Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, dear Radio Dupree listeners and Radio Dupree blog readers!
2007 was not our best year since we started this internet radio station in 2003. The total listening time has gone down with about 50 %. One of the reasons for that are some changes in the rules for internet broadcasting, but I'm not going to bore you with the details of that now.
We are still around and so are many of you listeners and that's what counts.
2007 saw some enjoyable things too, and we will start 2008 with one of them. Check the photo above and you'll get the picture (!)
Album of the month in January is a new live album by Genesis from the tour last summer. Well, it's not their Live Over Europe album released in November, and on the other hand it is. Check out the Radio Dupree homepage http://www.pergunnareriksson.se/dupree.htm
in a couple of days to solve that mystery.
Cheers, fellows!
/Siggy
Radio Dupree station manager

Ian Anderson becomes MBE

Everyone talks about singer Kylie Minogue when the subject is the New Year Honours list and The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.

Kylie becomes an OBE (officer). Radio Dupree congratulates Kylie but would like to focus on Ian Anderson, leader of prog veteran group Jethro Tull instead. He is made an MBE (member). Ian sure deserves this. BBC News puts it this way: Ian enters his 45th year in the music industry in 2008.

2008 ... it's official!

Still a couple of days to go, but the official Steely Dan site is already on 2008. Apparently.
And nothing wrong with that! 2008 is a year to look forward to. At least if we're supposed to believe Fagen in that newly published interview. Walter Becker will release his second solo album, Steely Dan and/or Donald Fagen solo will tour...

And - most importantly - Radio Dupree will celebrate five years on the air!
Expect us to make good use of this special year in Radio Dupree's short but pleasant existence. We'll have fun on the station, web page and blog. Consider yourself informed, warned and updated.

Walter Becker's solo CD: No news this year

Call us slightly anal retentive, but a change in the news section over on steelydan.com has made it clear for us that the promised indicated news about Walter Becker's upcoming solo album won't be here before we shout "Happy New Year 2008!"

This is what it used to say:


This is the same paragraph as of December 27:

Hmmm...

Baal for Christmas

For Christmas and the last days of 2007 we serve you...Baal, one of David Bowie's more odd recordings.
Baal is a musical play by Bertolt Brecht. It is a rather dark story about the life of the amoral poet singer Baal.
In 1982 BBC wanted to record it as a TV play and Bowie was offered the role as Baal.
He found it appealing since he thought it was the saga of the original super punk.
The record company RCA wanted to release the five song soundtrack as a part of a new Bowie album. However RCA thought that Bowie did not come up with any new songs that would fit the Baal music so they cut down their ambitions to an EP including nothing but the five Baal songs.
Many fans probably found the recording more true to Brecht than anyone would have guessed, and the Baal record was probably nothing to recommend for the new fans who embraced his Let's Dance album just one year later.
The Baal record was released both as 12" and 7" records. It has never been rereleased in its entirety on CD, but was made available as a download just some year ago.
The Baal songs played on Radio Dupree have been transferred from a 12" disc.
The Baal TV play can be found on
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnyXoFlyB1Q
if you want to check that one out.
Merry Christmas!

The Nightfly Trilogy - a review

All About Jazz has a thorough review of Donald Fagen's The Nightfly Trilogy box set. Well worth a read.

Here's the link:
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=27807

Donald Fagen on Ike Turner

Ike Turner passed away last week. He was 76.
Donald Fagen writes a fine obituary in Slate magazine. You can read it here:
http://www.slate.com/id/2180162/

And why not give Ike's Rocket 88 a spin while you're at it:


And here's Roscoe Gordon's No More Doggin' mentioned by Donald in the obituary:


And, believe it or not, but Donald's favorite is up on YouTube to hear as well!
Quote:
"My favorite from this period, though, is "I'm Blue (The Gong Gong Song)" by the Ikettes, with Dolores Johnson singing the lead vocal."

Reeling through the channels

The Next Great American Band is apparently yet another music show on TV where they try to find the flavor of the month, with a winner that'll survive an album or two before being relegated to the has-beens. Perharps with a little luck eligible for a part in some reality show where they round up the sad remnants of fleeting fame and let them make a final spectacle of themselves. You get the drift.

Here's a link to one of the groups remaining in the competition doing a Steely Dan tune; Sixwire and Reeling In The Years. Good, bad or indifferent? You be the judge.

Jimi Hendrix: Acoustic + in Sweden

In keeping with our Album of the Month-artist Jimi Hendrix, we sifted through some YouTube dreck to come up with these two must-sees.

Jimi playing an acoustic guitar and singing:




Jimi in Sweden doing Voodoo Chile:

XMas: Jimi Hendrix Christmas Medley

Since the Radio Dupree Album of the Month is Axis: Bold As Love from The Jimi Hendrix Experience, we found it quite natural to present this "video" of pictures set to the Christmas medley of Little Drummer Boy/Silent Night/Auld Lang Syne recorded back in 1969.
The picture of Jimi in a Santa outfit was originally taken to promote Axis... in UK music magazine Record Mirror, but was also used for a 1999 vinyl release of this medley.

Our Zeppelin reunion post

Apparently a good time was had by all at the Led Zeppelin reunion gig in London Monday night. Here are a couple of links:

BBC:s take on the show.

Links to other media reviews.

And here's the fan page!

Pictures.


And over on YouTube and other sites like it videos are uploaded by people who were at the show with their cellphones/mobiles. And the videos are taken down by the record company.
A bootleg of the whole Zeppelin show has already been announced. It's business as usual...

XMas: Pogues & Kirsty MacColl

Let's get ready for Christmas with a few videos! And the first one is a classic; Fairytale of New York where The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl teamed up. Here's the original video version and a live version from 1988. Enjoy them both and be back in a couple of days for another Christmas video.

Weekend music: Sweet Pea Atkinson!

Having a soft spot for 80's/90's group Was (Not Was) makes this a natural choice for our occasional weekend video.
One of the singers in that group was (and is*) Sweet Pea Atkinson. Listen to that voice!

Here's a pretty brand new recording of him and various others doing Back In Love Again. It was originally a hit for the group L.T.D. back in 1977.

And look out for the drummer. It's a guy named James Gadson. He's played on some of the greatest records in R&B history including Marvin Gaye's I Want You and Bill Withers’ Use Me.



(*) Yes, Was (Not Was) is back together again. Have been touring a bit and recording for what might be an upcoming album.

Sweden loves Springsteen

And that's no secret. He's always been popular here. Well, at least from Born To Run and onwards.

His summer show 2008 tickets went on sale and all 50 000 of them were sold out in an hour. So they added a second show and another 50 000 tickets. They sold out almost as fast.

I think it is safe to say that Bruce Springsteen has passed The Rolling Stones as the top draw in this country.
What we do wonder here at Radio Dupree is how long both these veteran bands can count on the same level of interest from Swedes? And will there be anyone that can sell tickets like them in the future?

Sex Pistols play Isle of Wight and Peace & Love

Punk veterans The Sex Pistols are topping the bill of next year's Isle of Wight music festival. BBC reports that The Police will be another main attraction of the festival. The Sex Pistols will also play the Peace & Love Festival in Borlänge, Sweden the same month (June).