Y’know, I wanna see a revitalized, happening, downtown Rochester as much as anybody.  Without a vibrant downtown area, the city will continue to be a destination for people going to work and precious little else.  The tumbleweeds will roll down Main Street every night at 6:30, right after the sidewalks are rolled up.  I hope the people in charge of the city & the county will be able to come to agreement on the  Renaissance Square project.  BUT….if you don’t have the money for a Performing Arts center, then you can’t build one!  Everybody would like to have a nice house, but if you or I don’t have the money, and no one’s lending it to us, you can’t build that house.  Just because you want it doesn’t mean you’re gonna have it.  A new performing arts center is appealing to everyone, but let’s be real…there’s no money for it.  A downtown MCC is crucial and a new bus terminal will be a welcome addition for the people who ride the bus regularly.  There’s gotta be a way to have them and make the project work!   Trying to build a Performing Arts Center without the $$ is destined to join the Fast Ferry as a huge mistake.

Sheeeeeeit….that was one helluva fine show!  That the rain held off was a good thing too.  I gotta say, both bands delivered most excellent sets…hard to say whose was stronger as there was no shortage of well-known classics.  I’d probably give the edge to BAD CO. with literally every song a killer: “Can’t Get Enough”, “Rock Steady,” Burnin’ Sky,”  “Run w/ The Pack,” “Movin’ On,” all of ‘em!  And they sounded great!  Paul Rodgers has still got a voice that is rich & powerful, and it’s strength and tone belie the fact that he’s 60+ years old.  F***’in awesome!  Ladies & Gentlemen, on guitar…Mick Ralphs!  When there are as many classic guitar riffs that Bad Co. has, you don’t want anyone other than the originator of those licks to be playin’  them.  There’s no more of a “classic” rock sound than a Gibson Les Paul thru a stack of Marshall amps.  Sweet!  Let’s not forget 2nd guitarist Howard Leese, who spent a bunch of his years with HEART.  He really added some depth and fine guitarring to the show!

Doobies were also really “on it.”  One hit after another, delivered with passion & enthusiasm made for a great opening set.  The addition of the sax player really rounded things out nicely, especially for “Takin’ It To The Streets,” and my fave of the night, “Long Train Runnin.”  Man, did that songs have BALLS!  “Listen To The Music,” China Grove” (of course!), “Black Water,” “Rockin’ Down The Highway,” and some excellent blues/boogie numbers.  A full shell of rockers @ the CMAC made a whole bunch of noise.  Whatta great way to start the long holiday weekend!

Hey CMAC…lose the $8 beers!  There’s a recession goin’ on, ya know!  Sheeeeit.

Any way you look at it, 50 years of age is too young to die.  Take away the eccentricities, the oddness, everything that made people raise their eyebrows, and you have one of the most original, incredible, exciting musical talents that people will ever see or hear.  I guess if he is to be remembered for anything it should be the music he made, his indelible stamp on popular music, and the joy he brought to his fans.  I must say that I too raised my eyebrows frequently from all of his public misadventures that fueld the tabloids.  I was very bitter about the fact that MJ owned the publishing rights to a majority of the BEATLES song catalog, and I hated it when I heard Beatles’ songs used for advertising and knew that he would profit from it.  But he was an incredible talent, and his passing is premature, stunning, and sad.

Have receieved more than a few phone calls about “Parties In The Park,” which ‘CMF has hosted (along with Gerard and the nice folks at UP ALL NIGHT PRODUCTIONS) since it’s inception a dozen years ago.  We are not involved this year with PITP as the City of Rochester decided to go “in another direction.”  Huh?  Not to worry though!  We’re cooking up some excellent,  FREE musical entertainment later on in July with “BANDS ON THE BRICKS” at Rochester’s Public Market, so watch this space and keep it locked on The Mighty 96.5 WCMF!

 DK

After many looks of disbelief and exclamations of  “You’re not on Facebook yet?!” I did indeed sign up on the world’s most popular social networking site over this past weekend.  Okay then.  So, am I now supposed to keep the world informed of my every move? Or do I just spend my time reading about others?  I’ll probably keep away from too many “status updates” but it is kinda cool seeing people and names that I haven’t been in regular contact with lately.  I can see the usefullness of the site in terms of tracking down and/or connecting with people who’ve been in your life at one point or another, but I can’t see living on the site, which apparently, many people do.  I did find out that you can spend a whole lotta time checking things out, but maybe that’s ’cause I’m a “newbie,” and was poking aorund all over the site.  It’s very flattering that people want to be my friend. So if you wanna be my friend, you know another place you can find me now.

DK

a much older picture of a much younger Me, GRAHAM NASH, & Scott Spezzano (mid-1980's)

Ya know, there are few things as enjoyable as going to a show at the amphitheatre in Canandaigua.  A beautiful Spring evening, the rolling green hills of the campus, and the warm, fuzzy, nostalgia that accompanies a CSN show.  It was a really good show.  The 3 grizzled Veterans of the Cosmic Wars ambled out on stage (Crosby & Stills looking a little more grizzled than Nash) and started the show with a very quiet and tasty selection of acoustic songs.  They opened with “Helplessly Hoping” and “You Don’t Have To Cry” before they they launched into a 4 song tribute to “some people they like,” which were the ROLLING STONES (Ruby Tuesday!), JAMES TAYLOR, TIM HARDIN, AND BOB DYLAN.  Very nice indeed.  After that came all of the time-tested favorites: “Long Time Gone,” “Southern Cross” (excellent!), “Wooden Ships,”  “Our House,” “Guinnevere” (AWESOME!), “Deja Vu” (again, AWESOME!) BUFALO SPRINGFIELD songs-”For What It’s Worth” & “Bluebird.”  The singalong encore of “Teach Your Children” was nice.  Noticeably missing (and missed!) was “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes.  No matter as there was plenty enough to groove on.  Besides, that’s a tough song to do and I think that if they thought they couldn’t make it worthwhile, then it was probably best.   The 3 men can still harmonize bee-yoo-tifully!  Granted, there’s not as much power behind the voices and the songs are sung in a somewhat lower and gentler register, but they still blend those beautiful and distinct voices together like no other performers.  Made the little hairs on my neck stand up. Just excellent.  Steven Stills has long been considered a most talented guitarist.  He still is.  Without a doubt.  He made his Stratocaster wail.  He attacked it in solos like he was beating off a swarm of angry hornets.  The crowd (median age of at least 45, I’d say) loved every minute of it.  So did I.

Where you there?  What’d you think of the show?  Feel free to comment!

DK

My Mom used to say, “If you live long enough, you’ll get cancer.”  Unfortunately, sometimes you don’t get to live a long enough time before this insidious disease can take you.  My mom died from cancer 8 years ago this month at age 69.  My beloved Uncle Al was only 53 when he passed.  My older brother was just diagnosed with prostate cancer, altho he’ll probably (hopefully) beat it.

Chances are that you, someone close to you, or someone you know has come face to face with cancer. 

It is with great sadness that I acknowledge the passing today (June 5, 2009) of PAT KELLY, a.k.a. “PK” from Piffard N.Y.  He was taken away at the tender age of 51 and leaves many friends and loved ones to mourn his passing.  I mourn his passing as well as PK was a long time, dedicated, loyal listener and friend of WCMF.  He loved PINK FLOYD and was always on the phone either requesting a Floyd song, or thanking us for playing one previously.  He was a real ball buster (in a good way!) and it was always a pleasure to speak with him and occaisionally run into him at ‘CMF happenings. He was one good dude.  Safe journey PK.

If you or someone you know and care about has been affected by cancer, maybe think of making a donation to the American Cancer Society. 

Pat Kelly-aka “PK”  WCMF fan, Pink Floyd fan, Razorsharks fan, Good Dude.

Welcome to My Blog.  Management here is pretty big on this kinda thing.  We all gotta blog, so I’m blogging too.  Personally, I don’t read blogs and I don’t know that what I write will be of any interest to anyone, but I will try to make things here worth the minutes that you may spend here hoping to read or find out something interesting.  Of course, if you’s have anything you want to know about, complain about, suggest or comment on, well, I’m all ears and will address your concerns.  Honestly.

A coupla things:  I have been here at the Mighty 96.5 WCMF for 28 years. (not counting the 3 months of “imposed exile” from Dec. 07-March 08)  I cannot be any more proud of this radio station or feel any more privileged to have worked here for so long.  It is quite uncommon for an air talent  to stay in one market for so many years.  It happens, but as a whole, radio has always been a very transient business by nature.  I was very fortunate early in my career to find something I like to do in a place I like to do it.  I love living and working in Rochester N.Y.

I love this radio station.  If you cut me, I will bleed WCMF.  I remember listening to the radio station while in college (SUNY Brockport) and when I got a job at the Ames Department store out that way, I always had it on in the car stereo department.  I used to tell the guy I worked with that I was gonna get a job at ‘CMF.  He told me he as gonna get a job at Kodak.  I don’t know if he ever did but I got the job I wanted and I’m still here.  And WCMF is still here.  After 40 years.  In one format!  We have always been Rock & Roll in one form or another.  I guess we know how to do it after all this time.  We have also dispensed with a number of challengers and wanna-be’s.  I’ll tell you this right now:  we have always and will always be committed to providing Rochester with the best possible Rock & Roll music, personalities (all “Live”, btw), features, giveaways, etc.  We actually give a shit about you.  WCMF doesn’t “import” talent from other markets.  Everyone on the air at WCMF lives here.  This radio station is part of the fabric of Rochester.  We span generations.  Your parents probably listened to us.  (that is, if your in your teens or 20’s or 30’s)  I (We) sincerely hope that you will continue to recognize WCMF as Rochester’s Premiere Rock & Roll Radio Station.

I hope you will listen to the radio station.  Lots!  I invite you to contact me with any questions, concerns, gripes, praise, whatever.

I will respond. 

You can post comments here, or email me at davekane@wcmf.com  If ya wanna chat, my direct phone # is 585.423.2906, so ya don’t have to mess around with going thru the switchboard.

Thanks for reading this.  More to come…