Meet your neighbors: Christa Wessel

Those of you who only know Glendale Ave.'s Christa Wessel from her occasional home repair questions posted to the Duke Park email list are missing out on one of Durham's special treats. You can hear Christa filling the airwaves with classical music on listener supported WCPE most weekday afternoons, but for a really swinging good time, tune the FM to 88.7 on Thursday nights from 6–8. There you'll hear Christa hosting Divaville, two hours of non-stop jazz, swing, and big-band era vocals that will make you like your eggs on the Jersey side.

Of course, Christa plays the stars like Nat "King" Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, and Frank Sinatra. But she also shines the spotlight on lesser known artists of the day such as Ella Mae Morse, Cliff Edwards, and Edythe Wright. You can find playlists, make requests, or send email to Christa at her website, divaville.org.

Around the Park has been a fan of Divaville for several years, and we are grateful to Christa for chatting with us via email early in June.

(This article was originally published in the Summer 2004 issue of the DPNA newsletter, Around the Park.)

AtP: How'd you get into this music in the first place?

CW: After I'd worked at WCPE as an announcer for several years I found that playing, listening to and talking about classical music every day began to dull my appreciation of it. Classical music is still my first love (I majored in it at college), but I felt I needed something new to spice up my musical life.

It just so happened that friend of mine (who co-hosts Divaville with me occasionally) had begun to explore old jazz vocalists. She played for me the few CDs she'd collected and I was intrigued.

Ever since, my bank account has been consistently depleted as I buy more and more music for the show. It's an addiction at this point.

AtP: What kind of response do you get from the local community? From the internet community? From the cool alt.country kids at the radio station?

The response has been unbelievable. I've been doing the show for 3 years now and I'm constantly amazed at the number of people who have found it. I don't do any advertising to speak of, so the audience is growing almost exclusively by word-of-mouth.

The listeners are all incredibly passionate about the show, too. I would have expected a few people from that generation to be enthusiastic about Divaville, but I also hear from hip kids in local rock bands and housewives cooking dinner for their families...it's really a phenomenal audience.

AtP: Is the music from your personal library? if not, where?

CW: 99% of the music I play on Divaville is from my personal library. I've collected it over the last 3 or 4 years from places like Nice Price Books and eBay.

AtP: Who's the most underappreciated artist that you play?

CW: Oh, gosh. There are so many. When people ask what kind of music I play on Divaville, I usually answer, "Oh, you know...Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Louis Armstrong..." but I wish I could respond, "The Mills Brothers, Slim & Slam, Kay Starr..."

While I certainly don't want to understate what the more famous names have achieved, there are countless others that swing just as hard...if not harder. One of my favorite artists is Bobby Darin...other than "Mack the Knife" I'm afraid most people don't know much about him. (That will be remedied this fall, though, when Kevin Spacey stars as Bobby Darin in a film called "Beyond the Sea.") I also think that Fred Astaire is an amazing vocalist...he has such a dreamy voice, and it's hardly acknowledged that he sings every bit as good as he dances.

AtP: What's up with Betty Hutton?

CW: The first time I heard Betty Hutton (singing "Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief") I felt something resonate inside me. I didn't know anything about her—not even her name was familiar—but I could just tell she was a spitfire. I bought one of her collections on Capitol and fell instantly in love... she's got an unbeatable combination of a strong voice and wacky humor. She can goof her way through the story of Hamlet in a 2 minute riot of a song, or she can belt out an incredibly moving version of "It Had to Be You"... both styles with an equal amount of ease.

Betty Hutton was a big movie star in the 1940s and 50s (co-starring with Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Eddie Bracken and others) and after I saw a few of her movies I knew I was a fan for life... the energy she puts into her songs is only a fraction of what she's capable of on screen. The easiest of her films to find is "Annie Get Your Gun"...Judy Garland was originally slated to have the starring role in the film but she got ill and had to abandon the project after filming only a few scenes. Betty stepped in and did a stupendous job as Annie. (In fact, the DVD version of the film contains a few of the scenes as filmed by Judy Garland. After seeing Betty's version, there is absolutely no comparison...Judy looks positively lame in contrast to Betty's boundless energy.)

In order to "spread the gospel" of Betty Hutton, I play one of her songs at the end of every week's show. It's fun!

Christa also let us in on a little secret. You can find a lot of this music online, at CyberMusicSurplus.com. Of course, thrift shops and yard sales are still your best bets to build your collection. Listen to Divaville Thursday nights from 6–8 pm on WXDU, 88.7, or online at WXDU.org or Divaville.org.