Self Help Radio 090514: Disco

A radio show about disco, but featuring very little actual disco.  Yeah, that sounds like the sort of show Self Help Radio would do.

In addition to the great music played (listed below), the show had lots of human talking guests.  I interviewed David Fruchter, who used to bartend at Studio 54; I interviewed Nick Ramirez, who has protested disco for decades; & I interviewed Nancy Gold & Mary Storm, co-discoverers of the element disconium.  & of course Mark Miller reported about Hollywood, & Tania wrote us another lovely song.

It's all available for your lighted dance floor & mirror ball at the Self Help Radio website.  Please pay attention to password/username info while you're there.

Thanks for listening!  I have to take off these boogie shoes now.  They're killing me.

(The show is in two parts at the website; below is what's in the two parts.)

(part one)

"Discotheque" Bad Dream Fancy Dress _Choirboys Gas_
"Freestyle Disco" S.I. Futures _The Mission Statement_

"Disco's Dead" The Bags _All Bagged Up '77-'80_
"Smash The Discos" The Business _Punk & Nasty_
"Disco Pope" The Prats _Rough Trade Shops Post Punk 01_
"Disco Romance" UK Decay _The Black Cat EP_
"Disco Hotline" National Lampoon _That's Not Funny, That's Sick!_
"Disco Man" The Damned _Eternally Damned_

"Changwah Disco" Chantana _Thai Beat A Go-Go, Vol. 3_
"Disco Clone" Cristina _Mutant Disco_
"How Long Are You Staying?" Bill Joy _The American Song-Poem Anthology: Do You Know The Difference Between Big Wood & Brush?_
"Red Neck Disco" Glenn Sutton _Redneck Country_

"Rock & Roll People In A Disco World" Sparks _Terminal Jive_

(part two)

"Cambia El Disco" Tania Rivas _Cambia El Disco_
"Disco Biscuit" Lung Leg _Maid To Minx_
"Disco" Backfish _It's Emily's_

"The World Is A Disco Ball" Future Bible Heroes _Eternal Youth_
"Shifty Disco Girl" Helen Love _Love & Glitter, Hot Days & Muzik_
"Indie Disco" The Lancashire Hotpots _Pot Sounds_
"At The Indie Disco" The Divine Comedy _Bang Goes The Knighthood_

"Born Disco/Died Heavy Metal" Cornershop _Hold On It Hurts_
"Discoking" The Leslies _Totally Brilliant_
"Panic" The Guild League _Romantic & Square Is Hip & Aware_

"Death Of A Disco Dancer" The Smiths _Strangeways, Here We Come_
"Disco Pop Stars" Altered Images _Pinky Blue_

Whither Disco?

Blah blah blah, it's a show about disco with very little disco, blah blah blah.

One of the things I started doing this spring - in case you haven't noticed - is regularly feature people I know who are far more funny & talented than I am.  So you've regularly heard my friends Russell, David, Mark, & Nick pretend to be "experts" weekly on the show, as well as Tania singing her songs & an occasional appearance from my wife as the monster that lives under the station.  I asked a couple of current RFL deejays - Macy & Maria, who do a show on Sundays from 2 to 4pm - if they'd also like to be experts.  They said yes!  So their "expertise" will be featured on tomorrow's show.  & - spoiler alert - they're great.

It seems pretty obvious to me that my "experts" aren't really.  But I've had a couple of calls that suggest some people who stumble onto the show don't listen carefully enough.  I keep wondering if I should have some sort of disclaimer.  What do you think?

Tomorrow's show is jam-packed with fake experts - plus lots of fun music - so I hope you'll listen.  It's on from 7 to 9am on 88.1 fm in Lexington & online at wrfl dot fm.  I'll archive it later on Self Help Radio web.  Oh boy!

Preface To Disco: Neglectfulness

As I approach - what is it? - nineteen hundred blog posts on this blog of mine - that's a lot - I feel like I am neglecting it a bit.  Part of it is the general feeling, which co-exists with my lack of self-esteem & all-around self-loating, that I have nothing of value to say.  Part of it is that I spent the day (what free time I had) working on the radio show that this blogs exists to support (or whatever).

I am envious of people like Marc Maron, whose podcast I admire, because he does have something to talk about, twice a week, before his interviews.  He returns to themes - he is his most popular subject - & I'm not comfortable being as frank about myself in that manner, although I tried it for a time on some of the shows this spring.  But he still manages, between awkwardly pitching products for his sponsors, to have lively, interesting discussions about ideas & events that I can't really manage.

I wonder if this blog would benefit from small events & ideas that happen throughout my brain at any given moment.  I would probably resist biographical entries that didn't have something like a point or a clumsy punchline - for example, the wife & I just watched (& enjoyed) the first episode of the television show Please Like Me - but instead just have random train-of-thought observations. Like:

Tonight, someone made the comment that Enya never performed live.  She couldn't.  Too many voices.  But she has performed live, says the Wikipedia.  Just never had an actual concert.

That's not that interesting, but it was interesting to me at the time.  & funny!  It reminds of the time Leah at KOOP told me that Bob Marley died of toe cancer.  I thought it was such a dumb idea I bet her five bucks it wasn't true.  It was!  I paid up.

The other night we were walking the dogs & I thought I saw a shape in the sidewalk in front of us.  It was a sweet black lab whose name I later found out was Mandy.  I recognized her because she barks at us from her backyard & I've always wanted to walk up to meet her.  We banged on her owner's door for several minutes (we guessed he was in the bathroom) & finally he opened the door & we asked if she was his.  She was, but she wanted to come with us - three beagles & two sweet humans are better than a cigarette-smoke-filled home!

The next day or so he explained that the dog was not his but his ex-wife's.  He said he didn't really want her but liked having her around.  I got the impression that he would have loved for us to adopt her.

Tonight I thought, "What if he had let her out that night & hoped she went away?  & we ruined his plans?"

She's a sweet dog, & twelve years old.  I hope the situation isn't what I fear.

Would this blog be better with entries like that instead of - well, what does this blog contain, anyway?  What have I written for almost nineteen hundred entries?  I have no idea.  I have no idea.

Twits Tumble

See this?

That's a picture of my dog Ringo.  I take a lot of dumb pictures, a lot of them of my pets, a lot of them when I'm out & about with my pets.  I "archive" them (if you want to use that fancy word) on the Self Help Radio Tumblr site.  Why not on this blog?  Who the hell knows?

See this?

That's something I tweeted.  From my Tweety Account.  I mean, my Twitter account.  I don't spend a lot of time there, since I don't feel all that clever, but I do "live tweet" my shows (I hope I am using that phrase correctly) & let one know when my shows are available on the site.  Usually by linking to this blog.  Oy.

Anyway.  A friend was telling me today how well an old fogey like me uses Social Media.  (I didn't even mention the Facebook page!)  But I'm not really using Social Media all that well.  Mainly I'm clumsy & awkward about it.  Like most things in my life.

But I thought I should mention these other things (all linked of course on the web site).  So it might seem I am using Social Media well.

& not, as it feels, a little antisocially.

Short Sad Monday Poem

I have a cold.
Sore throat & sniffles.
Still I did three hours
on the radio this morning.
It's been raining all day.
I wish I could have slept all day.
My wife says,
"90% of my laundry
is Jazzercise clothes."
My teeth hurt
because I've been sucking cough drops
all the time.
Going to sleep again
after I feed all the animals.
I hope I am well enough
to do Self Help Radio
this week.

Self Help Radio 082914: Indiepop A To Z # 45

Jesse Garon & The Desperadoes

Oh man, forty-five installments of this & I'm only in the letter J.  I might finish the Js next time around - when will that be?  Probably the end of the year.  For now, enjoy all the bands I thought were important or influential or just plain indiepoppy enough to fit between the Jakpot & the Jigsaws (those bands included).

I should say a big thank you to the people at TweeNet whose list of bands forms the basic skeleton of this series.  If I just stuck to what they consider indiepop, I'd be nearly done now.  Alas, I am contrary.

The show is available now at the Self Help Radio website.  Pay attention to password info, if you're going to listen.  The songs I played - in glorious alphabetical order - are below.

Thanks for listening!

(part one)

"Turning Point" The Jakpot _Turning Point EP_
"Not Happy" Jale _Dreamcake_
"Town Called Malice" The Jam _The Gift_

"I Heart Labrador Records" Jam On Bread _A Railcard Adventure_
"Puppet Girl" Wendy James _Now Ain't The Time For Your Tears_
"Skullduggery" James _Stutter_
"Oh, Grateful" James Dean Driving Experience _Clearlake Revisited_
"Vote For Love" Jamie Wednesday _Vote For Love_

"It's A Fine Day" Jane _It's A Fine Day_
"Mourning Glass" Jane From Occupied Europe _Coloursound_
"Sanitized" Jane Pow _Love It Be It!/State_
"Love Has Flown" The Januaries _The Januaries_
"Cut Me Deep" Jasmine Minks _Another Age_

"Looking For Lot 49" The Jazz Butcher _Fishcotheque_

(part two)

"Nothing At All" Jazzateers _Jazzateers_
"Elemental" The Jean-Paul Sartre Experience _The Size Of Food_
"Before I Know" Jenka _Be_
"Driving Into The Sun" The Jeremiahs _Driving Into The Sun EP_

"Ordinary Sleep" Jessamine _Jessamine_
"The Rain Fell Down" Jesse Garon & The Desperadoes _The Rain Fell Down 7"_
"Just Another Fashion Band" The Jessica Fletchers _What Happened To The?_
"Flowers" Jesterbells _Rain Keeps Falling EP 7"_
"Just Like Honey" The Jesus & Mary Chain _Psychocandy_

"Sister Dream" Jesus Couldn't Drum _Ruttling Orange Peel & Blind Lemon Pie_
"Suicide" The Jesus Trip _You Can't Be Loved Forever, Vol. 1_
"Wenn Deutschland Traumt" Jetzt! _Liebe In Grossen Stadten Kassette_
"Snap Me Up" Jim Jiminee _Welcome To Hawaii_
"Camouflage" The Jigsaws _Camouflage 7"_

Which Indiepop A To Z # 45?

Who knows why anyone does anything?  Why a radio show at all?  Isn't radio dying?  What about this thing called "indiepop" (which yesterday I referred to as "obscure")?  Who pays attention?  Does anyone really want to listen to what I think it is?  & in alphabetical order?  What the hell?

So, "whither indiepop a to z number 45" indeed.

I just think it's good music.  I listen to it a lot.  Some of my favorite bands are either square in the genre definition (like the Lucksmiths) or influenced it (like the Smiths).

& it's nice to have a radio show now to share all the silly music I have - indiepop or otherwise.

& by the way - Self Help Radio is on tomorrow morning from 7 to 9am at 88.1 fm on the dial & online at wrfl dot fm.  Yes, it'll be archived at some point in the day.  What, with all this music, do you think I have time to do anything else?

Did this have too many questions in it?  Will anyone answer them?  Or were they rhetorical?  Have I done this before?  Why can't I remember if I did or not?

Preface To Indiepop A To Z # 45: Keep Going, Keep Going

I've had a leisurely week - it's warm & unbearably humid in Lexington so, except for the requisite evening dog walks, I've been inside - so I've had a chance to listen to entire albums by the subjects of this installment of the "indiepop a to z" series.  It's been fun - it's such a diverse & interesting genre of music, one that for the most part is more obscure now than even when it was the opposite of punk in the mid-1980s.

Well, maybe not the opposite of punk - the do-it-your-own-damn-self aesthetic was there.  Among other things.  I'm not in the mood to theorize right now - & anyway, I'm reading Jon Savage's Sex Pistols book right now, so it's probably muddling up my thinking.

I'm in the letter J at this point, & it's the tenth letter of the alphabet.  If it takes forty-five shows to make it to J, where will I be at the twentieth letter of the alphabet (the letter T, right)?  & if I only do three of these shows a year, it'll happen well over a decade from now.  Will there even be radio then?  Will I even be alive?

Oh well.  Keep going, keep going.  The letter J.  Lots of good stuff.  I'll show you on Friday!

This Is One Of Those Times

…when you find something that would've been perfect for last week's show.

So you show it anyway.

Woke Up Early One Morning Blues, Episode Fourteen

Victoria Spivey

As mentioned previously, this was the last episode of my little blues show - at least for a while.  Lots of folks - students, mainly - return to Lexington for school in the Fall & of course they deserve a place at the student radio station.  I feel lucky I got to keep my Friday morning!  I can only imagine everyone else wanted to sleep in &/or had an eight o'clock class.

My last show featured some Texas blues greats, with an especial set on Texas blues women, & a few obscure tunes as well.  It may be because I am Texan that I love Texas blues so much - but I am surely not the only one.  It could be the subject of an entire ongoing radio program - & probably has.

This final Woke Up Early One Morning Blues (I'm glad no one complained about the clunky name!) is available now at the Self Help Radio website.  Pay attention to username/password information.  The Texas-flavored songs I played are below.

Thanks to everyone who listened this summer!

"Bull-Doze Blues" Henry Thomas _Texas Worried Blues (Complete Recorded Works 1927-1929)_
"Falling Rain Blues" Lonnie Johnson _Lonnie Johnson Vol. 1 (1925-1926)_
"Booster Blues" Blind Lemon Jefferson _The Best Of Blind Lemon Jefferson_

"Motherless Children Have A Hard Time" Blind Willie Johnson _Dark Was The Night  (1927-1930)_
"Texas Blues" Willie Reed _Let Me Tell You About The Blues Texas (The Evolution Of Texas Blues)_
"You'll Like My Loving" Otis Harris _The Male Blues Singers Vol. 1_
"Cryin' For You Blues" Sammy Hill _Texas Blues_
"Kentucky Blues" Little Hat Jones _Tex-Arkana-Louisiana Country 1929-1933_

"Big Houston Blues" Victoria Spivey _Victoria Spivey Vol. 1 1926-1927_
"Deep Water Blues" Hociel Thomas _Louis Armstrong & The Blues Singers_
"Doggone My Good Luck Soul" Hattie Hudson _Texas Girls (1926 - 1929)_
"Penitentiary" Bessie Tucker _I Can't Be Satisfied, Vol. 1_
"Shake It Down" Lillian Glinn _Lillian Glinn 1927-1929_

"Ground Hog Blues" Ramblin' Thomas _The Voice Of The Blues: Bottleneck Guitar Masterpieces_
"Blue Goose Blues" Jesse "Babyface" Thomas _Blues From The Western States 1927-1949_
"Lone Wolf Blues" Buddy Woods _Texas Slide Guitars 1930-1938_

Self Help Radio 082214: Bulls

Yup, the radio show today was about bulls.  Not papal bulls, not people who are confident in the stock market, not police officers.  The male version of cows.  Bulls.  Lots of songs about those kinds of bulls, & especially bullfighting & bull riding.  I even had guests to talk about it!

It's not available for you to listen to at Self Help Radio: the website.  Pay attention (if you go there to listen) to username + password information.  The songs I played are below.

Toro!  Toro!

(part one)

"The Bull Is Coming" Lee Fields & The Devil's Personal Band _Rare Funk Liberation_
"Ride The Bull" Quasimodo Jones _Robots & Rebels_
"Lezomkomo (Praise The Cows & Bulls)" Ladysmith Black Mambazo _Songs From A Zulu Farm_

"Little Black Bull" Pete Seeger _Sing With Seeger_
"Little White Bull" Tommy Steele _The Best Of Tommy Steele_
"Ferdinand The Bull" Slim & Slam _The Original 1938 Recordings, Vol. 1_
"El Toro De Goro (The Peace Loving Bull)" Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs _Li'l Red Riding Hood_

"The Cattle Call" Eddy Arnold _Heroes Of The Big Country_
"Bad Brahma Bull" Tex Ritter _Collectors Series_
"Oscar The Yodeling Bull" Peter Denahy _Peter Denahy_

"El Matador" The Kingston Trio _Sold Out_
"The Matador" Johnny Cash _Legend_
"The Matador" Major Lance _Best Of Soul Time: A Selection Of Northern Soul Classics From The Archives_

(part two)

"Old Bull" Wylie & The Wild West _Bucking Horse Moon_
"Bull In The Pen" Black Uhuru _Anthem_

"The Bullfighter Dies" Morrissey _World Peace Is None Of Your Business_
"The Bulls (Les Taureaux)" Shawn Elliott & Company _Jacques Brel Is Alive & Well & Living In Paris_
"Bull Rider" Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell _Old Yellow Moon_
"Bulls" Tania&Juan _Bulls_

"Bull In The Heather" The Go! Team _Proof Of Youth_
"Bullfighters' Bones" The Shrubs _Full Steam Into The Brainstorm 12"_
"Bullfighting" Airport Girl _Slow Light_
"Bullfighter Jacket" Miniature Tigers _Fortress_

"Cattle & Cane" The Go-Betweens _Before Hollywood_
"The Bull Run" Titus Turner _A Walk On The Wild Side_

Whither Bulls?

A long time ago, I was dating a girl, & she liked to go camping.  We would go camping together.  We knew someone who was a park ranger in Utah, so we'd go camping there.  I didn't own a car, so I'd rent a car, & we'd drive together from Austin to Utah to go camping.  Once, after driving forever on what was probably 183 past Llano - or maybe it was 290 west - or maybe it was I-10 on the way to El Paso, depending on how we were getting to wherever we were going - we stopped because she wanted to see some cows who were near the fence.  We pulled the car to the shoulder & walked over to say hello.  They were friendly & glad to have the company I supposed.

At some point some highway patrol officers appeareded & wanted to know what we were doing.  We said we were saying hello to the cows.  They told us we were on private property & needed to be moving along.  They seemed amused that we wanted to say hello to cows.  "You never seen cows before?" they asked us.

I hadn't grown up with cows but a couple of years before I had visited with other friends a dairy where the calves were very friendly & would suckle your fingers.  We slowly realized that it was kind of sad, since they wanted their mothers' milk, but the mothers were busy being milked to give to humans.

Anyway, when we were on the highway, walking back to the car, the highway patrol officers wondering if we were on drugs or something, I noticed that there was a lone bull in a separate section of the fenced-off land.  I guess if he were with the cows he'd be mating with them.  Or maybe he was a steer, a castrated bull, who was just separated from others I couldn't see.  Or maybe I just saw a cow I thought was a bull & made up an entire story from looking at him.  I do that.  You do that too.

I tried to find photos, using Google search, of handsome bulls, but all that comes up is pictures of pit bulls, who are dogs & not bulls at all.  (Some were quite handsome, though.)

The reason for the show is I wanted to play something from the new Morrissey record & I liked the song "The Bullfighter Dies."  I had to scramble to put the show together in less time than I usually take for my show.  I hope it's all right.

Tomorrow from 7 to 9am on 88.1 fm in Lexington, Kentucky, & online at the same time at wrfl dot fm.  I'll put the show up later in the day on the Self Help Radio website in case you can't wake up or won't wake up or read this years later.

It's years later.  I never stop to say hello to cows anymore.  But I do wave from the car.

Preface To Bulls: The Power Out

It has been a weird day.  I took a nap as is my wont & woke up, ready to make dinner, & there was a magnificent thunderstorm happening.  (I could've slept through it, but the wife woke me by saying, "Wake up & fix me dinner, depressed person!")  As I walked into the kitchen, everything in the house just stopped working.  At first, it seemed like there was still power, as the washer or dryer continued to spin even as it lost electricity.  But no, the whole house was off.

Here's the news, which I was able to access thanks to my smarty-pants phone: power outage story.

We decided to order out, but it took a while - probably a nearby cell phone tower was out or otherwise incapacitated.  We managed to call one of our few favorite local restaurants - the poorly named Asian Wind - & I ventured out into the world.

Two things first: our garage door opener is of course electric.  So I had to hold the door open as the wife drove the car out.

The other thing was Twitter.  When I finally got some bars, I checked the Twitterworld to see what folks were saying about the power outage.  What they said was, basically, DON'T GO DOWNTOWN.  Apparently students are moving in right now & the absence of power took out all the traffic lights.  Crash smash chaos.  But Lexington loves its sirens, & the power wasn't out for five minutes before we heard screaming sirens all around the city.

I didn't see any accidents, but I did see people being kind as traffic cops waved us through intersections without lights.  It wasn't much of a problem getting to the restaurant to pick up the food, but there was a problem with finding a place to park - lots of folks were escaping from their homes to go out to eat.

We watched old SCTV episodes on the computer while we ate by candlelight.

Which is all my way of saying that I meant to write something else but the world intervened.

I used to tell folks that big storms like we have in Texas don't really happen around here.  At least with the fierceness or regularity that is characteristic of Texas thunderstorms.  But I can't do that anymore.

Man, I am glad the power's back on.  It's sad, strange, & weird how our lives - or at least my life - needs its electronics.

Solidarity

Woke Up Early One Morning Blues, Episode Thirteen

Alger "Texas" Alexander

For my next-to-the-last episode of Woke Up Early One Morning Blues (next-to-the-last? what? see next paragraph!), I played some catch-up.  I would find so many songs to play for each show but couldn't fit them all in one hour, so this show contains songs that "belonged" to previous shows.  I still think there's a nice flow.

So next-to-last - well - the new WRFL schedule starts a week from today, & there'll be many more students back in town who need precious airtime, so I am losing an hour of my show.  That hour will be Woke Up Early One Morning Blues.  I am sad to see it go, but my focus has always been on Self Help Radio.  The show will reappear at some point - possibly next summer - because the early blues is always on my mind, & I enjoy doing a blues show.

You can listen to this past week's show now at the Self Help Radio website.  The mismatched collection of songs is listed below.

"Whiskey & Women" Black Ace _Texas Slide Guitars 1930-1938_
"Romance In The Dark" Lil Green _Romance In The Dark_
"Where He Leads Me I Will Follow" Blind Willie Harris _Goodbye, Babylon_

"Lonesome Lovesick Blues" Katherine Henderson _Vol. 2 (1927-1932)_
"Whiskey Headed Blues" Sonny Boy Williamson _Sonny Boy Williamson: Complete Recorded Works, 1938-1939_
"On My Way To Heaven" Blind Roy Hays _Sinners & Saints (1926-1931)_
"Snatch It Back Blues" Walter "Buddy Boy" Hawkins _William Harris & Buddy Boy Hawkins (1927-1929)_
"Black Gal, What Makes Your Head So Hard?" Joe Pullum _The Easin' In: Essential Recordings Of Texas Blues_

"Six Weeks Old Blues" John Henry Barbee _Memphis Blues 1927-1938_
"Lonesome Road Blues" Sam Collins _Before The Blues Vol. 1_
"Ain't Going To Lay My Armor Down" McVay & Johnson _Kentucky Mountain Music, Part 3_
"Friday Moan Blues" Alfred Lewis _Harmonica Blues 1920s & '30s_
"Boogie Woogie Stomp" Albert Ammons & His Rhythm Kings _The Many Faces Of Boogie Woogie_

"Dark Was The Night (Cold Was The Ground)" Blind Willie Johnson _Dark Was The Night (1927-1930)_
"Long Lonesome Day Blues" Texas Alexander _Texas Alexander Vol. 1 (1927-1928)_

Self Help Radio 081514: Normality

Who're you calling normal?  Not this radio show!  Oh, all right, just for today, Self Help Radio will be normal.  Why not?  Why not for once be a normal radio show?  I mean, really.

Show is here: Self Help Radio website.  Remember, if you have to have a username & a password, then SHR & selfhelp will probably work.  The songs played today are below.

Stay normal!

(part one)

"I'm Normal" The Emperor _I'm Normal_
"We Are Normal" The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band _Urban Spaceman_
"C'est Normal" Ceux Qui Marchent Debout _Handclapping Zone_

"Normal" Martin Mull _Normal_
"The Speed Of Normal" John Wesley Harding _John Wesley Harding's New Deal_
"Mr. Normal" Wayne County & The Electric Chairs _Man Enough To Be A Woman_

"Pronounced Normal" Wild Man Fischer _Pronounced Normal_
"Pass for Normal" Culturcide _Home-Made Authority_
"Normal People" The Members _The Choice Is Yours_
"Watch Out For The Normal People" The Boomtown Rats _A Tonic For The Troops_

"Dan Abnormal" Blur _The Great Escape_
"Crazy Kind Of Normal" The Rosehips _The Rosehips_

(part two)

"This Is The New Normal" Bubblegum Lemonade _Some Like It Pop_
"Every Boy Wants A Normal Girl" Colleen Green _Sock it To Me_
"Life Returns To Normal" Northern Portrait _Criminal Art Lovers_

"Suis-Je Normale?" Nini Raviolette _Change The Beat: The Celluloid Records Story 1979-1987_
"Total Normal" Eiskalte Engel _Total Normal_
"Normal" Astrud _Superman EP_

"The Normal Family" Andrei Codrescu _No Tacos For Saddam_
"Making People Normal" Bis _Social Dancing_
"Normal" Screaming Females _Castle Talk_
"Normality" Tania&Juan _Normality_

"Gillian Is Normal" Instant Automatons _Messthetics Greatest Hiss # 110: An Introduction To The D.I.Y. Cassette Scene 1979-1984_
"Tight But Normal Squeeze" Robert Pollard _Jack Sells A Cow_
"Normal" Bel Divioleta _Espejos_

Whither Normality?

I have no idea what normal is.  Normal is relative, anyway.  Some people live in fear & hunger, & that's normal for them.  What was normal even a century ago would seem weird to us now - & vice versa.

I do know that WRFL is not a normal radio station.  I don't mean that as an insult, but as a compliment. Every other radio station in the world - or I should say, the vast majority of them - are owned by one of two or three corporations, & they're programmed by a few people in one place, & piped out to each station. It's apparently very profitable for them, but it's such a depressing & cynical way to use the airwaves that could be filled with so much creativity & good music & fun.  It's why a station like WRFL is so valuable.

Will Self Help Radio celebrate normality, or will it (as you probably suspect) have several songs snarkily suggesting that what is normal is dull, mindless, hypnotized, brainwashed, conservative, square?  You'll have to listen to find out.

It's on tomorrow morning from 7am to 9am on 88.1 fm in Lexington, & online at wrfl dot fm.  Of course I'll do what I normally do & put it on the Self Help Radio website after the show, if you're not normally up that early.

It's normal for me to hope you'll listen, right?

Preface To Normality: Normalcy

You can read about Warren Harding's use of the word "normalcy" in his 1920 election campaign.  Though detractors at the time believed he made the word up, or mispronounced "normality," it turns out "normalcy" had been in use for around sixty years before that.  People use it to mean "normality" to this day, probably because of the hubbub surrounding Harding's use of the term.

But according to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word normalcy was coined by mathematicians, first recorded in 1857, & used to mean a "mathematical condition of being at right angles."  It notes, wryly, "The word prefered by purists for 'a normal situation' is normality," which, it notes was first recorded in 1849 - barely a decade before "normalcy" was recorded.  Etymologists believe it came from the French.

I don't have a dog in this fight.  I like that the English language is elastic & mutable & I love that words change their meanings over periods of time.  It's sometimes sad when words like "literally" come to mean their opposite because of people who don't really know the word's definition, but if I don't mind a word like "normalcy" being used to mean "normality," I can't complain about changes in the language I don't like.  It's better than the opposite: word stagnation.

Harding, by the way, is known as one of the most corrupt presidents in history.  That might not be entirely true - but he did seem to surround himself (mostly friends & contributors from Ohio) with awful people.  For no real reason, here's a picture of him:

Woke Up Early One Morning Blues, Episode Twelve

Gladys Bentley

I loved encyclopedias as a child, & I have a mind that loves to categorize & alphabetize.  This week's episode of Woke Up Early One Morning Blues starts something I might never finish - a list of the great female blues singers of the 20s & 30s.  When people think of the blues, they often don't think of these women - but they were among the most popular blues performers of the time.  I go from Ora Alexander to Susie Edwards (of Butterbeans & Susie) on this show, but since I only have two more episodes of the show, I might not return to the list for a good long while.

In any event, you can listen to the show at the Self Help Radio website.  Pay attention to the password info there.  & enjoy the songs I played, which are listed below:

"You've Got To Save That Thing" Ora Alexander _Them Dirty Blues_
"St. Louis Blues" Mildred Bailey _The Ladies In Blues_
"Don't You Make Me High" Blue Lu Barker _The Chronological Classics: Blue Lu Barker 1938-1939_

"Worried Blues" Gladys Bentley _Maggie Jones & Gladys Bentley: Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order Vol. 2 - May 1925 To June 1926 & August 1928 To March 1929_
"West Indies Blues" Esther Bigeou _Esther Bigeou (1921-1923)_
"The Pawn Shop Blues" Lucille Bogan _Lucille Bogan (Bessie Jackson) Vol. 1: 1923-1930_
"Evil Mama Blues" Ada Brown _Territory Singers Vol. 1 (1922-1928)_
"Song From A Cotton Field" Bessie Brown _Down In The Basement: Joe Bussard's Treasure Trove Of Vintage 78s: 1926-1937_

"Peddlin' Man" Liza Brown _(Original) Bessie Brown (1925-1929) & Liza Brown (1929)_
"Mean Eyes (Too Late Blues)" Kitty Brown _Female Blues Singers Vol. 3 (1923-1928)_
"Aunt Hagar's Children Blues" Alice Leslie Carter _Female Blues Singers Vol. 4 (1921-1930)_
"Everybody Does It Now" Martha Copeland _I Can't Be Satisfied, Vol. 2_
"Give Me A Break Blues" Ida Cox _The Blues 1923 To 1933_

"Blind Man Blues" Katie Crippen _Fletcher Henderson & The Blues Singers Vol. 1 (1921-1923)_
"Winter Blues" Madlyn Davis _Paramount Jazz_
"He Likes It Slow" Butterbeans & Susie _Louis Armstrong & The Blues Singers_

Come In, Orson

Words fail.  Words are all we have.

As a child, I was a huge comic book nerd.  I read them & re-read them all the time.  I loved reading other things, but comics were the first thing I read, & I loved them so much I would read them most - even the ones, like war comics, I wasn't terribly interested in.

I loved when things comic-book-y showed up in places other than those little booklets.  I loved Star Wars - a comic book movie if there ever was one.  I loved Star Trek - each episode like a different issue, with recurring villains, revisited plotlines.  & I even loved the silly stuff - like an alien showing up in a television show (Happy Days, of all places) & then getting his own show.

That's the first time I saw Robin Williams, & he made me laugh.  Laugh, laugh, laugh.  Later, in films like Dead Poets Society & Good Will Hunting, he showed a depth that his manic stage persona (his real persona?) didn't hint at.  He seemed human, humble, ridiculous, wise, caring, strong, & devoutly strange.  A comic book character come to life.

Of course, he was more than that, he was like me & you (or at least like you - I could never hope to be so talented), he had problems.  More information will come out in the next few days, but for now I'm going to spend the evening watching YouTube clips & laughing.  Laughing because Robin Williams was really so goddamned funny.

"Mork calling Orson, come in, Orson.  Come in, the Incredible Bulk."  He couldn't help constantly making fat jokes to his space superior.  Oh god, so funny.

Self Help Radio 080814: Acid

Self Help Radio played lots of songs about acid on this show, & by a wide margin (18 out of 26) the songs were definitely about Lysergic Acid Diethylamide, or LSD.  Partially it's a result of rock & rollers being part of the counter-culture that would be attracted to such things, but also I think it's a result of a lack of imagination on the part of musicians.  If the best song about acid rain is REM's "Fall On Me," well, there's a crisis of creativity.

Oh well.  Please enjoy a large number of songs about the kind of acid you watched afterschool specials about.  It's available now at the Self Help Radio website. I remind you of username + password, which equals SHR + selfhelp.  The songs I played around below.

Enjoy!

(part one)

"LSD" The Pretty Things _Get The Picture?_
"Acid (Another Colored Ink Drawing)" The Wild Things _Acid (Another Colored Ink Drawing)_
"I Wanna Come Back (From The World Of LSD)" The Fe-Fi-Four + 2 _Pebbles Vol. 5_
"Acid" Stu Mitchell _Only In America_

"Acid Face Baby" Rote Kapelle _It Moves... But Does It Swing?_
"Acid Bird (live)" Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians _Gotta Let This Hen Out!_
"Acid To My Alkaline" Fujiya & Miyagi _Artificial Sweeteners_
"Acid Baby" Tania & Juan _Acid Baby_

"I Did Acid With Caroline" Jad Fair & Daniel Johnston _It's Spooky_
"Should Have Taken Acid With You" Neon Indian _Psychic Chasms_
"Lysergic Bliss" Of Montreal _Satanic Panic In The Attic_
"LSD" The Mighty Diamonds _Trinity Meet The Mighty Diamonds_

"Battery Acid" Baxendale _You Will Have Your Revenge_
"Adult Acid" Thee Oh Sees _The Master's Bedroom Is Worth Spending A Night In_

(part two)

"Acid Bath" The Hangmen _This Is Psychobilly: 25 Years Of Rockin' & Wreckin'_
"Acid Head" The Velvet Illusions _Acid Head_
"Acid Lady" The San Francisco T.K.O.'s _Bay Area Funk: Funk & Soul Essentials From San Francisco, Oakland, & The Bay Area 1967-1976, Vol. 2_

"Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" Der Expander Des Fortschritts _Celebrating The Eggman: A Tribute To John Lennon_
"Purple Haze" Johnny Jones & The King Casuals _Atlanta Soul: The Peachtree Records Story_
"White Rabbit" Born For Bliss _Flowing With The Flue_

"Too Much Acid" The Pineapples From The Dawn Of Time _Behind The Banana Curtain_
"The Last Time I Did Acid I Went Insane" Jeffrey Lewis _The Last Time I Did Acid I Went Insane & Other Favorites_
"Somebody Spiked My L.S.D." Julian Cope _Floored Genius 4: Brain Donor_
"LSD" Wendall Austin & The Country Swings _Wavy Gravy, Vol. 1: For Adult Enthusiasts_

"The Trip" Kim Fowley _Nuggets: Original Artyfacts From The First Psychedelic Era, Vol. 2_
"Acid Revolution" Rob Jo Star Band _Soul Jazz Records Presents PUNK 45: Sick On You! One Way Spit! After The Love & Before The Revolution: Proto-Punk 1969-77_

Whither Acid?

It's been so long since I've taken acid that I can't believe I ever did.  Also, thinking about it makes me wish I could do it again.  Why aren't all drugs legal?  Oh yeah, because our society shows no interest in taking care of any of its citizens; the idea of caring for the inevitable needs of people lost to drugs the government was legally responsible for selling is beyond their narrow, thin, empathy envelope.

The show tomorrow won't talk about my experiences with LSD, but there'll be songs about it.  Also, songs about battery acid, & acid's relationship to alkaline, & other non-drug-related tunes.  But, alas, it's rock & roll, so there'll be a lot of songs about the drug called acid.

Tune in, tune out, etc., from 7 am to 9 am tomorrow on 88.1 fm WRFL Lexington or hey! online at wrfl dot fm.  I'll put on the SHR website later, but of course by then it might
be a little diluted.

If that can happen with acid.  How would I know?  It's been so long!

Preface To Acid: Trip Advisor

I have a Self Help Radio Facebook page.  Mainly I post playlists there & occasionally pictures of bears.  More people "see" it than this page because they can "like" it & my nonsense shows up in their "feed."  But while it can be much more interactive than this stumpy little blog, it rarely is, because I don't really know how to make it so.  The last time I asked an honest question of my "likes," the idea being that I would use the information to talk about on the show, my smart-ass friends (who make up the bulk of the page's "likes," & who probably haven't listened to my show in forever, if ever) thought I was giving them an opportunity to be "funny" (not funny for real, because this is Facebook), & they made smart-ass remarks.

This morning I was thinking, "Hey! I'll ask a question that some people might answer on the Facebook page!" Here was the question that I thought I might ask, or something like it anyway: "If you've taken LSD, please share your best trip below!"

About two seconds after I thought of that question, I asked myself a question, which was this: "Are you high?"

Facebook - & especially "liked" pages like mine - does not have the same anonymity as some places where users can comment (& be total dicks) to their heart's content behind a fake username.  You sign in mostly as you (or the online you you've constructed, which often has your real name), & your responses are as that you.  Asking people to admit to using an illegal drug - never mind asking them to describe its use - is stupid, & possibly could get them in trouble with employers & other humorless folks down the line.

I could ask people to do so here, where they can comment anonymously, but no one really sees this blog.  Certainly people don't visit here daily.  (I think fewer people see this than my silly Tumblr blog.)  I wouldn't have enough responses to talk about on the show.

But, really, just thinking about this whole process - me considering asking people to fess up on Facebook their drug tales - I just have to ask, "What's wrong with me?"

One More Thing About "Woke Up Early One Morning Blues"

I guess this is sort of a public service announcement to folks to who listen to my pre-war blues show called "Woke Up Early One Morning Blues," which I have been doing all summer on WRFL.  I was fortunate enough to do the show this summer because I was given a three-hour timeslot, which was the result of a lot of programmers going away for the summer.  The understanding was that, when the (mainly student) horde returned, I would have the show trimmed to two hours, the time which most programmers have, & I don't want to lose a whole hour of Self Help Radio, which is the show I most enjoy doing.

The new schedule at WRFL begins August 25, which means I have only three episodes of WUEOMB left.  Ugh, that looks terrible.  There are times when an acronym is completely inappropriate.  My too-wordy-show-name is one of them.

I have only three episodes of Woke Up Early One Morning Blues left.  Is there anything you've been wanting to hear me explore?  Let me know!  & soon!

Woke Up Early One Morning Blues, Episode Eleven

Peetie Wheatstraw

Episode number eleven of the blues show Woke Up Early One Morning Blues is now available for listening when & if you choose.  It features lots of early blues about that distilled alcoholic drink that George Bernard Shaw called "liquid sunshine": whiskey.

The show is available at Self Help Radio on the web.  The songs I played are below.  Please enjoy this show responsibly.

"Whiskey Man Blues" Scrapper Blackwell & Black Bottom McPhail _Virtuoso Guitar 1925-1934_

"Whiskey & Gin Blues" South Street Trio _Country Blues Outlaws_

"Whiskey Blues" Elzadie Robinson _Elzadie Robinson Vol. 1 1926-1928_

"Me & My Whiskey" Barbecue Bob _The Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order, Vol. 2_

"Whiskey Moan Blues" Clifford Gibson _Clifford Gibson (1929-1931)_

"Whiskey Drinkin' Blues" Tampa Red with Jenny Pope _Tampa Red Vol. 3 (1929-1930)_

"Whiskey Selling Women" Lucille Bogan _Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 1 (1923-1930)_

"If The River Was Whiskey" Charlie Poole _Old Time Songs 1926-1930, Vol. 2_

"Whiskeyhead Blues" JT "Funny Paper" Smith _Complete Recordings (1930-1931)_

"Try My Whiskey Blues" Roosevelt Sykes _Roosevelt Sykes Vol. 3 (1931-1933)_

"More Good Whiskey Blues" Peetie Wheatstraw _Peetie Wheatstraw, Vol. 2: 1934-1935_

"Bad Whiskey Blues" Black Boy Shine _Leroy Carr & Black Boy Shine (1934-1937)_

"Rye Whiskey" Tex Ritter _The History Of Country & Western Music Vol. 4 (1931-1934)_

"Whiskey Blues" Bo Carter _Bo Carter Vol. 4 (1936-1938)_

"Whiskey & Good Time Blues" Big Bill Broonzy _Big Bill Broonzy Vol. 8 1938-1939_

"Whiskey Fool" The Yas Yas Girl (Merline Johnson) _The Yas Yas Girl (Merline Johnson) Vol. 2 1938-1939_

Self Help Radio 080114: Sunrise

Just minutes after the sun rose, in Lexington, Kentucky, Self Help Radio played two hours of songs about the sunrise!  Not only that, but guests talked about the spiritual nature of the sunrise, about monetizing the sunrise, & about never having seen the sunrise!  It embarrassed the sunrise, but at that point it wasn't really the sunrise, so no one was unnecessarily concerned.

It can be listened to now or at your leisure at the Self Help Radio website.  Don't forget about the user/password combo!  The songs I played are listed below.

Please enjoy!

(part one)

"Sun Arise" Rolf Harris _The Best Of The Sixties_
"Sunrise" The Divine Comedy _Fin De Siècle_
"Sunrise" Pulp _We Love Life_

"Sunrise" Lambchop _No You C'mon_
"Sunrise" Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan _Hawk_
"Sunrise" Petra Haden _Petra Haden Sings: The Who Sell Out_
"Sunrise" Tania & Juan _Sunrise_

"The House Of The Rising Sun" Nina Simone _The Blues_
"Sunrise, Sunset" Connie Francis _Sings Jewish Favorites_
"I Like The Sunrise" The Free Design _You Could Be Born Again_

"Watch The Sunrise (Single Version)" Big Star _Keep An Eye On The Sky_
"Sunrise (Turn On)" Chesterfield Kings _Psychedelic Sunrise_

(part two)

"Waiting For The Sunrise" Yoko Ono _Approximately Infinite Universe_
"The Sun Rising" The Beloved _Happiness_

"Sunrise Serenade" Connee Boswell _Heart & Soul_
"Blues Before Sunrise" Ray Charles _In The Beginning: 1949-1952_
"Sunrise Highway" Peter Anders _Sunrise Highway_
"Sunrise Highway" The Trout _The Trout_

"Where Does The Sun Rise" Dorothy Collins _Experiment Songs_
"Orchid Sunrise" The Harbour Pilots _Welcome To The Wetherbeat Scene 1988 - 1991_
"I Always See The Sun Rise" Little Name _How To Swim & Live_
"The Sun Also Rises" Fever Tree _Fever Tree_

"Please Sunrise Please" Barbara Acklin _Please Sunrise Please_
"Beyond The Sunrise" Belle & Sebastian _Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like A Peasant_

Whither Sunrise?

I plan terribly.  At some point at the beginning of summer, I said to myself, "Hey!  By August I'll be doing my show & the sun will rise so I should be a show about the sunrise!"

I should have remembered that that sort of information - which you used to have to have an almanac handy to get to, you know, before the invention of the Internet - is freely available.  So - three months ago - I could've just checked, you know.  Sites like Time & Date dot com have handy sections for things like sunrise & sunset.  On August 1st - when my sunrise show is airing - that's tomorrow! - when do you imagine the sun will rise?

6:41 am.

That's 19 minutes before my show is on.

If I wanted to do my show when the sun was rising, I could've just waited three weeks.  After August 23rd, the sun will rise after seven & later.

But no.  The Self Help Radio sunrise show will air from 7 to 9 am tomorrow - well after sunrise - on 88.1 fm in Lexington, & online all over at wrfl dot fm - so at least some folks will get to listen as the sun rises, if they want.

Or you can wait until after I've put the show up at the Self Help Radio website, & listen to it on the next sunrise.

Sheesh.

Letting One's Hair Dry Naturally Vs. Using A Blow Dryer

What sort of hotel/motel doesn't furnish a hair dryer for its guests?  This is not a riddle with a funny answer.  It may not even be a question with an answer.  Is the answer "a no-tell motel"?  Is the answer "a place you found on Airbnb"?  I don't know.

Do I care about the answer?  Do I care about the argument of blow dry vs. natural dry?  I remember having shorter hair that took very little time to shampoo & also never was dried by blow.

At this point, I am feeling a bit awkward.  "Blow dry" is a real thing.  "Dry by blow" is not.  In fact, "dry by blow" sounds dirty.  I apologize.  It was not my intention.  I was attempting a kind of parallelism of the clauses in the last sentence but it's obvious now that I should have said "to shampoo & never to blow dry."  Much more parallel.  Still awkward.

But now I've said it, & I can't take it back.  That is one of life's vagaries.  Or do I mean vicissitudes?  Or  am I just thinking of pretty words that begin with the letter v?

Today I let my hair dry naturally.  I was too lazy to pull out the blow dryer.  But normally I blow dry my hair.  In two weeks, I'll be in another country far from here where it'll be quite humid & I wonder if the hotel/motel I am staying at will have a hair dryer.  Also, whether, with 100% humidity, it will really matter.

It occurs to me that I am writing this on a computer & I could simply delete the awkward sentences up there.  I could also xkc0[qd]P


]\
]PL
]'

Sorry about that!  A wasp just landed on my keyboard & I was trying to alternately avoid it & also kill it.  It got away.  I don't know how it got into the house.

My cat Boone has captured & eaten it.  He tells me, since when a cat captures & eats an insect it gains all its life experience, that wasps are frightened by blow dryers.  Since the wasp did not hear the blow dryer today, he assumed it was safe to come into the house.

I think he's fucking with me.

Woke Up Early One Morning Blues, Episode Ten

Juanita "Arizona" Dranes

Sorry this is a day late!  Here's last week's episode of Woke Up Early One Morning Blues.  I spent an hour exploring blind early blues performers - since it's something of a blues cliché that you'd have "Blind" in front of your name.  They were a talented & surprisingly diverse bunch.

What I didn't explore is why it seems like there were so many visually-impaired blues musicians at the time.  I refer you to this inconclusive discussion on the Straight Dope messages boards if you wish to hypothesize some.

The show is now available for listening on the Self Help Radio website.  What I played is below.

"Early Morning Blues" Blind Blake _All The Published Sides_
"Banty Rooster" Blind Pete & Partner _Blues & Gospel: Miss. Field Recordings 1934_
"Cross & Evil Woman Blues" Blind Gary Davis _Country Southern Blues_

"I Believe I'll Go Back Home" Blind Willie Davis _American Primitive Vol. I: Raw Pre-War Gospel_
"Bye & Bye We're Going To See The King" Arizona Dranes _Arizona Dranes (1926-1929)_
"Honey In The Rock" Blind Mamie Forehand _Folk Music In America, Vol. 15: Religious Music: Solo & Performance_
"Black & Tan" Blind Boy Fuller _Mama Let Me Lay It On You (1926-1936)_
"Crazy 'Bout My Baby" Blind Roosevelt Graves _Complete Recorded Works (1929-1936)_

"Honey, Take A Whiff On Me" Blind Jessie Harris _Alabama: From Lullabies To Blues_
"Match Box Blues" Blind Lemon Jefferson _The Rough Guide To Blind Lemon Jefferson_
"Keep Your Lamp Trimmed & Burning" Blind Willie Johnson with Willie B. Harris _Dark Was The Night  (1927-1930)_
"Bell Street Blues" Blind Willie McTell _Complete Recorded Works, Vol.3 (1933-35)_
"How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times & Live" Blind Alfred Reed _Hard Times In The Country_

"Outside Woman Blues" Blind Willie Reynolds _The Rough Guide To Delta Blues_
"Been Listening All The Day" Blind Joe Taggart _Before The Blues, Vol. 2_
"Harmonica Blues" Sonny Terry _Complete Recorded Works 1938-1945_

Bluesy Ooops

I know you already think I'm a lazy dumbass, & that I don't really love you, but I did mean to put the most recent episode of "Woke Up Early One Morning Blues" on my website today.  Unfortunately, I got to doing other stuff, & have no time for the rest of the day.  My bad!  My word!  I'll do it tomorrow.

Really, it's not you, it's me.

Self Help Radio 072514: Backwards

After all those years of people telling me I am backwards sort, I did a backwards radio show.  Or, really, I played a lot of backwards songs.  Which is not to say the songs were backwards themselves, but were about backwards things.  At no point did anyone say, "mih ssim, mih ssim, daed si luaP," however.  Which is just as well.

Hey!  The show is now at Self Help Radio online.  Please remember username/password info, available on the page.  It's to protect the show from stupid people trying to take down the page.  The songs I played are below.

!yojnE

(part one)

"Sdrawkcab (Backwords)" Lothar & The Hand People _This Is It, Machines_
"Backwards & Forwards" December's Children _Backwards & Forwards_
"Headcoat On Backwards" Thee Headcoats _Bleached Earls_
"The Backwards Alphabet" Soupy Sales _Use Your Noggin'_

"Up The Hill Backwards" David Bowie _Scary Monsters (& Super Creeps)_
"Counting Backwards" Throwing Muses _The Real Ramona_
"Talking Backwards" Tender Trap _Language Lessons_
"My Son Spells Backwards" The Victorian English Gentlemens Club _The Victorian English Gentlemens Club_

"Backward Century" The Loud Family _Attractive Nuisance_
"Backwards Again" Ant Farmers _Yarn_
"Feels Like We Only Go Backwards" Tame Impala _Lonerism_
"You Got Your Head On Backwards" The Sonics _Introducing The Sonics_

"Driving Me Backwards" Brian Eno _Here Come The Warm Jets_
"Racing Backwards" Blank Dogs _Phrases EP_

(part two)

"Count Backwards (Rock & Roll Never Dies)" The Secret History _The World That Never Was_
"Backwards" Tania & Juan _Backwards_

"Backwards Town" Eugene Chadbourne _Country Protest Anew_
"Backwards" Smile Smile _Marry A Stranger_
"Talking Backwards" Real Estate _Atlas_

"Backward Bill" Shel Silverstein _A Light In The Attic_
"Bent Backwards" Mrs. Kipling _Sunny Sunday Smile_
"The World Backwards" Broadcast _Work & Non Work_
"Backward Town" Grapes Of Wrath _Treehouse_

"Bend Over Backwards" Archie Powell & The Exports _Great Ideas In Action_
"Cigarette In Backwards" The Suburbs _Ladies & Gentlemen, The Suburbs_

Whither Backwards?

I kinda spend all day Thursday working on my show for Friday.  This is because I am a magnificent procrastinator, & because, like all procrastinators, I believe I work well under pressure.  It's really only because I have been doing this for like twelve years (Self Help Radio, that is) & I've developed a system that I get anything done at all.

I don't really work all day on my show, though.  I do work in bits & pieces, & then, suddenly, it's 11pm, & I guess I'm done.  All right then.  Oh yeah.  Write in the blog.

I can't remember why I thought a backwards show would be fun.  Maybe that Eno song?  Or the Throwing Muses song?  Or the similarly-titled Secret History song?  Whatever.  I got enough stuff together for a two-hour-long backwards show.  Plus I'll talk to my ridiculous friends, who are pretending to be people they're not.  That's fun.

Tomorrow from 7 to 9 am on 88.1 fm in Lexington, online everywhere there's a long enough cord at wrfl dot fm.  I'll have it up by noon so you don't have to wake.  Anyway, you're just lying to me & saying you'll listen.  You never do.

Preface To Backwards: A Backwards Post

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I Forgot

I forgot I had a blog today.

I forgot for a moment that I did a dumb radio show in the middle of Kentucky that very few people listen to.  Not to be a jerk to the very few people who listen to the show (a small subset of which may actually enjoy the show).

I feel bad about it, because I really don't do very much else in my life.  I've thought about volunteering for causes I believe in, but you know how it is, you're busy playing a video game & then suddenly it's after five & their offices are closed & what're you gonna do?  I mean, the liquor store stays open till 10!  That's what I call convenient.

I'd like to apologize, but my "posting" to this "blog" is erratic, which guarantees that no one really comes here regularly.  So I apologize to me.  I'm sorry, me, you dumbass, I forgot to write in our stupid blog.  What were you doing?  Posting pictures no one will ever look at on the dumb Tumblr blog?  What a fucking moron.

Woke Up Early One Morning Blues, Episode Nine

Ida Cox

This past week's episode of Woke Up Early One Morning Blues, which featured singles released in 1939 (although some of them were recorded in 1938) is now available for listening at the Self Help Radio website.  I thought I should do a show with less scratchy vinyl than usual, so I picked the year war started in Europe - when Americans were still distracting themselves with the boogie woogie.

Please remember that to listen you'll need a username & a password.  They are available on the website but I can confide in you that they're also here, SHR/selfhelp.

The songs I played are below.

"Preachin' Blues (Up Jumped The Devil)" Robert Johnson _The Complete Recordings_
"Frankie & Albert (Part 1)" Lead Belly _Sings & Plays_
"Roll 'Em Pete" Joe Turner _The Boss Of The Blues_

"Good Gravy" Sonny Boy Williamson _Black Name Blues_
"Floyd's Guitar Blues" Andy Kirk with Mary Lou Williams & The 12 Clouds of Joy _The Very Best Of Jazz_
"Booker T. Blues" Washboard Sam & His Washboard Band _Washboard Story_
"Preachin' The Blues" Big Bill Broonzy _Big Bill Broonzy, Vol. 8: 1938 - 1939_
"Melancholy" Meade Lux Lewis _Backwater Blues_

"Boogie Woogie Stomp" Albert Ammons & His Rhythm Kings _The Many Faces Of Boogie Woogie_
"Four Day Creep" Ida Cox _Ida Cox, Vol. 5: 1939-1940_
"My Daddy Rocks Me, No. 2" Trixie Smith _Trixie Smith, Vol. 2: 1925-1929_
"Everybody Oughta Make A Change" Sleepy John Estes _Working Man's Blues_
"Jivin' Woman Blues" Blind Boy Fuller _Sweet Honey Hole

"You Can Mistreat Me Here" Tommy McClennan _Big Joe Williams & The Stars Of Mississippi Blues_
"Better Not Let My Good Gal Catch You Here" Johnnie Temple _Johnnie Temple, Vol. 2: 1938-1940_
"The Fives" Jimmy Yancey _Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 1: 1939-1940_

Self Help Radio 071814: Candles

An entire radio show made in defiance of electric light!  That's how it is.  The candle show flickered briefly & then was extinguished, but I have saved an impression in mp3 form.

The show was fun.  I spoke with a fellow who claimed to own the world's oldest candle, Tania called in & played a song, & a jet-lagged Dr. Howard Gently talked about the spiritual significance of candles - in addition to all the great music played!

You can listen now at the Self Help Radio website.  Please remember that the mp3s are now password protected, so if you want to listen, you'll need a username/password combo, which is on the site, or you can just remember SHR/selfhelp.  The songs I played are below.

Enjoy the scents & the beautiful flame!

(part one)

"Candle Song" Holly Golightly _Laugh It All Up!_
"Candle Mambo" Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band _Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller)_
"Candle" Lydia Ainsworth _Right From Real, Pt. I_

"Don't Burn The Candle At Both Ends" Louis Jordan _Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five_
"Burn My Candle (At Both Ends)" Shirley Bassey _Burn My Candle: The Complete Early Years 1956-58_
"Burn That Candle" Bill Haley & His Comets _Live It Up!_
"Wax Candle" Harverson Apricot _Psychedelic Schlemiels: Lost Sounds From The Britpsych Scene 1966-1969_

"Candle" Sonic Youth _Daydream Nation_
"Candleland" Ian McCulloch _Candleland_
"Glass Candle Grenades" Cocteau Twins _Head Over Heels_
"Black Candle" Leo Graham _Lee Scratch Perry: Public Jestering_

"Brief Candles" The Zombies _Odessey & Oracle_
"Light A Candle" Neil Young _Fork In The Road_
"Can I Get There By Candlelight" David McWilliams _Reflections Of David McWilliams_

(part two)

"A Candle's Fire" Beirut _The Rip Tide_
"Light A Candle" Orange Cake Mix _Infinite Beauty_
"Six Hundred Candles" Tiny Town _No Place Like Rome_

"No One Can Hold A Candle To You" Morrissey _I Have Forgiven Jesus_
"The Candle Burned Out" The Shout Out Louds _Work_
"Candlesticks" The Cannanes _Caveat Emptor_

"Seven African Powers" Russell Miles _Six Tunes By "Russ"_
"Candlelight" The Gestures _The Big Hits Of Mid-America: The Soma Records Story 1963 - 1967_
"Black Candles" Blue Bus _Magic Cube_
"Light The Glass Candle" Glass Candle _30 Seconds Before The Galico Wall_

"Roman Candle" Bedhead _Beheaded_
"Roman Candles" Half Japanese _Greatest Hits_

Whither Candles?

When I first came to Austin, I was responsible for the very first time for buying all of my food for myself.  I had applied to the University of Texas too late to get into the dorms, so I didn't have a cafeteria or a meal plan.  Up until that point, I had survived on meals made by my mother or me at home (from foodstuffs in the house) or on fast food.  Luckily, there was a big supermarket within walking distance of my apartments, & visit there I did all the time those first two years I lived in apartments south of the river in the area known as the "Riverside Student Ghetto."

(I just tried to find the place on Google Maps, but the area is so developed now - it's been over twenty-five years, man - that there are shops in front of the supermarket, instead of the giant parking lot I knew.  The street in front, too, has been widened.)

I had of course been in supermarkets before, so it wasn't like this was a new experience, but in general, the grocery stores I'd visited in Garland were much smaller, & didn't have things like housewares or more than two aisles of frozen foods.  One of the aisles I came to enjoy, for no apparent reason, was the aisle that had the religious candles.  They were solid, sturdy things, with lots of colors, & weird things written on them that I hadn't encountered so far in my life, being surrounded mainly by protestants.  I mean, look at this assortment from the Wikipedia:

Astonishing, right?  I bought a couple, sheepishly, but didn't really light them.  I wouldn't have known what they were for.  In a way, my fascination was filled with mockery; but I can't deny that they held an attraction for me: the lovely, unfamiliar images (Jesus with his heart glowing out of his chest!) & the prayers on the back (concentrate on your petition!) were just outside my world enough to make me feel I was being somehow transgressive - even though I was never really a Christian.

I gave one of the candles to a friend in the early 1990s, & he did what I could never do - he wrote a song about it.  I will play that song tomorrow.

I've decided to have a look around to see if I can find these candles in Lexington, & if so, I'm going to buy them & keep them somewhere around the house.  They were, in a way, the inspiration for this show.

& it's happening tomorrow!  Seven to nine a.m. (7-9am) on 88.1 fm WRFL in Lexington, online at the same time at the WRFL web site.  & later, of course, before the candles burn at, at Self Help Radio's new secure location.

You May Have Noticed (You Haven't Noticed)

All mp3 files on the Self Help Radio home page are now password protected.  I know!  I complained about it yesterday & today it's like, wow!  The username & password are on the front page, in a sort-of but not obvious place.  It's this paragraph:

(You can click it to make it bigger.)

I didn't want to write USERNAME: + PASSWORD: but I didn't want it to be hard to find, either.

Why is this happening?  Well, a couple of weeks ago, someone created a kind of program which went through my site & downloaded all the files.  This is a problem because there are a lot of radio shows there, & my web provider got mad at me (although it wasn't my fault) & shut down my site.  I begged & pleaded & did a few things that were probably useless, & my site reappeared.

Then, last week, it happened again.  I did more begging & pleading & a lot of reasoning.  My site came back up but it seemed obvious I needed to do something else.

Here's the thing: very few people know about my radio show, & there a smaller subset of those folks who listen to it.  (A smaller number, I would say, like it enough to download whole episodes.)  So when there's suddenly someone downloading (in a small span of time) 73 episodes, it's probably someone causing mischief.  Password-protection can hinder most of these situations, although, as one technical support person mentioned to me, there are people out there who can write sophisticated programs, too.  I hope I'm not on those folks' radars.

I hope that this doesn't keep people from listening to or discovering my dumb little radio show, & in that spirit, I will mention that, if you can't find the username on the web site (for whatever reason), & you can't find it written somewhere on the Facebook page, then I can only perhaps suggest that if you had to have a username, it might as well be SHR, & if you had to have a password, it might as well be selfhelp.

At this point, it's the best I can do.

Now let's hope I can put all this drama behind me.

On Pins & Needles, Not On Candles At All

Didn't I do a needle show recently?  Oh yeah!

Remember last week around this time, when my site went down?  Well, I am in the process of trying to make the site slightly less susceptible to attacks by douchenozzles, but I am waiting for the folks from my hosting company to communicate with me about my changes.  If I don't hear from them today - a week after we've last spoke, I think - I'll contact them again.  Meanwhile, I'm waiting for the next attack - & the next flurry of phone calls in which I try to explain to every other person - I get a mean person & then a nice person, each time, over & over - that I am in fact doing everything I possibly can short of gutting my website & isn't there now a paper trail?

There appears to be (in my completely unscientific survey) in about half of the tech folks I talk to a lack of empathy & a weird desire to conform to whatever rules there are, no matter how much I explain.  To them, I am violating the terms of service & anything that has gone wrong is my fault.  They refer to files downloaded by an automated program as "malicious," as if they were asking to be used to disrupt online traffic.  The other half act like they're completely on my side, & they're the ones that actually help.  I hope they get more money than the meanies.

I went to the dentist today & while the dentist did the drilling, it appeared that the dental assistant did the filling.  That's unusual, isn't it?  Now the novocaine is wearing off.  It's a terrible feeling, like getting drunk at lunch & sobering up in the afternoon.  Ugh.  Ow.  I think I chewed up my lip while it was numb!

Woke Up Early One Morning Blues, Episode Eight

Memphis Minnie

I woke up early Friday morning feeling a little lonesome so the music I played on the show reflected that.  Maybe listening to some lonesome blues will help you feel less lonesome.

The show can be enjoyed now at Self Help Radio on the web.  The lonesome songs I played are huddling together below.

"Lonesome Woman's Blues" Rosetta Crawford _Clarence Williams & The Blues Singers, Vol 1: 1923-1928_
"Lonesome Weary Blues" Bertha "Chippie" Hill _Louis Armstrong & The Blues Singers_
"The Lonesome Road" Gene Austin _The History Of Pop Radio (1920-1927)_

"Lonesome Lovesick Blues" Blanche Calloway _1925 - 1935_
"Lonesome & Sorry" Lillie Delk Christian _Hociel Thomas & Lillie Delk Christian: 1925-1928_
"Long Lonesome Blues" Blind Lemon Jefferson _The Best Of Blind Lemon Jefferson_
"That Lonesome Rave (Bertha Henderson, vocals)" Blind Blake _All The Published Sides_
"Lonesome Blues" Henry Williams & Eddie Anthony _Violin, Sing The Blues For Me_

"So Lonesome" Ramblin' Thomas _Roll & Tumble Blues_
"Lonesome Frisco Line" Tom Darby & Jimmie Tarlton _Roots 'N' Blues: The Retrospective_
"Lonesome Man Blues" Lee Green _Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 1 (1929-1930)_
"Lonesome Mind Blues" Speckled Red _Complete Recorded Works 1929-1938_
"Lonesome Day Blues" Blind Willie McTell _Complete Recorded Works, Vol.2 (1931-33)_

"Homesick & Lonesome Blues" Blind Boy Fuller _The Slide Guitar: Bottles, Knives & Steel_
"Look Down That Long Lonesome Road" Unknown Group _Deep River Of Song: South Carolina - Got The Keys To The Kingdom_
"Minnie's Lonesome Song" Memphis Minnie _Queen Of The Country Blues: All The Published Sides, 1929 - 1937_

Self Help Radio 071114: Ruby

Is my website still up?  For now?  Okay.

This morning I had a gem of a show - all about rubies, or Rubys, as the case may be.  Only one person called to tell me he didn't like anything I was playing!  It was a good day.

The show is here as long as the website is: Self Help Radio website.  It's also in two parts, here & here.  The beautiful deep red songs I played are below.

Please enjoy & thanks for listening!

(part one)

"Ruby" Merkin _Music From Merkin Manor_
"Ruby" Silver Apples _Contact_
"Ruby" Sneakers _Sneakers EP_

"Ruby" Ray Charles _Genius & Soul: The 50th Anniversary Collection_
"Ruby" Boss Hog _Girl Positive EP_
"Ruby" Simon Bonney _Everyman_
"Ruby" The Apples In Stereo _Her Wallpaper Reverie_

"Ruby" Kristin Hersh _Sunny Border Blue_
"Ruby II" Amy Millan _Honey From The Tombs_
"Ruby" Kaiser Chiefs _Yours Truly Angry Mob_
"Ruby" Tania & Juan _Ruby_

"Ruby Tuesday" Melanie _Melanie_

(part two)

"Rubylove" Cat Stevens _Teaser & The Firecat_
"Little Ruby Rain" Markley _A Group_
"Ruby Dean" Bobby Womack _Understanding_

"Rock & Roll Ruby" Warren Smith _The Sun Records Collection_
"My Little Ruby" Chan Romero _The Del-Fi & Donna Records Story_
"Wicked Ruby" Danny Zella & His Zell Rocks _Wicked Ruby_
"Rock-Ola Ruby" Sonee West _Rock-A-Billy Dynamite_

"See Ruby Fall" Johnny Cash _Hello, I'm Johnny Cash_
"Ruby Ann" Marty Robbins _Marty Robbins Rocks_
"Ruby, Are You Mad At Your Man?" Cousin Emmy & Her Kinfolk _From The Vaults: Decca Country Classics 1934-1973_
"Ruby Dear" Talking Heads _Naked_

"Hey Ruby (Shut Your Mouth)" Ruby & The Party Gang _The Sound Of Philadelphia - Funk, Soul, & The Roots Of Disco 1965-73: Philadelphia Roots, Vol. 2_
"Ruby Horse" The Wonder Stuff _The Eight Legged Groove Machine_
"Rhubarb Ruby" The Spectors _Beat Is Murder: Cockfights & Cakefights 1992-1996_

Whither Ruby?

God, it's been an exhausting week.  Website attacks, dentists, lack of sleep - blergh.  I just need to stare at a picture of cute animals being sweet to one another:

Well, that helps a little.

Tomorrow, a show about people named "Ruby" & also lots of talk about the gemstone called a ruby.  It's happening from 7 to 9 am on the 88.1 fm frequency in Lexington & its surroundings, or online at wrfl dot fm.  I hope you can listen - there's lots of neat stuff happening then & there.

If I still have a website in the afternoon, though, I'll put the show up for you, if you're not up to hear it.

Site Down

While I was on vacation last week, I got an email from my web hosting service that said that my site had been suspended because too many files had been downloaded from the server in a short period of time.  In talking with a support person at the place, I discovered it looked like it came from a handful of very similar IP addresses.  We both agreed it seemed malicious, & although it violated the company's terms of agreement, it wasn't my fault (though of course it was my responsibility to deal with it).  They gave me several options, I picked the cheapest one (which was free but required I enter in the offending IP addresses & block them).  Then my site was restored.

The same thing happened today, but the person I just talked to, while trying to be a sensitive bro, told me I had to remove the offending files before my site could be restored.  That's basically every radio show on the site.

Do you know how many people download & listen to my shows?  Very few.  I've been with this hosting service since 2009.  Nothing like this has happened before this month.  & yet, for some reason, I'm being told the only two solutions are gutting the site (well, I could put the shows on Soundcloud or Youtube - this seems the equivalent of the folks at Wal-Mart telling me how to get food stamps) or paying more for a private server which would also be shut down the minute some asshat wrote a program that downloaded the entire site in an hour.

I am so exhausted by all this.  I no longer want to stay with this company, but I also have no time to research other companies to find something better or at the very least not worse (though the bar has been set rather low).  Until such a time, or in the small chance there's a simpler solution to the problem (they haven't yet responded to my last "ticket"), the site won't be there.

This is something they haven't said to me, but I'll say it to you: I'm sorry for the inconvenience.

Tumbler

The front page of the Self Help Radio Tumblr site

You've heard me say this before: I'm terrible at promoting things.  I have a Twitter account (here) but I don't feel nearly clever enough to write something in it every day (I've been trying to put into words some wry observation I've wanted to make about realtors but can't seem to do it); I only got it because I felt like everyone was saying it was a good thing to use to connect with "fans," something I'm not sure I have.  & a while back, someone was talking about Tumblr.  So back then, sure, I started a Tumblr blog.

Wow, Tumblr has become something very different than I thought it would.  It's sort of true to say it's kind of an open-air Facebook, but also not.  Initially, I used the Self Help Radio Tumblr site (here) to post pictures I scanned or stole from the web with music videos.  It was something I did when I remembered it existed.

A couple of months ago, though, some of the Tumblr blogs I stumbled on had photographs - not reblogged photos, but photos taken by the owners of the blog.  They weren't spectacular, but there was a nice, personal feel to them.  & I said to myself, I have a digital camera, I should take pictures, &, if I like them, I can put them somewhere.

So I share them on my personal Facebook account, but also on my Tumblr site.  Above you can see the most recent two pictures I've taken.  I don't give any details on the blog (no one cares), but I will here: one of those was taken at an elementary school playground in Dallas, & another in downtown Lexington.

I know the pictures are mainly interesting to me.  But in case you didn't know they existed, I wanted to show them to you.  If you don't want to tell me what you think, that's cool.

Woke Up Early One Morning Blues, Episode Seven

Sleepy John Estes

I have put up the most recent episode of my blues show, Woke Up Early One Morning Blues, on the Self Help Radio website.  You can listen now!

The show, which I hastily prepared after I returned from vacation, features songs I didn't have time to play on my previous six shows.  I don't think it sounds awful for all that - but what I played is below:

"The Old Folks Started It" Minnie Wallace _Memphis Jug Band: Associates & Alternate Takes (1927-30)_
"The Gallis Pole" Lead Belly _Country Blues Outlaws_
"Black Woman Swing" Champion Jack Dupree _Cabbage Greens_

"Louise Louise Blues" Johnny Temple _Essential Blues Friends Blues_
"Easin' Back To Tennessee" Sleepy John Estes _Working Man's Blues_
"The Meeting In The Air" Mr & Mrs F H Lacy _Black Religious Music (1930-1956)_
"Poor Lazarus" Vera Ward Hall _Deep River Of Song: Alabama From Lullabies To Blues (1934-1940)_
"Whiskey Head Woman" Tommy McClennan _Tommy McClennan, Vol. 1: Whiskey Head Woman_

"Pony Blues" Sonny Boy Nelson _Complete Recordings...1936_
"Mama, You Don't Mean Me No Good" Little Brother Montgomery _Complete Recorded Works (1930-1936)_
"Tampa Strut" Georgia Browns _Atlanta Blues: Big City Blues From The Heartland_
"Good Looking Girl Blues" Furry Lewis _The Complete Vintage Recordings Of Furry Lewis (1927-1929)_
"Sleepy Woman Blues" Robert Petway _Mississippi Blues (1935-1951)_

"Pinebluff, Arkansas" Bukka White _The Complete Bukka White_
"I'm Going To Write & Tell Mother" Robert Hill _Blues Cafe_
"The Devil's Dream" Sid Hemphill _Afro-American Folk Music From Tate & Panola Counties, Mississippi_