Bloggerhythms

WXPN began their countdown of the 885 Greatest Artists of All Time , as voted on by their listeners, on October 9, 2006. It all ended this evening at 7 PM. You can see the station's final vote tally here . The list was extremely diverse and included Mozart, Beethoven, Yo-Yo Ma, Eminem, Outkast, Jay Z, The Monkees, Abba, John Denver, The Clash, The Sex Pistols, Benny Goodman, Dave Brubeck, George Gershwin, Neil Diamond, Frank Sinatra, Bobby Darin, Weird Al Yankovic, Def Leppard, Guns 'N Roses, Judy Garland, John Phillip Sousa, Dolly Parton and Marvin Gaye, to name more than a few, as well as all of classic rock's heavy hitters. The list offered lots of surprises including more than a few arists who I never heard of finishing in surprisingly high places on the countdown. For instance, who is Neutral Milk Hotel and why did they finish at #332? The countdown took fifteen days to complete. The station played one song for each artist starting with number 885 through 501. Then fr...

The Saw Doctors played World Café Live in Philadelphia last night to a loyal crowd who cheered their every note. The veteran band, featuring founding members Davy Carton (lead vocals and guitar) and Leo Moran (lead guitar and additional lead vocals), is another fixture in a long line of irreverent Irish rockers. However there is a big difference between the Saw Doctors and bands like Black 47 and U2. Carton and Moran direct most of their frequent barbs at the Roman Catholic Church in lieu of the events and individuals resposible for Ireland's tumultuous and often sad political history that the other two bands prefer. There is nothing like "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "New Year’s Day" (U2) or "Bobby Sands MP" and "James Connelly" (Black 47) in their repertoire. The Doctors are not a jam band in the least. Their songs are all compact, and to the point. They played almost thirty songs in just a little less than two hours. Both Moran and Carto...

What a pleasure it is to listen to Mad Dog Sessions , folk-rocker Phil Cody’s third CD recorded in 1996, mixed and mastered in 2002, and released on Tiny Head Records to a world that should demand this music be played in heavy rotation on every adult alternative and college radio station in America. While not blessed with the greatest set of pipes, Cody’s voice nevertheless fits in nicely with his songs and his singing should offend no one. The band functions mostly as an ensemble but there are a few notable solos throughout and everyone playing on the sessions turns in a professional job. Standout performances include Duncan Aldrich’s sax solo on “I Am A Thief” and lots of electric organ and piano by Rami Jaffe, keyboard player for The Wallflowers. Cody wrote seventeen of the twenty songs on this album. The disc was culled down from a total of 34 songs he and the band recorded over a three-day period. Clocking in at 71:50, a CD of this length would qualify as a double album in th...