Song of the Day - Pop Will Eat Itself 6/16/09

Pop Will Eat Itself - There is no Love Between us Anymore #10 on my Player

In 1986, the line-up of singer and guitarist Clint Mansell, guitarist and keyboardist Adam Mole, bassist Richard March, and drummer Graham Crabb formed as Wild And Wandering in the English town of Stourbridge. After some months and one e.p. they changed their name to Pop Will Eat Itself (PWEI) and earned attention from the indie scene for their first e.p., The Poppies Say Grrr! on Chapter 22. At the time they played short, fast, slightly psychedelic punk-pop tunes and went on with that for three more e.p.'s before starting to incorporate house and hip hop beats and samples on Beaver Patrol. By autumn 1987 PWEI released their frist album, Box Frenzy, with some tunes leaning towards new wave, some towards hip hop and acid house. A drummachine called Dr. Nightmare

was installed and Graham Crabb took

the second microphone. After the 12" Def.Con.One PWEI signed a deal with RCA and released Can U Dig It? in 1989, which would be the first of 12 PWEI singles going UK top 40. In the same year their seminal second album This Is The Day...This Is The Hour...This Is This! appeared to public and critical acclaim for its witty fusion of rock and electronic music. PWEI opted for an even more electronic, slightly darker and moodier approach on Cure For Sanity, their third album, which appeared in 1990 alongside PWEI's alternative soccer world cup theme, Touched By The Hand Of Cicciolina, a fusion of dub and acid house. Electronics took a backseat on 1992's The Looks Or The Lifestyle, when Fuzz Townshend was brought in as a drummer. PWEI reinvented themselves as grungey groovers and released Get The Girl! Kill The Baddies! as their highlight single. PWEI had been sacked by RCA at the time the single went number 9 in the UK in early 1993. The band signed with Infectious in the UK and Nothing in the US and released R.S.V.P., Ich Bin Ein Auslander, and Everything's Cool as singles in 1993 and 1994. The tunes displayed a development from where they had left towards dark industrial rock. The mixture on their fifth album Dos Dedos Mis Amigos was received well and won the band many new fans. Nonetheless, the band only released the remix album Two Fingers My Friends after that and collapsed upon the departure of Graham Crabb in 1996. Crabb released an album as Golden Claw Musics, Richard March went on to form Bentley Rhythm Ace, Fuzz Townshend went solo, and Clint Mansell has done film soundtracks. In late 2004, a reunion and new songs were announced.

This is a catchy tune so listen to the whole thing. See ya!!

Brad

Song of the Day - The Toyes 6/15/09

The Toyes "Smoke two Joints" #9 on my Player Today


The Toyes are an American reggae band based in Grants Pass, Oregon. Their style has been described as a "cross between Bob Marley and Barenaked Ladies." They are perhaps most famous as the original songwriters and recorders of the song "Smoke Two Joints."It was originally recorded in 1983, and was re-released on their 1993 debut album The Toyes. An influential version was recorded by the band Sublime; the song has since been mistakenly attributed to them or to Bob Marley. The Toyes also wrote and performed a song called "Monster Hash", a parody of Bobby "Boris" Pickett's "Monster Mash".
The Toyes are composed of Mawg on Lead Vocals and Lead Guitar, B-dub on Vocals and Rhythm Guitar, John Trujillo on Vocals and Bass Guitar and Brian Rogers on Drums.

(Jean-Christophe Kay) and his brother Sky (Michael Kay) were living together in Waikiki. Sky was working as a Pedi cab driver and Mawg was guitarist and vocalist in the Honolulu-based cover band, The Lifters.
In fall of 1982, Mawg and Sky were entertaining friends who had arrived at the home to take in the finest local herb. While jamming a rootsy groove and improvising lyrics, the hook of “Smoke Two Joints” came tumbling out to the delight of the party guests.
Seeing the response, Mawg and Sky completed the lyrics the following day while sitting under a large banyan tree on Kuhio Beach. Weeks later, Mawg performed the completed “Smoke Two Joints” with The Lifters. According to Mawg, “The crowd went wild and sang along. We played it 5 times that night after the crowd stopped our other songs in mid-performance by chanting 'Smoke Two Joints.'" The tune had become an instant sensation.
Financed by their mother Paulette Kay, a French woman living in France, the Kay brothers immediately recorded the song and produced 500 45 RPM Vinyl discs. Joining them in the studio and rounding out the trio was 17 year-old Ricci Accardi, a local drummer. Having quit The Lifters, Mawg, Sky and Ricci joined up with singer Mike Dawson to form Tightrope, which they later renamed The Toys.
In late 1983 The Toys received a Cease and Desist letter from Motown Records' legal department threatening a lawsuit over the use of the name "The Toys", who were a signed act of Motown and who recorded "A Lover's Concerto". Wanting to avoid costly litigation with the recording giant, the brothers decided to add an "e" to their name, becoming The Toyes.

"Smoke Two Joints" Success
On December 2, 1982, Mawg, Sky and Ricci went into modest Audio-Media Studios in downtown Honolulu to record “Smoke Two Joints” and a hastily made-up jam song, “Big Fat Mama”.
The sessions were produced by Mawg and Sky and engineered by the house recording engineer at Audio-Media, Ed Roy. The songs were recorded and mixed that same day, and the master was quickly sent to a vinyl pressing plant on the mainland Hawaii.
Mawg distributed the 45's at clothing stores, gift shops and convenience stores, as well as making the record available for sale at their live shows.
The record soon found its way into the hands of Andy Preston, the Music Director at 98 Rock KPOI-FM, Oahu’s top rock station and was featured in the station’s 5:00 PM feature “Top 5 at 5”. That month “Smoke Two Joints” usurped Michael Jackson and Journey as the #1 most requested song and held that position for ten months.

The Toyes followed up their 45 RPM single by recording three more songs which were released as a 12" vinyl EP featuring "Smoke Two Joints", "Listen to the Radio", which was released as a second single and received moderate air play in Hawaii, "Never Wanna Go", which is the only Toyes track sung by Mike Dawson, as well as Mawg's solo acoustic guitar composition "Eddie's Theme".
The Toyes went on the road to support the new album touring the Hawaiian Islands and Guam.

Song of the Day - Visage 6/14/09

Visage "Fade to Grey" (12" mix) Track #4 on my Player

Founder members Steve Strange and Rusty Egan were hosting club nights at Blitz nightclub in Great Queen Street, London at the time and were eager to find new music to play, ultimately opting to create music themselves. Strange commented about the meaning of the band's name: "The meaning of Visage, apart from being French for face, is that the Vis is for the visual side of the band... and the Age is the new age in dance music. That's how I see it." [1]
Initially, the band was composed of Strange, Egan and Midge Ure. Ure and Egan began working with Strange during their last days with band The Rich Kids, with Strange himself being at a loose end after leaving the new wave band The Photons. The trio recorded a demo which included a cover of the Zager and Evans hit "In the Year 2525". Ultravox's multi-instrumentalist Billy Currie and the core of post-punk band Magazine – guitarist John McGeoch and keyboardist Dave Formula – joined the studio-only band later (Magazine's bassist Barry Adamson also played a minor role in the recording sessions though was not officially listed as a band member on any of Visage's record releases[2]). Visage signed to Radar Records and released their first single, "Tar", in September 1979. The single failed to chart, but the band managed to secure a deal with a larger record company (Polydor) the following year.

1980 saw the release of their second single, "Fade to Grey". The single became a huge hit (making the top ten in the UK and topping the chart in several other countries) and was quickly followed by the release of their self-titled debut album which was also a chart success.
After further Top 40 hits with "Mind of a Toy" and the title track "Visage", Strange struggled to reunite the band's members again to record a second album because of their commitments with their respective bands (Ure and Currie with Ultravox, Formula with Magazine, and McGeoch with Siouxsie and the Banshees). However, in the autumn of 1981 all musicians (except McGeoch) went into the studio again and recorded The Anvil. The album was released in March 1982 and became Visage's first (and only) UK top ten album, producing two top twenty singles with "The Damned Don't Cry" and "Night Train". The Anvil earned a Silver disc in the UK, as did the band's first album.
Following this, Ure left the band to concentrate on his work with Ultravox, who were by now becoming even more successful than Visage were. Creative differences with Strange were also cited as reasons for his departure at the time. Visage, now without Ure and Adamson (who continued collaborating with Pete Shelley, and joined The Birthday Party) but with the addition of bassist Steve Barnacle, recorded the stand-alone single "Pleasure Boys", which was released in October 1982. Unfortunately, the single failed to prolongue their string of hits and peaked just outside the UK top 40.

Athough still recording, Visage then took a two year hiatus from releasing any new material due to contractual difficulties. Polydor issued a "best of" compilation in 1983; Fade to Grey - The Singles Collection which included all of the singles released to date and the previously unreleased "In The Year 2525". Limited quantities of the album were issued with a free "Pleasure Boys" 7" picture disc single, whereas the cassette version of the album featured remixes of the singles. Although it only just peaked inside the UK top 40, the album was certified Gold in the UK shortly after its release.
With their contractual problems resolved, 1984 saw the return of Visage for what would become their third and final album to date. Beat Boy was released in September 1984 but was a critical and commercial failure, peaking at #79 in the UK. Two singles from the album; "Love Glove" and "Beat Boy" also failed to make the UK top 40. By this time, Billy Currie and Dave Formula had also departed the band (though they received a "special thanks" credit on the album sleeve for their input), leaving only Strange and Egan from the original line-up along with newer musicians Steve & Gary Barnacle and Andy Barnett. A decision to make Visage a live band instead of a strictly studio-based project also failed to meet with success and the band subsequently split in 1985. Their final release was a Visage VHS video compilation of the band's renowned promotional videos and also included footage of Strange's trip to North Africa the year before. The compilation does not, however, include the original video for the "Love Glove" single which was filmed at a late-night Dockland location in London in 1984.

Following the demise of Visage, Strange then formed the short-lived band Strange Cruise. They were signed to EMI and released two singles; these being "Rebel Blue Rocker" and a cover version of Sonny and Cher's "And The Beat Goes On". Neither of these singles made the charts. The band also released one album in 1986, though this too proved unsuccessful. Visage returned to the charts once more when a Bassheads remix of "Fade to Grey" was a UK Top 40 hit in 1993.

Second incarnation (2004-)
Steve Strange reappeared on the music scene in 2002, after several years of battling a heroin addiction. Strange performed several Visage songs on the "Here and Now Xmas Tour" — a revival of 1980s musicians. Some time after the performance, noting he still had a fanbase, Strange decided to launch what he calls a "Mark II" of Visage with people from several electronic bands and projects: Steven Young, Sandrine Gouriou and Rosie Harris from Seize and Ross Tregenza from Jetstream Lovers/Goteki. After the announcement of the formation of the new line-up and several television appearances, plans for reworking old material and releasing a new record have made slow progress. An updated version of Fade To Grey was produced in 2005 and Strange recorded the first "Visage mark II" original composition, named "In the Dark", as part of electronic music duo Punx Soundcheck's debut double album When Machines Ruled the World. The album was released in Europe in Summer 2006.
In 2007, another new song entitled "Diary Of A Madman" was recorded. Written by Strange with Visage mk II member Ross Tregenza, the track was co-produced by original Visage member Dave Formula [3]. This song was made available for download from their official website in return for a donation to the charity Children in Need.
The long-since deleted Visage VHS video collection was repackaged for release on DVD in Summer 2006, though it was mistakenly titled "Visage Live".
In 2008, Strange (and Visage II keyboardist Sandrine Gouriou) made an appearance in the BBC series Ashes to Ashes which is set in 1981. In it, they performed the song Fade to Grey in a scene set in the "Blitz" nightclub.
In 2009, Strange and Egan appeared in Living's 'Pop Goes the Band' [4], a series in which pop stars from the 80s are given a complete makeover in return for a one-off performance. The Visage episode aired on on 16 March 2009, and was the first time that the two men had spoken in over 20 years. The episode focussed (like others in the series) more on getting them fit in the gym than on the current state of their relationship, though they appeared to get on well enough. At the culmination of the episode, they performed Fade to Grey.

Song of the Day - The Smitheeens 6/13/09

Babjak, Diken and Mesaros are all from Carteret, New Jersey and had graduated in 1975 from Carteret High School. The three joined together to form the band in 1980 with DiNizio, who is from Scotch Plains, New Jersey.[2]
The Smithereens are known for writing and playing catchy 1960s-influenced power pop. The group gained some publicity when a single from its first album, "Blood and Roses", was included on the soundtrack for, and as the theme song of the 1986 Albert Pyun movie, Dangerously Close, and the video got some moderately heavy rotation on MTV. The group spent some time in its initial semi-celebrity phase defending itself in Rolling Stone against thinly-veiled accusations of sounding too much like The Byrds and The Beatles, pointing out that its Marshall Amplifier-heavy live sound was closer to heavy metal than it was to The Beatles. The Smithereens have always worn their inspirations proudly, but the band also influenced other musicians, most notably Kurt Cobain during the period he was writing Nevermind. Ironically, some feel the Smithereens (like many early 1990s bands) were hurt by the rise of grunge music.
Along with a basic Eastern-coast roots-rock sound that owed much to the inspirations of DiNizio, including Buddy Holly, The Who, The Clash, Elvis Costello, and Nick Lowe, the Smithereens deployed a uniquely retro obsession with Mod, the late British Invasion pop of John's Children and The Move, and other artifacts of fifties and sixties culture that lent its music substance. The title and lyrics of their song, "In a Lonely Place," appear to be based on the 1950 Humphrey Bogart film of the same name, including the lyrics, "I was born the day I met you, lived a while when you loved me, died a little when we broke apart." The title and artwork for the album 11 were a nod to the original 1960 Ocean's Eleven film.
The Smithereens featured as the entertainment in the indoor beach party scene of the Troma film Class of Nuke 'Em High, playing the song "Much Too Much".
The highest position a Smithereens album attained on the Billboard pop charts was in 1990, when 11 peaked at #41 on the strength of the single "A Girl Like You" (which hit #38). "A Girl Like You" was originally written to be the title track for the 1989 Cameron Crowe film Say Anything.
The Smithereens have collaborated with numerous musicians, both in the studio (Suzanne Vega and Belinda Carlisle) and live (Graham Parker and The Kinks).
The group, which has long had a reputation for playing excellent live shows, is still active and tours frequently. Their next studio album is expected to be released in fall 2009.




Beauty & Sadness
Strangers When We Meet
Blood & Roses
In A Lonely Place
Behind The Wall Of Sleep
Only A Memory
House We Used To Live In
Drown In My Own Tears
A Girl Like You
Blue Period
Blues Before & After
Yesterday Girl
Top Of The Pops
Too Much Passion
Miles From Nowhere
Time Won't Let Me






Behind the Wall of Sleep is in the #2 position on my Player at the bottom of the page ~~ Brad

Song of the Day - Robert Hazard 6/12/09

This next one is a great one from the mid 80's - From a guy named Robert Hazard. You could call this a "One Hit Wonder", as he really had no other song that got much play on the radio. Thia one is called "Escalator of Life" and it really is a good one. This song is in the #1 position on my Player at the bottom of the page so you can listen to it. Have fun~~

Brad

Tracklisting:
A1
Escalator Of Life
Remix - Neil Kernon
A2
Change Reaction
Remix - Neil Kernon
B1
(I Just Want To) Hang Around With You
B2
Out Of The Blue
Remix - Neil Kernon
B3
Blowin' In The Wind
Written-By - Bob Dylan

Song of the Day - The Cure 6/11/09

How Beautiful You Are by The Cure

The Cure are an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976. The band has experienced several lineup changes, with frontman, vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter Robert Smith being the only constant member.
The Cure first began releasing music in the late 1970s with their debut album Three Imaginary Boys (1979); this, along with several early singles, placed the band as part of the post-punk and New Wave movements that had sprung up in the wake of the punk rock revolution in the United Kingdom. During the early 1980s the band's increasingly dark and tormented music helped form the gothic rock genre. After the release of Pornography (1982), the band's future was uncertain and Smith was keen to move past the gloomy reputation his band had acquired. With the 1982 single "Let's Go to Bed" Smith began to inject more of a pop sensibility into the band's music. The Cure's popularity increased as the decade wore on, especially in the United States where the songs "Just Like Heaven", "Lovesong" and "Friday I'm in Love" entered the Billboard Hot 100 charts. By the start of the 1990s, The Cure were one of the most popular alternative rock bands in the world, and although their profile has lessened in more recent years, they are estimated to have sold 27 million albums as of 2004.[1] The Cure have released thirteen studio albums and over thirty singles during the course of their career.

Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me is the seventh studio album by British alternative rock band The Cure. Released in 1987, this album helped put The Cure into the American mainstream, becoming their first album to reach the Billboard Top 40.
It was originally a double album, and was also released on a single CD. One track, "Hey You!", had to be removed from the original CD release, due to time restrictions on the CD format at the time (approximately 74 minutes).
This is the last album supposedly featuring founding member Lol Tolhurst in some small capacity. Robert Smith has stated that he wrote the song "Shiver and Shake" about Lol's diminishing role in the band.[1] Even though Lol is credited for playing other instruments on the next album, Disintegration, it has been officially stated that he did not contribute anything whatsoever. This is also the last studio album band member Porl Thompson played keyboards on; he plays guitar only on all subsequent studio releases. Special guest Andrew Brennan plays the saxophone on "Hey You!" and "Icing Sugar."
Kiss Me continues to dominate the bands live set, the 2008 "4Tour" included performances of "The Kiss", "Torture", "Catch", "Why Can't I Be You?", "How Beautiful You Are", "Just Like Heaven", "Hot Hot Hot!!!", "If Only Tonight We Could Sleep", and "Shiver and Shake" at various shows.

The album was re-released in August 2006. The first disc finally features "Hey You!", which had been omitted from previous CD issues, and the second disc is composed of a demo or live version of each song on the first disc, including a recording of "Why Can't I Be You?" from the final show of the Kissing Tour at the Wembley Arena. It was released August 8, 2006 in the U.S. and August 14, 2006 in the UK.
Robert Smith stated on his website that there were so many missing tracks that he made three discs. One had the original album, one had demos of the B-Sides and never-before-heard tracks, and one had alternate-tracks of the songs from the album. Of course, he could only release one of the latter two. After discussing it with family and friends, he decided that the latter one was more qualified to be released. He said it wasn't impossible that the other disc may show up in a leak or another release.

The Cure's "How Beautiful You Are" is #7 on my playlist

"The Kiss" – 6:17
"Catch" – 2:42
"Torture" – 4:13
"If Only Tonight We Could Sleep" – 4:50
"Why Can't I Be You?" – 3:11
"How Beautiful You Are" – 5:10
"The Snakepit" – 6:56
"Hey You!" – 2:22
"Just Like Heaven" – 3:30
"All I Want" – 5:18
"Hot Hot Hot!!!" – 3:32
"One More Time" – 4:29
"Like Cockatoos" – 3:38
"Icing Sugar" – 3:48
"The Perfect Girl" – 2:34
"A Thousand Hours" – 3:21
"Shiver and Shake" – 3:26
"Fight" – 4:27
The track "Hey You!" was omitted from early CD pressings due to time constraints.

Have a great Friday everyone ~~ Brad

Song of the Day - Ultravox 6/10/09

Another one of my personal favorites is the Brit Band ULTRAVOX

Ultravox (formerly Ultravox!) are a British New Wave band that rose to prominence in the late 1970s/early 1980s. They were one of the primary exponents of the British electronic pop music movement of the early 1980s. The band was particularly associated with the New Romantic movement, although it both pre- and post-dated New Romanticism by several years. They are arguably best known for the song Reap The Wild Wind in the United States and Vienna elsewhere.
This band had two major periods (1973 to 1979, and 1980 to 1986) in which it was, literally, "managed" by two different band leaders, who were never in the band together. In the first period the frontman was John Foxx, now a successful electronic musician, who oriented the band to experimental sounds and changes of styles (glam, punk, industrial, synthpop, art) until 1979, when he decided to quit to become a soloist and dedicate to electronic and synthpop music; in the second period, Midge Ure was the frontman, and who oriented, along with Billy Currie, the band to a more pop and electronic sound and a commercial success, until 1988, when the group decided to disband. A third major period existed, from around 1992 to 1996, being Billy Currie, the only member who remained in Ultravox since the beginnings, who oriented the band, but with new members but without any success.

"Reap the Wild Wind" is Ultravox's first single from the Quartet album, recorded in Air Studios, London and released on Chrysalis Records on September 16, 1982. It is the only single of its album that charted on the US Billboard Hot 100. The songs on the Album "quartet" are as follows:



QUARTET


Reap The Wild Wind #8 on my Player
Serenade
Mine For Life
Hymn
Visions In Blue
When The Scream Subsides
We Came To Dance
Cut And Run
The Song (We Go)





Reap the Wild Wind (single)




A

Reap The Wild Wind (4:45)
B

Hosanna (In Excelsis Deo) (4:16)





Have Fun - Brad