Some Misc. Program Notes

A number of listeners to SUNDAY SIMCHA have requested more Ladino music. Ladino music is, as many of you know, the music of the Sephardic Jews and while we have played some pieces by Robin Greenstein and Joe Elias I have been in contact with Dganit Dado who will be touring Canada and the Northeast later this year. She is an Israeli and brings a whole new sound to Ladino music---and, I suppose, a look as well:

A picture is worth a thousand words---I heard that somewhere. To get a sample of what her music sounds like just click on the right side of this page and scoot over to the PLAYLIST page where you will find some videos of her and her group in a very lively Ladino performance.





As to TRADITIONS I want to thank, once again, Smithsonian Folkways for all the wonderful Calypso material they have supplied. Smithsonian Folkways has truly kept and is keeping so many genres of music from being relegated to the dustbin of history. Reissuing, in wonderfully restored versions, so many genres---blues, traditional, calypso, folk, etc;.

I am also delighted that many of you have called in or written to request pieces for that segment Thrills of The Hills, Best in The West, and The Tops in Pops (term coined by Dave Miller of WPAT in the 1940s). While we won't do more than 10 or 15 minutes as a general rule I will try to get to as many requests as I can. A picture of Dave Miller would have been nice to put here but I suppose he had a face for radio---none available. So I guess we can just end with a picture of the WFDU transmitter located in Alpine, NJ and is quite historic in its own right---the birthplace of FM broadcasting and named after its creator---The Armstrong Tower.

Being a resident of Rockland County (near the Alpine location) I am always amazed when I realize how few people who drive down the Parkway never realize the historical significance of this structure. I had written some papers way back in school about it and FM broadcasting so perhaps my knowledge if it is expected but, still, one would think such a massive structure in that particular location would cause people to research it a bit. OK---time for all those folks to do some GOOGLING---a new verb.