World, I'm going to let you in on something. My hometown is Rochester, NY, USA (though I did mention it once before). Rochester is not particularly well known for its music scene. Sure there are lots of local bands and musicians, but few really "make it". Most that have made it had to leave to do so (e.g. members of The Eagles, Foreigner, Sonic Youth, opera singer Renée Fleming, and fugelhorn player Chuck Mangione … see the list here). There is a relatively strong Jazz music scene, fostered by the yearly Rochester International Jazz Festival, and a Classical music scene, fostered by the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and the University of Rochester's Eastman School of Music, but other genres are not so strongly represented. I love my hometown, but Rochester is known more for cameras and film from Kodak, copiers from Xerox, contact lenses from Bausch & Lomb, historical civil rights figures Frederick Douglas and Susan B. Anthony, the yearly Lilac Festival for being the Flower City & Flour City, white hot dogs and the invention of "the garbage plate" at Nick Tahou Hots (as a vegetarian I like to get the Grilled Cheese Plate coated in ketchup and mustard), than it is for its music.
The radio stations also generally leave much to be desired. Classical, Classic Rock, Top 100 Pop & R&B, Soft Rock and Country are well covered, other genres generally need not apply. New music lately seems to be a rare thing on many of the stations too which seem to be playing older and older songs. Perhaps it is Rochester's older population, because we are also known for having our college educated youth flee the area and New York State for superior job opportunities and nightlife elsewhere in the country. We call it the "Brain Drain". The station I find myself listening to the most (because I am too cheap to get any satellite radio and I frequently forget to rotate my CDs in my car and I have yet to install a connection for my iPod) is a station by the name of WBER 90.5 FM "The Only Station That Matters". (You can listen online here.) It is partly publicly funded because it spends much of its time educating high school students about communications and radio broadcasting, actually broadcasting live from several high schools directly. Being the only station that really matters to me locally, it has had a profound impact on my musical tastes over the years. I've been a listener since the late 80s when I realized music was a very good thing.
On WBER there is a DJ I have listened to for years, Jennifer V, who current hosts the "New Wave Wednesday" show. It is always a pleasure to listen to her show which features her quirky personality and a healthy dose of primarily New Wave and other selections from WBER's Post-Punk, Alternative Rock, and Indie Rock collection. I was listening a couple of weeks ago and she mentioned she plays today's song, "Saturday Morning" by the Eels every Saturday at her home. Her family is likely to love/hate the song after playing it so many times, but I thought it was great! A little personal ceremony to start the weekend is something we all should have. So this morning my props go out to Jennifer V of WBER for sharing this song. I suppose they also go out to the Eels for making this fun song too!
Saturday morning
And who's gonna play with me
Six in the morning baby
I got a long long day ahead of me
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Click here for more info on Eels – Shootenanny! – "Saturday Morning".
The MP3 may be purchased here…
Eels - Shootenanny!
