My Love Explodes!
- DJ Celeste | DJ Tea
- Feb 25
- 8 min read
Updated: Mar 12
Hit play on the Mixcloud player to tune in | More shows in our Mixcloud library: click here.
Hit play on the Mixcloud player to hear ‘My Love Explodes’ - an Eclectic Wonderland romp featuring The Dukes of Stratosphear, Jonathan Coulton, Raymond Scott, Jellyfish, and William Shatner, plus kazoo-assisted chaos. Or Scroll for show notes!
My Love Explodes
February 25, 2026
with DJ Tea, Mr. Announcer Man & Mickey Fingers
1–3pm CST on WDRT 91.9FM | Listen Live » Post By DJ Tea & Mickey Fingers
💥 My Love Explodes 💘
Love is messy. Love is nerdy. Love is science experiments, cartoon boyfriends, concussions, charcuterie, and at least one machine malfunction.
This week on Eclectic Wonderland, we detonated romance in every possible direction... from The Dukes of Stratosphear’s psychedelic pop blast to Gala Violet’s Dysfunctional Valentine’s sampler, from Shatner’s science meltdown to Raymond Scott’s glorious Powerhouse chaos.
We journeyed through:
• Alien robot love songs
• Shop Vacs and housework
• Cartoon boyfriends
• Machine affection
• Auto-Tune existentialism
• And a final nerd-romantic mic drop courtesy of Moxy Früvous
Because love doesn’t have to be subtle.
It can be absurd.
It can be brainy.
It can be loud.
It can explode.
And yes - Mickey Fingers brought the kazoo.
Mickey's Corner
🪩 Coming Soon
We’re officially launching Velvet Umbrella Radio: After Dark - a new home for the unhinged, spicy, not-FCC-friendly magic with Mickey Fingers and DJ Celeste (DJ Tea, After Dark). [Magic Places And Links]
We’ll also be giving “Forking Around with Mickey Fingers” its own Linkpod home - because some chaos deserves proper real estate. [Click Here For The New After Hours Home]
Sometimes the thing in the room isn’t subtle.
Plus:
Gala Violet’s My Dysfunctional Valentine’s Sampler is fully featured in this episode, and we’re currently crafting a film-noir visual for “Elephant in the Room” from the upcoming Of Starlight and Myth.
Love may be ridiculous.
But it’s never boring. [More Below, Keep Scrolling Or Click Here!]
Playlist
✨ Dive into the full playlist below — with videos linked for every track, so you can watch, listen, and wander through the eclectic flow.
Set your reminders!
A Fun Little Promo!
Eclectic Wonderland Links (Links In Pink!)
Show Notes & The full playlist: {Links Are Pink!}
Intro
(1) Mickey Fingers — Intro: My Love Explodes
(2) Melodysheep — Happily Ever After
(3) The Dukes of Stratosphear — My Love Explodes
(4) Patrick & Eugene — Birds and Bees
(5) Raymond Scott / Go Home Productions / The Bran Flakes / Evolution Control Committee — Powerhouse
Second Set
(1) Jellyfish — Sebrina, Paste and Plato
(2) William Shatner (feat. Bootsy Collins & Patrick Moraz) — She Blinded Me With Science
(3) Mickey Fingers — Intro to Set Two: My Love Explodes
(4) The Mommyheads — Imperfect Love
(5) Buggy Jive — Alien Robot Song (Love Song About Love)
(6) Ed’s Redeeming Qualities — More Bad Times
(7) The Zambonis — I Got a Concussion (When I Fell for You)
(8) The Four Postmen — Coffee Girl
(9) Raymond Scott — Hostess Twinkies (Instrumental)
(10) Raymond Scott — Sprite Melon ball Bounce (Instrumental)
Third Break
(1) The B-52’s — Housework
(2) Jonathan Coulton — Shop Vac
(3) “Weird Al” Yankovic — Good Enough for Now
(4) Barenaked Ladies — Be My Yoko Ono
(5) The Evolution Control Committee — What Would You Do If I Sang Auto-Tune
(6) Mickey Fingers — I.D. – My Love Explodes
(7) The Evolution Control Committee — Spandau Filet
Fourth Break
(1) Phish — Lengthwise
(2) Mickey Fingers — Intro to Set Four: My Love Explodes
(3) I Monster — Daydream in Blue
(4) King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard (feat. The Flaming Lips) — Ya Love
(5) Phish — Lengthwise (Part Two)
(6) I Monster — Who Is She
(7) Ween — Voodoo Lady
(8) Joe Hawley (feat. Edu) — Bring Her Along
(9) Raymond Scott — Twilight in Turkey (Electronic / Instrumental break)
Fifth Break
(1) Edelweiss — Bring Me Edelweiss
(2) People Like Us — I’ve Got You
(3) Sheri Moon Zombie & Jeff Daniel Phillips — I Got You Babe
(4) The Evolution Control Committee — Machine Love
(5) Psychostick — Smooches
(6) The Bran Flakes — Ride The Tiger
(7) Raymond Scott — Lightworks (Instrumental break)
Sixth Break
(1) Mickey Fingers — Intro: Last Set – My Love Explodes
(2) Gala Violet — Good Evening, Darlings
(3) Gala Violet — Cougars, Cabs and Charcuterie
(4) Gala Violet — Mister Oxford’s Underwear
(5) The Wonder Stuff — Cartoon Boyfriend
(6) The Bran Flakes — Oh Don Ho
(7) The Bran Flakes — Mini Mountain Queen (break song)
(8) Mickey Fingers — Intro to Finale
(9) Moxy Früvous — My Baby Loves a Bunch of Authors
(10) Mickey Fingers — Closer
Mickey’s Corner
💥 My Love Explodes
After Hours Energy & Audities Valentine
There’s a moment when you stop adjusting yourself to fit the room.
Not dramatically.
Not angrily.
You just stop filtering.
My Love Explodes came from that place.
Energy is currency.
Attention is fuel.
And I’m done spending mine on noise.
If you’ve ever felt like the loudest thing in the room isn’t the thing worth feeding — you already understand this show.
After Hours exists for the same reason.
Some music doesn’t belong at 1PM.
Some stories breathe better in shadow.
Some frequencies lose their power when they’re softened.
So we built a room where nothing gets softened.
I lead the current.
Celeste (DJ Tea, After Hours) runs the board — and pretends she doesn’t enjoy it.
(We both know better.)
Elephant in the Room
If you’ve been paying attention to the visuals lately, you’ve felt the shift.
Elephant in the Room isn’t just a song.
It’s a lens.
Something else is taking shape.
It’s not polished.
It’s not packaged.
It’s just… honest.
Decide what you want to feed.
— Mickey
Stories From Paper Dolls (Valentine's Sampler)
My Dysfunctional Valentine
Released: January 30, 2026
Real stories. Real regrets. Real funny.
A cabaret confessional — equal parts sultry, awkward, and painfully honest.
Think glitter, gasps, and a strong pour.
💋 Track List:
Good Evening, Darlings
Mr. Oxford’s Underwear (Confessions)
Cougars, Cabs & Charcuterie
Warning: contains inappropriate cheese plates, Oxford stains, and one too many glasses of cabernet.
Mr. Oxford’s Underwear
(From the Valentine’s Sampler)
Every project has an origin story.
This one starts with a pair of stolen briefs.
Back in high school, Tea and Julie had been friends long enough to know exactly how dangerous they were together. By sophomore year, Julie had developed her first real crush — we’ll call him “Oxford.”
She learned his schedule.
His job.
His address.
One night, after a school dance, Julie and Lori discovered Oxford was throwing a party. Julie slipped off to the bathroom… and somehow found herself in his bedroom.
She left with a souvenir.
Let’s just say Julie had been sharing a certain botanical generosity with Oxford. When the supply ran out, so did his attention. And that’s when revenge started brewing.
The underwear were decorated with Sharpie:
“These are Mr. Oxford’s underwear. Mr. Oxford made these stains.”
The plan? Toss them into his classroom during a packed lecture.
Tea secured a hall pass. Julie slipped inside.
“Mr. Oxford!”
Launch.
They landed on a student’s desk.
“Mr. Oxford, I think these belong to you.”
Julie bolted. Tea followed. Mr. Fry called after them:
“Are you two up to no good?”
“Maybe!”
Eight years later…
Tea was working at a record store when Mr. Oxford walked in.
Jamiroquai playing.
Metro Chicago tickets on sale.
Flirting ensued.
When he asked her to order the album, she wrote his name before he said it.
“How did you know that?”
She smiled and sang it:
“Mister Oxford…”
He went pale.
His friend leaned in and whispered:
“You know he went through years of therapy over that, right?”
Tea looked up.
“So… do you still want to go to the show with me?”
He nodded.
“Yes. You’re not Julie.”
Cougars, Cabs & Charcuterie
(From the Valentine’s Sampler)
It started at a January loft in Evanston.
Lake air. Gorgeous space. Wall-to-wall recently divorced cougars in fabulous boots. I had flown in from the Gulf Coast, secretly plotting my move back to Chicagoland, and I was starving.
Very quickly I realized I wasn’t a guest. I was bait.
“Oh good, the cute petite one is here. The younger guys will follow.”
I was there for cheese. Not as a decoy.
We had wine. I finally relaxed into the appetizers.
Then suddenly we were in a cab.
Downtown. Wine bar number one. Wine arrives instantly. Charcuterie takes forever. The board finally lands.
Ping.
The “hot guys” from last week are at another bar.
We have to go. Now.
I stared at the untouched cheese and felt something shift inside me.
Enter: Feral Gremlin Mode.
Napkins. Purse. Contraband brie. Survival.
Cab number two. More wine. More cheese ordered. More chaos texts. I stopped ordering wine. I asked for water. I quietly ate purse-cheese while hormone diplomacy collapsed around me.
By wine bar number three, I had cheese in my purse, cheese in my pockets, cheese in every available compartment. I was nibbling like a raccoon in the backseat while social nuclear war unfolded beside me.
One woman grabbed another’s phone.
Kevin Hart emoji.
Look up the number.
It’s her ex-husband.
The betrayal detonated in real time in a Chicago January cab while I chewed smuggled brie and handed cubes to Anita like wartime rations.
Back at the bar, Anita and I locked eyes.
We were done.
Hockey Mom appeared like an angel in a minivan and said the only sane sentence of the night:
“You two don’t have to keep doing this.”
Back at Anita’s, we peeled off the cougar energy, dug cheese out of my purse by the fireplace, and replayed the entire opera: loft, cabs, emoji ex-husband, January wind.
At eight a.m., the doorbell rang.
Standing there — polished, wide awake — was the real estate agent.
The same one.
Sleeping with the ex.
Staging everyone’s post-divorce dream condos.
Now in full PR mode on Anita’s doorstep.
We watched her spin the narrative while running on decaf and emotional cheese hangover.
Years later, I’m living in Evanston, working at Paper Source, surrounded by ribbon and calm.
The bell rings.
In walks the real estate agent from hell.
She smiles like we’re old friends.
In my head: abandoned charcuterie, cab war, Kevin Hart emoji, eight a.m. damage control.
In my pretty little paper universe, I draw the line.
No more cougar cabs.
No more chaos portals.
I tell her no.
Some nights teach you who you are. Some nights teach you what you won’t feed.
— Mickey
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Much Love & Warm Fuzzies,
🧜♀️ Thank You for Listening!
We appreciate you. ❤️
We Hope Your Day Is Delightful!
Peace, Love & Cosmic Bunny Rabbits!
-DJ Tea, Mr Announcer Man, Dewey Lewis& Mickey Fingers
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