AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Rosario Dawson

Artist:Rosario Dawson f/Adam Pascal

Song:Without You

Album:Rent: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

To date actress Rosario Dawson's only major singing appearance was in the 2005 film version of the Broadway musical Rent. She has made occasional guest appearances on albums but nothing notable. She was born May 9, 1979 in New York City. Dawson is her stepfather's name. He's a construction worker and he moved the family to Garland, TX. As a child, Rosario made a brief appearance on Sesame Street. At age 15, she was spotted by photographer Larry Clark and his friend Harmony Korine. Korine decided that Rosario was perfect for a screenplay he had written. And the 1995 film Kids was Rosario's film debut. She appeared in a few other things including an introductory voice over for a remix of Prince's 1998 single 1999. Then she appeared in the video for The Chemical Brothers single Out of Control. And she did a voice over on She Lives in My Lap from OutKast's 2003 album Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. Rosario's first major film appearance was in the 2001 film Josie and the Pussycats. She was the band's bassist. But none of the actresses in the film did their own singing. Rosario did sing backup vocal on one song on the soundtrack. Rosario then appeared in Spike Lee's 2002 film The 25th Hour and Oliver Stone's 2004 film Alexander. And that's when she appeared in Rent. Rent was a film adaptation of Jonathan Larson's very successful Broadway musical. Director Chris Columbus attempted to be faithful to the play and he even tried to use the actors who appeared in the Broadway version. But when Daphne Rubin-Vega, who played Mimi Marquez on Broadway, got pregnant, Rosario was brought in to replace her. The film was mostly an ensemble piece and several of the songs are by the entire group. But Rosario sings solo on a couple of songs including Without You with Adam Pascal. The film was not a success at the time but it was popular on home video. It is to date Rosario's only singing appearance in a film. She also appeared in the 2005 film Sin City. Since then, Rosario has appeared in films like Clerks (2007), Death Proof (2007), Zookeeper (2011). She is the voice of Wonder Woman in DC animated films. Her latest film is Haunted Mansion (2023). She has done mostly guest shots on TV but she currently stars in the Disney+ series Star Wars: Ahsoka. She played this character in the series The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett. Considering the Star Wars fanbase, it's probably the biggest thing she has ever done. But I think she is memorable in Rent. Here's Rosario Dawson featuring Adam Pascal performing Without You from the 2005 film Rent. 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Nipsey Russell

Artist:Nipsey Russell

Song:What Would I Do If I Could Feel?

Album:The Wiz: Original Soundtrack

Julius "Nipsey" Russell was a comedian best known for his many TV appearances. He was a comic poet. He rarely appeared in films. And he made his only singing appearance as The Tin Man in the 1978 film of the Broadway musical The Wiz. He was born Sept. 15, 1918 in Atlanta. When he died, his birthdate was reported as 1924. But the Social Security Death Index confirms it as 1918. His mother gave him the nickname Nipsey. Russell served as a medic in the US Army during WWII. He started performing in nightclubs in the 50s. He was a straight man for comedian Mantan Moreland doing the "interruption" routine that Moreland did in Charlie Chan films. Spike Lee did a tribute to this in the 2000 film Bamboozled. After Russell appeared on a 1957 episode of The Ed Sullivan Show, he appeared several times on The Tonight Show with Jack Paar. He was a regular on the popular sitcom Car 54, Where Are You?. He was a co-host on ABC's The Les Crane Show. And he starred in the 1970 sitcom of Neil Simon's Barefoot in the Park. After that he appeared regularly on The Dean Martin Show. And that led to The Wiz. Of course The Wiz was an all black Broadway musical adaptation of The Wizard of Oz. Most of the songs were written by Charlie Smalls. Stephanie Mills played Dorothy, Stu Gilliam played The Scarecrow and Tiger Haynes played The Tin Man. The show was a big hit on Broadway. But when Motown bought the film rights to the show, they decided to turn it into an all star extravaganza. Of course their big mistake was casting Diana Ross as Dorothy as she was too old and her voice isn't good enough. But what did you expect? Quincy Jones composed the score and along with Ashford & Simpson added a couple of songs. The film was a big bomb. Michael Jackson and Richard Pryor co-starred. What Would I Do If I Could Feel? was one of two songs that Russell performed in the film. It's his only singing appearance. Russell had been a regular on game shows like To Tell the Truth and The Match Game and he returned to that. In the 90s, Russell appeared regularly on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. After an appearance on a 2003 episode of Hollywood Squares, Nipsey Russell died on Oct. 2, 2005 at age 87. Here's Nipsey Russell performing What Would I Do If I Could Feel? from the 1978 film The Wiz. 

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Ailin Perez vs Joselyne Edwards

Here's the fight video of Ailin Perez vs Joselyne Edwards from last night's UFC show in Newark, NJ. This fight is at Bantamweight. This fight was set up because these two had an altercation a few months ago at the UFC PI in Las Vegas. Might as well have them settle it in the cage. Ailin is 29 years old from Argentina and she trains at The Goat Shed in Miami with coach Asim Zaidi. Her UFC record is 2-1. Joselyne is 28 years old from Panama. She trains at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas. Her UFC record is 4-3 and she's missed weight a couple of times though she made weight for this fight. Both are midcard fighters. But Ailin is quicker so she has a higher ceiling. I expected her to win. And she did. It was close and I scored the fight 30-27 for Ailin. I think her biggest problem is poor instincts and low fight IQ. There were a couple of times that she could have gotten a finish and she just didn't go after it. It's something her coach can work on but she has to actually improve. During round two, Joselyne nailed Ailin with a deliberate headbutt like we saw a couple of weeks ago. Ailin was able to continue but I thought the ref Gasper Oliver should have deducted a point from Joselyne but he didn't. He's not a regular UFC ref. Ailin won by unanimous decision. Two judges scored it 29-28 and the third scored it 30-27. Afterwards, Ailin tried to make peace with Joselyne and even tried to teach her to twerk. Joselyne didn't look pleased. Ailin says she wants to fight Kayla Harrison. Good luck with that. Enjoy the video! 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Citizen Way

Artist:Citizen Way

Song:When I'm With You

Album:2.0

Citizen Way is a CCM band that has had success with singles like When I'm With You in 2016. From what I can tell, they don't seem to be a band anymore though the name is still being used. They are from Elgin, IL which is near Chicago. When Citizen Way was formed in 2004, they called themselves The Least of These. There was another band with that name so the name was changed to Citizen Way. The band is two sets of brothers but the leader is clearly Ben Calhoun. He is lead singer and he writes all the songs. His brother Josh Calhoun plays guitar and keyboards. Ben Blascoe plays bass and his brother David Blascoe plays drums. They all went to Judson University in Elgin which is a Baptist seminary. They signed with Fair Trade Services and released the 2013 album Love Is the Evidence. this was followed by the 2016 album 2.0. When I'm With You is from that album. It is one of several singles that have reached the Christian charts. Ben Calhoun wrote all the songs. The producer of both albums was former Me in Motion lead singer turned producer Seth Mosely. He won a Grammy for producing For King & Country's 2014 album Run Wild. Live Free. Love Strong. He lives in Nashville and he convinced Calhoun that Citizen Way should move there in 2016. Ben Blascoe left immediately followed by Josh Calhoun's departure soon after. David Blascoe left soon after the release of the 2019 album Love Is a Lion. So now Citizen Way seems to be a solo act. And Ben Calhoun performs solo. But for occasional singles, he still uses the Citizen Way name. He seems to self release the occasional single so I guess he's not on Fair Trade Services anymore. Here's the video for When I'm With You by Citizen Way.

 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Doja Cat

Artist:Doja Cat

Song:Paint the Town Red

Album:Scarlet

The 2023 single Paint the Town Red is one of two number one hits for rapper Amala "Doja Cat" Diamini. Her other number one hit was a collab with Nicki Minaj so this is her first big solo hit. The video portrays her as a she devil. I guess she thinks that's good for record sales. She was born Oct. 21, 1995 in Los Angeles. Her father is South African musician Dumisani Diamini. He played Crocodile in the Broadway and film musical Serafina!. He had a brief relationship with graphic designer Deborah Sawyer while appearing on Broadway. He moved back to South Africa. Amala claims she has no relationship with her father which he denies. Amala was sent to Rye, NY to live with her grandmother at age two and returned to Los Angeles to live with her mother and brother in a Hindu commune. They moved to Oak Park and Amala took dance lessons. She took singing lessons from her vocal coach aunt. This got her into a performing arts high school. But Amala struggled with ADHD and she cut classes. So she quit school at age 16 because she didn't think she was getting anywhere. She taught herself to rap using GarageBand and started posting to SoundCloud in 2012. She started performing at parties with other rappers. The name Doja Cat is weed related and Amala now regrets taking it. Producer Jerry "Tizhimself" Powell met Amala through SoundCloud and he sent her to David "Yeti Beats" Sprecher and he invited her to record at his studio in Echo Park. And that led her to a record deal with Dr. Luke's label Kemosabe with RCA distribution. An EP was released in 2014 and the single So High appeared on the FOX series Empire. Amala recorded with producer Benedict "OG Maco" Ihesiba in 2015. Then she experienced writer's block which forced her to turn down projects. She says she was smoking too much weed. Her 2018 debut CD Amala did not do well. She says now that she partied too much and smoked too much weed while recording. Her music video for the novelty song Mooo! became a meme and RCA added it to the deluxe edition of Amala. But it didn't chart. But it did show her potential to RCA. So they spent a lot more money promoting the 2019 album Hot Pink and the single Say So featuring Nicki Minaj topped the Billboard Hot 100. The album was certified 2XPlatinum. The success meant Amala appeared on TV and toured. She was nominated for BET and MTV awards. Her second number one hit Paint the Town Red is from the 2023 album Scarlet. The problem is the album hasn't sold as well as previous albums. The original title of the album was Hellmouth and she adopted a darker tone on this album. She denounced previous albums as pop fluff. Some have viewed these changes as demonic and that's why the album hasn't sold. You can see what she is going for in the video. On her early albums, she still worked a lot with Sprecher. But she's not working with him anymore. Paint the Town Red was written and produced by Isaac Earl "Earl on the Beat" Bynumn and his frequent partner Jean-Baptiste Kouame. Bynumn is from Atlanta and has worked mainly with Atlanta rappers. He produced three songs on the album. Of course the main sample is Dionne Warwick's 1964 recording of the Burt Bacharach Hal David song Walk on By. It's too easily recognizable for me. It remains to be seen if Amala will keep this darker tone. And if she does, how will that affect her career. I'm pretty sure RCA will try to convince her to abandon that. My guess is she won't because she denounced the tone of those early albums. Here's the video for Paint the Town Red by Doja Cat.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-One Sonic Society

Artist:One Sonic Society

Song:Great Are You Lord

Album:WOW Hits 2018

Fans of Praise & Worship (P&W) will want to check out One Sonic Society led by singer songwriter producer Jason Ingram. The 2016 single Great Are You Lord was a top ten Christian hit. Most CCM fans should be familiar with the British band Delerious?. They had success in the late 90s until they split up in 2009. Delerious? guitarist Stuart Garrard (Stu G) was hanging around Nashville looking for Christian artists to work with when he met Jason Ingram. Ingram is a Dove award winning songwriter and producer who has worked with Lauren Daigle and Elevation Worship and Maverick City Music. They decided to form a band. Garrard brought in Delerious? bassist Jonathan Thatcher and Ingram brought in Hillsong UNITED drummer Paul Mabury. They called themselves One Sonic Society and they signed with the label Essential Worship. They started out by releasing EPs in 2010 and 2011 followed by the album Forever Reign in 2012 and the live album Live at the Tracking Room. The singles Forever Reign (2011) and Never Once both charted. Meanwhile, all four guys continued to keep busy. They returned with the 2015 EP Make a Way. The single Great Are You Lord reached #9 on the Christian Singles chart and was certified Gold. The EP is only available as a digital download. But you can get Great Are You Lord on this 2CD various artists budget comp. Since then One Sonic Society has released a couple of singles with guest vocalists like Big Daddy Weave lead singer Mike Weaver and Vertical Worship. The last of these singles was released in 2019. It doesn't look like they are still working together. Garrard released a solo album in 2017. Ingram is a very busy producer and Mabury frequently works with him while still working for Hillsang UNITED. I suppose One Sonic Society could reform at some point. But they were never a full time band and Ingram in particular is very busy as a producer. Here's One Sonic Society performing Great Are You Lord on Essential Worship Song Sessions.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Tori Amos

Artist:Tori Amos

Song:Cornflake Girl

Album:Tales of a Librarian

Singer songwriter Tori Amos was successful in the 90s as an album and touring artist. She never had a hit single but Cornflake Girl is one of her best known songs. Tori still records for a major label but her albums haven't sold well since the 90s. I think she owes much of her success to MTV. She was born Myra Ellen Amos Aug. 22, 1963 in Newton, NC while her parents were on a trip from their home in Washington, DC. Her father was a Methodist minister and he soon moved his ministry to Baltimore. Tori's older brother and sister took piano lessons. But Tori taught herself to play. And if you have ever heard her, you will know that she is really good. She wrote songs at age three. At age five, she was the youngest student ever admitted into the Peabody Institute. She studied classical piano there under scholarship from 1968-74. Her scholarship was discontinued when she expressed interest in popular music. Also, Tori didn't like reading from sheet music. After her family moved to Silver Springs in 1972, Tori started playing local clubs chaperoned by her father. She won a teen talent contest in 1977. And a song she wrote for a Baltimore Orioles song contest became her first single which she gave to family and friends. She took the name Tori after a friend said she looked like a Torrey pine tree. When Tori was 17, her dad was sending out demos. The first to respond was producer Narada Michael Walden. Remember he discovered Stacy Lattisaw. They recorded together but none were released. Then Atlantic Records responded and A&R man Jason Flom flew to Baltimore to audition and then sign her. Flom went on to found Lava Records. Tori moved to Los Angeles in 1984. She formed the band Y Kant Tori Read in 1986 and they released an unsuccessful album in 1988. The band name was because Tori couldn't read sheet music. Tori says that record company meddling torpedoed the band and she was unhappy with the album. After they split up, guitarist Steve Caton remained until 1999. Tori turned to session work as a backup vocalist. Tori still had a six album contract with Atlantic and they wanted a new album. The result was the 1992 album Little Earthquakes which was certified 2XPlatinum and sold 3M copies worldwide without the benefit of a hit single. Cornflake Girl is from the 1994 album Under the Pink. As with the first album, it was produced by Eric Rosse, a Los Angeles session musician. By this time, the two were in a personal relationship.. Cornflake Girl reached #7 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart and #4 on the British Singles chart. Like the first album, Under the Pink was certified 2XPlatinum. Tori's biggest hit was Professional Widow from the 1996 album Boys for Pele. It topped the Dance chart. By this time Tori was self producing. Tori's success was mainly because MTV played her videos in heavy rotation. And touring of course. But MTV was a big factor. As Tori got got more into dance and electronica on the albums Choirgirl Hotel (1998) and To Venus and Back (1999), album sales decreased and she left Atlantic after the 2001 album Strange Little Girls. This budget comp covers the Atlantic years. After that, Tori released three albums for Epic but got lost in the shuffle after Epic president Polly Anthony left and then the Sony/BMG merger complicated things. Tori signed with Universal in 2009 and has bounced around their various labels. Her latest album Ocean to Ocean was released on Decca in 2021. Tori lives in Bude, England with sound engineer husband Mark Hawley and she usually records at his studio in Cornwall. When she was on tour last year, Tori was telling people that she should have a new album coming in 2024 and then a 2025 tour. Here's the video for Cornflake Girls by Tori Amos. 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Jackson Dean

Artist:Jackson Dean

Song:Don't Come Lookin'

Album:Greenbroke

Singer songwriter Jackson Dean scored a top 20 country hit with the 2022 single Don't Come Lookin'. This was after the song appeared on the hit TV series Yellowstone. It remains to be seen if Dean has staying power. He was born Jackson Dean Nicholson Oct. 6, 2000 in Odenton, MD. He left home at age 18 and moved to Nashville. After releasing a couple of albums independently and opening for Kane Brown, Jake Owen and Brothers Osborne, Dean signed with Big Machine Records. An EP was released in 2021. Don't Come Lookin' was on the EP and it was released as a single in Feb. 2022 before the Mar. 2022 release of the album Greenbroke. The song also appeared on an episode of the Paramount Network hit TV series Yellowstone. Don't Come Lookin' reached #11 on the Hot Country Songs chart and #3 on the Country Airplay chart. And it also reached #50 on the Billboard Hot 100. This is the Grey's Anatomy effect. A song plays on TV and fans find it, download it and request it on radio. Whether that results in long term success for a guy like Dean is questionable but it's better than nothing. Dean wrote Don't Come Lookin' with his producer Luke Dick who had previously produced Kip Moore. They wrote most of the album songs together. Dean was nominated for a 2023 ACM New Male Artist of the Year award. Dean has been on tour and last year Big Machine released the album Live at the Ryman. Dean's new album Big Blue Sky is out this Friday and he goes on tour next week. We'll see how he does. Here's the video for Don't Come Lookin' by Jackson Dean.

 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Honeymoon Suite

Artist:Honeymoon Suite

Song:New Girl Now

Album:Essentials

The hard rock band Honeymoon Suite were successful mostly in their native Canada in the 80s. New Girl Now was their first single in 1984. They charted in the US but not consistently. Honeymoon Suite lead singer Johnnie Dee is from Montreal. But by the early 80s, he was living in Niagara Falls. He named the band Honeymoon Suite because Niagara Falls is the unofficial honeymoon capital of the world. When the original band split up, Dee formed a new Honeymoon Suite in 1983 with guitarist Derry Grehan and drummer Dave Betts of the band Steve Blimkie and the Reason. Grehan also writes songs and is a St. Catharines native. I'm sure he liked the idea of staying close to home rather than living in Toronto. Grehan wrote the song New Girl Now and a demo won Honeymoon Suite an unsigned band contest held by Toronto radio station Q107. And that led to Honeymoon Suite signing with Warner Bros. in Canada and the US. Tom Treumuth was brought in to produce. He produced another Canadian hard rock band Helix. Keyboardist Ray Coburn was brought in as a permanent member. The band still didn't have a bassist so Dee brought in his friend Brian Blackstone to play on the album and Gary Lalonde of the band Toronto joined Honeymoon Suite soon after. New Girl Now was the first single and it reached #23 on the Canadian Singles chart and #57 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album was certified 3XPlatinum in Canada. Honeymoon Suite released four albums for Warner Bros. They continued to do well in Canada. But Warners really wanted to break them in the US. So they brought in big name producers like Bruce Fairbairn and Ted Templeman to try and get Honeymoon Suite a big hit. Honeymoon Suite even recorded the theme for the 1987 film Lethal Weapon. They were ultimately unsuccessful and Honeymoon Suite left Warner Bros. in 1991. You can get all their hits on this comp. Dee and Grehan continue to lead Honeymoon Suite. The album Alive was just released in February on the Italian label Frontiers. And they tour mostly in Canada but they mix in a few US dates too. I would describe them as an 80s nostalgia act. Here's the video for New Girl Now by Honeymoon Suite.

  

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-John Stewart

Artist:John Stewart f/Stevie Nicks

Song:Gold

Album:Sounds of the Seventies: The Late 70s

Gold was a top five hit in 1979. It was the only big hit for singer songwriter John Stewart. Though this song is perceived as a one hit wonder, a couple of other singles from his 1979 album Bombs Away Dream Babies charted so technically he is not a one hit wonder. Besides, Stewart had a long career as a folk music pioneer and a songwriter. He was born Sept. 5, 1939 in San Diego but he grew up in the Los Angeles area. He wrote his first song at age ten. Stewart said in a 1971 interview that he bought a ukulele after listening to Tex Ritter and The Sons of the Pioneers. While in high school, he led the Rock 'n' Roll band Johnny Stewart and the Furies. They released one 1957 single before splitting up. He then got into folk music first with The Woodsmen and then with The Cumberland Three with Gil Robbins and John Montgomery. They released a couple of albums. But when Dave Guard left the popular Kingston Trio in 1961, Stewart replaced him. When folk music started to fade in the mid 60s after The British Invasion, The Kingston Trio split up in 1967. Stewart signed with Capitol Records. He recorded three albums there. But he had his greatest career success when Stewart's song Daydream Believer topped the charts for The Monkees. That one song probably made Stewart more money than anything he ever did. Stewart also recorded for Warner Bros. and RCA with little success. But then he signed with RSO Records owned by Robert Stigwood. He started out as The Bee Gees' manager, produced the musical Jesus Christ Superstar and then got into the record business and had success with The Bee Gees and Eric Clapton. It could be that Clapton asked Stigwood to sign Stewart. Stewart's 1977 album Fire in the Wind was produced in Nashville by Mentor Williams (Dobie Gray's Drift Away). For the 1979 album Bombs Away Dream Babies, Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac wanted to help Stewart. So Buckingham produced and Stevie contributed backup vocals on Gold. It reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100. You have to remember how popular Fleetwood Mac and especially Stevie Nicks was in those days. She doesn't even appear in the video. But Gold does appear on one of her comps. You can get Gold on this various artists comp. Stewart left RSO in 1982 and recorded for his own label for the rest of his career. He continued to have success as a songwriter especially Rosanne Cash's 1988 #1 Country hit Runaway Train. Stewart teamed up with former Kingston Trio member Nick Reynolds to offer a Trio Fantasy Camp. Stewart continued to record and tour until he died on Jan. 19, 2008 at age 68. Here's the video for Gold by John Stewart featuring Stevie Nicks. 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Scott Bakula and Alison Fraser

Artist:Scott Bakula and Alison Fraser

Song:I'll Always Remember the Song

Album:Front Row Center: The Broadway Gold Box 1935-1988

Most folks should be familiar with actor Scott Bakula as a four time Emmy winner for the popular TV series Quantum Leap. But he started out on Broadway and was Tony nominated for the 1988 musical Romance/Romance. It was after he appeared on this show that he landed the role on Quantum Leap. He was born Oct. 9, 1954 in St. Louis. While Bakula was attending the University of Kansas, he was offered a national tour of Godspell. His parents told him to go and get acting out of his system and return to school. But the tour never happened. Bakula was tired of waiting and moved to New York City in 1976. He appeared as Joe DiMaggio in the 1983 flop Marilyn followed by the 1985 off Broadway show Three Guys Naked from the Waist Down. When he appeared in the Pasadena Playhouse production of this show, that got him a Los Angeles agent. So he moved there. After Bakula appeared on the first season of the popular sitcom Designing Women, He was cast in a couple of short lived series. Then during the 1988 Hollywood writers strike, Bakula moved back to New York to appear in the Broadway musical Romance/Romance. This ran from May 1988 to Jan. 1989. This show was written for off off Broadway by Barry Harman and Keith Herrmann and did well enough that it graduated to a larger theater on Broadway. Bakula and his co-star Alison Fraser were both nominated for Tonys. Alison is mainly a stage actress. The original cast album for Romance/Romance is available as a digital download. But you can get I'll Always Remember This Song on this 4CD budget box set that is a Broadway history of Decca Records. It was while he was doing this show that Bakula was offered Quantum Leap. And that show made him famous. Afterwards, he played Murphy Brown's boyfriend on that sitcom. He played Jonathan Archer on Star Trek: Enterprise from 2001-2005. More recently he appeared on the series NCIS and the spinoff series NCIS: New Orleans. Bakula has appeared in films but most of his success has been on TV. Bakula recently returned to Broadway in the musical The Connector from Jan. to Mar. 2024. Here's Scott Bakula and Alison Fraser performing I'll Always Remember This Song and It's Not To Late on the 1988 Tony Awards broadcast June 5, 1988. 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Joe Public

Artist:Joe Public

Song:Live and Learn

Album:Joe Public

Live and Learn was a top five hit in 1992. It was the only big hit for Joe Public. A couple of their other songs charted so technically they are not a one hit wonder. They only recorded two albums. They were part of the early 90s wave of New Jack Swing. But unlike other acts from the era, Joe Public was a self contained band and they wrote and produced themselves. They are from Buffalo with Kevin Scott on lead vocals and bass, Joe "J.R." Sayles on guitar, Jake Carter on keyboards and Dwight "Mr. Dew" Wyatt on drums. At first they were called Atension and they released the 1989 album Def On Arrival on Island Records. The band had two additional members in those days. Kevin Scott's brother Isaac Scott was lead vocalist and Joe Sayles' brother Nathan Sayles was in the band. The producer was Nathan Job. He was the leader of Southroad Connection and they recorded two albums for United Artists in the late 70s. Then he got into production and worked with groups like Starpoint. It looks like Atension split up and then reformed as Joe Public and signed with Columbia. The 1992 single Live and Learn reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #3 on the R&B Singles chart. Joe Public wrote all the songs and produced with Job. Live and Learn has plenty of samples. But the one everyone asks about is the squealing trumpet. That is from The Grunt by The J.B.'s. When Joe Public's 1994 album Easy Come, Easy Go was unsuccessful, they split up. Kevin Scott went on to work with Dalvin DeGrate. Jake Carter and Trevor Job formed the production duo Jake & Trev and they worked with Tyrese and Calvin Richardson. Here's the video for Live and Learn by Joe Public. 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Jamey Johnson

Artist:Jamey Johnson

Song:In Color

Album:That Lonesome Song

The 2008 single In Color was a top ten country hit for singer songwriter Jamey Johnson. It is to date his only big hit. Johnson has also had success as a songwriter for hire. He was born July 14, 1975 in Enterprise, AL and he grew up in Montgomery. His big influences are Alabama and Alan Jackson. After attending Jacksonville State University for two years, Johnson served in the US Marine Corps Reserves for four years. He started playing Montgomery clubs and moved to Nashville in 2000. He started out recording demos. Then veteran producer Buddy Cannon got Johnson a publishing deal. His biggest hit as a songwriter was co-writing the 2005 Trace Adkins hit Honky Tonk Badonkadonk. This led to a record deal with Sony's BNA label. Johnson's 2006 debut album The Dollar was produced by Cannon. The single The Dollar reached #14 on the Country Singles chart. But when the second single didn't chart, BNA dropped Johnson. Johnson divorced his wife and went into seclusion to work on his songwriting. After co-writing number one country hits for George Strait and Trace Adkins, Johnson released That Lonesome Song on MySpace and iTunes while shopping for a record deal. He signed with Mercury and That Lonesome Song was released in 2008. The single In Color reached #9 on the Country Singles chart. The album was certified Platinum. Johnson wrote In Color with singer songwriter James Otto and veteran songwriter Lee Thomas Miller. Johnson co-wrote most of the songs. The album was produced by Dave Cobb. The 2010 album The Guitar Song didn't do as well. There were no hit singles. And after the 2012 album Living for a Song: A Tribute to Hank Cochran, Johnson left Mercury. It was an all star album and Grammy nominated. So what was the problem? You know how record companies are. They want hits. And Johnson is a traditionalist in a modern world. I think Mercury wanted Johnson to be more contemporary and he wouldn't do it. Since then Johnson released a 2014 Christmas EP on his own label. And today he released the single 21 Guns which he will perform on this Sunday's National Memorial Day Concert on PBS. Johnson will begin a tour next week. It looks like he has a new album coming. Here's the video for In Color by Jamey Johnson. 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Curtis Salgado

Artist:Curtis Salgado

Song:The Longer That I Live

Album:Damage Control

Veteran blues rocker Curtis Salgado started out singing and playing harmonica with Robert Cray and Roomful of Blues. He started recording his own music in the 90s first with Shanachie and then with Alligator Records. The 2021 album Damage Control was his final  album on Alligator. He was born Feb. 4, 1954 in Everett, WA. Salgado has lived in Eugene, OR for years. He listened to classic jazz and blues as a child. After seeing Count Basie live and hearing Little Walter, Salgado learned to play harmonica and started playing clubs with his band The Nighthawks. No, not the Washington, DC based band The Nighthawks. He started backing up visiting blues musicians. Supposedly John Belushi saw Salgado while shooting Animal House in Eugene and based his Blues Brothers character on him. Salgado was in Robert Cray's band for six years. Then he was lead singer of Roomful of Blues from 1984-86. Salgado returned to Eugene and formed Curtis Salgado and the Stilettos. They released an album in 1991 and toured with Steve Miller. After releasing two more albums, Salgado again toured with Miller and appeared with him on an episode with Conan O'Brien. This led to Salgado signing with Shanachie Records in 1999. This gave Salgado national distribution but Shanachie has no promotion budget. Salgado released four albums for Shanachie produced by veteran guitarist Marlon McClain who lives in Oregon. Salgado was diagnosed with liver cancer in 2005 and underwent a successful transplant in 2006. Salgado signed with Alligator Records in 2012. He released four albums on Alligator usually working with his Oregon buddies Marlon McClain, Terry Robb and Alan Hager. After Hager died, Salgado recorded the 2021 album Damage Control with veteran session pianist Mike Finnigan producing. They were buddies from the Steve Miller days. This album is available on CD. Salgado has released a new album Fine By Me on his own label and he continues to tour. Here's the video for The Longer That I Live by Curtis Salgado. 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Megadeth

Artist:Megadeth

Song:Dystopia

Album:Warheads on Foreheads

The thrash metal band Megadeth have been successful since the 80s as an album and touring band. They have never had a hit single and they don't need one. The 2016 album Dystopia was considered to be a return to form after a significant dry period. They are part of a thrash metal subsect led by Metallica. After lead singer and guitarist Dave Mustaine was fired from Metallica in 1983 partly for drug abuse but he also wasn't getting along with James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich. Mustaine vowed revenge by forming a band that would be faster and heavier than Metallica. He saw the word "megadeath" in a political pamphlet. And it stuck with him and he slightly changed the spelling to Megadeth. Mustaine formed the band Fallen Angels which was soon changed to Megadeth. The only band member from the early days who stayed with Megadeth was bassist David Ellefson. They recorded a demo but most of the songs were written by Mustaine when he was in Metallica. So he couldn't use them. Mustaine and Ellefson auditioned plenty of musicians. But they had difficulty findings guys they liked to the point where Mustaine took over as lead singer. He's a terrible singer. They finally settled on drummer Gar Samuelsson and guitarist Chris Poland who were in a jazz band together. Megadeth signed with the indie label Combat and their 1985 debut album Killing Is My Business...and Business Is Good! was successful in underground metal circles. Megadeth called itself State of the Art Speed Metal. For the 1986 album Peace Sells...But Who's Buying?, Megadeth left Combat for Capitol. This change alone got them a larger fanbase. And Mustaine's socially conscious songs struck a chord with listeners. And their videos were played on MTV. Despite the success, Megadeth continued to have problems mostly due to drug abuse. But most of their 90s albums were certified Platinum. Their biggest seller was the 1992 album Countdown to Extinction which was certified 2XPlatinum. Megadeth started to fade in the late 90s. Megadeth left Capitol in 2000. 2002 health problem that left Mustaine unable to play guitar forced him to announce that Megadeth was disbanding. He reformed them in 2004 after his health improved. They were still touring and recording. But record sales were disappointing. For the 2016 album Dystopia, Mustaine signed with Uniiversal. The album did much better than recent album. Critics considered it Megadeth's return to form. This 3CD comp covers Megadeth's entire career and it's available at a reasonable price. Megadeth released their latest album in 2022. And Mustaine says their will be three more Megadeth albums beginning in 2025. Here's the video for Dystopia by Megadeth. 

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Lyra Valkyria vs IYO SKY

Here's the match video of Lyra Valkyria vs IYO SKY from last night's episode of RAW. This was the semi final in the Queen of the Ring tournament. So why did they have Lyra win this match? For one thing IYO may not want to go to Saudi Arabia. No one has to go. Lyra won with a rollup. So it's not like IYO can't get that back. But I don't like how they telegraph upset finishes. I knew when IYO took way too long to get to the top for the moonsault, she was losing. The other thing is they really want to push Lyra because it's possible that Becky Lynch is leaving the WWE. I have been saying for several months that Becky wants to try her hand at acting. All her recent promos have had retirement vibes. Plus her contract is ending soon. Lyra is a decent wrestler. She's better than Becky. But I don't care for her wide eyed naive demeanor. And I don't think fans will like it either. She hasn't been around long enough for fans to get cynical about her. These days fans like characters with an edge like Liv Morgan. But it's like I said. Becky's shtick has gotten stale. She's saying the same thing with the same inflection. She's probably tired of it too. Remember when they tried to turn her heel? That didn't go so well. So Becky's in a rut and maybe she doesn't see a way out. This Saturday Lyra will face either Bianca Belair or Nia Jax for the Queen of the Ring in Saudi Arabia. I hope it's Bianca only because Nia vs Lyra has train wreck potential. But remember both Bianca and Lyra are babyfaces. The WWE may not want to do that. The match is pretty good so enjoy the video! 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Lina Santiago

Artist:Lina Santiago

Song:Feels So Good (Show Me Your Love)

Album:Feels So Good

Freestyle singer Lina Santiago scored a top ten dance hit with the 1996 single Feels So Good (Show Me Your Love). Not only was it her only big hit but the 1996 album Feels So Good is her only album to date. She was born Sept. 5, 1978 in Los Angeles. It says here that she performed in her father's band in the early 90s. But it doesn't say who her father is. Then Lina formed a group with childhood friends and they performed in Los Angeles clubs. Then she won a karaoke contest at the Acapulco Mexican Restaurant in Downey, CA. And that convinced her to pursue a career in music. She met Juan Lopez AKA DJ Juanito and he owns Groove Nation Records. From what I could tell, Lopez does mostly remixes. He wrote and produced Feels So Good (Show Me Your Love) and when it reached #6 on the Dance chart, Lopez sold Lina's contract to Universal to get better distribution. It reached #35 on the Billboard Hot 100. Lina was 18 years old. Lopez produced the album Feels So Good. And I think Lina would have done OK if the album was all Freestyle dance music. But Universal wanted Lina to be more of a pop singer. They even had her sing a couple of songs in Spanish. The album Feels So Good is available on CD. I tried to find the single on a various artists CD but I couldn't find one at a decent price. There were plans to record a second album. But the album was scrapped and Universal dropped Lina. Other than a couple of minor things where Lina appeared as a guest vocalist, Lina never recorded again. She doesn't even appear on Freestyle nostalgia shows. Most of those shows are based in New York or Miami and Lina lives in Los Angeles. It would cost too much to bring her in. Here's the video for Feels So Good (Show Me Your Love) by Lina Santiago. 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-The Spotnicks

Artist:The Spotnicks

Song:Amapola

Album:Surfin' in Outer Space

Fans of instrumental guitar acts like The Ventures and The Shadows may want to check out The Spotnicks. They were very popular in their native Sweden in the early 60s. Like The Ventures, they have a big following in Japan. The Spotnicks are from Gothenburg, Sweden. They were called The Rebels when they were formed in 1956 by guitarist Bo Starander AKA Bob Lander and bassist Bjorn Thelin. When lead guitarist Bo Winberg joined in 1957, the band name was changed to Rock-Teddy and the Blue Caps. When drummer Ove Johansson joined in 1958, the band name was changed to The Frazers. After playing local clubs for a couple of years. they signed with the British label Oriole Records in 1961. The band's manager suggested the name change to The Spotnicks and that they wear space suits on stage. What a great gimmick. The Spotnicks were the first Swedish band to have international success. And I'm sure Oriole saw them as their version of The Ventures. The Spotnicks version of Orange Blossom Special was a top 30 hit in England and topped the Australian charts. Most of their success was in Europe. They released their debut album The Spotnicks in London, Out-A Space in 1962. Other hits include Rocket Man and Have Nagila which reached #13 on the British Singles  chart. The 1963 single Amapola reached #2 in Sweden. It was their biggest hit at home. Amapola was written by Spanish songwriter Joseph Lacalle. After his 1937 death, Albert Gamse (Hail to the Chief) wrote English lyrics for the song. The 1941 recording by Tommy Dorsey and his Orchestra featuring Helen O'Connell and Bob Eberly topped the charts for 14 weeks. It was popular with American soldiers during WWII. You can get Amapola on this comp from the British reissue label Jasmine. These are original recordings. Similar to The Ventures, The Spotnicks are very popular in Japan. They split up in 1970. But Winberg soon reformed them at the request of a Japanese record company. He continued to lead a version of The Spotnicks until a final 2014 tour. Winder died in 2020. Here's The Spotnicks performing Amapola in The Netherlands 1963.

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Vanessa Demopoulos vs Emily Ducote

Here's the fight video of Vanessa Demopoulos vs Emily Ducote from last night's UFC show in Las Vegas. This fight is at Strawweight. Vanessa is 35 years old from Columbus, OH and she trains at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas. She was fighting in LFA when she was brought into the UFC as a short notice replacement in 2001. Her UFC record is 4-2. Emily is 30 years old. She trains at American Top Team in Oklahoma City with coach Giulliano Gallupi. She went 4-4 as a Flyweight in Bellator. And the UFC brought her in after she went 2-0 as a Strawweight in Invicta. She's 2-2 in the UFC. I thought this would be a competitive fight because neither of them does enough to win fights. I expected a close fight and it was. I scored it 30-27 for Emily. I thought she was slightly ahead in all three rounds. So it did not surprise me when the judges gave Vanessa the win by split decision. And the scores were all over the place. There was no judge's consensus for any of the rounds. Vanessa has become known for lucky wins. That luck should run out when she fights better competition. Enjoy the video! 

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Ariane Carnelossi vs Piera Rodriguez

Here's the fight video of Ariane Carnelossi vs Piera Rodriguez from last night's UFC show in Las Vegas. This fight is at Strawweight. Ariane is 31 years old from Sao Paulo, Brazil. She trains at Inside Muay Thai. She's 2-2 in the UFC. This was her first fight since 2022 so I couldn't remember what she was like. Then commentary talked about her great physique. Oh, yeah! She's the one that looks good but can't fight. Piera is 31 years old from Maracaibo, Venezuela and she trains at Lilius Barnatt Martial Arts in Panama. She got into the UFC through Contender Series and is 2-1 in the UFC. We haven't seen her since Gillian Robertson submitted her with an armbar last year. I don't think she's very good but Ariane is really bad. And Piera is cruising towards an easy win when in round two she knocks Ariane down. All she has to do is pound her and that should finish the fight. But instead Piera headbutts Ariane in the face. Ref Mark Smith warns her about it and she does it again. The fight is stopped and Ariane wins by DQ. She was taken to the hospital and she suffered a broken nose. Piera accused her of being a coward. Piera was winning the fight so it made no sense to headbutt her in the first place. She should be released. Enjoy the video!