Meet the artists who decorated WXPN Studio for #XPN80sWeek, Nicole and Nicole of South Street Art Mart!

Nicole Wiegand and Nicole Krecicki are massive enthusiasts of music, of pop culture, and of the time period they came of age — the 80s and 90s. The co-owners of South Street Art Mart are driven by creativity and fandom, and you can see these artists’ handiwork decorating the WXPN studio this weekend during DJ Robert Drake’s 24-hour marathon broadcast of his 80s show Land Of The Lost, capping off WXPN Loves The 80s Week.

When they stopped by WXPN last Friday to begin hanging the decorations, we asked NicoleX2 (as they sign all their emails) to do some guest DJing for our Friday night 90s show What’s The Frequency. The Nicoles have a big celebration of their own this spring: the second annual Rex Manning Day Block Prty, which happens on Saturday, April 6th from noon to 7 p.m. on the 500 block of South 4th Street in Philly.

For the uninitiated, Rex Manning Day nods to the 1995 comedy Empire Records; the movie follows the trials and tribulations of a group of young folks working in an independent record store which is both threatened with corporate closure and scrambling to stage an instore appearance by a past-his-prime pop star, the fictitious Rex Manning. It’s frantic and silly and full of optimism and love, and it’s one of the Nicoles’ favorite movies. So to celebrate it, they’re gathering together vendors, DJs, and local musicians — Petrol, King Azaz, DiscoDisciple, and Jounce featuring Danny Tamberelli (of Nickelodeon’s Adventures of Pete and Pete) — for a free community event that you can read more about here.

Nicole Krecicki and Nicole Wiegand | photo by Tina Dillon | courtesy of South Street Art Mart

In their guest DJ set, NicoleX2 picked an amazing assortment of songs from 1995, keeping contemporary to Empire Records, including several selections from its very popular soundtrack (Gin Blossoms, The Cranberries, Coyote Shivers), along with massive hits (by Alanis Morissette, Bjork, Bone Thugs N Harmony, Everclear), and deeper cuts (from Bush, Queen Sarah Saturday, Traci Lords). They gave us the Rex Manning Day Block Party origin story, as well as the South Street Art Mart origin story. We talk about pop culture, 90s Con, about the music that shaped them as young people, and more.

Click the player above to listen to Nicole and Nicole’s guest DJ set, check out their playlist below, and get the rundown on all things Rex Manning Day by following them on Instagram at @southstreetartmart. And to see their decorative skill surrounding DJ Robert Drake during the Land of the Lost 24 hour broadcast, visit the 80s Camcorder LOTL livestream beginning at 7 p.m. ET.

Playlist

Queen Sarah Saturday – “Seems”
Bone Thugs N Harmony – “1st of Tha Month”
Alanis Morrisette – “All I Really Want”
Everclear – “Santa Monica”
Garbage – “Supervixen”
Soul For Real – “Candy Rain”
The Smoking Popes – “Need You Around”
Tori Amos – “Losing My Religion”
The Cranberries – Liar”
Bush – “Body”
Traci Lords – “Fly”
Gin Blossoms – “Til I Hear It From You”
Sponge – “Plowed”
Bjork – “Army of Me”
Coyote Shivers – “Sugarhigh”