Ellen Foley "If You Can't Be Good"

I've written about Ellen Foley before, but if you don't know who she is, then you don't know The Clash, Meatloaf or Night Court.

She's got a new record out.  I figured you'd at least be curious.


Hear the song on Youtube.

The Clash "Hitsville UK"

When I was young, I remember this rumor going around that one of the actresses on "Night Court" was the woman who sang with Meatloaf on "Paradise By The Dashboard Light."

It was a subject of great debate, and great consternation.

We'd watch the music video, and some would say, "This girl doesn't look anything like the girl on 'Night Court.'"  Others would say, "Sure it does.  She's just got different hair and makeup."

And that's about as far as you could take the argument in 1985.

On Monday, I was hanging out with my wife and her brother and his girlfriend, talking about music and such, as we tend to do.

My wife asked, "Who was the woman who sang with Meatloaf on 'Paradise By The Dashboard Light'?"

"It's the woman from 'Night Court'!" I chirped.

"No.  That can't be."

"Not Markie Post.  The one before her."

"Really?"  My wife got out her phone.  "Let me look it up."

About 30 seconds later . . .

"Ellen Foley."

"And click through.  She was on 'Night Court.'"

"Wait," said my brother-in-law.  "Ellen Foley.  I know that name . . . She's the one that sang with The Clash."

"What?  That can't be."  This time it was I who was disputing.

"Yeah!  On 'Sandinista.'"

My wife continued to click through.

"He's right."

Yes, Ellen Foley was on the first 2 seasons on 'Night Court.' 

She also sang the duet with Meatloaf.  But that's not her in the music video---hence the confusion.  Karla Devito lip-synchs Foley's part for the promotional clip.

And yes, Foley was girlfriend to Mick Jones of The Clash.  She sang on "Hitsville UK."

And, some people say (though Mick Jones has dismissed the claim) that "Should I Stay Or Should I Go" was about their rocky relationship.

All this, in less than a minute.

I like living in the internet age!

Hear "Hitsville UK" on Youtube.


Hear "Paradise By The Dashboard Light" on Youtube.

The Wallflowers "Reboot The Mission"

People seem surprised by the new Wallflowers single, "Reboot The Mission."

Pretty much since their inception, the band has been compared to, comfortably, artists like Tom Petty, The Band, The Counting Crows and Bruce Springsteen.

Straight ahead rootsy rock.

But if you've ever read anything about Jakob Dylan, you know that his formative influences go beyond those earthy antecedants.

He's professed a fascination with The Replacements.

He's covered David Bowie.

He wrote a section of the liner notes for "Beyond And Back," a Best Of collection, for the band X.

So is it a surprise that "Reboot The Mission" features Mick Jones of The Clash?  That it seems to contain programmed beats/samples and such?

It is, only if you've been listening to The Wallflowers, and not Jakob, I guess . . .


Hear the song on Youtube.

Fountains Of Wayne "Someone's Gonna Break Your Heart"

One of the hardest concepts for people who haven't ever really spent time thinking about what it must be like to be a DJ, is the concept of how and why we play what we play.

People just kind of assume that we pick our favorite songs and just play them.

That sounds good, but it's not right at all.

Funny enough, you wouldn't ascribe this attribute to any other business.

The movie theater owner doesn't show movies based on what HE would like to watch.

The chef doesn't cook whatever SHE feels like eating that night.

The shoe store owner doesn't only carry shoes that she herself would wear.

Now, the DJs try to play songs they think are good, just like the movie theater owner tries to pick movies people will come to see, the chef makes dishes people want to eat and the shoe store owner carries shoes that people might want to put on their feet. But they are not doing it for their own personal satisfaction.

Radio is a customer service business. We're trying to serve something that lots of folks might enjoy. We, like the restaurant, try to have a consistent menu, so when people come to our place, we're serving something that they expect, that is familiar and is pleasurable.

All this to say that just because I like something, doesn't mean it's going to get regular airplay on mvyradio.

I LOVE Fountains Of Wayne. But try as I might to convince myself otherwise, they just don't seem to sound right on mvyradio. Like a number of great Power Pop acts (Matthew Sweet and Squeeze come to mind), they're a little to hooky and clean, for mvy's otherwise organic, rootsy nature.

If I were playing only songs I liked, yeah, I'd probably play a lot of what I usually play on mvyradio, but I'd also play a fair amount of Ramones and The Clash.

And a whole lot of Fountains Of Wayne.


Hear the song on Youtube.

Lisa Lisa "All Cried Out"

We were slow dancing. She was singing along to Lisa Lisa's "All Cried Out." She was smiling. Her hair was perhaps the hugest 'do at the Prom. It was totally 80s.

Let me see if I can describe her outfit.

Black stockings. Some kind of black tutu frilly thing, with a studded belt twice wrapped around her. She had some kind of black undershirt on, but over that was a ripped up black t-shirt, off the shoulder a la Flashdance. Jean jacket with the sleeves rolled up. Covering each forearm---what must have been hundreds of bracelets. And on each hand, a pink lace glove.

Eyeliner. Eyeliner. Eyeliner.

And her hair. Huge. The top pulled into a ponytail on the top of her head. All of it crimped for the evening. It smelled of hairspray. A pink feather earring.

In short, she looked like a young Madonna.

I, on the other hand, was desperately trying for a punky coolness, with my Miami Vice jacket, with the Clash t-shirt underneath, hair spiked straight up. And sunglasses. At night.

"All Cried Out" by Lisa Lisa blasted over the P.A. and she sang the ballad at the top of her lungs as we slow danced the night away.

And now, whenever I hear "All Cried Out" it takes me back to that night . . . five days ago.

Yes, last Friday, my wife and I re-lived our youth, at the "Awesome 80s Prom" hosted by WXLO in Worcester.

I can't tell you the last time I saw her that happy. Just the getting-ready process made her giddy. She and her friend Nikki had an absolute blast trying on various outfits and hairstyles and make-up scenarios, acting like teenagers again. Going to the event was just icing on the cake.

And good Lord, what a scene. We were not the only ones excited about going back to the future. Sixteen hundred folks dressed from Prom 1985. And a handful of folks in amazing costume: Beetlejuice, Marty McFly, Pac-Man, Tom-Cruise-in-Top-Gun-dress-whites.

Music cranking, with videos on big screens of all the hits of the 80s. And when I say my wife was singing along to Lisa Lisa, I mean the real thing. They had Lisa Lisa on stage, running through her hits. She sounded good.

I can't say that I have really ever spent any time wishing I could do my teenage years all over again. But it's cool to now have prom pictures in a Clash t-shirt, instead of that white tux I wore in 1986.


See the video on Youtube.

Big Audio Dynamite "The Globe"

Here's another Weekend Post featuring a track from my early DJ days:

You have to be pretty ballsy, desperate, confident or crazy, to decided to sample yourself from an earlier, wildly successful incarnation.

I don't think Mick Jones was desperate. But everything else applies, to great effect on this one.

Bruce Springsteen "London Calling"

I had a cool experience yesterday. I listened to the radio. That happens more rarely than you might think.

I was off work for the day, taking care of business with the family on the Cape. We were early for an appointment, so we took a swing by Trader Joe's. My wife and daughter went inside. I stayed in the car with the sleeping infant boy.

I flipped on mvyradio and caught Alison, who was filling in for Barbara.

Alison was her usual engaging self, bringing The Lunch Hour to life, and because I'd hadn't been in work-mode at all that day, I really just listened to her and the music, not as a co-worker or boss or Music Director. I just listened and enjoyed and absorbed what I was hearing.

On the What's New For Lunch menu was a new live Bruce Springsteen version of "London Calling," and just the mention of it got me excited.

I love The Clash. I love Bruce Springsteen. It seemed like a great match of song and singer and spirit.

But listening, not through headphones, or the big studio speakers, or as part of my regular going-through-a-stack-of-cds-to-sample-songs-for-broadcast, but just in my own car, in a bustling parking lot, waiting for my wife to come back with pop tarts and avocados, I experienced the song as a fan. And I wasn't won over.

Did my fandom build up too much expectation? Or, is this a case of It-Looks-Good-On-Paper? Either way, on first listen it didn't hook me.

If I had been listening as a programmer, I'd be muting my own reaction, trying to listen to it instead as someone who might really want to hear Bruce Springsteen covering The Clash, wondering whom I'd please if I played the song on my show. Instead, I was the audience, not concerned about anyone's reaction to the song but my own. And that guy, wasn't crazy about the experience.

So I now think I'm in the position of having Real Me exerting a prejudice on Professional Me.

As always, I turn to you. What do you think? Good version? Not quite there? Merits a few plays? Should be in heavy rotation? Joe Strummer is turning over in his grave? Let me know what you think.