Monday Music Mix

Here's one of my favorite female vocalists. I have followed her since she was in "The Eurythmics"


Out on her own, this song really rocks. Annie Lennox ~ "Money Can't Buy It"

When I lived in Houston in the early 80's, one of the radio stations out there had a program called "Evening Thunderstorms" on Friday nights. I became an avid listener because it played great music from bands I'd never heard of before... this was one of them..enjoy the funky music and the fabulous vocals of Mary Davis.
SOS Band ~ "Just Be Good To Me"

Former Fugees member Lauryn Hill does a lovely cover of Sam Cooke's " Change Is Gonna Come "

This song means a lot to both of us for very different reasons. Seattle Band Queensryche with " Silent Lucidity "

These Ladies Rock !!

Thought we'd put up a few acts that we enjoy and aren't as well known as they should be. The spotlight will be on female talent today.


First up is our Facebook friend Annie Rose. She performs around the Wisconsin area and is pure dynamite on stage. Here she is with a cover of Big Mama Thornton's " Ball And Chain "

Next up is a young lady from the Nashville area, Miss Maddie Jane with her version of Adele's " Rolling In The Deep " . Incredible talent for someone so young .

We next go to Louisiana to visit Theresa Anderson. The master of the Loop machine and a multi instrumentalist, just watch her at work here.

Three lovely young ladies, Cassie Taylor on Bass, Samantha Fish and Dani Wilde on guitars, known collectively as " Girls With Guitars" are up next with " The Other Side Of The Bottle "

Classically trained, a former Body Builder and Professional Wrestler, Lynette Thredgold comes in with a red hot tune " Dream Blues "

Creepy and Disturbing

There are many other versions/covers of "Creep" than the one made popular by Radiohead. 


Here is Crissy Hinde of The Pretenders ~ "Creep" 
Love her voice, love her guitar work... this is great...

If you listen to the words, it is such a disturbing message... Here is Garbage ~ "#1 Crush"

Bring me to life, wake me up inside... The lyrics from a disturbing tune and video by Evanesence. Here is "Going Under"

This is one of my favorite punk bands. Love it, love it, love it...The music is hot, lyrics are are sad, the video is creepy... love her hair and the head-banging action...ha! Here is Chrissy Amphlett.. The Divinyls ~ "Only Lonely"

And the truth is... I miss you... 


Here is a haunting tune by Coldplay ~ "Warning Sign"

My all-time favorite creepy tune... a happy tune gone wrong, disturbing for sure... here is Pink Martini ~ "Que Sera Sera"

A Shuffle

I love using the shuffle feature on an Mp3, with over 89,000 tunes on it, you never know what you're going to get. Let's see what fun we can have with it today.

The first tune I land on is " Rock And Roll Hoochie Koo " performed by Johnny Winter. Written by Rick Derringer, Winter takes a pop tune and turns it into a classic rock piece, hot, nasty and sweaty.

The next tune we come to is Outlaw Country artist David Allen Coe with " You Never Even Called Me By My Name " Written by Steve Goodman and John Prine, this is Coe at his best.

Up next is a song filled with double entendres, Dinah Washington with " Long John Blues ". Is she really singing about a trip to the dentist ?? LOL

The shuffle takes us to Canadian band Triumph with " Blinding Light Show. Man I love using the shuffle.

Well I'll be a Monkey's uncle

Just for fun, I thought I'd do a post featuring acts named after monkeys, apes etc. The list will have some well known acts, as well as some not so well known.


We'll start with the obvious, LOL .


In the mid 60's,  record producer Don Kirshner, along with a few others, created a band for TV called the Monkees. Originally, they didn't record or play any music, that was left to studio musicians . The eventually were able to preform and were the darlings of pre-teen girls for years. Here is a sample of their work.

Gorillaz is a music project by Daman Albarn and Jamie Hewlett. They are one of the best non-bands that I've ever heard. Here they are with " Clint Eastwood "

German alt band, Guano Apes are up next with " Open Your Eyes"

Here's Hip Hop group Monkey Sons with " They Told Us "

Rainbow Butt Monkeys check in with " Let's Pretend "

Finally we have New York Funk group, Mandrill, with " Livin It Up "

Almost Famous

I've always enjoyed finding tunes from acts before they were famous or went solo and got their big break. There's a lot of great early recording of artists with other bands, sometimes playing totally different music than they're now known for. I'm sure you'll recognize these artists.


The first time I ever heard Rod Stewart was with a mid 60's band called Steampacket , along with Long John Baldry.They were together for a couple of years, before Jeff Beck hired Stewart to be the vocalist in the Jeff Beck Group. They did a classic album called " Truth " and this is my favorite cut on that album, " Rock My Plimsoul ". It still rocks after all these years.

Foghat was formed by members of two bands. Lonesome Dave Peverett, Tony Stevens, and Roger Earl from Savoy Brown. They were joined by Rod Price from Black Cat Bones. Rod's signature slide work can be seen on this cut from Black Cat Bones only studio album.

Sammy Hagar first came to prominence as vocalist for Montrose. They did some great rocking tunes in the early to mid 70's. 

Peter Frampton started out with Humble Pie along with Stevie Marriott . Here's a clip of Frampton playing some mighty fine guitar licks on " Sad Bag Of Shaky Jake " ( He's wearing the green shirt )

Electric Dreams

I was a fan of Electronica from day #1, when I first started hearing bits and pieces and tastes of it in the early 1980's... Bands such as, New Order, Tangerine Dream, and Depeche Mode, and others led the way, as well as Madonna, although she called her work "Techno-Pop" 


I've been a fan of Electronica music for about 25 years now... and I've seen the changes in it through the years... and also the names for it has changed through the years... Electronica, Techno-Pop, Alternative, Trance, Rave, Ambient and now Dub-Step... it is all dub-oriented, looped, trip-hop. 


I'm going to start it out with some older stuff...


Here we go with one of my earliest all-time-favs of Electronica... This is The Crystal Method ~ "Busy Child"

Sorry Madonna you come in second for me...but you ROCK!
Next Up must be Madonna ~ "Ray Of Light"

This one is by "Faithless" (2007) video created by Paranoid Projects for a Coca-Cola ad.. here is Faithless ~ "I Never Stop"

This one may stray a bit from the comfort of the repetitive nature of the electronica manufactured music genre, because it does have some real brass instruments used in the tune... but it's hot... and I love it... so here it is... cool video too... Groove Armada ~ "At The River"

The next band I first heard in the 80's... still luv 'em... Here is Tangerine Dream ~ "Speed Dragon"

Daft Punk ~ "Harder, Better, Stronger"... The tune is early electronica... this video knocked my socks off! How original! How... daft!

Finishing this up with another Crystal Method tune... they've  come a long way since "Busy Child".... here is Crystal Method ~ "Mass Distortion"

Hope you enjoyed!

I'll have my Rock Southern Fried

Southern Fried Rock is Rock as it should be, hard driving music with some hot and nasty vocals.I could do post on this everyday .


Going to give this a real kick-start with Molly Hatchet and " Dreams I'll Never See "

Next up is Blackfoot with " Train Train '

Gotta get the Allman Brothers in here with " Southbound "

Although not really a Rock act, I want to put up " Dixieland Delight " by Alabama

From the ashes of the plane crash that took Ronnie Van Zant and Steve and Cassie Gainies, is Alan Collins and Gary Rossington with the Rossington Collins Band and "Opportunity "

Finally, the boys from Spartanburg South Carolina, Marshall Tucker featuring Toy and Tommy Caldwell  with " Bob Away My  Blues "

A little Head Banging Music

There's nothing like a good Hard Rock Tune to get the blood flowing. Perfect stuff for a long road trip.

Starting us off is Damn Yankees featuring Ted Nugent and Tommy Shaw with " Renegade "

Up next is another Nugent tune " Stranglehold "

The boy from Down Under check in with " It's A Long Way To the Top "

A band you don't hear much anymore, Montrose, featuring Sammy Hagar and Ronnie Montrose , are up next with " Rock The Nation "

All Covers...

First up is a cover of a Steppenwolf tune. This was an anti-war tune that came out during the Nam years. (1968) But yes, it's a toe-tapper..some folks had no idea what it was about then, and still no idea what it's about now. The lyrics- You don't know what we even fight. ( what were we fighting for in Nam? What are we fighting for now in Afgani?)  Here are some young folks having fun with it. ( make a wild guess who the most popular girl in school was.. just guess haha!) Here is Fat Boy Slim ~ "Magic Carpet Ride"

This song was made popular by the group "WAR"... it was good then. Here it is twisted up a notch by "The Latin Alliance" 


I was working in a fish plant at the time (gawd awful job) just got off a 12 hour shift that I'd worked with people that I mostly could not communicate with, I can speak a little Spanish, they could speak a little English, it was enough for us to get by... I was soooo tired... I came out walking through the parking lot and someone was blasting this tune, and it totally made my day! 


(just love Lil Wayne in this... sounds like he's got a mouth fulla marbles! haha!) 


Here is Latin Alliance ~ "Low Rider"

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Next up is another anti-war song from the Nam era, this is a cover tune also, originally from Buffalo Springfield... The video clip however is from our New Revolution, Occupy Wallstreeet protesters... 


Some think these folk are quacks... some of them might be, but a lot of them are just regular folks, but now these people have no job "position"... have lost their pensions and 401k's, people that have worked all of their lives... they can't find jobs and are now losing their cars and their homes... I would seriously be there but I cannot afford to take a pause for it... I've already lost everything and I'm rather fond of having a good meal and I must work to rebuild my life... Maybe in January when I'm laid off I will join them... I might have no other place to go then. Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose....


this is quite a video...


here is One Rupublic ~ "For What It's Worth" 

Ozzy- Under Cover... oh yeah, here is ""Rocky Mountain Way"

I always have thoughts that I cannot say out loud when I hear this song.... Here is Limp Bizkit covering ~ "Behind Blue Eyes"

I love a good Torch Song

Torch Song : A sentimental love song. The term comes from the saying " holding a Torch for someone ".



I've always had an affinity for " Torch Songs " .Usually sung by women, sometimes men, they convey a vulnerability that we can all relate to. Here are a few of my favorite " Torch Singers'


We'll start out with the totally awesome Dinah Washington with " Feel Like I Wanna Cry "

Next up is the classy Dorothy Dandridge with " When Your Lover Has Gone "

Next up is Etta Jones ( not to be confused with Etta James ) with " If I Had You "

One can't do a Torch song playlist without including Billie Holiday. Here she is performing " I Cried For You "

Mix em up

Today I'm doing a mix... we'll start it up with Jeff Beck ~ "Star Cycle"

Next up, Nine Inch Nails ~ "Only"

In 1983 John Mellencamp recorded the " Uh Huh " CD. It had such gems as " Pink Houses " , Crumblin Down " and the " Authority Song " . All good songs and they all get a lot of airplay , but there were two other songs that really should be played as much as the others, " Jackie O " and Golden Gates ". They would have been hits on there own merit. Here is John Mellencamp with " Golden Gates ".

This is one of the better covers of a Doors song, " Joan Jett and the Blackhearts with " Love Me Two Times "

Fusion Jazz

My introduction to fusion jazz came when I was in my teens and I first heard Jean Luc Ponty and his magical, amazing electric violin... this is timeless... 20+ years later, I STILL love this tune... Here is Jean Luc Ponty ~ Cosmic Messenger

That Ponty song reminds me of one by Avant-garde Rockers, Roxy Music. Featuring vocals from Bryan Ferry and electric violin by Eddie Jobson, this is " Out Of The Blue " . Only they could do a rock tune with an Oboe and Electric Violin.

When I was a kid, I had this next tune on a 45 ( remember them ? ) . I played it until the grooves were almost gone. This is Jerry Corbetta with his group Sugarloaf performing " Green Eyed Lady "

I was looking for a tune from Tangerine Dream to place here... since I've had fond thoughts of them in the past. I bought their albums, partly because I loved their tunes, and partly because their vinyl always came in different colors than black and it was always a surprise. I had a yellow one, an orange one, a green one, and a white one. It was the coolest thing EVER at the time.


There are CD's now, no more colorful vinyl,  but I still got a surprise... 


Here is a cover tune of Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here"... preformed by Tangerine Dream.


It rocked my socks off! Enjoy!

Tunes To Kick Back To

I always think of Houston Texas when I hear this tune, for a couple of reasons... I was living in Houston when I first heard it, and the band is originally from there. Here is ZZ Top with a Texas-bluesy rockin' ~ "I Need You Tonight"

Next up is a fabulous guitarist. His tunes are strange, beautiful and unique. Joe Satriani ~ "Oriental Melody"

This next one is fusion jazz... mellow, romantic and smooth... Here is Spro Gyro ~ "Harbor Nights"

Caught up in a whirlwind, can't catch my breath.... Ah, here is Stevie Ray Vaughn ~ "Walking The Tightrope"

She's got the voice... I first heard her in a punk rock band in the 80's. ( The Divinyls) Ten years later in the 90's here she is with Icehouse... She is Crissy Amphlett... This is a hot tune! "Love In Motion"

Sweet Blindness

  The late singer-songwriter Laura Nyro had a lot of commercial success with her music. Unfortunately, it was by other artists recording her songs that she's best remembered for. A lovely soulful voice ,she inspired a lot of artists and is well worth listening to Hopefully one day soon, she will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as she truly belongs there. Here's a sample of her work that other artists covered for hits.


The Fifth Dimension recorded a few of her songs and had hits with them . Here is one of the tunes, " Wedding Bell Blues "

They also had a major hit with " Stoned Soul Picnic "

This next tune was a hit for both Blood Sweat and Tears and Peter , Paul and Mary. Here is " And When I Die "

One of Barbra Streisand's first hits was Nyro's " Stony End "

This was my favorite Three Dog Night tune, " Eli's Coming ". Laura's version is both haunting and rocking.

Finally , The Fifth Dimension hit gold again with another Nyro song " Sweet Blindness "

All over the map

We're going to do an MP3 shuffle today, hit shuffle and see where it takes us.


The first tune we came to  was R.L. Burnside with a funky blues tune, " It's Bad You Know "

You never know where a shuffle will take you, From Funky Blues to a Japanese Prog Rock Band. This is Flied Egg with "Plastic Fantasy "

The next tune that came up on the shuffle was Welsh 70's Heavy Metal Band Budgie featuring the vocals of Burke Shelley performing " Breadfan ". Metallica did a cover of this tune.

Our shuffle takes us to The Statler Brothers with their classic " Flowers On The Wall "

The shuffle feature works great, four songs and four totally different genres.

Do ya wanna dance ????

Today we thought we'd put up some good toe tapping tunes. There's quite a lot of different musical influences here. Everything from Rock to Funk to Salsa.
Enjoy


When I was younger , I had a friend that worked in a record shop and she would give me some great discounts. I was thumbing through the Funk section one day when I found this album that had a picture of a Mandrill , a large baboon like creature. I bought it because I thought the picture was cool, never having heard of the band. I put it in my record collection and forgot about it for a couple of weeks. One Sunday morning over coffee, I was organizing my music when I found the album again. Putting it on my turntable, I was blown away by some totally dynamite Funk Rock. Their music is hot. Here is Mandrill with "Hang Loose "

When was the last time you listened to the Woodstock album ? That concert had  so many unforgettable performances. Here's one by Santana, " Soul Sacrifice "

We found Johannes Linstead while looking for something else. This award winning Canadian fuses Classical guitar with Afro-Cuban music. This is " Moonlight in Havana "

One of the best guitarists of all time, this is Jeff Beck with " JB's Blues "

Mellow Out

We're in a mellow mood today, posting some music to suit our mood.


Up first is Vangelis, one of my favorite artists/composers... This piece is jazzy with Spanish guitar flair and a great beat, it is relaxing and uplifting at the same time. Here is "Spanish Harbour"

Up next is Annie Lennox ( vocalist of "The Eurythmics"... 80's alternative rock band) this time the tune is a rock classic, "A Whiter Shade of Pale".... enjoy.

This is one of our favorite tunes, Elbow with "One Day Like This" from the Seldom Seen Kid CD. Excellent musical score and dynamite vocals from Guy Garvey. This is the BBC version featuring a full Orchestra and choir.

Finally we have Groove Armada with Inside My Mind ( Blue Skies ). It's such a relaxing tune, makes me think of a bubble bath and a great glass of wine.

Who Are These Guys?

We're not planning to always do "theme's" here, we'll probably move more into random mixes of tunes we enjoy. 


For today we thought we'd introduce a few folks you might not have ever heard of... or maybe you have... hope you enjoy!


Here is Orianthi with Steve Vai ~ "High Strung"


I can't believe I'd never seen Orianthi before.. where have I been? She's an Australian guitarist that has jammed with Santana, was signed to go on Michael Jackson's ill- fated new tour, and then joined Alice Cooper's band... here she is playing a rocking duet with Steve Vai. 

Certainly not a household name, Aalon Butler had a modest solo career on the West Coast. Too funky for Rock, too Rock for Funk, he never did find his niche. In the early 70's he joined the Eric Burdon Band and the album " Sun Secrets " is probably his best work. Burdon's reworking of " Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood " showcases Aalon's Funk/Rock guitar work.

Canadian Rocker Joey Gregorash had a hit in 1971 with a cover of fellow Canadian Neil Young's " Down By The River ". What makes this tune above a mere cover is veteran Stax Memphis guitar player Michael Toles. His work on this tune is pure art.

Here is Tommy Emmanuel, an Australian guitarist... he's played with many artists including Chet Atkins and John Denver. 


I just think he's amazing with his picking technique and integrating "tuning chimes" into his song so seamlessly...
Tommy Emmanuel ~ "Imagine"