The Weekend Roundup

I hear a hell of a lot of music.

Years ago, it was because I listened to radio every waking minute, hoping to hear something new and exciting, or a tune from my past I hadn’t heard in a long time.

There were listening booths in every record store where you could sample the latest releases, which I did frequently at both Miracle Music, (“On the Miracle Mile!”), the mainstream music store that carried all the teen hits of the day, and Freita’s, a wonderful, funky, hole-in-the-wall record shop in the seedier part of downtown Stockton that stocked nothing but the coolest R&B, Blues, and Latino records, and run by old man Freitas, who would play whatever you handed him from the bins, at a volume that would attract passerby on the sidewalk. That cranky, old Chicano loved, and knew, his music. It was there where I first heard Freddie King, Little Walter, Sonny Till and The Orioles, The Four Deuces, Ivory Joe Hunter, Ray Charles, and dozens of other great artists. I was in Junior High, before I started performing myself. I was always hitching rides to a place called the Stockton Ballroom on Friday and Saturday nights. The Ballroom was a Portuguese community hall on the outskirts of town, where Latinos, Blacks, Italians, and the hipper high school kids with custom cars and cheerleader girlfriends, would show up to try out the latest dance moves they learned from American Bandstand.

It was there I heard great Mexican American and African American bands like Jim Duvall and The Gauchos, out of Fresno California, The Merced Blue Notes from the Central Valley, who had local hit records and were one of the greatest live R&B bands I ever heard, and groups that traveled the California circuit in those days like Bobby Freeman, The Imperials, and Ron Holden.

As the years rolled by, new sources of undiscovered music opened up. The first ‘Underground’ radio station in San Francisco, KMPX, local labels like Autumn Records, and a raft of ‘Teen Nightclubs’ on Broadway in the North Beach section of San Francisco, which disappeared and turned into ‘Topless’ bars around the same time as the beginnings of the legendary Longshoreman shows, the Fillmore, and The Avalon. It was because of these abundant sources of new music that I first discovered the Vejtables, The Warlocks, (who soon became the Grateful Dead), the We-Five, the Mojo Men, and then, The Great Society, Jefferson Airplane, The Youngbloods, Chambers Brothers, and then, suddenly, found myself playing these places too. By the time the Family Tree was on the bill, and Creedence, Santana, and others began to roll out records, the whole world was discovering that there was a great deal of new music out there, and radio was the means by which it spread, and opened up local scenes in every city on the planet. It wasn’t the first time that had happened, but with the exception of Minneapolis/St. Paul, Seattle, and the New York/London/Toronto punk scene, it was one of the last.

Until now.

Now, there is a wealth of great new music being made, and believe me, there is something for each and every one of you if you know where to look. The Internet is the listening room, your friends are the reviewers, and the music…well…the music is everywhere. You just have to look harder for it…

A&R Online Volume 10

As always, you can hear these tracks as you read about them by going to www.radiothatdoesntsuck.com/myWimpy.html and clicking on ‘A & R Online Vol 10’.

Sara Dell

01. Sara Dell-The Boy

How did I come across the self-released 6 song CD this song is on?

I went to a party.

I would have gushed about this a week ago if I wouldn’t have had to leave Ellen Drake’s Demo Derby early last week. It turns out a song from this CD was played for review after I left. I have no idea what was said, but I know what my reaction would have been.

This young woman came up to me at the 30^th anniversary party in honor of Jim Norris’s wonderful Canadian Musician Magazine and said she was disappointed that I had left the Demo Derby without hearing her music. I asked if she had a copy with her. She did…and I can’t tell you how glad I am that she was carrying at least one with her. There is not a duff track on the CD. In fact, another one of Ms. Dell’s songs closes this edition of A&R Online.

Considering how much music I hear, being knocked out on first listen is still a rare and wonderful moment for me. It is, in fact, the Holy Grail…hitting play and knowing almost instantly that you will never tire of a piece of music, that it will stay a favorite forever, that you will drive your friends nuts turning them onto it, and hoping they hear what you heard, even though the chances are good they won’t. That’s okay, though. Music either speaks to you, or it doesn’t. This first track not only spoke to me, it seduced me, and it proved to me that the craft of songwriting is in the hands of some very capable people. This is, in every sense of the word, a song. It is not an illusion created by technical gee-gaws or flashy production. It is not a trendy, or cookie cutter contribution created to fit in, be au currant, or dazzle you with histrionics or volume. It is a great, fucking, classic, song, played by real musicians, written by caring craftsmen, (Sara Dell and John Pelosi), produced and arranged to simple, economic, perfection, the chord structure alone a thing of beauty, wending its way from one chord to the next through the song like a stream through a redwood forest, and sung in an intimate, confidant and gloriously honest style by a woman, whose taste and restraint show a maturity that is missing in so many projects these days. This woman, and these people, have “Career” written all over them. If I was a manager, a label, an agent, a major publisher, an old school A&R guy, or could somehow help this artist keep her integrity and vision intact and make sure that everyone got to hear this, and whatever comes after, I would do it right now. Wonderful stuff…and I wish it was all over the radio.

02. Mike Plume-This Is Our Home (8:30 Newfoundland)

I love songs like this. The thought that goes into the lyrics alone gives me a headache, they are so well thought out. At first listen, this sounded like a country record to me, but after a few more spins, I realized that it is an interesting hybrid of a couple of influences I would not have expected. First of all, the country element is in the lyric. A down-home name-check of just about every well known place in Canada, and an over-all homage to our home and native land. Then you’ve got a fairly roots-y reading by the musicians, complete with an Al Kooper-esque Hammond organ part swirling in the background, and finally, a vocal that sounds eerily like John Mellencamp channeling a 20 year old Bob Dylan, with a bit of mid-period, ‘country honk’ Rolling Stones looseness thrown in for good measure. Hear this one enough times, and it’ll cause you to buy a used ‘58 corvette ragtop, grab a map of Canada, and hit the road.

It also makes me want to drink beer…

03. Matt Mays and El Torpedo-Rock Ranger Record

When I was at SIRIUS, I looked forward to Matt’s releases because I knew they would be great, and I knew we could play them. Meeting the guy sealed my fondness for the records, and seeing him slowly build a career the right way was a satisfying sight from the sidelines. This track channels the Ramones in it’s intensity and pogo-bility, and Matt and El Torpedo rack up another winner in my book. Keep ‘em coming, Boy-o.

04. K’Naan Ft. Adam Levine-Bang Bang

Pie and I met K’Naan backstage at Live 8 a few years ago, and were impressed with this intelligent and soulful young man. Check out his back story here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%27naan

If there are still people that think rap and it’s tributaries are all bunk, they should be made aware that there are some great tracks in the genre, and as the style grows and absorbs other influences, it would be wise to keep an ear cocked to what’s coming down the pipeline these days.

This track has got great groove, really well written rhymes, and a bouncy, hook laden chorus that would be at home in just about any genre of music. This is a song that DOES fit into an existing radio format or two, and I hope it finds a home there…this is quality stuff.

05. Sara Dell-Lovely Day

As promised, one more track from the very talented Sara Dell. This one carries a groove and some minor chording, and sports a bit of distortion and an edge that makes it clear that Ms. Dell is not a one trick pony. The chorus opens this song up wide, and maintains the melodic sensibility that could be this woman’s trademark. Personally, I’d love to see her on a double bill with James Taylor or at least hear a duet with the two of them…and if you know me, you know that James Taylor is my all-time favorite singer/songwriter. I can’t praise Sara Dell any higher than that, and if you aren’t a fan of James Taylor, well…I forgive you.

Fail Of The Week

Wolverine

Yeah, I know. BIG winner at the box office, but Dood, sometimes, the numbers aren’t the whole story. This movie may be raking in the bucks, but it is a soulless mish mash of plot holes, action sequences for the sake of action sequences, and some of the most scenery-chewing bluster, yet wooden performances ever commited to the screen. If you read the X-Men prior to 1999, you know that this is the fourth time they have mangled the story, the characters, and the franchise.

Until someone steps up and retools this plop with the love and respect that has given us Watchmen and the re-launch of Star Trek, Marvel will forever be known as the home of entertainment for 12 year old boys with anger issues. Iron Man showed promise, so there is hope, but until Lockheed the Dragon, the REAL Gambit, Alpha Flight, and Kitty Pryde are restored to the X-Men universe, this dog will not hunt.

Win of the week

Allan Slaight

Emmanuelle Gattuso

Thanks to these two remarkable people, breast cancer patients in Toronto will soon be able to  receive same-day diagnosis and treatment, thereby drastically  reducing the anxiety filled waiting period, that they have had to endure until now.

A $12.5 million dollar donation from breast cancer survivor Gattuso, and her husband, broadcasting legend, Allan Slaight, will fund Princess Margaret Hospital’s new Rapid Tissue Processor, which reads biopsies in six to eight hours, as well as fund more pathologists and technicians for the hospital. This is a win for everyone.

Cheap Shots

Harper’s Island/CBS

I have become addicted to this tight little mystery, it’s incredibly attractive cast, and its clever use of red herrings and misdirection, but CBS keeps moving the damn thing around. So far, I’ve caught it on Fridays, Thursdays, and now, this weeks episode is on Saturday.

WTF?

The New Bud Light Aluminum Bottle

This is just wrong…

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.