Broadcast 2025-09-01

We’ve all had red letter days, a day with an event of significance, but this is a black letter day – a little more menacing.

The instrumental line really is a classic 70s sound, trust me, I was there!

There’s some sounds I’ll never forget. We thought spring reverb was so good. You could bash the top of the amp and get a noise like a John Cage prepared piano. Enough of that.

It’s a great sound, and right on the money for the feel of this song.

Yes, there are the old analogue sounds, but the mix of modern effects takes them just a little bit further. There were limits back in the day.

The lyrics paint a picture of how things escalate leaving a sense that there was an alternative, but only if you could see the future way back in the beginning, whenever that was!

“Kneel in the hay, hay in the barn, barn burning down, well it’s a black letter day.

The song points out that you should “Watch yourself when you go too far”

Hide in your mind …


Sean Power and the Main Street Band - Black Letter Day - Tempo Review

Weekly uploads of reviews and interviews from the program, "Tempo". "Tempo" is a weekly radio program presented by John Lamp, highlighting a wide range of music and music reviews on 94.7 the Pulse in Geelong, Wadawurrung country. John has been involved in community radio since 1976, initially with a music program "Parcel of Rogues" on 7CAE-FM in Hobart, Tasmania. After moving to Geelong, he joined 94.7 the Pulse on the program "Folks Alive", which morphed into "~meanderings~." John then spent a decade on the station Boards of Management before returning to the air in 2022 with his new program "Tempo." Full programs can be accessed at the link below.

Sean Power and the Main Street Band - Black Letter Day - Tempo Review

Tempo on the Pulse