Bummer..

I checked into my hotel in my hometown tonight...good old Quad Cities. Pretty young thing behind the counter...I asked if they had a room, she asked for my AARP card and called me sir.
Thanks.

Another Musical Mulligan

This guy is a perfect remedy for a winters night in front of the fireplace. I am a huge fan of Gordon Lightfoot, although my hard rock buddies always laughed at me for it. Nevermind. My five favorite Gordon Lightfoot songs would be:
1. Beautiful
2. If You Could Read My Mind
3. Song For A Winter's Night
4. Carefree Highway
5. Rainy Day People

Honorable Mention would be for "The Wreck of The Edmund Fitzgerald" just for having the balls to write a song about a shipwreck in Lake Superior that killed a number of people.

RICHARD PRYOR 1940-2005

When I was in high school, this guy(and George Carlin) was the funniest muhfugga on the planet. Whenever he had a new album out, I would take my hard earned money, roll a fattie, and just laugh my ass off. He made you laugh, think and take an honest look at yourself. His movies with Gene Wilder were awesome and I feel a bit sad today. Once again, a very small piece of who I came to be has passed. I hope no one is offended when I say "that nigger was crazy." Thanks Richard, you truly were the pride of Peoria.

I Hate Duke

I love college basketball, although I don't have a team to really root for. Mizzou is horrible. And I CANNOT stand Duke. I hate their team, I hate their coach, I hate the fact that they get ALL of the calls. Go Gonzaga!!!

Before Live Aid..before any rock benefit show...

There was "the Concert For Bangladesh". It is now on DVD. Of all the people who have passed in the last ten years (other than family and friends), I miss George. He was my favorite Beatle, bar none. Cool, calm and spiritual. And being the lead guitar player for the Beatles is a good thing to have on the resume. And, while we are at it, "The Concert for George" is amazing. Hearing Clapton doing "Beware of Darkness" and Eric and Paul doing "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" is chilling.
Great Christmas gifts?

I'm reminded of Led Zeppelin...

...and their song "Sick Again". It seems like every year right before Christmas(whether I am in shape or not), I get a case of the creeping cruds. It's NOT a good thing to get it this year(my body is not ready yet). So, I am lining up the defenses and trying to hold this one at bay. I have to go on the road next week, so this could be a great trip or the one from hell.

How fast time really does fly

Can it really be twenty five years? Where were you when you heard the news? I had just gotten off the air doing my 6-10pm shift on KY102 in Kansas City. My girlfriend at the time had cooked me dinner and I had just put my dog (Feedback) out to do his thing. When I returned to the house, Bree was crying hysterically and I couldn't figure out why. Just at that time Howard Cosell on Monday Night Football said "John Lennon...assassinated...DOA" What? No way. It was true. I quickly turned on the radio and heard my good friend(and fellow Beatle fan) Jon Hart play "I'm So Tired". I knew then the station was in great hands. We played Beatle music on KY for what seemed like years but was only a week.
I preached at a service for John at the All Souls Unitarian Church two days later. It was packed and I had NO notes. I winged it and everyone thought it was great. Now, comes today and I heard someone on the radio say that they didn't understand the big deal about John. I won't try to explain either. He had the guts to take a stand that might not have been popular, but was never untrue to his convictions
"All we are saying..is give peace a chance".
"So, this is Christmas, and what have you done?"
"Life is what happens to you when your busy making other plans."
God bless and God speed.

Don't Get Me Started...

I have never been as frustrated at technology than I am now. It can make you feel so humble and pissed off. I finally decided to unpack my Dell that I had in KC and get it hooked up. I hooked it up, installed a wireless card, got the scanner working and all was good. I had to restart my computer, and for some reason I lost my Internet connection. I uninstalled and installed, all to no avail. It would capture the signal and then poof..gone. Now, the f&^#ing thing won't even recognize the software. I tried to hook up my printer. All the connection are there, it recognizes the printer, but IT.....WON'T.....PRINT!!! "Dude, you got a Dell!" I've got hell is what I have.

Disappointed...

I was watching "Meet The Press" this morning because John McCain was on. In a commercial, I heard "Get Together" by the Youngbloods. Definately one of my top 100 songs of all time. I could not believe it when I found out it was for the Natural Gas Industry. I know The Doors were offered 15 million dollars for "Break On Through", but I NEVER thought the man who wrote "Get Together" amd "Ridgetop" would do this. Pete Townshend, I understand, but I am now certain that the Revolution is over and THEY won.
Say it ain't so, Jesse.

This sidenote and update:
Randy:
You may be able to rest a little easier, knowing that Jesse Colin Young didn't write "Get Together." Dino Valenti of Quicksilver Messenger Service (a/k/a Chet Powers) wrote the song, and it was probably licensed by his estate...He died here in Santa Rosa in 1994.

Happy Holidays!

Mike Watermann

Mike is one of THE best guys I have ever worked for. Thanks, bro, I DO feel better.

Name the bands in this picture

There are 75 bands in this picture. How many can you name?
To cheat (or get the answers...click here).
How'd ya do?

The Top 100

A friend of mine made me a bet. He said I could NOT, in any way shape or form come up with my top 100 songs of all time. He was right. How hard is this? One thing I know "Layla" is IT. Everything else is after that. "In My Life","Into The Mystic", etc. I went through my Itunes yesterday and tried to do it. After "The Beatles", I had 28. Not good.

No blog, no worry.

Sorry about not blogging all who care. Me. A number of things been going on.Anyway, got to see one of the coolest things ever on the Friday after Thansksgiving. The whole family minus one (or two) saw the national touring company of "Wicked". Unbelievably awesome, words cannot describe. The Fox Theatre is beautiful and all but these people can SING.
I laughed, I cried. Really openly wept. Isn't it absolutely friggin incredible what music can do?

Turkey Day Game 11/24/04

I live in Kirkwood, Missouri (most of the time), a fine, "bedroom" community right outside St. Louis. An "inside the beltway" suburb. I love it here, we have great churches, and a great community. I have been involved with the high school athletics program more this year, because my daughter is on the "pom" squad. One of the big games every year for the last 90 years, is the annual Turkey Day game against the despised Webster Groves Statesmen. They are the city right next door.
Here is what they play for...The famous Frisco Bell.

I used to live in Webster, too. Anyway, being a part of the Kirkwood High family, I volunteered for duty very early in the day yesterday. I got to the stadium at 10:30 am and spent the next 3 1/2 hours wrapping hotdogs, brats and turkey legs, before I got a chance to enjoy the game. Webster has lost the last three times and Kirkwood had a lead going into the last quarter. With less than three minutes left, Webster scored a touchdown and a two point conversion to win the game 20-19. My daughter, later in the day was a bit pissy, saying she was having a bad day. As a father, I only wish that a bad day to her in the future is no more pressing than having her team lose a big game.
Turkey Day game, 1946.

Brush With Greatness

It's a Tuesday night and the Hawkeyes are not on TV until 9:20. They play big bad Texas tonight. They beat Kentucky last night in a real good game. I love college basketball, it may be my favorite sport to watch, live or on TV. I have caught myself watching Western Kentucky play Butler. I am not a moocher or anything but, if I could swing a trip through Carver Hawkeye Arena this winter, that would be great. I am putting together Randy's top 100 songs of all time for the one person who cares, me. Anyway, had to bring work home the last two nights, but tonight, I am just goofing with the scanner.


"Don't Let Your Meat Loaf"








Left to right top "The Byrd" (infamous short term KSHE morning man); The Man, The Myth, The Legend; Steve "Hit Man" Haas (KSHE part timer and all around good guy); Al Hofer(another good guy) and....I don't know, record guy or somethin' Taken in 1994.
I heard Meatloaf on "Rockline" one night get his ass torn up by a caller..."you big, bag of crap...overblown garbage..etc" and Meat sat there for a second and said "well, I'm proud that I at least affected your life." Nice. Seemed like a good guy.

So, sue me

I mean really, in the 70s, I wanted to look just like that.
I received some grief fromn a (supposed) friend of mine when I said I'd like to go see Neil Diamond at the Savvis Center in December. Now, granted, the last time I saw him, I was hit in the head with a cane(?)and the woman he kissed (he does that in his show) was 78 years old. But, still he was a great songwriter (until that piece of snot Heartlight). So with that in mind, here are my top five Neil songs.

1. "Done Too Soon" (excellent wordplay)
2. "Do You Know What I Mean"
3. "I Am...I Said" (the line about a frog who dreamed of being a prince)
4. "Canta Libre" (sappy song..always got me)
5. "Shilo"

My Muscle Car (1970 GTO)

Prom 1973. My first love and my ex wife. Highschool sweethearts we were. Got my hair cut that day (should've received my money back).Had a blowout that day and had to use a spare. That sucked. Look at her shoes, even then, she only came up to my chin.

The List IS Finished..The 100 Greatest Songs of Rock and Roll!!!

My friend and coworker Steve Mays and I were talking the other day about the top 100 rock songs of all time. It seems that an author he was reading had somehow woven that theme into a great novel.
The author is John Sandford and here is HIS list for the top one hundred of all time http://www.johnsandford.org/prey16x1.html
That got me thinking about the so called top 100 rock songs of all time. A very very subjective subject. Now, after having been in rock radio since 1976, I think I can weigh in on this subject. So, while driving across Nebraska today, I got to think about the various research and whatnot that goes on in classic rock. So, taking into account...times played on the radio...what a song meant to us(the boomers), and familiarity of the song, here we go.
Now this isn't MY top 100 (I will post that later)let's just say, these are the most familiar songs of our generation....ranked somewhat in order..Jessie, did you read the last sentence? It said this is NOT my top 100 but only what I have observed in the radio business. I will post mine later...OK, Jess?
1. "Hey Jude"-Beatles
2. "Satisfaction"-Rolling Stones
3. "Like A Rolling Stone"-Bob Dylan
4. "Layla"-Derek and the Dominoes
5. "Won't Get Fooled Again"-the Who
6. "Carry On Wayward Son"-Kansas
7. "LaGrange"-ZZ Top
8. "Good Vibrations"-Beach Boys
9. "Purple Haze"-Jimi Hendrix
10."Born To Run"-Bruce Springsteen
11."Hotel California"-the Eagles
12."Brown Sugar"-Rolling Stones
13."Bohemian Rhapsody"-Queen"
14."Stairway To Heaven"-Led Zeppelin
15."Whiter Shade of Pale"-Procul Harum
16."A Day In The Life"-the Beatles
17."Free Bird"-Lynyrd Skynyrd
18."Light My Fire"-The Doors
19."Black Water"-The Doobie Bros.
20."American Pie"-Don Mclean
21."Walk This Way-Aerosmith
22."Suite Judy Blue Eyes"-CSN
23."Black Magic Woman"-Santana
24."Sweet Emotion"-Aerosmith
25."More Than A Feeling"-Boston
26."Money"-Pink Floyd
27."We Will Rock You/We Are The Champions"-Queen
28."Sweet Home Alabama"-Lynyrd Skynyrd
29."Smoke On The Water"-Deep Purple
30."Welcome to the Jungle"-Guns and Roses
31."Maggie Mae"-Rod Stewart
32."Nights In White Satin"-Moody Blues
33."Born To Be Wild-Steppenwolf
34."Start Me Up"-The Rolling Stones
35."Superstition"-Stevie Wonder
36."Baba OReilly"-The Who
37."Another Brick In The Wall"-Pink Floyd
38."Imagine"-John Lennon
39."Hey Joe"-Jimi Hendrix
40."Reelin In The Years"-Steely Dan
41."China Grove"-The Doobie Bros.
42."Somebody to Love"-Jefferson Airplane
43."Every Breath You Take"-the Police
44."House Of The Rising Sun"-The Animals
45."That's All Right Mama"-Elvis Presley
46."Sweet Child of Mine"-GunsnRoses
47."God Only Knows"-Beach Boys
48."Dust In The Wind"-Kansas
49."Brown Eyed Girl"-Van Morrison
50."Inna Godda Da Vida"-Iron Butterfly
51."Piece of My Heart"-Janis Joplin
52."Listen To The Music"-The Doobie Bros.
53."Whole Lotta Love"-Led Zeppelin
54."Jumpin Jack Flash"-Rolling Stones
55."Thunder Road"-Bruce Springsteen
56."Proud Mary"-CCR
57."Maybe I'm Amazed"-Paul McCartney
58."California Dreaming"-Mamas and Papas
59."Roundabout"-Yes
60."Magic Carpet Ride"-Steppenwolf
61."We're An American Band"-Grand Funk
62."For What Its Worth"-Buffalo Springfield
63."Moondance"-Van Morrison
64."American Woman"-The Guess Who
65."Purple Rain"-Prince
66."Night Moves"-Bob Seger
67."Ramblin Man"-Allman Brothers
68."Radar Love"-Golden Earring
69."Honky Tonk Women"The Rolling Stones
70."Money For Nothing"-Dire Straits
71."Piano Man"-Billy Joel
72."Black Dog"-Led Zeppelin
73."Crazy On You"-Heart
74."You Really Got Me"-the Kinks
75."Tom Sawyer"-Rush
76."Riding The Storm Out"-REO Speedwagon"
77."Sharp Dressed Man"-ZZ Top
78."Truckin"-Grateful Dead
79."Positively 4th Street"-Bob Dylan
80."Space Oddity"-David Bowie
81."Jack And Diane"-John Mellencamp
82."Bad To The Bone"-Geo Thorogood
83."I Wanna Be Sedated"-The Ramones
84."Ohio"-CSNY
85."Rock the Casbah"-The Clash
86."Burning Down The House"-Talking Heads
87."Turn The Page"-Bob Seger
88."Iron Man"-Black Sabbath
89."Rock and Roll"-Led Zeppelin
90."Long Cool Woman(In A Black Dress)"-The Hollies
91."You Shook Me All Night Long"-AC/DC
92."Strawberry Fields Forever"-Beatles
93."You Can't Always Get What You Want"- The Rolling Stones
94."I Love Rock and Roll"-Joan Jett
95."Roxanne"-The Police
96."Back In Black"-AC/DC
97."Closer To Home/I'm Your Captain"-Grand Funk
98."Refugee"-Tom Petty
99."Don't Be Cruel"-Elvis Presley
100"Riders On The Storm"-The Doors



This list will change...I will add and subtract. Thanks for your input...

The 100 worst albums covers of all time

This one made the list...

So did this one...bummer

And this one too...


The one hundred worst album covers of all time, decided by...someone.
Here is the list

I love this quote...

Live. And Live Well. BREATHE. Breathe in and Breathe deeply. Be PRESENT. Do not be past. Do not be future. Be now. On a crystal clear, breezy 70 degree day, roll down the windows and FEEL the wind against your skin. Feel the warmth of the sun.
If you run, then allow those first few breaths on a cool Autumn day to FREEZE your lungs and do not just be alarmed, be ALIVE. Get knee-deep in a novel and LOSE track of time.If you bike, pedal HARD... and if you crash then crash well.
Feel the SATISFACTION of a job well done--a paper well-written, a project thoroughly completed, a play well-performed. If you must wipe the snot from your 3-year old's nose, don't be disgusted if the Kleenex didn't catch it all... because soon he'll be wiping his own.
If you've recently experienced loss, then GRIEVE. And Grieve well. At the table with friends and family, LAUGH. If you're eating and laughing at the same time, then might as well laugh until you puke. And if you eat, then SMELL. The aromas are not impediments to your day. Steak on the grill, coffee beans freshly ground, cookies in the oven.
And TASTE. Taste every ounce of flavor. Taste every ounce of friendship. Taste every ounce of Life. Because-it-is-most-definitely-a-Gift

and as Warren Zevon once said ..."enjoy every sandwich..."

Our Fearless Leader

Christmas eve 1978. Living in a nice house in KC with two other guys. that's John Perucca in the background with his beautiful high school senior girlfriend Hattie.
Notice my shirt. Who knew? I think one of my friends should have probably said something about my look...like...man you are really ugly. Days gone by...sex and drugs and rock and roll...

KYLE RILEY 1950-2005

My bro, this is the way I will always remember you...not what you looked like the last time I saw you, ravaged, bloated, worn, and beaten down by chemo. Play one for me, bud will ya?

My family circa late 1976

This is the last picture that was ever taken of my dad. 3/5 of these people are dead. Look at the hair on that guy, huh?

Karl Malone Kicks Ass...

One of the greatest basketball players ever is a hero and a guy I wouldn't mess with. Neither did the feds. Read the story here:

Breaking Bonaduce

God help me, I watched two f&^king hours of this train wreck last night. This guy is a friggin lunatic. The "new" season starts with Danny getting out of rehab with a beautiful wife who won't sleep with him anymore because he had an affair. Roid rage personified. A train wreck I tell ya...but you can't turn away. I'm embarrassed.

11/11/05

I wanted to make sure that on this very special day in the Raley household, I posted something about the veterans of this country. Not only the veterans but the sons and daughters who never knew dad. I watched a show on the Vietnam Veterans Wall in Washington this morning and I cried for those whose father never came home. Most were too young, but one gal was eleven and she STILL couldn't talk about it. God bless all in the greatest generation, their sons and daughters and their sons and daughters who are now serving.
Do you ever wonder what might have been? What would have happened if...? I wonder what would have happened if JFK would have never been shot. Would the sixties as we know it existed? Vietnam? Civil Rights?
The same with Bobby. I think he would have killed Nixon in the election. What then? I was 12 when he died, I remember it as if it was yesterday...the names, Sirhan Sirhan, Rafer Johnson...

The Sandhills

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I travelled from Sidney to Scottsbluff to Alliance this morning. I left Alliance and travelled across the middle part of Nebraska through the Sandhills. It is so intensely awesome to travel some place where I have never been before. Literally miles and miles between houses and cars on highway 2. I saw a for sale sign for a ranch that had only 6200 acres. Bummer. In history class I always saw pictures of places like that

(even with the tumblin' tumbleweeds) but never thought I would ever see it in person. An awesome journey.

Broken Bow, NE

I must admit, this is one of the coolest places I have ever stayed. I thank my affiliate David Birnie for turning me on to the "Arrow Hotel" in beautiful (really)downtown Broken Bow NE. Not only does he oversee one of THE best classic rock stations I have ever heard but he has turned me on to this place. I can just picture people living in one of these apartments in the 50's and 60's. First class, very nice, a suite that is very fine and under $60. Tres cool.

My High-Tech Stereo(?)

Yes, I AM Mister Hightech. Hello and welcome to my world, a Marantz receiver dated 1973..


And a turntable circa 1972...


This Wollensak 8 track recorder would rival ANY reel to reel in it's day, and it still works...



Who needs digital? Music is music wherever you go...

Pics from the Road

The "Bad" River in northern Wisconsin.

The Budweiser Clydesdales Mizzou vs. Nebraska 10/2005

An original Pony express station, Gothenberg NE 11/2005


I have stations OUT HERE? cool.

November 8 2005

A fine day in central and western Nebraska, although I had to shop at Walmart twice. On the good side though, I had a Swiss Mushroom Runza. Runza's are awesome and I had fries and a soda to go with that. More time on the treadmill. I arrived in North Platte (conveniently located on the South Platte river) a bit early for my appointment so I went across the street to Merrick's Diner. I had a cup of coffee and a slice of blueberry pie. Who was the guy from Twin Peaks that liked pie? Kyle McLaughlanahan or somebody. Anyway, my mind went back to the time my mom managed a diner in downtown Moline, Illinois where I worked my friggin arse off. It reminded me so much of this place right down to the frying of the chicken for the afternoon special. Maybe the best $2.72 I have ever spent. In what other job would I find such bliss? None I know of.