2007 Top Ten List

1. Richard Hawley - Lady's Bridge (Mute)
2. Club 8 - The Boy Who Couldn't Stop Dreaming (Labrador)
3. Iron & Wine - Shepherd's Dog (Sub Pop)
4. Bishop Allen - The Broken String (Dead Oceans)
5. Great Lake Swimmers - Onigiara (Nettwerk)
6. Wilco - Sky Blue Sky (Nonesuch)
7. Little Name - How To Live and Swim (Sleepy)
8. Loney, Dear - Loney, Noir (Sub Pop)
9. The Clientele - God Save the Clientele (Merge)
10. Elliott Smith - New Moon (Kill Rock Stars)

Radio Show, Tuesday June 5 6-9PM

Frederick Knight - I've Been Lonely For So Long
Silicon Teens - Let's Dance
Clientele - Winter on Victoria Street
Bobby Darin - Lonely Road
Elvis Costello - Radio, Radio
Dinah Washington - What A Difference A Day Makes
Pete Townshend - Let My Love Open the Door
Velvet Underground - I Found A Reason
Ennio Morricone - Once Upon a Time In the West
Billy Bragg & Wilco - California Stars
Ella Fitzgerald - You Do Something To Me
Tito Puente - Ran Kan Kan
Ernie Kovacs - Hot Cakes and Sausage
Brigitte Bardot - Moi Je Joue

I think that I could play Wilco every week on the radio. And why shouldn't I? I love them.

Cole Porter. Cole Porter. I've had "You Do Something To Me" on the brain for a couple days. It makes me very happy. I wanted to play it on the air on Tuesday, but I couldn't think of any version except for Ella's during the 45 seconds I had before the song playing on the air ended. The Ella songbooks are easy to find, so I played her version. Eh. I wish I had taken the time to find a version with a little more gusto. Lately, I've found some of Ella's songbooks a bit schmaltzy. But her Cole Porter songbook was my gateway into the world of vocalists and tin pan alley songwriters.

"Lonely Road" by Bobby Darin is one of my all-time favorite songs. I absolutely love Bobby Darin. Before I ever bought a CD player, my Bobby Darin obsession led me to purchase a his 4-CD box set. I'm crazy for the man. If I were ever brave enough to do karaoke, I would want to sing Bobby Darin songs all night long. Especially "Lonely Road." I used to sing it to my cat, who really didn't care one way or another about the song or Bobby Darin as long as she got a treat at the end of the song. He'd probably do a kick-ass version of "You Do Something To Me." And his hit, "Beyond the Sea" makes me weak in the knees. I think that if someone sang that song to me while playing the ukulele, I think I would melt.

I'm working on a new mix tape, and I think that Tito Puente's Ran Kan Kan from the Mambo Kings soundtrack is going to be the impetus. GO TITO!

The rest of Tuesday's playlist can be found here. I love my radio show.

Lone Lonely Alone

For the past week or so, the general pain in my ankle has subsided but I am still a little unstable and have limited mobility in my ankle joint. I am able to get up and and do basic stuff like short driving, short walking, laundry, etc., but these remaining limitations are really taking their toll on me. Now that I am not in pain, I desperately want to get back to doing everything that I used to. But I can't, and that is driving me crazy. I cannot walk on grass or gravel. I cannot run. Heck, I cannot even walk fast. I can't walk down stairs without taking one single step at a time.


I finally ditched the cane this weekend not because my doctor instructed me to, but because I am so sick of using it. And I am sick of people telling me that the cane is sexy. It's not. I'll admit that Fred is quite handsome in his natty tux, top hat and cane, but he's dancing with his cane and not using it to hobble across the room. And he's not a girl.

I think that the lack of exercise is really draining me physically and emotionally. I just need to get out and run or do some yardwork or bike or swim or something. I think that if I could exercise, I'd have more energy. I've been active all weekend in the sense that I have been going out to restaurants and seeing friends and going to shows. It's nice to be around people, but it's not cutting this malaise.

As I drove to Chapel Hill this morning, I listened to the end of The Charm of the Highway Strip by the Magnetic Fields and then I decided to get my one-song musical horrorscope, which was the following Wilco song:

Shakin' sugar from a sugar spoon
Peppermint tea afternoon
Alone, alone, alone

Taking a shower take another nap
Watching television take a bath
Alone, alone, alone

Feel like a book, but I just cant start it
Feel like a lover, brokenhearted
Look in the mirror at the face in the glass
Look like a question no one ever asks

Alone
Like I'm supposed to be
Lone lonely alone Like
I'm supposed to be

Go for a walk, go for a drive
Listen to the stereo stay inside
Alone, alone, alone

Alone
Like I'm supposed to be
Lone lonely alone
Like I'm supposed to be

It's a great song, which I played over and over in the car. But what a horribly depressing musical horrorscope! I hope tomorrow's is something more cheery. Maybe I'll get a Fred Astaire song tomorrow. That would make me happy.

Radio Show, Tuesday May 22 6-9PM

Holy Moly! I AM BACK ON THE AIR!!! And I am so happy! It made me feel a little more normal and less gimpy... I feel like I am finally on the mend.

And it marked 10 years since I've been djing at WXYC. I'm old. The dj on before me even called me "Ma'am." Holy crap! I AM SO OLD!

Here are some of the songs that I played:
Cocteau Twins - Iceblink Luck
Bill Davis Trio - Catch 'Em Young, Treat 'Em Rough, Tell 'Em Nothin'
Kermit the Frog - Rainbow Connection
Lambchop - Hey, Where's Your Girl?
Looking Glass - Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)
Mighty Lemon Drops - Inside Out
Small Faces - Just Passing
Beach Boys - I'm Waiting for the Day
Tennessee Ernie Ford and Kay Starr - You're My Sugar
Traveling Wilburys - Handle With Care
Fred Astaire - Cheek to Cheek
Light Crust Doughboys - Pussy Pussy Pussy
Wilco - I Must Be High
Elliott Smith - Pretty Mary K

The show was so much fun. I even danced a little on one foot!

However, I was a bit concerned that the Muppet Movie Soundtrack record was kinda warped. I wanted to play "Movin' Right Along" featuring Fozzie and Kermit, but "Rainbow Connection" looked a little safer considering the wear on the record.

I only received one phone call the entire night, which is one more than I usually receive. It was from someone who wanted to hear the Traveling Wilburys. I haven't thought of them since I was in high school. There are a few cassettes that I can remember from back then... Edie Brickell, REM, U2, INXS, the Fine Young Cannibals, and the Traveling Wilburys. I liked that Traveling Wilburys request so much that I want to investigate the album again... it has Tom Petty *and* Roy Orbison.

The last time I did a radio show a month or so ago (when I was in denial about my ankle), Tim played a song off a Pet Sounds [stereo and mono] double album that is new in the station's library. I just about flipped my wig. The records were made of translucent pastel vinyl. I remembered it last night, so, I played one of my favorite songs from that record: "I'm Waiting for the Day." The timpani and the flutes give me chills. I just love the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds so much. It's definitely an obsession. I am trying to get into their album Smile again, but it just isn't doing it for me.

I played Tennessee Ernie Ford/Kay Star and the Light Crust Doughboys last night to get me geared up for WXYC's Orange County Special program which I will be hosting this Sunday from 10am to 1pm. I used to host this show regularly in the late 90s until I was told that someone at WXYC didn't like my music choices for this show... too much western swing. Well, it's been a few years and I think that the rules are less rigid these days. I am going to play ALOT of western swing and MANY silly country songs. Tune in!

Hokey Pokey Old

After a morning of meetings, I finally returned to my office to get some work done. I popped in a Wilco CD to listen to at my desk while I work my way through my emails. One of my employees walked into my office just a minute ago and stopped in her tracks and gave me this look like she had just encountered a really foul odor. I looked at her kinda shocked and said, "What's wrong?" She said, "WHAT are you listening to? Is this old music? Or is this somebody new that is trying to sound old?" I started laughing and so did she. Then, she said, "You know what I mean... like John Denver old or Kenny Rogers old." And then I about fell out of my chair. She said, "I like it. I like old music. You know. Like hokey pokey old."

CD Purging Regrets

So, I have this idea that my music collection (CDs and LPs) absolutely must fit into these cabinets in my hallway. My CD and LP collections are not allowed to grow beyond this allotted space. So that usually means a couple times a year, I do a mass purge. I usually do this when I am in a anti-pack rat, unsentimental mood. It always feels good to purge and clean out. I sometimes have this unfounded fear of becoming a recluse with so much junk in my house that you would have to squeeze through narrow passageways among floor-to-ceiling piles of accumulated stuff... records, tapes, CDs, magazines, books, papers, etc. So, getting rid of CDs helps to keep this fear under control.

But then I find myself missing CDs that I've sold. One of the CDs that I regret selling is Barbara Streisand's Greatest Hits. I have no clue why I miss this one except that I love "Guilty" that she sings with Andy Gibb.

Another album that I miss is Down by the Old Mainstream by Golden Smog (featuring Jeff Tweedy). I went through a phase that lasted several years that I did not like Wilco or Jeff Tweedy's voice. It didn't have to do with negative associations with ex-boyfriends or anything like that. I just didn't like them anymore. But then when I discovered Wilco's Summer Teeth album just a couple years ago, my Wilco hiatus officially ended. That record was my favorite record in Spring 2005 and I played it all the time. We recently got the new Golden Smog record at WXYC called Another Fine Day. I really really like it (it's got that jangly poppy country rock sound that I crave), but it reminds me of how I regret giving up their first record.

Should I go back and repurchase these records of my regret? Or should I just let them go? I think I can skip the Barbara Streisand record and just get that "Guilty" track off Itunes, but I wonder about that old Golden Smog record. Maybe I'll just get their new one.

I think to avoid these regretful feelings in the future, maybe I should just go ahead and admit that I am a pack rat and stop purging my music collection.

Animal Planet Live!! Featuring Ryan Adams

Thursday night, my friends Jen and Todd invited me over for dinner and Tivo. I was very excited as I had not seen them in months and I was able to meet their son, Izzy, for the first time. (I just love baby blogs.) After Izzy went down for bed, the three of us sat down to devour some extremely tasty chili and wine. During supper, they were telling me about the troubles they've had with their misbehaving cat, William. As they were telling me the stories of William escaping the house, meowing, jumping on the counters, etc., we heard this THUD from the kitchen followed by the tinkling of William's collar and tags. Jen and Todd simultaneously looked at each other with an "I'm gonna strangle that cat" expression on their faces.

But then, William ran through the room WITH A MOUSE IN HIS MOUTH!!! Jen and I gave each other an "OH MY GOD! I AM TERRIFIED OF MICE" look. The first thing I did is case the surroundings for the easiest place to jump up on a chair so that the mouse couldn't run up my leg and eat my eyeballs... a fear that I had as a child which sometimes pops out at these random times. But suprisingly, I kept my cool.

Jen and Todd jumped up and were trying to encourage William to not go upstairs with the mouse and either go outside or in the basement with the mouse. And I just kinda sat there and watched. Finally, they managed to enclose William in the back hallway with an open entrance to the basement. There is a big glass door which allowed us to watch William with the mouse. It was creepy but very cool. I felt ok about it... I was just a couple feet from the mouse (albeit there was a thick door between me and the mouse), but I didn't have that all-encompassing fear that I normally have when coming face-to-face with a mouse. Jen was a little afraid that the mouse would squeeze out from under the door and start running around the house. We watched William and the mouse for about 10 minutes through the glass. During dinner, we had been listening to Wilco, but when the cat and mouse live entertainment began, the music switched. Todd told me it was Ryan Adams' Heartbreaker record... perfect soundtrack music for William and his mouse.

We never got around to watching any Tivo, but I told them that watching a live episode of Animal Planet was the best. William played with the mouse for awhile... batting it around, chasing it, catching it in his mouth and carrying it around, but eventually, he lost it in the basement and gave up. Oh well, I suppose this episode is one of those "To Be Continued" ones, although I am sure that Jen would rather it never happen again. But I told them that living in an old house goes hand-in-hand with living with mice. Maybe I can return to see William catch a mouse again on Animal Planet Live!, but only if Ryan Adams is playing.