quadzillabynorth

DUTC#122 February 13, 2026

Posted on February 13, 2026February 12, 2026 by quadzillabynorth in QbyN - Deeper Under The Covers

Feature Song: “Stand By Me”

There have been many outstanding (over 400) covers of this song done since its release in 1961, from Otis Redding, The Kingsmen (yes they did other songs besides “Louie, Louie!”), Ike & Tina Turner, and Ronnie Milsap, to Meat Loaf, to name a few, and the most recent cover (2024) from my featured artist, Stephen Wilson Jr. In a recent special features post, I talked about the different ways of learning about new music and artists, and how I came to Wilson, an artist I had never heard of before, was by “word of mouth.” Early last month I was at my granddaughter’s third birthday party and was talking to a dad who was there with his two kids, and we got to talking about music. He mentioned that he was really into this country-rock artist, Stephen Wilson Jr., for some personal reasons, and when I said that “country” in general was not my thing, he said something which immediately made me want to listen to this guy: “Don’t be fooled by what genre labels are attached to artists.” That night, I listened to the entire album and then went down the YouTube “rabbit hole” and found a live version of the cover, which is part of a longer performance/interview special done for, Live at the Print Shop, a popular YouTube series and podcast hosted by Adam Blank in a Georgia-based studio. It features live performances and interviews with both emerging and established artists. But, I’m getting ahead of myself, first the original.

Benjamin Earl King (1938-2015) was an American soul and R&B singer and songwriter. He began his career as one of the principal lead singers of the R&B group, The Drifters, singing the lead vocals on three of their biggest hit singles, “There Goes My Baby,” “This Magic Moment,” and “Save the Last Dance for Me,” which was their only US number 1 hit. I can hear you humming these tunes as I type! As a solo artist, King is best known as the singer and co-composer of “Stand by Me,” which became a top-ten hit two times: in 1961 and later on 1968 when it was used as the theme for the film of the same name. The film was based on a Stephen King story and was directed by Rob Reiner (RIP) L. King’s co-writers on the song were Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who went by the pseudonym, Elmo Glick, primarily because they thought it was funny and felt both their names were too long for a record label. The “Elmo” is a tip of the hat to blues legend Elmore James, and “Glick” is a nod to the character Sammy Glick from the Budd Schulberg novel, What Makes Sammy Run. King cited singers Brook Benton, Roy Hamilton, and Sam Cooke as influences for his vocals on the song. “Stand by Me” would ultimately be voted as one of the Songs of the Century, and along with “There Goes My Baby,” “Spanish Harlem,” and “Save the Last Dance for Me,” were named in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s “500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll.”

Stephen Wilson Jr. (1979) is an American country and rock singer, guitarist, and songwriter. He was raised in Seymour, Indiana along with his brother by a single dad. Wilson was very introverted as a child, and both he and his brother were introduced to competitive boxing by their father, culminating in Golden Gloves amateur boxing competitions, which Wilson attributes for his conquering of stage fright. His early performance career started as sideline to his career as a lab scientist, which I only found out after watching the full performance/interview video! He began his career as a full-time musician, taking a job with Big Loud as a staff songwriter in 2016. When his father passed away in 2018, he decided that he would honor his dad, who had always encouraged him to pursue his musical talent as a performer instead of behind the scenes, signing with BMG and releasing his first single, “Made for This,” in 2021, which was a duet with his wife, singer Leigh Nash. This was followed by a second single, “Year to Be Young 1994 (Unplugged),” in 2022. His debut album, søn of dad, inspired by the death if his father, was released in 2023 and was re-released in 2025 as a deluxe edition, which included additional acoustic live tracks, including a new rendition of the featured song, the first track on the album. During one of the interview sessions from Live at the Print Shop, Wilson opened up about the deeply personal inspiration behind his cover of this song, a track that he said has resonated with fans and helped him honor the memory of his late father. The connection to the song came to him while watch the movie mentioned above, and after his father’s death he began singing the song in his living room, eventually transforming it from a haunting tune into something more resembling a hymn. For myself, his live performance of this song is the epitome of an artist making a song his or her own.

I first listened to his cover on the album, and was instantly mesmerized by this rendition, which oozed soul, passion, and talent, both vocal and instrumental. Then I watched the live version and…I will let you fill in the rest, but watch the interviewer’s face as he is sitting opposite Wilson during his performance. Enjoy!

Ben. E King. “Stand by Me” 1961 original.

Ben E. King. “Stand by Me” remastered version.

Stephen Wilson Jr. “Stand by Me” cover 2024.

I am including the full video of from Live at the Print Shop just in case you want ot follow me down the “rabbit hole!” You won’t be disappointed

Los Angeles 2026

Special Feature.1 Is It Jazz, or Is It…?

Posted on January 27, 2026January 25, 2026 by quadzillabynorth in Quadzilla Spins Features

There are, of course, many, many ways for one to discover new music – friends saying, “Hey, have you heard this?” Listening to the radio, YouTube, the many streaming services out there, etc., etc. One way that I stumble upon new music from time to time is via a “radio” station that I created on Apple Music, which I listen to often when I don’t have anything specific that I’m in the mood for, or when I am out for a walk and just want a continuous feed of music. The station has access to all the music I have downloaded over the years. So much of what the station plays comes from my own library, but then it will augment that by playing artists that are similar to ones that I already know, or selections from genres that I gravitate towards. As is often the case when I hear something that intrigues me, I will dive a little deeper into their output, and I will often use the feature on Apple at the bottom of an album that says: “If you like this, then you might like…” That scenario is exactly the impetus behind this first “special feature.”

The song and group that got this started was “Kind of Latin Rhythm” by The Juju Orchestra, which appeared on their 2007 album, Bossa Nova Is Not A Crime. This one song, which I absolutely loved, lead to the discovery of four other groups and albums that make up this first special feature: The Bahama Soul Club’s, Rhythm Is What Makes Jazz Jazz (2008), Kojato’s, All About Jazz (2011), Jazz Juice’s 52^nd Street (2006), and Mop Mop’s Kiss of Kali (2008). Apple’s genre listing for all these albums is Jazz except for The Bahama Soul Club’s album, which is labelled Pop Latino. This is not really that surprising considering the fact that if you look up the different types of Jazz as I did, you will find, on Wikipedia, a list of 56 different jazz manifestations over the years, starting with Ragtime (1890s), and evolving 100 years later to Nu Jazz, Jazz Noir, Neo Swing, Ethno Jazz, Electro Swing, Cape Jazz, and Acid Jazz (1980s-90s). If you think that’s a lot, try looking at electronic music sub-genres; there are well over 150!

In honor of these great musical finds, I have put together a playlist with three of my favorite songs from each artist and album, followed by a YouTube playlist with live performances from four of them and one official video. But first, a little info on each.

The Juju Orchestra was founded in 2004 by German-based, Fab DJ Sammy and producer/sound engineer Oliver Belz, along with third member, Rolf Zitzman, who looks after the business end and the assembling of the “orchestra,” which often swells to twelve members. Influenced by the likes of Caetano Veloso, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Stan Getz, and Steely Dan, to name just a few, they have created their own musical language, as all good artists do, combining contemporary Soul, Jazz, and Latin music with a vintage sound. Their music creates a “cocktail” of styles with great hooks and irresistible beats. The trio blends live instruments and a variety of samples, which are all evident on the first track of my playlist, “This is Not a Tango,” bringing together an up-tempo Argentine dance interpretation evoking the smoky passionate sound of Gotan Project. Their first album, Bossa Nova Is Not a Crime, is a blend of funky samples, live instrumentation, and soulful vocals, all served up with a playful sense of groove that really takes one back to the best British work of the early Acid Jazz years. The song on this album that really caught my attention was “Kind of Latin Rhythm,” which is an awesome display of so many different styles of music, blending percussion, guitar, horns, and more. When I was looking to see what I could find for live performances for these groups this was the first song I looked for and, imagine my surprise, when the only video I could find for this song was by my second feature group, The Bahama Soul Club.

Given that I spend a great deal of time looking for cover songs, I immediately thought that this was the case… boy, was I wrong. The Bahama Soul Club and The Juju Orchestra are the same group. They renamed themselves in 2008 for legal reasons, and their first album under that name is my featured album, Rhythm Is What Makes Jazz Jazz. Why they are labeled as a jazz ensemble with their first moniker and Pop Latino for their reincarnation is anyone’s guess, but they sure do sound the same. Two of their songs that I am featuring, “Late Night Bossa Nova” (playlist), and “Sugar Cane” (video), feature vocals by Pat Appleton, a Soul, Pop, Lounge, and Jazz singer-songwriter, known as the voice of the legendary sound collective, De-Phazz, a group I have been listening to for some time. She also makes an appearance on one of Kojato’s songs on All About Jazz. As The Bahama Soul Club, the have released six albums to date and have managed to gain fans all over the world.

Lead vocalist, Kojo, is the leader of my next find, Kojato and the Afro Latin Cougaritas. Hailing from Monrovia, Liberia, he is entrenched in African swagger and can deliver it with authenticity. His supporting musicians represent an international cast that performs, all superb performers in their own right, and the final outcome of this blend of talent, as far as I am concerned, is brilliant. The featured album is difficult to listen to without being taken in by its infectious beats geared for dancing and grooving. The album expands upon a distinctive Afro-beat, while infusing elements of dancehall, Funk and Soul fusion. The title track, “All About Jazz” (this is the official video form YouTube), is beatnik poetry interjected with pure funk augmented by layers of keyboards courtesy of André Neundorf. The song, “Like A Gypsy,” infuses gypsy jazz guitar with a tempo that takes the song to an accelerated level. There also two Lagos funk numbers (both on the playlist), “Afro Shigida” and “Funky Man,” which have more of an “Osibisa-meets-James Brown feel to it, with some great sax work included in the mix. The whole album was created with a celebrating, dancing audience in mind. In any part of the world where dance is king, in whatever culture, at any time, this album fits the bill. You can listen to this without dancing, but I guarantee you will be moving somehow; it’s that kind of music.

Jazz Juice is a collaboration by Dutch DJ Graham B and Alain Eskinasi. The bright and energetic sounds along with positive vibes can be found on my featured album, 52^nd Street, which are noticeable right from the start with the tracks, “Too Horny” and “Atravessar” (playlist). Both tracks feature a lot of horn samples to evoke those bossa nova feelings, with “Atravessar” taking on a house vibe, along with vocals by Tamara Maria. “Baina” (playlist), incorporates outstanding instrumentation, with many solos of trumpets, saxophones, flutes, and keyboards thrown in over smooth beats. “Bugablue” (video) veers towards a drum’n’bass feel with some amazing flute work from Praful. Finally, “Los Chicos” (one of my personal favorites), has some savory samba rhythms, really cool guitar work, with really nice breakdowns in the middle and end of the track.

Andrea Benini, better known by his stage name, Mop Mop, is an Italian musician and producer. He performs with his band the Mop Mop Combo, as well as working worldwide as a DJ. The line up of the band is as follows: Andrea Benini (drums), Anthony Joseph (vocals), Alex Trebo (piano, keyboards), Pasquale Mirra (vibraphone), Salvatore Lauriola (bass), Telonia (bass), and Danilo Mineo (percussion). Mop Mop achieved international recognition when he was included in the soundtrack of Woody Allen’s 2012 film, To Rome With Love. My featured album, Kiss of Kali (2009), was his second studio release, preceded by The 11^th Pill (2005). The YouTube playlist features three Mop Mop videos because they are that good. The two live ones are from the featured album, “Jazzdancer” and “I Wish I Was in Hell,” while the third audio video, is his great single, “Run Around,” which features funk legend, Fred Wesley on trombone and Anthony Joseph on vocals. The track is considered one of the best Dancefloor Jazz tracks of 2013. It appears on his fourth studio album, Isle of Magic *2013).

In summary, these “Jazz” ensembles all infuse many other styles of music into their tracks, tapping into Bossa Nova, Nu Jazz, Samba, and Afro Roots, creating music that, for the most part, is difficult to listen to without moving. Enjoy!

Los Angeles 2026

DUTC#121 January 25, 2026

Posted on January 25, 2026January 25, 2026 by quadzillabynorth in Uncategorized

Feature Song: “Black Betty”

This installment of DUTC takes us on somewhat of an historical journey of a song. “Black Betty” (Roud 11668 – the identification number in the Roud Folk Song Index for this song) is a 20^th century African-American work song that was often and mistakenly credited to Huddie “Lead Belly” Ledbetter as the author, as the earliest recordings are by James “Iron Head” Baker and Moses “Clear Rock” Platt. Lead Belly’s cover of the song was an adaptation of earlier folk material, as is often the case with many of the songs from this era. The origin and meaning of the lyrics are subject to debate, but the original lyrics refer to Black Betty having a child, the child going “wild” or “blind,” and potentially alluding to a whip in a prison context, featuring the recurring “bam-a-lam” refrain. Historically, the “Black Betty” of the title may refer to the nickname given to a number of objects: a bottle of whiskey, a whip, or a penitentiary transfer wagon. However, in more modern versions of the song, the term alludes to a fast car or motorcycle.

The song was first recorded in the field by US musicologists, John and Alan Lomax, in December of 1933, performed a cappella by convicts “Iron Head” and “Clear Rock,” and a group at Central State Farm in Sugar Land, Texas (a state prison farm). Baker was 63 years-old at the time of recording. Both Baker (whose real name was Reuben Avery Burrage) and Platt were African American traditional folk singers. Lead Belly, who had also served time in state prison farms, recorded the song commercially, with the help of the Lomax’s, in April of 1939 for the Musicraft Records label.

While there have been other covers that stayed true to the song’s folk origins, Ram Jam’s 1977 version was a whole other story. This was the version that first introduced me to the song, as I am sure is the case for many of my generation, and the rock adaptation was a huge hit. The group used Lead Belly’s version as their inspiration, adding new verses that were apparently inspired, according to guitarist Bill Bartlett, by 1950s pin-up queen, Betty Paige, though he also acknowledged that the original meaning was open to interpretation. They also used Lead Belly’s version of the recurring refrain, “bam-ba -lam.” There was a great deal of controversy surrounding their version, as the NAACP felt their song insulted Black women, despite the historical context pointing to objects, not people.

Twenty-seven years later along comes Spiderbait, an Australian alternative rock band from Finely, New South Wales. They were formed in 1989 by bass guitarist and singer Janet English, drummer and singer Kram, and guitarist Damian Whitty. In 2004, their cover of Lead Belly’s version of “Black Betty” reached number one on the Airia Singles Charts. They have had five top 20 albums (late 90s early 2000s), and if you know the titles of any of them, go to the head of the class! After a nine year hiatus, they released Spidebait (2013). I will let you be the judge, but in my mind their cover version out rocks Ram Jam, and their official video is an absolute hoot, which is saying something as Ram Jam’s official video screams the 70s!

Finally, there is the cover by Caravan Palace, a French electro-swing band based in Paris, and about as far removed from a Texas prison camp as you can get. The band formed as a three-piece when they were recruited to compose a soundtrack for a silent adult film… just let that sink in! Loïc Barrouk took an interest in the project and booked the band for a series of gigs. Subsequent performers were added for live concerts, including current band members, Zoé Colotis and Paul-Marie Barbier, and former members Camille Chapelière and Antoine Tousto, who were all found searching on My Space. Remember that? The band became popular on the internet after releasing a number of demos and promo singles. They toured around France in 2006 to 2007, with their first festival appearance coming at the Django Reinhardt Jazz Festival in 2007. They spent the following year recording their self-titled debut studio album, which was released in 2008. Their live performances are infectious and could easily be labelled as musical theater. For a perfect example of this, check out this video from a performance of “Rock It for Me” at Le Trianon, Paris in 2012 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7JOa3dISg0) It is very difficult to remain still when listening and/or watching them perform. With that, eighty-four years after “Black Betty’s release, Caravan Palace performed the song live in 2017 at the Jools New Year’s Eve Party in 2016/17, recording it as a single in 2018. While it has never been released on one of their studio albums, it does make an appearance on Dusty House Mix (DJ Mix), remixed by Shiny Bob released in 2025.

So, from the Texas prison camps in 1933 to the stages of music venues in France in 2017, I give you “Black Betty!” Enjoy.

James “Iron Head” Baker & Moses “Clear Rock” Platt, “Black Betty” original 1933.

Lead Belly. “Black Betty” cover 1939.

Ram Jam. “Black Betty” cover 1977.

Spiderbait. “Black Betty” cover 2004.

Caravan Palace. “Black Betty” cover 2017

Los Angeles 2026

DUTC#120 January 11, 2026

Posted on January 11, 2026December 27, 2025 by quadzillabynorth in QbyN - Deeper Under The Covers

Feature Song: “Iron Sky”

My introduction to my featured song, “Iron Sky,” came via a YouTube video I watched of Mo Jamil Andeniran performing the song for his blind audition on The Voice UK in 2017, which he ended up winning, and deservedly so as far as I am concerned. The passion and vocals of that blind audition were off the charts. I had forgotten about that performance for a while, but it popped back up recently and, after watching it again, I decided to do a little digging.

The original version of the song is by a Scottish singer/songwriter by the name of Paolo Nutini, and was recorded for his third studio album, Caustic Love (2014). The song has been described as a “slow burner,” with one publication describing it as being a “stirring blend of conscious-soul and deep-soul.” Paolo Giovanni Nutini (1987) is from Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland, the son of an Italian/Scottish father and a Scottish mother. His debut album, These Streets (2006), peaked at number three on the UK Albums Chart, and was followed by Sunny Side Up (2009), which debuted at number one on the same chart. Both these albums have been certified quintuple platinum. Five years later, he released the above-mentioned third album, which also debuted at number one. After a long hiatus, he released his fourth album, Last Night in the Bittersweet (2022).

I have listened to Nutini’s original of “Iron Sky” many times over, especially the live version recorded at Abbey Road on February 26, 2014, which I am sharing with you below. When I first listened to it in its entirety, it became apparent that the cover that first introduced me to the song was not only a shortened version, but missing a key passage, which in the accompanying video presents itself as a voice-over. The lyrics of the song are indeed very poignant with its central message of criticizing the greed, fear, and dehumanization perpetuated by dictators under fascist regimes, as he urges people to resist the control of “machine men with machine minds and machine hearts” and emphasizes the power of the people to create life that is free and beautiful. Sitting here at my computer in Los Angeles writing this, all I can do is shake my head and sigh! The missing voice-over is as follows:

To those who can hear me, I say – do not despair.
The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed –
The bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress.
The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power
They took from the people will return to the people.
And so long as men die, liberty will never perish…
Don’t give yourselves to these unnatural men
Machine men with machine minds and machine hearts!
You are not machines! You are not cattle!
You are men!
You, the people, have the power to make this life free and beautiful
To make this life a wonderful adventure
Let us use that power – let us all unite.

If this sounds vaguely familiar to you, as it did to me the first time I heard it, you are probably a movie buff. This is the part of the final speech given by Charlie Chaplin in his 1940 film, The Great Dictator. At that time, it was considered a revolutionary moment in political rhetoric and cinema. The speech serves as a powerful humanist plea, in much the same way that Nutini’s lyrics of “Iron Sky” did seventy-four years later, and today, eleven years after the penning of this song, that plea resonates loud and clear.

Even though the two covers of this song do not contain this speech, the power of the lyrics and the passion needed to present them are present in their own unique way. The second cover by Toby Lee is one that I recently discovered when deciding to present this for my first DUTC of the new year. I first discovered this amazing guitarist the same way I discovered Mo Jamil (as he goes by now), watching YouTube videos. Toby Lee is a British guitarist who became a global sensation after posting a tribute video to B.B. King in 2015 when he was ten years old, followed by performing at B.B. King’s Blues Club that same year. In 2016, he played Zack in School of Rock at the New London Theatre. This was followed by performances with Ronnie Baker Brooks in 2017 and with Joe Bonamassa at the Royal Albert Hall in 2019. His acoustic cover of “Iron Sky” with two other guitarists was recorded in November of 2024, with Lee, now nineteen, displaying not only his guitar “chops,” but his vocal skills as well.

Enjoy!

Paolo Nutini. “Iron Sky” recorded at Abbey Road, 2014.

Mo Jamil Adeniran. “Iron Sky” cover from his 2018 album, Evolve.

Toby Lee. “Iron Sky” cover recorded at the We’re Not Worthy Farm, November 2024.

Bonus video. Since I mentioned Lee becoming a global sensation at ten, I felt a video showcasing that early talent was needed. The following is Lee performing live with legendary American blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter, Walter Trout. Trout has played with John Lee Hooker, Big Mama Thorton, and Joe Tex, and was a member of Canned Heat and John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers. Seeing him share the “shredding” duties at sixty-four years old with a ten-year-old is a must see. It’s long, but well worth it, especially near the end!

Los Angeles 2026