Self Help Radio 083123: Indiepop A To Z # 72

(all images from Discogs)

There have now been 72 installments of this series. What more can I say? I was thinking I'd tell you I met a sweet little mutt named Teeny today - she was about a year old - she's being fostered by a neighbor & it's a good thing I have a wife who tells me no or else we'd have a new dog now. Wow she was adorable. I hope someone adopts her soon.

Anyway, that's all. Lots of great indiepop on the program this week. As should be expected with this series. The show is where it's supposed to be: at the Self Help Radio website. Use the username SHR & the password selfhelp to access. Look at the bands I played in glorious alphabetical order below.

& next time we finish the letter R. I promise!

Self Help Radio Indiepop A To Z # 72

"Cinnamon Eyes" Riverside _One_

"Heaven Knows I Love You" Riviera _Heaven Knows I Love You_

"Right Side Of The Tracks" Rizzo _Phoning It In_

"How Many Friends" Roberta Junk _Untitled Flexi_

"Volunteers Conquering Fires" Mark Robinson _Tiger Banana_

"Elephants" Anthony Rochester _Music For Listening & Relaxation_

"Love Eyes" Rocket Or Chiritori _Love Eyes_

"Pink Cashmere" Rocket Punch _Blood On The Ukulele_

"I Love You Like The Way That I Used To Do" Rocketship _A Certain Smile, A Certain Sadness_

"Mörder" Rockformation Diskokugel _Airpop: An Apricot Records Compilation_

"Drifting" The Rockingbirds _The Rockingbirds_

"Lenny & Jenny Had One Too Many" The Rocky Nest _The Rocky Nest_

"Nimby" Roguery _Living On The Edge_

"19th Nervous Breakdown" The Rolling Stones _Singles Collection - The London Years_

"Brand New Day" Roly Poly Rag Bear _Hana_

"20th Summer" Romeo Suspect _Another World_

"He's Outta Sight" The Rondelles _Fiction, Romance, Fast Machines_

"Small Town (Is A Strange Place)" Roof _Out Of The Blue_

"Things Have Learnt To Walk That Ought To Crawl" The Room _Indoor Fireworks_

"Blue Sunday" The Ropers _Why Popstars Can't Dance_

"Gabriel" Rorschach _The Sound Of Leamington Spa Volume 8_

"Leaving" The Rosaries _Forever EP_

"Sorrow" Frankie Rose _Herein Wild_

"Freedom Riders" The Rose Mary's _Freedom Riders_

"Room In Your Heart" The Rosehips _The Rosehips_

"Sparkle" The Rosemarys _The Rosemarys_

"(Whatever Happened To) Alice?" Rosemary's Children _Southern Fields_

"A Good Café On George Street" The Rosie Taylor Project _This City Draws Maps_

"Smiling Sweetly" Malcolm Ross _Wrong Place, Wrong Time 1995-1999_

Whither Indiepop A To Z # 72?

(This is Pete. Beagles are the official dogs of indiepop.)

It was many years ago that I began this series, Indiepop A To Z. What is indiepop? Does it just mean "independent pop"? It certainly seems like that's what people think, but here's a good definition.

The idea for the series came from the band list at Twee Net. I was overly ambitious & irritatingly completist so I added bands that I felt that list weirdly excluded plus I thought it would be fun to also play bands that were influential to indiepop. This meant that over time the list got bigger & bigger. If I had stuck to the Twee Net list, I would be done now. But I would've also felt that I had neglected lots & lots of artists.

So here we are - the seventy-second installment & we're still at the letter R. Many of the previous installments are at the Self Help Radio web page. The best way to find them is to go to the "table of contents" & click on the letter I. Like this. One of these days I will put them all on a single page - I keep promising that! - but so far that has not happened. I kinda forget about the series except when I return to it roughly every four months.

Will I ever finish? I don't really know. The letter S will take some time. But for now, let's continue to enjoy the letter R from noon to 2pm today on Freeform Portland - 90.3+98.3fm in town & online everywhere at Freeform Portland dot Org. We'll travel all over the globe & hear some wonderful tunes. I promise.

Preface To Indiepop A To Z # 73: Here's A Picture Of My Cat Bluto

He's grown up a bit - I guess he's about eleven months old now. You'd see lots of pictures of him if we were friends on Facebook or if you followed my dumb old Tumblr blog.

Anyway, it's more of the Indiepop A To Z stuff this week. I do it every four months. You know.

Maybe more details tomorrow?

Three Years Ago

In the midst of a global pandemic, the wife & I decide to cross over into Washington state & walk the dogs along the Columbia. As usual, we didn't know exactly where we should go, so we found a more-or-less state-parky area & walked up & down the river's edge.

One thing I recall is that the Washingtonians had very different ideas about mask protocols than we did. They didn't wear any masks. They were happy to get into your space. It was like the pandemic had never happened in Vancouver, Washington. Of course all of those people are dead now.

Portland lives in the shadow of Mount Hood, but you can't always see it from where you are, so it's a little startling for folks like me who are like whoa there's a giant mountain over there. Look at how large it looms in that photo up there. It's awesome.

It was a fun day. Our walks are always fun. I miss the dog who was there that day who is not with us today but otherwise I am happy for that memory.

Are We STILL Talking About Neptune?

(Now that's what I can an infographic - it's from here.)

There were so many songs about Neptune that were instrumental, I really felt I should play them somewhere, so I will play them tonight on Corporate Standardized Programming on KBOO. & I'll let you know when it's available if you wanna hear & it's not late at night.

So: tonight! Midnight to 3am! 90.7fm in town. KBOO dot fm everywhere!

Rocket leaves exactly at 12 sharp. Don't worry, it's a quick trip - just bring your phone & some snacks.