Preface To Comfort: One Last Radio Show For The Week

This late afternoon I subbed a show on KBOO called Blues Junction, which purports to play "urban & country blues with R&B, soul, jazz, zydeco, & classic rock."  I didn't play much zydeco or classic rock, or any really, but I did play some old & new blues plus soul & R&B.  You can listen to the show here & see the playlist & what-not.

There is a caveat: I was not on my game.  I mixed up my CDs two or three times, I left the mic on when I took a giveaway, I generally flubbed a few transitions.  So I apologize a lot.  I apologize now! Four radio shows on three stations in six days is apparently too much for me!

Trifecta

One of the things that I do which keeps me busy is I volunteer to help out at for the music library of two stations in town.  The truth is, I'd volunteer at all three except the third meets on Sunday nights, which I simply can't do because of my early Monday morning show.

At one of the stations at which I volunteer this week, after I finished music librarying, I got to chatting with a staff member who said she had known people who have done shows at two stations, but never one at three.  She said I had hit the Portland community radio station trifecta.

"Ah," I said, "but I don't do a show at KBOO."

"Yes," she said, "but you have subbed shows at KBOO."

"I dunno," I said.  "I don't think it really counts until I have a regular gig there."

"Didn't you say," she asked, "that you'll be helping out with people doing new shows?"

"Oh yeah," I said, "I'll be overseeing them while they do their first shows, to demonstrate what kind of show they want to do."

"I think," she said, "that sounds like a regular gig at KBOO."

Well, damn.  Trifecta.

Sugar Substitute (Episode 167)

Oh hey, you can listen to my episode of Sugar Substitute, the more-or-less freeform show I do on XRAY FM, right over here.  I can't say I recommend the show.  I felt a little out of sorts.

But hey!  I made a logo.  It looks like this:

I need to make it more square to fit with the schedule on the XRAY website.  As well, I need to put a show description up.  I have too much to do!

Self Help Radio 100719: 1969 Revisited (The 17th Anniversary Show)

(Most images from Discogs but a couple from Wikipedia.)

Seventeen years!  Here is, according to this webiste, a list of mammals that don't live seventeen years in captivity - so some may life longer in the wild, but others probably don't:

Antelope - Badger - Bat - Fox - Goat (!) - Guinea Pig - Hare - Mole - Mouse - Nutria - Opossum - Otter - Porpoise - Rabbit - Raccoon - Reindeer - Sheep - Squirrel - Wolf

For me, I choose to believe that porpoises live forever when they're allowed to swim free.

Here's a continuation of my favorite music from 1969.  I could make an entire three more shows, each focusing on stuff I love from the year but didn't play this time - I could do an entire psychedelic show & a jazz show, & probably a country show too.  Maybe when I get to a certain point, I can revisit the revisited themes, maybe in one hundred years, or when I'm put in the Matrix, whichever comes first.  Unless...  Am I in the Matrix now?

The show is of course waiting for your discerning ears at Self Help Radio dot net.  It's all music this week, no interviews or other nonsense.  You'll need a username - try "SHR" - without the quotes - & a password - try "selfhelp" - also without the quotes.  & check out what I played below.

Seventeen years!  Does that mean puberty is over?

Self Help Radio 1969 Revisited Show
"Chelsea Morning" Joni Mitchell _Clouds_
"Walk On By" Isaac Hayes _Hot Buttered Soul_
"Fuga No. 2" Mutantes _Mutantes_

"Always See Your Face" Love _Four Sail_
"It Hurts Me Too" Karen Dalton _It's So Hard To Tell Who's Going To Love You The Best_
"I'm Movin' On" Elvis Presley _From Elvis In Memphis_
"Je T'Aime... Moi, Non Plus" Serge Gainsbourg & Jane Birkin _Jane Birkin et Serge Gainsbourg_
"The World's Strongest Man" Scott Walker _Scott 4_

"Kick Out The Jams" The MC5 _Kick Out The Jams_
"Pinball Wizard" The Who _Tommy_
"Venus" Shocking Blue _Venus_
"Space Oddity" David Bowie _David Bowie_
"Gimme Shelter" The Rolling Stones _Let It Bleed_

"The Ralph Spoilsport Mantrum" The Firesign Theater _How Can You Be In Two Places At Once When You're Not Anywhere at All_
"Ali Baba's Camel" The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band _Tadpoles_
"Sing" Bruce Haack _The Electronic Record For Children_
"Everyday People" Sly & The Family Stone _Stand!_
"Live Wire" The Meters _The Meters_

"Lay Lady Lay" Bob Dylan _Nashville Skyline_
"Waiting Around To Die" Townes Van Zandt _Townes Van Zandt_
"Rehearsals For Retirement" Phil Ochs _Rehearsals For Retirement_
"Down By The River" Neil Young _Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere_

"Cold Turkey" Plastic Ono Band _Cold Turkey_
"Willie The Pimp" Frank Zappa _Hot Rats_

Whither 1969 Revisited?

(Trailer for the wrong 1969 show.  Go here to see that one.)

Self Help Radio premiered on KOOP radio in Austin, Texas, at 3pm on Wednesday, October 9, 2002. Around six years later, on Friday, October 17, 2008, the show started revisiting old themes to celebrate its anniversary.  That's what's happening this week.

On Wednesday, January 19, 2005 (the day before my thirty-seventh birthday), Self Help Radio celebrated my favorite music from 1969.  (I do that every year around my birthday, celebrate a different year; I started in 1968, the year of my birth, & have been working my way up chronologically every year since then.)  The show at the time was only one hour long, so there wasn't a great deal of time to cover all the music I love from 1969.  As well, I didn't have a good resource for what exactly was released in 1969.  I got most of the songs right, but I missed a lot.  & that's what these anniversary shows attempt to correct.

There won't be any songs from the first 1969 show - consider this show an addition to that show.  & it'll happen tomorrow morning - Monday, October 7, 2019 - from 6-8 am on Freeform Portland, 90.3 + 98.3 fm in the city, online everywhere at that web site linked earlier in this sentence.

Listen, even if your parents weren't even born in 1969!  (I am so fucking old.)

Preface To 1969 Revisited: Top Ten Singles Of 1969

Like I did yesterday, I'll run down the top ten singles on Rate Your Music's site.  By the way, the coolest thing about the site is that the lists are dynamic - they change all the time.  I occasionally go back & check & find it amazing that some votes can move an album up or down two or three places.  So this list might be wrong in a week or a month.  But here's what it is now:

01 The Beatles, "Something" / "Come Together"
02 David Bowie, "Space Oddity" / "Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud"
03 King Crimson, "The Court Of The Crimson King (Parts 1 & 2)"
04 The Stooges, "I Wanna Be Your Dog" / "1969"
05 The Rolling Stones, "Sympathy For The Devil" / "Prodigal Son"
06 The Jackson 5, "I Want You Back" / "Who's Lovin You"
07 The Kinks, "The Village Green Preservation Society" / "Do You Remember Walter?"
08 Simon & Garfunkel, "The Boxer" / "Baby Driver"
09 Creedence Clearwater Revival, "Fortunate Son" / "Down On The Corner"
10 The Kinks, "Shangrila" / "This Man He Weeps Tonight"

Nice to see so much Kinks love on the site!  Their album Arthur came out in 1969, & I played something from it on the previous 1969 show.

Also nice to see Stooges love.  I played "1969" on the first 1969 show because it just seemed too appropriate.

For some reason - I mentioned this yesterday - I didn't play the Stones on the first show.  That will be remedied.

& I wasn't aware of the status of the Jackson 5 single when I did the first show, & I agree it's a good song - I just can't in good conscience play anything associated with Michael Jackson on the radio anymore - even the pre-molesting children stuff.  I believe it's all been quite tainted.

Oh yes I count myself fortunate that no one reads this blog or know anything about this show because I imagine there'd be some angry reactions to that, & maybe to this: I never much cared for CCR.  Since they're classic rock, I know all their hits, like "Down On The Corner" & "There's A Bathroom On The Right," but it's not something I enjoy hearing nor want to revisit it.  Please note: I'm not saying "It's bad."  I don't believe that.  I just don't like it.  If you like it, fine.  I don't have any feelings about your opinions or your taste in any way.

That's enough of that.  I must go put a show about 1969 together now.

Top Ten

When I do these "favorite music of a certain year" shows, I generally use the website Rate Your Music as a guide for what was released that year.  I don't believe I used the site for the first few times I did my favorite music of the year shows - I know this because I missed some people from 1969 - Phil Ochs, for example - whom I wouldn't have left off the original show if I had a better resource for releases from that year.  In any event, here are the current top ten releases as voted on by Rate Your Music listeners*:

01 King Crimson, In The Court Of The Crimson King
02 The Beatles, Abbey Road
03 Miles Davis, In A Silent Way
04 Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin
05 Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin II
06 Frank Zappa, Hot Rats
07 The Velvet Underground, The Velvet Underground
08 Nick Drake, Five Leaves Left
09 The Rolling Stones, Let It Bleed
10 Neil Young, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere

Of that list, only three - the Beatles, the Velvets, & Nick Drake - made the original 1969.  It's a bit baffling to me that I forgot about Neil Young.  That's one of my favorite records of all time.

The show this week will include four more from that list, & you won't hear three at all.  As I discussed on the show's Facebook page, I'm not so much a fan of that King Crimson record, & I have never much liked Led Zeppelin despite the fact that I could probably sing along with most of the songs on the two records thanks to the relentless playing of that band on FM radio as I was growing up.

You'll notice I've refrained from saying things like "that band sucks."  It's weird to me when people say that, & my brain only hears that as "I don't like that band."  I read a recent Facebook rant by someone I know about some recently dead artist & they were asking questions like, "Did anyone really like that artist?"  Like-minded people piled on (so much for only saying nice things about the dead) but no one pointed out that that artist had many hits, sold-out stadiums, & continues to get played on classic rock radio.  So, yeah, people did like that artist.  Of course they did!  How else to explain the outpouring of sadness & sympathy at his death?  Just because the author of the rant didn't like the artist, though, it seemed unbelievable that anyone liked him.

That's a kind of internet pathology that I avoid.  Opinions are just opinions.  That some people are threatened by other people's opinions is something I find fascinating.

In any event - I am just playing musicians on the show this week that I like & whom I seem to have forgotten - or didn't have time to play - the first time around.  & I won't say anyone sucks.  That's the sort of thing sucky people do.

* The entire list is here.

Sugar Substitute (Episode 166)

Wouldya look at that.  My first show on XRAY FM is actually the 166th episode of Sugar Substitute! How weird these things are!

The first episode of Sugar Substitute aired on August 4, 2009, on WMUL in Huntington, West Virginia.  The station had given me a three-hour block of time, & I didn't even want to think about how difficult it would be to make a three-hour-long episode of Self Help Radio.  So I split the block in half - I had been doing a ninety-minute version of SHR in Austin - & for the rest of the time, I played indie music under the moniker "Sugar Substitute."

The name comes from a song by the late, great Austin band Luxuriator, & I use their song (with their permission) in the intro.

The show was brought with me to Lexington, & when I was given yet another three-hour block, I did the same chrono-surgery.  When I decided - probably when I got the Monday morning show sometime in 2012 - to expand Self Help Radio to two hours, I shortened Sugar Substitute to sixty minutes.

At some point, more aggressive recruitment led to more students on the air, & the three-hour timeslots were mostly done.  I retired Sugar Substitute in 2015 or so.

When I was asked to do a show on XRAY, I had a couple choices - I could move SHR over from Freeform, or I could've done any number of shows I've done before - or a new show with a new name!  But I figured I'd stick with my love of indie, postpunk, punk, & related stuff, & it seemed natural to call the show Sugar Substitute again.

With that giant preamble, I wanted to let you know that you can listen to the show anytime by clicking here.  It's archived on the XRAY page.  You don't have to look at the dumb Self Help Radio website at all!

Self Help Radio 093019: Postcards

(I know, I know, it's like the show is sending a postcard to itself.  But who else does it have to write to?  Original image here.)

Oh man, I wrote so many postcards today.  I'm well on my way to carpal tunnel.  Which is not to be confused with the carpool tunnel, which will get you someplace faster but you need to have friends to ride with, &, alas, you don't.

There's not much to say about postcards.  We've been using them for barely one hundred & fifty years but they may go the way of other media supplanted by the internet.  Unless!  Has anyone thought of digital postcards?  Oh, they have.  Of course.  No, I didn't think I was the first to think of it.  I did not!  I wasn't fantasizing about selling the idea to an anonymous corporation for filthy lucre.  I was not!

On the show I made the promise that if you sent me an address to send you a postcard, I will do so.  You can do that, too, if you didn't listen: just write gary at self help radio dot net & I'll send ya something in the mail!  A postcard, I mean.

The show is available now at the Self Help Radio website.  It's one giant file this week, you can see what happens on the show below.  Username is SHR, password is selfhelp.

Do you have any stamps?

Self Help Radio Postcards Show
"Postcard" Blossom Toes _If Only For A Moment_
"Postcard" The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band _Urban Spaceman_
"Postcard" The Who _Odds & Sods_

introduction, definition, & history

"Postcard" Partly Cloudy _Excess Verbiage_
"Postcard" Pere Ubu _Story Of My Life_
"Postcard" Blurt _Celebrating The Bespoke Cell Of Little Ease_
"Postcard" The Simpletons _Matter_
"The Postcard" Stephen Duffy _I Love My Friends_

interview with postcard writer David Fruchter

"Postcard" The Afternoon Naps _Sunbeamed_
"Postcards" Treetop Flyers _The Mountain Moves_
"Postcard" Hailer _Another Way_
"Postcard" Letting Up Despite Great Faults _Untogether_
"The Postcard" I Am The World Trade Center _The Tight Connection_

interview with artisanal postcard maker Claude Grommitt

"Send Me A Postcard" Shocking Blue _We Can Fly, Vol. 3_
"Postcard From Waterloo" Tom Verlaine _Words From The Front_
"Postcard From Far Away" Half Japanese _The Band That Would Be King_
"Postcard From Madrid" Happydeadmen _Classics - A Decade In Pop_
"Postcard To Nina" Jens Lekman _Night Falls Over Kortedala_

interview with Oliver Whitehall, who send postcards to world leaders

"Every Day Is Like Sunday" Morrissey _Viva Hate_
"Guess How Much I Love You" The Lucksmiths _A Good Kind Of Nervous_
"Postcards On Sunday" The Bartlebees _What Is It All About?_
"Postcards To Strangers" Moustache Of Insanity _Postcards To Strangers_
"Postcard Picture Perfect" The Fairways _Is Everything All Right?_

conclusion & goodbye

"Postcard View" Watermelon Men _Wildflowers_
"Postcards From Tiny Islands" The Walkmen _You & Me_
"Postcard From The Grave" The Untamed _Strange Unknown_
"Postcard From Heaven" CJ Ramone _The Holy Spell..._
"Carte Postale" George Pringle _Salon Des Refusés_

Whither Postcards?

(Image from here.)

There are actually two reasons why this week's Self Help Radio has the theme "postcards."

The first reason is that a year or so ago I did a show about "the mails," which is to say all things related to the postal service.  (The playlist is here.)  In addition to songs about mail carriers & letters, I collected songs about postcards - I thought I might get enough to do a postcard set.  It turns out there were a lot of songs about postcards.  So I put them aside, intending to do a show one day about postcards.

The second reason is that Jenny reminded me that I was going to do a show about postcards at some point so why not now?  I dusted off the old folder, looked for more postcard songs, & viola!  There'll be a Self Help Radio show about postcards tomorrow.

That'll be from 6-8am Pacific time on 90.3 + 98.3 fm Freeform Portland & online at freeformportland.org.

Gosh, I just hope I have enough stamps!

Preface To Postcards: I Shoulda Sent You A Postcard

Damn, I didn't send you a postcard.  I passed a few shops, you know, & even went in, but although I looked at the postcards, I didn't buy one.  I don't think I even considered it.

But I did think of you!  You were on my mind when I saw the sights, I was thinking it would be fun if you were here.  We would've had a great time.  & that's it, really - I was just having such a great time, I didn't want to interrupt it to have to say "I'm having a great time!" on a postcard.

Still, I should've sent you one.  I usually do.  Funny thing - the last time I sent you a postcard - do you remember? - I got home before the postcard arrived!  I think you even said, "You could just buy a postcard & give it to me, you don't have to send it."  & we laughed.

But I didn't even buy a postcard this trip.  It just slipped my mind, I guess.  & I know I should've done so.  There really is no excuse.

You're acting cool about it, but I think you're quite hurt.  Maybe this slight of mine is unforgivable.  I obviously can't go back & get a postcard, but I hope you can see how much this is tearing me up.  I'm sorry.

& I can't say it more: I really, really should've sent you a postcard.

Sleeping All Day

The interview with the guru went as possibly follows:

Guru, may I sleep all day?

My child, were you up all night?

Yes, guru.  But also up all day.

Then please, stay up all night, before your sleep all day.

Cool.  Thanks.

I'm so glad we had this conversation.

Me too, guru.  Gosh, I'm tired.

It is strange when we stay up all day.  For then we must sleep all night.

Yeah.

But when we stay up all night, surely we must be allowed to sleep all day.

Yes, great.

Unless we have an appointment.  Perhaps a doctor's appointment?

Oh no, no appointments.  I just would like to, you know, lay my head on a pillow & catch some z's, as they say.

Great!  Enjoy your rest.

Hey.  Not to be weird, but.

Yes, my son?

Are you going to stand there, you know, while I sleep?

Of course.  Where else would I be?

Jeez, I dunno, somewhere else?  What if I sleep eight hours?

I'll be waiting for you, my son.

Yeah, that's creepy.  Listen, I'm cool, maybe you could, I don't know, take off?

Where would I go?  I am your guru.

Aren't you some other folks' guru?  What are they up to?

I am - er - between other folks.

Wait.  I'm your only student?

Acolyte, yes.

Damn.  That must be very disappointing.

You have no idea.

Okay, well.  You wanna sleep on the other side of the bed here?

Why the hell not.

Oh Look: I Done Got Another Show

Or at least I think I do.  The details haven't been ironed out yet.

Quite possibly this Tuesday, October 1st, from 2 to 4 am, I will be doing a show on KXRY - more commonly known as XRAY FM.  I like the station a lot, I help out there, & I was asked if I wanted to do a late-night slot.  I said yes.

But I probably won't be doing Self Help Radio - I can't imagine doing two of those a week!  Instead, I'll probably resurrect my Sugar Substitute moniker for a freeform, mainly indie-type show.

More details as I know them!

Self Help Radio 092319: What House Is This?

(I found all these images somewhere in the Google.)

It's a very common question.  You're with your friend, having a leisurely walk, & one of you stops & says to the other, "What house is this?"  Why, I'll bet you've had this conversation maybe dozens of times!

You: Oh my.  What house is this?
Your friend: This house?
You: Yes.  What is this house?
Your friend: Does it have a sign?
You: No, it does not have a sign.
Your friend: Hmm, it's a puzzler.
You: Say, where are we walking?
Your friend: Along the beach, of course.
You: That could be a clue.
Your friend: That's it!
You: Yes?
Your friend: It's a beach house!
You: Marvelous!
Your friend: Jolly good!

Aren't you glad you have a friend who says things like "jolly good"?  No?  Well, be glad, you selfish oaf.  I don't have friends that say "jolly good."

Alas, sometimes context clues aren't enough.  If you are ever in a situation where you & your friend, you know, the one who says "jolly good," cannot discover what house it is that you've come across, then please come to this week's Self Help Radio, which can be used as a guide.  Many kinds of houses are discussed on the show.  You need not be puzzled or otherwise vexed on your walks again!

You may listen to the show now & whenever at the Self Help Radio website.  You will need a username (try: SHR) & a password (try: selfhelp) to access the show.  It's one big file this week for some reason, & you can see what's on the show below, in detail.

One day there will be a Self Help Radio House.  & no one will visit.

Self Help Radio What House Is This Show

"The Big House Blues" Shelley Lee Alley _The History Of Country & Western Music, Vol. 8: 1941_
"Dog House Blues" Bill Monroe _Blue Moon Of Kentucky_
"Road House Boogie" Big Jay McNeely _The Boogie Box, Vol. 11_

introduction & definitions

"Rock House" Roy Orbison _The Sun Years_
"The Doll House" Phil Ochs _Farewells & Fantasies_
"Fun House" The Stooges _The Stooges_
"Grandma's House" Space Ghost _Yeah, Whatever_
"Two Story House" George Jones & Tammy Wynette _Together Again_

interview with Duke Simpson about upcoming trends

"Happy House" Siouxsie & The Banshees _Once Upon A Time: The Singles_
"White House" Schizoid _Messthetics # 1: UK '77-81 'D.I.Y.' Bands R To Sh_
"Tempo House" The Fall _Perverted By Language_
"Bad Houses" Big Black _Atomizer_

interview with Donut Jon of Jon's Donut House

"An Eating House" The Nits _In The Dutch Mountains_
"Open House" Lou Reed & John Cale _Songs For Drella_
"Visiting Someone Else's House" George Carlin _When Will Jesus Bring The Pork Chops?_
"Lime House" The Breeders _Pod_
"Linctus House" Robyn Hitchcock _Eye_

interview with head White House tour guide David Fruchter

"Country House" Blur _The Great Escape_
"Council Houses" Denim _Denim On Ice_
"Haunted House" Grant McLennan _Watershed_
"Ocean House" Parsley Sound _Parsley Sounds_
"Rooming House On Venice Beach" Jonathan Richman _I, Jonathan_

conclusion & goodbye

"Squat House" The Hard Ons _Go & Do It: The Aberrant Compilations_
"The Girls At The Corner House" Tochigi _The Gang East Of The River_
"Hot House" X _More Fun In The New World_
"Ugh! Your Ugly Houses!" Chumbawamba _Swingin' With Raymond_
"Cat House" Takako Minekawa _Cloudy Cloud Calculator_

Whither What House Is This?

(This used to be our house, in Fort Worth.  It belongs to someone else now.)

In trying to explain this week's theme to someone who foolishly asked me about my radio show, I simply said, "Doing a theme show every week would get boring if it were always about things, nouns, you know.  At some point I decided it would be fun to do shows about phrases that commonly appear in songs."

This was when I was answering phones at a station for its pledge drive, & a deejay said to me, "About every third or fourth show, I do a theme show."  I hear that a lot.  & I always say, "Oh, no, I'm not saying that what I do is special.  All people who do radio do themes."  At which point, the deejay said, "Yeah, even Bob Dylan did a 'theme-time' show!"

This week's show, which has the awkward title "What House Is This?" is simply one of those phrase shows.  It might be better described as "_______ house."  Every song will be entitled something house.  If you ever visit the Self Help Radio Facebook page, you'll notice that I put up some songs which I'll probably play on the show, to give some idea of the theme.

That's all.  Blank house.  But why?  Probably because I noticed a lot of "house" songs & wondered if I could make a show about them.  & I think I can!

Tomorrow in Portland from 6-8am on 90.3 + 98.3 fm plus online at Freeform Portland dot org.  I won't be doing the show from a house, though, but from a building.

Preface To What House Is This?: Not Really A Complaint But A Complaint

There's too much good food in Portland.  It's true.  I have gained weight since I got here.

Because of certain issues with my health, I like to see a doctor every six months, have my blood checked, if possible get a tune-up & my tires rotated.  What issues?  What business is that of yours?  My gosh.

Where was I?  Oh yeah.  So I met the person who might be my regular doctor this past week, & she was great, but I did tell her I have gained weight since I got here, thanks in part to so much good food in this city.  & I asked her if there were perhaps something she could do, as a medical professional, to somehow slightly decrease the deliciousness of Portland's food to facilitate the daunting task of me getting back into shape.  She said no, she couldn't.

She didn't even offer me pills!

It's on my mind because I ate at this place tonight.  The wife & I shared entrees, which doesn't seem uncommon.  It's been a couple of hours since I ate & I'm still stuffed.  & maybe gained even more weight.

When I should've been working on this week's show!

If it seems fatter than usual, you know why.

This Really Happened Today

Before I relate this anecdote, I want to make it perfectly clear that the events which transpired today at a community radio station in Portland had nothing to do with me.  I was just there volunteering, answering phones.  I was not on air at any point, it was not my show, I did not affect programming in any way.  The person with whom I interacted did not know me, did not choose me, was directed to me because I was not answering a phone at the time.  This is simply something that really happened which I am reporting, not in any way attempting to take credit or otherwise promote myself.

All right?  Because when I mentioned this on Facebook, some people thought this was about me.  I am simply telling you something I experienced as a bystander.

Portland has three community radio stations, & I volunteer at each one.  KBOO is the oldest, it has the most wattage & can therefore reach more listeners, & arguably is the most respected.  I like to help out there because I like the people & I like the vibe.  I am not a fan of pledge drives, but they have a great set-up where volunteers don't have to be in the booth with the programmers, & they feed the volunteers besides.  (I didn't partake, but I heard the hummus today was a bit garlicky.)

As I mentioned above, I was not currently taking a pledge when an older gentleman walked into the door.  He said he wanted to make a pledge in person.  This happens quite a bit, people just walk into KBOO all the time, it is in fact encouraged.  The gentleman explained that he had been listening to the station for thirty years but had never pledged his support.  He intended this walk-in pledge to remedy that.  He carried in his hand a white envelope.

After talking to some people, he sat down next to me, & I began to take his information down.  Most of the pledges we take over the phone & enter into data a computer, but with walk-ins, we write them on a physical sheet of paper.  I asked his name, even calling him "sir."  He told me not to do that, I said I do it because I hope I was raised right.  That broke the ice, I called him by his name, & continued to write down his information.

When it came time for the pledge amount, I asked if I could open the envelope.  I did, saw the check inside, saw the number on the check, & said to him, "Are you sure you want to do this?"

Why would I say such a thing?  Because inside the envelope was a check for ten thousand dollars.  That's $10,000.  A one with four zeroes after it.  I have probably never seen a check for that amount ever.

Other people were summoned to help me.  I got what information I could.  The generous donor had ideas about using it as a matching grant to encourage others to pledge.  He looked over the premiums we had, & chose a tee shirt.  KBOO will give tee shirts to those who pledge $75.  I can't do the math but I do have a calculator on my computer & it tells me he could've taken home 133 tee shirts with his pledge.  One staffer took him to get the tee shirt.

Oh my god I wanted to show everyone the check!  I was amazed that more of us didn't pass out or shit a brick or whatever when I showed them.  The staff at KBOO were mostly clear-headed, quite professional really, while I must've looked like I had just seen an alien turn the corner, wave at me, then scurry away before I could say, "Hey! You're like a UFO alien!"

The person to whose show the generous donor was pledging was the last to see the check.  He was gobsmacked.  But so humble.  Oh god, my ego would be bursting, but the deejay said, "We all get lucky sometimes."

Yeah, no.  Not ten thousand dollars lucky.  Holy shit.

How I wish I had taken a picture of the check, just the numbers at least.  They're kind of burned into my brain though.

My shift ended & I went home to my animals after that.  But it's absolutely true, what I just wrote: this really fucking happened today!

Since You're Gone

The person who, on my show, portrays my spiritual mentor the Rev Dr Howard Gently is someone I've known since I was in middle school.  He used to make comedic tapes with his older brother & I kinda wanted to get in on the action.  I wasn't funny at all so I assumed the role of straight man.  I would pretend to be a radio call-in host named Gary Franklin & my friend would call in doing different voices.  It's been fun to note than we pretended to be on the radio over thirty years ago & seem to still be doing that now, only, you know, for real.  For "real."  But really on the radio.

One of my favorite calls he did was a fellow who is trapped in his house because a rock band is playing a concert on his front yard.  That band is the Cars.  My friend had taped the Cars playing on some late-night show - my mind tells me it was the Midnight Special but I dunno - it was around the time of "Shake It Up," as that was the song I could hear in the background.  It was a memorable bit because the caller complained to Gary Franklin that he couldn't leave his house because of the people gathered & all his services were disrupted.  He couldn't even call out, his phone lines were cut.  "How are you calling me, then, sir?" Gary Franklin asked.  There was a memorable pause & then the caller said, "I'm losin' my mind, Gary!  You gotta help me!"

My friend & I still quote that to this day.

The Cars are a band that holds up.  They are classic rock, but they're also new wave.  Some of their success had to do with Elliot Easton's iconic guitar solos.  Some of it had to do with Greg Hawkes' unbelievably successful incorporation of synth into the classic rock sound.  But I believe the lion's share of their success had to do with the oddball cool that pervades Ric Ocasek's music, lyrics, & singing.  This is the guy who wrote, "It's an orange-y sky," after all.

The truth is, after I discovered postpunk, I was a little embarrassed how much I liked the Cars.  At some point, in my poor early college years, I got rid of their records to buy new or different records.  (The place I would go for records, Waterloo in Austin, would buy back LPs at two bucks & sell used ones for four.  I often bring in four records & leave with two.)

But sometime in the 90s, I stumbled across the double CD greatest hits collection Just What I Needed.  It was like running into a best friend from high school with whom I'd lost touch.  I remember going to a movie with some young KVRXers a couple nights later, & everyone talking about what CDs or records they'd just added to their collection, & I sheepishly said I bought the Cars greatest hits CD.  They all said, "Holy shit, the Cars are awesome." & I agreed.  Wholeheartedly.

But I noticed I don't play the Cars on the radio a lot - my records indicate the last time was 2017, although I did play a cover of "Shake It Up" on Freeform this summer - probably because I was raised to think the sort of radio I do is supposed to be an alternative to classic rock.  Those lines are blurring & I will belatedly step up my radio worship of the rock genius of Ric Ocasek & crew.  I watched some Youtube videos today - live stuff, mostly, not the videos that defined the band in the 1980s - & was impressed how cohesive they were.

Look, I don't know what kept me in love with music in the dark times where I only knew commercial FM radio & what we now call classic rock, but certainly the Cars helped out.  I remember being quite in love with "You Might Think" when I was disenchanted with radio in late high school.  & though I don't really know if I like the song "Magic" all that music, hearing Ric Ocasek say, "Summer, summer, summer, it turns me upside down" at the very beginning is as powerful to me as an incantation.

It's sad he's no longer with us.  It's amazing what music he left us.  Here they are performing the song that gives this post its name on some late-night television show in the 1980s:

Hi, How Are You?

Unlike many of my musical heroes who die, I actually knew Daniel Johnston a little.  In 1998, he was working with the Station Manager of KVRX, Mark Miller.  Mark was making a music video for him, which you can see here.  At least a couple of times he followed Mark up to the station, & I was at the station a lot - I was a Program Manager that summer.

To say that Daniel Johnston didn't like me would probably be too much - I just didn't really have much that interested him.  He carried with him a two-liter of Coca-Cola & a carton of Kools, & since I was a smoker at the time, we would often be outside smoking.  Daniel Johnston had a ton of energy & his mind worked double-overtime, obviously fueled by the nicotine & caffeine.  We had a few conversations, we of course talked once about the Beatles, but if there were a woman outside, he was going to be focused on her instead.

The last time I saw him play was in 2000 I think when he came onstage at a Yo La Tengo show.  Something about being around him made me worry about him.  He lived with his parents who were getting on in years - what would happen to him once they had gone?

That level of anxiety I would feel would also come to me in his music, which I had heard before I met him.  I came to Austin for college in 1986 & might have run into him at the McDonald's on the Drag where he worked or maybe I would've seen him handing out his tapes.  I don't recall.  I believe I first saw him live in a nicely-packed room at an early South By Southwest.  I might not have heard his music before.

It was when I started volunteering at KVRX that he began to figure in my life.  We had his cassettes & CDs.  People played him all the time.  & in 1994, Kathy McCarty released Dead Dog's Eyeball, which brought a whole new appreciation to the originals.

There's always a part of me that feels like I didn't appreciate him as much as I feel he deserved.  I don't know if it has something to do with being around Daniel Johnston the Person instead of concentrating on Daniel Johnston the Artist.  I do wish he had been more appreciated in his life.  I also hope that whatever demons tormented him for his short time on this planet let him have moments of peace & beauty away from his music.

He'll always feel so much like Austin to me.  One night, with my dear friend Mike, as we stumbled home after the bars closed, we were carless & drunk & a mile away from our apartment, Mike, shirtless in the heat of Austin in August at 2am, walking down Dean Keaton toward Red River, he began to sing as loud & passionately as possible:

Funeral home
Funeral home
Goin' to the funeral home
Got me a coffin
Shiny & black
I'm goin' to the funeral
& I'm never comin' back

Austin is more populated & busier now, but we had the streets all to ourselves.  I don't remember getting home but I remember that song.

Self Help Radio 091619: A Frank Show

(Most all these Frank, Franklin, & Frankie images from Wikipedia.)

At long last! Finally! Once & for all! The promised show about people named Frank.

Check this: in addition to twenty-nine (29!) songs about Franks - & Frankies & Franklins - there are interviews with four different Franks on this show!  It is a veritable treasure trove of Frankness.  A priceless hoard of Frankitude.  Truly a bonanza of Frankality.  A treasury of Franktion.  There's frankly too much Frank, if you ask me.  But you didn't ask me!  You want to be drowned in as much Frank as possible!

& so it shall be done.  You can listen to the Self Help Radio Frank show at the Self Help Radio website.  You will need a username & a password - neither, alas, are "frank" - it's SHR & selfhelp.  The parade of all things Frank is listed below!

What a good day to be a Frank!

Self Help Radio Frank Show

part one:
"Frank" Ween _The Pod_
"Blank Frank" Brian Eno _Here Come The Warm Jets_
"Frank" Yoni & Geti _Testarossa_

introduction & the origin of the name "Frank"

"Frankie & Johnny" Sam Cooke _The Man Who Invented Soul_
"Daddy Frank (The Guitar Man)" Merle Haggard _Let Me Tell You About A Song_
"Frank's Wild Years" Tom Waits _Swordfishtrombones_
"Frank & Sandy" Pants Yell! _Received Pronunciation_
"Will Success Spoil Frank Summit?" The Times _This Is London_

interview with cousin Frank Schmidt

"Frankie Sinatra" The Avalanches _Wildflower_
"Like Frankie Lymon" The Weather Prophets _CD86: 48 Tracks From The Birth Of Indie Pop_
"Harlem Roulette" The Mountain Goats _Transcendental Youth_
"Blues For Frankie Valli" The Incredible Vickers Brothers _Gallimaufry_

interview with childhood friend Frank David Fruchter

"Frank Mills" Phyllis Newman _Phyllis Newman's World Of Music_
"Gotta Have Something In The Bank Frank" Bob Jaxon _On A Rockin Beach Party_

part two:
"He's Frank" The Monochrome Set _The Independent Singles Collection_
"I'm Frank" The Fall _Extricate_
"Our Frank" Morrissey _Kill Uncle_

interview with Kentucky radio star Frank Yelsom

"The Ballad Of Frankie Lee & Judas Priest" Thea Gilmore _John Wesley Harding_
"Frankie T & Frankie C" Mick Harvey _Sketches From The Book Of The Dead_
"Frankie" Kanda _All The Good Meetings Are Taken_
"So Long Frank Lloyd Wright" Simon & Garfunkel _Bridge Over Troubled Water_

interview with Head Of Production Frank Biggle Magnum

"Frank Black Says" Boat _Dress Like Your Idols_
"Frank De Salvo" The Orchids _Unholy Soul_
"Franklin D. Roosevelt's Back Again" Oscar Brand _Presidential Campaign Songs_
"Franklin Pierce" The Two Man Gentlemen Band _¡Dos Amigos, Una Fiesta!_

conclusion & goodbye

"What About Frank Clement (A Mighty Man)" The Prisonaires _Just Walkin' In The Rain_
"Frankie's House" Johnny Lee Daniels _Teenagers Forever, Vol. 3_
"That's Frankie's Negative" The Moodists _Thirsty's Calling_