Bloggerhythms

Roger Ebert memorably described One From The Heart , Francis Ford Coppola's 1982 flop  as “a major disappointment" saying the  director had released “an interesting production but not a good movie."  In addition, a ccording to Wikipedia , the film was "a colossal critical and commercial flop." I've never seen it so I'll just have to take everyone's word that the movie deserved its fate.  Fortunately, the same can not be said about the accompanying soundtrack album that was entirely written and performed by Tom Waits and featured Crystal Gayle as his guest vocalist. He invited the country star to sing on the soundtrack after his first choice, Bette Midler, was unable to participate due to scheduling conflicts. After Midler declined Waits' offer, he heard Gayle sing "Cry Me A River" on the radio, and the job was hers. My copy of the album is on an old bootlegged, twelve-song cassette that I just transferred to CD using my home stereo ...

Electric Light Orchestra has been both praised and ridiculed for displaying their Beatles influences proudly, but before they became a slick, hitmaking machine in the late 70s they were a semi-pretentious, prog-rock outfit. The large band gradually transitioned into a hitmaking, pop-rock machine that could get downright funky when they wanted to, and they proved it with a single that - unfortunately - climbed no higher than #53.  "Showdown," ELO's most famous song from their 1973 LP,  On the Third Day,  featured a clavinet played by member Richard Tandy that is so enticing it could have been performed by Stevie Wonder who helped make the instrument famous. Listen to this record - and the Motown star's fantastic, "Superstition," from a year earlier - to hear what this keyboard can add to a song. Tandy's clavinet work provided a groove so cool that it even made ELO's signature string section sound hip and earthy. Unfortunately, the clavinet - an instru...

My Darling Clementine are Michael Weston King and Lou Dalgleish, a married couple sometimes compared to George Jones and Tammy Wynette - and the even more famous couple of Johnny Cash and June Carter. Because the duo is from Birmingham, England instead of the American South they don't sound like any of those aforementioned country legends, but they perform with the same spirit.   In 2019 and 2020 My Darling Clementine recorded twelve Elvis Costello songs that possess a country flare with help from Steve Nieve, keyboard player for both The Attractions and The Imposters, two of the English star's supporting groups.  Country Darkness was originally released as three, four-song EPs, but in November 2020 they were all packaged together onto one full length album. There is also one bonus track, "Powerless," an original written with Costello in mind. The Coronavirus caused those releases to get lost in the morass along with a myriad of worthy recordings by other artists. F...

This is the second of a two part series in which former Philadelphia radio personality "Harvey in the Morning" generously gave to Bloggerhythms.  In this final installment you'll find more about Harvey's radio career and his time working for Nickelodeon. You'll also learn his thoughts on some of the celebrities he met along the way and what music he listens to. Finally, he discusses both of his current gigs: the rewards of running his own handyman business and his work as a record producer at his home studio.  To fully appreciate the Philadelphia legend's story you may want to read  part 1  first.      CR:    Who are the favorite celebrities you've met during your career? Harvey:    Another interesting topic. I know in the early days of my IOQ show from 1977 on, my heroes were all musicians, and as I met them I was pretty universally disappointed and bummed out afterward. They were all kinds of self-absorbed, entitled assholes who t...

John "Harvey in the Morning" Unusually, the article posted here today is the first of two with a specific audience in mind. They're aimed at fans of John "Harvey in the Morning," a very popular Philadelphia disc jockey who had successful morning drive radio shows on two different FM stations during the 70s, 80s and 90s. Younger people may also be interested in reading about the man who later became "Harvey the Announcer" on Nickelodeon's Double Dare. Harvey agreed to participate in an email question and answer session with Bloggerhythms, but before he responded to my inquiries the former star and current entrepreneur told me that his answers would be on the verbose side. He easily kept that promise by sending me an eleven page Microsoft Word document that offered so much detail that I knew the interview had to be good. This post is very long, but if you were a Harvey fan - or are interested in the business side of the TV and radio industries - you...

Bash! is a great CD by Squeeze, Marshall Crenshaw, Rockpile, Paul McCartney and Nick Lowe. I know your ears have perked up considerably at that statement and I can hear you asking, "What! How could all of these artists appear together on one CD?" Well the answer is easy. They are all performing here under the stage name of Billy Bremner! OK, now let’s get serious. Scottish rock guitarist, singer and composer, Bremner has played with a lot of these folks and their influence on his music is so great that at times he can pass as any one of these rockers' clones. Bash! was originally released in 1984 and was one of the great lost albums of the decade. It was released again in June 2001 with five bonus tracks. All are singles Bremner released around the same time. First, for the uninitiated, and there are a lot of you, let us start with Bremner’s pedigreed rock and roll family tree. He is a thoroughbred through and through. He played with both Nick Lowe and Dave Edmun...