A Season in Hell #63: Radio Valencia: 1971, It Was A Very Good Year

I've always held a special place in my heart for 1971. I wasn't born in that year. I was born in 1970, but the music from '71 was simply amazing in so many ways. It was that year that we begin to see the emergence of many genres: R&B, Soul, Blues, and Jazz had already been around for a while, but now more genres of Rock n' Roll begin to emerge. This is not your father's Rock n' Roll. Funk, psychedelic, progressive, and ambient genres begin to really showcase themselves at this time. And of course, some truly classic albums (remember albums?) that the classic rock radio stations play too much of, were released that year. 

Tonight on A Season in Hell, with John Hell, I play some of my favorite tunes from that great year. Tune in and enjoy. Heck, you can even download the archived show as well, and enjoy it in 2071. 

Stream it here.

It's Hard to be Humble: Mac Davis
Muswell Hillbilly: The Kinks

I'm 18: Alice Cooper
Dr. Boogie: Flaming Groovies
Magic Fingers: Frank Zappa
Kandy Korn: Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band

Country Road: Grand Funk Railroad
Sister Ann: MC5
Yours is no Disgrace: Yes

Grandma's Hands: Bill Withers
Man In Black: Johnny Cash
Nevada Fighter: Michael Nesmith & The First National Band

Tamalpais High: David Crosby
I Don't Want To Be A Soldier: John Lennon
Masters Of The Universe: Hawkwind
Seven Stones: Genesis
The Supermen: David Bowie

Done Somebody Wrong: Allman Brothers Band
Hard to Handle: Grateful Dead (08-06-71)

Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved: James Brown

KFJC: Doin' It To Death, the Annual 24 Hour James Brown Birthday Special

As many of you are aware, I spent nine glorious years on the air at KFJC; 88-97, as The Reverend Dah Wave. I started there fresh out of high school, at the age of 18, with rough idea of what "eclectic" meant. Actually, at that time, KFJC was known as an "alternative" station. Then Nirvana had to go and get famous, and "alternative" ended up meaning "crap". By the time I left in 1997, I was very well schooled in the finer points of quality music. I also learned that there was no way in hell I would ever work for a commercial radio station. Radio is an art form, and one to be taken seriously, even when you're having a goofy time playing Frank Sinatra back to back with Megadeth.

After James Brown died on Christmas, 2006, Spliff Skankin' of KFJC's Jah's Music organized the first James Brown celebration. I jumped at the chance. Now the special happens around his birthday (May 1st). The month of May in KFJC-land is known as Mayhem. It's a month full of specials. I once hosted a 15 1/2 hour Miles Davis special. I also co-hosted, along with Kevin Odante, and the late-great Spiderman a Curtis Mayfield, Jerry "the Iceman" Butler, and the Impressions special.

All Mayhem long there are some great specials, including a Captain Beefheart special coming up.

Good times.

Today is the fifth annual Doin' It To Death 24 Hour James Brown Birthday Extravaganza!

I was on 10am-2pm.

You can go here to listen to the entire show. Look for "Doin' it to Death". It's broken up into one hour segments.

Or, you can go here to listen to my four hours.
Hour one
Hour two
Hour three
Hour four

And below is the playlist from my set.

I played this gem from the TAMI show.

John Hell is Doin' It To DEATH 10-2pm
Brown, James	Cold Sweat	Live in Dallas 08-26-68
Brown, James	Since You've Been Gone	Funk Power
Brown, James	Think	Make it Funky
Slaughter's Big R (soundtrack)	Sexy, Sexy, Sexy	Slaughter's Bi...(James Brown)
Brown, James	Summertime	Mutha's Nature
Brown, James	Don't Be a Drop Out	Ain't that a Groove
Maceo & All the Kings Men	Funky Women	Doing Their Own Thing
Collins, Bootsy	Shine-O-Myte	One Giveth, the
Wesley, Fred & The New J.B.'s	Breakin' Bread	Breakin' Bread
Jungle Brothers	Straight Out the Junglle	Straight Out the Jungle
Ice-T	Power (LANGUAGE)	Power
Queen Latifah		Nature of a Sista
Kool Moe Dee	I Go to Work	Knowledge Is King
Schoolly D		Am I Black Enough For You?
Beastie Boys	Hey Ladies	Paul's Boutique
Brown, James	That's Life	Live at the Apollo, VOL.2 PT.1
Brown, James	Papa Don't Take No Mess	Make it Funky
Brown, James	Get Up->Soul Power->Get Up	Live in Paris 03/18/71
Brown, James	Licking Sitck, Licking Stick	Live in Dallas 08-26-68
Brown, James	Funky President (People It's	Dead on the Heavy Funk 74-76
Brown, James	Mother Popcorn (Part 1)	It's a Mother
Brown, James	Mother Popcorn (Part 2)	It's a Mother
Brown, James	Come Rain or Come Shine	Plays James Brown
Brown, James	It's a Man's Man's Man's Wor	Live..At the Apollo Vol 2 Pt 2
Brown, James	Escapism	Make it Funky
Brown, James	The Payback	Payback, The
Brown, James	You Mother You	Sho Is Funky Down Here
Lusson, Robert	Free James Brown
Dupree, Nancy	James Brown	Ghetto Reality
Brown, James	For Once In My Life	JamesBrownJazz
Brown, James	Out of Sight	TAMI Special
Brown, James	You Can Have Watergate, Just Gimme Some Bucks and I'll Be St	Singles 1972-1973, The
Brown, James	Intro->Living in America	Live SF Hilton Ballroom 10/12/92
Brown, James	The Spank	Jam 1980's
Brown, James	Blind Man Can See It (extended)	Blind Man Can See It
Brown, James	I Feel Good	Sex Machine Today