Wednesday MidDay Medley
Produced and Hosted by Mark Manning
90.1 FM KKFI – Kansas City Community Radio
TEN to NOON Wednesdays – Streaming at KKFI.org

Wednesday, March 2, 2022

Ivory Blue + More New & MidCoastal Releases

Mark plays More New & MidCoastal Releases from: Prairie Brigade, The Creepy Jingles, Kadesh Flow, Trevor Turla, Faith Maddox, Fritz Hutchison, Mensa Deathsquad, Ivory Blue, MusicbySkippy, Deegan Poores, Dimension Bill Edwards, Corey Dies in the End, Erik J. Pearson, Miles Bonny & C. Scott, Paul Jesse, Eiko Ishibashi, Cynthia Erivo, Big Thief, Beach House, Hurray For The Riff Raff, Eydie Gorme & Los Panchos, Prince, and Neil Young.

At 11:30 we’ll talk with musician, songwriter, and producer Ivory Blue about their new debut album, COMPOUND LOVE that was just released on February 25, 2022. Ivory Blue signed a publishing deal with Sound Ballistics Music & Publishing of Atlanta GA on August 18, 2021. This company is managing Ivory and handling all of their publishing. For COMPOUND LOVE Ivory served as songwriter, producer, vocalist and played all instruments with the exception of: Lester Estelle on drums, Klaartje Van Lue on piano, Craig Kew on bass, Lennon Bone on drums, and Marco Pascolini on pedal steel guitar. Nick Poortman served in mixing, with Kurt Festge who also served in mixing & mastering. More at: http://www.linktr.ee/ivorybluemusic

On your local radio dial 90.1 FM or
STREAMING LIVE at: kkfi.org

Show #931

Wednesday MidDay Medley
Produced and Hosted by Mark Manning
90.1 FM KKFI – Kansas City Community Radio
TEN to NOON Wednesdays – Streaming at KKFI.org

Wednesday, February 23, 2022

Spinning Records With Marion Merritt

Mark welcomes back to the show, Marion Merritt as our special “Guest Producer.” Marion Merritt is our most frequent contributor to WMM. For over 18 years now Marion has been sharing her sonic discoveries and information from her musically encyclopedic brain. Bringing music that is just not played on other radio stations. Marion grew up in Los Angeles, and St. Louis. She went to college in Columbia, Missouri. She studied art and musical engineering. After nearly two decades of managing Kansas City’s largest music department store, Marion left the corporate world and went Independent. With her partner Ann Stewart, Marion is the proprietor of Records With Merritt, a small, independent, minority owned business, at 1614 Westport Rd. in Kansas City, Missouri. More info at: http://www.recordswithmerritt.com.

Marion Merritt, Thanks for being with us on Wednesday MidDay Medley

1. “Main Title Instrumental – It’s Showtime Folks”
   from: Orig. Motion Picture Soundtrack All That Jazz / Casablanca / December 20, 1979
   [WMM’s Adopted Theme Song]

2. Dimitri From Paris – “Prologue”
   from: Sacrebleu / Yellow Productions – Atlantic / June 11, 1996
   [Debut studio albumm from Dimitri from Paris was born Dimitrios Yerasimos, on October 27, 1963. He is a French music producer and DJ of Greek descent. His musical influences are rooted in 1970s funk and disco sounds that spawned contemporary house music, as well as original soundtracks from 1950s and 1960s movies such as Breakfast at Tiffany’s, La Dolce Vita and The Party, which were sampled in his album Sacrebleu. Dimitri fused these sounds with electro and block party hip hop he discovered in the 1980s. // Contrary to his musical pseudonym, Dimitri was born not in Paris but born in Peckham, South London, to Rûm parents (Greeks of Turkey), Dimitri grew up in France where he discovered DJing at home, using whatever he could find to “cut and paste” samples from disco hits or in to montages heard on the radio, blending them together to make tapes. This early experimentation helped him launch his DJ career. // He started out by DJing at the French station Radio 7, before moving on to Skyrock and finally to Radio NRJ, Europe’s largest FM radio network, in 1986. There, he introduced the first ever house music show to be broadcast in France, while simultaneously producing under the direction of sound designer Michel Gaubert, runway soundtracks for fashion houses such as Chanel, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Hermès and Yves Saint-Laurent. He also released two solo EPs from 1993 to 1994 and contributed to the Yellow Productions compilation La Yellow 357. // In 1996, Dimitri gained worldwide recognition with the release of his first full album, Sacrebleu, released on Yellow Productions. A blend of diverse influences including jazz, original film soundtracks, samba, and organic house, Sacrebleu sold 300,000 copies worldwide and was named Album of the Year by UK’s Mixmag magazine. // In 2000, Dimitri followed Sacrebleu up with A Night at the Playboy Mansion (Virgin) and Disco Forever (BBE), followed by My Salsoul in 2001, After the Playboy Mansion in 2002. In 2003, Cruising Attitude was released, to be closely followed by his first outing on UK’s premier dance music label Defected: Dimitri from Paris In the House. // He has followed a somewhat glamorous musical path by recording soundtracks and advertising campaigns for fashion houses Chanel, Jean-Paul Gautier and Yves Saint Laurent and remixing hundreds of artists as diverse as Björk, The Cardigans, James Brown, Michael Jackson, New Order and Quincy Jones. He also did the music for the anime Tsukuyomi: Moon Phase and mixed the soundtrack for the French luxury dessin animé Jet Groove produced by Method Films. // 2005 saw Dimitri go back to his Funk and Disco roots, with Japanese hip hop producer and über collector DJ Muro for Super Disco Friends a double CD mixdown. In 2006 he offered his House of Love outing to Valentine’s Day’s lovers. Later on Dimitri produced Los Amigos Invisibles “Super Pop Venezuela” album which grabbed a nomination for a Grammy Award. // 2007 saw the release of the Cocktail Disco project with longtime partner BBE, a handful of disco classics remixes and other surprises down the line. // 2009 saw the release of the Night Dubbin’, a post-disco R&B compilation remix album.]

3. Timo Lassy – “Subtropical”
   from: Trio / We Jazz / August 27, 2021
   [Timo Lassy was born in 1974. He is a Finnish jazz saxophonist, composer and bandleader. He is best known for Timo Lassy Band with whom he has recorded 6 albums together. Prior to his solo career he was a member of U-Street All Stars and The Five Corners Quintet. Timo Lassy has had three albums on the Finnish National album charts. In with Lassy in 2012, Love Bullet in 2015 and Moves in 2018 all of which have also received nominations for Jazz album of the Year at the Emma Gaala. The album Moves reached #6 on the Physical album chart on week 18/2018. “Moves” won the Emma award for Jazz Album of the Year. Timo Lassy Band recorded a feature concert YLE Live: M1-Studiossa Timo Lassy Band which was broadcast nationally on Sunday 5 May 2013 and is available worldwide at YLE Areena. On February 3, 2018 WDR 3 broadcast a live television and radio concert by Timo Lassy from Theater Gütersloh.]

4. Charlie Megira – “The Girl Who Was Frightened of Ashtrays”
   from: The Abtomatic Miesterzinger Mambo Chic / Numero Group / 2001-2022
   [The bastard love child of Elvis and Lux Interior, Israeli guitarist Charlie Megira brewed a heady amalgam of ’50s trash rock, surf tremolo, and reverb-drenched goth during his all-too-brief 44 trips around the sun. Armed with only an Eko guitar, a black tuxedo, and his signature wrap-around shades, Charlie Megira was a mold-breaking artist who disintegrated while we were all staring at our phones. // Even in this age of near-total Internet accessibility, Charlie Megira is a modern mystery. A casual search turns up little aside from a few cryptic articles. His brief career unfolded during a changing of the guard in the music industry, opening on the death of the compact disc and ending just prior to Spotify’s IPO. For an artist like Megira, living far away from a major music outpost, there was more chaos than structure for his recordings to exist and find an audience. This collection is the first attempt at putting the pieces together, compiling a life’s work of an artist whose spark almost shined unto the world. // His was a music both familiar and entirely alien at once. It touches on corners of darkness, an isolation both lonely and sweet, all wrapped in a cold glow that draws the listener into each note, each melancholy melody triggering unrecorded experiences. His various projects put out music which began as a junction point between Link Wray’s surf guitar and the theatrical psychobilly of The Cramps, took a turn towards goth-inflected post-punk, and towards the end of his career would sojourn back into his earlier musical fascination with late 1950s and early 1960s rock ‘n’ roll. // The Israeli guitarist recorded seven albums worth of material in 15 years during his all-too-brief 44 trips around the sun.Tomorrow’s Gone collects 24 of these tracks for a double album journey across his career, accompanied by a lavish booklet that documents his tragic existence. Armed with only an Eko guitar, a black tuxedo, and his signature wrap-around shades, Charlie Megira was a mold-breaking artist who disintegrated while we were all staring at our phones.]

5. Charlie Megira – “Tomorrow’s Gone”
   from: The Abtomatic Miesterzinger Mambo Chic / Numero Group / 2001-2022

6. Cat Power – “I Think Of Angels”
   from: Flag Day (Original Soundtrack) / Republic / August 21, 2021
   [Charlyn Marie “Chan” Marshall was born Jan. 21, 1972. She is known by her stage name Cat Power, is an American singer-songwriter, musician, occasional actress, & model. Cat Power was originally the name of Marshall’s first band, but has become her stage name as a solo artist. // Born in Atlanta, Marshall was raised throughout the southern U.S. and began performing in local bands in Atlanta in the early 1990s. After opening for Liz Phair in 1993, she worked with Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth and Tim Foljahn of Two Dollar Guitar, with whom she recorded her first two albums, Dear Sir (1995) and Myra Lee (1996), on the same day in 1994. In 1996, she signed with Matador Records, and released a third album of new material with Shelley and Foljahn, What Would the Community Think. Following this, she released the critically acclaimed Moon Pix (1998), recorded with members of Dirty Three, and The Covers Record (2000), a collection of sparsely arranged cover songs. // After a brief hiatus she released You Are Free (2003), featuring guest musicians Dave Grohl & Eddie Vedder, followed by the soul-influenced The Greatest (2006), recorded with numerous Memphis studio musicians. A second album of cover tracks, Jukebox, was released in 2008. In 2012 she released the self-produced Sun, which debuted at number 10 on the Billboard 200, the highest-charting album of her career to date. // Critics have noted the constant evolution of Cat Power’s sound, with a mix of punk, folk & blues on her earliest albums, and elements of soul and other genres more prevalent in her later material]

7. Cat Power – “Bad Religion”
   from: Covers / Domino / January 14, 2022
   [Covers is the eleventh studio album by American musician Cat Power, the stage name of American singer-songwriter Chan Marshall. Her third collection of cover songs, following 2000’s The Covers Record and 2008’s Jukebox, the album was released worldwide on January 14, 2022, by Domino Recording Company. // Covers is Marshall’s third collection of cover songs, following 2000’s The Covers Record and 2008’s Jukebox. The album was recorded alongside Marshall’s live band: guitarist Adeline Jasso, bassist and keyboardist Erik Paparozzi, and drummer Alianna Kalaba. Marshall was not planning on recording a covers album, and was originally intent on recording original compositions. She explained: “I got in the studio and I wanted the band to relax, so I started composing improvisationally, just getting them to play certain things that sounded good together. For the first four songs we recorded that day, I had no idea what the vocals would be or what the song would be. They were four songs that I had no intention of covering. I just wanted the band to warm up, and when I got them to play something that I liked the sound of, I went to the vocal booth and I said, ‘Just don’t stop.’ Then I was like, ‘What cover should I sing over this music that is playing?’]

8. Lucinda Williams – “Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker”
   from: You Are Cordially Invited… A Tribute to the Rolling Stones / Highway 20 Records /2022
   [Lu’s Jukebox is a six-volume series of mostly full-band performances recorded live at Ray Kennedy’s Room & Board Studio in Nashville, TN. Each volume features a themed set of songs by other artists curated by the multi-Grammy award winner, Lucinda Williams. // Lucinda Gayle Williams was born January 26, 1953. She is an American rock, folk and country music singer, songwriter and musician. She recorded her first albums, Ramblin’ on My Mind (1979) and Happy Woman Blues (1980), in a traditional country and blues style and received little public or radio attention. In 1988, she released her eponymous third album, Lucinda Williams, to critical raves. Widely regarded as “an Americana classic”, the album also features “Passionate Kisses”, a song later recorded by Mary Chapin Carpenter, which garnered Williams her first Grammy Award for Best Country Song in 1994. Known for working slowly, Williams’ fourth album, Sweet Old World, appeared four years later in 1992. Sweet Old World was met with further critical acclaim, and was voted the 11th best album of 1992 in The Village Voice’s Pazz & Jop, an annual poll of prominent music critics. // Williams’ commercial breakthrough came in 1998 with Car Wheels on a Gravel Road, an album presenting a broader scope of songs that fused rock, blues, country and Americana into a distinctive style that remained consistent and commercial in sound. Car Wheels on a Gravel Road, which includes the singles “Right in Time” and the Grammy nominated “Can’t Let Go”, became Williams’ greatest commercial success to date. The album was certified Gold by the RIAA the following year, and earned her a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album, while being universally acclaimed by critics. Williams’ follow up album, Essence, appeared three years later in 2001, to further critical acclaim and commercial success, becoming her first Top 40 album on the Billboard 200, peaking at No. 28. Featuring a more downbeat musical tone, with spare, intimate arrangements, the album earned Williams three Grammy nominations in 2002, including Best Contemporary Folk Album, while the single “Get Right with God” won her the Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. // One of the most celebrated singer/songwriters of her generation, Williams has released a string of albums since that have earned her further critical acclaim and commercial success, including World Without Tears (2003), West (2007), Little Honey (2008), Blessed (2011), and Good Souls Better Angels (2020). Among her various accolades, she has won three Grammy Awards, from 17 nominations, and has received two Americana Awards (one competitive, one honorary), from 11 nominations. Williams ranked No. 97 on VH1’s 100 Greatest Women in Rock & Roll in 1999, and was named “America’s best songwriter” by Time magazine in 2002. In 2015, Rolling Stone ranked her as the 79th greatest songwriter of all time. In 2017, she received the Berklee College of Music Honorary Doctor of Music Degree, and ranked No. 91 on Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Country Artists of All Time. In 2020, Car Wheels on a Gravel Road ranked No. 97, and Lucinda Williams ranked No. 426, on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.]

10:33 – Underwriting

9. Bill Fay – “Dust Filled Room (Still Some Light)”
   from: Still Some Light: Pt. 1/ Coptic Cat / January 19, 2010 / Reissued on Dead Oceans
   [William Fay was born in North London on December 20, 1943. He is an English singer, pianist and songwriter. His early recordings were released by Deram, but following the release of his second album in 1971, Fay was dropped by the label. His work enjoyed a growing cult status in the 1990s, and his older works were re-issued in 1998 and 2004/2005. Fay’s 2012 album, Life Is People, was his first album of all-new material since 1971. His most recent album, Countless Branches, was released on January 17, 2020. // His first single, “Some Good Advice” / “Screams in the Ears”, was issued on the Deram label in 1967, and was followed by two albums, Bill Fay in 1970 and Time of the Last Persecution in 1971. The recordings did not sell well, and Fay was dropped from Deram soon after the release of his second album. They were re-issued in 1998, and then again in 2005. //Despite returning to the recording studio in the late 1970s, the follow-up to Time of the Last Persecution was not released until January 2005, following the reissues of his earlier works. // Bill Fay’s work enjoyed a growing cult status in the 1990s. His first two albums were re-issued in 1998, an event which Bill Fay described in 2012 as follows: Up until 1998, when some people reissued my albums, as far as I was concerned, I was gone, deleted. No one was listening. But then I got the shock that people remembered my music. I was doing some gardening, and listening to some of my songs on cassette, and a part of me thought they were quite good. I thought, “Maybe somebody will hear them someday.” That same evening, 14 years ago, I got a call from a music writer telling me that my two albums were being reissued. A shock is not gonna get much bigger than that, David […] It was astonishing to me. I won’t ever really be able to believe that it happened. That’s how I feel about it. I had come to terms with the fact that I was deleted, but that I had always kept writing songs anyway and that was good enough. // In 2004, the British label Wooden Hill released a collection of demos recorded between 1966 and 1970 entitled From the Bottom of an Old Grandfather Clock. In 2005 his late 1970s recordings were released January 2005. Entitled Tomorrow, Tomorrow & Tomorrow, it was credited to the Bill Fay Group and was released on the Durtro Jnana label. // The compilation album Still Some Light appeared on the Coptic Cat label in 2010, a double CD containing a mix of older material and newer, home-recorded songs. // Life is People, released 21 August 2012 on Dead Oceans, is his first new studio LP in over 40 years. // A new album by Bill Fay was released in April 2015, titled Who Is the Sender?’. The second album track, “War Machine”, came out as a single in February 2015. // A feature article entitled “Bill Fay Was a Hidden Gem. One Musician Made Finding Him a Mission” was published in the New York Times on January 15, 2020. // His most recent album, Countless Branches, was released on January 17, 2020. // The American band Wilco has played Fay’s song “Be Not So Fearful” in live performances and the band’s singer, Jeff Tweedy, can be heard singing it in the documentary, I Am Trying to Break Your Heart: A Film About Wilco. Fay has joined the band and Tweedy onstage for the rendition of the song at shows at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire in 2007, and at the Union Chapel, Islington in 2010 respectively, both in London. // The English singer-songwriter and pianist John Howard recorded a cover version of the song “Be Not So Fearful” for his E.P. Songs for the Lost and Found (2008). The song “Be Not So Fearful” was also covered by Ed Harcourt on the benefit compilation album Songs to Save a Life – In Aid of Samaritans (2011). // A cover version of Fay’s “Pictures of Adolf Again”, by producer and musician Jim O’Rourke and Wilco drummer Glenn Kotche, can be heard in the film from Kōji Wakamatsu, United Red Army. The title track of “Time of the Last Persecution” became a live standard of the British Apocalyptic folk group, Current 93. // The band Okkervil River covered Fay’s song “Plan D” on their Golden Opportunities 2 EP in 2011. // The American band The War on Drugs covered Fay’s song “I Hear You Calling” at shows throughout 2014. // His song “Be Not So Fearful” got a cover by A.C. Newman in 2014, and was used in the episode “Us” of The Walking Dead. // In 2008 the English singer Marc Almond recorded a live version of “Cosmic Boxer” and it was released on his album In ‘Bluegate Fields’: Live at Wilton’s Music Hall.]

10. Kevin Morby – “I Hear You Calling”
    from: I Hear You Calling – Single / Dead Oceans / December 13, 2021
    [A single release with Bill Fay singing “I Hear You Calling” on Side B. On October 16, 2020 Kevin Morby released Sundowner, ranked #20 on WMM’s 120 Best recordings of 2020 and the 6th release from Kevin Robert Morby born April 2, 1988. follow up to his 2019 release Oh My God. Kevin Morby released City Music in 2017. Kevin learned to play guitar when he was 10. In his teens he formed the band Creepy Aliens. 17-year-old Morby dropped out of Blue Valley Northwest High School, got his GED, and moved from his native Kansas City to Brooklyn in the mid-2000s, supporting himself by working bike delivery and café jobs. He later joined the noise-folk group Woods on bass. While living in Brooklyn, he became close friends and roommates with Cassie Ramone of the punk trio Vivian Girls, and the two formed a side project together called The Babies, who released albums in 2011 and 2012. He began a solo career in 2013 releasing his debut album Harlem River. His 2nd album Still Life was released in 2014. His album Singing Saw was in WMM’s The 116 Best Recordings of 2016. His album City Music was in WMM’s The 118 Best Recordings of 2018].

11. Kenny Cox – “Clap Clap! The Joyful Noise”
    from: Clap Clap! The Joyful Noise / 180 Proof/ 2012 / Reissued – Barely Breaking Even / 2022
    [from http://www.45turns.com: A BBE Music excavation of Detroit jazz history, in collaboration with Detroit’s 180 Proof Records and DJ Amir. // Kenny Cox was a jazz pianist from Detroit, probably most notable for two LPs on Blue Note with his Contemporary Jazz Quintet (see here and here). These records fit snugly into the post-bop picture of Blue Note’s late 60s output forged in the wake of Miles and Johns’ trailblazing modal expeditions, and they are fine records, for what they’re worth. // But if post-bop gave Kenny Cox a seat at the table of US jazz history, its the twenty-first century penchant for ‘exotic’ old recordings that brings Clap Clap! The Joyful Noise out of those proverbial Detroit warehouses and onto the reissue radar. Cox’s third album was an exploration of breezy bossa and Afro-Cuban jazz, with flourishes of fusion and the nascent soft rock jazz funk sensibilities of the mid 70s, brought out on his own evanescent imprint, Strata Records and resurfaced here by DJ Amir. // Front to back, this is a spectacular record, not least for its ability to evoke those halcyon images of the landscapes of Brazil and the Caribbean, which Cox admits he’d “never seen”. With Clap Clap! , rather than a gaudy revamp of bossa motifs na moda Americana, Cox imparts a magical imperfection that, in itself, rings true to the places and feelings he takes as inspiration. This is an endearing homage to those places and sounds so ingrained in the consciousness of devotees of this sort of music, avoiding that gushing, effusive replication that litters scores of bargain bins in the flea markets of European capitals. // The eponymous opening track is squishy reco-reco and bright, quivering keys, their infectious bossa rhythms punctuated by the sound of sea lapping over sand on the praia: an easy-going exploration that doesn’t take itself too seriously, although it has every reason to. An even-tempered track with gorgeous, fusion-inspired vocal wanderings from Ursula Walker, and seven minutes of everything being just alright. // ‘Samba De Romance’ is free-and-easy on nylon strings, a straightforward serenade to-ing and fro-ing in the balmy Carioca night, soft and understated in its elegance. // Onto the other side and third track ‘Island Song’ moves proceedings further north with its Trinidadian skank and gleeful brass reprise, swaying its way into nine-odd minutes of casual, unceremonious joy where every player gets a few minutes to let loose – that’s Buzz Jones on sax, Charles Moore on flugelhorn and of course Kenny Cox on the keys, with Ronald Johnsons and Victor Reeves laying down percussions. // Onto the other disk and we have ‘Lost My Love’, which reminds me of the sort of West Coast / AOR / Yacht Rock kitsch reissued by Charles Maurice on Favorite Recordings, and then final track ‘Beyond The Dream’. This is the masterpiece moment, the 13-minute soul searching track that seems a natural culmination of all the things that make this LP wonderful. Its a little more restrained, almost tense, moving away from that laid-back carefree joie de vivre into something a bit ritualistic as the sun gets back down under the sea. It channels that reaching out into the cosmos mood à la 1970s Miles Davis, with interjections from humans in the studio, babbling and clapping, cheering and cajoling, in cahoots to carve out the limits of their own musical world before sunrise. A singular piece of music that ties a knot around Kenny Cox’s masterful album solitaire. Clap Clap! The Joyful Noise is serious business. A recording to make some noise about. // You can pick up Clap Clap! The Joyful Noise from 180 Proof Records w/ heavyweight tip-on gatefold sleeve. // Kenny Cox (November 8, 1940 – December 19, 2008) was a jazz pianist performing in the post bop, hard bop and bebop mediums. Cox was pianist for singer Etta Jones during the 1960s and was also a member of a quintet led by trombonist George Bohannon. By the end of the late 1960s he had formed his own Kenny Cox and the Contemporary Jazz Quintet, which recorded two albums for Blue Note Records before the end of the decade. Cox has appeared as a contributor on various albums, and has also performed live with such musicians as Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Eddie Harris, Jackie McLean, Roy Haynes, Ben Webster, Wes Montgomery, Kenny Dorham, Philly Joe Jones, Kenny Burrell, Donald Byrd, Roy Brooks, Charles McPherson, and Curtis Fuller. During the 1980s he formed the Detroit-based Guerilla Jam Band, a group which performed with Regina Carter, James Carter, Tani Tabbal, and Craig Taborn.Cox was responsible for the short-lived Strata Records. // He died in his Detroit home of lung cancer at the age of 68.]

12. Galactic – “Magalenha (feat. Casa Samba)”
from: Carnivale Electricos / Anti / February 21, 2012
[Galactic is an American jam band from New Orleans, Louisiana. Formed in 1994 as an octet (under the name Galactic Prophylactic) and including singer Chris Lane and guitarist Rob Gowen, the group was soon pared down to a sextet of: guitarist Jeff Raines, bassist Robert Mercurio, drummer Stanton Moore, Hammond organist Rich Vogel, Theryl DeClouet on vocals, and later adding saxophonist Ben Ellman.// The group was started when Raines and Mercurio, childhood friends from affluent Chevy Chase, Maryland, moved to New Orleans together to attend college at Tulane and Loyola Universities,[3] became enamored of the local funk scene, populated by such legendary acts as The Meters and Dirty Dozen Brass Band and inspired by local legends such as Professor Longhair. There they teamed with noted New Orleans drummer Stanton Moore, saxophonist/harmonica (now producer) Ben Ellman, Rich Vogel, and Theryl de Clouet. In 2004, the band parted ways with vocalist DeClouet, and continued as an instrumental group until 2007 when they released From the Corner to the Block featuring rappers ranging from Juvenile, Chali 2na, Boots Riley, and Lyrics Born. They continue to tour with different vocalists: 2011 and 2012 with Cyril Neville, 2011 through 2014 with Corey Glover, 2014 with Maggie Koerner, from 2015 with Erica Falls. They have also toured with trombonist Corey Henry from 2009 through 2016 and trumpet player Shamarr Allen from 2016. They have been releasing albums consistently since 1996. // The band has developed a unique sound as a result of their influences, including: rock, funk, brass band, blues, jazz, hip hop, electronic, and world music. Many of their songs include performances by other artists of various styles of music, like hip-hop artists Boots Riley (of The Coup), Gift of Gab (of Blackalicious) and Chali 2na (of Jurassic 5), to vocalists Macy Gray, Mavis Staples, Allen Toussaint, Irma Thomas, David Shaw, Mystikal, Mannie Fresh, and JJ Grey & Mofro. On the European version of From the Corner to the Block there are two tracks more than on the US version. One of those tracks (“Valley Of Pain”) features the German rapper Dendemann. // The band’s sound has evolved from organic New Orleans funk to a more modern style, incorporating elements of hip hop, electronica, fusion, and jazz. This change has been largely characterized by the increased use of electronic effects on guitar, bass, saxophone, and drums. Drummer Stanton Moore uses phrase samplers to sample a rhythm which he can then play over, producing intricate and layered drum sounds. Ben Ellman, saxophonist and harmonica player, often distorts his instruments to the degree that they sound similar to an electric guitar. In 2007, the band began to produce their own albums (mainly Ben Ellman and Robert Mercurio). This opened them up to more studio experimentation and exploration resulting in their loop, edit and production heavy album Ya-Ka-May.]

13. Juan Pablo Torres y Algo Nuevo – “Y que bien”
from: CUBA: Music and Revolution: Culture Clash In Havana Cuba-Experiments in Latin Music 1975-85 Vol. 2 / Soul Jazz Records / 2021
[From http://www.allmusic.com: Ten months after the initial volume of CUBA: Music and Revolution: Culture Clash in Havana: Experiments in Latin Music 1975-85, England’s Soul Jazz Records continues its excavation of material from Havana’s EGREM Studios and Areito Records with another double-disc. This volume, also compiled by Gilles Peterson and Stuart Baker, picks up where the first left off. Both are soundtracks for the coffee table book Cuba: Original Album Cover Art of Cuban Music. // After the revolution, musicians were state-employed and labels were subsidized. Music was made in a vacuum where artists could create, but performing outlets were restricted to block parties and state-sanctioned festivals; nightclubs were closed. This climate proved fertile ground for experimentation; it led many artists to innovate on traditional styles — son, songo, rhumba, mambo, guaguancó, etc. — aided by effects pedals and electronic keyboards. The renaissance of Cuban jazz during the period is reflected on these releases, as are integrations with disco, funk, soul, tropicalia, and MPB. // Check opener “Y Que Bien” by Juan Pablo Torres y Algo Nuevo. A funky salsa vamp offered by jagged synths and distorted electric guitars is framed by fingerpopping brass, fretless bass, and many layers of percussion. Interlocking circular vamps emerge in place of a melody until the middle, when Torres begins scatting near the end. The historic Los Van Van and Juan Formell are represented by a gloriously remastered “Por Que lo Haces?” juxtaposing rumbling son with strings, horns, wah-wah guitars, and bass. The multi-part vocal harmonies, swirling choruses, and Afrobeat guitars frame frenetic timbales, congas, and claves. The combined effect sounds like Mandrill jamming with Irakere. Los Papines offers “Solo de Tumba y Bongo.” It simmers with son alongside jazz, spidery funk, and Colombian cumbia in a steamy mix. Disc one closes with Grupo Raices Nuevas’ wooly “Baila Mi Guaguancó,” where guaguancó meets salsa, jazz fusion, and disco, led by killer zig-zagging synths. // Disc two offers Orquesta Riverside’s “En Casa del Trompo No Bailes.” It begins as a darkly tinged disco exercise in drum funk before erupting into an orgy of hard-swinging big-band salsa. Los Brito’s “El 4-5-6” bubbles with dueling male and female vocal choruses atop rumbling, syncopated, salsa-fied jazz. Grupo Los Yoyi contributes “Tu No Me Puedes Conquistar,” an experiment in psychedelic jazz with wonky fuzz guitars and organs leading the way over deep, rumbling percussion. Speaking of psychedelia, Grupo de Experimentacion Sonora del ICAIC’s “Cuba Va” weds distorted acoustic and electric guitars atop a shuffling rock beat; later, it morphs into danzon over a folk-pop melody. Closer “Finalizo un Amor” by Los Reyes 73 swaggers across funk, rock, jazz, and son with layered strings, spacy organ, rippling guitar, and a rubbery bassline under a loopy vocal. The booklet is annotated with copious, authoritative liner notes, discographical info, and rare photos. Like its predecessor, CUBA: Music and Revolution: Culture Clash in Havana: Experiments in Latin Music 1975-85, Vol. 2 is essential listening for fans of Afro-Latin music.]

11:00 – Station ID

14. Bill Callahan & Bonnie “Prince” Billy – “Od’d in Denver (feat. Matt Sweeney)”
    from: Blind Date Party / Drag City / December 10, 2021 / 2022
    [From http://www.stereophile.com: Bill Callahan and Bonnie Prince Billy—the latter is a stage name for Will Oldham—did not set out to make an album together. They were just trying fill the long pandemic months with music. In 2020, they started singing other people’s songs together, broadcasting them to fans via Zoom. They recorded the tracks, choosing a different guest musician to contribute to each song. Eventually they amassed recordings of enough covers, plus reimaginings of some original works, to create this album for Drag City, where they’re both signed artists. It’s an endlessly interesting and clever project, full of musical exploration. Some of the covers nearly outshine the original versions. // Part of the album’s success surely stems from the yin/yang of the two driving personalities and musical approaches. Callahan’s previous releases show a quiet cynicism, sorrow wrapped in wonder, delivered in a deep, golden voice. Oldham, on the other hand, specializes in quirky humor and a sardonic worldview, backed with banjos and a smirk. That interplay led to an eclectic collection of songs full of good surprises. // For an album to stand the test of time, it needs solid bookends. Callahan and Oldham went with steel-infused marble: They open with Cat Stevens and close with John Prine. The Stevens song is “Blackness of the Night,” which has lyrics dealing with rebellion and loneliness. A plucked acoustic guitar contrasts with mournful synth chords while the duo sings in close harmony. Guest electric guitarist Azita provides a sad and angry solo at the bridge. As for the Prine, “She Is My Everything” gets a heart-tugging treatment. The decision to use Oldham’s thin, sincere voice as the lead was brilliant: Prine’s wordy, naturalistic lyrics, flecked with humor, work best with a human-scale mouthpiece. Saxes (soprano and baritone) twine around guest guitarist Sir Richard Bishop’s harmonic core. // Part of the fun of this album is the contrast from one track to the next. Billie Eilish’s “Wish You Were Gay” gets a disco pulse and deadpan backup singing from Sean O’Hagan, utterly contrasting with the dreamy, ethereal reading of Heather Summers’s “Red-Tailed Hawk,” which precedes it. Robert Wyatt, a veteran of the British prog rock and jazz fusion scene, wrote “Sea Song,” one of the album’s highlights; you would hardly expect its surreally disjointed, dissonant sounds to act as a segue into Lowell George’s “I’ve Been the One,” presented in standard folksinger-with-guitar mode. // For all the imagination behind Callahan and Oldham’s vocal arrangements and their own instrumental playing, the guests contribute much of the distinctiveness to each track. Improvisatory guitarist Bill MacKay twists the harmony of Donald Fagen’s “Deacon Blues,” which is quite an accomplish-ment considering how innovative Steely Dan is when it comes to chord progressions. Guitarist Cory Hanson, who earlier this year strayed from his usual psychedelia and acid rock to explore Americana on the album Pale Horse Rider, provides country backing on Michael Burton’s “Night Rider’s Lament.” And then there’s George Xylouris, who plays Cretan laouto (lute), the most inspired addition to this banquet of musical sounds. The haunting resonance of the instrument’s deep wooden body and gut strings adds a touch to Lou Reed’s “Rooftop Garden” that we never knew it needed (but it did). // Most often, the lead voice is Callahan’s intense baritone, with Oldham’s shaky tenor in the background. Oldham even hands over his own song, “Arise Therefore,” in a Bowie-esque electronic arrangement that distorts Callahan’s usually smooth voice. This cover arrangement is the biggest change from the original song of any on this record. What had been, in Oldham’s 1996 recording, the slow, quiet creep of an animal emerging from its hole after the nuclear winter now becomes a furious human holding the A-bomb. It’s shocking and affecting. // Oldham does have moments to show his own expressive power. The best is Leonard Cohen’s “The Night of Santiago,” a historical vignette inspired by a Lorca poem. The sensual Spanish-style melody is laid over handclaps and syncopated guitar work from David Grubbs. Dave Rich’s country waltz “I’ve Made Up My Mind” also features Oldham. His simple delivery, without vibrato but decorated with short vocal turns, has an authentic-seeming mountain gospel openness. // Anyone who has tried to make music with others in this time of remote interaction has experienced the challenges of ensemble playing. Here, the sound production, apparently the result of sharing files online and taking turns tweaking them, has ragged edges as the various participants try to fit into the musical whole. There are moments when the threads in the sound fabric become dangerously loose. But that imperfect, homemade quality gives the proceedings a pleasing intimacy, even if it’s not completely human, like a Zoom chat with an old friend.—Anne E. Johnson.]

15. Bill Callahan & Bonnie “Prince” Billy – “I’ve Been the One (feat. Meg Baird)”
    from: Blind Date Party / Drag City / December 10, 2021 / 2022

16. Cate Le Bon – “Dirt On The Bed”
    from: Pompeii / Mexican Summer / February 14, 2022
    [Le Bon’s 6th album and her first album since her 2019 release REWARD (released May 23, 2019) which received a Mercury prize nomination and was #12 onWMM’s 119 Best Recordings of 2019. “Pompeii was written and recorded in a quagmire of unease. Solo. In a time warp. In a house I had a life in 15 years ago. I grappled with existence, resignation and faith. I felt culpable for the mess but it smacked hard of the collective grit imposed by religion and original sin,” said Le Bon in a press release. // Throughout the entire album, Le Bon plays every instrument, aside from drums and saxophone. She also recorded the album herself along with long-term collaborator Samur Khouja. // Le Bon elaborates more on the meaning behind the album by stating, “The subtitle is: You will be forever connected to everything. Which, depending on the time of day, is as comforting as it is terrifying. The sense of finality has always been here. It seems strangely hopeful. Someone is playing with the focus lens. The world is on fire but the bins must go out on a Tuesday night. Political dissonance meets beauty regimes. I put a groove behind it for something to hold on to. The grief is in the saxophone.” // Cate Le Bon who was born Cate Timothy on March 4, 1983. She is a musician and producer. She sings in both English and Welsh. She has released four solo albums, three EPs and a number of singles. Le Bon has toured with artists such as St. Vincent, Perfume Genius and John Grant. In 2018, she joined John Cale on stage at The Barbican with the London Contemporary Orchestra. Le Bon was born in Penboyr, Carmarthenshire, Wales, and first gained public attention when she supported Gruff Rhys (of the Super Furry Animals) on his 2007 solo UK tour. She appeared as a guest vocalist on Neon Neon’s 2008 single “I Lust U” from their album Stainless Style. Under her original name she provided backing vocals on Richard James’s debut solo album The Seven Sleepers Den in 2006. She also appeared on his second solo album, We Went Riding, from 2010. Her first official release was a Welsh language EP, Edrych yn Llygaid Ceffyl Benthyg (“Looking in the Eyes of a Borrowed Horse”, similar to the English expression “to look a gift horse in the mouth”), on Peski Records in 2008. She also self-released the double A-side debut single “No One Can Drag Me Down” / “Disappear” (described by Gruff Rhys as “Bobbie Gentry and Nico fight over a Casio keyboard; melody wins!”) on her website. Le Bon worked alongside Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci’s Megan Childs, who contributed violin, and Super Furry Animals and Thrills collaborator John Thomas, who added pedal steel. Her debut album, Me Oh My was released in 2009, followed by Cyrk and the Cyrk II EP in 2012. In January 2013, Le Bon moved to L A to further her career in the US. Her third album, Mug Museum, was released November 2013. It was produced by Noah Georgeson and Josiah Steinbrick in Los Angeles, and featured Stephen Black (bass) & Huw Evans (guitar). She provided guest vocals on the track “Slow Train” from Kevin Morby’s debut album Harlem River. In 2015, Le Bon collaborated with Tim Presley as DRINKS and released the album Hermits on Holiday in August 2015. DRINKS released their second album Hippo Lite in April 2018. Le Bon released her fourth studio album, Crab Day, on April 15, 2016 on Drag City to generally favourable reviews. The album was produced by Josiah Steinbrick and Noah Georgeson, and again featured Stephen Black (bass) & Huw Evans (guitar), w/ Stella Mozgawa (drums). She noted how the collaboration with Presley had made her realise “that I make music because I love to, not because I have to”. On tour she was supported by Black and Evans and on occasion by Steinbrick and Josh Klinghoffer, a five-piece that also performs instrument improvisations under the name BANANA. In January 2017, Le Bon released the four-track EP Rock Pool via Drag City. It includes her version of the track “I Just Want to Be Good” featuring Perfume Genius, which she wrote for Sweet Baboo’s 2015 album The Boombox Ballads. In the same month Leaving Records released Live by BANANA, recorded live during the band’s 2016 tour and Le Bon remixed Eleanor Friedberger’s ‘Are We Good?’ In 2018, Le Bon signed with Brooklyn based record label Mexican Summer.]

17. Mitski – “Working For The Knife”
    from: Laurel Hell / Dead Oceans / February 4, 2022
    Mitski Miyawaki was born Mitsuki Laycock-Miyawaki on September 27, 1990. She is a Japanese-American singer-songwriter. Mitski self-released her first two albums, Lush (2012) and Retired from Sad, New Career in Business (2013), while studying at Purchase College’s Conservatory of Music. After graduating, she released her third studio album, Bury Me at Makeout Creek (2014), through Double Double Whammy. She then signed with Dead Oceans in 2015, where she released her critically acclaimed albums Puberty 2 (2016), Be the Cowboy (2018) and Laurel Hell (2022). The Guardian dubbed her the “best young songwriter” of the United States. // Mitski Miyawaki was born Mitsuki Laycock-Miyawaki on September 27, 1990, in Japan to American father and a Japanese mother. Her first language was Japanese, growing up in a small town in Mie Prefecture. She moved frequently while growing up due to her father’s job at the United States Department of State, living in countries such as Turkey, China, Malaysia, the Czech Republic, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo before settling in the United States. She sang in a choir in high school and was 18 when she wrote her first song on the piano. // After enrolling at Hunter College to study film, Mitski decided to pursue music instead and transferred to SUNY Purchase College’s Conservatory of Music, where she studied studio composition. During her time at Purchase College, she recorded and self-released her piano-based first and second albums, Lush (2012) and Retired from Sad, New Career in Business (2013), as student projects. While there, Mitski also met Patrick Hyland, who has produced each of her albums after Lush. // After graduating, she served as the vocalist for the short-lived prog-metal band Voice Coils and began work on her third studio album, Bury Me at Makeout Creek, which was released on November 11, 2014, through Double Double Whammy. The album represented a sonic departure from Mitski’s orchestral and classical piano background found in her first two albums, exchanging it for raw, impulsive guitar. It garnered acclaim from numerous publications. // On December 22, 2015, Mitski signed with Dead Oceans before releasing new music the following year. She announced her fourth studio album, Puberty 2, on March 1, 2016, and shared the lead single, “Your Best American Girl”. She released another single, “Happy”, before the release of the album on June 17. The album was recorded over a two-week period at Acme Studios in Westchester County, New York and was produced by longtime collaborator Patrick Hyland. The album received widespread acclaim from music critics. “Your Best American Girl” was named the 13th best song of the 2010s by Rolling Stone. // In a 2016 episode of the Cartoon Network show Adventure Time, her song “Francis Forever” was covered by Olivia Olson as the character Marceline the Vampire Queen. // On February 21, 2017, the Pixies announced US tour dates with Mitski as a supporting act. On May 1, a compilation album consisting of 100 songs by different artists titled Our First 100 Days was released. It includes Mitski’s cover of One Direction’s song “Fireproof”. The compilation aims to raise funds for organizations that support causes threatened by Donald Trump’s proposed policies. Mitski played a cover of the song in 2015, but that version has since been taken down. Mitski also covered Frank Sinatra’s 1951 classic “I’m a Fool to Want You” for the 7-Inches For Planned Parenthood compilation album. On October 4, 2017 Lorde announced Mitski will be an opening act for selected dates as part of her Melodrama World Tour. On November 1, a short film starring Mitski called Sitting was released. // On April 20, 2018, Mitski teamed up with the experimental band Xiu Xiu on the song “Between the Breaths” for the soundtrack of the sci-fi comedy film How to Talk to Girls at Parties, based on the short story of the same name. // On May 14, 2018, Mitski’s fifth studio album, Be the Cowboy, was made available for pre-order without prior announcement. The lead single, “Geyser”, was released on the same day alongside its accompanying music video. The second single, “Nobody”, was released on June 26, 2018, accompanied by the music video, and the third and final single to precede the album, “Two Slow Dancers”, was released on August 9 alongside a lyric video. Be the Cowboy was released on August 17, through Dead Oceans. It was critically acclaimed and named the album of the year by publications including Pitchfork, Vulture and Consequence of Sound. // On tour in 2019, Mitski began incorporating choreography into her live performances inspired by Butoh, a form of dance theater developed in post-war Japan, in which “performers draw on chaotic internal emotions but depict them with precise, repetitive gestures.” The approach reflected her wish to “give audiences something new” on her second headlining tour since Be the Cowboy’s release, as well as a desire “to develop her own, idiosyncratic ways of maintaining a grip on an audience,” since she’d learned “that the jumping around onstage, getting everyone pumped up, doesn’t come naturally to me.” Mitski worked with performance artist Monica Mirabile to devise the tour’s “highly stylized, sometimes unsettling” movements. Butoh influenced choreography was also used in her music video for “Working for the Knife”. // In August 2019 Mitski ended her hiatus from social media to post a statement denying allegations made by a Tumblr user that she had been involved in a child trafficking ring. In the statement Mitski stated “I don’t know the accuser, and I don’t know how or why they have come to associate me with their trauma.” // In September 2019 at the final performance of her Be the Cowboy Tour in Central Park, Mitski announced that it would be her last indefinitely. She later talked about how she planned to quit music completely and “find another life.” By early 2020, Mitski had changed her mind and decided to return to music, partly because she owed her label another album and partly for her herself. She described making the decision to continue, “What it came down to was, ‘I have to do this even though it hurts me, because I love it […] This is who I am. … I’m going to keep getting hurt, and I’m still going to do it, because this is the only thing I can do.’ ”]

18. Aldous Harding – “Lawn”
    from: Warm Chris / 4AD / March 25, 2022
    [Hannah Sian Topp was born in 1990. She is known professionally as Aldous Harding, is a New Zealand folk singer-songwriter, based in Cardiff, Wales. // Topp comes from a musical family in Lyttelton, New Zealand: her mother is folk singer Lorina Harding. One of the first musicians who came across her was New Zealand folk-pop singer/songwriter Anika Moa. Moa asked Harding to play support for her that night after finding her busking outside the venue she was about to play at. // She has released music through independent record labels Flying Nun, Spunk, and 4AD. She has collaborated with Marlon Williams, John Parish, Mike Hadreas and Fenne Lily. // 4AD announced Harding as a new signing in early 2017 just prior to the release of her second album, Party. Party was nominated for IMPALA’s European Album of the Year Award. Singer-songwriter Aldous Harding, released Designer is the third studio album on April 26, 2019 by 4AD. The song “The Barrel” won the 2019 APRA Silver Scroll award. // As of 2020, she is based in Cardiff, Wales, where she had previously lived with partner and collaborator H. Hawkline.]

11:23 – Underwriting

19. Bonobo – “Shadows (feat. Jordan Rakei)”
    from: Fragments / Ninja Tune / January 14, 2022
    [Simon Green (born 30 March 1976), known by his stage name Bonobo, is a British musician, producer, and DJ based in Los Angeles.[1] He debuted with a trip hop aesthetic, and has since explored more upbeat approaches as well as jazz and world music influences. His tranquil electronic sound incorporates the use of organic instrumentation, and is recreated by a full band in live performances. // Green’s work has attained a cult following, and he has collaborated with a variety of other artists. // Green debuted in 1999 on the Tru Thoughts compilation When Shapes Join Together. His stage name Bonobo is a reference to the Bonobo chimpanzee species. Following the releases of the EP Scuba, released on Brighton based label Fly Casual Recordings, and the single “Terrapin”, Bonobo was offered label deals with XL recordings and Mute records, but he chose to remain in Tru Thoughts. // His first album Animal Magic was released on the same label in 2000 to mixed reviews. Paul Cooper of Pitchfork stated that it “breaks no new ground for chill-out”, while PopMatters said Bonobo “[showcases] smooth breakbeat loops, synth sounds, and aforementioned dub effects. [And his] electronic music draws on live playing.” Reviewer Dean Carlson also said that the album “slowly takes shape as a solid debut of narcoleptic downtempo.” In spite of reactions, Animal Magic has given Bonobo a cult following. Its accompanying compilation album titled “One Offs…”, was issued in 2002 and contains reworked songs and rarities. // In 2001, Bonobo was signed to Coldcut’s label Ninja Tune and in 2003, he released Dial ‘M’ for Monkey. John Bush of AllMusic stated in a review that Bonobo’s influences were drawn more towards alternative rock and world music rather than hip-hop or trip hop. The album tracks “Pick up” and “Flutter” were featured in the snowboarding game SSX on Tour. // In 2005, Bonobo contributed to the Solid Steel series, with It Came from the Sea. The mix features several exclusive tracks as well as remixes and re-edits. His third album, entitled Days to Come, was released on October 2, 2006. An AllMusic review states that “[Bonobo] breathes new life into a well-worn genre.” With the album as well as his future work, he featured vocalists such as Bajka, thus “adding [an] organic and vibrant musicality that’s rare in electronic music.” Days to Come was voted Best Album of 2006 by Gilles Peterson’s listeners. The song “Nightlite” appeared on UEFA Champions League 2006–2007, and “Recurring” was used in a surfing film broadcast on Fuel TV/ // Bonobo’s seventh studio album Fragments was released on 14 January 2022. Five singles were released ahead of the album’s release. The first single, “Rosewood”, debuted on October 6, 2021, followed by “Tides” on October 20, 2021, a collaboration with Jamila Woods. A third single, “Otomo”, was released on 10 November 2021, a collaboration with O’Flynn, followed by “Shadows”, with Jordan Rakei, on the 1st of December. The fifth and final single, “From You”, with Joji, was released on 3 January 2022. // Bonobo’s sound is oriented on beats and samples but typically “soothing”, combining influences ranging from club music to world music. Pitchfork named him a key figure in the 2000s downtempo electronica scene while The Guardian associated him with the recent popularity of “ambient world electronica”. While his earliest work was firmly based in trip hop, his style soon became more upbeat and delved into genres such as jazz (which has led him to be described as a nu jazz artist) and traditional Indian music. He has collaborated with various artists, including Bajka, Andreya Triana, Erykah Badu, and Rhye who contributed vocals to songs on his last four albums Days to Come, Black Sands, The North Borders, and Migration, respectively. He also performed with Robert Luis of the Tru Thoughts label under the alias of Nirobi and Barakas. // Whilst often touring solo, and performing DJ sets and residencies, in 2010 Bonobo opted to start touring with a full band for the Black Sands tour. The band plays live renditions of studio material, with a singer, keyboardist, guitarist, saxophonist, string section, electronics, and drummer, often with improvisations and solos. His albums employ sampling, for example ‘Behind the Light’ (from Pick Up EP, 2003) uses a clip of ‘Judy’ from John Renbourn.]

20. Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad – “Sunflowers (feat. Roy Ayers) [Instrumental]”
    from: Jazz Is Dead 009 Instrumentals / Jazz Is Dead / 2021
    [Under Jazz Is Dead, younger artists are elaborating upon conversations started decades ago; jazz icons are utilizing vintage equipment to create new masters with Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad; the same equipment that recorded their coveted catalogs. The vitality embedded in the new masters epitomizes our quest for new life in music: Jazz Is Dead.]

21. Pino Palladino & Blake Mills – “Just Wrong”
    from: Notes With Attachments / Impulse Records / March 12, 2021 / 2022
    [Notes with Attachments is an instrumental collaboration between bassist Pino Palladino and guitarist/multi-instrumentalist/producer Blake Mills. Recorded in stages over two and a half years and initially conceived as a solo project for Palladino, the album brings together a shared cohort of musicians from jazz, R&B, pop, and beyond. It also features drummer Chris Dave, keyboardist Larry Goldings, and saxophonists Sam Gendel, Marcus Strickland, and Jacques Scwartz-Bart.]

22. Dr. Lonnie Smith – “Bright Eyes (Live)”
    from: Breathe / Blue Note / March 26, 2021
    [From http://www.allmusic.com: Veteran Hammond B-3 master Dr. Lonnie Smith pairs with punk icon Iggy Pop on his inspired and deeply funky 2021 album Breathe. Smith initially came into his own in the 1960s, releasing a string of groove-based albums for Blue Note, including 1968’s Think!, that helped define the sound of forward-thinking organ jazz. Over 30 years after his last album for Blue Note, he returned to the label with 2016’s vibrant Evolution and 2018’s All in My Mind; albums that found him recapturing the earthy energy of his original recordings. Continuing this latter-career resurgence, Breathe again finds him working with producer Don Was, and backed by an energetic ensemble of all-stars including guitarist Jonathan Kreisberg and drummer Johnathan Blake, who make up his core trio. He also expands the group to a septet on several tracks, bringing trumpeter Sean Jones, tenor saxophonist John Ellis, baritone saxophonist Jason Marshall, and trombonist Robin Eubanks on board. Smith’s work with Pop bookends that album as they offer a smoky, Doors-esque rendition of Timmy Thomas’ 1972 soul anthem “Why Can’t We Live Together” and a relaxed, boogaloo-style work-up of Donovan’s ’60s classic “Sunshine Superman.” Both of these songs were recorded in studio and feature added percussion from Richard Bravo. They are wry, ebullient recordings that make a surprising case for Pop as a jazz crooner. The core of the album finds Smith leading his band through a series of energetic performances captured live at The Jazz Standard in New York City. Among these are several inspired Smith originals including “Bright Eyes,” a breezy 3/4 anthem that brings to mind his ’60s work. Equally engaging are the slow-grooving “Track 9,” which spotlights a fiery solo from trumpeter Jones, and the gospel-inflected “Pilgrimage,” featuring vocalist Alicia Olatuja. Smith also jumps into a bug-like take on Thelonious Monk’s “Epistrophy” that evokes the spacy sound of Herbie Hancock’s 1973 Sextant album. Few legacy artists are as capable at conjuring the urgency and youthful energy of their classic recordings as Smith has been since returning to Blue Note, and Breathe is no exception.]

23. Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio – “Pull Your Pants Up”
    from: Cold As Weiss / Colemine / February 11, 2022
    [Over the course of the last five years, the Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio have established themselves as the world’s premier funky organ trio. The organ trio, along with founder and manager Amy Novo, continues to devise the perfect blend of raw, passionate music and engaging industry practices. Through a firm partnership with label Colemine Records, the trio has garnered Billboard charting albums, sold out shows, tens of thousands of albums sold, and millions of streams. Lofty accomplishments for an instrumental organ trio. // Now, with permanent drummer Dan Weiss behind the kit, DLO3 is proud to present Cold As Weiss, their third studio album to date that finds them tighter than ever, and continuing to push funky instrumental music to a new generation of fans.. // The band features organist Delvon Lamarr, a self-taught virtuosic musician, with perfect pitch who taught himself jazz and has effortlessly been able to play a multitude of instruments. On guitar is the dynamo Jimmy James who eases through Steve Cropper-style chanking guitar, volcanic acid-rock freak-out lead playing, and slinky Grant Green style jazz. From Reno, Nevada is drummer Dan Weiss (also of the powerhouse soul and funk collective The Sextones). Dan’s smoldering pocket-groove drumming locks in the trio’s explosive chemistry. // Founded by Lamarr’s wife and manager Amy Novo, the trio started from humble beginnings in 2015, but since then has released two Billboard charting albums and toured the world to sold out venues.]

24. Khruangbin & Leon Bridges – “B-Side”
    from: Texas Moon EP / Dead Oceans / 2022
    [Follow up to 2020’s Texas moon EP and the 5th EP from Khruangbin a trio from Houston, Texas, with Laura Lee on bass, Mark Speer on guitar, and Donald Ray “DJ” Johnson Jr. on drums. The band has also released 3 albums. The band is known for blending global music influences, classic soul, dub and psychedelia. Their debut studio album, The Universe Smiles Upon You (2015), draws from the history of Thai music in the 1960s, while their 2nd album, Con Todo El Mundo (2018), has influences from Spain and the Middle East. Todd Michael “Leon” Bridges was born July 13, 1989. He is an American soul singer, songwriter and record producer from Fort Worth, Texas. He is best known for his song “Coming Home”, which received regular airplay and was also a Top 10 Most Viral Track on Spotify. Bridges’ debut album, also titled Coming Home, was released on June 23, 2015, on Columbia Records and subsequently nominated for Best R&B Album at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards. Texas Sun is her 2nd EP. He has also released 2 full length records.]

25. Noel Coward – “The Party’s Over Now”
    from: Noel Coward in New York / drg / 2003 [orig. 1957]

Next week on March 2, WMM presents More New and MidCoastal Releases from the new band Prairie Brigade, plus music from: The Creepy Jingles, Erik J. Pearson, Beach House, and more. {bus we welcome Special Guest Ivory Blue who shares music from their new album COMPOUND LOVE.

Thank you to all who donated to KKFI’s Winter Fund Drive. Through our Wednesday MidDay Medley On Air Fund Drive Shows and facebook Fundraiser a total of 57 people donated a total of $3575.00. We love our listeners and welcome you!

Our Script/Playlist is a “cut and paste” of information.
Sources for notes: artist’s websites, bios, wikipedia.org

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Show #930

Wednesday MidDay Medley
Produced and Hosted by Mark Manning
90.1 FM KKFI – Kansas City Community Radio
TEN to NOON Wednesdays – Streaming at KKFI.org

Wednesday, February 23, 2022

Spinning Records With Marion Merritt

Mark welcomes Marion Merritt, of Records With Merritt, who joins us as “Guest Producer” to share sonic discoveries and information from her musically-encyclopedic-brain. Marion Merritt is our most frequent contributor to WMM. She grew up in Los Angeles, and St. Louis. She went to college in Columbia, Missouri. She studied art and musical engineering. She saw Talking Heads on their first U.S. tour when they played One Block West, in KCK, in 1978. For 18 years Marion has joined us on WMM. Marion is also the proprietor of Records With Merritt, at 1614 Westport Rd. in Kansas City, Missouri. More info at: http://www.recordswithmerritt.com.

Marion will spin tracks from: Timo Lassy, Charlie Megira, Cat Power, Lucinda Williams, Bill Fay, Kevin Morby, Cate Le Bon, Mitski, Aldous Harding, Bonobo, Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Pino Palladino & Blake Mills, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio, Khruangbin & Leon Bridges.

On your local radio dial 90.1 FM or
STREAMING LIVE at: kkfi.org

Show #930

Wednesday MidDay Medley
Produced and Hosted by Mark Manning
90.1 FM KKFI – Kansas City Community Radio
TEN to NOON Wednesdays – Streaming at KKFI.org

Wednesday, February 16, 2022

WMM Celebrates Black History with 15 of our Favorite KC Black Artists & Bands + Marion Merritt & Betse Ellis + Rose Brown of Flooding

WMM Celebrates Black History with tracks from 15 of our favorite Kansas City Black Artists: Krystle Warren, Madisen Ward and the Mama Bear, Calvin Arsenia, The Black Creatures, The Freedom Affair, Jass, Flare The Rebel and Bob Pulliam, We The People, The Phantastics, Radkey, Chalis O’Neal, Remy Styrk, Janelle Monaé, Kadesh Flow, and Blackstarkids.

10:00 – “Station ID” (Queen Bey)

1. “Main Title Instrumental – It’s Showtime Folks”
   from: Orig. Motion Picture Soundtrack All That Jazz / Casablanca / December 20, 1979
   [WMM’s Adopted Theme Song]

2. Flare Tha Rebel & Bob Pulliam – “The Revolution Will Not Be Hashtagged”
   from: The Revolution Will Not Be Hashtagged / Shafer / July 9, 2021
   [Inspired by Gil Scott-Heron’s 1971 single, “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”. Career and love brought hip-hop MC Flare Tha Rebel back to his hometown of Kansas City, MO, which created a second wind of new music. Noted by The Pitch, “As a member of hip-hop collective Anti-Crew, Flare Tha Rebel made quite an impact on the Kansas City hip-hop scene. After making the leap from KC to Chicago in the late ‘00s, he’s now back…” Known for a highly energetic live performance, Flare has shared the stage with artists such as Chance the Rapper, RZA of Wu-Tang Clan, Mac Lethal, Nappy Roots, and CES Cru. Although hip-hop at the core, Flare Tha Rebel’s versatility remains as he balances music with socially progressive themes that are still enjoyable enough to raise a glass to at a party. There’s also a duality to Flare’s approach. Many of his songs are connected to his Art to Empower initiative, raising awareness and funds for a variety of social justice causes and nonprofits. Flare Tha Rebel & Bob Pullian were guests on WMM, Aug. 11, 2021. The Revolution Will Not Be Hashtagged was #9 on WMM’s 120 Best Recordings of 2021. Info at: http://www.flaretharebel.com]

[The other single from The Revolution Will Not Be Hashtagged EP is “Child’s Play,” Flare’s single that takes a holistic approach in describing gun violence, which was ranked 4th by voters for 90.9 The Bridge’s Top 90 Songs of 2021. The song showcases the intersectionality between police brutality, mass shootings, violence within systemically oppressed communities, and the United States’ usage of guns. Flare Tha Rebel plays recordBar (1520 Grand Blvd.) Thursday, March 31, in a fundraiser & awareness raiser for Change The Ref, a local nonprofit founded by Manuel & Patricia Oliver in memory of their son Joaquin Oliver, one of the 17 victims of the MSD High School shooting in Parkland, FL. The animated lyric video for “Child’s Play” can be watched at; FlareThaRebel.com]

3. BLACKSTARKIDS – “Juno”
   from: Puppies Forever / Dirty Hit Records / October 15, 2021
   [“Puppies Forever” is the fourth album released by Kansas City band BLACKSTARKIDS, and their second album under indie record label Dirty Hit. “Juno” was the first single. Blackstarkids are phenomenon who came out of Kansas City in 2020 became the soundtrack for the summer. Blackstarkids are a pop/R&B/hip-hop trio based in Kansas City, Missouri. Members include: TheBabeGabe, Deiondre, and TyFaizon (of the Drop Dead XX collective). The members have known each other since high school in Raytown, Missouri. Members met at Raytown South High School and formed the band in 2019. The group released its first album, Let’s Play Sports, on August 1, 2019. Blackstarkids then released their second album SURF through their own label Bedroom Records on February 28, 2020. SURF was #3 on WMM’s 120 Best Recordings of 2020. B;ackstarkids was one of the most played bands on WMM in 2020. Blackstarkids caught the attention of The 1975’s frontman Matty Healy and were then signed to The 1975’s management company and UK-based label Dirty Hit Records. They were featured in Clash Magazine. Blackstarkids then released, Surf Basement Demos on Dirty Hit Records on March 5, 2020. On October 29, 2020, Blackstarkids released Whatever, Man on Dirty Hit Records, their third album release of 2020. Gabe, of Blackstarkids recently described the KC Music community to an interviewer, “The music scene here is really nice. There are a lot of bands who are super talented and do all types of genres. The jazz music here is really great as well. Kansas City is honestly a hidden gem when it comes to music. I feel like you can meet an artist anywhere and anyplace in this city.” Deiondre added, “The music scene here is getting cool now, there’s a lot of jazz musicians that go to school for music here too but you can find people from different scenes all over if around the city.” Ty wrote, “The Kansas City scene is great, the community here is so supportive and genuine. This is a really prideful city here and I think they’re finally getting the musicians they deserve.”]

[Blackstarkids Play Boulevardia on Friday, June 17, 2022.]

10:06 – Pledge Break #1

We take break to encourage YOU to support 90.1 FM KKFI. To help us is…

Betse Ellis. Originally from Fayetteville, Arkansas, Betse received her Bachelors of Arts in Music and a Bachelors of Arts in English, from the University of Missouri – Kansas City. She has been playing the Violin for over 40 years, with over 20 years playing fiddle and also working as a teacher of music. Betse was a founding member of the acclaimed internationally known band, The Wilders. Betse has released two solo records, and records and performs with her husband, multi-instrumentalist Clarke Wyatt, as Betse & Clarke. In 2020 they released their latest 8-song release, WINTER, which was in the Top Ten of WMM’s 120 Best Recordings of 2020

Betse Ellis, Thanks for being with us on Wednesday MidDay Medley

Marion Merritt is our most frequent contributor to WMM, She grew up in Los Angeles, and St. Louis. She went to college in Columbia, Missouri. She studied art and musical engineering, and is a avid lover of classic films and punk rock music. She saw Talking Heads on their first U.S. tour when they played One Block West in 1978. For 16 years she has been sharing her musical discoveries and information from her musically-encyclopedic brain on Wednesday MidDay Medley. With her partner Ann Stewart, Marion is the proprietor of Records With Merritt, a minority owned business at 1614 Westport Rd. in Kansas City, that features new vinyl releases, in-store performances,, and was once the location for a wedding. More information at: http://www.recordwithmerritt.com

Marion Merritt, Thanks for being with us on Wednesday MidDay Medley

90.1 FM KKFI Kansas City Community Radio is Non-Commercial, and that means that three times a year, we interrupt our regular programming, to ask our listeners, to help us continue our unique, 24-7 programming. For 33 years 90.1 FM KKFI has been on the air. While the spirit of this station is kept alive by hundreds of volunteers who passionately donate their time and abilities to keep the transmission of our 100,000-watt-signal alive. We are a operated by a not-for-profit organization, incorporated over 40 years ago, called The MidCoast Radio Project. We’re non-profit, but we still have to pay the electric bill, the rent on our fully accessible production studios and offices, insurance, staff, royalties, production expenses. Even though we have hundreds of committed volunteers, who donate thousands of hours every year, producing radio shows, answering phones, creating websites, producing benefits, rewiring the board, setting up our computer system, we still need YOU, our listener, to take a moment and call 888-931-0901 and donate to keep us alive! Our volunteers are waiting to hear from YOU right now.

In 2021 on WMM we conducted over 138 interviews with 160 special guests

10:14

4. The Black Creatures – “True Friends”
   from: “True Friends” – Single / Center Cut Records / September 17, 2021
   The Black Creatures released their latest single “True Friends” on September 17, 2021.
   [After being signed to Center Cut Records the label remastered and reissued their album Wild Echoes and began releasing singles. “Wild Echoes” was #2 in WMM’s 119 Favorite Releases of 2019 (Albums & EPs). Since the release of ”Wild Echoes” the band has released seven entirely new songs, nearly one per month, all posted to their bandcamp page. The Black Creatures fuse dark-pop hip-hop, soul, jazz, and electronic music with elements from science fiction to tell inter-dimensional stories of love, community, life, culture, history. Xavier & Jade have made an impression in the KC music community with their live shows in clubs, galleries, record stores, and area music festivals. The Black Creatures released their debut single “Mouth 2 Mouth” June 5, 2016. They released the album, See No Evil, December 6, 2017. The duo released the singles, “Elements” February 14, 2018; “Silver Tears” June 19. 2018; “Dare” a Gorillaz cover August 8, 2019. They released the album “Wild Echoes” September 30, 2019. The Black Creatures released the singles “Turn” October 30, 2019; “Quartz (Twilight)” November 13, 2019; “SHINE” December 11, 2019; Ghost Bustin’ Dead Prezidentz” January 8, 2020; “To Whom It May Concern” January 22, 2020; “Arcade Love” February 5, 2020; and “Run Up” Feb. 19, 2020. The Black Creatures were last on WMM on May 26, 2021 and September 15, 2021.]

[Charlotte Street Foundation announced that the recipients of the 2022 Generative Performing Artist Awards are The Black Creatures and Calvin Arsenia Scott. This year, Charlotte Street’s Visual Artist Awards were given to Andrew Mcilvaine, Harold Smith Jr., and Johanna Winters. Congratulations to them all! Bravo!]

[The Black Creatures play Boulevardia on Friday, June 17, 2022]

5. The Freedom Affair – “Don’t Shoot”
   from: Freedom is Love / Sunflower Soul Records / September 25, 2020
   [“Freedom Is Love” is the debut album from Kansas City’s newest soul juggernaut, The Freedom Affair. The album explores themes of love, heartache, empowerment, and togetherness through a varying landscape of hard-hitting funk, luscious soul, and everything in between. The Freedom Affair is a unique collective featuring 3 powerhouse female vocalists in front of a dynamic 6-piece band. On “Freedom Is Love”, each of the ladies get their time to shine individually, but the magic is on full display when all 3 come together in unison and harmony, symbolically embodying the messages that they sing about. The album was recorded and produced by Chris Hazelton, utilizing the best of vintage and new recording technologies to create an authentic experience, befitting of a soul record that would have been relevant 50 years ago as much as it will be 50 years from now. The Freedom Affair is: Misha Roberts on vocals; Paula Saunders on vocals; Seyko Groves on vocals; Cole Bales on guitar, sitar (Track 3); Branden Moser on guitar; Chris Hazelton on bass guitar, organ (Tracks 1, 2, 9, & 10), Tambourine (Track 1), Glockenspiel (Track 3), & Chimes (Track 4); Dave Brick on drums; Pete Carroll on trumpet; Brett Jackson on tenor sax, baritone sax (Tracks 1 & 5), & tambourine (Tracks 5, 6, & 8). Additional Musicians: Pat Conway on Congas (Tracks 1, 3, & 6), Alyssa Bell on viola (Tracks 3, 4, & 7), Elizabeth Codd on violin (Tracks 3 & 4), Matt Bennett on violin (Tracks 3 & 7), John Wickersham on timpani (Track 4), Pamela Baskin-Watson on piano (Track 10), Nick Howell on tambourine (Track 10), The Freedom Family Choir (Track 10): Misha Roberts, Erica Hazelton, Seyko Groves, Paula Saunders, Jordyn Saunders, Cole Bales, and Chris Hazelton. All Horn & String Arrangements by Chris Hazelton except: “Heartaches Don’t Come Easy” and “Give A Little Love” by Pete Carroll & Brett Jackson
   “Don’t Shoot” by Chris Hazelton & Allyssa Bell. Produced, Recorded, & Mixed by Chris Hazelton. Assistant Produced by Dave Brick. Rhythm Section on Track 10 recorded by Chad Meise. Mastered by JJ Golden. Cover Artwork by Matthew “Mo” Manley. Front cover photograph of civil rights protesters in Kansas City, MO (April 9th, 1968). The Freedom Affair and their track “Rise Up” were selected to be part of Colemine Records 3xLP box set, “Soul Slabs Vol. 2” a Record Store Day Exclusive, released April 13, 2019. Colemine writes: “The Freedom Affair is a freight train of KC soul! Dirty, funky drums, gritty horns, and the combined vocals of Misha Roberts, Seyko Groves, and Paula Saunders to put this band over the top. Politically charged soul music for the dancefloor!” Chris Hazelton joined us on WMM on September 16, 2020.]

5. Remy Styrk – “Boy”
   from: “Boy” – Single / Remy Styrk / November 5, 2020
   [Written, produced, and recorded by: Remy Styrk (@remystyrk). Background vocals: Alexis Black + Danzell Capers. Bass solo: Abram Shaffer. Mixed by: Ben Soiefer of Sandblast Productions. Mastered by: Colin Bryson of The Bunker Studio. Remy writes about this new release: “The number of times someone or something washed my hands clean, stood me back up, and gave me another try is unmeasurable. throughout my life i’ve experienced death, drug addiction, anxiety, abandonment, and pure fear. some days are filled with 5 to 7 panic attacks. others are quiet, however a moment of “calm” from complete mental and physical exhaustion seems unbearable, almost more dangerous than a day of anxiety. 2020 has been a catalyst for me. igniting everything i’ve been shoving under the bed and breathing life into a debilitatingly unpredictable fire. the biggest question every time i step outside my front door is, ‘will i make it back home alive today?’” 21 year old Remy Stryk lives in Leawood, Kansas, originally from Newark, New Jersey. This multi instrumentalist has been writing & recording music for several years. Remy Styrk is a sci-fi and thriller film composer composer living in KC. His work is informed by his life experiences, and his life experiences have been a tragic journey on a compact time frame. Styrk was born in Newark, NJ to a homeless heroin addict in February 1999. He doesn’t really know who his parents were, because he wound up in a semi-closed adoption. After birth, he was in the hospital for three weeks, clinging to life. At the age of 14 months, he was adopted by a couple, the husband, a fashion photographer and wife, a creative director, Tom & Deborah. When 9/11 happened and the family wanted to get away from the East Coast. Styrk’s adopted father Tom got a job at Hallmark in Kansas City, Missouri and the family relocated here. Sadly, not long after making the move, Remy’s adopted mother Deborah passed away from a sudden brain aneurysm. Tom quit his job at Hallmark to come home and take care of his kids in this terrible time. Remy’s father was pursuing a photography gig full time during this period, and that set the tone for his kids. Push through everything. Never give up. Dedicate yourself to what you love and work towards it each and every day. Remy began pursuing music. His family that supported his goals. At an early age they got him a guitar, and by age six he was already learning the drums. Remy found folk music, thanks to the relocation into KC. Folk music was new to Remy, and based entirely in storytelling. Remy leaned into that hard, because the storytelling allowed him to process his mother’s death, and the series of other traumas in his life. Remy told Brock Wilbur of The Pitch Kansas City, “I grew up black in a predominately white school system,” Styrk says. “I felt like an outcast but it didn’t make me want to give up on who I was. It pushed me to work harder on being who I want to be. I won’t change for anyone.” Styrk started playing with local bands. He moved from the DIY scene into rock and indie, but then found the famous KC blues scene– and his place within it. This series of genre dabbles prepared him perfectly to start scoring for film. In 2020 Remy was a guest on WMM on May 27, where he talked about his latest interactive recording project, “Of My Own Design” his 9-minute interactive album structured like an “Original Motion Picture Soundtrack.” Remy create pieces of music that all fit together to tell a story both musically and visually. He is asking listeners, to imagine and create the visual story. Scene descriptions can be between 2 sentences and 2 paragraphs. All will be posted on his website: http://www.remystyrk.com/interactive. “In 2019 Remy release “Winter/Summer” In 2018 Remy released “In Too Deep” one of 5 singles Remy has released in the last 2 years. Remy Styrk released the EP Sunday, on Jan 25, 2018 a follow up to the Aug 12, 2015 full length album, Telling Stories Through The Basement Door. Remy Sryrk released the 3-song EP FOUNTAINHEAD on August 16, 2021. More info at: http://www.remystyrk.com]

6. Jass – “Grow”
   from: At the Close of a Decade / JASS / November 26, 2022,
   [Jass is Jasmine “Jass” Couch. Jass writes, “After years of writing and recording in voice memos .. I decided to grab my iPad and began recording something that I am very proud of. I named it, At the Close of A Decade, and released it in November 2019. With my iPhone/iPad, some apple headphones, I created this project. The amazing people around me told me it was worth it, even when I didn’t believe it myself. I convinced myself I would be the only one that liked my songs. If you decide to listen you’ll hear sound clips of shows and movies that made a difference in the way I saw the world, the way I saw myself, and the way I overcame my experiences. I remember asking my grandma and my son if I should release what I’ve been writing and they both said very simply to do it, so I’ve done it. I want to thank all of my wonderful friends who have been my soundboards during this process, all of the people that have asked me when it’s coming, the people that have kept me accountable, and believed that this time it was for real. My story is so very triumphant and beautiful because I have overcome experiences and shunned the fear I had to do what I love. It’s crazy how you can talk your way out of some amazing things and also how you can talk yourself into making some amazing things happen. If you partake, I hope you enjoy.” More info at: http://www.jassrcouch.com]

10:26 – Pledge Break #2

Our WMM Winter Fund Drive Team: Marion Merritt and Betse Ellis

Today on WMM we are celebrating Black History with music from 15 of our favorite Black MidCoastal Artists. MidCoastal is the name of 90.1 FM KKFI’s non-profit organization and governing body. MidCoastal is where we are, on the coasts of the Missouri and Kansas Rivers with a music community that spans the Kansas City Metro region and west to Lawrence and Topeka and south to Olathe and east to Columbia and North to St Joseph. Not necessarily the reach of our 100,000 watt signal but definitely the reach of our community. Wednesday MidDay Medley 90.1 FM was the first radio show and first radio station to ever play many if these amazing musical artists. WMM was the first to play the recordings of: Calvin Arsenia, and Madisen Ward and the Mama Bear, and Krystle Warren, and The Black Creatures and Remy Styrk. We were the first to interview them live on the radio and bring their music to a wider audience.

10:34 – Underwriting

8. Radkey – “Games (Tonight)”
   from: Games (Tonight) – Single / Little Man Records / January 28, 2022
   [On November 27, 2020 Radkey released their album, Green Room. The band served as their own producers. On April 7, 2020 Radkey released a 2 minute cover of “Ain’t No Sunshine” written by Bill Withers who died in 2020. The band released singles “Underground” on November 27, and “Seize” on November 29, 2020. Isaiah, Dee, and Solomon Radke of the critically acclaimed rock trio Radkey joined us live in our 90.1 FM studios on September 5, 2018. Radkey was formed in 2010 in St. Joseph, where the brothers were raised. The family moved to Kansas City. The band has released two full-length recordings — “Dark Black Makeup” in 2015 and “Delicious Rock Noise” in 2016 — plus multiple EPs and singles, and were part of a MasterCard advertising campaign on digital billboards in NYC along with a national television commercial that aired during the 2018 Grammy Awards that brought the band to the attention of Jack White who asked the band to tour with him. In 2018 the band went back on the road with The Damned throughout the United States. In December they went back into the studio to record with producer Bill Stevenson of the California punk rock group Descendents. In early 2019 they played shows in Amsterdam and Stockholm. In 2018 the band released “Basement,” “St. Elwood,” “Rock & Roll Home-school,” as well as several other singles. On Feb. 22, 2019, Radkey released “No Strange Cats…P.A.W.” a 7-song EP is essentially a collection of the band’s most recent singles. It comes after the January 11, 2019 release of No Strange cats…Spiders – EP a 6 song EP of several new songs mixed with several singles from late 2018.] [Radkey continue to tour nationally and internationally supporting bands such as Jack White, Rise Against, The Damned, WIZO, Descendents, Local H, and the Foo Fighters 26th Anniversary Tour. Radkey was also featued prominently in Dave Grohl;s documentary film “What Drives Us.”] [Radkey plays Boulevardia, Friday, June 17.]

9. Janelle Monáe – “Americans”
   from: Dirty Computer / Badboy Records / April 27, 2018
   [Janelle Monáe Robinson was born on December 1, 1985 in Kansas City, Kansas and was raised in a working-class community of Kansas City, Quindaro. Her mother, Janet, worked as a janitor and a hotel maid. Her father, Michael Robinson Summers, was a truck driver. Monáe’s parents separated when Monáe was a toddler and her mother later married a postal worker. Monáe has a younger sister, Kimmy, from their mother’s remarriage. // Monáe was raised Baptist and learned to sing at a local church. Her family members were musicians and performers at the local AME church, the Baptist church, and the Church of God in Christ. Monáe dreamed of being a singer and a performer from a very young age, and has cited the fictional character of Dorothy Gale from The Wizard of Oz as a musical influence. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, which Monáe bought two copies of with her first check, was another source of inspiration. She performed songs from the album on Juneteenth talent shows, winning three years in a row. // As a teenager, Monáe was enrolled in the Coterie Theater’s Young Playwrights’ Round Table, which began writing musicals. One musical, completed when she was around the age of 12, was inspired by the 1979 Stevie Wonder album Journey Through “The Secret Life of Plants”. // Monáe attended F. L. Schlagle High School, and after high school, moved to New York City to study musical theater at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy, where she was the only black woman in her class. Monáe enjoyed the experience, but feared that she might lose her edge and “sound, or look or feel like anybody else”. In a 2010 interview Monáe explained, “I felt like that was a home but I wanted to write my own musicals. I didn’t want to have to live vicariously through a character that had been played thousands of times – in a line with everybody wanting to play the same person.” // After a year and a half, Monáe dropped out of the academy and relocated to Atlanta, enrolling in Perimeter College at Georgia State University. She began writing her own music and performing around the campus. In 2003, Monáe self-released a demo album titled The Audition, which she sold out of the trunk of a Mitsubishi Galant. During this period, Monáe became acquainted with songwriters and producers Chuck Lightning and Nate Wonder. The three would eventually form the Wondaland Arts Collective. She worked at an Office Depot but was fired for answering a fan’s e-mail using a company computer, an incident that inspired the song “Lettin’ Go”, which in turn attracted the attention of Big Boi. // Janelle Monáe Robinson (/moʊˈneɪ/; born December 1, 1985) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, actress, and record producer. Monáe is signed to Atlantic Records, as well as to her own imprint, the Wondaland Arts Society. Monáe has received eight Grammy Award nominations. Monáe won an MTV Video Music Award and the ASCAP Vanguard Award in 2010. Monáe was also honored with the Billboard Women in Music Rising Star Award in 2015 and the Trailblazer of the Year Award in 2018. In 2012, Monáe became a CoverGirl spokesperson. Boston City Council named October 16, 2013 “Janelle Monáe Day” in the city of Boston, Massachusetts, in recognition of her artistry and social leadership. // Monáe’s musical career began in 2003 upon releasing a demo album titled The Audition. In 2007, Monáe publicly debuted with a conceptual EP titled Metropolis: Suite I (The Chase). It peaked at number two on the US Top Heatseekers chart, and in 2010, through Bad Boy Records, Monáe released a first full-length studio album, The ArchAndroid, a concept album and sequel to her first EP. In 2011, Monáe was featured as a guest vocalist on fun.’s single “We Are Young”, which achieved major commercial success, topping the charts of more than ten countries and garnering Monáe a wider audience. Her second studio album, The Electric Lady, was released in 2013 and debuted at number five on the Billboard 200, serving as the fourth and fifth installments of the seven-part Metropolis concept series. // In 2016, Monáe made her theatrical film debut in two high-profile productions; Monáe starred in Hidden Figures as NASA mathematician and aerospace engineer Mary Jackson, and also starred in Moonlight. Hidden Figures was a box office success, while Moonlight won the Academy Award for Best Picture at the 89th annual ceremony. Monáe’s third studio album, Dirty Computer, also described as a concept album, was released in 2018 to widespread critical acclaim; it was chosen as the best album of the year by several publications and earned Monáe two nominations at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year. The album debuted at number six on the Billboard 200 and promoted by Monáe’s Dirty Computer Tour, June-Aug. 2018.]

9. Krystle Warren & The Crew – “Dear Landlord”
   from: The Crew EP / Parlour Door Music / September 15, 2020
   [Through isolation came unity. The Crew is Lakecia Benjamin, Matthew Silberman, Jacob Snider, Joe Blaxx, Solomon Dorsey, Zach Djanikian, Cassorla, Krystle Warren, and Ben Kane. They have recorded unique versions of classic songs with the hope of encouraging the rallying cries of The Moment: the movement of the people. // In the lockdown of their homes, they sewed together their interpretations of “Bein’ Green” (based upon Ray Charles’ rendition); “Gimme Some Truth” (a mighty John Lennon composition); “Dear Landlord” (a scathing indictment from the blistering pen of Bob Dylan); and “Rhythm of Life”, (a timeless statement originally performed by Oleta Adams). // A portion of the proceeds from The Crew. EP will be donated to the various causes and organizations The Crew. support.From Billboard.com: Singer-songwriter Krystle Warren has made a powerful statement about the struggle for Black equality with the help of Kermit the Frog’s iconic song “Bein’ Green” (written by Joe Raposo). // The moving five-minute clip, over which Warren sings her rendition of the 1970 song — since recorded by Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra and others — sprang from a covers EP she recorded during the pandemic with a group of musicians known as The Crew. Warren embarked on the project after her forthcoming album with her regular group, The Faculty, was put on hold due to COVID-19. The EP, which tackles themes of racial injustice in the wake of nationwide Black Lives Matter protests this summer, also includes a cover of John Lennon’s “Gimme Some Truth.” // The “Bein’ Green” video weaves in footage of this year’s Black Lives Matter protests, and also includes a heartbreaking montage of young Black children choosing white dolls over dark-skinned ones. It additionally features archival footage of such transformative Black figures as James Baldwin, Angela Davis, Malcom X, Nina Simone, Marsha P. Johnson and Al Sharpton, as well as victims of police brutality including Sandra Bland, George Floyd and Eric Garner. It ends with a clip from a speech by civil rights activist Ella Baker. // “‘Bein’ Green,’ it’s such a gorgeous song, and it says so, so much,” says Warren. “I began thinking about what I wanted it to express visually before we started [recording the song]. Essentially — it’s not easy being Black. That’s what Ray Charles was saying, and we felt it needed to be said again.” // Warren, who now resides in Paris, began performing in her native Kansas City at the age of 16 before moving to New York City, where she started busking on the streets and later formed her regular band, The Faculty. She and the group have recorded several full-length albums, including 2009’s Circles, 2012’s Love Songs and 2017’s Three the Hard Way. Her next album is slated for release this winter. // A large percentage of proceeds from sales of the EP will be donated to the ACLU.]

10:48 – Pledge Break #3

Our WMM Winter Drive Team: Marion Merritt and Betse Ellis

Our most played artist last year was Krystle Warren. Mark first interviewed Krystle on KKFI in early 2002. During a winter snow storm, at a party where Krystle played with longtime friend Solomon Dorsey on bass, in a packed, smoke filled apartment, near Community Christian Church, Mark waited hours for a 2 song demo, that contained a song called “Chanel #5.” Krystle has since gone on to tour all over the world, but maintains contact with her hometown of KC. Krystle’s critically acclaimed album, Three The Hard Way was #1 on WMM’s 117 Best Recordings of 2017. WMM was the first to play tracks from Krystle’s album. Last month Krystle released the new 4-song EP The Crew, with unique versions of classic songs with the hope of encouraging the rallying cries of The Moment: the movement of the people. Krystle has been a guest on 13 WMM Shows.

KKFI’s Mission Statement: KKFI is the Kansas City area’s independent, noncommercial community radio station. We seek to stimulate, educate and entertain our audience, to reflect the diversity of the local and world community, and to provide a channel for individuals and groups, issues and music that have been overlooked, suppressed or under-represented by other media.

KKFI’s Philosophy Statement: KKFI is committed to diversity in programming and discourse and seeks to create a climate of mutual respect and collaboration among volunteers and staff.

10:56

11. Flooding – “Gomez”
    from: Flooding / Flooding / August 29, 2021 {Physical Cassette Release Feb. 19, 2022]
    [Flooding’s self-titled album on Manor Records on February 19, 2022. Flooding is a three-piece band based in Lawrence, Kansas. Fronted by guitarist and vocalist Rose Brown, who began releasing music in 2019 under the name Window Seat. Joining Rose Brown are Cole Billings on bass, and Zach Cunningham on drums. Brown wrote the music for the album in the spring of 2020. In early 2021 the group started playing the music to record in Cunningham’s converted shed studio in Gardner, Kansas. More information at: http://www.manorrecords.com]

[Flooding play a Cassette Release show on February 19, 2022 with OK O’Clock and Rosé Perez at Farewell, 6515 Stadium Drive, KCMO., 7:00 PM Doors, 8:00 PM Show. Proof of Vaccination and Masks are required.]

11:00 – Station ID

11:00 – Interview with Rose Brown of Flooding

Flooding‘s self-titled album is being released on Cassette by Manor Records on February 19, 2022. Flooding is a three-piece band based in Lawrence, Kansas. Fronted by guitarist and vocalist Rose Brown, who began releasing music in 2019 under the name Window Seat. Joining Rose Brown are Cole Billings on bass, and Zach Cunningham on drums. Brown wrote the music for the album in the spring of 2020. In early 2021 the group started playing the music to record in Cunningham’s converted shed studio in Gardner, Kansas. More information at: http://www.manorrecords.com]

Flooding play a Cassette Release show on February 19, 2022 with OK O Clock and Rosé Perez at at Farewell, 6515 Stadium Drive, KCMO., 7:00 PM Doors, 8:00 PM Show. Proof of Vaccination & Masks required.

With us on the phone is the lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter from Flooding, Rose Brown. Hello Rose Thank you for being with us on Wednesday MidDay Medley.

We first became aware of your music when we played your song “If I Were Neil Armstrong I Would Have Planted a Flower on the Moon Instead” on our April 21, 2021 show with special guest Aaron Rhodes Editor of Shuttlecock Music Magazine who brought in several new tracks to play on the show. I believe Aaron featured Window Seat in the very first printed edition of Shuttlecock Music Magazine.

Around the same time we were just learning about Window Seat, Rose was already developing the music that is part of the debut album for Flooding.

Since the release of Flooding in late August 2021, that band has received critical acclaim from area music writers and the attention of other local bands and labels. Rose, you told The Bridge 90.9 in an interview that you were “ shocked by the reception of their album, especially considering how different it is from other local acts. “I was a little bit nervous, because there’s not really any, like slowcore, kind-of post rock projects in the area, so I wasn’t sure where we would fit in,” Brown said. “But I think we have a lot going on in our music to the point where we can kind of fit in anywhere.”

The Flooding debut record was written in its entirety before the band officially formed in February 2020

Rose Brown wrote the music for the album in the spring of 2020, and then brought it to Cole Billings bass player , and Zach Cunningham, drummer for the Flooding. Cole and Zach are members of the band Guest Service. In early 2021, the group started playing the music to record in a make shift studio in Gardner, Kansas that Cunningham converted from an old shed. The space originally had no heating or air condition but it held sentimental value, as Billings and Cunningham first started playing there together, in high school.

Because of the primitive quality of the recording studio, Rose Brown told 90.1 The Bridge, that “when they recorded the album, her toes would go numb from the cold. Maybe that’s why it feels perfect on a blustery, chilly October day.”

That cold shed was where Flooding pieced together the works comprising their nine-song debut. After they finished recording they decided it could be better, so they went back into the studio and re-recorded the entire album.

Flooding is a perfect storm of breathy, floating vocals and heavy, dissonant melodies.

“The band’s intuitive soft-loud dynamics are not only demonstrated through their whispers and screams, but also in moments where Brown’s slow core guitar plucking is abruptly interrupted by fuzz pedal, space rock blasts she and her band hit in unison.” – Aaron Rhodes, Shuttlecock Music Magazine

Since the album’s release Flooding has had the opportunity to play shows in Lawrence and Kansas City, sharing stages with area bands.

Rose Brown, Cole Billings, and Zach Cunningham, are currently in school at the University of Kansas.
Rose Brown Thank you for being with us on Wednesday MidDay Medley

Flooding play a Cassette Release show on February 19, 2022 with OK O clock and Rosé Perez at Farewell, 6515 Stadium Drive, KCMO. 7:00 PM Doors, 8:00 PM Show. Proof of Vaccination and Masks are required. More information at http://www.mnorrecords.com

11:10

12. Flooding – “Delayed Gratification”
    from: Flooding / Flooding / August 29, 2021 {Physical Cassette Release Feb. 19, 2022]
    [Flooding’s self-titled album on Manor Records on February 19, 2022. Flooding is a three-piece band based in Lawrence, Kansas. Fronted by guitarist and vocalist Rose Brown, who began releasing music in 2019 under the name Window Seat. Joining Rose Brown are Cole Billings on bass, and Zach Cunningham on drums. Brown wrote the music for the album in the spring of 2020. In early 2021 the group started playing the music to record in Cunningham’s converted shed studio in Gardner, Kansas. More information at: http://www.manorrecords.com]

[Flooding play a Cassette Release show on February 19, 2022 with OK O clock and Rosé Perez at Farewell 6515 Stadium Drive, KCMO., 7:00 PM Doors, 8:00 PM Show. Proof of Vaccination and Masks are required. ]

11:14 – Pledge Break #4

This is WMM’s Winter Fund Drive Show with Marion Merritt & Betse Ellis.

Where can I find out about what is happening in my community?

LGBTQIA, Urban, Labor Rights, The Environment, The Kansas City Visual & Literary Arts , The Performing Arts, Women’s Issues, Native American Issues, Jazz, Blues, Reggae, Classical, Hip Hop, Folk, Women’s Music, Indie Rock, Pop, Electronica, Punk…the answer is KKFI 90.1 FM Kansas City Community Radio. The Voice of The Community

KKFI is an Independent, non-commercial radio station!

Now, more than ever, Independent, Community Media is important for our world.

We are here to listen to you, to share your concerns, and offer resources and information.

Along with our National Public Affairs shows like Democracy Now and Alternative Radio we offer more locally produced public affairs programs than anywhere else on the dial.

We offer programs specifically produced for the LGBTQIA Community, Women’s Issues, Native American News and Culture, Middle Eastern Music and Information, Latino Programming, African American Public Affairs and Community News, Labor and Worker’s Unions, our prison population and justice system, environmental programming, Visual and Literary Arts, and Performing Arts.

Just remember what you don’t have to hear when you are tuned to 90.1 FM KKFI!

No commercials, we do have brief underwriting announcements, recognizing those who financially contribute to support non-profit community radio.

No automated robot playing the same 40 to 80 songs in a “rotation,” based on a formula, created by a programmer of the robot. KKFI is the opposite of a robot.

There is always human being on the other end of the phone line anytime you call.

90.1 offers 104 different radio programs. 80+ of these programs are locally, produced, hosted, engineered and written by over 100 different people, who create content, and personally handcraft each show, each week. There are 55 local music shows and 21 locally produce News, Public Affairs, Arts & Talk shows.

There are 140 hours each week of locally produced handcrafted programs.

You will not find this kind of representative diversity anywhere else on your radio dial. Or from any singular source on your computer. It is very special. It needs to be nourished and kept alive in a world of corporate, nationally owned, commercial or religious broadcasting.

Not only do we bring the most diverse and unfiltered news and information, but our musical playlists are deep, and comprehensive. In one week you can hear over 2000 different songs played, in Blues, Jazz, Folk, Hip Hop, Reggae, Classical, World, Americana, Southern Soul, Fusion, Soul, Rock, New Wave, Electronic, Native, Local, Old Timey, Rockabilly, Women’s, Children’s, Gospel, and Experimental.

With all of this, you hear the voices from the hundreds of KKFI volunteers, and thousands of guests from the community, who share their stories, broadcast live from our non-commercial, midtown studios, at 39th & Main, in the center of our metro, across two states, a collective of communities, and thousands of listeners. What is this worth to you?

11:22

14. Chalis O’Neal – “La Tienda de Regalos (feat. Jessica Ayala)”
    from: Flirting / Chalis O’Neal / November 15, 2021
    [Chalis O’Neal debut album FLIRTING was #48 in WMM’s 120 Best recordings of 2021. Chalis O’Neal picked up the trumpet at the age of eleven and began studying music at Paseo Academy of Fine and Performing Arts. Chalis majored in Jazz Studies with a minor in Classical Trumpet under the direction of Jazz legend Bobby Watson at the University of Missouri Kansas City. O’Neal’s eclectic style ranges from jazz venues to theatre work with the New Theatre Restaurant performing and acting in the The Buddy Holly Story. O’Neal also has burlesque experience with Quixotic Cirque Nouveau. Chalis is also the lead trumpeter for the Afro futuristic band, Arquesta Del SolSoul. O’Neal has performed with Bobby Watson, Harold O’Neal, Tivon Pennicott, Marcus Strickland, Lisa Henry, and David Basse. // Chalis O’Neal is the youngest brother of Harold Mujahid O’Neal who was born March 27, 1981, and is an American pianist, composer, record producer, public speaker, dancer, and storyteller. He has recorded and performed with artists in a variety of musical genres (U2, Lupe Fiasco, Busta Rhymes, Damien Rice, Aloe Blacc, and Jay Z). O’Neal has been profiled and featured in numerous publications and programs including Forbes, NPR’s All Things Considered, Fortune, Studio 360, and the 92Y, with The New York Times comparing him to Duke Ellington, Kenny Kirkland, and Maurice Ravel. He is considered to be of this generation’s greatest pianists and composers. O’Neal has been awarded fellowship to the Royal Society of the Arts, with the Patron being Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and recently played a role as a creative expert for the Academy Award winning Pixar film, Soul. // Harold O’Neal was born in Arusha, Tanzania, and raised in Kansas City, Missouri. His great-grandfather, Ollie Harold Pennington, was a jazz pianist and composer for silent film in Kansas City, where his grandmother walked to school with Charlie Parker. O’Neal began playing the piano by ear at age four on his father’s miniature keyboard. He found his earliest inspirations in the music of Tom and Jerry, Looney Tunes, and Disney. While growing up, he spent a considerable amount of time with his grandmother exploring various creative outlets, before eventually becoming a pianist. Having spent much of his youth living in the projects (Public Housing) and surviving near-death experiences, he credits music with saving his life. O’Neal attended the Paseo Academy Of Fine And Performing Arts, with classmates Logan Richardson, Lil’ Ronnie, and Brian Kennedy, where he began his jazz piano studies while being mentored by Ahmad Alaadeen. He studied classical piano and composition with Margie Cameron-Jarrett, whose musical lineage can be traced back to Franz Liszt. // O’Neal began working with musical luminaries from a young age – touring with Bobby Watson when he was 19 after studying composition at the Berklee College of Music. He then went on to the Manhattan School of Music, to study with Kenny Barron. It was there where he met the great American jazz pianist and composer, Andrew Hill, with whom he soon became the apprentice of. Mr. Hill was an apprentice of prolific composer Paul Hindemith. Following Andrew Hill’s advice, O’Neal left the Manhattan School of Music to replace pianist Jason Moran in the influential band, the Greg Osby 4, making his major-label debut recording for Blue Note Records at the age of 21. In 2004, O’Neal premiered a jazz quartet featuring Greg Osby, Jeff “Tain” Watts, and Matt Brewer. // In the following years, O’Neal released a number of critically acclaimed albums including — “Charlie’s Suite” (2006), which was a compilation of his family’s legacy, “Whirling Mantis” (2010) with a jazz quartet, and a solo piano album “Marvelous Fantasy” (2011) on Smalls Records. He then partnered with Ski Beats and Damon Dash, after being signed to Universal Music Group as a songwriter and producer, to release the albums 24 Hour Karate School 2 (2011), Twilight (2012), and Cam’Ron And Vado’s Blu Tops (2012). In 2012, O’Neal formed a partnership with producers Lil Ronnie and Jerry Wonda working with many Pop and R&B artists (Miguel, Akon, Melissa Ethridge, Raphael Saadiq, French Montana). In 2013, he released the album “Man on the Street” featuring a jazz quartet as well as solo piano for BluRoc, an at the time incarnation of Rocafella Records distributed by Def Jam Records. // O’Neal worked as a composer for a featurette and the documentaries of the 2015 Disney film Tomorrowland produced by Academy Award winning filmmaker Anthony Giacchino, which starred George Clooney and Britt Robertson. The film was directed by Brad Bird with the film-score being composed by Michael Giacchino. His solo piano album “Piano Cinema” was released in May 2018, with “Sam and Sam” serving as the lead single. Following the album release, O’Neal completed a spring tour across the U.S. with The Blk Shp with Pixar as a partner. Recently, at the suggestion of Ed Catmull, O’Neal played a role with the filmmakers (Pete Docter, Dana Murray, Kemp Powers) as a creative expert in the development of Pixar’s Soul. // As a keynote speaker and storyteller, O’Neal has been featured at Google, The World Economic Forum, TEDX, Hatch Experience, C2 Montréal, Blk Shp Power Shift, and many other leading platforms.// In 2019, O’Neal was among the 100 international individuals selected to be a Gates Foundation Goalkeeper. Goalkeepers (Gates Foundation) is an initiative of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Its aim is to bring together leaders from around the world to accelerate progress toward achieving the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Invitations are issued to global leaders and aspiring personalities who have been personally selected by the board. Previous attendees include Barack Obama, Emmanuel Macron, Amina J. Mohammed, Erna Solberg, Malala Yousafzai, and Trevor Noah.// In 2019, O’Neal was awarded fellowship to the Aspen Institute’s Aspen Ideas Festival, a week-long event held in Aspen, Colorado in the United States. The Aspen Ideas Festival program of events includes discussions, seminars, panels, and tutorials from journalists, designers, innovators, politicians, diplomats, presidents, judges, musicians, artists, and writers. Topics covered during the festival include global politics and economics, U.S. Policy, the environment, technology, science, health, education, the arts, and economic issues. // In 2019, O’Neal was awarded fellowship to the Royal Society of the Arts. Founded in 1754 by William Shipley, it was granted a Royal Charter in 1847, and the right to use the term “Royal” in its name by King Edward VII in 1908. Notable past fellows include Charles Dickens, Benjamin Franklin, Stephen Hawking, Karl Marx, Adam Smith, Nelson Mandela, David Attenborough, William Hogarth, John Diefenbaker, and Tim Berners-Lee. Today, the RSA has fellows elected from 80 countries worldwide.// NPR All Things Considered: The Yule Log (TV program), Pianist Harold O’Neal and Bill Cosby’s Christmas story On 25 December 2011, O’Neal was featured along with Bill Cosby for the Christmas Day edition of NPR’s All Things Considered, with O’Neal being hosted and interviewed by Guy Raz. // Electric Burma On June 18, 2012, O’Neal performed with U2, Lupe Fiasco, Bob Geldof, Damien Rice, Angelique Kidjo and many other major artists for the presentation of Amnesty International’s prestigious ‘Ambassador of Conscience’ Award to Aung San Suu Kyi. The award was originally announced from the stage when U2 played Croke Park in July 2009 – while the Burmese Nobel Peace Prize recipient was still under house arrest in Burma. // Global Citizen: World on Stage On 22 September 2016, O’Neal performed with Aloe Blacc and Maya Jupiter for The Global Citizen Festival’s The World on Stage, a night curated by Tom Morello and Jon Batiste. The evening was dedicated to several prominent speakers who addressed various causes—such as education, the refugee crisis, gender equality, poverty, hunger, and much more—and the presentation of the inaugural George Harrison Global Citizen award, presented by Paul Simon to Olivia and Dhani Harrison (George’s widow and son). // On December 4, 2018, Herbie Hancock received the prestigious Benjamin Franklin Medal (Royal Society of Arts) from the Royal Society for the Arts at the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania—being recognized for his long lifetime of creative achievements and humanitarian efforts. The 264-year-old Royal Society for the Arts, based in London, includes Franklin as a founding fellow and initiated the Benjamin Franklin medal in 1956 to honor people who transcend their vocation to generally benefit mankind. The ceremony featured bassist Christian McBride and pianist O’Neal as guest star performers, each musically representing the electric and acoustic side of Hancock’s legacy. // In 2009, O’Neal appeared as an actor in Jay Z’s music video for the hit record Young Forever, from his multi-platinum album The Blueprint 3. In 2010, he was cast in the HBO television series Boardwalk Empire, portraying James P. Johnson. He was also featured in MTV’s Sucker Free. // Chalis O’Neal is the nephew of Felix Lindsey “Pete” O’Neal, Jr. (born 1940), was the chairman of the Kansas City chapter of the Black Panther Party in the late 1960s. He led implementation of many free programs, such as providing free breakfast to children around the city. // O’Neal had trouble with authority figures in high school and dropped out. Soon afterwards, he joined the military, following the steps of his father. Once done with service, he moved to Stockton, California, where in 1959 he was sentenced to 9 months in jail for theft. He escaped from jail after 3 months, traveling back to Kansas City, MO. In 1961, law enforcement caught him and he was sent back to California to serve his remaining sentence. // After completing his sentence, the felony should have been cleared as indicated by Californian law, but it was not. This significantly hindered his chances for employment. // On October 30, 1969, he was arrested again for the transporting of a gun across state lines (under a law that went into effect just two weeks prior to his arrest). A year later a court convicted him and in October 1970, he was sentenced to four years in prison. O’Neal jumped his bail and fled to Algeria, where a number of other Black Panther Party members had also absconded to in the face of imprisonment in the United States. This group became known as the “International Section” of the Black Panther Party, and was centered around Eldridge and Kathleen Cleaver. A year later O’Neal moved on to Tanzania, motivated to immigrate there as the then President of Tanzania, Julius Nyerere, was both a Pan-Africanist and Socialist. O’Neal has remained in Tanzania ever since. // Together with his wife, Charlotte Hill O’Neal, he is the co-founder of the United African Alliance Community Center (UAACC) in the village of Imbaseni, near the northern city of Arusha, Tanzania. The UAACC is a center focusing on healing the community by providing a diverse array of free art, music, film and other classes to members of the community. The UAACC also serves as a hostel for people travelling through the area—offering several “huts” with bunk beds. The center has been frequented by several celebrities, American politicians, study abroad programs, students, documentary film makers, and artists. Pete and Charlotte provide numerous jobs to locals of the community and the center is entirely run by local Tanzanians. // O’Neal’s family still resides in the Kansas City area. He is a third cousin to US Representative Emmanuel Cleaver. Since 1991, Cleaver and others have unsuccessfully attempted to obtain a pardon for O’Neal, and took the issue to both President Bill Clinton and President Barack Obama. Both declined to pardon O’Neal. // His life and exile in Tanzania is the subject of the PBS documentary ‘A Panther in Africa’, by Aaron Matthews, and a book ‘Black Panther in Exile: The Pete O’Neal Story’ by Pete’s attorney, Paul J. Magnarella. Chalis O’Neal joined us LIVE on WMM on October 20, 2021.]

14. Calvin Arsenia – “Constellation”
    from: Catastrophe / Calvin Arsenia / February 14, 2017
    [Calvin Arsenia premiered these songs in a live show at recordBar in November 2016 in a stage show that involved a company of 50 people, dancers, stilt walkers, special lighting, back up singers, guest artists. Born in Orlando, Florida, Calvin’s creative journey really began when he moved to the KC suburb of Olathe, teaching himself the guitar, and eventually the harp. He learned his signature instrument at the age of 20 after he couldn’t find a harpist as determined as him to meld folk, rock, classical, rap and R&B into the irresistible fusion which has become his calling card in the Kansas City music scene and beyond. His passion for stretching the boundaries of musical expression saw him transform a trip to Edinburgh, Scotland’s Fringe Festival early in his career into a life-changing music mission, with an Edinburgh church offering him a role as musical liaison between the church and the city that would change his life. Two years and 300 shows later, Calvin returned to Kansas City reborn as a humanistic songwriter/performer whose impassioned and conceptual stage shows (regularly sold-out in Kansas City, currently catching fire on the West Coast with a diverse following across Europe), are collaborative, costumed-culture-bridging spectacles which In KC Magazine has hailed as ‘equal parts opera, symphony, musical theatre, rock show, all built around its creator: a charismatic 6-foot-6-inch harpist with a natural stage command and knack for gilding gold and painting lilies.’ Since Calvin Arsenia came home to KC after living in Edinburgh, Scotland, he has released his EP, Moments, in 2014, and his EP Prose in 2015, and his Folk Alliance exclusive EP Catastrophe in 2016. His full-length album Catastrophe on February 14, 2017, His EP Caviar in Novenber 2017. Calvin’s 2018 national debut, Cantaloupe, was released on September 15, 2018 on Center Cut Records. On June 28, 2019 Calvin released Honeydew, an EP including a remix of three songs from Cantaloupe. On September 20, 2019 Calvin released LA Sessions. On December 13, 2019 Calvin released his full length Christmas album “all is calm.” Calvin is also a graduate of Artist INC. Since 2014 we have been celebrating the music of Calvin Arsenia. He has played Folk Alliance International, Kansas City Fringe Fest, The Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, The Kauffman Center For The Performing Arts, The Middle of the Map Fest., The Folly Theatre. Calvin was first on WMM on July 25, 2012. He has appeared live on 18 shows, (now 19) most recently on Oct 14, 2020]

[Charlotte Street announced that the recipients of the 2022 Generative Performing Artist Awards are The Black Creatures and Calvin Arsenia Scott. This year, Charlotte Street’s Visual Artist Awards were given to Andrew Mcilvaine, Harold Smith Jr., and Johanna Winters. Congratulations to them all! Much deserved! Bravo!]

[Calvin Arsenia plays Boulevardia Friday, June 17]

11:30 – Underwriting

11:32 – Pledge Break #5

This is WMM’s Winter Fund Drive Show with Marion Merritt, & Betse Ellis.

We offer loads and loads of information about what is going on in the community. Not only does this show interview 150 guest each year, not only do we play nearly 900 different songs with more than half of those being locally produced, but we also shine a light on area not-for-profit theatre companies, art museums & galleries, area festivals, service organizations, area record labels and record stores, the area music scene, arts scene, theatre scene, literary arts scene, political action scene.

In just this past year, we’ve featured segments shining a light on:, The Kauffman Center for The Performing Arts, UMKC Conservatory of Music, MidCoast Takeover, Spinning Tree Theatre, Coterie Thetre, The Pitch Kansas City, Owen Cox Dance Group, Bandwaggin KC, KC Bands Together, The Green Line Initiative, Black Lives Matter, The Queer Narratives Festival, KC Bass Workshop, Kansas City Syzygy, The Record Machine, Mills Record Company, Records With Merritt, High Dive Records, Center Cut Records, Manor Records, Polyvinyl Records, Lost Cowgirl Records, Sunflower Soul Records, KC Irish Fest, The Crossroads Music fest, MixMaster Music Conference, Too Much Rock, Midwest Music Foundation, Apocalypse Meow, filmmaker Morgan Cooper, Charlotte Street Foundation, Inter Urban Arthouse, Lemonade Park, The Brick, recordBar, Weights and Measure Sound Lab, Troost Festival.

11:39

15. Madisen Ward and the Mama Bear – “Never Met a Mutha”
    from: Started With a Family / Starts With Music, LLC / September 6. 2019
    [Produced with Grammy-winner Nathan Chapman at iconic Blackbird Studios in Nashville. Madisen Ward and the Mama Bear have garnered international acclaim, and new fans from all over the world. They signed with Glassnote Records and recorded their debut full length album in Nashville with acclaimed producer Jim Abiss. They performed their debut single “Silent Movies” on The Late Show with David Letterman, they’ve toured across the United States, and Europe, more than once. They were featured on CBS Sunday Morning, NBC’s The Today Show, and “Later With Jools Holland and played Bonnaroo, Pilgramage, and the Newport Folk Festival, and the Ryman Theatre, in Nashville. Ruth Ward has continually performed throughout her life, mostly in coffee shops and open mics, for over 30 years, even recording a solo record. In the midst of this she got married and became a mom, and was busy raising a family. Madisen Ward was born in Oklahoma, and grew up in the outskirts of Kansas City, Missouri. He graduated from William Chrisman High School in 2007. Madisen’s journey to become a musician, was “melodically passed down” through the songs of his mother, where Madisen grew up watching his mom perform at local coffee shops. Eventually he began to learn to play the guitar, and poured his talent for writing into the music to create original songs. They began playing Madisen’s original songs along with the occassional cover of a classic track, reinterpreted in their own incredibly beautiful performace of two voices and two guitars in harmony and orchestration. Their debut album, The Skeleton Crew, was released May 9, 2015 and was our most played record that year and was #1 on WMM’s The 115 Best Recordings of 2015. Their follow up EP Radio Winners was released July 27, 2018 and recieved critical acclaim.] [Madisen Ward and The Mama Bear played Crossroads Music Fest, Sat., Sept 7,, Crossroads KC, with Shy Boys, Split Lip Rayfield, The Freedom Affair.]

Mark says: I had the opportunity to interview Kansas City’s very own Morgan Cooper a year ago on KKFI 90.1 FM. Morgan Cooper is a young genius film maker with a heart of gold. His short films, “U Shoot Videos” and “Room Tone” are beautiful and representative of Kansas City featuring many of Kansas City best Black Actors. We’ve also played the music of Morgan Cooper when he recorded as Barrel Maker. A few years ago Morgan shot a short film in Kansas City that reimagined the television sitcom, “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air” as a television Drama. Will Smith saw the short film and two years later Morgan Cooper’s amazing idea became a new television drama titled, “Bel Air” that premiered on Super Bowl Sunday – streaming on Peacock TV. Episode one was loaded with great music including a track from Eddie Moore‘s band We The People. Eddie had previously collaborated with Morgan on the short film “Room Tone.”

16. We The People – “Round Up”
    from: Misunderstood / Eddie Moore Music / September 25, 2020
    [Eddie Moore on piano, Rhodes, synth, keyboards, & bass; Jason Emmond – on bass; Zach Morrow on drums; Andrew Baile on guitar; Keith Rodgers; Angle Gibson on vocals “Enough”; Rane Raps- “The Truth”; Lucero on vocals “The Truth”; Andrew McGhie on tenor sax “Round Up”. “Worst Nights” Produced by Jason Emmond/ Eddie Moore. Recorded at Make Believe Studios by Keith Rodgers. Mix & Mastered by Rick Carson. Executive Producers: Eddie Moore and Amilcar “PRO” Welton. Album Art by Adrian Truth. This is for all the times we are misunderstood and mean the best for people. This is for times pain and fear were swallowed and a unique beauty emerged. The times that struggle became a culture, a new identity for the land of the free. The idea of Freedom and the celebration of individuality. Eddie Moore is the recipient of the 2016 Charlotte Street Generative Performance Award for his genre bending collaborations. Raised in Houston Texas, he began his musical journey at Texas Southern University where he later earned a Bachelors in Arts and immersed himself in the Houston music scene. Eddie relocated to Kansas City to study under Bobby Watson at the University of Missouri-Kansas City where he received a M.A in Jazz Studies. 2017’s Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art “Artist in Residence” in collaboration with Rashid Johnson. In 2018 his work with The Outer Circle was nominated for an Indie Music Award for “007”. His music has also been featured commercially for Sprint, Netflix’s “Queer Eye”, and Morgan Cooper’s short film “Room Tone”. Moore’ has shared the stage and record with distinctive artist such as Bobby Watson, Pam, Watson, Logan Richardson, Maurice Brown, Boys II Men, Brian Blade and the Fellowship, John Baptiste, Erykah Badu, Mosdef, Bilal, Ledisi, Chantae Cann, Krystal Warren, Matt Otto, Brandon Draper, Andre Hayward, Tivon Pennicott, Various Blonde, Dominique Sanders, 77 Jefferson, and the Marcus Lewis Big Band. We the People is a genre-defying quartet comprised of keyboardist Eddie Moore, bassist/producer Jason Emmond, drummer Zach Morrow, and turntablist/producer Kethro. Eddie Moore joined us live on WMM on September 23, 2020.]

17. Kadesh Flow – “Lighten Up”
    from: Lighten Up – Single / Ryan Jamaal Davis / May 7, 2021
    [Written, produced, performed, mixed & mastered by Kadesh Flow. This is one of over 20 new singles Kadesh Flow released on 2021: Kadesh Flow & The Enclave released, “Soft Side,” on Jan. 21, 2021, written, produced, performed, mixed & mastered by Kadesh Flow. Kadesh Flow released, “Assumptions feat. Shubzilla,” on Jan. 29, 2021. Kadesh Flow released, “Frosty,” on February 12, 2021, written, produced, performed, mixed & mastered by Kadesh Flow. Kadesh Flow & The Enclave released, “Cry For Me 2,” February 12, 2021. Kadesh Flow released, “Not on My Watch,” on February 19, 2021, Inspired by Lord Beerus (Dragonball Super). Kadesh Flow released, “Held Me Longer,” on Marc written, produced, performed, mixed & mastered by Kadesh Flow. Kadesh Flow released, “Your Dream Isn’t Always Yours,” on March 12, 2021, written, produced, performed, mixed & mastered by Kadesh Flow. Kadesh Flow & The Enclave released, “Forgot About Me,” on March 14, 2021. Kadesh Flow released, “Take Backs (feat. Ryan Heinlein),” on March 26, 2021, written, produced, performed, mixed & mastered by Kadesh Flow. Kadesh Flow & The Enclave released, “But Hope” on March 26, 2021, written, produced, performed, mixed & mastered by Kadesh Flow. Kadesh Flow released the single, “I Don’t Care” on April 9, 2021, written, performed, mixed and mastered by Kadesh Flow. Produced by D. Professor. Kadesh Flow released the single, “That Way” on April 16, 2021, written, performed, mixed & mastered by Kadesh Flow, and produced by Dominique “Bassman” Saunders. Kadesh Flow released the new single, “So Far” on April 23, 2021, written, performed, mixed & mastered by Kadesh Flow and produced by Dominique “Bassman” Sanders. Kadesh Flow released the single, “On Target” on April 30, 2021, written, produced, performed, mixed and mastered by Kadesh Flow. Kadesh Flow released the single ”Lighten Up”on May 7, 2021, written, produced, performed, mixed & mastered by Kadesh Flow. Kadesh Flow released the single “Elegant” on May 21, 2021. Written, Produced, Performed, Mixed & Mastered by Kadesh Flow. This is his 16th single the year, so far. Kadesh Flow released the 13-track album ROOM SERVICE 2, on July 19, 2021. Kadesh Flow released the single “Coming For Your Neck” on August 20, 2021. Written, Produced, Performed, Mixed & Mastered by Kadesh Flow. This is his 17th single the year. Kadesh Flow released the single “Easy” on August 27, 2021. Written, Produced, Performed, Mixed & Mastered by Kadesh Flow. This is his 18th single the year. Kadesh Flow released the single “Fiend” on Sept. 4, 2021. Written, Performed, Mixed & Mastered by Kadesh Flow. Produced by Dominique Sanders. This is his 19th single the year. Kadesh Flow released the single, “No Options (feat Jamar Rose)” on Nov.12, 2021. Kadesh Flow released the single, “Gardens Out The Gutter” on Dec. 3, 2021. This is one of 22 singles and a 13 track album that Kadesh Flow has released so far this year. Written, Performed, Mixed & Mastered: Kadesh Flow. Instrumental: Dominique Sanders. Kadesh Flow released the single, “CHOICE (The Cost)” on December 17, 2021. Written, Performed, Mixed & Mastered: Kadesh Flow. Instrumental: Dominique Sanders. This is one of 22 singles and a 13 track album that Kadesh Flow has released so far this year. Kadesh Flow is Ryan Davis is a rapper with an MBA. He is an emcee, producer, & trombonist. At age 11, he began rapping and playing trombone within two weeks of one another. His music has been featured on network television in multiple countries and territories across Southeast Asia. Kadesh performs as a solo hip hop artist. He also plays with The Phantastics, and Marcus Lewis Big Band. Kadesh Flow played the 17th Annual Crossroads Music Fest, Saturday, September 11, as part of Deshica Rage (with Kadesh Flow & Jessica Paige) at 10:00 PM on Community Lending of America Stage at Lemonade Park. Kadesh Flow was on WMM on Oct. 21, 2020. More info at: http://www.kadeshflow.com ]

[Kadesh Flow released the single “Future Ex (feat. Vincent Orsolini & DJ Skittlez)” on February 14, 2022. Produced: Kadesh Flow, Vincent Orsolini. Written & Performed: Kadesh Flow, Vincent Orsolini, DJ Skittlez. Mixed & Mastered: Vincent Orsolini, Kadesh Flow. More info at: http://www.kadeshflow.bandcamp.com]

[Kadesh Flow Plays Boulevardia Friday, June 17 with The Phantastics, Sat. June 18 as part of Deshica Rage (with Kadesh Flow & Jessica Paige), and o the same night in a closing set with Trevor Turla.]

11:47 – Pledge Break #6

This is WMM’s Winter Fund Drive Show with Marion Merritt, & Betse Ellis.

KKFI offers 24-7 programming, and YOU (the listener), basically get all of this amazing programming for “free.” I, for one, love that I can turn on my radio, or computer device, and tune into the 90.1 FM’s 100, 000 watt, crystal-clear signal, and hear the music, information, news, entertainment, events, and stories, that I really cannot find anywhere else. 90.1 is my comfort, my special companion, my interesting friend, introducing me to all kinds of new & local music, as well as the news & information without the intrusion of commercials. It is radio brought to YOU by real people, who create these shows out of love, and are guided by KKFI’s noble mission that “seeks to stimulate, educate and entertain our audience, to reflect the diversity of the local and world community, and to provide a channel for individuals and groups, issues and music that have been overlooked, suppressed or under-represented by other media.”

Driving in your car, at the office, at the gym, in your garage, in your cubicle, in your artspace, on your iPod, at your construction site, in your kitchen, in your barn, YOU can take 90.1 with you, as your companion. 90.1 FM is generally a good date. Good for a few laughs, fun to dance with, always interested in good conversation. Isn’t 90.1 FM KKFI worth a few dollars a day, or a week? So many people tune in to http://www.kkfi.org everyday, but studies show, that less than 1 percent actually donate to keep this miracle of broadcasting alive. Your support means that you will help bring this programming to folks who could not donate at this time, for whatever the reason.

11:53

18. The Phantastics – “Heartbreaker”
    from: Life of the Party – EP / Kemet Creative / August 24, 2018
    [8-member band from Kansas City formed in December 0f 2010 made up of: Kemet the Phantom on lead vocals; Kim “Phirst Lady” Newsome on lead vocals; JJ Cantrell on lead guitar & vocals; Danny Florez on electric bass; Ashley Thompson on drums, Ernest Melton on saxophone; Ryan Davis on Trombone and rap vocals; Austin Quick on keyboards. The Phantastics specialize in genre-blending dance floor activators. In 2015, the music group was crowned “Kansas City’s best party band” by the Kansas City Star. Musicianship and diversity are at the core of their success. Rock, Rap, Dance, Funk, Jazz and Soul are all incorporated into their music. “The band that can do it all”, according to I Heart Local Music, has shared the stage with some of music’s most legendary acts including George Clinton and the Parliament Funkadelic. Kemet Coleman and Kadesh Flow have been frequent guests on WMM most recently on October 21, 2020.]

[The Phantastics play Boulevardia Friday, June 17, 2022]

19. Noel Coward – “The Party’s Over Now”
    from: Noel Coward in New York / drg / 2003 [orig. 1957]

Next week on Wednesday, February 23, Marion Merritt returns at Guest Producer to share new musical discoveries from her musically encyclopedic brain.

Our Script/Playlist is a “cut and paste” of information.
Sources for notes: artist’s websites, bios, wikipedia.org

Wednesday MidDay Medley is all over social media and on the web at:
http://www.facebook.com/WednesdayMidDayMedleyon90.1FM
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Show #928

Wednesday MidDay Medley
Produced and Hosted by Mark Manning
90.1 FM KKFI – Kansas City Community Radio
TEN to NOON Wednesdays – Streaming at KKFI.org

Wednesday, February 16, 2022

WMM Celebrates Black History with 15 of our Favorite KC Black Artists & Bands + Marion Merritt + Betse Ellis + Rose Brown of Flooding

WMM Celebrates Black History with tracks from 15 of our favorite Kansas City Black Artists: Krystle Warren, Madisen Ward and the Mama Bear, Calvin Arsenia, The Black Creatures, The Freedom Affair, Jass, Flare The Rebel and Bob Pulliam, We The People, The Phantastics, Radkey, Chalis O’Neal, Remy Styrk, Janelle Monaé, Kadesh Flow, and Blackstarkids.

At 11:00 we’ll talk with Rose Brown lead singer and guitarist for Flooding who play a Manor Records Cassette Release show on February 19, 2022 with OK O clock and Rosé Perez at Farewell Transmission, 6515 Stadium Drive, KCMO.

AND, Marion Merritt of Records With Merritt, a minority owned business in KCMO, and Betse Ellis, critically acclaimed fiddler, singer, songwriter, and one half of Betse & Clarke join us as special Guest Co-Hosts to encourage our listeners to call 888-931-0901, or visit http://www.kkfi.org to support 90.1 FM KKFI – Kansas City Community Radio during our Winter Fund Drive Show.

On your local radio dial 90.1 FM or
STREAMING LIVE at: kkfi.org

Show #928

Wednesday MidDay Medley
Produced and Hosted by Mark Manning
90.1 FM KKFI – Kansas City Community Radio
TEN to NOON Wednesdays – Streaming at KKFI.org

Wednesday, February 9, 2021

WMM Celebrates LOVE
Spinning 22 Songs About LOVE
With Co-Hosts: Marion Merritt & Betse Ellis

10:00 – “Station ID

WMM Celebrates our Love For Our Listeners with 22 Songs About LOVE. We’ll spin tracks from Aretha Franklin, The Wild Women of Kansas City, Frogpond, Marva Whitney, Krystle Warren & The Faculty, Effie, AmythystKiah, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Lou Reed, Aimee Mann, Betse & Clarke, The Magnetic Fields, Roberta Flack, Digital Leather, Pansy Division, Cynthia Erivo, Michael Calen, Holly Near, John Prine, Ray Charles, Nina Simone, and David Bowie.

Marion Merritt, and Betse Ellis will join us again as our special Co-Hosts for WMM’s Winter Fund Drive Show for 90.1 FM KKFI. Please don’t let our love songs be unrequited. We need to hear for you all!

Betse Ellis. Originally from Fayetteville, Arkansas, Betse received her Bachelors of Arts in Music and a Bachelors of Arts in English, from the University of Missouri – Kansas City. She has been playing the Violin for over 40 years, with over 20 years playing fiddle and also working as a teacher of music. Betse was a founding member of the acclaimed internationally known band, The Wilders. Betse has released two solo records, and records and performs with her partner, multi-instrumentalist Clarke Wyatt, as Betse & Clarke. Last year they released their latest 8-song release, Winter, which was in the Top Ten of WMM’s 120 Best Recordings of 2020

Betse Ellis, Thanks for being with us on Wednesday MidDay Medley

Marion Merritt is our most frequent contributor to WMM, She grew up in Los Angeles, and St. Louis. She went to college in Columbia, Missouri. She studied art and musical engineering, and is a avid lover of classic films and punk rock music. She saw Talking Heads on their first U.S. tour when they played One Block West in 1978. For 16 years she has been sharing her musical discoveries and information from her musically-encyclopedic brain on Wednesday MidDay Medley. With her partner Ann Stewart, Marion is the proprietor of Records With Merritt, a minority owned business at 1614 Westport Rd. in Kansas City, that features new vinyl releases, in-store performances,, and was once the location for a wedding. More information at: http://www.recordwithmerritt.com

Marion Merritt, Thanks for being with us on Wednesday MidDay Medley

1. “Main Title Instrumental – It’s Showtime Folks”
   from: Orig. Motion Picture Soundtrack All That Jazz / Casablanca / December 20, 1979
   [WMM’s Adopted Theme Song]

2. Nina Simone – “To Love Somebody”
   from: To Love Somebody / RCA / 1967
   To Love Somebody is an album by jazz singer-songwriter/pianist Nina Simone. It was released as quickly as possible to prolong the unexpected success of ‘Nuff Said! The title is taken from the Bee Gees song “To Love Somebody”; her cover of the song became her second British hit single after “Ain’t Got No-I Got Life”. // Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), known professionally as Nina Simone, was an American singer, songwriter, musician, arranger, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, jazz, blues, folk, R&B, gospel and pop. // The sixth of eight children born to a poor family in Tryon, North Carolina, Simone initially aspired to be a concert pianist. With the help of a few supporters in her hometown, she enrolled in the Juilliard School of Music in New York City. She then applied for a scholarship to study at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where she was denied admission despite a well received audition, which she attributed to racism. In 2003, just days before her death, the Institute awarded her an honorary degree. // To make a living, Simone started playing piano at a nightclub in Atlantic City. She changed her name to “Nina Simone” to disguise herself from family members, having chosen to play “the devil’s music” or so-called “cocktail piano”. She was told in the nightclub that she would have to sing to her own accompaniment, which effectively launched her career as a jazz vocalist. She went on to record more than 40 albums between 1958 and 1974, making her debut with Little Girl Blue. She had a hit single in the United States in 1958 with “I Loves You, Porgy”. Her musical style fused gospel and pop with classical music, in particular Johann Sebastian Bach, and accompanied expressive, jazz-like singing in her contralto voice. // Simone was born on February 21, 1933, in Tryon, North Carolina. The sixth of eight children in a poor family, she began playing piano at the age of three or four; the first song she learned was “God Be With You, Till We Meet Again”. Demonstrating a talent with the piano, she performed at her local church. Her concert debut, a classical recital, was given when she was 12. Simone later said that during this performance, her parents, who had taken seats in the front row, were forced to move to the back of the hall to make way for white people. She said that she refused to play until her parents were moved back to the front, and that the incident contributed to her later involvement in the civil rights movement. Simone’s mother, Mary Kate Waymon (née Irvin, November 20, 1901 – April 30, 2001), was a Methodist minister and a housemaid. Her father, Rev. John Devan Waymon (June 24, 1898 – October 23, 1972), was a handyman who at one time owned a dry-cleaning business, but also suffered bouts of ill health. Simone’s music teacher helped establish a special fund to pay for her education. Subsequently, a local fund was set up to assist her continued education. With the help of this scholarship money, she was able to attend Allen High School for Girls in Asheville, North Carolina. // After her graduation, Simone spent the summer of 1950 at the Juilliard School as a student of Carl Friedberg, preparing for an audition at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Her application, however, was denied. Only 3 of 72 applicants were accepted that year, but as her family had relocated to Philadelphia in the expectation of her entry to Curtis, the blow to her aspirations was particularly heavy. For the rest of her life, she suspected that her application had been denied because of racial prejudice, a charge the staff at Curtis have denied. Discouraged, she took private piano lessons with Vladimir Sokoloff, a professor at Curtis, but never could re-apply due to the fact that at the time the Curtis institute did not accept students over 21. She took a job as a photographer’s assistant, but also found work as an accompanist at Arlene Smith’s vocal studio and taught piano from her home in Philadelphia. // In order to fund her private lessons, Simone performed at the Midtown Bar & Grill on Pacific Avenue in Atlantic City, New Jersey, whose owner insisted that she sing as well as play the piano, which increased her income to $90 a week. In 1954, she adopted the stage name “Nina Simone”. “Nina”, derived from niña, was a nickname given to her by a boyfriend named Chico, and “Simone” was taken from the French actress Simone Signoret, whom she had seen in the 1952 movie Casque d’Or. Knowing her mother would not approve of playing “the Devil’s music”, she used her new stage name to remain undetected. Simone’s mixture of jazz, blues, and classical music in her performances at the bar earned her a small but loyal fan base. // In 1958, she befriended and married Don Ross, a beatnik who worked as a fairground barker, but quickly regretted their marriage. Playing in small clubs in the same year, she recorded George Gershwin’s “I Loves You, Porgy” (from Porgy and Bess), which she learned from a Billie Holiday album and performed as a favor to a friend. It became her only Billboard top 20 success in the United States, and her debut album Little Girl Blue followed in February 1959 on Bethlehem Records. Because she had sold her rights outright for $3,000, Simone lost more than $1 million in royalties (notably for the 1980s re-release of her version of the jazz standard “My Baby Just Cares for Me”) and never benefited financially from the album’s sales. // After the success of Little Girl Blue, Simone signed a contract with Colpix Records and recorded a multitude of studio and live albums. Colpix relinquished all creative control to her, including the choice of material that would be recorded, in exchange for her signing the contract with them. After the release of her live album Nina Simone at Town Hall, Simone became a favorite performer in Greenwich Village. By this time, Simone performed pop music only to make money to continue her classical music studies, and was indifferent about having a recording contract. She kept this attitude toward the record industry for most of her career. // Simone married a New York police detective, Andrew Stroud, in December 1961. In a few years he became her manager and the father of her daughter Lisa, but later he abused Simone psychologically and physically. // In 1964, Simone changed record distributors from Colpix, an American company, to the Dutch Philips Records, which meant a change in the content of her recordings. She had always included songs in her repertoire that drew on her African-American heritage, such as “Brown Baby” by Oscar Brown and “Zungo” by Michael Olatunji on her album Nina at the Village Gate in 1962. On her debut album for Philips, Nina Simone in Concert (1964), for the first time she addressed racial inequality in the United States in the song “Mississippi Goddam”. This was her response to the June 12, 1963, murder of Medgar Evers and the September 15, 1963, bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, that killed four young black girls and partly blinded a fifth. She said that the song was “like throwing ten bullets back at them”, becoming one of many other protest songs written by Simone. The song was released as a single, and it was boycotted in some[vague] southern states. Promotional copies were smashed by a Carolina radio station and returned to Philips. She later recalled how “Mississippi Goddam” was her “first civil rights song” and that the song came to her “in a rush of fury, hatred and determination”. The song challenged the belief that race relations could change gradually and called for more immediate developments: “me and my people are just about due”. It was a key moment in her path to Civil Rights activism. “Old Jim Crow”, on the same album, addressed the Jim Crow laws. After “Mississippi Goddam”, a civil rights message was the norm in Simone’s recordings and became part of her concerts. As her political activism rose, the rate of release of her music slowed. // Simone performed and spoke at civil rights meetings, such as at the Selma to Montgomery marches. Like Malcolm X, her neighbor in Mount Vernon, New York, she supported black nationalism and advocated violent revolution rather than Martin Luther King Jr.’s non-violent approach. She hoped that African Americans could use armed combat to form a separate state, though she wrote in her autobiography that she and her family regarded all races as equal. // In 1967, Simone moved from Philips to RCA Victor. She sang “Backlash Blues” written by her friend, Harlem Renaissance leader Langston Hughes, on her first RCA album, Nina Simone Sings the Blues (1967). On Silk & Soul (1967), she recorded Billy Taylor’s “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free” and “Turning Point”. The album ‘Nuff Said! (1968) contained live recordings from the Westbury Music Fair of April 7, 1968, three days after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. She dedicated the performance to him and sang “Why? (The King of Love Is Dead)”, a song written by her bass player, Gene Taylor. In 1969, she performed at the Harlem Cultural Festival in Harlem’s Mount Morris Park, immortalized in Questlove’s 2021 documentary Summer of Soul. // Simone and Weldon Irvine turned the unfinished play To Be Young, Gifted and Black by Lorraine Hansberry into a civil rights song of the same name. She credited her friend Hansberry with cultivating her social and political consciousness. She performed the song live on the album Black Gold (1970). A studio recording was released as a single, and renditions of the song have been recorded by Aretha Franklin (on her 1972 album Young, Gifted and Black) and Donny Hathaway. When reflecting on this period, she wrote in her autobiography, “I felt more alive then than I feel now because I was needed, and I could sing something to help my people”.]

3. David Bowie–”Valentine’s Day”
   from: The Next Day / ISO Columbia / March 8, 2013
   [Valentine’s Day” is a song by English rock musician David Bowie, the fourth single from his 24th studio album The Next Day. The single was released on 19 August 2013. This was to be Bowie’s final 7-inch single issued from a new album released in his lifetime. The lyrics are based on the psychology of a school shooter. // “Valentine’s Day” was one of the final songs recorded for The Next Day. The backing track was recorded on 24 July 2012 at the Magic Shop in New York City, while Bowie’s vocals were recorded on 18 September 2012 at Human Worldwide Studios in New York City. // The single was released on August 19, 2013 in the UK and on the 20th in the US and other countries. In early August 2013, the single was added to the BBC Radio 2’s A-list. The single entered UK’s Airplay Chart Top 40 on 9 August 2013, making it the second most successful single from The Next Day (after “Where Are We Now?”) in terms of airplay. It reached the 179th spot on the UK chart. In February 2018, it also reached #3 on the US Billboard Lyric Find chart. // The video for “Valentine’s Day” was directed by Indrani Pal-Chaudhuri and Markus Klinko, who previously collaborated with Bowie on his 2002 album Heathen. It features Bowie in the abandoned Red Hook Grain Terminal in the Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. In the video, Bowie plays a G2T Hohner guitar while performing the song. Many commentators contrasted the video with the controversial preceding video for “The Next Day” and described it as more “subdued” in comparison. However, visual hints towards gun violence and the NRA were also noted, suggesting the video was conveying a subtle anti-gun message. // The Next Day Extra was released Nov. 4, 2013. This 3-disc collector’s edition includes two CDs and a DVD. The first CD is the original 14-track album. The second is a 10-track CD comprising the deluxe edition bonus tracks “Plan”, “I’ll Take You There”, and “So She”, the Japanese exclusive track “God Bless the Girl”, two remixes, and four new songs (“Atomica”, “The Informer”, “Like a Rocket Man”, and “Born in a UFO”). The DVD includes the four promotional music videos (“Where Are We Now?”, “The Stars (Are Out Tonight)”, “The Next Day”, and “Valentine’s Day”). // The Next Day is the 24th studio album by English musician David Bowie, released on March 8, 2013 on his ISO Records label, under exclusive licence to Columbia Records. Co-produced by Bowie and longtime collaborator Tony Visconti, the album was recorded in secret at The Magic Shop and Human Worldwide Studios in New York City between 2011 and 2013. It is primarily a rock album, featuring elements of art rock. The cover art is an adapted version of his 1977 album “Heroes”, featuring a white square with the album’s title obscuring his face. It was announced on Bowie’s 66th birthday, 8 January 2013. Bowie’s website was updated with the video for the lead single, “Where Are We Now?”, and the single was immediately made available for purchase on the iTunes Store. // It was Bowie’s first album of new material in ten years, since 2003’s Reality, and surprised fans and media who had presumed that he had retired from the music business. The album was streamed in its entirety on iTunes days before its official release. The Next Day Extra, an additional disc featuring four more tracks, and remixes of songs from the original album, was released in November. The Next Day was met with critical acclaim, and earned Bowie his first number-one album in the United Kingdom since 1993’s Black Tie White Noise. It was ranked as the second best album of 2013 (in a tie with Blue October’s Sway) by German music magazine Kulturnews and was also nominated for the 2013 Mercury Prize. The album was nominated for Best Rock Album at the 2014 Grammy Awards and for MasterCard British Album of the Year at the 2014 Brit Awards. // Recording of the album took place at The Magic Shop and Human Worldwide Studios in New York City. Bowie and producer Tony Visconti worked in secret alongside long-term engineer Mario J. McNulty, recording the album over a two-year period. The recording sessions were sporadic, and Visconti estimated that only three full months were spent demoing and recording material. Visconti recalled that the album began with a one-week recording session: Sterling Campbell was on drums, I was on bass, David was on keyboards, Gerry Leonard was on guitar. By the end of five days we had demoed up a dozen songs. Just structures. No lyrics, no melodies and all working titles. This is how everything begins with him. Then he took them home and we didn’t hear another thing from him for four months. // Bowie would disappear with the music “to make sure he was on the right track”, then bring the band back together to take the next step in recording when he was ready. Visconti described the recording sessions as “intense”, but they stuck to regular hours. “The last time we did all-nighters was Young Americans”. // During breaks from the studio, Visconti would walk the streets of New York listening to music from The Next Day on his earphones: “I was walking around New York with my headphones on, looking at all the people with Bowie T-shirts on—they are ubiquitous here—thinking, ‘Boy, if you only knew what I’m listening to at the moment.'”// Despite the statement that no guest artists were used to record the album, Bowie did use some of the musicians he’s worked with in the past, including Earl Slick, who recorded his parts for the album in July 2012. Gail Ann Dorsey (bass guitar) and Sterling Campbell (drums), who had both worked with Bowie since the 1990s, also contributed to the album. Dorsey also recorded vocals for the song “If You Can See Me”. Drummer Zachary Alford and guitarists Gerry Leonard and David Torn were hired for the sessions and Slick revealed that Visconti also contributed bass. Saxophonist Steve Elson, who had worked with Bowie since the 1980s, also plays on the album. A story that Robert Fripp, who previously has worked with Bowie in the studio, was invited to play on the album but could not due to other commitments was denied by Fripp, who said, “I haven’t spoken to David for a while and I wasn’t approached [to take part in the album]”, adding “I’m not angry at all. No one is hurt, I’m not upset, just keen for clarity.” // Bowie took great pains to keep the recording of the album secret, requiring people involved in the recording to sign NDAs. Bowie had to change recording studios after one day when someone at the studio disclosed that Bowie was recording there. He moved to the studio The Magic Shop, which ran the studio with a skeleton crew of only one or two employees on days when Bowie was there. Columbia Records’s UK PR firm learned of the project only a few days before the album was released. // Canadian band Metric almost uncovered the secret recording sessions when they arrived at Magic Shop recording studios unannounced in 2011, and Bowie saxophonist Steve Elson said he was tempted to reveal all. // The Next Day is a rock album, mainly featuring art rock. Tony Visconti told the NME that The Next Day “is quite a rock album” and Alexis Petridis of The Guardian considered the record “a straightforward rock album.” // The first single was the ballad “Where Are We Now?”, a track which Visconti described as “the only track on the album that goes this much inward for him”. Visconti suggested that Bowie chose “Where Are We Now?” as the opening single because “people had to deal with the shock that he was back [after a 10-year absence]” and that the introspective nature of the song made it an appropriate choice. The song reached No.6 in the UK charts. Opening lyrics for “Where Are We Now” reflectively recall the name of a train station (plaza) and a street in west Berlin, where Bowie once lived. A video accompanying the single includes props such as a dismantled photo frame lying discarded on the floor in the opening shot, a large ear in the background, and a two-headed soft doll with the torn faces of Bowie and a voiceless counterpart “pasted” onto it in. Lyrics also include the phrase “the moment you know you know, you know”. // “The Stars (Are Out Tonight)” was released as the second single from the album on 26 February 2013. A music video in the form of a short film was premiered the previous day. The song received moderate airplay on BBC Radio 2 and 106.9FM WHCR, peaking at number 102 on the UK Singles Chart. // Visconti, who accepted an interviewer’s suggestion that he was Bowie’s “voice on earth”, commented on the album to the international press and provided insights into the individual tracks. The songs cover a wide spread of subjects and are largely observational: most probe the mind-sets of different individuals. “Valentine’s Day” is about a high school shooter. “I’d Rather Be High” related the story of a Second World War soldier. Visconti described the material as “extremely strong and beautiful”. He added “if people are looking for classic Bowie they’ll find it on this album, if they’re looking for innovative Bowie, new directions, they’re going to find that on this album too.” Visconti commented that 29 tracks were recorded for the album and suggested that some of the material left out of The Next Day could appear on a subsequent record. Visconti speculated that Bowie could return to the studio to produce a new album later in 2013, but this did not happen. // The cover art for the album is an adapted version of Bowie’s 1977 album, “Heroes”, with a white square with the album’s title obscuring Bowie’s face. Designed by Jonathan Barnbrook, who also designed packaging for Heathen and Reality and follow-up Blackstar, the obscuring of the photograph connotes “forgetting or obliterating the past”. The original cover image was shot by Masayoshi Sukita. Barnbrook explained the cover, saying: “If you are going to subvert an album by David Bowie there are many to choose from but this is one of his most revered, it had to be an image that would really jar if it were subverted in some way and we thought “Heroes” worked best on all counts.” A viral marketing campaign was launched to promote the album on 15 February 2013. The campaign grew out of the concept behind the album cover, taking seemingly ordinary images and subverting them through the addition of a white square. // The Next Day debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, selling 94,048 copies in its first week. It was Bowie’s ninth number-one album in the United Kingdom, and his first in twenty years since Black Tie White Noise (1993). The album fell to number two the following week, selling 35,671 copies. In its third week, it slipped to number three on sales of 23,157 units. // In the United States, the album entered the Billboard 200 at number two with first-week sales of 85,000 copies, earning Bowie his largest sales week for an album in the Nielsen SoundScan era, and also his highest charting album on the Billboard 200. The album has sold 208,000 copies in the US as of December 2015. Elsewhere, The Next Day topped the charts in several countries, including Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Sweden and Switzerland, while reaching number two in Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Italy, and Spain.]

10:14

4. Frogpond – “Love Song”
   from: TimeThief / Black-Site Records / November 19, 2021
   [Newly reformed KC indie rock band, Frogpond, will release TimeThief, its first album in over twenty years on November 19, 2021, on the KC record label cooperative Black Site. Frogpond is: singer/guitarist and founder Heidi Phillips, long-time bassist, Justine Volpe, with Kristin Conkright on rhythm guitar, and Michelle Bacon on drums. More info at: http://black-site.org/frogpond // Frogpond digitally reissued their Au 1996 vinyl and cassette release Count To Ten on March 12, 2021, 25 years after its original release on August 9, 1996 on Columbia Records. Frogpond was formed in Warrensburg, Missouri. The band existed from 1994-2000, primarily performing in Kansas City and Lawrence, Kansas. COUNT TO TEN was the band’s 12-track national debut full length released on Tristar Music – Columbia on CD and vinyl in 1996 with songs written by Heidi Phillips, with Heidi Phillips on vocals & guitar, Justine Volpe on bass, Megan Hamilton on drums, Kristie Stemel on guitar and backing vocals. Art Alexakis (of the band Everclear) served as producer and contributed backing vocals. // In 1999 Frogpond released the 13-track second album, SAFE RIDE HOME on C2 Records – Columbia, on CD and vinyl with songs written by Heidi Phillips, and with Heidi Phillips on vocals & guitar, Justine Volpe on bass & backing vocals, and Billy Johnson on drums. The album was recorded by Doug McBride at Gravity Studios in Chicago who also served as producer and contributed electric piano and piano. // In 1994 Frogpond self released their 8-song cassette release 2%. 2% was produced, engineered, and mixed at Red House Recording, Lawrence, Kansas, October 1994. Heidi Phillips joined us LIVE onWMM on November 10, 2021.]

5. Amythyst Kiah – “Love Will Tear Ys Apart”
   from: Love Will Tear Us Apart – Single / Rounder Records / January 14, 2021
   [“Love Will Tear Us Apart” is a song by English rock band Joy Division, released in June 1980 as a non-album single. Its lyrics were inspired by lead singer Ian Curtis’s marital problems and struggles with epilepsy. The single was released the month after his suicide. The song was certified platinum in the UK, selling over 600,000 copies, and has an ongoing legacy as a defining song of the era. In 2002, NME named “Love Will Tear Us Apart” as the greatest single of all time, while Rolling Stone, in 2004 and 2011, named it one of the 500 best songs ever.Amythyst Kiah released her critically acclimed album, Wary + Strange on Rounder Records on June 18, 2021. It was #38 on WMM’w 120 Best Recordings of 2021. With an unforgettable voice that’s both unfettered and exquisitely controlled, the Tennessee-bred singer/ songwriter expands on the uncompromising artistry she most recently revealed as part of Our Native Daughters, an all-women-of-color supergroup whose Kiah-penned standout “Black Myself” earned a Grammy Award nomination for Best American Roots Song and won Song of the Year at the 2019 Folk Alliance International Awards. When met with the transcendent quality of her newly elevated sound, what emerges is an extraordinary vessel for Kiah’s songwriting: a raw yet nuanced examination of grief, alienation, and the hard-won triumph of total self-acceptance. // This new studio version of “Black Myself” is a glorious collision of two vastly different worlds: the iconoclastic alt-rock that first sparked her musical passion, and the roots/old-time-music scene. Produced by Tony Berg (Phoebe Bridgers, Amos Lee, Andrew Bird) the track was recorded at the legendary Sound City Studios in Los Angeles. More info at: http://www.amythystkiah.com]

6. Aretha Franklin – “Baby I Love You”
   from: Aretha Arrives / Atlantic / August 4, 1967
   [“Baby I Love You” is a popular song by R&B singer Aretha Franklin. The only single release from her Aretha Arrives album in 1967, the song was a huge hit, peaking at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart and spending two weeks at number-one on the Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles chart. It was featured in Martin Scorsese’s 1990 film Goodfellas. A live recording featured on the album Aretha in Paris (1968). There have been several other famous musicians who have covered Aretha Franklin’s “Baby I Love You”, such as Lisa Marie Presley in 1989, Donny Hathaway, Roberta Flack in 1972, B.B. King, The Bar-Kays in 1971, Erma Franklin in 1969, Irma Thomas in 1988, and Otis Rush in 1969 and various other musicians. In 2012, Christine Anu covered the song on her album, Rewind: The Aretha Franklin Songbook. // Billboard described the single as a “driving rocker” that is “brought to life in this electric performance by Miss Franklin.” // Aretha Louise Franklin (/əˈriːθə/ ə-REE-thə; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist.[2] Referred to as the “Queen of Soul”, she has twice been placed ninth in Rolling Stone’s “100 Greatest Artists of All Time”. With global sales of over 75 million records, Franklin is one of the best-selling music artists from the second half of the 20th century to the present. // Franklin began her career as a child, singing gospel at New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan, where her father C. L. Franklin was a minister. At the age of 18, she embarked on a music career as a recording artist for Columbia Records. While her career did not immediately flourish, Franklin found acclaim and commercial success once she signed with Atlantic Records in 1966. Commercial hits such as “I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)”, “Respect”, “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman”, “Chain of Fools”, “Think”, and “I Say a Little Prayer”, propelled Franklin past her musical peers. // Franklin continued to record acclaimed albums such as I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You (1967), Lady Soul (1968), Spirit in the Dark (1970), Young, Gifted and Black (1972), Amazing Grace (1972), and Sparkle (1976), before experiencing problems with the record company. Franklin left Atlantic in 1979 and signed with Arista Records. The singer appeared in the 1980 film The Blues Brothers before releasing the successful albums Jump to It (1982), Who’s Zoomin’ Who? (1985) and Aretha (1986) on the Arista label. In 1998, Franklin returned to the Top 40 with the Lauryn Hill-produced song “A Rose Is Still a Rose”; later, she released an album with the same name. // Franklin recorded 112 charted singles on the US Billboard charts, including 73 Hot 100 entries, 17 top-ten pop singles, 100 R&B entries and 20 number-one R&B singles. Besides the foregoing, the singer’s well-known hits also include “Ain’t No Way”, “Call Me”, “Don’t Play That Song (You Lied)”, “Spanish Harlem”, “Rock Steady”, “Day Dreaming”, “Until You Come Back to Me (That’s What I’m Gonna Do)”, “Something He Can Feel”, “Jump to It”, “Freeway of Love”, “Who’s Zoomin’ Who” and “I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)” (a duet with George Michael). Franklin won 18 Grammy Awards, including the first eight awards given for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance (1968–1975), a Grammy Awards Living Legend honor and Lifetime Achievement Award. // Franklin received numerous honors throughout her career. She was awarded the National Medal of Arts and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 1987, she became the first female artist to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She also was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005 and into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2012. In 2010, Rolling Stone ranked Franklin number one on its list of the “100 Greatest Singers of All Time”. In 2019, the Pulitzer Prize jury awarded the singer a posthumous special citation “for her indelible contribution to American music and culture for more than five decades”. In 2020, Franklin was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame.]

7. The Brian Jonestown Massacre – “If Love is The Drug”
   from: Tepid Peppermint Wonderland: A Retrospective / Tee Pee / 2004
   [Tepid Peppermint Wonderland: A Retrospective is a double compilation album by American psychedelic rock band The Brian Jonestown Massacre, released in 2004. The album is a best-of compilation spanning the band’s career. “If Love Is The Drug” was originally released as single on October 7, 2003 packaged with a re-released of their album …And This Is Our Music on A Records, the band’s 9th album. // The Brian Jonestown Massacre is an American musical project and band led and started by Anton Newcombe. It was formed in San Francisco in 1990. // The group was the subject of the 2004 documentary film called Dig!, and have gained media notoriety for their tumultuous working relationships as well as the erratic behavior of Newcombe. The collective has released 18 albums, five compilation albums, five live albums, 13 EPs, 16 singles as well as two various-artist compilation albums to date. // The bandname is a portmanteau of deceased Rolling Stones founder Brian Jones and the 1978 Jonestown Massacre.]

10:26 – Pledge Break #2

Our WMM Winter Fund Drive Team: Marion Merritt and Betse Ellis

10:34 – Underwriting

8. The Magnetic Fields – “The Book of Love”
   from: 69 Love Songs / Merge Records / June 8, 1999
   [69 Love Songs is the sixth studio album by American indie pop band the Magnetic Fields, released on September 7, 1999 by Merge Records. As its title indicates, 69 Love Songs is a three-volume concept album composed of 69 love songs, all written by Magnetic Fields frontman Stephin Merritt. // The album was originally conceived as a music revue. Stephin Merritt was sitting in a gay piano bar in Manhattan, listening to the pianist’s interpretations of Stephen Sondheim songs, when he decided he ought to get into theatre music because he felt he had an aptitude for it. “I decided I’d write one hundred love songs as a way of introducing myself to the world. Then I realized how long that would be. So I settled on sixty-nine. I’d have a theatrical revue with four drag queens. And whoever the audience liked best at the end of the night would get paid.” He also found inspiration in Charles Ives’ 114 Songs, about which he had read earlier in the day: “songs of all kinds, and what a monument it was, and I thought, well, I could do something like that.” // Band member Claudia Gonson has claimed that Merritt wrote most of the songs hanging around in bars in New York City. // On seven occasions (five in the United States and two in London over four consecutive nights) the Magnetic Fields performed all 69 love songs, in order, over two nights. Several of the lavish orchestrations are more simply arranged when performed live, due to limited performers and/or equipment. // Merritt has said “69 Love Songs is not remotely an album about love. It’s an album about love songs, which are very far away from anything to do with love.” The album features songs in many different genres, including country, synth pop, free jazz, and mournful love ballads. All the songs deal with love in one form or another, but often in an ironic or off-beat fashion, such as the track “Yeah! Oh, Yeah!” which tells the story of a husband murdering his wife. The songs of 69 Love Songs features lyrics exploring heterosexual, homosexual, and bisexual relationships. // The Magnetic Fields (named after the André Breton/Philippe Soupault novel Les Champs Magnétiques) are an American band founded and led by Stephin Merritt. Merritt is the group’s primary songwriter, producer, and vocalist, as well as frequent multi-instrumentalist. Merritt’s lyrics are often about love and feature atypical or neutral gender roles, and are by turns ironic, tongue-in-cheek, bitter, and humorous. // The band released their debut single “100,000 Fireflies” in 1991. The single was typical of the band’s earlier career, characterized by synthesized instrumentation by Merritt, with lead vocals provided by Susan Anway (and then by Stephin Merritt himself, from the House of Tomorrow EP onwards). A more traditional band later materialized; it is now composed of Merritt, Claudia Gonson, Sam Davol, and John Woo, with occasional guest vocals by Shirley Simms. The band’s best-known work[by whom?] is the 1999 three-volume concept album 69 Love Songs. It was followed in the succeeding years by a “no-synth” trilogy: i (2004), Distortion (2008), and Realism (2010). The band’s latest album, Quickies, was released on May 29, 2020. // The band began as Merritt’s studio project under the name Buffalo Rome. With the help of friend Claudia Gonson, who had played in Merritt’s band the Zinnias during high school, a live band was assembled in Boston, where Merritt and Gonson lived, to play Merritt’s compositions. The band’s first live performance was in 1991 at T.T. the Bear’s Place in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where they were mistakenly billed as Magnetophone, an alias used briefly in that year by Damon Krukowski and Naomi Yang of Galaxie 500. The 1999 triple album 69 Love Songs showcased Merritt’s songwriting and lyrical abilities and the group’s musicianship, demonstrated by the use of such varied instruments as the ukulele, banjo, accordion, cello, mandolin, flute, xylophone, and the Marxophone, in addition to their usual setting of synthesizers, guitars, and effects. The album features vocalists Shirley Simms, Dudley Klute, L.D. Beghtol, and Gonson, each of whom sings lead on six songs as well as various backing vocals, plus Daniel Handler (who has written under the pseudonym Lemony Snicket) on accordion, and longtime collaborator Christopher Ewen (of Future Bible Heroes) as guest arranger/synthesist. Violinist Ida Pearle makes a brief cameo on “Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side”. // The band’s albums i (2004) and Distortion (2008) both followed the album theme structure of 69 Love Songs: the song titles on i begin with the letter (or, in the case of half the songs’ titles, the pronoun) “I”, whilst Distortion was an experiment in combining noise music with their typically unconventional musical approach. The liner notes claim the album was made without synthesizers. According to an article, “To celebrate the release of Distortion, Merritt and the Magnetic Fields played mini-residencies in cities around the country, culminating with six shows at Chicago’s Old Town School of Folk Music.” // Realism was released in January 2010, concluding what Merritt termed the “no-synth” trilogy (following i and Distortion). The next album produced would feature synthesizers “almost exclusively”. // In 2010, the documentary film Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt and the Magnetic Fields made its debut in film festivals around the world. It was directed by Kerthy Fix and Gail O’Hara. Shot over a period of 10 years, it discusses the formation of the band, Stephin’s friendship with Claudia Gonson, the production of various albums, and Stephin’s move to California from New York. It won the Outfest 2010 Grand Jury Prize for Feature Documentary. // The band was chosen by Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel to perform a rare festival performance at the All Tomorrow’s Parties event that he curated in March 2012 in Minehead, England. // The band released its tenth full-length album, Love at the Bottom of the Sea, on March 6, 2012. This album, sometimes compared to 69 Love Songs[by whom?], brought back the use of synthesizers. Merritt told fans on his website, “I was very happy to be using synthesizers in ways that I had not done before. Most of the synthesizers on the record didn’t exist when we were last using synthesizers.” // The song “Andrew in Drag” garnered much attention, receiving play from entities such as CBS News and NPR’s All Songs Considered. In 2012, the Magnetic Fields celebrated its new album by launching a North American and European tour. It began on March 6, the release date of Love at the Bottom of the Sea, and continued for two months. // In 2016, it was announced that the band’s eleventh studio album, 50 Song Memoir, would contain fifty songs, akin to the 69 Love Songs concept, one to commemorate each year since Stephin Merritt was born. It was released in March 2017.// On May 15, 2020, the band digitally released the album Quickies—twenty-eight songs under three minutes long—through Nonesuch Records. The first single, “The Day the Politicians Died”, was released on February 25, followed by “Kraftwerk in a Blackout” on April 1, “I Want to Join a Biker Gang” on April 16, and “I’ve Got a Date With Jesus” on May 8. The band released a vinyl box set of the album on May 29, followed by the CD on June 16. Former lead singer Susan Anway died in September 2021.]

9. Krystle Warren & The Faculty – “Love You”
   from: Love Songs: A Time You May Embrace / Parlour Door Music / April 9, 2012 UK
   [Originally from KC, Krystle learned to play the guitar by listening to Rubber Soul & Revolver from The Beatles. Krystle graduated from Paseo Arts Academy in 2001 and began her musical career in collaborating with area jazz and pop musicians. After living in San Francisco and NYC, Krystle was signed to a French label, Because Music, and moved to Paris to release “Circles” in 2009. Krystle played French and British television programs, including Later with Jools Holland, garnering critical acclaim and traveling all over the world with Rufus Wainwright, Nick Cave, Norah Jones, and Joan As Police Woman. Krystle created, Parlour Door Music, to release “Love Songs: A Time You May Embrace” a recording from a 13-day session in Brooklyn, where she recorded 24 songs live with 28 musicians including her band, The Faculty, alongside choirs, horn and string sections. // Krystle Warren & The Crew released THE CREW, on September 15, 2020. Through isolation came unity. The Crew is Lakecia Benjamin, Matthew Silberman, Jacob Snider, Joe Blaxx, Solomon Dorsey, Zach Djanikian, Cassorla, Krystle Warren, and Ben Kane. They have recorded unique versions of classic songs with the hope of encouraging the rallying cries of The Moment: the movement of the people. // In the lockdown of their homes, they sewed together their interpretations of “Bein’ Green” (based upon Ray Charles’ rendition); “Gimme Some Truth” (a mighty John Lennon composition); “Dear Landlord” (a scathing indictment from the blistering pen of Bob Dylan); and “Rhythm of Life”, (a timeless statement originally performed by Oleta Adams). // A portion of the proceeds from The Crew. EP will be donated to the various causes and organizations. From Billboard.com: Singer-songwriter Krystle Warren has made a powerful statement about the struggle for Black equality with the help of Kermit the Frog’s iconic song “Bein’ Green” (written by Joe Raposo). // The moving five-minute clip, over which Warren sings her rendition of the 1970 song — since recorded by Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra and others — sprang from a covers EP she recorded during the pandemic with a group of musicians known as The Crew. Warren embarked on the project after her forthcoming album with her regular group, The Faculty, was put on hold due to COVID-19. The EP, which tackles themes of racial injustice in the wake of nationwide Black Lives Matter protests this summer, also includes a cover of John Lennon’s “Gimme Some Truth.” // The “Bein’ Green” video weaves in footage of this year’s Black Lives Matter protests, and also includes a heartbreaking montage of young Black children choosing white dolls over dark-skinned ones. It additionally features archival footage of such transformative Black figures as James Baldwin, Angela Davis, Malcom X, Nina Simone, Marsha P. Johnson and Al Sharpton, as well as victims of police brutality including Sandra Bland, George Floyd and Eric Garner. It ends with a clip from a speech by civil rights activist Ella Baker. // “‘Bein’ Green,’ it’s such a gorgeous song, and it says so, so much,” says Warren. “I began thinking about what I wanted it to express visually before we started [recording the song]. Essentially — it’s not easy being Black. That’s what Ray Charles was saying, and we felt it needed to be said again.” // Warren, who now resides in Paris, began performing in her native Kansas City at the age of 16 before moving to New York City, where she started busking on the streets and later formed her regular band, The Faculty. She and the group have recorded several full-length albums, including 2009’s Circles, 2012’s Love Songs and 2017’s Three the Hard Way. Her next album is slated for release thiswinter. // A large percentage of proceeds from sales of the EP — which is available for digital downloads via Warren’s website now and released on all streaming platforms next Friday — will be donated to the ACLU. Krystle Warren joined us live on WMM on September 23, 2020. July 28, 2021. She has appeared as a guest on 15 WMMs.]

10. Marva Whitney – “What Do I Have to Do to Prove My Love to You”
    from: James Brown’s Funky People, Pt. 2 / Polydor / February 12. 1088
    [The second volume of material compiled from James Brown’s People Records label features Brown’s collaboration with Hank Ballard on “From the Love Side.” Brown wrote (or co-wrote), arranged, and produced much of the material, appearing on vocals several times, and the J.B.’s are featured heavily, whether as a unit or with individual members stepping out as solo acts. The highlights are Bobby Byrd’s two 1971 R&B hits, “I Know You Got Soul” and “Hot Pants — I’m Coming, Coming, I’m Coming”; also featured are Marva Whitney, Lyn Collins, and Fred Wesley, among others. Marva is also featured on Eccentric Soul: The Forte Label / Numero Group – Cleanteen Records / released September 3, 2013. Born Marva Ann Manning, May 1, 1944 in Kansas City, Kansas. Whitney’s performing career started as early as three years old while touring with her family’s gospel group, the Manning Gospel Singers. In 1960, when she was 16, she joined a Kansas gospel group, the Alma Whitney Singers, and ended up marrying Harry Whitney, the brother-in-law of the group’s leader. Ever since, she has gone by her married name, Marva Whitney. Marva Whitney is well known as a funk vocalist. Singing with James Brown in the late 1960s, she was able to make a name for herself with powerful songs like “I’m Tired, I’m Tired, I’m Tired (Things Better Change Before Its Too Late)” and “If You Don’t Work (You Can’t Eat).” Her recording of “It’s My Thing (You Can’t Tell Me Who to Sock It To)” reached the R&B Top 20. Her song “Unwind Yourself” has been sampled numerous times, most recognisably by DJ Mark the 45 King on his 1987 track “The 900 Number”, which was then sampled by DJ Chad Jackson on his 1990 hit single “Hear the Drummer (Get Wicked)” (UK #3 in July 1990), by DJ Kool on his 1996 hit “Let Me Clear My Throat” (UK #6 in March 1997), Sway on his 2009 track Mercedes Benz and Mac Miller on his 2011 track Party On Fifth Ave. In 2006, Marva Whitney collaborated with German born DJ/collector/manager DJ Pari and Japanese funk orchestra Osaka Monaurail to produce a new single, “I Am What I Am”. Osaka Monaurail style themselves on the James Brown sound and the single was produced in the fashion of an authentic release of the recordings she produced with Brown in 1969. Two successful tours of Japan and a full length album release followed, also entitled “I Am What I Am”. In 2007, 2008 and 2009, the tour was also brought to Europe. In December 2009, Whitney collapsed on stage in front of thousands of fans in Lorne, Australia, while performing with The Transatlantics at Falls Festival. She was immediately rushed to Geelong Hospital, where doctors diagnosed a stroke. The remaining dates of her tour had to be canceled, but Whitney made a recovery and performed again in 2010. In December 2012, Whitney died from complications of pneumonia at her home. She was 68]

11. Ray Charles – “Hallelujah, I Love Her So”
    from: Ray Charles / Atlantic / June 1, 1957
    [“Hallelujah, I Love Her So” is a single by American musician Ray Charles. The rhythm and blues song was written and released by Charles in 1956 on the Atlantic label, and in 1957 it was included on his self-titled debut LP, also released on Atlantic. The song peaked at number five on the Billboard R&B chart. It is loosely based on ‘Get It Over Baby’ by Ike Turner (1953). // The song incorporates Gospel music. “Hallelujah I Love Her So” is a testament to the joyous release of love, featuring a sophisticated horn arrangement and memorable tenor sax solo by Don Wilkerson. Several artists, including Stevie Wonder, Peggy Lee, Eddie Cochran, and Humble Pie have covered the song/ // Ray Charles is the first release on LP by American pianist, vocalist, and band leader Ray Charles. Originally released in 1957 on Atlantic Records, it was re-released as Hallelujah I Love Her So, in 1962. // Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and composer. Among friends and fellow musicians he preferred being called “Brother Ray”. He was often referred to as “The Genius”. Charles was blinded during childhood, possibly due to glaucoma. // Charles pioneered the soul music genre during the 1950s by combining blues, jazz, rhythm and blues, and gospel styles into the music he recorded for Atlantic. He contributed to the integration of country music, rhythm and blues, and pop music during the 1960s with his crossover success on ABC Records, notably with his two Modern Sounds albums. While he was with ABC, Charles became one of the first black musicians to be granted artistic control by a mainstream record company. // Charles’s 1960 hit “Georgia On My Mind” was the first of his three career No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. His 1962 album Modern Sounds In Country And Western Music became his first album to top the Billboard 200. Charles had multiple singles reach the Top 40 on various Billboard charts: 44 on the US R&B singles chart, 11 on the Hot 100 singles chart, 2 on the Hot Country singles charts. // Charles cited Nat King Cole as a primary influence, but his music was also influenced by Louis Jordan and Charles Brown. He had a lifelong friendship and occasional partnership with Quincy Jones. Frank Sinatra called Ray Charles “the only true genius in show business,” although Charles downplayed this notion. Billy Joel said, “This may sound like sacrilege, but I think Ray Charles was more important than Elvis Presley”. // For his musical contributions, Charles received the Kennedy Center Honors, the National Medal of Arts, and the Polar Music Prize. He was one of the inaugural inductees at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in 1986. He has won 18 Grammy Awards (5 posthumously), the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1987, and 10 of his recordings have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Rolling Stone ranked Charles No. 10 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, and No. 2 on their list of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time. In 2022, he will be inducted into the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame.]

10:48 – Pledge Break #3

Our WMM Winter Drive Team: Marion Merritt and Betse Ellis

10:56

12. Aimee Mann – “What The World Needs Now”
    from: Sweetheart (Love Songs) / Hear Music / 2004
    [Written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. // Aimee Elizabeth Mann is an American singer-songwriter. Over the course of four decades, she has released more than a dozen albums. // Mann was born in Richmond, Virginia, and studied at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. In the 1980s, after playing with the Young Snakes and Ministry, she co-founded the new wave band ‘Til Tuesday and wrote their top-ten single “Voices Carry” (1985). The band released three albums and disbanded in 1990 when Mann left to pursue a solo career. // Mann released her first solo album, Whatever, in 1993, followed by I’m With Stupid in 1995. They received positive reviews but low sales. Mann achieved wider recognition when she recorded songs for the soundtrack to the Paul Thomas Anderson film Magnolia (1999), earning nominations for Academy Award for Best Original Song and Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal. // After Mann’s record company Geffen refused to release her third solo album, Bachelor No. 2, Mann self-released it under her own label, SuperEgo Records, in 2000. She has released seven albums since. She has won two Grammy Awards, including Best Folk Album for Mental Illness (2017), and was named one of the world’s ten greatest living songwriters by NPR in 2006]

10:59 – Station ID

13. John Prine – “Boundless Love”
    from: The Tree of Forgiveness / Oh Boy Records / April 13, 2018
    [The Tree of Forgiveness is the eighteenth and final studio album by American country folk singer John Prine born October 10, 1946. John Prine died April 7, 2020 due to COVID-19. He was an American country folk singer-songwriter. He was active as a composer, recording artist, and live performer from the early 1970s until his death, and was known for an often humorous style of original music that has elements of protest and social commentary. Born and raised in Maywood, Illinois, Prine learned to play the guitar at the age of 14. He attended classes at Chicago’s Old Town School of Folk Music. After serving in West Germany with the U.S. Army, he returned to Chicago in the late 1960s, where he worked as a mailman, writing and singing songs first as a hobby, and then becoming a club performer. A member of Chicago’s folk revival, Prine credited film critic Roger Ebert and singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson with discovering him, resulting in the production of Prine’s eponymous debut album with Atlantic Records in 1971. The acclaim earned by this LP led Prine to focus on his musical career, and he recorded three more albums for Atlantic. He then signed with Asylum Records, where he recorded an additional three albums. In 1981, he co-founded Oh Boy Records, an independent record label with which he would release most of his subsequent albums. Widely cited as one of the most influential songwriters of his generation, Prine was known for humorous lyrics about love, life, and current events, as well as serious songs with social commentary and songs that recollect melancholy tales from his life. In 2020, he received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award..]

14. Betse & Clarke – “Fill My Way With Love”
    from: River Still Rise / Independent / July 1, 2016
    [Full-length debut album, from traditional and future folk duo, Betse & Clarke Betse Ellis on fiddles, violins, viola & vocals and Clarke Wyatt on banjos and cello. Recorded during the Winter-Spring of 2016. Produced by Clarke Wyatt and Betse Ellis. Recorded and mixed by Clarke Wyatt/ Final mix assistance from Chad Meise at Massive Sound. Traditional & future folk inspired by explorers Lewis & Clark showing how Betse & Clarke are trailblazers of sound & vision. “River Still Rise,” is a collection of originals and reworked traditional compositions that are presented “to be enjoyed as a musical adventure, much like the river exploration of the famous duo Lewis & Clark, an inspiration for the band’s name.” Betse Ellis writes in the extended liner notes: “The phrase River Still Rise appears in the journals of Meriwether Lewis, and to me, most notably when the Corps of Discovery readied their boats and supplies for the beginning of their river journey. Documenting all the details of the excursion included aspects of the weather, the general demeanor or specific behavior of the crew, and most certainly the level of the river. The river needed to be high enough to be navigable, and in that way, Clarke and I have been putting together our gear and supplies, building our boat, and watching the weather signs for about a year and a half at this point. The process of recording RSR took several months, beginning in early 2016. We made this recording at home.” // In 2017 Betse & Clarke released, Tunes We Like in analog on cassette. // Betse & Clarke released the album, Winter on June 4, 2020 it is a collection of songs and tunes, including original compositions, traditional songs and fiddle tunes, and modern songs re-envisioned. This recording was compiled during winter 2020, with a feeling of introspection. Songs under copyright were properly licensed for this digital release. Winter was in the Top Ten of WMM’s 120 Best Recordings of 2020. This duo from the heartland (Kansas City, Missouri) has its roots in Ozark old time music, honoring traditional songs and tunes that resonate with human experience. Betse Ellis on fiddles, violins, viola & vocals and Clarke Wyatt on banjos, guitar, cello, multi-instruments. Betse & Clarke have played and toured around the world. Individually their musical roots go deep in the KC music scene. Clarke Wyatt is a founding member of Mr. Marco’s V7, and Betse Ellis is a founding member of The Wilders. More info at: http://www.betseandclarke.com]

11:06 – Pledge Break #4

This is WMM’s Winter Fund Drive Show with Marion Merritt & Betse Ellis.

11:14

15. The Wild Women of Kansas City – “Taking A Chance On Love”
    from: Live At Pilgrim Chapel 9/26/2010 / Cosmic Cowboy Records / Reissued March 14, 2021
    [Reissued on digital for the first time by Cosmic Cowboy Records, The Wild Women of Kansas City, LIVE AT PILGRIM CHAPEL 9/26/2010 is a 14-track live recording. The vocal quartet included legendary Myra Taylor (1917-2011), Millie Edwards, Geneva Price and Lori Tucker, singing in harmony. More info at: https://music.apple.com/us/album/the-wild-women-of-kansas-city/1557857551 from Bill Brownlee’s Plastic Sax blog: “The Wild Women’s repertoire belied its billing as a jazz group. The 55-minute recording includes readings of the disco anthem “I Will Survive,” Ray Charles’ earthy hit “Night Time Is the Right Time” and the proto-rock gem “Don’t Let Go.” // Backed by an unidentified organist, bassist and drummer, the crowd-pleasing entertainers also perform familiar warhorses like “Sentimental Journey,” “Stormy Weather” and the inescapable “Kansas City.” Edwards sings lead on “What a Wonderful World” and Taylor does her playful Louis Armstrong impression during “On the Sunny Side of the Street.” // The women assert their intent on “Let the Good Times Roll”: “Tell everybody: Wild Women are in town/Sometimes we’re serious, sometimes we got to clown/ We don’t let nobody play us cheap/We got heart, soul- ooh, listen to the beat.” Thanks to the invaluable Live at Pilgrim Chapel 9/26/2010, their vital beat plays on.”]

16. Cynthia Erivo – “Somebody Gonna Love You”
    from: The Color Purple (2015 Broadway Cast Recording) / Broadway Records / Feb 19, 2016
    [British singer-songwriter and actress, born January 8, 1987. Erivo was the winner of the 2016 Tony Award, for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical, for the Revival of The Color Purple, on Broadway// Cynthia Erivo was born January 8, 1987. She is an English actress, singer and songwriter. She is the recipient of several accolades, including a Daytime Emmy Award, a Grammy Award and a Tony Award, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. // Erivo began acting in a 2011 stage production of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. She gained recognition for starring in the Broadway revival of The Color Purple from 2015 to 2017, for which she won the 2016 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical and the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. Erivo ventured into films in 2018, playing roles in the heist film Widows and the thriller Bad Times at the El Royale. For her portrayal of American abolitionist Harriet Tubman in the biopic Harriet (2019), Erivo received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress; she also wrote and performed the song “Stand Up” on its soundtrack, which garnered her a nomination in the Best Original Song category. // On television, Erivo had her first role in the British series Chewing Gum (2015). She went on to star in the crime drama miniseries The Outsider (2020), and received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for her portrayal of American singer Aretha Franklin in National Geographic’s anthology series Genius: Aretha (2021).]

17. Roberta Flack – “Feel Like Makin’ Love”
    from: Feel Like Makin’ Love / Atlantic / March 1, 1975
    [Released in 1975, Feel Like Makin’ Love is Roberta Flack’s fifth solo album and sixth overall, when counting her duet album with Donny Hathaway, Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway from 1972. It was the first album produced by Flack herself, under the pseudonym Rubina Flake. // The album’s title cut had been issued as a single in June 1974 affording Flack her third #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, after which success Atlantic Records signed Flack to a new five year contract – reportedly the most lucrative ever signed by a female recording artist. // Roberta Cleopatra Flack was born February 10, 1937. She is an American singer. She is known for her No. 1 singles “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”, “Killing Me Softly with His Song”, “Feel Like Makin’ Love”; and “Where Is the Love” and “The Closer I Get to You”, two of her many duets with Donny Hathaway. // Flack is the only solo artist to win the Grammy Award for Record of the Year in two consecutive years: “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” won at the 1973 Grammys and “Killing Me Softly with His Song” won at the 1974 Grammys. // Flack lived with a musical family, born in Black Mountain, North Carolina to parents Laron Flack, a Veterans Administration draftsman, and Irene Council Flack a church organist, on February 10, 1937 (some sources also say 1939 – 1940 Census states Roberta was 3 years old) and raised in Arlington, Virginia. Growing up she often accompanied the choir of Lomax African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church by playing hymns and spirituals on piano, but she also enjoyed going to the “Baptist church down the street” to listen to contemporary gospel music, such as that performed by Mahalia Jackson and Sam Cooke. // When Flack was nine, she started taking an interest in playing the piano,[6] and during her early teens, Flack so excelled at classical piano that Howard University awarded her a full music scholarship. By age 15, she entered Howard University, making her one of the youngest students ever to enroll there. She eventually changed her major from piano to voice, and became an assistant conductor of the university choir. Her direction of a production of Aida received a standing ovation from the Howard University faculty. Flack is a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority and was made an honorary member of Tau Beta Sigma by the Eta Delta Chapter at Howard University for her outstanding work in promoting music education. // Roberta Flack became a student teacher at a school near Chevy Chase, Maryland. She graduated from Howard University at 19 and began graduate studies in music, but the sudden death of her father forced her to take a job teaching music and English in Farmville, North Carolina. // Before becoming a professional singer-songwriter, Flack returned to Washington, D.C. and taught at Banneker, Browne, and Rabaut Junior High Schools. She also taught private piano lessons out of her home on Euclid St. NW. During this period, her music career began to take shape on evenings and weekends in Washington, D.C. area night spots. At the Tivoli Club, she accompanied opera singers at the piano. During intermissions, she would sing blues, folk, and pop standards in a back room, accompanying herself on the piano. Later, she performed several nights a week at the 1520 Club, again providing her own piano accompaniment. Around this time, her voice teacher, Frederick “Wilkie” Wilkerson, told her that he saw a brighter future for her in pop music than in the classics. She modified her repertoire accordingly and her reputation spread.[citation needed] Flack began singing professionally after being hired to perform regularly at Mr. Henry’s Restaurant, on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC in 1968. // The atmosphere in Mr. Henry’s was welcoming and the club turned into a showcase for the young music teacher. Her voice mesmerized locals and word spread. A-list entertainers who were appearing in town would come in late at night to hear her sing. // As restaurant owner Henry Yaffe recalled, “She told me if I could give her work there three nights a week, she would quit teaching.” He did and she did. // To meet Roberta’s exacting standards, Yaffe transformed the apartment above the bar into the Roberta Flack Room. “I got the oak paneling from the old Dodge Hotel near Union Station. I put in heavy upholstered chairs, sort of a conservative style from the 50s and an acoustical system designed especially for Roberta. She was very demanding. She was a perfectionist.” // Les McCann discovered Flack singing and playing jazz in a Washington nightclub. He later said on the liner notes of what would be her first album First Take noted below, “Her voice touched, tapped, trapped, and kicked every emotion I’ve ever known. I laughed, cried, and screamed for more…she alone had the voice.” Very quickly, he arranged an audition for her with Atlantic Records, during which she played 42 songs in 3 hours for producer Joel Dorn. In November 1968, she recorded 39 song demos in less than 10 hours. Three months later, Atlantic reportedly recorded Flack’s debut album, First Take, in a mere 10 hours. Flack later spoke of those studio sessions as a “very naive and beautiful approach… I was comfortable with the music because I had worked on all these songs for all the years I had worked at Mr. Henry’s.” // In 1971, Flack participated in the legendary Soul to Soul concert film by Denis Sanders, which was headlined by Wilson Pickett, along with Ike & Tina Turner, Santana, The Staple Singers, Les McCann, Eddie Harris, The Voices of Harlem, and others. The U.S. delegation of musical artists was invited to perform for 14th anniversary of African independence in Ghana. The film was digitally reissued on DVD and CD in 2004 but Flack declined permission for her image and recording to be included for unknown reasons. Her a cappella performance of the traditional spiritual “Oh Freedom” retitled “Freedom Song” on the original Soul to Soul LP soundtrack is only available in the VHS version of the film. // Flack’s cover version of “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” hit number 76 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1972. Her Atlantic recordings did not sell particularly well, until actor/director Clint Eastwood chose a song from First Take, “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” written by Ewan MacColl, for the sound track of his directorial debut Play Misty for Me; it became the biggest hit of the year for 1972, spending six consecutive weeks at #1 and earning Flack a million-selling Gold disc. It finished the year as Billboard’s top song of 1972. The First Take album also went to #1 and eventually sold 1.9 million copies in the United States. Eastwood, who paid $2,000 for the use of the song in the film, has remained an admirer and friend of Flack’s ever since. It was awarded the Grammy Award for Record of the Year in 1973. In 1983, she recorded the end music to the Dirty Harry film Sudden Impact at Eastwood’s request. // In 1972, Flack began recording regularly with Donny Hathaway, scoring hits such as the Grammy-winning “Where Is the Love” (1972) and later “The Closer I Get to You” (1978), both million-selling gold singles. Flack and Hathaway recorded several duets together, including two LPs, until Hathaway’s 1979 death. // On her own, Flack scored her second #1 hit in 1973, “Killing Me Softly with His Song” written by Charles Fox, Norman Gimbel and Lori Lieberman. It was awarded both Record of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female at the 1974 Grammy Awards. Its parent album was Flack’s biggest-selling disc, eventually earning double platinum certification. In 1974, Flack released “Feel Like Makin’ Love,” which became her third and final #1 hit to date on the Hot 100. That same year, Flack sang the lead on a Sherman Brothers song called “Freedom”, which featured prominently at the opening and closing of the movie Huckleberry Finn. Also in that same year, she performed “When We Grow Up” with a teenage Michael Jackson on the 1974 television special, Free to Be… You and Me. Then, in her only film role, she served as the narrator for The Legend of John Henry. // Flack had a 1982 hit single with “Making Love”, written by Burt Bacharach (the title track of the 1982 film of the same name), which reached #13. She began working with Peabo Bryson with more limited success, charting as high as #5 on the R&B chart (plus #16 Pop and #4 Adult Contemporary) with “Tonight, I Celebrate My Love” in 1983. Her next two singles with Bryson, “You’re Looking Like Love To Me” and “I Just Came Here To Dance,” fared better on adult contemporary (AC) radio than on pop or R&B radio. // In 1986, Flack sang the theme song entitled “Together Through the Years” for the NBC television series Valerie, later known as The Hogan Family. The song was used throughout the show’s six seasons. In 1987 Flack supplied the voice of Michael Jackson’s mother in the 18-minute short film for Bad. Oasis was released in 1988 and failed to make an impact with pop audiences, though the title track reached #1 on the R&B chart and a remix of “Uh-Uh Ooh-Ooh Look Out (Here It Comes)” topped the dance chart in 1989. Flack found herself again in the US Top 10 with the hit song “Set the Night to Music”, a 1991 duet with Jamaican vocalist Maxi Priest that peaked at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts and #2 AC. Flack’s smooth R&B sound lent itself easily to Easy Listening airplay during the 1970s, and she has had four #1 AC hits. // In 1999, a star with Flack’s name was placed on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. That same year, she gave a concert tour in South Africa; the final performance was attended by President Nelson Mandela. In 2010, she appeared on the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards, singing a duet of “Where Is The Love” with Maxwell. ” In February 2012, Flack released Let it Be Roberta, an album of Beatles covers including “Hey Jude” and “Let It Be”. It was her first recording in over eight years. Flack knew John Lennon and Yoko Ono, as both households moved in 1975 into The Dakota apartment building in New York City, and had apartments across the hall from each other. Flack has stated that she has already been asked to do a second album of Beatles covers. She is currently involved in an interpretative album of the Beatles’ classics. // At age 80, Flack made her most recent recording, Running, the closing credits song of the 2018 feature documentary 3100: Run and Become with music and lyrics by Michael A. Levine. // Flack’s minimalist, classically trained approach to her songs was seen by a number of critics as lacking in grit and uncharacteristic of soul music. According to music scholar Jason King, her work was regularly described with the adjectives “boring”, “depressing”, “lifeless”, “studied”, and “calculated”; AllMusic’s Steve Huey said it has been called “classy, urbane, reserved, smooth, and sophisticated”. In 1971, Village Voice critic Robert Christgau reported that “Flack is generally regarded as the most significant new black woman singer since Aretha Franklin, and at moments she sounds kind, intelligent, and very likable. But she often exhibits the gratuitous gentility you’d expect of someone who says ‘between you and I.'” // Reviewing her body of work from the 1970s, he later argued that the singer “has nothing whatsoever to do with rock and roll or rhythm and blues and almost nothing to do with soul”, comparing her middle-of-the-road aesthetic to Barry Manilow but with better taste, which he believed does not necessarily guarantee more enduring music: “In the long run, pop lies are improved by vulgarity.” // Flack is a member of the Artist Empowerment Coalition, which advocates the right of artists to control their creative properties. She is also a spokeswoman for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals; her appearance in commercials for the ASPCA featured “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”. In the Bronx section of New York City, the Hyde Leadership Charter School’s after-school music program is called “The Roberta Flack School of Music” and is in partnership with Flack, who founded the school, which provides free music education to underprivileged students. // Between 1966 and 1972, she was married to Steve Novosel. Together, they had a son, Bernard Wright, who became a successful funk and jazz keyboardist and producer. Flack is the aunt of professional ice skater Rory Flack. // According to DNA analysis, she is of Cameroonian descent. // On April 20, 2018, Flack was appearing onstage at the Apollo Theater at a benefit for the Jazz Foundation of America. She became ill, left the stage, and was rushed to the Harlem Hospital Center. In a statement, her manager announced that Flack had suffered a stroke a few years prior and still was not feeling well, but was “doing fine” and being kept overnight for medical observation. More info at http://www.robertaflack.com]

18. Effie – “Lover”
    from: Curve My Enthusiasm / DISTRKCT / August 13, 2021
    [Curve My Enthusiasm was #5 on WMM’s 120 Best Recordings of 2021. Effie is Stephanie Altoro. Effie is a songwriter, singer, rapper, producer, one part of Kansas City’s own Jet Pack Productions originally from the Bronx, New York. Effie says that music saved her life and means everything to her. She puts herself in the category of a R&B/Hip Hop Artist. She claims Nina Simone as her biggest influence. Effie writes, “I have been writing for so many years but never shared any of my personal work until last year. So I’m working on pacing myself with releases, instead of just putting so many albums out back to back. My album, Curve My Enthusiasm, is so special to me that I’m going to release a deluxe version in January with 4 additional tracks and videos, including some exciting collaborations. I have also been writing for other artists, so you’ll be able to hear some of those releases soon, as well!” Effie is one third of Jet Pack Productions a Kansas City based music entertainment company created by Musicians Jo Blaq, Effie Altoro, and Tim Ogutu. Effie Joined us live on WMM on October 20, 2021. More info at: https://smarturl.it/37jrdz%5D

11:26 – Pledge Break #5

This is WMM’s Winter Fund Drive Show with Marion Merritt, & Betse Ellis.

11:33 – Underwriting

19. Holly Near – “Kids Are Gonna Love”
    from: Edge / Calico Tracks / October 2000
    [Holly Near (born June 6, 1949) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, teacher, and activist. Holly Near was born in Ukiah, California, United States, and was raised on a ranch in Potter Valley, California. She was eight years old when she first performed publicly, and she auditioned for Columbia Records when she was ten. She sang in all the high school musicals, talent shows and often was invited to sing at gatherings of local service groups, such as the Soroptimist Club, Lions Club, and Garden Club. Her senior year she played Eliza Doolittle in the Ukiah High School production of My Fair Lady. In the summer Near attended performing arts camps such as Perry-Mansfield in Colorado and Ramblerny Performing Arts where she studied with jazz musicians Phil Woods and his wife, Chan Parker (Parker was married to Woods but retained the name Parker from her earlier marriage to Charlie Parker), and modern dancer/choreographer Joyce Trisler. // After starting high school in 1963, Near began singing with three boys who called themselves the Freedom Singers, a folk group modeled after The Kingston Trio. When Near joined, they began to sound more like The Weavers, with three male voices and one female. Near learned later of the original Freedom Singers who sang as part of the Civil Rights Movement. Unbeknownst to her, Near would soon meet one of the founding members of that group, Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon, an artist who would be a great influence for the next 40-plus years. She would also meet and work with the female singer in The Weavers, Ronnie Gilbert. // After high school, Near enrolled in the Theatre Arts program at UCLA; her freshman year she got the lead in the UCLA production of Guys and Dolls playing soprano Sarah Brown. Because Near was trained in a lower range she got nodules on her vocal cords and had to leave the show. She entered in to a long period of silence until her voice healed. After one year, she left UCLA and began to work in film and television as well as with anti-war groups such as Another Mother for Peace. // Near’s professional career began in 1969 with a part on the television show The Mod Squad, which was followed by appearances in other shows, such as Room 222, All in the Family, and The Partridge Family. She also appeared in Angel, Angel, Down We Go, Slaughterhouse-Five, and Minnie and Moskowitz. Much later, she had a prominent role in the 1991 film Dogfight. // She was briefly a member of the musical comedy troupe First National Nothing and appeared on the troupe’s only album If You Sit Real Still and Hold My Hand, You Will Hear Absolutely Nothing, released in 1970 on Columbia Records. // In 1970, Near was a cast member of the Broadway musical Hair. Following the Kent State shootings in May of that year, the entire cast staged a silent vigil in protest. The song “It Could Have Been Me” (released on A Live Album, 1974) was her response to the shootings. In 1971, she joined the FTA (Free The Army) Tour, an anti-Vietnam War road show of music, comedy, and plays that performed for soldiers, many of whom were resisting war and racism from within the military. The tour was organized by antiwar activist Fred Gardner and actors Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland. Near was only 21 and the youngest member of the troupe. // In 1972, Near founded an independent record label called Redwood Records to produce and promote music by “politically conscious artists from around the world”. She was one of the first women to found an independent record company. Near’s record company went out of business in the mid-1990s due to financial difficulties. // During her long career in folk and protest music, Near has worked with a wide array of musicians, including Ronnie Gilbert, Pete Seeger, Arlo Guthrie, Mercedes Sosa, Bernice Johnson Reagon, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Meg (Shambhavi) Christian, Cris Williamson, Linda Tillery, Joan Baez, Phil Ochs, Harry Belafonte, and many others, as well as the Chilean exile group Inti-Illimani. // Near wrote an autobiography in the early 1990s titled, Fire in the Rain, Singer in the Storm. Later, with her sister Timothy, Near co-wrote a one-woman show based on the stories in the book. The show was presented at The San Jose Rep and in Los Angeles at The Mark Taper Forum, as well as productions in San Francisco and off Broadway in NYC. In April 2004, Near performed at the March for Women’s Lives in Washington, DC where she sang “We Are Gentle Angry People” and “Fired Up” a capella. // As of 2019, she has a discography of 29 albums. She is still active as a performer and composer, and she has begun issuing CDs available through her website that include tracks from her out-of-print albums. Her song “Singing For Our Lives” appears in Singing the Living Tradition, the official hymnal of the Unitarian Universalist Association, under the title “We Are A Gentle, Angry People” (Hymn #170). The hymn was performed by Quaker Friends in an episode of the TV series Six Feet Under. In 2015, the same song, credited as “Singing for Our Lives” appeared in the Australian independent film The Lives We Lead, alongside its theme song “I Am Willing”, another protest song written by Near. // Near hosted many of the tributes to both Pete Seeger and Ronnie Gilbert, two members of the seminal folk group The Weavers. // Near has been an honored guest at several of the GALA Choruses Festivals, a conference of GLBTQ choirs and choruses. She also appears as a soloist with several of the choruses and many of her songs have been arranged for choral singing. // In 2018, Near released a new recording titled 2018, reflecting on issues including the environment, aging, domestic violence and the unresolved storm damage in Puerto Rico as a result of Hurricane Maria. In October 2018, a documentary film titled Holly Near: Singing for Our Lives made by director Jim Brown premiered at the Mill Valley Film Festival, detailing Near’s life and work. // As a result of her travels in the Pacific with the FTA show, Near became a feminist, linking international feminism and anti-war activism. In 1976, Near came out as a lesbian[2] and began a three-year relationship with musician Meg Christian. She added LGBT issues to her international peace work as she continued to present social change music around the world and at home. Although Near was one of the most visible artists in the lesbian community, she was also becoming aware that “monogamous” defined her sexuality more than any other title. // Near has been in a relationship with a man since 1994. However, she does not identify as bisexual. When asked why in a 2010 interview by JD Doyle for Queer Music Heritage, she replied, “I don’t know why. Just isn’t a handle I relate to. I include human and civil rights in all that I do. I am monogamous. I relate to that term. I am a feminist. If I am with a woman I am a feminist. If I am alone I am a feminist. If I am with a man I am a feminist. And until the one I am with and I part ways, then I am just what I am in that relationship and I don’t much think about what I will do next. I focus more on what I bring to that relationship. It is a full-time job being honest one moment at a time, remembering to love, to honor, to respect. It is a practice, a discipline, worthy of every moment. I think my feminism and my ability to love has been highly informed by having had lesbian relationships. The quality of my life has, without question, been elevated. For a brief moment in time I struggled with sexual identity, somewhere in the mid-’80s. Then I realized it was the wrong question for me. That is not to say it is the wrong question for others. It just wasn’t important to me. So I haven’t really thought much about it since. I am going to sing lesbian love songs and support gay rights no matter what. The rest is public relations. Near is dedicated to the rights of LGBT communities and continues to work to create a cultural forum for diversity. She writes, “For many, sexual identity and/or gender identity is the primary door through which they walk. It is what politicized them. It is what feeds their emotional and spiritual perspectives. I totally honor this. Even though sexual preference is maybe 5th or 10th on my personal list of priorities now, I will always work for all of us to have self determination over our bodies, our identities, our relationship choices.” // In 2014, Near was diagnosed with breast cancer. With early detection, she had successful surgery and radiation but did not need to do chemotherapy. // Near has been recognized many times for her work for social change, including honors from the ACLU, the National Lawyers Guild, the National Organization for Women, NARAS, Ms. Magazine (Woman of the Year), and the Legends of Women’s Music Award. In 1989, Near received a Doctorate of Humane Letters from World College West in California. Near was named among the “1000 Women for the Nobel Peace Prize”. Near was named as an Honoree for National Women’s History Month for 2015.]

20. Pansy Division – “Like Lovers”
    from: Daytrotter Studios (Live Recording) / Daytrotter / November 6, 2012
    [Pansy Division is an American rock band formed in San Francisco, California, United States, in 1991 by singer-songwriter Jon Ginoli and bassist Chris Freeman. Conceived as the first openly gay rock band featuring predominantly gay musicians, Pansy Division’s music, a mix of pop punk and power pop, focuses mainly on LGBT issues, sex and relationships, often presented in a humorous light. In 1993, the band signed to punk label Lookout! Records and received international notoriety touring with Green Day in 1994, becoming the most commercially successful band of the queercore movement which began in the 1980s. Pansy Division have released seven studio albums and three B-side compilations, among other recordings. In 2008, the band were the subject of the documentary film entitled Pansy Division: Life in a Gay Rock Band. Frustrated by the lack of openly gay rock musicians, Jon Ginoli started performing solo sets under the moniker Pansy Division (a pun on Panzer division and the word “pansy”) around San Francisco. Shortly after this, in 1991, Ginoli placed an ad in the San Francisco Weekly looking for “gay musicians into the Ramones, Buzzcocks and early Beatles”. This caught the attention of Chris Freeman, who joined on as a bassist. Ginoli and Freeman then recruited drummer Jay Puget, forming the first all gay rock band that any of them had known. They hoped to defy the stereotype that gay men preferred pop divas and showtunes, by playing punk rock music. // In 1993, following extensive Californian touring, several 7″ singles and compilation appearances, Pansy Division signed to Lookout! Records, released their first album, Undressed, and embarked on their first national tour. // In 1994, with the release of their second album Deflowered and an appearance on Outpunk’s seminal compilation Outpunk Dance Party, the band had proven themselves to be one of the more prolific and well-known artists to spring from the budding queercore movement. Also catching the wave of pop punk’s mainstream explosion, Pansy Division were asked to tour with Green Day on the band’s 1994 Dookie tour, thus introducing the group and queercore to a much larger audience. During the tour’s New York stop, the band caught the attention of Howard Stern, who met them backstage, and spent a segment talking about them on his nationally syndicated radio show. // While signed to Lookout!, the band continued to release an album a year: 1995’s Pile Up (notable for its various cover songs, including Ned Sublette’s “Cowboys Are Frequently, Secretly Fond of Each Other” and Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” (covered as “Smells Like Queer Spirit”)), 1996’s Wish I’d Taken Pictures (featuring the single “I Really Wanted You”, the music video of which played once on MTV) and the 1997 B-sides compilation More Lovin’ From Our Oven. // During this time, Pansy Division primarily performed as a trio, with Freeman and Ginoli being the only constant members amid a slew of perpetually rotating drummers, both gay and straight. In 1996, the band finally found a permanent gay drummer in the form of Luis Illades and became a quartet in 1997 with the addition of lead guitarist Patrick Goodwin. // 1998 saw the release of their fifth studio album Absurd Pop Song Romance, which was a departure from earlier Pansy work, featuring less humorous, more introspective lyrics and a darker, two-guitar layered alternative rock sound. The band was again taken on tour by a mainstream punk band, when they opened for Rancid on their 1998 Life Won’t Wait tour. // In 2001, Pansy Division was finally ready to record another album, but the lack of support from Lookout! caused the band to leave their long-time label and sign with Alternative Tentacles later that year. What resulted was 2003’s Total Entertainment!, an album that the band described as a meeting point between the lighthearted humor of their early work and the introspective rock of their previous album. Goodwin left the band the following year, being temporarily replaced by Bernard Yin and then by former Mr. T Experience member Joel Reader. // In 2006, Alternative Tentacles released The Essential Pansy Division, a comprehensive ‘best-of’ compilation featuring thirty tracks hand-picked by Ginoli and a DVD of various video footage. // Following the release of Total Entertainment, Pansy Division’s active touring and recording schedule declined as most of the members relocated to different parts of the country. The band continued to perform sporadically, usually at various gay pride festivals or local shows in San Francisco. In 2007, Pansy Division launched their first national tour since 2003 with reformed San Francisco punk band The Avengers, whose current line-up features both Illades and Reader. // In 2008, the band became the subject of a documentary film entitled Pansy Division: Life in a Gay Rock Band, directed by Michael Carmona. The film has been touring internationally, playing at various LGBT film festivals, and was released on DVD in 2009. // 2009 saw the release of their seventh studio album, titled That’s So Gay, a live DVD, another national tour, and Ginoli’s memoirs, a biography of the band entitled Deflowered: My Life in Pansy Division. In February of that year, the band released a vinyl 7″ of “Average Men,” their first single from the album. The B-Side is a cover of “Coming Clean” by Green Day. // Members : Jon Ginoli – vocals/guitar (1991–present); Chris Freeman – bass/vocals (1991–present); Joel Reader – lead guitar/vocals (2004–present)
    Formerly of The Mr. T Experience and The Plus Ones; Luis Illades – drums (1996–present). Both Reader and Illades are members of the reformed San Francisco punk rock band The Avengers.]

21. Digital Leather – “Studs In Love”
    from: Blow Machine / FDH Records / June 1, 2007
    [Omaha, Nebraska based Synth punk, New Wave, pop, lo-fi, and psychedelic musical project led by multi-instrumentalist Shawn Foree. It is recognized for having characteristics of electropunk, new wave, pop, lo-fi, and psychedelic music. //Originally from Yuma, Arizona, Foree began calling his project “Digital Leather” when he moved to Tucson, where he studied American literature at the University of Arizona. He used student loan money to buy equipment. He managed to release his first three albums after recording them in his bedroom on labels such as Tic Tac Totally, Jay Reatard’s Shattered Records imprint, and FDH Records. He supported this “bedroom project” with several nationwide and European tours. Sorcerer, released on Goner Records in 2008, is a half-live, half-studio record. // In 2009, friend and fellow musician Jay Reatard took over managing duties for the band. Around this time Foree began working on a collection of songs in a fully operational studio. Released in September 2009 by Fat Possum Records, Warm Brother garnered positive reviews. Pitchfork, for example, referred to Foree as sui generis, calling the album a “charming curio.” Reportedly, the label did not initially support the album’s artwork, which features a shirtless man with the album name taped across his chest. // In 2013, Todd Fink of The Faint joined Digital Leather as a full-time keyboardist and additional recording engineer. They spent the next year and a half playing shows around Omaha and preparing a full-length record with the live band recording its own parts (as opposed to Foree recording all the parts himself as was done on previous output). During this time Foree managed to also write and record a split LP with Madison, WI’s The Hussy for Southpaw Records. // In 2014, the collaboration between Shawn Foree and The Hussy became the catalyst for Foree and The Hussy’s Bobby Hussy to create their synth driven minimal wave duo TIT. The band then began writing and recording their debut self-titled EP 12″ over the course five days while Hussy was visiting Foree’s home in Omaha. FDH and Volar Records co-released the 12″ in late-2014. TIT played their first show in Omaha at O’Leaver’s on January 22, 2015 with Todd Fink as an additional keyboardist and Noah Kohll as the drummer. Digital Leather’s 9th LP, “All Faded” was recorded by Todd Fink and Clark Baechle of The Faint between 2013 and 2015. All Faded was released by FDH Records in November 2015. A new album, Pink Thunder, was released June 30, 2017.

Digital Leather – Discography (Albums):
Digital Leather (2003) King Of The Monsters
Monologue (2006) Shattered
Hard At Work (2007) Tic Tac Totally
Blow Machine (2007) FDH Records
Sorcerer (2008) Goner Records
Warm Brother (2009) Fat Possum
Infinite Sun (2011) Volar
Sponge (2012) Crash Symbols
Yes Please, Thank You (2012) Southpaw
Modern Problems (2012) FDH Records
Split LP w/ The Hussy (2014) Southpaw
All Faded (2015) FDH Records
Whack Jam (2015) Kind Turkey Records
Pink Thunder (2017) FDH Records
Headache Heaven (2018) No Coast Records
FEEET (2019) Stencil Trash

Digital Leather – Discography (Singles):
Simulator (2005) Plastic Idol
Split w/ Angry Angles (2006) Shattered
She Had A Cameltoe (2007) Goner
Closed My Eyes (2007) Disordered (Italy), P Trash (Germany), FDH (USA)
Suckface (2007) Red Lounge (Germany)
The Assault (2008) Red Lounge (Germany)
Hurts so Bad, demo version (2009) Squoodge (Austria/Germany)
Power Surge (2009) FDH
Lousy Manipulator (2009) Neat Neat Neat
Sponge (2011) Ghost Highway

22. Michael Callen – “Love Don’t Need a Reason”
    from: Purple Heart / Significant Other / 1988 [In partnership with Oscar winner Peter Allen and Marsha Melamet, Michael Callen wrote his most famous song, “Love Don’t Need a Reason”, which he sang frequently at gay pride and AIDS-related events around the country. Michael Callen (b. April 11, 1955) was a singer, songwriter, composer, author, and AIDS activist. He was a significant architect of the response to the AIDS crisis in the United States. First diagnosed with “Gay related immune deficiency” (GRID) in 1982, Callen quickly became a leader in the response to the epidemic. He was a founding member of the People With AIDS Self-Empowerment Movement among other organizations, and he testified before the President’s Commission on AIDS and both houses of the United States Congress. He was a founding member of the gay male a cappella singing group The Flirtations, with whom he recorded two albums. He also had a solo album, Purple Heart, which a review in The Advocate called “the most remarkable gay independent release of the past decade.” During the last year of his life, Callen recorded over 40 songs. On December 27, 1993, Michael Callen died of AIDS-related complications in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 38.]

11:47 – Pledge Break #6

This is WMM’s Winter Fund Drive Show with Marion Merritt, & Betse Ellis.

11:54

23. Lou Reed – “Satellite of Love”
    from: Transformer / RCA / November 8, 1972
    [Transformer is the second solo studio album by American recording artist Lou Reed. Produced by David Bowie and Mick Ronson, the album was released in November 1972 by RCA Records. It is considered an influential landmark of the glam rock genre, anchored by Reed’s most successful single, “Walk on the Wild Side”, which touched on then-controversial topics of sexual orientation, gender identity, prostitution, and drug use. Though Reed’s self-titled debut solo album had been unsuccessful, Bowie had been an early fan of Reed’s former band The Velvet Underground, and used his own fame to promote Reed, who had not yet achieved mainstream success. // As with its predecessor Lou Reed, Transformer contains songs Reed composed while in the Velvet Underground (here, four out of eleven). “Andy’s Chest” was first recorded by the band in 1969 and “Satellite of Love” demoed in 1970; these versions were released on VU and Peel Slowly and See, respectively. For Transformer, the original up-tempo pace of these songs was slowed down. // “New York Telephone Conversation” and “Goodnight Ladies” were played live during the band’s summer 1970 residency at Max’s Kansas City; the latter takes its title refrain from the last line of the second section (“A Game of Chess”) of T. S. Eliot’s modernist poem, The Waste Land: “Good night, ladies, good night, sweet ladies, good night, good night”, which is itself a quote from Ophelia in Hamlet. // As in Reed’s Velvet Underground days, the connection to artist Andy Warhol remained strong. According to Reed, Warhol told him he should write a song about someone vicious. When Reed asked what he meant by vicious, Warhol replied, “Oh, you know, like I hit you with a flower”, resulting in the song “Vicious”. // Transformer was produced by David Bowie and Mick Ronson, both of whom had been strongly influenced by Reed’s work with the Velvet Underground. Bowie had obliquely referenced the Velvet Underground in the cover notes for his album Hunky Dory and regularly performed both “White Light/White Heat” and “I’m Waiting for the Man” in concerts and on the BBC during 1971–1973. He even began recording “White Light/White Heat” for inclusion on Pin Ups[citation needed], but it was never completed; Ronson ended up using the backing track for his solo album Play Don’t Worry in 1974. // Mick Ronson (who was at the time the lead guitarist with Bowie’s band, the Spiders from Mars) played a major role in the recording of the album at Trident Studios, London, serving as the co-producer and primary session musician (contributing guitar, piano, recorder and backing vocals), as well as arranger, contributing the string arrangement for “Perfect Day”. Reed lauded Ronson’s contribution in the Transformer episode of the documentary series Classic Albums, praising the beauty of his work and keeping down the vocal to highlight the strings. The songs on the album are now among Reed’s best-known works, including “Walk on the Wild Side”, “Perfect Day” and “Satellite of Love”, and the album’s commercial success elevated him from cult status to become an international star. // The cover art was from a Mick Rock photograph that inadvertently became over-exposed as he was printing it in the darkroom. Rock noticed the flaw but decided he liked the fortuitous effect enough to submit the image for the album cover. // According to Rock, “When I showed Lou the contact sheets, he zeroed in on the transformer shot. I made the print myself – as I usually did in those days. The first test I made fell out of focus in the exposure. Lou loved the result. It took me twelve attempts to reproduce this accident for the final larger print for the album cover”. // Karl Stoecker (who also shot the first three Roxy Music album covers) took the back cover photo of a woman and a man. The woman is 1960s London supermodel Gala Mitchel. The man is portrayed by Ernie Thormahlen (a friend of Reed). The man appears to have a noticeable erection, although Reed has said this was actually a banana which Thormahlen had stuffed down his jeans before the photo shoot.]

24. Noel Coward – “The Party’s Over Now”
    from: Noel Coward in New York / drg / 2003 [orig. 1957]

Next week on Wednesday, February 16 WMM Celebrates Black History with tracks from over 15 of our Favorite Kansas City Black Artists: Krystle Warren, Madisen Ward and the Mama Bear, Calvin Arsenia, The Black Creatures, The Freedom Affair, We The People, The Phantastics, Radkey, Chalis O’Neal, Jass, Remy Styrk, Janelle Monaé, and Kadesh Flow. We started the show with Flare The Rebel and Bob Pulliam and Blackstarkids.

Plus at 11:00 we’ll talk with Rose Brown lead singer and guitarist for Flooding who play a Cassette Release show on February 19, 2022 with OK O clock and Rosé Perez at Farewell Transmission, 6515 Stadium Drive, KCMO.

Also next week, Marion Merritt, and Betse Ellis will join us again as our special Co-Hosts for WMM’s Winter Fund Drive Show for 90.1 FM KKFI. Please don’t let our love songs be unrequited. We need to hear for you all!

Our Script/Playlist is a “cut and paste” of information.
Sources for notes: artist’s websites, bios, wikipedia.org

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or http://www.kkfi.org

Show #928

Wednesday MidDay Medley
Produced and Hosted by Mark Manning
90.1 FM KKFI – Kansas City Community Radio
TEN to NOON Wednesdays – Streaming at KKFI.org

Wednesday, February 9, 2021

WMM Celebrates LOVE
Spinning 22 Songs About LOVE
With Co-Hosts: Marion Merritt & Betse Ellis

WMM will play songs demonstrating our deep love and affection for our beautiful listeners. In anticipation of Valentine’s Day, we’ll spin songs about love from: The Wild Women of Kansas City, Frogpond, Marva Whitney, Krystle Warren & The Faculty, Effie, Betse & Clarke, Amythyst Kiah, Nina Simone, David Bowie, Aretha Franklin, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Lou Reed, Aimee Mann, The Magnetic Fields, Roberta Flack, Digital Leather, Pansy Division, Cynthia Erivo, Michael Callen, Holly Near, John Prine, and Ray Charles.

One of WMM’s longtime contributors, Marion Merritt of Records With Merritt, a minority owned business in KCMO, joins us as our special guest co-host. We also welcome Betse Ellis, critically acclaimed fiddler, singer, songwriter, and one half of Betse & Clarke who also joins us as special guest co-host. Betse & Marion will encourage our listeners to call 888-931-0901, or visit http://www.kkfi.org to support 90.1 FM KKFI – Kansas City Community Radio during our Winter Fund Drive Show. Please don’t let our love songs go unrequited. Our hearts will break if we don’t hear from you!

On your local radio dial 90.1 FM or
STREAMING LIVE at: kkfi.org

Show #928

Wednesday MidDay Medley
TEN to NOON Wednesdays – Streaming at KKFI.org
90.1 FM KKFI – Kansas City Community Radio
Produced and Hosted by Mark Manning

Wednesday, February 2, 2022

Mark Spins 20 New & MidCoastal Releases + a few classics

1. “Main Title Instrumental – It’s Showtime Folks”
   from: Orig. Motion Picture Soundtrack All That Jazz / Casablanca / December 20, 1979
   [WMM’s Adopted Theme Song]

2. Jo Blaq – “New Day (feat. Irv Da Phenom & & Kim Keys)”
   from: Blaq Joy / DISTRICK / January 1, 2021
   [Jo Blaq is also known as: Joseph Macklin, a native of Kansas City, Kansas. Jo is the youngest of three “preacher’s kids.” Although his musical interest and talents existed then, as a kid, Jo excelled on the basketball court, as well. Jo was ranked as one of the top basketball players in the state of Kansas, hailing from the dominant Washington High School. He went on to play Division 1 College Basketball at the University of Texas-San Antonio, and would later continue his collegiate career at Colorado State. He played professional basketball in Australia before returning home. Blaq invests time, money, and energy into local initiatives in the Kansas City area, including the first-ever Christmas tree lighting and Christmas of Diversity concert in the historic 18th & Vine Jazz District and the rehabilitation of the Quindaro Museum, which houses houses historical artifacts from the African-American community. Jo has served as the event music producer for the American Jazz Museum and has taught music theory and coding classes through the Full Employment Council and University of Central Missouri for free. The classes offer metro-area teens paid internships and access to Jo as a mentor, songwriter, vocalist,instrumentalist, and producer. Jo has worked with many of the mainstream artists. In 2015, he was nominated for a “Best Pop Vocal Album” Grammy for his vocal production work on Ariana Grande’s MY EVERYTHING. Jo was again nominated for two Grammy’s in 2016 for the vocal production on Tim Bowman’s LISTEN album and Jill Scott’s WOMAN album. Over his genre-spanning career, Jo has worked with artists such as: Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, Anita Baker, Justin Bieber, Cruz Beckum, Mario, Big Sean, B5, Chris Brown, 98 Degrees, Jasmine V, Next, Kendrick Lamar, B. Smyth, Evan Ross, Jordin Sparks, Shaunice, Kim Keyz, Evan Ross, Effie, & others. BLAQ GOLD was Produced By JETpack – Joseph “Jo Blaq” Macklin, Stephanie “Effie” Altoro, and Tim Ogutu. Jo Blaq also released the 7-track EP, WHAT THEY DO, in January 1, 2022 also produced By JETpack – Joseph “Jo Blaq” Macklin, Stephanie “Effie” Altoro, and Tim Ogutu. More info at: https://www.instagram.com/joblaqofficial/%5D

3. Dia Jane – “Father’s Daughter”
   from: “Father’s Daughter” – Single / Dia Jane / December 21, 2021
   [Written by dia jane. Produced by Jo MacKenzie and Brandon Yangmi. Mixed by Jo MacKenzie. Performed by Dia Jane featuring Addie Sartino of The Greeting Committee. 19 year old Dia Jane (singer/songwriter), was also part of Baby and the Brain with 18 year old Jo Mackenzie (producer and songwriter). They released their EP BrainBaby on September 3, 2021 that was 366 on WMM 120 Best Recordings of 2021. Dia Jane and Jo MacKenzie met at an open mic in Kansas City, Missouri, when Jo was in 8th grade and Dia was in 10th grade. Three years later, the two reconnected to started a musical project together that eventually turned into Baby and the Brain, a self-produced indie-pop band.]

4. Anaïs Mitchell – “Bright Star”
   from: AnaÏs Mitchell / Anaïs Mitchell – BMG / January 28, 2022
   [Anaïs Mitchell is the eighth studio album by American singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell, released on January 28, 2022, through BMG Rights Management, her first release on the label. It is her first studio album of new material since Young Man in America (2012), as well as her first studio album following her Tony Award-winning musical Hadestown. The album features musical contributions from Michael Lewis, JT Bates, Thomas Bartlett, Aaron Dessner and Nico Muhly. // “Bright Star” was released as the album’s first single on October 28, 2021. It is an indie folk song “about looking back on years of restless pursuit and making peace with the source of that longing: the Muse, the Great Unknown, the One That Got Away – those things that motivate us that we never can touch.” It impacted adult alternative radio on January 10, 2022. // Album opener “Brooklyn Bridge” was released as the second single from the album on December 2, 2021. Of the song, Mitchell said “Having left New York, I was able to write a love letter to it in a way I never could when I was living there. It was like, fuck it. This is how I feel. There is nothing more beautiful than riding over one of the New York bridges at night next to someone who inspires you.” // “On Your Way (Felix Song)” was released as the third single on January 12, 2022. Dedicated to the late Felix McTeigue, Mitchell said of him “We briefly had the same manager in our early ‘hustling days’ of trying to get a songwriter career going. I can picture us playing at the old Living Room on the lower east side, and me being one of five people in Felix’s audience, and vice versa. Felix was really fearless and present, he always had a guitar on his back, he was always writing something, he loved the act of just rushing headlong into writing, recording, not overthinking it. It’s a lesson I’ll return to for the rest of my life.” // Mitchell will tour the album across the United States and Europe in 2022, with her band Bonny Light Horseman joining her for some American dates. // Anaïs Mitchell was born March 26, 1981. She is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and playwright. Mitchell has released eight studio albums, including Hadestown (2010), Young Man in America (2012), Child Ballads (2013), and Anaïs Mitchell (2022). // She developed her album Hadestown into a stage musical (together with director Rachel Chavkin), which received its US debut at New York Theatre Workshop in summer 2016, and its Canadian debut at the Citadel Theatre, Edmonton the following year. The show opened at London’s National Theatre in November 2018 and then on Broadway on April 17, 2019, at the Walter Kerr Theatre. The Broadway production of Hadestown won eight Tony Awards in 2019 including the Tony Award for Best Musical. Mitchell received the Tony Award for Best Original Score; she was also nominated for Best Book of a Musical. The Broadway cast album of the show took home the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album in 2020. Mitchell’s first book, Working on a Song: The Lyrics of Hadestown, was published by Plume Books on October 6, 2020. Mitchell was included in Time’s 100 Most Influential People of 2020. // Mitchell is a member of the band Bonny Light Horseman, whose self-titled debut was released in 2020 . // Mitchell’s father is a novelist and college professor and named her after author Anaïs Nin. She grew up on Treleven farm in Addison County, Vermont. She was raised Quaker. Her mother was Deputy Secretary of Vermont’s Agency of Human Services. After traveling to the Middle East, Europe and Latin America as a child, she attended Middlebury College. Having begun writing her first songs at the age of 17, around 1998, Mitchell won the New Folk award in 2003, when she was 22, at the Kerrville Folk Festival. Her album Hymns for the Exiled was released on Chicago’s Waterbug Records label in 2004. This recording attracted the attention of singer-songwriter Ani DiFranco, who signed her to the Righteous Babe Records label. // In 2006 Mitchell debuted a draft of her “folk opera” Hadestown, which she wrote in collaboration with arranger Michael Chorney and director Ben T. Matchstick. A revised version of Hadestown was staged in 2007. Her third album, The Brightness, was released that same year on Righteous Babe Records. // Her album Hadestown, produced by Todd Sickafoose, was released in spring 2010 to favorable reviews. Described as “the story of Orpheus and Eurydice set in post-apocalyptic Depression-era America, the album includes guest appearances by Ani DiFranco, Greg Brown, Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, Ben Knox Miller of The Low Anthem, and The Haden Triplets (Petra, Rachel, and Tanya Haden). // Mitchell continued quietly working on a stage version of Hadestown while also writing and recording new material. In early 2012, she released Young Man in America on Wilderland Records. Mitchell opened the North American leg of Bon Iver’s autumn 2012 tour, which included two sold-out shows at Radio City Music Hall. The album was largely praised by critics as “genre-defying” and her “second consecutive masterpiece.” // In late 2012, Mitchell completed recording seven songs from the collection of Child Ballads, compiled by Francis James Child, with fellow musician Jefferson Hamer. The album, produced by Gary Paczosa, was released in February 2013, winning a BBC Radio 2 Folk Award for Best Traditional Song. This was followed in 2014 by xoa, for which Mitchell re-recorded a number of her older songs using only guitar and vocals. This stripped back album included some songs from Hadestown which were recorded for the first time in Mitchell’s own voice, as well as three brand new songs.// In summer 2016, the newly expanded theatrical version of Hadestown opened at New York Theatre Workshop with Vogue magazine predicting that “Hadestown will be your next musical theatre obsession”. The following year, it received its Canadian premiere at The Citadel Theatre, Edmonton, and in April 2018, London’s National Theatre announced that it would present a three-month run during the winter ahead of the show’s Broadway transfer. Hadestown opened on Broadway at the Walter Kerr Theatre on April 17, 2019. // In 2019, Mitchell was appearing as part of a three-piece “supergroup” called Bonny Light Horseman, consisting of herself, Eric D. Johnson of Fruit Bats and guitarist Josh Kaufman. The group’s self-titled debut album was released on January 24, 2020. // In June 2021, America supergroup Big Red Machine announced their second studio album, How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last? which features Mitchell’s guest vocals in three of its tracks: “Latter Days”, “Phoenix”, and “New Auburn”. // Mitchell married Noah Hahn in 2006. They have two daughters, Ramona and Rosetta.]

5. Cole Brood– “Tough Get Going”
   from: “Tough Get Going” – Single / Cole Brood / to be released as a single soon
   [Cole Brood released the single ,”Tough Get Going” to radio stations on Jan 18, 2020. The single will be officially released in a few weeks, and eventually as part of an EP. Cole Brood is the name of Debbie Cole’s solo work after her tenure with “Black Folk”.]

6. Black Pumas – “Touch The Sky”
   from: Black Pumas (Deluxe) / ATO / August 28, 2020
   [From Rolling Stone: Black Pumas have released a new double album deluxe edition of the band’s debut album, out August 28, 2020 via ATO Records. This deluxe edition features live-in-studio version of their song “Confines” where Black Pumas are tapering back the quick soul skip of the original into a groove that still moves at a steady pace, but now boasts additional space for a cadre of background singers and a string quartet. This new arrangement suits Black Pumas, as both Eric Burton’s raw vocals and Adrian Quesada’s spitfire guitar still sound right at home amid the swelling strings. This version of “Confines” is one of three live-in-studio cuts on the deluxe edition, along with renditions of “Colors” and “Oct 33.” The record also features three previously unreleased originals, “I’m Ready,” “Red Rover” and “Black Cat,” plus a live version of “Know You Better,” recorded at the Austin club, C-Boys Heart and Soul. The deluxe edition, Black Pumas also feature four cover songs: their take on Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car,” plus renditions of the Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby,” Death’s “Politicians in My Eyes” and Bobby “Blue” Bland’s “Ain’t No Love in the Heart of the City.” // Black Pumas are a funk and soul duo based in Austin, Texas, consisting of singer Eric Burton and guitarist/producer Adrian Quesada. Their work also has strong Latin music influences. The duo received their first Grammy nomination ever for Best New Artist at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards. The duo formed in 2017 and released their debut album, Black Pumas, on June 21, 2019 which was part of WMM’s 119 Best Recordings of 2019. Black Pumas performed at South by Southwest in 2019 and won a best new band trophy at the 2019 Austin Music Awards. On November 20, 2019, they were nominated for a Grammy Award for Best New Artist. Quesada was a member of Latin funk band Grupo Fantasma when it won the Grammy Award for Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album for the 2010 album El Existential, and when it was previously nominated for the same award in 2008 for Sonidos Gold.]

7. Belle & The Vertigo Waves – “Stand Down”
   from: “Stand Down” – Single / Drop Out Records / January 21, 2021
   [Belle & The Vertigo Waves is the sonic brainchild of Belle Loux. She resides in Kansas City, MO, and is slowly attempting world domination. Members include Belle Loux on lead vocals, John Loux on guitar. Belle & The Vertigo Waves released their debut album, ALIGNED on Drop Out Records on October 6, 2017. “Aligned” is available on iTunes and all streaming services. About the album, Belle told Michelle Bacon at The Bridge that, “Many of the tunes had been written around five years prior, when I was just 15 or 16.” Belle had only played them as a solo artist with occasional accompaniment from her dad, guitarist John Loux, and keyboardist Charlie Hibberd. In 2017, she hired the two musicians and a couple other friends to track “Aligned,” dubbing the project Belle and the Vertigo Waves, in the hopes that she’d eventually assemble a live band. “Recording was a surreal and emotional experience. Playing the songs with a band was like seeing them come to life,” she said. “I knew there was no way I could be a solo artist anymore, because I fell in love with the full band sound so much.” The music of Belle & The Vertigo Waves have been described as having an “1980s pop-laden sound.” which drew local attention in 2018. Belle has said that in the past 4 years the band has grown to have more of a darker, glam rock sound, grittier and grungier. Their sound is influenced by three generations of musicians in the band, Belle’s growth as a songwriter and singer, and through the band’s work with engineer and producer Paul Malinowski. Belle & The Vertigo Waves are currently recording new music at Massive Sound Studios. Belle & The Vertigo Waves released their single, “Fear or Faith” on June 7, 2019 on Drop Out Records. Belle & The Vertigo Waves released their single, “Pulse” on April 17, 2020 on Drop Out Records. Belle & The Vertigo Waves released their single, “Beat Me To The Punch” on Drop Out Records on October 29, 2021. Belle & The Vertigo Waves joined us on WMM on February 5, 2020 and on June 26, 2019. More info at: http://www.thevertigowaves.com]

10:28 – Underwriting

8. FKA Twigs – “Careless (feat. daniel caesar)”
   from: CAPRISONGS / Young Recordings / January 14, 2021
   [Caprisongs is a mixtape by English singer-songwriter FKA Twigs. The mixtape features guest appearances from Pa Salieu, the Weeknd, Shygirl, Dystopia, Rema, Daniel Caesar, Jorja Smith, and Unknown T.[1][2][3] The production is handled by El Guincho, who co-executive produced the mixtape alongside Twigs, as well as Arca, Cirkut, and Mike Dean, among others.[3] The mixtape was supported by one single, “Tears in the Club”, which features the Weeknd, and one promotional single, “Jealousy”, which features Rema. Follow up to FKA Twigs Novenber 8, 2019 album MAGDALENE, which was #29 on WMM’s 119 Best Recordings of 2019. Tahliah Debrett Barnett was born on January 16, 1988. She is known professionally as FKA Twigs. She is a British singer and songwriter, raised in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire. She became a backup dancer after moving to South London when she was 17 years old. She made her musical debut with the extended plays EP1 (2012) and EP2 (2013). Her debut studio album, LP1, was released in August 2014 to critical acclaim, peaking at number 16 on the UK Albums Chart and number 30 on the US Billboard 200. It was later nominated for the 2014 Mercury Prize. She released the M3LL155X EP in 2015 to further critical praise, as well as her second studio album Magdalene four years later. Her work has been described as “genre-bending”, drawing on various genres including electronic music, trip hop, R&B, and avant-garde. Her work has been compared to the work of Tricky as well as Kate Bush, Janet Jackson, The xx, and Massive Attack, while Slate described her work as distinctive in a way that rises above her influences. The Wall Street Journal described her as “an heir to futuristic R&B muses like Aaliyah, Missy Elliott and others under the progressive sway of producer Timbaland.” Describing her artistry, she said: “I am not restricted by any musical genre. I like to experiment with sounds, generating emotions while putting my voice on certain atmospheres […] I found my own way of playing punk. I like industrial sounds and incorporating everyday life’s sounds like a car alarm.” FKA Twigs has been associated with the alternative R&B tag, though she herself has rejected the R&B label as related to her race: “It’s just because I’m mixed race. When I first released music and no one knew what I looked like, I would read comments like: ‘I’ve never heard anything like this before, it’s not in a genre.’ And then my picture came out six months later, now she’s an R&B singer. I share certain sonic threads with classical music; my song ‘Preface’ is like a hymn. So let’s talk about that. If I was white and blonde and said I went to church all the time, you’d be talking about the ‘choral aspect’. But you’re not talking about that because I’m a mixed-race girl from south London.” The first singers who influenced FKA Twigs were Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, and Marvin Gaye. When she started composing songs, she wanted to reproduce music she liked: “every bit of music that I made sounded like a pastiche of Siouxsie and the Banshees or Adam Ant. But through that I discovered myself”. In an interview after being shortlisted for the 2014 Mercury Prize, Twigs cited Germfree Adolescents by X-Ray Spex as her favourite album of all time.]

9. Static Phantoms – “Bathed in Blue Light”
   from: “Bathed In Blue Light” – Single / The Record Machine / to be released: February 22, 2022
   [Static Phantoms are: Dedric Moore on Synths, Drum Programming, Backing Vocals, & Production; and Krysztof Nemeth on Baritone Guitar, Bass, Synths, Lead Vocals. The Pandemic convinced Dedric Moore and Krysztof Nemeth that a studio project would be a perfect opportunity to pass the time and get creative by exploring the music and themes of a different age of anxiety-driven pop: the New Wave music of the 1980s. If you know the two musicians and their respective projects (Monta at Odds, The Republic Tigers, Emmaline Twist), you know they are well-versed in ‘80s synths and guitars. As Static Phantoms, the duo takes their cues in production from beloved acts from the ’80s like The Glove, Tones on Tail, Tears For Fears, and Soft Cell.]

10. Asterales – “Right Here, This Moment(feat. Royce Diamond & Maria Cuevas)”

from: “Right Here, This Moment (feat. Royce Diamond & Maria Cuevas)” -Single / Asterales / 12/31/2021
[Produced, mixed & mastered by Asterales. Lyrics & vocals by Royce Diamond. Background vocals by Maria Cuevas (of Maria The Mexican). KC based leftfield, experimental, electronica music maker, also known as Nate Holt. Asterales eleased the 5-track EP, WORK HOURS on Sept. 6, 2016 in collaboration with Aikido Bray, Leo Minor, Katlyn Conroy, and Tanner Walle, with synthesizers, production, recording, engineering & mastering by Etan Tioh for Datura Records. This was followed by the 3-track EP, FRAGMENTS, released Feb. 3, 2017. Asterales released the single A.M. on Feb. 4, 2017. Asterales released the 10-track album, OUTSIDE THE BOX on Oct. 31, 2017. Asterales released the singles: “Brkfst 4 Btlvrs” on Oct. 31, 2017; and “Soft Spheres” on April 21, 2018. Asterales released the 10-track album ORBITAL DEBRIS: VOL. 1 on Aug. 14, 2020 on Mr. Furious Records. Asterales released the single “ASTR_40” on Aug. 26, 2020. Asterales released the 4-song EP EXTRA JUNK on Dec. 4, 2020 through Mr. Furious Records. Asterales released the singles: “Solstice Song” on Dec. 21, 2020, and “Desire (Tanner Walle) – Asterales Remix” on Jan. 29, 2021. Asterales released the single “Offline” on Feb. 26, 2021. Asterales released the single, “Beauty In The Distance feat. Heidi Gluck)” on March 31, 2021. Produced & mixed by Asterales, vocals by Heidi Gluck. lyrics by Approach, mastered by Royce Diamond. Asterales released the single, “So Easy (feat. Royce Diamond)” on April 30, 2021. Asterales released the single, “Let Go” on May 31, 2021. Produced, mixed & mastered by Asterales, lyrics by Royce Diamond, vocals by Asterales. Asterales released the single, “Paraglider” on June 30, 2021. Produced, mixed & mastered by Asterales. Asterales released the single, “Kinugemi” on July 31, 2021. Produced, mixed and mastered by Asterales. Asterales released the single, “Variable Stars Pt. 1″ on August 30, 2021. Produced, mixed & mastered by Asterales. Asterales released the remix single, “She Left (Asterales Remix)” on Sept. 2, 2021, produced by Asterales. Remix artwork by Gordon Leadfoot & Asterales. Asterales released the single, “P​@​!​omAr​-​1” on September 28, 2021. Produced, mixed and mastered by Asterales. More info at: http://www.asterales.bandcamp.com Asterales released the remix single, “Cory Phillips & the Band of Light – Give & the Take (Asterales Remix)” on October 1, 2021. “Give & the Take” was written by Cory Phillips coryphillipsmusic.com “Give & the Take – Asterales Remix” Produced by Asterales. Asterales released the single, “Calling Me (feat. Ghostmind)” on October 31, 2021. Produced, mixed & mastered by Asterales. Vocals and guitar performed and recorded by Ghostmind. Lyrics by Ghostmind. Artwork by Asterales. Asterales released the single “Your World or Mine (Feat. Approach)” on November 30, 2021. Produced, mixed and mastered by Asterales. Lyrics and vocals by Approach.One of 14 singles Asterales released in 2021. More information at http://www.asterales.bandcamp.com]

11. Molchat Doma – “Судно (Борис Рижий) (Vessel)”
    from: Этажи (Etazhi) ( Floor) / Sacred Bones / 2020 [Originally Released September 7, 2018]
    [We last played Molchat Doma on October 28, 2020. Molchat Doma (Russian: Молчат Дома IPA: [mɐlˈt͡ɕat dɐˈma]; English: “Houses Are Silent”) is a Belarusian rock band from Minsk, formed in 2017. Their current lineup consists of Egor Shkutko (vocals), Roman Komogortsev (guitar, synthesizer, drum machine), and Pavel Kozlov (bass guitar, synthesizer). Their sound was influenced by 1980s Russian rock music and has been described as post-punk, new wave, synth-pop, and cold wave. // They self-released their first album, С крыш наших домов (S krysh nashikh domov, 2017), and later released their second album, Этажи (Etazhi, 2018), through German independent label Detriti Records. After gaining popularity worldwide, they signed to American independent label Sacred Bones Records in 2020, who reissued their albums, marking their first releases in North America. Their third studio album, Monument, it was released on November 13, 2020.]

{Molchat Doma play recordBar, 1020 Grand Avenue, on Wednesday, May 18 at 8:00 PM.]

12. Cate Le Bon – “Moderation”
    from: Pompeii / Mexican Summer / February 14, 2022
    [Le Bon’s 6th album and her first album since her 2019 release REWARD (released May 23, 2019) which received a Mercury prize nomination and was #12 onWMM’s 119 Best Recordings of 2019. “Pompeii was written and recorded in a quagmire of unease. Solo. In a time warp. In a house I had a life in 15 years ago. I grappled with existence, resignation and faith. I felt culpable for the mess but it smacked hard of the collective grit imposed by religion and original sin,” said Le Bon in a press release. // Throughout the entire album, Le Bon plays every instrument, aside from drums and saxophone. She also recorded the album herself along with long-term collaborator Samur Khouja. // Le Bon elaborates more on the meaning behind the album by stating, “The subtitle is: You will be forever connected to everything. Which, depending on the time of day, is as comforting as it is terrifying. The sense of finality has always been here. It seems strangely hopeful. Someone is playing with the focus lens. The world is on fire but the bins must go out on a Tuesday night. Political dissonance meets beauty regimes. I put a groove behind it for something to hold on to. The grief is in the saxophone.” // Cate Le Bon who was born Cate Timothy on March 4, 1983. She is a musician and producer. She sings in both English and Welsh. She has released four solo albums, three EPs and a number of singles. Le Bon has toured with artists such as St. Vincent, Perfume Genius and John Grant. In 2018, she joined John Cale on stage at The Barbican with the London Contemporary Orchestra. Le Bon was born in Penboyr, Carmarthenshire, Wales, and first gained public attention when she supported Gruff Rhys (of the Super Furry Animals) on his 2007 solo UK tour. She appeared as a guest vocalist on Neon Neon’s 2008 single “I Lust U” from their album Stainless Style. Under her original name she provided backing vocals on Richard James’s debut solo album The Seven Sleepers Den in 2006. She also appeared on his second solo album, We Went Riding, from 2010. Her first official release was a Welsh language EP, Edrych yn Llygaid Ceffyl Benthyg (“Looking in the Eyes of a Borrowed Horse”, similar to the English expression “to look a gift horse in the mouth”), on Peski Records in 2008. She also self-released the double A-side debut single “No One Can Drag Me Down” / “Disappear” (described by Gruff Rhys as “Bobbie Gentry and Nico fight over a Casio keyboard; melody wins!”) on her website. Le Bon worked alongside Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci’s Megan Childs, who contributed violin, and Super Furry Animals and Thrills collaborator John Thomas, who added pedal steel. Her debut album, Me Oh My was released in 2009, followed by Cyrk and the Cyrk II EP in 2012. In January 2013, Le Bon moved to L A to further her career in the US. Her third album, Mug Museum, was released November 2013. It was produced by Noah Georgeson and Josiah Steinbrick in Los Angeles, and featured Stephen Black (bass) & Huw Evans (guitar). She provided guest vocals on the track “Slow Train” from Kevin Morby’s debut album Harlem River. In 2015, Le Bon collaborated with Tim Presley as DRINKS and released the album Hermits on Holiday in August 2015. DRINKS released their second album Hippo Lite in April 2018. Le Bon released her fourth studio album, Crab Day, on April 15, 2016 on Drag City to generally favourable reviews. The album was produced by Josiah Steinbrick and Noah Georgeson, and again featured Stephen Black (bass) & Huw Evans (guitar), w/ Stella Mozgawa (drums). She noted how the collaboration with Presley had made her realise “that I make music because I love to, not because I have to”. On tour she was supported by Black and Evans and on occasion by Steinbrick and Josh Klinghoffer, a five-piece that also performs instrument improvisations under the name BANANA. In January 2017, Le Bon released the four-track EP Rock Pool via Drag City. It includes her version of the track “I Just Want to Be Good” featuring Perfume Genius, which she wrote for Sweet Baboo’s 2015 album The Boombox Ballads. In the same month Leaving Records released Live by BANANA, recorded live during the band’s 2016 tour and Le Bon remixed Eleanor Friedberger’s ‘Are We Good?’ In 2018, Le Bon signed with Brooklyn based record label Mexican Summer.]

13. Trevor Turla – “And We Continue”
    from: “And We Continue” – Single / Trevor James Turla / January 27, 2022
    [We first played Trevor Turla on WMM on July 29, 2020. His track “Busted” was released on a compilation titled KANSAS CITY SYZYGY that featured over 25 Kansas City-based musicians who came together to create a compilation of music created during the shutdown of the world in the Spring of 2020. // Originally from Wichita, Kansas, Trevor Turla is now lives in Kansas City. Trevor defines himself as a musician. He started playing his first instrument, the bagpipes, at the age of 8 and hasn’t stopped the pursuit of music since. He received his Bachelor’s in Jazz Studies for trombone from the UMKC Conservatory of Music. Trevor now creates music full time by playing, recording, and holding clinics around the United States. Trevor plays and sings in numerous bands, including Jake Wells, Grand Marquis, Miki P, Fritz Hutchison, and LA Jones. He is the founder, lead singer and trombonist for the band Sulu Moon. More info at http://www.trevorturla.com

[Trevor Turla plays Boulevardia Saturday, June 18, 2022, with Kadesh Flow.]

14. Glass Bandit – “Vacancy”
    from: Vacancy EP / Glass Bandit / January 21, 2022
    [Based out of KC, Glass Bandit icalls themselves the “first family of fusion funk.” “We’ve grown into a small traveling circus of writers, arrangers, and musicians capable of putting on a show that defies expectations and is sure to get you dancing. This 8 piece band can turn a bad night into a good night, and a good night into a banger.” – They write. More info at http://www.glassbanditmusic.com.]

[Glass Bandit play The Rino 314 Armour Rd. North Kansas City, MO, on Fri, Feb 4, Doors at 7:00 PM, Show at 8:00 PM with Miki P & The Swallowtails, and Supermoto. More info at: http://www.therinokc.com]

[Glass Bandit plays Boulevardia Saturday, June 18, 2022.]

10:59 – Station ID

15. Various Artists – “Wkrp In Cincinnati”
    from: All-Time Top 100 TV Themes / TVT Records / August 23, 2005

Our condolences go out to the family and fans of Actor Howard Hesseman, best known as the hard-rocking disc jockey Dr. Johnny Fever on the sitcom “WKRP in Cincinnati.” Hesseman died Saturday afternoon. Hesseman was 81.

16. Joel Kraft – “Even In The Darkness”
    from: The Lighting Project / Joel Kraft / December 25, 2021
    [Joel Kraft on guitars, percussion, slide whistles, vocals, keyboards and Nick Baker on drums. Recorded, engineered & produced by Joel Kraft. Mixed & mastered by Adam Selzer. Cover art and design by Shane Ogren. Prior to this Joel Kraft released the album BIG IDEAS on Blinking Light Records on April 11, 2006. Joel Kraft released his debut album, GOLD IN THE BARGAIN BIN, on July 24, 2003 More info at: http://www.joelkraft.bandcamp.com ]

17. Ivory Blue – “It Must’ve Been Me”
    from: “It Must’ve Been Me” – Single / Sound Ballistics Music & Publishing / December 14, 2021
    [KC based singer songwriter and rock & roller, Ivory Blue is currently in the studio putting together a new full length 10-song album called “Compound Love” for release in 2022. Ivory Blue’s debut EP, Ready Get Set was released in June 2015 and had wide radio airplay on this show and multiple radio and television stations in Kansas City and across the country. In 2017 Ivory was among 1800 bands that competed in neXt2Rock. Ivory won local & regional challenges and advanced to nationals in Los Angeles to win the top prize. Ivory Blue has played Crossroads Music Festival, The Middle of the Map Festival, The Westport Roots Festival, the KCPT Screening of “Real Boy” at The Kansas City Public Library., and Kauffman Stadium. // Ivory Blue was born in 1986 in Peoria Illinois, as Devin James Miclettet. Ivory’s birth mother put them up for adoption at the age of four. Ivory speaks about how it was difficult to find trust in people offering their home to someone denied it for so long, Ivory lived with eight different families. before running away at 15. // Ivory has talked with us about how in their life they have turned to music to express pain. Ivory spent most of their childhood looking for a family. In 2010 Klaartje Van Lue saw Ivory performing in a YouTube video and contacted them, flying them Ivory KC, and adopting Ivory into the Van Lue family. During the past 10 years Ivory came out as “Non-Binary Transgender. // As a multi-instrumentalist, Ivory began refining their performance style, using digital looping pedals to stack harmonies and guitar parts live on stage, giving their solo shows the feel of a full band. In 2011, Ivory settled in Kansas City, MO and quickly began attracting an intense regional following for their strong vocals and incisive, deeply personal lyrics. // By 2013, IVORY BLUE was playing regularly in and around Kansas City and the first EP ‘Ready Get Set’ was released. in 2015. While the EP helped spread the word and got much attention from regional radio and TV stations, a big break would come in 2017. // Ivory entered NeXt2Rock, a nationwide talent search with over 1800 artists/bands who applied to find fresh and promising rock artists. The top 5 national bands battled it off for the win in Los Angeles CA at the legendary Viper Room, with judges Scott Borchetta (BMLG), John Varvatos (fashion designer), Steve Jones (Sex Pistols Guitarist and Host of “Jonesy’s Jukebox”), Desmond Child (Musician, producer), Chris Lord-Alge (producer), Ivory Blue won over the judges and became the grand prize winner! Ivory Ivory won the contest and a one-year record deal with BMLG who re-released the song Ready Get Set from the 2015 EP. Ivory’s 2018 re-release of ‘Ready Get Set’ undauntedly received National and International airplay within weeks. For their upcoming album, IVORY BLUE is producing all the tracks with the exception of Drums and Bass. Ivory is currently working with Lester Estelle (Drummer for Kelly Clarkson), Craig Kew (Bass) KC, Kurt Festge (Mastering | Citizen Kane & Vilent Femmes) NC. and Nick Poortman (LA based Los Angeles based Producer, Engineer, Mixer, and Songwriter) Nick has worked alongside producers including Justin Gray, Gil Norton, Big Tank, and Greg Haver on sessions throughout the USA, UK, Europe, and New Zealand. // On August 18th 2021 Ivory Blue signed a publishing deal with Sound Ballistics Music & Publishing out of Atlanta GA. // Ivory released the singles: “Elite Dreamland,” on Feb. 17, 2021, “Half a Life” on Sept. 20, 2021. Ivory Blue released the video of “Family Table” directed by Mikal Shapiro, on August 21, 2021 and the audio track was released on September 7, 2021. Ivory Blue released the single “Good Changes” on Oct 26, 2021. Ivory Blue released the singles: “Heavy,” “Bad Weather,” “It Must Have Been Me,” “Compound Love,” and “The Start” on December 14, 2021. Ivory Blue joined us on WMM on November 10, September 15, and July 28, in 2021. More info at: https://linktr.ee/ivorybluemusic%5D

[Ivory Blue plays Boulevardia Saturday, June 18, 2022.]

18. Lonnie Fisher – “Famous Girl”
    from: Famous Girl / Lonnie Fisher / January 19, 2022
    [Lonnie Fisher’s 8-song, solo album was engineered by Ed Rose and Duane Trower with contributions from: Chris Nunez. Tim Jenkins, Tim Manning, and Julia Reynolds. More information at: http://www.lonniefisher.bandcamp.com. On October 22, 2021 with his band Lonnie Fisher And The Funeral released HAUNTED with Lonnie Fisher on lead vocals, 5 String Guitar & Keyboards; Tim Jenkins on guitars; Chris Nunez on drums, Tim Manning on bass, & Julia Reynolds on vocals & keyboards Lonnie Fisher and The Funeral Album Release and Abby’s Fund Benefit, October 22, 2021, at Lemonade Park, 1628 Wyoming, WEST BOTTOMS, KCMO with Fritz Hutchison and Big Dopes. Lonnie Fisher writes: “Midwest Music Foundation helped me through some really tough days after my strokes and it’s a miracle I’m singing and playing again. This show is for helping others.”]

Special Note: Our playlist was actually created before the recent controversy over Spotify paying Joe Rogan, (former host of NBC television’s, stunt/dare game show, “Fear Factor”) $100,000,000.00 for exclusive rights to be a platform for his podcast.

from wikipedia:
In January 2022, 270 scientists, physicians, professors, doctors, and healthcare workers wrote an open letter to Spotify expressing concern over “false and societally harmful assertions” on the The Joe Rogan Experience and asked Spotify to “establish a clear and public policy to moderate misinformation on its platform.” The 270 signatories took issue with Rogan “broadcasting misinformation, particularly regarding the COVID-19 pandemic” and more specifically “a highly controversial episode featuring guest Dr. Robert Malone (#1757). The episode has been criticized for promoting baseless conspiracy theories, including “an unfounded theory that societal leaders have ‘hypnotized’ the public.” The signatories further assert that “Dr. Malone is one of two recent JRE guests who has compared pandemic policies to the Holocaust. These actions are not only objectionable and offensive, but also medically and culturally dangerous.” The signatories also note that Malone was suspended from Twitter “for spreading misinformation about COVID-19”.

On January 24, 2022, musician Neil Young posted an open letter threatening to remove his music from Spotify if they did not remove the podcast The Joe Rogan Experience from their service. The podcast, one of Spotify’s most popular, has been criticized for spreading COVID-19 misinformation. Young wrote that “Spotify has a responsibility to mitigate the spread of misinformation on its platform”. On January 26, Spotify removed Young’s music; a spokesperson said Spotify wanted “all the world’s music and audio content to be available to Spotify users” and that it had a “great responsibility in balancing both safety for listeners and freedom for creators”. According to Newsweek, Young had 6,057,481 monthly listeners on Spotify, while The Joe Rogan Experience has an estimated 11 million listeners per episode. On January 29, Joni Mitchell removed her catalogue from Spotify in support of long-time friend and fellow polio survivor “Neil Young and the global scientific and medical communities on this issue”. In response to the controversy, Rogan said that he would try harder to maintain a neutral point of view in his podcasts, and said that he agreed with Spotify adding a disclaimer to the beginning of his videos.

MM: “We originally just wanted to share from two of our favorite Canadian musicians and from their own new archive releases, but we do so now, additionally, in support of the moral compass inside Joni and Neil, and their protest of Spotify, and in ‘calling out’ the spread disinformation about COVID-19.”

19. Joni Mitchell – “Intro To Urge For Going (Live at Carnegie Hall, NYC, 2/1/1969)”
    from: Joni Mitchell Archives, Vol. 2: The Reprise Years (1968-1971) / Rhino / Oct. 29, 2021
    [Joni Mitchell Archives – Vol. 2: The Reprise Years (1968–1971) is a five-disc box set by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, released on November 12, 2021, by Rhino Records. The box set is the seventh overall release and second offering of unreleased material from the Joni Mitchell Archives, a planned series of releases containing remastered material from the singer’s archives. Formatted in chronological order, the second volume of the series includes archived material that was recorded in the years between the release of Mitchell’s debut studio album, Song to a Seagull (1968) and her fourth studio album, Blue (1971). // Upon release, Joni Mitchell Archives – Vol. 2: The Reprise Years (1968–1971) received critical acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 92 based on 7 reviews, indicating “universal acclaim”. // Roberta Joan “Joni” Mitchell CC (née Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and painter. Drawing from folk, pop, rock, classical, and jazz, Mitchell’s songs often reflect on social and philosophical ideals as well as her feelings about romance, womanhood, disillusionment and joy. She has received many accolades, including nine Grammy Awards and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. Rolling Stone called her “one of the greatest songwriters ever and AllMusic has stated, “When the dust settles, Joni Mitchell may stand as the most important and influential female recording artist of the late 20th century”. // Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and throughout western Canada, before moving on to the nightclubs of Toronto, Ontario. She moved to the United States and began touring in 1965. Some of her original songs (“Urge for Going”, “Chelsea Morning”, “Both Sides, Now”, “The Circle Game”) were covered by other folk singers, allowing her to sign with Reprise Records and record her debut album, Song to a Seagull, in 1968. Settling in Southern California, Mitchell helped define an era and a generation with popular songs like “Big Yellow Taxi” and “Woodstock”. Her 1971 album Blue is often cited as one of the best albums of all time; it was rated the 30th best album ever made in Rolling Stone’s 2003 list of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time”, rising to number 3 in the 2020 edition. In 2000, The New York Times chose Blue as one of the 25 albums that represented “turning points and pinnacles in 20th-century popular music”. In 2017, NPR ranked Blue number 1 on a list of Greatest Albums Made By Women. Mitchell’s fifth album, For the Roses, was released in 1972. She then switched labels and began exploring more jazz-influenced melodic ideas, by way of lush pop textures, on 1974’s Court and Spark, which featured the radio hits “Help Me” and “Free Man in Paris” and became her best-selling album. // Mitchell’s vocal range began to shift from mezzo-soprano to more full sounding. Her distinctive piano and open-tuned guitar compositions also grew more harmonically and rhythmically complex as she melded jazz with rock and roll, R&B, classical music and non-Western beats. In the late 1970s, she began working with noted jazz musicians including Jaco Pastorius, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, and Pat Metheny as well as Charles Mingus, who asked her to collaborate on his final recordings. She later turned to pop and electronic music and engaged in political protest. She was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 44th Annual Grammy Awards in 20021 and became a Kennedy Center Honoree in 2021. // Mitchell is the sole producer credited on most of her albums, including all her work in the 1970s. A critic of the music industry, she quit touring and released her 17th, and reportedly last, album of original songs in 2007. Mitchell has designed most of her own album covers, describing herself as a “painter derailed by circumstance”]

20. Joni Mitchell – “Urge For Going (Live at Carnegie Hall, NYC, 2/1/1969)”
    from: Joni Mitchell Archives, Vol. 2: The Reprise Years (1968-1971) / Rhino / Oct. 29, 2021

21. Neil Young – “Expecting To Fly (Live)”
    from: Carnegie Hall 1970 (Live) / Shakey Pictures Records – Reprise / October 1, 2021
    On December 4th 1970, Neil Young played two legendary solo acoustic shows at New York’s Carnegie Hall. The 23 songs in this set (2 LP & 2 CD) have been mixed from the original ¼ inch tapes by Young and Niko Bolas. This is the early show which has never been bootlegged or circulated, and is the first release in Neil’s new “Official Bootleg Series”. // “Expecting to Fly” is a song written by Neil Young and performed by Buffalo Springfield. The song reached #98 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1968. The song appeared on their 1967 album, Buffalo Springfield Again. Producer Jack Nitzsche provided the orchestral arrangement featuring a string section plus an oboe. Live versions from Young’s early solo performances appear on the albums Live at the Riverboat 1969, Sugar Mountain – Live at Canterbury House 1968, and Live at the Cellar Door. // In the 2018 music documentary film, Echo in the Canyon, it is suggested “Expecting to Fly” marks and exemplifies a shift in a late sixties’ movement from group-oriented folk rock compositions toward more individualized performances and single-artist recordings. (From All Music.com): “Neil Young had just released his third solo album After the Gold Rush a few months before he played Carnegie Hall in December of 1970, where he offered up a new set of introspective songs that were relatively toned down when compared to the stomping full-band jamming of 1969’s Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere. This would just be the beginning of a run of classic albums that continued throughout the ’70s, and both sides of Young’s musical personality — the hushed and patient songwriter side, and the side that tended toward rugged rock — were integral to how that peerless run played out. Young appeared alone on-stage at Carnegie Hall, playing stripped-down versions of his songs on acoustic guitar and piano to an audience so rapt they remained completely silent even as he took his time tuning the guitar and bantering between songs. He played two nights at Carnegie Hall, and while audience recordings of the second show found their way onto various bootlegs over the years, no bootlegs were ever made of the first night. Carnegie Hall 1970 offers the first public release of multi-track recordings from that first night, finding Young in rare form and delivering a diverse set list that included material from his records up to that point, as well as tunes that hadn’t been released yet. Songs that were raging and blusterous on record, like “Cinnamon Girl,” “Southern Man,” and “Cowgirl in the Sand,” are mysterious and tender in their solo renditions, peeling away the distortion and guitar heroics to expose the lingering melancholy and aching beauty that so often lie at the core of Young’s songwriting. Already, folksy acoustic songs like “Tell Me Why,” and the piano-based “Birds” take on an even more marked intimacy on Carnegie Hall 1970. Young’s legend-arily quaky voice conveys the loneliness, hope, loss, and appreciation of his lyrics with a profound impact when he stands alone with a single instrument. Die-hard fans will want to listen closely to versions of “See the Sky About to Rain,” “Old Man,” and “Bad Fog of Loneliness,” all of which had yet to be recorded and commercially released at the time of these performances. It speaks to the creative streak Young was in the thick of at that time (and would continue in various forms for the majority of his career) that he was already tired of playing his groundbreaking songs that were only a few years old and was eager to get the next ones out. Any Young completist will need Carnegie Hall 1970, but it’s a special performance that can be appreciated by more casual listeners as well. Alone at the microphone, the purity, simplicity, and one-of-a-kind magic of some of Neil Young’s best songs come into view in a way that’s undeniable. // Neil Percival Young OC OM (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer, musician and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay and others. Since the beginning of his solo career with his backing band Crazy Horse, Young has released many critically acclaimed and important albums, such as Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, After the Gold Rush, Harvest, On The Beach and Rust Never Sleeps. He was a part-time member of Crosby, Stills & Nash. // Young has received several Grammy & Juno Awards. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inducted him twice: in 1995 as a solo artist and in 1997 as a member of Buffalo Springfield. In 2000, Rolling Stone named Young No. 34 on their list of the 100 greatest musical artists. According to Acclaimed Music, he is the 7th most celebrated artist in popular music history. His guitar work, deeply personal lyrics and signature high tenor singing voice define his long career. He also plays piano and harmonica on many albums, which frequently combine folk, rock, country and other musical genres. His often distorted electric guitar playing, especially with Crazy Horse, earned him the nickname “Godfather of Grunge” and led to his 1995 album Mirror Ball with Pearl Jam. More recently he has been backed by Promise of the Real. 21 of his albums and singles have been certified Gold and Platinum in U.S by RIAA certification. // Young directed (or co-directed) films using the pseudonym “Bernard Shakey”, including Journey Through the Past (1973), Rust Never Sleeps (1979), Human Highway (1982), Greendale (2003), and CSNY/Déjà Vu (2008). He also contributed to the soundtracks of the films Philadelphia (1993) and Dead Man (1995). // Young has lived in California since the 1960s but retains Canadian citizenship. He was awarded the Order of Manitoba in 2006 and was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2009. He became a US citizen, taking dual citizenship, in 2020.]

22. Heidi Lynne Gluck – “Walk On”
    from: Cinnamon Girl – Women Artists Cover Neil Young for Charity / American Laundromat Records / February 12, 2008 [Reissued for the 1st time on limited edition vinyl Dec. 17, 2021]
    [Double LP on colored vinyl. Gatefold jacket. Limited to 1,000 copies worldwide. Cover art by Casey Burns Mastered by Sean Glonek Lacquers cut by Levi Seitz. Pressed in the USA at Furnace Record Pressing. All proceeds from this benefit record are lovingly donated to Casting For Recovery, whose mission is to enhance the quality of life of women with breast cancer through a unique retreat program that combines breast cancer education and peer support with the therapeutic sport of fly fishing. Lawrence, Kansas based Heidi Lynne Gluck is a songwriter, singer & multi-instrumentalist originally from the middle of Canada. After transplanting herself from the plains of Manitoba to the midwestern USA, Heidi quickly became an in-demand player, performing on stage and in the studio both as a solo artist and with renowned musicians including Juliana Hatfield & Some Girls, Margot & The Nuclear So and Sos, Lily & Madeleine, The Pieces, The Only Children, and others. Heidi Lynne Gluck played 90.1 FM’s Crossroads Music Fest, Sept. 10. Heidi Lynne Gluck released, THE ONLY GIRL IN THE ROOM on April 28, 2015, and PONY SHOW on Aug. 26, 2016 both on Lotuspool Records. PONY SHOW was #5 inWMM’s 116 Best Recordings of 2016. Too Much Rock released the Heidi Lynne Gluck Single “Party Line” on Aug. 3, 2018. Heidi is also a huge part of the Lawrence band The Roseline and recently has contributed vocals to released from Approach and Astrales. Heidi Lynne Gluck joined us live on WMM on June 8, and Aug. 24, 2016, and July 25, 2018.]

11:28 – Underwriting

23. Cale Parks – “Boards”
    from: Boards / Whirling Wolf Records / January 14, 2020
    [Cale Parks is best known for decades of drumming in the bands: Aloha, and Yeasayer, and in high profile side hustles such as: Passion Pit, Chet Faker, and Joan of Arc. Cale released the albums, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT on Sept. 26, 2009, and SPARKFACE on November 3, 2008, and the EP TO SWIFT MARS on Augusgust 3, 2004. But On May 18, 2015, Cale released his 4-track solo EP, LAGOON FOOL giving his fans the first sign of becoming a more of a “mood-altering” electronic producer with his multi-faceted record featuring interlocking melodies and everything from acid techno asides to piano-laced synth progressions. Cale followed LAGOON FOOL with his most recent solo EP, BOARDS, released on January 24, 2020 on Whirling Wolf Records. Boards ventures even further into the ether, piling on the sort of polychromatic chords, artful hooks, and mood-altering melodies one might find on an old Air or Durutti Column album. A lot of this has to do with how it was made: in Parks’ home studio rather than a cramped apartment room, which gave him space to think and toy with a wide range of instruments. Listeners can thank a long overdue lifestyle change: a move from Brooklyn to Kansas City that made Parks look at music differently. “I didn’t own a car in New York,” he explains, “so all of my listening was done as I walked around the city. There’s something about the energy of New York that requires that electricity. Moving to Kansas changed the style of music I wanted to hear; I wanted room to let records breathe.”]

24. Love, Mae C – “Go”
    from: “Go” – Single / Love, Mae C / January 19, 2022
    [Written By: Love, Mae C. Produced By: Anthony Harvey. Mae C is a KC based singer songwriter who we’ve played several times on the show. Her single “Anxious” was preceeded by her EP, Warning Sign of True Love. Influenced by Hip Hop, Rock, Jazz, Soul & R&B, Mae C is making her mark as an artist in the KC music scene. Love, Mae C has recorded severl tracks and songs witn NUBLKCITY. More info at; http://www.lovemaec.com]

[NUBLVCKCITY plays Boulevardia Friday, June 17, 2022.]

25. Deegan Poores – “Vanishing”
    from: “Vanishing” – Single / Deegan Poores / December 19, 2018
    [Writen & produced by Deegan Poores, vocal production by Guanghao Yu. Deegan Poores will release his album “Vanishing” on February 11, 2022. Deegan Pooresis a singer, songwriter, and producer from Kansas City, Kansas. “Vanishing” was co-produced by Remy Styrk. To see the “Vanishing” video, directed and produced by Remy Styrk visit: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCie5UaItSkEugr7MJ6ubzvg%5D

26. The Talking Trees – “Talking Trees”
    from: “Talking Trees” – Single / East of Troost Music, BMI / January 7, 2022
    [The Talking Trees released their new single, “Talking Trees” to streaming services on January 7, 2022. The track was recorded and produced by Joel Nanos at Element Recording Studios, it is the first single from their upcoming EP. The Kansas City based trio made up of: Dirk Liebert on bass, guitar, & vocals; Tommy Capps on keyboards, guitar, & vocals; and Graham Stone on drums & percussion. More info at: http://www.thetalkingtrees.bandcamp.com ]

In Memory of: Veronica Yvette Greenfield born: August 10, 1943 died: January 12, 2022, known professionally as Ronnie Spector. She was an American singer and referred to as the original “bad girl of rock and roll”, she was the lead singer of the girl group the Ronettes.

27. The Ronettes – “Be My Baby”
    from: Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes Featuring Veronica / Phil Spector Records / 1964
    [The Ronettes were an American girl group from Washington Heights, Manhattan, New York City. The group consisted of lead singer Veronica Bennett (later known as Ronnie Spector), her older sister Estelle Bennett, and their cousin Nedra Talley. They had sung together since they were teenagers, then known as “The Darling Sisters”. Signed first by Colpix Records in 1961, they moved to Phil Spector’s Philles Records in March 1963 and changed their name to “The Ronettes” (an acronym for “Ronnie, Nedra and Estelle”). // The Ronettes placed nine songs on the Billboard Hot 100, five of which became Top 40 hits. Among their hit songs are “Be My Baby”, which peaked at No. 2, their only Top 10 hit (until “Sleigh Ride” peaked at number 10, on January 1, 2022), “Baby, I Love You”, “(The Best Part of) Breakin’ Up” and “Walking in the Rain”. In 1964, the group released their only studio album, Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes Featuring Veronica. That year, the Rolling Stones were their opening act when they toured the UK. The Ronettes opened for the Beatles on their 1966 US tour, becoming the only girl group to tour with them, before splitting up in 1967. In the 1970s, the group was briefly revived as Ronnie Spector and the Ronettes. // Their song “Be My Baby” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999. Rolling Stone ranked their album Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes Featuring Veronica No. 422 on its list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. The Ronettes were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2004, and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007. // Veronica Yvette Greenfield (née Bennett; August 10, 1943 – January 12, 2022), known professionally as Ronnie Spector, was an American singer. Referred to as the original “bad girl of rock and roll”, she was the lead singer of the girl group the Ronettes. // Ronnie formed a singing group, “Ronnie and the Relatives, with her elder sister, Estelle Bennett, and their cousin, Nedra Talley in the late 1950s. Their look was fashioned by Estelle, who had a job at Macy’s on the cosmetics counter. They sang at school events, and had a residency at the Peppermint Lounge, a nightspot in Manhattan, the birthplace of the Twist and go-go dancing. Their early singles flopped, but they became successful after auditioning for Phil Spector as the Ronettes. They were signed to Phil Spector’s Philles label and he produced the majority of their recording output. The Ronettes had a string of hits in the 1960s, including “Be My Baby” (1963), “Baby, I Love You” (1963), “(The Best Part of) Breakin’ Up” (1964) and “Walking in the Rain” (1964). // After Ronnie married Phil in 1968, she was no longer able to perform, as he kept her imprisoned in the house, surrounding it with barbed wire and confiscating her shoes. Following their separation in 1972, she reformed the Ronettes and began performing again. In 1980, she released her debut solo album Siren. Her career revived when she was featured on Eddie Money’s song “Take Me Home Tonight” in 1986. She went on to release the albums Unfinished Business (1987), Something’s Gonna Happen (2003), Last of the Rock Stars (2006) and English Heart (2016). She also recorded one extended play, She Talks to Rainbows (1999). // In 1990, Ronnie Spector published a memoir, Be My Baby: How I Survived Mascara, Miniskirts, and Madness, Or, My Life as a Fabulous Ronette. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Ronettes in 2007.]

28. Noel Coward – “The Party’s Over Now”
    from: Noel Coward in New York / drg / 2003 [orig. 1957]

Next week on Wednesday, February 9 we will play songs demonstrating our deep L.O.V.E. and affection for our beautiful listeners of Wednesday MidDay Medley. We’ll be spinning songs about love, in anticipation of Valentine’s Day, playing tracks from: The Wild Women of Kansas City, Frogpond, Marva Whitney, Krystle Warren & The Faculty, Effie, Betse & Clarke, Amythyst Kiah, Nina Simone, David Bowie, Aretha Franklin, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Lou Reed, Aimee Mann, The Magnetic Fields, Roberta Flack, Digital Leather, Pansy Division, Cynthia Erivo, Michael Callen, Holly Near, John Prine, and Ray Charles.

Also next week, Marion Merritt, and Betse Ellis will join us again as our special Co-Hosts for WMM’s Winter Fund Drive Show for 90.1 FM KKFI. Please don’t let our love songs be unrequieted. We need to hear for you all!

Our Script/Playlist is a “cut and paste” of information.
Sources for notes: artist’s websites, bios, wikipedia.org

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or http://www.kkfi.org

Show #927

Wednesday MidDay Medley
TEN to NOON Wednesdays – Streaming at KKFI.org
90.1 FM KKFI – Kansas City Community Radio
Produced and Hosted by Mark Manning

Wednesday, February 2, 2022

Mark Spins 20 New & MidCoastal Releases + a few classics

Mark plays 20 New & MidCoastal Releases from: Jo Blaq, Dia Jane, Cole Brood, Belle & The Vertigo Waves, Static Phantoms, Asterales feat. Royce Diamond & Maria Cuevas, Trevor Turla, Glass Bandit, Joel Kraft, Ivory Blue, Lonnie Fisher, Heidi Gluck, Cale Parks, Love Mae C, Deegan Poores, The Talking Trees, FKA Twigs, Cate Le Bon, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, and Anais Mitchell. We’ll also play Black Pumas, Molchat Doma, and The Ronettes.

On your local radio dial 90.1 FM or
STREAMING LIVE at: kkfi.org

Show #927

Wednesday MidDay Medley
TEN to NOON Wednesdays – Streaming at KKFI.org
90.1 FM KKFI – Kansas City Community Radio
Produced and Hosted by Mark Manning

Wednesday, September 29, 2021

Nico Gray returns as Guest Producer

Mark welcomes back Nico Gray as “Guest Producer”. Nico is a writer, performance artist, and actor who has performed with Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Gorilla Theatre, 8th St. Cafe Theatre, Actor’s Craft, and Big Bang Buffet. He appeared in HBO’s Truman the Robert Altman film Kansas City. Nico has worked for Theatre League, The Midland Theatre, and is currently a marketing & advertising consultant with Union Station, KC Fringe, and KC Creates. Nico grew up in KC but has lived in Chicago, New York, and Marseille. For WMM this is Nico Gray’s 12th appearance as Guest Producer.

1. “Main Title Instrumental – It’s Showtime Folks”
   from: Orig. Motion Picture Soundtrack All That Jazz / Casablanca / December 20, 1979

2. Reitzell/Beggs — “Intro Versaille”
   from: Marie Antoinette (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) / Verve Forecast / October 2006
   [The Marie Antoinette soundtrack contains New Wave and post-punk bands New Order, Gang of Four, The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Bow Wow Wow, Adam and the Ants, the Strokes, Dustin O’Halloran and the Radio Dept. Some scenes utilise period music by Jean-Philippe Rameau, Antonio Vivaldi and François Couperin. The soundtrack also includes songs by electronic musicians Squarepusher and Aphex Twin. // Marie Antoinette is a 2006 historical drama film written and directed by Sofia Coppola. It is based on the life of Queen Marie Antoinette, played by Kirsten Dunst, in the years leading up to the French Revolution. It won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design. It was released in the United States on October 20, 2006, by Sony Pictures Releasing.]

3. Yaz —“Winter Kills”
   from: Upstairs At Eric’s / Sire / August 23, 1982
   [Yazoo (known as Yaz in North America) were an English synth-pop duo from Basildon, Essex, consisting of former Depeche Mode member Vince Clarke (keyboards) and Alison Moyet (vocals). The duo formed in late 1981 after Clarke responded to an advertisement Moyet placed in a British music magazine, although the pair had known each other since their schooldays. // Over the next 18 months the duo released two albums, Upstairs at Eric’s and You and Me Both, which received critical acclaim for their production, particularly the blending of Clarke’s synthesizer melodies with Moyet’s blues- and soul-influenced vocals. // Yazoo enjoyed worldwide success, particularly in their home country, where three of their four singles reached the top three of the UK Singles Chart and both their albums made the top two of the UK Albums Chart. In North America, they are known for the song “Situation”, which, though originally only a B-side in the United Kingdom, was a club and airplay success in the United States and Canada before being released as the band’s debut single in North America. //Despite their success, the duo split acrimoniously in May 1983 as a result of a combination of Clarke’s reluctance to make more records under the Yazoo name, a clash of personalities, and a lack of communication between the pair.[// Clarke went on to form Erasure, another successful and longer-lasting synth-pop duo, while Moyet embarked on a highly successful solo career. Although their musical career was short, Yazoo’s combination of electronic instrumentation and soulful female vocals has been cited as an influence on the house music scene that emerged in the mid-1980s, as well as on bands such as LCD Soundsystem (who name-checked the duo on their debut single “Losing My Edge”), Hercules and Love Affair (whose leader Andy Butler has said that “Situation” was his biggest musical inspiration as a child), La Roux, Shiny Toy Guns and Blaqk Audio.// In 2008, 25 years after splitting, Clarke and Moyet reconciled and reformed Yazoo to play a successful tour of the UK, Europe and North America in support of the reissue of Yazoo’s two studio albums and a box set of their material titled In Your Room. The pair briefly reunited in May 2011 to play three Yazoo songs at a music festival organised by their record label.]

4. Michel Rubini & Denny Jaeger — “Trio In E Flat (Excerpt)”
   from: The Hunger (Soundtrack) / Varèse Sarabande / 1983
   [Howard Blake was musical director on The Hunger. Although a soundtrack album accompanied the film’s release (Varèse Sarabande VSD 47261), this issue omits much of the music used in the film. // Blake’s noted on working with director Tony Scott, “Tony wanted to create a score largely using classical music and I researched this, many days going to his home in Wimbledon with stacks of recordings to play to him. One of these was the duet for two sopranos from Delibes’ Lakmé, which I recorded specially with Elaine Barry and Judith Rees, conducting my orchestra The Sinfonia of London. Howard Shelley joined with Ralph Holmes and Raphael Wallfisch to record the second movement of Schubert’s Piano Trio in E flat. Ralph recorded the Gigue from Bach’s Violin Partita in E and Raphael the Prelude to Bach’s solo cello sonata in G, to which Bowie mimed. I was persuaded to appear in one scene as a pianist, for which I wrote a ‘Dolphin Square Blues’. Tony wanted to add a synthesizer score and I introduced him to Hans Zimmer, then working at The Snake Ranch Studio in Fulham but Tony eventually used a score by Michel Rubini and Denny Jaeger with electronics by David Lawson. It is hard however to exactly separate these elements. // The Hunger is a 1983 supernatural horror film directed by Tony Scott, starring Catherine Deneuve, David Bowie, and Susan Sarandon. An international co-production of the United Kingdom and United States, the film is a loose adaptation of the 1981 novel of the same name by Whitley Strieber, with a screenplay by Ivan Davis and Michael Thomas. Its plot concerns a love triangle between a doctor who specializes in sleep and aging research (Sarandon) and a vampire couple (Deneuve and Bowie). The film’s special effects were handled by make-up effects artist Dick Smith. // After premiering at the 1983 Cannes Film Festival, The Hunger was released in the spring of 1983 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Though it received a mixed critical response, the film has accrued a cult following within the goth subculture in the years since its release.]

5. The Cure —“Cold”
   from: Pornography / Fiction / May 4, 1982
   [Pornography is the fourth studio album by English rock band The Cure, released on 4 May 1982 by Fiction Records. Preceded by the non-album single “Charlotte Sometimes”, it was the band’s first album with new producer Phil Thornalley, and was recorded at RAK Studios from January to April 1982. The sessions saw the band on the brink of collapse, with heavy drug use, band in-fighting, and frontman Robert Smith’s depression fueling the album’s musical and lyrical content. Pornography represents the conclusion of the Cure’s early dark, gloomy musical phase, which began with their second album Seventeen Seconds (1980). // Following its release, bassist Simon Gallup left the band, and the Cure switched to a much brighter and more radio-friendly new wave sound. Although it was poorly received by critics at the time of release, Pornography was the Cure’s most popular album to date, reaching number eight on the UK Albums Chart. It has since gone on to gain acclaim from critics, and is now considered an important milestone in the development of the style of music known as gothic rock. // The Cure are an English rock band formed in 1978 in Crawley, West Sussex. Throughout numerous lineup changes since the band’s formation, guitarist, lead vocalist, and songwriter Robert Smith has remained the only constant member. The band’s debut album was Three Imaginary Boys (1979) and this, along with several early singles, placed the band in the post-punk and new wave movements that had sprung up in the United Kingdom. Beginning with their second album, Seventeen Seconds (1980), the band adopted a new, increasingly dark and tormented style, which, together with Smith’s stage look, had a strong influence on the emerging genre of gothic rock as well as the subculture that eventually formed around the genre. //Following the release of their fourth album Pornography in 1982, the band’s future was uncertain. Smith was keen to move past the gloomy reputation his band had acquired, introducing a greater pop sensibility into the band’s music. Songs such as “Let’s Go to Bed” (1982), “The Love Cats” (1983), “Inbetween Days” (1985), “Close To Me” (1985), “Just Like Heaven” (1987), “Lovesong” (1989), and “Friday I’m in Love” (1992) aided the band in receiving commercial popularity. The band have released 13 studio albums, two EPs, over 30 singles, and have sold over 30 million albums worldwide. //The Cure were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019. More info at: http://www.facebook.com/thecure%5D

10:16

6. Gabriels – “Innocence”
   from: Bloodline – EP / Gabriels / December 3, 2021
   [Gabriels is an LA based group consisting of lead singer Jacob Lusk and producers Ari Balouzian and Ryan Hope. More info at: http://www.instagram.com/gabriels or http://www.facebook.com/GabrielsWorldwide%5D

7. Ms White The Drunken Piano —“Chopin Was A Hip Hop Lover”
   from: Miss White & The Drunken Piano / Adelie Prod / April 19, 2010
   [Miss White and the Drunken Piano is a French musical group , originally from Grenoble . The group’s musical style is characterized by songs in English with accents of hip-hop, jazz, and even classical music. Their music bridges several genres, such as jazz, rap with the practice of beatbox and rapped singing as well as a touch of rock. The group was formed in September 2008, in Grenoble, by Marieke Husmans Berthoux, David Laurent, and Martin Larat-lini. Prior to the band’s formation, each of the members was in solo bands or projects; Marieke was in a rock band and sang in French. A first eponymous album appeared in 2010. In 2012, Miss Drunk and the Drunken Piano released their second studio album, Same Same. More info at: https://www.facebook.com/miss-white-and-the-drunken-piano-274415689654%5D

8. Degiheugi — “Just A Little More”
   from: Foreglow / Endless Smile Records / April 23, 2021
   [Degiheugi present his 8th album entitled « Foreglow ». This record with multiple influences, ranging from samba to Afrobeat through soul and French chanson, is a real ray of light that makes you want to escape and takes you far from home. Once again, the unstoppable digger and beatmaker surprises us and shows us how well he masters the art of sampling. // Early on, Degiheugi devoured LPs and made turntables roar in a rap crew. But the classical hip-hop sphere quickly proved itself too narrow to echo the massive flow of ideas that irrigated his right hemisphere. // Sound collector, insatiable explorer in search of the ultimate sample, Degiheugi unearths treasures buried deep in the internet abyss or under the dust of time in flea markets. He reinvents the art of merging these sound particles in order to offer them an atomically radiant second life. Imbued with high-end featurings of beats chiseled out from the gold groove is made of, these patchworks are brilliant enough to ignore the codes of abstract hip-hop, and unfold a clear musicality, full of soul reflections and electronic spleen. After releasing five essential albums -all of which were acclaimed online by an enthusiast community of supporters- this beatmaker is stepping out of the shadows and is today taking the step to go on stage. A live experience where video will join in, and which promises to be powerfully immersive. // At the end of 2018, he was a brake on a stage career to devote himself to production, and to various other projects. More info at: https://www.facebook.com/degiheugi%5D

9. Meskerem Mees – “Where I’m From”
   from: Julius / Mayway Records / November 12, 2021
   [Debut album from Meskerem MeesShe has the soul of Nina Simone, the panache of Joni Mitchell and a voice as clear as spring water. Belgium-based singer-songwriter Meskerem Mees, a grand lady of just 21, grabs you by the scruff of the neck and doesn’t let go. // Armed with nothing but her intriguing voice, her acoustic guitar and the cello of her buddy Febe, she transforms her layered and carefully crafted songs into the sweetest ear candy. Her melodies burrow their way into your brain while the choruses take up residence in your head and refuse to leave. // By mid 2020 it’s hard to miss her debut single ‘Joe’ on the radio, and Meskerem finds her way to every listener’s heart. ‘Joe’ goes straight to number one in Studio Brussel’s chart ‘De Afrekening’, and leading foreign music media like Consequence of Sound (USA) and FIP Radio (Fra) immediately fall in love with this young and talented woman from Ghent. // Meskerem sets off on a nice string of summer gigs, and showcases her touch of genius again in autumn, playing brilliant and often unrecognizable cover versions of famous songs in Studio Brussel’s morning show. // October 18, 2020 sees yet another milestone in her budding career, when Meskerem Mees adds her name to the legendary list of ‘Humo’s Rock Rally’ winners, marking her breakthrough to the general public. More info at: http://www.meskeremmees.com. For more info: https://www.facebook.com/meskeremmeesmusic%5D

10. Leslie Winer – “John Says”
    from: Witch / Transglobal / 1993
    [Leslie Winer is an American musician, poet, and writer. Winer began her career as a fashion model in the early 1980s after moving to New York City from Massachusetts to attend the School of Visual Arts where she studied with Hannah Wilke and Joseph Kosuth. She appeared in fashion campaigns for Valentino and Christian Dior and magazine covers for European and Australian editions of Vogue. Designer Jean-Paul Gaultier described Winer as “the first androgynous model.” She lived with American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat during her early career. Before modeling Winer met William S. Burroughs in the late ’70s and credits him with being a major mentor. Burroughs mentions his friendship with Winer in a number of interviews and books with French journalist Alain Pacadis and Burroughs’ own last book Last Words: The Final Journals of William S. Burroughs. // After her work brought her to London in the mid-1980s, she spent a great deal of time at Leigh Bowery’s nightclub, Taboo. It was while in London she met musicians Jah Wobble, who was a former bassist for Public Image Ltd, and Kevin Mooney, former bass player for Adam and the Ants. In 1987, she would co-write the track “Just Call Me Joe” with Sinéad O’Connor. The song would appear on O’Connor’s debut album The Lion and the Cobra, with Winer performing the backup spoken vocal. With Wobble and Mooney, she would record the album Witch in 1990. BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel played some tracks off this white label and the record went on to become a small cult-classic prompting NME to refer to Winer as “The Grandmother of Triphop”. She had previously recorded a couple of 12″ singles under the name ‘©’ along with co-writer Karl Bonnie from Renegade Soundwave. She has also worked with Grace Jones. Helmut Lang did a small pressing of her album Spider that he released in his NYC shop sometime around 1999 to promote one of his shows. Winer occasionally records music with Swedish composer Carl Michael von Hausswolff and others. // Winer was born to a teenager and handed over to her adoptive grandmother in a hospital parking lot in what was an illegal adoption involving the exchange of money. She is of Scots-Irish, Basque, Mi’kmaq, and Acadian descent. // Winer currently lives in France, where she has raised five daughters and is the co-editor for the estate of the late writer and poet Herbert Huncke. In 2014, she returned to modeling as the face of Vivienne Westwood’s spring/summer 2014 campaign.]

10:33 – Underwriting

11. November Ultra —“Doux & Tendre” (ft. Poppy Fusée)
    from: Honey Please Be Soft & Tender – EP / november ultra / June 25, 2021
    [Former singer and songwriter of Parisian-based indie band Agua Roja who flowed into the indie music scene with their first song “Summer Ends »back in 2013, November Ultra has often been praised for her deep and warm voice. After releasing two EPs, the band splits in 2018. As an hommage to Frank Ocean’s mixtape “Nostalgia, Ultra,” November becomes November Ultra and starts exploring solo. // During those two years, she divides her time between recording studios and her DIY bedroom- studio, working for others as a topliner/songwriter (Jaden Smith, Claire Laffut, Terrenoire, Kungs, Anna Majidson, Jasmïn, Grant, Maja Francis, Barbara Pravi…) while recording, exploring and producing her own songs on Ableton. // As practice, she produces reworks of songs she covers and improvises on — her “Secret Tapes”- that she then publishes on instagram IGTV and Youtube to familiarise her audience with the different sounds and intricacies of her own music. // Her future debut album sounds like a journey through her DNA, 11 songs that showcase the musical roots of an artist who grew up listening to folk music, r&b and with a very obsessive Spanish grand-father who introduced her to his adoration for 60’s musicals and Spanish copla. // Her two first singles, the soothing DIY lullaby “Soft & Tender” and the sweet and sour “Miel” gives us a little taste of what is to come : warm, comforting and cinematographic bedroom pop.https://www.facebook.com/novemberultra%5D

12. Luca Wilding — “Ruby, Don’t Cry”
    from: To — EP / Abbey Records / November 27, 2020
    [With a voice that’s both soulful and haunting, London-based singer-songwriter Luca Wilding has carved out a niche in poetic, storytelling songs with a melancholy edge. He’s been dubbed an artist to keep an eye out for. He tells FRANCE 24’s Florence Villeminot about his debut EP “To”, a beautiful and unique collection of dream-folk songs released back in November. We also look at new releases from French trip-hop producer Wax Tailor as well as LA-based duos Rhye and Midnight Sister. More info at: http://www.facebook.com/iamlucawilding%5D

13. Franco Battiato — “Ruby Tuesday”
    from: Fleurs / Universal Music Italia s.r.l. / January 1, 1999
    [Francesco “Franco” Battiato (Italian: [ˈfraŋko batˈtjaːto, – battiˈaːto]; 23 March 1945 – 18 May 2021) was an Italian singer-songwriter, composer, filmmaker and, under the pseudonym Süphan Barzani, also a painter. Battiato’s songs contain esoteric, philosophical and religious themes, and have spanned genres such as experimental pop, electronic music, progressive rock, opera, symphonic music, movie soundtrack, oratorio and new wave. // He was for decades one of the most popular singer-songwriters in Italy. His unique sound, song-crafting and especially his lyrics, often containing philosophical, religious, and culturally exotic references, as well as tackling or painting universal themes about the human condition earned him a unique spot on Italy’s music scene, and the nickname of “Il Maestro” His work includes songwriting and joint production efforts with several Italian and international musicians and pop singers, including the long-lasting professional relationship with Italian singer Alice. Together with Alice, Battiato represented Italy at the 1984 Eurovision Song Contest with the song “I treni di Tozeur”. // Fleurs, also graphically rendered as Fleur(s) and FLEURs, is a studio album by Italian singer-songwriter Franco Battiato, issued in 1999. Except for two new songs, the album consists of cover versions of Italian and international classics, mainly from the 1960s. The album was described as “delicate, elegant and enjoyable.” The album was followed by Fleurs 3 (2002) and Fleurs 2 (2008). The Battiato’s version of The Rolling Stones’ “Ruby Tuesday” was later featured in the musical score of Alfonso Cuarón’s 2006 film Children of Men. https://www.facebook.com/francobattiato%5D

14. Cocteau Twins — “Carolyn’s Fingers”
    from: Blue Bell Knoll / 4AD / 1988
    [Cocteau Twins were a Scottish band active from 1979 to 1997. They were formed in Grangemouth by Robin Guthrie (guitars, drum machine) and Will Heggie (bass), adding Elizabeth Fraser (vocals) in 1981 and replacing Heggie with multi-instrumentalist Simon Raymonde in 1983. The group earned critical praise for their ethereal, effects-laden sound and the soprano vocals of Fraser, whose lyrics often abandon recognisable language. They pioneered the 1980s alternative rock subgenre of dream pop. // The band’s early work drew influence from Siouxsie and the Banshees and Joy Division. After signing with the British record label 4AD in 1982, they released their debut album Garlands later that year. The addition of Raymonde in 1983 solidified their final lineup, which produced their biggest hit in the UK, “Pearly-Dewdrops’ Drops”, peaking at No. 29 on the UK Singles Chart. In 1988, Cocteau Twins signed with Capitol Records in the United States, distributing their fifth album, Blue Bell Knoll, through a major label in the country. After the 1990 release of their most critically acclaimed album, Heaven or Las Vegas, the band left 4AD for Fontana Records, where they released their final two albums. // After nearly 20 years together, the band disbanded in 1997 in part due to issues stemming from the disintegration of Fraser and Guthrie’s romantic relationship. In 2005, the band announced that they would reunite to headline Coachella and embark on a world tour but the reunion was cancelled a month later after Fraser refused to perform on stage with Guthrie. In a 2021 interview, Raymonde confirmed that Cocteau Twins “will never reform”. // Blue Bell Knoll is the fifth studio album by Scottish alternative rock band Cocteau Twins, released on September 19, 1988 by 4AD. This was the band’s first album to receive major-label distribution in the United States, as it was originally licensed by Capitol Records from 4AD for North American release. After a period of being out of print while 4AD reclaimed the American distribution rights for their back catalogue, the album (along with much of the band’s 4AD material) was remastered by Robin Guthrie and reissued in 2003. Elizabeth Fraser named the album after a peak in southern Utah called Bluebell Knoll. // In 2014, the album was repressed on 180g vinyl using new high definition masters. https://www.facebook.com/ctwins%5D

10:58 – Station ID

15. Sault —”Fear”
    from: Nine / Forever Living Originals / 2021
    [Nine is the fifth studio album by the British rhythm and blues collective Sault, released on 25 June 2021 on Forever Living Originals. Produced by Inflo, the album was only available on streaming services and as a digital download for a total of ninety-nine days, until 2 October 2021. // The album received widespread critical acclaim, appearing on several end-of-year lists. // SAULT (frequently stylised in all caps) are a pseudonymous British music collective that make a mixture of rhythm and blues, house and disco. The project is helmed by producer Inflo, best known for his work with Little Simz, Michael Kiwanuka, Jungle and Adele. Despite critical acclaim, Sault eschew interaction with the media, and features an array of unnamed collaborators. They frequently foreground black-centric issues. // SAULT’s albums in 2020, Untitled (Black Is), released in June, and Untitled (Rise), released in September, both received universal critical acclaim, including a nomination for the Mercury Prize in 2021 for the latter. // On June 24, 2021, the band released their fifth studio album, Nine, which was available for 99 days from its release until October 2, 2021. In the same year, the band were nominated at the MOBO Awards, alongside vocalist Cleo Sol, for Best R&B/Soul Act. // The line-up of Sault remains mostly a mystery, with confirmed members: Inflo – producer, various instruments; Cleo Sol – lead vocals; Kid Sister // Studio albums: 5 (2019); 7 (2019); Untitled (Black Is) (2020); Untitled (Rise) (2020); and Nine (2021). More info at: http://www.facebook.com/SAULTGLOBAL%5D

16. Sworn Virgins – “Fifty Dollar Bills”
    from: Foundations / DEEWEE / May 7, 2021
    [DEEWEE is a building, a studio, a label, a record collection and a publishing house. // DEEWEE is all of these things. // Every DEEWEE release is written, recorded or mixed in the building by David and Stephen Dewaele. // Every DEEWEE project has its own consecutive catalogue number. // All different. All unique. All DEEWEE. // DEEWEE Foundations, our 50th release and first compilation album. // 27 tracks including 3 brand new exclusive works* are beautifully presented across triple LP and 2CD physical editions, along with digital formats. All are united by a breadth of imagination, a love of hands-on artistry, and of course by the sonic craftsmanship of the Dewaele brothers themselves. // Foundations is more than just a compilation of tracks from the DEEWEE label. It’s a beautiful object in its own right. As with all DEEWEE releases, Parisian art directors, Ill-Studio have created a gorgeous artefact that collectors will love. It’s also a wonderful audio experience, with new music complimenting and elevating the catalogue material, and the sequencing of the 27 tracks done with as much love as any artist album or DJ set. It’s an expression of the values of a musical family with the brothers at its heart and featuring their creative input throughout. Everything on the album has come through the DEEWEE Studios in Ghent, Belgium which was built to bring together their friends from around the world. More info; http://www.deewee.bandcamp.com]

17. Nino Ferrer – “I’m Looking For You”
    from: Nino And Radiah / CBS / 1974
    [Nino Agostino Arturo Maria Ferrari (Italian pronunciation: [nino aɡosˈtino arˈturo maˈria ferˈrari]), known as Nino Ferrer (August 15, 1934 – August 13, 1998), was an Italian-born French singer-songwriter and author. // Nino Ferrer was born on 15 August 1934 in Genoa, Italy, but lived the first years of his life in New Caledonia (an overseas territory of France in the southwest Pacific Ocean), where his father, an engineer, was working. Jesuit religious schooling, first in Genoa and later in Saint-Jean de Passy, Paris, left him with a lifelong aversion to the Church. From 1947, the young Nino studied ethnology and archaeology in the Sorbonne university in Paris, also pursuing his interests in music and painting. // After completing his studies, Ferrer started traveling the world, working on a freighter ship. When he returned to France he immersed himself in music. A passion for jazz and the blues led him to worship the music of James Brown, Otis Redding and Ray Charles. He started to play the double bass in Bill Coleman’s New Orleans Jazz Orchestra. He appeared on a recording for the first time in 1959, playing bass on two 45 singles by the Dixie Cats. The suggestion to take up solo singing came from the rhythm ‘n’ blues singer Nancy Holloway, whom he also accompanied. // In 1963, Nino Ferrer recorded his own first record, the single “Pour oublier qu’on s’est aimé” (“To forget we were in love”). The B-side of that single had a song “C’est irréparable”, which was translated for Italian superstar Mina as “Un anno d’amore” and became a big hit in 1965. Later again, in 1991, Spanish singer Luz Casal had a hit with “Un año de amor”, translated from Italian by director Pedro Almodóvar for his film Tacones Lejanos (High Heels). // His first solo success came in 1965 with the song “Mirza”. Other hits, such as “Cornichons” and “Oh! hé! hein! bon!” followed, establishing Ferrer as something of a comedic singer. The stereotyping and his eventual huge success made him feel “trapped”, and unable to escape from the constant demands of huge audiences to hear the hits he himself despised. He started leading a life of “wine, women and song” while giving endless provocative performances in theatres, on television and on tour. // In Italy, he scored a major hit in 1967 with “La pelle nera” (the French version is “Je voudrais être un noir” [“I’d like to be a black man”]). This soul song, with its quasi-revolutionary lyrics imploring a series of Ferrer’s black music idols to gift him their black skin for the benefit of music-making, achieved long-lasting iconic status in Italy. // “La pelle nera” was followed by a string of other semi-serious Italian songs, which included two appearances at the Sanremo Music Festival (in 1968 and 1970). In 1970, he returned to France and resumed his musical career there. Ferrer rebelled against the “gaudy frivolity” of French show business, filled with what he perceived as its “cynical technocrats and greedy exploiters of talent” (he had considered leaving show business altogether in 1967, when he left France for Italy). In his lesser-known songs, which the public largely ignored, he mocked life’s absurdities. He agreed with Serge Gainsbourg and Claude Nougaro that songs are a “minor art” and “just background noise”. // In 1975 he started breeding horses in Quercy, France. In 1989, Ferrer obtained French citizenship, which he explained as his “celebration of the bicentenary of the French Revolution.” He went on to record the French national anthem, accompanied by a choir. // A couple of months after his mother died, Ferrer, on August 13, 1998, two days before his 64th birthday, took his hunting gun and walked to a field of corn, recently cut, near the neighbouring village of Saint-Cyprien. There, he lay down in a grove nearby and shot himself in the chest. His wife Kinou, with whom he had two sons, had already alerted the gendarmerie after finding a farewell letter in the house. Next day, there were front-page headlines in most French and Italian newspapers, such as “Adieu Nino!”, “Nino Ferrer Hung Up His Telephone”, “Our Nino Has Left for the South.” They called him the Don Quixote and the Corto Maltese of French show business. More info at: https://www.facebook.com/NinoFerrerOfficiel%5D

18. Klaus Nomi— “Valentine’s Day”
    from: Za Bakdaz: The Unfinished Opera / Heliocentric / July 6, 2009
    [Za Bakdaz: The Unfinished Opera is a collection of songs German countertenor Klaus Nomi was working on up until his death in 1983. The album was released posthumously in 2007. The large majority of the tracks have never before been heard on an official studio release; the original sessions took place from 1979 to 1983, with the tracks completed between 1984 and 2006 at the home studio of Page Wood and George Elliott. Some of those involved with the project have said that the album was nowhere near completed at the time of Klaus’ passing. // Klaus Sperber (January 24, 1944 – August 6, 1983), known professionally as Klaus Nomi, was a German countertenor noted for his wide vocal range and an unusual, otherworldly stage persona. // In the 1970s Nomi immersed himself in the East Village art scene. He was known for his bizarrely visionary theatrical live performances, heavy make-up, unusual costumes, and a highly stylized signature hairdo that flaunted a receding hairline. His songs were equally unusual, ranging from synthesizer-laden interpretations of classical opera to covers of 1960s pop standards like Chubby Checker’s “The Twist” and Lou Christie’s “Lightnin’ Strikes”. Nomi was one of David Bowie’s backup singers for a 1979 performance on Saturday Night Live. // Nomi died in 1983 at the age of 39 as a result of complications from AIDS. He was one of the earliest known figures from the arts community to die from the illness. // Klaus Nomi was born Klaus Sperber in Immenstadt, Bavaria, Germany on January 24, 1944. In the 1960s, he worked as an usher at the Deutsche Oper in West Berlin where he sang for the other ushers and maintenance crew on stage in front of the fire curtain after performances. He also sang opera arias at the Berlin gay discothèque Kleist Casino. // Nomi emigrated to New York City in 1972.He did some off-Broadway theater work and moonlighted as a pastry chef. // In 1977, Nomi appeared in a satirical camp production of Richard Wagner’s Das Rheingold at Charles Ludlam’s Ridiculous Theater Company as the Rheinmaidens and the Wood Bird. // Nomi came to the attention of the East Village art scene in 1978 with his performance in “New Wave Vaudeville”, a four-night event MC’d by artist David McDermott. Dressed in a skin-tight spacesuit with a clear plastic cape, Nomi sang the aria “Mon cœur s’ouvre à ta voix” (“My heart opens to your voice”) from Camille Saint-Saëns’ opera Samson et Dalila The performance ended with a chaotic crash of strobe lights, smoke bombs, and loud electronic sound effects as Nomi backed away into the smoke. Joey Arias recalled: “I still get goose pimples when I think about it… It was like he was from a different planet and his parents were calling him home. When the smoke cleared, he was gone.” After that performance Nomi was invited to perform at clubs all over New York City. // At the New Wave Vaudeville show Nomi met Kristian Hoffman, songwriter for the Mumps. Hoffman was a performer and MC in the second incarnation of New Wave Vaudeville and a close friend of Susan Hannaford and Tom Scully, who produced the show, and Ann Magnuson, who directed it. Anya Phillips, then manager of James Chance and the Contortions, suggested Nomi and Hoffman form a band. Hoffman became Nomi’s de facto musical director, assembling a band that included Page Wood from another New Wave vaudeville act, Come On, and Joe Katz, who was concurrently in The Student Teachers, the Accidents, and The Mumps. // Hoffman helped Nomi choose his pop covers, including the Lou Christie song “Lightnin’ Strikes”. Hoffman wrote several pop songs with which Nomi is closely identified: “The Nomi Song”, “Total Eclipse”, “After The Fall”, and “Simple Man”, the title song of Nomi’s second RCA French LP. This configuration of the Klaus Nomi band performed at Manhattan clubs, including several performances at Max’s Kansas City, Danceteria, Hurrah and the Mudd Club. He also appeared on Manhattan Cable’s TV Party. // Disagreements with the management Nomi engaged led to a dissolution of this band, and Nomi continued without them. In the late 1970s, while performing at Club 57, The Mudd Club, The Pyramid Club, and other venues, Nomi assembled various up-and-coming models, singers, artists, and musicians to perform live with him, including Joey Arias, Keith Haring, John Sex and Kenny Scharf. He was briefly involved with Jean-Michel Basquiat, then known for his graffiti art as SAMO. // Nomi and Arias were introduced to David Bowie at the Mudd Club, who hired them as performers and backup singers for his appearance on Saturday Night Live on December 15, 1979. They performed “TVC 15”, “The Man Who Sold the World”, and “Boys Keep Swinging”. During the performance of “TVC 15”, Nomi and Arias dragged around a large prop pink poodle with a television screen in its mouth. Nomi was so impressed with the plastic quasi-tuxedo suit that Bowie wore during “The Man Who Sold the World” that he commissioned one for himself. He wore the suit on the cover of his self-titled album, as well as during a number of his music videos. Nomi wore his variant of the outfit, in monochromatic black-and-white with spandex and makeup to match, until the last few months of his life. // Nomi played a supporting role as a Nazi official in Anders Grafstrom’s 1980 underground film The Long Island Four. // The 1981 rock documentary film, Urgh! A Music War features Nomi’s live performance of “Total Eclipse.” His performance of “Mon cœur s’ouvre à ta voix” was used for the closing credits. In the liner notes of Nomi’s 1981 self-titled record, 666 Fifth Avenue was listed as the contact address. // He released his second album, Simple Man, in November 1982. He also collaborated with producer Man Parrish, appearing on Parrish’s 1982 album Man Parrish as a backup vocalist on the track “Six Simple Synthesizers”. // In the last several months of his life, Nomi changed his focus to operatic pieces and adopted a Baroque era operatic outfit complete with full collar as his typical onstage attire. The collar helped cover the outbreaks of Kaposi’s sarcoma on his neck, one of the numerous AIDS-related diseases Nomi developed toward the end of his life. // Nomi died at the Sloan Kettering Hospital Center in New York City on August 6, 1983. He was one of the first celebrities to die of complications from AIDS. Upon his death, Nomi’s close friend Joey Arias became the executor of his estate. His ashes were spread across New York City. More info at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Klaus.Nomi%5D

19. Poppy Fusée — “Pesanteur”
    from: Pesanteur — Single / Un Plan Simple / December 15, 2021
    [For more info: https://www.facebook.com/poppyfusee%5D

20. Ottis Coeur – “Je marche derrière toi”
    from: Juste Derrière Toi – EP / Ottis Coeur / November 26, 2021
    [Debut EP from Paris, France based duo. Ottis Cœur unveils its first EP ” Juste Derrière Toi ” composed and recorded during the first confinement in a DIY approach with two microphones, a guitar, a bass and a drum. They then decided to keep these first recordings, full of spontaneity, urgency and vulnerability, making the strength of this EP. They never asked themselves why they created this project and united their creativity with so much energy, nor if they could do it. They just did it. Ottis Coeur was an obvious choice and the duo finds its power in the union of its two members Camille and Margaux. Through the songs, we find stories of their past experiences, love and professional that have gone wrong. They also question their relationship with the body and express a desire for revenge with saturated and raw guitars and melodic lines that sound like anthems. The EP was mixed at Labomatic studio by Bénédicte Schmitt who knew how to sublimate and preserve the spontaneity of these takes, and mastered by Domnique Blanc-Francart. Not only as an escape from the isolation of the first confinement, the creation and recording of this EP is a form of emancipation for the two girls who doubted until then that their legitimacy to make their art a profession. More info at:www.facebook.com/ottiscoeur]

21. Healer Selecta — “Cuban Project”
    from: Let’s Get It Started / Freestyle Records / March 8, 2010
    [Eclectic Vintage dance party from the 1950’s to mid 70’s: Healer Selecta is one of London’s most acclaimed DJ’s (Madame Jojos) Healer Selecta spinning only vinyl records of original and authentic Fifties, Sixties and Seventies, Soul, Funk, Northern, Rhythm & Blues, Boogaloo, Rare Groove, Mambo, Rocksteady, etc.. a music that is for anyone and everyone who loves the all -out party euphoria created by these pure vintage sounds. He can take credit for presiding over some of the UK’s most successful music and dance events.He is a key figure in his own musical and dance genres and on the London’s scene, “Healer Selecta re-invented swinging London” (mojo mag). Healer Selecta (aka Yvan Serrano-Fontova) is one of those multi talented characters in music who has blazed his own individual and highly independent trail right from the outset.Starting his musical journey early on, aged 10, playing along on his guitar to 45s by Link Wray and Magic Sam and digging the rebellious sounds his rock & roll and R&B heroes like Gene Vincent and Bo Diddley, Yvan was already displaying his wide ranging, eclectic thirst for music that was raw, exciting, retro and powerful. By the age of 18 he was putting on parties, gigs, shows, festivals and playing guitar in bands and grooving to whatever hidden gems he dug out of the dusty record boxes of record shacks across Europe and the US. The Healer Selecta phenomenon has been involved with an amazing array of influential figures over the years as a musician, club promoter, DJ, and film music supervisor, including John Peel, White Stripes producer Liam Watson, The Noisettes, Charlie Winston, The Portico Quartet and Hinda Hicks,Wanda Jackson, as well as his own well renowned Raison D’Etre Collective and The Dustaphonics. ‘Lets Get It Started’ is an album that displays all of Yvan’s wide ranging taste, musical knowledge and experience. There are precious few groups whose influences range from soul, rocksteady, afrobeat, samba and Rhythm & Blues, latin boogaloo and surf, and even fewer who can blend these influences into a cohesive and original sound for the 21st century. It’s not for nothing that respected publications sing his praises: International music bible Mojo magazine declared that ‘Healer Selecta has made London swing again’ whilst London listings magazine Time Out described Yvan as a ‘hero with a record box. Sit back, let Yvan and his crew take you on a wild musical journey where genre, trends and narrow minded purism take a back seat in favour of simply great music, not old or new – just good Greg Boraman Freestyle RecordsPRESS NOTE:”Hero With a Records box” Time OutAward Winner ” The most Influential French Londoner (ici Londres, France In London 2011)”Healer Selecta has made London swing again” – Will Hodgkinson Mojo Mag. More info at: https://www.facebook.com/Djhealerselecta%5D

11:30 – Underwriting

22. Beck — “I Turn My Camera On”` [Vinyl]
    from: Hypocrite / I Turn My Camera On – 7” single / Kindercore Vinyl / 2019
    [Side A: “Hypocrite” written by Cage The Elephant. Side B: “I Turn My Camera On” written by – Spoon. Pressed By – Kindercore Vinyl – KCV474. Sold on the 2019 Night Running Tour. // Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his experimental and lo-fi style, and became known for creating musical collages of wide-ranging genres. He has musically encompassed folk, funk, soul, hip hop, electronic, alternative rock, country, and psychedelia. He has released 14 studio albums (three of which were released on indie labels), as well as several non-album singles and a book of sheet music. // Born and raised in Los Angeles, Beck grew towards hip-hop and folk in his teens and began to perform locally at coffeehouses and clubs. He moved to New York City in 1989 and became involved in the city’s small but fiery anti-folk movement. Returning to Los Angeles in the early 1990s, he cut his breakthrough single “Loser”, which became a worldwide hit in 1994, and released his first major album, Mellow Gold, the same year. Odelay, released in 1996, topped critic polls and won several awards. He released the country-influenced, twangy Mutations in 1998, and the funk-infused Midnite Vultures in 1999. The soft-acoustic Sea Change in 2002 showcased a more serious Beck, and 2005’s Guero returned to Odelay’s sample-based production. The Information in 2006 was inspired by electro-funk, hip hop, and psychedelia; 2008’s Modern Guilt was inspired by ’60s pop music; and 2014’s folk-infused Morning Phase won Album of the Year at the 57th Grammy Awards. His 2017 album, Colors, won awards for Best Alternative Album and Best Engineered Album at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards. His fourteenth studio album, Hyperspace, was released on November 22, 2019. // With a pop art collage of musical styles, oblique and ironic lyrics, and postmodern arrangements incorporating samples, drum machines, live instrumentation and sound effects, Beck has been hailed by critics and the public throughout his musical career as being among the most idiosyncratically creative musicians of 1990s and 2000s alternative rock. Two of Beck’s most popular and acclaimed recordings are Odelay and Sea Change, both of which were ranked on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. The four-time platinum artist has collaborated with several artists and has made several contributions to soundtracks.For more info: https://www.facebook.com/Beck%5D

23. Melvin Van Peebles/ Earth Wind & Fire-“Sweetback Losing His Cherry”
    from: Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song (An Opera) / Stax / June 1971
    [Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song is the soundtrack to Melvin Van Peebles’ 1971 feature film of the same name. The soundtrack was performed by then-unknown Earth, Wind & Fire and released in 1971 on Stax Records. To attract publicity for the film without spending significant money, the soundtrack was released before the movie; it performed well, reaching No. 13 on the Billboard Top R&B Albums chart. // Melvin Van Peebles (born Melvin Peebles; August 21, 1932 – September 21, 2021) was an American actor, filmmaker, playwright, novelist, and composer. He worked as an active filmmaker into the 2000s. His feature film debut, The Story of a Three-Day Pass (1967), was based on his own French-language novel La Permission and was shot in France, as it was difficult for a black American director to get work at the time. The film won an award at the San Francisco International Film Festival which gained him the interest of Hollywood studios, leading to his American feature debut Watermelon Man, in 1970. Eschewing further overtures from Hollywood, he used the successes he had so far to bankroll his work as an independent filmmaker. // In 1971, he released his best-known work, creating and starring in the film Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song, considered one of the earliest and best-regarded examples of the blaxploitation genre. He followed this up with the musical, Don’t Play Us Cheap, based on his own stage play, and continued to make films, write novels and stage plays in English and in French through the next several decades; his final films include the French-language film Le Conte du ventre plein (2000) and the absurdist film Confessionsofa Ex-Doofus-ItchyFooted Mutha (2008). His son, filmmaker and actor Mario Van Peebles, appeared in several of his works and portrayed him in the 2003 biographical film Baadasssss!]

24. Rodriguez — “I Wonder”`
    from: Cold Fact / Sussex / 1970
    [Sixto Diaz Rodriguez (born July 10, 1942), known professionally as Rodriguez, is an American singer-songwriter from Detroit, Michigan. Though his career was initially met with little fanfare in the United States, he found success in South Africa, Australia (touring the country twice), and New Zealand. Unbeknownst to him for decades, his music was extremely successful and influential in South Africa, where he is believed to have sold more records than Elvis Presley, as well as other countries in Southern Africa. Information about him was scarce, and it was incorrectly rumored there that he had committed suicide shortly after releasing his second album. // In the 1990s, determined South African fans managed to find and contact Rodriguez, which led to an unexpected revival of his musical career. This was told in the 2012 Academy Award-winning documentary film Searching for Sugar Man and helped give Rodriguez a measure of fame in his home country. In May 2013, Rodriguez received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from his alma mater, Wayne State University, in Detroit.// Rodriguez has been living in Detroit’s historic Woodbridge neighborhood, through which he is seen walking in Searching for Sugar Man. He is known to live a simple life, possessing no telephone or cell phone of his own, and occasionally visiting bars in the Cass Corridor section of Detroit near Woodbridge and Midtown Detroit, such as the Old Miami pub, where he has performed live concerts for small local crowds. // Cold Fact is the debut album from American singer-songwriter Rodriguez. It was released in the United States on the Sussex label in March 1970. The album sold very poorly in the United States (Rodriguez was himself an unknown in the U.S.), but managed to sell well in both South Africa and Australia, with Rodriguez touring Australia in 1979. // In 1971 the album was released in South Africa by A&M Records. In 1976, several thousand copies of Cold Fact were found in a New York warehouse and sold out in Australia in a few weeks. It went to No. 23 on the Australian album charts in 1978, staying on the charts for fifty-five weeks. In 1998 Cold Fact was awarded a platinum disc in South Africa, and was five-times platinum in Australia. Rodriguez has since toured South Africa and Australia with much success, but remained relatively unknown in his native country of the US. This began to change after the reissues of his albums in the US by Light in the Attic Records in 2008 and 2009, and even further in 2012 with the Academy Award winning documentary film Searching for Sugar Man, which soon led to appearances on major American television shows like 60 Minutes and The Late Show with David Letterman. // Cold Fact has sold 201,000 since Nielsen SoundScan started tracking in 1991, 173,000 of those after the film opened, 98,000 in the wake of the Oscar win. Coming from Reality has moved 105,000 albums, 99,000 since the movie hit, 60,000 post-Academy Awards. And the soundtrack album (which was picked up by Sony’s Legacy catalog division) boasts 152,000 in sales. For more info: https://www.facebook.com/Rodriguez-Sugar-Man-257230877770534%5D

25. Cloud Of I — “Sod”`
    from: Gazing — EP / Batov Records / May 13, 2021
    [Dreamt up in the 18th District, in a Paris squat, and realised back in her spiritual home, of Tel Aviv, Cloud of I is Yuli Shafiri’s first musical incantation. Yuli is an artist who sees nature and earth as her biggest inspiration, and whose sound blurs somewhere between fuzzed out psychedelic acid folk and intense, layered electronic euphoria full of influences from the Middle East. // Whilst only 27 years old she’s well educated on music from far away places. Her Mother’s family is from the Iraqi-Jewish community of India and her father’s family is Latvian and Lithuanian who came to Israel and founded a feminist agricultural Kibbutz called Kineret, on the sea of Galilee. So it’s no surprise to hear the journeying aspect of her songs as they grow and grow, sometimes growling, other times whispering yet always intent on climbing and descending. // In Tel Aviv Yuli used to sing and perform with a well known band called “The White Screen” (who play a mix of psych-pop and art-rock) and in the last two years, up until 2019, she has been singing Turkish 70’s psych with the band, Satellites. Asked about her recent dealings with inactivity and how she experienced 2020 she is serene and positive, having gone off–grid with her contemporaries in a village in Israel where she kept creating and performing in the open air, under the stars, and around bonfires. // The fire is most definitely burning. As Cloud Of I look ahead and dream, we can enjoy this first foray that sees them literally reaching for the skies.For more info: https://www.batovrecords.com%5D

26. Anthony Joseph & The Spasm Band —“WORLD PEACE”
    from: Rubber Orchestras / Heavenly Sweetness / Sptember 12, 2011
    [Anthony Joseph & The Spasm Band were a band led by Trinidadian poet, novelist and lecturer Anthony Joseph. The band was formed in London in 2005 as an offshoot of his then novel-in-progress The African Origins of UFOs. The band’s musical influences include Free Jazz, Afro-Caribbean funk, spoken word, soca, rapso, Calypso, Rock and the hypnotic Spiritual Baptist rhythms that were prominent in Joseph’s childhood in Trinidad. In December 2005, as a quartet, they recorded their first album ‘The Spasm Band’ in London. The album was self produced and received only limited exposure. It was heard via Myspace by Parisian producer and Jazz aficionado Antoine Rajon who signed Joseph to his Heavenly Sweetness label and released the Spasm Band’s debut 12″ EP Spirit Lash, which featured songs from their initial recordings. // The band’s third album Rubber Orchestras was released in October 2011. It featured production from Malcolm Catto and Jerry Dammers and was named Jazz/World album of 2011 by Les Inrocks magazine, album of the year by Vibrations Magazine. A single and video ‘She is the sea’ was also released from the album in late October 2011. For more info: https://www.facebook.com/ajpoet%5D

27. Habibi – “Come My Habibi”
    from: Anywhere But Here / Bella Union / February 14, 2020
    [Habibi is an American rock band from Brooklyn, New York. They are a blend of psychedelic rock and sixties girl group harmonies. The name Habibi means “my love,” an Arabic word vocalist Rahill Jamalifard grew up using despite her Iranian origin (the term is not in use in Iran). // In 2011, former Detroiters, Lenaya Lynch and Rahill Jamalifard, decided to form a band blending their love of psychedelic garage rock and girl group harmonies. They joined Erin Campbell and Karen Isabel, musicians from the Brooklyn rock and roll scene, who both went to LaGuardia School of the Arts. They grew in popularity and found themselves playing the SXSW festival in Austin and the CMJ festival. They signed to Born Bad Records and released the self-titled 7-inch, Habibi. In 2012, Habibi’s song “Sweetest Talk” was featured in actor/director James Franco’s short film series Episodes of an Untitled Film. Lynch left the band due to an emergency in 2012 and Habibi found a replacement with the guitarist Caroline Partamian, who toured with the band for a year and until the return of Lynch in 2013. In 2014, Burger Records released their debut full-length LP, Habibi. // The sound of Habibi is influenced both by the garage rock/girl group sounds from Detroit as well as the Middle Eastern melody structures that were shared by Lynch and Jamalifard, who is herself of Iranian descent. Jamalifard influences are also related to her ancestry mentioning “Iran, gypsies, nomads, the inspiration of poets like Hafez . . . my travels within the country.” In 2012, Interview Magazine wrote “Influenced by grunge, punk, hip-hop, and Motown, Habibi’s sound—and band members—meet somewhere in the middle.” Current line-up includes: Rahill Jamalifard on Lead Vocals, Tambourine; Lenaya “Lenny” Lynch on Guitar, Vocals; Erin Campbell on Bass, Guitar, Vocals; Karen Isabel on Drums; and Leah Beth Fishman on Guitar, VocalsFor more info: https://www.facebook.com/habibi.band%5D

28. Noel Coward – “The Party’s Over Now”
    from: Noel Coward in New York / drg / 2003 [orig. 1957]

Next week on February 2 we play more New & MidCoastal Releases from: Jass, The Talking Trees, Belle & The Vertigo Waves, Asterales, Jo Blaq, Joel Kraft, Ivory Blue, Cole Brood, Extrapedestrian, Lonnie Fisher, Say That Again, Dia Jane, Trevor Turla, and more!

Our Script/Playlist is a “cut and paste” of information.
Sources for notes: artist’s websites, bios, wikipedia.org

Wednesday MidDay Medley in on the web:
http://www.kkfi.org,
http://www.WednesdayMidDayMedley.org,
http://www.facebook.com/WednesdayMidDayMedleyon90.1FM

Show #926