TUNE IN THIS WEEK

It's Ladies Night!

Josh, the Engineer Extraordinaire here, and Valentine's Day is this weekend, and since we're all too cheap to get our wives anything, Joe decided to hand the show over to the lovely better halves of the Hipp Crew. Joe's wife will take to the airwaves, hosting the show with her right and left hand ladies: Dan's wife Gina and Landon's wife Nicole. What could possibly go wrong when we hand the keys to the wives? Well tune in - I'm guessing it'll be one for the books, kiddos.

And, since it is Valentine's Day, and since we do love you SO much, we'll be giving away some pretty good swag this go around. Slackers has hooked us up with a couple new games to give out, and since our last movie premiere was such a hit, we've got more tickets to give away. This time we're going BIG time - Scorsese and DiCaprio in SHUTTER ISLAND - we'll give you first dibs on catching the movie before it comes out, and in case you've been living on Mars, here's the trailer:

SHUTTER ISLAND!!!

Can't wait!

As always, there'll be great talk, Shaw's Spotlight, and everything you'd expect from the show. And if ever there was a chance to hear Joe get spanked over the air, this weekend is your best bet.

Don't miss Girls vs. Boys on Hipp Nights this Valentine's Day weekend, every Saturday from 6pm-11pm, a full five hours only on the Big 550, KTRS.

A Little Hipp Hostility...

Previously on Hipp Nights:

Josh, the Engineer Extraordinaire, the Professor of Pop Culture, here to tell you that last week’s show was one NOT to be missed! We touched on a number of topics, not in the least was Joe’s beef with St. Louis radio icon McGraw Milhaven. Well, unless you’ve been living under a rock, I’ll tell you, McGraw dropped some unsavory words about our boss Joe on his show last Thursday, and Joe just had to respond in the only way Joe knows how – with a rant. Well, Joe went this way and that with it, but the gist of it is, Joe has OFFICIALLY challenged McGraw to a Charity Boxing Match, where the LOSER has to RETIRE THEIR SHOW – can you imagine that? Tune in to see if he replies...

In a bit we entitled “Hipp Hostility” we let Joe completely go off, and anytime Joe has another beef with someone or something, you can expect a bit more of the Hipp Hostility. Case in point, Dan Keller, Right Hand Man, went a little Hipp Hostile on Green Day at the Grammys. If anyone got a chance to catch it themselves, the Grammys as a whole was a bust, but Green Day themselves COMPLETELY sold out with a performance that was built for Broadway. Kinda lame…

Catch it here

We also got a little hostile on The Half/Who performing during the Super Bowl this year. I was actually looking forward to seeing them, but after Joe played a couple clips highlighting the….embarrassing deterioration of Roger Daltrey’s voice, I’ve got to admit, it’s a bit rough these days. Did you see them during halftime?

Catch it here

We then moved on to GOOD halftime performances, which we all had to comment about. Michael Jackson’s during XXVII at the Rose Bowl was judged to be one of the greats, and Joe, again, was alone in thinking U2 is the greatest thing that ever walked the earth.

Our soundtrack for the night was impressively provided by ME, with ONE SINGULAR POINT – there is something wrong with Modern Rock radio in St. Louis. I got into a little Hipp Hostility myself throughout the night, listing point after point to back me up, but if you ever need any good music that you CAN’T hear on the radio, well, you let us know – Hipp@ktrs.com

Well, the rest as usual, was a whirlwind. But if you want to get caught up in the storm, tune in every Saturday night for Hipp Nights, from 6pm-11pm on The Big 550, KTRS.

TUNE IN THIS WEEK

On this week's episode of Hipp Nights:

Josh, the Engineer Extraordinaire here, to tell you all about this week's show. If you can't already tell, Joe's got a bit of something to say right off the bat, so make sure to get yourself a seat early - it's gonna be a doozy.

As for the rest of the show, we'll talk Grammys, and not in a good way, the Oscars are coming up, and not in a good way, and we'll mention the best part about Super Bowl Sunday - the half-time show. Who's performing this year? If you don't know, tune in and weigh in on the topic.

Plus, there's a critter lurking around Joe's house, and no, it's not in his pants.

All this and more, PLUS a soundtrack provided by me, the Most Pretentious Man in the Room, the Music Snob of the Studio, which promises to be the best music Joe has heard since Pearl Jam put out their last decent album (Binaural).

Find us live on Hipp Nights every Saturday, from 6pm-11pm, on The Big 550, KTRS.

MUSIC SHOW RECAP COMING SOON! NEW SHOW THIS SAT (Feb 6th) AT 6PM

FIRST OF ALL...let me get THIS out of the way:

I AM CHALLENGING McGRAW TO A BOXING MATCH. I don't care if it's at The Pageant or Scottrade. HIPP vs McGRAW. NO JOKE--And here's the best part--THE LOSER OF THE FIGHT HAS TO RETIRE THEIR SHOW. How cool is that?! I'll make sure we give the proceeds to the MJFF. ...So? Feedback? The ball is in his court. My ball is with the wife. I AWAIT HIS RESPONSE.

STANDBY FOR MORE...Plus JOSH, The Engineer Extraordinaire, will be updating the BLOG with a recap of our ALL MUSIC show from last week...and MAYBE a hint at what goes down this Saturday from 6-11PM only on the BIG 550 KTRSAM

WHAT?! Is McGRAW Really THAT Ballsy?

REALLY, McGRAW? SERIOUSLY?? My friend, I REALLY hope you're not trying to start a fight you CAN'T win.

DID ANYONE ELSE CATCH McGRAW SPEWING SLANDER ABOUT ME THIS MORNING? And by Slander I do mean "Defamation of character spoken out against someone."

Like he did today.

Inferring something about me.

I need those of you that are TRULY my FRIENDS and FANS

to get behind me on this. McGraw, you made a huge mistake.

YOU REALLY DON'T WANT TO MISS THIS WEEKEND'S SHOW. SATURDAY NIGHT...6PM - 11PM on the BIG 550 KTRS AM

The WORST of the BEST

Previously on Hipp Nights:

Josh, the "Engineer Extraordinaire" here to give you another weekly roundup of the best show on Saturday nights, Hipp Nights, with Joe Hipperson. This past weekend was the long-awaited All-Music Show, and Joe, as always, invited his father in to school us all on the art of music. No one else in town (aside from Radio Rich) holds a candle to John Hipperson, and we all got a lot smarter for having him in. We talked the talk on Joe Perry trying to continue on WITHOUT Steven Tyler (while he’s in rehab), which segwayed into which bands could reform with a new singer – Joe, you’re crazy, but Queen with Adam Lambert is at best a mockery of their music. (editor’s note: if you haven’t heard by now, Joe is a HUGE Lambert fan, and owns his record. Give him hell for it)

We also talked album covers – which were the best of all time (Revolver) and when was the last great album cover produced (Nevermind). But the big discussion of the night came when we played “The Worst of the Best” where we discussed a band who could be considered one of the BEST of their generation, and pointed out their WORST song. We each gave our pick, and a brief explanation why, but as you know, talk is cheap, so I had everyone write out their justifications for their picks, and posted them below. (editor’s second note: in my first radio gig I was informed that you can edit any interview, but you can never edit the president – therefore I have left Joe’s dad John Hipperson’s defense intact, out of respect)




Dan Keller

"Rock The Casbah"

The Clash - Combat Rock


Where do I start? It is hard for me to speak ill of one of the most important bands in music history and also in my life, The Clash. This band was responsible for recording one of the top ten greatest albums of all time - London Calling (don't just take my word - Rolling Stone ranked it #8 all time), and helped kick down the door for punk rockers world-wide. Anyway, most you probably can't name one song off that album short of the title track. No, no you probably will spit out "Rock the Casbah" which was their biggest U.S. hit, due to it's pop/disco-ish sound. Now while the lyrics and message are a powerful political statement, which once again most of you probably missed, this song is so far away from the body and soul of The Clash, that when I talk to people they go, "Oh, I thought The Clash were a new wave/pop band, you know with that Rock the Casbah hit they had." I just wanna punch them in the face when I hear that. Anyway, I'm rambling, so while "Rock the Casbah" shows the diversity and ability to play different styles it is not the end-all be-all of The Clash. It just happened to be the most mainstream radio friendly Clash.




Josh Gilbert

"O-bla-di, O-bla-da"

The Beatles - The Beatles (White Album)


First and foremost, I feel like I had to defend my pick more than the rest, because I actually chose the best band to rip into. Well, I thought this was a no brainer when I came up with the idea to do a “Worst of the Best” for the music show, and “O-bla-di, O-bla-da” in my opinion, is the poster child for such a topic. Now, listened to by itself, the song sounds like Paul playing the piano in his front room, with a jug band for accompaniment, and lyrics made up off the top of his head. More than likely that’s where the song originated, and is probably where it should’ve stayed; a one-off throwaway joke. However, it was put on the album, and taken within the context of the album, makes it even worse. Included on The Beatles (or The White Album), it is sandwiched in-between “Glass Onion,” an edgy song that playfully namedrops earlier Beatle tunes, and “Wild Honey Pie,” itself a weird interlude into a strong three-song block of “Bungalow Bill,” “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” and “Happiness is a Warm Gun,” a moody three-song medley by John that experiments with interloping time signatures and nonsensical wordplay. It’s a great block of songs, only broken up again by a Paul number, “Martha My Dear,” a stupid song about his dog that only serves to break up the heavy-hitters that came before it.

Best described by John as “Paul’s granny shit,” ‘O-bla-di’ was another example of Paul’s kookiness, much of what we’d later see on Abbey Road with “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” (itself sandwiched between such greats as “Something” and “Oh! Darling,” a song where we can clearly see what Paul is capable of), and his solo “Uncle Albert” period. With this song, Paul keeps intact his “Cute Beatle” image, and shows that he can write songs for your grandmother to enjoy. It is this reason that I consider Paul the lesser of the Lennon/McCartney collaboration, and a BBC poll agrees with me that this is the worst song of all time. While it may not be the worst song ever, given who wrote it, on what album it appears, and during such an apex of creativity, I think it easily earns that honor.




Landon Shaw

"Mr. Roboto"

Styx - Kilroy Was Here


I am not afraid to admit that I love STYX. I find their music to be very theatrical with solid lyrics and stories and Dennis DeYoung is an incredible singer with such a great instrument. I was first introduced to STYX by my Dad who saw some of the members perform at a local bar in Chicago, before they were even STYX. I was hooked and loved them, still do. Then in 1982 the song "Mr. Roboto" was released. At the time, I thought it was fun and we all loved to do the robot dance to it at our school functions. As I got older, I soon realized that this song was awful. The lyrics, the synthesized music and robot voices, all spelled disaster. I truly was wondering what the hell they were on when they wrote this one. It is fair to say that this song is not only the worst song by STYX, it is one of the worst songs ever written and produced.

Joe Hipperson

"Discotheque"

U2 - Pop


First off, let me be honest with you, I would have to log this song on my Guilty Pleasures List. But NOT the version they re-issued on the greatest hits album, U2: The Best of 1990 - 2000. No, the version I'm talking about is the sweet and sticky original album cut found on the great experiment known as 1997's POP.

Come to think of it...should I have even picked a song that has multiple versions? I guess even U2 realized that the album version of Discotheque would not age well so they remixed the hell out of it for that "Best Of" album.

Okay, back to the subject at hand: Why do I think Discotheque is the Worst Song by one of the Best Bands? Because the song was intended to be a launchpad for a whole new sound. A new sound that U2 could take credit for and use as their template for future albums.

Guess what. DIDN'T WORK!

The next album after POP, 2000's ALL THAT YOU CAN'T LEAVE BEHIND, proves it! From the pictures of the group to the sound made by The Edge on guitar--they tried so hard, after POP, to write music that sounded like U2 that they almost came across looking and sounding like a tribute band.

Discotheque is a bad U2 song. It's a bad song in general. Sure, U2 have released other dogs that don't cut the mustard--but Discotheque represents their total intention to not only change what made them a great band--but to kill off any memory of who & what the band used to be.

John D. Hipperson

"Kokomo"

The Beach Boys - Cocktail: Motion Picture Soundtrack


I chose this Beach Boys song because I felt it to be a poor effort from a remarkable band. The early Beach Boys had unique harmonies but also presented a slice of rock n roll. Through the years the Beach Boys gave as songs that stood the test of time & cemented them as one of America’s best bands.

The Beach Boys had four number one hits in their recording portfolio. "I Get Around," recorded in 1964, "Help Me Rhonda," recorded in 1965, "Good Vibrations," recorded in 1966 & "Kokomo," recorded in 1988. I have a hard time including Kokomo on the same list as the other songs mentioned. It may have been fueled to number 1 by the fact it was on the movie Cocktail. The song Kokomo was written by John Phillips (of the Mama’s & Papa’s) for the Beach Boys to sing on the soundtrack. The song was up for a Grammy but lost to "Don’t Worry Be Happy" by Bobby McFerrin. (What a sad time for music).

In defining a worst song by a good band I looked at the following: If this was the only song the band did would it correctly give the listener a sense of how good the band is & would the band have made other songs if this was the debut effort. My opinion is that the other three number 1 songs referenced above Would be a good representation of the Beach Boys & would allow the band to continue with success.

"Kokomo", however, on its own would never live up to what we know as the Beach Boys, which was collaborated by other members of the show. I found this to be interesting feedback as the show includes members of various backgrounds & age groups.

In closing I would like feedback from our audience, please text or e-mail any thoughts you have on this or any other music subject you would liked discussed.

John D. Hipperson
Hipp Music
Without music life itself is impossible.


So there you have it. Man, that's some pretty awful music. Agreed? Let us know.

What's your entry for Worst of the Best?

Hit us up here on the Blogspot, or tune in every Saturday night for Hipp Nights, 6pm-11pm on the Big 550, KTRS.

Previously on Hipp Nights:

Hey there loyal listeners and first-time followers, Hipp Nights on the web is back after taking a long sabbatical, but let me reassure you that we’ve been off and gone for good reason – we’ve been making some of the best radio St. Louis has ever heard. Since the last post here on the Joe Hipp blog (what was that? over two months ago!!??), we’ve been tooling around with the show, adding and subtracting, building up and breaking down, cramming and jamming all the best elements that Hipp listeners have come to love over the years, and now, after almost three months of FIVE HOUR shows on SATURDAY NIGHTS (from 6p-11p), we’re hitting our stride. However, that’s not to say that each previous week has been complete crap – quite the contrary. If you’ve been listening, you know that on Saturday nights the hippest place to be is 550 AM, but if you’ve missed anything, let me catch you up on some of the highlights. Let me, Josh Gilbert, Engineer Extraordinaire, the Professor of Pop Culture Studies, the most pretentious person in any given room at any given time, be your tour guide through Hipp Nights, dropping insightful nuggets of truth on you along the way, and pointing out all the joys and pains that go into delivering hour after hour of nonstop hit radio.

Hold on to your hats, kids, and away we go…..

January 23
We were preempted by a basketball game (what!?) so the show was cut down to three hours. To keep with the basketball theme, Joe decided to have a run-up to Valentine’s Day by making a Sweet 16 bracket of the WORST date movies of all time. Take a look at the list and notice that such gems as The Apartment, the 1960 rom-com about extramarital sex and suicide (ha ha) were left off in favor of films from the past 30 years, when the genre really took form. It was a hard fought battle that came down to really awkward man on man love, and just really bad acting from Brad Pitt that was just as awkward (have you ever witnessed a train wreck? That’s not romantic.). The Pitt debacle took top honors, despite my hard fought efforts to remind everyone that Julia Roberts was a HOOKER in Pretty Woman (have you ever seen a hooker? That’s definitely not romantic).

"The Hipp Crew's Netflix Queue"

January 16
Privacy in the bathroom? Overrated.
A show that was chock full of randomness, Joe started out the evening describing how he hit a deer with his car (or should I say, the deer hit him). After calling out the deer in question and putting the entire deer population on watch, we started the actual show. After talking around about the worst movie remakes (Psycho? Godzilla? Planet of the Apes!?), we got into a discussion of bathroom etiquette, which, I’ve got to tell you, every person needs to listen to and take heed. We’ll post audio soon enough for all the bathroom designers in the world to study.

January 9
Joe invited his son Avery to come in on his 10th birthday and host the show with him (what a dad, right?). Surprisingly, there was a level of maturity never before seen on Hipp Nights. The conversation ranged from how awful school was, to the wackness of PC Sesame Street – the “Veggie Monster”? Are you kidding me? A successful birthday present, and this way, Joe got out of buying his son a PlayStation 3.

"The 'Caprese Salad Monster' doesn't have quite the same ring to it."

January 2
We took the week off to celebrate the new year with our close friends and family. Yes, some things are more important than dick jokes and espousing for hours on end about the Beatles.

December 26
The day after Christmas called for a year-end review of 2009. From Kanye going crazy on Taylor Swift, to Christian Bale going crazy on a cinematographer, the year that was was wrapped up in style by the only man in the business who really cares about pop culture – your host, Joe Hipperson.

December 19
The FIRST Sweet 16, we counted down the BEST Christmas movies of all time. A topic that took up nearly the entire five hours, we all had our picks, but one had to take the crown, and I’m disappointed (but not bitter) to announce that Clark Griswald and Christmas Vacation narrowly beat out Kevin McCallister and Home Alone. What happened to It’s A Wonderful Life and why didn’t it even make it to the final four? I consider it a changing of the guard, and the new holiday classics have taken their hold…as witnessed in all-day non-stop showings on the cable channels.

Well, that’s all I’ve got time for now – whew! What a recap! If you listened in to any or all of those past shows, you should know what a great product we’re pushing here, and all I can say is keep listening, because it’s only getting better.

Hipp Nights, five full hours every Saturday night from 6p – 11p, only on the Big 550, KTRS.