Andrews Sisters "Ferry Boat Serenade"

You can walk into a grocery store, or department store, or restaurant, or just about ANY kind of establishment, and they'll be playing music on the overhead speakers.

There are a couple of reasons a business will do this.

Sometimes it's to "brand" themselves.  As in, "we're a hip store that listens to the hip music of today so buy our clothes."

Sometimes it's to set a pace.  Fast food restaurants typically play upbeat music, which may encourage folks to eat faster and therefore turn-over tables more quickly.  A fancy Italian restaurant may play slower, more romantic music, hoping to set a mood and encouraging you to order that one more bottle of wine.

Usually, though, the music is there in a public place to make the whole experience of being there a little more pleasant.  Pleasant music, along with pleasant aesthetics and even pleasant smells can elevate a person's perception of their visit.

I've thought about this recently whenever boarding one of the Steamship Authority Ferries.  Wouldn't a little music on the boat make the ride a more pleasant experience?

Now let me say that nearly 15 years after my first Steamship ride, my personal experiences with the SSA are overwhelming positive.  That being said, you don't talk to too many folks on the Island, who don't have a quip about the ferry service.

They have the overhead speakers---a whole soundsystem---in place.  Why don't fill the journey to the Island with a soundtrack?  Carly Simon's "Never Been Gone."  "Van Morrison's "Into The Mystic."  James Taylor's "Lighthouse."

I heard this Andrews Sisters song for the first time recently.  How have I traveled by ferry for 15 years, and never heard this once while cruising across Vineyard Sound?

Oh, I'm sure there's a good reason there isn't music on the boat.  They would have to pay ASCAP/BMI fees.  Someone would have to operate it.  With the boats running 18 hours a day, the song turnover would be maddening to the folks who spend all day working the ferries.

But it would make the voyage more aesthetically pleasant.

Alternate suggestion:  The SSA workers should bake a fresh batch of cookies for each ferry ride for an aesthetically pleasant-smelling boat ride.


Hear the song on Youtube.

Van Morrison "Caravan"

"Caravan"!!  What a song!  How did I not know that so many amazing Van Morrison songs existed?

I got off the ferry boat and was immediately approached.

"Hi PJ, come with me."

"How did you know I was the guy you were picking up?"

He laughed.  "Because you were the only guy coming off the boat, wearing a tie.  So I was pretty sure you were here for the interview."

And that is how I was greeted on my first trip to Martha's Vineyard.  Then-webmaster Al Mahoney had been dispatched to pick me up at the Steamship Authority and bring me to the station for my job interview with Barbara Dacey.  And he was mocking me.

My first lesson on how Martha's Vineyard was different---ties were not required.

-------------------

I wrote an Op-Ed piece for the Vineyard Gazette about the Save mvyradio Campaign and it starts with me talking about my first experiences with the Vineyard and WMVY.

What's written above, is some of the stuff I had to cut out, for length.  Those are the two things that stand out for me, that when I started listening to mvy I realized how much good music I had never heard before.  And that I looked like a doink wearing a tie on Martha's Vineyard.  But I cut them out.

Take THAT, Al Mahoney!  It's payback time (12 years later).


Hear the song on Youtube.

U2 "Gloria"

If I have a blase attitude toward storms, hurricane preparedness and such, it probably stems from Hurricane Gloria in 1985.

Gloria had been billed as "The Storm Of The Century" and in fact, it WAS shaping up to be the biggest storm to hit the East Coast in my lifetime.  Local folks on the North Shore of Massachusetts were scrambling to get ready.  Mom was in a tizzy, making sure we had all the lingering summer toys and such out of the yard, as she collected flower pots and other loose gardening equipment, and Dad got the grill and such secured in the garage.

And then, we waited.

I had never experienced a hurricane before, so I must admit I was nervous.  But being a high school age teen, I was not about to show it.  So I just internalized it, and turned to the radio for comfort.

When 9pm came, and we weren't cowering in the basement, shielding our eyes from the shattering glass of our home . . . well, I felt like it was much ado about nothing.

With Mom's permission, I put some batteries in my boom box and I went out and lay in the grass of the front yard.  WBCN was playing a "Hurricane Party" set of music featuring Van Morrison's "Gloria," The Doors' "Gloria" and U2's "Gloria."

I watched the clouds whizz by via the high winds and warm air, and thought it was the most beautiful, non-threateningly wild night of my life.


Hear the song on Youtube.

Van Morrison "Open The Door"

I had to laugh at myself when I first caught this song on the radio.

Has there been a music review of Ray Lamontagne, since he appeared on the scene 8 years ago, that doesn't compare him to Van Morrison?

After a few seconds of hearing this unfamiliar tune, I asked myself, "Is that a new Ray Lamontagne song?"

When I realized it was Van, and that I'd gotten things backwards, I laughed.

Somehow I suspect neither Van nor Ray---neither known for being a hilarious dude---would have found it as funny.


Hear the song on Youtube.

Van Morrison "Moondance"

Drunken.  Angry.  Flute solo.

Well, there are 4 words that you rarely find together.

Which is why I was so confused at 3 in the morning last Saturday night.

We were staying at my Mother-In-Law's house, in Brewster.  I was dreaming, but I was hearing music.  At some point it occurred to me, that it wasn't a dream.  Then it occurred to me that it wasn't the TV---I had shut that off as I was falling asleep.  And it wasn't coming from a stereo inside the house.

And it wasn't a recording.

No, someone was outside of my Mother-In-Law's house, playing the flute.

Now, I can't prove that this person was angry.  Or drunk.  But based on the fierceness of the playing, as well as the number of missed notes, I feel reasonably certain about both.

Details in the light of morning were further convincing.

Apparently, without going into unnecessary detail here, my Mother-In-Law's next door neighbor is going through some very hard times.  And this was not the first time he had come out to his own porch in the middle of the night to exorcise his demons via his flute---in this case, loudly enough that it woke up all 6 of the adults that were sleeping in various parts of my Mother-In-Law's house.

Because of my half-asleep state, coupled with the I'm-wicked-annoyed-but-this-is-ridiculously-hilarious infectious laughing from my wife, I couldn't quite pick out what he was playing, though the tunes seemed familiar.

But somewhere, 30-plus minutes into the performance, he did launch into "Moondance."  I recognized that one.  Though it is pretty funny to hear only the flute part.  I can only imagine that he had learned it as part of a band.  So he wasn't playing a "solo" per se, he was just playing a "part," sans the rest of the band (thankfully, sans the rest of the band, given the hour).

And if you think this story is hilarious, know that, as part of his personal troubles, the mystery-flautist is soon moving---perhaps to you're neighborhood!

PS.  More than one person asked if my Mother-In-Law lived next door to Ron Burgundy.


Hear the song on Youtube.

What I think of, when I hear the flute . . .

See it on Youtube.

Well, she's not angry.

Hear it on Youtube.

Billy Connolly "Irish Heartbeat"

We have a show called "The Hot Seat" and every week a different DJ hosts the show. Sometimes it's a station Jock. Sometimes it's a guest.

Last week we taped a show with Friend is Robert Kidd, an Irishman living in Scotland. His wife Heather made a donation to Friends of mvyradio to host a full hour, and we had him in during a Stateside visit.

The last song of his set is from Billy Connolly. I know Connolly as a comedian, occasional actor and sure-fire Talk Show guest. But Robert explained that he started off his career as a musician.

As part of a TV special, Connolly sang Van Morrison's "Irish Heartbeat," and that's how Robert ended his hour.

Robert kind of smiled at me when the bagpipes kicked in. I don't know if he was curious about my American reaction to their sound, or if he felt like it was a Celtic cliche, or if he was just happy to have successfully completed his hour.

But the sound did take me back.

I lived in the Virginia Highlands for much of the 90s. It is called the Highlands, in part because of it's strong cultural heritage, having been settled by Scots and Irish and English.

It's also referred to as the Highlands, because, well, there are a lot of hills.

I lived on the side of one.

And across the way, probably a full mile by car, on another hillside, facing our place, was the local arts center.

It was there, that some of those cultural traditions continued.

One night a week, someone at the arts center gave bagpipe lessons.

Now I'm not one of those folks who hates the bagpipes. It's a strong sound for sure. But when done right, it's not unpleasant.

But the sound of people learning bagpipes? A whole classroom full of them?

Yikes.

Every Tuesday night, the sound of skronking, out-of-sync, not-in-tune bagpipes flew, unhindered, from the hillside across the way right into my bedroom window.

Well, I'll tell you this, it didn't make me long for the green grass of Ireland . . .


Hear the song on Youtube.

Van Morrison "Have I Told You Lately"

At its core, the station I work for is a singer-songwriter station. We play lots of different kids of music---we're fairly eclectic---but the home-base sound is made by people who are writers first.

Because we're talking about some of the great songwriters (Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young), it stands to reason that even people who don't listen to mvyradio, know many of the songs we play, because more commercial artists make mainstream versions of their songs.

And here is another place where I need to check my snobbery.

The folks had a big Anniversary coming up, and my Dad (the closet romantic) wanted to take my Mom out on a special date. And to make the scene complete, he wanted me to get a song and put it on cassette for him (cassette! how quaint!), so when the car started up, so would the song.

"Peej, can you get me that Rod Stewart song?"

"Which one?"

"Have I Told You Lately That I Love You?"

"You mean the Van Morrison song?"

"No . . . no, the one by Rod Stewart."

"But the one that Van Morrison did. That one?"

"Oh, I don't know. I'm pretty sure it's a Rod Stewart song."

In my mind, Jack Black appears, for just a moment. Then I dismiss him.

"Yeah, the Rod Stewart song? I'll get that on cassette for you."

My anniversary gift to you, was to not act like an unctuous ass.


See the video on Youtube.


See the video on Youtube.


See the video on Youtube.

Van Morrison “Real Real Gone”

Hitting Random on the iTunes playlist . . .

“When you’re tired of what you got, try me.”

Much respect to the artists who acknowledge their influences, and sing about them, to insure that the audience goes hunting for the source.

I know plenty of music from the 60s and before, but only in the context of Oldies radio. So Carl Perkins and Elvis and The Beatles and The Stones and The Doors all entered my listening life at the same time. They were integrated into my consciousness on a level playing field, not as a progression of music styles through the years.

That makes context harder to ascribe to some classic artists. But that’s why I love Van Morrison’s “Real Real Gone.” Though originally recorded in 1980, it wasn’t officially release (or absorbed by me) until 1990. And at the time, I didn’t really know any of the artists Van gives a shout out to.

But it opened the door to those artists. So when I heard “In The Midnight Hour” by Wilson Pickett, I could see the connection “Real Real Gone” was drawing back to the 60s. When I heard Sam Cooke, I understood better the soul Van was trying to inject into his music.

When Solomon Burke came to town, I had to go see him.

And in a way probably more direct than Van intended, when I hear “Real Real Gone,” the artists whom he was invoking come alive to me in a way they would never have, just flipping past the Oldies station on the FM dial.


Clips of the artists mentioned in this post:


Hear the Solomon Burke concert I went to, in the mvyradio archives

Van is notoriously non-friendly to YouTube, so the only version of “Real Real Gone” I could find this the pictorial tribute to Colin Firth. Enjoy!


Sam Cooke


James Brown


Wilson Pickett


Solomon Burke


Gene Chandler