OS87: "6 7-Minute Songs" *Free Version*

Apologies for your inbox getting this twice, but there was a bit of a glitch yesterday when I so carefully posted this episode a 6:07 am. I have a series of little boxes to check on this end, and missed the free/paid section kaboom. Paid subscribers were fine, those you who have received free subscriptions from me are the same as paid (I’m always happy to deal those out, just ask), but for many there was this insidious paywall. That in turn screwed up Spotify to whom I have made a solemn promise never to touch their money so they can play the artists we all love to hear and rake in the bank. Other podcast carriers who carry Old School kind of got broadsided also. SO! Here is the show, sent as free, that will fix all that chain of Old School distribution and get the show out there for all the people who have time to hear 6-7 minute songs, return to the glorious past of rock and roll and blunt the effects of the current future where we are caught like in the really cold part of Frozen. Enjoy, share and Cher alike. (Yes, Cher appears in this newsletter. See if you can find her. Answer to the mystery in the next episode with the working title “Freedom of the Press (I Heard the News)” come soon, free and in living color to a screen near you. Rock on.I knew nothing about the South Park/TikTok thing about 6 7 when I first saw that episode, but I thought hey, I feel a podcast coming on. Now the world has had about 40 crises since that was a thing for a day or two, but I think you will like the show that it inspire.,Put bluntly this is a simple show made up of six 7-minute songs. Back in the day of free form FM Underground the long song became a thing along with long sets with lots of segues and minimum chatter. Focus groups found out listeners tune in to music stations to hear music. Pay them and send they home.These six seven minute songs were fun to listen to for the most part, and if you were pulling a 6 or 7 hour shift, it meant you might get a little break. Hell Inna Gadda Da Vida was 17 minutes of Iron Butterfly flight, long enough for the DJ to go outside and have some fresh open air. Or it might make for a reasonable bio break, or a trip across the street to the convenience store to grab a 67 cent hot dog and a quarter soda, and be back just in time for the song to end.But I digress. Here we are in a worse future than anyone ever imagined. It’s like we are in the in between times that come after the good Old School days and the New Hope that starts off all the Star Wars Movies.Here is a quick unguided detour to 1971, ‘77, ‘71’ ‘85, ‘84’ and ‘85. It is a flow set and not a subject set, a lot of these were war horses on classic rock stations and now they have completely disappeared from the airwaves, just like all the good times. Can you dig it? I knew that you could. The newsletter has a coded playlist. But no spoilers means no front announces, no backsells, no rock critics, but maybe a few 18 year olds listening to these songs for the first time and putting their reactions up for 3 million viewers on YouTube. Hear are Six Seven Minute songs with no interruptions. Memories, discovery, and a rocking trip to anywhere you want to go. Old School # 87: “Six Seven Minute Songs.”Quick explanation courtesy of NBC’s “The Today Show”What Do Kids Mean When They Say 67?It doesn’t mean anything, which means that it can mean everything. Know what we mean?Oct. 21, 2025, 9:15 AM MDTRachel AskinasiIs your child walking around the house answering all questions with the words “six seven”? Are you deeply confused as to what it means? The TODAY.com team is here to help.You may be seeing it written out on social media as “67,” implying a pronunciation of “sixty-seven,” but it’s actually being said as “six seven” and often is accompanied by a double hand gesture you would use to tell someone that you’re weighing two options. The term flooded TikTok — the app currently shows 1.1 million related videos — and made its way into everyday text-speak and slang. Despite its prevalence, many people don’t actually know what it means. One TikTok user made an explainer video essentially saying that the phrase has so little meaning that it can be used in a wide variety of ways that, ultimately, do make sense to the user.Got it?Back announce:“Can’t You Hear Me Knocking” – The Rolling Stones → 1971 (from Sticky FingersWe started with the Rolling Stones and they’re 1971 album Sticky Fingers, the one with the zipper cover that caused so many problems when they tried to ship it in normal album boxes were ripping into the backside of the other albums. After the main part of the song, the band continued playing, thinking the tape had stopped. One of the more famous accidental jams of rock ‘n’ roll happened because they thought the tape and stopped, rolling the subterfuge was orchestrated by saxophone the sax Bobby Keys, Mick Taylor playing guitar on his first complete album with the stones and 5yh Beatle Billy Preston on organ beside conga player Rocky Dejon.“Paradise by the Dashboard Light” – Meat Loaf → 1977 (from Bat Out of Hell)The studio wizard a true star Todd Rundgren, whose production layered up to 70 vocal tracks at a time. From the 1977 Bat Out of Hell, with passionate vocals from Ellen Foley Her singing was lip synced in a hot rotation Mtv classic by Karla DaVito. The baseball narrator earned the nickname scooter although everybody knew it was New York Yankee Hall of Famer who wasn’t sure what he was describing, Phil Rizzotto. Meat Loaf was never better, not even with okra and mashed potatoes.“L.A. Woman” – The Doors → 1971 (from L.A. Woman)LA woman was the title song for the last doors album to feature Jim Morrison an album they recorded in their personal studio at 8512 Santa Monica Blvd and witnessed the exit of their first and only producer, Bobby Rothschild. Bobby thought Riders on the Storm was cocktail music. Part of the production scenario including Elvis Presley bass player Jerry Scheff, fresh from the biggest cocktail party, Las Vegas. “Shout” – Tears for Fears → (from Songs from the Big Chair) this is the version known as the UK Mix from 1984 recorded at The Wool Hall in Bath, England. Producer Chris Hughes from Adam and the Ants called this a “drum manifesto, built from rhythmup instead of chord down.“Two Tribes” – Frankie Goes to Hollywood → 1984 (single from Welcome to the Pleasuredome). Producer Trevor Horn got over 90 take tracks going in this pre digital era and called it “the most complex piece of production I ever did.“How Soon Is Now?” – The Smiths → 1985 (initially released as a B-side in 1984, popular album version on Meat Is Murder compilation came later) Johnny Marr plays a 1959 Gibson ES-355 through four Fender Twin Reverbs with desynced tremolo circuits. It took three days to nail the guitar bed.More of the technical magic that went into this is in the playlist you can find on ProfessorMikey.Substack.Com. You could take out a free subscription, you could take out a paid subscription. At very least share this with a friend for 6 or 7 minutes.Professor Mikey’s Old School Number 87 was produced strictly for educational purposes. Any long dance or run in the park remains the property of the listener. All this mostly forgotten music resides within the public domain or is used within the guidelines of fair use provided for in Section 107 of the CopyRight act of nineteen seven six. Thanks for listening to this episode, “6 7-Minute Songs” and join me next time for Old School!## 🎧 Technical Playlist: Heavy-Handed Liner Notes🎸 Can’t You Hear Me Knocking – Rolling Stones (1971)• Producer: Jimmy Miller • Engineer: Glyn Johns • Studio: Olympic Studios, London • Gear: 16-track tape, Gibson Les Paul → Ampeg SVT, Mick Taylor jam outro, Bobby Keys sax solo 🎷 — One of rock’s most famous “accidental” jams### 🎤 Paradise by the Dashboard Light – Meat Loaf (1977)• Producer: Todd Rundgren • Engineer: Neil Dorfsman • Studio: Bearsville, Woodstock, NY • Gear: 24-track Studer, 70+ stacked vocals, Fender Twins 🎸, Phil Rizzuto commentary ⚾, Ellen Foley duet — Steinman called it “a rock ’n’ roll West Side Story”### 🎸 L.A. Woman – The Doors (1971)• Producer: The Doors & Bruce Botnick • Engineer: Bruce Botnick • Studio: The Doors’ rehearsal space, Santa Monica Blvd. • Gear: Live 8-track recording, Morrison vocals in bathroom 🚿, Krieger SG → Fender Twin 🎸, Ray Manzarek Rhodes bass 🎹 — “Mr. Mojo Risin’” = Jim Morrison anagram### 🎹 Shout – Tears for Fears (UK Mix, 1984)• Producer: Chris Hughes • Engineer: Dave Bascombe • Studio: The Wool Hall, Bath, England • Gear: LinnDrum LM-1 🥁, Roland Jupiter-8 & Fairlight CMI 🎛, SSL 4000E, AMS Digital Delay — Hughes called it a “drum manifesto”### 🎛 Two Tribes – Frankie Goes to Hollywood (Carnage Mix, 1984)• Producer: Trevor Horn • Engineers: Stephen Lipson, Julian Mendelsohn • Studios: Sarm West & East, London • Gear: Fairlight CMI IIx 🎹, Synclavier II, Oberheim OB-Xa & Prophet-5, SSL E-Series automation — Horn: “the most complex piece of production I ever did”### 🎸 How Soon Is Now? – The Smiths (1984)• Producer: John Porter w/ Johnny Marr • Engineers: Stephen Street, Tim Young • Studio: Trident Studios, London • Gear: ’59 Gibson ES-355 🎸, 4 Fender Twins w/ desynced tremolo, Eventide H910, Lexicon 224, tape echo on snare 🥁 — Porter: “We accidentally invented its pulse”****Thanks to Michael Bloomfield’s collection “From His Head to His Heart To His Hands” that featured the instrumental version of Like a Rolling Stone heard under the openings that was produced by Tom Wilson that featured the musicians Bob Dylan, Mike Bloomfield, Al Kooper, Paul Griffin, Joe Mack, Bobby Gregg and Mr. Tambourine Man Bruce Langhorne.The closing music was Section 43 (EP Version) by Country Joe and the Fish as it was featured on the Rhino box set Love Is th Song We Sing: San Francisco Nuggets 1965-1970.)Here is a list of 6 or 7 curiosities: Octopuses have three hearts. Two of the hearts pump blood to the gills, while the third pumps it to the rest of the body. The tip of a shoelace is called an aglet. It is the plastic or metal part that prevents the shoelace from fraying. QThe letter “Q” is the only letter not found in any U.S. state name.The world’s oldest cat, Creme Puff, lived to be 38 years and 3 days old . The Sun makes a sound, but we can’t hear it: because sound waves cannot travel through the vacuum of space. Before alarm clocks, some people were paid to wake others up. They would knock on their windows to ensure they were awake for the day. The TIMES of Their LIVES : Lived until 67(((Secret preview from Professor Mikey’s upcoming book The Times of Their Lives. Publishers and agents take heed.)))People who made it to 67…Around 67Charlemagne Holy Roman Emperorc.747 – Jan 28, 814“To have another language is to possess a second soul.”Jethro Tull Farmer, writer The Horse-hoeing Husbandryc. 1674 – Feb 21, 174167 years, 1 day (24,473 days)Ingrid Bergman ActressAug 29, 1915 – Aug 29, 1982Breast cancer“A kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech when words become superfluous.”67 years, 10 days (24,482 days)Ava Gardner ActressDec 24, 1922 – Jan 25, 1990Pneumonia“I have only one rule in acting - trust the director and give him heart and soul.”67 years, 5 months, 1 day (24,624 days)Lon Chaney, Jr. ActorFeb 10, 1906 – July 12, 1973Unspecified“Of course I believe that The Wolf Man is the best of my horror films—because he is mine!”67 years, 6 months, 17 days (24,662 days)Catherine the Great Tsarina of RussiaMay 1, 1729 – Nov 17, 1796Stroke“I praise loudly. I blame softly.”67 years, 6 months, 23 days (24,676 days)Benjamin Harrison 23rd U. S. PresidentAug 20, 1833 – Mar 13, 1901Pneumonia“I pity the man who wants a coat so cheap that the man or woman who produces the cloth will starve in the process.”67 years, 7 months, 3 days (24,690 days)Hunter S. Thompson Journalist Fear and Loathing in Las VegasJul 18, 1937 – Feb 20, 2005Suicide“I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they’ve always worked for me.”67 years, 8 months, 22 days (24,736 days)Liberace PianistMay 16, 1919 – Feb 4, 1987AIDS“You know that bank I used to cry all the way to? I bought it.”“I love my work but do not know how I write it.”67 years, 9 months, 15 days (24,760 days)Alan Jay Lerner Lyricist, librettist An American in ParisAug 31, 1918 – Jun 14, 1986Lung cancer“Men die but an idea does not.”67 years, 10 months, 4 days (24,768 days)George Washington 1st U. S. President (1789-1797)Feb 11, 1732 – Dec 14, 1799Pneumonia“Mankind, when left to themselves, are unfit for their own government.”67 years, 10 months, 21 days (24,796 days)e e cummings PoetOct 14, 1894 – Sept 3, 1962Cerebral Hemorrhage“Listen; there’s a hell of a good universe next door: let’s go.”67 years, 10 months, 23 days (24,801 days)Josef Mengele Nazi SS physician “The Angel of Death”Mar 16, 1911 – Feb 7, 1979Drowning67 years, 11 months, 10 days (24,817 days)Sugar Ray Robinson Boxer, Welterweight and Middleweight championMay 3, 1921 – Apr 12, 1989Alzheimer’s“To be a champ, you have to believe in yourself when nobody else will.”Professor Mikey’s OLD SCHOOL is powered by fans like you. Take a spin from casual listener to certified groove archivist — keep the songs of the forgotten past alive and your playlist dangerously cool. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit professormikey.substack.com/subscribe