Is Anyone Still Listening to The Radio?

[Patch]

The Guess Who? Have you ever heard their song "Albert Flasher"?
Not sure what happened, but the song was on the charts in L.A. and was suddenly yanked overnight, never to be heard again on safe Top 40 A.M. radio.
I've always thought that *maaaybe* the song was yanked due to it's story about a pornographer??????

EDIT: But looking at the lyrics, perhaps that is only my misinterpretation...

Yeah, it's on this album I bought few years ago ...

Amazon.com: The Greatest of The Guess Who: Guess Who: Music

I like the piano in Albert Flasher, but bought the album soley for Clap for the Wolfman & not for American Woman at all

I can only recall one USA radio show, from the '70s
Casey Kasem 'Coast to Coast'? American Top40
was on every Sat. night here in Oz

A year or so, ago, I ripped the radio's plug outa' the wall socket, when
'Rude Boy' started playing for the third time ... in one hour

 

[Patch]

just looked up Albert Flasher lyrics ...
never heard of 'gulch' before & most I could find is ...

"It's from the movie almost famous and there is a story behind it
"Every song has some hook as to why it was written," Randy Bachman says.

One song that has regained a lot of attention is The Guess Who classic "Albert Flasher," which appeared in the film Almost Famous. Although it's one of Burton Cummings's songs, Bachman puts a captivating spin on it.

"He had a party one night that went all night long and he didn't get any sleep. He went to a radio station the next morning for an interview and was a little bit [out of] form before going on. He could hardly see straight. They said to him, 'When the flashing light comes on, that means you're on the air.' The thing flashed 'Alert Flasher,' and he thought it was 'Albert Flasher' and he said 'What is this thing that says 'Albert Flasher?' over the air!"

 

[sleepy]

Yep. Casey Kasem was a prominent Los Angeles DJ and we had Coast to Coast
too.

But Albert Flasher you see, and the lyrical misinterpretation on my part.

You see, I always heard the lyrics as,

"I was a workshop owner and The Guns for The People,
And I offered myself to The World..."

~and!

"Michael was a Movie Maker,
Michael was A Movie Maker".

So I guess I had it wrong,
but I can't abide by the actual lyrics now.

I like my misinterpretations better, but I do think that the line,
"Michael was A Moonbeam Maker" was a deliberate entendre
written in the place of "Movie Maker" in order to skirt the censors
and it didn't work, especially when you then add the line,
"Baby and Me were ripe for the picking" + the alarming howls.

 

[sleepy]

And apparently, "The Gulch" is an area of Nashville, Tennessee.
EDIT: There is also "The Gulch" region in Atlanta, Georgia

https://www.google.com/search?q="in...=chrome.0.57.12612j0&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gulch_(Atlanta)

And a "Workshop Owner" may be a proprietor of a gun shop or a shooting range workshop dealing with guns, so I might not have been too confused.

I only knew the single. Was "Albert Flasher" on the "American Woman" album?

 

[sleepy]

Something is wonky about the song's history.
I Definitely remember listening to Albert Flasher in 10th grade, Burbank, Ca.,
1969-70, and I cannot be confused because my family moved out of Burbank by the Summer of 1970.

Maybe "Albert" was played as a pre-release demo? That might explain why it disappeared from the radio if and when the single was not released until later.
I remember The Who/ Who's Next was on the radio as a pre-release demo for about three weeks before the album was available in the stores.

 

[Coil_Smoke]

The Who & 'My Wife'

My favorite WHO song that I never heard on the radio from 'Who's Next'. Add this file to your Mp3 collection...
My Wife By The Who

Gonna buy a tank and an aeroplane
When she catches up with me
Won't be no time to explain
She thinks I've been with another woman
And that's enough to send her half insane
Gonna buy a fast car
Put on my lead boots
And take a long, long drive
I may end up spending all my money
But I'll still be alive

All I did was have a bit too much to drink
And I picked the wrong precinct Got picked up by the law
And now I ain't got time to think

Gonna buy a tank and an aeroplane
When she catches up with me
Won't be no time to explain
She thinks I've been with another woman
And that's enough to send her half insane
Gonna buy a fast car
Put on my lead boots
And take a long, long drive
I may end up spending all my money
But I'll still be alive

And I'm oh so tired of running
Gonna lay down on the floor
I gotta rest some time so
I can get to run some more

She's comin'!
She's comin'!

 

[sleepy]

Hey Coil, didn't they play whole albums on the radio where you were at?
In L.A. there is/was "The Seventh Day", a program on Sundays that plays/played seven whole albums in their entirety. Anything from ELP to Aqualung to Who's Next to Beatles and Stones and Hendrix with a few lovely Divas now and then for good measure.

 

[Coil_Smoke]

Yes

Hey Coil, didn't they play whole albums on the radio where you were at?
In L.A. there is/was "The Seventh Day", a program on Sundays that plays/played seven whole albums in their entirety. Anything from ELP to Aqualung to Who's Next to Beatles and Stones and Hendrix with a few lovely Divas now and then for good measure.

Yes there has been a sporadic history of entire albums being played on the air here in Baltimore. It continues at Towson State University's WTMD. Sometime back they played the complete vinyl Beatles box set the day it was released. Last week they played most of the Rolling Stones vinyl collection. Some of those analog recordings sounded really good. Some of the later Beatles pressings were poor and sounding not so great.

 

[LeeVanCleef]

How about...he's Snarky for all the wrong reasons, at least in his late 70's-early 80's days. Him and Kenny Loggins.

Oh yeah... Kenny Loggins. I might add him to a "kick in the yabbos" list!
I think the best description of David Byrne is that he's "precious" in its worst connotation. He's the six-year-old girl whose mom and dad has her sing "Jingle Bell Rock" at a Christmas party and she doesn't stop... Keeps on singing it over and over again until you wanna jam some tinsel down her throat. I last saw Byrne and his band a couple of years ago on The Colbert Report. They performed their song while spinning around in circles in office chairs. I clearly understood for the first time why a .45 was Elvis's TV remote of choice.

@Nic... every word completely true! There was even a 12-hour period where they forgot to turn the heat on and I really was frozen alive!

@coil smoke: as a former classic rock DJ, I can guarantee that "My Wife" is frequently played on the more discerning rock stations. In fact, I can think of only.... maybe two songs off that album that aren't in regular rotation. And, not to nitpick, but the song was actually written by bass player John Entwhistle. I only mention this because some of his very fine contributions tend to get lost in the Townshend shadow. Boris the Spider, 905 from Who Are You, and, one of my favorites, Success Story. Hope this YouTube link works. I'm currently trapped in the IPad jungle and the fucker won't play on here!
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1p0m2E7eQKA

 

[LeeVanCleef]

Hey Coil, didn't they play whole albums on the radio where you were at?
In L.A. there is/was "The Seventh Day", a program on Sundays that plays/played seven whole albums in their entirety. Anything from ELP to Aqualung to Who's Next to Beatles and Stones and Hendrix with a few lovely Divas now and then for good measure.

Ah, yes... The glory days when Album Oriented Radio actually was album-oriented! The AOR station in Wichita would feature a different album every night at 11PM and, much like your station, would have a six-pack Sunday, where they'd play the whole week's features back-to-back. I know I still have a cassette copy of Bruce's The River album from those glory years. It's so sad that actual original programming has been replaced by syndicated pablum from Alice Cooper or that moron from Mötley Crüe. Thank god that Little Steven's Underground Garage is there to balance them out... Probably one of the only truly original syndicated rock programs on terrestrial radio... and on the Internet!
http://undergroundgarage.com/

Unfortunately, all the cool stuff is happening on satellite radio, which just costs too damn much. Back when XM Radio was broadcasting on DirecTV, my brother and I would listen to their Deep Cuts Classic Rock station... and they were truly deep cuts! Plus, there's that wonderfully weird show Bob Dylan hosts where he plays some fantastic obscurities. Too bad none of us can afford it!

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

@coily,
they played that song so many times on WMMR and WYSP in philly that i can barely stand to listen to it almost 30 years later. same with the rest of the who's stuff, unfortunately, because i definitely enjoyed them loads back in the day.


@bill,
byrne is dadaist as i see it (or maybe just a worthy faker), and such folks tend to clutch me by the gut, heart and mind, even if they're only 'above-average professional' in their music or artistic talent. honestly, tho... haven't listened to the guy in ages. for all i know he went on to do nothing but rubbish. but i recall him bringing in a lot of world-music fusion influences and collaborators, and i respect that aim as well, quite a bit.


anyway, here's a song of the type that the illinois street lounge tends to stream. basically a variety of "modern lounge" (nothing to do with the likes of bill murray singing "star wars" on SNL!). but i wonder if anyone else here enjoys this genre. i love it:
Shawn Lee's - Cha Love - YouTube

 

[StevOz]

Whilst in 1978...

The Sports - Who Listens To The Radio (1978) - YouTube


That said I still do, wouldn't go without my boom box/clock radio.

Yes set at a quiet rumble, 1 out of 10 and for sure I've not used the CD or wake up features for sometime.

Oh an' for the record it don't play .mp3 has a cassette deck, though this is the keeper, even after a power failure with no batteries it does not lose it's setting for 2 hours or so, :D

Nothing like tunes to sleep to..:)

 

[LeeVanCleef]

LOL! That is one fantastic song, Steve! It's like if Graham Parker and Elvis Costello had a baby and banished it to Australia! BTW, belated congratulations on an Aussie finally winning the Masters! Too bad he had to use one of those "girlie" putters to do it.

@Nic: so far, you're batting zero on which of the songs you posted will play on this filthy, stinking IPad! I promise to come back to this thread on that wondrous day that I get my computer up and running again. I'm especially intrigued by that last song. While listening to Slacker's Lounge station, I heard a crazy Moog version of "Cat Scratch Fever"!

 

[StevOz]

Girly putters because it's longer? Though yeah got to say I feel they should be banned. My putter is most likely older then me, still has the original leather binding on the handle and a nice brass double sided bladed head. Very handy for the occasional left handed shot when up against a tree.

I was runner up last Saturday with +8 in a PAR event, lost on a count-back. Can you believe that? On the last hole I thought I've got this in the bag, as I was putting for a birdie only needed a par for a plus and I was playing with the only bloke who could tie with me. He was off the fairway, needing to get up and down for his plus. I didn't sink the birdie putt, not that it really mattered score wise, still got my plus. Then somehow the opposition managed to get onto the green and sunk a long putt for his win. It was his day and that score cost me a stroke of my handicap now I'm on 13.6!

http://www.golflink.com.au/HandicapHistory.aspx?golflink_no=6680700001

 

[sleepy]

I'm hearing a young Rick Ocasek in that Elvis/Graham Parker emphasis.

Some of the youtubes are pointing out that the song was used in the background on an episode of WKRP Cincinnati. They say Johnny Fever was jamming to it.

Man. I got ripped by Gracie Allen.

 

[Patch]

Can't help thinking this was close to the original tune, used in that Sports 'Who Listens ...' number
& I reckon he got his style from Bryan Ferry, more so

Louie Louie - The Kingsmen - YouTube



Another Aussie 'radio' tune 1970

The Masters Apprentices - Turn Up Your Radio (1970) - YouTube

 

[sleepy]

And Louie Louie came from The Isley Bros. "Twist and Shout" in 1959, covered a few years later by The Beatles.

And "Twist and Shout" is a variant of Richie Valens' "La Bamba" from 1958.

Man. I got ripped by Andy Warhol.

 

[Patch]

Yep ... I hear it :)

The Isley Brothers - Twist and Shout - YouTube

 

[sleepy]

And that same riff was used in the jazz instrumental, "Cast Your Fate to the Wind", attributed to The Vince Guaraldi Trio. It appeared on the 1962 release, "Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus" and it won The Grammy for Best Jazz Composition in 1963, though I was sure it originated on the 1963 release, "Vince Guaraldi In Prison". I could be wrong though.

This is a picture of Audley's piano from our family collection, in case anyone is interested. Back in the 1950's, I could only play on it using two, maybe four fingers. I was only three years old when I first touched it. But my Aunt Beatrice had a piano when I was two, in '56. There was a t.v. ad in '56 with a Mexican rhythm that fascinated me, so I puttered on my Aunt Beatrice's piano using two fingers and a different set of notes and it tasted like "Tequila" to somebody else. I didn't know about Tequila when I was two, back in '56.

Man...

 

[Patch]

... it's in there too :)

all I can do on piano is a 12 bar with two fingers, but I always stuff it up on the turnaround

 

[Patch]

Ozzy's playing here tonight, fella' next door's going
... wonder what I'll hear about it, tomorrow

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

@bill,
what seems to be the problem? you can't search on the title via youtube app or in your browser?
anyway... slacker's lounge... moogy cat scratch fever, here i come! :)


re: the sports,
cute / cool tune, but i gotta find some way to connect with most of you folks on the music front. we're like ships passing in the night, it seems...!


but how do you attach files? i have a punk-ventures tune i just heard that i thought might be of interest, but i can't seem to find an "attach" button. i see this message:

Attach Files
Valid file extensions: avi bmp doc exe fla gif jpe jpeg jpg mp3 pdf png psd rar swf txt wav zip

...and no button in the vicinity. :/

 

[sleepy]

Yeah...me too...
It's like a crazy train around here.

 

[sleepy]

Ike, if you don't see the "Manage Attachments" button, I would close and reopen the browser, and if that doesn't do it then I would try clearing the browser's cache.
Could be a bad cookie?

 

[LeeVanCleef]

Okay, Nic... What I did was hit the "reply" button, rather than the "quick reply" button. If you do that and hit the paperclip, the attachment screen comes up and the "attach a file from your computer" button should be at the top. Excelsior!

For some reason, a crapload of videos now show up on YouTube as "not being made available for mobile devices". This seems to have happened more I the last week, and they usually are song videos. Ah well... Looks like soon we'll be paying for the privilege not to be able to watch videos onYouTube.