Jim Dawson

insert_link 2 3

Not Fade Away

with Jim Dawson

Two hours of boppin', rockin', rollin' roots 'n' rhythm music that shook the world.

Jim Dawson has written half a dozen books on early rock ‘n’ roll and rhythm and blues, including “What Was the First Rock ‘n’ Roll Record?” (1992, Faber & Faber), as well as over 100 album liner notes. He also wrote the 1999 top-selling “Who Cut the Cheese? A Cultural History of the Fart?” (Ten Speed Press), “The Compleat Motherfucker: A History of the Mother of All Dirty Words” (2009, Feral House), and “Los Angeles’s Bunker Hill: Pulp Fiction’s Mean Streets and Film Noir’s Ground Zero!” (2012, History Press). He is the host of Not Fade Away on Wednesday nights.

• Philosophy: I play a mix of truly eclectic music, from early jazz, rhythm & blues, rockabilly, and 1950s pop. I have no problem mashing up Al Jolson, Vera Lynn, Muddy Waters, and Nervous Norvus.
• Five artists you will probably hear: Helen Shapiro, Buddy Holly, Tennessee Ernie Ford, and Ethel Waters–and Ian Whitcomb.
• When not DJing, I can be found watching old movies at the American Film Institute (where I work in the Catalog of American Feature Films) or drinking hot coffee or ice tea at the Astro on Fletcher.
• Secret superpower: I can make fart noises by rubbing the palms of my hands together.

Host