Interviewing celebrities, breaking national stories, blogging daily, and offering candid commentary on pop culture is just a small sample of what he does. Ralphie Aversa is the relentless, tireless, non-stop-always-go host and executive producer of “The Ralphie Radio Show.”
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Orianthi spoke about a private show she played recently at Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch, but she didn’t say much.
“It was a private event for some people there,” replied the singer/guitarist when I asked her about the performance. “I mean, it’s an amazing place, incredible place… played for an hour, we had a great time.”
The artist, full name Orianthi Panagaris, wouldn’t divulge any other information about the show. Jackson chose Orianthi to play guitar on his “This Is It” tour before passing away last June. Shortly after his death, the guitarist burst on to the scene, releasing her debut LP Believe, and scoring a radio hit with “According To You.” She planned to launch a solo career before the King of Pop passed. --- Download the interview
Orianthi also spoke about her Greek heritage, plus she responded to recent comments on "The RRS" by Train's Pat Monahan, who is a fan of her work. --- “When he passed, we were just so sad and, (the concert crew) was like a family, yunno?” she said. “Definitely mixed feelings last night, I go in (to Neverland Ranch) to play a show and you can just see that Michael created it and it was his little sanctuary and just incredible.”
Orianthi will be playing many more shows throughout the year. In addition to various dates for radio promo, she finds herself back in Australia soon, supporting John Mayer.
“It would be really cool to get a chance to jam,” said Ori. “He’s just a great musician.”
Panagaris met Mayer twice, the first being at Michael Jackson’s memorial inside the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Both encounters were brief.
Orianthi’s latest single, “Shut Up and Kiss Me”, is impacting radio stations now.
MTV cameos, opening for Lady GaGa, making the rounds on last year’s Vans Warped Tour… you really can’t blame The White Tie Affair for wanting to take a little refuge from the regimen of pop music. The band relented to Chicago for family time and Los Angeles for writing time. Now it seems, it’s once again go time for Chris Wallace and his crew. TWTA premiered a new single on its MySpace page Tuesday, “You Look Better When I’m Drunk.” Before Wallace heads back on the road with his fellow Chicagoans for radio promo, he called in to “The Ralphie Radio Show.”
“I wish I could actually hear you play (the new single) on the radio,” remarked Wallace. The song spun later in the evening on the “Daily Download” segment, and yes, I did remind the lead singer that “The RRS” streams online. “That would be my – ding, ding – first time hearing it.”
Coincidentally, “The Ralphie Radio Show” played “Candle (Sick and Tired)” before any other show on-air as well. So if it’s possible to be someone’s first, twice… well, looks like we’ve accomplished that. --- Download the interview
Check out the new single on TWTA's MySpace page! --- All kidding aside, it’s refreshing that despite all of the success, the novelty hearing his own band’s tune on the radio hasn’t worn on Wallace. The latest track is very mainstream friendly, heavy on production in vocal effects laced with synthesizers and a thumping beat.
“I thought of the idea years ago,” said the front man. “It’s like, everything’s a little bit better when you’re drinking and when you’re partying and stuff like that.”
Wallace noted the track’s theme is quite relatable.
“You get a phone number at a bar, or club or something, just out, and you go home and look ‘em up on Facebook or something like that, and you’re like, ‘Ooh! Alright…’” he joked. “Seemed like a lot better idea when I was drinking.”
Hopefully for Wallace, the idea to create a song from such experiences will translate well with audiences – sober or not.
She was introduced to Justin Bieber initially by “Kidd Kraddick In The Morning” on 97 BHT. Little did 14 year-old Alex Buchinski know that she would later be introduced to Justin, literally, by his manager Scooter Braun.
This isn’t your average meet-and-greet tale.
Buchinski is a 97 BHT listener and Archbald, Pa. resident. Like many of her peers, she loves “The Bieber.” Matter of fact, she wasn’t satisfied by just professing her admiration by missing two days of school to see Justin perform inside The Mall at Steamtown. Nor did winning passes to check out Bieber on “Good Morning America” satisfy her, um, sorry – Bieber Fever.
Nope, instead Alex wanted to see her favorite artist on “Saturday Night Live.” Step one: take to Twitter.
“I was just sending (links, comments) out there, like I didn’t send it to ‘Saturday Night Live’ or NBC or anyone like that,” explained Buchinski on “The Ralphie Radio Show” – a radio show that Bieber has been interviewed on twice. “I was just sending it out there, trying to get more followers to support the idea, and it worked.”
In no time, Buchinski found herself in the center of a viral marketing campaign to land Bieber on “SNL.” Alex’s account, “BieberOnSNL”, has close to 10,000 followers. Bieber himself has “at replied” – or mentioned Alex’s name in a Twitter update, on three different occasions. Yet, Buchinski still has no idea how Bieber or his team figured out that she was one of the forces behind it. --- Download the interview
--- “He ‘tweeted’ me back, like 6, 7 weeks ago, saying that he was going to be on ‘Saturday Night Live’ April 10,” she said. “I don’t know how he found out that I helped him.”
But Justin did, and offered Alex four VIP tickets to check out his performance the following afternoon. Bieber taped an edition of “Walmart Soundcheck” at the Highland Ballroom in New York City. The teenager made the trip to the concrete jungle with her parents and younger sister. Her father, Chris, didn’t know what to expect when he arrived. But upon stepping foot in the front door of the venue, the dad was immediately taken aback.
“We went out there, and I thought it was gonna be just a run-of-the-mill kind of thing,” Mr. Buchinski admitted. “But I went to the door and I said ‘I’m looking for Scooter.’ He was right there, and he took me right in.”
Bieber’s manager immediately handed over wristbands for VIP access for the family of four. Then, Braun took them all backstage, to meet Justin and the band in their dressing room.
“It was phenomenal,” Alex’s dad said. “(Braun) was really, unbelievable. He even gave me his e-mail address to keep in touch; I mean he was a fabulous guy.”
But the VIP experience didn’t end there. During the taping, Bieber performed “One Less Lonely Girl.” Let’s just say, the only girl that did not feel lonely in the crowd was Alex, who spent the duration of the song literally just a few feet away from the pint-sized pop star.
“He sang ‘One Less Lonely Girl’ to me on stage, in front of like, hundreds of screaming girls,” recalled Buchinski. “It was just amazing.”
“Walmart Soundcheck” featuring Justin Bieber will premiere on May 15 online and throughout Walmart stores across the country.
The wait is almost over for legions of Goo Goo Dolls fans everywhere: the Buffalo, NY band completed its ninth studio LP, for real this time.
“I’m going to New York tomorrow to do the mastering, so I guess it’s finished,” revealed lead singer John Rzeznik. The front man along with fellow founding band mate Robby Takac sat down on “The Ralphie Radio Show” Sunday afternoon. Takac added that he’s heard a June release is planned, but is unaware of an official date. The LP is entitled, Something for the Rest of Us.
Even though the band has sold over nine million albums in the states alone, the standard for a successful LP hasn’t changed too much.
“I think at this point it’s one of those things where, you just have to be satisfied with the work that you did, and hope that you craft it into something that you’re proud of,” said Rzeznik. He then reaffirmed his first statement, but added, “That’s fine, but it would be really nice if it sold a bunch of copies. That always helps. If it gets on the radio… but, we’ll see what happens.” --- Download the interview
--- Yes, the music landscape has changed quite a bit since the ’96 release of Let Love In. In an interview last September with The Buffalo News, Takac noted that radio isn’t “there the way they were before.” Certainly the influence of the medium has decreased a little, but Rzeznik feels the airplay can still play an instrumental role in the band’s success moving forward.
“Even if you don’t sell a lot of records, getting played on the radio, yunno, keeps your touring business going and then you get out and play, make a living on the road.”
When I caught up with The Goo Goo Dolls, the band was in the midst of doing exactly that. The Goos extended the current tour to over 40 dates, playing mostly smaller, theater-type venues. Rzeznik confirmed that after the LP’s release, summer dates at primarily outdoor venues will be announced.
Coincidentally enough, my third concert ever found me sitting on the lawn of Artpark in Lewiston, NY watching The Goo Goo Dolls – right before Dizzy Up the Girl hit stores, in August of 1998. If I need another reason to head back home and visit the parents, Rzeznik did confirm that the show for the nearby Darien Lake Performing Arts Center is already booked.
14 year-old Alex Buchinski created a Twitter account called "BieberOnSNL." The Archbald, Pa. native helped teen star Justin Bieber land on "Saturday Night Live." Bieber repaid Alex by giving her four tickets to his private performance the next day for Walmart Soundcheck. She shared her story on "The RRS." The full interview will air Tuesday at 7 p.m.
In an exclusive interview on "The Ralphie Radio Show" after his performance Sunday evening at Marywood University, Ryan Cabrera revealed that he is still dating "The Hills" cast member Audrina Patridge. "You know how the media is, they'll take whatever they want and have a hay-day with it," replied Cabrera after I brought up stories that emerged from the couple's trip to Las Vegas over the past week. Various sources cited the two headed to "Splitsville" after both were seen in public without the other. "I think people use that stuff as entertainment, but they should also know that it's just a bunch of crap."
Cabrera chuckled when I mentioned that watching this upcoming season of the MTV reality show would have been awkward if the two were in fact broken up. The singer is featured in the trailer for the final run of episodes, set to premiere Tuesday, April 27. After mentioning that he likes to keep his personal life just that, I asked him if he was not single, to which he answered, "Me? No, I'm not." --- Listen to the full interview below:
--- The couple created quite a stir on the campus of Marywood, a small Catholic school in Scranton, Pa. with an enrollment just over 3,000. Cabrera is in the midst of about 15 hand-selected dates, as he prepares for his return to a major record label. After selling over two million copies of Take It All Away, and about a half million with You Stand Watching, Cabrera left his trademark spiky hair and deal with Atlantic Records behind. In 2008 he released The Moon Under Water, an independent project that only moved 15,000 units. Now after a couple years of touring and writing, the singer seems poised to jump back on the radio airwaves and sales charts. He even brought back the spikes, ditching his long hair and mustache.
"The last record was just kind of like a darker period, where I was just trying to rebel against my record label," admitted Cabrera. "I think (the new release) will be a lot more like the Take It All Away record." Don't worry, if you're wondering what Cabrera's latest project will sound like, you won't have to wait too long: Ryan revealed that the first single from his forthcoming LP could hit radio as soon as this summer, with a 2011 release planned for the entire album.
Cabrera did say this album would not be released independently, although declined to say which record label he would land with, only noting that he is still in talks "different labels."
