By Bruce Warren, Program Director for XPN
The great American Bandstand will be celebrating 50 years since its national debut in 1957. The show started locally on WFIL-TV (Channel 6 which is now WPVI). It started locally on October 7, 1952 in “Studio ‘B’”, which was located in their just-completed addition to the original 1947 building […]

By Bruce Warren, Program Director for XPN
120 Minutes on MTV
 Where were you when “120 Minutes” went on the air on MTV on March 10, 1986? In its time, when MTV was still relevant as a medium where you could see some really cool videos and music from alternative bands. When it started “120 Minutes” was […]

Hey Bo Diddley!
So, while we’re on the subject of the most historical moments in music, Bo Diddley’s beat – for me – ranks high on the list of significant moments in music. Bo wrote some incredibly famous songs and had a larger than life personality however it all sort of started with the infectious, sultry […]

Records that changed the world
In the June issue of my favorite music magazine, Mojo, they had a list of the 100 Records That Changed The World. But I’ll just say right here: Little Richard’s “Tutti Frutti” at number one? Were these music critics on crack when they put this list together? You mean the ol’ […]

With the release of The Simpsons Movie we wanted to look back at some of the musicians who performed on the show over the years and to highlight some the most memorable musical moments. Pop music and rock ‘n’ roll has always been a staple of the show – from bands appearing on the show, […]

Do you have a most memorable hidden track?
Either left off the track listing or buried minutes after the “final” song on a CD, some bands have included hidden tracks as a thank you to their fans. Many of these hidden tracks are proper songs; other audio has often been weird noises or loops or even […]

When I was a kid I was completely enthralled by the entire 1969 Paul Is Dead conspiracy. While it is reasonable to believe that the real Paul McCartney is still very much alive (David Dye just met him!), the question back then was if Paul was killed in a car crash and then replaced by […]

By Bruce Warren, Program Director for XPN
John Cusack, who plays Rob Gordon in the movie High Fidelity has a great line about the art of the mix tape: “The making of a great compilation tape, like breaking up, is hard to do and takes ages longer than it might seem. You gotta kick off with […]

By Bruce Warren, Program Director for XPN
When Chuck Berry sang “Roll Over Beethoven, tell Tchaikovsky the news,” he was not only telling the world to look out for a new kind of music but he was paying homage to some of the legends of classical music.
According to Rolling Stone magazine, Berry wrote the song in […]

By Bruce Warren, Program Director for XPN
Teenage Fanclub’s Bandwagonesque or Nirvana’s Nevermind? That was the big question facing music critics in 1991 as they were contemplating their lists for best albums of the year.
1991 was an incredible year for music. It saw the release of some amazing records including Matthew Sweet’s Girlfriend, Public Enemy’s Apocalypse […]