KSHE KLASSICS SHOW, Aug. 22nd, 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. Connecting was an adventure itself this week, though. (For “adventure” read friggin' hassle.) according to whatismyipaddress.com, i was listening from Vienna, Austria. (?!?) 

On the day before the show, my VPN started playing silly buggers: it was very slow to connect and then, when it did, the connection kept dropping. So i did what any normal geek would do, uninstalled it and re-downloaded it. That's when the fun began: the new installer wouldn't run. The error message said, make sure all previous versions have been removed and that your anti-virus isn't blocking the application from running, I spent a good part of the afternoon trying to sort this out, but to no avail. Even temporarily disabling anti-virus didn't work. The i remembered that the Opera browser comes with a built-in VPN, so i downloaded and installed it and after playing with it for a bit, set the VPN for the Americas and wound up in Austria! So i haven't completely worked Opera out yet but at least i was able to listen, and that's the main thing. But now i'm seriously considering re-installing Windows altogether.... 

Quotation Of The Week: Joseph Campbell ~ Computers are like Old Testament Gods: lots of rules and no mercy. 

 I'm afraid i can't really grade this week's program higher than a B. There was nothing wrong with it – and there was nothing that annoyed me – but there was not much music that i would call great. Without a doubt the highlight of the show for me was the song by Yes – which i didn't know until today was an anti-war (Vietnam?) protest song. Other highlights included Pete Townshend (KSHE's website showed that they were playing Meat Loaf at the time and i am ever so glad they were wrong!), Brave Belt and Heart. As i said, a lot to like but not a lot to love. Here's Vienna, and the playlist: 

 Santana – Hope You're Feeling Better 

April Wine – Shotdown 

Bad Company – Holy Water 

Dave Mason – Every Woman 

Kansas – Two Cents' Worth 

Fleetwood Mac – Bare Trees 

Supertramp – Oh Darling 

Jackson Browne – In The Shape Of A Heart 

The Guess Who – Albert Flasher 

Pete Townshend – Give Blood 

Steely Dan – The Royal Scam 

Stephen Stills – Love The One You're With 

The Doobie Brothers – South City Midnight Lady 

Brave Belt – Another Way Out 

Todd Rundgren – A Real Man 

Triumvirat – Dimplicity / Last Dance 

The Marshall Tucker Band – Windy City Blues 

Styx – This Old Man 

Triumph – I Live For The Weekend 

Yes – Yours Is No Disgrace 

Electric Light Orchestra – So Fine / Livin' Thing 

Heart – Dreamboat Annie 

Rush – Test For Echo 

Elton John – Grey Seal 

Nazareth – Shanghai'd In Shanghai 

Giant – See You In My Dreams 

The Grateful Dead – Not Fade Away / Goin' Down The Road Feelin' Bad 

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – Everybody I Love You 

Journey – Still They Ride 

Prism – Julie 

Robin Trower – Little Bit Of Sympathy 

Wings – Venus And Mars / Rock Show 

Stevie Nicks – Bella Donna 

Phil Collins – Only You Know And I Know 

John Mellencamp – Ain't Even Done With The Night 

A very short personal playlist from me this week, I've been busy: 

Gregson & Collister – The Last Word 

Dick Gaughan – Redwood Cathedral 

The Alan Parsons Project – I, Robot 

Nanci Griffith – There's A Light Beyond These Woods 

Walsyngham Way -- Walsyngham Way 

1651 – Cast A Bell 

John Hiatt – Walk On 

Kathy Mattea – A Collection Of Hits 

The Doobie Brothers – Toulouse Street 

Curved Air – Second Album 

The Mahavishnu Orchestra – Birds Of Fire 

Genesis – Foxtrot 

Eliza Gilkyson – Lost And Found 

The Allman Brothers Band – Eat A Peach (2 CDs) 

Susanna Hoffs – Susanna Hoffs 

The Moody Blues – Greatest Hits 

God Is An Astronaut – All Is Violent, All Is Bright 

Roger Waters – Amused To Death 

David Gilmour – About Face 

Steve Earle – El Corazón 

Rita Coolidge – The Best Of Rita Coolidge 

Howard Jones – The 12” Album 

Jane Siberry – The Walking 

Jeff Beck Group – Jeff Beck Group 

Joe Bonamassa – Driving Towards The Daylight 

SRC – SRC 

Paul Simon – Surprise 

Fairport Convention – Nine

KSHE KLASSICS SHOW, Aug. 15th, 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.

Quotation Of The Week: Sheryl Crow ~ If it makes you happy, it can't be that bad.

This week's post is dedicated to the memory of a singer who has probably never been played on KSHE, country-folk artist Nanci Griffith, who died last week at 68. I can't say that i was a huge fan but some of her songs touched me on a very visceral level. R.I.P., Nanci. (There's a pic of her down there. A sweet looking woman.)

Anyhoo. Today's program. It came very close to a grade of “A+” but three songs torpedoed it. REO friggin' Speedwagon, a band that remains very popular in St Louis and show up regularly on the show but are tremendously disliked by me (and most rock music fans in Canada, i believe); Harry friggin' Chapin, whose miserable, self-pitying whiny songs are fingernails on a chalk board to me, and St Louis natives Pavlov's Dog. Their lead singer, David Surkamp, has one of the worst voices i've ever heard. Execrable schtuff.

So, i'm grading it an “A-.” There was definitely a whole shedload full of wonderful music. I think that my personal favourite was the song by Kayak – not because it's a brilliant piece of work, but because it was such a delightful surprise. Otherwise, there were definite works of brilliance by Van Morrison, Genesis, Electric Light Orchestra, The Cars and on and on.

Van Morrison – Moondance

Bob Seger – Turn On Your Love Light

Steely Dan – Dirty Work

Yes – Rhythm Of Love

String Driven Thing – Josephine

The Moody Blues – You And Me

Neil Young & The Bluenotes – This Note's For You

Joe Walsh – Turn To Stone

The Babys – Love Don't Prove I'm Right

Kayak – I Want You To Be Mine

Genesis – Follow You, Follow Me

Jethro Tull – Living In The Past

Electric Light Orchestra – Turn To Stone

Supertramp – Another Man's Woman

Eddie Money – I Wanna Go Back

The Police – When The World Is Running Down

Black Oak Arkansas – Hot And Nasty

The Kinks – Apeman

REO Speedwagon – I Don't Wanna Know

Loggins & Messina – House At Pooh Corner

Slade – How Can It Be

Billy Joel – An Innocent Man

Harry Chapin – I Wanna Learn A Love Song

38 Special – Back Where You Belong

Loverboy – Queen Of The Broken Hearts

Sammy Hagar – Crack In The World

The Jimi Hendrix Experience – The Wind Cries Mary

Roger Daltrey – Free Me

Heart – White Lightning And Wine

The Cars – Tonight She Comes

Poco – Good Feelin' To Know

Triumph – I Can Survive

Pretenders – Back On The Chain Gang

The Who – Overture / It's A Boy

Eric Clapton – See What Love Can Do

Lou Reed – Sweet Jane (live)

Alotta Haynes Jeremiah – Lake Shore Drive

Pavlov's Dog – Julia

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – Carry On / Questions

Normie Rowe – Need Your Lovin' Tonight

The Marshall Tucker Band – I'll Be Loving You

My personal playlist is quite a short one this week, which may be surprising as i had an extra day off but may not be as there were four double albums. Here 'tis:

Patty Griffin – Silver Bell

James Taylor – Mud Slide Slim And The Blue Horizon

Mama's Pride – Uptown And Lowdown

Blodwyn Pig – Getting To This

Various Artists – City Of Angels

Wolfscote – Turn The Glass

The Nice – The Swedish Radio Sessions

Sweet – The Best Of Sweet

Electric Light Orchestra – Out Of The Blue

Fairport Convention – The Five Seasons

Donovan – A Gift From A Flower To A Garden (2 CDs)

God Is An Astronaut -- God Is An Astronaut

Marillion – Anoraknophobia (2 CDs)

Dengue Fever – Cannibal Courtship

Martin Carthy – Sweet Wivelsfield

Spandau Ballet – Gold: The Best Of Spandau Ballet

God Is An Astronaut – All Is Violent, All Is Bright

Neverending White Lights – Act 1: Goodbye Friends Of The Heavenly Bodies

Caro Emerald – Deleted Scenes From The Cutting Room Floor

Stevie Wonder – The Definitive Collection

Dan Fogelberg – Nether Lands

Bob Seger – Smokin' O.P.'s

Nanci Griffith – Other Voices, Too (A Trip Back To Bountiful)

Marillion – Misplaced Childhood (2 CDs)

Laurie Anderson – Mister Heartbreak

The Johnstons – The Barley Corn

Sheryl Crow – Live At The Ryman (2 CDs)

Talking Heads – Fear Of Music

Nanci Griffith – The MCA Years: A Retrospective

KSHE KLASSICS SHOW, Aug. 8th, 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 – wait for it – St Louis, Missouri! I've been there in real life, of course, but i've never listened from there before.... 

Quotation Of The Week: Chet Baker: It takes a pretty good drummer to be better than no drummer at all.

It was an excellent program this morning, kids, and probably would have earned a grade of A+ even without the appearance of Rory Gallagher and Mama's Pride (back to back, no less). Unfortunately i had a network failure and missed the last two songs altogether, but it wasn't a great loss, i think.

OK, it may have included the worst songs The Rolling Stones and Chicago ever inflicted upon us, but it also had some of the best of Fleetwood Mac, Billy Joel, The Kinks, Rod Stewart and Genesis, plus the long – and hilarious! -- version of Arlo's Motorcycle Song. As usual, the show was highlight of my week.

Educational, too. For instance, i learned today that John Lennon hated Bob Dylan's “born-again” period and wrote Serve Yourself in response to Gotta Serve Somebody, and that Elton John played on the Jackson Browne song, credited as “Rockaday Johnny”. (Another Bob Dylan reference there!)

Anyway, here's the playlist, and a photograph of our host, John Ulett:

   

Yes – Leave It

Bob Dylan – Gotta Serve Somebody

Emerson, Lake & Palmer – Hoedown

The Rolling Stones – Send It To Me

Robin Trower – Somebody Calling

Batdorf & Rodney – Life Is You

Jackson Browne – Redneck Friend

Fleetwood Mac – World Turning

Billy Joel – New York State Of Mind

Rare Earth – Born To Wander

The Little River Band – Every Day Of My Life

The Outlaws – There Goes Another Love Song

The Kinks – Sunny Afternoon

Paul McCartney – Beware My Love

Steely Dan – King Of The World

Rod Stewart – Mandolin Wind

America – Only In Your Heart

The Marshall Tucker Band – Fire On The Mountain

Prism – Virginia

Country Joe MacDonald – Hold On It's Coming

Chicago – Alive Again

The Moody Blues – Go Now!

Climax Blues Band – I Love You

UFO – Cherry

Joe Walsh – Welcome To The Club

Joe Cocker – Delta Lady

Heartsfield – Lost Love

Santana – Aquamarine

Triumvirat – Spartacus

Jimmie Spheeris – The Nest

Arlo Guthrie – Motorcycle Song

Rory Gallagher – I Take What I Want

Mama's Pride – Maybe

Genesis – Firth Of Fifth

Foghat – Honey Hush

The Grateful Dead – Truckin'

Journey – Ask The Lonely

The Steve Gibbons Band – Speed Kills

I had a few extra days off this week which would normally mean a massive huge personal playlist, but i was also out of town one day and there were a few multiple disc sets and two DVDs so it's kinda manageable:

Fleetwood Mac – The Chain (4 CDs)

Be+Bop Deluxe – Electrical Language

Kate & Anna McGarrigle – Love Over And Over

Jan Akkermann – Tabernakel

10 c.c. -- The Original Soundtrack

The Doobie Brothers – What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits

The Moody Blues – Gold (2 CDs)

Pink – Greatest Hits ... So Far!!!

Chris Leslie – Fiddle Back

Mark Knopfler – Shangri-La

Dave Pegg – The Cocktail Cowboy Goes It Alone

The Kinks – Sleepwalker

Zaz – Recto Verso

Laurie Anderson – Mister Heartbreak

Van der Graaf Generator – The Least We Can Do Is Wave To Each Other

Oysterband – Granite Years: Best Of, 1986-'97 (2 CDs)

Billy Connolly – Live In New York (DVD)

Quicksilver Messenger Service – Happy Trails

Free – Fire And Water

Planxty – Cold Blow And The Rainy Night

Elbow – Little Fictions

French Frith Kaiser Thompson – Live Love Larf Loaf

Survivor – Vital Signs

The Tragically Hip – Now For Plan A

Fleetwood Mac – Live (2 CDs)

God Is An Astronaut -- God Is An Astronaut

Rhiannon Giddens – Freedom Highway

Fairport Convention – Off The Desk 2020

The Doobie Brothers – Minute By Minute

Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger & The Trinity – Open

Amazing Blondel – England

Dixie Chicks – Fly

Dan Fogelberg – Live: Greetings From The West (DVD)

Jack Bruce – Somethinels

Zaz – Sans Tsu Tsou

Cocteau Twins – Heaven Or Las Vegas

Roxy Music – The Early Years

 

KSHE KLASSICS SHOW, Aug. 1st, 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 Clifton, New Jersey.

Quotation Of The Week: Ray Davies ~ He just spends his life living in a rock'n' roll fantasy.

There are many things in this life that i don't understand. String Theory is one; how some of the people where i work manage to keep their jobs is another. Why REO Speedwagon is so popular in St. Lou is a third. But why, oh why, when there are so many fantastic songs by The Eagles, did Uman play one of their mostest blandest songs today​? Just baffling.

Otherwise, though, it wasn't bad and scores an “A”. The grade would have been lower if not for Mama's Pride (and one of their best songs), thanks to the inclusion of the dreadful REO and Ted Nugent.

Highlights for me were Billy Joel, Genesis, The Byrds, Loggins & Messina, Jon & Vangelis and Rod Stewart when he was still relevant and not a bloated wealthy pop star.

Black Oak Arkansas – Uncle Elijiah

Billy Joel – Streetlife Serenader

Trevor Rabin – Finding Me A Way Back Home

The Doobie Brothers – Livin' On The Fault Line

Eagles – Wasted Time

Michael Martin Murphey – Carolina In The Pines

Genesis – Like It Or Not

Atlanta Rhythm Section – Another Man's Woman

The Byrds – So You Want To Be A Rock 'N' Roll Star

Climax Blues Band – Reaching Out

Ted Nugent – Workin' Hard, Playin' Hard

The Who – Boris The Spider

Snail – The Joker

REO Speedwagon – Take Me

Rush – Nobody's Hero

Nazareth – Miss Misery

Santana – Europa (Earth's Cry, Heaven's Smile)

The Moody Blues – The Voice

Survivor – Summer Nights

Todd Rundgren – Just One Victory

Loggins & Messina – Vahevala

Fleetwood Mac – Blue Letter

Mama's Pride – Ol' St Lou

Jon & Vangelis – I Hear You Now

Rod Stewart – Cut Across Shorty

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – Finding Out

Supertramp – Poor Boy

The James Gang – Alexis

April Wine – Tonight

Kansas – Icarus (Borne On Wings Of Steel)

Traffic – John Barleycorn Must Die

Def Leppard – Rock Brigade

38 Special – Chain Lightnin

Dave Mason – We Just Disagree

Rainbow – Long Live Rock And Roll

Andy Pratt – Avenging Annie

My personal playlist this week could have been a lot longer as i had three days off instead of the usual one (although on one of them i was out of town all day). Three double albums reined it in a bit, too, but it's still kinda lengthy:

Susanna Hoffs – Susanna Hoffs

Eliza Gilkyson – 2020

A Fine Frenzy – One Cell In The Sea

Pink Floyd – The Early Singles

Jimi Hendrix – Rainbow Bridge

Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman, Howe -- Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman, Howe

Howard Jones – In The Running

Fish – Weltschmerz (2 CDs)

Genesis – Three Sides Live (2 CDs)

Dead Can Dance – In Concert

The Beatles – Love

10,000 Maniacs – In My Tribe

Various Artists – Shining Bright: The Songs Of Lal & Mike Waterson

Sparks – Lil' Beethoven

Laurie Anderson – Home Of The Brave

Hothouse Flowers – Born

The Butterfield Blues Band – East-West

Eliza Carthy – Anglicana

Patty Griffin – Silver Bell

Rory Gallagher – Take It Easy Baby

The Law – The Law

The Kinks – Come Dancing: The Best Of The Kinks 1977-1986

Colin James – National Steel

10 c.c. -- The Original Soundtrack

Beryl Davis – I'll Be Seeing You

Howard Jones – The 12” Album

Various Artists – Joni 75: A Birthday Celebration

The Beatles – With The Beatles

Richard Thompson – Mock Tudor

Wizzard – Wizzard Brew

June Tabor – At The Wood's Heart

Renaissance – Azure D'Or

Siouxsie And The Banshees – A Kiss In The Dreamhouse

The Fabulous Thunderbirds – Tuff Enuff

Happy Rhodes – Equipoise

Hot Tuna – Burgers

The Allman Brothers Band – Eat A Peach (2 CDs)