Context? CDXXIV

Recently, a radio personality's closing pitch for using a particular heating and cooling company was, "All the technicians are happy to work there."

I asked the radio, "Did anyone survey them?"

Persistent earworm alert CDXXIII

Decades after graduating from college, the newspaper commercial jingle, "Wake up to The Missourian," still comes to mind at unexpectedly random times.  My frequent recall of it speaks to my desire to jump back into my past college life in Columbia, Missouri at times.  It also indicates my desire to go back to a time when more people read newspapers regularly to stay informed.

Sometimes, it's comforting to live in a world that feels less rushed--or to have the illusion, at least, that it's  relatively unhurried.

Persistent earworm alert CDXXII

Since hearing it on Community Radio St. Louis's "Move The Needle," I haven't been able to get Jesse Winchester's "Sham-A-Ling-Dong-Ding" out of my mind.  Somehow, this movingly written, sensitively sung track had eluded me until last Saturday.  If I'd never heard of the song or Winchester, I'd have guessed it was a Danny & The Juniors-style '50s dance tune.  Actually, it's a 2009 track with a convincing '50s doo-wop pastiche.  It's a fitting tune for Valentine's Day or any day you want to tell your beloved one how much she means to you.

The allure of shuffle mode XCII

iTunes shuffle mode cultivated a fun 1940s vibe yesterday during two back-to-back instrumentals.  "Twice Shy" by Hot Club Of St. Louis flowed into Jon Rauhouse's version of Louis Jordan's "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie."  "Twice Shy" is from 2024, but the fiddling wouldn't have been out of place 80 years earlier.  Rauhouse then built on "Twice Shy"'s rhythm with a strong, uptempo guitar rendering of "Choo Choo..."

I wish WEW still played nostalgic music so I could segue both tunes on the air as a DJ--or request them as a listener.

The allure of shuffle mode XCI

One of iTunes shuffle mode's most valuable attributes is showing listeners how songs they've enjoyed separately can be paired in not immediately obvious segues.  That happened for me today when Natalie MacMaster's "Paddy LeBlanc's Set" ended up before "Afternoon In Paris" by Rebecca Coupe Franks.  I wouldn't have thought to pair Celtic fiddling with swingin' jazz trumpet, but to my ears, "Afternoon In Paris" builds on the energy of "Paddy LeBlanc's Set."

Persistent earworm alert CDXXI

If you prefer to acknowledge Valentine's Day without being overly syrupy, I recommend "Valentine" by The Elvis Brothers.  As I've written before, the band's name is misleading, as their sound is actually Beatles-influenced power pop.  "Valentine" is a high energy track suitable for cranking up while driving.  I used to play it on KCOU and have never heard it anywhere else.  Lyrically, it's a sound way of being direct with someone by saying, "Baby, let me be your valentine."  That directness, fortunately, doesn't have the melodrama that ballads often have.  It's an uptempo, forthright way of conveying, "Hey, I like you, so what would you think of us being together?"

A function of age XLV

Recently, a radio talk show host mentioned how strange he felt having guitar lessons with a 24-year-old instructor.  I understood what he meant.  Logically, if someone has a skill you don't have and is able to teach it well, that person's age shouldn't matter.  In an awkward way, it does, however.  A few years younger isn't a big difference, but when the teacher is decades younger than you are, it feels odd to regard that person as an authority figure. 

At age 55, this perspective is inevitable, I think.