How much of this week's radio show should I devote to RAY CHARLES?

[NightTrain]

Poll question: How much of this week's radio show should I devote to RAY CHARLES?

Help me out, folks. I'd really like to spend my whole three-hour broadcast this Saturday night playing nothing but Brother Ray; but I'm not sure if my listeners would want to hear just one artist for the entire show, even one as talented and diverse as Ray Charles.

For the uninitiated, my program runs on a college station, which means that....

a) I'm free to play anything I want; and

b) My audience tends to be more knowledgable and passionate about music than the average putz who listens to nothing but two or three of the five Clear Channel stations in his/her market.

So, what do you think? How much of this weekend's SOUL EXPRESS should I devote to Brother Ray?

[HEyHEY]

1. Every third song

All night

[LowerManhattanite]

3. Get a bit of him in each hour...

Twenty to thirty minutes in each. Focus on one period in each hour.

Hour one: The Atlantic Years (his seminal soul recordings)

Hour Two: The ABC/Paramount Years (the country/pop breakthrough)

Hour Three: The Miscellany (His 60's covers; the Beatles, Dylan, any of the live stuff and his excellent Jazz sides if you can nab 'em)

[BlackVelvetElvis]

2. You could do 2 hours then

how about filling the final hour with artists that Ray influenced musically in a huge way complete with cover versions (if there are any that are really worthy).
In my heart, I really would do all three hours with nothing but Ray.
I'll be listening Sat!

[freetobegay]

4. The whole show!

I plan on listening this weekend.

[ewagner]

5. The whole show

should reflect Ray and those who were inspired by him......

[lapauvre]

6. Not a fan of Ray Charles, in general

But finding heroes sans uniforms, and role models disabled, is one of my favorite things.

While the whole nation mourns, or reacts to the passing of one icon, three hours dedicated to another doesn't seem like too much.

IMHO, anybody who doesn't recognize a talented disabled American whose smile could have been used on the smiley faced emoticon, anybody who doesn't know what courage he gave to disabled humans, anybody who doesn't know that a truly special human being, an American treasure, has passed away, needs a new dictionary.

So play him the entire three hours, and take the heat if there are those dissatisfied.

Better than the hundreds of hours on TV news being spent on Michael Jackson and Kobe Bryant.

Good luck. Thank you for being, Ray Charles, and for all the gifts you have given us.

[Skittles]

7. I think you should devote some time each night for a week

if it's good enough for that evil f*** Reagan, it's certainly good for the great Ray Chrles.

[NightTrain]

9. There's one problem with your suggestion.

My show runs just once a week! :shrug:

[Skittles]

17. well then

the whole show. :D

[mopaul]

8. .

[freetobegay]

10. Whats up with you posting a dot in various threads?

[NightTrain]

11. I think it's mopaul's way of kicking the Ray Charles threads.

His tribute to the great man, you might say!

[freetobegay]

14. OK

I was just curious. You know what they say "curiosity killed the cat".

[fortyfeetunder]

12. is it available on webcast?

I'd listen to it...in the future!

[NightTrain]

13. Sure is!

You can hear WHUS live on the Web here:

http://whus.org/listen.htm

THE SOUL EXPRESS runs from 9:00-midnight Eastern Time on Saturday evenings.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

15. Anyone who wouldn't want three hours of Ray isn't a true Night Train fan

fuck em...he gave us his whole life...give him the whole show

[OneBlueSky]

16. how about five minutes at the top of each hour, followed by . . .

one or two Ray Charles numbers every third song or so . . .

[Leprechan29]

18. I voted for first two hours

But you should go for the last two hours - get a bit of variety in at the front-end, then go for the tribute the latter part of the show

[mandyky]

19. Do you have access to any old interview tapes?

There used to be a blues show based on the Elwood character. They had a show for the early 90's where other artists said how Charles affected their music and these other artists played some Ray Charles songs. (I voted all 3 hours, but if you can't get something like this it might get tedious for non-fans.)

[NightTrain]

20. Kick for the day shift

[Bertha Venation]

21. If I were a regular, I'd be thinking to myself "God, I hope Night Train is

all about Ray Charles this week."

Seems natural to me.

[NightTrain]

22. One final kick; promise!