One Crazy Week In Rock’n’Roll History

    Every week on the “Hidden Treasures Of Rock’n’Roll” show I feature five artists that were born or five albums that were released that week in the past.  I feature albums on the five-year anniversaries (25 years ago, 40 years ago, etc.) and I try especially to feature the artists when it’s a big birthday (50 or 65 years old, etc.).  After doing the show on Monday afternoons, I start planning next week’s show on Monday nights.  I go through my reference materials and look for the artists and albums for that week.  Some weeks are a little bare, and I have to really look to find five artists or albums to feature, but others weeks it’s really hard to narrow down the list to five.  The upcoming week, November 1st-7th was such a week.  I first looked at the birthdays, and several immediately were deemed “feature worthy”.  Keith Emerson is 71 on Monday the 2nd.  Birthdays on Mondays tend to get featured, as that is the day of the broadcast.  Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree is 48 on the 3rd.  One reason I stared doing the show was to feature artists like Porcupine Tree, great music that doesn’t get heard on the radio.  Doug Sahm, one of my favorite artists, and an important figure in 60’s music, was born on Nov. 6th, so that was another one.  And Joni Mitchell turns 72 on Nov. 7th, and as she is one of my favorite all-time artists, she is always featured.  So that’s four features there, just for birthdays, with one spot left for any albums released during the week.  In researching further, I see that the Grateful Dead’s “American Beauty” and Nick Drake’s “Bryter Layter” were both released on Nov. 1, 1970, making this the 45th anniversary of their release.  Then I see that The Band’s last great studio LP, “Northern Lights-Southern Cross”, was released 40 years ago this week on Nov. 1, 1975.  Yes’s great second album, “Time And A Word” was released 45 years ago on Nov. 2, 1970.  And finally, I see that David Bowie’s “The Man Who Sold The World” was also released 45 years ago on Nov. 4, 1970.  So that’s nine artists and albums worthy of being featured, and I can only feature five.  To feature more wouldn’t do justice to them all.  How did I get down to five?  I just featured Jon Anderson of Yes on this week’s show for his birthday, so “Time And A Word” is being left off.  I love Doug Sahm, but I do feature his music most years, so unfortunately not this year.  Same with Steven Wilson and Porcupine Tree, see you next year.  And finally “Bryter Layter” is a fine album, but not quite historically as important as the other features.  So the features this week will be KEITH EMERSON (having a Monday birthday helps), JONI MITCHELL, “American Beauty” (possibly the Dead’s best studio LP), “The Man Who Sold The World” (a great album, and historically important also), and “Northern Lights-Southern Cross (the final great album by one of the 20th Century’s great bands).  So there you have it, a look behind the scenes at what I have been doing for the last 15 years to bring you the show, every Monday from 12-4 PM CST at http//uicradio.org/ .  I hope you can join me on Monday!http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSSi4jZsDmo