Rock School

"Think of your favorite Motown song. If there is a flute or piccolo on that song, it was played by Dayna Hartwick. For close to a decade, she was on Berry Gordys speed dial. Rockin Robin. Whats Going on. Kung Fu Fighting. It is all her and in a two part interview, she discusses going from being a child prodigy to sitting in Motown Studio A and playing on some of the biggest songs to ever come out of Hitsville USA."

"This is the second part of our facinating interview with the flutist for Motown, Dayna Hartwick. Think of a classic hit for Motown and she played either the flute or the piccolo for it. This week we talk about the end of her time at Motown and her going on tour with massive traveling Broadway productions. That little girl from Motown. Dayna Hartwick."

"Musicians, especially stringed instrument musicians, have a better than 80 percent chance of developing Trigger Finger. I know. I had it and at the time of the recording of this show, I am only three days out of surgery for it. This week, we will discuss what it is, how you can diagnose it and what your choices are if you indeed do have it. We will tell the story of musicians who have had it as well. It is a cautionary take this week."

"This week we will discuss stories about bands that will not play their hit in concert. Often the band or artist has a decent reason but sometimes it is just rock star excess."

"NFT stands for Non Fungible Token. It is a method of proving that a digital thing is the first copy. It works somewhat like a Cryptocurrency. And it is the hottest thing with Indy music people right now. Is it the next big thing? Will it die off like Pet Rocks? No one knows but right, it is hot. We will do out best to explain it all."

"Just for fun, we collected a bunch of musician appearances on Sesame Street. The sonigs are nice and short so we were able to play many more songs than we usually play and there are a lot. So, I cannot tell you how to get to Sesame Street but I can sure play the music for you."

"Phoebe Bridgers smashed her guitar on Saturday Night Live back in February. It was a stunt for sure but then it sold for over 100,000 at a GLAAD auction. She is only the last in a long line of guitar smashers. It became popular in the 60s and survives to this day. So, let us take a smashing look at the practice."

"We were in a conversation about musicians reusing their own lyrics. We found so many examples that I though there had to be a name for this. There is. Contrafactum. There's a related word that means to use the music of another song for your own composition, dramatically changing the sound of the tune. Contrafact. We have multiple examples of each and I am sure you will start thinking some we missed."

"WBIJ-DB is the first digital radio station to pick up the Rock School Radio Show. Since I knew nothing about digital radio, I thought an interview with the owners was required. Alan and Sharon explain everything I want to know and I believe you will find it as interesting as I did"

"It is a well known music trope that managers often do NOT do well by their clients. In fact, it happens so often, we are going to do two shows out of it. And we are not taking our time. I am reading and talking as fast as I can and over two shows, we still left some out. They are heartbreaking stories that actually happened."

"This week was inspired by the Spinal Tap debut back in 1984. Once I started doing the research, there was simply a large group of bands that are basically parodies of other bands and genres. So, for no better reason than for fun, here are a bunch of them."

"So, what was the first Music Video? I don't mean the first video on Mtv but the real first video? No one knows for sure but we will take our best shot at it. See if you agree."

"Have you ever watched the Grammys and wondered who are the people who get to vote for this? I have the answer this week. Michael Brothers is a professional musician and educator and is a Grammy voter, mainly in the Jazz, classical and Broadway categories. He will tell us how he became one and what process he uses through the year to make his best vote."

"Hendrix opening for The Monkees is the benchmark of odd opening bands, but there is a reason they were paired. And there is a reason why a lot of odd pairs were put together. Plus, there is an entire list of odd opening bands that we would have loved to see. We will list them all this week."

"About once a year, or so, someone creates a song specifically to make a dance. The lyrics say what to do and we do it. But, what was the first? What was the best? We will look into it this week."

"The Greatest Hits album is either loved or hated. You either get all the hits in one place or your not a real fan of the band. The funny thing is, now with streaming, every band page starts with the top songs. That's a greatest hits. We will talk about the first Greatest Hits album, who has the most and a lot of other trivia to make you remember your Columbia House 12 free albums. "

"This week in 1969, Rolling Stone made their cover story, Groupies and Other Girls. It is generally believed this is where the word came into common usage. We will take and hour and name some famous women and play some tunes about groupies."

"A listener to the show suggested there are a rather large group of songs that deal with Mythology, and not just the Greek stuff. This week we will talk about the iliad and the Odyssey, Icarus and the Soul Cages along with a lot more myths and names I probably will not say correctly."

"A music trademark? Can you even do that? Should it not be a copyright? Well, yes and no. Taylor Swift and Beyonce are trademarking their lyrics and sounds and we will tell you how they are doing it. Can YOU do it? Yes and there are some good reasons why you should. Trademarks and music. They do indeed go together."

"Johnny Cash is known for having recorded albums in prison, four to be exact. That got us thinking. How many other artists recorded albums during a prison concert? We found some great stuff. We will also touch on some bands that played in prison but didn't record it as an album. However, much of it is available thanks to YouTube."