February 22, 2010 - The first show of the year...for the THIRD TIME!

As usual, I am late getting this this written. Several times during the week I started to put this together and got sidetracked again (to quoto The Doughboys). Now with the latest snowstorm/blizzard keeping me stuck in the house, it's as good a time as any to get this thing done. Here goes....


Back in January I sent John a bunch of music to use for our first show of the year. That show was canceled and the music was put on hold. I brought the music back out for the February 1st show but that was the week that John forgot all my music. Another show cancellation because of a snowstorm,followed by the "payback" show and now we are back to the music from the beginning of the year.


The general theme of that original show was to play some music that I had just picked up. While going through my pc I found a few things on there that I had forgotten were there, so I added them to the list. By the time the songs finally got played this week, I had added a couple extra tracks that I picked up in the last couple weeks. However, there was one song from Sonny Landreth that I wanted to play, but John couldn't find it. I guess I'll have to send it again and we'll use it for a later show. Here is what I played this week:


Hugh Dillon Redemption Choir - My Mistakes
The Black Crowes - Apaloosa
She Swings, She Sways - What I Wouldn't Do
The Doughboys - Sidetracked Again
Drivin' n' Cryin' - I Stand Tall
Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs - Dreaming
Michael Behm - Ticket To Heaven

The Dons - Till We Meet Again
John Lefler - Lucy
The Jones Thing - Faster, Faster
Something Happens - Room 29
Bob Mould - Makes No Sense At All
The Doughboys - Tuesday Afternoon


There were several covers and near covers in here. I Stand Tall is a Dictators cover. Dreaming was the Blondie song. Makes No Sense At All is the Husker Du song that Bob Mould is still performing and Sidetracked Again is a Richard X. Heyman song that he brought with him to The Doughboys and left it in the hands of Myke Scavone to sing. The other Doughboys song, Tuesday Afternoon is a cover of the Moody Blues classic and they turned that orchestral song into a full fledged garage raver! It's one of my favorite covers at the moment(and Ron Cianciaruso liked it so much he wants to do it with his band, The BB's).


The band She Swings, She Sways I just discovered recently. I was impressed with the song and decided to play it. It turns out that John's friend Sammy absolutely LOVED the song. I'm glad she liked it! Thanks Sammy!

That's it for me. Time to go back and watch the snow fall. Till the next show...

February 15, 2010 - It's Payback Time!

The last time we had a show, John left all my music at home so he played things that he thought I might like. As usual, he was way off the target. I was annoyed. He was laughing hysterically for an hour. It was the worst thing we ever did. I vowed to get back at him the following week. Unfortunately, there was a big snowstorm the following week which closed down the campus and canceled the show.

That gave me an extra week to put together a group a songs that John won't like. The extra week really helped because it gave me a chance to dig even deeper into the collection and find even more music that he wouldn't like. I ended up sending him 22 songs that ranged in length from 11 seconds to four and a half minutes.

Of the 22 things that I sent him, only 12 of them came from my own cd collection (although I did have all the music on my computer already). The person that really needs to be thanked for this week's music is Rich Tully because all 22 of these songs can be found in his cd collection. Thanks Rich! I guess this proves Leane's point that you have very strange taste in music. What was even better was that playing these things actually got Rich to listen for the first time in many, many months. Ok, so what exactly did I play this week? Here goes:

Frank Zappa & The Mothers - Florentine Pogen
Adrian Belew Power Trio - a2
King Crimson - King Crimson Barber Shop
Bongwater - David Bowie Wants Ideas
King Missile - Gary & Melissa
XTC - Cairo
Beat Farmers - Whale-Oil-Beef-Hooked
Mojo Nixon & Skid Roper - Debbie Gibson Is Pregnant With My Two-Headed Love Child
Naked City - Batman
Naked City - Blood Duster
Naked City - Hammerhead
Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band - Frownland
Copernicus - Break From The Senses
Big Black - Colombian Necktie
The Residents - Hello Skinny
The Knack - Oh Tara


I got to play 16 of the 22 songs and more than anything else, the Captain Beefheart did the trick. Trout Mask Replica is an album that everyone must experience at least once in their life. John got to hear less than two minutes of it and he was begging for mercy. Mission accomplished!

Some of the listeners (besides Rich) did like a lot of what I played. Some just thought it was dissonant noise. Barbara Ryan told me that I had made her ears bleed. Ron Cianciaruso didn't seem to be too thrilled with Gary & Melissa(which wasn't even supposed to be played because of the subject matter). That's what is so great about music. There are so many different styles and everyone has their own taste about what is good and what isn't. Give me Captain Beefheart over Britney Spears any day!


I had told John that there would be no power pop played on this show, but I did make one exception, Oh Tara, by The Knack. Doug Fieger, lead singer of the Knack lost his battle with brain and lung cancer on Sunday. He was 57. I was 13 years old when Get The Knack came out and it is one of the albums that changed my life when I was a kid. The tight playing, the in your face lyrics and oh those hooks! Get The Knack changed my life and every time I hear that album, I feel like I am thirteen years old again. Rest in peace Doug. You will be missed!


Next week, unless something else happens, it looks like I may finally be playing the music from January 11th, that has been on hold for 6 weeks. I just wish I could remember what those songs were. See ya next time!

February 1, 2010 - We've reached the bottom

This show is the new standard by which all other bad shows will be judged! It started bad and just went downhill from there. Everything seemed like it was set. I had sent John music to play for the January 11th show. That show didn't happen because of John's car troubles and that music was saved for this show. But when John got to the studio, he didn't had left his drive at work and didn't have any of the music that I sent him.

Even without any music he still wanted me to do my segment and he pick music out of the cd's that he brought plus stuff that was already at the station. What happened from there was just BAD! John couldn't stop laughing while I was on. I had nothing nice to say to John or about the music he was playing. He managed to pick a couple songs that I might have chosen on my own, but he also played a couple that just suckjed and I never would have played.

I'm not even going to bother listing what was played because some of it was so bad! However, one of the cd's at the studio that he pulled out was Countrysides, by Cracker. To go with my mood for the show I chose two songs from that album. Up Against The Wall Redneck Mother and It Ain't Gonna Suck Itself. Another cd was Rainy Day Music by The Jayhawks. From that album, I chose Tailspin. I'm sensing a theme here!

Finally I'd had enough and told John that I was done and he could finish the show on his own. I also told him that I would do something "special" for him the following week. I'm hoping to pick a bunch of music that John will not like. I hope I can make it work. I'm thinking maybe Zappa, Residents, Einsturzende Neubauten, Naked City, things like that. Next week should be another interesting show!