Summer 1998 – Better or Worse than Summer 2008?

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I know I have precious little to say that’s nice about popular music in the ‘90s, but things really weren’t so bad then. Back in 1998, if you liked an artist or a song, you could buy a CD in a store, a store that sold CDs, a store that sometimes exclusively sold cd’s. Imagine that! Now that Tower Records and Virgin Megastores have virtually ceased to exist, while the mom and pop record shops that made buying so much fun have nearly evaporated, how quaint and old fashioned the idea of ‘buying’ a hard copy of music has already become. Maybe some people considered it impractical to flip through endless aisles of disks looking for something to buy. I loved it. I probably spent an unhealthy percentage of my life doing exactly that. It was fun to me, and God only knows how many new artists I’ve discovered by browsing through the racks. Maybe every generation that is younger than me thinks I’m crazy to bemoan the need to burn gas, drive to a shopping center, deal with a store clerk, and maybe find out that I’ve wasted my time because the disk I wanted isn’t in stock. I guess they’d also be right to point out that it isn’t environmentally sound to manufacture and distribute all of that plastic, when a digital file works just as well.

            I suppose that’s all true, but music doesn’t feel the same anymore, now that it floats freely (or otherwise) over the Internet. I’m sure record labels like it even less than I do, and perhaps so do most recording artists, but we can’t turn back the clock now. It is what it is. All music from today’s show hearkens back to a time when I was still flipping alphabetically through the ‘rock/pop/R&B’ sections of record stores, knowing that the days for doing so were numbered. Ten years ago, in the Summer of 1998, I already knew that cd’s would be soon be rendered obsolete, but I bought them anyway. Here are a few songs from those cd’s;

            1) Intergalactic – The Beastie Boys

            2) Ray of Light – Madonna

            3) Baby Britain – Elliott Smith

            4) Can’t Let Go – Lucinda Williams

            5) If You Ever Have Forever in Mind – Vince Gill

            6) Cowboy – Kid Rock

            7) Doo Wop (That Thing) – Lauryn Hill

            8) Pictures in an Exhibition – Death Cab for Cutie

GENE CASEY & THE LONE SHARKS - A CONVERSATION AND SOME LIVE MUSIC

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When you know somebody for ten or more years, you probably think you have him or her pegged, but Gene Casey continually surprises me. As the lead singer/songwriter and guitarist for the Lone Sharks, Gene has been shredding audiences for years. So, when Gene releases a new CD, I expect it to be an extension of his live show. There are a lot of bands that play the east end circuit (including my own), but nobody plays the territory as often or as well as Gene and his bandmates. The new disk is entitled “What Happened”, and it presents a more versatile side of Gene’s talents, featuring introspective songwriting, some great vocal stylizations and naturally, a whole CD of great playing. Gene showed up at for today’s show with an acoustic guitar in hand, and it is with great pleasure that I present our conversation with – and the music of – Gene Casey and the Lone Sharks.

All tracks from today’s show are written by Gene Casey and recorded by the Lone Sharks, except the live tracks which are by Gene Casey solo w/ an acoustic guitar);

1)    Which Lie to Tell

2)    It Should Rain (live in studio)

3)    A Better Place

4)    Bad Baby (live in studio)

5)    Gone Hollywood

6)    I Was Right (live in studio)

7)    Please Don’t Dance

HOW MUSIC CHANGED, PART 137-12 – EVERY SINGLE MOTOWN ‘A’ SIDE, PART 12

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We pick up our coverage of the Motown label in the Spring of 1963, a time when most people (including me) may have presumed that everything they touched turned to gold. This show more than adequately proves that not to be the case. That’s not say that the label was putting out junk, or that they were directionless. By reviewing this period of the label’s history, you can tell that they have everything in place. The trick was to make it all connect with the record-buying public, and that was not yet consistent. Still in all, there is a hit or two here, and even the misses provide some interesting history, so here are the songs that tell this part of the Motown story;

1)    Bobbie – George Bohannon Quartet

2)    I Did – Paula Greer

3)    The Interview (Summit Chanted Meeting) –“Jack” Haney and “Nikiter” Armstrong

4)    My Baby Gave Me Another Chance – Amos Milburn

5)    Don’t Let Her Be Your Baby – The Contours

6)    Oh Freddy – Connie Van Dyke

7)    A Love She Can Count On – The Miracles

8)    I Want a Love I Can See – The Temptations

9)    Pride and Joy – Marvin Gaye

10) Your Old Stand By – Mary Wells

11) Baby Shake – Eddie Holland

12) Why Go Out of Your Way – Billy Merritt

HOW MUSIC CHANGED, PART 137-11 – EVERY SINGLE MOTOWN ‘A’-SIDE, PART 11

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When I started this series, I had the expectation that the story of Motown would move along in a linear fashion. That is to say, I expected the story to start with a tiny label that gradually got better and better as it grew bigger and bigger. This show indubitably proved that that is not necessarily the case. In 1963, Motown was still experimenting with a variety of styles, and trying to pick the direction of popular music by following the winds of change as dictated by other labels and other artists; Motown was still not yet confident to follow their own lead all of the time. The result is a significantly large number of recordings that sound nothing like what ‘Motown’ has come to stand for.

            This signifies the first show covering music from 1963, and it represents a period of change, a time before the label’s identity became solidified. If this were a linear story, then 1963 would have a higher ratio of hits than previous years. That is not necessarily the case, as shown by the songs featured below;

1)    I Found a Girl – The Valadiers

2)    Good Bye Cruel Love – Linda Griner

3)    I Want to Talk about You – Paula Greer

4)    Laughing Boy – Mary Wells

5)    Sugar Cane Curtain – The Chuck-A-Lucks

6)    It Should have Been Me – Kim Weston

7)    Love Me All the Way – Kim Weston

8)    Locking Up My Heart The Marvelettes

9)    Forever – The Marvelettes

10) Come and Get These Memories – Martha Reeves & the Vandellas

11)  My Heart Can’t Take It No More – The Supremes

12) Late Freight – Dave Hamilton

13)  I’mi See You Later – The Johnny Griffith Trio

HOW MUSIC CHANGED, PART 137-10 – EVERY SINGLE MOTOWN ‘A’-SIDE, PART 10

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Our tenth program dedicated to the Motown hit machine finds us at the end of another banner year for the label, a year that featured nearly exponential growth, and a huge increase in the visibility of its artist roster. If you ever wondered what songs were on the charts when the very first Motortown revue zigzagged its way across the south, this show has the answer.

            Here’s a list of tunes featured in today’s program;

1)    Strange I Know – The Marvelettes

2)    You’ll Never Cherish a Love So True (‘Til You Lose It) – The Vells

3)     Paradise – The Temptations

4)    Two Lovers – Mary Wells

5)    Let Me Go the Right Way – The Supremes

6)    Hold On Pearly – Bob Kayli

7)    Happy Landing – The Miracles

8)    You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me – The Miracles

9)    Shake Sherrie – The Contours

10)  Camel Walk – LaBrenda Ben and the Belljeans

11)  Darling, I Hum Our Song – Eddie Holland

12)  Hitch Hike – Marvin Gaye

13)  Contract on Love – Little Stevie Wonder

HOW MUSIC CHANGED, PART 137-9 – EVERY SINGLE MOTOWN A-SIDE, PART 9

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This is our ninth episode in what appears to be developing into a never-ending series of every single Motown A-side, and it is also very special, because it the first show that really sounds like Motown. There are still a few oddities, and songs that are included solely for technical reasons, but for the first time, there are also a fair number of hits – or at least future hit artists still struggling to gain their footing. It’s an interesting show, and the music is fairly consistent from this point forward. This is about Motown, after all, so once the ball gets rolling, the hits start to come with breathtaking regularity.

Here’s a list of songs featured in today’s program;

1)    This Is Our Night – The Creations

2)    Beechwood 4 – 5789 – The Marvelettes

3)    You Beat Me to the Punch – Mary Wells

4)    Camel Walk – Saundra Mallet & the Vandellas

5)    Stubborn Kind of Fellow – Marvin Gaye

6)    That’s What He Is to Me – The Wright Specials

7)    If It’s Love (It’s Alright) – Eddie Holland

8)    Someday Pretty Baby – Singin’ Sammy Ward

9)    Your Love Is Wonderful – Hattie Littles

10) Trouble Lover – The Charters

11) I’ll Have to Let Him Go – Martha & the Vandellas

12) Mind Over Matter (I’m Gonna Make You Mine) – The Pirates

13) Little Water Boy – Little Stevie Wonder & Clarence Paul

American Hit Radio Interview – Twi the Humble Feather

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Twi the Humble Feather’s new CD is called “Music for Spaceships and Forests.” That title only begins to suggest the unique nature of their music. Regular listeners to American Hit Radio already know that I spend a LOT of time sifting through music both new and old. Over the years, I’ve learned that it is rare to hear something truly unique. I can say without hesitation that bandembers Anthony Lebron, Hektor Fontanez and Brian Doring have created something new and different. It took a while for the spiritual nature of their music to set in and move me, but repeated listenings made it obvious that there is an elemental quality to their sound that taps into something deep and soulful. Their music is both childlike and profound, containing a spiritual essence that draws from fantasy, as well as a more earthly desire for enlightenment, or lightness of being. They are also really nice guys, so it was a true pleasure to have them perform live in our studio. Tune in and listen to something that is both unusual and beautiful. From all of us at American Hit Radio, we are pleased to present Twi the Humble Feather.