Stevie + Prince = OK

It's been 500 years or so since Stevie Wonder's latest album. And a couple of thousand since he was at the top of his game.

So maybe it's my low, low expectations, but I find his new single "So What The Fuss" quite entertaining. With a typical vintage Wonder sound/groove plus Prince and En Vogue on board to add some guitar and vocals.

Streamed right now in two different flavours:

Real Audio

Windows Media

The full album A Time To Love will be out May 3.

Monday Evening Chart Show

Warren x 2. Both at #4 and #5.

For the third time ever in history it's time to check out what of the currently playing tracks on RadioDupree gets the thumbs up from our listeners!

Here's this weeks rundown:

This week (Last week) Artist - Title - Album

1. (*) Frank Zappa - Dong Work For Yuda
Joe's Garage

2. (*) Frank Zappa & The Mothers - My Babe
Joe's Corsage

3. (*) Giles, Giles & Fripp - I Talk To The Wind
The Brondesbury Tapes

4. (* ) Warren Zevon - Sacrificial Lambs
My Ride's Here

5. (*) Warren Zevon - Laissez-Moi Tranquille
My Ride's Here

6. (*) John Fogerty - Bad Bad Boy
Blue Moon Swamp

7. (*) King Crimson - Lament
Starless And Bible Black

8. (*) The Police - Roxanne
Outlandos d'Amour

9. (*) Steely Dan - Everyone's Gone To The Movies (Demo)
Citizen Steely Dan

10. (5) Lindsey Buckingham - Don't Look Down
Out Of The Cradle

11. (*) David Bowie - Joe The Lion - Heroes
12. (2) The Kings Of O'Blivion - It's Great Being A Girl - Big Fish Popcorn
13. (*) Return To Forever - Medieval Overture - Romantic Warrior
14. (*) Gentle Giant - Octopus excerpt - Playing The Fool
15. (*) Gentle Giant - Raconteur Troubadour - Octopus
16. (*) Pink Floyd - It Would Be So Nice - 1968 single
17. (*) Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe - Themes - Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe
18. (10) The Bill Frisell Band - Hackensack - Lookout For Hope
19. (*) The Beatles - Revolution - Past Masters Volume Two
20. (1) Pink Floyd - See Emily Play - The First 3 Singles

Quite a few new ones! And the monthly rundown of the "official" ;-) RadioDupree chart is just a week away. By the look of things Zappa will - as usual - make up about half of the Top 40. How many of the above 20 will make it? Stay tuned! And vote!

-------------------------------

Latest added:

Syd Barrett - No Good Trying - The Madcap Laughs
The Persuasions - Electric Aunt Jemima - The Persuasions Sing Zappa
Frank Zappa - I'm So Cute - Sheik Yerbouti
Frank Zappa - Broken Hearts Are For Assholes - Sheik Yerbouti
Genesis - A Trick Of The Tail - A Trick Of The Tail
The Children Of 7 - Solidarity - Stiff's On 45
Shakti - Mind Ecology - Natural Elements
Triangulus - Breathtaking - Reliques
Kate Bush - The Big Sky - Hounds Of Love
Åke Sandin - Melonen - Förlorad i toner

Tom Waits on Zappa, Beefheart and more

Tom Waits picks his 20 favourite albums in the British newspaper The Observer.

Among his picks are Trout Mask Replica by Captain Beefheart and The Yellow Shark by Frank Zappa.

Read his comments and see the complete list at:

Tom Waits Top 20

Zappa fans seem to prefer the original stuff

The Zappa songs we play on RadioDupree seem to be appreciated by our listeners, but other artists versions of Zappa songs just does not seem to be that interesting. (We receive some statistics every day, see. That's where all those thumbs up/thumbs down comments goes.)

Dirty Love by Zappa sideman Andre Lewis has recieved no comments at all. Just like the pieces from Ensemble Modern's CD Greggery Peccary & Other Persuasions.

Do you want these oddities or would you like to hear something else instead? You can always mail us at radiodupree@yahoo.se.

Let's see what happens with George Duke's song Old Slippers (from the album Feel of the mid 70's) which I put on rotation this evening. Guess who's joining in on guitar at the end of that song?

 

Yours truly

Sigurd H

 

Donald rehearsal pic

Click the title above to go to the article about the (then) upcoming fundraiser mentioned in the previous post.
Worth it to see a photo of Donald rehearsing before the show.

Neb

Donald Fagen, Todd & the rest

As reported on RadioDupree's homepage, Donald Fagen was one of the guests at a fundraiser on Hawaii March 5.

A couple of reports have landed. The first one published in the Internet Mail Service/Newsletter/Whatever for Steely Dan fans ; The Dandom Digest.

Date: Mon, 07 Mar 2005 00:07:44 -1000
From: Justin Thyme
Subject: Saturday Night with DF, TR, et al: "a "terzo mundo" of an
entirely different sort"

I'm back home on Windward O'ahu, noodling on the GigaStudio and
poking at this PC keyboard after spending an enjoyable 30 hours on
Kaua'i's North Shore (where the winter waves are POUNDING!) I should
be remixing some tracks, but I'd rather post this to you instead.

This isn't meant to be a set-list (we were too "happy" for clear
morning-after memories, and besides, nobody had anything to write
on); it's more an experiential loose-memory gestalt.

The DF/TR performance at the Princeville Resort was lots more of an
impromptu jam than a rehearsed gig -- but it was terrific
nonetheless, despite mediocre sound engineering in an
acoustically-challenged hotel ballroom venue. (The sound engineering
problems were understandable, as there was no time for a decent sound check.)
Keep in mind that this was an "hometown" fundraiser, after
all, for a small private school -- yes, the hometown was North Shore
Kaua'i, and the entertainers were local residents despite their
celebrity -- but it was a fundraiser jam at its core.

Michele (Grey) Rundgren, whose youngest son is a student at the
school, auctioneered vintage guitars, ukuleles, and clothing. Then
she emceed wonderfully, and afterwards settled comfortably into her
former persona as a sexy back-up singer. (She's still plenty sexy,
and she can still sing her ass off!) And if you haven't seen her DVD,
"NC-17 From a 34-C," then you haven't yet appreciated the best of the
North Shore Kaua'ian rocker-comediennes (her day-job band is called
the "North Shore Sluts."). Take a look at
http://www.michelerundgren.com .

New Grammy-winner Ken Emerson from Kalihiwai and the ever-wonderful Toni Childs opened (in that order) with solid performances,
especially Toni's one-day-old untitled composition than brought tears
to my eyes and chickenskin (a/k/a goosebumps) to my arms and neck. (I believe she's due for and verging on a comeback, mark me.)

Then Todd Rundgren appeared and rocked the Kaua'i Kasbah with
perennials (such as "I Saw The Light" and "Hello It's Me" with bossa
styling, a la "With A Twist"). Todd also ventured into his newest
work with "Soul Brother," from his recent and excellent "Liars"
album. His performance high point was the classic medley from "A
Wizard A True Star" ("I'm So Proud/Ooh Baby Baby/La la Means I Love
You," but sans "Cool Jerk"). Todd was in fine voice, dressed to kill,
and very much at home.

Our hero DF appeared and played an acoustic grand piano (I lamented
the absence of a Rhodes and wished I had shipped one of mine over).
The high-point of his too-brief performance was "Third World Man"
(performed in a "terzo mundo" of an entirely different sort),
followed by "Black Friday." These selections were interspersed with
some straight-ahead bluesy 50's rock'n'roll stuff ("Lucille," for
example) on which Donald gleamed while grasping (successfully) to
find some common musical ground with musicians who had barely
rehearsed together and who didn't know much of anything about
Donald's material. Todd's and Donald's voices blended surprisingly
well in duets. The show closed with "Bang on the Drum All Day" with
Toni belting it out like Janis Joplin, Todd wailing as only he can,
and Donald high-harmonizing while he savaged the keyboard.
Predictably, the crown was up on its feet, roaring along with the
chorus. Then lights up, and exit into the flower-scented tropical
evening.

Altogether a most unusual and satisfying evening on Hanalei Bay.

Aloha,
--jt

Click the "headline" of this post to view some pictures from the show.

Also check out http://dandom.com/
for more on The Dandom Digest and related Steely Dan stuff.

The second report was posted to members of the donaldfagen group over at
http://www.googlegroups.com/

From: "Lewis Fairlawn"
To: donaldfagen@googlegroups.com
Subject: Wang-dang-doodle in Princeville
Date: Thu, 17 Mar 2005 11:57:38 -0800

3/16/05
Our man in the Aloha State, Bubba Spreckels (let's call him that), went to a wang-dang-doodle in Princeville the other night. Here's his
report:

March 7, 2005

Even before we arrived, we could tell by the traffic on the North Shore
that the entire social register of the island had turned out for the
Kula Jam at the ballroom of the Princeville Hotel last night. And,
boy-oh-boy, was the joint ever jumping! First the crowd was treated to the the mellifluous melodies of slack key guitar whanger Kenny Emerson and local warbler Toni Childs. And what a couple of closers -- that's right, you've already heard about it -- Todd "The Mod" Rundgren and Donald "Nightfly" Fagen finished the audience off and had the leftovers for breakfast on Sunday morning. The headliners were backed by a pack of solid senders including drummer Tris Imboden,guitarist/singer Allan "A.T." Thomas, Jimmy "Doc" Winkler on the eighty-eights and Trey Thompson a'slappin' on the groanbox.

I caught up with mistress of ceremonies, singer, radio personality and
surefire woo-bait Michelle Rundgren in the lobby. "What a night!"
gushed Michelle. "And we raised lots of money for the Kula School too!"
The sentiment was dittoed by event organizer Benjy Garfinkle. And Mr. and Mrs. David and Samantha Geimer made sure the event ran like a Swiss clock.
Heads turned for the late entrance of the sparkling (as always)
aviatrix and kickboxer Lisa Hobbs . Also glittering among the revelers
were the Misses Garfinkle, Amber and Chloe; Miss Koa Norman; Miss
Vanessa Jade Martinez; and Mr. Keoni Steiner of Kilauea.

--
Sounds like a profound gass, Bubba. Thats all for now,

Lewis

http://www.donaldfagen.com

Weekend music

Click the pic and you're off!

Friday's here and just to set you off on a great weekend I thought I'd share this:

Get ready for the special keyboard activities of Croatia's one and only Belinda Bedekovic!

According to her biography "on her public appearances with her virtuosity and performance she ''demolishes everything in front of her'', and they are regularly accompanied by enthusiastic applause, sometimes even leading to euphoria."

And apparently "these days she has been working on her project ''TORNADO ON THE REMOTE KEYBOARD''.
Hey! Nothing wrong with that!
To expereince a 4 minute breeze of her talents just click the pic above.

Enjoy the weekend!

Oh! Almost forgot this one:

Belinda and guitarist Steve Vai

Eclectic record buyers

Or at least a little more eclectic than you'd expect. Or I expect.
That was my reaction after seeing this weeks Swedish Top 10:

1
KENT
DU & JAG DÖDEN
- larger than life Swedish rock band with 10 years of credibility and often coming across as gloomy guys that rarely smile.

2
MONEYBROTHER
TO DIE ALONE
- Another Swedish favourite among both critics and the record buying public. Made it big with the last record. Soulful retro sounding.

3
CHRISTER SJÖGREN
LOVE ME TENDER
- Honeydripping crooner that's been around for 30 years or so fronting the group Vikingarna. This is his take on Elvis.

4
HAMMERFALL
CHAPTER V: UNBENT, UNBOWED, UNBROKEN
- Swedish metal band 12 years on...

5
TIMBUKTU
ALLA VILL TILL HIMMELEN MEN INGEN VILL DÖ
- How about some Swedish rap?

6
HÅKAN HELLSTRÖM
ETT KOLIKBARNS BEKÄNNELSER
- Another Swede! A bit pop and rock.

7
JUDAS PRIEST
ANGEL OF RETRIBUTION
- Veterans are the first non-Swedish act on this chart.

8
DARIN
THE ANTHEM
- Swedish teenage heartthrob forging a 15 min career after coming a close second in one of those Pop Star TV deals. This one was called Idol 2004.

9
GWEN STEFANI
LOVE ANGEL MUSIC BABY

10
50 CENT
THE MASSACRE

A broad mix don't you think? And we could probably play at least Moneybrother on RD. Might happen. Might not. Stay tuned.

In the meantime you can see a couple of videos and listen to Moneybrother music over at:
http://www.moneybrother.net/

Happy birthday!

She's one year older, you know...

And I haven't forgotten:
Happy Birthday to my little sister, celebrating it every year March 15!

Although this year she's taking it a bit easier thanks to a nasty cold. Get better as your getting older. And remember to e-n-j-o-y life.

(That's about the sum of my wisdom.)

Testing the system

If this post makes it all the way to the blog I was successful in
posting directly via e-mail, and not having to log in on any blog
page.

Posting via mail is a usedul feature if you're on the road and busy. I
could even post a couple of sentences using my slightly out of date
phone!

OK. Let's see where this one ends up; on the blog or returned
unpublished. :)

Neb

Monday Evening Chart Show

Picture: Fripp is "#12 with a bullet"...

Time again to see who of the currently spinning tracks have been getting thumbs up and other uplifting responses.

As a Steely Dan fan myself I have just one question; "where are the Dan-fans?" Obviously not listening to RadioDupree, that's for sure!

This week (Last week) Artist - Title - Album

1. (*) Pink Floyd - See Emily Play
The First 3 Singles

2. (*) The Kings Of O'Blivion - It's Great Being A Girl
Big Fish Popcorn

3. (13) Frank Zappa & The Mothers - Directly From My Heart To You
Weasels Ripped My Flesh

4. (*) Miles Davis - What It Is
Decoy

5. (*) Lindsey Buckingham - Don't Look Down
Out Of The Cradle

6. (2) Frank Zappa/Captain Beefheart - Alley Cat
Zappa: The Lost Episodes

7. (*) Frank Zappa - Night School
Jazz From Hell

8. (12) Lindsey Buckingham - Wrong
Out Of The Cradle

9. (*) Frank Zappa & The Mothers - Montana
You Can't Do That On Stage...4

10. (17) The Bill Frisell Band - Hackensack
Lookout For Hope

11. (5) Frank Zappa - Dinah-Moe Humm - Baby Snakes soundtrack
12. (*) Robert Fripp - Under Heavy Manners - God Save The Queen
13. (19) Paul Revere & The Raiders - I'm Not Your Steppin' Stone - Greatest Hits
14. (11) Mahavishnu Orchestra - Thousand Island Park - Birds Of Fire
15. (*) John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band - Mother - John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band
16. (7) Eilert Pilarm - Heartbreak Hotel - Greatest Hits
17. (*) Lenny White - Assault - Adventures Of Astral Pirates
18. (6) Cream - As You Said - Wheels Of Fire
19. (*) The Velvet Underground - Here She Comes Now - White Light/White Heat
20. (*) The Persuasions - My Guitar - The Persuasions Sing Zappa

--------------------------

"Additives":

The Police - Roxanne - Outlandos d'Amour
--- A classic from the days of yore.

Steely Dan - More To Come - Catalyst (Demos)
--- Pre-stardom Becker/Fagen fiddlin' about.

The Beatles - Polythene Pam/She Came In Through The Bathroom Window - Abbey Road
Joe Cocker - She Came In Through The Bathroom Window - Live
--- A joint effort in doing the best version of a song. Who wins? You decide!

Tasteless chocolate clones...

What's with this?!?!

Spotting some new kind of chocolate bar a couple of days ago I decided to buy a couple and give them a try.

Why?

Because they had the same name as the classic chocolate drink here in Sweden; O'Boy. Childhood memories...

The drink is made by mixing the chocolate powder with milk, and was already around when I grew up in the 60's. It's still available, but this chocolate bar variety was news to me.

So how did it taste? Not like O'Boy. More like the Norwegian "classic" Kvikk-Lunsj that's been selling in droves (especially around Easter) since the late 30's.
Once opened the O'Boy bar looks a lot like Kvikk-Lunsj. And - to the best of my memory from eating a couple of the latter a few years ago - they taste very much the same.

With the very, very ... v-e-r-y large Kraft Foods behind both, I figure there must be quite a few other clones in other countries.

I know Kraft has been using the well-known O'Boy brand on other stuff lately; a pre-mixed milk drink as well as smaller portion packages of the powder called O'Boy Mix. And I guess it makes business sense when you consider that 68% of all kids between 10 and 14 years of age in this country drink at least one glass of O'Boy milk/chocolate drink a day!

But putting the name on stuff that's not up to par will erode the O'Boy brand. And - at least to this old geezer - that's what this chocolate bar variety does.

Monday Evening Chart Show

Picture: Eilert Pilarm doing just fine at #7

With a blog at hand, why not publish a weekly chart of RadioDupree favorites in addition to the monthly chart on the homepage? Yeah, why not!

So, without further ado, here's the first Monday evening chart featuring listeners absolute favorites among the currently played tracks:

1. Frank Zappa - Any Downers?
You Are What You Is

2. Frank Zappa/Captain Beefheart - Alley Cat
Zappa: The Lost Episodes

3. Frank Zappa & The Mothers - WPLJ
Burnt Weeny Sandwich

4. Frank Zappa - Don't Eat The Yellow Snow
You Can't Do That On Stage...1

5. Frank Zappa - Dinah-Moe Humm
Baby Snakes soundtrack

6. Cream - As You Said
Wheels Of Fire

7. Eilert Pilarm - Heartbreak Hotel
Greatest Hits

8. David Bowie - Bombers (CD bonus track)
Hunky Dory

9. Peter Gabriel - White Shadow
Peter Gabriel (2)

10. Frank Zappa & The Mothers - Montana
You Can't Do That On Stage...4

11. Mahavishnu Orchestra - Thousand Island Park - Birds Of Fire
12. Lindsey Buckingham - Wrong - Out Of The Cradle
13. Frank Zappa & The Mothers - Directly From My Heart To You - Weasels Ripped My Flesh
14. The Beatles - You Know My Name (Look Up The Number) - Past Masters Volume Two
15. King Crimson - Heartbeat - Beat
16. George Duke - Liberated Fantasies (edit) - Liberated Fantasies
17. The Bill Frisell Band - Hackensack - Lookout For Hope
18. Peter Gabriel - Excuse Me - Peter Gabriel (1)
19. Paul Revere & The Raiders - I'm Not Your Steppin' Stone - Greatest Hits
20. Jethro Tull - Nothing Is Easy - Stand Up

------------------

Oh, and here's just a few of the songs added to the playlist today:

Pete Yorn - Splendid Isolation - Enjoy Every Sandwich - The Songs Of Warren Zevon
--- Great version of one of my favorite Zevon songs. We have a couple of Warren songs on the playlist as well.

Todd Rundgren - It Takes Two To Tango (This Is For The Girls) - The Best Of Todd Rundgren - "Go Ahead. Ignore Me."
--- He has been getting a so-so welcome on RadioDupree so far. But if the rumours about a Todd/Donald Fagen tour/co-operation on Donald's new album shows to be true you can expect more Todd on the station!

Åke Sandin - Line 27 - Förlorad i toner
Sixten - Boggie För Fulla Muggar - Min vän
--- Two deciedely off-beat Swedish gems that has resurfaced thanks to avid collectors of so called "outsider music".

David Bowie - Sunday - Heathen

Creedence Clearwater Revival - Someday Never Comes - Mardi Gras
John Fogerty - Bad Bad Boy - Blue Moon Swamp
John Fogerty - Telephone - vinyl single/unreleased Hoodoo album
--- Saw John play a great gig in Sundsvall, Sweden this past Friday. So I'm adding a couple of his songs. Yes, I've got the whole Hoodoo album, but Live 365 has rules and if you break 'em you're shut down, so...

Mats & Morgan - Tretaktslåten - The Teenage Tapes
--- Zappa-connected Swedish musicians from my and Siggy's part of the world.

Gentle Giant - Raconteur Troubadour - Octopus
--- Been getting thumbs up every time we've added one of theirs. Let's see what happens this time around.

Neb

Rare Warren Zevon

Just a reminder to all fans of Warren Zevon - and you know who you are - that the upcoming box set from Rhino Records has still no set release date.

What you can do is visit the Bulletin Board over at http://warrenzevon.com and search the threads.
Now and again Warren's son Jordan Zevon will post mp3 sneak peeks of what's coming when the 4 CD set is finally released.

I've so far heard four of these:

* A 1974 demo of Accidentally Like A Martyr.
* An unreleased live version of Nighttime At The Switching Yard.
* A guitar and vocals version of Frozen Notes.
* The "new" song Keep On Traveling.

Jordan's also posted a video outtake that he forgot to include in the DVD version of VH1:s "Keep Me In Your Heart"-documentary. In the outtake you can see Warren with actor Benicio Del Toro (that's him in the picture) and others visiting recently departed Hunter S. Thompson. It's a fun clip!

Neb

Don't Stop The Music

Was reminded today that I did start this "blog-thing" back in November 2003. Went looking for it and was amazed that it was still around ... and that I managed to reactivate it!

Deleted the five or so posts I did late 2003/early 2004 and changed the design and updated the links. And am writing this.

The CD cover is Sixten's "Min vän", one of three oddities on CD that I recieved a few days ago. The latest additions to my record collection. I'll be back with a short review later.

Time to update the playlist over at the station. I am trying a different method for a couple of weeks. More on that next time.

Neb