Vin Scelsa's Idiot's Delight - A History

Pat Conroy was a rare writer, both a critical and popular success. He wrote The Water Is Wide, The Lords Of Discipline, The Great Santini and The Prince Of Tides among many other titles. His 1995 appearance on Idiot's Delight came a week before the publication of the novel Beach Music. His visit with Vin was the first stop on a nationwide book tour. Months later he left an unsolicited tongue-in-cheek late-night message on Producer Kara Manning's voicemail, condemning us for ruining the rest of the tour; he had had such a rewarding experience on ID that every other stop on the tour was a huge disappointment by comparison. That reaction, and the interview which inspired it, is one of Vin's proudest accomplishments.

Jeff Buckley never knew his father Tim Buckley, the influential 60s-70s songwriter vocalist, yet their lives shared many similar aspects. During the early 1990's Jeff was a ubiquitous fixture on NYC’s downtown music scene; his legend grew with each appearance at clubs like Sin-e. He released his 1994 debut studio album Grace to rave critical and fan success. “Jeff was extremely talented; his musical vision was astounding,” says Vin about Jeff’s appearance as the “final Idiot” guest of the year on ID on December 17th, 1995. “He was warm, humorous, gentle and real. His accidental death in the Spring of 1997, drowning at age 30 in the Mississippi River in Memphis at what was still the beginning of his promising career, saddens me still,” says Vin. “There was no one who came close to this visionary, explorative, genre-busting creator of intimate yet powerful music.” Jeff played deejay during his visit with Vin and performed two songs live, including a song he was still working on - a gutsy and revealing look into the creative process.

Songwriter and performance artist Laurie Anderson visited Idiot's Delight late one Sunday night after a concert appearance in NYC. Vin says, “This was a real intimate late night/early morning conversation that included talk about John Cage, Tupperware, and silence.“ Originally broadcast live on April, 9th, 1995 on WXRK (K-Rock)

Vin's interview with Joan Baez from January 31, 1993 - right at the beginning of Bill Clinton’s first presidential term. Joan Baez was 52 years old and entering a new phase in her already decades-long career at the top of the American folk music world. “Play Me Backwards” - her 21st solo album - is featured during this appearance on Vin Scelsa’s New York radio program Idiot’s Delight, highlighted by live performances and warm conversation. Joan was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017 and has since ended her six decade long performance career.

Vin’s interview with country music legend Ray Price from June 11th, 2000 on WNEW, during one of the few appearances Ray ever made as a solo artist in New York. In which Vin and Ray discuss Hank Williams, Elvis Presley, and Ray’s role in the history of country music, as one of the key figures who took it from honkytonk to pop.

Vin talks about being on WNEW the night that John Lennon died

Part 2 of Vin's time at WNEW, chronicling the years that Vin received a series of mysterious letters from the legends known only as T-Shirt and Razoo Kelley. How the phenomenon grew, and how no one will believe Vin that he didn't write the letters himself.

Vin's journey to WNEW in the 70's, including unemployment and a misguided stopover in Long Island. Dave Herman, Scott Muni, Alison Steele, and WNEW's brief moment with an all-female DJ lineup.

An interview that Vin did with the legendary singer, songwriter and activist Odetta, originally broadcast on "Idiots' Delight" on WNEW-FM in 2000

Kate has Vin and Freddie sixties-splain their relationship to the history of activism and protest in this country and all three Scelsas try to figure out if the world is ending. Vin only embarrasses Kate once. Kate says "like" too much when she gets really riled up. Try not to let it distract you from the deep insights coming at you fast and furious.

Some cultural recs, attempts at end of the year sanity, and Vin's last days at WPLJ, featuring his run ins with Bob Dylan, Elton John, Randy Newman, John Lennon's first solo album, and a very special New Year's Eve with Cousin Brucie.

When Leonard Cohen died this past Nov. 7, Vin immediately flashed back to the interview he did with him on June 13, 1993. We knew we had to play it in its entirety for this episode of our podcast. This originally aired live on the Sunday night sojourn of Idiot's Delight on WXRK (92.3 KROCK) in New York. The first attack on the World Trade Center in late February 1993 was still on everyone's mind; thoughts and questions about the nature of "the terrorist mentality" were very much in the air. Leonard's latest album was "The Future." He was in New York for a concert. His thoughts on the subject were vivid and have proved chillingly prescient over the years. Note : The music played that night has been truncated for this Podcast; same with the commercial breaks. Otherwise this is how it went down. Leonard Cohen was unique ... it was a great privilege to spend this time with him.

The new PLJ hires take a bus trip to some radical media makers at ZBS in upstate New York, Vin learns to make counterculture commercials, and engineers vs DJs

And we're back! Still suffering from some technical problems forcing us to do this one over the phone, so apologies for the phone-syle audio. We've got some book recs, the history of Vin's doomed first foray into mainstream radio as WPLJ attempted to co-op the counterculture with less than successful results, and a story about DJ/professional character Zacherley's revenge upon the corporate radio format.

Vin and Kate listen to and discuss Vin's interview with David Bowie that was recorded in 1993 for a program called One on One that, up until now, had been thought to be lost forever. It was found by producer Jim Villanueva, and Kate and Vin talk with Jim about his memories of that program and of Bowie. Bonus ghost visitation: Listen for the static at the end that comes in with Vin's "experimental" clarinet track. That static continued to feed into the computer after we were done recording and everything had been turned off. No audio component or source was in operation, yet the distorted static continued to emanate from the entire digital system - computer, control board, speakers. For a while we thought it had actually corrupted the whole recording file.

Kate and Vin catch up on how 2016 has been going so far. Kate was on tour in Chile. Vin claims to not remember that Kate once went to a bullfight. TV recs are mentioned, listener mail is read, and Vin's lost Bowie interview is discussed. ALSO (plug alert) - the ebook of Kate's novel "Fans of the Impossible Life" is on sale for only $1.99 on all platforms until 2/15 !! Wow!

A seasonal treat for the listeners of The Kate and Vin Scelsa Podcast: a rare recording of The Roches performing holiday music on "Vin Scelsa's Live at Lunch," recorded at Vin's studio at J+R Music World on December 20, 2000. Engineered and produced by Bill Kollar. With an intro in which Kate and Vin discuss the subtle but important differences between the classic holiday films "White Christmas" and "Holiday Inn." Thanks so much to Maggie, Terre, and Suzzy Roche!

Vin and Kate introduce Vin's 1996 interview with legendary author Kurt Vonnegut

Vin and Kate recommend their current reads, Kate goes on a rant about pop stars and feminism, and we cover the next chapter in Vin's radio history, when he left his doomed teaching career for his first commercial radio job.

In January of 1970, Dad, at twenty-two, was given the job of watching over the legendary singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt on his tour of midwestern college coffeehouses. This week on The Kate and Vin Scelsa Podcast, we listen to a recording of Townes talking and performing on Dad's WNEW-FM Sunday Morning Show eight years later, on Mother's Day, May 14, 1978.

Vin and Kate finish up their history of WFMU and Vin's earliest days in radio by listening to a recording of his final show on WFMU in 1969.

Vin, Freddie and Kate listen to audio from WFMU in the summer of 1968 when Freddie was working at the Chicago DNC and called in to the station to report on what was going on with the protests

Kate interviews Vin and Freddie about the early days of WFMU

On this first episode of the podcast, Kate interviews Vin about how his own teenage disillusionment brought him to radio and WFMU.