Category Archives: Off The Air

Off The Air, Routes & Branches & Beyond, Syndicated

Routes & Branches & Beyond

25 July 2022 Radio Waterloo Leave a comment

Routes & Branches & Beyond is a weekly excursion, starting from Celtic music and moving beyond – geographically, stylistically and culturally. Travel the world, without changing planes in Toronto.

Routes & Branches & Beyond is hosted by Ivan Emke, and is syndicated on Radio Waterloo from the NCRA’s !earshot Digital Distribution System. Routes & Branches & Beyond is not currently on the CKMS-FM schedule.

Fit to Eat: the NL Farm and Food Show, Off The Air, Syndicated

Fit to Eat: the NL Farm and Food Show

24 July 2022 Radio Waterloo Leave a comment

Many of us have devoted a significant amount of time to eating, and to talking and reading and thinking about eating. However, perhaps we have spent much less time thinking about where our food came from. Or who grew it or raised it or hunted it or collected it… or made it in a lab. But that may be changing.

Indeed, in these times, we are beginning to think more about food security, as we realize ever more clearly that in this province (NL) we are at the weakest link of the transportation chain – in an age of extreme weather and climate disruption. If we were not able to ship in food, we would not survive. We produce only around 10% of what we eat. Thus, without imports, we’d eat until about the end of the first week of February, and then we’d go hungry the rest of the year. That is not a good situation.

So it is time to talk about our food system, and the people who play a role in it.

A new weekly radio/podcast show hopes to contribute to that conversation. It is called Fit to Eat: the NL Farm and Food Show. It features conversations with farmers, processors, hunters, chefs, thinkers, innovators, homesteaders, researchers and eaters. And, to further lighten the tone, it includes music suggested by the interview guests.

Fit to Eat: the NL Farm and Food Show is hosted by Ivan Emke, is syndicated on Radio Waterloo from the NCRA’s !earshot Digital Distribution System. Fit to Eat is not currently on the CKMS-FM schedule.

So Old It's New

So Old It’s New set list for Monday, July 18, 2022 – on air 8-10 pm ET

18 July 2022 Karlo Berkovich Leave a comment

Camel, Freefall . . . A debut entry, progressive rock band Camel, on the So Old It’s New show. Not sure why I haven’t played them before, probably couldn’t find my CDs in my music mess that never seems to get resolved but I have come to believe helps my creativity given my proclivity for ‘top of the pile of CDs to file’ shows – CDs that never get refiled, of course. Anyway, here you go with a great track from the band, from what many consider their finest album, 1974’s Mirage, the song featuring nice guitar from Andrew Latimer who is the lone remaining founding member, from 1971 in a band which continues to tour but naturally nobody wants to listen to new albums by old bands these days so Camel has not released any new studio work since 2002 and that’s fine. I was inspired to play Freefall after watching a documentary on extreme parachutists, some with parachutes, some without, in, er, freefall. So that leads me into my usual song title madness, as will be described in the commentary on the next few songs. Enjoy, or not.

Elton John, Medley (Yell Help/Wednesday Night/Ugly) . . . Played it before, didn’t want to play it again but I have a very sensitive friend (kidding) with an easily bruised ego who suggested it some weeks ago. But I had already planned the show, so I didn’t play it but promised to, in time, so here it is but you must know, as stated when fragile friend suggested it, that if I’m going play it, everyone’s going to have to listen to even a truncated version of my story for this song and the album from whence it came – 1975’s Rock Of The Westies. That’s because it’s like a longtime band not playing tried and true ‘warhorses’ they might be sick of playing in concert: The diehards want to hear deep cuts but the band is in something of a bind since they risk someone seeing them for the first time not hearing a song they came to hear. So, the story, again: me and my football-playing teammates, lifting weights in our high school gym, 3 albums available to us to play on the school ‘record player’. The Beatles’ US compilation Something New, The Rolling Stones’ compilation Through The Past, Darkly (Big Hits, Vol. 2) and Westies, the lone studio album of original music in the lot. And that’s how I got into what is a terrific EJ album although it marked the beginning of his 1970s commercial decline. But heck, the guy was, by contract, releasing two albums a year, the creativity had to wane at some point and it matters not anyway, because the legacy has long since been left. Oh, and the Yell Help part of it refers to the previous song, by Camel, Free Fall so the jumper is yelling help, get it? Yeah, I know, enough, already.

U2, Last Night On Earth . . . A relatively underperforming single, the third one released from the Pop album, which divided fans and critics due to U2’s shift to electronica and such. This song is arguably less in that genre but regardless, it’s a great song, I like the album and so be it. As mentioned numerous times, I stick with bands I like on their creative travels, until and unless they totally lose me, like post-Terry Kath Chicago which, by the way, just released a new album, Born For This Moment. I discovered this new release had happened during a trip the other day to my favorite local music store. The new Chicago album is ok, I guess, and since I do like the band’s early work I always at least try their new stuff even while having given up on them. And, fortunately, there are means by which to sample music without feeling you’ve wasted money on something you don’t like although I do support buying artists’ material and am still into physical product. Anyway, the new Chicago sounds to me like the same type of shit they’ve been doing since the 1980s and I do admire the songwriting, but it’s just not the groundbreaking type jazz-rock fusion stuff they did early on. Which is interesting because if you look at Chicago set lists, they know where their bread is buttered as the majority of the songs they play live to this day are from the first three albums, plus the hits up to the end of the Kath era, 1978 and then some of the requisite huge hit schlock stuff. The first song on the new album is called If This Is Goodbye; wonder if that means Chicago is done, recording new stuff-wise, anyway. And how did I spend most of a U2 song segment on Chicago? Well, it’s done and was fun.

Pantera, Cemetery Gates . . . Don’t fret, listeners who may know that Pantera is a very heavy, extreme to a degree band. I agree, to my ears at least. I remember when I first tried them out during the 1990s at an HMV store (remember them?) where they had listening posts and I was curious. I put on a Pantera album, Far Beyond Driven it was, their 1994 album that was a new release at the time and I thought, ‘this isn’t even music’ as I listened to this just heavy heavy stuff complete with growled, yelled vocals. Yet, I got into it as time went on. But not all their stuff is that way and Cemetery Gates is an example, it’s a ballad, of sorts, gets heavy but certainly palatable to most ears I would think. In any event, it fit, title-wise, into my Freefall, Yell Help, Last Night On Earth you get the picture, things not going well for whoever as death calls, ha.

Slayer, Seasons In The Abyss . . . I’ve gotten back into Slayer recently. And my thoughts about them fit what I just said about Pantera. If you listen to, say, Slayer’s breakthrough album Reign In Blood it’s high velocity speed/thrash metal from start to finish, almost too much to take which is maybe why that album is just five seconds under 29 minutes long. Yet, the band could also slow things down, Black Sabbath-like, as with this title cut from their 1990 album and the preceding work, 1988’s South Of Heaven – a title I always remember my older son laughing about. Hellish, indeed.

Wishbone Ash, Phoenix . . . Just a bloody amazing epic from a band who, with their much-ballyhooed twin lead guitar attack, inspired and influenced bands ranging from Iron Maiden to Lynyrd Skynyrd. This track features so many styles but you can definitely hear, at points, where Maiden was inspired to its ‘galloping’ approach. Oh, and the set has now risen from the phoenix, so to speak.

The Rolling Stones, Brand New Car . . . It’s hilarious to read YouTube comments on this song, from 1994’s Voodoo Lounge, about being inspired to buy a car after listening to it. It’s about women; the lyrics are an old blues technique – as other commenters point out to the great unwashed/inexperienced. Anyway, critics savaged the track for its lyrics while apparently ignoring the nice wah wah guitar. I’ve always liked it, critics be damned, of course.

The Lovemongers, Battle of Evermore . . . So I dug out my Singles soundtrack to a movie I never saw nor care to see, most of it from Seattle grunge bands of the 1990s. It’s an excellent album, and I play a Mother Love Bone track that appeared on Singles, later in tonight’s set. Heart, though, was also from the American Northwest, worked out of Vancouver, BC in their early days, loved Led Zeppelin, covered Zep in concert and had a side project, The Lovemongers, who nicely did this Zep track.

Joe Jackson with lead vocals by Marianne Faithfull, Love Got Lost . . . I mentioned some time back, after playing a JJ tune from the 1983 Mike’s Murder soundtrack that was essentially a stylistic sequel to Jackson’s 1982 masterpiece Night and Day album, that he did do a Night and Day II, in 2000, and that I’d get to some stuff from it eventually. Tonight’s the night, as JJ pairs with Mick Jagger’s former lover for this torch tour de force.

David Bowie, ‘Tis A Pity She Was A Whore . . . I originally had Bowie’s Always Crashing In The Same Car, from the 70s Low album, in my set as part of my death or risking death title openers, which also prompted me to then play the Stones’ Brand New Car, as life had risen like Wishbone Ash’s Phoenix and a new car/woman was out and about. But I realized I’d played the earlier Bowie tune fairly recently so I decided to go with this to me great up tempo tune from the late great Bowie’s final album, 2016’s Blackstar. It was released just four days before Bowie’s death. He went out on top, creatively.

Taj Mahal, Satisfied ‘N’ Tickled Too . . . Taj, title-wise coming out of a session with Bowie’s whore from the previous song. Seriously, this is from 1976 and reflects Mahal’s unique approach to the blues. Brilliant artist.

Patti Smith, Smells Like Teen Spirit . . . From a covers album, Twelve (songs) I continue to revisit both for my own listening pleasure and for the show. A terrific reinterpretation of the song that made Nirvana a household name. I love female rock singers and Smith is one of the best ever.

Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, Mystery Man . . . Love that Petty drawl or however one would describe it on this one, a nice lazy groove tune from his debut album in 1976.

Lee Harvey Osmond, Cuckoo’s Nest . . . Not sure what else I have to or can say about Tom Wilson, the great Canadian artist behind Junkhouse, Lee Harvey Osmond, solo work and his contributions to Black and The Rodeo Kings. There’s nothing he’s involved in, musically, I don’t like.

T. Rex, Jewel . . . Great stuff, guitar and otherwise, from the late great Marc Bolan’s band. Hypnotic.

Gillan and Glover, Telephone Box . . . I suppose we in Canada could have used more of what are now considered relics, telephone booths, last week during one of our providers’ embarrassing, ridiculous, largely indefensible and poorly responded to outages. Anyway, good tune from a side project by the Deep Purple singer and bass player. Accidentally On Purpose was the name of the album by Ian Gillan and Roger Glover, released in 1988. Dr. John plays piano on the album; noted session man Andy Newmark is the drummer.

Mother Love Bone, Chloe Dancer/Crown Of Thorns . . . Pulled this one, as mentioned previously in the set, from the Singles soundtrack. Extended piece, almost sounds like Guns ‘N Roses, vocally at least, in spots. To me, anyway.

Atlanta Rhythm Section, Jukin’ . . . Nice southern rock, or just rock in general. Saw these guys eons ago, first Rolling Stones’ show I ever saw, July 4, 1978 at Buffalo’s NFL football stadium as they opened for the Stones on the Some Girls tour.

John Lennon, I Found Out . . . Propulsive track from Lennon’s deeply personal 1970 album, Plastic Ono Band.

Traffic, Freedom Rider . . . I imagine I would have eventually become a Traffic fan regardless, but my older brother bringing home the one and only Blind Faith album in 1969 sped up the process. Steve Winwood of Traffic was in the band along with Cream members Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker, plus Ric Grech, most notably of Family. Cream I already knew about but Blind Faith spurred me to check into Winwood and Grech’s other bands.

Genesis, Eleventh Earl Of Mar . . . I find inspiration for the songs I play in many things. Things I hear, see, read, songs I know that are favorites, people I talk to about music, it can happen in the snap of a finger. That’s the wonderful thing, to me. This one was inspired some weeks ago, by a chat about a previous set list with an old high school and college friend with whom I’ve reconnected via the show. He didn’t mention this track, specifically. But the inspiration for playing it remained with me after I played a Genesis song from the And Then There Were Three album and my friend asked “is that from the first album they did without (guitarist Steve) Hackett?” I replied yes, but Hackett stuck in my mind and I thought of playing some of his solo stuff, which I have before but instead settled on this, from his last album with Genesis, the 1976 Wind and Wuthering release. It was the second post-Peter Gabriel on lead vocals album, after the very successful A Trick of the Tail proved Genesis would remain a force after Gabriel. Wind and Wuthering was arguably the last record where Genesis was for the most part still leaning more towards the earlier 1970s progressive rock direction than the increasingly pop music avenues they later followed, to huge commercial success.

Off The Air, Syndicated, Viewpoints

Viewpoints

18 July 2022 Radio Waterloo Leave a comment

Viewpoints is the latest news magazine produced by the Community Radio Fund of Canada. It provides an overview of what’s happening across Canada, thanks to some 20 radio reporters posted across the country (British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, North West Territories, Québec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia) and working for the Local Journalism Initiative (LJI). The Local Journalism Initiative supports the production of original civic journalism news content that covers the diverse needs of underserved communities across Canada. Politics, society, environment, community, arts and culture take the air on «Viewpoints» hosted by Boris Chassagne. The Community Radio Fund of Canada works in collaboration with the National Campus and Community Radio Association (NCRA/ANREC).

Viewpoints is syndicated on Radio Waterloo from the NCRA’s !earshot Digital Distribution System, and currently airs on CKMS-FM 102.7 on Mondays from 2:30pm to 3:00pm.

Indek Khut ma Indek Sheel, Off The Air, Radio Waterloo Production

Indek Khut ma Indek Sheel

11 July 2022 Abuobeida Mudawi Leave a comment

show logo Indek Khut ma Indek Sheel presents the Sudanese music and culture with a brief analyses of songs and cultural practices from different regions in Sudan. In addition, it makes connections with the youth and adults to tackle some cultural challenges, questions, concerns that they face in Canada in order to better cope with Canadian core values such as democracy, peace, freedom of faith, respect of the law and local regulations, cross-cultural relationships, social responsibility as good citizens, etc. English is the main language of the show. Also, the show makes interviews with opinion leaders of the Sudanese community in Canada and from Sudan, musicians, artists, etc.

Indek Khut ma Indek Sheel is a famous motto in Sudan that means “if you have money you can donate, but if you don’t have money, you can take what you need from this unguarded basket.” It was coined by young women and men in the famous Sit-in that took place in front of the Sudanese Armed Forces Headquarters in Khartoum in 2019 and continued for months. It was ended up by a massacre against protesters on Monday June 3, 2019, more tragically in the Holy Month, Ramadan. The Sudanese widely accuse The Military and Rapid Support Forces, both of them are in power now in Sudan, of committing this humanity crime.

This program is not intended for donations or any financial purposes, but it uses this motto, as a representation of the Sudanese major traditions of collective work for public interest, social cooperation and integration, and promotion of of the Sudanese identity.

Indek Khut ma Indek Sheel is not currently on the schedule.

So Old It's New

So Old It’s New set list for Monday, July 11, 2022 – on air 8-10 pm ET

11 July 2022 Karlo Berkovich Leave a comment

The Kinks, Juke Box Music . . . A single from the 1977 Sleepwalker album that, as with so many great Kinks’ songs it seems, didn’t chart. Absurd! So, it’s a deep cut, says me.

New Barbarians (Ronnie Wood, Keith Richards and assorted members of Rolling Stones, Inc.), Rock Me Baby (live) . . . Drunken, stoned, ramshackle, sloppy, raunchy, beautiful rock and roll on the blues standard tune by the New Barbarians. That was the band Wood put together to tour in support of his 1979 album, Gimme Some Neck. The lineup of Wood, Richards, jazz fusion bassist Stanley Clarke, drummer Joseph Zigaboo Modeliste of funkmeisters The Meters, Faces keyboardist Ian McLagan and Stones’ henchman saxophonist Bobby Keys toured the United States but first appeared at a show I somehow was lucky enough to get tickets to, the April, 1979 Oshawa charity concert Richards did for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind as penance for his 1977 drug bust while the Stones were in Toronto for their El Mocambo shows. Those two nights were famously captured on one side of the Love You Live album and, more recently, the full club show release, which is excellent. The Barbarians opened the Oshawa concert, then on came the Rolling Stones for a short set, maybe an hour which is interesting because Mick Jagger long ago was quoted as saying that the best concert would be an hour or less, hit ’em hard, in, out, leave them wanting more. Which is what the Stones did that day. Anyway, I pulled this not from that show, which has never been officially released (many bootlegs available) but from a 2006 release on Wooden Records (get it?) called Buried Alive: Live In Maryland, from the Barbarians’ U.S. tour. The one-off group later opened for Led Zeppelin at Zep’s final big show, the Knebworth Festival in August, 1979.

Carlos Johnson, Out Of Control . . . From a covers CD I picked up some time back in my music travels, Chicago Plays The Stones. This is a, I’ll call it rockabilly blues reinterpretation by guitarist Johnson, and I love it, of the Stones’ tune from their 1997 Bridges To Babylon album. Which proves two things: Reinterpretations are worth listening to at least once (and more, in this case) and that latter-day Stones’ albums – like those of many major artists still doing it – are well worth anyone’s open-minded while.

Tommy Bolin, Bustin’ Out For Rosey . . . Great riff and song from the late great guitarist, often a replacement member (Deep Purple, James Gang) but an amazing talent in his own right. His playing is well worth checking out on Purple’s Come Taste The Band album, his James Gang records and his solo stuff – this one from the Private Eyes album.

AC/DC, Sweet Candy . . . So, having played Bustin’ Out For Rosey as the previous track, one would expect me to, if going with an AC/DC song next, to play Whole Lotta Rosie, no? Well, no. Hah. I admit I did consider it of course but . . . that’s . . . just what you’d be expecting. So I went with a more recent AC/DC tune, from 2014’s Rock Or Bust album. It’s a good one and fits with my show mantra, old bands, old tracks, old bands, their new stuff if they’re continuing to produce material.

The Beatles, Wait . . . I was listening to Rubber Soul the other day. So . . . Want to hear my story – again – about how my sister had the album when it came out, which is how I got into it? Well, that’s pretty much the story. And she liked dancing to it, as mentioned before; she even wrote she liked dancing to it on her copy of the album. “Good dances”. Enough. On to the next track.

Pretenders, The Wait . . . I was watching one of my Pretenders’ concert DVDs the other night once I got tired of reading and couldn’t watch TV due to my we’ll let them go unnamed but everyone knows who it is, internet provider’s screwup, and the band did a rousing version of this live so I decided to play the studio cut, from the debut album.

Led Zeppelin, Baby Come On Home . . . Blues track that was recorded in 1968 but did not appear officially until the 1993 Boxed Set 2 compilation.

Graham Parker and The Rumour, Empty Lives . . . The Up Escalator, the 1980 album from which this song comes, tends to get critically trashed, especially in comparison to Parker’s previous offering, Squeezing Out Sparks. To each their own; I like both albums equally and in fact was introduced to Parker via The Up Escalator.

Eagles, The Sad Cafe . . . Same thoughts as with the Parker tune and album, above. This one’s from The Long Run, which followed the monster Hotel California and was critically panned and also criticized by the band itself, yet I like each album equally, little to choose between them, for me. And The Long Run made No. 1 as well in most countries, so . . . ?

Chicago, Loneliness Is Just A Word . . . From the pre-schlock glory days (my opinion) of Chicago, the first three albums especially, this one from III, and up until Terry Kath’s passing.

Jefferson Airplane, Lather . . . The typewriter song. Listen, you’ll hear it, along with Grace Slick’s typically great vocals.

Bruce Cockburn, Understanding Nothing . . . Spooky track from his 1988 Big Circumstance album.

Elvis Costello, Beyond Belief . . . This one, from Imperial Bedroom, is on various Costello compilations yet while well known, wasn’t a single. Could easily have been.

Headstones, Pretty Little Death Song . . . Perhaps they’ll play this upbeat (ha) tune when they play the Kitchener Blues Festival in August.

Link Wray, Climbing A High Wall . . . I can only smile in appreciation and admiration of the razor-like guitar assault on this tune, one of the few with vocals from one of the fathers of distortion. The guy was amazing and so influential to the point where one thinks, this is Hendrixian stuff yet Wray came first, so maybe Hendrix, who I really like, was in many ways Wray-ian.

Iggy Pop, Cold Metal . . . Had to play this one when, while playing the Wray track online, I noticed a comment suggesting Iggy Pop/Stooges ought to be paying Link Wray royalties. A worthy thought. This one’s from Pop’s 1988 Instinct album. The record company expected a pop album, given, er, Pop’s previous pop-oriented and commercially successful Blah Blah Blah album. Naturally, Pop ignored the company and delivered a hard rock/metal record. Good for him.

Black Sabbath, Eternal Idol . . . Title cut from the band’s 1987 album during a state of flux period where guitarist Tony Iommi was the lone remaining original member. Yet while unsuccessful commercially without the lead vocals of original singer Ozzy Osbourne or great replacement Ronnie James Dio, it’s still a great album. Lead vocals by Tony Martin, for anyone with an open mind willing to listen to it and many of the Sabbath albums of the period. And that’s a testament to Iommi’s perseverance and, of course, amazing heavy riffs.

The Electric Flag, Another Country . . . From the Mike Bloomfield-led psychedelic jazz blues band. I love the transition around the 4:15 mark of this extended piece, from psychedelia back to more conventional jazzy rock.

Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Country Home . . . Raunchy track, typical of the distortion-heavy 1990 album Ragged Glory. It was originally recorded in the 1970s but didn’t appear on a studio record until Ragged Glory.

The Guess Who, Old Joe . . . Obscure one from Canned Wheat, but that’s what we’re about here – often obscure but nevertheless great tunes, this one written by and featuring typically great Burton Cummings vocals.

Buddy Guy, She Got The Devil In Her . . . Guy’s Sweet Tea album, 2001, is so good. Here’s yet another example.

George Harrison, Behind That Locked Door . . . A rare country-ish tune by Harrison, from All Things Must Pass and apparently written for Bob Dylan as encouragement for Dylan to return to the concert stage, which he did for Harrison’s Concert for Bangladesh. Dylan hasn’t stopped since on what’s become known as the Never Ending Tour.

Bob Dylan, Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands . . . Forever memories for me of getting into the Blonde on Blonde album in 1981 (yes I know, late to the 1966 party despite my older brother’s influence), lying on a couch in a shared residence with friends, alone as everyone else was out on a Sunday afternoon, listening to my buddy’s cassette tape of the album. I knew Dylan’s hits of course, but that day prompted me to go back and get all the studio albums I’d missed, and moved on with the artist from there.

Dickey Betts, Long Time Gone . . . Ramblin’ Man-ish tune (and why wouldn’t it be, he wrote it) from the Allman Brothers Band guitarist, from his 1974 debut solo album, Highway Call. And on that note, we call it a night, for another week.

So Old It's New

So Old It’s New set list for Monday, July 4, 2022 – on air 8-10 pm ET

4 July 2022 Karlo Berkovich Leave a comment

The J. Geils Band, (Ain’t Nothin’ But A) House Party (live) . . . “We are gonna blow your face out!’ is singer Peter Wolf’s intro to this song, giving the live album from whence it came, its name. And they did. As always, J. Geils Band best served live via this album, the earlier Full House and the later, less-renowned but very fine, Showtime! There’s also a great latter day from the archives CD release of a Rockpalast show from Germany, plus of course various songs and gigs available online at YouTube and elsewhere.

Bruce Springsteen, Independence Day . . . It’s July 4. Of course I’d play this, for my American friends in what is a sort of Can-Am show, given that Canada Day kicked off the weekend.

John Mellencamp, Justice and Independence ’85 . . . And this, re Independence Day, title-wise, anyway.

The Tragically Hip, Yawning Or Snarling . . . A brooding track from 1994’s somewhat dark Day For Night album.

Rush, Jacob’s Ladder . . . From Permanent Waves, it embodies the progressive side of Rush on an album that to some was a move away from that aspect of the band to tighter, more commercial songs – which ironically is what they started with before drummer Neil Peart joined the band after the first album.

Ted Nugent, Writing On The Wall . . . A then relatively unknown Meat Loaf handles lead vocals on this one, from the 1976 album Free-For-All. A year later, Meat Loaf unleashed Bat Out of Hell on the world while Nugent carried on with albums and songs like Cat Scratch Fever.

The Beach Boys, Hang On To Your Ego . . . Alternate version and original title of I Know There’s An Answer, from Pet Sounds. Written by Brian Wilson about an acid trip, the lyrics were rewritten after singer Mike Love refused to sing it as originally presented due to his objections to drug use. Space doesn’t permit, but it’s worth reading about the song which, musically, I like in both versions.

The Doors, Waiting For The Sun . . . Another of those songs, like Sheer Heart Attack by Queen, or Houses of the Holy by Led Zeppelin, where an apparent title cut isn’t on the album in question but is placed on a later album. Waiting For The Sun, the song, appeared on Morrison Hotel, two years and two albums after Waiting For The Sun, the album. Houses of the Holy was originally recorded for that album, which was released in 1973, but the song was shelved because at the time it was thought to be too similar to other tracks, like Dancing Days, on that album. Sheer Heart Attack, originally intended for that album in 1974, was unfinished so was delayed until the News of the World album in 1977.

Aerosmith, Bone To Bone (Coney Island Whitefish Boy) . . . Coney Island is where the annual US Independence Day hot-dog eating contest is held so, in keeping with my somewhat Can-Am theme today, here’s the Aerosmith tune from the raucous Night In The Ruts album.

Led Zeppelin, Hot Dog . . . Speaking of hot dogs, here’s Zep in fun rockabilly mode from In Through The Out Door.

The Guess Who, Orly . . . A fairly successful single, it made No. 21 in Canada in 1973 although it’s arguably relatively underplayed, if not at the time certainly by now when all you’ll likely hear on classic rock stations by The Guess Who is Undun, American Woman and No Time. I happened to be listening to it a while ago on a Guess Who personal compilation I made of hits, lesser hits and album tracks, so decided to play it. Good tune and another indication of how Burton Cummings is one of those distinctively great singers whose voice is an instrument in itself, more than that of most vocalists outside of people like, say, Van Morrison.

FM, Black Noise . . . Prog/space rock, this 10-minute title cut from the debut album, in 1978 of the Canadian band from whence Nash The Slash came.

Eric Clapton, Mean Old Frisco . . . Cover of the Arthur (Big Boy) Crudup blues track that Clapton cut for his 1977 release, Slowhand.

Peter Tosh, Legalize It . . . Tosh won, though he didn’t live to see pot being legalized in many countries by now. Title cut from his 1976 album.

David Wilcox, Blood Money . . . I played What’s The Buzz/Strange Thing Mystifying from the 1970 Jesus Christ Superstar soundtrack last week, resulting in me playing this track this week. Why? Because of how my mind works. One of the songs on the JC Superstar record is Damned For All Time/Blood Money, where Judas, performed outstandingly by Murray Head, is tormented by his coming betrayal of Christ. And that track was under my consideration for last week’s show. I didn’t play it, as it’s so difficult for me to choose from that amazing soundtrack. It stuck in my mind, though, hence the Wilcox tune, if that makes sense. It does to me.

Steve Miller Band, Baby’s House . . . Miller is deservedly well known for his irresistibly catchy big hits of the 1970s starting with The Joker and proceeding through the Fly Like An Eagle and Book of Dreams albums that made him a fixture on top 40 radio. But his earlier, progressive/psychedelic and bluesy stuff, like this extended piece from 1969’s Your Saving Grace album, is equally compelling in its own way, and it’s as if by a completely different artist.

Bobbie Gentry, Apartment 21 . . . I only played this because she references my favorite band, The Rolling Stones, in the lyrics. No, not really. It’s just another cool cut by an artist who is fascinating to me and many. A woman known of course for her amazing 1967 hit song Ode To Billie Joe but she was so much more, such great music but more importantly a woman who took charge of her own career during a time when it wasn’t a woman’s place to, for the most part, write, produce and record her own material. Gentry did so, was a star for a while, then did another cool thing – she essentially disappeared off the face of the earth, having had enough of that life.

The Band, Back To Memphis . . . A live cover of the Chuck Berry tune that appeared on the now out of print double-CD To Kingdom Come compilation, although this version of the tune is available on YouTube and other online avenues. I already had this in my show but it’s interesting in that later, after my planning was done, a buddy of mine over the weekend sent me a shot of his day 1 of vacation fun, a glass of of some sort of whiskey, can’t remember what, probably Scotch of some sort after a séance (inside joke) sitting beside his turntable while playing a Chuck Berry album. This friend of mine is often an inspiration as our music chats tweak my brain to things but don’t tell him because then he’ll start or keep offering more and more suggestions to which I then have to put my foot down and say, yeah, thanks but it’s my show, I’ll put it under advisement, I’ve probably already thought of it so shut up and leave me alone to create.

The Rolling Stones, Crazy Mama . . . Great Stones ‘belter’ as saying goes, or at least I read from a rock critic once, from Black and Blue. As often mentioned here, it’s a diverse and excellent album trashed upon release now considered a classic, but albums age like fine wine, as Keith Richards has said and he’s right. Many of the critics who originally carved Black and Blue to pieces now rank it as at least a 4 out of 5.

Steppenwolf, Renegade . . . Great tune, lyrics about lead singer John Kay’s fleeing, with his mother, his dad having been killed during World War II, from the then East Germany and the Iron Curtain of Soviet oppression in 1949. Previous to that, in 1945, Kay and his mother had fled the advancing Soviet troops, not knowing then that where they wound up would fall under the Iron Curtain. Eventually, of course, he settled in Canada, moved to California and Steppenwolf was born.

The Allman Brothers Band, It’s Not My Cross To Bear . . . Gregg Allman-penned blues cut from the debut album that, unless one knew Allman wrote it, could easily be misconstrued as another brilliant cover of the many blues artists the Allmans rightfully worshipped and were inspired by. As Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones has said, perhaps the best thing that an artist can do, or the best that can be said about an artist, is that ‘they passed it on’. Message received, by the Allmans, proven by this track, and then they obviously passed on their own genius.

The Doobie Brothers, I Cheat The Hangman . . . Great stuff from the Stampede album, well before the Michael McDonald schlock stuff set in. That said, and I’ve always said, McDonald is a brilliant artist who saved the band in the late 1970s by stepping in on lead vocals as founding member Tom Johnston’s health faltered. And his Takin’ It To The Streets remains one of my favorite Doobies tracks. After that, they went schlock but like Chicago in similar fashion, were more commercially successful but mostly to a new audience as the old guard fans abandoned their new sound. The Doobies have been back together for some time, with both Johnston and McDonald in the band, touring and releasing new studio albums, the most recent in 2021. The music is a sort of hybrid between the earlier, rockier Johnston-led sound and the later soulful stuff with McDonald. Decent, to me. But not worth me buying. Good thing the internet exists.

Paice Ashton Lord, Ghost Story . . . Cool track from the one and only album, 1977’s Malice In Wonderland, by this short-lived one-off offshoot of Deep Purple, featuring drummer Ian Paice and keyboard player Jon Lord along with singer/keyboardist Tony Ashton. Although not credited in the band name, soon to be Whitesnake member Bernie Marsden is the album’s guitarist as the family tree of Deep Purple expanded in various ways to include Rainbow, Whitesnake and Gillan/The Ian Gillan band. Nazareth, meantime, later used the same album title for its 1980 release that featured the hit Holiday.

So Old It's New

So Old It’s New set list for Monday, June 27, 2022 – on air 8-10 pm ET

26 June 2022 Karlo Berkovich Leave a comment

Jesus Christ Superstar A Rock Opera (various artists, 1970 version), What’s the Buzz/Strange Thing Mystifying . . . Ian Gillan of Deep Purple fame as Jesus, Murray Head as Judas, Yvonne Elliman as Mary Magdalene, etc including Mike D’Abo – who wrote (and sang) the classic Handbags and Gladrags as brilliantly interpreted by Rod Stewart – as King Herod and the late Spooky Tooth, Grease Band and Paul McCartney and Wings guitarist Henry McCullough. Fantastic, timeless album, one of my all-time favorites by anyone.

Max Webster, Battle Scar . . . I wanted to play a Rush song this week, and a Max Webster tune. So in the end, I combine the two – all three members of Rush – singer/bassist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson and drummer Neil Peart – helping out on this wonderfully heavy track from Max’s Universal Juveniles album.

The J. Geils Band, Sanctuary . . . Take It Back was the single from the Sanctuary album, was hailed by critics but naturally for Geils during their brilliant but pre-hit 1970s days it did nothing on the charts. Perhaps they should have released the title cut, a much better song – tougher, grittier, better groove – in my opinion.

Elton John, Tower Of Babel . . . I must subconsciously be into various forms of religious or spiritual imagery today given I’ve delved into Jesus Christ (Superstar) and now the Tower of Babel. I’m actually a-religious or, in the fun phrase I’ve long since stolen from an old friend, a recovering/recovered Catholic but in any event, been meaning to get back to some Elton John the last few weeks but haven’t managed to, until now. From Captain Fantastic and The Brown Dirty Cowboy. Next week? Maybe Medley: Yell Help/Wednesday Night/Ugly from Rock of the Westies, which a good friend of mine raved about to me on a text trip down memory lane last week. To which I replied, yeah, thanks bud, all good, played it before, does not preclude of course me playing it again. But, if I do I’ll have to, as is my custom, regale and/or bore readers and listeners with my tales of tough workouts with football teammates in the high school weightlifting gym where Rock of the Westies was one of just three albums we had to play, and endlessly did – the other two being a Stones’ compilation, Through The Past, Darkly (Big Hits, Vol. II) and a Beatles’ US Capitol Records compilation, Something New. Or, I may ignore Elton John altogether next week, just to piss my friend off – the likely scenario.

Spooky Tooth, Fantasy Satisfier . . . Rocker from The Mirror album in 1974, after which the band split (only to later reunite, of course, as bands do) with guitarist Mick Jones (not the Clash’s Mick Jones) going on to form Foreigner while Gary Wright went solo to big success with the Dream Weaver album and title cut single, along with Love Is Alive.

Eric Burdon & War, Pretty Colors . . . What a combination of talents that gave us the funky, soulful albums Eric Burdon Declares War and The Black Man’s Burdon, this one from the latter record.

Billy Joel, Travelin’ Prayer . . . What a great banjo-fueled kick-butt country/bluegrass tune, a single that went relatively nowhere, didn’t crack the top 50 anywhere, from Joel’s 1974 Piano Man album which of course yielded his first big single, the title cut. That said, maybe surprisingly because it’s so well known, but Piano Man made ‘just’ No. 25 but that’s actually true of many hit singles people tend to assume made No. 1 when they didn’t, although they were major hits and naturally the artists who wrote or performed them include them in their concert sets.

Chris Whitley, Narcotic Prayer . . . Whitley did a 180 on his second album, Din of Ecstacy. He pivoted from the brilliant acoustic blues rock of his debut, Living With The Law in favor of the grungy guitar attack of the appropriately-titled Din. Critics disparaged it, I like it. But I’m like that with artists I like, appreciate and admire. I’ll travel with their muses, if and until they lose me, which rarely happens.

The Guess Who, Friends Of Mine (alternate version) . . . This is the alternate, about a minute longer, darker lyrically version of the 10-minute Doors-inspired cut that appeared on Wheatfield Soul. It’s terrific psychedelic stuff, un-Guess Who like if all one knows of The Guess Who are their brilliant singles. They were brilliant in long-form material, too. This is from the outakes, demos and other early stuff release, The Guess Who? This Time Long Ago compilations that came out in 2001.

Budgie, Breaking All The House Rules . . . Typically great extended rocker from the brilliant but, sales wise, underappreciated if influential Welsh wonders.

T Bone Burnett, Trap Door . . . Title cut from an EP the noted producer but a great artist in his own right released in 1982. Great lyrics.

The Beatles, Savoy Truffle . . . Came upon this one while searching for Savoy Brown songs. The George Harrison-penned Beatles’ track from the White Album, about Eric Clapton’s sweet tooth, came up in the computer system, I listened to it again for first time in long time and, yeah. So, I’m playing it.

Joni Mitchell, The Reoccurring Dream . . . About the shallowness of consumerism. Mitchell apparently pieced it together by recording TV commercials for two weeks. The track appeared on her 1988 album Chalk Mark In A Rain Storm and she put it on her “Misses” deep cuts self-selected compilation that accompanied her “Hits’ release in 1996.

Saga, Book Of Lies . . . From my hometown of Oakville, Ontario comes Saga, a Canadian band somewhat in the vein of, say, Rush yet not nearly as successful although, given their progressive rock stylings, Saga has been hugely popular in various European countries, Germany in particular. And Puerto Rico, go figure. This track, from their 2007 release 10,000 Days (yes, they’re still at it) is a fine combination of prog and rock elements including great guitar soloing by Ian Crichton.

Savoy Brown, Money Can’t Save Your Soul . . . Thought I’d forgotten about Savoy Brown when I mentioned them a while back, during my Beatles’ song commentary, didn’t you? It is to laugh. I have a great memory and creative mind if one permits me some bullshit arrogance, with a twinkle in my eye, of course. Anyway, one of my favorite Savoy songs, with obvious relationship-resonating lyrics for anyone, depending on one’s own circumstances.

Marianne Faithfull, The Blue Millionaire (extended version) . . . Eight-plus minute version of the 5-mins and change track that originally appeared on her 1983 album A Child’s Adventure. I’m forever fascinated by the creative process, given I create, in a manner of speaking, myself. It’s just interesting how many song forms there are that are appealing, like this hypnotic song, no real chorus or hook, arguably like some Dylan trips, yet all so compelling for that fact.

Concrete Blonde, Walking In London . . . Haven’t played Concrete Blonde in a while but, thankfully, stumbled upon the band in my usual prepping show trip through songs I’ve loaded into the station’s computer system. I can never get enough of Johnette Napolitano’s powerhouse, sexy, sultry and seductive vocals. For evidence, check out the transition at the 1:11 mark of this spooky title cut from the band’s 1992 album, then again at 3:27 – Desire!! Why this band wasn’t bigger than their one brief moment in the sun, 1990’s Bloodletting album and the single Joey, is one of music’s mysteries. Napolitano now apparently lives quietly in California, composing music for films, working as a gallery artist and tending to horses.

Family, Between Blue and Me . . . Love the somewhat tortured vocals by guitarist and band leader Roger Chapman. John Wetton, before becoming a longtime member of King Crimson and Asia with pit stops in Wishbone Ash, Uriah Heep and Roxy Music, handles bass and background vocals duties. Which reminds me, as I keep trying to remind myself, about time I got back to some Wishbone Ash. We’ll see. As I often say, in just two hours per week, so much music, so little time. But eventually I get to all I want to get to. Usually, given all the myriad show ideas that run through my undisciplined mind.

Pete Townshend, Time Is Passing . . . It is indeed, isn’t it, time passing I mean. From Townshend’s first solo album, 1972’s Who Came First. Terrific stuff, but then most Townshend tunes are, Who or otherwise.

The Moody Blues, Eternity Road . . . Another band I’ve been trying to fit in over the last few weeks and finally today is their time. Overdue. Sounds crazy, perhaps, in terms of fitting songs into the two-hour slot, ie just put the damn things in but easier said than done. Why? Because you have thoughts in mind, you plug songs in, others come up and it’s like, yeah, haven’t played/heard that in a while either and before you know it, given the flow of the show or even if there’s no deliberate flow, you’re soon at 22-26 songs which typically is the two-hour song length, and it’s on to the next week which I always ‘push ahead’, to be filtered, or not, for the next show. Enough pseudo-creative babble. Ride on to the next track.

The Rolling Stones, Ride On, Baby . . . From the Flowers compilation which my older sister owned which, along with Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass) she also owned, is how I got into what became and remains and always will be my favorite band. She was, as all young people were then, major into The Beatles and, slightly less so, the Stones and also The Monkees (whereas big brother was the Zep, Tull, Hendrix, Cream, Purple etc. influence and glad for it). And, beating Billy Idol’s Dancing With Myself by many years, my sister went dancing with herself to the various albums she owned. You should have seen her going, in 1971, to Led Zep’s Misty Mountain Hop which I’ve mentioned before but anyway . . . I’ll always remember her ‘rating’ note scrawled in black magic marker on the back cover of Flowers: “some good dances”. Rubber Soul by The Beatles had “good dances’ written on it, so I discerned from that, that she liked Beatles better. At least for dancing. No competition, I love both bands but was interesting 10 years or so later when, for my 16^th birthday I got The Beatles’ 1967-70 ‘blue album” compilation and the Stones’ ’70s comp Made In The Shade as presents and all sister wanted to play was the Stones. Of course, she had just seen them on their 1975 tour appearance in Toronto so, obviously, she was on a concert high and major into them. Funny thing was, The Beatles’ tunes were more familiar to my younger brothers and I then so we wanted to hear the 67-70 album more than the Stones sbut for my youngest brother and me, that quickly shifted to Made In The Shade, the buying of every pre- and post-Stones actual studio albums and the rest is history.

Steve Winwood, Night Train . . . I love Traffic (and have played them a lot although not lately, see ‘so much music, so little time”) but not so much into Winwood’s solo stuff aside from Arc of A Diver album. The rest of it is too overproduced for my taste/ears, and Arc borders dangerously on that overproduced precipice but avoids it enough to make for a great album, great track. I feel I’ve played it too recently but so what, if so? And off into the night, on this train, we go . . . until next week. Cheers and take care, all, and thanks for listening/following.

Shows, Wadio Wam!

Wadio Wam! Episode 16 – Father’s Day

23 June 2022 Will Hardie 1 Comment

Hey Wammers! Very special show from June 19th. This was recorded with my Dad on Father’s Day, which also happened to be my birthday which doesn’t happen often! Very fun show, with lots of music from memory lane. Love you dad!

Spotify Playlist – https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1skXTVXGf9G4wNPtcaeDPZ?si=6820004734e9412c

Shows, Wadio Wam!

Wadio Wam! Episode 15 – Toxic Relationships ft. Liv

23 June 2022 Will Hardie 1 Comment

Upload from June 12th. My friend Liv and I look at songs about toxic relationships (there is a lot). Enjoy! or don’t enjoy. But still listen.

Spotify Link – https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4fdXmSSrEReRGA4wjsCVpN?si=551261d780294ebd

Shows, Wadio Wam!

Wadio Wam! Episode 14 – Friends FM ft. Chelsea

23 June 2022 Will Hardie 1 Comment

Wammers!!! Here is the episode from May 29 featuring my good friend and roommate Chelsea! we dedicated each song to someone, fun listen.

Spotify Link – https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1B639cdecyXRXqnIyY2web?si=e278f20150ee42fd

Shows, Wadio Wam!

Wadio Wam! Episode 13 – Love Is In The Air

23 June 2022 Will Hardie 1 Comment

Heyo Wammers! I’ve been quite busy the last couple weeks and haven’t been able to upload the last few shows, so get ready for another massive upload. Here’s a show I did by myself on some of the greatest love songs, check it out!

Spotify Link – https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4SvzKz1kjhtxB0JLNNQ2CQ?si=27d58ee785314e13

So Old It's New

So Old It’s New set list for Monday, June 20, 2022 – on air 8-10 pm ET

20 June 2022 Karlo Berkovich Leave a comment

Johnny Winter, Rock and Roll People . . . Written by John Lennon, from Winter’s 1974 album John Dawson Winter III.

David Bowie, Let’s Spend The Night Together . . . Faster version of the Stones’ hit, from Bowie’s Aladdin Sane album released in April 1973. I like both versions. Interesting that just six months later, with his record company wanting another album by Christmas 1973 to cash in on Bowie’s commercial success,he released a full-blown covers album, Pin Ups.

Blue Oyster Cult, Cities On Flame With Rock and Roll . . . I stole this apropos comment about BOC from a YouTube field: “A versatile band – as heavy metal as Iron Maiden, dark and ominous as Black Sabbath, as progressive as Pink Floyd, as smart as Rush and as pop as any top 40 band.” Great riff to this one, too.

Rainbow, Gates Of Babylon . . . a great one, but aren’t they all, from the Ronnie James Dio on lead vocals era of Rainbow.

The Rolling Stones, Miss Amanda Jones . . . Down and down she goes. Great tune from Between The Buttons which, over time, has become one of my favorite Stones’ albums. I read it derided once by a critic as being too Kinks-like but so what if it is, and what’s wrong with the Kinks and besides it’s a cool, funky, diverse album, the last of their poppier ones before Satanic Majesties and then the deeper, dirtier blues rock of Beggars Banquet and subsequent albums.

The Mamas & The Papas, No Salt On Her Tail . . . Beautiful harmonies on this one.

Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Stayed Awake All Night (extended version) . . . Eight minutes plus version of a this pulsating, driving rocker from BTO’s debut album. The extended cut was released on the 2-CD BTO Anthology that came out some years back and featured a few unreleased tracks. I usually much prefer BTO songs where C.F. (Fred) Turner takes lead vocals with his gruff, tough style but this is one where Randy Bachman shines. There’s a nice live version of this available on YouTube featuring the Bachman-Turner (sans Overdrive) band that segues into American Woman, from a concert in Rama, Ontario – with Turner howlin’ up a storm. If you’re up for some great Bachman-Turner stuff featuring some Guess Who tracks as well, highly recommended is Bachman & Turner Live at the Roseland Ballroom, NYC, available on DVD and YouTube.

Bruce Springsteen, 57 Channels (And Nothin’ On) . . . Told you I was going to play this soon. If you don’t follow the show, you’ve no idea what I’m talking about but a few weeks ago I played Pink Floyd’s Nobody Home from The Wall, which contains the lyric “I’ve got 13 channels of shit on the TV to choose from” and I mentioned Springsteen picked up on that theme years later on his 1992 Human Touch album. And, by now there’s unlimited channels of, often, nothing of substance on the tube and streaming services.

Paul Rodgers, Cut Loose . . . Title cut from Rodgers’ first solo album, 1983, after the original version of Bad Company broke up. Sounds like Bad Company, which is good, and why wouldn’t it, since Rodgers was the exquisite voice of that band and, of course, Free before it.

Rory Gallagher, A Million Miles Away . . . Heard this playing in a music store the other day so I decided to play it, besides which I love Rory Gallagher’s music. Always loved this tune, the lyric “this hotel bar is full of people, the piano man is really laying it down…even the old bartender is high as a steeple . . . ” Just puts you in a smoky booze joint, late at night, with all that entails and what might ensue from it.

Joe Jackson, Zemeo . . . Jazzy, extended (11 minutes) instrumental cut from an album I often return to, JJ’s soundtrack to a movie few people (including me) ever saw, starred Debra Winger, Mike’s Murder, 1983. Essentially a musical followup for Jackson from his chart-topping Night and Day album of the year before. It’s a terrific listen.

Bryan Ferry, A Fool For Love . . . What would the word be, luscious, in terms of the sound of this track from Ferry, from his 2002 album Frantic.

Jethro Tull, Bends Like A Willow . . . Blow me down. I’m a big Tull fan but didn’t realize until I decided to play this song from the 1999 album J-Tull Dot Com that it was the single (went relatively nowhere) from that album. A ‘dated’ album title now given how ubiquitous the internet has become, but interesting in terms of the context and year of the album’s release. Essentially, the title trying to encourage people to visit the band’s then relatively new website. Also a significant album for me because I saw the tour with my then age 11 son, who quickly became my Tull-concert going partner.

Love, A House Is Not A Motel . . . A band I, er, love but one I have not played in a while. Great lyric: “The news today will be the movies for tomorrow” – and of course distorted usually beyond recognition by Hollywood, yet becomes for so many people the actual (often false) narrative of people and events they describe. For instance, there’s a new Elvis Presley biopic coming to theatres soon. I hate biopics. Never watch them. No interest. They’re not real, and yeah it’s ‘just a movie” yet too many people form their opinions of the people they depict from Hollywood’s ‘creative licence” descriptions. Such is life, I guess.

Cry Of Love, Peace Pipe . . . Why this 1990s band wasn’t bigger remains a mystery to me. Free-like. But then, besides All Right Now, Free was never a big commercial success, either.

Gordon Lightfoot, Cherokee Bend . . . Not as celebrated as, say, Lightfoot’s The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald but, musically and lyrically (in a different context), just as touching and meaningful. Brilliant artist.

Genesis, Ripples . . . From A Trick of the Tail, first album post-Peter Gabriel when people wondered about the future of Genesis. They had one.

Steely Dan, Dirty Work . . . One of my favorite Steely Dan tunes. For whatever reason I always think of a bar band/Steely Dan tribute band playing this in a pub when I hear it. Probably because I never saw Steely Dan live.

Streetheart, Miss Plaza Suite . . . Three things. 1. This is a great song. 2. Someone on YouTube, in a comments field on this song, said Streetheart was an underrated band. I really wish people would learn the difference between underrated and underappreciated. Streetheart had lots of hits. They weren’t underrated. Underappreciated, maybe. 3. They also had great album covers. Check out Meanwhile Back in Paris, Under Heaven Over Hell and Quicksand Shoes, for starters. The album Miss Plaza Suite comes from, simply called Streetheart, has a good cover, too, but the aforementioned three are my favorites.

Santana, Blues Magic . . From the IV album, released in 2016 and a reunion of most of the original Santana band members who made the band’s first three albums, which remain my favorites. IV is right up there and naturally would be, given who made it and how it sounds in a throwback way. Gregg Rolie does his best Peter Green vocal impression on this track to the point where I continue to check the liner notes to see if it actually wasn’t Green singing. And of course Green, via Fleetwood Mac, gave Santana its biggest early hit with Black Magic Woman.

Canned Heat, Lookin’ For My Rainbow . . . Gospel artist Clara Mae Ward, beautifully, shares lead vocals with the Heat’s James Shane on this one, from the band’s 1973 album The New Age.

Beck Bogert, Appice, Black Cat Moan (live) . . . From the power trio’s live album, issued only on Japan so something of a rarity although that album is available online and this track also is on Jeff Beck’s Beckology box set.

Linda Ronstadt, Rescue Me . . . From her self-titled 1972 album which was a landmark in leading to the formation of the Eagles, whose original members – Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Randy Meisner and Bernie Leadon – had backed Ronstadt on a tour and then were among the session musicians on her record.

So Old It's New

So Old It’s New set list for Monday, June 13, 2022 – on air 8-10 pm ET

13 June 2022 Karlo Berkovich Leave a comment

The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Come On In . . . Back to my song-title connection ways, but hey, they’re all good songs. Like this short single from Butterfield and the boys, Mike Bloomfield and Elvin Bishop on guitars. About time I got back to the Butterfield Band. So much music, so relatively little time each week.

Trooper, We’re Here For A Good Time (Not A Long Time) . . . A hit single, which I typically am reluctant to play since it’s a deep cuts show, but followers/listeners know every now and then I’ll play a single. And by now they are, er, So Old It’s New, and in this case fits the early set list theme. But you probably picked up on that.

Ry Cooder, On A Monday . . . Cooder gives to me what sounds like the Little Feat treatment to this Lead Belly tune. It appeared on Cooder’s 1972 Into The Purple Valley album.

Van Halen, Push Comes To Shove . . . Nice bluesy cut, one of my favorites from the somewhat dark, which is why I like it, Fair Warning album. David Lee Roth’s spoken word intro, asking for a cigarette, another swig if anything’s left in the bottle, makes the tune.

Bill Wyman, Every Sixty Seconds . . . Former Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman is my Rolling Stones, Inc. selection this week. Critics seem to like Wyman’s first solo album, 1974’s Monkey Grip, much more than his second, Stone Alone, which was released in 1976. I imagine because I heard Stone Alone first, I’ve always liked it better, and this is one of my favorite tunes from it. The album is called Stone Alone – which Wyman later used as a book title for one he wrote about the band – but the personnel list to the record is bursting with big-name musical friends. Among the contributors are Van Morrison, Joe Walsh, Dr. John, Bob Welch, Ronnie Wood, Nicky Hopkins, Jim Keltner, on and on. Wyman later re-recorded Every Sixty Seconds for one of his Rhythm Kings albums with R&B/soul singer Beverley Skeete nicely handling lead vocals.

Tom Wilson, What A Bummer . . . From Wilson’s 2001 solo album, Planet Love. Typically great stuff from one of my favorite artists and mainstay of such bands as Junkhouse, Blackie and The Rodeo Kings and Lee Harvey Osmond.

Jimi Hendrix, Lover Man . . . There are so many different versions of Hendrix songs around given the ongoing re-release program by his estate. This dynamic version of Lover Man was cut live in the studio by the Band of Gypsys (Billy Cox on bass, Buddy Miles on drums) about two weeks before their appearance at New York’s Fillmore East on New Year’s Eve, 1969 that resulted in the Band of Gypsys live album. This version is available on 2018’s Both Sides Of The Sky compilation of previously unreleased material.
The Black Keys, Howlin’ For You . . . However it was I got into the Keys, I’m glad I did. Probably hearing them in a music store and asking the staff who it was on the sound system. Or just reading about them, in search of new music (for me). I don’t have or know all their stuff, being a 60s/70s classic rocker coming relatively late to the party, but what I have I like given the raw, distortion-fueled sound of much of their stuff. This one’s from Brothers, in 2010. They recently released their latest album, Dropout Boogie. I have some catching up to do on my listening. I just gave it a quick listen online, no real impression yet but fans seem to think it’s mediocre. They do seem to have smoothed out their sound, to my ears, since Brothers, though. I like the distortion stuff best.

AC/DC, Soul Stripper . . . Pulsating, hypnotic track from the smokin’ hot ’74 Jailbreak EP.

Blodwyn Pig, Dear Jill . . . Great blues from the band guitarist Mick Abrahams formed when he left Jethro Tull after their first album, This Was. Abrahams wanted to continue in a blues direction. Ian Anderson had other ideas and obviously has been hugely successful with them. I like both sides of their ‘argument’.

Goddo, Drop Dead (That’s Who) . . . The funny intro, ‘take 75’ is almost worth the price of admission from these Canadian rockers.

Alice Cooper, Killer . . . Title cut from the 1971 album, by the original band. Dark, epic, eerie, spooky, superb.

Blue Cheer, Out Of Focus . . . B-side to the band’s breakout 1968 single, their raucous cover of Eddie Cochran’s Summertime Blues. Not quite as heavy, perhaps, but heavy. Blue Cheer was an interesting band, maintaining their heaviness throughout but getting more progressive/psychedelic as time passed. I was going to explore some of that side of the band tonight, and will at some point, but being in a more rocking mood, at least as far as Blue Cheer goes . . .

Gary Moore, World Of Confusion . . . Moore, who we lost to a heart attack at just 58 in 2011, was so very eclectic. He was in Thin Lizzy for a time, of course, did lots of hard rock and metal and broke big to a wider public during one of his many excursions over time into the blues, with his 1990 hit album and song, Still Got The Blues. This hard rocker is from the self-titled and only album release from the trio, Scars, he formed in 2002. Wicked guitar work.

Creedence Clearwater Revival, Ramble Tamble . . . I like when CCR did stuff like this seven-minute rant and raver from Cosmo’s Factory.

Paris, Black Book . . . After leaving Fleetwood Mac following their 1974 album Heroes Are Hard To Find, Bob Welch formed a power trio with former Jethro Tull bassist Glenn Cornick and Thom Mooney, who had worked with Todd Rundgren. Three guys, made a good noise. Black Book is an example.

Grateful Dead, Estimated Prophet . . . One of my favorite Dead tunes. I just like the groove, and the lyrics about false prophets.

Stone The Crows, Big Jim Salter . . . And so we go real deep with Stone The Crows, a band whose name – a homage to the Brit/Aussie expression of amazement or disgust – I’d always thought was cool but whose music, before the internet age, I had not taken the time (or money) to explore. I finally did via one of two amazing compilations I picked up, on the recommendation of a friend, a few years ago. This is from I’m A Freak Baby 2, the second of two 3-CD collections exploring the British heavy psychedelic and hard rock underground scene from 1968-73. Scottish belter Maggie Bell, who some see as the UK’s answer to Janis Joplin and I definitely hear it on some tunes, handles lead vocals on this one. She’s also known for ‘vocal abrasives’ as credited on Rod Stewart’s title cut to the Every Picture Tells A Story album. Other noted members of Stone The Crows were Alex Harvey’s brother Les, who was electrocuted on stage and later died after touching a mic that was not grounded while his other hand was on his guitar strings. Others who passed through the band were Jimmy McCulloch, later lead guitarist with Paul McCartney and Wings, and bassist/singer James Dewar, later a member of Robin Trower’s most commercially successful lineup during the 1970s, and one of my favorite rock singers.
Warhorse, Back In Time . . . From the same I’m A Freak Baby compilation, although I do have some Warhorse stuff. Of course I would; Deep Purple is among my favorite bands and Warhorse was a hard rock/psychedelic Deep Purple offshoot group, this track being a perfect example of their work. Warhorse was formed by Nick Simper after the bassist was sacked by Purple along with singer Rod Evans when Roger Glover and Ian Gillan were brought in as the so-called ‘classic’ Mk. II lineup of Purple moved to a heavier rocking sound and went on to greater glories.

Bob Seger, Bo Diddley . . . Before The Silver Bullet Band, from Seger’s 1972 Smokin’ O.P.’s album of mostly down and dirty cover tunes, hence the title – Smokin’ Other People’s Songs, derived from ‘smoking other people’s cigarettes’ (hence the album cover) but I wouldn’t know, never having smoked. OK, I did, once, as a kid, age 9, with a gang of my friends. We stole a carton of my parents’ cigarettes but mom caught me, finding a cigarette butt in my pants pocket while doing laundry, and I promised never to do it again – and didn’t as I started getting into physical fitness. Interestingly, mom and dad smoked, as did my older brother and sister of the five kids in the family. Different times.
Cat Stevens, Drywood . . . From Stevens’ 1975 album Numbers, a sci-fi concept album of sorts that the record company didn’t like because it didn’t produce ‘catchy’ hits like Moonshadow, Peace Train, Morning Has Broken etc. As a result, it didn’t sell as well as his previous work. But this is art, dammit! Which is what Stevens argued. Besides, I think Drywood is pretty catchy and the pop charts are often infested with dreck ear candy without substance or lasting value, so I’m with Cat.

Maria Muldaur, It Feels Like Rain . . . Bluesy, swampy, sultry version of the John Hiatt song. Muldaur is a great artist, so much more than her lone big pop hit from the 1970s, Midnight At The Oasis. Buddy Guy also covered the song, as the title cut to his 1993 album.

Warren Zevon, The Overdraft . . . Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac fame provides backing vocals on this rollicking ride from Zevon’s 1982 The Envoy album. Waddy Wachtel, session man to the stars, provides typically great lead guitar, as he did on so many Zevon albums.

The Joe Perry Project, South Station Blues . . . From the Project’s second solo album, 1981’s I’ve Got The Rock & Rolls Again. Catchy intro. As with the debut, Let The Music Do The Talking, it was done during the period when Perry quit Aerosmith as the drug and booze-addled band splintered during the sessions for 1979’s Night In The Ruts album, although Perry still played on most of the tracks. Perry had a singer-rhythm guitarist in his band, Charlie Ferren, but handled lead vocals himself on this up tempo shuffle whose genesis was Shit House Shuffle, a 36-second instrumental Aerosmith used as a warm up before recording sessions. It’s available on the Pandora’s Box boxed set, and online. A slightly revamped Let The Music Do The Talking became an Aerosmith song on 1985’s Done With Mirrors album.

Neil Young, For The Turnstiles . . . From Young’s introspective 1974 album On The Beach, prompted by his discomfort with the superstardom his previous studio album, Harvest, brought. Heart of Gold from Harvest was a No. 1 single for Young, as was the album, but in the liner notes to his excellent Decade compilation, he addresses the feelings of wanting to retreat that success fostered in him, and how it led him to produce darker followup albums like On The Beach and Tonight’s The Night. “This song (Heart of Gold) put me in the middle of the road. Traveling there soon became a bore, so I headed for the ditch. A rougher ride but I saw more interesting people there.”

Badfinger, Carry On Til Tomorrow . . . Beautiful track, with some great guitar in its rockier parts, from the band’s 1970 debut album as Badfinger (they released one previous album under the name The Iveys). Magic Christian Music was on Apple Records as the band had an association with The Beatles, much of their early work produced or co-produced mostly by Paul McCartney, some by George Harrison and Beatles associates Geoff Emerick and Mal Evans.

So Old It's New

So Old It’s New set list for Monday, June 6, 2022 – on air 8-10 pm ET

6 June 2022 Karlo Berkovich Leave a comment

Mick Jagger, Too Many Cooks (Spoil The Soup) . . . Funky tune, produced by John Lennon, that Jagger recorded with a host of big-name musician friends that finally saw official release on The Very Best of Mick Jagger compilation in 2007. Jack Bruce of Cream fame lays down a great bass line. Others featured on the recording are Al Kooper and noted session guitar aces Danny Kortchmar and Jesse Ed Davis and drummer Jim Keltner. Singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson, one of Lennon’s sidekicks during the 18 months of his ‘lost weekend’ separation from Yoko Ono, sings backing vocals.

Steve Earle, Snake Oil . . . Nice one from Copperhead Road, starts slowly but quickly builds into quite the raver.

George Thorogood and The Destroyers, One Way Ticket (live) . . . Smokin’ version of the John Lee Hooker tune from Thorogood’s Live in Boston 1982 album that was re-released in 2020, now containing the full show.

Bruce Springsteen, Adam Raised A Cain . . . I like most Springsteen but tend to mostly go back to the three outstanding albums of his I grew up on – Born To Run, Darkness On The Edge Of Town, from which I pulled this track, and The River, all of which came out in that order. Quite the run.

Elvis Costello, Blame It On Cain . . . From his debut, My Aim Is True, in 1977 and an appropriate title for an album that hits the target in every tune. The title is also in the lyrics to the hit Alison.

Graham Parker, I’m Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down . . . Written by Memphis songwriter Earl Randle, Parker’s version, and a good one it is, appeared on his 1977 album, Stick To Me.

Midnight Oil, Surf’s Up Tonight . . . From the Breathe album, 1996, some see it as a tribute to The Beach Boys but of course surfing is hardly just a California thing.

The Clash, The Magnificent Seven . . . Third single from the wildly and wonderfully diverse, and sprawling, Sandinista! Apparently inspired by the New York hip hop and rap scene. I don’t consider that I’m into either of those genres, but I do like when rock bands I like delve into other sounds and approaches.

Bob Dylan, The Ballad Of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest . . . From Dylan’s 1967 John Wesley Harding album I remember my older brother bringing home. It’s somewhat unique in that it’s a long story song, without a chorus, but typically interesting Dylan lyrics. And it was the inspiration for the next band in my set’s name.

Judas Priest, Exciter . . . Just because you’re hard rock/metal doesn’t mean you don’t listen to or are inspired by artists from other genres. Life would be boring were that the case. The Dylan song inspired Priest’s band name. “Fall to your knees and repent if you please” is such a memorable line in this scorcher that some people have been known to think it’s the actual title.

Motorhead, Speedfreak . . . Appropriate title for this cut from the Iron Fist album, the last featuring the so-called classic lineup trio of Lemmy Kilmister (vocals/bass), “Fast” Eddie Clarke (guitar) and Phil “Philthy Animal Taylor (drums).

Black Sabbath, Megalomania . . . I wanted to play a Sabbath song tonight but had trouble picking one, since with great bands like this I could easily do – and maybe should – a show consisting of only their material. In any case, I wound up settling on this epic from the Sabotage album.

Nazareth, Psycho Skies . . . I mentioned a couple weeks ago, while playing Nazareth’s Red Light Lady from their debut album in 1971, that the band had a new album out, their second with lead singer Carl Sentance. He replaced the retired from touring Dan McCafferty a few years ago. The new album, Surviving The Law, is very good in my opinion, and this song, written by Sentance, is an example of its quality.
Deep Purple, Child In Time . . . The epic that was the centerpiece of In Rock, with Ian Gillan in all his vocal glory but the whole band is typically on fire.

Groundhogs, Strange Town . . .From the English blues-rock band’s 1970 album Thank Christ For The Bomb, engineered by the late Martin Birch, whose extensive and impressive production resume included Deep Purple, mid-period Fleetwood Mac, Wishbone Ash, Rainbow, Whitesnake mostly during their early, more blues-rock oriented period, Black Sabbath during the Ronnie James Dio years, Blue Oyster Cult, Iron Maiden, on and on.

Dire Straits, In The Gallery . . . From the sterling debut album, 1978. Of course, what Dire Straits album isn’t sterling? Amazingly consistent band during their time.

Led Zeppelin, The Lemon Song . . . Great song but as was typical of Zeppelin, one of the many where they liberally ‘borrowed’ from and ‘adapted’ songs like Howlin’ Wolf’s Killing Floor, took full credit, got sued and wound up having to, on later releases of Zep II and other albums, give the old blues greats they pilfered from due credit. I like Zeppelin’s music, a lot, but why they felt they had to do some of the sleazy things they did in terms of songwriting, and think they could get away with it, and they sometimes did, remains beyond me. And yes, I ‘get’ that credits on many old blues tunes were pretty fluid over time, even the old blues artists borrowed from each other, but Zep usually never even attempted to give credit where it was due, until forced to by lawsuits.

Duane Allman, Goin’ Down Slow . . . In addition to his typically brilliant guitar playing, Duane handles lead vocals, a rarity, with fellow future Allman Brother Berry Oakley on bass on this blues cover recorded in 1969 for a proposed solo album that was never completed. I pulled it from one of two Duane Allman anthologies that came out ages ago, are likely out of print but worth searching out if you’re still into physical copies. The two double albums feature Allman’s session work with such artists as Wilson Pickett and Aretha Franklin, among others, plus his time with the Allman Brothers.

Jethro Tull, Hymn 43 . . . Always loved this rocker, and its lyrics, from Aqualung.

Spirit, 1984 . . . I read something in a YouTube comment field on this terrific psychedelic rocker I agree with. “Growing up in 70s LA, there were two bands you listened to if you were really in the know: Spirit and Love. Didn’t matter what anyone else thought.” Love was actually more a ’60s band but the writer’s sentiment is accurate I think; two arguably underappreciated but influential bands.

UFO, Dance Your Life Away . . . Haven’t played these guys in a while, good rocker, nice Michael Schenker guitar as always, from the Force It album, 1975.

Pink Floyd, Nobody Home . . . “I got thirteen channels of shit on the TV to choose from . . . ” Well, it was 1979 and most of us did have only about that many channels available to us. Things got better, or worse, by the time of Bruce Springsteen’s 1992 song 57 Channels (And Nothin’ On) which I should dig up and play and now it’s unlimited, pretty much, channels available and nothing on.
Headstones, Cut . . . From 1993’s terrific debut album, Picture of Health. Headstones will be at the 2022 Kitchener Blues Festival although scheduling them at about the same time as Drive By Truckers at another stage irks me as bit, since I like both bands.

The Rolling Stones, Till The Next Goodbye . . . Beautiful ballad from the It’s Only Rock ‘N Roll album to close the show and deliberately frame it all in between two cuts from Rolling Stones Inc.; started with Mick Jagger, ending with the full unit.

CJPME Debrief, Off The Air, Syndicated

CJPME Debrief

5 June 2022 Radio Waterloo Leave a comment

On CJPME’s Debrief Podcast Tom Woodley and Michael Bueckert from Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East discuss breaking events and issues related to human rights in Palestine and the broader Middle East. Beyond the breaking stories, they’ll also invite guests with special expertise, and do episodes to provide context to the news, whether historical, legal or political.

CJPME Debrief is not currently on the CKMS-FM schedule.

So Old It's New

So Old It’s New set list for Monday, May 30, 2022 – on air 8-10 pm ET

30 May 2022 Karlo Berkovich Leave a comment

Nirvana, Lounge Act . . . Nirvana’s Nevermind is so front-loaded with its hits/well -known songs – Smells Like Teen Spirit, In Bloom and Come As You Are open the album – that great, punkish tunes like Lounge Act are often overlooked. That’s why radio has deep cuts shows.

King Crimson, Frame By Frame . . . From Discipline, which in 1981 marked the return of Robert Fripp and friends to recording under the King Crimson banner after being dormant since 1974. And, typical of ever-changing Crimson, this was a different beast with a new-wave type sound, somewhat derivative of Talking Heads of the same period, yet still uniquely Crimson.

The Monkees, You Just May Be The One . . . A Mike Nesmith-penned and sung tune, and a good one, from the Headquarters album.

Stevie Ray Vaughan, Leave My Girl Alone . . . About time I played some SRV again.

The Rolling Stones, Almost Hear You Sigh . . . One of the best, in my opinion, latter-day Stones’ tunes, from 1989’s Steel Wheels album. Co-written by drummer Steve Jordan, now in the Stones touring unit upon the passing of Charlie Watts, it was originally destined for Keith Richards’ first solo album, Talk Is Cheap. It didn’t make the cut, Richards played it for Mick Jagger, who made some lyric adjustments and it wound up being the third single released, after Mixed Emotions and Rock and a Hard Place, from Steel Wheels. Arguably the best song on the album, it nevertheless only made the top 50 in the US. The Netherlands liked it. It made No. 11 there. Whatever, good songs are good songs, the best song in the world is the one you’re listening to now, if you like it. Charts are statistics.

Five Man Electrical Band, Hello Melinda, Goodbye . . . Infectious tune, it was originally an A-side single with Signs, the band’s most well-known song, as the B-side but the 45 bombed first time around. Later, with the band on the verge of breaking up, Signs was re-released as an A-side and the rest is history.

Eric Clapton, Old Love . . . There’s a lot of overproduced dreck on Clapton’s 1989 album Journeyman what with synthesizers and various forms of instrument programming but this bluesy track is an exception. There are, according to the song credits, synth piano and synth strings on the song but I don’t hear them, or can’t discern them, thankfully.

Aerosmith, Shela . . . From Done With Mirrors in 1985, the last album of the old Aerosmith before they brought in outside writers and ascended to greater commercial heights while losing their early raunch and roll grit, for the most part. I still like the later stuff that doesn’t descend into overproduced schlock, but prefer the consistently down and dirty earlier stuff. Mirrors didn’t do so well, at least by Aerosmith standards, charting at No. 72 in Canada and No. 38in the US. Sales weren’t helped by initial pressings, and I remember having it on vinyl when it was released – everything on the album was written backwards so you had to use a mirror, get it, to read the lyrics etc. I’m all for creativity but it was frustrating, it just didn’t work and the misjudgment was soon rectified. Good musically, though.

Colin James, Freedom . . . Blues and R & B great Mavis Staples shares vocals on this nice groove tune, from James’ 1995 Bad Habits album, for which he won a Juno Award as Male Vocalist of the Year.
Free, Broad Daylight . . . From Free’s second, self-titled album. Was released as a single. Went nowhere. Absurd.

Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, Insider . . . Stevie Nicks provides backing vocals on this one from Hard Promises, 1981. Music is so much place and time, of course, and the album – and its cover – always reminds me of California, as I was spending some time in the San Francisco Bay Area when it came out. The cover, with Petty in a record store, reminds me of one of my younger brothers and I browsing in a record store and hearing the album, which I bought, along with Phil Collins’ Face Value, which was also on the sound system – I Missed Again was the song I remember being played.

James Gang, Ashes The Rain & I . . . Beautiful, musically and short and sweet lyrically, from Rides Again, the second album from Joe Walsh and the boys.
Fleetwood Mac, I’m So Afraid . . . Rumours gets most of the hype but the self-titled Fleetwood Mac album that preceded it, the first featuring Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, while not approaching the sales figures of Rumours, is just as good and itself was a No. 1 record. This track originally was scheduled for a second Buckingham-Nicks album but became a Fleetwood Mac song when the duo joined the band.

Guns N’ Roses, Better . . . Best song on Chinese Democracy, in my opinion, and the reconstituted band, again featuring Slash on guitar, continues to play it in concert.

Van Morrison, A Sense Of Wonder . . . Beautiful title cut from Van the Man’s 1985 album, went nowhere as a single but it’s one of those tunes, perhaps because he put it on his personally-selected Best of, Volume 2, that when you hear it, you recognize it.

The Byrds, Lover Of The Bayou . . . A live version is the one usually found on Byrds compilations, and it’s good. But so is this longer studio version, originally recorded for the Untitled album in 1970. The studio cut didn’t come out officially until the Untitled/Unissued re-release in 2000.

McKenna Mendelson Mainline, Mainline . . . Blues, from an album, Stink, that seems to be in every music-loving Canadian home.

The Black Crowes, Thick N’ Thin . . . It’s been a long time since I listened to the Crowes, let alone played them on the show, but as usual was filleting CDs, looking for something new, different or not played in ages, and here we go. Nice one, from the debut album, Shake Your Moneymaker, in 1990. They’ve got a new EP out, featuring covers of songs from 1972 called, wait for it, 1972. Six songs – Rocks Off by the Stones; The Slider (T-Rex); You Wear It Well (Rod Stewart); Easy to Slip (Little Feat); Moonage Daydream (David Bowie) and The Temptations’ Papa Was A Rolling Stone. I’ve heard it, nothing earth-shattering. For me, most covers albums are sort of, ok, that’s interesting, I probably won’t listen to it all that often, how about some new original material, folks? That said, just the Crowes having fun paying homage to their heroes.

Frank Zappa, Wonderful Wino . . . Good rocker from one of Zappa’s more accessible releases, the 1976 album Zoot Allures.

George Harrison, Awaiting On You All (live, The Concert For Bangladesh) . . . Good live version of one of the best tracks from an album full of great ones, All Things Must Pass.

Men At Work, Down By The Sea . . . A somewhat uncharacteristic song, if all one knows of Men At Work is their two big hit singles, Who Can It Be Now and Down Under. It’s longer, a shade under seven minutes, somewhat bluesy and definitely hypnotic, just a great track, for my money.

Sea Level, King Grand . . . Funky tune from the Chuck Leavell-led Allman Brothers jazz-rock fusion offshoot, with multi-instrumentalist Randall Bramblett taking lead vocals.

Otis Redding, You Don’t Miss Your Water . . . Take the Stax house band Booker T. & The M.G.’s, augmented by studio aces The Mar-Keys, The Memphis Horns and young at the time session pianist Isaac Hayes, record everything but one track in a 24-hour span in May of 1965 and you have the great album Otis Blue/Otis Redding Sings Soul. The woman on the cover of the album has, according to what I’ve read, never been definitively identified but is thought to be German model Dagmar Dreger. Apparently, the record company thought that putting an attractive white woman on the cover would help Redding’s crossover appeal.

Stevie Wonder, Race Babbling . . . The Secret Life of Plants had one hit single, No. 4 Send One Your Love but other than that, the concept album that was a soundtrack to a documentary of the same name, threw people. But Race Babbling is one cool, hypnotic, experimental adventure lasting just under nine minutes. Good lyrics, too.

Rita Coolidge, Superstar (live, from Joe Cocker’s Mad Dogs and Englishmen) . . . From Cocker’s 1970 traveling road show album, co-written by Leon Russell, who was a member of the band, and Bonnie Bramlett of Delaney and Bonnie fame. The Carpenters turned it into a worldwide hit in 1971.
Buffalo Springfield, Go And Say Goodbye . . . Country rock pickin’ from the debut album, 1966.

So Old It's New

So Old It’s New set list for Monday, May 23, 2022 – on air 8-10 pm ET

23 May 2022 Karlo Berkovich Leave a comment

AC/DC, That’s The Way I Wanna Rock ‘n’ Roll . . . AC/DC had been in commercial decline but 1988’s Blow Up Your Video album, from which this top 30 single comes, signaled a rebirth that was fully realized with the next album, The Razors Edge and such hits at Thunderstruck, Moneytalks and Are You Ready. Not that I listen to commercial rock radio anymore, in fact its predictability – endless repetition of the same songs – is what long ago motivated me to do this for the most part deep cuts show, but I don’t recall hearing this single much at all when it came out.

The Beatles, You Know My Name (Look Up The Number) . . . Fun music hall track, typical Beatles’ humor. It was the B-side to Let It Be in 1970 but goes back to initial sessions in 1967 and a final one in 1969. Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones helps out on saxophone.

Can, She Brings The Rain . . . Conventional, lovely ballad from an unconventional band.

Deep Purple, Our Lady . . . From the critically-panned Who Do We Think We Are album in 1973. One wonders whether rock journalists actually focus on the music or, in this case, on the fact that the band was fraying due to the forever enmity between singer Ian Gillan and guitarist Ritchie Blackmore – in which case, an album of such quality is remarkable. I like the record, as do most Deep Purple fans I know. I mean, c’mon, critics: Woman From Tokyo, this track, Mary Long, every song is good. Certainly not going through the motions, as one critic wrote and besides, how would he know unless he was in studio with the band.

Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Knife-Edge . . . Terrific B-side to Lucky Man and arguably more indicative of ELP’s progressive rock approach than that more mainstream, albeit excellent, single is.

Fairport Convention, She Moves Through The Fair . . . Sandy Denny. One of those singers who, when you hear her, think, that’s the voice of an angel. Just beautiful.

Rory Gallagher, Calling Card . . . Title cut from the late great guitarist/songwriter/bandleader’s 1976 album co-produced by Deep Purple bassist Roger Glover, who had met Gallagher when Rory opened for Purple on an American tour.

Hawkwind, Space Is Deep . . . A song about space, and humanity, from the space rockers.

Iron Maiden, Strange World . . . Uncharacteristic Maiden, a bluesy cut from their first, self-titled album featuring pre-Bruce Dickinson lead singer Paul Di’Anno.

Jethro Tull, Nothing To Say . . . I have nothing more to say that I haven’t already, this week anyway, about Jethro Tull, one of my favorite bands. From Benefit, the band’s third album, 1970.

Kansas, Paradox . . . Amazing how many time signature changes and other such progressive rock elements Kansas can cram into this four-minute track.

Led Zeppelin, Friends . . . Nice acoustic one from Zep III.

Metallica, The Struggle Within . . . The Black Album divided people as Metallica went more commercial via singles like Enter Sandman, The Unforgiven and Nothing Else Matters, which introduced them to a massive wider audience. That didn’t sit well with at least some longtime fans who preferred their earlier thrash metal stuff. So this one, from that somewhat controversial album, is for them. And me, although I appreciate all Metallica.

Nazareth, Red Light Lady . . . Love this multi-faceted tune from the self-titled debut album in 1971. And they just released a new one in April, Surviving The Law. It’s not groundbreaking, but rocks hard and is the second one featuring new singer Carl Sentance, who replaced original singer Dan McCafferty. McCafferty retired from touring with the band in 2013 due to health reasons although he released a solo album, Last Testament, three years ago although to be honest I only found that out while giving a listen to the new Nazareth record. As for Nazareth overall, there’s just one original member left, Pete Agnew on bass, which like many bands continuing to soldier on leaves them open to criticisms of being essentially a tribute act. I hear it but, besides Sentance, the other guys in the band, including Agnew’s son Lee on drums and guitarist Jimmy Murrison, have been in the group for nearly 30 years and they do continue to release new music and if it’s good, and still has some connection to the original band, I don’t have a huge issue with it.

Ozzy Osbourne, S.A.T.O. . . . Kick-butt rocker from Diary Of A Madman, the second solo Ozzy album and the last featuring the late great guitarist Randy Rhodes. The title either stands for Sharon Arden (maiden name of Ozzy’s wife, who is the daughter of music industry mogul Don Arden) and Thelma Osbourne, his first wife, or Sailing Across The Ocean, which is what the lyrics reference. Apparently, it was initially called Strange Voyage but after some battles within the band that resulted in bass player and co-songwriters Bob Daisley and drummer Lee Kerslake being fired, Ozzy and Sharon changed it. Oh, and sato, non-acronym, is also a Thai rice wine.

Pink Floyd, Julia Dream . . . From 1968, written by Roger Waters and sung, for the first time on a Floyd track, by new at the time guitarist David Gilmour. This ballad was the B-side to It Would Be So Nice, a song written by keyboardist Richard Wright that was, to be charitable, not very good. “Effing awful, wasn’t it” drummer Nick Mason was quoted as saying. Well, in fairness, the Floyd was in transition after the departure of band co-founder and early chief songwriter Syd Barrett and finding their legs, so to speak, before Waters became the dominant writer.

Queen, Drowse . . . I’ve always liked this one, written and sung by drummer Roger Taylor, from A Day At The Races. The title fits the laid-back vibe of the tune.

Keith Richards, Heartstopper . . . Up-tempo tune from Crosseyed Heart, Richards’ third, and most recent, solo album that came out in 2015. Seven years ago already.

Stephen Stills, Blind Fiddler Medley . . . A beautiful blending of a traditional folks song, Blind Fiddler, with two of Stills’ own tunes from his first and second solo albums, respectively – Do For The Others and Know You Got To Run. The medley was released on his 1991 album, Stills Alone, for the most part just him and his acoustic and electric guitars. It’s a great listen.

Thin Lizzy, Opium Trail . . . Bad Reputation, including the title cut which I’ve played before, is such a solid Thin Lizzy album, one of my favorites by the band but then I’m a big fan and of course they’re so much more than The Boys Are Back In Town. Opium Trail is another winner from the album.

U2, Acrobat . . . A fellow DJ mentioned he liked this song when we got discussing deep cuts from Achtung Baby a while ago after I played a different song from that album. I do, too. So, here we are.

The Velvet Underground, Lonesome Cowboy Bill . . . The Velvets go country on this one from the Loaded album. It was so named because the record company wanted an album ‘loaded’ with hits. The album still didn’t chart but the Velvets were never a commercial hit – it’s been said that few people bought VU albums, but those that did formed bands. Two of their more widely-known songs, Sweet Jane and Rock & Roll, did emerge from Loaded.

Tom Waits, Frank’s Wild Years . . . Short and sweet spoken word brilliance, a shade under two minutes, from Swordfishtrombones in 1983. Two albums later came the Franks Wild Years record, no apostrophe but otherwise connected with the original song.

XTC, Science Friction . . . Devo-ish punky stuff from 1977 before they broke big, to the masses at least, with their 1979 album Drums and Wires and the Making Plans For Nigel single.

Yes, Starship Trooper . . . A bit of a challenge getting a longer tune into what had to be a 26-song set list due to today’s alphabet motif, but we managed. This is from The Yes Album, the first to feature guitarist Steve Howe and where the Yes all who know and love them (or loathe them) truly emerged. Such was the relative commercial failure of their first two albums, Yes and Time and A Word, that the band was at risk of being dropped by Atlantic, their record company. But they survived and thrived.

ZZ Top, I Need You Tonight . . . The lone bluesy cut from 1983’s Eliminator, the album where the band fully embraced synthesizers and other technology to great commercial success but to the distaste of some/many of their longtime bluesy raunch and roll supporters. This song could easily have fit on any of the early ZZ albums.

#CANYouthVoteMatter & #CANMinorityVoteMatter, Off The Air, Ontario Election 2022: #CANYouthVoteMatter & #CANMinorityVoteMatter, Radio Waterloo Production

Ontario Election 2022: #CANYouthVoteMatter & #CANMinorityVoteMatter

19 May 2022 Aalaa Rehman Leave a comment

#CANYouthVoteMatter | #CANMinorityVoteMatter (Abdullah, Aalaa, and Ayla Rehman making hashtag signs with their fingers) — Abdullah, Aalaa, and Ayla Rehman

Abdullah, Aalaa, and Ayla Rehman return for the 2022 Ontario provincial election to ask candidates #CANYouthVoteMatter and #CANMinorityVoteMatter?

Ontario Election 2022: #CANYouthVoteMatter & #CANMinorityVoteMatter is no longer on the air.

Shows, Wadio Wam!

Wadio Wam! Episode 12 – Food! ft. Rosie and Brittany

17 May 2022 Will Hardie 1 Comment

Hey y’all! New episode going live. This time with guest hosts Rosie and Brittany! Very fun theme this week, give it a listen! Wam On!

Spotify Link – https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7fzdGk8NM8Hrv3nGIJtR0W?si=9593ec2281744a69

So Old It's New

So Old It’s New set list for Monday, May 16, 2022 – on air 8-10 pm ET

16 May 2022 Karlo Berkovich Leave a comment

Joe Jackson, 1-2-3 Go (This Town’s A Fairground) . . . Uptempo tune from the terrific soundtrack to Mike’s Murder, a movie starring Debra Winger that bombed. The soundtrack album was released in 1983 and is, musically, essentially a sequel to JJ’s 1982 Night and Day record. That is, until JJ actually released a Night and Day II in 2000. Night and Day II is a good album but naturally suffers in comparison to the brilliant original, and Jackson has said he regrets naming it as a sequel for that reason. I’ll play something from it sometime soon.
Ian Dury & the Blockheads, Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick . . . Monster single in the UK, it didn’t chart in the North American colonies but remains one of Dury’s best-known songs. I remember getting Dury’s Do It Yourself album simply because it included a 45 of Rhythm Stick which, in typical (at least up to then, 1979) UK fashion, wasn’t on the album proper.
Flash and The Pan, Atlantis Calling . . . My fun Aussie friends kick off a three-song set somewhat to do, title-wise anyway, with H2O.

Elton John, Crazy Water . . . A relatively unknown single, arguably, released only in the UK where it made the top 30. It’s from the 1976 Blue Moves double album which, aside from the massive single Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word, signaled the beginning of a commercial decline for EJ. It’s maybe my favorite from the album, an uptempo tune with catchy percussion and bass work.
Blind Faith, Sea Of Joy . . . Dum dum dum dum, dum dum, dum dum dum dum, dum dum … dum … pitter pitter patter pattter (drums). That’s my typewritten interpretation of the intro to this excellent track from the one and only album by the supergroup of Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Ginger Baker and Ric Grech. Heck, every song on the album is excellent.

Little Feat, Old Folks’ Boogie (live, Waiting For Columbus version) . . .Well, the show is called So Old It’s New, and I’m getting up there, most so-called classic rock listeners/follower are, so what the heck. And one can never get enough Little Feat, particularly live. Saw them in a small club in Hamilton in 2004.

The Band, Across The Great Divide (live, Rock of Ages version) . . . Difficult to choose between this live version and the studio cut that opens ‘The Band’ album. So I flipped a coin. The live version is about a minute longer with more prominent horns via a five-man section augmenting the core group.
David Bowie, The Supermen . . . I like almost all Bowie but his early stuff is not only great but prime fodder, I find, for a deep cuts show like mine. Like this track from 1970s The Man Who Sold The World. Great vocal performance, cool sort of stair step mantra from a tight band featuring guitarist Mick Ronson in his first of five 70s albums teamed with Bowie as Bowie – and Ronson as a well-known guitarist – ascended to superstardom.

Bruce Springsteen, Racing In The Street . . . “I got a ’69 Chevy with a 396 fuelie heads and a Hurst on the floor.” I always remember sitting around my college newspaper’s newsroom shooting the breeze one day and one of the editors, an upperclassman, just impromptu launched into the lyric. A song about so much more than drag racing in the street, of course.
Blood, Sweat & Tears, Children Of The Wind . . . A David Clayton-Thomas penned number from 1968 that didn’t see the light of day, officially at least, until the 1995 compilation What Goes Up!
Sniff ‘N’ The Tears, Gold . . . Lovely ballad from the band best known for their great hit Driver’s Seat. The song, about a relationship, perhaps resonates with me due to – although they’re about conquest – the lyrical references to Latin America, having spent part of my youth in Peru.
Robin Trower, Alethea . . . What a team during the 1970s, Robin Trower on guitar and the late James Dewar, who you rarely hear about when great rock singers are discussed, on bass and vocals. Trower is still going strong, releasing an album every year or two right up to 2022 with his No More Worlds To Conquer release. I admit I have some catching up to do but what can you with these old energetic farts like him, Van Morrison and Neil Young who just keep pumping stuff out?! Thank god for the internet.

Humble Pie, Live With Me . . . Not a cover of the Rolling Stones’ song from Let It Bleed but rather an eight-minute slowly-building blues workout with typically great vocals from the late great Steve Marriott, speaking of great singers.
Peter Frampton, Lines On My Face (live, Frampton Comes Alive version) . . . And here’s Marriott’s old mate, once he went solo, from his blockbuster live album.
Heart, White Lightning and Wine . . . Love early Heart. Great lyrics about a one-night stand, ending with “in the morning light you didn’t look so nice guess you’d better hitch hike home.” Akin to the Faces’ “Just don’t be here in the morning when I wake up’ in Stay With Me.

Coverdale-Page, Absolution Blues . . . For all the catty comments that went back and forth, mostly from Robert Plant, when David Coverdale of Deep Purple and Whitesnake fame got together with Jimmy Page, I say they produced a damn fine album.
Rare Earth, Child Of Fortune/One World . . . 13-minute bluesy cut that, after an organ break, goes almost progressive.

Van Halen, Mine All Mine . . . From the OU812 album, second of the Van (Sammy) Hagar era. They opened with this when I saw them at a Canada Day show in Barrie, Ontario in 1993.

The Rolling Stones, All Down The Line (live, El Mocambo 1977 version) . . . Well-known Stones’ track from Exile On Main St. and played often on various tours. I’m playing it today because this is a terrific version from the must-have for Stones fans just-released full El Mocambo set, four blues covers of which first appeared on 1977’s Love You Live. Love the Stones, but especially when they’re stripped down, like here, to basically the core unit, and firing on all cylinders.

Genesis, Deep In The Motherlode . . . And Then There Were Three tends to get short shrift in the Genesis catalog, but I’ve always liked the album. It’s not my favorite, I’d say A Trick of The Tail and of the Peter Gabriel era, Selling England By The Pound likely but with music it’s obviously subjective and often depends upon one’s mood and/or time and place memories. I always say the best band/artist or album/song ever is the one you are listening to now, if you like it. But I do have a soft spot for And Then There Were Three, likely due to it being the first Genesis album I really got into, via the single Follow You, Follow Me, before going back, and forward with them from there. And yeah, I even like most of the pop-oriented stuff aside from, yecch, the title cut to Invisible Touch although I do grant that, as a musician friend of mine has said, it’s a very well-constructed song.

David Gilmour, So Far Away . . . From the Pink Floyd guitarist’s first, self-titled solo album, 1978. Nice piano (played by Gilmour) dominated ballad, good for a late night with a refreshment.

Lynyrd Skynyrd, Comin’ Home . . . Beautiful, haunting, life-lived lyrics to a great tune.

Off The Air, She Is Your Neighbour, Syndicated

She Is Your Neighbour Survivor Series

16 May 2022 Bob Jonkman 1 Comment

The Women’s Crisis Services of Waterloo Region released Season Three of of the She Is Your Neighbour Survivor Series on Monday, 16 May 2022.

In this series, you’ll hear from survivors who share unique experiences & how they’ve moved from surviving to thriving. @WomensCrisisSWR explores the realities and complexities of domestic violence by sharing real, raw stories from people of all walks of life.

CKMS-FM is re-airing all seasons of She Is Your Neighbour on Tuesdays from 10:00am to 11:00am starting with Season One in April 2025.

Have a listen and share your thoughts! Tag Women’s Crisis Services on social media and use the hashtags #SheIsYourNeighbour and #SIYNpodcast.

Instagram: @womenscrisisswr, @sheisyourneighbour
Twitter: @WomensCrisisSWR
Facebook: @womenscrisisSWR

Shows, Wadio Wam!

Wadio Wam! Episode 11 – Mother’s Day

9 May 2022 Will Hardie 2 Comments

Hey everyone! Very special episode for Mother’s day, with my own mom coming on the show! We picked some of our favourite songs and shared some memories of them.

Unfortunately there seemed to be a problem with the broadcast of the episode as it was airing, so if you hear me mentioning technical issues that is what that is mentioning! I have tried to remove as much of the rambling as possible. Wam On!

Spotify Link – https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2xLB4kFCVgfPuVZn37xrtR?si=b1e9fa48bcc7422d

Shows, Wadio Wam!

Wadio Wam! Episode 10 – Cole

9 May 2022 Will Hardie 1 Comment

Hey y’all! Here is episode 10 with my friend Cole! Some great songs on here, check it out. Wam On!

Spotify Link – https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7sKNaGu4ilmyuLPlgTErWk?si=bc03412559b04336

Shows, Wadio Wam!

Wadio Wam! Episode 9 – Summer Hits!

9 May 2022 Will Hardie 1 Comment

Hey everyone! Sorry for delay in uploads that last few week – things have got busy with school wrapping up, so we’re gonna hit you with 3 uploads for episodes 9, 10, and 11 tonight. This here is episode 9, where Sam and I go over some songs we expect to play all summer! This will also be his last show of the summer as he’ll be back home. The following episodes will be me and surprise hosts! Anyways, here’s summer hits, Wam On!

Also, the first song or two you will here Nickelback over it. Our apologies, there was an editing mistake LOL

Spotify Link – https://open.spotify.com/playlist/15hN8y61oMkVGItS1etfXa?si=cdaf6be9ba4d4b8a

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