May 2013 Archives

This week on MinneCulture, producer Britt Aamodt explores The Mesabi Iron Range Strike of 1907. At the turn of the last century, Minnesota’s Iron Range was a cauldron of ethnicities and languages. From 1892 to 1914, more than 40 different ethnic groups immigrated there from the Old World, converging on one of the richest iron lodes in history.

In 1907, a large-scale labor strike erupted on the Mesabi Range, led primarily by immigrant Finns. The strike raised questions about whether laborers had the right to strike for liveable wages, eight-hour work days and fair work practices.

Though ultimately unsuccessful, the strike broke down cultural barriers and united miners under the common banner of organized labor. In our next segment, KFAI producer Britt Aamodt talks with historian Rhoda Gilman, Pam Brunfelt and Peter Rachleff.

5/2/13 in a nutshell…

We noticed The Night Sky Turning Blue during the Home Stretch, and we broke out our favorite Buford O’Sullivan song, which will have greater longevity on this year’s playlists due to the extra hour we didn’t have at this time last year. The 5(+1)@5:05 was strictly East Coast-themed, and opened with Boston greats The Void Union and Bim Skala Bim, and also included New York legends The Toasters. Margherita’s “Tu Sei Pallido”, one of two Italian “Lollipops” in our possession (the other being the feisty Rita Pavone’s), comes from a record whose overly long title misidentifies the geographical origin-point of “Ska” (U.S.A. according to the 45 sleeve… ), but nevertheless isn’t actually a bad version of the song. Sherwood changed his meteorological pitch up, observing the wet weather with Ken Nordine (“Looks Like It’s Going to Rain”) instead of the Soil & “Pimp”/Shiina Ringo collab usually heard here when we’re “feelin’ a change in the air”. Ringo still mentioned rain, though… it turns up in her “Suberidai”, which we heard just before Walter Wanderley launched into “Song of the Jet”. May’s “calendar album” tracks were Emil Richards’ “Emerald” and “Flower Society” by the psychedelically percussive Hal Blaine. The “Ooh” spun ska oldies mostly Jamaican, but also from Mexico (Toño Quirazco), South Africa (Soweto Stokvel Septette), the US (Lester Lanin) and the UK (Colonel Elliott & the Lunatics). Tune in… and stay tuned!