ALICE NOT JOHN Episode 18: A Fictional Radio Transmission Guest: Mariska Baars (Soccer Committee)
ALICE NOT JOHN
Episode 18: A Fictional Radio Transmission
Guest: Mariska Baars (Soccer Committee)
Host: Joeri Bruyninckx
A conversation I overheard in a record store:
Customer: “Do you have Coltrane?”
Record shop owner: “In the jazz section.”
Customer: “I mean Alice, not John.”
Record shop owner: “In the jazz section.”
ALICE NOT JOHN is the name of a fictional radio show. The idea is this: for every episode, I ask a musician the same questions. The answers I receive are the “playlist” of my fictional radio show. The questions are these:
Which song do you associate with your childhood?
Mariska Baars: ‘Och Margrietje,’ sung by my mother (not the original Louis Neefs version).
What is your favorite shower sing-along song?
When I sing in the shower, it’s usually overtones.
What was your favorite song as a teenager?
I find this one impossible to answer. However, I’m happy to add an extra Loren Connors track to the following question — it’s for the best.
What is your favorite air guitar song?
I’ve never felt the urge to play air guitar. But when I tried, I couldn’t do it — I ended up standing still, watching the tones move through the air.
An early Loren Mazzacane Connors piece: ‘Moonyean No. 10’ from ‘Moonyean,’ or ‘Father’s Dream’ from ‘Hell’s Kitchen Park’ (both LPs on Enabling Works).
Which song do you associate with your adolescence?
‘Rockets’ by Cat Power.
Which song do you know the lyrics to by heart?
‘Troubled Waters’ — the Cat Power version (original by Arthur Johnson and Sam Coslow).
Which song makes you feel better when you’re feeling down?
‘Crowded Park’ by Wendy Rene — a fabulous soul song from the ’60s.
Name a song people wouldn’t think you’d like.
‘Summertime’ by The Movers (The Tonics in disguise), featuring singer Manfred Oberdorfer — whose voice and intonation always do it for me: warm and lively. The LP is called ‘Beat by Beat’.
Can you name a song you think people should listen to — one they might not know?
Gunther Kallmann-Chor’s ‘Liebe, die nie vergeht’ (Polydor 7”). I have a thing for German music from the ’60s — the recordings sound wonderful, of course.
‘Wonderful Tonight’ by Eric Clapton is a break-up song. It’s about a couple who’ve decided to break up but haven’t told anyone yet because they don’t want to spoil the party they’re going to. Strangely enough, this song is often chosen as the opening dance at weddings. Tell me about a song you misunderstood when you first heard it.
I had a little Beatles tape when I was young. Every time ‘Yellow Submarine’ came on, there was a part where I thought my father was yelling from the bottom of the stairs: “Boys, will you turn off the lights now!” I had three brothers and was the only girl, so we were always addressed collectively as “Boys.”
Which song brings out silly dance moves in you?
‘School’ by Waste, featuring Puk & Muk.
Which song do you quote most often? Which sentence?
Sentence: “My babe, all I know — I could die from never letting go.”
“So Much Love To Do” from Sweet Heart Fever by Scout Niblett.
Joeri Bruyninckx
Headline photo: Mariska Baars (Soccer Committee) (Credit: Pletterij)
