'Dare To Dream' by Mike Campbell & The Dirty Knobs, 'Million Dollar Baby' by Tommy Richman and 'Born Innocent' by Jeff and Steven McDonald contain spontaneous sounds rooted in a deep knowledge of the past.
TONYA MOSLEY, HOST:
This is FRESH AIR. Rock, punk and funk – our rock critic Ken Tucker has come up with examples of three genres that musicians are exploring in new ways. Mike Campbell, the former member of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, as leader of his band, the Dirty Knobs, newly minted TikTok sensation Tommy Richman, and two brothers, Jeff and Steven McDonald, who led the band Red Cross and all for more than four decades – Ken says they share the gift of sounding cheerful and spontaneous. Let's start with Mike Campbell and the Dirty Knobs.
(SOUND OF SONG, “ANGEL OF MERCY”)
MIKE CAMPBELL AND THE DIRTY KNOBS: (Singing) I keep a promise. You hung me outside to dry. I can't hang out here. I'm running out of time. You blow like a hurricane through my burning brain.
KEN TUCKER, BYLINE: Mike Campbell rose to prominence as the lead guitarist for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Campbell and Petty grew up about an hour apart in northern Florida and share a similar high-pitched horn. For the past decade, Campbell has been making Petty-esque music with his own band, the Dirty Knobs, first as a side project and, after Petty's death in 2017, as his bread and butter. Campbell and the Dirty Knobs' new album, “Vagabonds, Virgins And Misfits,” features a number of songs so good they defy Petty comparison. And one of the best of them is “Dare To Dream.” It features lyrics fueled by positivity — lines about how these are the best of times, and this is the good life, even as his tone suggests he believes there are hidden pitfalls to dreaming too naively.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “DARE TO DREAM”)
MIKE CAMPBELL AND THE DIRTY KNOBS: (Singing) Here comes a brand new day. You can throw the last one. It'll all be fine as long as no one tries to pull a fast one. And this is what you've been waiting for. There is no more waiting time. These are the best of times. This is the good thing. And everything you dare to dream can become reality. Dare to dream.
TUCKER: That's Graham Nash singing on the catchy chorus. Speaking of catchy, there's a new song called “Million Dollar Baby” by Tommy Richman that has already spawned hundreds, probably thousands, maybe millions of TikTok videos of people dancing to this irresistible hit. The music is a deceptively languid groove formed by keyboards, bass and drums that really gets going when Richman's elastic voice bounces in. Richman begins singing in a smoky Robinson soprano that drops much lower in places. We certainly have a new candidate for song of the summer here.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “MILLION DOLLARS BABY”)
TOMMY RICHMAN: (Singing) I never represent a set, baby. I'm not doing anything wrong. I can clean up for you. Oh, I know right from wrong because I want to make it so bad. I'm a million dollar baby. Not to me. Not really. You've been representing my city for so damn long, but you still don't notice me. My sound next. VA next. I'm by their neck. Yessssssssssssssssssss.. I'm working on a check. Yes Yes Yes. I see a bad little mama. She's a diva. No matter what happens, he can't come between us anymore. I know we're better than friends, better than friends. I took her to see the Queen's Gambit – yes, yes – and showed it to my friends.
TUCKER: That music is both current and reminiscent of classic funk from the late '70s and early '80s. Think of Cameo or Lakeside or The Gap Band. The lyrics of “Million Dollar Baby” are as cleverly optimistic as Mike Campbell's “Dare To Dream.” Tommy Richman sings, I want to make it so bad. He's the million dollar baby, at least in his own mind.
Another act whose music spans decades is Redd Kross, a 45-year-old band led by brothers Jeff and Steven McDonald. The key song on their new album is the autobiography entitled 'Born Innocent'.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “BORN INNOCENT”)
REDD KROSS: (Singing) When I was 15, I hated school and I knew what I wanted to do. But fate decreed a cast of only $40 a year. I wrote a song, played a show, and quit the only job I'd ever known. I reject your old-fashioned wisdom excuse. We are born, born innocent. We are all born innocent. We are born, born innocent. We are all born innocent, original innocence.
TUCKER: The McDonald brothers, now in their 50s, started their careers as teenagers, playing with West Coast hardcore acts like Black Flag and Fear.
I saw those kids sing their way through a lot of loud, fast, short songs when I lived in LA in the early '80s. Redd Kross' new lavish 18-track album called “Redd Kross” is packed with sweet harmonies and thundering guitar riffs. Like Mike Campbell and Tommy Richman, the guys at Redd Kross make music rooted in a deep knowledge of the past and an appreciation for the hard work it takes to make fun sound so spontaneous and exciting.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “STUNT QUEEN”)
REDD KROSS: (Singing) It's very clear what you're saying. Yes. You're just a stunt queen with the annoying games you play. I don't blame you. I don't blame you for trying to make a name for yourself (a name for yourself). Looking for some shame in action, so predictably off the shelf. I say yes (yes), no (no), hey (hey), whoa.
MOSLEY: Ken Tucker reviewed new music from Mike Campbell, Tommy Richman and Jeff and Steven McDonald. Tomorrow on FRESH AIR, President Biden and Donald Trump will meet the nation in their first presidential debate this season. We'll talk to The New York Times' Shane Goldmacher about what to expect from tomorrow's debate and the surge in donations to Trump's campaign following his felony convictions. I hope you can join us. Follow us on Instagram @nprfreshair to keep up to date with what's on the show and get highlights from our interviews.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
MOSLEY: The executive producer of FRESH AIR is Danny Miller. Our technical director and engineer is Audrey Bentham. Our interviews and reviews are produced and edited by Amy Salit, Phyllis Myers, Sam Briger, Lauren Krenzel, Ann Marie Baldonado, Therese Madden, Thea Chaloner, Susan Nyakundi, Joel Wolfram, and Kayla Lattimore. Our digital media producer is Molly Seavy-Nesper. Roberta Shock directs the show with Terry Gross, I'm Tonya Mosley.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
Copyright © 2024 NPR. All rights reserved. Please visit the terms of use and consent pages of our website at www.npr.org for more information.
NPR transcripts are produced on an urgent deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not yet be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio recording.
