at your request radioShirl is getting higher!

that is in sound quality, Shirleyphiles

mr.K has been a busy little manservant and is getting around to re-upping and re-encoding all the posts here up to a higher quality for your listening pleasure. Yes. Higher quality .mp3s of each show for you to download and we’re also moving them to a higher quality stream over at mixcloud

I’ve given him a week to have this task completed, or else I’m confiscating his cocktail shaker! That’ll make him spit the pins out!

Until next time, take care and play fair!
*be smooched*
radioShirl and mr. Kenneth

08:12:11 :::: radioShirley presents MOODY

original pic by fortinbras

Greetings Shirleyphiles and welcome to another 40 minutes or so of low-fi lovliness!

moody … that is all

Until next time, take care and play fair!
*be smooched*
radioShirl and mr. Kenneth

STREAM ::: MOODY

DOWNLOAD ::: MOODY

19:10:11 :::: radioShirley presents “A Very Gay Carrington Birthday!”

Greetings Shirleyphiles and welcome to another 40 minutes or so of low-fi lovliness!

Gloria Swanson as her character, Norma Desmond purred in ‘Sunset Boulevard’, “the stars are ageless”. Some old system Hollywood stars, not that many are left, more’s the pity, also evoke a delicious sense of nostalgia and embody the glamour and style of a bygone era. None though of the current crop of fizzbombs, come close in matching the timelessness, grace and style of the focus of this radioShirley outing :- Ladies and Gentlemen, the fabulous Gay Carrington!

mr.Kenneth has become somewhat obsessed with all things Gay after he stumbled upon her comeback trail on the internet some time ago. I still, have not dared to ask what he was searching for via google in the first place. Thrilled to find that one his favourite Hollywood starlets was once again making movies and re-presenting herself to an adoring Gay hungry audience via blogdom, he watches very closely and pounces on anything Gay related which crops up via facebook or twitter.

His level of Gay devotion seriously knows no bounds. Some weeks back, while I was stirring from a golden slumber, I hear a squeal from the kitchen. “Shirl! Shirl! We’re having Gay toast this morning!” Well, nothing would surprise me. mr.K can really dish up the oddest things for breakfast. I then look up to find mr.K thrusting a slice of rye dripping with butter and honey into my face and shrieking, “Look! Look! Its Gay! Its Gay! Gay Carrington has appeared to me in a piece of toast! Isn’t this marvellous, Shirl?! I must share this with Gay immediately!” Not quite knowing what to say and wondering whether mr.K had taken up his Bloody Mary breakfast regime once again, I let him run away without question to photograph our breakfast and post it to Gay’s facebook page.



Its been quite some time since we’ve had a special birthday tribute show on radioShirley but mr.K insisted that he put a brand new show together to honour Gay Carrington’s birthday. And I must say, though I had no hand nor glove in this one, he’s done a fabulous job in bringing together a gorgeous selection of tunes that, like Gay, evoke Gay days gone by. Classics like Sarah Vaughan, Nancy Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Phyllis Diller, Rita Hayworth, Dean Martin, Ella Mae Morse, Carol Burnett and Julie Andrews and many other top shelf, cream of of the crop stars feature in the following 40 or so minutes.

So Gay, mr.K and myself wish you the happiest of days and we’re both so glad to have you back in our collective orbit darling, you star of stars!! XX

Shirleyphiles, click stream or download below and please do join us in raising a Martini in salute to the stunning, edgy, creative and timeless beauty that is ::: Gay Carrington!!

Until next time kids, take care and play fair!
*be smooched*
radioShirl and mr. Kenneth

STREAM ::: A Very Gay Carrington Birthday!

DOWNLOAD ::: A Very Gay Carrington Birthday!

03:09:11 ::: re-up – Up Up and Away in a radioShirl Kinda Way!

Greetings Shirleyphiles and welcome to another 40 minutes or so of low-fi lovliness!

Here’s a personal favourite from the radioShirl archives from 2007 especially re-uploaded to mark Fee Plumley’s reallybigroadtrip

Join radioShirl & mr.K as they follow the techno evangelist’s adventures in documenting creative digital culture on :

twitter @bigtripco & #rbrt
facebook : reallybigroadtrip

Until next time, play fair and … don’t forget your mittens!

*be smooched*
radioShirl & mr.Kenneth

STREAM ::: Up Up and Away in a radioShirl kinda way!

DOWNLOAD ::: Up Up and Away in a radioShirl kinda way!

27:08:11 ::: ENCORE : Shirl’s Pole Dancing Favourites

Greetings Shirleyphiles and welcome to another 40 minutes or so of low-fi lovliness!

Here goes another twirl around a greasy pole for this show originally uploaded HERE

Now in a higher quality .mp3 download and stream on Mixcloud!

Jam packed with samples and some slippery tuneage, Shirl’s Pole Dancing Favourites will have you taking it off the e-string and playing it on the g-string!

*be smooched*
radioShirl and mr. Kenneth

STREAM ::: Shirl’s Pole Dancing Favourites

DOWNLOAD ::: Shirl’s Pole Dancing Favourites

31:07:11 ::: radioShirley presents “ART”

Image : Michelle’s Pics 3

Greetings Shirleyphiles and welcome to another 40 minutes or so of low-fi lovliness!

When in doubt, I usually turn to UrbanDictionary.com much to mr.K’s horror for definitions around life, the universe and all the rest. So it goes that when I posed the question to my manservant “mr.K, what is art?” his speech degenerated into a miasma of metaphor and analogy that made no sense to my post-cocktail hour addled brain whatsoever. Notice I said “post-cocktail” … not “post-colonial”. Mind you, the pretentious wankery that fell from his lips after I posed the big question to him certainly had a whiff of the post-colon about it. Frustrated that the hired help couldn’t answer a simple question in terms that I could comprehend I fled to the laptop and fired up UrbanDictionary.com in need something more meaty and erm, real. As usual, what came up didn’t fail. Straight to the point. No nonsense.

11. Art : “A guy with a really large nose. He usually knocks people over with it, and generally gets in the way. If he has a runny nose, it causes landslides.
Oh my god, its art! Dive to the left before he steamrolls you with his nose!“

So there you have it, Shirleyphiles. When someone at an opening gets a bit sniffy and chin-strokingly self important with you, stick a finger up your nose and ask him or her if their name is “Art”. Guaranteed to make elicit more chin stroking, an expression of mock horror and result in them moving away rather quickly giving you more space to breathe. And yes, sometimes you need that space more than you know.

mr.K wasn’t entirely convinced though and decided to compile this selection of tuneage and assorted yummy sound bites from Dory Previn, Rufus Wainwright, Orange Juice, The Residents, Kaye Starr, John Cale, Joyce Grenfell, The Breeders, Salavador Dali, 10CC, David Essex, Bryon Gysin and many others to support his porridge-like argument.

I like it. But I like “the guy with a really large nose” explanation much better. You decide m’dears.

Until next time kids, take care and play fair!
*be smooched*
radioShirl and mr. Kenneth

STREAM ::: ART

DOWNLOAD ::: ART

16:07:11 ::: radioShirley presents “What’s a Matter, Baby?”

Greetings Shirleyphiles and welcome to another 40 minutes or so of low-fi lovliness!

That four-letter word ‘baby’ is much maligned as a throw away, trite and glib addition to a lyric. mr.K and I have heard too many times someone say “If I hear ‘baby’ in a song one more time, well I’ll … ” But here at radioShirl HQ, we intend to elevate the status of ‘baby’ with a show where it features, not necessarily as a substitute for “I can’t think of anything else to call you, darling, sweety pie, hot lips, gorgeous, honeybun etc. etc” but as the integral textual ingredient to any worthwhile pop lyric this side of, well, the Brill Building!

So Shirleyphiles, drop an extra lump of that extra sweet ‘baby’ goodness into your organic double-strength chai soy latte frappacino and tempt your aural earworm alarms as Brigitte Bardot, Mama Cass, Marc Almond, Timi Yuro, The Vibrators, Erma Franklin, Dave Graney and other popular song stylists deliver up a damp nappy full of ‘baby’ tuneage!

Until next time kids, take care and play fair!
*be smooched*
radioShirl and mr. Kenneth

STREAM ::: What’s a Matter, Baby?

DOWNLOAD ::: What’s a Matter, Baby?

12:06:11 ::: radioShirley presents ‘Death as an Interval’

Greetings Shirleyphiles and welcome to another 20 minutes or so of low-fi lovliness!

Some weeks back radioShirl was asked to “compose” a soundtrack for the interval of an experimental performance event called ‘Snapshots’. A few Shirleyphiles have requested to hear this so here it is … for all of you.

Curated by the amazing Leah Shelton around the theme of ‘fatalities’, radioShirl and mr.K delivered the goods in the form of an audio headfuck throwing everything but the kitchen sink into the mix. Imagine the sound of Rammstein invading Norma Desmond’s Sunset Boulevard mansion, running amok with muscular abandon and you may have some inkling.

So folks, grab a a pair of headphones for all those arty bits, dim the lights, pour a freshly mixed Dirty Martini and get cosy with an attitude. Any attitude will do. Just make sure you have one before you press play!

Until next time kids, take care and play fair!
*be smooched*
radioShirl and mr. Kenneth

STREAM ::: Death as an Interval

DOWNLOAD ::: Death as an Interval

14:04:11 ::: radioShirley presents “Workin’ on a Groovy Thing with Shirl”

Greetings Shirleyphiles and welcome to another 40 minutes or so of low-fi lovliness!

This show is an ENCORE! presentation of a fabulous little thing my manservant and I put together way back in the dark ages of 2006. Stumbling across it a few days ago, my arm was twisted to air it again like my favourite pair of well worn cha-cha heels …

Its 47 minutes and 25 seconds of not so low-fi lovliness featuring far out, mind blowing beats and tripped out exaltations that’ll sure have you diggin‘ and divin’ for that black light switch above your collective bedheads just so you can once again tune in and turn on to the luxurious precious vibes of that soft and furry felt “what’s so funny bout peace love and understanding” poster you’ve had hiding in the closet all this time.

“That was a long sentence, Shirl. Breathe dear, breathe.”
“Well, I’d breathe easier mr.Kenneth if you could just lower the patchouli factor in the air just a smidge, darling.”

Hipsters, its an outta sight selection I had the manservant combing the archives for this time. Each song and sound byte contains something of the vernacular that is so last century that its become fashionable again. Well, it has around Chez Shirley of late as I’ve recently dug out the Alice B.Toklas Cookbook! Enough said!

Its time to let it all hang out and get super cool with Lana Cantrell, Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, Mitch Ryder, The Fifth Dimension, Simon and Garfunkel, Friends of Distinction, Mel Torme, Henry Gibson and many other selected groovy groupies who really know how to sock it to you!

Now, don’t forget to throw those car keys into the fruit bowl m’dears. There are no uptight observers in our brick veneer den of love and lava lamps … only participants!

Until next time kids, take care and play fair!
*be smooched*
radioShirl and mr. Kenneth

STREAM
DOWNLOAD (45mb)

01:04:11 ::: radioShirley presents “Shirl’s out of her Toybox!”

Image : Michael 1952

Greetings Shirleyphiles and welcome to another 40 minutes or so of low-fi lovliness!

The manservant and I suspected that we had very wide appeal, but a hit with children? mr.K and I had some email correspondence a while back informing us that there is one gorgeous Shirleyphilette out there by the name of Sophia who loves listening to her mother’s collection of radioShirley shows while she’s having a bath! And months ago, Shirleyphile Ben sent through a fabulous snap of his young son Morris flipping through a record collection choosing tunes for radioShirl. Such excellent taste!

So for little Sophia and all the little and not so little Shirleyphiles out there on the interwebs, the manservant dug into my dress-up box and pulled out, besides his thumb, some shiny happy tuneage! Oh, and a few favourite childhood things I had forgotten all about! After we dusted them and wiped the remains of chocolate fingers off, we laid them all over the floor putting together something we hope will bring a big smile to your collective dials.

Goodness, this show may even have you re-arranging the furniture to build a cubby house under the kitchen table! That is exactly where I found mr.K when he had finally finished this show. He was swaying under the table, thumb in mouth and tightly gripping his comfort blanket. No surprises there really. That kind of behaviour has lately become an all too frequent pastime of his!

Until next time kids, take care and play fair!
*be smooched*
radioShirl and mr. Kenneth

STREAM ::: Shirl’s out of her Toybox!

DOWNLOAD ::: Shirl’s out of her Toybox!