Context? CLXXXIX

An on-air exchange I heard between two DJs in 1996:

DJ 1: We've been talking about this move for how many months?

DJ 2: (...This radio station) will be, hopefully, in a new facility.

DJ 1: Maybe.  Someday.  It's all up in the air right now.  I don't know.

DJ 2: That's usually the way it is, you know, in this profession...

DJ 1: I'll just come in here until they tell me to stop, and then, I'll go to another place.

DJ 2: I've done that a time or two.

DJ 1: No, I mean if we move...

DJ 2: Oh, I thought you meant just radio stations in general.  

DJ 1: No...although that does come up occasionally.

 ------

I understood DJ 2's initial misinterpretation.  The radio business is transient by nature, so it's not surprising that he reacted as he did.

No better influence

No listener should question the quality of your musical influences when a piano piece of yours brings to mind the Miles Davis classic, "All Blues."  While listening yesterday, I realized how impressively Sandy Owen pulls this off in his tune, "Waltzing Blues."  Every track on Owen's "Boogie Woogie Rhythm And Blues" album is a gem, so it's worth hearing in its entirety, as long as the watchcat allows it.

The pitfalls of shuffle mode II

iTunes amused me Monday during a shuffle mode session by pairing these songs randomly:

• You'll Never Get To Heaven-The Stylistics
• Sinner-Neil Finn

What a way to drive a point home.

Context? CLXXXVIII

Heard yesterday on a low power out-of-town radio station: "You can't factor in that the van's going to die twice, and (a band member) is going to bail (out.)"

As I listened further, I learned this was a metalcore band member talking about the challenges of making it as a fledgling band on a limited budget.  

I haven't heard the band's music yet, as metalcore isn't a genre I would seek out ordinarily.  As a compassionate human being, though, I hope they make it.

Online radio sampler highlights CLXXV

Six standout songs heard today:

KNTU (Denton, TX)

• Yardbird Suite-Alan Broadbent Trio (Tal Farlow's brisk guitar take has always been my default version of this Charlie Parker-penned tune.  In this new rendition, Broadbent shows how well the melody transfers to the piano at a somewhat slower tempo.)
• Blues In The Night-Beegie Adair (A classy piano-centered version of this much-covered Harold Arlen/Johnny Mercer tune.)

KPUP (Patagonia, AZ)

• I Learn-Missy Raines & The New Hip (I'm primed to like this type of sincere-voice-and-guitar roots music.  I also appreciate honest lyrics like these about the risks of charting a new course for yourself.)
• Heads Or Tails-Booker T. & The MGs (This is how you make the most of trills as an organist.  This fun 1968 instrumental groove also features this band's customarily more-than-able rhythmic support from the guitarist and drummer.)

WFMU (Jersey City, NJ)

• Sno-Cone (Part 1)-Albert Collins (A strong, energetic blend of guitar, organ, and harmonica.  When hosting "Blues 101" on KCOU, Collins was one of the artists I turned to most for dependable segues.)

WXRT (Chicago, IL)

• Special-Garbage (Shirley Manson's forthright vocals and the tune's nail-the-listener-to-the-wall production values still leap out of the speakers as effectively as they did in 1998.)
  

FM dial scan highlights CXCIV

Five of the better tunes I've heard today:

KDHX 88.1 FM

• Love, Try Not To Let Go-Julia Jacklin (This new release has endearing vocals over piano-and-drums backing reminiscent of Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams.")
• Might As Well-The Persuasions & Friends (An inspired Gospel-style a cappella take on a Grateful Dead tune.  Also recommended: "Ripple.")

WSIE 88.7 FM

• Alright Now-Chris Hazelton's Boogaloo Seven (A great midtempo instrumental, bringing to mind R&B backing from decades earlier, despite being from 2015; strong organ grounding supports the brassy melody.)
• Sometimes-The Brand New Heavies (Empowering vocals over a sly instrumental backdrop in an appealing blend of jazz and R&B.)

KCLC 89.1 FM

• Open Up The Heavens-Jade Bird (Powerful rhythmic support for lyrics that say, in essence, "Hey, notice me!")
  

Persistent earworm alert CCLXXII

If They Might Be Giants recorded a children's tune over a melody much like Head East's crunchy rocker, "Since You Been Gone," what would be the end result?  Most likely, it would be similar to Levity Beet's May release, "Fine Feathered Dinosaur."  

I haven't been able to purge that tune from my mind since hearing it on WXPN tonight.  I'm fine, though, with letting it dominate thoughts for a few more hours.  Bouncy piano, bouncy vocals, silly lyrics...Even a curmudgeon like me can't resist that combination.  In fact, it'll probably place in my "Favorite music of 2022" countdown.  I haven't a clue where it'll rank, however.

Context? CLXXXVII

Upon unearthing a cassette from 1991 recently, I was amused that I'd written, "pledge drive," on the label.  I must have really wanted to hear a radio station's program, considering I was willing to tolerate and preserve pledge breaks on tape.

I have yet to hear any radio listener or announcer say anything close to, "Ah...That pledge drive...What memories...Those were great times."

An elementary reminder II

A memo from a program director reminded everyone not to phone in their efforts.  "A large number of people are listening, and you represent (this station)," the memo read.

It was a sound reminder not to just go through the motions when you're on the air.

Context? CLXXXVI

A '90s memory: A DJ asked Phil Collins, "Would you ever consider teaming up with Fabio and recording a duet?"  I thought, "Um...What?  Fabio is a model who doesn't sing.  Ask Collins about a favorite underrated Genesis album or song.  Ask what he'd like to do with his solo career that he hasn't tried yet.  Ask if there's a drummer or singer who has influenced his musicianship that would surprise people.  But don't ask a silly question like that."

To his credit, Collins responded, "Why would I want to do a duet with him?"

Online radio sampler highlights CLXXIV

Five Thursday morning highlights:

KCAT (Pine Bluff, AR)

• Busted-Ray Charles (Charles has an especially bluesy vibe here, which the horn section punctuates impressively.)

KEWU (Cheney, WA)

• Wood Place-Janine Santana (Santana provides the percussion undercurrent for this brassy, big band-style mambo-flavored instrumental.  Poncho Sanchez's "Not Necessarily" would segue well after this.)
• Brief Talk-Fabrizio Sotti (This easy-to-digest guitar and organ melody fits equally well into a smooth jazz or traditional jazz playlist.  This would flow well into "Eydie's Tune" by Marshall Crenshaw.  Also recommended: Sotti's "Deep Blue," on Cassandra Wilson's "Another Country" release.)

WHYS (Eau Claire, WI)

• Son Of A Preacher Man-Natalie Merchant (Merchant sings this Dusty Springfield tune with Gospel-tinged conviction.)
• The Over Grown Waltz-Bela Fleck (A great match of tempo and style for Fleck's banjo playing, which meshes compellingly with the mandolin.)
  

Online radio sampler highlights CLXXIII

Five ear-catching tunes heard today:

KEXP (Seattle, WA)

• All Good Naysayers, Speak Up! Or Forever Hold Your Peace!-Sufjan Stevens (Excellent whirling piano backing.  I'd be curious to hear Zumpano cover this.)

KVMR (Nevada City, CA)

• Orange And Blue-Sarah Jarosz (Appealing natural imagery, sung and played with Jarosz's consistently tasteful aplomb.  For a strong vocals-and-guitar rendition and explanation of the lyrics, check out Jarosz's "Behind The Mic" segment on YouTube.)
• The Lovers' Waltz-Jay Ungar & Molly Mason (Beautiful synergy between the violin and piano; the duo's own "Thanksgiving Waltz" would segue well with this.)

WMNF (Tampa, FL)

• I've Got The Music In Me-Kiki Dee (I went back and forth on whether to recommend this.  Initially, I thought, "Essentially, this is just a song about enjoying music and conveying it to people.  Everything is right there on the surface."  Then, I thought, "Well, is it catchy?  Yes.  That's enough to give it its due, then.  I don't have to be elitist about everything.  Not every song has to be a gripping treatise on the costs of war to be appreciated.")

WORT (Madison, WI)

• Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise-Sonny Clark (This is an excellent piano-based rendition of this standard.  Clark sustains a strong walking melody for six-and-a-half minutes.)
  

Context? CLXXXV

I'm trying to recall the last time anyone said any variation of, "Quick!  Turn on the radio so you don't miss (this song, program, or format change)," to me.

I honestly can't remember.  It's a little sad but not surprising that people's urgency to tune in a particular station isn't what it once was.

A linguistic irritant XXXI

It irritates me slightly when a radio talk show host who's the same gender as all of the panelists says, "Well, ladies...," or "Well, gentlemen..."

In most contexts, that's unnecessarily stodgy.  I always think, "Are they broadcasting from a formal luncheon at Buckingham Palace?" or "Are the Knights of the Round Table meeting before going to war?"

Context? CLXXXIV

I was surprised to hear a radio talk show host muse near the end of his show today, "I have an unusual voice.  I've never liked it--but I've learned how to use it."

"He deserves credit," I thought, "for being so honest on the air.  That's not an easy thing to admit to an audience.  I don't know anything about his program, but credit for turning what he perceives as a weakness into a strength."

The pitfalls of shuffle mode

If your music collection is diverse enough and you listen to it through shuffle mode in iTunes, you're in for the occasional train wreck of a segue.  Three days ago, random play resulted in my hearing "Talkin' To Myself" by Sarah Shook & The Disarmers.  Its upfront, no-holds-barred guitar and vocals have made it one of the year's strongest rock tunes.  Following that, however, was "Here Comes Peter Cottontail" by The Richard Wolfe Children's Chorus.  There's no universe in which those two songs flow into each other seamlessly.  It amused me, though, to hear such disparate songs paired with each other.  

Given the range of my purchased music, I'm surprised such clashing segues don't happen more often.

Online radio sampler highlights CLXXII

Late Thursday night standout tunes:

KFMG (Des Moines, IA)

• Up On Cripple Creek-The Band (I have no strong feelings about the tune's lyrics.  However, I've always thought that the song's steady airplay on album rock stations is deserved.  With a rhythm that romps compellingly and a piano part I'd like to play, "Up On Cripple Creek" has endured through the decades.  I could write a similar review of "King Harvest (Has Surely Come.)"

KUVO (Denver, CO)

• Satellite-Luciana Souza (Warm piano and sincerely articulated vocals.)

WACC (Enfield, CT) 

• Numb Little Bug-Em Beihold (A lyrically honest way of acknowledging compassion fatigue.)
• Running Up That Hill-Kate Bush (I've never watched "Stranger Things," but I'm glad its use of "...Hill" has given the song the acclaim it should have had originally.  I remember hearing it on "American Top 40" in 1985 and thinking, "There's a powerful intensity here, vocally and instrumentally, but I'll be surprised if it's a big hit here.  Songs with lyrics and vocals like this aren't typically big American hits.")

WRTI (Philadelphia, PA)

• Soul-Leo-Louis Hayes (Hayes grounds the proceedings on drums, but this is also a strong showcase for saxophone.  The great recurring rhythm for piano and bass is essential for the tune's atmosphere.)
• Miss Ann's Tempo-Grant Green (A brisk tempo, carried off on the organ and with Green's customary pep on guitar.)
  

The allure of shuffle mode XI

Need some tasteful, unobtrusive guitar accompaniment while you read or work?  Segue the Dan Goldfus Project tune, "October Rain," with Pat Metheny's "One Quiet Night," as iTunes did for me yesterday.

Linguistic bemusement VI

Sometimes, it's smart for a radio talk show host to tell a caller, "I'll take that under advisement."

It beats antagonizing the caller by saying directly, "There are multiple flaws in your logic," "That's an incredibly ill-conceived idea," or "I'm not sure a person could be more dense."

Driving the point home

While listening to a live version of Amanda Shaw's raucous instrumental, "Git Fiddler," this morning, I wondered if any radio station has ever played it after "The Devil Went Down To Georgia" by The Charlie Daniels Band.  If not, that's a missed opportunity.  After all, what better way is there to convey, "Hey, Satan, take this, as well?"

Sentiment plus directions

If you like the sentiments Oleta Adams expresses in "Get Here," "Follow That Road" by Anne Hills might appeal to you, as well.  It expresses a longing to see someone while advising that someone of the best route to take.  Considerately, Hills also lists the trees one will see along the way.

Ordinarily, street directions don't make enticing lyrics.  Fortunately, that's not the case in "Follow That Road"'s seven thoughtful minutes.

Persistent earworm alert CCLXXI

During my first stretch of extended listening to radioparadise.com in the early '00s, one track stood out to me.  Amongst the largely rock offerings was Louis Armstrong's version of "Skokiaan."  Instrumentally and vocally, it left its impression as a fun, infectious rhythm that plants itself firmly in my mind.  The next time you want to feel carefree, this tune can jump start the feeling.

Context? CLXXXIII

Heard in a radio commercial yesterday: "If your cable company doesn't offer (our network), call your service provider today and demand it!"

I pity the customer service workers who have to deal with those demanding callers.

Context? CLXXXII

Heard today in a radio interview with a nursery employee: "If the deer ever start eating the boxwoods, we quit."

I've never worked with plants, but I trust that's a reasonable line to draw.  We all have our limits.

Context? CLXXXI

Out of nowhere, a co-worker at a previous job suddenly broke into the chorus of "Alexander's Ragtime Band."  There was no ragtime music playing at the time, no one in the office named Alexander, or any activity at work that matched the tune's rhythm.  It wasn't a bad rendition; it was on-key and very spirited.  I still have no idea what prompted it.

That incident, however, made me less fazed when she broke into "Look At Me, I'm Sandra Dee" abruptly about two years later.

The allure of shuffle mode X

On Saturday, the iTunes shuffle mode segued Kenny Burrell's "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" with Russell Malone's "Something To Live For," and I was struck by the similarity in the two artists' guitar styles.  This combination reminded me how moving two guitar pieces with melancholy tinges can sound when paired randomly. 

In the compromised world of 2022, melancholy yet mildly hopeful is an appropriate tone to set.

Only in college XCVIII

In pre-Internet times, I had no way of hearing my college radio station when I went home for the Summer.  I sometimes wondered who was on the air and what music they were playing.  Sometimes, I also wondered if the station had signed on for the day.  It wouldn't have been out of the question that someone would have been reading the sign-on, "KCOU Columbia now begins its broadcast day...," at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., or even 4 p.m.

Self-evident accompaniment

I can't believe it took me until 2022 to think of this.  While listening to KING, a Classical station in Seattle, online Wednesday, I heard an Orpheus Chamber Orchestra recording of Handel's "Music For The Royal Fireworks."

Hastily, I pulled up random videos of local fireworks displays I've filmed over the years.  For the most part, Handel's composition has the necessary pomp to go with the booms and blasts of color in the sky.  It's such an obvious recommendation, but doesn't the obvious escape all of us once in a while?

A petty fixation XII

A few days ago, I was pleasantly surprised when the patriotic music I'd selected at random timed out perfectly with the ending of the local fireworks footage I'd filmed from previous years.

"Granted," I thought, "no one's here to see this, and it has no bearing on anything.  Also, Pete Seeger's short, lighthearted harmonica rendition of 'America The Beautiful' is at odds with the all the loud pops and bangs of the fireworks finale.  Nevertheless, it's seasonally appropriate music that times out perfectly with the visuals."

I'm calling that a success.

Context? CLXXX

This morning, during an at-home Covid test, I stirred the nasal swab into the solution in a tube--in time to Kylie Auldist's dance track, "Rewards."  I more or less expected a negative result, and luckily, I got one.

I wouldn't have treated the test with such irreverence two years ago.  What a difference two years and a vaccine make.

SiriusXM highlights CXXX

Friday morning highlights:

'70s/'80s Instrumentals

• Cosmic Square Dance-Chet Atkins (An interesting fusion of traditional and modern-for-the-time guitar stylings.) 
  

Acoustic Guitar Instrumentals

• Come Home To Me-Vendla (Any thoughtful guitar instrumental that could segue naturally with "One Winter's Night" by Strength In Numbers is a winner with me.)

Iceberg

• The Good In Everyone-Sloan (Sloan is adept at socking a point home with forthright guitar parts.  Lyrically, this is a good reminder to be careful what you say to people.  The song's attitude reminds me somewhat of "These Days" by The Waking Hours.)
  

Kids Place Live

• Moon Star Pie-Lisa Loeb (Infectious optimism and reassurance that things will work out; the world could use a huge helping of this.)
  

Luna

• At First Sight-Eliane Elias (A refreshing, piano-anchored breeze of a melody with soothing vocal punctuation.)
• A Felicidade-Alexandra Jackson (Pleasant, percolating vocals and instrumentation.  Multiple versions of "Mas Que Nada" would flow well into this.)

Real Jazz

• Promises, Promises-The Jazz Crusaders ("And the award for best translation of vocals into a trombone part goes to...Wayne Henderson of The Jazz Crusaders!"  This is an excellent, energetic cover version.)
  

Soothe

• Poly Paw (Closure)-Timo Krantz (A keyboard-centered instrumental fit for underscoring an Arctic explorer's arduous trudge.)