Upcoming: The Alternators feat. Dave Malone, Camile Baudoin & Frank Bua (Radiators), Dave Pomerleau, & Mark Rechler

Listen: Reggie Scanlan — Bass Lion

Music Inside Out with Gwen Thompkins

There's a reason why lions prefer the company of other lions. Just ask Reggie Scanlan. As a bass player, Scanlan worked with James Booker and Professor Longhair before starting a 33-year run with the Radiators. He's now in a band of all-stars called the New Orleans Suspects.

Scanlan tells Music Inside Out some of the lessons he's learned from playing, touring and recording with the best in New Orleans music. For instance: band tours last longer with separate hotel rooms. And if you can't sing... don't. To Scanlan, music is like any other business — except people applaud when he comes to work.

 

Upcoming: New Orleans Suspects @ Brooklyn Bowl

Doing The Radiators’ Last Watusi with Dave Malone & Reggie Scanlan

(via Jambands) 

READ THE INSIGHTFUL Q&A SESSION HERE

 

We talked to Dave Malone and Reggie Scanlan just prior to the band’s sold-reunion shows on January 18 and 19, celebrating both the club’s 35th anniversary and 35 years since The Radiators first formed. After the shows captured on The Last Watusi, Malone admitted to having to “chill for a while and let the end of the Rads sink in.” Since then he has joined forces with his brother Tommy of the subdudes as the Malone Brothers Band, along with forming Raw Oyster Cult with fellow Rads Baudoin and Bua (along with John “Papa” Gros on keys and Dave Pomerleau on bass).

Reggie Scanlan hit the ground running after The Last Watusi shows: he was on stage with the newly-formed New Orleans Suspects (drummer Willie Green, guitarist/vocalist Jake Eckert, CR Gruver on keys and vocals, and hornman Jeff Watkins) two weeks after the Rads’ 2011 good-bye shows. Scanlan’s full-speed-ahead attitude was meant with a serious challenge in early 2012: diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, he underwent a 16-hour surgery followed by a month in the hospital. His fellow Suspects were waiting for him, however: two days out of the hospital, Scanlan was on stage at JazzFest – a true survivor, sitting on a stool and playing his beloved bass. Since then the band has released two albums (one studio/one live) with a third of all-new material on the way.

Both Malone and Scanlan cautioned that there were no Radiators plans beyond the January reunion shows. Scanlan, fully focused on The New Orleans Suspects, likened the “get-back-together” rumors surrounding the Rads shows as the sort of talk you’d hear when a divorced couple gets together for coffee to talk about the kids: “Everybody on the outside thinks they’re going to get remarried and it’s great – nobody knows what’s really going on except the people themselves.”
We conclude with some reflections from both.

Upcoming: Fishhead Stew @ Cutting Room

Fishead Stew
@ The Cutting Room - New York, NY
Presented by Shari Frank

Relix Live Fridays: The Radiators' Reunion

 

The Radiators reunited for a pair of shows at Tipitina’s on January 18 and 19 as part of the New Orleans club’s 35th anniversary celebration. The group had last performed at the club during its climactic Last Watusi event in June 2011. Here are a couple songs from the 18th, including a guest appearance by Bonerama’s Mark Mullins on trombone for “Early Bird Cafe.”

LISTEN TO 2 FREE "REUNION SHOW" TRACKS  HERE.

READ TIMMY THE FREAK'S REVIEW & WATCH VIDEO HERE 

In honor of the Radiators reunion shows @ Tipitina's this weekend

Upcoming: Malone Brothers @ Emelin Theatre (mamaroneck)

 

Sat, Dec 15, 2012 @ 8pm

The Malone Brothers

$35

 

Bringing together the similar but fantastically different worlds of two of the finest New Orleans rock bands today – The Radiators and the subdudes – The Malone Brothers is a brand new collaboration by brothers  Dave and Tommy Malone, two of Louisiana's greatest guitarist singer-songwriters. One of the most exciting new lineups in American music, the brothers create a musical experience that fans of both men have wanted to hear for years.

Listen: Stream The Radiators' "Last Watusi"

 Read John Swenson's Offbeat review HERE.

Upcoming: New Orleans Suspects - Benefit for Reggie Scanlan @ Lucille's (BB King's)

THE NEW ORLEANS SUSPECTS
A Benefit for Reggie Scanlan

September 13, 2012

Showtime @ 8:00PM
Doors Open @ 6:00PM

Tickets $30.00 in advance, $35.00 day of show

The newest super group from New Orleans, The New Orleans Suspects, features members of legendary veteran touring acts The Radiators, The Neville Brothers, and The Dirty Dozen Brass Band. Tonight in Lucille's, this hot new outfit will perform a benefit show to help pay for extensive cancer surgery for bassist Reggie Scanlan.

Formed in the wake of the June 2011 breakup of The Radiators after 34 years, The New Orleans Suspects are comprised of some of the best, most highly respected players in New Orleans, including bassist Reggie Scanlan (Radiators, the Professor Longhair Band), drummer Mean Willie Green (The Neville Brothers), saxophonist Jeff Watkins (James Brown, Joss Stone), guitarist and vocalist Jake Eckert (The Dirty Dozen Brass Band), and keyboardist and vocalist C.R. Gruver (Outformation). The band combines original songs in the New Orleans style with hits and obscurities from the Allen Toussaint and Dr. John songbooks, as well as performing favorites from the repertoires of The Radiators, The Nevilles, and The Dirty Dozen.

Touring to strong crowds and press accolades since July 2011, The New Orleans Suspects recently released their eponymous debut album. Come out to Lucille's tonight and support a good cause with some good music!
The New Orleans Suspects Website
The New Orleans Suspects Facebook Page
The New Orleans Suspects Twitter Feed

Win a Free Download of Zeke Fishhead’s Snag

By Jay Mazza

 

As Mardi Gras approaches in earnest, fans of the Radiators are lamenting the loss of our soundtrack of the season. As a way of assuaging the angst, TVD is offering a free copy of the latest full-length download from the pen of Ed Volker. Read on for details on how to win.

Fishhead Stew (feat. 3/5 Radiators) @ Hiro Ballroom

Upcoming: Radiators Final NYC Show Ever.

BEST BUY THEATER 8:00 PM (doors 7:00 PM) | 16 & Up | $26.00 - $30.00 BUY SAVE SHARE INFO

Win Tix: The Radiators Farewell Tour on Friday, June 3rd at Best Buy Theater!

The Last Roundup: The Radiators Farewell Tour

Enter to win tickets to see The Last Roundup: The Radiators Farewell Tour on Friday, June 3rd at Best Buy Theater!

The Radiators were formed in New Orleans in 1978, the result of a casual afternoon jam session in keyboardist Ed Volker’s garage. Volker, drummer Fran Bua, Jr.and guitarist Camile Baudoin were then members of the Rhapsodizers. Guitarist Dave Malone and bassist Reggie Scanlan were in another band, Roadapple, and the magic the 5 musicians conjured up that afternoon was just what they’d all been searching for. Later that same week they learned several original songs that they still play today.

Best Buy Theater

1515 Broadway

New York, NY

For more information or to purchase tickets, please visit:

bestbuytheater.com

Exclusive Contest: Win VIP tix to Michael Arnone's 22nd Annual Crawfish Fest.

For the 4th consecutive year, I'm pleased to offer an exclusive ticket giveaway in connection with Michael Arnone's annual NolaFunky Crawfish Fest.


This year, we're offering a pair of tickets good for Saturday & Sunday, as well as access to the main stage Pit area.


Just follow the directions below for your chance to win...

In order to win, just email me (nolafunk at hotmail dot com) with: your name, email, and the NolaFunky guest sit-in (i.e. one artist on the bill sitting in with another) you'd be most excited to witness at this year's Fest. I'll be picking a winner at random and will send email confirmation to the winner only.

See the last NY-area Rads show EVER...

Here are the rest of this year's NolaFunky artists...

Upcoming: Radiators @ Brooklyn Bowl on June 2 (Tix onsale today.)

The Radiators

June 2

Brooklyn Bowl

On Sale Today@ At Noon

official website

myspace

The Radiators were formed in New Orleans in 1978, the result of a casual afternoon jam session in keyboardist Ed Volker’s garage. Volker, drummer Fran Bua, Jr.and guitarist Camile Baudoin were then members of the Rhapsodizers. Guitarist Dave Malone and bassist Reggie Scanlan were in another band, Roadapple, and the magic the 5 musicians conjured up that afternoon was just what they’d all been searching for. Later that same week they learned several original songs that they still play today.

They soon became an integral part of the re-vitalization of the New Orleans music scene that saw the growth of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and the birth of the city’s premier music club, Tipitina’s. The band played with many legends of New Orleans music: Professor Longhair, Jessie Hill and Ernie K-Doe, as well as being Earl King’s regular back-up band for many years. A favorite party band for college students throughout the eighties, The Radiators toured extensively all over the U.S., often playing 4 night stands at New York’s musical mecca, The Lone Star Café. Signed by Epic Records in 1987, they released 3 studio albums, which received widespread radio play and featured such Rads’ classics as “Like Dreamers Do”, “Doctor Doctor”, “Confidential” and “Suck The Head”. Currently the band operates their own label, Radz Records, which has re- released 5 classic Rads’ CDs, Heat Generation, Work Done On Premises, Bucket Of Fish, New Dark Ages and The Radiators. In addition in July 2008 the label released the critically acclaimed 30th Anniversary 2 -CD compilation Wild & Free and in May 2009 the band released The Lost Southlake Sessions, recorded in the early 90’s and thought to have been lost to the floods and humidity of New Orleans.

Time has seasoned The Radiators, but far from slowing down they still keep up a brisk and comprehensive touring schedule playing close to 150 dates a year all over the country. Warren Haynes, Derek Trucks, Bob Weir, Maceo Parker, David Bromberg and George Porter Jr. are just some of the luminaries who have sat in with the band through the years. In addition The Radiators have held down one of the coveted closing spots at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival for 20+ years and….yes, you can still find onstage at Tips and all of the legendary New Orleans’ clubs.

"Hidden Track" Picture Show: The Radiators @ Sullivan Hall

By Jeremy Gordon

Back in 1978, Ed Volker, Dave Malone and a few fellow musicians turned a few beers and five hour jam in his garage into a 33 year career together. As The Radiators they played with such luminaries as Gregg Allman, Maceo Parker, George Porter, Jr. and Bob Weir, to name a few, and in such long gone NYC venues as The Ritz, Tramps and Tobacco Road. Along the way, fellow musicians became brothers and fans became family as the Radiators became affectionately known as “The World’s Best Bar Band”. Playing two packed evenings at Sullivan Hall, fans from as far away as Boston and Washington, DC came to share in what was expected to be the final appearance for beloved keyboardist “Zeke” and this lineup in New York City.

[All photos by Jeremy Gordon]

Treated to a mix of covers from The Beatles and Van Morrison and personal favorites of their own, many of the songs including How Do You Feel, Funeral March and The End Is Not in Sight were filled with deeper meaning and tinged with both euphoria and sadness in a truly New Orleans way. Even the final song of the run, Train Kept A Rollin’, speaks to the future of the band and its remaining band members. Even if you’re not a member of the loyal Fishheads, we suggest you check out one of their New Year’s run shows in Ardmore, PA or as a real treat, their final appearance at the upcoming New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival on May 8th.

Sullivan Hall
New York, NY
11/17/10

Set 1: Tuning – Intro, Sunglasses On, Between Two Fires, Oh La La, Domino > All The Good Ones Are Gone > Everybody’s Got Something Hide Except Me & My Monkey > Linin’ Track > Domino, Falling Through The Bottom Line, Danang, Daddy’s Coming Home, Grief Snafu, Good Things, Going Up To The Country, City Of Refuge, Outro

Set 2: Tuning – Intro, Down By The River, Circus Life, The Man Who Lost His Head, Honey Bee > Keep On Popping That Shine, Hide You Love Away (false start), Hide Your Love Away, Number Two Pencil, Fools Go First, Lovely You, Kenny’s Call Em’ Back, St. James Infirmary, Party Ain’t Over Till I Say It So > Whole Lotta Shakin’, Outro

Sullivan Hall
New York, NY
11/18/10

Set 1: Tuning, Young Neil Intro, Dreaming Out Loud, Texas Chainsaw Massacre > Willie & The Hand Jive > Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Brand New Tennessee Waltz, How Do You Feel, Funeral March (riff), Automatic, One Eye Jack, JigSaw, Last Time, Sparkplug, You Can’t Always Get Want, Monkey In Her Heart > Screwloose, Outro

Set 2: Tuning – Intro, Brown Eye Girl *, March On Down To Valentine, Gimmie A Rainbow That’s For Real, I’ve Got A Feeling > Midnight Special > I’ve Got A Feeling, Empire Getaway, Where Is The Soul Of The World ?, Lila, The End Is Not In Sight, Soul Kitchen, Kenny’s Call Em Back, Ride Captain Ride, Train Kept A Rollin’

* Young Neil On Vocals

[Setlist via Kevin Cawley]

Relix Revisited:The Radiators: On the Road from New Orleans

The Radiators have maintained the same line-up ever since the group was founded in 1977. Last week, however, the band announced that keyboard player and principal songwriter Ed Volcker will be leaving the band in 2011. With this in mind, we look back to this account of the Rads, which ran in the December 1986 issue of Relix.

On East Thirteenth Street, just before 9 p.m., a well dressed couple approaches the t-shirt crowd waiting to get into the Lone Star Café and asks no one in particular the inevitable question: “Who’s playing tonight?” “The Radiators,” someone answers. “Who are they?” “They’re good.” “Where do they come from?”

That seems like a good question to put to Radiator Ed Volcker a few minutes later in the Radiators’ dressing room. “Love,” says Volcker, “pain, the wilderness, horses, birds, fish, barbeque, water, tequila, closing down the paraphernalia establishments…”—wait a minute. An easier, if somewhat less thorough answer might be New Orleans. That’s where the Radiators came together in 1977, after years playing in other local bands and backing up the likes of Jimmy McCracklin, Charles Brown, David Bromberg, Catfish Hodge, Dr. John, Allen Toussaint, Earl King, Ernie K-Doe, and Professor Longhair. Originally, there was a group called the Dogs, which gradually metamorphosed into the then five-member Radiators, with Volcker as he described it, starting as janitor and working his way down to keyboards (and vocals), Dave Malone on guitar and vocals, Camile Baudoin, also on guitar and vocals, Reggie Scanlan on bass, and Franklin Bua on drums. Percussionist Glenn Sears was formally added to the band in 1983, after endless sit-ins.

“It’s just a lot of old friendships,” says Volcker. “We have fun, we’re starting to make a little money, we’re starting to change clothes every day, it’s great.” To elaborate a little on that, the Radiators spent years playing in the New Orleans area, becoming a favorite at Tulane University as well as at club like Tipitina’s, but not attracting much attention from the world at large or the record companies in particular. Three years on, they formed their own record label, Croacker Records, and issued the single that started “fish head music,” a crawfish tribute called, “Such the Head, Squeeze the Tip.” They also released a double live album recorded at Tipitina’s Work Done On Premises.

The album revealed a tight band that had taken its New Orleans influences and infiltrated them through a rock ‘n’ roll sensibility formed by listening to bands like the Grateful Dead, the Band, the Allman Brothers, and Little Feat. Volcker and Malone traded lead vocals, Malone and Baudoin played twin and alternating leads, and with titles like “Cannibal Girls,” “Lord You Light Up My Pipe,” “Bad Taste Of Your Stuff,” and “Low Life,” songwriter Volcker defined the lives and times of the common man. Or, as he succinctly put it, “There’s no life/ Like that low life/ And that low life/ It’s a wild life.” In 1981, they followed with another single, “My Whole World Flies Apart,” and another album, Heat Generation. (All this vinyl is available from Croaker Records, New Orleans, LA.)

By 1982, the Radiators had started to spread fish head music beyond the borders of New Orleans. “Starting about three years ago,” says Volcker, “we spend about three months out of the year on the road, and usually in two-week increments. Increments—sounds like something dirty, but it’s not.” By now, those increments have taken the band throughout the South and Midwest, and on the present tour, they’d taken in Eastern seaboard dates starting in Washington, D.C., and soon to head up to Boston. “Marco Polo is our hero,” explains Volcker, “and the Earl of Sandwich is our guiding spirit.”

One place they can be heard is on Epic Records’ 1985 sampler, Epic Presents The Unsigned, where they have a track called, “This Wagon’s Gonna Roll.” But probably the best place to see them is in a packed bar like the Lone Star. Volcker, while dispensing information, is also writing out three set lists for the band, lists that make it look like this’ll be a long night.

Downstairs, the obvious comparisons, to the Allmans and Little Feat, only work because the Radiators suggest the quality of those bands. If Baudoin is capable of mixing parts of Duane Allman with Robbie Robertson and much of his own style, it’s only because of years of playing that give him an encyclopedic style. Volcker’s swampy vocals recall Lowell George, but they reach back to George’s own influences in New Orleans music. This is a hybrid band, steeped in much of the best music in America has made in the last forty years. In other words, they do sound like a lot like the Radiators.

They start with the “Boomerang,” a highly danceable song whose inventive slide work recalls the best of the Allmans, while the melody and rhythm pure Radiators. “Like Dreams Do” follows with a lovely riff carried by synthesizers and percussion, and proves just as moving to the capacity crowd. Then it’s on to an oldie, “One-Eyed Jack,” from the first album, a tale of gambling set to a reggaeish beat mixed with second line rhythms and infused with the spirit of Pigpen McKernan circa “Operator.” “Low Life” is introduced as “the Louisiana state song.” The lyrics appear in their entirety above, but it’s the music that counts, as the song is turned into an extended, steamy showcase for the guitar work of Malone and Baudoin.

Here is a bar band that has convinced its audience completely playing all original material. Now they turn to covers, starting with the Beatles “I’ve Got a Feeling,” which turns out to be a perfect vehicle for a two-guitar band, and leads into a medley with “Slow Down,” Perkins by way of Beatles by way of Radiators. Having established their pop credentials, they turn to R&B and soul, combining Bobby Blue Bland’s “Ain’t Nothing You Can Do” with the Staple Singers’ “I’ll Take You There,” before closing with Johnny Cash’s “Cocaine Blues.” Did you ever go to see a band and figure they had the same record collection that you do?

It’s hard to imagine, given the cheering in the bar, that the Radiators will be able to avoid wider exposure, but they’ve been around enough to be skeptical. “There’s a big old world out there,” Volcker had said just before they went on, “and hopefully we can keep away from it as much as possible.”

Upcoming: 2 Nights of the (soon-retiring) Radiators @ Sullivan Hall

Wednesday: An Evening with The Radiators

Receive a $5 discount on tickets by going to the link below and entering the code "tulanealum". Tickets must be purchased by tonight:

http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=3206395&pl

Thursday: Krewe of Empire Zeke presents The Radiators

Nightmare on the Misery Train: The Radiators to Break Up in June

O

ne of New Orleans’ most beloved bands of the last third-of-a-century, the Radiators will be no more come June of 2011. According to an email from guitarist Dave Malone, the Rads will be finishing off all of the dates currently on their schedule, including the time-honored traditions of their New Years, Mardi Gras MOMs Ball and Jazz Fest shows. Their legions of fans are known affectionately as Fisheads, after the Grateful Dead followers, the Deadheads.

Guitarists Camile Baudoin and Dave Malone, keyboardist Ed Volker, bassist Reggie Scanlan, and drummer Frank Bua first began playing in 1978, becoming a popular draw first on the Tulane campus and then at clubs around town, like Jimmy’s and Tipitina’s, gradually building an audience throughout the South with consistent touring. They put out records independently until being signed to Epic Records in 1987, recording the album Law of the Fish during a wave of major label releases of New Orleans music in the late ’80s. Their combination of rock with classic New Orleans R&B and funk remained one of the most popular local draws for the next two decades, recording a dozen albums and playing over 4500 concerts. They closed the Gentilly Stage at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival annually, and their MOMs Ball performances are the stuff of legend.

The email stated, “The guys want to whole-heartedly thank their long time fans for making this ride as amazing as it has been. They truly feel that their fans are the best and most dedicated in the world and have kept their traveling circus alive.” There’s no word yet on a reason for the impending break-up, but the individual members plan to make announcements soon about their next moves.