Self Help Radio 050625: Motorways

At the beginning of a two-week vacation, Self Help Radio has a show about motorways. One suspects there will be much time spent on them in the next fortnight!

No time to waste! Gotta pack! Listen to the show either at the KBOO web site or at the Self Help Radio website. If you go to the latter, you might need the username SHR & the password selfhelp.

Most everything that happened on the show is below. See you in two weeks!

Self Help Radio Motorways Show

"Motorway" Blue Orchids _The Once & Future Thing_

"Motorway" Monterey _The Motorway EP_

"The English Motorway System" Black Box Recorder _The Facts Of Life_

introduction & definitions

"Motorway" The Kinks _Everybody's In Show-Biz - Everybody's A Star_

"Motorway City" John Gaughan with The Hermits _You Gotta Love Me Baby_

"Motorway Madness" Horslips _More Than You Can Chew_

"2-4-6-8 Motorway" Tom Robinson Band _Tom Robinson Band_

"Billy & The Motorway Police" Fischer-Z _Word Salad_

interview with author Larry Thomas

"Music 4 Travelling (Motorway Amber Time)" Spöön Fazer _Music 2 Dance 2_

"Like A Motorway" Saint Etienne _Tiger Bay_

"Motorway" Little Boots _Nocturnes_

"Back On The Motorway" Metronomy _Nights Out_

"They're Going To Build A Motorway" Leon Rosselson _Perspectives_

interview with motorway painter Theo Landis

"Motorway To Roswell" Pixies _Trompe Le Monde_

"Separated By Motorways" The Long Blondes _Someone To Drive You Home_

"Motorway" Ikara Colt _Modern Apprentice_

"Motorway" Useless Eaters _Relaxing Death_

"Motorway" Slave _New Plateau_

interview with private motorway owner Todd Lessner

"Our Favourite Motorway" Darren Hayman & Secondary Modern _Pram Town_

"Motorway" California Snow Story _Some Other Places_

"Motorway" Joan As Police Woman & Benjamin Lazer Davis _Let It Be You_

"On The Motorway" Bill Wells & Aidan Moffat _The Most Important Place In The World_

"Motorway A. Revlis B. Lessen C." Audionom _Retrospektiv_

conclusion & bon voyage

"Motorway" Anni B Sweet _Start Restart Undo_

"New Motorway" Kevin Coyne _Sanity Stomp_

Whither Motorways?

(Some Portland motorways)

After tonight's show, there won't be a new Self Help Radio for two weeks. I will have something prepared to air in the timeslot so you don't have to face the indignity of a rerun. But for Self Help Radio, it will be a two-week vacation.

You might know we have a dog with separation anxiety. So we have to take him along. So we thought we'd go on a road trip. Just the Missus & me & our three hounds. What takes you from place to place on road trips? A car. Driving on roads. Freeways. Highways. Motorways.

Something about the word "motorway" made me want to look for songs that specifically mention them. & so I have. & I'll share them with you tonight. Right before the show takes a little vacation.

Tonight! Midnight to 2am on 90.7fm in Portland, online at kboo dot fm.

Preface To Motorways: Vacation

It occurred to me very recently that I hadn't left Portland - or hadn't been outside of the Greater Portland Metropolitan Area - in almost two years*. That would not have seemed too surprising to my mother who, though she was born in Germany, married a GI & lived the vast majority of her life in Texas. Indeed, in her last twenty years, I only think she left the Dallas area a handful of times, usually for weddings - like mine, in 2008. My sister Pat was the same - she had lived in California & Georgia for a few years but ended up living most of her life in a house very close to the house she had lived in as a child.

Basically I don't come from a long line of wanderers. I come from homebodies, mostly unadventurous people who would admire the Thoreau quote "I have traveled a good deal in Concord," if they knew Thoreau existed.

But I felt like I needed a vacation & so after this week's episode, I'll be disappearing for a couple of weeks. I have prepared radio shows to run in the place of Self Help Radio - & also episodes of The Dickenbock Report that will air in its space on Sundays. It'll be a road trip, since we have a dog with severe separation anxiety. But the plans have been made.

So. What could possibly go wrong?

* Okay, I forgot I went to San Francisco last summer. It just feels like I haven't left Portland in two years.

Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: Firefighters’ Memorial Day

There's a confession that needs to be made - the staff & crew of The Dickenbock Report will take a two-week vacation after tomorrow's show. & really, a lot of them were a bit checked out before this. So - we have prepared a show for Firefighters' Memorial Day which we discovered a bit late is a holiday in the UK. Not in the United States. Where the show airs.

However! Dick Dickenbock wants to celebrate fire fighters because he admires any public servants that make their own calendars. So that's what we shall do!

Noon to 1pm tomorrow. On 91.1+107.1fm in Portland, online everywhere at xray dot fm. Maybe now, Dick Dickenbock says, they'll let him climb up one of those ladders!

Oh wait. We've discovered in the United States it's called National Fallen Firefighters Day. So we're on task. Poor Dick Dickenbock!

This Week In Self Help (April 25 27 + 29 & May 2)

That's a picture of my favorite tree in Woodstock Park last autumn right before its leaves turned & fell. It's really apropos nothing. Just wanted to have a pretty picture here.

Here's an announcement! I'm going on vacation for a couple of weeks so there won't be one of these "this week in radio" posts for a while. There will be recorded content in the Self Help Radio/Corporate Standardized Programming space & I'll have a couple of episodes of The Dickenbock Report as well but I'll be busy & not writing about that here. But for this last week...

Friday the 25th I subbed the Songcircle & played songs about painters on Cy Twombly's birthday. Here is the show on the KBOO website. Here is the show on the Self Help Radio website.

Sunday the 27th The Dickenbock Report reported on National Patricia Day. Here is the show on the XRAY website. Here is the show on the Self Help Radio website.

Tuesday the 29th Self Help Radio presented the 77th installment of the Indiepop A To Z series. Here is the show on the KBOO website. Here is the show on the Self Help Radio website.

Also on Tuesday the 29th Corporate Standardized Programming played lots of music by artists we lost in December 2024. It's the last hour of the KBOO file above. But if you'd like to listen to it alone, here is the show on the Self Help Radio website.

Finally - today! Just today I subbed the Songcircle & played lots David Bowie songs covered by other artists. Here is the show on the KBOO website. Here is the show on the Self Help Radio website.

There's a new Dickenbock Report on Sunday & a new Self Help Radio/Corporate Standardized Programming on Tuesday but there I'm leaving Portland for the first time in well over a year. I really need to get out more.

Oh yeah! If you listen to files on the Self Help Radio website, you might need a username & password. Those are SHR & selfhelp.

Self Help Radio 042925: Indiepop A To Z # 77

(All single/album images from Discogs)

Welp. I done did another couple hours of alphabetized indiepop. But really gonna be in the letter S for a while longer.

You can listen to this show on the KBOO website or on the Self Help Radio website. You'll need a username & password at the latter. Those are SHR & selfhelp respectively.

Look at all the song in lovely alphabetical order! Whee!

Self Help Radio Indiepop A To Z # 77

"Footprints On The City" Sharky Favorite _2000 Teenbeat Sampler_

"Through With Love" The Sharp Things _A Moveable Feast_

"Jeane" Sandie Shaw _Hand In Glove_

"Leave All Your Old Loves" The She-Brews _Off With Their Hearts_

"All Comes Out" She Splinters Mortar _Straight From Her Heart_

"Homerun" The Sheets _The Sheets_

"Fragmentary Love" Shelby _Sofa Safari_

"Hero" Shelley _Battery Point (A Sarah Compilation)_

"Mix Tape" Michael Shelley _I Blame You_

"Circle Line" Shelley's Children _The Mask Of Anarchy_

"My Animated World" The Shermans _Casual_

"Noyfriend" Shimura Curves _The Kids At The Club (An Indiepop Compilation)_

"Bite The Apple" Shine! _Shine!_

"Ten Long Years" The Shining Hour _Postcards From Home_

"Empty Ever After" The Shirts _The Shirts_

"Courtney Sat On A Rock" ShiSho _EP Six_

"Teen Line" The Shivvers _Teen Line_

"Shizuka" Shizuka _Momentos Perdidos_

"I, Bloodbrother Be" Shock Headed Peters _Amen (Last Sunshine Deserts Of Él Records)_

"You Can Make Me Feel Bad" Shocking Pinks _Shocking Pinks_

"I Believe In Nights" Shoe Shine Boys _Flying Dutchmen_

"Summer Days" Shoestrings _Pop American Style_

"Blossom (I'm A Super Girl)" Shonen Knife _The Powerpuff Girls: Heroes & Villains_

"Somewhere In China" Shop Assistants _Will Anything Happen (Expanded Edition)_

"Hurry Up Let's Go" Shout Out Louds _Howl Howl Gaff Gaff_

"Hopelessly Wasted" Shrag _Shrag_

"Losing My Cool" The Shrew Kings _The Sound Of Leamington Spa Volume 5_

"Everything" The Shrinking Violets _Everything_

Whither Indiepop A To Z # 77?

Please don't ask why I picked a picture of a neighborhood cat taken last autumn for the image for this post. There's no reason. I feel like I needed a picture. I like taking pictures of neighborhood cats. This spring has wakened in me allergic reactions I've never had before. I am missing the cold damp autumn. There's nothing else!

The Indiepop A To Z series started over 20 years ago in Texas. It has followed me to every place I've been since. I have done 76 installments; tonight's is the 77th. I am in the letter S. I just might never finish the letter S. But that is where I am now. & where I will still be at the end of tonight's episode.

Which airs midnight to 2am on 90.7fm in town & online everywhere at kboo dot fm. It's an oddly obscure genre of music that has captivated so many for quite a while now. I will share two hours of it with you tonight.

Preface To Indiepop A To Z # 77: Shabby Billboard

Above is a picture taken by me which I titled "Shabby Billboard." It was taken in West Fort Worth, Texas, on January 26, 2019. I don't believe I knew then that in a few short months I'd be living in Portland, Oregon. I think I had to run an errand & decided to take a few pictures in a part of town that was - well - kinda shabby.

Why am I sharing this with you? Because of two reasons: one, it seems a lot like one of my radio shows - shoddily put together, of use to no one, & struggling to find something to say. & two, because I'm about to make the 77th installment of a long-running series which is mostly of interest to me. What can I possibly say about that that I haven't already?

Please enjoy this odd picture which I am clumsily using as a metaphor for my show. At least it is as clumsy as my show!

Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: National Patricia Day

(A photo of Patricia Lee Smith by Lynn Goldsmith found here)

April 27 is National Patricia Day. By a strange coincidence it's also my sister Patricia's birthday. Were she still with us, she would not want me to tell you her age. It would still be too young for her to be gone so soon.

In any event, although we will be tempted to play music by famous Patricias like the one pictured above, we will instead talk about the name & also play musical reports about the name - & people with the name. If you know a Patricia, it might be a good idea to let your Patricia know there's a show on National Patricia. Almost certainly they will believe they do indeed deserve a national day.

Sunday April 27 noon to 1pm on 91.1+107.1fm in Portland, online at xray dot fm.

This Week In Self Help: April 18 20 + 22

(image found here)

This week featured my first three hour Self Help Radio in a really long time - maybe two years. I can't believe I did that for as long as I did. I won't be doing that again any time soon.

If I hadn't subbed The Songcircle a week ago, I'd have only done two shows this week! Speaking of, let me tell you what nonsense I was up to on the radio these past seven days.

Friday the 18th - I subbed the Songcircle. Played a buncha new releases.
Listen at the KBOO website. Listen at the Self Help Radio website.

Sunday the 20th - The Dickenbock Report explored Look Alike Day.

Listen at the XRAY website. Listen at the Self Help Radio website.

Tuesday the 22nd. For Earth Day, Self Help Radio played lots of songs about Mother Earth.

Listen at the KBOO website. Listen at the Self Help Radio website.

If you listen at the Self Help Radio website, you might need a username & password. That is SHR & selfhelp respectively.

Maybe there's something you'd enjoy? Or maybe not.

Self Help Radio 042225: Earth Day 2025 - Mother Earth

(original image here*)

This was the first three hour Self Help Radio in I believe two years! It was long but a bit of exhausting fun. Plus I got to chat with the deejay after me, which I never get to do.

This was an Earth Day show in conjunction with KBOO's Earth Day celebrations. Lots of stuff is happening on this Earth Day, find out what KBOO is doing & has done by clicking here.

Listen to lots of songs about Mother Earth either at the KBOO website or at the Self Help Radio website. At the latter, you may need the username SHR & the password selfhelp. I had a couple of silly interviews but this show was mainly about the music & about our dear Mother Earth. Details are below.

Happy Earth Day to you!

Self Help Radio Earth Day 2025: Mother Earth Show

"Mother Earth" Blood On The Dance Floor _Evolution_

"Mother Earth" Six Nations Women Singers _Heartbeat: Voices Of First Nations Women_

"Samba De Monha Terra (Mother Earth Samba)" João Gilberto _Getz / Gilberto # 2_

"Mother Earth" Stewart Copeland & Ricky Kej _Divine Tides_

introduction/definitions

"Mother Earth" Lightning Hopkins _Lightning Hopkins With His Brothers Joel & John Henry & With Barbara Dane_

"Mother Earth" Emitt Rhodes _The American Dream_

"Mother Earth" Tom Rush _Merrimack County_

"Ol' Mother Earth" Tony Joe White _Home Made Ice Cream_

"Mother Earth" Laura Nyro _Spread Your Wings & Fly: Live At The Fillmore East May 30, 1971_

interview with climate scientist Dr. Rick Sherman

"Mother Earth" Blonde On Blonde _Contrasts_

"Hymn To Mother Earth" Demon Fuzz _Afreaka!_

"Mother Earth" Mick Greenwood _...To Friends_

"Mother Earth" Open Road _Windy Daze_

"Mother Earth (Natural Anthem)" Neil Young & Crazy Horse _Ragged Glory_

interview with Seth Rogers, who lives in the earth

"Mother Earth" The Great White Cane _The Great White Cane_

"Mother Earth" Kool & The Gang _Spirit Of The Boogie_

"Mother Earth (feat. Aloe Blacc & Quantic)" Lanu _Shapes 11:01_

"Mother Earth (feat. Norah Jones)" Wax Poetic _Wax Poetic_

"Mother Earth" Essential Logic _Land Of Kali_

the next interview? featuring Gladys

"Mona Lisa, Mother Earth" Swans _The Burning World_

"Mother Earth" Cultured Pearls _Sing Dela Sing_

"Mother Earth" The Cairo Gang _The Cairo Gang_

"Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth" Neko Case _Middle Cyclone_

"Mother Earth, Father God" Torres _Torres_

NASA Earth fact sheet part one

"Blues For Mother Earth" The Hinges _Postcard_

"Mother Earth" Pentangle _Open The Door_

"Mother Earth" Betsy Rose _Sacred Ground_

"Lifeblood Of Mother Earth" David R. Maracle _Spirit Journey_

"Mi Madre Tierra (My Mother Earth)" Fortaleza _Soy De Sangre Kolla, Quechua Y Aymara_

NASA Earth fact sheet part two

"Chant To Mother Earth" Blo _Nigeria 70 (The Definitive Story of 1970's Funky Lagos)_

"Mother Earth" Bushman _Signs_

"Mother Earth" Chuck Fenda _The Living Fire_

"Mother Earth" Jah Cure _Roots & Culture, Vol. 2_ 

conclusion & goodbye

"Mother Earth" The Shadow Lizzards _Paradise_

"Mother Earth" Sweet _Cut Above The Rest_

* image found at Public Domain Pictures dot net. Original image in the Public Domain.

Whither Earth Day?

(image by Kathy Anderson, found here)

Look at that image up there! Wow!

Yesterday I mentioned how I was overwhelmed with the idea of the literally hundreds of songs about earth that I would have to go through for an Earth Day show & happened onto a way to narrow that number down somewhat: I discovered I had a lot of songs about Mother Earth.

It seems like many people feel a maternal connection to the planet & that makes a lot of sense. We are born on this planet & it sustains us. I decided to make this Earth Day show all about Mother Earth. Three hours of songs about her. With only a couple of silly interviews. Just lots of songs in honor of our Mother.

That's midnight to 3am tonight! On 90.7fm in Portland, kboo dot fm all over earth. On this particular night, Mother Earth has given you permission to stay up late.

Preface To Earth Day: Listen To Your Mother

(image from Wikipedia)

KBOO is having all kindsa cool programming for Earth Day which is Tuesday. I was asked if I'd like to do something for the day - or have my show preempted, probably with something syndicated. Well I didn't like that idea! So I said, I'd do a show with the theme "earth."

But you know me. When I saw I had over five hundred songs that mentioned earth - & countless more that could be said to be about earth - I panicked. I needed to narrow it down somewhat.

How I did that I can tell you tomorrow - although the clue is in the title of this post.

Check out all the cool Earth Programming planned for Tuesday here!

Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: Look Alike Day

That image above is from an image search for "lookalikes" which was subtitled "British celebrities & their animal lookalikes." The link is here. Sadly, the article doesn't appear to be at the link. But it's an amusing picture & it allows me to report that tomorrow, April 20, is Look Alike Day. Which is what we'll be reporting on on The Dickenbock Report on XRAY.

As a personal aside, when I lived in Austin, for several years people would approach me & tell me they enjoyed my band - often saying they saw me "last night" or otherwise recently. I was never in a band but I apparently had a lookalike out there. It happened so frequently I began to ask what instrument I played. It was a tie between the bass & the drums. I never met this lookalike but wish I had - I might have interviewed him for Look Alike day!

Tune in for talk about - & musical reports about - twins, doppelgängers, & lookalikes tomorrow, April 20, on The Dickenbock Report - 12-1pm 91.1+107.1fm in Portland, xray dot fm everywhere.

This Week In Self Help (April 13 15 + 17)

(Another old picture I found years ago that I can't remember from where.)

Jeepers a busy week. I've been wondering why I've felt so tired.

On Sunday April 13:
Oh yeah there was an episode of The Dickenbock Report on XRAY. It was Make Lunch Count Day so of course the show was about counting. I mean lunch.
Click here to listen to the show on the XRAY web site.

Click here to listen to the show on the Self Help Radio web site.

Later that day I subbed a show on KBOO. Just played a buncha music.
KBOO doesn't archive unscheduled shows but.
Click here to see the show's Spinitron page.
Click here to listen to the show on the Self Help Radio web site.

On Tuesday April 15:

Self Help Radio has a show with the theme "bomb."

Click here to listen to the show on the KBOO web site.

Click here to listen to the show on the Self Help Radio web site.

Corporate Standardized Programming played lots of new releases.

You can listen to it in the last hour of Self Help Radio at the KBOO link above.

Click here to listen to the show on the Self Help Radio web site.

On Thursday April 17:

During XRAY's Spring Fund Drive I subbed an episode of Welcome To Your Good Day.

Click here to listen to the show on the XRAY website.

Click here to listen to the show on the Self Help Radio web site.

Maybe now I can get some sleep? Oh yeah! If you have a problem downloading from the Self Help Radio website, you might need a username & password. Those will be SHR & selfhelp.