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.