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, April 28, 2021

New & MidCoastal Releases + Judy Mills + Byron Huhmann of Knife Crime + Shawn M. Stewart

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. Asterales – “Beauty In The Distance (ft. Heidi Gluck)”
   from: Beauty In The Distance (ft. Heidi Gluck) – Single / Asterales / March 31, 2021
   [KC based leftfield, experimental, electronica music maker, also known as Nate Holt. Produced & mixed by Asterales. Vocals by Heidi Gluck. Lyrics by Approach. Mastered by Royce Diamond. Since 2016 Asterales has released 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 August 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. More information at http://www.asterales.bandcamp.com]

3. Kadesh Flow – “So Far”
   from: ”So Far” – Single / Ryan Jamaal Davis / April 23, 2021
   [Kadesh Flow released the new single, “So Far” was written, performed, mixed and mastered: Kadesh Flow. Produced: Dominique “Bassman” Sanders. More info at: http://www.kadeshflow.com This is one of 13 new singles Kadesh Flow has released so far this year: 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 and 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 March 5, 2021, Written, produced, performed, mixed and mastered by Kadesh Flow. Kadesh Flow released, “Your Dream Isn’t Always Yours”, on March 12, 2021, Written, produced, performed, mixed and 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 and 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 and mastered by Kadesh Flow. Produced by Dominique “Bassman” Saunders. Kadesh Flow released the new single, “So Far” on April 23, 2021. Written, performed, mixed and mastered: Kadesh Flow. Produced: Dominique “Bassman” Sanders. More info at: http://www.kadeshflow.com. 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 was on WMM on Oct. 21, 2020.]

[Kadesh Flow plays The Ship with Jessica Paige on May 14]

4. Esperanza Spalding – “formwela 1”
   from: formwela 1 – Single / Esperanza Spalding / April 3, 2021
   [AVAILABLE AT SONGWRIGHTSAPOTHECARYLAB.COM 36 year old Esperanza Spalding has released the TRIANGLE suite: a trio of new songs called: “formwela 1,” “formwela 2,” featuring Ganavya, and “formwela 3.” The tracks were developed by the Grammy-winning musician and released today as part of the unveiling of her Songwrights Apothecary Lab, a new project described as “half songwriting workshop and half guided-research practice.” The new songs were written “in consultation with music therapists and neuroscientists,” as The New York Times reports. “I was remembering ways that music had supported me,” she said on a recent call from her native Portland, Ore., “and wondering if we could go deeper into those themes.” Spalding told Marcus J. Moore in a piece written fior The New York Times on April 1, 2021. In 2017, Spalding, a bassist, vocalist and producer, spent 77 straight hours in the studio, writing and arranging songs. The resulting album, “Exposure,” was pressed directly to CD and vinyl for a limited release of just 7,777 copies. Her next project, “12 Little Spells,” explored the healing power of music; each song correlated with a different body part. // American jazz bassist, cellist and singer, Esperanza Emily Spalding, born October 18, 1984, who draws upon many genres in her own compositions. . Spalding was raised in Portland, Oregon and was a musical prodigy, playing violin in the Chamber Music Society of Oregon at age five. She was later both self-taught and trained on a number of instruments, including guitar and bass. Her proficiency earned her scholarships to Portland State University and the Berklee College of Music. She has won four Grammy Awards, including the Grammy Award for Best New Artist at the 53rd Grammy Awards, making her the first jazz artist to win the award.]

10:17 – Laura Nyro Suite

Laura Nyro was born Laura Nigro, October 18, 1947 and died on April 8, 1997. She was an American songwriter, singer, and pianist. She achieved critical acclaim with her own recordings, particularly the albums Eli and the Thirteenth Confession (1968) and New York Tendaberry (1969), and had commercial success with artists such as Barbra Streisand and The 5th Dimension recording her songs. Her style was a hybrid of Brill Building-style New York pop, jazz, rhythm and blues, show tunes, rock, and soul. She was praised for her strong emotive vocal style and 3-octave mezzo-soprano vocal range. Between 1968 and 1970, a number of artists had hits with her songs: The 5th Dimension with “Blowing Away”, “Wedding Bell Blues”, “Stoned Soul Picnic”, “Sweet Blindness”, and “Save the Country”; Blood, Sweat & Tears and Peter, Paul and Mary, with “And When I Die”; Three Dog Night and Maynard Ferguson, with “Eli’s Comin'”; and Barbra Streisand with “Stoney End”, “Time and Love”, and “Hands off the Man (Flim Flam Man)”. Nyro’s best-selling single was her recording of Carole King’s and Gerry Goffin’s “Up on the Roof”. Nyro was posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2010, and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012. // Nyro was born Laura Nigro in the Bronx, the daughter of Louis Nigro, a piano tuner and jazz trumpeter, and Gilda (née Mirsky) Nigro, a bookkeeper. Laura had a younger brother, Jan Nigro, who has become a well-known children’s musician.[6] Laura was of Russian Jewish and Polish Jewish descent, with Italian ancestry from her paternal grandfather. // “I’ve created my own little world, a world of music, since I was five years old,” Nyro told Billboard magazine in 1970, adding that music provided, for her, a means of coping with a difficult childhood: “I was never a bright and happy child.”[9] As a child, Nyro taught herself piano, read poetry, and listened to her mother’s records by Leontyne Price, Nina Simone, Judy Garland, Billie Holiday, and classical composers such as Debussy and Ravel. She composed her first songs at age eight. With her family, she spent summers in the Catskills, where her father played trumpet at resorts. She credited the Sunday school at the New York Society for Ethical Culture with providing the basis of her education; she also attended Manhattan’s High School of Music & Art. // Nyro was close to her aunt and uncle, artists Theresa Bernstein and William Meyerowitz, who helped support her education and early career. // While in high school, she sang with a group of friends in subway stations and on street corners. She said, “I would go out singing, as a teenager, to a party or out on the street, because there were harmony groups there, and that was one of the joys of my youth.” Nyro commented: “I was always interested in the social consciousness of certain songs. My mother and grandfather were progressive thinkers, so I felt at home in the peace movement and the women’s movement, and that has influenced my music.” // Nyro was bisexual, though this fact was only known to her closest friends. She had a relationship with singer/songwriter Jackson Browne in late 1970 to early 1971. Browne was Nyro’s opening act at the time. // Nyro married Vietnam War veteran David Bianchini in October 1971 after a whirlwind romance and spent the next three years living with him in a small town in Massachusetts. The marriage ended after three years, during which time she had grown accustomed to rural life, as opposed to the life in the city, where she had recorded her first five records. // After Nyro split from Bianchini in 1975, she suffered the trauma of the death of her mother Gilda to ovarian cancer at the age of 49. She consoled herself largely by recording a new album, enlisting Charlie Calello, with whom she had collaborated on Eli and the Thirteenth Confession. // In 1978, a short-lived relationship with Harindra Singh produced a son, Gil Bianchini (also known as musician Gil-T), whom she gave the surname of her ex-husband. // In the early 1980s, Nyro began living with painter Maria Desiderio (1954–1999), a relationship that lasted 17 years, the rest of Nyro’s life. // Nyro was a feminist and openly discussed it on a number of occasions, once saying, “I may bring a certain feminist perspective to my songwriting, because that’s how I see life.” // By the late 1980s, Nyro had become an animal rights activist and vegetarian, and began to offer literature on the subject at her concerts. // In late 1996, Nyro, like her mother, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. After the diagnosis, Columbia Records, with Nyro’s involvement, prepared a two-CD retrospective of material from her years at the label. She lived to see the release of Stoned Soul Picnic: The Best of Laura Nyro in 1997.// She died of ovarian cancer in Danbury, Connecticut, on April 8, 1997, at 49, the same age at which her mother died. Her ashes were scattered beneath a maple tree on the grounds of her house in Danbury. // Nyro’s posthumous releases include Angel In The Dark (2001), which includes her final studio recordings made in 1994 and 1995, and The Loom’s Desire (2002), a set of live recordings with solo piano and harmony singers from The Bottom Line Christmas shows of 1993 and 1994. // Nyro’s influence on popular musicians has also been acknowledged by such artists as Joni Mitchell, Carole King, Tori Amos, Patti Smith, Kate Bush, Diamanda Galas, Bette Midler, Rickie Lee Jones, Elton John, Jackson Browne, Alice Cooper, Elvis Costello, Cyndi Lauper, Todd Rundgren, Steely Dan, Sarah Cracknell, Melissa Manchester, Lisa Germano, and Rosanne Cash. // Todd Rundgren stated that once he heard her, he “stopped writing songs like The Who and started writing songs like Laura.” //Cyndi Lauper acknowledged that her rendition of the song “Walk On By”, on her Grammy Award-nominated 2003 cover album At Last, was inspired by Nyro. // Elton John and Elvis Costello discussed Nyro’s influence on both of them during the premiere episode of Costello’s interview show Spectacle. When asked by the host if he could name three great performer/songwriters who have largely been ignored, John cited Nyro as one of his choices. He also addressed Nyro’s influence on his 1970 song “Burn Down the Mission”, from Tumbleweed Connection, in particular. “I idolized her,” he concluded. “The soul, the passion, just the out and out audacity of the way her rhythmic and melody changes came was like nothing I’ve heard before.” // Bruce Arnold, leader of the pioneering soft rock group Orpheus was a fan of Nyro’s music and like her, worked with legendary studio drummer Bernard Purdie. While recording with Purdie, Arnold mentioned his love of Nyro’s music; the drummer responded with a story about Nyro: at Nyro’s home one night in the late 1970s, Purdie mentioned that he had been the uncredited drummer for Orpheus. Nyro got excited and brought him into a room where she kept her record collection. She pulled out well-worn copies of every Orpheus LP, as well as copies sealed for posterity. // Diane Paulus and Bruce Buschel co-created Eli’s Comin’, a musical revue of the songs of Nyro, which, among others, starred Anika Noni Rose. // Louis Greenstein and Kate Ferber wrote “One Child Born: The Music of Laura Nyro,” a one-woman show featuring Ferber and directed by Adrienne Campbell-Holt. “One Child Born” was developed at CAP21 in New York City and has sold out Joe’s Pub and the Laurie Beechman Theatre in New York, World Cafe Live in Philadelphia, and other venues. // The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and the National Ballet of Canada have also included her music in their performances; notably, “Been On A Train” from Christmas and the Beads of Sweat, in which a woman describes watching her lover die from a drug overdose, comprises the second movement of Ailey’s 1971 solo for Judith Jamison, Cry. // In 1992, English shoegaze/Britpop band Lush released a song about Laura Nyro (“Laura”) on their first full-length album Spooky. Several of the band’s songs (specifically those written by Emma Anderson) have echoed Nyro’s music in their titles – “When I Die”, “Single Girl”. More recently, in 2012, Anderson has referred to Laura Nyro as “wondrous” on her Twitter account. // On her 2006 album Build a Bridge, the operatic/Broadway soprano Audra McDonald included covers of Nyro’s songs “To a Child” and “Tom Cat Goodbye”. // The musical theater composer Stephen Schwartz credits Nyro as a major influence on his work. // Alice Cooper has mentioned on his syndicated radio show that Laura Nyro is one of his favorite songwriters. // Jenny Lewis of Rilo Kiley, when promoting her 2006 solo album Rabbit Fur Coat repeatedly cited Nyro’s 1971 album Gonna Take a Miracle as a big influence on her music. Lewis performed the first track on that album “I Met Him on a Sunday” on the Rabbit Fur Coat tour. // In the 2004 drama film A Home at the End of the World can be heard Nyro’s recordings of “Désiree” and “It’s Gonna Take a Miracle”, both songs from the album Gonna Take a Miracle. // Paul Shaffer, bandleader for the CBS Orchestra and sidekick on the Late Show with David Letterman, stated that his desert island album would be Eli and the Thirteenth Confession. // Paul Stanley of Kiss has mentioned that he is a big admirer of Nyro’s music. // Exene Cervenka of the punk band X listed Nyro as one her favorite songwriters.

5. The 5th Dimension – “Save The Country”
   from: Portrait / Bell – Buddha Records / April, 1970
   [“Save the Country” is a song written by Laura Nyro, first released by her as a single in 1968. Nyro released another version of the song on her 1969 album New York Tendaberry. Nyro was inspired to write the song after the June 5, 1968 assassination of Robert Kennedy. The most successful version was performed by The 5th Dimension. It reached #10 on the U.S. adult contemporary chart, #24 in Canada, #27 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #79 in Australia in 1970. It was featured on their 1970 album Portrait. The song was produced by Bones Howe and arranged by Bill Holman, Bob Alcivar, and Howe. Rosanne Cash released a version of the song on the 1997 Nyro tribute album Time and Love: The Music of Laura Nyro. Nyro’s version was sampled by Kanye West on his song “The Glory” off his third studio album Graduation. // Portrait is the fifth album by American pop group The 5th Dimension, released in 1970 (see 1970 in music). This is the group’s first album for Bell Records, having switched from the Soul City Records label. The cover features an impressionistic portrait by famous artist LeRoy Neiman. // The album languished in the mid-60s on the Billboard Top 200 Album Charts after the release of its first three singles, none of which entered the Top 20 of the American pop music charts. Bell Records, hoping to see a return on the investment they made by signing The 5th Dimension after the group’s contract at Soul City Records ended, made a fourth and final attempt at a hit – a relatively uncommon practice at the time – with the release of Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s “One Less Bell to Answer”. The single rose all the way to #2 by Christmas 1970, becoming one of the group’s greatest hits of all time. As a result, Portrait began climbing the charts once again, eventually peaking at #20. The single features Marilyn McCoo on lead vocal, and ushers in The 5th Dimension’s transition from pop to adult contemporary artists. McCoo from this point became the primary vocalist for the group’s subsequent chart hits, including “Last Night (I Didn’t Get to Sleep at All)”, “Love’s Lines, Angles and Rhymes”, “Never My Love”, “If I Could Reach You”, “House for Sale”, “Everything’s Been Changed” and “Flashback”. This became a source of friction for the group as time went on, and was in part responsible for McCoo and husband Billy Davis, Jr. leaving the group after the release of Earthbound in 1975. // The 5th Dimension is an American popular music vocal group, whose repertoire includes pop, R&B, soul, jazz, light opera and Broadway – a melange referred to as “champagne soul”. // Formed as the Versatiles in late 1965, the group changed its name to “the 5th Dimension” by 1966. Between 1967 and 1973 they charted with 19 Top 40 hits on Billboard’s Hot 100, two of which – “Up – Up and Away” (No. 7, 1967) and the 1969 number one “Medley: Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures)” — won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year. Other big hits include “Stoned Soul Picnic” (No. 3), “Wedding Bell Blues” (No. 1), “One Less Bell to Answer” (No. 2), a cover of “Never My Love” (pop No. 12/Easy Listening No. 1), “(Last Night) I Didn’t Get to Sleep at All” (No. 8) and “If I Could Reach You” (pop No. 10/Easy Listening No. 1). 3 of their records reached the Top Ten of Billboard’s Rhythm & Blues/Soul chart. Five of their 19 Top 20 hits on the Easy Listening chart reached number one. // The 5 original members were Billy Davis Jr., Florence La Rue, Marilyn McCoo, Lamonte McLemore, and Ronald Townson. Their first work appeared on the Soul City label, which was started by Imperial Records/United Artists Records recording artist Johnny Rivers. The group later recorded for Bell/Arista Records, ABC Records, and Motown Records. // Some of the songwriters popularized by the 5th Dimension went on to careers of their own, especially Ashford & Simpson, who wrote “California Soul”. The group is also notable for having more success with the songs of Laura Nyro than Nyro did herself, particularly with “Stoned Soul Picnic”, “Sweet Blindness”, “Wedding Bell Blues”, “Blowin’ Away” and “Save the Country”. The group also recorded songs by well-known songwriters such as “One Less Bell to Answer”, written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, and the songs and music of Jimmy Webb, who wrote their hit “Up – Up and Away”. The group’s 1967 LP The Magic Garden features all but one song composed by Webb. // The 5th Dimension’s producer Bones Howe used Bob Alcivar as the singers’ vocal arranger, as well as instrumental backing by the Wrecking Crew for their recording sessions.]

6. Laura Nyro and LaBelle – “You’ve Really Got A Hold Of Me”
   from: Gonna Take A Miracle [Bonus Tracks] / Sony Music / Nov. 17, 1971
   [“You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me” is a song written by Smokey Robinson, which became a 1962 Top 10 hit single for the Miracles. GONNA TAKE A MIRACLE is the fifth album by New York City-born singer, songwriter and pianist Laura Nyro, with assistance by vocal trio Labelle. It was released on Columbia Records in November 1971. The album is Nyro’s only all-covers album, and she interprets mainly 1950s and 1960s soul and R&B standards, using Labelle as a traditional back-up vocal group. Nyro had originally hatched the idea to do a covers album during 1970, and on her tour to support the Christmas and the Beads of Sweat album she introduced several of the songs that would later appear on Gonna Take a Miracle, including “Spanish Harlem” and “Dancing in the Street”. // Gonna Take a Miracle remains a critics’ favorite Laura Nyro record for its laidback atmosphere and impressive soul grooves and musicianship, as well as classic “Philadelphia soul” production from Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. It was her last commercially successful album, peaking at #46 on the Billboard 200, then known as the Pop Albums chart, as well as #41 on the Black Albums chart. // In 2005, music magazine The Word voted Gonna Take a Miracle among the 60 Best Underrated Albums of All Time. // The album was Nyro’s last for over four years as she turned her back on the music industry to get married and live a rural life away from the spotlight. Her work with Patti LaBelle on the album formed a lifelong friendship. Nyro first met Patti LaBelle in 1970 when she was about to give an interview to LaBelle’s manager Vicki Wickham. Wickham brought LaBelle along to the interview, where she engaged in deep conversation with Nyro. They went on the road together, with LaBelle cooking for Nyro. // The album was recorded in May and June 1971 at Sigma Sound Studios, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The producers were Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. Patti LaBelle and her vocal partners in Labelle, Nona Hendryx and Sarah Dash, were brought in as backing singers. // Nyro was the main selector of material for the album, and chose songs she was influenced by growing up in the Bronx of the 1950s and 1960s.[citation needed] The songs include The Shirelles’ “I Met Him on a Sunday”, The Originals’ “The Bells” (written by Marvin Gaye), Smokey Robinson & the Miracles’ “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me”, Ben E. King’s “Spanish Harlem”, The Charts’ “Deserie/Desiree”, Major Lance’s “The Monkey Time” (written by Curtis Mayfield)., and The Royalettes’ “It’s Gonna Take a Miracle”. // The album balances the grittier numbers with the more ethereal soul ballad, “The Wind” and the sultry love ballad, “Désiree”. Nyro, Labelle and Gamble and Huff mixed genres including doo-wop, soul, R&B, pop, Brill Building, and gospel. “Despite Gamble and Huff’s presence on the project, Nyro remained fully in charge,” wrote biographer Michele Kort.]

7. Labelle – “Time and Love”
   from: Something Silver / Warner Archives / 1997
   [Written by Laura Nyro // Originally recorded by Labelle for their debut as LaBelle, after their Glam Rock transformation from Patti Labelle & The Bluebelles into LaBelle from the record Labelle released September 8, 1971. The funk/soul trio of: Patti LaBelle, Nona Hendryx and Sarah Dash backed up Laura Nyro for her 5th album GONNA TAKE A MIRACLE released November 17, 1971. On Labelle the band recorded songs written by Carole King, Mick jagger & Keith Richards but 4 of the 11 songs were written by the three members themselves. // Labelle was an American all-female singing group who were a popular vocal group of the 1960s and 1970s. The group was formed after the disbanding of two rival girl groups in the area around Philadelphia and Trenton, the Ordettes and the Del-Capris, forming as a new version of the former group, then later changing their name to the Blue Belles (later Bluebelles). The founding members were Patti LaBelle (formerly Patricia Holt), Cindy Birdsong, Nona Hendryx, and Sarah Dash. // As the Bluebelles, and later Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles, the group found success with ballads in the doo-wop genre, most notably “Down the Aisle (The Wedding Song)”, “You’ll Never Walk Alone”, and “Over the Rainbow”. After Birdsong departed to join the Supremes in 1967, the group, following the advice of Vicki Wickham, changed its look, musical direction, and style to re-form as Labelle in 1971. Their funk rock recordings of that period became cult favorites for their brash interpretation of rock and roll and for dealing with subject matter that was not typically touched by female black groups. Finally – after adapting glam rock and wearing outlandish space-age and glam costumes – the group found success with the proto-disco smash “Lady Marmalade” in 1974, leading to their album Nightbirds, which achieved gold success. They are notable for being the first contemporary pop group and first black pop group to perform at the Metropolitan Opera House. They were also the first black vocal group to appear on the cover of Rolling Stone. // The group members each went on their own after the end of a tour in 1976, going on to have significant solo success. Nona Hendryx followed an idiosyncratic muse into a solo career that often bordered on the avant-garde;Sarah Dash became a celebrated session singer; Patti LaBelle enjoyed a very successful Grammy-winning career, with nine top-20 R&B hits between 1963 and 1976, and lifetime-achievement awards from the Apollo Theatre, World Music Awards, and BET Awards. // The group reunited for their first new album in 32 years, Back to Now, in 2008.]

10:28 – Underwriting

8. Prince – “Comeback”
   from: The Truth / NPG Records / January 29, 1998
   [This album is being released on vinyl for the first time for Record Store Day June 12, 2021. The 21st studio album from Prince, The Truth was the 4th CD in the Crystal Ball box set. It includes Crystal Ball, the artist’s twentieth studio album, which is a three-disc set of “previously bootlegged” material, together with the The Truth. The arrangements are based around the acoustic guitar, augmented with elaborate production effects, multi-layered vocals, & occasional percussion & percussive effects. // Prince Rogers Nelson was born June 7, 1958 and died April 21, 2016. He was an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, dancer, actor, & director. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest musicians of his generation. Considered a guitar virtuoso, he was well known for his eclectic work across multiple genres, flamboyant & 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, Latin, rock, new wave, classical, soul, synth-pop, psychedelia, pop, jazz, & hip hop. He pioneered the Minneapolis sound, a funk rock sub-genre 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. Prince went on to achieve critical success with the innovative albums Dirty Mind (1980), Controversy (1981), and 1999 (1982). His sixth album, Purple Rain (1984), was recorded with his backup band the Revolution, and was the soundtrack to his film acting debut of the same name. Purple Rain spent six consecutive months atop the Billboard 200. Prince won the Academy Award for Best Original Song Score. After disbanding the Revolution, Prince went on to achieve continued critical success with 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 TAFKAP, or simply the Artist. He signed with Arista Records in 1998 and began referring to himself by his own name again in 2000. After returning to mainstream prominence following a performance at the Grammy Awards ceremony in 2004, he scored six US top ten albums over the following decade. Joni Mitchell said of Prince, “He’s driven like an artist. His motivations are growth & experimentation as opposed to formula and hits.” // In mid-life, Prince reportedly experienced considerable pain from injuries to his body (mainly hips) sustained through his dynamic stage performances (which included leaping off speaker stacks in high heels), and was sometimes seen using a cane. In 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. Prince sold over 150 million records worldwide, ranking him among the best-selling music artists of all time. His awards included the Grammy President’s Merit Award, the American Music Awards for Achievement and of Merit, the Billboard Icon Award, an Academy Award and a Golden Globe 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.]

10:32 – Interview with Judy Mills

Judy Mills, is owner of Mills Record Company and Wise Blood Books at 4045 Broadway Blvd. In Westport in Kansas City, Missouri. Judy is a long time midtown KC denizen, and owns the best dog in midtown named Conway Twitty. Judy loves music & books, reading & watching birds. She was raised in a small town in Southeastern Kansas, and educated at K-State University, with both graduate & under graduate degrees. Judy has pretty much lived in the Midwest for her entire life and she regards herself fortunate to be surrounded by an amazing team that she considers family, and she gets to learn about new music every day. More info at: http://www.millsrecordcompany.com

Judy Mills, thanks for being with us on WMM.

Record Store Day is coming up on June 12, and that is an unusually busy day for independent record stores. Last year because of COVID, Record Store Day was divided into three “Drops” or three different days. This year Record Store Day is divided up into two “drops” or 2 days, June 12 and July 17.

We just heard Prince singing from his 1998 album, The Truth, which will be available on vinyl for the first time on Record Store Day. All RSD releases are limited edition pressings and the Prince release is one of the higher totals with 13,000 records pressed, whereas with the new La Femme single, “Runway”/”Me Suive” there are only 500 records pressed. This is what makes Record Store Day so exciting and why people are camping outside record stores starting at 3:00 and 4:00 in the morning to get first dibs on the very rare releases.

Mills Record Company opened in 2013, and expanded two times, once to double in size and include used records, and a second time to move around the corner of the block and more than double in size, to ultimately include a collection of over 50,000 titles, other music merchandise, a performance stage for in-stores, and now a book store too. You left a successful corporate career to start this new business in a time when so many of our beloved record stores had closed down.

It seemed like a natural extension of Mills Record Company to give birth to Wise Blood Books. Three months after Wise Blood opened the COVID-19 Pandemic shut down so many businesses. However this week WiseBlood moved it’s entire inventory into Mills Records. Judy told us that there was an area of unused space in the store that was the exact square footage of Wise Book Books Westport Road location. It all fits!

When asked about her dog Conway, Judy told Tim Finn of INKansas City Magazine , “My boy was found on a country road, and because my last dear pup was Loretta Lynn, I decided to name him Conway Twitty. His first day available to adopt, the day I got him, I found out it was the real Conway Twitty’s birthday. It was fate.”

Record Stores are unlike any other kind of business, they are like a music related community center, especially during in-store performances. Record Stores are also a big part of the area music community. You get to meet musicians, record label folk, music venue owners, radio people.

Judy was recently featured in the January 2021 edition of IN Kansas City Magazine. And Tim asked you about some of the longtime, legendary record stores that had closed down just prior to you reopening the scene You talked about visiting Recycled Sounds, Music Exchange and how you “never felt cool enough to be there.”

Judy considers herself fortunate to be surrounded by an amazing team that she considers family and gets to learn about new music every day.

10:45

Judy Mills, thanks for being with us on WMM.

Record Store Day is Saturday June 12 and Saturday July 17. Mills Record Company is at 4045 Broadway Blvd, in Kansas City, MO. More info at: ww.millsrecordcompany.com

10:45

9. MeShell Ndegeocello – “God Shiva”
   from: Peace Beyond Passion / Maverick / June 25, 1996
   [This album is being released on vinyl for the first time for Record Store Day June 12, 2021. 2nd studio album by Meshell Ndegeocello, released on June 25, 1996, on Maverick Records. The album peaked at #63 on the Billboard Top 200 list and at #15 on Billboard’s R&B Albums chart in 1996. It went on to become Ndegeocello’s most commercially successful album. Widely acclaimed at the time of its release, the album received numerous awards and accolades including a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best R&B Album at the 39th Grammy Awards in 1997. The first single, “Leviticus: Faggot” peaked at #15 on Billboard’s Dance Music/Club Play Singles chart in 1996. The second single, a cover of “Who Is He (And What Is He to You)?” by Bill Withers, reached #1 on the Billboard Dance Music/Club Play Singles chart in November 1996 and #34 on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart. The third single, a remix of the ballad “Stay”, peaked at #15 on Billboard’s Dance Music/Club Play Singles chart and #67 on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart. // Michelle Lynn Johnson, better known as Meshell Ndegeocello was born August 29, 1968, she is an American singer-songwriter, rapper, and bassist. She has gone by the name Meshell Suhaila Bashir-Shakur which is used as a writing credit on some of her later work. Her music incorporates a wide variety of influences, including funk, soul, jazz, hip hop, reggae and rock. She has received significant critical acclaim throughout her career, being nominated for eleven Grammy Awards, and winning one. She also has been credited for helping to “spark the neo-soul movement”.]

10:52

10. Emmaline Twist – “Oblivion”
    from: Dissimulation / Black Site / August 24, 2018
    [Debut LP from Emmaline Twist, Kansas City’s Darkwave / Post-Punk / Shoegaze project. In 2017 the band released “Dissimulation 1,” four songs in digital format, their first since 2016’s single release of “Vega” b/w “Moon Eyes.” The band is Meredith McGrade on vocals & guitar, Kristin Conkright on bass, Jonathan Knecht on drums, and Krysztof Nemeth on baritone guitar. Recorded, Mixed, and Produced at Massive Sound by Paul Malinowski, and Mastered by Mike Nolte at Eureka Mastering. Matched with compelling cover-art created by Amy Abshier. Alex Alexander recently joined the band on synthesizers & guitar.]

[Emmaline Twist play Lemonade Park, 1628 Wyoming Friday, April 30, at 7:00 PM with and Dan Jones & the Squids for the Knife Crime Album Release. http://www.black-site.org]

11. Monta At Odds – “When I’m Gone (feat. Teri Quinn)”
    from: When I’m Gone – Single / The Record Machine / March 5, 2021
    [Monta At Odds returns with another blast of sonics with their latest single, “When I’m Gone.” Monta At Odds has traced its adventure from its inception to vocalist Teri Quinn’s addition to their sleek, indie-Tronic cascade of the band’s latest recording. An electric drum punch and layers of buzzing synths anchor Quinn’s pleading words, depositing the fact that “we both know you’ll feel better when I’m gone.” It’s the hard choice of ending a relationship and hanging on for dear life. // Monta At Odds is a Kansas City combo led by the brothers Dedric and Delaney Moore. The two have played music together all their lives and have been exploring the Monta At Odds sound since the band’s debut in 2000. Dedric’s pulsing, melodic bass and Delaney’s artfully unhinged synthesizers frame the band’s central character, which is fleshed out by a talented cast of musicians and collaborators. The result is a heady sonic pool that has been inscrutably referred to as ‘Ummagumma meets Arthur Russell’s mutant disco at Vangelis’s house.’ // 2020 finds the addition of acclaimed vocalists, guitarists, and songwriters Mikal Shapiro and Teri Quinn to the band’s lineup. With Mikal and Teri’s otherworldly vocal contributions, Monta At Odds continues to push their alternate reality into streamlined consciousness. Lucas Behrens on guitar and synth and Matthew Heinrich on drums both rounds out the stellar lineup. The group released Zen Diagram in May of 2020 as a more post-punk leaning follow-up to Argentum Dreams. Expect minimal rhythms set to maximum noise, shoegazed guitar signals, slo-mo psychedelic darkwave, endless dub echo, and extended-cut warped disco. Live musicians manipulating time and space via knob turning, cymbal cracking, and pedal pushing as they interlock into hypnotic moments of heavenly bliss that seem to hold forever, captivating the mind. // This single is a follow-up to the December 18, 2020 released A GREAT CONJUNCTION their 5-song EP released just in to coincide with the ‘double-planet’ convergence of Jupiter and Saturn on December 21 which last occurred in 1226. These tunes form a soundtrack to the planetary event, five songs linked together by the vastness of space and as a meditation on our infinitesimal place in the universe. The EP featured Krystof Nemeth, Teri Quinn, Alexander Thomas, Dedric Moore and Matthew Heinrich. Monta At Odds released their 4-song EP Zen Diagram last year on May 1, 2020. Monta At Odd’s seventh full-length album, Peak of Eternal Light, is to be released in 2021 on The Record Machine. In late 2020 Monta At Odds released the single “When Stars Grow Old.” Monta At Odds released their 6th full length album Argentum Dreams on Oct 19, 2018. More info at: http://www.facebook.com/montaatodds%5D

[Monta At Odds play Lemonade Park, 1628 Wyoming Friday, May 7, at 7:00 PM with Kianna White, The Creepy Jingles and DJ Thundercutz. More at http://www.lemonadeparkkc.com]

11:00 – Station ID

12. KNIFE CRIME – “Kid’s Excuses”
    from: Lovely Gary / Black-Site / April 13, 2021
    [After spending months at Massive Sounds studio with producer Paul Malinowski in 2019 and then waiting out the worst of the pandemic’s stranglehold, Knife Crime’s debut album, Lovely Gary, is ready. Finally. // Knife Crime is a band of four veterans of Kansas City’s music community. Going back to the early 1990s, founding brothers Byron Huhmann on guitars, piano & lead vocals; Brad Huhmann on bass & vocals, have played with a small legion of bands, including TV Fifty, Onward Crispin Glover, the Dark Circles, Truck Stop Love, Red Kate and Lushbox. Jake Cardwell on drums & percussion came aboard in 2012, and has played drums for Reflector, the Belles, the Caves and the Conquerors. In 2018, multi-instrumentalist Jeremiah James Gonzalez on guitar & vocals joined, bringing along a resume that includes Elevator Division, Monta at Odds, Be/Non, Umberto, Rhunes and Redder Moon. Songs by Knife Crime. Recorded & mixed by Paul Malinowski, at Massive Sound Studios, Shawnee, KS Mastering by Mike Nolte, Eureka Mastering, Portland, Oregon. Additional mastering & lacquer cutting: Chris Muth, Taloowa Corp., Yonkers, NY. Vinyl Manufacturing: Kindercore Vinyl, Athens, GA. // Follow up to their single release “Falcon” on January 8, 2020. Produced by Knife Crime. Mastered by Dave Gaume at Element Recording Studios. Knife Ccrime is a 4-piece Kansas City based band formed on January 19, 2011. More info at: http://www.black-site.org]

[Knife Crime play an Album Release Friday, April 30, at 7:00 PM with Emmaline Twist and Dan Jones & the Squids at Lemonade Park, 1628 Wyoming St. KCMO. More at http://www.lemonadeparkkc.com]

11:03 – Interview with Byron Huhmann

Byron Huhmann tells us how his band Knife Crime‘s 10-track debut album, LOVELY GARY almost didn’t happen. Released by KC label Black-Site. Knife Crime is Byron Huhmann on guitar & lead vocals, Brad Huhmann on bass & vocals, Jake Cardwell on drums, and Jeremiah James Gonzalez on guitar & vocals. Knife Crime play an Album Release Friday, April 30, at 7:00 PM with Emmaline Twist and Dan Jones & the Squids at Lemonade Park, 1628 Wyoming. More at http://www.black-site.org

Byron Huhmann thanks for being with us on WMM.

Byron Huhmann tells us how his band Knife Crime’s debut album, LOVELY GARY almost didn’t happen. A break-in and theft of equipment derailed the initial DIY recording. Line-up changes delayed the re-recording. When ready for pressing, a global pandemic brought the music industry to a halt with pandemic-induced shipping problems and manufacturing issues.

Finally on April 13, 2021, Knife Crime’s 10-track debut, LOVELY GARY was released by KC label Black-Site.

Knife Crime is
Byron Huhmann on guitar & lead vocals,
Brad Huhmann on bass & vocals,
Jake Cardwell on drums, and
Jeremiah James Gonzalez on guitar & vocals.

Knife Crime comprises four veterans of Kansas City’s music community. Going back to the early-1990s, founding brothers Byron Huhmann (guitar, lead vocals) and Brad Huhmann (bass, vocals) have played with a small legion of bands, including TV Fifty, Onward Crispin Glover, the Dark Circles, Truck Stop Love, Red Kate and Lushbox. Jake Cardwell, who came aboard in 2012, has played drums for Reflector, the Belles, the Caves and the Conquerors. In 2018, multi-instrumentalist Jeremiah James Gonzeles joined, bringing along a resume that includes Elevator Division, Monta at Odds, Be/Non, Umberto, Rhunes and Redder Moon.

Recorded by Paul Malinowski at Massive Sounds.
Digitally mastered by Mike Nolte at Eureka Mastering.

Knife Crime play an Album Release Friday, April 30, at 7:00 PM with Emmaline Twist and Dan Jones & the Squids at Lemonade Park, 1628 Wyoming St, KCMO, in the West Bottoms. More at http://www.lemonadeparkkc.com and http://www.black-site.org

KNIFE CRIME RELEASES NEW VIDEO SINGLE AND VINYL LP, LOVELY GARY, ON BLACK SITE

WHO: KNIFE CRIME
WHAT: Video Single release/Album release
WHEN: April 13, 2021 – 12 pm
WHERE: Video – https://youtu.be/p9FqAXijaWY
WHERE: Album – http://black-site.org/knife-crime

WHAT: Release show with Emmaline Twist and Dan Jones & the Squids
WHEN: April 30, 2021 – 7 pm
WHERE: Lemonade Park, West Bottoms, Kansas City, MO

Kansas City, MO – Given the number of years and the amount of misfortune encountered, one could be forgiven for thinking that Knife Crime’s debut album, Lovely Gary, was cursed. A break-in and theft of equipment derailed the initial DIY recording attempt. A couple of line-up changes then delayed re-recording of the album, and when it was finally finished and ready for pressing in early 2020, a global pandemic brought the music industry to a halt. As if that weren’t enough, when the record finally went into production earlier this year, pandemic-induced shipping problems and manufacturing issues nearly delayed the album’s release once again. But all that is behind them now and Lovely Gary, the debut LP from Kansas City rock veterans, Knife Crime, is here. FINALLY!

Releasing April 13 on Kansas City record label cooperative Black Site, Lovely Gary is a tightly crafted ten-track melodic joyride built on sturdy grooves, clever key changes and unexpected tempo shifts. From the pop smarts of the lead track, “Kids’ Excuses”, to the rock anthem closer, “Roses”, Lovely Gary is destined to be the soundtrack to celebrate a much-needed Summer. In conjunction with the album release on the 13th, the band is also dropping a video for the leadoff track, “Kids’ Excuses”, a delightful pop song about bad relationships and wanting people to shut up. Filmed by spinning robots that create a rotisserie view from inside the song, “Kids’ Excuses” is the first of a trilogy of videos created for the album by Union Library: Rare Books Division, the production house of Cyan Meeks and Stevie Cruz. Watch it here – https://youtu.be/p9FqAXijaWY

To kick off both the release of the album and what hopes to be a return to some sort of normality, the band will be playing a socially responsible outdoor show with their good friends Emmaline Twist and Dan Jones & The Squids on April 30 at Lemonade Park in the West Bottoms of Kansas City, MO.

Lovely Gary was recorded by Paul Malinowski at his studio Massive Sounds. Malinowski’s familiarity with the band from mixing them live numerous times proved invaluable in capturing Knife Crime’s musical vision. Digitally mastered by Mike Nolte at Eureka Mastering in Portland and mastered for vinyl by Chris Muth at Taloowa Corp., Lovely Gary radiates from your turntable with the hi-fidelity sound Black Site releases are well-known for.

Order Lovely Gary on vibrant translucent orange vinyl at this publicly shareable link: https://tinyurl.com/KC-Lovely-Gary Download it (.wav and .mp3) for airplay or review here (please do not distribute): https://tinyurl.com/KC-LG-music

BLACK SITE is a record label cooperative created by Kansas City musicians interested in supporting regional punk and rock bands release their recordings on a physical medium. With the world around us becoming a deluge of digital l’s and 0’s, transient as a trust fund crust punk on a cross country excursion, tangible art is critical to maintaining connections to our past, our sense of place, and who we are as a people. Only WE can create the world we want to live in. Reciprocity and solidarity are the cornerstones of building long lasting, self-sustaining community power that pushes back against the commodification of culture. Music is not a business; Punk is not a brand, and DIY is not a lifestyle to be consumed. This is a way of life, and if we don’t hang together, we’ll surely hang alone.

Byron Huhmann thanks for being with us on WMM.

Knife Crime’s 10-track debut, LOVELY GARY was released on April 13, 2021 by KC label Black-Site. Knife Crime play an Album Release Friday, April 30, at 7:00 PM with Emmaline Twist and Dan Jones & the Squids at Lemonade Park, 1628 Wyoming St, KCMO, in the West Bottoms. More at http://www.lemonadeparkkc.com and http://www.black-site.org

11:16

13. KNIFE CRIME — “Lump Sum”
    from: Lovely Gary / Black-Site / April 13, 2021
    [After spending months at Massive Sounds studio with producer Paul Malinowski in 2019 and then waiting out the worst of the pandemic’s stranglehold, Knife Crime’s debut album, Lovely Gary, is ready. Finally. // Knife Crime is a band of four veterans of Kansas City’s music community. Going back to the early 1990s, founding brothers Byron Huhmann on guitars, piano & lead vocals; Brad Huhmann on bass & vocals, have played with a small legion of bands, including TV Fifty, Onward Crispin Glover, the Dark Circles, Truck Stop Love, Red Kate and Lushbox. Jake Cardwell on drums & percussion came aboard in 2012, and has played drums for Reflector, the Belles, the Caves and the Conquerors. In 2018, multi-instrumentalist Jeremiah James Gonzalez on guitar & vocals joined, bringing along a resume that includes Elevator Division, Monta at Odds, Be/Non, Umberto, Rhunes and Redder Moon. Songs by Knife Crime. Recorded & mixed by Paul Malinowski, at Massive Sound Studios, Shawnee, KS Mastering by Mike Nolte, Eureka Mastering, Portland, Oregon. Additional mastering & lacquer cutting: Chris Muth, Taloowa Corp., Yonkers, NY. Vinyl Manufacturing: Kindercore Vinyl, Athens, GA. // Follow up to their single release “Falcon” on January 8, 2020. Produced by Knife Crime. Mastered by Dave Gaume at Element Recording Studios. Knife Ccrime is a 4-piece Kansas City based band formed on January 19, 2011. More info at: http://www.black-site.org]

[Knife Crime play an Album Release Friday, April 30, at 7:00 PM with Emmaline Twist and Dan Jones & the Squids at Lemonade Park, 1628 Wyoming St, KCMO, in the West Bottoms. More at http://www.lemonadeparkkc.com and http://www.black-site.org]

11:20

14. Solohawk – “Wave”
    from: “Wave” – Single / Solohawk / April 16, 2021
    [Wave is the first single from the upcoming album, The Radio Waves And Your Movies. It is backed by I Can’t Forget, recorded live at The Wright Opera House. Solohawk is: Steve Faceman on guitar & vocal, and Til Willis on guita & vocal & drums & bass. “Wave” was recorded and mixed by Til Willis at 1509 Recording Service. “I Can’t Forget” was recorded by Ethan and Eric Funk in Ouray, CO at the Wright Opera House.Mastered by John Hruska. Solohawk is an Indie-Folk duo consisting of Steve Faceman & Til Willis. Seeking refuge from their respective Rock bands, Faceman and Willis tour as an acoustically. A refreshingly stripped down adventure that both singer/songwriters enjoy, as it allows the camaraderie and personality of the songs to shine.More info at: http://www.solohawl.bandcamp.com]

15. The Roseline – “Joy”
    from: “Joy” – Single / Alt Country Club / May 7, 2021
    [The Roseline is releasing their second single “Joy” off their upcoming record ‘Constancy’ on May 7, 2021. The track features Colin Halliburton on lead vox/acoustic guitar/aux percussion, Bradley McKellip on electric guitars, Colin Jones on bass, Jim Piller on drums, and Heidi Gluck on organ and background vox. It was recorded and produced by Joel Nanos at Element Recording Studios in Kansas City, Missouri. More information at: http://www.roselinemusic.com // The Roseline are a Lawrence, KS, based alt-country, Americana, rock band, formed by Colin Halliburton with friends in 2005. The Roseline released their 6th album GOOD / GRIEF on April 3, 2021. The Roseline released BLOOD on September 29, 2017; and TOWNIE on June 19, 2015. The band has toured the US and Halliburton has completed two European solo tours thus far, taking him through Poland, Germany, Belgium, and The Netherlands. Colin Halliburton joined us on WMM on March 25, 2020. More info at: https://roselinemusic.com/%5D

11:28 – Underwriting

16. Shawn M. Stewart – “Cameras (feat. Ro Myra)”
    from: 2020: The Musical / Shawn M. Stewart / November 13, 2020
    [singer songwriter Shawn M. Stewart is owner of Stewart 360. Shawn M. Stewart released his latest album 2020: THE MUSICAL last November. From that album the single “Cameras” was voted the #4 favorite song of the year, by Bridge 90.9 listeners and has received over 20,495 streams on Spotify and 1,500,000 streams on Soundcloud. Shawn M. Stewart has already written and recorded his next full length album titled POP, however he is holding it for a July 2021 release. In the meantime he is releasing the first single from POP, “Basic Ass Bro” on May 1, 2021. The single features Miki P and They Call Me Sauce. More info at: http://www.soundcloud.com/shawnmstewart%5D

11:33 – Interview with Shawn M. Stewart

Singer songwriter, Shawn M. Stewart owner of Stewart 360. Shawn M. Stewart released his latest album 2020: THE MUSICAL on November 13, 2020. It was one of those releases that seemed to get lost in the year end rush of releases and compilations of Best Of Shows that dominate our last 6 weeks of programming on WMM each year! Never-the-less the single “Cameras” from 2020: The Musical was voted the #4 favorite song of the year, by Bridge 90.9 listeners and has received over 20,495 streams on Spotify and 1,500,000 streams on Soundcloud. Shawn M. Stewart is almost like a music factory writing in multiple genres of music, for radio, television, film, for small unknown indie punk bands, rock and rollers and country too. Shawn has already written and recorded his next full length album titled POP, however he is holding it for a July 2021 release. In the meantime he is releasing the first single from POP, “Basic Ass Bro” on May 1, 2021. The single features Miki P and They Call Me Sauce. Info at: http://www.soundcloud.com/shawnmstewart

Shawn M. Stewart thank you for being with us on Wednesday MidDay Medley

Congratulations to Shawn Stewart on the new album and all of the attention his music is getting on Spotify, Soundcloud and TikTok.

On TikTok Shawn calls himself, “A Wes Anderson character, socially unhinged.”

On Soundcloud Shawn describes his sound as Psych-Americana-Alternative-Country-Rap.

On Spotify Shawn wrote that he just got a website in January 2021. And that he never took promotion seriously prior, but with help from a friend, they are going at 2021 with a vengeance and averaging nearly 700,000 weekly combined streams.

On Facebook Shawn identifies as a songwriter with published TV/Film material, a Top % finish in “Song of The Year” and that you play live…very infrequently

Shawn has previously been known as “Johnny Super Colossal” but he has decided to go forward with his real name.

He is actually maintaining a site now: http://www.ShawnMStewart.com. He is stressing the “M” because a guy with a markedly different sound has the .com and is all over the music channels.

Shawn M. Stewart released his latest album 2020: THE MUSICAL last November 13, 2020

“I Fell For You” featuring NY rock goddess, Debra Devi has 12,650 Spotify and 660,600 streams on Soundcloud.

“Cameras”, the other single from “2020” has 20,495 and 1,500,000 on SoundCloud. It was the listener’s Poll #4 of 2020 on The Bridge.

“Jesus Came Down” was never released but somehow caught on, with 4,605 Spotify and 375,700 on SoundCloud

“I Drink Therefore I Am” was released on Soundcloud only and got 844,100 streams. It features Marco Pascolini.

December and January were slow with social justice initiatives because of Covid and the cold, so Shawn knocked out the next album, “Pop”. He is going to wait and release it in July, however he is releasing “Basic Ass Bro”, the first single, everywhere on May 1, 2021.

“Pop” is 100% radio pop. Many songs are better suited to Mix 93 than KKFI or The Bridge. Some isong use auto tune and were produced in Europe. It will not be for everybody. Other facts and stats:

“Bad-Hippie Girl (Modern Mix) is the only song written before December which will be on the album. On pre-release via soundcloud, it has amassed 1,500,000 streams.
“Average Joe” has 1,100,000 on soundcloud’s pre-release.

“Lorem Ipsum” has 1,000,000 streams and 22,000 TikTok views.

Shawn M. Stewart Thank you for being with us on Wednesday MidDay Medley

Shawn M. Stewart released his latest album 2020: THE MUSICAL on November 13, 2020. Shawn M. Stewart has already written and recorded his next full length album titled POP, however he is holding it for a July 2021 release. In the meantime he is releasing the first single from POP, “Basic Ass Bro” on May 1, 2021. The single features Miki P and They Call Me Sauce. More info at: http://www.soundcloud.com/shawnmstewart

11:45

17. Shawn M. Stewart-“Basic Ass Bro (feat. Miki P & They Call Me Sauce)”(CD #17)(2:43)
    from:“Basic Ass Bro(feat. Miki P & They Call Me Sauce)”-Single/Shawn M Stewart/May 1 2021
    [Shawn M. Stewart has already written and recorded his next full length album titled POP, however he is holding it for a July 2021 release. In the meantime he is releasing the first single from POP, “Basic Ass Bro,”. The single features Miki P and They Call Me Sauce. Singer songwriter Shawn M. Stewart is owner of Stewart 360. Shawn M. Stewart released his latest album 2020: THE MUSICAL last November. From that album the single “Cameras” was voted the #4 favorite song of the year, by Bridge 90.9 listeners and has received over 20,495 streams on Spotify and 1,500,000 streams on Soundcloud. More info at: http://www.soundcloud.com/shawnmstewart%5D

11:49

18. Altin Gün – “Leyla” (CD #18) (3:18)
    from: Gece / ATO Records / April 26, 2021
    [Amsterdam based band with a Turkish-psychedelic sound. With Ben Rider on guitar; Daniel Smienk on drums; Erdinç Ecevit on synthsizers, saz, & vocals; Gino Groenveld on percussion; Jasper Verhulst on electric bass; and Merve Daşdemir on vocals & keysboards. Following their hotly tipped 2018 debut album “On” – Altın Gün returns with an exhilarating second album. “Gece” firmly establishes the band as essential interpreters of the Anatolian rock and folk legacy and as a leading voice in the emergent global psych-rock scene. Explosive, funky and transcendent. // The world is rarely what it seems. A quick glance doesn’t always reveal the full truth. To find that, you need to burrow deeper. Listen to Altın Gün, for example: they sound utterly Turkish, but only one of the Netherlands based band’s six members was actually born there. And while their new album, Gece, is absolutely electric, filled with funk-like grooves and explosive psychedelic textures, what they play – by their own estimation – is folk music. // “It really is,” insists band founder and bass player Jasper Verhulst. “The songs come out of a long tradition. This is music that tries to be a voice for a lot of other people.” // While most of the material here has been a familiar part of Turkish life for many years – some of it associated with the late national icon Neşet Ertaş – it’s definitely never been heard like this before. This music is electric Turkish history, shot through with a heady buzz of 21st century intensity. // Pumping, flowing, a new and leading voice in the emergent global psych scene. // “We do have a weak spot for the music of the late ‘60s and ‘70s,” Verhulst admits. “With all the instruments and effects that arrived then, it was an exciting time. Everything was new, and it still feels fresh. We’re not trying to copy it, but these are the sounds we like and we’re trying to make them our own.” // And what they create really is theirs. Altın Gün radically reimagine an entire tradition. The electric saz (a three-string Turkish lute) and voice of Erdinç Ecevit (who has Turkish roots) is urgent and immediately distinctive, while keyboards, guitar, bass, drums, and percussion power the surging rhythms and Merve Daşdemir (born and raised in Istanbul) sings with the mesmerizing power of a young Grace Slick. This isn’t music that seduces the listener: it demands attention. // Altın Gün – the name translates as “golden day” – are focused, relentless and absolutely assured in what they do. What is remarkable is the band has only existed for two years and didn’t play in public until November 2017; now they have almost 200 shows under their belt. It all grew from Verhulst’s obsession with Turkish music. He’d been aware of it for some time but a trip to Istanbul while playing in another band gave him the chance to discover so much more. But Verhulst wasn’t content to just listen, he had a vision for what the music could be. And Altın Gün was born. // “For me, finding out about this music is crate digging,” he admits. “None of it is widely available in the Netherlands. Of course, since our singers are Turkish, they know many of these pieces. All this is part of the country’s musical past, their heritage, like ‘House of The Rising Sun’ is in America.” // As Verhulst delves deeper and deeper into old Turkish music, he’s constantly seeking out things that grab his ear. // “I’m listening for something we can change and make into our own. You have to understand that most of these songs have had hundreds of different interpretations over the years. We need something that will make people stop and listen, as if it’s the first time they’ve heard it.” // It’s a testament to Altın Gün’s work and vision that everything on Gece sounds so cohesive. They bring together music from many different Anatolian sources (the only original is the improvised piece “Şoför Bey”) so that it bristles with the power and tightness of a rock band; echoing new textures and radiating a spectrum of vibrant color (ironic, as gece means “night” in Turkish). It’s the sound of a band both committed to its sources and excitedly transforming them. It’s the sound of Altın Gün. Incandescent and sweltering. // Creating the band’s sound is very much a collaborative process, Verhulst explains. // “Sometimes me or the singer will come in with a demo of our ideas. Sometimes an idea will just come up and we’ll work on it together at rehearsals. However we start, it’s always finished by the whole band. We can feel very quickly if it’s going to work, if this is really our song.” // Just how Altın Gün can collectively spark and burn is evident in the YouTube concert video they made for the legendary Seattle radio station KEXP. In just under 20 minutes they set out their irresistible manifesto for an electrified, contemporary Turkish folk rock. It’s utterly compelling. And with around 800,000 views, it has helped make them known around the world. // “It certainly got us a lot of attention,” Verhulst agrees. “I think a lot of that interest originally came from Turkey, plenty of people there shared it.” // That might be how it began, but it’s not the whole tale. The waves have spread far beyond the Bosphorus. What started out as a deep passion for Turkish folk and psychedelia has taken on a resonance that now travels widely. The band has played all over Europe, has ventured to Turkey and Australia and will soon bring their music to North America for the first time. // “Not a lot of other bands are doing what we do,” he says, “playing songs in that style and seeing folk music in the same way.” ]

19. Kat King – “Don’t Wanna Lose”
    from: “Don’t Wanna Lose” – Single / Kat King / April 14, 2021
    [1st single from her upcoming 5-track EP recorded with her band. Lawrence Kansas based singer songwriter Kat King released her last single Song of Spain in 2019 and her single “2017” in, 2018. She released her 5-song EP “Falling Up” on December 1, 2017. Kat King has been creating music since the 2nd grade. She’s produced one 13-song album and three EP’s, the first one released at the age of 14. More info at: http://www.katbking.com ]

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

Next week on Wednesday, May 5, we welcome special guests: Fally Afani, Cuee, Calvin Arsenia, and Greg LaFollette

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/WednesdayMidDayMedleyon90.1

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