The K-ZAP Short Tail (A Blog) – “I HAD to Pull Over, Officer”
Written by SacZAP2 on September 19, 2022
The K-ZAP Short Tail (A Blog) -I HAD to Pull Over, Officer”
Every music fan has their party story about a song on the radio that starts like this: “I ACTUALLY had to pull off to the side of the road to listen!” OR “I was home, but could NOT get out of the car till the song was over and I could find out who the band was!!”
These stories are burned in our minds the same as where you were when the towers fell or Lennon was shot. It’s a song not identifiable and half your mind is excitedly racing through names of bands it might be, but probably isn’t, and the other half is trying to just listen and be in the pure delight of the 3-4 minutes; the reason your defensive driving and public safety kicked in and you pulled over in the first place. Logically, these are debut albums. Fresh, new…
A few of mine that jump out: “Eli’s Coming”-Laura Nyro (1968), “It’s Not My Cross To Bear”-Allman Brothers (1969),“The Sultans of Swing”- Dire Straits (1978), “The Way It Is”- Bruce Hornsby (1986).
The first two I heard from a pirate radio station in Columbus, Indiana when I was in high school (the jock actually said his name was Johnny Dark), the last two were from WXRT in Chicago. I still love these songs, and I am just sure that when I hear them, my brain synapses strengthen and my double chin disappears for a few minutes. Ahh, youth! ( PLEASE feel obliged to tell your story in the “Comments” below.)
But you know what ALSO makes these miracles happen apart from all those self-help breakthrough shows on PBS late at night ?? New Music !!
New Music. It’s the reason K-ZAP stands out from the “heritage” radio programming crowd. A listener posted “Love the old format of dj picked music, and especially being able to rate songs so the dj’s know what their audience likes. I love hearing new music to me and I get that here… Reminds me of the days when FM radio ruled.”
Each week the big collective ears at K-ZAP, listen, gather and vote on new adds. New Music Mondays comes on the air just at the right time- Mondays!
In 2017, one of the songs that really lept out of the speakers of K-ZAP was titled “Where’s The Rain?” from the young brother-sister rock group Jocelyn & Chris Arndt from Albany, NY. To me, her huge voice was fabulous-part Florence (Florence & The Machine), part Chrissie Hynde, for sure influenced by Robert Plant. She can swoop and soar. Her “little” brother Chris is equally dazzling on guitar. And they can write! Here’s what I wrote back then when they were both Harvard students off for the summer , touring America, and we brought them here to Sacramento at Harlows: “Devastatingly powerful vocals & retro-rock guitar, with lyrics that run the gamut between vulnerable to all-out venomous. Young Jocelyn & Chris Arndt are creating a new generation of authentic album rock.”
So you are in luck, people—Jocelyn and Chris are coming back to Sacramento to play a FREE concert at the biggest free festival we do here—the “Farm to Fork” Festival on the Capitol Mall THIS Saturday, Sep. 24, 2022. 5pm-6pm, Bank of America Main Stage! K-ZAP has played them from their rock inception- “Ready, Steady, Go” “Shame,” “Footprints on the Moon,” “Sugar & Spice.”
Don’t miss them. https://www.farmtofork.com/events/jocelyn-chris-performance/
— Mindy Giles
*Here’s Dennis Newhall’s interview with them that aired on Cap Radio’s morning show, “Insight” on 8/14/2017 https://www.capradio.org/news/insight/2017/08/14/insight-081417c/
*And their website: https://www.jocelynandchris.info/home
