30.03.10 Tuesday Night Diner - 'Groovy Man'

Just as spring had arrived here in Northern California, and I got used to wearing shorts, old man winter (at least our suntanned, ponytailed, healthy-looking Californian version of him) returned this week with a vengeance. Wow, man what a head trip!

Speaking of head trips, and that old `60`s lingo, we`ve got some groovy late 1960`s-early 1970`s type vibes going on this week.

You know, the best beach music doesn`t always come from California. The Ventures, who did the old Hawaii 5-0 theme song, hailed from the Pacific Northwest—Washington State. I`ve heard bands from New York and North Carolina do some pretty good surf music. And so it goes—Laurie Biagini, a modern day Beach Girl, comes from Vancouver, Canada (where if memory serves, the Winter Olympics were held just a month or so ago).

Laurie`s honey-like voice and sunshiny songs always make me think of Karen Carpenter fronting the Beach Boys. And she recently released her second album, “A Far-Out Place”. We`ll hear a track from that album, which builds on her songwriting and arranging skills established in her 2008 debut, “Ridin` The Wave”.
http://www.myspace.com/lauriebiaginimusic

There was another side to the `60`s. A deeper, mystical, enlightened side called psychedelia. And a couple of new CD`s came my way which explore this phenomena.

Todd Dillingham is a legendary musician, who is heavily influenced by the psychedelic side of the Beatles, as well as many other trippier artists. He himself goes deep into this freaky, magical world with his recent album “Whitebeard`s Trip”. On a couple of the stranger tracks, he connects psychedelia with industrial—an interesting, experimental marriage. But Todd never gets too far from glistening pop, and there are a few gems in this genre. And not only that, but he recruited the aforementioned Laurie Biagini to play brief harpsichord interludes between some of his tracks—sort of a palate cleanser, if you will. We`ll hear an example of each.
http://www.myspace.com/todddillingham

Finally, the album we`ve all been waiting for. Rick Hromadka, the leader of the Los Angeles-based band Maple Mars, just released (and sent to me) Galaxyland. This one is so new to me, it`s barely been unwrapped. The songs I`ve heard so far remind me more of the early- to mid-1970`s solo John Lennon strain of psychedelia. Very accessible, and with something to say. We`ll debut a Maple Mars track on this week`s show.
http://www.myspace.com/maplemars
Well, that`s about all, except for a quick reminder that you need to get your votes in NOW for the Recharged Radio awards. Polls close on March 31st, and the show is on April 15th in London (a scary day for those of us in the U.S.). Just follow the link on the upper right-hand corner of the home page of www.rechargedradio.com, and vote for your favorites. Only takes a minute, and you`ll help decide who gets awards!

If you`d like to make a request, just drop me a line at mike(at)rechargedradio.com. If you`d like to become an honorary California citizen, drop me a line at the same address. And if you`d like to hear all this great music—simply tune in to the Tuesday Night Diner, Tuesday night, 8:00-10:00 p.m. (GMT), only at Recharged Radio—www.rechargedradio.com.

See you then!

Chef Mike

Maple Mars - Big Imagination

Beth Thornley - There's No Way

Chad Neaves - Wonderful Day

Dirty Amps - Fingertips

Kat Jones - The Night Is A Veil

Mad Tea Party - I Never Was A Cool One

Rob Bonfiglio - Nothing Will Hold You Down

Field - Saturday Soldier

Anton Barbeau - Bending Like a Spoon

June & The Exit Wounds - How Much I Really Loved you

Maxi Dunn - How Was I To Know?

Goodfinger - Radio Perfecto

The Complete Short Stories - One Blank Channel

The Taters - Wolfman Told Me Tonight

Laurie Biagini - Happiness Looks Good on You

Terese Taylor - I'm Here

Michael Miller - I Made You Up

Nushu - Another Rainy Weekend

50ft Woman - Ice Cream Man

Jimmy Catlett - Ransom

The Corner Laughers - Thunderbird

Todd Dillingham/Laurie Biagini - Lobsteresque

Todd Dillingham - Crimson Spires

Heiskell - The Chubby Guy Song

Raistalla - Tonight

Little Guilt Shrine - Exit Flagger

Maneatlikepig - Kiss Me Baby

Mark Bacino - Happy

The Pilgrims - War Hero

Joey Oskys - Better Days

The Small Change - Nothin' 2 Say

Hail The Size - Hot Mom

23.03.10 Tuesday Night Diner - 'Spring Has Sprung'

Spring has officially arrived here in California. Actually, it`s arrived everywhere, according to the calendar. But here in the Sacramento Valley, spring has certain implications. Implication #1: Stock up on generic Claritin. Allergy season is here, and they say that if you`ve never had allergies before, you will here. Implication #2: The trees. They`re in bloom. One of our favorite local sayings here is that Sacramento has more trees per capita than Paris. Paris! That`s okay, but is Paris known for its trees? I mean, we probably also have more people calling each other “dude” per capita than Paris, but that doesn`t get much play around here. And Implication #3: Well, I don`t really have one. It`s just that when you write essays of this nature, you`re always supposed to make your points in threes.

But it is Spring, as of March 20th, and as I groused about last week, we are fully in the throes of Daylight Savings Time—which still hasn`t yet happened in the UK. So for one more show (this one), we`ll be on in the US from 1:00-3:00 p.m. Pacific. But enough about the spring. How about some great music?

Jimmy Catlett is one of those unsung heroes of American music. But I`m here to sing his praises. He hails from Richmond, Virginia, and he has a classic sound, without being classic rock. Heck, his influences range from Beethoven to Billie Holiday to Bill Monroe to Iggy Pop to Chrissie Hynde to Frank Sinatra to X. Wow! I`m not saying that every one of his songs sounds like Beethoven`s 9th meets the Pretenders. In fact, I`m not saying that even one of his songs sounds like that. But he`s such a great singer-songwriter-guitarist, and I`m pretty sure that his brand of indie-Americana is going to move you.

http://www.myspace.com/jimmycatlett

Another noteworthy artist--Pete Hackett has a band called Cult of Wedge. Pete is known as the “Mad Genius of Rowley Regis” (Midlands, UK) for his inventive production skills. He`s responsible for a lot of the great sounds on Maxi Dunn`s “Welcome to Soonville” release. He`s a renowned guitarist in his own right—and he`ll be part of Maxi`s band at the IPO Liverpool (International Pop Overthrow festival) in May. Here, this rather talented, but unassuming man steps into the spotlight with a pretty infectious track. In his own words, C.O.W. sounds like: “A bit like a car crash involving members of - E.L.O, Genesis, Human League, Kraftwerk, Motorhead and Yes. With John Shaft and Starsky and Hutch being the first on the scene, with Beck and Air driving the ambulances!

http://www.myspace.com/cultofwedge

There`s going to be so much more great music on this week`s show—it`s jam packed with 32 great indie tracks!

If you`d like to make a request, just drop me a line at mike(at)rechargedradio.com. If you`d like to become an honorary California citizen, drop me a line at the same address. And if you`d like to hear all this great music—simply tune in to the Tuesday Night Diner, Tuesday night, 8:00-10:00 p.m. (GMT), only at Recharged Radio—www.rechargedradio.com.

See you then!

Chef Mike

--------------------------

Playlist

 Tom Alford - Shiloh

The Small Change - Droppin' Petals On The Way Down

Mad Tea Party - Big Noise From Krekel

Onward Chariots - Seven Miles Away

Handcuffs - Resurrection

Fake Teak – Solid State

The Taters - Spend a Little Time With Me

Buzz Radio - So Sad About Us

Soundserif - John Titor

Field - Girls Will Love Your Lips

Cy Taggart - Cut It Out

The Strats - Some One To Love

Corner Laughers - You Two Are The Ones

Perry Michael Allen - Black Widow

Beth Thornley - A to Z

Mark Bacino - Muffin In The Oven

Rich McCulley - Just a Few Miles To Go

Life In Film - Get Closer

Cult of Wedge - Uprising

Go National - Begin, Begin, Begin

Thinking For Tuesday - Girl In The Red Dress Too

Rob Swanson - Pony Girl

Chad Neaves - Something In My Soul

Maxi Dunn - Will You Forgive Me?

The Complete Short Stories - One Blank Channel

Laurie Biagini - Crazy People on the internet

Michael Miller - Carolina Skyline

Little Guilt Shrine - What I'm Thinking

Jimmy Catlett - The Big Beat

Boomchick - Operation Imperialism

Joseph Swidenbank - Avalanche

The Ks - 13 Steps

16.03.10 Tuesday Night Diner - 'Daylight Savings Edition!

Ahh, those halcyon days of summer—mowing and weeding the yard, blue sunny skies, and staying light until late at night. A wonderful way to spend a July or August evening. But wait—it`s mid-March. What just happened?

Here in the U.S., politics is everything. It used to be that we`d switch over to Daylight Savings Time in mid-April, in an effort to save energy, and well, you know, daylight. But over the past few decades, to curry favor with voters, politicians kept lengthening the months of Daylight Savings Time, until the current configuration was reached—nearly 8 months of Daylight Savings, and only 4 months of what used to be known as “Standard Time”. (Note to people who name stuff: if it`s not the normal occurrence, then perhaps you shouldn`t call it “standard” anymore.) But who is this constituency of voters trying to be won over? Insomniacs? Politicians—beware. If you pander to one constituency, you`re probably alienating another. And in this case, the other group is us early risers. Yes, my 5:15 a.m. wake up call today felt more like 4:15 a.m. Ouch! However, I have to admit, I wasn`t complaining too much when I got home from work, and put on a T-shirt, shorts, and sneakers—looking very much like the picture of my feet on the Team page of the Recharged Radio website (http://www.rechargedradio.com/text/team.html).

The reason I`m ranting, is to tell you this—my good friends in the UK are wise enough to at least wait UNTIL SPRING before setting the clocks ahead. That means that for the next two weeks—if you`re a U.S. listener, my Tuesday Night Diner show will air at 1:00 p.m. Pacific rather than noon. The UK time remains the same, 8:00-10:00 p.m. GMT.

Okay, that`s more than enough about me. Here`s the fun part—the name dropping of worthy musicians.

What do you think of when you hear the term “Memphis Soul?” Stax Records? Check. Al Green? Check. The Memphis Horns? Check.

My friend Michael Allen, simply known as Allen, cut his teeth in that scene. He worked with Al Green, writing three of his hits. He`s arranged and recorded Albert King, Wilson Pickett, Anita Ward, and many other A-List musicians, while working for both Stax and Hi Records. He now lives in Italy, and is at the forefront of the Soul movement in Europe. We`ll hear a track of his that seamlessly blends the sounds of Memphis and Latin America. I can`t wait for you to hear this song—but he`s one of the nicest guys you`ll ever want to meet.

http://www.myspace.com/perrymichaelallen

Great Americana music can come from anywhere, but surprisingly, one of its` strongholds has always been Los Angeles. Maybe that`s not so surprising—bands like The Blasters, Los Lobos, and Lone Justice were incubated here. And one of my favorite new bands is Hail The Size, featuring Matt North and Charles Ezell, and their friend Maria McKee—that`s right, the legendary vocalist of the aforementioned Lone Justice. These guys combine humor, both dark and light, along with some seriously meaty roots chops and catchy melodies. And just when you thought it couldn`t get any better, they deploy Maria as their secret weapon—her gritty vocals grace three tracks, including the one we`re going to hear on this show. She also stuck around to add piano parts to several tracks as well.

http://www.myspace.com/hailthesize

The Corner Laughers, a San Francisco band I recently interviewed on the show, are now making the world of commerce safe for us music lovers. One of their tracks, “Inner Archaeologist”, was selected to be played daily in over 950 American Eagle Outfitters stores across America for an entire month, starting March 15th. So if you go clothes shopping in the mall and you hear a bright female voice fronting a ukulele-driven band, you`ve now entered the secret world of the Corner Laughers. Congratulations—you are now cooler than the kids shopping in those other stores! We`ll hear another track off of their Ultraviolet Garden release.

http://www.myspace.com/cornerlaughers

As you can see, it`s gonna be a pretty big show!

If you`d like to make a request, just drop me a line at mike(at)rechargedradio.com. If you`d like to become an honorary California citizen, drop me a line at the same address. And if you`d like to hear all this great music—simply tune in to the Tuesday Night Diner, Tuesday night, 8:00-10:00 p.m. (GMT), only at Recharged Radio—www.rechargedradio.com.

See you then!

Playlist

Splitsville - The Kids Who Kill For Sugar
Allen - Hold Me Tight
Karim Fanous - Easy Come, Easy Go
Allyson Seconds - Dig My Pig
The Complete Short Stories - One Blank Channel
Charlie Cheney - She's Made For Sunshine
Jointpop - Please Don't Tell My Inlaws...I'm An Outlaw
K. C. Bowman - Mare Island
Mark Bacino - Queens English
50ft Woman - Ultra Violet
Kaz Murphy - Below The Skin
Dirty Amps - Fingertips
Onward Chariots - War Hero
The Scratch - Teen Idol
Katelyn Berreth - Dandelion Song
Joey Oskys - Better Days
Maxi Dunn - Always Be My Friend
Anton Barbeau - I Used to Say Your Name
The Taters - Such A Good Day
Field - I'm the Enforcer
Mad Tea Party - Blues Slip In
Natasha Davies - Giggle
Rich McCulley - The Last Song
Jimmy Catlett - That River
Laurie Biagini - A Far-Out Place
Hail The Size - Drift Away
Beau and The Arrows - Fix
Handcuffs - Baby Boombox
Buzz Radio - Don't You Make A Fool Out Of Me
Beth Thornley - You're So Pony
Dom Veron - Let Me Be
Joseph Swidenbank - Coming Up For Air
The Corner Laughers - Shrine Of The Martyred Saint

09.03.10 Tuesday Night Diner - 'Giving Away Stuff'

Yes indeed, people do like free stuff, don`t they? And on this week`s Tuesday Night Diner, there will be an opportunity to win free stuff! Listen for the special promo, and do what the nice man says, and there could be a CD in your future!

Enough said about that. There`s also the usual selection of fine music—which incidentally, we also don`t charge for as well. Here`s a roundup of the highlights.

I`ve got a sneak preview off of NYC singer/songwriter Mark Bacino`s forthcoming release “Queens English”. Release date is set for May 18th—so you`ve got over two months to save up your allowance money for this one—and trust me, you`re gonna want it. Intelligent songwriting and upbeat, poppy arrangements. The Great American Songbook. Imagine Randy Newman meets the Raspberries in Queens, New York, and you`re close. There`s touches of ragtime, power pop, and grown up pop with actual strings. All in one album, and most of the perfect pop gems clock in at three minutes or less.

www.markbacino.com


The world famous Whisky A Go Go. Sunset Strip, Hollywood, California. It`s on the short list of clubs around the world where rock careers are made. The only clubs that are arguably as recognizable by name would be the Cavern Club in Liverpool, CBGB in New York, and of course, Bob`s Country Bunker in the Blues Brothers Movie. (I kid, I kid!)

Laurie Larson, who`s been a great friend of my radio shows over the past few years, will be headlining at the Whisky A Go Go this Wednesday night. This is her second headlining stint in the last couple of months. She`s in pretty good company—other headliners at this renowned venue have included The Doors, Janis Joplin, and Led Zeppelin. And now Laurie. If you`re in Los Angeles Wednesday night, drop by—her show starts at 7:45 p.m. To celebrate, we`ll be playing my favorite song of hers on this week`s Tuesday Night Diner.

www.whiskyagogo.com
www.laurielarson.com

Maxi Dunn has graced my radio shows for nearly a year now. Her Welcome To Soonville release was one of my Top 5 albums last year. There`s a magnificent song which caps off the album—in fact, it`s the title track. If you listen to this broad, sweeping piece, you`ll think of mysteries, James Bond, ocean waves crashing on a stormy day, and a lady who you`d better not mess around with. In fact, there`s a rule I`ve made up just for Welcome To Soonville: this dramatic song must always appear at the end of a set of music. Period. Nothing after it. Maxi and Pete Hackett collaborated on this masterpiece, and it deserves your attention.

www.maxidunn.info

Are you in the mood for Tuesday Night Diner? I hope so. I certainly am.

If you`d like to make a request, just drop me a line at mike(at)rechargedradio.com. If you`d like to become an honorary California citizen, drop me a line at the same address. And if you`d like to hear all this great music—simply tune in to the Tuesday Night Diner, Tuesday night, 8:00-10:00 p.m. (GMT), only at Recharged Radio—www.rechargedradio.com.


Playlist

Sarah Stanley – Not Gonna Leave
Mark Bacino - Happy
Michael Miller - I Made You Up
Little Guilt Shrine - One Two
Beau and The Arrows - Fix
Kama Linden - Better Late Than Never
Baby Scream - Away
Mad Tea Party - Everyway
Rich McCulley - Tell Me, I'm Listening
Soundserif - King Of The Night
Laurie Larson - Endless Thank You Loop
Terese Taylor - I'm Here
Maxi Dunn - Welcome To Soonville
Beth Thornley - There's No Way
Field - I'm the Enforcer
Karim Fanous - Perfume
The Corner Laughers - Stonewords
Buzzradio - One Too Many
The Taters - Wolfman Told Me Tonight
Joey Oskys - Within
Tom Alford - Wasp Lands On Sunflower
Dirty Amps - Fingertips
Kaz Murphy - Midnight Fire
Allyson Seconds - Tie My Laces
Imani Hekima - Nothing's What It Seems
Laurie Biagini - Gonna Do It My Way
Anton Barbeau - Plastic Guitar
Handcuffs - Wonderful Life
Kat Jones - Those Expensive Eyes
Chancellorpink - Muster
Hail The Size - Booze, Pills, & Her


Thanks


Chef Mike
mike(at)rechargedradio.com
MN2BDNC

02.03.10 Tuesday Night Diner - 'Lucky Show #13'

Oooh—this week`s Tuesday Night Diner is our 13th show! I know that some people are superstitious, but there`s no escaping #13. It`s not like some of those buildings whose elevators go from the 12th floor to the 14th floor. That doesn`t really get rid of the 13th floor. It just means that now the 14th floor is really the 13th, and so on.

Well, here on Tuesday Night Diner, we`re going to face it head on with some absolutely great music. In fact, we`re using a clever ploy to reverse our fortunes—we`re going to reverse the number 13 and give you 31 songs this week! That`s right—due to a fortuitous combination of some short songs, and me not running my mouth too much, we`re squeezing in a record number of songs. An excellent presenter to song ratio, for all you music fans!

We`re leading off the show with a bang—Tom Alford, or as we Northern California music fans like to call him, Tommy Alford! Here`s a guy who plays old school jangly music with the understanding that alternative music changed everything. Make sense? No? Well, better get here on time (8:00 p.m. GMT) to see what that means.

We`ll also hear some brand new music from Liverpool band Buzzradio—a real rockin` tune that just crackles out of your speakers. Some achingly beautiful music from June and the Exit Wounds—a seriously underrated band from Champaign, Illinois who didn`t get enough airplay a decade ago, so I`m working feverishly to correct that now. Think Brian Wilson meets 3:00 a.m. insomnia, and you`ve got the track I`ve picked out for you. And last week, a chatroom listener was kind enough to make a request for a song I`d never heard before by Life in Film. This track blew me away, and will be on the show.

If you`d like to make a request, just drop me a line at mike(at)rechargedradio.com. If you`d like to become an honorary California citizen, drop me a line at the same address. And if you`d like to hear all this great music—simply listen to this weeks Tuesday Night Diner.

Tom Alford - Look To The Stars

Karim Fanous - Thin Bits

Rob Bonfiglio - Blow Me Away

Allyson Seconds - Bag Of Kittens

Michael Miller - Carolina Skyline

Joseph Swidenbank - Coming Up For Air

Maxi Dunn - How Was I To Know

Buzz Radio - So Sad About Us

Mad Tea Party - I Never Was A Cool One

Dave Stephens - I've Woken Up

June & The Exit Wounds - Idly By

Field - Saturday Soldier

Jimmy Catlett - 3.0

Beth Thornley - A to Z

Thinking For Tuesday - Falling

Skip Heller - I Used To Love California

Life In Film - Get Closer

Chariots of Tuna - War Hero

Laurie Biagini - Bambuzled

Zalinski - Alive (Live)

Kat Jones - Elliot

Rich McCulley - Just a Few Miles To Go

Handcuffs - Half A Mind

The Taters - That's Me

Hail The Size - Hot Mom

Anton Barbeau - Bending Like a Spoon

Splitsville - Pretty People

Heiskell - The Chubby Guy Song

Sparklejet - The Comeback

Kaz Murphy - Hardly Think About That

Jesus H Christ & The Four Hornsmen of The Apocalypse - Liz the Hot Receptionist