AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Roland Vazquez Band

Artist:Roland Vazquez Band

Song:Sevilla

Album:The Visitor

Drummer Roland Vazquez is mostly a sideman and educator. But occasionally he records on his own label. The 2010 album The Visitor is a big band album and his latest CD. He was born in Cuba in 1951. but he grew up in Los Angeles. He was inspired by Mongo Santamaria to get into music. After playing in local clubs, Vazquez earned a BA at Westminster College in Utah. After moving back to Los Angeles, He formed The L.A. Jazz Ensemble. As Urban Ensemble, they recorded a 1979 album for GRP/Arista. Vazquez was in Clare Fischer's Salsa Picante for three years. Then he moved to New York. He played local clubs. But mostly he was an educator at Manhattan School of Music and then University of Michigan which is where he met his wife Susan Botti. She was also on the faculty and is a musician. Eventually they returned to New York. Vazquez has recorded for his own label occasionally since 1988. Sevilla is from the 2010 album The Visitor. This is a big band album. He financed it with a grant from the Aaron Copeland Fund for Music. The funny part is Vazquez doesn't play drums on the album. He conducts the orchestra. Ignacio Berroa plays drums. Key musicians include Joel Frahm, Aaron Heick, Roger Rosenberg and Dan Willis on sax, Tony Kadleck, Alex Norris and Jon Owens on trumpet, Pete McCann on guitar, Luis Pedroma on piano and James Genus. Vazquez is currently on the faculties of Vassar and Bard Colleges and he still plays New York clubs. Here's Roland Vazquez performing 3x's a Promise and Sevilla with Kevin Bene on sax, Bryon Ponton on piani, Nick Edwards on bass and Tomas Martin Lopez on congas at Amity Blues in Red Hook, NY 2019.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-J-Kwon

Artist:J-Kwon

Song:Tipsy

Album:Hood Hop

Jerrell "J-Kwon" Jones was 17 years old when the 2004 single Tipsy was a top five pop hit. It's been all downhill from there due to personal problems. His rap style will remind you of Nelly as both guys are from St. Louis. He was born Mar. 28, 1986 in St. Louis. He was kicked out of his house at age 12 for drug dealing. So he was homeless while he was winning local rap contests. At one of those events, he mooned Arista Records president LA Reid and producer Jermaine Dupri. They liked his rapping so Dupri signed him to his SoSoDef label with Arista distribution. The 2004 album Hood Hop was mostly produced by the production group The TrackBoyz. That group's Joe "Capo" Kent wrote most of the songs including Tipsy. At the time, The TrackBoyz were signed to DefJam but I think they split up soon after. Tipsy reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album was certified Gold. So it did OK. As I said, Jones raps that St. Louis style much like Nelly. The problem was he didn't release his next album Hood Hop 2 until 2009. By this time Jones had left Arista and started his own label. He has released three albums with three different distributors. His most recent album was released in 2010. Since then he has had personal problems including being homeless. BET did a half hour show about Jones in 2018. This can be viewed on YouTube. According to his Instagram account, Jones is on the comeback trail. It remains to be seen if he will have success. Here's the video for Tipsy by J-Kwon. 

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-JJ Aldrich vs Vanessa Demopoulos

Here's the match video of JJ Aldrich vs Vanessa Demopoulos from last night's UFC show in Las Vegas. This fight is at Flyweight. Tracy Cortez was supposed to be JJ's original opponent. But she pulled out due to injury. Vanessa has been in the LFA since 2017. She's a Strawweight. She seemed to lose every time there was an opportunity to get to the UFC and that includes a loss to Cory McKenna in Dana White's Contender Series. So at least she finally made it to the UFC. Vanessa trains at Black House in Los Angeles. As expected, I thought JJ would win easily. But what I didn't like was she had a chance to finish this fight and she played it safe like she always does. Commentary mentioned this during the broadcast. We have seen JJ have trouble with better competition. Here's an opportunity to finish a fight and she chooses not to do it. Enjoy the video!

 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Bob James and Earl Klugh

Artist:Bob James and Earl Klugh

Song:Kari

Album:One on One

There was a time in the late 70s that smooth jazz pioneer Bob James was one of the hottest musicians in the business. This was mostly because of the success of his theme from the popular sitcom Taxi. It opened a lot of doors for him as a recording artist. Until that point James was a very successful session musician, composer and arranger. So he started his own label Tappan Zee with Columbia distribution. The third album on this deal was the 1979 album One on One with rising star guitarist Earl Klugh. Klugh had success with three albums for Blue Note. James liked what he heard and he wanted to record with Klugh. They worked out a deal where the two would record two albums, the first for Columbia and the second for EMI. Kari is from the 1979 album One on One on Columbia. The album was very successful and it won a Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Performance. Klugh wrote Kari. Musicians are Neil Jason on bass, Harvey Mason on drums and Ralph MacDonald on percussion. The second James/Klugh album was the 1982 album Two of a Kind on EMI's Manhattan label. Later on they recorded the 1992 album Cool on Warner Bros. I think both guys were on Warners at the time. One on One is available on CD. I recommend it to fans of smooth jazz. Here's a video of Kari by Bob James and Earl Klugh.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-La Flavour

Artist:La Flavour

Song:Mandolay

Album:Kiss Me Guido: Selections from the Motion Picture

Mandolay was a top ten dance hit in 1980. It was the only significant hit for La Flavour. With a name like that and a Latin tinged sound, one might think they were from Puerto Rico. La Flavour are from Cleveland. The members of La Flavour went to high school together in Massillon, OH. We have brothers Pete (guitar) and Steve (drums) Nervo, Craig DeBock on guitar and Gino Milchak on bass. They played local Cleveland clubs and by the mid 70s were known as Ragweed. Their agent changed the band name to Flavour and then La Flavour. I assume the idea was to make them seem exotic. Mandolay was released in 1980. It reached #7 on the dance chart. It was written and produced by Mark Avsec who also produced Wild Cherry (also from Cleveland). The song did well enough that MCA Records signed La Flavour. With the disco era coming to a close, MCA decided to change the band name to Fair Warning and have them record pop songs. They recorded She Don't Know Me. But a lead single was needed for Bon Jovi's debut album. So the song was taken away from Fair Warning. Then Van Halen released an album called Fair Warning. MCA cancelled the whole thing. The album was never released. La Flavour continued to tour. They even performed with puppets at one point. In the 90s they became a disco nostalgia act. That's how Mandolay appeared on the soundtrack of the 1997 film Kiss Me Guido. This is available as a budget CD and it is the full version of Mandolay. It looks like La Flavour retired in 2006. Here's the video for Mandolay by La Flavour. 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-The Subterraneans

Artist:The Subterraneans

Song:Taurus Woman

Album:The Rebirth of Cool Vol. 1

Fans of Acid Jazz will enjoy this 1993 one shot by The Subterraneans. After it appeared on the various artists CD The Rebirth of Cool on Island's 4th & Broadway label, there was enough interest that fans wanted to know who they are and is there more music from The Subterraneans. I can tell you who they are but they only released the one single. The main guy behind this is Max Beesley. He's an actor who appears a lot on British TV mainly in mini series like Hotel Babylon. He's also a session musician playing drums on albums by Robbie Williams and Take That. And he has toured with Incognito and The Brand New Heavies. The other main guy is session bassist Marco Nelson. He does a lot of remixes. The rapper is MC Jonzi D and the singer is Mardou Fox which is an alias for popular R&B singer Carleen Anderson. Taurus Woman was written by jazz sax player Carlos Garnett. Beesley plays the vibraphone solo. The single was released on Acid Jazz Records owned by DJ Gilles Peterson, the creator of Acid Jazz. It is on some various artists CDs. But The Rebirth of Cool was on Island's 4th & Broadway label. It's a major label so it got the song more attention. But this was the only single by The Subterraneans. BTW, The Subterraneans is a 1960 film popular with jazz fans because jazz musicians appeared in it. Max Beesley is a very busy actor so I don't know if he has time for music. Here's a video for Taurus Woman by The Subterraneans.

The Big Topic in WMMA

UFC review and preview. PFL review and Invicta preview. 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Hurricane Smith

Artist:Hurricane Smith

Song:Oh, Babe, What Would You Say?

Album:Rock Me Gently: Mellow Rock's Greatest Hits

Oh, Babe, What Would You Say? was a top five hit in 1972. It was the only chart single for Gordon "Hurricane" Smith. Normally Smith was a recording engineer and assistant to George Martin at EMI. He was born Feb. 22, 1923 in Edmonton, London, England. Smith was an RAF glider pilot in WWII. He played trumpet in several jazz groups in the 50s. When that didn't work out, he took a job as an apprentice engineer at EMI. He was the recording engineer on all of The Beatles recordings until Rubber Soul when he was promoted to producer. He worked with Pink Floyd, The Pretty Things and Barclay James Harvest. He got into singing as a fluke. Smith wrote the song Don't Let It Die. He recorded a demo in the hopes that John Lennon would record it. When he played the demo for producer Mickie Most, Most told him it was good enough to release as is. The song reached #2 on the British Singles chart. Then he recorded the album Don't Let It Die. It was released in the US as Hurricane Smith. Oh, Babe, What Would You Say? reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #4 on the British Singles chart. Smith released a second album in England. The success was enough that Smith toured British clubs for years. Occasional recordings went nowhere. But an instrumental he recorded Theme from an Unmade Silent Movie was picked up by soccer teams as a theme. You can get Oh, Babe, What Would You Say on this various artists budget comp. Norman Smith died on Mar. 3, 2008 at age 85. Here's Hurricane Smith performing Oh, Babe, What Would You Say? 9on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. 1972.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Adele

Artist:Adele

Song:Skyfall

CD Single:Skyfall

Back in 2011, Adele was the most popular singer in the world. So it's not surprising that the James Bond producers would want her to record the theme for the next Bond film. And the song was a big hit. So it's unusual that the theme was not on the soundtrack album. It was only released as a single meaning it's a discography orphan. In 2011, Sony Pictures president of music Lia Vollack suggested to James Bond producers Eon Productions that Adele should record the theme for Skyfall. The film was a co-production of Columbia Pictures and MGM. Vollack thought Adele could bring back that "Shirley Bassey" feel. Adele visited the set and told Skyfall director Sam Mendes that her songs are personal and maybe not what they are looking for. He told her to write what she normally writes and use Carly Simon's Nobody Does it Better from The Spy Who Loved Me as an inspiration. Adele took home the script and wrote and produced the song with her usual producer Paul Epworth. She says she wrote the song in ten minutes. Skyfall reached #8 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was a hit worldwide. So why wasn't it on the Skyfall soundtrack album? The producers tried to get film composer Thomas Newman to include it. Maybe he didn't like the song. The other thing is the soundtrack album was on Sony Classical and the single was on Adele's label XL. Maybe they couldn't work out a financial deal. This was only the second time in history that the theme of a Bond film was not on the soundtrack album. The first was the 2006 film Casino Royale. The end result is Adele's theme from Skyfall is currently available as a CD single or digital download. XL has yet to release any Adele compilation CDs. I suppose the song could turn up on a James Bond compilation too. Either way, that Adele's theme for Skyfall is not on the soundtrack album is a major fail. Here's the video for Skyfall by Adele. She doesn't appear in the video either. 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Walk Off the Earth

Artist:Walk Off the Earth

Song:Red Hands

Album:R.E.V.O.

Walk Off the Earth started out as a YouTube cover band. Eventually there was enough buzz to get them a major label deal with Columbia. After two albums for Columbia, they returned to recording on their own label. They seem to like that independence. Walk Off the Earth are from Burlington, ON which is near Hamilton. They formed in 2006. The leader is Gianni "Luminati" Nicassio. All the members play various instruments. Nicassio produces the music. He started out posting YouTube videos. Nicassio turned Walk Off the Earth into a band in 2011. That's when Joel Cassady, Sarah Blackwood and Mike "Beard Guy" Taylor joined the band. Ryan Marshall had already been working with Nicassio. Their 2012 cover of Gotye's Somebody That I Used to Know generated 175M views on YouTube. This led to a deal with Columbia Records and the 2013 album R.E.V.O. The single Red Hands reached #9 on the Canadian Singles chart. The single was certified 2XPlatinum mostly through downloads. Despite their rep as a cover band, most of the songs including Red Hands were written and produced by the band. They released a second album on Columbia Sing It All Away in 2015. It didn't do as well as the first album. The big advantage of being on a major label is the promotion budget. The drawback is they micromanage everything. I don't think Walk Off the Earth liked that part. So they left Columbia and now record for their own label with distribution from Sony owned RED. They don't get the promotion budget anymore but they are left alone. Mike Taylor died in 2018. Marshall left the band in 2019. Walk Off the Earth has released two albums since leaving Columbia. They hire musicians for touring. Here's the video for Red Hands by Walk Off the Earth.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Maev

Artist:Maev

Song:The Last Days of Summer

Album:A Celtic Journey

Maev Ni Mhaolchatha was an original member of Celtic Woman. She recorded a few solo albums as Maev after she left Celtic Woman in 2007. She has recently returned to Celtic Woman as vocal director. She was born Jan. 26, 1975 in Dublin, Ireland. She sang as a child with her family. She started singing professionally after graduating from Trinity College with a law degree. In the 90s she was a member of the Irish chamber choir Anuna. They toured with Riverdance. After Anuna split up in 1998, Maev self released a couple of albums and toured until former Riverdance director David Downes formed Celtic Woman in 2004. Maev was a featured soloist. After 2005 maternity leave, Maev returned to Celtic Woman. She also released a couple of solo albums. The Last Days of Summer is from the 2006 CD A Celtic Journey. It is on Celtic Woman's label Manhattan/EMI and Downes was executive producer. So I guess it's an official Celtic Woman solo album. She records mostly traditional songs. The Last Days of Summer was arranged by Noel Kelehan who normally works with the Irish TV network RTE. It was produced by recording engineer Bill Somerville-Large. Maev left Celtic Woman in 2007. She recorded two more solo albums. I recommend them to Celtic Woman fans as she doesn't stray from the formula. Maev returned to Celtic Woman as a guest on a 2013 Christmas TV special. In 2018 she returned to Celtic Woman as vocal director. Here' Maev and Hayley Westenra performing The Last Days of Summer on a Celtic Woman TV show. There is no date on it. 

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Josiane Nunes vs Bea Malecki

Here's the match video of Josiane Nunes vs Bea Malecki from last night's UFC show in Las Vegas. This fight is at Bantamweight. Bea is from Stockholm, Sweden. She was in TUF 28 for Featherweights but she is 2-0 in the UFC at Bantamweight. She has had some injuries which is why we haven't seen much of her. She trains at Fortis MMA in Houston. Josiane is 27 years old from Curitiba, Brazil. She trains at Striker's House. She has won most of her fights by TKO. She was supposed to make her UFC debut a few months ago but her opponent missed weight. Bea is 5'9" and Josiane is 5'2". Josiane has power so if she can get inside, she can finish the fight. Bea couldn't seem to keep her at a distance. Like a lot of Brazilian fighters, Josiane likes to move forward. Bea hit her a few times but it wasn't enough to force Josiane to keep her distance. Josiane rocker Bea a few times until an overhead left knocked Bea out at the end of round one. That finish earned Josiane a $50,000 bonus. The course of action against Josiane is to force her to keep back. We'll see if someone higher up can do that. Could she drop to Flyweight? She's never fought at Flyweight and I don't know if she would retain her power at that weight. We could find out. Enjoy the video! 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Donna Fargo

Artist:Donna Fargo

Song:Funny Face

Album:20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection: The Best of Donna Fargo

Donna Fargo had a string of country music hits in the 70s. The 1972 single Funny Face was one of two to cross over to pop. The other was The Happiest Girl in the Whole U.S.A. She was born Yvonne Vaughn Nov. 10, 1945 in Mount Airy, NC. She sang as a child but never considered singing professionally. Instead she became a teacher at Northview High School in Covina, CA. While singing in local clubs, she met Stan Silver who became her manager and husband. Silver had produced a few single but nothing of note until he met Donna. After releasing a few singles, the success of The Happiest Girl in the Whole U.S.A. got Donna a record deal with Dot Records. That single topped the Country Singles chart and reached #11 on the Billboard Hot 100. The second single Funny Face was even bigger. It topped the Country Singles chart and reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100. The 1972 album The Happiest Girl in the Whole U/S.A. was recorded after the two songs were hits. Donna usually wrote her own songs. She says Funny Face is her husband's nickname for her. The album was certified Gold. Donna continued to have success on the country charts. She had five #1 hits. When Dot was sold to ABC in 1976, Donna left for Warner Bros. Her Warners recordings weren't as successful. And then she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1978. When her music career faded in the 80s, Donna started a successful greeting card company. She has also written poetry books. You can get all her Dot hits on this budget comp. Here's Donna Fargo performing Funny Face on Pop Goes The Country 1974.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Fatboy Slim

Artist:Fatboy Slim

Song:Praise You

Album:The Greatest Hits: Why Try Harder

British DJ Norman "Fatboy Slim" Cook has been influential in developing the "big beat" genre of electronic dance music. His commercial success has mostly been in England. The 1999 single Praise You topped the British charts. It's his best known song. He was born July 16, 1963 in Bromley, England and he grew up in Surrey. He got into punk as a teen and led the band Disque Attack. He got into DJing while attending Brighton Polytechnic. Cook played bass in The Housemartins who scored a big hit with the 1985 single Happy Hour. They split up in 1988. Half of the band became The Beautiful South. Cook retreated to the recording studio to work on electronic music with recording engineer Simon Thornton. These two have worked together ever since. Cook released music under his own name, Beats International, Freak Power and Pizzaman. He started calling himself Fatboy Slim in 1996. He signed with Skint Records in England and Astralwerks in the US. Praise You is from the 1998 album You've Come a Long Way, Baby. It topped the British charts and reached #36 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was a big dance club hit. The main sample which you can hear in the opening is Take Yo' Praise by Camille Yarbrough. I had to look her up. She recorded a 1975 album for Vanguard Records. Cook obviously discovered it through cratedigging. At least she got paid for his use of the song. The video is also notable as I think that made Praise You more successful than the charts would indicate. It was shot guerilla style by Spike Jonze. Cook recorded two more albums as Fatboy Slim. He still releases occasional singles under the name. He's still active but he uses many pseudonyms. This comp is a good intro to the Fatboy Slim recordings. Here's the video for Praise You by Fatboy Slim. 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Sterling Holloway

Artist:Sterling Holloway

Song:Trust in Me (The Python Song)

Album:Walt Disney's The Jungle Book: Original Soundtrack

Sterling Holloway should be a familiar face and especially voice to classic movie fans. Holloway appeared in Walt Disney films going back to the 40s. Trust in Me from the 1967 film The Jungle Book is one of his more high profile appearances. He also did the voice of Winnie the Pooh. He was born Jan. 4, 1905 in Cedartown, GA. His family owned a local grocery store. Holloway studied at the Academy of the Dramatic Arts in New York where he befriended Spencer Tracy. He moved to Los Angeles in 1926. Holloway usually appeared in comedies because of his high pitched voice and bushy red hair. He was never a star but he did a lot of supporting roles. Holloway auditioned for the role of Sleepy in Walt Disney's 1937 film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Though Pinto Colvig got that role, Disney cast Holloway as Mr. Stork in the 1941 film Dumbo. That started Holloway's long association with Disney. Among Holloway's more notable Disney films were The Three Caballeros, Alice in Wonderland and the shorts Susie the Little Blue Coupe and Lambert the Sheepish Lion. He continued to appear in other things like several Gene Autry westerns and I remember seeing him in the TV series The Adventures of Superman as a professor. After Holloway was cast as Kaa in the 1967 film The Jungle Book, Disney had The Sherman Brothers write Trust in Me for Kaa to hypnotize Mowgli. In 1997 The Jungle Book soundtrack album was released on CD in an expanded edition. Apparently the lisp was Holloway's idea. Holloway went on to voice Winnie the Pooh which is probably his best remembered role. Sterling Holloway died on Nov. 22, 1992 at age 87. Jim Cummings now does his voices. Here's Sterling Holloway performing Trust in Me (The Python's Song) from the film The Jungle Book. The track on the soundtrack album is longer as the first half is from George Bruns' score. 

The Big Topic in WMMA

UFC review and preview and PFL preview. 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Jaci Velasquez

Artist:Jaci Velasquez

Song:Adore

Album:On My Knees: The Best of Jaci Velasquez/Christmas

I guess the best way to describe Jaci Velasquez is she is the CCM version of Christina Aguilera. The height of Jaci's success in CCM in the late 90s coincides with Christina's pop success. The 2000 single Adore was one of Jaci's biggest hits. She sings in English and Spanish. She was born Oct. 15, 1979 in Houston. Her father was a singing evangelist. She went on tour with him and she released a couple of albums and signed with Word's Myrrh label. Her debut album was released in 1996. Her music was an immediate hit in the CCM market. Jaci signed a separate deal with Sony Discos and released the Spanish language album Llegar A Ti in 1999. This album sold very well in the Latin market. She has continued to record in Spanish while releasing English albums. Adore is from the 2000 album Crystal Clear. It topped the CCM singles chart. I would describe the song as Adult Contemporary pop with religious overtones. The album was produced by veteran CCM producer Mark Heimmerman who produced Jaci's early albums. Adore was written by Brent Bourgeois and Chris Eaton. At the time Bourgeois was VP of A&R at Myrrh. Eaton is a veteran British CCM songwriter. You can get Adore on this comp. Word has paired it as a twofer with Jaci's 2001 Christmas album. Epic Records attempted to cross Jaci over to pop in the early 90s but that didn't work. Jaci left Word in 2005 and has recorded less frequently since then. Her latest album Trust/Conflo was released on Integrity in 2017. One CD is English and the second is Spanish. She co-hosts with Doug Griffin the syndicated radio show Family Friendly Morning Show. Jaci has done some acting mostly in religious films. She is married to Nic Gonzales of the band Salvador and they have two kids. Here's the video for Adore by Jaci Velasquez.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-IAM

Artist:IAM

Song:Je Danse le Mia

Album:Ombre Est Lumiere

According to my research, IAM was the very first French rap group. The 1993 single Je Danse le Mia topped the French charts and IAM has been very successful in Europe. Because they rap in French, it looks like they are unknown in North America. They are from Marseille, France. The acronym IAM stands for Imperial Asiatic Men. I don't know what that means. IAM leader Philippe "Akhenaton" Fragione made regular trips to New York in the 80s to learn more about rap. After appearing on Choice MC's 1988 song This Is the B Side, he decided to form a group with Eric "DJ Kheops" Mazel and Geoffroy Shurik'n" Mussard who also rapped. They were joined by producer Pascal "Imhotep" Perez and MCs Francois "Kephren" Mendy and Malek "Freeman" Brahimi. The Egyptian thing is their trademark. They released a 1990 cassette of demos and opened for Madonna among others. They got a record deal with Virgin. Je Danse le Mia is from IAM's second album Ombre Est Lumiere. It topped the French charts. Apparently this song was a deliberate decision to make a commercial record that would sell a lot of records and make Virgin happy. The big sample is George Benson's Give Me the Night. After recording a couple more albums, IAM went on hiatus. Fragione and Mussard both had success as solo artists. IAM returned in 2013 on DefJam. They last released an album in 2019. They just aren't as successful today as they were in the 90s. Here's the video for Je Danse le Mia by IAM. 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-DJ Shadow

Artist:DJ Shadow

Song:Midnight in a Perfect World

Album:Reconstructed: The Best of DJ Shadow

Josh "DJ Shadow" Davis was the first to use sampling as an integral part of his music on his 1996 album Entroducing.... Up until then sampling was used mostly as an adornment. So you may not be familiar with Davis but he has been very influential on how hip hop is constructed. Yeah, I know. It seems more like a construction project than music. Davis was born June 29, 1972 in San Jose but he grew up in Davis, CA. He started messing around with four track recording while he was in high school. He also haunted local record shops as a cratedigger looking for rare vinyl. You can see that a bit in the video. He's looking for music that no one knows so he can sample it. He has over 60,000 records in his collection. As a long time cratedigger, I can certainly relate to him because I haunted used record stores when I was young. I never had that many records. I discovered many musicians through cratedigging and I still look for new artists today. It's a mindset of constant discovery. That's the base of Davis' music. In the early 90s, Davis released several singles and EPs on James Lavelle's Mo' Wax label. Lavelle convinced Davis to record the 1996 album Entroducing.... He used a drum machine, a pair of turntables and Pro Tools to record the album. It is in Guinness Book of World Records as the first completely sampled album. Midnight in a Perfect World was the first single. Among the samples are The Human Abstract by David Axelrod and California Soul by Marlena Shaw. The vocals are from a sample by Finnish producer Pekka Pohjola. This song is very typical of Davis' music. It leans more to ambient than hip hop. And there are no lyrics in any vocals. Entroducing... is available on CD. But I recommend this budget comp as an introduction to Davis' music. Davis wouldn't record as DJ Shadow again until he signed with Universal in 2006. After two albums, he recorded for his own label. He still does that and he produces other artists. DJ Shadow was never going to be a commercial success. But he is influential in how sampling has developed. Here's the video for Midnight in a Perfect World by DJ Shadow.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-L7

Artist:L7

Song:Pretend We're Dead

Album:Bricks Are Heavy

The all female band L7 had success in the early 90s grunge era. The 1992 single Pretend We're Dead was their biggest hit. L7 were formed in 1985 in Los Angeles by Donita Sparks and Suzi Gardner. Both sing and write songs. They added Jennifer Finch on bass and Anne Anderson on drums. Their first demo was produced by Brett Gurewitz of Bad Religion and released on his Epitaph label. Anne Anderson was replaced by Demetra "Dee" Plakas and that has been the lineup for most of their run. After releasing a single on Sub Pop, they suggested L7 move to Seattle and record an album there. The 1990 album Smell the Magic was positively reviewed at Rolling Stone and L7 opened for Nirvana. L7 formed the women's rights group Rock for Choice with Sue Cummings of LA Weekly. This group did several all star benefit concerts. Meanwhile L7 signed with Warner's Slash label and released the 1993 album Bricks Are Heavy produced by Butch Vig of Garbage. The single Pretend We're Dead reached #8 on the Alternative Rock chart. That's turned out to be their biggest hit. Donitra wrote most of the songs on the album including Pretend We're Dead which is a post breakup song. L7 recorded three albums for Slash. But they were fading by the late 90s. They went on hiatus in 1999. Donitra formed Donitra Sparks and the Stellar Moments. They recorded a 2007 album before splitting up. L7 reformed in 2014 mostly to tour. But they self released an album in 2019 through PledgeMusic and it looks like they will continue. Here's the video for Pretend We're Dead by L7. 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Vanilla Ice

Artist:Vanilla Ice

Song:Ice Ice Baby

Album:To the Extreme

Other than The Beastie Boys, Robert "Vanilla Ice" Van Winkle was the very first successful white rapper. The 1990 single Ice Ice Baby topped the charts. It would turn out to be his only memorable hit. Van Winkle was born Oct. 31, 1967 in Dallas but he grew up in Miami where his stepfather worked at a car dealership. He got into breakdancing as a teen and was nicknamed Vanilla because he was the only white guy. He started his own breakdancing group The Vanilla Ice Posse. That's when he wrote Ice Ice Baby which is supposed to be about drugs and a drive by shooting. Van Winkle moved back to Texas with his stepfather. He started racing motocross but after he broke his ankle during a race, he decided to stop doing it. He started performing again and signed with producer Tommy Quon. Quon released the single Play That Funky Music with Ice Ice Baby on the B side. DJs preferred Ice Ice Baby and turned the record over. Eventually Van Winkle signed with Capitol's SBK label and the wider distribution turned Ice Ice Baby into a number one hit. Of course the song is based on Under Pressure by Queen & David Bowie. That sample is probably too recognizable for me. The bottom line is that hook sold the song. Van Winkle wasn't even paying royalties. He eventually bought Under Pressure because it was cheaper than paying royalties. Van Winkle produced Ice Ice Baby with Floyd "Earthquake" Brown. This seems to be Brown's only significant credit. Among his other activities, Van Winkle was in a relationship with Madonna. And He made the film Cool As Ice which bombed spectacularly. To the Extreme is available as a budget CD. Van Winkle's second album for SBK did poorly. He also had drug abuse problems. Realizing that his rap career was over, Van Winkle got his real estate license and learned home renovation which eventually turned into the successful TV series The Vanilla Ice Project. He continued to record occasionally. His most recent album was in 2011. The home renovation show is probably his most successful recent project. But there was a time when Robert Van Winkle was the hottest thing in music. Here's the video for Ice Ice Baby by Vanilla Ice. 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-August Alsina

Artist:August Alsina f/Nicki Minaj

Song:No Love

Album:Testimony: Deluxe Edition

R&B singer songwriter August Alsina had success with his 2014 debut album Testimony along with a couple of R&B hit singles like No Love. His subsequent albums haven't done as well. He switched labels for his latest album. That's not a good sign. He was born Sept. 3, 1992 in New Orleans. He says he was inspired to sing by Lauryn Hill in Sister Act 2. Since Alsina's father and stepfather were crack addicts, his mother moved him to Houston after Hurricane Katrina. His father died and then Alsina's mother kicked him out of the house. He moved to Atlanta in 2011. He was already posting videos on Youtube. After releasing mixtapes and the 2013 EP Downtown: Life Under the Gun, the single I Luv This Shit got enough attention that Alsina signed with DefJam. This led to the 2014 album Testimony. No Love was almost as big as I Luv This Shit. It reached #6 on the R&B Singles chart. The album reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 200 and was certified Gold. Alsina wrote the songs mostly with Samuel "Knucklehead" Irving III. No Love was written with Christopher "Drumma Boy" Gholson and of course Nicki Minaj makes an appearance. When Alsina's 2015 album This Thing Called Life didn't sell, DefJam dropped him. For his 2020 album The Product III: State of Emergency, Alsina started his own label with Empire distribution. He also has health problems. Doctors are trying to figure out what is wrong with him. He seems too young to be a has been. One never knows in the music business. Testimony is available in a Deluxe Edition with two bonus tracks. Here's the video for No Love by August Alsina featuring Nicki Minaj. 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Ming Tea

Artist:Ming Tea

Song:BBC

Album:Austin Powers: Original Soundtrack

The song BBC played over the end credits of Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. The band performing that song was Ming Tea. It was a 60s parody band that led to the creation of the Austin Powers character. After his stint on Saturday Night Live, Mike Myers formed Ming Tea with Susanna Hoffs of The Bangles and singer songwriter Matthew Sweet. Other members were Stuart Johnson on drums and Christopher Ward on lead guitar. Ward was known in Canada as a MuchMusic VJ. By this time he was an in demand songwriter in Los Angeles. They all took phony names. Myers called himself Austin Powers. The band was a tribute and parody of 60s British bands. It eventually led to Austin Powers as James Bond spoof movie franchise. It was a tribute to Myers' late father as they used to watch British TV together in their home in Scarborough, ON. After Myers wrote the Austin Powers script, he asked Susanna to have her director husband Jay Roach look at it. He directed all the films Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery was a huge success. BBC appeared on the soundtrack album. It's available as a budget CD. A second Ming Tea song appeared on the soundtrack of Austin Powers in Goldmember. Ming Tea recorded an album. But it looks like it was only released as a radio station promo. Susanna and Sweet revived Ming Tea in 2006 and recorded three covers albums for Shout Factory. It doesn't seem like the same band without Myers. Here's the video for BBC by Ming Tea.

 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Andy Black

Artist:Andy Black

Song:We Don't Have To Dance

Album:The Shadow Side

Andy Biersack is the lead singer of Black Veil Brides. He started Andy Black as a side project and he had chart success with the 2016 single We Don't Have To Dance. He was born Dec. 26, 1990 in Cincinnati. Musical influences include Kiss, The Damned and Avenged Sevenfold. After graduating from high school, Biersack moved to Los Angeles and formed Black Veil Brides (BVB). They have recorded four albums for Universal Republic. They have been moderately successful. In 2014, Biersack told Kerrang! that he was working on music outside Black Veil Brides under the name Andy Black. He said the music would be more pop than BVB influenced by 80s synth pop. He wanted BVB fans to know that this is a hobby and he is not leaving BVB. The album The Shadow Side was released in 2016. The producer was John Feldmann who had worked previously with BVB. We Don't Have To Dance reached #23 on the Billboard Hot Rock Songs chart. It also did well on Billboard's digital chart. So obviously music fans liked it and downloaded it. The song certainly has a great hook. There were several songwriting credits including Biersack and Feldmann. But it looks like producer Ricky "Wallpaper" Reed was the main producer and writer. He has produced Jason Derulo among others. Songwriting credits also went to Zakk Cervini and Matt Pauling who played on the album, Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy and Quinn Allman of The Used. The album reached #22 on the Billboard Hot 200. It did well for a side project. A second Andy Black album The Ghost of Ohio was released in 2019. It did not do as well. It remains to be seen if Biersack will continue to record as Andy Black. I think he had an itch to record music different from BVB and now he scratched that itch. He still leads Black Veil Brides. They will release a new album in October. Here's the video for We Don't Have To Dance by Andy Black.

Frank Pozen's Big Bad Podcast

Sarray and a look at what is up with Asuka. 

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Dakota Kai vs Sarray

Here's the match video of Dakota Kai vs Sarray from last night's episode of NXT. Sarray's opponent was supposed to be Ember Moon. But she could not get cleared to wrestle so they decided to play into the Dakota Kai vs Raquel Gonzalez feud. They are still working on some things with Sarray. She was wearing new gear last night and she is still working on her entrance. She's great in the ring. They had a very competitive match. Dakota thought she could walk over Sarray but she found out otherwise. I didn't care for the finish but Raquel was on the way so they had to finish up. I wouldn't have minded a non finish in this situation. But the match is good so check it out. 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Sunny Sweeney

Artist:Sunny Sweeney

Song:Bad Girl Phase

Album:Provoked

In 2010, Sunny Sweeney had a top ten country hit on a major label. It looked like she was going to be the next big thing in country music. But she left that major label and started her own label. Though Sunny is sacrificing stardom, she seems a lot happier now. She was born Dec. 7, 1976 in Houston and she grew up in Longview. After graduating high school, she moved to New York to try acting. When that didn't work out, she moved back to Texas to take music more seriously. She started playing Austin clubs and in 2005 was named by Austin Music Pundits as an act to watch. She self released her debut album Heartbreakers Hall of Fame. She signed with Big Machine and the album was re-released in 2007. In 2009, Big Machine signed a joint venture with Universal called Republic Nashville. Sunny was the first artist on that label. After the single From a Table Away reached #10 on the Country Singles chart, the album Concrete was released in 2011. But Sunny was unhappy. She has said in interviews that she felt she wasn't in control of her career. It was dictated by Republic Nashville.  So she left. Her 2014 album Provoked is on her own Aunt Daddy Records with distribution from the much smaller Thirty Tigers label. She's much happier making all the decisions. The album was produced by Luke Wooten who works with Dierks Bentley. Sunny wrote most of the songs though Bad Girl Phase was written by veteran songwriters Brandy Clark, Jessie Jo Dillon and Shannon Wright. Sunny released her latest album in 2017 and a live album in 2020. She seems much happier doing things her way. Here's Sunny Sweeney performing Bad Girl Phase on Live from the Couch at ZUUS Country Studios in Nashville 2014. This video is not on Youtube.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Jeremy Davenport

Artist:Jeremy Davenport

Song:I Didn't Know What Time It Was

Album:We'll Dance 'til Dawn

Jeremy Davenport plays trumpet and sings. So he will certainly remind you of Chet Baker. He was in Harry Connick Jr.'s band in the 90s. So he should remind you of Connick too. These days Davenport is a big part of the New Orleans jazz scene. He was born May 4, 1970 in St. Louis. His father was in the St. Louis Symphony for 40 years. His mother was a music teacher. Davenport studied at the Manhattan School of Music with Wynton Marsalis. Marsalis introduced Davenport to Harry Connick Jr. and that led to a move to New Orleans where he studied at the University of New Orleans and with Marsalis' dad Ellis Marsalis Jr. That led to six years on Connick's big band. Davenport made his recording debut as a leader in 1997. I Didn't Know What Time It Was is from Davenport's 2009 album We'll Dance 'til Dawn on Basin Street Records. Davenport wrote half the songs. The rest are standards like the Rodgers & Hart standard I Didn't Know What Time It Was. It was written for the 1939 musical Too Many Girls. Frank Sinatra performed it in the 1957 film Pal Joey. There are two trios on this album. On bass is either Ronald Guerin or George Porter Jr. On drums is Troy Davis or Herman T. Ernest III. Kermit Ruffin make a guest appearance. This is Davenport's latest studio album though he has released a couple of live albums. He currently has a residency at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in New Orleans. Here's Jeremy Davenport performing I Didn't Know What Time It Was at the 2017 French Quarter Fest in New Orleans.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Harold Hastings and the Kit Kat Band

Artist:Harold Hastings and the Kit Kat Band

Song:Entr'acte

Album:Cabaret: Original Broadway Cast

Harold Hastings worked on many Broadway shows as a conductor and arranger. The 1966 show Cabaret is probably the best known show he worked on. Entr'acte is a musical interlude accompanied by dancers billed as Kit Kat Girls. Hastings conducted this and other musical interludes with little fanfare. Hastings was born Dec. 19, 1916 in New York City. He studied at New York University. Hastings started out conducting radio and TV orchestras and composing music for TV commercials. After composing the music for the 1950 Broadway show Tickets, Please!, Hastings worked as a musical director, arranger, orchestrator and conductor on Broadway musicals until 1973. Among the shows he worked on were The Pajama Game, Damn Yankees!, Fiorello, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forun and of course the 1966 musical Cabaret. The original cast album is available on CD. After that Hastings worked on the Stephen Sondheim musicals Company, Follies and A Little Night Music. And then Hastings died of a heart attack on May 30, 1973 at age 56. Here's a video for Entr'acte by Harold Hastings and the Kit Kat Band from the 1966 musical Cabaret. 

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Melissa Gatto vs Victoria Leonardo

Here's the match video of Melissa Gatto vs Victoria Leonardo from last night's UFC show in Houston. This fight is at Flyweight. Melissa has been under UFC contract since 2019. There was a drug suspension followed by a skin condition. And most recently she couldn't get a visa. Victoria is a former Invicta fighter who was on Dana White's Contender Series. She lost her UFC debut to Manon Fiorot. This wasn't going much better. Melissa won the first two rounds. And then Victoria told her corner that she broke her right arm. After the doctor looked at at, the fight was stopped. Apparently Victoria has had surgery on that arm before. Obviously I would like to see Melissa against better competition. Enjoy the video! 

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Jessica Penne vs Karolina Kowalkiewicz

Here's the match video of Jessica Penne vs Karolina Kowalkiewicz from last night's UFC show in Houston. This fight is at Strawweight. Both fighters are former title contenders in their late 30s. Jessica was off for two years because of a drug suspension. She won her return fight a few months ago. Karolina is on a four fight losing streak and we hadn't seen her since early 2020. Karolina makes a really stupid mistake when she jumps into Jessica's guard instead of letting her get up. Karolina is a striker with no ground game. And sure enough Jessica went hunting for submissions and finishes Karolina with a first round armbar. And that was it. Jessica won a $50,000 bonus. I don't know what Karolina does next. That was an awful mistake. Enjoy the video! 

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Tecia Torres vs Angela Hill

Here's the match video of Tecia Torres vs Angela Hill from last night's UFC show in Houston. This fight is at Strawweight. Tecia won when they fought in 2015. They were supposed to fight a few months ago but Angela tested positive for COVID-19. I didn't expect this fight to be much different from the 2015 fight. Both fighters are strikers. Neither has much of a ground game. And they don't finish fights. Tecia's big edge is that she is quicker than Angela. Angela has no answer for that. That was true in 2015 and last night. Look, I understand that fans love Angela's personality. But she's not a good fighter. All her wins are over lower midcard fighters. Her losses have been to ranked fighters like Claudia Gadelha, Michelle Waterson and now Tecia Torres. I scored the fight 30-27 for Tecia and so did two of the judges. The third scored it 29-28. Next Tecia wants to face a top five opponent. I could see her beating Marina Rodriguez or Yan Xiaonan. But even those two are iffy. Angela needs to ask herself if she is satisfied with her current position. Because she's never going to be better than lower midcard. Maybe it's time for her to become a full time commentator. She's good at that. Enjoy the video! 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Weather Report

Artist:Weather Report

Song:Birdland 

Album:The Best of Weather Report

The 1977 song Birdland by Weather Report was probably the most recognizable song to emerge from the jazz fusion movement of the 70s especially when The Manhattan Transfer's vocal adaptation was very successful. The 1977 album Heavy Weather was certified Platinum because of that exposure. The formation of Weather Report came out of Miles Davis' experiments in blending jazz and psychedelic rock typified by the album Bitches Brew. Keyboard whiz Joe Zawinul and sax player Wayne Shorter became friends when they were in Maynard Ferguson's band in 1959. In the 60s Zawinul was musical director for Cannonball Adderley. He wrote Mercy, Mercy, Mercy. Shorter was in Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers and then in Davis' band with Herbie Hancock and Tony Williams. Both guys played on the Davis fusion albums In A Silent Way and Bitches Brew. Also on those albums was bassist Miroslav Vitous. They started Weather Report. Alphonse Mouzon was the original drummer. Don Alias was the original percussionist. Make no mistake about it. Joe Zawinul was the leader of Weather Report. So usually when guys left the band it was after butting heads with Zawinul. That's what happened with Alias. He was replaced by Airto Moreira. That was the band on Weather Report's 1971 debut album. When Zawinul turned Weather Report into a more funk oriented sound, Vitous didn't like it and refused to play it. He was replaced by studio musician Alphonso Johnson. The band also went through several drummers. If Zawinul didn't like the sound, he got someone else. Johnson was replaced by Jaco Pastorius in 1976. Narada Michael Walden was the drummer. He was replaced by Alex Acuna. The new percussionist was Manolo Badrena. And that's the band that recorded Heavy Weather. Of course Birdland was Zawinul's tribute to the famed New York jazz club. Zawinul saw a lot of bands there and also met his wife there. He says Birdland was the most important place in his life. They recorded it in one take and then of course it became a classic and is now in the Grammy Hall of Fame. Heavy Weather is available as a budget CD. But I recommend this comp for beginners. Zawinul and Shorter continued to lead Weather Report until 1986. They had to fire Pastorius in 1981 when his drug abuse spiralled out of control. Victor Bailey replaced him until the 1986 split. Here's Weather Report performing Birdland on the German TV show Rockpalast 1978.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-B.J. Crosby

Artist:B.J. Crosby w/Pattie Darcy Jones, Michael Park

Song:Kansas City

Album:Smokey Joe's Cafe: The Songs of Lieber and Stoller: Original Broadway Cast

Juke box musicals have become very popular on Broadway. And obviously it's easier to use oldies for the basis of a musical than start from scratch. Smokey Joe's Cafe features the songs of Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller. It's original Broadway run in 1995 was very successful and B.J. Crosby was among the cast who were Tony nominated. It's the best known thing she ever did. She was born Joanne Crayton Nov. 23, 1952 in New Orleans. When she decided to become a professional singer she took the name B.J. Crosby. She was in the band Spectrum in the 70s. In the 80s she recorded an album with Ellis Marsalis Jr. B.J. moved to Los Angeles in 1987. She mostly did demo singing to make ends meet until she auditioned for Smokey Joe's Cafe. She moved to New York when she got the role. Like most jukebox musicals, Smokey Joe's Cafe has no story. 39 Lieber and Stoller songs are performed by the cast. The show previewed in Los Angeles before the New York premiere on Mar. 2, 1995. It ran for five years. So it was very successful. B.J. was among those nominated for a Tony. She also appeared in the 1996 revival of Chicago and the 2002 show One Mo' Time which is a tribute to black vaudeville. B.J. moved back to New Orleans in 2007. After suffering a stroke, she died on Mar. 27, 2015 at age 62. The original cast album for Smokey Joe's Cafe is available on CD. Here's B.J. Crosby performing Kansas City from a cast reunion of Smokey Joe's Cafe. Don't know the date. The guy is Michael Park but I don't know who the third singer is. 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Jidenna

Artist:Jidenna f/Roman GianArthur

Song:Classic Man

Album:RnB Superclub Vol. 16

Classic Man was the debut single of rapper Jidenna Mobisson. It is to date his biggest hit but it doesn't appear on his albums. It was only released as a single and on a vanity EP. That made me roll my eyes. So that means it's a discography orphan if you want it. The record is nothing special. Mobisson was born May 4, 1985 in Wisconsin Rapids, WI. His father Oliver Mobisson was a professor of computer science at Enugu State University in Nigeria. His family moved to Norwood, MA in 1991. Mobisson led a rap group in high school. He continued to work on his music while attending Stanford University. After graduating, he continued to work on his music while teaching. He signed with Janelle Monae's Wondaland label with Epic distribution. Classic Man was Mobisson's debut single in 2015. It features rapper Roman GianArthur who is also on Wondaland. The record reached #22 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #9 on the R&B Singles chart. So it did OK. Mobisson wrote and produced the record with Nana Kwabena and Nate "Rocket" Wonder who work frequently with Monae. He's appeared on her records too. This record sounds so much like Iggy Azalea's 2014 single Fancy that the writers of that record were given a songwriting credit on this record. It would have cost Wondaland more if they got sued. I'm not much of a rap fan so I am probably the wrong guy to ask if this record is any good. My ear says it's nothing special except of course it charted. Instead of adding Classic Man to Mobisson's 2017 debut album The Chief, it was added to the 2015 EP Wondaland Presents The Eephus. It's a Janelle Monae vanity recording. Of course EPs are not economical. Sony has put Classic Man on a couple of various artists comp CDs. That's what I recommend if you like this song. Mobisson has since released two albums. The albums haven't sold very well and there have been no hit singles. He may have caught lightning in a bottle once. He may not do it again. He wouldn't be the first. Here's the video for Classic man by Jidenna featuring Roman GianArthur. 

The Big Topic in WMMA

UFC review and preview. 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-B.W. Stevenson

Artist:B.W. Stevenson

Song:My Maria

Album:Singers & Songwriters: Mid '70s

My Maria was a top ten pop hit in 1973. It was the only big hit for singer songwriter B.W. Stevenson. Though he is perceived as a one hit wonder, some of his other songs charted so he is not a one hit wonder. In fact, one of his other songs was a big hit for another artist. He was born Louis Charles Stevenson Oct. 5, 1949 in Dallas. His childhood nickname was Buckwheat which he shortened to B.W. Stevenson played local clubs as a teen. He attended college and after a stint in the U.S. Air Force, Stevenson moved to Austin and he signed with RCA Records producer David Kershenbaum. This was at the beginning of Kershenbaum's career. He went on to produce Duran Duran and Tracy Chapman among others. RCA's attempt to sell Stevenson as a country artist was unsuccessful until My Maria reached #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1973. It did not make the country charts. The 1996 Brooks & Dunn recording of My Maria topped the country charts. I guess that threw RCA a bit of a curve ball. Stevenson recorded the album with Los Angeles session musicians like guitarist Larry Carlton and Larry Muhoberac who played keyboards and wrote the arrangements. Stevenson wrote My Maria with Daniel Moore who also wrote Shambala which was the B side of My Maria. Shambala was a big hit for Three Dog Night. Stevenson was supposed to appear on the debut episode of Austin City Limits. But the footage was so poor in quality it was discarded and Willie Nelson appeared instead. Stevenson recorded four albums for RCA and then two for Warner Bros. After a 1980 CCM album for MCA Songbird, he wrote songs for some of BJ Thomas' CCM albums. You can get My Maria on this 2CD Time Life various artists budget comp. B.W. Stevenson died after heart surgery on Apr. 28, 1988 at age 38. Poor David's Pub in Dallas holds an annual songwriting contest in his memory. Here's a video of My Maria by B.W. Stevenson.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Shorty Long

Artist:Shorty Long

Song:Here Comes the Judge

Album:Here Comes...Shorty Long: The Complete Motown Stereo Masters

Here Comes the Judge was a top ten hit in 1968. It was the only big hit for Frederick "Shorty" Long after recording for Motown for a few years. It was unusual because Motown rarely produced novelty records. This song was based on a popular comedy routine. Long was born May 20, 1940 in Birmingham, AL. The Shorty nickname was because Long was five feet tall. Long learned to play various instruments and he sang. So he played local clubs until he moved to Detroit in 1959. Former The Moonglows leader Harvey Fuqua heard him. After Long recorded a couple of singles for Fuqua's Tri-Phi label, Fuqua sold out to Berry Gordy and joined Motown as an executive. Fuqua was married to Gordy's sister Gwen. Long came with him. He recorded for the Soul label. Long began releasing singles in 1964. But he had little success until Here Comes the Judge reached #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1968. Long wrote the song with Motown employees Billie Jean Brown and Suzanne DePasse. It was based on a comedy routine by Pigmeat Markham popularized on Rowan & Martin's Laugh In and The Flip Wilson Show. Long recorded an album which he produced himself. Other than Smokey Robinson, he was the only Motown artist allowed to produce himself. Sadly, Long and friend Oscar Williams died in a boating accident on the Detroit River on June 29, 1969. Long was 29 years old. Stevie Wonder played harmonica at his funeral and then placed it on his casket. Motown released the album The Prime of Shorty Long after his death. This Kent Records comp has all of Long's recordings. Check him out because he was pretty funky. Here's a video for Here Comes the Judge by Shorty Long.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-The Timetones

Artist:The Timetones

Song:In My Heart

Album:Manhattan Doo Wop Vol. 1

The doo wop group The Timetones charted with their very first single In My Heart in 1961. They only recorded a few singles and split up. The Timetones were very typical of doo wop groups. I guess the only unusual thing is they were a mixed race group. Though unusual, that was not unprecedented. The Timetones were from Glen Cove, NY. Roger La Rue was lead singer. Others were Glenn Williams (tenor), Claude "Sonny" Smith (bass), Tom DeGeorge (baritone) and Tom Glozek (second tenor). They won a talent contest at New York City record store Times Square Records. Times Square owner Irving Rose was starting his own label and I think The Timetones were his first signing. The other guy involved in this was songwriter and producer Clarence Johnson. He owned other labels and produced groups like The Charts. Johnson produced In My Heart and he wrote the song with Smith. The single reached #51 on the Billboard Hot 100. The Timetones recorded four singles including one for Atco. But they weren't able to score another hit. You can get In My Heart on this various artists budget CD from Collectables. It looks like other than La Rue, The Timetones left the music business. Here's a video for In My Heart by The Timetones. 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Hop Along

Artist:Hop Along

Song:Waitress

Album:Painted Shut

Singer songwriter Frances Quinlan started out as a solo performer but preferred the energy of a band. They are called Hop Along and they have been highly acclaimed on the indie rock circuit. She was born May 7, 1986 in New Jersey and she grew up in the Philadelphia suburb of Quakertown, PA. After releasing an EP, Frances formed Hop Along, Queen Ansleis which was shortened to Hop Along. Frances' brother Mark Quinlan played drums and Tyler Long played bass. Hop Along released an EP and then the 2012 album Get Disowned. After the album got positive press, Frances asked guitarist Joe Reinhart of the band Algernon Cadwaller to produce the next album. He joined Hop Along. They signed with the indie label Saddle Creek Records for the the 2015 album Painted Shut. I know that seems like a country label. They are named after a street in Omaha. Conor Oberst's brother is one of the owners. Painted Shut was reviewed favorably and Vice and Stereogum named it to their Best of 2015 lists. Hop Along released the 2018 album Bark Your Head Off, Dog. It has also been critically acclaimed. Frances released the solo album Likewise in 2020. She wrote and produced it with Reinhart. Frances said she just wanted to record songs she normally wouldn't record with the band. Hop Along will tour in the fall likely followed by new music. Here's Hop Along performing Waitress for NPR's World Cafe at Philadelphia radio station WXPN Mar. 19, 2015.

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Jinh Yu Frey vs Ashley Yoder

Here's the match video for Jinh Yu Frey vs Ashley Yoder from last night's UFC show in Las Vegas. This fight is at Strawweight. I don't like either fighter. Jinh is a former Invicta Atomweight champ. In the UFC, she lost her first two fights and then she won her last one. She trains with her husband and with Fortis MMA in Houston. Ashley has been in the UFC since 2016 despite a terrible record. She trains at Dan Henderson's Quest in Temecula, CA. I expected Jinh to win but I also didn't think she would make a positive impression. And that's what happened. I scored it 30-27 for Jinh but she needed to be aggressive and she wasn't. I'll give you an example. She wobbled Ashley in round two and Jinh just didn't go for the finish. She doesn't have the instinct to finish fights. Look, Jinh Yu Frey is 36 years old. She needs to learn to fight because I don't see her beating a ranked fighter the way she is. She should be better. Enjoy the video! 

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Cheyanne Buys vs Gloria De Paula

Here's the match video of Cheyanne Buys vs Gloria De Paula from last night's UFC show in Las Vegas. This fight is at Strawweight. Both fighters got into the UFC through Dana White's Contender Series. And then both lost t5heir UFC debuts. Cheyanne was so upset, she and her husband (also a UFC fighter) picked up and moved from Houston to Las Vegas to join Xtreme Couture and coach Eric Nicksick. She trained there before she got married. Gloria and her UFC fighter girlfriend Mayra Bueno Silva train at Chute Boxe in Sao Paulo, Brazil with coach Diego Lima. Gloria said she was nervous during her UFC debut. Cheyanne won with a quick finish. She took Gloria down. Gloria was landing elbows from the bottom. So Cheyanne got up. And while Gloria was getting up, Cheyanne landed a head kick for the win. Though Cheyanne got a $50,000 bonus for it, I thought she was very lucky. She was fortunate that Gloria was on her feet. If she isn't, that is an illegal blow and a likely DQ. Plus there is so much luck in landing a blow like that, she needs to do it again or it doesn't count. My guess is she will face a ranked fighter next time. We'll see how that goes. Enjoy the video!

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Angel Olsen

Artist:Angel Olsen

Song:Intern

Album:My Woman

Singer songwriter Angel Olsen has had success as an album and touring artist. Her label Jagjaguwar aren't really looking for hit singles. They are looking for longevity and Angel will be around for a long time. She was born Angelina Carroll Jan. 22, 1987 in St. Louis. She was adopted at age three and took the family name of Olsen. She taught herself to play piano and guitar and began to write songs. She played in punk bands as a teen. After graduating high school, Angel moved to Chicago. The 2011 EP Strange Cacti got her a record deal with Jagjaguwar, one of the top indie rock labels. Intern is from her 2016 album My Woman. By this time, Angel moved to Ashville, NC. It was her third album. Angel wrote and produced all the songs. And she even directed the video for Intern. The album was highly acclaimed and it appeared on several Best of 2016 lists including The AV Club, Time and Paste. It's Angel's best selling album to date. But like I said, Jagjaguwar wants consistency and Angel's two subsequent albums have done well. Her latest album Whole New Mess was released in 2020. Here's the video for Intern by Angel Olsen.