New shows will soon be starting up again on KSCU, 91.5fm                                                 

KSCU will be having DJs returning to the airwaves in a different fashion and I’ll get into that in a moment but, first, I’d like to talk about the passing of Ruth Bader Ginsberg.  So much adoration has been expressed over the weekend that I don’t think I can add anything beyond that, but the repercussions really scare me.

I’ve been extremely good about keeping my public political voice stifled the past few years, but just imagine what a numerically unbalanced Supreme Court and a mentally unbalanced Donald Trump could do, things that could make a 200,000 pandemic death toll appear trivial.  First off, Democrats could have an overwhelming victory reversed by claims of voter mail fraud thus returning defeated Republican Senators (and the Donald himself) to controlling the legislature as well as the judicial and executive branches, thus setting up Trump for a third or even permanent term.  Corporations would get increased rights as poor folk would lose medical services and more, climate change denial will bring about a hell for all our grandchildren’s children and dictatorship would become the national standard. The Republicans could finally achieve their longstanding goal of privatizing the Postal Service and, who knows, Trump might even have his Reich take away the rights of blacks and women to vote.  And this is not even a worst case scenario, just what popped into my head first thing Monday morning.  All this makes me glad that, in 64 years in this country, I never gave up my Canadian citizenship.  At least a decade ago, I did not agree with my mother when she said that Republicans had no morals, but I’m afraid 2016 proved her right; I’m glad she wasn’t here to see it.

Make sure you vote.  It really matters.

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Now, about KSCU.  The station has determined not to let the university lockdown keep DJs from airing their passions by allowing us to submit prerecorded shows until such time as the studio becomes physically available again.  I have been granted the time slot I requested, Sunday evenings from 7 to 10PM and, as soon as I can figure out how to inject commentary into my playlists (no small feat for this old man), I shall join the regular Sunday Blues rotation (9AM-1PM) in presenting some exciting music for your listening entertainment.

My presentations will be considerably different than they have been recently.  Since 2014 I have included only three or maybe four artists per show with extensive biographies in this blog in order to let you know more about the artists, mostly deceased, so you can acquire more of their music.  I may throw in a show in this vein every now and then, but for the most part the playlists will be one track per artists and be almost 160 minutes of music (2CDs) with commentary added to that.  I am fortunate that there will be no one following me so I can say as much as I feel relevant, probably making each show run past its three hours by about fifteen minutes.  Something this change will allow is more chatter about the artists and songs over the air, something I feel had been shortchanged when I didn’t wish to duplicate the information in the blog. 

There are two issues that make a show every week difficult: one is showing up that often and two is the time required to write the bios.  Since neither of these will be relevant, it is my hope to be able to fill every Sunday evening with music you will enjoy.  I wonder if remote shows will be an option after the studio is open, particularly because I might not have to take a summer vacation when the building closes up at 7PM.  *************************

A couple of notes I would like to say: I heard Dave the Blues Dude is recovering from a serious medical condition and I am looking forward to his quick return to the Sunday morning Blues rotation.  Get well, my friend.

And I just found out one of my favorite harmonica players around here, Jim Ilges, passed away in June of a non-COVID illness.  His wife and friends are gathering some of his recordings (all I have are a couple of cassettes) and I will get more info in the future, perhaps enough for a small bio.

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And to wind up this posting, I went through one of my computers and put together this playlist which I may use, modify or totally discard as an example of what you might hear.  As soon as I have a show prepared. I shall get back to you.

Key to the Highway

   John Hammond

Jamaica Farewell

   Harry Belafonte

Down the Road Apiece

   Amos Milbourne

Be Proud to Be a Black Man

   Bee Houston

You Don’t Love Me No More

   Billy Boy Arnold

If I Had My Way I’d Tear This Building Down

   Blind Willie Johnson

Here’s a Little Girl

   Blue Lu Barker

Back Door Man

   The Blues Project

Shoo Fly, Don’t Bother Me

   Bluesiana Triangle

I Got My Eyes on You

   Buddy Guy

Walking Blues

   The Paul Butterfield Blues Band

Work Song

   Cannonball Adderly

Evil is Going On

   Canned Heat

Rockin’ at the Philharmonic

   Chuck Berry

Beat Me Daddy (Eight to the Bar)

   Deanna Bogart

Killing Floor

   The Electric Flag

Who’s Been Talking?

   Howlin’ Wolf

Boogie, Don’t Blot

   Earl Hooker

I Held My Baby Last Night

   Elmore James

Low Tide

   Freddy King

Moose on the Loose

   Harpdog Brown

Death Has No Mercy

   Henry Butler

Leaving West

   Hubbard & Turrentine with the CTI All Stars

Walking the Ceiling

   Hound Dog Taylor

Li’l Liza Jane

   Huey “Piano” Smith

J.B.’s Crawl

   J.B. Hutto

Open the Door, Richard

   Jack MacVea

Cold Sweat

   James Brown

Night Rock

   Jimmy Dawkins

I Ain’t Got You

   Jimmy Reed

Bashin’

   Jimmy Smith

Roll ‘em Pete

   Jimmy Witherspoon

White Sox Stomp

   Jimmy Yancey

Senora Nancye

   John Handy

Boom Boom, Gonna Shoot You Down

   John Lee Hooker

Shake Your Money Maker

   John Littlefield

Dipper’s Blues (Part 1)

   Joe Liggins

Hoodoo Man

   Junior Wells

Who’s Making Love

   Katie Webster

Blues is a Woman

   Lou Rawls

Beware Brother

   Louie Jordan

Bloomington Closer

   Luther Allison

Keep a-Lovin’ Me Baby

   Magic Sam

That’s Enough of That Stuff

   Marcia Ball

C Rocker

   Memphis Slim and Willie Dixon

Your Mind is on Vacation

   Mose Allison

I Got My Mojo Working

   Muddy Waters

Try a Little Tenderness

   Otis Redding

Homework

   Otis Rush

The River’s Invitation

   Percy Mayfield

She Walks Right In

   Professor Longhair

What’d I Say

   Ray Charles

I Smell Trouble

   Ronnie Earl

Sykes’ Advice Blues

   Roosevelt Sykes

Peter Gunn Theme

   Roy Buchanan

Roy Rides (AKA Nip Time)

   Roy Milton and his Solid Senders

Sentimental Journey

   Ruth Brown

Said I Wasn’t Gonna Tell Nobody

   Sam and Dave

Going to New York

   The Siegel-Schwall Blues Band

Bring it on Home

   Sonny Boy Williamson II

I Ain’t Broke

   Tab Benoit and Jimmy Thackery

Lonely Avenue

   Taj Mahal

Flatfoot Sam

   Terry Hanck

Walk that Mess

   Tiny Bradshaw

Stagger Lee

   Wilson Pickett

Mr. Blues is Coming

   Wynonie Harris