That 70s Show

Today, I decided to take a break from the normal blog to tell you about something new I am up to. After months of persuasion from a few of my friends I have finally gotten my own radio show, entitled "That 70s Show" (The name was thought up by my friend Ed, thanks Ed). It airs Sundays 10AM to 12PM on 99.5 WUDR Flyer Radio

But don't worry, it's not just me talking and playing songs. It's so much more. First off, I have another friend helping me out, Eric. He knows what hes doing around the radio station. Eric adds a whole different element to the show, he adds comic relief and another voice to come up with ideas for the shows. Hopefully I can convince him to stay on fulltime.

As you can tell if you actually read this blog on steady basis my thoughts are usually scrambled, not put together very well, making it hard for others to read or understand what I am trying to get across. On the radio, it's a whole different ball game. I don't have to worry about how to write certain things while trying to sound somewhat sophisticated and not coming across sounding even more incapable than I really am. See, look at that last sentence... me fail english?

I'd rather think of myself as an idea man. When it comes down to the exact specifics, such as writing a coherent blog, thats where things might get blurry. On the radio show I can say what I want to say and I have Eric there to either ask follow up questions or ask me to clearify, which is nice.

So what goes on during the show? Lots of things - mostly it is what Eric and I like to call "new boot goofin", we just try to have a good time while enjoying classic rock hits and I may even throw a fun fact in there (if your lucky). After one week going in blind we came out with a couple of different ideas for segments:

• Eight Track of the Week: Each week i'll pick one band and one album and select 4 tracks from that artist to play through out the length of show
• Artist Spotlight: Each week i'll pick one artist and give you a look into where that person comes from, how they started playing music, the bands they've been in and finally what they are doing today. This information will be followed by a musical timeline through the artist's career.

Last Weeks Artist Spotlight: Joe Walsh

• Away Message of the Week: This is one for the kids of today, everyone has away messages and I know I like to use song lyrics alot of the time, so in this segment I pick out a set of lyrics to be the away message of the week.

Last Weeks Away Message of the Week: "Like a bird on a wire, like a drunk in a midnight choir, i've tried in my own way to be free" Leonard Cohen's "Bird on a Wire" (How this lyric came into my mind was were listening to Kris Kristofferson who decided to have those lyrics put on his gravestone when he dies)

That is all we have thought of so far, I'd love to get some feedback if you have show ideas. Also don't forget if you are up early on Sunday morning (10AM to 12PM) recovering from the weekend you might as well tune into Eric and me for some "70s Show" on Flyer Radio WUDR 99.5

**If you are not in the Dayton area and would like to listen check out:
http://flyer-radio.udayton.edu/

Brian Wilson's "Smile"

Originally Released: September 23, 2004

Featuring: Brian Wilson, The Brian Wilson Band

Best Lyric: "I bet I know what she's like and I can feel how right she'd be for me. It's weird, how she comes in so strong and I wonder what she's pickin up from me?" - Good Vibrations

Best Song(s): "Surf's Up" & "Cabin Essence"


Personal Review: This may be a little bias because of the fact that I am a huge Brian Wilson fan. I feel like he gets a bad rap. Yeah, he is pretty messed up now-a-days, but look at what the man has been through. It seems like your typical musician's story: He had an abusive Dad who tried his hardest to get rich and famous by playing music, so as a young boy Brian began to learn to play the piano to try to get on his father's good side. Once Brian's father realized his son had a gift he pushed him until he cracked. From all of the books and DVDs I have read and seen it truly is a sad story. Brian was on top of the world after the release of Pet Sounds he had already moved to a back seat role with the Beach Boys no longer touring with them and simply focusing on writing new material. So while the Beach Boys were touring Brian came up with the idea for Smile. It was something that had never been done, this scared the other Beach Boys. When the Beach Boys returned from their tour to see what Brian had come up with they were not pleased. The music and lyrics had become extremely abstract, the Beach Boys and especially lead singer Mike Love thought Brian had lost it. The Beach Boys wanted to play Beach Boys music, they felt Smile was too 'out there'. This sent Brian into a protective shell, from all the years of abuse by his father Brian had become extremely sensitive and everything he did depended on what others thought, he just wanted to please other people. When the Beach Boys turned down his months of hard work he had a nervous breakdown.

Until 2004, when the idea of finishing and performing Smile came up. I have a DVD Documentary entitled "Brian Wilson's Smile" that follows the process of Brian telling the story of Smile in the sixties through to the performance in 2004 that resulted in the album. It really is visible to tell in the DVD that the memories of Smile still haunt Brian to this day. But with the help of his band and long time partner in writing Van Dyke Parks the team finished the album, put it all together and performed it in London, England on February 20, 2004.

The album itself may be a little out there for conventional music listeners, but if you have a interest in music and songwriting then this album is definately for you. Some of the melodies even seem somewhat childish but they are so well put together that the final product is unbelievable. The layers that Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys can be found all through out the album, using voices as instruments (much like CSN) adds a whole different level to the album. Their are songs such as "Surf's Up" where the lyrics seem like gibberish: "Surf's up aboard a tidal wave, come about hard and join the young and often spring you gave, I heard the word, wonderful thing, a children's song" but put together with the beautiful piano playing of Brian the words just flow and make perfect sense.

So if you are into deep melodies and extremely well put together songs then Brian Wilson's Smile is definately a must have.

The following is a clip from the DVD mentioned earlier:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x00vPV1nKbU

(Its important when listening to music to not be judgmental - don't judge people - Brian may be affected by all he has been through but the man is genius.)

This is a clip of Brian performing "Surf's Up" in 1966. To me it's absolutely perfect.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBDqRLkA8ew

Other Recommended Brian Wilson Albums/Affiliates/Books:

• The Beach Boys "Pet Sounds"


• "Wouldn't it be nice" By Brian Wilson - Autobiography

CSNY - Four Way Street

Originally Released: April 7, 1971

Featuring: David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash & Neil Young

Best Lyric: "Don't you ever ask them why, if they told you, you would cry. So just look at them and sigh and know they love you." -Teach Your Children

Best Line: "Here's a new song thats guaranteed to bring you right down, it's called Don't Let it Bring you Down, sort of starts off real slow then fizzles out all together." -Neil Young

Best Song: David Crosby's "The Lee Shore"

Personal Review: From the view of a CSNY fan this album is everything I love about the group. While still playing such CSNY favorites as "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" and "Teach Your Children" the group finds a way to incorporate each member's own personal work: Crosby sing his song "Laughing" from his debut solo album If I could only remember my name, Crosby and Nash team up to sing their song "The Lee Shore" (which I believe to be the best song on the album), Graham Nash pays tribute to his previous group, The Hollies, by playing "King Midas in Reverse" from the group's 1967 album Butterfly (this tune is only found on the 1992 re-issue of the album) and finally Stephen Stills plays his song "Black Queen" of his 1970 self-titled album.

So while the average CSNY fan gets their fill of good hits, they also get a look into the quality of works that each musician has created as a solo artist.

As a fan of all types of music I find it almost breathtaking to listen to these four guys sing and harmonize together - especially the work of Nash and Crosby, those two sound like they were meant to sing together: here is a link from YouTube of Nash and Crosby playing the song the Lee Shore - I DEFINATELY recommend you to check out the other parts from their BBC performance, it really is musical genious - these guys sound even better here than they do on their albums that have meticulously put together.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdNO9Qa5rzI&feature=user

Other Recommended CSNY Albums/Affiliates:

• Crosby, Stills & Nash "CSN"


• David Crosby "If I Could Only Remember My Name"


• Crosby & Nash - "Wind on the Water"

all unkown information was gathered from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Way_Street
the youtube video can be found at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdNO9Qa5rzI&feature=user