Smith/Hanley/Riley/Scanlan)  (2:30)
24 - Riding In My Car (Al Anderson)  (3:35)
25 - Ziggy Stardust (David Bowie)  (2:57) 
26 - Slow Death (Jordan/Loney)  (4:24)

Yo La Tengo Murders The Classics, Set 6:

27 - Thus Spake Zarathustra  (1:03)
28 - Time  (2:58)
29 - Holy Cow (Allen Toussaint)  (3:42)
30 - Love Potion No. 9 (Leiber/Stoller)  ( (1:37)
31 - (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding (Nick Lowe)  (4:03)
32 - You Tell Us (Bryan Ferry)  (4:22)
33 - It's All Too Much (George Harrison)  (13:01)
      With references to:
    Rebel Yell
    White Wedding
    Sorrow
    I will Dare
    Paint Your Wagon
    That Summer Feeling
    I Don't Wanna Play House
    I've Been Bitten By a Love Bug
    Let's Go Surfin'
    El Paso
    Call Me Maybe
    There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
    The End
    It's All Too Much
    Yellow Submarine   

Total Running Time: 1hr 37min 50sec

Personnel:
Georgia Hubley - drums, vocals
Ira Kaplan - guitar, vocals
James McNew - bass
Bruce Bennett - guitar, vocals

YO LA TENGO- 2016-03-12, WFMU-FM FLAC. rar

Yo La Tengo All-Request Marathon 2004

As you might have noticed it's unofficially all-covers week here at TDIT with another WFMU pledge week, all-request marathon with Yo La Tengo. This edited version of the marathon was originally posted at sunsquashed.com, but the site hasn't been updated in years and all the internal links don't work anymore. Fortunately I archived this show to disc back in the day and recently came across it when I was searching through the cases of live recordings I have on CD looking for interesting stuff to post. This show is just as fun as the 2000 fundraiser with lots of great interpretations of some killer songs. I know I have at least another year of YLT on WFMU, but does anyone have any of the others? They've been doing this since 1996, so there should be some more recordings somewhere...right?
Enjoy!

YO LA TENGO
WFMU All-Request Marathon
March 20, 2004

1. I'm Your Captain (Grand Funk)
2. Gigantic (The Pixies)
3. Barstool Blues (Neil young)
4. Next Big Thing (Dictators)
5. Build Me Up Buttercup (Foundations)
6. Jesus (VU)
7. Surfin Bird (Trashmen)
8. Psychotic Reaction (Count Five)
9. Chicken Scratch Shuffle (??)
10. Cars (Gary Numan)
11. The Lion Sleeps Tonight (Tokans)
12. Hold On (I'm Coming) (Sam and Dave)
13. Tonight's The Night (Neil Young)
14. banter
15. Tonight's The Night (Rod Stewart)
16. Monk Time (The Monks)
17. She Cracked (Jonathan Richman)
18. This Boy (Beatles)
19. Drawing To A Hole (The Clean)
20. White Light/White Heat (VU)
21. banter
22. Hey Ya (Outkast)
23. Close To Me (The Cure)
24. Taxman (Beatles)
25. The Rain, The Park and Other Things (The Cowsills)
26. London Calling (The Clash)
27. We Didn't Start The Fire (medley) (Billy Joel)
28. outro

YO LA TENGO- WFMU 2004. rar

Yo La Tengo- WFMU Fundraiser 2000

Photo by WFMU (actually this is from their 2006 fundraiser)

When most bands start out it's only standard they throw a few cover songs into the mix of their originals. Lots of people like to hear something familiar that they've heard before, that's why cover bands are always a popular crowd-pleaser especially for things like weddings and socials. Sometimes it's hard for a band that plays all-originals to gain the trust of the audience, but if they're good they should be able to win over and convert these sceptics into fans. It really saddens me to see singers get famous performing other people's songs, kind of a slight step up from karaoke or American Idol.

Case in point, "Lady Maria", the 10 year old from my hometown that skyrocketed to international stardom after Lady Gaga viewed her video on YouTube of a cover of her song, Born This Way, and tweeted about it. I guess if this is your idea of stardom, having Lady Gaga tweet about you, drawing more than 20 million views on YouTube, appearances and interviews on Ellen, Good Morning America and Access Hollywood and singing on stage with Lady Gaga, then good for her. Lady Gaga's message on Twitter was, "This is why I make music. She is the future." In my opinion, if Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber and Maria Aragon are the future of music, then get me the hell out of here!...and give me bands like, Yo La Tengo!!

Beginning in 1996, Yo La Tengo started making annual visits to WFMU, an independent radio station in New Jersey to help out their annual fundraising campaign. Listeners who pledged money during the band's on air performances were offered a chance to request a favourite non-YLT song that the band would attempt to perform. This made for some interesting listening with the band valiantly trudging through the songs despite flubbed lyrics and missed chords. Lots of classic covers, as well as obscure and goofy tunes that really tests the bands knowledge of all kinds of music. This is truly a band that is more concerned about entertaining and showcasing their amazing musical skills than fame, fortune and international stardom, thought YLT does have a very dedicated cult following. The band released a compilation of their appearances (1996-2003) at the WFMU fundraisers on an album called, Yo La Tengo Is Murdering The Classics, a very appropriate title! Yo La Tengo carries on this tradition to this day with their most recent session last week at WFMU...please support stations like this so we aren't left with only stations that cater to the "future of music"...!!

This recording is most of the songs from their appearance in 2000 (not sure of the exact date?).
Enjoy!!

YO LA TENGO
WFMU (2000)

1. Roadrunner (Modern Lovers)
2. Return Of The Grievous Angel (Gram Parsons)
3. Take Me To the Hospital (The Replacements)
4. Sweet Lady Genevieve (The Kinks)
5. Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This (Eurythmics)
6. American Pie (Don McLean)
7. Color Me Impressed (The Replacements)
8. A Place Called Altamont (Nightmares)
9. Rock The Boat (Hues Corporation)
10. 19th Nervous Breakdown (The Rolling Stones)
11. Too Many Creeps (Bush Tetras)
12. Don't You Want Me Baby (Human League)
13. Nothing (Fugs)
14. Watching The Detectives (Elvis Costello)
15. I've Got A Feeling (The Beatles)
16. Top Of The Pops (The Kinks)
17. Sheena Is A Punk Rocker (The Ramones)
18. Needle Of Death (Bert Jansch)
19. Ring Of Fire (Johnny Cash)
20. Panic In Detroit (David Bowie)
21. Roundabout (Yes)
22. Mendocino (Sir Douglas Quintet)
23. Raindrops Keep falling On My Head (Burt Bacharach)
24. Raw Power (Stooges)

YO LA TENGO- WFMU 2000. rar