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I must begin by thanking everyone who reached out with congratulations and good will regarding the news concerning Radio Paradise. I really am overjoyed to link up with Bill and his great staff. I have the utmost respect for the values, mission and integrity that has been front and center since they launched a few decades back. We have so much in common when it comes to music and broadcasting, regardless what vehicle gets the signal to the audience. Further, the fact that Josh Cunningham and Felton Pruitt are already on staff and I had the pleasure of working with both on the original XM Programming team. Solid humans who know how to get the job done with love and respect for all music. I was able to video into a few of their retreat and brainstorming sessions over the past week and if I was a bit younger and fully healthy I could think of few places as wonderful as Humboldt County to relocate. But I have made my last move.
Now let’s clear up some details regarding exactly what I will be doing. I simply cannot work full-time as I do need to be careful. While fortunate to come through two cancer situations on the right side of the turf, I am wired to slide immediately into 15 hour workdays, every day. That would be a disaster. My immediate duties will be behind the scenes, exploring and expanding the RP Music Library. I will continue to do Planting Seeds episodes through Mixcloud.com, HEARTHIS.AT and mike.marrone.com. We’ll see how everything shakes out over the long term, but my initial focus will be making the music library of Radio Paradise the deepest, widest and most complete anywhere. I will confess that I haven’t been this happy or excited in about 8 years. Bill Goldsmith had this to say, "There are only 2 radio programmers whose opinion I respect when it comes to my Main Mix. Mike Marrone is one of them. I couldn't be more excited. Well, I could be, but it might hurt me." OK, so what to expect in the way of Planting Seeds #018? We have a batch of incredible new releases from Mavis Staples, Saintseneca, Guided By Voices, Lucinda Williams, Soul Coughing, The Len Price 3, The Mountain Goats, Bartees Strange, Jeff Tweedy, AVTTPTTN, a super deluxe edition of “Who Are You” and Winterpills. The library was raided for selections from Justin Hayward & John Lodge, The The, Chick Corea, Modern Jazz Quartet, Harry Nilsson, Game Theory, Sparklehorse, The Cars, Red House Painters, GoGo Penguin, The Last Poets, Julian Cope, Jim Carroll Band, Translator, Warren Zevon, The Replacements, Golden Smog, Maia Sharp, Rod Stewart and more. Thanks so much for listening, the incredible support and for just being you. Love to all!
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I can’t quite explain it but over the last couple of days it feels as if we have shifted into a new gear, or a secret switch has been thrown in the back room of the ever tightening circle of power, masquerading as our Government. Face it, this regime has been stripping our military of professional and trusted personnel and it commenced on the first day of the takeover, continuing unabated in literally every government agency. What is going on is in no way business as usual and it’s starting to smell bad. Granted there has always been an odor surrounding our diaper wearing chief executive, but all signs point to a full blown stench on the horizon that no amount of bleach will erase. Cathy and I will be out there on Saturday, all we have is our voices to protest PEACEFULLY. I predict a massive turnout across the entire USA.
I was inaccurate above. Aside from our voices we have music. This episode helped calm my psyche while creating it and I hope you dive right in. New releases from Patti Smith, John Lennon, Madi Diaz, Ronnie Wood (w/Chrissie Hynde), Mocean Worker, Joe Alterman, Jon Batiste, Don Was, St. Paul and the Broken Bones, Robert Plant, Headshadow (feat. Jon Auer) and more. Our massive library offers up the wide variety necessary to make everything fit just right. Includes: Love Spit Love, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Steve Forbert, Nick Drake, Elliott Smith, Freedy Johnston, Daniel Lanois, Emmylou Harris, Herbie Hancock, The Gun Club, Willy DeVille, Warren Zevon, Dave Edmunds, Frankie Miller, Ry Cooder, David Bromberg, Savoy Brown, Mose Allison, Les McCann Ltd., The Rascals, Low, Gil Scott-Heron and a ton more. Massive thanks for listening, sharing and supporting the program. Donations are always welcome and appreciated (HERE) but not required to enjoy the music.
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It is becoming more difficult to drown out the cycle of non-stop noise emanating from the man-child in charge and his swelling herd of loyalist enablers. Namely the Republicans in the Senate and House of Representatives, who could have stopped this nonsense long ago. Indictments, threats, lies, temper tantrums, cruelty and a complete lack of dignity and/or respect and common decency are the new normal, as “the regime” continue their quest to obliterate the middle class, consolidate power and limit health care to the wealthy and super wealthy. Bobby Brainworm as head of Health and Human Services is apparently under the impression that the female of the species carries a child to term in her placenta. Really? He does have children, doesn’t he? And we can’t leave out the fact that the smartest man in the world needs to know who this Habeas Corpus guy is. It’s to the point where you start to miss the wit and wisdom of Dan Quayle and Sarah Palin, or honesty and integrity of Spiro Agnew and Joe McCarthy. There does not appear to be a bottom for this crew.
Music is what I depend upon to keep the wolves at bay and this episode is absolutely loaded with outstanding examples, new, old and in-between. We have new releases from Rachael Yamagata, Supergrass (live with strings), John Lennon, Arthur/Buck, Reuben Lewis, I Hold the Lion's Paw;Tariro Mavondo, Climb That G*dd*m! Mountain, Jon Stancer, The Chameleons, Jeff Tweedy, Supersuckers, Don Was and the Pan-Detroit Ensemble, Mocean Worker, Joe Alterman, Alabama Shakes, St. Paul and the Broken Bones, Other Lives, Sloan, Ash, Richard Ashcroft, Rhett Miller, Robert Plant and The Third Mind. Special edition, remastered deluxe sets from Oasis, My Morning Jacket, Robin Trower and Genesis. And the library offers up The Beatles, R.E.M., XTC, Peter Tosh, King Crimson, Argent, The Brains, The Smiths, Gong, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Pete Townshend, The Kinks, Roger Miller, Louis Armstrong, Van Morrison, Hoodoo Gurus and more to keep everything flowing the way we like it. Thanks so much for listening and all the support (donations are HERE) and if you are in an area afflicted with armed, masked members of Tangerine’s Tigers (aka ICE) don’t take the bait. He’s dying to enact The Insurrection Act and declare Martial Law so he can cancel elections and never leave office. Please be safe and we will get through this.
For the Playlist and more click HERE
“I left too much money on the table the first time, I will not make that mistake again.” Take five guesses who said that and if you don’t get it in one, it’s clear you have been under sedation for the last 8+ months. The figure most bandied about is 3.5 Billion. But that was prior to the reported 2 Billion “tribute” for the recent chip sale. The grift and greed is not only at epic scale, but for the most part it’s right out in the open. Every single day they flood the zone with press releases, executive orders, misinformation, warnings, threats and whatever “bright shiny object” they can find to keep the befuddled and fleeced citizens on edge and frightened. The gold filigree in the White House is multiplying by the second, rivaled only by the increased dementia symptoms on display by our own King Midas meets Nero. And now… they are shutting the government down. Why not? They have no interest in actual governing as it interferes with removing health care from as many Americans as possible, while we make sure that the most vulnerable (Billionaires) are covered.
So… what can we do? Pay attention, speak up and vote in every damn election you can. Try not to get discouraged and don’t get sucked into useless arguments on the internet. Music is my answer but whatever works for you is just fine. This episode utilizes new releases from Trapper Schoepp, Genesis, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Robert Plant and Saving Grace, Jeff Tweedy, David Mead, Grateful Dead and Reuben Lewis/Hold the Lion's Paw. With “democracy” front of mind the library was raided for sounds including: Leonard Cohen, Bruce Cockburn, The Bonzo Dog Band, Dead Kennedys, Femi Kuti, Laurie Anderson, Wayne Kramer, Bullmoose Jackson, Steve Wynn, Jeff Buckley, Bobby Charles, Freddie King, Radiohead, Lord Buckley and a ton more. Thanks to all for the continued support (here) and for your ears and heart.
For the playlist and more... click here
 So much has happened over the past few days at the Mike’s Basement studio compound, not to mention the de-evolving Culture of our Country, that this demanded a rush release. Episode 014 gets some scoop from UK friends Anton Noel Retente or as we call him, A. Noel and his mysterious handler Suzzy. It’s rare when they surface but with our Cheeto In Chief invading their Country, it was great to hear their perspective. They feel sorry for us and around here we appreciate their understanding that the petulant, moronic behavior and diabolical lack of decency and brain power does not prejudice their opinion of the entire USA. Very little time is spent on this topic as I try not to even say his name. It’s music that packs the show, stuffed with new releases from Tedeschi Trucks Band; Leon Russell; Susan Tedeschi, John Butler, Jeff Tweedy, Maia Sharp, Brad Mehldau, Iron & Wine and Ben Bridwell, Joni Mitchell, Ryan Adams, Josh Ritter, Neal Casal, Mike Reid and Joe Henry, Grant-Lee Phillips, Radical Face, The Chameleons, The Anderson Council, Marshall Crenshaw and Led Zeppelin. We remember the insanity of Vivian Prince, who somehow survived to the age of 84, much longer than his biggest fan, Keith Moon. Make sure to stick around to the end of the show for a hint regarding a major “career” announcement I am completely stoked about and thanks to all who have been contributors and supporters of these efforts and have kept the boat afloat. I will never be able to repay the kindness, but promise to keep this sonic communication directly from my heart to you. Enjoy the show and thank you for listening. If you need a Playlist click here. Preview video below! 
The physical act of communication is easier than ever today, everything from instant free delivery to the ability to shape your message exactly as you wish in regard to presentation. While there is exponentially more music released these days than at any time in the past, unfortunately (IMO) most of it is either grossly underexposed or not heard at all. While there are many more outlets to expose new music there are far less trusted filters involved to point someone in a direction they would enjoy. Again IMO, radio deregulation in the mid-90s deserves a huge chunk of the blame, but all these years later that pile is shrinking. For a minute it looked like the Internet could be the answer but the DMCA came along in 1998 and by the new Century were firmly in place with restrictions regarding airplay for anything non-terrestrial based. Satellite Radio was very promising but even 2 companies were too much for Wall Street and were merged into a single entity. The variety of programming offered, once seemingly limitless, is now much less so. Streaming audio is fine, sound quality is continually improving and the convenience factor is off the charts, but again the outlets have shrunk and trusted filters are mostly non-existent or ineffective.
Let’s face it, the music industry still makes a ton of money but overall has shrunk considerably and the days of multiple record stores in every market are not coming back in the near or distant future. At one time due to my job, there were at least 20 weekly periodicals devoted to music and even more monthlies. What was coming out, was just released, reviews, opinion, interviews, ad infinitum for every possible niche, interest or trend. Don’t look for a print comeback any time soon either. For anyone involved in entertainment there remains a single truism that has proven to be a stone-cold guarantee of engendering success and exposure. But how do you employ “word of mouth” when we no longer speak to each other? This is the question. We have lost the art of communication. And if we don’t relearn how to interact with our fellow humans, to allow for differences of opinion as healthy discourse and not a time to head to the gun store for supplies, it will leave much more damage than a bunch of unheard records, unwatched movies and unread books. We simply must break out of our silos and understand when all is said and done, much more connects us than separates us. Communicate with consideration and respect. Look for a reason to include and not reject. There is simply no time to lose. New releases in this episode from The Beatles, Jethro Tull, Jon Batiste, The Wood Brothers, Adrian Sherwood, Talking Heads, Marianne Faithfull, Radiohead, Alabama Shakes, Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, Tedeschi Trucks Band; Leon Russell; Dave Mason; Anders Osborne, John Prine, The Who, Spinal Tap;w/Paul McCartney and Elton John, Led Zeppelin and The Chameleons. Also listen for Tommy Keene, Eric Burdon and War, Steve Miller Band, Nine Below Zero, Treat Her Right, Graham Parker & The Rumour, The Clash, Thievery Corporation, Tom Waits, John Martyn, Pink Floyd, My Morning Jacket, Bob Marley & The Wailers, Bob Mould, The Byrds, Stereophonics, David Bowie, Bill Hicks, Afghan Whigs and a whole bunch more. If you have a notion to hit the Tip Jar it would be most appreciated, but if not don’t let that get in the way of enjoying the music. This is the place to CLICK.
It has taken all day to upload this to Mixcloud, had to downsample it... not feeling good about this.
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Planting Seeds
episode #012 It is officially Labor Day Weekend and unless there has been a secret executive order from the apprentice king, this is not the last weekend of Summer. Usually I remind people of this fact due to personal exasperation, but these days one never knows. In the Northern Hemisphere the autumnal equinox falls about September 22 or 23, as the Sun crosses the celestial equator going south. In the Southern Hemisphere the equinox occurs on March 20 or 21, when the Sun moves north across the celestial equator. Facts matter. Too many things that once mattered apparently no longer do. That’s fine when we are talking about obsolete technology or infrastructure for example, but we have entered an era seemingly untethered to reality. What began as a snowball at the top of a hill (which we’ll call making fun of a disabled person on television) has already gathered enough mass that armed masked ICE agents are roaming the cities and countryside and armed National Guard soldiers are picking up trash in Washington, DC. It is impossible to shut off the noise and harder still to concentrate on facts with bullshit endlessly tossed into the mix. But I have a plan. There’s a room here with relaxed and weird lighting. It contains wonderful machines that encourage escape to anywhere and nowhere at the same time. Exploring dreams about sonic possibilities and the continuing search for the perfect segue. It’s my favorite room and I’m going to play for a while and see what happens. I have a few ideas… Donations are accepted with utmost gratitude and appreciation. If you can't DO NOT let that stop you from enjoying the music. click me for link
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Don’t sweat the small stuff. The beat goes on.
If you are fortunate, counted among your inner circle of friends is at least one human with a multi-decade history and proven instinct for zero bullshit tolerance, clearly devoid of a whiff of agenda. This sort of individual regardless of time spent apart where small talk is never an option, it’s always as if you just spoke a few days back. A true “ride or die” solid citizen. I’ve been very lucky to actually have a few of these irreplaceable gems, although with age some have left for the afterparty in the sky, including my main man, Joey. Even 4+ years on I still instinctively reach for the phone multiple times a week. It sucks and I don’t believe that hurt will ever vanish. More than 30 years ago I was with a different pal, every bit the “ride or die” sort and he dropped a single sentence nugget of zen wisdom on me that continues to grow in importance with every calendar flip. We were in New York City, both music biz lifers and as usual it was a work related outing, a dozen things going on simultaneously and another dozen or so that needed attention yesterday. We had just left a favorite watering hole, long gone now, that featured a 100 year old baked in aroma of cat piss and no less than a dozen taps that served exclusively Bud. A buck a pitcher… in mid-town Manhattan no less. We were on a brisk stroll to get some food when I looked at his hand and realized he was still carrying and sipping from his short beer glass. Talk about old school, a 5oz beauty that should have contained Ballentine or Schaefer. We were now directly in front of our destination and even 30+ years ago it was not a good idea to be out and about in NYC with a beer glass, less so if it still had beer in it. Wondering how we were going to escape intact, my partner in crime stopped and drained the glass with a refreshing “Ahh.” In a single motion he tossed the glass over his shoulder, got very professorial and said in a measured tone, "You know Spike, sometimes you look over your shoulder.. (bottle bursts behind us, without reaction) and it’s gone.” And it was. Blockage cleared, scattered and inconsistent attention… focused. A new episode of “Planting Seeds” was born and delivered, leaving behind hate-binging true crime melodrama and feeling sorry for myself. Following the completion of a single day, here sits a shiny new jumble of ones and zeros painstakingly shaped, molded and cajoled to transform into a 4 hour + creation, represented by a single file containing the music, commentary and ear candy deemed vital to nothing more than the time of creation. “Planting Seeds #011 (The Beat Goes On.”) Not a planned or even required run time as there is no need. There is no playlist, aside from the one created while navigating the path, often silently hoping “The Muse” is in the room. I was raised Roman Catholic but firmly believe in “The Radio Muse.” Introduction came by way of my radio inspiration, Vin Scelsa. “Bayone Butch,” “Vinnie,” “Vin… NOT VINCE!” and a variety of others. We are like minded on several topics, although he is a bit older and far more educated. Kindly put, it is certainly a dead and dying artform. Usually misunderstood and more often than not, performed badly and for the wrong reasons. Looking over the results of this particular roadmap, the new releases exposed were headlined by multiple tracks from Jon Batiste’s brilliant new album. Jon with 2 credited to him alone and a very cool duet with Randy Newman on a cover of “Lonely Avenue,” which inspired a segue to Randy’s “Putin” from his criminally overlooked “Dark Matter.” The Wood Brothers were also on hand because “Slow Rise (to the middle)” is currently my favorite song. Joining was an interesting new direction for King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Joe Bonamassa, Josh Rouse and Will Hoge and reissues from Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Jethro Tull, Martin Briley, Mother Love Bone and War. In no particular order the roster reads Steve Earle, Morphine, Mavis Staples, The Clash, Kevin Gilbert, Patricia Barber, Jackson Browne, Rory Gallagher, Prince 7 The New Power Generation live, Rockpile, The Steve Gibbons Band, Stereo MC’s, David Johansan and the Harry Smiths, Root Boy Slim & The Sex Change Band, The Blasters, Gnarls Barkley, Gil-Scott Heron, Cheap Trick, Bob Marley & The Wailers, Vanilla Fudge, Led Zeppelin, The Temptations, Johnny Kidd & The Pirates, Terry Reid, Treat Her Right, Steven Wilson, Lack Of Afro, Utah Phillips and Ani DiFranco, The Mighty Lemon Drops, Action Figures, Dramarama, Tears For Fears, Medeski Martin & Wood and Justin Currie, I live for this and thank you for listening. Donations are gleefully accepted and deeply appreciated. Click HERE.
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August 22, 2025
I really tried. Honest. It was June 29 when I started this episode after first hearing the new Terrance Martin/Kenyon Dixon album and the new GoGo Penguin release. I also had started to sketch out a tribute to Mick Ralphs, an underappreciated musician and songwriter that I’ve followed since the first Mott The Hoople album. I was determined not to step in that hole. It kept moving, trying to trick me but I was going to outsmart it, I even started following The Yankees again. Not watching the games but voraciously taking apart the boxscores and reading the recaps, even pulling up the highlights. I mean, Aaron Judge is a generational player. I love watching, even just reading about him makes me smile. Aside from my family and dogs, there are only two things on the planet that have fully captured my spirit and soul for most of the 69 years I’ve managed to stay on this side of the turf. Music and Baseball. That’s it, nothing else even comes close. The “ghost runner” was the final straw for me and it still is. It has zero redeeming qualities, unless there's a T-Ball game with young children underway. Beginning every extra inning with a runner on second (in scoring position) is an abomination and has no place in MLB. Nothing will ever change my mind. We all have limits and I make no apology that this is mine. Music has always been my North Star. Everything is better with music. It is oxygen, essential for life, at least in my world. Tower Records had it right, “No Music, No Life.” If I could pass on one bit of wisdom to everyone in the world, it would be to not take as long as I did to realize that there is no good and no bad when it comes to music. You either like it or don’t… nothing sucks. Don’t ever apologize if a song, any song, brings you joy. There is no such thing as a guilty pleasure. What is there to be guilty about? There’s stuff you like and stuff you don’t. Everything else is marketing. I have managed to limit my exposure to the 24 hour news cycle, only watching Lawrence O’Donnell and Rachel Maddow with any sort of regularity. Before you read that as “woke” or label me a left wing psycho, I am politically Independent. My first vote was Jimmy Carter and I was a registered Democrat but the minute Reagan dismantled the Solar Panels on The White House roof, I was gone. Over the years, depending where I was living, I needed to join a team in order to vote in the Primary, but once Clinton/Gore deregulated the airwaves, I was gone, daddy gone. Speaking of which, I am so glad my Pop isn’t around to take in the reality TV clown show that we have allowed our country to devolve into. And make no mistake, it is our fault. And this is how it started. I don’t recall the exact sequence of events, but it was something akin to this. Looking over the new releases I noticed that there is now a genre called Melodic Death Metal. Huh? I can no longer trust the Alternative genre, as I have no idea what it represents and what the fuck is “Post-Rock?” Next while scanning the Baseball highlights I discover that both extra inning contests ended when a runner that didn’t earn his way on base, was gifted with second base to start the inning and scored in walkoff fashion. That is simply not Baseball. Finally, it was reported that literally hundreds of thousands of children were about to starve to death simply because the food that they needed was sitting in warehouses, already paid for but held up because of political gamesmanship. This food was allowed to spoil while thousands of children died. What do these assclowns do for fun, buy up the day old bread and light it on fire in front of homeless people instead of giving them a slice? This sequence kept repeating and getting faster and dumber and meaner. I slipped… the damn hole got me. Before I knew it, all I was capable of was hate-binging True Crime television and mumbling incoherently. Doesn’t anyone remember what happened in Berlin in the 30’s? I mean Hitler is all over the television even if they can’t read. Suddenly, there was a crack in the darkness. John Easdale, Jerry “The Rub” Rubino and “The Phlorescent” Pat Pearson headed southbound on The Garden State Parkway ready to deliver desperately needed humanity and fellowship. They pulled me from the encampment of my trusty Laz-E-Boy and the next episode of Snapped or Murder In The Heartland. Thanks, boys. And thanks to all of you for continued support, not only financially (click) but spiritually with your ears. Hope you enjoy the show.
PLAYLIST is HERE
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Mike MarroneDad, Husband, DJ 
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