The Big O - Ozark's Wendy, Darlene and Ruth Give You Your First Glimpse of "The Last Resort"

Now throw your hands up in the air

and wave 'em round like you

just don't (BEEP) care.

COLD OPEN:

CLICK TO START THE VIDEO NOW! 

"Way Down We Go" - Kaleo

(Sept./Oct. 2015, highest chart pos. #1

Billboard's Alternative Songs and Rock Airplay,

scenes from Netflix TV series Ozark) 

Kicking off the show,

that was the Icelandic

rock band Kaleo with

"Way Down We Go,"

a 2015 hit single from

their first album A/B,

and scenes from our

Netflix crime drama

 TV series Ozark. 

Hi, I'm Wendy Byrde, wife of Ozark star Marty Byrde and mother of two.

Formerly Chicago residents, we're now living the good life, operating

a restaurant and other businesses in Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri,

the Midwest's premier lake resort destination.

A little about me? Well, let's see.

I do some P-R work for political

campaigns, do some lobbying

for a casino project and

dabble in real estate.

 Oh, and I also help hubby Marty with his career in money laundering...

help him cover it up and lie to the FBI...

 help negotiate deals with a murderous Mexican drug cartel...

and help smooth things over with an equally murderous local

 heroine producer and crime boss and his hot-tempered wife.

 

Yep.... I guess I'm just

your typical American

soccer mom. 

And I'm Ruth Langmore (below)... a young Ozark woman who

belongs to a family of (BEEP) low-life white trash criminals.

 My diddy's just outta jail and already (BEEP) robbin' gas stations and such.

As for me, I manage a strip club

and (BEEP) kill people when

it becomes necessary. Taking

all that into account, I'm still

the (BEEP) most upstanding

member of my clan and one

of the most honest, morally

straight characters on Ozark.

That should tell you what

you're (BEEP) workin'

with if you decide to

watch the show.  

Like me, folks around these parts don't do a lot of (BEEP)

smilin'. Take my neighbor, for example - farm woman

Darlene Snell (below)... wife of the heroin producer

and crime kingpin Wendy mentioned earlier. 

This (above) is a pic of Darlene flashin' the (BEEP) biggest,

brightest smile I ever seen on her. Say "cheese," babe...

or "poppy fields." Don't make no difference, hon. 

Ruthie and I welcome you

to this sneak preview of

our new radio show

  The   

 Big O 

coming soon to

Shady's Place

and S-P-M-M

Retro Radio.

In this case, the big O stands for Ozark, the name of our

wildly popular and critically acclaimed Netflix series.

On our radio show, we'll present songs used in the soundtrack

of our TV show, plus great songs with titles that start

with the letter "O." See how it works?

By now you know that Marty

and I have our hands full

dealing with bad hombres

as we conduct our risky

business in the Ozarks.

Complicating our lives

further is my teenage

daughter, Charlotte.

We discovered that

she's been lying to us,

hanging out with a

local bad boy and

smoking a ton

of weed.

CLICK TO

START VIDEO!

I'm playing an "O" song that relates to what's happening with Charlotte.

It's classic folk-rock by Midwestern natives Brewer & Shipley from the

spring of '71, the biggest hit of their career-- "One Toke Over The Line!" 

"One Toke Over The Line" - Brewer & Shipley

(Apr./May 1971, highest chart pos. #8 Cash Box/#10 Hot 100)

 

Up next, a Leiber & Stoller song

first waxed by The Drifters in 1958.

The more successful version was

laid down in '63 by Dion DiMucci,

the swaggering singer/songwriter

who fronted the 50s vocal group

Dion And the Belmonts. Out on

his own in the 60s, Dion became

one of the most popular American

rock and roll performers of the

pre-Beatles, pre-British Invasion

era. Dion's here to sing one of his

biggest solo hits, a song that made

the top 5 during Christmas season

 in 1963. It is also the first of our

featured songs ripped directly

from the soundtrack of Ozark.

 CLICK TO START

THE VIDEO NOW! 

When it rains it (BEEP) pours on Ozark,

and Dion's got the song-- "Drip Drop!" 

"Drip Drop" - Dion

(Dec. 1963, highest chart pos. #5 Cash Box/#6 Hot 100) 

Now here's another song from

the soundtrack of Ozark, this

one recorded by a (BEEP)

awesome Southern and

 Country rock band from

Springfield, Missouri. 

CLICK TO START

THE VIDEO NOW! 

Check out The Ozark Mountain

Daredevils doing their signature

song, an international hit single

that topped the U.S. chart in the

spring of 1975-- "Jackie Blue!" 

"Jackie Blue" - Ozark Mountain Daredevils

(Apr./May 1975, highest chart pos. #1 Cash Box/#3 Hot 100,

performance on British TV show Old Grey Whistle Test) 

Our next featured "O" song

is a ditty written and originally

recorded near the end of 1957

by Country star Don Gibson

along with Chet Atkins. 

CLICK TO START

THE VIDEO NOW! 

In his unique way, Johnny Rivers

covered the song and made it his

own. Here's Johnny, live at the

Whisky à Go Go, performing--

"Oh Lonesome Me!" 

"Oh Lonesome Me" - Johnny Rivers

(from Feb. 1964 live album Johnny Rivers at the Whisky à Go Go) 

That's all we got. We hope you liked this sneak peek

at our new SPMM radio series.  Stick around. Coming up

on the flip side of Gary Owens' news, Ellie Appleton presents 

 Yesterday Once More 

... a sneak preview of her new series, plus a look at other new shows

premiering soon on S-P-M-M Retro Radio... the station with personality.

START VIDEO!

In parting, I swear on my

diddy's life (sentence) that,

one way or another... I'm

gonna shed the curse of

my family name, blow

this (BEEP) pop stand

and make somethin' of

myself. Playin' us off is

Blondie with a song that

inspires me to do that.

Now for Wendy Byrde

and Darlene Snell, I'm

Ruth Langmore urging

you to catch our show

  The   

 Big O 

coming real soon

to Shady's Place.

See ya then!

"One Way Or Another" - Blondie

(July/Aug. 1979, highest chart pos. #24 Hot 100,

#7 Canada, perf. on Dutch TV series TopPop) 

Shady's Eighties Greaties Vol. 4: Backfired Situation!

"The Guy Under the Seats"

Hello there, Shady. I'm sure you never thought you'd

be seeing me again. I'll bet you were hoping I'd stay

hidden away in my little cubby-hole forever so that

you could sit up there in your ivory tower as the

self proclamed ruler of the blog world. 

Let me ask you this, Shady. Do you happen to know how long

it's been since you ran an Eighties Greaties post? I'll tell you

how long. The last post ran in 2012. Do the math. That's

something like 20 years ago. Tell me, Shady, how does

it feel to play God year after year, foisting heavy metal

thunder, sugar-coated disco ditties and your granddaddy's

lame Hit Parade tunes from the 50s upon your readers?

 Well I'm back and things are gonna change around here pronto. You see, Shady,

the vast silent majority of my fellow Americans agree with me that the 80s

was the last great decade for music. Therefore, I am staging a coup.

 Effective immediately, I am taking over as host of your sorely neglected

Eighties Greaties. My first order of business will be to change the name

of the series to... Jennifer Jason Leigh Bridget Fonda Phoebe Cates

Christie Brinkley Bo Derek Morgan Fairchild Heather Locklear...

and, try as you may, there is absolutely nothing you can do

to stop me, mister smarty pants!

 DEBBIE HARRY 

Debbie Harry will turn age 74 this year, folks. Anybody feeling old?

In 1981, after a highly successful five year run as front woman of

the new wave band Blondie, Debbie began a solo career. Her debut

single, "Backfired," from her debut solo album KooKoo, backfired.

It didn't exactly burn up the charts in the U.S. or the UK. Blondie
fans were surprised and perhaps a little put off when they saw
the transformation in Debbie's appearance in the music video.
Check out her darker hair and sci-fi inspired look.

"Backfired" - Debbie Harry
(Sept. 1981, highest chart pos. #43 Hot 100,
#39 Cash Box, #32 UK, from July 1981 album KooKoo)

START PLAYING VIDEO

AT 25 SEC. MARK!

 EDDIE MURPHY 

In the early 80s actor and comedian Eddie Murphy began to try his luck as a
recording artist with varying degrees of success ever since. In 1985 Murphy
entered the Buffalo, New York, home studio of record producer Rick James
and recorded "Party All The Time," a danceworthy single that features
Rick on backing vocals. Eddie's party platter spent three weeks at #2,
bumping its head on Lionel Richie's chart-topper "Say You, Say Me."

Watch and listen as Eddie Murphy and Rick James lay down the
sound on their collaborative hit-- "Party All The Time!"

"Party All The Time" - Eddie Murphy

(Dec. 1985, highest chart pos. #2 Hot 100/#8 R&B)

START PLAYING VIDEO

AT 45 SEC. MARK!

 CATHY DENNIS 

Since the mid 1990s, Britain's Cathy Dennis has enjoyed a very successful career

as a songwriter. Cathy has penned hit songs for Kelly Clarkson, Kylie Minogue and

Britney Spears. Cathy's greatest success came in 2008 as co-writer of Katy Perry's

monster international hit "I Kissed a Girl", one of the best-selling digital singles

in history. In the late 80s, before she started focusing primarily on songwriting,

Cathy made a name for herself as a pop/dance recording artist. In November

1989, Cathy's dance single "Just Another Dream" was released in the UK

 but failed to chart. In the year that followed, the record was re-issued in

the UK and reached #13. The slab was also released in the U.S. where,

in the early weeks of 1991, it caught fire, finishing in the top 10

on the pop chart and top 3 on the dance chart. Here now is 

Cathy Dennis on Oprah with "Just Another Dream."

"Just Another Dream" - Cathy Dennis

(first released Nov. 1989, charted in U.S. Jan. 1991,

highest chart pos. #9 Hot 100/#2 Dance Club/#13 UK)

 TEARS FOR FEARS 

In 1985 the English new wave pop rock band Tears For Fears achieved
back-to-back #1 hits in the U.S. with "Shout" and "Everybody Wants
To Rule The World." That same year Tears For Fears extended their
American winning streak with a third single, "Head Over Heels,"
which cracked the top 3 that summer and turned up in
the soundtrack of the 2001 sci-fi film Donnie Darko.

"Head over Heels" - Tears For Fears
(Oct./Nov. 1985, highest chart pos. #3,
from Feb. 1985 album Songs from the Big Chair)

START PLAYING VIDEO

AT 30 SEC. MARK!

 YAZOO 

Yazoo (known as Yaz in North America because lawyers say so) was an English

synthpop duo, consisting of vocalist Alison Moyet and former Depeche Mode

keyboardist Vince Clarke. Yazoo enjoyed worldwide success in the New Wave

80s and their songs have been used in numerous movies and television shows.

In March 1982 the song "Situation" was released in the UK on the B side of

Yazoo's debut single "Only You" and therefore failed to chart. It was a much

different story stateside where "Situation" made the Hot 100 and topped

the Dance Club chart for four weeks. In this cool clip, Yaz performs their
U.S. club hit "Situation," better known to some as-- "Move Out!"

"Situation" - Yazoo aka Yaz

(Aug 1982, highest chart pos. #1 Hot Dance Club Play)

 FUN BOY THREE 

Fun Boy Three was an English New Wave pop group made up of Terry Hall and

two other vocalists who broke off from the popular late 70s British ska revival

band The Specials. Hall, together with Jane Wiedlin of the Go-Go's, penned

"Our Lips Are Sealed" which became a hit for Jane's girl group in 1981 and

was named by Rolling Stone mag as one of the 100 Greatest Pop Songs

Of All Time. In 1983 Fun Boy Three released their own rendition of

"Our Lips Are Sealed" and it made the top 10 in the UK. I like
this version better than the Go-Go's original! 

"Our Lips Are Sealed" - Fun Boy Three
(April 1983, highest chart position #7 UK,
live perf. on Top of the Pops)

Well Shady, I hope you got your jollies sitting on the side-

lines contemplating your navel while I hosted my new series

Eighties Greaties Jennifer Jason Leigh Bridget Fonda Phoebe

Cates Christie Brinkley Bo Derek Morgan Fairchild Heather

Locklear. Tell me, Shady... how does it feel to be cut down

to size? How does it feel to have somebody else up here

on your throne while you're way down there groveling

in he dirt and crying like a little girl? Knowing you, it

wouldn't surprise me one little bit if you pulled the

plug on this series just to get rid of me. 

Do what you must, my friend, but remember, what goes around

comes around. One of these days, instant karma's gonna get you,

gonna knock you off your feet, better get yourself together,

darlin'.. Billy Bob Thornton you're gonna meet.

But, until that day, I'm gonna be right here

making your life... a living HELL!