Arrested Development’s Speech was born Todd Thomas on this date in 1968. A couple of his group’s tracks are included on today’s playlist.
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Despite “U.N.I.T.Y.” being her only US pop top 40 single, in 2006 Queen Latifah became the first hip hop artist to be awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Her Majesty Queen Latifah was born Dana Owens on this date in 1970. A few of her tracks are included on today’s playlist.
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Today is the birthday of Sugarhill Gang’s Big Bank Hank, so lots of old school rap jams are included in today’s playlist.
Today’s playlist celebrates the October 24 birthdays of The Rolling Stones’ Bill Wyman, Drake, ANOHNI (nee Antony), Madlib, Lipps Inc.’s Steven Greenberg, The Big Bopper, Sanford Clark, Barry Ryan, Monica, Brenda & the Tabulations’ Brenda Payton, Neon Philharmonic’s Don Gant, and V.V. Brown; and the October 25 birthdays of Yes’s Jon Anderson, Bat For Lashes, Arrested Development’s Speech, Ciara, Art Brut’s Eddie Argos, Katy Perry, Trio’s Stephan Remmler, Helen Reddy, Kings of Convenience’s Eirik Glambek Bøe, Divinyls’ Christina Amphlett, Barenaked Ladies’ Ed Robertson, Starland Vocal Band’s Taffy Danoff, Smokie’s Chris Norman, The Simpsons’ Nancy Cartwright, and Pablo Picasso.
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It’s Throwback Thursday, and on today’s playlist we go back to 1992. Compiling this list made me notice (or remember) what a kickass year for music 1992 was. The success of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” a top ten pop hit around the world months after it was sent to alternative radio, came as a complete surprise to the band’s record label and management, and seemed to kick open the doors for weirdos and freaks (I use those terms affectionately) to find their place in the sun and on the charts.
The left field entries weren’t solely from the guitar rock field. Shakespear’s Sister’s “Stay” was a song (or two songs) that stood out from the pack and was not something one would have expected from a former member of Bananarama and someone who co-wrote and sang backup on Eric Clapton’s hit “Lay Down Sally.” And Right Said Fred’s “I’m Too Sexy” endures all these years later.
To me this era was a golden age for hip hop. Arrested Development, Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth, Kris Kross, Das EFX, Sir Mix-A-Lot and House of Pain hit creative peaks, while rap duo P.M. Dawn hit number three with “I’d Die Without You,” an unexpected ballad with nary a hint of the hip or hop.
Nineteen ninety-two was the year we met Mary J. Blige and Billy Ray Cyrus. It was the year many more people got to know Red Hot Chili Peppers, k.d. lang and En Vogue. And while new names were dotting the Hot 100, there was still room for more hits from Michael Jackson, Madonna, Prince, Whitney Houston and U2.
Here are thirty musical highlights from 1992, a year that most definitely was not wiggida wiggida wiggida wack.
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Inspired by the October 19 birthdays of Fugees’ Pras, Divine, Peter Tosh, Jennifer Holiday, World Party’s Karl Wallinger, Jeannie C. Riley, George McCrae, The Doobie Brothers’ Patrick Simmons, Gloria Jones, and Patrick Cowley.
In 1979, President Jimmy Carter declared June Black Music Month. In 2016, President Barack Obama, who recognized the month as African-American Music Appreciation Month, said the music of African-American artists helped the country “to dance, to express our faith through song, to march against injustice, and to defend our country’s enduring promise of freedom and opportunity for all.” Today’s Tunes du Jour playlist embodies that sentiment.
(The Spotify embed function is not working.)
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