AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Georges Brassens

Artist:Georges Brassens
Song:Hecatombe
Album:La Mauvaise Reputation





Georges Brassens was one of France's most beloved singer songwriters. He was very popular in the 50s and his music paved the way for Jacques Brel and others. He had health issues later on that forced him to be less active. He was born Oct. 22, 1921 in Sete, France near the Mediterranean. He learned to play mandolin as a child and began writing poetry as a teen. He started playing music in school but got derailed when he was expelled from school in 1939 for his involvement in a campus theft. He moved to Paris to work at the Renault factory and learned piano. In 1943, he was conscripted into the STO that forced him to go to a work program in Germany. When he got a two week leave, he went AWOL and went into hiding. He taught himself to play the guitar. After the war, he attempted to establish himself as a songwriter but had trouble selling his songs. In 1952, female cabaret star Patachou convinced Brassens to try performing. He never thought of that but it led to a contract with Polydor. La Mauvaise Reputation was his very first album in 1953. He became very popular on the Paris cabaret circuit. There's nothing flashy about him. He just sings from the heart. Kidney problems forced Brassens to stop touring in the 60s but he continued to record and work on music for films. He retired in 1977 and died on Oct. 21, 1981 at age 60. Here's Georges Brassens performing Hecatombe probably in the 60s. This video is not on Youtube.

Georges Brassens - Hécatombe
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Carina Damm on training in the US

Brazilian fighter Carina Damm was interviewed by Tatame mainly to update them about her training in the US. As fans may already be aware, Carina moved to the US five months ago. She appeared in the Strikeforce 135lb tournament and lost to Hitomi Akano and she has a match coming up on Dec. 10 against Cat Albert in Ring Of Fire in Colorado. She is training at American Top Team in Florida working with Ricardo Liborio, Conan Silbeira, Mark Parrumpinha and Katel Kubis. It is the first time in her career that she is not training with her brother Rodrigo Damm. She also has women as training partners. She always trained with men in Brazil. She has been working quite a bit on her Muay Thai with Kubis and she feels she has made a lot of progress. So what happened in the Strikeforce tournament? Carina says she had never fought at 135lb before so it was a new experience. She was also distracted by visa issues and she says that may have affected her mental state. Tatame asked her about winning the fight in China. She tells them the fight didn't happen. She doesn't know what happened but when she arrived in Hong Kong with Rodrigo, they were told the show was cancelled and returned to the US the next day. In case you didn't know, there were some financial shenanigans going on with that show that I'm not going to comment about. Carina was supposed to fight at the Iron Man show in Belem, Brazil in December. She has had to cancel that appearance to to visa issues. Right now if she leaves the US, she might not be able to return. She hopes to have this straightened out shortly. She is now training hard now to prepare for Cat Albert. She says she will do her best to make Brazil proud of her.

Ayumi Kurihara can wrestle and cook

Ayumi Kurihara has been doing a media tour to promote her 5th anniversary show Dec. 12 at Shijuku FACE. So I have a couple of videos for you. The first one is from Tokyo Sports. I'm sure most fans know that Ayumi's parents own a Tokyo restaurant called Three Treasures Roast Meat Shop. So they decided to do the interview over lunch. In the first part of the interview, she talks about the show conentrating mostly on her feud with Tomoka Nakagawa. And in the second part of the interview, Ayumi makes lunch. And at the end she stuffs her face. In the second video, Ayumi visits the Sankei Sports office and gives a wrestling demonstration to some guy wearing a mask. They're both cool interviews and demonstrates Ayumi's girl next door appeal. Enjoy!

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Edith Piaf

Artist:Edith Piaf
Song:La Vie En Rose
Album:The Voice Of The Sparrow: The Very Best Of Edith Piaf





Edith Piaf is generally regarded as France's greatest popular singer and is still revered as an icon today. La Vie En Rose is her signature song. It's funny how someone so petite could be larger than life many years after her death. She was born Edith Giovanna Gassion Dec. 19, 1915 in Paris. The legend that she was born in the street is not true. She was born in a hospital like most of us. Her father was a street acrobat and her mother was a singer. Her mother ignored her so she went to live with her father after WWI and started performing with him. She went out on her own and sang in the streets of Paris. She gave birth to a daughter at age 17 but the little girl died of meningitis at age 2. In 1935, nightclub owner Louis Leplee found her singing in the street and took Edith under his wing. He named her The Little Sparrow. But Leplee was murdered by mobsters in 1936. The scandal threatened her singing career and she hired songwriter Raymond Asso to help her. He renamed her Edith Piaf and teamed her up with songwriter Marguerite Mennot and the two wrote songs tailored for Edith. She started to have some success and by the time she starred in Jean Cocteau's 1940 play Le Bel Indifferent, she was the toast of Paris. After WWII, started touring internationally and appearing in movies. She first recorded La Vie En Rose in 1946 and named to the Grammy Hall Of Fame in 1988. She had great success through the 50s despite losing her husband in a 1949 plane crash and almost getting killed in a 1951 car crash. Edith Piaf died of liver cancer on Oct. 11, 1963 at age 47. This budget comp is a good intro to her music. Edith Piaf's legend continues today. She got the biopic treatment in the 2007 film La Vie En Rose. Her influence on French popular music is huge. Here's Edith Piaf performing La Vie En Rose in the 1947 film Neuf Garcons, Un Coeur. This video is not on Youtube.

Edith Piaf - La Vie En Rose
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A little something for Rin Nakai fans

pic courtesy of Dan Herbertson

Liz Carmouche wins in Strikeforce

Here's the match video from last night's Strikeforce show in Jackson, MS. It's Liz Carmouche vs Jan Finney. Liz is undefeated and we first saw her in Strikeforce in August with a unanimous decision win over Colleen Schneider. I thought that match was pretty close. Of course Jan lost to Cris Cyborg in June. 135lb is her natural weight. Jan is much more experienced and bigger than Liz. I've seen several of Jan's fights and she's game but she's missing something. I can't put my finger on what she's missing but some fighters are at a certain level and aren't capable of rising above that level. Let's face it. She probably shouldn't be in Strikeforce in the first place. We all know how that happened. It becomes obvious in round one that Liz is smaller but much stronger than Jan. That judo throw was brute strength. And Liz is much busier as well. Jan didn't seem to do anything even when she was on top. It was the same in round two and then in round three, Liz mounted Jan and pounded away until the fight was stopped at 1:30 of round three. I thought Liz was much more impressive in this fight than her previous Strikeforce match. Afterwards, they teased a match against Sarah Kaufman. She has potential but I don't think she's ready for Sarah. Enjoy the video!

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Mary Chapin Carpenter

Artist:Mary Chapin Carpenter
Song:Down At The Twist And Shout
Album:The Essential Mary Chapin Carpenter





Mary Chapin Carpenter had a long run on the country charts in the 90s. Down At The Twist And Shout was her first top five country hit in 1991 and it also won a Grammy. For the most part, she did not cross over to the pop market. She was born Feb. 21, 1958 in Princeton, NJ. Her dad was an executive with Life Magazine. Her family lived in Japan for a couple of years before moving to Washington, DC in 1971. She started writing songs while attending Brown University but was very reluctant to perform. She met guitarist John Jennings in the early 80s and eventually took music more seriously and landed a contract with Columbia in 1987. At first Columbia tried to sell her to the college market as a singer songwriter. But Mary's career didn't take off until Columbia sold her to the country market though Mary is very uncomfortable being labeled as a country singer. But that's where she has had most of her success. Down At The Twist And Shout is from her second CD Shooting Straight In The Dark. It reached #2 on the Country Singles chart and it was her first top five hit. It also won a 1992 Grammy for Best Country Vocal Performance, Female. Her success continued until she took a break in 1996. She returned in 2001 with the CD Time*Sex*Love but after having several Platinum albums, it just didn't sell as well and she left Columbia after her 2004 CD Between Here And Gone. She currently records for Rounder's Zoe label and her latest CD The Age Of Miracles was released in Apr. 2010. This budget comp is a good intro to her music. Here's the video for Down At The Twist And Shout by Mary Chapin Carpenter.

The WWE releases Jillian Hall

Today the WWE had another of their semi-annual talent purges. Two women were among the releases. The first was this girl known as Tiffany who was arrested a few months ago for assaulting her husband Drew McIntyre. So I guess the writing was on the wall. She was another dime a dozen model so it's no big loss. But they also released Jillian Hall. It's not exactly news that the WWE has a habit of wasting talent. And they also have a habit of blaming wrestlers when characters and storylines don't get over. But the WWE career of Jillian Hall may be the worst waste of perfectly good wrestling talent in WWE history. They gave her two of the worst characters in WWE history and also had her jobbing to untrained models. And Jillian tried so hard to make it work but no one could have got over with those characters. And then as a gag they gave her a 30 second title run before her final burial. She deserved so much better than that. I recall seeing her as Macaela Mercedes in her pre-WWE days wrestling Beth Phoenix at an Apocalypse Wrestling Federation show in Scarborough, ON Jan. 2003. It was a classic match with a terrible ending. Both girls were great. And both went to Ohio Valley Wrestling to try and earn a WWE contract. And both were successful. But Jillian was never really given much of an opportunity to show her mat skills. And last month she announced that she was going to Florida Championship Wrestling to work as a trainer. So what happened? We don't know yet but I would guess that at 30 years of age she decided she had several good years of pro wrestling in her and changed her mind about retiring. She's from Kentucky so I would not be surprised to see her return to OVW. And TNA is always interested in ex-WWE Divas so she could turn up there in 2011. Jillian is a very good wrestler but she was poorly used by the WWE and is probably better off getting out of there.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Louis Brooks & His Hi-Toppers

Artist:Louis Brooks & His Hi-Toppers f/Earl Gaines
Song:It's Love Baby (24 Hours A Day)
Album:Night Train To Nashville: Music City Rhythm & Blues 1945-1970




It's hard to believe that over his long career as an R & B shouter, Earl Gaines only had one significant chart hit and it wasn't even under his own name. But Gaines was a fixture on the Nashville music scene until his death last year. He was born Aug. 19, 1935 in Decatur, AL and moved to Nashville as a teen. He worked as a singer and drummer with songwriter producer Ted Jarrett and met Louis Brooks in a club. Louis Brooks & His Hi-Toppers were an instrumental group but they had a contract with Excello Records. Gaines joined the group and It's Love Baby was their first single in 1955. It reached #2 on the R & B singles chart and it may have been Excello's first hit. The song was written by R & B legend Hank Ballard. It appears that Brooks was content with being a local group. It doesn't seem like he wanted to tour. So Excello turned Gaines into a solo artist and sent him on the 1955 R & B Caravan Of Stars tour. Gaines performed at Carnegie Hall in New York. But none of his singles caught on and he eventually became lead singer for organist Bill Doggett and played drums on sessions. Gaines had a top 40 hit with Best Of Luck To You in 1966 and continued to record until he quit the music business in 1975 to drive a truck. He returned to music in 1989 and had a lot of success touring the blues circuit and recording until his death Dec. 31, 2009 at age 74. This 2CD comp from Lost Highway won a Grammy in 2005 and is a must for fans of obscure R & B. Here's Earl Gaines performing It's Love Baby (24 Hours A Day) on the Nashville TV show The !!!! Beat 1966.

Jango Song Of The Day-Donavon Frankenreiter

Artist:Donavon Frankenreiter
Song:Life, Love & Laughter
Album:Pass It Around





Remember all those surfing songs that Brian Wilson wrote though he never actually surfed. Singer songwriter Donavon Frankenreiter is a professional surfer who got into music as a hobby. He's had a lot of success in Australia because surfing is a big sport there. He was born Dec. 10, 1972 in Downey, CA. He became a professional surfer at age 14 and moved to Hawaii with a sponsorship from Billabong clothing. He rented a room from Jack Johnson's parents and the two became friends. Music was only a hobby for Frankenreiter. He played lead guitar for the band Sunchild and they released three albums from 1997-2001. When they disbanded, Frankenreiter decided to pursue a solo career. Johnson was starting his Brushfire label and Frankenreiter recorded his 2004 debut CD on the label. He toured Australia because he's a big surfing star there and the album went top 40 there. Frankenreiter moved to Universal's Lost Highway label for his 2006 CD Move By Yourself. Life, Love & Laughter is from his 2008 CD Pass It Around. It was produced by veteran producer Joe Chicarelli. He started out as an audio engineer for Frank Zappa and has produced Tori Amos, My Morning Jacket and is currently working with The Strokes. Frankenreiter continues to tie in his music career with surfing. He usually has surfing seminars as part of his shows. He now records for his own Liquid Tambourine label with Warners distribution. His new CD Glow was released last month. Here's the video for Life, Love & Laughter by Donavon Frankenreiter. Yes, that is film footage of him surfing. The video is supposed to look like it was home made.

Mika Nagano open workout

Today at the Caesar Gym, Mika Nagano and Fuuka held an open workout for the media. The video clip is courtesy of Nikkan Sports. For those who don't know, Caesar Gym is the home of Shoot Boxing and the STARDOM joshi puroresu company has been training there. This particular media event was supposed to kill two birds with one stone. Mika was hyping the Dec. 17 JEWELS show and her participation in the JEWELS Lightweight Tournament. And of course the continuing hype for STARDOM which will debut on Jan. 23. Part of that is selling Fuuka as a general manager as opposed to a figurehead. Fans may recall that Mika worked briefly last year for the Ice Ribbon joshi puroresu company. She also worked a Fuuka Matsuri show last year. The two have been friends for a couple of years. They do some sparring. MMA fans may be wondering about those goofy looking roundhouse kicks. That's Fuuka teaching her F Doll finisher to Mika. Kicking was the only thing Fuuka was good at as a pro wrestler. STARDOM is trying to sell Fuuka as an important part of the company. Of course Nanae Takahashi is actually training the wrestlers. Can Mika Nagano do both MMA and pro wrestling? Sure. Megumi Yabushita has been doing it for 13 years. Enjoy the video!

Jango Song Of The Day-The Kentucky Headhunters

Artist:The Kentucky Headhunters

Song:Honky Tonk Walkin'

Album:Best Of The Kentucky Headhunters: Still Pickin'

At the height of their popularity in the early 90s, The Kentucky Headhunters' mix of country and rock attracted a significant fanbase mostly in the country music market. At the time, they only recorded three albums for Mercury. But they're still around but not on a major label. They are actually a family band from Glasgow, KY. Guitarist and vocalist Richard Young, his drummer brother Fred Young, and cousins Anthony Kenney (bass) and Greg Martin (lead guitar) started out in 1968 as Itchy Brother. They mostly had regional success in the 70s and were even signed to Led Zeppelin's Swan Song label. But Swan Song closed in 1981 and Itchy Brother disbanded in 1982. Richard Young worked as a songwriter for Acuff-Rose. Fred Young worked for country singer Sylvia. Greg Martin worked for country singer Ronnie McDowell. Jason Kenney quit the music business. When Itchy Brother reformed in 1985, Kenney declined and Martin brought in bassist Doug Phelps from the McDowell band and he brought his older brother Ricky Lee Phelps in to be the new lead vocalist. They changed their name to The Headhunters but there was already a band with that name so it was changed to The Kentucky Headhunters. They recorded an album that they planned to sell at their live shows. But instead it earned them a contract at Mercury and Pickin' On Nashville was their 1989 debut. Their cover of Don Gibson's Oh Lonesome Me was their biggest hit and reached #8 on the Country Singles chart. The album went double platinum. Their follow up albums did OK but not as well as the debut. There was conflict within the band over creative direction. Doug & Ricky Lee Phelps wanted to be more of a country group. So they left and their band Brother Phelps recorded a couple of albums. Jason Kenney returned and Mark S. Orr was hired to be the new lead vocalist. Honky Tonk Walkin' is from their 1993 CD Rave On!. Again, this did not sell as well as previous albums and the group left Mercury. This budget CD is a comp of their Mercury CDs. Orr left in 1995 and Doug Phelps returned. The Kentucky Headhunters have recorded for Nonesuch, BNA, Koch and currently record for CBuj Entertainment. They released a live CD last year. Richard Young has worked as a producer and Greg Martin has a couple of side projects. Here's the video for Honky Tonk Walkin' by The Kentucky Headhunters.

Jango Song Of The Day-Kirk Franklin

Artist:Kirk Franklin
Song:September
Album:Interpretations: Celebrating The Music Of Earth, Wind & Fire





I don't usually like tribute albums. I find a lot of them are lame. But you may have overlooked this 2007 tribute to Earth, Wind & Fire that launched Concord Music's revival of Stax Records. I also suspect that because this cover of September is not on one of gospel superstar Kirk Franklin's own CDs that his fans have overlooked the CD and may not be aware that Franklin did a video for the song. Of course as many EW&F fans are aware, EW&F leader Maurice White suffers from multiple sclerosis so he hasn't been as active in recent years. But he did personally select the artists and songs for this CD. Franklin does a straightforward version of the classic September. He gives it a gospel spin but he doesn't mess with it too much. Me'Shell Ndegeocello's cover of Fantasy and Dwele's cover of That's The Way Of the World were both nominated for Best Urban/Alternative Performance Grammys. Others appearing on the CD are Chaka Khan, Angie Stone, Ledisi, Lalah Hathaway, Mint Condition and Musiq Soulchild. So if you're an Earth, Wind & Fire fan you want to be sure to check out this CD. Here's the video for September by Kirk Franklin. You'll notice that Maurice White appears in the video.

Jango Song Of The Day-Big & Rich

Artist:Big & Rich
Song:Save A Horse (Ride A Cowboy)
Album:Greatest Hits





As we all know, there is a certain formula to country music in Nashville. So the Nashville establishment is usually very resistent to any act that doesn't fit that formula. And that's what happened in 2004 when Big & Rich broke through with Save A Horse (Ride A Cowboy). But fans liked their irreverent approach and have made Big & Rich one of the most popular country music acts of the last decade. The group is currently on hiatus. John Rich (born Jan. 7, 1974 in Amarillo, TX) was lead singer of the very popular group Lonestar. After leaving Lonestar in 1998, he attempted a solo career with BNA Records but his album was not released. Big Kenny Alphin (born Nov. 1, 1963 in Culpepper, VA) had a record deal with Hollywood Records. But his album was not released and the contract cancelled. he formed a group called luvjOi. Alphin and Rich met at a Nashville club and started writing together. When one of their songs She's A Butterfly became a hit for Martina McBride, manager Marc Oswald suggested they start recording together. This led to a contract with Warner Bros. Horse Of A Different Color was their 2004 debut CD. Save A Horse was the second single but it was the first song to get Big & Rich a lot of attention because the music video was much different from the standard country music video. It was the most requested video on CMT for four weeks and the song reached #11 on the Country Singles chart. The album topped the Country Album chart and sold three million copies. Their other two albums have done equally well and they finally topped the Country Singles chart with Lost In This Moment in 2007. Big & Rich have also produced other artists like rapper Cowboy Troy. Rich hosted the CMT series Gone Country and was also a judge on the NBC show Nashville Star. Big & Rich went on hiatus in 2008 so Alphin could recover from a neck injury. Meanwhile, Rich released a solo CD Son Of A Preacher Man in 2009 and Alphin releeased a CD on his own label. Warners released this Greatest Hits comp in 2009. Don't know yet if they will get back together. But you should check them out. Big & Rich are a lot of fun. Here's the video for Save A Horse (Ride A Cowboy) by Big & Rich.

BIG & RICH | SAVE A HORSE (RIDE A COWBOY) @ Yahoo! Video

Jango Song Of The Day-Rhythm Heritage

Artist:Rhythm Heritage
Song:Theme From S.W.A.T.
Album:Thriller Jazz





Of course TV themes have always been ripe fodder for pop hits. Sometimes it's the original version. But this discofied version of the theme from the 70s TV show S.W.A.T. was recorded by studio musicians. There was never a group called Rhythm Heritage that you could see perform. But they recorded a few albums and Theme From S.W.A.T. topped the pop charts in 1976. The guys behind the group were ABC Records house producer Steve Barri and session keyboard player and producer Michael Omartian. You might not be familiar with Omartian but he's been around since the 70s and has had numerous #1 hits as a producer. He also has a career as a Contemporary Christian Music singer and his wife Stormie Omartian sings too. Rhythm Heritage would have been very early in his career when he was working for Barri at ABC Records. Barry DeVorzon wrote the theme from S.W.A.T. after he met producer Aaron Spelling at a restaurant and promised him a hit theme. DeVorzon had his own top ten hit in 1976 with Nadia's Theme from the TV soap The Young and the Restless. Disco was getting hot at the time and Barri cooked up the idea of doing disco versions of TV and movie themes. The album Disco-Fied was released in 1976. Theme From S.W.A.T. topped the Billboard Hot 100 in Feb. 1976 and the theme from Baretta was a top 20 hit. Among the musicians who played on the record were guitarists Dean Parks & Ray Parker Jr., percussionist Victor Feldman, sax player Ernie Watts and session singers Orin & Luther Waters. Rhythm Heritage recorded a total of four albums but only three were released. ABC Records was sold to MCA in 1978 and Omartian and Barri went to Warner Bros. That was the end for Rhythm Heritage. You can only get Theme From S.W.A.T. on various artists comps. This comp from Verve has jazz versions of TV and movie themes. It looks very interesting. Here's a clip from a 1976 episode of American Bandstand featuring Theme From S.W.A.T. by Rhythm Heritage.

Jango Song Of The Day-Plants and Animals

Artist:Plants and Animals
Song:The Mama Papa
Album:La La Land





Plants and Animals are one of several bands to arise from the indie music hotbed in Montreal. They call their music post-classic rock meaning that they are using modern technology to produce their spin on 70s style rock. They've been nominated for some awards in Canada but haven't broken out of cult status yet. They're pretty good. Lead singer and guitarist Warren Spicer and drummer Matthew "Woody" Woodley are schoolmates from Halifax, NS. Of course the gag in Canada is that musicians from the Maritines have you move to central Canada to be successful. I don't think it's true but these guys moved to Montreal in 2004 and met bassist Nic Basque. They released two EPs independently and then signed with Secret City Records. Secret City is a Montreal based indie label best known as the home for acclaimed singer songwriter Patrick Watson. Plants and Animals 2008 debut CD Parc Avenue was critically acclaimed and shortlisted for the 2008 Polaris Music Prize. This is a Canadian version of the British Mercury Music Prize designed to promote Canadian artists. It is sponsored by Sirius Satellite Radio. Parc Avenue was also nominated for a 2009 Best Alternative Album Juno Award and Plants and Animals was nominated for Best New Band. La La Land was released in Apr. 2010 and The Mama Papa is their first music video. I would describe their music as alt rock with folk undertones. It remains to be seen if Plants and Animals will break through to a larger audience but they have potential and they are constantly touring. Here's the video for The Mama Papa by Plants and Animals.

Stardom holds public workout

Today at Shin-kiba 1st Ring, Stardom held a public workout for the media in an attempt to show that their trainees are coming along nicely. Nikkan Sports taped the proceedings which were supervised by Hiroshi Ogawa, Fuuka, Nanae Takahashi and Natsuki*Taiyo. The girls did some pushups and then did some sparring. You'll notice Mika Nagano wasn't there. She was busy doing some promotion for JEWELS. And you'll notice that Eri Susa did not participate in sparring as she is injured. The girl crying in the video is Iwatani. Apparently she was shamed when she lost to World IV Tiger in sparring and wants to wear a mask in the ring. Check out the video for yourself.

Jango Song Of The Day-Jerry Goldsmith

Artist:Jerry Goldsmith
Song:The Gremlin Rag
Album:Original Motion Picture Score: Gremlins





Jerry Goldsmith is one of the all time great film composers. You've heard his music in dozens of films since the 60s. His score from the 1984 film Gremlins is a fan favourite but unfortunately it has been treated very poorly by Geffen Records. He was born Feb. 10, 1929 in Los Angeles and studied at the University of Southern California where he was taught by legendary film composer Miklos Rosza. In 1950, he started out as a clerk in the CBS music department and started writing scores for radio and TV including the theme for The Twilight Zone. In 1960, he left CBS for Revue Studios and wrote the theme for The Man From U.N.C.L.E. In 1963, he was nominated for his first Oscar for John Huston's film Freud. This got the attention of 20th Century Fox music head Alfred Newman and he hired Goldsmith. Over the years he has scored dozens of films but is particularly known for scoring science fiction films including Planet Of The Apes, Poltergeist and many others. He won his only Oscar for The Omen in 1976. Of course Gremlins was a very popular horror comedy directed by Joe Dante and produced by Steven Speilberg. Fans love the music but try and find it. Geffen Records released a soundtrack EP that contained very little of Goldsmith's music. It was released on CD in 1993 but is now out of print. The Gremlin Rag is not on the Gremlins 2 soundtrack. The small Mogwai label released an expanded CD of Goldsmith's Gremlins score in 2000 but it appears the record company is kaput and the CD is unavailable. You might find a copy on eBay. Too bad. Jerry Goldsmith continued to score films until his death from colon cancer on July 21, 2004 at age 75. His final film was Looney Tunes: Back In Action in 2003. Here's the trailer for the 1984 film Gremlins.

Emi Fujino added to Nov. 28 VALKYRIE show

Emi Fujino

VALKYRIE announced a match has been added to their Nov. 28 Differ Ariake show. In a match contracted for 54kg, Emi Fujino will face anna. Fujino trains at WK Gods in Aichi. Her record is 8-4 and the interesting thing is she won her first eight fights and is on a four fight losing streak. Her last fight was a majority decision loss to Kyoko Takabayashi on the Apr. 11 VALKYRIE show. She has also lost to Megumi Yabushita, WINDY Tomomi and VALKYRIE Lightweight Champ V Hajime but she also has a win over V Hajime. In recent months, she has been working for J-Girls kickboxing. anna will make her return to MMA after a three year absence. She trains at FIGHTCHIX. She made her MMA debut in 2007 at age 19 as Anna Saito. Her record is 1-3. He last fight was a loss to Yuka Okumura at the July 26, 2007 SMACKGIRL show. She also lost to Emi Fujino at the K-GRACE show in May 2007. That show was a tournament but that match wasn't part of the tournament. anna has been active in J-Girls kickboxing since 2007. This match should complete the card.

Jango Song Of The Day-Waylon Jennings

Artist:Waylon Jennings
Song:I'm A Ramblin' Man
Album:Nashville Rebel





Waylon Jennings was probably the country music artist who most benefitted from the Outlaw Country movement of the 70s. Because until then, he had been floundering around the music business for a long time and didn't fit into country music's squeaky clean image. Of course he became even more popular when he worked on the TV show Dukes Of Hazzard. His cocaine addiction led to his decline in the 80s and his 2002 death. He was born June 15, 1937 in Littlefield, TX and learned to play the guitar as a child. He was a DJ at a Lubbock radio station and befriended Buddy Holly. He joined Holly's band for a 1959 tour of the Midwest. Of course we all know that Holly, The Big Bopper and Richie Valens died during that tour when their plane crashed on Feb. 3, 1959. Jennings was supposed to be on that plane but gave up his seat when The Big Bopper was suffering from a cold. Jennings said he felt guilty about the crash and worked as a DJ in Arizona for several years. He signed with Herb Alpert's A & M label in 1964 but Alpert wanted Jennings to record pop music. When Bobby Bare recorded Jennings' song Four Strong Winds, Bare recommended Jennings to RCA Nashville head Chet Atkins. Jennings moved to Nashville in 1965. In the late 60s, Jennings was getting nowhere. And after he recovered from a near fatal bout of hepatitus, he moved back to Texas and considered getting back into broadcasting. Willie Nelson was also frustrated with Nashville. The two got together with new manager Neil Rushen and Rushen got Jennings more creative control over his recordings. His new recordings were a huge success and Jennings had his first #1 country music hit with This Time in 1974. I'm A Ramblin' Man was the next single and also topped the country charts. It was written by veteran saongwriter producer Ray Pennington. Jennings' success continued through the 70s. But his cocaine addiction was starting to take its toll. He was arrested for cocaine possession in 1977 but the charges were dropped due to DEA bungling. Meanwhile he had his biggest mainstream success with his work on the TV series The Dukes Of Hazzard. He kicked his cocaine habit cold turkey and also left RCA for MCA. Of coure he wasn't as successful there and Jennings was plagued by health problems, especially diabetes, until his death on Feb. 13, 2002 at age 64. Normally I don't recommend box sets but this 2006 4CD comp from Sony is reasonably priced and has Jennings recordings from all the labels he recorded for throughout his career. You won't need anything else. There is also a companion DVD which includes this 1974 Jennings performance of I'm A Ramblin' Man on the Cowboy Jack Clements Show. You can get both for under 50 bucks. You can't beat that.

Jango Song Of The Day-Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver

Artist:Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver
Song:Sadie's Got Her New Dress On
Album:More Behind The Picture Than The Wall





Mandolinist Doyle Lawson has been a big part of the bluegrass scene since his days with The Country Gentlemen in the 70s and more recently with Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver. He's had a lot of chart success since switching from long time label Sugar Hill to Rounder a few years ago. He was born Apr. 20, 1944 in Kingsport, TN and grew up idolizing bluegrass legend Bill Monroe. He started out playing mandolin and guitar for Jimmy Martin in 1963 and also worked with Red Allen and JD Crowe. He joined The Country Gentlemen in 1971 and remained with them until starting Quicksilver in 1979. Original members were Terry Baucom on banjo, guitarist Jimmy Haley and bassist Lou Reid. Lawson sings but later versions of the band indicate that he would rather not sing lead. Lawson has been recording consistently ever since but switched from Sugar Hill to Rounder in 2005. Terry Baucom was still with the band along with fiddle player Mike Hartgrove and bassist Darren Beachley. But the lead vocalist since 1999 was Jamie Dailey. And he also co-wrote a lot of the sonngs with Lawson. He sings lead on most of this 2007 CD More Behind The Picture Than The Wall including Sadie's Got Her New Dress On. The album reached #2 on the Bluegrass charts. Dailey left soon after and now has his own group Dailey & Vincent with Darrin Vincent. Baucom & Hartgrove also left. Darren Beachley became lead singer for the 2009 CD Lonely Street and Lawson brought a couple of new guys in. They didn't miss a beat and the CD was very successful on the charts. So I expect Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver to be around for many more years. Here's the video for Sadie's Got Her New Dress on by Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver.

Jango Song Of The Day-Marcos Valle

Artist:Marcos Valle
Song:Os Grilos
Album:The Best Of Marcos Valle: Carioca Soul





Marcos Valle is one of the all time greats of Brazilian music. He started out as a songwriter and then performer in the second wave of Bossa Nova of the 60s and developed into a major force as a performer, writer and producer. He's moved to the US a couple of times but got homesick and returned to Brazil. He was born Sept. 14, 1943 in Rio de Janeiro and studied classical music as a child. In the early 60s, he began writing songs with his brother Paulo and The Tamba Trio had a hit with their song Sonho de Maria in 1962. This led to a contract with EMI and his debut album Samba Demais was released in 1964. Valle went on tour to the US with Sergio Mendes and was a big part of the development of Brasil '66. His song So Nice (Summer Samba) was a top 40 hit for Walter Wanderley in 1966. He recorded a couple of US albums for Warner Bros. but he got homesick and returned to Brazil. Os Grilos is from his 1970 album Marcos Valle and is probably one of his best known songs. He also worked in TV in Brazil. The miltary dictatorship in Brazil forced Valle to move to the US in 1975. And though he never recorded any of his own albums while in the US, he worked extensively with R & B artist Leon Ware. He returned to Brazil in 1981 and continues to record today. His latest CD Estatica was released earlier this year. This CD from the British label Far Out is a good intro to his music. Marcos Valle should be of interest to fans of Brazilian music. Here's Marcos Valle with Nara Leao performing Os Grilos from the DVD BossaCucaNova.

Mickie James brings much needed energy to TNA Knockouts

OK gang. Here's the match video from last night's TNA Turning Point PPV with Mickie James facing Tara. Though the match got off to a slow start and the two looked out of sync at times, it picked up very well especially when they started brawling outside the ring. Later in the show, they had TNA Knockouts Champ Madison Rayne attack Mickie. Of course that's the biggest problem with this angle. Having Tara lie down for Madison a few weeks ago was a huge mistake. It turned Tara into a stooge and now they have a good feud but no title belt. TNA shoots themselves in the foot once again. I hope Tara steps up because she has been a little lackluster in TNA. Mickie James always has great energy and she's a veteran wrestler who knows what she's doing. I hadn't seen her do much brawling in the past but I thought she did pretty good. I wouldn't be surprised to see a hardcore match on Impact. One piece of advice for Mickie. Lose the chaps. They look silly. Enjoy the video!

TNA TURNING POINT 2010 PT2
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Jango Song Of The Day-Jan Johansson

Artist:Jan Johansson
Song:Emigrantvisa
Album:Jazz Pa Svenska: Swedish Folk Songs





As jazz became more popular in Europe in the 50s, many musicians began to emerge that would eventually come across the Atlantic and make their mark in jazz. If he hadn't died prematurely in a 1968 car accident, pianist Jan Johansson would have been one of those musicians. He is still very popular in Sweden. He was born Sept. 16, 1931 in Soderhomn, Sweden and he studied classical piano as a child. He became interested in jazz as a teen and played in several local bands. He met Stan Getz while in college and Getz convinced him to become a full time musician and even invited Johansson to appear on a Jazz At The Philharmonic tour. After a stint in the military, he moved to Goteborg and worked as a sideman. But he also had his own band with bassist Gunnar Johnsson and they worked with Getz when he toured Sweden in 1958. He started recording as a solo artist in the early 60s. Emigrantvisa is from Jazz Pa Svenska, his best known album. It sold 200,000 copies and may be the best selling jazz album in Swedish history. Its sparse instrumentation with Johansson on piano and Georg Reidel on bass. Johansson also composed music for film and TV and wrote the theme for the Pippi Longstocking TV show. Sadly, Jan Johansson died in a car accident on Nov. 9, 1968 at age 37 and so he never got any exposure outside Sweden. Johansson's sons started the Heptagon label in 1994 so his music is still available. Here's Jan Johansson performing Emigrantvisa with Rene Gustafsson on guitar, Gunnar Johnsson on bass and Ingvar Callmer on drums probably mid-60s.

Jango Song Of The Day-Bob Newhart

Artist:Bob Newhart
Song:The Driving Instructor
Album:Something Like This: The Bob Newhart Anthology





Most folks should be familiar with Bob Newhart from his hit sitcoms The Bob Newhart Show and Newhart. But you may not know that back in 1960, Newhart was the first comedian to top the Billboard Hot 200 and paved the way for many other comedians like Bill Cosby and George Carlin. Why was Newhart so popular? It's all in the deadpan delivery. And if he seems like an accountant, that's what he was before he became a comedian. He was born Sept. 5, 1929 in Oak Park, IL. He served in the US Army during the Korean War. After his 1954 discharge, he worked as an accountant for US Gypsum. In 1958, he worked for Chicago TV producer Fred Niles as a copywriter. It was during this time that he started doing comedy over the phone. He recorded the routines and sent them to a Chicago radio station. DJ Dan Sorkin sent the tapes to Warner Bros. Records head of A & R George Avakian. Newhart signed with Warners and started working on his routines in clubs. His 1960 debut album The Button Down Mind Of Bob Newhart topped the Billboard Hot 200 beating out Elvis Presley and The Sound Of Music. Newhart also won the 1961 Album Of The Year Grammy and Best New Artist Grammy. The Driving Instructor is one of his funniest routines and is on that album. This led to an NBC variety show that didn't do well. But his albums continued to sell very well through the mid-60s. And it paved the way for other comics to make their mark on the album charts as well. This Rhino 2CD comp is available at a budget price. Of course Newhart got more into acting and became a big sitcom star in the 70s. But I think if you look at those shows and Newhart's comedy routines, the character tone is very similar. And it all started on the phone. Here's Bob Newhart with Dean Martin in drag performing The Driving Instructor on The Dean Martin Show probably late 60s.

Jango Song Of The Day-Robbie Robertson

Artist:Robbie Robertson f/Sammy Llanas
Song:Somwhere Down The Crazy River
Album:Robbie Robertson





For all the great songs Robbie Robertson wrote with The Band, one would have thought that he was a lock to have a long successful solo career. It hasn't really happened. His 1987 self titled solo debut and the single Somewhere Down The Crazy River are the most memorable and he last recorded in 1998. He still works behind the scenes. What happened? Part of the problem is he's not a great singer. Levon Helm is a great singer. And Robertson has admitted that maybe he didn't have much to say as a solo artist. He was born Jaime Robert Klegerman July 5, 1943 in Toronto. And as most fans should know, he started out as part of Ronnie Hawkins' backup band The Hawks which eventually became The Band. After The Band split up in 1976, Robertson turned to film. He starred, co-wrote and directed the 1980 film Carny which also starred Jodie Foster and Gary Busey. He also continued his relationship with director Martin Scorsese and produced the music for the 1983 film King Of Comedy. Scorsese directed the documentary about The Band The Last Waltz. Robertson signed with Geffen Records in 1987 and released his debut CD. The album was produced by Daniel Lanois who made his name working with U2. The album did OK but not great. It was a hit in Canada. Somewhere Down The Lazy River reached #15 on the UK Singles chart. The singer featured on the song is Sammy Llanas of The BoDeans. The album is available as a budget release. Robertson's solo recordings seem to examine his Native Canadian heritage but his music didn't catch on. After two albums for Geffen and two for Capitol, Robertson quit recording in 1998. In 2000, he joined DreamWorks Records as A & R Director and signed Nelly Furtado. That label closed in 2005. And he continues to produce music for Martin Scorsese films including his most recent Shutter Island. I expect Robbie Robertson to continue his behind the scenes work but I don't expect any new solo albums. Here's the video for Somewhere Down The Crazy River by Robbie Robertson featuring Sammy Llanas.

Jango Song Of The Day-Seasick Steve

Artist:Seasick Steve
Song:Things Go Up
Album:Dog House Music





The road to stardom for throwback bluesman Seasick Steve Wold is so unlikely it should probably be turned into a movie. Who would think that a guy who looks like a hobo and and sings and plays blues in the style of long forgotten legends would have a major label deal? And he's especially popular in England. Wold was born 1941 in Oakland, CA. He learned to play guitar as a child but left home at age 13 to flee his stepfather's abuse. He was a hobo for almost 20 years. He would hop trains, do odd jobs and worked as a carnie, a cowboy and a migrant worker. He also toured with blues musicians in the 60s and occasionally played sessions. He also became a big part of the growing Seattle music scene while living in Olympia in the late 80s usually as a recording engineer. Eventually he moved with his family to Norway in 2001. He released his debut solo CD Cheap independently. It got the attention of British label Bronzerat and Dog House Music was released in 2006. An appearance on Jools Holland's New Year's Eve Hootenany show made Seasick Steve a sensation in England. He also won the 2007 MOJO Award for Best Breakthrough Artist. He was too big for Bronzerat so they made a distribution deal with Warner Bros. His major label debut I Started Out With Nothin' and I Still Got Most Of It Left reached #9 on the UK Album chart. Steve moved to Rykodisc/Atlantic and his 2009 CD Man From Another Time reached #4 on the UK Album chart. His new CD ...Songs For Elizabeth will be released shortly. Seasick Steve's fame has mostly been in England. But I could see him doing very well on the US festival circuit. He has something and his music is really good. BTW, Wold says he really does get seasick. Here's the video for Things Go Up by Seasick Steve.

Big Bad Blog Video Theatre: Sugi Rock vs Megumi Morioka

Today on Big Bad Blog Video Theatre, I put the spotlight on undefeated VALKYRIE fighter Sugi Rock. As I reported last week, Sugi Rock has a big non title match against VALKYRIE Flyweight Champ Yasuko Tamada at the Nov. 28 Differ Ariake show. This will be a big test for Sugi Rock. She's pretty good already. This fight video is Sugi Rock vs Megumi Morioka from the last VALKYRIE show. They're both wearing similar outfits. So Sugi Rock has the shorter hair. Both fighters score points in the first round and I thought they both did very well with leg kicks. Morioka attempted a takedown but Sugi Rock has a very good center of gravity and stuffed it. Morioka attempts another takedown in round two. Sugi Rock stuffs it again and deftly turns it into a rear naked choke attempt. Very slick. When that wasn't working, she turns to pounding Morioka and the ref stops the fight. Sugi Rock wins via TKO. Very impressive win for Sugi Rock. I expect she'll have a tougher time with the more experienced Yasuko Tamada. Enjoy the video!

Jango Song Of The Day-Trin-i-tee 5:7

Artist:Trin-i-tee 5:7
Song:Listen
Album:T57 Deluxe Edition





Gospel girl group Trin-i-tee 5:7 have been one of the most popular contemporary gospel acts for over a decade and they have also crossed over to R & B. After a lull a few years ago due to Hurricane Katrina and management and record company problems, they roared back in 2007 with this killer track Listen. Now they are going through more changes. The original Trin-i-tee 5:7 lineup in 1997 was Chanelle Haynes, Angel Taylor and Terri Brown. All three are from New Orleans. They signed with GospoCentric Records and label owner Vicki Mack Latandaille tied them in with the very popular gospel artist Kirk Franklin. It worked as their debut CD Trin-i-tee 5:7 did very well on the gospel and R & B charts. Are three girls are outstanding lead singers. Terri Brown left to start a family and was replaced by the group's makeup artist Adrian Anderson. She is from Sacramento. The big difference is that Adrian doesn't sing lead for the most part. Their second CD Spiritual Love also did very well especially the songs Put Your Hand and My Body. By the time The Kiss was released in 2003, they were having trouble with GospoCentric. They did not feel the label promoted the CD very well and it didn't sell as well. They took on new manager Sonja Norwood (Brandy's mom) to get them out of their contract. Trin-i-tee 5:7 finally released T57 in 2007. But they were still under contract to GospoCentric. So the original release was on GospoCentric. Then they got their release and signed to Matthew Knowles' Music World label. And they got to work with Beyonce and Solange on the album. Both girls are huge Trin-i-tee 5:7 fans. The album reached #2 on the gospel album chart and Listen crossed over to R & B. Listen was produced by veteran producer Walter Milsap who has worked with everyone from Yolanda Adams to Alicia Keys. Music World released a deluxe edition of T57 with a different cover. It's actually cheaper than the original CD. Last week Trin-i-tee 5:7 announced that Adrian Anderson has left the group and Chanelle Haynes and Angel Taylor will continue as a duo. Both girls are great singers and have a lot of input into production. And they have a record company that believes in them. They'll be OK. Here's the video for Listen by Trin-i-tee 5:7. The preacher in the video is Debra Morton.

Jango Song Of The Day-Jim Reeves

Artist:Jim Reeves
Song:Mexican Joe
Album:His Personal Best: The Greatest Hits





Despite his premature death in a 1964 plane crash, Gentleman Jim Reeves remains one of country music's greatest and most enduring legends. He was a big part of establishing what was known in the 50s as Countrypolitan and Reeves crossed over to the pop charts several times. Mexican Joe was his first number one country hit in 1953. He was born Aug. 20, 1923 in the rural community of Galloway, TX. He learned to play guitar as a child and was a big fan of country music pioneer Jimmie Rodgers. But Reeves was also a great athlete. After attending the University of Texas on an athletic scholarship, he signed with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1944. After three years pitching in their farm system, Reeves was forced to retire due to a severed sciatic nerve. He returned to music with Moon Mullican's band and got a job as a DJ at KWKH in Shereveport. LA., home of the popular Louisiana Hayride radio show. When he filled in for an absent Hank Williams, Reeves signed a contract with Fador Robison's Abbott label. Mexican Joe was his second single and first number one country music hit in 1953. It was written by veteran songwriter Mitchell Torok. He recorded his own music in the 60s but he had a lot of success as a songwriter incuding the number one country hit Caribbean for Hank Snow. Reeves didn't like the kind of novelty songs he was recording for Abbott. So he approached RCA Records Nashville head Steve Shoales. Shoales bought his Abbott contract and the recordings and signed Reeves to a ten year contract. Shoales and producer Chet Atkins turned Reeves into a crooner with spectacular results. He had many hits on the country charts but then started to cross over to the pop charts. He'll Have To Go was his biggest hit in 1960. It topped the Country Singles chart for 14 weeks and reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. This all ended on July 31, 1964. Reeves was flying his own plane with passenger and business partner Dean Manuel. They encountered a violent thunderstorm above Brentwood, TN and the plane crashed and Jim Reeves was dead at age 40. RCA continued to release Jim Reeves recordings and he was a regular on the country charts until the 80s. There are a lot of Jim Reeves comps out there but this 2004 comp from BMG Europe is the best single CD comp available. Don't let the crappy cover fool you. Of course Jim Reeves was inducted into The Country Music Hall Of Fame in 1967 and is still loved today as one of the all time greats of country music. Here's Jim Reeves performing Mexican Joe on Tex Ritter's Ranch Party 1955.

Yuzuki Aikawa is officially the new Fuuka

Nanae Takahashi, Yuzuki Aikawa

Bikini model Yuzuki Aikawa made her joshi puroresu debut on Sunday in a show created for her. I don't know if there will be any more of these shows as STARDOM will start running shows every other Sunday on Jan. 23, 2011. They say they filled Shin-kiba 1st Ring for this show. The main goal is to convert Fuuka fans into Aikawa fans. Who knows if that will work? So the show format was very similar to the Fuuka Matsuri format. Aikawa faced Nanae Takahashi in the main event. They had a couple of other matches, an exhibition with STARDOM trainees Eri Susa and Yoko Bito. And of course a dance routine and some sort of live band performance. That's one of the big differences here. Fuuka would particiapte in the singing and dancing. Aikawa did not. Maybe she doesn't do that stuff. I guess she's only good at posing in a bikini and Hiroshi Ogawa thinks that's enough to turn her into the new Fuuka. The big difference is Aikawa is being thrown into a main event immediately. Fortunately she is working with Nanae Takahashi and Takahashi is training her and will make her look as good as possible. Obviously I haven't seen the match video yet. But I did look at a pic gallery at Sportsnavi so I got an idea about how the match went. The first thing I noticed was that Aikawa was in a white outfit very similar to what Fukka would wear. And most of her offence will be kicks, also similar to Fuuka. The first thing Takahashi has to teach Aikawa is to take bumps. So credit Aikawa for getting through the match without killing herself. And lot of credit to Takahashi for making sure that Aikawa got through the match. She was the perfect opponent for Aikawa's debut. Not surprisingly, Takahasi was on offence for most of the match. Aikawa's offence was mostly high kicks but she did do a fisherman suplex and got a couple of near falls. After she lost, Aikawa said the match was more physical than she expected and her goal is to one day beat Takahashi. The show got a lot of media coverage and was even on the front page of Yahoo Japan for a while on Sunday. I'm sure Ogawa was happy with the show but I'm not sure how this will work when they are running regularly. After a while, fans tend to get tired of this kind of wrestling product. EDIT: Hailey Hatred faced Basara in the opening match of this show. The match was stopped when Basara suffered a knee injury. She posted on her blog yesterday that she will have surgery on a torn ligament and will be out for six months. Since showing potential to be the Sendai Girls ace as Tyrannasaurus Okuda, she has had reconstructive shoulder surgery, a concussion and now knee surgery. She says she will return but she just can't seem to stay healthy.

Jango Song Of The Day-The Squires

Artist:The Squires
Song:Going All The Way
Album:Nuggets: Original Artyfacts From The First Psychedelic Era 1965-1968





Back in the 60s, there were three bands known as The Squires. The best known band was the Canadian band featuring Neil Young before he went to California and joined Buffalo Springfield. There was a band in California that was called The Squires before they changed their name to Count Five and recorded the psychedelic classis Psychotic Reaction. This group called The Squires was from Bristol, CT and Going All The Way was their only single in 1966. Like a lot of obscure psychedelia, it has been kept alive by Rhino's 4CD Nuggets box set. The funny part is that the name The Squires was forced upon them by their record company. They started out as The Rogues with lead singer and drummer Michael Bouyea, Thomas Flanigan on guitar, Kurt Robinson on organ and John Folcik on bass. They were high school pals. As The Rogues, they recorded the single It's The Same All Over for the local label Peyton Records. In April of 1966, they booked recording time at Capitol Studios in New York and recorded several songs. Atco Records liked their music but wanted them to change their name to The Squires. Going All The Way was the only single released. It did OK in their home state but went nowhere otherwise. It looks like there were problems in the band and Folcik and Robinson left. And that is probably why Atco never released anything else. And then Michael Bouyea was drafted and went to Vietnam. That was the end for The Squires. Bouyea released a few solo singles later and became a radio DJ for 1050 CHUM in Toronto. Going All The Way is available only on the Nuggets box set. Here's a video of Going All The Way by The Squires.

Jango Song Of The Day-Ned Miller

Artist:Ned Miller
Song:From A Jack To A King
Album:The Golden Age of American Rock 'N' Roll: Special Country Edition




From A Jack To A King was a major crossover hit in 1962. Ned Miller is mainly known for the one song. But he had a few smaller hits in the 60s and he was a successful songwriter. He was born Apr. 12, 1925 in Raines, UT. He started writing and performing as a teen. After a stint in The Marines, he moved to California to become a songwriter. He got his first big break when his song Dark Moon was a top five pop hit for Gale Storm and a top five country hit for Bonnie Guitar in 1956. He also wrote A Falling Star for Jimmy C. Newman. Bonnie Guitar recorded for Fabor Records. This label was owned by Fabor Robison. Robison started out as a talent agent and manager in the country music field for Johnny Horton. He wasn't in Nashville. He lived in California. So he had a recording studio there and he signed Ned Miller in 1957. From A Jack To A King was released in 1957 but went nowhere. After a few more singles, Miller left Fabor for Capitol. He wasn't doing any better there. So he went back to Fabor and asked Robison to re-release From A Jack To A King in 1962. It was a major hit and reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #2 on the Country Singles chart. It's strange that a reissue of an obscure song would become a hit. One never knows what can happen in the music business. Robison sold Miller's contract and all his recordings to Capitol in 1964. Miller charted a few more times but retired from music in 1970 because he suffered from stage fright and didn't like touring. He lives in Las Vegas probably living off of royalties. Ricky Van Shelton topped the country charts with his cover of From A Jack To A King in 1988. Bear Family released a Ned Miller comp that is now out of print. But I like this various artists comp from Ace Records that puts the spotlight on country songs that crossed over to the pop charts. Here's a video for From A Jack To A King by Ned Miller.