WMM Playlist from Sept. 23, 2020

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

Wednesday, September 23, 2020

Krystle Warren and The Crew
+ Eddie Moore and We The People

1. “It’s Showtime Folks”
from: Orig. Motion Picture Soundtrack All That Jazz / Casablanca / Dec. 20, 1979
[WMM theme]

2. Grand Marquis – “I Can’t Put You Down” [Vinyl]
from: “I Can’t Put You Down” – Single (Side A) / Teenage Heart Records / 2019
[Producer: Johnny Starke. From Teenage Heart Records: The story of Antwaine Ashcraft, better known as the singer Tony Ashley, is one full of heartbreak and sadness. A Kansas City musician who was on the verge of real success and then shot dead in his prime. Tony’s legacy has been kept alive through the very few records he released in his lifetime, one of them being the highly sought after deep soul heavy “I’ll Go Crazy” Decca # 732520, and another which was comped by Chicago’s Numero Group on their Forte Records retrospective. His talent is undeniable and his songs are unforgettable, how much music would he have brought into this world had he lived… we can only imagine. // The Grand Marquis have been a band for more than twenty years, which at this point makes them a Kansas City institution. With a history of creating some of the regions best Jazz, Blues, and Roots music… it only makes sense that they dip their musical toe into the deep waters of Soul music. Once discovering Tony Ashley and his story, they jumped at the chance to honor his memory by recording a few of his songs and breathing new life into a forgotten time in Kansas City’s rich history. // This release pays tribute to the sweet Soul ballad “I Can’t Put You Down” on the A side, and the Funk banger “I’ll Never Be Satisfied” on the B side. Both songs are beautiful and do Mr. Ashley justice while keeping that Grand Marquis Kansas City Roots vibe in full swing! // To kick this whole project off Teenage Heart Records reached out to Tony Ashley’s family and asked if we could raise money to continue his legacy. When the family thought about how they would like to honor Tony they asked if we could raise funds and awareness for the school that Tony and his brother Bernard went to as youths, we were honored to be able to help. // Lincoln Public School was founded in 1871 and had 130 black students in attendance at the time. Over the years it grew to be one of the largest all black schools in the region operating during segregation. The school itself was integrated in 1955 and then slowly fell into disrepair and eventually closed in 1966… the building was unfortunately torn down shortly after. Lincoln Public School Committee is attempting to raise funds so they may build a memorial to the school, the incredible faculty, and all of the students who attended. // All profits from this release will go to the Lincoln Public School Committee.]

[Grand Marquis play live on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020, 7:00 PM with Victor & Penny and Their Loose Change Orchestra at Lemonade Park, a limited capacity socially distanced outdoor venue created in partnership between recordBar, Voltaire, and Moxie Catering, 1628 Wyoming (NW corner of Wyoming & 17th St.), behind Voltaire. ]

3. Anjimile – “In Your Eyes”
from: Giver Taker / Father/Daughter Records / September 18, 2020
[Queer & trans songmaker / boy king // On Giver Taker, the gorgeous debut album by Anjimile, death and life are always entwined, wrapping around each other in a dance of reverence, reciprocity, and, ultimately, rebirth. // Giver Taker is confident, intentional and introspective. Anjimile Chithambo (they/them, he/him) wrote much of the album while in treatment for drug and alcohol abuse, as well as while in the process of living more fully as a nonbinary trans person. Loss hovers over the album, whose songs grieve for lost friends (“Giver Taker”) and family members (“1978”) along with lost selves (“Maker,” “Baby No More,” “In Your Eyes.”) But here, grief yields an opening: a chance for new growth. “A lot of the album was written when I was literally in the process of improving my mental health, so there’s a lot of hopefulness and wonder at the fact that I was able to survive,” says Chithambo. “Not only survive but restart my life and work towards becoming the person I was meant to be.” // Each song on the album is its own micro-journey, adding up to a transformative epic cycle created in collaboration with bandmate Justine Bowe of Photocomfort and New-York based artist/producer Gabe Goodman. “1978” and “Maker” both begin as Sufjan Stevens-esque pastoral ballads with Chithambo’s mesmerizing voice. foregrounded against minimal instrumentation and swell into the realm of the majestic through the addition of warm, steady instrumentation (informed by the mix of 80’s pop and African music Chithambo’s Malawi-born parents played around the house) and harmonies by Bowe. “In Your Eyes” starts out hushed and builds to a crescendo via a mighty chorus inspired by none other than The Lion King. The allusion is fitting: each song encapsulates a heroic voyage, walked alone until accompanied by kindred souls. The choirs present throughout are equally deliberate. Chithambo grew up as a choir boy himself, and several songs (notably “Maker”) grasp not only towards reconciliation between his trans identity and his parents’ strong religious beliefs, but towards reclaiming his trans identity as an essential part of his own spirituality. (“[Less] Judeo-Christian, more ‘Colors of the Wind.’”) There is a boldness to this borrowing and shaping, a resoluteness that results from passing through hardship and emerging brighter, steadier. As a closing refrain on “To Meet You There” might sum it up: “Catalyst light of mine / now is your time.” // Giver Taker was recorded in Brooklyn, Boston, and New Hampshire by Goodman, thanks in part to the Live Arts Boston Grant by the Boston Foundation. All songs written by Anjimile Chithambo. Produced by Gabe Goodman & Justine BoweEngineered by Gabe Goodman. Additional engineering by Will G. Radin . Mixed by Will G. Radin
Mastered by Joe Lambert]

4. New Order – “Be A Rebel”
from: Be A Rebel – Single / Mute / September 8, 2020
[First new music in 5 years. New Order are an English rock band formed in 1980 by vocalist and guitarist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook, and drummer Stephen Morris. The band formed after the demise of Joy Division, following the suicide of lead singer Ian Curtis; they were joined by Gillian Gilbert on keyboards later that year. New Order’s integration of post-punk with electronic and dance music made them one of the most acclaimed and influential bands of the 1980s. They were the flagship band for Manchester-based independent record label Factory Records and its nightclub The Haçienda, and worked in long-term collaboration with graphic designer Peter Saville. While the band’s early years were overshadowed by the legacy of Joy Division, their experience of the early 1980s New York club scene saw them increasingly incorporate dance rhythms and electronic instrumentation into their work. Their 1983 hit “Blue Monday” became the best-selling 12-inch single of all time and a popular club track. In the 1980s, they released successful albums such as Power, Corruption & Lies (1983), Technique (1989), and the singles compilation Substance (1987). They disbanded in 1993 to work on individual projects before reuniting in 1998. In the years since, New Order has gone through various hiatuses and personnel changes, most prominently the departure of Hook in 2007. They released their tenth studio album, Music Complete, in 2015.]

5. Cut Copy – “Like Breaking Glass”
from: Freeze, Melt / Cutter Records / August 21, 2020
[Sixth full-length album from Cut Copy an Australian synth-pop band formed in 2001 by Dan Whitford on vocals, keyboards and guitar. Originally a home-recording project, the band now includes Tim Hoey on guitars, Ben Browning on bass guitar, and Mitchell Scott on drums. The band achieved breakthrough success in 2008 with their second album, In Ghost Colours, which included well-known singles “Lights & Music” and “Hearts on Fire”. Cut Copy was established in 2001 in Melbourne, Australia as the solo project of Dan Whitford, a DJ and graphic designer. Whitford was educated at Scotch College and studied graphic design at Monash University. During his studies he became interested in dance music and began DJing while hosting a radio show. Around this time he bought a sampler and keyboards to experiment with. Musically he was “inspired by indie low-fi stuff as much as dance”. Upon graduating Whitford co-founded the design agency Alter, who continue to produce all of the graphical material for the band.]

6. Shy Boys – “Talk Loud”
from: Talk Loud / Polyvinyl Record Co. / September 25, 2020
[From the upcoming third album from Kansas City’s Shy Boys. The follow up to single, “Trash” released August 3, 2020, and after Dim The Light / Brick By Brick, released February 15, 2019. Shy Boys released their 2nd album and Polyvinyl debut, Bell House on August 3, 2018. Shy Boys line-up consists of brothers Collin Rausch and Kyle Rausch, Konnor Ervin, Kyle Little and Ross Brown. Kyle Rausch and Konnor Ervin were already band mates in the indie-pop band The ACBs and Collin had been playing for years in the Kansas City area in various bands including The Abracadabras, and The I’ms with brother Kyle. The three shared a love for 1960s era pop rock and soon started writing their own music. In 2014 they released the self-titled Shy Boys on High Dive Records. The album received generally positive reviews and the single “Bully Fight” (originally released by The I’ms) was featured on Spin.com. In June 2014, the band recorded and released two more singles and one of them, “Life Is Peachy,” was featured on Stereogum. On April 4th, 2018, it was announced that the band had signed to Polyvinyl Record Company.]

7. Bob Dylan – “I Contain Multitudes”
from: Rough and Rowdy Ways / Columbia / June 19. 2020
[Rough and Rowdy Ways is the 39th studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan (born Robert Allen Zimmerman; May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter, author, and visual artist. Widely regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture for more than 50 years. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s, when songs such as “Blowin’ in the Wind” (1963) and “The Times They Are a-Changin'” (1964) became anthems for the civil rights and anti-war movements. His lyrics during this period incorporated a range of political, social, philosophical, and literary influences, defied pop music conventions and appealed to the burgeoning counterculture. Following his self-titled debut album in 1962, which mainly comprised traditional folk songs, Dylan made his breakthrough as a songwriter with the release of The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan the following year. The album features “Blowin’ in the Wind” and the thematically complex “A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall”. For many of these songs, he adapted the tunes and phraseology of older folk songs. He went on to release the politically charged The Times They Are a-Changin’ and the more lyrically abstract and introspective Another Side of Bob Dylan in 1964. In 1965 and 1966, Dylan drew controversy when he adopted electrically amplified rock instrumentation, and in the space of 15 months recorded three of the most important and influential rock albums of the 1960s: Bringing It All Back Home (1965), Highway 61 Revisited (1965) and Blonde on Blonde (1966). Commenting on the six-minute single “Like a Rolling Stone” (1965), Rolling Stone wrote: “No other pop song has so thoroughly challenged and transformed the commercial laws and artistic conventions of its time, for all time.” In July 1966, Dylan withdrew from touring after a motorcycle accident. During this period, he recorded a large body of songs with members of the Band, who had previously backed him on tour. These recordings were released as the collaborative album The Basement Tapes in 1975. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Dylan explored country music and rural themes in John Wesley Harding (1967), Nashville Skyline (1969), and New Morning (1970). In 1975, he released Blood on the Tracks, which many saw as a return to form. In the late 1970s, he became a born-again Christian and released a series of albums of contemporary gospel music before returning to his more familiar rock-based idiom in the early 1980s. Dylan’s 1997 album Time Out of Mind marked the beginning of a renaissance for his career. He has released five critically acclaimed albums of original material since then, the most recent being Rough and Rowdy Ways (2020). He also recorded a series of three albums in the 2010s comprising versions of traditional American standards, especially songs recorded by Frank Sinatra. Backed by a changing lineup of musicians, he has toured steadily since the late 1980s on what has been dubbed the Never Ending Tour. Since 1994, Dylan has published eight books of drawings and paintings, and his work has been exhibited in major art galleries. He has sold more than 100 million records, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. He has received numerous awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, ten Grammy Awards, a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award. Dylan has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. The Pulitzer Prize Board in 2008 awarded him a special citation for “his profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power”. In 2016, Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition”]

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

10:33 – Underwriting

9. BLACKSTARKIDS – “Whatever!”
from: Surf Basement Demos / Dirty Hit Records / March 5, 2020
[Blackstarkids released their second album SURF through their own label Bedroon Records on Februart 28, 2020. BlackStarKids, a pop/R&B/hip-hop group based in Kansas City, Missouri. Members include: TheBabeGabe, Deiondre, and TyFaizon (of the Drop Dead XX collective). The group released its first album, Let’s Play Sports, in 2019. Blackstarkids,recently caught the attention of The 1975’s frontman Matty Healy and now they’re signed to The 1975’s management company, Dirty Hit Records,]

10. Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings – “Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours”
from: Just Dropped In To See What Condition My Rendition Was In / Daptone / Oct. 23, 2020
[Often, in an effort to save the expense of licensing an original master from a major label, a music supervisor may request a song be re-created as closely as possible. Such was the case when a well-known bank asked the band to cut Stevie Wonder’s classic, “Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours” for a TV commercial, or when Hank Shockley asked for a perfect replay of Bad Medicine’s funky instrumental, “Trespasser” for the American Gangster soundtrack. // Both “Rescue Me” and “In the Bush” were among the outtakes on the cutting room floor of The Wolf of Wall Street motion picture soundtrack, for which the band recorded several unused sides. “Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)” was not just a remake of the Kenny Rogers’ First Edition hit, but more specifically a near re-play of Bettye Lavette’s 1968 version, and was notably the very first recording done at the Daptone House of Soul studio in 2002. Likewise, the band’s replay of Gladys Knight’s “Giving Up” was specifically requested but unused by a producer who was confident he needed it to sample for a beat on a Dr. Dre album. // “Little by Little,” “Inspiration Information,” “Here I Am Baby,” and “Take Me with U” were cut for tribute projects to Dusty Springfield, Shuggie Otis, The Marvelettes, and Prince, respectively. The latter of which is a perfect example of the way the band was able to take a familiar tune and completely flip it on it’s head. // Of course, there were also many non-contracted covers over the years that the band cut of their own volition, starting with the complete re-invention of Janet Jackson’s “What Have You Done for Me Lately” on the their 2001 debut LP, Dap-Dippin’ with…, which convinced more than a few fans that Sharon’s version was in fact the original after a counterfeit news article surfaced claiming that Jones was suing Jackson for copyright infringement. Sharon’s heart-wrenching take on Bob Marley’s early Wailers ballad “It Hurts to be Alone” is a tender nod to the soul that Jamaica borrowed from the States in the early sixties. // Though the band has mostly built their career on a prolific catalog of originals, these forays into other artists’ compositions lay bare their gift for arrangement and the unmatched studio prowess that earned them their reputation as The Baddest Band in the Land. // 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. The Black Creatures – “The Fall and Winter(radio edit)”
from: Wild Echoes / Center Cut Records / August 28, 2020 [remastered]
[Center Cut Records who remixed a few of the songs, and added some new vocals, and remastered the album. Although it is basically the same record, the sound quality is improved. Center Cut Records plan to release the full remastered album on August 28 2020. The Black Creatures are Jade Green & Xavier Martin. The band joined us on the radio on the August 26 edition of WMM. “Wild Echoes” was #2 in WMM’s 119 Favorite Releases of 2019 (Albums & EPs). Since the release of ”Wild Echoes” the band has released seven entirely new songs, nearly one per month, all posted to their bandcamp page. The Black Creatures fuse dark-pop hip-hop, soul, jazz, and electronic music with elements from science fiction to tell inter-dimensional stories of love, community, life, culture, history. Xavier & Jade have made an impression in the KC music community with their live shows in clubs, galleries, record stores, and area music festivals. The Black Creatures released their debut single “Mouth 2 Mouth” June 5, 2016. They released the album, See No Evil, December 6, 2017. The duo released the singles, “Elements” February 14, 2018; “Silver Tears” June 19. 2018; “Dare” a Gorillaz cover August 8, 2019. They released the album “Wild Echoes” September 30, 2019. The Black Creatures released the singles “Turn” October 30, 2019; “Quartz (Twilight)” November 13, 2019; “SHINE” December 11, 2019; Ghost Bustin’ Dead Prezidentz” January 8, 2020; “To Whom It May Concern” January 22, 2020; “Arcade Love” February 5, 2020; and “Run Up” February 19, 2020.]

12. Tracy Chapman – “Subcity”
from: Crossroads / Elektra / October 3, 1989
[Crossroads is the second album by singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman. Chapman was also a producer on this album, the first time she had taken on such a role. The song “Freedom Now” is dedicated to Nelson Mandela. racy 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 earned 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 album is Our Bright Future, released in 2008. // Chapman was born in Cleveland, Ohio. Her parents divorced when she was four years of age. She was raised by her mother, who bought her music-loving three-year-old daughter a ukulele despite having little money. Chapman began playing the guitar and writing songs at age eight. She says that she may have been first inspired to play the guitar by the television show Hee Haw.[4] Chapman’s family received welfare. In her native Cleveland, school desegregation efforts led to racial unrest and riots; Chapman experienced frequent bullying and racially motivated assaults as a child. // Raised as a Baptist, Chapman attended an Episcopal high school and was accepted into the program A Better Chance, which sponsors students at college preparatory high schools away from their home community. She graduated from Wooster School in Connecticut, then attended Tufts University, graduating with a B.A. degree in Anthropology and African studies.]

13. Talking Heads – “Who Is It?”
from: The Name of This Band is Talking Heads / Sire / March 24, 1982
[he Name of This Band Is Talking Heads is a double live album by American new wave band Talking Heads, originally released in 1982. The first LP featured the original quartet in recordings from 1977 and 1979, and the second LP featured the expanded ten-piece lineup that toured in 1980 and 1981. The album contains live versions of songs that appear on their first four studio albums: Talking Heads: 77, More Songs About Buildings and Food, Fear of Music, and Remain in Light. The cassette edition of the album included “Cities”, a bonus track not included on the vinyl edition, which also appeared on the subsequent CD release. // The title of the album is a reference both to the group’s preference for having no expressed definite article within the band name (as opposed to “The Talking Heads”) and to David Byrne’s minimalist introductions to songs. The album opens with one such introduction: “The name of this song is ‘New Feeling’. That’s what it’s about.” // Talking Heads were an American rock band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991. The band was composed of David Byrne (lead vocals, guitar), Chris Frantz (drums), Tina Weymouth (bass), and Jerry Harrison (keyboards, guitar). Described by the critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine as “one of the most critically acclaimed bands of the ’80s,” the group helped to pioneer new wave music by integrating elements of punk, art rock, funk, and world music with avant-garde sensibilities and an anxious, clean-cut image. Former art school students who became involved in the 1970s New York punk scene, Talking Heads released their 1977 debut album, Talking Heads: 77, to positive reviews. They collaborated with producer Brian Eno on a trio of experimental and critically acclaimed releases: More Songs About Buildings and Food (1978), Fear of Music (1979), and Remain in Light (1980). After a hiatus, Talking Heads hit their commercial peak in 1983 with the U.S. Top 10 hit “Burning Down the House” from the album Speaking in Tongues and released the concert film Stop Making Sense, directed by Jonathan Demme. They released several more albums, including their best-selling LP Little Creatures (1985), before disbanding in 1991. Without Byrne, the other band members performed under the name Shrunken Heads, and released an album, No Talking, Just Head, as the Heads in 1996. // In 2002, Talking Heads were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Four of their albums appear in Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and three of their songs (“Psycho Killer”, “Life During Wartime”, and “Once in a Lifetime”) were included among the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll. Talking Heads were also number 64 on VH1’s list of the “100 Greatest Artists of All Time”. In the 2011 update of Rolling Stone’s “100 Greatest Artists of All Time”, they were ranked number 100.]

14. Bulgarian Television & Radio Folklore Ensemble & Krassimir Kyurkchiiski– “Kalimankou Denkou”
from: Krassimir Kyurkchiiski: Bulgarian Folklore Masterpieces / Balkanton / January 18, 2012

11:00 – Station ID

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

11:04 – Underwriting

16. Krystle Warren & The Crew – “Rhythm Of Life”
from: The Crew EP / Parlour Door Music / September 15, 2020
[Originally on Oleta Adams 3rd album “Circle of One.” Through isolation came unity. The Crew is Lakecia Benjamin, Matthew Silberman, Jacob Snider, Joe Blaxx, Solomon Dorsey, Zach Djanikian, Cassorla, Krystle Warren, and Ben Kane. They have recorded unique versions of classic songs with the hope of encouraging the rallying cries of The Moment: the movement of the people. // In the lockdown of their homes, they sewed together their interpretations of “Bein’ Green” (based upon Ray Charles’ rendition); “Gimme Some Truth” (a mighty John Lennon composition); “Dear Landlord” (a scathing indictment from the blistering pen of Bob Dylan); and “Rhythm of Life”, (a timeless statement originally performed by Oleta Adams).]

17. Krystle Warren & The Crew – “Dear Landlord”
from: The Crew EP / Parlour Door Music / September 15, 2020
[Written by Bob Dylan. Through isolation came unity. The Crew is Lakecia Benjamin, Matthew Silberman, Jacob Snider, Joe Blaxx, Solomon Dorsey, Zach Djanikian, Cassorla, Krystle Warren, and Ben Kane. They have recorded unique versions of classic songs with the hope of encouraging the rallying cries of The Moment: the movement of the people. // In the lockdown of their homes, they sewed together their interpretations of “Bein’ Green” (based upon Ray Charles’ rendition); “Gimme Some Truth” (a mighty John Lennon composition); “Dear Landlord” (a scathing indictment from the blistering pen of Bob Dylan); and “Rhythm of Life”, (a timeless statement originally performed by Oleta Adams). // A portion of the proceeds from The Crew. EP will be donated to the various causes and organizations.]

Krystle Warren photo by Matthew Placek

11:15 – Interview with Krystle Warren

KC born and internationally known singer songwriter Krystle Warren joins us from France to share details about an incredible new EP released last week from the collective call themselves The Crew. They have recorded unique versions of four classic songs with the hope of encouraging the rallying cries of the moment: the movement of the people. Warren embarked on the project after her newest album, with her band The Faculty, was stalled due to COVID-19. With the EP The Crew released a video of their interpretation of “Bein’ Green” an emotionally stirring five minute montage of footage of Black Lives Matter protests, young Black children choosing white dolls over dark-skinned ones, archival footage of James Baldwin, Angela Davis, Malcom X, Nina Simone, Marsha P. Johnson Al Sharpton, Ella Baker, as well as Sandra Bland, George Floyd and Eric Garner. Proceeds from the EP will be donated to the ACLU. More info at: http://www.krysltewarren.com

Krystle Warren, thanks for being with us on Wednesday MidDay Medley

Bein’ Green – Kermit the Frog’s iconic song “Bein’ Green” (written by Joe Raposo). // The moving five-minute clip, over which Warren sings her rendition of the 1970 song — since recorded by Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra and others — sprang from a covers EP she recorded during the pandemic with a group of musicians known as The Crew.

‘Bein’ Green,’ it’s such a gorgeous song, and it says so, so much,” says Warren. “I began thinking about what I wanted it to express visually before we started [recording the song]. Essentially — it’s not easy being Black. That’s what Ray Charles was saying, and we felt it needed to be said again.”

Warren embarked on the project after her forthcoming album with her regular group, The Faculty, was put on hold due to COVID-19. The EP, which tackles themes of racial injustice in the wake of nationwide Black Lives Matter protests this summer, also includes a cover of John Lennon’s “Gimme Some Truth.”

The Crew: Lakecia Benjamin, Matthew Silberman, Jacob Snider, Joe Blaxx, Solomon Dorsey, Zach Djanikian, Cassorla, Krystle Warren, and Ben Kane.

This Year Krystle virtually performed in the KC Bands Together and Greenline Grows KC

Last time you were on the show was a year ago on October 16 with Brad Coc when you ere here in KC to present LoveSongs with Owen/Cox Dance Group at October 19 and 20, 2019 at Polsky Theatre at JCCC.

Warren, who now resides in Paris, began performing in her native Kansas City at the age of 16 before moving to New York City, where she started busking on the streets and later formed her regular band, The Faculty. She and the group have recorded several full-length albums, including 2009’s Circles, 2012’s Love Songs and 2017’s Three the Hard Way. Her next album is slated for release this winter. // A large percentage of proceeds from sales of the EP — which is available for digital downloads via Warren’s website now and released on all streaming platforms next Friday — will be donated to the ACLU

Originally from KC, Krystle Warren learned to play the guitar by listening to Rubber Soul & Revolver from The Beatles. Krystle graduated from Paseo Arts Academy in 2001 and began her musical career in collaborating with area jazz and pop musicians. After living in San Francisco and NYC, Krystle was signed to a French label, Because Music, who gave her a one way ticket to France. Krystle moved to Paris to release “Circles” in 2009. Krystle played French and British television programs, including Later with Jools Holland, garnering critical acclaim and traveling all over the world on tours with Rufus Wainwright, Nick Cave, Norah Jones, and Joan As Police Woman. Krystle left Because Music and created her own recording label, Parlour Door Music, to release “Love Songs: A Time You May Embrace / A Time to Refrain from Embracing” a double album recording from a 13-day session in Brooklyn, where she recorded 24 songs live with 28 musicians including her band, The Faculty, alongside choirs, horn and string sections. In 2019 The Kansas City based Owen/Cox Dance Group premiered a new dance piece titled “Love Songs” with choreography by Jennifer Owen, set to all 24 songs, in the order they appear in the recording,. Krystle Warren has collaborated with Erykah Badu, Keziah Jones, Zap Mama, Rufus Wainwright and Martha Wainwright, Brad Cox Amadou & Mariam, Lakecia Benjamin, Guarco, Teddy Thompson, Gwyneth Herbert, Hercules & Love Affair, and Joon Moon. Along with being included in the compilation “NYC Subway – Songs from the Underground,” and tribute recordings for Kate McGarrigle, and Nick Drake, Warren has released the EP “Diary” on May 1, 2007; “The Up Series – EP” on November 10, 2008; “Circles” her 13-song full length on March 13, 2009; “A Time To Keep – Love Songs EP”, on August 12, 2011, The double album 24-song “Love Songs” released on vinyl in Europe on April 9, 2012 and as separate digital and CD albums in the U.S. as: “Love Songs: A Time to Embrace,” on March 13, 2012 and “Love Songs: A Time to Refrain from Embracing” on February 27, 2015; Krystle released “Three the Hard Way” on August 18, 2017.

Rhythm of Life”, (a timeless statement originally performed by Oleta Adams from her 3rd album, Circle of One from 1990. After a successful collaboration with Tears for Fears on their 1989 album The Seeds of Love, Adams was offered a record deal of her own with Tears for Fears then-label Fontana Records. Produced by Tears for Fears’ Roland Orzabal with Dave Bascombe, the album was initially unsuccessful as were the first two singles “Rhythm of Life” and “Circle of One”. However, Adams had a hit in early 1991 with the third single from the album, her cover of Brenda Russell’s “Get Here,” which peaked at #4 in the UK Singles Chart and #5 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The album, which had received considerable critical acclaim, was re-released with two additional tracks and peaked at #1 in the UK Albums Chart and made the Top 20 of the US Billboard 200. It was certified Gold in both the UK and the US[3] and received two Grammy nominations.

Krystle Warren, thanks for being with us on Wednesday MidDay Medley

Krystle Warren & The Faculty are working on a new album, the first single “Rising” was included in the official soundtrack to the Ana DuVernay television series soundtrack for “When They See Us.” The single was released May 31, 2019. More info at http://www.krystlewarren.com

11:31

18. We The People – “Misunderstood”
from: Misunderstood – Single / Eddie Moore Music / June 26, 2020
[First single from the up-coming debut record of Eddie Moore’s group We The People. We The People is a power trio and sometimes 4-piece stemming from the roots of Black American Music, Hip-hip, Psych-Rock, and Classical. Crafted with raw passion, and unflinching groove this “Urban Gumbo” shares the pain, joy, fear, and dreams that inspire, and celebrate our unity. Eddie Moore on Rhodes & synthesizers, Jason Emmond on bass, Zach Morrow on drums & samples, and Jamie Anderson on guitar & vocoder.]

[We The People play an Album Release Show, Friday, September 25, at 7:00 PM at Plexpod, 300 East 39th Street, KCMO. (formerly Westport Junior High School.) The venue will maintain safe social distancing guidelines. General admission tickets are $25 or $30 with a We The People debut album download. For tickets visit: http://www.kcdriveinconcerts.com]

11:34 – Interview with Eddie Moore

Eddie Moore is the recipient of the 2016 Charlotte Street Generative Performance Award for his genre bending collaborations. Raised in Houston Texas, he began his musical journey at Texas Southern University where he later earned a Bachelors in Arts and immersed himself in the Houston music scene. Eddie relocated to Kansas City to study under Bobby Watson at the University of Missouri-Kansas City where he received a M.A in Jazz Studies. Eddie Moore joins us to talks with us about “Misunderstood,” the debut album from his band, We The People, to be released September 25. We the People is a genre-defying quartet comprised of keyboardist Eddie Moore, bassist/producer Jason Emmond, drummer Zach Morrow, and turntablist/producer Kethro.

We The People play an Album Release Show, Friday, September 25, at 7:00 PM at Plexpod, 300 East 39th Street, KCMO. (formerly Westport Junior High School.) The venue will maintain safe social distancing guidelines. General admission tickets are $25 or $30 with a We The People debut album download. For tickets visit: http://www.kcdriveinconcerts.com

Eddie Moore Thank you for being with us on Wednesday Midday Medley

It was great to hear and see We The People play for the virtual Crossroads Music Festival, You performed live from Tribe Studio.

When you speak to Eddie Moore you find an ocean of calm, and when you listen to Eddie Moore you find the depth of that ocean. Eddie reaches from the soul with every note, in a deep way, with a tension just below the surface. His yearning for exploration and curiosity in music contribute to an ebb and flow freedom of expression.

Jazz runs deep in pianist and bandleader Eddie Moore’s veins. Raised in Houston Texas, he began his musical journey at Texas Southern University where he later earned a Bachelors in Arts and immersed himself in the Houston music scene. As a lifelong musician traversing a number of bands and styles he relocated to Kansas City to study under Bobby Watson at the University of Missouri-Kansas City where he received a M.A in Jazz Studies.

After forming Jazz/Fusion group Eddie Moore & The Outer Circle in 2012, diversity and inclusiveness have become to define Moore as an artist. His debut album,”The Freedom of Expression”, was given 3.5 stars from Downbeat jazz magazine who has stated “Moore’s compositions exude a sophisticated soulful elegance that create a tastefully fulfilling venture into a range of dynamic pieces, with the musicianship to match.”

Moore’s third album as a leader “Kings & Queens” incorporates elements of soul, r&b, rock and hip-hop into his take on contemporary jazz. Released with Ropeadope Records, Moore’s forward-thinking sounds are part of the rich continuum of African-American music that continues to be imbued with indigenous African elements. The Outer Circle’s remarkable sensitivity and cohesive interplay reflect an unflinching groove. Featured in Jazziz Magazine, The Jazz Ambassadors Magazine, Nextbop, and The Pitch KC which describe the album as “Pulling the Kansas City Jazz scene into the 21st century” – Bill Brownlee

Moore is also recipient of the 2016 Charlotte Street Generative Performance Award for his genre bending collaborations. 2017’s Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art “Artist in Residence” in collaboration with Rashid Johnson. In 2018 his work with The Outer Circle was nominated for an Indie Music Award for “007”. His music has also been featured commercially for Sprint, Netflix’s “Queer Eye”, and Morgan Cooper’s short film “Room Tone”

Moore’s expansive sensibilities have allowed him to share the stage and record with distinctive artist such as Bobby Watson, Pam, Watson, Logan Richardson, Maurice Brown, Boys II Men, Brian Blade and the Fellowship, John Baptiste, Erykah Badu, Mosdef, Bilal, Ledisi, Chantae Cann, Krystal Warren, Matt Otto, Brandon Draper, Andre Hayward, Tivon Pennicott, Various Blonde, Dominique Sanders, 77 Jefferson, and the Marcus Lewis Big Band.

While maintaining a busy tour schedule Moore resides in Kansas City where he is an integral part of the music community creating opportunities for up and coming jazz artist through his incubator Tribe Studios. As a Charlotte Street Fellow and member of the African America Arts Collective; He stays busy teaching several aspects of music through University of Kansas, Metropolitan Community College, Future Jazz, Midwest Jazz Camp, and privately at The Culture House.

We the People is a genre-defying quartet comprised of keyboardist Eddie Moore, bassist/producer Jason Emmond, drummer Zach Morrow, and turntablist/producer Kethro. Together, they sift through American music of the last 20th century and gather all of their influences into incredible masterpieces.

Eddie Moore Thank you for being with us on Wednesday Midday Medley

11:49

19. We The People – “Enough”
from: Misunderstood / Eddie Moore Music / September 25, 2020
[Eddie Moore on piano, Rhodes, synth, keyboards, & bass; Jason Emmond – on bass; Zach Morrow on drums; Andrew Baile on guitar; Keith Rodgers; Angle Gibson on vocals “Enough”; Rane Raps- “The Truth”; Lucero on vocals “The Truth”; Andrew McGhie on tenor sax “Round Up”. “Worst Nights” Produced by Jason Emmond/ Eddie Moore. Recorded at Make Believe Studios by Keith Rodgers. Mix & Mastered by Rick Carson. Executive Producers: Eddie Moore and Amilcar “PRO” Welton. Album Art by Adrian Truth. This is for all the times we are misunderstood and mean the best for people. This is for times pain and fear were swallowed and a unique beauty emerged. The times that struggle became a culture, a new identity for the land of the free. The idea of Freedom and the celebration of individuality. ]

[We The People play an Album Release Show, Friday, September 25, at 7:00 PM at Plexpod, 300 East 39th Street, KCMO. (formerly Westport Junior High School.) The venue will maintain safe social distancing guidelines. General admission tickets are $25 or $30 with a We The People debut album download. For tickets visit: http://www.kcdriveinconcerts.com]

20. We The People – “Moon”
from: Misunderstood / Eddie Moore Music / September 25, 2020
[Eddie Moore on piano, Rhodes, synth, keyboards, & bass; Jason Emmond – on bass; Zach Morrow on drums; Andrew Baile on guitar; Keith Rodgers; Angle Gibson on vocals “Enough”; Rane Raps- “The Truth”; Lucero on vocals “The Truth”; Andrew McGhie on tenor sax “Round Up”. “Worst Nights” Produced by Jason Emmond/ Eddie Moore. Recorded at Make Believe Studios by Keith Rodgers. Mix & Mastered by Rick Carson. Executive Producers: Eddie Moore and Amilcar “PRO” Welton. Album Art by Adrian Truth. This is for all the times we are misunderstood and mean the best for people. This is for times pain and fear were swallowed and a unique beauty emerged. The times that struggle became a culture, a new identity for the land of the free. The idea of Freedom and the celebration of individuality.]

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

Next week on Wednesday, Sept. 30, we play more New & MidCoastal Releases. Plus we talk with Jocelyn Olivia Nixin of The Creepy Jingles and Kianna White and Jared White of Yes You Are who are playing a live at Lemonade Park, February, October 2, with the Nathan Corsi band & DJ Stevie Cruz. Also next week Jenna Rae returns to share new music from Unfit Wives.

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

Black Lives Matter

Show #856

WMM presents Krystle Warren + Eddie Moore

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

Wednesday, September 23, 2020

Krystle Warren and The Crew
+ Eddie Moore and We The People

Mark plays New & MidCoastal Releases from: We The People, Krystle Warren & The Crew, Blackstarkids, Shy Boys, The Black Creatures, Grand Marquis, Anjimile, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, Bulgarian Television and Radio Folklore Ensemble, Bob Dylan, New Order, Cut Copy, John Prine, Tracy Chapman, and Talking Heads.

Krystle Warren photo by Matthew Placek

At 11:00 KC born and internationally known singer songwriter Krystle Warren joins us from France to share details about an incredible new EP released last week from: Lakecia Benjamin, Matthew Silberman, Jacob Snider, Joe Blaxx, Solomon Dorsey, Zach Djanikian, Cassorla, Krystle Warren, and Ben Kane. The collective call themselves The Crew and have recorded unique versions of four classic songs with the hope of encouraging the rallying cries of the moment: the movement of the people. Warren embarked on the project after her newest album, with her band The Faculty, was stalled due to COVID-19. With the EP The Crew released a video of their interpretation of “Bein’ Green” an emotionally stirring five minute montage of footage of Black Lives Matter protests, young Black children choosing white dolls over dark-skinned ones, archival footage of James Baldwin, Angela Davis, Malcom X, Nina Simone, Marsha P. Johnson Al Sharpton, Ella Baker, as well as Sandra Bland, George Floyd and Eric Garner. Proceeds from the EP will be donated to the ACLU. More info at: http://www.krysltewarren.com

At 11:30 KC musician Eddie Moore shares music and information about “Misunderstood,” the debut album from his band, We The People, to be released September 25. We the People is a genre-defying quartet comprised of keyboardist Eddie Moore, bassist/producer Jason Emmond, drummer Zach Morrow, and turntablist/producer Kethro. Together, they sift through American music of the last 20th century and gather all of their influences into incredible masterpieces. We The People play an Album Release Show, Friday, September 25, at 7:00 PM at Plexpod, 300 East 39th Street, KCMO. (formerly Westport Junior High School.) The venue will maintain safe social distancing guidelines. General admission tickets are $25 or $30 with a We The People debut album download. For tickets visit: http://www.kcdriveinconcerts.com

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

Show #856

WMM Playlist from Dec. 19, 2018

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, December 19, 2018

The 118 Best Recordings of 2018
(Part 3 of 4)

Part-three, of our four-week special: The 118 Best Recordings of 2018. Based on playlists of this little ole radio show, we’ve compiled representative tracks from our favorite full-length and EP recordings of the year. We realize that these “Best of” lists can seem very subjective, please accept our list as a celebration of the year in music.

In 2018 we’ve played nearly 1000 different songs on the show, and we’ve played from over 400 New Releases. More than 250 of these were New MidCoastal Releases. We also conducted over 117 interviews with over 150 different guests. 75 of the representative recordings in our “Best of” list were MidCoastal Releases. Over 35 of the bands and artists in our “Best of” list have joined us as guests on WMM on 90.1 FM. It’s all good!

1. “It’s Showtime Folks”
from: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack to All That Jazz / Casablanca / December 20, 1979
[WMM’s theme song]

2. (#59) The Big Iron – “I Disagree”
from: The Big Iron / The Big Iron / April 27, 2018
[The band’s 4th full-length was produced, mixed and mastered by Duane Trower at Weights and Measures Soundlab. http://www.wmsoundlab.com Album cover and photos by Todd Zimmer. All songs by The Big Iron. It’s the band’s follow-up to 2014’s “We Will Fall”, 2008’s “Thanks for the Therapy,” and their 2001 debut recording, “Bury My Mistakes.” Ricky Reyes on guitar; Jon Paul on drums; Jeff Pendergraft on vocals, and Mike Farren on bass. More info at: thebigiron.bandcamp.com/]

3. (#58) Gully Boys – “I Wanna Go Home”
from: Not So Brave / Gully Boys / August 12, 2018
[Minneapolis, Minnesota based three piece all female band, with Kaytee Callahan on vocals & guitar, Natalie Klemond on bass/ & vocals, and Jazmyne McGill ~on drums & vocals. All songs written and performed by Kathy Callahan, Nadirah McGill, and Natalie Klemond. Recorded and mixed by Nick Tveitbakk at Pachyderm Studio. Mastered by Bruce Templeton. More info at http://www..gullyboys.bandcamp.com]

4. (#57) Kississippi – “Rinse, Repeat”
from: Sunset Blush / Bug Crusher Records / April 6, 2018
[Debut full length album from Philadelphia based indie folk band fronted by Zoe Allaire Reynolds (with Adam DaSilva, Jeremy Probst, Allegra Eidinger (They/Them), and Kaylen Alan Krebsbach.]

5. (#56) Yo La Tengo – “Shades of Blue”
from: There’s a Riot Going On / Matador Records / March 16, 2018
[15th album from band formed in Hoboken, New Jersey in 1984. Since 1992, the lineup has consisted of Ira Kaplan (guitars, piano, vocals), Georgia Hubley (drums, piano, vocals), and James McNew (bass, vocals). In 2015, original guitarist Dave Schramm rejoined the band and appears on their f14th album, Stuff Like That There. Despite achieving limited mainstream success, Yo La Tengo has been called “the quintessential critics’ band” and maintains a strong cult following. They chose the name “Yo La Tengo” (Spanish for “I have it”; or referring to a female-gender object or person, also “I’ve Got Her”) in an effort to avoid any connotations in English. The name came from a baseball anecdote. During the 1962 season, New York Mets center fielder Richie Ashburn and Venezuelan shortstop Elio Chacón found themselves colliding in the outfield. When Ashburn went for a catch, he would scream, “I got it! I got it!” only to run into Chacón, who spoke only Spanish. Ashburn learned to yell, “¡Yo la tengo! ¡Yo la tengo!” instead. In a later game, Ashburn happily saw Chacón backing off. He relaxed, positioned himself to catch the ball, and was instead run over by left fielder Frank Thomas, who understood no Spanish and had missed a team meeting that proposed using the words “¡Yo la tengo!” as a way to avoid outfield collisions. After getting up, Thomas asked Ashburn, “What the hell is a Yellow Tango?”]

6. (#55) Kian Byrne – “Sing That Song”
from: Up & Down / Kian Bryne / July 11, 2018
[Kian Byrne is a Kansas City based multi-instrumentalist. He plays drums in The Elders, and drums for Hi-Lüx, and bass for The New Riddim, and for YUM. You can learn more at: kianbyrnemusic.com]

[Kian Byrne plays drums for Julia Haile Trio with Tim Braun on guitar at Ça Va, 4149 Pennsylvania, KCMO, Thursday, December 20, at 9:00 PM]

7. (#54) Mary Gauthier – “Got Your Six”
from: Rifles and Rosary Beads / In The Black / January 26, 2018
[Nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Folk Album. Brand new collection of songs by Mary Gauthier, co-written with U.S. veterans and their families, through Songwriting With Soldiers, a non-profit organization that pairs US veterans with professional songwriters. These songs are a glimpse inside the hearts and souls of both male and female soldiers, and their spouses. From Pop Matters: “SongwritingWith:Soldiers is an organization founded by songwriter Darden Smith that holds retreats pairing wounded veterans with established songwriters to help them to find a voice to express their experiences and through their sharing work towards emotional and spiritual healing. Songwriters who have participated in the program include Beth Nielsen Chapman, Marshall Crenshaw, Radney Foster, and Amy Speace, and some of the songs produced have been recorded by major country artists including Willie Nelson, Trisha Yearwood, Luke Bryan, and Garth Brooks. Mary Gauthier is a natural to serve as a contributor to this cause, her powerful autobiographical songwriting on past records addressing such topics as addiction, abandonment, and the search for meaning amidst pain. Turning her empathetic ear to the plights of others, she guides a group of veterans and their families through the composition of 11 highly effective and affecting songs. Of the experience, Gauthier writes “None of the veterans are artists. They don’t write songs; they don’t know that songs can be used to move trauma. Their understanding of song doesn’t include that. For me, it’s been the whole damn deal. Songwriting saved me. It’s what I think the best songs do, help articulate the ineffable, make the invisible visible, creating resonance, so that people (including the songwriter) don’t feel alone.” Gauthier was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. Born to a mother she never knew and left in St Vincent’s Women and Infants Asylum, Gauthier was adopted when she was a year old by an Italian Catholic couple from Thibodaux, Louisiana. At age 15, she ran away from home, and spent the next several years in drug rehabilitation, halfway houses, and living with friends; she spent her 18th birthday in a jail cell. Struggling to deal with being adopted, she used drugs and alcohol. These experiences provided fodder for her songwriting later on. Spurred on by friends, she enrolled at Louisiana State University as a philosophy major, dropping out during her senior year. After attending the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts, she opened a Cajun restaurant in Boston’s Back Bay neighborhood, Dixie Kitchen (also the title of her first album). Mary ran, and cooked at, the restaurant for eleven years. She was arrested for drunk driving opening night, July 12, 1990, and has been sober ever since. After achieving sobriety, she was driven to dedicate herself full-time to songwriting, and embarked upon a career in music. She wrote her first song at age 35. She sold her share in the restaurant to finance her second album, Drag Queens in Limousines, in 1998. The summer of the release of this album, she was invited to play 11 major folk festivals, including the Newport Folk Festival. Drag Queens in Limousines won in The 1st Annual Independent Music Awards for Folk/Singer-Songwriter Song, and she was nominated for Best New Artist of the year by the Boston Music Awards. She was nominated for three Gay and Lesbian American Music Awards (GLAMA) and won best country artist of the year. In 2002 her third album, Filth and Fire, was named “Best Indy CD of the year” by Jon Pareles of The New York Times. She moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 2001 and secured a publishing deal with Harlan Howard Songs, then secured a record deal with Lost Highway, a division of Universal Music, in 2003. Her first major label release, in 2005, Mercy Now was on the top 10 list for the year in dozens of publications, including NY Times, LA Times, Daily News, and Billboard Magazine.]

8. (#53) Angélique Kidjo – “Born Under Punches”
from: Remain In Light / Kravenworks / June 8, 2018
[Angélique Kidjo has partnered with producer Jeff Bhasker (Rihanna, Kanye West, Harry Styles, Bruno Mars, Drake, Jay-Z) to create Remain In Light – a new project that finds the Benin-born artist reclaiming rock for Africa, bringing Talking Heads’ landmark 1980 album full circle. The record is a track-by-track re-imagination of the original, considered to be one of the greatest albums of the ’80s and deeply influenced by music from West Africa, notably Fela Kuti’s afrobeat. With her version of Remain In Light, Angélique celebrates the genius of Talking Heads, Brian Eno and the touchstones that made the original so revered and injects it with her euphoric singing, explosive percussion, horn orchestrations, and select lyrics performed in languages from her home country. Remain In Light features appearances by Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend, Blood Orange, Tony Allen, Antibalas Horns, Angélique’s longtime guitarist Dominic James, and Magatte Sow (percussionist for the ‘Black Panther’ film score). On May 5, 2017, Kidjo presented her “Remain In Light” concert at Carnegie Hall. Her sold out performance was a reinvention of the iconic album by the rock band Talking Heads. The concert included special guest Nona Hendryx, Lionel Loueke, Antibalas, Jason Lindner and an unplanned duet with David Byrne on the song “Once In A Lifetime”. Angélique Kpasseloko Hinto Hounsinou Kandjo Manta Zogbin Kidjo, known as Angélique Kidjo (born July 14, 1960), is a Grammy Award-winning Beninese singer-songwriter, actress and activist, noted for her diverse musical influences and creative music videos. Time magazine has called her “Africa’s premier diva”. The BBC included Kidjo in its list of the African continent’s 50 most iconic figures. The Guardian has listed her as one of its Top 100 Most Inspiring Women in the World and Kidjo is the first woman to be listed among “The 40 Most Powerful Celebrities In Africa” by Forbes magazine. The Daily Telegraph in London described her as “The undisputed queen of African music” during the 2012 Olympic Games River of Music Festival. In March 2013, NPR, National Public Radio in America, called her “Africa’s greatest living diva”. Kidjo is listed among the “2014 Most Influential Africans” by New African magazine and Jeune Afrique. Forbes Afrique put Kidjo on the cover of their “100 most influential women” issue in 2015. On June 6, 2013, Kidjo was elected vice-president of the Confédération Internationale des Sociétés d´Auteurs et Compositeurs (CISAC). She now resides in New York City, where she is an occasional contributor to the New York Times. Kidjo has received Honorary Doctorates from Yale University, Berklee College of Music and Middlebury College. She is the 2018 Harvard University Jazz Master In Residence. Her musical influences include the Afropop, Caribbean zouk, Congolese rumba, jazz, gospel, and Latin styles; as well as her childhood idols Bella Bellow, James Brown, Nina Simone, Aretha Franklin, Miriam Makeba and Carlos Santana. She has recorded George Gershwin’s “Summertime”, Ravel’s Boléro, Jimi Hendrix’s “Voodoo Child” and the Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter”, and has collaborated with Dave Matthews and the Dave Matthews Band, Kelly Price, Alicia Keys, Branford Marsalis, Ziggy Marley, Philip Glass, Peter Gabriel, Bono, Carlos Santana, John Legend, Herbie Hancock, Josh Groban, Dr John, the Kronos Quartet and Cassandra Wilson. Kidjo’s hit songs include “Agolo”, “We We”, “Adouma”, “Wombo Lombo”, “Afirika”, “Batonga”, and her version of “Malaika”. Her album Logozo is ranked number 37 in the Greatest Dance Albums of All Time list compiled by Vice Magazine’s Thump web site. Kidjo is fluent in 5 languages: Fon, French, Yorùbá, Gen (Mina), and English. She sings in all of them, and she also has her own personal language, which includes words that serve as song titles such as “Batonga.” “Malaika” is a song sung in the Swahili language. Kidjo often utilizes Benin’s traditional Zilin vocal technique and jazz vocalese. Kidjo is the recipient of the 2015 Crystal Award given by the World Economic Forum of Davos in Switzerland and has received the Ambassador Of Conscience Award from Amnesty International in 2016 She also is included in the exhibits at the National Museum of African American History that officially opened on Sept. 24, 2016 on the National Mall.]

9. (52) Second Hand King – “The King of Broken Hearts”
from: Frankie / Second Hand King / June 9, 2018
[KC based Joe Stanziola records as Second Hand King. His name was derived from a 1966 Doo Wop song known as, “The Joker Went Wild” by Brian Hyland. Joe has released five previous albums: All My Fears (2012), The Lower Depths (2013), Chuck (2014), Before The Bomb Drops (2015), and Almost Blue (2016).]

10:30 – Underwriting

10. (#51) Scruffy & the Janitors – “You Got Hit”
from: Modeling Is Hard / This Tall Records / March 2, 2018
[Saint Joseph, MO based trio formed by Steven Foster on vocals & bass, Teriq Newton on guitar & vocals, and Trevin Newton on drums. Scruffy & The Janitors have been described as creating working-class punk and catchy alt-rock. Scruffy & The Janitors have played at: SXSW, Middle Of the Map Fest, NXNE, and Lawrence Field Day Fest. They have also opened for:KONGOS, Kitten, J. Roddy Walston & the Business, Brick + Mortar, Radkey, Cheap Girls, Skaters, Bass Drum Of Death, Your Friend, Rev Gusto, and Dreamgirl.]

11. (#50) Fantastic Negrito – “The Duffler”
from: Please Don’t Be Dead / Blackball Universe – Cooking Vinyl / June 15, 2018
[Nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album. Fantastic Negrito was raised in an orthodox Muslim household. His father was a Somali-Caribbean immigrant who mostly played traditional African music. When, at the age of 12, Negrito’s family moved from Massachusetts to Oakland, California. Oakland in 1970s was a million miles from Negrito’s conservative childhood. He went from Arab chants to Funkadelic in one day. By the time he was 20, Negrito had taught himself to play every instrument he could get his hands on. He was recording music, and after some difficulties on the streets he packed his bags and headed to LA, armed with a demo on cassette. Negrito signed with a million dollar deal at Interscope. The record deal was a disaster. Gangsta rap was ruling the airwaves and Negrito was in the wrong place at the wrong era. Negrito came out of the deal with a failed album and his confidence gutted. In 2000, Negrito was in a near fatal car accident that put him in a coma. For four weeks it was touch and go. Because his muscles atrophied while bedridden, he had to go through months of frustrating physical therapy to regain use of his legs. Rods were placed throughout his body. And worst of all, his playing hand was mutilated. Back in Oakland, Negrito forgot about life as a musician. He got married, he planted vegetables, raised his own chickens, and made money growing weed. He also settled into being a man, on his own, clear of the distractions of wanting to be a star. And then his son Kyu was born. He began recording without the hindrances that come with chasing trends. Negrito turned to the original DNA of all American music, the Blues. The beating life had given him primed him to channel his literal and musical forefathers: the Blues musicians of the Delta]

12. (#49) First Aid Kit – “Ruins”
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.]

13. (#48) Amanda Fish – “2020”
from: Free / VizzTone / September 14, 2018
[Amanda Fish began as a singer songwriter in late 2012, refining her original material as a solo act for 2 years before she formed her band in early 2014, a Roots Rock and Soul project featuring Amanda’s signature ‘from-the-gut’ vocals locked into a sturdy groove. In 2015, she released her first LP, “Down In The Dirt”, on VizzTone Label Group, for which she was awarded the 2016 “Sean Costello Rising Star” Blues Blast Music Award. Amanda and her band set Beale Street on fire in the 2017 International Blues Challenge Semi Finals, playing new material slated for her next release.]

14. (#47) The Get Up Kids – “Better This Way”
from: Kicker EP / Polyvinyl Record Co / June 8, 2018
[Matt Pryor on vocals & guitars, Jim Suptic on guitar, Rob Pope on bass, James Dewees on keyboards, Ryan Pope on drums. On March 29, 2018, Polyvinyl Records announced on their Instagram account that they had signed the band and that new music will be coming soon. The Get Up Kids are an American rock band from Kansas City, Missouri. Formed in 1995, the band was a major player in the mid-1990s emo scene, otherwise known as the “second wave” of emo music. As they gained prominence, they began touring with bands such as Green Day and Weezer before becoming headliners themselves, eventually embarking on international tours of Japan and Europe. They founded Heroes & Villains Records, an imprint of the successful indie rock label Vagrant Records. While the imprint was started to release albums by The Get Up Kids, it served as a launching pad for several side-projects such as The New Amsterdams and Reggie and the Full Effect. The Get Up Kids were viewed throughout their existence as a prototypical emo band, having been major players in the Midwest emo movement of the mid-1990s. Their second album Something to Write Home About remains their most widely acclaimed album, and is considered to be one of the quintessential albums of the second-wave emo movement. However, like many early emo bands, The Get Up Kids sought to dissociate themselves with the term, as it was considered dismissive to be seen as an “emo band.”[8] The band departed heavily from their established style with the release of their 2002 album On a Wire, which saw the band take on a much more layered, alternative rock sound. Years later, guitarist Jim Suptic even apologized for having the influence they did on many of the modern third-wave emo bands, commenting that “[t]he punk scene we came out of and the punk scene now are completely different. It’s like glam rock now … If this is the world we helped create, then I apologize.” Due to internal conflicts, the band broke up in 2005. Three years later, the band reunited to support the tenth anniversary re-release of Something to Write Home About, and soon afterward entered the studio to write new material. In early 2010, the band released Simple Science, their first release in six years, followed in 2011 by the full-length There Are Rules. The Get Up Kids Members Rob Pope is also in the band Spoon; Jim Suptic is in the bands: Blackpool Lights, and Radar State; James Dewees is in the band Reggie and the Full Effect; and Matt Pryor performs often as a solo artists, and in the bands: Radar State, and The New Amsterdams.]

15. (#46) Vigil and Thieves – “Ladylike”
from: Make Sure They Hear You / Vigil and Thieves / August 24, 2018
[Kansas City based 4-piece band with Sarah Storm on vocals, guitar, & keyboards; Steph Castor on guitar; Matthew Muckenthaler on bass, and Andrew Flaherty on drums.]

16. (#45) Soccer Mommy – “Last Girl”
from: Clean / Fat Possum Records / March 2, 2018
[Soccer Mommy is the stage name of bedroom pop and indie rock musician Sophie Allison. Allison was born in Switzerland and grew up in Nashville, TN. She attended Nashville School of the Arts, a speciality high school where she studied guitar and played in the swing band. She first picked up a guitar at age 6, which prompted her to start making music. She began posting home-recorded songs to Bandcamp as Soccer Mommy in 2015, during the summer when she was about to leave for college at New York University, where she studied music business. While in college, she played her first show as Soccer Mommy at the community art space Silent Barn in Bushwick, Brooklyn, and shortly after landed a record deal with Fat Possum.She dropped out after a year in 2017 to return to Nashville and pursue her music career. Since beginning her career as Soccer Mommy, Allison has released two full-length albums. Her first, For Young Hearts, was released in 2016 on Orchid Tapes. Her second album, Collection, was released in 2017 on Fat Possum Records. Her debut album proper, titled Clean, was released on March 2, 2018. She has toured with Mitski, Jay Som, Slowdive, Frankie Cosmos, Phoebe Bridgers and others]

17. (#44) FACEFACE – “We Awesome (radio edit)”
from: MMmm / FACEFACE / February 15, 2018
[KC based experimental electronic hiphop musical collaboration with.Ryan Lee Toms is a Kansas City based multi-instrumentalist, composer and artist who has recorded original experimental dance electronic music as RLT with John Bersuch. Ryan also plays guitar with the math rock band HMPH! and he plays drums for the Kansas City based, 5-piece post-punk deathrock band Beelzebabes. All the while Ryan has also been nurturing a fourth collaboration called FACEFACE, an experimental electronic hiphop musical collaboration with Paul S. Nyakatura, is a Kansas City based award winning voiceover artist, stand up comedian, commercial producer, and rapper and hip hop artist. Paul is the voice of FACEFACE and featured in the FACEFACE video for their new song, “We Awesome,” all shot in one take from Celestial Pictures.]

11:00 – Station ID

18. (#43) Lucy Dacus – “Addictions”
from: Historian / Matador / March 2, 2018
[Lucy Dacus was born 1995 and grew up in Richmond, Virginia . She is an indie rock singer-songwriter who has has released two albums, both on Matador Records: 2016’s No Burden and 2018’s Historian. She started studying film at Virginia Commonwealth University but left to pursue her music career. She first performed in New York in March 2015. Sasha Gessen in Pitchfork wrote about Historian: ” It’s not an easy album to wear out. It lasts, and it should, given that so many of its lyrics pick at time, and the way time condenses around deep emotional attachments to other people.”

19. (#42) Dragon Inn 3 – “What Kind Of World Are You Living In”
from: Double Line / American Laundromat Records / August 17, 2018
[Kansas City based band formed in 2012 with Grace Bentley, Sharon Bowie, Philip K. Dickey, E.P. Marcus. Dragon Inn 3’s debut LP clocks in at 28 minutes, but the band spent six years whittling away on the songs that would eventually become Double Line. Combining sugary pop hooks, hypnotic beats, and huge MOOG synths, Dragon Inn 3’s playful take on 80s pop could double as the soundtrack to a John Hughes movie (if John Hughes directed Blade Runner). The cinematic origins of Dragon Inn 3 can be traced back to 2012, when Philip Dickey (leader of the indie-pop group Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin) wrote a theme song for the award-winning short film Ghoul School. “If you watch the trailer you can tell it’s the same premise and look as Stranger Things–we just accidentally made it three years before them,” Dickey says. “I had so much fun making the soundtrack with the director (E.P. Marcus) that we decided to start a band.” Dickey recruited his sister, Sharon Bowie, an occupational therapist, and his wife, children’s librarian Grace Bentley, to help with songwriting and vocal duties. The group self-released the Ghoul School Soundtrack EP in late 2012, receiving high praise from Consequence of Sound, Philadelphia’s WXPN, and The Riverfront Times, before climbing to #1 on Bandcamp’s cassette charts. Then it was back to the studio (i.e. the bedrooms, kitchens, garages, and hotel rooms that doubled as makeshift recording studios). In between full-time jobs, parenthood, graduate school classes, and cross country moves, the members of Dragon Inn 3 put Double Line to tape. “I’m a stay-at-home dad now, so I would work on song arrangements and rough mixes when our toddler was taking his naps,” explains Dickey. “Grace would come home from work and record all her parts after his bedtime. We recorded all the breathy vocals in the living room and all the yelly parts in the garage so we wouldn’t wake him up.” The result is a highly addictive album that creates “a soundtrack for the more introspective moments on and off the dance floor,” according to critic David Greenwald. Opening track “What Kind Of World Are You Living In” plays like Blondie if the band hired Hall and Oates to record guitars. The album takes an intimate turn with “Bad Boy,” Bowie’s dreamy “Rocket Launcher,” and Bentley’s introspective cover of Robin Gibb’s “Juliet.” “3 Minute Mile” swoons with arpeggios and a hypnotic MOOG bass, while Bentley softly repeats the phrase “desperation/bad desire.” Then there are Italo-disco tinged tracks “Backstabber” and “Club Sauce,” with sing-songy pop hooks that harken back to Madonna and Whitney Houston’s greatest hits. “Double Line Theme” and “Murder In The Third” show off DI3’s soundtrack aspirations, and sound like lost Tangerine Dream and Giorgio Moroder B-sides. “Up In The Business” provides indelible synth hooks and a triumphant ending to Double Line. With members spread out over the country (KC, LA, and Springfield, MO), the group signed to American Laundromat Records in early 2018. A demo of “Bad Boy” (co-written with Free Energy’s Paul Sprangers) landed in a commercial for Ryan Adams’ Beats 1 Radio show before the song was even completed.]

20. (#41) Sara Morgan – “Average Jane”
from: Average Jane / River Delta Records / January 26, 2018
[KC based Singer/Songwriter, originally from McGehee, Arkansas. Sara Morgan plays saxophone, guitar, banjo, ukulele, and piano. Sara has opened for BJ Thomas, John Michael Montgomery, John Corbett, Sean Rowe, Chuck Mead, Ben Taylor, and was the preshow before Loretta Lynn at The Uptown, November 2014. Ms. Lynn hosted Sara on her tour bus after Sara’s set and prior to Ms. Lynn’s performance.]

21. (#40) Of Tree – “How Does It Feel”
from: How Does It Feel / Of Tree / October 12, 2018
[Of Tree is Benjamin Parks on guitar & vocals, Laurel Morgan Parks on violin & fiddle & vocals and John Bersuch on percussion & sub-bass. The band explains “we like to build layers, loop strings, bow guitars and mix sampled beats with real ones as a backdrop for melodies on voice and traditional instruments. Emotional and expressive, our music draws inspiration from loss and triumph, failure and hope.” Of Tree began in 2009 and has taken many forms as it has evolved over time, including a full 5 piece folk band and, at one time, a classical trio backing Parks’ voice and guitar. Of Tree launched a Kickstarter Campaign to help record their new album and release their music on vinyl. Of Tree have been actively writing music for this project since the summer of 2016. Laurel writes “As a married couple its been quite a road for us to be able work through music together without taking things too personally (as people in relationships tend to do), but the magic happened last summer when music started pouring out of us and we were able just allow it to happen. Both of us come from fairly strict religious backgrounds and a lot of our lyrics have to do with healing from those experiences. We also deal with themes of finding new footing in life, moving beyond the past and letting go. Really this album is all about healing on a very personal level.” Laurel writes that she is, “very interested in pushing the boundaries of what instrumentation I can marry to my classical violin training. I have been cross pollinating between electronic music I write on the computer using midi inputs with melodies I write on my violin. I enjoy putting a techno beat behind a folk instrument such as the Kalimba or chime and then morphing that into a journey of layered strings and melodic hooks. I am always interested in melody over lyrics. A lot of the music I wrote for this album is inspired from studying folk traditions such as Celtic fiddling, thematic movie music and Peruvian icaros. ” John Bersuch, has been playing with Of Tree since November of 2016. He adds tasteful beats and enjoys thinking outside the box. He once brought a tree to an “Of Tree” show and played it as a percussive instrument. Ben Parks is a visual artist who also plays in the band Slights with Matthew Dunehoo. Laurel Parks also plays in The Wires, John Bersuch is in Bacon Shoe, RLT, and many others.]

22. (#39) Eems – “Make Up On Your Scars”
from: Dreems / Independent / June 26, 2018
[Eems is Phillip Jackson, a KC based ukulele loop artist, singer songwriter, rapper, pianist, drummer, The resonance of his bright musical sounds, and lyrical calls, are woven through genres of folk, hip hop, pop, and dance influences. He has shared the stage with notable hop hop artists, and KC Folk Music Fest, Middle of The Map Fest.]

23. (#38) Hi-Lux – “Dance With My Baby”
from: Hi-Lux – EP / Hi-Lux / February 1, 2018
[Originally released as a single on August 15, 2017. Now included in this 6 song EP. HI-LÜX is Julia Haile on vocals, Nick Howell on keyboards & organ, Kian Byrne on drums and vocals, Pete Leibert on bass, Tim Braun on guitar. Hi-Lux is based in KC. The band brings together elements of soul, reggae and funk for a unique and dance inspiring sound. More info at: http://www.hi-lux.bandcamp.com]

[Julia Haile Trio with Tim Braun on guitar and Kian Byrne on drums play Ça Va, 4149 Pennsylvania, KCMO, Thursday, December 20, at 9:00 PM]

24. (#37) My Oh My! – “The War Outside”
from: The War Outside / My Oh My! / May 19, 2018
[My Oh My! is: Stephen Berry on guitars; Grant Buell on pianos, Organ, & Wurlitzer; Sarah Dolt, Stephanie Gaumé & Melissa Geffert on vocals; Jason Harper on bass guitar & tenor saxophone; Jacob Horpinjuk on drums & percussion; and A.M. Merker on lead vocals, guitar, and songwriting. Produced by My Oh My! and Joel Nanos, and recorded, engineered, and mixed by Joel Nanos at Element Recording Studios, and mastered by David Gaumé at Forest Sounds, North Hollywood, CA. More info at: http://www.myohmykc.com]

[My Oh My! play Californos, 4124 Pennsylvania, KCMO, Thursday, December 20, at 7:00 PM with Good Morning Bedlam, Sky Smeed, and Center State.]

25. (#36) Chris Hazelton’s Boogaloo 7 – “The Basement Beat (Part 2)”
from: The Basement Beat / Sunflower Soul / July 20, 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 info at: http://www.chrishazelton.com. Chris Hazelton on Hammond B-3 organ; Nick Howell on trumpet & tambourine; Nick Rowland on alto & tenor sax (tracks 1, 2, & 4); Zak Pischnotte on alto & tenor sax (tracks 3, 5, & 6); Brett Jackson on baritone sax; Matt Hopper on guitar; Danny Rojas on drums; and Pat Conway on congas (tracks 1-4, 6), bongos & cowbell (Track 5); Juan-Carlos Chaurand on congas (Track 5); John Kizilarmut on timbales & güiro (Track 5). Recorded live to 8-track analog tape, mixed, and produced by Chris Hazelton at the FORTRESS OF SOULITUDE. Mastered by Adam Boose at Cauliflower Audio. Pressed by Gotta Groove Records. Chris Hazelton’s Boogaloo 7 will be releasing a 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.]

[Chris Hazelton’s Boogaloo 7 play A Funky New Years Eve at Black Dolphin, 1813 Grand, KCMO, Monday, December 31, at 9:00 PM to 1:00 am.]

11:29 – Underwriting

26. (#35) David Byrne – “Everybody’s Coming To My House”
from: American Utopia / Todomundo – Nonesuch / March 9, 2018
[Co written with Brian Eno. David Byrne’s first solo studio album since 2004’s Grown Backwards. Even though since then he has released albums with Brian Eno, Fat Boy Slim, and St. Vincent. The album is his 11th outside of his work with talking Heads. The new album is one part of a larger multimedia project entitled Reasons to Be Cheerful which aims to give reasons for being happy and optimistic in spite of political strife and environmental problems. The project was entitled after the Ian Dury song “Reasons to Be Cheerful (Part 3)”. David Byrne writes: “Is this meant ironically? Is it a joke? Do I mean this seriously? In what way? Am I referring to the past or the future? Is it personal or political? These songs don’t describe an imaginary or possibly impossible place but rather attempt to depict the world we live in now. Many of us, I suspect, are not satisfied with that world—the world we have made for ourselves. We look around and we ask ourselves—well, does it have to be like this? Is there another way? These songs are about that looking and that asking. This album is indirectly about those aspirational impulses. Sometimes to describe is to reveal, to see other possibilities. To ask a question is to begin the process of looking for an answer. To be descriptive is also to be prescriptive, in a way. The act of asking is a big step. The songs are sincere—the title is not ironic. The title refers not to a specific utopia, but rather to our longing, frustration, aspirations, fears, and hopes regarding what could be possible, what else is possible. The description, the discontent and the desire—I have a feeling that is what these songs touch on. I have no prescriptions or surefire answers, but I sense that I am not the only one looking and asking, wondering and still holding onto some tiny bit of hope, unwilling to succumb entirely to despair or cynicism.”]

[David Byrne played The Kauffman Center for The Performing Arts, June 7.]

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

28. (#33) Kadesh Flow – “Glassy Eyes”
from: Room Service EP / Ryan Davis / March 30, 2018
[Kadesh Flow is Ryan Davis is a rapper with an MBA. At age 11, he began rapping and playing trombone within two weeks of one another. His music has been featured on network television in multiple countries and territories across Southeast Asia. Locally, Kadesh can be found rocking solo hip hop sets, laying down bone bars with KC funk juggernaut The Phantastics, or jamming with various bands throughout the city. The Room Service EP was conceived between shows at MAGfest 2018, when Kadesh Flow, Atlas, and Bill Beats began creating in their hotel room. Producers/Writers include: Kadesh Flow, Atlas, Bill Beats, Shubzilla, Eye-Q, O.Super. Mixed By: Kadesh Flow. Mastered By: Out D Park Productions.]

29. (#32) Carswell & Hope – “The Other Side”
from: Exit Plan EP / Silly Goose Records / May 22, 2018
[Music by Carswell & Hope. Lyrics by Nick Carswell. Produced & mixed by Jason Slote & Nick Carswell. Mastered by Michael Fossenkemper @ TurtleTone Studio NYC. Lawrence KS based 5-piece band formed June 25, 2012. The band is: Nick Carswell, Jason Slote, Austin Quick, Chris Handley, and Jordan Tucker. Songwriter Nick Carswell is originally from Ireland and has found a new home on the plains of Kansas.]

30. (#31) Grand Marquis – “Another Lover”
from: Britgher Days / King Forward Records / April 28, 2018
[KC based American Roots, Blues, & Prohibition Jazz band, formed in 1998 have released 7 albums, including a 7” 45 rpm vinyl recorded at legendary Sun Studio in Memphis, TN. The band is: Ben Ruth on upright bass, sousaphone, backing vocals; Chad Boydston on trumpet, backing vocals; Ryan Wurtz on electric and acoustic guitars; Trevor Turla on trombone, backing vocals; Fritz Hutchison on drums, backing vocals; Bryan Redmond on lead vocals, soprano, alto, tenor & baritone saxophones.]

[Grand Marquis play The Westport Saloon with Knock Kneed Sally on Friday, Dec. 21, at 8:00 PM]

31. (#30) Danielle Nicole – “Cry No More”
from: Cry No More / Concord Records / February 23, 2018
[Nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album. Danielle Nicole sings and plays bass on all tracks, with special guest musicians like Sonny Landreth on slide guitar, Walter Trout on guitar, Kenny Wayne Shepherd on guitar, Johnny Lee Schell on guitar, Monster Mike Welsh on guitar, Brandon Miller on guitar, Luther Dickinson on guitar. Danielle Nicole was born Danielle Nicole Schnebelen. Her self-titled solo debut EP was released March 10, 2015 on Concord Records. The self-titled EP features Grammy Award-winning producer-guitarist Anders Osborne, Galactic’s co-founding drummer Stanton Moore and keyboardist Mike Sedovic. On February 25, 2015, American Blues Scene premiered the track “Didn’t Do You No Good” off the new EP. Danielle Nicole was previously in the band Trampled Under Foot with her brothers Kris and Nick Schnebelen. At the 2014 Blues Music Awards, Trampled Under Foot’s album, Badlands, won the ‘Contemporary Blues Album of the Year’ category. At the same ceremony, Danielle Nicole, under the name of Danielle Schnebelen, triumphed in the ‘Best Instrumentalist – Bass’ category. The band was also nominated in the ‘Band of the Year’ category. In September 2015, her debut album, Wolf Den, was released on Concord Records. It reached number 2 in the Billboard Top Blues Albums chart in October that year. Danielle Nicole’s second solo album, Cry No More, peaked at # 1 in the Billboard Top Blues Albums chart. Bill Withers wrote one of the teacks on the new album.]

[Danielle Nicole plays the Gospel Lounge at Knuckleheads on December 20, 21, & 22 Thursday, Friday, & Saturday}

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

Next week on Wednesday December 26, we present the finale – part four of our four week series The 118 Best Recordings of 2018. We’ll count down #29 to #1 with representative tracks from: Emmaline Twist, Bob & Una Walkenhorst, Slights, Calvin Arsenia, Shy Boys, Madisen Ward and the Mama Bear, Mikal Shapiro, Amy Farrand and The Like, Janelle Monae, Monta At Odds, Howard Iceberg & The Titanics, Ssion, Jametatone, Mysterious Clouds, CS Luxem, Marcus Lewis Big Band, Under The Big Oak Tree, Other Americans, Broken Arrows, The War and Treaty, Cowboy Junkies, Meshell Ndegeocello, Blood Orange, U.S. Girls, Cat Power, Superchunk, Amen Dunes, Dirty Projectors, and Parquet Courts.

Tune into 90.1 FM, Wednesdays in December, as we present our 4-week series: The 118 Best Recordings of 2018. We’re packing 8-hours of radio with music that represent: The 118 of Best Recordings of 2018!

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 #765

WMM Playlist from July 4, 2018

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 Spins America with Songs from Americans, etc.

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
(associated with fireworks)

Spinning Songs about America from Americans,
plus a few Russians, Swedish, Nigerians, & English too
.

On Independence Day Mark plays New & MidCoastal Releases from: Other Americans, Chris Hazleton’s Boogaloo 7, Krystle Warren, Janelle Monáe, U.S. Girls, The Milk Carton Kids, First Aid Kit, MorMor, Superchunk, Femi Kuti, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, and Joan Baez. Plus tracks from: Pussy Riot, Gil Scott-Heron, Brian Eno & David Byrne, Curtis Mayfield, Talking Heads, David Byrne & Fatboy Slim featuring Sharon Jones, Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings, David Bowie featuring Gail Ann Dorsey, Radiohead, Simon & Garfunkel, Phosphorescent, and Tracy Chapman.

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.

Independence Day is commonly associated with fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, fairs, picnics, concerts, baseball games, family reunions, and political speeches and ceremonies, in addition to various other public and private events celebrating the history, government, and traditions of the United States. Independence Day is the National Day of the United States.

Let us be your DJ for two hours in the MidDay while you are getting ready to go to the lake.

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

Show #741

WMM Playlist from June 5, 2013

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, June 5, 2013

The Latenight Callers
+ Crossroads Summer Block Party
+ Mark’s 50th Birthday

1. Various Artists -“The Twilight Zone”
from: All-Time Top 100 TV Themes / TVT / August 23, 2005

2. Various Artists -“The Dick Van Dyke Show”
from: All-Time Top 100 TV Themes / TVT / August 23, 2005

3. Various Artists -“The Mary Tyler Moore Show”
from: All-Time Top 100 TV Themes / TVT / August 23, 2005

50 years ago, on this date, I was born, so today i’ll play from some of my favorite recordings, from different times of my life, starting in 2nd grade when I discovered his Mom’s record collection in the basement.

I was in second grade, seven years old, in our unfinished basement we had an old TV that got one channel, CBS, out of Lincoln, Nebraska. Across the room was an old 1960’s wooden Stereo cabinet. Beside the cabinet was a box with several of my Mom’s albums. I pulled out “Meet The Beatles” put the needle on the groove, and this was this first spin of my life.

4. The Beatles – “All My Loving” (Mono)
from: Meet The Beatles / Capitol-EMI / Nov 23,1963

Next I pulled out a cover that looked like a portrait of a wedding couple, except they were brother and sister, not husband and wife. It was “Close To You.” The Carpenters covered “Help” by The Beatles, and the big hits “We’ve Only Just Begun” and “Close To You” a Burt Bacharach / Hal David classic. On the second side of the LP, they recorded another Burt Bacharach / Hal David song, originally written for the 1968 musical “Promises, Promises.” This song was made a hit by Bobbie Gentry, and also Dionne Warwick, but this version displays the amazing harmony and almost spooky studio arrangements of brother Richard Carpenter. It was 1971.

5. The Carpenters – “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again”
from: Close To You / A&M / 1971

10:10

I grew up in a small town in Nebraska. R&B wasn’t played on the radio. When I was 11 my parents got a divorce and we moved to the “other side of town.” My mom got a job working at the Women’s Prison. Since mom was a new employee, she had to work all of the holidays, so I spent Easter, Mother’s Day, 4th of July, at the prison. It was there that I heard this song for the first time. The best music in town was at the prison.

6. Al Green – “Lets Stay Together”
from: Lets Stay Together / Hi Records / Jan. 31, 1972

In my tween years my mother’s record collection was changing, her second husband Al drove a van, and listened to 8-track tapes. My mom was in the RCA Music Club where they would automatically send you the new release, that’s how she ended up with the soundtrack to the film “Superfly” from Curtis Mayfield.The movie never played our town. But the soundtrack tells the story, and we hear in the bridge Curtis singing, “Trying to get over” the theme we hear in so many of Curtis Mayfield’s incredible recordings.

7. Curtis Mayfield – “Superfly”
from: Superfly (Soundtrack from the Motion Picture) / Curtom Records / July 1972

10:18

In high school journalism class, working on the yearbook staff, we listened to this debut record, of a new band from Athens, Georgia. We listened on a little small portable stereo, checked out from the media department. The record’s label said, “play loud,” we did.

8. The B-52’s – “52 Girls”
from: The B-52’s / Warner Brothers / 1979

One summer morning, in 1982, in her apartment, in Crete, my friend BJ, woke me up, with the song, “Young Americans,” and it changed my life. I now had to have every Bowie recording ever made. Bowie actually helped me “come out,” and I learned that reinvention could prevent insanity. In my search back, I discovered “Hunky Dory,” recorded in 1971, just after his research trip to NYC & Andy Warhol’s Factory. This is the opening track on the second side of the album.

9. David Bowie – “Fill Your Heart”
from: Hunky Dory / RCA / 1971

10:26 – Underwriting
10:27

10. The Latenight Callers – “Tourniquets”
from: Songs for Stolen Moments / TLNC / June 8, 2013

10:32 – Interview with Krysztof Nemeth & Gavin Mac of The Latenight Callers

The Latenight Callers are releasing “Songs for Stolen Moments.” with a CD Release Party, Saturday, June 8, at the recordBar,1020 Westport Rd., KCMO, with In Back of a Black Car, and Thick and The Foolish.

Krysztof Nemeth told us the story of how the band came to be The Latenight Callers

Formed in Lawrence by baritone guitarist, Krysztof Nemeth, vocalist Julie Berndsen, w/ Bassist Gavin Mac, Nick Combs on keys.

“Songs for Stolen Moments” was recorded with Duane Trower at Weights and Measures

The Latenight Callers release their new record “Songsfor Stolen Moments.” with a CD Release Party, Saturday, June 8, at the recordBar, 1020 Westport Rd., KCMO, with In Back of a Black Car, and Thick and The Foolish. More info at: thelatenightcallers.com

11:43

11. The Latenight Callers – “Straight Razor”
rom: Songs for Stolen Moments / TLNC / June 8, 2013

I was a Prince fan from very early on. Many people heard this song on Cyndi Lauper’s debut album, but I heard it first on his second album, “Dirty Mind.”

12. Prince – “When You Were Mine”
from: Dirty Mind / Warner Brothers / 1980

Their debut album came out in 1977, but it took some of us until 1981 to discover it, their music has been therapy to me, both physically and psychologically. I love all of their recordings, but 77 is special. They were fresh young art students fearlessly being a band.

13. Talking Heads – “Uh-Oh, Love Comes To Town”
from: 77 / Sire / 1977

I knew I was gay when I was 5, but I kept it a secret. My first year in college I fell in love with a girl, but after 9 months I ended our relationship. I felt I was lying. That summer I started to “come out,” at least to myself, and then, in my second year in college, I sort of fell in love with my friend B.J.’s lesbian girlfriend Dani. She had moved into our dorm after a few dates with BJ. One night after a trip to KC, Dani and I ran across campus to Baba Rama’s room at Smith Hall. He had friends visiting, but we put on the cassette, “Combat Rock” by The Clash, and the three of us just started dancing. A straight guy, a lesbian girl, and a gay guy. I was 19, and trying to figure everything out. It was confusing. Thankfully I had a “kick-ass” soundtrack to help make the connections.

14. The Clash – “Should I Stay Or Should I Go”
from: Combat Rock / /May 14, 1982

11:00

50 years ago, on this date, I was born, so today I’m playing from some of my favorite recordings, from different times of my life

Baba Rama, was two years older than me in college, he was always luring me into new situations, and possible danger. He had a reputation. He introduced me to Patti Smith’s album “Wave” the same night he bought thai stick from several international students. From that day forward, I would always love Patti Smith. All of her recordings are worth their weight, for her authentic rock and roll voice has passed from underground poet to best selling author. Her debut was produced by John Cale, and I think this song is perfect.

15. Patti Smith – “Free Money”
from: Horses / Arista Records / November, 1975

1984, was my own personal “Year of Hell.” I was 22, it was my Senior year in college. I was taking 23 credits my 1st semester and 21 my 2nd. It was the same year my theatre director decided to “put the moves on me.” I went from denial to rebellion, in a 9-month ark, and left empty, and estranged. The Smiths helped me feel less alone, and they were cool.

16. The Smiths – “You’ve Got Everything Now”
from: The Smiths / Sire / February 1984

In the mid 1990s my friend Sandra was Manager of The Midland Theater. As a perk she arranged for our friends, to have front row seats, for multiple Patti LaBelle concerts. These shows were very special. The audience was so incredibly mixed, half of the audience was African American straight couples and the other half were gay men, and everyone was dressed like they were going to church, or a nightclub. The music and the love of Patti brought us all together. Patti performed all of her usual tricks, giving her eye lashes to someone in the audience; rolling across the stage from one side to the other; kicking her shoes off high into the air; crying, witnessing on stage. And of course singing, filling the room, with her voice, dropping the mic to the stage floor, to prove she could still be heard even if the electricity went out. Patti represents the history of modern pop music, from her days in The Bluebelles, and The Bluebelles fantastic transformation into LaBelle, a band that reinterpreted many rock classics, and also wrote many of their own best songs. This one was written by LaBelle member Nona Hendrix.

17. Labelle – “I Believe I Finally Made it Home”
from: Something Silver / Warner Archives / Feb. 11, 1997
[orig, from Moon Shawdow, 1972]

11:16 – Underwriting

11:17 – Interview with Jerad Tomasino of Golden Sound Records

The Crossroads Summer Block Party, is this Friday, June 7, at 19th & Wyandotte, 6:00 -12:00 pm, an evening of live music, food and KC culture. Joining us with all of thedetails is our friend Jerad Tomasino of Golden Sound Records.

Jerad Tomasino, Ross Brown & Mat Shoare are the founders of Golden Sound Records

The Crossroads Summer Block Party, June 7, at 19th & Wyandotte, features music from: Akkilles, Opossum Trot, Oils, Millions Of Boys, Shy Boys, Hidden Pictures, Fullbloods, and Cowboy Indian Bear.

Food Trucks: Gary’s On The Go, Nani’s Kitchen, KC Smoke Burger, and Los Tules.

Art & Fashion: Scarlett Garnet Jewelry, Tangled Mane, and Tyler Coey.

11:22

18. Hidden Pictures – “Girls Lie”
from: Sister Wife [EP] / Golden Sound Records / June 4, 2013
[All songs written by Richard Gintowt. Mixed by Joel Nanosat Element Recording Studios. Mastered by Doug Van Sloun at Focus Mastering, Omaha. Drums and bass recorded by Paul Malinowski at Massive Sounds, KCMO. Artwork by Patrick Giroux (pjgiroux.com). Richard Gintowt – vocals, guitars; Jeff Freling – better guitars; Claire Adams – vocals; Nate Holt – keys; Kyle Akers – bass; Lennon Bone – drums]

11:25

The Block Party is sponsored by: Golden Sound Records, The Pitch, Cremalab, Snow & Co., ThinkKC, Think Big Partners, C&C Custom Drums, Mildred’s Coffeehouse, Boveri Realty, Missouri Bank, Hammerpress, and the Midwest Music Foundation.

The Crossroads Summer Block Party, June 7, at 19th & Wyandotte, 6:00 -12:00 pm, an evening of live music, food and KC culture. More info at: crossroadsblockparty.com

11:31

This is the title song from one of my favorite albums of all time. If you broke up with your lover, you may never hold them again, this record speaks to that part of your heart. In 1988 we were buying all of our favorite albums again, on CD, and hearing Joni digitally through the speakers, it felt like she was singing directly to me. I got to see her live, when she toured with Dylan in 1998. I had front row, center seats, at The United Center in Chicago. I cried through the entire concert as Joni played guitar, with her Jazz Combo, smoking a cigarette, bringing all of her songs alive onstage, it was sacred, like this song…

19. Joni Mitchell – “Blue”
from: Blue / Warner / June 1971

BJ’s girlfriend was in a CD subscription service and was sent the 5 CD, Box Set “Peel Slowly and See,” featuring all of The Velvet Underground’s studio recordings. Before BJ’s girlfriend could send it back, BJ snagged it, and gave it to Caleb and I as a gift. The music filled our house on West 39th Street. Where our first floor was used as an art gallery, a rehearsal space, a place for Scorpio parties, Jen’s Seder. The Velvet Undergound were the house band for Andy Warhol’s Factory. When I think about The Factory, I hear this song.

20. The Velvet Underground – “Venus In Furs”
from: The Velvet Underground and Nico / Universal / March 1967

In the late 1990s while I was working at The Midland Theatre, my friend Julie Broski brought “The Charm of the Highway Strip” into the office to play, and I was hooked. I quickly began searching for all of the recordings of The Magnetic Fields. Then the band released the acclaimed, “69 Loves Songs.” Recently, Lisa and I were talking about how we love these recordings and how our favorite song changes from time to time. This is my current favorite, on “69 Love Songs,” from one of my favorite bands: The Magnetic Fields.

21. The Magnetic Fields – “Papa Was A Rodeo”
from: 69 Love Songs / Merge Records / June 8, 1999

I was able to sit in the front row of the Kauffman Center to witness the living legend, Mavis Staples. She came up through gospel music, and then secular R&B, when Pops decided to broaden their audience. When you hear The Staple Singers you feel their struggle for equality through beautiful melody. Mavis has brought her voice & spirit to collaborations with The Band, Prince, Dylan. Her collaboration with Ry Cooder, “Down In Mississippi” was a musical masterpiece, of first-hand, civil rights history, in song. She followed that up with a collaboration with Jeff Tweedy, who wrote this perfect song, for Mavis to sing.

22. Mavis Staples –“You Are Not Alone”
from: You Are Not Alone / Anti / Sept. 10, 2010
[Produced & written by Jeff Tweedy of Wilco]

I met Iris DeMent when I was working at Kinkos at 39th & Rainbow in 1992. Iris came in to copy her press clippings, she was in the process of releasing her debut album. I wasn’t familiar with her music until I saw her on Late Night with Conan O’Brienin 1994, where she performed her song “My Life.” I was blown away. I had video taped the show and I remember replaying that song for anyone that came to visit. I ran into Iris at Classic Cup in Westport. I was sort of star stuck, but she approached me and asked, “How do I Know You?” Our friendship continued because we shared a mutual friend named Anne Winter, who arranged for Iris play a Big Bang Buffet in 1999. Iris also did a benefit for Friends of Community Radio in 2002, and KKFI in 2004. I love Iris! This is one of her first songs.

23. Iris DeMent – “Let The Mystery Be”
from: Infamous Angel / Warner Brothers / 1992 / 1993

24. Various Artists – “Looney Tunes”
from: All-Time Top 100 TV Themes / TVT / August 23, 2005

11:59:30

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

Sources for notes on tracks: artist’s websites and wikipedia.org

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

Show #476