Flashback Friday: Billboard Hot 100 launched August 4, 1958

On August 4, 1958, an 18-year-old woman became the first songwriter with a #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. The hit was "Poor Little Fool" (Imperial Records) performed by rockabilly crooner, Ricky Nelson, whose performance beat out The King of Rock 'n' Roll Elvis Presley for the number one spot. (Presley's "Hard Headed Woman" ranked No. 4 on that week's chart.) The young woman who penned the lyrics and melody of "Poor Little Fool" was Sharon Sheeley, known for her work with Eddie Cochran, The Fleetwoods and Lee "Scratch" Perry.

That historic day marked the introduction of the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. The powerhouse ranking of top pop songs in North America was the source of American Top 40 with Casey Kasem and continues to be now with Ryan Seacrest.



Music has evolved from those early days of rock 'n' roll. Fifty-nine years later, the No. 1 song on The Hot 100 as of August 4, 2017, is "Despacito" (Universal Music Group) by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber.



Additional No. 1 hits on this day throughout the decades include:

• "Hello, I Love You" - The Doors (1968)
• "Miss You" - The Rolling Stones (1978)
• "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" - U2 (1987)
• "The Boy is Mine" - Brandy ... Monica not attributed on Billboard.com (1998)
• "I Kissed a Girl" - Katy Perry (2008)

Monday Muse: "Drive Slow" Doc Robinson

Hailing from Columbus, Ohio, Doc Robinson shares a song and a tip for you morning commute: "Drive Slow." Wipe the Monday morning grog from your eyes and kickstart another week by reminiscing about the good times with this laid back roller off of Doc Robinson's first full-length album Deep End released on Saturday, July 22.

Doc Robinson is a project launched by Jonathan Elliot, frontman of The Floorwalkers, and Nick D'Andrea of Nick D. and the Believers. The duo incorporates an ensemble of central Ohio indie artists to complement its "Backyard BBQ" sound that mixes a throwback to Motown with midwest hometown grit.

Deep End is available on iTunes and Spotify. 

Monday Muse: The Floorwalkers "Some Love" Live from The Mug and Brush barbershop

Brite Winter announces 30+ featured bands to play at free event in Ohio City

Brite Winter organizers announced the lineup of musical entertainers who will be performing at the third annual arts and cultural festival on February 18. Musicians will play on an outdoor stage on Bridge Avenue in Ohio City as well as at venues throughout the neighborhood.  

The outdoor stage acts include: 

Bad Veins 

Tom Evanchuck and The Old Money

The Lighthouse and The Whaler

Bethesda

Black Taxi

Almost 30 additional acts will be featured at locations such as Bon Bon Bake Shop, Joy Machines Bike Shop, Garage Bar, Great Lakes Brewing Company, Touch Supper Club, Market Ave. Wine Bar and Dragonfly Lounge. Visit http://www.britewintercleveland.com/ for more information about the event. 

Through the TurnStyle features Smoke Screen

Through the TurnStyle - Smoke Screen from TurnStyle Films on Vimeo.

The Rhythm Report looks back on year of growth, success

It's been an incredible year for The Rhythm Report. I started this blog in 2010, but the hard push to get this site up and running came in early 2011. Countless shows and 87 posts later, I'm looking back on a year of growth and success. Thank you to the musicians, readers and supporters that have helped make this publication what it has become. 


A special thanks goes out to Todd Volkmer and Erin Ludlam of Wasted Talent Media, for providing the Indie Box Live Concert series, and to contributing writers Ty Kellogg and Bryan Pauley. [Kellogg wrote United we stand: Tom Evanchuck, Red Wanting Blue and Kent State Folk Festival: Failed coverage (almost); Pauly wrote Concert review: Energy ebbs, flows at Interpol show]


I'm looking forward to the new opportunities 2012 will bring. Here are two lists to wrap up the year: the most-read articles of 2011 and a few editor's faves.


Most-read articles of 2011

1. There is no music scene here — Nov. 6
2. Monday Muse: "Babel" Humble Home — Nov. 14
3. The Floorwalkers' DIY approach spurs grassroots growth — July 18
4. Last-minute music fest takes Rock Hall, Science Center — Aug. 2
5. Tom Evanchuck strikes a chord with three new records — May 23
6. Review: The Only Man - Lydia Loveless — March 17
7. Local artist Rob Geer's last show at Grog Shop signals new life out West — Sept. 29
8. New album: Rob Geer releases Find Your Way Home on Bandcamp — Dec. 28
9. Good vibes emanate at Painesville Party in the Park — July 21
10. A Rhythm Report film – The Great Unsaid: Documented — Oct. 23
11. I would have liked to include an eleventh headline. Unfortunately, Blogger's subpar analytics would not allow me to dig that deep to find out which article would have made it. Blast it! Goal for next year: New site platform with stellar analytic capabilities! 

Editor's faves
These articles did not make the cut for being most read, but they are a few that I think have added value to The Rhythm Report in the past 12 months. (Note: The following headlines are listed by date, not priority.)

• The Lighthouse and The Whaler celebrates the season, ushers in 2012 with career, fan focus — Dec. 20
• From the back of the Beachland: Bethesda talks licensing, plans for new album — Nov. 30
• Live, local music is at heart of Bad Racket anniversary show — Oct. 25
• Bad Racket Anniversary Show! Full interview with Thomas Fox and Adam Wagner — Oct. 21
• "TOM" beyond the Evanchuck: An interview with The Old Money — Oct. 9
• Concert Review: Saturday at The Auricle with The Singular, Vinny Vegas — Sept. 12
• Top-charted Vitium talks about recording new EP — July 10
• Audio interview: Winslow's Maurice Martin talks about recording with Grammy award-winning producer, summer tour and more — May 8
• Interview: DJ David Beans debuts at Ballantine — April 4
• Cellar Door Records release: The sign of a new era for NEOhio music — March 25

Final success of 2011: Hitting 10,000 blog views for the year! It hasn't happened quite yet as I prepare to publish this article, but I'm looking at a beautiful number: 9,999. If you're reading this, you've helped me hit or surpass my goal. Thank you.

New Album: Rob Geer Releases Find Your Way Home on Bandcamp

Written by Priscilla Tasker

Rob Geer released his debut
album on December 27.

Independent artist Rob Geer announced the digital release of his full-length debut album, Find Your Way Home.


The 10-song track list is a compilation of songs Geer has written over several years; some had previously been recorded with Jeff Toy (A Little Bit of Orange EP) and Cellar Door Records ("It Might Be"). The gradual acquisition of new recording equipment empowered him to fine-tune the material into a completed project over the past three months.


Geer said the final product might have been released earlier, but a technological mishap delayed completion. A hard drive crash wiped out his post-production mixing work in November, causing him to revert back to older tracks, which had been saved. Despite the set back, Geer was able to present the final compilation this week, before the year's end.


"It feels great! I'm extremely happy to be done and to move on to some other things I've been working on," Geer said. "I took a little break from mixing everything, for things to feel fresh again, then finally finished a couple days ago."


Re-mixing revives early material
Two of the songs featured on the album had previously been released on A Little Bit of Orange EP in January 2010. The original recordings of "A Little Bit of Orange" and "Dead End" had more dark, progressive rock characteristics and lacked the higher-quality mixing of the new tracks. 

Geer released A Little Bit of Orange EP  as 
The Conductor and The Creator in January 2010.

The latest recording of “A Little Bit of Orange” opens with the song’s catchy blues riff, but Geer stripped it down. He swapped psychedelic guitar trills with clean chord progressions and harmonious picking, and replaced weighty drums with the light percussive flavor of a shaker.

"Dead End," as previously recorded, jumps right in with full guitar, drums and vocals. Geer takes his time in the new recording, building the essence with a lone guitar, followed by vocals and discreet bass tones. 


That patience and permeable space in the music speaks to the merit of the finished product. Geer has performed and released variations of most of the songs featured on Find Your Way Home at live shows and through digital demos. Now, in absolute form, these songs are evidence of Geer’s artistic growth and maturity. 


“They just weren’t how I wanted them to be heard, so I decided to add some extra things in here and there,” Geer said. "The A Little Bit Of Orange EP was recorded in Jeff Toy's attic and basement with all of his equipment. The only musicians on that are me and him, but I wanted to release acoustic versions of those songs because I feel like they fit as a whole with Find Your Way Home." 


Toy is credited on Geer's new album for his mixing and harmony work on “You Could Be All Mine.” The ethereal romantic ballad adds a touch of tenderness to an otherwise verbally grave collection.


Enlivened lyrics are illustrative, palpable
Geer is poetic. His lyrics are vivid, almost tangible. The inclination to write about sordid human endeavors in songs like "Human Nature" and "Assassin" is distinctive of his creative aesthetic.

"Human Nature," which features Dan Thompson's bass stylings, is a three-minute and 48-second dissertation on the faults of mankind. Geer compares men’s cold acts to the violent instincts of beasts, howling, "Packs of wolves kill their prey with one bite to the neck, and no one says a God damn thing. Their just wild animals – but what do you call us humans when we shoot people just for fun."

“Assassin” is a chilling account of a feigned lovers. Full and pure, Geer demonstrates his vocal power. The physical strain is audible as he cries out, “Call me the assassin. Call me what you will,” after taunting, “The way you tore apart your life, thinking every second chance wasn’t broken ‘til you found out everybody’s gone – and I just lied to you again.” 

The lyrical content of Find Your Way Home is complemented by alluring, well-crafted melodies ("Under Devil's Skin") and capacious harmonies ("Keepin' My..."). Geer delved into the depths to produce these auditory gems – and they are sparkling.


Read more Rob Geer coverage on The Rhythm Report:

• Weekend Prelude: "It Might Be" Rob Geer in Colorado wilderness 

• Local artist Rob Geer's last show at Grog Shop signals beginning of new life out West  

• New video: Live from 6ixth City Tech Fest 

• Artists review Cellar Door Records Volume III 

• Rob Geer opens with demo at The Grog Shop 

• "The Conductor," Oldboy roused fans at The Grog Shop  

Monday Muse: "Falling Away" by Rob Montague [Flat Earth Society show at House of Blues – Cleveland]

Rob Montague released a self-directed music video for the song "Falling Away" off his latest album Farewell Song, which is available on Amazon, iTunes and CD Baby.

The entire video was shot with an iPhone 4. The dusty effect of black-and-white film was achieved using the 8mm Vintage Camera App from Nexvio.

According to The Rock blog's album review of Farewell Song, Montague will perform with a new band called Flat Earth Society next year. The group is playing a show with Downplay and Silver Lights at House of Blues in Cleveland on January 4. Tickets are $10. Doors open at 7 p.m.

Lyrics to "Falling Away" are available on Montague's ReverbNation.com page.

The Lighthouse and The Whaler celebrates season, ushers in 2012 with fan, career focus

© The Rhythm Report 2011
The Lighthouse and The Whaler
at Musica in Akron, Ohio on Dec. 16

The Lighthouse and The Whaler is in the Christmas spirit. Fans who've been following and keeping in touch with the Cleveland-based band can expect to receive a special gift from the group in their home mailboxes this week. The band spent a few hours on Sunday night creating and writing personal Christmas cards to devout followers – several who live abroad – to thank them for their continued support and to wish them a Merry Christmas.


In three short years, The Lighthouse and The Whaler (TLATW) has released a full-length album and an EP, toured coast to coast and appeared at high-profile events, including the Paste and Rdio Afternoon Delight at The Living Room. (Watch the video of TLATW performing "We've Got The Most" at The Living Room below.) 


The band's work has been accompanied by a fanfare of media coverage from Spinner, KEXP 90.3 Seattle and BMI. Paste Magazine launched an exclusive premiere of the single "Venice" in October, and MTV described the band as "really cool melodic folk-rock ... and a live show you've got to check out for yourself."

© The Rhythm Report 2011
The Lighthouse and The Whaler
at Musica in Akron, Ohio on Dec. 16

"When we first started, I didn't think our music was that good, but you have enough people tell you that and you start to believe it," said Mike LoPresti, lead vocalist and guitarist. When asked how the band has achieved its success to date,  LoPresti responded with a burst of sincerity, "By the grace of God and our fans!"

A strong online presence has helped The Lighthouse and The Whaler reach music appreciators. The band has amassed a following of more than 4,200 Facebook fans, and the group has engaged those fans this year with a Kickstarter campaign, free downloads from Daytrotter* and a "Get to Know the Band" month. The individuals who comprise TLATW are dedicated to building relationships and open dialogue with listeners, and have put all their effort into making those connections relevant. 


“We've been out to eat with people after shows; people will let us stay at their houses [while touring]. We've made a lot of good friends along the way, and there are people we’ve stayed with multiple times," LoPresti said. "People just want to know that you care."


Hard work and seizing opportunity has also been at the heart of The Lighthouse and The Whaler's achievement. Multi-instrumentalist Aaron Smith said the band doesn't say no to a lot of opportunities. However, he added the caveat, "We don’t do everything that comes our way either; we try to be smart about it."


Smith addressed the fact that major changes and lagging record sales in the music industry has made it difficult for bands to land big-time record deals without putting forth a significant amount of personal effort into building up to that career opportunity.


“It seems like a lot of people in the industry are scared to take chances on bands," Smith said. "Bands have to build their careers by themselves. You have to be willing to give your all to the project. It just seems it’s more difficult to get them to look at you if you haven’t done that already."


The five men mapped out a plan for increased exposure in the coming year that includes extending its reach to fans through touring and a social media campaign to launch new material.


The Lighthouse and The Whaler is finalizing contracts with a major New York-based PR agency and a licensing company to support the group through 2012 as they release several singles through January and February and a full-length album in the summer, according to LoPresti. The select PR agency will also be promoting the band as it prepares for its February-March tour, which will include a stop at South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin. 


Stay tuned to The Rhythm Report for details about The Lighthouse and The Whaler's new album and its pending summer-time release. 


Northeast Ohio fans can see this band perform next at The Grog Shop with Bears and Afternoon Naps on February 11, 2012. 

*Since the release of The Lighthouse and The Whaler's Daytrotter session in July, Daytrotter.com has gone to a members format that charges $2 per month for the opportunity to download thousands of live recorded sessions with an impressive library of artists.

From the Back of the Beachland: Bethesda talks licensing, plans for new album

Written by Priscilla Tasker

I caught up with Shanna Delaney and Eric Ling of Bethesda at a recent show at The Beachland Tavern in November to talk about the band’s successful year. They shared exciting news about the licensing deals they signed with a few global television networks and what the next few months hold for the band. 

The group is finishing up some local shows before taking a two-month hiatus to write a new full-length album to follow up the EP the band released earlier this year; and they are planning tour dates in Chicago and Indiana in January. 

“We just came out with our EP, Dream Tiger & Other Tails, a couple of months ago, and we’re itching to write. So, we have a lot of songs in us, and we have several we’re going to write over the winter months,” Delaney said.

Dream Tiger launched in May with a radio and television campaign. The TV push landed Bethesda 13 contracts, slating the band for 13 shows on MTV, VH1, E! and Showtime, among others. 

“That was actually when we were on tour in June when we got that news – and we were really excited,” Delaney said.

Keeping Up with the Kardashians and The Real World are just two shows on which the band is signed to be featured. Ling laughed as he said they are wondering how the network plans to fit their songs into a show like the Kardashians.

“And, then, just this fall, we were one of six bands shopped for our PR company to the Discovery Network, which has 30 plus shows,” Delaney continued. 

The contract will allow Discovery Network to use any song or section of a song off the album. Bethesda may not be paid out for a couple of years and won’t know when or how the songs will be used because, with the volume of bands large networks contract for music, there are too many artists to email individually when a song is featured in a show. 

“They can do just instrumental or just vocals. They pretty much have complete control over what songs they want to use, but they have the whole five-song EP,” Ling said.

Delaney giggled that they just want to know when they’re on so they can watch – just once!

“We can’t Tivo all the shows, you know. So hopefully someone will call us,” Ling said.

To build on the success of 2011, the band is already looking forward to a new year, completing a new full-length album and a tour stop in Austin to play SXSW Music Festival in March 2012. 

Fans can catch this pipe-dream posse at the Rowdy Indie Craft Fair this Sunday, December 4, before they delve into a studio spell. Bethesda will be performing with Comfort Clouds and ShiSho at Studio 526 in Akron at 7 p.m. 

Follow the band on Facebook, Twitter or www.bethesdaband.com for more information.

Monday Muse: Aaron Lafette, Britni Elise, Dj-EV at the Agora

Pump up your Monday with this electropop teaser featuring Aaron LaFette, Britni Elise and Dj-EV at the Agora in Cleveland.

Weekend Prelude: "It Might Be" Rob Geer Live from Colorado; "Ocean" Pearl Jam

There's a void Rob Geer's smooth vocals used to fill in the Cleveland soundscape. It's been several weeks since the artist migrated to Colorado's Rocky Mountains, but the artist sent his love back home with this scenic recording of "It Might Be." Geer shared details on the stunning location of his new music video and his first few weeks out West:

"Well, it's at Mount Falcon, in Morrison, Co., about 20 minutes from my house (which is fucking awesome by the way!). And mostly, I've just been layin low, mixing the stuff I recorded before I left, and chillin, not necessarily "finding my inner self," just checkin some new shit out! It's cool out here, I've played a couple open mic nights that were pretty accepting of what I do, but I'm hoping to at least have a digital copy out in a couple weeks. So I'm waiting to have the CD finished before I start whoring myself out.  haha. I want to film a few more other videos in some cool locations. I'm thinking Red Rocks, which is about 15 minutes from my house (... Ahh! The reverb is so good!), and swapping out some old bathroom/living room sessions." — Rob Geer via Facebook

Something New

Monday Muse: "Cleveland" Machine Gun Kelly

 

"I'm still that little white boy out of Shaker, man."

Machine Gun Kelly

Video by RG Films

Weekend Prelude: "Bag Lady" Erykah Badu and "Lose Control" Lwam

Something Old

"Bag Lady" Erykah Badu (2000)

 

Something New 

"Lose Control" Lwam (2011)

Lwam, Northeast Ohio's own YouTube sensation, released her debut EP Smile earlier this year. 
Get the free download here.

Follow this girl's beat on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

First Listen: The Black Keys "Lonely Boy"

In their typical jocose fashion, The Black Keys release a randomly awesome video for the first listen of "Lonely Boy," a new single off the new album, El Camino, due to launch on December 6.

Live, Local Music is at Heart of Bad Racket Anniversary Show

Written by Priscilla Tasker

Camaraderie and music pulsed through the multi-colored paneled walls of Bad Racket Recording Studio in Ohio City as friends and artists gathered to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the business that is growing into a mainstay of the Cleveland music scene. An intimate crowd upwards of 60 people assembled to swill a few brews and listen to area bands play on the small stage centered in the studio chamber.

Ladybird and The Folk led off the night to entertain early arrivers with live incantations of spritely verse and acoustic-driven progressions.

 Bad Racket Anniversary Show! – October 21, 2011
©Bad Racket

An assorted mix of folk mingled in the dimly lit room around miscellaneous seating arrangements, a makeshift coffee table propped up by tires, and a piano bar, behind which was a keg of Buckeye Brewing’s Cleveland Beer Week “special brew” – a gift bestowed to the studio owners by its crafter. 

Humble Home emerged to the performance platform. Nebulous harmonies and ghostly minstrelsies soon filled and hung in the space with listeners yielding to the beauty of sound suspended in air. Many of the band’s songs are doleful and pensive in nature, but the four men delivered a lively set. To appease the congregation’s calls for one more song, the band closed with an upbeat work in progress, “Welcome Home,” giving witnesses a first listen to the song which had never before been played outside of the Humble Home practice space.

Humble Home at Bad Racket – October 21, 2011
©Bad Racket

Although Ladybird and Humble Home were the only artists promoted as part of the bill, Bad Racket invited several other musicians with whom the studio’s worked to take the stage. 

After a brief intermission, Thaddeus Greene and The So & So’s roused the company of music lovers with swelling vintage rock grooves, harkening to acid rock days. The band played as a duo, Greene and drummer Anthony Foti (also of Humble Home). With a few words, they paid tribute to ailing bassist, Matthew Augusta, who was unable to join them for the evening.

Thaddeus Greene at Bad Racket – October 21, 2011
©Bad Racket

The extended lineup drove the event well beyond its scheduled end time of 11 p.m. Tom Evanchuck and The Old Money strolled in close to midnight, after the band’s show at Wilbert’s, to set the party off with its blues-bound rock ‘n’ roll. The performance was marked by G. Patrick Jenkins III’s exhibition of his new lead guitar role. The energy of the full band behind familiar tunes sent a few individuals into a dizzying dance.

Cool Jason and Pat Mulloy wound down the night with a few good ol’ boy bar tunes before the crowd dwindled. There were only a hand full of people left talking and diddling around on the instruments strewn about the stage as Bad Racket’s Thomas Fox picked up the acoustic guitar to croon a couple of tunes in the quiet company of those who remained.

ººº

Listen to The Rhythm Report's pre-show interview with two of three Bad Racket co-owners, Adam Wagner and Thomas Fox.

Read about one of many wins for Bad Racket in 2011 in this article: Last-minute music fest takes Rock Hall, Science Center


Bad Racket, LLC is owned and operated by Thomas Fox, Adam Wagner and James Kananen.

A Rhythm Report Film – The Great Unsaid: Documented

I know many of you have been waiting for it. And to my patient patrons and Benjamin Barr fans, I present The Great Unsaid: A Documented Tale.

In March 2011, Barr produced and directed a music video to accompany the debut of his musically inclined alter ego Jim Truth's single "The Great Unsaid." The song is the sixth track on the album Caught and Held Fast, which Barr originally released under a different title in 2010 and re-recorded under its new moniker with the help of Bad Racket Recording Studio earlier this year.

Filmed at The Grog Shop in Cleveland Heights and Barr's Ohio City home, The Great Unsaid: A Documented Tale captures the escapades of the crew and cast during the two-day video shoot as well as the director's reflections on the production. The documentary premiered at the music video release party in June. This is the first time it has been released online.

The Great Unsaid: Documented

Run time: 10 minutes, 44 seconds

Produced and directed by Priscilla Tasker of The Rhythm Report and De los angeles Productions 

in association with Benjamin Barr and Failure Films

Standard definition Grog Shop footage shot by Priscilla Tasker

HD Grog Shop footage shot by Eric Leiser, Sian Wright and Len Ganley

Director interview filmed by Sian Wright and Eric Leiser

Watch the music video for Jim Truth's "The Great Unsaid," too.

The Great Unsaid from Benjamin Liar on Vimeo.

Bad Racket Anniversary Show! Full interview with Thomas Fox and Adam Wagner

Rhythm Reporter Priscilla Tasker interviews Thomas Fox and Adam Wagner of Bad Racket about their Ohio City-based studio’s first year in business. In this 12-minute interview, the two Cleveland entrepreneurs talk about the goals they set for 2011, the making of the Live from Bad Racket series, organizing 6ixth City Tech Fest's musical lineup earlier in July, and the artists they've worked with since the studio officially opened shop on October 17, 2010. 

Bad Racket Anniversary Show! Interview with Thomas Fox and Adam Wagner by TheRhythmReport
Featured music: "Let Me Be" Thaddeus Greene – Recorded at Bad Racket Recording Studio – August 20, 2011 (Song is scheduled for official release later this fall.)

Bad Racket Anniversary Show! 

Friday, October 21 – 8 p.m.

Musical acts: Humble Home and Ladybird and The Folk

Free event with registration

Find more information and register at http://anniversaryshow.eventbrite.com/.

Bad Racket, LLC is owned and operated by Thomas Fox, Adam Wagner and James Kananen.

Audio Tease: Bad Racket interview with Thomas Fox and Adam Wagner, full interview to come

Rhythm Reporter Priscilla Tasker interviews Thomas Fox and Adam Wagner of Bad Racket about their studio’s first year in business. In this short, the two Cleveland entrepreneurs tell how they met at John Carroll University in University Heights, Ohio.

Bad Racket Interview - Teaser - October 18, 2011 by TheRhythmReport

Featured music: “Caught (and held fast)" by Jim Truth from the album Caught and Held Fast. Principal recording by BNAB at The Liar’s Lair. Additional recording and mixing by Adam Wagner (Bad Racket)


Bad Racket Anniversary Show! 
Friday, October 21 – 8 p.m.
Musical acts: Humble Home and Ladybird and The Folk
Free event with registration
Find more information and register at http://anniversaryshow.eventbrite.com/.


Bad Racket, LLC is owned and operated by Thomas Fox, Adam Wagner and James Kananen.


Stay tuned for the extended interview later this week.