Hell's Kitchen Radio #497: Join The Hell Army

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Monday night was a real treat. I was in the mood classic American Blues from the early 20th century; the roots of Rock and Roll. I also have a number of 2022 reissues including Miles Davis, Kiss, David Bowie, The Beatles, and Michael Jackson! I don't think I've ever played Kiss or Michael Jackson on my show. There's even a brand "new" release from The Doors!

And the funny thing about Kiss, is they were my first favorite band. When I was about seven years old my family was living in Greensboro, North Carolina. My father's job took him from my birthplace of Toledo, Ohio down to the south. My aunt came to visit. She had been working at a popular record store, Peaches, and brought gifts! She brought me the first four Kiss studio albums and Kiss Alive II. I was hooked. This was in late 1977 or early 1978. It wasn't long until I joined the Kiss Army, replete with fanzines, posters, stickers and more! I wish I still had all of that stuff. Thanks mom. 

I even dressed as Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley for a few consecutive Halloweens. My sister, Tracy Hell, was kind enough to adorn me with the makeup. Thanks Tray!

And then I discovered The Beatles. At the tender age of ten I thought you were only allowed to have one favorite band. So long Kiss. 

Next Monday, December 5th is my 12th annual Annual Annual. I choose one year to feature and have a Hell of a lot of fun doing so. Which year will I pick? What songs will I play? Tune in Monday 8-10PM Pacific to find out.

Check out the playlist below and click on the link above to stream or download this show. 

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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Burning Spear: Thee Oh Sees
Some Velvet Morning: Vanilla Fudge

Paris Blues: The Doors
Tallahatchie River Blues: Mattie Delaney
Guitar Boogie: Blind Roosevelt Graves

Let Me Be Your Big Dog: Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee
Stagolee: Jesse Fuller
Killin' Floor: Howlin' Wolf
Ramblin' On My Mind: John Mayall with Eric Clapton

Quicksand (1971 Demo): David Bowie
I Wanna Be Your Dog (Fast Version): The Stooges
Anglehead: The Monkeywrench
Public Image: PIL

Yaphet: Miles Davis
Total Freedom: Spacin'

God of Thunder: Kiss
Glorious (Drunk Last Night): Polkacide
Tomorrow Never Knows (Take One): The Beatles

Miserlou: The Trash Women
The Ecstacy: Ennio Morricone (The Good, The Bad and The Ugly)
Billy Jean (Home Demo 1981): Michael Jackson

Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out (Moondance Outtake): Van Morrison

Hell's Kitchen Radio #488: God Save Radio Valencia

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Take care of your back. Seriously, you really need to watch how you're treating it. And your head. And stay hydrated. You're getting older. This is the only life you have. You only die once. You need to keep this vessel of yours moving for a few more years. Take care of it.

I lost 30 pounds between April and September 2021. I really needed to. I had hit about 205 and knew that my body wasn't happy. My spirit was pretty solid, since I do my best to focus on things that bring me joy, but my body wasn't having it. I was packing away the calories. This isn't some commercial. I'm not going to talk about the program I used. You can comment here and I'll respond, but I'm just talking here about how important it is to maintain physical health, especially as the climate continues to worsen. We are going to need our bodies to be in the best shape as possible.

As for music, there's always music. And here's some really great music! I start out the show with some brand spankin' new King Gizzard. This 18+ minute track is a real barn-burner. Throughout the show I pepper in songs in celebration of Labor Day, which I also celebrate on May 1st, since that's the real Labor Day, as created here in the good ol' USofA!

There are a lot of "classics" during these two hours. Once you hear them you're going to be digging for more, and I can't blame you!

As of this writing, Queen Elizabeth II has died, and I could not care less! God Save the Queen my ass. Fuck Imperialism, and Fuck Colonialism. I don't believe in an afterlife, but if I did...

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 Dripping Tap: King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard

T For Texas: Toshio Hirano
Bales of Cocaine: Reverend Horton Heat
The Ballad of El Goodo: Big Star
My Soul is Tired: Betty Davis

Career Opportunities: The Clash
This Is Love: Eric McFadden
Beautiful Feeling: PJ Harvey
I've Been Working: Van Morrison

There Is Power in a Union: Billy Bragg
Do You Take This Man?: Diamanda Galas with John Paul Jones
Now, Ah Lissen: Texas Preacher
What Do You Want From Life?: The Tubes

Fire: Robert Gordon with Link Wray
Jump: Mary Lou Lord
Dogs: Pink Floyd

Fight the Power: Brownout
The White Man's Got A God Complex: The Last Poets
I Had A Talk With My Woman: Tim Buckley
The Conversion Experience: Bill Orcutt

uzume: Boris

Hell's Kitchen Radio #374: What's This Doing Here?

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Seriously, another show from mid-2019 I forgot to post?!?!?! What the hell is wrong with you, Hell? Oh yes, life gets in the way. Honestly, I don't want to just phone it in. I don't recall much about this show, but I have to say just looking at the playlist really makes me want to jump in. 

Doom metal, jazz/funk, singer/songwriter, alt-country, Texas cow-punk. And that's just the first five songs!!!

Enjoy.

jh

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

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Dystopia (Vanishing Point): Boris
Somebody's Been Sleeping: The Pharaoh's

The River: Genevieve Heyward
Trickle Down System: Giant Sand
Dismissive: OBNIIs

Nobody Does It Better: Sex Mob
Oud Te Lud Bump: Soonthorn Gujaridchan/Krongthong Tussanaphan
Repo Man: Iggy Pop
Vi Bistu Geveyzn Pohibisn? (Where Were You Before Prohibition?): New Orleans Klezmer All Stars

Lone Cowboys: Ty Segall
I've Been Working: Van Morrison
Brazil: Frank Sinatra
Sweeter: Loop!Station

Glaciers: Triclops
Status: Godfather Don
Sacrifice: Melvins/Flipper

Starship: Jefferson Starship
By The Time I Get To Arizona: Evolution Control Committee
What A Wonderful World: Louis Armstrong

Hell's Kitchen Radio #324: Deathbed Blues

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Sometimes it hits a little too close to home.

Rock poster artist and friend Ron Donovan passed away last week after losing his liver to too many years of alcohol abuse. I loved Ron like anyone did, which meant it was a love-hate relationship. He was funny, talented, smart, and charismatic. He was also selfish, often tardy, never with the tools he needed to do the job, full of excuses and a real pain in the ass. He burned more bridges than most. That being said, he was ubiquitous. There was no one like the Hobbit, "Rotten" Ronnie Donovan.

For over six years he was my foil when we co-hosted the 6 hour bootleg battle "Rock Fight" (links to most are below). Ron and I had perhaps the largest combined bootleg collection anywhere. It was easy to pull out brilliant live versions of tunes to one-up each other. He was always late to these shows, rarely had the material he needed, and would often pass out on the couch before we were through. I ended up having a strict "no hard alcohol" rule for these shows, which paid off as they were the finest we did together. We also hosted a few live bands and interviews during these marathon shows.

In 2011 Ron volunteered his services to make us a poster for Radio Valencia, which he was going to present at a big fundraiser of ours. He was four hours late and the poster had the incorrect URL and frequency on it! Oh, and he misspelled "commercials. HA! In typical Donovan fashion he just shrugged it off with a smile. I still have about a dozen of those posters somewhere.

Ron was mostly known through his great rock poster art. I met him when he and Chuck Sperry ran Firehouse Kustom Rock Posters. I would hang out at their warehouse and watch the magic happen. Ron was always the life of the party and often would bring the party with him. I'll miss seeing him in his ink-covered shorts-over-thermals, and socks/sandals ensemble, riding along on his Powell/Peralta board looking for a free drink at any one of many bars or "offices" he had around town.

Tonight's show is a tribute of sorts to Ron. I'm not sure he would have approved of every track, but he would have liked that they were all songs that one would want played as they passed on.

Yours truly,

jh

To check out previous Rock Fights, go here:
Rock Fight 14 - without Ron
Rock Fight 13 (mis-titled Rock Fight 14)
Rock Fight 12
Rock Fight 11 
Rock Fight 10
Rock Fight 9
Rock Fight 8
Rock Fight 7
Rock Fight 6
Rock Fight 5
Rock Fight 4 - Playlist only
Rock Fight 3 - Playlist only
Rock Fight 2 - Playlist only
Rock Fight 1 - Playlist only

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

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Never Talking to You Again: Husker Dü
Dirt: The Stooges

I Wanna Rock: Twisted Sister

Purple Rain: Prince
Heaven: Talking Heads
Teenage Kicks: The Undertones
People Who Died: Jim Carroll

In My Time of Dying: Led Zeppelin (03/19/75 Vancouver, Canada)
Rock and Roll Suicide: David Bowie
Carrickfergus: Van Morrison and The Chieftains

The Bones in the Ground: Robyn Hitchcock
I'll Be Glad When You're Dead, You Rascal You: Louis Armstrong
One More Cup of Coffee: Bob Dylan
Jig of Life: Kate Bush

Mea Culpa: Brian Eno and David Byrne
Highly Illogical: Leonard Nimoy
Hooray For Me: Bad Religion

Highway To Hell: AC/DC (12/17/81 Rochester, NY)
Watermelon in the Easter Hay: Frank Zappa

Black Peter: Grateful Dead (12/14/71 Ann Arbor, MI)
Happy Boy: Beat Farmers

Rock on, Rotten Ronnie. I hope you make it to your destination...eventually.

Hell's Kitchen Radio #323: Statutory Rock!

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I found Judge Roy Moore's iPod and you would not believe what he has on this thing! He has a playlist called "Statutory Rock". It's all songs about sex with underage girls, mostly. Dude! I just had to play it on my show. Who knew there were so many songs about having illegal sex with people underage? If you lived in the 70s then you pretty much figured that was happening all the time. And if you live in Alabama today then you probably have kids with someone who is currently underage, and it's possible your sister or brother or some kinda relative anyway. Yes, I went there.

Enjoy and please vote.

jh

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

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Teen Angel: Mark Dinning
Christine Sixteen: KISS
Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight: Spinal Tap

Jailbait: Motörhead
Jailbait: Aerosmith
Jailbait: Ted Nugent

Statutory Date: Twisted Sister
Mellow Yellow: Donovan
Sweet Little Sixteen: Chuck Berry

Goin' Blind: Melvins
Whistle Bait: Lorrie and Larry Collins
Thirteen: The Brian Jonestown Massacre
Good Morning Little Schoolgirl: The Yardbirds

Young Girl: Gary Pucket and the Union Gap
Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon: Neil Diamond

Cypress Avenue: Van Morrison
Claire: Gilbert O'Sullivan
Do You Wanna Touch Me: Gary Glitter

Gypsy, Tramps and Thieves: Cher
Stray Cat Blues: Rolling Stones
Flower: Liz Phair
He Made A Woman Out Of Me: Betty LaVette

Does Your Mother Know: ABBA
Mexicali Blues: Grateful Dead
Francine: ZZ Top
Lemon Incest: Serge Gainsbourg
The Wanton Song: Led Zeppelin

(How To Keep Your) Husband Happy: The Cosmopolitans

Hell's Kitchen Radio #240: A Rainy Night At Radio Valencia

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It's Sunday night, and I realized that I have yet to post my blog from last Monday. What the hell was I thinking?!?!? It's been one busy week, I can assure you. But that is no excuse for not getting the people what they want. And you want quality radio podcasts, don't you? Don't lie to me. I know how much you enjoy my well-considered playlists. I know you wait with baited breath for my mic breaks, where I'll wax poetic about the San Francisco of yore. Or perhaps, I'll bitch and complain about the cost of rents? Last Monday I think I went on a bender about a former student of mine (I'm a local SF public school teacher, but you knew that, because you tune in regularly and listen to me talk about my kids), and how falsely (?) blamed him for stealing my door stop, which just so happened to be a plastic baby's arm.

Now you too can stream or download this show and relive that fabulous story, and many more. This show also featured a tribute to the great jazz engineer, Rudy Van Gelder, on his 91st birthday. I played a few rain songs in celebration of the fact that it rained in SF for the first time in about 6 months, and I played a few songs to get you ready for our crappy election, where our lame "I'm never going to run for mayor" Mayor won a second term. Douchebag.

There's a very slowed down Alvin and the Chipmunks song, some classic rock you may or may not have ever heard before, new music from noteworthy local bands, and more.

Check out the playlist below.

This Monday night I'm excited to have local rockers Happy Fangs in the studio, where I won't ask them one damn question about themselves, their new record, or their tour. No I won't. Nope. Instead, they're guest DJing, which means I get to kick back and let them make the playlist.

Tune in every Monday night from 8-10PM for the finest in the fine sounds going down in the downtown, with me, John Hell. You can also subscribe to my iTunes podcast link and get the show downloaded to your iTunes every week. You can find the link above. Thanks to the over 300 of you who subscribe already!

Enjoy.

jh

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

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Billie's Bounce: Charlie Parker
Status Quo: Cliff Jordan and John Gilmore

Ease Back: Grant Green
Loran's Dance: Idris Muhammad

Rain: Bernadette Seacrest and her Yes Men
See The Sky About To Rain: Neil Young
Make it Rain: Tom Waits

Rainy Night in SOHO: The Pogues
I'll Be Your Lover Too: Van Morrison
Every Mother's Son: Traffic
What Do You Want From Life: The Tubes

Southern Politician: Willie DeVille
Elected: Alice Cooper
Call Me (slowed down): Alvin and the Chipmunks

Paranoid: Golden Void
Headbanger: King Tuff
We Are What You Are: White Hills
Careful With That Axe, Eugene: Pink Floyd

European Son: Thee Oh Sees

Cold, Rain and Snow: The Grateful Dead

A Season in Hell #163: Sometimes It's Got To Rain

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Here's a show from February of 2014, that for some reason I neglected to post. What the hell is wrong with Hell? Anyway, just take a look at this amazing playlist? I was obviously in a folksy mood. This is PERFECT for your Saturday afternoon.

Enjoy.

jh

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

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Up in Smoke: Cheech and Chong
Gut Feeling: Devo
Ain't That A Kick in the Head: Dean Martin

A Change is Gonna Come: The Gits
Satisfaction: Cat Power
Dragonfly: My Brightest Diamond

The Runaway: Danny O'Keefe
Chase the Blues Away: Tim Buckley
I'll Be Your Lover Too: Van Morrison

***Set of the Night***
Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings: Father John Misty
Love Fuzz: Ty Segall
Douchebags on Parade: Mudhoney
Fat Old Sun: Pink Floyd
Drown in my own Tears: Ray Charles

Sticks and Stones: Joe Cocker
Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again: Bob Dylan
Cocaine Blues: Johnny Cash
Graveyard Shift: Uncle Tupelo

I Want to be  your Dog: Uncle Tupelo
Tiger Mountain Peasant Song (Fleet Foxes cover): First Aid Kit
Time Has Told Me: Nick Drake
The Step and the Walk: The Duke Spirit
You Can't Catch Me: Chuck Berry

B Movie Boxcar Blues/Flip Flop and Fly: Blues Brothers

A Season in Hell #147: If It's Not Live, It's Dead

Ok, so in the "I've been way too busy to upload any of my shows lately" theme, this is a real winner. This show is all live cuts, starting with a German radio station announcing the death of Elvis Presley. How's that for a start? Somewhere along the way I actually play some live Elvis. And it's a doozy too.

There's something for everyone: there's goth bikers in lace; there's shoe gazers covered in syrup; there's classic rockers on tricycles sucking pacifiers. I tell ya this is the kind of show you've been waiting for.

Just take a look at this playlist!!!

And if you tune into my show on a regular basis, then you know that my live stuff is second to NONE! Take THAT Rotten Ronnie!

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A Season in Hell with John Hell
Mondays 8-10PM
Radio Valencia, 87.9FM in SF
http://radiovalencia.fm

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Exodus: Bob Marley and the Wailers (1980-07-12 - Wales, UK)
Elvis is Dead: German Radio
Kathy's Song: Simon and Garfunkel (Live in Central Park, NYC)

Big Chief: The Meters (1976-10-01 - Baton Rouge, LA)
Red Right Hand: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (2013-04-09, San Francisco, CA)

Human Fly: The Cramps (1982-05-20 - Seattle, WA)
Sympathy for the Devil: Rolling Stones (1969-11-09 - Oakland, CA)
When the Music's Over: The Doors (1970-07-05 - Seattle, WA)

Relgion: PIL (1983-11-08 - Bristol, England)
Cherry Bomb: The Runaways (1976-07-19 - Cleveland, OH)
Sex Ed Class->Don't Touch Me There->Mondo Bondage:The Tubes (1977-04-15-San Francisco, CA)

Unknown Track: Electric Masada (2013-7-13, Rotterdam)
Wooden Ships: CSNY (1969-08-26 Greek Theater - LA, CA)
The Way Young Lovers Do: Van Morrison (Demo 1968)
The Bomber: James Gang (2001-02-26 - Cleveland, OH)
An American Journey: Elvis Presley (1972-04-10 Richmond, VA)

Let's Go Crazy: Prince with 3rd Eye Girl (2013-04-24, San Francisco, CA)

A Season in Hell #118: The First to Love Me

I'm usually all over the place as far as genres are concerned, and this week is really no exception. I played a lot of jazz tonight, in the first hour. That's a good thing. You need more jazz. You'll like what I played.

In the second hour I pulled out some tasty live treats, that'll make you hunger for more of what I've got to give you. You know that you love it. Stop squirming so much. Damn!

Enjoy.

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Do It: Rollins Band
Radebe: Johnny Dyani
Goo: Erik Truffaz

I'm Not A Game: Ty Segall and White Fence
City of the Dead: The Clash
Sesame Street: Sly Dunbar

You Only Live Twice: Sex Mob
The First and the Last to Love Me: Kip Hanrahan

The Fast Life: David Murray Octet

Wooden Ships: Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young (08-26-69, Greek Theater, LA, CA)
Caravan: Van Morrison (2-15-73, Lions Share, San Anselmo, CA)

Sweet Young Thing: Mudhoney (02-26-99, Blind Pig, Ann Arbor, MI)
Touch Me I'm Sick: Mudhoney (02-26-99, Blind Pig, Ann Arbor, MI)
In My Time of Dying: Led Zeppelin (05-25-77, Landover, MD)

Terrapin Station: Furthur (12-31-12, Civic Aud., SF, CA)
Open Fire on the Deadheads: Admiral Wrybread's Tingley Tower Connection