Theme Time Radio Hour With Host Bob Dylan
Popular XM Radio Show Returns for Third Season on October 8th, 2008
Sep 18, 2008
Forget the usual Bob Dylan. The moody, brooding, enigmatic artiste is nowhere to be found in the disc jockey who spins classic American roots music on XM radio's popular Theme Time Radio Hour. This Dylan is relaxed, self-deprecating, human, and funny. After a summer of "reruns" in the form of an A to Z reworking of the previous 80 shows (over 2 seasons), "TTRH" will return this fall for a third season of "Themes, Dreams and Schemes." The new season premieres October 8th, 2008.
Old Time Style Show Follows a Weekly Theme
Each episode of Theme Time Radio Hour is based on a theme, such as divorce, moon, cars, dance, eyes, and so on. Sultry-voiced actress Ellen Barkin introduces the show: "It's nighttime in the big city..." followed by a couple of mood-setting verbal images, like "a trail of perfume follows a girl leaving a cheap hotel...a man wakes up in an alleyway."
DJ Dylan plays 12-15 songs based on the theme, the music ranging from blues to country western, jazz to Texas swing, rock n roll to big band. Although TTRH offers a grab-bag of American popular music from the 1930's to present day, much of it is obscure, and the show is really "about the music". Dylan is definitely a draw, part of the overall feel here. And the feel is one of an era when radio was king.
Another Side of Bob Dylan
Between songs and the occasional vintage commercial (the show is actually commercial free), Bob intersperses facts about the musicians, snippets of poetry, observations on life, and some good one-liners. After one song that featured harmonica: "The harmonica is the world's best selling instrument. You're welcome."
While Dylan never plays any of his own songs, he does sometimes slyly refer to his career, most often humorously. It's refreshing from someone who has come to be known as an enigma.
Dylan is arguably the greatest songwriter in the history of popular music. The 2008 Pulitzer Prize recipient "for his profound impact on popular music and American culture", Bob Dylan has gone by many guises in his 45 years in the spotlight: protest singer, troubador, poet, spokesman for a generation,born-again Christian, troubled genius, mystery man and more.
No 20th century musician has been written about more or undergone closer scrutiny than Dylan. Perhaps the side of him we hear on Theme Time Radio Hour is just another mask. Or perhaps, with age, has come a letting down of his guard. Either way, along with the great music, this side of Dylan helps make Theme Time Radio Hour a classic.
Theme Time Radio Hour airs weekly on XM's "Deep Tracks" channel 40 at 10 a.m. EST. It is rerun several times on different channels throughout the week. A full listing can be found on XM radio's website.
