Brian & Toto Ask, "Is Shady's Place Going to the Dogs?" SPMM's Deejay Dawgs Bark "3 Cheers for 13 Years!"

Hi, Folks!

I'm Brian Griffin.

As I'm sure you know,

I'm the personable pooch

from Family Guy and a

Shady Bunch deejay...

host of Eclectic Avenue

right here on S-P-M-M

Retrosonic Radio.

And I'm Toto Moto.

I make no bones about the fact that I'm

Shady Del Knight's dog. I'm also the blog

mascot, Chief Petting Officer and a DJ -

The Hound of Sound on S-P-M-M, host

of Toto's Top Tunes Time Tunnel.

My motto: "I aim to fleas!"

Today Brian and I are gonna start from
scratch (BA-DUM-BUMP) and help
Shady salivate his 13th anniversary
as a blogger including three years
of bringing you music and fun

here at Shady's Place.

Toto and I will each play a favorite song,

and we will be introducing three exciting

radio personalities who will be joining

The Shady Bunch deejay staff full time

beginning next year. I'll start us off.

In 1990, rapper M.C. Hammer topped

the R&B chart with his signature song

"U Can't Touch This." Here to do a

parody of the song is Peter Griffin,

my human on Family Guy. Peter

sings-- "Can't Touch Me!"

"Can't Touch Me" - Peter Griffin

(sung to the tune of "U Can't Touch This" by M.C. Hammer,

orig. May/June 1990, highest chart pos. #1 R&B/#4 Cash Box,
#8 Hot 100, scene from ep. of TV series Family Guy)

Hi everyone!

I'm Morgan Brody.

You might recognize me as the CSI level III on
the TV series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.
I'm happy to let you know that, beginning
next year, I'll be the host of a new radio
show here on S-P-M-M. It'll be called
CSI: Cool Song Investigation.

Now I might look like the typical

girl next door, your kid sister

or a fashionista mall rat,

but I assure you that I'm

a seasoned professional.

I'm meticulous in my work. I dot every
"i" and cross every genre to bring you the
best and coolest tunes in the music world.

As a preview of my show I dug up a great performance by an exciting young English

vocalist named Amelia Rendell. In 2016,

Amelia sang lead for the Stanley Dee

tribute band in a live show at a London

pub. Watch and listen as Amelia and the

band delight the crowd with their cover

of "Do It Again," the Steely Dan song

that brushed the top 5 in 1973.

START PLAYING VIDEO AT 1 MIN MARK!

"Do It Again" - Steely Dan cover by Stanley Dee tribute band
feat. Amelia Rendell (Aug. 2016 perf. at Half Moon Pub
in Putney, SW London, UK)

Isn't Amelia great? Okay, I uncovered

another fantastic cover song for you.

It was recorded by Eden's Crush, a

Los Angeles based pop girl group

created in 2001 on the now defunct

WB Network's TV series Popstars.

The Eden's Crush lineup included

Nicole Scherzinger who found fame

a few years later as lead singer of the

Pussycat Dolls. In 2001 Eden's Crush

released an album that contains their

version of "The Glamorous Life," the

song written by Prince and first waxed

by singer and percussionist Sheila E.

In 1984 Sheila E.'s single reached the

top 10 on the pop chart and went all

the way to number one on the Dance

survey. The cover by Eden's Crush

is way cool. Let's investigate!

"Glamorous Life" - Sheila E. cover by Eden's Crush

(from May 2001 album Popstars)

Hi, I'm Evie Barret.

I'm the new sheriff in the tiny town

of Willard's Mill, New Hampshire,

on the comedy horror TV series
Stan Against Evil.

My new radio show, coming in 2022,
is called Good Verses Evie, get it?

On Good Verses Evie I'll play songs with
lyrics that inspire, stir your emotions and
make you think, and I've got a couple of

Beatlesque samples. The first is a famous

show tune performed by Emily Linge, a

gifted young singer & musician in Dubai.

Originally recorded in 1950 and used in

the 1957 musical The Music Man, the

song was made even more famous by

The Beatles who waxed it in 1963.

CLICK TO START THE VIDEO NOW!

Here are Emily Linge and her music teacher

Simon Tomkins doing-- "Till There Was You." 

"Till There Was You" - The Music Man

The Beatles Cover by Emily Linge & Simon Tomkins

(Sept. 2020)

Here's another one I'm sure you
remember. In the late summer
and early fall of 1971, ex-Beatle
Paul McCartney and his wife

Linda topped the U.S. chart
with a lyric rich song that

was the first in a string of
post-Beatle number one hit
singles for Paul in America.

Here are Paul & Linda with--

"Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey!"

CLICK TO START
THE VIDEO NOW!

"Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey" - Paul And Linda McCartney

(Sept. 1971, highest chart pos. #1 Hot 100 & Cash Box)

Well hello there, Shady. That's right,
it's me, your old buddy, you old pal,

The Guy

Under the Seats.

Bet you conveniently forgot all about me since

the last time I was here. Bet you wish I didn't

even exist so that you could continue your

reign as self-proclaimed leader of the free

blog world unopposed. Well I got news, pal.

You're gonna regret the day your were born,

Mr. Poopy Pants, because I'm back and I'm

here to stay, here to make your life a living

hell as a new member of your illustrious

Shady Bunch DJ squad starting in 2022.

My show, the one you sorely neglected for years, the one
I adopted as my own and made a lot better, will still
be known as Eighties Greaties.

CLICK TO START THE VIDEO NOW!

I'll keep playing songs and vids from what I think we

can all agree was the last great decade in music.

Here's a sample spinning on my turntable and

simulcasting on YouTube. The Steve Miller

Band with their biggest hit, #1 in the late

summer of '82-- "Abracadabra!"

"Abracadabra" - The Steve Miller Band

(Aug./Sept. 1982, highest chart pos. #1 Hot 100 & Cash Box)

Hi again, folks. This is your old hi-fi fido,
Toto Moto. On Top Tunes Time Tunnel
I spin the super sounds of the Swingin' 60s.
Here's a hit single that bridged the gap
between two musical eras, the innocent
teen pop years of the 50s and early 60s,
and the rock band years of mid to late 60s
when pop music turned harder and heavier.

Believed to be dirty, the ditty was banned
by radio stations all across the country.

CLICK TO START VID!

S-P-M-M's got the slab and your Pooch with
the Hooch isn't afraid to play it. Here are

The Kingsmen with their garage rock

classic-- "Louie Louie!"

"Louie Louie" - The Kingsmen

(Dec. 1963, Jan. 1964, highest chart pos. #1 Cash Box,
#2 Hot 100, perf. on Jan. 22, 1966, ep. of Hollywood a Go Go)

Louie Louie, oh no,

me gotta go,

yeah, yeah, yeah,

yeah, yeah, baby

Louie Louie, oh baby,

me gotta go

I said me gotta go now

Make that we gotta go now, Toto.

Ooops, I just splashed my drink on
Chris Elliott. That's gonna mean
50 years of bad luck. Hey lishen,
I'm not as drunk as some thinkle

peep I am, okay? Anyway, thanks
for coming to Shady Del Knight's
13th anniversary party featuring
some of the new faces, voices and

personalities coming to S-P-M-M

Retrosonic Radio next year. Now
for Toto Moto this is Brian Griffin
saying so long and see you soon!

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!