Regeneration Radio - along with Internet Radio - Listenership on the Rise

I read this article recently stating how internet radio music listening is on the rise (in many ways in opposition to standard, coporate radio). I've also noticed first hand how this applies to one of my favorite online radio stations - "Regeneration Radio" with Jeani Bond. The station can be located by going right here. The listenership keeps steadily, progressively, climbing.

I recommend you check it out for yourself and grab hold of some eclectic "formative years" alternative music with a positive (you could say "straight edge" influence). The styles represented are... all over the map (the way it should be). It's a very unique and enjoyably unpredictable station.

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Potluck Pick of the Week #267 - Flatfoot 56 free song stream

For all you "flat-footers" out there, Flatfoot 56 has an offer of a free song stream at this site ("Absolute Punk"). If you like mid-west punk bands such as North of Grand and Atombender, you'll be certain to be into Chicago's Flatfoot 56. A Potluck review of some of their stuff might just happen right here in the future - all things goin' well and the "crick" don't rise (as they say here in Iowa... did I say that right?). For now, you could pick up their album "Black Thorn" by going right here to enjoy their folksy - even Celtic brand of punk. Their new album "Toil" will be released on July 24.

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William "Count" Basie - a potluck moment

I like delving into regional music scenes, past or present. it really doesn't matter what style. If you're a resident of the midwest and enjoy music, you have to love Count Basie. Born in Red Bank, New Jersey - winning a  piano competition in none other than Asbury Park N.J. (been there), he then made his "mark" via Kansas City (been there) - and the rest is history. Basie learned "stride" piano from none other than Fats Waller, and was a key player in bridging blues/jazz to "swing." He married Catherine Morgan in 1942 - and they continued as a couple until she died in 1983.  Some exceptional Count Basie sites can be found by going...

...right here ("One more Once" Rutgers site on tribute to Count Basie) and...

...right here ("Count Basie corner" blog)

Basie wrote, performed, and recorded seemingly forever, leaving a nearly endless well of tunage to check out. I love the story of "One O'Clock Jump" being written on the fly in a radio station when he'd run out of songs to play. For an absolutely terrific, vintage youtube link of a performance of the song, go right here (I've seen that movie, "Reveille with Beverly," by the way, and it's totally worth checking out). Perhaps his most recognizable tune is "Jumping a the Woodside" written in 1954, and can be found on youtube by going right here.

From a "potluck" angle, you might also check out this accordion army version of the song by going right here. My apologies to some purists who will hate his, but I love it both seriously and ironically.

The "Count" (perhaps nicknamed this because of his leadership of the group "The Barons" - although there are different versions of the story) died just one year after his wife did in 1984 - leaving behind him an indelible mark and a huge legacy.   

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The Great Gatsby 2012 movie - thoughts on trailer

So, coming out in December is another film version of The Great Gatsby. For the record I've read all of F. Scott Fitzgerald's books (I guess I'm like "Mr. Jones" of the Dylan song), and I like Gatsby though it isn't my favorite book by FSF (I prefer "This Side of Paradise" and "The Beautiful and Damned" - in that order, with Gatsby in third). I am definitely planning on seeing the film - but with a certain amount of trepidation. I like some of what the trailer reveals - with an attempt to portray the opulence of the era. One reservation I have, however, is with Leonardo D playing the lead role. I'm concerned this casting decision will prompt the film to get swallowed up in comparisons with "The Titanic" - especially since it's close to the same time-period and the endings of both plots have some similarities to one another (though Gatsby is admittedly much more complex). My main worry, however, has to do with the usage of modern music in the trailer. I'm a U2/Jack White fan, and the version of "Love is Blindness" sounds great, but I hope this isn't part of the sound track of the actual film. Perhaps it's just for the credits at the end? As for the rest of the music in the trailer - forget it. There really should be period music playing if they want the film to have any amount of authenticity. This was the "Jazz Age" (as coined by FSF himself), so why include modern "pop/rock" in the film's music tracks? I guess we'll see how  it's all pieced together when the film comes out. I'll try to remain optimistic.

A link to the trailer can be found right here.

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