KSHE KLASSICS SHOW, Mar. 7th, 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, to spoof an American address. Evidently at some point this week i got my kicks on Route 66 because last week i was in Chicago and this week, according to https://whatismyipaddress.com/ i was in L.A.]

Quotation Of The Week ~ Frank Zappa: The mind is like a parachute. It doesn't work if it isn't open.

To get the important stuff – the ads – out of the way first, i've mentioned before how strange it seems to me to hear hospitals advertising on the radio. We had none today but we did have dermatologists, which is almost as odd. Fortunately we also had Bart Inman. And nothing from insurance salesman Big Lou or used car dealer Pickle Man. Nice!

Michael Stanley was an artist who was extremely popular in St Louis and throughout The States, but i don't ever recall hearing his music, either solo or with his band, until i started listening to KSHE back when dinosaurs ruled the earth. I liked it, and although i never bought any of his albums, there was nothing wrong with it at all. (I looked for a best-of collection once but there doesn't seem to be one available.) Michael died of lung cancer last week at the age of 72, and as a tribute the first two songs this morning were his – and they were two of his best, and then there was a darned good selection from The Michael Stanley Band towards the end of the show. Uman's voice was definitely cracking when he announced it, R.I.P., Michael. (I know that i'm cynical about the record industry: i expect that, now that he's gone, we'll be inundated with re-issues, previously-unreleased radio broadcasts and compilations.)

Apart from the slight pall that lay over the program because of that news, it was an excellent one today, undeniably worthy of a grade of A. Okay, there was REO Speedwagon and their miserable and cringeworthy attempt at pop-rock balladry, but otherwise there wasn't a duff track anywhere. I even liked the Derek & The Dominos piece and, let's face it, their album was mostly a cocaine and drug-fuelled mess. But then there was some brilliant music, including the extraordinary Hocus Pocus by Focus, which was definitely the highlight of the morning for me, plus Cat Stevens, a Todd Rundgren twofer, and Paul McCartney's favourite song of all time, God Only Knows. (It must be nice to be so definite: i like the song but i couldn't choose one favourite song of all time – i'd have trouble choosing a top 500!)

Anyway, here's the playlist, and Michael Stanley.

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

Michael Stanley – Rosewood Bitters

Justin Hayward – Forever Autumn

Pink Floyd – Free Four

Nick Lowe – Cruel To Be Kind

Cat Stevens – Father And Son

Todd Rundgren – Can We Still Be Friends

Robbin Thompson – Brite Eyes

Bruce Springsteen – Cadillac Ranch

John Mellencamp – Hot Night In A Cold Town

The Guess Who – Hand Me Down World

Jefferson Starship – Girl With The Hungry Eyes

Bad Company – Gone, Gone, Gone

Derek & The Dominos – Have You Ever Loved A Woman

Robert Palmer – Give Me An Inch Girl

Santana – Hold On

Gregg Allman – Come And Go Blues

Def Leppard – Hello America

Phil Collins – I Don't Care Anymore

Loverboy – Hot Girls In Love

Firefall – Goodbye, I Love You

Bruce Springsteen – I'm A Rocker

Asia – Here Comes That Feeling

The Little River Band – I'll Always Call Your Name

Kenny Loggins – Heart To Heart

Focus – Hocus Pocus

REO Speedwagon – I Need You Tonight

Crosby, Stills & Nash – Helplessly Hoping

Todd Rundgren – I Saw The Light

Prism – Hello

Eddie Money – Gimme Some Water

The Spencer Davis Group – I'm A Man

Kansas – Hold On

The Alan Parsons Project – I'd Rather Be A Man

The Beach Boys – God Only Knows

Rare Earth – I Just Want To Celebrate

Foreigner – Headknocker

U2 – I Will Follow

The Michael Stanley Band – Don't Stop The Music

Queen – I'm In Love With My Car

Bruce Cockburn – If I Had A Rocket Launcher

The Charlie Daniels Band – In America

My personal playlist for the week is a pretty hefty one – i had the week off and was able to listen to a lot of music i hadn't heard in a long time. It could have been even longer if not for all the running around i had to do....

The Albion Band -- Acousticity

Eagles -- Desperado

Blowzabella -- Vanilla

Marillion -- With Friends From The Orchestra

Alison Krauss & Union Station -- Paper Airplane

Marcia Ball -- Gatorhythms

Various Artists -- The British Invasion, Vol. 6

Zaz -- Sur La Route (DVD)

Talk Talk -- History Revisited: The Remixes

The Waterboys -- Room To Roam

June Tabor -- A Quiet Eye

Imogen Heap -- I Megaphone

Dan Fogelberg -- The Innocent Age (2 CDs)

The Home Service -- A New Ground

Jane Siberry -- Bound By The Beauty

Various Artists -- Evangeline Made: A Tribute To Cajun Music

The John Kirkpatrick Band -- Force Of Habit

Rory Gallagher -- Check Shirt Wizard: Live in '77 (2 CDs)

The Kinks -- Schoolboys In Disgrace

Colin James -- Hearts On Fire

Phil Collins -- ... Hits

Rod Stewart -- Vagabond Heart

Art Garfunkel -- Simply The Best

James Taylor -- (Live) (2CDs)

Joan Osborne -- Pretty Little Stranger

George Harrison -- Brainwashed

Dead Can Dance -- Spleen And Ideal

Mike Oldfield -- Songs Of Distant Earth

Terje Rypdal -- Chaser

Tangerine Dream -- Phaedra

The Incredible String Band -- Wee Tam And The Big Huge (2 CDs)

Maddy Prior w. Hannah James & Giles Lewin -- Shortwinger

Mary Chapin Carpenter -- Time*Sex*Love*

Various Artists -- All Through The Year

The Sugarcubes -- Stick Around For Joy

Ten Years After -- Essential

Cornershop -- When I Was Born For The 7th Time

Dave Whetstone – The Resolution

Dave Swarbrick & Simon Nicol – Another Fine Mess: Live In New York '84

Rory Gallagher – Songs For Romy (a bootleg, ssh!)

The Beatles – Live At The Hollywood Bowl

Supergrass – In It For The Money

David Bowie – Hunky Dory

Talk Talk – The Colour Of Spring

City Boy -- Anthology

KSHE KLASSICS SHOW, Feb. 28th, 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, to spoof an American address. This week, according to https://whatismyipaddress.com/ i was listening from Chigago again.]

Quotation Of The Week ~ Irving Berlin: Music is so important. It changes thinking, it influences everybody, whether they know it or not. Music knows no boundary lines.

It may just have been my imagination, but it seemed to me that there were more ads (thus less music) than usual this morning, including one for Mercy Hospital ("Your life is our life's work") and hearing hospitals advertise for customers is something that really bemuses me. I keep having to remind myself that the U.S.A. is a foreign country.

An excellent start to today's show with one of my favourite Stephen Stills songs, and there were quite a few favourites to follow and of course Dan Fogelberg, which means that we grade this edition an "A+".

The song by The Who that followed is definitely not one of their best but later on Uman played Dr Jimmy which definitely is a top fave Who number, so all is forgiven. In fact today's show was full of less-than-stellar songs by performers i love, as well as the usual complement of brilliant music by Neil Young, Tull, Arlo Guthrie and Steely Dan. There was, in fact, only one sour moment: Ted Nugent's dreadful number about the joys of going out into the wild and slaughtering furry woodlnd creatures. I'm looking forward to the day when the animals start fighting back...

Stephen Stills --Change Partners

The Who -- Don't Let Go The Coat

Z.Z. Top -- El Diablo

Ian Hunter -- Cleveland Rocks

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

Bad Company -- Electric Land

The J. Geils Band -- Come Back

The Little River Band -- Emma

Black Sabbath -- Fairies Wear Boots

The Who -- Doctor Jimmy

Traffic -- Empty Pages

Arlo Guthrie -- Coming Into Los Angeles

Molly Hatchet -- Dreams I'll Never See

Fandango -- Feel The Pain

Poco -- Company's Coming / Slowpoke

Rush -- Finding My Way

Procol Harum -- Conquistador (live)

Grand Funk Railroad -- Footstompin' Music

Spooky Tooth -- Cotton Growing Man

Steve Walsh -- Every Step Of The Way

Jethro Tull -- Cross-Eyed Mary

Ace -- Found Out The Hard Way

Neil Young -- Cowgirl In The Sand

Dan Fogelberg -- Face The Fire

Toto -- Girl Goodbye

Sammy Hagar -- Cruisin' And Boozin'

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers -- Free Girl Now

Bachman-Turner Overdrive -- Down Down

Bruce Springsteen -- Darlington County

Ted Nugent -- Fred Bear

Steely Dan -- Deacon Blues

Billy Joel -- Get It Right The First Time

The Moody Blues -- Dear Diary

Yeah, yeah, i know: another lengthy playlist from me this week:

Martin Carthy -- Shearwater

Kate & Anna McGarrigle -- Matapedia

Carbon Leaf -- Love, Loss, Hope, Repeat

Various Artists -- The British Invasion, Vol. 5

The Kinks -- Misfits

Chicago -- Chicago VII

Yes -- Fragile

Paul McCartney -- Wingspan: Hits And History (2 CDs)

Dan Fogelberg -- Captured Angel

Richard Thompson -- You? Me? Us? (2 CDs)

Sinéad O'Connor -- Throw Down Your Arms

Bob Marley & The Wailers -- Live!

Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble -- Live Alive

Frank Zappa -- Hot Rats

The Beatles -- Yellow Submarine

The Fixx -- One Thing Leads To Another: Greatest Hits

Jorma Kaukonen -- Quah

Dervish -- The Great Irish Songbook

Atlanta Rhythm Section -- ARS: The Best Of Atlanta Rhythm Section

Radiohead -- O.K. Computer

The Beach Boys -- Greatest Hits Volume Three

Dixie Dregs -- Night Of The Living Dregs

Kate Bush -- The Kick Inside

Hooters -- One Way Home

Garmana -- Hildegard von Bingen

Little Johnny England -- Mercs & Cherokees

Jefferson Airplane -- Crown Of Creation

Dire Straits -- Alchemy (2 CDs)

Runrig -- The Ones That Got Away

Zaz -- Recto Verso

The Kinks -- Soap Opera

Kim Mitchell -- Shakin' Like A Human Being

Genesis -- Live: The Way We Walk Vol. 1 -- The Shorts

Alanis Morissette -- Jagged Little Pill

ABBA -- More ABBA Gold: More ABBA Hits

The Albion Band -- Stella Maris

Jerry Douglas -- Traveler

Catharsis

 

Hi, everybody.

I'm thinking of starting a new series to bore you with, tentatively titled "Catharsis," in which i plan to bitch and moan about and occasionally exult in my day. For my own benefit, of course.

One of the worst things about getting old is that far too many old friends die. I've lost two this year already and it's only February. One's mortality zooms in like the clappers.

The most recent was Linda, one of my oldest Internet friends. We never met, although we spoke on the phone a few times. I would email Linda virtually every day -- to bitch and moan and occasionally exult -- and i found it extremely therapeutic just to type the shit. But, as Linda is no longer there for me to gripe at, you're stuck with me blogging about it.

Today, Friday, i would have emailed Linda something like this:

Damn, it's still cold and the sidewalks still haven't been properly ploughed. Walking remains difficult. It was pretty slow at work, not surprising really as we've only just come out of lockdown and people are still reluctant to come out. Stinky and Mr 30% were annoying the hell out of me all day, as usual. When i got home, it was half an hour at least before my poor li'l fingies were thawed out enough to type.

Went out for groceries later -- nothing serious, but i needed bacon for the liver-bacon-mushrooms-onions dinner i have planned for tomorrow. I could have sworn i had bacon in my freezer, but i couldn't find it, it's so jam-packed with meat. (First World problems, i know.)

Saturday: not quite so cold, but some new snow. Work was tedious.

Actually, i can't write too much about work: a memo came from head office some years ago stating that anyone posting critical or abusive comments about The Company on social media would be subject to disciplinary action. This must have happened often enough that it became a thorn in the corporate side. I guess a blog is considered social media? So i'll just say that the company i work for is the most enlightened, progressive and amazing company ever! (Too bad i work with so many idiots, like Stinky [mentioned above] [not her real name, btw, only a couple of us old-timers still know her as that] who has been making salads there for thirty five years and still doesn't seem to grasp that brown is not a good colour for lettuce....) Oh, and Mr 30% is named after the amount of effort he puts in every day.)

Anyway, tomorrow is my day off and i don't like to have to leave my apartment on Sundays, so i've been doing a bit of dashing around this afternoon so that i won't have to, and i have one more errand to run, then i'm in until Monday morning at stupid o'clock.

Damn! I meant to phone Marnie this afternoon. It's too late now. I completely understand if she wants nothing more to do with me.

Sunday: day off and i listened to The Klassics Show (obviously) and in the afternoon watched The Great Wall -- quite an exciting Matt Damon film which is like Alien set in medieval China. It also has one of the most beautiful actresses i've ever seen, Jing Tian. Oh, here she is! Ohhh, those eyes....

KSHE KLASSICS SHOW, Feb. 21st, 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, to spoof an American address. This week, according to https://whatismyipaddress.com/ i was listening from Chigago again.]

Quotation Of The Week ~ Nick Hornby: It wasn't until 1963 that you would really want to listen to any kind of English music.

Last week, i was bemused by an ad suggesting that i buy term life insurance from someone named Big Lou. I thought not. This week, 5-Star Auto Plaza -- a used car dealership in St Charles, Missouri -- wants me to buy a second-hand vehicle from "Pickle Man." If i needed a pre-owned motor, i'd be inclined to shop elsewhere, i do believe. although i neither want nor need one of those horrible machines.

The first song played today was brilliant -- as was the last song. In between, it was a bit bi-polar. There was, for my taste, too much generic hard rock (Budgie, Billy Idol & Molly Hatchet) but there was also Dan, which means the episode gets a grade of A+ although the fact is that without him it may just barely have managed a B+

Oh, there was some great music for sure: Steely Dan, The Allmans, Robin Trower, ARS, etc. But not a shed-load. And although i love a lot of Donovan's music, today's song, Atlantis, is embarrassingly bad, grumbl.

Incidentally, the Sammy Hagar was not a cover of The Kinks' song of the same name, nor was John Mellencamp's China Girl the David Bowie song. Too bad!

See you next week, meanwhile here's a pic of Marilyn.

Bob Dylan -- Tangled Up In Blue

Sammy Hagar -- 20th Century Man

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

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers -- A One Story Town

The Moody Blues -- A Simple Game

Good Rats -- Back To My Music

Steely Dan -- Aja

Billy Idol -- Blue Highway

Jackson Browne -- Boulevard

Giuffria -- Call To The Heart

Journey -- Be Good To Yourself

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers -- A Woman In Love

Elton John -- All The Girls Love Alice

Budgie -- Breadfan

Robin Trower -- Bridge Of Sighs

Z.Z. Top -- Arrested For Driving While Blind

Molly Hatchet -- Beatin' The Odds

The Allman Brothers Band -- Blue Sky

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young -- American Dream

Dan Fogelberg -- Aspen / These Days

Eric Clapton -- Before You Accuse Me

Donovan -- Atlantis

Poco -- Blue Water

Roy Buchanan -- Can I Change My Mind

Vandenburg -- Burning Heart

Armageddon -- Buzzard

Blind Faith -- Can't Find My Way Home

The Police -- Canary In A Coalmine

Derek & The Dominos -- Bell Bottom Blues

Red Rider -- Can't Turn Back

Atlanta Rhythm Section -- Champagne Jam

Cat Stevens -- Bitterblue

Les Dudek -- City Magic

John Mellencamp -- China Girl

Touch -- Black Star

Head East -- City Of Gold / Fly By Night Lady

Wishbone Ash -- Blowin' Free

It's a surprisingly lengthy personal playlist this week. Surprising because (a) we came out of lockdown #3 on Tuesday and thus i've been at work more and (b) there were three multi-disc sets. A flaw in the space/time/matter continuum, i expect....

Bonnie Raitt -- The Bonnie Raitt Collection

Gregson & Collister -- The Last Word

Waterson:Carthy -- Common Tongue

Maggie Reilly -- Past Present Future: The Best Of Maggie Reilly

Andy M. Stewart & Manus Lunny -- At It Again

Rory Gallagher -- Top Priority

Steeleye Span -- Horkstow Grange

Siouxsie & The Banshees -- Superstition

The Beatles -- Let It Be

Chicago -- Chicago VI

Tim Renwick -- Privateer

Dengue Fever -- Cannibal Courtship

Hildegard von Bingen -- A Feather On The Breath Of God

Sly & The Family Stone -- Greatest Hits

Melissa Etheridge -- Your Little Secret

Roy Wood -- Music Book (2 CDs)

Shania Twain -- Come On Over

Jackson Browne -- The Next Voice You Hear: The Best Of Jackson Browne

Five Hand Reel -- For A' That

David Bowie -- The Best Of David Bowie 1974/1979

Blondie -- The Best Of Blondie

Paul McCartney -- Ram (deluxe edition) (2 CDs)

Madonna -- American Life

Runrig -- The Highland Connection

Simon And Garfunkel -- Old Friends (3 CDs)

Colin James -- One More Mile

Jon & Vangelis -- Short Stories

Wizzard -- Wizzard Brew

Various Artists -- Crossing Jordan

Nik Kershaw -- To Be Frank

Mike Oldfield -- Heaven's Open

Paula Cole -- This Fire

Yes -- Talk

New Musik -- From A To B

Various Artists -- A Little On The CD Side, Vol. 22

KSHE KLASSICS SHOW, Feb. 14th, 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, to spoof an American address. This week, according to https://whatismyipaddress.com/ i was listening from Chicago.]

Quotation Of The Week ~ Jackson Browne: Like, what is the least often heard sentence in the English language? That would be: Say, isn't that the banjo player's Porsche parked outside?

According to this morning's show, if you need term life insurance, your best bet is to call Term Provider at 1-800-200-1966 and ask for Big Lou. Um, i don't think i'd feel confident buying used furniture, let alone insurance, from someone called 'Big Lou," but perhaps that's just me.

Anyway (or, as they say around here, anyways), about the music: definitely a grade of "A+" this week. Last week we began with The Kinks and then rapidly descended into the realms of the ordinary. Today we began with The Kinks and then soared. There was, unfortunately, a track by Aerosmith that showed their juvenile humour at its worst, but really, that was just a minor annoyance.

There were so many magical moments. The first four songs, for example! The Poco song was a let-down: they recorded one of my top 100 favourite songs of all time, ever, Rose Of Cimmaron, and yet, as someone once said to me, Poco schmoko. Their song today was mediocre. Billy Joel, Steely Dan and then ... Dan Fogelberg! He automatically generates a grade of A+ but to be honest Give Me Some Time is not one of his greatest hits (although still pretty damn good!). Oh, Bob Dylan, well, i love that song but i'm not really sure it's classic, er, Klassic rock.

Uman told an amusing story about how Cream's Badge came to be called that. The song was written by George Harrison and Eric Clapton and one day, during their collaboration, George was writing down lyrics and headed one part of his sheet music "bridge," i.e., there were the lyrics for the song's bridge. Eric, sitting across the table, looked over and saw the word upside-down and thought it was "badge" and said, oh, what a great title. And thus the song was born.

Uman also commented on the Airplane track We Can Be Together, noting that the opening riff is almost identical to Mama's Pride's Merry-Go-Round (which i knew already) and then suggesting that if they's been Led Zeppelin they'd have been sued. (Presumably he meant that Mama's Pride would have been sued but the statement was a bit ambiguous.)

The remaining aural orgasms (for me) were Todd Rundgren, Loggins & Messina, Jackson Browne, Chicago, J. Geils' amazing Whammer Jammer, and then of course, my second favourite guitarist, Jeff Beck.

As usual, the show was the highlight of my week.

Happy Birthday, Marnie! Here's the playlist:

The Kinks -- Destroyer

Manfred Mann -- Do Wah Diddy

The Rolling Stones -- Emotional Rescue

The Quicksilver Messenger Service -- Fresh Air

Poco -- Under The Gun

Billy Joel -- Goodnight Saigon

The Plimsouls -- Now

Steely Dan -- Peg

Dan Fogelberg -- Give Me Some Time

Willie Nile -- It's All Over

Eddie Money -- Peace In Our Time

Fleetwood Mac -- Tusk

Joe Walsh -- Ordinary Average Guy

Michael Stanley Band -- Hearts On Fire

Bob Dylan -- Blowin' In The Wind

Cream -- Badge

Z.Z. Top -- A Fool For Your Stockings

The Grateful Dead -- Alabama Getaway

Jefferson Airplane -- We Can Be Together

Todd Rundgren -- We Gotta Get You A Woman

Toby Beau -- Westbound Train

Jesse Colin Young -- California Child

Aerosmith -- Big Ten Inch Record

Loverboy -- Jump

Tom Petty -- Keep A Little Soul

Crosby, Stills & Nash -- Just A Song Before I Go

J.F. Murphy & Salt -- Last Illusion

Dave Mason -- Let It Go, Let It Flow

Phantom, Rocker & Slick -- Men Without Shame

Bruce Springsteen -- My Hometown

Loggins & Messina -- Nobody But You

The Faces -- Ooh La La

Jackson Browne -- The Pretender

Utopia -- Love In Action

Slade -- Cum On Feel The Noize

Schon-Hammer -- No More Lies

Chicago -- Dialogue Part 1 & 2

Jeff Beck -- Rice Pudding

The J. Geils Band -- Whammer Jammer

Trapeze -- You Are The Music

Bad Company -- Live For The Music

My personal playlist isn't a long one this time. Yes, we're still in lockdown and i've been home more, but also there were a couple of multi-disc sets:

Dire Straits -- Brothers In Arms

Fleetwood Mac -- The Chain (4 CD)

Rob Thomas -- ... Something To Be

David Lindley -- El Rayo-X

Luna -- Luna

Court Yard Hounds -- Amelita

CANO -- Aù Nord De Notre Vie

Linda Ronstadt & Emmylou Harris -- Western Wall: The Tucson Sessions

Iron & Wine -- Woman King

Nilsson -- The Point!

Jethro Tull -- Thick As A Brick

Paul Simon -- The Rhythm Of The Saints

Enya -- Dark Sky Island

The Beatles -- Magical Mystery Tour

Nick Lowe -- Basher: The Best Of Nick Lowe

Mick Abrahams -- Cat Squirrel Blues (2 CD)

Kate Bush -- Director's Cut

Yes -- 90125

Procol Harum -- Shine On Brightly

Roxy Music -- The Best Of Roxy Music

Mark Knopfler -- Golden Heart

Oysterband -- Trawler

Peter Hammill -- In Camera

New Musik -- From A To B

Talk Talk -- Laughing Stock

Richard Thompson -- Acoustic Classics

The Tragically Hip -- In Violet Light

Thunder -- Laughing On Judgement Day

Renaissance -- A Song To All Seasons

Zaz -- Effet Miroir

Maggie Reilly -- The Best Of Maggie Reilly: There And Back Again

Cat Stevens -- Buddha And The Chocolate Box

My Year In Books, 2020

As i'm sure i've mentioned, before i bought my first personal computer (it ran Windows 95 and had an incredible 2 GB of storage) i would read at least a book a week. How things have changed: now i'm lucky if i read a book every three weeks. I like to re-visit old favourites, too, but there wasn't much of that in this extraordinary year of 2020 -- almost all of the titles were new (to me) and those are indicated by an asterisk (*).

 I read a lot by Mark Twain in 2020. That man could write! Although obviously i'd heard of him before it wasn't until recently i discovered how much style he had. Haruki Murakami is a new favourite -- he reads like a cross between Franz Kafka and Lewis Carroll: there is magic and there is horror in his writing. Andrew Cartmel's Vinyl Detective series was recommended to me by an anonymous commentator on this blog and it's wonderful. It's about a man who tracks down very rare vinyl records for clients who usually have some sinister purpose. Mr Cartmel obviously has a vast knowledge of music and musical trivia and the books i read appealed to me on a visceral level. I will now have to buy the entire series.

I read Thomas Pynchon's Mason & Dixon because i heard that it was the inspiration behind one of my favourite Mark Knopfler songs, Sailing To Philadelphia. It was painful to read, so damn' tedious.... I also read a couple of books about one of my favourite politicians, Jacinda Ardern, the Prime Minister of New Zealand. Everything i'd heard about her led to believe that she was a wonderful, extraordinary woman of intelligence and empathy and courage -- so unlike most common-or-garden variety politicians and, from what i read, i was right! Unfortunately, neither book was recent enough to deal with her brilliant response to the global pandemic and how her fast and firm actions practically eliminated the virus from her nation.

My favourite book of the year was Erik Larson's book about Winston Churchill during World War II, The Splendid And The Vile. He's a brilliant writer and an historian and provides so much detail about a terrible time and gives a brilliant portrait of bravery under fire. Grace under pressure, for sure. 

 Here's that book, and Jacinda. 

 Jan. 23: Haruki Murakami – Kafka On The Shore* 

Jan. 27: J.R.R. Tolkien – Letters From Father Christmas* 

Jan. 31: Roddy Doyle – The Commitments 

Feb. 6: Roddy Doyle – The Snapper 

Feb. 18: Roddy Doyle – The Van 

March 3: Ian Rankin – Westwind* 

Apr. 22: Thomas Pynchon – Mason & Dixon* 

May 6: Cynthia Kennedy Henzel – Jacinda Ardern: Prime                 Minister Of New Zealand* 

May 14: Erik Larson – The Splendid And The Vile: A Saga Of         Churchill, Family, And Defiance During The Blitz* 

May 15: Mark Twain – On The Decay Of The Art Of Lying* May 21: Simon Webb – The Life And Times Of Jeremiah Dixon,     Surveyor Of The Mason-Dixon Line* 

June 6: Mark Twain – A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's         Court* 

June 25: Mark Twain – Roughing It* 

July 4: Michelle Duff – Jacinda Ardern* 

July 15: Margaret Atwood – The Handmaid's Tale 

July 24: Andrew Cartmel – The Vinyl Detective: Written In             Dead Wax* 

July 31: Mary L. Trump – Too Much And Never Enough: How         My Family Created The World's Most Dangerous Man* 

Aug. 22: Justin Kaplan – Mr Clemens And Mark Twain: A             Biography* 

Sept. 3: Aldous Huxley – Brief Candles 

Sept. 14: Andrew Cartmel – The Vinyl Detective: The Run-Out         Groove* 

Sept. 18: Martin Amis – Night Train Sept. 

24: Michael B. Druxman – Basil Rathbone: His Life And His             Films 

Oct. 8: George MacDonald Fraser – Flashman At The Charge Nov. 11: Haruki Murakami – Killing Commendatore* 

Nov. 18: Ian Rankin – A Song For The Dark Times*

My Year In Music 2020

 It seems that, every few years, i become obsessed with a performer who may have been around for a while but whose music i'd never heard before and immediately have to buy as many of their albums i can find.

The first one that i can recall was Happy Rhodes, followed a few years later by Dan Fogelberg. (Yes, i know he was extremely popular back in the 70s and 80s but i was listening to the wrong radio stations in those days.) A few years after that it was Caro Emerald's wonderful Euro-Jazz stylings. She's on my bucket list of performers i'd love to see before i die.

A couple of years ago, i thought i'd found another: Alison Sudol, the singer with A Fine Frenzy. Her voice made my spine melt and and her songwriting had a dusting of genius upon it and i bought all four of their albums. But they split up and i listened to some of her solo tracks and they were dreadful: she didn't even sound like her.

Then i thought it might be the group London Grammar and their exquisite singer Hannah Reid. Their first two albums may be considered boring as hell or so beautiful you wind up on the floor weeping with joy, and i'm definitely in the latter camp. Alas, what i've heard of their third album is so underwhelming i have no plans to whip out the credit card and zoom off to amazon.ca

This year, i discovered Isabelle Geffroy, stage name "Zaz" (a childhood nickname, i believe), who's been recording for around ten years. Her vocal style is reminiscent of Edith Piaf's, but with a gruffer timbre. Sheer magic. She's a huge star in Europe and South America but as she only sings in French and Spanish she'll never be big in North America -- although she has performed in Montreal -- and that's sad.

So, i bought a lot of Zaz cds last year. In fact i bought a lot of cds in 2020 period. Probably half of them were replacements for old vinyl (which i have no way to play at the moment), the rest were new discoveries.

The music industry is dead. Most of their "new" releases are "deluxe" editions of old albums with added bonus tracks which were left off the original releases for a very good reason -- they're crap. Or recordings of radio concerts which cost the record companies a pittance to release and are often just note-for-note performances of the original studio recordings. The major labels are desperate.

It's the independent labels that are thriving and moving into uncharted territory. Or should i say, thriving by moving into uncharted territory.

So, what were my favourite albums of 2020?

Certainly the most important album was Songs Of Our Native Daughters, released by the Smithsonian Institute. It's a compilation album featuring Rhiannon Giddens (a wonderful singer in her own right), Amythyst Kish, Leyla McCalla and Allison Russell and consists of old (19th and 20th century) songs about the experience of being a Black woman in America. It's moving, it's heartfelt, it's emotional and insanely beautiful. Every white person in the USA needs to listen to this.

Of the new (to me) albums that i bought, i think i have to give the nod to Nik Kershaw's 2001 album To Be Frank. I was a fan in the eighties but then i kinda lost track of his work, but this album is sheer joy from start to finish. Nice work, Nik!

I'll also give a nod of the Hatlo Hat to Elbow's Little Fictions (2017) -- their singer, Guy Garvey, has the voice of a choirboy and their songs touch me deeply.

(What?! I hear you exclaim, nothing by Zaz?!? Well, no, but only because all of her albums are new to me, i haven't really made close friends with any of them, yet. But it's coming!)

As for the CDs that were replacements for old vinyl, well there a couple by Free which were excellent but i'm giving the laurel wreath to CANO's Aù Nord De Notre Vie from 1977 -- CANO is an acronym for Co-operative des artistes du Nouvel-Ontario. A French-Canadian folk-rock collective from Northern Ontario. Very few of their albums are available on CD any more, and this one was a bit pricey but it was well worth it!

It's not a perfect album, by any means. The female singer, Rachel Paiement, has a gorgeous voice and the instrumental playing is sumptuous, but some of the male vocals leave a bit to be desired. I can live with that, though: Ashley Hutchings can't sing, either.

Here are the albums and some pics of Zaz.