The Theme Machine

The Theme Machine Saturday morning radio program with a different theme each week - from 9am to midday

18/06/2026

On Sunday June the 21st from 9 to noon, tune in (a day later than normal owing to the Winter Magic Festival) to The Theme Machine with Paul Murphy Young on Radio Blue Mountains for ‘The Songs of Carole King’, a playlist which consists of 50 tracks written or co-written by this gifted songstress. Featured artists include (in addition to Carole’s own recordings) Aretha Franklin, Grand Funk Railroad, The Byrds, The Monkees, Billy Joel, Bryan Ferry, The Isley Brothers and Blood, Sweat & Tears.
How to hear it:
89.1FM, stream live via rbm.org.au, or use a radio app

10/06/2026

On Saturday June the 13th from 9 to noon, tune in to The Theme Machine with Paul Murphy Young on Radio Blue Mountains for ‘Heaven & Hell 5’ (the fifth in a series of playlists), in which 39 tracks with the words ‘heaven’ or ‘hell’ in their titles alternate throughout. Featured artists include Free, Ween, James Brown, Jackson Browne, Kaiser Chiefs, Florence + The Machine, Redbone and Gorillaz.
Listen like this:
89.1FM, stream live via rbm.org.au, or use a radio app

04/06/2026

On Saturday June the 6th from 9 to noon, tune in to The Theme Machine with Paul Murphy Young on Radio Blue Mountains for ‘Heaven & Hell 4’ (the fourth in a series of playlists), in which 40 tracks with the words ‘heaven’ or ‘hell’ in their titles alternate throughout. Featured artists include Adam Ant, Robert Plant, Lady Gaga, Lenny Kravitz, Depeche Mode, The Waterboys, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and The Stone Roses.
How to hear it:
89.1FM, stream live via rbm.org.au, or use a radio app

13/05/2026

On Saturday May 16 from 9 to noon, tune in to The Theme Machine with Paul Murphy Young on Radio Blue Mountains for ‘Heaven & Hell — Opposites Repel’, a playlist in which 37 tracks with the words ‘heaven’, ‘hell’ (or both) in their titles alternate throughout. It is also a revamped 2020 show. Featured artists include The Easybeats, The Clash, The Who, The Cure, The Jam, The Darkness, The Pogues and The Cramps.
Listen like this:
89.1FM, stream live via rbm.org.au, or use a radio app

06/05/2026

On Saturday May 09 from 9 to noon, tune in to The Theme Machine with Paul Murphy Young on Radio Blue Mountains for ‘Fair Harvest’, a 40-track playlist on the topic of fairs, carnivals and the like, and the harvest. It’s a list I put together for the previous Saturday’s outside broadcast from the Leura Harvest Festival. Featured artists include Leon Russell, Fairground Attraction, Nick Drake, Nick Cave, Joe Walsh, Pulp, The Isley Brothers and Big Audio Dynamite.
Listen like this:
89.1FM, stream live via rbm.org.au, or use a radio app

22/04/2026

On Saturday April 25 from 9 to noon, tune in to The Theme Machine with Paul Murphy Young on Radio Blue Mountains for ‘Tearjerkers’, a 40-track playlist that’ll bring on the blues. Purge that negativity!
Featured artists include Andrew Gold, Evanescence, Coldplay, Hot Chocolate, The Smiths, The Cure, Dusty Springfield and Divinyls.
How to hear it:
89.1FM, stream live via rbm.org.au, or use a radio app

14/04/2026

On Saturday April 18 from 9 to noon, tune in to The Theme Machine with Paul Murphy Young on Radio Blue Mountains for the ‘Grief & Loss’ playlist which consists of 39 songs addressing the feelings these evoke.
Featured artists include Warren Zevon, Train, Divinyls, Rod Stewart, Bill Withers, Coldplay, Smokey Robinson and Silverchair.
Listen like this:
89.1FM, stream live via rbm.org.au, or use a radio app

07/04/2026

On Saturday Apr 11 from 9 to noon, tune in to The Theme Machine with Paul Murphy Young on Radio Blue Mountains for the playlist ‘Oz Rock Blokes’, consisting of 43 songs by Aussie male musos. Featured artists include Brian Cadd, Paul Kelly, Jo Camilleri, Colin Hay, Stephen Cummings, Stevie Wright, Richard Clapton and James Reyne.
Listen like this:
89.1FM, stream live via rbm.org.au, or use a radio app

31/03/2026

On Saturday April 04 from 9 to noon, tune in to The Theme Machine with Paul Murphy Young on Radio Blue Mountains for the playlist ‘Spirited’, a common word theme consisting of 37 songs in which the title contains the word ‘spirit’; and that refer to the human spirit or an aspect thereof. So they may be spiritual but not specifically religious. It’s part three in the ‘Body, Mind and Spirit’ series. ‘Top to Toe’, the body show, aired a fortnight prior, and ‘In Your Mind’ on the previous Saturday. Featured artists include Bauhaus, Moodswings, Rush, The Tragically Hip, The Waterboys, The Cult, Fools Garden and Beck .
Listen like this:
89.1FM, stream live via rbm.org.au, or use a radio app

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