The Weekend Roundup

A&R Online Volume 7

As always, you can hear these tracks as you read about them by going to radiothatdoesntsuck.com and clicking on ‘A & R Online Vol 7′. This edition of A&R Online is again, short and to the point… and, because I think it’s important, this week’s A&R Online features just one artist, and a link to another artist’s website to learn about a song, and a cause, that deserves your attention.

Let’s get on with it, shall we…

1. The Bicycles

01. Won’t She Be Surprised
02. One Twist Too Much
03. I’ll Wait for You

04. Once Was Not Enough
05. What a Fool
06. Roland

07. Green Light

08. Walk Away (from a Good thing)
09. Oh No, It’s Love

I met this band a few years ago and took an immediate liking to their music, and the fact that they were intelligent, witty, and incredibly unique. In early 2007, I took a copy of their first album, ‘The Good, the Bad, and the Cuddly’ into a music meeting at SIRIUS Satellite Radio’s Iceberg 95. Everybody loved the version of Harry Nilsson’s ‘Cuddly Toy’, but we went instead with an original tune of theirs called, ‘Paris Be Mine’, a great tune that grew on me because it was so damn upbeat, and different from everything else on the radio at the time.

After I saw them live, I was convinced they would break out much like the Barenaked Ladies did…and they should have. The record was solid from start to finish, their live shows were way fun, members changing instruments in mid-song, friends and auxiliary musicians popping on and off the stage depending on what the material called for, a strong stage presence, life size cardboard cutouts of band members placed here and there on the stage, and a kinetic energy rarely found in such a musically diverse group.

Their recordings are similarly engaging. Rapid fire lyrics with something to say, each track sporting different instruments depending on what sound and atmosphere the band was looking for, vocals that conjured up comparisons to everyone from the Monkees to T-Rex, to the Beatles on helium. Mix that with some very savvy songwriting and the quirkiness of Ron and Russell Mael’s Sparks, and you get a fairly good idea of The Bicycles.

Tragically, this could be their last album. Even with a great live fan base, the love and respect of the CBC, and a great label fronted by an astonishingly energetic, smart, and tireless young woman named Maria Bui, The Bicycles need to reach a wider audience. Maybe if Maria’s label, Fuzzy Logic, had better distribution, or the band could have afforded to tour more, or a Major label that helps along Independent labels and/or artists with marketing and promotion, or radio could respond more to local artists and artists that didn’t fit easily into an existing mold, things might be different.

There are 19 tracks on, Oh No, It’s Love, and every damn one of them is a fine song and loaded with charm and musical diversity. The entire album clocks in at under 38 minutes, and the 9 tracks I’ve put up at Radio That Doesn’t Suck zip by in less than 18.

If you are looking for something that stands out among today’s current releases, look no further. Click on the link above and check out The Bicycles.

If you’re interested in finding out more about The Bicycles, any of the other artists on Fuzzy Logic, or want to order Oh No It’s Love, you can contact Maria Bui at mbui@fuzzylogicrecordings.com or 416.829.4338

1. Glenn Reid-A Mother’s Son

Glenn Reid is an old friend of mine from out East by way of Montreal. He’s done some fine writing in his time and has a couple of Indie CD’s out that did very well in Europe. His music is country tinged, simple and lyrical, and speaks to the human condition with a very gentle and sincere voice. I have been after him for years to release a song of his called A Piece Of This Country that I swear could be the unofficial anthem for this country. That song addresses the love we have for Canada in a much more personal and intimate way than our National anthem, much in the same way America The Beautiful speaks for the U.S.

Now Glenn has written and recorded another song that I feel you will be interested in not only hearing, but investing in, because of it relevancy, and its purpose for having been written and recorded in the first place. It speaks to tragic loss and those it affects. I vouch for Glenn’s sincerity 100%, and the cause he wishes to address here is a worthy one.

Here’s the email I received from Glenn concerning his project. The link to his site will follow

From Glenn Reid:

The song, “A Mother’s Son”, was the result of my seeing a picture in the Toronto Star of a mother whose son had just perished in Afghanistan. It made me think of “where does she go from here…and not just her, but what of the others? What of the young woman who has just lost her husband, a young husband who has lost his wife, what about their parents, their sisters, their brothers, and their children? There must be something that the raising of funds could do to help. Feed the children, provide therapy, financial assistance…something to help these people through.

The song is gender specific because of the picture that inspired it, but it is meant for all of our fallen soldiers, regardless of gender. To help those families who have given everything to us, it seems to me, is our duty, as much as they felt it was theirs to give what they did. We owe it to the families, I think, and I think the brave soldiers who have given their lives would agree. So, not having much money myself, but having my music, I am trying to give back in this small way.

We must have touched a nerve somewhere, because, so far, everyone who has heard it has asked me where to send donations. As I write this, my high school friend, who is now Major David Amberley, who flies Hercules aircraft out of CFB Trenton, is meeting with the appropriate authorities in the military so we can direct the funds to the proper military personnel, who will, in turn, direct it to those families.

A Mother’s Son is now up on my website as a download for $1, which you can pay on faith that I will direct it accordingly, or, if you prefer, you can wait a week or so until Major Amberley gets back to me with the name of the committee who will administrate the funds, at which time we will alter the site so that the donations will go directly to the military.

Some of you may prefer to wait, which is fine with me, as I hate accounting, and would rather hand that job off to the military, but either way, every cent the song generates will go to the people it is intended to go to. I give you my word on that.

…and, if you can afford it, you don’t have to stop at $1. You can buy it for $10.00 or any multiple of 10 that suits you. It’s all going to go to the people who need our support, the families of our fallen brothers and sisters.

Thanks,

Glenn

To download the song go to www.glennreid.ca/ and click on the ‘Click To Order’ box.

To hear a sample of A Mother’s Son, you can visit www.glennreid.ca/blog/index.php?id=28

Even though Glenn was kind enough to send me a copy, I just went and downloaded the song at his site. Please join me in contributing to this worthwhile cause.

Fail Of The Week

Phil Spector

If I were you, I’d put that thumb down, Phil.

Where you’re going, the last thing you’re going to want to hear somebody say to you is, “Be My Baby…”

Win of the week

Maurice Ducharme

Who is Maurice Ducharme, you ask?

Well, he just won 4.4 million dollars playing Lotto 649.

He’s also 90 years old.

Win, win, if you ask me…

Cheap Shots

Lady Ga-Ga

Why? WHY!!!???

As you can see here…

The TV audio on what used to be the greatest top 40 station in Canada is not only silly, but distracting as hell when you’re driving. I have inadvertently looked around for whatever I’m being told that I can, ’see here’, and barely missed a Greenie on a bicycle more than once.

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.