The first time I saw Eric Burdon in concert was at the Hollywood Bowl. He was rolling our "Eric Burdon Declares War" as the title of the act. Headlining was Canned Heat, and also on the bill were the following bands: John Lee Hooker, Sugarloaf, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and the MC was none other than Wolfman Jack. It was an all day event in 1971 and it was after Alan "Blind Owl" Wilson had died of a drug overdose at the age of 27. Yes, another one who "went to heaven at 27." Anyway, my boyfriend at the time, Ross, and I went to the show. We didn't have a ticket, but bought one for $1 and someone else gave us a ticket, so we both got in for ONE DOLLAR! Crazy. Those were the days my friend, when miracles happened and concert tickets cost less than the handling fees do now. So, with the sweet memories of that wonderful concert swimming through my brain, when the weather was warm, wine and smokes were shared with complete strangers, and anything seemed possible...even world peace...I thought I'd share this video of Eric Burdon and War from around that time. Oh, and I need to mention that War will be appearing with The Doobie Brothers at the Sleep Country Amphitheater on Sunday July 10th. I will be there. Hope you are as well.
Saturday night at Ridgefield's Sleep Country Amphitheater was so much fun. Â I expected to rock. Â Hard. Â I didn't expect that the show we would be getting was the BEST show I've ever seen from the Scorpions. Â Seriously! Â I was so delighted from the first note to the final desperate applause for a second encore that we didn't get, that I can't even explain how it moved me.
My son, Alec and I are great concert buddies. Â He grew up with Classic Rock, and has also turned me onto his music, so we both like all kinds of genres of concerts. Â On the way to the concert, KGON played a rock block of Scorpions, and I got all misty while listening to "Wind of Change" thinking that this may be the last time I would see them in concert. Â I know, weird to get actual tears in my eyes while thinking of a hard rockin' show but it happened.
We got "in line" on the I-5 exit lane and it took about 30 minutes to get into the venue and park. Â Not bad really when you consider that the Clark County Fair was also going on at the time. Â So, there were people walking everywhere, and thank God for the people directing traffic and stopping people from walking in front of cars because they weren't watching. Â This happened on the way out of the venue. Â I think there may have been beer involved.
Once inside I started looking for the KGON posse. Â Spotted Amy, her friend Teresa, and sister April and went over to hang with them. Â Then called Concert Dave who was working the KGON booth at the front of the venue. Â He said that they were doing a drawing for box seats and that he would meet us in about 10 minutes. Â When CD arrived, he had his nieces with him. Â Imagine, if you will, a posse of four blonde beauties flanking Dave. Â I can see why Uncle Dave likes to take the girls to shows. Â They do attract attention. Â Every one of them a beauty, inside and out.
Since it was a bit chilly, and there was a slight mist and breeze, we all headed for the coffee stand. Â I'm pretty sure Amy & Alec also had the $9 beers, but that provided a certain warmth. Â I'm always the DD, so no worries.
We got to the box seats that we had and KGON's Jeff Mitchell, who interviewed Klaus before the tour started, was there with Brian Blair, who you may have heard filling in on the morning show every now and then, and most often he can be heard on our sister station 94-7.  Then Kyle from promotions joined us. Mark Vodka came by to say hello. Yeah, we had a rockin' little group around us.  We watched about 4 songs from Dokken and it was fun.  That's pretty much it, fun.  The sound wasn't great, and Alec made the comment that you could hear everyone talking during the set, that's how low the sound was.  We were sitting right by the sound board, and they had a "good luck" gnome on the board, so I had to think that it just wasn't turned up for Dokken.  Hey, it was the Scorps night, I said, so don't worry....they will be LOUD!
Yes, they were LOUD...and PROUD...and BETTER THAN EVER. Â This band is saying their "farewell" on a high note. Â They are playing, singing, and bringing the show like I've never seen them do before. Â It's like there's a commitment within the ranks to say thank you to the fans, and to let us remember them at their best. Â This tour goes on until 2012, so we may see them come around the Northwest again. Â I hope so!
Highlights of the show include the set...with the drum riser for the Kottak Attack which was laid down all night, thank you, James!  Rudy coming out with the "Blackout" mask and smoking guitar was pretty cool...and funny. Love their sense of humor. Ask Marty sometime about meeting the band. They have a great sense of humor. They also seemed to have some kind of power outage at the end of that song, but didn't miss a thing because Kottak just kept the drums going and all was well.
I did lose my mind during "The Zoo" which is my FAVORITE Scorpions song of all time. I love them all, but that one just gets me. I think I actually screamed when the beginning signature beats started!
Another highlight was when our Marketing Maven, Amy the KGON'sider appeared on the big screen that they used during the show to feature various rockin' members of the audience. Amy had FRONT ROW TICKETS and I'm glad she did. Being a cutie- pie blonde, the camera guy had her on the display several times during the show. The first time she was on the screen, we were all screaming "AMY!" But I didn't get my camera out fast enough. Thank God they kept featuring her so I could get a picture! I think because Amy was rockin' her ASS off, is a reason they kept showing her on the screen. Not only cute, but obviously having a great time! And she knew the words to the song. Awesome!
So it was a great show, one I'll never forget, and a wonderful farewell for the Scorps. I do hope they make one more pass at the Northwest on the "Family Reunion" thing that they plan to do toward the end of the tour with UFO opening for them. Just think. UFO and Scorps. Oh yeah!
Today on My 3 Songs I gave away tickets to see Ringo and the All Starr Band in Eugene on Sunday. The winner, David, said that he had just seen McCartney, and he was so happy to now be able to take his 16 year old son to see Ringo! That right there made me warm all over. First that he has raised his son right, because he also said that his kid was a Beatlemaniac, and also that he had traveled to see McCartney on his tour.Â
Then to really seal my affection for him forever, David said he was "on his way to give blood in the KGON/Red Cross Let it Bleed Blood Drive" when he was listening to My 3 Songs, pulled over and made the call to win the tickets. There's so many reasons to love this guy in that statement. He was listening to me. He knew how to play the game. He was on his way to his appointment to give blood during our blood drive. He knew the answer and pulled over to be safe while he called to try and win the tickets. My heart soars like an eagle.
Hey, I love just about everyone I've ever met who listens to KGON because you are amazing, loyal, intelligent and wonderful folks, but listener David just earned some extra stripes today. Oh, and he couldn't wait to get his KGON "Let It Bleed" shirt!
Join in the effort! Make your appointment to GIVE BLOOD this week! Here's the link to find out more about it.Â
 I got a "back to school" themed mailer this weekend.  With only one week of real summer weather here, they are already trying to get our heads into fall. NO! Stop it right now! Okay, I know there's other states with school years that start REALLY early, but the Pacific Northwest is not one area with that problem.  I think they go back in August in California. Seems that when I was in Louisiana they went back early too. Of course those kids also get out of school for the year in May.Â
When my brother and his family lived in Hawaii, my nephews had "year round" school. Maybe they needed it there because of the truancy rate. I know I'd be skipping classes and heading for the beach a lot if I lived there. I went to college for one term at UC Santa Barbara, with the campus right on the beach, and couldn't concentrate to save my life. The "A" student fell right off the map and was scrambling for a "C" because my head just wasn't in it. That's why it only lasted one term.Â
Oh Hell....I had a hard time paying attention at the U of O because there was so much else going on that I wanted to be a part of! Until I discovered the Radio Broadcasting program. Then I got pretty serious about being at school at Lane Community College as much as I could...until I got a job and dropped out. Apologies to my dear friend and teacher, Jeff Young for that, but all I wanted to do that summer when I got hired was to live and breathe radio.Â
I got hired in the summer of 1975 at KFMY, in Eugene. It was a little daytime FM station with a very loose rock and roll free form format. In other words, if the record was in the room, it was fair game. I think we actually played Frank Zappa's "Dynamo Hum" at one point. Everything from everyone who was even remotely related to rock music would get played. During one of my morning shows you could hear everything from Led Zeppelin to Hoyt Axton. From Deep Purple to Joni Mitchell. From Ten Years After to Stevie Wonder. From Jimi Hendrix to Steeleye Span. We played it all and had a ball. Of course I was also on state food assistance because there wasn't much of a paycheck, and no health insurance, and sometimes I'd hit up my family for the electric bill or gasoline, but as far as being highly entertained with music and concerts, it was very satisfying. I was young, in love with my job, and there was no reason not to feel incredibly blessed.Â
I couldn't get enough of being there. In fact, I found a little house to rent that was as close to the station "on the ridgetop" as I could find and afford. As a result, it was a great place to gather before or after being on the air. I loved all my new radio gypsy friends. In no time at all they became my family. Many of those connections I made that year, at my first job in radio are people I'm still very close to. It only lasted a year, but man...what a time it was.Â
I got sidetracked from the original intent of those "Back to School" ads, but thinking about that summer is like ingesting an intoxicating mixture of memories.  The song "Ride the Tiger" by the Jefferson Starship will always be part of that memory.Â
"Look to the summer of seventy-five
All the world is gonna come alive
Do you want to ride the tiger?"
That was 35 years ago. The next year I was at KVAN, the year after that, here at KGON. Crazy. I had no plan but to do what I loved. Thank God it all worked out.
Have fun with those back to school sales. Oh and if your student finds something they love being a part of as much as I loved radio, give them your blessing. Somehow it will all work out.
I was stressing out about being on the air the night before I returned to the station. Seriously, you'd think that after all these years, it's second nature. Well, it is...but thinking about it is just...weird. I had an anxiety attack, thinking that things had changed dramatically and I wouldn't know how to push a button or something. So silly, but radio folks seem to be plagued with these nightmares. From everything from having a library filled with the wrong music, to showing up naked, and worse of all...DEAD AIR, we have these nightmares in common. I don't know one person who works in radio that hasn't had at least one agonizing night of terror courtesy of this business that we love so much. We share these dreams. Sometimes they aren't so much a horror, but just confusing, and after so many shows you'd think we would get over it, but we don't.Â
When I did stage productions in theater from grade school through college, I do not recall having one dream concerning the play that I was in. The minute I got my first airshift on the college station that only broadcasted to the cafeteria I started having nightmares. Good grief! I have no idea why. If it's performance anxiety, why didn't I have these night terrors when I could forget entire pages of dialogue?Â
The only dreams that equal the horror of the radio nightmare are the ones that I still have about tests at school. I'm in a class and don't know any of the answers and I forgot to wear pants. I still have these from time to time as well. Freud would have a field day with my dreams.
Meanwhile it was nice to return to my little slice of musical heaven on KGON. It truly was like riding a bike. I didn't forget how. Even if I wobbled some, I remembered how.
It's nice to be home.
Oh, and I'm feeling fine. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers.Â
Iris
