Thirty songs that defined 1975.
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Your (Almost) Daily Playlist: 9-28-22
Today’s playlist celebrates the September 28 birthdays of St. Vincent, The Drifters’ Ben E. King, Jeezy, Koko Taylor, The Farm’s Peter Hooten, Cigarettes After Sex’s Greg Gonzalez, Moon Zappa, Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild, and Keni Burke; and the September 29 birthdays of Jerry Lee Lewis, The London Suede’s Brett Anderson, Grand Funk Railroad’s Mark Farner, Booka Shade’s Walter Merziger, The Posies’ Jon Auer, Blues Image’s Mike Pinera, Bros’s Matt and Luke Goss, Mr. Vegas, Halsey, Mike Post, Debelah Morgan, and Madeline Kahn.
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Your (Almost) Daily Playlist: 9-3-22
Today’s playlist celebrates the September 3 birthdays of The Beach Boys’ Al Jardine, Grand Funk Railroad’s Don Brewer, Freddie King, The Melodians’ Tony Brevett, Taana Gardner, The Creation’s Kenny Pickett, Jessy Lanza, Mantronix’s MC Tee, BG, Majical Cloudz’s Devon Welsh, and Jennifer Paige; and the September 4 birthdays of Destiny’s Child’s Beyoncé, The Byrds’ Gene Parsons, Soundgarden’s Kim Thayil, Mark Ronson, Mantronix’s Kurtis Mantronix, W.A.S.P.’s Blackie Lawless, and Sonny Charles.
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Throwback Thursday: 1974
In 1974 Grandpa Abe gave ten-year-old me a radio. Very quickly that radio became shy me’s best friend. I hadn’t paid much attention to music previously, only hearing what played in the family care when we went out to eat or to Sunday school or the orthodontist. With my best friend Radio by my side I was exposed to so much more. Mostly I listened to the top 40 station WABC. By the autumn of 1974 I was making weekly treks on my bicycle to Melody Manor to buy whatever single entered the top 40 that week, unless it was something truly heinous like “Cat’s in the Cradle.” It’s a habit I kept up until the mid to late eighties, when “Lady in Red,” “The Final Countdown,” “Hip To Be Square” and Milli Vanilli convinced me to eschew that habit and only buy records that were tolerable. Today’s playlist celebrates the music of the year I started collecting records.
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Throwback Thursday: 1973
I didn’t appreciate how much great music hit in 1973 until I compiled this playlist. Take a listen to the classic tunes that were unleashed in that year. Dag yo.
The Spotify embed feature isn’t working again, so here is the link: https://open.spotify.com/embed/playlist/77FwxEBSB575UVrsGKmOSv
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Your (Almost) Daily Playlist (9-29-20)
Inspired by International Coffee Day and the September 29 birthdays of Jerry Lee Lewis, Suede’s Brett Anderson, Grand Funk’s Mark Farner, Halsey, Debelah Morgan, Mike Post, Madeline Kahn, Blues Image’s Mike Pinera, and Bros’ Matt and Luke Goss.
Your (Almost) Daily Playlist (8-23-20)
Inspired by the August 23 birthdays of The Strokes’ Julian Casablancas, The Drifters’ Rudy Lewis, Andrew Rannells, Happy Mondays/Black Grape’s Shaun Ryder, Rick Springfield, Edwyn Collins, Gene Kelly and Tex Williams.
“https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3C4Rb9b71SzKhrdDVJHHs3”
A Fourth Of July Playlist
On the fourth of July in 1776, the Declaration of Independence, in which the thirteen American colonies declared their independence from Great Britain, was adopted.
None of the songs in today’s playlist address the events of 1776 directly. However, the song selection is inspired by our 4th of July holiday.
Besides being great songs on their own, the collection represents one of the great things about the United States – its diversity. Long considered a melting pot where people of different backgrounds and beliefs could come to achieve their dreams and goals, the U.S. of A. is powerful and innovative as a result of this blend of people. Today’s playlist represents this diversity with a blend of genres – rock, funk, pop, Broadway, new wave, soul, and then some. Despite our differences, we are one nation, under a groove, with liberty and justice for all.
Whether or not you celebrate Independence Day, enjoy this Fourth of July-inspired playlist.
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“Lean On Me” – Bill Withers
In 1967 Bill Withers moved to Los Angeles to try to make it as a songwriter. While pursuing this dream he worked at Lockheed Aircraft, making around $3.50/hour. He spent $2500 of his own money to record some demo tracks. Not one record company or publisher expressed interest.
While working at a factory making toilet seats for 747s, he formed friendships with his co-workers and appreciated how they would help each other out. The mutual support this group of workers offered inspired him to compose a song. He titled it “Lean on Me.”
His upbringing played a large part in the song’s sentiment. “Being from a rural, West Virginia setting, that kind of circumstance would be more accessible to me than it would be to a guy living in New York where people step over you if you’re passed out on the sidewalk, or Los Angeles, where you could die on the side of the freeway and it would probably be 8 days before anyone noticed you were dead. Coming from a place where people were a little more attentive to each other, less afraid, that would cue me to have those considerations.”
He recorded the track for his album Still Bill. The single went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in July 1972. He left his factory job, but retained a good perspective, telling the L.A. Times: “Even when I was working on bathroom seats, this was at least constructive. I challenge anybody: I won’t sing for a month and you don’t go to the bathroom for a month and let’s see who comes off with less misery.”
“Lean On Me” won Withers a Grammy award for Best R&B Song … in 1987. On March 21 of that year Club Nouveau took their rendition of the song to #1, only the fifth time in the rock era that two different versions of the same song hit #1. (The first four? “Go Away Little Girl” – Steve Lawrence/Donny Osmond, “The Loco-Motion” – Little Eva/Grand Funk, “Please Mr. Postman” – The Marvelettes/The Carpenters, and “Venus” – The Shocking Blue/Bananarama.)
Bill Withers turns 77 years old today. Being he is an American institution, federal offices and banks are closed today. Many parts of the country are celebrating his birthday with fireworks displays, as they should. Here are twenty Withers tracks worth hearing, starting with the classic “Lean on Me.”
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