Homage to Howlin’ Wolf

New Music

Guns n’ Roses guitarist “Slash” will be releasing his new solo album in May. Orgy of the Damned will revitalize some blues classics and will feature diverse guest vocalists including Billy Gibbons, Chris Stapleton, Dorothy, Iggy Pop, Paul Rodgers, Demi Lovato, Brian Johnson, Tash Neal, Chris Robinson, Beth Hart and Gary Clark Jr.

The first single is a superb cover of Howlin’ Wolf’s 1964 Chicago blues standard “Killing Floor” which features Brian Johnson of AC/DC on vocals, and Steven Tyler of Aerosmith on harmonica.  According to Slash:

“‘Killing Floor’ is one of my favorite Howlin’ Wolf songs, but also one of the iconic blues riffs that turned me on as a young guitar player. I’ve always wanted to cover it in some capacity and this record was the perfect vehicle. But playing it with this band, and with Brian Johnson singing, it was an achievement I would never have imagined back then. Let alone Steven Tyler providing the harp.“

“Killing Floor” by Slash ft. Brian Johnson is new this week on RadiJohan.

We Love to “Feel The Heat”

New Music

Formed in Nottingham in 2015 by bass-player Nick Hogg, melodic hard rockers “Nitrate” released their fourth studio album, Feel The Heat, last October. Influenced in no small way by the eighties rock scene, Nitrate’s sound may make you feel like you’ve been transported back in time to the heydays of Def Leppard, Bon Jovi, Loverboy and Europe.

Feel The Heat, an album packed with rockers and seasoned with a few ballads has featured four official singles to date, including “All The Right Moves and “Needs a Little Love.” Easily one of the best albums of the past year it includes quite a few other great tracks that could easily have been single releases as well.

“One Kiss (To Save My Heart)” is one such track. It’s a beautiful duet which features highly regarded Norwegian star “Issa Oversveen” on vocals alongside Nitrate’s Alexander Strandell. Back in the eighties this song would have been a massive hit. It’s new this week on RadiJohan.

RadiJohan Top 10 on 09 March 2024

Top 10
TWLWArtistTitle
10NewOverlandDisconnected
9NewLionheartLittle Ships
8NewBlackberry SmokeHammer and The Nail
72The StrutsI Won’t Run
610Rachel PlattenMercy
56NitsThe Tree
45FoghatI Don’t Appreciate You
31Dion ft. Danielle NicoleI Aim to Please
23Cassidy Paris Danger
14Di-Rect My Blood

Watch this week’s Top 10 by clicking the play button below.

From Austin to Norther: Shane Smith and The Saints

New Music

“Shane Smith and The Saints” formed in 2011 when Shane Smith moved to Austin, Texas and met fiddle player Bennett Brown. They began playing shows in Austin and soon connected with the rest of the band. In 2013 they released their debut album, Coast, followed by Geronimo (2015) and Hail Mary (2019).

Shane Smith and The Saints have built a reputation with an unrelenting work ethic and a very busy touring schedule playing in a variety of places, from dives and honky-tonks to major venues, peaking at 240 shows in a single year. The band’s music has been featured regularly on the American prime time television soap opera Yellowstone.

They’ve just released their first new album in nearly five years. The 13-song collection, called Norther, features a mix of genres including rock, country, folk and Americana. This wide-ranging approach traces back to the tastes and backgrounds of the five band members.

In one of the album’s singles, the narrator reminisces on a past romance and desperately laments the situation in which he finds himself in the present. “Adeline” by Shane Smith and The Saints is new this week on RadiJohan.

When All Appears Lost, Go Dancing!

New Music

“Shed Seven” are an English alternative rock band formed in York in 1990. At the height of their popularity between 1994 and 1999 they had fifteen Top 40 singles and four Top 20 albums in the UK. Their latest album, A Matter of Time, was released on 5 January 2024 and became the first number one album in their career.

Already a fan favourite from the band’s recent sold-out shows, “Let’s Go Dancing” is the latest single to be released off the chart topping album. The song is a plea for one final chance when all appears to be lost, a message of hope at a time when the odds seem stacked against you.

“Let’s Go Dancing” by Shed Seven is new this week on RadiJohan.

RadiJohan Top 10 on 02 March 2024

Top 10
TWLWArtistTitle
10NewRachel PlattenMercy
910The StrumbellasHolster
89Silent TigerAnother Destination
72Hugo’s VoyageA Friend Like You
68NitsThe Tree
57FoghatI Don’t Appreciate You
46Di-RectMy Blood
34Cassidy ParisDanger
21The StrutsI Won’t Run
13Dion ft. Danielle Nicole I Aim to Please

Watch this week’s Top 10 by clicking the play button below.

Classix Nouveaux?

New Music

English new wave band “Classix Nouveaux” enjoyed success in the 80’s in Europe, releasing three albums and eleven singles between 1979 and 1985. They even had a number 1 hit in Portugal, Never Again (The Days Time Erased).

40 years after their last album Secret was released in 1983, Classix Nouveaux have returned with a brand new album called Battle Cry. In the words of lead singer Sal Solo:

“The reason this project came about after 40 years is really because of the fans. About 10 years ago, some of the Classix fans were making Facebook pages but it didn’t really come to our attention until a couple of years back. We realised these people are really dedicated and decided to give them a kind of birthday present.“

The title track of the new Classix Nouveaux album Battle Cry is new this week on RadiJohan.

To Be with You

Flashback

This week in 1992 “Mr Big” started a three week run at number 1 on the US singles chart with To Be With You. The song would also top the charts in many other countries including New Zealand, Japan, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Germany, The Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland.

American hard rock band Mr. Big was formed in Los Angeles in 1988. To Be With you was the second single released from their second album, Lean Into It. Originally, To Be With You” had not been intended for release as a single. However, after the song started getting radio play out of the blue, they felt they had to release it. The rest is, as they say, history.

Rachel Returns

New Music

American singer-songwriter Rachel Platten studied classical piano from the age of 5 and then took up guitar in high school. “1,000 Ships,” a single from her first album, Be Here, peaked at number 23 on the US Billboard Adult Top 40 chart. Her real breakthrough came in 2015 when the single “Fight Song” charted in numerous countries and reached the top 10 in the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland and topped the chart in the UK. The follow up, “Stand by You,” although not quite reaching the heights of its predecessor, was also successful. Since then Rachel Platten has released a handful of less successful singles, while her last album was released in 2017. We would argue her music deserves more exposure and success.

“Mercy” is Rachel’s latest single and provides serves as an appetizer for her forthcoming new album which is due for release in May. The song is deeply personal. In her own words:

“I wrote ‘Mercy’ alone in my studio in the middle of the night, during the darkest part of a very painful battle with my mental health. I ran to my piano and banged on the lower register and let out a guttural cry, ‘oooh mercy,’ I can’t take anymore, please stop this pain……. It came all at once, so fast that I had to try to catch the words as they spilled out of me.”

Rachel Platten’s “Mercy” is new this week on RadiJohan.

The Grace of a Dragonfly

New Music

British hard rock band “Lionheart” first appeared on RadiJohan in 2017 with their cover of Chris Deburgh’s Don’t Pay The Ferryman.

Formed in 1980 but failing to make any headway, the band split up in 1986. Thirty years later they resurfaced, appearing as part of a seven-act line up at the three-day Rockingham 2016 melodic/hard rock festival, held in Nottingham. Following that event, the band decided to continue working together.

Since then Lionheart have released three albums, Second Nature (2017), The Reality of Miracles (2020), and, this past week, The Grace of a Dragonfly (2024).

The latest Lionheart single tells the story of “Operation Dynamo” when, between 26th May and 4th June 1940, hundreds of thousands of allied soldiers were evacuated from Dunkirk with the aid of hundreds of “little ships” ranging from merchant fishing boats to yachts. 

“Little Ships” by Lionheart is new this week on RadiJohan.