Self Help Radio 040619: The Days Of The Week

(Original image here.)

The show is a day late & it was recorded while a thunderstorm ripped through Fort Worth this morning - I was afraid the power would go out - but by gum here's the show where every song mentions (at least once) all the days of the week.  In retrospect, it wasn't that difficult to put together, but I did collect songs for over a year.  I wish I could do that with all my themes!

As well, it's the next-to-the-last episode before the show goes on hiatus while the wife & I & our brood move to Portland.  I will need the time off but I'll miss doing the show!

Never mind that: please enjoy this ridiculous episode of Self Help Radio which is of course at Self Help Radio dot net.  Remember! The username is SHR, the password is selfhelp.  All that happens on the show is listed below.

Also, might I add sundaymondaytuesdaywednesdaythursdayfridaysaturday?  I needed to say it one last time.

Self Help Radio Days Of The Week Show

"A Man For Every Day In The Week" Sippie Wallace _Louis Armstrong & The Blues Singers_
"My Sunday Gal" Cab Calloway & His Orchestra _1932_
"I Love To Walk In The Rain" Shirley Temple _Remember Shirley_

introduction & definitions

"Call It Stormy Monday (But Tuesday Is Just As Bad)" T-Bone Walker _The Original Source_
"Ain't It A Shame To Go Fishin' On A Sunday" Lead Belly _Lead Belly's Last Sessions_
"Lucy Mae Blues" Frankie Lee Sims _Lucie Mae Blues_
"Blue Monday" Fats Domino _The Fats Domino Jukebox_
"Everyday Of The Week" The Students _The Doo-Wop Box_

Marge Most & Ned Dry interrupt!

"I Met Him On A Sunday (Ronde-Ronde)" The Shirelles _The Shirelles Forever_
"Never On Sunday" The Chordettes _Golden Classics_
"Seven Day Fool" Etta James _The Essential Etta James_
"Let's Go Steady Again" Neil Sedaka _Oh Carol: The Complete Recordings 1956-1966_
"Solomon Gundie" Eric Morris _Intensified_

interview with cultural historian Malcolm Puckfuppet

"Nothing" The Fugs _First Album_
"2 Day's Monday" Scaffold _Thank U Very Much: The Very Best Of Scaffold_
"Police On My Back" The Equals _Greatest Hits_
"Coney Island Steeplechase" The Velvet Underground _Another View_
"The Quiet Man" John Prine _The Singing Mailman Delivers: Live Performance, 1970_

discussion: the origin of the names of the days of the week

"Tuesday Morning" Denny Doherty _Watcha Gonna Do_
"A Wednesday Car" Johnny Cash _The Rambler_
"La Grande Illusion" Television Personalities _...And Don't the Kids Just Love It_
"7 Nights To Rock" Nick Lowe & His Cowboy Outfit _The Rose Of England_
"Sunday's Slave" Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds _Tender Prey_

discussion: the origin of the length of the week

"Roots Rock Reggae" Pato Banton & The Reggae Revolution _Visions Of The World_
"Friday I'm In Love" The Cure _Wish_
"Without You" Bruce Springsteen _Blood Brothers_
"Days Of The Week" Dr. Jean Feldman _Dr. Jean & Friends_
"Black Betty" Tom Jones _Mr. Jones_

conclusion & goodbye

"Seven Days Of The Week (I Never Go To Work)" They Might Be Giants _Here Come The 123s_
"Thirsty Thursday" The Lancashire Hotpots _A Fistful Of Scratchcards_
"The Second Summer" Memphis _I Dreamed We Fell Apart_
"Saturday Night" Colton Turner _Colton Turner_

Whither The Days Of The Week?

(They had one for each day of the week, but my camera wasn't wide enough to get all seven.)

The idea for this show was a song by Bubblegum Lemonade from their record The Great Leap Backward.  There's a song called "Wishing It Were Friday" & I was thinking, that's a cool idea, right?  A show featuring songs that mention more than one day of the week?  That song mentions Monday through Friday.

But the more I started looking, the more I came to realize that just random days of the week - say, a song that only mentions Tuesday & Friday - would be pretty easy to find.  Maybe they had to mention five or more days - that would include "Lady Madonna" & "Seven Day Weekend" & "W.E.E.K.E.N.D." - all songs I thought about immediately when I decided on the theme.

Alas, my need to challenge myself led me to finally say, "No! All the days of the week!"  & that's what it's going to be.  Sorry it's late.  It might be worth the wait?  Probably not.

Tomorrow at noon at the Self Help Radio website.  A show on Saturday that features every day of the week.  Because it could've happened any day, you know.

Preface To The Days Of The Week: Other Media

Oh sure this week's show (which will be a day late, sorry) will feature songs in which every day of the week is mentioned, but what if Self Help Radio were a multimedia experience?  What if, for example, we had a Kid's Korner, where I read nursery rhymes, like this famous one:

Solomon Grundy

Born on a Monday

Christened on Tuesday

Married on Wednesday

Took ill on Thursday

Grew worse on Friday

Died on Saturday

Buried on Sunday

That was the end

Of Solomon Grundy

That's be cheery, right?  Kids love death.

Or what if there were a Self Help Radio Literary Salon?  I might share some James motherfucking Joyce:

"Sunday was dedicated to the mystery of the Holy Trinity, Monday to the Holy Ghost, Tuesday to the Guardian Angels, Wednesday to saint Joseph, Thursday to the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar, Friday to the Suffering Jesus, Saturday to the Blessed Virgin Mary

Every morning he hallowed himself anew in the presence of some holy image or mystery. "

That's from Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man.

But what about television or movies?  Okay, I didn't really look into movies, but I did remember just today that SCTV had its own soap opera, called "The Days Of The Week," which aired during their entire run in small installments but here some crazy obsessive pop culture hero has assembled them into one, movie-length run.  It's amazing:



Alas, I just got audio.  But you will be a bit overwhelmed how many songs there are that mention every day of the week.  Seriously, I could do a much longer than normal show.

But I won't!  I wasn't threatening you!  I won't do it!

Delay!

Welp, things this week took a turn so I won't have Friday's episode of Self Help Radio on Friday.  I'll have it Saturday at noon.  I'll announce it on the Facebook page tomorrow.  I thought I could get my shit together to get it done in time but nope!  Dag nab it!

This is why I need the weeks off to get moving done!  It might make it easier to get the show up & running in Portland, however.  We'll see.

Sorry sorry.

Last Day At KNON

David Pippin - the fellow whose show I took last year, when he left KNON for a job - that was the Wednesday Morning Blend - two weeks after I took over that show, another Blend person left, & I took her show - that was the Tuesday Morning Blend - David Pippin - who is now taking over the Tuesday Morning Blend, & a better person could not be chosen to helm that slot - what I was saying was - David Pippin came by the Blend this morning for me to pass the reins to him, & to let people know he was coming, & to say goodbye to me - & he bought me breakfast!

David asked me after the show if I were sad, & I had to say, no.  No, what I am sad about is that I never got a chance to do Self Help Radio in Dallas.  I have no idea if the show is any good - I don't get a lot of feedback, to be honest - but I enjoy doing it & I love asking my friends to come on & be ridiculous.  If I could make the show mainly interviews I probably would.  But there were no real opportunities to do Self Help Radio here.  So, when a freeform radio show became available, I auditioned for & got it.

But it was never really mine.  There was a particular thing we had to do - showcase music heard elsewhere on the station - which often got in the way of me playing the things I really wanted to play.  Not that I played things I didn't like - I have never done that.  Though I was "trained" at KVRX to mix genres, etc., I have a different sense of flow these days.  I don't like to think, "Hey, have I represented this or that genre yet this hour?"

To be fair, I did occasionally try to put a themed set together now & then, & once - just once - I did a bit with Allen.  But the show didn't lend itself to the same sort of shenanigans that I get up to with Self Help Radio.  It never felt right, I never felt I had enough time - the station promotes the hell out of its benefits, which is its right, but it often took eight to ten minutes away from the show per hour - & I never felt like it was something the station management would look kindly upon.

Boy, I would've loved doing Self Help Radio, though.  I would've pulled out all the stops.  I could've done it on KNON, on KTCU, on KFTW, on KUZU.  But there was no space on KNON, the station managers on KTCU did not want me at the station, the format of KFTW - all local music, except for a Grateful Dead show - did not lend itself to SHR, & no one at KUZU ever wrote me back.  For a place so big, it's crazy how few opportunities there are for community radio in D/FW.

But it makes sense.  Whole communities are being torn up to make space for apartments & condos for all the people moving here.  You can drive through entire shopping centers from Arlington to Frisco in which not a single place of business is local, they're all chains, & the fm radio dial is filled with stations from which most if not all content comes from corporate offices elsewhere.  KNON was an oasis, & they actually let me volunteer.  That was amazing.

Still, I was never more than a person doing a show.  It wasn't my show.  So I am not sad.  I kinda like the idea of staying at a place for a couple or three years & relocating.  But it's expensive & exhausting & anyway - I have this feeling - based on our visits - that we're going to like this Portland place.

Another Goodbye

Tomorrow I am doing my final show on the Tuesday Morning Blend on KNON.  It is a sad thing, & I am being lazy about it, basically repeating my "goodbye" show from WRFL.  Except, you know, it's not Self Help Radio.  I wish I could've done Self Help Radio on KNON, or any station in Dallas.  But I didn't get the chance.  My pledge drive shows were a piece of that - & they didn't raise any money, so maybe it's a good thing that I didn't do Self Help Radio in Dallas.

The funny thing is, I didn't really want to do the Blend, but I am glad I did it.  It reminded me of old freeform shows like I did on KVRX & the fills I took on WRFL.  I would've loved to do late-night freeform fills on KNON.  I would've totally dug driving the Dallas/Fort Worth highways without the traffic.  The traffic is the thing I will not miss.

So.  One more early Tuesday morning, a long drive at 6am with roads already choked with cars.  I see a lot of people talking on their phones in the mornings.  Who the fuck are they talking to?  Ooops, this started to descend into a bit.  Sorry.

See ya in the morning if you're listening!