Brett Okamoto of ESPN reported yesterday that Maycee Barber vs Gillian Robertson has been added to UFC on ESPN2 Oct. 18 at the TD Garden in Boston. I guess that means this show airs on ESPN2. Both fighters confirmed the fight on Instagram. This fight is at Flyweight. Maycee is 21 years old from Fort Collins, CO but she trains at Roufusport in Milwaukee. Her record is 7-0. She came to the UFC on Dana White's Tuesday Night Contender Series as a Strawweight. But when she missed weight for her first UFC fight, she moved up to Flyweight. Maycee won her Flyweight debut over JJ Aldrich with a second round TKO. But she lost round one. And she broke her hand and she had to have surgery. Gillian is 24 years old from Niagara Falls, ON but she trains with Din Thomas at American Top Team in Florida. Her record is 7-3 and 4-1 in the UFC. As we saw last week in her win over Sarah Frota, Gillian is a ground expert usually with submissions though she won that fight with a TKO. I guess both fighters can be described as prospects. As a Strawweight, Maycee had a size advantage that went away when she moved to Flyweight. Also, I didn't like her slow start in her fight with JJ. She can't do that against Gillian who is a finisher who doesn't mess around. But Gillian does make mistakes that Maycee could use to her advantage. We could see a title challenger come from this fight.
Wednesday, July 31, 2019
Maycee Barber vs Gillian Robertson added to Oct. 18 UFC show
Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Tracy Cortez vs Mariya Agapova
Here's the match video of Tracy Cortez vs Mariya Agapova from last night's Dana White Tuesday Night Contender Series. This fight is at Flyweight. Tracy missed weight the first time but made it on the second try. She is from Scottsdale, AZ. She looked pretty good when I saw her in Invicta. That's a picture of her late brother tattooed on her arm. He was a high school wrestling teammate of Henry Cejudo. Tracy is very good on the ground. Mariya is from Kazakhstan but she trains at American Top Team in Florida. Her record is 6-0 mostly with Fight Night Global. Mariya has a height and reach advantage. At first she's doing OK as long as the fight is standing. But Tracy takes her down halfway through round one. And she dominates from there especially in round two which I thought was 10-8 for Tracy. She keeps trying for a rear naked choke but is not quite able to get a finish. But Tracy is still able to get that UFC contract. She looked pretty good. Enjoy the video!
AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Maire Brennan
Song:Against The Wind
Album:Maire
As the lead singer of the popular group Clannad, Maire Brennan played a big part in popularizing contemporary Celtic music. Against The Wind is from her 1992 solo debut album Maire. After that made a big splash, Maire has been very successful. She was born Aug. 4, 1952 in Dublin, Ireland and she grew up in County Donegal. Her dad owned Leo's Tavern and Maire and her sisters including the very popular Enya grew up performing there. Maire studied at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. She formed Clannad with her brothers and uncles in 1970 and they were very successful especially in the 80s. Clannad mixed traditional Irish music with contemporary pop. They laid the foundation for what is known today as Celtic music. Maire became known as The First Lady of Celtic Music. Maire left Clannad and released her solo debut album Maire in 1992 on Atlantic Records. The album was produced by Donal Lunny of Planxty and veteran producer Calum Malcolm. Against The Wind was the first single and it was a big hit in Ireland. Maire wrote the song with her environmentalist husband Tim Jarvis. She recorded two albums for Atlantic and then switched to the Christian label Word due to her religious beliefs. She currently records for her own label. Since 2002 she has called herself Moya Brennan which is a phonetic variation of Maire. She continues to record and tour. U2 lead singer Bono has recorded with Clannad and he praises Moya's vocal talent. In recent years harpist Cormac de Barra has been a member of her band. And her children Aisling and Paul Jarvis are in her band. They wrote and produced Moya's 2017 album Canvas. Moya is currently on tour in Ireland and there will be a Clannad reunion tour in 2020. Here's the video for Against The Wind by Maire Brennan. This video is not on Youtube.
Tuesday, July 30, 2019
AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Barbara Walsh
Song:The Ladies Who Lunch
Album:Company: 2006 Broadway Cast
Barbara Walsh is a Tony nominated actress who played Joanne in the 2006 Broadway revival of the Stephen Sondheim musical Company. Barbara still performs in musicals just not on Broadway. She was born June 3, 1955 in Washington, DC and she grew up in Chevy Chase, MD. She studied drama and music at Montgomery College. She started out in regional theater before coming to New York. She made her Broadway debut in the 1982 musical Rock 'N Roll! The First 5,000 Years. This was followed by Nine on Broadway and then a national tour. Barbara appeared off-Broadway in the parody musical Forbidden Broadway. She was nominated for a Tony for playing Trina in the 1992 musical Falsettos. There is no cast album for that. She also appeared in the 1993 show Blood Brothers, the 1996 show Big and the 2002 revival of Hairspray. This 2006 revival of the Sondheim musical Company starred Raul Esparza as Bobby. Barbara played Joanne and that character was made famous in the original production by Elaine Stritch. That's a giant shadow and I'm sure it was tough for Barbara to try to live up to that. In the video of Barbara's performance of The Ladies Who Lunch, keep in mind that the character is supposed to be drunk. The original cast album is available as a digital download. Since then Barbara has performed mostly in regional theater. She also had a two year stint in the daytime soap One Life To Live and a few TV guest shots. Here's Barbara Walsh performing The Ladies Who Lunch from Company on the PBS series Great Performances.
Monday, July 29, 2019
Polyana Viana in for Rachael Ostovich on Aug. 10 UFC show
UFC Brazil announced this afternoon that Rachael Ostovich suffered a broken hand and Polyana Viana will now face Veronica Macedo on UFC on ESPN+ 14 Aug. 10 at the Antel Arena in Montevideo, Uruguay. This fight will be at Flyweight. Polyana is 28 years old from Brazil. Her record is 10-3 and 1-2 in the UFC. She was fighting at Strawweight. This will be her first fight at Flyweight. Veronica is 23 years old originally from Venezuela but she lives in Poland. She has lost all three of her fights in the UFC. This could be her last chance. And it's a tougher fight as Polyana is better than Rachael. We'll see how she is coming in on short notice in a new weight class.Mais uma brasileira confirmada no #UFCUruguai! Saiba mais ⤵
— UFC Brasil (@UFCBrasil) July 29, 2019
AccuRadio Song Of The Day-French Montana
Song:No Shopping
Album:Epic Lit
Karim Kharbouch is a rapper known as French Montana. He releases so much music that it's difficult to keep track of all of it. The 2016 hit single No Shopping fell through the cracks. Good luck trying to find it. And Drake is on this so it is of interest to his fans too. He was born Nov. 9, 1984 in Casablanca, Morocco. His family moved to New York City when he was 13 years old. When dad returned to Morocco, Mom and the rest of the family remained in New York. Kharbouch started out as a battle rapper selling street DVDs. He did this for several years. He also survived a 2002 shooting. He signed with Akon's Konvict Music in 2009. The purpose of the deal was to get Kharbouch on a larger label. He signed with SRC but they closed in 2012. Through all of this, Kharbouch released many mixtapes. He signed with Bad Boy in 2012 and he's still with them. Maybach Music Group was the distributor. Kharbouch finally released the album Excuse My French in 2013. The single Pop That reached #36 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #2 on the R&B Singles chart. Meanwhile Kharbouch continues to release mixtapes that are not intended as retail releases. No Shopping reached #36 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2016. It was from one of a series of mixtapes known as Macaroni & Cheese. This one was MC4. But it looks like Maybach thought it was supposed to be an album and they mistakenly released the album to Target. Apparently there were sample clearance issues and eventually MC4 was released as a mixtape to get around that. The problem is MC4 was never officially released. No Shopping features Drake and it was co-produced by one of his producers Shane "Murda Beats" Lindstrom. You can get the single as a digital download. The only album it is on is this various artists comp Epic Lit which is also available as a digital download. The end result is Epic Records now distributes French Montana releases. The album Jungle Rules was released in 2017 and Kharbouch continues to release all kinds of music though he hasn't released a mixtape since MC4. I don't know how his fans keep track of it all. Here's the video for No Shopping by French Montana featuring Drake.
Sunday, July 28, 2019
Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Gillian Robertson vs Sarah Frota
Here's the match video of Gillian Robertson vs Sarah Frota from last night's UFC show in Edmonton. Gillian is a submission specialist. Sarah is a Brazilian who lost to Livinha Souza at Strawweight. She also missed weight. This fight was at Flyweight. So while you watch this fight, Joe Rogan's commentary is a little strange. In round one, Gillian took it to the ground. The way Rogan described it, Sarah came close to several submissions from bottom position. I thought there was a triangle choke that could have worked. But I thought Sarah spent too much energy on pointless submissions. And she pooped herself out and Gillian turned things around by the end of the round. An elbow busted Sarah open. Gillian controlled Sarah in round two. I suppose she could have gone for a submission. But instead she took advantage of the earlier damage and pounded Sarah until the ref stopped the fight. I would like to see Gillian fight better competition. Enjoy the video!
Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Viviane Araujo vs Alexis Davis
Here's the match video of Viviane Araujo vs Alexis Davis from last night's UFC show in Edmonton. Viviane didn't look as good in this fight as she did in her UFC debut. But the bottom line is she was much quicker than Alexis and that's why she won the fight. Viviane did get tired and that's why Alexis won round two. But Viviane just has to pace herself better. I scored the fight 29-28 for Viviane and so did the judges. Maybe Alexis is near the end of the road. Enjoy the video!
Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Cris Cyborg vs Felicia Spencer
Here's the match video of Cris Cyborg vs Felicia Spencer from last night's UFC show in Edmonton. Felicia's best chance to win this fight was to take Cyborg down and get on top of her. But she was never able to do that and she doesn't strike well enough to get into a striking contest. The best thing I can say about Felicia is she didn't fold and lasted three rounds. And that will probably help her in the future. But the real story is that Cris Cyborg is leaving the UFC for Bellator. Dana White doesn't think she will sign a long term contract. So he said this week that he is willing to let her have a rematch with Amanda Nunes and then she can leave. He's doing this for Amanda. We don't know yet if Cris will do that. I think it's 50/50. Meanwhile White says he doesn't blame Cris for not wanting that rematch. He's just trying to get her goat. So what's the real story? Cris said last night that she wants White to respect her. Actually, he does respect her as a fighter. But he knows he can get under her skin. And she has a bad habit of wearing her emotions on her sleeve. If her reason for not resigning with the UFC is "Dana White hurt my feelings", she needs to give her head a shake. Of course it's also possible she wants too much money. And White hasn't been involved in those negotiations. She also believes that Bellator's Featherweight division is better the UFC's which isn't true. Both divisions are bad. And like Gegard Moussasi and Lorenz Larkin, she prefers Scott Coker to Dana White. And that last thing is what this is really about. So yeah, it comes down to hurt feelings. And that's why White offered a compromise. We'll see if she accepts it. Enjoy the video!
AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Ian Hunter
Song:Cleveland Rocks
Album:The Singles Collection 1975-83
Ian Hunter is best known as the lead singer of the British band Mott The Hoople. He went solo in 1974 and his best known song is Cleveland Rocks which was the theme of The Drew Carey Show. He was born Ian Hunter Patterson June 3, 1939 in Oswestry, Shropshire, England but he grew up in Scotland. In the early 60s he was in The Apex Group. After some regional success, Hunter left and joined The Scenery in 1966. That's when he met his future collaborator Mick Ronson. There were plans for Hunter to be in The New Yardbirds with Jimmy Page. But that got scuttled when Page formed Led Zeppelin. That's when Mott The Hoople was formed. Of course they had success with the 1972 David Bowie song All The Young Dudes. After that there was a lot of pressure on Mott The Hoople to produce more hits. And that led to Hunter's departure in 1974. Hunter's 1975 solo debut featured Once Bitten Twice Shy. This was a hit in England but the 1989 Great White cover was a much bigger hit. Hunter's first three albums were on Columbia and then he moved to Chrysalis for the 1979 album You're Never Alone With A Schizophrenic. Cleveland Rocks is Hunter's signature song. He first recorded it as England Rocks in the 1977 album Overnight Angels. Columbia hated that album and refused to promote it or release it in the US. For You're Never Alone With A Schizophrenic, Hunter reunited with Ronson. And the band was Roy Bittan, Garry Tallent and Max Weinberg of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. Hunter re-recorded England Rocks as Cleveland Rocks. He says that Cleveland Rocks was the original title but Columbia forced him to change it to England Rocks. Of course Cleveland Rocks is very popular in Cleveland. Most notably, a cover by The Presidents of the United States of America was the theme for the Drew Carey show. You can get it on this 2CD comp. You're Never Alone With A Schizophrenic is available in a 2CD edition with bonus and live tracks. Hunter is still around. His current band The Rant Band has released three albums most recently in 2016. Hunter celebrated his 80th birthday performing at the City Winery in New York City. He also did a brief British tour with a reformed Mott The Hoople. Here's Ian Hunter performing Cleveland Rocks at the Agora Ballroom in Cleveland June 18, 1979.
Saturday, July 27, 2019
AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Playing For Change
Song:Stand By Me
Album:Songs Around The World
Playing For Change is a music project that is trying to use music to bring people together. It is also a charitable foundation that builds music schools around the world. This cover of Stand By Me is probably their best known recording because the Youtube video went viral. Playing For Change was founded by recording engineer Mark Johnson and heiress Whitney Kroenke. Her father is LA Rams and Denver Nuggets owner Stan Kroenke. One day Johnson was walking around Santa Monica and he heard street singer Roger Ridley. Johnson had already been working with street singer Elliott Small AKA Grandpa Elliott. Johnson produced an album for Elliott. The idea for Playing For Change came to him. The video for Stand By Me was produced and went viral on Youtube and then the 2009 album was released. Ridley and Elliott both sing on the album. Keb' Mo' is featured on three songs. The album did well enough that Playing For Change continues and it is now a charity that builds music schools worldwide. You can get this album along with a bunch of videos as a digital download. Playing For Change has released four albums. The first couple of albums were on the now defunct Starbucks label Hear Music. Then they moved to Concord and the 2018 album Listen To The Music is on Motema. They claim to have recorded in 25 countries with 210 musicians. Even I can't keep track of that. They also tour and Playing For Change seems to be very popular in Brazil. Here's the video for Stand By Me by Playing For Change.
Friday, July 26, 2019
Megan Anderson vs Zarah Fairn Dos Santos added to Oct. 5 UFC show
Megan Anderson posted on Twitter and Instagram that she will be on UFC 243 Oct. 5 at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne, Australia. She didn't mention her opponent but soon after Mike Bohn of MMA Junkie reported that she will fight Zarah Fairn Dos Santos. Who? Don't worry. I've heard of her. Of course Megan is from Gold Coast, Australia but she now trains at UFC fighter James Krause's Glory MMA in Kansas City. Megan 's record is 8-4 and she is a former Invicta Featherweight Champion. But she has been underwhelming at best in the UFC. She's 1-2 and that one win was a ridiculous fluke when she whiffed on a head kick and cut Cat Zingano's eyelid with her toenail. Don't get me wrong. That win was legal but it was a fluke. If Megan had performed well in her losses, that would be fine. But she didn't. When she was in Invicta, I thought Krause had helped her improve. Now I'm not so sure. Zarah is 32 years old from France. Her record is 6-2 and she trains at Olympea Training Center in France. She tried out for TUF 28 and didn't make the show. She was supposed to fight for Invicta last Nov. but she pulled out due to visa issues. Farah's last fight was a win over one time UFC fighter Izabela Badurek Dec. 2017. I understand she's a striker but her defense is iffy. With MMA now legal in France, that's a good reason to sign her. Look, neither fighter would get in the UFC in another weight class. But Featherweight is awful and that won't change. Megan really needs a non fluke win.After 5 long years since I fought in Aus, I'm coming home...
— Megan Anderson (@MeganA_mma) July 26, 2019
See you Oct 5 Straya 🇦🇺 #UFC243 pic.twitter.com/PZCxpQU21z
AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Jimmy McGriff
Song:I've Got A Woman Part 1
Album:A Toast To Jimmy McGriff's Golden Classics
Jimmy McGriff is one of the all time greats of the Hammond B-3 organ along with his pals Jimmy Smith and Richard "Groove" Holmes. McGriff's 1962 cover of the Ray Charles classic I've Got A Woman was a top twenty pop hit. He was born Apr. 3, 1936 in the Philadelphia suburb of Germantown, PA. His parents played piano so McGriff learned to play as a child. As a teen, he settled on the bass. He was going to learn organ from Holmes. But then McGriff was drafted and he was an MP in Korea. Upon his return, he became a Philadelphia police officer. He still played bass in clubs especially for Big Maybelle. But McGriff was still interested in the organ so he contacted Holmes again. This time he bought his own organ and studied at Juilliard and with Milt Buckner and Jimmy Smith. He released a single in 1958. McGriff formed a trio with guitarist Morris Dow and former Harry James drummer Jackie Mills. Jell Records owner Joe Lederman saw them in a club and had them record I've Got A Woman. It did well enough that Juggy Murray picked it up for the larger Sue label. McGriff recorded an album and I've Got A Woman Part 1 reached #20 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #5 on the R&B Singles chart. Other chart hits included All About My Girl and Kiko. After Murray sold Sue to United Artists in 1965, McGriff moved to UA's Solid State label to begin a long association with producer Sonny Lester. This comp CD covers McGriff's Sue recordings. McGriff recorded for Solid State for the rest of the 60s. He also owned The Golden Slipper club in Newark, NJ. He also toured with Buddy Rich. After McGriff recorded some albums for Blue Note in the early 70s, he retired to become a horse farmer. But Lester started Groove Merchant and McGriff recorded for them for the rest of the 70s including a couple of albums with his old pal Richard "Groove" Holmes. In the 80s, McGriff recorded for Fantasy's Milestone label and he toured and recorded with sax legend Hank Crawford. And he formed The Dream Team with Ray Charles sax player David "Fathead" Newman and legendary session drummer Bernard "Pretty" Purdie. Jimmy McGriff retired in 2002 and died on May 24, 2008 at age 72. Here's a video for I've Got A Woman Part 1 by Jimmy McGriff. Part 2 was on the B side.
Thursday, July 25, 2019
Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Io Shirai vs Kacy Catanzaro
Here's the match video of Io Shirai vs Kacy Catanzaro from this week's episode of NXT. This launches Io's program with Candice LeRai. The match itself is thirty seconds long and then Candice attacks Io. Of course the match should be longer but I think they may have been in a time crunch. It looks like the segment was a last minute addition. We'll see how this feud is handled at the next taping. Well, at least we got to see Io's new entrance. Enjoy the video!
AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Crucial Conflict
Song:Hay
Album:The Final Tic
The rap group Crucial Conflict scored a top twenty hit in 1996 with Hay. They are still around but it's their only hit single to date. Crucial Conflict are from Chicago led by Ralph "Wildstyle" Leverston. He writes and produces all the music. Other members are Wondosas "Kilo" Martin, Corey "Coldhard" Johnson and Marrico "Never" King. After releasing a 1993 EP, Crucial Conflict signed with Pallas Records with Universal distribution. The executive producer was hip hop pioneer Fred "Fab 5 Freddy" Brathwaite, host of Yo! MTV Raps. The 1996 album The Final Tic was their major label debut. The single Hay reached #18 on the Billboard Hot 100. Of course the song is about weed and Crucial Conflict had this wild west thing they liked to portray. Leverston wrote and produced Hay and used a sample from the Funkadelic song I'll Stay. The album was certified Gold. The 1998 album Good Side, Bad Side didn't do as well. Crucial Conflict was having problems with Universal so they split up in 1999. They returned with the 2006 album Planet Crucion on their own label. That's Crucial Conflict's latest CD though they surface occasionally to perform live. And Leverston released a solo album in 2009. But like I always say, being a one hit wonder is better than no hits at all. Here's the video for Hay by Crucial Conflict.
Wednesday, July 24, 2019
AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Ernesto Cervini Quartet
Song:Nonna Rosa
Album:Little Black Bird
Drummer Ernesto Cervini was born in Toronto in 1982. Currently he splits his time between Toronto and New York City. He studied at the Royal Conservatory of Music, the University of Toronto and the Manhattan School of Music. He started out as a sideman playing in New York clubs. He signed with Anzic Records in 2006 and has been recording for them ever since. Nonna Rosa is from the 2009 album Little Black Bird. Cervini wrote the song for his late grandmother. The featured musician is sax player Joel Frahm who is a long time associate of pianist Brad Mehldau. They attended college together. Pianist Adrian Farrugia and bassist Jon Maharaj are both from Toronto. He expanded this quartet to a sextet in 2011. They have recorded a couple of albums as Turboprop. Cervini's other bands include MEM3, Myriad3, Idioteque, Tetrahedron and most recently Tunetown. Tunetown will release a new album in September. And Cervini is on the University of Toronto faculty. Here's Ernesto Cervini with Joel Frahm on sax, Dan Tepfer on piano and Dan Loomis on bass performing Nonna Rosa at the Cornelia Street Cafe in New York City May 25, 2010.
Tuesday, July 23, 2019
Nadia Kassem vs Ji Yeon Kim added to Oct. 5 UFC show
The UFC announced that Nadia Kassem vs Ji Yeon Kim has been added to UFC 243 Oct. 5 at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne, Australia. This fight will be at Flyweight. Nadia is 23 years old from Wentworthville, Australia. Her record is 5-1 and 1-1 in the UFC. Her boyfriend Ashkan Mokhtarian also fights for the UFC and his brother trains them. I don't think she's a UFC caliber fighter. But the UFC needs Aussie fighters for Aussie shows and this will be her third appearance on an Aussie show. Ji is 29 years old from Incheon, South Korea. Her record is 8-2-2 and she is 2-2 in the UFC. I don't think she is a UFC caliber fighter either. Both her UFC wins were by split decision. So I'm not expecting much with this fight.
Hannah Goldy vs Miranda Granger added to Aug. 3 UFC
Manager Abraham Kawa announced today that his fighter Hannah Goldy will face Miranda Granger at UFC on ESPN 5 Aug. 3 at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ. This fight will be at Flyweight. Hannah is 27 years old from Tampa, FL. She is married to former UFC fighter Alex Nicholson. Her record is 5-0. She won her fight on the June 18 edition of Dana White Tuesday Night Contender Series. But I thought she played it safe and should have gone for a finish. So she didn't get a contract but here she is anyway. Miranda is 27 years old from Everett, WA. She trains at Charlie's Combat Club. Her record is 6-0. She won the Cage Force FC Strawweight Championship in May and I understand she had another fight scheduled. The only thing is this will be her Flyweight debut. It makes me wonder if she will drop to Strawweight after this fight. Both are coming in on short notice. So fighters do what they have to to get in the UFC.
Angela Hill vs Istela Nunes added to Sept. 21 UFC show
Raphael Marinho of Combate reported today that Angela Hill vs Istela Nunes has been added to UFC on ESPN+ 17 Sept. 21 at Arena Ciudad de Mexico in Mexico City. This fight will be at Strawweight. Angela is 33 years old. She trains at Alliance in San Diego. She is 3-5 on her second stint in the UFC. I don't think she is any better now that her first time around. She's still a kickboxer with no power and she has no ground skills. She has personality in her favor but she needs to win fights. For her last fight, Angela replaced her teammate Jessica Penne on short notice but she still lost. Istela is 27 years old. She trains at PRVT so she is a teammate of Jessica Andrade. Her record is 7-1-1NC. Unlike many of the Brazilian fighters, she has international experience. She went 2-1 in ONE Championship with wins over VV Mei and Gina Iniong and a loss to Angela Lee. The win over Gina was Aug. 2018 and that's the last time she fought. Those three fighters are probably better than Angela Hill. So it looks like a tough fight for Angela and she really needs a win.Ultimate marca estreia de Istela Nunes para o UFC México contra Angela Hill, 21 de setembro | combate | Sportv https://t.co/e9UtOprRQo
— Raphael Marinho (@raphamarinho) July 23, 2019
AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Khalid
Song:Talk
Album:Free Spirit
Since making a big splash with his 2016 debut single Location, Khalid Robinson has become one of today's most popular R&B singers. His latest single Talk is his highest chart placement to date. I suspect that his youth has much to do with his success. He was born Feb. 11, 1998 in Fort Stewart, GA. His parents are in the military so his family moved a lot including six years living in Germany. Khalid attended high school in El Paso, TX and that's when he got into music. After posting some of his songs to SoundCloud, Khalid rose to #2 on the Billboard Twitter Emerging Artist chart. The 2016 single Location reached #16 on the Billboard Hot 100. He signed with RCA Records. His debut album American Teen was certified 2XPlatinum. His early 2017 tour sold out and there were several Grammy nominations. He also appeared on singles with Logic and Shawn Mendes among others. The EP Suncity was released in 2018 featuring the single Saturday Nights with country singer Kane Brown. Talk was the first single from the 2019 album Free Spirit. It reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. It looks like the album will outperform the first album. Khalid writes his own songs with various collaborators. He works a lot with veteran producer John Hill. Talk was co-written and produced by the British duo Disclosure (Guy & Howard Robinson). In April, Khalid became the first artist to occupy the entire top five of the Billboard R&B Songs chart. And Spotify announced that he is their biggest global artist. He is currently on tour. So Khalid seems to be doing very well. Here's the video for Talk by Khalid.
Monday, July 22, 2019
AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Kings of Leon
Song:Waste A Moment
Album:WALLS
Kings of Leon is one of today's most successful alternative rock bands. They crossed over to pop success ten years ago but they are still doing well. Kings of Leon are a family band from Nashville. There are three brothers; Caleb Followill on lead vocals, Jared Followill on bass and keyboards, Nathan Followill on drums and cousin Mat Followill on lead guitar. Their father was a travelling preacher and that's how they grew up. After their parents divorced in 1997, they got into 70s rock especially Thin Lizzy. They named the band after their grandfather. Caleb and Nathan told RCA they didn't want to be pop stars. They wanted to be a real band. Jared was 15 years old when they taught him to play the bass. And then they "kidnapped" cousin Mat to play the drums. They signed with RCA and released an EP produced by Angelo Petralia of the 80s band Face To Face. Their 2003 debut album Youth and Young Manhood was very successful in England. But obviously RCA wanted success in the US. They finally got that with the 2008 album Only by the Night and the top five pop hit Use Somebody. Since then they haven't had the same kind of success. Waste A Moment is from the 2016 album WALLS which is their latest CD. They are still a very successful touring band. The brief pop success should sustain them for a long time. Here's the video for Waste A Moment by Kings of Leon.
Sunday, July 21, 2019
Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Jennifer Maia vs Roxanne Modaferri
Here's the match video of Jennifer Maia vs Roxanne Modafferi from last night's UFC show in San Antonio. This is another blah fight. What Roxanne needed to do to win this fight was get it to the ground. She couldn't do that. Jennifer stuffed all her takedowns mostly in round one. So Jennifer and her coaches deserve credit for making sure her takedown defense. Jennifer is a better striker than Roxanne. So once she was able to keep the fight standing, she won fairly easily. I scored it 30-27 for Jennifer and so did the judges. Enjoy the video!
Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Raquel Pennington vs Irene Aldana
Here's the match video of Raquel Pennington vs Irene Aldana from last night's UFC show in San Antonio. Irene is on a three fight winning streak. If she can win this fight, it will put her firmly in the top ten and maybe a title shot down the road. Raquel is probably her toughest opponent to date. But Raquel hadn't won a fight in three years. And she was seriously injured in an ATV crash. So she's not who she used to be. Well, at least if Irene wins, she can say she beat someone who once got a title shot. The fight was blah for the most part. Round one was five minutes of light sparring. Raquel seemed to have trouble finding her range. And Irene was throwing a lot of punches but not landing very much. I scored the round 10-9 for Irene. Raquel was better in round two. The round was very similar to round one but I scored it 10-9 for Raquel. In round three, Irene makes a stupid mistake that probably cost her the fight. They went to the ground and Irene goes for a heel hook which is a very low percentage submission. Unless a fighter is good at subs, a heel hook is not worth spending time on. So what Irene should have done is give up on it and stand up where she is more comfortable. Instead Raquel pounds her with hammerfists and that probably cost Irene the fight. So I scored round three 10-9 for Raquel and she won by split decision. So Irene beat herself through ineffectiveness and stupidity. How predictable. Enjoy the video.
AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Charlie Haden & Pat Metheny
Song:First Song
Album:Beyond The Missouri Sky
Of course bassist Charlie Haden is best known as a member of the groundbreaking Ornette Coleman Quartet in the late 50s. He came from a musical family who performed country music on the radio. Haden was very versatile. He could play any kind of music with anyone. So it's not surprising that Haden recorded an album with the very popular guitarist Pat Metheny. In 1984 Haden met and married singer Ruth Cameron and she became his manager. She had plenty of ideas and was a big influence on Haden. For example, Ruth suggested he form Quartet West with Ernie Watts on sax, Alan Broadbent on piano and Billy Higgins on drums. Haden wrote First Song for Ruth and it appeared on the 1988 Quartet West album In Angel City. He also recorded it with Enrico Pieranzuni and Higgins on the 1990 album First Song and with guitarist Jim Hall on a 1990 album that was released in 2014. It was also around this time that Haden began the Montreal Tapes series. He recorded First Song with pianist Geri Allen and drummer Paul Motian in 1989. In the 90s Haden recorded duet albums with Hank Jones, Kenny Barron and then the 1997 album Beyond The Missouri Sky with Metheny. Haden appeared on the 1980 Metheny album 80/81 with Dewey Redman, Michael Brecker and Motian and he appeared on a couple of other Metheny albums including one with Ornette Coleman. A duet album is something they wanted to do for a while. It takes time to line up the scheduling. The album won the Grammy for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance. Metheny plays synthesizers in addition to his usual guitar. I think fans of both guys would enjoy the record. Here's Charlie Haden & Pat Metheny performing First Song at the 34th Internationale Jazzwoche Berghausen in Berghausen, Germany May 7, 2003.
Saturday, July 20, 2019
Sijara Eubanks vs Bethe Correia added to Sept. 21 UFC show
Raphael Marinho of Combate reported this morning that Sijara Eubanks vs Bethe Correia has been added to UFC on ESPN+ 17 Sept. 21 at Arena Ciudad de Mexico in Mexico City. Bethe confirmed the fight on Instagram. This fight will be at Bantamweight. Sijara made the TUF 26 final for Flyweights. But she couldn't make weight. So now she's fighting at Bantamweight. I just don't think she is a UFC caliber fighter at Bantamweight. Of course neither is Bethe. But once upon a time she fought Ronda Rousey for the title. She's been awful since then. And she had a two year layoff for a couple of eye surgeries. When she returned in May, Bethe lost to Irene Aldana when she ineptly stumbled into an armbar submission. She should probably retire. But instead the UFC is going to use her to prop up a fighter who wouldn't be in the UFC if she hadn't tried to make it as a Flyweight first. So I don't care who wins. One fighter is awful. And the other is a fraud.
AccuRadio Song Of The Day-The Kendalls
Song:Heaven's Just A Sin Away
Album:16 Greatest Hits
The Kendalls scored three number one country hits from 1977-84. The 1977 single Heaven's Just A Sin Away crossed over to pop so it was their biggest hit. The unusual thing about The Kendalls is they were a father daughter duo. Royce Kendall was from St. Louis. He formed The Austin Brothers with his brother Floyce and moved to California. They appeared on TV but it doesn't look like they ever recorded. When that ended, Kendall and his wife Melba moved back to St. Louis. The Kendalls knew that daughter Jeannie was very talented. But Melba didn't want her touring alone. So dad went with her and that's how The Kendalls were born. The first guy who saw something in them was steel guitar legend Pete Drake. The Kendalls released the 1971 album Meet The Kendalls on his Stop label and a cover of John Denver's Leaving on a Jet Plane made the country chart. They signed with Dot Records and a cover of The Grass Roots' Two Divided By Love made the country chart. After releasing a few singles for United Artists and Polydor, The Kendalls signed with Ovation Records, a label created by percussionist Dick Schory to sell quadraphonic sound. You don't remember that? I do. Schory helped create Dynagroove when he worked at RCA. Ovation released all kinds of music but they had their greatest success with The Kendalls. Heaven's Just A Sin Away topped the Country Singles chart and it crossed over to #69 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was written by Jerry Gillespie who also co-wrote Somebody's Knockin' for Terri Gibbs. Sweet Desire was The Kendalls second number one hit. The music was produced by Ovation house producer Brien Fisher. By 1980, Ovation was having financial problems and they closed. The Kendalls signed with Mercury and the 1984 single Thank God For The Radio was their third number one hit. They faded after that. They left Mercury in 1986 and also recorded for MCA and Epic. The best comp to get is this one from Varese which has Ovation and Mercury hits. Most other comp CDs including the one on Curb are re-recordings. Beware! Like many country acts, The Kendalls had their own theater in Branson, MO in the 90s. That ended when Royce Kendall died on May 22, 1998. Jeannie Kendall has released a couple of albums on Rounder and she continues to tour. Here's The Kendalls performing Heaven's Just A Sin Away on an awards show.
Friday, July 19, 2019
Frank Pozen's Big Bad Podcast July 19, 2019
The Kabuki Warriors, UFC on ESPN 4 preview and new fight announcement.
AccuRadio Song Of The Day-T.G. Sheppard
Song:I Loved 'Em Every One
Album:Best of T.G. Sheppard
T.G. Sheppard scored 14 number one country music hits from 1974-86. The 1981 single I Loved 'Em Every One crossed over to pop so it was probably his biggest hit. I would describe his music as country pop. Sheppard had a very interesting route to stardom. He was born William Neal Browder July 20, 1944 in Humboldt, TN. He is the nephew of Grand Ole Opry comedian Rod Brasfield. At age 16 he ran away from home to Memphis to join The Travis Wammack Band. He called himself Brian Stacy probably because he didn't want his parents to find him. He recorded a couple of singles including one for Atlantic's Atco label that was a Southern regional hit. As Brian Stacy, Sheppard opened for The Beach Boys and he became friends with Elvis Presley. Presley got him a job with RCA as a record plugger. And he started his own promotion company. He was plugging the song Devil in a Bottle. When all the labels turned the song down, Sheppard recorded it himself for Motown's new country label Melodyland. He called himself T.G. Sheppard. It was his first number one country hit. He recorded three albums before Motown closed the label. He signed with Warner Bros. and producer Buddy Killen. He had plenty of success there. Sheppard was probably one of that era's biggest stars. The 1981 single I Loved 'Em Every One was the biggest of those hits. It not only topped the country charts but it reached #37 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #3 on the Adult Contemporary chart. The song was the only hit written by Phil Sampson. This comp covers Sheppard's Warner recordings. He moved to Columbia in 1985. He wasn't as successful there and he was gone by 1988. He hasn't recorded much since then though he just released a new single. In the 90s, he had his own theater in the Great Smoky Mountains. Since the building was sold in 1997, Sheppard returned to the road and he continues to tour today. Here's T.G. Sheppard performing I Loved 'Em Every One on the 90s TV show Church Street Station.
Thursday, July 18, 2019
AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Silver
Song:Wham Bam Shang-A-Lang
Album:Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2: Awesome Mix
Here's a long forgotten 70s hit that got a big boost when it was used in the 2017 film Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. It was the only chart single for Silver and they only recorded one album. They were from Los Angeles. Lead singer John Batdorf was in the early 70s folk rock duo Batdorf & Rodney. They recorded three albums including a 1975 album for Arista. He formed Silver with pianist Brent Mydland, bassist Tom Leadon, guitarist Greg Collier and drummer Harry Stinson. They signed with Arista and the 1976 album Silver was produced by Tom Sellers who was the guy behind The Assembled Multitude and the 1970 hit Overture From Tommy. Most of the songs were written by either Batdorf, Collier or Mydland. Wham Bam Shang-A-Lang was written veteran Nashville songwriter Rick Giles. Stinson was from Nashville and he has had a long career as a session musician. He may have found the song. Arista owner Clive Davis liked the song so much that he personally produced it. It reached #16 on the Billboard Hot 100. The record was an especially big hit in Chicago. Wham Bam Shang-A-Lang was mostly forgotten until it was used in the 2017 film Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. The soundtrack is available as a budget CD. After two more singles, Silver split up. Most famously, Mydland joined The Grateful Dead in 1979. Batdorf became a session singer in Los Angeles. Leadon also went on to session work. He is the brother of Bernie Leadon of Eagles. Stinson moved back to Nashville and he was a member of Steve Earle and the Dukes. Collier owns a recording studio and has released a solo album. Here's a video for Wham Bam Shang-A-Lang by Silver.
Wednesday, July 17, 2019
Big Bad Blog Video Theater-The Kabuki Warriors vs The Iiconics
Here's the match video of The Iiconics defending the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships from last night's episode of Smackdown. This is more angle than match. Not surprisingly, The Iiconocs take the cheap way out and retain the titles by count out. This pisses Asuka off and they beat up The Iiconics ending with Kairi's Insane Elbow. I expect we will see a match at SummerSlam where if The Iiconics get counted out or DQd they lose the titles. And I expect the titles to change hands because Peyton is taking time off to get married to Shawn Spears in late August. We'll see what nonsense the WWE comes up with until then. Enjoy the video!
Karol Rosa vs Lara Procopio added to Aug. 31 UFC show
Raphael Marinho of Combate reported last night that Karol Rosa vs Lara Procopio has been added to UFC on ESPN+ 15 Aug. 31 at Universiade Sports Center in Shenzhen, China. This fight will be at Bantamweight. Both fighters have confirmed the fight via Instagram. I heard a couple of weeks ago that Karol signed with the UFC. She is 24 years old. She trains at PRVT in Brazil so she is a teammate of Jessica Andrade. Karol's record is 11-3 on the Brazilian regional circuit. She was 17 years old when she debuted in 2012. She has fought at Bantamweight and Featherweight. Karol was supposed to fight Jan Finney on Battlefield FC 2 July 27 in Macau. When she got the call from the UFC, PRVT paid Battlefield to get out of the fight. Lara is 23 years old. She trains at Nova Uniao in Brazil. Her record is 6-0. In Mar. 2018, Lara won the Shooto Brazil Bantamweight Championship with a win over Mariana Morais. Then in Aug., she won the Shooto Brazil Flyweight Championship with a win over Sidy Rocha. She hasn't fought since then. Neither fighter has ever fought outside Brazil and they are going all the way to China. It's a big step up from the Brazilian regional circuit.
AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Judy Kuhn
Song:Colors of the Wind
Album:Pocahontas: The Legacy Collection
Judy Kuhn is a Tony nominated Broadway performer best known as the singing voice of Pocahontas in the 1995 Disney film and singing Colors of the Wind. She was born May 20, 1958 in New York City. She studied at Oberlin College. She made her Broadway debut in the 1985 musical Drood. She got her first Tony nomination for playing Cosette in the 1987 musical Les Miserables. She got her second Tony nomination for the 1988 musical Chess. Though the show bombed, Judy's performance was highly praised. She won an Olivier award for her performance in the 1989 London production of Metropolis. She continued to perform on Broadway in the 90s. When Judy was hired for Pocahontas, she was told that she was supposed to provide only the singing voice for the character. But she may also have to voice the dialogue if they can't find an actress to match her voice. They usually do that the other way around. Irene Bedard was hired to play Pocacontas. Of course the film featuring songs by Stephen Schwartz and Alan Menken was a big success. Judy's performance of Colors of the Wind was the single from the soundtrack album. Disney has released a 2CD version of the soundtrack. The second CD features Vanessa Williams' recording of Colors of the Wind which played over the end credits. Judy also appeared in the Pocahontas sequels. Judy continues to appear on stage. She got a Tony nomination for the 2013 musical Fun Home. She's released a few albums and she teaches voice at Michael Howard Studios in New York City. Here's Judy Kuhn performing Colors of the Wind at Concert for America Jan. 20, 2017.
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