I used to listen to Colmes’ radio show during the Clinton years. I haven’t listened since then (not avoiding it, just haven’t had the inclination). I was rather disappointed when I heard Hannity doing a rubbishy version of Colmes’ Radio Graffiti bit (unscreened callers get to say one sentence only). There used to be one guy who would always call in and say derogatory things about Buck Owens, and another caller who did a perfect parodic impersonation of Larry King.

The other thing for which I am genuinely appreciative of Colmes’ old show is that it inadvertently alerted me to the fantastic music of Huun Huur Tu and the strange style of singing called “throat singing”.

Believe it or not, although it was meant solely as a joke, that one joke led me to some new and very VERY different music I’d never heard before, and very indirectly also led me to learn about the physicist Richard Feynman. There’s also a Frank Zappa connection, because Zappa had also found out about Huun Huur Tu, and used them in parts of his final recording, the posthumously-released Civilization Phaze III.

My musical tastes are, putting it mildly, non-standard. But I do have to credit the Alan Colmes Show circa 1992 for that little piece of life enhancement.

For the terminally curious:

Throat singing in the Kargyraa style:

Youtube Video

Throat singing in the Sygyt style:

Youtube Video