WTIT Top 15 Female Rockers

Today the WTIT Tape Radio Blog we present, formally, our first feature of A DJ’s Take. Today, we will share with you our picks for the Top 15 Female Rock Vocalists of the rock era. Check out our other Top Artist & Songs features in our sidebar. We will give you the artist and out favorite song of theirs. Let’s cue up the first A DJ's Take!

15. CARLY SIMON. In the 70’s she was as good as there was. The mystery about who she was singing about in “You’re So Vain” still creates conversation. She auctions the answer (on the condition of the secret staying, well secret) and raised a lot of money for charity with that bit. Before, during and after her marriage to James Taylor, she wrote and performed a lot of rock classics. Who could forget “The Wives Are in Connecticut”? Okay then, who can remember it?

Our favorite: “You’re So Vain”. (Sorry, it’s still a great song). And Warren Beattie is the our best guess to the question.

14. MAMA CASS ELLIOTT. Another great voice silenced too young. Cass both with The Mamas and the Papas and solo, could belt out a tune. A sad life, being in love with Denny, only to have Michelle leave John (The late John Phillips, The Mamas and Papas' leader.) and go to Denny. As good a song writer John Phillips was, without Cass there would have been no band.

Our Favorite: The first. “California Dreaming”.

13. CHER. She’s been of favorite of ours since “I Got You Babe”. As an actress she was brilliant in “Moonstruck” and “The Mask”. Her work with ex-husband, the late Sonny Bono, was classic. Her hit in the 90’s “Believe” is one of the most popular dance songs of all time. Cher is unique. And that’s why we love her.

Our Favorite: “Walking in Memphis”.

12. CAROLE KING. Just the hits she wrote with her ex-husband in the early sixties showed how amazingly talented Carole is. When she released “Tapestry” WTIT was still counting down the Top 100 albums on a Tape Radio Show. (We did it yearly from 1967 to 1974. Then we stopped. In 1989, we counted down the top 100 songs of the decade and did it once again in 1999. I’m already looking forward to the 2009 version.) She was number one that year and still in the Top 100 a year later.

Our Favorite: “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow”.

11. SARAH MCLACHLIN. Sarah has a beautiful quality to her vocals. While cut from the same cloth as a lot of 90’s singers (see: Alanis.) she is very distinctive because of the depth of her vocals and her range. She was the first artist I saw on “Launch” which is a rock video site from I believe Yahoo. Just she and her piano. It was magic.

Our Favorite: “Adia”.

10. JEWEL. She was another 90’s artist that came out while we were still in alternative rock radio. She would appear anywhere to open for any decent rock act. We were suppose to meet one night, but something came up (with me) and it didn’t happen. What the fuck was I thinking? She is just a terrific writer and singer.

Our favorite: “You Were Meant for Me”.

9. GRACIE SLICK was as good a rock singer as there ever was. Her work with Jefferson Airplane is amazing. It was just unfortunately that she stayed with the various incarnations of Jefferson Starship after they became Starship and became totally irrelevant. Give me “Somebody to Love” not “We Built This City”. We saw an interview with her recently and boy did she not age well. She looked 95. I thinking…drugs…maybe?

Our Favorite: “White Rabbit”.

8. SHERYL CROW. She was fun right from the start from that first hit, “All I Wanna Do” when she met a guy named “Bud” at a bar. She is such a force. The album “C’mon C’mon” was on our Top 50 of all time. She will be around a LONG time. She should be number one, really. If it weren’t for the others, we mean.

Our Favorite: “Strong Enough”.

7. STEVIE NICKS. When WTIT was offered $$$$ to write comedy for the American Comedy Network (we passed on the offer BTW) they played us a parody of Stevie called the “What the Hell is She Saying” album. It’s true her lyrics are cryptic and she at times IS tough to understand. But we could listen to her music whether in Buckingham/Nicks, Fleetwood Mac or solo for days.

Our Favorite: “Edge of Seventeen”.

6. ALANIS MORRISETTE. She truly changed the sound of a female rocker in the 90’s. Even to this day whether it’s Pink or Natalie Merchant, the style was originally Alanis. We were working at an alternative rock station when she came along. She wrote great lyrics and what an edge! To have a HUGE hit that the censors edited twice is something. Every guy wanted to take her to a movie, that is for sure.

Our Favorite: “You Ought to Know”

5. LINDA RONSTADT. Linda can sing anything. She might have the best pure voice on our list. She was just as talent on her collaboration with Nelson Riddle and the standards as she was belting out rock ‘n roll. She did put on the pounds over the years, didn’t she?

Our Favorite: “When We I Be Loved” The Everly Brother’s cover.

4. MELISSA ETHERIDGE. Yes she is. That great a rock vocalist, that is. When she burst on in the late 80’s/early 90’s you only had to hear her once to know she’d be around for a while. There is only one thing we never understood. Who would want David Crosby to father their baby and why?

Our Favorite: “I’m the Only One”

3. PAT BENATAR. This woman can sing. We cannot think of a more powerful rock vocalists in her heyday, the 1980’s. The ONLY problem we ever had were sometimes with her song’s lyrics. Most were written by men (read: boyfriends in the band) and often didn’t ring true. Example: What guy could ever use “Sex as a Weapon”? We are good, but not that good.

Our Favorite: “Hit Me With Your Best Shot”.

2. JANIS JOPLIN. Janis Joplin was The Queen of Rock, the same way Aretha is The Queen of Soul. Her tortured life made her the ultimate blues singer. And as far as belting out a rock song goes nobody has ever done it better. As good, but never better. She made her start with Big Brother and the Holding Company. Her laugh was infectious. It was such a waste that she spun out of control and died so young.

Our Favorite: "Down on Me" studio version.

1. BONNIE RAITT. This was an easy choice for me. While I would agree that Janis was the Queen of Rock, I can’t ignore Bonnie’s longevity and incredible range of styles both vocally and musically. Besides, she is the only lady on this list that once kissed Bud Weiser. I did promise not to kiss and tell, but shit, that was a LONG time ago. Many think Bonnie started in the late eighties because that is when she becaume a superstar. She started record in 1972 and I own every one of her albums.

Our favorite: "I Can't Make You Love Me."

That's it for a Thursday

at the WTIT Tape Radio Studio.

We hope you liked this feature,

if you do let us know.

Perhaps we will do it again.

Join us tomorrow for

Dating Profiles on The WTIT Tape Radio Blog.

Same time. Same blog.

Welcome Back

WTIT Tape Radio has always been about the music and our comedy. Our blog, however, is all about our slightly warped humor. I am not sure if I have ever devoted a spot in this space to a single artist. There was a story in the Hartford Courant today about Yusuf Islam. The column not only caught my attention, but also allowed me to get some insight of what an incredibly talented recording artist did at the peak of his career. He just walked away in 1978, while on top. I always wondered why Yusuf did that. Oh, you might remember his stage name. It was Cat Stevens.

“Father and Son”, “Wild World”, “Peace Train” (almost like a Peace Globe, Mims.), “Where Do the Children”, “If You Want to Sing Out”, “Oh Very Young” are just a few of the fabulous songs he wrote. Some songs like “The First Cut is the Deepest”, have been covered by rockers like Rod Stewart and Sheryl Crow. I was a DJ (not just a WTIT DJ, I was in radio back then) and Cat Stevens stated he had become a Muslim and stopped his music. At the time he stated that he felt he could not do both, explore his new-founded (1977) religion and continue to be a performer. Poof. He was gone.

The last couple of times I heard of the singer, (born Steven Demetre Georgiou and raised Greek Orthodox) were right after 9/11 and when Dolly Parton was on The Daily Show with John Stewart. After 9/11 Yusuf was outspoken in his condemnation. Ironicly, he was put on our national “no fly” list. In 2004 he was refused entry into the United States. Dolly Parton did a “duets album" and while Yusuf did not sing with her, she covered a song of his and he played guitar on it.

Close to thirty years later, Yusuf is back. He recently recorded his first rock album since 1978. It is called “An Other Cup”. I have not heard it yet, but I probably will at sometime today. Amazon has a very good interview with him and he sings a bit of “Peace Train” and one of the new songs. He sounds great. Click here to watch the interview and preview the album. It took him a very long time to realize you can be both religious and commercial. I have read a ton of accounts of this story after I put down the paper.

I am not sure if I still fully understand how the former Cat Stevens could just walk away. It really does not matter. Yusuf said his one goal is to help bridge understanding between the Muslim world and the West. He still talks mostly about peace. He is also talking about a tour. Trust me, if it comes to the northeast, I will be there. It is nice to have him back. Welcome back, Yusuf.

Thank you for taking the time to stop by on a busy Friday!

WTIT Time Machine Goes to 1969

The WTIT 1969 Staff Picture

The WTIT Tape Radio Blog got tagged by Sanni of Coffee 2 Go to do a Musical MEME Wayback-Machine.

The rules:

1. Go to http://www.popculturemadness.com/.

2. Pick the year you turned 18.

3. Get yourself nostalgic over the song´s of the year

4. Write something about how the song affected you.

5. Pass it on to 5 more friends

1969 was the year I turned 18. Uncle Sam thought it would be good to have a draft lottery. The prize? An all expenses paid trip to Vietnam. I did draw a number I believe in the 270’s, beyond the draft exposure. I went to college and would have been deferred to at least 1973 anyway. In 1969 I graduated from high school on June 3rd. I entered Emerson College in the fall. My high school girlfriend told me “God told her to break up with me.” What could I do? You don’t argue with God. While I struggled academicly in high school, I did very well (Dean's List) at Emerson.

These were the # 1 hit singles in 1969 according to Billboard.

December 14, 1968 - January 31, 1969: - I Heard It Through The Grapevine - Marvin Gaye. One of the best all time Motown songs, Gladys Knight would cover it, as well.

February 1 - February 14: Crimson And Clover - Tommy James & the Shondells. At WTIT we loved this song so much, that if we driving as a group in two or more cars, we’d pull over to tell one another which rock station was playing it.

February 15 - March 14: Everyday People - Sly & The Family Stone. Sly Stone would wind up a rather tragic figure. He and his family were at their peak in 1969.

March 15 - April 11: Dizzy - Tommy Roe. A “bubblegum” song I loved, BC. Before college. Then I learned about REAL music.

April 12 - May 23: Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures) - The 5th Dimension. From the broadway musical “Hair”. A combo of two of its songs that had really nothing to do with each other.

May 24 - June 27: Get Back - The Beatles (with Billy Preston). Recorded on the roof of Apple records. “I want to thank you on behalf of the group and meself, I hope we passed the audition.” John Lennon

June 28 - July 11: Love Theme From Romeo & Juliet - Henry Mancini. From the sappy movie. WTIT spoofed the movie and called it “Another Love Story”.

July 12 - August 22: In The Year 2525 (Exordium & Terminus) - Zager & Evans. A silly Sci-fi pop song.

August 23 - September 19: Honky Tonk Women - The Rolling Stones. When WTIT counted down the best selling songs in Hartford for 1969, this was number one.

September 20 - October 17: Sugar, Sugar - The Archies. A comic book band? Yuk. Huge hit, however.

October 18 - October 31: I Can't Get Next to You - The Temptations. The Temps at their best.

November 1 - November 7: Suspicious Minds - Elvis Presley. Elvis was so…50’s.

November 8 - November 28: Wedding Bell Blues The 5th Dimension. Why wouldn’t Bill marry her?

November 29 - December 5: Come Together - The Beatles. I can’t add anything here.

December 6 - December 19: Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye) - Steam. Destined to become a sports song. At the end of games, you still hear it on occasion.

December 20 - December 26: Leaving On A Jet Plane - Peter, Paul & Mary. Did she ever return?

December 27, 1969 - January 2, 1970: Someday We'll Be Together - Diana Ross & The Supremes. This song ended the run of the most popular Motown women’s group. What a run they had.

Best Picture Oscar of 1969.

Top News Stories of 1969

January 1969 Richard Nixon sworn in as president.

The worst until George W.

July 21, 1969 Neil Armstrong walks on the moon.

One giant step.

August 1969 Sharon Tate murdered by Manson cult.

Manson

Anti war demonstrations.

I marched for peace in Washington. I marched for peace in Boston. I am a patriot and I love my country. We did not learn our lesson in 'Nam about civil wars. We have got to get out of Iraq. Put up your Peace Globe!

November 26, 1969 - Lottery for Selective Service draftees bill signed by President Nixon

Burning a draft card.

A list of the top 5 popular albums from the 1969 Billboard charts includes title and artist.

1969

1. IN-A-GADDA-DA-VIDA Iron Butterfly

2. HAIR Original Cast

3. BLOOD, SWEAT & TEARS Blood, Sweat & Tears

4. BAYOU COUNTRY Creedence Clearwater Revival

5. LED ZEPPELIN Led Zeppelin

That was 1969. Thanks Sanni for asking
me take the walk down memory lane. The WTIT Tape Radio Blog returns tomorrow. See you tomorrow.
Same time. Same blog.

WTIT Top 15 Male Rockers

WTIT Tape Radio Blog brings you today our feature A DJ’s Take on "Best of" lists. Last week we premiered this feature with the Top 15 Female Rock Singers of all time. Today we will bring you the boys. Please feel free to “take this feature" and do it as a meme to present your opinions. Today, we will share with you our picks for the Top 15 Male Rock Vocalists of the rock era. We will do R&B singers in the future. We will give you the artist and our favorite song of theirs. Let’s cue up today's A DJ's Take!

15. John Kaye. The lead singer in Steppenwolf has a great set of pipes. In his era, there were not a lot of better male crooners. The interesting thing about this great rock band of the late 60's and early 70's was how badly they performed live. Though I never saw the band, anyone I knew who did regretted spending the cash. I do own their double live album and it sucks. Kaye's voice was never the problem.

Our Favorite: "Monster"

14. David Clayton Thomas. Known as the driving force of all those Blood, Sweat and Tears albums, David could sing. He was not in the original band, however. BS & T's first hit, "Sometimes in Winter" featured Al Cooper as their lead singer. But the band did not explode until David took over and belted out "You Made Me So Very Happy".

Our Favorite: "And When I Die"

13. Meat Loaf. You either love him or hate him, but this dude can still sing. Jim Steinman was Meat's partner. He wrote and arranged his two biggest albums, Bat Out of Hell and Bat Out of Hell II: Back in Hell. While Jim started on this year's Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster is Loose, his illness prevented Jim finishing the writing for this album. Most of it was written by other writers and certainly was not as well received as the first two.

Our Favorite: "Paradise by the Dashboard Light"

12. Darius Rucker. The lead singer from Hootie and the Blowfish has a smooth rich bass tone that is hard to beat. The first Hootie album made our "Best 50 Albums of All Time" list. The second one sucked. The current album Looking for Lucky is a very good album.

Our Favorite: "Let Her Cry"

11. David Lee Roth. I am sure we would not have selected Mr. Roth if we based this on his solo work. But with all due respect to Sammy Haggar (whom didn't make this list, but was in our top 20), it is David's work with Van Halen that is the band's best. He got a rather raw deal when he thought he was set to take over after Sammy Haggar quit. He recorded a couple of new songs on their greatest hits album, only to be dumped again ten years ago. In January of this year it was announced the David Lee Roth would rejoin the band for this year's tour. As it should be.

Our Favorite: "Jump"

10. Elvis. This was a tough one for me. While I enjoy the King, I am not a huge fan. However, to not place him as one of rock's all time male vocalists would be ignorant on my part. He is a large part of why rock music took off in the first place. Why did he do all those horrible films? Oh, right. It was for the money.

Our Favorite: "Don't Be Cruel"

9. Freddie Mercury. This is a change. If you read our comments, readers thought Mercury deserved to make WTIT's Top 15 Male Rockers. He sang with a lot of bands on the way up. But it was not until Queen that Mercury ruled. With Bohemian Rhapsody and We Will Rock You and Killer Queen, A huge force who died too young from a sickness that you could live with today. So readers, you are right. We ditched the first #9. It's Freddie.

Our Favorite: "We Are the Champions."

8. Robert Plant. The range and depth of Plant's voice, along with Jimmy Page's slick guitar work is why Led Zeppelin is one of the best rock bands ever. His solo career has just emphasized further the incredible range of emotions and vocal styles that makes Robert a premiere act.

Our Favorite: "Good Times, Bad Times"

7. Burton Cummings. Though never considered a "heavyweight" band by rock critics, the Guess Who could rock with the best of them. Here is an example of a band that had so many hit singles that they were considered "too commercial" by so many. Randy Bachman (who would later start BTO) and Burton Cummings were magical together. Cummings voice is unsurpassed by anyone on this list.

Our favorite: Tie. "Share the Land" and "No Time".

6. Jon Bon Jovi. There are not too many bands that could make it during the 80's "big hair" or "glam rock" era and sucessfully remain relevant once alternative rock took off in the 90's. Bon Jovi did as well as anyone except perhaps U2. Jon's solo album was a dud about ten years ago, "Destination Anywhere" but I thought it was some of his best work.

Our Favorite: "Wanted Dead or Alive"

5. Joe Cocker. "We're going to do a song that brings it all into focus," Cocker said at Woodstock, "It's called 'With a Little Help from Me Friends'. Remember it." We do. As we remember all the fantastic music Joe has brought us over the years. Whether slow as in "You Are So Beautiful" or rocking in "Cry Me a River", you can't beat Joe Cocker. Remember when Belushi parodied him on "Saturday Night Live"? The time they did a duet was classic television.

Our Favorite: "St. James Infirmary Blues"

4. Steven Tyler. The front man for Aerosmith rocks out. It is amazing that he is still alive. The band had self destructed when they were given a second chance by re-recording "Walk This Way" with a rap group. Here's a band that's had hits in the 70's,80's and 90's. They still crank it out today.

Our Favorite: "Dude Looks Like a Lady"

3. Rod Stewart. The best live act I ever saw except for perhaps McCartney. And Jaggar wasn't bad either. It's 7 wives and 15 children later, but Rod still can sing. Although I never understood the success of his "American Songbook" albums, as a rock singer he is as agood as it gets. He started with The Jeff Beck Group in the 60's, replaced Steve Marriott (Humble Pie) in Small Faces and renamed the Faces. His solo career has been strong since the release of Maggie Mae in the early 70's.

Our Favorite: "Stay With Me".

2. Mick Jagger. I am finally ready for the Rolling Stones to call it a day. That routine those old fuckers did at the Superbowl a couple of years ago was embarassing. But every since "Satisfaction" the Stones had there way with us. At their best they are the second best rock band there ever was, or perhaps will be. I saw the boys live back in the 80's and man, what a show. I can't even guess how many of their albums I own.

Our Favorite: "Sympathy for the Devil"

1. Jim Morrison. This was an odd choice for me. While I loved The Doors they were in my second tier of favs back in the day. Jim Morrison was just captivating. As a poet, a writer and most importantly in this post, a singer he gave it all he had. What is it Billy Joel sang? Only the Good Die Young. RIP Jim. Your music is still with us all these years later.

Our Favorite: "Touch Me"

We hope you've enjoyed our trip down memory lane today. The WTIT Blog will return tomorrow with our "Dating Profiles of the Week". Check us out. It might not be horrible. Who knows?

Same time. Same Blog.

You're Rocking with Bud

This is going to be a bit of a walk down memory lane for me. It might give you a bit of insight of how I became the totally crazy person I am today. I was a DJ for a long time. And I mean a real one, not just a “Tape DJ”. I majored in communications in college because all I ever wanted to be since I was ten years old, was to be a DJ. When we started WTIT I chose the name Bud Weiser because the DJs of that era had names like Rusty Potts or Sandy Beach. What was strange that once all my friends started calling me Bud, my parents did as well. Being a “Jr.” I started out life called by my middle name and when I switched schools in second grade I started using my first name, but it never felt right. So at 14 I became Bud for good, or so I thought.

In radio they use to love to change your name. In my three pro jobs while still in college I used the name Bud Fisher. By this time it was my real name. At my first station full time after college I was the midday (10AM-3PM) jock at a rock station. I picked out every song I played. We had a massive rock library, but I could bring in albums from home if I wanted. I could say what I wanted to say. I played what I wanted to play. That is why I so love Tom Petty’s song “The Last DJ” about someone such as I getting to do what I would like. I did not know that this would be the only station that I ever worked for that gave jocks that freedom. Computers and “music research” took the choices out of the DJs’ hands by the mid seventies. WILI were the call letters of this great rock station in Willimantic, Connecticut.

I did not know I would never be Bud Fisher again when I left that station to go to a rock station in Springfield, Massachusetts. I gave WILI a two-week notice, the second of which was my vacation. I was newly married and my wife and I vacationed in Maine. While driving home we passed through Springfield. I said to my wife, “Want to hear my new station?” What could she say? I tuned it in. After the song they played a promo. It said, “Starting Monday at 3PM is the Gary Morgan Show.” I was devastated. How could I lose the job before I started? I showed up Monday at the station at the designated time thinking I was going to be sent home. What I didn’t figure out was that I was now Gary Morgan. So, I did get the job but Bud Fisher was never a DJ again.

I really made my mark at the next station and those that followed. It was the first "oldies" radio station in Connecticut, WRCQ. But it was not as Bud Fisher. Or Bud Weiser. Or Gary Morgan. I became Gary Hunter. I used that name from 1974 to my last radio show in 1990. I was The Hunter. My last show was a morning show in Springfield called “Mike and the Hunter”. But that really is not the reason for this post. It really is all about those two years I was Bud Fisher and picked out my own music at WILI.

We had a great guy who was the morning guy named Wayne Norman. Believe it or not, Wayne is STILL the morning man at WILI. Wayne has broadcast about a million UConn games for whatever network has aired the games. Kind of a local legend. The station is celebrating its 50th Anniversary this week. Wayne tracked me down. He wanted me to be interviewed on his morning show to talk about the good old days. Today I’d like you to share the experience with me. You’ll find out a lot about me then and me now. So I will tell you how to hear the interview. Click here and then in the middle of the page it says, "The Best of Wayne Norman" and click that. Click the download for “Wayne interviews Bud Fisher”, then just choose “open” when the little box flashes. It was great that they wanted my memories of their radio station. Please, let me know what you think. That is if you had the fortitude of understanding those instructions.

The WTIT Tape Radio Blog will return. Same time. Same blog. Join us then. And a hearty thanks for putting up with my story today. Peace!