Celebrating the birthday of Peter Wolf, formerly of The J. Geils Band, on today’s playlist.
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Tunes Du Jour Presents Rod Stewart
They thought they were done with the making of the album Every Picture Tells A Story, but it seemed to be a song short, so they added a song Rod Stewart wrote about losing his virginity. The song was a bit long and had no actual chorus, but it did pad out the album. Stewart’s record label also put the song on the b-side of the album’s first single. The song’s title? “Maggie May.” Perhaps you’ve heard it.
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Your (Almost) Daily Playlist (9-28-20)
Inspired by the September 28 birthday of Ben E. King, St. Vincent, Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild, Jeezy, Koko Taylor, Moon Unit Zappa, Janeane Garofalo, and The Farm’s Peter Hooten.
When I Met Sir George Martin
Several years I ago I had the honor of attending a presentation in the recording studio in the iconic Capitol Records tower in Hollywood. Sir George Martin was there to speak about a documentary series he was working on. I was asked to help out with the show’s music licensing.
Sir George Martin, who died yesterday at the age of 90, was a record executive, musician, composer and arranger, but he is best-known to most people as a producer, specifically, the producer of every album by The Beatles save Let It Be.
Sometimes it’s intimidating to meet one’s idols. What if they aren’t friendly or approachable? I’m happy to say that most times that isn’t the case for me, and it wasn’t the case with Sir George. He graciously accepted my request that he autograph the cover of The Beatles album I brought with me. He started signing in the upper left corner, but when he realized his misheard my name, he scribbled out what he wrote and started over in the center. He apologized to me for mussing up, to which I replied, “Are you kidding me?? I now have original George Martin artwork! I’m honored!” After signing my album cover we chatted for a few minutes, until he was called away to tend to other business. Friendly, approachable and gracious, the man was a class act and a true gentleman.
Here are twenty of Sir George Martin’s finest productions:
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Jimmy Page: Pre-Zeppelin
(I meant to post this yesterday, but I entered the wrong date on the schedule. Oopsie!)
Before founding Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Page, who turns 72 years old today, was an in-demand musician. Here are twenty pre-Zeppelin tracks on which he played:
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Rod Stewart – “The Killing of Georgie”
Rod Stewart wrote his 1977 hit “The Killing of Georgie (Part I and II)” about a close friend of his. He tells us Georgie was cast out of his home by his parents after coming out as gay to them. Georgie moves to New York City, where he finds adulation from people who love to be around him and becomes “the toast of the Great White Way.” In the summer of 1975 he tells Rod he’s in love. Leaving a Broadway show, Georgie and his boyfriend are walking arm in arm in Manhattan when they encounter a gang from New Jersey. The original intention of the gang is to mug the couple, but as you may gather from the song’s title, it doesn’t end well for Georgie.
That the story of an unambiguously gay man should become a top 30 hit in 1977 amazes me. How many hit songs have such a main character? There’s the cross-dressing man who calls himself Lola in The Kinks song of that name and then there’s um, hmmmm, uh…there’s our list, then.
Stewart told Mojo magazine that when he wrote the song, “everyone around me was gay.” He had a gay manager and a gay publicist. “I don’t know whether that prompted me into it or not. I think it was a brave step, but it wasn’t a risk. You can’t write a song like that unless you’ve experienced it. But it was a subject that no one had approached before.”
Part I of the song ends with Stewart sharing with us Georgie’s philosophy on life: Never wait or hesitate / Get in kid, before it’s too late / You may never get another chance / ’Cos youth’s a mask but it don’t last / live it long and live it fast.
Today Rod Stewart turns 70 years old. Here are twenty of his finest moments.
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It’s Nile Rodgers’ Birthday And I Need To Dance!
Nile Rodgers, with his friend Bernard Edwards, formed the band Chic in the mid-1970s. The pair wrote and produced the group’s music. In 1978, they had their first top ten pop single, “Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah),” which went to #1 on the Disco/Dance chart and remained on top for eight weeks.
Later in 1978, Chic released “Le Freak,” which was #1 on the pop chart for six weeks and became the biggest-selling single in Atlantic Records’ history.
Two more top ten singles followed in 1979 – “I Want Your Love” and the #1 smash “Good Times.” Rodgers and Edwards also wrote and produced Sister Sledge’s We Are Family album, which spawned that quartet’s only top ten pop hits – “He’s the Greatest Dancer” and the classic title track.
By late 1979 a disco backlash hit hard in the US. Any act the public perceived as a disco act had trouble getting hit records. “Good Times” was to be Chic’s last top 40 single. Even in clubs the group faltered. “Good Times,” coupled with “My Feet Keep Dancing” and “My Forbidden Lover,” hit #3 on the Disco/Dance chart. Chic wouldn’t make the top ten on that chart again until 1992.
By 1980, Chic the band were considered over, just two years after they arrived. Luckily, Chic were more than a disco band, and one person who knew that was Suzanne de Passe. De Passe was the president of Motown Productions. She hired Rodgers and Edwards to work with Diana Ross, who hadn’t had a top ten single since “Love Hangover” in 1976. The resulting album, diana, sold over ten million copies and remains the singer’s biggest-selling album to date. (I should note that it wasn’t the Chic mix of the album that got released. We’ll save that story for another time.) It spawned the top ten smashes “Upside Down” (#1 for four weeks) and the classic “I’m Coming Out,” both Rodgers/Edwards compositions.
In 1982, Nile Rodgers met David Bowie at New York club The Continental. Bowie hired Rodgers to work with him on a new album. The result? Let’s Dance, co-produced by Bowie and Rodgers. The title track became Bowie’s first top ten single since 1976’s “Golden Years” and his second (and last) #1, with 1975’s “Fame” the first. “China Girl” and “Modern Love” were also hit singles.
1983 kept Rodgers busy, working with Paul Simon, INXS, Daryl Hall and John Oates and Southside Johnny. One night he went to New York’s Roxy to catch a performance by Jenny Burton. He was intrigued by Burton’s opening act, an up-and-coming singer who went by her first name, Madonna. By the summer of ‘84, Madonna had three pop hits – “Holiday,” “Borderline” and “Lucky Star” – under her belt. When it came time to record her sophomore album, she called on Nile Rodgers.
Madonna named her second album Like a Virgin. Its title track, produced by Nile Rodgers, became Madonna’s first #1 single, staying on top for six weeks. Other hits pulled from the album were “Material Girl,” “Angel” and “Dress You Up,” all produced by Rodgers. The album has sold 21 million copies worldwide.
I won’t go into detail about every artist Nile worked with, but here’s a partial list: Duran Duran, Mick Jagger, Debbie Harry, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Michael Jackson, Prince, Rod Stewart, Robert Plant, Depeche Mode, Peter Gabriel, Grace Jones, Bryan Ferry, Johnny Mathis, Kim Carnes, Jeff Beck, Thompson Twins, Sheena Easton, Laurie Anderson, Al Jarreau, Ric Ocasek, The B-52s, David Lee Roth, Michael Bolton, Adam Lambert and Daft Punk.
Today Nile Rodgers turns 62. As it’s Friday, and I need to dance dance dance yowsah yowsah yowsah, today’s playlist consists entirely of songs Rodgers worked on. Good times!
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