I set the alarm most Sundays for 3 p.m. No matter where we are we tune in to WAYO’s Up On The Roof with Kyle. Today was no exception. His mix of early soul, jazz, R&B, doo-wop, and lesser-known 45s from the fifties through the seventies is exquisite. His radio voice alone takes you back a notch. And we’ve seen him spinning records a few times, most recently at Rochester Rapid Response Network’s benefit at Skylark, where we introduced ourselves. We met his friend Kelley there too, and Kelley suggested we all get together and take turns spinning 45s.
On Friday it happened. They each walked in with a 45 carrying case and we got down to business. Kyle started things off with a record he had just managed to track down, Irma Thomas’s “Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand).” Worth every penny he paid for that one! Kelley played a version of “Scotch and Soda” that was every bit as good as the Kingston Trio version I had ready to go. Kyle pulled out a Jamaican pressing on the Barron’s label, Joya Landis doing “When the Lights Are Low.” Kyle told us he has this idea to do a whole night somewhere where they can turn the lights down and play slow songs all night.
The Sapphires’ “Who Do You Love?,” Bertha Tillman’s “Oh My Angel,” Stax’s Wendy Rene, the familiar Barbara Mason with “Yes I’m Ready,” and Barbara Lewis’s “Pushing a Good Thing Too.” We have four Barbara Lewis 45s, but not this one. That is, we didn’t. Kyle told us he had two copies and gave us one. Peggi and I were pretty rabid music fans during this period, and these young guys can play a whole set of songs that are new to us.
We were out walking today when the alarm went off. Bo Diddley’s “Surfers Love Call,” Larry Birdsong’s “Since You Left Me Behind,” Della Reese’s “Blow Out the Sun,” and the Lafayettes’ “Life Is Too Short.”
Life is too short, but let’s not dwell on that.
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