AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Juan Formell y Los Van Van

Artist:Juan Formell y Los Van Van
Song:Que Le Den Candela
Album:Por Encima Del Nivel





The best way to describe Los Van Van is they are a contemporary version of a traditional Cuban dance band. Cuban dance bands were very popular in the US in the 50s. Of course this all changed when Castro took over and Cuban music was not heard until cultural exchange loosened up. So Los Van Van didn't become popular outside Cuba until the 90s. they were formed in 1969 by bassist Juan Formell. He was previously musical director of Elio Reve's Orquestra Reve. Formell believed he could attract younger listeners by incorporating rock music to traditional Cuban dance music. This style of music became known as songo. In Los Van Van's early days, Cesar "Pupy" Pedroso was Formell's main collaborator. They wrote and arranged most of the songs. Percussionist Jose Luis "Changuito" Quintana added key rhythmic elements when he joined Los Van Van in 1970. Then in 1974 Pedro Calvo became lead singer for the next twenty years. Later on Formell added trombones, strings and contemporary elements like synthesizers and drum machines. In the 90s, Los Van Van became more popular internationally as their CDs were more readily available. And they began to tour internationally. Que Le Den Candela is from the 1992 album Azucar which was released in the US in 1994. It's a cover of a song recorded in 1955 by La Sonora Matancera. You can get the song on this budget comp which is part of a series of Cuban music essentials. Juan Formell died on May 2, 2014. After an album was released posthumously, it appears that Los Van Van is over. But their music is still around and it is recommended to Cuban music fans. Here's Los Van Van performing Que Le Den Candela at the 1998 Stuttgart Jazz Festival in Germany.

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Cris Cyborg vs Lina Lansberg

Here's the match video of Cris Cyborg vs Lina Lansberg from last night's UFC show in Brasilia, Brazil. The fight was at a 140lb catchweight. Lina is from Sweden. She's a kickboxer turned MMA fighter similar to Joanna Jedrzejczyk or Valentina Shevchenko but she's much older than those two. She also normally fights at 135. So after this sacrificial lamb stint, she will go direct to the 135lb roster. The fight went as expected but Lina somehow made it out of the first round despite zero offense. It's almost like Cyborg was playing around until pounding her into the mat for the round two win. So the big question is what is the UFC going to do with Cyborg. I don't think they will change anything. They will do these catchweight bouts in Brazil because she's a draw there. When the contract is over, that's it. I know there is fan sentiment to make concessions to Cyborg because of her weight cut. But remember she cuts from 170lb. Her weight cut has always been difficult. That's not new but now fans got to see it and they feel sorry for her. But plenty of fighters have tough weight cuts. What many of them do is they don't put on as much weight when they aren't fighting. Maybe the cut would be easier if she started at 155. Weighing 170 is her choice. Remember when she signed this contract it was with the promise that she would try to cut to 135. This suggestion was not new. Before her drug suspension, Scott Coker of Strikeforce asked her to drop to 135 and she said she would. He ran out of opponents for her. When the UFC was getting into women's MMA, she again promised to drop to 135. The UFC even sent nutritionist Mike Dolce to help her. But she changed management and new manager Tito Ortiz decided to use his animosity towards UFC president Dana White to ruin Cyborg's career. So he claimed that dropping to 135 was unhealthy. Recently Cyborg's current nutritionist George Lockhart admitted that if she dropped to 135 she would lose her competitive advantage. So the health claims were never true. I believe that if she had remained with her previous management in Brazil, Cyborg would have already fought several times at 135. So remember you're only getting one side of the story and there are a lot of supposedly objective people with very short memories. There is also this lamebrained idea that if the UFC started a 145lb division, all kinds of great fighters would come out of the woodwork. "If you build it, they will come." Unfortunately, all of the decent 145lb fighters are under contract to Bellator. So I expect the UFC to continue to ask 135lb fighters to move up to 140 for one fight and pay them a premium. So Dana White, back up that Brinks truck to Germaine De Randamie's house because I want her to fight Cris Cyborg. Enjoy the video!

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-The Seldom Scene

Artist:The Seldom Scene
Song:Paradise
Album:The Best Of The Seldom Scene





The Seldom Scene is an excellent bluegrass group that has been around since the 70s. They may have been the first bluegrass group to cover contemporary songs in the bluegrass style. The Seldom Scene are from Bethesda, MD. They started out jamming at banjo player Ben Eldridge's house. other members were John Starling on guitar and vocals, Mike Auldridge on dobro and vocals, Tom Grey on bass and John Duffey on mandolin and vocals. He was a member of The Country Gentlemen. At first they were a part time band playing once a week. But they got a record deal with Rebel Records and they began touring nationally. This cover of the John Prine classic Paradise is from the 1973 album Act II. This comp covers their Rebel recordings. John Starling left in 1978 and was replaced by Phil Rosenthal. The Seldom Scene moved to Sugar Hill and they recorded for them for many years. There were several personnel changes in the late 80s. by the 90s, the only original members were Duffey and Auldridge. Then Duffey died in 1996 and Auldridge left. Ben Eldridge currently leads The Seldom Scene and they released a new CD on Smithsonian Folkways in 2014. Other members are Lou Reid on mandolin, Dudley Connell on guitar, Ronnie Simpkins on bass and Fred Travers on dobro. Reid was a member in the 80s. The Seldom Scene continue to perform as they did in the 70s and they are worth checking out. Here's the Seldom Scene performing Paradise on the PBS series Jubilee at the 2013 Festival of the Bluegrass at Kentucky Horse Park.

Poor reffing hurts Invicta FC 19

Photo by Esther Lin

Last night's Invicta show had two championship matches and the rest of the show was a mixed bag. When the show was announced, I thought the main card was weak and it was. Two refs worked the show. I didn't think either was on his game and there was one very bad mistake that killed one of the championship matches. When the card was announced, Jennifer Maia vs Roxanne Modafferi was supposed to be for the interim Flyweight Championship. At the time, I thought that Barb Honchak should have already been stripped of the title because she hasn't fought since 2014. So Invicta actually did this at the weigh ins. It's the right decision but it was handled ineptly and afterwards Barb complained that she wasn't notified. It wasn't necessary to do it in public. They could have done it by press release months ago so everyone is notified. I guess these people don't think straight. The fight itself was close but I thought Jennifer won three of the five rounds. The judges gave her the win by split decision and that didn't surprise me either. It could have gone either way. In the other championship match, Ayaka Hamasaki retained her Invicta Atomweight Championship over Jinh Yu Frey by a second round doctor stoppage. Ref Mark Wasem really screwed up. As you can see in the accompanying pic, Ayaka's overhand right cut Jinh over her left eye. Wasem immediately stopped the fight so the doctor could examine the cut. If he had let the fight go, Ayaka would have finished Jinh anyway seconds later as she was out on her feet. The doc really had no choice but to stop the fight because if he had allowed the fight to continue, the rest would have given Jinh an unfair advantage. I suppose this will lead to a rematch though Ayaka said she wants to move up to 115 and go to the UFC. The other two main card matches were mediocre. Irene Aldana won over Faith Van Duin by first round TKO. Faith is not a good fighter and Irene needs to beat someone better to make me think she is any good. And the stoppage was late. And then Kaline Medeiros beat Manjit Kolekar by unanimous decision. Of course the big deal is that Kolekar is from India. She has mostly fought for SuperFights. The problem is she did nothing for three rounds. Why does a fighter come all the way from India to lose like that? I guess it's a moral victory if she lasts three rounds. Ugh! In the prelims, we had the wildly overhyped MMA debut of Glory kickboxing ace Tiffany Van Soest. Her opponent was announced as Kalyn Schwartz but by the time she got to the cage she was Kal Holiday. And that's the name she uses on Twitter. The bottom line is Tiffany needs work on her takedown defence. Kal took her down at will and won with a second round rear naked choke. Back to the drawing board for the kickboxing ace. In the other prelims, Julia Jones beat Stephanie Skinner by first round rear naked choke. Stephanie was coming off of a long injury layoff and she just didn't look good. Amber Leibrock beat Amy Coleman by first round TKO. Amber nailed her with knees and then punches. I thought the stoppage was late. That's two late stoppages for ref Mike England. And in the opener, Sunna Davisdottir came all the way from Iceland to beat Ashley Greenway by unanimous decision. Sunna looked very sharp. I want to see her again. BTW, UFC fighter Gunnar Nelson is one of her teammates. In other Invicta news, MIZUKI has a torn ACL and she will be out for at least six months after knee surgery. She was up for a title shot. Not anymore.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Kenny G

Artist:Kenny G f/Lenny Williams
Song:Don't Make Me Wait For Love
Album:Ultimate Kenny G





Like a lot of smooth jazz artists, sax player Kenny G uses plenty of guest vocalists to cross over to the R&B market. The 1986 single Don't Make Me Wait For Love features former Tower Of Power lead singer Lenny Williams. After Williams left tower Of Power, he had some success mostly on the R&B charts recording for ABC Records and then MCA. By the time Williams recorded Don't Make Me Wait For Love, Williams had left MCA and he was recording for smaller labels. He still had a strong following in the R&B community. Producer Narada Michael Walden brought Williams in to record the vocal for Don't Make Me Wait For Love on Kenny G's 1986 breakthrough album Duotones. Walden wrote the song with Preston Glass and Walter Afanasieff from Kenny's band. Walden believed that Williams could help Kenny G cross over to R&B. This was the first single from Duotones. It reached #15 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #17 on the R&B Singles chart. Of course Songbird was Kenny G's next single and that was his breakthrough into the mainstream. You can get Don't Make Me Wait For love on the budget comp Ultimate Kenny G. It's not available on a Lenny Williams album. And in 1989 when Kenny G Live was released, Michael Bolton was the guest singer on this song. Here's the video for Don't Make Me Wait For Love by Kenny G featuring Lenny Williams.

Rin Nakai vs Priscila de Souza set for Nov. 13 PANCRASE show

Rin Nakai, Priscila de Souza

This morning PANCRASE announced that Rin Nakai will face Brazilian Priscila de Souza on the Nov. 13 Differ Ariake show. Despite the fact that Rin wants to fight at 125lb, this fight will be at 135lb. That's because Priscila has fought mostly at 135. Priscila trains at Parana Vale Tudo which is also the home for UFC Strawweight contender Jessica Andrade. Her record is 12-6. She is 27 years old. Priscila's problem is typical of Brazilian fighters plunked into these kind of fights. She has no international experience. And most of her experience is on the Brazilian regional circuit that is supposed to be for beginners but is sometimes used to pad records. For example, Priscila's last fight was a win over newcomer Luana Carvalho on the Jan. 24 Baixada Top Fight show. Priscila shouldn't even be on a show like this. A win like that is just a number because that level of competition doesn't help her improve. But sometimes promoters only care about the numbers especially when a fighter is being brought in to lose to a star like Rin Nakai. "Look, we brought someone in all the way from Brazil." If you saw Syuri's post match interview after her last win, she took a jab at PANCRASE bringing in a teenage Brazilian fighter. "Well, she's very pretty." Obviously this is a big leap in competition level for Priscila. And the funniest thing is at 5 feet tall, she's shorter than Rin. My big question for Rin is will she stop screwing around early in fights and be more aggressive.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Kix

Artist:Kix
Song:Don't Close Your Eyes
Album:The Essentials





The hard rock band Kix scored their only big hit with the 1989 power ballad Don't Close Your Eyes. Though highly regarded by fans, it looks like they had difficulty distinguishing themselves from similar bands of the era. So they weren't as successful as they could have been. Kix are from Hagerstown, MD. They were formed in 1977 as Shooze led by bassist and main songwriter Donnie Purnell along with guitarists Brian Forsythe and Ronnie Younkins. Forsythe was the lead singer at first. But that changed when Steve Whiteman joined in 1978 and they also added drummer Jimmy Chalfant. Eventually they named themselves Kix after the breakfast cereal. They started playing local clubs and they released an album independently. This led to a deal with Atlantic Records. They released a couple of albums but they couldn't seem to get anywhere. I think part of the problem was Atlantic had a lot of hard rock bands on their roster at the time. For example, Ratt was successful so Atlantic was spending promotional funds on them as opposed to spending them on Kix. Having them work with Ratt's producer Beau Hill didn't help. Finally Kix had success working with veteran producer Tom Werner on the 1988 album Rock My Fuse. The power ballad Don't Close Your Eyes reached #11 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album was certified Platinum. So finally Kix had success. But it didn't help as Kix discovered they still owed a lot of money to Atlantic. And Atlantic was going through management changes which led to Kix switching to the new label EastWest. That killed Kix's momentum and the 1991 album Hot Wire was a financial failure. Atlantic then dropped them. This comp is a good intro to Kix's music. Kix split up in 1996. Whiteman formed the band Funny Money. Forsythe formed the band Rhino Bucket. In 2003 the two bands merged to become a Kix reunion. Purnell is not part of the Kix reunion. He had a falling out with Whiteman and Purnell now runs a recording studio in West Virginia. Kix released a new CD in 2014. Their website is down so they may have split up. Here's the video for Don't Close Your Eyes by Kix.

Two matches added to Nov. 3 DEEP JEWELS show

KING Reina, Eriko

This morning DEEP JEWELS added two more matches to the Nov. 3 show at Shinjuku FACE. A couple of weeks ago they announced that retired boxing champ Emiko Reica would make her DEEP JEWELS debut. Reica retired from boxing in 2014. She has a 2-4 MMA record and most recently lost to Rin Nakai in PANCRASE. Her opponent will be Korean Yoon Jin-Hee. There are no details available about her but I suspect she is a kickboxer making her MMA debut which is normal for CMA Korea fighters. This fight will be at 57kg. The other fight is a couple of MMA debutantes fighting at 75kg. We haven't had a Japanese fighter at that weight since HIROKO retired. They are calling the first fighter KING Reina but her real name is Reina Miura. She fought in a DEEP JEWELS amateur match last year but she missed weight so it was ruled a no contest. Her opponent goes by the name Eriko. I couldn't find any details about her so she must be making her MMA debut. DEEP JEWELS really wants to push Reina. They point out that she has studied judo for years and competed in sambo and Jiu Jitsu tournaments. It doesn't look like she ever won a tournament. They obviously have high hopes for Reina. We'll see how she does.

AccuRadio Song of The Day-Herb Ellis and Joe Pass

Artist:Herb Ellis and Joe Pass
Song:I'm Confessin' That I Love You
Album:Arrival





If you are a jazz guitar fan, you will want this 2CD set of two of the all time great jazz guitarists. The other interesting thing is these were the first two albums released by Carl Jefferson's Concord Jazz label in 1973. And Concord is still going strong today. Of course Herb Ellis was best known for his days with The Oscar Peterson Trio in the 50s. He was also in the Verve Records house band. Though he recorded occasionally as a leader, Ellis was usually a side man and studio musician. Joe Pass was also a studio musician in the 60s working in films and TV. He also was part of many TV variety show bands. Pass signed with Norman Granz' new label Pablo in 1970. At the same time, Ellis signed with Concord. The two worked a regular gig at Donte's in Los Angeles. Jefferson got the idea to record them as a duo. After getting Granz' permission to use Pass, Jefferson recorded two albums in two days and he released them as the first two albums on Concord. Ray Brown was on bass and Jake Hanna was on drums for both albums. The first album was a studio album titled Jazz/Concord. The second album titled Seven Come Eleven was recorded live at the Concord Jazz Festival July 29, 1973. I'm Confessin' That I Love You is from Seven Come Eleven. That song is a jazz standard that was popularized by Louis Armstrong in 1930. Ellis and Pass recorded a third album Two For The Road in 1974. That was their final album as a duo though I'm sure they worked together many times over the years. Unfortunately they never appeared together on TV. In 2003, Concord decided to commemorate the first two Ellis/Pass albums and the beginning of Concord Jazz in a 2CD set called Arrival. These albums are not available individually. You can only get them in the 2CD package. Jazz guitar fans will want them regardless. Here's a video for I'm Confessin' That I Love You by Herb Ellis and Joe Pass.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Katy Perry

Artist:Katy Perry
Song:Roar
Album:Prism





Katy Perry is one of today's most successful pop stars and the 2013 single Roar is one of her biggest hits. She seemed to come out of nowhere in 2008. But it actually took many years for her to be an overnight success. She was born Katy Hudson Oct. 25, 1984 in Santa Barbara, CA. Her parents are Pentecostal ministers. So Katy wasn't allowed to listen to secular music while growing up. They listened to gospel music in the home. Katy sang in church and briefly studied opera after graduating high school. She was spotted by Contemporary Christian singer songwriter Jennifer Knapp who brought Katy to Nashville to get a record contract. She signed with Pamplin Music's Red Hill label and released the CCM album Katy Hudson in 2001. The album didn't sell and Red Hill was closed. Katy moved to Los Angeles and changed her name to Katy Perry to avoid confusion with actress Kate Hudson. In 2004, she signed with Glen Ballard's Java label and started working on an album. Ballard produced Alanis Morrissette. But Ballard's label never got going and he sent her to Columbia. For the next two years, she worked on an album. But Columbia planned to make her part of a group. She didn't want that so she left in 2006. While working as a studio singer, a Columbia exec took her demos to Virgin Records chairman Jason Flom. He signed her to Capitol Records and sent her to producer Dr. Luke to work on her first hit single. That turned out to be I Kissed A Girl and it was not only Katy's breakthrough hit but it was one of the biggest hits of 2008. The rest is history because now everything Katy does turns to platinum. I'm sure her parents weren't very happy with I Kissed A Girl or her sexy image. By the 2013 album Prism, Katy Perry has established her dance pop formula. She wanted to make a darker album especially after her marriage to Russell Brand ended. It didn't turn out that way because her producers wouldn't allow it. Why kill the golden goose? So Roar is a very anthemic girl power song and it was a huge hit. Prism is available as a budget CD and there is also a deluxe edition. Katy has been working on a new album. A couple of singles have been released including Rise during the 2016 Summer Olympics. She told Ryan Seacrest that she's not rushing the album. I expect we will see it in 2017. Here's the video for Roar by Katy Perry.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-The Four Tops

Artist:The Four Tops
Song:Ain't No Woman (Like The One I've Got)
Album:Essential Collection





Of course The Four Tops are one of the greatest vocal groups of all time. They are best known for their success with Motown in the 60s. But they left Motown for ABC-Dunhill in 1972 and Ain't No Woman was their biggest hit at ABC-Dunhill. The Four Tops had their greatest success at Motown in the mid-60s working with the production and songwriting team of Holland-Dozier-Holland. When HDH left Motown in 1967, Motown owner Berry Gordy couldn't seem to find the right mix for The Four Tops. So they went through a significant dry period. The Four Tops biggest hit in that period was the 1970 hit Still Water produced by Frank Wilson. He had success with the late 60s version of The Supremes. Then Motown moved to Los Angeles in 1972 and they were pushing newer acts like The Jackson 5. The Four Tops stayed in Detroit and decided to sign with ABC-Dunhill and producer Steve Barri. Probably Barri's greatest success before this was The Grass Roots. Barri's challenge was he didn't want The Four Tops to sound like a pop group. So he asked The Four Tops' Lawrence Payton to help him with that. And he brought in the songwriting and production team of Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter. The 1972 album Keeper Of The Castle was recorded in Los Angeles with studio musicians like Wilton Felder, Larry Carlton and Paul Humphrey. Jimmie Haskell wrote the arrangements with Lambert. They had immediate success when the single Keeper Of The Castle reached #10 on the Billboard Hot 100. Then Ain't No Woman reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. This was The Four Tops biggest hit since Bernadette in 1966. Lambert and Potter wrote the song and it was first recorded by Hamilton Joe Frank & Reynolds on their 1972 album Hallway Symphony. That was their biggest hit for ABC. You can get it on this budget comp which also has Motown hits and the 1981 hit When She Was My Girl which The Four Tops recorded for Casablanca. Lambert and Potter produced three Four Tops albums. They left ABC to start their own label in 1974. Lawrence Payton produced Four Tops albums until they left MCA in 1979. They recorded two albums for Casablanca and then The Four Tops returned to Motown in 1983. Here are The Four Tops performing Ain't No Woman (Like The One I've Got) on Soul Train 1972.

Anna Elmose vs Amanda Bobby Cooper added to Nov. 19 UFC show

UFC Europe announced this morning that Anna Elmose vs Amanda Bobby Cooper has been added to UFC Fight Night 99 at SSE Arena in Belfast, Ireland. This show will air on UFC Fight Pass. This match was first reported by the UK Sun. Anna is from Copenhagen, Denmark. She made her UFC debut as a Bantamweight and lost to Germaine De Randamie in May in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Anna looked overmatched and out of shape in that fight. Of course Germaine is a natural 145lb fighter and at 5'3", Anna looked very small. So now she is going to try Strawweight. She has never fought at 115 so we'll see if she can make weight. She may be another fighter who might be better off at 125. Amanda is from Bath, MI. She was on TUF 23 and she lost to Tatiana Suarez in the finale. As I have said before, the talent level of the TUF 23 Strawweights was low and I think the UFC has signed only the two finalists. Amanda is also an Invicta veteran losing to Aspen Ladd. There's someone I would like to see in the UFC. Right now I would describe both fighters as low level prospects who probably shouldn't be in the UFC. But they are and we'll see if either of them can move up.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Barbra Streisand

Artist:Barbra Streisand
Song:The Main Event/Fight
Album:Super Hits





In the late 70s, Barbra Streisand dipped her toe into the disco market. She only recorded a couple of disco songs but both were very successful. The Main Event was a top five hit in 1979. It's the theme from the film The Main Event. At the time, Barbra just had a monster hit with her duet with Neil Diamond You Don't Bring Me Flowers. But she hadn't made a film since A Star Is Born in 1976. The Main Event is a boxing film starring Ryan O'Neal. Barbra plays his manager/love interest. It's a comedy directed by Howard Zieff. When O'Neal agreed to do the film, Goldie Hawn was supposed to be his co-star. When she dropped out, the producers suggested Diana Ross. O'Neal said no but agreed to work with Barbra. The two starred in the very successful 1972 comedy What's Up Doc? Though The Main Event wasn't as good as What's Up Doc?, it did very well at the box office. And the soundtrack did very well. Mike Melvoin composed the score. With Barbra in the cast, they decided to feature her in the soundtrack. There are three versions of The Main Event on the soundtrack album. One version designed for clubs is 11 minutes long. It was released as a 12 inch single. A shorter version was released to radio stations and it reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. There is also a ballad version that Barbra sang in the film. The song was written by Bob Esty and Paul Jabara. Jabara was one of the top producers of the disco era. He also produced the duet Barbra recorded with Donna Summer Enough Is Enough which was an even bigger hit. The rest of The Main Event soundtrack is filler and it's out of print anyway. You can get The Main Event on this budget comp. That was the end of Barbra Streisand as disco diva as she returned to more traditional pop with the 1980 album Guilty. Here's a video for The Main Event/Fight by Barbra Streisand. This video is not on Youtube.
BARBRA STREISAND - The Main Event/Fight (from... by vidclassics

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Stan Getz & Bill Evans

Artist:Stan Getz & Bill Evans
Song:WNEW (Theme Song)
Album:Stan Getz & Bill Evans





This album was the only time jazz legends Stan Getz and Bill Evans worked in the recording studio together. There are live recordings but this is the only studio recording. It was recorded in 1964 when both were at the height of their popularity. Getz had great success with his bossa nova recordings. The hit Girl From Ipanema made him a mainstream star. Evans was off heroin at the time and he got a lot of critical acclaim for his 1963 album Conversations With Myself. So Verve producer Creed Taylor couldn't wait to bring them together in the recording studio. This album was recorded May 1964 at Rudy Van Gelder's studio in New Jersey. It was a two day session. Elvin Jones was on drums and Richard Davis played bass on one day and Ron Carter on the second day. One would think that Verve couldn't wait to release this album featuring two of their most popular artists. But they didn't like it and Verve decided to shelve it. The album was finally released in 1973 and then released on CD in 1988 with several bonus tracks including this theme for the New York radio station WNEW. It's available as a budget CD and it's worth getting especially for Getz fans. The two did a live recording for Milestone Records in 1974. But I think Verve missed an opportunity by not releasing this album when it was recorded in the 60s. Here's a video for WNEW (Theme Song) by Stan Getz & Bill Evans.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-National Lampoon

Artist:National Lampoon
Song:The Immigrants
Album:The Classic National Lampoon Box Set





Of course most fans are familiar with National Lampoon through movies like National Lampoon's Vacation. But National Lampoon started out as a magazine and then it branched out into other things like The National Lampoon Radio Hour. Though it was short lived, many who appeared on the Radio Hour went on to bigger and better things. The National Lampoon magazine started in 1970. It was an offshoot of Harvard Lampoon. So satire was their game. I guess it could be described as a more adult version of Mad Magazine. The guys behind the magazine wanted to get into other things. The first thing they did was produce the stage show Lemmings in 1973. This ran for 350 performances at The Village Gate in New York City. No doubt it was expensive to produce. So National Lampoon writer Michael O'Donoghue decided to try radio. Some who appeared in Lemmings also appeared on the National Lampoon Radio Hour including John Belushi. The radio show ran for about a year. The problem was they gave the show away to radio stations. So to make some money, some of the sketches were issued on LPs. The Immigrants is a 1975 skit that lampoons hillbillies. It first appeared on the radio show and then it appeared on the 1975 album Gold Turkey. So there was a Greatest Hits released but it's out of print except on this box set which includes three latter day National Lampoon albums that aren't as good as the radio show. Many of those who appeared on Radio Hour including O'Donoghue, Belushi, Chevy Chase, Bill Murray and Gilda Radner went on to Saturday Night Live. Others like Harold Ramis, Richard Belzer, Brian Doyle-Murray, Joe Flaherty and Christopher Guest went on to other things. The National Lampoon magazine closed in 1978 and was then revived in the 80s. The National Lampoon name lives on in movies like National Lampoon's Vacation. But the National Lampoon Radio Hour is a significant part of that legacy. Here's a video for Immigrants by National Lampoon.

Two matches set for Nov. 3 DEEP JEWELS show

Saori Ishioka, Mina Kurobe

Today DEEP JEWELS announced two matches for their Nov. 3 show at Shinjuku FACE. I can only assume they are co-main events but it doesn't say if they are two or three five minute rounds. Both are Atomweight fights. Saori Ishioka will face Mina Kurobe. Remember when DEEP JEWELS sold Ishioka on her sex appeal. Now they're calling her Fighter Mom. Of course Ishioka returned last year after having a baby. She's 1-1 since returning so I guess that makes her suitable for a main event. Kurobe has an 8-2 record but at 39 years old, she's too old to be a prospect. The other fight will have Emi Tomimatsu vs Tomo Maesawa. Both have .500 records. Tomimatsu is 11-11 and Maesawa is 6-6. That says it all. Neither fighter is very good. It's like DEEP JEWELS is shuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic. These are the usual suspects. And the rest of the show will be filled out with DATE models. Ugh! At least DEEP JEWELS announced that Emiko Raica with make her promotional debut on this show. This is the retired boxing champ who turned to MMA a couple of years ago. She's 2-4 and she's 40 years old. In her latest fight, she got clobbered by Rin Nakai. Maybe that's not a good thing. I'll let you know when more fights are announced.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Cam

Artist:Cam
Song:Burning House
Album:Untamed





After a false start as a pop singer and some success as a songwriter, Camaron Ochs scored a top five country hit with Burning House in 2015. She was born Nov. 19, 1984 in Lafayette, CA. She got into country music listening to her grandparents record collection. She sang in choirs and in an a capella group while attending University of California, Davis. She learned to play guitar while in Nepal after meeting some musicians who taught her to play. While working as a lab assistant at Stanford, she decided to become a full time musician. She could always return to the lab if music doesn't work out. As Camaron Ochs, she released the 2010 CD Heartforward through CD Baby. The music was pop folk. Then she moved to Los Angeles to work with recording engineer and producer Tyler Johnson. He frequently works with uber producer Jeff Bhakser. Bhakser usually works with Kanye West, Bruno Mars etc. Meanwhile Johnson was working on the 2013 Miley Cyrus album Bangerz and he brought Cam in to help write the song Maybe You're Right. Cam moved to Nashville and she turned down publishing deals because she wanted a record deal. Her single Down This Road got the attention of Sony Music CEO Doug Morris. He signed her to Arista Nashville. The EP Welcome To Cam Country was released Mar. 2015. While out promoting it, she decided to call herself Cam because Ochs is too hard to pronounce. The full length CD Untamed was released Dec. 2015. The single Burning House reached #2 on the Country Singles chart. Cam says the idea for the song came in a dream about rescuing an ex-boyfriend from a burning house. When she told Johnson about the dream, he and Bhakser turned it into a song. Cam co-wrote all the songs on her debut album. The song was nominated for a Grammy and ACM awards. Cam has been on tour with Brad Paisley and Dierks Bentley. When that is finished, expect her to record a new album. Cam writes her own songs so she has a bright future. And Bhakser might want to cross her over to pop. Here's the video for Burning House by Cam.

Liz Carmouche vs Katlyn Chookagian added to Nov. 12 UFC show

This morning, Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting reported that Liz Carmouche vs Katlyn Chookagian has been added to UFC 205 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. I expect this to air on the prelims. Of course Liz will forever be known as Ronda Rousey's opponent in that first UFC women's fight back in 2013. Since then she's had mixed results and injury problems. The last time we saw her she won a very close but terrible fight over Lauren Murphy in Apr. 2015. Neither fighter performed very well. Liz was scheduled to fight Raquel Pennington in Sept. 2015 but she dropped out due to injury. I understand she was fully recovered a couple of months ago. Katlyn won her UFC debut over the same Lauren Murphy in August. Katlyn came in as a late replacement. Katlyn is a pretty good fighter but undersized for a Bantamweight. Katlyn got the win but I think it was more of a case where Lauren did nothing for 15 minutes and gave the fight away. Liz is a pretty good grappler so I would think she would want to take Katlyn down and take advantage of her size. With that in mind, Katlyn may want to keep her distance and throw jabs. Of course we could end up with a lot of pointless clinching against the fence and we're depending on the ref to dictate the pace. I hope not but both fighters have lacked aggression in the past. So I'm not very optimistic about the quality of this fight. Maybe it was all Lauren Murphy's fault.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Franke & The Knockouts

Artist:Franke & The Knockouts
Song:Sweetheart
Album:The Best Of Franke & The Knockouts: Sweetheart: Anniversary Edition




Franke & The Knockouts scored a top ten hit with Sweetheart in 1981. Personnel and record company problems would lead to the band's demise. The leader of Franke & The Knockouts was lead singer and songwriter Franke Previte. He was born in New Brunswick, NJ. His dad was an opera singer. He was in the hard rock band BullAngus. They released a couple of albums on Mercury in the early 70s. Previte formed Franke & The Knockouts with guitarist Billy Elworthy. The two wrote Sweetheart. Other members were Blake Levinsohn on keyboards, Leigh Foxx on bass and Claude LeHenoff on drums. Franke & The Knockouts signed with Millennium Records owned by former 20th Century Records head Russ Regan. They were distributed by Casablanca Records. Sweetheart was the band's first single and it reached #10 on the Billboard Hot 100. They started to have personnel problems. Levinsohn and LeHenoff left in 1982 and were replaced by session keyboard player Tommy Ayers and future Bonjovi drummer Tico Torres. Then Elworthy left in 1984 and was replaced by Bobby Messano. That had to really hurt because Elworthy wrote most of the songs with Previte. Then Millennium closed and Franke & The Knockouts recorded their third album Makin' The Point for MCA. When that album didn't sell, the band split up. Previte went on to write a couple of songs for the 1987 hit film Dirty Dancing. He co-wrote Hungry Eyes and The Time Of My Life and he won a Best Original Song Oscar. It looks like Previte lives off of The Time Of My Life royalties. And he released this Franke & The Knockouts comp. Here's the video for Sweetheart by Franke & The Knockouts.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Kenny Werner

Artist:Kenny Werner
Song:Siena
Album:Balloons: Live At The Blue Note





Kenny Werner is a very versatile jazz pianist. He has been around since the 70s but he has recorded as a leader since the 90s. He was born Nov. 19, 1951 in Brooklyn, NY and he grew up in the Long Island town of Oceanside. He played stride piano as a teen and he appeared on TV leading an orchestra. He could have been a concert pianist. But instead he studied jazz at Berklee with Madame Chaloff. He recorded an album of stride piano on Atlantic in 1977. In the 80s, Werner was pianist and musical director for The Mel Lewis Orchestra. But he also worked with Charles Mingus, Archie Shepp, Joe Lovano and Peter Erskine. And then in 1990, Werner signed with Sunnyside Records and also recorded for Concord, Steeplechase and RCA. He also became musical director for Broadway star Betty Buckley and he continues to work with her today. Betty is not a jazz singer and she could sound very kitschy. It's to Werner's credit that he gives her a jazz base. And Werner recorded with harmonica legend Toots Thielemans, sax player Joe Lovano and drummer Ari Hoenig. Siena is from the 2011 album Balloons recorded live at The Blue Note in New York by Half Note Records. Musicians are Randy Brecker on trumpet, David Sanchez on sax, John Patitucci on bass and Antonio Sanchez on drums. Werner's latest CD Poesia is with singer Joyce Moreno on the German label Pirouet. He has worked with Joyce for many years and he has also worked with singers like Rosanna Vitro, Tessa Souter and Patricia Barber. His work with singers reminds me of Tommy Flanagan. He is currently appearing at the New York club Kitano with singer Joyce Mann but he will be on tour after that. Here's Kenny Werner with Avishai Cohen on trumpet, Omer Avital on bass and Jonathan Blake on drums performing Siena at the Taormina Jazz Featival in Italy July 18, 2012.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Glenn Frey

Artist:Glenn Frey
Song:The Heat Is On
Album:20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection: The Best Of Glenn Frey




Of course Glenn Frey was best known for his success with Eagles. But he also had two top five hits as a solo artist in the 80s. The Heat Is On from the 1984 film Beverly Hills Cop is the most memorable of those hits. He was born Nov. 6, 1948 in Detroit and he grew up in the suburb of Royal Oak. Frey had bands as a teen. Bob Seger helped Frey get his career going and he also encouraged Frey to write his own songs. Frey's band Honey Ltd. moved to Los Angeles in 1968 and Frey met JD Souther, Jackson Browne and Don Henley. The Eagles came together when Frey, Henley, Randy Meissner and Bernie Leadon were all hired to tour with Linda Ronstadt. Frey and Henley wrote a lot of Eagles' hits. But they split up in 1980 and Frey released his solo debut No Fun Aloud in 1982 on Asylum Records. The One You Love reached #15 on the Billboard Hot 100. Frey left Asylum for MCA due to record company management changes. And he released his second album The Allnighter in 1984. Meanwhile Harold Faltermeyer was putting together the soundtrack of Beverly Hills Cop. He wanted Frey to record a song for the film. He showed Frey a rough cut of the film and then sent him a demo of The Heat Is On which Faltermeyer wrote with Keith Forsey. Frey agreed to record the song and he did it all in one day including his guitar solo. The sax solo is by LA session musician David Woodford. But he doesn't appear in the video. That is session musician Beverly Dahlke-Smith. The Heat Is On reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. Frey's other big hit You Belong To The City is from the TV series Miami Vice. Frey appeared on the show. This budget comp covers Frey's MCA hits. Of course Frey was part of the various Eagles reunions and he continued to tour and occasionally record until his death on Jan. 18, 2016 at age 67. Here's the video for The Heat Is On by Glenn Frey. This video is on Youtube in a sped up version. Why would anyone do that?
Glenn Frey - The Heat Is On by lever-de-soleil

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Becky Lynch wins the WWE Smackdown Women's Championship

Here's the match video for the WWE Women's Championship Six Pack Elimination Challenge from Backlash. If you're a regular reader of this blog, you'll know that I'm not a big fan of these kind of matches. And I was concerned that these women wouldn't get enough time for a decent match. There were some rough spots but they did OK for the most part. I was very happy to see Becky Lynch win the title. She is the best wrestler of these girls. And I thought moving her to Smackdown would bring her out of the shadow of Charlotte and especially Sasha Banks. I remember when Becky lived in Vancouver ten years ago. And I'm sure Mauro Ranallo remembers that too as he was the ECCW broadcaster. She also had concussion problems that led to her quitting wrestling to become an Aer Lingus stewardess. But she's coming into her own and I think she will be a great champ. The others in the match were Nikki Bella, Carmella, Natalya, Alexa Bliss and Naomi. The usual format in this kind of match is wrestlers are tossed to the floor so we can get some one on one action. And there are trademark spots like The Tower of Doom. Some fans thought Nikki would win. But she's not working a full time schedule and they're having her do a program with Carmella who should have stayed at NXT. I won't say she's a bad wrestler. She's just not a wrestler which is funny because her dad was a wrestler. She's a cheerleader. Even her entrance is getting no reaction. At NXT, she was connected with Enzo and Cass (her boyfriend) but Smackdown fans aren't making that connection. The roughest spot in the match was when Naomi tried to headscissor Natalya over the top rope to the floor. But Naomi had trouble with the move. Fans are wowed by Naomi's entrance but she needs to step up her wrestling. She has athletic ability but not necessarily wrestling ability. The end of the match came when Carmella eliminated Nikki and then Nikki slapped her. Carmella forgot about Becky and Becky won with her armbar finisher. I also liked Becky's post match interview. Please give Becky more non-scripted mic time. She can talk. Her enthusiasm is infectious. Fans will be drawn to her. Well, I can wish, can't I? Enjoy the video!
Backlash: Becky Lynch vs Natalya vs Naomi vs... by divasfanwwe

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Christopher Williams

Artist:Christopher Williams
Song:I'm Dreamin'
Album:Music From The Motion Picture New Jack City




I'm Dreamin' was the biggest hit from the soundtrack of the film New Jack City and it was also the biggest hit for singer Christopher Williams. He released three albums on three different labels and it's hard to get consistency when you're bouncing around like that. After that he got into production and acting. He was born Aug. 22, 1967 in The Bronx, NY but he grew up in Richmond, VA. He is a nephew of Ella Fitzgerald. Apparently he dated Halle Berry before signing with Geffen Records. His debut album Adventures In Paradise was released in 1989. Talk To Myself and Promises, Promises were both top ten R&B hits. He worked mostly with producers Alton Wokie Stewart and Timmy Gatling of Guy. For his 1992 album Changes, Williams moved to Andre Harrell's Uptown label. While he was working on the album, Williams was asked to record I'm Dreamin' for the film New Jack City. It was written and produced by Stanley Brown. Brown had already produced Kid 'N Play and later would have success with Dru Hill. I'm Dreamin' topped the R&B charts. Uptown added it to Changes but I don't think the album did as well as Williams' first album. Changes is out of print but you can get I'm Dreamin' on the New Jack City soundtrack CD. Williams also appeared in New Jack City and he has also done quite a bit of stage acting. Williams' third CD Not A Perfect Man was released on Giant Records in 1995. It didn't do well enough for him to keep a record deal. Since then he has produced other artists, most significantly Shanice in 1998. But mostly he has worked in a lot of gospel stage plays with other R&B singers like Dave Hollister and Shirley Murdock. He has also appeared on reality TV like Real Housewives of Atlanta. Here's the video for I'm Dreamin' by Christopher Williams.

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Bethe Correia vs Jessica Eye

Here's the fight video of Bethe Correia vs Jessica Eye from last night's UFC show in Cleveland. This aired on the prelims on Fox Sports 1 in the US and The Fight Network in Canada. Remember when Bethe got a title shot and Jessica was fighting for a title shot. Those were the days. Now both are on losing streaks. Jessica even admitted being on the chopping block. And she went to see a sports psychologist. I think she would have been better off improving her ground game. That wasn't going to be a problem in this fight as Bethe has no ground game either. So I expected this fight to go the distance as neither are finishers. I thought Jessica won the first two rounds and Bethe won the third. But it was very close and neither fighter has much power. I didn't see either fighter getting a finish. I have seen the scorecards. All three judges scored round one 10-9 for Jessica and all three scored round three 10-9 for Bethe. But one judge scored round two 10-9 for Jessica and the other two scored round two 10-9 for Bethe. I don't agree with the decision. But as Jessica admitted on Twitter, that's what happens when a you don't finish fights. Sometimes you're on the wrong end of the decision. I didn't think either of them did enough to get a decisive win and that's what both needed to go back up the ladder. Both are going nowhere. Enjoy the video!

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Jessica Andrade vs Joanne Calderwood

Here is the match video for Jessica Andrade vs Joanne Calderwood from last night's UFC show in Cleveland. Joanne is from Scotland but she currently trains at Tri-Star in Montreal. She is a very good kickboxer but she has no ground skills and her takedown defense isn't very good. We saw this exposed in TUF18. Joanne is very popular so I was not surprised that she was the betting favourite. But I thought Jessica was undervalued. I liked her at 135 but she has championship potential at 115. The last time we saw Jessica she destroyed Jessica Penne in her first match at Strawweight. So despite Joanne's size advantage, I thought Jessica could give her a lot of trouble on the ground. And Jessica is a bonafide finisher especially with the guillotine choke, a hold that many fighters don't know how to apply properly. Right off the start, a Joanne Calderwood elbow cut Jessica over the left eye. That might have stopped some fighters. But Jessica ignored it and went for a takedown. Once she got Joanne on the ground, it was just a matter of time. Jessica pounded her for a while. Then when Joanne tried to get up, Jessica went for the guillotine and that was it. Joanne wasn't getting out of that. And it earned Jessica $50K. She did exactly what she wanted to do. Pretty soon she'll be ready for a title shot. Jessica is very good friends with UFC Strawweight Champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk. They have trained together. Just keep in mind that Joanna is a superior striker and she has great takedown defense. And Jessica has never gone five rounds. So it could be interesting. But Karolina Kowalkeiwicz is getting the next title shot. Maybe do Jessica vs Claudia Gadelha in Brazil in the first quarter of 2017. Winner gets a title shot. Enjoy the video!

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Ricky Dillard & New G

Artist:Ricky Dillard & New G
Song:The Holy Place
Album:No Limit





Ricky Dillard has been very successful leading his choir New G since the early 90s. He started out as a traditional gospel choir and then added contemporary elements with albums like No Limit in 2000. He's successful in the gospel market and he's not trying to cross over to pop or R&B. He was born Feb. 25, 1965 in Chicago. He started singing in the local church choir and he led the choir as a teen. James Cleveland was probably Dillard's biggest influence especially the 1972 album Amazing Grace with Aretha Franklin. And Dillard was a member of the Thompson Community Singers in the 80s. Then he formed his own choir New Generation Chorale and released his debut CD in 1991. Dillard recorded a couple of albums for Malaco. They did well but then he switched to Donald Lawrence's Crystal Spring label and Lawrence encouraged Dillard to incorporate contemporary music into his choir. Lawrence was already successfully doing that in his own choir. With the 2000 CD No Limit, Dillard changed the choir name to New G. Since then he has been a regular at the top of the gospel charts and he has been nominated for Grammy and Stellar awards. Dillard has recorded for EMI Gospel and Light. His latest CD Amazing was released in 2014 by EOne Music. They are more distributor than record label but plenty of gospel artists use them. Dillard uses Facebook instead of a website to post tour dates. Most gospel music fans should already be familiar with Dillard. His music is worth checking out. Here's Ricky Dillard & New G performing The Holy Place on the 2001 Stellar Awards broadcast.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Myra Melford

Artist:Myra Melford
Song:The Virgin Of Guadalupe
Album:Snowy Egret




Jazz pianist Myra Melford has recorded as a leader since the 90s. I would describe her style as Avant Garde. Snowy Egret is her current band's latest CD. She was born Jan. 5, 1957 in Evanston, IL. Myra was taught piano by boogie woogie ace Erwin Helfer. She got into jazz while attending Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA. She was influenced by avant garde musicians like Anthony Braxton and Leroy Jenkins to explore improvisation. Then she moved to New York and studied with Henry Threadgill and Don Pullen who was probably her biggest influence. She recorded her debut as a leader in 1990 and she has been doing that ever since. Her current band Snowy Egret is an extension of her band Crush when she was living in India and studying that culture. Since 2004 Myra has been teaching at the University of California at Berkeley. The album Snowy Egret is on the German label Yellowbird. It was released last year. Bassist Stomu Takeishi has worked with Myra for several years including in Calcutta. Other musicians are Ron Miles on trumpet, Liberty Ellman on guitar and Tyshawn Sorey on drums. Myra's latest CD Dialogue is a duet album with clarinetist Ben Goldberg on his label. She has been performing with him and with Snowy Egret who will tour Germany soon. Her music is for those who like the adventurous side of jazz. Here's Myra Melford and Snowy Egret performing The Virgin Of Guadalupe at Musee du Quai Branly in Paris June 1, 2013. This video is not on Youtube.

Virgin of Guadalupe from Myra Melford on Vimeo.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Eddy Raven

Artist:Eddy Raven
Song:I Got Mexico
Album:All American Country





Eddy Raven had success as a Nashville songwriter before he finally broke through as a recording artist with his 1984 number one country hit I Got Mexico. Raven first recorded in 1962. So it was a long road. He was born Edward Futch Aug. 19, 1944 in Lafayette, LA so he brings that Cajun flavour to country music. His family moved to Georgia and Raven cut a single in 1962 while working at a radio station. He moved back to Lafayette and he worked in a local record shop. The shop owner also owned a record label so Raven recorded a few singles and the 1969 album That Cajun Country Sound. Country music star Jimmy C. Newman heard the album and signed Raven to a songwriting deal. Raven scored his first hit as a songwriter with the 1971 Don Gibson hit Country Green. Raven also wrote the 1982 Oak Ridge Boys hit Thank God For Kids. In the 70s, Raven recorded for ABC, Monument and Dimension with little success. Then he signed with Elektra for the 1981 album Desperate Dreams. He scored his first top ten country hit with She's Playing Hard To Forget in 1982. But management problems forced a move to RCA. The 1984 album I Could Use Another You was produced by Paul Worley who had been a session musician and this would be the start of a long career as a producer. I Got Mexico was the first single and it was Raven's first number one country hit. Raven was a regular at the top of the country charts for the next few years. He left RCA in 1988 and had modest success for MCA and Capitol. In the 90s, Raven recorded for smaller labels like Intersound. He last recorded in 2005 but he still tours. This budget comp covers the RCA recordings. Here's Eddy Raven performing I Got Mexico on Nashville Now 1993.

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Asuka interview

This interview with Asuka from last night's episode of NXT is the first time the WWE has done an extended interview with her. I am posting it for those who don't have the WWE Network. So I guess the first question is how is her English? For one thing, she understands English just fine. FYI, HHH discovered early on she doesn't need a translator. But like Shinsuke Nakamura and Hideo Itami, she needs to speak English very slowly or they are going to need subtitles. So she knows what she is saying but she needs to say it slowly to be understandable. The WWE had Futami do an interview with her in Dallas in April. But they never used any of it probably because she spoke too quickly. The questions Tom Phillips asked her were fairly obvious. I just thought she did well considering she never had to speak English until now. Mostly they talked about her cleaning out the NXT women's division. BTW, she never faced Carmella or Alexa Bliss on TV. She did face Alexa at house shows. I expect Asuka to remain at NXT to anchor the division. Possible title contenders include Ember Moon, formerly known as Athena. Her real name is Adrienne Reese. She trained with Booker T in Houston. She wrestled on last night's show. She's a pretty good athlete but I don't like her finisher as it depends too much on the opponent getting into the right position for too long. It's also easy to mess up. The video for Sanity is for the wrestler currently known as Crazy Mary Dobson. She will come to NXT as soon as she finishes her current dates. And there are a few others. Of course Asuka doesn't think she can be beaten. Neither do I but one never knows. Enjoy the video.
Tom Phillips Interviews Asuka by therackattackvideos

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Big Mountain

Artist:Big Mountain
Song:Baby, I Love Your Way
Album:The Best Of Big Mountain





The reggae band Big Mountain scored their only big hit with their 1994 cover of Peter Frampton's Baby, I Love Your Way from the soundtrack of the popular film Reality Bites. Like UB40, Big Mountain are not Jamaican. They are from San Diego. They started out as Rainbow Warriors in 1986 and then recorded a couple of albums as Shiloh. The lead singer and the only original member of Big Mountain that is still with the band is Joaquin "Quino" McWhinney. He comes from a family of mariachi musicians. He got into reggae after watching a Bob Marley documentary. The band name was changed to Big Mountain in 1991. They signed with Giant Records for the 1994 album Unity. Michael Hyde was the new keyboard player and arranger. Jamaican guitarist Tony Chin and drummer Carlton "Santa" Davis were members during this period. Both were members of Peter Tosh's Soul Syndicate. Big Mountain was approached by producer Ron Fair to record Baby, I Love Your Way for Reality Bites. That film spawned several hits. Baby, I Love Your Way reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100. This would turn out to be Big Mountain's only big hit. They recorded three albums for Giant. This budget comp covers those years. The soundtrack for Reality Bites is also available on CD. Big Mountain recorded for the Japanese label Pony Canyon. They went on hiatus in 2005 and McWhinney became a high school teacher. McWhinney and Hyde reformed Big Mountain in 2013 and they released a new CD May 2016. So they are still around but they are remembered for one big hit. Here's the video for Baby, I Love Your Way by Big Mountain.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-KT Tunstall

Artist:KT Tunstall
Song:Black Horse & The Cherry Tree
Album:Eye To The Telescope





Black Horse & The Cherry Tree is the biggest hit and signature song for Scottish singer songwriter KT Tunstall. She's one of those singers who is frequently compared to other female singers and I think she gets lost in the shuffle. She was born Kate Victoria Tunstall June 23, 1975 in Edinburgh, Scotland. KT is short for Katie. Her exotic dancer mother put her up for adoption. KT was raised by University of St. Andrews physics professor David Tunstall. KT got into music as a child and she studied at Royal Holloway, University of London. She played with bands like Ella Drew and she toured with the klezmer band Oi Va Voi. She signed with Relentless Records which was distributed by Virgin Records. Relentless was sold to Virgin in 2008. Her debut CD Eye To The Telescope was released in 2004. What got KT noticed was when she performed Black Horse & The Cherry Tree on an episode of Later...with Jools Holland. She was a last minute replacement when Nas cancelled. The song became so popular in England that the album was certified 5XPlatinum. Then the album was released in the US in 2006. Black Horse & The Cherry Tree was a top 20 hit in the US and the album was certified Platinum. Eye To The Telescope is available as a budget CD and there is also a 2CD/1DVD deluxe edition. She also got a big boost when Katharine McPhee sang Black Horse & The Cherry Tree on American Idol. The song would have been a much bigger hit if the chorus refrain "You're Not The One For Me" was the song title...but it isn't. That just confuses listeners and then they never know who the artist is. So KT was confused with Dido, Sheryl Crow etc. None of KT's subsequent albums have done nearly as well. In 2014, KT moved to Los Angeles to study film composition at the Skywalker Ranch. She also signed a new record deal with Caroline Records and her CD KIN will be released on Sept. 9. She will tour to support the album. She seems to know that commercial success is behind her and that's why she wants to get into films. Here's the video for Black Horse & The Cherry Tree by KT Tunstall.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Love and Theft

Artist:Love and Theft
Song:Angel Eyes
Album:Love and Theft





Love and Theft started out as a trio but reduced to a duo by the time they scored their 2011 number one country hit Angel Eyes. One of the problems I see is they have released three albums on three different labels. It's hard to get any kind of consistent promotion bouncing around like that. They do write their own songs. Love and Theft was formed in 2006 by Stephen Barker Liles, Eric Gunderson and Brian Bandas. Love and Theft was the title of a Bob Dylan album. All three guys sing lead and write songs. After performing at an ASCAP showcase, they signed with Disney owned Lyric Street Records and the 2009 CD World Wide Open was released on Lyric Street's Carolwood label. Unfortunately, Carolwood was soon closed and Disney closed Lyric Street in 2010. Love and Theft signed with RCA in 2011. By this time, Bandas left the group to spend more time with his new wife and launch a t-shirt company. The 2012 album Love and Theft produced the number one country hit Angel Eyes. The album was produced by veteran RCA house producer Josh Leo. Gunderson wrote Angel Eyes with singer songwriter Eric Paslay and Jeff Coplan who produced the first Love and Theft album. So now they were on their way. Love and Theft recorded their next album and Night that You'll Never Forget was released as a single in 2014. But then Love and Theft left RCA and the album was scrapped. Love and Theft told Billboard they don't really know why RCA dropped them. RCA claims they spent a lot of money on Love and Theft and weren't getting much in return. Other than Angel Eyes, their music wasn't catching on. Love and Theft self released the 2015 album Whiskey On My Breath and they have now signed with Curb Records. They will re-release that CD. Love and Theft is currently on tour. Even if this doesn't work out, both guys can make a good living as songwriters. Here's the video for Angel Eyes by Love and Theft.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Chet Baker & Paul Desmond

Artist:Chet Baker & Paul Desmond
Song:Autumn Leaves
Album:Together: The Complete Studio Recordings




Of course trumpeter Chet Baker and alto sax player Paul Desmond are two of the all time jazz greats. Desmond was best known for his days with Dave Brubeck. Baker was a great musician who had serious drug problems. Some fans may not even know these two recorded together in the 70s. They didn't record a full album but they recorded enough that Sony has put everything on one budget CD. In the early 70s, Baker lived in Europe. He was on methadone at the time so he was still addicted to heroin but it was under control. He also had dental surgery to fix problems as a result of a 1966 beating. He moved back to New York in 1974 and signed with CTI Records. Autumn Leaves is from the 1974 album She Was Too Good To Me. This was perceived as a comeback album for Baker. So producer Creed Taylor put together an all star band. Desmond plays on Autumn Leaves and Tangerine. Other musicians include Hubert Laws on flute, Bob James on piano, Milt Jackson on vibes, Ron Carter on bass and Steve Gadd on drums. Don Sebesky wrote the arrangements. This CD contains those two songs plus songs from the 1977 Baker albums You Can't Go Home Again and The Best Thing For You which were on A&M. And there are three songs from the 1975 Jim Hall album Concierto. Baker and Desmond played on that album. Everything is conveniently on this budget CD. Sadly Paul Desmond died in 1977 so these were some of his final recordings. Baker moved back to Europe to stay until his 1988 death. I think many jazz fans don't know that Baker and Desmond recorded together. So this is a great CD. Here's a video for Autumn Leaves by Chet Baker & Paul Desmond.

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Ashlee Evans-Smith vs Veronica Macedo

Here's the match video of Ashlee Evans-Smith vs Veronica Macedo from yesterday's UFC show in Hamburg, Germany. This fight aired on UFC Fight Pass. The last time we saw Ashlee she won by split decision over Marion Reneau. Not only was this fight terrible light sparring but it was suspected by many that the judges mixed up the fighters and came up with the wrong decision. I would have called it a no decision due to lack of action. Neither fighter deserved to win. Ashlee was supposed to fight Germaine De Randamie but Germaine got hurt. Veronica Macedo was born in Venezuela and she now lives in Poznan, Poland. She's 20 years old so she's inexperienced. She is also undersized for Bantamweight and Ashlee started out as a Featherweight. So I expected Ashlee to take advantage of that as she should. Veronica tried some things. None of them really worked and she looked like she was out of gas by the end of round one. Considering the short notice and Ashlee's size advantage, that was probably the wrong approach. She needed to pace herself better and maybe dart in and out with strikes. Ashlee easily won the first two rounds and she got a third round stoppage with some ground and pound. The one thing I learned from this fight is the UFC needs to start a Women's Flyweight division. And I expect them to do that in 2017. Veronica could be a real contender there. I'm not sold on Ashlee until she wins over a higher ranked fighter. The was supposed to be a second women's match on this show; Aisling Daly vs Michelle Waterson. The fight was scratched when both fighters got hurt. Enjoy the video.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Jim & Jesse

Artist:Jim & Jesse
Song:Hard Hearted
Album:Dixie Hoedown





Jim and Jesse McReynolds performed and recorded for many years as Jim & Jesse. Jim played guitar and Jesse played mandolin. Jesse is considered to be a pioneer of bluegrass mandolin. Their vocal harmonies will hook you. That's what I love about bluegrass music. They grew up in Coeburn, VA. Their grandfather Charles McReynolds played fiddle for the Bull Mountain Moonshiners. So the McReynolds brothers learned to play at a very early age. After Jim left the US Army after WWII, they performed together as The McReynolds Brothers mostly on live radio. They signed a deal with Capitol in 1952. Capitol asked them to change the group name so they became Jim & Jesse. But before they could record, Jesse was drafted into the US Army for the Korean War. When he returned, they continued to perform on radio and TV. They finally recorded for Starday Records in 1958. And that was when Hard Hearted was first recorded. They have re-recorded it many times. But the original recording is on this CD. Jim & Jesse went mainstream country when they joined the Grand Ole Opry and signed with Epic Records in the 60s. Their biggest hit was Diesel On My Tail in 1967. The Epic recordings were more mainstream country and I may look at them some other time. When Jim & Jesse left Epic in 1970, they returned to traditional bluegrass and they recorded for various labels including their own label. Jesse's son Keith McReynolds joined the group in the 70s. Jim died in 2002 and Keith died in 2003. But Jesse McReynolds continues Jim & Jesse with grandson Garrett McReynolds. They still play occasionally but it looks like Jesse is mostly retired. That's four generations of great bluegrass music. Here's Jim & Jesse with Keith performing Hard Hearted 1976.

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Fred Astaire

Artist:Fred Astaire
Song:Cheek To Cheek
Album:The Early Years At RKO





A few years ago I featured an album that Fred Astaire recorded in the 50s with Oscar Peterson and the Verve Records house band. Those recordings are recommended but what about the original versions of the songs Astaire performed with Ginger Rogers in the 30s. Well, they are available on CD but the quality can be questionable. Of course Cheek To Cheek is from the 1935 classic film Top Hat. Astaire wasn't very happy to be paired with Ginger Rogers at first because he had danced for years with his sister Adele. And Ginger wasn't a dancer. But RKO convinced Astaire to continue the partnership. They let him handle the choreography himself with Hermes Pan and that kept him happy. Top Hat was the fourth of nine films Astaire and Rogers starred in at RKO in the 30s. Astaire thought the script for Top Hat was too similar to The Gay Divorcee. His character was too objectionable. Director Mark Sandrich told Astaire that the script would be rewritten. But he also told Astaire that Irving Berlin wrote all the songs for Top Hat. So that convinced Astaire to do the movie. Sandrich directed four of the Astaire Rogers films. And he also directed the 1942 film Holiday Inn before his 1945 death from a heart attack. Sandrich was probably the best director to work with Astaire. Top Hat was still criticized for being too similar to The Gay Divorcee. It didn't matter. The dance numbers made it a huge box office hit. And Cheek To Cheek topped the charts. The RKO recordings are available on CD from various labels. But Turner Classic Movies owns the RKO library. And at one time they licensed the recordings to Rhino. But that ran out and a couple of years ago TCM signed a new deal with Sony Masterworks. The 2CD The Early Years At RKO was released in 2013. It has all the RKO recordings including Cheek To Cheek. This contains the best quality recordings. Here's Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers performing Cheek To Cheek in the 1935 film Top Hat.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Bebe Neuwirth

Artist:Bebe Neuwirth
Song:All That Jazz
Album:Chicago: The Musical





Bebe Neuwirth has had success on TV and Broadway. She has two Emmys and two Tonys. That's a pretty good haul. But she started out on Broadway. She was born Beatrice Neuwirth Dec. 31, 1958 in Newark, NJ. Bebe is a childhood nickname. She started out in ballet and studied at Juilliard and performed in the Princeton Ballet Company. She made her Broadway debut as Sheila in A Chorus Line in 1980. Then she won a Tony for playing Nickie in the 1986 revival of Sweet Charity. No doubt this got her cast in the sitcom Cheers as Dr. Lilith Sternin, wife of Dr. Frasier Crane. She won two Emmys and she also reprised the role on the spinoff series Frasier. Bebe returned to Broadway in the 1994 revival of the musical Damn Yankees and then in the 1996 revival of the musical Chicago. This was a big hit. It was seven Tonys and Bebe won a Tony for playing Velma Kelly. The original cast recording is available as a budget CD. Bebe also appeared in the 2010 musical The Addams Family and she appeared in the 2007 and 2014 revivals of Chicago. She is currently a regular on the CBS series Madam Secretary. She has done some films but for the most part her success has been on TV and Broadway. Here's Bebe Neuwirth performing All That Jazz from Chicago.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Sonny Landreth

Artist:Sonny Landreth
Song:Congo Square
Album:South Of I-10





Slide guitar whiz Sonny Landreth is mainly a sideman. But he also records as a leader and he had major label success in the 90s. He's one of those guys who is respected by other musicians. He was born Feb. 1, 1951 in Canton, MS but he grew up in Jackson, MS and Lafayette, LA. His biggest guitar influence was Elvis Presley's guitarist Scotty Moore along with Chet Atkins and The Ventures. His first professional gig was in Clifton Chenier's band in the 70s. He was the white boy in a black band. And his time there added Zydeco to Landreth's influences. He recorded a couple of albums as a leader in the early 80s. But they weren't well distributed and Landreth took a job with John Hiatt's band. In the 90s, he signed with Zoo Entertainment's Volcano label. South Of I-10 was released in 1995. Landreth first recorded Congo Square on his 1985 album Down In Louisiana. He wrote it with his long time collaborator bassist David Ranson. They still work together. Musicians on South Of I-10 include Allen Toussaint on piano, Steve Conn on organ, RS Field on guitar and Greg Morrow on drums. Mark Knopfler appears on two songs. South Of I-10 is available as a budget CD. When Zoo closed, Landreth recorded for the bluegrass label Sugar Hill Records. Today he records for the Dutch label Provogue. His latest CD Bound By The Blues was released last year. Landreth is currently on tour. Check him out if he's coming your way. Here's Sonny Landreth with Butch Trucks performing Congo Square. I think this is from the 2010 Crossroads Guitar Festival which is available on DVD.