AMPERS
Minnesota's Community Radio Stations
In 1983, The Time brought in a crew to record their concert at First Avenue. Producer Britt Aamodt takes a look at the Minneapolis R&B and funk band the year before Purple Rain made them international stars, and how one of those live First Ave recordings made it onto the fim’s soundtrack. [Read Transcript...]
REM had yet to release an album. They were touring the U.S. on the strength of their first single, “Radio Free Europe”, and here they were in Minneapolis for a show at Sam’s (later First Avenue) on Thanksgiving in a blizzard. Britt Aamodt finds out what happened to the up-and-coming band when the headliner canceled. [Read Transcript...]
He was the Godfather of Soul. Now First Avenue’s office manager Chrissie Dunlap had to tell him he was late hitting the stage. Britt Aamodt shares Dunlap’s encounter with James Brown. [Read Transcript...]
Curt Almstead, known in the Twin Cities music scene as Curtiss A, couldn’t believe it. Some deranged man had just shot John Lennon dead. Almstead wanted to do something to remember the artist whose band, the Beatles, had meant so much to him. Britt Aamodt explores the origins of First Avenue’s annual John Lennon Tribute. [Read Transcript...]
