Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: National Sunday Day

Even though it would seem logical that every Sunday, being Sunday, would be by definition Sunday Day, it turns out that October 18 is National Sunday Day. So we at the Dickenbock Report, rather than being closed on Sunday, will celebrate Sunday.

It's also the XRAY Fall Fund Drive so if you're able, visit this website to donate to the station that keeps this hard-hitting news program on the air. If you'd like to support The Dickenbock Report directly, you can do so at this particular link. The money goes to XRAY, of course, but it gives the show bragging rights.

Listen to the Sunday show tomorrow, October 18, from 11am to 1pm on 91.1+107.1fm here in Portland, xray dot fm everywhere.

This Week In Self Help: October 11 13 + 15

(image found here)

What did I do on the radio this week? Who wants to know?

Sunday October 11. It's My Party Day on The Dickenbock Report on XRAY.
Listen to the show here.

Tuesday October 13. A show about chariots on Self Help Radio on KBOO.
Listen to the show here. Or download the show here.

Tuesday October 13. Corporate Standardized Programming on KBOO. More artists we lost this year celebrated.
Listen to the show here (after Self Help Radio). Or download the show here.

Thursday October 15. Welcome To Your Good Day on XRAY. I sub one more time.

Listen to the show here.

Also I did a show on KBOO today but I'll mention it next week.

Self Help Radio 101326: Chariots

(original image found here)

Here is my show about chariots. Listening to the show, I realized I have never ridden in a chariot. I don't know if I'd want to, but I kinda wish someone would have at some point offered me a ride in a chariot. I've actually only ridden a horse once, & it wasn't that much fun. But a chariot - especially as a passenger - might have been exciting. Oh well.

Listen to the show if you wanna at the Self Help Radio website or at the KBOO website. Most everything that happened on the show is listed below.

Seriously, if you have a chariot, invite me along, willya?

Self Help Radio Chariots Show

"Swingin' At The Chariot" Anthony & The Sophomores _Play Our Oldies Mr. D.J._

"Some Trust In Chariots" Rod McKuen _The Loner & 13 Other Rod McKuen Songs Of Love & Loneliness_

"Horses & Chariots" The Open Mind _The Open Mind_

introduction & definitions

"Chariots Of Silk" Tyrannosaurus Rex _Unicorn_

"Painted Chariot" The Incredible String Band _Liquid Acrobat As Regards The Air_

"Roll The Old Chariot (feat. Mary Benson)" Louis Killen, Stan Hugill, & The X-Seamen's Institute _Sea Songs_

"General Chariot Corp." Bob Newhart _The Button-Down Mind On TV_

"Broken Chariot" CocoRosie _Tales Of A GrassWidow_

interview with Ben Howard, who was a chariot maker in his past lives

"Chariots Of The Gods" The Stampeders _From The Fire_

"Chariots Of The Gods" Russell Miles _Archaeology_

"The Chariot" Janis King _Tarot Mastery: Decoding The Tarot With Definitive Card Meanings_

"Chariot" Beach House _B-Sides & Rarities_

"Chariots" Horse Jumper Of Love _Natural Part_

interview with Buddy Howard, who owns a chariot

"Chariot" Aoife Nessa Frances _Protector_

"Chariot" Babehoven _Water's Here In You_

"The Chariot Race" Ben Blur _The Chariot Race_

"The Chariot" The Cat Empire _The Cat Empire_

"Chariot Rock (feat. Genesis Blu)" Free Radicals _White Power Outage Volume 1_

a discussion about the most famous chariot song of all

"Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" Paul Robeson _On My Journey: Paul Robeson's Independent Recordings_

"Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" Langston Hughes _The Glory Of Negro History_

"Let Me Ride (Swing Down Chariot)" The Staple Singers _Chicago Hit Factory - The Vee Jay Story 1953-1966_

"Good News (Chariot's Comin')" The Four Tunes _The Complete Jubilee Sessions_

"Sweet Chariots" Bid _The Monochrome Set: Volume, Contrast, Brilliance... (Sessions & Singles Vol. 1)_

conclusion & goodbye

"Chariots On Fire" Rocket From The Crypt _All Systems Go III_

"Chariot" Knife & Fork _The Higher You Get, The Rarer The Vegetation_

"Chariot" Professor & Maryann _Runaway Favorite_

"Charioteers" Social Studies _Wind Up Wooden Heart_

Whither Chariots?

(photo by Giovanni Dall'Orto from Wikipedia)

Why do a show about chariots, you might wonder. Is it because of having heard one of the literally hundreds of versions of "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" out there? No. Is it because I either watched the film or heard the soundtrack recently for Chariots Of Fire? No. Oh no Gary is it because you someone found yourself reading the pseudoscientific book Chariots Of The Gods? Is that it? Oh say it isn't so!

In case you have never heard of that book, which came out the year I was born, let me tell you, it was written by a Swiss author named Erich Von Däniken & Wikipedia adds the delightful fact that "The book was extensively rewritten by its editor, Wilhelm Roggersdorf," Ouch,

Here's the thesis, courtesy of the Wikipedia: "The main thesis of Chariots Of The Gods is that extraterrestrial beings influenced ancient technology. Von Däniken suggests that some ancient structures & artifacts appear to reflect more sophisticated technological knowledge than is known or presumed to have existed at the times they were manufactured. Von Däniken maintains that these artifacts were produced either by extraterrestrial visitors or by humans who learned the necessary knowledge from extraterrestrials."

So, you're thinking, it's also a little racist? Yeah.

But no, I wasn't reading the book. It was one of the books my friend Russell was fascinated by as a kid - the sort of thing his character Howard Gently would later make fun of. Before I did the last Howard Gently show a month ago, I re-listened to Russell's album from 1984 called Archaeology on which he has a song called (you guessed it) "Chariot Of The Gods." I wanted to play it on the radio & thought I might find more songs about chariots. & so I have.

The chariots show airs tonight on KBOO - 90.7fm in town, kboo dot fm everywhere - from midnight to 2am. Thankfully my show is so amateurish no one has ever suspected aliens are actually behind it!

Preface To Chariots: Chariot Racing

(Still from Ben Hur grabbed at the link I mention in the post.)

At some point in the childhood of the average American kid in the 1970s, you got to watch Ben Hur on television. We were poor so didn't have a color television so the first time I saw it - probably in a very edited version chock full of commercials - I didn't see it in glorious color. & by the time I saw it, the movie had been around for almost twenty years, so all the elements of the race had been parodied many times over - especially in cartoons. Still, I do recall being thrilled by the race & looking forward to it when I saw it again. You can watch all of it on You Tube.

It's not the reason I'm doing a show about chariots - I'll talk about that tomorrow - but it's one of the first things I think about when I hear the word "chariot" - & maybe it is for you, too.