Podcast 30!!!

Sorry for the long absence. I've been incredibly busy so I haven't had a lot of time for posting. But today, I am posting! And not just any old post, but the 30th Podcast! I can't believe I'm on Podcast #30. This one, if I dare say, is awesome! Starting off with one of my favorite songs sung by my good friend, Leon Dewain, followed by a wide variety of clips from Tears For Fears, Mark Pender, Flickerstick, Talking Heads, Winterpills, the Flintstones, Wild Man Fisher, Van Halen, Screaming Jay Hawkins, Flock of Seagulls and much, much more! Great listening material for home, office, car, bus, train or anywhere! Here is Podcast 30. Enjoy!

Dartman's Wacky Podcast #30

Dartman's Advent Calendar 2011: Day 18

After viewing those home movies from the 70s yesterday, I think it's time for some bubble gum. You can find some behind today's flap. Enjoy!

Advent Calendar 2011 Day 18

Dartman's Advent Calendar 2011: Day 1

Welcome to this year's edition of Dartman's Advent Calendar! This whole month I'll be posting some great holiday content with a new window being opened every day. To keep the element of surprise, I'm just going to post the link and have you be surprised by what you get! Here's our first download of the season! Enjoy!

Advent Calendar 2011 Day 1

Judy Brings Out The Stars For The Men In Uniform

It's no secret that I love Judy Garland. I love her the same way that I love Elvis. I think her voice is amazing and her behavior even more so. There is no denying that classic voice and even though "Under The Rainbow" is a great song no matter who does it, Judy always did it best. During 1944 and 1945, Judy appeared on many Armed Forces Radio Services broadcasts entitled "Mail "Call" and "Command Performance". These were usually transcribed onto "V-Discs" and sent overseas to be played on the radio for servicemen everywhere. In the 90s, Laserlight put out a CD compilation of these entitled "Mail Call". The first half of the album features a show from May 17, 1944 and features Bing Crosby, Jimmy Durante and Arthur Treacher. The second half of the album is from a June 3, 1944 broadcast of "Command Performance" that features Bing, Bob Hope and Frank Sinatra. Together they make a great compilation that I share with you today! Here is that great album. Enjoy!

Judy Garland - Mail Call

Podcast 18!!!!

Here is the latest podcast. It's entitled, "The Wolfman Jack Special". This is due to the fact that I have had the musical moments of the podcast finished and in the computer for about two or three months. I just haven't found the time to put together my little "DJ" parts into the mix. I solved the problem by not having those moments at all. Instead, I threw in some clips of the late, great Wolfman Jack to give it that great radio feel. You can hear the Wolfman in between some great songs by David Brookings, Freddy & The Dreamers, Mojo Nixon, Elvis, The Maggies, Hank III, Mrs. Miller, Chuck Berry, , Naked City, Billy Squier, Micky Dolenz and so much more. There's a special "LIVE IN CONCERT" section as well. I hope you enjoy it!

Dartman's Wacky Podcast #18

PS - Special thanks to Tom who supplied me with all of my past podcasts that were taken down from Rapidshare. I'll be reposting those soon for those of you who haven't heard them. Thanks!

Bobby Wheeler RIP

In case you haven't heard, Jeff Conaway passed away last week. The last half of his life was pretty sad with his descent into drug addiction and depression. I always loved him in TAXI and I loved the fact that he played the part of a struggling actor trying to get on Broadway. Of course, in real life he had success on the great white way before he even graduated from college. He landed a gig as the understudy for several roles in the 50s rock musical, Grease (including Danny Zuko, the lead). He eventually replaced Barry Bostwick as the lead and starred in the show as Danny for 2 1/2 years while his friend John Travolta played Doody. By the time the film version came about, there was no denying Travolta the lead since he was one of the biggest stars in the world at the time but (as we all know) Conaway was given the role of Kenickie. Of course, then came TAXI and the rest is history.
In 1979, at the height of his popularity, Jeff Conaway released a self titled album. What amazes me about this album is the fact that the person singing is a well respected singer from the Broadway stage but you would never know it by listening to this. In every song, he uses a brash, throaty sound that makes him sound like he can't sing at all. It's quite sad really. But in any event, I present it for you as my special tribute to his memory. Here is "Jeff Conaway". Enjoy!

Jeff Conaway

A Singing Couple's Work is Never Done

When I was a kid, my sister was the big Sonny and Cher fan. As I grew older I learned to love Sonny and Cher but most of that was on my own. I remember that my sister owned two Sonny and Cher recordings. She had the Live in Las Vegas album and a cassette that was, to me, the coolest looking tape ever made. It had a sort of a rainbow design on the tape itself. As I got older and got into their music more, I always remembered that tape. In the late 90s I found it in a box of old stuff at my parent's house and gave it a listen. It was pretty beat up and wore out but all of a sudden the memories came flowing back and songs that once permeated my childhood home were back in my head. The tape didn't make it to another play and it wasn't until about three or four years ago that I replaced it with an original vinyl copy of the album. It went up on the shelf and stayed there until about a week or so ago when I placed it on the turntable. The condition of the vinyl was about 1000 times better than that old tape that I found and it was like I was listening to it for the first time. I fell in love with it all over again. And the cover art is pretty darn cool as well. It depicts the couple in their greenhouse surrounded by empty road cases and a few flower pots. Basically, it's a picture of a pop duo who are married and letting us in on the fact that they are so busy entertaining you that they don't even have time to plant anything in their greenhouse. It was a brand new decade (the album was released in 1972) and the addition of a new producer (the legendary Tommy "Snuff" Garrett) and a new label seemed to give the couple a new license to remake their image into a harder edge. I like it. Judge for yourself when you take a listen to "All I Ever Need Is You". Enjoy!

Sonny & Cher - All I Ever Need Is You

The King Takes Over Stax

In July of 1973, Elvis and his entourage entered the famed Stax Studios in his hometown of Memphis and proceeded to record. However, it would take a while to get the recording done. It all started on a Monday night. The first thing Elvis requested was that nothing happen until the end of Monday Night Football, a Monday night tradition he shared with the Memphis Mafia. When it was discovered that there were no televisions big enough for everyone to view it on, someone was sent out to buy the biggest tv they could find to watch the game on. When the "viewing party" was over, that's when the guys entered the studio only to be paused again when Elvis declared that the lights were too bright and needed to be changed to softer, colored bulbs. When that was done, the band and Elvis realized that the colored bulbs made it too dark to read the charts so the original bulbs were replaced. Then, and only then, did the recording session convene. An interesting fact about the recordings done at Stax: while the songs were recorded at the Stax studio, the actual recording equipment was the RCA Mobile Recording unit which was in a truck parked in the parking lot of the studio. Among the great tracks recorded at Stax are "Talking About The Good Times" and the classic version of Chuck Berry's "Promised Land". Here are a bunch of out takes from those sessions. Here is "Good Times In The Promised Land". Enjoy!

Elvis Presley- Good Times In The Promised Land

The Lost Member of The A-Team

I just recently started re-watching season one of the A-Team (one of my all time favs) and realized that I had a celebrity album on deck for quite some time. The reason I thought of it was the connection to the famed television series. You see, at the end of the fourth season of the A-Team, the powers that be thought that adding a new member to the team would boost ratings (yep, the cousin Oliver scenario!). The final episode featured the lovely Tia Carrere being added to the team. However, when the show returned for it's fifth and final (and worst) season, there was no Tia and no explanation as to her whereabouts. The first episode of the fifth season is pretty cool but from there it goes downhill. One can only wonder what might have been if Tia had been kept on.(truth be told, Tia was a cast member on General Hospital and they wouldn't relieve her of her contract to work on The A-Team) Anyway, Tia has shown up in a lot of places since then, from acting in films like True Lies, Wayne's World, High School High, Harley Davidson and The Marlboro Man and Lilo & Stitch to working in numerous television shows, most recently in the great HBO series, Curb Your Enthusiasm. In addition, she has a very prosperous singing career. In 1993, her first solo album, Dream, was released, and went platinum in the Philippines. That same year, she was featured on the soundtrack of Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, performing the ending theme, "I Never Even Told You". She won a Grammy Award in 2009 for her third album 'Ikena, and took home yet another one in 2011 for her album "Huana Ke Aloha." Not bad for a girl who was kicked off of "Star Search" on her first appearance! Here is her debut album from 1993. Here is Tia Carrere and Dream. Enjoy!

Tia Carrere-Dream

The Film Where Dan Aykroyd Fell In Love

If you are wracking your brain trying to figure out which movie this happens in you can stop. I'm talking about the real Dan Aykroyd falling in love while working on a film. As most of us know, Aykroyd is married to Donna Dixon. Judging from the picture on the left, she's still quite attractive but during the early 80s she was SMOKING HOT!!!!!! In a tale told a thousand times in the world of Hollywood films, the two unlikely lovers met on the set of a film that they were both working on. She was playing a hooker and he was playing the cliched "Nutty Professor" type who eventually becomes her pimp. If you haven't guessed it by now, I'm talking about "Doctor Detroit". I haven't seen this film in at least a decade but as a pre-pubescent I loved it! I watched it nearly every time it was on HBO and back then, HBO used to play the same movies at least 3 times in one day. Dan Aykroyd was a comedy king at that time and I truly believe that film companies just gave him carte blanche to do what he wanted. Until this movie hit theaters and bombed miserably. That may explain why, at the end of the film, there is a promise of "Doctor Detroit II: The Wrath of Mom". Aykroyd had been working on the script and had a go ahead to do the film. Then the box office returns came in and Universal pulled the plug. One thing that stuck out in the film, at least to me, was the music. It was quite the combination of genres that included new wave, soul and 80s pop. The new wave came courtesy of DEVO and the soul came courtesy of the mighty, James Brown, who also had a cameo in the film. Some of the 80s pop featured the star and writer of the film himself. Though not even close to what he musically pulled off with the Blues Brothers, Aykroyd's tracks aren't that bad (with the exception being a rap attempt where he is in character - that's just plain awful). Anyway, here is the soundtrack from that early 80s bit of cinema. Here is "Doctor Detroit". Enjoy!

Doctor Detroit OST

One last note: An interesting fact that connects this film to the classic Blues Brothers is an Illinois license plate on Dan Aykroyd's car. It reads BDR-529. This is the same plate that was on the Bluesmobile in The Blues Brothers

Ann Margaret Grows Up

On April 9, 1962, at the annual Academy Awards ceremony, a 20-year-old Ann-Margaret earned a standing ovation for her performance of the title song to the Bob Hope film, "Bachelor in Paradise". However, it would take RCA Records a whole year to release that song. The Ann-Margret of Bachelors' Paradise was very different from the one who had hit the Top 20 with the bluesy "I Just Don't Understand" less than two years earlier. This was a nightclub chanteuse working with an orchestra and performing a bunch of pop standards written by the likes of Rodgers & Hart and Stephen Sondheim. A more mature, debonair sounding Ann Margaret. It suited her well but this image was not too last. Her next project: "Bye Bye Birdie". Oh well. Here is that great album from 1963. Here is Ann Margaret with "Bachelor's Paradise".

Ann Margaret - Bachelor's Paradise

Country and Rock & Roll: A Winning Combination

I happened to pop a Donny and Marie album onto my turntable today and was surprised to find it wasn't all that bad. Cheesy yes, bad - no. It was a later album that the brother and sister duo put out in the late seventies (1978 to be exact) when their TV show was in full swing. It was called, simply, "A Winning Combination". Both alluding to the fact that the combination of their talents paid off and the fact that they were winning the ratings wars for a variety show in prime time. I'm sure it had nothing to do with the combination of jeans and thigh high boots being worn by Donny on the cover. Decide for yourself if this is a "Winning Combination". Enjoy!

Donny & Marie - A Winning Combination

Dartman's Advent Calendar 2010: Day 21

Today we get to hear one of the smoothest Christmas innuendos ever put on wax. It's a record that is featured prominently in my juke box at home. It's by a band called The Lancers. In 1954 they released this classic holiday track that was also covered by Lawrence Welk and his Orchestra. It's called "I Want To Do More Than Whistle (Under The Mistletoe)". It's amazing to think that this quaint little ditty hides a hidden meaning that is not so hidden. It's even more amazing to think that this not so hidden agenda made it's way onto the air waves at a time when the censors tried to stop everything! Here it is for your enjoyment! One last note - the artist is mis-labled on the file as the Leveleers. I have no idea why I did that. Perhaps an early morning or late night rip. Enjoy!

The Lancers - I Want To Do More Than Whistle

A Solo Carpenter

Just the other night, I was talking with my Uncle while looking through a gigantic collection of records and the topic of The Carpenters came up. He had just finished reading a tell-all biography about Karen and was filling me in on some of the gory details. (He has the distinction of going to school with both of the Carpenters when they were wee youngsters) In the book, they apparently talk about Karen's one solo album at length. He had never known about it. Of course, I did. I told him that I had had a copy of it somewhere. Well, it didn't take me too long to find it. Here's a little background on it: In 1979, Richard Carpenter was being treated for an addiction to prescription pills so The Carpenters went on a hiatus. Karen wanted to remain productive and record songs and did that for the next year, recording an album with producer, Phil Ramone and Billy Joel's back-up band. After completing the album, Karen played it to A&M executives and her brother Richard. The response to the album was not what she had hoped. She devastated and was coaxed into the decision to not to release the album. Quincy Jones argued with A&M Records for the album's release, but Herb Alpert (the head of the label) called it un-releaseable. Cut to a phone conversation between Karen and Phil Ramone on February 3, 1983. In the course of the conversation, the solo album was brought up with Karen stating. " That album is fucking great!" The next morning she died. Thirteen years later, in 1996, the album was released. The songs on the album remain the way Karen wished it to be mixed. Many fans have determined that the album should have been released in 1980 as it is a solid work and contains some of the best work Karen has done in her career. The same fans completely disagree with the negative opinion that A&M executives and Richard Carpenter had about the album. Still others agree with the original decision. Decide for yourself if it should have been released or not when you take a listen to it here at the World of Wonder. Here is "Karen Carpenter". Enjoy!

Karen Carpenter

An Open Letter To Mike Douglas

Growing up in the late seventies and early eighties, I was exposed to a variety of celebrity talk shows. While there are still daytime talk shows on today, they are nothing like the "golden era" of the daytime talk show. With the likes of Merv Griffen, Dick Cavett and Mike Douglas, the daytime talk show was an event. Mike Douglas was one of the more exciting ones due to the amazing guests he would have on. We all are familiar with the entire week he devoted to John Lennon and Yoko Ono but that's just the tip of the ice berg. He never "played it safe" and just had people on that were promoting their new album or movie or tv show. He had people on that he admired and that had a message. And in between all those hip guests, you could always count on Mike to sing a song of his own. Over the course of his career, Mike Douglas would release several albums (including a Christmas one that we posted one holiday season a while back) but my favorite is one entitled, "Dear Mike, Please Sing". I share that fabulous album with you now. Enjoy!

Mike Douglas-Dear Mike, Please Sing

"Station 51, 10-4. Patient has love lodged in her tummy."

Julie London was a well established singer before she took on the role of Head Nurse Dixie "Dix" McCall at Rampart Emergency Hospital in the 70s series, "EMERGENCY!". She was discovered by talent agent Sue Carol (wife of actor Alan Ladd) while working as an elevator operator. She recorded 32 albums in a career that began in 1955. Billboard named her the most popular female vocalist for 1955, 1956, and 1957. Her most famous single, "Cry Me a River", was written by her high-school classmate, Arthur Hamilton. It became a million-seller after its release in December 1955. Her last album came in 1969. It was a collection of pop hits of the 60s that included The Doors' "Light My Fire", the Kingsmen's "Louie, Louie", the Beatles' "And I Love Her" (changed to "And I Love Him") and the title track, Ohio Express' "Yummy, Yummy, Yummy". The album has an unintentional kitsch element but believe it or not, Julie actually is able to pull most of the material off and even adds a little sexuality with her smokey voice. A highlight is her cover of The Monkees' "It's Nice To Be With You". That was never one of my favorite Monkees tracks but Julie's version gives me a whole new appreciation for the song. Hear it for yourself when you take a listen to "Yummy, Yummy, Yummy" by Julie London. Enjoy!

Julie London-Yummy, Yummy, Yummy

Welcome Back To The Poor Side of Town

Yesterday afternoon I put a Johnny Rivers album on my turntable that I had never listened to before. It came from a collection of records once owned by a roommate of an ex-girlfriend. She had given me a stack of records years ago and I just added them to my collection without even listening to them. Over the years as I have gone through and weeded out albums that I don't care to keep, this album has stayed on the basis of Johnny Rivers being a gigantic part of my youthful record playing. I have owned three Johnny Rivers records since I could walk: Live At The Whiskey A-Go-Go, And I Know You Want To Dance and Folk. All three were spun over and over when I was but a mere youth in the seventies. That and the fact that the album in question contained his gigantic hit, "Poor Side of Town" kept the album in my collection. When I listened to it yesterday for the first time, I was expecting to simply not like it and thus, finally boot it from my collection. What I found was not just a mere album of schmaltzy songs but a phenomenal sounding record containing amazing arrangements of classic songs. Gone is the classic Johnny Rivers basic guitar-bass-drums arrangement that had characterized his prior albums. His core trio sound is still there but is tastefully augmented with horns and understated strings on certain songs, and virtually displaced by some intriguing solo instruments elsewhere. The album opener, "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" (in its very first recording) shows him managing to sound like a full-fledged rocker despite the presence of violins and flute. "A Taste of Honey" gets a treatment that manages to intersect Calypso and rock. "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" gets perhaps the most soulful and distinctive treatment in its history, complete with its seldom heard lyrics. Even Rivers' pop covers, "Strangers in the Night," "The Shadow of Your Smile," "Softly As I Leave You," and "The Days of Wine and Roses," are successful in showing off his singing in a different vein, and the softer, finer nuances that his voice could express. This album rode the charts longer than any other Johnny Rivers LP. It's essential listening for Rivers fans as well as '60s rock enthusiasts. Which is why I bring it to you today. Here is Johnny Rivers' "Changes". Enjoy!

Johnny Rivers-Changes

Dialing 606-0842

I am a huge fan of the B-52's. Loved them when I was a kid, loved them in college and love them now. I've seen them in concert several times and it's always a blast! They are truly the greatest party band ever. I remember in college, the campus radio station promoted them coming to perform on campus. My friend Milo proclaimed, "You really have a great band here. Excellent work!" I couldn't have agreed with him more. Back then, the band had whittled down to just three of the five original members. That show featured Fred Schneider, Kate Pierson and Keith Strickland. Cindy Wilson had taken some time off to raise her family so Julee Cruise was filling in for her. I was a little disappointed as Cindy was my favorite member of the band but it still was an amazing show. In later years, when Cindy rejoined the group, I have been fortunate enough to have seen them a number of times. I still wish I could have seen them back in the day when Ricky Wilson was still alive but unfortunately I was too young to have partaken in that scene. That hasn't stopped me from seeking out boots from those glorious days of the birth of new wave. Today I share with you one of those boots. Here is The B-52's cranking out the party in Chicago from 1979. Considering the age of this show, it sounds amazing! I hope you think so as well. Enjoy!

The B-52's-Chicago 1979

The Quicker Male Hater

The people in my generation have no idea who you are talking about when you mention the name Nancy Walker. However, if you say "The Bounty Lady from the 70s" we all know that you are talking about Rosie. Long before she was the spokesperson for Bounty, appearing as Rosie, the Diner waitress, Nancy Walker was a bonafide star. Though she was only four feet, ten inches tall and difficult to cast, she managed to land a role on Broadway in the 1941 show, Best Foot Forward. The role provided Walker with her film debut when a film version, starring Lucille Ball, was filmed in 1943. A subsequent appearance was in the MGM musical, Broadway Rhythm, in which she had a featured musical number, "Milkman, Keep Those Bottles Quiet".
She continued acting throughout the 1940s and 1950s and her appearances in musicals led to record releases. Soon after that came television guest appearances and recurring roles, providing her with steady work. Her career spanned five decades, and included comedies, dramas and television variety shows such as The Garry Moore Show and The Carol Burnett Show. In 1970, she secured a recurring role as Emily the housekeeper in the hit situation comedy Family Affair starring Brian Keith. Also that year, Walker made her first appearance playing Ida Morgenstern, the mother of Valerie Harper's Rhoda Morgenstern during the first season of The Mary Tyler Moore Show. In 1974, when the MTM spinoff series, "Rhoda" premiered, Walker joined the cast as a regular. She was also a regular on the successful Rock Hudson detective series McMillan and Wife, playing Mildred. These two roles brought her seven Emmy Award nominations. She also tried her hand at directing which included episodes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Rhoda and Alice. In fact, she is the director responsible for the 1980 pseudo-autobiographical musical "Can't Stop the Music", which tells the tale of The Village People. The film was a box office failure but has since become a cult favorite. This was the only theatrical film ever directed by Walker. One of Walker's last major film roles was as the deaf maid, Yetta, in the 1976 all-star comedy spoof Murder by Death. She continued to remain active in show business until her death, playing Rosie in the Bounty commericals. She helped make the product's slogan, "The Quicker Picker Upper", a common catchphrase. Today, we pay tribute to that loveable little lady with her 1959 release, "I Hate Men". Backed by Sid Bass and his orchestra, it features such show tunes as "I'm Going to Wash That Man Right Out of My Hair" and "You Irritate Me So". I listened to this last week and it put a smile on my face. I hope it does the same to you. Enjoy!

Nancy Walker-I Hate Men

Singles Collection Episode 59: Toni Basil Leads The Cheer

Seeing as how my buddy, Micky Dolenz, celebrated a birthday this past Monday, I thought it only fitting that I post the classic Toni Basil single, "Mickey". If you were breathing in the 80s then you already know all there is to know about this song. It skyrocketed Toni Basil to superstardom. However, Basil has been around since the 60s. In fact, she was the choreographer and even appears performing a dance in the classic Monkees film, "HEAD". She was part of several famous street dance troupes in the seventies and in the eighties she tried her hand at singing. Her only #1 hit comes from her album, "Word Of Mouth". She continues to dance and choreograph to this day. Here is Toni Basil with her classic slice of 80s pop culture. Enjoy!

Toni Basil-MICKEY