D-Sides, Orphans, and Oddities
Episodes
Saturday Nov 13, 2021
Some Great Songs From Past D-Sides Episodes!
Saturday Nov 13, 2021
Saturday Nov 13, 2021
Stevie Wonder - Light My Fire (1970) Listen to that bass player.
Syreeta Wright - Spinnin' and Spinnin' (1974) No one was EVER as hot as Stevie in the '70s, and the album this came from proves that even occupied with his own music, he can lovingly produce one of the best female-sung records of the '70s. I love this factoid from Wikipedia:
Three artists who performed on this album (Stevie Wonder, Deniece Williams, Michael Sembello) would all have Billboard number one songs ("I Just Called to Say I Love You", "Let's Hear It for the Boy", and "Maniac", respectively) within a year of each other, a decade after this album's release. Another artist on this album, Ollie Brown of Ollie & Jerry, would have a Billboard top ten single, "Breakin'... There's No Stopping Us", in the same one-year period.
The song "Come And Get This Stuff" was originally intended for Rufus, but lead singer Chaka Khan refused to do the song. Instead, Stevie wrote "Tell Me Something Good" for them which appeared on their album Rags to Rufus.
There's no word to describe how good he was in this five-year period.
This song made it to #49 in the UK, and never a peep in the US, which is a shame.
Gentle Giant - Weekend Cowboy (1970) I love their sound on these early demos. Less prog than they would become, a sort of The Band meets Harry Chapin. Through the filter of England, of course.
Godley and Creme - Random Brainwaves/I Pity Inanimate Objects (1979) When Gary Storm played this on Buffalo's WIZR 107.7, I had never heard anything like it. I still love what they did with the backing vocals.
Jimmy "Bo" Horne - Dance Across The Floor (1978)
Lawrence Hilton Jacobs - Larry's Theme (1978) He was Freddie "Boom Boom" Washington on Welcome Back, Kotter and Michael Jackson's father Joe on The Jacksons: An American Dream ("Get the switch!") but I actually find his albums in the late '70s very listenable, especially this. So much shit came out from TV stars around that era. Scott Baio was the worst.
Les Humphries Singers - Mexico (1972) Included here because doing this show helped me discover them. My one-man raison d'être is to make you a believer! It's not that good. Just a strange pre-sampling curio.
Nino Tempo and April Stevens - Love Story (1972) From Buffalo, NY! Their biggest hit was "Deep Purple" from 1963. They were siblings. God, she was beautiful. Her first record came out in 1950 (!) but her biggest solo hit was "Teach Me, Tiger" from 1960. She reprised this in 1965, but this was virtually the same recording, with dialog implying that she had kidnapped one of The Beatles in order to seduce him. Just wow. I love it.
Men At Work - Down Under (original, non-hit version) (1980)
A brief retelling of The Greg Ham Story. Don't Do Drugs.
Mudcrutch - Don't Do Me Like That (original, non-hit version) (1974) The almost note-for-note prototype for the Tom Petty hit a few years later.
The Osmonds - War in Heaven (1973)
Sammy Davis Jr. - John Shaft (1972) Ok, ok. Shaft. Ok! Shut up and let me finish my dinner.
Sha Na Na PSA (1972)
Pink Floyd - Scream Thy Last Scream (1967) I was surprised to learn that Nick Mason sang this.
Bee Gees - Lovers (1976) This is a very strange and wonderful album track from a band on its....third ascension?
Sensational Alex Harvey Band - The Dolphins (1979) I love this song as much as any I have ever played on D-Sides. I never would have heard it if not for this show.
The Langley Schools Music Project - The Long and Winding Road (1977) You should read about this. I think I read about this in RE/Search magazine.
The Residents - Give it To Someone Else (1980) Every song on The Commercial Album is about 60 seconds long. There are 20 per side.
Wild Cherry - Baby Don't You Know (1977) A wonderful, horrible attempt to recapture the lightning of the last single, "Play That Funky Music". THIS is how you follow up a fluke hit:
One more timeWell we play that funky musicAnd we were looking so good yeahElectrified funky feelingWas coming down like I thought it wouldSo we went out on the road yeahTry to get ourselves aheadAnd on the way I was surprised to discoverThat all those funky peopleHad been misled, they were shouting outBlack? NO! White? Right!, Oh what a sight!I really didn't know the suckers was whiteBaby don't you know, Baby don't you knowBaby don't you know, Baby don't you knowThat the honkey's got soulBaby don't you know, Baby don't you knowBaby don't you know, Baby don't you knowThat the honkey's got soul
Roger Nichols and Small Circle of Friends - Don't Go Breaking My Heart (1968) So beautiful, especially the "Middle 8". Just amazing harmonies.
The Free Design - Day Breaks (2001) This will be my funeral song. I don't WANT a funeral. Just a little party for people to remember funny stories about me. In life, very few people are still in touch with me in an earnest sense. People have come and gone and sometimes I look around and wonder if someone should have bought me a ball gag long ago. Still, even after all the mistakes I have made in my life and my dealings with people I have lost, I know deep down that some people will be genuinely touched by the fact that we met and decided to be in each other's lives for as long as we had. If you listen to this song and put yourself in that place, celebrate the people who DID choose to be with you, no matter WHAT you said. Everyone is broken. Everyone. You're not alone.
Co-written by my friend Bruce Dedrick.
The Free Design - Friendly Man (1971)
Adriano Celentano - Prisencolinensinainciusol (1972) This song is being used for a commercial in the US. I like to think it's because of me.
The Beatles - Revolution (Take...Your Knickers Off!) (1968)
Monday Aug 02, 2021
I Bring The Funk.
Monday Aug 02, 2021
Monday Aug 02, 2021
As Bob Burtman would say, "Icksnay on the uck-fay" as the Parliament Funkadelic live version of "Tear The Roof Off" commenced to play.
Some songs that James Brown made famous and then decided to rerecord. Cocaine is a hell of a drug.
James Brown - I Feel Good (1975) Not the version you're used to hearing.
James Brown - Problems (1975) If you Google "James Brown" and "Problems", it will take a LONG time to get to this song.
James Brown - It’s A New Day (1970) My favorite song by JB.
Parliament-Funkadelic - Tear The Roof Off (Live 1976) Do not listen if the swears offend you.
The Clash - Radio Clash (Remix) (1980)
African Music Machine - Mr. Brown (1974)
Chuck Brown - B.A.D. (1984)
George McCrae - I Get Lifted (1974) From Wikipedia: He was about to return to college to study law enforcement, when Richard Finch and Harry Wayne Casey of KC and the Sunshine Band invited him to sing the lyrics for a song that they had recorded for the band, but could not reach the high notes that were required for the song. The original intention was that Gwen, his wife, should record it, but she was late for the session and George recorded alone. The rest is history! Finch and Casey began their decade-long chart dominance. People don't recall what a big influence the Miami Sound had on dance floors and AM radios all over the country. You just can't fake those grooves.
Jimmy “Bo” Horne - Let Me (Be Your Lover) (1978) Sampled by Stereo MC's to fine effect.
Jimmy “Bo” Horne - Dance Across The Floor (1978)
Ron Louis Smith - Make Me Know It (1978) Ronald Louis Smith is the original KC and the Sunshine Band trumpet player and the leader of the horn section and choreographer. He created all the dance moves the band was famous for. The Sunshine Band was formerly called the Ocean Liner Band. Ronald Louis Smith wrote/produced the hit disco record "Spank" artist Jimmy Bo Horne.He arranged and played the trumpet parts in the big reggae record "Buffalo Soldier" by Bob Marley. He also worked with Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine at Miami Sound Studio.
Chicago - What’s This World Coming To (1973) I love Chicago albums V, VI, and VII. As good a trio of records any group recorded in the '70s consecutively, except for Stevie.
Bobby Rydell - Sway (1976) This is not the original 1960 hit, but an attempt to modernize through the demon known at the time as Disco. Many, many artists rode the train to sadness. Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Kate Smith, Bobby Hebb, so so many.
Frank Sinatra - All Or Nothing At All (1977) This is not the original 1939 hit, but an attempt to modernize through the demon known at the time as Disco. Many, many artists rode the train to sadness. Bobby Rydell, Sammy Davis, Kate Smith, Bobby Hebb, so so many.
The Beach Boys - Here Comes The Night (1979) This is not the original 1967 song, but an attempt to modernize through the demon known at the time as Disco. Many, many artists rode the train to sadness. Ringo Starr, Rod Stewart, The Hollies, so so many.
Osmonds - I, I, I (1979) Produced by Maurice Gibb. No answer from Robin or Barry.
Jeff Lynne - Goin’ Down To Rio (1977) From his two-sided dance single. Attendant dance steps on the cover. He was in The Move.
Bobby Hebb - Sunny ’76 (1976)
Neil Diamond - Dancing In The Streets (1979)
Elton John - Thunder In The Night (1979)
Lawrence Hilton Jacobs - Kiss and Tell (1979)
Maureen McGovern - I’m Happy Just To Dance With You (1979)
Sammy David Jr. - We’ll Make It This Time (Theme from "Kojak") (1976)
Tom Jones - Don’t Cry For Me, Argentina (1979)
Wednesday Jul 08, 2020
Wednesday Jul 08, 2020
It was a nightmare of the most divine sort to have to pick the artist-per-show maximum of four XTC songs. I could pick almost any four XTC songs from 1980 onwards, from Drums and Wires (1979) to Wasp Star (2000) and do about 100 of these shows filled with a too-short slice of excellent pop masterpieces. But I picked four. ANY XTC record, in my opinion, has at least three or four moments that put most other more popular artists to shame.
XTC - Across This Antheap (1989)
War planes go over but no wages go 'round.A sign goes up to say hey we're twin towned.The dough is rising but no bread will be baked.The fur is genuine but the orgasm's faked.We're spending millions to learn to speak porpoise,When human loneliness is still a deafening noise.
XTC - Funk Pop A Roll (1983)
Funk pop a roll consumes you wholeGulping in your opium so copiously from a discoEverything you eat is wasteBut swallowing is easy when it has no taste
XTC - This World Over (1984)
Will you tell them about that far off and mythical landAnd how a child to the virgin came? Will you tell them that the reason why we murderedEverything upon the surface of the worldSo we can stand right up and say we did it in his name?
XTC - Wrapped In Grey (1992)
Some folks pull this life like a weightDrab and dragging dreams made of slateYour heart is the big box of paintsAnd others, the canvas we're dealtYour heart is the big box of paintsJust think how the old masters felt, they call
Awaken you dreamersAsleep at your desksParrots and lemursPopulate your unconscious grotesquesPlease let some outDo it todayBut don't let the loveless ones sell youA world wrapped in grey
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The Beatles - Eleanor Rigby (strings only) (1966)
The Beatles - Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight (orchestra only) (1969)
The Beatles - Something (strings only) (1969)
The Beatles - She's Leaving Home (strings only) (1967)
Gilbert Neal and Ken Ray Wilemon - It's Ok (2019)
The Beach Boys - Life is For The Living (1977) Adult/Child (sometimes typeset as Adult Child) is an unreleased studio album by American rock band the Beach Boys, intended to follow the group's 1977 The Beach Boys Love You. Like The Beach Boys Love You, it is virtually a Brian Wilson solo project with other group members serving mainly as additional vocalists. After it was rejected by Reprise Records, the band released the 1978 M.I.U. Album in its place with an almost entirely revamped song list. A few projected tracks for Adult Child were eventually released on later albums and compilations. Currently, the album is available only as a bootleg recording.
The Beach Boys - Our Team (1978) When a song isn't good enough for The MIU Album, there's a problem.
The Beach Boys - It's Over Now (1977) Listen for Marilyn Wilson of The Honeys singing the "middle 8". Terribly.
The Beach Boys - Hey, Little Tomboy (1977) "...now shave your legs for the first time..."
Donna Summer - Wassermann (Aquarius) (1968) From the original German cast of Haare.
Moody Blues - Had To Fall In Love (1978)
Gary Hoffar - Hank's 715th (1974)
The Hans Staymer Band - Come Together (1972)
Johnny Cash and Rosie Nix - Father and Daughter (1972) Nix-Adams and bluegrass musician Jimmy Campbell were found dead on a bus in Montgomery County, Tennessee, on October 24, 2003. The deaths were initially called "suspicious" by law enforcement authorities but were subsequently ruled to be accidental, caused by carbon monoxide from a propane space heater, used without ventilation, in the bus. Nix-Adams was 45 years old.
Wilt "The Stilt" Chamberlain - Easy To Say (1960)
The Millennium - There Is Nothing More To Say (1968)
Genesis - Apocalypse In 9/8 (From Supper's Ready) (1972)
Friday Jul 03, 2020
Jimmy "Bo" Horne and Wild Cherry.
Friday Jul 03, 2020
Friday Jul 03, 2020
Jimmy "Bo" Horne - If You Want My Love (1972)
Jimmy "Bo" Horne - Get Happy (1977)
Jimmy "Bo" Horne - Hey There Jim (1970)
Jimmy "Bo" Horne - If We Were Still Together (1973)
Jimmy "Bo" Horne - Don't Worry About it (1974)
Crack The Sky - Ice (1975)
Crack The Sky - Surf City (1975)
Crack The Sky - Nuclear Apathy (1978)
Buckingham Nicks - Don't Let Me Down Again (1973)
Christine Perfect - Crazy 'Bout You Baby (1970)
Kool & The Gang - Kool & The Gang (1969)
Average White Band & Ben E King - A Star In The Ghetto (1977)
Bobby Goldsboro - Me Japanese Boy I Love You (1964) An infrequently heard Bacharach-David composition.
Frank Zappa - Wind Up Working In A Gas Station (1976)
Wild Cherry - Get Down (1972)
From Discogs:
Wild Cherry started as a straight rock band, playing Ohio style melodic hard rock with proto power pop influences. They cut a couple records on their own, before getting signed to Terry Knight's Brown Bag label. These records did not have much impact, and the band broke up for a while. In 1975 or thereabouts original Wild Cherry leader Rob Parissi recruited some musicians from the Pittsburgh area, and started a new Wild Cherry. This band tried to crack the rock clubs, but in the time since the original band's breakup, musical tastes, and clubs were changing to more dance music. Parissi wrote a song from experience called "Play that Funky Music", and in doing so, the band followed their lead and became a funk/disco/dance band.
Wild Cherry - Living and Loving (1972)
Wild Cherry - Baby, Don't You Know (1976)
Wild Cherry - If You Want My Love (1978)
The Original Animals - Fire On The Sun (1977)
Frank Sinatra - High Hopes (1960)
Gary Burbank - Who Shot J R? (1980)
George Harrison - The Answer's At The End (1975)
The Citizens - Goldwater (1964)
Gord Lightfoot - Daisy-Doo (1962)
O C Smith - Blowin' Your Mind (1972) From "Shaft's Big Score"
Journey - It's All Too Much (1976)
The Incredible Kim Fowley - Fluffy Turkeys (1968)
Kris Kristofferson - Golden Idol (1967)
Kris Kristofferson - Killing Time (1967)
Lawrence Hilton Jacobs - Larry's Theme (1978)
Les Humphries Singers - Mexico (1972)