I was going through some old computer folders and found a music video from twelve years ago. None of the copies on YouTube look good, including the official copy, so I’ll use mine.
Category: Music
Piano Rollback
Those live weekend ‘CRB broadcasts of the Beethoven Piano Concertos that I pointed out a few days ago are available on demand.
Friday Night: Concertos 2 and 3
https://www.classicalwcrb.org/show/the-boston-symphony-orchestra/2022-06-13/the-innovation-and-drama-of-beethoven-at-tanglewood
Saturday Night: Concertos 1 and 4
https://www.classicalwcrb.org/show/the-boston-symphony-orchestra/2022-06-13/beethoven-shaw-and-lewis-at-tanglewood
Sunday Afternoon: Concerto 5, the “Emperor”
https://www.classicalwcrb.org/show/the-boston-symphony-orchestra/2022-06-13/ogonek-farrenc-and-beethoven-at-tanglewood
Better Call Nez
Last night’s Better Call Saul episode had a montage scene that featured some Michael Nesmith “pudding.”
This is the song as heard on The Birds, The Bees, & the Monkees.
Another Monkees song was used in a Breaking Bad montage sequence. Writer-director Thomas Schnauz is reportedly the Monkees fan behind the inclusions.
I Hear the Sound
Driving home from getting my teeth cleaned, I played “The Best of the Five Americans” CD. “I See the Light”, released New Year’s Day ’66, hit me as if I was hearing it for the first time. What a perfect Garage Band sound!
The Five Americans are best known for their #5 hit “Western Union”, released more than a year later. It’s likewise very creative in its construction and production. Music Mike has the single cued up.
Western Union ended its telegram service, but how to update the song’s lyrics? E-mail? Not anymore. Texting? Nope. She’d simply ghost him!
Speaking of advancing technology, cassette decks are long gone from cars, and I should be prepared for my next car not having a CD player. I’ve read there’s even been talk among auto makers that Bluetooth may become the only radio receiver they will offer. No AM or FM, no CD, no Aux jack? Just Bluetooth, for use with Android Auto and Apple Car Play.
The SiriusXM app on my phone, played in the car over Bluetooth, is better than the car’s built-in XM receiver. The app can be set to maximum sound quality, and it doesn’t suffer from reception drop-outs when going under bridges or driving along wooded areas. I’m going to assume that SiriusXM has already decided they won’t go to the trouble and expense of replacing their satellites.
This is the complete Five Americans collection, compliments of Bob Irwin at Sundazed Records. Bob and Gina are on Big Planet Noise tonight at 9 ET. See my Links selection section.
Roll On, Ludwig!
WCRB (Classical Radio Boston, formerly Charles River Broadcasting) is live from Tanglewood. Last night, two of Beethoven’s piano concertos were heard, and two more are coming up soon, at 8 PM ET. Tomorrow afternoon at 2:30 will be the magnificent fifth piano concerto.
WABC Loyalist Gives Nod to KHJ
Airchecks from Los Angeles station KHJ provide the music bed (to use a radio term) for Once Upon a Time… in HOLLYWOOD.
On February 9, 1969, while Rick Dalton was filming the Lancer pilot, and his buddy Cliff Booth was surveying the decaying remains of Spohn Movie Ranch, KHJ was preparing to air The History of Rock & Roll on February 21. Created by KHJ program director Bill Drake, the documentary was the subject of a lecture given by Matthew Barton of the Library of Congress.
Forgive me for re-telling a story. Besides being relevant here, it’s one of my favorite stories.
I was doing DJ duty on August 16, 1977, when news hit the AP teletype that Elvis had died. On 10-inch reels of tape the station had a copy of the syndicated 1969 edition of Drake’s The History of Rock & Roll.* I’d hang around the station on my own time to listen to the series in the production studio.
As soon as I saw that first terse news bulletin about Elvis, I pulled out the LP set Worldwide 50 Gold Award Hits Vol. 1. Slip-cueing “Heartbreak Hotel” on one of the Russco/Micro-Trak turntables, I announced the tragic news over the air. As the song played I ran out of the studio, grabbed the History of Rock & Roll tape about Elvis, ran back to the studio, and mounted it on the old Magnecord deck.
As updates came across the AP wire, for the next hour I broke format and threw together an ad hoc Elvis tribute. While songs and commercials played, I frantically searched the tape for good sound bites, with surprising success. Breaking format is usually a BIG no-no in radio, but to my surprise the program director liked my Elvis tribute. Starting at 16 minutes into the video, you can hear some of what I used.
It all worked out perfectly, thanks to — ahem! — my very skillful engineering, and that tape. My long overdue thanks go to Boss Radio KHJ! At that same time Drake was in the middle of updating the documentary. He immediately began working on a dedicated Elvis tribute tape.
* Narration of the syndicated edition of the HRR was by Humble Harve Miller. Who had, to say the least, a checkered history in radio.
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-me-humble-harve-miller-dead-20190606-story.html