KSHE KLASSICS SHOW, March 8th, 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 listening from Cheney, Kansas, again.]

Quotation Of The Week ~ Pete Townshend: When I grew up, what was interesting for me was that music was colour and life was gray. So music for me has always been more than entertainment.

If it hadn't been for the Dan Fogelberg song – which automatically means a grade of “A+” -- this week's edition would have been a tough one to rate. Honestly, i don't think i could have gone much higher than “B+”. There were some songs that i love, certainly: great schtuff by Steely Dan, The Kings, The Kinks, The Allman Bros., The Beatles and Pete Townshend and a few others; my all-time favourite Elvin Bishop song; probably the last great Supertramp tune, and a wonderful song by The Animals before their singer, Eric Burdon, became a self-serving, posturing bellend.

But then there was (ugh) Blood, Sweat & Tears and lord they destroyed that lovely Laura Nyro song. I liked a lot of BS&T's debut album, but then Al Kooper quit and David-Clayton Thomas took over as lead vocalist and they became unlistenable (at least to me). (I met D-CT once and i thought he was a complete – pardon my language, vicar – arsehole, but lest you think that my opinion of him as a man colours my opinion of his music, it ain't true – i liked a lot of the music he was making when he was based in Toronto, both solo and with his group The Shays.)

Overall, though, the problem was that there was too much music that was “merely” nice and not enough that was exceptional. I like “Dear Diary” by The Moody Blues, for instance, but you'll never convince me that it's one of their better numbers.

Here's the list and a picture of the world-famous Cheney Reservoir:

Willie Nile – It's All Over

Ambrosia – Livin' On My Own

Bob Dylan – Knockin' On Heaven's Door

Steely Dan – Black Cow

Frank Marino – Strange Dreams

Todd Rundgren – Love Of The Common Man

The Kings – This Beat Goes On / Switchin' To Glide

The Kinks – Sleepwalker

Charlie Daniels – Trudy

The Allman Brothers Band – Whipping Post

Poco – Blue Water

Blood, Sweat & Tears – And When I Die

Roy Harper – The Game

Gamma – Voyager

The Beatles – No Reply

Rod Stewart – Blondes (Have More Fun)

John Mellencamp – China Girl

Bob Welch – Hot Love, Cold World

Pete Townshend – And I Moved

Bob Seger – If I Were A Carpenter

The Animals – It's My Life

Dan Fogelberg – Aspen / These Days

The Little River Band – Statue Of Liberty

The Grateful Dead – Sugar Magnolia

Jethro Tull – Sossity, You're A Woman

The Marshall Tucker Band – This Ol' Cowboy

Peter Gabriel – Red Rain

Elvin Bishop – Travelin' Shoes

The Souther, Hillman, Furay Band – Trouble In Paradise

Molly Hatchet – Fall Of The Peacemakers

Supertramp – It's Raining Again

Santana – Hold On

The Moody Blues – Dear Diary

Robin Trower – I'm Out To Get You

Atlanta Rhythm Section – Neon Nites

I visited clinics four times this week: Bentley's once and Crabby Joe's thrice. Here are the albums my therapists told me to put under the laser. They really helped, too!

Dan Fogelberg – Nether Lands

The Oyster Band – Step Outside

Rhiannon Giddens – There Is No Other

Cat Stevens – Buddha And The Chocolate Box

A Fine Frenzy – One Cell In The Sea

Wendy Carlos – Clockwork Orange

Court Yard Hounds – Amelita

Switchfoot – The Beautiful Letdown

The Beatles – Help!

Florence + The Machine – High As Hope

Rory Gallagher – Blueprint

Roy Wood – Mustard

Kim Mitchell – Shakin' Like A Human Being

Highly Strung – When The Winds Begin To Sing

Collective Soul – Afterwords

Kate Bush – The Dreaming

Pink – Greatest Hits ... So Far!!!

Various Artists – Joni 75: A Joni Mitchell Birthday Celebration

London Grammar – If You Want

Jeff Beck – Truth

Peter Gabriel – So

Steeleye Span – Tempted And Tried

Mark Knopfler – Sailing To Philadelphia

The Doobie Brothers – The Doobie Brothers

Marillion – This Strange Engine

The Doobie Brothers – Livin' On The Fault Line

Steely Dan – Pretzel Logic

The Kinks – Preservation Act I

James Taylor – American Standard

Fairport Convention – Angel Delight

Max Webster – Max Webster

Jon & Vangelis – Short Stories

Be+Bop Deluxe – Electrical Language

Def Leppard – Adrenalize

Various Artists – The Earth Greets The Sun: Gamelan Music From Bali

Amazing Blondel – Fantasia Lindum

Afro Celt Sound System – Flight

Dead Can Dance -- Spiritchaser