Country Dick Montana to Try a Stint as a Deejay

If you’re familiar with the programming on KCR, SDSU’s student-operated radio station, you understand why one staff member claims the call letters stand for “Killer College Radio.” Besides airing an eclectic salad of new and old music not found even on “cutting-edge” commercial stations, KCR is a haven for free-spirited saboteur-deejays whose shenanigans have redefined relevance for the station’s smallish but devoted audience.

In recent years, those extemporaneous on-air pranks and unauthorized promotions suitable for print have included a corn drive (of the podiatric, not the vegetable variety); a contest to win a trip to El Centro (the winner was driven in an un-air-conditioned Honda Civic to the Imperial Valley town, where the tour included a salad at Wendy’s), and a heated debate between deejays David R. and Kid Corona on the sociological ramifications of “The Brady Bunch”--with Canned Heat’s “Goin’ Up the Country” playing over and over in the background.

Some might opine that KCR’s rogue posture is at least partly a response to its perceived third-class status on campus. Never a high priority with those who fix budgets and funding, the station long has walked a tightrope strung between temporary reprieve and nonexistence. Six months ago, the beleaguered KCR was moved out of the space it has occupied for 22 years in the Speech and Communications Building (to make extra room for the telecommunications and film department).

On Friday, KCR will christen its new quarters in Aztec Center with a “cable-cutting” ceremony featuring SDSU vice president of student affairs Daniel Nowack and drummer-profundo Country Dick Montana of the Beat Farmers. Montana’s presence, however, will be more than ceremonial. In what might prove to be the wisest of KCR’s wacky maneuvers, the station has persuaded Montana to join its cadre of Ninja deejays.

Montana was lured to KCR by deejay Scott Tissue, a long-time Beat Farmers fan who felt that access to the drummer’s diverse tastes and record collection would be a boon to the station. If Montana’s first practice run is any indication, he should feel right at home at KCR. During a two-hour spot on Valentines Day, the drummer aired such curios as Mrs. Miller singing “Yellow Submarine” and “Lover’s Concerto,” Mae West singing “Twist and Shout,” Cab Callaway’s “Nagasaki” and Leonard Nimoy singing “Proud Mary.”

Montana, who paid his $20 semester “membership dues” for the privilege of spinning discs and yarns on KCR, will make his first official on-air appearance at 6 p.m. Friday. Thereafter, his regular slot will be Fridays from 4 to 6 p.m. KCR is cablecast on COX (98.9) and Southwestern (96.1), and in the SDSU dorms on AM- 550. The public is invited to Friday’s “grand reopening,” from 4 to 6 p.m., in the Skylight Lounge at Aztec Center.

Local artist Earl Thomas, who won in the “Best Blues” category at last year’s San Diego Music Awards, now can crow about an even greater honor. Recently, the director of the prestigious Montreux Jazz Festival extended an invitation to Thomas to perform there July 11.

The festival, which has presented many of the biggest names in jazz, blues, and rock over the years, is presented over 17 days every July in a casino at the eastern edge of Lake Geneva in Switzerland.

At press time, it was undecided whether Thomas would be backed by his own Blues Ambassadors or by an assemblage of the festival’s hired players, but the singer’s management is considering taking the entire band to Switzerland, even if it doesn’t perform with Thomas.

Since its New Year’s Eve inauguration as a music venue, Sandy’s in Encinitas has surpassed even booking agent Jerry McCann’s expectations. Last December, the guitarist-vocalist persuaded the restaurant’s owner to let him use Sandy’s as a 250-seat showcase for local music. McCann and his group, the Band of Giants, christened 1992 at the club and became its regular Friday night attraction. Three weeks ago, Sandy’s originated a series of Sunday afternoon jam sessions, which have proven so popular that two more regular events are being added to the weekly agenda.

On Monday, McCann, Rick Segoy, John Scott and Alan James each performed solo at the first installment of a Monday night series featuring local songwriters. Beginning with tonight’s double-bill of the Band of Giants and Beef Stew, Wednesdays will be given over to local bands that play original music.

Musicians interested in performing at any of the showcases are invited to call McCann at 942-7866.

Marlene Tremblay and Jeff Gelder, local producers and co- hosts of a weekly radio program on KKOS-FM (95.9), will be joined on the air this weekend by television actors Woody Harrelson and Kirstie Alley. The Emmy Award-winning cast members of the popular “Cheers” series will discuss environmental issues on “EarthBeat . . . Music for Mother Nature,” an information-and-music show created by Tremblay and Gelder to educate the public on ecological topics.

In her role of environmental advocate, Alley works with the Earth Communications Office, or ECO, and the Alley Foundation--a nonprofit organization that focuses on educating youth. Harrelson, who performed at the Belly Up Tavern last December with his 11-piece band, is active in the ECO and the American Oceans Campaign. He will perform two original, environment-oriented songs on the hourlong program, which airs at 7 a.m. Sunday.

BOOKINGS: (Tickets for the following concerts will be sold at all TicketMaster outlets unless otherwise specified.) Two popular recording acts with deep local roots--Asphalt Ballet and Psychotic Waltz--will team for a show at Iguanas on March 27 (on sale Friday at 3 p.m.). . . . Actress-singer-provocateur Sandra Bernhard will bring her latest show, “A Consciousness Raising and Rap Session,” to SDSU’s Montezuma Hall on March 27 (on sale Friday at all TicketMaster outlets and at the Aztec Center Box Office). . . . Legendary bluesman James Cotton performs March 13 at Blind Melons in Pacific Beach (call 483-7844). . . . Singer Vikki Carr performs April 4 at Theatre East (on sale now, call 440- 2277).

CRITIC’S CHOICE: A SHOW FOR THE ENTIRE FAMILY

It’s in the guise of topical singer-songwriter that playwright-actor-poet-teacher-lecturer Peter Alsop will appear at the Winston School (9th Street and Stratford Court, Del Mar) on Saturday. Alsop, renowned for his family-oriented songs, will perform a 1 p.m. concert especially for children, and an 8 p.m. concert for all age groups. Tickets are $4 for the afternoon show, $9 for the evening show. For information, call 436-4030.