Living in quarantine during the 2020-2021 COVID 19 pandemic has proven challenging for most everyone. Many of our families, jobs, schooling, and favorite activities were affected—or even cancelled—during this time. That included one of my strongest passions; live music.
To make up for the lack of live music, I took to social media to satisfy that lifelong love. I ended up making some wonderful post-COVID musical discoveries.
1. Desmond Moulton: I actually met this Jamaican-born singer/songwriter while visiting New York just before quarantine. While milling through a Sunday afternoon marketplace held in a Manhattan school gym, I heard some choice Reggae blasting from a small stereo on a vendor’s table. It was manned by none other than “Desmond the Songwriter” himself and he was selling his debut CD, Happiness is Priceless. After an enjoyable conversation with Mr. Moulton, I bought two copies of the album. It became part of my daily listening as I worked from home.
Desmond’s CD contains ten choice tracks, all skirting the line between Reggae, Ska, and Soul. Almost all show a Bob Marley lyrical influence, telling heartfelt tales of social stratification and ordinary people struggling to get by. The title track, “Happiness Is Priceless,” mixes 1970’s Philly Soul with Reggae to good effect. I especially love the anti-materialism message.
2. The Lamplighters: I have been Facebook friends with Lamplighters’ front man Dan Wilton (aka Dyg Wydmark) for about five years. We bonded in a musical discussion group where we went off on a tangent about Australian versions of American Cars, like Valiants and Falcons. We started swapping music by mail—all the way to Australia. I quickly became hooked on The Lamplighters for their high-energy and good-humored mix of Garage Rock and Soul. A highlight of 2020 was their single, “D’Ya Got Soul.” The 12-string driven groove evokes a mix of The Fleshtones and The Flamin’ Groovies at their trashiest. The video is remarkably well-produced.
3. Stupidity: Almost every Thursday afternoon from 1 to 5 pm, I listen to the internet streams of Cygnus Radio. My favorite program is Fran-O-Rama 2.0, a Connecticut-based show hosted by veteran newspaper journalist Ms. Fran Fried. She is an enthusiast of almost all types of R&B-based Rock ‘n’ Roll, and her four-hour stream is packed. Her weekly theme song is The Fleshtones’ “American Beat,” which encapsulates Fran-O-Rama 2.0 both musically and lyrically.
It came as no surprise that Ms. Fried would spin music by Fleshtones’ spin-off projects, too. A choice find is Swedish neo-garage band Stupidity. Their 2020 single, “Save Me,” features the raw fretwork of Fleshtones’ guitarist Keith Streng. Pretty rockin’ for a band whose members would likely qualify for AARP.
4. Jesse Blankenship: I have been acquainted with Central Ohio Alt-Country singer Jesse Blankenship since 2014 when I caught him performing at Porter’s Pub. Even then, I recognized a talent inspired by old school Country like Waylon Jennings and Merle Haggard. I have been blessed, as a member of The Molars, to share a few bills with Jesse over the past two years. During a socially-distanced outdoor show in September, I bought his self-titled debut CD. I immediately fell in love with it. Blankenship is not only an excellent performer, but a talented and heartfelt songwriter who very candidly tells tales of his working-class Appalachian roots on the West Side of Columbus.
A standout track is “Leave Them Pills Alone,” as seen in solo performance at Bossy Grrl’s Pinup Joint.
Also during this time, I have been very grateful for specialty radio programs like Jon Brian Peterson’s Shakin’ It” and Los Giles’ Trip the Groove Fantastic” on WCBE. Honorable mention goes to Mike Murray of Rochester, New York, for his Whole Lotta Shakin’, broadcast Saturdays 4 to 6 pm on that city’s WRUR-FM. A fixture on Rochester radio since 1984, Mike Murray focuses upon the sound of Rock ‘n’ Roll from 1954 to ’66 and its Post-Punk disciples. All three gentlemen give me my Saturday musical fix and I thank them.