"Thunder Island" by Jay Ferguson

Hey all you Dialophiles!

Whaddya say we hold on to summer just a little bit longer? The Radio Dial has locked onto a lovely little vacation destination, featuring sun, fun, sand, and the occasional storm… but don’t you worry about that. Hurry, pack your swimwear and sunscreen, and book a cruise out to Jay Ferguson’s "Thunder Island"!

Ferguson charted twice before via his earlier bands Spirit and Jo Jo Gunne, with their hits "I Got A Line On You" (#25 in 1969), and 1972’s "Run Run Run" (#27), respectively.

Thunder Island, the title track from Jay’s second solo LP, peaked at #9 in 1978. A cheery, yet ultimately wistful recollection of a romance on the beautiful isle, it would not have sounded out of place on a Jimmy Buffett LP of the era.

And in recent years, Ferguson has been behind a very recognizable tune, which plays in the living rooms of many Americans on Thursdays at 9pm… the theme to the NBC sitcom "The Office".

Thunder Island is rather special to me, because after not having heard it since around ’79, it popped up on the radio (inexplicably) several times in early 2008. Interestingly, this occurred almost always while on a date with Michele, the woman who would later become my wife and mother of our daughter.  We considered Ferguson’s Caribbean-flavored pop ditty to be "our song". 

And as today, Tuesday, 9/25/12 marks our two year anniversary, I’m posting our song right here on the ever lovin’ Radio Dial… Happy Anniversary honey!

Sha la la la la la my lady… In the sun with your hair undone…

Can you hear me now, callin’ your name from across the bay.

A summer’s day, laughin’ and a hidin’… Chasin' love, out on Thunder Island.

"Gimme Little Sign" by Danielle Brisebois

Good evening, Dialophiles!

Tonight, the Radio Dial plucks a forgotten cover from the musical past, and presents it to you for your listening enjoyment. So without further ado, here’s Miss Danielle Brisebois, with “Gimme Little Sign”.

Danielle first made her appearance as a child actress on CBS’s “All In The Family”, and later, “Archie Bunker’s Place”, playing Stephanie Mills, who came to live with Aunt Edith and Uncle Archie in 1978. After appearing in classic ‘80s series like Mr. Belvedere, Knots Landing, and Tales from the Darkside, she switched her focus to music.

Her debut 1994 LP Arrive All Over You is largely inspired by power pop, with a hint of alt rock. Produced by Gregg Alexander, whom she would later join as a member of the New Radicals, track 6 was this outstanding cover of Brenton Wood’s 1967 soul classic.

Danielle’s largest hit on the pop charts was as part of the aforementioned New Radicals, the 1998 one-off album project that produced the smash hit “You Get What You Give”.

Since then, Danielle has written for, or had her compositions covered by, artists like Donna Summer, Kelly Clarkson, and Kylie Minogue, and her greatest success as a writer came in the form of two top 10 hits for Natasha Bedingfield… “Unwritten”, and “Pocketful of Sunshine”.

I find it impossible not to smile when listening to this bouncy, flirtatious track, as Danielle sings of a young love on the verge of blossoming. No wonder it’s remained a favorite here at the Dial for the last eighteen years.

“Cuz when I’m feeling down… wearing a frown… You’ll be there when I look around… 

Just gimme some kind of sign, boy, oh my baby… To show me that you’re mine, boy… alright”

"Space Invaders" by Uncle Vic

Yo Dialophiles! 

Tonight’s entry on the Radio Dial happily finds a way to combine three of my main passions, forgotten and obscure pop songs, classic video games, and quirky humor.

Most folks assume that 1982’s “Pac-Man Fever” was the first pop song with a video game inspiration. But two years earlier, Cleveland Ohio’s own radio DJ Victor Blecman, a.k.a Uncle Vic, took a shot at the charts with his ode to the granddaddy of all cosmic battle games… “Space Invaders”. 

A tongue-in-cheek novelty track detailing a player’s growing obsession with a Space Invaders machine at his local bar, and featuring electronically modulated commentary from an “actual” alien creature, Uncle Vic’s invader blasting tune was released as a 45 RPM single on the Prelude label in 1980. No full length LP from the good uncle was released, and the single didn’t appear to make a showing on any national chart, but Vic did release a few follow up tunes like… “E.T. Phone Home”, “Got No Video” and his 2008 attack on rising fuel costs, “Gasoline Blues”. 

I recall hearing Space Invaders only once back then, playing from a friends pocket radio in my first grade lunch room. Miraculously, I found a mint condition copy of the Space Invaders single (along with 45s for Buckner & Garcia’s “Pac-Man Fever” AND “Do the Donkey Kong”), nearly 20 years later in a thrift store for 50 cents a piece. 

And what became of Victor himself? He remains a beloved Ohio celebrity, and currently runs “Uncle Vic’s DJ Services”, for all your wedding and party needs. No word yet on whether he is still trying to beat that Space Invaders machine though… 

“Well there it is in the corner of the bar… I tried to run, but I didn’t get far… Those weird little men, I blow ‘em away… I’d sell my Mom for a chance to play…He’s hooked, he’s hooked, his brain is cooked!”