The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, January 24, 1997, Page 5, Image 5
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The Blues A
hour taste oj
JOHN LYONS Features Editor
So you think the
blues is just sad and
depressing music?
Well, you might
want to think again
because, to hear Clair
DeLune talk about it, the blues has a
great deal more to offer.
DeLune is the host of the "Blues
Moon" on WUSC-FM 90.5 and she
covers the spectrum of the blues genre
Tuesdays from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
"I dont think the blues is depressing
music," DeLune said. "But it's music
that can help a depressed person feel
better. So while some people may feel
that humor has no place in the blues,
I strongly believe that humor has an
important place in blues music."
The music is filled with humor and
emotion and is an important musical
genre, DeLune said, whose radio name
is taken from the title of a classical
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all Capital Tickets outlets.
(MC/VlSA ACCEPTED)
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"To me it's special because it's the
first truly American music style," she
said. "Even jazz came out of the blues.
Blues came out of the cotton fields and
jazz evolved out of the blues.
"And to me, jazz is for the head,"
she said. "Blues is for the heart and
soul. Some people have described it
in even grittier terms. But the thing
is, it hits you in the heart, whereas
jazz is thinking music.
"Blues just emerges on its own,"
she said. "It's like a wildflower as
opposed to a hothouse flower."
DeLune has been presenting
Columbia with her version of this
wildflower since she picked up the
Blues Moon during the summer of
1990.
When the blues show was started
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SPACE JAM (PG)
1:00 3:00 5:00
TURBULENCE (R)
7:30 9:40
SECRETS AND UES (R)
12:55 7:00
GHOSTS Of THE MISSISSIPPI (PG 13)
4:05 9:50
METRO (R)
12:30 2:50 5:20 7:40 10.00
'Bargain Matinee $3.00(1
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at WUSC in the mid-80s, it was a
success, in part, because of its position
as the only blues show in South
Carolina. But the show bounced from
host to host and suffered from
inconsistency until DeLune picked it
up.
Since then, she has infused her
personality into the show and become
an important figure in Columbia's
blues scene.
The Blues Moon is no longer the
only place for Columbia listeners to
get their blues, but it is still one of a
kind. And WUSC blues listeners have
learned to appreciate the calm, soothing
voice and endearing personality of
their host almost as much as music.
"Basically, I started the show and
found out that the blues show listeners
had a long-standing reputation as the
station's best listeners," DeLune said.
"They would just call up and say Hey,
great job' and tell me they enjoyed the
show. I've only had two unpleasant
calls in all the time I've done the show.
"They're very nice. I think we lost
a few listeners when the Breeze started
playing beach, boogie and blues, but
I have some real loyal listeners who
have listened for years."
She said she originally wanted to
host the station's oldies show, the Blast
from the Past, but that the Blues Moon
has become very dear to her.
DeLune has done the show yearround
since she started, and she has
only missed the show during vacations
and periods of time when the station
was shut down.
"It's a commitment," she said "You
can't tell people you're going to play
them their blues and then say, 'Oh, I
have a better offer.' People are
depressed, and they need their blues."
In addition to her show at WUSC.
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1:10 3:25 5:35 7:50 lO.-OO
BEVERLY HILLS NINJA (PG 13)
1 .-00 3:00 5.-00 7.00 9:00
MLOVE ANDVAR (PG-13)
12:45 3:00 5:20 7:40 10:00
ZUES AND ROXANNE (PG)
12:50 3:05 5:10 7:20 9:30
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DeLune is working with the Midland
Blues Association on developing a blues
web page, and she teaches a course on
blues appreciation and history for the
USC honors college. She said teaching
the class has been a very positive
experience for her.
"It has been the joy of my life," she
said. "I've had two wonderfiil classes.
They are just dear people. Most of them
are very excited about it."
DeLune said the students in her
class learn to appreciate the connection
between blues and contemporary music.
"Blues is the root for so much," she
said. "We explore the evolution of blues
in the class and by the end of the
semester theyVe started to notice some
of the things that have been "borrowed"
from the blues.
"Blues references are everywhere
in current song lyrics," she said. "It's
just that people don't know it."
DeLune said that blues is underappreciated
as a genre at times but
that people who are patient and
interested enoueh to listen are rewarded
for their efforts.
'Blues artists have an outstanding
ability to relate to others," she said.
"The songs really embrace all human
emotion eloquently; joy and sorrow,
life and death, rich and poor, love and
hate. You name it.
"Everyone seems to think it's all
songs about how life is bad," she said.
"But more often than not, the joyous
side is there as well.
"As far as Fm concerned it's actually
a way of pulling out of depression.
Sometimes I come into my show feeling
tired or depressed, and by the end of
the show, Fm always in a good mood."
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WYNNJ
5320 Forest Drive
( C O TI7_1 * f L\
(across lrum ouptsr vvai-mart;
Columbia, SC 29206
ZEUS AND ROXANNE (PG) (THX, DTS)
1:10 3:20 5:30 7:40 9:50 12:00
MICHAEL (PG)
1:15 4:00 700 9:40 12:15
101 DALMATIANS (G)
1:30 7:20
ONE FINE DAY (PG)
4:30 9:35 12:00
JERRY MAG.UIRE (R)(DTS)
1:00 400 7:00 9:40 12:15
IN LOVE AND WAR (PG-13) (THX)
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Clair DeLune, host of WUSC-FM 90.5> Blues Moon, get
night show. Each Tuesday from 6 to 8p.m. she presents
rounded, careflilly researched source of blues music. D<
mer of 1990, and WIJSC has been offering a blues show si
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Office: (803) 782-7744 /Info:
(803) 782-8100
METRO (R)(THX) ' E'
1:00 4:15 7:10 9:40 12:15
PEOPLE VS. LARRY FLYNT (R)
1:15 4:00 7:00 9:40 12:15
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Tuesday
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JULIE WILSON The C.mecock
s ready to cue up a record during her Tuesday
(JSC and the greater Columbia area with a welleLune
has been hosting the show since the sum[nee
the mid eighties.
re#re here to
iterftoin ourselves.
JIDE.
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1;?5 4: #5 7:05 10:00
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1:15 3:15 5:15 7:25 9:45
The Portrait Of A Lady (PG 13)
12:45 3:45 7:00 9:55
1:00 4:00 7:00 9:50
^ The Relic (R)
^ 1:35 4:10 7:20 10:00
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233/^?;' English Patient (R)
1:30 4:45 8:00
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Turbulence (R)
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CHASE: Lll
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Student Discount w/ ID
'RE BACK!
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the stands Jan. 31
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