Once again the DMCA continues to stifle reforms for something that actually has done nothing but hurt artists,. That it is the most important, while serving to enrich the monopolistic tendencies of what remains of the Record Business here in the U.S.A. What are we down to now, 3 Major Labels? I'd like to relay that the “Biz” is ablaze with roaring chatter and this is going to cause upheaval on a massive scale, but sadly I cannot. The simple fact is that nobody works in the Music Business anymore. Honest. At best I would say the numbers in percentages would be 3-5%. That posits since 1974, my High School Graduation,there currently are 95-97% fewer people employed in the Record Business in one form or another.
This diatribe was inspired Saturday, when they did some “maintenance” without bothering to inform us that starting at 2AM they were going to essentially stir the primordial stew. I would have shut down all systems and grabbed a book. Instead I spent the next day reconfiguring my server and home network.Admittedly a bit moist with glee that my UPS was on guard and operational. Now here comes the good part! Having reached the absolute limit of safe blood pressure maintenance, I did the only logical thing and went to their retail store. As Kenny Loggins warned us repeatedly too many years ago, sometimes you need to enter the “Danger Zone” it cannot be avoided. Plus, I needed someone to look directly into my eyes and just try to give me the AI standard reasons to my face. The workplace was filled to the brim with grossly overpriced phones and tablets and could not have been a more sterile environment. The tragic fluorescent lighting was at least partially responsible for the blank stares on the faces of the matching Polo clad 20 and 30-something workers, each with a connected tablet computer literally attached to their wrist and cold, dead eyes not focused on anything at all. Now, I do possess extensive retail experience, working my way up from a clerk to managing stores before the age of 19. But ladies and gentlemen it was apparent within 90 seconds this was as far away from my experience as possible. Even mall stores had a fun vibe on the floor and music, great music playing, often loud. We would spin customers up and down the aisle, each and every employee an expert in at least 2 but often many more subsets or Genres (a pet peeve we’ll not go into now). I met Steve Popovich in the East Brunswick Harmony Hut, where I managed the Tape Department and would head off to Musicden for a part-time gig 5 nights a week. That meeting literally changed my life. He was asking someone else about artists and finally reached the peak of that poor Dude’s knowledge, so he sent them my way informing him “If he doesn't know about it, it doesn’t exist. I was just wrapping up a sale and cheerfully turned to him asking how I could help. He proceeded to inquire about a wide variety of artists, Poco, Jimmie Spheris, Donovan, REO Speedwagon, Kansas, etc but when he included George Jones, Chase and Maynard Ferguson and Charlie Rich I smelled a rat. I looked him in the eye and said “OK, what’s going on here?” He knew that I knew. And tried a “What do you mean?” I answered with a grin and laughingly said, “Every single artist you mentioned is on Epic or an Epic Associated label.” It blew his mind and he took me to lunch. That’s when I knew I would never leave the music business. Returning to present day, I explained the problems I was having with the service from Comcast/Xfinity and I swear he was starting to shake, I reassured him that I didn't want to give him any nonsense as I understood completely he had nothing to do with it, I simply wanted advice on what my next step should be. The poor kid was now twitching a little, and meekly said, we hear it all the time, they have it setup so you never get to speak to a human and the internet site is purposefully designed to run you around in circles. We try to pass these problems up the chain but are ignored. He said the only thing I am allowed to do is schedule a tech to come to the house and check your line, he then tried to get me to switch to their cellular plan in order to save some money. I laughed and said, no thanks but I’m headed to Consumer Cellular since I’m retired and I never use my cell phone anymore. I said I guess we’ll set-up a line check. He started pulling forms and quickly said that it would cost $100. Now I had the blank stare, and something clicked. I genuinely laughed and said, you have got to be kidding me. “That’s all they allow us to do, I’m really sorry.” Having never lost my composure, I thanked him for his time. They have a Monopoly in this area and just don’t fucking care. Sure they tell lie after lie, but they are making a ton of money. Get it while you can. Karl Wallinger, only a year younger than me, was as fine a musically obsessed human that I ever encountered. He loved playing live but I’ve always felt that his happy place was in his studio alone. His drive to record every Beatles song was absolute proof, money was not what drove his decisions. It was always the art alone that inspired and guided him. I only encountered him twice, but I really feel like I lost a friend. I hope I did him justice with this 2 hour tribute crafted under the Rules of the DMCA. It could have been so much better. Thanks for listening.
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Uh-oh this one has a title. Let me attempt to explain why it was warranted. And, no it is not a Political show, regardless how it begins. Although Politics are certainly one of the main creative catalysts, along with frustration, confusion, the decline of open and honest communication, common courtesy, basic manners, respect, dignity, even the sacrifice of the greatest game ever invented with the addition of ghost runners and a clock in order to satiate our culture’s current gnat-like attention span. Too much noise finally caused a psychic break, with the fetal position replacing the warmth, adventure and abject joy usually found in the embrace of the studio. Are that many fellow citizens really OK with transparent lies and thievery jammed down their gullet 24/7? Have we reached the abyss of our grand experiment? Are we really that fucking stupid? How long can you call it rain when it’s clearly urine coming down in torrents while we march underground leaking equal parts resignation and desperation.
The needle hit the first groove well before the start of The State Of The Union with some comedy and Beatlesque Pop to lighten the spirit, then funk from the inner city and The Big Easy pushed into an extended stay at the overflowing New Arrival Bin, a bit of wisdom from the deeply missed Mr. Carlin and a great new effort from Bruce Sudano, rare James Walsh, the crafty delight that is Amy Rigby and even more rare Soul nuggets and somehow a Foghat song from High School and the woefully underappreciated genius, Michael Hall. A break in the action was just what the doctor ordered, and the only way to fully appreciate the shellacking administered by The President to a room rife with thieving, lying, treasonous cowards was to stand and salute. He might be an octogenarian but he put on a display of wisdom, passion, dignity and honor, all of them together squared couldn’t come within a country mile of. And not even a fib was uttered. I finished with a smile widening deep into the night and hope you find even a small percentage of my current soundtrack useful to help keep you in the light. Thanks for listening. DL
I have come to realize and accept that at this point we can pretty much expect to cover a musical passage in just about every episode of FTB. The calculus is crystal clear when you get to my age. Thankfully, the hunger and hunt for interesting music continues to burn brightly within. We bid adieu to the last remaining member of The Spinners, Henry Fambrough stepped to the Velvet Rope of the afterparty at the ripe old age of 85, while Dex Romweber continued his tragic family history of leaving too early at a mere 57 which is a full decade younger than me. Old friend Hal Jalikeakick came by to help with our Audio Obit about halfway through the show. The New Release Bin was overflowing so expect to hear fresh stuff from Nina Simone, The Black Keys, Paul McCartney & Wings, The Weeklings, Brittany Howard, Buddy Guy and Junior Wells, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Blue Öyster Cult, Ducks Ltd, Paul Collins, Grandaddy, Tyler Ramsey, The Pineapple Thief, Frontier Ruckus, Nouvelle Vague and Iron & Wine. They are joined by Red Flag, Prefab Sprout, The Smiths, The Rave-Ups, Stevie Wonder, Roland Gift, The Afghan Whigs, The National, Booker T Jones, David Bowie, Matthew Sweet, Jellyfish, Wilco, Barbara Keith, The Monochrome Set, Laura Nyro and a bunch more. Just as I got ready to send the show I received news that Dick Swetits, the GM of WHTG has passed on as well. More on that next time. Hug your loved ones and thanks for all the support.
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We let love rule for Valentine’s Day this year and they have convinced me to make this mix personal. When you consider this edition of “Mixtape” is a whopping 328 minutes, perhaps we should have called it the Valentine’s Day Box Set? Regardless, I swear on a stack of Zappa original pressings that every song included has in one way or another been inspired by real events and/or utilized by me to celebrate or get me through my 67 years on the planet in regard to matters of the heart. And I easily could have at least doubled the run time, but these tunes represent those top of mind at the moment and the always important flow. Use it to celebrate with someone you love or get through a rough patch of your own. Consider it a sonic love blast from all of us in The Basement, straight to your heart. Thanks for listening and whenever possible, turn it up.
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It takes more than five hours to cover a batch of new releases and also give a dignified send-off to Brother Wayne Kramer, who leaves behind a towering musical legacy. We have the first new song in a decade from Sunny Day Real Estate, can it really be the 30th Anniversary of their “Diary” album? New albums from J. Mascis, Kula Shaker and Alkaline Trio are filled with great stuff, and although it came out a few months back, I fell deeply under the spell of the debut from Quade, which is as compelling as it is unclassifiable. Alejandro Escovedo joins the fun with his brilliant new “Bury Me” single and we get another winner from Liam Gallagher and John Squire. Terry Adams jazz outing “Terrible” gets the deluxe reissue spotlight and The Third Mind 2 is impossible to leave off. It’s a full show, so use it to make the week ahead as wonderful as possible. Thanks as always for the support and most of all your ears.
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New Model Army,the band Justin Sullivan has fronted since the year I got married, has never let me down. So many songs have hit me dead center,none more than “Family” from ‘89’s “Thunder And Consolation.” Friday the band’s 17th album arrived and he’s done it again. It keeps company with the brilliant new offering from John Leventhal. Coincidentally both artists are 5 years from their last releases but it’s no surprise that each was worth the wait. Other new things include Marcus King’s soulful new single,Joe Bonamassa hooking up with Peter Frampton and outstanding vault releases from Jim Capaldi, Johnnie Taylor and The Long Ryders. Welcome to another week and thanks for listening.
This is an episode jam-packed with the usual/unusual combination of sounds that can inspire opposites to attract, happenstance and connections popping everywhere. There's a twinkle in your eye as paths magically appear and yield to adventure by flipping familiar to unknown sounds seemingly at will. We’ve been here at another time long ago, or have we? It doesn’t matter as long as you understand that it’s all just a ride anyway. Simply go with the flow. New releases include James Mastro, Tyler Ramsey, The Pernice Brothers, Ride, Dug Pinnick, Kim Gordon, Bombay Bicycle Club, Marika Hackman, Bill Ryder-Jones, Warren Haynes, Jim James, & Grace Potter, Mumford & Sons w/Pharrell Williams, The Weeklings (new album is absolute killer), Green Day, Kanak, The Spyres (featuring Mark Stewitt) and Kamaal Williams. We also attempt a proper send off to a pair of musical artists that have clearly left their mark. Renowned pianist, singer, composer, Les McCann and a natural born teenage singer that helped to put The Girl Group Sound front and center, Mary Weiss lead singer of The Shangri-La’s. Thanks to Ripper McSesh for his help. And thanks to all of you for continuing to support and follow the joy of musical discovery. No algorithm, no bullshit and no hidden agenda.
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First of all, I would like to extend sincere gratitude to listeners/friends Christopher Sinko, Terry May, Larry Dutra, William Crowe, Kevin Boyce, Jim Wilson, Judy DePalma, Dan Overton, Brian Dougherty, Pechanga, Michael Todd, John Regan, Beth Rogers, George Lane, Pat Pierson and Al Marks for continuing their financial support of FTB. The new link is only active for another 13 days and can be found here.
This episode reveals newly released sounds from Julian Cope, Soft Cell, Mo Troper, Wilco, Pete Yorn, Greybird, The Decibels, Kula Shaker, Liam Gallagher & John Squire, The Lemon Twigs, The Black Crowes, The Black Keys, Aaron Lee Tasjan and 3 of the 4 new albums released by Ryan Adams! As usual, genre boundaries are continuously shattered as we sample from as many as possible in a continuing effort to demonstrate that such restrictions just don’t make any sense. As my old Pal Dave Mason once sang, “Let It Go, Let It Flow.” And he’s not even on this episode! Thanks for listening and hopefully this will get your week underway with a solid musical foundation.
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dl
Friday Night January 6
It’s just a feeling. Like clockwork every December, save those glorious years when my daughter believed in Santa Claus. The blues arrive for a visit. If you and I share that happenstance we’ll shake them off together. If not, take notes for when you need it. Good way to start the year when you think about it.
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Thought I would share this in case anyone needs uninterrupted music for a gathering, road trip or simply musical baubles to decorate the silence. While taking a break from the regular show to rest my aching mouth, shockingly found myself messing about in the studio. Starting with some old school jazz and switching the brain to autopilot letting it flow from there. Before I knew it, this came about. Hey, it happens. I’m sure it won’t be the last. Enjoy, stay safe and do not drink and drive.
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Mike MarroneDad, Husband, Radio Programmer/DJ, Music Enthusiast, Drummer and Retired American. To help keep the From The Basement programs afloat, especially now that I am retired and living on a fixed income. Please donate via PayPal below whatever you feel you can afford to help cover my costs.
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