AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Nilsson

Artist:Nilsson

Song:Everybody's Talkin'

Album:One: The Best of Nilsson

The 1969 single Everybody's Talkin' was not Harry Nilsson's biggest hit. But it was his breakthrough hit and it allowed him to do whatever he wanted. It was the theme for the 1969 film Midnight Cowboy. Though Nilsson wrote most of his own songs, his two big hits were not original songs. He was born June 15, 1941 in Brooklyn, NY. He was of Swedish descent. He was raised by his mom and her parents after his father abandoned the family. Nilsson wrote about this in the song 1941. He moved to Los Angeles and worked at a bank while developing his music. He started performing in the early 60s and learned to write songs. He started out singing demos. In 1964, songwriter Perry Botkin Jr. (Nadia's Theme) gave Nilsson a key to his office so he could write songs in private. While working for Botkin, Nilsson met George Tipton. He financed Nilsson recordings that were released on Capitol's Tower label. After Tower released the 1966 album Spotlight on Nilsson and it went nowhere, Nilsson signed with RCA and released the 1967 album Pandemonium Shadow Show. Though there were no hit singles and the album didn't sell, it was critically acclaimed and after The Beatles press officer Derek Taylor gave copies of the album to The Beatles, they became Nilsson fans and they wanted to sign him to their new label Apple. And later Nilsson became friends with John Lennon. Plus the Nilsson song Cuddly Toy was a hit for The Monkees. Nilsson never toured. He didn't like performing live. He preferred the recording studio. The Fred Neil song Everybody's Talkin' first appeared on Nilsson's 1968 album Aerial Ballet. It was the only song on the album that Nilsson did not write. Nilsson was searching for a hit single when his producer Rick Jarrard played Everybody's Talkin' for him. Neil recorded it on his 1966 album Fred Neil. RCA released Everybody's Talkin' as a single but it didn't chart. Meanwhile, director John Schlesinger was working on Midnight Cowboy. Derek Taylor recommended that Nilsson should write and perform the theme for the film. Nilsson wrote and recorded the song I Guess the Lord Must Be in New York City. But Schlesinger preferred Nilsson's recording of Everybody's Talkin'. Of course the film was a big hit and Everybody's Talkin' reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100. BTW. I Guess the Lord Must Be in New York City appeared on Nilsson's 1969 album Harry. The songwriting royalties allowed Fred Neil to retire from music. So now Nilsson was a big star. This 2CD budget comp from the British oldies label Music Club has all of Nilsson's Hits. I will look at the second half of Nilsson's career in the future. Here's Nilsson performing Everybody's Talkin' on the German TV show Beat Club 1968. Yes, he's lip synching. As I said, Nilsson hated performing live.

 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-The Buffalo Bills

Artist:The Buffalo Bills

Song:Sincere

Album:The Music Man: Original Soundtrack

No, I'm not talking about the Buffalo Bills NFL football team. This is about The Buffalo Bills barbershop quartet. They appeared on 50s TV and are best known for appearing in the 1957 Broadway musical The Music Man and the 1962 film version. Of course the name barbershop music is because even today, the local barber shop is a community hub. It's similar to other types of four part harmony including offshoots like doo wop. The Buffalo Bills were formed in 1947 in Buffalo. Members were tenor Vern Reed, lead Al Shea, baritone Herschel Smith and bass Bill Spangenberg. None were professional musicians. They were introduced as The Buffalo Bills at an appearance and the name stuck. In those days, barbershop quartets competed in competitions. It's similar to what is seen today in college a cappella competitions. Smith left The Buffalo Bills when he got a job in Wisconsin. Dick Grapes replaced him and The Buffalo Bills won the 1950 Barbershop Harmony Society International Quartet Contest. They appeared on radio and TV shows like The Faye Emerson Pepsi-Cola Show on CBS. They toured military bases and even got a record deal with Decca. In the early 50s, The Music Man composer Meredith Willson hosted the radio show Music Today. He heard The Buffalo Bills records and went to Buffalo to meet them. In 1957, The Buffalo Bills competed on the TV show Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts and appeared on Godfrey's morning show. Willson asked The Buffalo Bills to appear in his Broadway musical The Music Man. They moved to New York. Grapes stayed behind and was replaced by Scotty Ward of the Great Scotts quartet from Steubenville, OH. After The Music Man was a big hit, The Buffalo Bills continued to appear on TV and signed a record deal with Mitch Miller at Columbia Records. They recorded four albums for Columbia and also recorded for Warner Bros. and RCA. And they appeared in the 1962 film of The Music Man. That soundtrack album is available as a budget CD. Spangenberg died in 1963 and was replaced by Jim Jones of The Sta-Laters. The Buffalo Bills continued to tour until they disbanded in 1967. Here's The Buffalo Bills performing Sincere in the 1962 film The Music Man.

 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Horse Feathers

Artist:Horse Feathers

Song:Curs in the Weeds

Album:House with No Name

Horse Feathers is another case of a solo artist using a group name to retain his anonymity. Justin Ringle writes and produces everything and he has been bringing in musicians to help him since 2006. Ringle is from Idaho. And after he was in several short lived rock bands, he moved to Portland, OR. and started performing as Horse Feathers. Peter Broderick was born in Maine but he grew up in Carlton, OR. He plays violin, banjo and mandolin and he became a session and touring musician. After Broderick heard a couple of Ringle's demos, he offered to help record them. And that led to Horse Feathers 2006 debut album Words Are Dead on the local label Lucky Madison. Broderick's sister Heather Broderick joined Horse Feathers on cello and the band started touring. They signed with the major indie label Kill Rock Stars and that meant they could tour everywhere. Curs in the Woods is from the 2008 album House with No Name which was Horse Feathers' first album on Kill Rock Stars. As I said, Ringle writes and produces everything but he brings in outside musicians to help record and also for tours. Personally, I don't care for Ringle's singing. But obviously enough people like him that he has recorded six Horse Feathers albums. The most recent of these was released in 2018. Horse Feathers is active on Instagram and Facebook. Kill Rock Stars has released a 20th anniversary edition of Horse Feathers' debut album Words Are Dead. And they are playing a show in Portland in August. But It's not clear if Ringle intends to continue Horse Feathers or do something else. Here's the video for Curs in the Woods by Horse Feathers. 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-The Sugarcubes

Artist:The Sugarcubes

Song:Birthday

Album:The Great Crossover Potential

Of course the Icelandic band The Sugarcubes is best known as the launching pad for the popular singer Bjork. I guess she had to start somewhere. They only recorded three albums. So they weren't around very long. I guess she got too big for the band. Bjork had been in bands as a teen. She even recorded a solo album in 1977 when she was 11 years old. The band was called Puki when it was formed in 1986 out the ashes of two bands. Bjork had just given birth to a son. She wanted a cute band name so it was changed to The Sugarcubes. Bjork and singer Einar Orn were in The Sugarcubes' entire run along with guitarist Por Eldon Jonsson. Bassist Bragi Olafsson and drummer Siggi Baldursson were the other main members. The Sugarcubes signed with the British indie label One Little Indian and Elektra Records in the US so they could tour everywhere. Birthday is from their 1988 debut album Life's Too Good. It's probably their best known song. The Sugarcubes did well on the British charts. But they never had a big hit single. But Life's Too Good was highly acclaimed by the music press including Album of the Year by the British music papers NME and Melody Maker. Plus Bjork got plenty of attention from the music press. So one would have thought that the album's success would lead to stardom for The Sugarcubes. But it really didn't and they split up in 1992. Fans were interested in Bjork but not The Sugarcubes. This comp covers all three albums. So The Sugarcubes were most notable as a launching pad for Bjork. Here's the video for Birthday by The Sugarcubes.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Muse

Artist:Muse

Song:Hysteria

Album:Absolution

The British band Muse have had success at home. But with the 2004 album Absolution, they started to get attention in the US and they have a new album coming in June. The main criticism of Muse is they sound too much like Coldplay. But that kind of criticism could also be used as a recommendation. So if you like Coldplay, you should like Muse. Muse was formed in 1994 while all three guys were attending Tergnmouth Community School in Devon County in England. They were all in different bands. Drummer Dominic Howard was looking for a singer for his band Carnage Mayhem. Matt Bellamy auditioned for guitarist. But he also sang and Howard wanted him for that. They renamed the band Gothic Plague. They asked Fixed Penalty drummer Chris Wolstenholme if he wanted to be the bassist. He joined and the band was renamed Rocket Baby Dolls. After they smashed their equipment at a local battle of the bands, they actually won the contest and decided to take themselves more seriously. They changed the band name to Muse. Bellamy thought the name was inspirational and it looked good on a poster. They moved to London and opened for the band Skunk Anansie. They met with recording studio owner Dennis Smith and he started a record label for them. Smith knew the boys when they were kids. They released a couple EPs and got some radio play. Despite that, British labels were reluctant to sign Muse because...wait for it..they sounded too much like Coldplay. So Muse went to New York to play a showcase for several labels and they signed with Maverick Records owned by Madonna and Guy Oseary with Warner Bros. distribution. The 2003 album Absolution was Muse's third album. There were problems at Maverick. And after a lawsuit, Madonna and Oseary left and Warners took over the label. Muse is still on Warner Bros. and have a new album coming in June. Absolution is the album that got Muse worldwide attention. They write and produce all the songs. Bellamy writes all the lyrics, is lead singer and he plays guitar and keyboards. They hire keyboardists for tours. There is no Muse single CD comp. So you should check out Absolution if they interest you. Muse continue to tour and record. They will release their tenth album The WOW Signal! in June. They will begin touring in July to support it. Here's the video for Hysteria by Muse.

 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Skye Sweetnam

Artist:Skye Sweetnam

Song:Tangled Up in Me

Album:Noise from the Basement

Canadian singer songwriter Skye Sweetnam was sixteen years old when Capitol Records attempted to turn her into a teen pop star. When that didn't work out, she formed the punk metal band Sumo Cyco which is still active today. She was born May 5, 1988 in Bolton, ON which is northwest of Toronto. She began singing as a child and she took singing and dancing lessons. She started writing songs and a demo got the attention of Capitol Records Canada and they put her together with producer James Robertson. He's a local guy from Guelph and other than Skye, he hasn't produced anything notable. He currently lives in Hamilton and plays local clubs. The two wrote and produced the 2004 album Songs from the Basement. The album was ready in 2002 and Capitol kept postponing it. Skye was supposed to tour with Britney Spears but Britney injured her knee and the tour was postponed. Capitol tried other things to promote Skye but none of them worked. Critics thought Skye sounded too much like Avril Lavigne and that didn't help. This album is available as a digital download. For the 2007 album Sound Soldier, Capitol brought in the production team The Matrix who had produced...ahem...Avril Lavigne. When that album did worse, Skye left Capitol and formed the punk metal band Sumo Syco. Skye is lead singer and co-writes all the songs. They have released four albums on the Austrian label Napalm Records. They last released an album last year. They just started a US tour. So for Canadian music fans wondering what happened to Skye Sweetnam, there ya go. Here's the video for Tangled Up in Me by Skye Sweetnam.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Clifford Brown

Artist:Clifford Brown

Song:Memories of You

Album:Ultimate Clifford Brown

Here is another of my Jazz for Beginners series complete with a live video clip and an affordable comp intended for beginners. Though trumpeter Clifford Brown died in 1956 at age 25, he has had a lasting impact on jazz and is considered an all time great despite his brief career. He was born Oct. 30, 1930 in Wilmington, DE. His father played trumpet. He tried to organize his four sons into a vocal group. But Brown was fascinated by his dad's shiny trumpet and started blowing. At age 13, Brown's dad bought him a trumpet and had him take lessons. He was in a jazz band in high school that made trips to Philadelphia. Though Brown attended college after graduating from high school, he was more interested in jazz. After being injured in a June 1950 car crash, Dizzy Gillespie visited Brown in the hospital and encouraged him to start a music career. Brown's main influence was bebop trumpeter Fats Navarro. He moved to New York and played with Art Blakey and J.J. Johnson before forming a band with drummer Max Roach. He was a member of Blakey's first band with Lou Donaldson, Horace Silver and Curley Russell. At the time, Miles Davis and Charlie Parker were among Brown's admirers. Roach had moved to Los Angeles and Brown followed him. The original Brown/Roach band was formed in 1954 with Harold Land on tenor sax, Richie Powell (Bud Powell's brother) on piano and George Morrow on bass and signed with Mercury's jazz label EmArcy. Most of Brown's recordings were on EmArcy. Brown alternated recording with Roach and recording as a leader of his own band. He also recorded with singers Sarah Vaughan and Dinah Washington. And he also recorded the 1955 album Clifford Brown with Strings. Of course this was influenced by Charlie Parker's album with strings. Record companies thought an album with strings would reach a wider audience when all it really did was annoy the established jazz fanbase. I guess Brown just went along with it because if it was OK with Parker, it's OK with him. The album was produced by EmArcy house producer Bob Shad. The string arrangements were by Neal Hefti who was working with Count Basie at the time. The band was Brown's usual band of Powell, Roach and Morrow plus guitarist Barry Galbraith. The songs are all standards including the 1930 Eubie Blake song Memories of You. This song was first recorded by Louis Armstrong in 1930. You can get it on this Verve comp CD compiled by trumpeter Nicholas Payton. So Brown was just getting started when on June 26, 1956, Brown and Powell were driving to a gig in Chicago. Powell's wife drove and the guys slept in the back. It was raining and she lost control on the Pennsylvania Turnpike and that was it. Clifford Brown died at age 25. Brown didn't drink, smoke or take drugs. So it's likely he would have lived a long life. But his music still sounds great. I listen to him all the time and so should you. Here's Clifford Brown performing Lady Be Good and Memories of You on the TV show Soupy's On hosted by Soupy Sales. This is the only live video clip of Clifford Brown.