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�It�s all a bit hazy� in the �Retro Lounge� Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell Lars and The Nurse (a.k.a. Lars and Traci Svendsgaard) host "The Retro Lounge," the Saturday night Jefferson Public Radio show featuring quirky music listeners won�t hear anywhere else. Tonight�s show is expected to be even weirder than usual � if that�s possible � in honor of April Fools� Eve. April Fools� Eve the perfect time for Lars and The Nurse to leave JPR listeners spinning By Bill Varble of the Mail Tribune Lars and The Nurse have a vision that unfolds in a lounge of the mind. "My grand vision is to address all the weirdos," Lars says in a deep voice familiar to Jefferson Public Radio listeners. "A melting pot," says The Nurse in a sexy whisper. "There�s this huge body of work," Lars says. "It embodies a spirit people don�t have enough of." That would be the quirky, free and downright weird music Lars and The Nurse present on Saturday nights to a public that for sure isn�t getting it anywhere else. Tonight being April Fools� Eve, the show figures to be even stranger than usual, although that may be a hard concept to grasp. "Nursey will be in full flight," Lars says. "She will lead you through a spiritual landscape with the assistance of her little book!" Since 1993, Lars (a.k.a. Lars Svendsgaard, 47) and The Nurse (a.k.a. Traci Svendsgaard, 40) host JPR�s "Retro Lounge," which airs at 9 p.m. on 89.1 FM. The show appeals to old hippies, punks, young hippies, Gen-Xers, absurdists, cultural adventurers and lounge lizards of who knows what stripe. Where else are you going to hear The 13th Floor Elevators these days? Actually, in the Retro Lounge, that�s the commercial stuff. Lars and The Nurse may spin, say, Chocolate Watch Band�s "I�m Not Like Everybody Else," Captain Beefheart�s "Electricity," The Adolescents� "Kids of the Black Hole," all in the same show. Like most mutants, the Lounge didn�t spring full-grown from anywhere but evolved with time. Lars and The Nurse met in 1982, when both were students at then-Southern Oregon State College. Traci Batchelder had been involved in "Chatterbox," an award-winning children�s show. Lars Svendsgaard was kicking around ideas for a show that would feature far-out, noncommercial pop music � music he called "neglected and objectionable" � in an entertaining format. Program director John Baxter gave the OK, and the show debuted in October 1993 to what Lars calls "overwhelming indifference." Svendsgaard and Batchelder kicked around various ideas. They cast her as a cocktail waitress and a bar skag and a drunk. But the character of The Nurse clicked. The idea stemmed from B-movie, horror flicks of the 1950s. Shockmeisters of the day promoted the fright epics as being so scary that nobody would be admitted during the last 15 minutes, and a nurse would be on duty to administer first-aid to those who fainted. Hey, they don�t want any tragedies at the Lounge. Over the years, Lars and The Nurse have developed an entire mythology purporting to explain the show. The Nurse � Nursey, as Lars often calls her on the air � immigrated to the Retro Lounge from Bruno, Neb., which is between David and Wahoo. Lars found her by the side of the road, where her car was broken down. ("It�s all a bit hazy," she says.) "I said, �Car trouble?�" Lars says. "She said, �No thanks, I already have some.� " People sometimes ask if Lars is a doctor, or a mental patient. "I would say he�s the proprietor," Nursey says. "We had a knack for working together," Lars says. "Didn�t we?" "Yes!" Nursey says, then adds, "Like I�m going to say no." In his day job, Lars works in his family�s lodging business and is the father of a 12-year-old daughter. The Nurse does voice-overs in commercials you hear on TV and radio if you live in the Rogue Valley. She�s the mother of a 23-year-old son. "They�re these wacky, I think underappreciated people," says Ed Polish, of Talent, an avid "Retro Lounge" fan who is hosting "Sleazy Listening," a special airing tonight after the Lounge. Lars spends the week putting each "Retro Lounge" show together, planning the music, writing the show, recording Thursdays at JPR. The CD racks in the couple�s vintage home high in the hills above downtown Ashland groan under row upon row of albums. "It�s a labor of love," says The Nurse, emphasizing the "love." The show welcomes tapes from local bands. Lars and The Nurse are sometimes recognized by fans from their voices. But ask what they do in "real life" and The Nurse says, "He�s Lars in real life." Which sounds right, if you think about it. Because you can�t say the Lounge isn�t a real place. It�s a theater, a very weird theater of the mind. The show�s T-shirt illustrates it clearly. Drawn by the underground comic artist Spain, it shows Lars, Nursey, Popeye, Wonder Woman, a space alien. "We try to put the sense of the Lounge in with the music," Lars says. "We are sending a signal into the wilderness." "They�ve been numbed," Nursey says. "Numbed," Lars repeats. "Dumbed and succumbed. "My hope is the Lounge will continue to open the minds and hearts of those who may happen upon it." Fans can e-mail Lars and The Nurse at [email protected]. Their show can be seen at 9 Saturday nights by going to www.jeffnet.org and clicking on ijpr/livestream. Reach reporter Bill Varble at 776-4478 or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.