Zero to 180 – Three Minute Magic

Discoveries of a Pop Music Archaeologist

Month: January 2015

"Philadelphia - Greatest Little City in the USA"
Zeroto180

Philadelphia’s Rebirth Begins Here

WCAU, one of Philadelphia‘s earliest radio stations (first broadcast:  May 22, 1922), could not sit idly by and allow Philadelphia’s less-than-stellar reputation go unchallenged — so it went on the offensive.  The result:  Just a Philadelphia Minute. WCAU — “a CBS-owned station, represented nationally by CBS Radio Spot Sales” —

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"A Bubble Called You"
Zeroto180

“A Bubble Called You”: No Offense, Philly

Just an hour or so up the interstate from Baltimore resides a prominent metropolitan area that was once the “Rodney Dangerfield” of East Coast cities:  Philadelphia.   Somehow in the course of looking for bowling songs, I chanced upon this curious piece of sunshine pop – “A Bubble Called You“ by

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Baltimore in song
Zeroto180

100+ Years of Baltimore in Song

Myla Goldberg, a self-identified and staunch “Yankee,” contributed an essay in State by State:  A Panoramic Portrait of America that relates, in amusing fashion, how her “incipient sense of state pride” as a grade-school student “was dependent upon Maryland’s Northern-ness.”   Maryland’s decision, for instance, to fight for the Union cause,

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"Wine and Grine"
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“W[h]ine and Grine”: Rocksteady with Pre-Fame Jeremy Sisto

<Spotify LINK to Prince Buster Mix> Thanks to Dave Katz‘s feature article about Prince Buster in the June 2008 issue of Mojo for leading me to this 1998 Levi’s ad that stars a young Jeremy Sisto before the HBO series, Six Feet Under, made him a breakout star: * Video clip

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"Tributo a Martin Luther King"
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Tribute to MLK: Eerily Prescient

Wilson Simonal‘s tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr., a single that was released – eerily enough – the year before his assassination: “Tributo a Martin Luther King“     Wilson Simonal de Castro (1967) “Tributo a Martin Luther King” was the A-side of a single released in 1967, around the same

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"Bowling U.S.A."
Zeroto180

Ten-Pin Pop: Nothing But Bowling Songs

A rousing game of the ten-pin variant known as duckpin made me wonder recently how many songs have been written in celebration of the sport of bowling — an all-ages balm for these fun-starved times. In “Bowling U.S.A.,” Wayne Kent, lead singer of The Blue Flames, exalts in one of

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"Rise"
Zeroto180

“Rise”: The Spirit of Sahm

It was hard not to get swept up in Ed Ward‘s enthusiasm in his October 1, 1970 Rolling Stone review of an up-and-coming Texan band (by way of Prunedale, California) that had been “discovered” and mentored by Doug Sahm.  The band’s debut, a masterpiece in Ward’s estimation, had been released

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"Rock Steady Rodeo"
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“Rock Steady Rodeo”: Saddle Up, Mon

1996 saw the independent release of the debut album by a group of renegade Canadian musicians – The Reggae Cowboys – who, in a supreme leap of faith, dared to fuse Jamaican reggae rhythms with, well, cowboy music and imagery. Van Halen’s “Hang ’em High” as kick-off track As reported

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"Jamaican Boy"
Zeroto180

“Jamaican Boy”: Jazz Fusion Reggae Instrumental

Three musicians – Stanley Clarke, Jeff Beck, and Steve Gadd – with keyboard embellishments from a fourth, Bayeté Todd Cochran: “Jamaican Boy“ Stanley Clarke (1979) * “Jamaican Boy” was a 45 release from 1979’s I Wanna Play for You studio/live hybrid LP and one of Record World‘s “Single Picks” for

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"Swan Lager"
Zeroto180

“Swan Lager”: Prog Rock Reggae

Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman‘s beery take on Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake” became the A-side of a 45 released by A&M in 1979: “Swan Lager“ Rick Wakeman (1979) * “Swan Lager” also served as side two’s closing track for 1979 double LP, Rhapsodies.  Cash Box would post a review in its June

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