10. Hearing an encore presentation from Dick Clark's (1929-2012) radio series "Rock, Roll & Remember" recently reminded me of his wonderful, seemingly offhand style, and how it blows Casey Kasem's work to pieces. Some say Clark stood in the way of early rock'n'roll and didn't really care for the music, yet I hear something else--a kindness, and a host not trying overtly to impress an audience--in his approach that makes me wish he were still around. Call me naïve, yet I believe DC treated the music scene strictly as a business at first and then began to care deeply for the artists that propelled it forward. Compare Clark with the rather annoying Kasem (1932-2014), whose quest for perfection in his breaks and stories on his "American Top 40" countdown is essentially sterile; he somehow turns the music of our lives into homogenous product with a framework that has no song sounding much different than the previous one. By contrast, I love how Clark's introductions are fairly low key and then just as he's saying the artist's name a split second before the vocal starts, he punches it, becoming more dramatic yet without the overkill of the AM radio disc jockeys I listened to in the '60s. Perhaps it's unfair to compare them, but unlike "AT40," "RR&R" isn't a countdown show, so some real gems emerge that oldies stations don't play much anymore. How about Martha & the Vandellas' still-incredible "Nowhere to Run" or the exciting Dave Clark Five minor hit "Try Too Hard"? "Rock, Roll & Remember" was a stellar series and it's worth revisiting.
9. If you have only heard audio from the March 24th "March for Our Lives" demonstration, you should look at some video--it's stunning. I have the ultimate respect for the young people screaming for help in this gun-crazed culture; there is a school shooting every other day in the United States, the symptom of a messed up America. And then you have the lack of empathy from Laura Ingraham (from Fox News) or Ted Nugent (from Planet Stupid), not to mention politicians who have sold young lives out to the highest bidder. My gratitude goes to the courageous students and others who are driven to make a difference.
8. It's such a treat that baseball season has started again. Here's hoping the Mariners can get into the playoffs after their ridiculous drought--maybe they just need a guy named Escobar; every other team seems to have one. Early on, the Mariners played in 27 degrees in Minneapolis; I swear the PA system was piping "Heat Wave" at one point. I loved hearing the spring training games, especially when ex-Seattle pitcher Ryan Roland-Smith complimented the broadcast team. He's from Australia, so his accent always made me crack up, especially when he referred to the Giants as the "San Francisco Joints."
7. Mary Gauthier (pronounced "Go Shay") has a new album made with the men and women of the US military and it's completely moving. Rifles & Rosary Beads (Thirty Tigers Records) strikes a good balance of commitment to country and the endless loneliness and worry that affects every person in harm's way and their family members, who put their hearts at risk without a break, hour after hour. I've complained about other Gauthier albums because of her refusal to do any uptempo songs and that's not an issue here; the arrangements fit the songs flawlessly. And her artistic depth has deepened because Rifles & Rosary Beads also contains some of the most beautiful pure singing I've ever heard from MG.
6. I'm still digging Bettye LaVette's Dylan tribute, Things Have Changed (Verve). She continues to avoid all-too-pat interpretations of classics that have been covered over and over again and LaVette feels every word--also outstanding are her remakes of Dylan pieces that hardly anyone ever records. Another winner.
5. Just saw something in a magazine (I think it was Cosmopolitan, which Walmart will not carry anymore), which suggested that people "Increase Your Vocab." Yeah, by shortening a word. That's it.
4. I heard a mom speaking to her child at the library a few months back and what the adult said really ticked me off. The child was playing and the mom asked, "Are you building a wall? President Trump wants to build a wall!" I had to bite my tongue to keep from asking her why that was such a cheery statement from her, and why she was inflicting this demented point of view on a child who could barely speak. If I were merely a library patron and not an employee, I would have said something.
3. Bumper sticker, telling us the presidential candidate the driver is voting for in 2020:
"Any Functional Adult."
2. Gina and I have been fixated on "The West Wing" lately, watching show after show in the limited amount of down time we have together. While wholly fictional and riotously funny at times, I suspect that the United States had quite a few real life administrations with that sort of empathy and intelligence, which angers me when I think of all the corruption our country is wallowing in these days. Elect a clown, expect a circus.
1. Just celebrated 24 years of the Retroactive show on KAOS! I really appreciate all the encouragement from friends and colleagues over this long span of time. It's too late to stop now.