KSHE Klassics Show, July 29th, 2018

Quotation du jour: Paul Simon ~ These are the days of miracle and wonder.

[As you may or may not know, i live in Canada, and for some reason KSHE doesn't stream their audio to here. I have to connect via a VPN to spoof a non-Canadian address. This week, according to https://whatismyipaddress.com/, i was listening from somewhere in the Dallas/Fort Worth area – they weren't more specific than that. Neat: i've never been to Texas.]

Ah, The Klassics Show. Even when it's not OMFG brilliant (and this morning's wasn't) it's still brilliant. There was nothing i hated today. There were quite a few mediocre moments (Touch? Snail? Billy Thorpe?) (and the lyrics in that Glass Moon song are positively embarrassing) but also much wonderful and sublime music. I had chills running up and down my spine several times. Where did the four hours go?!?

I almost rated this edition as an A- but what kicked it up to an A was the Mama's Pride song, which i love. I have marked particular favourites with an asterisk (*).

It wasn't a painless listening experience, although better than some i've had in the past. A few minutes before the show was scheduled to begin, my Internet connection died. Some quick troubleshooting and a re-start sorted that out, but i confess i was worried – there was one morning last week when i was unable to connect to KSHE at all. There were also a few, mercifully brief, drop-outs, too, but not enough to induce me to slash my wrists.

Oh, and before anyone calls me a scientific ignoramus, i know that the picture below doesn't represent a black star. It's a black hole creating a new star. I just liked it.

Touch – Black Star

Billy Rankin – Baby Come Back

38 Special – Fantasy Girl

Blind Faith – Had To Cry Today*

Rod Stewart – Tonight's The Night

The Doobie Brothers – Turn It Loose

The Marshall Tucker Band – Fly Like An Eagle

The Electric Light Orchestra – Telephone Line

The Doors – Moonlight Drive

Bob Dylan – Rainy Day Women #12 & 35

Santana – You Know That I Love You

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – Ohio

Cheryl Dilcher – Who's The Captain*

Firefall – Mexico

Peter Frampton – I'll Give You Money

The Allman Brothers Band– Don't Want You No More/Not My Cross To Bear*

Billy Thorpe – In My Room

Runner – Run For Your Life

Traffic – Glad*

Charlie – Fantasy Girl

Foghat – Take Me To The River

The Babys – Midnight Rendezvous

Steely Dan – The Caves Of Altamira

Axe – Rock 'N' Roll Party In The Streets

String Driven Thing – Starving In The Tropics

Chris deBurgh – Don't Pay The Ferryman

Kerry Livgren – Mask Of The Great Deceiver

Molly Hatchet – Beatin' The Odds

John Mellencamp – Ain't Even Done With The Night

Mama's Pride – Can I Call You A Cab*

Yes – Wonderous Stories*

The Moody Blues – Lovely To See You

Jo Jo Gunne – Ready Freddy

April Wine – Roller

Kenny Loggins – Keep The Fire

Eric Clapton – Let It Rain

Lake – Paradise Way

Snail – The Joker

The Little River Band – It's Not A Wonder

Steve Miller – Your Saving Grace

Glass Moon – Killer At 25

And here's what we scared the neighbour's hamster with on the home stereo with this week:

Mike Oldfield – Five Miles Out
Peter Hammill – Chameleon In The Shadows Of The Night

Florence + The Machine – High As Hope

Siouxsie & The Banshees – A Kiss In The Dreamhouse

Collective Soul – Afterwords

The Kinks – Sleepwalker

Paula Cole – Ballads

The Allman Brothers Band – Idlewild South

Anderson Ponty Band – Better Late Than Never

Alanis Morissette – Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie

Paul Simon – Graceland

Rose Among Thorns – Rose Among Thorns

The Kinks – Muswell Hillbillies

Genesis – We Can't Dance

FM – Black Noise

Various Artists – Experienced!

Garmarna – Guds Speleman

Peter Hammill – Clutch

Chicago – Chicago VI

Mama's Pride – Uptown And Lowdown

Jeff Beck – Jeff Beck's Guitar Shop

Max Webster – Mutiny Up My Sleeve

Ray Davies – Our Country: Americana Act ii

Trigger Hippy – Trigger Hippy

Paul Simon – Surprise

Blodwyn Pig – Getting To This

The Boswell Sisters – Shout, Sister, Shout!

The Sheepdogs – Learn And Burn

Maddy Prior & The Girls – Bib & Tuck

John Kitkpatrick – Sheepskins

Yes – Fragile

Davy Spillane – Atlantic Bridge

KSHE Klassics Show, July 22nd, 2018

Quotation du jour: Keith Richards ~ If you don't know the blues, there's no point in picking up the guitar and playing rock 'n' roll or any other form of popular music.

[As you may or may not know, i live in Canada, and for some reason KSHE doesn't stream their audio to here. I have to connect to a VPN to spoof a non-Canadian address. This week, according to https://whatismyipaddress.com/, i was listening from New York City again, and i love New York; as the man sang, i'm in a New York state of mind.]

Wow, yet another great show with loads of music I love and nothing at all that I hated (although Eric Burdon's solo version of The Animals' classic “Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood” made me cringe a bit). I was a bit disappointed that there was no Steely Dan or Jackson Browne, who generally turn up every week, but that's just carping. The highlight for me was the song by Flash And The Pan. Not because it's a great song (although it is), but because I hadn't heard it in so long.

And that's what the show is all about, folks. I hadn't heard that song in so long.....

Pat Travers & Carmine Appice – Snortin' Whiskey

The Charlie Daniels Band – Long Haired Country Boy

The Band – Life Is A Carnival

Chicago – 25 Or 6 To 4 (live)

Lighthouse – One Fine Morning

Kansas – Portrait (He Knew)

Pete Townshend – A Little Is Enough

Bob Dylan – Positively 4^th Street

Crosby, Stills & Nash – Our House

Traffic – Medicated Goo

Rod Stewart – Foolish Behaviour

Santana – Winning

Michael Stanley – He Can't Love You

Yes – Going For The One

The Butts Band – Be With Me

The Rolling Stones – Monkey Man

Asia – Here Comes The Feeling

Electric Light Orchestra – Livin' Thing

John Waite – Change

George Harrison – Bangla Desh

Tom Petty – A Woman In Love (It's Not Me)

Cream – I'm So Glad

Pousette-Dart Band – Amnesia

Eric Burdon – Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood

Flash And The Pan – Hey, St Peter

The Small Faces – Itchycoo Park

The Tarney / Spencer Band – No Time To Lose

The Atlanta Rhythm Section – Angel (What In The World's Come Over Us)

The J. Geils Band – Musta Got Lost

Gary Wright – Silent Fury

Black Sabbath – Heaven And Hell

The Steve Miller Band – Living In The U.S.A.

Charlie – Don't Look Back

Janis Joplin – Move Over

Grand Funk Railroad – Foot Stompin' Music

Jefferson Starship – Ride The Tiger

Gulliver – Ridin' The Wind

America – Sandman

And here are the albums we played at home this week.

Son Volt – Notes Of Blue

Ten Years After – Undead

Mike Batt – Tarot Suite

The Kinks – Soap Opera

Thin Lizzy – Black Rose: A Rock Legend

Ashley Hutchings et al. – The Compleat Dancing Master

The Duellists – English Hurdy-Gurdy Music

Capercaille – Sidewaulk

Foreigner – The Very Best And Beyond

Runrig – Heartland

Loggins & Messina – Sittin' In Again

Donna Summer – Live And More

Yes – Talk

Rory Gallagher – Deuce

The Beatles – Revolver

Highly Strung – When The Winds Begin To Sing

Jethro Tull – Roots To Branches

Heart – Little Queen

The Albion Band – Lark Rise To Candleford

Terje Rypdal – Chaser

Keane – Perfect Symmetry

Collective Soul – Blender

Al Di Meola – Casino

Richard Thompson – Mirror Blue

Mott The Hoople – Mott

Rob Hyman et al – Largo

Joan Osborne – Bring It On Home

Youssou N'Dour – Set

KSHE Klassics Show, July 15th, 2018

Quotation du jour: Benjamin Franklin ~ Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of.

[As you may or may not know, i live in Canada, and for some reason KSHE doesn't stream their audio to here. I have to connect to a VPN to spoof a non-Canadian address. This week, according to https://whatismyipaddress.com/, i was listening from Pudokkottai, in the Tamil Nadu region of India!] [As long as i'm here, i may as well visit Thirugokarnam Temple.... That's a photo of it down there.]

Now that's more like it! Any edition of the Klassics Show that includes Rory Gallagher – as this week's did – is automatically graded an A++ and this week it was fully deserved, unlike last Sunday's slightly disappointing instalment (which received that grade solely for playing both Rory and Dan Fogelberg). In fact, i would have rated today's an A++ even without Rory. (OK, i know, my prejudice[s] show through, but Rory was such a huge star in the 70s and 80s as well as being the best blues-rock guitarist ever, it's a sin he's now practically forgotten. KSHE is helping to keep him alive but the only other radio stations i know of that play him even occasionally are KOCI from Newport Beach, California, and St Louis Classic Rock [dot] Com. I'm sure there are others, and if my regular reader knows of any, i'd be delighted to know about them.)

Just look at that playlist, though. So many performers i love, so many songs i love, and absolutely nothing that made me want to take a sledgehammer to my speakers. I don't particularly like the music of Styx but theirs was a song that hasn't been played to death and it was all right. I even liked the Eric Clapton song, and most of his output from the seventies bores me senseless.

Santana – Europa (Earth's Cry, Heaven's Smile)

The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Crosstown Traffic

Marc Tanner Band – Hot And Cold

Joe Satriani – Always With Me, Always With You

George Harrison – Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)

Bob Dylan – Mr Tamborine Man

Max Webster – Battle Scar

Neil Young – Don't Let It Bring You Down

Jim Capaldi – Living On The Edge

Genesis – Tonight, Tonight, Tonight

Rod Stewart – (I Know I'm Losing You)

Wiggy Bits – Oh Captain

Rare Earth – Born To Wander

Thin Lizzy – Don't Believe A Word

The Band – Ophelia

Renaissance – Ashes Are Burning

Rory Gallagher – I What I Want

April Wine – All Over Town

Firefall – Strange Way

The Little River Band – Emma

Saga – On The Loose

Eric Clapton – Let It Grow

Fleetwood Mac – She's Changing Me

The Police – Can't Stand Losing You

Toto – Ninety Nine

The Animals – Sky Pilot

Poco – Indian Summer

Honeymoon Suite – New Girl Now

The Grateful Dead – Estimated Prophet

Wings – 1985

Ambrosia – Livin' On My Own

Brave Belt – Another Way Out

Michael Stanley – All I Ever Wanted

Russ Ballard – Voices

Supertramp – Ain't Nobody But Me

Nazareth – Miss Misery

Styx – This Old Man

Symphonic Slam – Modane Train

Jesse Colin Young – Ridgetop

Off Broadway – Full Moon Turn Your Head Around

Journey – On A Saturday Night

And here's what we've been pumping out on the home stereo this week, to annoy the people in the bowling alley upstairs:

Davy Spillane – Atlantic Bridge

Ray Davies – Our Country: Americana Act ii

Tori Amos – American Doll Posse

Judy Collins – Fires Of Eden

Howard Skempton – Lento

Alan Stivell – Olympia Concert

Alanis Morissette – Jagged Little Pill

Martin Carthy – Crown Of Horn

Dick Gaughan – Gaughan

Art – Supernatural Fairy Tales

Rob Thomas – … Something To Be

Kula Shaker – Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts

Jon & Vangelis – Page Of Life

Idjah Hadidjah – Tonggeret

Pyewackett – The Man In The Moon Drinks Claret

Squeeze – The Best Of Squeeze

Genesis – Duke

Andy Irvine & Paul Brady – Andy Irvine & Paul Brady

Jeff Beck – Jeff

Stan Rogers – Fogarty's Cove

Focus – Hamburger Concerto

Emerson, Lake & Palmer – Black Moon

Martin & Eliza Carthy – The Moral Of The Elephant

Robert Plant – Dreamland

Marillion – Sounds That Can't Be Made

10 c.c. – The Best Of 10 c.c.

Bruce Cockburn – In The Falling Dark

Camel – Lunar Sea: An Anthology 1973-1985

Buffalo Springfield – Again

Jethro Tull – Heavy Horses

KSHE Klassics Show, July 8th, 2018

Quotation du jour: Joan Osborne ~ There's so many different ways humans have used music to express the spiritual part of our nature and to connect us with the divine. So for me the pathway is through music.

[As you may or may not know, i live in Canada, and for some reason KSHE doesn't stream their audio to here. I have to connect to a VPN to spoof a non-Canadian address. This week, according to https://whatismyipaddress.com/, i was listening from North Bergen, New Jersey. I've listened from there before.]

And a happy birthday to one of my favourite singers, Joan Osborne, born this day in 1962, and who, as far as i know, has never been played on KSHE....

This edition is automatically graded A ++ for the inclusion of Rory Gallagher and Dan Fogelberg. Without them, however, the program would have just managed to scrape by with an A, if that.

For one thing, i positively detest that song by Harry Chapin. (I survived, i went to the kitchen and made a sandwich while it was on.) For another, the lyrics to The Animals' "San Franciscan Nights" are really embarrassing (written by that wanker Eric Burdon, no doubt). Example: "The American dream includes Indians, too"? Really? That's nice of you. Shouldn't it be, The American dream includes white settlers, or something similar? And why two songs by The Animals? I don't understand it. Sting's solo live version of "Roxanne" could be considered a mistake, too.

Beyond that, there were very few songs i can say that i love – maybe two dozen in the whole four hours -- although everything was entirely listenable – even the schtuff by performers i can't recall ever hearing of before: Orion? Glencoe? The Painter? Hmmm. I know that John Ulett (a.k.a. Uman), the host, was on holiday last week. I wonder if his absence had something to do with it? There was no host at all today. But Uman told me when i met him, that The Klassics Show was his favourite thing to do (although, as an American, he probably said "favorite") so he may have pre-programmed it, it's hard to say.

Anyway, the show was still the highlight of my week. Rock on!

(Here's the birthday girl.)

The Romantics – What I Like About You

Bob Dylan – All Along The Watchtower

The Painter – West Coast Woman

Novo Combo – Up Periscope

Steely Dan – Josie

Traffic – Dear Mr Fantasy

Within Temptation -- A Shot In The Dark

Todd Rundgren – The Want Of A Nail

Poco – Bad Weather

Rory Gallagher – Calling Card

Procol Harum – Simple Sister

Firefall – Cinderella

The Grateful Dead – Shakedown Street

The Animals – Don't Bring Me Down

The Sweet – (Love Is Like) Oxygen

The Animals – San Franciscan Nights

Foghat – My Babe

Point Blank – Mean To Your Queenie

The Greg Kihn Band – Jeopardy

John Parr – Naughty Naughty

Sting – Roxanne (live)

Dan Fogelberg & Tim Weisberg – The Power Of Gold

Grand Funk Railroad – Heartbreaker

Joe Cocker – The Letter

B.B. King – The Thrill Is Gone

Genesis – Follow You, Follow Me

Billy Joel – The Entertainer

Orion – So You Ran

The Climax Blues Band – Using The Power

Glencoe – Airport

Harry Chapin – Taxi

Barry Goudreau – Dreams

Big Country – In A Big Country

Heartsfield – As I Look Into The Fire

Thin Lizzy – Romeo And The Lonely Girl

The Youngbloods – Get Together

Gerry Rafferty – Baker Street

Here's what we used to help wear out the optical drives at Spriggs Towers this week:

Florence + The Machine – High As Hope

Robin Trower – Day Of The Eagle

The Beatles – Help!

Capercaillie – Sidewaulk

Steely Dan – A Decade Of Steely Dan

Runrig – Heartland

Bob Dylan – Bringing It All Back Home

Free – Tons Of Sobs

Jann Akkerman – Tabernakel

The Kinks – Sleepwalker

Loggins & Messina – Sittin' In Again: The Best Of Loggins & Messina

Steve Earle – El Corazón

Camel – I Can See Your House From Here

Mary Chapin Carpenter – A Place In The World

Def Leppard – Adrenalize

Fairport Convention – Angel Delight

Genesis – A Trick Of The Tail

Pink Floyd – The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn

The Move – Shazam

Mama's Pride – Uptown And Lowdown

Peter Hammill – In Camera

Linda Ronstadt – Heart Like A Wheel

Alanis Morissette – Havoc And Bright Lights

Nick Drake – Way To Blue: An Introduction To Nick Drake

Shirley Collins & The Albion Country Band – No Roses

Big Wreck – In Loving Memory Of

The Albion Band – Natural And Wild

Barbra Streisand – The Broadway Album

Joan Osborne – Pretty Little Stranger

Nanci Griffith – Flyer

Paula Cole – This Bright Red Feeling

KSHE Klassics Show, July 1st, 2018

Quotation du jour: Harlan Ellison (1934-2018) ~ I think art must be tough! I think art has to be hard. I don't think it should be easy. I think it should take foot-pounds of energy to produce that art, otherwise we would have more mediocre writers, and we don't have room for any more mediocrity in the world. There's already enough of it being visited on us night and day through the Internet, and through television, and through politics.

[As you may or may not know, i live in Canada, and for some reason KSHE doesn't stream their audio to here. I have to connect to a VPN to spoof a non-Canadian address. This week, according to https://whatismyipaddress.com/, i was listening from New York City – a place i've actually been to a few times, and love.]

I have three words to say about this week's edition. Wow, wow, and wow!

As my regular reader may recall, last week's edition scored a mere 2 on the SRQ (Spriggs's Radio Quality) scale. Today's was definitely a 1! (Sorry, Bo Derek, but i was trained in research and, on a scale of one to ten, a one is the top score.) Look at that playlist, whew, so much there that i love and not one song that i disliked.

Alas, though, there was one song which, judging by its chorus, was called "Sail On, Sail On" and i have no idea who the performer was (and the information didn't appear on KSHE's website). I tried Googling the lyrics and i found songs by The Beach Boys and Lionel Richie (or maybe it was The Commodores, who cares?). I know it was neither of them so it shall remain this week's mystery track.

The Firm – Radioactive

Bob Dylan – Maggie's Farm

Flame – Beg Me

Jeff Beck – I Ain't Superstitious

Trapeze – Black Cloud

Fleetwood Mac – Sentimental Lady

The Fixx – Red Skies

Stillwater – Women (Beautiful Women)

The Kings – This Beat Goes On / Switchin'

Stingray – The Man In My Shoes

Atlanta Rhythm Section – Another Man's Woman

Loggins & Messina – Nobody But You

Eagles – James Dean

UFO – Cherry

Journey – Kohoutek

Uriah Heep – The Wizard

Headstone – Turn Your Head

Van Morrison – Into The Mystic

Peter Frampton – Lines On My Face

Robin Trower – Too Rolling Stoned

Badfinger – Baby Blue

City Boy – 5.7.0.5.

Ian Hunter – Cleveland Rocks

Kim Mitchell – Go For A Soda

The Sutherland Brothers – Arms Of Mary

John Stewart – Gold

Bruce Springsteen – The Promised Land

Starz – Cherry Baby

Genesis – Your Own Special Way

The J. Geils Band – Whammer Jammer

The James Gang – Midnight Man

Michael Schenker Group – Cry For The Nations

The Tubes – Sushi Girl

Stephen Stills – Love The One You're With

???? -- Sail on, Sail On

Elton John – Funeral For A Friend

Bob Seger – Sunspot Lady

Last week, at my other job (what, you don't think this blog is work?) i applied for a week's holiday or, as i worded it, psychotherapy leave. Plying my trade in a high-pressure environment where i'm surrounded by idiots six days a week is getting me down – i start to fear i'll lose it and wind up a cabbage. The earliest week i could get was at the end of July, moan, groan. Meanwhile, though, my medicine from The Beer Store® and the music i played at home this week helped a lot. Here's what bothered the optical drive:

Steeleye Span – Below The Salt

Jethro Tull – Crest Of A Knave

Kate Bush – Never For Ever

Van der Graaf Generator – World Record

The Kinks – Misfits

Siouxsie & The Banshees – Superstition

10 c.c. – How Dare You!

Saga – Images At Twilight

Terje Rypdal – Descendre

Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble – The Sky Is Crying

The Tea Party – Tangents: The Tea Party Collection

Peter Gabriel – OVO

Emerson, Lake & Palmer – Black Moon

Spirit – Clear

Paula Cole – Ballads

Dire Straits – Brothers In Arms

John Kirkpatrick – Sheepskins

Genesis – Wind And Wuthering

Procol Harum – Home

Florence + The Machine – High As Hope

Ray Davies – Our Country: Americana act II

Dan Fogelberg – River Of Souls

Joni Mitchell – Court And Spark

Dan Fogelberg – Live: Something Old New Borrowed … And Some Blues

Runrig – The Story

Caro Emerald – Live From Emerald Island

Rory Gallagher – Fresh Evidence