Monday 23 December 2019

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 17th 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!”

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