Kool And The Gang

Listen to "Ronald Bell From Kool And The Gang" on Spreaker. Kool & the Gang have influenced the music of three generations. Thanks to songs like Celebration, Cherish, Jungle Boogie, Summer Madness and Open Sesame, they’ve earned two Grammy Awards, seven American Music Awards, 25 Top Ten R&B hits, nine Top Ten Pop hits and 31 gold and platinum albums. Kool & the Gang has performed continuously for the past 43 years, longer than any R&B group in history. Their bulletproof funk and jazzy arrangements have also made them the most sampled band of all time. In 1964, Khalis Bayyan (AKA Ronald Bell) and his brother, Robert “Kool” Bell, joined Jersey City neighborhood friends Robert “Spike” Mickens, Dennis “Dee Tee” Thomas, Ricky Westfield, George Brown, and Charles Smith to create a unique musical blend of jazz, soul and funk. At first calling themselves the Jazziacs, the band went through various names – The New Dimensions, The Soul Town Band, Kool & the Flames – before settling on their moniker. Over the next several years they solidified their musical chemistry on the rough-and-tumble East Coast music scene supporting acts like Bill Cosby, Ritchie Havens and Richard Pryor. Their self-titled 1969 debut album introduced their signature instrumental sound and fierce horn arrangements and spawned their first Billboard R&B charted single, Kool & the Gang.

The Lyrics From Billy's Forest Chapter 106

Listen to "The Lyrics From Billys Forest Chapter 106" on Spreaker. As a child I feared the wind more than thunder and lightning. Maybe its because Montana was the receiver of those extremely strong Chinook winds out of Yellowstone Natl Park. I always felt the trees in the neighborhood were going to come down and the end result was a ripped up moment of security and comfort. Today, I view the wind as being a source of information. It carries the seeds of plants and other things forward and outward. It cleans the leaves off the limbs of trees while dusting the pollen off our cars, decks and other things. Spiritually the wind grows with depth. Is it a great mystery? Not if you sit back and watch today's top weather men and women. The human has crafted the perfect devices assuring most wandering minds the direction of the wind and how hard its going to hit. Why then would I bring up spiritual other than wind carries away the fragmented reminders of a yesterday we can't change. I remember standing on the shores of South Beach/Miami listening to the endless wind. For a brief moment I actually believed the wind as we know it reaches South Beach and lifts those who've passed upward or into the water. I sat on the beach that night and counted the amazing amount of bird feathers that bounced beside me into the water. It wasn't like tossing rocks into a roaring river or gentle mountain lake. It reminded me of a huge leaf blower puffing waves of wind at objects that can't be left behind. Memories, anxiety, fear, shame, doubt, judgement are too heavy for the wind to carry. I've yet to meet the trash collector that wants to pick it up. Therefore the stuff sits on the front porch of our newly given today. If you've seen the movie Wally then you know what happens to this place we stay when we don't throw anything away. Everything we're feeling piles up and up and up. Why then would I bring up this wild idea that wind is spiritual? 1 Kings 19:11 And behold the Lord passed by and a great strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks. Maybe we're not letting the wind do its thing. Maybe we're the object standing in the way. Protecting all of that weight because without it we'd be empty. Life is a like a Walmart credit card. Paying it off is a day of victory. Keeping it completely free of future charges isn't going to happen.

Who Is Your Character

Listen to "Who Is Your Character" on Spreaker. As far back as I can remember the character we set free in the moments we lived were not always based on who we truly were. My father always told me to stay away from certain people because he knew my character would change and I'd end up getting in trouble. Same is true in 2018. You can physically see the personality changes on social media. What I find more interesting is how each character changes on what social media we're using. Twitter versus Instagram versus Facebook. Some will tell you that it's the same. All they did was cut and paste. Why then did I feel like it was three different newspaper stories featuring several different artists? Our character at work can be very protective or extremely shy. Who are you at home in the morning compared to when you get home after a long hard day? The shapes of our characters, are they created and or generated the way my dad saw it? Do you become a certain person while circling with certain friends or family members? How can you regain control of your truer self? If people saw me away from radio I'd be instantly branded a boring person. I love simple. I don't want to get in peoples way. I'd rather sit near the window staring at the forest then walk into a conversation and pretend I know what's going on. Where's the leadership in that role? That in itself is a very authentic question. Do we have leaders today or are they characters? Dad would always remind us, "Know your place and never forget where you came from." That was his way of saying that no matter how big you think you are with others there's still dishes to be washed at home and a dryer full of clothes that need to be folded. Be aware of your character changes. Study their habits and what they crave. Get back to being your true self. The rest of us will catch up.

Ted Bell

Listen to "Ted Bell Releases Overkill" on Spreaker. New York Times bestselling author Ted Bell delivers the milestone 10th novel in the acclaimed Alex Hawke series with OVERKILL (William Morrow, on sale 5/1/2018). On a ski vacation in the Swiss Alps high above St. Moritz, Alex Hawke and his young son, Alexei, are thrust into danger when the tram carrying them to the top of the mountain bursts into flame, separating the two. Before he can reach Alexei, the boy is snatched from the burning cable car by unknown assailants in a helicopter. Meanwhile, high above the skies of France, Vladimir Putin is aboard his presidential jet after escaping a bloodless coup in the Kremlin. When two flight attendants collapse and slip into unconsciousness, the Russian leader realizes the danger isn’t over. Killing the pilots, he grabs a parachute, steps out of the plane . . . and disappears. Hawke has led his share of dangerous assignments, but none with stakes this high. To save his son, he summons his trusted colleagues, Chief Inspector of Scotland Yard Ambrose Congreve, former U.S. Navy SEAL Stokley Jones, Jr., and recruits a crack Hostage Rescue Team—a group of elite soldiers of fortune known as "Thunder & Lighting." Before they can devise a rescue plan, Hawke must figure out who took his boy—and why. An operative who has fought antagonists around the globe, Hawke has made many enemies; one may hold the key to finding Alexei before it’s too late. But an unexpected threat complicates their mission. Making his way to "Falcon’s Lair," the former Nazi complex created for Hitler, Putin is amassing an impressive armory that he intends to use for his triumphant return to Moscow. Only one man can smash the Russian president’s plan for domination—a master counterspy who will cross every line to save his son . . . and maybe save the world itself in the bargain.

Mark Nawara From The Outfit

Listen to "Mark Nawara From The Outfit" on Spreaker. From the streets of Chicago, something is brewing. Chicago veteran musicians, brothers Mark and Matt Nawara, and Mike Gorman, along with Phoenix, Arizona's, Andy Mitchell have formed The Outfit. The Outfit brings you straight up rock and roll, with catchy hooks and an aggressive sound. The Nawara brothers played the Chicago club scene for years, along with writing and recording original music. Mike Gorman comes from two legendary Chicago bands, Pezband and Off Broadway. Rounding out the lineup is singer/songwriter and guitarist Andy Mitchell, whose past bands included Dish, Verona and 9 Volt. The Outfit recently completed their debut album. The album was engineered by Chicago music veteran Matt Mercado at Sonic Palace Studios in Oak Park, Illinois. Mixing was done in Los Angeles by Grammy nominated, multi-platinum producer and mixer Ulrich Wild (Pantera, Static-x, White Zombie, Deftones, and Breaking Benjamin).

Why Your Dreams Aren't Moving Through

Listen to "Why Your Dreams Aren't Coming Through" on Spreaker. I never plan for this. If I did it wouldn't be real. I step into this beautiful studio overlooking an incredible forest each morning and pick up a book of my daily writing. I'm locked and lost somewhere at the tail end of April 2016. Why do I do this? Because through each of our daily walks there are hordes of lessons shared and rarely do we locate the time to jot down notes. Even as that daily writer I miss so much. I feel it moving through the tip of my writing instrument but I'm so busy trying to make other people happy that the plan and purpose of where we're supposed to be on the bigger map sits in a RV park located on the corner of Walk and Don't Walk. While studying the pen scratches and stumbles of a wandering thinker the elements presented during those late moments of April 2016 unveiled a very important feature in the story of why our dreams aren't coming through. Not true. I physically said through. It's the junk we're collecting. We purchase so much stuff that it's stuffing our reasons to want to realize the importance of our being. Most of us are working to pay for the stuff that we no longer use. Here's a deeper truth. I've been daily writing since July 1994. I still have poetry written in the 5th grade. It goes even further. I still have my first spelling test book from the first grade. Hording right? To you yes. To me? I'm holding onto the birth of my writing and how I write. The importance of what we hold onto is what keeps us from growing. When I walk into an office operated by a strong GM or decision maker and I see the walls lined up with plaques and trophies I laugh. I honestly want to ask, "But who are you today?" Why aren't your dreams moving through you? How can we activate them into becoming part of your new found victory? Until I learn to open the vaults that hold my daily writing and I begin to throw it away, I honestly have no answer except to say "Eat more ice cream."

Joe Hagan

Listen to "Joe Hagan The Hall Of Fame And Sticky Fingers" on Spreaker. Every year, the Rock Hall kicks up drama, recrimination and in-fighting over nominations and inductions. In STICKY FINGERS: The Life and Times of Jann Wenner and Rolling Stone Magazine, author Joe Hagan details how the Hall of Fame came to be, who got screwed in the making of it, what a nomination means to an artist, and why the institution continues to cause so much unrest among musicians. Indeed, the backstory of the Rock Hall is as interesting as anything that happens on stage. Like rock and roll itself, the Hall of Fame began with a theft (Wenner and former Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun wrested the idea from someone else). Once given the reins, Wenner acted like a strongman and gatekeeper, favoring some bands and genres over others. The slights and recriminations of Wenner’s Rock Hall have become the stuff of legend. With Rolling Stone in the hands of new owners, and Wenner receding from influence, what will finally become of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? Joe Hagan, author of the acclaimed bestseller STICKY FINGERS