Disc is the end, folks
Gothe says goodbye to afternoon radio show with trademark eclectic lineup
of
performances
John P. McLaughlin, The Province newspaper (Vancouver, B.C.)
Published: Thursday, August 14, 2008
IN CONCERT
DiscDrive Farewell Concert with host Jurgen Gothe
Where: The Vancouver Playhouse, 600 Hamilton St.
When: Tonight at 8
Tickets: $15 at the door
- - -
It is perfect radio at the perfect time of day. OK, so it presumes a
certain
curiosity for a broad spectrum of music, from classical and blues to jazz
and
bluegrass, all punctuated with light, funny, smart banter. But if you
don't
like one song or bit of music, you'll probably love the next.
It's on from three to six in the afternoon when people are battling
traffic or
chopping the bok choy or perhaps even enjoying a chilled beverage.
It is a national institution called DiscDrive on CBC 2 on the FM band
hosted
by genial, Vancouver-based Jurgen Gothe and it's been a daily and dearly
loved
companion to a multitude of Canadians from ranch to cove to big city for
23
happy years.
But it seems the young modernes now calling the shots over at CBC
headquarters
in Toronto have decided we've all had quite enough of
DiscDrive and announced last winter it's gone come September. The move has
infuriated many, from all over and for months on end (odd coincidence: the
world-renowned CBC Radio Orchestra that got its execution order about the
same
time is also from Vancouver), but it's all so much impotent lamenting to
the
heavy thinkers at CBC Big T.
For his part Gothe is stone-mummy quiet on the DiscDrive matter. He'll say
only it was a "mutual decision."
When DiscDrive was conceived in 1985 Gothe had already been in radio,
private
and public, for 20-something years and was actually looking to get out of
the
business.
"I was going to go and write trashy mystery novels," he says, "so when
this
guy in Toronto came out and said, 'Did you want to do an afternoon radio
show?' my first reaction was, 'Every day?' That didn't fit in with my
overall
plan. But I was intrigued because they basically said we can invent this
show
from the ground up. It'll be something totally different. I said, 'OK,
let's
give it a shot. Let's do it for a year.'"
The idea was to keep it as eclectic, interesting and easygoing as possible
and
Gothe was just the right person in the right place at the right time.
Heck,
the first records he ever bought with his paper-route money were a 78 rpm
of
"Orange Blossom Special" by the Calgary Range Riders, a 45 rpm of Duane
Eddy's
"Rebel Rouser" and an LP called Cello Galaxy featuring Samuel Barber's
"Adagio
for Strings."
Gothe will bring the same deftly eclectic touch to a new, once weekly show
slated for Sundays at 5 p.m. on Radio 2. Tentatively titled Farrago,
meaning a
mix or hodge-podge, he'll be drawing largely from his own big collection
of
recordings. And, of course, he'll keep writing widely about food and wine.
Nice work if you can get it.
Meanwhile, the farewell concert has a lineup that feels like DiscDrive
Live,
including A Touch of Brass, the Argentine tango trio Tangissomo, the Marc
Atkinson Trio, Simon Kendall, the Jim Byrnes Band and Sal Ferreras, Jack
Duncan & Joseph Pepe Danza. Pack a hankie.
"Yes," says Gothe, "I'm really looking forward to it . . . but with mixed
emotions."
jpmac@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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