The Adventure Club

In 1996 my family packed up all of our possessions and moved 650 miles south to Dallas, TX. I was 13. Not only did this move occur in the middle of the school year but we also didn’t know anyone there at all.

By this time I was already very into music and started collecting CDs and making mix tapes while listening to the radio. Listening to music was my way of distracting myself from being bored and alone. The first thing I did once we arrived in Dallas was find the alternative rock radio stations. Luckily there were a few at the time; 94.5 The Edge, 97.1 The Eagle and Q102. All three stations had their individual spin on things.

The Edge, however, had a secret weapon. On Sunday nights, there was a radio show called The Adventure Club. It was hosted by a guy named Josh Venable. The show was 3 hours long and was like if a college radio station took over a commercial station. Josh played songs from all of the coolest local bands at the time as well as indie, punk, ska, electronic, British rock/pop, etc. I would look forward to listening each week and make tapes of the songs I liked. This went on until around 2012.

To say I idolized Josh is an understatement. When I hosted my radio show in college I basically stole The Adventure Club format and essentially treated it as an impersonation of Josh. Imitation is the highest form of flattery right?

Well this playlist is based on countless Sunday nights I spent from 1996-2012 listening to The Adventure Club. I like to think Josh would play these songs on his show back then and now if the show were still around. This is also the rare playlist I recommend shuffling. At the time of this writing, it’s almost 40 hours long with no repeating artists.