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, August 19, 2020

Nico Gray – Guest Producer

We welcome back to the show, Nico Gray, as “Guest Producer.” Nico is a writer, performance artist, and has worked as an actor with KC Rep, Gorilla Theatre, 8th St. Cafe Theatre, Actor’s Craft, and Big Bang Buffet. 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 & Marseille. For WMM Nico Gray has co-hosted several of fund drive shows, Glam Rock show, Bowie Tribute Shows, and our 700th show. Today is his 9th appearance as Guest Producer.

Nico Gray, Thanks for being with us on Wednesday MidDay Medley

1. “Main Title Instrumental – It’s Showtime Folks”
from: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack to All That Jazz / 1980
[WMM’s theme song]

2. The Orb – “Slave Till U Die No Matter What U Buy” (L’anse Aux Meadows Mix)
from: Abolition of The Royal Familia / Cooking Vinyl / March 27, 2020
[16th album from The Orb, an electronic music group founded in 1988 by Alex Paterson and The KLF member Jimmy Cauty. Beginning as ambient and dub DJs in London, their early performances were inspired by electronic artists of the 1970s and 1980s, most notably Brian Eno and Kraftwerk. Because of their psychedelic sound, the Orb developed a cult following among clubbers “coming down” from drug-induced highs. The Orb have maintained their drug-related science fiction themes despite personnel changes, including the departure of Cauty and members Kris Weston, Andy Falconer, Simon Phillips, Nick Burton, and Andy Hughes. Paterson has been the only permanent member, continuing to work as the Orb with Swiss-German producer Thomas Fehlmann and, later, with Martin “Youth” Glover, bassist of Killing Joke. Beyond recognition on their albums and concerts, his unauthorized use of other artists’ works has led to disputes with musicians, most notably with Rickie Lee Jones. During their live shows of the 1990s, The Orb performed using digital audio tape machines optimized for live mixing and sampling before switching to laptops and digital media. Despite changes in performance method, The Orb maintained their colorful light shows and psychedelic imagery in concert. These visually intense performances prompted critics to compare the group to Pink Floyd, whose guitarist, David Gilmour, collaborated with them on the album Metallic Spheres in 2010. http://www.theorb.com]

3. Ezra Furman —“I’m Coming Clean”
from: Sex Education Original Soundtrack / Bella Union / January 24, 2020
[Ezra Furman was born September 5, 1986, he is an American musician and songwriter. Furman currently performs solo and tours with her band. Ezra Furman and the Harpoons were a four-piece rock band active between 2006 and 2011. The band consisted of Ezra Furman (vocals, guitar), Job Mukkada (bass guitar), Drew “Adam” Abrutyn (drums), and Andrew Langer (guitar). They formed at Tufts University in 2006. They released four albums: the self-released Beat Beat Beat (2006), followed by Banging Down the Doors (2007), Inside the Human Body (2008) and Mysterious Power (2011). The group broke up in 2011. After their contract with Minty Fresh Records expired, the band released a self-produced compilation album in 2009, Moon Face: Bootlegs and Road Recordings 2006–2009, which included live recordings and some of Furman’s solo work. In 2018, 33⅓ published a book by Furman about Lou Reed’s album Transformer. Furman provided the soundtrack for the 2019 Netflix drama-comedy show Sex Education. The soundtrack consists of songs from Furman’s back catalogue, as well as songs written for the show. Furman and her band also appeared in episode seven of the first season of the show, “At the Bottom of the Ocean,” making a cameo as the band playing at the main characters’ school dance. Furman is Jewish. Her father is from a Jewish family and her mother converted to Judaism. Furman identifies as trans and bisexual, and uses he/him and she/her pronouns. Furman’s younger brother Jonah was lead singer and bassist in the Boston-based rock band Krill, until their split in October 2015. Ezra and Jonah also have two more siblings.]

4. Arthur Lee & Love —“Five String Serenade”
from: Five String Sernade / Last Call & New Rose Records / 1992 [Reissued August 26, 2002]
[Arthur Taylor Lee as born, Arthur Porter Taylor, on March 7, 1945. He died on August 3, 2006, and was an American singer-songwriter who rose to fame as the leader of the Los Angeles rock band Love. Lee was born in Memphis, Tennessee, on March 7, 1945 in John Gaston Hospital, to Agnes (née Porter), a school teacher, and Chester Taylor, a local jazz musician and cornet player. Love’s 1967 album Forever Changes was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, and it is part of the National Recording Registry. In late 1996, Lee was sentenced to 12 years for the negligent discharge of a firearm. California’s three strikes law meant Lee was forced to serve a prison term, having previously served two years in jail for arson, and having been charged with various drug, driving and assault offences. Lee denied that he had fired the gun, and visiting fan Doug Thomas who had denied involvement when the police responded later confessed to the deed. Lee was incompetently represented in court; a year-delayed analysis of a gunpowder residue test on him produced a negative result. Had he pleaded guilty, Lee would have been sentenced to nine months in jail but he fought the case and lost. With the charges enhanced on account of his prior felony conviction and coincidental accusations of domestic violence of the same time-frame, the court made an example of him: 12 years, 85 percent of time served: about 9 years. In prison Lee refused visitors and interviews. “I thought I would beat this case, so why would I want to broadcast it? This has been so humiliating to me.” Former bandmates Bryan MacLean and Ken Forssi both died while Lee was incarcerated, ending any speculation as to a full-fledged Love reunion. On December 12, 2001, Lee was released from prison, having served 5½ years of his original sentence. A federal appeals court in California reversed the charge of negligent discharge of a firearm, as it found that the prosecutor at Lee’s trial was guilty of misconduct. In April 2006 it was publicly announced that Lee was being treated for acute myeloid leukemia. A tribute fund was set up shortly after the announcement, with a series of benefit concerts to be performed to help pay medical bills. The most notable of these concerts was produced by Steve Weitzman of SW Productions at New York’s Beacon Theater on June 23, 2006, and featured Robert Plant, Ian Hunter, Ryan Adams, Nils Lofgren, Yo La Tengo, Garland Jeffreys, Johnny Echols (Love’s original lead guitarist), and Flashy Python & The Body Snatchers (featuring Alec Ounsworth of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah). Backed by Ian Hunter’s band, Plant performed 12 songs, including four Led Zeppelin songs and five recorded by Love in the 60s (“7 and 7 Is”, “A House Is Not A Motel”, “Bummer in the Summer”, “Old Man”, and “Hey Joe”).[20] A benefit concert was held in Dublin, Ireland. Lee underwent several months of treatment for leukemia, including chemotherapy and an experimental stem cell transplant using stem cells from an umbilical cord blood donor. His condition continued to worsen, and he died from complications of the disease in Memphis, Tennessee, at the age of 61. Robyn Hitchcock’s 1993 song “The Wreck of the Arthur Lee” from the Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians album Respect was written as a tribute to the singer. Arthur Lee is mentioned in the song “Are You Ready to Be Heartbroken”, by Lloyd Cole & the Commotions, as well as in the song “Mate of the Bloke”, by Half Man Half Biscuit. His prison term is the subject of “The Prison’s Going Down” by ex-Stranglers singer and guitarist Hugh Cornwell. Lee is the subject of the song “Byrds Turn to Stone” (originally titled “Mr Lee”) by Liverpool band (and former Arthur Lee backing group) Shack.]

5. Le Ren – “Love Can’t Be the Only Reason To Stay”
from: Morning & Melancholia / Secretly Canadian / July 31, 2020
[Montreal folk singer Le Ren (aka Lauren Spear) recently toured with Orville Peck aad now she signed to Secretly Canadian and released her first single for the label, “Love Can’t Be The Only Reason to Stay.” It’s a gorgeous, tender dose of Americana that sounds like a lost record from 1971.]

6. Oracle Sisters – “Asc. Scorpio”
from: Paris 1 – EP / 22Twenty / July 8, 2020
[Recorded at La Ferme records on a farm in the Arcachon region of France the band settled down to a live work/rhythm and routine for over a week, sleeping in the studio surrounded by chickens and an agriculture farm with a honey bee plantation, the ocean and pine trees. Recording all hours of the day and night when the mood was right they recorded 1 batch of songs with drums and drum machine layered live and 1 batch of songs, all playing live in 1 room….the difference in the sound, feel and aesthetic of the songs made them decide to split these in to two separate EP’s. Overdubs were done back in Paris. The songs represent a collection of the first songs written by Lewis & Chris & Juilia arriving in Paris from Scotland, New York and Helsinki. Music Produced by: Oracle Sisters, except Most of All (produced by Jerome Goldet & Oracle Sisters) / Sound Engineer: Maxime Kosinetz / Mixing: Noah Georgeson ((except for Most of All : Craig Silvey and Max Prior)). Creators of artistic dream rock, Oracle Sisters make music that is at once sonically soothing and lyrically compelling. Intricate vocal harmonies over lilting arrangements make an otherworldly vehicle for dreamlike stories of human connection, home and heartbreak.]

10:31 – Underwriting

7. Noga Erez – “Hit U”
from: Off The Radar / City Slang / June 2, 2017
[Noga Erez was born 26 December 1989) is an Israeli singer, songwriter and producer. In 2017 her song “Dance While You Shoot” was used by Apple in an advertising campaign for its music streaming service. In the same year she released her debut album, Off The Radar to critical acclaim. She grew up in Caesarea from the age of six and studied composition at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance. Through her childhood and while growing up she explored different instruments and studied different styles of music. She was a part of different groups and ensembles as a vocalist, keyboardist and percussionist. She served as a military musician during her conscription in the Israeli Defence Forces. In 2011 Erez worked on a jazz album, which she almost finished and decided to scrap and move to writing and producing electronic music. On stage, Erez performs as a three-piece-band with herself on vocals, Ori Rousso (sampler, synthesizer) and Jacobovitz Ran (electronic drums, percussion). In 2017, Erez was included in Forbes Israel’s “Under 30” list. Erez’s first single, “Toy” received a rave review from The New York Times: “the Israeli singer and electronic-music producer Noga Erez gives ‘Toy’ a beat that jitters and heaves, ratchets across the stereo field, speeds up fitfully and stops for a moment of dead silence halfway through the song; the melodies are brief modal phrases hinting at Middle Eastern origins… It’s a sparse, thorny, unstable track — and haunting, too.” Erez produced her first record “Off The Radar”, which was released 2 June 2017 via City Slang, with her partner Ori Rousso. This release was followed by festival shows at Primavera, SXSW, Pitchfork Paris, Roskilde, MELT! Visions Festival, Convergence and Great Escape in 2017. She also toured the UK and Europe in 2017.]

8. Moonlight Benjamin – “Papa Legba”
from: Siltane / Ma Case / March 23, 2018
[The priest of voodoo Rock ‘n Roll pulls no punches with a straight-for-the-jugular, guitar licked homage to Haiti evoking an Afro-energised Black Keys meets Dr. John. This is no world music foray rather a bountiful display of energy in an oft-growling record with plays host to flashes of light and shrouds of darkness, defying musical purity.]

9. Jean-Phillippe Goncalves – “Dance & Angela (Trip-Hop Version)”
from: Sharp Objects (Music from HBO Limited Series) / Entertainment One / Nov. 30, 2018
[Jean-Philippe “Jean-Phi” Goncalves was born in 1978, in Angoulême, France. He is a percussionist and record producer based out of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. An member of Montreal’s electronic music scene, Goncalves provides percussion for the bands Afrodizz, Plaster, Le Golden and Beast. As a producer he has worked with many French-speaking Quebecer musicians and in 2005 he collaborated with American recording artist Lauryn Hill. The musician was particularly busy at the 2005 Festival de Musique Émergente (FME)—an annual new music festival held in Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec. During the fest he performed on 3 consecutive days for Afrodizz, Plaster and Dan Thouin respectively, causing a reporter to call him “the star of the FME”]

10. John Lewis – “You Can Redeem The Soul of Our Nation”
Mr. Lewis, the civil rights leader and U.S Representative died on July 17. He wrote this essay shortly before his death, to be published upon the day of his funeral in The New York Times. Read by Prentiss Onayemi (5:10 excerpt)

11. Kalu James – “Listen To the Wind”
from: Live / Kalu James / February 24, 2010
[Kalu and the Electric Joint blend the powers of psychedelic soul music with the driving beat of rock and roll and the ancient rhythms of Africa. Born in Nigeria, Kalu relocated to Austin, Texas, where he put together a stellar ensemble of players who graciously fuel and follow his deep well of eclectic influences. The group’s new record, Time Undone is a sonic masterpiece of original tunes with a positive message and soul-stirring beats. The arrangements are masterfully crafted allowing the songs to breathe and flow. From the first note, these musicians show that they’re prepared to carry modern music forward while still paying tribute to the inspirations of their past. Their music invokes a wide range of emotions while influencing with an uplifting message through masterful playing. Opening for acts like George Clinton & The Parliament Funkadelic, Vieux Farka Toure, Allen Stone, Keller Williams amongst many others, this band comes to play and when they do, the dance floor never stays empty.]

12. Nina Simone – “If You Pray Right”
from: Baltimore / CTI – Sony / January 1, 1978
[Born Eunice Kathleen Waymon; February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003) was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist widely associated with jazz music. Simone aspired to become a classical pianist while working in a broad range of styles including classical, jazz, blues, folk, R&B, gospel, and pop. Born the sixth child of a preacher’s family in North Carolina, Simone aspired to be a concert pianist. Her musical path changed direction after she was denied a scholarship to the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, despite a well-received audition. Simone was later told by someone working at Curtis that she was rejected because she was black. When she began playing in a small club in Philadelphia to fund her continuing musical education and become a classical pianist she was required to sing as well. She was approached for a recording by Bethlehem Records, and her rendering of “I Loves You, Porgy” was a hit in the United States in 1958. Over the length of her career Simone recorded more than 40 albums, mostly between 1958—when she made her debut with Little Girl Blue—and 1974. Her musical style arose from a fusion of gospel and pop songs with classical music, in particular with influences from her first inspiration, Johann Sebastian Bach, and accompanied with her expressive jazz-like singing in her characteristic contralto. She injected as much of her classical background into her music as possible to give it more depth and quality, as she felt that pop music was inferior to classical. Her intuitive grasp on the audience–performer relationship was gained from a unique background of playing piano accompaniment for church revivals and sermons regularly from the early age of six years old. In the early 1960s, she became involved in the civil rights movement and the direction of her life shifted once again. Simone’s music was highly influential in the fight for equal rights in the United States. In later years, she lived abroad, finally settling in France in 1992. She received a Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 2000 and was a fifteen-time Grammy Award nominee over the course of her career.]

11:00 – Station ID

13. Prince – “Cosmic Day”
from: Sign ‘O’ the Times (Super Deluxe) / Warner Bros. / September 25, 2020
[The Super Deluxe Edition contains 92 audio tracks, of which 63 are previously unreleased, including 45 studio tracks from Prince’s legendary Vault. The Super Deluxe Edition opens with Prince’s iconic album, Sign O’ The Times, dazzlingly remastered for the very first time by Prince’s original mastering engineer Bernie Grundman. The set also includes an entire previously unreleased audio recording of Prince’s Sign O’ The Times tour performance in Utrecht, Netherlands, on June 20, 1987. The DVD features a complete previously unreleased recording of Prince’s benefit performance at Paisley Park, December 31st, 1987. The show includes Prince’s only on-stage collaboration with Miles Davis. Housed in a 12” box, and accompanied by a 12” 120 page hardback book featuring: Brand new liner notes by: Prince’s creative peers and friends Dave Chappelle (in conversation with photographer Mathieu Bitton) and Lenny Kravitz; Prince’s longtime engineer Susan Rogers; Daphne A. Brooks, William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of African American Studies, American Studies and Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies at Yale University; Minneapolis radio host and author Andrea Swensson, host of the Official Prince Podcast; and Prince scholar Duane Tudahl. Rare and previously unseen photography by Jeff Katz. Prince’s handwritten lyrics. LP1-2: Sign O’ The Times album (2020 Remaster). LP3-4: 13x single mixes and edits, all newly remastered. LP5-10: 45x previously unreleased studio recordings from Prince’s Vault. LP11-13: 18x live tracks, comprising a complete previously unreleased concert performance recorded in Utrecht, Netherlands, on June 20, 1987. DVD: 23x tracks, comprising a complete previously unreleased concert performance recorded at Paisley Park, Chanhassen, on December 31st, 1987. Vinyl $268.99 // CD $159.98] [Prince Rogers Nelson (June 7, 1958 – April 21, 2016) was an American singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, dancer, actor, and filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest musicians of his generation. A multi-instrumentalist who was considered a guitar virtuoso, he was well known for his eclectic work across multiple genres, flamboyant and androgynous persona, and wide vocal range which included a far-reaching falsetto and high-pitched screams. Prince’s innovative music integrated a wide variety of styles, including funk, R&B, rock, new wave, soul, synth-pop, psychedelia, pop, industrial, and hip hop. He pioneered the Minneapolis sound, a funk rock subgenre that emerged in the late 1970s. He was also known for his prolific output, releasing 39 albums during his life, with a vast array of unreleased projects left in a vault at his home after his death; it is believed that the vault contains dozens of fully produced albums and over 50 music videos that have never been released, along with various other media. He released hundreds of songs both under his own name and multiple pseudonyms during his life, as well as writing songs that were made famous by other musicians, such as “Nothing Compares 2 U” and “Manic Monday”. Estimates of the complete number of songs written by Prince range anywhere from 500 to well over 1,000. Born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Prince signed a recording contract with Warner Bros. Records at the age of 19. In 1984, he and his backup band, The Revolution, released his sixth album Purple Rain, which was also the soundtrack to his hugely successful film acting debut of the same name. It quickly became his most commercially successful record, spending 24 consecutive weeks atop the Billboard 200. The film also won the Academy Award for Best Original Song Score, the final film to receive the award. After disbanding The Revolution, Prince released the critically acclaimed double album Sign o’ the Times (1987). In the midst of a contractual dispute with Warner Bros. in 1993, he changed his stage name to the unpronounceable symbol Logo. Hollow circle above downward arrow crossed with a curlicued horn-shaped symbol and then a short bar (known to fans as the “Love Symbol”), and was sometimes referred to as “The Artist Formerly Known as Prince” or simply “The Artist”. He signed with Arista Records in 1998 and began referring to himself by his own name again in 2000. On April 2016, at the age of 57, Prince died of an accidental fentanyl overdose at his Paisley Park home and recording studio in Chanhassen, Minnesota. He sold over 130 million records worldwide, ranking him among the best-selling music artists of all time. He was honored with special awards including the Grammy President’s Merit Award, the American Music Awards for Achievement and of Merit, and the Billboard Icon Award. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004, the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2006, and the Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame in 2016. Rolling Stone placed Prince among its list of both the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time and 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time. He is also ranked on the Top 100 Artists of All Time list by Billboard.]

14. Beck – “Nicotine & Gravy”
from: Midnight Vultures / Geffen Records / November 20, 1999
[Beck 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.] [Midnite Vultures is the seventh studio album by American musician Beck, released on November 23, 1999 by DGC Records. While similar to most of Beck’s previous albums in its exploration of widely varying styles, it did not achieve the same blockbuster success as his breakthrough album Odelay, but was still critically acclaimed and commercially successful. Several songs were directly inspired by other songs: “Get Real Paid” features a spiraling sequencer motif reminiscent of Kraftwerk’s “Home Computer”; a synth breakdown in “Milk & Honey” echoes a similar riff in Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five’s “The Message”; “Beautiful Way” came about after listening to The Velvet Underground’s “Countess from Hong Kong”; and “Debra” was inspired by both Prince’s song “Adore” and the David Bowie song “Win”. Midnite Vultures reached number 34 in the US, where it went gold, and also hit number 19 in the UK. As of July 2008, Midnite Vultures has sold 743,000 copies in the United States. Midnite Vultures was praised by most critics, and the album holds a score of 83 at Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, indicating “universal acclaim”.[4] Jon Pareles of Rolling Stone remarked that on Midnite Vultures, Beck “plays the insider, riding the executive plane through the good life with every need fulfilled.” Richard Cromelin of the Los Angeles Times wrote that he gives the album “a cinematic richness, depth and detail with an array of mutations and surprises, from banjo hoedown to electronic effects”.]

15. Christian Ihle Hadland – “Trois nouvelles études: Etude No. 3 in D Flat Major”
from: Paris Avenue Montaigne: Eclectic Selection of Haute Couture Classics from Bel Canto to Downtempo / 340 MS / May 20, 2014
[Christian Ihle Hadland is widely recognized as one of Norway’s most exciting young piano talents and following his recital debut at the Norwegian Opera in 2008 was hailed in the Norwegian press as an artist who shows himself as a unique musician whose artistry should be heard on the world’s concert stages. In 2009 he was appointed joint Artistic Director of the Stavanger Chamber Music Festival alongside Swedish clarinetist Martin Fröst. In 2011 he was selected for the prestigious BBC Radio 3’s New Generation Artists scheme.]

16. The Lemon Twigs – “Those Days Is Comin’ Soon”
from: Do Hollywood / 4AD / October 14, 2016
[The Lemon Twigs are an American rock band from Long Island, New York, fronted by brothers Brian and Michael D’Addario. Both brothers are vocalists, songwriters and multi-instrumentalists, and are joined live by Daryl Johns on bass, Tommaso Taddonio on keyboards and Andres Valbuena on drums. Brian and Michael D’Addario had extensive stage experience as children. Brian played Gavroche in Les Miserables and Flounder in The Little Mermaid on Broadway. Michael appeared in The Coast of Utopia, The Radio City Christmas Spectacular, and the 2008 production of All My Sons. Michael also appeared in a variety of television shows and films, such as John Adams on HBO, Are We There Yet? on TBS, and the 2012 films People Like Us and Sinister.[2] The Lemon Twigs were founded by the brothers while they were both students at Hicksville High School on Long Island, New York. The siblings both perform lead vocals, lead guitar, drums and other instruments. Their first release was the cassette What We Know, issued in a limited edition of 100 copies (with digital download) in 2015 by Winspear. On their debut release, Do Hollywood, each brother took the lead on vocals and guitar on the songs he composed; during live performances, this setup was preserved, with the remaining D’Addario playing the drums, and fellow schoolmates Megan Zeankowski and Danny Ayala (who have played with the D’Addarios on and off since their youth) playing bass and keyboards, respectively. Ayala also sang backing vocals. The album, produced by Jonathan Rado of Foxygen, was recorded in the spring of 2015, with the members being only 15 and 17 at the time of its creation. The Lemon Twigs served as opening act for fellow New York City/Long Island-based alt-rockers Sunflower Bean on their East Coast tour in late 2016 and performed on television programs like The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, CBS This Morning “Saturday Sessions” and Conan along the way. In early 2017 it was announced that the band would play on day one of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California on April 14, 2017. This performance saw the Twigs joined by one of the band’s “favorite musicians ever, in the whole world”, Todd Rundgren, to play “Couldn’t I Just Tell You” from Rundgren’s classic 1972 double album, Something/Anything?. The Lemon Twigs released the Do Hollywood tracks “These Words” and “As Long As We’re Together” as a double-A-side single, and made videos for both songs. The third single was the album opener, “I Wanna Prove to You”, with a video directed by Nick Roney. The band played at several major festivals in the summer of 2017, such as Glastonbury, Outside Lands, Lollapalooza, Austin City, and the Montreux, in addition to opening for Phoenix across the United States. These 2017 shows saw the band covering songs such as “Fish and Whistle” by John Prine, “I Walked with a Zombie” by Roky Erickson, “You Can’t Talk to the Dude” by Jonathan Richman, “I’ve Begun To Fall In Love” by R. Stevie Moore, “Love Stepped Out” by their father, Ronnie D’Addario, and “I Can Feel the Fire” by Ronnie Wood; they notably performed the latter song with Thomas Hedlund of Phoenix on drums while supporting Phoenix at the Hollywood Bowl alongside Mac DeMarco. In September 2017 the band released an EP, Brothers of Destruction, containing songs recorded during the Do Hollywood sessions.]

17. Armando Trovaioli – “Sessomatto (Feat. Edda dell’Orso)” (Vinyl)
from: Sesso Matto / Duse Records / 1973
[Armando Trovajoli was born September 2, 1917 in Rome and died February 28, 2013, in Rome. He was an Italian film composer and pianist with over 300 credits as composer and/or conductor, many of them jazz scores for exploitation films of the Commedia all’italiana genre. He collaborated with Vittorio De Sica on a number of projects, including one segment of Boccaccio ’70. Trovajoli was also the author of several Italian musicals: among them, Rugantino and Aggiungi un posto a tavola. Trovajoli was the widower of actress Pier Angeli. He died in Rome at the age of 95 on 28 February 2013. After graduating from the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome (1948), Trovajoli was entrusted by RAI with the direction of a pop music orchestra, set with 12 violins, 4 violas, 4 cellos, 1 flute, 1 oboe, 1 clarinet, 1 horn, harp, vibraphone, electric guitar, bass, drums and the piano (played by Trovajoli himself). In 1952–53 he collaborated with Piero Piccioni in Eclipse, a weekly musical broadcast in which the orchestra is directed alternately by the two composers, in a style extremely refined and sophisticated, very different from the music of radio orchestras at that time. Together with Goffredo Petrassi, Trovajoli composed the score of Giuseppe De Santis’ Bitter Rice (1949). In 1951, Trovajoli was invited by Dino De Laurentiis to write music for Anna, a film directed by Alberto Lattuada: particularly the song El Negro Zumbón became an international success: inspired by tropical rhythms, is sung in playback and danced by Silvana Mangano, but actually performed by Flo Sandon’s. Since then, Trovajoli wrote soundtracks for directors as Dino Risi, Vittorio De Sica, Ettore Scola and others.]

18. Alessandro Alessandroni – “Capelli Rossi”
from: Open Air Parade / SR Records / 1972
[Alessandro Alessandroni was born March 18, 1925 and died March 26, 2017. He was an Italian musician and composer. He played multiple instruments, including the guitar, mandolin, mandolincello, sitar, accordion and piano, and composed more than 40 film scores and countless library music. Alessandroni collaborated with his childhood friend Ennio Morricone on a number of soundtracks for Spaghetti westerns. Morricone’s orchestration often calls for an unusual combination of instruments, voices, and whistling. Alessandroni’s twangy guitar riff is central to the main theme for The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Alessandroni can be heard as the whistler on the soundtracks for Sergio Leone’s films, including A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, Once Upon a Time in the West, and Pervirella. Alessandroni founded the octet vocal group I Cantori Moderni in 1961. The group, which included his wife, Giulia De Mutiis [it], performed wordless vocals on several Italian movie soundtracks. Most notably, I Cantori Moderni are featured on the song “Mah Nà Mah Nà”, written by Piero Umiliani for the 1968 Luigi Scattini mondo film Sweden: Heaven and Hell (Italian: Svezia, inferno e paradiso [it]) and popularized on The Muppet Show. Alessandro has also composed film scores, including Any Gun Can Play (1967), Johnny Hamlet (1968), The Reward’s Yours… The Man’s Mine (1969), Lady Frankenstein (1971), The Devil’s Nightmare (1971), The Mad Butcher (1971), Seven Hours of Violence (1973), Poker in Bed (1974), White Fang and the Hunter (1975), Blood and Bullets (1976), L’adolescente (1976), La professoressa di scienze naturali (1976), The Opening of Misty Beethoven (1976), Women’s Camp 119 (1977), Killer Nun (1978), L’imbranato (1979), and Trinity Goes East (1998).]

19. Ennio Morricone – “The Braying Mule”
from: Django Unchained (OST)/ Visiona Romantica / January 1, 2012
[Ennio Morricone, was born November 10, 1928 and died July 6, 2020. He was an Italian composer, orchestrator, conductor, and trumpet player who wrote music in a wide range of styles. Morricone composed more than 400 scores for cinema and television, as well as more than 100 classical works. His score to The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) is considered one of the most influential soundtracks in history. It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. His filmography includes more than 70 award-winning films, all Sergio Leone’s films since A Fistful of Dollars, all Giuseppe Tornatore’s films since Cinema Paradiso, The Battle of Algiers, Dario Argento’s Animal Trilogy, 1900, Exorcist II, Days of Heaven, several major films in French cinema, in particular the comedy trilogy La Cage aux Folles I, II, III and Le Professionnel, as well as The Thing, Once Upon a Time in America, The Mission, The Untouchables, Mission to Mars, Bugsy, Disclosure, In the Line of Fire, Bulworth, Ripley’s Game, and The Hateful Eight. Morricone is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential film composers of all time. After playing the trumpet in jazz bands in the 1940s, he became a studio arranger for RCA Victor and in 1955 started ghost writing for film and theatre. Throughout his career, he composed music for artists such as Paul Anka, Mina, Milva, Zucchero, and Andrea Bocelli. From 1960 to 1975, Morricone gained international fame for composing music for Westerns and—with an estimated 10 million copies sold—Once Upon a Time in the West is one of the best-selling scores worldwide. From 1966 to 1980, he was a main member of Il Gruppo, one of the first experimental composers collectives, and in 1969 he co-founded Forum Music Village, a prestigious recording studio. From the 1970s, Morricone excelled in Hollywood, composing for prolific American directors such as Don Siegel, Mike Nichols, Brian De Palma, Barry Levinson, Oliver Stone, Warren Beatty, John Carpenter, and Quentin Tarantino. In 1977, he composed the official theme for the 1978 FIFA World Cup. He continued to compose music for European productions, such as Marco Polo, La piovra, Nostromo, Fateless, Karol, and En mai, fais ce qu’il te plait. Morricone’s music has been reused in television series, including The Simpsons and The Sopranos, and in many films, including Inglourious Basterds and Django Unchained. He also scored seven Westerns for Sergio Corbucci, Duccio Tessari’s Ringo duology and Sergio Sollima’s The Big Gundown and Face to Face. Morricone worked extensively for other film genres with directors such as Bernardo Bertolucci, Mauro Bolognini, Giuliano Montaldo, Roland Joffé, Roman Polanski, Henri Verneuil, Lucio Fulci, Umberto Lenzi, and Pier Paolo Pasolini. His acclaimed soundtrack for The Mission (1986), was certified gold in the United States. The album Yo-Yo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone stayed for 105 weeks on the Billboard Top Classical Albums. Morricone’s best-known compositions include “The Ecstasy of Gold”, “Se Telefonando”, “Man with a Harmonica”, “Here’s to You”, the UK No. 2 single “Chi Mai”, “Gabriel’s Oboe”, and “E Più Ti Penso”. In 1971, he received a “Targa d’Oro” for worldwide sales of 22 million, and by 2016 Morricone had sold more than 70 million records worldwide. In 2007, he received the Academy Honorary Award “for his magnificent and multifaceted contributions to the art of film music”. He was nominated for a further six Oscars, and in 2016, received his only competitive Academy Award for his score to Quentin Tarantino’s film The Hateful Eight, at the time becoming the oldest person ever to win a competitive Oscar. His other achievements include three Grammy Awards, three Golden Globes, six BAFTAs, ten David di Donatello, eleven Nastro d’Argento, two European Film Awards, the Golden Lion Honorary Award, and the Polar Music Prize in 2010. Morricone influenced many artists from film scoring to other styles and genres, including Hans Zimmer, Danger Mouse, Dire Straits, Muse, Metallica, and Radiohead.]

10:27 – Underwriting

11:29 – Nico Speaks Out!

“July 5th would’ve been my brother Benjamin’s 54th birthday. He died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in May 2001. On the day of his death, a beautiful sunny Tuesday, he walked into a K-Mart, and next to the Martha Stewart bath towels found the ‘outdoors’ department and purchased a case…

…of 12 gauge shotgun shells. Suicide accounts for the highest number of deaths by guns. He died that same afternoon. The bullet he used to kill himself added money into the pockets of the company who makes them – sells them like candy at our department stores.  

A gallon of milk, some t-shirts, toothpaste – the necessities – oh, and guns, and bullets.

Thank God for capitalism and the convenience of our 24 hour superstores. It’s good to be an American. Yes?

No, not today. I am embarrassed by our country, and have been since Nov. 8th 2016 when half of my blood family voted for a racist-white nationalist, bigoted, homophobic sex offender.

No, today I am NOT celebrating our independence. We ARE NOT FREE. We are chained and bound to witness the demise in self character and morals in our country. Greed and selfishness and a false sense of privilege drive these intentions – with a twist of hypocrisy.

Ah, let me squeeze a lemon and stir. Now it’s better. We Americans like our denial –
it’s as wholesome as the rotten apple pies we bake and pass off as patriotism.”

11:33

20. Rich Aucoin – “Reset”
from: United States / Haven Sounds / September 18, 2020
[4th full length studio album from the Canadian indie rock musician, based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He is the younger brother of Paul Aucoin of Hylozoists. He performs and records both as a solo artist and as a collaborator and guest musician in Hylozoists.]

21. J.S. Ondara —“I’m Afraid of Americans”
from: Tales of America (The Second Coming) / Verve Forecast-UMG / Sept. 20, 2019
[28 year old J.S. Ondara is a Kenyan singer-songwriter whose debut album, Tales of America, was released on February 15, 2019 via Verve Label Group. J.S. Ondara was born in August 1992 in Nairobi, Kenya. As a child, he wrote poems and stories as well as songs despite not having an instrument to play them on because his family couldn’t afford one. He was inspired by Radiohead, Nirvana, Death Cab For Cutie, Jeff Buckley, Pearl Jam, Guns N’ Roses, and Bob Dylan. He grew up listening to rock songs on his older sisters’ battery-powered radio. Having discovered The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan following a dispute with a friend over whether Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door was a Guns N’ Roses song, Ondara resolved to travel to the United States to pursue a career in music. In February 2013, after winning in the green card lottery, he moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota at the age of 20. He taught himself to play guitar and perform during open mic nights. Eventually, he decided to study music therapy in college, but dropped out of school to return to playing small shows at coffee houses after attending a concert. After moving to Minnesota, Ondara tried his hand at making music and performing in small venues. His big break came when Minneapolis radio station KCMP 89.3 The Current played one of his songs on air by pulling audio from his YouTube channel, where he had been uploading covers of his favorite songs. At the time, he was going by the name Jay Smart. Ondara’s debut album, Tales of America, was released in February 2019 by Verve Label Group. Despite only 11 tracks making the final tracklist, Ondara wrote more than 100 songs for the album, all based on an immigrant’s life in America. The album was produced by Mike Viola of the Candy Butchers. In support of the album, Ondara embarked on his first headlining tour in March 2019. After the release of the album, Ondara debuted on Billboard’s Emerging Artist chart at No. 37 in March 2019. The album also landed on the Billboard Heatseekers Album, Americana/Folk Album Sales, and Rock Album Sales charts. He was nominated for Best Emerging Act at the 2019 Americana Music Honors & Awards. Ondara cites Bob Dylan as his musical hero, which is why he chose to live in Minnesota and why he wears his signature fedora. He has toured with the Milk Carton Kids, Lindsey Buckingham and in 2019, he opened for select dates on tour with Neil Young.]

22. Winds – “Don’t Fall Apart”
from: Don’t Fall Apart – Single / Winds Records / May 21, 2020
[Los Angeles, California based Winds is John Zabawa & Trevor Pritchett, This is one of two singles available other bandcamp page. Produced by Winds & Glenn Brigman. Written by John Zabawa & Trevor Pritchett. Drums & Percussion by Brendan Peleo-Lazar. Winds describe their sound as: “A breeze always blows in the direction it wishes to go.”]

23. The Innocence Mission — “On Your Side”
from: See You Tomorrow / Thérèse Records / January 17, 2020
[12th studio album from The Innocence Mission, an indie folk band with: Karen Peris (née McCullough), her husband (and fellow guitarist) Don Peris, and Mike Bitts (on bass guitar). The band was formed in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, when the members met during a Catholic school production of Godspell. Although all members of the band have contributed to their music, Karen Peris is their main writer. Before being signed to a record label, the band originally played local clubs, events and at Lancaster Catholic High School (the alma mater of the band members).Their self-titled debut album was released in 1989 on A&M Records and was produced by Larry Klein, then-husband of Joni Mitchell. Recorded in Mitchell’s Los Angeles studio, the album spent 10 weeks on the Billboard charts, peaking at #167 in 1990. Klein also produced their 1991 follow up, Umbrella. Their third A&M album, Glow (1995), was produced by Dennis Herring, who had previously produced two records for Camper Van Beethoven. This album is a departure from Klein’s heavier production style. Herring’s lighter touch gave more emphasis to the group’s guitar work and to Karen’s vocals and lyrics. Glow contains songs that appear on the soundtracks of the films Empire Records and Dream for an Insomniac, as well as the television series Party of Five. The album’s second track, “Bright as Yellow,” peaked at #33 on Billboard’s Modern Rock Tracks. After the band completed the recording of a follow-up album to Glow, A&M Records was bought by Universal Music Group. The group decided to mutually part ways with the label, shortly before it was merged with other companies to form Interscope-Geffen – A&M. 1999’s Birds of My Neighborhood inaugurated The Innocence Mission as they are today, following three albums as a quartet that drew comparisons to The Sundays and 10,000 Maniacs. When drummer Steve Brown left to become a chef, Karen Peris (guitars, piano, pump organ, accordion, voice), Don Peris (guitars, drums, voice) and Mike Bitts (upright bass) forged ahead with an orchestral and sometimes cinematic folk-pop sound, which they felt was truer to their real nature – in any case, a sound rich in atmosphere, innately sad, but ultimately hopeful. The album was followed by the release of The Lakes of Canada EP, which contains a remix of “Snow” by Icelandic electronic group GusGus, the band’s only remix thus far. The 2000 release, Christ Is My Hope, featuring folk songs and hymns that had inspired them over the years, was independently distributed by their own label, LAMP, with all proceeds from sales of the record being donated to hunger relief charities. An exclusive one-album deal signed with independent label WhatAreRecords? saw Small Planes following a year later. Their first album on Badman Records in the US and Agenda in Europe, Befriended, was released in 2003 and was followed a year later by a collection of lullabies, standards, traditional and classical songs called Now the Day Is Over. Recorded over two weeks in Aug. 2004, the album contained their well-known cover of Henry Mancini’s “Moon River.” Badman Records acquired license to re-master and re-issue the then-out-of-print Birds of My Neighborhood album in 2006. We Walked in Song was released in 2007 and included the song “Brotherhood of Man”, which appeared in two acclaimed films: the documentary The Human Experience and the short film Weathered, starring Tony Hale and Nicole Parker, which also featured a new version of the song “Our Harry”. Also on this album are “Happy Birthday” and closing song “Over the Moon”, both of which are featured in the Julia Roberts film Fireflies in the Garden. On June 6, 2008, “Bright as Yellow” was played as the official NASA wake-up call for the crew of Space Shuttle mission STS-124 on flight day 7. Street Map was released in December 2008 and was the second record to be distributed independently on their own LAMP label, while their eighth studio album, My Room in the Trees, was released on July 13, 2010. Their ninth studio album, Hello I Feel the Same, was released on October 17, 2015, followed by Sun on the Square in 2018. Their next studio album, See You Tomorrow, is due for release on January 17, 2020. Don Peris has recorded four solo albums: Ten Silver Slide Trombones (2001), the mostly instrumental Go When the Morning Shineth (2006), which features a vocal contribution from Karen Peris on “North Atlantic Sand”, and an instrumental solo guitar album, Brighter Visions Beam Afar (2007), which raised money for local food banks. His fourth studio album, The Old Century, was released on May 7, 2013. Karen Peris released her first solo album, Violet, on Dec. 3, 2012. The 10-song album was performed mainly on piano, and features six instrumental compositions. Don Peris appears as guitarist on two songs, while the couple’s two children performed violin and viola on a further two songs. A version of the album containing two bonus tracks, “First Days in the City” and “Getting Here”, was released in Japan through P-Vine Records on May 15, 2013. Sufjan Stevens calls The Innocence Mission “moving and profound”, adding, “What makes Karen Peris’ lyrics so remarkable is the economy of words, sensory language, concrete nouns – everyday objects take on tremendous meaning.]

24. The New Seekers — “Look What They’ve Done to My Song, Ma”
from: The Best of the New Seekers / Elektra Records / April 26, 2005
[Originally released on the album, Keith Potger and the New Seekers, November 1970 on Phillips Records. The band’s second album and second single. The New Seekers are an English pop group, formed in London in 1969 by Keith Potger after the break-up of his group, The Seekers. The idea was that the New Seekers would appeal to the same market as the original Seekers, but their music would have pop as well as folk influences. They achieved worldwide success in the early 1970s with hits including “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing”, “You Won’t Find Another Fool Like Me” and “Beg, Steal or Borrow.” “What Have They Done to My Song Ma,” is a song by Melanie. It was released in 1970 as the B-side of her “Ruby Tuesday” single and included on the album Candles in the Rain. The single reached the number 39 in the UK. Other artists have recorded the song as “Look What They’ve Done To My Song Ma”, after the song’s first line, and this title is used on the Music page at Melanie’s own website. Daliah Lavi recorded a successful German version of the song in 1971 and Ray Charles released a cover (as “Look What They’ve Done to My Song, Ma”) in 1972. The song has also been covered by many other artists, including Nina Simone, the New Seekers, and Billie Jo Spears. Dalida recorded the song in French and Italian [4] and released both version as singles. Czechoslovak singer Helena Vondráčková recorded it in 1971 as “Kam zmizel ten starý song” with Czech lyrics by Zdeněk Borovec. Jeanette did an English/French version in 1973. Yugoslav rock band Bajaga i Instruktori released a cover of it with lyrics in Serbian, called “Vidi šta sam ti uradio od pesme, mama”, in 1985. It was used in the 1970s as a commercial for Lifebuoy soap (“Look what they’ve done to my Lifebuoy”), and in the 1980s as a commercial jingle for Ramada Inn (as “Look what they’ve done to Ramada”) and for Oatmeal Crisp cereal (as “Look what they’ve done to my oatmeal”). In October 2012, Miley Cyrus released a video of her own acoustic version of the song as part of her Backyard Sessions series. In 2015, Melanie joined her to duet on the song in addition to “Peace Will Come (According to Plan)”. Another copy version was made by Jack Wild which appeared on his album «Everything’s coming up Roses», released in 1971.]

25. Alfred Hall —“Safe & Sound”
from: Wilderness / Sony / 2013
[Norwegian indie pop duo, formed in the summer of 2009 by Bjørn Tveit on vocals & guitar, and Hans Thomas Kiær on guitar, the Norwegian town Drammen. Their debut single, “So Bright” was nominated for “Ukas Urørt” in 2011, and was released the year after following a period of repackaging in the Tinnitus studio in Bergen. Their first album, “Wilderness”, came out exclusively in Norway in 2013, and was nominated for the Spellemann Award (the Norwegian “Grammy”) in the category “Pop Group of the Year”. On October 9th, Alfred Hall, as one of three artist, performed at the opening night of the first JaJaJa club night in Fluxbau, Berlin. They released their first international EP in the fall of 2014, called “Alfred Hall EP”. Their first international single, “The King of Cape” was released in the beginning of 2015. In April 2015, Alfred Hall was chosen as one of 14 finalists to play at the Midem festival in Cannes in June 2015.]

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

11:58 – ArtsKCGo – Arts Calendar

Nico Gray Thank you for being our Guest Producer today!

Happy Birthday to Caleb Belknap!

Next week on Wednesday, August 26 we talk with Folk Singer Eliza Gilkyson. We also talk with The Black Creatures who play shows on Friday and Saturday next weekend August 28 and 29 at Lemonaid(e) Park, and we welcome hip hop MC extraordinaire, Kemet Coleman who has a new EP and plays Greenline Grows KC – Benefit for The Greenline Initiative, Friday, August 28, 7:00 PM, streams LIVE on Facebook & YouTube with: Radkey, The Greeting Committee, Khrystal., Danny Cox & Bob Walkenhorst, Cuee, Enrique Javier Chi of Making Movies w/ Las Hermanas Altoro, Stephonne, Krystle Warren, They Call Me Sauce, The Phantastics and more! joins us to share new music.

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

Nico Gray Portrait by: Jan McNiel

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

Black Lives Matter

Show #851