In an effort to boost production here on the ol’ blog, move my old content into this implementation, show some solidarity with the writers who are on strike, and bask in my faded glory as an overnight community radio DJ I’ve decided to repost my old radio shows. Ballads, Beats, and Bawdy originally aired on October 16, 2005. Here’s what I had to say at the time:
Podcasting too hep for an anti-hipster like you? Go ahead and use this direct link to download the audio file.
Got yer tunes lined up now? Good. Here’s what’s on tap for you this week:
Playlist after the break…
| Artist | Album | Track | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Combustible Edison | I, Swinger | Millionaire’s Holiday | |
| Billy Collins | The Best Cigarette | Night Club | Many moons I played the title track to this album and then, it seems, completely forgot about it until now. You can hear more of his album if you visit the link. |
| John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman | John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman | My One and Only Love | Not throw down a Hartman bed when mentioned specifically in the poem? Right. Enjoy an excerpt from this standard. |
| Ama | francesco | Snappy, whispery delivery and nifty imagery make this a great track. | |
| Dzihan & Kamien | Live in Vienna (Bonus Disc) | Stiff Jazz (Zündapp Dub) | |
| Tom Middleton | Bebel Gilberto Remixed | Simplesmente | |
| Jack Kerouac | Poetry for the Beat Generation | Goofing at the Table | A quick ditty from Jack to close out the first set. |
| Jonathan Goldman | Chakra Dance | Sacred Fire | I mocked this album at the end of last week’s show. Well, the joke is on me as there are a few good tracks on it. This would be one. |
| Rod McKuen | In the Beginning | Six Songs for the Sun | Come to think of it now, this may be a repeat of a track done on that seminal album, The Sun, good old Rod did with the San Sebastian Strings. At any rate, it was on one of many zippy Rod McKuen albums I picked up earlier today. Later on, we’ll make Rod sing. |
| Combustible Edison | I, Swinger | Carnival of Souls | A Combustible Edison song off I, Swinger that is not Millionaire’s Holiday? It’s your lucky day. Honestly, though, I have no idea why I don’t play more from this album. |
| Rusty Warren | Knockers Up! | If Only I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate | Another of my finds from this afternoon’s trawl through the used record bins. Can I just say OMFG?! It’s autographed, it’s burlesque comedy from the ’50s, it’s utterly brilliant. Anthropologists looking to understand the seedier side of Eisenhower-era US Puritanism will find this album invaluable. And to think, it only cost me $3.99 plus tax. |
| AfX | Analord 1 | Canticle Drawl | So ends the second set. |
| AfX | Analord 2 | Analord 158b | Had a bit of fun with this one playing it three times through: once reversed, once inverted, and finally as one would normally hear it. |
| Rusty Warren | Knockers Up! | In The Family Way | It’s a longish cut but there’s no way to slice it up and I just had to play it. I mean, I’m not too prudish, but what I’m hearing on this album certainly contradicts the chrome and formica cleanliness aura that emminated from the 50’s. |
| Ruby | Knockers Up! | Tiny Meat | Here’s some contemporary music to close out the first hour…one you probably even heard on the radio about a decade ago. it’s been that long already? |
| John Beltram | Lounge Story 2 | Heaven and Earth | If you don’t mention the rough transisition, we can both ignore the fact that it happened, okay? |
| Rusty Warren | Knockers Up! | Knockers Up! | Okay, so I’m operating at a middle school level, but this track floors me. |
| Oscar Brand & His Backroom Boys | Sing Along Bawdy Songs & Backroom Ballads | Do They Hang Too Low? | Equal opportunity gender bashing here on the Millionaire’s Holiday. |
| Peter Sellers | Hard Day’s Night | Can’t Buy Me Love | I’ve played it before, but I love this track. It came to me via a music swap and I haven’t tracked down the full album yet, much to my dismay. Anyone want to hook a brother up? |
| Scissor Sisters | Scissor Sisters | Comfortably Numb | If only all of Pink Floyd came with a bippy bipping dance track I might have appreciated it more. |
| Liminal Lounge | Pre-Set | Magenta Sky | We’ve heard from Liminal Lounge before, but this could be the best track off that album. Great mix to finish this set. |
| Plaid | Rust Proof Orchestra | Shackbu | Is that swearing at the end of this track? I don’t think so, but hearing it over the air I suddenly had a change of heart. Please don’t send Mike Powell after me, okay? |
| Rod McKuen | In the Beginning | The Yellow Unicorn | Look…there goes the unicorn. |
| Flunk | For Sleepyheads Only | Magic Potion | Smokey dub beats reverbed to perfection. This album only improves with each listen. |
| Rod McKuen | New Ballads | And Tonight | Oh, Rod, who told you that you could sing? I’m sorry you had to suffer the indignities of lacking the self-awareness to not go here. Still, you probably saw more money from this album than I’ll see in my lifetime. |
| Antonio Carlos & Jocafi | The Outernational Sound | Simbarere | Yet another track played on this show from this Thievery Corporation-produced album. It’s just solid from top to bottom and a great close to the penultimate set. |
| Reverend Horton Heat | Smoke ’em If You Got ’em | Bullet | Trying to get you all prepped for the Naked Truth. As it turns out, the Sermon came into the studio with a pretty mellow set. Just my luck. Still, you get a little Rev, which is better than no Rev at all. |
| Jack Kerouac | Poetry for the Beat Generation | The Sounds of the Universe Coming Through My Window | There was a brief moment when this was going out over the airwaves that I panicked with the thought that I had already played this track. Nope. So why am I telling you this? <napoleon>idiot!</napoleon> |
| Zero 7 | Simple Things | Salt Water Sound | A new find for me and it seems pretty good on first pass. It has been added to my playlist for the coming week for closer scrutiny. |
| DJ Keri & DJ 43 | Upstairs at Larry’s | Baby Elephant Walk | Lawrence Welk spins in his grave and throws up a little in his mouth. Still, this is an awesome remix and I feel okay leaving you on this note for the coming week. |