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.

God love them all

Depending on what day it is, I feel blessed or cursed. God, please take special exemption and please grant your mercy on those who have gone through chemo, are going through it now or will go through it. Have a special place for the families of those who go through this nasty ass shit. It tears you up, makes you weak and it will shake the foundation of your core. It makes you stand in front of the meat counter at Schnuck's wondering why you are there. The ceiling fan is an endlessly looped tape. You have a rash from the top of your chest to the top of your ankles. You want to kill yourself. Right is wrong and wrong is right. Its poison. It's like pouring drain cleaner in your veins, and then waiting around to see what happens. You can't sleep and you dare not eat. It's like walking through a muddy swamp with boots on, the muck keeps collecting in your shoes, making it harder and harder to walk on. Hang in there, all of you. You can only walk halfway into the swamp, after that, you are walking out of it. Hang on. Hang on.

NEW RULES (from my friend Jay)

NEW RULES

New Rule: Stop giving me that pop-up ad for Classmates.com! There's a reason you don't talk to people for 25 years. Because you don't particularly like them! Besides, I already know what the captain of the football team is doing these days: mowing my lawn.

New Rule: Don't eat anything that's served to you out a window unless you're a seagull. People are acting all shocked that a human finger was found in a bowl of Wendy's chili. Hey, it cost less than a dollar. What did you expect it to contain? Trout? Luckily, it was only a finger! If it was a whole hand, Congress would have voted to keep it alive.

New Rule: Stop saying that teenage boys who have sex with their hot,blonde teachers are permanently damaged. I have a better description for these kids: lucky bastards.

New Rule: If you need to shave and you still collect baseball cards,you're gay. If you're a kid, the cards are keepsakes of your idols. If you're a grown man, they're pictures of men.

New Rule: Ladies, leave your eyebrows alone. Here's how much men care about your eyebrows: do you have two of them? Okay, we're done.

New Rule: There's no such thing as flavored water. There's a whole aisle of this crap at the supermarket, water, but without that watery taste. Sorry, but flavored water is called a soft drink. You want flavored water? Pour some scotch over ice and let it melt, that's your flavored water

New Rule: Stop f***ing with old people. Target is introducing a redesigned pill bottle that's square, with a bigger label. And the top is now the bottom. And by the time grandpa figures out how to open it, his ass will be in the morgue. Congratulations, Target, you just solved the Social Security
crisis.

New Rule: The more complicated the Starbucks order, the bigger the asshole. If you walk into a Starbucks and order a "decaf grande half-soy,half-low fat, iced vanilla, double-shot, gingerbread cappuccino, extra dry, light ice, with one Sweet-n'-Low and one NutraSweet," ooh, you're a huge asshole.

New Rule: I'm not the cashier! By the time I look up from sliding my card, entering my PIN number, pressing "Enter," verifying the amount,deciding, no, I don't want cash back, and pressing "Enter" again, the kid who is supposed to be ringing me up is standing there eating my Almond Joy. Paper, plastic? I don't have time for that. I've just been called to do a cleanup on Aisle Nine!

New Rule: Just because your tattoo has Chinese characters in it doesn't make you spiritual. It's right above the crack of your ass. And it translates to "beef with broccoli." The last time you did anything spiritual, you were praying to God you weren't pregnant. You're not spiritual. You're just
high.

New Rule: Competitive eating isn't a sport. It's one of the seven deadly sins.
ESPN recently televised the US Open of Competitive Eating, because watching those athletes at the poker table was just too damned exciting. What's next, competitive farting? Oh wait. They're already doing that. It's called "The Howard Stern Show."

New Rule: I don't need a bigger mega M&M. If I'm extra hungry for M&Ms,I'll go nuts and eat two.

New Rule: If you're going to insist on making movies based on crappy, old television shows, then you have to give everyone in the Cineplex a remote so we can see what's playing on the other screens. Let's remember the reason something was a television show in the first place is the idea wasn't good enough to be a movie.

New Rule: No more gift registries. You know, it used to be just for weddings. Now it's for babies and new homes and graduations from rehab. Picking up the stuff you want and having other people buy it for you isn't gift giving, it's the white people version of looting.

New Rule, and this one is long overdue: No more bathroom attendants. After I zip up, some guy is offering me a towel and a mint like I just had sex with George Michael. I can't even tell if he's supposed to be there, or just some freak with a fetish. I don't want to be on your web cam, dude. I just want to wash my hands.

New Rule: When I ask how old your toddler is, I don't need to know in months. "27 Months." "He's two," will do just fine. He's not a cheese. And I didn't care in the first place.

Post Number 100

I sit here tonight on a Sunday and King Crimson is playing on the BOSE WaveRadio system. I first heard this on "Beaker Street". It was a late night album rock show on KAAY in Little Rock, AR. KAAY broadcast at 1090AM. The mighty 1090 was their slogan and during the day and most of the night, it was a top 40 station, and at 10pm, it would become the best damn station on the planet.The signal was so strong that even when I moved to the Quad Cities, I could pick it up. The show featured stuff that no one else(that I knew of) played. "40 Foot Hose" by Cauldron was another fave. Oh yeah, Wet Willie, too. Thank you, Clyde Clifford, host.
King Crimson at that time was made up of:
ROBERT FRIPP: GUITAR
IAN McDONALD: REEDS, WOODWIND, VIBES, KEYBOARDS, MELLOTRON, VOCALS
GREG LAKE: BASS GUITAR, LEAD VOCALS
MICHAEL GILES: DRUMS, PERCUSSION, VOCALS
PETER SINFIELD: WORDS AND ILLUMINATION
Greg Lake, of course went on to form Emerson, Lake and Palmer (another one of my favorite bands). The last I heard about Ian McDonald, he was booted out of Foreigner, Robert Fripp is still recording and touring with King Crimson. Here is the latest on Micheal Gilesand Peter Sinfield. What a release this was. A masterpiece and as a 13 year old kid in 1969, it scared the hell out of me. Especially "21st Century Schizoid Man","Epitath" and the title track. "I Talk To The Wind" is still a great song. This recording changed the way I looked at and listened to music. 1970's "Lizard" became another one of my favorites (and my first introduction to Ravel's "Bolero").

An explanation

Sometimes when rumours and things get started, it is hard to stop them. On the front page of my friend Mike Anderson's very comprehensive St. Louis Media site, is the statement that I am on the schedule at the Arch(106.5). I am. For two shifts on the weekend. Not full time. I have had a number of emails wondering if I am getting back into "the biz". I have a job that I find challenging, stimulating, sometimes perplexing, and basically, a blast. To find a solution in a bathtub full of problems is very rewarding and fulfilling. I hope to be at Learfield for a long time. I do, however, dig the radio thing, still. I always enjoyed working for Bonneville, and I am glad to hang around on the weekends. That is all it is.

Happy Thanksgiving (a bit early)

I used to play this friggin song over and over at the bars.It used to drive me mad, but the (new) version is very clever and creative.
SO, Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanks, Kenny...

I sat in with my bud Ken Dillon on Power 97 in Sedalia today. Power 97 is a GREAT classic rock station. They have a playlist that isn't corpoarately dictated and actually allow some creativity (oh, the horrors). Bill and Dianne (the operations manager and the general manager)are to be commended on running a great operation. Kenny and I had talked about this for awhile, it just was hard to fit it nto my schedule. But, after starting in St.Louis, I went to Rolla, Mountain Grove, Springfield, Neosho, Joplin, Pitsburg KS, Butler MO then on to Sedalia. I had an awesome time today and wanted to thank Ken and the guys at Power 97 for their great hospitality. Here is a picture from today's event.

My daughter and her daughter

Aj's Restaurant, Waterloo Iowa October 17th 2005

Can We Live Forever?...Would You Want To?

Source: The Chronicle of Higher Education October 28, 2005.
HOW TO CURE AGING
Aubrey de Grey has a seven-step plan he says will "cure" aging and allow people to live for a very long time. Here it is:

The problem: Cell loss or atrophy
Mr. de Grey's solution: Develop stem cells to replace lost cells. Or use chemicals that stimulate the division of cells to produce new ones.

The problem: Cancer
Mr. de Grey's solution: Aggressive gene therapy will make it impossible for cancer cells to reproduce. Stem-cell therapy will prevent side effects.

The problem: Mitochondrial mutations
Mr. de Grey's solution: Mitochondria are the cell's power plants, and they house separate genes that are prone to harmful mutations that cause diseases. To prevent those problems, copy the critical mitochondrial genes and insert the copies in the cell's nucleus, where they will be better protected.

The problem: Unwanted cells (such as fat cells)
Mr. de Grey's solution: Possibly stimulate the immune system to kill unwanted cells.

The problem: Stiffening of proteins outside the cell
Mr. de Grey's solution: Proteins outside cells help support tissues, making arteries elastic and ligaments strong. But chemical reactions throughout life link those proteins and make them less mobile. Specific chemicals could break those links and allow the proteins to move more easily. One chemical is already in clinical trials, says Mr. de Grey.

The problem: "Junk" outside the cell
Mr. de Grey's solution: Plaques accumulate outside the cell and may lead to diseases such as Alzheimer's. Small molecules called beta-breakers may break these plaques down.

The problem: "Junk" inside the cell
Mr. de Grey's solution: As cells age, molecules can change in ways that make them stop working. Those structures can accumulate in cells and and eventually overwhelm them. Extra enzymes from bacteria could be given to cells to degrade the unwanted material.

More details can be found on his Web site: (http://www.gen.cam.ac.uk/sens/AdGbio.htm)

The Meanest Damn Chili Ever

It's that time again...the chill is in the air and the chili is in the pot. Many years ago a girlfirend of mine and I were trying to figure our how to spend a fall day...after that was done, we decided to make some chili. We called it 'Webe Chili'.
The reason? "We be throwin' everything into this pot." I used natural lean beef (97% lean), red kidney beans, mushrooms, green and red peppers, onions, garlic, tomato paste, rotel's tomatoes and green chiles, tomato juice, corn, jalapenos and spices and viola! Here it is... Yum! Learfield is having a chili cookoff next month and victory shall be mine!! BTW, this chili comes in two versions mild and nitro fuel.