KSHE KLASSICS SHOW, Dec. 27th, 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 an American address. This week, according to https://whatismyipaddress.com/ i was listening from one of my regular haunts, Cheney, Kansas.]

Quotation Of The Week ~ Lester Bangs: The thing is that, they all had real strong personalities and real distinct identities, and I don't find most of the groups that are coming out now really do.

OMG, i think that if i had to listen to commercial radio stations all the time i'd wind up throwing the radio out and playing nothing but CDs. There seemed to be more of them than usual today, but at least there was a new spot from Bart Inman of Inman of Inman Air (heating and air conditioning). But there were also a few ads that featured the boring-as-hell voice of Tom Shane (my "friend in the jewellery business" ha ha). Based on the ads alone, this week's Klassics Show scores an "F+".

As to that secondary matter, the music.... I'm reluctantly giving the show a grade of "A+" with reservations. That grade is primarily because of the inclusion of the great Dan Fogelberg song, but there was other excellent schtuff too, starting with the opening track, followed immediately by the second one. Then we had Neil Young, Pretenders, JT, Blind Faith, The Beach Boys' number that apparently Paul McCartney called the "greatest track ever recorded," Blind Faith and The Police.

On the downside, though, while i love a great deal of John Lennon's music, Give Peace A Chance is one of his songs i like least (and it includes Yoko Ono caterwauling in the background), Ted Nugent is a waste of time, Eric Burdon single-handedly fought against religious hyprocrisy in his usual ham-handed fashion, whoever wrote Trapeze's Medusa obviously needs to brush up on his classical mythology (Medusa didn't have a "head of fire," she had snakes for hair), the Titus Groan song was all right but not all right enough to sustain its +10 minutes and David Surkamp, the singer for St Louis's own Pavlov's Dog, has one of the worst voices i have ever heard (apart from my own, that is).

And although it came at the very end of the program, it was nice to hear the tribute to Leslie West of Mountain, who died last week....

Here's the playlist

Genesis -- Alone Tonight

Procol Harum -- Whiskey Train

Rush -- Cinderella Man

Journey -- Dixie Highway

Santana -- Everybody's Everything

Neil Young -- Don't Let It Bring You Down

Novo Combo -- Tattoo

38 Special -- Rock And Roll Strategy

Crosby, Stills & Nash -- Wasted On The Way

Michael Nesmith -- Joanne

Bubble Puppy -- Hot Smoke And Sassafras

John Lennon -- Give Peace A Chance

Paul McCartney -- Monkberry Moon Delight

Ted Nugent -- Snakeskin Cowboys

The Rolling Stones -- All Down The Line

The Animals -- Sky Pilot

The Alan Parsons Project -- Damned If I Do

Dan Fogelberg -- False Faces

Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen -- Hot Rod Lincoln

Heads Hands & Feet -- Country Boy

Trapeze -- Medusa

Titus Groan -- Hall Of Bright Carvings

Pretenders -- Talk Of The Town

James Taylor -- Steamroller

Robert Palmer -- Every Kinda People

Pavlov's Dog -- Natchez Trace

Eric Clapton -- Promises

George Harrison -- Bangladesh

Off Broadway -- Bad Indication

Stephen Stills -- Turn Back The Pages

Blind Faith -- Sea Of Joy

The Marshall Tucker Band -- Fly Like An Eagle

The Beach Boys -- God Only Knows

Rare Earth -- (I Know I'm) Losing You

Styx -- Father O.S.A.

Bad Company -- Crazy Circles

The Police -- Canary In A Coalmine

Elton John -- Harmony

David Bowie -- Jean Genie

Mountain -- Nantucket Sleighride (RIP Leslie West)

My personal playlist is a pretty long one this time. Well, it's Christmas week and my lovely workplace did grant me a whole 3½ days off! Obviously i used the unwonted time off wisely.

The Doobie Brothers -- Livin' On The Fault Line

Home -- Pause For A Hoarse Horse

T. Rex -- T. Rex

CANO -- Aù Nord De Notre Vie

Zaz -- Recto Verso

Martin Carthy -- Shearwater

Siouxsie & The Banshees -- The Rapture

Fish -- Weltschmerz (2 CD)

Wendy Carlos -- Clockwork Orange

Van der Graaf Generator -- I Prophesy Disaster

Garfield -- Out There Tonight

Richard Thompson -- Henry The Human Fly

Allan Holdsworth -- Metal Fatigue

Various Artists -- Encomium: A Tribute To Led Zeppelin

Robert Plant -- The Principle Of Moments

Zaz -- Sur La Route

Kenny Loggins -- The Essential Kenny Loggins (2 CD)

Fastball -- All The Pain Money Can Buy

Various Artists -- A Little On The CD Side, Vol. 18

Baka Beyond -- The Spirit Of The Forest

Bob Dylan -- The Times They Are A-Changin'

Chuck Berry -- The Great Twenty-Eight

Runrig -- The Ones That Got Away

The Kinks -- Something Else

Zaz -- Zaz

Eliza Gilkyson -- Lost And Found

Joan Osborne -- Breakfast In Bed

Rory Gallagher -- Wheels Within Wheels

Colin James -- Miles To Go

Maddy Prior -- Year

The Home Service -- A New Ground

Steve Hackett -- Defector

The Bothy Band -- Out Of The Wind Into The Sun

Various Artists -- Dream Pop

Sheryl Crow -- Be Myself

The John Kirkpatrick Band -- Welcome To Hell

London Grammar -- Truth Is A Beautiful Thing

Peter Hammill -- Out Of Water

Jane Siberry -- Bound By The Beauty

My Year In Radio, 2020

 This year's first post in my annual wrap-up for this annus horribilis won't be a surprise. As last year, i really only listened to two radio stations.

I attempted a few times to listen to KCLC from Lindenwood University (St Charles, Missouri) , but their app on my phone doesn't seem to want to work, which is a shame, as they play some great music and also have NBC News. But i'm not so upset about it that i want to re-install the app.

So: radio station of the year again is Radio Paradise. Here's a selection from Christmas morning's playlist: this ain't yer average radio station!

William Orbit w. Beth Orton -- Water From A Vine Leaf

Peter Gabriel -- Ngankarrparni

Beethoven -- Moonlight Sonata

Pearl Jam -- Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town

The Pretenders -- Kid

Supergrass -- Grace

Talking Heads -- Thank You For Sending Me An Angel

Metric -- Speed The Collapse

The Bangles -- Walk Like An Egyptian

Kasabian -- Ovary Stripe

Andrew Bird -- Imitosis

Elton John -- Sixty Years On

I Am Kloot -- Fingerprints

Turin Brakes -- 96

Feist -- How Come You Never Go There

James Vincent McMorrow -- Breaking Hearts

Conor Oberst -- Big Black Nothing

Death Cab For Cutie -- Home Is A Fire

Casualties Of Cool -- Flight

One nifty feature on Radio Paradise is their "PSD" (Play Something Different) button. Don't like what you're hearing? Click PSD, and another song will arrive. I personally don't use it often: usually only when The Black Keys or Morrissey make an appearance. A "PIA" (Play It Again) would be nice, but that will probably have to wait for when i start my own radio station.

Radio program of the year -- probably in perpetuity -- the Sunday Klassics Show on KSHE from St Louis, but regular readers of this blog will already know that!

KSHE KLASSICS SHOW, Dec. 20th, 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 an American address. This week, according to https://whatismyipaddress.com/ i was listening from New York City again.]

Quotation Of The Week ~ Barack Obama: When ignorant folks want to advertise their ignorance, you don't really have to do anything, you just let them talk.

I'll be the first to admit that there is a lot in this life that baffles me. Quantum physics, for example, is quite beyond my comprehension. How do some people at my work manage to keep their jobs? How can anyone, anywhere, believe a single word that comes out of Donald Trump's cake-hole? And why on earth is REO Speedwagon so popular in St Louis?? I remember, years ago, when i still listened to Canadian FM radio, they were regularly actively derided, and the other (American) station i listen to these days refuses to play 'em. And yet here they are, almost every damn' week. To use a technical term, yuck.

Those bozos and Harry Chapin's pathetic song aside, though, this week's program was a return to normal after last week's comparatively dismal instalment, and earns a grade of "A minus". Certainly there were songs that weren't all that interesting: i started to think about cleaning the cat's litter box during the Stevie Nicks number, for example, but there were also many songs from my own record collection -- some of which i hadn't heard in a very long time. And no Christmas music! Well, there never is: apparently there are no Kristmas Klassics, and i'm not feeling the joy of the season this year anyway....

It's difficult for me to choose a favourite song from this morning. Possibly the Billy Joel, with Buffalo Springfield a close second, but Yes, Neil Young, Steve Winwood and The Doobies also made the short list.

Interesting facts i learned this morning: 1. Jackson Browne wrote These Days but didn't record it initially; instead he gave it to his friend Gregg Allman. It wasn't until Jackson heard Gregg's version and was impressed by his arrangement of it, that he decided to record it himself. 2. At the time of the recording of The Doobie Brothers' Livin' On The Fault Line album, singer Tom Johnston was very ill (stomach ulcers that required emergency surgery) and couldn't perform. The band brought in Michael McDonald (a St Louis native) to help and he's been with them ever since. Today's song, though, was a Tom Johnston composition.

Here's the playlist, and the opening of The Queen's Christmas Message for 2020:

Yes -- Parallels

New Riders Of The Purple Sage -- Glendale Train

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young -- Helpless

Fleetwood Mac -- Sunny Side Of Heaven

King Crimson -- Epitaph

Wings -- Bluebird

Santana -- Stormy

Neil Young -- Tell Me Why

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers -- Restless

The Small Faces -- Itchycoo Park

Steve Winwood -- Arc Of A Diver

Little Feat -- Feets Don't Fail Me Now

REO Speedwagon -- In Your Letter

The Little River Band -- Days On The Road

Chicago -- Happy Man

Nite City -- Summer Eyes

Foghat -- My Babe

Axe -- Rock 'N' Roll Party In The Streets

Bruce Springsteen -- 4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)

Michael Quatro -- In Collaboration

Dixon House Band -- Sooner Or Later

PM -- Piece Of Paradise

Strawbs -- Heartbreaker

Aphrodite's Child -- Break

The Blue Őyster Cult -- In Thee

Bob Seger -- Get Out Of Denver

Cream -- I'm So Glad

Stevie Nicks -- If Anyone Calls

Toto -- Ninety-Nine

The Outlaws -- Freeborn Man

Eddie Money -- When You Took My Heart

Jackson Browne -- These Days

Supertramp -- Ain't Nobody But Me

Bourgeois - Tagg -- I Don't Mind At All

Lake -- Do I Love You Much Too Much

Billy Joel -- Prelude / Angry Young Man

Harry Chapin -- Taxi

The Doobie Brothers -- Turn It Loose

It's A Beautiful Day -- A Hot Summer Day

The Fabulous Thunderbirds -- Tuff Enuff

Bruce Springsteen -- Fade Away

Buffalo Springfield -- Bluebird

Michael Stanley Band -- Strike Up The Band

This week's personal playlist is not an especially long one, thanks to crazybusy-ness at my other job. It also indicates my new obsession with the music of Zaz (real name, Isabelle Geoffroy), whose voice touches me deeply at some visceral level and makes me melt. Check her out on YouTube, or don't. Up to you.

Various Artists -- A Little On The CD Side, Vol. 16

The John Kirkpatrick Band -- Force Of Habit

Zaz -- Sur La Route

Tony Banks -- A Curious Feeling

Wishbone Ash -- Nouveau Calls

The Cure -- Greatest Hits

Afro Celt Sound System -- Volume 2: Release

Dan Fogelberg -- River Of Souls

The Electric Light Orchestra -- Zoom

Amazing Blondel -- Fantasia Lindum

Original Soundtrack Recording -- West Side Story

June Tabor -- On Air

Son Volt -- Notes Of Blue

Bruce Springsteen -- Born To Run

James Taylor -- Mud Slide Slim And The Blue Horizon

Fairport Convention -- Fame And Glory

Ashley MacIsaac -- Hi How Are You Today​?

Bill Bruford -- Feels Good To Me

Karl Jenkins -- Diamond Music

Zaz -- Recto Verso

Zaz -- Paris

The Doobie Brothers -- The Captain And Me

Sheryl Crow -- Threads

Luna -- Luna

Blondie -- No Exit

Propaganda -- A Secret Wish

Genesis -- Nursery Cryme

Bela Fleck & The Flecktones -- Three Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

The Beatles -- A Hard Day's Night

Ofra Haza -- Kirya

T. Rex -- Electric Warrior

Alan Stivell -- The Best Of Alan Stivell

Various Artists -- A Little On The CD Side, Vol. 17

KSHE KLASSICS SHOW, Dec. 13th, 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 an American address. This week, according to https://whatismyipaddress.com/ i was listening from New York City.]

Quotation Of The Week ~ George Carlin: Frisbeetarianism is the belief that when you die, your soul goes up on the roof and gets stuck.

First the good news: our host, John Ulett, was back after his bout with this bastard virus, sounding perfectly well and in good humour. He wrote about his experience on Twitter and you can have a look at his feed here @stluman if you feel so inclined. He didn't say anything about it on the program, though.

As for the music .... It grieves me to do this but i can only grade it a "C," and that's being generous. The worst score i've ever awarded it since i began blogging about it in around 1946. The first ninety minutes were almost a complete waste of time (the Jackson Browne song, which was apparently inspired by his friendship with Gregg Allman, saved it), and included four (four!) cringeworthy numbers: Joe Byrd, the obnoxious-as-hell Eric Burdon, REO, and Ray Manzarek -- not only does the latter have no singing voice, he also felt that it would be a good idea to include male/female orgasmic sound effects which was just plain embarrassing. How puerile....

When Alice Cooper showed up, followed by Dylan and Fleetwood Mac, i thought things would turn around, and up to a point they did, but then we had to suffer J.D. Blackfoot's pretentious nonsense, channeling Nostradamus or something, and the well-past-their-best-by date Jefferson Starship. Uman told a story about them touring Germany in support of this album and Grace Slick got drunk on stage (as she was wont to do) and nearly caused a riot with anti-German remarks and WWII and Nazi references. (On another tour, with Rory Gallagher as their support, there were fisticuffs between Rory's and Starship's stage crews on occasion -- Rory was blowing them away and the Starship crew kept trying to reduce the size of Rory's stage by crowding it with their own equipment. I've enjoyed Starship's music from time to time, but the more i hear about them the less i respect them.)

Towards the end, things brightened up a bit with one of my favourite Wishbone Ash numbers and a rare appearance by the delightful Maddy Prior (as backing vocalist for Jethro Tull) but the damage had been done. And it may be my imagination, but there seemed to be more commercials than usual this week.

(Incidentally, it seems that my opinion is in the minority: judging by posts on the Klassics Show's Facebook page, today's instalment was epic. Of course, REO Sp**dw*g*n is immensely popular in St Louis so what the hell do they know....)

Here's the playlist, and a picture of a playlist:

Jackson Browne -- Redneck Friend

Queen -- It's Late

UFO -- Lights Out

April Wine -- All Over Town

The Rolling Stones -- Shine A Light

Joe Byrd & The Field Hippies -- You Can't Ever Come Down

Trooper -- Raise A Little Hell

The Eric Burdon Band -- Don't Let Be Be Misunderstood / Nina's School

Tarney-Spencer Band -- No Time To Lose

REO Speedwagon -- Easy Money

Ray Manzarek -- Perfumed Garden

Daryl Hall & John Oates -- Good Night And Good Morning

Alice Cooper -- Billion Dollar Babies

Bob Dylan -- Mr Tambourine Man

Fleetwood Mac -- Oh Well (live)

Charlie Daniels -- Trudy

The Electric Light Orchestra -- Sweet Talkin' Woman

Tucky Buzzard -- Gold Medallions

Canned Heat -- Fried Hockey Boogie

The Amboy Dukes -- Journey To The Center Of The Mind

Brewer & Shipley -- Tarkio Road

Strawbs -- Little Sleepy

J.D. Blackfoot -- The Ultimate Prophecy

Jefferson Starship -- Can't Find Love

Atlanta Rhythm Section -- Homesick

Rick Derringer -- Don't Ever Say Goodbye

Henry Lee Summer -- I Wish I Had A Girl

Pat Travers & Carmine Appice -- Snortin' Whiskey

Wishbone Ash -- Phoenix

Jethro Tull -- Too Old To Rock 'N' Roll, Too Young To Die

Z.Z. Top -- Party On The Patio

The Moody Blues -- Nights In White Satin

Steel Breeze -- You Don't Want Me Anymore

My own personal playlist is not an overly long one this week, primarily because i've been spending far more time than i would like, at my other job. Oh, well, it's that time of year....

Jackson Browne -- Lives In The Balance

Various Artists -- Big Blue Ball

Sharon Shannon & Friends -- Libertango

Jerry Douglas -- Traveler

Ferenc Fricsay (conductor) -- Dvorák, Symphony #9 et al.

Genesis -- Wind And Wuthering

French Frith Kaiser Thompson -- Live, Love, Larf & Loaf

Billy Joel -- The Essential Billy Joel (2CD)

Zaz -- Zaz

The Kinks -- Misfits

Frank Zappa -- Strictly Commercial: The Best Of Frank Zappa

Carly Simon -- The Best Of Carly Simon

Richard Thompson -- Bloody Noses

5 Hand Reel -- 5 Hand Reel

Kesha -- Rainbow

Dead Can Dance -- Spiritchaser

Marillion -- Brave

Dan Fogelberg -- Home Free

Eric Clapton -- Me And Mr Johnson

The Move -- Looking On

Sigur Rós -- Agaetis Byrjun

Free -- Fire And Water

Kate Bush -- The Sensual World

Zap Mama -- Adventures In Afropea 1

Warren Zevon -- Excitable Boy

Rockpile -- Seconds Of Pleasure

Counting Crows -- August And Everything After

Billy Talent -- Dead Silence

Steeleye Span -- A Rare Collection 1972-1996

Tyrannosaurus Rex -- A Beard Of Stars

A Fine Frenzy -- Oh Blue Christmas

Zaz -- Effet Miroir

Eagles -- Desperado

KSHE KLASSICS SHOW, Dec. 6th, 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 an American address. This week, according to https://whatismyipaddress.com/ i was listening from Cheney, Kansas. I hadn't been there in a while....]

Quotation Of The Week ~ Dave Grohl: Because you have things like 'American Idol' and you've got radio stations that play music made entirely by computers, it's easy to forget that there are bands with actual people playing actual instruments that rock.

There is no way i could possibly grade this week's installment as anything less than an "A." Loads and loads of bona fide classics, er, Klassics, and not a single song that gave me an earache. John Ulett was off today -- apparently he's in quarantine! Such a shame and i wish him nothing but the best, but -- i missed his comments -- he doesn't speak about every song, but when he does he's usually entertaining and enlightening. I thought, though, that his absence would mean more music but, alas, it was not to be: there were more ads!

Here's the playlist, and a photo of St Louis in happier times:

Nantucket -- Heartbreaker

Jefferson Airplane -- Crown Of Creation

Thunderclap Newman -- Something In The Air

Rusty Wier -- Don't It Make You Wanna Dance?

Uriah Heep -- Easy Livin'

The Rolling Stones -- When The Whip Comes Down

King Crimson -- In The Court Of The Crimson King

Franke & The Knockouts -- Sweetheart

Diesel -- Sausalito Summernight

Dirty Tricks -- Too Much Wine

The Tubes -- Talk To Ya Later

Manfred Mann's Earthband -- For You

10 c.c. -- Dreadlock Holiday

Brewer & Shipley -- One Toke Over The Line

The Alarm -- Rain In The Summertime

Hudson Ford -- Take A Little Word

The Kinks -- Where Have All The Good Times Gone

The Doobie Brothers -- South City Midnight Lady

The Beatles -- I Wanna Be Your Man

Queen -- Tie Your Mother Down

Bob Welch -- Ebony Eyes

The Rockets -- Oh Well

Prism -- Spaceship Superstar

U.K. -- In The Dead Of Night

Jon & Vangelis -- Friends Of Mr Cairo

Loggins & Messina -- Peacemaker

Frank Marino -- Strange Dreams

The Michael Wynn Band -- Don't Need Nobody

Lou Gramm -- Midnight Blue

Frank Zappa -- Joe's Garage

Neil Young -- The Loner

Traffic -- Dear Mr Fantasy

Rod Stewart -- Hot Legs

Stanley Clarke -- School Days

Eddie Money -- Gimme Some Water

King Crimson -- 21st Century Schizoid Man

The Doors -- Spanish Caravan

And my own personal playlist for the week:

Various Artists -- A Little On The CD Side, Vol. 15

Kim Mitchell -- Ain't Life Amazing

Talk Talk -- Spirit Of Eden

The Pointer Sisters -- The Best Of The Pointer Sisters

Sharon Shannon -- Sacred Earth

Zaz -- Sur La Route (CD + DVD)

Caro Emerald -- Deleted Scenes From The Cutting Room Floor

Pat Benatar -- Best Shots

Matthias Bamert -- Stokowski's Symphonic Bach

Kathryn Stott -- A Debussy Collection

Roy Wood -- Mustard

Joan Osborne -- Bring It On Home

Pink -- Greatest Hits ... So Far!!!

Kate Bush -- 50 Words For Snow

Roxy Music -- For Your Pleasure

The Lovin' Spoonful -- Greatest Hits

Jethro Tull -- Aqualung

The Beatles -- A Hard Day's Night

Rod Stewart -- Smiler

June Tabor -- Aqaba

Jeff Beck -- Wired

Ashley Hutchings et al. -- The Compleat Dancing Master

Steeleye Span -- Please To See The King

Alanis Morissette -- Under Rug Swept

Rory Gallagher -- Top Priority

CANO -- Aù Nord De Notre Vie

Bob Dylan -- The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan

Mama's Pride -- Mama's Pride

Randy Newman -- Little Criminals

Jethro Tull -- Heavy Horses

Court Yard Hounds -- Amelita

Blues Traveller -- Four

Camel -- A Live Record (2 CD)

Edith Piaf -- C'était Une Histoire D'amour

Pink Floyd -- Wish You Were Here

New Musik -- From A To B