Various Artists - The Golden Age Of Underground Radio Featuring Tom Donahue (1989)

"This is Tom Donahue and I'm here to play phonograph records."

Now here's an interesting artifact: a psychedelic rock sampler interspersed with DJ banter from Tom "Big Daddy" Donahue, creating the wonderful illusion of listening to a choice aircheck instead of playing a CD.

Excerpts are taken from Donahue's time at San Francisco's KSAN ("The Jive 95") radio from the years 1968-1972. Donahue (1928-1975) was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Radio Hall of Fame, the Rock Radio Hall of Fame, and the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame.

A second CD was released in 1997 featuring Los Angeles DJ B. Mitchel Reed of KMET.

Radio & Records, August 18, 1989, p. 46

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks: 25 tracks, 70 minutes

Wow - how long has it been since I heard that Canned Heat bluesy groove? I was only previously familiar with about half the tracks on the CD so I was introduced to a few new tunes, but the main attraction here is listening to the quips, news, and commercials from Donahue. What a fantastic and fascinating time capsule.

The CD also reminds me of what "classic rock" radio sounded like back in the 1980's. I'm not sure this will hold up to repeated spins, but I'll bet this is great listening in a hammock on the back porch on a bright, hot, lazy dazy summer afternoon. I'll find out next June.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None