Whither Brooms?

There was a broom, I was told, in the little closet - it was the broom's closet, though there were other things in there, including the dustpan. Did I sweep up regularly? I did not. Did I count on the broom to be there when I inevitably broke a glass, or spilled some dried food, or otherwise made a mess? Yes, I did.

Where did the broom come from? I know I've never purchased a broom in my life. A broom just followed me around. The bristles always unhappily bent. Always discolored at their ends, never cleaned by me. Brought out when the mess became too much, then sent away, again.

It wasn't until later, when I married someone for whom cleaning is a passion, that I saw how powerful the broom could be. But by then my relationship with the broom was forever damaged. Even if I could see that it was more than just a simple tool, I wouldn't really change how I acted around it. & the broom would never trust me. It would have heard stories about me from previous brooms.

Perhaps it would appreciate a radio show about brooms? Might that begin to mend the rift caused by ignorance & neglect? Only time will tell. I will need to remember to put the radio in the broom closet.

A radio show about brooms. Tonight on Self Help Radio on KBOO Portland. 90.7fm in town, kboo dot fm everywhere. If you've never been kind to your broom, you may want to share this show with it.

Preface To Brooms: Do Not Move The Broom

Many years ago - too long ago, it seems - but really a little more than five years - I lived in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. It was the second time I lived there for a long period of time - the first time being when I was a kid, from ages zero to eighteen. When I left for college I did not imagine that I would live there ever again. But when my wife got a job in Fort Worth in 2016, we moved back to Texas.

Since I like to be on the radio, & since Dallas has but one community radio station, KNON, I found my way there. I remember thinking the competition for shows would be fierce. But the day I showed up & talked to one of the staff, I found out that I was the first person to show up & offer to volunteer for ages.

Eventually I got a show - it wasn't Self Help Radio - just a morning show. & I would drive from my home in Fort Worth on Tuesday mornings in increasingly dangerous rush hour traffic & park & go inside. & one of the days I showed up - March 5, 2019, to be exact - one of the last times I would do that show, since I would be moving to Portland in two months - I saw a broom holding a side door shut with the note held up by the broom. That's the picture you see there. I never found out what was in there. I just didn't remember to ask.

The playlist for that show, by the way, is <a href="https://www.selfhelpradio.net/2019.html#blend190305">here</a>.

It's funny that I am talking about it like it was in the deep, dark past. Though I wasn't doing it on the air in Dallas, I still made episodes of Self Help Radio regularly. Here is the blog entry for that day. I'm not sure why I didn't mention my KNON show on the blog. But you'll notice (if you read the post) I mention visiting Portland. I didn't tell anyone the real reasons why in case our plans fell through, but my wife had gotten a job here & we were visiting to find a place to rent. Which we did. Which is why I'm here now.

It's a long post for a dumb story about an amusing note on a door I probably never noticed before. Here's one last weird fact. That door doesn't exist anymore. Nor the building it was attached to. A tornado destroyed the station later that year. The building was torn down soon after.

Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: 1924 (Part II)

(This is how they listened to the radio in 1924. Photo from the Atlantic.)

Tomorrow on the Dickenbock Report we continue our special two-part look back at 100 years ago. A simpler time, perhaps, almost certainly more obviously racist, but worthy of one more look back. In addition to discussions about what was going on a century ago, we'll continue to listen to the music of the time.

That's noon to 1pm on 91.1+107.1fm in Portland & online everywhere at xray dot fm. & maybe check out that link of above of photos from 1924. It'll prepare you for the show.

This Week In Self Help (September 1 2 + 3)

(from Poorly Drawn Lines)

It was a pretty busy week for me. How was it for you? Did you do anything on the radio? Here's what I was doing:

The Dickenbock Report aired September 1. I played music from & talked about the year 1924. You can listen to that show at the XRAY website. Also you can listen to that show at the Self Help Radio website*.

Monday night I spent two hours on KBOO playing interesting sounds in-between the shows A Different Nature & Self Help Radio. KBOO doesn't archive its sub shows, so if you'd like to listen, you'll have to do so at the Self Help Radio website*. The playlist for that show is right here.

Self Help Radio had a show about sunglasses. Despite some technical difficulties I think it went well. But what the hell do I know. You can listen to that show at the KBOO website. You can also listen to that show at the Self Help Radio website*.

After Self Help Radio, there was an episode of Corporate Standardized Programming wherein I played lots of new releases. It is appended to the KBOO link above as the third hour of the show. If you'd like to listen to it on its own, you can do so at the Self Help Radio website*.

Is that everything? I sure hope so!

* remember, username SHR, password selfhelp

Movie Sunglasses

(image from Letterboxd)

Our resident cinephile Chuck was on the show this week, which had the theme sunglasses, & talked at length about films tagged with loneliness on the IMDb. You can listen to that show at selfhelpradio dot net if you haven't already & once you've heard Chuck talk, please make use of these handy links (of which they are a lot!) to supplement his visit:

Sunglasses YouTube playlist of films and trailers:

Part 1 (1927-1977) | Part 2 (1978-1988) | Part 3 (1986-1996)

Part 4 (1997-2003) | Part 5 (2004-2011) | Part 6 (2012-2016) | Part 7 (2017-2024)

Here is Chuck's Letterboxd list. Here are his Letterboxd reviews.

(Chuck puts the links to available videos in the notes for the films plus where they are available to stream for free.)

Here is the IMDb keyword search list. Here is his IMDb list of films free to stream elsewhere.

Chuck has a Twitter account & a Bluesky account where he has posted about some of the films. If you like what you see, follow him! He usually follows you back.

But no matter how cool it looks, maybe don't watch the films involving sunglasses while wearing sunglasses.

Self Help Radio 090324: Sunglasses

On this cloudy day in Portland I give you a radio show about sunglasses. What's worse is - the show happened at night. Ah well. It's always sunny somewhere on this planet!

Despite some technical difficulties, I think we covered the subject well - with some cool guests too. I did not wear sunglasses while doing the show - I make enough mess with what's left of my regular eyesight. But the show wore sunglasses.

Listen to that show at either or both the KBOO website & the Self Help Radio website. If you choose the latter, remember the username SHR & the password selfhelp. Everything that happens on the show is below.

Two of the three most famous sunglasses songs are represented in some way on the show - the third I just find so awful I couldn't even consider adding even a small amount of it.

Self Help Radio Sunglasses Show

"Sun Glasses" The Shades _The Songs Of Pomus & Shuman_

"Dark Dark Sunglasses" The Kittens _Soda Pop Babies, Vol. 4_

"Sunglasses After Dark" Dwight Pullen _Rockin' Bones: 1950s Punk & Rockabilly_

introduction, definition, history

"Sunglasses" The Cloudwalkers _Wyld Sydes Volume 1 (American 60s Garage Bands)_

"Looking At The World Through Dark Shades" The Times _Pop Goes Art_

"Bury Me In My Shades" Shel Silverstein _Inside Folk Songs_

"Shades" Nancy Sinatra _Keep Walkin’: Singles, Demos, & Rarities 1965-1978_

"Sunglasses" The Fabulaires _Apocalypso EP_

interview with fashion consultant Maria Peterson

"Sunglasses" Tracey Ullman _Move Over Darling (The Complete Stiff Recordings)_

"Through His Sunglasses" The Claim _Armstrong's Revenge & Eleven Other Short Stories_

"Behind Your Sunglasses" Les Calamités _Les Calamités_

"Sunglasses" Space Ghost _Yeah, Whatever..._

"Sunglasses At Night" Jaymz Bee & The Royal Jelly Orchestra _Cocktail: Shakin' & Stirred_

interview with "the sunglasses guy" Mordecai Plant

"Autumn Sunglasses" Robyn Hitchcock _Robyn Hitchcock_

"Black Sunglasses" Mount Sims _Ultra Sex_

"Frost On Your Sunglasses" General Elektriks _Cliquety Kliqk_

"Golden Town With Sunglasses" Takagi Masakatsu _Wanna Buy A Craprak?_

our resident cinephile Chuck stops by!

"Sunglasses" Flannery Brothers _Love Songs For Silly Things_

"Sunglasses" Recess Monkey _The Final Funktier_

"Sunglasses" The Fresh & Onlys _Early Years Anthology_

"Sunglasses, A Gun, & Distance" The Bran Flakes _Hey Won't Somebody Come & Play?_

"Dark Shades" The Splinters _Kick_

our resident anatomist Dr. Madeline Unicorn stops by!

"Sunglasses" Saturday Looks Good To Me _One Kiss Ends It All_

"Take Off Your Sunglasses" Ezra Furman & The Harpoons _Inside The Human Body_

"Catholic School Sunglasses" Mike Birbiglia _My Secret Public Journal Live_

"Cheap Shades" Chris Staples _Golden Age_

conclusion & goodbye

"Sunglasses" Black Country, New Road _For The First Time_

"Sunglasses At The Wedding" Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever _Sideways To New Italy_

Whither Sunglasses?

Yesterday in this space I confessed that I didn't wear sunglasses. I used to live in Texas! It may be why my eyesight is failing me now. In any event, you may ask, why is there going to be a radio show about sunglasses? This may be a longish answer:

On my computer I keep a folder where I place ideas for radio shows. I have many more ideas than I do radio shows, & sometimes the ideas are too specific or narrow & there just aren't enough songs. Sometimes the ideas are passing fancies. Most of the time they just linger there - I'll probably never get to most of them.

My friend Chuck - the show's resident cinephile - likes to appear on the show every three or four shows. After we talk, he asks me about shows coming up. He wants to watch more movies, damn it! Recently none the upcoming themes were inspiring him. So I looked into my computer folder of lingering show theme ideas & one that stood out for me was sunglasses. He liked it too. He'll be on the show tonight. That's how the theme came about.

Why did I think about a show about sunglasses in the first place? Absolutely no idea.

There was a person at KOOP in Austin who seemed angry at the arbitrariness of the show's themes. It would probably irk her that I'm doing a show about sunglasses at the end of summer! Luckily she's almost certainly forgotten the show existed.

Hopefully it will exist tonight on KBOO - 90.7fm in Portland & online at kboo dot fm - from midnight to 2am. Probably not the best time to wear sunglasses. But a pretty good time for a show about sunglasses maybe?

Preface To Sunglasses: I Don't Wear Them

Though I might if I could get Spider-Man sunglasses.

My wife loves sunglasses. If she's without them, she panics. I have never worn them. I suspect it's because my head's a little big & unless I could get some custom-made, they don't cover my eyes well & I for some reason look for the light at the corners. Which is a long-winded way of saying "I never learned how to wear sunglasses."

This is not the first time I've done a show about something I don't use, or don't like, or don't have much experience with. But if you can wait til tomorrow, I'll tell you why I'm doing a show about sunglasses.

Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: 1924 (Part I)

(French Olympians from 1924, found here)

It has been the custom of the Dickenbock Report to take two hours each year to look back one hundred years. We looked previously at 1922, & last year at 1923. In both cases, the Report was two hours long. Since the show is now an hour long, we'll split our reporting over two weeks.

What will we report? Of course the news of one hundred years ago. But also the music of the time. Blues, jazz, folk, classical - all produced & a great deal of it preserved. We'll explore the different trends & genres over the course of the two episodes.

The first part of The Dickenbock Report's special 1924 Report airs tomorrow (Sunday) on XRAY FM - 91.1+107.1fm in Portland, xray dot fm everywhere. Just not everywhen. No streaming services one hundred years ago.

This Week In Self Help (August 23 25 + 27)

(image from here*)

The image above is of the Unisphere in Queens, New York. It's outside the Queens Museum, which I went to in the summer of 2004 when my girlfriend was working in New York for the summer. It had taken us so long to get to Queens, & we weren't really there to visit the museum, just for something she needed, & I was tired, so I didn't really appreciate it. I have shared the image tho because it's on the cover of one of the records I played on Self Help Radio this week - this one. When I got the record I was like, hey! I've seen that in real life!

But let's go back a week.

On Friday the 23rd I subbed on The Songcircle on KBOO. I played lots of new releases. You can listen to that show on the KBOO website. You can listen to it & download it even on the Self Help Radio website. Please use the username SHR & the password selfhelp to access the file there.

On Sunday the 25th there was an episode of The Dickenbock Report on XRAY. It was Kiss & Make Up Day, & you can listen to that show on the XRAY website. You can listen to it & download it if you'd like on the Self Help Radio website. Please use the username SHR & the password selfhelp to access the file there.

On Tuesday the 27th there was an episode of Self Help Radio on KBOO. It was the continuation of my Indiepop A To Z - the 75th installment! You can listen to that show on the KBOO website. You can listen to it & download it as well on the Self Help Radio website. Please use the username SHR & the password selfhelp to access the file there.

The KBOO file contains this week's episode of Corporate Standardized Programming, which was another morbid affair playing music by folks we lost recently - in this case, late May & early June of this year. Should you wish to listen to the show all by its lonesome, you can do so - & download it too - on the Self Help Radio website. Please use the username SHR & the password selfhelp to access the file there.

& that was the week that was.

* Image by Ajay Suresh licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Thirty Years

It was in August 1994 I had my first radio show. I don't know the exact date - I should - but it was in-between semesters at the University Of Texas at Austin so there were lots of late-night shifts to cover.

When I first stepped foot inside of KXRX in the summer of 1994 - when it had just changed its name from KTSB in the hopes of getting an FM license later that year - I had no desire to deejay. I had been bored at my work that summer, I saw a KVRX flyer, & I thought, what the hell, let me see if they need any help. & I ended up reviewing a lot of CDs for them.

A very nice fellow named Sam invited me onto his show to help out. He gave me an hour to fool around one night & my gosh it was fun. The program director at the time, a fellow named David, offered me my first show - Thursday mornings 5 to 7am - for the fall semester. & I was fucking hooked.

After KVRX, I started volunteering at KOOP. When we left Austin, I did a radio show at WMUL in West Virginia. After we left Huntington, I deejayed at WRFL in Lexington, & helped out at the low-power station WLXU before we moved again. Back in the D/FW Metroplex I got to do a radio show at KNON. & here in Portland I have been so incredibly lucky to have KBOO, XRAY, & Freeform Portland. It has truly been an embarrassment of riches.

& it all began with seeing a flyer for a KVRX meeting (which I didn't attend) on a tree on a very hot July day in Austin. & me walking down to the station & meeting a fellow named Andrew who was very happy to give me CDs to review. & then that extraordinary community inviting me in. & I've found that community over & over as I've gone from radio station to radio station.

Radio people are the best. Having fun on the radio is the best. I never knew it would be the thing that I would love to do most in my life. It happened almost by accident. It happened because of a flyer & a thought about getting to listen to lots of CDs. It might not have happened.

But it did. Thirty years ago. How amazing it would be if I could be doing this for thirty more years!

Self Help Radio 082724: Indiepop A To Z # 75

(All images from Discogs.)

Seventy-five of these shows! Too many bands & tunes to count! I mean I could count. Oh god I'm going to try to count aren't I? Please Gary don't.

This morning I continued the Indiepop S series with artists from Scott & Charlene's Wedding to Sedaiós. I also asked for help during KBOO's membership drive. You can help here if you're so inclined. Or if you like to donate by phone, you can text K-B-O-O to 44321. It's nice to support a radio station that lets me play lots of indiepop on the radio!

You can listen to this show in two places: One is at the KBOO website. The other is at the Self Help Radio website. If you choose the latter, you'll be able to download the show but you'll need a username & password. Those are SHR & selfhelp.

Look at what I played in glorious alphabetical order! We'll continue in four months.

Self Help Radio Indiepop A To Z # 75

"Footscray Station" Scott & Charlene's Wedding _Para Vista Social Club_

"She's So Lovely" Scouting For Girls _Scouting For Girls_

"Pillowmint" Scrabbel _Scrabbel_

"Green Beer" Scrawl _He's Drunk_

"In Rhythm" Scream + Dance _Sharon Signs To Cherry Red_

"Her Name I Don't Remember" Screen Prints _Perfect City (Twenty Songs 1998-2000)_

"Pick The Cat's Eyes Out" The Scrotum Poles _Messthetics # 1: UK '77-81 'D.I.Y.' Bands R-to-Sh_

"As Times Change" Sea Lions _Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sea Lions But Were Afraid To Ask_ 

"Secret World" Sea Stories _Secret World_

"Solace" The Sea Urchins _Stardust_

"Melancholly Molly" Seablite _Lemon Lights_

"Kernel" Seam _Kernel_

"Prove To Me" Seapony _Falling_

"Lost & Found" The Seashell Sea _Pop American Style_

"Beatrice" Seashells _Sunshine Eyes E.P._

"Treetop Love" The Seasick Crocodile _Hey! Where'd The Summer Go?_

"Begging Bowl" The Seaside _LemonLime Volume One... A Pop Compilation_

"Fall" Seaside Stars _The Magic Of Stereo_

"There's Nothing To Celebrate" Second-Hand Furniture _Game, Set, Match..._

"Amelia Star" The Secret Goldfish _Ave Marina: Ten Years Of Marina Records_

"God Save The Runaways" The Secret History _The World That Never Was_

"Waking Life" Secret Owl Society _We Will Glow_

"Loveblind" Secret Shine _After Years_

"Girls Don't Count" Section 25 _Always Now_

"Perdo El Cap" Sedaiós _Resolen Problemes_

Whither Indiepop A To Z # 75?

Bluto is a twee kitty.

Tonight on Self Help Radio on KBOO is the seventy-fifth (!) installment of the Indiepop A To Z series. I started the series over two decades ago & it probably should've ended many years ago. After having a couple of the episodes on another show on KBOO, that show's programmer said to me, "Will this never end?" We're in the letter S. You make that call.

When I started this, 1982 was twenty years away. Many of the great indiepop bands had only recently existed. There still seemed to be lots of indiepop compilations. Since the rise of the mp3, & Bandcamp, many indiepop bands exist in smaller markets, & compete with so many other niche genres. Not to mention that the name itself - "indiepop" - is more like to be used to describe a band that sounds more like something commercial instead of a band featuring Amelia Fletcher. If ever finish this, what will that music world look like?

These are thoughts I had while listening to music for this week's show. I wonder about the future of indiepop. But I know I'll keep doing this until I'm not doing radio anymore - or until there's no such thing as radio. Luckily that's not the case!

Self Help Radio 12-2am tonight 90.7fm in Portland kboo.fm everywhere.

Preface To Indiepop A To Z # 70: Can't Talk Going To See X Now

(image found here)

Blah blah more indiepop this week blah blah. Also more pledge pitching - donate at KBOO's website please!

Now I gotta run - I was very lucky to get tickets to see X on what they're saying is their last show ever in Portland. I love the new record. Am going to be glad to see them. I never have!

Chat more later bye.

Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: Kiss & Make Up Day

(image from here)

August 25 is Kiss & Make Up Day. After a grueling week of the Dickenbock Report staff having to watch the recent political convention (we weren't invited), we thought we would report on a day which is described as "a day to let go of resentment, grudges, anger, & indignation." & so we shall.

The Report is on tomorrow, Sunday, August 25, & runs from noon to 1pm on 91.1+107.1fm in Portland & xray dot fm everywhere. Because of stronger workplace interaction standards, Dick Dickenbock is not allowed to kiss everyone anymore, but we have taught him how to "high five," & he seems quite pleased with that. The staff now regrets that as well.