Tune into Hell's Kitchen Radio, with John Hell, every Monday night 8-10PM (Pacific), on Radio Valencia (https://radiovalencia.fm) in San Francisco. You can find my playlists and links to the podcasts right here.
This past Monday I had a new Radio Valencia staffer come in for training, so I didn't promote the show. When I have to divide my attention I don't feel that it's worth putting out the word. That being said, the music was on point even if my announcing wasn't. And you're here for the music.
Honestly, for a show that promises a diverse selection of genres, tonight cannot be beat.
Garage punk, psych, proto-punk, country, Jazz, SF punk, Aussie psych, obscure 70s funk, 80s electronica, singer-songwriter, pop-punk, Sinatra and too much more to describe. Just look at the playlist below and click on the link to hear the show!
Enjoy and please share.
jh
Hell's Kitchen Radio with John Hell Mondays 8-10PM Radio Valencia in SF http://radiovalencia.fm
Listen into all my shows here! Subscribe to my show, via
I was thrilled to host Steve DePace of Flipper, once again, in the Radio Valencia studio recently. This time he brought along with him Brendan Earley of the legendary SF art/punk band The Mutants. They were in to talk up the Great American Music Hall show, Thursday, May 26 in celebration of the latest installation at the Tenderloin Museum: Sounds of the Tenderloin.
These two have quite a few stories to share. I even surprised them both with a few classic, out of print 45s. You can hear all of this by clicking on the link above. See the playlist below.
I just saw Mudhoney recently, so opening this particular show with an Angry Samoans cover sounded perfect. This show is good and loud. New music from The Bobby Lees, Dumb Numbers (featuring Melvins), Willie Nelson, and Boris. Reissues from The Clash and The Fall.
I know you're going to dig this.
Enjoy and please share.
jh
Hell's Kitchen Radio with John Hell Mondays 8-10PM Radio Valencia in SF http://radiovalencia.fm
Listen into all my shows here! Subscribe to my show, via
Oh wow that was really fun. There are those nights when everything just clicks. This was one of those nights. The tunes, the transitions, the mic breaks, and almost 100% of the equipment worked better than expected. That's saying something.
I've been doing this a long time, and others prepare their sets down to the minute, choosing just the right tracks days before their show, and it really shows. I've never been that way. Never. I bring a heap load of music with me, mostly vinyl, but I do have a small CD case I'll reload every so often, and then there's my external HD, loaded with my latest digital acquisitions. BTW, when I buy a new record, I love getting both the vinyl and the digital download. What a world we live in!
Lots of new music tonight, featuring Ty Segall, Kikagaku Moyo, The Bobby Lees, Dogbowl (thanks Jim!), Willie Nelson, Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder, and Boris. There's some Jazz, Punk, Blues, "Gospel", Psychedelic, Proto-Punk, British Prog, and much more.
Let's see your local commercial radio station even come close to what you get on Radio Valencia.
Enjoy and please share.
jh
Hell's Kitchen Radio with John Hell Mondays 8-10PM Radio Valencia in SF http://radiovalencia.fm
Hello - Hi: Ty Segall Girlfriend: Death Valley Girls
Dancing Blue: Kikagaku Moyo Venus in Furs: Velvet Underground TV Eye: The Stooges
Hollywood Junkyard: The Bobby Lees Original Faubus Fables: Charles Mingus
I See The Light/What's His Name: Scott H. Biram On My Own: Dogbowl with Jim F
We're Not Happy (Til You're Not Happy): Willie Nelson Diggin' My Potatoes: Sonny Terry
The Midnight Special: Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder Tombstone Shadow: Creedence Clearwater Revival Master of the Universe: Hawkwind New Potato Caboose: Grateful Dead
Frontier Glitch: Strike Anywhere Frail Bray: Western Addiction Summer Trip: Decent Criminal Give Me The Cure; Fugazi
Listen into all my shows here! Subscribe to my show, via
I was about 12 or 13, laying in my bed on a weekend morning, listening to my clock radio, set to KFOG 104.5FM, when it was worth listening to. This song came on that hypnotized me; it's the only way to describe it, really. I was paralyzed. I could not move, and my ears did not want that song to release me from its spell. When the song ended, I knew I had stumbled across some kind of magic. I had to know what that was? Who that was? And what else awaited me?
The song, "Stuck Inside of Mobile (with the Memphis Blues Again) took me on a journey that keeps showing itself in greater and more dynamic ways over 35 years later. Bob Dylan showed me that there is more to music than what shows up on the music directors list of approved songs. It's possible this was the song that propelled me deeper into my love of the art of radio?
I think I had my dad take me to Rasputin Records in Pleasant Hill so I could buy whatever record that song is on. I couldn't locate Blond on Blond that day, but I did come home with the next best thing, Highway 61 Revisited. I swear I wore that copy out in a matter of months. I felt that I had discovered this deep secret: brilliant music can be longer than 2:50 long.
Mind. Blown.
Along my musical journey, discovering the joy of so many great artists across numerous genres, I have
always gravitated back to Dylan. How many people have said this? How many essays have been written about the man and his lyrics, not to mention the myth of BOB DYLAN? I like not being able to separate fact from fiction when it comes to his persona. I don't care to know the "real" Bob Dylan, when the shaman is much more interesting. And isn't that really what he's going for anyway?
Now, if I could just travel back to that innocent 12 year old version of me laying in bed being woken by the brilliance of Dylan, just for one moment.
I've been asked countless time what my favorite Dylan album is, and I have to go with "Blood on the Tracks". It's a summation of everything that came before, in terms of his prose. And it's filled with emotion regarding the end of his marriage. You can feel his heart in every beat. All of his albums come close, but this one really does it for me.
What's your favorite Dylan album? Leave a comment, and please share this with all of your Dylan-loving friends.
I merely scratched the surface with this show.
If you missed my 6-8PM live bootleg show, you can catch it by going here. I played the 90 minute "Judas" show from May 17, 1966, followed up with a few tracks from the 1975/1976 Rolling Thunder tour, and a track from the 1986 Dylan/Petty tour.
So much Bob Dylan for your earholes!!!
If you're looking for some reading material that'll fill up an afternoon, Rolling Stone has opened up their archives of many (all?) their Bob Dylan reviews and interviews.
Enjoy.
jh
Hell's Kitchen Radio with John Hell Mondays 8-10PM Pacific Radio Valencia in SF
Listen into all my shows here! Subscribe to my show, via
Hosting a special is always a treat. I like the work once I'm inspired. A few weeks ago this "Hello/Goodbye" idea popped into my head. It's not very original, but it's what you do with it that counts. How would you fill a two hour show of only songs that have the theme in the title, or are obviously about the theme?
I need to thank my buddy Michael for a few suggestions as well as many of the KALX staffers for throwing a few hundred titles my way. Wow! It's an embarrassment of riches. I only have two hours to fill, so I wanted hour one to be the "Hello" theme, and hour two to close it out with the "Goodbye" theme. I opened and closed with Cheap Trick: "Hello There" and Auf Wiedersehen". To segue from one to the other, I used the over-obvious Beatles tune "Hello/Goodbye".
During my research I discovered there are countless songs about goodbye. It makes for a more emotional tale, than a song featuring a greeting. That being said, I think I represented both salutations well. You be the judge.
Next week it'll be mostly new music, and we're getting closer to being in our new studio on 22nd Street in San Francisco. Let the excitement commence!
Enjoy.
jh
Hell's Kitchen Radio with John Hell Mondays 8-10PM Radio Valencia in SF http://radiovalencia.fm
Download Memories, HERE! Listen into all my shows here. You can subscribe to my show through iTunes here.
Rain makes me nostalgic. It reminds me of when I was younger and was first hearing tunes that I really connected with. I remember walking around San Mateo, south of San Francisco, as a teenager with my headphones on listening to Led Zeppelin and hungry for more. I remember hearing bands like Judas Priest and wanting to eat up everything Metal. I think about my growing love of the Grateful Dead, starting around 1983 when I was 13.
Tonight's show is all about discovery. It's the feeling you get when you hear something you've never heard before, but it gets all up in ya, and you have to have more. We're lucky to live in a world where media is at our fingertips, but that still doesn't change the sensation one gets when they hear something new and they just have to have more of it.
Into the Void: Black Sabbath
Sacrifice: Glitter Wizard
Gyre: Meatbodies
Second Coming/Ballad of Dwight Fry: Alice Cooper
Paper: Ty Segall
Smells Like Teen Spirit: Willie Nelson
Polly (Demo): Kurt Cobain
Night Goat: Melvins
Greedy Man: James Brown
Oh My People: Last Poets
Love Buzz: Nirvana (1991-11-25 - Paradiso, Amsterdam, NL)
Rockin' In The Free World: Neil Young (04-07-1990 Indiana Hoosier Dome, Indianapolis, IN)
Little Girl Blue: Nina Simone (12-1977 Theater Royal Drury Lane, London, England)
Hitler/All Hail The American Night/The Holy Shah: Jim Morrison (March 1969 Los Angeles, CA)
54-46 Was Her Number: Toots and the Maytals (1976 The Longbrach Saloon, Berkeley, CA)
Walk Away: James Gang (02-26-2001, Allen Theater, Cleveland, OH)
The Green Manalishi: Judas Priest (11-04-1979 The Palladium, NYC, NY)
Parchment Farm: Blue Cheer
Pepsi Jingle: T-Rex
Rock And Roll Queen: Mott the Hoople
Stream another fine year, HERE! Download your youth, HERE! Listen into all my shows here, or just scroll down
Way way back in 2011 I had this desire to feature 1971 on my show. What a great year that was for music. This was when bands like Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones were still considered young and relevant. Following this show I made an executive decision to annually feature another great year during the month of November. Preparing for this year's show I was eager to share a more recent year with you. 2006 stood out to me even while we were deep in it. Taking a look at the playlist below I think you'll agree.
I didn't get to nearly all the artists and tracks I wanted to play during my sixth annual ANNUAL ANNUAL, but this here is smattering of the genius that was 2006.
If you're interested in my previous five ANNUAL ANNUAL shows, click the links below.
The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song: The Flaming Lips
Black Mountain: Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan
Black Sweat: Prince
They Call Me Flava: Public Enemy
Aliens: Dr. Octagon
Living Proof: Cat Power
Jihad: Slayer
Run Devil Run/The Big Guns: Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins
Jams Run Free: Sonic Youth
Like the 309: Johnny Cash
Freya: The Sword
Beyond the Horizon: Bob Dylan
You Don't Know Me: Willie Nelson
Laugh/Love/Fuck: The Coup
A History of Drunks: The Melvins
Make Them Suffer: Cannibal Corpse
It Is Us: Mudhoney
Backstage Girl: DJ Shadow
What Keeps Mankind Alive: Tom Waits
If Looks Could Kill: Camera Obscura
Wherever You Go: Built To Spill
Mr. Tough: Yo La Tengo
Akuma No Kuma: Sunn O))) and Boris
One band that didn't make it onto the show this year was Texas' own Midlake. Their sophomore effort "The Trials of Van Occupanther" was a real winner in the Hell household starting in 2006. It still gets a lot of play during road trips. Below is the video for "Roscoe".
Stream this EPIC year, HERE! Download the nostalgia, HERE! Listen into all my shows here, or just scroll down
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1975! What a year! What do you recall? I was five years old, and living in Toledo, Ohio. My aunt, who worked at Peaches Records bought me the first five KISS LPs, so naturally, KISS was my first favorite band. That's all I really remember about that year.
Being older, and a scholar of music and culture, I can tell you that 1975 was a real crossover year. The 60s were definitely over by this time. Music was moving a bit more into the "Yacht Rock" era, and Disco was starting to emerge as well. Funk was at its creative peak. Punk wouldn't really break onto the scene for another year, and metal was also still in its infancy. It was a weird year.
Some of my favorite records were released this year: Physical Graffiti, Nighthawks at the Diner, and Blood on the Tracks, just to name a few.
Along with Eric McFadden and Delphine de St Paer, we delve into the many faces of 1975 last Monday night. We just barely scratch the surface in two hours time. Take a look at the playlist below, and click on the links above to stream or download this show.
Well, here it is, the last night at Chez Poulet, our home for the first two years of Radio Valencia. Talk about punk rock! I'd like to thank Chicken John for his "hospitality". When he came to me two years asking if I would start a radio station here I told him as long as it didn't become "Radio Chicken". So, we're moving. I wonder why? Really though, we've just outgrown the space. All the best to Chicken and all of his endeavors. In the memorable words of the late, great Don Corleone "as long as your business doesn't conflict with mine".
For my last show until my next show next week at our new home, I thought I would do what I like to do best, play lots of new kick ass music in the first hour, and some slammin' tracks in the second, along with some priceless live cuts. Check out the playlist, below.
Here we go again for the last time.
Download this once-in-a-lifetime show here.
Stream this program to your heart's delight here.
Scroll down to read all of my witty comments and hear previous shows, or just click here if I sicken you.
Enjoy.
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I even have a Facebook page for my show.
jh
Do It: Rollins Band
Punk Prayer: Pussy Riot
Derek's Blues: Natural Child
I'm Writing a Novel: Father John Misty
You Smell Like Fish: Nervous Eaters
Nobodies: TV Torso
I Am Not A Game: Ty Segall & White Fence
Summertime Blues: Joan Jett & the Blackhearts (08-08-81)
Hypocrisy is the Greatest Luxury: The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy (06-12-92)
I Don't Want to Pray: Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros (05-29-12)
God of Thunder: The Melvins
Moving in Stereo: The Cars (08-19-78)
Space Station #5: Montrose
Whiskey River: Willie Nelson and Family (04-1978)
Stay All Night: Willie Nelson and Family (04-1978)
Mama Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys: Willie Nelson and Family (04-1978)
The Race is On: George Jones (1979)
So, last week it was psychedelia and Afro-Funk. This week it's bebop and Bakersfield country. So much good music, that I can't just stick with one genre. How do those specialty shows do it?
To stream my show go here. To download my show go here. To see all of my shows go here. Or, just scroll down.
Enjoy.
jh
It's Hard to be Humble: Mac Davis Charlie Parker: Jack Kerouac K.C. Blues: Charlie Parker
Swing Low, Sweet Cadillac: Dizzy Gillespie Blue: Ken Nordine Naked Lunch Excerpts: William S. Burroughs Drive: Neil Cassady Black: Ken Nordine
Back in the Crowd: Tom Waits Wooden Ships: Jefferson Airplane Making Love: A Children's Garden of Grass
Whipping Post: Allman Brother's Band (Live from the Fillmore East)
In the Ghetto: Elvis Presley (08-01-69) Five Feet High and Rising: Johnny Cash Semi-Crazy: Junior Brown Something I Said: Ray Condo and His Ricochets
What Am I Worth: Dave Alvin with Syd Straw Blue Moon Waltz: Jimmy Dale Gilmore Great Rain: John Prine
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