Whither Indiepop A To Z # 81?

Every four months I return to this series, called Indiepop A To Z, that I started over twenty years ago. I'm in the letter S, which (I just checked) I started in December 2023. It means I've been exploring indiepop bands in the letter S for almost three years! No wonder I doubt I'll ever finish this series!

Tonight I'll get to the end of the Sn bands & start the So bands. It's always a joy for me to do this series because the I just love this kind of music. I wish I didn't feel like I was excluding too much because it makes the gathering a little stressful. But once the show is done it feels worth it.

Is it worth it? You decide. Self Help Radio is on tonight midnight to 2am on 90.7fm here in Portland, kboo dot fm everywhere.

(We'll also in a membership drive. If you can help, click here & thank you!)

Preface To Indiepop A To Z # 81: Off-Topic Observation

No idea where that screen capture is from. It has nothing to do with what I am about to say. I just saved it because it says "Gary chuckling."

Also nothing I have to say has anything to do with this week's show. Or maybe a little. It's just something I have been noticing, not just recently, but all the work I had to do this weekend reminded me more forcefully than simple reminiscing.

Here's the observation: the older I get, the longer it takes me to do things.

& yes, I know, even if someone has told me forty years ago that would happen, I probably would not have paid much attention. When I was eighteen, people my age looked & acted much older. I can't say if I look my age, but I certainly don't feel my age. My mother, though, who was almost exactly forty years older than me, told me when I was a senior in high school that had never felt worse than how she felt at that time.

Maybe she was trying to warn me? I didn't matter, I wasn't paying much attention.

But it's true. Things that used to take me, say, ten minutes to do, it's now fifteen to twenty minutes. Maybe not driving places - I'm pretty speedy - but let's say, oh, I don't know, what can I think, how about writing in a dumb blog? I bet I've been working on this - yes - twenty minutes now.

TWENTY MINUTES? Was I dozing between sentences? Nope. It just takes me that long. One day I won't be able to finish a radio show in the time I have set aside for me, & maybe I've already set aside more time & didn't even notice it.

Also maybe there's something to do about it but at this point I don't think so. I consume as much caffeine as I can handle, & Uhink meth & cocaine would just make me tired. With lots of things involving age, it's best to accept that it's just something you have to get used to.

Speaking of getting tired, why should writing this have tired me out. Oh jeez I'm so old.

Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: National Ride The Wind Day

Actually, that's not a good photo for this blog entry, which is about National Ride The Wind Day, which is about human-powered flight, not birds, who fly with ease. We're stuck with the photo? All right.

August 23 is National Ride The Wind Day. "Ride the wind" is a kind of euphemism for "flight." So the Dickenbock Report will report on flight - including some kinds of flight that veer a little outside the definition for the day. But not as far as birds!

The show airs Sunday from 11am to 1pm on XRAY - 91.1+107.1fm in Portland, xray dot fm everywhere. We'll see you in the air & on the air.

This Week In Self Help August 16 18 + 20

Once again, not a picture of the bayou, but of the lake at Reed College, which is called Reed Lake. My computer thinks it's a bayou when I search for a bayou but it's not a bayou. Not at all.

Anyway this is the nonsense I got up to this week (not counting today, which I'll talk about next week).

Sunday August 16. The Dickenbock Report on XRAY. National Roller Coaster Day. Have a listen.

Tuesday August 18. Self Help Radio on KBOO. A show with the theme "bayou." Have a listen here. Or have a listen here.

Tuesday August 18. Corporate Standardized Programming on KBOO. Lotsa new releases. Have a listen here (after Self Help Radio). Or have a listen here.

Thursday August 20. Welcome To Your Good Day on XRAY. I sub a show trying to raise money for XRAY's move by playing lots of songs about moving. Have a listen.

One day I'll go to the bayou & take lots of pictures! But way too late for my bayou show.

Self Help Radio 081826: The Bayou

Once again, not a picture from a bayou. I don't think I've ever been to a bayou. But I have pictures that my computer thinks are of a bio, & who am I to convince it otherwise? AI is so dumb.

Anyway, hopefully there's some good knowledge mixed with the regular silliness of the average Self Help Radio episode. Being to Portland, where there aren't many insects or snakes or I'll bet any alligators, I am kinda glad not to be in the bayou. But I'm sure it has its charms & maybe that shows through in this episode.

Which you can listen to at the KBOO web page or at the Self Help Radio web page. Most everything that happens is below. Hopefully the mosquitos won't be too much of a bother. But keep an eye for the cottonmouths!

Self Help Radio The Bayou Show

"Mound Bayou" Pete Brown & His Band _Helen Humes 1927-1945_

"Song Of The Bayou" Wynonie Harris _Lovin' Machine_

"Love Song Of The Bayou" Little Jimmy Dickens _Four Classic Albums Plus Singles 1954-1962_

introduction & definitions

"Jambalaya (On The Bayou)" Hank Williams _The Complete Hank Williams_

"Blue Bayou" Roy Orbison _The Very Best Of Roy Orbison_

"Bayou Talk" Jimmy 'C' Newman _The Cajun Country Music Of A Louisiana Man_

"Voice Of The Bayou" Anita Carter _Appalachian Angel - Her Recordings 1950-1972 & 1996_

"Billy Bayou" Roger Miller _Words & Music By Roger Miller_

interview with travel agents Walter & Wendy Talbot

"Born On The Bayou" Betty Davis _The Columbia Years 1968-1969_

"Bayou Song" Tina Turner _Tina Turns The Country On_

"Fire On The Bayou" The Meters _Fire On The Bayou_

"Crossing The Bayou" J. B. Kling Jr. _Laugh Cajun Laugh_

"Gris-Gris Gumbo Ya Ya" Dr. John _Gris-Gris_

our resident cinephile Chuck stops by!

"Bayou Pom Pom" Angelas Le Jeunne _The Best Of Cajun & Zydeco_

"On The Bayou Song" Robert Klein _New Teeth_

"Black Bayou" Al Rapone _Zydeco To Go_

"Voodoo On The Bayou" Tab Benoit _Nice & Warm_

"Bayou Girl" Buckwheat Zydeco _Five Card Stud_

interview with memoirist Stuart Wright

"Bayou" Chad Everett _All Strung Out_

"King Of The Bayou" Joe Strummer _Earthquake Weather_

"Are You The Bayour?" William Shatner, National Symphony Orchestra _So Fragile, So Blue_

"Bayou Tortous" James McMurtry _Just Us Kids_

"Fever On The Bayou" Rodney Crowell _Tarpaper Sky_

conclusion & goodbye

"They Put A Body In The Bayou" The Orwells _Terrible Human Beings_

"Bye Bye Bayou" Alan Vega _Alan Vega_

Whither The Bayou?

Just to be clear, that is not a picture of the bayou. The search on my computer thought it might be an image of the bayou because I guess it's water & trees & birds. But the picture was taken in Fort Worth, Texas, & it's of a small, privately-owned body of water called Bal Lake. We lived across the street from that small, privately-owned body of water for around three years. I probably sneaked between some neighbor's houses to take the picture.

Sitting here, my head stuck in memories of the last three years I lived in Texas, I can't remember what inspired a radio show about "the bayou." I suspect it might have been a few months ago when I re-read a few issues of the Alan Moore run on Swamp Thing. I had seen something about the comic & had also been drinking late at night & perused a few issues. Some description of the bayou must have stuck with me because I jotted down the idea. Which will be explored tonight.

Just to add - I assumed "the bayou" would mainly have been in Louisiana but there do appear to be bayous in Texas so perhaps I was closer to one than I realized while I was there.

Self Help Radio's show about the bayou airs tonight on KBOO. Midnight to 2am. 90.7fm in town, kboo dot fm everywhere. Oh dear & there might be insects & snakes.

Preface To The Bayou: Crows

There are lots of crows in Portland. All over the place. I sometimes share crumbled dog treats with them. My wife doesn't like this. She thinks the few crumbled treats I give them will somehow cause the crow population to increase to untenable levels which will cause I guess a great crow die-off. I think that's unlikely but she does have a PhD, so I try to pay attention.

One of our neighborhood friends also feeds the crows & some of them (or maybe just one of them) will ride on her head while she walks her dog. I am not that committed to the crows. Sometimes they swoop very close to me to remind me to crumble a dog treat so they can fight over it & increase their population to untenable levels. I don't enjoy the swooping. I don't encourage it. If I thought it would help to tell them I won't crumble a dog treat for them if they swoop close to me, as a kind of threat I guess, I would do it, but of course they don't understand English.

They are pretty smart, though. They recognize me for the treat crumbler I am. & they will take the harder pieces to puddles to dip them in so they can soften them. Heck, my dogs aren't that smart!

Recently a radio acquaintance told me he had visited Texas & hated the grackles there. It occurred to me that I hadn't thought about grackles for a very long time though I encountered them daily when I worked at the University Of Texas. In my mind, they weren't all that different from crows & I thought they might be related. But nope! They're not. I will admit that I have been shat up by both grackles & crows, & the experience was unpleasant no matter the bird.

You may be asking what this has to do with a radio show about the bayou. Well, uh. I guess there are crows in the bayou? Or at least grackles?

Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: National Roller Coaster Day

August 16 is National Roller Coaster Day. Though listening to a radio show is not quite the same as riding a thrilling roller coaster, we'll do our best to evoke roller coasting with musical reports, a book report, a discussion of roller coasters in film, & a report about Oregon's lesser-known roller coasters. You still might feel a little queasy afterwards, but that happens after most shows.

Listen to the Report from 11am to 1pm on 91.1+107.1fm in Portland, & online everywhere at xray dot fm. Just don't listen on a roller coaster. Your phone may go flying & you'll never see it again.

This Week In Self Help: August 9 + 11

A regular ol' week for me.

Sunday August 9 was National Book Lovers Day so I made a show about books & reading on The Dickenbock Report on XRAY FM. You can listen to that show here.

Tuesday August 11 on Self Help Radio on KBOO, I explored the theme "tumbling." You can listen to that show here. Or you can listen to that show here.

Also on Tuesday August 11 I had an episode of Corporate Standardized Programming in which I played music from artists who died in March of this year. You can listen to that show here (after Self Help Radio). Or you can listen to that show here.

Is this the part where I think of something clever to close? I don't think I have anything clever at the moment. If that wasn't already completely obvious.

Self Help Radio 081126: Tumbling

Gosh I remember taking that picture! My cats Bolan & Boone stared at each other for like six hours until Boone - the orange one - made his move. It was quite a tumble! Which was also a tussle. & maybe even a scuffle.

There are many different kinds of tumbling in this week's show. I talk to a gymnast who tumbles, a guy who tumbles rocks tunes in, & a police consultant warns us about something called "tumbling" the kids are doing these days. Those darn kids. & there's more tumbling in all the music you hear. Spoiler alert: many are tumbling down.

You can listen to the show at the KBOO website or at the Self Help Radio website. Most everything that happens on the show is noted below.

Just be careful out there!

Self Help Radio Tumbling Show

"Tumble Bee" Karl Blau _Shell Collection_

"Tumbling Down" Langston & French _Eccentric Soul: The Tragar & Note Labels_

"Tumblin Down" Bonny Light Horseman _Keep Me On Your Mind/See You Free_

introduction & definitions

"Tumbledown Weekend" They Go Boom!! _Atlantic_

"Tumbling" Majestic _Wake Up, Come Out, & Play!_

"Tumblin'" Jigsaw _The Rubble Collection Volumes 1-10_

"Tumble With Me" The Boys _The Boys_

"Tumbled" Mich _Mich_

interview with tumbler Rose Carpenter
& Olympic advistor Bonny Gibson

"Tumbling Dice" The Rolling Stones _Exile On Main St._

"Roll, Tumble, & Slip" Sunnyland Slim _The Chronological Sunnyland Slim 1947-1948_

"Rolled & Tumbled" Rose Hemphill _Southern Journey Volume 3: 61 Highway Mississippi_

"Tumbledown" The Jesus & Mary Chain _Honey’s Dead_

"Tumble" Letting Up Despite Great Faults _IV_

interview with police consultant Bill Boyd

rock tumbler Jim calls in

"Tumbling Tumbleweeds" Clint Eastwood _Rawhide's Clint Eastwood Sings Cowboy Favorites_

"Tumbleweed" Neil Young + Promise Of The Real _Paradox_

"(Tumble) In The Wind (Version 1)" Jackson C. Frank _Blues Run The Game_

"Walls Come Tumbling Down!" The Style Council _Our Favourite Shop_

"Love Came Tumblin' Down" The Monks _Black Monk Time_

interview with police consultant Bill Boyd

"Tumbling Down" The Chords _So Far Away_

"Tumbling Away" The Crabs _Sand & Sea_

"Tumble & Fall" Allen Clapp _Available Light_

"Tumble Down" Terry Malts _Killing Time_

"Tumbling Down" Wan Light _Carmaline_

conclusion & goodbye

"Tumbling Down" Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel _Face To Face_

"Everybody Takes A Tumble" The Waterboys _Book Of Lightning_

Whither Tumbling?

(image found here)

This week's show is only peripherally about the gymnastics activity we call "tumbling" but it's the easiest image to find to represent tumbling online.

This week's show came about when I was listening to neighbors talk about another neighbor which is what neighbors often do. My wife & I & our two dogs stopped to talk to our neighbors while we were on a dog walk which is something we often do. Another neighbor (a neighbor we didn't know) had recently had a fall which resulted in her being moved to a facility where they could take better care of her. It had not been her first fall, & because of her age & living situation (she was in her eighties, & lived alone), her children thought it was best she be more professionally & regularly taken care of. One of the neighbors said, "Oh she took quite a tumble that last time!" which made us all laugh uncomfortably.

This week's show suggested itself to me in that weird uncomfortable moment where three of the four people (with two bored dog's nearby) were all thinking the horrible thought of a woman in her eighties falling & it being described as "quite a tumble." The word tumble itself seemed so inappropriate that I, being me, started thinking about songs using the word "tumble." Luckily I remembered this conversation when I got home & made a note to make a show about tumbling.

This week's show is about tumbling you see & it's happening tonight, midnight to 2am, on KBOO - 90.7fm in town, kboo dot fm everywhere. It should go without saying I hope we all make it through without ourselves having quite an actual, physical tumble.

Preface To Tumbling: Oh Shit I Have A Tumblr Blog!

It's true, there's a Self Help Radio Tumblr blog. You haven't visited it & you're not alone - no one visits it! Not even me!

It's not dead per se - I still look at Tumblr regularly - I just haven't posted anything there since - let me look at the picture of my dog Pauline there - February! Holy shit!

When I started the blog I mainly shared music videos - I didn't really know what Tumblr was for & I already had this blog. So you know. What was I supposed to use it for?

At some point in the mid-2010s I started taking pictures around town & sharing them on my Facebook page so I thought, what the hell, I'll share the same pictures on my Tumblr blog.

But these days who has the time? I always say I'll do better but as I get older I am slower & slower at everything. Sorting through pictures I've already posted to post on a site nobody looks at? I am exhausted just thinking about it.

But maybe I will do better!

At least writing about it made me realize I still had a link to my old Twitter account, which I guess is still there, but which I haven't used in almost two years. So I changed it to a Bluesky link. Maybe people go there, how the hell should I know.

Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: National Book Lovers Day

August 9 is National Book Lovers Day, so you ought to celebrate by listening to a radio show - & why not a radio show about National Book Lovers Day? That's what we'll report on on The Dickenbock Report on XRAY FM. Commentary, drama, a book report, & many musical reports about books & reading.

That's Sunday August 9 from 11am to 1pm on XRAY FM - 91.1+107.1fm in Portland, xray dot fm everywhere. Tune in - maybe someday someone will write a book about it!

This Week In Self Help: August 2 4 + 6

A normal-ish week with a bonus sub show thrown in!

Sunday August 2. The Dickenbock Report on XRAY. A show about subways on some subway anniversary. You can listen to that show here.

Tuesday August 2. Self Help Radio on KBOO. The theme was petals. You can listen to that show here. Or you can listen to that show here.

Tuesday August 2. Corporate Standardized Programming on KBOO. Lotsa new releases. You can listen to that show here (after Self Help Radio). Or you can listen to that show here.

Thursday August 4. I subbed Musica Tropical on KBOO. Mainly played lots of Brazilian music from the early 1980s. You can listen to that show here.

It is at this point that I realize I am done listening the radio shows I did this week & have nothing more to say.

Self Help Radio 080426: Petals

This is a radio show about petals. It features lots of songs about petals, plus a conversation with two "flower freaks" & with a sculptor. Hidden within is a joke about petals, a limerick about petals, & an old poem about petals. Unfortunately I also talk a lot. But that's just how these radio shows - even the ones about petals - go.

You can listen to this show now or whenever you want to hear a radio show about petals (which must be a very specific thing) at the KBOO website or at the Self Help Radio website. Almost everything that happened on the show is noted below.

Did I also mention the flower with the world's largest petals is discussed? Yeah, I kept that one in my back pocket. Thought it would get you if nothing else did.

Self Help Radio Petals Show

"You've Got Me Pickin' Petals Off Of Daisies" The High Hatters _I'm A Dreamer, Aren't We All?_

"White Petals From A Rose" Lee Smith & His Rangers _Zodiac Archive Series, Vol. 6: Cosy By The Fire 1945-1956_

"Pickin' Petals" The Avons feat. Tony Brent _Pickin' Petals_

introduction & definitions

"Daisy Petal Pickin'" Jimmy Gilmer & The Fireballs _Sugar Shack_

"Pick The Petals" Maureen Evans _Like I Do: The Sixties Recordings_

"It's For Love The Petals Fall" Georgie Fame & The Harry South Big Band _The Whole World’s Shaking (Complete Recordings 1963-1966)_

"Yellow Petals" Roger Earl Okin _Piccadilly Sunshine Part Seventeen (British Pop Psych & Other Flavours 1966-1969)_

"Petals" The Soul Benders _Storm In The Garage_

"Petals Fall" Wheatstone Bridge Band _Cloudy_

interview with Portland Flower Freaks Violet & Rich

"Rose Petal Knot" Eyeless In Gaza _Caught In Flux_

"Sprinkling Petals Into Hell" Section 25 _Love & Hate_

"Petals & Razorblades" Bandit Queen _Hormone Hotel_

"Heavy Petal" Madison Electric _Indie Aid Abroad: A Little Help For East Timor_

"Rose Petals, Incense, & A Kitten" Loveletter _Beethoven Chopin Kitchen Fraud_

"Petals" The Primitives _Spin-O-Rama_

interview with sculptor Mark Damon

a telephone call interrupts!

"15 Petals" Elvis Costello _When I Was Cruel_

"Petal" 50 Foot Wave _Golden Ocean_

"Peonies & Dahlia Petals" Stamen & Pistils _End Of The Sweet Parade_

"Rose Petal Ear" Califone _Roots & Crowns_

"Petal Alphabet" Broadcast _Spell Blanket (Collected Demos 2006-2009)_

"Petals" Tops _Sugar At The Gate_

interview with sculptor Mark Damon

"The Petal House" Alondra Bentley _Ashfield Avenue_

"Heavy Petals" Laura Veirs _The Lookout_

"Petals" Yowler _Black Dog In My Path_

"Petals Of The Flower" Diane Marie Kloba _Red Sun_

"Rose Petal Sunset" Scenic Route To Alaska _Time For Yourself_

"She Pulls The Petal From The Flower" Yeah Yeah Noh _21 Songs For John_

conclusion & goodbye

"Petals" Froth _Outside (Briefly)_