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Juke In The Back

Oldies Music

At the end of the Second World War, economics forced the big bands to trim their once great size and thus, the Jump Blues combo was born. Between 1946-1954, rhythm and blues laid the tracks for what was to become Rock n’ Roll. So how come, 75 years later, this vibrant and influential music is still so unknown to so many? Matt The Cat is going to change that with the radio program, “Juke In The Back.” These were the records that you couldn’t hear on the jukebox in the front of the establishment. To hear all this great 1950s rhythm & blues, you had to go to “Juke In The Back.”

Location:

Washington , DC

Description:

At the end of the Second World War, economics forced the big bands to trim their once great size and thus, the Jump Blues combo was born. Between 1946-1954, rhythm and blues laid the tracks for what was to become Rock n’ Roll. So how come, 75 years later, this vibrant and influential music is still so unknown to so many? Matt The Cat is going to change that with the radio program, “Juke In The Back.” These were the records that you couldn’t hear on the jukebox in the front of the establishment. To hear all this great 1950s rhythm & blues, you had to go to “Juke In The Back.”

Language:

English


Episodes

Episode #724 – The Cleftones

3/17/2024
Air Week: March 18-24, 2024 The Cleftones This week, Matt The Cat looks at one of the greatest Doo Wop groups, The Cleftones, through an archival interview with the late Herbie Cox. Cox was a founding member of this unique sounding vocal group from Queens, NY. Started in 1955, The Cleftones enjoyed two national top […]

Duration:00:59:00

Episode #723 – Slim Gaillard

3/10/2024
Air Week: March 11-17, 2024 Slim Gaillard This week, we honor the “Prince Of Vout,” Mr. McVouty himself, Slim Gaillard. He was a one-of-a-kind-o-reenee as he spoke 7 languages including his own language of Vout, played guitar, piano, drums and several other instruments, wrote off-beat tunes that were always drenched in rhythm and jive and […]

Duration:00:59:00

Episode #722 – Duke & Peacock Records

3/3/2024
Air Week: March 4-10, 2024 Duke & Peacock Records This week, the entire “Juke In The Back” is loaded with records from the catalog of Duke/Peacock Records. Don Robey started Peacock in 1949 in order to record Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, whom he also managed. In 1953, Robey took over Duke Records (which was owned by […]

Duration:00:59:00

Episode #721 – Lucky Millinder

2/25/2024
Air Week: February 26-March 3, 2024 Lucky Millinder The “Juke In The Back” is loaded this week with records by one of R&B’s greatest and most underrated bandleaders, Lucky Millinder. He worked with vocalists as varied as Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Wynonie Harris, Annisteen Allen, Bull Moose Jackson and Big John Greer, but Lucky Millinder is […]

Duration:00:59:00

Episode #720 – The Ray-O-Vacs

2/18/2024
Air Week: February 19-25, 2024 The Ray-O-Vacs It’s staggering, the number of R&B groups that have been left out of the history books and off radio station playlists just because they don’t fit into an accepted category of “cool.” The Ray-O-Vacs is one of those groups. Though they made the R&B charts 3 times, that […]

Duration:00:59:00

Episode #719 – The Hollywood Flames

2/11/2024
Air Week: February 12-18, 2024 The Hollywood Flames The Hollywood Flames recorded for nearly 20 different record labels and had numerous personnel changes over their 18 year history, but they always remained popular in their native Southern California. Formed in 1949 at a local talent show, David Ford was the only member of the group […]

Duration:00:59:00

Episode #718 – R&B Influences: Lionel Hampton

2/4/2024
Air Week: February 5-11, 2024 R&B Influences: Lionel Hampton Lionel Hampton’s big band was a training ground for so many of the all-time great musicians: Dizzy Gillespie, Charles Mingus, Dexter Gordon, Joe Morris, Dinah Washington, Wes Montgomery, Little Jimmy Scott and Clifford Brown. His musical education began on drums and piano while attending the Holy […]

Duration:00:59:00

Episode #717 – James Brown: 1956-58

1/28/2024
Air Week: January 29-February 4, 2024 James Brown: 1956-58 This week, the Juke In The Back features one of R&B and Rock n’ Roll’s greatest acts, James Brown. Born into a poor community in South Carolina, James Brown worked his way to the very top in the entertainment business, but it wasn’t without a struggle. […]

Duration:00:59:00

Episode #716 – R&B Influences: Delta Rhythm Boys

1/21/2024
Air Week: January 22-28, 2024 R&B Influences: Delta Rhythm Boys The “Juke In The Back” takes a deep look at The Delta Rhythm Boys, one of R&B’s early influences. Bass singer Lee Gaines assembled the original quartet while at Langston University in Oklahoma. After they all transferred to Dillard in New Orleans, things started to […]

Duration:00:59:00

Episode #715 – The “5” Royales

1/14/2024
Air Week: January 15-21, 2024 The “5” Royales This week, the “Juke In The Back” features a rhythm & blues vocal group from Winston-Salem, NC that not only influenced James Brown, but quite possibly the entire soul movement of the late ’50s into the 1960s; The “5” Royales. They began their career as a six […]

Duration:00:59:00

Episode #714 – 1954: Jukebox Rhythm Review, Pt. 2

1/7/2024
Air Week: January 8-14, 2024 1954: Jukebox Rhythm Review, Pt. 2 This week, the “Juke In The Back” transports you back 70 years. 1954 was a pivotal year for American Music. The lines between Rhythm & Blues and Pop were getting blurred as more and more R&B records crossed over into the Pop Chart, causing […]

Duration:00:59:00

Episode #713 – 1954: Jukebox Rhythm Review, Pt. 1

12/31/2023
Air Week: January 1-7, 2024 1954: Jukebox Rhythm Review, Pt. 1 This week, the “Juke In The Back” transports you back 70 years. 1954 was a pivotal year for American Music. The lines between Rhythm & Blues and Pop were getting blurred as more and more R&B records crossed over into the Pop Chart, causing […]

Duration:00:59:00

Episode #712 – Mabel Scott

12/24/2023
Air Week: December 25-31, 2023 Mabel Scott Mabel Scott was an incredibly versatile artist. She was a pianist, pop vocalist, R&B chanteuse and could shout the blues with the best of ’em. But like many of her peers, Scott never received the royalties or recognition that she deserved, even on songs that she wrote. Many […]

Duration:00:59:00

Episode #711 – Cool Yule: R&B Christmas, Pt. 2

12/17/2023
Air Week: December 18-24, 2023 Cool Yule: R&B Christmas, Pt. 2 The “Juke In The Back” presents part 2 of our 2 part vintage Christmas Rhythm & Blues extravaganza that Matt The Cat is calling “Cool Yule.” Louis Armstrong presents the title song with a backing group that is often overlooked and we spin a […]

Duration:00:59:00

Episode #710 – Hey! Santa Claus: R&B Christmas, Pt. 1

12/10/2023
Air Week: December 11-17, 2023 Hey! Santa Claus: R&B Christmas, Pt. 1 The “Juke In The Back” begins a 2 part Holiday Music Extravaganza with a tribute to Santa Claus. This week, we find the “man in red” doing the boogie woogie, the mambo and just plain ol’ rockin’ his way into song. We’ll pour […]

Duration:00:59:00

Episode #709 – T-Bone Walker

12/3/2023
Air Week: December 4-10, 2023 T-Bone Walker Drop a nickel in the ol’ Rockola Juke to hear one of the best selling and most influential bluesmen and guitarists of all-time, T-Bone Walker. This week’s show looks at how T-Bone’s immense guitar talent developed from his first recordings in the early 1940s to his breakthrough after […]

Duration:00:59:00

Episode #708 – Earl Lewis & The Channels

11/26/2023
Air Week: November 27-December 3, 2023 Earl Lewis & The Channels The “Juke In The Back” is proud to feature The Channels, one of New York City’s finest and most influential vocal groups of the mid-1950s. At only 15 years, Earl Lewis fronted the group who recorded one of Doo Wop’s most classic tunes, the […]

Duration:00:59:00

Episode #707 – Van “Piano Man” Walls

11/19/2023
Air Week: November 20-26, 2023 Van “Piano Man” Walls Harry Vann began playing piano in Beulah’s Church in Charleston, WV around the age of 10, but thanks to hearing Jay McShann records on the radio, he was bitten by the blues bug while in his teens. After settling in Columbus, Ohio in the late-1940s, Vann […]

Duration:00:59:00

Episode #706 – Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson

11/12/2023
Air Week: November 13-19, 2023 Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson This week, the “Juke In The Back” honors one of the greatest blues shouters of all-time, Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson. He burst on the scene in 1944 with a cover of the Joe Turner classic, “Cherry Red Blues” as the vocalist for the Cootie Williams Orchestra. He remained […]

Duration:00:59:00

Episode #705 – Big Mama Thornton

11/5/2023
Air Week: November 6-12, 2023 Big Mama Thornton Willie Mae Thornton was a trailblazer, who in making her own rules paved the way for other groundbreaking female artists like Janis Joplin and Madonna. Known as “Big Mama,” Thornton scored her only hit record in early 1953 when “Hound Dog” topped the national Rhythm & Blues […]

Duration:00:58:59