Mr. Zero’s “PsychoGello Radio Show Vol.4”

So as some of you know I have a Annual Radio-Show, this year I was lucky enough to be on a 2nd time this year for “Pledge Drive” week, so a nod to Liberty Finch & DJ Izzy, I thank you both.
For this show I dug deep for my fans of The Monkees, KISS & Tommy Bolin, so here’s a breakdown of the songs I chose this time & their significance. Also many of these Artists, I have previously written “BUZZ” Articles on in the past 4.5 years, you can read past articles @ www.MrZeros.Com “Blog” there’s only about 55 of them to pour through.

“Long Title: Do I Have To Do This All Over Again” The MONKEES: 1968 “Head” This is only 1 of 2 Peter Tork solo lead vocals released while he was in ‘The Monkees’ while he wrote 12 songs for The Monkees, most of them went unreleased until the Rhino “Missing Links Vol: 1- 3” series & the 2 “Anthology Box-Sets” that were also released” I just love this song it’s got a get beat & bass line, although Tork played guitar on this one, the bass was played by Lance Wakely, the “HEAD” Soundtrack was Tork’s shining moment as he had 2 original songs on the LP, it was also his swan song, as Tork did not appear on the last 3 Monkees’ LPs, while he did appear in the TV Special “33 1/3 Monkees Per Revolution” in Apr ’69, singing on “I, Prithee” “California, Here I Come” & “Little Darling” there was no LP released for this show.

“(I’m not your) SteppinStone” The TRASHMEN 1967 “Bird Call” as I had written in another article my Dad Dr. W. A. Schwinden had sat in The Trashmen, before he was shipped off to Viet Nam in ’64. I have to wonder if the Trashmen chose this one because of The Monkees’ or The Raiders’ version, in any case it was cool to hear a “Surf Band” perform a 60’s Pop tune.

“Pretty Thing” Tommy Boyce: 1965 “Tribute” on the day we were broadcasting it happened to be Boyce’s birthday, so we had to play 1 of his songs, here’s Boyce doing his best “Dylanesque” the 1st time I met Boyce was in Jun ’86 he told me himself, “I, we would listen to the radio, to hear what was the current popular, types, of songs that were being played, & I, we would try to copy them in our own style” I dedicated this one to my favorite waitress Diana.

“If You’ve Got Trouble” The BEATLES: 1965 “Anthology 2” while Ringo was in The BEATLES he sang only 10 songs, this would have been #11, originally intended for the LP “HELP” it was left off. I love it; it’s a good rocker with a great riff.

“Buddy Holly Tribute” Micky Dolenz: 1972 “MGM Singles” while Dolenz & Jones continued to work for The MONKEES until early ’71 both Jones & Dolenz were then picked up by the Record Label MGM, who also handled other “Teen” oriented artists like The OSMONDS & Danny Bonaduce. The legend goes that Dolenz recorded an entire LP for MGM titled “I Hate Rock N Roll” with the tracks “Wing Walker” “Purple People Eater” & the title track, it’s recently be written that Dolenz recorded up to 31 tracks for MGM, because of the “50’s Resurgence” he recorded this tribute to Buddy Holly.

“Gentle On My Mind” Leonard Nimoy: 1968 “Two Sides Of” Micky Dolenz once said “It’s The Monkees & Star Trek, who can figure it out?” so I thought I would play them back to back, this track was a little more palatable then I remembered.

“2000 Man” ROLLING STONES: 1967 “Their Satanic Majesties Request” this song is perhaps best known for the ’79 KISS version adopted by Ace Frehley, so I thought I’d throw the KISS fans a bone. Also I played this one for a certain blond lady I used to know.

“Bama Lama, Bama Loo” Little Richard: 1964 “Well, Alright” this song was recorded & released during the “Architect’s” 1st return to rock n roll. Incidentally, The BEATLES opened for Little Richard in ’62 on his UK Tour. Like I said on the show “If this one doesn’t make you get up & dance… there’s something wrong with you”

“Stars That Play With Laughing Sam’s Dice” Jimi Hendrix: 1967 “B-Side” to “Burning Of The Midnight Lamp” one of the 7 Non-LP songs Hendrix released while he was alive, & then released only on the UK Version of “Smash Hits” I am always really interested in any Non-LP song. In doing my research I found out the title is for the initials “STP- L.S.D.” a very popular mind altering drug at the time.

“Mr. Zero’s” WestSide Mikey: 2015 “Magic Acid Band” My old high school buddy Mike Langley & 1st ever band mate, wrote this for the shop just in time for this broadcast, it was also used on the local CTV-15 Show “NSB” that did a 3 minute special on our Shop “Mr. Zero’s” the following day.

“London Bridge” BREAD: 1969 “1st LP” In ’69 when Nesmith was recording songs for the “Next” MONKEES LP “Present” this song is 1 he started, but never finished, perhaps because the proposed “Double LP” was cut down to a single LP. This was the 2nd song David Gates had recorded by The MONKEES.

“That’s Enough For Me” Paul Williams: 1971 “Just An Old Fashioned Love Song” I 1st knew of Williams from being “Virgil” in “Battle For The Planet Of The Apes” (I had him sign my DVD of this film) then came to find out he wrote a song for The MONKEES “Someday Man” in ’69. This particular song comes the 1977 film “First Love” with Susan Dey of the “Partridge Family” I really like the film, & think this is a great song.

“If I Were A Carpenter” The FOUR TOPS: 1967 “Anthology” As a kid most people I knew were into the TEMPTATIONS, where as I liked ‘The Four Tops’ I 1st heard this song on “The Wonder Years” in Oct ’91, I have yet to hear a bad version of it, so here is another one.

“Pretty Polly” The BYRDS: 1968 “Sweethearts Of The Rodeo” At the Shop (Mr. Zero’s) we get asked for this LP all the time, I am not exactly sure why, as I feel this is the only song worth listening to off of this LP. I do love The BYRDS though; enough that I named one of my birds after this song. McGuinn probably heard this song from Pete Seeger, although Judy Collins had performed it too, McGuinn had played on Collins LPs in ’63, before forming The BYRDS.

“I’ll Believe In You” Davy Jones: 1972 “Bell Years” In ’71 when Jones was released from the MONKEES, he signed with Bell Records, who currently had the “Partridge Family” he released 1 LP & 4 singles this was his final 45 for Bell, before signing with MGM, like his former partner Dolenz. A lot of people think this is just too sappy of a song, but it reminds me of the current Pop Music that was on AM Radio at the time, & believe it or not, I really enjoy this song.

“Rainmaker” The PARTRIDGE FAMILY: 1971 “Sound Magazine” In the early 70s No One out sold the ‘Partridge Family’ with 10 LPs & 11 Singles in just 4 short years including 4 Solo LPs from David Cassidy & 1 from Danny Bonaduce. When ‘The Monkees’ project came to an end in mid ’70 about 60% of the song writers & musicians moved from that project to the ‘Partridge Family’ with an updated sound for the early ’70s, so if you liked the MONKEES, chances were you were going to like the ‘Partridge Family’ too & I did, I love this song.

“Sweet Ophelia” Barry Mann: 1971 “Lay It All Out” A major “Hit Maker” for others Barry did release 3 Solo LPs himself, & oddly enough a pre- KISS: “Wicked Lester” recorded 2 songs off of this LP for their 1st LP, this song & another titled “Too Many Mondays” yes they are good songs & Barry being 1 of the best, but to record 2 songs off of the very same LP, now there’s a question I have for Gene & Paul.

“Faded Satin Lady” Max Gronenthal: 1979 “Whistling In The Dark” Just before Tommy R. Bolin passed away in Dec ’76 he had updated his band with Max Carl Gronenthal on Keyboards & 2nd Lead Vocals, this last line-up of the “Tommy Bolin Band” had been writing songs for Bolin’s 3rd Solo LP, & this was one of them, along with “Down In The Dungeon” “Blues Gonna Take Me Away” & “Don’t Hide From Me” unfortunately Tommy did not record this song before he died, but Max did & released it on his 1st Solo LP, before he joined ’38 Special’.
“Savannah Woman” Tommy R. Bolin: 1975 “Teaser” Tommy was from Sioux City & so am I, it was a proud day when Tommy released his 1st band LP “Zephyr” in ’70, but that escalated when his 1st Solo LP “Teaser” came out, the thing I love about Tommy’s music is he has this mellow jazzy quality to some of his songs, & they can really take you to another place.

“Golden Rainbows” Alphonse Mouzon: 1975 “Mind Transplant” In late ’74, after ‘James Gang’ but before ‘Deep Purple’, Bolin hooked up with former McCoy Tyner & Weather Report jazz drummer Mouzon they created what I think is the greatest fusion jazz LP of all time. I was able to hang out with Mouzon in Aug of this year, he told me “Bonham used to set up his drums in his hotel room trying to get down my beats” I mentioned “I believe this LP had a influence on Neil Peart of RUSH” Mouzon “You know if Bonham was listening to it, Neil was too … funny thing so many people had mention Neil to me, I thought I better find out who this guy is” me “So when was that?” Mouzon “A few years ago”

“Baby Blue” BADFINGER: 1971 “Straight Up” I always loved this song as a kid & I got to jam on with an old friend of mine from “The Suburbantors” in Des Moines in Aug. Joey Molland still lives in town & I was able to get him to sign a “Sealed” 8-Track for the shop, we gave him a “Mr. Zero’s Shirt” as he was off to the UK to do a few shows over there, he said “I’ll try to remember to wear it over there for ya”

“Hard Way” The KINKS: 1975 “School Boy’s In Disgrace” Yet another song I got to jam with my friend Jon in Aug. this is by far my favorite “Concept LP” by the KINKS, so many great songs on the LP, but I had to pick one. Back then Dave used to play an L6-S, just as I still do.

“Jump Into The Fire” NILSSON: 1972 “Son OF Dracula” I always liked this song but when Robin Zander of CHEAP TRICK, covered it for his ’93 Solo CD, he took it to a new level, this is also a song I was trying to get my band ”MrZERo” to cover. When I asked Zander in Omaha in ’94 “Why did you pick that song to cover” Zander “Because I love Nilsson, that’s why” me “Did you have to get him to sign off on it” Zander “No, just pay him” This might be the only “Rocker” I know of that Nilsson ever recorded.

“Green Shirt” The TREMBLERS (Peter Noone): 1980 “Twice Nightly” I saw them do this on TV back in the day, I just loved this song, when I asked about it @ “Uncle John” (our local recordshop) Mezmer told me “Elvis Costello” so I got “Armed Forces” & thought “This IS NOT the artist I saw?” when I met Costello in 2002, I did have him sign my copy though. Peter Noone of ‘Herman’s Hermits’ had just left the band & gone solo for awhile, then formed the short lived band ‘TREMBLERS’

“Like Dreamers Do” APPLE JACKS: 1964 Many do not realize exactly how proliferate Lennon & McCartney were @ writing songs, so many that they gave many away to other UK artists @ the time. This being 1 of them. This band had 1 LP & 8 Singles. I always wished EMI had recorded & released an LP of The BEATLES performing all the songs they gave a way, we would have a whole other BEATLES LP.

“Keep Me Waiting” WICKED LESTER (KISS): 1972 “Box Set” Many of the casual KISS fans do not realize there was an LP recorded before KISS’ 1st LP, true it was never released, however there are tracks floating around out there. Of the 11 songs recorded 5 were covers, (I mentioned 1 earlier) this particular song, written by: Paul Stanley, was kept in the live set list of the very 1st KISS shows ever performed. This one is dedicated to my band mates: (in “ROCK and ROLL all NITE”) Cat, Pete & Tony, as we have a ’74 KISS Tribute gig Fri 23 Oct 2015 in Bloomington, MN @ the Ramada Hotel Ballroom 10pm

“Faith In You” Matthew Sweet: 1999 “In Reverse” When I 1st heard this song on the “Drive Me Crazy” CD soundtrack, I was blown away, I immediately started collecting EVERYTHING by Matthew. I just love this song, when I got to ask him about it I said “You know I discovered your music by the song “Faith In You” on the “Drive Me Crazy” soundtrack” he replied ”Oh, is that on there?” I said “How do you not know?” he replied, “That’s up to my management & the record company, I really don’t have a say in that, also, I don’t really keep track of those things, because, well, I’m me, so I don’t need to”

MrZer0 on KFAI 90.3fm & 106.7am

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