The KSHE Klassics Show, Jan. 28, 2018

Quotation du jour ~ Frank Zappa: Information is not knowledge. Knowledge is not wisdom. Wisdom is not truth. Truth is not beauty. Beauty is not love. Love is not music. Music is THE BEST.

I've said it before and i'll say it again: if i could find a radio station that played this kind of music all the time, i might never leave the house. Just look at that playlist!

Two songs by The Sutherland Brothers & Quiver? Okay by me: i liked that group a lot and their guitarist, Tim Renwick, is one of my favourite players (he went on to become a member of Pink Floyd's touring band). (I'm not altogether sure why he's a favourite: there's certainly nothing amazing about his fretwork, but his timing is immaculate, he has an imagination and he has style. Maybe that is amazing in a day where speed is often mistaken for talent.)

Unusually, it was an almost immaculate listening experience, too. My Internet connection dropped out briefly twice, but both times were during commercial breaks. I missed the first few seconds of The Tubes' song, that's all.

 

 Chicago -- Make Me Smile
Fleetwood Mac -- Danny's Chant
Sutherland Brothers & Quiver -- (I Don't Want To Love You But) You Got Me Anyway
Steely Dan -- Black Cow
Dicky Betts -- Hand Picked
The Tubes -- Don't Touch Me There
Rick Derringer -- Don't Ever Say Goodbye
Todd Rundgren -- Just One Victory
Head East -- City Of Gold / Fly By Night Lady
Bob Dylan -- All Along The Watchtower
Rare Earth -- Get Ready
The Grateful Dead -- Estimated Prophet
Wet Willie -- Everything That You Do
Wiggy Bits -- Oh Captain
Runner -- Run For Your Life
Yes -- Wonderous Stories
The Allman Brothers Band -- Statesboro Blues
Steve Winwood -- Don't You Know What The Night Can Do
Lou Reed -- Sweet Jane
Jethro Tull -- Teacher
Good Rats -- Back To My Music
Bachman-Turner Overdrive -- Blue Collar
UFO -- Too Hot To Handle
Sutherland Brothers & Quiver -- Slipstream
Poco -- A Good Feeling To Know
Joe Walsh -- Indian Summer
Patti Smith -- Because The Night
Rod Stewart -- Gasoline Alley
Spirit -- I Got A Line On You
Robin Trower -- Victims Of The Fury
Santana -- All I Ever Wanted
Supertramp -- Rudy
Elton John -- Grey Seal
April Wine -- Like A Lover, Like A Song
Steve Hackett -- Narnia
Dan Fogelberg -- Illinois
David Bowie -- Rebel Rebel

And here's what i've been annoying the cat with this week:

Blowzabella – In Colour
Van der Graaf Generator – Still Life
Talk Talk – Laughing Stock
Pyewackett – Pyewackett
The Beatles – The Beatles
Dan Fogelberg – Windows And Walls
Paul Simon – Stranger To Stranger
James Taylor – October Road
Steve Rothery – The Ghosts Of Pripyat
Godley & Creme – Ismism
Seether – Poison The Parish
Steeleye Span – Dodgy Bastards
Yes – Fragile
Mike Heron – Smiling Men With Bad Reputations
Jack Bruce – Songs For A Tailor
Deep Purple – Machine Head
Kate & Anna McGarrigle – Heartbeats Accelerating
Keane – Under The Iron Sea
Dire Straits – Love Over Gold
Caro Emerald – Deleted Scenes From The Cutting Room Floor
Stan Rogers – Fogarty's Cove
Jethro Tull – A Passion Play
John Kirkpatrick et al. –  Plain Capers
Tyrannosaurus Rex – A Beard Of Stars
Neil Young – Harvest
The Waterboys – Dream Harder
Pink – Try This
Dan Fogelberg – High Country Snows
Robin Trower – B.L.T.

The KSHE Klassics Show, Jan. 21, 2018

Quotation du jour ~ Albert Einstein: Imagination is more important than knowledge.

Today, i tried an experiment. No, really.

I'd been having a minor problem with streaming audio, not just KSHE's, but Radio Paradise's as well. (That's the other station i listen to online.) If, while listening, i also happened to be surfing the web, sometimes, loading a web page, especially one that was graphics-laden, would cause the music to distort momentarily. It was very brief, just until the page had loaded, but it was annoying me.

I searched online for answers, tried a few things to no avail (updating drivers, etc.), and then searched Pale Moon's forums but found no help at all there. I even started shopping around for new computer speakers, although i couldn't think why they might be at fault. I didn't spend any money.

Then i remembered that i had three browsers besides Pale Moon (my default): Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge, and Google Chrome, which all came bundled with the install of Windows 10 and none of which i had ever used. I use Microsoft programs as little as i can manage on one of their operating systems and i'm not crazy about anything Google either, but i wondered if the problem lay with Pale Moon itself, and, thinking of Chrome as the least of three evils, i fired it up, imported all my bookmarks and ... it was fabulous! Not only did KSHE's audio stream open more quickly than usual, i had a distortion-free listening experience -- even though i was simultaneously websurfing using Pale Moon. I guess my default browser simply doesn't do music very well. Henceforth, i shall use Chrome for streaming audio and Pale Moon for everything else.

And what a great show it was -- just check out that playlist. The first five songs alone were worth the price of admission. But i must remember to turn off the damned cell phone on Sunday mornings....

Jeff Beck -- Rice Pudding
Fleetwood Mac -- World Turning
Steely Dan -- Bodhisattva
Bob Dylan -- Maggie's Farm
The Allman Brothers Band -- Jessica
Frankie & The Knockouts -- Running Into The Night
String Driven Thing -- Circus
Traffic -- Empty Pages
Tom Petty -- Listen To Her Heart
Cheryl Dilcher -- Who's The Captain (Of Rock And Roll)
Black Oak Arkansas -- Jim Dandy
Climax Blues Band -- Mighty Fire
Bruce Springsteen -- Kitty's Back
Rainbow -- Stone Cold
Procol Harum -- Conquistador
The Who -- The Kids Are Alright
The Grateful Dead -- Friend Of The Devil
Jo Jo Gunne -- Ready Freddy
Rocky Burnette -- Tired Of Toein' The Line
Rare Earth -- I Just Want To Celebrate
.38 Special -- Rock & Roll Strategy
Brave Belt -- Another Way Out
The Little River Band -- It's Not A Wonder
Denim -- Throw Away
Ambrosia -- Holdin' On To Yesterday
Steve Winwood -- While You See A Chance
The Byrds -- Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is A Season)
Joe Vitale -- Lady On The Rock
Shoot -- Sepia Sister
Eric Clapton -- Motherless Children
Toto -- I'll Supply The Love
Kenny Loggins -- Celebrate Me Home
Aerosmith -- Toys In The Attic
Strawbs -- Little Sleepy
James Taylor -- Carolina In My Mind
Black Sabbath -- Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
Styx -- Lady
The Tubes -- Sushi Girl

Here's what's been on the optical drive here at Spriggs Central this week:

Terje Rypdal – The Singles Collection
Kate Rusby – 10
Tangerine Dream –  Phaedra
Planxty – Cold Blow And The Rainy Night
George Harrison – The Best Of George Harrison
The Nice – Five Bridges
Home – The Alchemist
Steely Dan – Pretzel Logic
Garfield – Out There Tonight
The Cranberries – Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We? [R.I.P. Dolores]
Son Volt – Notes Of Blue
Kathleen Edwards – Back To Me
Maddy Prior & Tim Hart – Summer Solstice
The Quicksilver Messenger Service – Happy Trails
Judy Collins – In My Life
Genesis – Wind And Wuthering
Dick Gaughan – Call It Freedom
Rory Gallagher – Blueprint
Emerson, Lake & Palmer – Trilogy
Yes – The Yes Album
Sheryl Crow – Be Myself
Murray McLauchlan – Greatest Hits
John Hiatt – Walk On
David Gilmour – About Face
Fastball – All The Pain Money Can Buy
Steve Earle – The Revolution Starts Now
Chickenfoot – Chickenfoot
Art – Supernatural Fairy Tales
Spooky Tooth – Spooky Two
Kate Bush – Never For Ever
June Tabor – Aqaba

Year End Wrap-Up, 2017

Ok, folks, it's miscellany time, in which i ramble mindlessly about schtuff that particularly impressed me in 2017.

Best beer: Rickard's Red. Runner-up: Laker Red.
Best take-out breakfast: A & W's breakfast wrap.
Best pizza: Domino's
Best fish & chips: Annie's Seafood Restaurant
Best pub: Bentley's
Best burger in town: Bentley's Deluxe Burger
Prettiest barmaid: Amber (from Bentley's)
Best cat: Cate (she'd kill me if i said otherwise!)
Best phone: Android (actually it's the only kind i've ever had, so what do i know?)
Best department store: Sears (what a shame they've closed!)

See you next year.

KSHE Klassics Show, Jan. 14th, 2018

Quotation du jour: Laurie Anderson ~ It's just such a great miracle when things do work, and they work for such a wild variety of crazy reasons.

As my regular reader will recall, i was unable to listen to last week's Klassics Show on my computer -- i had to listen using my iPad and a Bluetooth speaker. I wondered at the time if a recent Windows Update -- which borked my Start Menu and Cortana, among other things, was responsible (although i couldn't think why). After the program ended, i rolled back Windows to a time before the update -- not precisely how i had wanted to spend my afternoon but i've always had a love / hate relationship with technology -- and all was well again. I was able to listen to The Rock Magazine on KSHE on Monday morning with no trouble, so the problem was solved. I cock a snook at those who say i'm nothing but a pretty face.

Here's me cocking a snook:

It wasn't an entirely hassle-free morning though. (Would it be me if it were?) Shortly before the program was due to begin, i happened to adjust the position of my left speaker and ... the sound died. I checked the obvious, of course -- the power light was on, the cables were firmly seated -- i was just about to fire up the iPad and Bluetooth speaker again, when i noticed something on-screen: nothing was happening. My browser had stopped responding. So i closed it, re-opened it et voilà: we had music! That was a helluva relief, actually, as my computer is my media centre -- i don't have a stereo or a television or a DVD player (when they made this machine for me i had to specify that i needed an optical drive, dinosaur that i am) and i certainly didn't relish trudging up to Staples with the temperature at -20 and heaps of snow and ice everywhere for a new pair of speakers.

Then i had a problem with my keyboard: hitting the shift key entered the contents of the clipboard. (Huh?!?) For example, trying to type "Zero" would produce "Zhttp://www.kshe95.com/ero". A bit of Googling solved that matter but it was really difficult when i began this document, as i use the shift key throughout the playlist. (I had to run a command prompt to clear the contents of the clipboard.) (No idea what created this problem.)

After that, though, apart from a couple of (very brief) connection drop-outs, it was smooth sailing all the way.

I'm not sure where i was listening from -- most of the ads were from CVS Pharmacy, which is nationwide, but i may actually have been in St Louis today, as there were also quite a few ads from The Social House in Soulard -- which was the first pub i ever went to in St Louis (Soulard is a neighbourhood there). If you follow me on Facebook, the Soulard Social House is where my profile pic was taken.

Anyway, here's the playlist. Not an extraordinary edition, maybe, but still the best radio show anywhere (that i know of) and as always the highlight of my week:

Climax Blues Band -- I Am Constant
The Michael Stanley Band-- Let's Get The Show On The Road
Taxxi -- I'm Leaving
Gary Wright -- Love Is Alive
Pavlov's Dog -- Julia
Robin Trower -- I'm Out To Get You
Roger Daltrey -- Say It Ain't So, Joe
Stillwater -- Women (Beautiful Women)
Sad Cafe -- Black Rose
Thin Lizzy -- Romeo And The Lonely Girl
Chris Rea -- Working On It
UFO -- Lights Out
Graham Parker -- White Honey
Chilliwack -- Baby Blue
Point Blank -- Nicole
Emerson, Lake & Palmer -- Fanfare For The Common Man
Chris De Burgh -- Don't Pay The Ferryman
Crawler -- Sail On
The Stabilizers -- One Simple Thing
Blues Image -- Ride Captain Ride
Stingray -- The Man In My Shoes
The Outlaws -- There Goes Another Love Song
Sweet -- Love Is Like Oxygen
Robert Palmer -- You're Gonna Get What's Coming
Uriah Heep -- Look At Yourself
Sniff 'N' The Tears -- Driver's Seat
Alice Cooper -- Under My Wheels
Dr John -- Right Place Wrong Time
The Electric Light Orchestra -- Showdown
Hydra -- Feel Like Running
Steely Dan -- Doctor Wu
The Steve Miller Band -- Living In The U.S.A.
Arlo Guthrie -- Coming In To Los Angeles
Alvin Lee -- So Sad (No Love Of His Own)
Budgie -- Breadfan
Horslips -- Sure The Boy Was Green
Santana -- Open Invitation
Ted Nugent -- Hey Baby
Todd Rundgren -- Hello It's Me

And here's what's been rattling the chandeliers at Spriggs Towers this week:

Sharon Shannon & Friends – Libertango
Focus – Hamburger Concerto
George Harrison – Wonderwall Music
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra – The Brandenburg Concertos (J.S. Bach)
Joni Mitchell – Hejira
Matchbox Twenty – North
Bowling For Soup – A Hangover You Don't Deserve
The Bothy Band – Old Hag You Have Killed Me
Caro Emerald – Metropol Orkest X Caro Emerald
Dixie Chicks – Wide Open Spaces
Bela Fleck And The Flecktones – Three Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
The Kinks – The Collection
Marillion – F.E.A.R.
Mike Oldfield – Five Miles Out
Imogen Heap – I Megaphone
Emerson, Lake & Palmer – Trilogy
The Doobie Brothers – Best Of The Doobies
Joe Bonamassa – Dust Bowl
Paula Cole – Ballads
Dick Gaughan – A Handful Of Earth
Jethro Tull –  A Passion Play
Steeleye Span – Commoner's Crown
Robin Trower – B.L.T.

My Year In Film, 2017

Right, for the penultimate installment in my year-end wrap-up, here's every DVD i watched in 2017.

I bought very few new DVDs this year, so i've seen most of these more than once. The new ones are marked with an asterisk.

Casino Royale
*The Young Victoria
Skyfall
Footlight Parade
*The Hateful Eight
American Gangster
Pulp Fiction
The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring
The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers
*Jason Bourne
Zero Dark Thirty
Babel
The Fifth Element
Kill Bill, Vol. 1
Kill Bill, Vol. 2
The Long Good Friday
The Hurt Locker
Independence Day
*Patriots Day
Year Of The Dragon
Lethal Weapon
The Sweeney
Jackie Brown
Mad Max
Mad Max II
Lethal Weapon 3
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Replacement Killers
A Prayer For The Dying
Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery
*Snowden
Diamonds Are Forever
Inglourious Basterds
Gold Diggers of 1933
Terror By Night
Sherlock Holmes And The Secret Weapon
The Fugitive
Analyze This
No Country For Old Men
Broken Arrow
Prometheus
Grosse Point Blank
*The Spy Who Came In From The Cold (amazingly, i'd never seen this 1965 film before)
O Brother, Where Art Thou
The Libertine
Last Man Standing
Salt
Gravity
There Will Be Blood
Goldfinger
Sea Of Love
Eastern Promises
*Caligula
Burn After Reading
*Ocean's Eleven
*Ocean's Twelve
The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring
*Ocean's Thirteen
Blade Runner   
Speed
*Out Of Sight
The Adjustment Bureau
*Grumpier Old Men
Casablanca
The Bourne Legacy
A History Of Violence
My Cousin Vinny
*Breakfast At Tiffany's
Heat
Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom
The Killing Fields
*The Beatles: Eight Days A Week -- The Touring Years
Spectre
Jason Bourne
Live Free Or Die Hard
The Nightmare Before Christmas
*The Great Wall
True Lies

The best of the new ones was probably "Patriots Day" -- about the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013. It began fairly slowly but when the bombs blew it went into overdrive and presented a very important message: we are here on this planet to help each other. After the explosions, most bystanders weren't running away, they were running towards the scene in order to help the victims.

I say "probably" because "Eight Days A Week" was a very close second, with lots of wonderful concert footage and an in-depth analysis of the Beatles' influence not only on music but on Western civilisation as a whole.

I must add a few words about one of the worst  films i have ever seen in my life, "Caligula." I watched it because two actors i admire, Malcolm McDowell and Helen Mirren, star in it. It was directed by Tinto Brass, who's a bit of a sleazeball with a reputation for (very) softcore porn, but, you know, seeing Helen Mirren naked never fails to please. What i didn't know was that the executive producer was a man whose sleaziness makes Tinto Brass look like St Francis of Assisi, Bob Guccione, publisher of Penthouse magazine. Guccione wanted to introduce some hardcore porn into the movie. Brass refused. Guccione did it anyway. I could probably have lived with that, though, if the movie had had any redeeming features, but it had none. Just sordid and squalid from start to end.

KSHE Klassics Show, Jan. 7th, 2018

Quotation du jour ~ Steve Martin: Talking about music is like dancing about architecture.

That was weird. For some reason, i wasn't able to open KSHE's audio stream on my computer on Sunday. I'm resourceful, though: i was able to listen using my iPad and a Bluetooth speaker. (It's a pretty decent speaker, too, although of course it can't compare to my computer speakers.) I wonder if the most recent Windows Update had something to do with it? It certainly borked a few things on the PC -- the Start Menu, for one -- but i listened to KSHE on Thursday and Friday and i'm (fairly) sure i installed the update before then.

exits, confused (as usual)

re-enters

What a show it was this morning. Fantastic! One of my all-time favourite songs (the Dan Fogelberg), quite a few i truly love, and nothing at all that i actively disliked. I had no computer crashes and only a couple of (brief) connection drop-outs, so, yeah, a great morning of musical joy.

And oh, look, there's The Dixie Dregs:

The Dixie Dregs -- Take It Off The Top
Traffic -- Glad
Climax Blues Band -- Couldn't Get It Right
Bob Dylan -- Subterranean Homesick Blues
Robin Trower -- Day Of The Eagle
Van Morrison -- Tupelo Honey
Rod Stewart -- True Blue
Santana -- Well All Right
Touch -- When The Spirit Moves You
Uriah Heep -- Lady In Black
Crabby Appleton -- Go Back
Starz -- (She's Just A) Fallen Angel
Thin Lizzy -- Don't Believe A Word
Badfinger -- No Matter What
Wet Willie -- Street Corner Serenade
Diesel -- Sausalito Summernight
Dave Mason -- Shouldn't Have Took More Than You Gave
Rare Bird -- Peace Of Mind
Yes -- Going For The One
The Ozark Mountain Daredevils -- Spaceship Orion
The Babys -- California
Loggins & Messina -- Vahevala
Snail -- The Joker
UFO -- Rock Bottom
Nick Gilder -- (You Really) Rock Me
The Jimi Hendrix Experience -- Crosstown Traffic
Dan Fogelberg -- Part Of The Plan
Kenny Loggins -- Love Has Come Of Age
Status Quo -- Down Down
Spirit -- Prelude / Nothin'To Hide
Michael Bolton -- Fool's Game
The Doobie Brothers -- Take Me In Your Arms (Rock Me)
Cheryl Dilcher -- High
Eric Clapton -- Blues Power
Tony Carey -- The First Day Of Summer
Neil Young -- Cinnamon Girl
Nantucket -- California
The Moody Blues -- Question
Foghat -- My Babe
Toby Beau -- Westbound Train
The Grateful Dead -- Shakedown Street
Stingray -- Lovesaver
Couchois -- Roll The Dice

Here's what i annoyed the neighbours with this week. It's a relatively short list. I've been working late a lot. I'm looking forward to the introduction of the 36-hour day, for the additional twelve hours of music-listening time....

Steely Dan – Aja
Martyn Bennett – Bothy Culture
Afro-Celt Sound System – Anatomic
Dire Straits – Love Over Gold
Joni Mitchell – Don Juan's Reckless Daughter
Rory Gallagher – Deuce
Caro Emerald – Metropole Orkest X Caro Emerald
Zirp – Drehvolution
Various Artists – Tribute To Dan Fogelberg
Genesis – Foxtrot
Annie Haslam –  Annie In Wonderland
Train – My Private Nation
Rod Stewart – Out Of Order
Roxy Music – The Best Of Roxy Music
Buddy Guy – Living Proof
John Renbourn – Sir John Alot of Merrie England's Music Thing and Ye Grene Knighte
Steve Earle – El Corazón
Chicago – Chicago V
Dan Fogelberg-- Full Circle
Electric Light Orchestra – No Answer
Home – Pause For A Hoarse Horse
Bruce Springsteen – The Rising
Van der Graaf Generator – Trisector
Paul Simon – Graceland
Richard Thompson – Dream Attic
T. Rex – The Slider
The Jeff Beck Group – Beck-Ola
The Beatles – Beatles For Sale

The Year In Music, 2017

This is weird: i just looked at the stats page for this blog and i seem to have more readers in Portugal than anywhere else in the world!  But that's just an aside.

I bought quite a lot of CDs this year -- far more than usual -- and here's the complete list (which excludes digital downloads, of which there were also a few).

Some of these were replacements for old vinyl, which i can no longer play, and replacements have been marked with an asterisk.

Dan Fogelberg & Tim Weisberg – No Resemblance Whatsoever               
Jane Siberry – Angels Bend Closer               
Steeleye Span – Dodgy Bastards               
Joan Osborne – Sings The Songs Of Bob Dylan               
Dan Fogelberg – Love In Time               
Fairport Convention – 50:50@50               
The Cure – Greatest Hits               
Ray Davies – Americana               
Mike Oldfield – Return To Ommadawn               
Dan Fogelberg – Live In Colorado 1972               
*Harmonium – L'Heptade XL               
Peter Hammill – Live At Rockpalast – Hamburg 1981               
Big Wreck – Grace Street               
Memphis Minnie –The Essential Recordings               
Elvin Bishop – The Best Of Elvin Bishop               
Robin Trower – Day Of The Eagle               
*Peter Gabriel – Passion               
Caro Emerald – Deleted Scenes From The Cutting Room Floor               
Caro Emerald – The Shocking Miss Emerald               
*Various Artists – Passion Sources               
Dan Fogelberg – Live At Carnegie Hall               
Sheryl Crow – Be Myself               
Caro Emerald – Acoustic Sessions Parts I & II               
Caro Emerald – Emerald Island               
*Ashley Hutchings – By Gloucester Docks I Sat Down And Wept               
Seether – Poison The Parish               
Paula Cole – Ballads               
Katrina And The Waves – Walking On Sunshine               
*Jonathan Edwards – Jonathan Edwards               
The Tragically Hip – Yer Favourites               
*Talk Talk – Spirit Of Eden               
*Yes – Tales From Topographic Oceans               
*Five Hand Reel – Five Hand Reel / For A' That / Earl O' Moray               
John Hiatt – Anthology               
*Runrig – The Cutter And The Clan               
*Emerson, Lake & Palmer – Trilogy               
Jeff Beck – Live At The Hollywood Bowl               
Richard Thompson – Acoustic Classics II               
*Idjah Hadidjah – Tonggeret               
*The Bothy Band – Old Hag You Have Killed Me               
*Planxty – The Well Below The Valley               
*Planxty – Cold Blow And The Windy Night               
Kathleen Edwards – Back To Me               
John Kirkpatrick – Coat Tails Flying               
*Eagles – One Of These Nights               
Various Artists – A Tribute To Dan Fogelberg               
Caro Emerald – The Shocking Miss Emerald (Deluxe Edition)               
The Boswell Sisters – Shout, Sister, Shout!               
Peter Hammill – From The Trees               
Billy Joel – The Essential Billy Joel               
Caro Emerald – Deleted Scenes From The Cutting Room Floor (Platinum Edition)               
Son Volt – Notes Of Blue               
*Robin Trower -- B.L.T / Truce               
*Joni Mitchell – Court And Spark               
*Joni Mitchell – Don Juan's Reckless Daughter

I must admit, i have completely fallen in love with Caro Emerald's music since i first heard it, early in 2017. She's a huge star in Europe but little-known in North America, and she is my new favourite singer. Her debut album, "Deleted Scenes From The Cutting Room Floor," gets the award for Best Album I Bought This Year without a doubt. (It was released in 2009.)

The best replacement was probably Idjah Hadidjah's "Tonggeret" -- she's a Sundanese singer and it's world / ethnic music and when i first heard it in the seventies, it completely kickstarted an interest in world / ethnic music that has never diminished.
 

           
Rumours that music is dead are nonsense. The music industry is a joke now, CDs are dying (except in my house) because everyone downloads everything, and if you've listened to top 40 radio recently you'll know that it's a nightmare. But music itself? Alive and well and thriving!

2017 Radio Awards

My Radio Station Award is, of course, based on what station i listened to the most this year.

Last year, KOCI, from Newport Beach California received the accolade, because i listened to them all day at work, on my iPad. They were perfect for work: lots of classic rock, lots of blues-rock, lots of great music i hadn't heard in ages. It motivated me.

This year, though, i hardly listened to them at all: my iPad can no longer connect to my work's Wi-fi (it connects fine everywhere else, i don't know what happened there). I now take in my own music to listen to as i do the daily routines. (Strangely, my Android phone can connect to work's Wi-fi, but cannot connect with my Bluetooth speaker.)

It might surprise you to learn that St Louis's KSHE wasn't my most listened-to station -- especially as i post about them every week. But, no, apart from the Sunday Klassics Show and The Rock Magazine (every weekday morning at 4 a.m. my time) (i'm usually up, i'm an early riser), i don't listen to KSHE at all.

The station i listened to the most this year was Radio Paradise, commercial-free, listener-supported eclectic radio from Paradise, California (hence its name). I really only listen to the radio in the mornings, and RP is a wonderfully smooth way to ease myself into the day. Here's a recent playlist:

The Shins -- Bait And Switch
Cracker -- Sidi Ifni
Kula Shaker -- Govinda
Oasis -- Champagne Supernova
Conjure One -- Make A Wish
Groenland -- Immune
Calexico -- Man Made Lake
Jerry Garcia -- Bird Song
Mich Gerber -- Zumurud
Sophie Ellis-Bextor -- Birth Of An Empire

Obscure? Sure! But apart from the Oasis track, all perfect for early morning listening. Plus i can never thank them enough for introducing me to the music of my new favourite singer, Caro Emerald.

RP gets the nod! (And, yes, i send them $10 -- U.S.-- a month.)