Eddie Vedder Gets Political During Stint As Late-Night Dj

The microphone went silent for a moment. “Am I on? Hey, ho,” said Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, starting four-plus hours of a zany, subversive late-night radio broadcast nationally from the band’s hometown of Seattle. It was titled “Self Pollution Radio” and starred Vedder as a rambling, sometimes aggressively political disc jockey who stressed women’s rights and condemned the recent killings at two Brookline, Mass., health clinics.

Vedder, whose band has been No. 1 on the charts in recent weeks, also sang 10 songs with Pearl Jam in an adjacent studio.

The marathon broadcast at times resembled pirate radio, such was the radical, free-form tone that Vedder brought to the show. He spun records by underground acts from Sonic Youth to Jungle Oats, plus introduced live performances by Seattle bands Soundgarden, Mudhoney, Fastbacks and Mad Season (with Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready and Alice in Chains singer Layne Staley).

“Perhaps the silent majority is going to have to make some noise,” Vedder said at the top of the show. “We have to ensure the protection of women’s reproductive rights and the safety of our mothers and our sisters.” He later urged the use of federal marshals at abortion clinics and added, “Now more than ever we must fight the conservative tide that has taken over Congress.”

He also plugged an upcoming compilation album, “Home Alive,” which will raise awareness against violence in the community. Songs are being contributed by Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Joan Jett, Exene Cervenka and Lydia Lunch.

In between the live and recorded music, Vedder played some spokenword records addressing various social issues. One was Bobby Miller’s “Keep Your Mouth Off My Sisters.” Another was a strangely off-color poke at organized religion called “They Threw Me Out of Church.”

Vedder also plugged a Voters for Choice benefit that Pearl Jam performed in Washington this past Saturday and Sunday with Neil Young. Vedder even tried to phone Young on the air to discuss it, but Young was not home.

However, much of the unprecedented show, which aired without commercials on Jan. 8, was a chaotic lark.

“It would have been good for you all to attend and get beer out of the keg,” Vedder told the national audience.

The live Pearl Jam performances were excellent (focusing on “Vitalogy”) and introduced the band’s powerhouse new drummer, Jack Irons. The band did no previously unrecorded music, except for an instrumental jam that impressed Vedder.

“Oh, that’s what they sound like without me,” he said. “They sound pretty good. I think I’m going to quit and move to Costa Rica.”