WORT-FM Birthday Bash
with Fury Things, The Apologists, Robbie Fulks, Son del Atlantico, Hirt Alpert
Andy Goodwin
Friday, Dec. 2, High Noon Saloon, 5:15 pm
The year: 1975. White House staffers were found guilty in the Watergate cover-up, Stevie Nicks joined Fleetwood Mac, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show opened on Broadway. In Madison, a tiny radio station with the call letters WORT signed on to the airwaves. The call letters stood for “World’s Oldest Radio Transmitter” because of the station’s rickety antenna. Forty-one years later WORT is a model of successful community radio for the nation. And they don’t just make good radio; they also throw one helluva party. The bash starts at 5:15 with Tijuana Brass revivalists Hirt Alpert and goes all the way to bar time, closing out with garage-surf from Fury Things. At 8 p.m. the king of alt-country, Chicagoan Robbie Fulks (pictured), takes the stage. Fulks is the bastard son of George Jones and Louis C.K. His latest, a literate opus called Upland Stories, is partly based on journalist James Agee’s groundbreaking reporting on Southern poverty in the 1930s.
Complete Lineup:
5:15 Hirt Alpert (Mexican Brass)
and Dinner Service from New Orleans Takeout
6:30 Son del Atlantico (Afro-Colombian)
and Cake Service
8:00 Robbie Fulks (Bluegrass/Country)
11:00 The Apologists (Garage Country)
12:30 Fury Things (Garage Rock and Surf Punk from Minneapolis)
Admission: $20 adv/$25 DOS, Available at High Noon Saloon, WORT Studio, Lakeside Press and online.
No cover after 10pm, donations encouraged. Sponsored by: 5NINES, Hotel Ruby Marie, Mother Fools Coffeehouse