16.03.10 Tuesday Night Diner Show #15: Daylight Savings Time 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!
Chef Mike
mike(at)rechargedradio.com
MN2BDNC
