Transmission 2417 - Is It The Drummer Or The Drum?

Bang on this!

Kodō

Herbie Hancock

Dino, Desi & Billy

Michael Nesmith

Esquivel

The Waterboys

Wilco

African Head Charge

fIREHOSE

Japan

Sun Ra

Adrian Belew

Todd Rundgren

James Brown

T2317

"I don't want to work"

RFW



*Is It The Drummer Or The Drum? 

is both the title of today's RFW Transmission and a question inspired by 

an impressive performance by 

Kodō (鼓童), 

the internationally renowned taiko drumming troupe based in Sado, Japan.

The various translations of Kodō, 

"children of the drum" and "heartbeat", 

are both very appropriate and actually supply the answer.

These amazingly fluid drummers were so at one with each other
and their instruments that it was as if they were percussive offspring and siblings.
Whether delicately fingering, playfully partnering or furiously pounding
the synchronicity on display and sounds created 

sent one's pulse into overdrive.

    

Celebrating their 35th anniversary, the Dadan 2017 tour,
 overseen by Artistic Director Tamasaburo Bando,
 is that rare combination of transcending spirituality and sheer physicality
 with the audience transported from meditative serenity to explosive attention
 and all stops in between.

Future dates are scheduled for the remainder of the year throughout Japan including the 

Earth Celebration 2017, Aug. 18–20 on Sado Island, Niigata. 

Visit the Kodō site for details.

The host of Kodō Dadan 2017 at Symphony Hall, Boston is also
New England's major presenting organization with over 100 performance
and outreach activities annually.
Their mission to present world-class performing artists
who inspire and enrich our community is on full display at any of
the Celebrity Series of Boston upcoming events. 

Thank you for listening to RFW and supporting the world-wide arts community!

Kodo review photo credit: Robert Torres (thanks Robert)!

Transmission 2317 - Hail! Hail! Rock 'n Roll

We're all Chuck's children!

Chuck Berry

David Bowie

The Rolling Stones

John Lennon

Ted Nugent's Amboy Dukes

The MC5

Mark Doyle & The Mechanics

T2317

"they're really rockin' in Boston"

RFW

*The long instramental before the outro was Chuck's Concerto in B Goode and the coda I'm Through With Love is from the OST of the most excellent Hail! Hail! Rock 'n Roll concert film featuring Keith Richards and an all-star cast. Check it out below.

** As if losing one iconic CB wasn't enough, the enigmatic Chuck Barris passed this week. Not only did he create the Newlywed Game and Dating Game and host the infamous Gong Show, he also wrote Palisades Park famously recorded by Freddie Cannon and was the subject of the film adaption of his "autobiography" Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind that was directed by George Clooney and starred Sam Rockwell. Chucky baby, you still kill me!

Transmission 2217 - Exit The Snow Wolf

 Swansongs and Howlings

Black Sabbath

Deep Purple

The Rolling Stones

Jellyfish

10cc

Ming Tea

The Zombies

Sound Garden

Howlin' Wolf

The Doors

Steely Dan

Richard & Linda Thompson

Television

Soft Cell

T2217

"It sure been a cold, cold winter"

RFW

*Our final Winter remembrance was Memorabilia by Soft Cell!

Transmission 2117 - Kraut Rock (On A Roll)

Warnung - Laute Geräusche Deutsch!

Grobschnitt
Faust

Achim Reichel

Wolfgang Dauner Quintet

Amon Düül II
Out Of Focus

Can

Cosmic Jokers

Embryo
Le' Dusseldorf

Walter Wegmüller

Annexus Quam

T2117
Part 1
Part 2

"Do you hear Solar Music?"

RFW

* The opening number and coda were Parts 1 & 2 of Solar Music by Grobschnitt
 which comprised both sides of the second disc of their 1974 Brain Records double lp Ballermann

**If you are interested in learning more about the amazing German music scene in the Seventies, 

there is no better place to start than Julian Cope's excellent 

KRAUTROCKSAMPLER.

***For a more detailed reference book that is a bible here in The Archives, seek out

 Steven & Alan Freeman's

The Crack In The Cosmic Egg.

Transmission 2017 - Tease Or Please

Let's start at the TOP!!

Tommy Bolin

The Jaggerz

Free

Axis: Soma

Damaged Bug

Shit & Shine

Savoy Brown

The Temptations

Was (Not Was)

Gary Clark Jr.

James Cotton

Johnny Winter And

T2017

"she's a Teaser"

RFW

* I saw James Cotton both with his own band and with Muddy Waters and Johnny Winter.
He was among the TOP of the list of master harp players.
RFW will deeply miss and always remember him. 

Transmission 1917 - CARHB?

Multi-colored chin music!

Cream

Jeff Beck Group

Led Zeppelin

Adrian Belew

David Fonesca

David Bowie

Peter Gabriel

The League Of Gentlemen

Tool

Bob Dylan

Captain Beefheart

Albert King

James Gang

T1917

"but the picture had a mustache"

RFW

*Our opening number, "SWLBR" by Cream off of Disreli Gears, is supposedly an acronym for She Was Like (A) Bearded Rainbow.

** An acronym is an abbreviation formed from the initial letters of other words and pronounced as a word (e.g., CARHB - Can A Rainbow Have (A) Beard).

*** BYKTA,R? - But you knew that already, right?

Transmission 1817 - I Just Can't Make No Mothership Connection

Nada happening with the hook-up!

Parliament

Bill Laswell

Eddy Grant

Dollar Brand
Eric Burdon & War

T1817

"Would you like to dance with me?"

RFW

*Both the remake of Funkadelic's "Cosmic Slop" and our coda, "Cosmic Trigger" were performed by Bill Laswell and his usual suspects. I recommend that you add Axiom Funk Funkcronomicon and Axiom Ambient Lost In The Translation to your collection.

** The Salem Film Fest 2017 kicked off it's tenth year with a fun Opening Gala featuring food, music and a focus on compelling documentaries from around the world including I Am The Blues. It's an up-close-and-personal musical journey by Daniel Cross that takes you through the Louisiana bayou and Mississippi delta juke-joints with the aging blues musicians who still play the Chitlin’ Circuit, even in their 80s.

This year's festival guest of honor is David Fanning, founder of Frontline, American television’s top long-form news and current affairs series since 1983, and winner of every major journalism and broadcasting award, including 18 Emmy Awards and 18 Peabody Awards. Eddy Grant's "Living On The Frontline" was the song I chose to play in honor of this landmark series and the inspiration for the groove of the Transmission.

The films will be showcased at various locations in Salem, MA until March 9th. You can click on the banner below for all the details. Get a large popcorn with extra butter and I'll meet you there!