British Invasion Show!

Rock N' Roll was created in America but the Brits took it to a whole new level. With bands like The Who, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, The Clash, and of course The Beatles, to name just a few. What would rock n' roll be without these great British bands? They were very much influenced by the early pioneers of rock like Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly & Fats Domino, but they added their own creative musical talents to the sound of rock, making it edgier, harder and more complicated, hitting you in the face with great power chords and a rebellious attitude. The 60's in my opinion was the greatest decade for rock and roll thanks to the British Invasion, and The Beatles, the band from Liverpool, England, we're always leading the way, inspiring us with new musical possibilities, changing the course of rock music forever.

Singer/songwriter/author Zara, originally from London, England, will be our special guest host on "What's It Called?" Radio on our Monday May 10th show. She has performed backing vocals for Bob Geldof among other British artists, and she has her own CD of songs "When The Rain Stops" available on Amazon.com and iTunes.
So tune in Monday night from 7-9:30pm est on www.HGRNJ.org.

You can hear our interview with her as a podcast on www.cyberears.com.
www.cyberears.com/index.php/Browse/playaudio/6457

Supporting local artists

Most mainstream radio stations play the standard, top 40 Billboard hits by bands and artists known all over the country or the world. That's the way it's been since radio began and in my opinion it hasn't changed much at all. Now with college stations and internet radio stations like www.HomeGrownRadioNJ.org there is hope for the local indie artists. On my free-form radio show "What's It Called?" the slogan is "We play everything". Not only do we play the popular new songs that dominate the charts but we also mix in music by local artists from the NY/NJ/PA area as well, and a lot of it is just as good as the stuff you hear on regular radio, if not better. At HomeGrownRadioNJ.org we have a local artists CD rack and many of the DJ's at the station will play tracks from those CD's, giving them the airtime they want and deserve since regular radio wont play them. I'm a big supporter of new indie artists and their music and I've interviewed quite of few of them on my radio show.

Jazz/pop singer /songwriter Melissa Nadel is one of those local artists that I've interviewed. Her debut CD What Matters has a fresh, breezy sound, filled with jazzy pop tunes played by some great musicians, and Melissa has a unique voice (unlike so many female singers who all sound the same to me). On my show I like to follow up on the people I've interviewed to find what current project they're involved in or where they will playing locally. I'll be giving her a call during tonight's broadcast and playing a few tracks from her CD, including a live performance when she was on our show back in June of 2007. Check out her webpage @www.melissanadel.com.

Click on the link below to hear the podcast of our interview with Melissa Nadel on Cyberears.com

http://www.cyberears.com/index.php/Browse/playaudio/3251

Jazz Trumpeter Rich Szabo Interviewed

Big Bands are still big and Newark, NJ born trumpet player Rich Szabo has played in the bands of Maynard Ferguson, Buddy Rich, Ray Anthony, Billy May, Tito Puente, Sammy Kaye and Xavier Cugat, to name a few. I've known him since high school and ran into him on the road once while I was touring with my band The Elektrics back in 1980. It was very late at night at a rest stop somewhere in NY state. Rich has performed or recorded with The Four Freshman, The Four Lads, The Chordettes, Steve Martin, The GrassRoots, Frankie Valli, Frank Sinatra, The Temptations, Allen & Rossi, Melissa Manchester, Natalie Cole just to mention a few.

I'll be interviewing Rich and playing tracks from his very first album and I'm sure he'll be sharing some stories of his amazing musical career. He also runs the Shrine O Stuff museum. Can you guess what that's all about? Find out March 29th, Monday night from 7-9:30pm EST on "What's It Called?" Radio.

The Three Degrees Youngest Member - Viki Wallace

When Will I See You Again? A familiar line to a familiar song, a big hit in the 70's by the legendary group The Three Degrees. I bet you're singing it right now. Catchy songs have a way of doing that along with the memories attached to it the first time you heard it. The youngest member of the group Viki Wallace will be interviewed on our radio show "What's It Called?" on http://www.hgrnj.org/ our first show in the month of March. Getting the interview was easy...I met her manager at a networking group. When I mentioned to the group that I hosted an internet radio show he immediately gave me his business card which read: Nick Chams-Manager for Viki Wallace, World Renowned Recording Artist/Songwriter. I of course took his card and asked when she was available to be interviewed. It was that simple. During the show which broadcasts from 7pm to 9:30pm we'll be playing songs by The Three Degrees as well as some solo work by Viki who has had many musical influences as a child growing up in Grant Town, West Viginia. She recalls being exposed to all genres of music, from classical to country to rhythm and blues.

She sounds like my kind of girl, someone who appreciates many styles of music.

I hope you can tune in Monday night for some great stories & music.

Photo: L-R Viki Wallace, Valarie Holiday, Helen Scott

Earth Minor Performs Live

Members of the electronic rock band Earth Minor www.myspace.com/earthminor perform live on our Feb 1st show. These guys remind me of my favorite German electro pop band Kraftwerk, and a few other UK pop bands of the 80's. This one's my sidekick Bob's discovery since he occasionally plays dueling pianos with the keyboard player of the band at a local NJ bar. I'm always interested in bands that combine various styles of music and instruments to create a different sound. I remember hearing a story about Ian Andersen of Jethro Tull being told to play in the back of the band because they thought the flute was not a rock instrument. And some music exec told the Beatles that bands with guitars are on there way out. Folks, when it comes to music, do what sounds right to you and dont let fashion or industry people dictate the direction of music. Photo: Members of Earth Minor

Check out our podcast interview with Christian rock singer/songwriter Chris Dickson on Cyberears.com

http://www.cyberears.com/index.php/Browse/playaudio/2859

A 70's Show

I'm planning to do another 70's show this coming Monday night 7-9:30pm EST on http://www.hgrnj.org/. We're talking all music from the 70's like Yes, Led Zep, Bowie, even John Denver & a whole lot more. You can call the station during the show to make a request or send us an Instant Message (Yahoo Messenger, etc), just enter the screen name HGRNJ. We'd love to hear from you because sometimes I think we're broadcasting in a black hole.

The 70's were a great time for me. If only I could remember it.

Photo: Me in the 70's with Pluto.

Also, check out our many podcasts on http://www.cyberears.com/index.php/Show/audio/5102

The History Of Horror Films

One of my favorite interviews on our radio show was with Prof. Roy Frumkes who teaches courses in filmmaking at the School of Visual Arts in NYC. I studied Film Appreciation in high school (can you believe they had a course like that?) and have always been interested in movies and how they are made. Roy provides some great advice on how to make a good horror film and talks about the origins of this still very popular genre. Click on this link to our podcast: http://www.cyberears.com/index.php/Browse/playaudio/5707

What's your favorite scarey movie?

Many other interviews can be heard on http://www.cyberears.com/.

We'll be back on www.HGRNJ.org Jan 18th. Thinking about doing an all 70's show. You remember the 70's dont you? Led Zep, Elton, Bowie, and maybe some you've never heard of.

Photo: The first movie vampire.

The Pfeiffer Twins

What's It Called Radio presents a double feature. Local NJ artists The Pfeiffer Twins www.myspace.com/thepfeiffertwins will be on our show, and they'll be performing a few of their songs live. We'll also be interviewing the lead singer of The Motels, Martha Davis. OK, so it's a triple feature then.

I hope you can tune in http://www.hgrnj.org/ Monday night Jan 4th from 7-9:30pm est. Just click Listen Live. You can also Instant Message us, screen name: HGRNJ during the show. Photo: The Pfeiffer Twins Carrie & Lindsay (but which ones which?)

Lead Singer Of The Motels Interview

I'm excited to be interviewing the lead singer of the 80's group The Motels, Martha Davis. Her band was signed to Capitol Records in 1979, around the same time my band The Elektrics were signed to the same label. We also opened for The Motels in clubs in 1980-81. Also, local New Jersey artists The Pfeiffer Twins www.myspace.com/pfeiffertwins will perform of few of their songs live on our show this Monday night Jan 4th from 7-9:30pm est on http://www.hgrnj.org/. So its a double feature on "What's It Called?" Radio. I'm hoping to interview other 80's artists in the future. Feel free to suggest any to me and I'll try and make it happen. Just leave your comments on my blog. Photo: Martha Davis

WIC Radio Trivia - Our very first phone interview was with UFO lecturer Stanton Friedman.

You can hear the podcast on http://www.cyberears.com/.