AccuRadio Song Of The Day-The Walkmen

Artist:The Walkmen
Song:Red Moon
Album:You & Me





The Walkmen were a critically acclaimed indie band who had modest success. They just never broke through commercially before they split up in 2014. The Walkmen are from Washington, DC. Some of them attended the same high school. They formed in 2000. They were a merger of two bands. Lead singer and guitarist Hamilton Leithauser and bassist Peter Bauer were in The Recoys. Guitarist Paul Maroon, organist Walter Martin and drummer Matt Barrick were in Jonathan Fire*Eater. They moved to New York City and built a recording studio in Harlem. They signed with Startime International and released a 2001 EP and started playing gigs. Their 2002 album Everyone Who Pretended To Like Me Is Gone was critically acclaimed with favorable comparisons to U2 and The Cure. They moved to Record Collection for the 2004 album Bows + Arrows. The singles The Rat and Little House of Savages got some radio airplay especially in England. The Walkman appeared on the Fox series The O.C. After the 2006 album A Hundred Miles Off, The Walkmen were forced to close their studio after the building was sold. Then they released "Pussy Cats" Starring The Walkmen, a tribute to the 1974 Harry Nilsson/John Lennon album Pussy Cats. For the 2008 album You & Me, The Walkmen signed with Gigantic Music. Red Moon appeared on an episode of Breaking Bad. They moved to Fat Possum for the 2010 album Lisbon and the 2012 album Heaven. The song Heaven appeared on the series finale of How I Met Your Mother. In 2014 The Walkmen announced they were going on "extreme hiatus". Bauer said they are not calling it a split but it is very unlikely The Walkmen will reunite. He said fourteen years together is long enough. Leithauser, Martin and Bauer have all recorded solo albums. Maroon appeared on one of Leithauser's albums. Barrick joined Fleet Foxes. In 2016 Leithauser formed Hamilton Leithauser + Rostam with Rostam Batmanglij formerly of Vampire Weekend. They have released two albums on Glassnote. Here's The Walkmen performing Red Moon at the Triple Door in Seattle Jan. 25, 2009 for Seattle radio station KEXP.

Hannah Goldy vs Kali Robbins added to June 18 UFC show

Kali Robbins, Hannah Goldy

On Saturday the UFC announced the full card for the first episode of Dana White's Tuesday Night Contender Series (DWTNCS) on June 18. One of the matches is Hannah Goldy vs Kali Robbins. This is at Strawweight. Just a reminder that all of the fighters on this show are competing for a UFC contract. Hannah is 26 years old from Vermont but she trains at the UFC Gym in Tampa, FL. She is married to ex-UFC fighter Alex Nicholson. Her record is 4-0 mostly for Island Fights. She had a win over current UFC fighter Gillian Robertson in 2016. She seems to be into bodybuilding too. Kali is 34 years old from Milwaukee but she trains at Jackson Wink in New Mexico. Her record is 6-2 and 1-1 in Invicta. Kali has faced more experienced fighters but she has had mixed success at best. At this point she seems a little old to be a prospect. As I said before, on DWTNCS, the UFC is looking for one of the two fighters to shine. And based on her looks and her age, that is probably Hannah. But one never knows with unproven fighters.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Mariza

Artist:Mariza
Song:Transparente
Album:Transparente





Mariza has been very successful in Europe performing her contemporary version of the traditional Portuguese music fado. She has also had success in Brazil. She is unknown in North America. She was born Marisa dos Reis Nunes Dec. 16, 1973 in Maputo, Mozambique but she grew up in Lisbon, Portugal. When legendary fado singer Amalia Rodrigues died in 1999, Mariza was asked to perform on a tribute broadcast to her. That got her a record deal with EMI Europe. Her albums were distributed in the US by Silva America's Times Square label. She sang the Portuguese national anthem at the 2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korea. She also sang a duet with Sting at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. Transparente was her first hit single in Portugal. The 2005 album Transparente was produced in Brazil by veteran producer Jaques Morelenbaum who has worked with Antonio Carlos Jobim among others. Though Mariza has performed worldwide, attempts to popularize her in North America have been unsuccessful. She appeared on the 2010 PBS series Sound Tracks: Music Without Borders along with other world music artists. I'm not sure her singing style would ever be widely accepted here. For her 2015 album Mundo, Mariza moved to Warner Music Portugal and her latest CD Mariza was released in 2018. She is on Nonesuch in the US. Here's the video for Transparente by Mariza.

Frank Pozen's Big Bad Podcast May 12, 2019

UFC 237 review.

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Viviane Araujo vs Talita Bernardo

Here's the match video of Viviane Araujo vs Talita Bernardo from last night's UFC show in Brazil. This fight was at Bantamweight. Viviane was brought in a few days ago as a late replacement. Viviane is a Strawweight. Her last fight was a win over Emi Fujino in Pancrase. So why did she take this fight? Sometimes that's how fighters get into the UFC. And Talita is really bad. I thought Viviane would win. And she was on her way to a unanimous decision win when she knocked Talita out towards the end of round three. Not only was the size difference obvious, so was the disparity in skill. Viviane said afterwards that she will be fighting at Strawweight in the future. I look forward to seeing her facing someone half decent. Talita should not be in the UFC. Enjoy the video!

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Luana Carolina vs Priscila Cachoeira

Here's the match video of Luana Carolina vs Priscila Cachoeira from last night's UFC show in Brazil. This fight was at Flyweight. Luana was in the Brazilian edition of Dana White's Contender's Series. This was her UFC debut. Priscila was a late replacement. She's 0-2 in the UFC. She's a teammate of Jessica Andrade so her fighting style is similar but Priscila isn't any good at it. Most of the fight was Priscila chasing Luana around the cage. But unlike Jessica, Priscila doesn't know how to cut off the cage so she can generate some offense. So Luana kept hammering her. We certainly found out that Priscila can take a beating. This was especially true in round two. Luana almost knocked Priscila out and then tried to pound her on the ground. Unfortunately, the fight was stopped when Luana landed a knee while Priscila's hands were on the ground. The ref didn't penalize Luana but the brief rest may have saved Priscila from a finish. Obviously Luana won but I need to see her face someone half decent. Priscila should not be in the UFC. Enjoy the video!

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Irene Aldana vs Bethe Correia

Here's the match video of Irene Aldana vs Bethe Correia from last night's UFC show in Brazil. This was Bethe's first fight since June 2017. She was out with two eye surgeries. And she missed weight. The fight was about what I expected from strikers with no power or ground game. Until the end. So it's light sparring. I thought Irene won round one 10-9 and Bethe won round two 10-9 though the judges scored round two for Irene. Round three was uneventful until Bethe went for a takedown. I don't think I've ever seen Bethe go for a takedown. She messed it up. First she broke her nose on Irene's knee. Then Irene turned it into an armbar for the win. It was a perfect finish to a lousy fight. And a truly inept performance by Bethe Correia. It doesn't make me think Irene can beat anyone good. Enjoy the video!

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Jessica Andrade vs Rose Namajunas

Here's the match video of Jessica Andrade vs Rose Namajunas from last night's UFC show in Brazil. The fight started out pretty good for Rose as she's much quicker than Jessica. But I didn't think that Rose could keep that up for five rounds. It reminded me of the recent JJ Aldrich vs Maycee Barber fight. JJ won round one but then Maycee caught up to her and finished her. The connection is that Trevor Wittman trains Rose and JJ. So Rose won round one 10-9 but Jessica's coach Gilliard Parana told her what to do between rounds. He told her Rose was slowing down. All Jessica needed to do is be patient and look for an opening. When Jessica attempted a takedown in round one, Rose stopped it by hooking her arm. When Jessica tried the same move in round two and Rose again hooked the arm, Jessica had her head in a different position and she dropped Rose on the back of her head and neck for a KO. That's it. Jessica Andrade is the new UFC Strawweight Champion. Of course some fans thought that was an illegal spike. As explained by ref Marc Goddard on Twitter, the move was a continuation of a takedown arc. So it's a legal move. Of course the ironic thing is that Jessica's nickname is Bate Estaca which is Portuguese for piledriver. Oh and Jessica won two bonuses. It's gonna be a hell of a Mother's Day in the Andrade household. Jessica is open to a rematch. But Rose is talking about retirement. I expect the next challenge will come from the winner of next month's Tatiana Suarez vs Nina Ansaroff fight. Enjoy the video!

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-X

Artist:X
Song:Surprise Surprise
Album:The Best: Make The Music Go Bang





X was one of the most significant punk bands especially in Los Angeles. Their albums were very successful and they were a great live band. X was formed in 1977 in Los Angeles by bassist singer John Doe (real name-John Duchac) and guitarist Billy Zoom (real name-Tyson Kindell). Doe placed an ad in the local paper The Recycler. Zoom was an experienced rockabilly musician. Doe brought his girlfriend Exene Cervenka and she was made lead singer. She and Doe wrote most of the songs. Drummer DJ Bonebrake was in the group The Eyes. After releasing one single, X signed with Slash Records with Warner Bros. distribution. The 1980 album Los Angeles was produced by The Doors keyboard player Ray Manzarek. Doe and Bonebrake were also in The Flesh Eaters with The Blasters guitarist Dave Alvin. As X progressed, their albums became more polished and commercial. They also became interested in country music and formed The Knitters. That was basically X with Alvin replacing Zoom. And Zoom left X after the 1986 album Ain't Love Grand!. Alvin replaced him at first and then Lone Justice guitarist Tony Gilkyson joined X. And that's the band that's on this video performing Surprise Surprise from the 1987 album See How We Are. X toured to support that album. And after releasing a live album, they went on hiatus. This 2CD comp covers X's entire 80s run. Doe and Exene both recorded solo albums. And Doe got into acting. X reformed and released an album in 1993. They disbanded after a 1998 farewell tour. They reunited again in 2005. They have released live albums and X continues to tour. X recently posted on Instagram that they are recording new music for the first time since 1993. Here's X performing Surprise Surprise at Farm Aid July 4, 1986.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-TKA

Artist:TKA
Song:One Way Love
Album:Kings Of Freestyle




TKA scored four top ten dance hits in the late 80s. And a couple of songs even crossed over to pop. That's pretty good as many freestyle dance acts disappeared after one minor hit. TKA was Tony Ortiz, Louis "Kayel" Sharpe and Aby Cruz. Cruz was replaced by Angel Vasquez after their 1987 debut album Scars of Love. They sent a demo to producer Joey Gardner and he agreed to listen to them at a house party in Harlem. Also at the party was the production duo The Latin Rascals, Albert Cabrera and Tony Moran. Gardner got TKA a record deal with Tommy Boy. Gardner and The Latin Rascals produced most of TKA's debut album Scars Of Love. One Way love was the first single. It reached #8 on the dance chart and it got some pop airplay. The song was written and produced by Jeff Mann and Marco Olivo and remixed by The Latin Playboys. One Way Love appeared in the 1986 film Modern Girls. Once the second single Come Get My Love had similar success, the album was recorded. They scored a third top ten dance hit with Tears May Fall. For TKA's 1990 album Louder Than Love, Tommy Boy's distributor Warner Bros. wanted a more mainstream sound. The album was more R&B based. It was moderately successful but TKA didn't like it so they split up. Both TKA albums are out of print. But One Way Love is on this various artists budget CD. Sharpe recorded as K7. Vasquez started the group Goodfellaz. Ortiz started his own production company. TKA reunited and released an album in 2001. They are still around and they tour and release occasional singles. Here's the video for One Way Love by TKA. This video was produced and stars professional roller skater James Wilson.

Frank Pozen's Big Bad Podcast May 10, 2019

UFC 237 preview, new fight announcement and Kairi Sane interview.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Hillsong UNITED

Artist:Hillsong UNITED
Song:Touch The Sky
Album:Empires





Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) fans will be familiar with the very popular Australian group Hillsong. Hillsong UNITED is a spinoff of Hillsong. They started as members of Hillsong's youth ministry called Powerhouse. In 1998 Hillsong founder and leader Darlene Zschech suggested they tour with Hillsong and record a live album. The band was originally led by Reuben Morgan, Marcus Beaumont and Tanya Riches. Hillsong UNITED didn't record a studio album until 2007. By this time Morgan was musical director of Hillsong and Joel Houston was made musical director of Hillsong UNITED. He had been a bass player before that. He is the son of Hillsong senior pastor Brian Houston. Like Hillsong, Hillsong UNITED is very popular in the Praise & Worship genre of CCM. Touch The Sky is from the 2015 album Empires. It reached #3 on the Hot Christian Songs chart. The album was produced by Houston and guitarist Michael Guy Chislett. They wrote Touch The Sky with guitarist Dylan Thomas. Houston is also one of several rotating lead singers. Taya Smith-Gaukrodger sings lead on Touch The Sky and a few other songs on the album. They tend to rotate singers in and out of the group. Some are volunteers. They just released a new live album and Taya is still in the band. The Hillsong franchise is very successful within the CCM genre. I think Hillsong UNITED is an unexpected success. I prefer black gospel so it's not my kind of music. But I certainly respect their marketing power. Here's Hillsong UNITED performing Touch The Sky on the Capitol Records Tower roof 2015. Capitol is their worldwide distributor.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-C WEST

Artist:C WEST
Song:Focus
Album:Hide and Seek





C WEST made a big splash in the gospel market with the 2017 single Focus and debut album Hide and Seek. He's a young guy who writes his own songs. He has crossover potential if he wants that. Carl Edwin West is from Buffalo, NY. After graduating high school, he studied music at Villa Maria College. Then he entered a talent contest sponsored by Atlanta based pastor Marquis Boone. West won the contest and signed with Boone's record company. Boone has a distribution deal with Dr. Leonard Scott's Tyscott label. Boone also produces Casey J, Bri and Kelontae Gavin. So he's an emerging force in the gospel market. Focus was the first single from West's 2017 debut album Hide and Seek. This is a record that if I didn't tell you it's a gospel record, you will think it's R&B. Clearly West has potential to cross over if that's what he wants. Boone has shown an interest in crossing over as he did with Gavin. West writes most of his own songs sometimes with Boone. And some of the producers who worked on this album have worked with Boone's other artists. So does West want to stick with Boone's emerging gospel music empire or does he want to explore mainstream opportunities elsewhere. Here's the video for Focus by C WEST.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Childish Gambino

Artist:Childish Gambino
Song:This Is America
Album:Grammy Nominees 2019





Actor Donald Glover's musical alter ego Childish Gambino topped the charts and won a bunch of Grammys with This Is America. It's his biggest hit to date. He was born Sept. 25, 1983 at Edwards Air Force Base, CA but he grew up in Stone Mountain, GA. Glover has a degree in dramatic writing from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. He also got into DJing and remixing as McDJ. Glover's first job was writing for the NBC sitcom 30 Rock from 2006-09. He also released a 2008 mixtape as Childish Gambino which came from a name generator. He performed with the group Derrick Comedy on Youtube and that led to his role as Troy Barnes in the NBC sitcom Community. He was on that show for four seasons. He released more mixtapes and an EP before signing with Glassnote Records in 2011. Glover records all his music with Swedish producer Ludwig Goransson who also composed the scores for the films Creed and Black Panther. Glover has recorded three albums as Childish Gambino. At the same time he was acting in films like Spider-Man: Homecoming. And he is the creator of the FX TV series Atlanta. In 2017, Glover announced plans to retire the Childish Gambino name. But he changed his mind after signing with RCA Records and released the single This Is America. The song is commentary about the high rate of mass shootings in the US. So it's a controversial song with violent imagery in the video. The song topped the charts and Glover won four Grammys including Record of the Year. RCA announced that This Is America will only be released as a single. It won't be on one of Glover's albums. You can get it as a digital download or on this Grammy Nominees CD. Last year Glover released the EP Summer Pack. It remains to be seen how active Glover will be in music considering his film activities, most recently writing, producing and starring in the Amazon film Guava Island. Here's the video for This Is America by Childish Gambino.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-K.W.S.

Artist:K.W.S.
Song:Please Don't Go
Album:MTV Party To Go Volume 4





This 1992 cover of the 1979 KC and the Sunshine Band hit Please Don't Go was a top ten hit. K.W.S. was a British group that only recorded one album. So it's a one hit wonder. And not only was it a cover but it was a knockoff of another dance cover of Please Don't Go. That made me laugh. Chris King is a DJ from Nottingham, England. He and Winnie Williams worked together in groups like 3V and B-Line. Singer Delroy St. Joseph was in similar groups. The Italian dance group Double You recorded a cover of Please Don't Go in 1992. It was a hit in Europe. King heard it and decided to record his own version. Local label Network Records were unable to get the UK rights to the Double You recording. So they picked up King's knockoff and it became a hit in England. K.W.S. appeared on Top of the Pops. Then it was picked up in the US by Next Plateau and it reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100. K.W.S. recorded covers of Rock You Baby and Keep It Comin' Love. Add some Chris King originals and an album was released. None of that stuff went anywhere. K.W.S. released a few more singles and disappeared. Then Double You leader Roberto Zanetti sued Network and they had to fork over cash to him. All three guys have worked on other music but Please Don't Go is the only thing you heard about. Here's the video of Please Don't Go by K.W.S.

Micol di Segni vs Mallory Martin added to Aug. 20 UFC show

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August 20, I’m coming for you. 🤫 . 🇮🇹➡️@UFC 📜🖋 . @gloriafightcenter @jacksonwink_mma @firstroundmgmt @venum @prozis @elite_osm

A post shared by 𝓜𝓲𝓬𝓸𝓵 𝓓𝓲𝓢𝓮𝓰𝓷𝓲 (@edenvonhell) on May 6, 2019 at 9:13am PDT

Micol di Segni posted on her Instagram that she will face Mallory Martin on the Aug. 20 Dana White Tuesday Night Contender (DWTNCS) Series. This fight will be at Strawweight. You know how DWTNCS works. The fighters are competing for a UFC contract against all the fighters on that night's show. Most of the fights tend to be mismatches. Micol is 31 years old from Rome, Italy but she trains at Jackson Wink in New Mexico. Her record is 7-2 in Europe. Probably her biggest win was over Cory McKenna by split decision in Cage Warriors Sept. 2018. She also models as Eden Von Hell for Suicide Girls. Micol was supposed to fight for LFA a couple of years ago but never fought for them. Mallory is 25 years old from Denver. It looks like she trains at Genesis with Trevor Wittman and Rose Namajunas. Her record is 4-2 and 2-1 in Invicta. Her last fight was a win over Ashley Nichols in Invicta Sept. 2018. Her losses were to Maycee Barber and Sunna Davidsdottir. So both have faced decent competition. I guess the thing about Micol is she has sex appeal and an exotic look. Sex appeal is important in women's MMA.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Hip Hop Finger

Artist:Hip Hop Finger f/Leena Conquest
Song:Boundaries
Album:Street Soul Anthems




Leena Conquest is a jazz singer who sang on this 1992 Hip Hop Finger song that has legs with the Acid Jazz crowd in England. Other than this, she is an avant garde jazz singer. Hip Hop Finger are from Austria. The leader is producer Werner "Chrono" Popp. The other members are drummer Walter "Muhammad" Mali and sax player Hans Holler. They record mostly experimental jazz. As Hip Hop Finger, they released the album Sub Hop in 1992. Leena sang lead on the single Boundaries. Leena is from Dallas. Later on she recorded an album with avant garde sax player William Parker. She is a member of his group Raining On The Moon. Boundaries became popular with British DJs like Acid Jazz creator Gilles Peterson. RCA picked up the single for distribution and they released it as a Leena Conquest single. So you can get Boundaries on various artists CD's like Street Soul Anthems. Leena released a solo album called Come Fly Away on her own label in 1999. But for the most part, she works a lot with Parker and other jazz musicians. Hip Hop Finger only recorded one album and Boundaries was the only song that generated any interest. Popp returned to writing and producing. Mali and Holler returned to jazz. Mali died in 2012. Here's a video for Boundaries by Hip Hop Finger featuring Leena Conquest.

Frank Pozen's Big Bad Podcast May 5, 2019

UFC on ESPN+ 9 and Invicta Phoenix Rising review and new fight announcement.

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Macy Chiasson vs Sarah Moras

Here's the match video of Macy Chiasson vs Sarah Moras from last night's UFC show in Ottawa. Leah Letson was supposed to be Sarah's opponent. But she pulled out and was replaced by Macy. I think she's a better fighter than Leah. Macy won TUF 28 for Featherweights but she won her last fight at Bantamweight. She had some difficulty making weight for this fight. But her trainer Sayif Saud of Fortis MMA in Houston pointed out that Macy took this fight on short notice. Having seen Macy since her Invicta days, she could be an elite fighter. Sarah is from Kelowna, BC. She was on TUF 18. She has had injuries. She has wrestling skills but her striking is subpar. Plus Macy is much taller. So Sarah goes for a takedown right at the start of round one. She has top position for most of the round. But Macy defends well and at the end of the round she reverses it and lands with ground and pound. I scored the round 10-9 for Sarah for ground control. But by the end of round one, I thought she was in trouble. And sure enough, Macy reverses a round two takedown attempt and pounds Sarah until the fight is stopped. Macy won a $50K bonus. I already like Macy a lot. She says she will fight at Bantamweight for now but she says she also plans to fight at Featherweight. This could be the end of the road for Sarah. Enjoy the video!

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Hanson

Artist:Hanson
Song:MMMBop
Album:Middle of Nowhere





I'm sure you all remember MMMBop. It was a huge hit in 1997. It's perceived as a one hit wonder but Hanson had a second top ten hit. I guess they were characterized as a boy band but the big difference was that Hanson wrote and performed all their songs. And they really were teens at the time. Hanson are from Tulsa. Isaac Hanson played guitar. Taylor Hanson played keyboards and sang lead on MMMBop. Zac Hanson played drums. They started out performing locally in the early 90s and they appeared on Contemporary Christian singer Carman's show Yo! Kidz: The Vidz. After releasing a couple of albums, they performed at SXSW in Austin, TX and signed with manager Christopher Sabec. Record companies didn't take Hanson seriously until Steve Greenberg of Mercury Records saw them perform and signed them. Middle of Nowhere was released May 1997. Most of the album was produced by Stephen Lironi though MMMBop was produced by The Dust Brothers. MMMBop was a global chart topper. Hanson released it on one of their independent albums. They were working on a different song but MMMBop was created from a hook that stuck in their heads. Credit them for recognizing that it could be a hit. That's pretty smart for teens. The album was certified 4XPlatinum. I Will Come To You was Hanson's other top ten hit. They were a huge success on tour. After a Christmas album, Steve Greenberg left Mercury to start S-Curve. Universal turned Mercury into a country label and moved Hanson to Island. The 2000 album This Time Around didn't do well. Part of the problem was fans loved them as teens but not so much as adults with a more mature sound. And Island didn't promote the album. Hanson continued to record but Island rejected everything as not marketable. So Hanson left Island and since then have recorded for their own label. The 2006 documentary Strong Enough To Break details Hanson's problems at Island. Hanson's latest album String Theory is symphonic versions of their songs and they toured to support it. That's a long way from the MMMBop days. Here's the video of MMMBop by Hanson.