Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Asuka vs Zelina Vega

 Here's the match video of Asuka vs Zelina Vega from this week's episode of RAW. Unfortunately I couldn't find a video of the Clash of the Champions (COC) match. But it doesn't matter as both matches are the same. It's like I said. Giving Zelina a title match out of nowhere when she really hasn't wrestled much in the WWE was stupid. They expect fans to accept her as a threat. And she's a terrible wrestler. Asuka tried to get a good match out of her. They tried to do this by having Asuka "injure" her arm. To Asuka's credit, she sold it. Then when she came out later to wrestle Bayley, she sold it again. And the next night she had the arm taped up and she sold it again. A lot of wrestlers would have forgotten about it five minutes after being "injured". That's Asuka for you. also, I am not a big fan of immediate rematches especially when Asuka's win at COC win was decisive. And after the RAW match, they had Andrade berate Zelina and kick her to the curb. I don't know what they will do with her now. Like I said, she's a terrible wrestler. Her history says she doesn't want to improve. She was going to retire when Dwayne Johnson cast her in Fighting with My Family. And that got her in the WWE. Check out the RAW video for yourself.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-The Decemberists

 

Artist:The Decemberists

Song:January Hymn

Album:The King Is Dead

Fans of folk rock bands like Mumford & Sons are going to want to check out The Decemberists who have been very successful as an album and touring band since the 2011 album The King Is Dead was released on Capitol Records. The Decemberists are from Portland, OR led by singer songwriter Colin Meloy. He led the band Tarkio in his home town of Helena, MT. He left for Portland in 2000 and formed The Decemberists with bassist Nate Query and keyboard player Jenny Conlee. Pedal steel guitarist Chris Funk and drummer John Moen joined later. The Decemberists was an 1825 insurrection in Imperial Russia. Meloy also said that he wanted to invoke the "drama and melacholy" of December. After releasing an EP independently, The Decemberists released three albums. Two were on the indie label Kill Rock Stars. They signed with Capitol Records for the 2006 album The Crane Wife. They appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. January Hymn is from the 2011 album The King Is Dead. It topped the Billboard Hot 200 and the album was certified Gold. This is The Decemberists most successful album to date. After touring to support the album, The Decemberists went on hiatus. Meloy did a solo tour. He has recorded a few solo albums of oldies covers. The Decemberists returned with the 2014 album What a Terrible World, What a Wonderful World. Their latest album I'll Be Your Girl was released in 2018. The King Is Dead is available as a budget CD so you should start with that album as it is their most popular album. Folk rock fans should enjoy it. Here's Colin Meloy performing January Hymn at The Aladdin Theater in Portland May 2014. This was a fundraiser for MyMusicRx.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-American Hi-Fi

 

Artist:American Hi-Fi

Song:The Art of Losing

Album:The Art of Losing

American Hi-Fi was a pop punk band who will remind you of similar bands of the early 00s. They had modest success with two chart singles. They were ultimately unsuccessful for a couple of reasons which I will get to in a minute. They are still around. Stacy Jones is the drummer in the very successful band Letters to Cleo. And he was also in Veruca Salt when they split up in 1998. While he was working on Veruca Salt's lead singer Nina Gordon's debut solo album Tonight and the Rest of My Life, Jones formed American Hi-Fi with guitarist Jamie Arentzen, bassist Drew Parsons and drummer Brian Nolan. Jones was lead singer, played guitar and he wrote all the songs. They signed with Island Records and released the 2001 album American Hi-Fi produced by Bob Rock. The single Flavor of the Weak was a top five Alternative Rock hit. It appears that Island was not happy with the album sales. So for the 2003 album The Art of Losing, they worked with producer Nick Luanay in Los Angeles. Though the album and single charted, it wasn't enough and Island released them. While working on the album Hearts on Parade with producer Butch Walker, American Hi-Fi signed with Maverick Records owned by Madonna and Guy Oseary. When the album didn't sell, they were dropped again. In 2006, Jones got the call to work with Miley Cyrus. He brought Arentzen with him and Jones has been her musical director ever since. He has worked with other acts as producer and musical director. But he also continues to tour and record with Letters to Cleo and American Hi-Fi. American Hi-Fi just released an EP of covers. So I guess American Hi-Fi will continue as long as Jones wants the band to continue. Here's the video for The Art of Losing by American Hi-Fi.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-The Dwight Twilley Band

 

Artist:The Dwight Twilley Band

Song:I'm On Fire

Album:Guitar Rock 1974-1975

I'm On Fire was a top twenty pop hit for The Dwight Twilley Band in 1975. Their career was stalled by record company management changes and then they split up. They had potential to be much bigger than they were. Twilley was born June 6, 1951 in Tulsa, OK. Phil Seymour was born May 15, 1952 in Oklahoma City, OK. They met in 1967 at a movie theater in Tulsa where they had gone to see A Hard Day's Night. They started writing and recording together as Oister. Twilley wrote all the songs and played guitar and piano, Seymour played bass and drums. They both sang. Bill Pitcock IV joined and played lead guitar. They moved to Memphis and wandered into Sun Studios. Sam Phillips' son Jerry Phillips sent them to rockabilly legend Ray Harris in Tupelo, MS and he gave them a rockabilly edge. They moved to Los Angeles in 1974 to get a record deal. They signed with Shelter Records owned by Tulsa native Leon Russell and producer Denny Cordell. Cordell changed the band name to The Dwight Twilley Band which Seymour didn't like because he thought the band was an equal partnership. I'm On Fire was recorded at Shelter's Tulsa studio. It reached #16 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was a surprise hit. They recorded two albums for Shelter. But distribution problems followed by Russell and Cordell suing each other and then selling Shelter to MCA killed the band. Seymour left in 1978. Twilley signed as a solo act with Arista in 1979. He recorded one album and then moved to EMI America for the 1982 album Scuba Divers. His 1984 single Girls from the album Jungle reached #16 on the Billboard Hot 100. EMI didn't seem to know what to do with Twilley either. He released the 1986 album Wild Dogs on the Epic distributed Private I label. Unfortunately Private I's owner was implicated in a payola scandal. From there Twilley recorded for his own label. There isn't a Twilley comp available right now. You can get I'm On Fire on this Time Life various artists comp. Twilley still records occasionally. Phil Seymour recorded two albums for Boardwalk Records. A couple of his singles charted. Sadly Seymour was diagnosed with cancer. He died on Aug. 17, 1993 at age 41. Here's Dwight Twilley performing I'm On Fire 1984.

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Ketlen Vierira vs Sijara Eubanks

 Here's the match video of Ketlen Vieira vs Sijara Eubanks from last night's UFC show in Abu Dhabi. This fight is at Bantamweight. After Marion Reneau pulled out of this fight, Sijara stepped in on short notice. And she just won her last fight two weeks ago. I thought she was biting off more than she can chew. Ketlen trains at Nova Uniao in Brazil. After returning from knee surgery, Irene Aldana knocked her out. That cost her as she would have got that match against Holly Holm that is next week's main event. Ketlen admitted that she got overconfident and she let her guard down. We will see if she learned her lesson. Also, Ketlen's coach Andre "Dudu" Pederneiras tested positive for COVID-19. Bellator fighter Marcos Galvao was in her corner. Round one was close. Sijara was keeping her distance. But as the round went on, Ketlen found her range and landed more strikes and she got a takedown at the end of the round. So I scored it 10-9 for Ketlen. She got a takedown in round two and she was controlling Sijara. But then ref Jason Herzog stood them up probably prematurely. Ketlen kept her poise and continued to outstrike Sijara. I scored the round 10-9 for Ketlen. Sijara's corner told her she was down two rounds. So she was better in round three but it wasn't enough. So I scored the fight 29-28 for Ketlen and so did all three judges. This should get Ketlen back into the title picture. There are two Bantamweight fights next week and she may be fighting one of the winners. Enjoy the video!

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Michael Reed

 Artist:Michael Reed

Song:Overture

Album:The Phantom of the Opera: Original Cast Album

The first thing you hear in any stage musical is the overture. One overture that stays with people is from Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera. As with many of Webber's musicals, the orchestra was conducted by Michael Reed. He has been arranging and orchestrating shows in London's West End since the 70s. But he is most identified with Webber. Reed studied at the Royal College of Music in London. His early credits include the 1974 musical Hans Andersen starring Tommy Steele, the 1978 musical Beyond the Rainbow and the 1981 London production of Barnum starring Michael Crawford. Reed worked with Steele again when he became the leader of the house orchestra at Safari Records. Webber then hired Reed to conduct the orchestra for The Phantom of the Opera. I guess conducting is a thankless job. You only get noticed when you screw up. Since then Reed has worked on Webber musicals like Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Aspects of Love and Whistle Down the Wind. He has worked on 20 London West End shows and plenty of TV specials for the BBC like Royal Variety Shows, Eurovision Song Contest and Prince's Trust Galas. He's worked in the US when Webber has brought musicals to Broadway. The Overture from The Phantom of the Opera is probably his best known work. Some guys just do the work and don't care about fame. I guess that makes Michael Reed an unsung hero of musical theater. Here's Michael Reed performing the Overture from the 1986 production of The Phantom of the Opera. BTW, a synthesizer was used to create the harpsichord sound.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Barbra Streisand

Artist:Barbra Streisand f/Barry Gibb

Song:Guilty

Album:The Essential Barbra Streisand

Believe it or not, the 1980 album Guilty is the biggest selling album in Barbra Streisand's career. It sold 15M copies worldwide and was certified 5XPlatinum. Guilty was one of three top ten hits from the album. This is a duet with Barry Gibb. He wrote and produced the album. The Bee Gees were riding so high on the success of the 1977 film Saturday Night Fever they could do whatever they wanted. Barbra approached Gibb about writing songs for her next album. At first he was only going to write half of the album. But it went so well he decided to do the whole album. The Bee Gees wrote half the songs including Guilty. They also wrote the other big hit Woman In Love. Co-producer Albhy Galuten co-wrote three songs and he and Karl Richardson co-produced the album. Woman In Love was the first single and it topped the charts. My guess is if Guilty had been the first single, it would have topped the charts. But it was the second single and it reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. Guilty won a Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Performance Duo, Group or Chorus and it was nominated for three others including Record of the Year. The album Guilty is available as a budget CD. But you can also get the single on this 2CD budget comp. In 2005, Barbra and Gibb recorded the album Guilty Pleasures which is called Guilty Too in England. Here's Barbra Streisand featuring Barry Gibb performing Guilty on the 1986 Barbra Streisand TV special One Voice. This is available on DVD. 

The Big Topic in WMMA

 Invicta review and UFC review and preview.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Thompson Twins

 Artist:Thompson Twins

Song:Hold Me Now

Album:Greatest Hits

The British synth pop group Thompson Twins had a great run in the 80s. The 1983 single Hold Me Now was their biggest hit. The leader of Thompson Twins was Tom Bailey. He was the lead singer and he wrote and produced everything. He formed Thompson Twins in 1977. But they didn't become the trio we are familiar with until 1982. The group was named after the bumbling detectives in The Adventures of Tin Tin. They were originally from Sheffield, England. But soon after the formation they moved to London. The band lived as squatters because they had no money. That was when Bailey met New Zealand born Alannah Currie. She joined the band in 1981. At first she played sax and percussion but the sax was dropped. The third member was former roadie Joe Leeway who is credited with playing keyboards and percussion. A 1981 album got Thompson Twins a record deal with Arista. They released the 1982 album Set. Thomas Dolby appeared on the album and he taught Bailey to use synthesizers. After success on the dance charts with In The Name of Love, Thompson Twins became a trio. Mostly it was Bailey creating the music. It's unclear how much the other two contributed. My guess is not much. I think that's what a lot of music fans thought at the time. The 1983 single Hold Me Now was their biggest hit. It reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album Into the Gap was certified Platinum. It was the first Thompson Twins album that Bailey produced himself. They also scored a top 20 hit with Doctor! Doctor!. Those were their only two big hits in the US though they continued to have success in England. Leeway left in 1986. Bailey and Currie continued. They were now married and they had a child in 1988. Thompson Twins recorded five albums for Arista and then two for Warner Bros. This budget comp covers the Arista years. Thompson Twins ended in 1991. They released two albums as Babble. They moved to New Zealand. Alannah quit the music business and opened a glass casting studio in Auckland, NZ. Bailey got into producing and composed music for films as International Observer. They divorced in 2003 and both moved back to England separately. Bailey returned to performing in 2014. He released an album in 2018. He toured as a nostalgia act. Here's the video for Hold Me Now by Thompson Twins.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Paul Motian

 

Artist:Paul Motian

Song:Drum Music

Album:Jack of Clubs

Drummer Paul Motian is probably best known for his days in pianist Paul Bley's band and also in Keith Jarrett's band. He played all kinds of music and started recording as a leader in the 70s. I would describe Motian's music as free jazz. He was born Mar. 25, 1931 in Philadelphia and he grew up in Providence, RI. Motian started playing drums at age twelve. As a teen, he toured New England with a swing band. After serving in the US Navy in the Korean War, Motian became a professional musician in 1954. He was first noticed when he toured and recorded with pianist Bill Evans from 1959-64. He went on to Paul Bley's band and then Keith Jarrett's band from 1967-76. He played with all kinds of musicians including with Arlo Guthrie at Woodstock. Motian signed with ECM Records in 1973. He recorded for them until 1982 and returned in 2005. He recorded for the Italian label Soul Note in the 80s and for the German label JMT in the 90s. Drum Music is from the 1985 album Jack of Clubs on Soul Note. Musicians are Bill Frisell on guitar, Joe Lovano and Jim Pepper on sax and Ed Schuller on bass. Motian and Frisell worked together a lot in the 80s. This album is available as a budget CD. Motian also recorded Drum Music on the 2010 album Lost in a Dream with Chris Potter on sax and Jason Moran on piano. Motian liked to work with guitarists. His 90s band Electric Bebop had three guitarists but no piano. A lot of his music is like that. Motian continued to tour and record until his death from cancer on Nov. 22, 2011 at age 80. Here's Paul Motian and The Electric Bebop Band performing Drum Music at the 2003 Chivas Jazz Festival in Brazil. It looks like the guitarists are Steve Cardenas, Ben Monder and Jakob Bro. He never recorded with this band so I am making an educated guess.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Tia Fuller

 

Artist:Tia Fuller f/Dianne Reeves

Song:Body and Soul

Album:Angelic Warrior

Sax player Tia Fuller has recorded a few albums as a leader. But for the most part, she is an in demand sideman. Currently she is in Beyonce's all female backup band which is certainly the most high profile gig in her career. She was born Mar. 27, 1976 in Aurora, CO. Her parents are teachers and jazz musicians. Fred Fuller plays bass and her mother Ethiopia sings. Her sister is jazz pianist Shamie Royston. They work together frequently. Shamie is married to drummer Rudy Royston. Tia began playing sax in high school. She attended Spelman College in Atlanta and she was in Ray Charles' band. She continued her education at the University of Colorado and earned a master's degree in jazz pedagogy. Tia moved to Jersey City and played New York City clubs. She recorded with Sean Jones and Nancy Wilson. Tia first worked with Beyonce in 2006 and she continues to work with her. She also toured with Esperanza Spalding's band Radio Music Society. I saw them at Massey Hall in Toronto in 2012. Tia made her recording debut as a leader in 2005. She currently records for Mack Avenue. Body and Soul is from her 2012 album Angelic Warrior. It features Dianne Reeves on vocals. Musicians are Shamie Royston on piano, Mimi Jones on bass and Rudy Royston on drums. John Patitucci and Terri Lyne Carrington make guest appearances. Her latest album Diamond Cut was released in 2018. Tia teaches at Berklee in Boston and conducts clinics at jazz camps across the US. Here's Tia Fuller featuring Dianne Reeves with Terri Lyne Carrington on drums, Tineke Postma on sax, Nir Felder on guitar, Helen Sung on piano and Josh Hari on bass performing Body and Soul at the 2012 Jazz San Javier in Spain. This video is not on Youtube. I got it from Dianne Reeves' Facebook page. Yes, I do have a Facebook account but only to snag videos for the blog. Otherwise I don't go to Facebook.

Frank Pozen's Big Bad Podcast

 Asuka and UFC review and preview.

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Asuka vs Peyton Royce

 Here's the match video of Asuka vs Peyton Royce from last night's episode of RAW. After last week's screwed up finish, Zelina Vega vs Mickie James was for a title shot this Sunday. They decided to stick to their plan and give Zelina the win which I disagree with. If you watched that match, the big problem is though Zelina is a fully trained wrestler, she isn't any good at it. And that's why she mostly talks. Asuka vs Peyton could be a very good match. But they decided to have Zelina interfere and Peyton got DQd. Zelina flew the coop once Asuka was going to beat the crap out of her. She'll do that on Sunday on the pre show. One last thing. Can someone explain why The Iiconics were split up? Enjoy the video!

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-PJ Harvey

 

Artist:PJ Harvey

Song:Down By The Water

Album:To Bring You My Love

Singer songwriter Polly Jean "PJ" Harvey has been successful mostly in her native England. The 1995 single Down By The Water is probably her best known song. She was born Oct. 9, 1969 in Bridport, Dorset, England. Her parents owned a stone quarrying business. Steve Knightley of Show of Hands was a family friend and he gave her guitar lessons. While in school PJ appeared in a couple of bands and the folk duo The Polekats. In 1988 she joined Automatic Diamini and that's where she met John Parish who would become her main collaborator during PJ's prime on the 90s. PJ left Automatic Diamini in 1991 to go solo. She moved to London and was still attending school uncertain if she wanted to pursue music. She did release a single on a small label that went nowhere. But she was encouraged by support from legendary BBC DJ John Peel. PJ released the album Dry in 1992 and this led to a bidding war won by Island Records. PJ's commercial breakthrough was with the 1995 album To Bring You My Love. Down By The Water was the first single. PJ wrote and produced the album with long time collaborators John Parish and Mark "Flood" Ellis. Down By The Water seems to be about suicide. PJ says it's not autobiographical. The single reached #38 on the British singles chart and #2 on the US Alternative chart. The album sold a million copies worldwide. PJ has continued to tour and record. She has never had a hit single. I was surprised that Island hasn't released a career spanning comp CD. It's possible PJ doesn't want to do one. To Bring You My Love is available as a budget CD. PJ still records for Island. Her latest album of new music was released in 2016. Recently she has released albums of demos for Dry and To Bring You My Love. John Parish left PJ in 1998 but he returned in 2006 and continues to work with her. Like I said, her success is mostly in England and that continues today. Here's the video for Down By The Water by PJ Harvey.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-John Elefante

Artist:John Elefante

Song:Pass the Flame

Album:Defying Gravity

John Elefante is best known for replacing Kansas lead singer Steve Walsh in 1981. He was with Kansas until 1984. It was at that point that he got involved in Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) mostly as a producer. He has also recorded a few solo albums including Defying Gravity in 1999. He was born Mar. 18, 1958 in Levittown, NY but he grew up in Long Beach, CA. He played drums and sang with the family band The Brotherhood. Elefante's big break came when when he auditioned for and got the job as new lead singer of Kansas in 1981. He appeared on two Kansas albums. Then he got into writing and producing with his brother Dino Elefante. Their first credit was the song Young and Innocent on the St. Elmo's Fire soundtrack. Then they got into producing CCM bands, most significantly Petra. The Elefante brothers went on to produce many CCM acts. But Petra is the big one. They formed the heavy metal band Mastedon in 1989 and released two albums. The band ended because the Elefante brothers were too busy as producers in the 90s. John Elefante released his first solo album in 1995. He recorded three albums. Pass the Flame is from the 1999 album Defying Gravity. These albums were very successful in the CCM market. Elefante stopped recording solo when his label Pamplin closed in 2001. The Elefante brothers continue to produce mostly CCM acts. They released a Mastedon album in 2010 and Elefante released a solo album in 2013. Most recently he released a Christmas EP last year. He got some media attention last year when he appeared in a band led by one of Donald Trump's lawyers Jay Sekulow. Here's the video for Pass the Flame by John Elefante.

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Jessica-Rose Clark vs Sarah Alpar

 Here's the match video of Jessica-Rose Clark vs Sarah Alpar from last night's UFC show in Las Vegas. This fight is at Bantamweight. Jessica is from Australia but she trains at Combat Sports Academy in Dublin, CA with Kieran Fitzgibbon. This is her second fight at Bantamweight after several years at Flyweight. She is mainly a striker. She had foot surgery a while ago. Sarah looked good on Dana White Tuesday Night Contender Series last year. She is mainly a wrestler. This was her UFC debut. It had been a while since I had seen her but there was talk at the time that dropping to Flyweight could improve her quickness. Obviously Fitzgibbon had Jessica work on her takedown defense. And that is really what won her this fight. Sarah kept trying for takedowns and couldn't get one. Once she got tired maybe she needed to do something different. In round three, Jessica lands a knee that busts Sarah open. Ref Chris Tognoni thinks it might have been illegal. After replay is checked, it is found to be legal. Unlike other places, the fight is not over after replay is checked in Nevada. I don't think anyone knew that. Tognoni asks Sarah if she wants to continue. Well, that was his mistake. Fighters will always want to continue. The fight should have been stopped. His job is to protect the fighter and he didn't do that. But eventually Jessica won by TKO. Again, I thought Fitzgibbon gave Jessica a great game plan. And I still would like to see Sarah drop to Flyweight. And she needs to learn how to use striking to set up her takedowns. After the show, Dana White said he wants Nevada to change their replay rule. Enjoy the video!

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Mayra Bueno Silva vs Mara Romero Borella

 Here's the match video of Mayra Bueno Silva vs Mara Romero Borella from last night's UFC show in Las Vegas. This fight was at Flyweight. Mayra is from Sao Paulo, Brazil. She was in the Brazilian Contender Series. She is 1-1 in the UFC. She has had two knee surgeries. Her ground skills are good but she has subpar striking. Mara is from Italy. She trains at American Top Team in Florida. She is on a three fight losing streak. Mara scores a takedown. She needs to be very careful with someone as good on the ground as Mayra. Mayra sets up a triangle but her right hand is trapped. Once she gets that loose, she gets the submission with an armbar. Mara's lack of awareness was shocking. I wouldn't be surprised if she was released. Mayra looks to be on the comeback trail. BTW, that is Gilbert Burns translating her interview. Mayra's girlfriend Gloria de Paula will be on Dana White Tuesday Night Contender Series in November. Enjoy the video!

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Mackenzie Dern vs Randa Markos

 Here's the match video of Mackenzie Dern vs Randa Markos from last night's UFC show in Las Vegas. This fight is at Strawweight. Mackenzie is a BJJ whiz with subpar striking. She is now training with Cris Cyborg's coach Jason Parillo in Huntington Beach, CA. Randa is from Windsor, ON and she trains at Michigan Top Team in Dearborn, MI. She is a wrestler with subpar striking prone to mistakes. She has alternated wins and losses since she was in TUF 20. After Mackenzie slips, Randa jumps into her guard which was a big mistake. Randa tries to posture up but Mackenzie is very active from the bottom. She goes for an armbar but her foot is trapped. Mackenzie lands strikes to distract Randa and that gets her foot loose and the armbar submission. I think the jury is still out on Mackenzie because I need to see if her striking has improved and I knew I wasn't going to see that in this fight. However, I am hopeful that Parillo can help her with that. Maybe Angela Hill would be an appropriate opponent. Enjoy the video!

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Meco

 Artist:Meco

Song:Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band

Album:Star Wars and Other Galactic Funk

I bet you remember when this 1977 disco cover of the Star Wars theme topped the chart. But you probably know nothing about the guy behind it. Meco Monardo was a jazz musician who went crazy after he saw Star Wars. He was primarily known for disco covers of movie themes. He was born Nov. 29, 1939 in Johnsonburg, PA which is in northern Pennsylvania. As a child, he was a big sci-fi movie fan. And his father played the trombone. After playing in the high school band, Meco won a scholarship to Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY. He became friends with Chuck Mangione and Ron Carter. After a stint in the US Army, Meco moved to New York and joined Kai Winding's band. Winding was a jazz trombonist known for having multiple trombones in his band. Meco was a studio musician from 1965-74. He played on all kinds of records and also arranged and produced. In 1973 he formed a production company with Tony Bongiovi and Harold Wheeler. They produced the 1974 Carol Douglas hit Doctor's Orders. After Meco saw Star Wars, he wanted to record a disco version of the theme. Casablanca Records owner Neil Bogart agreed to do that. The 1977 single Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band topped the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks. It was produced by Meco, Bongiovi and Wheeler. Wheeler played keyboards and Bongiovi played guitar. Meco was the conductor. They used studio musicians like David Spinozza, John Tropea, Will Lee, Neil Jason, Alan Schwartzburg, Jon Faddis, Lew Soloff and Randy Brecker. There was a touring band but the musicians were different. Meco had success with disco covers of movie themes like Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Wizard of Oz and The Empire Strikes Back. Unfortunately the one Meco comp that was released is out of print. Universal's Hip-O label released Star Wars and Other Galactic Funk as a budget CD with a couple of bonus mixes of the Star Wars theme. Meco released seven albums on Casablanca and three for Arista. They were all disco covers of movie themes. Meco's final album in 1985 was a Christmas album and then he became disillusioned with the music business. He retired from music and became a commodities broker. Here's a video of Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band by Meco.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Fastball

 Artist:Fastball

Song:The Way

Album:All the Pain Money Can Buy

The 1997 single The Way was the only big hit for Fastball. They are perceived as a one hit wonder but a couple of their other songs charted so technically they are not one hit wonders. All three singles were from the album All the Pain Money Can Buy. I guess they could be called a one album wonder. It has kept them going for over twenty years. Fastball were formed in Austin, TX in 1995. Lead singer and bassist Tony Scalzo and drummer Joey Shuffield played together in a couple of bands. After Shuffield introduced guitarist Miles Zuniga to Scalzo, they started playing local clubs. They tried out several names but settled on Fastball. After some regional buzz, a local journalist tipped off Disney owned Hollywood Records and Fastball signed. The Way is from Fastball's second album All the Pain Money Can Buy. The album was produced by Julian Raymond who had produced the punk band The Suicide Machines. Scalzo wrote The Way after hearing about an elderly couple went missing in Texas and were found dead two weeks later. The Way reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100. The video went into heavy rotation on MTV. The Way also did well internationally. All the Pain Money Can Buy was certified Platinum. The album is available as a budget CD. Fastball appeared on all the late night shows and were nominated for two Grammys. Scalzo and Zuniga usually split the songwriting duties. Subsequent albums were unsuccessful. After three albums for Hollywood, Fastball moved to Rykodisc for the 2004 album Keep Your Wig On. They currently record for their own label. Their latest album The Help Machine was released last year. Scalzo and Zuniga have also released solo albums. Fastball still tours so one big hit has turned into a twenty year career. Here's the video for The Way by Fastball.

Frank Pozen's Big Bad Podcast

 Asuka, Io Shirai and UFC review and preview.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Johnny Mathis

 Artist:Johnny Mathis f/Deniece Williams

Song:Too Much, Too Little, Too Late

Album:The Very Best of Johnny Mathis

Johnny Mathis topped the charts in the 50s with the classic Chances Are. Though he was successful in the Easy Listening market, he had a long dry spell in pop until he topped the charts again with the 1978 single Too Much, Too Little, Too Late. The decline of Mathis started when he split with his manager in 1964. He also left Columbia Records for Mercury. As much as they tried, Mercury couldn't seem to get anywhere with Mathis and he returned to Columbia in 1967. When Mathis returned to Columbia, they had him record covers of pop hits and Christmas albums. Though the Christmas albums were successful, Mathis hadn't scored a top ten pop hit since 1962. So they decided to pair him with up and coming R&B singer Deniece Williams. She had recorded two albums for Columbia and scored a top 30 pop hit with the 1976 single Free. Too Much, Too Little, Too Late was written by John Vallins of the Australian band Tin Tin. They recorded a couple of albums in the early 70s. His songwriting partner Nat Kipner is the father of Tin Tin's Steve Kipner. The single was produced by Columbia house producer Jack Gold and arranged by Gene Page who worked a lot with Barry White. Surprisingly the single topped the charts. I think Page deserves much of the credit for his contemporary arrangement. Mathis and Deniece recorded the album That's What Friends Are For but Too Much, Too Little, Too Late wasn't on the album. It appears on this budget comp. Though Mathis hasn't had a hit single since then, he continues to record for Columbia most recently in 2017. Here's Johnny Mathis featuring Deniece Williams performing Too, Much, Too Little, Too Late on Top Of The Pops 1978.

The Big Topic in WMMA

 UFC review and preview and Invicta preview.

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Io Shirai vs Shotzi Blackheart

 Here's the match video of Io Shirai vs Shotzi Blackheart from last night's episode of NXT. This is a non title match. This was set up last week when Shotzi was fighting Aliyah backstage and they stumbled into Io Shirai's photo shoot. After they beat up Aliyah and Robert Stone, Shotzi held on to the belt and Io said "Do you want me to hurt you?". The idea of this match is for Io to make Shotzi look like a million bucks. Of course Io would do that anyway. You will notice on this video the footage that airs during the commercial break is on this but with no audio. Shotzi gets enough offense in that some might think she could win. But Io comes back and lands a German suplex on the ring apron. And that leads to Io's moonsault for the win though she messed up when she placed Shotzi too far from the corner. Next week a battle royal will determine Io's next challenger on the Oct. 4 Takeover show. With the draft coming up, I would not be surprised if Io is headed for the main roster. The match is pretty good so check it out.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-The Ventures

 

Artist:The Ventures

Song:Hawaii Five-O

Album:Walk Don't Run: The Best of the Ventures

Of course The Ventures are the most successful instrumental act of all time. They are especially popular in Japan. A version of The Ventures tours today. Of course their biggest hit was the 1959 single Walk Don't Run. But they had two other top five hits including this 1969 recording of the theme from the hit TV show Hawaii Five-O. The Ventures are from Tacoma, WA founded by Don Wilson and Bob Bogle. They brought in Nokie Edwards to play bass but it wasn't long before he was lead guitarist. It was also his idea to record Walk Don't Run after he heard it on a Chet Atkins record. The Ventures struggled after Walk Don't Run and they left Dolton Records for Liberty in 1967. Edwards left The Ventures and was replaced by Jerry McGee whose father was a Louisiana fiddle whiz. I guess the idea at the time was for The Ventures to try psychedelic music which was hot at the time. The 1967 album Super Psychedelics and the 1968 album Underground Fire were attempts at this. They were working with veteran instrumental music producer Joe Saraceno. The Ventures had recorded TV themes in the past. Hawaii Five-O had become a big hit and Morton Stevens' theme looked like a sure fire hit single if someone covered it. And that's what The Ventures did. Hawaii Five-O reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. It sounded just like the TV version. The arranger was George Tipton who went on to compose TV themes himself. At the time he worked a lot with Harry Nilsson. The album Hawaii Five-O was certified Gold. You can get it on this comp which is part of Capitol's Legendary Masters series. These are remastered original recordings. Though The Ventures never had another hit single, they continued to record and a version of The Ventures tours today. Bob Bogle died in 2009. Mel Taylor died in 1996. Nokie Edwards died in 2018. Jerry McGee died in 2019. The final original member of The Ventures Don Wilson retired in 2015. Here's what appears to be a 1969 promotional video for Hawaii Five-O by The Ventures.

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Danyelle Wolf vs Taneisha Tennant

 Here's the match video of Danyelle Wolf vs Taneisha Tennant from last night's Dana White Tuesday Night Contender Series (DWTNCS). This fight is at Featherweight. Danyelle is an Olympic boxer making her MMA debut. When the IOC eliminated Danyelle's weight class in 2016, she decided to try MMA. She's 37 years old and she trains at Victory in San Diego. Supposedly, no one wanted to fight her until now. Taneisha is 31 years old from New York. She trains at Budokan Martial Arts with Nardu Debrah. UFC fighter Randy Brown is a teammate. Taneisha won one of those Invicta one night tournaments a few months ago. All her previous fights were at Bantamweight. She is mainly a kickboxer. Like a lot of the DWTNCS fights, this seemed like a squash match set up to give Danyelle a UFC contract. But it wasn't a squash. All three judges scored it 29-28 for Danyelle. Some questioned if she won the fight. But the real question is should she get a UFC contract. Of course not but the UFC gave her one anyway. I think Danyelle would be better off fighting in Invicta. If she does well there, then the UFC could sign her. This seems ass backwards to me. Check out the video for yourself.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Newcleus

 

Artist:Newcleus

Song:Jam On It

Album:Destination: Earth: The Definitive Newcleus Recordings

The electro funk rap group Newcleus had brief success in the R&B charts in the mid 80s. The 1984 single Jam On It crossed over to pop. Newcleus was known for having breakdancers as part of their act and that made them popular with kids at the time. They only recorded two albums. When they formed in Brooklyn, NY in 1977, they were known as Jam-On Productions. The leader was Ben "Cozmo D" Cenac along with cousins Monique and Pierre "Pete" Angevin. They played Brooklyn block parties. Yvette "Lady E" Cook and Bob "Chilly B" Ctafton joined in 1979 and the group name was changed to Newcleus. Cenac and Crafton rapped. Cenac married Yvette and Crafton married Monique. They recorded the single Jam-On Revenge in 1982 which featured sped up vocals like The Chipmunks. Producer Joe Webb liked it enough to release it on his own label. And that led to a deal with Sunnyview Records owned by notorious Roulette Records owner Morris Levy which he started when he bought TK Records from Henry Stone. Jam-On Revenge was a top 40 R&B hit. Jam On It crossed over to pop and reached #56 on the Billboard Hot 100. Newcleus released two albums and several singles. But nothing else caught on and then Levy sold Sunnyview to Rhino Records in 1987. Newcleus released a few more singles until they split up in 1989. Cenac released this Newcleus comp CD in 2005 and he continues to work on Newcleus catalogue reissues. He still appears live in Brooklyn clubs. Crafton died from a stroke on Feb. 23, 2010 at age 47. Here's the video for Jam On It by Newcleus.

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Asuka vs Mickie James

 Here's the match video of Asuka defending her RAW Women's Championship against Mickie James. Of course they had a great match at a NXT Takeover show in 2016. This match isn't as good as that one. But it was OK. Mickie has just returned from knee surgery and clearly she has slowed down. The big story here is the ref messed up the finish. Seconds before Asuka was going to win with the Asuka Lock, The ref stopped the match claiming that Mickie couldn't continue. She was fine. She knows this could be her last big match. The ref screwup was unfortunate. Zelina Vega came to the ring and slapped Asuka. I guess she gets a title shot at Clash of the Champions though she doesn't deserve it and she's a terrible wrestler. I hope Asuka can get a decent match out of her. Enjoy the video!

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Unwritten Law

 

Artist:Unwritten Law

Song:Save Me (Wakeup Call)

Album:Here's to the Mourning

The indie band Unwritten Law had their biggest commercial success with the 2005 album Here's to the Mourning and the single Save Me. They are from Poway, CA near San Diego. They were formed in 1990 by drummer Wade Youman. After trying out several musicians, the lineup was lead singer Scott Russo, Steve Morris and Rob Brewer on guitar and Jeff Brehm on bass. Brehm was replaced by John Bell in 1992 and he was replaced by Pat "P.K." Kim in 1997. And that was the band for most of their run. Unwritten Law came out of the same San Diego music scene as Blink-182. They just weren't as commercially successful. After releasing the 1994 album Blue Room, they signed with Epic Records for the 1996 album Oz Factor. They moved to Interscope for the 1998 album Unwritten Law. They appeared on the Vans Warped Tour. They were doing OK but I think Interscope and the band wanted a commercial breakthrough. After appearing on the VH1 series Music in High Places, Youman was kicked out of the band and replaced by Tony Palermo for the 2005 album Here's to the Mourning. They moved to Lava Records. Save Me reached #5 on the Alternative Rock chart. The album was their most successful to date. Russo wrote Save Me with his girlfriend Aimee Allen and veteran songwriter Linda Perry who also produced the single. Russo had a side project with Aimee called Scott & Aimee. They released an album in 2007. Aimee is lead singer of The Interrupters and is a songwriter for hire. Brewer was fired in 2005 after he got into a physical altercation with Russo. And that was the height of Unwritten Law's success. Though they last recorded in 2011, Russo still leads a version of Unwritten Law. They toured last year. Russo is the only original member. Here's the video for Save Me (Wakeup Call) by Unwritten Law.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Gloria Estefan

 Artist:Gloria Estefan f/*NSYNC

Song:Music of My Heart

Album:Greatest Hits Vol. 2

Music of My Heart is from the 1999 film Music of the Heart. It reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was the biggest chart hit in the brief career of *NSYNC. But it didn't appear on albums by either *NSYNC or Gloria Estefan. It only appeared on the soundtrack album. So it's what I call a discography orphan. In the late 90s Gloria was one of the biggest music stars in the world. I guess Gloria and husband Emilio Estefan thought she could be a movie star too. Music of the Heart was her film debut. The film was based on the 1995 documentary Small Wonders about Roberta Guaspari and the Opus 118 Harlem School of Music. After seeing the doc, director Wes Craven wanted to turn it into a feature film. I know what you're thinking. He's a horror movie guy. But he also used to be a teacher so he could identify with Roberta Guaspari. Madonna was supposed to star but she didn't get along with Craven. So Meryl Streep stepped in. Gloria played a teacher. Epic Records wanted a hit single for the soundtrack. Music of My Heart was written by hit machine Diane Warren and produced by David Foster. The song was offered to The Backstreet Boys but when they rejected it, *NSYNC filled in and the record reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. The soundtrack album is available as a budget CD. But most of that album is filler. You can get Music of My Heart on this Gloria Estefan budget comp and on *NSYNC Greatest Hits. Take your pick. Of course *NSYNC split up when Justin Timberlake left in 2004. Music of the Heart turned out to be Gloria's only major film appearance. I've seen the film. It's pretty schmaltzy. She was supposed to star in a Connie Francis biopic but when Connie and Gloria couldn't agree on a screenwriter, the film was cancelled. Here's the video for Music of My Heart by Gloria Estefan featuring *NSYNC.

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Sabina Mazo vs Justine Kish

 Here's the match video of Sabina Mazo vs Justine Kish from last night's UFC show in Las Vegas. Sabina is 23 years old from Colombia. She trains with Rafael Cordeiro at Kings MMA in Huntington Beach, CA. And she has also been training with Cris Cyborg. She is known for her head kicks. Justine has been hampered by injuries in her UFC career. She trains at Black House in Los Angeles. Sabina's big problem is she is a slow starter. And though she lands one of her leg kicks early, Justine outworks her for the first two rounds. So she needs a finish in round three. Fortunately with about a minute left in the fight, Sabina drops Justine with a head kick and then finishes her with a rear naked choke. So though Sabina got the win, Cordeiro and the other coaches at Kings need to do something about her slow starts. That almost cost her this fight. And that's not even a physical problem. That's a mental problem. Enjoy the video!

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Sijara Eubanks vs Julia Avila

 Here's the match video of Sijara Eubanks vs Julia Avila from last night's UFC show in Las Vegas. Sijara mow trains with Mark Henry in New Jersey. Her teammates are Claudia Gadelha and Katlyn Chookagian. Based on what we saw in this fight, she must be training a lot with Claudia. Julia has looked good striking so far. In this fight we discover that she needs to work on her takedown defense. Julia begins the fight throwing bombs. So Sijara takes her down which we haven't seen from her in the past. Julia makes two mistakes. She allows herself to be taken down in the first place. Then instead of trying to get out from under, she tries unsuccessful submissions. This is stuff her coach Seth Norman can correct, especially having better takedown defense. Sijara wins the first two rounds. Round two was 10-8. All three judges score the fight 29-27. Enjoy the video!

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Roxanne Modafferi vs Andrea Lee

 Here's the match video of Roxanne Modafferi vs Andrea Lee from last night's UFC show in Las Vegas. Roxanne lost her last fight so she needed a win to remain in the top ten Flyweights. Andrea lost her last two fights by split decision. Her problem is she doesn't do enough to win fights. She is now training at MMA Gold in El Dorado Hills, CA so her teammate is Aspen Ladd. The coach is Dave West. I thought Roxanne won the fight 30-27. The judges all scored it 29-28 for Roxanne. It's the same old story for Andrea. She's not aggressive enough. I don't think West has figured her out yet. Enjoy the video!

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Michelle Waterson vs Angela Hill

 Here's the match video of Michelle Waterson vs Angela Hill from last night's UFC show in Las Vegas. I thought this would be a very close fight. My main concern was that Michelle would try to use the Jackson Wink avoid contact strategy and they would dance for 25 minutes. But it was a close fight. Angela won round one landing combinations. Round two was closer but I thought Angela won that too. So I scored the first two rounds 10-9 for Angela. One of the judges scored round two 10-9 for Michelle. The round was close enough for that to be OK. Round three was the key to this fight as Michelle finally got a takedown and ground control for much of the round. Though Michelle did not come close to a submission, it did plant in Angela's mind that she had to avoid takedowns. And to do that in the last two rounds, she chose to be less aggressive than she was early in the fight. And this opened the door for Michelle to be more aggressive and I scored both rounds 10-9 for Michelle. Angela's coach Eric Del Fierro told her before round five to throw more combinations but she didn't do that. I scored the fight 48-47 for Michelle. One judge scored it the same. The judge that scored round two for Michelle scored it 49-46 for Michelle. The third judge scored it 48-47 for Angela as he scored round five for Angela. Michelle wins by split decision. Dana White said last night that he is close finalizing Zhang Weili defending her UFC Strawweight Championship against Rose Namajunas. Other than Joanna Jedrzejczyk, the other high ranking Strawweights are already booked. Joanna is teasing retirement but she hasn't announced anything. So I don't think we will see Michelle until 2021. Obviously Angela thought she won the fight. She said at the post fight press conference "I guess I have to take bitches down and hug them" meaning she doesn't understand the value of ground skills. She has some skills but not enough to beat elite fighters. Enjoy the video!

AccuRadio Song Of the Day-Tom Scott

 

Artist:Tom Scott

Song:Say You Love Me

Album:Streamlines

Sax player Tom Scott is a veteran session musician and sideman. As a leader, he was a big part of establishing Smooth Jazz. He was born May 19, 1948 in Los Angeles. His father Nathan Scott composed music for TV including Dragnet and Lassie. As a teen, Scott had a band. He became a session musician in the early 70s. With his band L.A. Express, he composed the music for Starsky & Hutch and The Streets of San Francisco. L.A. Express was on Joni Mitchell's 1974 album Court and Spark and they toured with her. And he played sax on Bernard Herrmann's score for the 1976 film Taxi Driver. That's him playing the sax solo on Paul McCartney's Listen To What The Man Says. He also led the band backing up The Blues Brothers. Scott has recorded as a leader since the late 60s. Say You Love Me is from the 1987 album Streamlines for GRP Records. It was his first album for GRP and he recorded there until the label was sold in 1995. These recordings were a big part in the rise of Smooth Jazz. Musicians are Randy Kerber and Joseph Conlan on keyboards, Eric Gale and Michael Landau on guitar, Neil Stubenhaus on bass, Vinnie Colaiuta on drums and Michael Fisher on percussion. Scott was music director for the Emmy Award broadcast from 1996-2007. Since GRP closed, Scott hasn't recorded much as a leader. He still turns up on things like the 2018 film A Star Is Born and he was nominated for an Emmy for the 2016 TV special Tony Bennett At 90. Scott has appeared on hundreds of recordings. You have heard him even if you don't know about him. Here is Tom Scott with Francis Coletta on guitar, Joe Sample on piano, Wolfgang Schmid on bass and Alex Acuna on drums performing Say You Love Me on the German TV show Jazz In Concert in the 80s. Scott is playing a lyricon.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Mississippi Bracey

 

Artist:Mississippi Bracey

Song:You Scolded and Drove Me

Album:Essential Mississippi Blues

Caldwell "Mississippi" Bracey recorded a few blues sides for Okeh Records in 1930. These were not released at the time. But they have surfaced in recent years and songs like You Scolded and Drove Me have turned up on various artist CDs. Bracey was born in Mississippi in 1903. There was a blues singer named Ishmon Bracey who was better known. It is not known if they were brothers but that would not surprise me. Could they be the same guy? They don't sound alike so I don't think so. Caldwell Bracey recorded four songs including You Scolded and Drove Me for Okeh Records in 1930. At the same session in Jackson, MS, Bracey recorded a few gospel songs with his wife. None of these recordings were released at the time. But Bracey's solo recordings surfaced many years later. You Scolded and Drove Me appears on this 2CD various artists comp from the British label Not Now Music. Bracey never recorded again. Ishmon Bracey became a minister and even when he was rediscovered in the 60s, he refused to sing the blues. We don't know what happened to Caldwell Bracey but it would not surprise be if he also became a minister. The song is pretty good so I wish there was more info about Caldwell "Mississippi" Bracey. Here's a video of You Scolded and Drove Me by Mississippi Bracey.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-3 Winans Brothers

 

Artist:3 Winans Brothers

Song:If God Be For Us

Album:Foreign Land

Gospel music fans are going to want to check out this 2014 album by three of the famed Winans brothers. There are so many Winans in gospel music it's hard to keep track of them all. 3 Winans Brothers are twin brothers Marvin and Carvin Winans and younger brother BeBe Winans. Marvin and Carvin were part of The Winans with brothers Ronald and Michael. The Winans were very successful in the 80s and 90s. Marvin Winans is one of the greatest voices in gospel music. He has recorded solo occasionally but these days he mostly is pastor at Perfecting Church in Detroit. I don't know if Carvin Winans ever sang lead on a Winans song. He's mostly a background singer though he did release a solo CD last year. Of course BeBe Winans is best known for his duo with sister CeCe Winans. And he has had success as a solo artist, songwriter and producer. The formation of 3 Winans Brothers appears to be a tribute to their late brother Ronald Winans who died in 2005. The 2014 album Foreign Land is on BMG. If God Be For Us was the first single. BeBe Winans wrote the song and all three guys sing a verse. Hezekiah Walker & Love Fellowship are on backup vocals. The producer is Daniel Weatherspoon. He produced BeBe Winans' 2012 album America America and he produces plenty of gospel artists. The other producer on this album is Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins. This deluxe edition of Foreign Land includes bonus tracks featuring The Clark Sisters and Karen Clark Sheard. This album is a must for gospel music fans. I don't know if 3 Winans Brothers will record a second album. As I said, Carvin released his debut solo album last year. And as I also said, Marvin mostly runs his church though he did appear on Carvin's album. BeBe Winans released his latest album Need You last year. Here's the video for If God Be For Us by 3 Winans Brothers.

The Big Topic In WMMA

 UFC review and preview.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Boys Life

 

Artist:Boys Life

Song:Golf Hill Drive

Album:Boys Life

Post hardcore punk fans may want to check out the short lived band Boys Life. They were only around for a couple of years but they have been cited as an influence by the popular band Taking Back Sunday. Boys Life are from Kansas City, MO. They were formed in 1993 by lead singer and guitarist Brandon Butler, guitarist Joe Winkle, bassist John Rejba and drummer John Anderson. After playing in local clubs and releasing a couple of singles, they released the album Boys Life in 1995 on the small label Crank!. The album was produced by veteran recording engineer Mark Trombino. Boys Life's music is a mix of hardcore punk with emo tendencies. The popular band Taking Back Sunday was a big fan and have cited them as an influence. After releasing the 1997 album Departures and Landfalls on Cargo's Manhunter label, Boys Life split up. The album Boys Life is available as a budget CD. Butler has recorded three solo albums. He briefly formed The Farewell Bend with Rejba. He moved to Washington and formed Canyon with Winkle. More recently he is the leader of the Louisville based band Six Bells. Anderson toured and recorded with Matt Suggs and was also in Koufax and The Appleseed Cast. Rejba was in the Chicago based band Rare Animals. After Canyon split up, it looks like Winkle quit the music business. Boys Life reunited for a brief tour in 2015 to promote the vinyl only reissue of Departures and Landfalls. Here's a video of Golf Hill Drive by Boys Life.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Alvvays

 Artist:Alvvays

Song:Atop A Cake

Album:Alvvays

The Canadian band Alvvays (pronounced Always) have been successful in Canada and in the US college market. Their music is frequently described as jangle pop. The lead singer and songwriter of Alvvays is Molly Rankin. She grew up in a musical family in Judique, NS. Her father John Morris Rankin is in the family folk music group The Rankin Family. As a child she wrote music with her neighbor Kerri MacLellan who plays keyboards. As a teen she met guitarist Alec O'Hanley. The three produced a 2010 solo album for Molly. They formed Alvvays in 2011 with bassist Brian Murphy and drummer Phil MacIsaac. Molly wanted to call the band Always but there was already a band with that name so she changed the spelling. They moved to Toronto because that's where the Canadian music business is. Atop A Cake is from their 2014 album Alvvays. It was released by Royal Mountain in Canada and Polyvinyl in the US. Molly writes all the songs usually with O'Hanley. The album topped the US College chart. They toured to support the album including an appearance at the 2015 Glastonbury festival in England. Alvvays' second album Antisocialites was released in 2017. MacIsaac left and was replaced by Sheridan Riley. Fans of jangle pop should check out Alvvays. There has been talk that Alvvays is working on a new album but there has been nothing official from the band. Here's Alvvays performing Atop A Cake at the 2015 Glastonbury festival in England.

Frank Pozen's Big Bad Podcast

 Hikaru Shida, UFC review and preview and my take on the WWE's new social media policy.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Albert King

 

Artist:Albert King

Song:Don't Throw Your Love On Me So Strong

Album:The Complete King & Bobbin Recordings

Most blues fans are familiar with Albert King's late 60s Stax recordings like Born Under A Bad Sign. But you don't want to overlook King's pre-Stax recordings with Bobbin and King. The 1961 single Don't Throw Your Love On Me So Strong was his biggest hit of that period. King moved from his home in Arkansas to Gary, IN in 1953 and played in Jimmy Reed's band. Willie Dixon got him an audition with Parrot Records. After one single, King moved to Brooklyn, IL which is across the river from St. Louis. He started a band and they played local clubs with Ike Turner and Chuck Berry. He got the attention of Little Milton who started his own label Bobbin Records in 1958. King signed in 1959. After several singles went nowhere, Don't Throw Your Love On Me So Strong did well enough that Bobbin licensed it to King for national distribution. It reached #14 on the R&B Singles chart. King released the 1962 album The Big Blues to attempt to take advantage of the single's success. After a few more singles, Little Milton sold Bobbin to Chess. Of course that left King without a label. After moving to Memphis in 1966, King signed with Stax and that's when he became a blues legend. You can get all of King's Bobbin and King recordings on this Collectables comp. Blues fans should check it out. Here's a video for Don't Throw Your Love On Me So Strong by Albert King.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-The Swallow Quintet

 

Artist:The Swallow Quintet

Song:Into the Woodwork

Album:Into the Woodwork

Bassist Steve Swallow is a long time member of Gary Burton's band and he also records frequently with his wife Carla Bley. She plays organ on this 2013 album. He has recorded as a leader since the 70s. He was born Oct. 4, 1940 in Fair Lawn, NJ. Swallow studied piano and trumpet as a child and switched to bass as a teen. In 1960 he was studying composition at Yale. Swallow left school and moved to New York to play in Jimmy Giuffre's band with pianist Paul Bley. After a stint in Art Farmer's band, Swallow began his long association with legendary vibraphonist Gary Burton. He was on all of Burton's RCA albums from the 60s and on his ECM albums from 1975 until 1984. Swallow switched to electric bass in the early 70s. He plays a five string bass. Swallow was also a member of Michael Mantler and Carla Bley's Jazz Composer's Orchestra. Swallow first recorded as a leader in 1974. But he was so busy first in Burton's band and then he joined Carla's band in 1979 that he rarely recorded as a leader until the 90s. Swallow and Carla have been romantic partners since the 80s. The family that plays together stays together. Their record label Watt is distributed by ECM. Into the Woodwork is from the 2013 album Into the Woodwork. It looks like this band was assembled to tour the jazz festival circuit. It is to date the only album by The Swallow Quintet. Carla plays organ. Other musicians are Chris Cheek on sax, Steve Cardenas on guitar and Jorge Rossy on drums. All three are in demand sidemen. Swallow has released two albums in 2020. The first is called Swallow Tales with John Scofield and Bill Stewart. The second is called Life Goes On with Carla Bley and Andy Sheppard. Here's The Swallow Quintet performing Into the Woodwork and Bite Your Grandmother at the 2013 Jazz a Junas festival in Junas, France. This entire concert can be streamed on Youtube.

"Into The Woodwork" Steve Swallow quintet feat Carla Bley - Jazz à Junas 2013 from OLEO FILMS on Vimeo.

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Hikaru Shida vs Thunder Rosa

 Here's the match video of Hikaru Shida defending her AEW Women's Championship against NWA Women's Champion Thunder Rosa. Both are really good so I knew it would be a really good match. The problem is Thunder Rosa is under contract to the NWA. So AEW is borrowing her for one night only. This just emphasizes how bad the AEW women's division is. Commentary tries to sell that Rosa could win. But we all know that won't happen. So I liked the match. It was about what I expected from these two. But there was no heat and AEW knew there would be no heat. So enjoy the video. It is worth watching, But everything else was a big fail.

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Viviane Araujo vs Montana De La Rosa

 Here's the match video of Viviane Araujo vs Montana De La Rosa from last night's UFC show in Las Vegas. Viviane came in on short notice when Maryna Moroz pulled out. Viviane was supposed to fight a few weeks ago but she tested positive for COVID-19. Her grandmother died from the disease. Viviane is 33 years old from Brasilia, Brazil. She was a Strawweight champ in Pancrase. This fight is at Flyweight but I think she gives up too much size so I prefer her at Strawweight. Viviane is mainly a striker. Montana is from Texas but she and her husband train at Elevation in Denver. She was in TUF 26 for Flyweights but she started out as a Strawweight. She is three inches taller than Viviane but I didn't think that would matter much. Montana is a wrestler with sub par striking. For some reason her coaches Christian Allen and Neal Marshall decided to have Montana trade strikes with Viviane. Though Daniel Cormier really tries to sell Montana's improved striking, I thought she looked uncomfortable. She wasn't moving very much. So Viviane started scoring with jabs and especially leg kicks. Viviane won round one 10-9. She also won round two though it was closer. By this time, Montana's nose was busted up. So what did Allen tell Montana after round two? "We think it's tied." I think it was poor strategy to have a wrestler with sub par striking not wrestle. And then when that strategy wasn't working, she needed to change. But it's not her fault. Her coaches didn't tell her to change. They thought the fight was close but it really wasn't. I scored the fight 30-27 for Viviane. Two of the judges scored it the same and the third scored it 29-28 for Viviane. A big win for Viviane which she dedicated to her late grandmother. It's a fight Montana could have won but her coaches failed her. Enjoy the video!

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Paris

 

Artist:Paris f/Eddie Kendricks

Song:I Choose You

Album:With Love: 18 Romantic Classics

Here's a one off single that was a minor hit in 1984. It will be of interest to fans of Motown legend Eddie Kendricks of The Temptations as he sings uncredited on this record. If that isn't Kendricks on this record then Paris Holley is an excellent impersonator. But I think it is Kendricks. I can only assume that contractual obligations would not allow Kendricks to publicly appear on this record. But then it became a hit in clubs and it doesn't appear on any Kendricks CDs. Paris Holley seems mostly to be a writer and producer. In recent years he has composed soundtracks for low budget movies. But as far as I can tell, this is his only appearance as a singer. That's why I don't think it's him. The other guys behind this record are Carl Davis and Otis Leavill. Davis was a veteran producer at Brunswick Records. By this time Brunswick was out of business and Davis opened his own label Kelli-Arts. He's the kind of guy who would figure out how to use Kendricks without actually using Kendricks' name. Leavill wrote I Choose You. He worked closely with Davis at Brunswick. The band on this record is the Chicago based funk group Merge. They released a 1982 album on RCA which was produced by Carl Davis. You can get I Choose You on various artist CDs like this one from Crimson. It's a good song. I guess the only question is who is actually singing on this record. Here's a video of I Choose You by Paris Holley featuring Eddie Kendricks.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-The Promise Ring

 Artist:The Promise Ring

Song:Become One Anything One Time

Album:Wood/Water

With the 2002 album Wood/Water, the indie band The Promise Ring were likely headed to a commercial breakthrough. Unfortunately they split up and though they have reunited occasionally, the band is not reforming permanently. The Promise Ring are from Milwaukee. They were formed in 1995 out of the ashes of a couple of bands. Guitarist Jason Gnewikow and singer Dan Mangan were in None Left Standing. Bassist Dan Didier and drummer Scott Beschta were from the group Cellshine. When Mangan moved to Indianapolis, he was replaced by Cap'n Jazz guitarist Davey von Bohlen. They started playing shows in local clubs. They released a single and signed with Jade Tree Records. They are based in Wilmington, DE. They recorded three albums for Jade Tree which were moderately successful. They needed to be on a label with better distribution. Meanwhile Beschta was replaced by Tim Burton who was a member of None Left Standing. Then in Feb. 1998, they were coming home from a show during a snowstorm. The van wrecked and Gnewikow was in intensive care for three weeks. von Bohlen and Burton were also seriously injured. During the recovery, Burton was replaced by Scott Schoenbeck. After the 1999 album Very Emergency, The Promise Ring signed with the much larger Anti Records. Wood/Water was the first album. Unfortunately, von Bohlen was diagnosed with meningioma which is like a brain tumour. And that led to The Promise Ring's split in 2002. von Bohlen and Didier formed the band Maritime. Gnewikow moved to New York and opened a graphic design studio. The Promise Ring has reunited a few times. All were one night stands. There were plans to release a rarities CD but it looks like that isn't happening. Here's The Promise Ring performing Become One Anything One Time on Late Night with Conan O'Brien May 24, 2002.