Re: music on cable tv
The bluegrass segment of the bifurcated "American Originals" station, which itself is one of 31 stations on "Music Choice," is pretty impressive, with a nice mix of classic bluegrass and newgrass, or whatever it's called these days. The Big Band and Blues stations also delve into both obscurities and more classic type stuff. Haven't checked out the "progressive" and "alternative rock" stations yet, and am not sure what's the difference. As for the classic country station, I tuned in last night, and as David Cantwell had mentioned, did catch a really nice flow of great tunes, including Del Reeves (Southern Belles of Southern Bell), Buck Owens (Waiting in Your Welfare Line), Merle (Fightin' Side of Me), Patsy Cline (San Antonio Rose), Gene Watson (You're out there doin what I'd like to be doin at home, or something along those lines), and more, until I had to make the switch to AE's incredible mini-series based on C.S. Forester's Hornblower books. -- Terry Smith np Doug Sahm's "Jukebox Music."
Shania and music on cable tv
Two things: Watched a bio on Shania on VH-1, and I'll confess some embarrassment at demonizing the gal -- holding her out as an example of all that's rotten about commercial country. She seems like a fairly straightforward working-class girl, who parlayed (to my ears, at least) modest talent into superstar status. I still don't like her music very much, but if I'm gonna play the blame game, then it belongs with the usual culprit, the triumph of marketing over substance, or the other usual culprit, there's no accounting for taste, mine or yours. I finally snagged that cable TV music service, where you get 31 different musical genre selections. I wanted it mainly to have access to "classic country." But lo and behold, classic country these days isn't what it used to be (since the word "classic" in terms of music changes over time). Anyhow, during the half-hour I was listening, the station played such classics as 80s vintage Oak Ridge Boys, Gary Morris, Ronny McDowell, and Alabama. So my dreams of a station that only plays Tammy, George, Buck, Loretta, Merle -- or Hank, Ray, Johnny, and Hank -- went up in smoke. I switched to the blues station, which was just dandy. -- Terry Smith
Re: Shania and music on cable tv
We have Music Choice here in KC, Terry, and if your set up's the same or similar, the definition of classic changes throughout the day. I tend to listen weekend mornings, if the Batman/Superman Adventures and Batman Beyond are reruns, and on Sat morns it's pretty much what you describe, but on Sun's it's your dream station. Of course, even that changes as the hours pass... --david cantwell 11:43 PM 4/7/99 -0400, you wrote: I finally snagged that cable TV music service, where you get 31 different musical genre selections. I wanted it mainly to have access to "classic country." But lo and behold, classic country these days isn't what it used to be (since the word "classic" in terms of music changes over time). Anyhow, during the half-hour I was listening, the station played such classics as 80s vintage Oak Ridge Boys, Gary Morris, Ronny McDowell, and Alabama. So my dreams of a station that only plays Tammy, George, Buck, Loretta, Merle -- or Hank, Ray, Johnny, and Hank -- went up in smoke. I switched to the blues station, which was just dandy. -- Terry Smith
