A showcase for the widest-possible definition of pop music, plus interviews with the world's finest music makers. (Visit homepage.)

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July 5, 2025: Check Between The Cushions

Listen to this show: MP3 - 128K |  Pop-up player!

Listener Lillian's S

Listener Lillian's S

If you have a Michael Shelley show coaster, or postcard, we would love to include a photo of it on a future playlist page, just email a square or extremely horizontal photo of it in action to: michaels@wfmu.org

CLICK HERE to subscribe to Michael Shelley's Bluesky account, which sends out radio show-related posts

CLICK HERE to subscribe via Apple to the free Michael Shelley podcast which focuses on the interview portions of the radio show OR CLICK HERE to listen via Spotify

CLICK HERE to get your own membership card to Michael Shelley's #1 Hit Club

CLICK HERE for info on how to make and submit your own WFMU LEGAL ID

CLICK HERE for Michael's 2020 interview with Carol Kaye on the PLEASE KILL ME web site

CLICK HERE for a great online auction where you can bid on Carl Reiner’s hairpiece from Your Show of Shows, Captain Kangaroo’s outfit and wig, Dan Ackroyd’s Conehead, Frank Gorshin’s Riddler outfit, jewelry from the space hippie episode of Star Trek, etc...

CLICK HERE to make some music with the Ramsophone

CLICK HERE for a mind numbing list of hits that Wrecking Crew bassist Joe Osborne played on

CLICK HERE A 1967 TV segment on John Rydgren's aimed-at-teens Silhouette radio program of The American Lutheran Church

CLICK HERE for info on how to make and submit your own WFMU LEGAL ID

CLICK HERE for info on how to send your music for airplay consideration

CLICK HERE for recipes Michael has discussed on the show

CLICK HERE for Nick Lowe's Criterion Closet Picks

CLICK HERE The Archive Of Chicago music taper Aadam Jacobs

CLICK HERE to read a VERY INTERESTINGLY FORMATTED piece that examines if love songs are dying

CLICK HERE for An Oral History Of SNL’s ‘Christmastime For The Jews’

CLICK HERE for The Strachwitz Frontera Collection of Mexican and Mexican American Recordings, nearly 160,000, yours for no charge

CLICK HERE for a Golf Channel documentary about DEVO’s strange intersection with the professional sports legend Chi-Chi Rodríguez

CLICK HERE for the story of Gene Krupa - with lots of great video clips

CLICK HERE to hear Michael's guesting on Mark Hurst's WFMU show Techtonic, discussing AI music making.

CLICK HERE and HERE to check out drummer Jim Gordon's discography

CLICK HERE for The Beatles' 167 page FBI file

CLICK HERE for an assortment of Wrecking Crew AFM union contracts

CLICK HERE for 20+ gigabytes of sound effects from the USC Sound Effects Library

CLICK HERE for Armstrong's 1954 catalog, featuring spectacular mid-century linoleum, rug, and wall tile designs

CLICK HERE for The 50 Worst Decisions in Music History

CLICK HERE for Michael Shelley's appearance on the Finding Favorites podcast where he discusses WFMU, NRBQ, Nancy & road food

CLICK HERE for The Beatles & The Butcher - The Story of The 'Yesterday & Today' Album

CLICK HERE for the Radio & Broadcasting History site with archives of British music mags from the 60's

CLICK HERE for Beatle Novelty Records on YouTube

CLICK HERE for a free download of the book "Our time is now : A farandole of Jonathan Richman songs"

CLICK HERE for The 100 Most Lost Songs of All

CLICK HERE for a million dollar guitar

CLICK HERE for The Herman Cain Award

CLICK HERE for a pricing strategy consultant's look at how much Mike Love pays Brother Records INC. for the right to tour as The Beach Boys

CLICK HERE to read the lawsuit "Brother Records Inc. vs Jardine"

CLICK HERE for the six part documentary of the making of Elvis Costello's "Spanish Model"

CLICK HERE for the Song Exploder episode on Cheap Trick's Surrender

CLICK HERE for info on "Sweet Relief - A tribute to Joey Spampinato"

CLICK HERE for an interesting blog piece about cut-out lps

CLICK HERE to see recently unearthed 100% NUDE photos of Jerry Lewis & Dean Martin - WARNINGS: 1. N.S.F.W. 2. You cant un-see these 3. WFMU is not responsible for psychiatric bills resulting from clicking on this link

CLICK HERE for Marty Stewart on the PBS show "The Kate"

CLICK HERE to point to your pointer

CLICK HERE for a podcast titled "Nick Lowe breaks down his live show"

CLICK HERE to check out the Radio Time Machine and listen to any year of any country's radio

CLICK HERE to see if you can Spot The Troll

CLICK HERE for the (highly recommended) Chrome Music Lab

CLICK HERE for a short documentary on The Liverbirds

CLICK HERE to listen to the Student Teachers on 'KCRW's "Lost Notes"

CLICK HERE for Fountains Of Wayne Live from the Artists Den

CLICK HERE (if you dare) to watch "The Black Connection"

CLICK HERE to watch "Andrew Bird's Live From The Great Room feat. Jonathan Richman"

CLICK HERE for a NY Times piece on the lp "Casino Royale"

CLICK HERE to find how how you can make a guitar amp out of an old radio

The Boston public library are currently digitizing 100,000 vinyl LPs for anyone to listen to online, CLICK HERE to browse

CLICK HERE to hear Michael's new 30 minute mix for the debut installment of Lagniappe Radio

CLICK HERE for The Fab Four Archivist's "Replacing Ringo? The Story Behind Bernard Purdie and The Beatles"

CLICK HERE for a great piece called "Bernard Purdie ... did he really record with The Beatles?"

CLICK HERE for the multi part fascinating documentary about Dream Theater's search for a new drummer

CLICK HERE for info on the Top 100 Most Expensive Cassettes on Discogs

CLICK HERE for The Liner Notes Project

CLICK HERE to hear the new number one hit from Juniper

CLICK HERE for the old switcheroo: A new episode of the Casey's Musical Dustbin Radio podcast where Michael Shelley is the interview subject.

CLICK HERE to hear Laura Cantrell interviewed on the Stereo Hysteria podcast

CLICK HERE to read "How the Beach Boys’ Lost Late-Sixties Gems Got a Second Life "

CLICK HERE to read Michael's recent interview Sonny Curtis Please Kill Me!

CLICK HERE to find out what happened when Jonathan Richman moved to Maine in 1981

CLICK HERE to read Michael's recent interview Lou Reed archivist Don Fleming on the Please Kill Me website!

CLICK HERE Robbie Fulks And Linda Gail Lewis' interview & performance on Fresh Air

CLICK HERE Robbie Fulks & Linda Gail Lewis LIVE & unplugged at Paste studios!

CLICK HERE for info on the new compilation "Back Patio Bliss" produced by listener Baby!

CLICK HERE for a free download of the new album "Matt Gets Blue" from Matt Lucas

CLICK HERE for the program MP3 Tag

CLICK HERE to test if you hear Yanny or Laurel

CLICK HERE for an interesting short film about R. Stevie Moore

CLICK HERE for info on Copyright Termination Experts

CLICK HERE to read Michael Shelley's comic "Oh No, It's Tinnitus!"

CLICK HERE for very funny excerpts from a notebook where record store clerks logged "anytime we got a dopey phone call, boneheaded comment, or generally batshit customer experience"

CLICK HERE for Quincy Jones on Paul "the worst bass player I ever heard" McCartney, Michael "stole a lot of stuff" Jackson, Astrology, and who killed Kennedy!

CLICK HERE for a map, with audio links, to whatever the #1 song is in 3000 places around the world

CLICK HERE for a step-by-step guide to repairing damaged record sleeves

CLICK HERE for testimony given by Taylor Swift in Colorado district court

CLICK HERE for the animated guide to compression

CLICK HERE to listen to/download 1000s of digitized 78s

CLICK HERE to watch Robbie Fulks cover NRBQ at FMU

CLICK HERE for selection from the British Library’s extensive collections of unique sound recordings, which cover the entire range of recorded sound: music, drama and literature, oral history, wildlife and environmental sounds

CLICK HERE for an interview with Brian Wilson where he says "Mike Love is probably the greatest lyric writer in the world. I think he’s my favorite lyric writer. He just wrote a lot of good songs"

CLICK HERE for "Student Group Apologizes for Playing ‘Transphobic’ and ‘Problematic’ Lou Reed Song"

CLICK HERE to see how Steve Keene does it

CLICK HERE for 28:46 of "NRBQ & Friends"

CLICK HERE for "Marty Stuart: The Story of Clarence White & The Parsons/White StringBender "

CLICK HERE to find out "How the Nashville Number System revolutionized recording sessions"

CLICK HERE for the 1988 piece "Who Does Chuck Berry Think He Is?"

CLICK HERE Cheap Trick on "Live At Daryl's House"

CLICK HERE to listen to a new interview with Jonathan Richman

CLICK HERE for an interesting piece about a journalist trying to interview Brian Wilson

CLICK HERE to read the report on Kippington Lodge's 1967 BBC audition - Includes phrases "painful" & "tone deaf"

CLICK HERE for "The Truth of the Flamin' Groovies' Story is Stranger Than Fiction"

CLICK HERE for a piece on how they come up with radio ratings & Delilha's radio show

CLICK HERE for a great documentary about The Cactus Blossoms

CLICK HERE for "Rob Freeman Recording The Ramones"

CLICK HERE to see The Michael Shelley Band live at WFMU's Monty Hall

CLICK HERE if you have the stomach to read Rolling Stone's ridiculous "100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time"

CLICK HERE to go "Inside the Strange, Hidden World of Offstage Touring Musicians"

CLICK HERE to watch The Cactus Blossoms live at WFMU April 18, 2015

CLICK HERE to watch James Hunter sing "Somethings Calling" live at WFMU Dec 7, 2015 - just so so so good

CLICK HERE for a nice piece on former guest on this show (and the drummer for The Beatles) Bernard Purdie

CLICK HERE to test your sense of pitch

CLICK HERE for Wilton Felder's so good isolated bass on "I Want You Back"

CLICK HERE to find out "Why Do All Records Sound the Same?

CLICK HERE for a cover of a Michael Shelley song!

CLICK HERE for The Cactus Blossoms on The 30 Minute Music Hour

CLICK HERE for a documentary and discussion of The Columbia House Record Club

CLICK HERE to test yourself and find out "How Well Can You Hear Audio Quality?"

CLICK HERE for an article about Stevie Wonder's "Superstition" with files of the isolated tracks to listen to

CLICK HERE to see actual AFM contracts for some legendary recording sessions

CLICK HERE to read Carol Kaye review of the book "The Wrecking Crew: The Inside Story of Rock and Roll's Best-Kept Secret" or CLICK HERE to read Carol's review of The Hoover Linx Cordless Stick Vacuum Cleaner, BH50010

CLICK HERE to see part one of a short behind the scenes film about Brian Wilson's new album "No Pier Pressure"

CLICK HERE for Brian Wilson's new song "The Right Time" (feat. Al Jardine) live on SoundStage. and

CLICK HERE for "Wild Honey" feat. Blondie Chaplin & Ricky Fataar

CLICK HERE for a great 2012 Rolling Stone piece about the 2012 Beach Boys reunion

CLICK HERE for a great piece on Better Records, whcih sells old lp pressings that sell for astronomical prices, e.g: The Police’s Synchronicity: $350

CLICK HERE for "It Sure Seems Like Neil Young’s Pono Player Is Bullshit"

CLICK HERE for "Why Cds May Actually Sound Better Than Vinyl"

CLICK HERE to create never ending always changing loops of a music files you upload

CLICK HERE for Gay Robot

CLICK HERE for PopSpots: exact locations of album cover photos and other visuals of pop history - tracked down with an obsessive level of research

CLICK HERE for 1971 tapes of Bob Dylan getting rightfully testy with A.J. Weberman (who used to go through and sell Dylan's garbage)

CLICK HERE for "Mind-Blowing Six Song Country Mashup" - which, if it is real, is pretty mind blowing

CLICK HERE for the answer to the question "Do Coat Hangers Sound As Good Monster Cables?"

CLICK HERE to watch Nick Lowe and Los Straitjackets or CLICK HERE to listen

CLICK HERE to watch Nick Lowe & Lost Straightjjackets live!

CLICK HERE for the genius school teacher who wore the same outfit for yearbook pictures for 40 years

CLICK HERE Foo Fighters with Rick Nielsen doing "Stiff Competition" on David Letterman

CLICK HERE for the preview of the new WFMU documentary "Sex And Broacasting"

CLICK HERE for a piece about mastering that says that sometimes mastering recordings makes them worse

CLICK HERE to see "Triumph Watches The World Cup, Part 1"

CLICK HERE for something odd: on the website of session guitarist Jay Graydon (he plays the guitar solo on Steely Dan's "Peg") he lists playing guitar on Cheap Trick's studio version of "I Want You To Want Me" among his 1977 credits.

CLICK HERE for some audio Illusions - "Can You Trust Your Ears"?

CLICK HERE for optical illusions

CLICK HERE for a short film of two craftsmen at work

CLICK HERE to play Name That Drum Fill

CLICK HERE to read "Phish Has Been a Band for Thirty Years Now and They Have Sucked the Whole Time" and then CLICK HERE to read "This Is What Happens When You Make Fun Of Phish On The Internet"

CLICK HERE for the story of Be Bop Deluxe's Bill Nelson and how he says his record label ripped him off

CLICK HERE to read about a recent Jerry Lewis show

CLICK HERE for the new release of 5 Style 1996 live on WFMU

CLICK HERE for proof that Michael Nesmith is a nut

CLICK HERE to see some wise asses I'm a fan of

CLICK HERE to hear Bernard Prurdie talk about all kinds of things - including saying "Ringo's not on anything"

CLICK HERE for a laugh

CLICK HERE for Ronee Blakley singing "Tapedeck in His Tractor" from "Nashville"

CLICK HERE to play the web Theremin

CLICK HERE to see drummer Joff from the band Bucky so some drawings of old people

CLICK HERE for wrong from the get go NPR blog "The Worst Songs Of All Time?"

CLICK HERE to see why the cowardly anonymous culture of the internet drives me even more crazy then art does

CLICK HERE for a little background on the Buddy Rich tapes

CLICK HERE for the The Knack - this clip (with hard panned guitars) will help you understand the division of guitar parts in this song - which is not quite what I thought it was

CLICK HERE then click "Random Video"

CLICK HERE for a reminder that you have to be 恋のホワン・ホワン (or HERE, or HERE , or HERE , or HERE, or HERE!)

CLICK HERE for info on an odd e-book "Nick Lowe: A Long Career That Never Gets Stale." It is 4 pages long and "sells" for $1.99. The same author has one about Dean Martin that was reviewed like this: "This pamphlet was complete garbage. A sixth grader could have written a better essay. All of this author's works should be removed from Amazon."

CLICK HERE, but only if you have golden ears

CLICK HERE for some amazing RARE STAX MUSIC from tapes Robert Gordon pulled out of the debris when the STAX building was being torn down!

CLICK HERE for Ernie Bushmiller illustrated autobiography, on an amazing website

CLICK HERE for The Mills Brothers

CLICK HERE for James Jamerson & Gladys Knight going nuts on I Heard It Through The Grapevine

CLICK HERE for a nice piece about the the L.A. studio musicians who dominated the 70's sound.

CLICK HERE for some classic Jerry. The whole clip is crazy - but 2:13 in is really off the charts nuts.

CLICK HERE for Paul Anka's famous post-gig turned into a short film!

CLICK HERE for an recent Montclair Times article on Michael Shelley!

CLICK HERE to read how Big Star's "September Gurls" was recorded at Ardent Studios

Apparently Bowie offered "Golden Years" to Elvis Presley - but The King declined. CLICK HERE former guest Stevie Riks nails the Elvis/Bowie duet version