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.
Inspired by the April 27 birthdays of The B-52’s‘ Kate Pierson, Lizzo, Sheena Easton, Badfinger’s Pete Ham, Ann Peebles, The Main Ingredient’s Cuba Gooding Sr., Ace Frehley and Robin S.
Inspired by the April 11 birthdays of The Specials’ Neville Staple, Lisa Stansfield, Joel Grey, Big Country’s Stuart Adamson, Richard Berry, Catatonia’s Cerys Matthews and The Originals’ Freddie Gorman.
Inspired by the April 7 birthdays of John Oates, Billie Holiday, Kraftwerk’s Florian Schneider, Janis Ian, Bobby Bare, Carol Douglas, Alexis Jordan, Mongo Santamaria and Percy Faith.
Inspired by the April 5 birthdays of ABBA’s Agnetha Faltskog, Pharrell Williams, The Hollies’ Allan Clarke, The Platters’ Tony Williams, Three 6 Mafia’s Juicy J, Wall of Voodoo’s Stan Ridgway, Paula Cole, Crispian St. Peters and Bette Davis.
Inspired by the passing of Kenny Rogers, the March 21 birthdays of The Stylistics’ Russell Thompkins Jr., Solomon Burke, The Prodigy’s Maxim, Eddie Money, Mungo Jerry’s Ray Dorsett, Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band’s Vivian Stanshall; and World Poetry Day.
Around ten years ago, while I was working at Warner Music, we were trying to think of catalogue projects that may engage Prince. One of my suggestions was a two-disc set in which one disc consisted of Prince songs recorded by others and the second disc was Prince’s demo versions of songs made famous by others.
Two weeks ago Warner released on Tidal Prince’s Originals, demo versions of songs Prince
wrote that were recorded by other acts. (It hits others streaming services
tomorrow, with CD and vinyl releases coming as well.) I’m not saying Warner
took my idea without giving me credit; I’d be surprised if I were the only
person who thought of it.
Today’s Tunes du Jour playlist is the concept of the other
disc of my proposed set – songs Prince wrote or co-wrote performed by other
acts. It’s not exactly what I envisioned that disc to be, as many (MANY!!) of
the songs I would choose are not available on Spotify. There’s all the Paisley
Park material that reverted to Prince (Vanity 6, Apollonia 6, Mazarati, Jill Jones,
The Family, Ingrid Chavez, etc.), as well as commercially-released covers that
for whatever reason are missing, by artists such as Foo Fighters, Robyn, Jesus
and Mary Chain, Mavis Staples, Eels, and Living Colour.
Even with those limitations, not a bad list. Enjoy!
On June 28, 1969, what was supposed to be a routine raid on a gay bar by the New York City police turned violent when patrons at the Stonewall Inn fought back, thus setting off the gay liberation movement. That pivotal moment was recognized one year later with a gathering in New York’s Greenwich Village, where the Stonewall Inn is located, and Gay Pride marches in Los Angeles and Chicago. The following year, Gay Pride marches sprang up in Boston, Dallas, Milwaukee, London, Paris, West Berlin and Stockholm. The Pride movement grew with each passing year, and it continues to expand to this day.
Tunes du Jour celebrates 50 years of Pride with today’s playlist. Be seen. Be heard. Be proud. Celebrate. Love.
June is LGBTQ+ Pride Month. Tune du Jour celebrates with this playlist consisting of two hundred songs by and/or about Ls, Gs, Bs, Ts and Qs. Happy Pride!
This playlist consists of twenty songs, most performed by artists who fall somewhere under the LGBTQ umbrella, plus the Cyndi Lauper classic adopted as a LGBTQ anthem with her full support.
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