The Hump Day Dance party was officially formed in early 2004 by WLUW radio hosts Dr. Drase and Michael Flavor. The two had back-to-back radio shows, and quickly realized that they shared a love of post-punk, disco, 8-bit electronica, mash-ups and novelty records. Combining forces, they became a singular force of unpredictable weirdness that makes you scratch your head and shake your rump.
Set lists can include everything from punk-funksters like James Chance or Magazine, to early 80s space-disco, local bands Mahjonng and the Eternals or even the experimental performance antics of folks like Klaus Nomi or Lord of the Yum Yum. As the hosts are apt to say, “free your ass and your mind will follow.”
The Hump Day Dance Party can be heard each and every Wednesday from 8-10pm cst on 88.7 FM WLUW in Chicago.
What folks have said about the Hump Dance Party:
While the title sounds like a bad ‘70s porno by way of Beach Blanket Bingo, this show’s as delightful and danceable as they come. Hosts Dr. Drase and Michael Flavor don’t plan too far in advance, so sets could include hard to anticipate picks from I Need Sleep, Joe Jackson, the Eternals and Deerhoof. But such spontaneity keeps things interesting-Time Out Chicago
Humping the night away! Dustin Drase and Mike Agustin - better known to their friends and fans as Dr. Drase and the Reverend Michael Flavor - are the masterminds behind the Hump Day Dance Party, a weekly two-hour specialty show on 88.7 WLUW.
Flavor is as tall and solid as he sounds on the air. His deep, steady-spoken voice keeps the show on track, albeit always with a grin. The bespectacled Drase, his hair recently dyed from blond to black, talks animatedly about comic books, house parties and whatever crazy remix he's discovered most recently. Together, they seem to speak their own language, like two goofy kids with a really great inside joke - except that they want to share it with as many people as they possibly can.
Hump Day standards include dancey Sri Lankan genre assassin M.I.A., fuzzed-out electro cover artist Dsico That No Talent Hack and late-'70s gay disco-opera singer Klaus Nomi (not to mention Aspic Tines, the world's premier Klaus Nomi tribute act). Laptop-based guitar rockers Ratatat rub shoulders with audio bandits like The Kleptones and the multi-tracked beat-box croaking of Lord of the Yum-Yum. Sonic Youth gets it on next to Aphex Twin; Devo shakes it with David Bowie.
And then there are the mashups - pirate creations of enterprising DJs, making hybrid tracks of unlikely pairs. Kelis and Madonna join forces for "Holiday Milkshake," Blondie and the Doors team up for "Rapture Riders," Corey Hart backs The Killers for a sunglassified "Somebody Told Me" remix - not to mention stuff like Q-Unit, an entire album combining 50 Cent and Queen ("Check out 'Disco Language,'" Drase insists. "It's a groover.")
Hump Day has built up a dedicated fanbase, not only of listeners but of artists as well. The show champions the weirdness of otherwise little-known artists such as Mahjongg and Bobby Conn & The Glass Gypsies. Bizarro noise-rockers The Mae-Shi, who have since become friends with Drase and Flavor, even recorded an official theme song for the Hump Day Dance Party as a gift.
-Billy Kalb (Loyola Pheonix )
|
About 
