KSHE Klassics Show, New Year's Eve, 2017

Quotation du jour: P.J. O'Rourke: The proper behavior all through the holiday season is to be drunk.This drunkenness culminates on New Year's Eve, when you get so drunk you kiss the person you're married to.

Well, wouldn't you know it: my computer hasn't suffered the BSOD in a while; five minutes into this morning's program, CRASH! I didn't miss much, though -- i was able to listen on my iPad until i could restart. After that it was smooth sailing all the way.

It was odd that John Ulett ("Uman") wasn't hosting today; in fact there was no host -- the first time i recall that happening in all the years i've been listening. I suppose everyone deserves a break, and the show was as good as ever(maybe he programmed it himself, just wasn't in the chair). Quite a few songs i truly love, nothing i hated -- although the Santana was pretty boring, but not so bad that i wanted to take an axe to the computer speakers.

My favourite song this morning? (I know you want to know.) "Rose Of Cimarron."

Here's the playlist -- and it's a long list -- they were mostly relatively short songs today:

 Quicksilver Messenger Service just there to my left.














The Quicksilver Messenger Service -- Fresh Air
The Doobie Brothers -- Jesus Is Just Alright
Les Dudek -- Old Judge Jones
Bob Dylan -- Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
Santana -- Samba Pa Ti
Blue Oyster Cult -- Hot Rails To Hell
Molly Hatchet -- Gator Country
The Jimi Hendrix Experience -- Stone Free
The Grateful Dead -- Truckin'
Sherbs -- No Turning Back
Rod Stewart -- Hot Legs
Poco -- Rose Of Cimarron
The Steve Miller Band -- The Stake
Paul McCartney -- Smile Away
The Sutherland Brothers & Quiver -- The Arms Of Mary
Trapeze -- Midnight Flyer
Todd Rundgren -- Love Of The Common Man
Slade -- Gudbuy T'Jane
Bachman-Turner Overdrive -- Gimme Your Money Please
Triumvirat -- March To The Eternal City
Traffic -- Rock & Roll Stew
Henry Gross -- One More Tomorrow
Little Feat -- Fat Man In The Bathtub
Steely Dan -- My Old School
Bob Seger -- Heavy Music
Lake -- On The Run
Emerson, Lake & Palmer -- Knife-Edge
Pure Prairie League -- Two Lane Highway
UFO -- Doctor Doctor
Dave Mason -- Headkeeper
Planet P -- Why Me?
The Dwight Twilley Band -- Twilley Don't Mind
Journey -- Kohoutek
Foghat -- Rock And Roll Outlaw
Pink Floyd -- Free Four
Lynyrd Skynyrd -- I Know A Little
Bob Welch -- Ebony Eyes
Grand Funk Railroad -- Footstompin' Music
Trevor Rabin -- Finding Me A Way Back Home

OK, Christmas is over and i'm back to listening to the usual crap. Here's my personal playlist for the week:

Kathy Mattea – Good News
Chantal Krevaziuk – Colour Moving And Still
John Lennon – Acoustic
The Philadelphia Orchestra – The Nutcracker (Tchaikovsky)
Sequentia – Ancient Music For A Modern Age
The Beatles – Abbey Road
Garmarna – Hildegard Von Bingen
Mary-Chapin Carpenter – Time*Sex*Love*
Genesis – Selling England By The Pound
Dan Ar Bras – Douar Nevez
Dan Fogelberg – Souvenirs
Caro Emerald – The Shocking Miss Emerald
Keane – Under The Iron Sea
Peter Gabriel – So
Son Volt – Notes Of Blue
Big Wreck – In Loving Memory Of....
Matchbox Twenty – More Than You Think You Are
Rory Gallagher – Wheels Within Wheels
Capercaillie – Delerium
Kate Bush – Rubberband Girl
Amy Grant – Behind The Eyes
Fleetwood Mac – Rumors
Baka Beyond – Spirit Of The Forest
Runrig – Play Gaelic
Rocket 88 – Rocket 88
Bonnie Raitt – Home Plate
John Renbourn – The Hermit
The Albion Band – Rise Up Like The Sun
Jeff Beck – You Had It Coming
Max Webster – Mutiny Up My Sleeve
T. Rex – The Slider
Sheryl Crow – Be Myself
Talk Talk – Spirit Of Eden

My Year In Books, 2017

As i say every year around this time, i am a list freak. I keep lists. Every book i read, every CD i listen to, every CD / DVD i buy, every film i watch.

Herewith, for your dining & dancing pleasure, is the list of every book i read this year, in chronological order. Some were re-acquaintances. Those that were new to me are marked with an asterisk.

Note: before i bought my first PC (it ran Windows 95) i would read one or two books a week; now i read one or two a month, but as someone once said, the Internet is television for people who read.

*Bruce Sterling – The Hacker Crackdown: Law And Disorder On The Electronic Frontier

*Ian Rankin – Rather Be The Devil

Tom Sharpe – Blott On The Landscape

*Robert Ludlum – The Bourne Supremacy

*Gerry McAvoy w. Peter Chrisp – Riding Shotgun: 35 Years On The Road With Rory Gallagher        And Nine Below Zero

Tom Sharpe – The Throwback

*David Herbert Donald – Lincoln

Tom Sharpe – Vintage Stuff

*John Le Carrė – The Pigeon Tunnel: Stories From My Life

Lawrence Ferlinghetti – Starting From San Francisco

*Andy Rathbone – Windows 10 For Dummies

John Le Carrė – A Murder Of Quality

*Robert Ludlum – The Bourne Ultimatum

Tom Sharpe -- Porterhouse Blue

*Allen Drury – Advise And Consent

*Lee Sandlin – Wicked River: The Mississippi When It Last Ran Wild

Arthur C. Clarke – Tales From The White Hart

*Christopher Hitchens – Thomas Jefferson: Author Of America

Tom Sharpe – The Wilt Alternative

*Fawn M. Brodie – Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate Portrait

*Donald Fagen – Eminent Hipsters

*Loung Ung – First They Killed My Father: A Daughter Of Cambodia Remembers

*Paul Watson – Ice Ghosts: The Epic Hunt For The Lost Franklin Expedition

Tom Sharpe – Wilt On High

*David Yaffe – Reckless Daughter: A Portrait Of Joni Mitchell

*David Lagercrantz – The Girl Who Takes An Eye For An Eye

And what (i hear you ask) were my favourites? In fiction, there's no question: Allen Drury's "Advise and Consent," published in 1959 (it won the 1960 Pulitzer Prize for fiction). (I'd never heard of it until a friend told me about it this summer.) It's a novel of political intrigue. Normally, politics interests me about as much as the secret lives of earthworms, and, indeed, this novel started very slowly, but it picked up and picked up and became unstoppable. Brilliant, although the devastating and tragic ending is something that couldn't happen in 2017.

In non-fiction, it's tied: Joni Mitchell's biography, and Thomas Jefferson's "Intimate Portrait." Wait! (i hear you cry). I thought you said you weren't interested in politics? Right, i'm not, particularly, although the current American political scene has a certain morbid appeal. But Brodie's book was less about Jefferson's politics and more about the man – and a fascinating man he was.

I'll end with a few words about Volume 5 in the Millennium trilogy. The first three volumes in the saga were written by the late Steig Larsson. (He wrote a fourth, but it has never been published – his family has refused permission.) It was the story of Lisbeth Salander ("The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo"), one of the most compelling characters in all literature – a strong, powerful, take-no-bullshit woman with a brilliant mind. David Lagercrantz picked up the ball and ran with it and, while his two additions to the series are worthwhile reads, i have one major problem with them: Salander herself isn't in them very much. There's a lot about her, her background and history and so on, but she herself is rarely "on stage."

I Have A Borderline Personality Disorder? Who Hasn't!

I once had a doctor suggest to me, that i might, just might, suffer from a mild form of autism called Asperger's Syndrome, because, let's face it, i can be socially awkward and am very introverted. But i pointed out to him that i don't exactly "suffer." I'm 100 % fine with it and thoroughly enjoy being on my own. Sure, i have friends whose company i enjoy -- although i don't actively seek it out. On the rare occasions we arrange to meet, i dread it, but when i get there it's fine.

But there's another aspect to this -- a BPD (Borderline Personality Disorder). It manifests itself as a hyper-sensitivity to music. Whether i'm drunk or sober, a sad song can make me cry. A beautiful song can make me weep with joy. And Muzak drives me nucking futs! I was at the dentist's last week and they had country music on and it was almost as painful as the procedure. I've completely stopped going into Kelsey's pub -- the drinking establishment that's closest to where i live -- because the music is so horrible: all this pop music and hip-hop garbage. Another nearby watering hole, Crabby Joe's, a sports bar so not really my type of place to begin with, can be all right -- sometimes they play classic rock and i love that schtuff. But sometimes they play pop and hip-hop. I do go in there maybe once a week, but it's always risky. I like what they play at Bentley's Bar & Inn, but it's a twenty minute walk away and when it's -14 and snowing, i don't make the trek that often....

I'm not saying that it sucks to be me, but it would be nice to be able to listen to music without the waterworks starting and my faves will often do that.

KSHE Klassics Show, Christmas Eve, 2017

Quotation du jour -- George Carlin: The main reason Santa is so jolly is because he knows where all the bad girls live.

It was a special all-request edition of the show today. Last Sunday, the host, John Ulett a.k.a. Uman, invited listeners to tweet their requests to him @stluman and the show was a special gift to us, his devoted listeners.

I confess i had serious misgivings about this! I was worried that it would result in a load of rubbish being played. St Louisans can have somewhat disturbing tastes: they love REO Speedwagon, for example, a group i can't abide. On the other hand, they once voted Mama's Pride's song "Blue Mist" (played today) as the greatest classic rock song of all time, ever. I wouldn't go that far, personally, but it's certainly damned good.

As it turned out, the show was as good as ever -- the only difference i could discern was that there seemed to be a lot more long songs (+8 minutes) than usual, but as they were great songs, that was hardly a problem.

Yes, i tweeted Uman and requested Dan Fogelberg's "Same Old Lang Syne" which is, after all, a seasonal song, but although he liked my tweet, he didn't play the song. Maybe just a little too soft-rock. I should have asked for "Part Of The Plan," maybe....

He played Catieboo's request, though, so for her,

Here's the playlist:

The Marshall Tucker Band -- Twenty Four Hours At A Time
Morning Star -- Sad Lady
Little Feat -- All That You Dream
Mountain -- Nantucket Sleighride
Mama's Pride -- Blue Mist
Tommy Bolin -- Post Toastee
Steve Walsh -- Every Step Of The Way
Trapeze -- Black Clouds
Flash & The Pan -- Hey, St Peter
The Allman Brothers Band -- Whipping Post
The Animals -- The House Of The Rising Sun
Yes -- Heart Of The Sunrise
Rory Gallagher -- Brute Force And Ignorance
Sherbs -- No Turning Back
Crosby, Stills & Nash -- Suite: Judy Blue Eyes
Chuck Francour -- Under The Boulevard Lights
Boz Scaggs -- Loan Me A Dime
The Kings -- This Beat Goes On / Switchin'
Starcastle -- Lady Of The Lake
Little Feat -- Fat Man In The Bathtub
Iron Butterfly -- Scorching Beauty
Brownsville Station -- The Martian Boogie
Gypsy -- Dead And Gone
Yes -- America

I've been driving Scrooge McDuck – my neighbour upstairs – crazy this week. I don't listen to Christmas music until the week before, but during that week I listen to a lot of it. Here's what i've been annoying him with:

Jethro Tull – Catfish Rising
James Taylor – October Road
Joan Osborne – Christmas Means Love
Kathy Mattea – A Collection Of Hits
Dan Fogelberg – Nether Lands
Jethro Tull – A
Enya – And Winter Came
Loreena McKennitt – A Winter Garden
Various Artists – A Christmas Celebration
Amy Grant – A Christmas Album
Steeleye Span – Winter
The Beatles – Past Masters, Volume One
Dan Fogelberg – The First Christmas Morning
Various Artists – Merry Axemas: A Guitar Christmas
Jethro Tull – The Jethro Tull Christmas Album
The Baltimore Consort – Bright Day Star
Brand X – Unorthodox Behaviour
Tracy Chapman – Tracy Chapman
I Musici – Christmas Concerti
John Kirkpatrick, Rosie Cross, et al. – Wassail! : A Traditional Celebration Of An English Midwinter
The Albion Christmas Band – An Albion Christmas
The Albion Christmas Band – Snow On Snow
Enya – The Christmas EP
Amy Grant – Home For Christmas
Loreena McKennitt – The Visit
Colin James And The Little Big Band – Christmas
Kate Rusby – Little Lights
Waterson : Carthy – Holy Heathens And The Old Green Man

The KSHE Klassics Show, Dec.17th, 2017

Quotation du jour -- Confucius: Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance.

I was definitely listening from NYC this week, as the first ad was for an establishment in Times Square, the second for a clinic in New Jersey, the third also aimed at New Yorkers. Great, i love New York and am delighted to be there again -- especially as the weather's nicer there than here atm.

It was a seamless listening experience, too -- no connection drop-outs, no computer crashes -- but it wasn't a classic Klassics show -- lots that i liked, of course, but not much i can say i truly love, one song i actively dislike (REO Speedwagon) and "Taxi" by Harry Chapin, a song that annoys me on many levels.

Oh, but i love St Lou, too!

Here's the playlist:

Off Broadway -- Stay In Time
Procol Harum -- Simple Sister
Ray Gomez -- Make Your Move
Rush -- Bastille Day
Gamma -- I'm Alive
The Allman Brothers Band -- Melissa
Jackson Browne -- In The Shape Of A Heart
Bob Dylan -- Knockin' On Heaven's Door
Pete Townshend -- Rough Boys
Cream -- Strange Brew
David Bowie -- The Jean Genie
Harry Chapin -- Taxi
Foghat -- Drivin' Wheel
.38 Special -- Chain Lightnin'
Free -- Wishing Well
Billy Joel -- Root Beer Rag
Slade -- Get Down And Get With It
Bruce Springsteen -- Badlands
The Babys -- Every Time I Think Of You
Bad Company -- Crazy Circles
Genesis -- Visions Of Angels
Angel -- Rock And Rollers
Grinderswitch -- Higher Ground
Loggins & Messina -- Nobody But You
Trapeze -- Black Cloud
Jefferson Starship -- Girl With The Hungry Eyes
Touch -- Black Star
Fleetwood Mac -- Heroes Are Hard To Find
Ian Gomm -- Hold On
The Michael Stanley Band -- He Can't Love You
Jimmy Barnes -- Working Class Man
Russ Ballard -- Rene Didn't Do It
Kenny Loggins -- Easy Driver
Santana -- Dance Sister Dance
Eagles -- On The Border
Roxy Music -- Love Is The Drug
Todd Rundgren -- I Saw The Light
UFO -- Only You Can Rock Me
REO Speedwagon -- Music Man (live)

And here's what we've been playing on wax cylinders chez nous this week:

John Renbourn – The Lady And The Unicorn
June Tabor – Against The Streams
Various Artists – Passion Sources
Joni Mitchell – Court And Spark
Joni Mitchell – Don Juan's Reckless Daughter
Various Artists – A Tribute To Dan Fogelberg
Alan Stivell – The Best Of Alan Stivell
Max Webster – Mutiny Up My Sleeve
This Mortal Coil – It'll End In Tears
Happy Rhodes – Rearmament
The Doobie Brothers – The Captain And Me
Joni Mitchell – Mingus
Paul Simon – Stranger To Stranger
Dan Fogelberg – High Country Snows
The Beatles – Rubber Soul
Kirsty MacColl – Titanic Days
Joan Osborne – Relish
Talking Heads – Remain In Light
The Moody Blues – To Our Children's Children's Children
Dan Fogelberg – Love In Time
Oyster Band – Deserters
Maria Muldaur – Meet Me At Midnite
The Albion Christmas Band – Winter Songs
Kate Rusby – Little Lights
Maddy Prior – Flesh & Blood
Nick Drake – Way To Blue
Highly Strung – When The Winds Begin To Sing
Clannad – Pastpresent
Mary-Chapin Carpenter – Come On Come On
Howard Skempton – Lento

The KSHE Klassics Show, Dec.10th, 2017

Quotation du jour -- Neil Young: All that stuff about heavy metal and hard rock, I don't subscribe to any of that. It's all just music. I mean, the heavy metal from the '70s sounds nothing like the stuff from the '80s, and that sounds nothing like the stuff from the '90s. Who's to say what is and isn't a certain type of music?

I'm not really sure where i was listening from this morning, as the targeted ads didn't seem to be aimed at a specific geographic location: they were mostly more like national public service announcements. There weren't very many of them, anyway.

It wouldn't be me if i didn't have a couple of problems along the way: the Internet connection died for a coupla minutes and i missed the Peter Gabriel, which was a shame as it's a favourite, and my laptop crashed once -- fortunately at the beginning of a commercial break, so i didn't miss any music there.

What a great show, though! The first song alone -- well, i first heard it here a couple of years ago and bought the Elvin Bishop CD immediately, such a joyful noise. (That's not Elvin in the pic, obviously!)




















Elvin Bishop -- Travelin' Shoes
Budgie -- I Ain't No Mountain
Canned Heat -- On The Road Again
Dave Mason -- Let It Go, Let It Flow
Manfred Mann's Earth Band -- For You
Santana -- Everything's Coming Our Way
Fleetwood Mac -- Hypnotized
Michael Stanley -- Last Night
The Band -- Up On Cripple Creek
Kansas -- Portrait (He Knew)
Gypsy -- Tomorrow Is The Last To Be Heard
Van Morrison -- Wild Night
J. Geils Band -- Whammer Jammer
April Wine -- Say Hello
The Marshall Tucker Band -- Take The Highway
Jay Ferguson -- Shakedown Cruise
Eric Clapton -- Let It Rain
Crosby, Stills & Nash -- Dark Star
Sugarloaf -- Don't Call Us, We'll Call You
Jackson Browne -- That Girl Could Sing
Cream -- Tales Of Brave Ulysses
New Riders Of The Purple Sage -- Panama Red
The Police -- Canary In A Coalmine
Triumvirat -- Spartacus
Dan Fogelberg -- As The Raven Flies
The Little River Band -- Help Is On Its Way
The Grateful Dead -- Sugar Magnolia
J. Geils -- Looking For A Love
Charlie Daniels -- Trudy
Peter Gabriel -- Solsbury Hill
Chilliwack -- Something Better
Mama's Pride -- In The Morning
The Clash -- Train In Vain
Pete Townshend -- Pure And Easy
Stanley Clarke -- School Days
Prism -- Hello
Bob Welch -- Sentimental Lady
Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen -- Hot Rod Lincoln


And here's what we've been tormenting the neighbours with this week:

Strawbs –  A Choice Collection Of Strawbs
Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here
Mike Oldfield – QE 2
Peter Hammill – The Silent Corner And The Empty Stage
Joni Mitchell – Turbulent Indigo*
Five Hand Reel – Earl O' Moray
Chris Leslie – Dancing Days
Keith Emerson – Emerson Plays Emerson
King Crimson – Red
Marillion – Script For A Jester's Tears
Nazareth – Greatest Hits
Kate Bush – Hounds Of Love
Melissa Etheridge – Never Enough
Joni Mitchell – Court And Spark*
Caro Emerald – Deleted Scenes From The Cutting Room Floor
Dan Fogelberg – Nether Lands
Steve Earle – Jerusalem
The Beatles – Please Please Me
Joni Mitchell – Taming The Tiger*
Peter Gabriel – So
Afrocelts – Seed
ABBA – The Visitors
Robin Trower – B.L.T.
Herbie Hancock – Gershwin's World
Pentangle – Cruel Sister
Todd Rundgren – The Best Of Todd Rundgren
Steely Dan – Aja
The Tragically Hip – Up To Here
The Sugarcubes – Stick Around For Joy
Richard Thompson – Mock Tudor
Procol Harum – Broken Barricades
Deirdre – Deirdre
Tim Renwick – Privateer

* this Joni Mitchell mini-binge was inspired by my recent reading of David Yaffe's excellent new biography, “Reckless Daughter.” Although I never stopped listening to her music, some of this schtuff I hadn't played in years and i'd almost forgotten how brilliant she can be.

The KSHE Klassics Show, Dec. 3rd, 2017

Quotation du jour: Nick Hornby  ¬ I love the relationship that anyone has with music ... because there's something in us that is beyond the reach of words, something that eludes and defies our best attempts to spit it out. ... It's the best part of us probably ...

You may recall that, last week, although i started  listening to the show from California, for the rest of the morning i was actually listening from St Louis, and it was great: my interest in all things St Lou includes their radio ads. It didn't happen again, though. I was listening from New York City -- Verizon ads targeted at residents of The Big Apple, etc. Oh, well.

The show started badly: for some reason, it took a long time for me to connect to the audio stream and i missed the Strawbs song, a bummer as it's a favourite. (I have it on CD, though, so i'll listen later.) Otherwise i had no computer or connection problems, which made a nice change and it was a mostly excellent edition; quite a few songs i love dearly, and really only one that i hate: the REO Speedwagon, i can't stand those guys and it baffles me why KSHE loves them so much. Ugh.

Anyway, to celebrate my missing of the first song, here's the album cover.

Strawbs -- Lay Down
The Who -- Magic Bus
Nazareth -- Razamanaz
Eric Clapton -- I've Got A Rock 'N' Roll Heart
Loverboy -- Hot Girls In Love
Rainbow -- Street Of Dreams
Steve Winwood -- Time Is Running Out
Steely Dan -- Pretzel Logic
Heart -- Dreamboat Annie
April Wine -- Sign Of The Gypsy Queen
The Michael Schenker Group -- Cry For The Nations
Real Life -- Send Me An Angel
Chicago -- 25 Or 6 To 4 (live)
The Tarney / Spencer Band -- No Time To Lose
Foreigner -- Rev On The Red Line
Kansas -- What's On My Mind
REO Speedwagon -- Only The Strong Survive
Genesis -- The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway
Charlie Daniels -- Uneasy Rider
The Doors -- Back Door Man
Dave Mason -- So High (Rock Me Baby And Roll Me Away)
Flash & The Pan -- Hey, St Peter
Robin Trower -- Too Rolling Stoned
Leon Russell -- Stranger In A Strange Land
Spirit -- Nature's Way
The Spencer Davis Group -- I'm A Man
Foghat -- Dreamer
Trooper -- Round Round We Go
Nazz -- Open My Eyes
Shooting Star -- Tonight
J. Geils Band -- Musta Got Lost
Alice Cooper -- Hello Hurray
Humble Pie -- 30 Days In The Hole
The Animals -- It's My Life
Frank Marino & Mahogany Rush -- A New Rock And Roll
Cheryl Dilcher -- Together
Traffic -- Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys
Electric Light Orchestra -- Ma-Ma-Ma Belle
Rory Gallagher -- Country Mile
The Allman Brothers Band -- One Way Out
George Harrison -- All Things Must Pass

Here's what we've been annoying the neighbours with this week:

James Taylor – Covers
Jethro Tull –  A
The Beatles – Eight Days A Week: The Touring Years (DVD)
Falco – The Ultimate Collection
Emerson, Lake & Palmer – Works, Vol. 2
Steeleye Span – Wintersmith
Mike Oldfield – Tubular Bells II
Johnny Hodges – Jazz Masters 35
Kathryn Stott – A Debussy Collection
Terje Rypdal – Odyssey
Robin Trower – B.L.T.
Robin Trower – Truce
John McLaughlin – The Promise
Kate Bush – Never For Ever
Van der Graaf Generator – Do Not Disturb
Elvis Presley – The Number One Hits
Coldplay – Parachutes
Dire Straits – Brothers In Arms
Fairport Convention – Farewell, Farewell
Son Volt – Notes Of Blue
Various Artists – A Little On The CD Side, Vol. 19
Joni Mitchell – Hejira
Kensington Market – Avenue Road
Rory Gallagher – Live! In Europe
Roger McGuinn – Back From Rio
Alphaville – Forever Young
Dan Fogelberg – Windows And Walls