Showing posts with label Bad Influence. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bad Influence. Show all posts

Monday, December 28, 2015

Bad Influence - Tastes Like Chicken

Released: 2001
Size: 114.3 MB
Time: 49:43
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Styles: Modern Electric Blues, Jump Blues, Rockin' Blues
Art: Front

1. Love Dot Com [4:24]
2. Don't Forget Your Nightclothes [4:53]
3. She What? [3:45]
4. Road House [4:36]
5. B-Flick Man [3:35]
6. Talkin' To The Wall [5:52]
7. DC Driver [2:45]
8. Break Out [3:32]
9. When I'm With You [6:14]
10. Run To The Money [2:47]
11. Cat Fight [2:52]
12. The Clown [4:23]

Washingtonian Magazine hails Bad Influence as “a part of a long and worthy Washington blues tradition.” With an award for best blues band, 2003, by the Washington Area Music Association, Bad Influence has garnered a devoted following all over North America and Europe, including performances at the prestigious Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts. Eleven of the twelve songs on this CD are penned by band members, Michael ‘Jr’ Tash, Roger Edsall, Bob Mallardi, and David Thaler.

“Love Dot.com” jumps right into it, literally, with a tale about a married man’s best friend in this computer age (wink, wink). “Don’t Forget Your Nightclothes” moves smoothly along with background sax from Jay Corder, with Michael Tash on guitar. We can see why this group is so popular on “She What?” Audiences will be enjoying the groove, coupled with shout-out hooks that keep on coming. “Road House”, and “B-Flick Man”, give a smile at our own foibles while keeping the beat bright. Sliding into a slow blues, “Talkin’ To the Wall”, written by Michael Tash, with a nice wailing sax solo, speaks to the pain and futile effort in trying to salvage a relationship beyond its ‘best before date’. “I have a teacher friend who has played this song for his class after turning out the lights and asking his students to close their eyes. When the tune ends and the lights go on the class is instructed to draw what their impressions were”, shares Michael Tash. He goes on to say that a woman contacted the band to tell them she was so moved by this track that she had to pull the car over.
On “DC Driver” we are up and dancing, or driving far too recklessly with this story about road rage in the Nations Capital. After “Break Out” we move to a solid bass line that slips easily into “When I’m With You”, a sweet love song, written by Mallardi. Michael Tash’s playing here more than satisfies on many levels. Using a 1960’s Magnatone M10 amp with Fender Strat guitar, “Run To The Money” moves along to dove-tail into the instrumental “Cat Fight”, showing off the skills of Edsall on harp, Guest Eric Shramek, stand-up bass, and Thaler, on drums,
The finishing touch is a very capable cover of a James Harmon tune, The Clown. Having heard Harmon play this, it had me smiling and bobbing my head in homage to the master musician/composer/vocalist. Another thing I appreciated about this product was the liner notes giving details of the gear used in its creation.
Well done, Fellas, we’re looking forward to the next album release which I am told is slated for later this summer.


Tastes Like Chicken


Bad Influence - 2 albums: Live At The Bad Habits Cafe / Under The Influence

Album: Live At The Bad Habits Cafe
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 62:54
Size: 144.0 MB
Styles: Electric blues
Year: 2010
Art: Front

[3:46] 1. Woke Up This Morning
[3:30] 2. No Particular Place To Go
[4:25] 3. Alberta
[5:32] 4. Mustang Sally
[5:18] 5. Some Kind Of Wonderful
[4:34] 6. 'tain't Nobody's Bizness If I Do
[5:33] 7. Sweet Home Chicago
[3:48] 8. Bright Lights, Big City
[4:36] 9. My Baby's A Superstar
[7:04] 10. How Blue Can You Get
[4:45] 11. Rock Me Baby
[4:03] 12. Night Life
[5:54] 13. Why I Sing The Blues

Recorded live at DC's Bad Habits Cafe, this rollicking set spans the distance from jump blues to Motown with U-R-There directness that'll have you screaming, "Where's muh waitress?" This hard-rocking quartet features Whop Frazier (great name!) On bass and vocals, "Junior" Tash on guitar, Jay Corder on sax, and Dennis Hash on drums - they have a kind of retro/roots/soul-slam groove going, if you know what I mean.

But the centerpiece, the focus of it all, is Frazier - half intimate soul singer, half blues shouter - who pulls the songs along vocally while pushing them forward with his bouncy, bubbling bass. Tash is everywhere on this recording, a real master of the Stratocaster, and his fills, solos, and rhythm work are electrifying. This is one hell of a performance, given a recording to die for. I'm taking it with me to CES, where I'll be easy to find. Find a room with a party in it and I'll bet Bad Influence and I will be there. ~ Wes Phillips

Live At The Bad Habits Cafe mc
Live At The Bad Habits Cafe zippy

Album: Under The Inluence
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:26
Size: 115.5 MB
Styles: Electric blues
Year: 2011
Art: Front

[3:56] 1. Man Child
[3:44] 2. Dressing Like You Don't Dress For Me
[3:27] 3. Hey Red
[2:59] 4. Do As I Say
[5:09] 5. Sugar Daddy Baby
[5:53] 6. Run Through The Jungle
[2:27] 7. Cat Fight, Pt. 2 Ptp
[3:33] 8. Looking Right At Me
[6:03] 9. As The Years Go Passing By
[3:24] 10. Room 111
[3:34] 11. Mailbox Blues
[2:31] 12. Hush Your Mouth
[3:40] 13. Rock In My Boogie (Aka Rockin' My Boogie)

Staying at the apex of the mid-Atlantic region’s competitive blues and roots music scene for a career that spans three decades isn’t easy. But that’s what the Bad Influence Band has done — even while extending their reputation across the country thanks to wildly entertaining, high-energy performances, extensive airplay and three well-received albums.

Whether performing at a festival, on a stage at Kennedy Center, a showcase at the NAMM Show or on Memphis’ hallowed Beale Street, the four-piece group featuring guitarist Michael Tash, harmonica ace and singer Roger Edsall, bassist-vocalist Bob Mallardi and drummer David Thaler are unabashed crowd pleasers thanks to their expert ensemble playing, strong melodies, addictive grooves, sly original songwriting and sheer intensity. Even audiences unfamiliar with blues and the other styles of roots music that inform the group’s wide repertoire are smitten with the Bad Influence Band’s joyful performances.

Under The Inluence mc
Under The Inluence zippy