Back in the summer of 1979, Neil Miller got together six bands for a mammoth recording session in Columbia. About 25 of his musician friends performed at the Road Apple Party Palace. The private event space was already known as concert venue and now it was playing host to full house enjoying a who’s who of local musicians. When the night was through, there were enough recordings for an album. You could buy a ticket just for the show. For a few extra dollars you could get to see the show and a copy of the eventual live LP.
I’ve always been interested in Columbia’s alternative history. Settlement history interests me, but so do the stories of the freaks, the protesters, the local expressions of various power and pride movements. When I got to town in 1989, there were still some fumes in the air from the heady and tumultuous 1970s. When I heard the Mid-Summer Night 1979 album I knew this was an audio portal into a long-gone time. Jennifer Wright also saw the album as an opportunity to use this podcast as a way to understand a time that is suddenly starting to get hazy in the rear-view mirror.
This podcast draws on oral histories to tell the story of that 1979 recording session and the forces behind it. In late 1025 and early 2026, Jennifer and I interviewed BoCoMo Medicine Show participants Neil Miller, Daryl Wright and Roberta Weir about what brought them to the Road Apple Party Palace that summer night back in 1979, finding a work-family balance and on making good music.
Thanks to Neil Miller, Daryl Wright and Roberta Weir for sharing their stories.
Thanks to Mark Johnson for production assistance.
Thanks to Jennifer Wright for being an inspired co-producer on this episode.
This episode will have its world broadcast premiere on KOPN radio on June 10, 2026. Listen locally at 89.5fm or at KOPN.org.
More episodes of the Mo’ Curious podcast are available at MoCurious.com and wherever you get your podcasts.
The Recollection Agency 