The Laptop Sessions: “Mother” (Pink Floyd Acoustic Cover Song)

Sunday, August 3rd, 2008

By Jeff Copperthite:

Good evening and welcome to your Sunday edition of the Laptop Sessions. Today, as promised, I bring you another installment, and one from Pink Floyd. This comes by request from Dave - thanks Dave, now my vocal cords hurt.

Not because the vocals are high, which is usually what could cause some strain to a voice. This song has quite a low register through most of the song. It is something i’m not used to dealing with. The song is “Mother” from their album “The Wall” - same album as last Monday, but different disc.

This song has some solid lyrics and at the time of songwriting for “Expressions”, the song “Independence” was influenced by this song somewhat. The guitar part is easy-going and not that difficult to play. The band also threw in some subtle time signature changes in the song - see how many you can spot.

As mentioned, ow, my voice. It took me approximately 15 takes to make it through the song. Near the end I came in late on an “ooo”, but since I was so close to the end, I decided I had expended my voice enough, and to keep chugging.

On Wednesday, I will be bringing Original Wednesday your way, and I will be tapping into Jim Fusco’s library again. I had a song in mind from my own library (a new one), but I want to clean it up before I do it for Original Wednesday. So in 3 weeks 3 days, you’ll hopefully see that one.

Come back tomorrow for a new Jim Fusco acoustic cover song!

WCJM Free Internet Radio Station: “The Originals Show” - 2007

Sunday, August 3rd, 2008

By WCJM Free Internet Radio:

Six months from the last Moore Hits in the Morning broadcast, Jim thought it was time to do another free Internet radio show. Actually, the idea was to do another Christmas show in time for the holidays, but as seen throughout the years, scheduling has been tough.

So, after much debate about whether or not to actually do the show, Chris, Jim, Mike, and Alberto met up to do a four-person show for the first time in almost ten years. The result is a great show that is both memorable and hilarious!A long skit-writing segment took place, as Jim and Chris worked hard on skits and Mike and Alberto worked on TNWST reports. It got a bit stressful, as you’ll hear Mike and Alberto making of fun of Jim during the show about it.

Chris’ skit about the WCJM Merchandise Store made the cast laugh hysterically about all the fun new products based on past skits and characters. Jim also paid homage to Matt’s Celebrity Jeopardy from Beyond the Grave skit by doing his own. You’ll be surprised at some of the guests!This is the first WCJM show recorded completely on the computer, as opposed to MiniDiscs or tapes. Thankfully, the recording process went off without a hitch, and the levels came out great.

The Originals Show puts songs by bands while they still had original members alongside the original four cast members of WCJM Radio’s Moore Hits in the Morning. This one’s sure to please and keeps the WCJM free Internet radio station alive and well!

WCJM Free Internet Radio Station: “The That Was Then, This Is Now Show” - 2007

Sunday, August 3rd, 2008

By WCJM Free Internet Radio:

The show’s theme had been thought-up many years ago, and the ninth anniversary of WCJM free Internet radio would be a memorable one. Songs were chosen as a “then” and “now” from each band, for instance, a Beach Boys song from the 60s and one from the last couple years.

The skits would follow the same format. Before each skit or appearance by such standards as Dr K., Ben Case, the Food Critic, Traffic, News, and Weather, and others, a clip of some great lines from past shows would play. That would be our “then” before the guys busted out with their material from “now”!

As you listen to this show, you can hear how each of the cast members just loves being there. Being around old friends that you see maybe once or twice a year is special enough, but when you add comedy and creativity, it just ups the excitement. Matt was on, as usual, with his comedy routines and Celebrity Jeopardy. Chris had the cast rolling with his “Lightsaber Accidents” skit. Jim wrote more material than ever. Mike and Alb cracked about whatever they found funny. Jeff provided his usual hilarious segments, plus a Top Ten list.

For this show, there was an eighth member. Cliff Huizenga, a college friend of Jim’s, fit right in to the WCJM cast. Let’s just say that he can dish the insults right along with the usual cast. Cliff was invited as a special guest for this show because of his tireless (okay, maybe he was tired) efforts on the WCJM website. His knowledge and skill helped put this site together and the entire cast is very grateful.

The show was recorded differently this time. Two condenser microphones were used back-to-back in the center of the room. This allowed the cast to sit in an on-obscured circle, plus the microphones picked everyone’s voice up perfectly! If you listen to this show on headphones, note the great stereo effect. It really sounds like you’re in the room with them!

This is clearly the longest WCJM show to date- about four hours! But, there’s over 20 segments and skits combined with great music to make that time just fly by. Well, there’s one thing about WCJM- the funny radio shows are great- both then and now!

WCJM Free Internet Radio Station: “The Christmas Vacation Show” - 2006

Sunday, August 3rd, 2008

By WCJM Free Internet Radio:

Three years is a long time. In three years, spanning 1999-2001, WCJM did 15 Moore Hits in the Morning Shows. That’s five a year. After the Best Original Christmas Song Show in late 2003, WCJM took a three-year unplanned hiatus.

The WCJM free Internet radio cast was growing up. Jeff had gotten married, Jim, Chris, Alberto, and Dave were all finishing college. Mike and Matt were halfway through college already. But, Christmastime is a season that brings everyone back home. So, three years after their last show, the ENTIRE WCJM cast went back to do another.

Actually, it had been since 2001 when the only WCJM show with all seven cast members took place. So, this was actually five years in the making. The Christmas Vacation Show, as it came to be called, would showcase some great new Christmas music alongside some forgotten old classics.

Not only was the entire cast of Chris, Jim, Mike, Alberto, Dave, Matt, and Jeff present, but everyone contributed. There were just as many skits as songs, and the laughs kept on comin’! Matt’s new Best Buy related standup, Jeff’s usual cast of characters, Jim’s mound of material, Dr. K’s epic “Gnome for the Holidays”, and even a skit by Chris all made this show very memorable.

A lot of fun was made about how “old” the cast was getting, but if it’s bringing old friends together, age really doesn’t matter. Everyone had a great time on the show and you can tell just by hearing it that everyone really loves each other’s company.

So, add another comedy radio show to the list of Christmastime must-listens. This one, though, will make you realize how important spending time with your best friends means. Even if you can only get together every three years.

WCJM Free Internet Radio Station: “The Best Original Christmas Song” - 2003

Sunday, August 3rd, 2008

By WCJM Free Internet Radio:

It wouldn’t be WCJM free Internet radio without a Christmas show. The first show with Alberto Distefano was a Christmas show, and since then, the growing cast had done two other Christmas Morning Shows until the “Best Original Christmas Song” Show in late 2003.

The cast of Chris, Jim, Mike, Alberto, Matt, Jeff, and Becky (the same cast from the Complaining Show) came together on December 23, 2003 to do an exciting Christmas show. Dave couldn’t be at the show- he was spending Christmas in Florida! However, he did have input towards the show and approved of the content after he came back.

Jim wanted to do a show that was different from all the other Christmas shows. After all, pretty much every decent Christmas song ever made was played on the previous three shows! So, there needed to be a theme that would still keep the show interesting. So, Jim decided to make a contest. What is the best original Christmas song ever written and recorded? Why did he specify original? Well, taking classics like “White Christmas” and “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” are in another class by themselves, so to even the playing field, the list was narrowed down to just “rock’n'roll” Christmas songs.

Twenty songs were chosen out of a possible hundred or so, making the final candidates list. Just like the Song for the New Millennium voting, each cast member (plus Stuffy) ranked each song from 1-20. The averages were then taken for each song’s ranking and the songs were placed in order- the lowest (closest to #1) average would become the Best Original Christmas Song!

The show also finally gave Matt and Jeff a chance to vote on the songs, as they were left out of the voting for the Song for the New Millennium Show. Scheduling conflicts almost prevented this show from happening. Each member of the WCJM cast began going his own way, so finding a time everyone could meet for over two hours in a row would be a difficult task. But, Jim was persistent and with the help of the rest of the cast, everyone made it. However, Alberto had to work and didn’t arrive until halfway through the show- hey, at least he got to hear which song won!

The show also featured every cast member in their elements. Alberto and John Daley worked out a segment before the show, making it seem that Alberto was actually there for the time he missed! Also, since Dave’s voted were calculated into the voting, his valuable input made his presence felt. Chris was a superb host for this show- on top of the schedule at every turn. Jim came up with his best comedy segments to date, and Matt and Jeff lived up to their high standards of comedy, as well. Stuffy D. Bear was back with even more to say on this show, completing a well-rounded comedy lineup.

However, the biggest surprise on the show was the long (watch it!) segment with Dr. K. His segment on this show completely overshadows (Another one! Giddy up Keckster!) his appearance on the Complaining Show and makes this show a true Moore Hits in the Morning Classic. The excitement throughout the show makes you always wanting more, whether it’s comedy you love, which song will be #1, or both! I guess this show accomplished what it set out to do: to have another WCJM Christmas get-together and to have a great, exciting WCJM Morning Show!

So sit back, relax, and get in the Christmas spirit with this comedy radio show. See if you can guess which song is Number 1!

WCJM Free Internet Radio Station: “The Complaining Show” - 2003

Sunday, August 3rd, 2008

By WCJM Free Internet Radio:

This show was a reunion for the WCJM free Internet radio cast in 2003. Jim wanted to get the cast back together for one last time before everyone went back to school. Unfortunately, Dave cancelled at the last minute, preventing a complete reunion of the cast. However, a new addition to the show, Becky Daly, joined up with Chris, Jim, Mike, Alberto, Matt, and Jeff for this show.

This show is based on the fact that it seems like all the skits on WCJM are complaining about something! Whether it’s the Food Critic complaining about food, Matt complaining about the world in his stand-up comedy segments, or Dr. K just complaining about his life (and height), the skits always give something to laugh at, so WCJM’s Morning Show decided to make a show completely devoted to complaining.

All the songs on this show are also about complaining. There’s Live’s “What Are We Fighting For?”, the Beach Boys’ “I’m Bugged At My Old Man”, and J Geils Band’s “Love Stinks”, just to name a few. This gave the cast a chance to pick some unique songs and, of course, fit within WCJM’s “Every show has a theme” model.

This show has to be the funniest Morning Show to date because the cast was so comfortable with writing skits and laughing at them, too! Matt’s two Subway skits were perfect in writing and delivery, Jim’s usual World Report and Food Critic segments featured Jim finally working out the “filler” in his act, Jeff gave his funniest Ronco promo ever, and Chris even wrote his own, hilarious, skit with Mike playing Dave! Stuffy D. Bear is the poster bear for complaining and his memorable appearance on this show will go down as one of the edgiest segments ever on a WCJM broadcast. Even though Mike had a lack of material for this show, the laughing between him and Alberto always gave a good background and a good mood!

The Complaining Show is also in stereo, so listen with headphones to hear EVERYTHING that’s said between all seven members of the WCJM free internet radio team. Enjoy this stupid show- oops, got into the complaining theme a little too much- and be prepared to laugh!