Lazy8 wrote:

In college (cough) I made a handy $7 for the first go round and $15 for the second in a week. That’s big money for the weekend in the mid 70s at LSU.

I popped into the adjacent bookstore, milling about, and asked the guy what was new and good. He grabbed me, dragged me to the section, and thrust a book in my hand that he happened to be wearing the shirt of. I read it in one sitting, and then went on to read every single one of the author’s other books in one sitting.

The book? It begins like this…”This is my favorite book in all the world, although I have never read it.”

 Lazy8 wrote: They have special give a ways for platelet donators.  And a online store where you get credits for gift cards from various sources. I have a stack of t- shirts.
You get double credits for doing an apheresis. Which has allowed me to get to over 90 gallons so far. Aiming for 100 gallons. I've been donating since '75. Apheresis since '77.
I go every two weeks. It does take almost 2 hours for the procedure. Where doing a regular whole blood pint draw takes me just 10 minutes. As you are aware of.
Those double red donations are tough too.

 KurtfromLaQuinta wrote:
Wait...you get PAID for apheresis? All I ever got was a bottle of water and a fistful of Tums. I do a Power Red donation these days and they make me wait 10 weeks between. But I have gotten several t-shirts.

 Lazy8 wrote: I wasn't very cool in High School. I really don't care. A late bloomer here. But that allowed me to continue to bloom even as an almost 70 year old. A month away.
Going to my 50th class reunion a year ago, and seeing all those old people, made me glad I was slow in developing. He haw!
My granddaughter calls me cool. There's that. She loves my truck. Wait till I give her  a ride in my Daytona.

As you... I'm still seeking out music everyday. A fairly safe drug.
It can get expensive. BUT... I do an apheresis every two weeks at the blood bank where they take my platlets and plasma. They give you credits for each donation. I use them like my lunch money back in the day to buy my music.

Debbie and I have been to Catalina Island on one of our past anniversaries. We've also been to Anacapa Island. I recently spent a couple of nights camping on Santa Cruz Island. A semi- tour of the Channel Islands. I prefer Santa Cruz. There's no motels, bars or clubs there. Prefer that.
Catalina is a fun place though. I hope you get there.

The "Twang" has always been there in my taste. People ask me if I like "Country Music". Not really. Just that small niche where country stations won't play it because it rocks too much.  And rock stations won't play it because it's too country. That pretty much describes my taste in all music. Nobody plays it.

The Turtles were "Garage" to me. Still love the "Garage Rock".
Sorry about the time jump
Yeah... I probably should have done a three disc'er as you did to fill in the gaps better.
My next disc will probably be some of my really favorite songs. That might fill in the gaps somewhat. It's hard when one has so many favorites. My favorite song is from the 90's.

 KurtfromLaQuinta wrote:
I feel like if we had met in high school (not that that timeline is possible) we'd have been the music nerds shuffling around in a Homestarrunner cartoon muttering "Band name." "Band name." to each other. Except I was way too broke to be that cool then. Maybe I could have just asoired to be that cool.

I feel very lucky to live where I can still find terrestrial radio with actual shows, curated by real people with real personalities and tastes in music. It's a big reason I gravitated to RP: when you're introduced to music by someone who's passionate about it and can tell you something about the people who made it you listen closer.

Come to think of it, that's what these mix discs do.

I remember some of the same stations from my days in SoCal. I was there for the punk/new wave era and those stations (and their DJs) played a crucial role in forming my own tastes, but more about that when it's my turn. Let's talk about this twang-fueled document you've made!


This collection really drives home how fast popular music was changing in the early rock & roll era, and who much that change has slowed down. A 10 year old song in 1960 sounded ancient; today a 10 year old song is current.

28 Miles (Santa Catalina) - I may get to visit there this year. They host a dance weekend that's on my bucket list. Won't sound anything like this, which I just heard for the first time. In fact we had to get to the surf era before we hit a song I was familiar with.

Concrete and Clay - This sounds so chrome-bumper-and-fuzzy-dice! Also new to me.

It Ain't Me Babe - Funny that this one actually made its way into my consciousness/tinny AM radio speakers while so many of the others didn't.

Carry On to Tomorrow - Would never have guessed this was Badfinger. I didn't discover them until they rocked much harder, Very cool.

Message From the Drum - Ditto, remember Redbone as a much heavier sound.

Scotty's Lament - That's quite a time jump. Was there a lost decade for you? Also quite a surprise—would never guessed this band.

One Time One Night - Is this really that old? Wow, I guess I'm old too.

Propinquity - I was introduced to this song by a band by the same name, recorded on a label also called Propinquity. Guess it made quite an impression. Great song too, but I absolutely don't remember it from back in the day. Your tastes ranged a lot wider than mine, and probably still do. Mike Nesmith is officially forgiven for the Monkees. Well, most of them.

Bad Reputation - Only one tune from the '90s? I mean it's a cool song and all, but...

Star Witness - Oh, that twang! And this practically forces me to sing harmony to the chorus.

That was a terrific tour, and a great glimpse at how you came to have such broad tastes. How that musical curiosity is never satisfied!

 KurtfromLaQuinta wrote:
The return of the multi disc mix! I remember this trend. It's in NH safe and sound. 

 Lazy8 wrote: Wow!
A three pack!

i see DUI
discs under the influence

 miamizsun wrote:

 Steely_D wrote:

"the blues are the truth"
-some philosopher musician pouring out their life story

Finished up Side A tonight. Holy crap am I morose? It's just that all the good songs are about misery. Gonna have to think about this.

 KurtfromLaQuinta wrote:
Tried to throw it into a volcano but ended up giving it the finger instead.

 KurtfromLaQuinta wrote:

don't worry i'll eventually catch his slack

 ColdMiser wrote: Thanks Mr.Miser.
The The's were very common back then for sure.

I'm hoping the people at R. Paradise pay a little attention to all the people on these forum pages.
I know when I went up to their territory last summer, Alanna was interested on what and where I was getting my music from.
She even took notes. 

 Lazy8 wrote: You broke up the procrastination ring?

 Lazy8 wrote:

Whew. I'll slow down and ship nearer to the end of the month, then. Thanks!

I had an opportunity to get to town so I shipped my discs today. Sorry I'm a bit early.

 KurtfromLaQuinta wrote:
You really took Lazy 8's suggestion to a top shelf level. I really enjoyed your "history" of radio listening and your evolving tastes and equipment. Similar to you, my mom always had the radio on and I absorbed the music organically. Dad always liked to put an album on of something foreign or classical when he had time to relax to music, which wasn't often. I am remiss that I could have added an "influences" section on my last Mini Miser. Sorry Marty! I'll work up something in the future. So my thoughts as I tuned in to your radio toure de force.

- The KFWB-AM selections - 50's radio must have been a gas! Alas before my time (born in 1964)
- Pipeline - This song must have been played on some California radio station every 10 minutes back in that time, Surfing Soundtrack.
- Love - My knowledge of this band is pretty much limited to Alone Again Or. Probably didn't get much airplay on the East Coast.
- KHJ-AM - Why did most bands have "The" before their names? Just wondering. 
- Turn Down Day - I was 2 when this came out. I must have been smiling when it came on Mom's radio because I really really like this tune.
- Badfinger - Great introduction into 1970's music, both lyrically and sonically. 
- The Connells - There we go with the "The" again. You can hear "The" Byrds influence here. If they had Tom Petty they might have gone somewhere. 
- Los Lobos - This brings back memories of my first professional job and listening to WBCN Boston while drafting away the day.
- KPIG - I felt Soooo Cooool listening to this station on the internet. Sitting in a dark office in New Jersey hearing the surf report always made my day. 
- Freedy Johnson - Funny I've been hearing this guy on the Alexa lately. Otherwise would have no idea who he was. I dig him!
- Radio Paradise - It must have been impossible to pick a song here, but this one is Stellar and definitely a good representation of what you hear there. 
- Power Pop Show - PP is one of my pleasures. I will have to seek this station out. 

Great mix, killer artwork/cover. You really should send a copy of this to William in Eureka. I'll bet he would really enjoy it along with your background info on the selections. Hope to hear some of the other members influences down the road. 

 KurtfromLaQuinta wrote:

nice surprises here
some of this was new to me
and some i had not heard in quite some time
so listening with renewed ears
good job with the artwork as usual
we are definitely musical relatives

This set was inspired by Mr. 8 with his suggestion six months back... “After a few years of getting to know y'all via your musical tastes it might be interesting to know where those tastes come from. Would anybody be interested in sharing their musical influences in the form of a song list. What was formative to your musical tastes? That could be a shared theme for this year's discs.”

So here explains my influences. All the corresponding songs tie together with the radio source of the time.

My parents were the start of it. They certainly weren’t "sophisticated" in their musical taste. More of "just listeners” of the current times. My dad was a fan of Big Band/ World War 2 songs early on in his life. My mom... whatever was playing on the radio that day. Hence, my selection of the first few songs.
She was a stay-at-home mom... well, she worked nights. While my dad worked days.  And I remember her listening to the radio during the day. It started in ’57 when I was 4 years old. And the influences from the radio continued from there.

Both of my parents preferred KFWB-AM from Los Angeles. Which had some famous DJ’s like B. Mitchel Reid and Gary Owens. My dad was a whistler... a really good one too. And I remember him doing that to many songs like the Sarah Vaughn song I chose. He loved that song. 

I slowly gravitated to KRLA-AM, Los Angeles because I thought they were cooler. And they had some famous DJ’s too. Even Casey Kasem. They even had lyrics added to The Tradewinds song “New York’s a Lonely Town”... “From Central Park to Pasadena’s such a long way/ And there’s no KRLA/ I feel so out of it walkin’ down Broadway/Sure do miss KRLA.”
Then I discovered KHJ-AM “Boss Radio”! Some of the coolest DJ’s around! The Real Don Steele, Humble Harv, Robert W. Morgan, Sam Riddle (who had his own TV show locally... “The Groovy Show”), Charlie Tuna. They had a small weekly flyer handed out at all the record stores showing the “Boss 30” song list for the week. I still have a bunch of those. That’s when I purchased my 45’s with my saved lunch money. I still have a bunch of those. I still revisit songs from the 60’

The very end of the 60’s had me seeking more unique music and discovering FM radio. I always liked KPPC-FM Los Angeles. They really had an eclectic choice of music. By then we moved to the desert in late ’69 and it was indeed a desert wasteland as far as any kind of radio stations. Playing around with a decent FM tuner at home and after putting an antenna up on the roof... after a protest from my parents... I was able to get KGB- FM from San Diego. It wasn’t a great signal., but it was something.

Soon, after a year out of high school, I purchased my truck and discovered what a FM sensitivity rating meant. I was getting a new radio every couple of years buying the most sensitive tuner I could find. I was working pretty hard by then (still at it). I had a system in my truck using a fader from the inside speakers to an outside, standard home outlet split to left and right “channels”. I would use regular extension cords to get the music inside the house I was working on... plugging into some nice, durable box speakers. I used this setup for quite a few years. And it worked great... better than opening the doors of my truck and blasting the sound all over the job site. Which got a lot of guys in trouble.

This is where I discovered New Wave/ Cutting Edge from KROQ-FM, Los Angeles and 91X in San Diego. I listened to those two stations for a long time.
Again, these weren't very good signals... but it was better than what was happening in the desert.

By this time, new local radio stations were interfering with those long-distance stations. I started to mix cassettes so I could have my own music going.

We have had TV cable here in the Coachella Valley for years. So, when they offered a music cable/ satellite channel box for music... I got one. They had an “Independent Channel” on it so I could get better music again. I used to take it to work in a milk crate and would “tap in” to a cable box on the street and had a small amp to power it with speakers attached. I was desperate for good music. I eventually abandoned this system. It was kind of expensive. And I was at the mercy of hacking into the cable input at its source on the street. I needed a long coax cable and it was a pain hooking it up all the time. Just too big and clunky.


KCRW-FM Los Angeles had a frequency down here in the desert, so I was able to listen to them. Unfortunately, they only had a music program from 9 to noon called "Morning Comes Eclectic". It was great for 3 hours. This was a bad time for me because I had to listen to local music for the rest of the day. Not good. They got rid of their more seasoned DJ’s and started to play more “current” EDM/ semi- Rap stuff a few years back. No bueno.

Then came the early days of internet radio where I discovered KPIG-FM Freedom, California, KOTR-FM Cambria, California... then Radio Paradise. But I had no way to get that on job sites. So, I made a sheet metal box that housed a 120 volt to 12 volt converter, a decent amp, a car stereo, collapsible antenna and small speakers that sounded very good. It was portable and “kind of lightweight”. This allowed me to start hooking my phone up Bluetooth wise to that car stereo. Life became better at that point by allowing me to expand my choices.

KHUM-FM Ferndale, California... which would play my request and allow me to teach the DJ’s there about my “odd” music taste... but they liked them. And after I sent them the files, they would add them to their playlist.

With the internet, I was able to seek out my musical fetishes. "The Power Pop Show" put out there by Jeff Sheldon, who listens to Radio Paradise, and is in multiple bands... (Spinning Jennies/ Well Wishers/ Deadlights). And I’ve since discovered “It’s A Jangle Out There” MAIN-FM Castlemain, Australia.

Now I have a nice sounding, little battery powered Bluetooth speaker with my iPhone, and with my almost 6,600 favorite songs on iTunes in the cloud. I can access them anytime anyplace. My own radio station. But I’m still constantly seeking new stuff out.

All these stations turned me on to some great music that I would probably would have never discovered. Music is my drug. The radio... through its many incarnations... is still my toy.

Sorry about those few mistakes on the back cover.
The fat finger complex strikes again.