FM dial scan highlights CXXXVIII

Six standout tunes heard today:

KDHX 88.1 FM

• Shadow Of A Memory-Minnie Jones And The Minuettes (Although the relationship in the song ends, this 1970 R&B song has a happy-go-lucky optimism that would sound great before the more positive, exuberant lyrics and vocals of Natalie Cole's "This Will Be.")
• Avalanche-Aimee Mann (Mann's voice is ideal for pulling off a dramatic cover of this Leonard Cohen song.)
• Ocean Moon-The Foreign Films (I was predisposed to like this midtempo power pop release from March; its idealistic lyrics, instrumentation, and backing vocals with a mid '60s feel are all positive attributes.)

WSIE 88.7 FM

• Day In, Day Out-Carolbeth True Trio (An expansive, spirited, cookin' instrumental rendition of this standard, thanks in no small part to True's piano playing.)
• Perfect Sunday-Carol Albert featuring Paul Brown (A panoramic soundscape for piano and guitar, fit for a film score.)

KCLC 89.1 FM

• Sorry Is Gone-Jessica Lea Mayfield (It's always a plus when a song reminds me of Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams," especially in the chorus.)
  

No music for you

It amuses me that when my boom box is turned on with no CD in it, the digital display just reads, "No." If this is a smart appliance, I wonder if it'll shift my priorities subtly be replacing "No" with "Read."  Or, if my cat, Collette, wants a seventh daily helping of food, maybe the display will read, "Give in."

We're in an age where devices increasingly sense and adjust to our needs.  I'm ambivalent about that, at best.

In defense of negativity

A radio talk show host here used to say, "I refuse to grow up."  Did he approach his show and its callers with awe and wonder?  No.  Especially in his last few years hosting the show, his attitude toward callers was conspicuously curmudgeonly.  Some listeners might have thought this made for an unpleasant show.  In his defense, however...

Giving the artists their due

Although it required some additional work, I looked forward to the few days of the year when radio stations where I worked were required to log all of the music they played for ASCAP.  I always hoped those designated days would be when I worked and could choose the music; that way, artists I favored would get their royalties from being played on the radio.  The more obscure they were, the better, in my book; after all, they needed the money all the more.

A great way to say, "Well done!"

In eighth grade, our orchestra director, Mr. D., urged our class to be kind to a new student.  He told us, "She came from the world's worst beginning class." 

Referencing my sixth grade beginning class of mostly disinterested players who didn't practice, I told Mr. D., "I thought my class was the worst beginning class."  He laughed before gesturing to my double bass and me and responding, "But look what emerged."

I still appreciate every kind word anyone has given me about my musical accomplishments.  The unique phrasing of that particular compliment, however, still looms large in my mind.

Shared knowledge?

As a music fan, I sometimes feel the strange compulsion to say what I know about music--to no one.  Earlier this month, I was taking a nap when "Kathy's Waltz" by Dave Brubeck started playing on KWMU.  Even though I was half-asleep, I said out loud, "That's the warm, familiar saxophone playing of Paul Desmond."

Actually, I might not have said that to no one.  My cat, Collette, might have been within earshot.  If so, I hope my positive review of Desmond's playing impressed her; maybe, one day, instead of just sitting on the LPs, she'll be moved to play Brubeck's "Time Out" album.

Context? LXXXVI

An AM radio commercial reminded me today of the stakes many business owners face during this pandemic.  A restaurant owner thanked his customers for staying loyal through what he called the most difficult four months of the restaurant's existence.

"Without you, our doors are closed, and my house is on the market," he said.

Sadly, during these dark days of Covid-19, that outcome is all too common for too many business owners.

Online radio sampler highlights CXIV

Seven noteworthy selections heard this morning:

KMUN (Astoria, OR) 

• Edvard Grieg: Old Norwegian Romance, Op. 51 (Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra/Paavo Berglund, conductor) (The gentility in the strings and winds and dramatic punctuation from the brass appeal to me.)

KUVO (Denver, CO)

• Fleurette Africaine (African Flower)-Norah Jones (A beguilingly played and hummed version of a Duke Ellington number.)
• Sideman-Lonnie Smith & George Benson (Organ/guitar collaborations don't get much slicker than this.  Blue Mitchell contributes a commanding performance on trumpet.)

WERS (Boston, MA)

• Get Up-R.E.M. (Michael Stipe's decree to wake up strikes the right balance of being declarative but not overbearing.)

WEZS (Knoxville, TN)

• Please Come To Boston-Pacific Pops Orchestra (It only took 36 years, but thanks to this online-only station, I finally found out who played this cover of the Dave Loggins tune on KEZK in 1984.  I only heard this version once, but its welcoming blend of keyboard, guitar, and strings has stayed with me all these years.  When KEZK was an easy listening station here, the DJs back announced song titles but not orchestras.  Presumably, this allowed the station to play multiple covers by the same handful of ensembles without calling attention to it.  Thus, in the back of my mind, there was this version of "Please Come To Boston" in need of an ID.  These kids today don't know what it's like to wait over three decades to find out who's playing an easy listening cover of a 1974 soft rock hit.  If I used emoticons in these posts, this would be the place for a smiley face.)

WHDD (Sharon, CT)

• Johann Strauss: On The Beautiful Blue Danube, Op. 314 (London Philharmonic/Franz Welser-Most, conductor) (This famous waltz gets an exuberant treatment here.  At the moment, it's difficult for me to take anything seriously; I'm having a flashback to an early '80s commercial in which a construction worker sings, "I got a Dolly...," to the tune of this piece.  Perhaps, getting a Dolly Madison pie in one's lunch box is cause for celebration; a construction site is an odd venue for such rejoicing, though.  To each, his or her own, I suppose.) 

WSPS (Concord, NH)  

• I'm Into Something Good-Stool Pigeons (The Herman's Hermits hit, sung from a female perspective; the low-key, bare bones arrangement of this cover brings out the song's charm.)   
  

Context? LXXXV

Heard on a news-talk station before a commercial break: "When we return, we'll finally step away from the coronavirus.  You know the news.  You know the headlines."

Sadly, that's what counts--and will continue to count--as a respite from the news in 2020.

Persistent earworm CCIII

I've written about a lot of persistent earworms on this blog.  Most of them, I like, at least somewhat.  That's not the case today, however.  I don't know if the general negative vibe of 2020 sparked it, but in recent hours, Cypress Hill's "Insane In The Brain" won't leave my mind.  When there's a vast amount of great Classical, jazz, R&B, pop, folk, and other genres of music to explore, I never understood why people would gravitate toward a song about a band singing that it's going insane, and that's basically it.

It was a hit in 1993, though, so a lot of listeners must have liked it.  I'm still not sure why.

Only in college LXXVI

Another bassist and I were used to getting an A each semester in our double bass instruction class.  One semester, to my surprise, I got a B.  After I mentioned this to the other bassist, she replied, "I got a B, too!  I think we need new blood."  After realizing that her momentary wish for a new bass teacher was a bit extreme, she continued, "I sound like I'm out for the kill, don't I?"

Most likely, we both should have practiced the bass a bit more that semester.

Where was this, again?

It amuses me now to see how often I wrote, "St. Louis radio," on cassette tape labels when recording radio air checks during the '80s.  As if I'd ever forget the city in which I grew up and still live...

In other words, "What's a great song?"

Recently, I unearthed a music survey I sent to high school friends in 1987.  In addition to asking them to grade various current songs, I asked them to complete this sentence: A song that I think deserves to be bronzed and hung over every family's fireplace mantle because of its greatness is...

Some thoughts on that sentence now:

• I wouldn't phrase a survey sentence that way today.  While there was obvious hyperbole in my phrasing, hanging a record over a fireplace is a strange way of honoring a song.  Granted, I was thinking in gold record terms, but if you bronze a record and hang it over the mantle, you can't play it.  In 1987, you would have needed to buy a second copy of the song to hear it.
• Although it's sometimes difficult to define, I wish I had asked respondents what elements a great song typically contains for them.  Some listeners value lyrical content above everything else.  For other listeners, it's more about the song's beat.  
• One friend's answer to that unfinished sentence was "More Than A Feeling" by Boston.  Although not as many listeners would likely answer that way today, a fair number of people, especially KSHE listeners, probably would.
  

Only in college LXXV

When you go off to college, know that not everyone you meet will share your musical taste.  After playing "I Am The Walrus" one day during my freshman year, my roommate said, "That's The Beatles?" When I confirmed that they were, he responded, "I'd tape over that @%&*."

Serendipitous exchanges also happen in college, however.  There was also this incident that same year:

Dorm neighbor: Andrew, haven't seen you lately.  How've you been?

Me: I've been listening to Beatles music.

Dorm neighbor: Really?  Are you the walrus?

Me: No. The walrus is Paul.

Just as I said that, another dorm neighbor named Paul walked past, by chance.  To his credit, Paul didn't challenge my--well, actually, John Lennon's--statement.

Persistent earworm alert CCII

Since hearing it on KWMU Sunday night, I haven't been able to get Daniel Bennett Group's instrumental, "Loose Fitting Spare Tire," out of my mind.  The tune has a whimsical yet robotic feel, which could work as theme music for a sitcom set in an office.  If the right part of the song was used for a sitcom's opening credits, I could imagine a clown walking into the office for no apparent reason and setting a loaf of French bread on the copy machine.  I don't usually hear the guitar and saxophone used this way in jazz, so kudos to this duo for its imagination.

In fact, now, my imagination has run wild--maybe not so wild, actually; I was going to write, "I wonder what the tune would sound like if an accordion duo played it," but it's not that hard to imagine.

Context? LXXXIV

I was a tad startled to hear, "You end up in a free fall because of one of your friend's telekinetic instances," today on a radio station I'd never heard before.

When I think about it more carefully, however, it makes sense.  If you're sitting on a couch, and a paperweight that seemingly moved itself knocks you off the couch and sends you tumbling down the basement stairs, that would be a disorienting free fall.

I'd have difficulty not holding a grudge in that instance--even if I didn't know who to blame.

Are they spellbound? Well, some of them are.

When you're playing with an orchestra on stage, it's best to forget that not everyone in the audience is attending your concert willingly.  Undoubtedly, some audience members are making calculations such as, "They're starting with an overture.  That's a shorter piece, so that'll probably take about X minutes.  Then, there's a concerto.  That'll be somewhat longer, so X minutes for that.  The last piece is a symphony with four movements, so that'll be the longest piece.  I'll guess about X minutes for that.  Factor in the intermission and applause after each piece and then walking to the parking lot and driving home...So, if I can function on a little less sleep tonight, I'll be able to watch the game I recorded before work tomorrow."

When I played music onstage as a teenager and young adult, I wanted to believe that everyone was paying rapt attention to every nuance of the beautiful Beethoven symphony our ensemble was playing.  Deep down, I knew that wasn't the case, but I chose to stay idealistic nevertheless.

Persistent earworm alert CCI

Recently, I ate a garden salad that was unusually overloaded with carrots.  I wonder if the person who assembled it at the store had recently seen the Bugs Bunny cartoon in which Bugs sings "It's Magic" as an ode to carrots.

Doris Day's version is probably the best known one, but right now, I can't get the "Carrots are divine.  You get a dozen for a dime..." intro from the cartoon out of my mind.

Persistent earworm alert CC

Lately, when I see a news report of some atrocity in the world, I think of the Safelite jingle, "Safelite repair, Safelite replace."  I know it only applies to windshield repair, but I wish this pandemic, the natural disasters, and unjust situations in this lousy year for the world could be solved by just singing that jingle.

Can't console? Just listen, then.

Nineteen years ago, an AM radio talk show host was growing exasperated.  Caller after caller kept referencing the September 11 attacks and saying, "They need to be held accountable," or "Something needs to happen to them."

"Who are they?  Who do you mean by them?" the host kept asking.

I understood his frustration.  At the time, it wasn't confirmed who had committed the attacks.  It didn't accomplish anything for callers to keep saying the same things over and over.  And yet...

...that's human nature.  After such hateful, unprecedented attacks in this country,  the host needed to understand that his job that night wasn't just to provide new information and keep the show moving.  It was to be a sounding board for the anger and sadness callers were feeling, even when it was repetitive.

Online radio sampler highlights CXIII

Six tuneful Thursday morning selections:

KDTR (Florence, MT)

• Sour Girl-Stone Temple Pilots ("Sour Girl" could easily qualify as the band's atypical standout track.  It's a relatively low-key tune with a memorable hook.  The "What would you do...?" chorus makes the song, in my opinion.  The acoustic version on KFOG's "Live From The Archives 9" compilation is worth seeking out.)

KUWY (Cheyenne, WY)

• William Grant Still: Summerland (Kelly Hall-Tompkins, violin; Craig Ketter, piano) (An appealing lyrical romanticism, with ringing trills on the violin.)
• W.A. Mozart: Divertimento No. 1 in D major, K.136 (Academy Chamber Ensemble) (Full of the vim, vigor, and optimism characteristic of much of Mozart's work.  For anyone looking for a get-out-of-bed substitute for coffee, this is it.  The strings convey just the right amount of energy.)

WBGO (Newark, NJ)

• I Know You Know-Esperanza Spalding (Feeling ambivalent about a relationship?  Feedback such as this might tip the scales to the positive side.  Warm vocals and bass from Spalding here, as usual.)
• Til There Was You-Sonny Rollins (I've always liked the smooth sensitivity with which The Beatles covered this, but Rollins conveys a similar carefree outlook on the saxophone.)

WMWV (Conway, NH)

• Runaway-Bonnie Raitt (Raitt and company slow down the tempo for a self-assured blues/rock cover of Del Shannon's 1961 chart-topper.)

Wouldn't do that now II

Gerald Albright's song, "Anniversary," ends with the sung question, "Do you know what today is?"  When back announcing it once on KNJZ, I couldn't resist the urge to sing back, "It's your anniversary," as in the song.  At the time, it seemed appropriate not to leave the question hanging.

I wouldn't do that now, however.  Call it professionalism, or call it dignity.

One of many stations, one of many formats

Five years ago, I wrote about KNJZ's 1995 transition from a smooth jazz to a classic R&B station. Twenty-five years later, I still miss those smooth jazz days of 1994-95.  After DJ Bart's farewell to the smooth jazz format, listeners heard a string of commercials, a recorded legal ID, and the first song under the new format, "Ain't Too Proud To Beg" by The Temptations.

Many stations in St. Louis and other cities have changed multiple times since then.  Radio is just like that; if the ratings aren't where management needs them to be to sell sufficient commercial time, a station's format--and usually, its personnel--changes. 

Twenty-five years feel to me like they've flown by.  Listeners have far more music-listening options than they did in '95.  Still, it's a pleasure to remember that, even though it wasn't long-lived, KNJZ was once a go-to station for smooth jazz listeners.

An oasis for studious musicians

Labor Day, the day before the new school year began, was always exciting to me.  There was the anticipation of finding out who would be in my classes the next day.  Regardless of how each year actually turned out, there was always one class about which I didn't have to worry--orchestra.  While there were always some new faces from year to year, there were also plenty of familiar faces from previous years.  If you were in the orchestra as a freshman, chances were you'd still be there as a senior.  It was always comforting to know that the violinists, violists, cellists, and bassists around me were all there to play tasteful music and had an easy rapport with other like-minded, studious people.
Also, as in middle school, it was easy for one or more players to sidetrack Mr. D., the director, into telling a 20-minute story...

...In a new school year filled with uncertainty, I welcomed that continuity.

FM dial scan highlights CXXXVII

Six standout tunes from Saturday and Sunday:

KDHX 88.1 FM

• Jovano Jovanke-Goran Ivanovic Group (A sad, uptempo instrumental rendering of a Macedonian folk song.)

WSIE 88.7 FM

• Roof Garden-Al Jarreau (I've raved before about Jarreau's infectious steppin'-out-on-the-town vocals.  I also remember him handling a situation with a fan wisely at a concert here.  An especially enthusiastic fan who might have been drinking was in the front row. At a well-timed place in "Roof Garden," Jarreau pointed the microphone toward the fan, so he could sing, "Does anyone want to go dance upon the roof?!" with gusto.  Jarreau defused a potentially raucous situation by giving the fan his moment in the sun.)
• Spaceport-The May Fall Crew (Dazzling rhythm section pyrotechnics, especially from the piano.)

KSHE 94.7 FM

• Man In The Mirror-Dan Fogelberg (Strong lyrics about staying confident during less than ideal times.  This 1975 track deserves more airplay.)
• Still In The Game-Steve Winwood (I remember hearing this song for the first time on KSHE in the early '80s.  It's still my favorite track from Winwood's "Talking Back To The Night" album.  The lyrics are a tribute to persistence and determination; as Winwood sings them, I get the feeling everything will turn out fine for those who stay focused and work to meet their goals.)

K297BI 107.3 FM, a.k.a. KNOU-HD2

• Ordinary People-Nikki Glenn (Local artist Glenn shows how elegantly John Legend's emotive vocals and piano playing translate to the violin.  There's a captivating blend of Classical and smooth jazz genres in this rendition.)

The right way to keep callers waiting

I was pleased to hear a company use some appealing bass jazz as its on-hold music recently.  In fact, I was getting into the music so much so that I was almost disappointed when someone answered.

If your company has to put people on hold, that's the feeling it should strive to create.  After all, catchy music puts at least some callers in a better mood.

An overlooked cover tune LXVI

Although it was a big hit for The Supremes, I heard Vanilla Fudge's version of "You Keep Me Hangin' On" first.  Upon hearing it in grade school, I thought it was meant to be sung and played at a deliberately trudging tempo; I figured that was intentional to convey the agony of waiting.

Neither version disqualifies the other.  When you want to appreciate the song the way Holland-Dozier-Holland intended, however, listen to The Supremes sing it with a much greater sense of urgency.  If you want to wallow in a situation that isn't working out, however, Vanilla Fudge has you covered.

For like-minded, record-obsessed souls...

While watching "Papa Ray's Vintage Vinyl Roadshow," the owner's tribute to longtime St. Louis record store Vintage Vinyl on public TV station KETC tonight, I had several "These are my people" moments.  The one that made me smile most, however, was when Tom "Papa" Ray held up a Soft Machine album.  I don't work at Vintage Vinyl, but I knew immediately what I'd tell a customer who asked about that group.  I'd say, "They're a good example of electronica that was progressive for the '70s.  One of the best examples of that is their song, 'Nettle Bed,' an instrumental that's of its time in the best way.  Also, I have to admire a group that's quirky enough to open and close an album by singing the British alphabet."

Perhaps only one in a quarter-million people would ask me about that group...

...but there's a strong chance they'd turn up at Vintage Vinyl, given the store's vast selection and history.

Context? LXXXIII

I tuned in and heard the phrase, "macaws speaking English," on KDHX tonight.  For a moment, I wondered, "Is that an all-parrot indie rock band?"

Actually, it isn't.  It's an attraction visitors can see at World Bird Sanctuary.

Although I'd be curious to hear macaws talk, I'm stuck on this image I have of a band called Macaws Speaking English.  If such a band existed, I'd like to think that "More To Us Than Repetition" would be the title of their debut album.

Not strictly necessary, but...

During the '90s, I remember seeing a commercial for a magazine; I'm fairly certain it was for TV Guide.  There was a tap dancer in the commercial underscoring the magazine's features and subscription price.  I remember thinking, "Is the dancing essential for getting the information across?  No.  Still, maybe the producer of the commercial had a friend who needed the work."

Although magazine commercials and tap dancing don't usually go together, it's an unusual but decent way to promote the product.  Besides, maybe the intent was to convey to readers that the magazine has class.  If so, that's not a bad strategy.

The Gentrys might have had the right idea, then, advising us to "keep on dancing."