From the Desk of CLASSICKONG 🦍🎙️
Good Saturday morning from all of us at WTSG-DB*, where the music never stops and the memories are always welcome.*
Before we turn up the music, we pause to thank the men and women of the United States Armed Forces — past and present — and their families. Your service and sacrifice allow the rest of us to enjoy mornings like this one in freedom.
August 29 gives us one of those days where the musical road travels just about everywhere — from a Kansas City alto saxophone that helped change jazz forever, to a gifted little fellow from Gary, Indiana who grew into one of the biggest entertainers the world has ever known.
We’ll hear the rumble of Black Sabbath and a young Van Halen, watch Iron Maiden step onto a much larger stage with KISS, revisit a fascinating transitional Jethro Tull album, and even stop by the KONG News Desk for some brand-new Night Ranger.
But today we’re also going to make room for someone very special.
This week, we lost Dolly Parton.
So before today’s record finishes spinning, we’re going to remember a beautiful soul whose songs, smile, musicianship and genuine kindness made the world a little brighter.
Pull up a chair, my friends.
We’ve got some stories to tell.
Charlie “Bird” Parker — A Sound That Changed Jazz Forever
On August 29, 1920, Charlie Parker was born in Kansas City, Kansas.
Known throughout the jazz world simply as “Bird” — or sometimes “Yardbird” — Parker became one of the architects of bebop and one of the most influential improvisers in the history of jazz.
Parker played alto saxophone with astonishing speed, harmonic sophistication and imagination. He could fly through chord changes at a breathtaking pace, yet the best of his playing never sounded like speed simply for the sake of speed.
There was language in those lines.
Bird was talking through that horn.
Alongside musicians including Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell and Max Roach, Parker helped move jazz into an entirely new vocabulary during the 1940s.
Sadly, Charlie Parker’s story was also terribly short.
Charlie Parker
Born: August 29, 1920
Died: March 12, 1955
He was only 34 years old.
Years of heroin addiction, alcohol abuse and deteriorating health took a devastating toll. It is an unfortunately familiar tragedy throughout the history of the arts, and one that should never overshadow what Parker gave us — but neither should we pretend it wasn’t part of his story.
What a loss.
And what a player.
CLASSICKONG’s Bird Essentials — Original Recording Year / Label
“Ko-Ko” — 1945 — Savoy Records
One of the landmark recordings of early bebop.
“Now’s the Time” — 1945 — Savoy Records
A Parker blues that remains a jazz standard.
“Ornithology” — 1946 — Dial Records
Bird and Benny Harris turned the chord changes of “How High the Moon” into bebop vocabulary.
“Yardbird Suite” — 1946 — Dial Records
One of Parker’s most enduring compositions.
“Donna Lee” — 1947 — Savoy Records
Recorded with a young Miles Davis, Bud Powell, Tommy Potter and Max Roach.
“Scrapple from the Apple” — 1947 — Dial Records
A beautiful example of Parker taking familiar chord changes and creating something entirely his own.
“Parker’s Mood” — 1948 — Savoy Records
Bird slows things down and reminds everyone that he could absolutely play the blues.
If you’ve never really listened to Charlie Parker, don’t worry about understanding bebop theory.
Just listen to the man play.
Then listen again.
Bird — Forest Whitaker Brings Charlie Parker’s Story to the Screen
For those of us who came along later, one memorable introduction to Parker’s life was the 1988 film Bird.
Directed by Clint Eastwood, a lifelong jazz enthusiast, the movie starred Forest Whitaker as Charlie Parker.
Whitaker’s performance was extraordinary, but there is another reason musicians should know about this film.
When possible, the filmmakers wanted us to hear Bird himself.
Music supervisor Lennie Niehaus and the production team painstakingly isolated Charlie Parker’s original saxophone solos from vintage recordings. New accompaniment was then recorded around those performances by musicians including Ray Brown, Ron Carter, Monty Alexander and Jon Faddis.
So during significant portions of Bird, that alto saxophone isn’t somebody trying to sound like Charlie Parker.
That’s Bird.
More than three decades after his death, technology allowed Parker to “play” alongside another generation of musicians.
What a remarkable piece of musical preservation.
Michael Jackson — From Gary, Indiana to the World
On August 29, 1958, Michael Joseph Jackson was born in Gary, Indiana.
A fellow Hoosier.
And before the stadium tours, moonwalk, enormous videos and worldwide superstardom, there was simply an incredibly talented little kid standing in front of his brothers and singing like he’d already lived a lifetime.
The Jackson 5 — Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Michael — exploded onto Motown with one of the most remarkable opening runs in pop history.
Jackson 5 Essentials — Year / Label
“I Want You Back” — 1969 — Motown
“ABC” — 1970 — Motown
“The Love You Save” — 1970 — Motown
“I’ll Be There” — 1970 — Motown
And here’s a nice little coincidence for today’s story:
“I’ll Be There” was released August 28, 1970 — exactly 56 years ago yesterday.
And that little voice still gets me.
Just look over your shoulder, baby!
You hear that today and realize Michael Jackson’s talent wasn’t something that suddenly appeared when he became an adult.
It was already there.
His solo career eventually grew into something almost unimaginable.
Off the Wall (1979) gave us “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough,” “Rock with You,” “Off the Wall” and “She’s Out of My Life.”
And buddy, don’t treat Off the Wall merely as the warm-up for what came next.
That is one heck of a record.
Then came Thriller (1982).
“Billie Jean.”
“Beat It.”
“Human Nature.”
“Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’.”
“Thriller.”
And behind Off the Wall, Thriller and Bad stood one of the greatest producers, arrangers and musical minds who ever walked into a recording studio:
Mr. Quincy Jones.
Quincy passed away in 2024 at age 91 after a career that touched jazz, pop, film, television and virtually every corner of American music.
RIP, Mr. Quincy Jones.
LEGEND. ❤️
Bad (1987) continued Michael’s incredible run with “The Way You Make Me Feel,” “Man in the Mirror,” “Smooth Criminal,” “Dirty Diana” and the title track.
Michael Jackson — Studio Discography
Got to Be There — 1972 — Motown
Ben — 1972 — Motown
Music & Me — 1973 — Motown
Forever, Michael — 1975 — Motown
Off the Wall — 1979 — Epic
Thriller — 1982 — Epic
Bad — 1987 — Epic
Dangerous — 1991 — Epic
HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I — 1995 — Epic
Invincible — 2001 — Epic
Michael Jackson
Born: August 29, 1958
Died: June 25, 2009
Whatever era you discovered him in, there is no denying the talent.
And around here, we’ll always have a little extra pride knowing that one of the biggest stars in music history started right here in Indiana.
BLACK SABBATH ALERT — “Paranoid” Hits the UK Chart
🚨 BLACK SABBATH ALERT! 🚨
On August 29, 1970, Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid” entered the UK Singles Chart.
It would eventually climb all the way to No. 4.
Think about that for a minute.
Black Sabbath had a Top 5 SINGLE.
The classic lineup:
Ozzy Osbourne — vocals
Tony Iommi — guitar
Geezer Butler — bass
Bill Ward — drums
And “Paranoid” wasn’t born from months of careful planning.
The band needed another short piece of music. Tony Iommi came up with the riff, the band quickly built a song around it, Geezer Butler supplied the lyrics — and something created almost as an afterthought became one of the defining riffs in heavy-metal history.
But we certainly shouldn’t talk about “Paranoid” without talking about the album.
Paranoid was Black Sabbath’s second studio album, released in the UK on September 18, 1970 through Vertigo Records and in the United States on Warner Bros. Records.
And look at what was sitting on that record:
“War Pigs”
“Paranoid”
“Planet Caravan”
“Iron Man”
“Electric Funeral”
“Hand of Doom”
“Rat Salad”
“Fairies Wear Boots”
Good grief.
That’s not just an album.
That’s practically the foundation being poured for heavy metal.
CLASSICKONG’s Essential Original-Era Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath — 1970 — Vertigo / Warner Bros.
Paranoid — 1970 — Vertigo / Warner Bros.
Master of Reality — 1971 — Vertigo / Warner Bros.
Vol. 4 — 1972 — Vertigo / Warner Bros.
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath — 1973 — WWA / Warner Bros.
Sabotage — 1975 — NEMS / Warner Bros.
And yes, Sabbath fans…
I know.
“ALL OF ‘EM!”
😂🤘
Sometimes you don’t know you’ve created history until everybody else starts playing your riff.
Black Sabbath Meets a Hungry Young Van Halen — 1978
Eight years later, August 29 brought us another Sabbath story.
On August 29, 1978, Black Sabbath played Philadelphia’s legendary Spectrum with a young opening band named…
Van Halen.
Oh, to have had a ticket for THAT one.
Van Halen’s self-titled debut album had arrived on February 10, 1978 through Warner Bros. Records, and America was discovering four guys named:
David Lee Roth — vocals
Eddie Van Halen — guitar
Michael Anthony — bass
Alex Van Halen — drums
And what an introduction that first record was.
Van Halen — 1978 — Warner Bros.
“Runnin’ with the Devil”
“Eruption”
“You Really Got Me”
“Ain’t Talkin’ ’bout Love”
“I’m the One”
“Jamie’s Cryin’”
“Atomic Punk”
“Feel Your Love Tonight”
“Little Dreamer”
“Ice Cream Man”
“On Fire”
Imagine being a Sabbath fan in 1978 who hadn’t heard much of this new California band yet.
Then Eddie walks out and plays “Eruption.”
😳
Sabbath was already established royalty.
Van Halen was the hungry young band kicking the door down.
Imagine hearing Eddie Van Halen’s guitar explode through the Spectrum and then having Tony Iommi and Black Sabbath come out afterward.
Different generations of hard rock.
Same stage.
Same night.
CLASSICKONG’s Original-Lineup Van Halen Essentials
And yes, Van Halen fans are probably yelling “ALL OF ‘EM!” too.
They’re not wrong. 😂
But if we’re talking about the original David Lee Roth-era studio run:
Van Halen — 1978 — Warner Bros.
Van Halen II — 1979 — Warner Bros.
Women and Children First — 1980 — Warner Bros.
Fair Warning — 1981 — Warner Bros.
Diver Down — 1982 — Warner Bros.
1984 — 1984 — Warner Bros.
Six records.
One original lineup.
One absolutely ridiculous run of American hard rock.
That, my friends, is a concert ticket I wish somebody would lend us a time machine to use.
Iron Maiden Goes to Work for KISS — 1980
On August 29, 1980, another young heavy-metal band got an enormous opportunity.
Iron Maiden opened for KISS in Sant’Angelo, Italy, beginning a run of European dates supporting KISS.
This was very early Maiden.
The lineup featured:
Paul Di’Anno — vocals
Steve Harris — bass
Dave Murray — guitar
Dennis Stratton — guitar
Clive Burr — drums
Their debut album, Iron Maiden, had been released earlier that year through EMI Records.
And what an opening statement:
Iron Maiden — 1980 — EMI
“Prowler”
“Remember Tomorrow”
“Running Free”
“Phantom of the Opera”
“Transylvania”
“Strange World”
“Charlotte the Harlot”
“Iron Maiden”
Depending on the original edition, “Sanctuary” appeared as a non-album single and was added to later pressings.
That debut is raw.
Hungry.
Dangerous.
You can already hear the band that Maiden was going to become.
KISS already knew what enormous crowds looked like.
Maiden was still building the machine that would eventually become one of the biggest heavy-metal bands on Earth.
And somewhere in those audiences were people seeing Iron Maiden for the first time.
Imagine walking into a KISS concert in 1980 and leaving saying:
“Who in the heck was THAT opening band?”
😂🤘
Jethro Tull Releases A — 1980
August 29, 1980 also brought the UK release of Jethro Tull’s 13th studio album, A.
Released through Chrysalis Records, this is one of the more interesting records in the Tull catalog.
The project originally began as an Ian Anderson solo album. The master tapes were reportedly marked “A” for Anderson, which ultimately supplied the album’s wonderfully simple title.
Instead, the record was released under the Jethro Tull name.
A represented a substantial change in sound and personnel, with synthesizers and electronic textures becoming far more prominent.
Alongside Anderson and guitarist Martin Barre, the album featured Dave Pegg, Mark Craney and Eddie Jobson.
Jethro Tull — A — 1980 — Chrysalis Records
Side One
“Crossfire”
“Fylingdale Flyer”
“Working John, Working Joe”
“Black Sunday”
Side Two
“Protect and Survive”
“Batteries Not Included”
“Uniform”
“4.W.D. (Low Ratio)”
“The Pine Marten’s Jig”
“And Further On”
For listeners expecting another Aqualung, this was a very different animal.
But that’s one of the interesting things about following a band over decades.
Sometimes the record that initially makes you say, “What in the world are they doing?” becomes fascinating precisely because it captures a band in transition.
From the KONG News Desk — Night Ranger Is Still Rockin’!
Okay, this isn’t August 29 history.
This happened TODAY.
On August 28, 2026, Night Ranger released their new Best Of collection through Frontiers Music Srl.
But this isn’t simply somebody taking the old tapes, changing the cover and selling us the same compilation again.
According to Jack Blades, there was a reason for revisiting these recordings.
The band wanted to give some of those classic songs the advantage of 2026 technology — bringing up the bass, drums, guitars and vocals and remixing and remastering the material until the songs sounded the way the band wanted them to sound today.
But Jack also made another point I really like.
Night Ranger hasn’t stopped making records.
So instead of pretending their history ended in the 1980s, the band also selected favorite material from roughly the last twenty years and included that alongside the classics.
In other words:
Celebrate where we’ve been — without pretending we stopped moving forward.
Now THAT makes sense to me.
And something else caught my ear today:
“Wasted Time (Live From Sweetwater Studios).”
“Wasted Time” originally appeared on Night Ranger’s Man in Motion (1988).
For this new collection, however, Night Ranger went into Sweetwater Studios and recorded a fresh version live off the floor.
The current lineup:
Jack Blades — bass/vocals
Kelly Keagy — drums/vocals
Brad Gillis — guitar
Keri Kelli — guitar
Eric Levy — keyboards
And seeing these guys actually standing together and PLAYING in 2026 put a smile on my face.
Could whoever shot the video have spent a little more time showing us what Brad Gillis and Keri Kelli were actually doing on those guitars?
Ohhhhh, yes.
😂
I’m just saying.
When the guitar player starts doing something cool…
POINT THE CAMERA AT THE GUITAR PLAYER!
😂🎸
But you can’t have everything.
I’m just happy to see Night Ranger still together, still playing, still recording and apparently still having fun doing it.
Jack Blades summed up the philosophy behind the collection pretty well:
They’re celebrating the classics, celebrating the music they’ve made during the last twenty years, and they intend to keep going because they’re still having too much fun to stop.
I can get behind that.
And as Night Ranger reminded us a long time ago:
YOU CAN STILL ROCK IN AMERICA!
🇺🇸🤘
Remembering Dolly Parton — A Beautiful Soul
Before we reach today’s Final Spin, there’s someone we need to remember.
On Tuesday, August 25, the world lost Dolly Parton at the age of 80.
And I’ve had a difficult time deciding exactly what to say about Dolly.
Maybe that’s because she seemed like one of those people who would simply always be here.
I remember watching Dolly when I was a youngster.
I remember her appearances with Porter Wagoner.
I remember hearing her sing “Coat of Many Colors.”
And I remember that smile.
That beautiful Dolly Parton smile.
But behind the rhinestones, hair, jokes and larger-than-life personality was something that should never be overlooked:
Dolly Parton was one heck of a musician.
She could PLAY that guitar.
Her Appalachian roots weren’t something manufactured for television. They were part of her musical language, and underneath that famous image was a serious songwriter and musician who understood exactly where she came from.
Then there were the songs.
“Coat of Many Colors”
“Jolene”
“I Will Always Love You”
“9 to 5”
“Here You Come Again”
“Two Doors Down”
“Islands in the Stream”
And so many more.
Dolly’s gift wasn’t simply writing memorable melodies.
She could tell you a story.
“Coat of Many Colors” took something as simple as scraps of fabric sewn together by her mother and turned it into a lesson about love, dignity and what makes something truly valuable.
And then there was something else about Dolly that may matter just as much as the records.
Her kindness.
Dolly used her success to help other people.
Her Imagination Library put hundreds of millions of books into the hands of children.
She helped families after devastating Tennessee wildfires.
She supported medical research.
And time after time, people told stories about Dolly helping someone simply because she could.
There seemed to be a genuine goodness about her.
And perhaps that’s why losing Dolly feels strangely personal even to millions of people who never met her.
She made people smile.
She made people laugh.
She made people feel welcome.
Dolly Rebecca Parton
January 19, 1946 — August 25, 2026
After learning we’d lost her this week, one particular song kept playing in my head.
It wasn’t “Jolene.”
It wasn’t “9 to 5.”
It was a song Dolly wrote and later performed so beautifully with another Tennessee guitar legend:
Chet Atkins.
“Do I Ever Cross Your Mind.”
What a beautiful recording.
And what a question that title has become this week.
Do you ever cross our minds, Dolly?
Yes, ma’am.
You most certainly do.
Thank you for the songs.
Thank you for the laughter.
Thank you for the kindness.
Thank you for the music.
And thank you for that beautiful smile that somehow always seemed capable of lighting up the whole room.
Rest easy, Dolly. ❤️
Play Music on the Porch Day — August 29
And wouldn’t you know it?
Today is Play Music on the Porch Day.
And I have a feeling Dolly would have been a big fan of this day. ❤️
The idea couldn’t be simpler.
Go outside.
Sit on the porch.
Bring an instrument.
Play something.
You don’t have to be Charlie Parker.
You don’t have to be Eddie Van Halen.
You don’t need a record contract, a tour bus or twenty thousand people standing in front of you.
Just make some music.
Maybe you play guitar.
Maybe it’s a fiddle.
Maybe there’s an old trumpet in the closet.
Maybe Grandma brings out an autoharp.
Maybe somebody sits down with an acoustic guitar and plays a Dolly Parton song.
And maybe a youngster sitting nearby hears it.
Maybe that youngster asks:
“Can you show me how to do that?”
And just like that…
the signal moves forward another generation.
Final Spin
Today’s stories traveled a long way.
Charlie Parker gave us a musical language that musicians are still studying more than seventy years after Bird left us.
Michael Jackson was once a little kid from Gary, Indiana with an extraordinary voice.
Generations later, we still turn up those Jackson 5 records.
Tony Iommi came up with a riff because Black Sabbath needed another song.
Somewhere, another kid heard that riff and picked up a guitar.
Black Sabbath gave a young Van Halen a stage.
KISS gave a young Iron Maiden an audience.
Night Ranger is still standing in a studio together more than four decades later, playing the songs again because they’re apparently still having too much fun to stop.
And Dolly Parton gave us songs, stories, laughter, musicianship, books for children, kindness — and a smile we’ll never forget.
Maybe that’s what keeping the signal alive really means.
It isn’t only transmitting music through speakers.
It’s remembering the people who made it.
It’s telling their stories.
It’s putting on an old record and hearing someone we love again.
Sometimes it’s remembering a musician.
Sometimes it’s remembering an old friend.
Sometimes it’s remembering Mom or Dad, Grandma or Grandpa, a teacher, a bandmate — somebody who once put a song into our lives.
And perhaps, without realizing it, what we’re really saying to all of them is:
Yes.
You still cross our minds. ❤️
So on this Play Music on the Porch Day, play something.
Play it loudly.
Play it softly.
Play it well.
Play it terribly.
Just keep playing.
Because somebody played it for us.
And now it’s our turn to keep the signal alive.
Until next time, this is CLASSICKONG reminding you:
Great music doesn’t disappear. As long as somebody remembers, the signal is still there.
Listen to Today’s Broadcast
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Tell us your name, where you’re listening from, and maybe even share a musical memory of your own.
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Great Music. Great Radio. Great Community.
WTSG-DB — Keeping the Signal Alive. ❤️📻🇺🇸
