Yahoo LAUNCHCAST Song Of The Day-Curtis Fuller

Artist:Curtis Fuller

Song:Chantized

Album:Boss Of The Soul-Stream Trombone

Curtis Fuller is one of the all time greats of the jazz trombone. He's better known as a sideman than a leader, especially with Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers. He was born Dec. 15, 1934 in Detroit. He started out with Kenny Burrell and Yusef Lateef and moved to New York in 1955. Like a lot of musicians, he would record as a leader for Blue Note and other labels while touring as a sideman. He was part of The Jazztet with Benny Golson & Art Farmer in 1959 and was a member of Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers from 1961-65. Boss Of The Soul-Stream Trombone was recorded in 1960 for Warwick Records. Warwick was a short lived label run by veteran A & R man Morty Craft. Their biggest act was Johnny & The Hurricanes but they went bankrupt in 1962. So obviously a jazz record on that label is obscure. But it's got Freddie Hubbard on trumpet and Yusef Lateef on tenor sax along with Walter Bishop on piano, Buddy Catlett on bass and Stu Martin on drums. Chantized is an excellent Hubbard song and listening to it I never would have known it was that obscure. The album has been released on CD by Collectibles, a label primarily known for rereleasing oldies. Collectibles has also misleadingly released this under Freddie Hubbard's name as Gettin' It Together because Hubbard is better known than Fuller. It's the same record but they have rearranged the songs and there are no liner notes on the Hubbard version. So you have to be careful you don't buy it twice but it's worth getting as Fuller & Hubbard are on their game. Curtis Fuller is still around. His latest CD is 2005's Keep It Simple. Here's Curtis Fuller with Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers performing Children In The Night in San Remo, Italy.

SUN vs REM announced for July 12 SUN show

Pro Wrestling SUN held a press conference Thursday to add a couple of matches to their July 12 Shin-kiba 1st Ring show. Already announced as the main event is SUN vs JWP, Nanae Takahashi & Natsuki*Taiyo vs Azumi Hyuga & Kayoko Haruyama along with Manami Toyota vs Saki Maemura. Toyota wasn't at the press conference but sent a note that she is interested in wrestling Maemura because she hasn't faced her before. She probably worked with her during Maemura's training. She said she was in the ring with her at Momoe Nakanishi's retirement show and Toyota is interested to see how Maemura has progressed.

The AWA has announced that the AWA World Womens Championship has been retired to honour the late Sherri Martel. The belt currently held by Nanae Takahashi will be called the AWA Japan Womens Championship. Takahashi started the press conference by announcing that JD Star Athtresses Misaki Ohata & Shuu Shibutani will face each other in the opening match of the show. She said she has watched them practice and with JD Star closing it should be interesting to see who comes out on top in this match.

Amazing Kong won't be on this show but she did send a note. She said she is busy and can't come to Japan right now. She said she's through with the AWA belt and the SUN wrestlers and is leaving Toshie Uematsu & Kyoko Kimura to take care of REM. She is going to Europe to hunt down that betrayer Wesna Busic. Announced for the July 12 show is Hikaru & At Toshie Uematsu & Kyoko Kimura. Hikaru says now that your leader has left, why don't you two dissolve REM? Uematsu & Kimura start wondering aloud about that themselves but Kimura fires back and says we don't need Amazing Kong to hate you. Hikaru & Kimura start fighting with each other until they are pulled apart. Afterwards, Hikaru is still upset and wants to send Kimura away in an ambulance. Takahashi tells her to calm down and save it for the ring. In other developments, Pro Wrestling SUN president Nakamura is still planning a gaijin tournament for SUN's 1st anniversary show. The winner of the tournament will challenge Nanae Takahashi for the AWA belt. No names announced yet.

Yahoo LAUNCHCAST Song Of The Day-The Beach Boys

Artist:The Beach Boys

Song:Help Me, Rhonda

Album:The Best Of The Beach Boys

The Beach Boys were the one US group to challenge The Beatles for pop music supremacy in the mid 60s. The group consisted of brothers Brian, Carl & Dennis Wilson, cousin Mike Love and Brian's high school friend Al Jardine. The group came out of Brian's fascination with vocal groups like The Four Freshman. The whole surfing thing just came out of living in the Los Angeles suburb of Hawthorne, CA. The boys' father Murray Wilson managed the group and they were signed to Capitol Records in 1962. They had several big hits but Help Me, Rhonda was one of their biggest in 1965. By this time, Brian had stopped touring so he could write music full time. He was having trouble coming up with new material and that's what Help Me, Rhonda is about. Jardine sang lead on this. The harmonies are fabulous. There are two versions of the song. There's an album version and a single version. This is the album version and is the version on most comps. This is a budget comp and only has ten songs. There are plenty of comps available that are more extensive. Of course the history of The Beach Boys is fairly well known and I may get into more of their music at another time. The music holds up very well. Here are The Beach Boys performing Help Me, Rhonda on the Andy Williams Show in 1965.

Yahoo LAUNCHCAST Song Of The Day-Cannonball Adderley

Artist:Cannonball Adderley

Song:Wabash

Album:Ultimate Cannonball Adderley

Alto sax legend Cannonball Adderley is better known for his Capitol recordings of the 60s. This Ultimate comp covers recordings made before he went to Capitol. It's actually part of a series of comps released by Verve where the music is selected by a great musician who is a fan too. In this case, the selecter is longtime Adderley pianist Joe Zawinul. And no, he's not on any of these recordings. They were made before he joined the band. I know what you're thinking. Adderley never recorded for Verve. That's true but he did record for Mercury's EmArcy label and those recordings are now part of the Verve catalog. Wabash is a classic Adderley composition from the 1959 album Cannonball And Coltrane. This is the 1959 Miles Davis Sextet minus Miles. So it's Adderley, Coltrane, Wynton Kelly on piano, Paul Chambers on bass and Jimmy Cobb on drums. This comp is excellent and in fact the whole Ultimate series should be on your shopping list. Here's Cannonball Adderley performing his classic Work Song on Jazz Scene USA in 1963.

Watermelon was eaten at JWP Dojo show

JWP had another one of their Dojo shows on June 17. They do a lot of silly stuff on these shows. JWP owner Commando Bolshoi seems to like matches involving swimming pools and food. So there were three matches on this show and two of them were silly gimmick matches. And the first match set up the third match. JWP announced that rookie Kaori Ohki will now be called ASUKA and yes, Lioness Asuka did OK this.

Upon entering the JWP Dojo, fans were given sake to congratulate Arisa Nakajima for winning League Princess 07 in the afternoon. The proceedings begin with a discussion between Commando Bolshoi, Azumi Hyuga & KAZUKI. ASUKA will be KAZUKI's partner. Hyuga & KAZUKI decide that whoever wins this match will participate in today's main event involving food. KAZUKI suggests watermelon. It seems that watermelon is Hyuga's favourite food. The rule is if a wrestler is thrown out of the ring, she has to eat a slice of watermelon before she can return to the ring. The thought of eating her favourite food motivated Hyuga to win this match single handedly. She pinned ASUKA in 12:04. Next was a JWP classic swimming pool match. This was a special rainy season version. Kaori Yoneyama & Leon came to the ring wearing raincoats and carrying umbrellas. There's a wading pool in the center of the ring. The first one to fall in the drink loses. The usual thing in a match like this is the wrestlers have several close calls by almost falling in the pool. Leon wins when Yoneyama falls in the pool at 9:49.

The main event is Sachie Abe, Kayoko Haruyama & Arisa Nakajima vs Azumi Hyuga, Tsubasa Kuragaki & Kei-to. There's a table at ringside stacked with watermelon. So what does Hyuga do? She goes outside the ring and starts eating watermelon and forgets to return to the ring. Well, it is her favourite food. So it becomes a handicap match. It doesn't seem to bother Kuragaki. She throws Abe around a bit. Hyuga finally returns and Abe falls outside the ring to eat watermelon. Nakajima hits a face crusher, a backdrop and a stretch muffler on Kei-to. Hyuga goes for some more watermelon. Of course they all start hitting the floor and they all have to eat watermelon. Inside the ring, Kuragaki has Abe in a gorilla press. Nakajima comes into the ring and throws watermelon in Kuragaki's face. Finally, Kuragaki pins Abe after a lariat at 12:00. And what about the watermelon? Bolshoi says they ate it and posted a pic on her blog. Check out the above pic.

Yahoo LAUNCHCAST Song Of The Day-Rufus

Artist:Rufus

Song:Once You Get Started

Album:The Very Best Of Rufus Featuring Chaka Khan

Chicago based R & B/funk group Rufus is best known today for bringing us vocalist Chaka Khan. But they were very successful in the 70s and they started out as more of a pop group and evolved into R & B through personnel changes. The group was a spinoff of American Breed who had a hit with Bend Me, Shape Me in 1968. They were called Smoke and the original lead singers were Paulette McWilliams & James Stella. Stella was replaced by Ron Stockert and he took over a lot of the songwriting. Drummer Andre Fischer was brought in and Chaka Khan replaced McWilliams in 1972. Rufus signed with ABC Records and their debut album tanked. It was too rock oriented for Khan's vocals. But Stevie Wonder heard Rufus and gave them a song for their next album. Tell Me Something Good was a huge hit and made Chaka Khan a star. Stockert left Rufus and ABC house producer Bob Monaco wisely emphasized Khan's vocals and produced a more funky album with 1974's Rufusized. Once You Get Started reached number two on the dance charts in 1975. This comp is the only one available. Universal should probably do a more comprehensive comp. Rufus continued to record and Chaka Khan inevitably went solo in 1978. Rufus took legal action to keep her and she did return for subsequent albums. Rufus split up in 1983. Andre Fischer has had a significant career as a producer. He was once married to Natalie Cole and won a Grammy for a 1993 Tony Bennett CD. Rufus is recommended to any R & B/funk fan. Here's Chaka Khan & Rufus performing Once You Get Started in 1975. Check out those bellbottoms.

Nakajima wins League Princess 07

JD Star's League Princess 07 tournament is now history with the rather convoluted finals being held on the June 17 Shin-kiba 1st Ring show. But first, JD Star has announced thar rookie Athtress Misaki Ohata will continue to train and work for Mariko Yoshida's Ibuki after the promotion closes on July 16. That can only help her. They had previously announced that Fuuka will continue to work for JD Star's parent company Kakutobi. Original Athtress Yumi Ohka announced that she will attempt to return to the ring in an exhibition match on the JD Star July 16 finale. Ohka suffered a serious knee injury in Sept. 2005. She unsuccessfully attempted to return to the ring in Jan. 2006 and has worked in a non-wrestling position since then. This is obviously a last ditch effort to see if her knee can handle the stress in the ring.

The opener was a continuation of the classroom segments that Bullfight Sora has been doing. On this occasion she was facing a mystery opponent. It looks like she was expecting a rookie like Misaki Ohata ot the wrestler now known as ASUKA (JWP rookie Kaori Ohki). So Sora was surprised when GAMI came to the ring and planned to give Sora supplementary lessons. GAMI proceeds to pin Sora in six seconds with a greco roman eye poke. GAMI told her the first lesson is never relax your guard. Sora angrily demands a restart and GAMI wins again by hitting her with her megaphone at 5:13. One more restart and GAMI wins with a shoulder tackle at 2:07. The lesson is over and GAMI leaves. Next was Kyoko Kimura against a mystery opponent. This was Caribbean RUM. RUM knocks Kimura outside the ring with a dropkick. After fighting outside, Kimura accused her of betrayal and hung her in the ropes. Kimura won with the Big Boots at 9:27. JD Star GM Kobayashi apologized to Kimura and they shook hands.

The League Princess 07 final had Yuri Urai, Hiroyo Matsumoto & Arisa Nakajima. The final would consist of successive singles matches, the first to be determined by lot. The winner of the match competes against the other wrestler in the next match. The first wrestler to win two matches consecutively is the tournament winner. Matsumoto & Nakajima were in the first match. Matsumoto won with a backdrop at 5:05. If Matsumoto defeats Urai, she wins the tournament. Matsumoto comes close to winning with a brain buster but Urai hooks in a sleeper for the win at 5:30. Now if Urai beats Nakajima, she wins the tournament. After a stretch muffler and a missile kick, Nakajima wins with a Cutie Special at 10:18. Matsumoto attacks quickly with a bow & Arrow and a camel clutch. Nakajima comes back with three running face busters. Matsumoto's attempt at an Argentinian backbreaker is reversed into a Cutie Special. Nakajima hits a missile dropkick to the back of the head and a German suplex for the win at 6:49. Arisa Nakajima is the League Princess 07 champion. She is also the JWP Junior Champ.

The main event had the three Athtresses team upfor the first time and Yumi Ohka was in their corner. It was Fuuka, Shuu Shibutani & Misaki Ohata vs Ayumi Kurihara, Cherry & Io Murasaki. The Athtresses get Cherry in a Grapple V pose. It's one of those pyramid shaped things with all of them giving a V sign. Kurihara breaks it up and hits Fuuka with a running backbreaker and a 619. The end comes when Shibutani hits a Northern Lights suplex on Murasaki for the win at 14:34. Yumi Ohka said afterwards that if her exhibition match is successful, she will return to the ring full time in September. She also said in a seperate interview that she credits Naomi "The Bloody" Kato for her improvement in the ring. No announcement has been made about Shibutani yet.

Yahoo LAUNCHCAST Song Of The Day-Coleman Hawkins

Artist:Coleman Hawkins

Song:Spotlite

Album:A Retrospective 1929-1963

Coleman Hawkins was a pioneer of the jazz tenor sax and his career spanned several decades and musical styles. He was born Nov. 21, 1904 in St. Joseph, MO. He played professionally in Kansas City at age 12. After a two year stint with blues singer Mamie Smith, he moved to New York in 1923 and became lead tenor sax with Fletcher Henderson. Hawkins learned a lot about phrasing when Louis Armstrong joined the Henderson band in 1924. He remained in Henderson's band until 1934 and moved to Europe and played with guitar legend Django Reinhardt among others. With WWII approaching, Hawkins moved back to the US in 1939. It was at this time that he signed with RCA's Bluebird label and recorded his most famous record Body & Soul. He had various bands at the time including the 52nd St. All Stars that recorded this Hawkins tune Spot Lite. Benny Carter was featured on trumpet. This 2CD comp covers Hawkins' Bluebird recordings over the years and is a good introduction for beginners. Coleman Hawkins adjusted very well to the bebop revolution and continued to make great music into the 1960s. Coleman Hawkins died May 19, 1969 at age 64. There's actually quite a bit of Coleman Hawkins video footage from the 60s but this clip is from the 1945 film The Crimson Canary with Howard McGhee on trumpet, Sir Charles Thompson on piano, Oscar Pettiford on bass and Denzil Best on drums.

Yahoo LAUNCHCAST Song Of The Day-Marty Robbins

Artist:Marty Robbins

Song:El Paso

Album:Super Hits

Though Marty Robbins is mostly known as a singer of cowboy ballads, there's a lot more to his career. But his interest in western ballads was authentic. He was born Martin Robinson Sept. 25, 1925 in Glendale, AZ. His former medicine show man grandfather Bob Heckle told him cowboy stories when Marty was a child. So he went to work at his older brother's ranch as a teenager. He came out of the Navy in 1947 and started performing locally and eventually settled on the stage name Marty Robbins. Country music legend Little Jimmy Dickens got Robbins a contract with Columbia in 1951. For the first few years of his career, Robbins performed standard country songs and even tried rock & roll. Bet he started acting in western movies and his theme for the 1958 Gary Cooper western The Hanging Tree convinced Robbins to do more of the same. El Paso was a monster hit on the country and pop charts in 1959 and the album Gunfighter Ballads And Trail Songs was huge. This budget Super Hits comp is OK but the All Time Greatest Hits comp is even better. Robbins would continue to have chart success until he left Columbia in 1972. He also appeared in several films and drove stock cars in NASCAR. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall Of Fame in 1982 and died from heart problems Dec. 8, 1982 at age 57. You don't have to be a country music fan to appreciate the powerful cowboy ballads of Marty Robbins. Here he is performing El Paso in 1960.

MIKU gets DEEP title shot

When DEEP Womens Champ Hisae Watanabe messed up and lost to Korean fighter Su Hi Ham in February, it caused a problem for DEEP. It wasn't for the title but protocol says Ham should get a title shot. Their solution was to bring Ham back to fight MIKU. It the Korean wins, she gets a title shot. Fortunately for DEEP, MIKU won and DEEP decided to have a number one contender match between MIKU & Misaki Takimoto on the June 15 Shinjuku FACE show. The winner gets a shot at Watanabe's title. Watanabe has messed up before and she has come back stronger than ever. I expect the same thing here.

The womens match was the main event on a 15 match card. Takimoto slipped but was able to get a heel lock on MIKU. Her attempt to escape left her open to a kneebar. MIKU eventually escaped and hit Takimoto with a combination. Takimoto dropped down for a single leg takedown. She started pounding MIKU but that left her open for an armbar. Miku locked it in and got the submission at 4:32 of round one. Hisae Watanabe was at ringside and helped MIKU celebrate in the ring and pose for pictures. No date for the title match has been announced. The above post match pic of MIKU & Hisae Watanabe is courtesy of GB Ring.

Yahoo LAUNCHCAST Song Of The Day-Lonnie Brooks

Artist:Lonnie Brooks

Song:Horoscope

Album:Satisfaction Guaranteed

Lonnie Brooks is a very solid and popular Chicago blues artist. He was born Lee Baker Jr. Dec. 18, 1933 in Dubuisson, LA. He didn't take up the guitar seriously until his early 20s but his first gig was with Zydeco king Clifton Chenier. He called himself Guitar Junior and recorded for the indy label Goldband in the late 50s. Sam Cooke offered Baker the chance to move to Chicago. But there was already a Guitar Junior in Chicago. Baker also needed to adapt to the Chicago blues style. After an unsuccessful record as Guitar Junior in 1969, he decided to rename himself Lonnie Brooks. Like a lot of blues artists, Brooks' big break was signing with Bruce Iglauer's Alligator Records in 1978. He built a strong following while recording for them over the next two decades. The 1991 CD Satisfaction Guaranteed is very typical of Brooks' style of blues. He has a sense of humour and a lot of showmanship. He last recorded in 1999 but he still tours. His sons Ronnie & Wayne have inherited their father's talent and he works with them a lot. I guess that's only appropriate for Father's Day. Here's Lonnie Brooks performing You're Using Me.

Lonnie Brooks 'you're Using Me'
Uploaded by capitainfunkk

Yahoo LAUNCHCAST Song Of The Day-Big Maybelle

Artist:Big Maybelle

Song:No More Trouble Out Of Me

Album:The Complete OKeh Sessions 1952-55

Big Maybelle was yet another Big voiced R & B shouter of the 50s. She was born Mabel Louise Smith May 1, 1924 in Jackson, TN. She won a Memphis talent contest at age eight and later toured with the International Sweethearts Of Rhythm. She was discovered by veteran R & B producer Fred Mendelsohn. He renamed her Big Maybelle and signed her to Columbia's OKeh label in 1952. Gabbin' Blues was her first single on OKeh and it was a big R & B hit. Her songwriter pal Rosemarie McCoy wrote the song and appears on the record. No More Trouble Out Of Me is another great McCoy song. This comp has all her OKeh recordings. Mendelsohn left OKeh and took Maybelle over to Savoy. Savoy owner Herman Lubinsky had made Mendelsohn part owner. She continued to have chart success there. One little known fact is Maybelle recorded Whole Lot Of Shakin' Goin' On two years before Jerry Lee Lewis. Big Maybelle left Savoy in 1959 and continued to record for various labels in the 60s. She apparently had drug problems and died in a diabetic coma on Jan. 23, 1972 at age 47. All I can say is Big Maybelle was a big woman with a very big voice. Here is Big Maybelle performing I Ain't Mad At You at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival from Bert Stern's classic documentary Jazz On A Summer's Day.

R.I.P. Sherri Martel

WWE Hall Of Fame member Sensational Sherri Martel died today at age 49. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer reports that she was found dead in her home in Jacksonville, FL. Cause of death is not yet known. She was born Sherri Russell Feb. 8, 1958 in New Orleans. She was inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame in 2006. She was primarily known for her Sensational Sherri character in early 90s WWF managing wrestlers like Randy Savage & Shawn Michaels. She was a great performer as a manager but I suspect a lot of fans aren't aware that she was a pretty good wrestler long before that. She is a former AWA World Womens Champ and a former WWF Womens Champ. So I wanted to concentrate my obituary on her wrestling career.

As Sherri said in her WWE HOF induction speech, she went to Butch Moore in Nashville to learn pro wrestling. Once Moore decided she was tough enough for the wrestling business, he sent her to The Fabulous Moolah in Columbia, SC for training. Sherri made her debut in 1980. WWE 24/7 recently showed her first Madison Square Garden match. It wasn't very good but that's what it was. She spent some time in Memphis and was managed by Jim Cornette. Check out this video of her very first match in Memphis against Velvet McIntyre. And yes, she did go on one of Moolah's tours of Japan to work for All Japan Women in 1982. I have a match on VHS of Sherri beating up a young Noriyo Tateno from the Jumping Bomb Angels.

Sherri left Moolah in 1983 and went to the AWA. Her primary rival there was Candi Divine. The above picture is from a 1983 match between the two and is courtesy of Tinadiane. Sherri first won the AWA World Womens Championship from Candi at the 1985 AWA Superclash. The girls traded the title a couple of times. Meanwhile, Sherri got into managing with the tag team of Playboy Buddy Rose & Pretty Boy Doug Somers. She continued to hold the AWA belt until she left the AWA for the WWF in 1987. Sherri won the WWF Womens Title from The Fabulous Moolah in her very first WWF match in Houston. She held the title until losing it to Rockin' Robin in Paris, France in Nov. 1988.

In the spring of 1989, the WWF decided to shut down the womens division. But they saw Sherri's value as an outrageous manager and she rarely wrestled for the rest of her time in the WWF. She left the WWF for the WCW in 1993 and though she managed Ric Flair for a while, she was most memorable while managing the tag team Harlem Heat. After leaving WCW, Sherri continued working for indy feds as a wrestler and manager. Whether working as a wrestler or manager, Sherri Martel was always a very hard worker and her only goal was to entertain fans to the best of her ability. She did a damn good job. And if you haven't seen it, you need to check out Sherri's WWE HOF induction ceremony speech. It's a laugh riot. The wrestling community suffered a terrible loss today with the death of Sherri Martel at age 49. A ten bell salute has been well earned. R.I.P.

Yahoo LAUNCHCAST Song Of The Day-Donald Lawrence & The Tri-City Singers

Artist:Donald Lawrence & The Tri-City Singers

Song:Testify

Album:The Best Of Donald Lawrence & The Tri-City Singers:Restoring The Years

Restoring The Years would be a very good introduction to those not familiar with the music of gospel superstar Donald Lawrence. EMI Gospel released it in 2003 after Lawrence left for Verity Records. He had his biggest commercial success with Testify. It's a killer song and veteran mixer Junior Vasquez remixed it and it was a big hit on the dance charts. It's from the 2000 CD tricity4.com. Restoring The Years includes that and plenty of other songs from his CDs on Sparrow & EMI Gospel. Of course the Tri-City Singers has been on their farewell tour this year and here they are with guest vocalist Lashun Pace performing And Yet I'm Still Saved.

Will JD Star finally do Fuuka vs Shibutani?

As JD Star heads to their July 16 finale, it appears the they may actually do the Fuuka vs Shuu Shibutani feud that they have periodically teased for a long time. Unless they were just teasing again on the June 10 Shin-kiba 1st Ring show. Nanae Takahashi & Hikaru appeared in the tag team main event and Mariko Yoshida appeared too. Also, the strange feud between Kyoko Kimura & JD Star GM Kobayashi continued. It was announced that Fuuka will continue to be represented as a performer by JD Star's parent company Kakutobi and she will continue wrestling as well.

The opener had Saki Maemura come over from Pro Wrestling SUN to face Misaki Ohata. The match went as one would expect. Maemura uses a double arm suplex, a diving press and a fisherman's suplex for the win at 9:01. Next was Cherry & Hiroyo Matsumoto vs Tomoka Nakagawa & Bi Murasaki. She's the older of the two sisters. Like her sister, she's very green but tries hard. She gets hit by Cherry's foot stamp and Matsumoto's guillotine drop. But she comes back with an STO on Cherry followed by a Nakagawa elbow. The end comes when Bi accidently nails Nakagawa with a high kick. Cherry hits a German suplex and the Chereton bomb on Nakagawa for the win at 12:51.

Next was Kyoko Kimura vs Io Murasaki. Kimura has been having a feud with GM Kobayashi. He comes to the ring to announce a special referree. He takes off his t-shirt to reveal a striped shirt underneath. Kobayashi is the ref. Kimura says "What do you think you're doing?" Of course when Io rolls up Kimura with a schoolboy press, Kobayashi counts fast. Kimura brings out her chain and wrps up Io outside the ring. Back in the ring, Kimura uses the chain with a sleeper hold. Io counters with a cross body and an elbow. Kimura kicks her outside the ring again and hits her with a chair attack. Io comes back with a 619 but Kimura uses the chain again and then a moonsault. Kobayashi wouldn't count to three. Kimura nails him with a brain buster and chases him with a chair. Kimura wraps the chain around Io's neck and applies a camel clutch. Io taps out at 12:04 and Kimura hits her with the chair again. Kobayashi announces that Kimura will face a mystery opponent on the June 17 show.

Natsuki*Taiyo came to the ring and returned the POP Princess Title she won from Fuuka on New Year's Eve. I don't think she ever defended it. This is just in time for June 17's POP League 07 final. It's going to be a three way between Yuri Urai, Hiroyo Matsumoto & Arisa Nakajima. Lots will be drawn for a series of singles matches. The first one to win two straight matches will win the tournament. I think the winner gets the belt. Next was Mariko Yoshida vs Yuri Urai. Urai attacks Yoshida before the bell. That doesn't bother Yoshida and she wins with a cross arm breaker at 13:51.

The main event was Nanae Takahashi & Fuuka vs Hikaru & Shuu Shibutani. Takahashi & Fuuka double team Shibutani. Hikaru & Shibutani double team Fuuka on the apron. Takahashi hits Hikaru with a tope. Hikaru & Shibutani hit Fuuka with a double DDT. Fuuka wins over Shibutani with a hurricanrana, the F crash & the doll F for the win at 17:13. Fuuka & Shibutani will team up with Misaki Ohata on the June 17 show vs Ayumi Kurihara, Cherry & Io Murasaki.

Yahoo LAUNCHCAST Song Of The Day-Beverly Crawford

Artist:Beverly Crawford

Song:For The Rest Of My Life

Album:Family & Friends:Live

Gospel singer Beverly Crawford has been performing since age three. She was born Beverly Camp in Gainesville, FL and grew up in Dallas. Her pastor father Walter Camp started a group with Beverly and her sisters and they toured for several years as The Camp Sisters. Beverly and husband Todd Crawford founded The Potter's House Ministries in 1989. Of course the ministry became closely associated with the popular pastor TD Jakes. He is a pastor but he is also interested in film and music production. Beverly recorded a couple of CDs for Warner Alliance in the mid 90s. But after Warner Bros. Records closed the label, TD Jakes started his own label called Dexterity Records and Beverly now records there. 2003's Family & Friends:Live has a lot of special guests including her family. Like a lot of old school gospel singers, she prefers to record live. Derrick Lee is the producer and he is probably best known as the musical director for BET's Bobby Jones Gospel. Dexterity has just signed a new distribution deal with Rhino so I expect to hear more from Beverly Crawford in the near future. Here's Beverly Crawford with O'Landa Draper & The Associates performing Nothing Shall Separate Me.

Sugar Satoh returning to the ring?

OZ Academy's June 10 Shinjuku FACE show continued the feud between Chikayo Nagashima & Sonoko Kato with a surprising twist thrown in. Before I get to that, I just wanted to mention that Mika Nishio is now accompanying Mayumi Ozaki to the ring. The two are very good friends so it's not surprising. But I'm sure we haven't heard the last of Police.

Sonoko Kato has been on a major losing streak since she returned to the ring last October. It also looked like Chikayo Nagashima was especially annoyed with her. When Kato finally won a match a few weeks ago, Nagashima challenged her to a match on the June 10 show and promised to fix her once and for all. The two created a lot of heat for this match and Kato won in 17:58. The big surprise was Sugar Satoh appearing at ringside after the match. Of course Satoh is a veteran GAEA wrestler and she retired in 2005. Kato said she won and proved herself to that good-for-nothing Nagashima. That's when Satoh showed up. Kato said Satoh is now a housewife and can't possibly be in decent shape. Satoh said housewives are very busy so she's in shape. She said she was watching all this and wants to teach Kato a lesson. She was talking about maybe getting Meiko Satomura to team up with her. But if not, that's when Kato suggested a singles match. Satoh said she let her know and then she left with Nagashima. She says she has to talk with her family. This match could happen at OZ Academy's July 8 Nagahama City show.

Other results from this show were Mayumi Ozaki defeated Ran YuYu in 12:55. In an OZ-MEN'S match, Daisuke Ikeda defeated El Braza in 6:11. OZ has been running men's matches regularly lately. Carlos Amano defeated AKINO in 16:12. AKINO is starting to work regularly for OZ. Aja Kong & KAORU defeated Mizuki Endo & Dynamite Kansai in 12:23.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. joins Hendrick Motorsports

NASCAR silly season officially began last month when Dale Earnhardt Jr. announced that he was leaving Dale Earnhardt Inc. at the end of this season. The only thing he said was that he wanted to continue driving a Chevy. The obvious answer to this is Hendrick Motorsports. They're the best organization. But with NASCAR instituting a four car limit in Nextel Cup in 2009, Rick Hendrick said three weeks ago that he already has four cars and doesn't have room for Dale Jr. So after plenty of rumour and speculation, Dale Earnhardt Jr. announced this morning that he will join Hendrick Motorsports in 2008.

So what changed? Rick Hendrick said that he was negotiating to extend Kyle Busch's contract. During these negotiations, it became clear that Busch had been contacted by other teams and wanted to listen to them. Hendrick decided two weeks ago to let Busch out of his contract at the end of the 2007 season. That opened the door to negotiate with Dale Earnhardt Jr. It is not yet known what car number he will drive or who his sponsor will be. It is also not known where Kyle Busch will drive though speculation is he will go to Dale Earnhardt Inc. It should be interesting to see how the sponsorship issues with Budweiser, Kellogg's & Carquest are resolved.

One of the key things is that Dale Earnhardt Jr. was the number one driver at DEI. At Hendrick, he's number three behind Jeff Gordon & Jimmy Johnson. That takes a lot of pressure off him. Dale Jr. said during the press conference that he was very anxious about this whole process but he knew he couldn't rush into a decision. Fortunately, his sister Kelley Earnhardt Elledge handled the negotiations and she deserves a lot of credit for leading him to this point. Dale Earnhardt Jr. got what he wanted. He's in the best equipment and there's no excuse for not winning a championship. Here's a video clip from this morning's press conference of Dale Earnhardt Jr. announcing his decision.

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Yahoo LAUNCHCAST Song Of The Day-Joe Henderson

Artist:Joe Henderson

Song:Black Narcissus

Album:The Milestone Years

Most jazz fans know Joe Henderson as a reliable post bop tenor sax player who toiled in obscurity until Verve showed that marketing is everything in the 90s. He was born Apr. 24, 1937 in Lima, OH. His work with trumpeter Kenny Dorham earned him a Blue Note contract in 1963. He made several records there and also was in Horace Silver's band. He joined Herbie Hancock's band in 1967 and moved to Milestone Records in 1969. He made several great records in the 70s and they're all on this 8CD box set The Milestone Years. The 2006 comp Milestone Profiles is probably better from beginners. Black Narcissus was on his 1969 album Power To The People. It's solid jazz with Herbie Hancock on piano, Mike Lawrence on trumpet, Ron Carter on bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums. Joe Henderson continued to record in obscurity through the 80s while teaching music in San Francisco. He signed with Verve in 1992 and they marketed him like a big star and he wasn't obscure anymore. It's not like his music changed. He was a regular at the top of the jazz charts and won four Grammys. Joe Henderson died of heart failure on Jan. 30, 2001 at age 63. If you've never heard him, here's Joe Henderson performing Take The A Train.

SUN vs JWP angle announced

Pro Wrestling SUN held a press conference Monday to announce the main event for their July 12 Shin-kiba 1st Ring show. This will kick off a SUN vs JWP angle that I expect will continue through the summer with the likely payoff being an AWA World Womens Championship match between Nanae Takahashi & Azumi Hyuga. They've got three shows in August; Aug. 5 at Shin-kiba 1st Ring, Aug. 28 at the Nakaku Sportscenter in Nagoya City and Aug. 29 at Shin-kiba. They haven't announced a date for the first anniversary show but SUN president Nakamura has indicated that he will run some sort of gaijin tournament with the winner getting an AWA World Womens Championship shot. I think one of the wrestlers he's looking at for this is Jaime Dauncey AKA Sirelda in TNA.

This SUN vs JWP angle began when Azumi Hyuga appeared at ringside for the May 27 AWA World Womens Championship three way match. She had a staredown with Amazing Kong and Hyuga said that's who she was interested in. Of course Amazing Kong won't be in Japan for this upcoming show. As many fans are aware, she is now the NWA World Womens Champ. Meanwhile, the NWA is having an NWA World Heavyweight Championship tournament. In fact, Amazing Kong recently sent a video to the NWA wanting to enter that tournament. Guess what, fans? She's done that before. A couple of years ago when she started appearing in mixed matches for ZERO-ONE MAX, she wanted to enter a tournament that they were having. They turned her down and she will be turned down again especially since the brackets for the NWA tournament have already been set.

After Nanae Takahashi won the AWA World Womens Championship, Hyuga entered the ring and the two had a staredown. Hyuga challenged Takahashi and was turned down. On Sunday, JWP had a tenth anniversary show for KAZUKI at the Tokyo Cinema Club. Nanae Takahashi & Natsuki*Taiyo came to the show. Hyuga had just finished defending her JWP Open Weight Title. Takahashi grabbed the mike and congratulated Hyuga on her successful title defense but the match made her sleepy. Hyuga said "What are you going to do?" Takahashi said "Whatever I want." Hyuga suggested that Takahashi nominate a challenger for Arisa Nakajima's JWP Junior Championship and of course she nominated Natsuki*Taiyo. That match will happen on a JWP show. While Hyuga's attention is diverted, Amazing Kong entered the ring from the other side, nailed Hyuga with a lariat and stole the title belt.

JWP's reaction to this was to show up at Monday's press conference at the Pro Wrestling SUN office. JWP owner Commando Bolshoi was accompanied by Azumi Hyuga & Kayoko Haruyama. Bolshoi said "Is this the way SUN works? You need Amazing Kong to fight your battles?" Takahashi said she just wanted a response from JWP. Natsuki*Taiyo told Haruyama she already beat her so now she wants Hyuga. Haruyama called her a pipsqueak. Bolshoi said whatever SUN wants to do is OK with her. The specific matches weren't announced but Nanae Takahashi & Natsuki*Taiyo will represent SUN and Azumi Hyuga & Kayoko Haruyama will represent JWP. I think they might do a tag match first. Also, Manami Toyota will make her first SUN appearance against Saki Maemura.

Yahoo LAUNCHCAST Song Of The Day-John Legend

Artist:John Legend

Song:Used To Love U

Album:Get Lifted

John Legend is a very talented R & B singer currently riding the wave of Philly Neo Soul popularity. He was born John Stephens in Springfield, OH. He was a child prodigy pianist. Legend moved to Philadelphia at age 16 and played piano on Lauryn Hill's Everything Is Everything in 1998. After that he settled in to play sessions and eventually became associated with the popular rapper Kanye West. West saw Legend as more than a pianist signed him to his G.O.O.D. label. Get Lifted was his first studio album in 2004. Ordinary People was a number one hit on the R & B charts. Used To Love U was the follow up single and also did well. It's a great song and was written by Legend & West. Get Lifted reached number four on the Billboard album chart and also won a 2005 Best R & B Album Grammy Award along with Best New Artist. His new CD Once Again indicates that now that Legend has had some commercial success, there's no pressure to sell CDs and he's more relaxed with his music. John Legend used his connection with Kanye West to achieve commercial success but he clearly has enough talent to make great music for many years. Here's the video for Used To Love U by John Legend.

Livesmart Diabetes Expo

I attended the May 27 Livesmart Diabetes Expo at the Direct Energy Centre at the CNE. I have a pretty good handle on my blood sugar but I'm always looking for new products, mainly sugar free snacks to keep my blood sugar above 4.0. But when I arrived at the Direct Energy Centre, the elevator wasn't working. They took me to the parking garage elevator and gave me a free lunch ticket for the inconvenience. The main problem with the show was the large number of empty booths. I can't comment on the reason for that but of course it's not a good thing. There were a lot of companies pushing blood sugar meters. They're all the same to me except the Roche Accu-Chek Compact. I'm considering switching and will write about it further if I do.

The main thing I was looking for was snacks. It's difficult to get them in this area and I think I have found a couple of sources at this show. Of course Abbott Laboratories was there with the Glucerna Snack Bar. I've tried it and it's too expensive and I don't like the taste anyway. I'm looking for things I can have after lunch. And not all are created equal. Splenda tends to leave an aftertaste when used in manufactured product. I'm usually looking for Malitol in the ingredients list. That is a fruit sugar syrup used as a sugar replacement in the food manufacturing process. Here's a couple that other diabetics might be interested in.

Power Pop

Certainly hot air popped popcorn is an appropriate snack for diabetics. But it's boring. And microwave and manufactured popcorn isn't any different from any other manufactured product. It has stuff in it I shouldn't eat. Of course I'll cheat and eat popcorn at the movies but I don't cheat frequently. Jerry Shapiro of BBNC Snacks has filled this void with Power Pop. Jerry's wife is a type 2 diabetic so he knows what the problems are. Power Pop is a flavoured popcorn that is no sugar added, no trans fat, gluten & nut free and low sodium. He uses malitol and natural flavours. That makes it a very good snack for diabetics. The four flavours are BBQ, chocolate caramel, caramel & lemon meringue. I didn't like BBQ but the others are very good. And he is introducing cappucino soon. It costs $1.99 a bag and you can find a location near you in the Toronto area by going to Jerry's site http://www.bbncsnacks.com/ and entering your postal code. I bought some on Saturday and ate a bag during yesterday's NASCAR race. My blood sugar was perfect afterwards.

The Sugar Free Shoppe

Finding sugar free products at your local grocery or drug store is a big problem. My local Shoppers Drug Mart hasn't updated their selection in a long time. They had a booth at the show and I mentioned it to them. Mississauga's The Sugar Free Shoppe is exactly what I am looking for. They offer all kinds of sugar free products mostly unavailable elsewhere. Shop owner Kathy Snow's husband is diabetic so they know exactly what I'm talking about. They have sugar free maple syrup, ketchup, cakes, chocolates, even Oreos. That's right, real Oreos. They also have sugar free gift baskets. I bought a box of sugar free chocolate macaroons at the show. You can go to their store at 150 Brittania Rd. E. in Mississauga but they also deliver. That's good for me. The best thing to do is check out their website at http://www.thesugarfreeshoppe.ca/ and place an order. They even have products on special. I will place an order this week.

Those were the two vendors that I really liked. There was also a soy based ice cream product called Soy-n-Joy but I wasn't as crazy about that and I don't think I would buy that. Their website is http://www.soynjoy.net/ I don't know if I'll attend this show next year. I guess it depends if there are new products of interest. A lot of the booths are not going to change so going next year may be redundant. The empty booths are a problem too.

Yahoo LAUNCHCAST Song Of The Day-Dizzy Gillespie

Artist:Dizzy Gillespie

Song:Caravan

Album:Dizzy:The Music Of John Birks Gillespie

Of course John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was one of the founders of bebop and one of the most important musicians of the 20th century. He was born Oct. 21, 1917 in Cheraw, SC. The nickname Dizzy was given to him because he liked to fool around on stage in the 30s. Gillespie's legacy was enhanced by his interest in teaching the next generation about jazz. He was also a major proponent of Afro-Cuban Jazz long before it was fashionable. And that brings me to this 1954 version of Duke Ellington's Caravan. This 2005 comp Dizzy is OK but one disc isn't adequate to even sample Gillespie's music. This is also on the 3CD comp Dizzy's Diamonds. It's actually from the 1954 Norgran release Afro. Norgran was a Verve offshoot. It pairs Gillespie with arranger Chico O'Farrill. Half the album is a big band and the other half is a smaller Latin jazz band featuring flutist Gilberto Valdes. Verve rereleased Afro in 2002 but I think it's out of print now. Gillespie continued to experiment with Afro-Cuban jazz throughout his career. Dizzy Gillespie is another jazz great that can't be covered in one song. I'll look at him again in the future. Here's Dizzy Gillespie in a 1956 animated short called A Date For Dizzy directed by John Hubley.

Yahoo LAUNCHCAST Song Of The Day-Joe Zawinul

Artist:Joe Zawinul

Song:Badia/Boogie Woogie Waltz

Album:Brown Street

Though Joe Zawinul doesn't fit the stereotype of the typical jazz musician, He is one of the most important figures in the latter part of the 20th century. He was born July 7, 1932 in Vienna, Austria. He studied classical piano at the Vienna Conservatory but his interest in jazz inspired him to come to the US in 1958. He spent some time in Maynard Ferguson's band and two years as Dinah Washington's pianist. But it was his nine year stint as Cannonball Addreley's pianist and musical director that established him in the jazz community. After working with Miles Davis on In A Silent Way & Bitches Brew, Zawinul formed Weather Report with sax player Wayne Shorter & bassist Miroslav Vitous in 1970. They would be the most popular jazz/rock fusion band over the next 15 years. Zawinul is one of the few keyboard players who has mastered jazz on the synthesizer. Joe Zawinul still extends the boundaries of jazz with his current band Zawinul Syndicate. Brown Street is his latest CD. Zawinul doesn't seem like a nostalgiac guy but on this CD he has taken Weather Report classics and completely reinvented them with updated arrangements by Vince Mendoza and the WDR Big Band of Cologne, Germany. Bassist Victor Bailey & former Weather Report percussionist Alex Acuna are featured and it was recorded live at Joe Zawinul's Birdland in Vienna and released on his own label. Too bad Wayne Shorter isn't on this. Joe Zawinul was one of the inventors of fusion music and it's great to see him still making great music today. Here's Joe Zawinul & the WDR Big Band performing the music of Weather Report at the 2006 North Sea Fazz Festival in Rotterdam. The video is about 35 minutes long.

Joe Zawinul Big Band play weather report
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Mickie James vs Victoria on HEAT again

Once again the WWE has chosen to put Mickie James vs Victoria on HEAT. It's an OK match. Nothing special. But if you watch it here you won't get a WWE cookie on your computer. My cookies are friendlier. Some of you may know I've been a little obsessed with computer security lately. Enjoy the match.


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Yahoo LAUNCHCAST Song Of The Day-The Clash

Artist:The Clash

Song:Train In Vain

Album:The Singles

The Clash were arguably the most popular of British 70s punk bands. The genesis of the group was in two bands. Joe Strummer (John Mellor) had a band called the 101ers and Mick Jones had a band called London SS. They also included bassist Joe Simonon & drummer Tory Crimes (Terry Chimes). Strummer folded the 101ers and joined London SS with guitarist Keith Levene. They were renamed The Clash. Though they were very popular in England, it was not unusual for punk bands of that era to have problems breaking into the US market. By 1979 The Clash toured the US. The 1980 classic London Calling was their most popular album and Train In Vain was their biggest hit in the US. The funny part is that Train In Vain was a hidden track. The title wasn't even listed on the cover. But Epic thought it was commercial and released it as a single. Apparently that's why The Clash hid the song. They thought it was too commercial. Pretty silly, eh. The Singles is probably a good introduction to The Clash. It was originally released in 1990 as a collection of their British A sides. Epic rereleased it this week with a new cover and have reworked the song order. There are other comps available as well. The Clash split up in 1986 and the various members went on to other groups. Their music still holds up well today. Here's The Clash performing Train In Vain.

Yahoo LAUNCHCAST Song Of The Day-Mary Mary

Artist:Mary Mary

Song:Thank You

Album:Incredible

Gospel singing sisters Mary Mary have successfully crossed over to mainstream R & B. Erica & Tina Atkins are from Inglewood, CA and their mom is music director of the local church. After a stint with Bobby Jones & New Life, they met producer Warryn "Babydub" Campbell. He signed them to a songwriting contract and eventually would marry Erica. Their songs started turning up on other peoples records including the soundtrack to Doctor Doolittle. Yolanda Adams also had a big hit with their song Yeah. Campbell was in a meeting with Sony Music execs and he pitched the idea of the Atkins sisters as a duo. They are fabulous singers so it's a no brainer. The name Mary Mary came from the three of them fooling around in the studio trying to come up with a group name. Mary Mary had a huge hit in 2000 with Praise You (Shackles) which crossed over to the R & B and dance charts. 2002's Incredible is their second CD. They write most of their own songs but of course Thank You is a classic Walter Hawkins song and is their tribute to the Hawkins family. Mary Mary took some time off for motherhood but returned stronger than ever in 2005. Their latest CD is 2006's A Mary Mary Christmas. I'm sure Erica & Tina Atkins and Warryn Campbell will continue to produce hot gospel music for years to come. Here's Mary Mary performing Thank You on a TBN broadcast. Tina is the redhead.

Yahoo LAUNCHCAST Song Of The Day-Trina Broussard

Artist:Trina Broussard

Song:Losing My Mind

Album:Same Girl

Anyone who watches R & B and hip hop videos can tell you that singing ability isn't a priority these days. Add record company politics and things haven't gone too well for R & B singer Trina Broussard. She was born in Houston to a jazz guitarist dad and a jazz singer mom. She moved to Atlanta in 1990 and was a professional backup singer for most of the 90s. A song she performed in the film Love Jones got the attention of producer Jermaine Dupri. He signed her to his SoSoDef label. The single Love You So Much hit the R & B charts in 1999 but the album was never released. This is not the only time Dupri has dropped the ball on a potential major talent. Ask Alicia Keys. Trina went back to backup singing until she signed with Motown. Same Girl was released in 2004. Veteran engineer/mixer Commissioner Gordon produced the album. Losing My Mind was the single. Trina co-wrote the song with the writing producing team of Jamey Jaz & Rahsaan Patterson. Patterson is an excellent singer in his own right. It's a great song but unfortunately Motown president Kedar Massenburg was about to be replaced by Sylvia Rhone so it was not promoted properly. It's too bad but Trina Broussard is an excellent singer and she writes her own songs so I'm sure we'll hear from her in the future. There was no video for Losing My Mind but some guy has actually posted a video of his goldfish on Youtube using Losing My Mind as background music.

Fuuka Arrested

The Tokyo Sports Shinbun newspaper reports today that JD Star wrestler Fuuka was arrested Tuesday for public mischief and filing a false police report. This goes back to an incident on Feb. 22 regarding some sort of peeping tom incident. I recall reading about it on Fuuka's blog. She reported to the police that she was harassed by a man trying to peer up her mini skirt. She told them she kicked him in the groin to get rid of him. She even went down to the police station to look at mug books. After investigation, it looks like she may have made the whole thing up. I don't know why she would do that but Tokyo Sports Shinbun reports that she was arrested for mischief in 2004. I guess the Tokyo Police doesn't take too kindly to this sort of thing.

Yahoo LAUNCHCAST Song Of The Day-Miles Davis & John Coltrane

Artist:Miles Davis & John Coltrane

Song:All Blues

Album:The Complete Columbia Recordings

Columbia Records has so much unreleased Miles Davis sitting in their vault, it's very unlikely they will ever release everything. But in recent years Columbia has started releasing Davis' recordings in comprehensive box sets. These are not for beginners or casual listeners. This 5CD box set has every studio recording that Davis & Coltrane made at Columbia from 1955-61 along with 18 alternate takes. Coltrane was great enough to be a star anyway but his recordings with Davis accelerated that process. Of course All Blues is from the classic 1959 album Kind Of Blue also featuring Cannonball Adderley on alto sax, Bill Evans on piano, Paul Chambers on bass and Jimmy Cobb on drums. Kind Of Blue is one of the greatest jazz albums ever and is recommended to beginners. I have this box set in a metal box but it looks like Columbia rereleased it in 2004 in a cardboard box. Either way I highly recommend it to jazz fans. Here's Miles Davis & John Coltrane with the Gil Evans Orchestra performing So What in 1959.

League Princess 07 final set

JD Star continued to its end with a June 3 afternoon show at Shin-kiba 1st Ring. Later that day, a lot of the wrestlers went to the wedding of retired JD Star wrestler Nene Kimura. Fans may recall that her trainer Asian Cougar convinced her to go to California to work for All Pro Wrestling a couple years back. She returned to Japan and after a while decided to quit the business. Fuuka posted some wedding pics on her blog. The main order of business on this show was to set the finals for League Princess 07. Also, JD Star announced that the July 16 finale would be a complete 11 year retrospective of the promotion. I guess that means we'll probably see Jaguar Yokota and others on the show.

The opener was a League Princess 07 match between Hanako Kobayashi & Kaori Ohki. They were tied with four points and neither was likely to make the finals. Ohki started with a drop kick and a couple of hair whips. Kobayashi comes back with stomps and a body scissors. Ohki hits a couple of cross body blocks but Kobayashi hits a diving body press and a fisherman suplex for the win at 7:28. Next was Arisa Nakajima vs Misaki Ohata. Nakajima was in second place with ten points. Ohata had four points. Though Nakajima controlled the match, Ohata held on for a ten minute draw. The final match was between Hiroyo Matsumoto & Yuri Urai. Urai already has ten points but a Matsumoto win would create a three way tie. That's what happened as Matsumoto reversed a back elbow and won with a backdrop at 7:12. Lily Urai, Hiroyo Matsumoto & Arisa Nakajima are tied with ten points and the to be announced finals format will begin on June 17.

Next was a tag match with the Musasaki sisters from the Makehen promotion facing each other. They're not twins but they do look alike. The older of the two teamed with Fuuka and the younger (she was in the POP tournament) teamed with Kyoko Kimura. Kimura and her partner didn't get along and Fuuka used a fisherman suplex to finish her at 20:02. Afterwards, GM Kobayashi suggested Kimura should bring her chain next time. Kimura demanded a match with her partner in this match. That was accepted and will happen on June 10. The main event had JWP's Kaori Yoneyama & Leon vs Shuu Shibutani & Tomoka Nakagawa. Yoneyama & Leon show excellent teamwork and after Shibutani misses a diving senton, they nail her with an avalanche style arm whip. Yoneyama's German suplex finishes her at 12:29. The main event of the June 10 show will be Nanae Takahashi & Fuuka vs Hikaru & Shuu Shibutani. Also, Mariko Yoshida will face Yuri Urai and Saki Maemura will face Misaki Ohata.

Yahoo LAUNCHCAST Song Of The Day-McCoy Tyner

Artist:McCoy Tyner

Song:Speak Low

Album:The Impulse Story

Along with Bill Evans, McCoy Tyner is likely the most influential jazz pianist of the second half of the 20th century. He was born Dec. 11, 1938 in Philadelphia. He became famous as part of the John Coltrane quartet from 1960-65. He also recorded some solo albums for Impulse and that is what this Impulse Story comp covers. Speak Low is a great song from his 1962 debut album Inception with Art Davis on bass and Elvin Jones on drums. Of course this comp doesn't tell the whole picture. He really hit his stride as a solo artist with Milestone Records in the 70s experimenting with strings, voices and Latin jazz. More recently he has recorded for Telarc with 2004's Illuminations his most recent CD. Pianists like Gonzalo Rubalcaba & Mulgrew Miller have acknowledged Tyner's influence and his work with Coltrane built a very strong legacy. This comp is worth checking out. Here's McCoy Tyner with the John Coltrane quartet performing Afro Blue in 1963.

RIP Bill France Jr.

NASCAR Vice Chairman Bill France Jr. died today at his home in Daytona Beach at age 74. He was largely responsible for NASCAR's mainstream popularity. His dad started NASCAR and Jr. took over in 1972. He signed RJ Reynolds Tobacco as the title sponsor in 1973. He then proceeded to recruit mainstream corporations as sponsors and getting the 1979 Daytona 500 national exposure on CBS was the first step in NASCAR's rise as a sport. It just keeps getting bigger. France was diagnosed with cancer in 1999 and passed the Chairman torch to his son Brian France in 2003. Appropriately, his death was announced during today's FOX broadcast of the Dover Nextel Cup race. The race was rained out yesterday. The race went on and Martin Truex Jr. won his first Nextel Cup race. RIP Bill France Jr.

NEO in Hokkaido

It's been a quiet week in the joshi business mainly because a lot of the wrestlers are out of town on NEO's Hokkaido tour. The original AJW used to tour this area on a regular basis but no one around today seems to want to do that anymore probably because they can't afford it. The new AJW does but they can't run shows in Tokyo. NEO may have toured there once previously years ago. They're in the middle of the tour right now. Toshie Uematsu is keeping a diary on her blog so when the tour is finished I'll have more on that. The other big event is that the former editor of Lady's Gong magazine is launching a new magazine called Lady's Ring. The first issue is scheduled to be out on June 22. It will be free at first and will become a paid magazine in August. He has a blog so I will keep tabs on his activities. He had Fuuka stop by as guest editor for a day today.

NEO was in Otaru at the Otaru Citizens Hall on June 2. I think they were in Sapporo the previous day. One of my regular fan sources actually flew in for the show. It was the fifth show on the tour. The opener was Yuki Miyazaki vs rookie Nagisa Nozaki. Miyazaki use a hip attack and a missile kick to win at 10:43. Next was Misae Genki vs Tanny Mouse. Tanny did her usual comedy shtick. One of her headbutts backfired on her and Genki won at 11:03. Next was Amazing Kong vs Ayumi Kurihara. Apparently Kurihara wore a new costume but I haven't seen it yet. Kong won with a diving body press at 6:43.

Next was Yumiko Hotta vs Toshie Uematsu. Hotta wrapped a chain around Uematsu's throat to get the advantage and won with a Tiger Driver, a palm strike and the Pyramid Driver at 14:11. The main event was Yoshiko Tamura & rookie Aya Yuki vs Haruka Matsuo & Atsuko Emoto. I agree with NEO GM Koda's blog comments about Matsuo's improvement. She's bringing a lot of energy to her recent matches and has raised her game a lot. Tamura does well when she is in the ring but Matsuo & Emoto isolate Yuki. Emoto hits a diving elbow drop and Matsuo hits a frog splash and a German suplex for the win at 18:11. Tamura wasn't pleased and is teaming with Ayumi Kurihara on this week's leg of the tour. I have posted a pic of the wrestlers visit to the zoo from Toshie Uematsu's blog.

Update:Yumiko Hotta suffered a broken foot on the June 5 NEO show. NEO GM Koda is currently shuffling the lineup for the rest of the tour.

Yahoo LAUNCHCAST Song Of The Day-Commissioned

Artist:Commissioned

Song:King Of Glory

Album:The Commissioned Reunion:Live

I guess you could say this is a double shot of Fred Hammond. He was a member of the very popular contemporary gospel group Commissioned in 1987. Other members were Keith Staten, Michael Brooks, Mitchell Jones, Karl Reid & Marcus Cole. Hammond & Brooks wrote and produced most of the songs. When Hammond and then Brooks left Commissioned in 1993, they were replaced by Marvin Sapp and then Montrell Darrett. Commissioned split up when Sapp went solo in 1996. When Sapp moved from Word Records to Verity in 2000, Hammond got the idea for a Commissioned reunion concert. The concert at the Straight Gate Church in Detroit in Oct. 2001 was recorded and filmed. Brooks & Darrett were not involved. Sapp said he was very excited about the reunion because he had never worked with Hammond before. You can get the concert on 2CDs and it's also on DVD. Hammond produced and arranged everything and his musicians and Radical For Christ are on this. King Of Glory is an update of a 1991 Hammond song with Hammond & Sapp trading lead vocals. The band is tight and very hot. Of course Hammond & Sapp have had the most visible solo success. The other guys have had varying degrees of solo success and Brooks has mostly produced his wife's group Witness. This is great music and worth checking out. Here's a video from this concert with Commissioned performing King Of Glory & Let Me Tell It with Marvin Sapp & Marcus Cole trading lead vocals with Hammond.

Yahoo LAUNCHCAST Song Of The Day-Fred Hammond & Radical For Christ

Artist:Fred Hammond & Radical For Christ

Song:I Will Bless His Holy Name

Album:Pages Of Life:Chapters 1 & 2

Fred Hammond's combination of Praise & Worship and urban grooves has made him one of the most popular gospel artists today. He started out with the group Commissioned and in 1993 started recording solo with his backup singers Radical For Christ led by his wife Kim Rutherford. Pages Of Life:Chapters 1 & 2 is a 2CD set from 1998. The first CD had new studio recordings and the second CD was recorded live. I Will Bless His Holy Name was written by Hammond and Rutherford and features some of the Radical For Christ singers. Newbies might want to check out the Nothing But The Hits comp released in 2004. But here's a little old school Fred Hammond called Show Yourself Strong live in Chicago. Fred Hammond has his own record label and also produces other artists. He's a busy guy and he's worth checking out.

Ban Suzy Kolber from NASCAR broadcasts

You may recall that earlier this year I was a little annoyed with ESPN for having Brent Musberger on their NASCAR Busch Series broadcasts. My problem with Musberger is the same problem I have with Chris Myers on FOX. He doesn't know enough about NASCAR to add anything to the broadcast. They don't need him. Last week Musberger was busy with the Indy 500. So was Rusty Wallace. ESPN hired Dale Jarrett to fill in for Wallace and they brought in Suzy Kolber to fill in for Musberger for today's Busch Series race in Dover. Kolber is even more annoying and vapid than Musberger. I don't have a problem with women broadcasting NASCAR. Krista Voda & Wendy Venturini do a very good job on SPEED. Venturini is from a racing family. But Kolber is way out of her comfort zone in NASCAR. She was really terrible on today's show. Stick to bad interviews on football sidelines. Anyway, Carl Edwards won the race (yawn). The big rumour in the NASCAR garage is the possibility that Joe Gibbs Racing could switch from Chevy to Toyota. That would be interesting.

Yahoo LAUCNCHCAST Song Of The Day-Clifford Brown

Artist:Clifford Brown

Song:Confirmation

Album:The Complete Blue Note And Pacific Jazz Recordings

I've talked about Clifford Brown before. He's one of my all time favourite trumpet players and of course he died tragically in a car accident in Pennsylvania on June 26, 1956 at age 25. This 4CD box set is one of two you probably want to get for his essential recordings. The other would feature his EmArcy recordings with Max Roach. This box set covers recordings Brown made as a leader for Pacific Jazz along with recordings with Lou Donaldson & JJ Johnson on Blue Note. It also includes a complete live set with a pre-Jazz Messengers Art Blakey from 1954. This version of Charlie Parker's Confirmation closes that date and this box set. Lou Donaldson is on alto sax and Horace Silver is on piano. Fifty years later Brownie's music is still as good as anything you're ever going to hear. He was brilliant and his death is one of the great tragedies of modern music. There's only one known video clip of Clifford Brown and that's this clip from the Soupy Sales show in 1956.

Yahoo LAUNCHCAST Song Of The Day-Sam Rivers

Artist:Sam Rivers

Song:Point Of Many Returns

Album:Contours

Sax player Sam Rivers has been on the vanguard of the avant guard for over forty years and he's still there today. He was born Sept. 25, 1923 in El Reno, OK, raised in Chicago and then Little Rock, AR. His father was a musician with a gospel quartet and his mother taught music at Shorter College. Rivers studied at the Boston Conservatory Of Music & Boston University. After playing in bands with Herb Pomeroy & Hal Galper, Rivers got involved with the Jazz Composers Guild and guys like Archie Shepp & Cecil Taylor. He started playing with teenage drum prodigy Tony Williams and that led him to Blue Note. The 1965 album Contours is excellent and is recommended to all jazz fans. Musicians include Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Herbie Hancock on piano, Ron Carter on bass and Joe Chambers on drums. His music is a little more accessible than some of the other avant guard musicians of that era. Blue Note released it on CD with a bonus track in 2004. Rivers recorded with Impulse in the 70s and then formed a long association with bassist Dave Holland. He continues to tour today with his Rivbea Orchestra. Here's Sam Rivers performing with Dave Holland and Thurman Barker in 1979.