AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Skip Ewing

Artist:Skip Ewing

Song:Burnin' a Hole in My Heart

Album:The Coast of Colorado

Skip Ewing was already a successful songwriter when he signed with MCA Records and released the 1988 album Coast of Colorado. He scored three top ten country hits including Burnin' a Hole in My Heart. When subsequent albums didn't do well, he returned to songwriting and had plenty of success in the 90s. These days he records for his own label. He was born Donald Ralph Ewing II Mar. 6, 1964 in Redlands, CA. His father was a US Navy officer so the family moved a lot. Dad's nickname was Skipper so he nicknamed Ewing Little Skipper which was shortened to Skip. Seeing Glen Campbell on TV inspired Ewing to play guitar. And listening to Merle Haggard got him into writing. After his parents divorce, Ewing left home at age 16 and supported himself with odd jobs while pursuing music. He played bass in a country music show at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, VA. An Opryland USA talent scout saw Ewing and brought him to Nashville. While working there, Ewing sang demos and jingles then got a staff songwriter job at Acuff-Rose Music. After Ewing's songs were recorded by George Jones and George Strait, he signed with MCA Records and veteran producer Jimmy Bowen produced Ewing's 1988 debut album The Coast of Colorado. Burnin' a Hole in My Heart was the third single and it reached #3 on the Country Singles chart. He scored three top ten Country hits on that album plus one from his second album. Ewing wrote all the album songs with co-writers. On Burnin' a Hole in My Heart, the co-writers were the team of Mike Gieger and Woody Mullis. They wrote songs for T. Graham Brown and Sawyer Brown. This album is available on CD. Ewing recorded four albums for MCA but only the first two charted. He went with Bowen to Capitol in 1991. After two more albums, Ewing decided to concentrate on songwriting. He had already written #1 country hits for Randy Travis and Bryan White. He released a 1997 gospel album on Word. Ewing continued to have success as a songwriter in the late 90s. Since 2001, Ewing has recorded five albums for his own label Write! Records. He moved to Wyoming in 2018 to study horsemanship. He runs a retreat called Horse and Writer that combines the two. Ewing released a new album in June. Here's Skip Ewing performing Burnin' a Hole in My Heart on Austin City Limits. 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Jesse Belvin

Artist:Jesse Belvin

Song:Goodnight My Love

Album:The Unforgettable Mr. Easy

Jesse Belvin was a soul singer who was poised to be a big star when he and his wife were killed in a 1960 car accident. The 1956 single Goodnight My Love was his biggest hit. But he had just signed with RCA Records and finished his debut album. RCA signed Sam Cooke after Belvin's death. He was born Dec. 15, 1932 in San Antonio, TX. But his family moved to Los Angeles when he was five years old. He started singing in church at age seven. Belvin appeared on the 1949 Cavalcade of Jazz at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles opening for saxophonist Big Jay McNeely. Then he joined McNeely's backup singers Three Dots and a Dash. He appeared on McNeely's records and signed with Specialty Records. The 1953 single Dream Girl reached #2 on the Billboard R&B chart. Belvin recorded that with bandmate Marvin Phillips on sax and it was released as Jesse & Marvin. Then Belvin was drafted into the US Army. While there, he wrote The Penguins classic Earth Angel. After a legal dispute, Belvin got a third of the songwriting credit. Belvin was known for writing songs and selling them outright to make a few bucks. I guess songwriting wasn't perceived as big business back then. Belvin signed with Modern Records in 1956 and that's when he recorded Goodnight My Love which reached #7 on the Billboard R&B Singles chart. Goodnight My Love was written by producer George Motola. Belvin helped him finish the song. But he sold the authorship to producer John Marascalco for $400. Marascalco produced the record. The song was the closing theme on Alan Freed's radio show. After ten singles for Modern, Belvin recorded for Knight, Class and Jamie under his own name. And he recorded with The Shields formed by producer George Motola for his Tender label. That band included lead singer Frankie Ervin and guitarist Johnny "Guitar" Watson. Their 1958 single You Cheated reached #15 on the pop chart. Belvin's wife Jo Ann took over as his manager. The first thing she did was get him a record deal with RCA. He recorded the album Mr. Easy and the 1959 single Guess Who was a top 40 pop hit. RCA planned to have Belvin compete with Nat King Cole. But before the album could be released, Belvin appeared with Jackie Wilson and Marv Johnson on a Feb. 6, 1960 Little Rock, AR. show. This was the first concert in front of an integrated audience in Little Rock. There were disruptions during the show by white racists. After the show, Belvin and Jo Anne were killed in a head on collision near Hope, AR. Police suspected that Belvin's car was tampered with but nothing was ever proven. But Jesse Belvin was gone. The reissue label Jasmine has released all of Belvin's recordings on 2CDs. Here's a video of Goodnight My Love by Jesse Belvin. 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-The Royal Guardsman

Artist:The Royal Guardsmen

Song:Snoopy vs The Red Baron

Album:The Best of the Royal Guardsmen

The novelty song Snoopy vs The Red Baron was a top five hit in 1966. It was the only big hit for the band The Royal Guardsmen. Some of their other songs charted so they are not a one hit wonder. But most will only remember Snoopy vs The Red Baron. Unlike many novelty songs, The Royal Guardsmen were a real band from Ocala, FL. At first they were called The Posmen. But they were influenced by The British Invasion to change the band name to The Royal Guardsmen. The band members were Barry Winslow on lead vocals and guitar, Chris Nunley on vocals, Tom Richards on guitar, Billy Taylor on organ, Bill Balogh on bass and John Burdett on drums. Leonard Stogel became their manager and he got them a record deal with Laurie Records. After releasing a single that went nowhere, producer Phil Gernhard got an idea from the band name The Royal Guardsmen. At the time in the Peanuts comic strip, Snoopy imagined himself as a WWI airman battling The Red Baron. Gernhard recalled that his songwriter pal Dick Holler had written a song called The Red Baron in 1962. It was supposed to be similar to the Johnny Horton hit Sink the Bismark. No one would release it. Gernhard thought that if they rewrote the song and made it about Snoopy vs The Red Baron, it could be a hit. They took this new song to Stogel and he convinced The Royal Guardsman to record it. Snoopy vs The Red Baron reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 Dec. 1966. The Monkees' I'm a Believer topped the charts at the time. The record sold three million copies. It got so big that Laurie had to farm the record out to Capitol Records. Unfortunately, they forgot to get the approval of Peanuts creator Charles Schulz and United Feature Syndicate (UFS). UFS sued and they got all the royalties. Schulz did allow them to record other Peanuts songs. So the 1967 album Return of the Red Baron has mostly Peanuts related songs. The single Return of the Red Baron was a top 20 hit. This comp released by EMI Australia is available on CD. The Royal Guardsman released four albums and then split up in 1970. They have reunited a few times but nothing permanent. Gernhard and Holler went on to write and produce the 1968 Dion hit Abraham, Martin and John. And Gernhard produced the 1971 single Me and You and a Dog Named Boo by Kent "Lobo" Lavoie. Here's The Royal Guardsmen performing Snoopy vs The Red Baron 1966. 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Blaze

Artist:Blaze

Song:My Beat

Album:House Masters

Blaze was a production group known for producing house music. Though they occasionally released albums as Blaze, they were mostly producers for other artists. Their 1997 single My Beat is one of their most memorable songs as it charted in England and on the Dance charts. Blaze was formed in New Jersey in 1984 by Kevin Hedge and Chris Herbert. Herbert brought in Josh Milan who was in his church choir. They recorded an album with Herbert on vocals, Milan on piano and Hedge producing. After releasing a few singles, they produced the 1989 single One Better World for the British band ABC. That got Blaze a record deal with Motown and they released the 1990 album 25 Years Later. Herbert left in 1991 and Hedge took over as lead singer. He uses the name Palmer Brown. After leaving Motown, Blaze signed with the British label Slip 'n' Slide and released the 1997 album Basic Blaze. The single My Beat charted in England and on the Dance charts. Hedge is singer Palmer Brown. There are plenty of remixes available. There are two versions on this 2CD comp available as a digital download. Though Blaze recorded occasionally, they concentrated on producing other artists and doing remixes. They also owned a nightclub together. Blaze split up in 2012. Hedge is mainly a club DJ these days and he still uses the name Blaze. Milan started his own company Honeycomb Music where he is mostly a songwriter and producer. Here's the video for My Beat by Blaze.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-The Detergents

Artist:The Detergents

Song:Leader of the Laudromat

Album:The Golden Age of American Rock 'n' Roll: Special Novelty Edition

The 1965 single Leader of the Laudromat was a top 20 hit. One of their other songs charted so The Detergents are not technically a one hit wonder. Leader of the Laundromat was a parody of The Shangri-Las hit Leader of the Pack. Occasionally parody songs can be hits. I guess today Weird Al Yankovic is king of the parodies. Back then Allen Sherman was the king of parodies. Not surprisingly, The Detergents were a studio band led by Paul Vance and Lee Pockriss. They wrote and produced records together like the 1957 Perry Como single Catch a Falling Star and Brian Hyland's 1960 single Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini. But they weren't in The Detergents. In 1964, teenagers Ron Dante, Danny Jordan and Tommy Wynn were staff songwriters and session singers for Don Kirshner's song publishing company Aldon Music located in New York's Brill Building. All the song publishers were in that building. Jordan is Vance's nephew. So when Dante, Jordan and Wynn formed Cabin Kids and released the single Little Lollypop on the Screen Gems label, Vance heard about it and brought the song Leader of the Laundromat to them. He wanted them to record it as The Detergents. Jordan sang lead and the record was released on Roulette Records. It reached #19 on the Billboard Hot 100 which is pretty good for a novelty record. The Detergents became a real band and appeared on TV shows like Shindig! and Hullabaloo and toured with Dick Clark's Caravan of Stars. The album The Many Faces of The Detergents is available from Collectibles. But you can get Leader of the Laundromat on this Ace Records various artists comp. Dante is the best known of The Detergents as he was lead singer of The Archies and produced Barry Manilow's 70s albums. Jordan and Wynn briefly recorded as a duo. Jordan was one of the guys behind the 1972 instrumental hit Popcorn by Hot Butter. It looks like Wynn quit the music business. Here's a video for Leader of the Laundromat by The Detergents.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-By Divine Right

Artist:By Divine Right

Song:Come for a Ride

Album:Bless This Mess

The Canadian indie band By Divine Right have been around since the late 80s. The have had modest success in Canada. But the band personnel has been unstable and they have bounced around too many record labels. The likely blame for this goes to lead singer and guitarist Jose Miguel Contreras. Some band leaders treat a band like a collective and some behave like dictators and the band members get tired of that and leave. Contreras writes and produces everything so the band members are disposable. Contreras formed By Divine Right in 1989 with guitarist Steve Berman, bassist Liz Teear and drummer Mark Goldstein while attending Thornlea Secondary School in the Toronto suburb of Thornhill, ON. Goldstein stayed until 2000. But the other two were gone quickly. By Divine Right self released a 1992 cassette followed by a 1995 album on Kinetic Records. Then they released the 1997 album All Hail Discordia. Then they signed with the much larger Nettwerk label. Nettwerk picked up All Hail Discordia followed by the 1999 album Bless This Mess. Guitarist Leslie Feist and bassist Brendan Canning joined the band. Nettwerk sent By Divine Right on a North American tour opening for The Tragically Hip. They also released a video for Come for a Ride. Obviously, Nettwerk wanted to sell By Divine Right to a much larger audience. Contreras wrote and produced everything. The problem Nettwerk had with By Divine Right is they were more experimental art pop and guitar noise than Nettwerk's usual bands. They also weren't used to the tour schedule and were burned out when it was finished. The band's instability was also a factor. Leslie Feist and Brendan Canning left By Divine Right and started Broken Social Scene with Kevin Drew. That band has been very successful and of course Leslie has had a successful solo career. Bless This Mess is available on CD. Since then. By Divine Right has released albums on Linus Entertainment, Hand Drawn Dracula and Headless Owl. They released their latest album in 2022 on Fortune Stellar. They still tour but their music has a limited following and it probably always will. Here's the video for Come for a Ride by By Divine Right. 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Alan Menken

Artist:Alan Menken

Song:Horse with No Rider

Album:Tangled:Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Alan Menken is a composer who has worked for Walt Disney Animation Studios since the late 80s. He has won a Daytime Emmy, seven Golden Globes, eight Oscars and one Tony. So he has won the EGOT as it is called. But he is mainly known for his music for Disney animated films including the 2011 film Tangled. He was born July 22, 1949 in New York City. His father was a dentist who played boogie woogie piano and his mother was an actress, dancer and playwright. Menken took piano and violin lessons as a child. Then he started to compose. He was nine years old when judges at the New York Federation of Music Clubs Junior Composers Contest rated his original composition Bouree as Superior and Excellent. After graduating from high school, he graduated from what is now called the New York University College of Arts and Science. Then he attended the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop. Learning from a composer like Engel got Menken interested in writing musicals. He did that at BMI workshops from 1974-78 for the Broadway at the Ballroom series. Menken and Maury Yeston were the composers. Menken's big break came in 1979 when playwright Howard Ashman chose him and Engel to write the music for his musical adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut's novel God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater. It did well enough that Menken and Ashman decided to write a musical adaptation of the 1960 Roger Corman classic schlock film Little Shop of Horrors. And that was Menken's first big success as it was financially successful, won awards and was turned into a 1986 film. Then Walt Disney Studios hired Menken and Ashman to compose the music for the 1989 animated adaptation of the Hans Christian Andersen story The Little Mermaid. Disney wanted The Little Mermaid to sit alongside Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs as a classic. It was so successful that it triggered a new era The Disney Renaissance. Under the Sea won a Best Song Oscar and Menken won a Best Score Oscar. After similar success with the 1991 film Beauty and the Beast, Ashman died while they were working on the 1992 film Aladdin. Ashman had finished three songs. Tim Rice wrote the rest of the songs with Menken. Rice was working on The Lion King. That was also very successful. Then Menken turned The Little Mermaid into a Broadway musical. And that was so successful that Broadway musicals are yet another Disney cash cow. Menken wrote the music for Pocahontas and Hercules with other songwriters. Then he returned to Broadway to work on the musicals The Little Mermaid and Sister Act. Then he worked on the 2011 animated film Tangled. This was an adaptation of the German fairy tale Rapunzel. Mandy Moore voiced the main character. It was written by Dan Fogelman and directed by Nathan Greno and Byron Howard. It was the first Disney animated feature to mix traditional animation with CGI and it cost $260M. Menken composed the score and wrote the songs with Glenn Slater. They had worked together before on the 2004 film Home on the Range. Though the film was successful and Menken's score was praised, the songs were criticized as pedestrian. I guess Salter could be blamed for that. The soundtrack album is a mix of Menken's score and songs mostly featuring Mandy Moore. It's available as a digital download. The album was certified Platinum. There was a 2017 TV series of Tangled. A live action sequel of Tangled was announced recently scheduled for a 2028 release. Menken's latest animated feature was the 2024 film Spellbound for Netflix. He also worked on the 2023 live action film The Little Mermaid. Menken is considered to be one of the all time great composers. I like his music. But he works on a lot of musicals and the songs in those musicals haven't been that good lately. Tangled is representative of that. Here's a video of Horse with No Rider from the 2011 film Tangled.