Days of Lore

Just another day at the office
I feel like I work in a real office now. For the past week, instead of listening to my usual batch of comfort tunes (e.g. Old 97’s, Peter, Björn and John, or any cool mix CD that’s tossed my way), I have been tuning in to local radio … and loving it! Just kidding. OK, it’s not intolerable. I mean, this is what 95 percent of Americans do whilst at work, right? They peck away at their keyboards, maybe gossip a little with their neighbor in the next cubicle, all while listening to their favorite fun-loving afternoon deejay play the ultra-cool hits and give away that free lunch for two from Olive Garden. Ahh … life is swell. And I’m going to get that free lunch, beeeeatch!

Fast food station
“The best variety from the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s and today”—so says the voice on Mix 95.1. Oh, they deliver on their promise all right. I heard a little bit of this and a little bit of that, which meant a little bit of Christina Aguilera and a little bit of Supertramp—both excellent. I’m being serious, for those of you who still can’t manage to pick up when I’m being sarcastic or not. You know who you are.) I also heard Huey Lewis and the News twice in the span of a few hours. Cool. The deejay was all right, but I miss the one who used to do afternoons.

The bottom line is The Mix is like fast food—there are tons of options, but when you break it down, it’s all made with basically the same ingredients and not very nourishing. But, give me a 7-Layer Burrito and I’m a happy S.O.B. … then again, it’ll probably give me diarrhea. And, if I eat too much of it, I’ll get fat and my heart will stop.

No veal for me, thanks!
Here I am in the heart of KALF country. Yeeeee haawwww!! Actually, things kicked off rather nicely for me, with Kenny Rogers’ “The Gambler.” I was hoping it would be followed up with some Eddie Rabbit and Juice Newton. No such luck. Instead, I received a steady diet of sappy ballads and pop country that’s more influenced by Mr. Mister than, oh … Kenny Rogers. What can I say? Today’s country sucks. But there are lots of people who listen to it … and enjoy it. KALF gives ’em what they want, and has done so for as long as I can remember. And that is the thought that keeps me awake at night.

Live from Freedom
Whoa! What the eff is going on here?! I had cleared the table and chairs in the office and laid down the cardboard so I could get my swerve on with Boomer and Club 96.7, and instead I was met with what sounded like one of those musically adept jammy bluegrass bands you’d hear play at the Big Room. And sure enough, the deejay told me it was Béla Fleck and the Flecktones live from 2003’s Bonnaroo Music Festival in Tennessee.

As I reported last week, Club 96.7 was in the process of a program changeover to KPIG, the popular free-form radio station out of Freedom, Calif. One person wrote in saying how excited he was. Another reader didn’t seem so thrilled. Well, change happens … and it happened—June 18 at midnight to be exact. Club is gone, bye-bye, kaput (see Downstroke for the full report).

Now, I’m not the biggest fan of hip-hop (although Wu-Tang Clan’s Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) and The Roots’ Illadelph Halflife are two of my favorite albums), and new hip-hop, like new country, is utter crap—but Club offered something different in Chico, and as the station’s program director, Boomer did a great job of highlighting local artists.

I tuned in to KPIG. Very eclectic—Lyle Lovett, Allman Brothers, Jackie Greene—but eclectic doesn’t always equate to interesting or exciting. This week’s Word of the Week, brought to you by the new Tommy Bahama summer collection, is: “milquetoast.”

Next week: Does there have to be a next week? Geez, OK.