Hell's Kitchen Radio #574: Now Dig This

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Another Monday night and the world isn't completely burning yet. 

We all need an escape from time to time. I take Monday nights seriously. This is like taking a shower: don't bother me while I'm doing this. 

I don't paint or sculpt, but I do consider hosting a radio show like creating an art piece. I have an empty two hour aural canvas that I use to weave music through, hoping to be pleased with the final result. And this is a real challenge. I hope you enjoy what I bring you, but is that my responsibility? I choose music that I think you need to hear. I've been doing this long enough to know that too many people are still only  listening to the music they listened to in high school, as if that was the best music ever produced?!?!?

Many of you don't have the time to do the deep digging that I, and the other Radio Valencia DJs take to find the tastiest of musical treats for you. That's one of the reasons I love to do this show. I eat, drink, and breathe music. It's on right now, as I'm writing this. I read music blogs, artist biographies and memoirs. You need a music nerd like me in your life. 

And let's look at what I offer you on Monday night, shall we? I started with some early folk blues, move to a Bob Dylan outtake that may be one of his greatest songs ever written! You have a brilliant Roland (pre-Rahssan) Kirk cover of a Duke classic. Some brand new Public Enemy that will kick your ass! Then we jump back for a Janis-loving seasonal classic, before I give you two jazz treats you didn't know you needed (but you do). There's some brand new Osees, live Hawkwind, local luminary The Space Lady, new A/lpaca (I have no clue why they spell their name that way?), Japan's Kikagaku Moyo (including a story I share following this about my Sunday motorcycle ride...blissful). Following this I pull out a 20th anniversary release of Japan's Boris (how the Hell has it been 20 years?!?!?!), Texas' Psychic Ills, and Mott the Hoople (a brilliant segue, btw), and local lass Barbara Manning, who all of you must listen to all of the time. I close out the show with new King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, featuring an orchestra (what will they think of next?), Tom Waits covering Kurt Weill, and complete the show with some new Ty Segall (I still have a boy crush on him).

Whew.

That's a lot to throw at any canvas. 

I don't normally go into such detail in these posts, but I wanted to give you an idea of the many cups I'm pulling from when I host a show. I'm not a specialty show, where a host focuses on one genre, week-to-week. I like it all. I love playing new releases for you, and I also enjoy scouring my library at home to pull music I haven't played in a while. There's always an itch that needs to be scratched. 

Take this. Make it yours. Share it. Dig the artists? Go buy their music. See them live. Share it with your friends. 

I think this is what makes Radio Valencia a truly special radio station.

Enjoy.

jh

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

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How Do You Want Your Rollin' Done: Louie Lasky
Got Me Religion: Scott H. Biram

Blind Willie McTell: Bob Dylan

Creole Love Call: Roland Kirk

Siick: Public Enemy

Summertime: Big Brother and the Holding Company

China: The Visitors

Super Bad: Idris Muhammad

Fight Simulator: Osees

Seven By Seven: Hawkwind

Radar Love: The Space Lady

Laughter, Us Us: A/lpaca
Meu Mar: Kikagaku Moyu

Pink: Boris

Back To You: Psychic Ills

All The Young Dudes: Mott The Hoople

Twilight: Barbara Manning

Phantom Island: King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard

What Keeps Mankind Alive: Tom Waits

Fantastic Tomb: Ty Segall

Hell's Kitchen Radio #570: Sue Carpenter of KBLT

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I really enjoy interviewing people. Maybe that's why I love running a radio station, it allows me to talk to interesting people. It inspires me to hear about the incredible and creative work that people are doing. Honestly, we have no excuses not to get up and make stuff happen.

Tonight I had the pleasure to interview KBLT founder and documentarian Sue Carpenter, and walk down memory lane talking about the legendary LA-based pirate radio station she started until the FCC came knocking and took all her equipment away (I know all too well about this from my days at San Francisco Liberation Radio).

I had to do my best not to shout out "ME TOO" with her stories about the challenges of starting and running a pirate radio station.

From Sue's Indiegogo campaign:

After running a radio station out of her apartment, Sue Carpenter became a full-time journalist, working at the L.A. Times, Spectrum News and KPCC. People who appear in the film include Sue, Brandon Jay (Lutefisk), Jay Babcock (Arthur Magazine), artist Camille Rose Garcia, filmmaker Wing Ko, music industry vets Chris Carey and Miwa Okumura, KBLT engineer Chris Wagganer, writer Carolyn Kellogg and Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine.

Did Keith Morris (Circle Jerks) really bring his friends, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, to play at KBLT? Yes, that happened.

Sue's journey is well worth your time checking out. She wrote a book about it in 2004, and now she has a documentary she produced and is taking on the film fest rounds, including this Saturday night at the Roxie Theater, which is being co-presented by Radio Valencia

Tickets here:

https://sfdocfest2025.eventive.org/schedule/680bb8af6ef367664b267cfe

Give a a listen to this interview and tell me you aren't inspired to go start your own radio station as the fascists take over.

I'll see you at the show and then in the gulag.

Enjoy and please share.

jh

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

Follow me on Blue Sky
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Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love: Minutemen
Moral Majority: Circle Jerks
Wasted: Black Flag

Interview with Sue Carpenter of KBLT and "40 Watts from Nowhere"

Lexicon Devil: Germs

Interview with Sue Carpenter

Sisters of the Moon: Death Valley Girls

Hangman: WAND

Evil Gypsy/Soloman's Theme: Sleep

Shining: Ty Segall

The Woodsman: Shannon and the Clams

Fascists Eat Donuts: Pop-O-Pies

Empty Chairs: A/Lpaca

SOL07: Wooden Shjips

La Trippance: Population II

Lucky: Alice Dynamite

Linda Blair '84: Redd Kross

I Hunt You Pray: LA Witch

Pray Till You Sweat: The Flesh Eaters

Hell's Kitchen Radio #470: Let's Celebrate the TL

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There are neighborhoods around San Francisco I get excited about, and then there are neighborhoods I'd just rather avoid all-together. I've spent countless days in rough hoods like Bayview, Hunters Point, Western Addition, and the like. I've seen some crazy things in these neighborhoods. I've participated in crazy things in these neighborhoods. And I have often asked myself if I felt safe? Trust me when I tell you there were plenty of times, walking in the middle of the night, deep in the heart of some neighborhood, where I knew the streets well during the day, but at night something else happens entirely. 

I do not spend much time in the Tenderloin. Other than seeing shows at the Great American Music Hall, a few services at Glide, or taking my students on a field trip to the federal courthouse (which is more Civic Center than TL), this just isn't a place I like to find myself. It's not that it's crime-infested. It's junkie-infested. And why? This is where the treatment centers are located! 

It's that energy I just can't be around.

So imagine my surprise when I got a call from Stephen DePace of Flipper, telling me about an upcoming  exhibit at the Tenderloin Museum titled "Sounds of the Tenderloin"? The first words out of my mouth were "there's a museum in the TL?". There is indeed a museum in the TL. The Tenderloin Museum opened its doors in 2015.

And here I thought I knew (almost) everything about the history of music in San Francisco.

Stephen brought the exhibition curator Dale Hoyt over to the RV studios to talk about the show and some history of the TL that was music to my ears. There is a lot of information over at the museum website, and some great shows coming up in support of the exhibit, including our friends Flipper at Great American Music Hall, May 26th. 

Let's all go on a field trip to the Tenderloin Museum to check out this exhibit together. Just watch out for the needles.

Enjoy.

jh

Radio Valencia is a self-funded endeavor. If you are enjoying our shows, I'd like to ask you to donate a few dollars our way. This link will take you to our PayPal, which is hosted by SFIndyMedia, our non-profit benefactor. All donations go to Radio Valencia. Thank you in advance.

We have a fundraiser coming up, Sunday, March 27th, 4-10PM at Make Out Room, 3225 22nd Street, in SF. They're our next door neighbor! This is going to be a ton of fun. Come on out and celebrate your favorite freeform, non-commercial, streaming-only radio station: Radio Valencia. We'll have some merch on hand. 

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

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Who Stole The Keishka: Polkacide
Double Dare Ya: Bikini Kill

Maggot: Amyl and the Sniffers
Dreaming: Cherubs
Beat Club: A/LPACA

Anger Management: ShitKid
Born To Go: Hawkwind

Interview with Dale Hoyt and Steve DePace

Rat King: Night Beats
Mad Moth: The Bobby Lees
Duende War: Triclops
I Died A Thousand Times: Dark Carnival

Ass, Gas, or Grass: Men's Club
Short Eyes: Altamont
Longhair: Monster Magnet

Religion: PIL
Uptown: Chambers Brothers
I Bid You Goodnight: Joseph Spence and the Pinder Family

Hell's Kitchen Radio #442: Looking Right Through You

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I'm really feeling this new studio of ours. It's like I've grown wings! I'm giddy, I tell ya! GIDDY! Another diverse show, full of multiple genres that might just give you whiplash. But it's the kind of pain that you like. You like pain, right?

Joni Mitchell released "Blue" 50 years ago, so you know I have to celebrate the genius of Joni. There's new music from Mr. Bungle, and Paul Leary of the Butthole Surfers. I also have a set focused on my new obsession, The Fall. Seriously, what took me so long?

There punk, blues, synth-cumbia, underground hip-hop, stoner metal, and The Beatles! This is why you tune in to Radio Valencia.

Speaking of Radio Valencia, if you live in or near San Francisco, we're looking for a few good show hosts. 

Have you ever said to yourself "I can program a better radio show than that idiot". If so, then Radio Valencia may be right for you! We are a freeform internet radio station located in the heart of the Mission District, with a storefront location looking for music lovers like yourself, who want to host a two hour show once a week. 

No radio experience is necessary. Hire for personality, train for skill.

Take a look at the home page at http://radiovalencia.fm and click on the "Contact Us" link half way down on the right side of the page. Let us know what you want to do and we'll be in touch faster than it takes to segue from one Minutemen song to the next.

Enjoy.

jh

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

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

The Light, The Sound: Flipper
I Will Not Be Your Fool: David Bromberg

All I Want: Joni Mitchell
Raid: MF Doom & Madlib
Truckin': Pop O Pies

Mathematics: Mr. Bungle
South: Specimen Box

U.S. 80s - 90s: The Fall
Glitter Freeze: Gorrilaz
Mr. Pharmacist: The Other Half

Verdugos De Abastos: Grupo Jejeje
Just A Dream Away: Wipers

Buzzin' Fly: Tim Buckley
Spit in the Eye: Heavy Blanket
Blue Jay Way: The Beatles

Mohawk Town: Paul Leary
Citadel: A/lpaca
Whiskey and Women: John Lee Hooker and Canned Heat

Zed the Mythical Goat: Bazooka
Somebody's Fishin' In My Kitchen: Hip Lankchan

Hell's Kitchen Radio #436: Lucky To Be Here

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Some nights I like to play music for you like we're hanging out on the floor in front of my dad's Hi-Fi, and I'm really excited to pull this record out, hopefully to blow your mind. I hope there are moments during this show that blow your mind. I hope that you take a moment to search out these bands, and support them by purchasing their music. 

I am damn lucky to be able to do this every week. 

Enjoy.

jh

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

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

Bang The Drum All Day: Todd Rundgren
Hecho en Mexico: Money Chicha

Cease to Exist: Psychic Ills
Ridge Rider: Judee Sill
Tougher: Dale Crover

SHHH!: Tomahawk
Greener Pools: Witch Egg
Stack O'Lee: Mississippi John Hurt
Corner Seat: Virvon Varvon
1000 Years: Coachwhips

Keith Moon: Mike Krol
Tattoo (early version with commercial): The Who
Make It Better: A/LPACA

Long Shadow: Joe Strummer
Long Black Veil: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

A Love Supreme: A Love Supreme Electric (Vinny Golia- John Hanrahan- Henry Kaiser- Wayne Peet- Mike Watt)
I'm Going To Take Over: The Ethiopians

Amazing Grace: Aretha Franklin
Mother: John Lennon

Sprites: Bent Arcana
Spoonful: The Super Super Blues Band
Your Spaceman: Helios Creed

Earthen Gate: FUZZ
Good Night, Sleep Tight: Lawrence Welk Singers