MY YEAR IN BOOKS, 2019

I'm a list freak. I keep lists of everything, except maybe of the groceries i need, which explains why i have to go to the supermarket five or six times a week. Of course, i keep a list of every book i read, and the date i finished reading it.

There was a time when i would read at least a book a week. Then i bought my first PC (it ran Windows 95 and had an impressive 2 GB hard drive) and now i read maybe a book a month. I read a lot on the Internet – news sites like CNN, the St Louis Post-Dispatch and The Register, various music blogs, etc., none of that Kindle stuff, but this post will be about the dead tree versions of books, and books are my friends.

All but a couple of these were new (to me). You'll notice that an unusually large number were Americana, too, and there may be a reason for this: i love the U.S.A., so i've been looking back into their history trying to make sense of the mess they're in these days – a desperately divided country full of hate, corruption and corporate greed. I still haven't figured it out, though.... (I may be looking too far back: i'm not finding a real answer in the 18^th and 19^th centuries – i think maybe i should be looking at the post-WWII years, when America decided to take over the world.)

There were also three books about Josephine Baker, a woman whose extraordinary life fascinates me.

But enough of that, i'm sure you're all anxious to know what my favourites were, so here goes.

In non-fiction, Ron Chernow's biography of George Washington from 2011 gets the nod. It won a Pulitzer Prize for biography and it was well-deserved. Washington truly was the father of his country, and without his efforts during the War Of Independence, there would be no America today (although his ideals were diametrically opposed to what the place has become). Runner-up is Christopher Skaife's book about his experiences with ravens. I love birds and my favourite birds are corvids and my favourite corvids are crows – but ravens are basically just big crows, so this was a real treat. I would also give a tip of the Hatlo hat to Anderson Cooper's memoirs and Catherine Clinton's biography of the amazing Harriet Tubman.

In fiction, it's an easy one: Michael Shaara's "The Killer Angels," an absolutely riveting drama about the Battle Of Gettysburg – the bloodiest battle ever fought on American soil (51,000 dead!). It won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1975 but, hey, i've never claimed to be au courant. It was the basis for the amazing film "Gettysburg," but i'll deal with that in "My Year In Movies" (coming soon to a blog near you). It's a compelling novel, told from both sides, each chapter alternating between viewpoints, the Union army's and the Confederate army's.

The runner-up, though, has to be Haruki Murakami's "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (1997)." This is a work of genius and Murakami's approach to fiction – kind of a cross between Lewis Carroll, Mikhail Bulgakov and Franz Kafka – dream landscapes with nightmares popping in from time to time – is mind blowing. I haven't read anything else of his – yet – but i shall soon be rectifying that. A major discovery, for sure.

Anyway, here's the complete list:

Jan. 15: Sherry Jones – Josephine Baker's Last Dance: A Novel

Jan. 29: Catel Muller & José-Louis Bocquet -- Josephine Baker

Feb. 8: Elmore Leonard -- Out Of Sight

Feb. 19: Christopher Skaife – The Ravenmaster: My Life With The Ravens At The Tower Of London

Mar. 8: Ian Rankin – In A House Of Lies

Apr. 28: Ron Chernow – Washington: A Life

May 6: Elmore Leonard – Road Dogs

May 12: Anderson Cooper – Dispatches From The Edge: A Memoir Of War, Disasters, And Survival

May 25: John M. Allegro – The Sacred Mushroom And The Cross

June 4: Maria Semple – Where'd You Go, Bernadette

June 13: Ben Edward Akerley – The X-Rated Bible: An Irreverent Survey Of Sex In The Scriptures

June 23: Peggy Caravantes – The Many Faces Of Josephine Baker

July 3: John M. Marzluff & Tony Angell – In The Company Of Crows And Ravens

July 10: Ryan Schuessler, ed. -- The St Louis Anthology

July 15: Elmore Leonard – The Switch

July 30: Michael Shaara – The Killer Angels

Aug. 6: Anderson Cooper & Gloria Vanderbilt – The Rainbow Comes And Goes

Aug. 29: Elmore Leonard – The Complete Western Stories

Sept. 22: Haruki Murakami – The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

Oct. 9: Nicolas Freeling – Wolfnight

Oct. 22: David Lagercrantz – The Girl Who Lived Twice

Nov. 14: Salman Rushdie – Quichotte

Nov. 29: Catherine Clinton – Harriet Tubman: The Road To Freedom

Dec. 13: Daniel Tate & Rob Bowman – The Flyer Vault: 150 Years Of Toronto Concert History

Dec. 28: Nicolas Freeling – Flanders Sky

KSHE KLASSICS SHOW, December 29th, 2019

[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 once again listening from Cheney, Kansas. It's only a four-hour drive from there to St Louis, so i was almost home!]

Quotation Of The Week ~ Dave Edmunds: Rock 'n' roll will never die. There'll always be some arrogant little brat who wants to make music with a guitar.

This week's edition just barely scrapes by with a grade of “A” i'm afraid, and if not for two songs (the Yes – all 18 minutes of it! -- and the James Taylor) i think it might only have merited a “B+”. There was nothing wrong with it, exactly, pretty much everything was good, but it wasn't as extraordinary as i know it can be. Didn't we just hear The Tubes' “Sushi Girl” last week? Why two songs by The Grateful Dead? Wouldn't it have been better to play Tull's “Ring Out, Solstice Bells” the week before Christmas? Maybe i'm just quibbling – 'tis the season to be grumpy, after all, and it was the musical highlight of my week. I have never understood the appeal of REO Speedwagon – i know that they are very popular in St Louis but this baffles me. At least this morning's selection featured a vocalist other than the egregious Kevin Cronin, but it was still a little annoying. Everything else was fine, though, and i certainly enjoyed hearing Steely Dan, ELO, Genesis, ELP, Poco, B.B. King and Billy Joel.

Here's a pic of the only REO Speed Wagon that even remotely interests me, followed by the playlist.

Roger Daltrey – Say It Ain't So Joe

Steely Dan – Don't Take Me Alive

The Marshall Tucker Band – Searchin' For A Rainbow

Kansas – Song For America

Graham Parker – Don't Ask Me Questions

Iron Butterfly – Scorching Beauty

The Electric Light Orchestra – Tightrope

Arc Angels – Sent By Angels

Jackson Browne – Fountain Of Sorrow

Fleetwood Mac – Shake Your Moneymaker

Bruce Springsteen – Badlands

The Grateful Dead – Shakedown Street

James Taylor – Carolina In My Mind

Charlie – She Loves To Be In Love

The Climax Blues Band – Using The Power

April Wine – Sign Of The Gypsy Queen

Genesis – Your Own Special Way

REO Speedwagon – Son Of A Poor Man

Jethro Tull – Ring Out, Solstice Bells

Montrose – Space Age Sacrifice

Yes – Close To The Edge

Harry Nilsson – Spaceman

Todd Rundgren – The Want Of A Nail

Randy Pie – Stand Up

Emerson, Lake & Palmer – Fanfare For The Common Man

Poco – Crazy Love

Uriah Heep – Stealin'

The Groundhogs – Split, Part 2

B.B. King – The Thrill Is Gone

The Tubes – Sushi Girl

Barclay James Harvest – Titles

Billy Joel – The Entertainer

The Grateful Dead – U.S. Blues

Well, look at this! My therapists chose mostly Christmas music for me to listen to right up until Wednesday, and then it abruptly ended. Odd, that. Here's the (rather long) list of what i listened to at home this week:

Kate & Anna McGarrigle – The McGarrigle Christmas Album

A Fine Frenzy – Oh Blue Christmas

Dan Fogelberg – The First Christmas Morning

Kathy Mattea – Good News

Sneak's Noyse – Christmas Now Is Drawing Near

The Baltimore Consort – Bright Day Star

The Moody Blues – Gold

The Albion Christmas Band – Snow On Snow

Maddy Prior & The Carnival Band – Carols And Capers

Phil Pickett w. Richard Thompson – The Bones Of All Men

The Beatles – Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

John Kirkpatrick – Going Spare

Various Artists – Rockin' Little Christmas

Enya – The Christmas EP

Loreena McKennitt – A Winter Garden

The Chieftains – The Bells Of Dublin

Amy Grant – A Christmas Album

The Albion Band – Another Christmas Present From The Albion Band

Steeleye Span – Wintersmith

Various Artists – Christmas Classics

Ofra Harnoy – Silent Woods

Shirley Collins & The Albion Country Band – No Roses

Dixie Chicks – Wide Open Spaces

The John Renbourn Group – Live In America

Eliza Gilkyson – Land Of Milk And Honey

Marc Cohn – Burning The Daze

Natalie Maines – Mother

The Brothers Johnson – The Best Of The Brothers Johnson

John Kirkpatrick et al. -- Plain Capers

Kate & Anna McGarrigle -- Kate & Anna McGarrigle

Cat Stevens – Tea For The Tillerman

Richard Thompson – Watching The Dark: The History Of Richard Thompson

Nik Kershaw – To Be Frank

Annie Haslam – Annie Haslam

Pete Townshend – White City: A Novel

This Mortal Coil – It'll End In Tears

Art Garfunkel – Angel Clare

James Taylor – Before This World

Son Volt – Notes Of Blue

Wendy Carlos – Clockwork Orange

KSHE KLASSICS SHOW, December 22nd, 2019

[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 once again listening from Cheney, Kansas – home of the world-famous Willowleaf Bakery.]

Quotation Of The Week ~ Hugh Martin: Have yourself a merry little Christmas / Let your heart be light / From now on, our troubles will be out of sight.

Well, gosh, didn't i need this edition today. It was a brutally busy week at work – the last full week before Christmas, moan, groan – and this morning's show was unquestionably the highlight of it. As usual, it was over long before i expected it to be.

It earns a grade of “A+” based on its merits alone, disregarding its curative benefits. In fact, to a large degree, it was like listening to items from my own record collection. I did the math (worked it out in my head, too* – calculators are for wusses): fully two-thirds of the songs played today, i own in one format or another.

And so many great songs! Twice i was almost in tears – of joy, of course. “Rose Of Cimarron” must be one of my top ten favourite songs of all time, and “Ashes Are Burning” isn't far behind it (plus the latter has the added attraction of a gorgeous guitar outro by Andy Powell of Wishbone Ash). Other favourites included Yes, ELO, Steely Dan, Thin Lizzy, Slade. 10 c.c., The Beatles and James Taylor and, and.... There was hardly anything annoying, although i could very easily lived without Sting's caterwauling on his live solo version of “Roxanne.” I'm not a huge fan of his anyway – i like a lot of his work with The Police but, after they split, he released a few decent solo albums and then decided that he was a Serious Artiste and started writing symphonies and operas and re-workings of 17^th century lute music (!). No fank you.

Anyway, here's this week's playlist, and a photo of Rose Dunn – the original Rose of Cimarron. Although the photo's authenticity has been questioned, i found it on the Internet, so it must be right!

Jackson Browne – The Pretender

Jefferson Starship – Ride The Tiger

Boz Scaggs – Loan Me A Dime

Traffic – Rock And Roll Stew

Steely Dan – The Fez

The Electric Light Orchestra – Rockaria

Bruce Springsteen – The Promised Land

Moon Martin – Rolene

Yes – And You And I

The Beatles – Fool On The Hill

Couchois – Roll The Dice

Thin Lizzy – Romeo And The Lonely Girl

Kenny Loggins – Love Has Come Of Age

Poco – Rose Of Cimarron

The Tubes – Sushi Girl

Pete Townshend – Rough Boys

The Charlie Daniels Band – Birmingham Blues

The Edgar Winter Group – Round And Round

Sting – Roxanne (live)

Queen – I'm In Love With My Car

10 c.c. -- Rubber Bullets

Camel – Lady Fantasy

Runner – Run For Your Life

The Ozark Mountain Daredevils – Standin' On The Rock

Slade – Run Runaway

Atlanta Rhythm Section – Sky High

Stillwater – Women (Beautiful Women)

Jefferson Starship – Runaway

Procol Harum – Simple Sister

Martin Briley – The Salt In My Tears

Renaissance – Ashes Are Burning

Pink Floyd – San Tropez

James Taylor – Up On The Roof

America -- Sandman

My bartenders – oops, i mean occupational therapists – must have been feeling festive this week. Look at all that Christmas music they had me play (especially towards the end of the week)! Just call me Ebenezer, but don't misunderstand. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are my two favourite days of the year. It's the run-up to it that i hate: the rampant consumerism, the crowds everywhere, the stress for those of us unfortunate to be a part of the “hospitality” industry (where our customers take “'tis the season to be grumpy” to new heights). Anyway, here's the list:

Enya – Dark Sky Island

Various Artists – Christmas Celebration

Dick Gaughan – Gaughan

Rhiannon Giddens – Tomorrow Is My Turn

Poco – Crazy Loving: The Best Of Poco 1975-1982

Yes – Fragile

Jethro Tull – The Jethro Tull Christmas Album

Switchfoot – The Beautiful Letdown

Country Joe & The Fish – Electric Music For The Mind And Body

Laurie Anderson & Kronos Quartet – Landfall

Katrina & The Waves – Walking On Sunshine: The Greatest Hits Of Katrina & The Waves

Jonathan Edwards – Jonathan Edwards

London Grammar – Truth Is A Beautiful Thing

Stone The Crows – Teenage Licks

Creedence Clearwater Revival – Bayou Country

Planxty – Cold Blow And The Rainy Night

The Albion Chrstmas Band – Winter Songs

James Taylor – October Road

Chrissie Hynde – Stockholm

Jane Siberry – Shushan The Palace (Hymns Of Earth)

Afro-Celt Sound System –Anatomic

Loggins & Messina – Sittin' In Again

Roy Wood – Mustard

Mike Heron – Smiling Men With Bad Reputations

Joan Osborne – Christmas Means Love

John Kirkpatrick, Rosie Cross et al. -- Wassail!

George Harrison – The Best Of George Harrison

Amy Grant – Home For Christmas

Various Artists – Merry Axemas: A Guitar Christmas

Colin James & The Little Big Band – Christmas

Various Artists – Blue Christmas

Chris Leslie – Dancing Days

*my cats adds, “no you bloody didn't!”

KSHE KLASSICS SHOW, December 15th, 2019

[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 Cheney, Kansas. I've listened from there several times before.]

Quotation Of The Week ~ Jay Leno: The Supreme Court has ruled that they cannot have a nativity scene in Washington, D.C. This wasn't for any religious reasons. They couldn't find three wise men and a virgin.

Definitely a grade of “A+” this week, brothers and sisters. That grade is automatic when Uman plays Dan Fogelberg, but even without dear Dan this morning's edition would have merited it. The first hour alone consisted of seven songs that i have in my own collection, and four of those i would include in my list of top 200 favourite songs (Nazz, Yes, Steely Dan & Dan). (I'm a huge fan of Fogelberg's, but i discovered his music late: five or six years after his death. Although i'd heard of him, as far as i can recall the first time i ever actually heard his music was when i heard “Part Of The Plan” on ... the KSHE Klassics Show!) (This station has literally changed my life in more ways than one.)

The remaining three hours – or 2.25 hours, excluding the ads – was almost as exciting. We had some of the best guitar playing this side of Rory Gallagher with Jeff Beck and Wishbone Ash; sheer poetry from Bob Dylan and John Lennon; a track from my second favourite Jethro Tull album; superb music from Billy Joel, Pink Floyd and The Doobie Brothers.... There were too many highlights to mention, really, and nothing at all that irritated me (apart from the Christmas ads, but they're pretty unavoidable everywhere right now). I could have lived without The New Riders Of The Purple Sage and Ray Manzarek, but there was nothing bad about their songs, they just weren't all that inspiring.

As usual, the time zoomed by and the show was over long before i was expecting it. Definitely the high point of my week (in spite of the ongoing and mysterious absence of Bart Inman!).

Here's a pic of Christmas lights in St Louis, followed by the playlist:

The Allman Brothers Band – One Way Out

Babys – Looking For Love

Nazz – Open My Eyes

Yes – Heart Of The Sunrise (live)

The New Riders Of The Purple Sage – Panama Red

Steely Dan – Pretzel Logic

Dan Fogelberg – Part Of The Plan

Buffalo Springfield – Rock And Roll Woman

The Doors – Spanish Caravan

Badfinger – Perfection

Z.Z. Top – Arrested For Driving While Blind

Jackson Browne – Boulevard

Grinderswitch – Pickin' The Blues

Joe Walsh – Mother Says

Ray Manzarek – Perfumed Garden

Big Brother & The Holding Company – Piece Of My Heart

The Beatles – In My Life

Pink Floyd – Pigs (Three Different Ones)

The Climax Blues Band – Mighty Fire

Brian Protheroe – Pinball

Fleetwood Mac – Spare Me A Little Of Your Love

Batdorf & Rodney – Poor Man's Dream

Wishbone Ash – Persephone

Supertramp – Rudy

Bob Dylan – Positively 4^th Street

Bachman-Turner Overdrive – Gimme Your Money Please

Billy Joel – Travelin' Prayer

The Alarm – Rain In The Summertime

David Bowie – Rebel Rebel

Uriah Heep – The Wizard

Paice-Ashton-Lord – Remember The Good Times

The Doobie Brothers – Ukiah / The Captain And Me

The Jeff Beck Group – Rice Pudding

Jethro Tull – Cross-Eyed Mary

The Little River Band – Red-headed Wild Flower

Stingray – The Man In My Shoes

I only had two bartenders... i mean, occupational therapists, this week: Jess (twice) and Leah. Along with dispensing my medicine, they also recommended that i play these cds as stress-relievers. So i did, and they helped for sure:

John Lennon – Mind Games

Court Yard Hounds – Amelita

Caro Emerald – Acoustic Sessions Parts I & II

Roy Wood – Mustard

Eliza Gilkyson – Land Of Milk And Honey

The Kinks – Misfits

Wizzard – Wizzard Brew

Various Artists – Grandson Of “Morris On”

Planxty – The Well Below The Valley

John Lennon – Wonsaponatime

The Trans-Siberian Orchestra – The Lost Christmas Eve

James Taylor -- Hourglass

Eliza Gilkyson – Lost And Found

Siouxsie & The Banshees – Superstition

Paula Cole – Ballads

Pink – I'm Not Dead

Maddy Prior w. Hannah Jones & Giles Lewin – Shortwinger

The Beatles – Yellow Submarine

Joan Osborne – Relish

Marillion – A Collection Of Recycled Gifts

Sharon Shannon – Sacred Earth

Various Artists – American Rock 'N' Roll Classics, Vol. 6

John Lennon – The John Lennon Collection

Mary-Chapin Carpenter – The Hard Way

Outback – Baka

Billy Joel – Turnstiles

Various Artists – Songs Of Our Native Daughters

Enya – When Winter Comes

Camel – I Can See Your House From Here

Jackson Browne – Lives In The Balance

Kate Bush – 50 Words For Snow

The Who – Odds & Sods

The Penguin Cafe Orchestra – Music From The Penguin Cafe

Amazing Blondel – Evensong

Jane Siberry – The Walking

KSHE KLASSICS SHOW, December 8th, 2019

Quotation Of The Week ~ John Lennon: The more real you get, the more unreal everything else is.

[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 Santa Clara, California. I've listened from there a few times before.]

Before i get on to the music, i have a serious question: where's Bart?

Bart Inman, that is: owner of https://inmanair.com/ -- heating and cooling specialists serving Missouri and southern Illinois. He used to advertise regularly on The Klassics Show but i haven't heard him in weeks. I was listening to KSHE on my iPad at work on Saturday morning and he had an ad on there, i thought i might hear him this morning but no dice. Too bad! A lot of people find his voice annoying but i like listening to his laconic drawl plus i think he's quite funny. (If you want a really annoying voice, try Tom Shane of Shane Company [“your friend in the jewelry business”] -- i had to suffer his boring voice several times today.)

It was rather a lacklustre beginning to today's show, dear reader. In fact, in the entire first hour, there was hardly anything i even liked and one song i positively detested: the Ted Nugent paean to hunting and to blowing the heads off furry woodland creatures. There was one song i loved – The Allman Brothers' “Revival” -- but if the entire show had been like that, it would have just about merited a grade of “B.”

As we entered the second hour, though, it all turned around. There was the brilliant double whammy of Rory Gallagher and Yes (and the inclusion of Rory automatically means a grade of “A+”) followed closely by great songs by Billy Joel, Loggins & Messina and Traffic. After that, there was no looking back, and only one further annoyance – the egregious Harry Chapin's miserable excuse for existentialist philosophy (with the added detraction of trite sound effects) “WOLD.” (The singer is feeling old and is working at a radio station with the call letters WOLD. Wow, clever....)

There was nothing by The Beatles this morning, which was unusual, but there were solo tracks by George Harrison and John Lennon and the inclusion of the latter's wonderful “Mind Games” was particularly significant as December 8^th is the anniversary of John's assassination. It was one of those days in history – like the Kennedy assassination, the first moon landing and the 9/11 attacks – where we'll never forget where we were and what we were doing when we heard the news.... Or. At least, i won't. I have the feeling i'll be playing a lot of Lennon's music at home this week: he was a personal hero and (IMO) a genius, although at times a misguided one, and i have quite a few of his solo albums – yes, even a few with Yoko, although those are virtually unlistenable; i don't know why i keep them.

Here's the playlist and R.I.P. John:

Nils Lofgren – No Mercy

Eric Clapton – Motherless Children

Neil Schon & Jan Hammer – No More Lies

Ted Nugent – Fred Bear

Wet Willie – No No No

Bruce Springsteen – No Surrender

The Allman Brothers Band – Revival

Sherbs – No Turning Back

Little Feat – Feets Don't Fail Me Now

Rory Gallagher – Country Mile

Yes – Siberian Khatru

Jefferson Starship – No Way Out

Billy Joel – Scenes From An Italian Restaurant

Loggins & Messina – Nobody But You

Traffic – Freedom Rider

The Doobie Brothers – Nothin' But A Heartache

Supertramp – Even In The Quietest Moments

Journey – On A Saturday Night

The Butts Band – Be With Me

Eagles – On The Border

George Harrison – This Song

Canned Heat – On The Road Again

Harry Chapin – WOLD

Lake – On The Run

John Lennon – Mind Games

Roger Daltrey – One Man Band

The Who – Slip Kid

Joe Walsh – Indian Summer

The Grateful Dead – One More Saturday Night

Gary Wright – Silent Fury

Leon Russell – Stranger In A Strange Land

Henry Gross – One More Tomorrow

The Electric Light Orchestra – Sweet Talkin' Woman

Pink Floyd – One Of These Days

Rainbow – Stone Cold

Faces – Ooh La La

Phantom, Rocker & Slick – Men Without Shame

Santana – Open Invitation

The Blue Öyster Cult – Take Me Away

Brewer & Shipley – One Toke Over The Line

And here's my own personal playlist for the week, because i know you're fascinated:

The Beatles – Magical Mystery Tour

Simon & Garfunkel – Old Friends

Dick Gaughan – Gaughan

The Kinks – Soap Opera

Runrig – Amazing Things

James Taylor – Greatest Hits

Amazing Blondel – Blondel

Tim Renwick – Privateer

London Grammar – Truth Is A Beautiful Thing

Cyndi Lauper – Twelve Deadly Cyns

Joe Cocker – Joe Cocker's Greatest Hits

Natalie Maines – Mother

Rory Gallagher – Deuce

The Quintet – Jazz At Massey Hall

Klaatu – Klaatu

Gordon Lightfoot – Over Sixty Minutes With Gordon Lightfoot

Stan Rogers – Fogerty's Cove

David Lindley – El Rayo-X

Phil Collins – Dance Into The Light

Joan Osborne – Bring It On Home

Rhiannon Giddens – Tomorrow Is My Turn

A Fine Frenzy – Oh, Blue Christmas

Max Webster – Max Webster

Curved Air – Air Conditioning

Bob Dylan – Highway 61 Revisited

Melissa Etheridge – Yes I Am

The Albion Christmas Band – An Albion Christmas

The Trans-Siberian Orchestra – The Christmas Attic

Afrocelt Sound System – Anatomic

Buffalo Springfield – Buffalo Springfield Again

Dan Fogelberg – High Country Snows

Enya – Shepherd Moons

The Lovemongers – Battle Of Evermore

KSHE KLASSICS SHOW, December 1st, 2019

Quotation Of The Week ~ Frank Zappa: Politics is the entertainment division of the military-industrial complex.

[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 San Francisco.]

It was a brilliant show today, brothers and sisters. In fact, i was thinking that it merited an A+ after the first hour (with the songs by The Move and Pete Townshend), and the second hour clinched it with the inclusion of Mama's Pride, the greatest band ever to come out of St Louis. If Uman had played nothing but annoying songs for the rest of the program, the grade would have remained, and what in fact happened was that he didn't play anything that i disliked at all – and that in itself is exceptional as i often have to suffer some crap like R.E.O. Speedwagon or Ted Nugent. Not this Sunday, though. Magic.

This week's image is of The Move's album “Message From The Country” which is where their song (mentioned above) came from. Their final three albums (that one, “Shazam!” and “Looking On” are all wonderful – desert island discs for sure) (if i can take around 500 discs to my desert island), but they split up. Three members of The Move, Roy Wood, Jeff Lynne and Bev Bevan, went on to form The Electric Light Orchestra (of whom i know you've heard) and released an album called “No Answer” in North America and simply “The Electric Light Orchestra” everywhere else thanks to a secretarial blunder at the American record company tra la. There is still debate to this day whether the first ELO album should more properly have been thought of as the last Move album. After its release, Roy Wood quit and Jeff Lynne took over and led them to well-deserved mega-stardom but darn it, i liked them when Roy was still co-leader of the band. They were very different then. Quirky. Eccentric. I liked that.

I've followed Roy Wood's post-ELO solo career pretty closely and he's released some brilliant schtuff, but, sadly, never attained the commercial success of his former band. I think he's doing all right, though: recent photographs show him looking pretty well-fed!

Here's the pic and the playlist:

Gary Wright – Love Is A Rose

The Michael Stanley Band – One Good Reason

Yes – Love Will Find A Way

Utopia – Love Is The Answer

The Move – Feel Too Good

The Who – Getting In Tune

Eric Clapton – Mainline Florida

Pete Townshend – Pure And Easy

Ray Gomez – Make Your Move

The Allman Brothers Band – Melissa

George Harrison – Bangla Desh

Traffic – The Low Spark Of High-Heeled Boys

Mama's Pride – Merry-Go-Round

Atlanta Rhythm Section – Crazy

Trapeze – Midnight Flyer

Steve Winwood – Don't You Know What The Night Can Do

Bloodrock – Kool Aid Kids

Stillwater – Mind Bender

Bruce Springsteen – Cadillac Ranch

Triumvirat – March To The Eternal City

The Rolling Stones – Monkey Man

Detective – Recognition

The Doors – Moonlight Drive

Jefferson Starship – Play On Love

The Beatles – Within You, Without You

Sammy Hagar – Love Or Money

The James Gang – Must Be Love

The Kinks – Tired Of Waiting For You

Kerry Livgren – Mask Of The Great Deceiver

Steely Dan – Any Major Dude Will Tell You

Crosby, Stills & Nash – Dark Star

Little Feat – Rocket In My Pocket

The Moody Blues – New Horizons

Eddie Money – No Control

Badfinger – No Matter What

The Electric Light Orchestra – Ma-Ma-Ma-Belle

As for my own personal playlist, after firing most of my therapists a.k.a. bartenders recently – because, primarily, they were lousy at their jobs -- i think i may have found a new one. Jess (possibly spelt “Jessyka” but that would be an affectation so maybe not.) Anyway, she is responsible for my personal stress-relief playlist this week. I think she did pretty well, in spite of the inclusion of a couple of Christmassy albums in November. What think you? It's a long list!

Various Artists – Songs Of Our Native Daughters

Kate Rusby – Hourglass

Terje Rypdal – Crime Scene

Bob Dylan – Highway 61 Revisited

Maddy Prior – Woman In The Wings

Court Yard Hounds – Court Yard Hounds

The Beatles – With The Beatles

The Carolina Chocolate Drops – Genuine Negro Jig

Steeleye Span – Est'd. 1969

Lindisfarne – The Very Best Of Lindisfarne

Art Garfunkel – Angel Clare

Max Webster – Mutiny Up My Sleeve

The Doobie Brothers – Best Of The Doobies

Pete Townshend – White City: A Novel

Beth Gibbons – Symphony Of Sorrowful Songs

The Keef Hartley Band – The Battle Of North West Six

Peter Gabriel – Secret World Live

Steeleye Span – Ten Man Mop, Or, Mr Reservoir Butler Rides Again

A Fine Frenzy – Oh, Blue Christmas

Jon & Vangelis – Short Stories

Garfield – Out There Tonight

Linda Ronstadt – Greatest Hits

Wizzard – Wizzard Brew

Saga – Saga

10 c.c. -- How Dare You!

Van der Graaf Generator – World Record

James Taylor – Sweet Baby James

Rhiannon Giddens – Freedom Highway

June Tabor w. Martin Simpson – A Cut Above

A Fine Frenzy – Pines

Neil Young – After The Gold Rush

Al Stewart – The Year Of The Cat

The Trans-Siberian Orchestra – Christmas Eve And Other Stories

Lisa Gerrard & Patrick Cassidy – Immortal Memory

Garmarna – Hildegard Von Bingen

Buffalo Springfield – Last Time Around

Emerson, Lake & Palmer – Isle Of Wight, 1970

Dixie Chicks – Wide Open Spaces

Paul Simon – Graceland

Rick Wakeman – Christmas Portraits