Tribute to Etta James and Johnny Otis: Playlist for Jan. 27, 2012

R&B legends Johnny Otis (1921-2012) and Etta James (1938-2012) died within three days of each other and were closely linked. Otis discovered James when she was barely 15 years old.  In addition to being a talent scout, bandleader, songwriter, percussionist, producer and pastor, Otis was also a DJ who regaled us over the airwaves for 50 years. I was privileged to listen to him when he broadcast on KPFA in the 90s. He had an infectious joy, a knowledge of the music, and a feeling for community that has greatly inspired my own broadcasting. Thank you, Etta and Johnny!

Hour 1
Artist	Song	Album	Year
R.E.M.	Maps & Legends	Fables of the Reconstruction	1985
Johnny Otis	Boogie Guitar	Midnight at the Barrelhouse: 1948-1950
Amos Milburn	Bad, Bad Whiskey		1950
Johnny Otis	All Nite Long	The Original Johnny Otis Show	1951
Los Lobos	Shakin’ Shakin’ Shakes	El Cancionero	2000
Patty Griffin	Move Up	Downtown Church	2010
Madness	Dust Devil	The Liberty of Norton Folgate	2009
Johnny Otis	Hand Jive ’85	Otisology	1995
The Pretenders	Break Up the Concrete	Break Up the Concrete	2008
R.E.M.	1,000,000	Dead Letter Office	1987
Modest Mouse	Fire It UP	We Were Dead Before the Ship	2007
		Even Sank
Etta James	Love & Happiness/Take Me To	Burnin’ Down the House–Live at	2002
	The River/My Funny Valentine	the House of Blues
Etta James	Let Me Down Easy	The Dreamer	2011
Hour 2
Artist	Song	Album	Year
Mavis Staples	Wrote a Song for Everyone	You Are Not Alone	2010
Joe Cocker	With a Little Help From My Friends		1968
Big Mama Thornton	Hound Dog		1952
Tom Waits	Come On Up to the House	Mule Variations	1999
Johnny Otis	Cupid’s Boogie		1950
Ruth Brown	Mama, He Treats Your	The Essentials: Ruth Brown	1953
	Daughter Mean
Johnny Otis	Beer Bottle Boogie	R&B Caravan 1950-1952
M. Ward	To Save Me	Hold Time	2009
Paul Simon	One Man’s Ceiling is Another	There Goes Rhymin’ Simon	1973
	Man’s Floor
TV on the Radio	Keep Your Heart	9 Types of Light	2011
Sam Cooke	Touch the Hem of His Garment	Sam Cooke with the Soul Stirrers	1965
Sufjan Stevens	He Woke Me Up Again	Seven Swans	2004
The New Pornographers	We End Up Together	Together	2010

 

Playlist for Jan. 13, 2012: “(What’s So Fun ’bout) Peace, Love and Understanding?”

In this show we pay tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King by taking a quick tour through songs calling for peace, justice, and unity from 1956 to 2010. Like it or not, there’s no lack of material to address on this issue as warfare, poverty and racism continue to plague our planet. Music is an important way to gather resources and create community for those who work for change, and an essential source of inspiration for just about everyone else. I arranged this show more or less chronologically to show that music calling for justice and invoking our essential unity has never gone out of style.

Hour 1
Artist	Song	Album	Year	Play time
R.E.M.	Maps & Legends	Fables of the Reconstruction	1985	3.11
Nick Lowe	(What’s so Funny ’bout) Peace	Untouched Takeaway	1974/2004	4.04
	Love and Understanding?
Odetta	Man Done Gone	Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues	1956	2.00
Bob Dylan	The Times They Are A-Changin’	The Times They Are A-Changin’	1964	3.17
Peter, Paul & Mary	Down By the Riverside	Around the Campfire		2.39
Judy Collins	Get Together	Live at Newport		2.53
Joan Baez	Imagine			3.27
Marvin Gaye	Inner City Blues	What’s Going On	1971	5.33
Stevie Wonder	Village Ghetto Land	Songs in the Key of Life	1976	3.25
India.Arie	Ghetto	Testimony, Vol. 2: Love & Politics	2009	3.11
The Tempations	Ball of Confusion	Hitsville U.S.A.	1970	4.04
Joe Cocker	Come Together	Hymn for My Soul	2007	4.23
Buffalo Springfield	For What It’s Worth			2.37
Linkin Park	Wisdom, Justice and Love	A Thousand Suns	2010	1.39
U2	Pride (In the Name of Love)	Rattle and Hum	1988	4.27
Hour 2
Artist	Song	Album	Year	Play time
Elvis Costello	(What’s so Funny ’bout) Peace		1979	3.33
	Love and Understanding?
The Clash	The Call Up	Sandinista!	1980	5.28
The Sex Pistols	Holidays in the Sun	Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s	1977	3.23
		the Sex Pistols
R.E.M.	World Leader Pretend	Green	1988	4.18
Indigo Girls	Strange Fire	Strange Fire	1987	5.29
Jane Siberry	Love is Everything	When I Was A Boy	1993	5.51
Smashing Pumpkins	Disarm	Siamese Dream	1993	3.18
Patti Smith	People Have the Power	Dream of Life	1988	5.1
Michael Franti & Spearhead	We Don’t Stop	Everyone Deserves Music	2003	4.36
Hamell on Trial	Don’t Kill	Tough Love	2003	3.27
James	Hey Ma	Hey Ma	2008	4.09
Da Boogie Man	MLK Speech	Rated-G	2010	1.03
U2	MLK	The Unforgettable Fire	1984	2.34

 

Emergence: Playlist for Dec. 16, 2011

Dedicated to Lumi Sugazawa O’Neill, and to emerging young artists everywhere.

Hour 1
Artist	Song	Album	Year	Play time
R.E.M.	Maps & Legends	Fables of the Reconstruction	1985	3.11
The Doors	Waiting for the Sun	Morrison Hotel	1970	3.57
Sparklehorse	See the Light	Dreamt for Light Years in the	2006	3.42
		Belly of a Mountain
Swans	Jim	My Father Will Guide Me Up	2010	6.46
		A Rope to the Sky
Madrugada	Subterranean Sunlight	The Deep End	2005	4.00
The Beatles	Blackbird	The White Album	1968	2.18
Traffic	Many A Mile to Freedom	Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys	1971	7.18
Bruce Cockburn	I’m Gonna Fly Someday	In the Falling Dark	1976	4.04
La Portuaria	In Between Days	Rio	2005	2.41
Built to Spill	Center of the Universe	Keep It Like A Secret	1999	2.43
Buddy Holly	That’ll Be the Day			2.19
Spiritualized	Won’t Get to Heaven (The State I’m In)    Let It Come Down		2001	10.31
Hour 2
Artist	Song	Album	Year	Play time
Fiona Apple	Sleep to Dream	Tidal	1996	4.11
Laurie Anderson	In Our Sleep	Talk Normal	2000	2.35
Mighty Mouse	The World At Large	Good News for People Who
		Love Bad News	2004	4.33
The Swell Season	Low Rising	Strict Joy	2009	4.47
Beth Orton	Thinking About Tomorrow	Daybreaker	2002	6.41
Tift Merritt	Feel of the World	See You On the Moon	2010	4.43
Lumi’s Set:
Adele	My Same	Nineteen	2008	3.16
Coldplay	Lovers in Japan	Prospekt’s March	2008	4.00
Green Day	See the Light	21st Century Breakdown	2009	4.36
Lily Allen	The Fear	It’s Not Me, It’s You	2009	3.26
Tori Amos	Precious Things	Little Earthquakes	1992	4.27
Corinne Bailey Rae	Diving for Hearts	The Sea	2010	4.50

I’m Alive (Until IDie): Playlist for Dec. 2, 2011

Putting together the songs for this evening, I intended to play mainly songs that had stark and simple statements about the joys and sorrows of being alive. Interestingly enough, the process led me to many songs about, well, not being alive. I decided to let the songs’ titles lay against each other and point to the simple fact of how alive we are, before and after dying.

Hour 1
Artist	Song	Album	Year
R.E.M.	Maps & Legends	Fables of the Reconstruction	1985
James	Bubbles	Hey Ma	2008
Garland Jeffreys	I’m Alive	The King of In Between	2011
John Mellencamp	Your Life Is Now	On the Rural Route 7609	2010
Patty Larkin	Me and That Train	Strangers World	1995
Brandi Carlile	Turpentine	The Story	2007
Brandi Carlile	Until I Die	The Story	2007
Dawes	When My Time Comes	North Hills	2009
Gomez	How We Operate	How We Operate	2006
Garland Jeffreys	Coney Island Winter	The King of In Between	2011
The The	December Sunlight	NakedSelf	2000
David Byrne	What A Day That Was	The Catherine Wheel	1981
Washed Out	Amor Fati	Within and Without	2011
Hour 2
Artist	Song	Album	Year
Wussy	Happiness Bleeds	Wussy	2009
The Fiery Furnaces	Leaky Tunnel	Gallowsbird’s Bark	2003
Broken Bells	Your Head Is On Fire	Broken Bells	2009
R.E.M.	Life And How To Live It	Fables of the Reconstruction	1985
Emma Pollock	Nine Lives	The Law of Large Numbers	2010
Fiona Apple	Extraordinary Machine	Extraordinary Machine	2005
Erin McKeown	(Put the Fun Back in) the Funeral	Hundreds of Lions	2009
Holly Tannen	Gone Gonna Rise Again	Between the Worlds
Lisa Germano	simple	Magic neighbor	2009
Iron & Wine	No Moon	Around the Well	2009
Pearl Jam	I’m Open	No Code	1996
Elvis Costello	Broken	Mighty Like A Rose	1991
Bob Dylan	Everything Is Broken	Oh Mercy	1989

Sound & Vision: Playlist for Nov. 25, 2011

David Bowie asks, “Don’t you wonder sometimes/about sound and vision?” There’s a lot to wonder at, and to be thankful for. This evening starts off with instrumentals, including a detour into the wonderful world of surf rock and beach music, visits some interesting soundscapes, and concludes with songs exploring and celebrating the color blue.

Hour 1: Sound
Artist	Song	Album	Year
R.E.M.	Maps & Legends	Fables of the Reconstruction	1985
David Bowie	Sound & Vision	Low	1977
M83	Couleurs	Saturdays = Youth	2008
The Police	The Other Way of Stopping	Zenyatta Mondatta	1980
Tame Impala	Jeremy’s Storm	InnerSpeaker	2010
Dick Dale	Mr. Eliminator	Mr. Eliminator	1964
Dick Dale	Miserlou	King of the Surf Guitar	1989
The B-52s	Rock Lobster	The B-52s	1979
The Beach Boys	Little Deuce Coupe	Endless Summer	1974
Os Mutantes	Que Tem Medo De Brincar De	A Divina Comedia Ou Ando	1970
	Amor	Meio Desligado
David Bowie	Speed of Life	Low	1977
Dick Dale & his Del-Tones	Taco Wagon	Mr. Eliminator	1964
Radiohead	I Might be Wrong	Amnesiac	2001
Tune-Yards	Gangsta	W H O K I L L	2011
Bobby McFerrin	Sunshine of Your Love	Simple Pleasures	1988
Hour 2: Vision
Artist	Song	Album	Year
Johnny Nash	I Can See Clearly Now	I Can See Clearly Now	1972
The Who	I Can See For Miles	The Kids Are Alright	1979
Five Man Electrical Band	Signs	Absolutely Right: The Best of	1971
		Five Man Electrical Band
Donovan	Colours	Catch the Wind	1965
Kristin Andreassen	Crayola Doesn’t Make a Color	Kiss Me Hello	2006
	for Your Eyes
Robert Johnson	Crossroad Blues	Crossroad Blues	2011
B.B. King	Why I Sing The Blues	Complete Collection	2008
Kristina Olsen	Quiet Blue	Quiet Blue	2008
Los Lobos	Dream In Blue	Kiko	1992
The White Stripes	Blue Orchid	Get Behind Me Satan	2008
Van Morrison	Blue Money	His Band the Street Choir	1970
Dick Dale	Night Rider	King of the Surf Guitar
David Bowie	A New Career in a New Town	Low	1977

Into the Mystic: Playlist for Nov. 4, 2011

Inspired by the Van Morrison song, this evening features songs for the Halloween/Day of the Dead and coming winter season.

R.E.M.	Maps & Legends	Fables of the Reconstruction	1985
Van Morrison	Into the Mystic	Moondance	1970
The Rosebuds	Second Bird of Paradise	Loud Planes Fly Low	2011
Elbow	The Birds	build a rocket boys!	2011
R.E.M.	King of Birds	Document	1987
Patti Smith	Birdland	Horses	1975
Radiohead	Everything In Its Right Place	Kid A	1995
Tame Impala	The Bold Arrow of Time	InnerSpeaker	2010
The High Violets	Cool Green	To Where You Are	2006
Broken Bells	The Ghost Inside	Broken Bells	2009
Neko Case	Deep Red Bells	Blacklisted	2002
Karen Elson	The Ghost Who Walks	The Ghost Who Walks	2010
Hour 2
Artist	Song	Album	Year
Tori Amos	Crazy	Scarlet’s Walk	2002
Shearwater	The Snow Leopard	Rook	2008
Sigur Ros	Svefn-g-Englar	Agaetis Byrjun	2000
Buffalo Springfield	Expecting to Fly		1967
M83	This Bright Flash	Hurry Up We’re Dreaming	2011
Dick Dale	Haji	Spacial Disorientation	2001
Dead Can Dance	Mother Tongue	The Serpent’s Egg	1988
The Doors	LA Woman	LA Woman	1971
Led Zeppelin	Over the Hills and Far Away	Houses of the Holy	1973
The National	Bloodbuzz Ohio	High Violet	2010
M83	Highway of Endless Dreams	Saturdays = Youth	2008

The Long Career: Playlist for Oct. 21, 2011

Featuring work from artists who have been recording for 30 years or more and are still turning out fresh and exciting material.

Artist	Song	Album	Year
R.E.M.	Maps & Legends	Fables of the Reconstruction	1985
Richard and Linda Thompson	When I Get to the Border	I Want to See the Bright Lights…	1974
Richard Thompson	You Dream Too Much	Rumor and Sigh	1991
Richard Thompson	Big Sun Falling in the River	Dream Attic	2010
Led Zeppelin	Bron-Y-Aur Stomp	Led Zeppelin III	1970
Led Zeppelin	Over the Hills and Far Away	Houses of the Holy	1973
Robert Plant	House of Cards	Band of Joy	2010
Neil Young	Don’t Let It Bring You Down	After the Gold Rush	1970
Neil Young	You and Me	Harvest Moon	1994
Neil Young	Love and War	LeNoise	2010
Hour 2
Artist	Song	Album	Year
U2	Twilight	Boy	1980
U2	Love Rescue Me	Rattle and Hum	1990
U2	Moment of Surrender	No Line on the Horizon	2009
Los Lobos	Will the Wolf Survive?	How Will the Wolf Survive?	1984
Los Lobos	Midnight Shift		c. 1992
Los Lobos	On Main Street	Tin Can Trust	2010
Van Morrison	And It Stoned Me	Moondance	1970
Van Morrison	Ancient of Days	A Sense of Wonder	1985
Van Morrison	Behind the Ritual	Keep It Simple	2008

The Motown Sound: Playlist for Oct. 7, 2011

Artist	Song	Album	Year
R.E.M.	Maps & Legends (theme)	Fables of the Reconstruction	1985
Stevie Wonder	Fingertips, Part 2 (live)	Hitsville U.S.A.
M83	Up!	Saturdays = Youth	2008
The Temptations	The Way You Do the Things You Do    Hitsville U.S.A.	Hitsville U.S.A.	1964
Dirty Projectors	Cannibal Resource	Bitte Orca	2009
Yeasayer	Mondegreen	Odd Blood	2010
The Miracles	Mickey’s Monkey	Hitsville U.S.A.	1963
Adele	My Same	Nineteen	2008
Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings	Inspiration Information	Dark Was the Night	2009
The Velvelettes	He Was Really Saying Something	Hitsville U.S.A.
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah	Five Easy Pieces	Some Loud Thunder	2007
Jackson 5	ABC	Hitsville U.S.A.	1970
Stereolab	The Ecstatic Static	Chemical Chords	2008
The New Pornographers	Sweet Talk, Sweet Talk	Together
Artist	Song	Album	Year
Edwin Starr	Twenty-five Miles	Hitsville U.S.A.	1969
Hooverphonic	Jackie Cane	The Magnificent Tree	1998
Gladys Knight & the Pips	I Heard it Through the Grapevine	Hitsville U.S.A.	1967
Portugal.The Man	The Home	The Satanic Satanist	2009
Martha Reeves & the Vandellas	Nowhere to Run	Hitsville U.S.A.
Marvin Gaye	Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)	What’s Going On	1971
The Temptations	Ball of Confusion	Hitsville U.S.A.	1970
Janelle Monae	Cold War	The ArchAndroid	2010
The Four Tops	Standing in the Shadows of Love	Hitsville U.S.A.	1966
Florence and the Machine	Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)	Lungs	2009
Smoky Robinson & Miracles	The Tears of a Clown	Hitsville U.S.A.	1967
Rare Earth	Get Ready	Hitsville U.S.A.	1969
Van Morrison	Wild Night	Tupelo Honey	1971
M. Ward	To Save Me	Hold Time	2009
The Contours	Do You Love Me?	Hitsville U.S.A.	1962

Happy-Sad: Playlist for Sept. 23, 2011

Whew… Human beings are complicated critters! One minute we’re happy, the next sad… and more often, we’re a complicated and perplexing mix of both–alternating, conditioning, and underlying each other. These songs all present strong doses of both happy and sad emotions, creating an ambivalence and bittersweetness that both express and transport their subject matter. E-motion, after all, is all about movement, making music’s movements a natural vehicle for such.

It was especially interesting to see how songs such as The Beatles’ iconic “Hey Jude” start out slow and dirgelike and seem to work their way through to a better or clearer emotion at the end. They do indeed “take a sad song and make it better.”

Date        Sept. 23, 2011	Show no.  73	Theme   Happy/Sad   happy. Sad    Happy? Sad?
Hour 1
Artist	Song	Album	Year
R.E.M.	Maps & Legends	Fables of the Reconstruction	1985
Joni Mitchell	Darkness and Light	The Hissing of Summer Lawns	1974
Emma Pollock	The Loop	The Law of Large Numbers	2010
James	Bubbles	Hey Ma	2008
Indigo Girls	Strange Fire	Strange Fire	1987
The Mynabirds	What We Gained in the Fire	What We Lose in the Fire We	2010
		Gain in the Flood
Van Morrison	When the Leaves Come Falling Down         Back on Top		1999
Florence & The Machine	Dog Days Are Over	Lungs	2009
Radiohead	Stop Whispering	Pablo Honey	1993
R.E.M.	Walk Unafraid	Up	1998
Karen Elson	Stolen Roses	The Ghost Who Walks	2010
Mew	Vaccine	No more stories are told today…	2009
			TOTAL
Hour 2
Artist	Song	Album	Year
The Beatles	Hey Jude		1968
Built to Spill	Oh Yeah	There Is No Enemy	2009
The Frames	Happy	Burn the Maps	2004
David Bowie	Golden Years	Station To Station	1976
Janelle Monae	Mushrooms & Roses	The ArchAndroid	2010
Plants and Animals	Swinging Bells	La La Land	2010
Gomez	Natural Reaction	A New Tide	2009
My Morning Jacket	Wonderful (The Way I Feel)	Circuital	2011
Magnetic Fields	I Don’t Know What To Say	Realism	2009
Richard Buckner	Mile	Meadow	2006
The Decemberists	Down By the Water	The King Is Dead	2011
R.E.M.	Begin the Begin	Lifes Rich Pageant	1986

The Drum: Playlist for Sept. 9, 2011

Drums are used to mark time, to make time, and to move us. They are an essential part of healing and celebration rituals worldwide, and just about any time we need to get our young or old bones moving. If you have heard a catchy song that you can’t get out of your head, chances are the rhythm did much of the work. On this show, we will trace drumming in popular music from its African roots, straight into early rhythm and blues. We’ll listen to tracks from master drummers such as John Bonham (Led Zeppelin), Neil Peart (Rush) and Ginger Baker (Cream), along with a special tribute to The Who’s Keith Moon. Add in some Latin rhythms from Bo Diddley and Los Lobos, then consider how the early music of U2 subverted the usual “march to war” rhythm to make a powerful statement about its consequences, and you are in for one foot-tapping evening.

Hour 1
Artist	Song	Album	Year	Play time
R.E.M.	Maps & Legends	Fables of the Reconstruction	1985	3.11
Brent Lewis	Doom Tac A Doom	Earth Tribe Rhythms	1990	5.35
Babatunde Olatunji	Oya (Aw-Yah)	Drums of Passion	1960	5.34
Neal Peart/Rush	Drum Solo	YouTube		8.43
U2	The Refugee	War	1983	3.41
Chuck Berry	Johnny B. Goode		1958	2.42
Fats Domino	I’m Walkin’		1957	2.56
The Pogues	The Sunnyside of the Street			2.44
R.E.M.	Pretty Pursuasion	Reckoning	1984	3.53
The Who	Going Mobile	Who’s Next	1971	3.43
The Who/Keith Moon	Going Mobile (isolated drum)	From YouTube		3.38
The Who	The Real Me	Quadrophenia	1973	3.21
The Who/Keith Moon	Drum Solo	From YouTube
			TOTAL	46.61
Hour 2
Artist	Song	Album	Year	Play time
Mickey Hart/Zakir Hussain	The Hunt	Planet Drum	1991	3.52
Laurie Anderson	In Our Sleep	Talk Normal: The L.A. Anthology	2000	2.35
School of Seven Bells	Wired for Light	Alpinisms	2009	4.57
Cream	White Room	Wheels of Fire	1968	4.57
The Black Keys	Everlasting Light	Brothers	2010	3.24
Bo Diddley	Craw-Dad	Ride On/The Chess Masters	1960-61	2.31
Los Lobos	Dream In Blue	El Cancionero	2000	3.35
Jack Penate	Give Yourself Away	Everything Is New	2009	2.57
The Avett Brothers	Kick Drum Heart	I and Love and You	2009	2.54
The White Stripes	I Just Don’t Know What to Do	Elephant	2008	2.46
	With Myself
Florence & the Machine	Drumming Song	Lungs	2009	3.44
Little Richard	Keep A’ Knockin’		1957	2.12
Led Zeppelin	Rock and Roll	Led Zeppelin IV	1971	3.41
The Police	The Other Way of Stopping	Zenyatta Mondatta	1980	3.22
			TOTAL	43.67