World Wide Woozle episode #673

Hello out there all you radio fans. Welcome back to the on again, off again musical juggernaut that is The World Wide Woozle. Please ensure that your tickets have been checked.

Now I spend my time just making rhymes of yesterday

Today is the 137th day of the year. What does that mean I hear you ask. Well, it means that there are now 137 songs in my 2026 daily playlist. So far I've managed to keep up the good fight adding one a day with no artist appearing more than once. I'm unsure if we'll get to the end without some double ups but that really doesn't matter. If you haven't plugged your phone, computer, tablet or other listening device into 365 days with The Woozle yet then you know what to do. It's available on Spotify, Tidal, and YouTube. Details, as always, are here.

Custard - Music Is Crap - https://youtu.be/nvpEZtyKR4g

I was born in the cemetery, under the sign of the moon

Slayer isn't ever going to be everyone's cup of tea but is arguably the most influential thrash metal band ever. This week the 40th anniversary edition of their second studio album, Hell Awaits, was released. I've had a few listens, as have my neighbours and their dog that barks for 15 minutes at 0510hrs every day. If you're a fan then I'm preaching to the converted and you'll probably appreciate that this sounds a lot clearer than what we're used to listening to from 1985. It's not straight ahead either, with tempo changes and longer tracks which weren't nearly as common back in the day. Slayer went on to release twelve studio albums and remain one of the biggest metal bands of all time. Their third album, Reign In Blood, is referenced by so many artists as being a huge influence. However, Hell Awaits was quite a statement.

Slayer - Hell Awaits - https://youtu.be/NZPBGSiJzJw

Ease on down, ease on down the road

In 2024, although I didn't really know what to expect, I knew that I was fortunate to get tickets to the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. One of the artists playing that night was a guy called Don Schlitz. I had no idea that he was the songwriter behind The Gambler which was of course made famous by Kenny Rogers. To add to that, it was the first song that Don ever had put down on tape! Seeing him play this, tell stories and clearly enjoy performing live was an amazing experience. If you ever get to Nashville then make sure you go to the Opry. Sadly, Don passed away a few weeks ago and he was only seventy-three. His version, the original, of The Gambler is a bit different as Kenny put his own touches on it. I watched an interview recently in which Don said that when he wrote it, at twenty three years old, he didn't drink whisky or play cards and he hadn't been on a train!

Don Schlitz - The Gambler (live) - https://youtu.be/mgnniR7OG_w

Every bit takes another bite without control over wrong or right

Last time around I wrote about using artificial intelligence to try and locate a song. In the last few weeks I've noticed that Spotify will allow users to create AI prompts to come up with playlists. This instantly appealed to me so I had to have a go. Prompts like, "make a playlist of ten songs I've played less than five times, that are based on my listening habits, and exclude Radiohead and Coldplay", were sort of successful. But I really didn't just need songs from albums that I already liked. I'll continue working on it whilst being a very specific curmudgeon. My effort asking for songs from NZ that I might like, hadn't listened to, and from the last five years wasn't too bad at all! Technology is cool as long as you refuse to be sucked into the default, uber-predictable version of what it thinks you should like.

The Veils - The Ladder - https://youtu.be/yvIrQIM-YJc

It's meant to rain this afternoon so I'll sign off now. I need to get outside before that happens so I'm going to do my second set of exercises for the day, plug the TENS machine into the gas mains for an extra boost, and then hit some bush tracks.

Happy birthday Toddo!

Keep smiling,

The Woozle

"Somewhere deep inside my soul
We strum three chords and the truth"

George Huitker, Brother From Another Mother, 2023.

I think you've got a low self opinion, man

The self-hatred that binds you, blinds you, grinds you, keeps you down

I subscribe to an email list written by Mark Manson, author of, The Subtle Art Of Not Giving A F*ck. He sends a couple of sentences to think about. One of his most recent messages was titled, "Do you like yourself?' That sat me back on my heels and made me think, and I've been coming back to it for a while now. One of the prompts was, "You're going to be in a relationship with yourself for your entire life. So you should probably learn how to make it a good one." Mark then goes on to ask if you like spending time with yourself and is there a decision that could improve that relationship. For a very long time I didn't like myself at all. People around me mostly liked me as did my family but I tried to silence the internal monologue by self-medicating in a number of unhelpful ways including by obsessively controlling my exercise and diet. Even though I've done the work to help me manage a few mental health problems, Mark's email and the associated reflection has helped me admit that I'm good at sabotaging my own happiness. That's a reflection of how much I do or don't like myself at the time. It's hard because I like doing things to make others happy so why do I either not do this for myself or feel so bad when I do? I guess part of my ongoing work to reclaim my life is going to be learning to like myself again. Not just on the surface and in public, but deep down. Step one is admitting the issue and it's out there now. I'm not asking for help and if I wasn't in a relatively good place then I wouldn't have even written this.

Weddings Parties Anything - Rain In My Heart - https://youtu.be/5jx3c5yk744

World Wide Woozle episode #672

Welcome back, your applause will be recorded and donated to a less fortunate artist.

Your outside is in when your inside is out

Yesterday I went on a search for echidnas with Zoë and Zac. And wouldn't you believe it, they were all hiding from the strange people who had just flown in from Scotland! Never mind because we saw a quoll!! I've only ever seen one before and that was at dusk so seeing one in the morning was a very welcome surprise. Not to be outdone, late this afternoon in a different area of the park, another cheeky quoll bounced in and out of the bush in front of me for about five minutes. My next trick may be a visit in the dark to see if I can spot a bettong. Night vision equipment may be required.

The Doors - Hello, I Love You - https://youtu.be/mTu1GQSyq4I

You only get a minute, better live while you're in it

So, what does being 55 look like? For me it has meant both refusing to accept that I am getting old and then grudgingly making some concessions. I mean, who knew that if you stood up for over 12 hours a day that eventually your feet would complain? Since I can only sit for a maximum of an hour at a time, this is a problem. Harnessing the power of Al Gore's internet, I used A.I. for good and eventually decided to try compression socks. Winning. I'm not quite ready for a walking frame this week.

Don Henley - The Boys of Summer - https://youtu.be/6RUIeX6UCT8

'Cos I'm just a teenage dirtbag, baby

Can I talk about another album cover this time around? Of course I can, it's my blog. When I started listening to AC/DC, buying an LP was a big deal and a significant investment. After saving and saving, I remember having the $13 needed for a record and heading, with my Mum, to Maxfield's Sports and Records in Moe. What a great place that was. Where else could one buy a football, a bicycle, firearms, and the latest music? My first ten speed bike came from there in 1983. Firearms weren't on my list. I had a couple of AC/DC albums dubbed onto cassette courtesy of DJ DaveDubya but choosing one to own was quite the choice to make. In the end I chose their 1978 live album, If You Want Blood (You've Got It). I was sold by the cover; Angus Young, impaled by his own Gibson SG guitar whilst Bon continues to sing. Later on I'd find out that this was a screengrab from the music video. The other reason I chose a live album, their only one at the time, was to get a solid selection of songs. If You Want Blood didn't disappoint. It's recorded at the Apollo Theatre in Glasgow and is razor focussed with only 10 songs and at 52 minutes long. My only slight annoyance at the time was that the song the album is named after wasn't on there.

AC/DC - Bad Boy Boogie (live 1978, Glasgow) - https://youtu.be/E8-LNg7w2LY

I felt the whole world was so jive

A couple of weeks ago I was searching for a song. Normally, song title and lyrics are the only things I can remember while useful things including what I'm meant to be doing at work need to be written down. This song eluded me for a few days though so I thought that if the internet could help me choose socks then it could definitely find a song. I knew the song was a country tune, sung by a female vocalist, was relatively recent, and was about a town that sounded like Waxahatchee. ChatGPT told me a wide range of songs by the artist Waxahatchee but no matter how I asked or refined the question it couldn't find the song. I gave up and was a bit miffed. A few days later I wondered if Waxahatchee could be spelled differently. It can, and in about 20 seconds using a search engine I was in luck. It's hard to believe that artificial intelligence is so smart but couldn't work out a simple spelling error! Here's the song in question.

Miranda Lambert - Waxahachie - https://youtu.be/KDVeN3aH3kg

The Champs-Élysées is a busy street

In an effort to continue to listen to an ever widening range of music I have tried a lot of different artists and tracks. Last week, after looking at a map, I ended up looking for something from France that I might like. What I came up with was a well known French band with a new album. I listened and I liked it. Later I found out that this is actually an album of other people's songs that they like whereas I had thought it was a few covers and their own work. Not to worry, here's a cool track for you, and I have more to explore as a result.

Matmatah - Tombé pour la France - https://youtu.be/dXt-Ep_n_LI

Please remember, World Wide Woozle playlists are here. The song a day for 2026 is also now available on Tidal. Details at the link.

To those of you who have made it to the end, well done and thank you.

See you next time right here,

The Woozle

"With everything I own upon my back, I carry such a heavy load."

Stevie Wright, Hard Road, 1974.