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(Dana Gillespie - Championship Water Skier, Pop Singer, David Bowie Discovery, Blues Belter . . in that order)

Most people probably remember Dana Gillespie from her RCA album "Weren't Born A Man" which had the distinction of a: being produced by David Bowie and b: best use of a corset in a photo shoot.

I suppose if you wanted to get really abstract about it, her pop-star period could resemble that of Samantha Fox, only in the 1960's. But I think that would be a cheap shot, because Dana Gillespie was (and still is) multi-talented, as is evidence by her solid reputation as a blues singer these last twenty years.

This particular track goes back to her first album issued in 1968 (although it dates to 1967. it wasn't issued in the states until a year later). It's rumored to feature a virtual who's who of London session musicians, including Jimmy Page. "You've Just Got To Know My Mind" opens the album Foolish Seasons, and is written by Donovan. It's a great track that sadly made little impression in the U.S. but was enough to establish her as a major artist in the U.K. and Europe (which was no mean feat, considering the competition at the time).

I admit, it rocks.

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( . . and not to the happiest place on earth either!)

In 1975, the big concern (post-Watergate) was where our consumer society was heading. Ralph Nader, riding the crest of the Consumer bandwagon was actively pursuing the development of a Consumer Advocacy Agency, geared toward safeguarding the people of the U.S. against unsafe water, unsafe cars, unsafe food and anything else seen as endangering our society.

Then, as now, it was met with a lot of resistance and fear. Fear that all these regulations would indeed hurt and doom our society, our economy and our free enterprise system, not improve on it. Trying to protect the American people from unscrupulous business practices was seen as a dangerous red flag in the eyes of the Republican leadership.

As part of its continuing series of National Town Meetings, broadcast by NPR, a debate and Q&A session took place on April 23, 1975. It featured Ralph Nader - Consumer advocate and Senator Carl Curtis (R-Nebraska).

It is interesting to note the level of desperation Curtis addresses the Meeting, citing dire consequences to even our Foreign Policy should such legislation become law.

Ralph Nader:

"The Consumer Advocacy Agency deals with such things as dangerous drugs, flammable fabrics, unsafe cars, gouging energy prices, contaminated food, and these are the areas that will be the province of the consumer agency. It also doesn’t regulate a thing. All it does is just make the government agencies, hold their feet to reason, and data. And if they can’t support their procedural and substantive courses of action, then this agency can take other agencies to court. That’s all. And that’s enough for big business."

Carl Curtis:

"I hold in my hand a letter from the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, vigorously opposing this act. They say is will disrupt emergency food aid to foreign nations through the beneficial PL-480 Assistance Food Program, and thus seriously affect U.S. foreign policy. I’ll illustrate how that can happen: The Consumer Advocacy Agency can challenge a decision to send some food abroad, on the ground that any food that is shipped out of this country, it will effect the price here. They can drag that on for a long time."

As I've pointed out in the past, and as I've shown with posts dealing with the question of Health Care, the wages of fear and distortion are enormous. The resistance towards anything that opposes the status quo is almost immediately met with the threat of dire consequences. Consequences that are not based on anything remotely resembling facts.

But it is all fear. It is sometimes the only card those about to lose power can play.

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A little Beethoven for this Sunday night. Recorded for Pathe` in Paris in 1938 by Boris Zadri, an all but forgotten name to collectors but an only slightly more familiar name with fans of the piano.

Another point of view on Beethoven. This time French.

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(For the Princely sum of 50k and your choice of shrinks)

In the mid-1950s a movement sprang up around the country - a mass exodus West and a mass exodus from the cities. The lure of sprawl, unobstructed views and tranquility screamed loudly everywhere. This was all part of the evolution of modern day America.

So much so, that it became the subject of books. One such book was The Exurbanites by AC Spectorsky.

The book was wildly popular in the 1950's as were its sentiments. So CBS Radio, as part of their "CBS Radio Workshop" did a quasi documentary/dramatic presentation on the book.

Narrated by Eric Sevareid and broadcast on March 30, 1956, The Exurbanites sought to answer the questions about the great trek west, the great exodus from the cities.

In retrospect, it's interesting listening - a distant point in our culture when things evolved and changed.

And one day we woke up and it was all different.

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(Procol Harum - if you named your band after a cat you'd have to be special too)

I think the gods of top-40 were a fickle bunch in the 1960's. Procol Harum had already established themselves as a unique and original band. Some say the forerunners of Art Rock (which, in retrospect is probably true - even though some Moody Blues aficionados would argue). In 1968, when A&M released this, their 3rd single, they issued "Quite Rightly So" as the A side and this track "In The Wee Small Hours Of Sixpence" as the B-side.

Neither side hit very well with the listeners or single buyers. Probably because the charts were a bit crowded with new and splashier singles. But still, Procol Harum always came out with something interesting, even if the marketplace was crowded.

I have found this song on various compilation albums, but very rarely have I heard this version. It is the single version, as issued by A&M, but for some reason a slower version is the one that shows up on most compilation albums. True, it's mono, and the stereo version is the slower one. But this version has much more energy and punch,possibly because it may be an earlier take. Just speculating.

At any rate, Procol Harum made a very big dent in the music scene from 1967 on.

And this was one of the reasons why.

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(Alan Price - From Animal to Lucky Man)

A jump into the mellower parts of the late 70s tonight. A set from Alan Price, recorded by the BBC from the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester in 1979.

I have always enjoyed Alan Price, going back to his days with Eric Burdon and The Animals. His music has gone through a lot of transformation over the years, from Blues to Funk to Pop to Jazz to Soundtracks - all of it well crafted and most of it pretty memorable, even after three decades since this concert was recorded.

I think it's safe to say he is probably not very well known to the music listening public of the past ten or so years. But that's not to say it's not worth the 55+ minutes to dig around and immerse yourself in something you're not familiar with. Right?

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(Junior's Eyes - The best known unknown band of the 60's)

Most people have probably never heard of Junior's Eyes. It's not a name that comes rolling off the tongue or conjures up some instant recognition. But if I told you they were David Bowie's backup back and played on Space Oddity and The Man Who Sold The World, then you'd at least have some idea. They never toured the U.S. and only had one album (their first) issued by A&M in 1969. No hit singles, no airplay to speak of and not given over to rave reviews with the press when it first came out. It's that curious mixture of psych, progressive and hard rock - not really settling in on any one thing that led to nonplussed assessments.

Some bands don't age well. Junior's Eyes isn't one of them. In retrospect they had a lot more to offer than they were given credit for and this track, "Playtime" gives ample evidence.

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(William F. Buckley - so excited over the thought of a Reagan White House he called him "Mister President" a year before the election)

Early on in his campaign, then-candidate Reagan made an appearance on the Firing Line program, hosted by William F.Buckley on January 27, 1980. So taken back by the thought of a Reagan White House, Buckley kept referring to Reagan as "Mister President", asking questions that almost seemed like a coaching session for what would be the grueling campaign for an election that would take place some eleven months later.

Buckley fawned reverential, asking the most maleable of soft-ball questions, as if he didn't want to know if there were any chinks in the Reagan armor, didn't want the audience to feel there was any other candidate even worth mentioning - acting as though the Carter Presidency was already over - it was merely a waiting game until inauguration.

During the one hour session, Reagan gets into domestic policy with a couple of samples:

Reagan on Domestic Energy: “ Vast areas, known to contain minerals and possibly such sources as oil and natural gas are rapidly being taken over by the Federal government. They’re formerly federal lands but they’re now being withdrawn from any multiple use, and restricted to . . .as wilderness areas where the only people that can possibly use those public lands is that small segment of the public who maybe has the energy and the time to go backpacking and hike up to a hill and say ‘isn’t that beautiful’ but none of the rest of us will ever get to see it because they won’t allow you to put a road in.”

Reagan on Education: “I would like to dissolve the 10 billion dollar National Department of Education created by President Carter, and turn schools back to the local school districts, where we built the greatest public school system the world has ever seen. I think I could make a case in the decline of public education when federal aid became federal interference.”

He also makes no bones about his eagerness to do away with regulations citing, among others, the EPA as an evil agency, bent on destroying free enterprise.

All in all, it's a fascinating glimpse into the Candidate Reagan, with a certain amount of goodnatured bumbling tossed in for good measure.

And Buckley loved every syllable of it.

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(Khruschev and Nixon in Moscow - the Revere Ware took backseat)

It was this day, fifty years ago that the Cold War became something of a pissing contest between Vice-President Nixon and Soviet Premier Nikita Khruschev.

It all started at the Moscow Fair on July 24, 1959 during a tour of a model kitchen, put together as an example of the typical American home by The State Department.

It quickly dissolved into a shouting match over who had the better advances in technology, even down to kitchen appliances.

It all pointed out how volatile our relationship was with the Soviet Union - how we could agree on literally nothing, and how adamant each side was portraying each other as backward and neanderthal.

Still, it made for good copy and every newspaper and magazine in the world had pictures of Nixon and Khruschev flailing arms around - all for the sake of a washer/dryer combination.

Typical of their exchange:

Nixon: "You won't conceded anything, will you?"

Kruschev: "We too, as you know, don't kill flies with our nostrils!"

Back when the Cold War became just a little bit funny.

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(Nixon in Caracas - It wasn't kisses they were throwing)

A look back at our previous stabs at foreign policy tonight. This one has to do with the ill-fated Vice-President Nixon Goodwill tour of Latin America in 1958.

The reaction was particularly hostile towards Nixon and it came as something of a surprise to the White House.

Initial reaction was Communist sympathizers whipping up anti-American sentiment, and targeting Nixon during his visit as a show to the world that the U.S. was losing support in the Southern Hemisphere.

But it seems the Anti-American sentiment had very little to do with Cold War posturing - we were simply the bad guys and no one in Washington wanted to admit it.

Shortly after the visit was cut short, CBS Radio ran a special edition of their "Radio Beat" discussion series and asked the question "what went wrong?"

The broadcast, from May 15, 1958 featured Moderator Stuart Novins and Galo Plaza, former President of Ecuador. Adolf A. Burleigh, former Assistant Secretary of State. Serafino Romualdi, Inter-American Representative for the AF of L/CIO (and also, it was later found, a long time CIA agent). Robert Alexander, Associate Professor of Economics at Rutgers University, Frances Grant, Secretary General of the Inter-American Center for Democracy and Freedom and CBS news correspondent Wells Church, who was traveling with the Nixon party.

This one hour panel discussion focuses on why the U.S. presence in Latin America has cultivated such a degree of hostility, and what has happened to U.S./Latin American relations since the end of World War 2.

Stuart Novins:

“ Vice-President Nixon is back in Washington. He and Mrs. Nixon have had a grueling personal experience. It’s not pleasant, to the say the least, when what starts out as a goodwill trip ends in booing, stone-throwing and a situation dangerous enough to cause the White House to alert Marines and paratroopers. It’s fair to say, I think, that this also was an unpleasant experience for most Americans. The realization that we are not liked is always shocking. But sober second thoughts follow the initial impact. Is it that we are not liked by large segments of South American, or is it simply that the Communists don’t like us? Does it matter whether we’re liked or not? Do we need to reexamine our national policies relating to South America? Is there a real communist threat there?"