POP MUSIC : Bid for Rescheduling of Local-Music Shows Appears Unlikely to Succeed

San Diego’s Musicians Who Care has launched a letter-writing campaign aimed at getting radio stations KGB-FM (101.5) and XTRA-FM (91X) to reschedule their weekly local-music shows.

Currently, both hour-long programs--KGB’s “Homegrown Hour” and 91X’s “Loudspeaker”--air the same night, at the same time: Sundays, starting at midnight.

P.J. Grimes, MWC founder and coordinator, said, “We’d like to see them air at different times, and at earlier times, so the public has the opportunity to listen to both shows each week, not just one.”

“The way they are right now is a conflict, and also, how many people are up at midnight on Sunday?” Grimes added. “All we’re asking is that the shows be a little more accessible, because we want to build support for local musicians and their music, and programs like these are the best way to do it.”

MWC’s call to arms was issued earlier this month in the association’s regular mailer, which is sent out to more than 60 local member bands and musicians.

Both KGB program director Ted Edwards and 91X programmer Kevin Stapleford, however, say the letter-writing campaign is unlikely to lead to any programming changes.

“Local music plays to a small, specific audience, and we feel the time we give local music is generous, if you put everything in perspective,” Edwards said. “Specialty shows like this are rare; I mean, how many radio stations program local music at all?

“Considering how little attention the majority of radio stations pay to local music, I’m surprised that Musicians Who Care doesn’t seem to appreciate what we’re already doing. Instead of complaining to the two stations that do program local music on a weekly basis, why not go to all the other outlets that allow no time for local music?”

91X’s Stapleford said that “Loudspeaker” will not be rescheduled, regardless of how many letters he receives--but only because he’s doing something he feels will prove even more beneficial to the local music scene.

“We’re doing something better--integrating local music into our regular programming during the week,” Stapleford said. “You’ll be hearing a different local band spotlighted every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 10:30 p.m.--one song and wherever they’re playing, stuff like that.”

It’s a sad reflection on the San Diego pop-music scene that Dwight Twilley’s concert last Saturday night at Rio’s in Loma Portal was a stiff. Fewer than 50 people paid the $7 ticket price, and most of them had come to see the opening band, talented local upstarts Slingshot Wild.

But Twilley, who hasn’t had a hit since 1984 or a recording contract since 1986, didn’t appear too upset by the poor turnout, which merely reinforced the longstanding notion that San Diego pop fans are among the most fickle in the country.

Shortly before he went on stage, Twilley quipped to his road manager, “It looks like we’ve got us a paid rehearsal.” And for the next two hours, the 38-year-old singer-songwriter and his four-piece band--two guitarists, a bassist, and a drummer--turned a box-office disaster into an unqualified musical success.

It was the sort of show that made you want to run over to the nearest pay phone, call up all your friends, and scream into their ears, “Get down here, NOW!” And the only reason you didn’t was that Twilley’s invigorating performance kept you glued to your seat, mesmerized by his enticing blend of Elvis Presley rockabilly and Beatles pop.

Twilley’s repertoire was equal parts old and new, ranging from past hits like 1975’s “I’m On Fire”--which the San Francisco Chronicle called “the best debut single by an American rock band ever”--and 1984’s “Girls” to uncut songs written since his last record label, Private Eye, went out of business three years ago.

Among them: “Reach For the Sky,” an infectious pop ditty that would make Paul McCartney turn green with envy, and the hard-hitting “Live,” which faithfully recaptures the energy, defiance, and passion of the early rock ‘n’ roll of the 1950s.

Twilley also tossed in a few covers, including an electrifying, bluesy version of Dion’s “The Wanderer” and a raucous reading of Chuck Willis’ “C.C. Rider.”

After three years of writing songs and rehearsing with his new band, Twilley has only recently resurfaced on the road--and begun sending out demonstration tapes in the hopes of securing a new recording contract.

Will his attempt at a comeback be successful? Judging from his performance at Rio’s, the odds are certainly in his favor.

LINER NOTES: The Music Trader ad in last week’s Reader is headlined, “Free Compact Discs and Tapes!” Well, not exactly: Read the fine print and you’ll discover that for each “free” CD, you have to trade in two CDs or six cassettes; each “free” tape will cost you two in trade. . . .

Concert parking at the San Diego Sports Arena has just gone up a buck, from $3 to $4. . . . Local bar bands are big on homonyms and paraphrases. Among the former: Banned From Hell, Flyweil, Pranx, and the Pier Group. Among the latter: Streetheart and Steer Crazy. . . .

Thursday night’s concert by Badlands at Iguanas in Tijuana has been canceled because of singer Ray Gillen’s throat problems. . . .

Best concert bets for the coming week: Clarence Clemons, the former saxophonist with Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, Thursday at the Bacchanal in Kearny Mesa; Albert Collins and the Icebreakers, also Thursday, at the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach; the Indigo Girls and James McMurtry, Saturday at the California Theater downtown; the Chieftains, Sunday at Symphony Hall downtown; Fiona, also Sunday, at the Bacchanal, and Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker, Dec. 19 at the Bacchanal.