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We head to New Jersey tonight with Dunia for a sampling of the almost endless legends of the music game from The Garden State. No matter where you go on the timeline, there's a Jersey native on the cuts, and some might surprise you!
"The Drop with Danno" on GFN 광주영어방송 98.7FM in Gwangju & 93.7FM in Yeosu, Korea. An eclectic radio curation of all things musical spanning the spectrum every week. Broadcasting 8-10pm KST nightly.
June 8, 2022
The Drop with Danno
Stevie Wonder – Black Man
Steely Dan – Black Cow
Flamingosis – Daybreak
The Fugees – The Score
Kool & The Gang – Dujii (Live)
Billy Ward & His Dominoes – Star Dust
Bobby Darin – Beyond The Sea
Save Face – Preoccupied
Sharon Van Etten – Seventeen
Real Estate – Talking Backwards
Yo La Tengo – Autumn Sweater
The Vaughns - Raina
I.
It is 20 hours past midnight, and flight TD 076 is readying for takeoff from Incheon International Airport, so we are about to catch the VIP bus to ICN, and we do so hope you also have your transport to the departure gate and boarding pass in hand, fair listener. This is Danno ready steady here we go from the mic in studio 2 GFN HQ in Downtown Gwangju, how do you do? Tonight our destination is just made for summer, and that would be New Jersey. The state between NYC & Philly has a massive heritage in arts and sciences of all kinds, and music would be no exception. Whether you’re talking about even the earliest days of recorded or modern music up until today, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by a few names on the playlist for the full two hours tonight, but I’m sure there will be names very known to you throughout as well. Now to start, we’ll start with maybe New Jersey’s most famous current resident and a message of history and tolerance to start, but let’s hit play cuz the bus is about to head to the airport. THIS is The Drop.
Stevie Wonder – Black Man
The Drop heads for the airport as we have departed on the bus tonight, and we just started our trip to Jersey with a man certainly more associated with Detroit than The Garden State, but Stevie Wonder does indeed call Alpine, NJ home nowadays, so we started with Black Man from Songs In The Key Of Life to begin the proceedings this evening.
An interesting trip through American history right there, highlighting the important contributions to history and human development by African Americans and other minorities, with the main message being that it’s time to love which does indeed resonate here today and we are here for no other reason than to amplify exactly that kind of positivity. And America right now is certainly needing a hefty shovelful of both love and positivity right now, so sending that out tonight to begin the show this evening here from Korea.
And we’re going to continue with the funk & soul from The Garden State right here in part 1 tonight after that rousing opener still bumping away below the words that I say, but just as a real quick reminder #9870, @gfnthedrop, podcast details, etc.
So, let’s move into the next triad of tunes for now, and up next we have Steely Dan, Flamingosis, and The Fugees, all of which we’ll say our piece after they have set the stage. THIS is The Drop on your Round Trip Wednesday night to New Jersey.
_________
The Drop continues and we are just about to disembark at the ICN terminal right now, and for those of us just joining us we’re headed to New Jersey this evening with Dunia Aljawad. So to continue our funk-centric opener from Jersey transplant Stevie Wonder, we just wrapped a trio of tunes from all over the timeline from artists outta Jerz, so let’s get to the details…
Steely Dan – Black Cow (…the iconic opener and sampladelic relic from Donald Fagan and Walter Becker, the former being born in Passaic. This tune appeared on an all-time classic Grammy winner of an LP called Aja, which was an excruciatingly detailed production that caused let’s say more than a few hurt feelings. Whatever, it was worth it.)
Flamingosis – Daybreak (…this tune appeared on true name Aaron Velasquez’s latest album Daymaker, with this cut being the first true tune on the record. Keep an eye on this artist, who is making some of the best beats productions out there, and this record is really upping the proverbial game, recorded out in Colorado with several live musicians contributing.)
The Fugees – The Score (…the title track from the 2nd and final record from Lauryn Hill, Pras, and Wyclef Jean released in 1996. A huge hit that only released one teaser single due to that tune’s popularity, this cut famously samples Cymande’s Dove, released on the band’s self-titled debut album from 1972.)
Alright, so we’re almost to the terminal right now, but we got a good amount of real estate left on the clock so we’ll go live in LA with Kool & The Gang to finish instrumentally, and this joint is called Dujii to close things here in the first fourth. THIS is The Drop on your Round Trip Wednesday night to The Garden State, no pumping your own gas, kids.
Kool & The Gang – Dujii
II.
The Drop is back after the first jump of the evening on our Round Trip Wednesday, departing at 9pm tonight on flight TD076 for Newark, NJ and we’ll be heading all over the timeline and the state map with Dunia Aljawad after we go wheels up in part 3. However, for right now we just opened with a couple of iconic tunes from Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas soundtrack. Actor Ray Liotta who played the main character of Henry Hill in the film passed away over the weekend, so we wanted to pay tribute to a great actor born in our destination city of Newark tonight. Rest in power to Ray Liotta, an amazing talent.
So, in tribute, that was…
Billy Ward & His Dominoes – Star Dust (….)
Bobby Darin – Beyond The Sea (….)
Moving along SM, #9870, podcast let us know …
Okay, so next block we’ll take it a good bit more contemporary with cuts from Save Face, Sharon Van Etten, and Real Estate. Naturally, we’ll discuss all these joints and the Jersey connections but for now THIS is The Drop on your Round Trip Wednesday evening to Newark.
_________
The Drop has finally arrived at the gate after the de rigeur extra security for flights to the US, kinda needing a drink but I think we’ll let that wait until we’re aboard the flight. For those just joining us, we take off for Newark NJ tonight to explore the copious sounds and audio history of The Garden State, and Dunia Aljawad joins us aboard the flight shortly. As to what we just played, let’s explain ourselves...
Save Face – Preoccupied ( …this is a song featured on an EP from 2016 called Folly. Formed in 2012, the band has steadily upped their profile over the years with independent releases and self-booked tours, now signed with Epitaph Records which is richly deserved for this hard-working band.)
Sharon Van Etten – Seventeen (…NJ native Sharon Van Etten has really been making a mark since this release, which was the lead single to the breakout Remind Me Tomorrow LP from 2019. Born in Belleville, Van Etten later moved to Tennessee then NYC later, and this is a Springsteen-inspired reminiscing on the places in New York visited, many of them now gone.)
Real Estate – Talking Backwards (…now a veteran band and very well-established, this was a breakout tune for the Ridgewood, NJ natives from 2014’s Atlas LP. Now based in Brooklyn, with their last release being 2021’s Half A Human EP.)
Okay, so we’ll keep it in the more indie rock vein tonight to close the first hour as we get on the plane. First up is Yo La Tengo with Autumn Sweater which we do not recommend wearing this time of year, and we’ll close things with The Vaughns and a tune called Raina. It’s final call to board and THIS is The Drop on your Round Trip Wednesday night to EWR.
Yo La Tengo – Autumn Sweater
The Vaughns - Raina
III & IV Round Trip
Frank Sinatra – All The Way
Dionne Warwick – You’re Gonna Need Me
Jon Bon Jovi - Livin' On A Prayer
Bruce Springsteen – I’m On Fire
Halsey - Finally // beautiful stranger
Black Science Orchestra – New Jersey Deep
Lesley Gore - You Don't Own Me
Count Basie – Fun Time
Nancy Sinatra - These Boots Are Made For Walkin'
Blondie – Once I Had A Love (AKA The Disco Song)
Yun Ddanddan 윤딴딴 - ㄴㄴㄴ
CHOI SANG YEOP – Cheer Up
Frank Sinatra – All The Way
• The son of Italian immigrants became one of America's first teen idols
• Sinatra's star fell hard in the early 1950s. He attempted suicide several times.
• Sinatra may not have loved it, but “My Way” has been covered by more than 60 artists, including Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin, and Sid Vicious. It has also been recorded in various languages.
• Sinatra was the leader of the infamous Rat Pack, which also included famous names Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Joey Bishop and Peter Lawford. The name was given to them by Lauren Bacall. However, the group never actually called themselves the “Rat Pack.”
Dionne Warwick – You’re Gonna Need Me
- Hailing from Orange, NJ few artists in the modern era can touch Warwick, who is a top 40 hitmaker of all time according to Billboard. She is the second-most charted female vocalist ever, selling more than 100 million records and winning 6 Grammys.
- She’s also been a goodwill ambassador for the UN Food and Agriculture Organization and, for those of my age, well known as a late night infomercial spokesperson for The Psychic Friends Network.
Jon Bon Jovi - Livin' On A Prayer
• He formed the band Bon Jovi when he was 21. He did so with guitarist Richie Sambora, keyboard player David Bryan, and drummer Tico Torres.
• The guys failed to get traction until 1986 when they released their smash hit, "Livin' on a Prayer."
• In 2006, Jon founded the JBJ Soul Foundation (named after his initials). It's a non-profit organization with the mission to reduce the amount of hunger and homelessness in the United States. He has opened up two restaurants to feed the homeless. He once donated half a million dollars to build an apartment complex for homeless veterans
• He's into politics. he's campaigned hard for the likes of John Kerry and Barack Obama. He has also performed at rallies for Joe Biden.
• Instead, they preferred to refer to their group as “the Summit” after a 1960 meeting of world leaders in Paris.
Bruce Springsteen – I’m On Fire
- Does it get more Jersey than The Boss? I don’t think so.
- Making a name for himself along with his E Street Band starting in the 1970’s, Springsteen would shoot to stardom in the 1980’s and never look back.
- Notably, many members of his band also made it big beyond just playing music for The Boss. Max Weinberg was the leader of the band on Late Night with Conan O’Brian, Stevie Van Zandt has become a well-known media personality and actor, amongst other stories we don’t have time to get into.
Halsey - Finally // beautiful stranger
• She kind of became famous for being a fangirl
• Halsey frequented YouTube and Tumblr and began posting videos of herself singing covers to the social platforms. She gained fame from her parody of Taylor Swift’s ‘I Knew You Were Trouble’
• In 2014, after meeting a “music guy” at a party, Halsey recorded ‘Ghost’ and chucked it up on SoundCloud for the world to hear. Within hours of it being posted the song had gone viral and Halsey was being contacted by multiple record labels. The rest is history!
• After a few financial hardships and home troubles after high school, Halsey found herself homeless in New York for a period of time.
Black Science Orchestra – New Jersey Deep
- Now admittedly, this group are not from New Jersey but the UK.
- However, house music has a long history in NJ starting in the 1980s at a famous venue called Club Zanzibar. New Jersey is home to many legends of the house & techno game, chief amongst them the main resident at Zanzibar Tony Humphries, along with fellow DJ Kerri Chandler.
Lesley Gore - You Don't Own Me
• best known for her teen-centric hits of the 1960's, died on February 16 in New York City.
• Only the Beatles could keep "You Don't Own Me" from hitting No. 1. For 13 weeks, Gore's anthem for women held the No. 2 spot on the Billboard charts, with "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" at No. 1 that whole time.
• "You Don't Own Me" became a support song for President Obama.
• The song was used in a PSA(Professional Sports Authenticator) during the 2012 presidential elections in praise of his women's rights policies.
• The female pop sensation who gave us an excuse to cry at our own birthday parties.
• "It's My Party" was Lesley Gore's first and only #1 hit.
Count Basie – Fun Time
- Born in Red Bank, NJ it’s hard to think of a more legendary composer and pianist than Basie, whose career spanned almost 50 years.
- Like Springsteen’s E Street Band, many members of the Count Basie Orchestra would find their sound under his tutelage and go on to do great things on their own.
- You simply can’t talk jazz or even music without bringing up Count Basie, who described his style as “I think the band can really swing when it swings easy, when it can just play along like you are cutting butter.”
Nancy Sinatra - These Boots Are Made For Walkin'
• Nancy Sinatra is the daughter of legendary crooner Frank Sinatra. Nancy's No. 1 hit single in 1966, "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'," forever associated go-go boots (a low-heeled style of women's fashion boot first introduced in the mid-1960s) with her name.
• Known for her sexy girl-next-door image, she was a favorite pin-up of troops during the Vietnam War. After a brief break in the 1980s to help raise her family, Sinatra returned to the music scene in 1995.
• She also recorded the theme song to the James Bond film You Only Live Twice
Blondie – Once I Had A Love (AKA The Disco Song)
- Born in Miami but raised in NJ, Debbie Harry is my final player on our list tonight.
- Harry and her band Blondie are one of the biggest names in music over the past half century, at one time putting out five #1 singles right in a row.
- Hugely influential in a variety of genres and a pioneering new wave group, it’s hard to overstate the massive waves created by Debbie Harry and co-founder Chris Stein.
- This is a demo version of what later became #1 hit Heart of Glass, recorded in 1975 with a distinctly dub and reggae feel to it.
윤딴딴- ㄴㄴㄴ
• debuted in 2014. It is said that his stage name comes from the fact that his homeroom teacher called him 'Dandara' as he was the only arts and sports major in his class in high school.
• He did not belong to any company after his debut because he decided that it would be better not to have an agency to express himself
• She is called the Korean Beyonce
CHOI SANG YEOP – Cheer Up
- An artist originally from Seongnam-si, Choi is also the guitarist for the boy band LUCY, making his solo debut in 2017.
- This tune appeared on the TV OST Welcome To Waikiki Part 3, released in 2018.