AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Ladysmith Black Mambazo

 

Artist:Ladysmith Black Mambazo

Song:Homeless

Album:Spirit of South Africa: The Very Best of Ladysmith Black Mambazo

The South African vocal group Ladysmith Black Mambazo (LBM) became very popular when they appeared on Paul Simon's 1985 album Graceland. Homeless was one of the three songs they performed on that album. They have been touring and recording ever since. The group was called Ezimnyama when Joseph Shabalala formed them in 1960. The group is mostly family members. They all grew up on a farm singing together. The perfect harmony of LBM came to Shabalala in a series of dreams. And he kept working on the group's sound until he was satisfied with it. They are from Ladysmith, South Africa so that's where the group name came from. After winning music competitions and appearing on radio, LBM signed with Gallo which is the largest record company in South Africa. They released their first album in 1972. They did very well in South Africa. Paul Simon travelled to South Africa in 1985, he brought LBM  to London to record. LBM appeared on Homeless, Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes and You Can Call Me Al. When Graceland was released, Simon brought LBM to appear on Saturday Night Live. And after that LBM became international stars. They recorded a couple of albums for Warner Bros., won some Grammys and LBM has been touring and recording since then. They paved the way for other South African groups. This budget comp is a good intro to their music. Joseph Shabalala retired in 2008 and he died on Feb. 11, 2020 at age 79. LBM still tours and they released their latest album in 2017. Here's Ladysmith Black Mambazo with Paul Simon performing Homeless at Concert at Hyde Park 2017.

Frank Pozen's Big Bad Podcast

 Charlie joins me from Japan to discuss last weekend's Deep Jewels show. Plus Hikaru Shida, Io Shirai and UFC preview.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Erica Campbell

 

Artist:Erica Campbell

Song:A Little More Jesus

Album:Help

Erica Campbell is best known as one half of the very popular contemporary gospel duo Mary Mary with her sister Tina. Both have recorded solo since 2014 and Erica's 2014 album Help and the single A Little More Jesus was very successful. Erica is a great singer by anyone's standards and she's a great songwriter. She was born Apr. 29, 1972 in Inglewood, CA. Dad was a preacher so the girls grew up singing in church. I guess the key event in Erica's life was when she met and married Warryn Campbell. He produces Mary Mary and Erica's solo albums and Tina's solo albums along with Tina's husband Teddy Campbell. Both guys are members of The Soul Seekers. So this is a family business. Of course Mary Mary is one of the most successful gospel groups in recent years. They had a reality show on WEtv. Mary Mary went on hiatus and both women released solo albums on eOne. They release plenty of gospel albums. Erica and Warryn Campbell wrote and produced the album. He plays all the instruments. A Little More Jesus reached #7 on the Gospel Singles chart. Help reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 200. The album won a Grammy. Lecrae appears on one song. The album is available with a bonus DVD that contains a live video of A Little More Jesus and behind the scenes stuff. After the 2015 single I Luh God topped the gospel charts, Erica released the 2015 album Help 2.0. Since then Erica has released a couple of singles and she hosts Get Up! Mornings with Erica Campbell on Radio One. She is also in the reality series The Campbells on TVOne. Mary Mary is currently working on new music. Here's the video for A Little More Jesus by Erica Campbell. There wasn't a video for the song when it was first released so Erica produced this a few months ago.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Kevin Eubanks Stanley Jordan

 

Artist:Kevin Eubanks Stanley Jordan

Song:Morning Sun

Album:Duets

Jazz guitarist Kevin Eubanks is probably best known as the leader of The Tonight Show band from 1995-2010. He is a very versatile musician. He can play any kind of music with anybody. Jazz guitar fans will love this 2015 album of duets with Stanley Jordan. He was born Nov. 15, 1957 in Philadelphia. His uncle is legendary jazz pianist Ray Bryant. His older brother is jazz trombonist Robin Eubanks. And his younger brother Duane Eubanks plays trumpet. After studying at Berklee in Boston, Eubanks moved to New York. He was in the early 80s version of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. He also played with Roy Haynes, Slide Hampton and Sam Rivers. Eubanks recorded his debut as a leader with the 1983 album Guitarist on Elektra Musician. He recorded for GRP from 1984-90 and for Blue Note from 1992-95. Eubanks moved to Los Angeles in 1992 to play guitar in The Tonight Show band led by Branford Marsalis. He replaced Marsalis in 1995 and remained there until 2010. He was too busy to record at the time. When he left The Tonight Show, Eubanks said he wanted to concentrate on his own music. He signed with Mack Avenue. He has recorded four albums including this 2015 album with popular guitarist Stanley Jordan. Of course Jordan has that unique "touch" style. Morning Sun is an original composition. They also record standards like Summertime and covers like Adele's Someone Like You. Eubanks also plays bass, piano and steel guitar. The music is laid back so I think jazz guitar and easy listening fans will enjoy it. Eubanks latest album East West Time Line was released in 2017. Half of the album features Nicholas Payton on trumpet, Orrin Evans on piano, Dave Holland on bass and Jeff "Tain" Watts on drums. The other half has Eubanks' touring band of Bill Pierce on tenor sax, Rene Camacho on bass, Marvin "Smitty" Smith on drums and Mino Cinelu on percussion. Here's Kevin Eubanks and Stanley Jordan performing Morning Sun in the studio. I wish more jazz musicians did this.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Kieran Goss

 

Artist:Kieran Goss

Song:Moments in Time

Album:Red-Letter Day

Singer songwriter Kieran Goss has had success mostly in his native Ireland. But his music is pop as opposed to traditional Irish music. He records on his own label which explains why his music hasn't crossed the pond. He is worth checking out. Goss was born in 1962 in Mayobridge, County Down, Northern Ireland. He was the tenth of fifteen children. While studying law at Queen's University in Belfast, he played local clubs. And though he graduated in 1985, Goss decided to pursue a career in music. After opening for Elvis Costello, Christy Moore and Joe Jackson, Goss travelled the world as a street musician. He recorded his debut album in 1989. Famed Irish singer Mary Black recorded a couple of his songs. He toured with her and recorded a 1993 album with her sister Frances Black. Goss ultimately decided to start his own label Cog Communications and he has recorded on that label since 1998. His music has done well in Ireland but he is otherwise unknown. Moments in Time is from the 2000 album Red-Letter Day. It is available as a budget CD. His latest CD Oh, The Starlings was recorded with his wife Annie Kinsella and released in 2019. They tour live as a duo. His music is pretty good so check it out. Here's the video for Moments in Time by Kieran Goss.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Moby

 

Artist:Moby f/Gwen Stefani

Song:South Side

Album:Play

Richard Melville "Moby" Hall had great success on the dance charts in the 90s. The 1999 album Play crossed over to mainstream and is his best selling album mostly due to the success of the single South Side. Hall also is a busy producer. He was born Sept. 11, 1965 in Harlem, NY. His father died in a car crash when Hall was two years old but not before he gave his son the nickname Moby. The family ancestors included Moby Dick author Herman Melville. His mother was a drug addict so Hall was raised by his grandparents in Darien, CT. Hall started DJing while he was attending the University of Connecticut. He dropped out of school in 1984 to pursue music full time. He was into electronic music very early on. In 1990 he signed with the small Instinct label and released singles under several names. After his 1991 single Go charted in England, Hall started doing remixes for Smashing Pumpkins and Soundgarden. He unsuccessfully tried to get out of his contract. Instinct's response was to release an album of his demos. He eventually paid them $10K to leave. Hall signed with Elektra in 1993. He released two albums for Elektra. His 1997 remix of the James Bond Theme topped the dance charts and was a top ten hit in England. He was getting a lot of critical acclaim but it wasn't turning into record sales. Hall abandoned electronic music for the 1997 album Animal Rights. His fans did not want to her alt rock from him and they deserted him. After Hall left Elektra for V2, he returned to electronic music for the 1999 album Play. The album sold 2.7M worldwide. And the single South Side reached #14 on the Billboard Hot 100. It's his biggest success to date. Gwen Stefani was supposed to appear on South Side. But she was touring with No Doubt at the time had limited availability. She recorded her vocal but Hall wasn't happy with them and left the vocals off the album version. Her vocals were restored for the single because she was already in the video. I'm surprised that V2 didn't add that to a release of Play. But she doesn't add much to the song and Play is available as a budget CD. After two albums for V2, Hall had mostly recorded for his own label. He's still around. He released a new album in May. His music is mainly ambient these days. Here's the video of South Side by Moby featuring Gwen Stefani.

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Hikaru Shida vs Leyla Hirsch

 Here's the match video of Hikaru Shida vs Leyla Hirsch from this week's episode of AEW Dark. Leyla is billed as from Russia. She was born there but she was adopted and grew up in New Jersey. She wrestled in high school and her amateur wrestling background is her gimmick. Obviously she has some wrestling skills but she lacks pizzazz. And like it or not, showmanship is an important part of pro wrestling. The match is OK but I think Hikaru lets Leyla have too much offense. Hikaru wins with the Falcon Arrow. She will defend her AEW Women's Championship against Nyla Rose on Nov. 7. Enjoy the video!

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Dinosaur Jr.

 Artist:Dinosaur Jr.

Song:Get Me

Album:Ear-Bleeding Country: The Best of Dinosaur Jr.

Dinosaur Jr. started out in the 80s as underground rock darlings. But by the 90s they were on a major label. Most of their success was as an album and touring band. The leader of Dinosaur Jr. was Joseph Mascis from Amherst, MA. He called himself J Mascis. He was lead singer, main songwriter and he played guitar and keyboards. He and bassist Lou Barlow were in the band Deep Wound while still in high school. After Deep Wound split up in 1984, they were trying to figure out what to do next. They brought in drummer Emmett "Murph" Murphy and lead singer Charlie Nakajima. They called themselves Mogo and their first show was at the University of Massachusetts. Apparently Nakajima went on an anti-police tirade that appalled Mascis so much that he disbanded Mogo and formed a new band without telling Nakajima. Mascis says he was too wimpy to fire him. The new band was called Dinosaur. Mascis and Barlow shared lead vocals. Eventually Mascis would be the main lead singer. They released an album in 1985 on Homestead Records owned by their friend Doug Cosloy. They toured with Sonic Youth. They released a second album in 1987 on SST Records. Mascis was a control freak which would be an ongoing problem. And they had to change the band name to Dinosaur Jr. for copyright reasons. They had success in England with the 1988 album Bug and the single Freak Scene. Barlow got tired of Mascis' behavior and he left in 1989 to form Sebadoh. Mike Johnson replaced him. They signed with Sire Records in 1990. They recorded four albums for Sire. Get Me is from the 1993 album Where You Been. Though Dinosaur Jr. never had that big hit single, they appeared a lot on MTV especially the late night alternative rock show 120 Minutes. Murph left and was replaced by George Berz. After the 1997 album Hand It Over, Mascis retired the Dinosaur Jr. name and released albums as J Mascis + The Fog. Dinosaur Jr. reformed in 2005 and they currently record for Jagjaguwar. They are currently recording new music. This comp covers the Sire years. Here's the video for Get Me by Dinosaur Jr.

The Big Topic in WMMA

UFC review and preview. 

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Io Shirai vs Candice Lerae

 Here's the match video of Io Shirai defending her NXT Women's Championship from last night's Halloween Havoc edition of NXT. This does not air live in Canada but I found a stream and cast it to my TV using Roku. They used the WCW Spin The Wheel gimmick to determine the type of match. It was Tables, Ladders and Scares. The most notable thing about this match is the kind of crazy bumps that these two women are willing to take. They have certainly mastered that art. I don't want to give away too much because this is a great match and you should watch it. It starts with Io landing face first on a ladder and goes from there. This included a callback to when Io turned on Candice last year and suplexed her through two chairs. When Candice tried this, Io stopped it and it looks like Candice may have hurt her shoulder when she landed on the chairs. After Candice used a swinging neck breaker on the apron to put both of them through two tables, someone who dressed in a Scream costume came out to help Candice. This person helped Johnny Gargano win his match earlier. We don't know who was in the costume because the intended occupant Indi Hartwell was under quarantine because a WWE PC coach tested positive for COVID-19. I thought Gargano was in the costume. Candice and Io are still out of it after the table bump. And Candice is still out of it when Scream places her on top of a ladder. After Shotzi Blackheart get rid of Scream, Candice wakes up. Io climbs a second ladder. Candice rakes her eyes which is a callback to when Io won a ladder match a few months ago. Io tips the ladder and Candice goes through a ladder placed between the ring and the broadcast table. Io's facial expression is great. Io goes up the ladder and wins the match. This was a great match and it is highly recommended if you want to see two masters of bump taking. Enjoy the video!

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Eddy Howard

 

Artist:Eddy Howard

Song:To Each His Own

Album:The Eddy Howard Collection 1939-1955

Eddy Howard was a singer and bandleader who topped the charts with the 1946 single To Each His Own. He's pretty much forgotten today. He was born Sept. 12, 1914 in Woodland, CA which is near Sacramento. He was studying medicine at Stanford when he dropped out to sing on a Los Angeles radio station. He had success singing songs like Careless with a band led by Dick Jurgens. Howard started his own band and recorded for Columbia in the early 40s. But he didn't have chart success until he moved to Majestic in 1946. To Each his Own was written by the veteran songwriting team of Jay Livingston and Ray Evans for the 1946 film To Each His Own starring Olivia De Haviland. There were several competing versions of the song. Three of them topped the charts. They were by Eddy Howard, Freddy Martin and The Ink Spots. Ray Evans said there were five recordings of To Each His Own in the top ten at the same time. So the song was very popular. Though he sometimes led a big band, it looks like Howard used a small group with Pete Roth on bass and Tom Martin playing the sax solo. Howard moved to Mercury in 1949 and he had a lot of success in the early 50s. His other number one hit was (It's No) Sin in 1951. Howard hosted a TV variety show on NBC in 1954. Of course the rise of Rock 'N' Roll led to Howard's decline. He remained with Mercury until his death from a cerebral hemorrhage on May 23, 1963 at age 48. This 2CD comp from the British label Acrobat Music covers Howard's entire career. Here's a video of To Each His Own by Eddy Howard.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-June Christy

 

Artist:June Christy

Song:A Lovely Way To Spend An Evening

Album:Four Classic Albums

Jazz singer June Christy was best known for her days with Stan Kenton's band. After she left in 1954, she recorded several albums for Capitol Records. She was born Shirley Luster Nov. 20, 1925 in Springfield, IL and she grew up in Decatur. She sang with local bands while she was in high school. After graduating, she moved to Chicago and changed her name to Sharon Leslie. After a stint with Boyd Raeburn, she moved to New York with Benny Strong's band. In 1945, she heard that Anita O'Day had left Stan Kenton's band. She auditioned and got the job. And with that came the name change to June Christy. Though she remained with Kenton until 1954, June started recording her own music on Capitol in 1947. She usually worked with arranger and conductor Pete Rugolo along with her sax player husband Bob Cooper. She worked with Los Angeles session musicians. A Lovely Way To Spend The Evening is from the 1956 album The Misty Miss Christy. The song was written by Jimmy McHugh and Harold Adamson for the 1944 film Higher and Higher where it was sung by Frank Sinatra. The Ink Spots had a hit single with it. The song has become a jazz standard. You can get The Misty Miss Christy on one of Avid's Four Classic Albums as a budget CD. The other albums are Something Cool (1955), Gone For The Day (1957) and Ballads For Night People (1959). June remained with Capitol until 1965. She retired in 1969 mostly due to alcoholism. She only recorded one more album in 1977. But she would tour with west coast jazz musicians like Shorty Rogers in a big band setting. June Christy died on June 21, 1990 at age 64. Here's June Christy performing A Lovely Way To Spend An Evening with Stan Kenton's band in 1965.

Frank Pozen's Big Bad Podcast

 UFC review and preview.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Valaida Snow

 

Artist:Valaida Snow

Song:You Bring Out the Savage in Me

Album:Until the Real Thing Comes Along

If she had been a man, Valaida Snow would have been hailed as one of the best jazz musicians in the world. She was known as Little Louis and W.C. Handy called her Queen of the Trumpet. Instead Valaida was forced to move to Europe. She was born June 2, 1904 in Chattanooga, TN. Valaida's mother was a music teacher. Her father was leader of the Pickaninny Troubadors, a group of child performers. So Valaida was on the road with her dad as a child. She could play many instruments but settled on the trumpet. She could also sing and dance. At first she performed in revues and cabarets in Harlem. On trumpet, she mostly mimicked Armstrong who called her the world's second best trumpet player besides himself of course. It was obvious that Valaida had the talent to be a great musician. She just wasn't going to get the opportunity to be a bandleader. In the 30s she moved to Europe and became the toast of London and Paris. She finally got to record in 1935 Billy Mason and his Orchestra for Parlaphone. You Bring Out the Savage in Me was written by Sam Coslow for the 1935 British film Oh, Daddy. Frances Day performed the song in the film. So the song was new when Valaida recorded it. She sings and plays the second trumpet solo. This comp is available as a digital download. Valaida also made films with her husband Ananias Berry of the dance act The Berry Brothers. She was on tour in Denmark when Nazi soldiers took over Copenhagen and she was thrown in jail. It happened again in 1941 and she landed in a concentration camp. She was released as part of a 1942 prisoner exchange. Apparently she was never the same after that though she continued to perform. Valaida Snow died of a brain hemorrhage while she was backstage at the Palace Theater in Harlem on May 30, 1956 at age 51. Here's a video of You Bring Out the Savage in Me by Valaida Snow.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-The UMC's

 Artist:The UMC's

Song:One To Grow On

Album:Fruits of Nature

The rap duo The UMC's had very brief success with two singles from the 1991 album Fruits of Nature. They were from Staten Island, NY. Carlos "Haas G" Evans and Kim "Kool Kim" Sharpton were both 19 years old when they signed with Wild Pitch Records distributed by EMI. Gang Starr was the best known act on the label. Both guys rap. The two singles from Fruits of Nature were One To Grow On and Blue Cheese. Both songs did well on the Rap and R&B charts and the videos were played on MTV. One To Grow On samples Blue Mitchell's Good Humour Man, Bill Cosby's Ursalena and James Brown's Funky President. The problem with The UMC's is they split up after one album. Sharpton continued and released the 1994 album Unleashed but it was unsuccessful. That was the end for The UMC's. Evans has gone on to a long career as a producer. He has worked a lot with Ghostface Killah. His biggest hit was the 2005 Lil Kim single Magic Stick. When The UMC's ended, Sharpton changed his name to NYOIL an acronym for New York's Original International Lover. Mostly he is an MC in New York clubs. He releases occasional albums along with YouTube videos. His live shows are popular in the New York area. Here's the video for One To Grow On by The UMC's.

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Miranda Maverick vs Liana Jojua

 Here's the match video of Miranda Maverick vs Liana Jojua from yesterday's UFC show in Abu Dhabi. This fight is at Flyweight. Miranda is 23 years old from Springfield, MO. She trains at House of Muay Thai in Norfolk, VA while attending Old Dominion University. She looked good at times in Invicta but we'll see what she looks like in the UFC. Liana is 25 years old from Georgia. She's 1-1 in the UFC. This is her second fight at Flyweight. Miranda won round one mostly because Liana did nothing. When Liana returned to her corner after round one, she was asked what she was waiting for. The problem was a Miranda elbow opened a cut on the bridge of Liana's nose. When her corner couldn't stop the bleeding, the ref called the ringside doctor in and he stopped the fight. Liana did not break her nose. She just needed stitches to close the cut. Some have questioned the stoppage but if the bleeding couldn't be stopped, the fight had to be stopped. Afterwards Miranda declared herself as the next big thing. I think it's a little early for that kind of hubris. Enjoy the video!

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Lauren Murphy vs Liliya Shakirova

 Here's the match video of Lauren Murphy vs Liliya Shakirova from yesterday's UFC show in Abu Dhabi. This fight is at Flyweight. Lauren's original opponent was Cynthia Calvillo but she tested positive for COVID-19. Liliya is 29 years old from Uzbekestan. She trains at Akhmat Fight Club in Russia. She's 8-1 and she won a championship a couple of weeks ago for Gorilla Fight Club. I watched a couple of her fights. The competition level was so low that it is hard to tell if she is any good. She is mainly a striker. She said this week she was supposed to make her UFC debut in December. Lauren seems to have improved since training at Fortis MMA in Houston. She's on a three fight winning streak but she needs to beat a top five fighter to get into the title picture. Obviously this fight wasn't going to do that. Liliya was moving around a lot in round one but not doing much of anything. Lauren did even less. So I scored the round 10-9 for Liliya. Very marginal. Between rounds, Lauren was told to be more aggressive. And that's what she did. She got a takedown and Liliya's ineptitude ended in a rear naked choke win for Lauren. It was her first ever submission win and it shows what Liliya needs to work on. Lauren had been whining all week about Jennifer Maia getting a title shot and Jessica Andrade getting the title shot after that. Of course Lauren thinks she should get a title shot which she isn't getting. The short version is she hasn't beaten a top five fighter. I will elaborate about this on this week's The Big Topic in WMMA Podcast. Be sure to check that out. Enjoy the video.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Marlena Shaw

 

Artist:Marlena Shaw

Song:Love Dancin'

Album:Take A Bite: Expanded Edition

Marlena Shaw is best known as a jazz singer. Her late 60s recordings on Cadet like California Soul became popular in the 90s through DJs resurrecting them. When they were originally released, her recordings did not sell. So it's not surprising that in the 70s, she got into disco. That happened with a lot of jazz musicians. After two albums on Cadet, Marlena moved to Blue Note in 1972. After recording two jazz albums and a live album, she decided to try disco for the 1975 album Who Is This Bitch, Anyway?. After the 1976 single It's Better Than Walkin' Out from the 1976 album Just A Matter of Time was a dance hit, she moved to Columbia mostly for better distribution. The 1979 single Love Dancin' was one of three singles that charted on the dance and R&B charts. It's from Marlene's 1979 album Take A Bite, her third and final album for Columbia. The album was produced and arranged by Harold Wheeler who had previously worked with Gloria Gaynor and Meco Monardo and his disco version of the Star Wars theme. So the guys who worked on Meco's album are the same guys who worked on this album. Love Dancin' was written by Gary Knight and Gene Allan. These Brill Building songwriters worked frequently as a team. Allan had a lot of success in the 60s with Bobby Vinton. Knight wrote songs for Connie Francis. The British label Soulmusic released Take A Bite on CD in 2011 with a couple of bonus tracks including a remix of Love Dancin'. Sony has released a Marlena Shaw comp as a digital download. After leaving Columbia, she returned to jazz in the 80s for Verve and Concord and the small Eighty-eight's label. Her most recent recording was recorded in Japan in 2007 with Freddy Cole. Here's a video of Love Dancin' by Marlena Shaw.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-The Staple Singers

 

Artist:The Staple Singers

Song:Let's Do It Again

Album:The Ultimate Staple Singers: A Family Affair 1955-1984

The Staple Singers are best known for their Stax Records hits of the early 70s. I'll Take You There topped the charts in 1972. Their other #1 hit Let's Do It Again came after Stax went bankrupt in 1974. And it was the only album The Staple Singers recorded for Curtom Records before signing with Warner Bros. So that makes it a discography orphan. Of course when Stax went bankrupt, all the artists were forced to go elsewhere. Curtis Mayfield approached them about signing with his label Curtom. After success composing the music for the 1972 film Super Fly, Mayfield worked on the 1973 film Claudine. And that was followed by Let's Do It Again directed by Sidney Poitier and starring Poitier, Bill Cosby and Jimmie Walker. The film was a surprise hit after the theme Let's Do It Again topped the charts in 1974. Screenwriter Richard Wesley credited the success of the song for the film becoming a success. The Staple Singers only recorded the one album for Curtom before signing with Warner Bros. Let's Do It Again does not appear on most Stax Staple Singers comps. The Let's Do It Again soundtrack is available on CD. But I recommend this career spanning 2CD comp from the British label Ace. Though the Staple Singers continued until Pops Staples' 2000 death, Let's Do It Again was their final big hit. Here's a video for Let's Do It Again by The Staples Singers.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Billy Dean

 

Artist:Billy Dean

Song:We Just Disagree

Album:Love Songs

Billy Dean had a string of top ten country hits in the 90s including this 1993 cover of the Dave Mason hit We Just Disagree. He was born Apr. 2, 1962 in the Tallahassee suburb of Quincy, FL. His father Billy Dean Sr. led a band in his spare time. At age eight, Dean started playing in his dad's band. And he played in other bands while in high school. He attended East Central Community College in Decatur, MS on a basketball scholarship. After a year, he left and moved to Nashville. Dean was a finalist on the 1982 Wrangler Country Star Search. And he won Male Vocalist on the 1988 season of the TV show Star Search. This led to a publishing deal with EMI and then a record deal. His first two albums were on Capitol. He was moved to Liberty for two albums and then back to Capitol for his final two albums. After the 1990 single Only Here for a Little While reached #3 on the Country Singles chart, Dean had seven straight top ten hits. His first three albums were certified Gold. We Just Disagree is from the 1993 album Fire in the Dark. It reached #9 on the Country Singles chart. It's a straight cover. That album was produced by Jimmy Bowen who was head of Capitol Nashville at the time. He also worked with veteran producers Tom Shapiro and Chuck Howard. After taking a break to raise his family, Dean returned with the 1996 album It's What I Do. When that and the 1998 album Real Man didn't do as well as earlier albums, Dean left Capitol. Then he got into acting and he made guest appearances with Crystal Bernard, Alison Krauss, Kenny Rogers and Suzy Bogguss. He released two albums on Curb Records. He hasn't recorded much since then though he still tours. This comp covers the Capitol years. Here's the video for We Just Disagree by Billy Dean.