Friday, June 24, 2011

Steely Dan inspires Rush - Full album evenings

Apparently it was Steely Dan that inspires Rush to play the whole of the groups 1981 album Moving Pictures on the upcoming tour:

The idea was proposed by drummer Peart after he saw Steely Dan performing one of its own albums on a recent tour.

Rush had already settled on doing “The Camera Eye,” the longest song on “Moving Pictures,” for this tour, so the band decided to stick with that album when Peart suggested following Steely Dan’s example.

But that’s not all that music fans will hear if they turn out at the Sleep Country Amphitheater in Ridgefield on June 28.

“There are two new songs we’re doing (‘Caravan’ and ‘BU2B’), plus a bunch of stuff we haven’t done in awhile, like ‘Presto,’” Lifeson said, mentioning the title track of the band’s 1989 album. “I’m not sure we’ve ever played ‘Presto’ live.

Read the full article here.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Steely Dan live 2011: San Diego + venue change in Australia

A new update to the Shuffle Diplomacy Tweinty Eleven tour:

October 14 San Diego: Harrahs Rincon Casino: Open Sky Theatre

That put a sizeable dent in any hope of a few European dates in the gap between the last show in Boston on October 1 and the first in Australia on October 19.

Talking of Australia there's a venue change:

October 30 Hindmarsh: Adelaide Entertainment Centre
Quote from steelydan.com: [ Leconfield "Day On The Green" tickets will be honored here ]

/Click Shuffle Dimplomacy Twenty Eleven for all our posts regarding the tour. /

Friday, June 17, 2011

R.I.P. Larry "Wild Man" Fischer

Wild Man's debut album released in 1968.
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www.idiotbastard.com reports that Larry "Wild Man" Fischer has died - of heart disease.
In the 60's Larry Fischer was singing songs for dimes in the streets when Frank Zappa met him and produced the infamous An Evening With Wild Man Fischer album on his Bizarre label.

***


Did Zappa use Wild Man Fischer?
In the 60's Wild Man Fischer was "discovered" by Frank Zappa and did some guest appearances on stage with Zappa's group The Mothers. He used to recite some of the stories and sing songs that would can be found on An Evening With Wild Man Fischer, the double album that Zappa produced. Some people would not even call them songs since Wild Man was not much of a singer, actually. He was a mentally disordered guy that was singing for dimes in the streets, while having the dream of being a rock star. One can describe his singing like screaming while constantly changing key. Some Zappa (and Fischer) fans think that Zappa exposed a mentally ill person to an audience that would see him as a freak and would not do anything but laugh at him. Fischer hoped to become a rock star but would never be anything else but a broke down homeless person that lived under poor circumstances during the rest of his life.
The story of Wild Man Fischer truly is sad, but it's hard to tell what purpose Zappa really had. It is possible that Zappa wanted to bring attention to what the flower power movement really could be about. Wild Man Fischer was a person who desperately wanted to be part of that, but the flower children did not want to touch him...The message of love was not for everyone.
On the other hand, Fischer did reach some kind of cult status, Rhino released several Fischer albums, he did a duet with singer/actress Rosemary Clooney and in
2005 Josh Rubin and Jeremy Lubin (The Ubin Twinz) premiered their documentary about Wild Man Fischer, entitled Derailroaded.

R.I.P. Larry!

S.H.
Radio Dupree

Friday, June 10, 2011

Circus Money is three!

Circus Money: Three years of enjoyment and counting!Radio Dupree celebrates Walter Becker's excellent album Circus Money released this date - June 10 - back in 2008.
Here's hoping we don't have to wait another three years before we get to see/hear what Walter's rumoured new solo project is all about.



(And in somewhat related news Steely Dan's latest, Everything Must Go, is eight years young today. It was released in 2003.)

Steely Dan live 2011: Royal Scam added to final night in N.Y.

The already intriguingly named 21 Century Dan show at The Beacon Theatre in New York on September 23 has been "chunked up" by Donald and Walter by adding a performance of The Royal Scam album.

/Click Shuffle Dimplomacy Twenty Eleven for all our posts regarding the tour. /

Sunday, June 05, 2011

Sunday Documentary: "Cry Baby: The Pedal That Rocks The World"

Cry Baby: The Pedal That Rocks The World tells the story of the wah wah effect pedal, from its invention in 1966 to the present day. Musicians, engineers, and historians discuss the impact of the pedal on popular music and demonstrate the various ways it has been used, as well as how its evolution has improved the ability of artists to express themselves musically. The film features interviews with Brad Plunkett, the inventor of the pedal, plus many other musical luminaries such as Ben Fong-Torres, Eddie Van Halen, Slash, Buddy Guy, Art Thompson, Eddie Kramer, Kirk Hammett, Dweezil Zappa, and Jim Dunlop. These professionals explain how a musical novelty transcended convention and has become timelessly woven into the fabric of modern pop-culture.

Produced by Joey Tosi - Directed by Joey Tosi & Max Baloian

Thursday, June 02, 2011

Radio Dupree Top 5 - June 2011

1. Mellow Candle - Heaven Heath - Swaddling Songs

2. Donald Dagen - Springtime - Kamakiriad

3. Steely Dan - Showbiz Kids - Countdown To Ecstasy

4. The Beatles - I'll Follow The Sun - Beatles For Sale

5. The Beatles - Baby's In Black - Beatles For Sale

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Chart compiled by listeners voting
on the songs they hear on Radio Dupree

Not much of a chart this month. Just a top 5! And that's because no more than five songs got rated. You listeners have been a little lazy pushing those thumbs up & down buttons while listening.
The obscure Irish folk rock group Mellow Candle is #1. That's great! We decided to test a few tunes from that album in May, for a possible full blown Album of the Month in June, and voilà!