The Weekend Roundup
Went to a great party yesterday afternoon to celebrate 10 years of Yangaroo, the folks that distribute music digitally to radio stations across North America with their DMDS application.
One of the co-founders, Cliff Hunt, used to manage some fine bands back in the ’80′s, and it is good to see his vision successful and thriving. There is a spirit in the place that reminded me of the old days when radio stations and record companies had the same buzz. Smiling faces from both the execs and the staff, everybody working toward the same goal and having a grand time doing it.
Yangaroo is housed in a modern, high tech space that has a bit if a ‘bullpen’ feel to it, and I got the impression that this team works together, exchanges ideas, and gets along famously. I spent the afternoon with them sharing  stories, drinking beer, and enjoying barbecue. Not a frown or a buzzkill to be seen anywhere.
They have a huge deck/patio just out the back door that just screams to be used for gatherings like this one. Maybe some live entertainment tossed in as a bonus.
Hopefully, they’ll have a few more get-togethers before summer winds down and we all go back to plowing through snow, not garbage, covered streets.
Happy 10th anniversary guys…and thanks for the great afternoon, and all the music.
This Weeks Headlines:
Bono, U2 to do week of appearances on Judge Judy
Man in Tempe, Arizona discovers a Spice Girl and ex Vice President Dan Quayle living in his tool shed
Kim Carnes smash hit ‘Bette Davis Eyes’ re-recorded as ‘Michael Jackson’s Nose’
Taco Bell unveils new snack made from undisclosed meat: The Purrito
George Bush, George Bush Sr. win 3 legged race at Dick Cheney’s Annual Shoot It and Grill It Day in Corpus Christie Texas
Courtney Love signs on to Desperate Housewives. Will play Susan and Mike’s mailbox
Def Leopard releases blues album, changes name to Blind Def Leopard
Martin Scorsese to direct Sinatra biopic, casting bimbos, flunkeys, and bartenders from now until Labor Day
Kellogs’ Rolling Stones Cereal to hit grocery store shelves in August. Flakes, bran, and the great taste of prunes in one big box.
Local rappers T Square and S.Lide Rule win Pulitzer Thug Prize, thank God, Bitches
Conan O’Brien to play awkward, gangly talk show host is new series, The Ginger Man for NBC
Lil’ Kim, Lil’ Wayne, and Lily Allen release hip hop version of Lil’ Rascals Theme: Spanky Cold Alfalfa
Paul McCartney plays Helter Skelter on Letterman’s roof. Gets blisters on his fingers.
PrIus, PrEEus, it’s still butt-ugly
Apple working on beautiful, human looking robot you can upload your brain to: iBod
Twinkie explodes: Crème filling kills 1, injures 4 others
Paris Hilton loses fortune, changes name to Paris Motel 6
New Star Trek movie to re-imagine The Wrath of Khan. Kahn will be played by Israeli acting sensation, Ricardo Mendelbaum
Man uses eBay, sells a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup to wealthy moron in Bahrain for $1.5 million dollars
Report: 9 out of 10 doctors talk about the other doctor when he leaves the room
Homeless man inherits radio station. Exchanges it for a Happy Meal and a bottle of Old Crow
…and them’s the headlines.
A&R Online Volume 20
A rare treat today.
Pie and I were fortunate enough to see The Zombies at the Mod Club this past week, (Thanks, Mark!), and wow…what a show.
Out of all the British Invasion bands, the Zombies’ always struck me as the most musically prescient. Blunstone and Argent were, (and judging from some new material they played), and are excellent, interesting, writers.
While their catalogue is full of great songs, there aren’t two that sound remotely alike. Quite a feat in the mid ’60′s, when everyone was trying to sound like everybody else, with few exceptions.
The Mod Club lives up to it’s reputation as one of the best venues in a city full of great venues. The sound is spectacular, wonderfully mixed, and the sight lines are perfect, ditto the lights, and the service at the bars. Mark Holmes and his partners and staff should be damn proud of themselves. I have yet to see a duff show in this place, and I doubt they’ve even had one.
Into this venue you place a veteran rock band, and, like the Sonics during this year’s NXNE, they show you how it’s done. Great songs, great performances, and engaging and witty stage banter. The crowd, ranging in age from 20-something to me, ate it all up. Our attention never strayed from the 5 gentlemen on stage, and for good reason.
It isn’t often that every song strikes a chord, or are delivered with such joy and professionalism. These guys smiled through the whole set, and it wasd infectious. You have a good time on stage, the audience has a good time with you. A refreshing change from histrioncs, pretension, and mumbled speeches…and Great Cesar’s Ghost, can these guys sing!
Afterwards, we found out that they are just as nice and open in real life as they are on stage. There is a genuine quality to all of them that ‘rock stars’ could take a lesson from. We hung out for a bit, along with AM740 Morning host and good friend, John Gallagher, (whose spot-on Captain Kirk made Pie “squeeee”, and impressed me no end. As good, if not better than Kevin Pollack’s.
Rod and Colin told us that the band is writing and recording a new album. I, for one, can hardly wait to hear it. If the two new songs they played are any indication, they have not lost the ability to write great, unique, and catchy songs. Great music, from a great bunch of guys, which is why today’s A&R Online is devoted to some classic tunes from The Zombies and Argent.
Pie keeps describing them as ‘adorable‘. So be it…
As always, you can hear these tracks by going to www.radiothatdoesntsuck.com/myWimpy.html and click on ‘A & R Online Volume 20
Enjoy…’.
1. The Zombies-I Love You
Like the tune that closes this edition of A&R Online, I didn’t remember this song until they started playing it. As soon as they hit the first line, I couldn’t imagine having ever forgotten it. A lost gem from an era full of classics.
2. The Zombies-Tell Her No
I can’t tell you how much I love this piece of music. To hear it live for the first time in over 40 years was incredible. The voices are just as strong as they were when this track was recorded. In every song they played, every note was reached, every harmony part in place. Damn!
3. The Zombies-Summertime
A jazz tinged, almost Dave Brubeckian approached to the chestnut from Porgy and Bess.
4. The Zombies-She’s Not There
Here it is. The Classic, the killer, the one that sticks to you like a caramel rain. Then again, almost all of the Zombies material does that…
5. The Zombies-Time of the Season
See? Just like the last one…this track has legs, Baby!
6. Argent-Hold Your Head High
Not only an anthem that cuts through to this day, but it was great to see the cell phones waving in the air, just like they did for the next track, which I had also forgotten over the years. And once again, as soon as they started singing the chorus, I immediately remembered…
7. Argent-God Gave Rock and Roll To You
Good luck getting this one out of your head…
Win of the Week
Fail of the Week
Dear Mr. Miller,
DO SOMETHING!
This guy keeps it up and he could be a shoo-in for Fail of the Year: Epic Fail
In Passing…
Dammit, we’ve lost another one. Gordon Waller, of a heart attack, this morning.
Here’s Peter Asher’s note from their MySpace Page:
A WORD FROM PETER:
Gordon played such a significant role in my life that losing him is hard to comprehend – let alone to tolerate.
He was my best friend at school almost half a century ago. He was not only my musical partner but played a key role in my conversion from only a snooty jazz fan to a true rock and roll believer as well. Without Gordon I would never have begun my career in the music business in the first place. Our professional years together in the sixties constitute a major part of my life and I have always treasured them.
We remained good friends (unusual for a duo!) even while we were pursuing entirely separate professional paths and I was so delighted that after a hiatus of almost forty years we ended up singing and performing together again more recently for the sheer exhilarating fun of it. We had a terrific time doing so.
Gordon remains one of my very favourite singers of all time and I am still so proud of the work that we did together. I am just a harmony guy and Gordon was the heart and soul of our duo.
I shall miss him in so many different ways. The idea that I shall never get to sing those songs with him again, that I shall never again be able to get annoyed when he interrupts me on stage or to laugh at his unpredictable sense of humour or even to admire his newest model train or his latest gardening effort is an unthinkable change in my life with which I have not even begun to come to terms.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HB6l4i-zA_Q\\
Rest in Peace, Gordon…
That’s enough for now. Email me at segarini@fyimusic.ca with your comments, complaints, and thoughts…and remember…don’t believe a word I say.
Bob “The Iceman” Segarini was in the bands The Family Tree, Roxy, The Wackers, The Dudes, and The Segarini Band and nominated for a Juno for production in 1978. He also hosted “Late Great Movies” on CITY TV, was a producer of Much Music, and an on-air personality on CHUM FM, Q107, SIRIUS Sat/Rad’s Iceberg 95, (now 85), and now provides content for radiothatdoesntsuck.com with RadioZombie, The Iceage, and PsychShack. Along with the love of his life, Jade (Pie) Dunlop, (who hosts and writes “I’ve Heard That Song Before” on RTDS), continues to write, make music, and record.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Peter and Gordon were managed by two rare people in this business — hard-working ‘fans’ of the music they represented. It’s been a hard week for them and a hard week for Asher. Here’s hoping everyone can carry on in the spirit that Gordon Waller brought to the genre.
Robert…just caught “Money in the Pocket”..on youtube..thanks to Gary Smalley..awesome..! We love that music Bro…thanks for bringing it to us..!
Saw The Zombies in Portland earlier this year. They absolutely destroyed the place. My reactions to the show and them as people is pretty much the same as yours. They still have the magic, no doubt. All monster performers. I think in some ways they were more musically sophisticated than many of their peers… thanks to Rod Argent.
(Although, psssssssst… it’s: Hold your head -up-)Whew…. the obsessive compulsive in me can now rest.
I managed to fall off my chair again Bob, hey we even got The Zombies here in northern California last year. Ian Hunter opened for them, what a treat !
George Bush and George Bush Jr in a three legged race at Dick Cheney’s infamous barbeque…just too much !
OK, I’ve got to get off the floor now and tend to my garden, after all it’s a Saturday and a cold brewskie shall be a real treat after toiling in the garden. RIP Gordon Waller. I think I’m OK now, keep up the good work !