Bruce Iglauer didn’t plan to celebrate Alligator Records’ 50th anniversary the way he has. Iglauer started the blues label in Chicago in 1972 and intended to load up a bus with musicians from the label’s past, present and future and play around the country. Unfortunately, the Delta variant made that unsafe, so instead he has had to celebrate with an anniversary compilation, 50 Years of Genuine Houserockin’ Music, and talking about the label and the stars who defined it on shows like this one. Iglauer’s here because Alligator has released two albums of new Christmas music, 1992’s The Alligator Records Christmas Compilation, and 1996’ Genuine Houserockin’ Christmas. He tells stories about some of the artists who cut Christmas music including Koko Taylor and Gatemouth Brown, and talks about the world that led him to form Alligator in the first place. Iglauer starts, though, by talking about how the COVID that forced Alligator to change its plans is affecting musicians. If you have any questions, suggestions, or favorites you want to share, I'm at [email protected]. If you haven't already done so, please do what you have to do to get Twelve Songs in your podcast feed. You can find us at Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, Pandora, and Spotify.

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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