Hell's Kitchen Radio #546: Who Is In Control?

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Well Hell, here we go again. There was a time, from the age of about 5 - 30 that I really thought I wanted to be a professional radio DJ. I loved the thought of playing my favorite music for a wide audience. If you grew up in the 70s and 80s, then you loved your local DJ, who you thought was programming their own shows. 

Silly me. And silly you if you thought they had total autonomy. I learned by the age of 18, when I was interning at KRQR that it was up to the Music Director, or Program Director what was going to be played. They also told you what you were going to say. 

DO. NOT. DEVIATE.

Damn.

Still, I wanted in on the game. The way I figured, it was more about me calling the shots after I'd been there 10-20 years. And I wanted to be there for life. By the time I left KRQR I knew I wasn't going to love all of the music being played, but I also thought I would have more say about programming once I was in the chair. 

I couldn't have been more wrong about that.

I ended up a button monkey (board op) at Alice-97.3 (KLLC). Coincidentally the same station that was once KRQR. This time I actually had a show. Still, here's what you play and here's what you say. And after the Telecommunications Act of 1996, companies began buying up the competition, so there was no need to take the risks they once had. 

Here's what you play. Here's what you say.

DO. NOT. DEVIATE.

This was in 2002. And this is when I decided to leave my dream of corporate radio dominance behind for the greener and much more poor pastures of non-commercial radio. I was actually still at KFJC when I was at KRQR. And I was hosting a show at the now-defunct pirate station San Francisco Liberation Radio when I was at Alice-FM. You can take the boy out of the subversive medium, you can't take the subversive medium out of the boy. 

Once I left KLLC I dove head first into SF non-comm/pirate culture, and I'm glad I did.

I may not host a daily radio show, but that also means I don't have to pretend to like the Eagles and AC/DC, or some pop crap. Can you even imagine?

My air name would probably be something like "Mike Alan". HA!

At least I can sleep peacefully knowing that all the Music and Program Directors have been replaced by Spotify and AI. 

I'm not bitter. I'm a DJ who programs their own show and you get to benefit from that. I guess I really am living the dream.

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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Bad Indian: Dead Pioneers (2023)
The Rain: Eddie Gale (1968)

Gild the Lily: Billy Strings (2024)

Happiness is Drumming: Diga Rhythm Band (1976)

Song of the Lake: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (2024)

Regiment: Brian Eno and David Byrne (1981)

Black Silk Stocking: Chrisma (1977)

I Got Rhythm: Django Reinhardt (1938)

Glossolalia: Dale Crover (2024)

Black Moon Spell: King Tuff (2014)

Grind: The Jesus Lizard (2024)
My Man: Shannon and the Clams (2015)

Did You Hear About Jerry: Harry Belafonte (1962)

Reasonable World: The Blind Shake (2016)

Cold Bear: The Gators (1970)

Gimme My Wife: Bruce Marshall (1970?)

One More Death: GOAT (2024)

Strange: Wire (1977)

Pigs (Three Different Ones): Pink Floyd (1977)

Dragonaut (live 1992): Sleep (1992)

Oh Allah: Alice Coltrane (1971)

White Bird: It's A Beautiful Day (1969)

In That Great Getting Up In The Morning: The New Gospel Keys

Hell's Kitchen Radio #338: Facial Recognition Radio

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Another winner of a broadcast for this week. I think I'm finally getting the hang of this. Lots of tasty library choices on this night. For you not used to the library lingo, "library" means older releases. Some older tunes, some afro-funk, stoner-rock, alt-country, live Iggy and live Dead! What else could you ask for? A few long jams? Sure, I've got that in the show as well. Some jazz and blues? Why not?! Some prog-rock and English punk? Ok, if you say so.

Happy Forfa to all of you. Please celebrate responsibly as you blow up a little bit of our nation, and perhaps a small part of your body.

See you Monday night at 8.

Also, Flint still has no clean drinking water, and Puerto Rico is mostly out of power.

Enjoy.

jh

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

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Status People: Groundhogs
I Knew My Name: Psychic Ills

Reaper Invert: WAND
Giving Up The Ghost: Zig Zags
Temporarily Like Bob Dylan: Bongos, Bass and Bob

Dirty Robber: The Mummies
Mona Lisa: Sam Cooke
God Bless the Child: Kenny Burrell

They Ain't Making Jews Like Jesus Anymore: Kinky Friedman
Summer Wages: David Bromberg

Linda Goes To Mars: John Prine
Hikky Burr: Quincy Jones

Tei Egwu:Afro Funk
Mr. Time: Koes Barat
Watcher the Skies: Genesis

Our Darling: Altamont
Untitled: Dead Meadow

Ex-Lion Tamer: Wire
The Passenger: Iggy Pop (August 18, 1996 Bizarre Festival, Cologne, Germany)

Loser: Grateful Dead (May, 08, 1981 Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, NY)

Hell's Kitchen Radio #258: Back In The Saddle

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Ok, alright, I know that I told you that I was going to die, and you would no longer have dear old John Hell to kick around anymore. Well, it appears that my orthopedic surgeon actually does know his ass from a hole in the ground, and I'm back to tell the tale.

On March 16th I underwent ACL and meniscus reconstruction. That was
fun. Laying on my ass for three weeks was not. My God it was so damn boring. Too much time on the couch. Too much Trailer Park Boys. Actually, there can never be too much Trailer Park Boys. Ricky is such a dick. Bubbles on the other hand is quite brilliant. I watched my share of movies, read a few great books and comics, and caught up on a few records that have been sitting in the stack for too long. But the sitting really took its toll. I have also come to the conclusion that ICE is my best friend.

I have never wanted to get back on the air as much in my life. And let me tell you by the end of my show tonight I was in some serious pain. Look what I do for my art.



There's a good mash up of genres tonight, and a small tribute to the late Merle Haggard, who died last week on his 79th birthday. I've got some new Melvins for you, music from the first Charles Moothart (CFM) solo effort (he's Ty Segall's guitarist in Fuzz and the Ty Segall Band), along with some soon-to-be-released Zig Zags!!! There are some oddball choices tonight, as I've had a few weeks to consider what to play for you. The next few shows ought to be pretty fun too.




Tell you friends and my enemies that John Hell is back on the air.

See you next Monday night at 8.

Enjoy.

jh

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

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Shit Luck: Modest Mouse
Two Headed Dog: Roky Erikson
Strange: Wire

The Bottle Let Me Down: Merle Haggard
The Bell: First Aid Kit
Shot By Both Sides: Magazine

A Friend In Need Is A Friend You Don't Need/Lifestyle Hammer: Mike and the Melvins
Ain't Gonna Rain Anymore: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Set The Controls for the Heart of the Sun: Pink Floyd

***Set of the Week***
Street Car History: Charles Moothart (CFM)
Revolution Part 2: Butthole Surfers
Sweet Loafed: Jad Fair and Daniel Johnston
Highway 61 Revisited: Bob Dylan

Moonlight in Glory: Brian Eno and David Byrne
Dancing Barefoot: Patti Smith
Dollar Days: David Bowie

They Came For Us: Zig Zags
Double-Crossing Time: John Mayall's Blues Breakers
Stop Start: Lee Morgan

Poison Apple: Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats
Out of Touch: Lucinda Williams
I Must Have Been Blind: Eugene Chadbourne

Cold In Effect: Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five

Oh, here's a classic that I enjoyed while laying on the couch: "Heavy Metal Parking Lot". This totally reminds me of hanging out in the Cow Palace or Oakland Coliseum lots before metal shows back in the 90s. Ah, the fucked up memories. It's only about 17 minutes long.

Hell's Kitchen Radio #236: John Avalos Talking About SF!

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Did you know that I am hip with the progressive political crowd here in San Francisco? It's true. Case in point, my guest tonight was not other than San Francisco's District 11 supervisor, John Avalos. John has been on my show before as have a few other County supervisors, and mayors. Tonight John spoke about his proposed Bike Yield Law, lowering the voting age to 16, and affordable housing.

He also spoke quite a bit about the history of our current mayor, And his thoughts about the backroom dealings here in San Francisco. You might find out of interest.

Take a look at the playlist below. John offered number of tunes that he brought with him, which she believed to be apropos for the evening.

My birthday was last week. None of you send me chocolate. You're all fired.

Enjoy.

jh

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

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She's A Lady: Tom Jones
Get It While You Can: Janis Joplin

Leave My Girl Alone: Buddy Guy
Lean on Me/Believe in You: Anders Osborne
Little Man with a Gun in His Hand: Minutemen
Fragile: Wire

Interview with John Avalos

Use Me: Bill Withers
Baby, Please Don't Go: Them

Interview with John Avalos

Turn Around: Mikal Cronin
Hazemaze: Fuzz

Don't You Ever Wash That Thing: Frank Zappa and the Mother's of Invention
Acetate: Metz
Life on Mars: David Bowie

Spear and Magic Helmet: The Gits
Matalo: Mario Migliardi
Pent Juri Hati: Koes Barat

Peace Frog/Blue Sunday: The Doors

A Season in Hell #143: My Musical Meanderings

No, my show is not genre specific. You've figured that out already, yes? Last week it's all jazz, the week before it's hard rock. This week I'm in the mood for PUNK! Fuck off!!!!

Why Punk? I don't have to tell you!

OK, I'll tell you. But I'm only telling you because I think deep down you'll understand. I'm willing to bare my soul to you. I'm willing to take the chance that you won't laugh at me, and ridicule me, or point and laugh.

sigh

I like Punk.

There, are you happy now?! Good.

I was born in 1970. I was raised on jazz and blues of the 50s and 60s, as well as the classic rock of the 70s. By the age of 8 I was into KISS. They were my first favorite band. At that age you're only allowed to have one favorite band. It's a law or something. When I was 10 I fell in love with the Beatles, but I felt sooooo bad for admitting to myself that I liked them more than I liked KISS. It was not the friendliest of break-ups. I'll admit, if there were cell phones back then, I would have texted the break up to KISS; I was so ashamed. By 12 I "discovered" Led Zeppelin. Oh damn, now what was I going to do? I still wonder where this KISS poster ended up?

All this time my dad is playing John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters and every artist the Blues Brothers covered, in our home, as well as Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry. My sisters (6 and 7 years older than me) were playing the rock of the day (Eagles, Boston, Bob Segar) as well as playing American Bandstand every Saturday. I preferred Soul Train even at an early age.

I used to lay by my speakers with a tape recorder and pretend I was a DJ and back announce all of the songs I would play on the stereo. I wish I still had those tapes. I once hid a tape recorder on the stairs leading to our living room, and taped the family hanging out watching Saturday morning cartoons. I REALLY wish I had that tape today. I probably taped a Grateful Dead concert over it.

And then there's the Dead. I got into them around the same time I got into Zeppelin. I think it was the iconography. It looked so dark, weird and trippy. Like many others, I thought they would be a metal band. I was slightly disappointed when I found out they weren't. I was hungry for something more at this point in my musical journey. Having moved as much as we did (once a year between the ages of 5 and 15; three different states (four if you consider SoCal and NorCal two different states)) I found that I got bored very easily. Music needed to change to really move me.

The Grateful Dead really moved me. I won't get into it here, but their meanderings took me on some amazing journeys. What they didn't do for me however, was drive the teenage angst energy out of me. They mellowed me and made me want to shimmy and dance. I still love them. But I always need something more.

Here comes Punk.

I had always listened to The Clash and The Ramones, but really didn't have a penchant for the wider variety of Punk until I was about 14 and in high school. It was there that my friend Etienne and I started to listen to Metal together. Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Dio. As a matter of fact, my first "official" concert was November 30, 1984 at the Oakland-Alameda County Auditorium (where the Warriors play basketball) to see Dio (Last in Line) and Dokken (Tooth and Nail). I was 14. I wore my jean jacket. I was afraid the guy next to me, who asked us to save him a seat in exchange for smoking us out, would share a heroin-laced joint and I would be dead before the show even began.

My love for KISS helped for the easy transition to Metal, but it didn't last too long. I still really love Metal, but it was Punk that really spoke to me. Metal spoke of fantasy characters in a fantasy world. Punk was political! Politics was always spoken about in my home. My parents didn't shy away from their negative feelings towards Reagan. The Punk movement was political. I was drawn to it pretty easily.

Starting at KFJC in the fall of 1988 also helped. The Wave of the West is a bastion of musical knowledge; especially that of all-things-alternative. This was before alternative was a genre (thank you very much Nirvana). Punk didn't get me angry. It made me happy! It made me feel like I wasn't alone in my thoughts against the state. It made me feel like my generation wasn't as lost as many thought we were. And the lyrics were hilarious, inane, intense, intelligent, ridiculous.

Being a Deadhead and a Punk isn't as far apart as it would seem. If you like the Dead you pretty much are open to anything, considering how many people DETEST the Grateful Dead. The same could be said for Punk. Though I think more Deadheads like Punk, than Punk likes the Dead. It's all good.

There's not much difference in the spiral dancing of a Dead concert, and a mosh pit at a Punk show. Both are ways of sharing energy. Is one more aggressive? Perhaps, but all good-natured. Even at Punk shows, if you fall down, more often than not there's a hand there to pick you up and get you moving again.

If I've learned anything through my musical journeys, it's that life is all ONE. The mystical, magical ONE. Whether it's Punk, Funk or Junk the musical odyssey that takes us through life is all based on how open we are to the meanderings of the road. I'm truly blessed to have a diverse music library as I do. You're just as likely to find a Black Flag LP in my collection as a Johnny Cash (he's Punk as fuck, btw).

As for tonight's show, it's all punk. Why? I just told you why! Sheesh.

Enjoy.

jh

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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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Orgasm Addict: The Buzzcocks
Never Talk To You Again: Husker Du
Tension: Minutemen

Gut Feeling/Slap Your Mammy: Devo
Ex Lion Tamer: Wire
Elevation: Television
Search and Destroy: The Dictators

Gimme Danger: Iggy and the Stooges
Motor City is Burning: MC5

We Must Bleed: Germs
Six Pack: Black Flag
More Beer: Fear
Ain't Talkin' About Love: Minutemen
Wendy: Descendents

Peking Spring: Mission of Burma
Southern California: Flipper
Sonic Reducer: The Dead Boys
I Just Want To Make Love To You: Meat Puppets

Show Me The Way: Dinosaur Jr.
Goin' Up The Country: Three Stoned Men
Stars and Stripes of Corruption: Dead Kennedys
I Wanna Get Rid of you: Psychotic Pineapple

Out of our Tree: The Mummies
Glorious: Polkacide
Sweat Loaf: Butthole Surfers

I Don't Wanna Go Down To The Basement: Ramones
Career Opportunities: The Clash
Personality Crisis: New York Dolls
25 Minutes To Go: Johnny Cash