Beatlemania

Beatlemania is a radio show on 90.7 WVKC, which has aired since Fall Term 2007. It was created in the aftermath of Bill's Beatles Bonanza in order to fulfill the station's desperate need for a solid hour of nothing but the Beatles on the radio. The hosts, Eleanor Rigby and Penny Lane, bring a mix of classic Beatles hits, covers, little known facts about the band, as well as songs done on solo ventures by members of the band. Providing vital information about the songs, such as year and album, Eleanor and Penny try to feed the Beatle lover in all of us.

The show airs on Saturdays at 1 PM, and originally ran for one hour. During Spring Term 2008, it was extended to two hours in length, but it has now returned to its one hour length, due to increased demand for timeslots.

During Fall Term 08, Penny left to study abroad in Spain, leaving Eleanor to run things all by her lonesome, but now Penny has returned, and life continues as before.

Components of the show

In the beginning, the show comprised three main elements, one at each fifteen minute interval.

After the first fifteen minutes was the "Beatles Fun Fact," or BFF, with Eleanor Rigby. Generally she would bring in little known facts and tidbits about specific songs. Sometimes the BFF was centered on connections you never knew existed, like how you connect The Beatles with Death Cab for Cutie or Barenaked Ladies.

At the half-hour mark was the "Twinspin." This was the segment composed of a cover of a song followed by the Fab Four's original. This gave the listener the chance to compare directly the different takes artists have on the classic hits. Generally, the hosts tried to choose covers that were good, and not ones you hear every day.

When the show was just about three-quarters of the way through, Penny Lane would bring you music from "After They Were Beatles," which consisted of two songs from their solo careers after The Beatles went their separate ways.

Current Format

During Winter Term 2008, the hosts abandoned their structured format, taking instead to flying by the seat of their collective pants and soliciting (read: begging for) requests. (309-341-7441 - CALL IN!)

The Hosts

The show is hosted by two excellent individuals known on-air as Eleanor Rigby and Penny Lane. They are pretty cool people who may love The Beatles a little too much. The former host of Bill's Beatles Bonanza - Bill Mayeroff - threatened to reveal the true identities of the hosts if the show did not meet his standards. So far it has ... so far. However, he was pre-empted in this threat on October 22, 2007, when the hosts revealed to their close friends and the world their true identities; Sara Belger is, in fact, Eleanor Rigby, and Andrea Johnston is Penny Lane.