When I first commenced my radio program, The Sunday Smorgasbord, it was “our” not “my”. I originally had a co-host who stuck with me for a couple of years and for that, Mark “Knackers” Corlett, I thank you. Since going out on my own I’ve found I like not having too much of a blueprint before I enter the studio. I tend to just “wing it” on the night with the intent to mix it up as much as possible and only have about half a dozen songs in mind for a two-hour show. I know, crazy right?
Over the years I have developed some regular segments whilst retaining my original intention of mainly “winging it”. The last couple of years or so I have ended my show with a segment I dubbed the S’Long Song. This was an opportunity to duck out early whilst playing lengthier tracks that wouldn’t often get an airing on radio. It was my way of saying “so long” each week. Of course some of the more obvious musical acts turn up when you intentionally pick performances longer than 10 minutes. Pink Floyd being the most obvious.
Pink Floyd, not scared of the odd lengthy track
With tracks like “Rime Of The Ancient Mariner” from 1984’s Powerslave album, “Isle Of Avalon” from 2010’s The Final Frontier and the epic “Empire Of The Clouds” from last year’s The Book Of Souls, Iron Maiden were also an obvious choice.
The kings of epic metal tracks, Iron Maiden
Other obvious acts you would expect to hear epic tracks from also turned up such as Led Zeppelin, Meat Loaf, Deep Purple, Dream Theater, The Doors, Therion, Neil Young, Nightwish and King Crimson. What I found interesting was some of the less likely artists that also released lengthier tracks. These included Gillian Welch, Boz Scaggs, Eagles and Chuck Berry!
Concerto B. Goode anyone?
Seeking out new lengthier tracks also provided me the opportunity to hear artists I hadn’t heard before, or in some cases, artists I’d never even heard of. These included Roy Harper, Titus Andronicus, The Seeds, Comus and Chantel McGregor.
A happy discovery, singer-songwriter-guitarist Chantel McGregor
This Sunday night’s show, 29 May 2016, will be the last to feature the S’Long Song segment. I will introduce a new segment to end my show the following week. If you’re interested you can tune in to The Sunday Smorgasbord Sunday nights from 8pm on 98.9 TYGA FM here in the Derwent Valley, Tasmania, stream online from our website at http://www.tygafm.org.au or listen on your mobile device with the TuneIn app.
The Slabthrower 