You Say Ick - 09/06/04

Okay, so I've done it again...Can't just stick to one of these Blog-y things...So I'm starting another...This one will deal with my radio show on a weekly basis...

Today's radio show (like the last two) featured music taken from the RBC archives during a "cleaning" this summer...This is stuff I thought was worth keeping...Some of it I've heard before (Swing Out Sister, Kim Carnes, Daryl Hall, Julian Cope, Michael Penn, Doctor & The Medics, Tanita Tikaram, Jane Siberry), some of it I've heard of but never heard (Dave Stewart & The Spiritual Cowboys (Dave Stewart was the guy in Eurythmics) , Thrashing Doves, James, Westworld) and the rest was just plain new to me...

First for "The Good"
The songs from Dave Stewart, Swing Out Sister, at least one from The Chemical People, Comateens, The Triplets, The Only Ones, James, The Outlets, The Judy's, Chihoe Hahn and Westworld were all really good...Some of these bands, I'm sure, have disbanded since the albums came into the station mostly in early- to mid-80's but that's too bad...I thought the Westworld tune was really pretty good...I can see why they sold so many albums in England...But I was a really big fan of Comateens, Chihoe Hahn, The Outlets and Dave Stewart and The Spiritual Cowboys...

"Covers"
The Communards (really good but not too surprising after I read the back of the album cover and saw that one of the guys in this band was one of the guys in Bronski Beat)...What Is This (this was a live version and it was good...it took me a while to place where I knew it from...there is a great version by The Spinners on the soundtrack to When We Were Kings)...Julian Cope (I first heard The Vogues version of this song on the Platoon soundtrack in like 1988 or something...aside from Groovin' by the Rascals and, of course, Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay, this is as good a reason as any to buy this soundtrack (it also has dialog clips))...

"The So-So"
Swing Out Sister, Thrashing Doves, The Vels, Daryl Hall, Naked Eyes, The Judy's, Novo Combo, Altered Images, Tanita Tikaram, Jane Siberry, Michael Penn...all of these were passable...playable...the Thrashing Doves song I had to play because of The Gilmore Girls (season starts next week, I think), I'm thinking of writing to the show to alert them to the existence of this song...the Daryl Hall song was good (I always forget how good that guy's voice is) but it wasn't anything special, Bruce Hornsby should listen to that stuff though so he doesn't copy it all...The Judy's and Altered Images were catchy, fast-paced New Wave, punk-y kind of stuff...good enough...I did like that Naked Eyes song and the Novo Combo song but not so much that I'm pulling for new releases...Tanita Tikaram (you remember that One Tin Soldier song?) is really growing on me...she's got a voice that offers a lot more in the way of color than you would think...I was really hoping the Jane Siberry song would be a lot poppier...that Michael Penn song is good enough and this was an acoustic version, but I've never really loved that tune (but how many other songs can you name with Wuthering Heights references?)...

"The Bad"
Am I the only one glad Kim Carnes isn't making records any more? (she isn't is she? that'd be embarassing...)

"The Absolutely Horrible" (aka it's so bad i'm seriously considering throwing the album away)
Doctor and The Medics (this song sucked SOOOO much...there's a line in the chorus - yes, the chorus - about golden showers...the song is just awful...and I always really liked their version of the Norman Greenbaum classic The Spirit in the Sky...)

Today's show was called "Throwaways"

CD 1
Dave Stewart & The Spiritual Cowboys - Party Town (Flatliners sndtrk)
Swing Out Sister - Where In the World
The Chemical People - Don't Tell Me
The Chemical People - Human Fear
Comateens - Comateens
The Triplets - Boys
Thrashing Doves - Lorelei
*talk*
Kim Carnes - Jamaica Sunday Morning
The Communards - Don't Leave Me This Way (Thelma Houston)
The Vels - Girl Most Likely To
The Only Ones - Another Girl, Another Planet
Daryl Hall - Without Tears
*talk & PSA - He's So Hot*
James - Fairground

CD 2
Nikki Meets the Hibachi - Life Is Just Like That
The Outlets - Whole New World
Doctor and The Medics - I Wanna Choke On Your Love
What Is This - I'll Be Around (live) (The Spinners)
Naked Eyes - Eyes of a Child
The Judy's - High Society
Chihoe Hahn - Forever Blue
(started a bit off - the previous song ended pretty abruptly)
Michael Penn - No Myth (acoustic)
*PSA - Call Yo Momma - talk*
(and then, mistakenly, the beggining of another PSA - Wildlife Land Trust)
Julian Cope - 5 O'Clock World (The Vogues)
Westworld - Sonic Boom Boy
Novo Combo - Slow Fade
Altered Images - Pinky Blue
Tanita Tikaram - It All Came Back Today
(skipped twice)
Jane Siberry - Seven Steps to the Wall

Some Treasures - 09/25/04

Okay, so apparently there were two shows this week. Good stuff. Since I remembered to bring along the blanks to burn the show, I went back to the "play stuff that the station deemed unworthy of keeping" format. Today's show was great though. I can't actually remember anything that was so bad I'd give it back. There were a couple of less than stellar songs but all in all it was pretty solid. So, except for the two Greg Kihn songs (I had a request for Jeopardy but couldn't find it and played two from Greg Kihn instead) and the Wild Men of Wongo song the rest of the show was all stuff I'd never heard of.

The Good:
Push Push, The Sneetches, Hanover Fist, Wild Seeds, Wet Wet Wet, Northern Pikes, Noiseworks, Loey Nelson, Native Tongue (I think I might have heard this before actually. I'm not sure but it sounded really familiar (at least once I got it going at the right speed)), Sixtieth Parallel.

1,000 Clowns was pretty funny (and interesting choice of samples too - Buffalo Springfield) too but I'm not sure it goes in this category - definitely funny though.

The So-So:
Ups & Downs, The Truth, Sky Cries Mary (this was just experimental, weird stuff not so much a song per se. I'll try another tune next time.), One Plus Two, Supreme Love Gods, Sunday Cannons, World at a Glance, The Now, Marti Jones.

The Covers:
Town Without Pity (I can't remember who sang this in the '80s and it's driving me freakin' nuts), Powderfinger (see below).

The on album review of Yung Wu said that it was "gods in disguise. neil young and rolling stones." and I'm not sure but the Powderfinger "cover" did kind of sound not so cover-y.

The second Wild Swans song was good, the first: not so much.

And I liked both of the Greg Kihn songs a lot more than I thought I was going to.

Vol. 1
The Wild Swans - Bible Dreams
The Wild Swans - Young Manhood
*talk*
Yung Wu - Powderfinger (Neil Young)
Push Push - Love & Misery
*talk*
The Sneetches - Things We'll Never See
Ups & Downs - Living Inside My Head
(started on the wrong speed; restarted)
*talk & PSA - Get The Keys*
Thin White Line - Town Without Pity (Dimitri Tiomkin)
The Truth - You Play With My Emotions
Hanover Fist - American Dream
Sky Cries Mary - Moon Dream Meadow Allegory
*talk*
Greg Kihn - Love's Made a Fool of Me
Greg Kihn - They Rock at Night
*talk*
Wild Seeds - I Have Died a Thousand Times for True Love

Vol. 2
Wet Wet Wet - Wishing I Was Lucky
One Plus Two - Midnight Train
The Northern Pikes - Just Another Guy
*talk*
Noiseworks - Voice of Reason
Loey Nelson - All Or Nothing
Native Tongue - Speaking in Captions
(started on the wrong speed; restarted)
Supreme Love Gods - All Over
Sunday Cannons - Friends Become Flowers
*talk*
1,000 Clowns - Kitty Kat Max
World at a Glance - (Let's Play) The Cat's Away
The Now - Trans-World Express
Sixtieth Parallel - One Day
Wild Men of Wongo - Deep in the Jungle
Marti Jones - The Real One

What is that? - 09/20/04

Okay, for today's show, since I forgot to bring blank CDs to record my show, I played all stuff (or at least mostly stuff) from the new racks. For the most part I liked it all. There was nothing that jumped right out and sucked.

Adrianne's picks (so they weren't mine and since I like people to come to my shows with me I sometimes have to play stuff they like):
Guster - Ramona (I actually picked this disc, Guster on Ice, off the shelf and was going to play something anyway but Adrianne wanted to hear it too so, instead of falling by the wayside, it got on).
Alana Davis - Can't Find My Way Home (This was actually pretty good. It's from The Mod Squad soundtrack. Of course I like the original better but if you're in the mood for a version sung by a woman and half as long, this is for you.)
Ivy - Quick, Painless and Easy (This is from the Carrie 2: The Rage soundtrack and was a LOT better than I expected. Kind of a mix between that loud, angst rock and soft emo-ish stuff. It never gets really loud and it never gets very weird. This was a good find.)
Crush - Days of Joy (This was something Adrianne's friends had told her was good. I'm not sure if I trust those people. Really reminded me of like Emerson, Lake and Powell (Powell...not Palmer), that Touch and Go song specifically (the only one I liked off that album anyway).)
Marvin Gaye - Got to Give It Up (Adrienne picked the Summer of Sam soundtrack (probably not knowing how much of love soul and disco but that's too bad for her). I was going to play three or so songs from this but time was running out so I just played Marvin. A good choice. Always.)
Tori Amos - Playboy Mommy (I'd never heard this song. I liked it about as much as I like all Tori. A little.)
The Commons - Jesus Had A Brother (This, I think, was just something she picked off the shelf. But I liked it. I'd play it again.)
Deftones - Change (In the House of Flies) (Not a big Deftones fan. This was typical.)
Smashing Pumpkins - Blank Page (ditto)

Kinda weak:
Carina Round, Jackpot, Sam Phillips (although if you like her stuff, this is pretty typical) and maybe Bodie

The really good stuff:
Saves the Day (When I realize I had forgotten the blanks to record the show I threw this in to start the day off. It was good and set the tone for most of the rest of the show.)
Singapore Sling (The label said something about laid-back and Icelandic, I thought it'd lead into Bjork well. It didn't necessarily but that doesn't make it any less good.)
Carbon Leaf (Not what I expected. I expected female fronted vocals but it wasn't and surprisingly I wasn't that disappointed.)
Bright Eyes/Neva Divona (I wasn't too surprised that I liked this but I was kind of surprised that I liked it a lot.)
The Fall (The label on this said something about the reviewer thinking this was one of the best post-punk bands. I didn't really see that a lot but I did really like it. Not nearly as hard as I was expecting and that's a good thing.)


Saves The Day - Ups & Downs
Saves The Day - Sell My Clothes, I'm Off to Heaven
Saves The Day - A Drag in D Flat
Laura Viers - Rapture
Death Cab for Cutie - This Temporary Life
Singapore Sling - Life Is Killing My Rock 'N' Roll
Bjork - Where is the Line?
Rolling Blackouts - Rock Paper Scissors
The Delays - Bedroom Scene
Carina Round - Hookah
The Muffs - How I Pass the Time
Carbon Leaf - Grey Sky Eyes
Danielson - Things Against Stuff
Bright Eyes/Neva Dinova - I'll Be Your Friend
Jackpot - If We Could Go Backwards
Sam Phillips - I Dreamed I Stopped Dreaming
Guster - Ramona
Alana Davis - Can't Find My Way Home
Ivy - Quick, Painless and Easy
Crush - Days of Joy
Marvin Gaye - Got to Give It Up
Tori Amos - Playboy Mommy
The Commons - Jesus Had A Brother
The Fall - Janet Vs. Johnny
Deftones - Change (In the House of Flies)
Grain - I Ruined Love
Bodie - Save Me From You
Smashing Pumpkins - Blank Page
The Engine Room - A Perfect Lie (Theme from Nip/Tuck)

Throwaways - 09/13/04

Okay, so I've done it again...Can't just stick to one of these Blog-y things...So I'm starting another...This one will deal with my radio show on a weekly basis...

Today's radio show (like the last two) featured music taken from the RBC archives during a "cleaning" this summer...This is stuff I thought was worth keeping...

Some of it I've heard before (Swing Out Sister, Kim Carnes, Daryl Hall, Julian Cope, Michael Penn, Doctor & The Medics, Tanita Tikaram, Jane Siberry), some of it I've heard of but never heard (Dave Stewart & The Spiritual Cowboys (Dave Stewart was the guy in Eurythmics) , Thrashing Doves, James, Westworld) and the rest was just plain new to me...


"The Good"

The songs from Dave Stewart, Swing Out Sister, at least one from The Chemical People, Comateens, The Triplets, The Only Ones, James, The Outlets, The Judy's, Chihoe Hahn and Westworld were all really good...Some of these bands, I'm sure, have disbanded since the albums came into the station mostly in early- to mid-80's but that's too bad...I thought the Westworld tune was really pretty good...I can see why they sold so many albums in England...But I was a really big fan of Comateens, Chihoe Hahn, The Outlets and Dave Stewart and The Spiritual Cowboys...

"Covers"

The Communards (really good but not too surprising after I read the back of the album cover and saw that one of the guys in this band was one of the guys in Bronski Beat)...What Is This (this was a live version and it was good...it took me a while to place where I knew it from...there is a great version by The Spinners on the soundtrack to When We Were Kings)...Julian Cope (I first heard The Vogues version of this song on the Platoon soundtrack in like 1988 or something...aside from Groovin' by the Rascals and, of course, Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay, this is as good a reason as any to buy this soundtrack (it also has dialog clips))...

"The So-So"

Swing Out Sister, Thrashing Doves, The Vels, Daryl Hall, Nikki Meets the Hibachi, Naked Eyes, The Judy's, Novo Combo, Altered Images, Tanita Tikaram, Jane Siberry, Michael Penn...all of these were passable...playable...the Thrashing Doves song I had to play because of The Gilmore Girls (season starts next week, I think), I'm thinking of writing to the show to alert them to the existence of this song...the Daryl Hall song was good (I always forget how good that guy's voice is) but it wasn't anything special, Bruce Hornsby should listen to that stuff though so he doesn't copy it all...a couple of weeks ago I played a song by James because I'd heard of the band (and was reminded of them when I was watching an episode of The Days on tv this summer and I saw a poster in one the room of one of the kids) but had never heard the band and the song I played then was really good...this one was only so-so...still good just not as good as the last one...the song by Nikki Meets the Hibachi wasn't nearly as good as the ones from the other album I've heard...I've been ranting about that one to a couple of friends since I first played it...this one sounded a lot too much like The Indigo Girls (which is not good, as far as I'm concerned)...The Judy's and Altered Images were catchy, fast-paced New Wave, punk-y kind of stuff...good enough...I did like that Naked Eyes song and the Novo Combo song but not so much that I'm pulling for new releases...Tanita Tikaram (you remember that One Tin Soldier song?) is really growing on me...she's got a voice that offers a lot more in the way of color than you would think...I was really hoping the Jane Siberry song would be a lot poppier...that Michael Penn song is good enough and this was an acoustic version, but I've never really loved that tune (but how many other songs can you name with Wuthering Heights references?)...

"The Bad"

Am I the only one glad Kim Carnes isn't making records any more? (she isn't is she? that'd be embarassing...)

"The Absolutely Horrible" (aka it's so bad i'm seriously considering throwing the album away)

Doctor and The Medics (this song sucked SOOOO much...there's a line in the chorus - yes, the chorus - about golden showers...the song is just awful...and I always really liked their version of the Norman Greenbaum classic The Spirit in the Sky...)

Today's show was called "Throwaways"

CD 1
Dave Stewart & The Spiritual Cowboys - Party Town (Flatliners sndtrk)
Swing Out Sister - Where In the World
The Chemical People - Don't Tell Me
The Chemical People - Human Fear
Comateens - Comateens
The Triplets - Boys
Thrashing Doves - Lorelei
*talk*
Kim Carnes - Jamaica Sunday Morning
The Communards - Don't Leave Me This Way
(Thelma Houston)
The Vels - Girl Most Likely To
The Only Ones - Another Girl, Another Planet
Daryl Hall - Without Tears
*talk & PSA - He's So Hot*
James - Fairground

CD 2
Nikki Meets the Hibachi - Life Is Just Like That
The Outlets - Whole New World
Doctor and The Medics - I Wanna Choke On Your Love
What Is This - I'll Be Around (live)
(The Spinners)
Naked Eyes - Eyes of a Child
The Judy's - High Society
Chihoe Hahn - Forever Blue
(started a bit off - the previous song ended pretty abruptly)
Michael Penn - No Myth (acoustic)
*PSA - Call Yo Momma - talk*
(and then, mistakenly, the beggining of another PSA - Wildlife Land Trust)
Julian Cope - 5 O'Clock World
(The Vogues)
Westworld - Sonic Boom Boy
Novo Combo - Slow Fade
Altered Images - Pinky Blue
Tanita Tikaram - It All Came Back Today
(skipped twice)
Jane Siberry - Seven Steps to the Wall