KSHE KLASSICS SHOW, June 30th, 2019

Quotation Of The Week ~ Elton John – The great thing about rock and roll is that someone like me can become a star.

[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 in Clifton, New Jersey -- “the city that cares” -- once more.]

Colour me somewhat disappointed.

The inclusion of a Rory Gallagher song automatically means a grade of A+ but the truth is, if not for that song, the show, based on the first three quarters of it, would have barely merited a C+ and that would have been its lowest score in a while. Things improved drastically in its final hour, though: it was marvellous, and the show is still the highlight of my week, every week. But, other than Rory, there was very little this morning that i can honestly say i loved (Rod Stewart, Genesis, Fleetwood Mac, Steve Miller) and several that i found actively annoying (REO Speedwagon [ugh], Harry Chapin).

The problem with the first three hours of the show, and i shouldn't really call it a problem, was that apart from the two performers mentioned above, there was nothing wrong with it at all: everything was perfectly listenable. There was, however, nothing much that was outstanding and with this show, i expect outstanding, gosh darn it all anyway. Thank god for the final hour.

On top of all that, in a four hour program, i'll swear there were more than an hours' worth of commercials. You may recall that, some weeks ago, i used a stopwatch and calculated the ad time as being just under an hour, but there seemed to be more this week. I don't mind too much – the local ads were one of the things that attracted me to St Louis in the first place – but still, when i think of all of the great music that could have been played in that hour....

It's Pride Week everywhere, and i herewith express solidity with my LGBTQ brothers and sisters.

The Little River Band – Home On Monday

Santana – All I Ever Wanted

Harry Chapin – I Wanna Learn A Love Song

Black Oak Arkansas – Uncle Lijiah

Billy Idol – Hot In The City

Rod Stewart – Cut Across Shorty

John Mellencamp – Thundering Hearts

Blue Ӧyster Cult – Hot Rails To Hell

Foghat – Honey Hush

Jethro Tull – Bourée

REO Speedwagon – Say You Love Me Or Say Goodnight

Fleetwood Mac – World Turning

Jimmy Spheeris – The Nest

Triumvirat – Spartacus

Heartsfield – Lost Love

Peter Frampton – Lines On My Face

Kenny Loggins – Heartlight

April Wine – Tonite

Phil Collins – It Don't Matter To Me

Cream – Badge

Spirit – Nature's Way

Ronnie Montrose – Town Without Pity

Climax Blues Band – Reaching Out

Rare Earth – Born To Wander

The Pure Prairie League – Country Song

Genesis – Follow You, Follow Me

The Grateful Dead – Casey Jones

Charlie Daniels – Still In Saigon

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – Everybody I Love You

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – Finding Out

Rory Gallagher – I Take What I Want

Rush – Nobody's Hero

The Steve Miller Band – Swingtown

Kayak – I Want You To Be Mine

Don Henley – Driving With Your Eyes Closed

Eddie Money – You've Got A Hold On Me

The Beatles – I Will

Ten Years After – I'm Goin' Home

The Alan Parsons Project – I Wouldn't Want To Be Like You

I pay my psychiatrist a fortune and every week, she gives me a list of albums to play at home as stress-relievers. Here was this week's list. It worked!

Collective Soul – Afterwords

Eddi Reader – Eddi Reader

Tori Amos – American Doll Posse

Baka Beyond – Spirit Of The Forest

Capercaillie – Beautiful Wasteland

Dead Can Dance – The Serpent's Egg

Mark Knopfler-- Sailing To Philadelphia

Counting Crows – August And Everything After

Florence + The Machine – High As Hope

Dick Gaughan – The Definitive Collection

Coldplay – A Rush Of Blood To The Head

Fairport Convention – Nine

The Kinks – Sleepwalker

Pink – Greatest Hits ... So Far!

Nik Kershaw – The Best Of Nik Kershaw

Yes – Talk

10 c.c. -- The Original Soundtrack

Siouxsie & The Banshees – Nocturne

Colin James – Miles To Go

Chelsea Williams – Boomerang

Roxy Music – For Your Pleasure

Billy Talent – Dead Silence

Jane Siberry – The Walking

Hot Tuna – Burgers

Mike Oldfield -- Platinum

The Lovemongers – The Battle Of Evermore (EP)

Steve Rothery – The Ghosts Of Pripyat

Richard Thompson – 13 Rivers

Incubus – A Crow Left Of The Murder

Staind – 14 Shades Of Grey

Sandy Denny – Like An Old Fashioned Waltz

KSHE KLASSICS SHOW, June 23rd, 2019

Quotation Of The Week ~ William Congreve: Music hath charms to soothe a savage breast, to soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak.

[As you may or may not know, i live in Canada, and for some reason KSHE doesn't stream their audio to here and i have to connect via a VPN, to spoof a non-Canadian address. This week, a few minutes before the program began, i checked with  https://whatismyipaddress.com/ , and found that i was in Toronto! Well, that was obviously no good (nothing against Hogtown). I had to disconnect from and re-connect to the VPN  et voilà! i was whisked off to  North Bergen, New Jersey, just in time for the show.]

I really wanted to grade this week's show an A but the best i can do is B+ and that's being generous. There's no question that there were a lot of performers that i love, but some of the song choices were dubious, to say the least. For an example, Chicago's early albums were brilliant and full of classic songs, yet Uman chose to play a song from a later album and quite frankly “Alive Again” was annoying. REO Speedwagon never fails to make me want to stick red-hot needles into my ears, too. (Ted Nugent – who usually has that effect on me – was actually quite listenable today.)

Mama's Pride, now. Anything from their wonderful first album automatically would have given the show an A (or even an A+). Their second album was pretty darned good, too. Their third album was, well, just a little ordinary. So, guess which album today's selection came from....

For sure there was a lot today that i loved and, as usual, the show was over far too soon. But there wasn't a single moment where i wanted to jump up from my chair and start twerking.

Here's Saigon today:

Billy Joel – Goodnight Saigon

Kansas – Icarus (Borne On The Wings Of Steel)

Bob Dylan – If Not For You

Ted Nugent & The Amboy Dukes – Migration

Steely Dan – Josie

Loggins & Messina – Growin'

Mama's Pride – Guard Your Heart

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – Woodstock

The Moody Blues – Go Now!

Rod Stewart – Mandolin Wind

The Who – I'm Free

The Little River Band – Every Day Of My Life

Chicago – Alive Again

Dickie Betts – Hand Picked

The Rolling Stones – Send It To Me

Elton John – Take Me To The Pilot

Yes – It Can Happen

Grand Funk Railroad – Closer To Home / I'm Your Captain

Bob Seger – Heavy Music

Strawbs – Autumn

The Grateful Dead – Truckin'

Prism – Armaggedon

The Cars – Hello Again

Def Leppard – Rock Brigade

Todd Rundgren – Just One Victory

Jackson Browne – Redneck Friend

The Doobie Brothers – Evil Woman

David Bowie – Heroes

Fleetwood Mac – Blue Letter

Supertramp – Oh Darling

Deep Purple – Strange Kind Of Woman

The Babys – Love Don't Prove I'm Right

Santana – Searchin'

Country Joe McDonald – Hold On It's Coming

Nazareth – Miss Misery

REO Speedwagon – Son Of A Poor Man

I know you'll be disappointed, but i don't have my own personal playlist for last week. Oh, i made one all right, but somehow managed to accidentally overwrite the data. Duh....

Stupid Conversations – I Haz Dem Part 2

My regular reader may remember that, some years ago, i wrote about a garrulous meathead i have to work with every day. He tried to convince me that he was fluent in German – which i am not, although i know a few basic words, phrases and pronunciations – but i was suspicious when, one day, he mispronounced Angela Merkel's name (with a soft “g”). And he would arrive each day with a hearty “Guten Tagen.” Well, i don't know what that means, but i know that it means neither “good morning” nor “good day” and i grew exasperated. After one “Guten Tagen” too many i lost it: raised my voice in anger and called him a Scheiβkopf. I doubt if he knew what it meant but at least he's no longer trying to communicate in German.

Anyway, since then i've had a few run-ins with this fucktard over word-related matters and, in the interests of catharsis, i would like to share a couple of recent ones with you now. I have lost all patience with this man and up with his nonsense i will not put.

A couple of days ago, after work, i popped in to Montana's (pub) for a couple of beers. It's my medicine (and the bartender is my therapist). The next morning, Scheiβkopf said to me, “did i see you going into Montana's yesterday?” To which i replied (somewhat testily, as i was trying to work) “how the f*** would i know???” He said, you don't know if you were in Montana's yesterday? (This is a small town, everyone wants to know everyone else's business.) No, you, jackass, i know i was there, but i don't know if you saw me going in....

I usually listen to the radio at work in the mornings, and one of the stations i listen to (there are a few) is KOCI from Newport Beach California. One of their slogans is “serving all of Southern California with another classic track.” The other day, the slogan ran and they played “World Turning” by Fleetwood Mac. If that ain't a classic track, nothing is!

However, Mr 30% (i call him that because that's about the amount of effort he puts in) heard this and scoffed. “That's a classic track?!? I've never heard it before, it can't be very classic.” I didn't rise to the temptation to point out that it came from one of the best-selling albums of all time. But this a man who claims that his favourite types of music are rap and country. To me, that means that he doesn't really like music at all!

And of course there are really only two types of music: that which you like and that which you don't.

Honestly, the people i have to deal with daily....

KSHE KLASSICS SHOW, June 16th, 2019

Quotation Of The Week ~ Voltaire: The ear is the avenue to the heart.

[As you may or may not know, i live in Canada, and for some reason KSHE doesn't stream their audio to here and i have to connect via a VPN, to spoof a non-Canadian address. This week, according to https://whatismyipaddress.com/ , i was back in New York City.]

First of all, let me congratulate the St Louis Blues on their first-ever Stanley Cup win. The third song this morning was dedicated to them. (I'm not a hockey fan, but i love St Louis and therefore The Blues by a kind of osmosis.)

Unfortunately, this morning's program wasn't a champion. Oh, it was all right and i'm grading it an A but “all right” doesn't win the cup. It earned its grade primarily for the inclusion of one of my favourite Mama's Pride tracks and certainly there were a lot of other songs that i love, but there was also a lot that was merely okay and two – by Styx and (yecch!) Ted Nugent – that actively annoyed me.

Nevertheless, it was, as usual, the highlight of my week, and the four hours seemed to zoom past even more quickly than usual.

Fleetwood Mac – Bare Trees

The Smithereens – Only A Memory

Eric Clapton – Blues Power

Michael Murphy – Carolina In The Pines

Thin Lizzy – Cowboy Song

UFO – Rock Bottom

Steely Dan – FM (No Static At All)

Van Morrison – Moondance

Don & Dewey -- It's A Beautiful Day

Don Henley – Sunset Grill

Foghat – Rock And Roll Outlaw

Jon & Vangelis – I Hear You Now

John Kay – Easy Evil

Styx – Put Me On / Mademoiselle

The Kinks – Lola

Little Feat – Fat Man In The Bathtub

Manfred Mann – Do Wah Diddy Diddy

Hydra – Feel Like Running

Dave Mason – Pearly Queen

Joe Cocker – Delta Lady

Charlie – Turning To You

Kansas – Play The Game Tonight

Traffic – John Barleycorn Must Die

Triumph – Just A Game

Trevor Rabin – Finding Me A Way Back Home

The Quicksilver Messenger Service – Fresh Air

Billy Joel – New York State Of Mind

Bob Dylan – The Times They Are A-Changin'

Ted Nugent – Wango Tango

The Outlaws – There Goes Another Love Song

Elton John – Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy

Mama's Pride – Ole St Lou

Gypsy – As Far As You Can See (As Much As You Can Feel)

The Moody Blues – The Voice

And here are the albums my doctor prescribed for me to play this week:

Eliza Carthy – Restitute

Paul Simon – Rhythm Of The Saints

A Fine Frenzy – One Cell In The Sea

Beth Gibbons – Symphony Of Sorrowful Songs

Renaissance – A Song For All Seasons

Gryphon – Red Queen To Gryphon Three

Afro Celt Sound System – Flight

Jane Siberry – When I Was A Boy

Pink – I'm Not Dead

Jethro Tull – Thick As A Brick

Tyrannosaurus Rex – A Beard Of Stars

The Motors – Airport: The Motors' Greatest Hits

Thin Lizzy – Dedication: The Very Best Of Thin Lizzy

Max Webster – Universal Juveniles

Talking Heads – Remain In Light

Atlanta Rhythm Section – A.R.S. -- The Best of Atlanta Rhythm Section

Various Artists – Joni 75: A Birthday Celebration

Wishbone Ash – Argus

Neil Young – After The Gold Rush

The Beatles – Past Masters Vol. 2

A Fine Frenzy – Bomb In A Birdcage

The Move –Shazam!

Jennifer Warnes – Famous Blue Raincoat

Steely Dan – Countdown To Ecstasy

John Lennon – Mind Games

Rod Stewart – Never A Dull Moment

Diana Krall – Love Scenes

Mark Knopfler – Sailing To Philadelphia

Joan Osborne – Pretty Little Stranger

The Greg Kihn Band – The Best Of Beserkley '75 – '84

Amazing Blondel -- Evensong

KSHE KLASSICS SHOW, June 9th, 2019

Quotation Of The Week ~ Alison Sudol: We are living in a process of pursuit. But sometimes we get so focused on trying to get where we're going and we forget that this is life, too. We're living it right now.

[As you may or may not know, i live in Canada, and for some reason KSHE doesn't stream their audio to here and i have to connect via a VPN, to spoof a non-Canadian address. This week, according to https://whatismyipaddress.com/ , i was back in Clifton, New Jersey.]

Wow, what a great show this morning. I'm definitely grading this one an “A.” The first three songs alone almost guaranteed that score!

There were some obscurities, for sure: Glencoe? Johnny & The Distractions? But there was absolutely nothing annoying – except maybe Rainbow and even that wasn't too bad – and heaps and heaps of much-loved music. As usual, the show ended 'way before i expected it to. When listening to the Klassics Show, the time just zooms by.

Here's a pic of Alison Sudol, for reasons that will be explained below.

Humble Pie – Hot 'N' Nasty

David Bowie – Ziggy Stardust

Mott The Hoople – All The Young Dudes

Leon Russell – Bluebird

The Beatles – P.S. I Love You

Rick Derringer – Everything

John Mellencamp – A Little Night Dancin'

Supertramp – School

Glencoe – Airport

Steely Dan – King Of The World

Neil Young – The Needle And The Damage Done

The Guess Who – Laughing

The James Gang – Alexis

Chicago – Make Me Smile

The Michael Stanley Band – All I Ever Wanted

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

Peter Frampton – Baby, I Love Your Way

Little Feat – Dixie Chicken

Elton John – The Bitch Is Back

The Kinks – Sunny Afternoon

Genesis – Like It Or Not

Tom Petty – A Thing About You

Yes – Rhythm Of Love

Survivor – Summer Nights

Bob Seger – We've Got Tonight

Journey – When You're Alone (It Ain't Easy)

Loggins & Messina – Vahevala

Johnny & The Distractions – Shoulder Of The Road

Dave Mason – We Just Disagree

The Hollies – Another Night

Brave Belt – Another Way Out

Nazareth – Shanghai'd In Shanghai

Prism – Virginia

Bruce Springsteen – Jungleland

Fleetwood Mac – Black Magic Woman

Robert Palmer – You're Gonna Get What's Comin'

Derek & The Dominos – Any Day

Rainbow – Long Live Rock And Roll

Snail – The Joker

Spirit – Mr Skin

Paul McCartney – Medicine Jar

The Moody Blues – Lovely To See You

Rush – Half The World

My cat told me to play the CDs listed below this week. Dogs have masters, cats have servants, so i really didn't see that i had a choice. They helped, i must admit. Also, you may notice, she has put A Fine Frenzy into heavy rotation, and that's fine with me. They're our “new” favourite group. They were basically Alison Sudol, a wonderful singer/songwriter from Seattle; her voice makes me melt. Alas, they no longer seem active: their last album was released in 2012.

Anyway, here's the list:

Various Artists – Joni 75: A Birthday Celebration

Rory Gallagher – Blues

The Sugar Cubes – Life's Too Good

A Fine Frenzy – Bomb In A Birdcage

Kim Mitchell – Shakin' Like A Human Being

Horslips – Happy To Meet ... Sorry To Part

Chelsea Williams – Boomerang

Hot Tuna – Burgers

Sharon Shannon – Out The Gap

Rod Stradling – Rhythms Of The Wold

Steeleye Span – Please To See The King

A Fine Frenzy – One Cell In The Sea

Amazing Blondel – Evensong

James Taylor – Greatest Hits

Steve Earle – Essential Steve Earle

Elton John – Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

Peter Gabriel – Us

Richard Thompson – Strict Tempo!

A Fine Frenzy – Pines

Steeleye Span – Below The Salt

Jethro Tull – Minstrel In The Gallery

June Tabor – Aqaba

Emerson, Lake & Palmer –Trilogy

Colin James – Take It From The Top

Joan Osborne – Bring It On Home

Oysterband – Deep Dark Ocean

Pink – Try This

Dead Can Dance – Into The Labyrinth

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan – Mustt Mustt

Roy Wood – Outstanding Performer

The Who – Meaty, Beaty, Big And Bouncy

KSHE KLASSICS SHOW, June 2nd, 2019

Quotation Of The Week ~ Maria Semple: And I'm going to let you in on a little secret about life. You think it's boring now? Well, it only gets more boring. The sooner you learn it's on YOU to make life interesting, the better off you'll be.

[As you may or may not know, i live in Canada, and for some reason KSHE doesn't stream their audio to here and i have to connect via a VPN, to spoof a non-Canadian address. This week, according to https://whatismyipaddress.com/ i was back in Santa Clara, California, the birthplace of one of my favourite porn actresses, Bobbi Starr.]

My faithful reader will have noticed that i wasn't here last week. There was no Klassics Show to blat about. It was the Memorial Day Weekend in Trumpistan, er, i mean the U.S.A., and every year KSHE pre-empts their regular programming to do what they call a “Top 500 Countdown” which means they play all the same old crap they play every day. I actually listened for about ten minutes, but when they inflicted Joan Jett on me, i gave up and streamed Radio Hauraki instead.

So i was expecting a rather excellent show this morning, to make up for last week's absence. Alas, it was not to be. Oh, it started off brilliantly, for sure, with magic of The Byrds, followed by ... Jack Green?!? The song was okay, but who the heck is (or was) he? After that, things went okay for a little while, but ... ugh, Ted Nugent and soon after, ugh, REO Speedwagon. The Lucifer's Friend song went on 'way too long, the Eagles' track must be one of the most tedious they've ever recorded and the Robin Trower number, which was great, was actually mis-announced as being Mott The Hoople, which would have been great.

There were a few songs this morning that i can honestly say i love, but not all that many; there were a few performers i can honestly say i love, but the selections were not favourites. I mean, why “Leave It” by Yes, when Yes has so many numbers that soar? “Leave It” drags. So it is with some regret i'm only grading it a “B.”

(Plus there seemed to be even more ads, therefore less music, than usual.)

And here's a (SFW) pic of the wonderful Bobbi Starr:

The Byrds – So You Want To Be A Rock 'N' Roll Star

Jack Green – So Much

Yes – Leave It

The Little River Band – Help Is On Its Way

The Marshall Tucker Band – Fire On The Mountain

String Driven Thing – Josephine

The Michael Stanley Band – He Can't Love You

Ted Nugent – Workin' Hard, Playin' Hard

April Wine – Wings Of Love

Spirit – Fresh Garbage

The Quicksilver Messenger Service – Gypsy Lights

Kansas – Got To Rock On

Bob Dylan – Gotta Serve Somebody

Rush – Here Again

Crosby, Stills & Nash – Fair Game

REO Speedwagon – Take Me

Firefall – Cinderella

Emerson, Lake & Palmer – Hoedown

The Doobie Brothers – Livin' On The Fault Line

UFO – Cherry

Neil Young & The Bluenotes – This Note's For You

The Steve Miller Band – The Stake

John Stewart – Gold

Lucifer's Friend – Sorrow

Supertramp – Poor Boy

Joe Walsh – Welcome To The Club

Eagles – Wasted Time

Robin Trower – Somebody Calling

Off Broadway – Full Moon Turn Your Head Around

Elton John – Grey Seal

Atlanta Rhythm Section – Another Man's Woman

Little Feat – Time Loves A Hero

Peter Frampton – All I Want To Be (Is By Your Side)

Chicago – Color My World

Arlo Guthrie – The Motorcycle Song

Of course i was in a crappy mood all week – i'm old and wretched and probably clinically depressed. And there was no Klassics Show last week! But these albums appeared on the home gramophone and they really did help....

Various Artists – The Second British Invasion!

ABBA – Live

The Beatles – Live At The Hollywood Bowl

James Taylor – Greatest Hits

Peter Hammill – Thin Air

Amazing Blondel – England

Mark Knopfler – Sailing To Philadelphia

A Fine Frenzy – One Cell In The Sea

Eliza Carthy – Restitute

Kim Mitchell – Shakin' Like A Human Being

The Home Service – New Ground

A Fine Frenzy – Pines

John Lennon – Mind Games

Five Hand Reel – For A' That

Five Hand Reel – Earl O' Moray

The Beatles – Past Masters, Vol. 2

Bob Dylan – Greatest Hits Volume 3

Joan Osborne – Songs Of Bob Dylan

Hot Tuna – Burgers

Max Webster – Max Webster

Dead Can Dance – The Serpent's Egg

Jennifer Warnes – Famous Blue Raincoat

Sharon Shannon – Each Little Thing

Rob Thomas – Cradlesong

Eliza Gilkyson – Lost And Found

Dixie Chicks – Home

Kate Bush – 12” Remixes

Alice Cooper – Killer

Yes – Going For The One

Fairport Convention – Rosie

Greg Kihn Band – Best Of Beserkley '75 – '84

Renaissance – Ashes Are Burning

Tim Renwick – Privateer

Dan Fogelberg -- Phoenix