This Week In Self Help (April 28 + 30 2024)

Here's a picture of a rainbow I took earlier this year. I like rainbows. It has nothing to do with this summary of the nonsense I got into on the radio this week.

On Self Help Radio on KBOO, I had the seventy-fourth installment of my never-ending, very silly Indiepop A To Z series. I went from Saloon to Scotland Yard Gospel Choir. We will spend a long time in the letter S. Anyway, here's a direct link to the episode. You will need the username SHR & the password selfhelp to access.

If you'd rather listen to the show on the KBOO website, here is that link. No password needed.

The KBOO link also includes this week's episode of Corporate Standardized Programming (which follows Self Help Radio). On that show, I played a bunch of new reissues by the Guerssen group of labels. If you'd rather listen to it/download it from the Self Help Radio website, here is the link for that. Same username & password for Self Help Radio apply.

The Sunday before all that was The Dickenbock Report, a show about superheroes on National Superhero Day. The show is also on the Self Help Radio web page linked here, or if you'd like you can listen at the XRAY web page.

The Dickenbock Report moves to noon on Sundays starting this next week. Imagine! I can sleep in on a Sunday!

As always, thank you for listening!

New Intro Time Again Again Again Again Again Again Again Again Again Again Again Again!

(Yeah, Columbo shows up. This is a screen grab from a DVD I own.)

It is time once again to make a new intro for my show. I actually have been working on it for a while - all year, really - but now is the time to put it together. I do it every year around this time. No big deal, right?

WRONG! Earlier this year (or late last year) I mustered up the courage to ask Amelia & Rob of the Catenary Wires & Swansea Sound (among other amazing bands) if they might record a new "Self Help Radio" jingle for the beginning of the show. The one I have used for years was recorded by people I worked with back in Austin & I couldn't even remember one of the person's names. They very kindly agreed & they returned with three (3) (!) different versions! I couldn't choose one. So I will rotate them throughout the year. I cannot thank them enough.

The rest of the spots are the same. I wish I could've done three different ones! But I did not. Would you like to hear them? After you listen to the first one, you can stop on the others after the jingle. They are all the same except for Rob & Amelia's lovely singing. I hope you dig.

The 2024 Self Help Radio Intro (Version 1)!

The 2024 Self Help Radio Intro (Version 2)!

The 2024 Self Help Radio Intro (Version 3)!

It would be remiss of me not to say you can hear more of Amelia & Rob's music on the Catenary Wires bandcamp page & the Swansea Sound bandcamp page. Or just freakin' Google them, they are musical heroes of mine & real life musical legends!

(Oh yeah I normally link all my old intros but didn't want to do that this time around. You can listen to all of the previous intros on last year's blog announcement page.)

Self Help Radio 043024: Indiepop A To Z # 74

(all images from Discogs.)

Someone once asked me if I thought anyone listened to these indiepop shows. I said I didn't know. The person said, "It's like if you did a polka a to z." Thinking better of it, the person added, "Only probably more people would listen."

The series has its own momentum & I have a touch of the ol' OCD so I am happy to return to it every four months, even if there's no guarantee it will ever end. I honestly can't believe I've made it to the letter S. I got from Saloon to Scotland Yard Gospel Choir this time around - it doesn't seem that far. Will there be ten or more episodes with the letter S? I am not concerned. It's so far in the future! I have a show next week to work on.

This week you can find the show naturally at the Self Help Radio website. You'll need the username SHR & the password selfhelp to listen tho. Would you prefer to listen to it on the KBOO website? By all means click there! The songs I played are listed below in glorious alphabetical order.

PS - it's our Spring Membership Drive - maybe help us out if you can?

Self Help Radio Indiepop A To Z # 74

"Le Weekend" Saloon _(This Is) What We Call Progress_

"Green Light" Salteen _Pop American Style_

"Bubba Da" The Salteens _Short-Term Memories_

"Black Minds, White Lies" Salty Pirates _The Kids At The Club: An Indiepop Compilation_

"Kate" Sambassadeur _Coastal Affairs_

"The Day Is Mine" Sandalwoods _The Sound Of Leamington Spa Volume 2_

"Turquoise Mini" The Sandcastles _Tales From The Riverbank_

"Hope Springs Eternal" The Sandkings _Welcome To England_

"Klein International Blue" Sandy Dirt _Sandy Dirt EP_

"Summer Blues" Sarah Goes Shopping _Sharon Signs To Cherry Red_

"Mike's Dollar" Sarandon _Kill Twee Pop!_

"Dear Josie Love Robyn" Sarge _Charcoal_

"Alcohol" Saturday Looks Good To Me _All Your Summer Songs_

"California Girls" The Saturday People _The Saturday People_

"Get In, Get Out" Daniel Saturn _The Sound Of Young Sweden (Volume 2)_

"Happy Trails" Saturn V _Skycycle_

"Apples" Saturnine _Pleasure Of Ruins_

"Old Town" Say Sue Me _Where We Were Together_

"Goodbye To All That" Scale The Heights _Goodbye To All That_

"FuturePop" Scarboro Aquarium Club _Poisoned_

"Poor Flowers" Scarlet Drops _Scarlet Drops 1984-1992_

"Golden, It Is, Beautiful" Scarlet's Well _Gatekeeper_

"Do I Love You?" The School _Wasting Away & Wondering_

"Oz Lotto" School Damage _A To X_

"The Sharks" The School Uniforms _Some Oxbow_

"American Standard" Schrasj _Schrasj_

"D.H. Lawrence Wasn't A Mexican" Scissor Fits _Taut? Tense? Angular? & Other British Rail Sandwiches_

"Then (& Not A Moment Before)" The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir _The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir_

Whither Indiepop A To Z # 74?

It hailed in Portland today. In some places it might be considered a sign, but it's snowed in Portland in April so it just was one of those, "Hail, really?" moments. I went outside with my dogs & almost slipped on the deck. That wouldn't be a sign of anything but an example of what a klutzy dolt I am.

Imagine though if I had fallen! Portland would've been spared tonight's Self Help Radio! Alas, I'm probably going to be able to make the show so let me tell you, it's the first of my usual thrice-a-year returning to the Indiepop A To Z series. I have started the letter S. I suspect I will be there for a while. There will be some nice tunes in delightful alphabetical order.

Midnight to 2am. 90.7fm. kboo.fm online. There's not much else to say. Tune in!

Preface To Indiepop A To Z # 74: The Saga Continues

What more can I say? I've done this 73 times already. I'll do it lots more.

Here's a picture of my cat Bluto who's very twee. Enjoy it.

Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: National Superhero Day

April 28 is National Superhero Day. While Dick Dickenbock believes all radio journalists are superheroes, we report the news in our secret identities. Therefore we are reporting on superheroes tomorrow as well as playing musical reports about various superheroes.

Tomorrow morning, 9-10am, Sunday April the 28th, on the Dickenbock Report on XRAY FM - 91.1+107.1fm & online at xray dot fm.

Stay tuned at the end for a special announcement about the future of the show!

This Week In Self Help (April 19, 21, + 23 2024)

Up there is the picture I used for this week's show announcement, I manipulated it & added the SHR logo, trying to make the image one of delirium. It caused someone on the KBOO web page to say, "That image is visually painful."

Delirium was the theme of this week's Self Help Radio. I was probably too delirious during that show. Here's a direct link to the episode. You will need the username SHR & the password selfhelp to access.

If you'd rather listen to the show on the KBOO website, here is that link. No passwords needed.

The KBOO link also includes this week's episode of Corporate Standardized Programming (which follows Self Help Radio). On that show, I continued the theme of "delirium" with mostly instrumental pieces that I had collected for the show. If you'd prefer to listen to that show on the Self Help Radio website (please remember the username/password combination above), here is the link for that.

The Sunday before all that was The Dickenbock Report, a show celebrating libraries on Thank You For Libraries Day. The show is also on the Self Help Radio web page linked here, or if you'd like you can listen at the XRAY web page.

But even before that - a week ago! - I subbed the KBOO show The Songcircle & played ninety minutes of new releases. You can find it both on the Self Help Radio page & on the KBOO page.

That was a busy week. Maybe you can find something you'd like. Thank you for listening!

Delirious Films

(image from the IMDb)

This week's episode of Self Help Radio had the theme "delirium" & our resident cinephile Chuck stopped by to chat about a few films in which delirium is featured. You can listen to that show at the Self Help Radio website! (You can also listen at the KBOO website too.)

Chuck has prepared some supplemental links - much more in-depth than his brief appearance on the show. To wit:

The Letterboxd list of movies he watched for the show.

The YouTube playlist of films & trailers.

The IMDb keyword search page.
& the IMDb list of films available to stream for free elsewhere. Chuck has a caveat: "There is duplication with of some on YouTube but quality is usually better, & their availability may be for limited time."

Chuck posts about the films on his social media sites: Twitter,  Bluesky, & Substack. If you follow him, he'll almost certainly follow back.

Did that make you delirious? Maybe sit down & have some water?

Self Help Radio 042324: Delirium

Among the things that can cause delirium are: sleep deprivation, drugs & alcohol, pain, mental illness, & radio shows. Radio shows?!? But we're just exploring delirium! Damn you Web MD!

It was a delirious show & there was so much music (including some delirium-inspired instrumentals) that they bled into the third hour I was on the air. That's on the website as this week's Corporate Standardized Programming.

Okay. Listen if you're feeling stable at the Self Help Radio website. (You'll need the username SHR & the password selfhelp.) Or if you'd like, you can listen to all three hours over on the KBOO website. Everything that happens on the show is below. Please enjoy.

& if you can help KBOO out during our Spring Membership Drive!

Self Help Radio Delirium Show

"Recitar! Mentre Preso Dal Delirio... Vesti La Giubba (From I Pagliacci)" Enrico Caruso _Historical Recordings 1906-1914_

"Delightful Delirium (vocals, Helen Forrest)" Artie Shaw & His Orchestra _1939_

"Tu Mi Delirio" Astrud Gilberto & Walter Wanderley _A Certain Smile A Certain Sadness_

introduction & definitions

"Delirium Tremens" Christy Moore _Christy Moore_

"Delirium" Gaye Bykers On Acid _The Nosedive EP_

"Delirious Night (Rough Mix) (Vocal)" The Cure _Disintegration_

"Delirious" The Brilliant Corners _What's In A Word_

our resident cinephile Chuck stops by!

"Delirium" An April March _Woke Up Smiling_

"Aerodeliria" The Loud Family _Plants & Birds & Rocks & Things_

"Drug-Induced Delirium" The Cannanes _The Cannanes_

"Lager Delirium" Bad Manners _Heavy Petting_

interview with Carla Davidson, who has an interesting relationship to Prince's song "Delirious"

"Delirious" Guy Forsyth _Do Me Baby! Austin Does Prince_

"Delirium" Case / Lang / Veirs _Case / Lang / Veirs_

"Delirium" Minnie Birch _Delirium_

"Delirious" Sunspire _Delirious_

interview with candymaker Cordelio Delgado

"Delirious" Cindy Wilson _Realms_

"My Delirium" Ladyhawke _Ladyhawke_

"City Delirious" Lionrock _City Delirious_

"Avante Delirio" Saulo Duarte _Avante Delirio_

interview with Delirium Auditorium proprietor Cedric Dial

"Delirious" At The Spine _Vita_

"Delerium" Paul Benoit _Beautiful Lies_

"Delirium Passes" Anand Wilder _I Don't Know My Words_

"Delirious" No & The Maybes _No & The Maybes_

conclusion & goodbye

"Delirious" The Church _Further/Deeper_

"Flash Delirium" MGMT _Congratulations_

Whither Delirium?

(image from here)

Look at that brain up there! Delirium is a complicated thing! Surely that's enough to have the subject deserve a radio show!

But perhaps you expect more from me. I'm sure you don't, but play along. I was listening to Adam Ant a few weeks back. I was kinda charmed by the rhyme from the song "Desperate But Not Serious." He rhymes "serious" with "delirious" - "your kisses drive me delirious," is the line. I started thinking about the word - the adjective, not the noun - which led me to the Prince song. Having recently had to deal with issues with old family members with dementia, I found I had associated the word "delirious" with mostly unromantic - mostly unhealthy - moments in life.

When I find myself thinking of something too much, it's very likely that I'll find a radio show in there somewhere. I started looking around for songs about delirium & feeling delirious. What I've found will be on tonight's radio show.

Which is on KBOO - 90.7fm in town, kboo dot fm everywhere - from midnight to 2am. I haven't had much sleep today so I might be a bit delirious myself. In its unhealthy meaning.

Preface To Delirium: Oh You Just Know I Gotta Talk About The Endless

(from Sandman # 63)

It had been many years since I'd read a comic when a girl I was seeing in the mid-90s turned me on to the new Sandman. I knew Wesley Dodds. But this was different. & fun.

Especially the concept of The Endless. Though I just went to find the link there I tried not to see all their names - can I remember them? Dream, Death, Desire, Destiny, Destruction, Despair, & of course Delirium. Delirium used to be Delight!

This is not something I'll have occasion to mention on the radio, so I'm mentioning it here. It has been years since I've read the original Sandman comics but I have read a few more recent ones & still find the mythology rich & delightful. It doesn't make me delirious tho.

Did Delirium show up on the Netflix series? I don't think so. I liked that a lot too - it took a few episodes though. Death was great.

Anyway, I don't have much to say. I'm an admirer. But the comic wasn't the inspiration for the show. You'll have to come back tomorrow to find out how that came about.

Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: Thank You For Libraries Day!

That picture above, captured from Goober Malps, is a picture of my childhood library. It wasn't my first library - I'm sure that that was in my elementary school, & I loved it lots - but it was the one in my neighborhood from around the time I was ten years old, & it was within walking distance of where I lived. I have memories of carrying books to & from there. & I could walk into it now & find my favorite things.

Except it's closed. It was called the Ridgewood Branch Library of the Nicholson Memorial Library System of Garland, Texas, & it closed permanently in 2009. I hadn't visited it since I was in high school.

But libraries remain important to me & to everyone at the Dickenbock Report so it's our pleasure to note that April 21 is Thank You For Libraries Day. Which is our top report of the show tomorrow.

Yes! Tomorrow morning, Sunday April the 21st, on the Dickenbock Report on XRAY FM - 91.1+107.1fm & online at xray dot fm.

Lots of gratitude for libraries tomorrow!

This Week In Self Help (April 14 + 16 2024)

One website calls this building - the Textron Tower in Providence RI - the ugliest skyscraper in the state.

But it wasn't mentioned on this week's Self Help Radio, which had the theme "providence" which included lots of references to the city & guests who purported to be from there. Here's a direct link to that show. You will need the username SHR & the password selfhelp to access.

If you'd rather listen to the show on the KBOO website, here is that link.

The KBOO link also includes this week's episode of Corporate Standardized Programming (which follows Self Help Radio). On that show, I played an hour of new releases. If you'd prefer to listen to that show on the Self Help Radio website (please remember the username/password combination above), here is the link for that.

Chronologically first tho was The Dickenbock Report, this week a Spring Fund Drive show about Perfume Day. If you have a little to spare & want to help out you can do so here. If you just wanna listen to the frickin' show there are two options: the Self Help Radio web page or the XRAY web page.

As always - thank you for listening!

Self Help Radio 041624: Providence

(original image of Providence by David Wilson here)

This week's show - which has the theme "providence" - turned out to be more about the town of Providence, Rhode Island, rather than the "providence" that means "divine guidance & care." But of course the founders of Providence, Rhode Island, named it because they felt settling their was part of their god's "merciful providence." Could it be that both meanings apply? Is a show about providence which features mostly songs about Providence still about providence since it was named for that kind of providence?

Does it matter? Naw. It's just something to write about because I got space to fill. I was thinking of counting which songs were about the town & which were about the supernatural stuff. But I didn't. Maybe you can make a game of it?

Listen to the show when you want at the Self Help Radio website. Make sure you use the combo SHR/selfhelp to access. Or you can listen on the KBOO website. Your choice. It's a couple hours long, you can see all the songs & interviews below.

Now I need to go visit Providence again!

Self Help Radio Providence Show

"Providence" King Crimson _Red_

introduction & definitions

"Providence Help The Poor People (with Henry Townsend)" Big Joe Williams _Big Joe Williams & The Stars Of Mississippi Blues_

"Lake Providence Blues" The Harlem Hamfats _Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order, Vol. 1_

"A Letter To The People Of Providence (1648)" Wallace House _The Patriot Plan: Growth Of Human Rights In Colonial America_

"Providence" Sonic Youth _Daydream Nation_

"Providence" Morphine _Postcards From America (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)_

interview with Providence mayor Rene Ingersoll

"Providence" Jack Frost _Jack Frost_

"Providence" The Rosemarys _Providence_

"Providence" The Love Language _The Love Language_

"Providence & Bourbon" Girl Haggard _Country & Eastern_

interview with president of the Providence Chamber Of Commerce Robert Insley

"Providence Girls" The RI Love Song Warriors _Rhode Island Girls_

"East Providence Girls" The RI Love Song Warriors _Rhode Island Girls_

"Providence" Buddha On The Moon _The Last Autumn Day_

"Providence" Snoozer _Winter Stops All Sound EP_

"Providence" Earth Heart _Homesick_

interview with Father Richard Icke of the Providence diocese

"Providence" Duchess _Duchess_

"Providence" The Manhattan Love Suicides _The Manhattan Love Suicides_

"Providence" Pujol _United States Of Being_

"Full Faith In Providence" Villagers _Fever Dreams_

interview with my friend Reggie Innes, who's never visited Providence

"Providence, RI" Nickel Eye _The Time Of The Assassins_

"Providence" Cheerleader _Almost Forever_

"Ghost Of Providence Pt. 1" Bike Thief _Ghost Of Providence_

"Providence Portal" Annie Hamilton _The Future Is Here But It Feels Kinda Like The Past_

conclusion & goodbye

"Providence" Harpeth Rising _Shifted_

"Providence" Purple Ivy Shadows _White Electric_

Whither Providence?

(In Providence, they like to set the water on fire. Image from here.)

One of the things I'm very happy about is that no one - seriously no one - cares enough about this show to ask me, "Say, why is that your theme this week?" Even the folks with whom I make the fake interviews, who improvise based on the theme, wonder to me, "Why is the theme this week that?"

Please don't think I'm accusing anyone of being incurious or apathetic - I'm certain outside of a listener accidentally tuning in or my funny friends being funny, & with them even barely that, there are vanishingly few people besides me who even think of Self Help Radio. 

& most certainly I am not complaining. I do my level best to make as good a show as I can every week & if the best attention or interest my best efforts can garner is virtually no one thinking or caring about the show, what else can I do? Luckily I make the show mostly for me.

But also luckily it means that when there are times when I have a theme - like providence - & don't entirely remember why I chose the theme, I know it will frustrate no one because, as I've said, no one really cares. Did I pick a theme because of a city I visited? Or because of the challenge - are there two hours worth of songs I like about providence? Or something else? I simply don't know. & am not worried about saying so because, after all, who gives a shit? Nobody!

& that's about the number of folks who'll tune in tonight from midnight to 3am on 90.7fm in Portland & at kboo dot fm everywhere, even Providence, Rhode Island, where the river is on fire!