2023 - Year of the Dell Rat ???

...or is it the year of the

Belle Rat?

...or could it be the year of the

Platterpus?

 Ainsley, Zoe, Adalind, Twisty, 

 Jess, Stephanie and Dot 

 Join The Shady Bunch! 

 CAN SHADY DEL KNIGHT KEEP YOU 
 ENTERTAINED IN THE COMING YEAR? 

 DO YOU NEED A 

 WACKY, WAVING, 

 INFLATABLE, 

 ARM FLAILING 

 TUBE MAN? 

 WELCOME BACK, DEAR FRIEND! 

 AND HAPPY NEW YEAR! 

I'm delighted to have you along for the ride
as I begin another year of blogging here
at Shady's Place Music & Memories.
This year I am excited to launch more

new S-P-M-M radio shows hosted by

some of my favorite celebs from

TV and movies. You met some of

them last year in sneak previews,

and they're back in this special 2-

part post to help me kick-off 2023.

The first seven new members of

The Shady Bunch are ready to

play tunes ripped from their

SPMM radio play lists, so

let's meet them right now!

Hello, I'm Dot Everest on the Amazon

TV series The Tick. By day, I work for

The City as an EMT. By night, you'll

find me breaking badass, a crime-

fighting super-powered vigilante

heroine on Team Tick. My new

show on S-P-M-M will be called

7 on the Dot...

TICK TICK TICK.

That means every song I play will

make reference to time. You won't

find my show on TikTok... only

here at Shady's Place. Time is of

the essence, so let me give you

a sample song from my show,

a 1965 clip of The Rolling Stones

performing on Top Of The Pops. 

START VIDEO NOW!

This is the band's first UK single written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards,

a record that hit #1 in the UK and made the top 10 in the U.S.

Here now are The Stones and-- "The Last Time!"

"The Last Time" - The Rolling Stones

(Apr. 1965, highest chart pos. #1 UK/#9 Hot 100,

#10 Cash Box, 1965 perf. on Top Of The Pops) 

Hi there, and Happy New Year!

My name is Stephanie Smothers.

Think I look like Anna Kendrick?

I get that a lot. I'm main character

of the 2018 black comedy crime

thriller A Simple Favor. In the

movie, I host a crafts and recipes

vlog that caters to moms. On the

sly, I'm an amateur sleuth who

does lots of digging, gets lots of

questions answered and solves

a murder mystery. This year,

I'll bring that skill set to my

new radio show on S-P-M-M. 

CLICK TO START

THE VIDEO NOW! 

My show is called Stephanie Knows Who (What, When, Where, Why and How).

Every song I play asks a question, and here's one now. It's Heart with their

1985 comeback single, the band's first top 40 hit in three years and the

first to make the top 10 in five years. Watch and listen as sisters Ann

and Nancy Wilson ask the musical question-- "What About Love?" 

"What About Love?" - Heart

(July/Aug. 1985, highest chart pos. #8 Canada/#10 Hot 100,

#17 Cash Box/#3 U.S. Mainstream Rock & Canada Adult Contemporary) 

Hello, mate! I'm Jess Parker on the British

science-fiction television series Primeval.

 I'm the field coordinator of a team that

battles prehistoric creatures when they

break through time/space portals and

attack humans. My new show on

S-P-M-M Retro Radio is called

Primeval

Platterpus. 

I will be resurrecting groovy

platters from the 60s, 70s and

80s, records that might sound

like dinosaurs to younger ears,

but to Boomers, they're the

latest and the greatest.

It's yesterday once more!

CLICK TO START THE VIDEO NOW! 

Here's a sample of what I'll be playing on Primeval Platterpus.

The blokes and birds of the Swedish pop supergroup ABBA punctuate

our plight as we battle the beasts to save the human race. This is the

flip side of their 1974 hit "Waterloo," the first single released by

the group using the name ABBA. What do you do when

those primeval monsters appear? "Watch Out!" 

"Watch Out" - ABBA

(June/July 1974, B side of "Waterloo")




Editor's note: Meet Twisty, the deranged killer clown on

American Horror Story: Freak Show. Twisty is proud to join

The Shady Bunch in 2023 as the "silent DJ" of SPMM radio.

That's right. Twisty doesn't speak.

He simply stares at you, smiles,

does a little magic trick for you,

and then proceeds to kill you.

Nothing personal, but yeah...

you really need to die.

Twisty's new show on

SPMM will be called

Twisty the

Night Away

...and Twisty wants you

to hear a sample from

his play list. It's Elvis

the Pelvis in a scene

from his hit 1957

film Loving You!

"Twisty's Got A Lot O' Livin' To Do

(and You've Got a Lot O' Dyin' To Do)"

- Elvis Presley (scene from July 1957

movie Loathing You) 

I'm Adalind Schade a witch-like Hexenbiest on the fantasy police drama Grimm.

I'll be here in April 2023 along with six other celebrity contestants to take

The A to Z Challenge, a new trivia game series at Shady's Place.

It's called the A to Z Challenge

because four of the players have

names that begin with the letter

"A" like me, and the other three

players have names that begin

with "Z." The game proceeds

through the alphabet with

players taking turns naming

a recording artist whose name

begins with the corresponding

letter. For example, if it's my

turn to name a "B" music act,

 I could pick rock 'n' roll star

Johnny Burnette and score

10 extra points for playing

a Johnny Burnette song that

has a number in the title. 

CLICK TO START THE VIDEO NOW!

And here it is, from the soundtrack of American Graffiti

Johnny's top 10 hit-- "You're Sixteen!" 

"You're Sixteen" - Johnny Burnette

(Dec. 1960/Jan. 1961, highest chart pos. #7 Cash Box/#8 Hot 100)

Hi, I'm Zoe Baker, Beth Pearson's cousin

and Kevin's girlfriend on the hit family

TV drama This Is Us. I'm one of the "Z"

name players on the A to Z Challenge.

Let's suppose it's my turn to pick an

artist whose name begins with "M." 

CLICK TO START VIDEO NOW!

I could score 10 bonus points by choosing a

song by Mandy Moore, because the artist's

 first and last name both begin with "M."

Then I could gain 10 additional points

by making a Six Degrees connection,

because Mandy and I are on the same

TV show This Is Us. Here's Mandy

with her 2001 hit-- "In My Pocket!"

"In My Pocket" - Mandy Moore

(June 2001, highest chart pos. #11 Australia/#26 New Zealand,

#21 U.S. Mainstream Top 40/#102 Bubbling Under)



Hi, I'm Ainsley Whitly, an ambitious television news reporter on the hit

TV series Prodigal Son. This year, I and my colleagues, who are also

investigative journalists, will host a new S-P-M-M radio show called

The I-Team.

In this case, "I" does not stand for investigation, as in investigative

reporting. The title of every song we play on I-Team will start

with the letter "I"... We'll be spinning some uber cool tunes,

so "I" hope you'll join us. I also hope you enjoyed Pt. 1

of Shady's annual New Year's Day celebration.

Stick around for Pt. 2 coming up on Thursday. 

CLICK TO START THE VIDEO NOW!

To play us off, here again is This Is Us star Mandy Moore with

the "I" song "I Could Break Your Heart Any Day of The Week."

Now for Zoe, Adalind, Twisty, Jess, Stephanie and Dot,

this is Ainsley saying goodbye and see you soon! 

"I Could Break Your Heart Any Day of The Week" - Mandy Moore

(Apr./May 2009, highest chart pos. #14 Ukraine/#90 Hot 100) 

Twisty the Night Away!

premiering this year at Shady's Place!

A to Z Challenge (Alexis to Alice to Astrid to Zoe) : A Walk To Remember (Thanks to Mandy Moore!)

COLD OPEN:

CLICK TO PLAY THE VIDEO NOW!

"(If You) Love Me Just A Little" - La La

(1986 single) 

From Queens, New York, that was singer/songwriter La Forrest 'La La' Cope

with "(If You) Love Me Just A Little," a 1986 dance single that captures

the sound of Rufus And Chaka Khan, the R&B girl group Klymaxx,

the S.O.S. Band, the Minneapolis Sound founded by Prince and

the 80s output of Janet Jackson. La La is credited with writing

the Whitney Houston hit "You Give Good Love," a song

released on Whitney's self-titled 1985 debut album. 

Hello and welcome to a sneak preview

of the A to Z Challenge, a new series

beginning next April here at Shady's

Place. In our version, A to Z stands

for Alexis to Alice To Astrid to Zoe.

We invite you to play along!

I'm Alexis Wright

...the personal assistant to leading man

Michael Holloway on the psychological

thriller Netflix television series Gypsy

that stars Naomi Watts. Joining me

in this April Challenge are three

other up-and-coming starlets

from popular TV shows. 

Rules of the A to Z Challenge:

* Taking turns, players advance through the alphabet from A to Z. Each player

must pick a music artist whose name begins with the corresponding letter and

play a song by that artist. No songs may be repeated in later rounds. 

* Players are awarded 10 points for naming an appropriate artist and playing a song. 

They can pick up bonus points for selecting specific types of songs, such as songs

with numbers in the title, or by picking artists with numbers in their name. There

are other ways to win extra points and they will be explained as we go along.

For example, if I had landed on the letter "L" and played that song by

"La La," I would have been awarded 10 extra points because both

parts of the artist's name begin with "L."

* When a player lands on the letter "Q," "U," "X" or "Z," she may choose to opt out

and play a song with a number in the title or artist's name. If she exercises that option,

she still receives her 10 point credit plus bonus points if multiple numbers are involved.

* 7 songs are played in each round of the game, meaning that three of the players will

get two song picks and two chances to score points, while the 4th contestant gets only

one song pick and one chance to score points. This, of course, is unfair, but remember

that this is only an exhibition round to demonstrate how the game is played.

More players will be joining when the game officially begins next year.

The A to Z Challenge continues now

as I introduce the next player - Alice!

Hi, I'm Alice Charles...

Payton Hobart's girlfriend on the Netflix comedy-drama series The Politician.

In this sneak preview of the A to Z, we're skipping around to various letters

of the alphabet to show you how the game is played and won. Let's say it

was my turn and I landed on the letter "R." I could score 10 points by

picking an "R" name artist, plus 10 bonus points if the song title

contains a number. Here's an example, composer, arranger and

 bandleader Nelson Riddle and his popular instrumental theme

of the early 60s adventure crime drama TV series Route 66

starring Martin Milner and George Maharis.

"Route 66 Theme" - Nelson Riddle

(June thru Aug. 1962, highest chart pos. #30 Hot 100/#40 Cash Box) 

You just heard a cool instrumental that

most Americans of the pre-Beatles 60s

could have identified in two seconds

flat in a game of Name That Tune -

Nelson Riddle's "Route 66 Theme,"

a top 30 hit in the summer of 1962.

By picking a song with a number

in the title by an "R" name artist,

I scored 10 + 10, a total of 20

points on that play. See?

Okay, now it's time for me to toss

to someone I know all too well,

my co-star on The Politician.

She's trouble with a capital

"T" and her name is Astrid. 

I'm Astrid Sloan

...Payton's rival on The Politician

and not exactly Alice's BFF either.

It's a small world after all...

because I also appeared

with Alexis in her TV

series Gypsy. 

Suppose my letter in the A to Z is

"I." I could grab 10 extra points

by choosing Janis Ian and her

mid 70s chart-topping hit

"At Seventeen." 

"At Seventeen" - Janis Ian

(Aug./Sept. 1975, highest

chart pos. #1 Cash Box,

#1 Adult Contemporary,

#3 Hot 100) 

You just watched folksinger and

songwriter Janis Ian perform one of

her signature songs "At Seventeen,"

 a record that topped the Cash Box

and the Adult Contemporary chart

in late summer of 1975. That's

another number song and

20 points for me! 

Now meet the fourth and final

contestant in the Shady's Place

A to Z Challenge. Her name is Zoe. 

I'm Zoe Baker

...Beth Pearson's cousin and Kevin

Pearson's girlfriend on the hit TV

drama series This Is Us. If you

think I look like Alexis Wright

from Gypsy, you aren't the

only one. I get that a lot...

and so does she.😊

Another way of scoring points in

our version of A to Z is by making

a Six Degrees connection. If, for

example, I landed on the letter "M,"

I could score 30 points by playing

a song by Mandy Moore, the star

of my show This Is Us. In this

scene from the 2002 coming-

of-age romantic film A Walk

to Remember, Mandy covers

"Only Hope," a song first

released in 1999 by the

rock band Switchfoot. 

"Only Hope" - Mandy Moore

(scene from Jan. 2002 film A Walk To Remember) 

That was my beautiful co-star

Mandy Moore back in 2002

performing "Only Hope" in 

her hit movie A Walk to

Remember. By playing

that song, I earned 30

points - 20 for the

double "M" in the

artist's name and

10 more for the

Six Degrees

connection.

Now back to my sista

from another mista -

Alexis - who is ready

with her second song. 

Zoe, if it were my turn to tackle

the letter "M"... I could collect

10 bonus points by choosing

Roger Miller's number song

"Engine Engine #9." 

"Engine Engine #9" 

- Roger Miller

(May/June 1965,

highest chart

pos. #7 Hot 100,

#9 Cash Box) 

That was King of the Road Roger Miller

performing one of his other major hits

in the country-pop category "Engine

Engine #9," a top 10 record in the

spring of 1965 and an additional

20 points in the game for me.

Now here again is Alice. 

Alexis, I'm going to play another

countrified classic, a folk song by

"F" artist Tennessee Ernie Ford.

The single hit number one on

the Country chart and crossed

over to top the pop chart from

Thanksgiving 1955 through

the first week of '56. Here

now is Tennessee Ernie

and another number

song-- "Sixteen Tons." 

"Sixteen Tons" - 

Tennessee Ernie Ford

(Nov./Dec. 1955, highest

chart pos. #1 Hot 100 &

Cash Box & Country) 

You just saw and heard country

& Western music star Tennessee

Ernie Ford performing "Sixteen

Tons," his monster crossover hit

single from the holiday season

of 1955. That pick for the letter

"F" earned me 20 more points

in this exhibition round. 

Now here's Astrid with her

second song and the last

play of the game.

Well "F" you, Alice! You can eat my dust,

baby... because I'm going for the glory

with my final artist and song selection.

If it were my turn to do the letter "T,"

I'd pick Tommy Tutone, the California

based power pop/new wave band, and

their 1982 top 5 hit "867-5309/Jenny."

The play is worth 90 points - 20 points

for the double "T" in the artist's name

and 70 more points for the 7 different

spoken/sung numbers in the song title! 

"867-5309/Jenny" - Tommy Tutone

(Apr/May 1982, highest chart pos.

#4 Hot 100/#5 Cash Box,

#1 Mainstream Rock)

In your face bitches...

I just hit a grand slam - a 90 point play for the win!  

  SCOREBOARD 

  ALEXIS:  40 

     ALICE: 40 

 ASTRID: 110 

         ZOE: 20 

Checking the scoreboard at the end of this exhibition round,

we see that Astrid did indeed win by a landslide after playing

that "Holy Grail" number song by Tommy Tutone. Alexis

and Alice finished tied for second with 40 points each and

I wound up with 20 points but only had one chance to play.

That gives you an idea of how our

A to Z Challenge works.  We hope

you enjoyed the songs the players

 picked for this exhibition round.

Stay tuned. When our series

officially begins next year,

three more players will be

joining the game, the gloves

will come off for real, and

we'll all do our best to score

the most points and win.

For Astrid Sloan, Alice Charles

and my look-alike doppelganger

clone Alexis Wright, this is

Zoe Baker saying so long

and see you next April

for the Shady's Place

A to Z Challenge!