AccuRadio Song Of The Day-David Guetta

Artist:David Guetta f/Sia

Song:Titanium

Album:Nothing but the Beat: Special Edition

French DJ David Guetta is a songwriter and producer who has been very successful bringing in guest singers like Sia Furler for the 2011 single Titanium. It's one of his biggest hits. He's recorded a lot of music. But he sold his catalog in 2021 and seems to be slowing down a bit. It's not like he needs the money. He was born Nov. 7, 1967 in Paris. He started out as a DJ in the Broad Club in Paris in 1984. He got into house music in 1987 and released Nation Rap with rapper Sidney Duteil. He continued to DJ at local clubs and released the 1994 single Up & Away featuring Fingers Inc. singer Robert Owens. He formed Gum Productions in 2001 with DJ Joachim Garraud and they released the single Just a Little More Love featuring gospel singer Chris Willis who was on vacation in France when he met Guetta. The single did well enough to get Guetta a record deal with Virgin Records and his 2002 debut album Just a Little More Love. Guetta was in demand to do remixes of David Bowie's Heroes among other things. But things picked up for Guetta with the 2009 album One Love and the single When Love Takes Over featuring Kelly Rowland. This topped the British Singles chart. Then the single Sexy Bitch featuring Akon reached #7 on the Billboard Hot 100. So now Guetta is really in demand. He produced the 2009 Black Eyed Peas single I Gotta Feeling which topped the charts and won Grammys. And that led to the 2011 album Nothing but the Beat. He scored three top ten hits from that album. Titanium featuring Sia Furler was probably the biggest hit as it topped the British Singles chart and reached #7 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album is his biggest seller to date and it's available in a 3CD deluxe edition at a budget price. Since then things have slowed down for Guetta. He's recorded two albums and a few of his singles have charted. In 2021, Guetta sold his back catalog to Warner Music for $100M. He still records singles occasionally and produces and does remixes. But it seems like he's winding down his career. He's made his money. Maybe it's time to relax. Here's the video for Titanium by David Guetta featuring Sia. Yes, that is Rob Lowe as a cop. And the boy is played by British actor Ryan Lee. 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Andrea Bocelli

Artist:Andrea Bocelli f/Jennifer Lopez

Song:Quizas, Quizas, Quizas

Album:Passione: Deluxe Edition

Italian opera singer Andrea Bocelli started crossing over to pop in 1994. He's never had a hit single so his record sales is to an older mostly female audience. He also records in multiple languages. This 2013 album Passione was released in English and Spanish versions. He may be the only one doing that today. He was born Sept. 22, 1958 in Lajatico, Italy which is in Tuscan. He was born with congenital glaucoma. He grew up on the family farm which today is run by his brother Alberto. Bocelli's father died in 2000. Bocelli started piano lessons at age six. After he heard Franco Corelli, Bocelli wanted to sing. He was completely blind at age 12. He performed locally and won singing contests. After graduating high school, Bocelli studied law at the University of Pisa and sang in local clubs at night. After graduation, he worked as a court appointed lawyer. In 1992, Italian rock star Zucchero was looking for a tenor to record a demo of his song Miserere to send to famed tenor Luciano Pavarotti. When Pavarotti heard the demo, he urged Zucchero to use Bocelli on the record and take him on tour. Miserere was a hit across Europe and Bocelli signed with the label Sugar Music. He sang Miserere in the Sanremo Music Festival and made a big splash there. So obviously Bocelli was going to be very popular in Italy. The turning point came when British singer Sarah Brightman heard Bocelli sing Con te partiro and wanted to sing the English version Time to Say Goodbye as a duet for the retirement bout of German boxer Henry Maske. The record was a hit across Europe. It reached #2 on the British Singles chart. That's when Bocelli started singing in different languages. After making his US debut on PBS in 1997, his albums started selling and he became even bigger after touring the US and appearing on various TV shows. Probably his best selling album in the US was the 2009 Christmas album My Christmas. It was certified 2XPlatinum. He's very consistent. One of the producers on his Christmas album was David Foster. Foster also works with Josh Groban. Quizas, Quizas, Quizas is from Bocelli's 2013 album Passione. It's a duet with Jennifer Lopez. There is also a duet with Nelly Furtado and a virtual duet with Edith Piaf. Quizas, Quizas, Quizas was written by Cuban songwriter Osvaldo Farres and recorded in 1947 by Bobby Capo. It was first recorded in English by Desi Arnaz in 1948. Nat King Cole sang the song regularly in the late 50s. But the song has never been a hit. Passione was certified Gold in the US and the Latin version topped the Latin charts. Passione is available in a Deluxe Edition with four bonus tracks. So that's where Bocelli is at right now. He's recording different kinds of music in various languages. And I'm sure his back catalog makes Universal a lot of money. His latest album A Family Christmas which he recorded with his kids was released in 2022. Lately he has performed with his son Matteo including on this year's Oscar telecast. Here's Andrea Bocelli featuring Jennifer Lopez performing Quizas, Quizas, Quizas on Dancing With The Stars 2013. 

 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Amy Winehouse

Artist:Amy Winehouse

Song:Rehab

Album:Back to Black

British singer songwriter Amy Winehouse had the potential to be a huge star. But she wasn't able to stay sober and died of alcohol poisoning at age 27. The 2007 single Rehab was her biggest hit. And I guess it tells her story in a nutshell. Keep in mind that a lot of this played out in the British press and that just made things worse. She was born Sept. 14, 1983 in Southgate, London, England. They way she got into music is her grandmother was a singer who once dated jazz saxophonist Ronnie Scott. And her uncles were jazz musicians. Her parents encouraged her interest in music. She attended the Susi Earnshaw Theater School for four years followed by the Sylvia Young Theater School. She dropped out of school at age 16 and in 2000 became the featured vocalist for the National Youth Jazz Orchestra. One of her demos got her a development deal with Simon Fuller. He tried to keep her secret. But eventually Island Records found out about her. Amy had already signed a publishing deal with EMI and was working with producer Salaam Remi. Amy released her 2003 debut album Frank produced by Remi. Amy wrote most of the songs. Amy's voice was compared favorably with Sarah Vaughan. The album did well in England. When I first heard of Amy, I thought she was OK but nothing special. There is a history in the music business of racism. If a white singer sounds black, the record company would push her because a white singer can be sold to a larger audience. That's what I thought was happening with Amy. Of course I didn't know at the time that Amy would blow up worldwide with the 2007 album Back to Black. Amy was sent to New York to record with Sharon Jones' band The Dap-Kings. Mark Ronson produced half the album. Remi produced the other half. Rehab was the first single and it reached #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #7 on the British Singles chart. The album was certified 2XPlatinum. By this time, Amy was drinking heavily. Ronson says she told him about her dad trying to get her to go to rehab and her refusal. That was the song Rehab. I guess the song could be ironic if things improved for Amy. But instead they got worse. She got a mixed reaction at live shows because she wasn't in any condition to perform. Amy's next album was scheduled for a 2011 release but it was not finished. And she continued to have problems performing live. Amy made her final public appearance in support of her goddaughter Dionne Bromfield who was backing up The Wanted at Camden's Roadhouse in London July 20, 2011. She died three days later. There was not only the alcoholism but she was suffering from bulimia too. Her final recording was a duet of Body and Soul with Tony Bennett for his album Duets II. This was released on Amy's 28th birthday in September. There was a documentary released in 2015 and now there's a feature film being released soon. The sad thing is I don't think we have learned anything from the demise of Amy Winehouse. We just go on to the next big thing. I guess everyone is disposable. Here's the video of Rehab by Amy Winehouse.

 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Steven Pasquale

Artist:Steven Pasquale

Song:Streets of Dublin

Album:A Man of No Importance: A New Musical

Actor Steven Pasquale is probably best known for playing New York City firefighter Sean Garrity on the popular FX TV series Rescue Me. But he started out on stage. And he seems to prefer it though he has a busy TV schedule. He hasn't done a lot of films. He was born Nov. 18, 1976 in Hershey, PA. Pasquale was a theater major at the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University in Texas for one semester. Then he moved to New York. He started out in national tours of West Side Story and Miss Saigon. Then he appeared in the musicals The Spitfire Grill and A Man of No Importance in 2002. A Man of No Importance is a musical based on the 1994 film A Man of No Importance starring Albert Finney. It's about a Dublin theater group attempting to stage Salome over the objections of local church authorities. The music was written by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty who also wrote the musical Ragtime. Lynn also wrote plenty of songs for the popular TV show Schoolhouse Rock. Stars include Roger Rees, Jessica Molaskey and Faith Prince. The show ran at Lincoln Center from Sept.-Dec. 2002. But I think it was only intended for a short run. But there is an original cast album available on CD. Pasquale played Robbie Fay and The Streets of Dublin is his big song. Since then, A Man of No Importance has been produced a few times in small runs. Pasquale was supposed to appear in the 2003 Broadway production of The Light in the Piazza But his Rescue Me schedule wouldn't allow it. He appeared on that show from 2004-11. He's had a few other roles on TV but that's the big one. He returned to Broadway in The Bridges of Madison Country in 2013. And he currently appears in the Stephen Sondheim musical Here We Are. Here's Steven Pasquale performing The Streets of Dublin at a benefit. 

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Jessica Andrade vs Marina Rodriguez

Here's the fight video of Jessica Andrade vs Marina Rodriguez from last night's UFC show in Las Vegas. This fight is at Strawweight. Jessica is 32 years old. She trains at PRVT in Las Vegas. Jessica is a former Strawweight champ. She's 16-10 in the UFC. Marina is 36 years old. She trains with Marcio Malko at Thai Brasil in Florianopolis, Brazil. She's 7-3 in the UFC. She loses every time she is a position for a title shot. And beating Jessica could get her that title shot. Her problem is she is a kickboxer with no ground skills. But she has a significant height advantage. So if she could keep Jessica at a distance, she could win this fight. She wasn't able to do that in round one. Jessica got her down and won the round 10-9. Marina was better in round two and I thought she won the round 10-9. But two of the three judges scored it 10-9 for Jessica. I scored round three 10-9 for Marina. So I scored the fight 29-28 for Marina. Because two of the three judges scored round two for Jessica, she won the fight by split decision. It was close so it could have gone either way. But this is the price Marina pays for not being a complete fighter. Enjoy the video!  

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Kayla Harrison vs Holly Holm

Here's the fight video of Kayla Harrison vs Holly Holm from last night's UFC show in Las Vegas. This fight is at Bantamweight. Kayla is 33 years old. She trains with Mike Brown at American Top Team in Florida. She's a two time Olympic judo champion. She's been fighting in PFL at a much higher weight. This is her UFC debut. Making weight was the big question and she did make weight. Holly is 42 years old from New Mexico. She trains at Jackson Wink with Mike Winklejohn. Holly is a former UFC Bantamweight Champion. But she's always been limited as a fighter. And now she's older and should probably retire. So I expected Kayla to win easily and she did exactly that with a rear naked choke at 1:47 of round two. The Bantamweight division is weak right now. So it shouldn't take long for Kayla to get a title shot possibly by the end of the year. Enjoy the video! 

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Zhang Weili vs Yan Xiaonan

Here's the fight video of Zhang Weili defending her UFC Strawweight Championship against Yan Xiaonan from last night's UFC show in Las Vegas. Zhang is 34 years old from China. She is training with John Wood at Syndicate MMA in Las Vegas. Zhang is 8-2 in the UFC. this is her second run with the UFC Strawweight Championship. Yan is also 34 years old from China. She trains with Danny Castillo at Team Alpha Male in Sacramento. She's on a two fight winning streak. Yan is a striker. Zhang's big advantage is her grappling. I thought she could win the fight easily by getting it to the ground. And that's pretty much what happened. Yan started out OK in round one by keeping Zhang at a distance. But Zhang took her down and by the end of the round had gotten her in a rear naked choke. I thought she was out and the fight should have been stopped. But ref Jason Herzog ruled that Yan was saved by the bell. I scored the round 10-9 for Zhang because Yan did well in the first half of the round. Zhang continued to dominate on the ground in round two and I scored the round 10-8 for Zhang. Zhang looked like she was out of it in round three. And she said afterwards that she was. So I scored round three 10-9 for Yan. But Zhang won the final two rounds. So I scored the fight 49-45 for Zhang and so did all three judges. As I said, I expected Zhang to win so there were no surprises. The next challenger should be a hopefully healthy Tatiana Suarez. Enjoy the video! 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Merrilee Rush

Artist:Merrilee Rush

Song:Angel of the Morning

Album:Sixties Classics

Most listeners should be familiar with Juice Newton's 1981 top five hit Angel of the Morning. But you may not know that it was a cover of Merrilee Rush's 1968 top ten hit recording. That record is perceived as a one hit wonder though some of Merrilee's other songs charted. It was her only big hit. She was born Merrilee Gunst Jan. 26, 1944 in Seattle. She learned to play piano as a child. In 1960, she became lead singer of The Amazing Aztecs led by saxophonist Neil Rush. The band didn't last. But the two married and formed Merrilee and her Men and performed covers in Seattle clubs. They were also in Tiny Tony and the Statics who had a regional hit with the song Hey Mrs. Jones. In 1965, the pair formed Merilee Rush and the Turnabouts. They toured Washington and Oregon. One of their road crew also worked for Paul Revere and the Raiders and got them a spot opening for that band's 1967 tour of the southern US. While in Memphis, Raiders leader Mark Lindsay introduced the Rushes to veteran producer Chips Moman. He owned American Studio in Memphis. Moman and another veteran producer Tommy Cogbill took Merrilee into the studio to record Angel of the Morning. The song was written by Chip Taylor. He is the brother of actor Jon Voight and wrote The Troggs hit Wild Thing. Taylor offered the song to Connie Francis but she turned it down. Taylor produced Evie Sands recording of Angel of the Morning but Cameo-Parkway couldn't promote it due to financial problems. Cogbill was looking for a singer to sing Angel of the Morning. And that's when Moman introduced him to Merrilee. She recorded the album Angel of the Morning With Moman's house band. Moman and Cogbill sold it to Bell Records who had success with acts like Syndicate of Sound and James and Bobby Purify. Angel of the Morning reached #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1968. Merrilee was nominated for a Grammy. You can get Angel of the Morning on this 3CD various artists comp. So it looks she's on her way. But she gets divorced. After a few more singles didn't do well, Merrilee left Bell for Scepter. But she only recorded one single for them. She eventually released a 1977 album on United Artists. Merrilee found a new husband and they moved back to Seattle. I assume she is now retired. Here's Merrilee Rush performing Angel of the Morning on American Bandstand 1968.

  

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Cathie Ryan

Artist:Cathie Ryan

Song:Somewhere Along the Road

Album:Somewhere Along the Road

Cathie Ryan is a former member of the folk group Cherish the Ladies. She went solo in 1995 and has recorded and toured since then. Cathie was born in Detroit but her parents were Irish immigrants. Her father was a singer and her mother played the fiddle. They frequently traveled to Ireland to visit family. At age 17, Cathie moved to New York to attend Fordham University. She joined Cherish the Ladies in 1987. She went solo in 1995. She has mostly recorded for Shanachie Records. They are mostly a distributor of music that is not commercial enough to get a major label deal. Basically it's her label and Shanachie distributes it to stores. Cathie recorded her first two albums in the US. But she has moved to Ireland and since the 2001 album Somewhere Along the Road, she has recorded in Ireland or Scotland with local musicians. This album was produced by fiddler John McCusker and he also plays fiddle. Other musicians include Phil Cunningham on accordion, Kris Drever on bass, Malcolm Stitt on bouzouki, Iain MacDonald on flute, John Doyle on guitar, Andy Seward on Jew's Harp, Michael Aharon on organ and James Mackintosh on percussion. Though Carrie writes her own songs and also records traditional songs, Somewhere Along the Road was written by Steeleye Span bassist Rick Kemp and first recorded by Steeleye Span lead singer Maddy Prior in 1993. Cathie last recorded in 2012 on her own label but she still tours Europe and the festival circuit. Here's Cathie Ryan with Patsy O'Brien on guitar and Patrick Mangan on fiddle performing Somewhere Along the Road at Fiddler's Green in Austria Dec. 20, 2012.

   

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Bette Davis

Artist:Bette Davis

Song:They're Either Too Young or Too Old

Album:Did You Know These Stars Also Sang?

Of course Bette Davis was one of the all time Hollywood greats mostly during her days at Warner Bros. in the 30s and 40s. She made her only singing appearance in the 1943 all star extravaganza Thank Your Lucky Stars. She made some other singing appearances later on including an album in the 70s. She was born Ruth Elizabeth Davis Apr. 5, 1908 in Lowell, MA. Betty was a childhood nickname which she changed to Bette after the main character in the novel La Cousine Bette. Bette got into acting while attending the boarding school Cushing Academy. She went to see a play starring British actress Peg Entwistle. Bette made her Broadway debut in the 1929 play Broken Dishes. Of course with the advent of sound, Bette wanted to move to Hollywood. At first she worked for Universal and things didn't go well. She was going to return to New York when actor George Arliss cast her in the 1932 film The Man Who Played God. Warner Bros. signed her to a five year contract and she stayed for 18 years. Bette's breakthrough as a star was the 1934 film Of Human Bondage. She was loaned out to RKO. Despite her stardom, Bette had a contentious relationship with Warner Bros. mostly about wanting more money to appear in films that she didn't want to do. This led to Bette signing to do a film in England which led to a lawsuit which she lost. Bette's career picked up when she appeared in the 1938 film Jezebel. She had a lot of success for the next few years in films like The Letter (1940), All This, and Heaven Too (1940) and The Little Foxes (1941). Bette was Warner Bros.' most profitable star and she was successful until she left the studio in the late 40s. During WWII, all the studios made all star extravaganzas. That's what Thank Your Lucky Stars was. It starred Edward Everett Horton and S.Z Sakall as producers forced to allow Eddie Cantor to take over an all star show. Many Warner Bros. stars made cameos. Some of them sang. It was the only singing film appearance for Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, Olivia de Haviland and Ida Lupino. Normally the studio dubbed their singing. But Bette Davis did her own singing. So there was a lot of buzz about that. They're Either Too Young or Too Old was written for the film by Frank Loesser and Arthur Schwartz. It was never a hit. It's mainly known as the song Bette Davis sang in a movie. She does a pretty good job. You can get it on this 2CD various artists CD from the oldies label Jasmine Records. Bette sang in a couple of 60s films, appeared in the Broadway musical Two's Company and even recorded an album in the 70s. But this was her only memorable singing performance. Here's Bette Davis performing They're Either To Young or Too Old in the 1943 film Thank Your Lucky Stars.