The Vinyl Cafe

The Vinyl Cafe
Genre Variety show
Running time 1 hour
Country Canada
Language(s) English
Home station CBC Radio
Syndicates Public Radio International
Starring Stuart McLean
Producer(s) Jess Milton
Website The Vinyl Cafe
Podcast Vinyl Cafe Stories

The Vinyl Cafe is an hour-long radio variety show hosted by Stuart McLean that is broadcast on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's radio service and is syndictated to approximately 80 U.S. public radio stations through Public Radio International.[1] It airs on Sunday at noon EST and Tuesday at 11:00 pm EST on CBC Radio One and Saturday at 9 am EST on CBC Radio 2. The program is also available as a podcast, although the podcasts are usually just McLean's stories for studio episodes because of copyright restrictions on recorded music.[2] CBC Radio also currently airs a weekday afternoon program, under the title Vinyl Cafe Stories, which consists of two previously recorded Dave and Morley stories per episode.

In 2011, Apple announced their "Best of the Year" awards and The Vinyl Cafe podcast was chosen as the best audio podcast of the year.

The show is independently produced by McLean and sold to the CBC. Each season has approximately 22 new episodes. Half of those are recorded in the studio and the other half are done with live audiences in theatres across Canada and the United States. One episode was recorded onboard VIA Rail's transcontinental passenger train The Canadian from the dome observation car, complete with an audience of passengers and featured a rail travel theme. The musical guest was singer songwriter Reid Jamieson.

Content

The show features essays, fiction and music; while frequently humorous, the weekly programs are also often wistfully nostalgic. The live episodes often begin with Stuart reciting a complimentary description of the venue's community about its character and history. The show also endeavours to introduce listeners to new Canadian musical talent, through playing recordings in studio episodes and performances in the live audience ones.

A major feature of many of McLean's shows are the "Dave and Morley Stories", which feature a fictional Toronto family. The name "Vinyl Cafe" refers both to the show's musical content and the fictional record shop owned by McLean's character Dave. This aspect of the show has spawned a number of books of short stories, as well as audio recordings. Another feature is "The Vinyl Cafe Story Exchange", where listeners are invited to send in personal stories to the producers who read selections on air. The series also presents an annual set of awards that are called the "Arthur Awards", which are intended to commend various people who have performed extraordinary good deeds in the preceding year.

Every episode ends with McLean's signature signoff, "I'm Stuart McLean, so long for now" and followed by the show's folksy guitar theme song, "Happy Meeting In Glory" (as performed by Ry Cooder). The show is produced by Jess Milton. Meg Masters is the "long-suffering" story editor and the show's founding producer is Dave Amer. Julie Penner is the musical director.

Since 2012 the show has also aired a "best of" spin-off series under the new title of Vinyl Cafe Stories. It features previously recorded stories about Dave and Morley and organized around a common theme, and with one or two studio-recorded musical tracks, but without the live music or local introductions typical of the original run of the show.

Dave and Morley Stories

Although they are not featured in every episode of The Vinyl Cafe, the "Dave and Morley Stories" are by far the show's most famous segment. The stories, written and read by McLean, himself, describe the many misadventures of a fictional family whose last name is never given (although, in one story, Dave's mother's name is given as Margaret McNeal). The family consists of Dave, his wife Morley, their children Stephanie and Sam, as well as several pets which figure prominently in many stories. They live in contemporary Toronto, and they keep a jukebox in the living room.

Although each episode is a closed story in its own right, there are often cross references to previous stories and several re-emerging characters. Often, stories highlight a special bond or shared history that two characters have or a coming of age momentum. The stories always end on a reconciling, affectionate and often nostalgic note. Frequently, the moral is that the small things and pleasures in life are underrated and that truth, love, patience and forgiving will resolve conflict and misunderstanding best. The humour is kind and human and portrays the individual quirkiness of the characters deeply affectionate.

The major characters in the stories are Dave, Morley, their family and assorted friends and neighbours:

Dave enjoys a good prank and has a tradition of pulling outrageous jokes on his friend, Kenny Wong (owner of "Wong's Scottish Meat Pies"), every April Fools Day. Dave worked as a tour manager "for some of the best indie acts; certainly for some of the weirdest" before he met Morley. His enjoyment of pranks is seen in his younger days as a tour manager, as well. Dave's last name has never been revealed; although in "School Days", his mother's last name is McNeal, it's unclear whether she uses her married name or reverted to her maiden name after Dave's father died.

The stories often include various neighbours and friends of the principal characters:

Collections of stories in book form

Canadian Editions

U.S. Editions

UK Editions

Collections of stories in audio form

The covers of the Canadian editions of Vinyl Cafe Diaries, Secrets from the Vinyl Cafe, The Vinyl Cafe Coast to Coast Story Service and A Story-gram from the Vinyl Cafe were designed and illustrated by noted writer, artist and cartoonist Seth.

McLean's Vinyl Cafe stories can also be purchased in audio form from the web label Zunior. In addition, older stories are being podcast at CBC's Vinyl Cafe website.

Collections of essays in book form

See also

References

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, March 11, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.