Cruisin' The Decades with Brad Savage: July 2023
By Brad Savage - Summit FM Program Director
Now fast becoming a signature program or feature of The Summit FM, "Cruisin' The Decades - 100 Years of Music" is a real, interesting musical journey each week. The concept is music from the 1920's to the 2020's, any one song per decade, all in one hour. We "cruise" from era to era and sound to sound, and if we do it right, we're mixing it up nicely across many different classic (and current) sounds and songs. Listen for Cruisin' The Decades on Fridays at 5pm on The Summit.
The program is unique enough that it is now offered in a self-syndicated version to other public radio stations across the USA and beyond. If you can believe it, the show is now aired on 38 radio stations in USA, Canada, New Zealand, Honduras, and Germany. Our newest stations are "Radio Free Santa Fe" KBAC Santa Fe, NM and Blue Wave Radio on the island of Roatan, Honduras! Find out more about the show and listen to the "Global Edition" here: www.cruisinthedecades.com
You can also hear the "Global" version of the show on Saturday nights at midnight (aka Sunday at 12am).
One of my favorite tasks each week is to do a "deep dive" through any and all popular music archives from the past 100+ years and prepare the show. I have really gotten into the "pre-Rock N Roll" era and the roots of what led to today's modern sounds. This show has given me more "music appreciation" and sense of history than ever before. Here are some great songs that I have discovered in recent months, as a result of "Cruisin' The Decades".
DAVID BROMBERG
"I Will Not Be Your Fool"
(1976) - an outstanding classic blues jam, of lovin' gone wrong!
GENE AUSTIN
"My Blue Heaven"
(1928) - this song haunts my dreams and mind at 3am. I seriously have been waking up in the middle of the night with this tune running through my head. It is a "standard" of the Great American Songbook, done by many artists through the years. In 1956 Fats Domino did an R&B version of this song.
ERNEST TUBB
"Walkin' The Floor Over You"
(1941) - One of the giants and legends of country music. Case closed. Full stop. An all-time classic!
RUTH ETTING
"Shine On, Harvest Moon"
(1935) - One of the early starts of radio, stage, and recordings, she is just dynamite. Amazingly, this song is decades older than this recording. The song itself was written in 1908 by Nora Bayes and Jack Norworth.
EDWIN STARR
"War"
(1969) - This song is one of the best-known in the catalog from Motown Records. It was actually originally performed by The Temptations, though Edwin Starr's version charted higher.
One of the memorable requests from a "Cruisin' The Decades" listener from afar was for this song. I heard from a retired school teacher in Central Germany in March 2022, who requested this song. He listens on Shortwave Radio "Channel 292" from Rohrbach, Germany (www.channel292.com). In his message, he said he wanted to dedicate this song to the people of Russia and Ukraine, and he was very concerned about the conflict that had recently broken out, and continues today in the region.