The Songs Vin Played for 12/19/1999

SCHEDULE UP UPCOMING GUESTS:

1/2      CHRIS BOTTI
1/9      CARL HIAASEN
1/16    THE JOHN FAYE POWER TRIP
1/23     WARREN ZEVON

Program Note: FM Talk @ 102.7 is broadcasting New York Giants football again this year.  This will mean one more late start for Idiot's Delight on 1/2/00;  the show will start anywhere from 8:30 to 8:45 PM, depending on the length of the post game shows.
 
 

     Respect The Elders.
     Embrace The New.
     Encourage The Impractical and Improbable,
     Without Bias.
                                                       —  David Fricke
__________________________________________________________________________

These are the songs I played on
Vin Scelsa's IDIOT'S DELIGHT®
on FM Talk @ 102.7, WNEW, New York on 12/19/99
 

        TONIGHT'S GUESTS  —

        MARSHALL CRENSHAW (with band)
        THE ACCIDENTALS, a cappella group
 
 

"It's coming on Christmas
They're cutting down trees
They're putting up reindeer
And singing songs of joy and peace
Oh I wish I had a river
I could skate away on ... "

— Joni Mitchell, "River" (1971)
 
 

"We won't be looking back
As we move on down the track
We'll leave our broken dreams behind
Somewhere down the line ... "

— Marshall Crenshaw, "Somewhere Down The Line"  (1991)
 
 

JONI MITCHELL   River
WYNTON MARSALIS SEPTET   Winter Wonderland
(recorded live at the Village Vanguard, December 1993; new 7-CD release)
DAVE'S TRUE STORY   Winter Wonderland
BOB DYLAN   Winterlude
DUKE ELLINGTON   Sugar Rum Cherry   (1960 recording)
(Ellington/Strayhorn adaptation of "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" from The Nutcracker)

MARSHAL CRENSHAW — guest —
band performance and conversation

Marshall Crenshaw — lead vocals, electric guitar
Graham Maby — electric bass guitar, backing vocals
Chris Cunningham — electric guitar
Diego Voglino — drums

MARSHALL CRENSHAW   (CD)   Ready Right Now

MARSHALL CRENSHAW   (live)   Television Light
MARSHALL CRENSHAW   (live)   Dime A Dozen Guy
MARSHALL CRENSHAW   (live)   T.M.D.
MARSHALL CRENSHAW   (live)   What Do You Dream Of?
MARSHALL CRENSHAW   (live)   Someday Someway

MARSHALL CRENSHAW   (CD)   Cynical Girl
MARSHALL CRENSHAW   (CD)   You Said What?   (instrumental)
MARSHALL CRENSHAW   (CD)   Theme From Flare Gun   (instrumental)
MARSHALL CRENSHAW   (live)   Love's Theme   (instrumental; Barry White cover)
MARSHALL CRENSHAW   (CD)   West Of Bald Knob   (instrumental)

MARSHALL CRENSHAW   (live)   Sock It To Me Santa   (Bob Seger song)
JAMES BROWN   Papa's Got A Brand New Bag

MARSHALL CRENSHAW   (live)   Twistin' With Santa Claus
(actual title is "My Mommy & Santa Claus" as recorded by George Jones; the song is credited to someone identified only as "Beavers" — no first name — so Marshall jokingly says it's a song by "The Beavers" — as in "Leave It To ...")

MARSHALL CRENSHAW   (live)   Crying Waiting Hoping   (Buddy Holly song)
(Marshall played Buddy Holly in the film La Bamba; he also played John Lennon in the stage show Beatlemania)

MARSHALL CRENSHAW   (live)   Laughter
MARSHALL CRENSHAW   (CD)   Somewhere Down The Line
FOO FIGHTERS   Next Year
COUNTING CROWS   A Long December
LORI CARSON   Take Your Time
(with Chris Cunningham on guitar)
EVERYTHING BUT THE GIRL   Low Tide Of The Night
MACY GRAY   I Try
BILL WITHERS & GROVER WASHINGTON JR   Just The Two Of Us
GROVER WASHINGTON JR   Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)   (Marvin Gaye song)

Saxophonist Grover Washington Jr died on Friday 12/17 at the age of 56; he collapsed after taping a televison performance; apparent cause of death was a heart attack.

RICK DANKO BAND   Twilight   (from "Live On Breeze Hill"-- new version)
THE BAND    Christmas Must Be Tonight
BLACK 47   Sleep Tight In New York City / Her Dear Old Donegal
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN   Streets Of Philadelphia
TOM PACHECO   Christmas In Times Square
THE POGUES & KIRSTY MacCOLL   Fairytale Of New York

THE ACCIDENTALS — a cappella vocal group
stopped by to sing some holiday songs and carols

The Accidentals are:

Margaret Dorn, Dennis Deal, Bill Mitchell, Marcia Pelletiere, Rosie Vallese and Jim Vincent (missing in action tonight, Emily Bindiger)

THE ACCIDENTALS   (live)   Deck The Halls
THE ACCIDENTALS   (live)   Frosty The Snowman
THE ACCIDENTALS   (live)   Rudolph The Red-nosed Reindeer
THE ACCIDENTALS   (live)   The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting ...)
THE ACCIDENTALS   (live)   Carol Of The Bells

THE ACCIDENTALS   (live)   Fire Fire   (non-seasonal madrigal)
THE ACCIDENTALS   (live)   Where Or When   (the old standard)

THE ACCIDENTALS   (live)   Hark The Herald Angels Sing!
THE ACCIDENTALS   (live)   Silent Night
THE ACCIDENTALS   (live)   Joy To The World

AUGUST DARNELL   Christmas On Riverside Drive
RUN DMC   Christmas In Hollis
AIMEE MANN & MICHAEL PENN   Christmastime
ROBERT EARL KEEN   Merry Christmas From The Family

STAN FREBERG   Christmas Dragnet (Yulenet)   (1953)
DUKE ELLINGTON   Peanut Brittle Brigade   (1960)
(Ellington/Strayhorn adaptation of "March" from The Nutcracker)

DUKE ELLINGTON (with Charlie Mingus and Max Roach)   Caravan   (1962)
DR. JOHN   Satin Doll   (Pre-release)
SANTANA (with Dave Matthews)   Love Of My Life
ETTA JONES   I'll Be Seeing You   (1987 recording)
(with Houston Person, tenor sex)
GOATS IN TREES   Dead Of Winter
MARTIN'S FOLLY   Man, It's Cold

GOATS IN TREES   Monkey In The Middle
KIM RICHEY   Other Side Of Town

I played a lengthy segment from author Joseph Heller's appearance on the show back in January, 1998.  Heller died last Sunday night, 12/12, at the age of 76.  The excerpt mostly dealt with his most famous and best-loved novel, Catch 22, as well as his then newly published memoir, Now And Then.

PAUL McCARTNEY   Lonesome Town
WOOD   Let Me Fall
ELVIS PRESLEY   Blue Christmas
SIMPLY RED   Wave The Old World Goodbye
LOUIS ARMSTRONG   What A Wonderful World
BRYAN FERRY   As Time Goes By

WARREN ZEVON   Don't Let Us Get Sick   (pre-release)

RICHARD "GROOVE" HOLMES   Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me   (closing theme)

Show ended approximately at 3:05 AM

NOTES:

DAVE'S TRUE STORY has a 3-song "holiday" EP out this year entitled A Dave's True Story Christmas (Be Pop Records).  For order info: <http://www.davestruestory.com> or email <dtstory@aol.com>.

A highly regarded pop craftsman, MARSHALL CRENSHAW has been a vital force in American music since "Someday, Someway" appeared on his debut album in 1982.  He possesses an encyclopedic knowledge of the history of pop music and musicians, a knowledge which infuses his melodic, witty, infectious compositions.  A true pop culture renaissance man, Marshall is the author of Hollywood Rock: A Guide to Rock'n'Roll in the Movies (Agincourt Press/Harper Collins), the definitive book on cheesy rock'n'roll films; he portrayed two of his musical heroes — John Lennon in the West Coast road company of Beatlemania and Buddy Holly in the acclaimed film La Bamba; and appeared in Francis Ford Coppola's Peggy Sue Got Married and on Nickelodeon's The Adventures of Pete And Pete.  His latest album for New York-based Razor & Tie  Records is jokingly entitled #447 (as in, "Here's the umpteenth Marshall Crenshaw album!"); it was made with tube-powered tape recorders, amplifiers, and microphones — machines from an earlier era of rock'n'roll — while utilizing all the state-of-the-art technology of the modern age, to create a sound that is timeless, layered, jazzy and dreamlike.
<http://www.marshallcrenshaw.com/>

RICK DANKO released an album shortly before he died under the name RICK DANKO BAND.  It's called Live On Breeze Hill and features his former Band-mate Garth Hudson.  It's on Woodstock Records, Box 158, Woodstock, NY 12498 and be ordered at 1-800-585-1812.  The label's web site is: <http://www.woodstockrecords.com>.

The great DR. JOHN (Mac Rebennack) has an Ellington-inspired album coming out on 1/11/00 entitled Duke Elegant (Blue Note) <http://www.bluenote.com>.

GOATS IN TREES is a New York band with an album entitled When The Morning Comes on Rudy Records, 25 2nd Place, Brooklyn, NY 11231; <http://www.goatsintrees.com>; (718) 488- 1955.

KIM RICHEY's new album is entitled Glimmer (Mercury). <http://www.kimrichey.com>

WOOD is a wonderful young band from England with a debut album entitled Songs From Stamford Hill (Columbia).  James Maddock is the writer and lead vocalist.  They have a web site at: <http://www.woodband.com>.

BRYAN FERRY's As Time Goes By (Virgin) offers up a warm collection of 15 gems from the Standards Songbook of earlier decades, with hardly a trace of irony or sarcasm.  Cool arrangements recreate a sound from another time and place in our fading century.  <http://www.bryanferrydirect.com>

JANUARY 2   CHRIS BOTTI took up the trumpet at the age of ten in his native Oregon; he went on to study with noted jazz educator David Baker at the prestigious Indiana University music program.  The list of this young horn player's credits as a session musician since coming to New York is an impressive and diverse "who's who" of the contemporary recording scene.  He has recorded and performed with such artists as Aretha Franklin, Paul Simon, Marc Cohn, Gladys Knight, the Brecker Brothers, Bette Midler, Bob James, Bernadette Peters, Chaka Khan, Carly Simon, Loudon Wainwright III, Natalie Merchant, Dave's True Story, Joe Pesci (!), Joni Mitchell and Sting.  He toured extensively with Paul Simon in the early 1990s and is presently a member of  Sting's band, about to embark on the European leg of Sting's current world tour.  He's put out three albums of his own since 1995: First Wish, Midnight Without You and 1999's Slowing Down The World (Verve).  He'll talk with Vin about "all things trumpet" and maybe even play a solo riff or two!

JANUARY 9  As New York settles into winter, one of Vin's favorite guests, Miami-based novelist CARL HIASSEN, returns to the show to talk about things absurd and hysterical in the warmer climes of sunny surreal Florida!  Hiaasen, known for his twice-weekly "metropolitan" column in The Miami Herald, as well as his string of outrageous novels — Lucky You, Stormy Weather, Strip Tease, Native Tongue, Skin Tight, Double Whammy and Tourist Season — is a native-born Floridian whose sharp observations about the destruction of his state's ecology and heritage are presented with a delightfully barbed sense of humor and mayhem.  He'll be discussing his latest novel, Sick Puppy (Knopf), a typically twisted Hiaasen romp which features eco-terrorists, a Republicans- only hooker, a millionaire Barbie fetishist, a kidnapped Labrador retriever and thousands of squashed toads!  Longtime Hiaasen fans will be happy to know that the new book contains an appearance by of one of his most popular and endearing characters, Skink, the state's ex-governor who walked away from both his office and reality a few books back to live the life of a woolly Robin Hood-like recluse in the swamps and woods of  Florida's rapidly disappearing wilderness.  No Floridian in more incensed over the mallifying and Disneyfication of the state than Carl Hiaasen, or funnier in his insightful analysis of who's responsible!

JANUARY 16   When I saw this young modern pop quartet open for Matthew Sweet recently at The Bottom Line, the Philadelphia-based group's penchant for strong melodies, interesting lyrical turns and exuberant stage presentation quickly won them a new fan!  I was so impressed that I immediately bought several copies of their debut album, The John Faye Power Trip (Wiley Music) and within a matter of days extended an invitation to the band to appear on Idiot's Delight.  John Faye was the lead singer and chief songwriter for the highly acclaimed but short-lived band The Caulfields whose one album, Whirligig (1995), was a staple on college and alternative radio.  This new project picks up where The Caulfields left off.  It is a refreshing and unbridled romp through the currently underpopulated fields of "power pop."  By turns infectious, emotional, seductive and electric, the songs of THE JOHN FAYE POWER TRIP signal the presence of a talented writer and the arrival of an exciting new band — the kind of band that easily rekindles a jaded listener's faith in the power of rock'n'roll!  The band's web site is <http://www.johnfaye.com>.

JANUARY 23  To put it bluntly: WARREN ZEVON is one of America's great songwriters. Period.  The man who took the world on such classic tongue-in-cheek excursions into realms of musical irony as "Werewolves Of London," "Lawyers, Guns and Money," "Excitable Boy," "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead" and "Roland The Headless Thompson Gunner" is back with a new album, Life'll Kill Ya (Artemis Records), that contains more of the same ... as well as some touching and insightful songs of maturity, heartbreak, hope and redemption.   He promises to bring a guitar to the show and perform a few of them live!

( I do not benefit in any way from any of the links in these notes, including those that link to web stores.  I include these links for your information.)

Versions of "I'll Be Seeing You" played since June:

6/13   JOHNNY MATHIS, on Open Fire, Two Guitars, 1958, (Columbia Legacy reissue, 1999)
6/13   BRUCE COCKBURN, live performance on Idiot's Delight, 1/12/97
6/27   SONNY STITT, on Last Sessions, Vol. 1 and 2, (32 Jazz)

7/4     JO STAFFORD, on G.I. Jo -- Songs Of World War II, (Corinthian)
7/11   SARAH VAUGHAN, on Sassy Swings The Tivoli, (Verve)
7/18   BILLIE HOLIDAY, on The Complete Commodore Recordings, (Commodore/GRP)
7/25   RAHSAAN ROLAND KIRK, on The Return of The 5000lb. Man, (Warner Bros.); reissued as part of A Standing Eight, (32 Jazz)

8/1     RICKIE LEE JONES, on Pop Pop (Geffen), her 1991 "cover" album
8/8     MEL TORME AND GEORGE SHEARING, on An Elegant Evening, (Concord Records, 1986)
8/15   TOMMY DORSEY & FRANK SINATRA, their 1940 recording, on a compilation entitled I'll Be Seeing You (BMG/RCA)
8/22   THE FIVE SATINS, their 1960 recording, appears on The Five Satins Sing Their Greatest Hits, (Collectibles, 1982 release)
8/29   JIMMY DURANTE, circa 1964 recording, included on As Time Goes By: The Best Of Jimmy Durante, (Warner Archives), a collection released on CD in 1993
"...in all de old familiar places / dat dis heart of mine embraces ..."

9/5     RUTH BROWN, on Songs Of My Life, (Fantasy, 1993)
9/12   PEGGY LEE, on Norma Deloris Egstrom From Jamestown North Dakota, (Capitol, 1972); appears on Capitol's 1998 4-CD anthology, Miss Peggy Lee
9/19   ROSEMARY CLOONEY, on For The Duration (Concord Records, 1990)
9/19   JOHNNY MATHIS, on Open Fire, Two Guitars, 1958, (Columbia Legacy reissue, 1999); a repeat play of the version that started this whole thing;  by request, for Bruce Cockburn
9/26   No show; I'll let the repeat of Mathis last week count for this date!

10/3   JUDY COLLINS, on Judith (Elektra, 1975)
10/10  DINAH SHORE (with ANDRE PREVIN), on Dinah Sings, Andre Previn Plays (Capitol, 1960); reissued as a "two on one" with another of her albums from that same year entitled Somebody Loves Me  (Capitol / EMI import)
10/17 RICKIE LEE JONES, on Pop Pop (Geffen), her 1991 "cover" album; a repeat play tonight because she was sitting in the studio with me and I just couldn't resist!
10/17 STEVE TYRELL, on A New Standard (Atlantic, 1999); thus fulfilling my self-imposed "different version each week" mandate
10/24 THE LEW TABACKIN QUARTET, on I'll Be Seeing You (Concord Jazz, 1992); featuring Tabackin on tenor sax and Benny Green on piano.
10/31 LOUIS PRIMA & KEELY SMITH, on Greatest Hits, an English import collection.  The album does not have the date of the recording.

11/7    ETTA JAMES, on Mystery Lady: Songs Of Billie Holiday,  (Private Music, 1994)
11/14  BING CROSBY, on The Million Sellers (Prism), an English compilation which unfortunately does not give the recording date; it's probably the early 1940s.
11/21 LITTLE JIMMY SCOTT, on Little Jimmy Scott: The Savoy Years And More ...  (Savoy Records, 3-CD box set, 1999 release); 1952 recording.
11/28 NEW YORK CITY GAY MEN'S CHORUS, on Love Lives On (Virgin Records, 1991).  This album is out of print, but the group still has a few copies around their office that they are more than willing to sell; call (212) 398-5888 for information.

12/5   ANN HAMPTON CALLAWAY, on Bring Back Romance (DRG 1994)
12/12 WILLIE NELSON, on Healing Hands of Time  (Liberty Records, 1994).  Thanks to listener Paul Soderman (known on the IDD as Kidpocono) for tracking down this out-of-print recording for me.
12/19 ETTA JONES, on I'll Be Seeing You (Muse Records, 1987), reissued on Ain't She Sweet (32 Jazz, 1999) as a "twofer" with her 1980 album Save Your Love For Me.

(This classic song was written by Irving Kahal and Sammy Fain in the late 1930s (the copyright date is 1938) and was one of the most popular songs during the World War II years.  Why am I playing a different version of it every Sunday night?  Hmmm ... perhaps, like Scheherazade telling a tale a night for 1001 Arabian nights to save her life, the effort is a superstitious forestalling of my own eventual radio demise ... )
 

There is finally an Idiot's Delight t-shirt!
I designed it myself.  It's simple, low key and to the point.  It's short-sleeved, in heather gray, with very dark blue (almost black) lettering.   The "3 essential commandments" are on the front and the show name is on the back, all quite unobtrusive, with no corporate or commercial logos anywhere.   The shirt is only available through World Hunger Year (it was a Hungerthon '99  premium), for a $50 donation to that fine organization.  For further information, call WHY at (212) 629-8850 or visit <http://www.hungerthon.org> or <http://www.worldhungeryear.org>.
 

VIN SCELSA's IDIOT's DELIGHT ® is produced by KARA MANNING.
The engineers for all guest performances are DAVID VANDERHEYDEN
and PAUL ALTEMUS.
Very often they are assisted by my Earnest Intern, SEAN "Shoe Hand" CLEARY.
Vin can be reached via e-mail at <idvin@interactive.net>.

Engineer Paul has his own personal web page <http://www.engineerpaul.com>, which also contains "The Songs I Played" every week, as well as some of the digital photos he takes of our guests.
 

The direct link to "Vin Scelsa's Idiot's Delight" page at the FM Talk @ 102.7 web site is:
http://www.fmtalk1027.com/wnew/local_archives/onair_personalities/idiots_delight.html
Please bookmark it and come back each week to see what's happening!