FM dial scan highlights CXII

Six standouts from the past week:

KDHX 88.1 FM

• Mixed Messages-The Bangles (Most of the band's '80s hits didn't do much for me.  This track, however, from the group's 2003 comeback album, "Doll Revolution," is the catchiest tune of theirs I've heard.  Fine lead and harmony vocals coalesce in this strong piece of power pop that reminds me of The Who's "Pure And Easy," Rick Springfield's "Affair Of The Heart," and "A Little Bird Told Me So" by Brian Stevens And The Flip.)
• Lies-The Knickerbockers (How do you craft a catchy garage band tune with a heavy early Beatles influence and an infectious hook about being heartbroken?  Like this...) 

WSIE 88.7 FM

• Sunshine States-Lisa Hilton (This uptempo Cuban-styled piano melody with echoes of Vince Guaraldi got my attention in the middle of the night and made me want to hear a lot more of this artist's work.)
• Blue Rondo A La Turk (Round, Round, Round)-Al Jarreau (This is probably Dave Brubeck's second most recognizable melody, after "Take Five."  Jarreau sings it with dramatic aplomb.)
• Friendly Pressure-Maysa (Possibly the most beguiling groove I've heard about not getting too relaxed.)

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

• Leo Brouwer: Guitar Concerto No. 4, "Concerto de Toronto" (Ricardo Cobo, guitar) (The ear-catching Brazilian flavor of this concerto makes me wish more recordings of it existed.)
  

Persistent earworm alert CXXV

Guitar licks don't get much crunchier than the opening riff of Dressy Bessy's "This May Hurt (A Little.)"  I remember waiting at a Taco Bell drive-through the first time I heard it on KDHX and wanting to make the car sway in time.  Now, that memory from 2003 is back, along with the ear-catching guitar opening.  If sitcoms still had minute-long opening credit sequences, this could easily be a quirkier one's theme.

Persistent earworm alert CXXIV

An announcer's mention of "Dem Bones" during a promo for tomorrow's "1A" show on NPR triggered a memory from grade school.  The vocal music teacher, Mrs. S., put an unusual twist on one of our sing-alongs.  She picked a student to play a simple xylophone accompaniment and lead the singing as the rest of the class sang along.  For decades, at random moments, the lyrics, "Oh, the bones,  Oh, the bones,  Oh, the jumpin' bones," and the song's unexpected ending, "Oh, didn't it rain," have sprung to my mind.  I also remember Mrs. S. telling the xylophonist, "Keep it up, Steve," which prompted Steve to play and sing louder.

Some people sing "Alice's Restaurant" to decompress during tense times; the default setting in my mind, however, goes to "Oh, the bones, Oh, the bones, Oh, the jumpin' bones..."

Not belaboring the time

One minor victory of which I'm proud: After giving the time on the air, I've never said, "If you need to be somewhere by (a specific time), you've got (this number of minutes) to make it there on time."  I've always trusted that listeners could make the necessary mental leap.

"Room to move," indeed...

A sports desk staffer called me at my previous job, asking how many box scores would be sent to the newspaper that evening.  This let him reserve sufficient space in the paper.  As he put it, "This will give me 'room to move,' as John Mayall said."  This sparked accolades from me on Mayall's "Room To Move" and the guitar work, harmonica playing, and vocals on some of his other best songs.  The staffer responded in kind.

About five minutes later, I answered his question about box scores.  I would have answered it right away, but how often do you get to praise Mayall's music while working at a non-musical job?

The most predictable format

In recent days, I've been eating my meals with the same short wave radio station playing in the background.  Say what you will about the station's monotony, but there's something comfortably predictable in a station with an all-time format.  I hear the ticking of a clock, followed by a voice saying, "At the tone, 13 hours, 52 minutes, coordinated universal time."  A beep then sounds, without fail, when the announced time strikes.

I've heard that some radical listeners have attempted to throw a spanner in the works by sneaking incorrect times and wind chimes into the mix.  That won't do, of course.  People, alas, usually want to hear the hits--and that's especially true with an all-time format.  If ever there were a station in which the format has to be followed to the letter...

Only in college LXIII

Upon receiving the teacher's evaluation sheet of my demonstration speech, I was pleased to see my primer on how to play the bass received an A.  The only negative comment on the form was next to the category, 'Explained reason for demonstration.'  The teacher wrote, "Needed to be more clear about this...Why should we want to learn to play the bass?"  I thought I'd provided sufficient justification during my speech.  I told the class, "When you learn to play the bass, you have a greater understanding of how music is put together.  So often, people pay most of their attention to a tune's melody.  When you play the bass, however, you'll have a greater understanding of what's supporting the melody and keeping the rhythm going."

Oh, well...An A is still an A.  Besides, does there really need to be a reason when it's a class assignment?  Wasn't "because it's yummy" a sufficient reason for another student to show how pound cake is made?