AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Queen Latifah

Artist:Queen Latifah

Song:U.N.I.T.Y.

Album:Black Reign

In the early days of hip hop, rappers had a hard time just getting radio play. Plus we know now that many rappers had very short careers. Knowing this, Dana Owens decided to have enough irons in the fire so she didn't have to depend on rap. That's worked out well as she last released an album in 2009. She recently starred in the TV series The Equalizer. The 1993 single U.N.I.T.Y. reached #23 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was her biggest hit and should have been bigger. But radio stations were reluctant to play it. She was born Mar. 18, 1970 in Newark, NJ but she grew up in East Orange. Her parents divorced when she was ten. After graduating from Irvington High School, Dana attended Borough of Manhattan Community College. She found the name Latifah in a book of Arabic names meaning delicate. Dana started out in 1988 beat boxing with the group Ladies Fresh. She was an original member of Flavor Unit, a group of MCs led by DJ King Gemini. He made a demo of Dana performing Princess of the Posse and he gave it to Yo! MTV Raps host Fab 5 Freddy. He gave it to Tommy Boy A&R rep Dante Ross and he signed Dana to a record deal as Queen Latifah. Her first single was Wrath of My Madness in 1989. She was 19 when her debut album All Hail the Queen was released in 1989. She rapped mostly about issues faced by black women. Her 1989 single Ladies First featuring Monie Love reached #5 on the Rap chart. But crossing over to pop was a different story. Tommy Boy was a rap label and radio stations were still reluctant to play rap though MTV embraced it. So after two albums on Tommy Boy, Dana switched to Motown who were perceived as Mainstream R&B. Her first album for Motown was Black Reign in 1993 and the first single U.N.I.T.Y. reached #23 on the Billboard Hot 100. It reached #7 on the R&B Singles chart and #2 on the Rap chart. Dana wrote most of the songs including U.N.I.T.Y. Most of the album was produced by Sidney "S.I.D." Reynolds. But U.N.I.T.Y. was produced by Kay Gee of Naughty by Nature and he wrote the song with Dana. The song is based on the song Unity by Desmond Dekker. And the main sample is Message from the Inner City by the jazz band The Crusaders. Crusaders pianist Joe Sample got a songwriting credit and the sax solo is by Crusaders saxophonist Wilton Felder. There are no Queen Latifah comps available but Black Reign is available on CD. Dana continued to record. But she already had gotten into acting and starred in the FOX sitcom Living Single from 1993-98. And that's what she has been doing since then. Recording has taken a back seat. And she has sung jazz standards. She last released an album in 2009 and that was for the jazz label Verve. She has had great success in acting. She got a Best Supporting Actress nomination for the 2002 film Chicago. Her other big film was the 2007 film Hairspray. Her latest success was starring in the CBS reboot of the 80s series The Equalizer. That show ran from 2021-25. She is currently working on a biopic of herself that could take a long time to produce. And she is a judge on season 30 of The Voice. She claimed on one red carpet that new music is in the works. Maybe she'll have more on that when she is inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame shortly. Here's the video for U.N.I.T.Y. by Queen Latifah. 

 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Robert Cuccioli

Artist:Robert Cuccioli

Song:This Is the Moment

Album:Jekyll & Hyde: The Musical: The Original Broadway Cast Recording

Robert Cuccioli was Tony nominated for starring in the 1997 Broadway musical Jekyll & Hyde: The Musical. This Is the Moment is his big song in the show. Though Cuccioli is mainly a stage performer, he seems to prefer touring companies. And that's how he got to do Jekyll & Hyde as it toured before coming to Broadway. He was born May 3, 1958 in Hempstead, Long Island, NY. After graduating from St. Mary's High School in Manhasset, he earned a degree in finance at St. John's University. He was working for E.F. Hutton when he auditioned for The Light Opera of Manhattan. He worked there for three years and appeared in productions of The Merry Widow, The Pirates of Penzance and H.M.S. Pinafore. He went on US and Canadian tours of Camelot starring Richard Harris. Cuccioli's first Broadway appearance was in 1993 as Javert in Les Miserables. He appeared as a replacement until he began rehearsals in 1995 for Jekyll & Hyde. This was written by Frank Wildhorn. He co-wrote the 1987 Whitney Houston hit Where Do Broken Hearts Go. He was creative director at Atlantic Theater, a division of Atlantic Records that developed new musicals. So Wildhorn wrote Jekyll & Hyde with Steve Cuden. When they couldn't finance a production, veteran songwriter Leslie Bricusse was brought in to help Wildhorn rewrite it. The show premiered in Houston in 1990. It did OK. But they wanted to get to Broadway. So they ultimately did a national tour from Aug. 1995 to Apr. 1996. That's when Cuccioli first appeared in the show along with Linda Eder and Christiane Noll. Jekyll & Hyde premiered on Broadway Apr. 1997 and ran until Jan. 2001. Cuccioli left the show Jan. 1999. As I said, he got a Tony nomination. The cast album is available on CD. Since then, Cuccioli has done mostly regional theater. His only other major Broadway musical was as The Green Goblin in the 2012 musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark which ran until 2014. Cuccioli has appeared in daytime soaps, TV guest shots and a few films but nothing notable. But he still does regional theater and tours. Here's a video of Robert Cuccioli performing This Is the Moment from the musical Jekyll & Hyde: The Musical. 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Sarah Brightman

Artist:Sarah Brightman

Song:Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again

Album:Surrender

British singer Sarah Brightman had most of her success in the 80s singing in musicals written by her then husband Andrew Lloyd Webber. The most successful of these shows was The Phantom of the Opera in 1986. Most of her success has been in England as what is called classical crossover. This means she has an opera trained voice but it's not actually good enough to sing opera. The two things that made her popular in the 80s were her looks and she was singing Webber songs. I'm not sure she would have gotten anywhere without him. She was born Aug. 14, 1960 in Berkhamstead, Hertfordshire, England. She started taking dance and piano lessons at age three and performed at local festivals. She attended the Tring Park School for the Performing Arts, Elmhurst Ballet School, The Arts Educational School and the Royal College of Music. Sarah made her theatrical debut in 1973 in I and Albert at the Picadilly Theater in London. Then she took a detour to disco music with the TV group Hot Gossip. They scored a top ten hit in England with the 1978 single I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper. She released some singles on her own label. The turning point for Sarah was when she appeared in Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1981 musical Cats. He didn't notice her at first. Then he saw her in the 1982 children's opera Nightingale. They married in 1984. Sarah started appearing in Webber's shows. The big one was The Phantom of the Opera in 1986. Webber wrote the role of Christine Daae for her. The show was so successful in England that an offer was made to bring the show to Broadway. Webber insisted that Sarah would appear in the Broadway version. Actor's Equity balked because of their silly rule that foreign performers need to be established stars. A compromise was reached and Webber agreed to hire an American for his next London show Aspects of Love. Phantom would have been a success on Broadway regardless. And though Sarah was praised for her singing, she was criticized for her acting and was not nominated for a Tony. The whole thing made her a bigger star in England. After Phantom, Sarah went on tour in England singing Webber songs. This comp covers that entire period. Sarah and Webber divorced in 1990. Sarah started performing and recording solo. Her main producer was Frank Peterson of the German group Enigma. They had success mixing dance beats with Gregorian chants. Over the years, Sarah has had success as an album and touring artist. She is classified as Classical Crossover. She has appeared in TV specials. Sarah recently released the album Sunset over Broadway in Japan only as she has been appearing there as Norma Desmond in the musical Sunset Boulevard. She has appeared in that show in various locations since 2023. So she's doing OK. Here's the video for Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again by Sarah Brightman. 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Maritime

Artist:Maritime

Song:Guns of Navarone

Album:Heresy & the Hotel Choir

Maritime is an indie band that was formed when the popular band The Promise Ring split up in 2003. Both bands are from Milwaukee led by singer songwriter and guitarist Davey von Bohlen. It has never been clear why The Promise Ring disbanded. But it looks like Bohlen just wanted to start fresh and he likes to be part of a band. Bohlen has never recorded a solo album. He was born Aug.11, 1975 in Milwaukee. He started out as a member of the band Cap'n Jazz. Then he formed The Promise Ring in 1995. They recorded five albums and split in 2002. Bohlen and The Promise Ring drummer Dan Didier also recorded a couple of albums as Vermont. The Promise Ring were labelled as an emo band and Bohlen was not comfortable with that label. Then the band The Dismemberment Plan split up and Bohlen and Didier formed Maritime with Dismemberment Plan bassist Eric Axelson. They shopped a demo around and signed with the German label Grand Hotel van Cleef. They were on DeSoto Records in the US. An album was released in 2004. Axelson left in 2006. Justin Klug replaced him and guitarist Dan Hinz was added. They also switched from DeSoto to Flameshovel for US release. The band wrote all the songs on the 2007 album Heresy and the Hotel Chair. The album was produced by recording engineer Stuart Sikes. They switched to Dangerbird Records for their next two albums. Maritime's latest album was released in 2015. One band Bohlen is friends with is Jimmy Eat World. On an Aug. 2022 episode of the Talkhouse podcast, Bohlen told Jimmy Eat World lead singer Jim Adkins that Maritime is "technically still together" and there was "another album in them". I noticed that Bohlen has been trying out new songs recently. There are videos on YouTube. So he may be working on a new Maritime album. Here's the video for Guns of Navarone.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-The Ramrods

Artist:The Ramrods

Song:(Ghost) Riders in the Sky

Album:Raunchy! Volume 2

The single (Ghost) Riders in the Sky was a top 30 hit in 1960. It was the only chart single for the instrumental band The Ramrods. Considering when it was released, my guess is that many listeners thought this was a Duane Eddy record. The Ramrods only recorded four singles. They were from Stamford, CT. led by Claire Litke and her brother Rich Litke in 1956. Claire played drums and Rich played sax. The other members were Vinny Lee and Gene Morro on guitars. The 1960 single (Ghost) Riders in the Sky reached #30 on the Billboard Hot 100. Claire produced the record. So the sound effects were her idea. And so was having the guitar sound like Duane Eddy. It was released on the Bell Records subsidiary Amy Records. Paul Simon once recorded for Amy. Of course Ghost Riders in the Sky is a famous song and the best known song written by Stan Jones. He wrote and recorded cowboy songs. And he recorded Ghost Riders in the Sky in 1949. Among those who recorded it at the time were Burl Ives, Bing Crosby and Peggy Lee. But the biggest hit of the song was by singer and bandleader Vaughn Monroe. His recording topped the charts. He called the song Riders in the Sky which is why the word "ghost" is in brackets. You can get The Ramrods' recording on this 2CD various artists comp from the British reissue label Jasmine. The Ramrods' second single Loch Lomond Rock was supposed to be a rock version of a traditional Scottish song complete with a bagpipe solo. The Ramrods didn't last long on Amy after that. Claire continued to lead a version of The Ramrods in local clubs until the late 60s. So that makes them an official one hit wonder. But as I always say, one hit is better than none. Here's a video for (Ghost) Riders in the Sky by The Ramrods. 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Superchick

Artist:Superchick

Song:We Live

Album:Recollection

The idea behind the CCM band Superchick was to have success in CCM first and then cross over to mainstream pop. They had some success in CCM. But despite the 2006 album Beauty from Pain 1.1 getting a Columbia Records release, it never crossed over to pop. And my guess is that led to their 2013 split. The guy behind this was Max Hsu. He was the leader of the band Church of Rhythm based at Chicago's Willow Creek Community Church. Hsu was the lead singer and he wrote and produced. After Church of Rhythm split up in 1999, Hsu decided to create a female led band with sisters Tricia and Melissa Brock. Tricia was lead singer and Melissa sang harmony and played rhythm guitar. Hsu played keyboards. The rest of the band was Dave Ghazarian on lead guitar, Matt Dally on bass and his brother Ben Dally on drums. After trying a couple of ill advised variations, the band was called Superchick. After releasing an album independently, Superchick signed with Inpop Records owned by Newsboys lead singer Peter Furler. After releasing two albums, Superchick decided to sign with Columbia Records and cross over to pop. After the 2005 album Beauty from Pain 1.1 was released on Inpop, Columbia released a remix version of the album. All Columbia did was move some songs around. The single We Live reached #6 on the Christian chart. But it didn't cross over to pop and neither did the album. Hsu produced along with Rob Poznanski and Jim Scherer. After that, it was just a matter of time before Superchick split up. Tricia was the first to leave and she has released three solo albums. When they split up, Hsu said everyone wanted to go solo. I dunno. It looks like most of them are out of the music business. This comp covers Superchick's entire run. Here's the video for We Live by Superchick. 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Mako

Artist:Mako and Company

Song:The Advantages of Floating in the Middle of the Sea

Album:Pacific Overtures: Original Broadway Cast Recording

Most folks should be familiar with Japanese actor Mako from his many TV appearances or his role as Po-Han in the 1966 film The Sand Pebbles for which he got an Oscar nomination. But you may not know that he got a Tony nomination for his role as The Reciter in the 1976 Stephen Sondheim musical Pacific Overtures. I don't think he sings in this. He's like the narrator in Our Town. I'm pretty sure that most of you know nothing about Mako. He was born Makoto Iwamatsu Dec. 10, 1933 in Kobe, Japan. His parents were children's authors and illustrators Mitsu and Taro Yashima. They moved to the US in 1939 and worked for the US Office of War Information. They left Mako with his grandmother in Japan. He moved to the US in 1949. His father owned an art studio in New York City. He was pretty good at baseball and was scouted by the Cleveland Indians. Though Mako was interested in acting, he wasn't sure that he could make it a career. So he enrolled in the Pratt Institute School of Architecture and worked at his father's print shop. Mako enlisted in the US Army from 1953-55. While in the service, he performed in plays. Afterwards, he moved to Los Angeles to study at the Pasadena Playhouse. That's when he started calling himself Mako. His first film was Never So Few in 1959. He played bit parts in film and TV until he got the role as engine room worker Po-Han in the 1966 film The Sand Pebbles and was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar. After that, he appeared in the films The Hawaiians (1970), The Island at the Top of the World (1974) and The Killer Elite (1975). And that's when Mako was cast in the Stephen Sondheim musical Pacific Overtures. It tells the story of the westernization of Japan in the 19th century. It appears that the show was cast via out of town tryouts. So my guess is the producers came to Mako's East West Players theater company in Pasadena and cast him there. The show was nominated for several Tonys including for Mako but only won a couple of minor awards. Pacific Overtures has been revived occasionally, most notably in 2004. But I don't think it's one of Sondheim's more memorable shows. The original cast album is available as a budget CD. Mako lived in Los Angeles so it was his only major Broadway appearance. Mako continued to appear in supporting roles in films and TV guest shots until he died on July 21, 2006 at age 72. Here's Mako and Company performing The Advantages of Floating in the Middle of the Sea on the 1976 Tony Awards broadcast. This is the first number in the show.