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Minnesota Public Radio's the Current Adds "Sound Opinions" to Its Saturday Lineup Starting May 20
"The World's Only Rock 'N' Roll Talk Show" will broadcast on The Current at 9-10 a.m. Saturdays
May 9, 2006
(St. Paul, Minn.) — May 8, 2006 — Minnesota Public Radio's The Current announced today that it will add a new program to its Saturday lineup: Sound Opinions, a show about music and its place in American culture.
Billed as "the world's only rock 'n' roll talk show," Sound Opinions was created and is hosted by two of the nation's most influential music critics, Jim DeRogatis of the Chicago Sun-Times and Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune.
Starting May 20, The Current will broadcast Sound Opinions Saturday mornings at 9 a.m. The show is an hour long, and will be followed by The Current's Bill Deville, who will host his Saturday shift from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. The Current is heard on KCMP 89.3 FM in the Twin Cities, KMSE 88.7 FM in Rochester and online at www.mpr.org/thecurrent.
The program is produced in Chicago by Chicago Public Radio, WBEZ, and co-produced and distributed by American Public Media, the national production and distribution arm of Minnesota Public Radio. An earlier version of the program aired in Chicago for more than seven years at Infinity's adult rock station, commercial WXRT-FM.
"Sound Opinions is not just a program for 'musicheads,' but rather a program that covers a dynamic and genuine cultural phenomenon, says The Current's Program Director Steve Nelson. "To a lot of people, the most creative, most interesting, most inspiring music is being made today. People are so compelled to find it, so taken with it, so inspired by it, that they make an incredible effort to seek it out. The same way public radio listeners make an incredible effort to seek out important news."
The hosts of Sound Opinions are unafraid to take on tough subjects or unpopular opinions. From bubblegum pop to punk to hip-hop, no artist, record or topic is sacred as each critic presents and defends his position with passion, commitment and humor. Between them, they have a distinctive chemistry, driven by respect and competition. In the tradition of two other Chicago journalists, Gene Siskel and Robert Ebert, Sound Opinions' DeRogatis and Kot will present their cutting-edge journalism and criticism to a younger audience and their parents who want to stay on top of popular trends. Listeners will also appreciate Sound Opinions’ unique rating system — "Buy it, Burn it or Trash it" — which provides listeners a quick, blunt and humorous guide to new music releases.
For Chicago Public Radio, the managing producer of Sound Opinions is Todd Bachman, producer is Matt Spiegel and the executive producer is Torey Malatia. For American Public Media, the executive in charge is Jim Russell. Creative consultant is Steve Nelson, program director for The Current.
About the hosts
Jim DeRogatis has been the pop music critic at the Chicago Sun-Times since 1997. He has also worked as an editor at several music magazines, including Rolling Stone, and is the author of five books about rock 'n' roll, including Let It Blurt: The Life and Times of Lester Bangs, America's Greatest Rock Critic and Staring at Sound: The True Story of Oklahoma's Fabulous Flaming Lips. People living in the Twin Cities will also remember DeRogatis as a former critic for the alternative weeklies Twin Cities Reader and City Pages.
Greg Kot is the pop music critic at the Chicago Tribune and the author of the acclaimed biography, Wilco: Learning How to Die. He has also contributed music criticism to numerous books and magazines, including the Encylopaedia Britannica, Rolling Stone and a dozen other national publications.
Press Contacts:
Christina Schmitt
Minnesota Public Radio
651-290-1449
cschmitt@mpr.org
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