Hi everybody, If you find yourself listening to WFMU today, May 11, between noon and 3 pm EDT, you will no doubt find yourself quoting the legendary Paul Anka: Where’s Joe? I cannot answer that question, but I can tell you that I will be filling in for Joe Belock on this week’s edition of Three Chord Monte. It’s a big seat to fill, but I will give it my all. For the benefit of newcomers to this mailing list (anything’s possible), WFMU can be found on your FM dial at both 91.1 and 91.9 in your greater Jersey City area, and 90.1 somewhere or other in upstate New York. Another option is wfmu.org. If you can’t tune in live, historians can consult the archives.
(My apologies to the unnamed artist whose work I defaced!)
Ira
Hi everybody, The hits keep coming? I guess. Michael Shelley’s absence from the WFMU airwaves continues for one more week. And in a reference old enough to foreshadow the music I’ll be playing, I’m happy to be the Joan Rivers to his Johnny Carson (at least until I start my own radio show on another station at the same time, and our friendship goes down in flames). In other words, I’ll be on WFMU from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. EDT on Saturday March 28. Hope you can tune in on 91.1 fm, 91.9 fm, 90.1 fm, and/or wfmu.org, or failing that the archives.
-Ira
Hi everybody, Due to circumstances so close to out of his control that we’re just going to call them circumstances out of his control, Michael Shelley will not be on the WFMU airwaves on March 21 for his first show since the WFMU Marathon. As a result, the pleasurable task of thanking the WFMU listenership and Michael’s audience in particular has fallen to me. As you may already know, it was the station’s most successful fundraiser ever, so I’ve been exercising my enthusiasm muscles all week in anticipation. The love-in takes place Saturday March 21 from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. EDT. Hope you can tune in on 91.1 fm, 91.9 fm, 90.1 fm, and/or wfmu.org, or failing that the archives, with or without bells on.
-Ira
HERE WE GO AGAIN!!! Live at 3pm @wfmu ! @therealylt plays your requests for donations of $100 or more to my program. Tune in and turn on! #yolatengo #powpowpow #wfmumarathon2026 #radio #cavalcadeofstars
It’s that time of year again! Join me this Saturday when me and Gaylord host the annual Yo La Tengo Request-A-Thon from 3-6pm @wfmu . For pledges of $100 or more TO MY SHOW (just to be clear and link in bio) you can request a song or songs for @therealylt to perform as only they can. And all that filthy lucre (thanks Andy Wickham) goes directly to the leading freeform station in the nation. Make sure to tune in live as this show is not archived. Not pictured: 4th wheel El Bruce. #wfmumarathon #requests #yolatengo #powpowpow #cavalcadeofstars
Hi everybody, 30 fershlugginer years ago, Georgia, James and I had the bright idea to borrow a page from the NRBQ playbook and attempt to take audience requests. And had the audacity to ask people to pay to hear it. All I can say in our defense is that the money went to WFMU and not us, and we insisted that WFMU not archive the carnage. We invited our pal Bruce Bennett to join us. He agreed. Remarkably, we’ve continued to do this each and every one of the ensuing 30 years, and even more remarkably Bruce Bennett is still our pal. Well, I can see by the clock on the wall that, to quote Buck Owens and Ray Charles (who am I trying to kid—I first heard it by Commander Cody), it’s crying time again. The WFMU marathon is underway, and with your generosity this most amazing of radio stations will continue for another year of most amazingness. On Saturday March 7, from 3 pm until 6 pm EST Yo La Tengo and Bruce will join Todd-o-Phonic Todd and his co-host Gaylord Fields. If you pledge $100 or more, you are invited to make a request. We will attempt to play it. How is this possible? Simple—it’s not. But we will do our best. Our definition of “best” means no phones, no devices, no advance knowledge of requests. It’s all off the top of our heads. It’s a nightmare. You don’t want to miss it. Let me encourage you to give us a choice of songs, to increase the odds that your request is honored. Let me encourage you to remember that WFMU is the greatest, and no matter what we do (or don’t do) to your request, you are helping to sustain the station. As the show goes by, the requests tend to pile up faster than we can keep track of them, so pledging in advance will increase the odds that we play your song. Go to pledge.wfmu.org. When you get the opportunity to “Comment (For DJ)”, make your request. We swear on a stack of Hit Paraders that the four of us will know nothing about them until after the show begins. Make sure you are pledging at least $100 to the Todd-o-Phonic Todd show, otherwise your request won’t be registered. CONTINUED IN COMMENTS
Hey everybody,
With all due respect to Charles Dickens, I feel like a correction is in order: It was the best of times. Period. Eight nights of thanks to the eight nights of musicians, comics, dj’s, audience members, and especially the Yo La Tengo and Bowery Ballroom crews who made our 2025 Hanukkah shows so much fun and so emotional. It started with 101-year-old Marshall Allen and ended with my 95-year-old mom, which says plenty, but doesn’t begin to tell the tale. And once again, we’re giving you a brief window to prepare for your 2026 Halloween costume of Hanukkah Show Attendee. On Saturday January 10 at the stroke of 12 noon EST, we will be selling both t-shirts sold at this year’s Hanukkah shows, designed by Stephen Hunking and Annie Chia, for 24 hours only. Go to the For Sale page at yolatengo.com and take it from there. No one has to know you didn’t buy it at the merch table. (And don’t worry if you go to the page before Saturday and don’t see the link. It’ll be there when you need it.) In 2025, as we’ve done every time we’ve performed Hanukkah shows since 2005, we sold a different mix cd each night of the holiday. Georgia compiled one, and so did James, and so did I, along with five guest programmers. From noon January 10 until noon January 11, the mixes put together by Georgia, James, and me will be available, as downloads only. No physical copies. Not to name names, but every year someone gets confused by this. Maybe Pete Townshend can’t explain, but I can try: These are songs by other people that we have lovingly selected and put in a sequence that we hope you will find enjoyable. Also found on the For Sale page. All of the money from the downloads, as well as the net proceeds from the t-shirts, will be contributed to the charities we supported over the eight nights: Housing Justice for All, Neighbors Together, Smoketown Thunder, Just Making a Change for Families, Mary Mitchell Family and Youth Center, Fòs Feminista, New York Immigration Coalition, Afrikana, and Artists Athletes Activists.
OK then, till we meet again.
-Georgia, James and Ira
Thanks to Wyna for creating this game for those that joined us at the Bowery for Hanukkah, and now you the Instagram follower. Give it a go with results posted in a day or so. Comments turned off here to give everyone a fair shake!
OUT NOW - Rare Reissue from Jad Fair & Yo La Tengo!
‘Strange But True’ by Jad Fair & Yo La Tengo is wonderful, varied, and wild. Originally released on Matador Records in 1998, this collaborative album between experimental-rock legends showcases the artists’ uncanny range, brilliant humor, and ultra-flexible musicality, bringing us back to a time when indie rock was still free to be as weird and unruly as its makers wanted it to be.
This collaboration between Joyful Noise and Bar/None Records is out today. It’s now available on ”Tabloid Teal” vinyl and CD, as well as streaming for the first time. Click the link in our bio to order and listen.
Photo by Gail O’Hara
