Self Help Radio 012125: Talent

(Original image here*)

Self Help Radio this week was a show about talent. Not a talent show! Though there were lots of songs about talent shows. For the record I've never been in a talent show. Nor have I performed at an open mic. But that's neither here nor there. The talent involved in this show is not its host. But you knew that.

The show can be listened to either at the KBOO website or at the Self Help Radio website. If you choose the latter, please use the username SHR & password selfhelp to access. All the stuff that happened on the show is below.

You talented listener you.

Self Help Radio Talent Show

"A Little Brains, A Little Talent" Gwen Verdon _Damn Yankees (An Original Cast Recording)_

"Talent For Lovin'" Yellow Hair _Somewhere_

"The Downtown Talent Scout" Frank Zappa _You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 5_

introduction & definitions

"Talent Is An Asset" Sparks _Kimono My House_

"New Talent Needed All The Time" R. Stevie Moore _Swing & A Miss/R. Stevie Moore '77_

"Talent Night At The Nashville Inn" Commander Cody _Flying Dreams_

"Your Wasted Is A Talent Here" The Capstan Shafts _Revelation Skirts_

"The Talent Contest" The Legendary Pink Dots _The Golden Age_

interview with George Adams, who claims he's talentless

"Tale Of A Talentless Boy" Oliver Marson _Why Did I Choose This?_

"Talent" Pixies _Head Carrier_

"International Bulletproof Talent" Bauhaus _Go Away White_

"Talent" Heavenly Beat _Talent_

"Tyranny Of The Talentless" David Holmes & Raven Violet _Blind On A Galloping Horse_

interview with Teaching Talent author Tom James

"Talent Show" The Replacements _Don't Tell A Soul_

"Talent To Follow" Vic Godard _The End Of The Surrey People_

"She's Got Talent" Martin Newell _Martin Newell's Jumble Sale_

"Molly's Got A Talent" Sasha Bell _Love Is Alright_

"You Have Ugly Talents, Martha" Jessamine _Jessamine_

interview with talent show planner Quincy Monroe

"Impatient Talent Show" Jonathan Fire*Eater _Wolf Songs For Lambs_

"Talent" Echobelly _Insomniac_

"Tickets For The Talent Search" Smattering _Fig. 428 Racket To Stardom_

"Talent Is A Crime" The No-Talents _Talent Is A Crime_

"Aliens With Extraordinary Talent" Tuomo & Markus _Game Changing_ 

conclusion & goodbye

"Drum Solo" Various Artists _The Talent Show_

"Have A Talent" Inna Vision _Music On My Mind_

"Talento En Television" The University Of Texas Afro-Caribbean Ensemble _KVRX Local Live 3rd Edition, Revised: Educational Programming_

* This image, which has been changed by adding the Self Help Radio logo, is "The Talent In Neon" by Maryalena Salman. The original is here. It is used under the Attribution-Sharealike 2.0 Generic license.

Whither Talent?

(image from here)

The image above is from an article entitled "So Why Not Have A Talent Show?" It amused me that if the theme for Self Help Radio were talent, it would in fact be a "talent show." But goofy idears for naming my shows is not why I pick a theme. I picked this theme because of this CD:

(image from Discogs)

It's a recording of an actual talent show at a nursing home featuring the residents & what sounds like their grandchildren, recorded in I think 1979. I bought it many years ago & happened to listen to it again late last year. It made me want to play songs about talent. I will play some of the interstitial dialogue from the CD above during tonight's show - not the actual performances except maybe one - but I do wish I had recorded my senior year talent show. I was up in a room running the spotlights. I was one of the untalented ones.

Talent on display tho tonight! From midnight to 2am on 90.7fm in Portland & online at kboo dot fm. No talent required - you know, like at most talent shows.

Preface To Talent: The Talentless Mr. Me

(holy shit I've seen this film! image from IMDb)

In thinking about a show about talent, I have been wondering if anyone has ever called me talented. Not whether I have talents - I don't think I do - but have I been called talented at anything?

Probably not. Talent is a word that seems to be reserved for a particular skill, like at sports or with me. "He's a talented quarterback." "He's a talented guitarist." I'm neither - not am I particularly talented at anything, really. My wife might say, "He's an adequate cook," which means I follow recipes faithfully. I don't sing or play music or sports.

The thing I guess I do is deejay, but even then, I'm not what most people think of as a deejay, which is a person who spins records (or whatever) at a club. The word "deejay" - or D.J. - means "disc jockey" & certainly many club deejays do that as well as many radio deejays. But club deejays - especially those who play a continuous mix of music - actually need some skill to beat match. A radio deejay like myself - & yes, some club deejays have radio shows too - but a radio deejay like myself just plays one song after the other. In general, I just play stuff I like, so it's not too hard for me to pick a song that follows a song I like. I don't think any talent is involved & indeed I train people to do it all the time.

This week's show then is a show about talent from someone who has never been called talented. Not to say I am not talented in something - who am I to say? - just that no one's ever said I was talented in anything.

PS the only thing I remember about the movie above is that thing CinemaSins is always referring to: "How's the peeping, Tommy?"