Hell's Kitchen Radio #500: No, You're the Special One

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and HERE - Part Two 

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Well, that was one Hell of a great night. And way too fast. Monday night I celebrated my 500th show on Radio Valencia. I've been doing weekly radio shows, with little interruption, since the fall of 1990. In the early days I taped a lot of my shows on cassette. And most of those were only the air breaks so I could go back and critique myself, hoping to learn how to improve my delivery.

Some of these early shows are so embarrassing that I can't be in the same room with the cassette!

Many of those old shows also have some excellent music mixes in there. Maybe I need to cringe a little bit and give them a listen?

I produced my 500th show in radio many many years ago, but hosting my 500th on the station I started gives a really warm feel to everything. We flipped the switch on Radio Valencia in August of 2010. I started hosting Mondays 8-10PM right away; a slot I held at three previous stations: San Francisco Liberation Radio (2000 - 2003), Pirate Cat (2005 - 2007) and FCCFree Radio (2007 - 2009). I've hosted a few specials while at RV that I never numbered, so I'm guessing I'm closer to 520, but who's counting?

On this special night I put the word out to staff and friends to come hang out. Big thanks to Radio Valencia staffers Darcy, Johnny and Edwin from Skeevy Sideshow, Wednedsays 6-10pm; Doug and Emily from Beyond All Limits, who were kind enough to yield their Monday 10-midnight slot so I could host four hours on this night. Darren from Bo's Veranda (Mondays 4-6pm) also came and hung out. Friends of RV also brought the love, including my dear friends Yas, John Law (SF Cacaphony Society, Billboard Liberation Front, ex-Suicide Club), musician Robin Coomer and her dear mate Matt "The Cleaner"!

The music was a mix of favorites from 2022 and others that are currently rolling through my brain. See the playlist below. 

What do I have planned for the next 500 shows? I have zero clue what I have planned for #501 let alone #1000. Tune in Mondays 8-10PM Pacific and hear for yourself.

Check out these milestone episodes:

Show 400

Show 300

Show 200

Show 100

Enjoy and please share this treat.

And if you're wondering, the picture at the top is my face covering the faces of my parents, Harvey and Pat circa 1975. My dad had his hair permed, which was the style at the time. So did my mom. Such swingers. HA!

jh

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

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I Heard it on the X: Olivelawn
Loren's Dance: Idris Muhammad

Channel Zero: Public Enemy
They Threw Me Out Of Church: Wesley Willis

Concrete Jungle: The Specials

The Biggest Blow: Sex Pistols with Ronnie Biggs

Looking For A Kiss: New York Dolls

White Riot: The Clash

Money (That's What I Want): The Flying Lizards

The Payback Mix: James Brown

Fairies Wear Boots: Brown Sabbath

Paranoid: Jazz Sabbath

Undertaker: Mark Growden

Redless: Othered

Hall of the Oyster King: Glitter Wizard

Attractive Target: Negativland

O Tannenbaum/Hava Nagilla: Phat Man Dee

Merry Christmas From The Family: Robert Earl Keen Jr.

A Christmas Song: Jethro Tull

Golden Frames: Shannon Shaw

Greta Van Fake: The Bobby Lees
You Better Have A Gun: Fantastic Negrito

Phantoms: Czarface and MF Doom

Portland, Oregon: Loretta Lynn

The Dripping Tap: King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard

Tommy in Seven Minutes: Vital on 45

Night Goat: Melvins

Plastic Plant: Thee Oh Sees

Cardboard Pile: Kikagaku Moyo

I'm Waiting For The Man: Lou Reed

Quicksand (2021 Early Mix): David Bowie

Telephone Call From Istanbul: Tom Waits

Free: Ty Segall

Bee Karma: WAND

Vera (2022): Roger Waters

Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere: Neil Young and the Promise Real

I Bid You Goodnight: Joseph Spence & The Pinder Family

John Hell's Live Bootleg Bonanza - Monday 6-8PM Pacific - Mudhoney (1992) & Sex Pistols (1978)

 

John Hell's Live Bootleg Bonanza

Monday's 6-8PM Pacific

http://radiovalencia.fm

DOWNLOAD THIS SHOW RIGHT HERE!!!

Let's face it, Punk ended in 1978 with the dissolution of the Sex Pistols. It's not that there weren't amazing bands that stuck it out after that, and bands who didn't come around after that, who were seriously influenced by the Sex Pistols. It's just that the original Punk nihilism died in 1978 when the band called it quits.

As much as I love The Clash (and I really do love them grandly), no one could hold a candle to who the Sex Pistols were and what they stood for. The irony of nihilism, and pissing people off just for the sake of doing so just wasn't the same once Johnny quit the band. And there was no way Steve Jones and Paul Cook were going to continue on with Sid Vicious, even with Ronnie Briggs singing. 

I've just completed reading "England's Dreaming", by Jon Savage. What a brilliant look at such an important moment in social, political and musical history. I strongly suggest you read both this book and "Please Kill Me", by Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain. You might want to throw in Dee Dee Ramone's autobiography. 

This all inspired my show tonight. First up are one of my desert island bands: Mudhoney. I love them, deeply. This show must have been a blast to attend. Recorded April 19, 1992 in Dusseldorf, Germany at the Noise Now Festival. The band was drunk. They make fun of Peter Murphy (who hasn't?). Everyone had fun. This was during their tour for their first major label release "Piece of Cake" on Reprise Records; a record I really enjoyed, although it was a bit overproduced compared to their Sub Pop days. I'm pleased they released the demos from this record a few years back on "Pezado de Pastel".

Superfuzz Bigmuff made a huge impact on me when I first heard it in 1989. Really major. This is a band that kicked my ass, and I still pull them out often. When all my friends were getting into the Grunge bands of the 90s, I asked them point blank who would be remembered in 20 years (now 30+). And I told them Mudhoney will be remembered and respected more than most. They scoffed. We don't talk much these days.

Linage: Recorded by bobfather
Source 1 (Tracks 1, 15, 16): Master Video > FLAC
Source 2 (Tracks 2-14): FM Broadcast > Source: FM > TDK SA (analog tape) (can`t rememember which tape deck I had by that time) > nakamichi cr 7e (azimuth adjusted) > marantz dr 6000 > mac rip to disk > soundforge > flac
Mix: Audacity (trim and align both sources) > CDWAVE (splits) > Audacity (speed correcct tracks source 2) > FLAC > mp3

Our headliners tonight are the one and only Sex Pistols. This is from the legendary "let's get out of the country and see if we can tackle America" opening show of the American tour, January 5, 1978 in Atlanta, Georgia. It's hilarious that Malcom McLaren purposely kept the band away from the major cities (except San Francisco for their final show of the tour and their final show as a band), and instead sent them to towns in the deep south purposely to confront an aggressive audience who were skeptical of Punk and British Punk rockers in particular. 

There''s three songs tacked on at the end from December 11, 1977 in Maasbree, Scotland as filler. 

Again, read "England's Dreaming".

Lineage: Soundboard - Label: Big Music - BIG 046

You can find my mostly-complete list of live shows right here. Have a request? Leave a comment.

Support these bands. Buy their officially released music and merch, and never ever sell live bootlegs. These are for trade only.

Stick around Monday 8-midnight Pacific for my weekly music mix, Hell's Kitchen Radio. It's my 500th show on Radio Valencia tonight, and I have some fun lined up. Call  your friends, and tell my enemies John Hell is on the air.

Enjoy and pay it forward.

jh

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Hell's Kitchen Radio #499: Penultimate Nightmare

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I enjoy shopping in my own record store. Or in this case, my music library at home. Before we got priced out of SF, I had a really nice music room where I had my record shelves, along with the 12 CD shelves, each 12 feet long, that I built on my own to house my ever growing bootleg collection, along with the obvious officially released material. Oh wow, I used to love being down there pulling out music, kicking back and getting excited about what I was going to play on my next show.

And then we had to move. 

Now, I really do enjoy living in Berkeley. Say what you will, but I'm no Berkeley snob. I've seen the way people turn up their nose at me for the kale I choose at Berkeley Bowl, but they can all just go to Hell. To Hell I say! 

And our rental is just fine, if not pretty small. And the walls are thin. At least I have a driveway. And my records are in the living room! And I'm running out of room. I had to ditch the CD shelves for CD binders, but that's ok. Right? Sure. That also means I don't play a lot of CDs on my shows these days. That being said I reached up high on the shelf in Bodhi's closet the other day to grab one of my many CD binders. Tonight features some of what was found in there.

I haven't purchased a CD in many moons, and much of what I have in there I think I have a flac version of now anyway, but there are still some real treats that I almost forgot I owned. Giant Sand, New Duncan Imperials, Idiot Flesh, and Built To Spill are just a few of the discs I brought along tonight.

I also start the show with a few extra tracks from 1968, that I didn't get to last week on my 12th annual Annual Annual. It's a fun opening set.

There's a Sam Cooke live cut you think you know, but you don't know. The Iggy set is SET OF THE NIGHT! I made an executive decision and just kept it going. 

There's a lot packed into this two hours. Take a look at the setlist and click the link above to enjoy the show. Tune in next Monday, December 19, from 8-midnight to help me celebrate my 500th show on Radio Valencia! As Little Lauson Hell said to me recently "wow, that's half of 1000". Smart girl there. 

Hey, 1993 called, they want their CDs back.

Enjoy.

jh

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

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You Can't Win: Iron Butterfly
Red the Sign Post: Fifty Foot Hose
Le Premier Bonheur Du Jour: Os Mutantes

Twistin' The Night Away" Sam Cooke
Missile Blues: Wes Montgomery

Love's Missing: Iggy Pop
Paradise Blues: Death Valley Girls
Get Thee Gone: The Geraldine Fibbers
Every Grain of Sand: Giant Sand

Magma: King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard
White Trash Boogie: New Duncan Imperials

White Man In Hammersmith Palais: Eric McFadden
TV Set: The Cramps
Not My Song: Idiot Flesh

Blue: Ty Segall
Heartattack and Vine: Lydia Lunch with Nels Cline
Hit the Road Jack: The Residents
Gone: Built To Spill

Free the Skull: Moon Duo
Prophet Live: Prince Jazzbo

Gloria: The Electric Prunes
What A Wonderful World: Louis Armstrong

John Hell's Live Bootleg Bonanza - Monday 6-8PM Pacific - MV & EE (2020) and Kamasi Washington (2015)

 

John Hell's Live Bootleg Bonanza

Monday's 6-8PM Pacific

http://radiovalencia.fm

DOWNLOAD THIS SHOW RIGHT HERE!!!

OK wow, I so love discovering an artist that just blows my mind. Tonight I have TWO for YOU!

First up is a neo-psychadelic group I found when crate digging at Amoeba in Berkeley about a year ago. I knew by the cover this was going to be something special. Even the clerk at the counter told me they had been eyeballing this one. Matt Valentine and Erica Elkin (MV and EE) have been recording together since 2004. They have about 20 releases to their name! WTF? Where have I been?

This show is a rare one, as I have yet to find anything else of theirs making the rounds. Recorded January 19, 2020 at Baby's All Right in Brooklyn, New York. It runs about 36 minutes, and is a tasty soundboard, recorded by Alex Hardwood, and mixed and produced by Eric P for NYCTaper.com

Lineage: Soundboard + MBHO KA100DK/603A (on stage) > Naiant PFA >> Sound Devices MixPre-6 > WAV (24/48) > Adobe Audition CC + Izotope Ozone 5 > Audacity 2.0.5 > FLAC

Our headliner tonight deserves your attention. Don't go telling me that you aren't into Jazz, especially if you have no idea what you're talking about. Kamasi Washington embodies so much of the soul of jazz, funk, fusion, soul, R&B, rock, punk, groove...and genres that haven't even been named yet. I cannot stop moving when he's playing. It's as if he can't contain all the movement that's inside of himself, and he needs you to take it off his hands, so he throws it at you through his horn. 

Recorded November 16, 2015 at the Ancienne Belgique in Brussels, Belgium. If these tunes don't move you, you're dead.

Lineage: Webcast -> youtube-dl -> .m4a & .mp4 files -> ffmpeg -> mkvmerge GUI -> .mkv -> mp3

You can find my mostly-complete list of live shows right here. Have a request? Leave a comment.

Support these bands. Buy their officially released music and merch, and never ever sell live bootlegs. These are for trade only.

Stick around Monday's 8-10PM Pacific for my weekly music mix, Hell's Kitchen Radio. Lots of new music to share with you every week.

Enjoy and pay it forward.

jh

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Hell's Kitchen Radio #498: 12th annual Annual Annual: 1968

Listen to this show right here!!!

Listen into all my shows here!

Subscribe to my show, via 

The weather outside is frightful but the music is so delightful, so since you're stuck inside anyway, might as well tune in, tune in, tune in.

It's that time of year once again when I choose one year to focus two hour on. My Annual Annual is a great opportunity for me to go deeper into the music for a particular year, playing music for you that really deserves to be rediscovered. I started this show in 2011 when I wanted to go deeper into one of my favorite years for music: 1971. What a year, indeed! Following that I took one show every November to host this special. Below you can find the links for the previous 11 episodes.

Monday night, 8-10pm Pacific is all about 1968! I was considering hosting a Bay Area only 1991 show, but after chatting with a radio colleague about the greatness of 1968, I just knew that was the year for me! 1968 was a great year for Acid Rock and Psychedelic Rock. My fear is I'm not going to have nearly enough time to share with you everything I want to. This may take two weeks!

Don't expect this to be a Top 20 show. That's never been something I would do. I won't select the playlist until I'm on the air. I like to be listening to a song to direct me to my next track. I can share a few of the artists I'm bringing along for the ride: Jimi Hendrix, Moby Grape, Silver Apple, Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead, Blue Cheer, Iron Butterfly, Traffic, Pink Floyd, Os Mutantes, Soft Machine, Fifty Foot Hose, Mothers of Invention and so much more.

Spread the word, ingest some mushroom tea, kick back and enjoy the show.

Magnolia Caboose Babyfinger: Blue Cheer
The Pusher: Steppenwolf
Ain't Got No/I Got Life: Nina Simone

Yer Blues: The Dirty Mac
Good To Me As I Am To You: Aretha Franklin
The House at Pooneil Corners: Jefferson Airplane

It's A Man's Man's Man's World: James Brown and His Famous Flames
Astral Sounds: 101 Strings
Flower Punk: The Mothers of Invention
Passing the Time: Cream

Cocaine Blues: Johnny Cash
Waiting Around To Die: Townes Van Zandt
Good Guys/Bad Guys Cheer: Country Joe and the Fish
I Am A Pilgrim: The Byrds

I'm The Urban Spaceman: Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band
The Garden of Earthly Delights: The United States of America
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds: William Shatner

This Wheel's On Fire: The Band
Not To Touch the Earth: The Doors
White Light/White Heat: Velvet Underground
You Don't Love Me: Kaleidoscope

Killing Floor: The Electric Flag
Forty Thousand Headman: Traffic
Jugband Blues: Pink Floyd

Born Cross-Eyed: Grateful Dead

If you're interested in the previous 11 editions of my Annual Annual, take a look below.

Enjoy and please share.

jh

2011 - ANNUAL ANNUAL - 1971
2012 - ANNUAL ANNUAL - 1972
2013 - ANNUAL ANNUAL - 1973
2014 - ANNUAL ANNUAL - 1974
2015 - ANNUAL ANNUAL - 1975
2016 - ANNUAL ANNUAL - 2006
2017 - ANNUAL ANNUAL - 1992
2018 - ANNUAL ANNUAL - 1983
2019 - ANNUAL ANNUAL - 1969
2020 - ANNUAL ANNUAL - 1980
2021 - ANNUAL ANNUAL - 1978

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

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John Hell's Live Bootleg Bonanza - Monday 6-8PM Pacific - Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac 1968

 

John Hell's Live Bootleg Bonanza

Monday's 6-8PM Pacific

http://radiovalencia.fm

DOWNLOAD THIS SHOW RIGHT HERE!!!

With the passing of Christine McVie, the longtime keyboardist and vocalist of pop sensations Fleetwood Mac, it was a no-brainer what I wanted to share with you this week: Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac from 1968, of course. RIP Miss McVie.

Fleetwood Mac was Green's vehicle. It was all about him. He didn't want his name used in the band name because he knew it was going to be temporary. As temporary as it was, he left a lasting imprint on so many great guitarists of his own era, Rory Gallagher, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, just to name a few. Green was only in the band for about three years, 1968 - 1970 (he also filled in on a tour in 1971). Fleetwood Mac have had about 20 lineups over the years, and are as far removed from their blues roots as can be. Though the majority of their fans relish the mid-70s era, it's this late 60s era that I absolutely go gaga over.

This show is a stellar soundboard June 9, 1968, live at the Carousel Ballroom in San Francisco. They share the bill with the Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead. The second set of their show features Paul Butterfield on harmonica. What a blast that weekend in San Francisco must have been.

From the text file:

There are minor channel fluctuations in a few spots but this mostly sounds spectacular with a very 60's sounding mix (vocals in one channel and guitars in the other). To be able to hear Paul Butterfield with Fleetwood Mac is a highlight but Peter Green sounds really great too! 

I have heard that this was posted back in the STG era, but this version has been remastered with the sets separated better between discs and some minor "nip and tuck" type edits. No EQ or noise reduction was used in the remastering process. 

From Peter Green's stage comments, this is from one week into Fleetwood Mac's first U.S. tour and he sounds like he's having a really good time on the last night of a 3 show run with Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane. This is presumed to be the last night because Peter Green makes a comment about how they'll be back in 2 weeks (not the following night). I think that they returned to the Carousel on the 22nd or 23rd of June. 

Lineage: MSR > Cassette > DAT > CDR from Dick Latvala's 1st generation cassettes. Dick's copy was likely made from Bear's master, as Bear taped many of the other acts that played the same night as The Grateful Dead. CD extraction with Toast Titanium > Macintosh Pro Tools (minor edits, normalization & retracking) > AIFF > FLAC > MP3 320

You can find my mostly-complete list of live shows right here. Have a request? Leave a comment.

Support these bands. Buy their officially released music and merch, and never ever sell live bootlegs. These are for trade only.

Stick around Monday's 8-10PM Pacific for my weekly music mix, Hell's Kitchen Radio. Lots of new music to share with you every week.

Enjoy and pay it forward.

jh

Follow me on Facebook
Follow Radio Valencia on Facebook
Follow me on Instagram