Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Ember Moon vs Kairi Sane vs Nikki Cross vs Peyton Royce

Here is the four way match for the NXT Women's Championship with Ember Moon vs Kairi Sane vs Nikki Cross vs Peyton Royce from Saturday's NXT show in Houston. Of course Kairi won the Mae Young Classic and the other three won qualifying matches. I thought Ember would win partially because Houston is her home town and also to have Asuka pass the torch to her. Kairi has new music that sounds like something Alfred Newman would have written for a 1940s pirate movie like Captain From Castille. I'm not a big fan of four way matches because they can get disjointed and there can be a lot of standing around. It's hard to have a great match but it was OK. Kairi took a big Tower Of Doom bump. And Peyton showed she can work when she wants to. I didn't like the ending as it exposed Ember Moon's major flaw. Leading up to the ending, Kairi hit her flying elbow drop on Nikki and Peyton. Ember broke up the pin and then landed the Eclipse on Nikki and Peyton for the win. I thought it looked phony with the two of them standing with their heads together. And as I have said before, the move takes way too long to set up. I have no problem with Ember winning. But I don't like her character or her finisher. We'll see how she is as champ. Asuka presented her with the belt which was a nice touch. Now NXT creative needs to set up some new programs. Enjoy the video!

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Rachel Platten

Artist:Rachel Platten
Song:Fight Song
Album:Wildfire





Here's one of those female empowerment anthems that you probably think is by Katy Perry. But it was a top ten hit from Rachel Platten's 2015 major label debut. She was born May 20, 1981 in New York City. She took piano lessons as a child and then took up the guitar as a teen. Rachel did some backup vocals while on a 2002 student exchange in Trinidad. That's when she decided to get into music. She performed in New York area cover bands and she self released a CD in 2003 which she has described as a collection of demos. She released the 2011 CD Be Here on the indie label Rock Ridge Music. After a couple of her songs were used on TV shows like Pretty Little Liars, Rachel signed with Columbia. Fight Song was released as a single in 2015 and it reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100. You may recall it was the theme for Hilary Clinton's presidential campaign. You may have heard it in a Ford commercial. And I know the WWE used it in their 2015 Rise Against Cancer campaign. Rachel wrote it as exactly what it is, an empowerment anthem. It was co-written and produced by Jon Levine of the Canadian group The Philosopher Kings. He produced the album Wildfire which was released Jan. 2016. It was certified Gold. She released her latest CD Waves Oct. 2017. To date it hasn't performed as well as Wildfire. I see a couple of problems. Fight Song was a big hit but it hasn't helped raise Rachel's profile. Music fans still don't know who she is. The other thing is she's 36 which is a little old to be an emerging young artist. In the video she is made to look much younger. Fortunately, Rachel writes her own songs. So she can still make a good living in music but not necessarily as a recording artist. It's always tough when the debut is a big hit. How does she follow that up? Here's the video for Fight Song by Rachel Platten.

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Nadia Kassem vs Alex Chambers

Here's the match video of Nadia Kassem vs Alex Chambers from last night's UFC show in Sydney, Australia. Both fighters are Aussies. Alex was on TUF 20. The last time we saw her she blew out her knee while losing to Paige VanZant. So now she has had reconstructive surgery on both knees. Also, she is 39 years old. And she is an astro physicist. Why the hell is she fighting? I'm sure she loves the sport. She was one of several contracts the UFC purchased from Invicta. And she's not the only one who doesn't belong in the UFC. Nadia is 22 years old. She was supposed to debut a few months a few months ago. But she got injured. I had never seen her before. Her coach at Australian Top Team is her boyfriend. And her teammate Ashkan Mokhtarian was also on last night's show. Based on this fight, she needs a lot of work. I scored round one 10-9 for Alex. The problem was Alex was pooped out by the end of the round. So Nadia won the other two rounds despite the fact she doesn't know what she's doing half the time. She tries things that more experienced fighters wouldn't do. But she got away with it because Alex is not a very good fighter. Maybe she needs better coaching. She wouldn't get away with that kind of recklessness against better competition. So she will either get the coaching she needs or we'll wonder why they signed her in the first place. Enjoy the video!

Big Bad blog Video Theater-Jessica Rose Clark vs Bec Rawlings

Here's the match video of Jessica Rose Clark vs Bec Rawlings from last night's UFC show in Sydney, Australia. Bec was supposed to fight Joanne Calderwood but she got injured and fellow Aussie Jessy Jess came in on short notice. This was the third time those two were booked and it was cancelled. This fight was at Flyweight. Bec had previously fought at Strawweight. She's been in the UFC since TUF 20. I never liked her much going back to her Invicta days. And she has had some serious injuries and I think she has slowed down considerably. She currently trains at Alliance in San Diego. I don't like Jessy Jess either. She didn't impress me in Invicta. She now trains at Syndicate MMA in Las Vegas. She also missed weight but that isn't unusual when a fighter comes in on short notice though Jessy Jess was training for an upcoming Invicta show. I thought the fight would be close as they are at a comparable level. I scored round one 10-9 for Bec. It was a very close round but Bec's striking was marginally better. Jessy Jess was better in round two as Bec slowed down considerably. 10-9 for Jessy Jess. One judge scored it 10-8. The third round was close as both of them were tired. But I scored it 10-9 for Jessy Jess. So I scored it 29-28 for Jessy Jess. One of the judges scored round three 10-9 for Bec. So Jessy Jess won by split decision. That didn't surprise me. It was a close fight. It's hard to get invested in fighters who aren't that good. There are plenty of UFC fighters who only appear on foreign shows because the UFC wants local fighters on those shows. But Bec has slowed down so much maybe it's time for her to call it quits. We'll see what Jessy Jess is like against better competition. Based on her history, I'm not expecting much. Enjoy the video!

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Babyface

Artist:Babyface
Song:I'll Be Home For Christmas
Album:Christmas With Babyface





If you're looking for a smooth soul Christmas CD, the 1998 CD Christmas With Babyface might be right up your alley. It's an album of Christmas standards with Babyface's trademark style. It was his final album for Epic Records so it looks like he recorded it to fulfill contractual obligations. Babyface was very successful at the time. His 1996 album The Day was certified 2XPlatinum and Every Time I Close My Eyes was a top ten pop hit. He also won a Record of the Year Grammy for producing Eric Clapton's Change the World. Babyface and his wife Tracey Edmonds wanted to get into producing films. And they produced the 1997 film Soul Food which was very successful and was turned into a TV show. The other thing is that his long time business partner LA Reid had just started working as an executive at Arista. So Babyface wanted to leave Epic. But he had two albums remaining on his contract. The first album was MTV Unplugged in 1997 and Christmas With Babyface was the second album. With one exception, the album is Christmas standards like this cover of the 1943 Bing Crosby hit I'll Be Home For Christmas. Babyface produced the album with Mariah Carey's producer Walter Afanasieff. I'll Be Home For Christmas features background vocals by Take 6. And the guitar solo is by veteran session musician Michael Thompson. Afanasieff plays keyboards and other musicians are Nathan East on bass, Ricky Lawson on drums and Paulinho Da Costa on percussion. Babyface fans will enjoy this album. After Babyface left, Epic released a shorter version of this album in 2001 as Spirit Of Christmas. I'm not sure why they did that. Stick with the original which is available as a budget CD. Here's a video for I'll Be Home For Christmas by Babyface.

Cat Zingano vs Ketlen Vieira added to Mar. 3 UFC show

So it turns out that Germaine De Randamie is not fighting Ketlen Vieira in Brazil. You have to be careful with reports out of Brazil. Sometimes they jump the gun. Now we have several outlets led by MMA Brasil reporting that Ketlen will fight Cat Zingano on UFC 222 Mar. 3 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. I expect this to air on the main card. We haven't seen Cat since she lost to Julianna Pena in July 2016. So where has she been? For one thing, she moved from Colorado to San Diego to train at Alliance MMA. Last summer, there was talk about her possibly challenging Cris Cyborg for the Featherweight belt. She said she was having health problems. She didn't say what the problems were. You'll notice she didn't say injury. I'm not speculating about that. Of course the problem is she's 35 years old on a two fight losing streak. She hasn't won a fight since 2014. And she had reconstructive knee surgery in 2013. Who knows what she will be like? And has she changed since training with Eric Del Fierro at Alliance? Cat has been a very unorthodox fighter in the past. The clock is ticking. Plenty of questions and Cat is running out of time to get answers. Meanwhile, Ketlen looked really good beating Sara McMann by second round submission in her last fight. She didn't look that good in her other two UFC wins. If she wins this fight, she can launch into the Bantamweight title picture. Ketlen is 26 years old and she trains at Nova Uniao in Manaus, Brazil. This looks like the grizzled veteran vs young upstart. And the winner could get a title shot. I like the looks of that.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Alisha

Artist:Alisha
Song:Baby Talk
Album:Vanguard Dance Classics Part 1





Alisha Ann Itkin was 15 years old when Baby Talk topped the dance charts in 1985. Attempts to cross her over to pop were unsuccessful and her recording career was over at age 21. She was born Apr. 16, 1968 in Brooklyn, NY. Her parents had her take singing lessons and paid for demos which they sent to record companies. Alisha was 14 years old and lead singer of The Babysitters. Producer Mark Berry liked the demo. He had a song called All Night Passion and he needed a singer. Berry was a house producer at Vanguard Records. I know what you're thinking. Wasn't Vanguard the home of Joan Baez and other folk music legends? Certainly but they would get into other kinds of music and Berry was into the New York club scene at the time. Alisha recorded All Night Passion and it reached #4 on the Dance chart. Then she recorded the album Alisha. Baby Talk was the third single and it topped the Dance chart. Baby Talk was written and originally recorded by Greg Brown and it was a dance hit in England. An attempt to cross Alisha over to pop didn't work. Vanguard even had People Magazine do a piece on Alisha trumpeting her as the next Madonna. Berry left Vanguard and Alisha only recorded one album for them. The album is available on CD but expensive. So I suggest this Vanguard various artists comp. Berry took Alisha to RCA and produced the 1987 album Nightwalkin'. It was more synth pop than dance in an attempt to sell Alisha as a pop singer. But it didn't catch on. Alisha signed with MCA for the 1990 album Bounce Back. Michael Jay, who had produced the Martika hit Toy Soldiers, was brought in to produce. But the album was unsuccessful. This was Alisha's final album to date though she has recorded occasionally and she still plays New York clubs. It's hard to believe that her recording career was over at age 21. One problem was fans may not have known Alisha was 15 when Baby Talk was released. In the video, she is made to look older and the guy in the video is much older than her. So maybe Berry miscalculated by not having her record age appropriate songs. She recorded You Wanna Be A Star (Superstar) with legendary producer John "Jellybean" Benitez. It was the theme for the 1999 film Superstar starring Will Ferrell and Molly Shannon. Here's the video for Baby Talk by Alisha.

Irene Aldana vs Talita Bernardo added to Jan. 14 UFC show

Irene Aldana posted on her Instagram that she will fight Talita Bernardo on UFC Fight Night 124 Jan. 14 at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis. This will air on the prelims on Fox Sports 1 in the US and The Fight Network in Canada. This fight will be at Bantamweight. Irene is 29 years old from Guadalajara, Mexico. She is a teammate of Strawweight prospect Alexa Grasso but she's not as good as Alexa. Her record is 7-4 but she lost her first two UFC fights. She hasn't looked good and I didn't like her in Invicta either. She's a striker with no power or ground game. And she lacks aggression. Talita is 31 years old from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She trains at PRVT so Jessica Andrade is her teammate. She made her UFC debut on short notice and lost to Marion Reneau. Talita started out OK. I thought she won round one. But she ran out of gas and her striking is terrible. So I guess she can win if she can take Irene down. Or Irene can win if she can keep the fight standing. Either way, I don't think either belongs in the UFC.

KING Reina, Shinju added to RIZIN New Year's Eve show

RIZIN announced this morning two women's matches have been added to their New Year's Eve shows at Saitama Super Arena. The shows will be Dec. 29-31 but exact dates have not been announced. These shows will air live on FITE TV. In a 70kg match, KING Reina will face veteran Cindy Dandois. And in a 57kg match Shinju Nozawa-Auclair will face Chelsea LaGrasse. RIZIN is trying to sell Reina vs Cindy as a competitive match. But Cindy has looked terrible lately. Her UFC fight against Alexis Davis was so bad she was immediately released. She also has a fight coming up next week in Cage Warriors against Kerry Hughes. And Cindy usually fights at a lighter weight. Usually in Japan this would be at Open Weight. Maybe Cindy wanted an announced weight. Reina seems like a pretty good fighter though it's hard to tell against low level competition. RIZIN is trying to sell Cindy as better competition. I'm not so sure. Shinju is best known in Japan as the daughter of the popular actress Naoko Nozawa. But Shinju lives in the US. She was supposed to be on last month's RIZIN show. But she recently moved from Michigan to San Francisco to train at Gilbert Melendez' El Nino Training Center. RIZIN wanted to give her time to get settled. Shinju won her debut. But her opponent was so bad it was hard to tell if Shinju is any good. This fight could be more competitive. Chelsea is from Ohio. She is making her MMA debut. But she fought Shinju as an amateur in March. Chelsea won by DQ because of an illegal head kick. So this fight has the potential to be interesting and we may get a better idea about Shinju's skills.

Cris Cyborg vs Holly Holm to main event Dec. 30 UFC show

Yesterday Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times reported that Cris Cyborg will defend he UFC Welterweight Championship against Holly Holm on UFC 219 Dec. 30 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. This will main event the show. This fight has been in the works for months. And last week, Holly's manager Lenny Fresquez announced that the match was dead. But the UFC needed this fight for this show. Amanda Nunes was supposed to defend the UFC Bantamweight Championship against Raquel Pennington but Raquel broke her leg in an ATV wreck. And there has been talk about Tyron Woodley defending his UFC Welterweight Championship against Nate Diaz. But who knows if Diaz wants to fight? So they needed this match but it's gonna suck. To date in the UFC, all we have seen is Cyborg fighting against Bantamweights because there aren't enough Welterweights to form a UFC division. There are very few Welterweights out there. Most are under Bellator contract and most of those aren't any good anyway. Also, I understand Cyborg has signed a new UFC contract so we're stuck with her fighting undersized fighters and nobodies. That is Cris Cyborg's legacy. The problem with this fight is Holly's patient counterpunching style won't work against Cris who is the exact opposite of patient. She wants to finish and her swarming Chute Boxe style does exactly that. And like all her UFC fights, this fight is a dead end because the UFC isn't doing any other Welterweight fights. Let me know when they sign a few Welterweights. Until they do, this is what we will get.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Nelson Riddle

Artist:Nelson Riddle
Song:Lisbon Antigua
Album:We Love Nelson Riddle!





Nelson Riddle is probably best known as the arranger and producer of Frank Sinatra's 50s Capitol recordings. Of course he did plenty of other stuff. He even topped the pop charts with Lisbon Antigua in 1956. He was born June 1, 1921 in Oradell, NJ. His father was a local bandleader. Riddle learned to play the piano as a child and then took up the trombone as a teen. He wanted to be a jazz musician. But Riddle said he didn't have the coordination so he got into composing instead. While playing in Charlie Briggs' band, he took lessons from Bill Finnegan who had been an arranger for Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey. During WWII, Riddle was in the Merchant Marines and he played trombone in Charlie Spivak and Tommy Dorsey's bands. After the war, he moved to Los Angeles. He backed up Doris Day's 1949 hit Again. Then Les Baxter hired Riddle to work on a Nat King Cole session at Capitol Records. Riddle arranged Mona Lisa but Baxter got the credit. When Frank Sinatra signed with Capitol in 1953, Riddle was hired to work with him. Of course this was a very successful partnership and Riddle worked with all the great Capitol singers of the era. He also started recording his own albums. Lisbon Antigua was released on a 10" EP in 1956. It topped the pop charts for four weeks. It's a Portuguese song written in 1937. Nat King Cole's manager heard the song and brought it to Riddle. Riddle played piano accompanied by an orchestra and chorus. The record got him into scoring films as he used it in the 1956 film Lisbon starring Ray Milland and Maureen O'Hara. After that, Riddle recorded many albums. Lisbon Antigua was never released on an album. But you can get it on this comp CD from the British label El. Riddle left Capitol for Sinatra's new label Reprise in 1963. When Sinatra stopped working with him in 1966, Riddle produced several albums for Ella Fitzgerald. He also got more into films and TV. He won an Oscar for The Great Gatsby. And then in the 80s, he was very successful working with Linda Ronstadt. Riddle died on Oct. 6, 1985 at age 64. But he won a Grammy for his final album with Ronstadt and she accepted the award and narrated a tribute to Riddle. His son Christopher Riddle took over his orchestra and toured. I don't think the band is active right now. Here's a video for Lisbon Antigua by Nelson Riddle.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-The Blues Brothers

Artist:The Blues Brothers
Song:Soul Man
Album:The Definitive Collection





What started out as a Saturday Night Live (SNL) sketch grew into a cottage industry with films, records and a full touring band. The Blues Brothers cover of Soul Man was a top 15 pop hit. They even created a history of Jake and Elwood Blues. The real history is that John Belushi grew up in Chicago and Dan Aykroyd grew up on Toronto. And both were on SNL. After SNL tapings, the cast and crew went to a club rented by Aykroyd to listen to music on the jukebox. And sometimes bands would play. It was here that Aykroyd introduced Belushi to blues and Aykroyd also wrote the script of the movie there. The characters first appeared on a 1976 SNL sketch wearing their bee costumes singing Slim Harpo's I'm A King Bee. They started playing New York clubs and turned it into The Blues Brothers. The whole thing was based on Aykroyd's days performing with the Toronto band Downchild Blues Band and they also borrowed from Sam & Dave. The dancing and hats was borrowed from John Lee Hooker. When The Blues Brothers decided to perform on SNL, music director Paul Shaffer added to his usual band with Stax legends Steve Cropper and Donald "Duck" Dunn along with guitar legend Matt "Guitar" Murphy. They performed on SNL Nov. 1978 and then they released the album Briefcase Full Of Blues recorded live in Los Angeles. The album was certified 2XPlatinum and the single Soul Man reached #14 on the Billboard Hot 100. Then of course they made The Blues Brothers movie which was a huge success. When he was accused of selling out to Hollywood, Cropper said he thought Belushi was as good as any other singer he had worked with. Of course the other thing is folks will seek out the original versions of Soul Man and the other classics. After the movie soundtrack, the album Made In America was released in 1981. And then of course Belushi died in 1982. This comp covers all three albums. Aykroyd has continued to revive The Blues Brothers with Jim Belushi and John Goodman for the film Blues Brothers and a 2004 stage musical. I don't like those much. I suggest you stick with the original Jake and Elwood Blues. Here are The Blues Brothers performing Soul Man on Saturday Night Live Nov. 1978. This video is on Youtube but this is much higher quality.

Blues Brothers- Soul Man (SNL) from Cole Williams on Vimeo.

Maryna Moroz vs Jamie Moyle added to Jan. 20 UFC show

Nolan King of MMA Today reported yesterday that Maryna Moroz vs Jamie Moyle has been added to UFC 220 Jan. 20 at the TD Garden in Boston. This fight will be at Strawweight. I expect it to air on the prelims. Maryna is from the Ukraine. Her record is 8-2 and her UFC record is 3-2. She is mainly a boxer and her husband trains her. He is also a boxer. She seems to be one of those fighters destined for the midcard. If she beats Carla Esparza in her last fight, she gets a big boost up the ladder because of course Carla is a former champ. But she didn't do it. Neither fighter looked very good but Maryna was worse. So it's back to the prelims for Maryna. Jamie is very popular on the internet mostly because of her looks. I've seen her in Invicta, TUF 23 and now the UFC and she hasn't shown me much so far. In her last fight, she looked terrible losing to Viviane Periera. She did nothing against a mediocre fighter. Jamie was training at Syndicate MMA in Las Vegas. In Sept. she moved to Team Alpha Male in Sacramento. She is originally from Michigan and I think it was expected that she would be on the Detroit show. It remains to be seen if the move helps her. She needs something because she hasn't looked good. Maybe she will find it at TAM. The fighter I have seen doesn't belong in the UFC.

Jessica Eye vs Kalindra Faria added to Jan. 14 UFC show

The UFC announced yesterday that Jessica Eye vs Kalindra Faria has been added to UFC Fight Night 124 Jan. 14 at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis. This fight will be at Flyweight. Hopefully for Jessica, this won't be cancelled. Because of cancellations, she hasn't fought since Sept. 2016. She was supposed to fight Paige VanZant in Oct. but Paige pulled out with a back injury. The plan was to reschedule the fight but then Paige turned it down. You may recall that Paige recently tweeted that she is getting the first Flyweight title shot. Fan reaction was mostly mockery. Not me. This didn't come out of nowhere. I think she is getting a Flyweight title shot not that she deserves it. Anyone who reads this blog knows that I don't care about rankings. And in this case, neither does the UFC. But they do care about TV ratings especially since they are currently negotiating new TV deals. And with things like Dancing With The Stars, Paige is a casual fan attraction especially on FOX. I understand why Jessica was pissed off. But the whole thing cracked me up. Instead Jessica will fight Brazilian Kalindra Faria who may be one of the worst fighters I have ever seen. She made her UFC debut as a late replacement on UFC 216. She looked inept losing to Mara Romero Borella. I had seen her before so I already knew she doesn't belong in the UFC. I know Jessica really needs a win and she should win this. But I know she really wanted to fight Paige.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-The Passions

Artist:The Passions
Song:Just To Be With You
Album:It All Started With Doo Wop: The Glory Of Love




Just To Be With You was the only chart hit for The Passions in 1959. A version of the group still performs. They started out as The Sinceres in 1956 in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn, NY. When The Sinceres heard Jimmy Gallagher sing, they decided to recruit him as their lead singer. Gallagher had been in The Palladiyms and the Runaraounds. They followed him home and knocked on his door. After convincing Gallagher's mother that they weren't there to beat him up, he joined the group. The other members were Tony Armato, Albie Gallone and Vinnie Acierno. They were friends with The Mystics who recorded for Laurie Records and scored a hit with Hushabye. They convinced their manager to let The Sinceres record. He agreed after he changed the group name to The Passions. He gave them a demo of Just To Be With You to rehearse. The song was written by Marv Kalfin but the demo was by The Cousins aka Paul Simon and Carole King. The record was on Sol Winkler's  Audicon label and it reached the Billboard Hot 100. It wasn't a big hit but it was big enough that The Passions still tour the oldies circuit. You can get Just To Be with You on this 2CD Time Life various artists budget comp. The Passions recorded a few more singles for Audicon and other labels. But nothing ever caught on and Gallagher left to join the US Navy in 1960. The Passions disbanded in 1963. Gallagher reformed The Passions in the 90s to tour the oldies circuit. I'm not sure how active they are. They seem to do occasional shows. Here's The Passions performing Just To Be With You on American Bandstand 1959.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Dave Pike

Artist:Dave Pike
Song:Carnival Samba
Album:Four Classic Albums





Vibraphonist Dave Pike is probably best known as a member of Herbie Mann's 60s band. But Pike was an proponent of Brazilian music in the early 60s. He just never got any credit for that. He was born Mar. 23, 1938 in Detroit. He moved with his family to Los Angeles at age 15. He taught himself to play drums and then the vibraphone. Pike made his recording debut with pianist Paul Bley in 1958. And then he made his debut as a leader on Riverside Records in 1961. Carnival Samba is from the 1962 album Bossa Nova Carnival on Prestige's New Jazz label. It is an album of songs written by Brazilian composer Joao Donato. At the time musicians were recording Jobim or Gilberto. Donato was not as well known but just as good. Musicians are Clark Terry on flugelhorn, Kenny Burrell on guitar, Chris White on bass and Rudy Collins on drums. White and Collins were in Dizzy Gillespie's 60s band. The album is available on CD. But Avid has released Pike's first four albums on 2CDs. The other albums are It's Time For Dave Pike with Barry Harris, Reggie Workman and Billy Higgins, Pike's Peak with Bill Evans, Herbie Lewis and Walter Perkins, and Limbo Carnival with Tommy Flanagan, Jimmy Raney, Leo Wright, George Duvivier, Willie Bobo and Ray Barretto. Pike was a member of Herbie Mann's band in the 60s. Then he moved to Europe in the late 60s and recorded on MPS with German musicians. They were called The Dave Pike Set. He moved back to the US in the late 70s and recorded for Muse. Pike wasn't as active in the 80s. It looks like he may have semi-retired. Dave Pike died on Oct. 3, 2015 at age 77. Here's a video for Carnival Samba by Dave Pike.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Owen & Leon Silvera

Artist:Owen & Leon Silvera
Song:Next Door Neighbor
Album:Beginners Guide To Ska




Of course The Skatalites invented ska in the mid-60's. Their records are great. But they also backed up other artists like the brother duo of Owen & Leon Silvera. They recorded a handful of singles on Duke Reid's Treasure Isle label. The singles including Next Door Neighbor did well enough when Island Records released them in England that the brothers moved there and were a part of the 80s British ska revival. Now, the Silveras are brothers. Some sources say that Owen is Jamaican music pioneer Owen Gray. Apparently the Silvera brothers wrote songs with their mom and they recorded a couple of singles in 1962. Then in 1964 they got the call to record at Treasure Isle with The Skatalites backing them up. The sax solo on Next Door Neighbor is by Tommy McCook of The Skatalites. It looks like they recorded about ten singles including songs with Baba Brooks and Stranger Cole. Usually they were on the A side with another artist on the flip side. In the case of Next Door Neighbor it was Roland Alphonso. So they didn't record enough to get their own comp CD. This 3CD various artists comp is a good intro to ska. It's available at a good price so I strongly recommend it to beginners. Owen & Leon Silvera moved to England and they recorded as The Black Brothers in the 70s. And then they got involved with 80s British ska groups like The Selecter. Here's a video for Next Door Neighbor by Owen & Leon Silvera.

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Nina Ansaroff vs Angela Hill

Here's the match video for Nina Ansaroff vs Angela Hill from last night's UFC show in Norfolk, VA. These days Nina is probably best known as the girlfriend of UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion Amanda Nunes. She also works in the American Top Team office. She's 1-2 in the UFC. She's nothing special. She likes standup and she really doesn't have a ground game. They mentioned on the broadcast she was considering retirement when this fight was offered. Angela is very popular because of her personality. I just don't think she's a very good fighter. She was a kickboxer before she got into MMA. She hasn't improved. She's still just a kickboxer. Angela was favored probably because fans have seen more of her. Both fighters are kickboxers with no power. Neither is a finisher. So I expected this fight to go the distance. Angela got off to a good start in round one. She was clearly quicker than Nina so I scored round one 10-9 for Angela. But Angela slowed down considerably in round two and Nina was able to outpoint her 10-9 in round two and round three. It looked like Angela broke her nose early in round two. That did not help. So I scored the fight 29-28 for Nina. She paced herself better and it paid off. I don't think Nina is an elite fighter. But she's good enough to keep around for prelims. I'm sure Angela was very disappointed but she's not a finisher. She needed to pace herself for three rounds. Was this an upset? I think Angela is overrated so no. Enjoy the video!

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Tatiana Suarez vs Viviane Pereira

Here's the match video of Tatiana Suarez vs Viviane Pereira from last night's UFC show in Norfolk, VA. Tatiana won TUF 23. I thought she was the only decent fighter to come from that show. She's from Rancho Cucomonga, CA. She was supposed to fight last year but she had to have shoulder surgery. So this fight is her comeback. Her record coming into this fight was 4-0. Viviane's record was 13-0. That makes it look like she is a lot more experienced. But that record is padded with low level Brazilian fighters. She won her first two UFC fights. But I didn't think she looked very good. Her opponents were just worse than her. So Tatiana is a big step up in competition. One never knows how a fighter will be after major surgery. The fight went as I expected. Tatiana dominated but she wasn't able to get a finish. She probably isn't happy about that but she probably needed three rounds to shake off the cage rust. But I thought she did very well after being off for a long time. I scored the fight 30-26 for Tatiana. Now we need to see Tatiana face ranked fighters. She stood out on TUF 23 and I still think she has championship potential. I want to see her against better competition. Enjoy the video!

AccuRadio Song Of the Day-Gwen Stefani

Artist:Gwen Stefani f/Akon
Song:The Sweet Escape
Album:The Sweet Escape





No Doubt lead singer Gwen Stefani launched a successful solo career in 2004. The Sweet Escape is probably her biggest hit to date. She recently recorded solo after a ten year break because she's juggling all kinds of other things. I'll get to that in a minute. She was born Oct. 3, 1969 in Fullerton, CA. Her brother Eric formed No Doubt in 1986 mainly influenced by 2 Tone ska like Madness and The Selecter. They signed with Interscope in 1991 and they have been very successful. Gwen had recorded a couple of one off singles. No Doubt bassist Tony Kanal (her boyfriend at the time) convinced her to get serious about recording solo. Love.Angel.Music.Baby. was released Nov. 2004. The biggest hit from the album was The Neptunes produced Hollaback Girl which topped the Billboard Hot 100. The album sold seven million copies worldwide. She immediately recorded The Sweet Escape and it was released Dec. 2006. A lot of the album was produced by The Neptunes. The single The Sweet Escape reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 but it remained in the top ten for several weeks. A website I use that gives points to chart position considers The Sweet Escape a slightly bigger hit than Hollaback Girl because it did better worldwide. Interscope CEO Jimmy Iovine brought in Akon who was hot at the time. Gwen was reluctant to work with him only because she didn't know him. Iovine convinced her to work with him anyway. She had low expectations so I'm sure she was pleasantly surprised when the single was a hit. After that, Gwen wouldn't record solo again until 2016. She returned to No Doubt and they released an album in 2012. She also had three kids with husband Gavin Rossdale. And she's a judge on The Voice. Gwen and Rossdale divorced in 2015 and she is currently dating The Voice judge Blake Shelton. The album This Is What The Truth Feels Like was released in 2016 followed by the Christmas album You Make It Feel Like Christmas last month. She hasn't had any hit singles so the albums haven't taken off as hoped. That just shows when an artist takes a break for whatever reason, fans forget about her. It's not like Gwen disappeared. The music business is very fickle. Here's the video for The Sweet Escape by Gwen Stefani featuring Akon.

Idol Nakana Kawamura to make MMA debut on Dec. 3 DEEP JEWELS show

Nakana Kawamura, REICA

Yesterday DEEP JEWELS held a press conference to announce that 21 year old Nakana Kawamura of the idol group Masked Women will make her MMA debut on the Dec. 3 show at Shinjuku FACE. They announced her opponent today. Of course an idol who can fight is a big dream of DEEP JEWELS matchmaker Shigeru Saeki. In the past, attempts to turn idols into fighters has backfired on Saeki. The most recent example of this was the DATE girls who now wrestle for Ice Ribbon. Nakana announced this while on stage at the Tokyo Masked Women Cafe. Fans in attendance didn't know what to think. It seems that Saeki is trying to sell Nakana as a serious fighter. He asked her fans to support her fighting as it's very dangerous. Nakana has been training at Reversal Gym Shinjuku trained by former DEEP fighter Takeshi Yamazaki. She's been training since May and Yamazaki contacted Saeki a couple of weeks ago to set this up. Saeki watched her train and now she's fighting. Today they announced that her opponent will be 19 year old REICA also making her MMA debut. She trains at Ishitsuna Gym. She has been training boxing for four years. This fight will be at Atomweight. But I'm not sure if the match is pro or amateur. They haven't announced the rules yet but I think it will be an amateur match because Saeki wants Nakana to wear headgear as protection. Obviously Saeki is crossing his fingers because Nakana can be a major draw if she is any good as a fighter.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-The Ting Tings

Artist:The Ting Tings
Song:That's Not My Name
Album:We Started Nothing





The Ting Tings topped the British charts with That's Not My Name in 2008. It also did well on the dance charts. It's all been downhill from there. The Ting Tings are from Manchester, England. Lead singer Katie White led the group TKO while in school. She met drummer Jules De Martino and they formed Dear Eskiimo and they signed with Mercury Records. That went nowhere due to a management change. But they continued to work together and called themselves The Ting Tings after a friend of Katie's. They started playing gigs and record companies came calling. They released a couple of singles on the local label Switchflicker. The second single Fruit Machine got airplay on BBC. And this led to a deal with Columbia in late 2007. Their debut album We Started Nothing was released in 2008. That's Not My Name topped the British charts and reached #4 on the US Dance chart. They had a couple more hits in England. That's Not My Name is about Katie's distrust of the record business. They recorded an album in Germany but decided to scrap it against Columbia's wishes. De Martino said it was too Euro Pop influenced and sounded like everything else on the radio. Sounds From Nowheresville was released in 2012. When it didn't do as well as the first album and there were no hit singles, Columbia dropped them. I'm sure they were still upset about the scrapped album. They now record for Finca Records. They seem to be the only artist on the label but I couldn't tell if it was self owned. The album Super Critical was produced by Duran Duran's Andy Taylor and was released in 2014. It says on their website they are recording a new album. So The Ting Tings had some success at home but it looks like that is in the past. Here's the video for That's Not My Name by The Ting Tings. This was the first of three videos produced for this song.

Germaine De Randamie vs Ketlen Vieira added to Feb. 3 UFC show

Combate in Brazil reported that Germaine De Randamie vs Ketlen Vieira has been added to UFC Fight Night 125 Feb. 3 at the Mangueirinho Gymnasium in Belem, Brazil. This will air on Fox Sports 1 in the US and TSN in Canada. So we all know what happened with Germaine. She won the Welterweight Championship in one of the worst fights in UFC history and then she refused to fight Cris Cyborg and turned in the belt to move back to Bantamweight. She was supposed to fight Marion Reneau in Sept. but she had hand surgery. Germaine is one of the all time kickboxing greats. She just isn't any good at MMA. Ketlen is 26 years old from Manaus, Brazil. she trains at Nova Uniao. She's 9-0 and 3-0 in the UFC. She didn't look very good in her first two fights. But she scored a major upset over Sara McMann with a first round rear naked choke. So is that the real Ketlen Vieira? That's what we want to find out. Maybe she'll do the same thing to Germaine. Germaine will try to keep it standing as she has no ground game. Another win for Ketlen could put her in the title picture.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Dream Theater

Artist:Dream Theater f/Theresa Thomason
Song:The Spirit Carries On
Album:Original Album Series





Dream Theater is a progressive rock band who gained fame in the 90s mostly for their live shows. They are still around performing and recording. Dream Theater was formed in 1985 as Majesty by Berklee College Of Music students John Petrucci (guitar), John Myung (bass) and Mike Portnoy (drums) while standing in line for Rush tickets. They started out covering Rush so they were an obvious influence. Petrucci brought in a couple of high school friends, singer Chris Collins and keyboardist Kevin Moore. They left school and started playing New York clubs. They recorded demos but Collins wasn't working out. After auditions, former Franke and the Knockouts guitarist Charlie Dominici was hired. Then the band name had to be changed as there was already a band called Majesty. Portnoy's father suggested Dream Theater which is a venue in Monterey, CA. They signed with MCA's Mechanic label and released the 1989 CD Dream and Day Unite. The band was unhappy with Mechanic's lack of promotion and they got out of their contract. Meanwhile, Dominici wasn't working out. And after trying a couple of singers, they settled on James LaBrie of Winter Rose. That turned out to be the right decision as he is still with them. They signed with Atlantic's EastWest label and Images and Words was released in 1992. The video for Pull Me Under went into heavy rotation on MTV. And the band toured constantly. Moore left in 1985. He was replaced by Derek Sherinian and later by Jordan Rudess. The Spirit Carries On is from the 1999 album Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory. This would turn out to be one of their most popular albums. It was a concept album that followed up in the 1992 song Metropolis. This was followed by their biggest tour ever. The album is available but I suggest this 5CD set of five full Dream Theater albums. As I said, Dream Theater is still active. They left Elektra in 2007 and they currently record for Roadrunner. They released a new album last year. Portnoy left in 2010 to concentrate on side projects. He was replaced by Mike Mangini who was on the faculty of Berklee. Dream Theater is currently on tour and they will record a new CD in 2018 for a 2019 release. Here's Dream Theater featuring Theresa Thomason performing The Spirit Carries On at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City Aug. 30, 2000 from the DVD Metropolis 2000: Scenes From New York.

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Kairi Sane vs Billie Kay

Here's the match video of Kairi Sane vs Billie Kay from this week's episode of NXT. I am posting all of Kairi's matches for fans who don't have the WWE Network. This match was set up when Peyton Royce qualified for the four way match for the NXT Women's Championship and Billie didn't. They got all pouty and tried to dis Kairi. Kairi threatened them with her elbow and this match was made. Billie started out in control. But a Kairi spear turned the tables and led to her flying elbow drop. The match was OK. It was nothing special. I guess they don't want fans to forget about Kairi . Put her on TV every couple of weeks. It gets us ready for next week's Takeover show. Enjoy the video!

Two fights added to Jan. 27 UFC show

pic.twitter.com/3bsMYyivFr

— Randa Markos (@randamma) November 9, 2017

Two women's fights have been announced for UFC on FOX 27 Jan. 27 at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, NC. In a Strawweight bout, Randa Markos will face Juliana Lima. And in a Flyweight bout, Katlyn Chookagian will face Mara Romero Borella. Randa and Katlyn announced their respective fights on Twitter. I expect both fights to air on the prelims. Randa is 32 years old from Windsor, ON. She trains at Michigan Top Team in Dearborn, MI. Her record is 7-5 and her UFC record is 3-4. She's been alternating wins and loses. After a big win over Carla Esparza, Randa lost by split decision to Alexa Grasso in August. Her big problem is she makes too many mistakes and it cost her that fight. Juliana is 35 years old from Belo Horizante, Brazil. Her record is 9-4 and her UFC record is 3-3. She lost to Tecia Torres in July. I don't think she's a UFC caliber fighter. So Randa should be the favourite if she can avoid mistakes. That has proven to be a big if for her. Katlyn is 2-2 in the UFC as a Bantamweight but she's really a Flyweight. She lost her last fight by split decision to Irene Aldana. Neither fighter looked good but I thought Irene won. Maybe she'll do better at Flyweight. Mara is 31 years old from Italy. She trains at American Top Team in Florida. She made her UFC debut as a late replacement with a win over Kalindra Faria by first round rear naked choke. She also had one fight in Invicta. It's hard to tell if she's any good because her opponents in those fights were low level competition. Katlyn should be better at Flyweight but if she isn't, we might not find out if Mara is a good fighter. I'm not expecting a high quality fight. Maybe they will surprise me.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-The Earls

Artist:The Earls
Song:Remember Then
Album:Remember Then: The Best Of The Earls





Remember Then was a top 30 hit in 1962 for the doo wop group The Earls. It was their only big hit but it's certainly memorable and a version of The Earls still tours. Like a lot of doo wop groups, The Earls started out singing on New York streetcorners. They were actually discovered singing in the subway. They were led by Larry Figueiredo who renamed himself Larry Chance. He was from Philadelphia but he moved to New York after graduating high school. He formed The Hi Hatters in 1957 with Bob Del Din, Eddie Harder, Larry Palumbo and John Wray. Palumbo died in a 1961 US Army skydiving accident. The Earls released a couple of singles on Rome Records in 1961. And they even appeared on American Bandstand. But they didn't get anywhere until they got together with producer Stan Vincent and he brought The Earls to Old Town Records owner Hy Weiss. Remember Then was written by songwriters Tony Powers and Beverly Ross. Beverly had success co-writing The Chordettes hit Lollipop. Powers says that Remember Then was his first hit. His biggest hit was the 1966 hit 98.6 by Keith. Remember Then reached #24 on the Billboard Hot 100. Of course it has a memorable refrain sung by bass singer John Wray. They released an album in 1963. A couple of their singles charted but none were as big as Remember Then. You can get it on this Ace Records comp. Chance briefly recorded solo. But he returned to The Earls in 1967 and a version of the group still tours. They also appeared in Chazz Palminteri's Broadway play A Bronx Tale which was then turned into a movie. Here's a video for Remember Then by The Earls.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Marin Mazzie

Artist:Marin Mazzie w/Brian Stokes Mitchell
Song:So In Love
Album:Kiss Me, Kate: The New Broadway Cast Recording




Marin Mazzie has been a Broadway performer since the 80s. She has been nominated for three Tony awards including on for the 1999 revival of the Cole Porter musical Kiss Me, Kate. She was born Oct. 9, 1960 in Rockford, IL. After performing as a child, she earned a degree in theater and music at Western Michigan University. After graduating in 1982, she moved to New York and was mostly an understudy. Her first big role was as Clara in the 1994 Stephen Sondheim musical Passion. She got her first Tony nomination. Marin got her second Tony nomination for the 1998 musical Ragtime. And then she got her third nomination for the 1999 revival of Kiss Me, Kate. She was also in the 2001 London production. Marin continues to appear on Broadway including as Guinevere in a 2008 production of Camelot that was broadcast on PBS's Live At Lincoln Center. She has also appeared in ENRON, Bullets Over Broadway: The Musical and most recently a revival of The King And I. She married Broadway performer Jason Danieley in 1997 and they tour together and have recorded a couple of albums. She hasn't done much TV or film. You may have seen her as Kevin Nealon's antagonistic neighbor in the CBS sitcom Still Standing. Marin is also an ovarian cancer survivor and she does a lot of benefit shows for that. Here's Marin Mazzie with Brian Stokes Mitchell performing So In Love on The Rosie O'Donnell Show 2000.

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Asuka vs Stacy Coates

Here's the match video of Asuka vs Stacy Coates from last night's RAW in Manchester, England. Stacy is Scottish wrestler Isla Dawn. The match was a squash very similar to last week's squash. They'll probably do another squash next week. But the big news is Asuka has been added to the RAW women's Survivor Series team. This was announced by the team captain Alicia Fox. I guess they had problems cuing up the video of that announcement because Asuka went up the ramp and then returned to the ring. Obviously she was told to kill time. She is joining Alicia, Nia Jax and Sasha Banks. Bayley is the likely fifth member but Alicia is delaying the announcement probably to set up a feud between the two. The booking of that match should set up Asuka's first program which will end the string of squash matches. Enjoy the video!

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-DNA

Artist:DNA f/Suzanne Vega
Song:Tom's Diner
Album:Hearts Of Gold: The Pop Collection





This dance remix of the Suzanne Vega song Tom's Diner was a top five hit in 1990. Suzanne was already a successful singer songwriter but this was a fluke windfall for her. The two guys behind this were British DJs Nick Batt and Neal Slateford. Tom's Diner was on Suzanne's 1982 album Solitude Standing. It was released as a single but it wasn't a hit. She wrote it about a New York restaurant she frequented. The exterior of the restaurant was used in the sitcom Seinfeld. In 1990, Batt and Slateford remixed Tom's Diner with a Soul To Soul dance beat. The remix was only supposed to be for DJs in London clubs. But the record found its way to Suzanne's label A&M Records. They could have sued DNA because they didn't have permission to use Tom's Diner. But A&M spoke to Suzanne and she liked the record. So they bought it and released it. It reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100. Afterwards, so many Tom's Diner remixes were done that A&M released a CD of them in 1991. Unfortunately that is out of print. But you can get Tom's Diner on this Capitol Records various artists budget comp. It also appears on the Suzanne Vega comp CD Retrospective. DNA had one other hit single, a remix of Lily Was Here by Dave Stewart of The Eurythmics with sax player Candy Dulfer. And they have had success in England. Batt owns the company Sonic State and he still produces artists, most significantly Goldfrapp. Slateford owns the sex toys shop Lovehoney in Bath, England. Suzanne Vega was always amazed by the success of Tom's Diner. After all, it was only a song about eating breakfast. It sure made her a lot of money. Here's the video for Tom's Diner by DNA featuring Suzanne Vega.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Marc Dorsey

Artist:Marc Dorsey
Song:People Make The World Go Round
Album:Groovy Vol. 2: A Collection Of Rare Jazzy Club Tracks




R&B singer Marc Dorsey is probably best known for his 1994 cover of The Stylistics classic People Make The World Go Round. It appeared in Spike Lee's film Crooklyn. he has only released one album but he has worked with a lot of different artists. Dorsey is from Washington, DC. He started out doing jingles while studying at Morgan State University. DJ Vaughn Harper thought Dorsey should come to New York and try to get a record deal. Harper introduced him to Spike Lee and Dorsey's music appeared in some of Lee's films. This cover of The Stylistics classic People Make The World Go Round played over the end credits of Crooklyn. The soundtrack was mostly oldies. People Make The World Go Round was one of two new recordings. It was produced by Narada Michael Walden. It made the R&B charts but it was not a hit. Dorsey also appeared on Lee's films Clockers and Get On The Bus. He signed with Universal and recorded an album but it was never released. Then he signed with Jive Records and released the 1999 album Crave. It wasn't successful but Dorsey got to work with The Neptunes and especially the female R&B singer Kelis. Dorsey also appeared on the 2002 LL Cool J hit Luv U Better. MC Lite and Jay Z's Blueprint 2 album. He still does a lot of background work but he also owns a construction company and he's opened a music school in Hackensack, NJ. He seems to be more focused on those things than the rat race of the music business. The Crooklyn soundtrack is not available on CD. But you can get People Make The World Go Round on this various artists CD from the Italian label Irma. Here's the video for People Make The World Go Round by Marc Dorsey.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Rose Namajunas vs Joanna Jedrzejczyk

Here's the match video of Rose Namajunas vs Joanna Jedrzejczyk from last night's UFC show at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Of course Rose won with a shocking first round upset. This was after Joanna talked a lot of trash leading up to the fight. The reason she did so much of that is though Rose's physical skills have been obvious since her Invicta days, she doesn't always have her head on straight. Her loss to Karolina Kowalkiewicz still bothered me because she performed so poorly against someone she should beat easily. I was not convinced by her two wins that got her this title shot. After Rose lost that fight, Rose and fiancee Pat Barry moved from Milwaukee to the Denver suburb of Arvada, CO and her new coach Trevor Wittman of Genesis Training Center. When Rose trained at Roufusport, she seemed to get the jitters and lose her confidence. So the main challenge Wittman had was to calm Rose down and reassure her. She looked fine before the fight. But I had doubts because of her history. What if this gets into deep waters? Well, it didn't happen. Rose knocked Joanna down but Joanna got up immediately. It's not the first time Joanna has gone down. But the second knockdown stunned Joanna and Rose followed up with strikes and Joanna tapped out. The finish won Rose a bonus. It was early in the fight and Joanna had yet to get her range. Congrats to Rose and Trevor Wittman. Of course the old maxim in the fight business is it's one thing to win a title but another thing to hold on to it. And there will be a rematch. And it could turn into a trilogy. I think the one thing Joanna needs to work on is getting off to a better start in fights. It's always taken her the first round to get going. But this was the first time it cost her. Enjoy the video!

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Snap!

Artist:Snap!
Song:The Power
Album:The House Of Groove





Snap! scored a couple of top five hits in the early 90s including The Power in 1990. They were a much bigger deal in Europe. The guys behind Snap! were German dance music producers Michael Minzing and Luca Anzilotti. They released an album as 16 Bit in 1987. They had their own label Logic Records with BMG distribution. They started Snap! in 1989 and released the album World Power in 1990. The Power was a hit in Europe and Arista picked it up for US distribution after dance clubs started playing it. It reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1990. The song was written and produced by Minzing and Anzilotti as Benito Benites and John Garrett III because they didn't want anyone to know they were German. They used a rotation of singers and rappers. For The Power, the singer is Penny Ford who started out as a backup singer for The Gap Band. Chaka Khan was supposed to sing but she couldn't make the recording session. The rapper is Durron "Turbo B" Butler. He was on a European tour with The Fat Boys when he was introduced to Munzing and Anzilotti. Penny had already left Snap! when the video was shot. Jackie Harris appears lip syncing in the video. The US recording had to be redone because of unauthorized sampling. The album was certified Gold in the US but it was more successful in Europe. Snap! scored another top five hit in 1992 with Rhythm Is A Dancer in 1992 sung by Thea Austin. They recorded three albums and disbanded in 1996. Unfortunately there is no Snap! comp available on CD. But you can get The Power on the Arista various artists budget comp. Snap! reformed briefly in 2000. But Minzing and Anzilotti continued to produce and release dance music until they sold logic in 1998. Here's the video for The Power by Snap!.

Manami Toyota retires

Yesterday joshi puroresu said goodbye to Manami Toyota, probably the greatest joshi wrestler of all time. Her retirement also marked her 30th anniversary in pro wrestling. This show was yesterday at Osanbashi Hall in Yokohama. In 1995, Manami made history by facing 30 opponents in successive one minute matches. It was called Manami Toyota vs The World. This was a record for many years. But in recent years, a couple of wrestlers broke her record as a tribute. One of those wrestlers was Ice Ribbon's Tsukasa Fujimoto who has become very close to Manami. She suggested Manami face 50 opponents in her retirement match. Supposedly this record will never be broken. All the names you would expect are here. The one major name missing is Aja Kong who has been very close friends with Manami for 30 years. They had a match on the Oct. 29 OZ Academy show and Aja said farewell then. She said "There's no me without you". The match began with the OZ Army with Mayumi Ozaki, Yumi Ohka, Alex Lee and of course Police. This was the only three minute match. The rest were one minute except for the final match. Most of them were draws. Who cares about wins or losses. Among the participants were Meiko Satomura, Sakura Emi doing a dance, Tsubasa Kuragaki, AKINO, Risa Sera and the entire Ice Ribbon roster, Drake Morimatsu, Cherry, Yuki Miyazaki, Bolshoi Kid, GAMI and Sakura Emi dressed as Manami Toyota, Kaori Yoneyama, Sokoko Kato, Leon and the entire Pure-J roster, Yu Yamagata, Kaori Kobayashi who loses via the Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex, Hikaru Shida, Hiroyo Matsumoto who places a Godzilla mask over Manami's head, Ayako Hamada and the entire Pro Wrestling WAVE roster and Chikayo Nagashima who loses via 30 rolling cradles. Then they take a break. Sonoko Kato sings as a gag and is followed by a real singer Mikimi Akiko. Then Manami is presented a bouquet of flowers by retired wrestlers Kyoko Kimura and her daughter Kana, Toshie Uematsu, Sugar Sato and Dynamite Kansai. The match resumes with guys like Hidaka Ikuhito, Akemi Papillon, somebody dressed as a grandfather, Massuro Kanajiro, Kid, Small Antonio Inoki, Masayoshi, Isami and Ryuji Ito who brought a barbed wire board. The match resumes after a talk show. Carlos Amano is the first opponent followed by Mima Shimoda who brings with her Manami's tag team partner Toshiyo Yamada and Mima's partner Etsuko Mita, Bull Nakano with nunchucks, Jaguar Yokota who trained Manami and all the AJW girls who started in the 80s, Mariko Yoshida who is retiring next month, Nanae Takahashi, KAORU who brings her trademark desktop, Kaoru Ito,Tomoko Watanabe, Takako Inoue and her taser, Yumiko Hotta and Kyoko Inoue. And after Aja Kong and Shinobu Kandori present Manami with flowers, Tsukasa Fujimoto is Manami's final opponent. They actually did three matches with no time limit. Manami won the first two and Tsukasa won the third with the Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex. That represented the passing of the torch. Manami gave her finishers to Tsukasa. As I said, these two have become very close. Then Manami had her hair cut in the ring. The hair has been donated to pediatric cancer patients. Then they did the retirement ceremony and the ten bell salute. And that's it. Manami Toyota is officially retired. Thank you Manami Toyota for entertaining us for 30 years. I expect her to commentate on Gaora's OZ Academy broadcasts.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Frankie Goes To Hollywood

Artist:Frankie Goes To Hollywood
Song:Relax
Album:Start: The Best Of British Rock





Relax was a top ten hit in 1984. Frankie Goes To Hollywood (FGTH) were a big deal in their native England. But when their second album tanked, they split up. FGTH were from Liverpool. Holly Johnson was lead singer of the punk band Big In Japan. After he left, he formed Sons Of Egypt which was short lived. But some of the members went on to Frankie Goes To Hollywood. Johnson got the name from an old New Yorker headline about Frank Sinatra. members were Jed O'Toole on guitar, his brother Mark O'Toole on bass and Peter Gill on drums. They had a female singer but she was soon replaced by Paul Rutherford of The Spitfire Band. While trying to get a record deal, Jed O'Toole was replaced by cousin Brian Nash. After an appearance on the Channel 4 show The Tube and then a BBC appearance, FGTH signed with Trevor Horn's ZTT label. Horn produced Welcome To The Pleasuredome. The single Relax was released Oct. 1983. But it really took off after FGTH appeared to Top Of The Pops Jan. 1984. While it was #6 on the charts, BBC DJ Mike Read refused to play Relax because of suggestive lyrics. The BBC banned Relax and that made the song an even bigger hit and it topped the charts. Legendary BBC DJ John Peel was an early FGTH supporter and he thought the ban was ridiculous. And Johnson denied that the lyrics were suggestive. Relax made its way to the US through dance clubs. Island Records signed FGTH in the US and Relax reached #10 on the Billboard Hot 100. Welcome To The Pleasuredome was certified Gold. But their 1986 album Liverpool did so poorly that Johnson left to go solo and FGTH split up. Horn didn't produce Liverpool and some think that may have been the problem. Welcome to The Pleasuredome is available on CD. But you can get Relax on this various artists budget CD. Johnson signed with MCA Records but ZTT sued him to try to hold him to the FGTH contract. Johnson won and released the 1989 album Blast. He had a couple of hits in England. But his next two albums didn't sell and MCA dropped him. In 1993, Johnson announced he was HIV positive. He retired from music and became a painter. And his autobiography was a big seller in England. FGTH minus Johnson reunited in 2004 at an event celebrating Trevor Horn's 25th anniversary in the music business. They toured as Forbidden Hollywood. Here's the video for Relax by Frankie Goes to Hollywood.

Atomweight Championship contenders match to headline Dec. 3 DEEP JEWELS show

SARAMI, Tomo Maesawa

Yesterday DEEP JEWELS announced an Atomweight Championship number one contenders match will headline DEEP JEWELS 18 Dec. 3 at Shinjuku FACE. A bunch of other matches have been announced as well. But I was waiting for the main event. It will be SARAMI vs Tomo Maesawa. The winner will get a shot at Mina Kurobe's DEEP JEWELS Atomweight Championship. Both are experienced fighters but neither are elite fighters. SARAMI is 27 years old. She used to train at home in Toyama. But she now trains at PANCRASEism in Yokohama. Her record is 10-9. She's inconsistent at best. Same thing with Tomo. She's 29 years old. She trains at Reversal Gym Tachikawa ALPHA. King REINA is a teammate. Her record is 9-7. SARAMI won when these two fought in May. Emi Tomimatsu was supposed to be in this match but she's injured. As fighters, all are about the same. But Emi has more personality so she's a bigger draw. They need personalities to sell tickets. DEEP JEWELS has announced eight other matches. Six of the sixteen fighters are debuting. That's even a tougher sell. In a Flyweight bout, Kana Watanabe will face Hikari. Both are debuting. Kana has competed in several judo tournament but it looks like she never won. Hikari is from Niigata. It says she has 15 years of judo experience. And she won an amateur match in Shooto in September. In an Atomweight match, Hikaru Aono will face Anna Kiriyama. Hikaru trains at Strapple in Kanigawa. She fought to a draw on an ACB show in Osaka. She wrestled at Nihon University. Anna is making her MMA debut. She trains karate at Zendokai and has competed in tournaments. In an Atomweight bout, Tomomi Souda will face Madoka Ishibashi. Tomomi is making her pro MMA debut but she has amateur MMA experience and Shoot Boxing. Madoka has an 0-2 pro record. She trains at Alliance owned by RIZIN fighter Tsuyoshi Kosaka. She likes to pose provocatively at weigh ins. She doesn't seem to be much of a fighter. In an Atomweight bout, Mizuki Furuse will face ARAMI. Mizuki is a 16 year old high school student from Kanigawa. Her record is 1-2. Her win was over Madoka Ishibashi. ARAMI is a high school student from Kyoto. She won her pro debut in Road FC in June. And she also won a RIZIN sponsored amateur tournament last year. In a Strawweight bout, Sayuri Yamaguchi will face Mao. Sayuri trains at WK Hearts. Her record is 0-2. Her last loss was to one of the DATE girls. That's not a good sign. Mao is making her MMA debut. Apparently she's new to martial arts but experienced at cycling. I dunno about this. In a Flyweight bout, Kasia will face RYO. Both are debuting. Kasia is from New Zealand but she lives in Japan and trains at Miburo. She has competed in BJJ tournaments. RYO trained in college but after some time away, she recently returned to training at Brave. In a Flyweight bout, Yukari Nabe will face Yurika Nakakura. Yukari is 29 years old from Toyama. Her record is 2-2 and she lost to Kanako Murata on the Sept 16 DEEP show. Yurika is 3-2 but she hasn't fought since 2014 when she lost to Shizuka Sugiyama. Finally in an Atomweight bout, Yuko Kiryu will face Kyu Kitano. Yuko is 30 years old. Her record is 5-5. She lost to Tomo Maesawa on a recent DEEP show. She has a lot of sex appeal. Kyu is 1-1 and she trains at Brave. Kyu won when they fought on a 2016 Grachan show. I don't know if any of these fighters will be any good. The problem is you can't fill a card with these kind of fighters. All these fights look like filler to me. A couple of fighters are more suitable as ring girls.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Patti Smith

Artist:Patti Smith
Song:Because The Night
Album:Outside Society




Patti Smith was a punk music pioneer in the 70s. Because The Night was her only hit single in 1978 and her signature song. She is mainly a poet who used music to make her poetry accessible. She was born Dec. 30, 1946 in Chicago and she grew up in Woodbury, NJ. She moved to New York in 1967 and that's where she met famed photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. She has acknowledged him as her biggest influence. In the early 70s she was performing in plays. She was even considered for lead singer of Blue Oyster Cult. She wrote lyrics for them. Then she formed a band with Lenny Kaye on guitar and bass, Ivan Kral on guitar and bass, Richard Sohl on piano and Jay Dee Daugherty on drums. And that was Patti's band for her first four albums. They released a couple of singles and they got a deal with Arista Records. John Cale produced her 1975 album Horses. It was critically acclaimed. But her second album Radio Ethiopia was panned. Then Patti broke her back after falling off a stage. While recovering, she decided to record a more commercial album with Jimmy Iovine. Because The Night reached #13 on the Billboard Hot 100. It would be Patti's only big hit. Bruce Springsteen wrote Because The Night but he didn't like it so he wasn't planning to record it. Iovine gave Patti a demo of the song. He was producing both of them and they were recording in adjacent studios. She rewrote it and the rest is history. After the 1979 album Waves, Patti married Fred "Sonic" Smith of MC5. They moved to Detroit to start a family. She released an album in 1988. But she was semi-retired until Smith's 1994 death. Then she moved back to New York and released a couple of albums and toured. She moved to Columbia Records in 2004 and her latest CD was released in 2012. And she continues to write poetry and she won a National Book Award for her memoir Just Kids. This budget comp covers her entire career. Today Patti Smith is hailed as a pioneer of punk music. I think plenty of women in music were influenced by her. Here's Patti Smith performing Because The Night on The Old Grey Whistle Test 1978.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-David Shire

Artist:David Shire
Song:Manhattan Skyline
Album:Saturday Night Fever: The Original Soundtrack




Film composer David Shire is probably best known for the three songs that appear on the soundtrack of the 1977 film Saturday Night Fever. Of course he's done plenty of other films and Broadway musicals. He was born July 3, 1937 in Buffalo, NY. His father was a local bandleader and piano teacher. He met lyricist Richard Maltby Jr. while attending Yale. They wrote several musicals together. Shire's goal at the start of his career was to write a hit Broadway musical. When that wasn't working out, he started composing for TV shows like The Virginian and McCloud. And that led to made for TV movies and films. The two films that got him on the map were The Conversation and The Taking of Pelham One Two Three followed by All the President's Men. At the time Shire was married to Francis Ford Copolla's sister Talia. Shire wrote the score for the 1977 film Saturday Night Fever. While the film was in post production, producer Robert Stigwood brought The Bee Gees in to write songs for the film. This is why only three of Shire's songs including Manhattan Skyline are on the soundtrack. His other songs from the film have never been released. These days some films have two CDs, one for the songs and the other for the score. That wasn't done in 1977. Manhattan Skyline was still memorable. The musicians are Lee Ritenour on lead guitar, Mitch Hoder on rhythm guitar, Michael Boddicker on synthesizer, Sonny Burke on piano, Abraham Laboriel on bass, James Gadson on drums and Steve Forman on percussion. Of course Saturday Night Fever was a big seller. Then Shire won a Best Original Song Oscar for It Goes Like It Goes from Norma Rae. He also has five Emmy nominations and two Tony nominations. He wrote the music for the Time Warner Cable interview series The Legacy Project. His latest film Love After Love was released Apr. 2017. I guess his last big film was Zodiac in 2007. Here's a video for Manhattan Skyline by David Shire.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Kane Brown

Artist:Kane Brown f/Lauren Alaina
Song:What Ifs
Album:Kane Brown: Deluxe Edition





Kane Brown looks to have crossover potential. What Ifs was his first number one country hit and it crossed over to pop. He was born Oct. 21, 1993 in Chattanooga, TN. His father is black and his mom is white. He moved around a lot with his mom. He knew Lauren Alaina in high school when both were in the high school choir. So when she finished second on American Idol, Brown auditioned for that and X-Factor. He left X-Factor when they wanted to put him in a group. Then he started posting country music covers on Facebook. That got him a manager. Then he used Kickstarter to finance an EP. RCA Nashville signed Brown in Jan. 2016. They rereleased his EP and then released a second EP in March. After two singles were top 20 country hits, he recorded his debut album with producer Dann Huff. Huff is best known for producing Rascal Flatts. He's also a session guitarist. What Ifs topped the Country Singles chart and reached #26 on the Billboard Hot 100. Brown wrote What Ifs with Jordan Schmidt and Matt McGinn. Schmidt is under contract to Florida Georgia Line. I think this is the first big hit for both guys. Brown co-wrote most of the songs on the album. RCA just released a deluxe edition of Kane Brown with four bonus tracks. It looks like Brown will be on tour for most of 2018. And then I expect him to record a new CD. He's off to a good start. Here's the video for What Ifs by Kane Brown featuring Lauren Alaina.