Your (Almost) Daily Playlist: 12-1-22

Today’s playlist recognized World AIDS Day and celebrates the December 1 birthdays of Billy Paul, The Doors’ Jon Densmore, Janelle Monáe, Basement Jaxx’s Simon Ratcliff, Blue Öyster Cult’s Eric Bloom, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah’s Alec Ounsworth, Gilbert O’Sullivan, Julee Cruise, Bette Midler, Sandy Nelson, Lou Rawls, Jaco Pastorius, Mary Martin, Matt Monro, Hair‘s Treat Williams, Sarah Silverman, and Jonathan Coulton.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/317bLVZ9l4SCaRFs3FCAjs?si=f87751b913934a94

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Your (Almost) Daily Playlist: 8-8-22

Today’s playlist celebrates the August 8 birthdays of U2’s The Edge, Joe Tex, The Treacherous Three’s Kool Moe Dee, Creed’s Scott Stapp, and JC Chasez; the August 9 birthdays of Whitney Houston, Kurtis Blow, Sampa the Great, Barbara Mason, and Arlo Parks; and the August 10 birthdays of The Righteous Brothers’ Bobby Hatfield, The Ronettes’ Ronnie Spector, Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson, Bell Biv DeVoe’s Michael Bivins, UTFO’s Kangol Kid, The Velvelettes’ Carolyn Gill, The Four Aces’ Al Alberts, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Martin, and Patti Austin.

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Throwback Thursday: 1999

The music of 1999 shows the century coming to a close in grand style, as if to say the next year the party will be over, oops, out of time, so this year we better party. Latinx artists were crossing over to the mainstream pop chart. Cher and Santana, who first charted in the 1960s, scored the biggest hits of their careers. Artists who made their chart debuts include Eminem and Britney Spears. Pure pop exploded, though the charts made room for country, hip hop, electronica, and big beat. As one who values diversity, I loved hearing all these different genres and styles bump up against each other on the radio. Here are 30 prime examples of the music that hit in 1999.

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Your (Almost) Daily Playlist (5-8-20)

Earlier this week I mentioned that the Village People suddenly find themselves with a hit song on the Adult Contemporary chart. Because 2020 needs to be even stranger, that classic group is joined in the upper reaches of that chart by Corey Feldman. Corey Feldman. Corey Feldman’s “U R Free” is in the top 20 of Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart. Corey Feldman. 2020, am I right, people?

Today’s playlist is inspired by the May 8 birthdays of Earth Wind & Fire’s Philip Bailey, Toni Tennille, Basement Jaxx’s Felix Buxton, Rick Nelson, Martha Wainwright, Katy B, Bloodstone’s Charles McCormick, Darren Hayes and Jack Blanchard.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7uLj3YuAC67uTtPbKrKwcP

Your (Almost) Daily Playlist (2-9-20)

Today is the birthday of Carole King, one of the greatest songwriters of the pop era. Chances are you know songs she had a hand in writing: “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” “So Far Away,” “You’ve Got a Friend,” “One Fine Day,” “The Loco-motion,” “Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” “I Feel the Earth Move,” “Up on the Roof,” “It’s Too Late,” and “I’m Into Something Good” among them.

King isn’t the only rock era songwriter celebrating a birthday today. It is also the birthday of her contemporary Barry Mann, who is not the same person as Barry Manilow. As a performer, Mann had one hit – 1961’s “Who Put the Bomp (In the Bomp, Bomp, Bomp).” As a writer, he’s charted nearly 100 times in the US. His credits include “Here You Come Again,” “Bristol Stomp,” “Only in America,” “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’,” “We Gotta Get Out of This Place,” “Make Your Own Kind of Music,” “On Broadway,” and “Sometimes When We Touch,” many written with his wife, Cynthia Weil.

King and Mann feature in today’s playlist, as do others who share their birthday: The Magnetic Fields’ Stephin Merritt, Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s Holly Johnson, Barbara Lewis, and Major Harris. I also threw in some folks who had birthdays yesterday: Daft Punk’s Guy Manuel, England Dan, and James Dean.

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