Yahoo LAUNCHCAST Song Of The Day-Clyde McPhatter

Artist:Clyde McPhatter

Song:Without Love (There Is Nothing)

Album:Deep Sea Ball:The Best Of Clyde McPhatter

As lead singer of The Drifters and also as a solo artist, Clyde McPhatter was one of the most powerful and influential R & B singers of the 50s. He was born Nov. 15, 1932 in Durham, NC. His daddy was a preacher and mom played organ in the church choir. And Clyde was a boy soprano in the church choir. The family moved to New Jersey in 1945 and Clyde started singing in gospel groups. He sang with the Mount Lebanon Singers in the latter half of the 40s but made the jump to secular music when he joined Billy Ward & The Dominoes in 1950. Of course they had a huge hit in 1951 with Sixty Minute Man. Clyde was singing lead but Billy Ward was getting the credit so he left in 1953. Atlantic Records owner Ahmet Ertegun offered McPhatter the opportunity to form his own group. McPhatter teamed up with manager George Treadwell and that's how The Drifters were born. They were successful but McPhatter went solo in 1955. Atlantic decided to give McPhatter a more pop oriented image. Without Love (There Is Nothing) is a good example. It has a full blown orchestra that probably would have overwhelmed another singer. But McPhatter's soaring tenor makes it work and the song was a top 20 hit. McPhatter had his biggest success with A Lover's Question in 1958. Deep Sea Ball has all his Atlantic hits. He left Atlantic for MGM in 1959. He had some success but went to Mercury in 1961. Behind the scenes McPhatter was starting to have reliability issues due to alcoholism. He must have thought the music business passed him by in the 60s. He had a bit of a revival in England in the early 70s but his health issues killed him with a fatal heart attack on June 13, 1972 at age 39. His music holds up very well today. Here's Clyde McPhatter performing Think Me A Kiss on The Bobby Darin Show in 1960.

Nakajima gets revenge at Junior All Star War

JWP presented this year's Junior All Star War on New Year's Eve at Korakuen Hall. Unfortunately with all the other big New Year's Eve shows, it gets overlooked. Having a title match as the main event might have helped but Commando Bolshoi probably had to compromise to get the Sendai Girls on the show. It also marked Shuu Shibutani's return to Japan after three months in Mexico. She arrived back in Japan a couple of days ago. She got to use her new finisher.





The show began with the only singles match on the show. It was last year's NEO rookie Nagisa Nozaki vs this year's JWP rookie Mayuca Shinzeki. Nozaki won with a diving body press at 7:29. Next was a unique match called The First Sisters War. DASH Chisako & Sachiko Sendai vs Io & Mio Shirai. The sisters from Sendai Girls are now being called The Cross Sisters and they won the match when Sachiko used a hurricanrana on Mio at 12:59. Apparently it was a pretty good match considering thei experience level.




Next was the Daily Sports Cup Junior Battle Royal. Of course it was played for comedy and the highlight was Ice Ribbon's Makoto hiding from everyone. The order of elimination was Francoise, Yuri Urai, Mika Mizunuma, Makoto, Tomoko Morii & Ayako Sato. Tomoka Nakagawa won over Miki Ishii with a lariat at 9:47. Next was Shuu Shibutani, Cherry & Aska Ohki vs Tomoka Nakagawa, Kana & Misaki Ohata. It's only one match but Shibutani showed off some new techniques from her mexican trip. Apparently Kana was pretty good as she has been since returning a few months ago. Shibutani won over Nakagaw at 18:24 with something called the Satanico. It's some sort of stretch submission hold.




Next was Natsuki*Taiyo & Fuuka vs Yumi Ohka & Mai Ichii. They called this Junior Graduation Premium indicating that these four aren't juniors anymore. Natsuki*Taiyo won over Ohka with the Taiyo Bomb at 17:09. The main event was Arisa Nakajima, Hiroyo Matsumoto & Hanako Kobayashi vs Tyrannosaurus Okuda, Aya Yuki & Aoi Kizuki. The idea here was to give Nakajima a little revenge on Okuda for losing the title a while back. Nakajima won with the Cutie Special over Okuda at 19:29. Nakajima was named show MVP. The main event was the best bout and the Shirai Sisters were Most Photogenic. Still, one can't help but think that this show would have had a lot more oomph with a title on the line.

Yahoo LAUNCHCAST Song Of The Day-JoAnn Rosario

Artist:JoAnn Rosario

Song:Serve You Only

Album:More, More, More

JoAnn Rosario is an expressive contemporary gospel singer. She had a health scare a couple of years ago but she's back better than ever. She's from Chicago and her father is a Puerto Rican preacher and her mother is black. Her fluency in Spanish has been a big plus in her career. JoAnne was one of Fred Hammond's Radical For Christ singers. When Hammond was launching his own label in 2001, JoAnn was his first signing. Her debut CD More, More, More was released in 2002. The title track featured JoAnn singing in Spanish. The CD is killer urban gospel produced by Fred Hammond and enhanced by JoAnn's expressive singing. Serve You Only is a hot track. It's highly recommended to gospel fans. In 2003, nodules were found on her vocal chords meaning she couldn't talk or sing. So she took time off to recover and now JoAnn Rosario is back and her latest CD Joyous Salvation was released July 2007. Check out this video for And We Overcome by JoAnn Rosario.

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Yahoo LAUNCHCAST Song Of The Day-The Clovers

Artist:The Clovers

Song:Devil Or Angel

Album:The Doo Wop Box

The Clovers were one of the earliest doo wop groups though not necessarily the best known. They started out as Washington, DC high school students in 1946. They were mostly performing in the Washington area doing covers of other vocal groups when they were discovered by Baltimore based manager Lou Krefetz in 1950. He recorded them on his own label and that got the attention of Ahmet Ertegun who was just starting Atlantic Records at the time. Ertegun & producer Jesse Stone got The Clovers their first big hit in 1952 with One Mint Julep. They continued to have success on Atlantic including this 1956 hit Devil Or Angel. At this time the group had two lead singers, John "Buddy" Bailey & Billy Mitchell. Other members were Matthew McQuarter, Hal Lucas & Harold Winley. Devil Or Angel would be an even bigger hit for teen idol Bobby Vee in 1961. In 1958, Krefetz started his own label which was taken over by the new United Artists label. He put The Clovers together with the legendary team of Jerry Lieber & Mike Stoller and they had their biggest hit with Love Potion #9 in 1959. The Clovers faded after that. With the oldies boom in the 70s, there have been several groups claiming to be The Clovers but that sorted itself out and they were given a Pioneer Award by the Rhythm & Blues Foundation in 1988. The Clovers and plenty of other doo wop groups are all on the 4CD box set The Doo Wop Box. Here are The Clovers performing Devil Or Angel at one of those doo wop reunion shows.

Okuda defends JWP Junior Title in Sendai Girls

Sendai Girls held their latest show Dec. 29 at Zepp Sendai in front of 700 fans. It was Sendai vs Ibuki with Tyrannosaurus Okuda defending her JWP Junior & POP Titles against Hiroyo Matsumoto in the main event. A couple of quick notes. Mariko Yoshida's pal Akiko Inoue was there. It was her first joshi show other than Ibuki. She was asked why she wasn't on the show. She just laughed. She said she had a good time. Meiko Satomura made a brief appearance after intermission. She's scheduled for more surgery next month on her face and she may need a third surgery later. She has been lifting weights so hopefully she'll be in shape when she is able to return. It's going to be a while though.




The show started with the announcement that Sendai Girls will hold a one day tournament on Jan. 18 at Zepp Sendai. The winner gets a shot at the OZ Academy Championship. The opener had Sendai rookie Maki Harada vs Atsuko Emoto. Harada' offense was mostly dropkicks and a sleeper hold. Emoto finsihed her with a brainbuster and an M Clutch for the submission at 7:32. Next was Hiren vs Cherry. The match was compeititive enough that it looked like Hiren could win. But Cherry softened her up with an ankle lock followed by a Shining Wizard and a Cherry Bomb for the win at 9:38.




Next was Ryo Mizunami vs Kyoko Kimura. Kimura gets the edge with head butts. But Mizunami comes back with a shoulder block in the corner and a guillotine leg drop from the second rope for a two count. Kimura works on her shoulder and then gets her to submit with a cross arm breaker at 12:16. Next was Sachiko Sendai & DASH Chisako vs Tomoka Nakagawa & Misaki Ohata. Chisako starts out with a drpkick on Nakagawa. An arm twist and Sachiko tags in and hits two dropkicks and applies a sleeper. The Ibuki team comes back with an Ohata dropkick and a Nakagawa elbow. Ohata tags in and hits an elbow, a neck throw, a dropkick and a body ram followed by stomping. They all trade dropkicks and Chisako mises a missile dropkick. The Ibuki team hits a double brainbuster. Then the sisters double team with a Roaring Senton, a swinging DDT, a missile kick and a German suplex. Sachiko & Nakagawa hit simultaneous lariats. Ohata gets a 2 count with a body press. Sachiko comes back with a Hurricanrana and a German suplex and Chisako wins over Ohata with a Hurricanrana at 14:42.





Time for the main event with Tyrannosaurus Okuda defending her JWP Junior & POP Titles against Hiroyo Matsumoto. Matsumoto starts with an elbow and a missile kick from the second rope followed by a camel clutch. They trade achilles holds and then trade elbows and tackles. Matsumoto's size edge begins to show. Okuda comes back with three jumping knees. Matsumoto applies her Argentinian backbreaker. Okuda hangs in and hits a German suplex. The end comes when Okuda hits a jumping knee attack for the win at 13:28. Okuda says afterwards that she will win the one day tournament and the OZ Academy Championship. Aja Kong may have something to say about that.

Yahoo LAUNCHCAST Song Of The Day-Bessie Smith

Artist:Bessie Smith

Song:St. Louis Blues

Album:The Essential Bessie Smith

Bessie Smith was known as the Empress Of The Blues and was one of the most important figures in modern music history. She was born Apr. 15, 1894 in Chattanooga, TN. Her parents died when she was very young and she started performing with her siblings on the streets of Chattanooga to earn money. In 1912, she went on the road with a traveling troupe that included the very popular Ma Rainey. Bessie started her own act in 1913 and became very popular on the east coast. The popularity of a singer named Mamie Smith encouraged Columbia Records to scout for blues singers for their new Okeh race label. Bessie first recorded for Okeh in 1923. This 2CD comp includes a lot of those recordings. Bessie worked with a lot of the great jazz musicians of the day and this 1925 recording of St. Louis Blues was arranged by Fletcher Henderson and features Louis Armstrong on trumpet. The 1929 Great Depression ended Bessie's recording career but she continued to perform in clubs and on stage. John Hammond saw her in 1933 and brought her into the studio to make what turned out to be her final recordings. Bessie Smith died because of a serious car accident on Sept. 26, 1937 at age 43. Bessie Smith was a very powerful performer and her music still holds up remarkably well. The Empress Of The Blues has been a major influence on anyone who has ever sung the blues. Bessie Smith made one film appearance in the 1929 short St. Louis Blues. She was accompanied by James P. Johnson on piano, Fletcher Henderson's orchestra and the Hall Johnson Choir. Here is the complete 15 minute film.

Bessie Smith-St. Louis Blues-1929
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Ohata wins big in Ibuki

Ibuki held their final show of 2007 Dec. 24 at Shin-kiba 1st Ring. It had a couple of Ibuki youngsters in the main event and also had a couple of exhibition matches as a tip of the hat to the upcoming Olympics. The opener was a five minute exhibition tag team match and the wrestling was in the amateur style. Yuko Motohashi was one of the four wrestlers. She debuted for Ibuki in August. The others were Sachi Watanabe, Chiho Hamada & Suzu Takahashi. I may have those names wrong. All these girls have trained with Former amateur wrestling champ Akiko Inoue at Gold's Kids Gym and she was at ringside smiling during the match. More about her later.





Next was Atsuko Emoto vs Arisa Nakajima. Mariko Yoshida commented that Emoto seems to have added new techniques during her trip to Mexico. Emoto dominated the match and won with a diving elbow drop at 11:37. Yoshida said she would like Ibuki to do a show with JWP in 2008. Next was Mariko Yoshida & Kyoko Kinura vs the NEO rookies Aya Yuki & Nagisa Nozaki. On her website, Yoshida talked more about wanting to do a show with NEO than the match itself. She doesn't think that will happen. Yoshida & Kimura won when Kimura used the Big Boots on Yuki at 18:50.





Next was another exhibition match between NAO & Akiko Inoue. NAO has been wrestling for Ibuki for a couple of years but she is also an accomplished amateur wrestler and this match was a farewell of sorts as NAO is headed for the Olympics. Yoshida was the ref. Of course Inoue is her trainer. The match started as an amateur match and Inoue has a big size advantage and had the upper hand. So NAO asked Yoshida if she could wrestle the second round in pro wrestling style. Inoue looks puzzled but gets the point when NAO hits her with a dropkick. Inoue is a pretty good pro wrestler too so I'm sure we wouldn't mind seeing these two have a match longer than three minutes.




Next was Aoi Kizuki & Tomoka Nakagawa vs Apple Miyuki & Cherry. This was Apple's first Ibuki appearance. These days she rarely appears outside of K-Dojo. Yoshida said she was very impressed with Apple and thought she elevated Cherry's performance. Apple pinned Kizuki with the Apple Buster at 14:26. Yoshida said she would like Apple to have a singles match with Nakagawa. The main event was Misaki Ohata vs Hiroyo Matsumoto. Matsumoto won their previous match. Yoshida has been working on improving Ohata's strength since she came over from JD Star. She's been working hard so as a reward, she got the win over Matsumoto with a flash pin at 13:08. Ohata's gleeful reaction afterwards indicates that there may be a feud in the future for these two. Ibuki will be in Sendai this weekend so I'll have that in a couple of days.

Yahoo LAUNCHCAST Song Of The Day-Derrick Morgan

Artist:Derrick Morgan

Song:The Hop

Album:Independent Jamaica:Songs Of Freedom From The Treasure Isle

Derrick Morgan is mostly unknown to mainstream music fans but was one of the main forces behind the creation of ska music in the early 60s. He was born Mar. 27, 1940 in Mocho, Clarendon Parish, Jamaica and grew up in Kingston. He won a talent contest at age 17 and got the attention of Treasure Isle Records owner Duke Reid. Morgan became so popular that in 1960 his singles filled the top seven positions on the Jamaican charts. Originally Morgan worked with the legendary Prince Buster but when he switched to producer Leslie Kong, it began a rivalry between two legends of Jamaican music. The Hop was recorded in 1962 but it sounds very good today with Morgan's sweet vocal style. This Trojan Records comp is interesting because of course Jamaica became an independent country in 1962 and this looks at music that was popular at that time. Morgan moved to England in 1963 and remains an icon of Jamaican music. Problems with his vision forced Morgan to be less active in the 70s but he continues to tour today and record occasionally. Any fan of Jamaican music and especially ska should check out Derrick Morgan. Here's Derrick Morgan performing Miss Lulu in Holland.

Yahoo LAUNCHCAST Song Of The Day-Argent

Artist:Argent

Song:Hold Your Head Up

Album:All Together Now

Hold Your Head Up was the one really big hit by progressive rock group Argent in 1972. I guess it's still memorable in a rock anthem way. The group was led by keyboard player Rod Argent. He was born June 14, 1945 in St. Alban's England. He had already had success in the 60s with The Zombies. When they split up, he was looking to for a new lead singer to form a new band. Singer Songwriter Russ Ballard was born Oct. 31, 1945 in Waltham Cross, England. The other members were Jim Rodford on bass and Bob Henrit on drums. Zombies bass player Chris White wasn't a member of Argent but co-wrote and produced a lot of the music with Argent. The group signed with Epic Records in 1970. They were clearly aimed at an album oriented progressive rock audience so it was surprising when Hold Your Head Up was a top five pop hit in 1972. All Together Now was released on CD by Koch Records in 1997 with some bonus tracks. There doesn't seem to be a really good Argent comp but the song turns up on plenty of various artists comps. Just be sure to get the full six minute version. Russ Ballard left Argent to go solo in 1974 and the group wasn't as successful without him. Argent split up in 1976. Ballard has had some success as a writer producer but never broke through as a solo performer. Rod Argent has mostly played sessions and produced other artists like Tanita Tikram & Nanci Griffith. He reunited with Zombies lead singer Colin Blunstone in 2004 and they recorded and toured together and he also toured with Ringo Starr last year. I'm sure this performance of Hold Your Head Up from the Midnight Special in 1973 will evoke memories for a lot of you. It's still a pretty good song.

Full card for NEO 10th Anniversary show

NEO held a press conference to announce the complete card for their Jan. 6 Korakuen Hall show called Be Happy Again. This is their tenth anniversary show. They had already announced that Haruka Matsuo will defend her NEO Singles & NWA Pacific Titles against Fuuka. Not surprisingly, there will be a 10th anniversary battle royal. Of course the eight NEO wrestlers will be in this along with Chou-un Shiryu, Lingerie Muto, Mima Shimoda, Toshie Uematsu, Tsubasa Kuragaki, Sakura Emi, Makoto, Aoi Kizuki, Azumi Hyuga, Kaori Yoneyama, Ran YuYu, Arisa Nakajima, Aska Ohki, Shuu Shibutani, Hiroyo Matsumoto, Tomoka Nakagawa, Miki Ishii and a couple more TBA.





The rest of the show will be all tag team matches. The NEO Tag Team Titles will not be on the line but champs Yoshiko Tamura & Misae Genki will have a 10th anniversary memorial match against Tanny Mouse & Etsuko Mita. Mima Shimoda will team with Shuu Shibutani against Yuki Miyazaki & Toshie Uematsu in what they are calling Homemade Luchadora Reimport. Aya Yuki will team with Hiroyo Matsumoto against Kyoko Kimura & Atsuko Emoto. The opener will be Youth Green vs JWP. Nagisa Nozaki will team with Aoi Kizuki against Aska Ohki & Arisa Nakajima.




NEO also announced the card for their Jan. 13 show at the Delfin Arena in Osaka. The main event will have Yoshiko Tamura & Misae Genki defend the NEO Tag Team Titles against Kyoko Kimura & Atsuko Emoto. I wouldn't be surprised to see them do an angle on the 6th to set this up. Other matches are Etsuko Mita vs, Aya Yuki, a three way match with Yuki Miyazaki, Haruka Matsuo & Mima Shimoda, Nagisa Nozaki & Aoi Kizuki vs Tanny Mouse & Makoto and Sakura Emi vs Kana.

Yahoo LAUNCHCAST Song Of The Day-Beverly "Guitar" Watkins

Artist:Beverly "Guitar" Watkins

Song:Red Mama Blues

Album:Back In Business

Beverly "Guitar" Watkins looks like your grandma so you may be taken aback when you hear her play the guitar. She's been part of the Atlanta blues scene for years and is just now emerging as a recording artist. She was born 1940 in Atlanta and several of her aunts had a group called The Hayes Family. Her grandma raised her and exposed her to the great blues & gospel singers of the day. Beverly learned to play guitar in high school and modelled her style after legendary Count Basie guitarist Freddie Green. Beverly is probably best known as guitarist for Piano Red & The Houserockers in the early 60s. She worked day jobs and played with Leroy Redding on the side. She became a regular at the Underground Atlanta nightclub with her son on bass. She was rediscovered by Tim Duffy of the Music Maker Relief Foundation. This is a non-profit organization dedicated to recording and providing financial support to long forgotten blues musicians. He booked her on the 1998 Hot Mamas tour with Koko Taylor & Rory Block. Then he brought her to the attention of veteran British producer Mike Vernon and he released Back In Business on Sire Records. Vernon & Watkins wrote a lot of the songs together including Red Mama Blues. So Beverly "Guitar" Watkins is an overnight sensation at age 60. Now this blues guitarist grandma is touring the world and her latest CD Don't Mess With Miss Watkins was released in October. Check out Beverly "Guitar" Watkins playing guitar behind her head on this video posted on MySpace by her record company Dixie Frog Records.

Beverly Guitar Watkins

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Merry Christmas from JWP

JWP had one of their dojo shows on Dec. 23. Not surprisingly, the show had a Christmas theme with some typically silly matches. I'll say what I always say about dojo shows. They don't mean anything in the regular storylines. They're supposed to be goofy fun. Apparently it was very cold so fans were given autographed heating pads. I'm not making that up. The opener was Kei'to & Mayuca Shinzeki vs KAZUKI & Aska Ohki. Of course Shinzeki is the recently debuting 15 year old. The veterans carried the match and KAZUKI used a backdrop and a diving knee drop on Shinzeki for the win at 9:48.





So next they placed a Christmas tree in the middle of the ring. It was Tojuki Leon vs Kaori Yoneyama. The first one to knock over the tree loses the match. Well, you know how this kind of match goes. A lot of close calls and comedy spots. Leon finally touches the tree but it doesn't fall. She tries to throw Yoneyama into the tree but it backfires and Yoneyama wins at 7:19. Next is Azumi Hyuga, Kayoko Haruyama & Sachie Abe vs Commando Bolshoi, Tsubasa Kuragaki & Arisa Nakajima. Of course it's played mostly for comedy and includes a totem pole in the middle of the ring. The end comes when after Haruyama is nailed by diving foot stamps by Bolshoi & Kuragaki, Kuragaki accidently nails Nakajima with a lariat and Haruyama pins her at 15:47.




The main event is a battle royal with all the wrestlers dressed in Santa suits. All twelve wrestlers are in the ring and a throw over the top rope eliminates the wrestler. The order of elimination was Bolshoi Santa, Hyuga Santa, Abe Santa, Kei'to Santa, Shinzeki Santa, Haruyama Santa, Kuragaki Santa. Yoneyama Santa and Leon Santa did a comedy spot where they made a deal and eliminated each other after Leon reneged on the deal. Nakajima Santa threw KAZUKI Santa over the top rope to win at 15:27. Just a little comedy diversion before the big New Year's Eve show.

Yahoo LAUNCHCAST Song Of The Day-Crosby, Stills & Nash

Artist:Crosby, Stills & Nash

Song:Teach Your Children

Album:Running With Scissors:Motion Picture Soundtrack

I guess one of the things that came out of the late 60s was the invention of the supergroup. Crosby, Stills & Nash was a successful group featuring members of other successful groups. They got together in 1968. David Crosby was from The Byrds. Graham Nash was from The Hollies. Stephen Stills was from Buffalo Springfield. But the CS&N vocal harmonies didn't sound like any of those groups. Their first album was very successful and during their first tour they added Neil Young also from Buffalo Springfield. And though the excellent 1970 album Deja Vu was very successful, the clash of egos meant the group was split up by the end of that year. Teach Your Children was a big hit written by Graham Nash about his father. And though it was on the CSN&Y album Deja Vu, Young does not appear on the song but Jerry Garcia does play pedal steel guitar. This soundtrack from the 2006 film Running With Scissors consists of hits from the 70s by Average White Band, 10CC, Elton John and others. I would recommend Deja Vu as it's a classic. Over the years, Crosby, Stills & Nash have reformed and the guys have their own careers as well. Here's Crosby, Stills & Nash performing Teach Your Children in 1977.

Yuka Tsuji successfully defends Smackgirl Lightweight Title

Smackgirl held their big Korakuen Hall show Dec. 26 headlined by a Yuka Tsuji defense of her Smackgirl Lightweight Title. There were other big name fighters on the show along with plenty of gaijins. The company has new management so the show was titled Starting Over. Smackgirl also relaunched their website and announced plans to recruit new fighters by running classes at the Academy Of Music beginning in January.





The main event had Smackgirl Lightweight Champ Yuka Tsuji defending her title against Korean Su Hi Ham. This was to be the first show to eliminate the 30 second ground rule limit. That would immediately work to Tsuji's advantage because kickboxer Ham would like to use her strikes. That's what Ham tried to do but Tsuji brushed her off and went for a single leg takedown. Tsuji controlled Ham on the ground despite Ham's attempts to pound her way out. Tsuji's dominance continued through all three rounds and she won an easy unanimous decision.





Satoko Shinashi's opponent was supposed to be Thai kickboxer Anne. She had visa issues and was replaced at the last minute by Akemi Morihara. Shinashi wasted no time taking Morihara down and easily won with a heel hook at 4:17 of round one. Shinashi said afterwards that she plans to defend her DEEP Flyweight Title on Feb. 22. An Open Weight bout had Megumi Yabushita against Lana Stefanac. Stefanac has a significant size advantage. Stefanac used that size to hammer Yabushita and though Yabushita didn't seem to be hurt, she was unable to mount any offense and Stefanac won a unanimous decision.




Thricia Poovey tried to use her kickboxing skills to rattle Saori Ishioka but Ishioka threw her a couple of times and used an armbar to get a submission at 4:18 of round one. Emi Fujino remained undefeated by winning a split decision over V1. V1 didn't seem to have much offense when she got Fujino on the mat and Fujino used strikes to score the win. Madoka Okada won an easy unanimous decision over Shawn Tamaribuchi. Megumi Fujii wasted no time getting amateur wrestling veteran Mika Nakano in a triangle choke. The ref stopped the bout at 1:20 of round one.




Other bouts had Kaneko Takeshita defeating Benkei with an armbar at 2:52 of round one. Yasuko Tamada won over Maho Muranami by unanimous decision and Miki Morifuji defeated HARI with anachilles lock at 3:06 of round one. One more thing. DEEP Lightweight Champion MIKU made a brief exhibition appearance with Hisae Watanabe and expressed interest in having a match in Smackgirl. Let's hope that sets something up for the future. Hint, hint.

Yahoo LAUNCHCAST Song Of The Day-Professor Longhair

Artist:Professor Longhair

Song:Cherry Pie

Album:House Party New Orleans Style:The Lost Sessions 1971-1972

Legendary New Orleans pianist Professor Longhair fell on hard times in the 60s but came back in the 70s and is now regarded as an icon of R & B. He was born Henry Roeland Byrd Dec. 19, 1918 in Bogalusa, LA. He grew up hustling cards on the streets of New Orleans. He also had learned piano as a child and was hired to play a club in 1948 when Dave Bartholomew was fired. The club owner dubbed him Professor Longhair because of his shaggy mane. He recorded for Mercury as Roy Byrd & His Blues Jumpers and then had some success at Atlantic with the 1953 hit Tipitina. Longhair was a great musician but like a lot of black musicians of the 50s, he never seemed to get paid. He quit music in the 60s and went back to gambling. His appearance at the 1971 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival put him on the comeback trail and he made several excellent records in the 70s. This version of the Marvin & Johnny hit Cherry Pie is excellent and includes guitarist Snooks Eaglin. Rounder discovered the master tapes and released the album in 1987. Things were going great for Longhair when he died of a heart attack on Jan. 30, 1980 at age 61. Fortunately Professor Longhair is now a revered figure of New Orleans R & B. Here's Professor Longhair & The Meters performing Tipitina on the PBS series Soundstage.

Carlos Amano wins OZ Academy title shot

OZ Academy ended the year with a bang on their Dec. 16 Shinjuku FACE show with the completion of the number one contender tournament and the conclusion of the Chikayo Nagashima/Sonoko Kato angle. OZ owner Mayumi Ozaki also showed once again why it's best to not cross the boss and gave us a D-Fix reunion as well.




The opener is supposed to be Mayumi Ozaki & Aja Kong vs KAORU & Police. With Ozaki's recent quarrels with Aja, I guess Ozaki wanted to make a clear statement as to who's running the show. So she tells Aja that it's not a tag team match anymore and Ozaki is teaming with KAORU & Police 3 on 1 against Aja. It became 4 on 1 when Mika Nishio joined in from outside the ring. Let the beatdown begin with wrapping the chain around Aja's throat. Then they took her outside the ring and hit her with chairs and tables. Meanwhile, Police beat up the ref. Aja does come back and has Police trapped in the corner but Ozaki drags her around the ring with the chain and finishes her with the Ozakick at 10:38. Ozaki sneers at Aja afterwards and says she'll show Aja mercy if the title match is cancelled. Aja refuses.





Next is the first semi final match between Carlos Amano & AKINO. Ozaki comes out to support AKINO. Apparently the angle was to punish the OZ Academy wrestlers. AKINO ignores her. It was a pretty good match. AKINO got her offense in but Amano won with the Carlos Ghosn at 12:07. The second semi final is Dynamite Kansai vs Ran YuYu. Police & Mika Nishio come out to support Ran. They get booed and Ran ignores them. Ran gets the upper hand with an elbow smash but Kansai wins with a diving foot stamp at 14:05. The fans are still booing Police.




Next is a tag team match with Chikayo Nagashima & Manami Toyota vs Sonoko Kato & Yumiko Hotta. Nagashima has been tormenting Kato for the last year but wanted to shake her hand at the last show. Kato said nothing. The match was fast paced and Hotta won over Toyota with the Pyramid Driver at 20:27. Nagashima wasn't satisfied with that and asked Kato for one last match. She apologized for her treatment of Kato and called for the bell. The crowd was into this match. Nagashima won with a fisherman buster at 9:17 and the two shook hands after the match. Ozaki, KAORU, Police & Nishio came out to mock the two. Nagashima & Kato want a match with D-Fix.




The thing about the tournament final between Carlos Amano & Dynamite Kansai is Ozaki was trying to affect the result but it didn't work because the winner is going to be an OZ wrestler. Ozaki comes out and says it doesn't matter who wins because there will be no title match. The crowd boos. The rest of D-Fix came out and started beating on Amano & Kansai. Kansai was busted open. But then Aja came out and drove D-Fix away. Amano won the match with the Carlos Ghosn at 8:08. The crowd cheers and Aja Kong will defend her OZ Academy Championship against Carlos Amano on Jan. 13. But Ozaki has declared war on all OZ Academy wrestlers. What will happen on Jan. 13?

Yahoo LAUNCHCAST Song Of The Day-Mandrill

Artist:Mandrill

Song:Love Song

Album:Fencewalk:The Anthology

Mandrill was a very popular 70s funk group. They're mostly forgotten by mainstream music fans but hip hop guys know about the group and sample them all the time. The basis of Mandrill are the three Wilson brothers. They were born in Panama and grew up in Brooklyn. There's Ric Wilson (sax), Lou Wilson (trumpet) & Carlos Wilson (trombone). Mandrill signed with Polydor in 1970 and added Claude "Coffee" Cave on keyboards, Omar Mesa on guitar, Fudgie Kae Solomon on bass and Charlie Padro on drums. Mandrill was never a singles group. They were popular with music fans who were already listening to sophisticated jazz rock fusion like Weather Report & Osibisa. Neftali Santiago was brought in as the new drummer in 1973 and Mandrill had their biggest hit with Fencewalk. Love Song is from the 1974 album Just Outside Of Town. Rapper Nas sampled it for his hit U Gotta Love It. Mandrill started to have conflicts around 1975 over the Wilson brothers control of the group. They were also dropped by Polydor and went to Arista. This 2CD comp covers their Polydor recordings. The Wilson brothers have reformed Mandrill in recent years and have released a couple of CDs independently. Mandrill is recommended to fans of other funk groups. Here's Mandrill performing Get It All in 1973. This video was posted by Mandrill drummer Naftali Santiago.

Nakamura to step down as First On Stage president

Shinjiro Otani held a press conference on Monday to announce that Yoshiyuki Nakamura will step down as president of First On Stage and Otani himself will take over on Jan. 23. This is something that has been rumoured for the last month since the whole AWA dispute happened. Apparently Otani will concentrate on ZERO-ONE MAX and will not be involved in the management of CHICK FIGHTS SUN. At this point, Nakamura is not leaving FOS and will still be involved in the operation of SUN. But Nakamura has admitted on the SUN blog that the company's future is in some doubt. There are no future SUN shows scheduled at this time. The company has not performed to expectations. When asked by Sportsnavi about the future of CHICK FIGHTS SUN, Nakamura says no decision has been made. It appears that Otani may want to shut the promotion down and concentrate on ZERO-ONE MAX as that is their core business. But Nakamura started SUN so he would like to keep it going. The root of the problem is that the ZERO-ONE MAX fans have not responded well to joshi matches and Otani doesn't want them on the shows anymore. The result is that the future doesn't look good for CHICK FIGHTS SUN.

RIP Oscar Peterson

The CBC reports that all time jazz great Oscar Peterson died today at age 82. He was born Aug. 15, 1925 in Montreal. He studied piano as a child and won a CBC talent contest at age 15. The key event in Oscar Peterson's life was in 1949. Jazz promoter Norman Granz was in a taxi to catch a flight from New York. He heard Oscar Peterson on a live broadcast and ordered the driver to go to the club. Granz signed Peterson to Verve Records and Peterson recorded for Granz for most of his career. Oscar Peterson moved to Toronto in 1958 and I knew his son Norm in high school. Over the years Peterson has been one of the most popular pianists with jazz fans. He has also worked on orchestral pieces and films. Peterson suffered a stroke in 1993 which affected his left hand. He stopped playing for a couple of years but then came back and continued to tour until his health failed in recent years. Canada Post issued an Oscar Peterson postage stamp in honour of his 80th birthday in 2005. He also has seven Grammy Awards including a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997, and he was named a Companion of the Order of Canada, the highest civilian award in Canada. RIP Oscar Peterson. Here's Oscar Peterson performing A Gal In Calico with Herb Ellis on guitar and Ray Brown on bass in 1958.

Yahoo LAUNCHCAST Song Of The Day-Big Bill Morganfield

Artist:Big Bill Morganfield

Song:Strong Man Holler

Album:Ramblin' Mind

It must be tough to grow up as the son of one of the greatest blues artists ever but Big Bill Morganfield has come to terms with that and has become one of today's top blues artists. He was born June 19, 1956 in Chicago the son of the great Muddy Waters. He was raised by his grandmother in Florida and later moved to Atlanta. Bill was initially reluctant to try and fill his dad's shoes but he eventually tried several years after his dad's death in 1983. He wasn't happy with the initial results so he worked as an English teacher while honing his guitar skills. Morganfield signed with Blind Pig Records and made a strong debut in 1999. This CD and the 2001 follow up Ramblin' Mind were produced by long time Muddy Waters guitarist and producer Bob Margolin. Morganfield writes a lot of his own songs but Strong Man Holler was written by the legendary Taj Mahal. Taj also guests on a couple of songs along with Pinetop Perkins and harmonica player Billy Lupkin. Morganfield's latest CD is 2003's Blues In The Blood. Of course it's impossible for Big Bill Morganfield to ever fill his father's legendary shoes but he has his own niche in the modern blues spectrum and is a talent worth watching. Here's an interview Big Bill Morganfield recently did in San Diego with Vince Outlaw.