Monday, May 10, 2004

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAY LIST

Sunday, May 9 2004
KSFR, Santa Fe, N.M.
Host: Steve Terrell

OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
I Wanna Be Your Dog by The Stooges
Radio Baghdad by Patti Smith
Disconnection Notice by Sonic Youth
Oh Jane by Cellophane Typewriters
Experiment in Terror by Davie Allan & The Arrows

Wicked Rain/Across 110th Street by Los Lobos with Bobby Womack
The Backstabbers by The O'Jays
Teenage Wristband by The Twilight Singers
Hey Maria by Les Negresses Vertes
When We Collide by Vowel Movement
The Problem by Lambchop

Stan Ridgway Set
All songs by S.R. except where noted

Into the Sun
Lonely Town
Police Call by Drywall
Jack Talked
Shrink Wrapped Soul by Hecate's Angels
Whatever Happened To You?
Lost Weekend by Wall of Voodoo

Talkin' Wall of Voodoo Blues
Walkin' Home Alone
What Now My Love?
The Cloven Bunny by Stan Ridgway & Pietra Wexstun
Whistle For Louise
Big American Problem by Drywall
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

Saturday, May 08, 2004

The Santa Fe Opry Play List

The Santa Fe Opry
Friday, May 7, 2004
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Host: Steve Terrell


OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
Raised on Robbery by Jim Stringer
I'm Allright Now by Johnny Cash
Laughin' in the Sky by Simon Stokes
Cold Kisses by Cornell Hurd
High on a Mountain Top by Loretta Lynn
Lunda on My Mind by Conway Twitty
Cold Bed by The Gourds
Special Love by Rolf Cahn

Marylou (Goodtime Gal)/I've Always Love Waltzes by Kell Robertson
Unrequited to the Nth Degree by Loudon Wainwright III
Things I Never Said by Graham Parker
Make Me Hate You Before I Go by Rex Hobart & His Misery Boys
Bluer Than You by Ronny Elliott
Too Many Rivers to Cross by Brenda Lee
Kissing You Goodbye by Waylon Jennings

If Walls Could Talk by Eric Ambel
Take Me As I Am by Bob Dylan
Central Avenue Romance by Nels Andrews
Are You Still My Girl? by Joe West
All Fall Down by Tom House
Endless Sleep by Tav Falco
Memphis by Jerry Lawler
There Must Be Someone by The Byrds
Opportunity to Cry by The Holmes Brothers
Something Stupid by The Mavericks with Trisha Yearwood

Touch of Evil by Tom Russell
Katy Allen by Grey DeLisle
Men With Broken Hearts by Nancy & Norman Blake
Crossing Muddy Waters by John Hiatt
Border Radio by Dave Alvin with Katy Moffat
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets

Steve Terrell is proud to report to the monthly Freeform American Roots Radio list

Friday, May 07, 2004

TERRELL'S TUNE-UP: Stan the Man

As published in The Santa Fe New Mexican, May 7, 2004


Stan Ridgway turned 50 last month. He’s been making records for more than 20 years, first with his band Wall of Voodoo, then on his own.

He’s just made his best record in years.

And that’s saying a lot. While he isn’t seen much on MTV much anymore and while he’s bounced around from label to label, Ridgway has produced a steady stream of fine albums, each one containing at least one song that’s a complete jaw dropper.

But the new one, Snakebite. basically is a jaw dropper from start to finish.

The album lives up to its subtitle, Blacktop Ballads and Fugitive Songs. Many of the songs deal with people who are trying to escape -- from the police in “Wake Up Sally,” from bad relationships in the black-humor blues of “King For a Day,” from terrifying political realities in “Afghan/Forklift“ and “Monsters of the Id“, from humdrum small-town life in “Running With the Carnival,” and from a Union Army firing squad in “My Rose Marie (A Soldier’s Tale).”

Snakebite starts out with “Into the Sun,” a breezy tune full of hope and promise. It reminds me of “Lonely Town,” from Ridgway’s 1989 Mosquitoes -- except while the lyrics of that song were full of foreboding, “Into the Sun” is outwardly optimistic. The singer is driving to some desert home “where the coyote walks the toad/The tumbleweeds speak in secret code ... Out where the sagebrush sings our song.” His voice sounds full of confidence, and a harp in the second verse gives the lyrics a grandiose veneer. But the backdrop of electronic noise, sounding like some flock of prehistoric birds, hint at some gathering inner storm that threaten the singer’s scheme.

That sense of impending undefined doom -- “something in the air, moving like a southbound train” -- resurfaces in other songs. In “Afghan Forklift” a warehouse worker in Arkansas is overcome with that feeling when he notices two crates “marked Top Secret, headed for Afghanistan.” We never learn exactly what’s in the crates, but apparently it’s serious enough to prompt the forklift operator to try (in vain) to call the president.” A repeated minor-key folk lick, punctuated by Ridgway’s piercing harmonica and low French horns add to the sense of dread.

“Monsters of the ID,” an inspired cover of a Mose Allison song are Ridgway’s main political statements on Snakebite. On “Monsters” he lets loose with the screeching, rumbling electronic noises (usually rising at the end of the verses), as well as horror movie choruses and some pretty impressive harmonica.

Singing in a lower register than usual, Ridgway moans, “The creatures from the swamp/Rewrite their own Mein Kampf/Neanderthals amuck/Just tryin’ to make a buck/And goblins and their hags/Are out there waving’ flags…”

While many of his characters are “fugitives” of one kind or another, Ridgway refuses to run from his own history. He sings of the band that launched his career in “Talking Wall of Voodoo Blues Part 1.”

With guitars suggesting both hillbilly and Mid-eastern music relentless drums and rubbery keyboards, Ridgway recounts the band’s brief history -- from the innocent days of “punk-rock fun” to signing 200-page contracts, MTV (“Labor Day in Mexico/Lots of beans and drugs and friends”) the pre-destined rip-off (“We played a show for 40 grand/And the manager took every cent”) and break-up, for which Ridgway shares in the responsibility. (“I did my best to patch it up/But we were all just big assholes.”)

While you can still hear the Wall of Voodoo echoes throughout the work, this is Ridgway’s rootsiest album ever. There’s a tasty country fiddle (played by Brantley Kearns) in “Wake Up Sally.” “Crow Hollow Blues” with its sinister banjo sounds like Ridgway’s been listening to Tom Waits’ Mule Variations. “Your Rockin’ Chair” is basically a hillbilly stomp, though the subtle keyboard counterpart in the refrain plus the bamboo flute give it an otherworldly quality. Alison Krauss could do a fine version of “Rose Marie.”

But the real trick Ridgway pulls off is combining these diverse elements without it feeling forced. He makes it sound like slide guitar and bamboo flute and spook house keyboards were meant to be played together.

Also Recommended:
*Saints and Scoundrels by Hecate’s Angels.
Ridgway’s wife Pietra Wexstun is as responsible as anyone for the basic sound of her husband’s records for the past decade or so. A keyboard magician always reaching for the out-there, she also has a warm, soothing voice -- kind of like a sexier Laurie Anderson.

This second album by Wexstun’s band Hecate’s Angels is more vocal-oriented than the previous one, 1996’s Hidden Persuader, though both efforts are marked by an ethereal, almost mystical sound incorporating elements of jazz, electronica and world musics. Both have a soundtack quality to them.

Perhaps the strongest is the opener, a jazzy tune called “Way With Words.”

Also notable are the dreamy, boiling, guitar-heavy tune called “Patterns” then a slow lament called necklace, featuring Ridway on a twangy tremelo guitar.

And there are some spacy, mysterioso instrumentals here: “The Innocents,” “Moon Maid’s Lament” and “Appalachian Raga,” which features Wexstun on dulcimer and autoharp as well as keyboards.

*Blood by Stan Ridgway and Pietra Wexstun Fans of Hecate’s Angels’ spooky instrumentals and Ridgway’s darker tunes won’t want to miss this collaboration, a musical score for an art exhibit by Mark Ryden. The brooding music sounds like it could have been the greatest horror movie soundtrack, which is appropriate for Ryden’s disturbing images of bleeding big-eyed Margaret Keane children. The CD package, designed by Ryden with several samples of his creepy portraits -- is amazing itself.

These CDs are available only through the internet -- here or here -- or by mail: Redfly Records, P.O. Box 9524, Los Angeles, Calif. 90295

I’m on New Mexican Radio:
Tune into Terrell’s Sound World, 10 p.m. Sunday KSFR, 90.7 FM, Sunday night for real long set of Ridgway tunes, including Wall of Voodoo, Drywall, Hecate’s Angels, etc.

Thursday, May 06, 2004

ROUNDHOUSE ROUND-UP: "Where's My Name?"

As published in The Santa Fe New Mexican

Yes, national reporters are just as persistent as New Mexico reporters in asking Gov. Bill Richardson about his prospects of being John Kerry's running mate. And to his credit, his answer is basically the same no matter who is asking.

No I'm not interested. I'm very happy as governor of New Mexico. I don't plan to leave here.

And when asked whether Team Kerry has contacted him about the possibility of joining the ticket, the answer is a brusque "no comment."

Richardson went through this routine Tuesday at a press conference at Longfellow Elementary School following Kerry's appearance there.

However, Richardson added a little teasing when Lois Romano of the Washington Post asked a question Tuesday about Kerry's vice-presidential selection.

In a story this past Sunday, Romano had written: "In interviews with more than 20 Democratic and campaign operatives with some direct or indirect knowledge of the process, it is clear that Sen. John Edwards (N.C.) and Rep. Richard A. Gephardt (Mo.) are being officially investigated by Washington lawyers. Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack apparently is also under consideration, as is Sen. Evan Bayh (Ind.) -- each viewed as a moderate, midwestern balance for the Massachusetts senator."

Nowhere in the story does the name "Bill Richardson" appear.

"By the way, Lois, I didn't make your list anyway," Richardson told Romano. "I read your list. So how am I going to make it if I'm not on your list?"

Richardson was smiling when he chided Romano for not including him. Does this mean he wants to be invited to the prom even if he says he doesn't want to dance?

We kid you not: At his Longfellow event, Kerry faced questions and comments from a small group of educators, school employees and parents. While some of the questions were predictable, it didn't seem as if they were planted or preapproved by the Kerry campaign.

In fact, Tuesday might have been the first time the Massachusetts senator has had to grapple with an issue raised by one woman who identified herself as an employee of an after-school program.

The woman told Kerry that she believes "calling our children 'kids' also sends a message. Kids are little goats. And in Spanish, when little kids grow up, they grow up to be something that is not positive."

Cabron!

"I think we ought to start talking about our children, because they are children. They aren't kids," the woman concluded.

Kerry didn't comment on this alleged linguistic slam against children. He thanked her and quickly went on to the next question.

But as of Wednesday afternoon, the Kerry campaign hadn't yanked potentially offensive material on its Web site that refers to Kerry's "Three-Point Plan to Keep Every Kid Safe, Healthy and Ready to Learn."

Cheshire in charge: New Republican state Chairman Allen Weh announced Wednesday that he's appointing Whitney Cheshire as acting executive director of the state GOP.

It's not clear in this case what "acting" means. Cheshire could "act" as director longer than several "permanent" executive directors of the party during the past year who didn't last long.

Until recently, Cheshire was the state communications director for the Bush-Cheney campaign. During the last session of the Legislature, she was press secretary for House Republicans.

And she managed the successful 2002 primary campaign for U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce.

Cheshire also has ties to the two feuding factions within the state Republican Party. She was the campaign spokeswoman for gubernatorial candidate John Sanchez in the 2002 general election.

But two years before, she managed state Sen. Ramsay Gorham's re-election campaign.

Wednesday, May 05, 2004

Music We All Should Have


Here's a collection of some wonderful album covers. CLICK HERE

The commentary is pretty funny too. (Sometimes unintentionally in phrases like "retards in a retard shop.")

Monday, May 03, 2004

Terrell's Sound World Play List

Sunday, May 2 2004
KSFR, Santa Fe, N.M.
Host: Steve Terrell

OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
New Day Risin' by Husker Du
People Who Died by The Jim Carol Band
Smash It Up by The International Noise Conspiracy
Garbagehead by Eric Ambel
Murder in My Heart For the Judge by Moby Grape
Belladonna by Celophane Typewriters
Monsters of the ID by Stan Ridgway
Sold My Horse for a Pound of Gold by Sturrbaard Bakkebaard

Goodbye to Chain Stores Part 1 by Rev. J.M. Gates
Seen Better Days by by The Mississippi Sheiks
Miss Jenny's Ball by Mamie Smith
Barbeque Bess by Lucille Bogan
Elevator Papa, Switchboard Mama by Butterbeans & Susie
Race That You Won't Run by Sleepy John Estes
Down the Road of Love by Charles Caldwell
Bobo Stomp by Leroy Carr


Johnny Dowd Set (all songs by Johnny Dowd)
Brother Jim
First There Was
Worried Mind
Sky Above, Mud Below
Separate Beds
Wedding Dress
I Don't Exist

Each Time I Bring It Up It Seems to Bring You Down by Lambchop
Set the Twilight Reeling by Lou Reed
Shrinked Wrapped Soul by Hecate's Angels
The Desperado by Judee Sill
Now We Have the Bomb by The Mekons
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

Saturday, May 01, 2004

The Santa Fe Opry Play List

The Santa Fe Opry
Friday, April 30, 2004
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Host: Steve Terrell

OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
When Will I Be Loved by The Everly Brothers
Loving You Was Never Enough by Cornell Hurd
Cruel Lips by Graham Parker with Lucinda Williams
Judas Kiss by Eric Ambel with Steve Earle
Whatever Happened to Us by Loudon Wainwright III
Paper In My Shoe by Michelle Shocked
Looking for Love by Junior Brown
Pride by Ray Price
How Can I Miss You When You Won't Go Away? by Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks

Family Tree by Loretta Lynn
Rated X by The White Stripes
You've Never Been This Far Before by Conway Twitty
May I Be Your June? by Mary Alice Wood
Where DId We Go Right by Johnny Cash with The Carter Family
(Somebody Bring Me a Flower) I'm a Robot by The Gourds
What Would Willie Do? by Bruce Robinson
Funny How Time Slips Away by Willie Nelson

Act Naturally by Buck Owens with Ringo Starr
I'm Looking Through You by Steve Earle
What Goes On by The Beatles
Precious Memories (Was a Song I Used to Hear) by Norman & Nancy Blake
Oklahoma Blues by Zeke Clements & His Western Swing Boys
Wild and Blue by The Mekons
Crow Hollow Blues by Stan Ridgway
Away from Myself by Emily Kaitz
Hello Walls by Willie Nelson

Born to Lose by Ray Charles
Blackhaired Boy by Grey DeLisle with Murry Hammond
24 Hour Store by The Handsome Family
Sugarman by Kris Kristofferson
Fire by Patterson Hood
If I Could Only Fly by James Luther Dickinson
Lover Don't Go by Nick Lowe
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets

Steve Terrell is proud to report to the monthly Freeform American Roots Radio list

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

Sunday, April 14, 2024 KSFR, Santa Fe, NM, 101.1 FM  Webcasting! 10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time Host: Steve Terre...