SiriusXM highlights CLXXX

Nine recommended tunes heard today:

'70s On 7

• Day After Day-Badfinger (Music reviewers frequently cite Badfinger as one of the most influential power pop bands.  Of the band's three best hits, "Day After Day" tilts most heavily toward the singer-songwriter side but is no less of a sing-along track than "No Matter What" or "Baby Blue.")

Acoustic Guitar Instrumentals

• Bicycle Day-A.B. Chediski (A melody fit for trundling aimlessly down a secluded road.  I'd play Davey Graham's "Forty Ton Parachute" after this.)

Alt R&B

• Sunshine-Jungle (This August release has an appealing '70s dance throwback feel.)

Luna

• War Of The Flutes-Frank Emilo (The piano is essential in keeping this melody percolating.)

Real Jazz Just Music

• Carefree-Billy Childs (A classy stroll of a piano melody.)

The Village

• Raised On Robbery-Twisted Pine (Vocally and instrumentally, this captures the energy and spirit of Joni Mitchell's original version.  It's fun hearing this melody with a bluegrass twist.)
• Snow-The Staves (Sometimes, relationships end...just because.)

Watercolors Instrumental

• High Heels-Lisa Addeo (Uptempo smooth jazz piano and saxophone synergy.)

Yacht Soul

• Got To Be Real-Cheryl Lynn (I've come close to including "Got To Be Real" in these highlights posts several times, so it's time I finally acknowledge how well this groove has held up since the '70s.)

Online radio sampler highlights CCCXI

Six intriguing selections heard today on five radio stations I haven't sampled before:

KBVR (Corvallis, OR) 

• Spring (Live)-Shaene Marie Pascal (Endearingly sincere, quiet vocals.)

KCWU (Ellensburg, WA)

• Shelter-Sadie (I don't always like it when vocals are manipulated with studio wizardry, but they work well with this beat.)

WBJC (Baltimore, MD)

• Claude Debussy: Suite Bergamasque: III. Clair de Lune (Jaime Laredo, violin; Margo Garrett, piano) (Both instrumentalists, especially Laredo, wring every possible drop of lyrical resonance from the melody in this rendition.)

WSRN (Swarthmore, PA)

• Going Home-Alice Coltrane (This dramatic instrumental underscoring is tense and heroic.  The harp and orchestral strings give the melody a reassuring undercurrent.)
• La ville, Pt. 2-Ahmed Malek (This '70s instrumental sports a "Theme From 'Shaft'" influence.  The saxophone stylings are avant-garde yet accessible.)

WUVT (Blacksburg, VA)

• Dusty Eyes-Bedouine (Sensitively written and sung lyrics about the impermanent nature of a meaningful relationship.)

A function of age LIV

When you record a fair amount of radio, not everything you preserve will stand the test of time.  One recording I have from over 20 years ago is labeled, "'Democracy Now'--General Wesley Clark rally."

When I unearthed that recordable CD, I remembered, "Oh, that's right.  General Clark ran for president in 2004."  Respect to him for running--but there's no urgent reason for me to listen to that edition of "Democracy Now" again.

Such is the temporary nature of radio.

Questionable inertia II

I have to remember that I'm under no obligation to leave the radio on the same station I heard during a previous meal.  Otherwise, I end up listening to a not terribly compelling program in which listeners call in and say, "I've got a Dagnabbit brand riding lawn mower for sale.  Two of its tires are missing, and it takes nine attempts on average to start it.  Aside from that, it works pretty well.  I'm asking three thousand dollars for it, and I can be reached at (this phone number.)"

I've spent more breakfasts than I want to admit listening to that program.  So far, I've justified it as an amusing study in human nature, but that excuse is wearing thin.

Persistent earworm alert CDLVI

While working recently, the rhythmic chorus of Neil Diamond's "The Boat That I Row" came to mind early in the shift and stayed there for the duration.  I'm surprised that didn't happen years earlier, as even on its best days, work carries the inevitable feeling of repetitive rowing with it.

FM dial scan highlights CCCXIII

Five recommended tunes heard today:

WSIE 88.7 FM

• Vertical Horizon-Carol Albert (Easy-on-the-ears midtempo smooth jazz piano and guitar.)
• Peculiar Situation-Earl Klugh (A brief mystical intro segues into a steady midtempo jazz guitar groove.  Klugh's career goes all the way back to the '70s, and he's one of the most consistent guitarists I've heard.  I have yet to hear a Klugh track that I dislike.)

KWUR 90.3 FM

• Paris-Feeble Little Horse (A brief, interesting dream pop interlude.)
• Angel-Lizzy McAlpine (As in "Older," there's an endearing sensitivity in McAlpine's lyrics and vocals.  This new track is one of 2026's more heartfelt releases.)

KPNT 105.7 FM

• The Unforgiven-Metallica (As these lyrics illustrate, it's possible to be too much of a conformist.)

Context? CDLXI

This morning, a fill-in radio talk show host read a listener's text on-air that asked, "When is (the show's regular host) coming back?  The show is boring now."

The host responded gracefully, "Tough but fair.  We take all kinds of feedback."

I'd like to think I'd have been equally diplomatic in that situation--but I wouldn't guarantee it.