HOW MUSIC CHANGED PART 137-61 – EVERY SINGLE MOTOWN ‘A’ SIDE, PART 61

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This is the second Motown show in a row that does not feature very many hits, but that doesn’t mean that the music and its history isn’t interesting. As this show attests, many of Motown’s classic acts were waning, while the newer acts were having a harder time getting established. This show tells a significant part of that story, featuring the following;

1) I’d Still Love You – Ivy Joe

2) In These Changing Times – The Four Tops

3) Pass the Plate – The Crusaders

4) Dyambo (Weary Day Is Over) – Hugh Masekela & the Union of South Africa

5) Uncle Tom – Arthur Adams

6) What Is Love – The Stylists

7) Crazy About the La La La – Smokey Robinson & the Miracles

8) Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) – Marvin Gaye

9) If I Could Give You the Whole World – Hearts of Stone

10) The Reverend John B. Daniels – Ken Christie & the Sunday People

11) Candy Apple Red – R. Dean Taylor

12) I Just Want to Celebrate – Rare Earth

Album Tracks from the Summer of ’79, Part 3

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Due to events both historic (Woodstock’s Anniversary) and current (the passing of Willy DeVille), we interrupted our coverage of album tracks from 1979. We already aired two shows covers album releases from this era, but that was not nearly enough. Today, we’ll try to wrap things up for this era, although I could easily spend another week or two on this same topic. Following are tracks from our third installment covering album tracks from the summer of ‘79;

1) Still Falls the Rain – Roxy Music (“Manifesto”)

2) Trash – Roxy Music

3) Look Sharp! – Joe Jackson (“Look Sharp!”)

4) Discovering Japan – Graham Parker & the Rumour (“Squeezing Out Sparks”)

5) What’s So Funny (‘Bout Peace, Love & Understanding) – Elvis Costello (“Armed Forces”)

6) Cracking Up –Nick Lowe – (“Labour of Lust”)

7) Uneasy Sunny Day Hotsy Totsy – Ian Dury & the Blockheads (“Do It Yourself”)

8) Up the Junction – Squeeze (“Cool for Cats”)

9) Cool for Cats – Squeeze (“Cool for Cats”)

10) Fantastic Voyage – David Bowie (“Lodger”)

11) D.J. – David Bowie

12) I Believe- The Buzzcocks (“A Different Kind of Tension”)

HOW MUSIC CHANGED PART 137-60 – EVERY SINGLE MOTOWN ‘A’ SIDE, PART 60

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There are not many big hits in today’s show, but there are a few surprises. Did you know Meat Loaf was a Motown artist? How about Bobby Darin? Or King Floyd? OK, maybe you don’t even remember who King Floyd is, so we cover all this in today’s show.

Songs include;

1) Reach Out, I’ll Be There – Diana Ross

2) I’ve Given You the Best Years of My Life – P.J.

3) What You See Is What You Get – Stoney and Meat Loaf

4) Nathan Jones – The Supremes

5) Melodie – Bobby Darin

6) Never Can Say Goodbye – The Impact of Brass

7) Heartaches – King Floyd

8) Feelin’ Alright – Diana Ross with the Jackson 5

9) I Don’t Want to Do Wrong – Gladys Knight & the Pips

10) You Gotta Have Love in Your Heart – The Supremes & the Four Tops

11) Smiling Faces Sometimes – The Undisputed Truth

Birth of a Woodstock Nation – 40 Years On

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It was forty years ago this weekend that the burgeoning hippie counter culture had seen its identity gel into something that was culturally, politically and socially significant. The dream didn’t last long and it was far from perfect, but it was their weekend. On its 40^th anniversary, we celebrate what may have been the single most important musical event of all time by playing excerpts from some music and events of that weekend.

Songs include

1) Freedom/Motherless Child – Richie Havens

2) The Fish Cheer/Feel Like I’m Fixin’ to Die Rag – Country Joe McDonald

3) Soul Sacrifice – Santana

4) Gonna Take You Higher/Music Lover Medley – Sly & the Family Stone

5) With a Little Help From My Friends – Joe Cocker

6) Jam/Star Spangled Banner – Jimi Hendrix

HOW MUSIC CHANGED PART 137-59 – EVERY SINGLE MOTOWN ‘A’ SIDE, PART 59

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Our marathon coverage of Hitsville USA continues with our 59^th program dedicated to playing every single A-side released by the label during their tenure in Detroit. By 1971, the label had a much more corporate identity than it enjoyed in the ‘60s, but the hit parade didn’t seem to notice, while the label’s ex-child star Little Stevie Wonder proved that he had a LOT more to offer as he neared his 21^st birthday.

Songs from today’s show include;

1) Love Makes the World Go ‘Round – Kiki Dee

2) We Can Work It Out – Stevie Wonder

3) I Don’t Blame You at All – Smokey Robinson & the Miracles

4) This Used to Be the Home of Johnnie Mae – Eddie Kendricks

5) It’s So Hard for Me to Say Goodbye – Eddie Kendricks

6) In My Own Lifetime – Sammy Davis Jr.

7) Never Can Say Goodbye – Jackson 5

8) Strung Out – Gordon Staples & the Motown Strings

9) Funky Music Sho Nuff Turns Me On – Edwin Starr

10) When My Love Hand Comes Down – David & Jimmy Ruffin

11) I Want to Weep No More – Letta

12) Never Dreamed You’d Leave in Summer – Stevie Wonder

In Memory of Willy Deville – A Re-Broadcast of our 2003 Interview

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I have to say that it hit me hard when I learned of Willy DeVille’s passing. It would be an exaggeration to call him a personal friend, but I did feel close to him. In my younger years, I’d seen him perform a half dozen times or more. Setting up the interviews (we did two with him) gave us a chance to chat informally, which helped to make the interviews go smoothly. We met a couple of times as well, when he invited Heidy and I to his shows, and to meet with him backstage (Listen to the end of this interview when he asks us to bring our pet Chihuahua with us!). When Heidy and I got married in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, we invited Willy and his wife Nina to attend, but Willy feared picking up an infection. Since then, I’ve intended to call him and perhaps set up another interview, but life always seemed to get in the way of making plans.

Now that he’s gone, I feel grateful that I got to know him, but I also feel denied the chance to know him better. Perhaps the best tribute we can muster at American Hit Radio is to rebroadcast our first interview from 2003. You can hear a lot of Willy’s spirit in this interview, and we play a few of his songs as well. We will miss him very much.

HOW MUSIC CHANGED PART 137-58 – EVERY SINGLE MOTOWN ‘A’ SIDE, PART 58

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This show marks the start of the ‘golden years’ for a golden era, i.e., Motown’s last grasp at greatness before moving out west and losing their essence. The youth appeal contained in the vast majority of hits released in the 1960’s had given way to a world weary sound. The artists had matured, and they wanted their artistic expression to reflect that, but Berry Gordy wasn’t embracing the change. This show marks a few bittersweet signposts in the label’s history, as conveyed in the stories that accompany the following tracks;

1) Mama’s Pearl – The Jackson 5

2) Let’s All Save the Children – Joe Hinton

3) Sweet Water – Brass Monkey

4) Pet Names – Chuck Jackson

5) Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me) – The Temptations

6) Ain’t It a Sad Thing – R. Dean Taylor

7) What’s Going On? – Marvin Gaye

8) Save My Love for a Rainy Day – The Undisputed Truth

9) Don’t Pay Me No Mind – Ken Christie & the Sunday People

10) Each Day Is a Lifetime – David Ruffin

ALBUM TRACKS FROM 1979 (PART 2)

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We continue our coverage of album tracks from the year 1979 by focusing on a few albums that may have been overlooked by the passage of time. I nonetheless feel that these records deserve some longevity, so we’re dedicating today’s show to a few ‘sleeper’ albums from that era. Next week, we’ll continue our coverage by looking at a number of alternative artists who made a difference thirty years ago this month. Songs from today’s show include:

1) I Can’t Stand the Rain – Lowell George (“Thanks, I’ll Eat It Here”_

2) 20 Milion Things – Lowell George

3) Danny’s All Star Joint – Rickie Lee Jones (“Rickie Lee Jones”)

4) Last Chance Texaco – Rickie Lee Jones

5) Angel of Mercy – Dire Straits (“Communique”)

6) Portobello Belle – Dire Straits

7) I Have a Dream – Abba (“Voulez-Vous”)

8) Sedan Delivery – Neil Young (“Rust Never Sleeps”)

9) Welfare Mothers – Neil Young