FUV Essentials

What was the gateway to 1967's Summer of Love? The very phrase conjures a psychedelic idyll of the Sixties: blissed-out hippies splayed on the grass, hazily wreathed in the smoke of Acapulco Gold and campfires. On the 50th anniversary of the Monterey International Pop Festival and the Summer of Love, that era and its music is this week's FUV Essentials.

Over a 16-year span of eight albums and a handful of EPs, the Black Keys' Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney evolved from two scrappy guys playing local bar-and-garage blues in Akron, Ohio, to platinum-selling, Grammy-winning music industry heavyweights. And they're FUV Essentials.

With a voice that rings to the heavens like a deep, clear bell, Brandi Carlile is a longtime friend of FUV, ever since she released her breakthrough album, The Story, in 2007. She's a multiple Grammy winner, a member of The Highwomen and an FUV Essentials artist too.

Talk to a musician who caught a Pixies gig back in the late Eighties or at the cusp of the Nineties and it's likely that they were compelled to start a band. Over the past three decades, Radiohead, Nirvana, Weezer and Blur have all cited Pixies as a point of departure. The import and influence of Pixies is undeniable and this beloved, challenging, and unconventional band is one of our FUV Essentials.

When David Letterman inducted Pearl Jam into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April 2017, his affectionate, funny speech made special note not only of the Seattle-bred band's legacy, but its committments beyond the boundaries of music. There are many reasons why Pearl Jam is one of our FUV Essentials, but their beneficence is as inspiring as their rock 'n' roll legacy.

No other rock 'n' roll band in history has reigned like the Rolling Stones. As their 55th year rolls on in 2017, they're still swaggering across stages, recording (2016's Blue & Lonesome), and doing their best to ignore time.  FUV's two biggest Rolling Stones fans, afternoon weekday host Dennis Elsas and Paul Cavalconte, host of "Cavalcade," reflect on what the band has meant to them over the years.

The great Miss Sharon Jones was a lover and a fighter. Her spirit was true, her joy was infectious, and her voice will not be forgotten. Her 61st birthday would have been on May 4 and we're celebrating her music as this week's FUV Essentials.

The release of Ray Davies' first album in over a decade, Americana, and Dave Davies' new album with his son Russ, called Open Road, comes just over twenty years since the official 1996 demise of the Kinks, the legendary band the brothers once shared.

A master of the withering riposte, the witty jab, and the wistful aside, Aimee Mann has always tackled difficult subject matter on her albums: abandonment, betrayal, doubt, and depression. But no matter what melancholy tides might drift into her lyrics, her songs are perceptive and tactical more than gloomy. She has also been one of FUV's most beloved musicians and a friend of the station, and will always be one of our FUV Essentials.

The Clash were no mere rock 'n' roll band. A tempest of punk, reggae, funk, and sociopolitical fury, the "only band that matters" elevated protest songs to the raucous realm of punk-lashed anthems, roiling with intelligence and passion. It's been 40 years since the release of the band's eponymous debut album and they are this week's FUV Essentials.