Mike Little is a member of the Electric City Shag Club in Anderson, South Carolina.  He is also a member of the Association of Beach & Shag Club DJ’s and the National Association of Rhythm & Blues Deejays.  He hosted for 3-1/2 years The Saturday Morning Beach Party on WANS, 1280 AM in Anderson, which was rated by Arbitron as the highest rated AM show listened to and number three overall for that time slot.  In 2004, he was awarded the Rufus Oates Award by the National Association of Rhythm & Blues Dee Jays for his writing contributions.  He now serves on the Board of Directors of the NARBDJ.

Ecko Records out of Memphis, Tennessee has just released Ms. Jody's newest, Talkin' 'Bout My Good Thang!  The highlight of the release is Double Dealer.  It appears that Ms. Jody will have another hit in the Beach Music world.  The song might just fit into into a slot with Ms. Jody's mega-hits, Still Strokin', The Bop and The Rock.  There are several other songs on the album that may work also.  Be sure and check out You Got Your Hooks In Me and When The Show Is All Over.  Also, Shake A Tail Feather might just serve well as a line dance song.  Don't confuse this song with the one that James & Bobby Purify did, that was also used in The Blues Brothers movie.  This one was written by Joanne Delapez and Ecko Records owner John Ward.  Ms. Jody was born to the late Reverend Joe and Vivian Sims Pickens in Chicago, Illinois and raised in Bay Springs, Mississippi.  Although, she had been singing most all of her life, Ms. Jody was not really exposed to the Blues until she and her brother attended a concert in 2004.  At the suggestion of a friend, she visited Ecko Records.  Shortly thereafter, she joined the Ecko family and success came to her.  Since then, good things have happened to Ms. Jody; most recently, her release of Talkin' 'Bout My Good Thang!.    

  Rhonda McDaniel has released a mini-CD in time for the upcoming Fall Migration of SOS in the Ocean Drive section of North Myrtle Beach.  The release is called Lookin' For Sugar on the KHP Music label, and the title  track, While You're Out Lookin' For Sugar, is the first single being promoted.  Already, the song is receiving club play, as well as air play.  The CD also contains several prereleased numbers that are featured on the album.   Rhonda's hit, I Need You Know, appeared earlier on the KHP compilation, Dance With Me Baby, and earned hit status.  I Love You Babe was released as a single and received ample play time.  I feel that during SOS, the song will begin to receive more playtime and find it's way back into the charts.  Rhonda also gives us a fresh taste of Love Guess Who, the song that was a hit for Martha Reeves & The Vandellas in 1971.  Other songs you may want to try and could eventually find their way into the charts are Try It, You'll Like It and I Can't Wait To Till I See My Baby's Face.  Rhonda McDaniel has been singing since she could talk.  She joined her first band, Southern Comfort when she was thirteen years old.  Around 1991, Rhonda joined Brasstown Ball, now  known as BrassTyme, as singer and keyboardist.  Toward the end of her nineteen year stint with the band, she left to concentrate on a solo career.  And that she has done well.  She has been selected Female Vocalist of the Year with the Carolina Beach Music Awards for seven years running and has also won over the years Blues Song of the Year, Solo Album of the Year twice and Collaboration/ Duo of the year with Paul Craver for Two Hearts.  Lookin' For Sugar should be a candidate for an award in the upcoming November Carolina Beach Music Awards, as should Rhonda McDaniel.

  Buddy Guy has released his first main collaboration since 2008, Born To Play Guitar, on the British Silvertone label.  George “Buddy Guy” was born in 1936 in Lettsworth, Louisiana, where he was raised.  He began learning two play the guitar on a two-string diddley.  Later, he was given an acoustic guitar, which was donated to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame of which he was inducted in 2005.  Over the years, Buddy has won six Grammy Awards for his work on his electric guitar and acoustic guitars, as well as for contemporary and traditional orm of blues music.  In the early 50's, he played with various bands in Baton Rouge, Louisiana while working as a custodian a Louisiana State University.  In 1957, he moved to Chicago where he fell under the influence of Muddy Waters.  Even though he was under contract with Chess Records for over ten years, his career did not really take off until the Blues revival in the eighties.  Buddy Guy is joined on the new album, Born To Plays The Blues, by Van Morrison, Billy Gibbons of The Grateful Dead, Kim Wilson, best known for his work with The Fabulous Thunderbirds with Jimmie Vaughan, and British Blues singer Joss Stone.  It is with thr latter two that their songs with Buddy fit well into the Carolina Beach Music market.  Buddy collaborates with Kim Wilson on Kiss Me Quick.  The song is already receiving attention along the Eastern Seaboard and beyond.  Another one that struck my attention is (Baby) You Got What It Takes.  This one is handled by Buddy Guy and Joss Stone.  This, of course, is a remake of the Beach Music classic by Brook Benton and Dinah Washington.  Buddy Guy's Born To Play Guitar is available at any retail outlet, as well as online.

  The Entertainers, founded in 1980, led by founding member Earl “The Pearl” Dawkins and based out of Chartlotte, North Carolina, just released Summer Love.  The album contains the mega-hit Summer Love, which is the title track of the release.  The album also contains the high-charted hit, Maybe We Can Still Be Friends, as well as their up and coming charter, I'm Coming Home.  The brand new release contains several other songs that could well enter the charts at some point and time, especially Don't Stop Now and One More Try For Love.   Also included is The Entertainers' take on Billy Currington's Love Done Gone, as well as a take on Charles Wright & The Watts 103^rd Street Rhythm Band's Love Land.  The song was also a hit for Carolina Coastal coach Cliff Ellis. The Entertainers scored their first smash hit, Living For The Summer, the year the group was established in 1980.  The group went on to score many hits over the years, including Summer Wind, Beach Music My Music and Yes Oh Yes It's SOS . The Entertainers have won numerous awards over the years, including the 2014 Carolina Beach Music Awards' Group of the Year.

  DieDra, best known in the Beach Music arena for her hit, Hip Swingin' Blues, has released her latest album, Divafied Bluz, on the SisBro Productions label.  She also gave us Dance The Night Away.  The new album also features another of DieDra's hits, Red Shoes.  Another song of note is If I Didn't Love You, which too appeared on another of her releases.  Diedra Ruff is a native of Norfolk, Virginia   Her talent of singing has taken the Blues and Southern Soul industry by storm.  She was nominated for three Blues Awards her first year out.  DieDra's husband, Keithen Ruff is lead guitarist of the band.  He served as lead guitar  for Bobby Rush for connection on stage.  DieDra's Divafied Bluz, from SisBro Productions and RuffPro Records & Entertainment, by is now available at Judy's House of Oldies in the Ocean Drive section of North Myrtle Beach.

  California based Delta Groove Productions rereleased the 1971 album, The Henry Gray/Bob Corritore  Sessions, Volume 1 of Blues Won't Let Me  Take My Rest.  The legendary piano master Henry Gray and harmonica ace Bob Corritore have been actively collaborating since 1996, performing, touring and recording.  The album contains fourteen songs selected from twelve different sessions over the nineteen year period.  All but four tracks are previously unissued, and Henry sings lead on 9 of the included selections, while Nappy Brown, Tail Dragger, Dave Riley, Robert Lockwood, Jr., and John Brim provide one vocal each.  At the core of each of the songs is Henry Gray on vocals and piano with Bob Corritore on harmonica on all of the tracks of the album.  Close to thirty artists in all take part in the sessions, among those who are Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, Bob Margolin, Kid Ramos, Kirk Fletcher, Chris James and Pops MacFarlane.  Some of the tracks will be familiar to you, but this time take note of Bob Corritore's harmonica work.   To me, the highlight of the album is Can't Afford To Do It.  The song has the right tempo and fits into the mold of Henry's greatest hits in our market, How Could You Do It.  The album also contains the hit, They Raided The Joint with Bob Corritore on the harp.  Other songs of note are Let's Get High,  I'm In Love Again, Henry's rendition of Fats Domino's charted hit, Honey Don't Let Me and Boogie Woogie Ball.  The latter two will easily be acceptable to those on the dance floor.  Henry Gray hails scfrom Kenner, Louisiana and has been playing piano for more than seven decades.  He has more than 58 albums to his credit.  The Chicago-born producer/harmonica player Bob Corritore is a lifelong fan of the Blues.  In Chicago,  Bob began performing at local clubs and formed his own record label.  In 1981, he moved to Phoenix, Arizona and formed a band with Louisiana Red.  While living in Phoenix, he has produced and recorded on numerous albums with various artists, while performing as a pick-up harmonica player for touring bands like Willie Dixon and Otis Rush.  If you overlooked The Henry Gray/Bob Corritore Sessions the first time, don't overlook the  Delta Groove album this time.

  After scoring with a number of hits on various compilations, The Boulevard Boys released their first album, Originals.  Those Boulevard Boys, Roger Smith and Big John Thompson, are oring big with the first release from album.  This song, She Wants Me, has steadily been moving up the charts for the past several months.  It has recently broke into the Beach Music National Top 40 and continues to rise in the chart of the Beach Music 45 Web site.   Originals carry a number of single hits from the Boulevard Boys, including the duo's debut hit, Boulevard Boys.  Other hits of which you will be familiar are Kiss Me On The Mouth, Headin' Out, Been There and What Cha Doin'.  These tunes were previously released on various compilations.  After She Wants Me plays out, you may want to try Keep Knockin'.  It fits right in with The Boulevard Boys style of music.  For line dance music, listen to Party Up.  It may be fit for your dancers.  Boulevard Boys' Roger Smith sang with The Poor Souls in the later years.  Big John Thompson is best known for his lead vocals with The Band of Oz in the mid to late eighties, especially the song, Over The Rainbow.  The Boulevard Boys' Originals was produced by Roger Smith, pianist extraordinairee Mark Stallings and The Legendary StudioEast's Tim Eaton.  All songs were written by Roger Smith with input from Big John, Mark and Tim.  You can find Originals at The Wax Museum (www.waxmuseum.net)  in Charlotte, North Carolina or Judy's House of Oldies (www.judyshouseofoldies.com)  in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, as well as any of your favorite music outlets in the Carolinas.    

  Along with The Embers and The Swingin' Medallions, The Catalinas is one of the few Carolina Beach Music bands still going strong today.  Statesville, North Carolina resident Gary Barker, one of the early members of the group, having joined the group in 1965, heads today's members.  In the early seventies John and brother Johnny Barker brought the group to new levels.  The Catalinas has now released the group's first new album in nearly twenty years.  The release takes the title Dancin' Romancin', a tune recorded in 1974 and co-written by Gary and Lynn Barker, the youngest of the three Barker brothers.  Dancin' Romancin'  takes on a new updated sound and just may find new energy for the old classic.  The release also features The Catalinas' current hit, Cool Breeze, as well as the previous hit, Three Beers For Breakfast.  The release has some newer material Too Strong and Let's Celebrate.  Another one the dancers may like is The Best Thing.  The tune sort of reminds me of Bobby Hebb's  Sunny.  You will always find some great renditions of some of the old classics, such as Doris Troy's Just One Look and The Clover's One Mint Julep and Your Cash Ain't Nothing But Trash.  The Catalinas boasts a long successful history of nearly sixty years and played a major part in revitalizing beach music with the release of the classic smash hit, Summertime's Calling Me, in 1975.  The song was penned by Johnny Barker, who joined The Catalinas in 1964.  The lead vocals were done by none other than Bo Schronce, who went on the form The Fantastic Shakes with Dino Fair of Sea Cruz.  The Catalinas have produced numerous hits over the years, beginning with Hey Little Girl in 1961 and You Haven't The Right in 1966.  Other hits over the years include Facts Of Love, (They Call Me) Mr. Bassman, Whatjado That Fo' and Line Up.  Over the years, over sixty accomplished guitarists, bass players, keyboard players, trumpet players, saxophone players and singers have been a part of The Catalinas history.  History contines to be made with the release of The Catalinas' Dancin' Romancin'.

  KHP Music has released another mini CD just in time for the Fall Migration of the Society of Stranders, held in the Ocean Drive section of North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.  Last year, Gary Lowder & Smokin' Hot released the mini CD, Playin' With Fire.  Now comes Playin' With Fire 2 with seven hot tracks.  One of the highlights of the release is a remake from the band called Here Come The Mummies, based out of Nashville, Tennessee.  Gary and the band does a great job with this rarity for Beach Music called Wrap You Up In Honey.    The band also does an exceptional job with the song I Want It All Back.  The Coco Montoya release could easily make it into the charts.  The same could happen with Jonathan Burton's A Little Bit Of Love.  Another to take note of is Too Many Tears, originally recorded by Buddy Guy with Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi.  Other songs on the release include the classic Sitting In The Park, as well as Smokin' Hots' takes on Rise and I Can't Think.   Gary Lowder is lead vocalist for the band and plays trumpet, flugel horn and percussions.  He has received several nominations in the Carolina Beach Music Awards.  He won an Album of the Year for the CD, Soul Therapy, and Duet of the Year with Marsha Morgan for the song, Private Number.  Playin' With Fire 2 by Gary Lowder & Smokin' Hot is now available at your favorite music outlet.        

  Just in time for the Fall Migration, comes Jackie Gore's latest from Forevermore Records, My Love Is Your Love (Forever).  The album features Jackie Gores take on The Drifters' hit song, When My Little Girl Is Smiling, that is backed by The Royal Drifters.  The Royal Drifters, I've been told that this is the group who backed Johnny Moore during his tenure in England, more commonly known as the English Drifters or the British Drifters.  I'm looking for the album's title track, My Love Is Your Love (Forever), to enter into Beach Music 45's “The Smoking 45” in short order.  Your will also want to take a listen to I'm So Happy.  The number may be a great followup to My Love Is Yours Love (Forever).  The release also features an enhanced recording of Jackie Gore's version of Little Anthony's Reputation.  Jackie gives a new sound to Deon Jackson's Love Makes The World Go Round.  On the smoother side, you will want to listen to is Do You Recall.  It should bring the smooth steppers out to the hardwoods.  There are a number of ballads on the release, highlighted by a remake of The Carpenters' classic,  Rainy Days And Mondays.  Jackie is backed by The Philly Intruders (Cowboys To Girls, etc.) on this one.  While with The Embers as lead vocalist, Jackie Gore wrote and sang lead on The Embers' I Love Beach Music, recorded in 1979.  The song is most definitely the anthem of Beach Music.  This classic has been remade for My Love Is Your Love (Forever).  The concept of this recorded version by Jackie is more musically sophisticated, yet retains the integrity of the original version.  Considered by many as the “Father of Beach Music”, in 1958 Jackie Gore and Bobby Tomlinson founded The Embers.  In 1995, Jackie left the group to embark on his solo career.  In 1994, he released his first solo album,  Jackie Gore – Family And Friends.  After performing and recording several more albums over the last fifteen years, Jackie's newly recorded My Love Is Your Love (Forever) is now in the stores and online, ready for the taking.               

  The Coco Loco Party Band has introduced their self-title debut album, Coco Loco Party Band, release by SisBro Productions .  The band has been around the Myrtle Beach area for quite some time, best known for their concerts at 2001 Nightclub with Terri Gore.  Jody Bundy leads the band, while playing saxophone and acoustic guitar, as well as keyboards and sharing vocals.  Other members are Andy King on vocals, keys, B-3, horns and percussion, Terry Harper on bass and vocals, Michael Coe on guitar and vocals and Travis Creech on drums.  The album leads off with the first number out, Papa Dukie And The Mud People.  The album also contains Mexico that appears on SisBro's Carolina Shag VII.  The guys also do a good job with the uptempo Second Wind.  The band slows Billy Joel's Just The Way You Are to make it a good ballad.  And they go to the island sound with Don't Get No Sand In It.  Coco Loco Party Band is now available at any of your local outlets for Beach Music.  During the Spring Safari you can pick it up at Judy's House of Oldies.

  As I mentioned in my last article, Patman and Robin Records has released the compilation We're Building An Island.  The new album contains several songs that have already graced the charts.  Rev. Bubba D. Liverence has a strong hit with A Night Like This, and Rick Strickland has come on strong with the ballad, A Long Time Ago.  Rick also wrote the song.  Another song on the album, coming from the past, is The Swingin' Medallions' I Want To Be Your Guy.  Written by Bob Meyer of Bob Meyer & The Riviereras fame, the song was first released in 1965 on a 45 from Dot Records.  It later appeared on The Swingin' Medallions Anthology, released by Ripete Records in 2008.  Of other songs of note, The Trutones (Dip Ferrell) featuring Shana Blake come on strong with Good Times.  Another one that really caught my interest was Steve Edmunds and Heather Hayes' version of If I Could Build My Whole World Around You.  In this new album, you will also find the classic Beach Music sound with The Shag Doctorz' (I'm Going) Down For Your Love.  CBMA Hall of Fame members, The Fantastic Shakers, join in with The Biggest Mistake.  The classic sound continues with Kingdaddy's You're My Girl and Shagger Dan, written and recorded by Ken Wood.  We're Building An Island also features a couple of songs with an “island sound.   Check out the title track, We're Building An Island by Dip Ferrell & The Trutones.  Landlocked by the Southern Drawl Band also fits into that genres.  Country Rock?  This album's got it.  Patman and Robin Records' We're Building An Island…available at island record stores everywhere. 

Another that did not make my article in the spring is Carolina Shag VII from SisBro Productions.  It is the sister CD to Carolina Shag VI, which was written about in my article in the spring.  Carolina VII features Ms. Jody's mega hit, The Rock.  Now you can have this widely popular song plus thirteen others.  Another song that received little attention earlier and might just rise into the charts is O.B. Buchana's I Was Searching.  Andy King's Soulful Strut has already received some playtime.  He gives some new life to an old classic.    Another instrumentals on the album is Herb Alpert's  Rise by by Keith Stone and Mark Black.  Trimpet player Keith Stone is a member of the popular band, Gary Lowder & Smokin' Hot, having previously been with The Entertainers, the Craig Woolard Band and The Kays.  Saxophonist Mark Black is best know for his vocals and saxophone work with The Embers and The Legends of Beach.  The album also features Rick Strickland with an original, New Beginnings.  Rick, of course, has his own band, The Rick Strickland Band, featuring Lesa Hudson.  The Mojo Blues Band takes part in Carolina Shag VII with Movin' Out Of Town.  The Austrian band has a unique sound of its own with band leader Erik Traunor on lead guitar and vocals.  Former lead singer for The SugarBees, Joe Groziano, participates in the compilation with his original, That Old Beach Town.  Carolina Shag VII is produced by Judy Collins and Jannie Elmore and is available at Judy's House Of Oldies and any of your favorite Beach Music retail outlets.

  Along with The Spinners and The O'Jays, The Stylistics were one of the leading Philly soul groups.  During the early seventies, The Stylistics had twelve straight Top Ten hits, including Betcha By Golly Wow, You Make Me Feel Brand New and Stoned In Love With You.   The Stylistics were one of the smoothest groups and one of the sweetest sounding soul groups of their era.  Headlined by the soaring falsetto voice of Russell Thompkins, Jr., The Stylistics were one of the most successful groups of the first half of the seventies and were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2004.  Known mostly for the groups' ballads, along the coast of the Carolinas and beyond, the group is best known for the group's uptempo songs, such as My Heart, Just Like We Never Said Goodbye and You Are.  Today, The Stylistics are still going strong under the name of Russell Thompkins, Jr. & The New Stylistics.  Under the label of Forevermore Music & Records, The Very Best of the Stylistics' Hits Live...and More has been released.  Russell and the new group is backed by the Long Bay Symphony orchestra.  The highlight of the album is the Medley, capturing the smooth sound of Russell and The New Stylistics.  In addition, the albums features their most popular songs along the coast, such as Rockin' Roll Baby, Can't Give You Anything (But My Love) and My Heart.  The array of songs also feature Russell's hit, Jealousy, that came from his Forevermore CD, A Matter Of Style.  Yes, the album contains an array of The Stylistics' ballads featuring Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart) and People Make The World Go Round.  Forevermore Music's Russell Thompkins, Jr. & The New Stylistics' The Very Best Of The Stylistics...and More is available at music stores nationwide and at all of your favorite music sales Web sites.

  Almost everyone who follows Carolina Beach Music and Rhythm & Blues are familiar with the names Jim Quick and The Coastline Band.  In early to mid nineties, a young radio deejay embarked on a career change and formed a band to play and record  the music he loved and had been playing at the radio station.  Trying to excelerate the career of the , he called Billy Scott of Billy Scott & The Prophets asking if he would join Maurice Williams of Maurice Williams & The Zodiacs, Bill Pinckney of Bill Pinkney & The Original Drifters and Clifford Curry to record a song backed by The Coastline Band.  After the affirmative answer, he then called Clifford Curry and received an okay.  He went on to call Maurice Williams, then Bill Pinkney, both answered in the affirmative.  Thus was born the hit song, You're The Boss, You're The Best, that went on to win the Cammy Awards' Song of the Year, which jump started the career of Jim Quick & The Coastline Band.  Twenty years later now, KHP Music, Jim Quick and Coastline Band have released Coastline Classics, a three volumend the sew compact disc set that has it all.  All the hits, as well as live recordings.  Volume 1 carries the live recording of You're The Boss, You're The Best with  Jim, Maurice Williams, Clifford Curry and the late Bill Pinkney and Billy Scott on vocals.  The first disk also features a live recording of She Pours It On, in addition to the original recordings of Late At Night and It's Gonna Rain.  Volume 1 also has the group's belly rubbin' version of The Tams' Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy.  The second disk carries even more hits...New Old Songs, My Little Lucy, The Tiki Bar Is Open and Swamps Of The Old Santee.  Volume 2 also carries the rare It's Summertime, as well as the uptempo Sweat.  Volume 3 is just as good as the first two disks, boasting hits such as Callin', Sweet Mama Do Right and Turn Me Over.  There are 45 songs on Coastline Classics.  In addition to the founder and lead vocalist Jim Quick who plays harmonica, as well as keyboards, trumpet, trombone, The Coastline Band today is Casey Meyer on guitar and vocals, Glen Tippett on keyboards, saxophone and vocals, Albert Rogers on bass and vocals and Cameron Dudley on drums and percussion.  Albert has had several hits on his own,  Satisfy My Soul that appeared on a compilation and Take It From The Top that appeared on his debut self titled solo album, Albert Rogers.  Coastline Classics is not one you want to overlook.  It is classic.

  After scoring two major hits with You in 2011 and most recently Ready Willing And Able, Ken Knox & Company has released the Nigel Lowis Remix of the song, Reach Out 2 Me.  The tune has just entered Beach Music's 45's “Smokin' 45” and should continue to elevate toward the Top 10.  As you know, Ken spent over three decades with General Johnson and Danny Woods singing and playing saxophone for The Chairmen of the Board.  In 2012, KCO scored another hit with the line dance song, Carolina Shuffle, a song that debuted during the halftime show of the Carolina Panthers football game.  The dance was performed to the song by the Carolina Panthers' Top Cats and Sir Purr.