1/18/09 Playlist - Ladies' Choice

Opening theme- Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass - So What's New

Segment 1: Ladies Choice
I thought we'd put a spotlight on some of the great female singers and girl groups from the oldies era. These are pretty much my favorites. This one I'm going to start off with is on my list of one of the greatest who ever lived, and I had the privilege of meeting her a few months back, thanks to Billy Block...Miss Dynamite herself, Brenda Lee.

Brenda Lee – All Alone Am I
Petula Clark – Who Am I?
Shirelles – Mama Said
Dionne Warwick- Promises, Promises
Patsy Cline – Faded Love

Segment 2: Picking Through the Record Box
I realized as I went along here that I picked out a lot of female voices for all the segments. So, I just kept it going. I'd always been a female singer fan and of course, fantasized with a "brush microphone" as a kid in front of the mirror about being a singer. Alas, I realized early on that I did not have the gift of song...so I went on and made a career of sorts of applauding.

The set started with someone who has reinvented herself so many times over the past 40 years, certainly a renaissance woman of sorts, but she's always had one of my favorite female voices. The one and only Cher.

Cher – All I Really Want To Do (Uh oh. I hadn't played this one in a while and forgot it was a live version. What if she said something outrageous or something that would get me in trouble for playing it? Well, it was a short track...short enough to end abruptly and catch me off guard. And, I lied about what she said on the track--it was her first hit record, not necessarily her first #1. Pay closer attention, Wendy.)
Connie Francis – Where the Boys Are
Crystals - Uptown
Laura Nyro - Wedding Bell Blues

I noted there's now a group on Facebook for the Never Too Old show, and I want to thank the people who have joined that group. Here is a link to that if you're interested in joining.

Segment 3: Soul Stew
Some of the greatest female singers were in the soul and R & B genre. I started with none other than Aretha Franklin and a cut from her classic Lady Soul album, "Ain't No Way". This song had a huge impact on me as a teenager and it still does today. A goosebump performance for sure.

Aretha Franklin – Ain't No Way
Supremes – Nothing But Heartaches
Velvelettes - He Was Really Saying Something (covered by female British trio Bananarama in the 80s)
Brenda Holloway - When I'm Gone
Ronettes - Walking In The Rain

Here's what coming up theme wise on future shows. Next week, we'll give the guys a chance to be featured. Then the following week we'll take a look back at 1964, on the heels of the 45th anniversary of the Beatles' arrival in America, and after that week I'll be celebrating not Valentine's Day but an alternative, Quirkyalone Day. So I hope you'll be able to catch one of those shows.

If you have a chance to go through some of the shows on the program schedule, I came across one that I really enjoyed. It's called Cosmosis and it is such a great eclectic mix of styles, blues one moment, early 80s punk rock the next, this past week a lot of oldies, like I play--bring it on, the more the merrier is what I say!--and who knows what else. You can catch this show on Fridays from 3-5 p.m. so do give a listen and see what you think. I actually found this show because an old show was aired a couple of weeks ago in automation in my old Saturday afternoon time slot. I thought it was a new show and a new DJ and it sounded like a better fit for the afternoon than my show was, so I e-mailed the host, Billy Lurken, to say welcome. He wrote back and said he's been on from the beginning of RFN and did I have the wrong person? We figured out it was automation...but all things work for good. Billy's a cool guy (also a singer/songwriter), he's been an encouragement to my show and he's actually one of four rotating hosts for Cosmosis. He does a great job, so do check him out when he's on!

Segment 4: Non-oldie/Current/New

I have been a fan of Lauren Wood as a singer and songwriter for over 30 years. I first found her music on an old Warner Brothers sampler called "Limo" when she was part of the group "Chunky Novi and Ernie" and I've been in the tank for her music ever since then.

Lauren Wood- Electric Eyes (Love, Death and Customer Service)
Amy Holland – Miracle River (Journey To Miracle River) Glitch of the day. I almost blew this one big time. I forgot to cue the song so the player started with track 1 which had a guitar intro, as Miracle River does. Except I couldn't say the heck with it, I'll play this track instead because I needed "Miracle River" for my encouragement piece! So I had to flip quickly from one guitar intro to another. Sharp ears I am sure detected that, but Kerry Miller, who hosts "Samurai Songs" after me, bless his dear heart, told me he didn't know the difference. (I like having him follow me!)

Encouragement: I love the lines found in the song "Miracle River"*: "They say that when you get there, that's when the real magic starts...it's less about arriving than the journey to miracle river." I've been a life coach and I've seen the truth of those words unfold as I've worked with people who committed to making change in their lives. When we're faced with taking a new direction, or finally pursuing our dreams, we can run into roadblocks. "I can't do this", "I'll never be any good at this", some of us think sometimes. You need to drown those doubt demons. Because, what if you tried and you were good? And you could do it? No matter what the outcome is, you learn something valuable about yourself. It's worth taking that journey.

Closer – Soul Serenade – King Curtis

*Miracle River by Amy Holland McDonald/John Goodwin/Bernie Chiaravalle
Dutch Girl Music ASCAP/Queen's Knight Music BMI/Bernoit Music ASCAP