Hell's Kitchen Radio #518: 13th Annual Annual: 1991

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When I was considering what year I was going to play for you for my 13th annual Annual Annual, I was a bit stumped. Every year has something amazing to offer. Where do I go? Back to the 50s? I haven't done that decade yet. Something in the past decade? Too soon? I turned 21 in 1991 (you do the math). Sounded perfect to me.

I was living in my first apartment, in Redwood City, CA. I was on the air at KFJC, hosting a morning show. There was no such genre known as Alternative at that time, until Smells Like Teen Spirit hit the airwaves. Thanks Nirvana. Ah, the memories. 

And college radio was popping back in 1991. Hip Hop, metal, indie-rock, industrial, shoegaze. There was so much to play back then. So many bands went on to influence the generation that followed. I'm not one to live in the past, but a show like this one allows me to shine a light on a year that really set a standard for what would follow.

Sadly, this was, in my opinion, the last year that non-commercial and college radio would be on the forefront when it came to breaking new artists. The consolidation of radio, Napster, and then streaming took that power out the hands of programmers, those who live and breathe music, and placed it into the hands of the corporatocracy. I was interning at KRQR back then in San Fransisco. I recall the music director blindly putting the playlist together for the DJs, without a thought of what songs worked well together. She was pulling from national lists of songs in the AOR top 20. Now MDs just allow Spotify to dictate the playlists. It's insulting. I'll remind you all that I do not have a Spotify account.

That's why you tuned in tonight, and that's why I have this show to share with you, that will take you back to a time when the artists and the DJs teamed together to bring your something special on the regular. 

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
2022 - ANNUAL ANNUAL - 1968

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

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Hog Leg: Melvins
Ring Ring Ring: De La Soul
Buck Whylin': Terminator X

By The Time I Get To Arizona: Public Enemy
Ace in the Hole: 3rd Bass

Scenario: A Tribe Called Quest

Housework: Fishbone

This Year in History Part One

Squeeze Me Macaroni: Mr. Bungle

Tommy the Cat: Primus
Jesus Was Way Cool: King Missile

Tunic (For Karen): Sonic Youth

This Year in History Part Two
Drain You (BBC Sessions): Nirvana
Emma: Urge Overkill

Little Fluffy Clouds: The Orb
Doctor Jeep: Sisters of Mercy
Rave Down: Swervedriver

The Power of Pussy (BBC Sessions): Bongwater

The Hurdy Gurdy Man: Butthole Surfers

The Wagon: Dinosaur Jr.

It's Shoved: Melvins

Hell's Kitchen Radio #342: Me Love You Long Time

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I try to please you too much. Sometimes I work to please you so much, it hurts. I overthink what I should or shouldn't play, because I don't want to lose you. Sometimes I take a risk, really wanting you to love a song, and I see that you left, and it really breaks me up inside, so much so that next time I see you there, I never even touch that track. It's like the electric third rail kinda thing. I just stay far far away from that. Too risky.

Then I start to think to myself "self, these people are tuning into you because they are really interested in what you're going to play. Go ahead and take that risk. Some may leave. Don't choose songs for the one's who leave. Choose for those who stay. Tonight's show is for those who stay. All tracks, but a couple, average roughly 8 minutes in length. Some jam out pretty far. I don't suggest you multitask while listening.

I pay tribute to the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin in my last half hour, with a selection from a fantastic show from 1971. RIP Aretha, and thanks for sharing your soul, your passion, your life with us all.

Radio is an artform. I get two hours a week to paint an aural picture for you. For this show I'm using a few pretty broad strokes. I hope you enjoy.

Next Monday, August 20th, 8-10PM (PDST), guitar gunslinger, and all around good guy, and my brother from another mother, Eric McFadden will be in the studio with me, celebrating the annual Steel Bridge Songfest. We'll feature two hours of supreme songwriting from such luminaries as pat mAcdonald, James Hall, The Legendary Sons of Crack Daniels, Craig Greenberg, Barrett Taskey, and many, many more. Steel Bridge Songfest is an annual week each June, of songwriting, culminating in four days of live performance, every June in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, as a fundraiser to keep the old Steel Bridge standing.

Enjoy.

jh

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

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Makin' Out: McCoy Tyner Quintet

I Came From the Mtn.: Thee Oh Sees
Interstellar Overdrive: Pink Floyd (October 31, 1966 Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, UK)
May The Circle Be Unbroken: 13th Floor Elevators

Well You Needn't: Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane
Oval Office: 3rd Bass

The Prophet's Song: Queen
Hazemaze: FUZZ

Natural Woman/Bridge Over Troubled Water/Dr. Feelgood-Spirit in the Dark: Aretha Franklin (June 12, 1971 Montreux, Switzerland)
Kuruimizu: Boris

New Potato Caboose/It Hurts Me Too: Grateful Dead (October 22, 1967 Winterland, SF, CA)

As a kid in the 70s Aretha Franklin would often be heard playing around our home. But what comes to mind most often is this scene from the classic 1980 film, The Blues Brothers, where she confronts Jake, Elwood, and her "husband" Matt "Guitar" Murphy. Don't mess with the Queen.

A Season in Hell #94: John Hell vs. the Rhythm of the Night

There's something about having no plan that leads to some of my finest shows. After weeks of doing featurettes, and having guests, tonight it's all about music I love (not saying that I don't love each and every track I play week-to-week) that I didn't have to work for.

A lot of "classics" on store for tonight.

You really must stream this show right NOW!!!
OK, maybe you should just download it and listen to it when you can crank it up.
Perhaps you enjoyed it so much that you find the need to listen to my previous shows. Good for you.

Enjoy.

Do It: Rollins Band
Leon vs. The Revolution: Melvins Lite

Ano Onna no Onryou: Boris
Bar-B-Q Pope: Butthole Surfers

Khebar: Bar Kokhba
Iron Man: The Bad Plus
Nobody Does It Better: Sex Mob

Greedy Traveler: Rin Tin Tiger
Lord, Save My Soul: Ferocious Few
Hangin' Moon: Eric McFadden

Barn Burning: Dave Alvin
Trickle Down System: Giant Sand
A Change is Gonna Come: The Gits

I Swallowed a Dragonfly: Heartless Bastards
God Bless the Child: Kenny Burrell
The Cactus: 3rd Bass

Earth People: Dr. Octagon
She Watch Channel Zero: Public Enemy
Earache My Eye: Alice Bowie

Take a Letter Maria: R.B. Greaves
When My Baby's Beside Me: Big Star

Carpetbaggers: Jenny Lewis and Elvis Costello