Friday, December 4, 2009

42-reasons to be cheerful

a very nice riff from michael sigman, one of the early runners with the LA WEEKLY. nice to see the guv'nor SVZ and the work he does get a very fine nod. enjoy, o

3. Andrew Loog Oldham. XM Sirius Satellite Radio has become a kind of rock-and-roll heaven on earth, with iconic artists turning us on to their favorite tracks and telling stories we'd never hear otherwise. Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour is the godhead of the form, and Steve Van Zandt (creator of Little Steven's Underground Garage, one of the greatest rock stations of all time), Steve Earle, Graham Parker, Tom Petty and others also have -- or have had -- their own shows. I especially love Andrew Loog Oldham's daily broadcasts on Underground Garage. Oldham managed and produced the Rolling Stones from 1963-1967 (Marianne Faithful too!). From his virtual headquarters in Bogota, he spins sets that might begin with a little-known Who or Kinks track, progress to Kate Winslet by the Silver Brazilians and Del Shannon's Little Town Flirt and end by swinging from the Ronettes to the Noisettes, whose lead singer, Shingai Shoniwa, he describes as "the voice, the voice...Diana Ross meets Eartha Kitt today." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnxQMAmv3gU
Oldham's eclectic sensibility and droll philosophizing make his shows that much more fun. When he calls us "darlings" or "luv" while giving his current take on Beatles ("They never had to look over their shoulders") vs. Stones, he transports us to a special world in which the British Invasion co-exists with Sarah Palin, whom he describes as a "feral idiot."


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