Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Jennifer Maia vs Alexis Davis

Here's the match video of Jennifer Maia vs Alexis Davis from last night's UFC show in Nashville. This match is at Flyweight. I don't think much of either fighter. Alexis seems to beat herself these days. We know she has good skills. She just does dumb things. Jennifer is a boxer. She doesn't really do anything else. She's useless on the ground. That's how Alexis should win. Instead she gets into light sparring with Jennifer in round one. And Jennifer drops her with a punch and that's enough for Jennifer to win round one 10-9. You'll notice that Jennifer doesn't follow her to the ground. We find out why in round two. Alexis finally gets a takedown. And though Jennifer defends well, she is unable to get out from under and Alexis wins round two 10-9. That's what Alexis should have been doing all along. Instead she goes back to this light sparring junk in round three. Neither of them did much of anything and the judges scored the round 10-9 for Jennifer and she won the fight by unanimous decision. It doesn't make me think Jennifer can beat anyone good. And for the second straight fight, Alexis loses to someone she should have beaten. Yeesh! Enjoy the fight!

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Maycee Barber vs JJ Aldrich

Here's the match video of Maycee Barber vs JJ Aldrich from last night's UFC show in Nashville. Both fighters are making their Flyweight debuts. Maycee had trouble making Strawweight. JJ is Rose Namajunas' teammate. The main thing she has going for her is coach Trevor Wittman. The strategy he gave to JJ worked in round one. But JJ isn't a finisher so it was going to be tough to make it work over three rounds. JJ is able to keep Maycee off balance and is able to outpoint her and win round one 10-9. Maycee's coach Marc Montoya tells her to stop going backwards. And once she does, Maycee nails JJ with a shot and finishes her. Look, Maycee is 20 years old. Her coaches are going to find holes in her game and the key is her ability to adjust. Lately Maycee has been training at Roufusport in Milwaukee. They have plenty of time to polish her up for later. She's pretty good already. Enjoy the video!

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Holy Wave

Artist:Holy Wave
Song:California Took Our Bobby Away
Album:Freaks Of Nature





Neo psychedelia fans will want to check out Holy Wave. They have had some success in the local Austin music scene and the Levitation music festivals. Holy Wave is from Austin, TX. Kyle Hager and Julian Ruiz are from El Paso. But they moved to Austin because the music scene is better. Other members are Ryan Fuson, Joey Cook and Dustin Zozaya. After becoming regulars at the annual Austin Psych Fest, they released the album Knife Hits in 2011. Their 2013 EP The Evil Has Landed got them a deal with Burger Records and the Reverberation Appreciation Society. Burger is a record store and indy label in Fullerton, CA. And they run an annual music festival. The Reverberation Appreciation Society operate the Levitation music festivals and a record label was started as a byproduct of that. They released the 2014 album Relax. California Took Our Bobby Away is from the 2016 album Freaks Of Nature. Holy Wave's latest CD Adult Fear was released last year. Texas has always been a breeding ground for psychedelic music. So it's not surprising that neo psychedelia is still a thing there. Holy Wave are recommended to fans of that sound. Here's the video for California Took Our Bobby Away by Holy Wave.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-William McDowell

Artist:William McDowell
Song:I Won't Go Back
Album:Arise: The Live Worship Experience





William McDowell's last few albums have been very successful on the Gospel charts. His 2011 album Arise and the single I Won't Go Back were his first number one hits. He was born Aug. 31, 1976 in Cincinnati. He learned to play piano as a child. By age 16, he was playing organ and leading the church choir. McDowell moved to Orlando, FL in 2001 and he became musical director for the popular gospel artist Ron Kenoly. And he earned a degree in Business Entertainment at Full Sail University. In 2006 he became pastor at The Gathering Place in Lake Mary, Fl. And then McDowell signed with Koch and released the 2009 CD As We Worship. After eOne purchased Koch, McDowell released the 2011 CD Arise recorded live at the Christian Life Center in Fort Lauderdale. It's a 2CD set. All of McDowell's albums are live recordings which is not unusual for gospel artists. And also eOne has been very successful in the Gospel market. I Won't Go Back topped the Gospel Singles chart and it appeared on a WOW various artists CD. McDowell's 2013 CD Withholding Nothing was nominated for a Grammy. His latest CD Sounds Of Revival II: Deeper also topped the Gospel Album charts. McDowell recently signed with Integrity Music and he will record his next album in May. Here's William McDowell performing I Won't Go Back 2011.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-The Bob Crewe Generation

Artist:The Bob Crewe Generation
Song:Music To Watch Girls By
Album:The Best Of The Bob Crewe Generation: Music To Watch Girls By




Most music fans should know Bob Crewe as one of the top hitmakers of the 60s especially with The Four Seasons. But he occasionally recorded as The Bob Crewe Generation and the instrumental Music To Watch Girls By was a top 20 hit in 1967. He was born Nov. 12, 1930 in Newark, NJ. His big break came when his song Silhouettes was a hit for The Rays in 1957. After a couple of lesser hits, Crewe recorded a couple of albums as a singer. The Whiffenpoof Song was a hit in New York in 1961. Then he started working with Bob Gaudio and that's when The Four Seasons were born. That's probably Crewe's greatest success but he produced plenty of other artists. Crewe started his own DynoVoice label in 1965. Probably his biggest hit was A Lover's Concerto by The Toys and several hits by Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels. Crewe heard a demo of a jingle written by Sid Ramin for a Diet Pepsi commercial. Ramin was mainly a Broadway composer. He won an Oscar and Grammy for co-orchestrating West Side Story. Crewe recorded the jingle as The Bob Crewe Generation. Music To Watch Girls By reached #15 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #2 on the Adult Contemporary chart. I'm pretty sure listeners thought the record was by Herb Alpert who was very popular at the time. Covers by Al Hirt and Andy Williams also charted. The Bob Crewe Generation recorded a couple of albums including the soundtrack for the film Barberella. This comp covers those recordings. Crewe continued to have success as a producer even into the 70s with Disco-Tex and the Sex-O-Lettes. The Bob Crewe Generation returned with the 1976 disco hit Street Talk. Crewe wasn't as active after that. He was inducted into the Songwriter's Hall Of Fame in 1985. Bob Crewe died on Sept. 11, 2014 at age 83. Here's a video for Music To Watch Girls By by The Bob Crewe Generation.

Frank Pozen's Big Bad Podcast Mar. 21, 2019

UFC on ESPN+5 review and UFC on ESPN+6 preview.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Kokomo

Artist:Kokomo
Song:Asia Minor
Album:Alley Oop: 30 One Hit Wonders: US Pop!





Not to be confused with the 70s blue eyed soul group Kokomo, this Kokomo scored a top ten hit in 1961 with the instrumental Asia Minor. The record is a pop version of Edvard Grieg's Piano Concerto in A Minor. The guy behind it was jazz pianist Jimmy Wisner. He was born Dec. 8, 1931 in Philadelphia. He was classically trained and he started playing local jazz clubs while studying psychology at Temple University. At one time he was in Charlie Ventura's band. He formed a trio in the late 50s with Chick Kinney on drums and Ace Tesone on bass. They backed up touring acts like Mel Torme and Dakota Staton. He signed with Decca's Felsted label and he released the 1959 album Blues For Harvey. Wisner got the idea of adapting classical music. He used shellac on the hammers of a piano to make it sound like a honky tonk song. He decided to release it as Kokomo so he wouldn't alienate jazz fans. After record companies turned it down, Wisner released it himself. Felsted picked it up and it reached #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1961. Wisner released an album as Kokomo. But you can get Asia Minor on this various artists comp. Wisner had success as a writer, producer and arranger. He co-wrote Don't Throw Your Love Away which topped the British charts in 1964 for The Searchers. He worked as an arranger and conductor for Bobby Rydell, Neil Sedaka, Len Barry and many others. And he was in Herbie Mann's late 60s band. Jimmy Wisner died on Mar. 13, 2018 at age 88. Here's a video for Asia Minor by Kokomo.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Sippie Wallace

Artist:Sippie Wallace
Song:Suitcase Blues
Album:Complete Recorded Works Vol. 2 1925-1945





Blues singer Sippie Wallace recorded from 1923-27. And then she quit the music business. She returned in the 60s and performed until her 1986 death. She was born Beulah Thomas Nov. 1, 1898 in Jefferson County, AR but she grew up in Houston. Her older brother George Thomas and younger brother Hersal Thomas were also musicians. Their father was a deacon so they all grew up singing and playing piano in church. At night they all played blues in tent shows. Sippie and Hersal moved to New Orleans in 1915 where she married Matt Wallace. They all moved to Chicago in 1923. And that's when Sippie signed with Okeh Records. She recorded regularly from 1923-27. She usually wrote songs with her brothers. She recorded with some of the top musicians of the era including Louis Armstrong and Sidney Bechet. Most of those recordings were produced by Okeh house producer Clarence Williams and he also played piano. Document Records has released all of Sippie's Okeh recordings on two albums. They are available as digital downloads. Sadly Hersal Thomas died of food poisoning in 1926 at age 20. After Sippie's contract expired, she quit the music business and moved to Detroit. For years she played organ at Leland Baptist Church in Detroit. She briefly returned in 1945 recording with Albert Ammons. But other than that, she was out of the music business until another blues legend Victoria Spivey convinced her to return in the 60s. In 1966 she recorded the album Women Be Wise for Storyville Records with Roosevelt Sykes and Little Brother Montgomery on piano. This album is available on CD. Sippie continued to tour and record until she suffered a stroke while on tour in Germany. She died on Nov. 1, 1986 at age 88. Here's Sippie Wallace performing Suitcase Blues in 1966.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Beanfield

Artist:Beanfield
Song:Code Of Confidence
Album:Beanfield





Beanfield is a group of German producers who had modest success in the 90s in England when Acid Jazz was popular. They have their own label Compost Records. I guess Beanfield can be viewed as a side project as they mostly produce other artists and do remixes. Compost is owned by Michael Reinboth and he was part of Beanfield along with keyboard player Tobias Meggle and bassist Jan Krause formerly of Poets of Rhythm. They produce groups like A Forest Mighty Black. They released the 1995 single Charles as Beanfield. That got enough airplay in British clubs that they decided to record the 1996 album Beanfield. The album did well enough that a second album Human Patterns was released in 1999. After that Reinboth returned to running Compost and it looked like Beanfield was finished. But Krause and Meggle brought in Michael Mettke and recorded the 2004 album Seek as Beanfield. Since then Reinboth continues to run Compost and the others work on various projects. I don't expect Beanfield to reunite anytime soon. Here's a video for Code Of Confidence by Beanfield.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Tommy Dorsey and his Orchestra

Artist:Tommy Dorsey and his Orchestra
Song:Hawaiian War Chant
Album:All Time Hit Parade Rehearsals





In the 1940s, popular big bands regularly appeared in Hollywood films. This is a clip of Tommy Dorsey and his Orchestra performing Hawaiian War Chant in the 1942 film Ship Ahoy featuring Buddy Rich on drums, Ziggy Elman on trumpet and the film's star Eleanor Powell dancing. It's a great clip but finding it on CD took a little detective work. Hawaiian War Chant is a traditional song that was arranged for a big band by Johnny Noble. Dorsey recorded it in 1938. Deane Kincaide wrote the arrangement. The recording was not a hit at the time. By 1942 24 year old drummer Buddy Rich was a featured performer in the Dorsey band obviously influenced by Gene Krupa. The Dorsey band performed Hawaiian War Song in the 1942 MGM musical Ship Ahoy. But they were unable to record a new version of Hawaiian War Chant because there was a musician's strike at the time. Most of the Dorsey comp CD's include the original recording which does not feature Rich. It's one of the few times that a re-recording is preferable to the original. The audio from the film has been released on CD twice but both are out of print. But I did find the CD All Time Hit Parade Rehearsals released by the British label HEP Records. They specialize in vintage radio shows from the era. This is a CD of rehearsals for Dorsey's radio show at the NBC studio in Los Angeles. These recordings are from 1944 and Rich is on drums. Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra and Frances Langford are among the featured singers. Among the musicians are Dodo Marmarosa on piano, Buddy DeFranco on clarinet and Nelson Riddle on trombone. I don't know what the recording quality is like. But choices are limited and big band fans love vintage radio shows. Anyway, the video clip is great. So here's Tommy Dorsey and his Orchestra featuring Buddy Rich, Ziggy Elman and Eleanor Powell performing Hawaiian War Chant in the 1942 film Ship Ahoy.

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Molly McCann vs Priscila Cachoeira

Here's the match video of Molly McCann vs Priscila Cachoeira from yesterday's UFC show in London, England. Both fighters are coming off of bad losses in UFC debuts. Molly is a Cage Warriors veteran from Liverpool. She lost by submission to Gillian Robertson in front of her home town fans. Priscila is a Brazilian who was thrown into the deep end of the pool against Valentina Shevchenko. Priscila drowned and also blew out her knee. So both are looking for redemption. Both are mainly strikers. It's a competitive fight and at least it wasn't boring. But neither fighter is very good. Molly was fired up by fan support. And I think that was the difference. Molly went for a takedown in round one and her control was enough for me to score the round 10-9 for Molly. At least it was a spirited round even if neither fighter knew what she was doing. Round two was considerably slower. They couldn't keep up that pace and Priscila looked pooped. But Molly did marginally better so I scored the round in her favor 10-9. Priscila needs a finish in round three. She lands a punch that destroys Molly's left eye. Paul Felder thought Molly suffered a broken orbital bone. Up until that point, Priscila hadn't landed anything effective. I guess it was a lucky punch. What Priscila should have been doing was going aggressively for a finish. Instead she allowed Molly to finish the fight to get a unanimous decision win. I scored it 29-28 and so did all three judges. The ref did stop the fight with a minute left to have the doctor look at Molly's eye. I assume Priscila's corner demanded that. He let her continue. There are places like New Jersey where the fight certainly would have been stopped. But the fans would have rioted if that fight had been stopped. Priscila needed to show some killer instinct and show how bad she wants to win. She gave the win back to Molly on a silver platter. It doesn't matter because I don't think either fighter can beat anyone good. But at least it wasn't three rounds of nothing. I've seen worse fights. Molly did suffer a broken orbital bone and she had surgery today. How long she is out depends on what the surgeon has to do. Certainly the fans were happy. Enjoy the video!

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Keala Settle

Artist:Keala Settle
Song:This Is Me
Album:The Greatest Showman: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack




Keala Settle is a Tony nominated actress best known for performing the Oscar nominated song This Is Me in the 2017 film The Greatest Showman. The soundtrack album was a big success. She was born Nov. 5, 1975 in La'ie, Hawaii. She is of Maori descent. Her mother is from New Zealand and her father is British. She attended Southern Utah University. Keala started out as a studio singer and was in touring productions of Hairspray and South Pacific. She made her Broadway debut as Shirley in the 2011 production of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. Then she played Norma Valverde in the 2013 Broadway musical Hands on a Hardbody. The show was not a success but Keala got great reviews and a Tony nomination. She also appeared in the 2013 revival of Les Miserables and the 2016 musical Waitress. She played Lettie Lutz The Bearded Lady in the 2017 film musical The Greatest Showman which starred Hugh Jackman as PT Barnum. The soundtrack album was a big seller and This Is Me was the featured song on the album. It was nominated for an Oscar. The song was written by Justin Paul and Benj Pasek who wrote the songs for the film La La Land. Greg Wells produced the soundtrack album. Keala appeared in the Fox TV production of Rent. She released an EP in 2017. She says she is an R&B singer and she wants to pursue music. She got into musical theater by accident. She will star in the upcoming film American Reject. The story is about what happens to talent show contestants after the show is over. This is currently in post production. A release date has not been announced. Here's Keala Settle performing This Is Me on the Academy Awards broadcast April 2018.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Sting

Artist:Sting f/Bruce Springsteen
Song:Every Breath You Take
Album:Released: The Human Rights Concerts: 1988 Human Rights Now




So of course we are all familiar with Sting as lead singer of The Police and he has been a successful solo artist since the 80s. Here he is performing one of his Police hits with Bruce Springsteen. When did this happen? Amnesty International started doing Human Rights Now tours in 1986. Sting and Springsteen were on the 1988 tour along with Peter Gabriel, Tracy Chapman and Youssou N'Dour. The tour ran for six weeks beginning on Sept. 2, 1988. It was a worldwide tour that began in London and ended in Buenos Aires on Oct. 15. The video and the recordings are from Buenos Aires. There were special guests in each show. On this show it was Argentine artists Leon Gieco and Charly Garcia. They don't appear on the CD. Each artist performed a set. N'Dour and Gabriel did a song together. Springsteen joined Sting for Every Breath You Take and then Sting joined Springsteen for The River. Then everybody came out and ended the show. This concert is available as a digital download from Shout! Factory. But it's not complete. Tracy Chapman doesn't appear on this version though her name is on the cover. Every Breath You Take also appears on a 2CD comp of all the Human Rights Now concerts. And it's on a 6DVD box set. Take your pick. From what I can tell, this tour was the only time Sting and Springsteen appeared together. I guess that makes it a must for fans of both. Here's Sting featuring Bruce Springsteen performing Every Breath You Take on Human Rights Now in Buenos Aires, Argentina Oct. 15, 1988.

Frank Pozen's Big Bad Podcast Mar. 15, 2019

UFC on ESPN+5 preview and Asuka and Io Shirai.

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Io Shirai vs Bianca Belair

Here's the match video of Io Shirai vs Bianca Belair from this week's episode of NXT. NXT Women's Champion Shayna Baszler is on commentary. The purpose of this match is to set up a title match on NXT Takeover New York. But the match was good enough to make me want to see these two in an extended program. Of course Bianca is bigger and freakishly strong. But Io sells her offense and then fires up her offense with first a 619 and then a springboard dropkick. She almost fell doing that one. The end comes when Bianca gets her knees up to foil Io's moonsault. And then Shayna comes down to the ring and drops Io to the floor. Then she puts Bianca to sleep with the Kurufida Clutch. Kairi Sane comes to the ring but it's nap time for her too. Io tosses Shayna out of the ring. But she makes the mistake of checking on Kairi and Shayna puts her to sleep too. Of course as you will see in the post match interview, the unintended consequences are that Shayna will have to defend her title against all three in a four way match at NXT Takeover New York. I look forward to that. Enjoy the video!

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Makem & Clancy

Artist:Makem & Clancy
Song:The Rocky Road To Dublin
Album:The Makem & Clancy Concert





Of course music fans know Tommy Makem from his stint in the 60s with The Clancy Brothers. They were a big part of the folk music boom. After Makem left the group in 1969, he recorded solo until he formed Makem & Clancy with the youngest of the Clancys Liam Clancy. They had a good run in the late 70s. After Tommy Makem left The Clancy Brothers, he recorded several solo albums for Columbia and Polydor. Meanwhile The Clancy Brothers cut back on touring. When they weren't touring, Liam Clancy started touring solo. He also filed bankruptcy due to tax problems and he moved to Calgary to live with his in-laws. After appearing on The Irish Rovers CBC TV show, Clancy got his own TV show. And he recorded a solo album. So both guys are touring and they were booked to work the 1975 Cleveland Irish Festival. They decided to do an impromptu show together. It went so well that Makem appeared on Clancy's TV show and it became The Makem & Clancy Show. One of the show guests was Scottish folksinger Archie Fisher. He wanted to record them and they started Blackbird Records. The 1976 album Tommy Makem & Liam Clancy did so well, the duo toured together. Fisher not only produced their albums but he and fiddler Allan Barty toured with them. The Makem & Clancy Concert was recorded at the Gaiety Theater in Dublin. The Rocky Road To Dublin is a 19th century song that was popularized by English music hall performer Harry Clifton. The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem recorded it in 1964. This live album was on 2LPs. It was licensed to Columbia in Canada. And after their TV show aired on PBS, Shanachie released the album in the US in 1982. They released it on CD in 1992. After Makem & Clancy went on a 1984 Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem reunion tour, they decided to split up after a 1988 farewell tour. They resumed their solo careers. Here's Makem & Clancy performing The Rocky Road To Dublin on a 1977 TV special filmed at the National Theater in Dublin.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Chad Allan and the Expressions

Artist:Chad Allan and the Expressions
Song:Shakin' All Over
Album:Shakin' All Over





Most music fans should be familiar with the legendary Canadian band The Guess Who. But you may not be aware that as Chad Allan and the Expressions they topped the Canadian charts in 1965 with Shakin' All Over. Allan founded the band and he left before they became famous. He was born Allan Kowbel Mar. 28, 1943 in Winnipeg. In 1958 he formed Allan and the Silvertones. He was lead singer and guitarist with Bob Ashley on keyboards, Randy Bachman on guitar, Jim Kale on bass and Garry Peterson on drums. They changed their name to Chad Allan and the Reflections because they thought it was similar to the British group The Shadows. They signed with the Canadian label Quality Records in 1963 and they released a few singles that went nowhere. They changed their name to Chad Allan and the Expressions because there was already a group called The Reflections. That's when Shakin' All Over topped the Canadian charts. The song was written and recorded by Johnny Kidd and the Pirates. It was a number one hit in England in 1960. Quality licensed it to Scepter in the US and it was released as Guess Who? so fans would think the group was British because the British Invasion was so big at the time. It reached #22 on the Billboard Hot 100. Though the real group name was revealed, DJs kept calling them Guess Who. So the band accepted the name. After two albums, Chad Allan left The Guess Who and Burton Cummings was made the new lead singer. He replaced Bob Ashley when Ashley left in 1965. You can get the early Guess Who recordings on this CD from the reissue label Sundazed. Allan hosted the CBC TV show Let's Go and he released a few singles. After Randy Bachman left The Guess Who, Allan and Bachman formed Brave Belt. Allan left after one album and of course Bachman formed Bachman-Turner Overdrive. Allan released a solo album in 1973 and he worked in TV for many years. But he will forever be known for Shakin' All Over. Here's a video for Shakin' All over by Chad Allan and the Expressions.

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Asuka vs Sonya Deville

Here's the match video of Asuka vs Sonya Deville from last night's episode of Smackdown. There isn't much to this match because the WWE is preoccupied with teasing the Mandy Rose and Sonya split. Not to mention the idiotic bickering on commentary. The ending is similar to Sunday's match where Mandy seems to accidentally on purpose trip Sonya on the ring apron. I wouldn't mind seeing a longer match with these two as Sonya has MMA skills. But this ain't it. Enjoy the video!

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-The Black Angels

Artist:The Black Angels
Song:Medicine
Album:Death Song





Fans of neo psychedelic music will want to check out The Black Angels. They were formed in Austin, TX in 2004 led by Alex Maas on lead vocals with Christian Bland on guitar, Jennifer Raines on organ, Nathan Ryan on bass and Stephanie Bailey on drums. The group name is from the Velvet Underground classic The Black Angel's Death Song. They released a 2005 EP followed by the 2006 album Passover on Light in the Attic Records. They built a following on MySpace and they toured. One thing that really helped them was favorable comparisons to 60s psychedelic band 13th Floor Elevators who were from Austin. And they even backed up Elevators leader Roky Erickson on a 2008 tour. They also appeared in the 2007 film Death Sentence, the Fox TV series Fringe and the HBO series Californication. For the 2008 album Directions To See A Ghost, Raines was replaced by Kyle Hunt. For the 2010 album Phosphene Dream, they moved to Blue Horizon Records. They recorded with UNKLE and a song appeared in the hit film The Twilight Saga Eclipse. Ryan left in 2012. He was replaced by Jake Garcia for the 2017 album Death Song on Partisan Records. Their last couple of albums have reached the Billboard Hot 200. They are probably due for a new album. The Black Angels will never be mainstream. But they have done a good job of appealing to neo psychedelia fans. Here are The Black Angels performing Medicine at St. Louis radio station KDHX May 15, 2017.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-LTJ Bukem

Artist:LTJ Bukem
Song:Horizons
Album:Deca Dance Chillout




Danny Williamson is a British DJ known as LTJ Bukem. He is best known for the drum and bass style of ambient dance music. The 1995 single Horizons is probably his best known song. He was born Sept. 20, 1967 in Croydon, London, England. His nickname is from "Book 'em, Danno" from Hawaii Five-O. He played trumpet, piano and drums as a child. And he got into 70s jazz fusion like Lonnie Liston Smith as a teen. Giles Peterson inspired Williamson to get into DJ work and he started recording music on his own label in the early 90s. The 1995 single Horizons is probably his best known song. He only released it as a single so the best place to find it is on various artist comps like this 3CD comp from Ministry Of Sound. I'm not a big fan of this kind of music. But those who are into it believe that Williamson advanced this style of music in the 90s. He's been less active in recent years though he still does a lot of remix work. Here's a video of Horizons by LTJ Bukem.

Valentina Shevchenko vs Jessica Eye to main event June 8 UFC show

The UFC announced today that UFC 238 will be June 8 at the United Center in Chicago. Yesterday Brett Okamoto of ESPN reported that Valentina Shevchenko will defend the UFC Flyweight Championship against Jessica Eye. Jessica is 3-0 since moving to Flyweight. But they were some of the softest wins I have ever seen. Well, a win is a win, I guess. In her last fight she beat Katlyn Chookagian by split decision. Katlyn uses this keep away strategy that she has used in all her fights. It worked but she just didn't get the decision. Because it was a split decision, Dana White refused to announce Jessica's title shot after the fight. Recently Jessica moved to Las Vegas to train at the UFC PI. I expect this fight to go the distance. The big difference is Valentina is an elite kickboxer and Jessica isn't. So Valentina should retain. The Chicago Tribune reported two other fights. In a Strawweight bout, Tatiana Suarez will face Nina Ansaroff. Tatiana is 28 years old from California. She's 7-0 and she won TUF 23. She has been on a tear since recovering from knee surgery. Nina is 33 years old. She trains at ATT in Florida. She's been mediocre for most of her career. But lately she has been playing the spoiler especially her recent win over Claudia Gadelha. I expect the winner of this fight to get a title shot. In a Flyweight bout, Katlyn Chookagian will face Joanne Calderwood. Katlyn uses this keep away strategy devised by her coach Mark Henry. It was working great until she lost by split decision to Jessica Eye. Of course Joanne is from Scotland but she now trains at Syndicate in Las Vegas. She beat the highly touted Ariane Lipski in her last fight. Joanne is a kickboxer. We all know what Katlyn will do. Can Joanne catch up with her?

Frank Pozen's Big Bad Podcast Mar. 11, 2019

UFC on ESPN+4 and WWE Fastlane review and new fight announcements.

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Asuka vs Mandy Rose

Here's the match video of Asuka vs Mandy Rose from last night's WWE Fastlane PPV. This was set up when Mandy won a non title match over Asuka after fooling the ref with a phony injury. The bickering commentary during this match is awful mostly because of Vince McMahon's insistence on having Corey Graves fawn over Mandy when it is clearly unnecessary. Fans blame Graves for this but Vince wants him to do it. The match is OK. Asuka does her usual stuff and sells enough to make Mandy look like a threat. Making fans believe she's a threat is another story. The ending is a little strange. Sonya Deville looks under the ring and then she went to the other side of the ring. So I guess she forgot where the kendo stick was located. She left the ring apron up. Mandy slipped on the apron and Asuka's spinning head kick finished her off. I don't know if that was the planned ending or not. After the match, Mandy was upset with Sonya. So a split is being teased. We still don't know what the plan is for Asuka at Wrestlemania. I have said all along that I would add her to the three way match. She would make it better. There is also the rumor that the WWE is considering merging the two women's titles. It remains to be seen if that will happen but apparently it is under consideration. Enjoy the video.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Patty Loveless

Artist:Patty Loveless
Song:Blame It On Your Heart
Album:16 Biggest Hits





Patty Loveless emerged in the 80s. But she had most of her success in the 90s after she switched record labels. Blame It In Your Heart was one of her five number one country hits. She was born Patricia Lee Ramey Jan. 4, 1957 in Pikeville, KY. She was the sixth of seven children. Her father worked in the coal mines. They moved to Louisville after he got sick in 1969. Patty's sister Dottie Ramey and brother Roger Ramey performed as The Swinging Rameys. When Dottie got married and quit performing, Patty replaced her. Roger moved to Nashville to be a producer on The Porter Wagoner Show. He introduced Patty to Wagoner and he told her to go home and graduate from high school and she could spend the summer on tour with Wagoner and partner Dolly Parton. Then in 1973 at a Grand Ole Opry show in Louisville, Jean Shepherd was caught in a flood and couldn't make the show. Local DJ Danny King brought the Rameys in on short notice. After the show, Doyle Wilburn of The Wilburn Brothers hired Patty as a backup singer. She eventually became their lead singer and she married their drummer Terry Lovelace. And that's when she changed her name to Patty Loveless. They moved to North Carolina and played local clubs. After a 1985 divorce, Patty moved back to Nashville and Roger helped her get a record deal with MCA. She was assigned to producer Emory Gordy Jr. who also worked with Steve Earle. They married in 1989. Patty had a string of top ten country hits. Timber, I'm Falling In Love and Chains topped the country charts in 1989. While at MCA, Patty and Gordy thought Patty was playing second fiddle to Reba McEntire and others. A new manager was hired who got her out of her MCA contract and Patty moved to Epic. But Patty was having problems with her voice. She had surgery and she sounded better afterwards. And that led to her 1993 Epic debut album Only What I Feel. The first single Blame It On Your Heart topped the country charts. The song was written by veteran songwriters Harlan Howard and Kostas. The actor in the video is David Keith. Patty continued to have success. But she faded and she left Epic in 2005. You can get all her Epic hits on this budget comp. Patty Loveless last recorded in 2009. I would describe her as semi retired. She appears annually at the Grand Ole Opry and The Country Music Cruise. She lives with her family in the Atlanta area. She doesn't tour anymore. Patty Loveless was a big part of the 90s neo traditional country movement. Here's the video for Blame It On Your Heart by Patty Loveless.

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Yana Kunitskaya vs Marion Reneau

Here's the match video of Yana Kunitskaya vs Marion Reneau from last night's UFC show in Wichita, KS. I said on my podcast on Friday that I never know which Marion Reneau will show up. She is capable of dominating fights but she can also be very ineffective. And sometimes she can be like this within the same fight. And that's what happened in this fight. The fight turned out very close and in the end Marion didn't do enough in the first two rounds to win. Yana is mainly a Muay Thai fighter so in round one she used knees in the clinch to win the round 10-9. Round two was closer and it could have been scored either way. But again I thought Marion didn't do enough and I scored it 10-9 for Yana. Finally in round three Marion does what she should have done in the first two rounds. And that's be aggressive. She broke Kana's nose and won round three 10-9. But she didn't get the finish she needed and I scored the fight 29-28 for Yana. All three judges scored it the same. Fans booed the decision and Marion thought she won. If she had been as effective in the first two rounds as she was in the third, she would have won. She beat herself again. Enjoy the video!

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-The Fureys and Davey Arthur

Artist:The Fureys and Davey Arthur
Song:The Green Fields Of France
Album:The Greatest Irish Album Ever!





The Furey Brothers and Davey Arthur are a very popular folk group. They probably had their greatest success in the 80s. The Green Fields Of France topped the Irish charts in 1979. The Fureys are from Dublin. Finbar and Eddie Furey started out in 1958 performing in local clubs with their father. Then they performed as a duo. Younger brothers Paul and George Furey joined in 1968 and they opened for a Clancy Brothers US tour. In the 70s Paul joined the Buskers where he worked with Davey Arthur who was a family friend. Meanwhile Eddie and Finbar continued to record as a duo. In 1976 The Fureys and Arthur formed Tam Linn and then changed it to The Fureys and Davey Arthur as a nod to The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. They signed with Polydor and The Green Fields Of France topped the Irish charts in 1979. The song was written by Scottish folksinger Eric Bogle as No Man's Land. It's an anti war song. Since The Fureys popularized it, the song has become a standard. Many artists have covered the song. You can get The Green Fields Of France on this various artists CD. The Fureys and Davey Arthur continued to have success until Finbar left to go solo in 1997. Paul Furey died in 2002. But Eddie and George and Arthur continue to perform together. Here's The Fureys and Davey Arthur performing The Green Fields Of France at the Grand Opera House in Belfast, Ireland 1990.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Julian Lage

Artist:Julian Lage
Song:Nocturne
Album:Arclight





Julian Lage was a child prodigy who is one of today's top jazz guitarists. He started out as a sideman and he now leads his own trio on tour and he records for Mack Avenue Records. He was born Sept. 25, 1987 in Santa Rosa, CA. At the age of eight he played with Carlos Santana. He also played with Pat Metheny, Toots Thielemans and David Grisman among others. He was the subject of the 1996 Oscar nominated documentary Jules At Eight. Lage made his recording debut with Grisman on the 1999 album Dawg Duos. And he performed on the 2000 Grammy Awards. At age 15 Lage joined the faculty of Stanford University. He graduated from Berklee in 2008. Lage was also a member of Gary Burton's band. He made his recording debut as a leader with the 2009 album Sounding Point featuring Bela Fleck, Chris Thile and Taylor Eigsti. Lage currently records for Mack Avenue. Nocturne is from his 2016 CD Arclight recorded with Scott Colley on bass and Kenny Wolleson on drums. Lage recorded Arclight on a Fender Telecaster which isn't normally a jazz guitar. He says that is a tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughan and others who play a Telecaster. Though he writes most of his own songs, Lage seems to have a thing for obscure jazz songs of the 30s. Nocturne was written and recorded by British bandleader Spike Hughes in 1930. Coleman Hawkins recorded it but it's not a jazz standard. Lage just released the CD Love Hurts with Jorge Roeder on bass and David King on drums. He tours Europe in March and then a US tour over the summer. He's coming to Toronto in September so I hope to see him live. Here's Julian Lage performing Nocturne at the Blue Whale in Los Angeles June 4, 2016.

Rose Namajunas vs Jessica Andrade to main event May 11 UFC

The UFC finally announced today that UFC 237 will be May 11 at the Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The delay was they wanted to do this show in a soccer stadium in Curitiba but they were unable to come to terms with the venue. So far there are four women's matches on this show headlined by Rose Namajunas defending her UFC Strawweight Championship against Jessica Andrade. We haven't seen Rose for a while. I know she had a neck injury. Fortunately, Trevor Wittman is a really good coach. I'm sure he has a good game plan for her. Jessica is on a three fight winning streak. Her relentless pressure and affinity for the guillotine could spell trouble for Rose. In a Bantamweight bout, Irene Aldana will face Bethe Correia. Both are points fighters. Irene is from Mexico. She is 9-4 and 2-2 in the UFC. Bethe is 35 years old. She trains with the Pitbull Brothers. She is 10-3-1 and 5-3-1 in the UFC. We haven't seen her since 2017 because she had two eye surgeries. I don't like either fighter. In a Flyweight bout, Yanan Wu will face Luana Carolina. Yanan is 22 years old from China. She is 10-2 and 1-1 in the UFC. She won over Lauren Mueller by first round armbar after Lauren knocked her down. It seemed a little fluky. We'll see if she can do that again. Luana is 25 years old from Sao Paulo, Brazil. She won a fight in the Brazilian edition of the Dana White Contender Series. She's 5-1 in the Brazilian regional circuit. And in a Bantamweight bout, Talita Bernardo will face Jessica-Rose Clark. Talita is 32 years old from Brazil. Her record is 5-3 and 1-2 in the UFC. She came to the UFC as a late replacement. She's a terrible fighter but she won her last fight over Sarah Moras mostly using lay and pray. Jessy Jess is 31 years old from Australia but she trains at Syndicate in Las Vegas. She is 9-5-1NC and 2-1 in the UFC. She's been fighting at Flyweight but she has had trouble making weight. This is her first fight at Bantamweight. She should win this fight as Talita is really bad.

Frank Pozen's Big Bad Podcast Mar. 8, 2019

UFC on ESPN+4 and WWE Fastlane preview, new fight announcement and my take on the Ronda Rousey "shoot".

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Billy Ray Cyrus

Artist:Billy Ray Cyrus
Song:Achy Breaky Heart
Album:Icon: The Distance





Achy Breaky Heart was one of the biggest hits of 1992. It topped the country charts and crossed over to pop. The album Some Gave All sold almost five million copies. And it even spawned a dance craze. But Billy Ray Cyrus has never had another big hit so I guess it was a double edged sword. He was born Aug. 25, 1961 in Flatwoods, KY. His father Ron Cyrus was in the Kentucky House of Representatives for many years. His grandfather was a preacher so he grew up singing in church. Cyrus attended Georgetown on a baseball scholarship. He had a band with his brother called Sly Dog. After getting a steady gig in Ohio, Cyrus left school. Sly Dog split up after a 1984 fire burned down their house and all their gear. Eventually Cyrus moved to Nashville where country music star Del Reeves spotted him and Reeves told Mercury Records to check him out. Cyrus recorded his 1992 debut album Some Gave All with producers Jim Cotton and Joe Scaife. They had previously worked with K.T. Oslin. Achy Breaky Heart was the first single. It not only topped the country charts but it reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and it inspired a dance craze. Though Cyrus did write half the songs on his album, Achy Breaky Heart was written by Don Von Tress for The Oak Ridge Boys. Their lead singer Duane Allen didn't like the title. It was recorded in 1991 as Don't Tell My Heart by The Marcy Brothers who released an album on Warner Bros. Cyrus heard Von Tress' demo and liked the song. The song was so popular that it inspired parodies and tributes. There was also a backlash especially in Nashville where critics bemoaned the state of country music. Cyrus recorded five albums for Mercury and he had six top ten country hits. Trying to recreate the Achy Breaky Heart success was always going to be a tall order. You can get all of Cyrus' hits on this budget comp. After leaving Mercury, Cyrus recorded for Monument, Word and Disney among others. His latest album was released on his own label in 2017. He also formed Brother Clyde with Phil Vassar, Jeffrey Steele and John Waite. They released an album in 2010. He also got into acting mostly on TV. He starred in the PAX TV series Doc from 2001-2004. And of course his daughter Miley Cyrus is a huge pop star. But Billy Ray Cyrus has been immortalized by Achy Breaky Heart. Here's the video for Achy Breaky Heart by Billy Ray Cyrus.

Aspen Ladd vs Sijara Eubanks added to May 18 UFC show

John Morgan of MMA Junkie reported this morning that Aspen Ladd vs Sijara Eubanks has been added to UFC on ESPN+9 May 18 at Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, NY. This fight will be at Bantamweight. Aspen is 24 years old. She trains at MMA Gold in Pioneer, CA. Her record is 7-0 and 2-0 in the UFC. She was supposed to fight Holly Holm on UFC 235 but Holly was pulled as her manager is negotiating a new contract. I like Aspen because she likes to finish fights as she did to the veteran Tonya Evinger in her last fight. In her only decision win, Aspen beat Sijara in 2017 in Invicta. Sijara is 33 years old from Union, NJ. She just opened her own gym. Her record is 4-2 and 2-0 in the UFC. She reached the finals of TUF 26 which was for Flyweights and then she was forced to pull out of the TUF finale because she couldn't make weight. She was supposed to fight Valentina Shevchenko for the Flyweight belt. But she was pulled and replaced by Joanna Jedrzeczyk. Then Sijara missed weight when she beat Roxanne Modafferi. So now she has moved back to Bantamweight. I never thought she should have been fighting at Flyweight. The reason she wanted to fight at Flyweight is it gave her a clear size advantage. Of course she loses that advantage at Bantamweight which makes her just another midcard fighter who probably isn't good enough to be in the UFC. Dropping to Flyweight was her only route to the UFC or she would fight in regional companies. She had potential at Flyweight. Too bad she couldn't make weight. Aspen is an elite fighter and I expect her to win easily. I would have preferred to see Aspen fight a ranked fighter.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Divine Brown

Artist:Divine Brown
Song:Old Skool Love
Album:Juno Awards 2006





Chances are pretty good that if you live outside of Canada you have never heard of neo soul singer Divine Brown. But she is worth checking out. Her 2005 single Old Skool Love deserved a wider audience. She was born Michelle Brown Sept. 9, 1974 in Toronto. Her parents are Jamaican immigrants. She sang in clubs as a teen but couldn't get a record deal because record companies thought her sound was too sophisticated. So in the 90s Michelle worked as a background singer, vocal arranger and songwriter on albums by Carlos Morgan and Lovena Fox among others. She also recorded a couple of singles as Divine Earth Essence in 2002. She finally signed with Blacksmith Entertainment with Universal Canada distribution in 2005. She wrote and produced the 2005 album Divine Brown with James Bryan who had previously worked with Nelly Furtado. The album and single Old Skool Love got airplay in Canada but it was never released in the US. And the album is out of print. You can get Old Skool Love on the 2006 Juno Awards CD. Divine's 2008 album Love Chronicles was released on Warner Canada. Again this was not released in the US despite winning an R&B/Soul Recording Of The Year Juno. Though Divine Brown continues to perform in Toronto clubs and record occasionally, it doesn't look like her outstanding vocal talent will ever get the international exposure she deserves. Here's the video for Old Skool Love by Divine Brown.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-George Shearing

Artist:George Shearing
Song:Lullaby Of Birdland
Album:A Proper Introduction To George Shearing: Conception



Pianist George Shearing was the foremost proponent of "Cocktail Jazz". I guess if he was around today it would be called Smooth Jazz. I liked him best when he accompanied singers. He also wrote the jazz standard Lullaby Of Birdland which is probably one of the most recorded songs in history. Shearing was born Aug. 13, 1919 in Battersea, London, England. He was born blind and he learned to play piano as a child. Though he was offered scholarships, Shearing preferred to play local clubs and he started appearing on the radio after he became friends with jazz critic Leonard Feather. Shearing moved to the US in 1947 and signed with MGM Records. His recording of September In The Rain sold almost a million copies. Birdland was a jazz club at the corner of Broadway and 44th St. in New York City named after Charlie Parker. In 1952, club owner Morris Levy planned a live radio broadcast and he asked Shearing to record a theme for the show. But Shearing didn't like the song Levy gave him so he offered to write one. Shearing struggled with this for weeks until one night during dinner it came to him and he wrote Lullaby Of Birdland in ten minutes. It's based on the tune of the popular song Love Me Or Leave Me. He recorded it and it was the theme of the radio show. That should have been the end of it. But a couple of years later George David Weiss wrote lyrics for Lullaby Of Birdland and Sarah Vaughan recorded it on her classic 1954 album with Clifford Brown. Shearing then recorded his original version which MGM released as a single in 1954. Shearing's band at the time was Joe Roland on vibes, Dick Garcia on guitar, Al McKibbon on bass and Marquis Foster on drums. This recording is available on this CD from the British label Proper. Shearing recorded Lullaby Of Birdland many times over the years. And it's a jazz standard so plenty of others recorded it too. Here's George Shearing performing Lullaby Of Birdland. Thanks to Jazz Standards for the Lullaby Of Birdland history.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Tauren Wells

Artist:Tauren Wells
Song:Known
Album:Hills and Valleys





Tauren Wells was the lead singer of the Contemporary Christian (CCM) group Royal Tailor. He has had success since going solo in 2015. He has pop crossover potential. He was born Apr. 7, 1986 in Battle Creek, MI. He formed Royal Tailor in 2009 with DJ Cox and Blake Hubbard while all three were attending Indiana Bible College. After two moderately successful albums, Wells left to go solo in 2015. He signed with Reunion Records and he released an EP in 2016. His debut album Hills and Valleys was released in 2017. The album was produced by Jordan Sapp who has produced Austin Mahone and Demi Lovato among others. They wrote the songs together. Wells has scored three straight top ten Christian chart singles. Known reached #3 and it was also nominated for a Grammy. Wells is currently on tour opening for Chris Tomlin. His music sounds a lot like Ed Sheeran's brand of blue eyed soul so Reunion may want to try to cross him over to pop. But does Wells want to do that? Here's the video for Known by Tauren Wells.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Jim Bryant

Artist:Jim Bryant
Song:Something's Coming
Album:West Side Story: The Original Sound Track Recording




These days actors do all their own singing in movies even if they can't really sing. But back in the old days, there were many singers who did the singing for actors who couldn't sing. And they didn't get credit because the studios didn't want the audience to know. Today it's common knowledge who did the actual singing and I want to feature those singers. Of course the most famous film musical to have both lead characters dubbed was the 1961 film West Side Story. Natalie Wood's singing was by Marni Nixon and Richard Beymer's singing was by Jim Bryant. Marni did a lot of dubbing so she is well known to film and music fans. Bryant wasn't really a singer. He was born June 2, 1929 in Birmingham, AL. He studied composition at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. He moved to New York in 1953 and he was a background singer for a few years. Then he moved to Los Angeles and was in the house band at the nightclub Puccini's. He auditioned and got the West Side Story job. But he wasn't experienced at dubbing work and didn't have an agent. So Bryant never was a regular like Bill Lee for example. Bryant did all of Beymer's vocals in West Side Story including Something's Coming and Maria. Bryant also sang for James Fox in the 1967 film Thoroughly Modern Millie. He became friends with legendary film composer John Williams. Bryant frequently worked for Williams as an orchestrator on the TV series Lost In Space among other things. He also composed the background music used at Walt Disney theme parks. Bryant was inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in 2008. On imdb, he gets a credit for the 2007 film Charlie Wilson's War. That should be credited to country music singer Jimmy Bryant. The two are friends but frequently mistaken for each other. Here's Jim Bryant performing Something's Coming in the 1961 film West Side Story.

Frank Pozen's Big Bad Podcast Mar. 3, 2019

UFC 235 review and Weili Zhang's future.

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Hannah Cifers vs Polyana Viana

Here's the match video of Hannah Cifers vs Polyana Viana from last night's UFC show in Las Vegas. Polyana is the Brazilian girl who got a lot of publicity for beating up a mugger while waiting for a bus. She lost her last fight to JJ Aldrich, a fighter she should have beaten but JJ has a great coach. I felt the same about this fight. Hannah came to the UFC as a late replacement a few months ago. She's a striker but I don't think she is a UFC caliber fighter. Round one was close but I scored it 10-9 for Hannah and so did the judges. Neither fighter looked good. Round two was similar but I scored it 10-9 for Polyana and so did the judges. I scored round three 10-9 for Hannah. Two of the judges scored it the same and the third scored it 10-9 for Polyana. So Hannah won by split decision. It was a close fight but not a good fight. And for the second straight fight, Polyana lost a fight that she should have won. It just shows that even the lower levels of the UFC are a big step up from the Brazilian regional circuit. She needs to figure things out. Enjoy the video!

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Macy Chiasson vs Gina Mazany

Here's the match video of Macy Chiasson vs Gina Mazany from last night's UFC show in Las Vegas. Macy won TUF 28 for Featherweights but she dropped down to Bantamweight for this fight. Gina came to the UFC as a late replacement. I don't think she is a UFC caliber fighter. Based on this fight, Macy is going to be big trouble for the rest of the Bantamweight division. At 5'11", she is a legit Featherweight. If she can make weight and still exhibit the same skills I saw in TUF and Invicta, great. Sometimes a fighter loses something when she drops a weight class. But Macy looked good and she got a quick knockout. I'd like to see her face a ranked fighter. Enjoy the video!

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Weili Zhang vs Tecia Torres

Here's the match video of Weili Zhang vs Tecia Torres from last night's UFC show in Las Vegas. After her win over Jessica Aguilar, the UFC booked Weili against a ranked fighter on on the main card of a Las Vegas PPV. And this was her US debut. I guess that's a lot of pressure but if Weili passes with flying colors, the UFC knows she is for real. And because Weili's previous UFC fights were on UFC Fight Pass, plenty of fans had yet to see her. Tecia is a good but not great fighter. She would need to be more aggressive than usual. She wasn't. And that was the story of this fight. Tecia couldn't handle Weili's constant pressure. And she didn't do enough. Weili outclassed her striking and Tecia didn't adjust when she fell behind. I scored the fight 30-27 for Weili. Two of the judges scored it the same and the third scored it 29-28. Weili didn't get a finish but it was a dominant win over a ranked fighter. Now the UFC needs to continue to advance her towards the title. Though nothing has been announced, I expect the UFC to return to Beijing, China probably in the fall of 2019. They will want Weili in the main event of that show. If things fall into place, that fight could be a Strawweight number one contender match. So let's say that Tatiana Suarez wins her next fight. Weili could fight Karolina Kowalkiewicz at International Fight Week in July. And if she wins, Weili vs Tatiana is main event in Beijing. I really don't care who Weili fights in July. But Karolina is a former title contender and she has better defense than Tecia. I think she is a tough opponent. In the meantime, enjoy the video!

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Premiata Forneria Marconi

Artist:Premiata Forneria Marconi
Song:Il Banchetto
Album:Photos Of Ghosts





The progressive rock group Premiata Forneria Marconi (PFM) are still very popular in their native Italy. But back in the 70s they had international success when they were on Emerson Lake & Palmer's Manticore label. I knew about them at the time and they are recommended to progressive rock fans. PFM are from Milan, Italy. They were a backup band when they formed in the 60s with Franco Mussida on guitar, Flavio Premoli on keyboards, Giorgio Piazza on bass and Franz Di Cioccio on drums. They released a 1968 album as I Quelli. Flute and violinist Mauro Pagani joined and the group name was changed to Premiata Forneria Marconi after a bakery Pagani was familiar with. The name translates to Award Winning Marconi Bakery. They started out as a progressive rock cover band. They signed with RCA in Italy and their 1972 debut album Storia di un Minuto topped the Italian charts. Il Banchetto is from the 1974 album Per un Amico. Greg Lake saw them while on tour in Italy and he signed them to Manticore. Photos Of Ghosts is the same songs as Per un Amico but in English. The album was produced by former King Crimson lyricist Pete Sinfield. He also wrote the English lyrics. The album got international radio play on college radio. And the group name was shortened to PFM. This album is available as a budget CD. Piazza was replaced by Patrick Djivas. PFM released their next album in Italian and English. They toured North America and appeared on The Midnight Special. After a live album, Bernardo Lanzetti was brought in as lead singer. They released a couple more albums in English and returned to Italy. A version of PFM is still around. Franz Di Cioccio is the only original member. Their latest album was released in 2017. Progressive rock fans should check out Premiata Forneria Marconi. Here's Premiata Forneria Marconi performing Il Banchetto 1980.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Broadway Bell-Hops

Artist:Broadway Bell-Hops
Song:There's A Cradle In Caroline
Album:1926-1928





Here's a 1927 recording that is historically significant because it features a cornet solo by the legendary Bix Beiderbecke. At the time he was a member of Frankie Trumbauer's band. The Trumbauer band recorded two songs as Broadway Bell-Hops. They were one of several bands led by Sam Lanin. He was born Sept. 4, 1891 in Russia and he grew up in Philadelphia. His brother Lester Lanin was a very famous bandleader. After serving in the US Navy in WWI in the band, Lanin moved to New York to lead the band at the famed Roseland Ballroom. He signed with Columbia Records in 1920. Lanin recorded under so many different band names that it is impossible to make sense of it. When the Broadway Bell-Hops first recorded in 1926, the trumpeter was the legendary Red Nichols. He appears on most of the recordings on this CD. But when Lanin needed to record in 1927 and his usual band wasn't available, he brought in sax player Frankie Trumbauer and his band including Bix Beiderbecke on cornet and Joe Venuti on violin. There's A Cradle In Caroline was a song Trumbauer recorded in 1926. Irving Kaufman is the singer and he appears on a lot of the Broadway Bell-Hops recordings. This recording also appears on some Bix Beiderbecke comps. Unfortunately the 1929 stock market crash killed Lanin's career and he was never able to return to his success of the 20s. He retired from the music business in 1936 and died in 1977. Here's a video for There's A Cradle In Caroline by Broadway Bell-Hops.

Frank Pozen's Big Bad Podcast Mar. 1, 2019

UFC 235 preview and new fight announcement.

Poliana Botelho vs Lauren Mueller added to Apr. 13 UFC show

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A couple of weeks ago, there were reports that Paige VanZant vs Poliana Botelho was going to be on UFC 236. At that point, a location hadn't been announced. The UFC has now announced that UFC 236 will be Apr. 13 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta. If you recall, Montana De La Rosa called out Paige after her recent win. The UFC was going to give her that match on UFC 236. Unfortunately Paige has broken her arm for the third time. That fight is off but Poliana will face Lauren Mueller. This fight will be at Flyweight. Her record is 7-2 and 2-1 in the UFC. She's mainly a striker with no ground game. She was submitted by Cynthia Calvillo in her last fight. All those fights were at Strawweight. This will be her first fight at Flyweight. I doubt that changing weight classes is the solution for no ground game. Lauren is 27 years old from San Diego. She's 5-1 and 2-1 in the UFC. She seems ro also be a striker with no ground game. She lost her last fight by submission to Yanan Wu. We'll see who bounces back from a loss.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-The Click Five

Artist:The Click Five
Song:Just The Girl
Album:Greetings From Imrie House





Just The Girl was a top twenty hit in 2005. It was the only big hit for The Click Five. One of their other singles charted so they are not technically a one hit wonder. Keyboard player Ben Romans, bassist Ethan Mentzer and drummer Joey Zehr were studying at Berklee School of Music in Boston. They became roommates with guitarist Joe Guese. Jazz promoter Wayne Sharp was interested in managing a pop band. He thought he could turn them into something. They didn't take him seriously at first. Lead singer Eric Dill moved in and all of them were seniors at Berklee so they figured they needed to get serious. They started playing gigs under different names. They were spotted by Fountains Of Wayne producer Mike Deneen who produced their demo. He introduced them to Kiss guitarist Paul Stanley who wrote Angel To You (Devil To Me) with Romans. They released it on an EP and it got local radio play. This led to a contract with Atlantic's Lava label. They toured with Ashlee Simpson. The Click Five's debut CD Greetings From Imrie House was released in 2005. The single Just The Girl reached #11 on the Billboard Hot 100. Though Romans wrote most of the band's songs, Just The Girl was written by Adam Schlesinger of Fountains Of Wayne. So the album was successful. The Click Five also sported this 60s Mod look. They were criticized for that and for sounding too much like Fountains Of Wayne. Things started to go south when Dill left in 2007. Kyle Patrick replaced him. For the 2007 album Modern Minds and Pastimes, they added synthesizers, dropped the Mod look and were forced to adjust because Patrick's singing voice was much deeper than Dill's. The album didn't do well domestically though it did well in Asia. The Click Five left Lava and released the 2010 album TCV only in Asia. Then they split up in 2013. Romans has gone on to work with Carly Rae Jepsen. He's written songs for her. So The Click Five had very brief but memorable success with Just The Girl. Here's the video for Just The Girl by The Click Five. Christopher Knight of The Brady Bunch plays the teacher.