I’ve long been impressed by the evocative power of music. I think we all have that song that stops us in our tracks and brings memories flooding back, or a song we’ve never heard before that demands recognition and an addition to our library. We heard from a number of listeners recently reacting to music they heard on WHQR. George Sheibner’s Smooth Landing is often the source of these calls and emails. One listener wrote recently, “Thursday's Smooth Landings selections were outstanding. Listening to Hound Dog, I remembered my performance at Talent Night at Camp Farrar, a 4-H camp in Virginia Beach. It was about 1958, when I was eleven. I sat behind my single snare drum. There was no ovation for my performance, but I learned to perform in front of people, and that, plus other public performances, encouraged by my mother, held me in good stead in my career as a successful business owner.”
Another listener called to say “I just wanted to let you know that George Scheibner played the best trio of music from Todd Rundgren and Joe Jackson. It was the best trio ever, and you need to keep up the great work!”
Over on the classical side, a listener called to inquire “I'd be grateful if you could tell me what is playing at 9:00 pm today, May first? I'm sitting in my car, catching just a small portion, & would like to look it up to hear it all.” Program Director Ken Campbell looked it up and replied “Last week the Chicago Symphony celebrated the 200th anniversary of Czech composer, Bedrich Smetana's birth and you heard the epic work, "Ma Vlast" (My Fatherland). It runs over an hour, so you would have to wait a while for the announcer to tell you that."
Ken also responded to a question about a musician heard interviewed on our air. A listener asked “Today I was listening to a program about Bobby McFerrin. I wanted to share it with my husband, but I can’t find it on the website. Can you please assist?” Ken responded to the email writing “Bobby McFerrin was on 1A, The segment isn't up on the program page yet, but they've posted this on a separate page” and included the link he found to that episode.
You may have noticed that we’ve been re-airing commentaries from our archives as part of our 40th anniversary celebration this year. Listener Jim Downey noticed, and wrote “I just want to say how happy I am to have heard Nan Graham's voice on WHQR again. Those of us who have been supporters of the station for years Miss Nan, and the other occasional commentators.” You can listen to Nan Graham and all of our past commentaries on the WHQR website by clicking the “Celebrate 40 years of Great Radio” link on our home page. We’re digitizing segments and programs from our past and posting them on the web for your enjoyment and to celebrate our 40th anniversary this year.
We want to hear from you. You can find us on Facebook and Twitter, or X, or email us at feedback@whqr.org. Thanks for your feedback, and we look forward to hearing from you.