OAK Team's New Vinyl Release

I just ordered Terry Anderson and The Olympic Ass-Kickin Team's new vinyl
release!! It is a limited edition, only 250 will be made. I ordered 2.
That leaves 248 for the rest of you. It has a new Christmas tune and
some remixed tunes from "National Champions" with horns added! Order
yours today so you can have it by Christmas! You can get it from Doublenaught Records website. Don't forget the OAK's are playing Christmas night at the Pour House

Records!

I like albums. I'm talking about 12 inch, black (mostly), 33 1/3, LP's. I still have almost every LP I ever bought. Current count.. well.... I haven't taken inventory recently but it's more than 3500. That number is still growing, but at a much slower rate now since the only new vinyl release are "special" and usually expensive. I do hit up some used record outlets occasionally, and eBay.

My albums used to reside in my house. Alas, most of them are in a (climate controlled!) storage facility 20 miles away. I visit them when I can. I had to retrieve the Christmas decorations from that facility a couple of weeks ago and decided to look through them and pick out a few to bring home. I have about 75 or so at the house, primarily the LP's that I digitized for Comboland Radio. I opened the box with the D's. The Doors - L.A. Woman... Man I remember buying that LP! ...From Nits Nats etc in the Henderson Mall.

Owned by Cheryl and Phillip Hawkins Nits Nats was an old school mom and pop store, as many were in the 60's and 70's. In Henderson, NC, before Nits Nats you bought records from Roses or Eckerds. Or downtown there was a place that also sold sewing machines and vacuum cleaners, Henderson Music Company I believe. Nits Nats was that first cool place for music and I bought a TON of records there. I hung around the store a bunch too. I even met my first wife there. There were times when I was looking for something to do I would just go and see what they had... what was new. There was a time I probably knew their inventory as well as they did!

Each mom and pop record store had it own personality, many times mirroring the personality of the owner. Some were cluttered and seemed unorganized, but the proprietor knew where everything was! This was especially true of any store that sold used records. Man I LOVED the Record Hole! In the early days of The Record Bar those stores had a bit of personality and were fun to shop in. With the shift to CD's the stores seemed to loose that personality. I was a regular at the CD Superstore locations in the Triangle and Triad, and later at Planet Music in Virginia Beach. Good stores but a more sterile feel. Of course some would say CD's have sort of a sterile feel as well.

Alright... back to current time... for a second. While I was in the box of D's I noticed the dB's LP's I had. Man.... I remember buying them too! I bought both "Repercussions" and "Stands For deciBels" at New World Records in Charlotte. It was my shop of choice while I lived in Charlotte. They always had a great selections of imports and hard to locate items. Those are still two of my all time favorite records. When I got home I put "Repercussions" on the turntable. I have the CD's, MP3,s, I hear the songs on Comboland Radio. But something about putting the record on and sitting down to listen to it gave me a different perspective. I was hearing the album, not the songs. I now remembered why I liked it so much.



When I listened to CD's I usually had a remote control nearby and I would skip songs that didn't hit me at first. With MP3's it is even easier to skip through songs. With LP's I, and I'll bet most others, were less apt to skip over a song thereby listening to the complete LP. During the heyday of the LP we also had more time, and fewer distractions! I guess MP3's are perfect for this fast paced distraction filled society we are all a part of. I'm not sure they are good for the music industry, especially local musicians. I hope I'm wrong.

Back to the dB's! I got an email from their website alerting me to a couple of videos that were unearthed and placed on You-Tube. Check them out! Also check out their website.






By the way.... Terry Anderson and the Olympic Ass-Lickin Team is getting ready for their annual Christmas night gig, again this year the the Pour House in Raleigh. It's a great excuse to get away from the family for awhile. Just tell them you need some air and will be back in 4 or 5 hours.

If you haven't been listening to Comboland Radio lately you are missing some great new songs from Jamie Hoover and Steve Stoeckel from the Spongetones, Luego from the Triangle that Peter Holsapple is playing with, and a band whose material has disappeared from sight very shortly after it was made available, Animal. All are great so listen in!! Just go to Comboland Radio and click on one of the players.

Playlist Update

Finally!!!

The playlist update is in tomorrow on Comboland Radio.

New music from:

The Spongetones Present Jamie & Steve
Birds And Arrows
The Old Ceremony
Luego
The Dex Romweber Duo
Violet Vector & The Lovely Lovelies
The Dynamite Brothers
Medusa Stone
Animal
Spaceship Days

Also some new catalog tracks show start to filter in over the weekend from:
Distrails
The Flood
Bryan Shumate
Medusa Stone
Dexter Romweber/Flat Duo Jets
Sex Police

Just more reasons to listen to Comboland Radio!

Playlist Update and BIG Show in Winston

A BIG playlist update for Comboland Radio is in the works for early next week. It will include tunes from the new "Spongetones Present Jamie and Steve" "English Afterthoughts" CD, Luego, a few from the quickly out of print Animal EP's (somebody needs to help these guys get these songs BACK out... there are some great tunes here that couldn't have available for more than 3 months or so), Birds and Arrows, Dexter Romweber, Dynamite Brothers and a few more. I can't promise these will make it in this weekend, or that all of them will make in at the same time. But sometime next week expect to hear some new tunes on Comboland Radio!

If you are close by the Triad head to The Garage tomorrow (Sat. Nov. 14th) for "The Rock On The Road Tour". It kicks off at 8p. the lineup is strong:

The Smith Bros. (from Columbus, Ohio)
The Anderson Council (from New Brunskwick, NJ)
The Saving Graces (from Winston-Salem, NC)
Stratocruiser (from Raleigh, NC)
easybake (from Winston-Salem, NC)
The Othermothers (from Greensboro, NC)

With the exception of the out of state bands, and easybake (who I had not been aware of... until now!), the others receive regular airplay on Comboland Radio.

Don says "Play It Moose!"

I have received permission from Don Dixon to play an unreleased song of his I found on an old tape in my collection. It is called "Silent Night". It was originally recorded for the "Romantic Depressive" album but was culled out during the sequencing process. Don responded;

"hey MOOSE

please play "Silent Night"...i want to hear it...i think i have a version of BONNIE singing it, too!"
October 16, 2009 12:14 PM



So I'm sticking "Silent Night" in active rotation this week. There are SO many arcane rules involving streaming music on the Internet. Honestly... you would not believe many of them, and few of them are beneficial to the artists and writers but are intended to be. For example I can't play requests. The thought being you might figure out a way to record that song as I am playing it and then not buy it. Another is I can't tell you when I am going to play a song because you might record it. There are many others. So I can't say exactly when you can listen for the Dixon tune today but trust me, it is coming up in the schedule 2 or 3 times a day for the next few weeks. And if you happen to be listening between noon and 6 EDT today (10/20), say almost halfway between, you just may hear this song. I do think you'll enjoy it.... especially if you are a fan of Don's music. He also informed me that an additional date has been added to his and Marti's tour schedule. Check out his Myspace page for the latest.

Other new adds include the
Matt Barrett tunes I just located, cuts from Athenaeum's "Radiance" and "The Green CD", SCOTS cuts from the OOP "Liquored Up and Lacquered Down" and "The First Album". I am processing the 3 "Sex Police" Cd's and the Superchunk EP released in April so cuts from those will filter in this week.

If I am missing anything feel free to let me know. And tell everyone you know about Comboland Radio.

Rare Finds And A Dixon Song Unearthed

Very little time for Comboland Radio updates in the past few weeks. Sorry about that. I'm gonna try to get some playlist changes done this weekend. Although I DO have some new old material.

Matt Barrett has written a couple of my favorite songs. One is "Six-Pack" which was recently covered by Don Dixon and the Jump-Rabbits. Matt's original version from his "Ruse" EP is great. I play both versions on Comboland Radio. Another one from the same EP "My Baby's M-M-Making Me Dance is killer! Early on in the development of Comboland Radio Matt sent me some additional material transfered from cassette. Some of the tunes were decent transfers, a few were not... phase and tape head alignment issues. I can correct a lot of noise issues with computer aided restoration, of which I use several different products. However some issues can't be overcome. I have an "Allisons" cassette with similar issues. Doing an eBay search recently I searched Matt's name and a couple of copies of the "Ruse" EP showed up... not that unusual... but a copy of his self released single "Nothing At All To Write Home About/Is This It?" also showed up. Now THAT is a bit unusual. It is in mint condition and didn't cost too much either. I'll get it in the playlist very soon.



I also FINALLY got a copy of the SCOTS "Liquored Up and Lacquered Down" CD. It is not available for download so if you want it you have to track down a used CD. This one is not terribly difficult to track down but has been out of print for some time, suffering the same fate as all of the Connells material as it too is on the TV Tunes label. Sometimes folks selling the OOP stuff want huge bucks for it. Some of it is truly rare and in demand. Sometimes patience is necessary. In fact there is currently a copy of this CD on eBay for a starting bid of $5.

Speaking of Southern Culture On The Skids I've had the "First Album" sitting around waiting to be transfered into the digital domain for some time. That time is now. I have a couple of early SCOTS tracks from the Comboland tapes in the playlist but they don't come up all that often. Newer fans be warned.... this stuff is a bit different than what you are used to hearing!! I really like the direction Rick has taken the band through the years. But I also like this early LP. This is the band I remember seeing in the mid-80's. Now this is a tough LP to find these days, but not totally impossible. Listen for some tracks to filter in this weekend.

I was digging through a box of CD's... boxed sets I have stored up in a closet because I don't have anyplace to display them. In this box of boxed sets I found a cassette, "Don Dixon, The Album", dated 1994 or 5. Harry Simmons was Don's manager at the time and an old bud. He sent me things to listen to from time to time knowing I was a fan and always had an opinion. This was a pre-release cassette, recorded straight off the board, great quality, one used in the "tinkering with the songs/sequence" phase of putting an album together. So here I am in 2009 looking at the sequence trying to remember what CD this was... oh yeah. "Romantic Depressive". Came out on Sugar Hill in 1995. So I'm checking the sequence on the CD against the one on on the cassette. A couple of tunes swapped positions in the order... wait a minute.... "Silent Night"? That one is not on the CD anywhere. It ain't no Christmas tune either! Looks like it got replaced by "What You Saw" on the CD featuring Anton Fier from "The Lounge Lizards", "The Golden Palominos" et al playing drums. WOW I have unearthed a "lost" Dixon cut!! I cleaned it up a bit from the cassette dub and it sounds pretty good. The song itself is quite good! I prefer it to a couple of tunes that made it onto the CD. But this is an area where everyone has a different opinion. I am positive Dixon had a "sound" in mind for the CD at the time and this one just didn't fit. So Dixon.... can I play it? What do you think Harry?

Listen for "Silent Night" to possibly air on Comboland Radio soon!... or not!

arrogance @ 40 - The Birthday Bash

I wish I knew how many times I have seen Arrogance play. Fifty? A hundred? I really don't know. I saw them at The Town Hall, The Cat's Cradle (old one), on the campus of both UNC and NC State, Rumors in Atlanta, The Bears Den, places I now can't remember. I probably saw them at The Pier in Raleigh more than any other place. I usually stood in the same place, close to the front of the stage but not right up front, audience right, near the sound and light boards. There were a group of us that went to every show. Arrogance manager Harry Simmons, a friend since elementary school, got us "on the list" at the door nearly every show. His younger brother A.T. "Bud" ran lights, which is one of the reasons we stood to that side... so we could harass him during the show. In the bands final couple of years my friend Cliff Atchison ran sound. That made it even more fun with two people to torture during the show.

There are images in my mind of that place that are so much clearer now. Images I had misplaced in my brain until Saturday Night at The Cat's Cradle (new one). Arrogance was playing a couple of tunes from "Suddenly". They were nailing them too! And for a few minutes I was back at The Pier. It flashed in my brain with such clarity... neat but a bit eerie too. As I was the faithful DD I had not had anything to either enhance or dull my senses. They were playing that good.



This was the arrogance @ 40 Birthday show. All of the different musical styles they covered were represented during the show. They didn't follow in exact chronological order, but close. Dixon was the narrator during the show recounting their surroundings, different venues, setting a mood for what you were about to hear. As has been the case with the Cradle shows in recent years the started with the more acoustic stuff. Joining the band onstage for the first time in many years was percussionist Ogie Shaw. Ogie played on the first arrogance LP "Give Us A Break". He got a warm reception for the crowd on several occasions. It was a real treat to hear these songs live with Ogie. They sounded so much more familiar.. more authentic. He did a fine job too!




Rod then played two songs from his solo LP, "Bossa Nova Baby", and "Eggplant Comes To The Party", the latter I had totally forgotten about. It's an instrumental that used to be a part of his solo set before he joined Arrogance. I have got to dig his solo album out and digitize that one!



Next up was the original arrogance with Mike Greer and Jim Glasgow. Those of you who were at the March show at The Carolina Theatre got a chance to hear this lineup. These guys took us through what was the early days of their new band, with some rousing covers of songs they probably jammed to as they started to find their way. Then they moved to some early arrogance originals... "Black Death", and a song they had never tried to perform on stage, "Nights Of Dreams". This is a song that was supposed to be on an early arrogance album but was later released on Mike Greer's "Between Two Worlds" LP. The Original arrogance can still rock it!

After a quick break electric Arrogance rocked it for a while! Then all 8 Arrogance members in attendance took the stage one more time for a final sendoff. As I eluded to earlier this was a great performance! and a long one too! They started playing just after 8:45p, took 2 short...really!...breaks and finally walked off the stage at 12:25p. What a night!




I have noticed in past shows at The Cradle that many of the "acoustic" fans leave after that portion of the show is over. I don't think quite as many folks left this time. I did hear some rumbling when they were playing some of the covers. A number of folks went outside and said "I'll come back in when they start playing Arrogance songs again". Man! I thought they were great! And in the context of the show they were trying to do they fit. Plus you got to hear comical lyric replacement from Robert such as... during "Sunshine Of Your Love" replacing the words "To give you my dawn surprise" with "and giving my dog some wine". Man was I laughing! Covers were many times a part of an Arrogance show. Barrett Strong's "Money" kicks of "Lively". Have we forgotten about "The Dogbreath Blues Band"? Their old surf medley rocked!!! I enjoyed the "covers" section of the original arrogance set. It reminded me of how nearly every band I have ever been got started, by trying to find some common ground so you can start making some noise.



I really enjoyed the vibe of this show. It's a similar vibe at the other "Cradle" show of recent years. The band is relaxed on stage and enjoying themselves. The audience is full of the bands old friends and that seems to energize them a bit. It is just a fun night, a night you wish you had more of.



A rumor was floating around about this being the "swan song" performance of the band. I found that hard to believe and confirmed with Scott that it wasn't. However he did point out that none of them are getting any younger. There have been some health scares over the years. You just never know. As I mentioned in an earlier blog we should all make an effort to see any of our favorite bands/musicians from back in the day when they decide to play. No one can make all of the shows but go to the ones you can. Those bands from Comboland still make the best music in the world.

Listen to ALL of the Comboland bands, old and new, on Comboland Radio!

arrogance @ 40 - Pictures From Chapel Hill

What a great show at The Cat's Cradle! Merch Mike will have more and much better pictures on his pages but I have posted a few on the Comboland Radio MySpace and Facebook pages, find the links to both to the right. The battery on my laptop is running out so a review is coming later today.

Arrogance @ 40 Gig and OAK Team Video

It's Thursday. You've got a couple of days to figure out how you are going to rearrange your schedule to make it to Chapel Hill to see Arrogance. It's going to be a great show. Arrogance celebrates 40 years of creating some of the best rock songs to ever come out of North Carolina. After 40 years they can still rock it on stage. Don and Robert's voices are still strong, their musicianship is still strong, the songs are still good... and this show will have some surprises.

So what could keep you from the show? Football? NC State and Gardner Webb? The way State played against USC I think Gardner Webb has a chance! This is one you can miss. UNC and ECU? It's a Noon game. Hey!... If you're coming for the game stay over and come out to the Cradle to either celebrate or commiserate. Duke and Kansas? Away game for the Blue Devils.... and c'mon. Duke Football?!?

If you, like me, live away from the Triangle area now and are wondering if this show will be worth the hassle to drive and get a place to stay and get the kids a taken care of and find a place for the dog and whatever whatever... the answer is YES. When you were younger you would! So just make it happen, you won't be sorry.

Seriously, when any of the bands we loved decides to play a gig you should make an effort to go see them. Certainly you can't go to every show. There have been a few this summer I have had to miss because of work, life, health. You just never know how many more chances you will get to see any of the guys from this era play together. If you are wondering how good they can sound just ask anyone who went to the March show at the Carolina Theater. It rocked. This one will too. At the last Cradle show a bunch of folks left early. It seemed like the "acoustic" fans bailed during the break. I would encourage all to hang for the whole show this time. It will be worth it... trust me.

If you don't have the Arrogance tunes in a digital format remember you can download them from Comboland Radio's Arrogance Store. I haven't sold very many of these so I KNOW you need them in your collection. Of course you can Arrogance an a slew of other great North Carolina acts on Comboland Radio.

Another of my very favorite bands is Terry Anderson's Olympic Ass Kickin' Team. The recently were featured in a "Sessions In Studio B" at Music.MyNC. Check it out! If you've never seen these guys live... well... you are wrong for that.

Comboland Mailbag - The Othermothers

Before I get in to the subject matter of the post a reminder....



Arrogance is at the Cat's Cradle on September 19th!! This is their 40th anniversary year. If you missed the March show DO NOT miss this one. Along with Don Dixon, Robert Kirkland, Marty Stout, Scott Davison and Robert Kirkland the show will feature the original lineup again with Jim Glasgow and Mike Greer, and include percussionist Ogie Shaw who was a member when the first album was released. You will be hearing more about this show in the next few weeks. Make plans now to go. Don't let it slip up on you. More details as they are finalized can be found here, at the Arrogance website, their MySpace and Facebook pages, and from the Arrogance Street Team.



I got the coolest package in the mail the other day. A couple of months ago I got a Facebook message from Othermothers drummer Tommy Cowett informing me of the re-release of the rocking EP "No Place Like Home". The new CD has 4 additional songs which will please fans of the Othermothers. The new CD is titled "Back For More", which is a perfect title as they are out playing gigs again. Tommy offered to send me a copy which I gladly accepted. I received it along with a DVD a friend of theirs put together, and all of the band members signed the CD. Neat touch!



I remember first hearing about this record through my friends Robert Kirkland and Steve Haigler, the producer and engineer for the EP. I may have still been working at Reflection Studios at the time but my memory is fuzzy. I DO remember Steve telling me how hot this band was, and how great the recordings sounded. I had a cassette copy of the EP and listened to it a bunch!! This was one of the many bands from the early to mid 80's that should have made it through. Hey... they made it further than most with the EP getting released on Making Waves Records in the UK, benefiting from the "Comboland" project undertaken by Godfrey Cheshire. This is a high energy record, with that "punk" edge and hyper-tempo beat, but with great hooks and melodies. Plus the band has the musicianship to pull it all off.

The Othermothers started playing shows again this year and if you have been fortunate enough to see them play you can attest to the fact that they still got it! There are a few YouTube videos to prove it too. If you haven't seen them you do have a couple of chance coming up. They will be playing at The Tate Street Festival in Greensboro on September 26th, the at the Blind Tiger on October 9th. I don't see a link to buy the CD on the MySpace page but I'll bet they are selling them at the shows. I'll also bet you could buy one from them by emailing the band through the Othermothers MySpace page. It is worth seeking out! When you DO get it it won't just sit in your collection. You'll want to listen to it!!!

I honor of the new release I am putting a couple of tunes from "Back For More" in the "Heavy" rotation in the Comboland Radio playlist, which is usually where I put new music.

A Letter To Terry Anderson of The OAK Team...

Dear Terry,

What are you trying to do to me man?!? I mean I look at the WhassupTA blog nearly every day. (I especially loved the pictures from your recent "procedure"!) I check the schedule of gigs over at Doublenaught Records on a regular basis. I try to check the 2 Myspace pages you occupy. Now I find out that there is an OAK Team gig.... TONIGHT!!! Man you are killing me!

You know my wife is a monster fan. Now she is calling me on the telephone and yelling in my ear asking questions like "What are you durin wit all of yo damn free time? "Boy.... u 'posed to keep up wit thangs like the OAK Team's schedule!"

Man... I saw the Yayhoos dates listed. Somehow I missed the OAK Team gig. And I am now in the doghouse. And when I next see my wife I will be receiving an Ass-Kickin' like you have never seen.

I went to bed last night a 10:30p, and got up for the day job at 4:30a. If we do make the three and a half hour drive to Raleighwood tonight I'll be the one with a sore ass and toothpicks in my eyelids.

Your Friend,

Moose

The Olympic Ass-Kickin' Team will ROCK the Berkley Cafe tonight (8/28) as they open for The Bottle Rockets. Don't miss it. If you do you deserve to get a swift kick in the....

Addendum
Also... OAK Team fans can hear an interview on US 98.3's Homegrown Hour Sunday week (Non-Hick Translation.. that's not this Sunday but Next Sunday, September 6th). Host Mike Elliot is an OAK Team fan himself so the show show be great! You can listen online at the US 98.3 website.

Thinking Of Memphis

Memphis is one of my favorite cities. I didn't discover the magic of the place itself until later in life, but have been a fan of the music that has come out of that place since I was a kid. Going there now one can only wonder what it must have been like to have been there when music history was being made. Country, Soul, R&B, Rock And Roll, Blues, Jazz, Gospel, all have a place in the music history of "The River City". Certainly great music could be heard but Memphis has had it's share of heartbreak and tension as well.

I think of Memphis this week because of two people.

First is Jim Dickinson who died last week. Musician, producer, he really could do it all. I'll point you to a couple of articles from folks who are better writers than I to tell his story. From the PowerPop blog and Steve Simels, and from the Commercial Appeal in Memphis. What a life this guy had! And what an influence on the world of music too.

Second is Al Bell. This former disk jockey would later work at, then own, Stax Records. Now I do love me some Motown but Stax is tops for me when it comes Soul and R&B. I also get infuriated when I see a list of Motown artists that includes Sam and Dave and Otis Redding. So when a radio industry site I frequent noted that yesterday, 8/18, was the anniversary of the dissolving through forced bankruptcy of Stax I had to follow the link to a New York Times article about Al Bell. It is the story of how a great record company came to a sudden end, and about a great man who has continued to persevere. For anyone that thinks making music is all fun and games... read this. You'll be amazed.

Now... don't forget to listen to Comboland Radio for at least 2 hours a day, and tell all of your friends about it too!

Go See One Of These Bands Friday 8/21

What is it about August 21st? It this coming Friday, and it is a day that Comboland Music will be played live and loud!

Ok... I know that other bands will be playing that night so email me and I'll add it to the post. BUT... three of my faves will all be playing that night and you can't go wrong with any of them.

The Othermothers came out of "retirement" a few months ago and have been playing a few gigs since. The will be at the Somewhere Else Tavern in Greensboro along with Patrice Pike, Tiffany Shea Band, Dreamkiller, and Your Friend. Still waiting for the CD release they have coming out. If you go to this show the Othermothers won't disappoint. Just check out this video and see for yourself.



Mitch Easter is playing some gigs before the 21st, at Southpaw in Brooklyn, NY on the 18th, Maxwell's in Hoboken, NJ on the 20th, then to The Garage in Winston-Salem on the 21st.

And the Spongetones are at the Double Door in Charlotte, along with the Cruise-O-Matics.

Go see one of those shows!!!! And tell everyone there about Comboland Radio!

Greer LP on CD!!! And Other News And Additions

I am entering the busiest week of an already busy summer with the day job. Still I have a bit of time on a Sunday morning for a couple of quick tweaks and additions to Comboland Radio.




With the Arrogance show coming up September 19th at the Cat's Cradle it is an odd bit of coincidence that I found the Greer album "Two Worlds"... ON CD! Michael Slawter posted a song from the LP on his "NC Music History" blog and there were a few comments but none mentioning the availability of this album on CD. So I can only assume that few know of this. Mike Greer was an original member of Arrogance, along with Don Dixon, Robert Kirkland, and Jim Glasgow. All perform on this album with Bobby Locke and David Niblock and future Arrogance member Marty Stout appearing as well. The CD version was released in 2008 on the UK label, Erebus Records". Their description of the CD is:

"Obscure artifact out of a local scene that produced cult music for a 15-year period; this is a powerful trip in a song-oriented 1970s British rock/hardrock style, with psych moves on the two long epics. Plenty of raw guitar, some piano and synth, heartfelt vocals, all wrapped in a consistent package that displays talent and self-confidence. May be too much of a '70s mainstream sound for some, and indeed it would have deserved to come out on a major label. Should appeal to fans of Felt on Nasco." --Acid Archives. As with all Erebus Records titles, this was remastered at the legendary Abbey Road Studios. It is presented here for the first time on CD."

Uh... some would dispute that "15 year period"! But the rest is an enthusiastic recommendation of a great lost LP. I found the CD while doing a search on eBay for missing pieces of Comboland music. I can't remember what prompted me to enter "Greer" into the search box. And there is nothing else related to Arrogance or Dixon, two regular searches, in the product description. I have found none for sale from US sellers, only from the UK. The quality of the CD is excellent! The only downside is the back cover artwork which is from the back cover of the LP as if it were shrunk down to CD size. The type was small to begin with but now is nearly impossible to read, especially with 52 year old eyes that were never that good to begin with! Still... that is the only downside to this release. Everything else is right on.





According to the new liner notes for the CD two of the tracks, "Night Of Dreams" and "Send Me Back" were originally recorded in 1971 and intended to be on the first Arrogance album. All of the tracks were produced by Don Dixon, who also did the cover photography, and sister Susan Dixon the illustration. Reflection Sound Studios owner Wayne Jernigan was the engineer.



I would be interested and any other information on this CD release... like how it came about... hopefully Mike is getting a percentage of the sales. If so I would get it from Erebus instead of used on eBay. Price with shipping would be about the same anyway. For you Arrogance/Dixon completest this is a must have item.

I am going to put a couple of cut from this into heavy rotation for a few weeks so be sure to listen to Comboland Radio for an hour or two everyday!

Also going in this week cuts from Mark Kano's band Athenaeum, from the first self titled CD (green cover) released in '95 and their second CD "Radiance" from '98. Tunes from Mark's new solo release are already playing on Comboland Radio.

Finally Don Dixon is not retiring even though many of us thought so after reading an earlier blog on his Myspace page. He recently played with the Cosmopolitans at their reunion, and will be with Arrogance on September 19th, The Jump Rabbits in Charlotte on October 24th. He is also hitting the road with wife Marti Jones for some gigs in October! It will be great to hear Marti again... and one of the gigs is in Norfolk, VA which is where us OBX'ers go for culture and better shopping. MUCH closer than Raleigh! Check Dixon's pages for a gig near you. And don't forget to check out his book!

Recent Additions and Must See Shows!!!

Don't miss this show tonight!! If you are close by The Cat's Cradle you really should go see "The Cosmopolitans" as they play together for the first time in 27 years. N&O writer David Menconi has an article about the reunion that is worth checking out. But go check out that show if at all possible. It will be stellar indeed.



And... Don Dixon and Mitch Easter will be on stage too!!! So the Cosmopolitans and two of North Caolina's... and the World's... finest musicians/songwriters/producers on stage at The Cradle!!! Make it if you can! I wish I could... but summer is my busy season with the day job and there are some personal obligations that will keep me at home this weekend. Anytime you can see Dixon or Mitch on stage you really should make the effort. That goes for the Cosmopolitans too!!!



With a beach based business summer is it!! Add to that the sad fact that I have the smallest staff in our station cluster's history this leaves me little time and less energy to devote to Comboland Radio or to go see shows. However a little of both have occurred.



I did get to see Southern Culture On The Skids a few weeks ago. They come to the Outer Banks at least once a year and always draw a crowd. They usually do 2 shows which is somewhat unusual for bands out here. They pack the Port 'O Call both nights every time. They put on a great show too... which is why the place is packed. The performance seems so effortless partially because they get a LOT of practice playing their tunes. That also seem to have a ton of fun on stage. They played most all of the songs we wanted to hear and played a few new tunes from an upcoming CD planned for release in October. Man I can't wait for THAT! I couldn't tell you the names of the new tunes they played as I was enjoying all aspects of not being the DD but I can tell you they were good! Check their website and go see SCOTS when you can.



As far as song additions I switched up the "current" tunes from the latest Spongetones CD, Hammer No More The Fingers and Embarrassing Fruits. I added more tunes from one of my new faves Stratocruiser, specifically from their "Revolution" CD which is not available via download but worth getting. I also added tunes from all three albums from Ed James.



Finally.... In one of my last blogs I mentioned "Bullwinkel Gandhi" and that I had added songs from their 1994 CD "Kung Pow". Founding member Ronald Tucker is quite the prolific songwriter and band starter-upper!! Angelo at "Power Pop Criminals" labels him as a genius and I can't really argue with that! Ronald has a great way for you to catch with all of the different musical projects he has undertaken from 1983 to today. He has a CD called "Catch Up". It has 80 songs, photos, artwork, video and more. Now its NOT a CD you can slap into your conventional CD player... unless it will play MP3s and some will. It is a data CD but is is loaded with some great music! The price is on $16.99 plus shipping. I bought it recently and will be adding many of the tunes to Comboland Radio. At 16.99 you can't go wrong! As Ronald points out on his web site that is less than 22 cents a song!!!



It may be awhile before I can sit down and write a blog but I frequently make a few changes and additions to the playlist at Comboland Radio so keep listening, and tell your friends they need to listen for at least an hour a day!

Gityoassupta Sadlack's to see the OAK Team!

Whew... this is my busy time of the year at the day job!! So I am slow on updates for Comboland Radio. However I just learned a day or 2 ago that Terry Anderson and The Olympic Ass-Kickin' Team will be in National Championship form and playing some great rock and roll at Sadlack's Heros on Hillsborough Street Friday Night!!!! That's July 10th just in case you are wondering. I saw them there just about a year ago and they rocked!!! Of course.... they always do! And Sadlack's always rocks too! Awesome sandwiches!!!! I LOVE the Dr. Franks Special!! It would be wrong, so wrong, NOT to see The OAK Team in action at Sadlack's!

Comboland Radio New Music for June 30th

Got busy this past weekend and a bit caught up on adding new music to Comboland Radio, most from artists/bands new to the station.


I freely admit that I am not an expert of any sorts about all of the different bands/artists in North and South Carolina. What little I do know is from the time I spent going to see bands in my High School/College years and for a period of time thereafter. And those years were some years ago: let's say 1973 through about 1990. Even then I focused on the bands I liked so I missed a bunch even then. So trying to catch up on this ever changing music scene is challenging! People seem reluctant to make suggestions... except when I see them in person somewhere. Then I will get a few suggestions. But that is rare too as the day job keeps me busy and away from the places most of these bands are playing. So, again, if I am missing a band/artist that would fit on Comboland Radio please make the suggestion!


It is fun discovering artists that are new to me. It's seems a bit weird how and where you find them these days too. I have found quite a few by mining the Myspace friends and seeing who I con connect with. I found several current bands through Jason Adamo's friends, a couple from Parmalee's page... you know... their friends who are also bands/artists. I also like to search by location at CD Baby. The downside to that is there are 5149 Cd's available from North Carolina artists!!! They are categorized but still appear in no particular order in the search results. Some newer Cd's may be at the top of a search but other new releases are mixed in all the way through. I probably miss a lot of music that would fit on the station! But eventually if it fits I seem to find it.


James Deem would fit into that "I finally found it" category. He released the 10 song collection titled "jamesdeem.com" in 2007. He recorded it at Jamie Hoover's studio with Jamie producing and plying some of the instruments and singing background vocals. It's got a nice Power Pop feel to it with some neat songs that sound great in the mix on Comboland Radio. I am a bit embarrassed because I just noticed today that James is a Facebook fan of Comboland Radio. I've got 3 cuts from it in active rotation now on Comboland Radio.



There is a cool blog some of are are no doubt aware of called Power Pop Criminals. So much of the music that comes out of the Carolinas get classified as PP I have had good luck finding bands I missed along the way on blogs like this. This guy WOULD be an expert... unlike me! I found several nuggets on this site including Bullwinkel Gandhi. Produced by Mitch Easter this CD came out in 1996 and is out of print but absolutely worth tracking down!!! I have put 6 songs from this CD in active rotation. Now that is a bunch of tunes from 1 CD... and I may cull a couple out later but this one great PP CD!! They also have a 1994 release which I will begin tracking down.


Bullwinkel Gandhi spwaned several other bands which shared members here and there. Poppy Nosh, Clone Farm Carnival and Wonderwall are 3 which I have Cd's from and need to process and get into my system. I'll try to get them in this week.


Yet another spin-off band is Stratocruiser. This is where I sort of say to myself how did I miss these guys!! More on that in a minute. Some really fun tunes, good melodies and hooks... what's not to like!?! They have a newer single aimed at the "Guitar Hero" "Rock Band" crowd called "Kids Today Hate Rock And Roll". Love it!!! What WOULD those kids do with guitars with strings?!? (I've been told that those who actually play guitar do terrible at these games. True or not?) Another more recent single release is "Crazy Horses". Both of those go into Current rotation with a slew of their older tunes going into active rotation, with another one of their Cd's yet to process.



I already had cuts from The Saving Graces second CD in rotation but had somehow missed the earlier EP release called "These Stars Are For You" Some good stuff here with three cuts from it now on Comboland Radio!


Mark Kano popped up while doing one of those CD Baby "By Location" searches narrowed to Power Pop. He is no stranger to the music scene having had some success with his band "Athenaeum" which some of you will remember from the late '90's. Well he's back with a solo release "Walking On Broadway". This is a CD with several hits on it, 2 of which I have put into Current rotation: the title cut along with "Sad Songs". listen for them on Comboland Radio. You will like them and then want to go buy this CD. You could just go ahead and buy the CD... but why not listen to Comboland Radio anyway. You might discover some tunes you have missed!


In many ways the Internet has really helped independent artists. However there is so much out there it is also hard to sift through all of it to find just what you are looking for. It is challenging for an artist too as with so much out there it can be difficult to break through. That was part of the original mission for Comboland Radio; To give a voice to the local scene in the Carolinas and a place for fans to listen to and discover new music.



I have had questions about the difference between "Active" and "Current" rotation. Newer releases are played more often, older tunes less often. It is one of those old radio equations that has always worked. The question is how often to rotate new music? Current Hit Radio stations (CHR... today's Top 40) varies from once every hour and a half to once every 45 minutes in some cases. The turnover on the currents on Comboland Radio is a bit longer that 45 minutes! On Comboland Radio each artist in the two current categories has 2 songs in the rotation. One category allows 3 plays per day for each song, the other 2 plays a day for each song.



For example The OAK Team's "Goin' Or Comin'" (which is on as I am writing this) got played 23 times in the past seven days. "Indy 500" also got 23 plays. That's 56 plays for those 2 songs alone. Terry has a bunch of other OAK Team and solo songs that are in the other active categories so in total The OAK Team got 104 spins last week! And that doesn't count the Woods, Knobs and Yayhoos tunes.



104 spins is a bunch for sure but there are a ton of tunes here from 6 Cd's. A newer band like Hammer No More The Fingers would obviously have fewer as there is less material to choose from. However HNMTF got 52 spins for their 2 currents, "Shutterbug" and "Nobody Knows", plus 12 spins from cuts from their first CD. Where else did they get their songs played 64 times? It does benefit bands and artists included on the station to support it. It also helps the region as a whole. Everyone benefits!


I chose those 2 bands as examples because both have been supportive of Comboland Radio. Terry has gone as far to include links on his blog and on the Doublenaught Records website. I assume both believe a venture such as Comboland Radio is not only beneficial to them but to the scene as a whole. And as the regional scene as a whole is successful all of the bands/artists benefit. If you're an OAK Team or Hammer fan you are likely to find other music on the station you like enough to go see the band or buy a download or two. That is what a radio station like Comboland Radio can offer. If you are one of the bands/artists being played on the station I hope you will help promote this effort. Tell folks at your gigs, give it a link on the social network page of your choice, anything helps. Help spread the word about Comboland Radio! The more you help the station the more the station can do for you!

Comboland Radio Remembers Michael Jackson

I can vividly remember the first three LP's I ever purchased with my own money. The first was Jimi Hendrix's "Are You Experienced". My dad drove me the the Eckerds Drug Store the the Henderson, NC Mall... yeah they sold records back then. My dad was NOT happy with my purchase! I bought it just about the time he died which would have made me 13 years old.I was just beginning to explore music seriously. I was totally hooked on Jimi!







The second LP I purchased was "Let It Be". I had other Beatles albums and bunches of 45's but most were given to me. Many were half worn when I got them too! I still love that album. I was too young to know that Phil Specter had, in the eyes of many, ruined that record.







The next LP was the "ABC" album from the Jackson 5. I told people about these LP purchases and most laughed at the J5 purchase. It was a great pop album! I'm not sure my dad liked that one either, if for no other reason than I played it over and over and over... as 13 year old kids are want to do.




As much as I was becoming engrossed in the world of "Acid Rock" I have always loved pop music. Blame that on the transistor radio my grandfather gave me when I was almost 5 years old. I listened to it non-stop!! I always got batteries from somewhere... the battery fairy? I grew up listen to all of the great Top 40 stations from Raleigh when I was at home in Henderson, in Winston-Salem and Greensboro as a young kid before we moved, and all of those stations that would boom in at night. So no matter how deep I got into hard rock I would always keep up with and enjoy Top-40 pop music.



Once I decided to try radio as a career I went to work at the local Top-40 station WHNC in Henderson, NC. I was a baby DJ at the same time Michael Jackson was enjoying his huge rise to solo stardom so I played all of those monster hits on the radio then, and continued to play them through the years. I couldn't help but be a fan. Those songs were great pop songs.



While at that first radio gig I did a parody of "Do You Wanna Be Starting Something" call "Do You Wanna Be Crappie Fishing". While I was working briefly at Reflection Sound Studios in Charlotte Don Dixon found a tape of mine that had that song on it. He thought it was funny so he made copies and passed them around to I don't know how many people. Marti Jones was recording her first LP, "Unsophisticated Time" at about the same time and she and Dixon gave me a blurb on the album credits. I have had several people request a copy of this song in the past few years so with the greatest respect to a great musician I post it here.



Do You Wanna Be Crappie Fishing - Moose



The man had his issues and became downright strange. Nevertheless he was a talented artist who made many people happy with his music. RIP Michael.

More new music this weekend on Comboland Radio!!!

Comboland Radio New Music for June 22nd

I added couple of new bands to Comboland Radio this week. They are "The Comas" from Chapel Hill and "Airiel Down" from Raleigh. Both have been around for a few years. But as I have mentioned in previous posts I am still (probably always) trying to fill in the blanks with the bands/artists I have missed. It is difficult to follow the different music scenes from afar. But that's the way is is. And few others seem to want to build a radio station to promote the great music coming out of the Carolina's (and a little bit of Virginia!)... that geographic musical region known as "Comboland"! So I fill in where I can and when I discover bands that should be included. Check out the Band List page at Comboland Radio to see just who is on there. I may be missing some but check out all of the bands/artists that ARE there!!



The Comas have been around for over 10 years!! I just discovered them for myself last week. Three of their Cd's are available for download from the usual sources. Tunes from all three will start playing this week on Comboland Radio and I will be searching out the first release from the band to add as well.



The other band hitting the Comboland Radio airwaves this week is "Airiel Down". They've been around for a while too releasing their first CD, "Vision", in 2005, with a new one, "Shine" out now! I found out about these guys from a club owner who is booking them at his place, Levels in Elizabeth City. They have a bunch of shows coming up so go to their MySpace page for all of the dates and go see them!



A cool aspect of this process is that I personally like all of the music played on Comboland Radio. So discovering a "new to me" artist is a bit exciting. I get to listen to some cool new music then turn around and give it some exposure so others who may not be familiar can discover it for themselves. The artist then has another avenue of exposure... another place where their fans can listen to their music along with that of other similar artists. The fan of one band then finds a few others they like and the whole scene benefits. Exposure for all grows as the current fan base brings in their friends and gets them exposed. Everybody wins! So pass the word about Comboland Radio. And if you know of an artist/band from the Carolina area I am missing let me know about them!!



A band that found me and actually sent me a copy of their CD to play on Comboland Radio is playing at The Pour House in Raleigh on Monday, June 29th. Go see Nova Stella!!! They have also helped to spread the word about Comboland Radio by adding a link to their MySpace page and including CR as one of their top friends!! Thanks! You can hear Nova Stella on Combolad Radio and you can buy their CD here.

Combolnad Radio Review: Don Dixon at Papa Mojo's

This was the first time I have seen a Dixon show since the early 90's. I had seen him with Arrogance quite a few times since then but this is a totally different show. Don has had a prolific solo career releasing 9 solo Cd's plus a collaboration with Jamie Hoover and Jim Brock as "The Jump Rabbits", and a collaboration with wife Marti Jones, "Lucky Stars: New Lullabies For Old Souls". Not to mention all of the producing and song writing, acting... this is one multi-talented guy. There is so much material for him to choose from when compiling a set list for a show. Then again... I'm not really sure there was one.




The show started out with "Praying Mantis" which everyone in attendance at Papa Mojo's seemed to know and they responded as soon as the opening bass lick had been played. It's nice nice to play in front of a "home" crowd! The first set featured plenty of tunes from the "Jump Rabbits" "The Nu-Look" CD but also nuggets from Dixon's other CD's... songs like "Kitchen", "In A Politician's Bed", "Secret Room", again... there is so much to choose from. Dixon and crew sounded fabulous! Jamie's guitar work is impressive and Jim Brock is truly a world class percussionist. The three work together exchanging subtle cues and performing these songs superbly! Young artists could take a lesson from these guys and this performance on how to do a rock show! It moved along nicely, great song placement within the set. 40 plus years of performing for each of those guys provide the experience to do a great rock show. Plus they have the chops to pull it off. A couple of times Dixon would say "I'm tired... Jamie sing one". I don't know if that was planned or not but it did give the audience an opportunity to hear a few recent tunes from the Jamie Hoover/Spongetones repertoire. What a great show!!! As they stopped Dixon said they were taking a brief break but were going to play another set and there was a lot more to come. Boy was there!

The crowd thinned out a bit during the break. Man... those folks don't know what they missed. As a young musician Dixon was heavily influenced by Soul/R&B and Blues. You can hear it in his songs and in his vocal stylings. The second set of the night was a bit of a blues review with the owner of the venue, Mel Melton, joining the "Jump Rabbits" on stage and playing some incredible blues harmonica. Mel has had quite a bit of playing experience and fell right into the groove with the Blusey Rabbits as they played some fab Blues and R&B classics! Dixon had told me during the break to come up and remind him during the set to give Comboland Radio a plug. There was not one place during that set I dared to interrupt the flow. It was awesome!! More so because it was unexpected. A great treat to all of those who were still in attendance at Papa Mojo's. It was also further proof (as if we needed it!) of the depth of musical knowledge of Don, Jamie and Jim, and of their musical chops. It also showed how much the enjoy being on stage. Dixon did give Comboland Radio a plug at the end and I was thankful for that. He said "I told you to come up and remind me!!" "You know I forget!" I really couldn't do it. I was enjoying the show way too much.

I wrote a blog in response to Dixon's blog on MySpace about the April shows. His blog gave many, myself included, the impression that he was getting tired and may be slowing down. He said that was not his intention at all and that he was not "retiring". Well THAT was certainly some great news to hear, both as a fan and a friend. He certainly proved (again, if any was needed!) that he still has the playing chops and the ability and desire to entertain an audience. Let's hope he continues to do just that for a long time to come.

Papa Mojo's is a nice venue for an intimate show. And the food ain't bad either! Mel is a affable host who made folks feel welcome. We got there WAY early and had dinner. As we left our table so they could get a few more diners in he was concerned that we had been rushed but we assured him that was not the case. In fact the wait staff and hostess were great, as was the food. I would definitely go back... and if I lived there I would be a regular! At the end of the night we realized that there had been no smoking in the room. WOW! That was nice!

At this time Dixon only has one gig, June 28th in DC, on his site. I do know there is an Arrogance Birthday show coming up on Sept. 19th at the Cat's Cradle. So make sure you check his website and MySpace page often for updates and future gigs. Also buy a copy of the "Don Dixon & The Jump Rabbits" CD, "The Nu-Look". It is a great CD! Dixon's "Songs 101 - The Lyrics Of Don Dixon" is available too. I got my copy!






Have you gotten yours? Go to to Don's site now!

Comboland Radio New Music for June 10th

More new music has found it's way to Comboland Radio!! Two bands from Chapel Hill, North Elementary and Embarrassing Fruits, have recent CD releases. So a couple of tunes from each go into the "new music" rotation.

I'm still filling in holes in the playlist too, especially from the past 10 years or so. If you have suggestions please email me. The Comas will be added soon, maybe by the end of the day tomorrow.

Heading inland to catch Don Dixon on Friday night. Maybe I'll see you there!

Holsapple & Stamey "hERE aND nOW", OAK Team on the road!

I re-connected with an old college roommate yesterday via Facebook. He was an upperclassman at East Carolina University during my freshman year. We were both music majors and at the time shared some musical interests. I remember he had a Monkees Model Gretsch that I wanted, plus a silver face Twin-Reverb and a very nice Guild acoustic. Mike is an excellent musician... sax and clarinet, guitar too when he used to play it... I think he gave it up. I should have! He spent quite a few years touring with "The Dukes Of Dixieland" (2nd incarnation) and lived in New Orleans until he and his wife decided to have kids and thought there might be better places to raise them. He eventually got back to North Carolina and is still here, on the coast in Wilmington.





So I was checking out his profile and in the box where some people put a phrase or a quote Mike wrote "I miss the days when we listened to complete recordings & absorbed them over time." I made me think about where "music" is today as an industry and how people get their new music and how they listen to it. I know myself that I rarely do that when I get an MP3 download. I'll skip around, find the tunes I like and forget the others. The ability to do this has always been around but with a computer it is so easy. Maybe there is a time aspect to it too. Everyone is so pressed for time that maybe the opportunity to sit in one place for 45 minutes or so and focus on an album isn't possible. In my case I have been spoiled by "the hits" as that is what my industry, radio, focuses on. I thought about "The Wad's" quote a few time. I even mentioned it to my wife. Now we did sit and listen to the entire OAK Team CD "National Champions" all the way through the day we got it. But I can't remember another one in a very long time. I made a mental promise to do that more often. Then I walked to the mailbox where a surprise was waiting.





I had pre-ordered Peter Holsapple and Chris Stamey's CD hERE aND nOW a few weeks ago but wasn't expecting it until June 9th or later as the receipt plainly stated it would not be shipped until then, the official release date. But here it was... sitting in the mailbox. Did someone make a mistake? Did I get it early because of the little Internet radio station? Am I special? Probably yes, no and NO! Nevertheless I had it and it was the perfect night to put it in the CD player, sit on the deck and listen to the whole thing.... Which I did.



It should be noted that any thing I write about members of Arrogance, The Fabulous Knobs/Woods/OAK Team or The dB's and their music might ought to be taken with a grain of salt as I have always been huge fans of all three. However if something REALLY sucked I would probably point it out.





This was the perfect setting to listen to hERE aND nOW. A nice late spring night on the back deck as the sun was setting... and a cool old tune by "Family","My Friend The Sun", kicks off this CD. The recording is very open from a production standpoint. Very nice to listen to. Some great hooks and lyrics. The musicianship is fabulous. Then again I would expect no less from these two. A REAL reviewer, Fred Mills, commented the that harmonies were "Everlys-Worthy" and I couldn't agree more. However Peter and Chris always have always had great harmonies. Their voices compliment each other nicely. The record has an acoustic feel to it but is not totally acoustic. Very tasteful!



Track 2, "Santa Monica", does feature all four members of The dB's. Branford Marsalis plays on a couple of tracks, "Here And Now" and "Begin Again". A nice addition, especially on "Begin Again", Track 8.



This is a nice CD. Even though tempo wise I usually prefer up-tempo songs this has a nice balance. Just when I was ready to hear the pace pick up it did. There is something to be said for sequencing a record. I'm not sure some of today's artists and producers get the concept sometimes but these guys definitely do. It's helps to have good songs to sequence and they certainly do on hERE aND nOW.



So I got two nice surprises with "Big Easy" connections on the same day!!



Order this CD today. You won't be sorry. And if you do get it before the June 9th release date please don't tell me. That way I can feel special for a few more days!



Hey... speakin' of the Oak Team they are hittin' the road for Kentucky and Ohio so go see them if they are playing near your town. The new CD is getting some great reviews which Terry is posting on his blog. I'm telling you... If you don't have this CD you are missing some great tunes.



As always cuts from both of these Cd's are playing now on Comboland Radio! Listen and please tell AT LEAST 5 people you know.

Addendum! There is a great interview with Peter on the Lehigh Valley Music Blog.

And now... on with the countdown.

At the blog PowerPop they're counting them down all the way to Number One!!! Evidently they do this every Friday and this weeks countdown category is...

Most Memorable Post Elvis Song or Record Referencing Atmospheric Phenomena, i.e. Weather -- In the Title or Otherwise!!!

I don't want to spoil it for you but there is a Comboland artist at the top spot and you will get an Olympic Size Ass Kicknin' if you don't go see for yourself which artist/band and song it is.

Another hint... At Comboland Radio we play a ton of songs from this person from nearly every band this artist has ever been in.

Now remember... Keep your feet on the ground, keep reaching for the stars, and listen often to Comboland Radio!