AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Will Smith

Artist:Will Smith
Song:Gettin' Jiggy Wit It
Album:Greatest Hits





Will Smith started out as one half of the rap duo The Fresh Prince and DJ Jazzy Jeff. They split up after Smith got into TV and movies. And then Smith recorded solo. He had his greatest solo success with the 1997 album Big Willie Style and singles like Gettin' Jiggy Wit It. He's mainly involved with films these days. His most recent album was released in 2005. He was born Sept. 15, 1968 in Philadelphia. He got into rap while attending high school. There have been reports that he turned down a scholarship to MIT but Smith says he wanted to rap and he never wanted to attend college. Smith met DJ Jazzy Jeff Townes in 1985 and they became one of the most popular and enduring rap acts of the late 80s mostly because their music was family friendly. But Smith mismanaged his money. He owed so much to the IRS he almost declared bankruptcy. Fortunately he signed in 1990 to star in the NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. That success opened the door for movies. His final album with Townes was released in 1993. Smith appeared in several films but the most successful was probably Men In Black in 1997. He also signed a solo record deal with Columbia. His first single was the theme for Men In Black. Then he released the 1997 album Big Willie Style. Most of the album was produced by Poke & Tone (Jean-Claude Olivier & Samuel Barnes) and L.E.S. (Leshan Lewis). They had success producing the rapper Nas who sat in on some of the recording sessions. Gettin' Jiggy Wit It was the second single. The song is mainly based on the Sister Sledge hit He's The Greatest Dancer written by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers of Chic. Smith's idea was to repurpose the derogatory term "jigaboo" used to describe blacks. The single topped the Billboard Hot 100. The album Big Willie Style sold ten million copies worldwide. Smith has yet to repeat that success. And as Smith has had great success in films, he has phased out of music. For the 2005 album Lost and Found, Smith moved to Interscope. That's his most recent album. In 2011, Entertainment Weekly reported that Smith was recording a new album. Then in 2015, he announced plans to record with DJ Jazzy Jeff and plans to tour in 2017. Jeff is currently on a solo tour. So I don't know if Smith will ever record or tour again. Doesn't seem like it but you never know. Here's the video for Gettin' Jiggy Wit It by Will Smith.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Don Cherry

Artist:Don Cherry
Song:Bemsha Swing
Album:Art Deco





Trumpeter Don Cherry is best known for his days with tenor sax legend and free jazz pioneer Ornette Coleman. He is also the stepfather of Neneh Cherry and father of Eagle Eye Cherry. But he recorded plenty of great music as a leader. He was born Feb. 18, 1936 in Oklahoma City. His dad played trumpet and owned the local club Cherry Blossom. He moved with his family to Los Angeles in 1940. His dad was a bartender at the Plantation Club on Central Ave. and that's where the jazz scene was in Los Angeles. Cherry attended Fremont High School. After skipping school to play in the swing band at Jefferson High School, Cherry was sent to reform school where he met drummer Billy Higgins. They became life long friends and collaborators. In the 50s, Cherry was in Art Farmer's band and he jammed with Clifford Brown and Max Roach. He toured with sax player James Clay and they became life long friends. Cherry first worked with Ornette Coleman in 1958 and along with bassist Charlie Haden and drummer Billy Higgins, they invented free jazz with albums like The Shape Of Jazz To Come on Atlantic Records. In 1961, Cherry recorded The Avant Garde with sax legend John Coltrane. They recorded the Thelonious Monk song Bemsha Swing. In the 60s, Cherry toured with Sonny Rollins, Albert Ayler and George Russell. He was also a member of The New York Contemporary Five with Archie Shepp and John Tchicai. He recorded as a leader for Blue Note. Cherry moved to Sweden in the late 60s. Neneh and Eagle Eye Cherry were born in Sweden. He was a member of Old and New Dreams with Dewey Redman, Charlie Haden and Ed Blackwell. They recorded several albums for ECM. Cherry also explored World Music with percussionist Nana Vasconcelos and sitar player Colin Walcott as Codona. They also recorded for ECM. In the late 80s, Cherry signed with A&M Records. He recorded Bemsha Swing on the 1989 album Art Deco. This album was a reunion with sax player James Clay who he toured with in the 50s and he also reunited with Charlie Haden and Billy Higgins. You'll notice Cherry doesn't play a normal trumpet. He plays a pocket cornet. It's amazing the sound he gets from that little thing. Don Cherry died of liver cancer on Oct. 19, 1995 at age 58. Here's Don Cherry performing Bemsha Swing with Herbie Hancock on piano, Ron Carter on bass and Billy Higgins on drums on New Orleans 1986.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Diane Schuur

Artist:Diane Schuur
Song:Love Dance
Album:Collection





Diane Schuur is a jazz singer who had her greatest success when she first recorded in the 80s. She's still around but she's just not as popular as she once was. She was born Dec. 10, 1953 in Tacoma, WA. Due to a hospital error, Diane was blind at birth. She would eventually receive a financial settlement from the hospital. She attended the Washington School for the Blind. Diane began singing as a child. Her mom was a Duke Ellington fan. Diane's idols were Sarah Vaughan and Dinah Washington. As a teen, she performed in local clubs. In 1975, she auditioned for Tonight Show drummer Ed Shaughnessy. He was in Seattle touring with Doc Severinsen. Shaughnessy hired her for his band Energy Force and he wanted to hire her to sing with The Tonight Show band. But Severinsen didn't like Diane as she tended to oversing and he didn't like that. But touring with Shaugnessy got her to the 1979 Monterey Jazz Festival. And that's where jazz legend Stan Getz heard Diane. Things started to pick up. For one thing, he got her to stop oversinging. Less is more he told her. Getz appeared on Diane's 1981 debut album Pilot of my Destiny for a Seattle label Great American. Then he invited her to sing at The White House in 1982. GRP Records owner Larry Rosen saw Diane on TV and his partner Dave Grusin contacted Getz. Diane signed with GRP. Love Dance is from Diane's second album Schuur Thing in 1985. Grusin produced and arranged the album and played keyboards. Other musicians are Lee Ritenour on guitar, Abraham Laboriel on bass, Carlos Vega on drums and Paulinho Da Costa on percussion. Larry Williams played sax on most of the album but Stan Getz played on Love Dance. Jose Feliciano sang on two songs. Love Dance was written by Brazilian Ivan Lins and the English lyrics were written by Incognito bassist Paul "Tubbs" Williams. The album reached #10 on the jazz charts and this began a long run for Diane. She performed on the Grammys and also won a couple. This comp was released in 1989 and it covers Diane's early albums. Diane recorded for GRP until 1997 and then she recorded for Concord until 2008. He latest album was released in 2014 but she still tours regularly. Here's Diane Schuur with the GRP All Stars featuring Dave Grusin, Lee Ritenour, Abraham Laboriel, Carlos Vega, Dave Valentin and Larry Williams at The Record Plant in Los Angeles 1985. This was released on DVD but is now out of print.

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Cynthia Calvillo vs Amanda Bobby Cooper

Here's the match video of Cynthia Calvillo vs Amanda Bobby Cooper from last night's UFC show in Las Vegas. This fight was supposed to be on the UFC Fight Pass prelims but it was moved up to the main card when the Khabib vs Ferguson match was scratched. I thought that was unusual because normally they would move a fight up from the FS1 prelims. My guess is that matchmaker Sean Shelby really likes Cynthia and he convinced UFC president Dana White to move it up. I'm sure White and most fans and journalists at the show had never heard of her. Cynthia is 3-0 and she trains at Team Alpha Male in Sacramento. But she has extensive amateur experience and she beat Invicta's Aspen Ladd as an amateur. I watched Cynthia's last fight when this fight was announced a couple of weeks ago and though I thought she was impressive, I didn't think much of her opponent. Amanda was in TUF 23 and she lost to Tatiana Suarez in the final. Most of the women who were on TUF 23 weren't very good. Amanda won over Anna Elmose in Nov. and the UFC promptly released Anna. The fight was a coming out party for Cynthia. After an initial exchange, Cynthia took Amanda down and after a scramble, she attempted an anaconda choke. That's usually a low percentage submission that can lead to disaster if a fighter spends too much time trying to apply it. Cynthia quickly abandons it and slickly transitions to a rear naked choke which is a high percentage submission. That was a very smart move and Cynthia hooked it and Amanda tapped out. So a big win for Cynthia in her UFC debut. The next move is to have her fight a ranked opponent. She's 29 years old so the UFC may want to move her up quickly to see if she can be a contender. One plus is Cynthia is fluent in Spanish. Check out the fight for yourself.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Maze featuring Frankie Beverly

Artist:Maze featuring Frankie Beverly
Song:Silky Soul
Album:Greatest Hits: 35 Years Of Soul





Maze was one of the top soul groups of the 70s and they had most of their success on Capitol Records. But they moved to Warner Bros. in the late 80s. And though they only recorded two albums there, a couple of songs were R&B hits and they are not always included on Capitol comps. Silky Soul reached #4 on the R&B Singles chart in 1989. When you listen to the song, it clearly samples from the Marvin Gaye classic What's Going On. Silky Soul is a tribute to Gaye. What you may not know is Gaye discovered Beverly. He got Beverly to change the group name from Raw Soul to Maze. He took Maze on tour as his opening act and got them a record deal with Capitol. All their albums were certified Gold and they had a lot of success on the R&B charts and as a live act. But Maze left Capitol after the 1985 album Can't Stop The Love and signed with Warner Bros. for the 1989 album Silky Soul. The single Can't Get Over You topped the R&B Singles chart and Silky Soul reached #4. The album Silky Soul was certified Gold. As I said, because those songs are on Warner Bros., Capitol did not include them on early Maze comps. But they have included them on more recent comps like this one from 2011. It's available as a budget CD. Maze only recorded two albums for Warner Bros. and they haven't recorded since 1994. But Maze still tours and there was even a Maze tribute album released in 2009. They also get sampled a lot by hip hop guys which is a sign of respect. I guess they are a 70s nostalgia act at this point but Maze were influential on today's neo soul and hip hop. Here's the video for Silky Soul by Maze featuring Frankie Beverly.

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Julia Budd vs Marloes Coenen

Here's the match video of Julia Budd vs Marloes Coenen from last night's Bellator show in Oklahoma. This was for the Bellator Women's Welterweight Championship. This fight has been in the works for a couple of years delayed by injuries. I don't know why Bellator president Scott Coker didn't do this match two years ago. I guess he wanted to build up to it. But first Marloes got injured. The fight was scheduled for May 2016 but Julia pulled out due to injury. Alexis Dufresne replaced her and submitted Marloes. And that loss highlighted Marloes major flaw especially as she has gotten older. As great as Marloes has been over the years, she has a bad habit of underestimating opponents. That's why she has had several upset losses. The writers covering the Bellator show even asked her about underestimating Julia. There's no question that Marloes is a more complete fighter than Julia. Julia is mainly a kickboxer and she hasn't shown much of a ground game in the past. But she's always in top condition and she's very strong. She won't run out of gas. And her strength advantage turned out to be the key to the fight. Julia took Marloes down in round one. As we all know, Marloes is very good at submissions from bottom position. So though Julia was able to stay on top, she did nothing with it and she was almost submitted a couple of times. It was a very close round that could have been scored a tie. Between rounds, Julia's husband and trainer Lance Gibson encouraged Julia to keep taking Marloes down and be more aggressive in top position. It became clear that Julia was much stronger than Marloes and Marloes could not stuff takedowns. Maybe she thought Julia would stick to kickboxing. So Julia controls the second and third rounds. And in round four she gets a mount and her ground and pound led to the TKO stoppage. Congratulations to Julia Budd for winning the Bellator Women's Welterweight Championship. I'm not sure who is supposed to challenge her for the belt. Most of the 145lb fighters I have seen in Bellator aren't very good. Immediately after the fight, Marloes Coenen announced her retirement. Though the announcement was a surprise, it didn't really surprise me. Marloes doesn't seem like she would want to hang around if she's not competitive. There are plenty of fighters who don't know when to quit. Marloes' legacy is as a pioneer of women's MMA especially in Japan when at age 18, she won the 2000 World Remix tournament in Tokyo. And of course she was also the Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Champion. Should she have stayed at Bantamweight? She only went down to 135 because Coker asked her to do it. But she didn't like cutting that much weight so she went back to Welterweight. At least she knows it's time to go. On behalf of MMA fans worldwide, thank you Marloes Coenen for a legendary career. Enjoy the video!

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Kathy Mattea

Artist:Kathy Mattea
Song:Love At The Five & Dime
Album:The Definitive Collection





Though it wasn't her biggest hit, the 1986 single Love At The Five & Dime was Kathy Mattea's first top five country single. So it set up her late 80s run which included four number one country hits. She was born June 21, 1959 in South Charleston, WV. Her home town of Cross Lanes didn't have a hospital. She took classical voice training but she discovered folk music in high school and learned to play guitar. While attending West Virginia University in 1976, Kathy was a member of the bluegrass group Pennsboro. In 1978 she moved to Nashville and sang backup for Bobby Goldsboro and recorded plenty of demos for songwriters. Songwriter producer Byron Hill liked Kathy and got her a deal with Mercury Records. Hill had written hits for Johnny Lee and George Strait. Hill produced Kathy's debut album. But her second album From My Heart was produced by Allen Reynolds. He produced all of her albums until he got busy with Garth Brooks. Kathy's 1986 album Walk The Way The Wind Blows was her breakthrough when her single Love At The Five And Dime reached #3 on the Country Singles chart. The song was written by singer songwriter Nanci Griffith who recorded it on her 1986 album Last Of The True Believers. Nanci is a great performer but she has had a lot of success writing hits for others. Guys like Reynolds are always on the prowl for great songs. Kathy became a fixture on the country charts. Her number one hits were Goin' Gone, Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses, Come From The Heart and Burnin' Old Memories. Kathy faded in the mid-90s. Walking Away A Winner was her final top five country hit in 1994. You can get all her hits on this budget comp. Kathy left Mercury in 2000 and she has recorded for small labels. She still tours. Her latest CD Calling Me Home was released in 2012 on Sugar Hill Records. That's a bluegrass label. Her recent music is more traditional country than when she was making hits in the 80s. I think Kathy prefers performing bluegrass. Here's Kathy Mattea performing Love At The Five And Dime on TNN's Nashville Now 1986.

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Asuka vs Peyton Royce

Here's the match video of Asuka defending her NXT Women's Championship against Peyton Royce from this week's NXT show. I am posting Asuka's matches for those who don't have the WWE Network. Peyton Royce and Billie Kay are doing a mean girls gimmick that is too much like LayCool for me. However, they are good at playing terrified heels and both are improving as wrestlers. Peyton won the title shot in a three way over Ember Moon and Liv Morgan. At the start of the match, Asuka has things well in hand until she goes outside the ring and Peyton posts her shoulder. Peyton works on Asuka's shoulder. And Asuka to her credit continues to sell her shoulder. You would be surprised how many wrestlers forget to do that. Typically, Peyton gets overconfident and wastes way too much time. And that allows Asuka to recover. But Peyton hits a spinning head kick that should give her the win...but it doesn't. This leads to Asuka hitting a flying armbar which she transitions into the Asuka lock and it's over. Asuka retains her title and remains undefeated. I have no problem with a competitive match because squashes all the time would be boring. Afterwards, Billie attacks Asuka and they double team her until Ember Moon makes the save. Asuka and Ember Moon have a staredown so that begins the build towards the next Takeover show in Orlando. I liked Ember Moon when she was Athena in indies. But so far the Ember Moon character has been blah. And I hate her finisher. It takes too long to set up. Meanwhile, Asuka is working some Smackdown house shows beginning next week. She's filling in for the injured Naomi. Asuka is due to be moved up to Smackdown shortly anyway. That's what she told Tokyo Sports in a January interview. Will Asuka's winning streak continue? Well, the WWE loves streaks. And Goldberg even congratulated Asuka on her winning streak. Enjoy the video!
NXT Women's Championship: Asuka © vs... by therackattackvideos

RIZIN announces plans for Women's Grand Prix

RIZIN held a press conference today to announce matches for the Apr. 16 show at Yokohama Arena. This includes four women's matches. But they also announced plans for the Women's Grand Prix. They are beginning it in September and the finals will be on the NYE show. As I expected, the tournament will be at 48kg. It looks like there will be eight fighters in the tournament. And to emphasize this, they brought out RENA to announce that she will be participating. She is also scheduled for a match on the Apr. 16 show with her opponent to be announced. So I expect this tournament to be booked so she wins just like all of her Shoot Boxing tournament wins. She's probably the biggest star in RIZIN already. And winning this tournament will cement that and it will transcend the fight business and make her a mainstream star in Japan. Don't believe me? Take a look at the poster for this show. Who has the biggest head shot? RENA has always had star potential. The ratings go through the roof when she appears on TV. But Shoot Boxing is too much of a niche product and no one can figure out the rules anyway. The only thing is she hasn't beaten anyone decent yet in MMA so I want to see who RIZIN brings in to face RENA for the April show. She trains with Ayaka Hamasaki so you can be sure RENA will be well prepared. Let's get to the other three matches. King Reina will face Jazzy Gabert. Of course Reina recently won over Shayna Baszler at last week's DEEP JEWELS show. At that fight she weighed in at 150lb. Jazzy is better known as German pro wrestler Alpha Female. You may recall she was brought in at the NYE show to tease a match against Gabi Garcia. That may still happen if Jazzy wins this fight. She weighs 190lb and 90kg is the contracted weight for this fight. She won her only MMA fight in Nov. but there just isn't much competition at that weight. Japanese fans will know Jazzy as she was the top heel in STARDOM a couple of years ago. Saori Ishioka will face Bestare Kicaj. This fight will be at 48kg. A few years ago, Ishioka was thought to have star potential mostly because of her looks. It's the same thing as Shizuka Sugiyama. They train together. But like Sugiyama, Ishioka isn't that good. Her record is 14-10 but she is 1-2 since returning from pregnancy. Bestare is from Zurich, Switzerland. Her record is 2-0. Obviously Ishioka has an edge in experience so I would expect her to win to get her ready for the Grand Prix. However, stranger things have happened. And finally Kanna Asakura will face Aleksandra Toncheva. The Japanese media make a big deal out of Kanna because she's 19 years old and just graduated from high school. But I wonder if any of these guys have seen her fight. Her record is 6-2 but it's padded with old ladies and tomato cans. When she has had the opportunity to face someone decent, she has come up short as she did against Alyssa Garcia at the last RIZIN show. So I'm not sold on her. Aleksandra is from Bulgaria. This will be her pro MMA debut. But she is the 2016 IMAAF World Champion at 115lb and a two time IMAAF European Champ. We'll see how she does. This fight is contracted for 48kg though Aleksandra has fought at 115lb. At what point does Kanna Asakura go from being a prospect to a suspect. We may find out if she loses this fight. I guess I'll have more on this show once RENA's opponent is announced.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Poco

Artist-Poco
Song:Crazy Love
Album:The Essential Poco





Poco was one of several groups that emerged from the ashes of the popular 60s group Buffalo Springfield. Poco has been mainly an album and live concert act. But they have scored a couple of hit singles including Crazy Love in 1978. When Buffalo Springfield split up in 1968, singer and guitarist Richie Furay, guitarist Jim Messina and pedal steel guitarist Rusty Young formed Pogo with drummer George Grantham and bassist Randy Meisner. For copyright reasons, the group name was changed to Poco. They signed with Atlantic Records but they were traded to Epic for Graham Nash. Their early albums were highly praised but they didn't sell. Conflict with Furay led to Meisner being replaced by Timothy B. Schmit and then Messina left for Paul Cotton of Illinois Speed Press. Meisner went on to be a founding member of Eagles. Messina took a house producer job at Columbia which led to Loggins & Messina. As Poco's albums continued to flounder, Furay got worse and he left in 1973 to form Souther-Hillman-Furay Band. Then Poco left Epic for ABC for the 1975 album Head Over Heels. This was their most successful album to date and the single Keep On Tryin' reached #50 on the Billboard Hot 100. Then in 1977, Schmit left to join Eagles. Poco went on hiatus and Young and Cotton recorded as The Cotton-Young Band. ABC picked up the album. But they wanted it released as Poco. Cotton and Young agreed to that and they brought in bassist Charlie Harrison and drummer Steve Chapman. Grantham hadn't left Poco. He was paid to leave and he joined Ricky Skaggs' band. Harrison and Chapman played together for Leo Sayer and Al Stewart. So for the 1978 album Legend, Poco was more of a pop band. The album was certified Gold and Crazy Love reached #17 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was written and and sung by Young. Remember this was supposed to be The Cotton-Young Band before ABC had them change it. They had one other top 20 hit. And then Poco returned to obscurity. They left MCA for Atlantic in 1982 and it looked like they were going to disband. But then the original members of Poco reformed. They signed with RCA and scored their other top 20 hit with Call It Love in 1989. That was their commercial last gasp. This Sony Legacy budget comp covers all Poco's hits on all the different labels. The late 80s Poco reunion ended in 1992. Cotton and Young continued to lead Poco until Young announced his retirement in 2013. Poco doesn't tour full time anymore but they play occasional gigs. Imagine if Cotton and Young had not agreed to adopting the Poco name in 1978. Here's the video for Crazy Love by Poco.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-White Town

Artist:White Town
Song:Your Woman
Album:Women In Technology





Your Woman topped the British charts in 1997 and it was a top 30 hit in North America. It is the only big hit for Jyoti Mishra AKA White Town. He was born July 30, 1966 in Rourkela, India but he grew up in Derby, England. At first White Town was a band formed in 1989 when Mishra saw The Pixies. The group name was because of Mishra as an East Indian growing up in a small English town. After releasing an EP in 1990, he signed with Parasol Records but he also decided he preferred to make music at home with synthesizers and samplers. He sometimes brings in musicians but mostly Mishra records solo. he released two EPs and an album on Parasol. He recorded Your Woman in 1996 on the EP Abort, Retry, Fail. The song got enough attention to get Mishra a record deal with EMI's Chrysalis label. The album Women In Technology was released in 1997. Your Woman topped the British singles chart and reached #23 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was a big hit globally. Of course most folks remember the trumpet riff. That was sampled from the 1932 song My Woman by crooner and big band leader Lew Stone. Mishra says he heard that song on the British miniseries Pennies From Heaven. Mishra only recorded one album for Chrysalis and it is available as a budget CD. It's on plenty of various artists comps. Since then Mishra has recorded on his own label. His latest album was released in 2011 though he has released a couple of singles more recently. When asked about being a one hit wonder, Mishra says "it's better than being a no hit wonder". Here's the video for Your Woman by White Town. This video is on Youtube but the Vimeo version is better quality.

White Town - Your Woman from Anatoly Pupyshev on Vimeo.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Bay City Rollers

Artist:Bay City Rollers
Song:Saturday Night
Album:The Definitive Collection





With their screaming fans, the Bay City Rollers seemed like they were everywhere in the mid-70s. Though they were a much bigger deal in England, Saturday Night was their only number one hit in North America. And they were forgotten by the late 70s. It might surprise you how long they were around before they hit the jackpot. The Bay City Rollers were formed in 1966 in Edinurgh, Scotland by bassist Alan Longmuir, his drummer brother Derek Longmuir and lead singer Gordon "Nobby" Clark. They threw a dart at a US map and it landed on Bay City, MI. They called themselves Bay City Rollers. Among those who were early members of the group were David Paton and Billy Lyall who went on to form Pilot. They signed with Bell Records in 1971. Their first single was a cover of The Gentrys' Keep On Dancing. It was a top ten hit in England. They struggled for the next couple of years and guitarist Eric Faulkner joined the group. Clark left and was replaced by Les McKeown and then guitarist Stuart "Woody" Wood solidified the lineup that would become famous. They began to have success on the British charts just as McKeown and and the arrival of the veteran production and songwriting team of Bill Martin and Phil Coulter. They produced the popular singer Sandie Shaw. BCR finally scored number one hits in England with Bye Bye Baby and Give A Little Love. By early 1975, they were the biggest act in England. Their mostly teen female fans wore tartan to concerts. Meanwhile, Clive Davis had purchased Bell Records and changed the name to Arista. Saturday Night topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 1975. The album Bay City Rollers was released followed quickly by Wouldn't You Like It? and Rock 'n' Roll Love Letter. Three albums in six months and all were certified Gold. They also had two other top ten hit singles. It was over by the late 70s as the band were burnt out. The 1977 album It's A Game was their final charted album. McKeown was replaced by Duncan Faure. They left Arista for Epic in 1980. They quit touring in 1981. This budget comp has all their hits. BCR last recorded in 1985 but they have reunited occasionally. They announced plans for a tour and a new album in 2016. It doesn't look like that ever happened. Here's the Bay City Rollers performing Saturday Night on The Midnight Special 1976. Check out the crowd.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-NOFX

Artist:NOFX
Song:Liza and Louise
Album:White Trash, Two Heebs and a Bean





The punk band NOFX have been around since the 80s but they were particularly successful on their own terms in the 90s. They have never been on a major label and they have never softened their music to get commercial success. And that could be a reason why they are still successful. NOFX are from Los Angeles. Guitarist Eric Melvin met bassist and singer Mike "Fat Mike" Burkett in 1983. The band was called NOFX after the punk band Negative FX. Drummer Erik "Smelly" Sandin joined. He left and then returned. Dave Allen joined but he died in a 1986 car accident. They released EPs in limited quantities until they signed with Epitaph Records which is owned by Brett Gurewitz of Bad Religion. Guitarist Dave Casillas joined in 1987 but he was replaced by Steve Kidwiller in 1989. Kidwiller was replaced by Aaron "El Hefe" Abayta in 1991. NOFX has had the same lineup since then. With the success of bands like Offspring and Bad Religion, things started to pick up for NOFX with the 1993 album White Trash, Two Heebs and a Bean. Their next album Punk in Drublic did even better. It was certified Gold. Major labels came calling but NOFX turned them all down. They could have had music videos played on MTV. They didn't want to play that game. They continued to record and tour. NOFX started their own label Fat Wreck Chords in 2003. NOFX is still going strong. 2015 saw a 25th anniversary tour. And their latest CD First Ditch Effort was released Oct. 2016. They are currently touring to support that. A band autobiography NOFX: The Hepatitis Bathtub and Other Stories was published last year. There's something to be said of a band that has been around all these years and has never sold out to commercialism. Here's NOFX performing Liza and Louise at Rockpalast in Germany 1993.

Claudia Gadelha vs Karolina Kowalkiewicz added to June 3 UFC show

Today the UFC announced on the UFC Europe Twitter account that Claudia Gadelha will face Karolina Kowalkiewicz on UFC 212 June 3 at the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The winner of this fight is likely to get a title shot against either Joanna Jedrzejczyk or Jessica Andrade. Those two will fight on UFC 211 May 13 in Dallas. I expect Claudia vs Karolina to air on the main card of UFC 212. Both women have lost title shots to Joanna by unanimous decision. After Claudia lost to Joanna in July, she left her long time gym Nova Uniao and trainer Andre Pederneiras. Claudia felt her training camp was too long and that led to her lack of endurance in the five round title fight. Claudia has opened her own gym in Philadelphia. For her Nov. win over Cortney Casey, Claudia trained with long time coach Jair Lourenco at Nova Uniao in Sao Paulo. My guess is she will train there again. The problem I see with Claudia is she doesn't finish fights anymore. She last finished a fight in 2013. This is why endurance has become an issue. She didn't need it early in her career. I think she has gone away from what made her successful early in her career. She seems to fight more conservatively. If she goes back to her old ways, it could be a problem for Karolina who is mostly a points fighter. She is counting on her opponent lacking aggression so she can outpoint her. Karolina is a kickboxer with no power but her defense is solid. This allows her to hang in fights and eke out wins. Though Joanna beat her easily, Joanna fought too conservatively to get a finish. That's why Karolina is still a top contender and could get another title shot if she wins this fight. You all know I hate points fighters. So I like Claudia if she's aggressive and goes for a finish. If she doesn't, all bets are off.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-The Helio Sequence

Artist:The Helio Sequence
Song:Shed Your Love
Album:Keep Your Eyes Ahead




The Helio Sequence are a mix of folk and neo psychedelia. They were formed in 1999. in Beaverton, OR by singer songwriter guitarist Brandon Summers and drummer Benjamin Weikel. Weikel also programs the keyboards. He was a one time member of Modest Mouse. After self releasing an EP, they released two albums on the local label Cavity Search. For the 2004 CD Love and Distance, they signed with the larger label Sub Pop. This was mainly to get better distribution. They went on hiatus because Summers damaged his vocal cords. It was during this hiatus that Weikel joined Modest Mouse. After Summers recovered, The Helio Sequence returned with the 2008 CD Keep Your Eyes Ahead. They toured with Modest Mouse and then the British group Keane. Meanwhile their recording studio flooded so they had to find new space. The new studio encouraged the duo to produce other bands like the Brazilian group Quarto Negro and the hip hop group Shabazz Palaces. For their 2015 album The Helio Sequence, they gave their friends a list of songs and had them vote which ten would appear on the album. They toured to support the album. They just announced some upcoming shows but I haven't seen anything about new music. Here's The Helio Sequence performing Shed Your Love at the Independent in San Francisco Feb. 29, 2008.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Art Garfunkel

Artist:Art Garfunkel f/Paul Simon and James Taylor
Song:(What A) Wonderful World
Album:The Singer




Of course Art Garfunkel is best known as one half of Simon and Garfunkel. After they split up in 1970, Garfunkel had success as a solo artist including this cover of the Sam Cooke classic (What A) Wonderful World in 1978. He was born Nov. 5, 1941 in Queens, NY. He began singing at an early age even in the synagogue. Apparently his Bar Mitzvah was quite the show. He met Paul Simon in sixth grade and they performed as Tom and Jerry for several years. Their main influence at the time was The Everly Brothers. They split up and then reformed as Simon and Garfunkel in 1963. They were not successful at first and Simon moved to England. But they reformed when Sounds Of Silence was a hit. They were one of the most popular groups of the 60s. They split up in 1970. Simon had immediate solo success. Garfunkel appeared in the films Catch-22 and Carnal Knowledge. Then he released his 1973 debut album Angel Clare and the single All I Know reached #9 on the Billboard Hot 100. For his 1975 album Breakaway, Garfunkel reunited with Simon for the single My Little Town. It reached #9 on the Billboard Hot 100. It's Garfunkel's biggest hit to date and the album was certified Platinum. For the 1977 album Watermark, Garfunkel decided to do an album of Jimmy Webb songs. But when the first single didn't chart, Columbia pulled the album and had Garfunkel record a cover of the Sam Cooke classic (What A) Wonderful World with Simon and James Taylor. The single reached #17 on the Billboard Hot 100 and it helped with album sales too. One note is that this album was sax player Paul Desmond's final appearance before his death from cancer. After Garfunkel's 1979 album Fate For Breakfast was released, his longtime girlfriend Laurie Bird committed suicide. He dedicated the 1981 album Scissors Cut to her and then he disappeared for several years until his 1988 album Lefty. He was married by then and he and his wife have two kids. Garfunkel still records occasionally. He left Columbia in 1998 and he has recorded for Blue Note and Atco. He's had voice problems in recent years which seems to be a byproduct of years of heavy smoking. He still tours so I expect him to record at some point. This 2CD comp has all of his hits along with Simon and Garfunkel highlights. Here's a video of (What A) Wonderful World by Art Garfunkel featuring Paul Simon and James Taylor.

Mina Kurobe is the new DEEP JEWELS Atomweight Champion

DEEP JEWELS held a show today at Shinjuku FACE. The good news is there were no DATE girls on this show. So the talent level was marginally higher. In the main event, Mina Kurobe continued her winning streak and she won the DEEP JEWELS Atomweight Championship from Sugi Rock. She also avenged an earlier loss. The fight was close enough that I'm sure we'll see a rematch. But Kurobe definitely won by unanimous decision. The problem with Kurobe is she's 39 years old and there is no upside when a fighter with limited experience is that old. There was also the return of Shizuka Sugiyama after time off to have a baby. There's no question that Sugiyama has been a great disappointment. She has the poster girl looks but not the fighting skills. And winning by split decision over Yukari Nabe is not encouraging. Former boxing champ Emiko Raika returned to DEEP JEWELS with a win over newcomer Komachi Karate who chose to wear a gi for some reason. Kanna Asakura is young. So she is thought to have potential. She won her fight over Natsuke Shimonakise with a first round rear naked choke. The problem is Shimonakise is now 0-4 and Asakura has had difficulty with better competition as we saw with her loss in RIZIN. Let me know when she beats someone half decent. DEEP JEWELS has this new larger fighter they are calling King Reina. Finding competition in Japan for her is a problem. So they brought in ex-UFC fighter Shayna Baszler to fight her. Shayna is not really fighting anymore. She is concentrating on pro wrestling. She was in Japan working for STARDOM and she lost to Io Shirai a couple of days ago. She was there anyway so why not take their money. But Reina won easily and they are going to have to send Reina to the US to get decent competition so she can improve. Emi Tomimatsu beat Kai by unanimous decision. And Sarami beat Korean Ye Jin Jung with a first round rear naked choke.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-George Davis

Artist:George Davis
Song:Sixteen Tons
Album:Classic Mountain Songs From Smithsonian Folkways




Most music fans should be familiar with Sixteen Tons as it was a huge hit for Tennessee Ernie Ford. Some fans may also be aware that the song was written by country music legend Merle Travis. But George Davis known as the Singing Miner claimed for many years that Travis based Sixteen Tons on one of his songs of the 30s. The problem was Davis didn't copyright it or record it. So no one knows for sure. Davis was born Aug. 19, 1906 in La Follette, TN but he grew up in Hazard, KY which is coal mining country. Everyone worked in the coal mine and Davis was no exception. He began work at the Crawford Coal Co. in 1920. He got married and raised a family. Davis worked in the mines for 28 years. But in 1933 he helped organize the United Mine Workers Union. He also messed around with the guitar. In Oct. 1933, he suffered a serious arm injury so he wasn't able to play guitar. So instead he started writing songs. There were songs like Coal Miner's Boogie, When Kentucky Had No Union Men and Nine To Ten Tons. This is the song that Davis claimed Travis used to write Sixteen Tons. Travis has denied this. He says Sixteen Tons is influenced by his father who was a coal miner. Davis never recorded his song so he couldn't prove anything. Davis left the coal mines in 1947 to work at the local radio station. He was a DJ for many years. In 1967, he recorded an album for Folkways Records that included his own recording of Sixteen Tons. This album is available on CD. But you can get Sixteen Tons on this various artists budget comp. George Davis died on Nov. 3, 1992 at age 86. Here's a video of Sixteen Tons by George Davis.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Jim Sturgess

Artist:Jim Sturgess
Song:Something
Album:Across The Universe: Music From The Motion Picture




Jim Sturgess is a British actor whose best known role to date is Julie Taymor's 2007 Beatles tribute Across The Universe. Sturgess sings in the film but he hasn't released an album. He may do that in the future. Most recently he starred in the now cancelled AMC series Feed The Beast. He was born May 16, 1978 in Wandsworth, London, England but he grew up on Farnham, Surrey. He had bands as a teen and he attended Salford University in Manchester to try to get into the Manchester music scene. Instead he got involved with a group of aspiring actors. He signed with an agent in 1999. For the next few years he worked on British TV shows like Judge John Deed and A Touch Of Frost. For her 2007 film Across The Universe, Julie Taymor was looking for actors who could sing. The main actors were Sturgess, Evan Rachel Wood, Joe Anderson and Dana Fuchs with musical guest stars like Bono, Eddie Izzard and Joe Cocker. So all the actors sang. Sturgess sings several songs including Something. It's all on the soundtrack CD. The score was composed by Elliott Goldenthal who has lived with Taymor for years. T-Bone Butnett produced Something and some of the other musical numbers. The film got mixed reviews and it didn't perform well financially. Producer Joe Roth tried to get Taymor to agree to a shorter cut of the film but she refused. Sturgess also starred in the 2008 film 21 with Kevin Spacey. He's been in a few other films like Crossing Over and Cloud Atlas. He is appearing in Geostorm which is scheduled for release later in 2017. He also returned to TV. He starred in the BBC mini series Close To The Enemy. And he starred with David Schwimmer in the AMC series Feed The Beast. The show was panned and did poor ratings. It was cancelled after the first season. Sturgess still writes and performs music. He wrote songs for the films 21, Crossing Over and Heartless and he recorded five songs as a fundraiser for a sick friend. So Sturgess could get back into music but his acting career is busy so he might not be able to. Here's Something by Jim Sturgess as it appears in the 2007 film Across The Universe.

Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs Jessica Andrade to co-main event May 13 UFC show

After all kinds of rumours, it was announced on a Facebook chat today that Joanna Jedrzejczyk will defend her UFC Strawweight Championship against Jessica Andrade on UFC 211 May 13 at American Airlines Center in Dallas. I think this will be Joanna's most difficult title defense partially because they know each other so well. And that's why Joanna moved to American Top Team last year. She knew Jessica was going to get a title shot. Back when Jessica was a Bantamweight, these two trained together and they even had the same manager. Not anymore. Jessica has gone 3-0 as a Strawweight in a dominant fashion. And in her last title defense against Karolina Kowalkiewicz, I thought Joanna won easily but she was too conservative. That's not going to cut it against Jessica. Jessica may punch as hard as Joanna. And she also has a strong ground game and the guillotine is her favourite finisher. Joanna's takedown defense could be the key to this match. If Joanna can stuff Jessica's takedowns, she may be able to tire Jessica out with elbows and knees in the clinch. Remember Jessica has never gone five rounds. But Jessica is also a great striker and that's something Joanna has to watch out for. Either way, I expect match of the year fireworks. This fight will be a war.