DIG THIS WITH BILL MESNIK AND RICH BUCKLAND- THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS

The story of Gerry Rafferty's "Baker Street" has it all: a troubled, ambivalent creator, an unforgettable sax riff whose ownership has spawned controversy for almost 50 years, and a mysterious, compelling lyric. One of Scotland's leading artistic lights, Rafferty, who started as partner to the beloved comedian Billy Connolly in The Humblebums, went on the wow the world with Ste...

Redd Foxx was one funny motherfucker. And, hell on wheels. Apparently, he was the scourge of taxi drivers in Las Vegas, where he lived, worked, and is buried - because he would either throw up in the backseat of their cabs, or refuse to pay his fare, or both. As the “King of the Party Records”, Redd made 50 dirty albums (I have a few on 8 track) - before hitting national gold on Sanford and Son, t...

There was something magical about Rosemary Clooney: the girl next door with the velvet tones. A 1950s dreamboat that you imagined might bring you cocoa on a chilly evening, and rub your temples after you had labored for hours, toiling to create the perfect arrangement for her. A game lady.  I admit I may have been dazzled by the Show Biz glow reflected onto this goddess from her husband, Academy W...

https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/communications-satellite-telstar/nasm_A20070113000 The Splendid Bohemians are taking you back to 1962, a time when technology held so much promise for a more peaceful tomorrow. Telstar, the communications satellite was launched, linking one side of the globe to the other; Kennedy announced the good news to the world, and Joe Meek created an eternal mus...

“GONE” - JOEY HEATHERTON (MGM, 1972) It all started with a friendly competition. We had just done an episode about my early crush Bobby Gentry and her iconic “Ode to Billy Joe”. Rich does a counterpunch here with a tribute to his own teen heartthrob, the pulchritudinous Joey Heatherton, daughter of Ray “The Merry Mailman” - a host of one of our after-school staples of kid’s programming.  When Rich...

Oh, I know what you’re thinking: the Mez has finally lost it with this twee, Oscar winning anthem to persistence. But, my instincts tell me that someone might need to hear it again. Because, judging from my daily struggle with the urge to chuck it, do nothing, and give in to cynicism, I suspect I’m not alone. The world is just too exhausting. But, then I hear Frankie-boy giving me this nudge, and...

Little Willie John was a teenager when he recorded his first hit, “All Around the World,” for King Records, in 1955. When his career faded in 1962, John was a grizzled veteran of 25. Although rock & roll was once the province of the young, few singers under the age of 20 have been able to communicate more than jittery restlessness or poignant ache. Little Willie John did much more. Like his co...

THE HISSING OF SUMMER LAWNS by Joni Mitchell (Asylum, 1975) Hail, hail Joni Mitchell! A survivor with a roller-coaster history of adventures, both artistic and existential. She’s still standing, albeit with a cane - (Polio couldn’t fell her; an aneurysm? Piffle!)  From folkie goddess who pierced her madrigals through with a brutal, autobiographical honesty, through her jazzbo period where challeng...

August 20, 2012- Scott sang a gentle song that became a hit and something of a theme song for 1967's "Summer of Love." Scott McKenzie, best known for San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair , died Saturday in Los Angeles. He was 73. According to the singer's website , he "had been very ill recently and passed away in his home after two weeks in hospital."...

Hang on to your hats, folks, it’s Frank Zappa time! Love ‘im or Hate ‘im, you have to admit that Zappa was an all-American original. Virtuoso guitarist, ground-breaking jazz-fusion orchestral arranger, and scathing social satirist, Zappa stood alone against legions of corporate sycophants, carving out a successful empire built from sheer hubris and talent. Plus, he was funny as hell. In this cut f...

I was 11 when the Beatles first appeared in America, and I literallyowe my life, my career, and my marriage to the guitar I bought and learned to play because of their influence. I have the entire Beatles catalogue on 8 Track, including the post break up solo albums, so picking one for the return of Captain Billy’s Magic 8 Ball presented a real quandary. Rich suggested, and rightfully so, that we...

"I have reached an age when, if someone tells me to wear socks, I don't have to." Albert Einstein (1879-1955) "How old would you be if you didn't know how old you was*?" Satchel Paige (1906-1982) "By the time you're eighty years old you've learned everything. You only have to remember it." George Burns (1896-1996) "The wiser mind mourns less f...

Are you ready? Ready for action? Ready for… whatever? I hope you are, because when opportunity knocks you better at least have your drawers on when you answer the door. They say success is when preparation meets opportunity, so you best be ready to jump when the light goes on. This sassy stop-time number was written by the Mozart of the blues, bassist Willie Dixon for the one and only Muddy Waters...

Kinky Friedman, the singer, songwriter, humorist and sometime politician who with his band, the Texas Jewboys, developed an ardent following among alt-country music fans with songs like “ They Ain’t Makin' Jews Like Jesus Anymore ” — and whose biting cultural commentary earned him comparisons with Will Rogers and Mark Twain — died on Thursday at his ranch near Austin, Texas. He was 79. The wr...

Back in the day there was a commercial for a pain reliever called Anacin, which was so psychotically hilarious that its catch phrase instantly became a “viral” meme, way before that term was invented. Even as 10 year olds, we would go around screaming: “Mother, PLEASE, I’d rather do it myself!!” Imitating the emotionally wrecked housewife in the ad. Nowadays, such an outburst would probably result...

“I wasn’t bound to a style,” Al Kooper has said. He was talking about his guitar playing but just as easily could have been talking about the totality of Al Kooper, songwriter, musician, singer, producer, band director. “If anything, I was known for being in the right place at the right time and playing the right thing.” Kooper has been at the heart of rock & roll’s time/space continuum for mu...

This is the story of a love song that sings from beyond the grave.  Lovin’ You started life as a lullaby for baby Maya Rudolph, the child of singer Minnie Riperton and songwriter Richard Rudolph.  Stevie Wonder, who co-produced the record, plays the gorgeous electronic keyboard accompaniment. It was a late-entry addition to MInnie’s solo album Perfect Angel, and the baby oriented lyrics had to be...

February 18th of this year would have been Lee Marvin's 100th birthday. ROGER EBERT'S 1973 REVIEW OF "THE ICEMAN COMETH" "There isn't a bad performance in the film, but there are three of such greatness they mesmerize us. The best is by the late R obert Ryan, as Larry, and this is possibly the finest performance of his career. There is such wisdom and sadness in his e...

Harry Nilsson was a man in a hurry. There’s no time, people! Life is happening now, and if you don’t act fast and grab it, you’ll be outta luck. Dead at 52, the former Wunderkind, one of Rock’s most innovative song stylists, exited this earthly realm, having burned out his candle from both ends - in terms of life, work, and alcohol consumption - but, thankfully, he left behind a clutch of living m...

Segment One: A TASTE OF MONEY, A SCENT OF ORANGE Segment Two : WILLIE NILE “The unofficial poet laureate of New York City.” - Uncut "Better than most performers have to offer by far." -- Rolling Stone “Clash/Social Distortion meets Pete Seeger…a true master songwriter!” – Hits “Willie’s so good I can’t believe he’s not from New Jersey!” – Little Steven “Crossing the power of the Clash wi...

Can a song about unrequited love be considered a “Sunny Song”? Absolutely, if it’s as poppy and refreshing as this cut by Cleveland one hit wonders, The Choir, previously known as The Mods. At the time of the song’s recording, the midwest was teeming with British Invasion, Carnaby St wanna-be bands who had longer hair than their peers and groovier clothes, and managed to cobble together enough mon...

One of the greatest rock and roll songwriters, Jackie De Shannon has a way of marrying a catchy pop melody with a fresh lyrical insight that is unparalleled. During that shift from Rockabilly into the British Invasion, Jackie (often with partner Sharon Sheeley), kept the pop charts humming - amassing an impressive discography for anyone - let alone little Sharon Lee Myers from Hazel, Kentucky, a p...

Nov. 27, 2017 Wayne Cochran, who wrote a classic love-and-loss pop song while still in his early 20s, then morphed into an energetic rhythm-and-blues singer with a devoted following and an outrageous pompadour before finding a new purpose in a Christian ministry near Miami, died on Nov. 21 in Miramar, Fla. He was 78. His son, Christopher Cochran, said the cause was cancer. Mr. Cochran was a relati...

In my opinion, the song was better than the sit-com that spawned it. And, it had staying power, making it to the top of the pop charts.  There is something transcendent being expressed here. As Thomas Wolfe said: “you can’t go home again,” Maybe not, but it’s something we all long for, and in this joyful three minute tune John Sebastian ties a ribbon around that sentiment. You left home with a des...

FROM THE "WILD, WILD WEST" DEPARTMENT: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will be on the ballot in Florida, his campaign announced Friday, after he secured a nomination from the obscure “Reform Party”—as his campaign deploys an aggressive and laborious strategy to secure his place on ballots in all 50 states. The Reform Party, founded by former independent presidential candidate Ross Perot, voted Thu...