Wednesday MidDay Medley
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Produced and Hosted by Mark Manning

Wednesday, September 29, 2021

Nico Gray returns as Guest Producer

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

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

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

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

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

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

10:16

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

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

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

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

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

10:33 – Underwriting

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

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

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

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

10:58 – Station ID

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

11:30 – Underwriting

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Show #926