Fireball XL5 is the name of an indie-pop show hosted by Frank Seglenieks that for 18 years was on CKMS 100.3 FM Radio Waterloo. However, as a result of a format change in mid-2008, Fireball XL5 is now heard only as a podcast.

Of course I stole the name of the show from the 60s British Supermarionation program, which featured puppets kind of like the movie Team America.

I play alternative music that usually classified as indie-pop with the occasional feature on a particular artist or theme as well as discussions on pop culture topics of the day. I start off each show with the best song that I have heard since the last
show.

Note that the links to shows older than 6 months might not be working, if you really want those shows please send me an email and I can get them to you.

Friday, May 25, 2007

May 25, 2007

Theme: Clever Girls and Cleverer Boys
On Air: Frank

I had three songs that were neck and neck for my top song this week, in the end "Summer 2005" by Seymore Saves The World was the one that won by a nose. I first heard it on CHRW, the campus radio station in London, which by the way this was the station that gave me my start in radio during high school so many years ago. The second contender was a song by Pelle Carlberg that has the best (and longest) title of any song I know: Clever Girls Like Cleverer Boys Much More than Clever Boys Like Cleverer Girls. Unfortunately I was away when he played Toronto recently, but I heard it was a great show. The third song was a cover of a Kaiser Chiefs song done by Mark Ronson featuring Lilly Allen, but I'll say more about him on the next show.

During my previous show, I ran out off time before playing another set of "strange" music so I finally got to it this show. The reason for the set was that I found an off-beat song by Robert Forster (formerly of the Go-Betweens) on a children's album and I needed somewhere to play it. The album looks cool, it is called "Songs for the Young at Heart" and also has songs from Bonnie Prince Billy, Jarvis Cocker, and Stuart Murdoch. The set ended with a great cover of "We Don't Have To Take Our Clothes Off" by Kids on TV.

A few days before this show, I went to see the Joel Plaskett Emergency and Peter Elkas at the Starlight, it was a great show albeit very uncomfortable with the hot temperature that day and the sold out energetic audience. I followed their songs with a set of music of bands from the Maritimes. This was timely as right after the show I went to both Newfoundland and Nova Scotia for a couple of conferences. This was also the reason that I ended the show with Rawlins Cross, the only band from St. John's that I know.


TALK - Theme

Seymore Saves The World - Summer 2005
Pelle Carlberg - Clever Girls Like Cleverer Boys Much More Than Clever Boys Like Cleverer Girls
Mark Ronson (Featuring Lily Allen) - Oh My God
The Bird and the Bee - Again and Again
Young Galaxy - Calendar Girl (C)

TALK
Joel Plaskett Emergency - True Patriot Love (C)

Joel Plaskett Emergency - Snowed In/Crusin' (C)
Eric's Trip - Girlfriend (C)
Jale - Nine Years Now (C)
Plumtree - I'm Not Moving (C)
TALK
Peter Elkas - Party Of One (C)
The Earaches - Not The Kinda Man I Am
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - The Unwanted Things
Lonnie James - Piano In The Sand (C)
Los Campsinos! - You! Me! Dancing! ** See Note 1
TALK
Robert Forster - Uncle Sigmund's Clockwork Story
Sage Francis - Broccilude
Eleni Mandell - Girls
Kids On TV - We Don't Have To Take Our Clothes Off
TALK
Don Lennon - My Resume
Pistepirkko - I Know
The Album Leaf - Always For You
Electrelane - At Sea
The Bravery - Bad Sun (C)
The Faintest Ideas - You're Beautiful
The Sea and Cake - Lightning
TALK
Rawlins Cross - Open Road (C)


Note 1: I swear that during the past week I've heard this song a couple of times a day on CKMS.

(C) Denotes Canadian Content

Friday, May 11, 2007

May 11, 2007

Theme: Arrivals and Departures
On Air: Frank

My favourite album for the year so far is one that came as a direct result of the show I did a few weeks back on commercial music, when I got reacquainted with The Icicles and ordered their new album called "Arrivals and Departures". I also went to see them in concert the week before the show and keeping with the title of their album, the women in the band dressed like stewardesses and the male member was a pilot, they also covered the song "Leaving on a Jet Plane". Needless to say I loved it.

Thanks to everybody who sent in suggestions for the "Arrivals and Departures" set, even if for some of them I only sort of got the request correct. Doing research for the set I found out that there are tons of covers of "Getting on Jet Plane", in fact even the most famous version by Peter, Paul, and Mary is a cover of the original by Bob Denver. I ended up playing a version by Lisa Loeb.

There were four songs that could have been by top song for this show, in the end I made it two weeks in a row for a Canadian artist with the band Young Galaxy. Another side project by a member of the Stars, is also makes for a lot of story about the band with headlines that are a variation of "Young Galaxy made of Stars".

And I know I'm late on the bus, but I finally saw the movie "The Forty Year Old Virgin" the week before the show. Apart from being scared of the number of parallels between myself and the Steve Carrel character, the movie also featured some great musical moments. Playing the Asia song "Heat of the Moment" when he was going after the girl at the end of the movie was a brilliant reference to the Asia poster in his apartment. (Of course you had to be of a certain age to recognize the joke) The song "Got Lucky Last Night" that was played over the ending credits is also a great song that I knew I had to play on the show the moment I heard it.


TALK - Theme

Young Galaxy - Outside The City (C)
The Cinematics - Keep Forgetting
Ghost Story - The Upper Ten/The Lower Five
The Two Koreas - Cloth Coat Revolution (C)
The Golden Dogs - Yeah! (C)
TALK (Poppolar.com set) **See Note 1
Annemarie - Bubble Gum I See
Cats On Fire - End Of Straight Street
Lovedance - It Sometime Brings Me Down
++The Airborne Toxic Event - Does This Mean You're Moving On
Monster Baby - The Burning Ambition Of Early Diuretics
TALK
++Lucky Soul - Add Your Light To Mine, Baby
Tracey Thorn - Its All True **See Note 2
Everything But The Girl - Wrong
Run DMC - RockBox
Wally Jericho - Fleamarket (C)
TALK (Airplane Set)
The Icicles - Regret
The Archers of Loaf - All The Nations Airports (Suggested by Garth)
Robert Pollard - Supernatural Car Lover (Suggested by Peter)
Paul Weller - Arrival Time (Kind of suggested by Stephen P)
Bob Wiseman - Airplane On The Highway (C) (Suggested by Derek)
Lisa Loeb - Leaving On A Jet Plane
TALK
Rock Plaza Central - When We Go How We Go (C)
The Wooden Stars - Orphans (C)
Local Rabbits - Play On (C)
Elbow Beach Surf Club - Wonder Worry Wart (C)
Bellevue - Smile (C)
TALK (40 year old version ending set)
++Joboxers - Lucky Last Night
**Special Bonus**
Asia - Heat Of The Moment


++ song competing for best song of the week

Note 1: The first three songs her are from my latest purchases from www.poppolar.com

Note 2: Tracy Thorn is the lead singer from Everything But The Girl, I also found out that the name Everything But The Girl comes from a slogan used by a small furniture company where they used that slogan to say that everything was on sale in the store but the sales girls.

(C) Denotes Canadian Content