Hosted by Radio Moka every two weeks, Daddy Peet Expresso is a musical program dedicated to the excellence of musical expression, regardless of instrumentation, origin, region, nation, creed, characterization or genre. Through the DPE bi-weekly playlist, you and I can explore songs and vibes that singers, musicians and composers from around the globe, past and present, dutifully offer the ears, hearts and souls of anyone who cares to listen, beyond boundaries.
Music from the past brings up images in the mind of each of us. (That’s what keeps the music industry in full swing.) Individual songs, even those from the most obscure bands, often act as signposts, carrying us to significant or even unimportant moments in a distant time. For instance, when I hear “Don’t Pull …
As an American living in Asia, I’m frequently asked what I miss about living in the US. Here in Singapore, what I often miss about the US is the potential for spontaneity and looseness, with music greasing the wheels. I once went into a convenience store in the main bus terminal in Cincinnati, Ohio, and …
Some 25 years ago, I boarded a train in Oakland, California for a journey east across the USA. I had a ticket for a window seat, a new auto-reverse portable cassette player, a bag of cassette tapes, and a pack of fresh batteries. What I most remember are the vistas of the Pacific West Coast …
A friend recently asked me how it was being an American college student in Moscow in the 1970s. If he had queried my mother after my stint in the semester abroad program, right when I got off the plane from New York to Columbus, she would have said it stunk, like I did, since during my …
One of the themes of Radio Moka in general, and of Daddy Peet Expresso in specific, is not simply that quality music is a universal , but that it can not be sufficiently described by what is typically broadcast on television or radio. One of the features of the Digital Age though is that so …
Who woulda thunk it? In the mid 1850s, the area in Singapore where I currently live, Bukit Timah (Tin Hill), was known as “a tiger resort” for the large number of tiger attacks. At that time cinnamon plantations were encroaching on tiger habitat in the virgin rainforest. In 1857 alone, there were reportedly 390 deaths …
Some people still debate whether Bob Dylan sold out. The superstar was recently welcomed as the first rocker poet into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and in the media he is universally praised, but that doesn’t eclipse the fact that back in 1965, when he released his 5th album, Bringing It All Back …
One lazy winter afternoon in 1991, having recently moved to Akita City in rural northern Japan from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, I went to Rondo’s, a neighborhood jazz coffee shop, looking for a change, when I was approached by a middle-aged midget wielding his business card and wanting to practice his English. “Matsuhashi desu,” he said. …
It would be difficult not to be impressed by the seemingly timeless connection between music and religion amongst the people of the Indian subcontinent. The Hindu goddess of learning and the arts, the corpulent Saraswati, is typically shown stretched upon a swan playing the veena, the plucked instrument that some scholars call the most ancient of all …
They say the fruit (or nut) doesn’t fall far from the tree. In some ways that is very true, and I’m the typical example. I like my Scotch whiskey straight, which can probably be attributed to my paternal grandfather, who would occasionally slip me a nip when Grandma had her back turned. I’m also a …
In a previous Welshman set list I lamented the fact that I couldn’t get my hands on digitized versions of songs by the 80s sublime and underappreciated The Band of Holy Joy and The Woodentops. The former sing the immortal lines “Heaven, hell or Hartlepool…” and run a Sunday night internet radio show called Radio …
If you follow the Gregorian calendar, as most listeners of Radio Moka do, you’re already a week out of 2012 and one week into 2013. Can you feel the change? I can, but aside from the numerical shift, what’s the story? It’s all emotional, I suspect. Years are guideposts that tell us where we are …
It’s the holiday season, and while I don’t wanna sound like a scrooge, I have to admit that for a long time, I hadn’t bought into the commercial side of December. In the distant past, Christmas had much more romance to it. As a kid, the holidays were always beautiful, with the parties at school, …
They say that each journey begins with a single step. In the case of each Daddy Peet Expresso episode, that “step” usually translates into my obsession with a single song. Take “Late Afternoon,” as an example. Not able to sleep at 5am, I took a seat in front of the computer and listened again to …
In a recent communication class, we were revisiting a list of the skills we had covered this term, when a student asked me to explain the verb “synthesize.” For me common dictionary definitions such as “to deduce logically from general to specific” and “to combine so as to form a new complex product” don’t quite …
After compiling the 80s playlist, I’ve chosen a set which features a more eclectic line up spanning four decades with a mixture of familiar faces and well kept secrets. Appropriately, The Clash kick off proceedings with a hip-hop song. A ‘punk’ band doing this 30 years ago certainly opened my mind. Though London Calling is …
It’s election time in the USA, and as we watched the second presidential debate between Barack and Mitt, there were times when I was envisioning democracy as a blood sport, for at least 30 seconds, on international television. That’s when I had the impression from each candidate that he wanted to scream, “Your ass is …
It was late August, 1984, a hot and humid Sunday, and I was back speeding west on U.S. I-70 (the interstate highway), touring through the mythical grasslands of Kansas with a couple non-American friends, when the terrain on both sides of the freeway suddenly struck me as cold, barren, dead, a green virtual wasteland. I …
Sometimes I forget my roots, and I mean really forget. Recently though I was reminded when I offered to buy lunch for a former student who had helped me with a bit of editing, and she replied, “Oh that’s so American,” the implication being that only an American would offer to buy someone lunch for …
Some of you out there might disagree with my definition of reggae, and I admit that I have taken a few liberties in this mix by including some ska — the Apollo440 song makes the list thanks to its title. Having said that, there can be no doubting the quality of the music on offer, …
Is this another film reference? No. It’s 2:52am, and I’m in a motel room in Cebu, a modern but ramshackle city in central Philippines. For non-Asians, this might seem like the back of beyond, but I do have an Internet connection, the porcelain and plastic remnants of room service sit beside my computer, and though …
Legend has it that vocalist/percussionist Jay Ferguson, of 70s California rock band Spirit, wrote one of the group’s most recognizable anthems, “Mr. Skin,” after he’d walked into a motel room and found baldheaded drummer/soul daddy Ed Cassidy intertwined with a young woman, and all he could see was skin. Whatever the case, lines like these …
It was supposedly Pythagoras who realized that the pitch of a musical sound was in proportion to the length of string that produces it. He also apparently understood that basic numerical ratios can be found in the intervals of harmonious sound frequencies. With these ideas in mind, he went a step further and proposed that …
It’s mid 2012, and there’s roots reggae playing tonight, as happens every Saturday night, in the Hotel Santa Fe Bar & Grill. But this isn’t a dislocated place in New Mexico, nor is it throwback Jamaica — I’m beachside on the island of Guam, seven hours west of Honolulu / three hours east of Manila. …
One of the reasons music is so engaging for so many people is that it’s all about the human narrative. That’s true especially when songs have lyrics with stories, but it’s also true of instrumental stuff because – no matter what — composers, singers, songwriters, musicians, are all folks with stories. These stories impact the …
While sitting down to write a blurb for this episode, I was trying to recall a priceless anecdote regarding big band clarinetist /bandleader Artie Shaw’s stand on civil rights that had been mentioned in the Ken Burns’ documentary series JAZZ. The story was something along these lines: Before starting a pre-World War II tour of …
People want to be entertained. Ever since the time we’re infants, we’ve grown accustomed to being presented with images, sounds, toys to manipulate, foods to try, stories, questions. We get so accustomed to stimulation that when we have to go without, we can become lost, listless. In the Digital Age, this phenomenon is even more …
It’s been said that there’s a fine line between love and hate. That’s true of what is declared legal and illegal as well, in any country or society, at any time in history. Travel to Cuba is a case in point for citizens of the USA today. As of the time of this writing, May …
I’ve chosen the theme of the 80s because I’m constantly being bombarded by music from that era. Unfortunately, it’s the music from that time that I want to forget but am not allowed to. Just like I can’t forget Margaret Thatcher thanks to Meryl Streep. I’ve gone for an eclectic, underground mix trying to avoid …
Marcel Proust said that “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.” I’d add that developing thick skin, a hard ass and new ears is advisable for the adventurer as well. One of my first trips in “the East,” nearly 30 years ago, was to the sleepy …
Another Daddy Peet Expresso episode dedicated to country music? Why not? If it was good enough for guys like Johnny Cash and Charlie Parker in their pain, it’s good enough for me in mine. Let me explain. You ever fall in love, deeply in love, and remain in love for years, building a life together …
My 16-year-old daughter reported incredulously that when hanging out with a couple local friends, she found that one Indian buddy didn’t recognize the mug on her cellphone wallpaper: a youthful Mick Jagger. When pushed for more info, he even admitted to not knowing the Rolling Stones. Another local friend just shook her head: “Singaporeans.” When …
Until it was sold, Speakeasy was one of the rockingest bars in Akita City, Japan, just a stone’s throw from the prefectural office. Run by eccentric Chikara Horiuchi, or “Speedy Gonzalez” as some of us called him, Speakeasy had the reputation of being a worthy reflection of its flamboyant owner, nearly hip to a fault. …
Does hearing a particular song ever twirl you around by the heels, throwing you and your world view off kilter, revealing another dimension to existence? Of course. In that way, many songs act as a form of transport, refracting not only the sounds in our ears and the light before our eyes, but our very …
Let me make things clear right from the start: I was brought up on rock’n’roll. In fact, while I was still gestating in the womb through early to mid 1955, a host of young white American crooners were mixing up R&B (called “race music” at the time), boogie-woogie, blues, rockabilly, and to a lesser extent, …
My first reaction to what has been variously called rap music, or hip hop, when I heard it via MTV back in the late 80s, was one of confusion. How could this music, with the spoken word “rapped” over an often repetitive beat, the occasionally intentional scratching of records, and the general rage, even be …
New Year’s Eve 2011/2012 was not kind to me. Sure I was in a place many would consider paradise, staying in a beachside bungalow on the small tropical island of Panglao, next to Bohol in south central Philippines. Unfortunately, I had picked up some sort of bug that had me feeling queasy the day prior, …
In the summer of 2005, I was doing a university project with students in Ulan Bator, Mongolia, and on an off evening took the opportunity to visit the Mongolian National Theater for a cultural extravaganza. Aside from being amazed by the unpredictable bodies of teenage contortionists and the colorful outfits on traditional dancers, I was …
It’s Friday night on the sidewalk by the Chinese market at the corner of Jurong Kecil and Bukit Timah Road on Singapore’s Near West Side. As I stroll past the market I encounter a constant stream of noise from passing buses and cars (Toyotas, Audis, BMWs and Mercedes), loads of pedestrians (speaking Singlish, Mandarin and …
This set could have just as easily been called Three Chords and the Truth (Part 2). It’s another sampling of country and roots-inflected songs by stalwarts like Willie Nelson and Lucinda Williams and more recent arrivals such as Sarah Jarosz and Crooked Still. There are country blues by Big Mama Thornton and Cassandra Wilson and …
“Own only what you can carry with you; know language, know countries, know people. Let your memory be your travel bag.” Alexander Solzhenitsyn I have a very vague, early childhood memory, unrelated to music. I was in the treeless, fenceless backyard of my grandparents’ farmhouse, with a cornfield adjacent. It was summer, so the cornstalks …
The first time I realized the true beauty of FM radio must have been in the mid 1970s, during university, about the time I moved out of the dorm and into my own apartment. FM radio became the soundtrack for much of my youthful romance. The frequency modulation (hence, FM) made for clearer sound than …
This week’s program includes 18 musical masterpieces from a variety of singers and musicians from regions throughout the African continent. Here I emphasize the word continentbecause in the minds of many non-Africans, Africa and its countless cultures and musical traditions is so far out there it’s not even properly understood. Why else would someone as culturally venerable …
Paleoanthropologists tell us that homo sapiens originated in Africa. According to the prevalent theory, the migration – or more aptly, waves of migrations – took place over the course of tens of thousands of years. In fact, a cursory survey of today’s human populations shows amazing diversity, which is what might lead a person to …
The range of approaches and results in songwriting never fails to amaze. Just look at a sampling of the titles in this set, on a continuum from the most straightforward to the most enigmatic: Miriam’s Goodbye to Africa, Last Steam Engine Train, Satin Doll, Rio Nights, Como Siento Yo, Luz Negra, The Calling, Camions Sauvages, …
On a lazy Sunday afternoon in May 1977, I was taking the escalator up and out of the Universitetskaya metro stop near my Moscow State University student residence, when I saw two fellow American exchange students, both like me from Ohio, coming down the adjacent escalator. Where you guys headed? I recall asking. The girls responded with …
If you were considering making a playlist for a party, or for a romantic evening, or even for an afternoon of work, where would you start? Favorite songs? Favorite songs on a particular theme? Songs that elicit a special mood? And if you were going a create a playlist for a biweekly program, would you …
9 to 5? Work deadlines? Doctor bills? Mortgage payment? Taxes? Those are all burdens that we adults have to endure. Just for a second, wouldn’t it be nice to be a kid again? How would that feel? Of course, it wasn’t a painless experience, but when I remember how carefree I felt at particular times …
In an interview with Joe Liska, award-winning filmmaker Kevin Macdonald (of The Last King of Scotland fame) stated as follows: “There’s nothing better than music to communicate mood and emotion in a way that you can’t with writing, unless you’re very articulate. I definitely think about the aural world first….” How many of us react …
I don’t pretend to be a devout follower of any religion. I was raised in the Protestant church in middle America, which meant being baptized before I knew what that even meant, being inculcated with “Christian values and beliefs,” and attending church most every Sunday for years. As a kid I felt there was indeed …
It’s become a cliché to say that the world we live in today is extremely complex, and very different from the one our grandparents inhabited. However, if you think of that just in terms of the music we hear on a daily basis or that we might be exposed to within a given week or …
“There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness” (Friedrich Nietzsche) The theme of love gets revisited by each of us over and over in our lives. We lap it up as babies, demand it as small kids, chase after it in the dark when we’re school children, …
Are the blues a cultural universal? We all suffer disappointment, loss and ultimately, the sort of pain from harsh reality that provides the basis of “having the blues.” And if that is true, do we solve our problems in similar ways? More aptly, does music similar to the blues bubble to the surface from geographical …
My buddy John, a well-known corporate trainer and formidable percussionist in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, has an apartment within a stone’s throw of KL’s largest Chinese temple, Tian Hou. Often times at night you can hear music emanating from the depths of the layered ornate structure, whether live accompaniment for a celebratory lion dance or prerecorded …
A musical journey is very similar to a physical one in that it is also a journey of the heart. My first one got a boost during my teenage years in a white clapboard farmhouse back a long lane tucked amidst the hills of southern Ohio. I had a well-to-do friend, Tommy J, whose parents …
People do the damnedest things for romantic love: disappoint parents, give away the family farm, throw away the crown. They also beg, lie, steal and commit murder. I know of a former high school classmate who was bludgeoned to death with a baseball bat by his impassioned wife and her lover. Writing a song in …
In the early 1990s I was teaching at a university in Akita prefecture, northern Japan, and I produced a concert at the school that included famed jazz pianist Les McCann as the headlining act. McCann and his Magic Band were in the area to play a couple gigs at local jazz clubs, and using a …
A musician at work is like a miner digging for a vein of gold: she spills the proverbial blood, sweat and tears exercising her instrument for the perfect riff, reaching across a scale for one magic moment of exquisite harmony, or pounding the keys for that certain amazing vibe, something that everyone playing/ listening can …