Saturday Morning Flavor

Saturday Morning Flavor is was a globally spiced music discovery radio show. Stories + songs for the best part of the week.

Spring 2024: that’s all folks: Spotify has cancelled its “Music + Talk” format; this had allowed DJs to drop licensed, full-length tracks into podcasts. And that’s what made this show possible. So I’ll be back with something else. Meantime, all show archives are available for listening anytime. — Noel Franus

  • Flavor Packet: Player Pianos and Their Cinematic Spell

    Guest DJ Andrew Ault shares a motif he’s observed in some of our most beloved films: the use of a old-timey player piano as the director’s ace in the hole.

    Orson Wells did it. So did François Truffaut. And Paul Thomas Anderson.

    Andrew shares three of his favorites, with music by Georges Delerue, Henry Mancini, and Jon Brion.

  • S2 E1: Latitude + Attitude: Stories of Place-Powered Change

    Season 2 kicks off with a theme: place-powered change.

    CHUNKINSON PARK: My update on a fake-believe landmark that my family created with Google Maps.

    THE MERRY LOVE THE FIDDLE, THE MERRY LOVE TO DANCE: A chat with filmmakers Michelle Ortwein and James McVeigh, whose film tracks the roots of Southern Illinois music.

    PLUS YOUR PLACE-BASED STORIES … featuring Daniel Souza + 15 other beautiful, deranged listeners who answered a story prompt: tell us about a time when you had to leave.

    STYLE THE BEST PART OF YOUR WEEKEND with songs from The Dynamics, DJ Raff, Palehound, The Knife, Maria Bamford, Tom Zé, DakhaBrakha, Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio, Billy Idol, Shilpa Ray, Billy Bragg + Wilco, and Valerie June, Architecture in Helsinki, and 14 more artists.

    Feedback: +1 415-862-0441 / saturdaymorningflavor@gmail.com

  • Flavor Packet: Watching TV Makes You Smarter

    My friend Steve Portigal shares three songs that he learned about from television. If you’ve ever been down a Shazam rabbit hole after catching a great tune on a TV show, this set is for you.

    It’s a strong, soulful set, with music from Billy Stewart, Buddy Guy, and the Old 97’s.

  • Flavor Packet: Luminaries We’ve Lost

    Today’s theme is Luminaries We’ve Lost in 2023. The show honors the uniquely talented Ethiopian pianist Emahoy Tsegue Maryam Guebrou, the multi-instrumentalist rock legend David Lindley, and Arhoolie Records founder and exponentially productive curious human Chris Strachwitz.

    Bonus material: I came across the BBC Radio Documentary The Honky Tonk Nun a while back. It’s a good long interview with Guebrou. Worth the 30 minutes.

  • 12: Au Revoir, Season 1

    I’m closing out Season 1 with a mini-episode featuring the Top 5 Songs So Far. Making the cut: Souleance, The Mighty Mocambos, Matias Aguayo, Colleen, Becky G. with Peso Pluma.

    What’s in your top 5? Let’s hear your picks.

    Saturday Morning Flavor returns with Season 2 in July, along with a few changes: I’ll be diving a bit deeper into themes with each episode, putting more work into the stories you’ll hear. I’ll also publish once per month, rather than twice.

    Line up your requests for Season 2L (415) 862-0441‬ / saturdaymorningflavor@gmail.com

    — Noel Franus

  • Flavor Packet: Google That Song

    Patrick Castro is joining us as guest DJ again. This time, he has questions. Tough ones!

    1. Why does Elvis Presley‘s Suspicious Minds oddly fade out in the middle for 15 seconds, only to fade back in?
    2. What’s the freaky story with The Mamas and the Papas‘ I Saw Her Again?
    3. Exactly who was it that inspired The Spinners‘ The Rubberband Man?

    Gotta Google it to learn more.

    Also, a question: what’s your go-to food ritual when your significant other is out of town?

  • Flavor Packet: Entrance Anthems, Ready Set Go!

    Today’s Wednesday Flavor Packet is three songs created to get 20,000 people pumped — the house lights are down, the team is appearing, the moment of truth has arrived, let’s get ready to rumble.

    Here’s Gary Glitter, The Alan Parsons Project, and AC/DC, setting the tone for go-time.

  • 11: Caught on Film: One Forever Moment at Preservation Hall

    Stacia and I once snaked our way onto the stage for a midnight show at Preservation Hall in New Orleans. We went to see the Treme Brass Band. We hadn’t expected to sit on stage next to them. The next day, we found film evidence — we even know the exact moment it was taken. Today this great shot hangs in our front hallway. 

    Photo by Pompo Bresciani / nolaPIC.com

    Music: most of today’s show features artists on tour right now: LCD Soundsystem, Os Mutantes, Antibalas, Tinariwen, KOKOKO!, Pantayo, Lucius, Deerhoof, Moon Boots, Peaking Lights, and Gary Numan. And lots more.

    Have a New Orleans story? Let’s hear it. saturdaymorningflavor@gmail.com / (415) 862-0441.

  • Flavor Packet: Clever Girls With Wry Smiles

    Guest DJ Danielle Malik shares three boundary-pushing tracks by Charlotte Adigéry and Bolis Pupul, The Knife, and Sudan Archives — music from women “whose brains I just adore.” Listen in and find out why.

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    Flavor Packets are published Wednesdays. Full Saturday Morning Flavor episodes drop every other weekend. Next: Saturday May 6, 2023.

    Guest DJs welcome. If you have a three-song set, or a theme — on any topic — let’s share your good taste with others. Visit http://saturdaymorningflavor.com/bethedj to get started.

    Feedback always welcome: saturdaymorningflavor@gmail.com / +1 ‪(415) 862-0441‬

  • Everything, Anytime: the SMF Archives Are Alive

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    We’re now 4 months, 7 mini-episodes and 10 full episodes into Saturday Morning Flavor. As things progress, I’ve been doing some things as a matter of production hygiene that you might appreciate.

    First, the SMF Megamix is a Spotify playlist of everything from all Saturday Morning Flavor episodes. It’s at 250 songs and counting, no voice breaks, just music. A very easy way to get your music discovery fix.

    Second, we need records, people, so I keep a sortable spreadsheet of all of the above. If you want to see who’s been played the most, or maybe you’re just curious about which episode that special song was in, enjoy this gift from the universe to your ears.

    Let me know if you use these. saturdaymorningflavor@gmail.com

Email: saturdaymorningflavor@gmail.com / text or vm +1.415.862.0441