AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Broadcast

Artist:Broadcast

Song:The Book Lovers

Album:Maida Vale Sessions

The British duo Broadcast had success mostly at home. Their music is electronica. There is interest in them in North America because the song The Book Lovers appeared in the 1997 film Austin Powers. Listeners may have thought the song was written for the film but it originally appeared on a 1996 EP. Broadcast was formed in 1995 by singer songwriter Trish Keenan and keyboardist James Cargill. They met in the Birmingham nightclub Sensateria. Trish was studying creative writing at Birmingham University. At first, they formed a full band called Pan Am Flight Bag in 1995. After a few shows, they got rid of the band and called themselves Broadcast. They released an EP in 1996 called The Book Lovers. They signed with the indie label Warp Records. That's when The Book Lovers appeared in the 1997 film Austin Powers and Broadcast played some shows in the US. Warp released the comp Work and Non Work in 1997. That album is not available. But Maida Vale Sessions is available on CD. It is a collection of appearances on John Peel BBC Sessions. You can also get The Book Lovers on the Austin Powers soundtrack. Broadcast released four albums. They had modest chart success in England. But their music is not commercial. Sadly, Trish Keenan died from pneumonia Jan. 14, 2011 at age 42. Since then, Cargill has been the caretaker of Broadcast's discography. He formed the band Children of Alice and they released a 2017 album as a tribute to Trish Keenan. Here's Broadcast performing The Book Lovers on MTV 1997. 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Anthony Smith

Artist:Anthony Smith

Song:If That Ain't Country

Album:If That Ain't Country

Anthony Smith already had success as a songwriter when his 2002 single If That Ain't Country was a top 30 country hit. It was the title track of his 2002 album If That Ain't Country. It turned out to be his only major label album. He continues to have success as a songwriter and he now records for his own label. Apparently, he was born in Warsaw, IN in 1964 and grew up in Oneida, TN. He formed his first band at age nine and arranged music at his church. Then he moved to Nashville. While trying to get his own record deal, he wrote hit songs for George Strait, Tim McGraw and others. His demos got him offers from several labels. But he signed with Mercury Nashville. The album was called If This Ain't Country and the title song reached #26 on the Billboard Country chart. The album was produced by Bobby Terry who also produced Smith's demos and still works with him. Smith wrote all the songs. His co-writer on If This Ain't Country was Jeffrey Steele. This album is available on CD. In 2005, Mercury wanted Smith to record another album. But his father and brother had died. So Smith asked to get out of his contract and he went on hiatus. He still records for his own label Krankit. He also produces artists sometimes. He still writes hits for others like Montgomery Gentry and Chris Young. And he still plays shows mostly in the Nashville area. Here's the video for If That Ain't Country by Anthony Smith. 

 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Keller Williams

Artist:Keller Williams 

Song:West L.A. Fadeaway

Song:More Than a Little Funk

Keller Williams can best be described as a one man jam band. He leads his own band and frequently makes guest appearances with bands like The String Cheese Incident and Umphrey's McGee. All are Grateful Dead influenced jam bands. These jam bands are OK. But there are too many of them and they are too similar to each other. And they all record for the same record label. Well, at least they have fun. Williams was born Feb. 4, 1970 in Fredericksburg, VA. He started playing guitar in his early teens and earned a degree in theater at Virginia Wesleyan College. He moved to Boulder, CO and met the guys behind the jam band The String Cheese Incident. He started touring with them and he records for their record label SCI Fidelity. He has also toured with Yonder Mountain String Band, Umphrey's McGee and the late Bob Weir's band Ratdog. What all these bands have in common is the Grateful Dead influence and they all play the big summer music festivals. Williams has recorded solo since 1994. He has recorded bluegrass as Grateful Grass and Keller & the Keels with the husband and wife duo of Larry and Jenny Keel. This version of the Grateful Dead song West L.A. Fadeaway is from the 2013 album More Than a Little Funk. This was recorded live in Norfolk and Richmond, VA and Charlotte, NC. The album is mostly Williams originals. Williams sings and plays guitar. Other musicians are Gerard Johnson on keyboards, E.J. Shaw on bass and Toby Fairchild on drums. This album is available as a budget CD. Williams' latest album Deer was released in 2024. Williams' music is OK. But he records a lot and too much of it sounds the same. I think even he knows that which is why he records bluegrass and tries other things. Maybe he gets bored with the jam band thing. Here's Keller Williams with the band Old Shoe performing West L.A. Fadeaway at the 2016 Shoe Fest in Manteno, IL. Old Shoe is a Chicago based jam band. Jeremy Garrett plays the violin solo. 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Lauren Bacall

Artist:Lauren Bacall

Song:One of the Boys

Album:Woman of the Year: The Original Broadway Cast

Lauren Bacall was a top Hollywood star for two decades. And of course she was married to legendary actor Humphrey Bogart. When things slowed down in the 60s, she went to Broadway and won a Best Actress Tony for the 1981 musical Woman of the Year. She was born Betty Jean Perske Sept. 16, 1924 in The Bronx, NY. Her parents were European Jewish immigrants. After her parents divorced, her mother reverted to her maiden name Bacal and so did Lauren. After attending a private boarding school financed by wealthy uncles, she went to Julia Richman High School in Manhattan. After graduating, she studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, worked as an usher at the St. James Theater and modeled in department stores. She also dated classmate Kirk Douglas. Lauren made her Broadway debut in a bit part in the 1942 show Johnny 2x4. Then she was crowned Miss Greenwich Village. Then she appeared on the cover of Harper's Bazaar and in fashion magazines like Vogue. At the time, director Howard Hawks was casting the 1944 film To Have and Have Not. His socialite wife Nancy "Slim" Keith saw Lauren on the Harper's Bazaar cover and urged Hawks to give her a screen test. That audition got her a seven year Warner Bros. contract. He changed her name to Lauren Bacall but everyone called her Betty. Hawks sent her to a voice coach so she would speak with a deeper tone. If you are familiar with To Have and Have Not, you'll know that it was very loosely based on an Ernest Hemingway novel. But the main feature of the film was Lauren's sex appeal and the on screen sparks between her and Bogart. Of course the sparks flew off screen as well and the two married once Bogart's divorce from Mayo Methot was final. They starred together in the films The Big Sleep (1946), Dark Passage (1947) and Key Largo (1948). They were even parodied in Bob Clampett's 1946 cartoon Bacall to Arms. Key Largo was Bogart's final film at Warners. Meanwhile, Lauren was suspended several times when she rejected scripts given to her by Warners. She got out of her contract and then accompanied Bogart when he filmed The African Queen in Africa. She signed with 20th Century Fox and the 1953 film How to Marry a Millionaire was a big hit. Things didn't go so well after that. She made a couple of good films like Written on the Wind (1956) and Designing Woman (1957). Plus Bogart died in 1957. Lauren thought her film career had stalled. So she returned to Broadway for the 1959 show Goodbye, Charlie. She won a tony for the 1965 comedy Cactus Flower and starred in the 1970 musical Applause. Her next big show was the 1981 musical Woman of the Year. This was based on the 1942 film Woman of the Year starring Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. The book was written by Peter Stone and the music was by the veteran team of John Kander and Fred Ebb. Lauren's co-star was veteran TV actor Harry Guardino. Lauren won a Tony for this show. The original cast album is available on CD. After that Lauren continued to appear in films and on TV but she mainly did supporting roles in those days. Her last big film was the 1996 film The Mirror Has Two Faces as Barbra Streisand's mother. Lauren Bacall suffered a stroke and died on Aug. 12, 2014 at age 89. Here's Lauren Bacall performing One of the Boys from the musical Woman of the Year on the 1981 Tony awards broadcast.

 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-The Diamonds

Artist:The Diamonds

Song:Little Darlin'

Album:Complete Singles As & Bs 1955-1962

The 1957 single Little Darlin' was the biggest hit for the vocal group The Diamonds. They had some other hits but Little Darlin' was the most memorable. Like another vocal group The Crew Cuts, The Diamonds were from Toronto. The lead singer of The Diamonds was Dave Somerville. He was born Oct. 2, 1933 in Guelph. But he went to high school at Central Tech in Toronto. After graduating, he got a job as a radio operator in the engineering department at the CBC. And he was studying voice at the Royal Conservatory of Music. At the CBC, Somerville met Ted Kowalski, Phil Leavitt and Bill Reed. They formed The Diamonds. An appearance on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts got them a record deal with Decca's Coral label. Four singles were released with no success. They auditioned for Cleveland DJ Bill Randle who discovered another Canadian vocal group The Crew Cuts. And as he did with The Crew Cuts, Randle got The Diamonds a record deal with Mercury's Wing label. Their first single for Wing was a cover of Frankie Lymon's Why Do Fools Fall in Love?. It reached #12 on the singles charts. So now Mercury and musical director David Carroll knew they had something. Though The Crew Cuts had success, they were similar to vocal groups like The Four Lads. The Diamonds had more flair. After a few more singles, Mercury hit the jackpot when the 1957 single Little Darlin' reached #2 on the pop charts. It was another doo wop cover of a song by the Memphis based group The Gladiolas. The original was never a hit. And I know it's blasphemy to say this but The Diamonds' version is better than the original, especially Somerville's lead vocal and the spoken word part by Reed. So Producer Carroll imitated the original and also improved on it. The Diamonds' other big hit was the 1957 single The Stroll. By the late 50s, Somerville was the only original member remaining with three new guys. They left Mercury in 1962. All their singles are on this 2CD comp from the British reissue label Acrobat. After Somerville left The Diamonds in 1961, they became a fixture in Las Vegas. There were even two versions of The Diamonds which ended in a lawsuit. The original Diamonds reunited for the 2000 PBS show Doo Wop 51. A version of The Diamonds continues to tour today with no original members. Here's The Diamonds performing Little Darlin' on the Saturday Night Beech-Nut Show Feb. 21, 1959.

 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Neil Diamond

Artist:Neil Diamond

Song:Cherry, Cherry

Album:In My Lifetime

The 1966 single Cherry, Cherry was singer songwriter Neil Diamond's very first top ten hit. Of course he has had plenty of hits but it allows me to talk about his early days. He was born Jan. 24, 1941 in Brooklyn, NY. His grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Poland and Russia. He attended Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn where he sang in a chorus along with classmate Barbra Streisand. His family moved to Brighton Beach and Diamond attended Abraham Lincoln High School. Diamond was given a guitar for his 16th birthday. While at summer camp, he saw Pete Seeger perform. And that gave Diamond the idea that he could write songs too. After taking guitar lessons, he started writing songs. After graduating high school, Diamond attended New York University on a fencing scholarship. He was on the 1960 NCAA men's fencing championship team with future Olympic fencer Herb Cohen. Diamond was bored in college and left in his senior year to take a songwriting job at a publisher. After that job ended, Diamond wrote and recorded demos. He released a couple of 1962 singles with friend Jack Parker as Neil and Jack. They were similar to The Everly Brothers. This led to Diamond getting a record deal with Columbia. When the 1963 single Clown Town failed to chart, Columbia dropped him and he returned to freelance writing. He was in the Brill Building with all the other freelance songwriters and publishers. His first success was the 1965 Jay and the Americans top 20 hit Sunday and Me. Then The Monkees' 1966 single I'm a Believer topped the charts. This got Diamond a record deal with Bang Records owned by Bert Berns. Solitary Man was Diamond's first single. After it charted, Berns let Diamond record the 1966 album The Feel of Neil Diamond. Then the single Cherry, Cherry reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album was produced by the Brill Building husband and wife songwriting team of Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich. Diamond says that he worked on Cherry, Cherry with Barry and Greenwich and they recorded a demo with Artie Butler on piano and organ. A full band version was recorded in the studio. But it was decided that the demo version would be released as a single. Berns tells a different story. But considering that the demo version was used, I believe Diamond's story. You can get both versions on this 1995 Columbia 3CD box set available at a reasonable price. It contains Bang, UNI, MCA and Columbia recordings along with alternate takes and demos. After two albums for Bang, Diamond sued to get out of his contract with Bang and signed with UNI Records in 1968. They were owned by Universal Pictures and the name was changed to MCA Records. And that's when Diamond's career really began. Here's Neil Diamond performing Cherry, Cherry on the Oct. 6, 1966 episode of the TV show Where the Action Is. 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-33Miles

Artist:33Miles

Song:There Is a God

Album:33Miles

33Miles was a CCM band that had an alt rock sound that CCM labels were looking for twenty years ago. They had some success on the CCM charts and then faded away. But now it seems that the band may return. Jason Barton was lead singer of the CCM band True Vibe from 1999-2003. They released two albums on the CCM label Essential. They lived in Nashville. After they split up, Barton formed 33Miles with Collin Stoddard on piano and Chris Lockwood on guitar. Their sound will remind you of Switchfoot and other alt rock bands. They started playing Nashville clubs and signed with the CCM label INO Records. As I said, it's the kind of sound that CCM labels were looking for at the time. 33Miles is a reference to Jesus Christ's age when he died. There Is a God was on 33Miles 2007 debut album 33Miles. The album was produced by veteran CCM producers Nathan Nockels and Sam Mizell and Mizell wrote There Is a God. 33Miles did OK on the CCM charts. The album is available on CD. Stoddard left in 2009 to become a pastor. Lockwood left in 2014. They released three albums on INO. Barton became a Nashville background singer. It looks like the original 33Miles reformed last year. They have played reunion shows but it's not clear if it's going anywhere. Here's the video for There Is a God by 33Miles.