Ray Ray Raydio Episode 1 Airdate 4-18-20

Behind the scenes inside take
on Ray Ray Raydio Episode 1.

Ray Ray Raydio 

Episode 1 

Airdate: 4/18/2020

This was my first show for WLCI 97.5 FM Hocking College Radio. I was asked to do it by my old friend Scott Winland who had been my bands booker back in the early 2000s. He is based out of Athens, OH. I opened the show with the song “The Seasons Are The Reasons” by the Baltimore band Quix*o*tic. I don’t remember for sure if the first time I saw them was when they did an in-store at Sound Exchange in Austin,TX, but that is the show I remember the best. I saw them almost every time they played in town for their short existence. Next is The Shivas from Portland,OR, this song, “Gloria”, from their latest release is a perfect example of their crusade to keep 60s psych garage alive and relevant. They’re one of those bands that every time they’d pop up on shuffle I’d be like who is this? It’s great, and then be like oh, yeah it’s The Shivas. “Can’t Tame Me” is an old 60s garage rocker anthem for personal freedom by a band called The Benders, it rocks. “One Potato Two Potato” is by the pre-Turtles teen surf band The Crossfires. There is a compilation LP that Rhino put out and I love it, the raw energy and fun of the songs highlights that first wave of garage rock mania. I recently stumbled across the 2nd album of The Pandoras, it came out in the mid-80s and it is like a resurrection of The Troggs, which is a big compliment in my book, the song “You Don’t Satisfy” backs me up.

      Uhm, what is there to say about The Pretty Things song “L.S.D.”that isn’t clearly put forth by the song itself? Moby Grape is one of my favorite bands, and when I first heard this cautionary trip song from the 1968 movie of the same name, “Sweet Ride”, it made me love them even more, tight harmonies and a chaotic blow out? Count me in; my band covers this song and it is not an easy one to do. I think this part of the radio show was definitely inspired by the psychedelic songs of the 60s. Gene Clark was a founding member of The Byrds and “Elevator Operator” from his first solo album after he left. And you can’t do psychedelic 60s without something from Roky Erickson, this is from much later after the 60s, but it’s a beautiful weird lyric combined with catchy pop rock guitar licks. Grant Hart who was the drummer in Hüsker Dü has a whole under-appreciated career after them, musically it is varied, but there is a sub-current of 60s underground music throughout, “It Isn’t Love” is from his last album 2013’s The Argument.

 I then decided to go off on a different musical path, so, raw gospel song “I Am Thinking Of A Friend” by Laura Davis and Rev. Charlie Jackson works as a good palate cleanser. Viva L’American Death Ray Music (sometimes just known as American Death Ray) is one of my favorite bands to come out of Memphis, their first two records feature amazing sax player Suzy Hawkins which is why I love them the most. You can hear everything I like about them in this song, “Black Dahlia”. When I was picking the tunes for the program I thought it’d be cool to match American Death Ray with L.A.’s The Flesh Eaters with their weird noir worlds, so I threw on the song “Divine Horseman’ with that death jazz intro. I’d been diving into The Stranglers first album pretty hard in the months leading up to this show, I chose “Princess Of The Street” because it fit the flow the best.

If you don’t know Dead Moon you should look them up (I think all my friends know about them, but you never know). I first heard about them when a co-worker from the northwest gave me a cassette tape of Dead Moon songs, for whatever reason it didn’t click right away, but then I saw them live at Emo’s and it started to open up for me. But, the moment I fell in love with them was when they played the crust punk music festival Chaos in Tejas, I was working the club where it was held and Dead Moon was the first band in I days to have melody in their music and my ears were so happy! They alternate between ballads and 60s tinged rockers, “Can’t Do That” is on the ballad side.

     La Luz is one of my favorite contemporary bands, I like every record they have issued. “Call Me In The Day” was the first song I heard by them, I hope it has the same magical effect on you all. King Khan & BBQ Show were break out darlings of the 21st century garage rock revival. “Third Ave” is off their third album from the In The Red label, Invisible Girl. That’s my favorite album of theirs because I think it’s dominated by BBQ and his neo-Doowop rock songs. The Beets were this cool band from Queens (I think), I saw them live in Austin and “For You” was a 7” inch that I bought at that show. They feel to me like a mash up of Daniel Johnston and The Ramones. “Higher” is by another band I just happened to catch playing live some random night, The Memories are part of that jokey Party Garage movement that is often associated with Burger Records. I’m a sucker for that simple oldies rock and roll combined with a modern lyrical sensibility. Beat Happening was a big part of my 90s music intake. I heard this described as Twee pop back in the day and kind of like punk before it. I know it inspired a lot of people to pick up instruments and start making music no matter their level of competency. “T.V. Girl” is off their raw first release that I first had on tape.

  This cover of “Hey Jude” by Steve Marcus is off his solo album The Lord’s Prayer, what attracts me to this version is the lazy tempo at first, the intentionally sloppy playing and the build up of energy to the joyful last half of the song. “Don’t Walk Away” is by Cincinnati band The Greenhornes, I first saw them at Emo’s on a Sunday at the end SXSW. I have liked pretty much everything they do, because I love mid-60s British blues rock bands and they nail that sound.  The rough voice of Charles Bradley as he belts out “Stay Away” communicates all the emotion that flowed freely from this man’s soul. I got to work with him when he played Antone’s Night Club and he was a sweet and nice man. Anybody who knows me personally knows how much I love the music of Ike & Tina Turner, raw emotion and greasy funky music, which “Baby (What You Want Me To Do)” is a perfect example of.

Knowing I had a bunch of sad and slower songs I wanted to work into the show I started to slow it down with some Otis Redding, “I’ve Got Dreams To Remember” works great as a tempo turner, with all that Otis soul oozing out. I can’t remember when I first heard O.V. Wright, but his early stuff on Backbeat records is some of my favorite soul music ever made.With “This Hurt Is Real” O.V. pulls pain and remorse out with every word in the song. When I first James Hunter it was another missed connection, just didn’t land, I was like, thanks, but I’ll just listen to this real soul from back in the day. But, over time, again with the shuffle function, I’d be like who’s this? And it would be James Hunter. And with this song in particular (“Tell Her For Me”) I just finally felt it, I love that he is singing to the moon in this song.

     I first heard the song “A World So Full Of Love” when my friend Aaron Blount performed a heart-wrenching version at the Cactus Cafe in Austin, I thought it was one of his new songs he’d been writing, but he told me that it,in fact, was a Roger Miller song. I also have an Aaron Blount connection with Dexter Romweber who sings “Am I Blue” here, Aaron was a true champion of everything Dexter and I can’t disagree, the emotion and understanding of the deep roots of American Rock and Roll and R & B is in every song he makes. “I Send My Love To You’ is a song by former Vivian Girl, Cassie Ramone; it’s off her lo-fi indie-folk solo album. It’s probably kind of dumb that I followed Cassie’s song with one by Kevin Morby who were in the band The Babies together and were romantically involved at the time. But, I love “Miles, Miles, Miles” by him and it works as a good bridge between her song and the final song of the program “That Is All” by the genius Harry Nilsson off of some of that later era fare that I’m drawn to, because I am often drawn to that less popular output.