Wordless Wendi Meets Iris West, Nomi Marks & Nia Nal

CLICK TO START THE VIDEO NOW!

(COLD SHOW OPEN)

 "Barbara Ann" - The Beach Boys 

 (Jan./Feb. 1966, highest chart pos. #1 Cash Box/#2 Hot 100, 
 from Nov. 1965 album Beach Boys' Party!) 

A song from the 1965 album Beach Boys' Party!... that was "Barbara Ann"
featuring Dean Torrence of Jan and Dean on co-lead vocals along with
Brian Wilson and backed by America's Beach Boys. "Barbara-Ann"
was originally recorded in 1961 by the Bronx doo-wop group
The Regents who had a #13 charting hit with it. In early
1966 the Beach Boys cover topped the Cash Box chart
and reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. In the summer
of 1975, the Beach Boys' single made a return visit to the
chart and Bubbled Under for three weeks, finishing at #101.

Hi everyone! It's Almost Wordless Wednesday

and I'm Wordless Wendi, Wendi Falkenberry,

Eddie Cleary's perky, levelheaded girlfriend

on The Kids Are Alright, the TV sitcom set

in the year 1972. I'm here today along with

three other cool television characters with

a sneak preview of our new radio shows.

That's right, you guessed it. Beginning

next year the four of us will be joining

The Shady Bunch as DJs on S-P-M-M

Retrosonic Radio. My show will be

called Wordless Wendi because I'll

bring you more music with less talk,

the best surf-rock and sunshine pop

hits of 60s, and right now I've got
another one by The Beach Boys.

CLICK TO START
THE VIDEO NOW!

Listen to the fresh, vibrant sound on this newly enhanced remix
of their top 10 hit from the summer of '66-- "Wouldn't It Be Nice!"

 "Wouldn't It Be Nice" - The Beach Boys 

 (Aug./Sept. 1966, highest chart pos. 

 #7 Cash Box/#8 Hot 100) 

I'm Nomi Marks. Do not call me Michael.

I'm the San Francisco based trans woman

hacktivist and blogger from the sci-fi TV

series Sense8. You might also remember

me from Riley's Raves on the old blog

Shady Dell Music & Memories. Next
year my BFF, an exciting young woman
you'll meet in a moment, will join me
in hosting a new show on S-P-M-M
called Transitory Verve. Together
we will bring you musical diversity,
great sounds of the past and present
by recording artists all over the world.

My first play is a way cool number

by the perennially popular dance-pop

new wave Brit girl trio Bananarama.

CLICK TO START
THE VIDEO NOW!

These English sparrows made the Guinness book for having the world's
highest number of chart entries by a female group. If you wanna know

why, the proof is in the butter pie. From Disorderlies, the 1987

comedy starring The Fat Boys and Ralph Bellamy, here

are the banana girls and-- "I Heard A Rumour!"

 "I Heard A Rumour" - Bananarama 

 (Aug. to Oct. 1987, highest chart pos. #4 Hot 100 & Cash Box, 

 from OST of the Aug. 1987 film Disorderlies) 

Hi, I'm Nia Nal, code name Dreamer on the hit

TV series Supergirl. In 2018 I made history as

the first transgender superhero on television.

Latin rock 'n' roll pioneer Ritchie Valens was
only seventeen years old when he died in an
Iowa plane crash along with Buddy Holly

and The Big Bopper on February 3, 1959,

a date immortalized in the Don McLean

song "American Pie" as "The Day the

Music Died." Ritchie's adaptation of

the Mexican folk song "La Bamba"

was released as a single at the end

of 1958 and charted in the weeks

before and after his tragic death.

CLICK TO START THE VIDEO NOW!

Sixty years later, on the other side of the world,

two young Romanians breathed new life into

the song. Here with their joyful cover of
"La Bamba" are guitarist Andrei Cerbu
and singing partner Beatrice Florea.

 "La Bamba" - Ritchie Valens cover by 

 Andrei Cerbu & Beatrice Florea, (August 2019) 

Hi, I'm Iris West, news journalist
and Barry Allen's girlfriend on the
DC Comics superhero TV series

The Flash. You might recall the

night we met when Shady Dell

Music & Memories presented

the rave party Barry's Bash
"Dance With The Flash."

My new show, which begins
next year on S-P-M-M, will be
called Flashback with Iris West.
I'll be playing hot urban soul,
R&B and dance club sounds
of the 70s, 80s and 90s.

CLICK TO START THE VIDEO NOW!

If you follow my simulcast on YouTube, you'll be able to see the music videos

that aired on MTV and Vh1. Here's a music history mystery, a single by
O'Bryan that spent a whopping 21 weeks on the R&B chart and went

all the way to #1, but somehow missed the Hot 100. O'Bryan co-
wrote this song with Soul Train's Don Cornelius. Watch and
listen now as O'Bryan turns on your-- "Lovelite!"

 "Lovelite" - O'Bryan (May/June/July 1984, 

 highest chart pos. #1 R&B/#101 Bubbling Under) 

Here's another R&B chart-topper,

and this one also rode high on

the pop charts. It was recorded

in 1987 by Perri McKissack, a

singer from Oakland, California,

who, as a little girl, earned the

nickname "Pebbles" because

she reminded her family of

the cartoon character

Pebbles Flintstone.

CLICK TO START
THE VIDEO NOW!

In 1988, Pebbles hit pay dirt with her second

single, another record that logged 21 weeks

on the R&B chart-- "Girlfriend!"

 "Girlfriend" - Pebbles (Feb./Mar. Apr. 1988, 

 highest chart pos. 1 R&B/#5 Hot 100/#6 Cash Box) 

CLICK TO START
THE VIDEO NOW!

That wraps up our sneak preview.
We hope you enjoyed sampling the
sounds you'll be hearing on Wordless

Wendi, Transitory Verve and Flash-

back with Iris West. Now for Iris,

Nia Nal and Nomi Marks, I'm

Wendi Falkenberry. See you

next year on S-P-M-M! 

 "Wendy" - The Beach Boys 

 (Oct./Nov. 1964, highest chart pos. #44 Hot 100, 

 #57 Cash Box, from Sept. 1964 EP 4-By The Beach Boys) 

Shady Train - Ep. 13: Too Hot Ta Trot in Love Town!

BOOTH ANNOUNCER:

Shady Train...

the hippest trip in America!

Brought to you in part by...

Johnson Products Company

...makers of

Ultra Sheen...

Afro Sheen...

and

Ultra Sheen

cosmetics.

Afro Sheen and Ultra Sheen...

The largest selling products

in the "Natural" world.

And now the host of

Shady Train...

Don Cornelius!

Hi there, you're right on time. Welcome aboard
for another raucous ride on the Shady Train.
You know the drill. Only the cool kids get in
 and every tune's a bad mamma jamma.

And we are mighty pleased to kick it off with a dynamic young performer
from North Carolina. He burst onto the scene two years ago with
"The Gigolo" and since then has produced one hit after another.
As he joins us to do his latest, the first single from his Capitol

album Be My Lover, a biggin everybody's diggin' entitled
"Lovelite," let's make some noise, gang, for-- O'Bryan!

"Lovelite" - O'Bryan
(June/July 1984, highest chart pos. #1 R&B/#101 Bubbling Under,
from May 1984 album Be My Lover)

Blues/R&B singer, songwriter, producer and record

label founder Johnnie Mae Matthews is known as

The Godmother of Detroit Soul. Two of Johnnie's

children are currently delighting audiences as

members of a funk group on the Cotillion label.

We now switch live to WGPR-TV in Detroit for

a look at the gang on The New Dance Show as

they get busy to a song entitled "Hangin' Out"

and the very exciting-- ADC Band!

"Hangin' Out" - The ADC Band

(July 1980, highest chart pos. #67 R&B, dancers on

WGPR-TV Detroit's The New Dance Show)

And we are honored to have with us a lady who,

in our opinion, fits perfectly into the mold of the

ultimate talent, the consummate entertainer, the

incredible beauty and the unbelievable success

story. As you may have guessed by now, it takes

quite a woman to have made all that happen. She

is here to do the international hit single from her

RCA album Eaten Alive, a song entitled "Chain

Reaction" which was written by The Bee Gees

who also sing backup on the record. A great

welcome please. gang, for-- Miss Diana Ross!

"Chain Reaction" - Diana Ross

(Jan. 1986, highest chart pos. #7 U.S. Hot Dance,

#1 UK & Australia, from Sept. 1985 album Eaten Alive)

And this next one comes from the lovely lips of

another extraordinary canary. Check 'em out

now, the Shady Train gang, killin' it on the

line to Whitney Houston's latest and one

of her greatest-- "So Emotional!"

"So Emotional" - Whitney Houston
(Dec. 1987/Jan. 1988, highest chart pos.
#1 Hot 100, #1 U.S. Dance Club/#5 R&B/#5 UK,
from June 1987 album Whitney) 

And these funkmeisters are rackin' 'em back

and that ain't no fiction, it's a natural fact.

They return to the train to do their latest

single entitled "Too Hot Ta Trot" from

the soundtrack of the movie Thank

God It's Friday. Let's get some hands

together, gang, and pour some sugar

on-- the mighty Commodores!

"Too Hot Ta Trot" - The Commodores

(Feb. 1978, highest chart pos. #24 Hot 100/#1 R&B,

from OST of film Thank God It's Friday)

And we are delighted to welcome aboard

a talented singer from Youngstown, Ohio,

who is making a splash across the pond in

England with a single that is approaching

the top 5 on the British chart. Co-written

by Len Barry and Bobby Eli, the song is

entitled "Love Town," and the name of

this exciting young entertainer is--

Booker Newberry the Third!

"Love Town" - Booker Newberry III

(June/July 1983, highest chart pos. #6 UK,

from 1983 album Love Town)

And let's wrap it up by welcoming one of the finest

talents and also one of the loveliest ladies in our
business. She is here to perform a song entitled
"Love Come Down," the hot new lead single
from her RCA album Get Loose. She is--

Miss Evelyn King!

"Love Come Down" - Evelyn King

(Oct. 1982, highest chart pos. #1 R&B, #1 U.S. Dance Club,

#17 Hot 100, from Aug. 1982 album Get Loose)

And if that doesn't do it for you nothing ever will.

We hope you'll come back and get into it with us

next time when we pop another six pack and

toss in an extra cool one for good measure,

and you can bet your last money, it's all

gonna be a stone gas, honey. I'm

Don Cornelius, and as always in

parting, we wish you love...
peace... and soul!