KPR’s Retro Cocktail Hour turns 20, almost old enough to drink a martini

LAWRENCE – The Retro Cocktail Hour turns 20 this year, and to celebrate, Kansas Public Radio is throwing a party May 7 at Liberty Hall. 

Straight from Psycho Suzi's Motor Lodge in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Exotik-a-GoGo will serenade the crowd with jungle rhythms and tropical birdcalls. The concert begins at 8 p.m., and doors open at 7. 

Formed in 2010, Exotik-a-GoGo combines the best sounds of the 1950s exotica trend with ‘60s bachelor-pad jazz, hip sounds once featured in Tiki bars, Playboy Clubs and space-age lounges. The sound is exotic, and the mood is escape – escape from whatever or wherever you are, to any time but the here and now.

Individual tickets are $30 and $20; reserved seating is available when you purchase a downstairs table. (Four-tops are $120; 10-tops are $300.) Tickets are available at the Liberty Hall box office or ticketmaster.com. Tickets will also be available the night of the concert. The Liberty Hall ticket office is cash only. A service charge may be added to your order. 

“I can’t believe the show lasted 20 minutes, much less 20 years. At the time it seemed like such a risk; we had no idea if people would love it or hate it. It’s been a bit of a surprise – a most gratifying surprise – that listeners worldwide have responded so enthusiastically to the RCH,” said Darrell Brogdon, the show’s creator and host. 

Brogdon draws on his personal collection of more than 10,000 CDs and LPs to program the show every week. 

In 2008, RCH threw a party to celebrate the show’s 500th episode. Some people are still recovering. Liberty Hall, in historic downtown Lawrence, is home to RCH’s Cinema a Go-Go, double features of exceedingly cheesy movies.

The special 20th anniversary concert is sponsored, in part, by David Baldwin and Jill Shelley.

KPR, a 15-time winner of the KAB’s Station of the Year, licensed to the University of Kansas, broadcasts on 91.5 FM in Lawrence, 89.7 FM in Emporia, 91.3 FM in Olsburg-Junction City, 89.9 FM in Atchison, 90.3 FM in Chanute, and 99.5 FM and 97.9 FM in Manhattan. KPR can be heard online at http://kpr.ku.edu. KPR also operates KPR2, a news-talk programming stream, which can be heard on an HD receiver or on KPR’s website.