KSHE KLASSICS SHOW, June 27th, 2021

 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 in order to spoof an American address, and this week, according to whatismyipaddress.com, i was listening from Salt Lake City, which has been my regular location recently.

Quotation Of The Week: George Carlin ~ Those who dance are considered insane by those who cannot hear the music.

It was a pretty uninspiring beginning to today's program, boys and girls. Personally, i don't understand KSHE's love of Dave Mason. I mean, he's eminently listenable but a long way from the pantheon. But things improved rapidly, to the point where i'm grading it “A+”.

Well, we had Dan Fogelberg, which makes that grade more-or-less automatic, but we also had what was once voted as being the greatest classic rock song of all time, the wonderful Blue Mist by Mama's Pride. Admittedly, the poll was taken twenty years ago and it was a poll of KSHE listeners and Mama's Pride was from St Louis, so there may have been some prejudice.... (I wonder how the song would fare in a contemporary poll...? Very well, i think!)

It just didn't let up after that: klassic upon klassic followed by more klassics, and too many highlights to list. The only low point was that pathetic effort by The Guess Who. I like a lot of their music but this was Burton Cummings attempting and failing miserably to channel Jim Morrison. Just dreadful.

A couple of notes. If you want to buy a copy of The Michael Stanley Band's My Town (St Louis!) good luck. Michael loved St Lou and cut this version of the song specially for the market. And a technical note – it was surprising to hear Chris Cornell on the show but even more surprising was that KSHE's website told me i was listening to Bob Seger. Nothing against Chris but i would have preferred Bob!

Here's the playlist, plus the official flag of Salt Lake City:

   

Dave Mason – Don't It Make You Wonder

Hookfoot – Living In The City

The Grateful Dead – Uncle John's Band

Mama's Pride – Blue Mist

Paul McCartney – Letting Go

Neil Young – Alabama

The Animals – We Gotta Get Out Of This Place

Yes – America

Foghat – Take Me To The River

Orion The Hunter – So You Ran

Deep Purple – Might Just Take Your Life

The Cars – Since You're Gone

Genesis – A Trick Of The Tail

George Harrison – Dark Horse

Peter Cetera – Living In The Limelight

The Michael Stanley Band – My Town (St Louis!)

Bruce Springsteen – Streets Of Fire

Dan Fogelberg – The Language Of Love

Queen – It's Late

The MC5 – Kick Out The Jams

Montrose – Rock The Nation

The Marshall Tucker Band – Walkin' The Streets Alone

Fleetwood Mac – Black Magic Woman

Michael Franks – Born With The Moon In Virgo

Jackson Browne – For America

The Guess Who – Friends Of Mine

Robert Palmer – Sailin' Shoes / Hey Julia / Sneakin' Sally Through The Alley

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – Change Of Heart

The Rolling Stones – Let Me Go

Quicksilver Messenger Service – What About Me

Chris Cornell – Patience NOT American Storm

James Taylor – Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight

Breathless – Takin' It Back

Dire Straits – Solid Rock

Kansas – Miracles Out Of Nowhere

 

My own personal playlist this week:

Jefferson Starship – Platinum And Gold Collection

Loggins & Messina – Sittin' In Again

Amazing Blondel – England

Zaz – Effet Miroir

Susanna Hoffs – Susanna Hoffs

Laurie Anderson – Home Of The Brave

The Commodores – The Best Of The Commodores

Rod Stewart – Smiler

John Lennon – Rock 'N' Roll

Jethro Tull – Heavy Horses

Chantal Kreviazuk – Ghost Stories

Renaissance – Live At Carnegie Hall (2 CDs)

Agnetha & Frida – The Voice Of ABBA

Beth Gibbons – Symphony Of Sorrowful Songs

Fairport Convention – Gladys' Leap

George Harrison – All Things Must Pass (2 CDs)

Steve Earle – El Corazón

Jeff Beck – Jeff Beck's Guitar Shop

Rory Gallagher – Top Priority

The Allman Brothers Band – Brothers And Sisters

John Coltrane – The Definitive John Coltrane

Talk Talk – Laughing Stock

Warren Zevon – Excitable Boy

Tim Hart & Maddy Prior – The Folk Songs Of Old England

Cat Stevens – Laughing Apple

Nik Kershaw – To Be Frank

Jon & Vangelis – The Friends Of Mr Cairo

The John Kirkpatrick Band – Welcome To Hell

Mark Knopfler – Sailing To Philadelphia

The Moody Blues – To Our Children's Children's Children

Laurie Anderson – Big Science

Ofra Haza – Shaday

Pink – Try This

The Lovin' Spoonful – Greatest Hits

Bangles – Greatest Hits

Sparks – Propaganda

Mireille Matthieu – Rencontres De Femmes

KSHE KLASSICS SHOW, June 20th, 2021

 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 in order to spoof an American address, and this week, according to whatismyipaddress.com. i was listening from Salt Lake City again.

Quotation of the week: Lenny Bruce: Never trust a preacher with more than two suits.

The first two songs today didn't inspire me. I've always felt that Carlos Santana is very over-rated as a guitarist – although i like a lot of his music i don't consider him up there in the pantheon – and then a very obscure track by the Doobs, a band i like a lot but this was a dubious choice. (Ha ha, get it? Doobies / dubious? Oh, never mind....)

Things improved rapidly, though, to the point where i'm giving this week's instalment a solid grade of “A”.

Unfortunately REO Speedwagon made an appearance and i will never, for the life of me, understand why they are so popular in St Louis. Today's track wasn't one of their more annoying ones, though: sometimes they make me want to take a sledgehammer to the computer's speakers.

I need to thank the chappie on the Klassics Show's Facebook page who will sometimes post the playlist. Sorry, dude, i forget your name. They played Ray Manzarek today but announced it as being “Freewill” by Rush. (A computer glitch, obviously.) But i didn't recognise the song, frantically Googled the lyrics to no avail, got frustrated, decided to toss the laptop off my balcony, quit my job and move to Tahiti, but then learned via Mark Zuckerberg's monster that it was in fact “The Gambler.”

The Kinks, The Sutherland Brothers & Quiver, Fleetwood Mac (featuring the exquisite voice of Christine McVie) and Yes were the highlights for me this week, i think, and, oh, look, here's a picture of the exquisite Christine:

 

  Santana – Stand Up

The Doobie Brothers – Little Darling (I Need You)

Roxy Music – Love Is The Drug

Ten Years After – Rock And Roll Music To The World

The Kinks – Til The End Of The Day

Judas Priest – Turning Circles

Trevor Rabin – Now

Steely Dan – Razor Boy

Fleetwood Mac – Warm Ways

George Harrison – Awaiting On You All

Grand Funk Railroad – Heartbreaker

Eddie Money – Take A Little Bit

Foreigner – Woman Oh Woman

Foghat – Drivin' Wheel

REO Speedwagon – Someone Tonight

Billy Joel – Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway)

UFO – Shoot Shoot

The Sutherland Bros. & Quiver – (I Don't Want To Love You But) You Got Me Anyway

Jethro Tull – Hymn 43

Gypsy – Dead And Gone

Head East – Love Me Tonight

Loggins & Messina – My Music

The Moody Blues – The Story In Your Eyes

Blackfoot – Train Train

Ray Manzarek – The Gambler

Bruce Springsteen – I'm On Fire

Good Rats – Injun Joe

Charlie – Killer Cut

Angel – Rock And Rollers

Bob Weir – Bombs Away

Chilliwack – Fly At Night

Batdorf & Rodney – Home Again

Canned Heat – Fried Hockey Boogie

Yes – Perpetual Change

Bob Welch – Sentimental Lady

Jefferson Starship – Count On Me

Oh, my personal playlist is humongous this week, in spite of several multi-disc sets! Well, i did have the week off....

Lisa Gerrard – Whalerider

Sky – Forthcoming

Fairport Convention – Who Knows Where The Time Goes?

Baka Beyond – Spirit Of The Forest

Terje Rypdal – Chaser

Tim Renwick – Privateer

Jakob Lindberg & Paul O'Dette – English Lute Duets

Electric Light Orchestra – Strange Magic: The Best Of ELO (2 CDs)

Bob Dylan – Another Side Of Bob Dylan

Chicago – Chicago Transit Authority

Rose Among Thorns – Rose Among Thorns

Zaz – Zaz

J.S. Bach – The Brandenburg Concertos (2 CDs)

Dan Fogelberg – The Wild Places

UB40 – The Very Best Of UB40 1980-2000

Rush – Presto

Mary-Chapin Carpenter – Shooting Straight In The Dark

London Grammar – California Soil

Humble Pie – As Safe As Yesterday Is

Bill Bruford – One Of A Kind

Runrig – Heartland

Jock Tamson's Bairns – Rare

Afro Celt Sound System – The Source

Youssou N'Dour – Set

Various Artists – Africa Rising

Laurie Anderson – Life On A String

Sharon Shannon & Friends – Libertango

Peter Gabriel – Secret World Live (2 CDs)

Van Morrison – Tupelo Honey

The Monkees – Greatest Hits

Mike Oldfield – Return To Ommadawn

Orealis – Celtic Music / Musique Celtique

Chris Leslie – Fiddle Back

The Cure – Greatest Hits

Various Artists – Boys On The Side (OST)

Emerson, Lake & Palmer – Trilogy

Eliza Gilkyson – Lost And Found

The Kinks – Muswell Hillbillies

Sarah Fimm – Karma Phala (2 CDs)

Al Stewart – Year Of The Cat

Fairport Convention – Off The Desk 2020

Rod Stewart & The Faces – The Last Concert 1974 (DVD)

Ashley Hutchings comp. -- Street Cries

Martin Carthy – Because It's There

Steeleye Span – Below The Salt

Kirsty MacColl – Tropical Brainstorm

KSHE KLASSICS SHOW, June 13th, 2021

 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 in order to spoof an American address, and this week, according to whatismyipaddress.com. i was listening from Salt Lake City. I'm pretty sure i've never been there before.

Quotation of the week: Douglas Adams ~ I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.

Speaking of deadlines zooming by, i'm very late posting this week. It's true, though, that it's easier to write a bad review than a positive one and i really had not a thing to grouse about this week. All was well, there were at least five selections from my top 500 favourite songs list, there was nothing even remotely annoying and the show definitely merits a grade of A.

Plus i've been on holiday all week and have been busy elsewhere – watching YouTube videos all day, etc....

Here's a pic of Salt Lake City, as i'd never known what it looked like:

The Kinks – Apeman

Renaissance – Mother Russia

Fleetwood Mac – I Don't Want To Know

Real Life – Send Me An Angel

Kansas – Reason To Be

Stevie Nicks – Enchanted

Head East – Since You've Been Gone

The Doors – Back Door Man

Barry Goudreau – Dreams

Aldo Nova – Fantasy

Gary Wright – Fascinating Things

Spirit – I Got A Line On You

Heartsfield – Music Eyes

John Mellencamp – Small Paradise

Genesis – I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)

Phil Collins – I Missed Again

Paul McCartney – Smile Away

Poco – Crazy Eyes

The Michael Stanley Band – Promises

Thin Lizzy – Dancing In The Moonlight

Neil Young – My My, Hey Hey (Out Of The Blue)

The Moody Blues – Steppin' In A Slide Zone

Rod Stewart – The Ball Trap

Jethro Tull – To Cry You A Song

James Taylor – Your Smiling Face

Chicago – I'm A Man

UFO – Just Another Suicide

Steely Dan – Kid Charlemagne

Flame – Beg Me

The Grateful Dead – Box Of Rain

Jars Of Clay – Flood

Bruce Springsteen – Incident On 57^th St. / Rosalita

Kim Mitchell – Go For A Soda

The Outlaws – Holiday

Bad Company – Painted Face

Starz – Cherry Baby

Don Henley – Last Worthless Evening

My personal playlist for last week was a bit of a long one, multi-disc sets notwithstanding, as i had a couple of extra days off:

Afro Celt Sound System – Volume 3: Release

The Dave Weckl Band – Live In St Louis At The Chesterfield Jazz Festival 2019

Geri Allen Trio – Twenty One

Duke Ellington – It Don't Mean A Thing: Classic Recordings 1930-1934

Bob Dylan – Another Side Of Bob Dylan

Quintessence – Self + Indweller

Van Morrison – A Night In San Francisco (2 CDs)

Hildegard Von Bingen – A Feather On The Breath Of God

Laurie Anderson – Mister Heartbreak

The Beatles – Anthology 3 (2 CDs)

Judy Collins – Fires Of Eden

Dead Can Dance – In Concert

Alan Stivell – The Best Of Alan Stivell

Loreena McKennitt – The Mask And The Mirror

Natalie Maines – Mother

Highly Strung – When The Winds Begin To Sing

Thompson Twins – Hold Me Now: The Very Best Of Thompson Twins (2 CDs)

John Lennon – Walls And Bridges

Bluehorses – Thirteen Fires

Jefferson Starship – Red Octopus

SRC – SRC / Milestones / Traveler's Tale (2 CDs)

Albion Morris – Still Dancing After All These Years

Various Artists – Ultimate Songwriters

Siouxsie & The Banshees – A Kiss In The Dreamhouse

Camel – Live At The Royal Albert Hall (2 CDs)

Nazareth – Loud 'N' Proud

Rory Gallagher – Rock Goes To College (DVD)

Dead Can Dance – Spleen And Ideal

Marillion – Somewhere Else

Peter Gabriel – Long Walk Home

KSHE KLASSICS SHOW, June 6th, 2021

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 in order to spoof an American address, and this week, according to whatismyipaddress.com. i was listening from Atlanta, Georgia, again.

Quotation of the week: Simon Pegg ~ Being a geek means never having to play it cool about how much you like something.

Ahh, Spriggsblog, one of the few blogs in the world that has fewer readers than Donald Trump's! Unlike that notoriously thin-skinned orange accident and Insurrectionist-In-Chief, though, we're not shutting ours down (pumps fist in air à la Josh Hawley). (Ooops, bad example....)

This week's show gets a grade of “A+”, but only because of the Dan Fogelberg (and it wasn't even one of his greatest). Otherwise it may just barely have scraped by with a “B+”. There was some wonderful music, certainly, and absolutely nothing that made me want to flee the room and go and scrub the toilet, several nice surprises, but very little that had me dancing / head bangin' / melting in my chair. Highlights: Poco, Arlo Guthrie, Pete Townshend and Mama's Pride.

Here's the playlist and a pic of the Mississippi River, looking north past, well, you know:

Wet Willie -- Everything That You Do (Will Come Back To You)

Hardline -- Hot Cherie

Peter Frampton -- I Believe (When I Fall In Love It Will Be Forever)

Santana -- Let The Children Play / Jugando

Manfred Mann's Earthband -- The Mighty Quinn

Journey -- Only The Young

Poco -- Pickin' Up The Pieces

The Blue Öyster Cult -- Shooting Shark

Atlanta Rhythm Section -- Spooky

It's A Beautiful Day -- White Bird

The Little River Band -- Take It Easy On Me

The Ozark Mountain Daredevils -- You Know Like I Know

Loggins & Messina -- Back To Georgia

Gerry Rafferty -- City To City

Arlo Guthrie -- City Of New Orleans

Chris de Burgh -- Don't Pay The Ferryman

Dave Mason -- Headkeeper

Pete Townshend -- Face The Face

707 -- I Could Be Good For You

Ambrosia -- Life Beyond L.A.

Symphonic Slam -- Modane Train

April Wine -- Ooowatanite

The Moody Blues -- Ride My See-Saw

Thin Lizzy -- Showdown

Graham Parker -- White Honey

Dixie Dregs -- Take It Off The Top

Nick Gilder -- You Really Rock Me

The Steve Miller Band -- Winter Time

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

Bruce Springsteen -- Fade Away

Dan Fogelberg -- False Faces

Molly Hatchet -- Fall Of The Peacemakers

Randy Meisner -- Hearts On Fire

Bob Geldof -- I Don't Like Mondays

The Rolling Stones -- Mother's Little Helper

Styx -- Sing For The Day NOT MEAT LOAF

38 Special -- Teacher Teacher

Mama's Pride -- Young And Free

My personal lockdown playlist this week isn't as lengthy as it might have been, thanks to a couple of multiple-disc sets. Here 'tis:

King Crimson – Epitaph (2 CDs)

Faith Hill – Breathe

Mireille Mathieu – Rencontres Des Femmes

Kronos Quartet – Pieces Of Africa

Edvard Grieg – Peer Gynt Suites / Holberg Suite

John Renbourn – The Hermit

Ronnie Wood – Slide On This

The Bothy Band – 1976

Chris Leslie – Fiddle Back

Van Morrison – Astral Weeks

The Johnstons – The Johnstons

Afro Celt Sound System – The Source

Ella Fitzgerald – The Irving Berlin Songbook, Vol. 2

Wishbone Ash – Pilgrimage

Van der Graaf Generator – Still Life

Curved Air – Phantasmagoria

Jane Siberry – No Borders Here

Sandy Denny – Rendezvous

Fairport Convention – Fairport unCONVENTIONal (5 CDs)

New Order – The Best Of New Order

Maggie Reilly – Past Present Future

James Taylor – Covers

Toto – Past To Present 1977-1990

America – Hat Trick

Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger & The Trinity – Open

Eric Clapton – From The Cradle

Colin James – Take It From The Top: The Best Of Colin James

Jackie De Shannon – The Definitive Collection

Linda Ronstadt – Heart Like A Wheel

Wishbone Ash – Wishbone Four

Pink Floyd – The Division Bell

The Kinks – Soap Opera

Susanna Hoffs -- Susanna Hoffs

KSHE KLASSICS SHOW, MAY 30th, 2021

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 in order to spoof an American address, and this week i was listening from Atlanta, Georgia, again.

Quotation of the week: John Lennon: Time you enjoy wasting, was not wasted.

I'd completely forgotten, but this was the Memorial Day Weekend in the Divided States of America, and it's traditional for KSHE to do a special “Top 500” countdown all weekend. This meant that it was an abbreviated edition of The Klassics Show – only half as long as usual – which was a shame because there was a lot of wonderful music today. Definitely a grade of “A+.”

Things i learned today: Vienna is Billy Joel's favourite song from his own catalogue; For A Rocker was Jackson Browne's tribute to James Honeyman-Scott, lead guitarist for The Pretenders, who died of heart failure induced by cocaine excesses at the age of 25.

Here, have a playlist, and a photo of Vienna – the city, not the song:

Louisiana's LeRoux – Take A Ride On A Riverboat

Billy Joel – Vienna

The Who – You

Dan Fogelberg – As The Raven Flies

The Charlie Daniels Band – Blue Star

Styx – Boat On The River

The Ozark Mountain Daredevils – Chicken Train

Supertramp – Child Of Vision

New England – Don't Ever Wanna Lose You

Icehouse – Electric Blue

Leon Russell – Tightrope

Headstone – Turn Your Head

Steely Dan – Green Earrings

Benny Mardones – Mighta Been Love

Strawbs – Lemon Pie

Journey – Where Were You

Jackson Browne – For A Rocker

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

Sweet – Fox On The Run

Firefall – Headed For A Fall

Two double disc sets and a load of schtuff i hadn't played in a long time are the main features of this lockdown week's playlist:

Peter Gabriel – Birdy

ABBA – Gold: Greatest Hits

Various Artists – Summer Of Love, Vol. 1: Tune In

Laurie Anderson – Big Science

Sky – Sky 2

Steeleye Span – Now We Are Six Again (2 CDs)

Kim Mitchell – Rockland

Kate Bush – Director's Cut

Paul Simon – The Rhythm Of The Saints

Capercaillie – Sidewaulk

Caro Emerald – Deleted Scenes From The Cutting Room Floor

Rockpile – Seconds Of Pleasure

Manfred Mann's Earthband – Chance

London Grammar – Californian Soil

Jan Akkerman – Tabernakel

The Sutherland Brothers & Quiver – Beat Of The Street

Bob Dylan – Bob Dylan

New Order – The Best Of New Order

Joan Osborne – Bring It On Home

Kate Bush – The Dreaming

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

Zaz – Recto Verso

Van Morrison – Moondance

Various Artists – The Crying Game

Spiers & Boden – Tunes

The John Kirkpatrick Band – Force Of Habit

Paula Cole – American Quilt

Susanna Hoffs – Susanna Hoffs

Randy Newman – Little Criminals

Peter Hammill – In Camera

Enya – Paint The Sky With Stars: The Best Of Enya

Warren Zevon – Genius: The Best Of Warren Zevon

Various Artists – Stay Awake

Renata Tebaldi – La Tebaldi (2 CDs)

The Chieftains – The Chieftains 4

Maddy Prior & June Tabor – No More To The Dance