KSHE KLASSICS SHOW, Nov. 15th, 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 North Bergen, New Jersey. I hadn't been there in a while.]

Quotation Of The Week ~ Plato: Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.

Yay! Bart was back today. Twice. Bart Inman, that is: the owner of Inman Air. I really like his laconic Midwestern drawl and his self-deprecating sense of humour and his ads are always enjoyable and if i lived in St Louis or southern Illinois, i'd be sure to use him for all of my heating and air conditioning needs. But, enough about the ads.

This week's program came within a whisker of being graded A-minus. There was a lot of fabulous music, starting with the first track, but there was also a lot of okay-but-not-great schtuff (Jimmie Spheeris, The Babys, et al.) and one extremely annoying number, which i'll remark on in a minute. (I was also somewhat disturbed when KSHE's website announced that the next song would be by Meatloaf. You can believe my heart sank! But what they actually played was Bullseye Bill by Unicorn, whew....) What kicked it up to a grade of A was one song: the eighteen-plus minutes of Close To The Edge, one of Yes's greatest songs from one of their greatest albums. Other wonderful moments included Robin Trower, The Sutherland Brothers & Quiver, ARS, Humble Pie and Alice Cooper.

Speaking of dear old Alice, though, back in his shock-rock days, he recorded The Ballad Of Dwight Fry (which he would perform live wearing a strait jacket, ultimately escaping from it and strangling his nurse) and it is truly dreadful. It was his tribute to the horror film actor Dwight Frye (he dropped the “e” fearing legal repercussions, although as Frye died in 1943 he'd hardly be likely to sue). Fortunately i love the other song of his that was played this morning.

In the “what i learned today” segment of this post, what i didn't appreciate was that Walter Becker (of Steely Dan) did not play most of their superb guitar solos. He was primarily the bass player. This was news to me, as a non-reader of album credits (especially with CDs, the print is just too damn small for my old eyes). Jeff “Skunk” Baxter was their lead guitarist until 1974, after which they used a variety of “guests” such as Denny Dias, Larry Carlton, Lee Ritenour, and even Mark Knopfler once.

Here's the list, and a picture of Dwight Frye:

Rod Stewart – Every Picture Tells A Story

Black Sabbath – The Wizard

The Steve Miller Band – True Fine Love

Santana – Open Invitation

Alice Cooper – Hello Hurray

Creedence Clearwater Revival – Midnight Special

Jimmie Spheeris – I Am The Mercury

Robin Trower – Too Rolling Stoned

Elton John – Where To Now St Peter

Rush – Jacob's Ladder

Steely Dan – Don't Take Me Alive

Little Feat – Spanish Moon

Alice Cooper – The Ballad Of Dwight Fry

The Sutherland Brothers & Quiver – Arms Of Mary

Journey – Be Good To Yourself

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – Change Of Heart

Rhythm Corps – Common Ground

The Babys – You (Got It)

The Band – Life Is A Carnival

Neil Young – Rockin' In The Free World

Butts Band – Be With Me

Runner – Run For Your Life

Yes – Close To The Edge

Atlanta Rhythm Section – Angel (What In The World's Come Over Us)

Bob Welch – Sentimental Lady

Buckwheat – I Just Can't Turn My Habit Into Love

Asia – Don't Cry

The Poussette-Dart Band – County Line

Styx – Jennifer

Humble Pie – I Don't Need No Doctor

Poco – Legend

Unicorn – Bullseye Bill

Bob Dylan – Rainy Day Women #12 & 35

The Inmates – Dirty Water

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – Our House

Jefferson Starship -- Cruisin'

My own personal playlist this week is kind of a lengthy one, considering that there were three double discs and a CD/DVD combo on top of the fact that i'd spent far more time at my other job than i wanted to. Here 'tis:

The Bee Gees – Odessa

Frida Lyngstad – Something's Going On

The Mahavishnu Orchestra – Birds Of Fire

Terje Rypdal – After The Rain

Soft Machine – Land Of Cockayne

Fairport Convention – Gladys' Leap

The Dave Brubeck Quartet – Time Out

Various Artists – A Little On The CD Side, Vol. 11

Rory Gallagher – Check Shirt Wizard: Live in '77

Nik Kershaw – To Be Frank

Van der Graaf Generator – Present

Eagles – The Long Run

Electric Light Orchestra – Out Of The Blue

Fairport Convention – 50:50 @ 50

Chris Leslie – Origins

Eliza Carthy – Heat, Light & Sound

Dick Gaughan – Handful Of Earth

Maddy Prior & June Tabor – No More To The Dance

Tony Banks – A Curious Feeling (CD + DVD)

Chicago – Chicago III

Yes – The Yes Album

Bob Seger – Beautiful Loser

Roy Wood – Mustard

Annie Haslam – Annie In Wonderland

The Fixx – One Thing Leads To Another: Greatest Hits

Sixpence None The Richer -- Sixpence None The Richer

Sequentia – Ancient Music For A Modern Age

Stevie Ray Vaughan – The Real Deal: Greatest Hits, Vol. 2

Joan Osborne – Trouble And Strife

Various Artists – A Little On The CD Side, Vol. 12

The Alan Parsons Project – I Robot

KSHE KLASSICS SHOW, Nov. 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 an American address. This week, according to https://whatismyipaddress.com/ i was listening from New York City, where spontaneous block parties are breaking out and they're dancing in the streets thanks to the defeat on Saturday of D*n*ld J. Tr*mp.]

Quotation Of The Week ~ Stevie Ray Vaughan: You see, we are here, as far as i can tell, to help each other; our brothers, our sisters, our friends, our enemies.

Well, what a rip-off. The show is supposed to start at 9:00 a.m., but actually began five minutes later. (I thought it might be extended a few minutes past one o'clock to compensate, but no such luck.) John Ulett could have included a whole 'nother song in that time. However, with the first track, all was forgiven – one of my favourite Yes songs and a long one, too. In fact, the whole first hour was superb, as was the second. It slid a little after that, although not by much, and the program would probably have earned its grade of A+ even without the inclusion of Mama's Pride. But A+ it is. So much this morning i can truly say i love, and not a single annoying number.

Grace Slick was once quoted as saying that (and i'm paraphrasing here) whereas Jefferson Airplane was a rock band (and a very good one, too, in my opinion) Jefferson Starship was a pop band, and a highly variable one. This morning's track was from the Red Octopus album, which is probably their best. Things went slowly sideways after that. They dumbed down their name to Starship and Mickey Thomas joined as co-lead vocalist. They released the song “We Built This City (On Rock And Roll)” (co-written by Bernie Taupin, of all people – he should have known better) which i actually kinda like as a guilty pleasure but which regularly shows up on music critics' lists of the worst songs of all time.

Anyway, here's the list, and here's the salvation of America.

Yes – And You And I

Jefferson Starship – Play On Love

Fleetwood Mac – Shake Your Moneymaker

Humble Pie – Thirty Days In The Hole

Steely Dan – The Fez

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – Finding Out

The Moody Blues – The Actor

The Who – I Can't Explain

Asia – Cutting It Fine

Rod Stewart – Gasoline Alley

Novo Combo – Too Long Gone

Little Feat – Medley: Cold Cold Cold / Tripe Face Boogie

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – Ohio

Electric Light Orchestra – In The Hall Of The Mountain King

The Ozark Mountain Daredevils – Take You Tonight

Bruce Springsteen – Kitty's Back

Triumph – Say Goodbye

Eddie Money – Rock And Roll The Place

Luther Grosvenor – Under Open Skies

Heartsfield –Shine On

Kansas – Song For America

Hawks – It's All Right, It's OK

Supertramp – Hide In Your Shell

Joe Walsh – The Confessor

Jimi Hendrix – Stone Free

Mama's Pride – She's A Stranger To Me Now

Trapeze – Midnight Flyer

Kansas – What's On My Mind

Rush – Lakeside Park

The Doobie Brothers – You're Made That Way

The Michael Stanley Band – One Good Reason

Jesse Colin Young – Grey Day

Dave Mason – Taking The Time To Find

Neil Young – Like A Hurricane

Paul Kantner, Grace Slick & David Freiberg – Across The Board

My own personal playlist is not an overly long one this time around, partly thanks to three two-cd sets (Chicago, Genesis and Fish), partly unthanks to my work, where i've spent far more time than i've wanted lately:

Genesis – Genesis

Chicago – The Very Best Of Chicago: Only The Beginning

Jon & Vangelis – Short Stories

Afrocelts – Seed

Susan Tedeschi – Live From Austin TX.

Luna – Luna

Spiers & Boden – Tunes

Sloan – The Double Cross

Joni Mitchell – Don Juan's Reckless Daughter

Genesis – The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway

CANO – Aù Nord De Notre Vie

Carolina Chocolate Drops – Genuine Negro Jig

UB40 – The Very Best Of UB40

Marc Cohn – Marc Cohn

Bob Dylan – The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan

King Crimson – In The Wake Of Poseidon

Quicksilver Messenger Service -- Quicksilver Messenger Service

Peter Gabriel – Rated PG

Dead Can Dance – Toward The Within

Loreena McKennitt – Parallel Dreams

Various Artists – A Little On The CD Side, Vol. 10

The Jeff Beck Group – Beck-Ola

Pink – Greatest Hits ... So Far!

Rory Gallagher – Top Priority

Fish – Weltschmerz

Various Artists – Tower Of Song: The Songs Of Leonard Cohen

Davy Spillane Band – Out Of The Air

City Boy – Anthology

Eliza Gilkyson – Land Of Milk And Honey

John Lennon – Mind Games

A Fine Frenzy – Pines

Electric Light Orchestra – Early Years

Dan Fogelberg – Nether Lands

Steve Hackett – Defector

KSHE KLASSICS SHOW, Nov. 1st, 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 Santa Clara, California, where there have now been 406 deaths due to COVID-19.]

Quotation Of The Week ~ Franz Schubert: Music embodies feeling without forcing it to contend and combine with thought, as it is forced in most arts and especially in the art of words.

Well, who can one trust these days? There was an ad on this morning's program, placed by Uniting Missouri PAC, attacking Missouri state auditor Nicole Galloway, who's running for governor against Republican incumbent Mike Parsons, accusing her and her husband of corruption and abuse of office and stating that she was under investigation for felonies. I subscribe to the St Louis Post-Dispatch and i try to keep up, especially with the election so close and i'd never heard of any of that before, and i like Nicole, so i dug a little deeper and discovered that the charges are a load of old cobbler's. 100% false. I expect advertisers to maybe bend the truth a bit, but that was egregious. She should sue. Vote for Nicole, folks! (At least she'd beautify the Governor's Mansion. Yes, i know, i'm shallow.) (Editor's note: can we cool it with the politics, please, Dad?)

OK, on to the music, Today's show came within a hair's breadth of being graded an “A+”, but it lost points for the appearance of Yoko Ono, as a backing vocalist on “Instant Karma!” and it "merely" earns an "A". I love the song, of course, and as there are quite a few backing vocalists, her voice is pretty buried in the mix, but it's there: an audible screech. Shudder!

Otherwise, it was a magical morning. Hardly anything annoying, just the one song by Blend which actually was all right until you learn that the prize of the title is the carcass of a bear that was shot by some dipshit hunter who ventured forth to blow the brains out of furry woodland creatures. Otherwise, a lot of it was taken from my very own record collection and there was much that i can honestly say i love love LOVE. And as we all know and as Todd Rundgren (who popped in twice today) said, “love is the answer.”

Right off the top we had Steely Dan, followed closely by Yes, Renaissance (a track that featured the excellent Andy Powell of Wishbone Ash on electric guitar), Dylan, Todd, Camel, Nazz, Captain Beyond, Flash & The Pan... all music that i adore. I think that my favourite song was the one by Nazz, but there were so many to choose from. The Buddy Miles track was excellent, but i prefer the version he recorded on Jimi Hendrix's Band Of Gypsys album.

Here's the playlist and a picture of Nicole Galloway. Vote early and vote often! If the United States hasn't devolved into complete anarchy after the election, i'll see you next week.

Steely Dan – Pretzel Logic

Chris Rea – Working On It

Jefferson Starship – No Way Out

Little Feat – Rocket In My Pocket

Yes – Changes

Renaissance – Ashes Are Burning

Todd Rundgren – Hello It's Me

Uriah Heep – The Wizard

The Steve Miller Band – Winter Time

Bob Dylan – Lay Lady Lay

Camel – Lady Fantasy

Traffic – Empty Pages

Crosby, Stills & Nash – Southern Cross

Nazz – Open My Eyes

Fleetwood Mac – Emerald Eyes

Jim Capaldi – Living On The Edge

Joe Cocker – The Letter

Captain Beyond – Sufficiently Breathless

The Climax Blues Band – Using The Power

Russ Ballard – Voices

Flash And The Pan – Hey, St Peter

The Grateful Dead – U.S. Blues

Alvin Lee & Mylon LeFevre – So Sad (No Love Of His Own)

Lucifer's Friend – Spanish Galleon

Ray Gomez – Make Your Move

Bad Company – Painted Face

The Babys – Looking For Love

John Lennon – Instant Karma!

The J. Geils Band – First I Look At The Purse

Genesis – Home By The Sea

Paice Ashton Lord – Remember The Good Times

Schon & Hammer – The Ride

Buddy Miles – Them Changes

Ironhorse – You Gotta Let Go

Blend – The Prize

The Michael Schenker Group – Cry For The Nations

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

The Zombies – Time Of The Season

Shoes – She Satisfies

Here's what troubled my optical drive this week:

Luna – Luna

Various Artists – A Little On The CD Side, Volume 8

Pyewackett – Sheffield Hallum Wakes Folk Festival 1991 (ssh, it's a bootleg)

Elvis Costello – The Best Of Elvis Costello: The First Ten Years

Ray Davies – Working Man's Cafe

Dengue Fever – Cannibal Courtship

Steve Earle – Transcendental Blues

Jack Bruce – SomethinEls

The Kinks – Sleepwalker

Paul McCartney – Ram (deluxe edition)

Home Service – Alright Jack

Fairport Convention – Nine

Steeleye Span – Est'd 1969

Warren Zevon – Genius: The Best Of Warren Zevon

Afro Celt Sound System – Volume 2: Release

Tori Amos – Strange Little Girls

Wizzard – Introducing Eddy & The Falcons

Rhiannon Giddens – Factory Girl

10,000 Maniacs – In My Tribe

James Taylor – Greatest Hits

Cat Stevens – Laughing Apple

ABBA – More ABBA Gold

Oysterband – Granite Years: Best Of ... 1986 To '97

Various Artists – World Of Noise

Alan Stivell – Live In Dublin

Van der Graaf Generator – Still Life

Marillion – Brave

Eagles – On The Border

Various Artists – A Little On The CD Side, Volume 9

The Beatles – A Hard Day's Night

Afro Celt Sound System – Volume 3: Further In Time

James Taylor – American Standard

Various Artists – Joni 75: A Joni Mitchell Birthday Celebration

Jerry Douglas -- Traveler