Your (Almost) Daily Playlist: 8-27-23

The Captain & Tennille’s “Love Will Keep Us Together” was a huge hit in 1975, but not everyone agreed with its message. Ian Curtis, the leader of Joy Division and a newlywed in 1975, was one of them. His composition “Love Will Tear Us Apart” could be seen as a response to the cheerful song, expressing his disillusionment with love and life. He took his own life in 1980, a month before his song was released as a single, on its way to becoming a classic.

Daryl Dragon, better known as The Captain, a nickname given to him by The Beach Boys’ Mike Love, was born on this date in 1942. A few of his duo’s hits are included on today’s playlist.

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Throwback Thursday: 1976

This week’s Throwback Thursday playlist focuses on 1976. It’s easy to remember some of the cheesier songs to make the pop chart (I’ve included examples of those), though there were a lot of great hits as well. Disco was still growing in popularity and having an influence on r&b and pop music. Punk rock was now on major labels, though it wouldn’t influence the pop chart for a while. Pick out the gems of 1976’s output and you’ll have a nice selection of tunes, as evidenced below.

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Your (Almost) Daily Playlist (2-18-20)

I’m experimenting here at Tunes du Jour. Yesterday I started including multiple songs by the birthday performers who inspired that day’s playlist. As of today I’m not limiting myself to twenty songs. My thinking is that by removing that restriction I can posts playlists (almost) dailier and you get a deeper dive into some of the artists. I’m living on the edge!

Today’s playlist is inspired by the February 18 birthdays of Regina Spektor, Yoko Ono, Styx’s Dennis DeYoung, John Travolta, Randy Crawford, Juelz Santana, Irma Thomas, Juice Newton, and Space’s Tommy Scott.

matt lattanzi

This Is Not About Matt Lattanzi

This post is not about Matt Lattanzi. If you’ve come here looking for information about Matt Lattanzi, the actor/dancer who appeared in the film Xanadu and went on to marry that film’s star, Olivia Newton-John, you’re not going to find it here. I don’t know much about Matt Lattanzi, other than he starred in My Tutor alongside Crispin Glover, and the Xanadu/Olivia thing.

matt lattanziMatt Lattanzi, not the subject of this post

I read somewhere that Matt Lattanzi unplugged and is living in a tent on the beach in Malibu. Maybe that’s true and maybe it isn’t. I don’t know. This post is not about Matt Lattanzi.

I have fun writing this blog and curating its playlists. I often don’t know what brings you readers here. How did you find me? Maybe you’re more than a virtual friend – I may know you in real life.

Interestingly, the most popular search for finding Tunes du Jour is “Matt Lattanzi.” “Matt Lattanzi” leads four times as many readers to Tunes du Jour’s than this blog’s second most-popular search term, “TunesDuJour.”

I’ve only mentioned Matt Lattanzi in one blog post, which was one year ago today, on Olivia Newton-John’s birthday. Matt Lattanzi was not the subject of that post. Olivia Newton-John was. Do people search for Olivia Newton-John and end up here? No. They search for Matt Lattanzi. One mention a year ago! Yes, I mentioned him today, but that’s just to say I’m not going to talk about Matt Lattanzi. Just because he’s brought more readers to my blog than anyone else doesn’t mean I’m going to make Matt Lattanzi click-bait and write his name over and over again. I’m above that.

People, I can’t tell you more about Matt Lattanzi than I already have! I probably wouldn’t recognize him if I were to go to Malibu and trip over his tent pole.

No more Matt Lattanzi mentions for me!

Today’s post is about Matt Lattanzi’s first wife, Olivia Newton-John, who celebrates her 67th birthday today. Do you think Matt sent her a gift? Maybe he called, though if he’s living off the grid, that might be difficult. Do pay phones still exist? How does one get by in this modern age living off the grid? Why are you asking about Matt Lattanzi again? Come on, readers! Focus! Olivia!

Here are twenty fun tracks from Matt Lattanzi’s first wife:


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daniel lapaine

In Which A Group Of Multi-Millionaires Sings Of Wishing They Had A Little Money

I didn’t get the film Muriel’s Wedding. Not as in I didn’t get the Blu-Ray of this movie for Hanukkah. I don’t even own a Blu-Ray player. No, I mean I didn’t understand it. Or rather, I didn’t buy it. Muriel, the ugly duckling girl who is mocked and abused, ends up marrying a beautiful South African swimmer and then splits up with him because of some self-esteem bullshit. WHAT? For fuck’s sake, Muriel! The man has beautiful eyes, a great body and doesn’t beat you. What more could you want? If this means I’m shallow and superficial then I don’t want to be right. She says to him “I don’t love you” and he replies “I don’t love you either but I think I could like having you around.” He’s so sweet! I dream of the day someone says something so romantic to me! Someone attractive, that is. Oh, um, SPOILER ALERT. I should have said that a few sentences ago. If you haven’t seen the movie yet and plan to (which you should, just to see what Muriel walked away from) then forget what you just read.

daniel lapaineThis is what Muriel left. This. THIS! It stretches all credibility.

Muriel’s Wedding had its good points: a) David (Muriel’s husband), b) it introduced us to Toni Collette as Muriel, c) it introduced us to Rachel Griffiths, and d) along with The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, it brought ABBA back into the public consciousness.

Today Tunes du Jour celebrates the birthday of ABBA’s Benny Andersson who, along with the group’s Björn Ulvaeus, co-wrote and co-produced most of their hits.