O’Connoradioland for October 3, 2011
Welcome to Week Number 20 of this opus, brought to you in part by a grant from the Foundation for Goofy Webcasting, where our proud motto is “We’re not fancy, but we show up.”
Wow, have you seen the Halloween decorations up already around town? Those of us who are ‘of a certain age’ remember when Halloween was a pretty low-key deal. We’d maybe put out a carved pumpkin with a candle in it on the night itself, or maybe hang a ghostly old bedsheet on the porch to wiggle in the wind and hopefully add a spooky air to the festivities. But now Halloween has become an Event, with huge inflatable creepy creatures on lawns and porches, gobs of cobwebs strung all over, and even motion-sensing ghouls and ghosties that begin talking as you approach. And the night itself is still almost a month away! The costumes have gotten rather elaborate, too, with some of them costing as much as real clothes.
The other holidays have seen similar amping-up over the last few years, especially Valentine’s Day and Easter. Christmas is always the biggie, as it should be, but I always feel a little sorry for Thanksgiving. Other than turkey decorations, a few cornstalks, hay bales and suchlike, Thanksgiving doesen’t get the royal treatment afforded the other milestone events of the year. Ditto for New Year’s too, maybe because everyone still has their Christmas decorations and lights up and they figure that’s good enough, especially since there’s only a week separating the two days. Once in a while you see that goofy baby-with-the-top-hat and sash proclaiming the oncoming year, but other than that, our friends in China don’t make a whole lotta bucks on New Year’s décor.
Got any burning feelings about holidays or anything else? Let me hear ‘em below in the ‘comment’ section or e-mail me at [email protected].
Here are my latest five tunes from my 100 Favorites List:
1. ‘One Piece at a Time’ by Johnny Cash. This funny novelty song from the 60s tells the story of Johnny supposedly making off with an entire car from the auto plant where he worked. As the titles suggests, he did it “one piece at a time”, the only hitch being that since he did it over a period of years, once he got it all home and put together, nothing much fit. Funny stuff.
2. ‘Roll Over Beethoven’ by Chuck Berry. One of the genuine milestone songs of the rock and roll era. The song features Berry’s propulsive guitar and Johnny Johnson’s great piano pumpin’ away in the background, and, of course, Chuck’s clever lyrics. Love the line “roll over Beethoven, tell Tchaikovsky the news”. A classic song that announced (just in case anyone doubted) that rock and roll was here to stay.
3. ‘Like A Rolling Stone’ by Bob Dylan. When this five minute masterpiece came out in ’65 a lot of radio programmers, (myself included) said FIVE MINUTES LONG??? You gotta be joking. Who wants to hear a five minute song when they could hear two regular length hits in the same amount of time. Turned out a lot of people did, and still do. Dylan was never a great singer, but his lyric writing talents surpassed almost anyone else in the folk-rock genre.
4. ‘Standin’ on the Corner’ by the Four Aces. You want to hear how the mid 50s sounded just before the arrival of rock and roll? This foursome exemplified the upbeat, happy, confident sound of Eisenhower America. I can’t think of any group that did it better. These guys performed some of the best just-gotta-sing-along songs in the storied history of pop music. By the way, the Four Seasons ten years later often mentioned the Four Aces as their inspiration.
5. ‘Bang a Gong’ by T. Rex. Just one hit from these guys, but it was a steam roller in the early 70s. Great guitar work and an irresistible thumping beat that got people on the dance floor. Lyrics didn’t make a heck of a lotta sense, but that’s alright. Mick Jagger said it best: “it’s only rock and roll, but I like it”. Just a side note; I think the melody line and beat of BTO’s ‘Takin’ Care of Business” owes a lot to this song.
We have two Trivia winners again, two weeks in a row! Congratulations to Mark Rosenberg, who identified Dawson’s Jewelers as the other business destroyed in the Broadway and Main fire back in the 80s. Dawson’s, of course, now has a very nice home at Lakin and Main.
Honors in the Music Division question this week go to Carolyn Sekavec, who identified ‘One’s on The Way’ by Loretta Lynn as the song where she uses the phrase “but here in Topeka, etc etc.” I understand “here in Topeka” was actually the original title of the song, but the producers changed it at the last minute. It still is a great song about the hectic and humdrum life of an overwhelmed young Mom. And Loretta should know. Did you know she was already a GRANDmother at the age of 28? Good research, Carolyn.
Okay, here’s your next pair of questions: In the downtown division, what well-known business was in the ‘new’ Dawson’s building at Lakin and Main back in the 70s?
And for your music question, what 70s hit praised a southern state and took a verbal shot at Neil Young, all in the same song?
Well, have a glorious week ahead, and if we can get that rain they’re talking about for the weekend, so much the better. See you next Monday.
John