Some Streaming Internet Sites for New Orleans/ Louisiana Music

Last month, I did a fast search on Yahoo! for some sites to listen to this music. I found several sites at Last FM like Zydeco Music, Louisiana Music, Cajun Music. //// Other sites: Mardi Gras Music Radio, NOLA Radio (Times-Picayune) WWOZ and Mardi Gras Radio (Nola.com) //// Of course, I played plenty of my own CDs. My Ultimate Jukeboc is well-stocked with the stuff as well, with ten CDs of it. //// Great Music, Where Ya Been Before? --RoadDog

Back to Mardi Gras: "The Big Easy"

Like I said back in Novemberaround Mardi Gras, I never knew much about New Orleans/Louisiana music until the movie "Big Easy" came out and really floored me. How come I'd never heard of this music before? //// The movie came out in 1987 and was set and filmed on location in New Orleans and took 50 days to film. //// It featured Cajun, zydeco, R&B and gospel music in it as well as a healthy dose of Mardi Gras music. //// Dennis Quaid was the leading actor, about a sort of legit/illegal cop. //// A Great Movie, and Then there Was That MUSIC!!! --RoadDog

Mardi Gras Zydeco--CJ Chernier & the Red Hot Louisiana Band at the Woodstock Opera House 2-8-08

I should mention that I also have several cassettes and CDs of his father, Clifton Chernier.

We had forecasts calling for another 2-3 inches of snow for last night. It started snowing on the way to Woodstock and continued during dinner at Angelo's, right on the historic Woodstock Square. So what's new these very snowy days. Fortunately, there wasn't any accumulation.

Angelo's was intended to be the original site of the Tip Top Cafe in the "Groundhog Day" movie, but the owner didn't want to be closed for the six weeks, so a vacant store across the square became the site of Phil's gluttony. The production company made it look as much as possible like Angelo's.

This being Friday in this area, it's hard to pass up on a good Fish Fry, and that is what we had. Liz had cod and I had whitefish. The place was crowded and a lot of folks were going to the show judging from their conversations.

The Woodstock Opera House was originally the city hall and built with a stage and auditorium for events. Built in the early 1900s, it is quite an impressive structure. During the filming of the movie, it was the Pennsylvania Hotel where Larry and Rita stayed. This is also the structure where Phil committed one of his suicides.

Still to be partied.

Louisiana Two Steppin'. --RoadDog

Got to Celebrate Mardi Gras Anyway-- Bon Ton Roulet ZYDECO!!!

Sitting here right now listening to C.J. Chenier's "I Ain't No Playboy" cassette. That's right, I said cassette!!! For those of you who don't know, CJ is the son of the "King of Zydeco," Clifton Chernier. His dad was one of the founders of this music we call zydeco. Zydeco could best be described as a mix of rock and roll and traditional Cajun music with Louisiana overtures.

Being as how this is Cajun music, some of the songs are sung in French, a language that at one time was illegal to even speak in Louisiana in an attempt to anglicize the Arcadians.

You can always tell where a zydeco band is playing as that is where people will be jumping and moving. I don't think it is possible to hear this music without moving to it.

Last Saturday, while in Woodstock for the Groundhog Day Festival, I spent $25 apiece for 7th row seats to see CJ and his Red Hot Louisiana Band. The show was last night.

I checked my collection for CJ Chernier albums (well cassettes and CDs) and found that I had two different cassettes and three CDs (four actually, but one was a duplicate). Two of the CDs were already stocked in my Ultimate Jukebox.

One cassette is out in the car where we listened to it coming and going to the show last night.

The three CD titles are: Too Much Fun, The Big Squeeze, and I Ain't No Playboy. The last two are in my jukebox.

Au Contraire, Mon Frere. --Road "Zydeco Boogaloo" Dog

Internet Radio, Webcasts Threatened with Extinction!!!!

I'm sitting right here at the old 'put, bloggin' and listenin' to 'Fessa John Hook doing the Beach Music Top 40 Countdown on his Endless Summer Network. Sadly, come this time next month, I may not have that opportunity. Same goes with the Surf and Billy Smith down in North Myrtle Beach, SC. It all goes dark July 15th if the Copyright Royalty Board has its way and skyrockets the price of playing music over the net to the point that they will all go off the air. And I'm not just talking about Beach Music, I'm talking about ALL radio over the internet.

This would be a shame. And not just for the listeners, but also for many performers and groups who depend on this as a way to get their music out. The big radio station conglomerates have set playlists prepared by research companies. You just can't crack through to them.

Plus, people like me, who like a niche genre, like Beach Music, or zydeco, or Cajun, or reggae, depend on these stations as a way to get our "fix". You're not going to hear it on the big stations.

In case you're wondering, the stations and webcasters do pay royalties to the artists, just not what they'll have to pay under the new arrangement, if it goes through.

However, internet radio is not going down without a fight. They are asking us to contact our US senators and representatives and ask them to cosponsor the Radio Equality Act, S 1363 in the Senate, and HR 2060 in the House of Representatives.

You can go to www.netradio.org to get all the information you need, including the telephone numbers of you senators and representattive, and what to say.

Don't Let Them Take Away Our Music. --RoadDog