STUCK IN THE PSYCHEDELIC ERA
Playlist for June 5-6 2010

Part One: Having a Rave-Up

Artist: YARDBIRDS
Song Title: "Heart Full of Soul"
Source Info: single. Hit # 2 on UK charts (biggest hit ever), # 9 in US. Fake stereo on LP: GREAT HITS
Release Year: 1965

Artist: YARDBIRDS
Song Title: "Still, I'm Sad"
Source Info: single B-side of "Evil-Hearted You" in UK, "I'm a Man" in US.
Release Year: 1965

Artist: YARDBIRDS
Song Title: "I'm a Man"
Source Info: single (US only) hit # 17. Also included on LP: HAVING A RAVE-UP. Fake stereo on LP: GREAT HITS
Release Year: 1965

Artist: STRAWBERRY ALARM CLOCK
Song Title: "Incense and Peppermints"
Source Info: single
Release Year: 1967

Artist: BYRDS
Song Title: "Have You Seen Her Face"
Source Info: LP: YOUNGER THAN YESTERDAY (also released as single)
Release Year: 1967

Artist: PAUL REVERE AND THE RAIDERS
Song Title: "Louie, Go Home"
Source Info: LP: MIDNIGHT RIDE
Release Year: 1966

Artist: SAVOY BROWN
Song Title: "Sunday Night"
Source Info: LP: LOOKING IN (All band members except leader Kim Simmonds left after this album to form Foghat)
Release Year: 1970

Artist: THE MOON
Song Title: "Mothers and Fathers"
Source Info: LP: WITHOUT EARTH (included on 2009 CD: WHERE THE ACTION IS: LA NUGGETS)
Release Year: 1968

Part Two: Man, that DJ has Stones!

Artist: ROLLING STONES
Song Title: "2000 Light Years From Home"
Source Info: LP: THEIR SATANIC MAJESTIES REQUEST (also released as B side of "She's a Rainbow")
Release Year: 1967

Artist: ROLLING STONES
Song Title: "Heart of Stone"
Source Info: US-only single (# 24). Fake stereo version: LP: BIG HITS (High Tide and Green Grass)
Release Year: 1964 (LP 1966)

Artist: ROLLING STONES
Song Title: "Sing This All Together (See What Happens)"
Source Info: LP: THEIR SATANIC MAJESTIES REQUEST
Release Year: 1967

Artist: ROLLING STONES
Song Title: "19th Nervous Breakdown"
Source Info: single (Hit # 2 in both US and UK). Fake stereo version: LP: BIG HITS (High Tide and Green Grass)
Release Year: 1966

Artist: ROLLING STONES
Song Title: "Gomper"
Source Info: LP: THEIR SATANIC MAJESTIES REQUEST
Release Year: 1967

Artist: ROLLING STONES
Song Title: "Play With Fire"
Source Info: single B side charted # 96 in US. Fake stereo version: LP: BIG HITS (High Tide and Green Grass)
Release Year: 1965 (LP 1966)

Interlude: My Sunday Feeling (At least when listening to WITH)

Artist: JETHRO TULL
Song Title: "My Sunday Feeling"
Source Info: LP: THIS WAS
Release Year: 1968

Part Three: Singles Coast to Coast

West Coast:
Artist: LOVE
Song Title: "My Little Red Book"
Source Info: Love's first single. Included on the album: LOVE
Release Year: 1966

Artist: SEEDS
Song Title: "Can't Seem to Make You Mine"
Source Info: The Seeds' first single. Included on the album: THE SEEDS
Release Year: 1966

East Coast:
Artist: VANILLA FUDGE
Song Title: "Where Is My Mind"
Source Info: single
Release Year: 1968

Artist: THE NAZZ
Song Title: "Open My Eyes"
Source Info: single B side of "Hello, It's Me" (Todd Rundgren's vinyl debut)
Release Year: 1968

Artist: BLUES MAGOOS
Song Title: "(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet"
Source Info: LP: PSYCHEDELIC LOLLIPOP (also released as single)
Release Year: 1967

Part Three and a Half: Deep in the Heart of Texas

Artist: FEVER TREE
Song Title: "Ninety-Nine and One Half"
Source Info: LP: FEVER TREE
Release Year: 1968

Part Three and Three Quarters: Going Back to California

Artist: THE STANDELLS
Song Title: "Black Hearted Woman"
Source Info: LP: WHY PICK ON ME
Release Year: 1966

Artist: WEST COAST POP ART EXPERIMENTAL BAND
Song Title: "I Won't Hurt You"
Source Info: LP: PART ONE
Release Year: 1967 (Possible first use of an actual human heartbeat as a musical instrument on a pop record)

Part Four: Joe and Janis, Sittin' In a Tree...

Artist: BIG BROTHER AND THE HOLDING COMPANY
Song Title: "Turtle Blues"
Source Info: LP: CHEAP THRILLS
Release Year: 1968

Artist: JANIS JOPLIN with the KOZMIC BLUES BAND
Song Title: "Ball and Chain"
Source Info: CD: Woodstock: 40 Years On: Back to Yasgur's Farm (Box Set)
Release Year: 2009

Artist: JANIS JOPLIN
Song Title: "Mercedes Benz"
Source Info: LP: PEARL
Release Year: 1971 (Final take recorded one day before her death in 1970)

Artist: COUNTRY JOE AND THE FISH
Song Title: "Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine"
Source Info: LP: ELECTRIC MUSIC FOR THE MIND AND BODY
Release Year: 1967

Artist: COUNTRY JOE AND THE FISH
Song Title: "Section 43"
Source Info: EP (Original mono recording from RAG BABY issue # 2 insert). Included on the 2007 CD: LOVE IS THE SONG WE SING: SAN FRANCISCO NUGGETS
Release Year: 1966

Software

Computer programmers need to realize that just because something runs great on a dual-processor mega megahertz machine with a terrabite or so of memory doesn't mean it will run just as well on the average three or four year old PoS. The reason I say this is because with every new version or upgrade of just about any type of program these days comes a corresponding increase in the amount of lag that users have to put up with when using that program. I used to think this was limited to game developers, who naturally would prefer to have state of the art equipment to test their new ideas on, but now I am seeing the same phenomenon happening with other types of programs as well, such as client-server database software. And before someone says that it's all part of a continuum that drives consumers to upgrade their hardware I need to mention that, in non-game applications, it's usually an employer that owns the hardware and some poor employee that's stuck dealing with all the lag, usually with the boss breathing down their neck wanting to know what's taking so long and saying things like: "This is brand new software. You should be able to do the job in half the time it took with the old stuff."

I am becoming more and more convinced that computer programmers should be restricted in the type of hardware they are allowed to use when developing software, or at least be made to give it a test run on substandard (hell, I'd settle for standard) equipment before turning it loose on an unsuspecting public. Frank Zappa, according to legend, used to play every mixdown he made through cheap little three inch speakers just to see if all the complicated stuff he was putting in would be heard by the low-end listener or if it would instead be an unlistenable mush. The result was a series of recordings that not only sounded halfway decent played through a cheap system, but sounded great through a more expensive one as well. Is it too much to ask programmers to make sure their "upgrades" actually improve performance when used on the same machines that ran the previous version rather than decrease it?

Just askin'.

Stereophonic, also playable mono

I was able to listen to the inaugural broadcast of Stuck in the Psychedelic Era on WITH Sunday night. Well, technically it wasn’t the broadcast itself, since I am outside the WITH listening area; instead I went to the new WITH website (www.withradio.org) and hit the “listen live” button. I’m happy to say that the streaming sounds great, and, as an added bonus, it’s in stereo.

For those of you who are not aware of this, the live streaming at www.weos.org is, and has always been, in mono, playable through a standard media player such as Real or WMP. This is done to reduce the bandwidth so that even listeners with the poorest connectivity (e.g. dialup) can listen to WEOS broadcasts without the signal breaking up. WITH, on the other hand, is using the same built-in streaming system that WXXI uses, which offers a choice of high or low quality signal. What this means to online listeners of Stuck in the Psychedelic Era is that now you can either catch the show when it first airs at 9PM Saturday on weos in mono, or wait until Sunday night at 10 and hear the same show in glorious stereo (or you can do both. Works for me).

Of course, over-the-air listeners get the show in stereo either night, which in a way is kind of ironic, since almost half the music on any given show was recorded in mono anyway. Ah, but the cuts that are in stereo are a real treat, as they represent an era in which stereo was still being experimented with.

Some of the cuts sound a little strange now, such as most of the Beatles 1966 output with vocals sometimes isolated all the way in one speaker with instruments coming out of the other (which made for some truly bizarre listening when one of the speakers wasn’t working).

1967 brought the first true works of stereo genius, such as Jimi Hendrix’s guitar bouncing from side to side in time with his wah-wah pedal on “Up From the Skies,” and the psychedelic experiments in the studio being done by San Francisco bands Jefferson Airplane and of course, the Grateful Dead.

By 1968 the eight-track recorder was becoming the new standard for stereo recording, and groups like Cream took full advantage of the new technology to create, for the first time, true stereo drum mixes (with only four tracks, a true stereo drum mix would have left only two available tracks for all the other instruments and vocals combined, making overdubs virtually impossible).

In subsequent years, analog recording capabilities would increase first to 16 tracks, then eventually to 64 tracks before giving way to the new digital technology with (theoretically) an unlimited number of tracks to play with. Still, the years that four and eight-track machines were in use can now be seen as a kind of golden age of stereo recording. Lucky for us that golden age coincided with the Psychedelic Era.

Playlist 5/29-30/10

Name STEPPENWOLF
Song Title MAGIC CARPET RIDE
Name of CD STEPPENWOLF THE SECOND (1968)
Name JEFFERSON AIRPLANE
Song Title PLASTIC FANTASTIC LOVER
Name of CD SURREALISTIC PILLOW (1967)
Name TROGGS
Song Title NIGHT OF THE LONG GRASS
Name of CD British single (1967)
Name DAVID BOWIE
Song Title ANDY WARHOL
Name of CD HUNKY DORY (1970)
Name STRANGELOVES
Song Title I WANT CANDY
Name of CD single (1965)
Name THE UNIQUES
Song Title YOU AIN'T TUFF
Name of CD single (1966)
Name GRAHAM NASH
Song Title PRISON SONG
Name of CD WILD TALES (1972)
Name SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE
Song Title EVERYBODY IS A STAR
Name of CD single (1969)
Name OTIS REDDING
Song Title SITTIN' ON THE DOCK OF THE BAY
Name of CD DOCK OF THE BAY (1968)
Name JETHRO TULL
Song Title HYMN 43
Name of CD AQUALUNG (1971)
Name THE ELASTIK BAND
Song Title SPAZZ
Name of CD single (1967)
Name THE MUSIC MACHINE
Song Title TALK TALK
Name of CD TURN ON (1966)
Name THE JOINT EFFORT
Song Title THE THIRD EYE
Name of CD single (1968)
Name GRASS ROOTS
Song Title YOU'RE A LONELY GIRL
Name of CD single-B side (1966)
Name PINK FLOYD
Song Title MATILDA MOTHER
Name of CD THE PIPER AT THE GATES OF DAWN (1967)
Name CREAM
Song Title WHITE ROOM
Name of CD WHEELS OF FIRE (1968)
Name THE KINKS
Song Title EVERYBODY'S GONNA BE HAPPY
Name of CD KINDA KINKS (1965)
Name ERIC BURDON AND THE ANIMALS
Song Title WINDS OF CHANGE
Name of CD WINDS OF CHANGE (1967)
Name ANIMALS
Song Title I PUT A SPELL ON YOU
Name of CD ANIMALIZATION (1966)
Name ERIC BURDON AND THE ANIMALS
Song Title MONTEREY
Name of CD THE TWAIN SHALL MEET (1968)
Name ANIMALS
Song Title ONE MONKEY DON'T STOP NO SHOW
Name of CD ANIMALIZATION (1966)
Name ERIC BURDON AND THE ANIMALS
Song Title SKY PILOT
Name of CD THE TWAIN SHALL MEET (1968)
Name ANIMALS
Song Title GIN HOUSE BLUES
Name of CD ANIMALIZATION (1966)
Name ERIC BURDON AND THE ANIMALS
Song Title A GIRL NAMED SANDOZ
Name of CD single-B side (1967)
Name ANIMALS
Song Title MAUDIE
Name of CD ANIMALIZATION (1966)
Name ERIC BURDON AND THE ANIMALS
Song Title WHITE HOUSES
Name of CD EVERY ONE OF US (1969)
Name ANIMALS
Song Title INSIDE LOOKING OUT
Name of CD ANIMALIZATION (1966)
Name SEEDS
Song Title A FADED PICTURE
Name of CD A WEB OF SOUND (1966)
Name DOORS
Song Title STRANGE DAYS
Name of CD STRANGE DAYS (1967)

Liberals, Big Government, Fat Cats, the Tea Party and George Washington

OK…time for a random political thought or two, just to add a little variety to the blog page.

It occurs to me that the liberals are taking the wrong tactic when dealing with the Tea Party movement. It seems to me that instead of being defensive and apologetic or even in denial when it comes to the subject of Big Government, liberals should be embracing the concept, and loudly proclaiming their support for Big Government.

"What?!?", you say? That’s insane! That’s political suicide!

Yeah, well, that kind of thinking is precisely why liberals are gonna get thrashed this November, wimps that they are.

It’s all a matter or perspective. Here’s mine:

We the people need Big Government to protect us from the Fat Cats.

Simple, eh? Let’s look at it a little more closely. The U.S. is the most powerful nation on earth, no question about it. In fact, I’d be willing to wager that the U.S. is the most powerful nation in history. Think about it. Has anyone else ever had the power to destroy the entire world several times over? No. Point and match.

Now, if Big Government were to be seriously downsized, what do you think is going to happen to all that power, huh? You think it’s just going to go away? Do you really think it will somehow end up in the hands of the little guy? Yeah, right. The power is there, folks. There is no escaping it. If it is not in the hands of Big Government (an entity that is controlled by elected officials), who’s hands will all that power end up in? Who else but:

The Fat Cats. You know who they are. The greedy people at the top. The rich guys who sit in offices and figure out ways to get even richer without actually doing anything to earn it. The ones who get together with other Fat Cats and make master plans to merge their companies and eliminate redundant jobs in the process, maybe even yours. The ones who, by and large, have gotten where they are by screwing over whoever gets in their way. The ones who have been, for the past 20 years, eliminating American jobs and replacing them with cheap labor from third world countries. The ones who run up huge financial debts, knowing that we the people will have to bail them out because they are too big to fail. The very same people that the Tea Party people are railing against.

So let’s stop and review this for a minute. The Tea Party is up in arms because taxpayer money is being used to prop up greedy Fat Cats when they screw up and damn near topple the world’s economy. The Tea Party’s solution is to downsize the most powerful government in the history of the planet and give that power to those same Fat Cats. Am I the only one who sees something fundamentally flawed with this solution?

The real problem, folks, is that Americans have been led to believe that the U.S. Government is a separate entity from the American people. Read the Constitution. We the people own this government. Granted, for longer than anyone can remember we have been content to allow professional politicians have their way with it, but the fact remains that it is our government, and everyone who works for it is our employee, including those same professional politicians. That’s why they call it the public sector, after all.

Here’s a novel idea. If you don’t like the way the government is being managed for you, hire a different management team. It’s your government, after all. Why shouldn’t you have a say in how it’s run? And how do you hire a different management team? By voting, of course. But don’t just settle for the lesser of two evils. If you feel than neither major party candidate will run your government the way you want it run, vote for someone else. Don’t assume that only the major party candidates can win an election. If a majority of voters say “no” to both major parties, neither party can claim a mandate. So pick a minor party candidate. Better yet, do some research and figure out for yourself who is best suited for the job and write their name in on the ballot, even if they are not officially running for office. Then tell everyone who will listen who you voted for and why. Maybe some of them will agree and write in the same name. If enough people write that person’s name in, maybe that person will get the job. I mean, imagine this: Wouldn’t it be a hoot if for once someone got the job who was qualified but didn’t want it? I may be mistaken, but I believe the last time that happened was a guy named George Washington.

I wonder how the Tea Party people would have treated him.

More 5/23/10

OK, I've got a little more information now, thanks to a call from Greg Cotterill last night while I was doing the show.

First off, regarding the scheduling on WITH: It seems there are two reasons that Stuck in the Psychedelic Era is running on Sunday night rather than Saturday night, as it is on WEOS. In fact, I just stated the first reason: Stuck in the Psychedelic Era runs on Saturday night on WEOS. Apparently, once the WITH signal is up to full strength (tomorrow), there will be some signal overlap between the two stations, mostly in northern Tompkins and southern Seneca counties. That means in places like Trumansburg you will be able to hear Stuck in the Psychedelic Era both nights if you want, although it will be the same exact show.

The second reason can be found on the new WITH website: http://www.withradio.org/
If you hit the schedule button, you will see that the Saturday night lineup consists of the House of Blues Radio Hour, Beale Street Caravan and Blacks and Blues. Obviously there is a theme to the night and speaking as a former program director I have to say it is a solid, consistent lineup with a lot of synergy between shows. Speaking of synergy, you'll also note that the Grateful Dead hour is running just before Stuck in the Psychedelic Era on Sunday nights. I have no idea what "rejuventations" is just yet (I Googled it and got a "did you mean rejuvenations?" message), so I guess we'll all have to wait for the interactive version of the schedule to become active.

Finally, I've posted a copy of last night's playlist if anyone's interested. I plan to continue doing this every week, so get used to it.

P.S.: Don't forget to use the "contact" link at http://www.hermitradio.com/contact.php to make requests and give me feedback.

Playlist 1001

Name	BLOOD, SWEAT AND TEARS
Song Title	SOMETHIN' GOIN' ON
Name of CD	CHILD IS FATHER TO THE MAN
Release Year	1968
Name	LED ZEPPELIN
Song Title	HOW MANY MORE TIMES
Name of CD	LED ZEPPELIN
Release Year	1969
Name	THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE
Song Title	STILL RAINING, STILL DREAMING
Name of CD	ELECTRIC LADYLAND
Release Year	1968
Name	THE BYRDS
Song Title	CHANGE IS NOW
Name of CD	THE NOTORIOUS BYRD BROS.
Release Year	1968
Name	NEIL YOUNG
Song Title	THERE'S A WORLD
Name of CD	HARVEST
Release Year	1972
Name	NEIL YOUNG
Song Title	ALABAMA
Name of CD	HARVEST
Release Year	1972
Name	DOORS
Song Title	I CAN'T SEE YOUR FACE IN MY MIND
Name of CD	STRANGE DAYS
Release Year	1967
Name	Status Quo
Song Title	Pictures Of Matchstick Men
Name of CD	N/A
Release Year	1968
Name	CREAM
Song Title	CROSSROADS
Name of CD	WHEELS OF FIRE
Release Year	1968
Name	TRAFFIC
Song Title	COLOURED RAIN
Name of CD	MR. FANTASY
Release Year	1967
Name	THE WHO
Song Title	PINBALL WIZARD
Name of CD	TOMMY
Release Year	1968
Name	SAM AND DAVE
Song Title	HOLD ON! I'M A COMIN'
Name of CD
Release Year	1966
Name	WEST COAST POP ART EXPERIMENTAL BAND
Song Title	i WON'T HURT YOU
Name of CD	PART ONE
Release Year	1967
Name	CHER
Song Title	COME AND STAY WITH ME
Name of CD	ALL I REALLY WANT TO DO
Release Year	1965
Name	GRATEFUL DEAD
Song Title	ST. STEPHEN
Name of CD	AOXOMOXOA
Release Year	1969
Name	JEFFERSON AIRPLANE
Song Title	WATCH HER RIDE/SPARE CHAYNGE
Name of CD	AFTER BATHING AT BAXTER'S
Release Year	1967
Name	JANIS JOPLIN
Song Title	HALF MOON
Name of CD	PEARL
Release Year	1971
Name	THEM
Song Title	HERE COMES THE NIGHT
Name of CD	THEM (aka ANGRY YOUNG THEM)
Release Year	1965
Name	THE ROLLING STONES
Song Title	MERCY MERCY
Name of CD	OUT OF OUR HEADS
Release Year	1965
Name	THE KNICKERBOCKERS
Song Title	ONE TRACK MIND
Name of CD
Release Year	1966
Name	THE MUSIC MACHINE
Song Title	TALK TALK
Name of CD	TURN ON
Release Year	1966
Name	THE LIGHT
Song Title	BACK UP
Name of CD	WHERE THE ACTION IS-LA NUGGETS
Release Year	1966
Name	MOURNING REIGN
Song Title	SATISFACTION GUARANTEED
Name of CD
Release Year
Name	RAY CHARLES
Song Title	HIT THE ROAD JACK
Name of CD
Release Year