Sunday, 22 March 2020

KSHE KLASSICS SHOW, March 22nd, 2020

[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 back in Cheney, Kansas – where i was becoming a regular at China's Bar & Grill, but of course it, along with almost everything else, was closed thanks to coronavirus. I had to pack a lunch.]

Quotation Of The Week ~ Mark Twain: Apparently there is nothing that cannot happen today.

A grade of “A+” is inevitable this week. As you probably know, such a grade is automatic whenever Uman (i.e., John Ulett, the host) plays either Rory Gallagher or Dan Fogelberg and Dan was here but even without him there was so much fabulous music – and nothing annoying – that that rating would have been merited regardless. I have often stated that this radio show is the highlight of my week. After the week we have just had, with everything shutting down, thousands of people now out of work and everyone in fear, slipping and falling and landing in mud would have been a highlight. And yes, i did that on Thursday. This was a lot better.

Just in the first hour alone there were several much-loved numbers. Overall, there were for sure a few songs that i'd be hard-pressed to rate as brilliant. Michael Stanley, for example, whose music i enjoy but who would never make it onto any top-100 list chez moi. And what about the group Alexis? Even the host admitted that they were a one-hit wonder and that their song wasn't even that big a hit. It was all right, but nothing more.

Then we had almost every single performer in my list of fave classic-rock artists: Tull, Neil Young, Yes, Hendrix, The Kinks, Jackson Browne, Genesis (not the Peter Gabriel version, but that's okay), Rod Stewart when he was still relevant, Chicago when they were still relevant.... The list goes on. I couldn't possibly pick a favourite song from today's show, but it was amazing to hear the full, seven minute version of Fleetwood Mac's “Oh Well.” Gad, i love this program!

Here's a curious instance of synchronicity: my friend Tommy, who used to be the overnight man at KSHE until they eliminated that position a few years ago (the overnight deejay on almost every radio station in the world has been replaced by some dude called Otto Mation) and now works as morning man at KRRR in Cheyenne, Wyoming, was talking about Paul Kossoff, the brilliant but doomed lead guitarist in Free and Back Street Crawler, a couple of days ago. He suggested that i should email Uman and ask to hear some of his music on The Klassics Show. I jokingly replied that i'd Tweet him instead. I didn't get around to it, but what did he play this morning? A song by Crawler, which is what Back Street Crawler became after Koss's tragic demise. I'm not sure how relevant this is to anything but it's kinda cosmic tra la.

Anyhoo, here's a pic of Paul Kossoff, and the playlist:



Jethro Tull – The Whistler
Jackson Browne – For Everyman
Yes – Wonderous Stories
The Grateful Dead – Friend Of The Devil
The Climax Blues Band – Hey Mama
The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Little Wing
Dave Mason – Look At You Look At Me
Neil Young – Cowgirl In The Sand
The Clash – Lost In The Supermarket
The Kinks – Destroyer
Genesis – Man On The Corner
Todd Rundgren – Can We Still Be Friends
Firefall – Mexico
The Michael Stanley Band – Hearts On Fire
Lou Gramm – Midnight Blue
Rod Stewart – Handbags And Gladrags
Janis Joplin – Move Over
Chicago – I'm A Man
The J. Geils Band – Musta Got Lost
Charlie – L.A. Dreamer
Steve Hackett – Narnia
Bachman-Turner Overdrive – Lookin' Out For #1
Alexis – Fly By Night
John Parr – Naughty Naughty
Roy Buchanan – Can I Change My Mind
The Rolling Stones – Neighbours
Gypsy – Don't Get Mad (Get Even)
Ambrosia – Nice Nice Very Nice
Bob Dylan – Tangled Up In Blue
Stanley Clarke – Rock 'N' Roll Jelly
Jesse Colin Young – California Child
Fleetwood Mac – Oh Well
Dan Fogelberg – Face The Fire
Canned Heat – On The Road Again
Steely Dan – The Caves Of Altamira
The Stabilizers – One Simple Thing
Nantucket – Quite Like You
Kansas – People Of The South Wind
The Beatles – The Night Before
Crawler – Sail On
Loverboy -- Jump

Thanks to the coronavirus-related shutdown of both of my usual clinics (a.k.a. pubs, taverns, inns, alehouses, taprooms, whatevers) (along with almost everything else) on Tuesday, i was forced to come up with my personal playlist for the week almost single-handedly. Although i'm a rank amateur, i don't think i did too badly, although sandwiching Kiri Te Kanawa between The Doobie Brothers and Court Yard Hounds maybe wasn't the best idea i've ever had. It's also a long list because, well, with the “clinics” all shut, i've been doing a lot of self-isolating:

The Mahavishnu Orchestra – The Inner Mounting Flame
James Taylor – Mud Slide Slim And The Blue Horizon
The Doobie Brothers – One Step Closer
Kiri Te Kanawa – French Opera Arias
Court Yard Hounds – Court Yard Hounds
Elbow – Little Fictions
Jethro Tull – A Passion Play
The Kinks – Everybody's In Show-Biz
Mark Knopfler – Sailing To Philadelphia
Steely Dan – Pretzel Logic
Richard & Linda Thompson – I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight
Barbra Streisand – The Broadway Album
Kate Bush – The Sensual World
Genesis – The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway
Paula Cole – Revolution
10,000 Maniacs – In My Tribe
Roy Wood – Mustard
The Hooters – Hooterization: A Retrospective
Wings – Band On The Run
Jane Siberry – A World Without Music
Bill Bruford – One Of A Kind
Eliza Gilkyson – Land Of Milk And Honey
Various Artists – Hard Cash
The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Electric Ladyland
James Taylor – James Taylor
Bruce Springsteen – The Rising
Marc Jordan – Mannequin
Linda Ronstadt – Greatest Hits, Vol. 2
Roy Wood Wizzo Band – Super Active Wizzo
Richard Thompson – Henry The Human Fly
Renaissance – Novella
The Kinks – Muswell Hillbillies
Radiohead – OK Computer
Sheryl Crow – Threads
Various Artists – Big Blue Ball
The Doobie Brothers – Farewell Tour
Various Artists – Songs Of Our Native Daughters
Roxy Music – For Your Pleasure
Afro Celt Sound System – Volume 2: Release
Alan Holdsworth – Metal Fatigue

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