Lazy Radio

I don't actually listen to terrestrial radio, but I am addicted to Sirius XM. It could be partially habit, but I would find myself bereft and bewildered without my Friday night double shot of XM.

That said, Sirius has either become terribly lazy, or perhaps it always was and I was simply not paying enough attention.

Generally at the start of the weekend I'm in the mood for some tasty oldies, which I categorize as anything from the fifties through the eighties; and there does seem to be more care given to my oldie programming. Luckily. The 80's on 8 channel features some of the original MTV VJ's, and they at least pretend to care about what they play. Even the 60's on 6 puts forth some effort.

Country, on the other hand....

Willie's Roadhouse is pretty damn good, until the yodeling cowboys' show comes on, and then I have to switch channels. You know I love Dwight Yoakam, but I'm a bit disappointed in the Bakersfield Beat Channel. Dwight'd be better off simply adding his own songs to the playlist, because some of his choices are rather obscure (as in, not good).

Then we have the three main country channels for those of us who would rather dive headlong off the Golden Gate than listen to "new country".

"Prime Country" is Garth-centric (and he has his own channel!). Worse, the Garth songs played on the channel are the ones that people who don't like country music would choose.

The same can be said for "80's and 90's Country". Nobody who actually listened to country music in the eighties would cite Kenny Rogers as their most cherished artist. Nobody. I'm guessing whoever programs the channel figures, "Ehh, no one's listening anyway, so let's throw in some names I know...uh, Kenny Rogers?"

"80's Hits" ~ if I have to hear "All The Gold In California" one more time, I will flick that channel off my favorites list.

And that's the thing with the country channels ~ it's the same ten or twelve songs over and over and over. Do they have them on a loop?

Just think what a country channel could be if it was programmed by someone who actually likes...loves...country music. Where is Rodney Crowell, Mark Chesnutt, Faron Young, The Mavericks, Gene Watson, Highway 101, Marty Stuart, Lynn Anderson, Johnny Rodriguez? Where the hell is Merle? Oh, I guess we had to make room for Crystal Gayle instead...

Hey, Sirius ~ either have more guest country DJ's or just let me do it. And I would do it.

I find that my favorite channel on Sirius is "Yacht Rock", even though I find the name preciously pretentious.  I get to hear all those songs I once took for granted, like this:



I'll stay a Sirius fan, because what else is there? I'll just try to avoid the country stations. Until they realize that country fans buy subscriptions, too.

I Like Most Styles Of Music, But...

There was a time during the early seventies when the singer-songwriter came into fashion. I'm not sure why. It may have had something to do with the doldrums the country was suffering from -- the  "misery begets misery" thing. "Everything sucks, so we may as well just wallow in it."

We had a string of hapless leaders. Gerald Ford never wanted to be president, but he assumed the office by default and tried to make the best of it. It didn't work. Ford will best be remembered for"WIN" buttons ~ Whip Inflation Now. Because pinning inane badges to our lapels would solve the country's problems.

He will also be remembered, thanks to Chevy Chase, for falling down a lot. He fell down the Air Force One steps. He bumped his head on doorways. He hit a golf ball into the visitors' gallery and bonked a spectator on the head. Gerald Ford carried a  look of perpetual confusion. He did not inspire confidence.

Worse was Jimmy Carter, the eternal scold. Jimmy did not hesitate to tell Americans that the country's problems were OUR fault. If we'd just buck up and live the straight and narrow, everything would be great. Never mind that I was already living the straight and narrow and nothing ever got better. All I got were stern lectures from Jimmy on TV about my "bad attitude". Interest rates were eighteen per cent, but dang, if I just atoned for my sins, HIS life would be so much easier. We all apparently worked for him. What Jimmy really needed was a button ~ "Repent Now".

 (Any man whose campaign button features Mr. Peanut is a guaranteed failure.) 

Amidst these doldrums, came along the singer-songwriter. James Taylor was the most notorious representative. James ascribed to the Jimmy Carter philosophy ~ if we'd just do our freakin' jobs, everything would be fine. "Just call out my name (you idiot) and I'll be there". 

 

Even at age sixteen I knew that was BS. I called out and nobody was ever "there". Maybe God, but I wasn't entirely sure about Him, either.

James was by far not the only offender. We had to contend with Bread and the precious Jackson Browne, and the even more precious Cat Stevens. Music essentially reeked. Worst of all was Crosby, Stills and Nash, who the pop culture mavens tried to convince us were musical geniuses, when what they really were were three-part harmony singers who needed much, much better songs.

(Yawn)

Granted, not all soft rock recordings were bad. 

But you get the picture.

The Eagles are classified as soft rock, but they weren't. They were country-rock. There's a huge difference. 

I would be remiss if I left the impression that soft rock singer-songwriters were the only artists played on Top Forty radio in the early-to-mid seventies. Thank the lord for Elton John. But I will say that early seventies music was for the most part tame. We were supposed to think about the songs and "absorb" them. 

F that. That's not what music is about; that's not what sears our souls.

There will always be a place for soft rock. The eighties gave us Air Supply. The nineties brought forth John Mayer. 

If one is a passive person; if one prefers music that's not too challenging, why not? I don't make judgments; I just tell you what I like and don't like. 

But this retrospective will provide, at the very least, a snapshot of how music was, and why I truly hated it.

 

 

 

A Fond Look At Duets

One doesn't hear too many duets anymore. I guess it goes in cycles. There was a time when duets were, apparently, the thing to do. Especially in the sixties. People were always pairing up, sometimes with one duet partner for awhile; then they'd switch to a new one.

For example, in country music, Loretta Lynn started her duet career recording with Ernest Tubb. Then she later joined up with Conway Twitty and became quite successful. Even Porter Wagoner didn't start out with Dolly Parton. His previous duet partner was Norma Jean. And, of course, Dolly later went on to record some hits with Kenny Rogers.

In pop music, people seemed to stick together more. There were, of course, Sonny & Cher. But also Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell. The Everly Brothers (duh). Sam & Dave. You get the picture.

This gal started out singing with dear old dad, but she later had a lot of success teaming up with Lee Hazelwood.

Here's NANCY SINATRA & LEE HAZELWOOD: JACKSON


Of course, that's all well and good, for camp's sake, but here's the original:

JOHNNY CASH and JUNE CARTER - JACKSON


Speaking of MARVIN GAYE and TAMMI TERRELL, here's:

AIN'T NO MOUNTAIN HIGH ENOUGH

Marvin Gaye was cool.

Well, you gotta include Sonny and Cher, but I just can't watch "I Got You Babe" another time. So, here's a song of theirs that I always liked:
SONNY and CHER - BABY DON'T GO


I know I've mentioned this in the past, but one reason I love watching these old videos from the sixties is because they usually include cheesy dancing. And, you know, let's face it, the jerk was not compatible with a lot of songs. You can't just dance the jerk to every song - especially a ballad. I don't know why they tried. But they did.


I do want to throw in some not-so-obvious selections, and this is a cool one, from the eighties.

Who could ever forget those memorable lines, "What have I.....what have I......what have I......"

PET SHOP BOYS and DUSTY SPRINGFIELD - WHAT HAVE I DONE TO DESERVE THIS

And, like Marvin Gaye, Dusty Springfield was cool, too.


Speaking of legends, here's:

GEORGE JONES and TAMMY WYNETTE - GOLDEN RING/ONE/THEY'RE PLAYING OUR SONG


I'm so excited that I found this one: Barbara Mandrell also had a duet partner in her early days, and it was David Houston. I love this song:
DAVID HOUSTON and BARBARA MANDRELL - AFTER CLOSIN' TIME

She was so cute, wasn't she?


Oh, let's just get it over with and watch this one. Thanks, Barry Gibb. I think every time I turned on the radio in 1978, I heard this song. And then I'd get it stuck in my head.
KENNY ROGERS and DOLLY PARTON - ISLANDS IN THE STREAM


Earlier, of course, Dolly had another duet partner. Here's one I like:

PORTER WAGONER and DOLLY PARTON - THE LAST THING ON MY MIND

I don't want to intimate that the only country duets were done in the sixties and seventies. They went on as long as the 1980's! (Okay, yea, I know about Brooks & Dunn and Sugar & Spice, or whatever the heck the rest of them are called). I like Brooks & Dunn. I'll try to find some videos, but I'll betcha they're not embeddable - how much you wanna bet?

Anyway, here's a duo that I just happen to love. And this is one of my favorite songs of theirs:

FOSTER and LLOYD - TEXAS IN 1880

FIVE STARS on this one!


And while we're on the topic of my favorite artists, here's two for the price of one!

DWIGHT YOAKAM and BUCK OWENS - STREETS OF BAKERSFIELD


Before we leave country (for now), let's listen to my favorite Conway & Loretta duet:

CONWAY TWITTY and LORETTA LYNN - AFTER THE FIRE IS GONE


Okay, that concludes our country segment for now. Now on to "Midnight Special". Remember that show? It was on Friday nights, late, and I'd happen to catch it just as I was coming home from my late-night drinking.......I mean, bible study.

Of course, Kenny Loggins went on to a great career in movie soundtracks. I don't know exactly what Jim Messina went on to, but here's a good one:
LOGGINS and MESSINA - YOUR MAMA DON'T DANCE

Yikes, this was from 1973? Man, that's old! Hey, wait a minute - I graduated in 1973! Man, I'M old!


Even older, here are Seals and Crofts, from 1972:

SEALS and CROFTS - SUMMER BREEZE

I do want to know, however, how they managed to get jasmine in their minds. Cuz that's kind of strange. I mean, I don't have lilac bushes in my mind (I don't think).


Older still, although the video is newer:
SIMON and GARFUNKEL - MRS. ROBINSON

I had to include this, since I watched "The Graduate" again a couple of weeks ago on Free In Demand movies. I love watching old movies (old, meaning, from the '60's). Then I watched "Rain Man" last week, because I hadn't seen it for awhile, and I wanted to compare Dustin Hoffman's performance in that movie to the earlier one. "Rain Man" is a really good movie! I really dislike Tom Cruise, but Hoffman was great in that.

This is really off-topic, but there is a song in the movie, "Rain Man" that I just love. It's called, "Beyond The Blue Horizon", and I had to watch the end credits to find out who sang it. Surprisingly, it was Lou Christie. The falsetto man himself! I downloaded the song from Amazon, because I am just so taken with the song. I've completely gained a new respect for Lou Christie.


I guess I'll close out this post with just one more song. I think this topic deserves to be continued, don't you? So, I'll pick up on it in another post.

Well, I really love the Everly Brothers. It all goes back to, "Bye Bye Love" and me performing that song as part of a trio, when I was just nine'ish.

But aside from that, this is a lovely song, and a good way to end this chapter.
THE EVERLY BROTHERS - CRYIN' IN THE RAIN