VPR Program: My Place with Joel Najman

8 p.m.-9 p.m. Saturday on VPR

Upcoming Episodes

My Place: A Rose By Any Other Name Sounds As Sweet Saturday, 11/07/09 8pm
This week Joel Najman's My Place program investigates the original given names of a number of 1950's era songstresses whom we know from their hit records under their well-known professional stage names in a program titled "A Rose By Any Other Name Sounds As Sweet".

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Recent Episodes

My Place: A Halloween Music Spooktacular Saturday, 10/31/09 8pm
Joel Najman presents an hour of pop songs dealing with witches, ghosts, ghouls, zombies and other creatures of the dark as well as several of Halloween's most famous novelty songs.
My Place: A Collection Of Female Vocals Of The 1960's Saturday, 10/24/09 8pm
This week Joel Najman's My Place program features a collection of female vocals from the early to mid 1960's. Included are familiar hits as well as several interesting should-have-been hits and obscuriities.
My Place: A Doowop Streetcorner Serenade Saturday, 10/17/09 8pm
This week Joel Najman's My Place program looks back at some of the memorable doowop style recordings from years ago and also focuses on the recordings of legendary bass singer Ronnie Bright
My Place: The Crest Records Story Saturday, 10/10/09 8pm
Crest Records was one of the small independent record companies that proliferated during the early days of the Rock & Roll explosion, successfully competing with the much larger major companies that dominated the music industry during previous decades. Founded in Los Angeles in 1955, Crest Records released a total of 115 45rpm singles before it closed its doors in 1962. This week Joel Najman's My Place program samples 15 of those releases, among them the earliest solo recordings by Rock legend Eddie Cochran.
My Place: Mary Travers 1936-2009 Saturday, 10/03/09 8pm
For over 45 years folk singer Mary Travers was a member of Peter, Paul and Mary. She passed away on September 16th, and this week Joel Najman's My Place celebrates Travers' lifetime of music and social activism.
My Place: Remembering Drummer Earl Palmer Saturday, 09/26/09 8pm
Joel Najman remembers Earl Palmer, a year after the drummer's death in September of 2008. In a professional career as a studio musician that extended over six decades, Earl Palmer played on countless recording sessions and became the most recorded drummer in the history of the music industry.
My Place: Ellie Greenwich 1940-2009 Saturday, 09/19/09 8pm
We celebrate the life and work of songwriter, singer, and record producer Ellie Greenwich, who passed away at age 68 on August 26.
My Place: Leiber & Stoller Part 4: The Drifters Saturday, 09/12/09 8pm
A profile of the music of Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller continues with a look at their songwriting and production work with the Drifters from 1956 to 1963. Leiber & Stollers' lush, string-laden production numbers with the Drifters were called by some "little symphonies for the kids", and include some of the most enduring hits of the pre-Beatles 1960's.
My Place: Leiber & Stoller Part 3 -The Coasters Saturday, 09/05/09 8pm
Our profile of the music of Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller continues with a look at their work with the Robins and the Coasters from 1950-1963. The Coasters, known as "The Clown Princes of Rock & Roll" were the first vocal group inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame.
My Place: Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller - Part Two Saturday, 08/29/09 8pm
We continue exploring the lives and work of Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller. Their names became associated with many of the biggest and most memorable radio hits of the 1950's recorded by Elvis Presley, the Coasters, The Drifters, and many others.
My Place: Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller - Part One Saturday, 08/22/09 8pm
Two of the rock & roll era's most successful songwriters and record producers have been Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller, whose life work was honored in 1995's enormously successful Broadway review, "Smokey Joe's Cafe." Joel Najman presents the first part of a series exploring the music of Leiber and Stoller.

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About My Place with Joel Najman

Host Joel Najman weaves musicology, anthropology, sociology, and even psychology among the music of the '50s and '60s, creating a snapshot of life at that time. With My Place, you enjoy the music as well as the story behind the song.

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