Does this look like fireworks to you?
Wednesday MidDay Medley
TEN to NOON Wednesdays – Streaming at KKFI.org
90.1 FM KKFI – Kansas City Community Radio
Produced and Hosted by Mark Manning
Wednesday, July 4, 2018
Spinning Songs about America from Americans,
plus a few Russians, Canadians, Swedish, Nigerians, & English too.
The Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The Continental Congress declared that the thirteen American colonies regarded themselves as a new nation, the United States of America, and were no longer part of the British Empire. The Congress actually voted to declare independence two days earlier, on July 2.
1. “Main Title Instrumental – It’s Showtime Folks”
from: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack to All That Jazz / 1980
[WMM’s theme song]
2. U.S. Girls – “Velvet 4 Sale”
from: In a Poem Unlimited / 4AD / February 16, 1979
[6th studio album from U.S. Girls, the recording moniker of American-Canadian musician Meghan Remy. Formed in the United States in 2007 as a noise-pop project, Remy later moved the band to Toronto after marrying Canadian musician Max “Slim Twig” Turnbull. She released music on a variety of independent labels in both the United States and Canada before signing to 4AD in 2015. Her first record for that label, Half Free, was released the same year. Half Free garnered a Juno Award nomination for Alternative Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2016, and was a shortlisted finalist for the 2016 Polaris Music Prize. In a Poem Unlimited is her follow up and second release on 4AD.] [First play February 28, 2018]
3. Gil Scott-Heron – “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”
from: Pieces of a Man / RCA / 1971
[Gilbert “Gil” Scott-Heron was born April 1, 1949 and died May 27, 2011. He was an American soul and jazz poet, musician, and author, and activist. Its amazing how relevant this piece is 46 years after its release. Written by Gil Scott-Heron who first recorded it for his 1970 album Small Talk at 125th and Lenox, on which he recited the lyrics, accompanied by congas and bongo drums. A re-recorded version, with a full band, was the B-side to Scott-Heron’s first single, “Home Is Where the Hatred Is”, from his album Pieces of a Man (1971). It was also included on his compilation album, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (1974). All these releases were issued on the Flying Dutchman Productions record label. The song’s title was originally a popular slogan among the 1960s Black Power movements in the United States. Its lyrics either mention or allude to several television series, advertising slogans and icons of entertainment and news coverage that serve as examples of what “the revolution will not” be or do. The song is a response to the spoken word piece “When the Revolution Comes” by The Last Poets, from their eponymous debut, which opens with the line “When the revolution comes some of us will probably catch it on TV”.]
4. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit – “White Man’s World”
from: The Nashville Sound / Southestern Records / June 16, 2017
[Michael Jason Isbell was born February 1, 1979 and is a singer-songwriter & guitarist from Green Hill, Alabama, two miles from the Alabama/Tennessee state line. He is best known for his solo career, his work with the band The 400 Unit, and as a former member of Drive-By Truckers, from 2001 to 2007. He has won two Grammy Awards. This is the 6th studio album by Jason Isbell, credited with the 400 Unit. It was produced by Dave Cobb, who also produced Isbell’s previous two records: 2013’s Southeastern and 2015’s Something More Than Free. The Nashville Sound was nominated for Best Americana Album in the 2018 Grammy Awards. The 400 Unit, is primarily made up of musicians from the Muscle Shoals, Alabama, area: Sadler Vaden on guitar, backup vocals; Jimbo Hart on bass, backup vocals; Derry DeBorja on keyboard, accordion, backup vocals; Chad Gamble on drums, backup vocals; Amanda Shires on fiddle, backup vocals. “The 400 Unit” is a colloquial name for the psychiatric ward of Florence, Alabama’s Eliza Coffee Memorial Hospital, which is now named the Behavioral Health Center, and is located on the hospital’s first floor. It was originally called the 400 unit because it was in a separate building from the main building’s 3-story hospital. After renovation in the 1980s, the name was changed. Isbell married singer-songwriter and violinist Amanda Shires, with whom he’d worked on and off for a decade, in February 2013, two days after they finished Southeastern. Musician Todd Snider married them. The couple had a baby girl, Mercy Rose, on September 1, 2015. Isbell has lived in Nashville, Tennessee, since 2011. He is an Atlanta Braves fan and a Democrat. In November of 2017 Isbell was asked on Twitter “Why do we have to inject politics in every aspect of our life can’t we just enjoy the music and the football games?” He responded “Until you are the one being treated unfairly, that’s easy to say.”]
[Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit play Providence Amphitheatre, 633 N. 130th St., Bonner Springs, Kansas on Friday, July 13, at 6:30 with Turnpike Troubadours, and Old 97’s.]
5. The Milk Carton Kids – “Mourning in America”
from: All the Things That I Did and All the Things That I Didn’t Do / Anti / JUne 29, 2018
[The Milk Carton Kids are an American indie folk duo from Eagle Rock, California, United States, consisting of singers and guitarists Kenneth Pattengale and Joey Ryan, who began making music together in early 2011. The band has recorded and released five albums: Retrospect, Prologue, The Ash & Clay, Monterey, and All the Things That I Did and All the Things That I Didn’t Do. They are noted for releasing their first two albums for free. Pitchfork writes about their new album: “Pattengale and Ryan have loosened their restrictions, inviting a cast of session pros that includes Wilco’s Pat Sansone to add splashes of piano, strings, and thumping drums to their songs. The additions are often subtle—conceptually, they have more in common with Beach House’s quiet amalgamation of synth tones than with Bob Dylan going electric—but they have an outsized impact on the group’s dynamics. These songs continue the world-weary narratives of earlier tracks like “Michigan” and “Years Gone By,” albeit with heightened urgency: Pattengale overcame a cancer diagnosis and the dissolution of a long-term relationship before recording got underway. Paradoxically, though, the album crackles with newfound levity and muscle.”]
6. Brian Eno & David Byrne – “America Is Waiting (2006 Digital Remaster)”
from: My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts / Nonesuch / February 1, 1981 [Reissued 2006]
[My Life in the Bush of Ghosts is the first collaborative album by Brian Eno and David Byrne, released in February 1981. Borrowing its title from Amos Tutuola’s 1954 novel of the same name, the album integrates sampled vocals and found sounds, African and Middle Eastern rhythms, and electronic music techniques. It was recorded prior to Eno and Byrne’s work on Talking Heads’ fourth album Remain in Light (1980), but sample clearance problems delayed its release until several months after. The extensive use of sampling on the album is widely considered innovative, though its influence on the sample-based music genres that later emerged is debated. AllMusic critic John Bush describes it as a “pioneering work for countless styles connected to electronics, ambience and Third World music”.[3] Pitchfork listed it as the 21st best album of the 1980s, while Slant Magazine listed the album at No. 83 on its list of the “Best Albums of 1980s”. Eno and Byrne first worked together on More Songs About Buildings and Food, the 1978 album by Byrne’s band Talking Heads. My Life was primarily recorded during a break between touring for Fear of Music (1979) and the recording of Remain in Light (1980), subsequent Talking Heads albums also produced by Eno, but the release was delayed while legal rights were sought for the large number of samples used throughout the album. Eno described the album as a “vision of a psychedelic Africa.” Rather than conventional pop or rock singing, most of the vocals are sampled from other sources, such as commercial recordings of Arabic singers, radio disc jockeys, and an exorcist. Musicians had previously used similar sampling techniques, but critic Dave Simpson said it had never before been used “to such cataclysmic effect” as on My Life. In 2001, Eno denied that he and Byrne had invented sampling, citing Holger Czukay’s experiments with dictaphones and short-wave radios as earlier examples. He felt that the “difference was, I suppose, that I decided to make [sampling] the lead vocal”. According to Byrne’s 2006 sleeve notes, neither he nor Eno had read Tutuola’s novel, but felt the title “seemed to encapsulate what this record was about”. “America Is Waiting” samples Ray Taliaferro of KGO NEWSTALK AM 810, San Francisco, April 1980.]
7. Chris Hazelton’s Boogaloo 7 – “The Basement Beat (Part 2)”
from: “The Basement Beat” – Parts 1 & 2 / Sunflower Soul / June 22, 2018
[Hammond organist Chris Hazelton and his large-group Boogaloo 7 pay homage to greats such as Lonnie Smith, Jimmy McGriff, Grant Green, and Lou Donaldson with their groove-centered brand of jazz, all the while pushing the genre forward with exciting new and original music. More information at: http://www.chrishazelton.com. Chris Hazelton on Hammond B-3 organ, Nick Howell on trumpet, Nick Rowland on tenor sax, Brett Jackson on baritone sax, Matt Hopper on guitar, Danny Rojas on drums , and Pat Conway on congas. Recorded live to 8-track analog tape, mixed, and produced by Chris Hazelton at the FORTRESS OF SOULITUDE. Mastered and lacquers cut by Adam Boose at Cauliflower Audio. Pressed by Gotta Groove Records. Chris Hazelton’s Boogaloo 7 will be releasing “The Basement Beat” 6-song EP on 12″, on July 20, and a second single 7″ called “100 Days, 100 Nights” also on July 20, but released on Lugnut Records as part of a tribute to Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings.]
10:27 – Underwriting
9. Other Americans – “Curtis Mayfield”
from: Other Americans EP / AWAL Records / June 29, 2018
[Debut self-titled EP from Julie Berndsen on lead vocals, Adam Phillips on drums, Brandon Phillips on guitar, Zachary Phillips on bass. Hailing from the musical hotbeds of Kansas City, MO, and Lawrence, KS, the electro-alternative OTHER AMERICANS are comprised of members of such regional luminaries as The Architects, Latenight Callers, Radar State and Brandon Phillips and The Condition, Other Americans is a virtual Midwestern supergroup of sorts. The cohorts first crossed paths in when a mutual friend and matchmaker introduced Brandon Phillips to vocalist Julie Berndsen “We were all looking for something new to do musically, recalls Brandon. “The way I remember it, a mutual friend (KC music producer Joel Nanos) told me that Julie was looking to start something new and I sent her a note about it. We had tacos to see if we liked each other.” With first date jitters behind them, the duo enlisted drummer Adam Phillips, bassist Zachary Phillips and late keyboardist Ehren Starks, who passed away suddenly in March 2018, and began writing the material that would become the EP. The band premiered the late night public access by-way-of 120 Minutes-inspired video for lead single, “Murdering Crows,” directed by artist Adrian Halperin, via The Spill Magazine in May 2018, exposing the band’s brand of kickass dance rock to a broad and international audience. Superlatively catchy and conjuring up well-intentioned comparisons to Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Fiery Furnaces, and even a jauntier and more aggressive Passion Pit, the new EP captures the excitement and spontaneity that punctuates coastal indie rock while embracing elements of the electronic dance rock that populates midnight warehouse parties. “All the basic tracking [for the EP] was done at Element Recording and was mastered by Nanos,” he recalls. “Then I took it to my spot and worked and reworked it all for a year until it sounded like something none of us had heard before.” Prior to the EP’s release the band makes their hard fought and won live debut on June 11, 2018, at Kansas City’s Riot Room, an already sold-out performance supporting singer songwriter Meg Myers. The band will also release their video for “Make Me Afraid,” directed by Todd Norris and Mitch Brian, in coming weeks. Illuminated with the knowledge that the journey is as important as the destination, Phillips admits to looking forward to the period of dues paying that their debut brings. “I’m looking forward to all the firsts;. first show. first record. first tour. Magical thinking could have me pining for a post-Grammys Maserati coke party by the sea, but if I’m all wrapped up in making that fantasy come true, I’ll miss the fun of being present for the firsts and the fifths and the tenths.” From there the plan becomes a bit more complicated, “ The ‘Plan” as I see it is to con some major label artist into taking us out as support, steal their identities on laundry day, have reconstructive surgery, then only tour in countries without U.S. extradition treaties,” Brandon jokes. ]
[Other Americans played Middle of The Map Saturday, June 30, at 1:30, at The Brick, 1727 McGee.]
10. Curtis Mayfield – “Superfly”
from: Superfly (Soundtrack from the Motion Picture) / Curtom Records / July, 1972
[We hear in the bridge Curtis singing, “Trying to get over” the theme we hear in so many of Curtis Mayfield’s incredible recordings. Super Fly is the third studio album by American soul musician Curtis Mayfield. It was released as the soundtrack for the Blaxploitation film of the same name. Widely considered a classic of 1970s soul and funk music, Super Fly was a nearly immediate hit. Its sales were bolstered by two million-selling singles, “Freddie’s Dead” (#2 R&B, #4 Pop) and the title track (#5 R&B, #8 Pop). Super Fly is one of the few soundtracks to out-gross the film it accompanied. Super Fly, along with Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On, was one of the pioneering soul concept albums, with its then-unique socially aware lyrics about poverty and drug abuse making the album stand out. The film and the soundtrack may be perceived as dissonant, since the film holds rather ambiguous views on drug dealers, whereas Curtis Mayfield’s position is far more critical. Like What’s Going On, the album was a surprise hit that record executives felt had little chance at significant sales. Due to its success, Mayfield was tapped for several film soundtracks over the course of the decade. Curtis Lee Mayfield was born in Chicago on June 3, 1942, He died on December 26, 1999. An American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer, and one of the most influential musicians behind soul and politically conscious African-American music, he first achieved success and recognition with The Impressions during the civil rights movement of the late 1950s and 1960s, and later worked as a solo artist. Mayfield started his musical career in a gospel choir. Moving to the North Side, he met Jerry Butler in 1956 at the age of 14, and joined the vocal group The Impressions. As a songwriter, Mayfield became noted as one of the first musicians to bring more prevalent themes of social awareness into soul music. In 1965, he wrote “People Get Ready” for the Impressions, which displayed his more politically charged songwriting. Ranked at no. 24 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, the song received numerous other awards, and was included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll, as well as being inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998. After leaving the Impressions in 1970 in the pursuit of a solo career, Mayfield released several albums, including the soundtrack for the blaxploitation film Super Fly in 1972. The soundtrack was noted for its socially conscious themes, mostly addressing problems surrounding inner city minorities such as crime, poverty and drug abuse. The album was ranked at no. 72 on Rolling Stone’s list of 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Mayfield was paralyzed from the neck down after lighting equipment fell on him during a live performance at Wingate Field in Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York, on August 13, 1990. Despite this, he continued his career as a recording artist, releasing his final album New World Order in 1996. Mayfield won a Grammy Legend Award in 1994 and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1995, and was a double inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as a member of the Impressions in 1991, and again in 1999 as a solo artist. He was also a two-time Grammy Hall of Fame inductee. He died from complications of type 2 diabetes in 1999 at the age of 57.]
11. First Aid Kit – “Fireworks”
from: Ruins / Columbia / January 19, 2018
[4th full length album from Swedish folk duo of sisters: Klara (vocals/guitar) and Johanna Söderberg (vocals/keyboards/Autoharp/bass guitar). When performing live, the duo are accompanied by a drummer, a pedal steel guitarist and recently a keyboard player. They have now released four albums, two EPs and a handful of singles. In 2015 they were nominated for a Brit Award as one of the 5 best international groups. Sisters Johanna & Klara Söderberg are from Enskede, in the outskirts of Stockholm. Johanna was born Oct 31, 1990 and Klara on Jan 8, 1993. Their father was a member of the Swedish rock band Lolita Pop but he quit before Johanna was born and later became a teacher of history & religion. Their mother is a teacher of cinematography. From childhood, Klara & Johanna were eager singers by giving concerts using a jump rope as a pretend microphone. Klara’s first favorite songs were Judy Garland’s songs from The Wizard of Oz and Billie Holiday’s version of Gloomy Sunday, that she sang without much understanding of the English lyrics. Klara wrote her first song “Femton mil i min Barbiebil” when she was six. They both attended the International English school of Enskede. Klara applied for admission to a music school but she was not accepted. In 2005 when Klara was 12, a friend introduced her to the band Bright Eyes. This led her to country music stars such as Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Carter family, Louvin Brothers, Townes Van Zandt, Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris. The same year she received a guitar as a Christmas present and quickly learned to play it. Johanna enjoyed a wide range of music from Britney Spears to German Techno. However, it wasn’t until watching the film O Brother, Where Art Thou? and listening to the film’s soundtrack that she was inspired to sing “Down to the River to Pray” with sister, Klara. Fascinated by the result they started to sing together at home and then as street singers, in the Stockholm metro and in front of liquor stores. They came up with the name for their band simply by randomly opening a dictionary.Klara and Johanna also started to write and compose their own country-folk songs inspired by Devendra Banhart and CocoRosie, among others, without much influence from their parents who were more fond of Patti Smith, Velvet Underground and Pixies. Their father confessed later in a Swedish radio program that he was astonished and actually a little jealous of the ease his daughters had in producing top-notch music. The most important advice their father gave to them was to sing so loud that even somebody behind the wall could hear it.]
12. Talking Heads – “No Compassion”
from: Talking Heads: 77 / Sire / September 16, 1977
[Talking Heads: David Byrne on guitar, lead vocals; Chris Frantz on drums, steel pan; Jerry Harrison on guitar, keyboards, backing vocals; Tina Weymouth on bass guitar. Production: Tony Bongiovi & Lance Quinn & Talking Heads – producers; Ed Stasium – engineer; Joe Gastwirt – mastering; Mick Rock – photography. Talking Heads: 77 is the debut album by the American rock band Talking Heads, released in September 1977. The single “Psycho Killer” reached No. 92 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart. In 2003, the album was ranked No. 290 on Rolling Stone magazine’s The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list. The album was released by Sire Records in the UK and US and Philips Records throughout continental Europe. In 2005, it was remastered and re-released by Warner Music Group on their Warner Bros./Sire Records/Rhino Records labels.]
13. David Byrne & Fatboy Slim feat: Sharon Jones – “Dancing Together”
from: Here Lies Love / Todo Mundo – Nonesuch Records / April 6, 2010
[a collaboration between David Byrne & Fatboy Slim, (a.k.a. Norman Cook). A musical documentary that tells the story of Philippine First Lady Imelda Marcos and her rise to prominence as a young beauty Queen, who is pursued and then married to Ferdinand. The 2-disc album includes 22 songs, that tell the parallel tale of Estella Cumpas, the servant who raised Marcos. The songs are in chronological order of the major periods in Imelda’s life. Delux edition comes with 120-page book with photos where you can follow her story. Later staged as a musical and an original musical soundtrack.]
14. Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings – “This Land is Your Land”
from: Naturally / Daptone / 2005
[written by Woody Guthrie][In November 2016, Sharon Jones suffered a stroke while watching the 2016 United States presidential election results and another the following day. Jones remained alert and lucid during the initial period of her hospital stay, jokingly claiming that the news of Donald Trump’s victory was responsible for her stroke. She died on November 18, 2016, in Cooperstown, New York, aged 60. Sharon Lafaye Jones was born May 4, 1956 and died this year on November 18, 2016. She was an American soul and funk singer. Although she collaborated with Lou Reed, David Byrne and others, she is best known as lead singer of Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, a soul and funk band based in Brooklyn, New York. Jones experienced breakthrough success relatively late in life, releasing her first record when she was 40 years old. In 2014, Jones was nominated for her first Grammy, in the category Best R&B Album, for Give the People What They Want. Jones was born in Augusta, Georgia, the daughter of Ella Mae Price Jones and Charlie Jones, living in adjacent North Augusta, South Carolina. Jones was the youngest of six children; her siblings are Dora, Charles, Ike, Willa and Henry. Jones’s mother raised her deceased sister’s four children as well as her own. She moved the family to New York City when Sharon was a young child. As children, she and her brothers would often imitate the singing and dancing of James Brown. Her mother happened to know Brown, who was also from Augusta.Jones grew up in the Bedford Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. In 1975, she graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in Brooklyn. She attended Brooklyn College. A regular gospel singer in church, Jones often entered talent shows backed by local funk bands in the early 1970s. Session work then continued with backing vocals, often credited to Lafaye Jones, but in the absence of any recording contract as a solo singer, she spent many years working as a corrections officer at Rikers Island and as an armored car guard for Wells Fargo, until receiving a mid-life career break in 1996 after she appeared on a session backing the soul and deep funk legend Lee Fields. Sharon Jones was part of the very beginning of Daptone Records Daptone Records’ first release was a full-length album by Sharon Jones. A new band, the Dap-Kings, was formed from the former members of the Soul Providers and the Mighty Imperials. Some of the musicians went on to record for Lehman’s Soul Fire label, while some formed the Budos Band, an Afro-beat band. From the original Soul Providers, Roth (also known as Bosco Mann) on bass, guitarist and emcee Binky Griptite, percussionist Fernando Velez, trumpet player Anda Szilagyi and organist Earl Maxton were joined by original Mighty Imperials saxophonist Leon Michels and drummer Homer Steinweiss, plus Neal Sugarman from Sugarman 3, to form The Dap-Kings. Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, the released the album Dap Dippin’ with Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings in May of 2002, , for which they received immediate attention and acclaim from enthusiasts, DJs and collectors. Next they released, Naturally (2005), 100 Days, 100 Nights (2007) and I Learned the Hard Way (2010). They are seen by many as the spearhead of a revival of soul and funk.]
11:00 – Station Identification
14. Janelle Monáe — “Americans”
from: Dirty Computer / Wondaland Arts Sociaety – Bad Boy – Epic / April 27, 2018
[Janelle Monáe moved from Kansas City, Kansas to New York to study theatre at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy. Her original plan was to pursue a career on Broadway, but she soon changed her mind and returned to music. After moving to Atlanta, GA, where she met OutKast’s Big Boi, Monáe founded the Wondaland Arts Society with like-minded young artists and made appearances on Outcast’s Idlewild, where Janelle is featured on the songs “Call The Law” and “In Your Dreams”. In 2007, Monáe released her first solo work, titled Metropolis. A few months later she was signed to Sean “Diddy” Combs’ label, Bad Boy Records. Dirty Computer is the third studio album by Janelle Monáe. In October 2016, Monáe made her big screen acting debut in the critically acclaimed film Moonlight. Monáe also starred in the film Hidden Figures. While filming her two movie roles, Monáe remained active in music with features on Grimes’ “Venus Fly” from her Art Angels album and also the soundtrack for the Netflix series The Get Down with a song titled, “Hum Along and Dance (Gotta Get Down)”. She was also on the tracks “Isn’t This the World” and “Jalapeño” for the Hidden Figures soundtrack. In an interview with People, Monáe revealed that she was already working on her third studio album when she received the scripts for her two first acting roles; therefore, she put the album on hold. It was confirmed by Monae after “Make Me Feel” was released that Prince, with whom she collaborated on her preceding album, The Electric Lady, had worked on the single, as well as the entire album, before he passed away. This was confirmed after listeners noticed similarities between the single’s sound and the late musician’s work. Monae stated in an interview with BBC Radio 1: “Prince was actually working on the album with me before he passed on to another frequency, and helped me come up with some sounds. And I really miss him, you know, it’s hard for me to talk about him. But I do miss him, and his spirit will never leave me.”
15. David Bowie – “Under Pressure”
from: A Reality Tour / ISO – Columbia – Legacy / January 25, 2010
[David Bowie on vocals, guitars, Stylophone, harmonica; Gail Ann Dorsey on bass guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals on “Under Pressure”; Earl Slick on guitar; Gerry Leonard on guitar, backing vocals; Sterling Campbell on drums; Mike Garson on keyboards, piano; Catherine Russell on keyboards, percussion, acoustic guitar, backing vocals.A Reality Tour is a live album by David Bowie that features November 22 and 23, 2003 performances in Dublin during his concert tour A Reality Tour. This is an audio version of the concert video of the same name, except that it adds three bonus tracks. The digital download on iTunes adds two more bonus tracks. The set list includes tracks spanning Bowie’s 30 plus years in the music business, from The Man Who Sold the World (1970) all the way to the then current Reality (2003), along with collaborations such as “Sister Midnight” (with Iggy Pop; originally from The Idiot (1977)) and “Under Pressure” (with Queen; released as a single in 1981 and later found on Hot Space the following year). There is a bit more focus, however, on tracks from the albums released since the Earthling World Tour in 1997, Heathen (2002), and Reality, whose tracks constitute 10 of the 35 songs performed. The only exception from his latest albums is Hours (1999); no tracks from this album were included on this release, possibly due to poor reception of the album, and no songs from the album were included in his touring repertoire. Other albums with no appearance included the cover album Pin Ups (1973), Never Let Me Down (1987), the albums produced with the band Tin Machine (Tin Machine (1989) and Tin Machine II (1991), and Black Tie White Noise (1993). Aladdin Sane (1973) & Station to Station (1976) also made no concert appearances in the video, although songs from both albums were performed on the tour. A notable inclusion into the performance was the set of three songs from The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972) as the final encore. Though Bowie had performed the pieces many times through his career, the pieces had not been toured regularly since 1978 when the live interpretations were featured on the Stage album released that same year. The interpretations presented often a heavier and more complex sound than those of the album releases to suit the band for which the Reality album had been written; a more dynamic “Rebel Rebel” was arranged as an opener which included notably some audience participation and Bowie finishing his performance with the Irish phrase “Tiocfaidh ár lá”, which means “Our day will come”. Use of audience vocals appear in a number of tunes, including “All the Young Dudes”and “Life on Mars?”, which the audience faithfully sang along to. Electronic songs such as “Sunday” and “Heathen (The Rays)” feature new “Spooky Ghost” guitar arrangements by Gerry Leonard. “Loving the Alien” is rearranged for acoustic guitar and is performed solely by Bowie and Leonard. “Under Pressure” is a 1981 song by the British rock band Queen and the British singer David Bowie. It was included on Queen’s 1982 album Hot Space. The song reached number one on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Queen’s second number-one hit in their home country (after 1975’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”, which topped the chart for nine weeks) and Bowie’s third (after 1980’s “Ashes to Ashes” and the 1975 reissue of “Space Oddity”). The song only peaked at No. 29 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in January 1982, and would re-chart for one week at No. 45 in the US following Bowie’s death in January 2016. It was also number 31 on VH1’s 100 Greatest Songs of the ’80s. It has been voted the second best collaboration of all time in a poll by the Rolling Stone magazine. The song was played live at every Queen concert from 1981 until the end of Queen’s touring career in 1986.] Timothy Finn reviewed David Bowie’s May 10, 2004 concert at Starlight Theatre, his last appearance in KC. check the archives at: http://www.kansascity.com: “Monday’s show before a near-sellout crowd lasted nearly 150 minutes and covered 27 songs and 35 years of material. – The crowd, which ranged in age from kids in their early teens to men and women in their 60s (new punks to retired hippies), responded as expected to the well-known songs, like “The Man Who Sold the World.” – The heart of the show came late. After a brilliant version of “Under Pressure, “ featuring the vocally endowed bassist Gail Ann Dorsey (filling in for Freddie Mercury) and a straight rendition of “Changes, “ Bowie indulged in something old and obscure, “The Supermen” (from 1969).”
16. Superchunk – “Erasure (feat. Waxahatchee & Stephin Merritt)”
from: What a Time to Be Alive / Merge / Expected: February 16, 2018
[11th album release from band formed in 1989 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Superchunk is Mac McCaughan (guitar, vocals), Jim Wilbur (guitar, backing vocals), Jon Wurster (drums, backing vocals), and Laura Ballance (bass, backing vocals). Since releasing their first 7-inch in 1989, Superchunk has run the gamut of milestone albums: early punk rock stompers, polished mid-career masterpieces, and lush, adventurous curveballs. Recorded by Beau Sorenson at Manifold Recording, Pittsboro, NC., except “Break the Glass” and “I Got Cut” at Overdub Lane. Mastered by Matthew Barnhart at Chicago Mastering .]
17. Pussy Riot – “Make America Great Again”
from: xxx – EP / Big Deal – Nice Life – Federal Prism / October 28, 2016
[Nadya Tolokonnikova & Masha Alekhina from Pussy Riot just released “Make America Great Again” their third video released in October, following “Straight Outta Vagina” and “Organs.” Both those songs featured production from TV on the Radio’s Dave Sitek, with all three songs appearing on the band’s new EP, xxx. From Rolling Stone: “Make America Great Again” imagines a world in which Trump wins the upcoming presidential election. In the video, America’s new leader relies on muscled thugs to enforce his values, often by branding people he doesn’t like with hot metal. As Trump’s stormtroopers engage in various forms of torture, Pussy Riot sing a simple refrain: “Let other people in/ Listen to your women/ Stop killing black children/ Make America great again.” The jaunty, carefree music contrasts with the brutal events depicted on screen. The track came together with help from Ricky Reed, who has written and produced hits for Jason Derulo, Pitbull and 21 Pilots. Jonas Akerlund, who has helmed clips for Beyoncé and Taylor Swift, directed.]
18. MorMor – “Waiting on the Warmth [radio edit]”
from: Heaven’s Only Wishful – EP / Don’t Guess / June 22, 2018
[Artist, Singer-Producer, multi-instrumentalist, born and raised in Toronto. MorMor writes, records, and produces most of his own work. He tells pigeons and planes, “A lot of my inspiration stems from wanting to share a perspective of Toronto that I feel hasn’t been represented,” he says. “I’m glad Toronto is getting a lot of attention right now, but my experience of the city that has shaped me isn’t really part of the story yet.” he goes on to say, “I always felt different from the other kids at school. I went through a really hard time because I was the kid who always hung out with a wide variety of people. I kept searching for kids like me, but it never happened. In the end it gave me some good perspective. I was a pretty rebellious person when I was young. I had a problem with authority. I was reluctant to take orders if I didn’t believe in the cause. I might be the only kid who got suspended in the first grade. Music was something that I could escape through.]
11:24 – Underwriting
19. Femi Kuti – “One People One World”
from: One People One World / Knitting Factory Records / February 23, 2018
[Olufela Olufemi Anikulapo Kuti was born June 16, 1962 and is popularly known as Femi Kuti, a Nigerian musician born in London and raised in Lagos. He is the eldest son of afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti, and a grandchild of a political campaigner, women’s rights activist and traditional aristocrat Funmilayo Ransome Kuti. Femi’s musical career started when he began playing in his father’s band, Egypt 80. In 1986, Femi started his own band, Positive Force, and began establishing himself as an artist independent of his father’s massive legacy. His first record was released in 1995 by Tabu/Motown, followed four years later by Shoki Shoki (MCA), which garnered widespread critical acclaim. In 2001 he collaborated with Common, Mos Def and Jaguar Wright on Fight to Win, an effort to cross over to a mainstream audience, and started touring the United States with Jane’s Addiction. In 2004 he opened The Shrine, his club, where he recorded the live album Africa Shrine. After a 4-year absence due to personal setbacks, he re-emerged in 2008 with Day by Day and Africa for Africa in 2010, for which he received two Grammy nominations. In 2012 he was both inducted into the Headies Hall of Fame (the most prestigious music awards in Nigeria), was the opening act on the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ European arena tour and became an Ambassador for Amnesty International.]
20. Joan Baez – “The President Sang Amazing Grace”
from: Whistle Down the Wind / Razor & Tie Recordings / March 2, 2018
[On June 26, 2015 The Washington Post reported, “This whole week, I’ve been reflecting on this idea of grace,” said President Obama today, just before he broke into song at the funeral for South Carolina State Sen. Clementa Pinckney, a pastor killed along with eight others in last week’s Charleston, S.C., church shooting. Presdent Obama then sang “Amazing Grace.” singer songwriter Zoe Mulford wrote a song about nd included it in her January 7, 2017 album, Small Brown Birds. Joan Baez told The Atlantic, “I was driving when I heard ‘The President Sang Amazing Grace,’” Joan Baez told The Atlantic, “and I had to pull over to make sure I heard whose song it was because I knew I had to sing it.” The 77-year-old folk legend included the song in her final album, Whistle Down The Wind, released in early March. Originally written and performed by Zoe Mulford following the 2015 mass shooting in a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina. Whitsle Down The Wind is the 31st album release from Joan Chandos Baez born January 9, 1941, her first studio album in almost a decade. The album features songs written by such composers as Tom Waits, Josh Ritter and Mary Chapin Carpenter. Joe Henry produced the album. Joan Baez is a singer, songwriter, musician, and activist whose contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest or social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years,is fluent in Spanish and English, and has recorded songs in at least six other languages. Although regarded as a folk singer, her music has diversified since the counterculture era of the 1960s, and encompasses genres such as folk rock, pop, country and gospel music. She was one of the first major artists to record the songs of Bob Dylan in the early 1960s; Baez was already an internationally celebrated artist and did much to popularize his early songwriting efforts. Baez also performed fourteen songs at the 1969 Woodstock Festival and has displayed a lifelong commitment to political and social activism in the fields of nonviolence, civil rights, human rights and the environment. Baez was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on April 7, 2017.
21. Radiohead – “Karma Police”
from: OK Computer / XL Recordings / May 21, 1997
[2nd single from Radiohead’s third studio album. The song’s title and lyrics derive from an in-joke among the band, referring to karma, the Hindu theory of cause and effect. The song became a commercial success, charting at No. 8 on the UK Singles Chart and at No. 14 on the US Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart. In Iceland the song peaked at No. 1. Critical reception to the single was also favorable. Thom Yorke on lead vocals, acoustic guitar; Jonny Greenwood on piano, mellotron, analogue synthesizer; Colin Greenwood on bass; Ed O’Brien on electric guitar, backing vocals; and Phil Selway on drums.]
22. Krystle Warren – “I Don’t Know”
from: Sing Me The Songs Celebrating The Works of Kate McGarrigle / Nonesuch / June 21, 13
[Features highlights from three concerts in honor of the late Kate McGarrigle. Proceeds from the concerts provided seed money for the Kate McGarrigle Foundation a non-profit organization dedicated to raising money in the fight against sarcoma and also to preserving her legacy through the arts. Net proceeds from the sale of Sing Me the Songs also will be donated to the Foundation. The double-disc set was produced by Joe Boyd, who curated the concerts, and features performances by Rufus and Martha Wainwright, Anna McGarrigle, Emmylou Harris, Antony, Norah Jones, and Teddy Thompson, among others. The New York concerts were filmed for a feature documentary entitled Sing Me the Songs That Say I Love You: A Concert for Kate McGarrigle, directed by Lian Lunson (Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man) and produced by Luson and Teddy Wainwright. Candid interviews with McGarrigle’s family and friends are paired with rousing performances of her music.]
23. Simon & Garfunkel – “America”
from: Bookends / Columbia / April 3, 1968
[“America” is from their 4th studio album, Bookends. Produced by the duo and Roy Halee, the song was later issued as a single in 1972 to promote the release of Simon and Garfunkel’s Greatest Hits. The song was written and composed by Paul Simon, and concerns young lovers hitchhiking their way across the United States, in search of “America,” in both a literal and figurative sense. It was inspired by a 1964 road trip that Simon took with his then girlfriend Kathy Chitty. The song has been regarded as one of Simon’s strongest songwriting efforts and one of the duo’s best songs. A 2014 Rolling Stone reader’s poll ranked it the group’s fourth best song. Simon & Garfunkel were an American folk rock duo consisting of singer-songwriter Paul Simon and singer Art Garfunkel. They were one of the best-selling music groups of the 1960s and became counterculture icons of the decade’s social revolution, alongside artists such as the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and Bob Dylan. Their biggest hits—including “The Sound of Silence” (1964), “Mrs. Robinson” (1968), “The Boxer” (1969), and “Bridge over Troubled Water” (1970)—reached number one on singles charts worldwide. The duo met in elementary school in Queens, New York, in 1953, where they learned to harmonize together and began writing original material. By 1957, under the name Tom & Jerry, the teenagers had their first minor success with “Hey Schoolgirl”, a song imitating their idols The Everly Brothers. In 1963, aware of a growing public interest in folk music, they regrouped and were signed to Columbia Records as Simon & Garfunkel. Their debut, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., sold poorly, and they once again disbanded; Simon returned to a solo career, this time in England. In June 1965, their song “The Sound of Silence” was overdubbed, adding electric guitar and a drumkit to the original 1964 recording. This version became a major U.S. AM radio hit in 1965, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100. They reunited to release a second studio album Sounds of Silence and tour colleges nationwide. On their third release, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme (1966), the duo assumed more creative control. Their music was featured in the 1967 film The Graduate, giving them further exposure. Bookends (1968), their next album, topped the Billboard 200 chart and included the number-one single “Mrs. Robinson” from the film. Their often rocky relationship led to artistic disagreements, which resulted in their breakup in 1970. Their final studio record, Bridge over Troubled Water (released in January of that year), was their most successful, becoming one of the world’s best-selling albums. After their breakup, they both continued recording, Simon releasing a number of highly acclaimed albums, including 1986’s Graceland. Garfunkel also briefly pursued an acting career, with leading roles in two Mike Nichols films, Catch-22 and Carnal Knowledge, and in Nicolas Roeg’s 1980 Bad Timing, as well as releasing some solo hits such as “All I Know”. The duo have reunited several times, most famously in 1981 for “The Concert in Central Park”, which attracted more than 500,000 people, the seventh-largest concert attendance in history. Simon & Garfunkel won 10 Grammy Awards and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990, and their Bridge over Troubled Water album was nominated at the 1977 Brit Awards for Best International Album. It is ranked at number 51 on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Richie Unterberger described them as “the most successful folk-rock duo of the 1960s” and one of the most popular artists from the decade in general. They are among the world’s best-selling music artists of all time, having sold more than 100 million records.]
24. Phosphorescent – “This Land Is Your Land”
from: Our First 100 Days / Our First 100 Days / May 1, 2017
[Phosphorescent is the working moniker of American singer-songwriter, Matthew Houck (born 1980). Originally from Huntsville, Alabama, Houck began recording and performing under this nom de plume in 2001 in Athens, Georgia. He is currently based in Brooklyn, New York. This was the final entry into the series, Our First 100 Days, releasing of a new song to inspire progress and benefit a cause for change in each day of Donald Trump’s first 100 days as president. The song series was highlighted by tracks from Angel Olsen, The Mountain Goats, Mitski, Kevin Morby. The project was started in conjunction with Secretly Group and 30 Songs, 30 Days, and aims to raise funds and awareness for organizations supporting causes that are under threat by the proposed policies of a Trump administration. Produced with the help of Revolutions Per Minute, providing strategy & support for artists making change. More info at: http://www.ourfirst100days.us ]
25. Tracy Chapman – “America”
from: Where You Live / Elektra Entertainment / September 12, 2005
[Tracy Chapman’s seventh studio album co-produced by Tchad Blake. It produced two singles: “Change”, and “America”. Tracy Chapman on acoustic & electric guitar, clarinet, harmonica, mandolin, percussion, glockenspiel, keyboard bass, hand drums; Paul Bushnell on bass, Flea on bass; Mitchell Froom on organ, celeste, harpsichord, Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer; Joe Gore on acoustic & electric guitar, dobro, percussion, bass, lap steel guitar, keyboard bass; David Piltch on upright bass; Michael Webster on keyboards; Quinn Smith on percussion, piano, drums, glockenspiel. Tracy Chapman (born March 30, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter, known for her hits “Fast Car” and “Give Me One Reason”, along with other singles “Talkin’ ’bout a Revolution”, “Baby Can I Hold You”, “Crossroads”, “New Beginning” and “Telling Stories”. She is a multi-platinum and four-time Grammy Award-winning artist. Chapman was signed to Elektra Records by Bob Krasnow in 1987. The following year she released her critically acclaimed debut album Tracy Chapman, which became a multi-platinum worldwide hit. The album garnered Chapman six Grammy Award nominations, including Album of the Year, three of which she won, including Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for her single “Fast Car”, and Best New Artist. Chapman released her second album Crossroads the following year, which garnered her an additional Grammy nomination. Since then, Chapman has experienced further success with six more studio albums, which include her multi-platinum fourth album New Beginning, for which she won a fourth Grammy Award, for Best Rock Song, for its lead single “Give Me One Reason”. Chapman’s most recent release is Our Bright Future, in 2008.]
26. Noel Coward – “The Party’s Over Now”
from: Noel Coward in New York / drg / 2003 [orig. 1957]
[WMM Closing Theme]
Next week, on July 11, Fally Afani of I Heart Local Music joins us as Guest producer to play music from Lawrence Field Day Fest – July 19th – 21st. We’ll also talk w/ Liz Jeans.
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
Commentary:
Remember just because our nation is perpetually at war doesn’t mean we must make our cozy summer neighborhoods look and smell and sound like a war zone. Please consider the birds, and the animals who we share space with in our environment. Remember, within the city limits of KCMO it’s against the law to light fireworks. It’s really not very patriotic.
I will tell you what is patriotic! A huge part of the democracy of The United States of America is our 1st Amendment. Remember it is the 1st Amendment, because it is the most important.
Now more than ever, artists & musicians are speaking out, asking for accountability, and fairness, and humane treatment of people at our borders as well as in our communities.
As an LGBTQIA American I know what it feels like to be treated with prejudice, violence, and inequality. As an LGBTQIA American I honor the activists that came before me to blaze the trail. As an LGBTQIA American I’ve come of age through the years of ACT-UP, fighting for my brothers and sisters, fighting for equality in housing and employment, fighting for Marriage Equality, fighting against sexual assault and harassment.
Please remember that most of the citizens of our country are not privileged, straight, white, and male. Most of the citizens of our country didn’t have their college and apartment and automobile and insurance paid for by their mom and dad. Please remember that most people are working multiple jobs to pay their bills, to pay off student loans, to try to get health insurance. Please remember that the reason some people have a paid holiday today, and a 40-hour work week, is because of the struggles of labor right’s activists who picketed and collectively bargained for better conditions and better lives. They spoke up!
Please don’t be one of those people who the only time they have ever protested anything in their life was “last call at the bar.” Speak up. It’s the American thing to do.
For Wednesday MidDay Medley I’m Mark Manning. Happy Independence Day!
Show #741
Wednesday MidDay Medley
Wednesday MidDay Medley 