Don’t let go . . . . .

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Cruising with The Commissioner #98 (28.02.13)

Well, we are anxious to see the arrival of Spring here in the Grand Duchy, but the odd snow flurry arrives to remind us that chill of Winter is still very much with us. But, nothing will deter us from extending the warmest of welcomes to the Cruising Crew, as we collect them in the highly polished Cruise Mobile for another musical adventure that we call Cruising with the Commissioner.  Just for the occasion, we prepared a playlist of some of the best in rock, soul and real rhythm and blues to accompany our athletic leaps across musical boundaries, in and out of time zones and jumping genres.

We managed three in a row from the girls and appropriately we included our ‘Girls and Guitars’ feature. I’m still impressed that we’ve managed to find so many great girls guitar players and singers and this week the spotlight turned on Shannon Curfman. She hails from Fargo in North Dakota and she burst onto the music scene in 1999, at the age of 14, with the release of her first album, ‘Loud Guitars, Big Suspicions’. We went to her 2010 solo album called ‘What You’re Getting Into’ for her cover of the Fleetwood Mac hit ‘Oh Well’.

We started our cruise there with a self-penned song called ‘No Good Lover’ from Mickey & Silvia that appeared in 1956 on RCA’s Groove records, but see what else we managed to squeeze in:

Cruising for the county line . . . . .                              
No Good Lover – Mickey & Silvia
Alarm Clock Boogie – Odelle Turner
Don’t Let Go – Roy Hamilton
Shindig – Mighty Joe Houston & His Orchestra
Thanks For a Little Lovin’ – The Trends
Treat Her Right – Roy Head
Twist & Shout – Beverley Knight
Gimme Shelter – Merry Clayton
Oh Well – Shannon Curfman
Third Man Theme – The Granville Williams Orchestra

Three From Me . . . . . with The Shake
Rainbow – The Motions
Now It’s Your Turn To Cry – The Sparklings
Winter Woman – The Ro-d-ys

Cruising with friends . . . . .
Lazy Day – Spanky & Our Gang
Fire It Up – Joe Cocker
I’ll Take You There – The Staple Singers
Teardrops – Womack & Womack
Strong Love – The Spencer Davis Group
Ain’t Got You – Billy Boy Arnold
Built For Comfort – Big Twist & The Mellow Fellows
Oye Como Va – Santana
Chicago Breakdown – Doctor Ross

Memory Lane . . . . with The Commissioner
I’m No Angel – The Gregg Allman Band

Cruising for home  . . . .
Why Do Me This Way? – Solomon Burke
Hurry – Doris Troy
I’m Gonna Love You A Long Time – Patti & The Emblems
I Got A Feeling – Barbara Randolph
Backfield In Motion – Mel & Tim
Just Hold My Hand – Big Boy Myles
Louella – Marcia Ball
Lipstick, Powder & Lace – Delbert McClinton

We said a sad farewell to guitarist Dan Toler this week. We recalled his time with the Allman Brothers Band and with the Gregg Allman’s Band and featured the title track from their album, ‘I’m No Angel’.

Well, we ran out of wine, ran out of time, but we surely didn’t run out of good music, because we left an ever growing pile of tasty treats in the pending tray. So, we’re looking forward to calling by for you, same time, same place next week, when we can catch up on some more great rock, soul and real rhythm and blues. As the proceedings came to a close, we wished a great and groovy week ahead, for all and we gathered our bags to head off for a long weekend in Paris. We plan to catch some sights and I’m rather hoping that we might be spared any 6os French pop music while we’re there . . . . so until the next time we go Cruising with The Commissioner . . . . . have fun!

Goin’ round in circles . . . .

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Cruising with The Commissioner #97 (21.02.13)

Well, here’s hoping that this week has been kind to you and that you arrived here in very good spirits. The events in the Grand Duchy have kept us on our toes and there’s been plenty to cram into the days since we last went Cruising with The Commissioner. The diary has come in for some deft juggling of commitments and against the odds we managed to squeeze in a return visit to see ‘The Jersey Boys’ and that gave us a reminder that Frankie Valli is due back in the UK later this year. It was a memorable week for the 50^th anniversary of the Beatles recording of their ‘Please Please Me’ album and it also included sad farewells to Kevin Ayes and Rick Huxley.

What was going to be a relaxing Tuesday evening, witnessed some last minute hyper-activity, when The Commissioner made an unscheduled appearance as host of Max’s Magic Circles. Max was on a mission to the West country and couldn’t work his magic from there, so the ordered calm of Cruise Control was thrown into chaos with CDs and boxes of 45s being pulled out in search of some juicy gems for the impromptu playlist . . . . . and we discovered a few old favourites along the way!

We found Thursday rolled around with rarely a moment for reflection, but cheered by the prospect of the good company of the Cruising Crew. This week we welcomed back one of the very regular members of the Cruising Crew, Lil-Sis, with a rather special selection in support of a marathon attempt for a very worth cause and you can check out the details on our website.

With great foresight and anticipation, we saved a seat especially for you on our musical adventure and the Cruise Mobile was polished and primed to ensure we were properly prepared to go Cruising with The Commissioner. We set off in fine style with Atlanta’s own Blue Dots and their 1957 Ace recording of ‘Saturday Night Fish Fry’, followed smartly by New Orleans R&B singer Bobby Mitchell & The Toppers with a 1956 Imperial recording ‘Goin’ Round In Circles’. You can check out the rest of the playlist here:

Cruising for the city limits . . . . .                                      
Saturday Night Fish Fry – The Blue Dots
Goin’ Round In Circles – Bobby Mitchell & The Toppers
Rockin’ & Rollin’ Again – Annie Laurie
Baby Baby, Oh My Darling – The Clovers
Cracked Up Over You – Danny White
Strong Love – The Malibus
Put Yourself In My Place – Ann Peebles
I Can’t Stand The Rain – Seal
Dust My Broom – Carolyn Wonderland
Honky Tonk Women – Taj Mahal

Three from Me  . . . . . with Lil-Sis
Born To Run – Bruce Springsteen
The Race – Yello
Thank You Very Much / Keep On Running – The Spencer Davis Group

Cruising for the horizon . . . . .
Caribbean Moon – Kevin Ayers
Boys – The Shirelles
Anna (Go With Him) – Arthur Alexander
Baby It’s You – The Shirelles
Twist & Shout – The Isley Brothers
Show me the Money – Buddy Guy
Starman – Baked A La Ska
Hi Hi Hazel – Geno Washington & The Ram Jam Band
Smokey Joe’s Cafe – The Robins
Eight Ball – The Hustlers

Memory Lane  . . . .  with The Commissioner
Glad All Over – Dave Clark Five

Cruising for home . . . . .
Shelter Song – Temples
Gimme Shelter – Paul Brady & The Forest Rangers
Blue Stew – Paul Thorn
Nice To Be Nice – Albert King
Curtains – The Shotgun Express
My Man Is A Sweet Man – Millie Jackson
Step By Step – Joe Simon
Eternal Love – Oscar McLollie & His Honey Jumpers
Wear Your Black Dress – Willie Egan

We found some urban blues for our Girls with Guitars feature this week, which focused on Carolyn Wonderland and a track from her 2011 album ‘Peace Metal’. This was her take on a classic Robert Johnson song ‘Dust My Broom’, which Carolyn does very much in the style of Elmore James.

We certainly clocked up a good few miles on our cruise this week, but it had to come to and end, when time caught up with us at last. So, we parked up the Cruise Mobile, and attempted to clear up the debris that seems to accumulate during our musical adventures, but we were distracted! The Cruisettes were getting ready for an after show party and Mr Merlot was already on his way there to ensure things were all as they should be . . . . so we threw caution to the four winds and joined them.

If you enjoyed our playlist selection this week, then we are most hopeful that we can look forward to some more of your good company next week. We’ll be all ready to call by to pick you up, same time, same place and invite you go Cruising with The Commissioner.

If you can’t wait till then, why not check out some of the other radio shows we enjoy, including the Tuesday night mafia here on Wireless FM . . . . you never know who or what you might hear.

So, until the next time we go Cruising with The Commissioner . . . . have fun!

Cruising down the highway . . . .

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Cruising with The Commissioner #96 (14.02.13)

Well, here in the Grand Duchy, we are waiting patiently for good news and good weather, but we’re not short of good company. There has been much activity and we certainly didn’t find ourselves with time on our hands this week. Plenty of social encounters and not a few chores to get out of the way. Some how, we found enough time to prepare for our weekly musical adventure that we call Cruising with The Commissioner. We made good use of the time and found a few treats and included a special feature on celebrated R&B artist, Richard Berry . . . . all designed to tantalise your musical taste buds.

Our Girls & Guitars feature has had plenty of nominations from the cruising crew for inclusions and this week the focus fell on Sue Foley and this is due in no small measure to the entreaties of the esteemed Arfa Pinetop. Our choice came from her Antone’s album ‘Queen Bee’ and it was ‘Lightening Boogie’.

Another joy on this week’s show was the special feature on celebrated R&B artist, Richard Berry, and we are indebted to our good pal Pete Hall and his associates for tracking down the interview by Paul Jones and the opportunity to hear from Richard Berry himself.

Our cruising travels started off in the knowledge that it was Valentine’s day. So, we kicked off with a hint of romance with Jackie Wilson and ‘Love Train’ and to enter into the spirit of things, we followed up with The Clovers and ‘Love, Love, Love’. Then we were motoring well and there was nothing better than just sitting back and relaxing.

For Valentine’s day, we could have played ‘Kiss Me Honey, Honey Kiss Me’ by Shirley Bassey, but we just didn’t have time . . . . . as you can see:

Cruising way out of town . . . . .                                       
Love Train – Jackie Wilson
Love Love Love – The Clovers
Doctor Love – Bobby Sheen
I’m Falling In Love With You Baby – Little Joe Cook
I Guess I’ll Always Love You – The Isley Brothers
Truly Your – the Spinners
Lovely Dee – The Untouchables
Rescue Me – Dee Dee Warwick
It’s Growing – Margie Johnson
Lightening Boogie – Sue Foley
Baby Let Me Follow You Down – Bob Dylan

Three From Me . . . . . with Mrs TC
Mr Blue Sky – ELO
Wondrous Place – Billy Fury
Big Bad Handsome Man – Imelda May

Cruising with Richard Berry . . . . .
Yamma Yamma Pretty Mama – Richard Berry
She Wants To Rock – The Flairs
Real Good Lovin’ Man – The Flairs
Have Love Will Travel – Richard Berry
Get Out Of The Car – Richard Berry
Rockin’ Man – Richard Berry
Riot In Cell Block No.9 – The Robins
Louie Louie – Richard Berry
Mad About You – Richard Berry

Memory Lane . . . . with the Commissioner
Good Old Rock ‘n’ Roll – Cat Mother & The All Night Newsboys

Cruising for home . . . .
Cruising Down The Highway – The James Gang
Not Fade Away – Roy Rogers
Hard Knocks – Joe Cocker
Twist & Shout – David Linley
A Night with Daddy “G” – The Church Street Five
Right Eye’s Jumping – Ray Collins Hot Club

Well, the archives got a good visit to research the background to the song ‘Baby Can I Take You Down’. It was first recorded in 1935 by the State Street Boys, and again by Washboard Sam in 1936. After that it got adapted by the Harlem Hamfats in 1937 and by Blind Boy Fuller in 1938. Indeed, it was that Blind Boy Fuller version of the song that was adapted by the Reverand Gary Davis and Eroc Von Schmidt in the 50s and influenced the young, up and coming folk singer Bob Dylan, who made it famous on his debut album.

It turns out, we had an unsupervised visit from Mrs TC, wafting into Cruise Control to play with equipment. Fortunately, no lasting damage was done and we did get the benefit of Mrs TC’s Three From Me, which seemed to be particularly well received, judging by the chatroom chatter.

Our trip down Memory Lane this week took us back to 1969 and a much trailed album of the year, which came from a new band called Cat Mother and The All Night Newsboys. Their first album was titled ‘The Street Giveth… and the Street Taketh Away’ and was produced by Jimi Hendrix, including a track called ‘Good Old Rock ‘n’ Roll’ that became their single.

The sand in the egg timer ran out before we had played all that we had for our playlist, but we were already looking forward to next week when we hope to have your good company again to go Cruising with The Commissioner. If that seems too far off, you can always check out our website for the other shows we enjoy.

So, until the next time we go Cruising with The Commissioner . . . . remember to . . . . have fun!

Be my guest . . . .

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Cruising with The Commissioner #95 (07.02.13)

Well, the world has kept on turning since we last met and in the Grand Duchy this week there’s been plenty to do. We’ve been attending to some maintenance chores around Cruise Control and trying to exploit the moments of sunshine that came to brighten our spirits. The sunshine encouraged us to roll out the Cruise Mobile and polish it up ready to go Cruising with The Commissioner.

We collected together some of the best in rock, soul and real rhythm and blues . . . . and we were only waiting for some good company to set off on another musical adventure. This week, we had a visit from the much esteemed Arfa Pinetop. He’s always a larger than life character and arrived to quickly fill a few corners of our playlist with his own choices of music . . . . and very good they were too.

Well, the social diary has been filling up here at Cruise Control and there are plenty of gigs getting slotted in the weeks and months ahead, which is all good stuff and it wasn’t that long ago that we caught up with the esteemed Johnny Alpha on one of his London gigs.

But, the sad news came through that, after some 3 years of excellent playlists, we have said adieu to Wirelesss FM’s Killer Diller Show, as its host, Johnny Alpha is taking an extended break to concentrate on other things. So, this week we saluted Johnny Alpha and picked out a few of the many tracks that he presented, just to remind ourselves of some of those joyful discoveries.

We set off in fine style with some jumpin´ RnB, delivered by one of Germany´s hottest band, Ray Collins’ Hot Club, with ‘Mine All Mine’, a track from their excellent 2009 album called ‘Honk My Horn’ and we followed up fast with Fats Domino and his timely invitation to Be My Guest.

Cruising way out of town . . . . .
Mine All Mine – Ray Collins’ Hot Club
Be My Guest – Fats Domino
Barefoot Susie – Waymon Brown
Whirlwind – Barret Strong
Great Googa Mooga – Lee Dorsey
It Hurts me So Bad – Lattimore Brown
The Boy From New York City – The Ad Libs
Just One Look – Doris Troy
Count Me In – Ana Popovic
Hot Nuts – Lil Johnson

Three From Me . . . . . with Arfa Pinetop
Not Fade Away – The Rolling Stones
Brown Eyed Handsome Man – Buddy Holly
Jo Jo Gunne – Chuck Berry

Cruising with friends . . . . .
Run Run Run – Jo Jo Gunne
Surge – Adam Franklin
Radio Nowhere – Noush Skaugen
You Can Do Magic – Limmie & the Family Cookin’
You’ve Got Me Danglin’ On A String – Chairmen of The Board
Girls Are Out To Get You – The Fascinations
A Message To You Rudy – Dandy Livingstone
Fever – Trini Lopez
Our Man In Havana – The McCoy Boys
Hide Nor Hair – Ray Charles

Memory Lane . . . . with the Commissioner
Rave On – Buddy Holly/ Come On Let’s Go – Ritchie Valens/ Chantilly Lace – The Big Bopper

Cruising for home . . . . . .
Soul Shake Down Party – Bob Marley & the Wailers
Hi Hi Hazel – The Troggs
Hurt By Love – Charlie Foxx & Inez
Baby Baby – The Steampacket
Keep A Knockin’ – Chuck Willis
Let’s Have A Party – Mike Sanchez
Rosa Lee – Andre Williams
I Gotta Get Me A Woman – The Drifters
Saturday Night Fish Fry –  The Swing Cats
Smack Smack – Marvin & Johnny
Miss Bombilla Brown – Diz & The Doormen
I Got It – Little Richard

Our ‘Girls & Guitar’ feature this week, threw its spotlight on Ana Popovic and picked out her album track, ‘Count Me In’. Meanwhile, our trip down Memory Lane took us back to a cold, snowy day in America’s mid-West, when 3rd February 1959 became the day music died. We took the timely opportunity to take a trip back down Memory Lane to mark that fateful day and the passing of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper. Another more current sadness came with the news that lead singer with The Troggs, Reg Presley, had lost his fight with the big C and left us with his musical catalogue and some memories. So, we paid our tribute to Reg with the Trogg’s 1966 single ‘Hi Hi Hazel’, a song that was also recorded that year by Geno Washington & The Ram Jam Band.

Courtesy of Jo Jo Gunne, we caught a running theme, which was a good opportunity to focus on The Vikster’s forthcoming marathon running and in case you want to support her . . . . here’s the link to her fundraising page: http://www.justgiving.com/Vikki-Roberts/

Well, we ran out of time, ran out of wine, but there was no chance that we’d run out of music. We still had plenty left in the pending tray, ready for next week’s journey through the juicy gems from the Cruising Library. So, if you’re around, same time same place next week, we’ll call by for you so we can all go Cruising with The Commissioner. But, until next week, remember to . . . . . have fun!

Nowhere to run . . . . .

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Cruising with The Commissioner #94 (31.01.13)

Well, I very much hope that things are well in your corner of the world and that the ‘groovy times’ are upon you, wherever you are. We managed to organise the many other demands on our time, so that we were primed and poised ready for our Thursday night musical extravaganza. The Cruising Crew turned up and looking good and eager to get underway, so we pulled out the pile of tasty treats for our playlist and headed off towards the horizon on this week’s Cruising with The Commissioner.

Our musical postman has kept us supplied with some excellent new entries to the Cruising Library and every little helps to tantalise your aural orifices with some of the best in rock, soul and real rhythm and blues.

For our Girls & Guitars feature this week, we turned the spotlight on Deborah Coleman who hails from Portsmouth, Virginia and started playing guitar at the age of 8. She has since become a celebrated blues singer and guitarist through her live performances and her recordings and we chose a track from her 2005 album ‘Living On Love’, which shows her singing and guitar playing talents on ‘Memory Lane’.

Our gig list recently included Paul Carrack, whose live show included a song from his time in the mid 70s as front man for the group Ace. He wrote the group’s big hit ‘How Long’ and hearing it, was a reminder of a great version by Bobby Womack. So, we went a-rummaging in the Cruising Library to find it and put into the playlist this week.

We set off on our cruise in the way we like, with something uptempo and guaranteed to get us in a good mood. We picked out Johnny Angel and his 1958 recording on Vin Records of ‘Baby It’s Love’, a fine song that was recorded by Buddy Holly and Bob Montgomery before then. Then, with barely a pulse-beat of a pause, we followed up fast with The Four Tunes and their 1956 Jubilee release called ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Call’. But check out the rest of the playlist here:

Cruising for the horizon . . . . 
Baby It’s Love – Johnny Angel
Rock ‘n’ Roll Call – The Four Tunes
Flat Foot Sam Met Jim Dandy – Oscar ‘TV Slim’ Wills
I Want You – The Cadets
Hey Miss Fanny – The Clovers
Burning Rain – Phillip Goodhand-Tait & The Stormsville Shakers
How Long – Bobby Womack
Just My Imagination – Barry Biggs
Memory Lane – Deborah Coleman
Georgia Rag – Blind Willie McTell

Three From Me . . . . . with The Vikster
Beechwood 45789 – The Marvelettes
Beg Borrow & Steal – Rare Breed
I’ll Come Running – Hell On Wheels

Cruising all along, down along, out along lee . . . .
Everybody Needs Somebody To Love – The Blues Brothers
6345789 – Wilson Pickett
Louie Louie – The Kingsmen
Turn Turn Turn – Cannata
Love Minus Zero – The Leaves
Do You Believe In Magic – The Lovin’ Spoonful
Drivin’ Wheel – Big Twist & the Mellow Fellows
Matchbox – Jonny Lang
Midnight Shift – The Hollies
Nowhere To Run – The Isley Brothers

Memory Lane  . . . . with The Commissioner
Chill Out – Carlos Santana & John Lee Hooker
 
Cruising for home . . . . 
Turn On Your Lovelight – Bobby ‘Blue’ Bland
Whatcha Gonna Do About It – Doris Troy
Come and See Me (I’m Your Man) – J J Jackson
Jimmy Mack – The James Taylor Quartet
Wonderful World – Otis Redding
Sweet Thing – Billie Kennedy
Almost Grown – Mike Sanchez
Shirley – John Fred & The Playboys
Rubber Biscuit – The Chips

Well, this week we included plenty of opportunities to jump genres and weave in and out of time zones. That was something for those amongst the Cruising Crew who like a little Ska and Reggae with a reworking of the old Temptations number ‘Just My Imagination’ by Barry Biggs an, for the delight of devotees of scratchy records, we went back to 1931 for ‘Georgia Rag’ from Blind Willie McTell.

As ever, we’re always ready to welcome cheery folks with smiling faces and this week we got some more of that when the Vikster came to call. She came breezing in with some musical memories of her recent good will mission to America and a challenge or two. We rose well to the challenge . . . . I think . . . . but you can judge for yourself.

So, our cruise this week certainly covered a good deal of ground and we managed to squeeze in some great rock, soul and real rhythm and blues, but time ran out long before our music did. So, fighting back the emotions, we turned for home and rolled gently to a stop at Cruise Control, all ready to put the records away, and dust down the Cruise Mobile ready for next week. But, there were plenty more juicy gems in the pending tray, so if you’re up for another unpredictable musical adventure in good company, we’ll call by for you next week, same time, same place . . .  and we can do it all over again.

In the meantime, why not check out our website, scribble something on our wall, and take a listen to some of the other radio shows that we much enjoy, including the Tuesday night mafia here on Wireless FM.

So until the next time we go Cruising with The Commissioner . . . .  have fun!