KSHE KLASSICS SHOW, November 10th, 2019

Quotation Of The Week ~ Lewis Carroll: Imagination is the only weapon in the war against reality.

[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, yet again.

Right, well, this week's program scores an A+ for sure! Rory Gallagher means that that grade is automatic, but there was so much more than dear old Rory. “Hocus Pocus” by Focus is such an amazing piece of music – Bill, the deejay at that other station i listen to, said that when he first heard it in 1971, his first thought was “what the hell was that?!?” and his second thought was, “i want to hear it again!” -- it's always great to hear Cheryl Dilcher, “I Can't Explain” is one of my favourite Who singles, anything from Deep Purple's “Machine Head” album is fine by me, and that Nazareth song is one of my favourites of theirs. Oh, and Todd Rundgren, too!

It wasn't all joy, health, love and peace, however. Two songs by Ted Nugent? Aw, c'mon, John. I can barely tolerate The Nuge at the best of times and today's selections were egregious. Sloppy guitar playing, stupid lyrics, just full-throttle annoying. However, thanks to the excellence of the rest of the show, you are forgiven. (And to paraphrase Anderson Cooper on CNN last week, some of you may need to look up what “egregious” means, and by “some of you” i mean Donald J. Trump, Jr. I don't think D.J.T.J. reads this blog, though....)

But enough about politicians. On to the music (and one photo of Denver – which looks gorgeous).

Bob Seger – Get Out Of Denver

Rory Gallagher – Brute Force And Ignorance

Firefall – Goodbye, I Love You

The Marshall Tucker Band – Twenty-Four Hours At A Time

Hall & Oates – Goodnight And Good Morning

Michael Murphy – Renegade

Ted Nugent – Great White Buffalo

Unicorn – Ooh Mother

Cheryl Dilcher – Who's The Captain (Of Rock 'N' Roll)

Nantucket – Heartbreaker

Ace – Found Out The Hard Way

Brian Auger & Oblivion Express – Happiness Is Just Around The Bend

Derek & The Dominos – Have You Ever Loved A Woman

Supertramp – Lady

Def Leppard – Hello America

Asia – Only Time Will Tell

Grinderswitch – Higher Ground

Wet Willie – Street Corner Serenade

Deep Purple – Highway Star

Chilliwack – Roll On

Rare Bird – As Your Mind Flies

Focus – Hocus Pocus

Kansas – Hold On

Hudson Ford – Free Spirit

Nazareth – Holiday

Shooting Star – You Got What I Need

Atlanta Rhythm Section – Homesick

Danny Spanos – Hot Cherie

Lake – Key To The Rhyme

Ted Nugent & The Amboy Dukes – Call Of The Wild

Loverboy – Hot Girls In Love

Santana – Everything's Coming Our Way

The Who – I Can't Explain

Todd Rundgren – We Gotta Get You A Woman

Phil Collins – I Don't Care Anymore

Journey – Stay Awhile

Jimmy Spheeris – I Am The Mercury

In personal news:

OK, that's it, i have fired all of my therapists (a.k.a. bartenders). The good ones never seem to be at the clinic (i.e., pub) when i go there and i'm stuck with Neanderthals who wouldn't recognise a playlist if they found one in their soup. I had to choose my week's playlist all on my own-ee-o. I did a pretty good job, i think. Here's the list, make up yer own minds:

Wishbone Ash – There's The Rub

Court Yard Hounds – Amelita

Jane Siberry – The Walking

Rod Stewart – You Wear It Well

Chelsea Williams – Boomerang

London Grammar – Truth Is A Beautiful Thing

Paula Cole – Revolution

Lindisfarne – The Very Best Of Lindisfarne

Fairport Convention – Angel Delight

Siouxsie & The Banshees – A Kiss In The Dreamhouse

Loggins & Messina – Sittin' In Again

Steve Winwood – The Finer Things

Jethro Tull – A Passion Play

Steeleye Span – Storm Force Ten

Kim Mitchell – Kimosabe

Saga – Saga

Propaganda – A Secret Wish

Roy Wood – Mustard

Renaissance – Scheherazade And Other Stories

Terje Rypdal – Descendre

Amazing Blondel – Evensong

Steely Dan – Aja

Sharon Shannon – Each Little Thing

Bonnie Raitt – Give It Up

Nik Kershaw – To Be Frank

Renaissance – A Song For All Seasons

Pink – I'm Not Dead

The Beatles – Help!

The Etchingham Steam Band -- The Etchingham Steam Band

Carolina Chocolate Drops – Genuine Negro Jig

The Kinks – Muswell Hillbillies

KSHE KLASSICS SHOW, November 3rd, 2019

Quotation Of The Week ~ Clarence Clemons: As a horn player, the greatest compliment one can get is when a person comes up to you and says “I heard this saxophone on the radio the other day and i knew it was you. I don't know the song, but i knew it was you on sax.”

[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.

It was a wonderful program this week: it definitely earned a grade of “A.” Just look at that list down there – lots of music i can honestly say i love, nothing i hated, and only one song that was just the teensiest bit tedious. (That would be J.F. Salt's yawn-o-rama.)

What a great start, too, with the often wonderful Wishbone Ash (still going strong after an incredible fifty years in the biz). Other favourites included George Harrison, The Moody Blues, The Yardbirds, Pink Floyd, Jeff Beck (incidentally my second favourite guitarist of all time), The Beatles (of course!), Jon & Vangelis and Jimi Hendrix.

As usual, it ended far too soon.

Wishbone Ash – Blind Eye

Styx – Father O.S.A.

Little Feat – Cold, Cold, Cold / Tripe Face Boogie

Fandango – Feel The Pain

Kansas – Can I Tell You

Humble Pie – Fool For A Pretty Face

Triumph – Fight The Good Fight

George Harrison – All Things Must Pass

Grand Funk Railroad – Footstompin' Music

The Moody Blues – For My Lady

Frozen Ghost – Should I See

J.F. Murphy & Salt – Last Illusion

The Yardbirds – For Your Love

Justin Hayward – Forever Autumn

Pink Floyd – Free Four

Jeff Beck – Freeway Jam

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – Free Girl Now

The Beatles – I Want You (She's So Heavy)

Loverboy – Lucky Ones

Molly Hatchet – Gator Country

Jon & Vangelis – Friends Of Mr Cairo

Jimi Hendrix – Stone Free

Slade – Get Down Get With It

Billy Joel – Get It Right The First Time

Outlaws – Hurry Sundown

Journey – The Girl Can't Help It

Steppenwolf – The Pusher

Dust – From A Dry Camel

Angel – Feelings

Crabby Appleton – Go Back

Dave Mason – Show Me Some Affection

Tucky Buzzard – Gold Medallions

Crosby, Stills & Nash – Helplessly Hoping

Toto – Georgy Porgy

Bad Company – Gone, Gone, Gone

And here are the albums my therapist a.k.a. bartender told me to play at home this week, suggesting that the music might delay my impending nervous breakdown....

Dixie Chicks – Home

Afro-Celt Sound System – Anatomic

Peter Gabriel – So

Amazing Blondel – England

Peter Hammill – And Close As This

ABBA – Gold: Greatest Hits

Pretenders – Learning To Crawl

Steely Dan – Countdown To Ecstasy

A Fine Frenzy – Pines

Elton John – Madman Across The Water

Nanci Griffith – Other Voices / Other Rooms

Dan Fogelberg – Souvenirs

The Home Service – A New Ground

Paul McCartney & Wings – Band On The Run

Yes – Fragile

Steve Earle – The Revolution Starts Now

Fleetwood Mac – Tribute To The Blues

Pink Floyd – A Momentary Lapse Of Reason

Jackson Browne – Lives In The Balance

Court Yard Hounds – Court Yard Hounds

Bob Dylan – The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan

The Sugarcubes – Life's Too Good

Outback – Baka

Kate Bush – The Other Sides

Eliza Gilkyson – Land Of Milk And Honey

Deep Purple – Machine Head

Marillion – Fugazi

Van der Graaf Generator – H To He Who Am The Only One

Peter Hammill – Nadir's Big Chance

Mike Oldfield – Five Miles Out

Green Day – American Idiot

Coleman Hawkins – Body And Soul

Natalie Maines -- Mother

KSHE KLASSICS SHOW, Rocktober 27th, 2019

Quotation Of The Week ~ Willie Nelson: I would like to see more airplay for all artists, no matter what age. I think there's a lot of money being spent toward the young guys, but a lot of the older guys are the ones who blazed the trail for those young guys.

[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 San Francisco; i hadn't been there in a while.]

The good news this week is, Bart is back! Yes, Bart Inman of St Louis's own Inman Air (heating and cooling), whose ads used to feature regularly but who has been absent for several weeks. It was good to hear his voice and the Missouri accent and there's something about his droll sense of humour that i really enjoy. If i lived in Missouri or southern Illinois, i would certainly let him look after my furnace, if i had a furnace.

As for the stuff that's less important than the ads (i.e., the music) this week's episode gets a grade of ... A+

Not just because of Bart, of course. Uman played Rory Gallagher (for the second week in a row), which automatically means an A+ but even without Rory, this week's show would again have merited it. There was some obscure schtuff, for sure. I mean, The Beatles? Who dat? But absolutely nothing annoying – with the possible exception of Stevie Nicks: i used the duration of her song to go and scrub my cat's litter box, which was far more enjoyable than having to listen to her nasality -- and loads of songs that i would include in my top 500 favourites list. Nick Lowe! Jefferson Airplane! Steely Dan! James Taylor! And that was just in the first hour.

Is it any wonder that The Klassics Show is the highlight of my week?

Here's the playlist, and a photograph of San Francisco:

The Ozark Mountain Daredevils – Country Girl

Nick Lowe – Cruel To Be Kind

The Beatles – Golden Slumbers / Carry That Weight / The End

Pousette-Dart Band – County Line

Icehouse – Crazy

Jefferson Airplane – Crown Of Creation

Steely Dan – Deacon Blues

Supertramp – Crime Of The Century

The Inmates – Dirty Water

James Taylor – Country Road

The Youngbloods – Darkness, Darkness

The Michael Schenker Group – Cry For The Nations

Hammersmith – Daybreak

Rusty Weir – Don't It Make You Wanna Dance?

Genesis – Eleventh Earl Of Mar

The Little River Band – Man On Your Mind

The Who – Don't Let Go The Coat

Chilliwack – Baby Blue

Bad Company – Crazy Circles

The Tubes – Talk To Ya Later

Traffic – Light Up Or Leave Me Alone

Chicago – Dialogue (Part I & II)

Long John Baldry – Don't Try To Lay No Boogie Woogie On The King Of Rock 'N'    Roll

The Police – Driven To Tears

Sniff 'N' The Tears – Driver's Seat

Rory Gallagher – Edged In Blue

Z.Z. Top – El Diablo

Sammy Hagar – Cruisin' And Boozin'

Fleetwood Mac – Emerald Eyes

Stevie Nicks – I Can't Wait

Rare Bird – Peace Of Mind

Poco – Crazy Eyes

Rod Stewart – Every Picture Tells A Story

Santana – I'll Be Waiting

The Babys – Turn And Walk Away

Little Feat – All That You Dream

I saw three different therapists (a.k.a. bartenders) this week: Melissa at Montana's twice, Ricki at Montana's and Brooklynne (sp?) at Bentley's. I hate the jargon they use. I mean, what does “should be locked up for his own good” mean? What are they implying by calling me “barking”? If they can't speak plain English, i may have to fire them. I had to chose my own personal playlist all by myself and i'm feeling set adrift. You'll see what i mean:

The Kinks – Muswell Hillbillies

Buffalo Springfield – Last Time Around

Shooglenifty – Solar Shears

Martin Carthy & Dave Swarbrick – Walnut Creek

Midori – Live At Carnegie Hall

Yes – Talk

London Grammar – If You Wait

Manfred Mann's Earth Band – The Best Of Manfred Mann's Earth Band

Cat Stevens – Buddha And The Chocolate Box

Jon Anderson – The Promise Ring

Rory Gallagher – Top Priority

Court Yard Hounds – Amelita

Afrocelts – Seed

Max Webster – Max Webster

June Tabor w. Martin Simpson – A Cut Above

The Cure – Greatest Hits

John Renbourn – The Hermit

This Mortal Coil – It'll End In Tears

Marc Jordan – Mannequin

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan – Mustt Mustt

Alanis Morissette – Jagged Little Pill

Eagles – Desperado

Pink Floyd – The Endless River

Annie Haslam – Annie Haslam

Marillion – With Friends From The Orchestra

Kesha – Rainbow

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

Sheryl Crow – Threads

Jimi Hendrix – Blues

Tori Amos – Boys For Pele

Mike Oldfield – Heaven's Open

Survivor – Vital Signs

KSHE KLASSICS SHOW, Rocktober 20th, 2019

Quotation Of The Week ~ Confucius: Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without.

[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 once again.]

R.I.P. Steve Cash of The Ozark Mountain Daredevils (1946-2019).

O.K., that sad news out of the way i'm delighted to be able to grade this week's edition A-plus. The inclusion of Rory Gallagher automatically means an A-plus, of course, but today's show merited it regardless. The first hour alone was full of music i love, and the subsequent three hours (minus commercials) barely let up the brilliant pace.

Certainly there were a few obscurities scattered throughout, but all nice stuff, and the only really annoying song was that by The Fraternity Of Man – i hadn't heard it in perhaps thirty years and i can quite happily go another thirty years without hearing it again. Apologies to all you pot-heads out there who adore it and find it gut-bustingly funny but that's just the way it is (baby).

On a technical note, it wasn't a seamless four hours: the stream dropped several times and i even had to reload it twice. It's difficult to determine whose fault this was, though. My Internet connection did seem a bit erratic this morning, but not much worse than usual. Maybe the problem lay with KSHE? Or maybe the gremlin that lives inside the box....

And the damned show ended ten minutes early! Huh?!?

Anyway, here's The Ozark Mountain Daredevils, and the playlist:

Renaissance – Carpet Of The Sunday

Robin Trower – Bridge Of Sighs

The Climax Blues Band – Towards The Sunday

Buffalo Springfield – Broken Arrow

Billy Joel – Root Beer Rag

The Robbin Thompson Band – Brite Eyes

Night – Hot Summer Night

The Small Faces – Itchycoo Park

Rory Gallagher – Philby

Mott The Hoople – Roll Away The Stone

Elton John – Burn Down The Mission

The Fraternity Of Man – Don't Bogart That Joint, My Friend

Vandenberg – Burning Heart

Manfred Mann's Earthband – Father Of Day, Father Of Night

Blind Faith – Can't Find My Way Home

The Police – Secret Journey

The Ozark Mountain Daredevils – Chicken Train

Atlanta Rhythm Section – Champagne Jam

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – Change Of Heart

Z.Z. Top – A Fool For Your Stockings

Supertramp – Child Of Vision

City Boy – 5.7.0.5.

Mark-Almond – What Am I Living For

Bad Company – Call On Me

Ian Hunter – When The Daylight Comes

Trooper – Cold, Cold Toronto

Carillo – She Takes The Night

The J. Geils Band – Come Back

The Jon Butcher Axis – Don't Say Goodnight

Arlo Guthrie – City Of New Orleans

Ambrosia – Holdin' On To Yesterday

Armaggedon – Buzzard

Rhythm Corps – Common Ground

Procol Harum – Conquistador

Rainbow – Bring On The Night (Dream Chaser)

Justin Hayward – Country Girl

Atlanta Rhythm Section – Free Spirit

Dwight Tilley – Could Be Love

And here's what troubled the laser at Spriggs Towers this week:

Chrissie Hynde – Stockholm

Runrig – The Ones That Got Away

Capercaillie – Delirium

Joan Osborne – Relish

Pink Floyd – The Division Bell

Yes – The Yes Album

Saga – Silent Knight

Genesis – Nursery Cryme

Ashley Hutchings et al. -- Rattlebone And Ploughjack

Fish – Vigil In A Wilderness Of Mirrors

The Beatles – Past Masters, Volume 2

Carbon Leaf – Love, Loss, Hope, Repeat

The Kinks – (The Kinks Are) The Village Green Preservation Society

Amazing Blondel – Fantasia Lindum

Rory Gallagher – Defender

Hot Tuna – Burgers

Florence + The Machine – High As Hope

Procol Harum – Shine On Brightly

Various Artists – Son Of “Morris On”

Cyndi Lauper – Twelve Deadly Cyns

Chantal Kreviazuk – Ghost Stories

The Rolling Stones – The Rolling Stones, Now!

Eliza Gilkyson – Lost And Found

Dick Gaughan – The Harvard Tapes

Joni Mitchell – Night Ride Home

Jethro Tull – A

Jackson Browne – Running On Empty

Max Webster – High Class In Borrowed Shoes

Yes – Relayer

Various Artists – Passion Sources

Thunder – Back Street Symphony

Steeleye Span – Rocket Cottage

KSHE KLASSICS SHOW, Rocktober 13th, 2019

Quotation Of The Week ~ Nick Hornby: What came first, the music or the misery? People worry about kids playing with guns, or watching violent videos, that some sort of culture of violence will take them over. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands, literally thousands of songs about heartbreak, rejection, pain, misery and loss. Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?

[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 yet again (although, as Cheney itself has a population of under 3000, it has no decent inns of its own so my hotel is probably in Wichita).]

Aw, c'mon, John: Bloodrock? Really? Gad, that song is awful. Its dirgelike nature is so in contrast with the feel-good mood of most of the stuff this morning (even the sad songs) and besides, just taken on its own merits it's a very bad piece of music.

Bad, bad, bad. No redeeming musical value. Bad.

That said, i'm awarding this week's show a grade of A.

Admittedly, there wasn't a lot that i can honestly say i love – not much from my list of 1000 favourite songs – but Mott The Hoople, 10 c.c., The Beatles and Renaissance .... these songs are in my top 200, and they're what resulted in the A. As for the rest of the program, their was some pretty obscure schtuff to be sure, but nothing annoying – even the Ted Nugent song wasn't awful.

Here's the view from my Wichita hotel room – i was so high up it gave me a nosebleed.

And here's the playlist:

Outlaws – Breaker Breaker

Elton John – All The Girls Love Alice

Foreigner – You're All I Am

Mott The Hoople – All The Way From Memphis

The Graeme Edge Band – Paradise Ballroom

Atlanta Rhythm Section – Jukin'

Max Demian Band – Paradise

Touch – Don't You Know What Love Is

Spirit – Animal Zoo

The Who – Another Tricky Day

The Blue Jays – Saved By The Music

Iain Matthews – Seven Bridges Road

Golden Earring – Are You Receiving Me

Couchois – Do It In Darkness

10 c.c. -- Art For Art's Sake

Marshall Tucker Band – The Last Of The Singing Cowboys

Grand Funk Railroad – Bad Time

Rush – Bastille Day

Huey Lewis & The News – Walking On A Thin Line

Journey – Be Good To Yourself

Michael Stanley – Let's Get The Show On The Road

Molly Hatchet – Beatin' The Odds

Strawbs – Keep On Trying

The Beatles – Across The Universe

John Miles – Do It All Again

Derek & The Dominos – Bell Bottom Blues

America – Don't Cross The River

Robert Palmer – The Best Of Both Worlds

Renaissance – Midas Man

Cat Stevens – Bitterblue

Ted Nugent – Hey Baby

Bloodrock – D.O.A.

Dwight Twilley Band – Twilley Don't Mind

Pat Travers – Boom Boom Out Go The Lights

The Ozark Mountain Daredevils – Break Away (From Those Chains)

Jefferson Starship – Girl With The Hungry Eyes

I didn't have a dedicated therapist to help me to choose my own personal playlist this week. Oh, i was at the clinic (a.k.a. the pub) four times, but i had four different doctors (a.k.a. bartenders) so i pretty much dreamed this up all on my tod:

B.B.M. -- Around The Next Dream

Rod Stewart – Vagabond Heart

Collective Soul – Disciplined Breakdown

The Keef Hartley Band – The Battle Of North West Six

The Albion Band – Lark Rise To Candleford

The Small Faces – Ogden's Nut Gone Flake

Thunder – Behind Closed Doors

London Grammar – If You Want

Planxty – Live In Bremen

Fairport Convention – Full House

Mike Oldfield – Songs Of Distant Earth

Marillion – Clutching At Straws

Pyewackett – Pyewackett

Saga – Saga

The Law – The Law

John Lennon – Menlove Ave.

Max Webster – Max Webster

Talk Talk – Natural History: The Very Best Of Talk Talk

Jackson Browne – Lives In The Balance

Yes – Close To The Edge

A Fine Frenzy – Bomb In A Birdcage

Van Morrison – The Best Of Van Morrison

Peter Hammill – Sitting Targets

Jeff Beck – Wired

Steve Earle – El Corazón

Jack Bruce – Out Of The Storm

Cat Stevens – Buddha And The Chocolate Box

Jane Siberry – Bound By The Beauty

The Bothy Band – 1975

Eliza Carthy – Neptune

The Faces – Long Player

Manfred Mann's Earthband – Angel Station

Steeleye Span – Est'd. 1969

Caro Emerald – Emerald Island