AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Loose Ends

Artist:Loose Ends
Song:Hangin' On A String
Album:The Best Of Loose Ends





The 80s R&B group Loose Ends were very successful in their native England. They also had success in the US with the 1985 hit Hangin' On A String. Keyboard player Steve Nichol was on tour with The Jam in 1982. He met guitarist Carl McIntosh at a bar in London and he met singer Jane Eugene at a fashion show. They decided to form Loose Ends and signed with Virgin Records. All three sang and were credited with songwriting. They released a couple of singles and then recorded the 1984 album A Little Spice with veteran producer Nick Martinelli. Then they signed in the US with MCA. Hangin' On A String was actually recorded for the 1985 album So Where Are You? But when the song began to get airplay in the US, MCA tacked it on to the US release of A Little Spice. The single topped the R&B Singles chart. Loose Ends scored a couple of other R&B hits and they were also successful in England. After four albums, Nichol and Eugene left and McIntosh recorded a final Loose Ends album in 1990 with two new members. You can get all their hits on this comp. McIntosh went on to produce Caron Wheeler. And Nichol and Eugene also got into songwriting and production. Loose Ends reunited a couple of times and there were plans for a long term reformation in 2010. But they never recorded and it doesn't look like anything ever developed. Here's the video for Hangin' On A String by Loose Ends.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Hi-Five

Artist:Hi-Five
Song:She's Playing Hard To get
Album:I Like The Way (The Kissing Game)





The R&B vocal group Hi-Five had success in the early 90s. They had three top ten pop hits and several R&B hits. What killed them was a car accident that left one of the members paralyzed from the waist down. The leader of Hi-Five was Tony Thompson. He grew up singing in church in Oklahoma City. He moved back to his birthplace of Waco, TX and formed Hi-Five with Roderick "Pooh" Clark, Marcus Sanders, Russell Neal and Toriano Easley. William Walton was not a member of Hi-Five but he did help with writing and producing. So they signed with Jive Records and Teddy Riley produced two tracks on their debut album including the single I Like The Way (The Kissing Game). This topped the Billboard Hot 100 and the R&B Singles chart. The album was certified Platinum. Soon after the album release, Easley was replaced by Treston Irby. On Hi-Five's second album Keep It Goin' On, they worked quite a bit with R. Kelly who was a Jive artist and house producer. She's Playing Hard To Get was written by Timmy Allen and Walton and produced by Allen. Allen was a member of the 80s group Change. He was also a Jive Records house producer. She's Playing Hard To Get reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100. Shortly after the album release, Hi-Five was in a car accident that left Clark paralyzed from the waist down. Hi-Five released a third album Faithful in 1993. But it wasn't as successful as the first two albums. Hi-Five split up in 1994. This budget comp is a good intro to their music. Thompson released a solo album Sexsational on Giant Records in 1995. He reunited Hi-Five in 2005 and a CD was released. Thompson died on June 1, 2007 after inhaling freon from an air conditioning unit. Sanders and Irby reformed Hi-Five in 2012 and an EP was released in 2014. They also appeared on the TVOne series Unsung. It looks like Hi-Five is still active but not as a touring group. Here's the video for She's Playing Hard To Get by Hi-Five.

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Ketlen Vieira vs Kelly Fazsholz

Here's the match video of Ketlen Vieira vs Kelly Fazsholz from last night's UFC show in Portland. This aired on UFC Fight Pass. Kelly lost her UFC debut to Lauren Murphy. But she looked pretty good coming in on short notice. Kelly is from Santa Rosa, CA and she trains at Nor-Cal with former UFC fighter David Terrell. Ketlen trains at Nova Uniao in Brazil. Her record is 6-0 but one never knows how padded that is. So who wants to win this fight? Well, as it turned out, nobody. Kelly looked terrible in round one. It's like she was in a fog. Ketlen took her down a couple of times. But she was unable to advance her position past closed guard. Kelly can be credited with good defense. But Ketlen admitted after the fight that she should have done more in top position. She almost gave the fight away because of inactivity. This continued in round two. It entered lay and pray territory. Ref Dan Miragliotta stood them up twice. The second time was a little quick. Despite her inactivity in top position, I scored both rounds 10-9 for Ketlen. Between rounds, Kelly's corner told her to wake up. And she actually looked a lot better in round three. And I think Ketlen pooped out. So I scored round three 10-9 Kelly. I thought she needed a finish. So I scored the fight 29-28 of Ketlen almost by default. Neither fighter was very impressive. And two of the three judges scored it the same way. But the third judge scored round two 10-9 for Kelly. So Ketlen won by split decision. It just shows that getting takedowns isn't enough. She needed to be more active after the takedown. Kelly said afterwards that she doesn't know what happened in the first two rounds. So we have a fighter beat herself and her opponent almost gave the fight back to her. That's not what I want to see. Enjoy the video!

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-The Rockin' Rebels

Artist:The Rockin' Rebels
Song:Wild Weekend
Album:The Golden Age of American Rock 'n' Roll Vol. 2




The instrumental Wild Weekend was a top ten hit in 1963. I'm sure it's one of those songs you have heard but know nothing about. The record sure has a convoluted history uncovered by musicologist Cub Koda. It all begins with Buffalo DJ Tom Shannon in 1959. With partner Phil Todaro, Shannon wrote Wild Weekend as a theme song for his radio show. It was never intended to be a record. When Shannon started getting listener requests for Wild Weekend, he thought he had better turn it into a record. He was approached by a local teen band called The Rebels and they offered to record an instrumental version of Wild Weekend. Shannon released it on his own label in 1959. It was a big enough regional hit to get The Rebels an American Bandstand appearance. Dick Clark told Shannon to change the group name to avoid confusion with Duane Eddy's Rebels. So they became The Buffalo Rebels. Then the group split up and Shannon went into the US Army. Meanwhile Syracuse DJ Jimmy O'Brien started using Wild Weekend for his theme song. Swan Records president Bernie Binnick liked the song enough to track down Shannon and lease the master. When Swan released the single in 1963, it reached #8 on the Billboard Hot 100. Shannon wanted to follow it up but there was no band. Eventually he hired a local band The Jesters to record as The Rockin' Rebels. They recorded an album but were unsuccessful. You can get Wild Weekend with its great honking sax on this various artists comp from Ace Records. Ace has also released a Rockin' Rebels CD. But I think most fans will only be interested in Wild Weekend. Here's a video for Wild Weekend by The Rockin' Rebels.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Helen Reddy

Artist:Helen Reddy
Song:Angie Baby
Album:TheWoman I Am: The Definitive Collection




Aussie Helen Reddy is frequently called The Queen of 70s Pop. Her success was mostly from 1971-75. She had three number one hits including Angie Baby in 1975 and of course her feminist anthem I Am Woman. She was born Oct. 25, 1941 in Melbourne, Australia. She grew up in show business. Her father Max Reddy was a vaudeville performer. Helen began performing with him when she was a child. As a teen, Helen decided she didn't want to be a performer. So she got married with the intention of being a housewife and mother. But the marriage didn't work out and she returned to performing. She won the TV talent contest Bandstand. She thought the prize was a contract with Mercury Records. When she went to New York to collect, she was told the prize was just an audition. her performance on the show was her unsuccessful audition. Helen had a return ticket to Australia. But she stayed in the US. She wasn't a US citizen so she couldn't work. But then she met and married William Morris Agency employee Jeff Wald. He became her manager. They moved to Chicago. Singing in local clubs got Helen a single for Fontana Records. But it was unsuccessful. They moved to Los Angeles. Wald became a successful manager of Deep Purple. Helen told him to make her a star or leave. Finally Capitol Records agreed to give Helen a chance if Wald would stop calling them. The result was Helen's recording of I Don't Know How To Love Him from the hit show Jesus Christ Superstar reached #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1971. Apparently Wald called radio stations to get them to play it. Helen released her debut album. And one of the songs on the album was I Am Woman which Helen wrote with Ray Burton. When it was first released as a single, it didn't catch on. So Helen recorded a new version of I Am Woman in 1972 and this time it did catch on especially with women and it topped the charts. Helen had two more number one hits. First was her cover of the Tanya Tucker country hit Delta Dawn. And then Angie Baby in 1974. Angie Baby was written by Alan O'Day, best known for his hit single Undercover Angel. But O'Day was already a successful songwriter. There have always been questions about what Angie Baby is about as the girl in the song seems delusional. When asked about it by fans, Helen said she didn't know. O'Day says the song is loosely based on The Beatles' Lady Madonna. But he decided to make the girl weird. And when O'Day was sick as a child, his only company was a transistor radio. So he deliberately made her crazy. O'Day says the song is just a story and people shouldn't try to read too much into it. Angie Baby was Helen's final number one hit. She continued to chart but faded by the late 70s. She left Capitol for MCA in 1981. She wasn't successful there. You can get all her Capitol hits on this comp. Helen Reddy continued to perform mostly in regional theater and sometimes on Broadway and London's West End. She retired in 2002 and moved back to Australia to become a hypnotherapist. She returned to occasional live performing in 2012. She retired again in 2015 and she now lives in the Motion Picture Home in California. She denies rumours that she suffers from dementia. Here's Helen Reddy performing Angie Baby in England 1975.

Three matches added to Nov. 3 DEEP JEWELS show

Ayaka, Miura, Sachiko Fujimori

Today DEEP JEWELS has added three more matches to the Nov. 3 Shinjuku FACE show. In a Strawweight bout, Ayaka Miura will face Sachiko Fujimori. Ayaka is from Saitama and she trains at Tribe Tokyo. Her record is 2-1 and her last fight was a win Ye Hyun Kim on the Sept. 26 Tribe Tokyo show. She was 1-1 when she fought in DEEP JEWELS in 2014. It looks like she was injured. She was trained by former DEEP champ Ryo Chonan. Fujimori is 4-2 and she lost to Mika Nagano at last month's DEEP JEWELS show. Obviously by her looks she's an older fighter. Ayaka is 26 so they obviously see her as a prospect. Now we get to the Team DATE models trying to be fighters. In a 57kg bout Law Date will face Takako Iizuka. It looks like both are making their MMA debuts. And in an Atomweight bout, Hana DATE will face Sayuri Yamaguchi. Hana is from Sendai. Her record is 1-3 and her latest fight was a loss to Yi Ji Lee on the July 2 Road FC show. Sayuri is making her DEEP JEWELS debut. She is 0-1 and she lost to Tanja Hoffman on the June 4 Shooto Kings show in Germany. Also SARAMI will return to DEEP JEWELS. These DATE girls are terrible and they all seem the same to me. If you've seen one you've seen them all.

Syuri vs Monique Adriane Azevedo set for Nov. 3 PANCRASE show

Syuri, Monique Adriane Azevedo

Today PANCRASE announced Syuri's opponent for the Nov. 3 Differ Ariake show. Of course Syuri is the pro wrestler and kickboxing champ turned undefeated MMA fighter. Her opponent is Monique Adriane Azevedo from Sao Paulo, Brazil. So the odd thing is Monique is making her MMA debut today. She is facing Andressa Pulcino de Lima on Thunder Fight 9 in Sao Paulo. And it's actually an amateur fight. In their announcement, PANCRASE claims that Monique has kickboxing experience and she'll want to stand and bang with Syuri. I guess that's logical to them but it doesn't make sense to the rest of us. At least she's pretty.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Alain Bashung

Artist:Alain Bashung
Song:Vertige L'Amour
Album:Master Serie Vol. 1





Alain Bashung started out in the 60s. But he became one of France's most popular pop singers in the 80s. Vertige L'Amour was his only number one single but his albums sold very well. He is unknown outside French speaking countries. He was born Dec. 1, 1947 in Paris. After his mother remarried, he was sent to live with his stepfather's parents and they didn't speak French. He got into music when he was given a harmonica. Bashung moved back to Paris in 1959. He was a big Buddy Holly fan. He studied accounting for a while. Then he dropped out of school and formed a band. It was a cover band. For a while he worked as a house arranger for RCA. He wasn't having much luck trying to record his own music until he got together with lyricist Boris Bergman in 1977. Bashung signed with Barclay Records and he released an album in 1979. His breakthrough hit Gaby Oh Gaby reached #2 on the French charts in 1980. And this was followed by Vertige L'Amour which topped the charts. And so did Bashung's 1981 album Pizza. Soon after he split with Bergman. But they would reunite after Bashung's next couple of albums didn't do well. Bashung liked to alternate pop albums with darker music and sometimes it hurt his album sales. His 1991 album Osez Josephine gave him his greatest success since Vertige L'Amour. This time Bashung was able to sustain his success and he was one of France's biggest stars in the 90s. He started acting as well. Bashung's success continued until he was diagnosed with lung cancer and he died on Mar. 14, 2009 at age 61. This comp is a good intro to his music. Today Alain Bashung is considered a rock music legend in France. Here's the video for Vertige L'Amour by Alain Bashung.

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Asuka vs Liv Morgan

Here's the match video of Asuka vs Liv Morgan from last night's episode of NXT. I am posting all of Asuka's matches for her fans who don't have the WWE Network. Liv Morgan has been with the WWE for a couple of years. Her real name is Gionna Daddio and she is from Paramus, NJ. The WWE has her listed as 5'4" 125lb but she looks smaller. She was a competitive cheerleader before signing with the WWE. They gave Liv a couple of wins on TV and then she challenged Asuka. Asuka's entrance is longer than the match. After no selling Liv's offense, Asuka puts her in an armbar and it's over. Why did they do that? Well, they shot a video of Liv having her shoulder examined in the trainer's room (BTW, it was the wrong shoulder) and the Aussies Billie Kay and Peyton Royce mocked her. Don't be surprised if Asuka takes Liv under her wing and they tag up to beat up the Aussies. Enjoy the video!
Liv Morgan vs. Asuka by therackattackvideos

Kailin Curran vs Jamie Moyle added to Dec. 3 UFC show

Kailin Curran, Jamie Moyle

KHON-TV In Honolulu first reported and the UFC has confirmed that Kailin Curran vs Jamie Moyle has been added to the TUF 24 Finale Dec. 3 at The Pearl at The Palms in Las Vegas. This show airs on Fox Sports 1 in the US and TSN in Canada. Kailin is from Hawaii and as I have said since she came to the UFC, she's just doesn't belong in the UFC. She may be on the chopping block after losing her last fight to Felice Herrig. Her number one flaw is she loses concentration during fights and she tends to get caught in flash submissions. That's a problem that is not easily fixed. Jamie seems to have a big fan following from her Invicta days. She was on TUF 23 and she wasn't that impressive but the UFC has decided to give her a shot. Jamie trains at Syndicate in Las Vegas. We'll see how she does.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Avicii

Artist:Avicii f/Aloe Blacc
Song:Wake Me Up
Album:True





The success of Avicii (pronounced A-Vee-Chee) shows what the music business has become. This guy started out remixing in his bedroom and posting the tracks on the internet. Now he's had a worldwide smash hit with Wake Me Up and everybody wants to work with him. He was born Tim Bergling Sept. 8, 1989 in Stockholm, Sweden. As I said, he started out posting remixes on the internet and some of those records were successful in Europe. He signed with Universal and the 2011 single Levels was his first chart single in North America. Then he recorded Sunshine with David Guetta and that was nominated for a Grammy. So finally Avicii recorded the album True in 2013. The single Wake Me Up reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped charts everywhere else. The record features soul singer Aloe Blacc and Incubus guitarist Mike Einziger. Avicii released his second album Stories in 2015. It didn't do as well as the first album. It makes me think that Wake Me Up was a bit of a fluke. Right now he's working on a new album. Avicii retired from performing in July citing health concerns. My guess is he has had his one big hit and with each album giving diminishing returns, Avicii will return to producing for others which is probably all he wanted to do in the first place. Here's the video for Wake Me Up by Avicii featuring Aloe Blacc.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Mick Jagger

Artist:Mick Jagger
Song:Memo From Turner
Album:The Very Best Of Mick Jagger





Of course everyone knows Mick Jagger as lead singer of The Rolling Stones. But he has recorded occasional solo projects. Memo From Turner was Jagger's very first solo recording for the 1968 film Performance. Jagger has been involved in film production for many years and he still is today. He was born July 26, 1943 in Dartford, Kent, England. He met Keith Richards in school and they have been together ever since as leaders of The Rolling Stones. Jagger started getting into films in the late 60s. His first film was Performance which was produced in 1968 and released in 1970. Apparently director Nicolas Roeg convinced Warner Bros. that he was making a light hearted romp a la A Hard Day's Night and they weren't very happy when the film was much darker. Also The Rolling Stones were supposed to record the soundtrack but Jagger and Richards weren't getting along at the time. So instead Los Angeles session musician Jack Nitzsche composed the score and it was conducted by Randy Newman. Jagger performed Memo From Turner and other songs on the soundtrack were performed by Merry Clayton and Buffy Saine-Marie. Ry Cooder and Lowell George are among the musicians who appear on the album. And yes, that is Cooder playing guitar on Memo From Turner. It wasn't a new song. The Rolling Stones recorded it in 1968 but it wasn't released. Steve Winwood and Jim Capaldi of Traffic recorded it but it wasn't released. Jagger's recording of Memo From Turner was released as a single from the Performance soundtrack. That's not available on CD but Memo From Turner is on this Jagger comp from Rhino. Over the years, Jagger has recorded five solo albums. But he's never had a solo hit single probably because he doesn't care to promote himself as a solo artist. He has scored hits with The Jacksons (State Of Shock) and David Bowie (Dancing in the Streets). Because The Rolling Stones are still active, he doesn't need a solo outlet very much. Jagger is still involved with films mostly as a producer. He was behind the now cancelled HBO series Vinyl. That was a show with a lot of potential that just didn't deliver. Here's Mick Jagger performing Memo From Turner in the 1968 film Performance.

Claudia Gadelha vs Cortney Casey added to Nov. 18 UFC show

Today the UFC announced that Claudia Gadelha vs Cortney Casey has been added UFC Fight Night 100 Nov. 18 at Ibirapuera Gymnasium in Sao Paulo, Brazil. This show will air on Fox Sports 1 in the US and TSN on Canada. The big news is that Claudia has left her long time gym Nova Uniao in Brazil. After she ran out of gas losing to Joanna Jedrzejczyk, I'm not surprised by this move. Claudia has opened her own gym in Philadelphia and she is preparing for this fight at Jackson Wink in Albuquerque. In her win over Randa Markos, Cortney took advantage of a rookie mistake to get a submission. Now she's making a big step up in competition. She could be biting off more than she can chew. Claudia's mistake against Joanna was arrogance and not improving her own game. We'll see if she has learned from her mistakes.

Miesha Tate vs Raquel Pennington added to Nov. 12 UFC show

Miesha Tate vs Raquel Pennington has been added to UFC 205 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Miesha is coming off of a first round loss of the UFC Bantamweight Championship to Amanda Nunes. Obviously she wants to get back into the title picture. Raquel is better than her 8-5 record. And she is on a three fight winning streak. But Miesha is a big step up in competition for her. If Raquel wins, she gets launched into the title picture. So Miesha has a lot to lose here and I expect her to be more aggressive than usual. Raquel was not very effective in her latest win over Ellizabeth Phillips. She will have to do more to beat Miesha.

Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs Karolina Kowalkiewicz added to Nov. 12 UFC show

Joanna Jedrzejczyk will defend her UFC Strawweight Championship against Karolina Kowalkiewicz on UFC 205 Nov. 12 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, This is one of three title fights on this show and also it is the first UFC show in New York state. It's a big deal. The big news about Joanna is she has moved from her home in Poland to train at American Top Team in Coconut Creek, FL. This was announced on Instagram. That means that both UFC women champs train at ATT. Moving to the US is something Joanna has wanted to do for a while. She's an outstanding fighter already but I'm sure ATT head trainer Mike Brown can teach her some new tricks. And there are greater sponsorship opportunities in the US. Her opponent is fellow Pole Karolina Kowalkiewicz. Two Poles facing each other for a UFC title is another first. Karolina is 10-0. She's a striker like Joanna except she doesn't have Joanna's power. She's a points fighter which I don't like and she's never fought five rounds before. In her last win over Rose Namajunas, I thought Rose beat herself with terrible strategy. She wasn't aggressive enough. Karolina won by split decision. Joanna should be the favourite and she likes to finish. And that's what I expect.

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Kanako Murata vs Kyra Batara

Here's the match video of Kanako Murata vs Kyra Batara from Sunday's RIZIN show. There were three women's matches on this show but I thought the other two were a waste of time. The interest in RIZIN is mostly PRIDE nostalgia because it's owned by the same guy. So he does a lot of the same gimmicky stuff. Of course the problem is it's hard to take them seriously. The thing I like about Murata is she's not a gimmick. She's a highly decorated amateur wrestler. Kanako was recruited to RIZIN by multiple time Olympic gold medal wrestler Saori Yoshida. She works for RIZIN. So Kanako agreed to go into MMA because Yoshida is her idol. She made her debut on the April RIZIN show and she also won over Maia Stevenson on a King of the Cage show in California. She's the daughter of legendary trainer Joe Stevenson. And he also trains Kyra Batara. She normally fights for Combate Americas and they think she's a big star. So I thought it was a big risk to send her to Japan to fight Kanako who has looked great so far. And the fight went as I expected. One of the flaws of RIZIN is using a ring instead of a cage. Again that is the PRIDE influence. Several times during this match it looked like Kyra was trying to get out of the ring. Obviously she's used to a cage. Kanako won easily by unanimous decision. Afterwards, she challenged Rin Nakai to a match. She explained that Rin is the best fighter in Japan and she wants to fight the best. But Rin fights at a different weight class and Rin works for PANCRASE. So it's not happening. Most of the other female fighters in Japan work for DEEP JEWELS. So I expect RIZIN to continue to bring over gaijin fighters to fight Kanako. But she is already frustrated with the competition level. At some point, something has to give. The other two women's fights were gimmick fights. Brazilian heavyweight BJJ whiz Gabi Garcia easily beat football player Destanie Yarbrough. Finding opponents for Gabi won't get any easier. And SHOOT BOXING "it" girl RENA easily beat Miyu Yamamoto using a submission she might have used in SHOOT BOXING. Miyu was debuting at age 42 and her son fought on the show. Until RENA quits SHOOT BOXING, it's hard to take her seriously as an MMA fighter. She has a SHOOT BOXING match coming up in November. There are rumours that she might quit SB at that time. If that happens, that changes things. So you can watch the gimmick matches on Youtube. But I think Kanako Murata has potential and I hope RIZIN doesn't waste that potential. Enjoy the video.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds

Artist:Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds
Song:Don't Pull Your Love
Album:The Hit List: 24 hot 100 American Chartbusters of the 1970s




Though it was not their highest chart placing, the 1971 top five hit Don't Pull Your Love is the most memorable song recorded by the pop trio Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds. It's still popular on oldies radio stations. The formation of this group came out of the studio group The T-Bones who scored a hit with No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach's In) in 1965. Liberty Records producer Joe Saraceno wanted to turn The T-Bones into a touring band. He asked Judd Hamilton to do this and he got his brother Dan Hamilton, Joe Frank Carollo and Tommy Reynolds to be The T-Bones. None of them were on the record. Those were studio musicians. They did this and when it ended in 1970, Dan Hamilton, Carollo and Reynolds formed a new band. They called themselves Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds and they signed with Dunhill Records producer Steve Barri. He was behind The Grass Roots and Three Dog Night was also on Dunhill. So they are looking to duplicate that success. Reynolds wrote most of the songs on their 1970 debut album and Hamilton was usually the lead singer. Don't Pull Your Love was written by the veteran songwriting team of Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter. Don't Pull Your Love reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1971. Subsequent singles did not do well. They recorded two albums for Dunhill. Reynolds left in 1972 and a studio musician played on the second album. Then they added drummer Alan Dennison. They signed with Playboy Records but had to keep the old group name. They topped the charts with Fallin' In Love in 1975. There is no Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds comp available on CD. But you can get Don't Pull Your Love on this Ace Records various artists comp. After one more album as Hamilton, Joe Frank & Dennison, they split up for good. Dan Hamilton continued to write songs. He died in 1994. Here's Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds performing Don't Pull Your Love on Solid Gold 1988.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Juan Formell y Los Van Van

Artist:Juan Formell y Los Van Van
Song:Que Le Den Candela
Album:Por Encima Del Nivel





The best way to describe Los Van Van is they are a contemporary version of a traditional Cuban dance band. Cuban dance bands were very popular in the US in the 50s. Of course this all changed when Castro took over and Cuban music was not heard until cultural exchange loosened up. So Los Van Van didn't become popular outside Cuba until the 90s. they were formed in 1969 by bassist Juan Formell. He was previously musical director of Elio Reve's Orquestra Reve. Formell believed he could attract younger listeners by incorporating rock music to traditional Cuban dance music. This style of music became known as songo. In Los Van Van's early days, Cesar "Pupy" Pedroso was Formell's main collaborator. They wrote and arranged most of the songs. Percussionist Jose Luis "Changuito" Quintana added key rhythmic elements when he joined Los Van Van in 1970. Then in 1974 Pedro Calvo became lead singer for the next twenty years. Later on Formell added trombones, strings and contemporary elements like synthesizers and drum machines. In the 90s, Los Van Van became more popular internationally as their CDs were more readily available. And they began to tour internationally. Que Le Den Candela is from the 1992 album Azucar which was released in the US in 1994. It's a cover of a song recorded in 1955 by La Sonora Matancera. You can get the song on this budget comp which is part of a series of Cuban music essentials. Juan Formell died on May 2, 2014. After an album was released posthumously, it appears that Los Van Van is over. But their music is still around and it is recommended to Cuban music fans. Here's Los Van Van performing Que Le Den Candela at the 1998 Stuttgart Jazz Festival in Germany.

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Cris Cyborg vs Lina Lansberg

Here's the match video of Cris Cyborg vs Lina Lansberg from last night's UFC show in Brasilia, Brazil. The fight was at a 140lb catchweight. Lina is from Sweden. She's a kickboxer turned MMA fighter similar to Joanna Jedrzejczyk or Valentina Shevchenko but she's much older than those two. She also normally fights at 135. So after this sacrificial lamb stint, she will go direct to the 135lb roster. The fight went as expected but Lina somehow made it out of the first round despite zero offense. It's almost like Cyborg was playing around until pounding her into the mat for the round two win. So the big question is what is the UFC going to do with Cyborg. I don't think they will change anything. They will do these catchweight bouts in Brazil because she's a draw there. When the contract is over, that's it. I know there is fan sentiment to make concessions to Cyborg because of her weight cut. But remember she cuts from 170lb. Her weight cut has always been difficult. That's not new but now fans got to see it and they feel sorry for her. But plenty of fighters have tough weight cuts. What many of them do is they don't put on as much weight when they aren't fighting. Maybe the cut would be easier if she started at 155. Weighing 170 is her choice. Remember when she signed this contract it was with the promise that she would try to cut to 135. This suggestion was not new. Before her drug suspension, Scott Coker of Strikeforce asked her to drop to 135 and she said she would. He ran out of opponents for her. When the UFC was getting into women's MMA, she again promised to drop to 135. The UFC even sent nutritionist Mike Dolce to help her. But she changed management and new manager Tito Ortiz decided to use his animosity towards UFC president Dana White to ruin Cyborg's career. So he claimed that dropping to 135 was unhealthy. Recently Cyborg's current nutritionist George Lockhart admitted that if she dropped to 135 she would lose her competitive advantage. So the health claims were never true. I believe that if she had remained with her previous management in Brazil, Cyborg would have already fought several times at 135. So remember you're only getting one side of the story and there are a lot of supposedly objective people with very short memories. There is also this lamebrained idea that if the UFC started a 145lb division, all kinds of great fighters would come out of the woodwork. "If you build it, they will come." Unfortunately, all of the decent 145lb fighters are under contract to Bellator. So I expect the UFC to continue to ask 135lb fighters to move up to 140 for one fight and pay them a premium. So Dana White, back up that Brinks truck to Germaine De Randamie's house because I want her to fight Cris Cyborg. Enjoy the video!

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-The Seldom Scene

Artist:The Seldom Scene
Song:Paradise
Album:The Best Of The Seldom Scene





The Seldom Scene is an excellent bluegrass group that has been around since the 70s. They may have been the first bluegrass group to cover contemporary songs in the bluegrass style. The Seldom Scene are from Bethesda, MD. They started out jamming at banjo player Ben Eldridge's house. other members were John Starling on guitar and vocals, Mike Auldridge on dobro and vocals, Tom Grey on bass and John Duffey on mandolin and vocals. He was a member of The Country Gentlemen. At first they were a part time band playing once a week. But they got a record deal with Rebel Records and they began touring nationally. This cover of the John Prine classic Paradise is from the 1973 album Act II. This comp covers their Rebel recordings. John Starling left in 1978 and was replaced by Phil Rosenthal. The Seldom Scene moved to Sugar Hill and they recorded for them for many years. There were several personnel changes in the late 80s. by the 90s, the only original members were Duffey and Auldridge. Then Duffey died in 1996 and Auldridge left. Ben Eldridge currently leads The Seldom Scene and they released a new CD on Smithsonian Folkways in 2014. Other members are Lou Reid on mandolin, Dudley Connell on guitar, Ronnie Simpkins on bass and Fred Travers on dobro. Reid was a member in the 80s. The Seldom Scene continue to perform as they did in the 70s and they are worth checking out. Here's the Seldom Scene performing Paradise on the PBS series Jubilee at the 2013 Festival of the Bluegrass at Kentucky Horse Park.