91.7

(my Austin loves, KVRX & KOOP)

The other night, on the air on KBOO, I gave the legal ID, like you do, but I said this: "You're listening to K-B-O-O Portland, 91.7 fm."  I quickly corrected myself - we're on 90.7 fm - but it's a mistake I'm sure I've made before & will doubtless make again.  Because the 91.7 frequency is where I lived on the radio for more than a decade.

My first radio experiences were on KVRX, from 1994 to 1999.  I volunteered & did a show on KOOP (it's where Self Help Radio started!) from 2001 to 2008.  You might be thinking, hold on.  Were both of these stations in Austin?  How do they have the same frequency?  It's because they share the frequency.  You can read that story on KOOP's Wikipedia page.  I'm not going to tell it here.

This is about the number 9 & 1 & 7.  Because today is 9/17.  I don't have a record handy of radio shows I did at KVRX, & I can't be sure that my records of my time at KOOP are all that complete, but according to them, I only did one radio show from 2002 to 2008 on September 17, a Membership Drive show in 2003 about monkeys.

But I do remember, when I did my show on KVRX on Mondays from 9 to 11pm, I liked to make sure I was either talking by 9:17pm (so I could mention it) or I'd do my first airbreak at 9:17pm.  I'm not a numerologist, but I liked that I was on when the station's frequency was mentioned.

The last time I was in Austin, I actually did a radio show on KVRX, because at the time they very kindly allowed alumni to do shows in the interim between semesters.  I may even have been on from 9 to midnight but I don't really recall.  That was in late 2017 I think.  Austin had changed very much & I didn't think that I wanted to ever go back again.  I was happier in that town when it wasn't as crowded & had so many skyscrapers.

But should you visit Austin, do spend some time at that frequency, 91.7fm.  I know no one now at KVRX but still have a few friends who are excellent programmers at KOOP, but the different things that made both stations magical are still in evidence.  & maybe someone else there who has a 9 o'clock show - either at 9am or 9pm - kinda thrills to say "it's 9:17 & you're listening to 91.7fm."  If they don't, they should!

Or else they're simply not as big a geek as I am.

Show Woes

(At the Aladdin Theater last spring, right before the Magnetic Fields came on.)

Back in Austin, in the late 80s, I would visit a record store called Sound Exchange (it was called Record Exchange until 1987) & in the front, as you walked in, on metal racks were the new releases - all on vinyl, they didn't have much of a CD selection yet.  New records were $3.99.  They had a red or orange sticker that told you that.  So much good stuff was coming out at that time I would sometimes buy a record just because it looked like it might be good.  This is how I acquired Strange Times by the Chameleons.

Initially I think I bought it because it a) had a bonus record with it (!) & b) that bonus record had both a Bowie & a Beatles cover (!!).  I did sometimes buy records I didn't like but I fucking hit the jackpot with that one.  Holy shit.  It's one of my favorite records ever.

The Chameleons came to the states to tour for the record but never made it down to Texas.  They broke up in 1987 when their manager died - two of the members of the band apparently disliked each other.  But they managed to re-form from 2000 to 2003 - all the original members - but never even toured the U.S. during that time, as far as I know.

When I lived in Kentucky, I found out that Mark Burgess, the bassist & lead singer, was touring as ChameleonsVox.  He was coming as close to Lexington as Columbus, Ohio, about three hours away.  It had taken almost thirty years but I was going to get to see the band.  & I did.

That's a picture I took of someone taking a picture of Mark Burgess.  With great luck, I saw them again - as ChameleonsVox - here in Portland in 2019.

They'll be in town in a week - I've found out that original guitarist Reg Smithies is touring with the band, which apparently makes them the Chameleons again.  They were supposed to be at the Doug Fir Lounge on the 27th.  The show has been rescheduled to the 26th at a bigger venue.  But that's a Monday night.  I have a radio show that night.  I guess I could prerecord...

It's funny, I've seen a few shows since the long slow ending (still happening) of the pandemic.  I am usually one of a handful of people wearing a mask.  I feel very old at these shows, more out of place than when I was a shy boy sitting next to the stage for a couple of hours before the openers even came on.  I used to bring a book to read when I'd go to shows back then.  Now I just doomscroll Twitter on my phone.

So there's something unpleasant about seeing live music plus I've seen the Chameleons (at least their lead singer) twice more than I ever thought I would.  I know this is a rationalization but I also know it's not working.  I'm quite bummed that I don't get to see them this time around.  Unless I go ahead & prerecord my dumb show.  Which I just might do.  Now that I think about it.

Self Help Radio 091322: Satisfaction

(Original image here.)

Well I'm satisfied that the Self Help Radio satisfaction show rates a "satisfactory" grade.  Remember those?  That's how I learned the word, from the elementary school grading system, which for some reason was more complicated than later grades which gave out As, Bs, Cs, etc.  One website defines them like this:

S – Satisfactory; I – Incomplete; N – Needs Improvement; P – Pass; U – Unsatisfactory; F – Fail

But wait! I remember an E for excellent! Anyway, I'd give this show an S with a side order of N.  Plus, every Self Help Radio feels a bit I.  Maybe that's a U going on F?

So many songs about satisfaction, feeling satisfied, & the act of satisfying!  Also, lost of covers of the Rolling Stones song.  I meant to play the Residents' version, but someone requested the Devo version.  What could I do?

The show is now at both the KBOO website & at the Self Help Radio website.  At the show's website, you'll need a username (which is SHR) & a password (which is selfhelp), but you can download the show if you want.  Everything that happens on the show is below.

& I certainly hope you're satisfied!

Self Help Radio Satisfaction Show

"Satisfaction" Errol Dunkley _Black Man's Pride 3 (None Shall Escape The Judgement Of The Almighty)_

"Satisfaction" Smokey Robinson & The Miracles _One Dozen Roses_

"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction (live 1965)" The Rolling Stones _On Air_

introduction & definitions

"I'm Qualified To Satisfy You" The Dirtbombs _Ultraglide In Black_

"Satisfied" Rufus _Rufus_

"Satisfied" Fat White Family _Songs For Our Mothers_

"You Think You're A Man" The Vaselines _The Way Of The Vaselines - A Complete History_

"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" Otis Redding _The Complete Stax-Volt Singles 1959-1968_

interview with author Lothario Casanova Valentino

"A Satisfied Mind" Ella Fitzgerald _The Singles_

"Satisfaction" Echo & The Bunnymen _Crystal Days 1979-1999_

"Satisfy" Mo-Dettes _The Story So Far_

"I Don't Know (Satisfaction)" Sly & The Family Stone _Fresh_

"Keine Klasse (I Can't Get No Satisfaction)" The Dorados _Pop In Germany, Vol. 3_

interview with ghost rider Ernest Chestinsworth III

"I'm Not Satisfied" The Fall _Cerebral Caustic_

"I Can't Get No Satisfaction (Thank God)" Talulah Gosh _Backwash_

"Do It ('Til You're Satisfied)" B.T. Express _Give Up The Funk (The B.T. Express Anthology: 1974-1982)_

"Quick Reaction & Satisfaction" Etta James _Etta James Sings Funk_

"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" Phyllis Diller _Golden Throats 2 (More Celebrity Rock Oddities!)_

interview with guru Jarvis The Water Guy

"Anything But Satisfied" The Manhattan Love Suicides _More Heat! More Panic!_

"Qualify & Satisfy" Funkadelic _Funkadelic_

"Satisfied" Krystal Generation _Eccentric Soul: Twinight's Lunar Rotation_

"Satisfied" Tom Waits _Bad As Me_

"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" The Incredible Bongo Band _Bongo Rock_

interview with memoirist Dennis Jagger

"I'll Be Satisfied (When My Soul Is Resting In The Presence Of The Lord)" Rev. J. M. Gates & Congregation _The Rise & Fall Of Paramount Records 1917-1927, Volume 1_

"Satisfied" Barbara & Ernie _Prelude To..._

"Leave Here Satisfied" Robert Forster _Danger In The Past_

"(Keep Me) Satisfied" Antietam _Tenth Life_

"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" Devo _Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!_

interview with former Cosmo editor Vanessa St. John

"Got The Blues, Can't Be Satisfied" Mississippi John Hurt _1928 Sessions_

"Praise God I'm Satisfied" Blind Willie Johnson _Dark Was The Night_

"Satisfaction Blues" Rufus & Ben Quillian _Rufus & Ben Quillian 1929-31: Complete Recordings In Chronological Order_

"Satisfied" Harold Burrage _The Cobra Records Story_

"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" Alien Sex Fiend _Another Planet_

conclusion & goodbye

"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" Cat Power _The Covers Record_

"I'm Satisfied" Earl Johnson & His Dixie Entertainers _Hard Times Come Again No More Vol. 2 (Early American Rural Songs Of Hard Times & Hardships)_

"Dissatisfied" Riverside Ramblers _Black & White Hillbilly Music: Early Harmonica Recordings From The 1920s & 30s_

"I Can't Be Satisfied" Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys _San Antonio Rose_

Whither Satisfaction?

(I wish I knew where I found this!)

The eternal conundrum: can a mostly unsatisfying radio show properly cover the theme "satisfaction"?  Why do I torture myself in this manner?

Maybe we won't get to this tonight, but etymonline.com tells us that the original definition (from the early 14th century) of satisfaction was "performance by a penitent of an act set forth by a priest or other Church authority to atone for sin."  Which is not a meaning that we use even think about today. The same site tells us, "The sense of 'action of gratifying' (an appetite or desire) is from late 14th century; that of 'gratified or contented feeling or state of mind' is from the late 15th century."

For my part, it was as you suspected, I happened to become fascinated with covers of the Rolling Stones song which led to the germ of the idea of this show.  & yes, I'll play several of those covers tonight.  I will not be able to help myself.

Listen! It may be satisfying! From midnight to 3am on 90.7fm in town & online at kboo.fm.  & no, not "satisfaction guaranteed or your money back" - because it's free!

Preface To Satisfaction: That Song

(image from Discogs)

If one is going to do a show with the theme "Satisfaction," one must contend with this song, probably the most famous song that mentions satisfaction.  Wikipedia says it's "one of the world's most popular songs," the band's first number one in the States, & their fourth in the UK.  I have probably heard this song more times than my mother even told me she loved me.  & I have to play it on this week's show, don't I?

Indeed, I might play one of the 119 covers that are listed at Who Sampled.  Or more than one.  I don't know.  Do you have a favorite cover?

One I couldn't play, because it was never released commercially, is this version by PJ Bjørky, which they performed at an awards show in 1994:

Feel free to shoot your faves my way.  I have a little time to put the show together still!