AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Pitbull

Artist:Pitbull f/Ne-Yo, Afrojack and Nayer

Song:Give Me Everything

Album:Greatest Hits

Armando "Pitbull" Perez is a rapper who mixes Latin sounds with pop. The 2011 single Give Me Everything is one of his two number one hits. He hasn't been as successful recently which makes me think he has to change his sound. Maybe listeners are tired of him. He has already had more longevity than most rappers. He was born Jan. 15, 1981 in Miami. His parents are Cuban immigrants. His parents separated when he was young so he was raised by his mom. Perez was a drug abuser as a teen and his mom kicked him out of the house. His main influences are Cuban singers Celia Cruz and Willy Chirino and rappers like Nas and Snoop Dogg. After meeting Lil Jon in Miami, Perez appeared on Lil Jon and the East Side Boyz' 2002 album Kings of Crunk. His song Oye appeared on the soundtrack of the 2003 film 2 Fast 2 Furious. At first Perez was on Luther Campbell's Luke label. But he never released anything. Robert Fernandez of Famous Artist Music & Management became his manager and introduced him to Lil Jon. Fernandez wanted to streamline Perez' music so it would be more radio friendly. Perez signed with TVT Records and released the 2004 album M.I.A.M.I. produced by Lil Jon. Perez released three albums fir TVT. They did OK but He thought he could do better with a larger label like Sony. So he' recorded for Sony since the 2008 album Pitbull Starring in Rebelution. The 2009 singles I Know You Want Me and Hotel Room Service were top ten hits. After releasing the 2010 Spanish language album Armando, things really picked up for Perez with the 2011 album Planet Pit. The first single Hey Baby (Drop It to the Floor) reached #7 on the Billboard Hot 100. The second single Give Me Everything was Perez' first #1 hit. Planet Pit sold over two million copies. Perez wrote and produced with different producers on each song. On Give Me Everything, Ne-Yo and Nayer sing on the record. Of course Ne-Yo is a great singer and he sings the chorus. Perez raps the verses. I never heard of Nayer before. But she's a pretty girl with a thin voice. They didn't want a strong singer competing with Ne-Yo. The producer was Dutch DJ Nick "Afrojack" van de Wall. That's him at the turntable in the video. You can get all of his hits on this comp. Since then Perez hasn't been as successful. He left Sony in 2017 and has released a couple of albums on his own label. I would say he has been more successful than most rappers. Here's the video for Give Me Evrything by Pitbull featuring Ne-Yo, Afrojack and Nayer. 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Peaches

Artist:Peaches f/Iggy Pop

Song:Kick It

Album:Fatherfucker

Merrill "Peaches" Nisker is a Canadian singer songwriter whose career picked up considerably when she signed with the British label XL Recordings and she got the legendary Iggy Pop to appear on the 2003 single Kick It. Her success to date has mostly been in Europe. She was born Nov.11, 1966 in Toronto. Her grandparents are European Jewish immigrants. As a teen, she appeared in two plays with Barenaked Ladies lead singer Steven Page. Merrill started out in the folk group Mermaid Cafe in the early 90s. Then she released a solo album in 1995. Then she joined the punk band The Shit which is when she started calling herself Peaches. She got it from the Nina Simone song Four Women. At the time, she lived with Leslie Feist above a sex shop and they toured together. Merrill went to Berlin, Germany to visit Jason Beck AKA Chilly Gonzalez from The Shit. After playing one show, the German label Kitty-Yo offered her a record deal. They release offbeat pop and electronica. Merrill returned to Toronto and recorded the 2000 album The Teaches of Peaches featuring what is still considered to be her signature song Fuck the Pain Away. She had enough success in England that she appeared on Top of the Pops. But her performance was deemed too racy to air. Merrill signed with Sony in Europe. After they saw her video for the song Set It Off, they hated it so much she was dropped and they wanted their advance back. Kitty-Yo still liked Merrill's music so they worked out a distribution deal with the British label XL Recordings. XL is the home for Adele. That led to the 2003 album Fatherfucker and the single Kick It featuring Iggy Pop. The album charted in England especially on the dance chart and so did the single. Merrill wrote and produced the album. Joan Jett wrote and produced one song. She was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award. She recorded two more albums for XL and released a 2015 album on her own label. Merrill toured in 2022 and there is a documentary of the tour called The Teaches of Peaches. She said at the time that she is working on a new album but there is no news about that yet. Here's the video for Kick It by Peaches featuring Iggy Pop. 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Southern Pacific

Artist:Southern Pacific

Song:Any Way the Wind Blows

Album:Greatest Hits

After The Doobie Brothers split up in 1982, that band's guitarist John McFee and drummer Keith Knudsen formed the country rock band Southern Pacific. They scored four top ten country hits in the 80s. The other original members were lead singer Tim Goodman. McFee produced Goodman's 1981 album Footsteps. Keyboardist Glen Hardin and bassist Jerry Scheff are career sideman. Both guys worked with Elvis Presley. Southern Pacific signed with Warner Bros. and released the 1984 album Southern Pacific. Reno Bound was a top ten country hit. Hardin and Scheff were replaced respectively by Kurt Howell and former Creedence Clearwater Revival bassist Stu Cook. After the 1986 album Killbilly Hill, Goodman left to go solo and was replaced by David Jenkins of Pablo Cruise. The 1988 album Zuma featured Southern Pacific's highest charting single New Shade of Blue. It reached #2 on the Country Singles chart. Any Way the Wind Blows is from the 1989 album County Line. It reached #4 on the Country Singles chart. McFee wrote the song with Andre Passis who wrote the 1984 Huey Lewis & the News hit Walking on a Thin Line. Southern Pacific wrote all the songs and produced with Jim Ed Norman. I guess he made sure they sounded country. And that was the major criticism of Southern Pacific at the time. They didn't sound country enough. Any Way the Wind Blows appeared on the soundtrack of the Clint Eastwood film Pink Cadillac. There are scenes from the film in the video. By this time, The Doobie Brothers had reformed. So McFee and Knudsen disbanded Southern Pacific and returned to The Doobie Brothers. Warners released this comp after the split. Knudsen died in 2005. But McFee continues with The Doobie Brothers today. Here's the video for Any Way the Wind Blows by Southern Pacific.

 

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Edwarda Moura vs Veronica Hardy

Here's the fight video of Edwarda Moura vs Veronica Hardy from last night's UFC show in New York City. This fight is at Flyweight. Edawrda is 30 years old from Salvador, Brazil. She trains at Galpao da Luta with her brother Yuri Moura. Her UFC record is 1-1. Both fights were at Strawweight and Edwarda missed weight for both which is why the UFC moved her up to Flyweight. Veronica is 29 years old from Venezuela. She trains at Renzo Gracie in New York City with her former UFC fighter husband Dan Hardy. Her UFC record is 4-4 and she's on a three fight winning streak. Edwarda is much bigger than Veronica which is the main reason she won this fight. I scored it 30-27 for Edwarda. One judge scored it the same. But the other two scored it 29-28 for Edwarda. During the week, Edwarda said she still wanted to fight at Strawweight. Hopefully, she has changed her mind. And maybe Veronica should move to Strawweight. Enjoy the video!

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Viviane Araujo vs Karine Silva

Here's the fight video of Viviane Araujo vs Karine Silva from last night's UFC show in New York City. This fight is at Flyweight. Viviane is 37 years old from Brasilia, Brazil and she trains at Cerrado MMA with coach Daniel Evangilista. Her UFC record is 6-5. Her history is she tends to lose close fights. She's a decent fighter but she's not a finisher. Karine is 30 years old from Curitiba, Brazil. Her coach is Gile Ribeiro. Her UFC record is 4-0 and she has finished three of those fights in the first round. She has looked really good. Viviane is a big step up in competition because she is ranked. What we found out in this fight is Karine has endurance problems. Round one was close but I scored it 10-9 for Karine. Round two was also close but I scored it 10-9 for Viviane. Karine was out of gas in round three so I scored it 10-9 for Viviane. And I scored the fight 29-28 for Viviane. The judges scored it the same. So now we know that Karine needs to work on her endurance because she's not always going to be able to get a first round finish. It was a big win for Viviane. But I don't think she's an elite fighter. Enjoy the video! 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Louis Armstrong and the Commanders

Artist:Louis Armstrong and the Commanders

Song:Cool Yule

Album:Have Yourself a Swingin' Little Christmas

Here's a song that has gotten a lot of radio airplay in recent holiday seasons for it's retro swing vibe. It's become popular enough that Universal has produced a lyric video. But in 1953, it was on a B side of the Louis Armstrong single Zat You, Santa Claus. Armstrong never recorded a Christmas album. But he recorded enough Christmas songs that Universal has issued a couple of Christmas comps. I prefer this various artists comp from Bear Family mostly because it's over an hour long. Cool Yule was recorded when Armstrong revived his career in the late 40s with Louis Armstrong and his All Stars featuring Jack Teagarden on vocals and trombone. Cool Yule was recorded at the end of his Decca contract in 1953. After that, Armstrong would freelance for a few years. Cool Yule was written by Steve Allen who of course was best known as a comedian and original host of The Tonight Show. But he was also a jazz pianist and songwriter. The Commanders were a big band led by veteran bandleader Tutti Camarata and veteran drummer Eddie Grady. They recorded three albums for Decca in the mid 50s. They recorded the 1953 single Zat You, Santa Claus with Cool Yule on the B side. Both songs have become popular in recent years because they still sound fresh. Both songs appear on this Bear Family various artists comp. Others on the album include Glenn Miller, The Ames Brothers, The Mills Brothers, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Jordan, The Andrews Sisters, Fats Waller, Louis Prima, Peggy Lee and Lionel Hampton. Universal has released a couple of Louis Armstrong Christmas comps. But I like this one because it's longer and reasonably priced. Here's the lyric video for Cool Yule by Louis Armstrong and the Commanders. 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-D-Mob

Artist:D-Mob f/Cathy Dennis

Song:C'mon and Get My Love

Album:3/60: Girls Night

C'mon and Get My Love was a top ten hit in 1989. It was the only big hit for D-Mob led by British producer Danny "Dancin' Danny D" Poku. It also was the first big hit for singer Cathy Dennis and she had a significant solo career in the 90s. One of D-Mob's other singles charted so technically he's not a one hit wonder. D-Mob only released one album. Today Poku is a producer and he owns a publishing and management company. Poku was born May 26,1963 Cobridge, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. He started out as a recording engineer and did remixes for Blondie and Howard Jones. Then he decided to make his own music as D-Mob. He signed with London's FFRR label. After the 1988 single We Call It Acieed reached #3 on the British Singles chart and topped the US Dance chart, London gave the green light for the 1989 album A Little Bit of This, a Little Bit of That. Singles from the album were successful in England and the Dance chart. But C'mon and Get My Love reached #10 on the Billboard Hot 100. Poku wrote and produced everything. I think that's him rapping too. The album is not available. But you can get C'mon and Get My Love on this 3CD budget comp from Crimson. You can also get it on Cathy Dennis' 1990 album Move to This as a budget CD. As I said, Cathy went on to a significant solo career. Poku only released the one D-Mob album. After a couple of 1994 singles, he concentrated on production and he now owns a publishing and management company. I guess his most significant artist that he produced is Kylie Minogue. Poku and his partner Tim Blacksmith were awarded MBE's in 2022. So obviously D-Mob is a very small part of Danny Poku's very successful career. Here's the video for C'mon and Get My Love by D-Mob featuring Cathy Dennis.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Far East Movement

Artist:Far East Movement f/The Cataracs and Dev

Song:Like a G6

Album:Free Wired

Far East Movement topped the charts with the 2010 single Like a G6. They had one other top ten single from the album Free Wired and haven't been as successful since then. So they are a one album wonder which is not unusual for hip hop groups. They last released an album in 2016 and are more active today as producers. The members of Far East Movement went to high school together in Los Angeles. They are Kevin "Kev Nish" Nishimura, James "Prohgress" Roh and Jae "J-Splif" Chuong. They started playing local clubs in 2001 as Emcees Anonymous and then changed it to Far East Movement. They released a mixtape in 2005 followed by the 2006 album Folk Music. When the 2006 single Round Round appeared in the 2006 film The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift along with the soundtrack and video game, they decided to take music more seriously probably because they got cheques in the mail. For the 2008 album Animal, they signed distribution deals in Korea and Japan. They added Los Angeles radio station Power 106 DJ DJ Virmin as their official DJ. When singles from the album got national airplay and exposure in films and TV, Far East Movement signed with Cherrytree Records with Interscope distribution. Like a G6 was the first single from the 2010 album Free Wired. Free Movement was the first Asian American group to top the Billboard Hot 100. Most of Free Wired was written and produced by the production group The Stereotypes. But Like a G6 was written and produced by the duo The Cataracs. The featured singer Dev works with them. If you're wondering about the title, they were looking for something to rhyme with "Three Six" as in Three Six Mafia. After Drake referenced a Gulfstream aircraft as G4, they used G6 though there is no such thing. So it's meaningless. The girl in the red dress in the video is usually credited as Erica Juliet in films and TV. The single The Rocketeer was also a top ten hit. The 2012 album Dirty Bass didn't do as well and Far East Movement left Interscope and started their own company. They released the 2016 album Identity and Chuong left Far East Movement. Since then Far East Movement have released a few singles. But these days they are more active as producers and that is their likely future. Here's the video for Like a G6 by Far East Movement featuring The Cataracs and Dev. 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Ella Langley

Artist:Ella Langley f/Riley Green

Song:You Look Like You Love Me

Album:Hungover

You Look Like You Love Me was a top ten country hit and the breakthrough single for singer songwriter Ella Langley. It even crossed over to pop and charted worldwide. She was born May 3, 1999 in Hope Hull, AL which is near Montgomery. Ella performed locally until moving to Nashville in 2019. She self released some singles and opened for high profile country acts. She also wrote five songs for Elle King's 2023 album Come Get Your Wife. She signed with Columbia and made her Grand Ole Opry debut on Feb. 17, 2023 and her EP Excuse the Mess was released in May. This was followed by Ella's 2024 debut album Hungover. The single You Look Like You Love Me reached #8 on the Country Singles chart and #30 on the Billboard Hot 100. Ella wrote all the songs with co-writers. She wrote You Look Like You Love Me with Aaron Ratiere. He wrote a few songs for the 2018 film A Star Is Born. Guest singer Riley Green wrote the second verse. Ella wrote several songs with Joybeth Taylor. She hasn't had any hits yet. Will Bundy produced. He has had success as a songwriter but this is his first major label album as producer. Hungover and deluxe edition called Still Hungover are both available as digital downloads. They were not released on CD. Still Hungover has five bonus tracks. Both versions are on Amazon. Ella is off to a good start. The crossover to pop bodes well for her. But you never know about the music business. Even if she stalls, Ella can make a good living as a songwriter for hire. I'll keep my eye on her. Here's the video for You Look Like You Love Me by Ella Langley featuring Riley Green.