AS DJZigZag Sez ON THE ALL-NEW GROOVIN' BLUE 13 - 04 . . . "HELLO EVERYBODY I KNOW THAT YOU'RE THERE DUE TO THE SENSE THAT YOU ARE BREATHING IN AND OUT - A COMPLICATED SOMEWHAT EASY ACT OF SELF-APPRECIATING AND REQUIRED TO BE FLEETING BECAUSE OF THE PRE-DETERMINED RATES OF EXHILATION LAID DOWN SOMEWHERE IN THE HISTORY OF MAN AND PLANET" . . . WE SAY - DJZigZag STAY DOIN' WHATEVER YOUR DAYJOB IS . . . CUZ YA' AIN'T NO FONZWORTH BENTLEY ! ! !

RAPPIN' FROM THE ZIGZAG MAN ASIDE . . . WE GOT A HECK . . . No, No, . . . WE GOT ONE HELLUVA GROOVIN' BLUE 13 - 04    LINED UP FO' YOU NEW WORLD AFRICAN MUSIC LOVERS . . . BOY OH BOY IS THIS NEW SHOW HOT, HOT, HOT ! ! !

WE GOT DESTINY'S CHILD , T-PAIN, THE "5" ROYALES, JEREMIH, DONALD VEGA, BRAMMA, GHETTOMAN A.D., FARNSWORTH BENTLEY, BRIAN McKNIGHT ETC ETC ETC ETC ETC . . .  HOT !  HOT ! !  HOT! ! !

THE ALL BRAND NEW GROOVIN' BLUE 13 - 04

WAGRadio Management

ALL THE EAST END FANS OF TOMMY MELTON AND THE CALGARY SHADES COULDN'T BELIEVE STAN and his brother TOMMY CHONG HAD OPENED A NEW WORLD AFRICAN DANCE HALL IN PSYCHEDELIC ROCKVILLE or KITSILANO as it's known . . .

Poster courtesy:  Bonnie "The Whistler" McClatchy

THE CALGARY SHADES WERE ONE BAND AWAY FROM MORPHING INTO BOBBY TAYLOR AND THE VANCOUVERS WHEN DYNAMIC LEAD SINGER AND EAST VAN MUSIC HERO TOMMY MELTON KNOWN BY HIS NOM DE MUSIQUE LITTLE DADDY (or DADDIE) MOVED ACROSS TOWN TO KITS (KITSILANO) TO BECOME LITTLE DADDY and the BACHELORS.  "A young knight serving under another's banner (hist.)" INDEED ! !
YOU CAN'T GET MESSED UP BY THE NUMBER OF DIFFERENT SPELLINGS ETC THAT THIS POSTER THROWS AT YOU !  LET'S CALL IT FLOWERY PROSE RATHER THAN  MISTAKES.


Little Daddy and The Bachelors
Vancouver, British Columbia
About 1963 ~ 1965

Members:
 
Tommy Chong ~ Guitar
Wes Henderson ~ Bass
Ted Lewis (aka Duris Maxwell) ~ Drums
Don Mallory ~ Drums
Tommy "Little Daddy" Melton ~ Vocals
Bernie Sneed ~ Keyboards
Floyd Sneed ~ Drums

Little Daddy & The Bachelors photo courtesy: the wonderful Pacific Northwest Bands website

WAGRadio Management

*** GREAT 2004 FILM OUT OF BRITAIN "URBAN SOUL: THE MAKING OF MODERN R&B" is being shown ON THE SUNDANCE CHANNEL . . . ALSO AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE

HERE'S THE SITE for the film company that produced 
"URBAN SOUL: THE MAKING OF MODERN R&B" 
SMOKINGDOGFILMS

http://www.youtube.com/user/SmokingDogsFilms?feature=watch


It's always a unique experience when you stumble upon a piece of documentary cinema that features a reflective look at NEW WORLD AFRICAN MUSIC . . .  This film takes a fairly intellectual look at Urban music from the 1980's up to today.  One and a half hours of interesting comments and musings by some of the leaders in contemporary Black music.

90 mins, 2004
BBC Four Television
Director: John Akomfrah
Producers: Lina Gopaul, David Lawson

WAGRadio Management

SHORT FILM ABOUT J DILLA's VINYL COLLECTION

.

J Dilla (1974-2006) was a highly-influential music producer from Detroit who collaborated with the likes of A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Janet Jackson, Talib Kweli, and Erykah Badu. In this new half-hour documentary, Fuse looks at Dilla's life and digs into his record collection, currently in a Detroit storage locker.

Thank you fuse ! - http://www.fuse.tv/

WAGRadio Management

THIS VIDEO'LL GIVE ALL Y'ALL SHIVERS FROM THE TIP OF YOUR HEAD DOWN THRU THE BACK OF YO' NECK AND INTO YOUR SHOULDER BLADES SETTLING IN YOUR BACK - DEAR LAWD ! SHIVER-CITY . . . EVERYBODY GETS OFF ! ! IT'S BEAUTIFUL CHRISETTE MICHELE AND HER HELLA HUGE WAGRadio HIT . . . "A COUPLE OF FOREVERS" . . . YEAH, BABEEE ! !

QUESTLOVE and D'ANGELO - SUPERJAM at BONNAROO . . .

THIS IS SOMETHING WE HERE AT WAGRadio JUST CAME ACROSS . . . WRITTEN BY LEGENDARY QUALITY/RCA RECORDS PROMO MAN RAY RAMSAY IT HONOURS THE R'n'B KING OF COMMERCIAL DRIVE Mr. RUSSELL MAR . IT ALSO TALKS ABOUT DJZigZag'S ALTER-EGO BILL REITER . . .

Dec-26/10

Rayquiem For A Soul Man

R.I.P Russell Mar : 1940 - 2010

                  Russell Mar went on ahead on Dec 19, 2010. R&B/Soul Music fans in Vancouver may remember him as the owner of Heart & Soul Records on Commercial Drive near 1^st Avenue. He was a key part of the then burgeoning Soul scene in Vancouver and something of a R&B Godfather catering almost exclusively to fans of that genre as well as Blues and Jazz.

                  It was to his store that we mid-teens made a weekly pilgrimage so we could hear the newest R&B records released that week, make our choice and buy them; that’s how we heard our music, as radio didn’t play much of it and Bill Reiter would later change that.

In addition to the American records he also supported the local bands when they scratched enuff bread together to make one, and now & then they would drop by the shop and you could chat them up, we all supported each other. If anyone speaks to any of the surviving scenesters from that period, I’m sure they would have some stories to tell and many a kind word.

                  Russell also supported me; he was key in sending me around the various record labels and distributors, resulting in my eventual hiring (TPC/Quality to start  and RCA/BMG to finish) for a fairly successful 38 year career, and all because I liked R&B, and for that, I am grateful.

                  When Russell started Heart & Soul Records, Vancouver was what’s called in Radio parlance, a ‘Vanilla Market’ meaning White people that liked Black music, and went to venues like the Elegant Parlour, and the Blues Palace among others, and when the next generation of Hearts & Souls came along this expanded to include Community Centres and High Schools, and who could forget that bastion of Soul, The Grooveyard in New Westminster, BC for weekend dances as a new generation of players emerged and honed their craft on records they heard and bought at Russell’s store.

                  Around that time, another Record Funky, named Bill Reiter stepped into the spotlight opening his own Soul Center ‘Bill & Bob’s’ which was at the gateway to Chinatown and was arguably the world’s smallest record store; we would troop down there on Sundays and I stop at saying we stood shoulder to shoulder unless we did it sideways as there was NO room, the store being barely 3 feet wide. Bob would serve up his version of new Soul music treats and we would meet the musicians that made the local music. Bill would sit in with some bands (being the original Easter Ham) under the name of Fatback Cain.

                  Bill then took the next step R&B fans had been yearning for as he got his own Radio show on then CKLG-FM, (now The Fox) and I still remember the great anticipation we all felt the Saturday he went on air as we had all gathered at my friend John Pearson‘s (R&B All-Stars) house to listen and be collectively Gobsmacked when the organ intro to Dale Lewis `Little Green Thing` came blasting thru the speakers...it was Manna from Heaven!

                  Then the music changed and Heart & Soul was gone, Bill & Bobs closed and Bill went on to other things; one being his recording and tribute to Jim Thorpe All American Ìnjun Jim`s Blues` via Quality Records then later with Dr Bundolo`s Pandemonium Show album on RCA (with Norm Grohmann among others), both deals I had a hand a hand in securing. There was more Yeti in the future for Bill but you have to beer with me while I return to the subject at hand.

                  For my part I am grateful for the opportunity afforded me with the help and direction of Russell and working with and loving the music; one thing leads to another and I just wanted to take a musical moment to Raymind people that Russell was here and left his mark, with all his Heart & Soul.

                                                                                                                                                Ray Ramsay

NOW THEY CHASIN' ME LIKE WOOP WOOP . . . HA HA . . . THIS IS ALL THE MUCH CLEARER IF YOU'VE LISTENED TO THE LATEST WAGRadio PODCAST - GROOVIN' BLUE 13 - 03 with DJZigZag . . . SHE MAKE ME OOO OOO ! !

WHAT A GREAT 'POP' SOUND FROM THE LAND OF ROCKIN' JAMS . . . CHRISTOPHER ELLIS and "DON'T CHANGE YOUR NUMBER" . . . SUMMERTIME MUSIC IN MARCH ! !

WE HAVE BEEN WAITIN' TA' PLAY THIS ONE FO' ALL-Y'ALL SINCE 2013 BEGAN . . . COMING SOON TO WAGRadio - KHAGO and his WONDERFUL JAMROCK CHOON "ROAD DAWG" . . .

LONG-AWAITED JUKE BLUES MAGAZINE's NEW ISSUE (#72) IS NOW AVAILABLE ! ! AND THIS BRIT MAG HAS A NORTH AMERICAN DISTRIBUTOR . . .

Juke Blues editor Ms. Cilla "Don't Call Me Higgins" Huggins writes;

After unavoidable 'life distractions' in the last couple of years, we and our contributors . . . celebrate with pride 27 years of continuous publication.

There's still a lot of great material, photographs, and continuing original research in the JB vaults that we intend to publish.  Taking  everything in account, we feel it's best all round if we no longer offer subscriptions; thus each future issue will have to be ordered individually.  
We look forward to continuing to bring you the best in blues, soul and gospel, and hope that you will continue your support for Juke Blues.
Cilla Huggins
TO ORDER JUKE BLUES MAGAZINE (A FAVOURITE IN THE WAGRadio LIBRARY) . . . 
EMAIL 
MR. RICHARD SHURMAN at; 
rshurman@ccs.nsis.lib.il.us  
or MAIL him at 
3 SOUTH 321 WINFIELD ROAD, 
WARRENVILLE, ILLINOIS 60555-3145.  
THIS IS THE BEST WAY (in WAGRadio's opinion) FOR NORTH AMERICAN CUSTOMERS TO GET THEIR HANDS ON THE LATEST ISSUE #72 OF THIS WONDERFUL MAGAZINE.
It was also very heartening to receive a really nice compliment from Ms. Huggins: "That's a heck of a blogspot you've got!!"  Great words of encouragement from someone all the staff here at WAGRadio respect.

WAGRadio Management

THEY AT IT AGAIN ! ! HENRY YOUNG AND HIS CO-HORTS (known as The Henry Young 4Tet) ARE !LIVE! AT PAT'S PUB on SUNDAY, MARCH 17th FROM 1:00 to 4:00 pm - 403 Hastings Street East . . .

Henry "Mung-Jung" Young - geetar
Doug "Mo-Yung" Louie - piano
Paul "Gwai-Lo" Blaney - bass
Justin "Time" James - drums

WAGRadio Management

OH, YUM YUM YUM - C'MON AND GET YA'SEF SUM ! ! ALL-NEW GROOVIN' BLUE 13 - 03 IS NOW POSTED . . . AND IT IS GOOOOOOOOOD TOO ! !

Photo: "baked macaroni and cheese" - andypucko

HOT AS ALL GET-OUT . . . THAT'S THE NEW GROOVIN' BLUE 13 - 03 . . . OH YUMMY!  TASTY NEW WORLD AFRICAN MUSIC JOINTS FROM MOJO MORGAN & PEETAH MORGAN, KAT DAHLIA, RIHANNA, 2 PISTOLS, "UNCLE" CHARLIE WILSON, SKARRA MUCCI, CLIFTON ANDERSON, RUTH BROWN and SO MUCH FUNKI STUFF ! !  

GROOVIN' BLUE 13 - 03

WAGRadio Management

DON'T BE FOOLED BY NO FOOLS DOIN' A FAKE HARLEM SHAKE . . . HERE'S THE REAL THANG ! !

CASHBOX MAGAZINE INTERVIEWS WAGRadio LONG-TIME FRIEND . . . DONNY "Mr. Soul" GERRARD

Memories of Skylark with Donny Gerrard

Submitted by Cashbox on 09/21/2012 

• 
  

Submitted by Michael Williams

A candid chat with one of the best vocalist on the planet!  Canada’s Own Donny Gerrard, the voice of Skylark’s classic “Wildflower”.  Last time I saw Donny he was making magic with Mavis Staples, (of the Staple Singers) and we had the opportunity to talk.

MW: You are Canadian. Where were you born?
DG: Originally from Vancouver.

MW: What was it like growing up young, gifted and black and wanting to be in the music business in Canada back then?  What was the scene like and what was it like being black in Canada at that time?

DG: Being Black in Canada in the 60’s.  It was pretty rare; you could walk down the street and have a whole bus load of people move to one side of the bus just to look at you!  The music scene at that time was all night clubs. There were some really good bands at that time; I grew up with Tommy Chong.  Those guys were all playing music at the time.  My brother was a singer and he had his own band in Vancouver.  So I came by it honestly and people would say to me, your older brother can sing you must be able to sing too…they started to ask me to sing and if I wanted to join their band.  They didn’t know if I could sing or not.  I didn’t know if I could sing or not.  I went out for an audition.  Lo and behold I could sing and the next week I was playing a gig.  That’s the way it unfolded.

MW: It was a serious scene back then with Bobby Taylor and Vancouver’s  Jimi Hendrix, was floating around;  Hendrix spent a lot of time in Vancouver…
DG: I saw Jimi back then with one of the big R n B soul shows that came to town, like the Isley Brothers, wearing tuxedos.  The only reason I knew it was him is because after the show he pulled an amp up at the front of the stage and he stood their whaling with feedback and everything, he was still wearing a tuxedo.  He was a member of the band, and everybody turned around and said what is that?  For a lot of people it was the first time they heard feedback, that kind of guitar, and people were looking at him like he was nuts or something you know but of course a few years later he was on top of the world!

MW: You said back then people would move to other side of the bus to stare at you because you were black?
DG: The time I was in Vancouver there were a hundred and twenty black people in the whole province of British Columbia. (The sound of laughter fills the room in disbelief).  Of course it’s all changed now.

MW: Was it rough on you back then?  Or did you notice?
DG:Well you noticed it, but, going back to when I was a kid, people had never seen a black person before so I got teased a lot for being Chinese.  Because they knew I was something but they didn’t know what?  So I got called the derogatory names for Chinese People.  The first time ever I was a little older; the first time I experienced out and out discrimination.  You were a rarity there so in a lot of ways it was easier because people often parted the way for you.  The music scene was not very happening, that’s why I left to go to Los Angeles.  We couldn’t move beyond the nightclub scene in Vancouver.  Year’s later Hollywood moves to Vancouver and that was a good time to be there but by that time I had already set down roots in Los Angeles.

MW:  How did the whole Skylark thing happen?
DG: That was kind of strange, I was living in L.A. touring with a band from Vancouver and we worked our way back to Vancouver and the band broke up.  I was in Vancouver for awhile and ran into my good friend B.J. Cook, they had been out with Ronnie Hawkins and they all split from his band and were starting a new band.  She asked if I was interested; I went to the audition and got the job. They already had the record deal with Capitol, and a singer going in; I guess they were not happy with the singer.  It was kinda an easy thing, we did some rehearsing, went to L.A. and cut a record.

MW: That was the record, “Wildflower”?
DG: Yep, that was the record!

MW: When you got the song did you feel it was going to be special for you as a vocalist?
DG: No to tell you the truth, I never got it.  I’ve never understood that song... I understood it, but I never understood why the writer took such long way around the words, to come to the point!  So I honestly didn’t like that song as much as other people but of course when it’s a hit you like it much more.  There were other songs on the album I liked much better actually.

MW: Did you feel the success of the hit?
DG: No, there was no feeling of success; we toured around a little bit, we were in the States most of the time, I think the song was bigger in Canada.  As it was taking off, I never got the feeling anybody knew us!  There was always such a name problem, they didn’t know if the song was called Skylark and the word “Wildflower” never comes up in the song.  There was name recognition problem there with the group and with the song.

MW: I remember back then Record Revolution (store) in Cleveland had two full window displays for Skylark, it was huge in America!
DG:  We would go into a new city and see that sometimes but you don’t know all that is going on, there wasn’t a lot of hype around us, which would have helped, because today groups are more hype than substance and Skylark was the other way around.

MW: When you left the band and went back to L.A. and told people you were the ex-vocalist for Skylark, did that have any cache or currency in the music community?  Because I gotta tell you that there is no one in the Soul and R 'n' B music that does not know or has not done that song from Luther Vandross, New Birth and the O’Jays for starters.
DG: Yeah, I was always surprised, Luther ,Kenny Roger, Marlena Shaw, there was a jazz version of it, “Wildflower” was recorded a lot but  I never tried to capitalize on it.  My goal was always to be in a group, a singing group and that’s what Skylark was, and started out to be in the beginning a singing group.  It just so happened that song with me singing lead took off, we started out as a singing group. We had  a lot of harmonies and things.  When we got into the recording studio the producer didn’t like any of the background vocals, we hired outside backgrounds and he didn’t like them either.  I ended up recording all of the background parts. The only other voice on that record is actually David Foster.  He came in one night when we needed to do a harmony part and I sang one part and he sang the other. There were so many vocal tracks on that album and they are all me and David.

MW: Who is not known for singing?
DG: David who does not sing at all.