So what non-vinyl songs would I like to add to show # two ?

I listened to the second show a few times, getting a feel for how the songs flow together and to listen to how my on mic talking is.  Well, I clearly need to learn to SPEAK CLEARLY into the mic.  I will always tend to zoom about the studio a bit, turn to read something etc, so anyone wanting to hear the clear tones of a Kid Leo or Rocko, well that will never happen.   But I know as the weeks progress I will slow down a bit (hey I have a whole 30 minutes to fill!) and will get the brain and mouth into closer sync.

As to music, well that is much easier.

Andy Partridge, one of the principles of the great band XTC,  put out a wonderful box set a couple of years ago called Fuzzy Warbles.  It was a grab bag of unreleased tracks, snippets of things and demo versions of songs.   XTC’s big ‘hits’ were songs like Dear God, Making Plans for Nigel and Senses Working Overtime. Well none of those were the tracks that came to mind for show two.

My first thought was a track called Miller Time but I could not find that track on youtube.  I browsed some other tracks from Fuzzy Warbles (many of them are hanging out up there) and found Prince of Orange.  I think it would make a nice edition, and it has the added tie in of having the word Orange in it, which is where I went to High School.

Prince of Orange

The other Andy /XTC thing that I stumbled on was the theme from the short lived (very short!) TV series called Wonderfalls.   The Cuyahoga County Library has the complete series (13 episode season one) on DVD.  It is a quirky, fun and wonder-full little series, by the same folks who brought you Pushing Daisies and Dead Like Me.

Here is what IMDB says about it:  Wonderfalls and here is theme for the show from Andy : I Wonder Why the Wonderfalls

Here is the link to get on the waiting list for the series from the Cuyahoga County Library : Wonderfalls Complete Series

Dead on Arrival a cute pig and Steve Hillage too

This is the compilation that I played the Steve Hillage cover of Hurdy Gurdy Man from. You can also catch a live recording of Mr. Hillage performing another cover, this time Buddy Holly’s Not Fade Away.  Give a listen and soak up some of that 70’s prog rock feeling.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlrEY2jkxOU

Digital picks via the Lemon Pipers

So as I was pulling some records before the first show, trying to decide that to play by previewing some things in studio A, when Radio Art, host of Americana Breakdown,  heard the sounds of the Lemon Pipers.  He told me they were from the Oxford Ohio area, and were there back when he was in college at Miami University.  He went on to tell me of their connection to one of the all time great guitar tracks from the 70’s, Ram Jam’s version of Black Betty.

Black Betty was a song written by blues legend Lead Belly, and it just so happened that  Shari had played the Lead Belly version a few weeks earlier on her show Ivy’s Red Sweater, which immediately follows mine.

Here are links for the original version and the 1977 hit that we all know so well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYrK464nIeY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0OFF3q4Pxk

For more about the Lemon Pipers or Ram Jam, wikipedia has things covered pretty well.  After reading the articles there I was surprised to find out that the track that I played was the second single.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lemon_Pipers

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ram_Jam

First show is done and here is what got played.

The inaguual edition of the show took flight this morning.  I am happy to report that I experienced no major issues and successfully selected, cued up and spun the discs.   So, what did I play and how did it sound?

Well you can take a listen by downloading the show archive.  The first minute or so is the end of the show before, so ‘Vinyl’ starts when you hear me talking.

http://wruw.org/guide/stream.php?stream=556

Here is the playlist:

• David Lindley and El Ray-o X, The Mercury Blues from El Ray-o X
• Let’s Active, Every Word Means No from the afoot
• Steve Hillage, Hurdy Gurdy Man from Dead on Arrival
• The Dinner Ladies, Amsterdam from These Knees Have Seen the World
• Lemon Pipers, Rice is Nice from Green Tambourine
• Lover Affair, Cleveland Boys from Love Affair

Later this week I will be posting some things about some of the bands that I played, along with links to other bands or performers with a connection to them.  Those links will be the ‘digital 5’ for this edition of the show.

Maybe a little El Ray-X

So the clock keeps ticking and I realize that I need to decide what I want to play on the show tomorrow.  I won’t have time to browse the library before hand, since I will be at work.  I have been browsing my memory of LP’s that live at WRUW for specific ones that I really like.  While I was walking the dog last night, my favorite version of Mercury Blues came into my head.

It was created by David Lindley and his band El Rayo-X way back in 1981.  The album is available as a MP3 download, CD, vinyl album or even on cassette.

Alas, it is not available on 8-track.

http://www.amazon.com/El-Rayo-X-David-Lindley/dp/B000002GX8

Elegant solution or conceptual betrayal?

So the first show will hit the airways on January 25th at 11:30AM,  , on 91.1 on the FM dial locally in Cleveland.  If you are not near a radio, or don’t live nearby, it can be streamed live at http://wruw.org/

As I have thought about all of the great music that has been released on CD, or exists up on youtube,  I wanted to come up with a way to include some of that, but still remain true to the new shows concept.  My solution?  I am going to include a ‘digital 5’ list on the blog next to the link for the shows archive.   Those 5 tracks will be things that are up on the internet and that are related to the bands or artist that were played that week.

So, is this a solution or a betrayal?

For instance, if I manage to remember to bring my Diner Ladies LP to campus on Wednesday and play a track, I might have a track that features cellist Julia Palmer on the ‘digital 5’ list.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXn8vHvPLBE

Vinyl is not just a maintenance free siding option.

After a few years away from a radio mic, outside of  a few times as a sub every now and then, I will be returning to the airways.   Starting next week, every Wednesday from 11:30AM to 12Noon on FM-91.1 WRUW I will be spinning nothing but vinyl.   The show is called ‘Vinyl is not just a maintenance free siding option.’

I am going to try to track down as much material as I can that has never been released on CD or in another digital form.  Something that will be getting a spin or two during an early show will be a few tracks from The Dinner Ladies ‘These Knees Have Seen the World’.  I played it a whole bunch when I had a show back in the late 80’s early 90’s while going to school at Cleveland State University (FM-89.3 WCSB).   WRUW does not have it in their collection, but my wife tracked it down for me a few years ago, and it is sitting safely in my basement.

So what songs or bands do you love, but have never found in a ‘modern’ media format?

The Dinner Ladies wonderful album that has never had a digital release.

Sears Free Spirit BSO

So rather than spending some time fixing up the Schwinn that I posted about months ago, I took a couple of hours to take care of most of the rehabilitation of a pretty green Sears Free Spirit 5 speed.   The bike is a ‘classic’ department store junker, complete with the BMA6 sticker on the seat tube.  The other decals make it look classier than it really is, which is a plus in my book.

Unlike most department store clunkers, this one has 27″ wheels on it.  Sure they are chrome steel and have really low quality hubs, but they are true old school road bike size.  I felt the bike should have wider tires, befitting its highest and best use, as a neighborhood cruiser happy to speed up a trip for a cup of joe from the neighborhood caffeine dispensary,  I thought wider would be better, and found some high pressure (85psi) Kenda K40 27 x 1 3/8 tires at Niagara Cycle Works.  

http://www.niagaracycle.com/product_info.php?products_id=13971

The tires are cheap and the widest size available for the old 27″ size rim.
The old tires were horribly hard to remove.  The rubber had deteriorated and had sort of glued itself to the metal of the rim.  After about 10 minutes of muscle, tire levers and the strategic use of a pair of channel locks, the old rubber was off.  The new tires mounted with a bit of effort and looked good.

As the wheels came off, I noticed how tight both the front and rear hubs were.  I opened them up and gave a very healthy squirt of grease.  They were pretty dry and I did not do the clean up that a better bike would get.  They adjusted surprisingly easily and both wheels now spin free and smooth.  Well cheap smooth not Shimano XT or Campy Record smooth.

After that I opened up the headset.  I have never seen bearings so dry and sitting in a bits of rust from the races.  I cleaned it out quickly and globbed in the grease.   The action was smooth and serviceable.   I repeated the same steps with the bottom bracket so all the bearings (except for the pedals, but they are good enough) were now happy and sitting in the luxury that is Park grease.

So I had hoped to be ready to go, but in taking the headset apart the brake hanger had to come off and the front brake cable came off and was too frayed to be reused.   I had hoped to pick up a cheap Bell cable set at Walmart today, but they were out.   So this one thing still needs to be done.

When I got home from running errands, I opened the garage door and at the moment, heard the sound of air rushing out.  The front tube on the bike (I had replaced the tires and rim strip but not the tubes as they had been holding air for over a week) sadly deflated.

So two things to do to finish up the bike.  Well, I also want to do a quick Brillo Pad cleanup of the rear chrome fender and a quick wipe down of the rest of the bike.  Oh, and a picture or two to post.

Free bikes – how much do they really cost?

This past Thursday was the last workday of 2010 for me and I was looking forward to the long weekend ahead.  During lunch I decided to take a look at the online for sale forum that the student’s run at the University where I am employed.  It is fun to browse, especially at the end (or between) semesters and at the end of a month.   This visit to the forum had both of those features.

Toward the bottom of a ‘garage sale’ listing were some free items; a dresser, a couple of wooden chairs and a bike.  No pictures and the listing had already been up for day, and usually good things disappear quickly.  Of course being the holiday break the campus is like a ghost town.

Well he still had the bike and was in an apartment very close to campus.  I did not ask what kind of bike it was since it would only take about five minutes to get there after work.  I was assuming it would be some big box Junker rusty mountain bike, since that is among the common bikes I see on campus.

Well to my pleasant surprise, the bike turned out to be an early 90’s Schwinn Crisscross.  The frame looked straight, but the tires were flat, the seat was a mess and there was more than a little rust on the components.  The former owner handed me the key to the included Kryptonite lock and I tossed it all in the back of the truck and headed home.

Schwinn Crisscross - ealy 90's lugged hybrid

The only thing I have done so far is put air in the tires and hit everything with some WD-40 to make sure the bolts and releases will work when I go to tear it down for rebuild early next year.  I took it for a very short (maybe 100 foot) test ride.  The rear brake cable is shot and I had to unhook the link wire to take the test ride.

From my quick assessment some or all of the cables need replacement, the seat is a mess (I put a plastic bag over it for the test ride so my pants did not get stained) and the headset is loose.  The tires, from my quick look, don’t appear to be dry-rotted so they may be reusable.   Over the next few weeks (or months depending on how motivated I am) I will document the process of rehabilitation and give a breakdown of the financial and time costs that are involved.

So begins the start of new cycling year.

White vinyl Schwinn Approved Saddle Bag

Picked this up earlier this year and got it passed along to someone up on the Schwinn bike forums.  I have another one that needs a cleaning that came from the bike co-op and will be sold to help support them.

Schwinn Approved Vinyl Bag