Bruce Van Dyke

KLAP-FM in the LA Times (The sage saga of Flash and Mr. Cool)

In our eccentric and unorthodox little radio network connecting various outposts in the Great Desert, one of our fave stations is KLAP-FM, which serves the eccentric and unorthodox little town of Gerlach, Nevada.  in recent years, KLAP had a morning show hosted by two locals, Flash and Mr. Cool, and we’re delighted to see that their story has made the pages of no less than the L.A. Times.  If you’d like to read it, we invite you to do so.  The story is HERE.

Nothing better than good old-fashioned local radio done by locals……

Hunter heads off into transitive nightfall of diamonds……

So Robert Hunter just died, peacefully at his home in San Rafael. He made it to 78. No reason for death was given. Ok, fine.  As anybody who loves the Dead knows, without Hunter, The Dead wouldn’t be The Dead. Indeed, when the band was inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, Hunter was included. To this day, he is still the only non-performing member of a band to be inducted. Because the HOF people knew that without Hunter, The Dead wouldn’t be The Dead.

So yes….a tribute show will show up in the near future.  you betcha…….

(if you don’t want to wait for an official Jive Trib, here’s a very nice way to do your own.  Many of you undoubtedly have. 1970 was the year that Hunter REALLY stepped up. 1970 was the year Hunter truly became a member of the band, because his songs, written mostly with Jerry, were the foundation for not one but two of the Dead’s greatest studio albums….Workingman’s and American Beauty (Reality).  the Dead made a startling shift from psychedelic fire breathers to sweet semi-country songwriters (heavily influenced by their buddy David Crosby) in that pivotal year, and Hunter wrote the words to no less than 17 of the 18 new songs on these two essential albums. So just kick back and fire up those two discs for your own homegrown Insta-Trib to ole Bob. And then move on to Europe ’72 for the encore!)

various reminders that will help your life be better and richer and nicer

we get mail on a regular basis from folks who want to know what such and such a song was at 3:22 on a wednesday afternoon, and the truth is……this data is not easy to retrieve.  you know what is much better?  if you have the SHAZAM APP on your phone.  it’s free, it’s simple, avail for both apple and android, and IT WORKS.  that is, it will identify song and artist for you just by holding the phone up to the speaker while the song in question is playing.  it’s uncanny.  Shazam will give you song title, artist, album, and maybe even a pic or two.  and even with our wide open playlist, it is successful about 80-85% of the time.  SHAZAM. all the Jivest JiveRadio listeners have it….and use it!

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when it all gets so heh heh HEAVY……..

oh, it was a heavy monday morning.  the news was heavy.  the emails were heavy.  the Facebook posts were heavy.  the dumbells were…….well, you get the idea.  it was all a little TOO heavy.  how to lighten things up just a bit?

you know where i’m gonna go.  it was time for some stone cold JIVE.  i’m tellin’ ya…..it always works.  a nice half hour or more of good ole JIVE RADIO will ALWAYS help your head in some unforeseen way…..and maybe in a foreseen way, too!  as dave crosby once said, Music is Love.  we good with that.  think of Jive Radio as one of those big water trucks that soaks dirt roads to keep the dust down……The Jive Radio Truck is filled with musical love, sprayin’ it all over the dang desert, so just behind it once in a while and soak up that good, nourishing spray for a part of your day.  it will do you no harm…….

(so i click on the Jive and what’s the first song i hear?  Death Sound Blues, by Country Joe and The Fish!  what can I say…..it was just a HEAVY MONDAY!)

wireless speaker jive talk

so just a note here about the world of bluetooth wireless speakers.  there are a bunch out there, and many of them are pretty doggone good.  they sound fine and are convenient as hell.  when used in combination with the extremely slick new JiveRadio app (and when you look in google/apple app stores, remember that Jiveradio is one word), you can set up some nice music anywhere with just your phone/device, app, and speaker.  bingo, you’re an instant party.

the purpose of this post is to point you in the right direction for the wireless speaker.  you may only need one, so start with that.  if you want two, it’ll be even better, but one just may suffice.  any decent Big Electronics Store should have a nice display that will allow you to comparatively shop for just the right speaker.  The Best Buy in Reno down by Meadowood is a good example.  there, you can sample the speakers from UE Boom, Sony, JBL, and Bose. name brand stuff and all quite decent.  some even more than decent.  figure on a budget of 100 to 200 bucks.

It’s the digital age of wirelessness…..total portability, accessibility, and tunability.  and with apps like JR, Pandora, and Spotify……..you’ve got a serious library at your disposal for the picnic, park, beach, or wherever.

Our GREAT new app!

hey folks, just a heads up about how nice our new improved APP is.  once you download it on to your phone/device, JiveRadio is but a tap away.  and once you use it, you’ll get artist i.d., song title, nice volume control, and other information about the song and artist that’s currently playing.  we KNOW you’ll like it, and you’ll enjoy using it.  right now, i’ve got it hooked up with my JBL wireless speaker and it’s pretty doggone nice, convenient, and sounds pretty darn good.

it’s the modern way to Jive up a storm.  to get and install, just go to your app store, whether you are google or apple.  look for jiveradio (no spaces; one word), it’s free, it’s quick, and it’s ready to be your quick and simple bridge to the Land of Musical Jive!