December 13, 2010 - Another Year Over!

This was our last show of the year. I can't believe another year is over already. John used his part of the show to play a 16-track Scottish compilation cd that included a track of his. This was the first time he ever played his own music on the show. He played the first 8 songs before my segment and the final 8 (including his own) after I was done.


I decided to play the music from some of my friends. Lou Luca and Ron Cianciaruso of The BB's have been faithful listeners almost since day one! I played them on my very first show and I've played many of their songs since then. It was only fitting that I play them on the last show of the year.


John Irizarry is another friend who has a great new band called Small Town Sheiks. They just released their debut cd called Songs For Parker. In addition, Johnny B was kind enough to give away free cd's to the first five people who went to their site and mentioned our show. Great stuff, John!


Al Knight and Carl Gabel are good friends of mine and play in the classic rock cover band Frantic!, along with Bob Landry and soundgirl Mary Knight. They have recently begun recording their own songs under the name Yes Mistress and we've played a couple of them already. I asked Al for something to play on this show and he sent me a two-fer. An instrumental and a cover. Thanks guys!


I tried to pick music that would go well with these three artists, which included our new friends from North Carolina, Onward, Soldiers (Thank you Gavin Dorman for turning me on to this great band). I also threw in a request from a couple weeks ago, plus a few things that I just wanted to hear. Here is what I played:


Squeeze - Some Fantastic Place
The Soundtrack Of Our Lives - Nevermore
XTC - Pink Thing
Beat Farmers - Southern Cross
The BB's - Save Myself
The Good Rats - Tasty
Yes Mistress - The Good Shepherd
Yes Mistress - Nowhere Man
Robin Trower - Maybe I Can Be A Friend
Small Town Sheiks - Can You Feel It
The Sadies - Cut Corners
Onward, Soldiers - Relic
Frank Zappa - Harder Than Your Husband
The Doughboys - Tuesday Afternoon


I got to play all but two of the songs that I had planned, which isn't too bad. I ran out of time and didn't get a chance to play a song from the New Steve Wynn & The Miracle 3 cd Northern Agression. I also missed out on the final track from the free download album from The Baseball Project, Broadside Ballads.


We now have a much needed time off to enjoy the holidays. John and I are supposed to be getting together after Christmas to have a few beers and maybe pre-record a segment. That could be interesting. We'll be back on the air with our first show of 2011 on January 10th. I hope everyone enjoys their Holidays and we'll see you in the new year.

December 6, 2010 - The Penultimate Show of the Year

It's December already. Where did the year go? With only two shows left in 2010, it's time to get ready for the holidays and to figure out how to finish the year off properly. In addition, I was having phone problems all day so it was a nice surprise that once the show started, I was able to be heard.


John's guests this week were Stuart Ferguson & The Fashionistas. In four separate interviews, John had Stuart and the entire band(Fred Abatelli, Lori Diamond, Lynn O'Conor-Ferguson & Phil Punch) on the show. John Played some of the interviews before the "Den" and the rest after I was finished. Maybe John did that to keep Stuart's fans listening for the entire show? I wonder if it worked.


As for me, I had no real theme for this week's show. Since it's December, I decided to play a couple Christmas songs. Then there were a couple others that are songs that I really like that wouldn't normally get played on this show. And the rest were just things that I wanted to hear, plus George Cunningham.


I was contemplating playing a song from George Cunningham's album Stumblingham. For those that don't know George, he is the brilliant guitarist in The Graveblankets and is also a member of The Faux Frenchmen. While I was deciding which song to use, John emailed me to tell me that George had agreed to come on the show in 2011. After hearing that news, I HAD to play something from Stumblingham. Anyway, here's what we played:


George Cunningham - Art Carne
Terry Reid - Rich Kid Blues
Triumph - Suitcase Blues
Black Country Communion - One Last Soul
The Good Rats - Reason To Kill
Stick Men - Hands Pt. 1
The Kinks - Father Christmas
XTC - Thanks For Christmas
Squeeze - Christmas Day
The Status Quo - Black Veils Of Melancholy
Joe Jackson Band - Bright Grey
Don Dixon - Lottery Of Lives
The Dead Weather - Gasoline


Next week is our last show of the year. with almost a month off until our next show, I'll have to make this last one count. I'll be playing some music from our longtime listeners as well as throwing in a surprise or two. It's your last chance in 2010 to tune in, so give us a listen!

November 29, 2010 - Thanksgiving Leftovers

Last Thursday was Thanksgiving and I hope everyone had a nice one. Mine was spent with family and it was very nice. Because of the holiday and the travel plans of both John and myself, I knew I wasn't going to have time to figure out what to play and email John a bunch of songs. So instead I decided to make the theme of the show Thanksgiving Leftovers!


There have probably been close to 100 songs that have been in the mix for shows throughout the year but haven't been used. Most were cut simply because we ran out of time, since I tend to always send more than I need. It's better to have too many songs than to run out and be at John's mercy as to what gets played. This also made it easier for both of us because I did not have to email any songs. We were both able to enjoy our holiday and not worry about sending or downloading music.


Our friends Lou Luca and Al Knight were both listening last night. In addition to the eleven "leftovers" that we played, we also managed to throw in original music from their respective bands Yes Mistress (Al Knight & Carl Gabel) and The BB's (Lou Luca & Ron Cianciaruso). Thanks to both of them for listening and I'm glad we are able to play your music!


We took music from last weeks "songs under 2:30" show, the early November "Barbara Ryan" show, my "high school" shows from October, "new music" from September and even a song from our "Ronnie James Dio Tribute" show back in May. Here's what we played. See if you can figure out what show they belonged to originally.


Traffic - Shanghai Noodle Factory
Psychodots - Another Reminder
Saul Zonana - Thrill To Be Ill
Adrian Belew - Twang Bar King
Richard Thompson - Never Give It Up
The BB's - I See Your Love Is There
Yes Mistress - Noir
The Graveblankets - Most Important Saint
Guided By Voices - Motor Away
Elf - Carolina County Ball
The Knack - Just Wait And See
The Jam - All Mod Cons
The Red Button - She's Going Down


Al Knight requested Twang Bar King and fortunately I was able to play it, as it was left over from last weeks show about short songs. He also requested Pink Thing by XTC but unfortunately that song was not on John's hard drive. I'll have to play that one for him next week.


I was told that I made great choices tonight. Who knew that the songs that were cut from earlier shows would have been so good? Adding the songs from Yes Mistress and The BB's were a nice touch and a tribute to our two known listeners last night. Thanks go to John for realizing he had music from both Al & Lou and for playing them.


We've only got two shows left this year so I'll have to put some thought into what I want these shows to be. I've gotten some good suggestions. Does anyone else have a suggestion? I guess we'll have to see what I come up with. Hope to see you next week!

November 22, 2010 - What Is a Two Minute Pop Song?

As usual, I had no idea what I wanted to do for this week's show. I asked a few people for ideas and they gave me several good ones. I'm sure I'll be using most of them over the next several months but one kept whispering in my ear, "pick me, pick me". The theme that wouldn't leave me alone was.....What makes the 2-minute pop song so good?


The Beatles were the masters of the 2-minute pop song and there have been so many great songs since them. I decided to put a time limit on the songs I chose. The had to be at least a minute long and couldn't exceed two and a half minutes. I sent 38 songs to John and we got to play 22 of them. Here's what we played:


The Merrymakers - A Fine Line
The Spongetones - Always Carry On
The Smithereens - Something New
The Nerves - When You Find Out
Nick Lowe - Heart Of The City
The Beatles - I'll Follow The Sun
The Who - La-La Lies
The Kinks - Harry Rag
The Zombies - A Rose For Emily
Giles, Giles & Fripp - One In A Million
The Beat Farmers - Happy Boy
The Ramones - Spiderman
XTC - Pulsing, Pulsing
All - Nothin'
Game Theory - Exactly What We Don't Want To Hear
The Loud Family - Sword Swallower

The Rooks - Steeplechase
Buzzed Meg - Loves Made A Fool Of You
House Of Freaks - This Old Town
The Knack - It's You
Adrian Belew - If I Fell
Adrian Belew - Come And Get It


To keep things different, I decided to use alternate versions for most of the 60's music. For The Beatles and The Who I used versions recorded at the BBC. The Zombies track was an alternate version taken from the 4-disc box set Zombie Heaven. And for the pre-King Crimson Giles, Giles & Frioo, I played the mono single version instead of the album version of One In A Million. I thought about using an obscure Kinks song, but I like Harry Rag way too much to ignore it.


After this, John aired his interview with Kate Taylor. Thanksgiving is only a couple days away and I'm sure it will be a very hectic week for both John and myself. Instead of waiting until the last minute to decide what next week's show will bring, I've made a decision already!

Next Monday will be a Thanksgiving Leftovers show! We'll play a bunch of songs that weren't played on previous shows because we ran out of time. With the whole year to choose from, there are still some great songs that didn't quite fit on other shows. I hope everyone here in the States has a great Thanksgiving and I hope you tune in next week.

November 15, 2010 - The Music Of Tom Waits

Last week's show was for Barbara Ryan and she loved our selections. I'm glad she enjoyed the show. This week I had to come up with something new. By Friday, I still had no idea what I was doing, so I decided to go with a theme that I have been threatening to do for about two years now. That theme is the music of Tom Waits.


Many people love Tom Waits. Some people can't stand him. His voice may be hard to take for some people, but there is no denying his songwriting talent. To show the greatness of his songs, I decided to choose his songs done by other people. I stayed away from the obvious choices like Rod Stewart, Bruce Springsteen or The Eagles. I went with things that would fit on my show.


Of course I couldn't go without Tom himself. My original plan was play other artists covering Tom Waits and also play Tom Waits covering other artists. Instead I did one hard to find Tom Waits recording from the Night On Earth Soundtrack, Tom Covering a Disney classic and his collaboration with Primus. Here is what was played:


The Ramones - I Don't Wanna Grow Up
Frank Black - The Black Rider
Moxy Fruvous - Jockey Full Of Bourbon
Petra Haden & Bill Frisell - I Don't Wanna Grow Up
Jill Hennessy - You're Innocent When You Dream
Southside Johnny & LaBamba's Big Band - Walk Away
Southside Johnny & The Jukes - New Coat Of Paint
Tom Waits - Heigh Ho (The Dwarfs March)
Jason Falkner - Johnsburg, Illinois
The Beat Farmers - Rosie
Tom Waits - Good Old World (Waltz)
Southside Johnny & LaBamba's Big Band - Shiver Me Timbers
Lucinda Williams - Hang Down Your Head
Firewater - Diamonds And Gold
Primus w/Tom Waits - Tommy The Cat


Walk Away was a duet with Tom Waits & Southside Johnny. Tom's version of Heigh Ho has scared several small chilren. The Ramones and Petra Haden & Bill Frisell both covered the same song but did it VERY differently. And the Lucinda Williams and Jill Hennessy songs both came from the soundtrack cd to Jill Hennessy's tv show, Crossing Jordan.


I got some very nice feedback on this show. Our friend Sammy really enjoyed my selections, as did my sister Julie. Next week we're back to square one. Once again I have no idea what I'll be playing. Anyone have any suggestions?

November 8, 2010 - All For The Love Of Barbara!

I spent the last three weeks re-living my youth by playing 44 songs from 1980-1984. The only reason why I stretched it out to three weeks was because I was lazy and didn't feel like figuring out something different to play. Since I had given John enough music for 3+ weeks, it made sense to play as many as possible


After last week's show John and I were discussing what to do for this week. He suggested we dedicate the show to our friend Barbara Ryan. Barbara has been one of our most dedicated listeners since Day One and this show was her reward!


For my segment I asked Barbara what she wanted to hear. I have a good idea of what I wanted to play, but I gave her the opportunity to send a few requests. Barbara gave me a list of what she DIDN'T want to hear and then gave me a few artists to steer me in the right direction. I took her suggestions and added my ususl twist to them, going for alternate versions and deep cuts instead of the obvious "hits". Here's what I came up with:


Karla Bonoff - Someone To Lay Down Beside Me
George Harrison w/Eric Clapton - If I Needed Someone (Live)
Robert Fripp w/Daryl Hall - North Star
Joni Mitchell w/The Band - Coyote (Live)
Bonnie Raitt - Three Time Loser
R.E.M. - Time After Time (Annelise)
Eric Clapton & Steve Winwood - Presence Of The Lord (Live)
Moody Blues - Send Me No Wine
Jeff Beck - Cause We've Ended As Lovers (Live)
Eric Clapton - Motherless children
Carole King - Home Again


Some of the songs that I didn't get to included a couple covers of Joni Mitchell songs, a Delbert McClinton cover, an obscure James Taylor track and one of my favorite songs from Traffic. Maybe these will eventually see the light of day and be used on a future show.


Barbara really enjoyed the show. She said it was the best one that we have done. I'm very happy we did this for her and I'm glad she enjoyed it. I also heard from Lou Luca, Ron Cianciaruso and Evil Demented Bunny and they all thought we did a good job, so I guess it was a good show. It was one that I truly enjoyed doing. Thank you for the inspiration Barbara. It was a lot of fun!

November 1, 2010 - Saying Goodbye To The 80's

I decided to squeeze one more week out of my trip back to high school, so I sent John a few more songs. That gave us enough to get a third week out of the totally cool 80's. Mostly it was laziness on my part. Why think of a new theme when I could just add a few songs to the ones that were left over from last week. That kept me from having to think about what to play.


John was late getting to the studio, which pushed everything back a little bit. It was about 8:15 before I went on. He played the "Donohue Theme", then went right into the first song before I came on. Here is what we played:


Icehouse - Can't Help Myself
Translator - Everywhere That I'm Not
The Bongos - The Bulrushes
Tommy Tutone - Which Man Are You
Tommy Tutone - 867-5309 (Jenny)
D.L. Byron - Listen To The Heartbeat
Utopia - Libertine
The Tubes - No Not Again
The Alarm - The Stand
Zebra - Tell Me What You Want
Re-Flex - The Politics Of Dancing
Classix Nouveaux - Guilty
After The Fire - Der Kommissar


I sent John 867-5309, knowing that he wouldn't want to play it. It did get played, but it was tought to hear. John played it in the background as we were talking. When the song ended, we continued with more music.


I gave John the opportunity to pick the final block of the evening, He chose Zebra, which kind of surprised me. I figured that would be my choice for the final song of the show. Besides that, he also chose the two most commercially accessible, songs that had the cheesiest 80's sound. But I've come to expect that from John.


I finished up with Der Kommissar, because that song brought back many memories of my junior year in high school. When everything was done, there were still 5 artists that didn't get played. Robert Hazard, Donnie Iris, Grace Slick, Eddie Jobson/Zinc and The Knack never managed to get into a playlist. Hopefully I can use them in the future.


For next week's show we will finally be leaving the 80's. John has suggested doing a show for our friend Barbara Ryan, where she gets to pick the music. Barbara, if you're up for that, I'm up for that too! See you next week.

October 25, 2010 - Still Stuck In The 80's

Last week I decided to go back to my high school years and the early 80's music scene. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed some of that stuff, cheesy synths and all! It brought me back to a much more innocent time (at least for me). John enjoyed last week's selections so we decided to do it again this week.


John had an in-studio guest scheduled, but they had to cancel. Instead of going guest-free again, he replayed his interview with Luka Bloom from last year. Even without a guest, John did have company in the studio. Sammy was visiting from Mexico and joined John as a quiet observer. I did manage to convince her to wave to the webcam, just to prove she was there.


With an interview that was only about 20 minutes long, John got to play more songs than he usually does and my segment ran for a little over an hour. John brought in his Loverboy compilation "Big Ones" but we didn't play anything from that cd. Instead we played these songs:


R.E.M. - Gardening At Night
Split Enz - History Never Repeats
Squeeze - In Quintessence
Tony Carey - I Won't Be Home Tonight
Planet P - Why Me
The Jam - Start!
The Plimsouls - A Million Miles Away
The Vapors - Turning Japanese
Streets - If Love Should Go
Spys - Don't Run My Life
Prism - Don't Let Him Know
King Crimson - Frame By Frame
Martin Briley - The Salt In My Tears


Some of the music I played brought back memories. The first REM ep, Chronic Town changed music for me in 1982. Tony Carey & Planet P reminded me of my good friend Kirsten. The Plimsouls made me remember the time I almost saw them live. The Prism song (which was co-written by Bryan Adams)reminded me of the time I saw Bryan Adams open for The Kinks in a blizzard and all I remember of Bryan Adams is how bad he was. And then hearing Lonely Nights and Jealousy on the radio and realizing he did have talent.


Then there was The Vapors Turning Japanese. This song led to way too many masturbation jokes. John had to explain to Sammy what the song meant. Turning Japanese wasn't the first hit song with a hidden meaning (Yummy, Yummt, Yummy, anyone?) and it wasn't even the biggest "masterbation hit". That honor may belong to Cyndi Lauper's She Bop. But regardless of the subject matter, Turning Japanese was a great new wave/power pop song and although The Vapors had some great songs, this is the one they will always be known for.


I still have a dozen songs left it looks like we'll be staying in the early 80's for another week. It's been a lot of fun going back in time and hearing some of these songs again for the first time in years! Next week will give us The Tubes, Utopia, The Bongos, Icehouse, Donnie Iris and a few others.