I REPLAY THE PAST
THEME TIME RADIO HOUR
INTRODUCTION
Theme Time Radio Hour was a one-hour long radio show hosted by Bob
Dylan. Each episode was an eclectic, freeform brew of blues, folk, rockabilly,
R&B, soul, bebop, rock-and-roll, country and pop music, centered around a
"theme," with songs from artists as diverse as Patti Page and LL Cool
J.
Interspersed between the music segments were email
readings, listener phone calls, vintage radio air checks, old radio promos and
jingles, poetry recitations; taped messages from a variety of celebrities,
musicians and comedians; and commentary from Bob Dylan on the music and
musicians as well as miscellanea related to the themes.
The show was not live, Dylan taped his portions at
various locations and while touring, and the studio location at the
The shows lasted one hour with the following
exceptions:
|
Show # |
Theme |
Time (mins) |
Season # |
Air
Date |
|
24 |
77
(!) |
1 |
11 October 2006 |
|
|
34 |
120 |
1 |
20 November 2006 |
|
|
50 |
120 |
1 |
18 April 2007 |
|
|
68 |
120 |
2 |
13 February 2008 |
|
|
90 |
90
(!) |
3 |
4 February 2009 |
|
|
99 |
120 |
3 |
8 April 2009 |
|
|
100 |
120 |
3 |
15 April 2009 |
|
|
101 |
60 |
|
15 April 2009? |
|
|
102 |
120 |
|
21 September 2020 |
Theme Time Radio Hour was originally broadcast
every Wednesday at 10:00 am ET on the Deep Tracks channel of XM Satellite
Radio, a subscription-based satellite radio service.
The show was produced by Eddie Gorodetsky and ran
during three seasons:
|
Season |
shows |
from |
to |
|
1 |
50 |
3 May 2006 |
18 April 2007 |
|
2 |
25 |
19 September 2007 |
2 April 2008 |
|
3 |
25 |
8 October 2008 |
15 April 2009 |
Actress Ellen Barkin read the opening introduction
for each episode during the first two seasons with the exception of the Season
1 Halloween episode. Barkin read the intro intermittently during Season 3.
The announcer "Pierre Mancini" was
probably the voice of Eddie Gorodetsky.
Three episodes in season 2 were re-runs of
episodes from season 1: "Halloween", "Thanksgiving
Leftovers" and the "Christmas/New Year’s" episode.
Three episodes in season 3 were re-runs of earlier
broadcasts: "President's Day," "Christmas/New Year's" and
"Number One".
Official releases
There have been a number of more or less official releases
with the songs played, but only two that contain Bob Dylan’s contributions:
The first was from episode 4: Baseball,
which features the only singing by Bob Dylan during the series.
Released as a
promotional CD: Theme Time Radio Hour
With Bob Dylan; Baseball, Columbia Legacy 82876 89194 2, 2006.
The second release was taken from episode 17:
Friends & Neighbors, ad a bonus CD together with the limited Deluxe Edition
of Together Through Life: Theme Time Radio Hour With Your Host Bob
Dylan. This Week’s Show: Friends & Neighbors, Sony Music, 27 April 2009.
References
The Bob Dylan Fan Club. Annotated Theme Time: www.thebobdylanfanclub.com/themetime/.
Not Dark Yet: http://www.notdarkyet.org/themetime.html
Theme Time Radio
Hour, Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theme_Time_Radio_Hour
This page updated 1 October 2020.