Only in college CXX

Practicing in the music building's double bass room was an especially comforting aspect of my freshman year in college.  College comes with its share of adjustments, but I always thought, "I've been playing the bass since 1983, and I know what I'm doing.  Even when other facets of college seem tentative or uncertain to me, I know I can spend time in this room, practicing pieces that the orchestra will play for the next concert, playing exercises for the next bass lesson, or going back to pieces I've played in previous years."

Not every piece of ground on which you stand in college is solid--but, at that time, that one was.  Other bassists in the orchestra apparently had the same routine.  When I'd call ahead to see if the bass room was in use, I always liked it when another bassist would answer the phone, "Good evening.  Bass room," or "Greetings from the bass room."  Even when it meant I had to postpone my practice time until a later time or a different day, I liked knowing that the other bassists also saw the room for the oasis that it was.

Context? CDLXV

Although middle school students are unpredictable, I was still surprised during seventh grade Speech/Drama class when a student suddenly burst into a verse of "A Penny For Your Thoughts" by Tavares.  It was a decently sung version, too, with a better grasp of the high notes than most people have.

I still wonder what prompted that in the middle of class.  He didn't sing it to anyone in particular but apparently felt inspired to suddenly entertain the class with a hammy but generally on-pitch rendition.

The spirit sometimes moves us to act in odd, unexpected ways, I suppose.

Persistent earworm alert CDLVII

Tonight, my mind apparently wants to wind down, as I keep thinking of "A Slow Song" by Joe Jackson.  It's one of his more overlooked numbers that doesn't typically get radio airplay.  The piano intro draws me in, as it sounds like Jackson is about to sing a freewheeling version of Procol Harum's "A Whiter Shade Of Pale."

Segue suggestion XXI

After hearing The Chieftains perform "The Raggle Taggle Gypsy" this evening, I'm convinced that Altan's "Beidh Aonach Amarach (There's A Fair Tomorrow)" should be played after it.  That way, the listener remains in the same ballpark rhythmically while the mood is lightened after such an intense rendition.

Context? CDLXIV

It was refreshing to hear a listener seeking an aquarium call a radio station this morning and specify to listeners, "You can reach me by phone, not text."

I'm ambivalent at best about texting, so it's good to know I'm not the only one.

Context? CDLXIII

Because my baffling tactic of saying, "Oom-pah-pah, Oom-pah-pah!" didn't prompt my cat, Collette, to move out of the way in the hallway, I tried another tactic when she started scratching the clothes hamper yesterday.  Instead of exclaiming syllables suitable for marching, I told her, "Collette, I'd rather you didn't do that."

Amazingly, she stopped scratching the hamper.  Lesson learned.  When my cat's behavior goes awry, imitating the sound of a tuba doesn't work.  Speaking respectfully to her as an adult apparently does.

At least, that's what I'm choosing to believe.

Context? CDLXII

Although my cat, Collette, doesn't speak or understand English, it would have been logical for me to say, "Collette, please move," when I was trying to pass her in the hallway.  Inexplicably, though, I said, "Oom-pah-pah, Oom-pah-pah!"

I'm still not sure why I thought imitating the sound of a tuba would make Collette step out of the way.

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.

Context? CDLX

Recently, a radio talk show host read a complaint from a listener, saying that the host allowed someone, most likely a caller, to "bloviate on topics he knows nothing about."

I joined in the host's chuckling when he asked the listener rhetorically, "Are you new to talk radio?"

If one thing is inevitable on talk radio, it's bloviating.

A linguistic irritant XXXVII

It doesn't happen that often, but it irks me just a little when radio personalities refer to their station's commercials as ads.  It's not technically incorrect, but I've always thought of ads as a term for print media and commercials as a term for radio and TV.

Admittedly, I could just as easily have written this extremely minor complaint as one of my "A petty fixation" posts. 

Segue suggestion XX

Whenever I got to choose the music for a radio shift, I liked to segue a familiar melody with an obscure, compatible one.  Thus, I recommend playing almost any version of "The Girl From Ipanema" before "Robin's Egg Blue" by Hot Club Of St. Louis; the rhythmic similarity between both tunes makes it a sound pairing. 

Linguistic bemusement XIV

As a DJ on former smooth jazz station KNJZ, I was required to say every so often, "You're in the middle of another extended set of today's smooth jazz."

I understood the business logic behind summarizing the type of music we played and reinforcing the concept that listeners were going to hear a lot of it.  I also thought, however, "Isn't this interrupting the musical flow by reminding listeners of this, using this exact phrasing, so frequently?"

Context? CDLIX

While sweeping the floor recently, a clump of dust kept evading the broom.  My reaction fell in an odd middle ground between anger and nonchalance.  It was mild irritation masked with an improvised rhythm.  To the tune of a made-up percussive beat, I sang to the dust under my breath, "Don't do that if I don't command it.  Don't do that if I don't decree it."

This middle-of-the-road approach worked.  The dust allowed itself to be swept up, thanks to my direct admonishment--and a made-up salsa rhythm to take the edge off.

25 years later

On September 11, 2001 and the days following it, I grappled with how to split the difference between watching, reading, and listening to news coverage of that day's atrocities.  At first, to grasp the severity of the attacks, it felt necessary to watch footage of them.  After seeing the same or similar footage multiple times, however, I thought, "It's really best to turn my attention to radio and newspaper coverage now."

I still think that was the right call.  When you see the horrifying footage of the attacks and their aftermath, it's too easy to be shocked and not absorb all of the information about them.  Listening to radio coverage and reading articles forces one to process the information without the distressing visuals. 

Persistent earworm alert CDLV

While reading an article yesterday about an Appalachian singer, my mind immediately called up John Denver's "Take Me Home, Country Roads."  That's a natural response, I think, to a song about West Virginia.  I also started stomping my foot in time to this mental soundtrack.  I didn't even realize it at first, and while writing this, the foot-stomping started again.

As much as I like "Take Me Home...," this foot-stomping is approaching Robert Klein's "I can't stop my leg" territory.  I'm fine with that, though, as this Denver hit warrants it.

Online radio sampler highlights CCCX

Six Wednesday morning standouts:

KALX (Berkeley, CA)

• Paris 1971-Suzanne Ciani (This instrumental's title puzzles me, as it conjures up images of floating in space.)
• Pollyanna-The Islanders (A simple vocals-and-piano number from 1959; this tune just aims to establish a jaunty melody, and it succeeds.)

KNTU-HD2 (Denton, TX)

• Escapatoria-Rodney Jordan (Jordan underpins this smooth, midtempo driving groove on the bass, with ample room for the rest of the ensemble, particularly trumpeter Melvin Jones, to leave their imprints.)
• Diana-Helen Sung Big Band (This fanciful rendition of a Wayne Shorter tune was released in June. Sung's keyboard playing here brings to mind Chick Corea & Return To Forever, and this track could segue with Flora Purim's "Dindi.")

WDSW (Philadelphia, MS)

• Hello Old Friend-Eric Clapton (These styles of guitar and organ playing seldom fail to draw me in.  Lyrically, this reminds me of "Lovely To See You" by The Moody Blues.  Given how upbeat this track is, I'm surprised I don't hear album rock stations play it often.)

WZRD (Chicago, IL)

• Marinier-Anne Marie Bernert (Sorrowful accordion underscoring for arduous, repetitive tasks.)

Persistent earworm alert CDLIV

Lately, I've been hearing my cell phone's default tropical melody ringtone subconsciously, even when the phone isn't ringing.  I think I'm resigned to the fact that no matter how many phone numbers I block, there will always be another spammer trying to reach me.

A petty fixation LIII

This afternoon, a radio station identification breaker played, and then---nothing.

"That's odd," I thought.  "The top-of-the-hour news isn't starting."

Then, looking at the clock, I saw that the top of the hour was still two minutes away.

After two minutes of silence, the news finally started.  In the grand scheme of things, this wasn't a big deal.  Two minutes of dead air feels like a long time, though, when it happens accidentally. 

International common ground

Whenever Casey Kasem said every week that "American Top 40" was "heard in the 50 states and around the world on great radio stations like...," I always wondered if he'd name the St. Louis station--KSLQ in the early years, or KHTR in later years--on which I heard the show.  

I also liked hearing the names of international radio stations that carried the countdown.  I especially remember Kasem mentioning Radyo Iloilo in the Philippines.  I just looked it up, and that station now has a news/talk format.  It's nice to know, though, that decades ago, people who lived so far away were enjoying the same music and musical trivia I was.  Here's hoping they enjoyed hearing Kasem's acknowledgment of Radyo Iloilo as much as I liked hearing the nods to St. Louis affiliates.

Persistent earworm alert CDLIII

Recently, an algorithm served up multiple online articles for me about forgotten and underrated sitcoms.  When reading about one such sitcom, I was transported back to 1987.  I only saw one episode of "Rags To Riches" when it aired originally.  I didn't dislike it, but I hadn't thought about the show since that airing.  I remembered it was about orphaned girls who lived with a benefactor and sang.  All I remembered about the episode was the last line of the theme song, "We'll get through it, hand in hand in hand," and that the girls sang a cover of "Little Bitty Pretty One."

Now, those two musical extracts are cemented on a mental loop--and it's helping to blunt the edge of present day reality, in which the news is less than great, to put it mildly.  I'm wary of AI and custom-tailored news,  but there are times when I like that an algorithm knows what I need--even when I wasn't aware that I needed it.

Context? CDLVIII

While driving yesterday, I was surprised when a radio talk show host mentioned on-air that he sees 14 doctors.  My reaction to that is the same for anyone in that situation: May you always get the health care you need, when you need it.

Context? CDLVII

Last night, a Classical radio program host informed his listeners of some proper etiquette.  He introduced a concert performance of a Strauss waltz by telling the audience, "You're not allowed to walk out, but you are allowed to get up and dance."

I complied with the invitation.  At two pivotal moments during the piece, I got up from the kitchen table and waltzed my cat, Collette, around the room in two 10-second intervals.  I figured that was as much dancing as she would tolerate without biting or scratching me--or at least fidgeting.

When the piece concluded, I told her, "Thank you for tolerating 20 seconds of waltzing." 

I'd like to think that both of us showed proper etiquette, within reason.

SiriusXM highlights CLXXIX

Standout tunes heard today:

1st Wave Deep Cuts

• Leave In Silence-Depeche Mode (Alas, some relationships are destined to fizzle out.)

'60s Gold

• Ain't That Peculiar-Marvin Gaye (Rhythmically and vocally, this 1965 oldie never wears out its welcome.  This is an excellent example of how to build to a chorus in a fast tune.) 

Alt 2K

• Brick By Boring Brick-Paramore (A compelling case for not living exclusively in one's own world, as understandable as it might be.)

Bakersfield Beat

• Come On Home-Mel & Carl (The vocal harmonies are reminiscent of The Everly Brothers.)

Escape

• Fields Of Gold-Brian Withycombe (A pleasant piano rendition of one of Sting's most compelling hits.)

Lo-Fi Sleep

• Midnight, Somewhere-Idealism (An endearingly halting piano melody anchors this instrumental.)

Real Jazz Just Music

• Fula (Live)-McCoy Mrubata (Rhythmically compelling bass and piano set the stage for expansive saxophone wailing.)

Watercolors

• Silver Lining-Andrea Lisa (This unhurried smooth jazz guitar groove sounds like it's going to lead into some '70s R&B vocals at any moment.)

FM dial scan highlights CCCXII

Today marks 12 years since I started this blog, and scanning the FM dial for compelling music is just as captivating to me as it was on September 1, 2014.  Here are five standout tunes I heard this morning:

WSIE 88.7 FM

• Digits-Clark Terry (An effective doubling up of a sunny melody from Johnny Griffin on saxophone and Terry on trumpet.)
• Bountiful-Kayla Waters (I'd play "Quiet Storm" by Ramsey Lewis before this because one pleasant jazz piano instrumental deserves another.)

KCLC 89.1 FM

• Black Is Black-The Verbs (This respectable cover of the 1966 Los Bravos hit, which used to be a staple cut of oldies stations, approaches the lyrics from a female perspective.)
• Get Down-They Might Be Giants (I never expected to hear this group's brand of cerebral rock detour into a '70s-style dance pastiche with horns, but it kind of works.)

KLOU 103.3 FM

• I Can See Clearly Now-Jimmy Cliff (As comforting as Johnny Nash's original version is, the backbeat on Cliff's faithful rendition gives the tune a bit more rhythmic vigor.)