Rock Takes Over the Airwaves this Weekend (3/31-4/3)

By Lewis Reining

Grab your musical scuba gear and join us for a deep dive into all things Rock, Thursday through Sunday (3/31-4/3). This year’s Rock Takeover has everything from bubblegum music to ’90s post-hardcore, WTJU has it all. Browse our schedule below to see what you have to look forward:

Days of the Week

Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday

Thursday – 3/31

Pop Goes the Bubblegum!
- 6am – 9am
- Host: Ralph Graves
- The late 1960s were the golden age for ‘tweens — music was being written specifically for them, and it shaped a generation. Bubblegum music came from Saturday morning cartoon shows (the Archies, the Banana Splits), TV sitcoms (the Partridge Family, the Brady Kids), and studio musicians (1910 Fruitgum Company) who knew the formula. Keep it happy, keep it simple, keep it groovy. Let the Radio Star take you back to the days when your favorite recording came on the back of cereal box!
A Very Berserkley Breakfast
- 9am – 12pm
- Host: DJ Slim Pickem’
You Might Have Missed These
- 12pm – 2pm
- Host: Tim Conlon
- Songs that were missed by everyone in the last 5-6 years.
Music of Your Life
- 2pm – 4pm
- Host: Danny Shea
The Rude Boy Effect
- 4pm – 7pm
- Host: Phil Free
- A show examining Jamaica’s worldwide influence on alternative rock music.
1966
- 7pm – 9pm
- Host: Matt Leon and Matthew Hamilton
Mark Kozelek Retrospective
- 9pm – 11pm
- Host: David Moltz
- Singer-songwriter Mark Kozelek got his start in the 1990s as front man for the Red House Painters, a San Francisco band that was discovered and brought to the masses by founder of 4AD Records Ivo Watts-Russell. In the 2000s, Kozelek struck out on his own releasing music under his own name and the moniker Sun Kil Moon. Lately, Kozelek, who runs his own label Caldo Verde Records, has released collaborative efforts with Jimmy LaValle of The Album Leaf, Desertshore, and Jesu.
THE RIFF SHOW
- 11pm – 1am
- Host: Ramona Sparks

Friday – 4/1

Wig Wam Glam!
- 1am – 3am
- Host: DJ Count DeMonay
- Once upon an eyeliner, when the Starman was the Queen Bitch and Electric Warrior defended the realm, when Virginia was anything but Plain and the prettiest Dolls came from New York, rock and roll took a Glitter bath and went for a Walk on the Wild Side.
Dream Pop
- 6am – 9am
- Host: Stevik
- Fly with us through a variety of atmospheric, melodic, alternative rock from the likes of Cocteau Twins, Sigur Ros and Dead Can Dance. The sky’s the limit.
The First British Invasion: 1964-66
- 9am – 12pm
- Host: Brian Keena
Sjáumst í Virginiu (See you in Virginia)
- 12pm – 2pm
- Host: DJ Walt
- Post Rock music, not for the faint of heart or those scared of shameless musical drama, cinematic builds, dynamic shifts, indulgent guitar builds and climaxes, atmospheric, stacked delay, feedback loops, and cavernous reverb on everything. Expect: for a minor reflection, this will destroy you, sigur ros, toe, feel good lost era broken social scene, MONO, the appleseed cast, mogwai, múm, *shels, &c.
The Dump Files
- 2pm – 4pm
- Host: DJ Baconfat
- Maximum McNew! Nothing but the solo project from Yo La Tengo’s James McNew, former Charlottesville resident and WTJU alum. Everything from fan favorites to rarities, live and unreleased cuts, and the occasional Prince cover. AND for the right price you can pick up a special WTJU Rock t-shirt designed by the man himself.
Bass Odyssey
- 4pm – 6pm
- Host: Goldfinger
- Drums bring the Thump. Bass puts the wind in your waistline. Here’s two hours of the most spine-twisting basslines through the ages.
1976
- 6pm – 8pm
- Host: Wicked Sharkie
Lambeth Live from IX Art Park
- 8pm – 9pm
- Host: Zuzu’s Hot Five
- An hour-long FREE concert by Zuzu’s Hot Five, live from the IX Art Park.
St. Albert’s Dream: Heavy Acid and Bad Trips
- 9pm – 11pm
- Host: Matthew Hamilton
Essential Funk
- 11pm – 1am
- Host: Professor Bebop
- Parliament, Funkadelic, Sly, and enough James Brown to keep you shaking for days!

Saturday – 4/2

2001 in Electronic Music
- 1am – 3am
- Host: Jack Patton-Smith
- Electronic music released in 2001, an amazing year for electronic music.
Tribute to Music from the Hearts of Space
- 6am – 9am
- Host: Mystic Vic
- This is a tribute show to Music from the Hearts of Space, the longest-running ambient music radio show in the world. The show will feature some of the spaciest ambient, new age, psych, folk, and world music to grace Hearts of Space since the early 1970s, when the Bay Area “spacemusic” show started.
Can’t Forget the Motor City
- 9am – 12pm
- Host: Professor Bebop
- A Survey of the early proto-Soul from Andre Williams to Harvey Fuqua and both the early and later grooves that established Motown as the most popular sound going. Favs and obscurities galore!
WTJU Reggae Soundclash
- 12pm – 2pm
- Host: Tyler Broadcasting System and Goldfinger
- Earth vs Fire. Roots vs Future. Analog vs Digital. Goldfinger and Tyler Broadcasting System in mortal combat selecting Nyabinghi to Neptune. Who will win? Whoever wins… Babylon loses.
FUTURE NO/NO FUTURE: Society Destroys Its Youth and The Continuing Decline of Western Civilization
- 2pm – 4pm
- Host: Brother Jimmy “The Truth”
- Punk Rock: Then, Now and Forthcoming
Rock ‘n’ Ruin
- 4pm – 7pm
- Host: Spot
- Mlle. Spot revisits actual playlists from her early-‘80s WTJU Rock mainstay show!
1986
- 7pm – 9pm
- Host: steve vee and Helvidius
Girl Power
- 9pm – 11pm
- Host: DJ Coconut Bunny
- All female vocalists and frontwomen
Strangelight
- 11pm – 1am
- Host: DJ Iscarabaid
- ‘90s Post-Hardcore, aka the hardest anyone has ever rocked. Focused primarily on DC but also bringing the Seattle, San Diego, and NYC scenes into the mix. Served with healthy sides of emo and math.

Sunday – 4/3

From The Forges of The Old Dominion
- 1am – 3am
- Host: Jeremy
- Virginia Metal
Stereolab
- 6am – 9am
- Host: Matthew
- Wake up with Matthew as he brings you the Groop to your awesome dreams. You know, those ones early in the AM when they seem most real and you can remember everything about them. Well, they will have a soundtrack of electronic insomnia, morning moogs, waking horns, and beautiful angelic vocals. So set that clock radio to 6:00 AM this Sunday. It’ll be dreamy.
First and Last
- 9am – 12pm
- Host: Dave and Mr. Chilps
- Killer lead-off and ending tracks from the same album.
James Brown: The Mustache Years
- 12pm – 2pm
- Host: Colin
- Hits and obscurities from the autumn of JB’s career, roughly 1974-1978. Includes cuts from the man himself as well as his host of collaborators.
Prog Noodling
- 2pm – 4pm
- Host: Don and Robyn
- A special tribute to prog rock keyboard noodling and all of its cultural implications. In honor of the grand noodler himself, the late Keith Emerson. Wowsville hosts with Robyn Kells.
I’m in Your Mind Fuzz: Aussie Psychedelic
- 4pm – 7pm
- Host: Wicked Sharkie
- From the early jams of The Easybeats to the long tripped-out rock style of King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard to the new EDM psych of Tame Impala. This show is all about groovy Aussie bands that’ll make you wanna throw a shrimp on the barbie!
1996
- 7pm – 9pm
- Host: Tyler Broadcasting System
- It’s well known that 1996 was the greatest year for music since 1995. Emperor Tomato Ketchup, Odelay, Upgrade and Afterlife, How I Quit Smoking, Arise Therefore… Tyler Broadcasting System tries to remember exactly what it was he was listening to back when he was Rock Director of WTJU. And why.
Days of the Week
- 9pm – 11pm
- Host: Don H.
- Songs about Monday Monday, followed by Telegram Tuesday, but then you’ve got the Wednesday evening blues because of Thursday’s child. Now you’ve got Friday on your mind but there’s another Saturday night. Lastly, it’s a Sunday kind of love. Thank WTJU for the days and spend the week with us, in song form.
Kidsoul
- 11pm – 1am
- Host: Don and Brother Breakdown
- Listening back to the Sylvers, the Eight Minutes, the Family Plann and all of the child/teen soul groups that emerged in the wake of the Jackson 5’s success. Voice-changing, ankle-breaking and life-affirming.

Monday – 4/4

Calvinism
- 1am – 3am
- Host: Baby Shampoo
- An all-Calvin-Johnson-related show!