In the late 90s, Arkarna's debut album Fresh Meat was a dance club smash in the U.K. and made some alternative headway in the U.S., particularly with House on Fire. The followup, The Family Album, didn't get a proper release in America and it's kind of a cult collectible now. There are plenty of good songs on it but "Nomoni" just lends itself very well to a LNMC clip.

When I was working at Reprise Seymour Stein signed an English band called The Farm. I loved their music, especially this song "Comfort." They had a few hits in the U.K., "Groovy Train" and "All Together Now," and some underground radio action here in the U.S. but they never broke through in America the way they should have. I've been wanted to share "Comfort" with the LNMC for months and I finally got my friend Lucas to do a video for it this morning. I think he captured the essence pretty well.

TMZ got their hands on a clip from a never before heard track by Michael Jackson called "A Place With No Name." The song is a lift/interpretation of America's "Horse With No Name," which apparently was done with America's approval. Hopefully a complete version will surface soon, as well as some more unfinished recordings. If this one is exemplary, Jackson was working on some impressive stuff.

Macy's Gray's debut album, On How Life Is (1999) was a multi-platinum worldwide smash-- and won her a Grammy. Her follow-up, The Id (released a few days after the incompetent Bush Regime failed to protect America on 9/11) stiffed in America but soared internationally. It also spawned tonight's feature, a collaboration between Macy, Erykah Badu and Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante, "Sweet Baby." I recommend that KKK members just listen and not watch the clip and that it not be shown at any Tony Zirkle campaign rallies.

I had already moved to Europe and was preparing to drive to India when the first big rock supergroup, Blind Faith, put out their eponymous debut-- and only-- album. I promptly bought an 8-track cassette and headed off to India in my VW van. Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, Steve Winwood and Ric Grech were like my companions all through Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Nepal for 1969-72. I heard rumors that there was a controversy about the album cover in America and, indeed, they refused to release it. The controversy didn't prevent the album from going to #1. This clip of "Can't Find My Way Home" starts with it.

When people look back in history to recount the contributions America made to mankind, Duke Ellington won't be too far down the list. A composer, band leader, and pianist, he's one of the most important figures in Western music. He was born in Washington, DC in 1899, the grandchild of slaves. By the 1940's he was considered a musical giant. Side by Side was a 1959 release, officially billed as a Duke Ellington and Johnny Hodges project. Hodges was Ellington's lead sax player for years. Some of the other players, pictured in the clip below, are Harry "Sweets" Edison (trumpet), Roy Eldridge (trumpet), Jo Jones (drums), Johnny Hodges (alto sax), and Billy Strayhorn (piano). "Stompy Jones" was the lead track:

In the U.S. a gold record means it sold 500,000 copies and a platinum record means a million. Right around the time Green Day hit 10,000,000 sales, the RIAA invented a new award-- diamond. Appropriately enough Dookie was one of the first albums to get one. And "Longview" was one of the amazing singles that propelled those sales, not just in America but all around the world. I was in Myanmar in December and I found a CD by a local band called Big Bag and they cover "Longview" and I'm still trying to figure out how to play it on American equipment! Meanwhile, how about a jazz version by Lea Delaria?

When The Sex Pistols got together and started putting out records, there weren't many radio djs in the U.S. that would even consider their music. But their songs were all #1 on my KSAN show. And when they came to America they came on the show as my guests and I went to see what turned out to be their last-ever concert. "Anarchy in the U.K." was their first single (Nov., 1976) and the following May they released "God Save the Queen," which was immediately banned by the BBC-- and enshrined them forever in the annals of rock'n'roll.

When Reprise's head of A&R brought me this tape from a Scottish band called Deckard he wanted to sign, I was so happy. Their songs sounded like hits. Unfortunately, radio stations didn't feel the same way. We brought the songs to the producers of the TV series Friends and they got it immediately and "What Reason" went right onto the second Friends soundtrack album. We never did manage to break the band in America but their songs still sound good today.

 (guest blogged by Howie Klein.)The first time I heard Israeli-Yemenite singer Ofra Haza she was just as a sample on "Paid in Full" by Eric B & Rakim. Eric B's song was really good but we rushed out to sign the sample. Ofra had already released a dozen albums in Israel, mostly children's songs, but "Im Nin-Alu," (the one the sample was taken from) busted her career wide open everywhere in the world. She had a top 5 song all over Europe and even in the U.S., where songs in strange languages make most Americans reach for their guns, the song gave Ofra a big underground/hipster following. I loved working with her and her manager and was heartbroken when I found out that her husband, who died of a drug overdose, gave her a fatal case of AIDs. (cd contest below the fold)

Continue reading »