A weekly radio show exploring the music of the 1960s: British Invasion, soul, psychedelia, garage, girl pop, regional hits, album cuts, b-sides, obscure 45s, and more
I’m waiting to hear from you, so get to typin’ !
Leave a comment below, or shoot me an email at kim@eljapa.com.
Hi Kim!
Thanks for your show, it’s one of my favorites! Neal from Dover, Delaware 🙂
Given that next weekend marks the 50th Anniversary of the Monterey Pop Festival, Hopefully we can get some live tracks from that landmark event worked into next weeks show!
Thanks, Aidan!
I was wondering if you’re still out there. I’m glad to hear from you.
There is so much great music from the 60s, I’m still running across cool new stuff every week. I know that you’re also a dedicated “digger”, and I’m always interested in hearing your finds as well. I’m forever grateful that you turned me on to “Something About You” by the Zephyrs. It’s one of my favorites!
Kim
Still diggin’ the sounds Kim! As someone who has been fortunate enough to enjoy every show from the beginning, I can say these latest shows are as excellent as anything you’ve done so far! You have been so thorough in the scope of music you’ve played, at this point I don’t think any of my “finds” would be anything new to your ears!
Thanks for the kind words, Donna!
*Dig *is broadcast on a dozen stations in the US and in the UK, and I hope it continues to grow, although I’ve never really marketed it
I clicked on the link to your band. Cool stuff! Does WNCW have your music? If not, send a CD to me at the station and I’ll make sure it gets in the right hands.
Thanks again-
Kim
Kim, I LOVE DIG! The thing I love the most about your show is the obscure bands and tracks you play! Jeesh, I can hear the A-sides on the commercial stations – thank you for sparing me more of the same old, same old. I learn so much from your show. I thought, “This show should be nationally syndicated!” I hope you get more stations picking it up. Keep digging!
Hey, thanks, Gary!
Kim, I just want to let you know how much I enjoy the show. I first heard it when I was vacationing in Asheville and now listen here. It truly is unique among radio shows about the 60s, a nice mix of known and unknowns and different styles.Thank you for your efforts.
Gary M. in Missouri
In response to Robert’s comment, I will politely disagree with his suggestion! Dig is absolutely perfect the way it is, and I wouldn’t want it to change for anything in the world! Kim, please keep both the wonderful B-sides and A-sides coming, and I especially dig those from out-of-nowhere 45s!
Aidan
Thanks for the vote of confidence, Aidan!… and it was great to hear from you again.
Kim
Hi Kim
I have a complaint . I do enjoy some ‘B’ sides , but I wish for less of them. I want to mention Hendrix, Joplin , post Joplin Big Brother , Jackie Wilson (!) ,
You played the United States of America . I have been a longtime fan of Joe Byrd. That’s OK , but there is so much more.
May I point you to a 1990’s documentary from The Learning Channel , ‘The History of Rock and Roll’ . I have some of it on VHS , and if you can’t find it , I will do a search.
My point is , this documentary outlines so much of the A side rock, soul and psychedelia that , I believe , would make your show more interesting.
That’s not to slam the B sides , but how about more of the wealth of the A sides?
Perhaps I’m spoiled. When the Rev Billy had a show , he used to delve into more of this , particularly Jackie Wilson , Sam Cooke , the Doors ? , James Brown
I see Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics here praising Jim Morrison.
Get my drift
Yours truly , Bob
Hi, Bob.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. It’s funny, but now that I play more A sides than when I first started the show, I get complaints about playing too much “obvious” music! I guess the proper balance is tough to achieve. Dig was conceived, though, as a deep cuts show, yet with more of an AM vibe than FM. My aim is to recreate the uplifting and fast-moving vibe of 1960s AM radio (while keeping things palatable to a public radio audience), so I am generally going to go easier on the heavier sounds that became more prominent later in the decade.
I grew up in the 1960s, and I was glued to my transistor radio most of the time. I worked at a record store all through high school. During college, I became an avid “digger”, hauling home crates of records from flea markets and junk stores every week, and poring over music magazines and collector guides. I’ve been so immersed in the music of the 1960s that I do sometimes tend to dismiss many A sides as being too obvious, even though now there are countless people who have never heard them as well as many who enjoy hearing them again. I appreciate you reminding me of that.
If your taste primarily leans in the Hendrix/Big Brother direction, you might want to check out a radio show called “Stuck in the Psychedelic Era”. You can find out more about it at hermitradio.com. The Hermit is definitely classic FM in his presentation and selections, while, as I said, I am more AM. Several radio stations carry our shows back-to-back to allow their listeners to revel in the full spectrum of 1960s pop music.
Again, I’m glad that you took the time to contact me, and I appreciate seeing things from your perspective.
Kim
Hi Kim,
I am delighted to be able to give a very warm welcome to Dig! to our little station community station Gravity FM here in the UK starting this week. It is broadcast Saturday evening at 9pm UK time on 97.2FM in Grantham and online at gravityfm.net.
Best wishes and keep rocking!
Andy McCall, Director at Gravity FM
Thanks, Andy! I’m excited to be joining the line-up at Gravity FM.
The hippest, grooviest show on the radio!! And, I don’t just say that because Kim is a friend and we work together. I listen to the show on air or on the stream every week just like all of the rest of you far out commenters here! DIG!
Thanks, Joe, you are a good friend indeed.
-Kim
I have been listening to Dig on WNCW almost since the beginning, and just when I think that you can’t top the last show, you do. Last night’s was the best so far, and the set that went from the End to the Stones to the Lemon Pipers was brilliant. Please don’t ever stop doing the show. It’s a highlight of my week and it lifts my spirits for days afterwards. Thank you very much for the obvious effort and thought that you put into each program.
Lanny W, listening on 90.7 in Greenville, SC
Thanks so much, Lanny!
Hello, Kim.
I heard Dig first on Classic Hits UK and am glad to find it here as well. It is so refreshing to hear the “good vibration” music given the respectful treatment usually reserved for the drug-induced wailing and thrashing about from ’69 onward (speaking in generalities, of course!) Do you have any Cilla Black to add to your mix? She was a favorite of mine back in the day.
Cheers,
Michael Paul in Leicester
Hi, Michael.
Thanks for listening, and writing.
I do indeed have quite a bit of Cilla Black in my collection. I have hesitated in playing any on the show because her style can be a little too “over the top” to American ears, often sounding more Broadway than Carnaby. I appreciate the nudge, though, and will reassess. I love Cilla, too!
Kim
Hello from Alamosa, CO! Just wanted to drop a line and say thanks for the fantastic show! It’s a dream come true for me. If you have anything by Los In from Argentina, I’d love to hear it.
Keep on diggin’
Spence
Hi, Spencer.
I have seen some great youtube videos of Los In, but I have never been able to get ahold of any good quality recordings. But I will indeed keep diggin’!
Kim
Hey, Kim, just want to thank you for all the wonderful music. I look forward to hearing your show every Sunday after lunch.
Jim
Thief River Falls
Thanks, Jim.
I am so lovin’ it that Dig is heard on Pioneer 90.1. That’s a wonderfully eclectic station you have there in northwest Minnesota!
Kim
I would like to respond to the question sent in by Kristen from Eugene, Oregon, on November 15, 2015. She asked about the “Female Beatles”, having seen them perform in Waikiki. The information you provided was mostly correct: they did record one 45rpm: “I Don’t Want to Cry”/”I Want You”. The members were Patti Devoe, Suzi Michaels, Janet Byrnes, and Marilyn (“Merry”) Dauphinais, however the 5th member was not Kathy Diamond: it was Rosann Kanellos (married name: Rosann Del Prete). In the photo here, they are from left to right: Merry, Janet, Patti, Suzi and Rosann. After she left the band, she, her husband, her brother and others formed the Perry Lane Orchestra. She lost touch with the other Female Beatles who apparently went on to become “Patti’s Groove” and, perhaps Kathy Diamond joined them then.
Rosann was my sister and, I’m saddened to tell you that she passed away in 1991. As gifted a musician as she was, she was one of the nicest and warmest individuals you could ever know. She is still missed so deeply. One of the two lovely children she left behind, her son, Louis Del Prete, has followed in his parents’ footsteps and is a very talented performer in his own right. I have copied him on this email. (www.louisdelprete.com)
Thank you for keeping the past alive through your website. We were touched to see that someone remembered the band from way back then. I’m sure she’d be quite pleased to hear this.
We’ll keep reading your site and look forward to many more memories from your readers.
Sincerely,
Mary (Kanellos) Haniotis
I know I’m sounding like a broken LP (terrible pun definitely intended), but man, what a great show this week! I was excited to see the Hard Times in there, I just recently came across that song! Everything else was 100% new to me and it was all great.
Lately I have been digging this tune from a band out of Gary, Indiana, and their name is a mouthful: Oscar Hamod & the Majestics:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3MzgQWWFz0.
I have definitely caught the “dig” bug from your wonderful show. C’est Magnifique!
Aidan
Thanks, Aidan!
I always appreciate your enthusiasm and words of encouragement.
Will definitely check out Oscar Hamod and the Majestics.
Have a great weekend.
Good evening! And Thank you. I’m trying to find if there’s a playlist for tonight. I haven’t been able to find it yet and wonder if it even exists?? I wanted to know who tonight’s first band was! Thank you! Have fun.
Hi, Anna.
Thanks for writing. I have emailed the show’s playlist to you.
Keep on diggin’ !
Kim
Hi!
So glad and equally surprised to learn of this web page! I wonder if you have any information on an all girl band called the Female Beatles… 1964. I saw them play at Reilly’s A-Go-Go cabaret in Waikiki, Honolulu, Hawaii in Oct/Nov of that year. I believe they were out of Toronto or New York. For years, I have been wondering what happened to them. They did cut a record or a single but I don’t remember the song.
Thank you for any information.
Kristen
Eugene, Oregon
Hi, Kristen.
I’m glad you found the Dig website, and I hope you’ll listen to the show when you get a chance.
Here’s what I’ve been able to track down about the Female Beatles: They formed in 1964 and released just one 45rpm, “I Don’t Want to Cry”/”I Want You”. I haven’t been able to find it posted anywhere online, so I have no idea what it sounds like, but I’d sure love to hear it! The members of the group were Kathy Diamond, Janet Byrnes, Marilyn Dauphinais, Patti Devoe, and Suzi Michaels. The girls later recorded under the name Patti’s Groove. After that, I don’t know.
I’m emailing you a photo of this groovy bunch of gals. Lucky you getting to see them perform!
Kim
RE: Rosary Ann I knew the Smubbs very well. Was with them on the first ever earth day at Bryant Park in NYC. Better than good times!!!!!
That is great, John. I was amazed how well you remembered those lyrics. I can’t even recite the lyrics to a song I heard just yesterday!
To all of the listeners of this show: I hope everyone in the WNCW listening area who can afford to have pledged in support of this wonderful program. Be sure to mention “Dig!” if you do, we need to get the word out about this show!
Aidan from Asheville
Kim did send me an email, Aidan, and yes, this is definitely the song I remember! And the amazing thing is how perfectly I had it embedded in my brain after not hearing it for 46 years or so! I just never could get it out of my mind. Probably the worst case of an earworm that ever was, especially since I’ve never been able to find anybody else who ever remembered hearing it before.
Thanks for the research!
John from Weaverville, NC
John,
Kim may have already contacted you but just in case I did find the song you are looking for. It is “Rosary Anne” by a group called the Smubbs hailing from Long Island, New York. It was originally released in 1968 as a 45, but popped up again a year later on their sole LP, hence why you may have heard in it 1969. Here it is on youtube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlE8LV1Dkwo. I hope I was of any help!
Aidan
P.S: Thanks for another great show this week Kim!
Hi Kim, I grew up in the 60’s in West Tennessee, listening to Memphis radio stations, and there was a song that got a lot of airplay for a short while in about 1969 (maybe early 1970) that I think was called “Pray More, Rosary Ann” that I don’t know who did, but might have been somebody like the McCoys, (or even maybe a local Memphis group, because the AOR station I mostly listened to (FM100) would have done something like that). I’ve searched websites like lyrics.com and others, including eMusic.com and other sites with no luck on finding it. The chorus went: Pray more, Rosary Ann — Your country’s not what it can be — Pray more, Rosary Ann — If you can, if you can. Then the verse was: Blue was the color of her Sunday dress — when she walked into church prayin’ for peace — Red was the color of the fire in Hell — as it ran through the blood in the streets — White was the color of her nation’s face — as it -?- -?- -?- of shame — Red, White, and Blue is the color of the flag — of a nation that’s losing its name.
Any ideas or remembrances? I know I didn’t dream it, but the song disappeared about as quickly as it showed up, and it made such an impression on me as a teenager that I can almost remember it all now, nearly 50 years later. By the way, I love your show!
John from Weaverville, NC
I was just listening to “the dig”. You played The Chocolate Watchband. What was the name of the song? May I suggest a song archive where we can see a playlist of the songs you played on the radio…
Hi, Jack.
The song you heard was “Gone and Passes By” from the album “No Way Out”. Each show’s playlist is generally posted the day after it airs at http://wncw.org/programs/dig. Without the direct address, it is hard to find on the WNCW website, I have to admit. It frustrates me as well.
Thanks for listening!
While we are recommending music here might I suggest listening to “You Can Forget About That” from Houston, Texas band Thursday’s Children (Yes, yet another great Texas group!): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8jFhokPrRc. Really, really catchy stuff that has been on my ipod for a few years but heard it again the other day and it made me think of Dig!
Great suggestion, Aidan. Thursday’s Children is a band that I had somehow missed. That’s the really great thing about 60s music- there are always cool discoveries still to be made!
Hi Kim, I listened to your show on Saturday on the way back home from Ocean City, MD. Great Show!!! I love the music from the sixties!! As a matter of fact…I started a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/greatmusicpast?ref=hl (Great Folk and Rock Artists of the 60’s and 70’s). I have a recommendation……Take a look at the music of Jackson C. Frank ….I believe he is one of the most important artists of the mid-60s that no one knows about.
Hi, Ray. Thanks for turning me on to Jackson C Frank. You’ll be hearing him on the show in the very near future.
Howdy! I really look forward to your show and wish it were longer. My sister and I have been racking our tiny brains to figure out who did a song we believe is called “Beat the Clock” or maybe “The Carnival is Over” ? I was about 9 or 10 at the time so, I’m thinking 1966-67? Help !!!
Hi, Siri.
Your memory serves you well- “Beat the Clock” came out in the spring of 1967. It was done by the McCoys, who had had a huge hit a couple of years before with “Hang On Sloopy”. “Beat the Clock” barely scraped into the Top 40, so it’s remarkable that you and your sister remember it. Thanks for jogging my memory, too. I’ve got it lined up to play on this week’s show!
Denny,
The song Kim played about jumping off the Tallahatchee Bridge was “Ode to Billie Joe” by the amazing Bobbie Gentry. If you like that one check out it’s b-side “Mississippi Delta” which Kim also played in the past in addition to several other Gentry songs. You can’t go wrong with any of her music!
Thanks for responding, Aidan! I also emailed Denny directly, so hopefully he is diggin’ some Bobbie Gentry as we speak…
Kim what was that song about jumping off the Tallahassee bridge. Awesome voice. Simplistically perfect! Please let me know. Thx!
Hey Kim!
Still haven’t missed a show and I am so glad you are still spinning these wonderful nuggets every Thursday! I am most impressed by how every song you play seems to have been so deeply considered. So many of these songs are overlooked album cuts and b-sides that I would never have had the privilege of knowing if it wasn’t for you. The time and effort you put into this show is truly remarkable!
All the best,
-Aidan
Thanks so much for the kind words, Aidan! I really appreciate it.
Kim.
I have been enjoying listening to Dig since it started airing here in Ocean City. I really enjoy it and I thank you for showcasing the music that is mostly forgotten these days. I also enjoy the tidbits of information that you share about the songs. Your show is a real favorite at our house and I look forward to it every Saturday afternoon.
Earl Howerton
Hi, Kim.
Thanks for that rare Supremes track last night plus it was great to hear Tim Hardin in the mix as well.
I think your show is amazing. It’s so great to hear music from the 60s besides the usual “oldies”, and more than just the Woodstock-era stuff that usually gets all the attention.
To my ears, the music of the 60s sounds hipper and fresher than most of the stuff coming out today!
Jamie, Hickory
Hi Kim! I’m glad to have found you again! Having to listen over the internet anyway, now that I am out of reliable broadcast range over here in Oak Ridge Tennessee and with no Knoxville translator, I’m glad you have archived your program. But if I’m travelling within range on a Thursday evening I’ll try to listen in.
Hey, Peter! It’s so good to hear from you. Thanks for tuning in over the innertubes!
I’d like to archive more shows, but I’m trying to avoid running afoul of copyright regulations.
Hey, Kim!
Just want to express appreciation for the show. The first time I heard it, I thought I was dreaming. I’m still blown away to hear someone so deeply and intelligently cover all the great music that was coming out in the 60s, not just the hippie/drug stuff or the same old hits. And to hear Ultimate Spinach and Baby Washington in the same show last night- RESPECT!
Terry Strickland
You just get it! This music you find is great…. Stuff you don’t hear all the time. PLEASE keep at it, and how about expanding to 2 hours?!
Hey, Susan! Thanks for the message. I’m glad you enjoy the music. I usually go through about 20 songs per show, so two hours would be a bit of a tall order. But…who knows? It might happen!
Hi Kim and thank you again for keeping up the fantastic job with The Dig! I try to catch it every week. Wanted to let you know there will be a Gene Clark/Gram Parsons tribute concert at the Grey Eagle featuring many of the Asheville area’s finest artists on Friday Dec. 19. Would appreciate it if you could plug this on your next show as you and your listeners might be interested in checking it out.
LOVE Dig! Would love to hear some Duffy Power if you have anything. Thanks!
I love Dig! I wish the show was longer. There is s much great.music back then. Thank you for creating the show and playing such awesome music on Dig.
Once again, loved the show! I really loved that Don Grady tune. I have searched around but haven’t been able to find it. I found a version by the Yellow Balloon but it sounds a little different (I might be crazy but I didn’t remember the horns on the version you played). Is there any way to find his solo version on mp3? Anyways, keep up the wonderful work and thanks so much for all the gems.
Cheers,
Aidan
Hi Kim,
I am a massive Sixties music fan and have always cherished records by The Kinks, The Who, The Yardbirds and or course some of the lesser-known garage-rock groups. I am ecstatic every time your show comes on and so far I have caught all four of them and have diligently tracked down most of the songs for my ipod. I thank you for all the amazing new music (well, new to me) that you have introduced me to. Now I have to check out the songs you have posted here!
Thanks,
Aidan from Asheville
Hi Kim,
Wow, thank you for bringing this stash of obscure 60’s gems to WNCW. I have caught your first two shows now and really dug the music and your extensive knowledge of it as well. Many of these songs I have never heard before! It is good that you are on the air again…please keep up this amazing work!
Peace,
Gary from Blythewood, SC
KIm, we have missed you. Great to have you back on the air! Groovy show, left me stoked! Can’t wait till next week. Jim and Jan, Hot Springs.