World Wide Woozle episode #514

Hello out there all you radio fans...

This is an episode where I really hope you'll take the time to listen to a few of the tracks. I know that I regularly go off on more than a few tangents to talk about whatever I'm thinking about but this time it's all about the music.

Masters Apprentices with Hoodoo Gurus - Turn Up Your Radio - https://youtu.be/OYa7ziJjJZA

As a teen and a young person the radio was very important to me. Records and cassettes weren't cheap and there was no Spotify or YouTube to try before you buy. The local radio stations and, if the atmospheric conditions were right, the FM stations out of Melbourne combined with the local community FM station, were where I went to get my fix and to hear new stuff. Like many people my age I had a few prized cassettes of songs I'd taped from the radio, hoping that the announcer wouldn't talk too much over the start or end of the track. I had the opportunity to do work experience at the local AM radio station and it remains one of the best weeks of my life. I spent my mornings in the record library cataloguing and transferring new singles onto cartridges and the afternoons sitting in with the announcer. Radio is quite different nowadays but it still holds a special place in my heart. I've still got a few tapes that I made back in the day so here's a track that appears on one of them...

Mel Brooks - To Be, Or Not To Be - https://youtu.be/kmzPnpn63nA

Somewhere, someone is working out whether or not they should remove that clip for good. 

Let's move on. I got into rap music in the mid-90s as the result of a university assignment. Artists like Public Enemy, NWA and Ice-T were interesting to listen to as what they rapped about was a reflection of the reality of their lives. A bit later on I heard an album by a guy called Matisyahu. It's a mix of rap and reggae. To top it off, the man himself is, and performs as, an Orthodox Jew. It's an interesting mix.

Matisyahu - One Day - https://youtu.be/WRmBChQjZPs

If you're my age, or older then you probably know who Burl Ives was. For me, hearing some of his songs transported me right back to some of the earliest times in my memory. Burl was an American singer, actor and icon. He sang folk songs, popular songs, songs for children and a whole lot more.

Burl Ives - John Henry - https://youtu.be/PiYElO21wiQ

I have a bit of an ambivalent relationship with classical music. I don't care much for it and I imagine the genre cares little for me! However, there's one piece of music that I've always really liked so here it is. Grieg's Peer Gynt Suite has always conjured up a story in my head and that's the whole point I think. Whilst In The Hall of The Mountain King might be the best known piece from the Suite, Morning Mood often rolls around in my head when I'm cycling on a particularly cold, clear and still Canberra morning. It also featured on a milk TV commercial in New Zealand in the late 70s so maybe that's why it's stuck in my head!

Edvard Grieg - Morning Mood - https://youtu.be/-rh8gMvzPw0

Years ago, I worked in a place where there were two of us called Rob. Somehow he became known as Evil Rob and I was Good Rob. Well, Evil Rob recommended a lot of very interesting music to me over the three years I was there. Other than an excellent Black Sabbath tribute album called Nativity in Black, the one that has stayed with me for over 20 years is a band from The Netherlands called The Gathering. I guess you might call it atmospheric metal. What I like about it is the depth and variety of sound as well as a vocalist with a great voice. 

The Gathering - Eleanor - https://youtu.be/PIHV9YNCdRk

In 1996 Triple J radio played a track from a new band called Pollyanna who were from Sydney. We were very much in the grip of loud, indie-pop and these guys hit that nail right on the head. Their debut album, Long Player, is the sound of pub gigs, summer and loud guitars. I liked it then and I like it now. 

Pollyanna - Keep Me Guessing (live) - https://youtu.be/4zaM3DkwbJI

A while back I was listening to a band called Tinariwen who are from the Sahara Desert in Northern Mali. Their brand of music combines what I assume are traditional sounds for them along with rock and blues. Listening to them led me to another group called Songhoy Blues. They are from, wait for it, Timbuktu! In my opinion classifying a band as "World Music" is just lazy. These guys are desert, rebel rock. The intro to this song really made me think of Link Wray's song Rumble.

Songhoy Blues - Soubour (live) - https://youtu.be/4SYxSD-k3m0

Something I usually shy away from here at the World Wide Woozle is the heaviest of heavy metal. To be fair, it's very much an acquired taste and I know the majority of listeners aren't into it. However, I distinctly remember the moment that the genre made sense to me and that was seeing Armoured Angel play live in 1991. The power and the sheer brutality of the riffs pounding throughout the gig was enlightening. Add to that the fact that heavy metal crowds seem to be the most friendly and I was hooked. So here are a couple of heavy tracks if you're interested. 

Napalm Death - On the Brink of Extinction - https://youtu.be/npa8qUNEIFY

Unleashed - Before The Creation Of Time - https://youtu.be/R3UHfA5dCAw

Year ago, as a nod to my heritage, I tried to learn to play the bagpipes. Well, it was too hard which is a little disappointing but probably not so bad for my neighbours. I went back to the guitar and kept rocking on! But I've always loved the pipes. Marching along with a pipe band was one of the highlights of my time in the Army. Like death metal, bagpipes aren't for everyone but they're both for me. Bagpipes are an integral part of Battlefield Band but not in this next song. It seems poignant to play it for you all now since we've just had the 80th anniversary of the event that it is all about; a sadly forgotten part of WWII. The lyrics are with the song....have a read.

Battlefield Band - The Beaches Of St Valery - https://youtu.be/7INre6oo9es

I hope you enjoyed the tunes this week and that maybe you listened to something you might not have otherwise heard.

Keep smiling,

Rob

"I'd sell your heart to the junkman
Baby, for a buck, for a buck
If you're looking for someone to pull you out of that ditch
You're out of luck, you're out of luck...". God's Away On Business, Tom Waits, 2002.