FM dial scan highlights C

Six noteworthy tunes heard today:

KDHX 88.1 FM

• A Little More Love-Juliana Hatfield (Back in 1992, when I was playing Hatfield's music on KCOU, I never imagined she'd release an album of Olivia Newton-John covers.  She did, however, in April, and it suits her vocal range well.  Unfortunately, "A Little More Love" didn't usually receive radio airplay here after it dropped off the charts.  Hatfield sings one of Newton-John's stronger hits with appropriate resolve, and the crunchy guitar underpinning makes it sound as if Hatfield wrote it.  Also recommended: "Have You Never Been Mellow" and "Magic.")
• Live Right Now-Eddie Harris (Some of the coolest interplay between saxophone and piano; it works as an expansive seven-minute groove and almost as well as a condensed 45.)

WSIE 88.7 FM

• Cerebral Thoughts-Cyrus Chestnut (The "Follow the leader.  He's on a Honda," jingle came to mind as I listened.  If that jingle had been played on piano and vibes like this, I might have considered getting a motorcycle.)
• Matteo-Basia (This track from Basia's May release, "Butterflies," segues well with her own "Astrud.")

WSDZ 95.1 FM

• Blessed And Highly Favored-The Clark Sisters (The precision of the phrasing, "blessed and highly favored," coupled with the refrain of faith seeing a person through difficult times, drew me in.  Thematically, it would be interesting to hear a noncommercial freeform station play Ebba Forsberg's "Carried" before this.)

WFUN 95.5 FM

• Same Ole Love-Anita Baker (Thanks largely to its memorable sing-along chorus, this is, in my view, one of Baker's best songs.)

Appropriate self-bestowed accolades

As long as you don't do it too often, it's fine to pat yourself on the back.  The Crusaders do this at the end of "Greasy Spoon."  As the song ends, you hear their applause and shouts of "Cool, man!  I think that's cool, man!"

And, why not?  This was one of drummer Stix Hooper's best compositions for The Crusaders.  When you've performed one of the coolest, slyest piano-anchored jazz riffs ever, why not take a moment to revel in it? 

WEW playlist flashback: 8/5/96

The music I chose for my 9:30 a.m.-2 p.m. shift on this day 22 years ago:

   1.  Polka Dots And Moonbeams-Wes Montgomery
(I brought this in from home.  I wanted to start things off on a classy note, and guitar instrumentals don't get much more elegant than this.  Although it stands perfectly well on its own, it could also underscore scenes of upscale homes for sale.)
   2.  A Song For You-Ray Charles
(Charles sings Leon Russell's song with perfect understanding.  I love how the last note of Montgomery's "Polka Dots And Moonbeams" segues naturally with "A Song For You"'s cascading piano intro.)
   3.  Moonlight Becomes You-Mary Cleere Haran
(More piano and vocals in a natural segue with "A Song For You."  I still like the way these first three songs sound together.)
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   4.  Wild Goose Chase-Nat King Cole
(After a sublime set of slow tunes, I alerted the audience that I was about to pick up the tempo.)
   5.  Lover Come Back To Me-Ella Fitzgerald
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   6.  Sabre Dance-Woody Herman
(What could possibly segue with a tune this frantic?  Well...)
   7.  Blue Skies-Al Jarreau
(...Jarreau's rapid fire vocals did the trick.  A listener who heard me play these two songs called in and said sarcastically, "That's real soothing music for me to get up and have my coffee to.  Thanks a lot."  Although it wasn't one of the more positive calls I received from a listener, she at least had the decency to end her call with, "I thank you for letting me express my opinion.")
   8.  Guys And Dolls-Michael Hashim
   9.  American Patrol-Glenn Miller
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 10.  I Think I Got It-Nat Adderley Septet
(Excellent, brisk cornet, saxophone, and rhythm section playing from the underrated album, "Don't Look Back."  If you enjoy this, you'll likely enjoy the similar feel of the album's title track.)
 11.  That Old Black Magic-Louis Prima & Keely Smith
(Prima and Smith sing to each other with appropriate precision and abandon; those aren't contradictory terms here.)
 12.  Solar-Renee Rosnes Trio with string orchestra
(Rosnes and company do this Miles Davis song justice.)
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 13.  Just One Of Those Things-Erroll Garner
 14.  Puttin' On The Ritz-Andy Prior & The Night Owls
(If you've only heard Taco's version, check out how well the song works as a big band instrumental with a scat interlude.)
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 15.  Chicago-Count Basie & Tony Bennett
 16.  Only The Lonely-Roy Orbison
 17.  Let's Get Lost-Vaughn Monroe
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 18.  How Little We Know-Joey DeFranceso
 19.  Wild Is The Wind-Johnny Mathis
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 20.  Release Me-Engelbert Humperdinck (*)
 21.  On A Little Street In Singapore-Harry James & Frank Sinatra
 22.  A Sunday Kind Of Love-Claude Thornhill and his orchestra featuring Fran Warren
 23.  Fiesta In Blue-Natalie Cole

 24.  When You Wish Upon A Star-The Lettermen
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 25.  Avenue Of Stars-Charlie Haden Quartet West
 26.  Sentimental Me-The Ames Brothers
 27.  It Might As Well Be Spring-John Pizzarelli
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 28.  They Say That Love Is Wonderful-Lionel Hampton
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 29.  Early Autumn-Ray Anthony
 30.  Fly Me To The Moon-Bossa Nova-Joe Harnell and his orchestra
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 31.  If I Could Give You More-Harry Connick, Jr.
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 32.  Caledonia-Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five
 33.  Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy-Bette Midler
 34.  Crosstown-Duke Ellington
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 35.  Someone To Watch Over Me-Toni Tennille
 36.  Speak Low-Barbara Streisand
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 37.  I'm Gonna Sit Write Down And Write Myself A Letter-Billy Williams
 38.  Spanish Harlem-Ben E. King
(Is there a bad rendition of this?  Aretha Franklin, The Crusaders, and King set the bar high for anyone else who wishes to cover this.)
 39.  Isle Of Capri-Jackie Lee and his orchestra
 40.  Pompton Turnpike-Charlie Barnet and his orchestra
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 41.  Them There Eyes-Peggy Lee
 42.  I Got The Sun In The Morning-Les Brown and his orchestra featuring Doris Day
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 43.  Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out To Dry-Linda Ronstadt with Nelson Riddle and his orchestra
 44.  Lazy River-Kay Starr
 45.  Canadian Sunset-Hugo Winterhalter and his orchestra
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 46.  Cab Driver-The Mills Brothers
(This was the song I played most often on WEW.  This is one of the classiest, catchiest tunes about pursuing someone while trying not to be too obvious.)
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 47.  Way Down Yonder In New Orleans-Louis Armstrong
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 48.  Second Balcony Jump-Earl Hines
 49.  Going To Chicago-Count Basie
 50.  Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea-Eddy Duchin featuring Patricia Norman
 51.  A Foggy Night-Artie Shaw
 52.  On The Atchison, Topeka, And The Santa Fe-Johnny Mercer
 53.  Hobo's Blues-Paul Simon with Stephane Grappelli
(I'd brought this guitar and violin collaboration in from home and was determined to find a place for it, even if I had to shoehorn it into the playlist.  Fortunately, the feel of "...Atchison, Topkea, And The Santa Fe" struck me as compatible with it.)
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 54.  Can't Take My Eyes Off You-Frankie Valli
 55.  Come Softly To Me-The Fleetwoods
(Soft, tasteful harmonies; one of the best hits of the '50s.)
 56.  I'll Be Seeing You-Jo Stafford
 57.  In The Still Of The Night-The Five Satins
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 58.  I'll Never Be The Same-Teddy Wilson
(In retrospect, I could have segued this with almost any version of "As Time Goes By.")
 59.  Last Date-Floyd Cramer
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 60.  Tell It Like It Is-Aaron Neville
 61.  I'll Be Seeing You-Sammy Davis, Jr.
 62.  Yesterday-The Beatles
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 63. (CLOSING THEME) Closing Time-Tom Waits
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(*) indicates a listener's request.
--- indicates a short break for a slogan and time check or a longer break for back announcing the music.

Getting one's voice back

Once, after placing an order in the drive-through, the McDonald's worker asked me, "Do you have broadcasting experience?"  He then lowered his voice and imitated the way I'd placed my order.  I hadn't intended to elicit that reaction, but I was glad I did.  For someone with dysphonia, it's good to know that botox has restored your voice to its broadcast quality.

Life, as it should work

In eighth grade, the biggest highlight of attending a career fair, to me, was seeing two stellar local jazz saxophonists, The Bosman Twins, perform.  Their synchronicity and professionalism impressed me, as well as their--or really, anyone's--ability to make a living as jazz musicians in St. Louis. 

Several months later, on August 3, 1985, I heard part of an interview with them on WMRY's "Saturday Morning Live."  At the end of the interview, the host told them, "Well, Dwight and Dwayne, thanks so much for coming on our show...We know that you'll do well because you have done well...You're young, you're energetic, you have your educational background, and you have your skills that are unsurpassed.  So, I'm real proud to say I know you, and when you get to the big time, remember your friends in St. Louis, and we're glad to have you on the show this morning."

The Bosmans responded, "Thank you.  We enjoyed it, and we're proud to be here, also.  This is our pleasure all the way."

I remember thinking, "There's such positivity in this interview.  With that kind of positivity and musical ability, I hope The Bosman Twins are still maintaining successful careers playing the music they love decades from now."

Thirty-three years later, that's exactly what they're doing.  It's reassuring to know that life sometimes works out as it should.

A restrained compliment

If you want to compliment someone's musical prowess without being excessive, you might take the approach someone did when signing my high school yearbook.  She wrote, "As my grandmother would say, 'You play a positive bass.'"

Ballpark music musings

After seeing the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium last night for the first time in a long while, I've had some thoughts about the musical aspects of the game:

• The Foo Fighters tune, "Everlong," worked surprisingly well as a ballpark organ instrumental...
• ...So did Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir."
• It's refreshing that Walter Wanderley's "Summer Samba" still makes the stadium playlist, after all these years.  Whenever I played it on WEW, I felt transported to Busch Stadium.  The arrangement is ideal for a baseball game.
• Although some listeners might find it dated, the main theme of Chicago's "Mongonucleosis" would work as between-innings music or as a player's walk-on theme.
• If you have any heart, you have to be at least a little moved when a children's band plays "God Bless America" in front of such a large audience.  
• During last night's "Name That Tune" contest, a fan was asked to identify a Motown tune in five notes.  I knew immediately that it was "The Way You Do The Things You Do" by The Temptations, but the fan guessed Van Morrison's "Brown-Eyed Girl." Given a second chance, he guessed "The Way You Make Me Feel."  The emcee said that was close enough and gave him a t-shirt.  That's not the ruling I would have made, but when your goal is to keep the fans happy and buying tickets, it's a smart good will gesture.
• Kudos to Fredbird, the Cardinal mascot, for showing the right combination of energy and tactfulness toward the fans.  When he pulled two very young fans up to play air guitar and dance alongside him, he didn't insist that they go all out.  He just led by example and let them contribute at the level that was comfortable for them.
• You know you're getting older when the number of times you yell, "Charge!" in response to the organist's cues plummets considerably from what it would have been as a kid.  Still, I shouted, "Charge!" once last night.  I'm not that much of a curmudgeon, after all.

A bonus musical memory from a Cardinal game I attended in 1999: John Denver's "Thank God I'm A Country Boy" played over the speakers between innings.  As it played, an animated graphic of Fredbird clapping along appeared on the stadium monitor; I thought that was a fun--and tactful--way of prodding fans to clap on the beat.