Happy New Year's Day!

Please enjoy some pictures I've taken on New Year's Days past.

This was taken last year, on a wet New Year's Day in Portland.  It was actually dry this year on New Year's Day - the first time it had been dry in weeks, I read somewhere.  That's the wife & my pups.

This was taken New Year's Day 2018, in Fort Worth, Texas.  We walked regularly through a small park in our neighborhood which overlooked a grocery store & a small shopping center.  They were seeking to increase its size by adding a different building which was finished but unoccupied when we left in 2019.  Googla Maps tells me that as of March of last year, it was mostly still empty, although the far right corner of the structure was home now to a Chopsticks.  At the time of this image, however, it was unfinished & a fear of thievery led to this comical situation.

This was taken New Year's Day, 2017, also in Fort Worth.  We must've walked past nearby Luther Lake, & it looks like it's near nightfall (one could only look into the lake from the east).  The ducks there were awesome, & sometimes even friendly.

& finally, an image from 2015, taken in Lexington, Kentucky.  It looks like it was taken near sundown at a park we'd stroll through in a nearby neighborhood.

You know, I don't know if I took any pictures today.  I've been bad about it recently.  I should go do that now!  Happy new year!

End Of The Year Accounting

(image from here)

It's that time of year when I look at the numbers & find out how busy I was on the radio.  Might I share it with you?

In 2021, I was responsible for (& take responsibility for) 111 radio shows.  That's one-hundred & eleven.

Of those shows, fifty-three (53) were episodes of The Dickenbock Report on Freeform Portland.

Fifty (50) were episodes of Self Help Radio on KBOO.

That only adds up to 103; the other eight were sub shows, seven (7) on KBOO, & one (1) on XRAY.

Here's information you probably don't need nor care about:

There were 53 episodes of The Dickenbock Report because in the spring, the show's timeslot moved from Mondays to Thursdays, & the week it moved, I made two shows.  The show was recorded the entire year.

The reason there were a mere 50 episodes of Self Help Radio was because of two reasons: the first was a failure in a live broadcast from home, as detailed here.  I began to do the show live at KBOO in the late summer, but missed a show in November because we had to take our oldest dog to the emergency room, as mentioned here.  Otherwise there would've been 52 episodes of Self Help Radio this year.

& speaking of Self Help Radio:
Forty-one (41) original themes were explored this year, including original themes for repeated holiday shows on Valentine's Day & Halloween.
Three (3) themes were repeated, one for the show's anniversary (as is usual), one by request (subways), & the last one because one show wasn't enough (for 1985).

There were three (3) installments of the Indiepop A To Z series, as is normal.
& my three (3) end-of-the-year shows, which have all new content, but which are not new thematically, bring us to fifty (50).  Those are my birthday show for my beloved wife, my year-end favorites show, & my Christmas show.

Not only that, I managed to do two in-depth interviews this year, one with Adam from the Mommyheads & one with Amelia & Rob of the Catenary Wires.  Both were great fun & I want to do more of those please!

With Omicron coming to Portland, I don't imagine there'll be more opportunities for in-station subbing, but I hope I can continue to do Self Help Radio live at KBOO in 2022.  So hopefully next year there'll be at least 52 (fifty-two) episodes each of Self Help Radio & the Dickenbock Report.

Please accept my apologies for all the radio I made this year & in advance for next year.

Happy happy new year!!

Self Help Radio 122821: Indiepop A To Z # 67

(Most images found at Discogs.  A couple found at Bandcamp.)

The last Self Help Radio of 2021 continues the Indiepop A To Z series.  We went over the course of three hours from the Pizazz to Poprace.  Does this mean we'll finish the letter P next time?  Don't put that kind of pressure on me!  I just hope you enjoy the delightful indiepop tunes - & the couple of tunes I felt were influential so I included them.

You can listen now & anytime at both the show's page on KBOO & at the Self Help Radio website.  The latter will require the username SHR & the password selfhelp.  The show is mostly music with my occasional interruption to tell you what you just heard & to ask you to help out KBOO during our end of the year drive.  But really, mostly music.  It's listed below.

Happy new year!  Thanks for listening to Self Help Radio!  We'll continue next year!

Self Help Radio Indiepop A To Z # 67

"Heartaches & Heart Attacks" The Pizazz _Get Out Of My House_

"Playboy Playgirl" Pizzicato Five _The International Playboy & Playgirl Record_

"Forever" Plain Cream Puff Spray _Jingu Volume 1 (A Japanese Pop Compilation)_

"Ça Plane Pour Moi" Plastic Bertrand _King Of The Divan_

"Peppermint" Plastic Operator _Different Places_

"Goes Out" Play People _Goes Out_

"World Without Love" Playing At Trains _World Without Love_

"Shut Up" Pleasure _19 Goldene Hits_

"Treasure" The Pleasure Heads _Hard To Swallow_

"Breathe" Pleasurehouse _Marseille_

"In My Dandelion Field" The Pleasures Pale _The Pleasures Pale_

"Everything I Need" Plume _The Sound Of Leamington Spa Volume 6_

"I Love You When You're Walkin' Away" Plumtree _Moshi Moshi (Pop International Style)_

"Please Don't Let Me Go" Plush _Please_

"Your Shout" Po! _Horse Blanket Weather_

"Here" Poastal _Here_

"Outside" Pocket Rockets _2002 Teenbeat Sampler_

"Cross The Line" Pocketbooks _Flight Paths_

"October" The Poconos _Days Are Getting Shorter_

"Can't We Start Again" Les Poissons Solubles _Split 7" with Snowbirds_

"He's Blood Happy" Poke It With A Stick _Something's Burning In Paradise Again_

"Drown" Policecat _Drown_

"Extraordinary" Politburo _Return Of The Digital Ghosts_

"Hug The Harbour" Emma Pollock _The Law Of Large Numbers_

"Rhodes Ave." Pololeo _Our Town_

"One Hundred Reasons To Love Birds" PolyABC _One Hundred Reasons To Love Birds_

"Furry" The Pomeranians _Shreds Volume 3: American Underground '95_

"Paper Kisses" Pomme Cannelle _The Family Twee_

"Who Was That Dog?" The Pooches _Smoochin' With The Pooches_

"On Tape" The Pooh Sticks _CD86: 48 Tracks From The Birth Of Indie Pop_

"Gonna Make Him Mine (Tonight)" Pookie & The Poodlez _Young Adult_

"What Was Her Name?" The Pool Whales _The Pool Whales_

"Strawberry Kool-Aid Smile" Poole _Alaska Days_

"Lust For Life" Iggy Pop _Lust For Life_

"Light Blue Pictures" Pop Art _Snap, Crackle, Pop Art_

"Seaside" Pop City Arizona _With Friends Like Us Who Needs The NME?_

"Winona, I'll Be Up My Nan's" Pop Parker _Winona, I'll Be Up My Nan's_

"The Black Country Chainstore Massacreee" Pop Will Eat Itself _Rough Trade Shops (Indiepop 1)_

"Someone You Love" The Popguns _Another Year Another Address: The Best Of The Midnight Years_

"Vote Elvis" The Popinjays _Vote Elvis_

"Cremation Town" The Poppyheads _Cremation Town_

"All I Wanted" Poprace _Clear EP_

Whither Indiepop A To Z # 67

(The hits of Sisyphus.  Image from here.)

Is there any explanation necessary at this point?  Yes, because no one reads this blog!

About every four months I return to a series I call "Indiepop A To Z."  In alphabetical order I play indiepop bands & artist, plus some bands or musicians I think are influential to the genre.  For example, tonight I'm in the letter P - I'll start with a band called the Pizazz - & I suspect I will get to bands that have "Pop" in their name.  Might I play Iggy Pop?  He isn't indiepop at all!  But has he influenced indiepop?  He's influenced so many people!  So I'll ask again: might I play Iggy Pop?*

There's nothing fancy, just the bands & their music.  Three hours' worth.  I doubt I'll finish the letter P tonight but one never knows.

The series began in Austin, Texas, & as you can see, we're on the 67th installment.  You can listen to previous installments on the Self Help Radio website.  You can find links to the shows (some of them you can even listen to) somewhere near here.  I keep promising to make a stand-alone page for the series.  Maybe this week I will.

So if I'm able to make it to KBOO tonight, you'll hear nothing but indiepop from midnight to 3am.  That'll be on 90.7fm & online of course at KBOO dot fm.  Guaranteed to please!  Or maybe not.  What the hell do I know?

* Yes, I'll play Iggy Pop!

Preface To Indiepop A To Z # 67: Why Do You Keep Doing This?

The image above is the first image that came up with I googlied "Why Do You Keep Doing This?"  It's from here.  I have no idea what show it's from.

A while ago, a person who I was texting with during one of my indiepop a to z shows asked me if I would ever get finished.  "Probably not," I responded.  He then texted, "Why do you keep doing this?"

Gee, I can't remember if I had a response, but I guess I do have a couple now.  They are:

1) The music is great.  It's fun to share this kind of music.  &
2) It satisfies a kind of OCD need to organize & list-make I have.

The truth is, I enjoy the process of gathering the music, listening to it (some of it I haven't really listened to in years!), deciding if it fits in the "indiepop" genre.  I hope I'll get to finish it - I hope I have that many years left doing radio - but even if I don't, I've enjoyed the process.

A long time ago, I started collecting bands that I missed (you know, like Allo Darlin' showed up way past the time I was doing the letter A) & thought how I'd add them the next time around.

The next time around!  Boy was I thinking differently then!

(I still collect bands I missed though.)