Hell's Kitchen Radio #526: What's Behind The Curtain?

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Never draw attention to the mistakes. 

That's really good advice. Don't let them see what's behind the curtain, and all that jazz. 

Unless you can make it an art form. 

I like to think I have made it some kind of art form, and not just roommate radio.

I don't often bring CDs into the studio; it's almost exclusively vinyl for this dude. But tonight I wanted to play a few tunes to celebrate Bunny Day and St. Stupid's Day, so I brought a few CDs along just to find out the CD player was not in operating condition. And I didn't bring nearly enough vinyl to fill two hours. I did have my trusty 5GB external hard drive filled to the brim with tasty musical treats, but I hadn't prepared to pull anything from there, so there was more improvisation on this night than I am used to.

You can probably hear it in my delivery.

And I had a friend in the studio I forgot was coming by, and I like to play the good host, all the while troubleshooting the CD players, which I was unable to do.

Taking a look at the playlist looks pretty satisfying though. I may sound a little cringe on the mic. Let me know. I can take it. My dad always told me it's healthy to embarrass yourself from time to time: it builds character. If that's the case, John Hell was certainly representing tonight!

Come look behind the curtain.

Enjoy.

jh 

Hell's Kitchen Radio with John Hell
Mondays 8-10PM
Radio Valencia in SF
http://radiovalencia.fm

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White Man's Got A God Complex: Last Poets
Religious Vomit: Dead Kennedys
Faith in My Pocket: Mark Growden

Imagine (Take 1): John Lennon
Loose Lucy: Grateful Dead
I've Got A Tiger By The Tail: Buck Owens and His Buckaroos

Gila Monster: King Gizzard
In and Out of Grace: Mudhoney
I Don't Wanna Walk Around with You: Ramones
Stunner: OSees

Psychedelic Orgasm: Kim Gordon
Know Your Rights: The Clash

No Place To Fall: Kevin Morby
She Don't Care: Ty Segall
Jesus Was Way Cool: King Missile
Built For Speed: Howlin' Wolf
Mercy: John Cale

Amphetamine: Rocket From The Tombs
Sister Morphine: Marianne Fatihfull
Gates of Eden: Bob Dylan
White Linen: Blüchunks

Bedside Manners: The Black Crowes
Downtown: Johnny Thunders
Walk On: Dave Alvin and Jimmy Dale Gilmore

Chocolate Jesus: Tom Waits

Hell's Kitchen Radio #525: Coomer Comes To The Kitchen

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Monday night I was excited to host songstress Robin Coomer into the Radio Valencia studio, sharing a few new tunes from her upcoming solo release. As always her voice is in top form. Really, there's nothing quite like it. 

From Robin's days in Birdsaw, through to LOOP! Station, Shake Well (er, ummm, that's actually a relative of hers I believe???), to inspired collaboration in Secret Songs, and now to a long overdue (IMHO) solo effort, due out this spring.

Check out my interview with Robin the first hour, as well as a few new tracks she shared.

The remainder of the night continues my focus on great female artists in celebration of Women's History Month.

Enjoy and please share.

jh

Hell's Kitchen Radio with John Hell
Mondays 8-10PM
Radio Valencia in SF
http://radiovalencia.fm

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Femme Fatale: Velvet Underground
Low Spark of High Heeled Boys: The Space Lady

Interview with Robin Coomer

Inside Gun: Robin Coomer

Interview with Robin Coomer

Close Call: Robin Coomer

Interview with Robin Coomer

Smoke In Mirrors: Robin Coomer

Send Me a Postcard: Shocking Blue
How Little Men Care: Margaret Cho and Neil Hamburger
Young, Gifted and Black: Aura and Lee Perry
Tryptich: Prayer/Protest/Peace: Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach

Bridge Over Troubled Water: Aretha Franklin
Wild: The Nuns
Original Sin: Peach Kelly Pop

AirBnB: Kim Gordon
Centrate: Podium
Le Ju de Telephone: Caroline
I Get A Kick Out Of You: Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga

Little Red Rooster: Big Mama Thornton
Mad Moth: The Bobby Lees
Carletta's In Hats Again: Brigid Dawson and the Mother's Network

The Lady is a Tramp: Ella Fitzgerald

Hell's Kitchen Radio #524: Ladies Night With Hell

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Let John Hell care for the kitchen while the ladies let it all hang out. This is Women's Month, and I love to celebrate all that is women. When it comes to music, there really is no dearth in aural options. I have strived to balance my shows out with quality female fare over the years.

This has been hard, but not for the reasons you think.

Not surprisingly, the music industry has been run by male chauvinist capitalists for over one hundred years. And like the casting couches of Hollywood, along with the color line, getting enough quality female representation in music has been hair raising. 

Still, there is so much to continue to choose from in female-fronted artists of many genres. What I have for you tonight is only a small sampling of what has been in rotation in the Hell household (and on this show) over the years.

Enjoy this, and join me Monday, March 18th, when I welcome Northern California singer, songwriter, artist, designer Robin Coomer back into the studio to talk up her new solo release. 

Tune in and please share.

jh

Hell's Kitchen Radio with John Hell
Mondays 8-10PM
Radio Valencia in SF
http://radiovalencia.fm

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Ball and Chain: Big Mama Thornton
Summertime: Big Brother and the Holding Company

People Get Ready: Aretha Franklin
Hypocrisy: Millie Jackson

Babydoll: Eric McFadden Trio with Robin Coomer

Don't Blame the Buzzard: Sgt Splendor

Do You Take This Man: Diamanda Galas with John Paul Jones

The Devil Has Thrown Him Down: Sister Rosetta Tharpe (Nov 1943)

Do I Want To Stay: Shannon and the Clams

I Swallowed a Dragonfly: Heartless Bastards

Waitress Song: First Aid Kit

Tattooed Love Boys: Shitkid and Melvins

Bring Me the Head of the Preacher Man: Siouxsie and the Banshees

Celebrity Compass: Bongwater

Come On Over (Turn Me On): Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan

Magic Powers: Death Valley Girls

Cross the Breeze: Sonic Youth

California (Demo): Joni Mitchell
Money: The Flying Lizards

Kung Fu Girls: Blondie

Lilac Wine: Nina Simone

Crazy He Calls Me: Billie Holiday

Control: Amyl and the Sniffers

Paint it Black: Avengers

I Like Boys: Missing Persons

Hell's Kitchen Radio #523: Return Of The Return Of the Magnificent 7"

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I have a hankerin' for a 7 inch special, so here ya go! This may be my third such special in the past decade or so. I can't be expected to remember all of this, thank you very much. HA!

The original idea of the 7 inch single, going back to the 1950s had to do with record labels not thinking the 33 1/3 long playing record was worth investing in. The labels commodified the music industry early and knew they were more likely to turn a profit if they could identify one song to sell to a public hungry for entertainment. 

By the 1970s the idea of a single had changed. The A-side was always about the "hit" and the B-side was often something special that wasn't going to appear on the full record. They Beatles always put out 12 song records on Parlophone along with a two-song single that didn't appear on the LP. 

For the world of the independent artist the single may be the only music they released. A lot of the songs I play tonight haven't appeared in any other format. 

There are a lot of gems here, so take a listen and please share with music fans in your life.

Enjoy.

jh

Hell's Kitchen Radio with John Hell
Mondays 8-10PM
Radio Valencia in SF
http://radiovalencia.fm

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Macho Man: Artless
Kick Out The Jams: Afrika Bambaataa

Emma: Hot Chocolate
Everything's Gonna Be Alright: Steve Mason

One Word For It: Rose Hicks
Brotherman: Mancefield and the Brother Man Band
Give Me My Wife: Bruce Marshall
Andalusia: The Phantom Surfers
Surfatorium: The Neptunas

Paranoid: Ty Segall Band
Valley Girl: Meatbodies
Wait, Let's Go: Thee Oh Sees

The Happiest Guy Around: Tropical Fuck Storm
Wrest The Fist: Melt Banana
What Do I Get? Destroy All Monsters
Zonar Roze: Keith Morris, Ty Segall, John Dwyer, Steven McDonald

Man With a Hole In His Throat: Hello Kitty on Ice
Love Song: The Mutants
Bing Bong: Three Day Stubble

I Wanna Wanna Wanna Wanna Wanna Wanna Wanna Get Rid of You: Psychotic Pineapple
Looking for Laughs: Neil Hamburger
Ge Rouge: Crash Worship
Transmaniacon MC: Altamont

Sunken City: Mike Watt and the Secondmen
Ripping Death: Zig Zags
Courageous Cat: Pure Hell

Couldn't Be Bothered: The Klitz
My Way: Elvis Presley

Hell's Kitchen Radio #522: Tell Me True

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Mondays are fun days...for me. I was realizing I have been hosting a radio show Mondays 8pm since 2000, when I started at San Francisco Liberation Radio. SFLR's history is a rich one and I encourage you to check it out. In short, it was started by Food Not Bombs. They were upset that their arrests for feeding the homeless weren't getting enough media attention, so member Richard Edmondson started the station in his van. Eventually it ended up in his apartment in the Richmond District.

I was working at Trader Joe's in Daly City when I saw a shopper wearing a SFLR t-shirt. I had to inquire. They hipped me to the station, I made a call, and started there a few weeks later.

The rest, as they say, is history. And what a history it is, including the raid by the FCC using SFPD. We were a very politicized staff. And we were a pirate radio station, so it was only a matter of time before the Man came knocking. Or more like battering ramming, which they did.

We fought the good fight, and even set some precedent in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Because of our fight urban areas are allowed to file for low power FM (LPFM) licenses. Before our case against the feds, the FCC policy only allowed rural areas to file for a LPFM. Yay SFLR!

I left there after the raid, ended up at Pirate Cat, then FCCFree, and eventually built Radio Valencia, all hosting the Monday 8pm slot. Time flies.

As for this show, it's more of what you have come to expect: diverse, and leaning punk. But there's quite a bit more than that, including a couple sets from a new member of our staff: The Archivist, who will be on Sundays 8-10pm Pacific. Coincidentally, he used to be a student of mine many moons ago. He has excellent musical taste, which has nothing to do with me. 

There's a tribute to Wayne Kramer, who passed away last week, and a happy birthday to Bob Marley. 

Oh, one final comment about Mondays: the Giants have a winning record on Monday nights. True story.

Huge thanks to my old buddy Scott Beale of Laughing Squid for coming by back in 2003 to take these great photos.

And another big thanks to Amacker for the pics she took of the SFLR benefit in October 2003, following the FCC raid.

Enjoy and please share.

jh

Hell's Kitchen Radio with John Hell
Mondays 8-10PM
Radio Valencia in SF
http://radiovalencia.fm

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The Sails of Charon: Scorpions
El Cerrito: Thinking Fellers Union Local 282

My Uzi Weighs A Ton: Brownout
Bodyheat: James Brown

By The Time I Get To Arizona: Evolution Control Committee
By The Time I Get To Phoenix: Dean Martin
White Man's Got A God Complex: The Last Poets
Superbad: Idris Muhammad
Cannibal Capital: Guerrilla Toss - The Archivist

Almost Ready: Dinosaur Jr. - The Archivist
Something You Can't See: Desert Session - The Archivist
Geza Butler: Sleep - The Archivist
Now Ah Lissen
East Bay: Billy Cobham - The Archivist

Poison: Wayne Kramer with Melvins
Skunk (Sonically Speaking): MC5

The Bell: Ty Segall
Pray Til You Sweat: The Flesh Eaters

Doin' The Kirk: The Mummies
Zip Code Gentlemen: Zip Code Rapists
The Citadel: Redd Kross
Radio One: The Clash

Slave Driver: Bob Marley and the Wailers
Fishermen Dub: Lee Scratch Perry