WHAT TIME IS IT? Time to celebrate the 67th birthday of The Time’s Morris Day! A few of his selections are on today’s playlist.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5HGp6sA2mAESD5SwZa9Yrh?si=d3f23ce6e4204584
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Inspired by the May 22 birthdays of Morrissey, Marshall Tucker Band’s Doug Gray, Jigsaw’s Des Dyer, Johnny Gill and Icehouse’s Iva Davies.
I received a message from a guy on OKCupid
He needed to tell me my screen name is stupid
He objected to my handle including the word “cute”
I looked at his photos; he isn’t a beaut
He ended his note with “Have a nice day”
And for a brief moment, I was done being gay
I chose to ignore his unsolicited advice
Me listen to you? Uh uh, no dice
Am I supposed to believe he’s an expert who knows?
The man is 45 and posing in Speedos
Will I now change my name? No way! Not a chance!
On another note, it’s Friday, and I need to dance!
Today’s the 55th birthday of Mr. Keith Sweat
“I Want Her”’s the tune that kicks off this set
It’s also the 75th birthday of the legend George Clinton
No relation to Hillary, who I’m voting for because Donald Trump is a fucking nightmare.
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From the Draw a Bird Day website:
In 1943, Dorie Cooper was a 7 year old living in England. Her mother took her to a hospital in to visit her uncle who was wounded in the war. While they were there, Dorie’s uncle was very distraught, having lost his right leg to a land mine. In an attempt to cheer him up, she asked him “Draw a bird for me, please” Even though he was unwell, he decided to do as Dorie asked. He looked out his window and drew a picture of a robin.
After seeing her uncle’s bird picture, Dorie laughed out loud and proclaimed that he was not a very good artist, but that she would hang the picture in her room nonetheless. Her uncle’s spirits were lifted by his niece’s complete honesty and acceptance. Several other wounded soldiers also had their day brightened by the event and every time Dorie came to visit thereafter, they held drawing contests to see who could produce the best bird pictures. Within several months, the entire ward’s walls were decorated by bird drawings.
3 years later, Dorie was killed after being struck by a car. At her funeral, her coffin was filled with bird images that had been made by soldiers, nurses and doctors from the ward where her uncle had been. Ever since then, those men and women remembered the little girl that brought hope to the ward by drawing birds on her birthday, April 8th.
Draw a Bird Day was never declared an official holiday, but it grew through those soldiers and medical personnel and their families. Today, it is celebrated world wide as a way to express joy in the very simplest of things in life and as a way to help soldiers everywhere forget war and suffering even if only for a short time.
This blogger’s drawing of a bird
After you draw your bird, continue expressing joy through dance. Tunes du Jour’s weekly dance party kicks off with The Time.
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Parents often say the following expressions to their children as life lessons: “If you have nothing nice to say don’t say anything at all.” “You can get more with honey than you can with vinegar.” “Never trust a big butt and a smile.”
Your parents got the last one from the Bell Biv DeVoe song “Poison.” Hell, they may have gotten the first two from Bell Biv DeVoe songs – I don’t know the group’s catalogue that well.
I’ve heeded that advice, which is why I’m still single. As the great Pee Wee Herman famously said in Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, “Everyone I know has a big but. C’mon, Simone, let’s talk about your big but.”
Friday is dance day at Tunes du Jour. You don’t need a partner to dance, unless you are doing the tango. As many parents have said, “It takes two to tango.” That expression predates Bell Biv DeVoe, who didn’t do tango music. Then again, maybe they did. I don’t know the group’s catalogue that well.
Today, Ricky Bell of Bell Biv DeVoe and New Edition turns 48. Our dance playlist kicks off with BBD’s “Poison.” Trust!
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There is a place near my home called the Zoom Room. They offer classes for dogs (and their owners). Obedience training, agility training, etc. I took my Ringo there for Shy Dog class. After five weekly sessions he was more confident and outgoing than when we started, and he has gotten much better at socializing since.
The Zoom Room also hosts Doggy Disco®. Per their website, these parties are for Bark Mitzvahs, pet commitment ceremonies and other special occasions.
They describe Doggy Disco thusly: Our Doggy Disco® pulsates with glamour, revolving mirrored ball, professional lighting effects and a great sound system with deliciously danceable tunes. A ceiling-mounted laser light show projects a dizzying array of colors and patterns on the floor, perfect for pooches to chase.
Why I haven’t gone yet is beyond me! I must do so soon. For now, my doggies and I will dance around the condo, for it is Friday, and Friday is dance day ‘round these parts.
Our weekly dance party kicks off with George Clinton’s “Atomic Dog.”
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Spike Lee needed a dance song for a scene in his film School Daze, so he reached out to Marcus Miller, whose writing credits include Luther Vandross’ “Power of Love” and “Til My Baby Comes Home” and Miles Davis’ “Tutu.” Miller asked his former bandmate Mark Stevens (brother of Yvette Stevens, who changed her name to Chaka Khan) to help him. Together they came up with “Da Butt.” Washington D.C. band E.U. (Experience Unlimited) recorded the tune, which reached #35 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1988. E.U. made the Hot 100 again in 1996 – a record of theirs entitled “Knock Him Out Sugar Ray” was sampled by Beck in his #61 hit “Where It’s At.”
It’s the first Friday of 2015 and I need to dance. Let’s kick off this week’s party with “Da Butt.”
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It’s interesting that Berry Gordy, the head of Motown Records who in 1970 told his top male vocalist Marvin Gaye that the new song Gaye had written, “What’s Going On,” was “the worst thing I ever heard in my life” and that he shouldn’t do protest songs, would five years later have Motown be the first major label to release a pro-gay anthem.
Bunny Jones, a heterosexual Christian woman, owned several beauty salons in Harlem. Most of her employees were gay. Seeing how they needed to suppress their natural selves and being aware of the issues they faced, she wrote song lyrics about a man who says he’s “happy, carefree and gay,” the way God made him.
Set to music written by Chris Spierer, also straight, Jones looked for a male vocalist to record her song. After catching a performance of Hair at the Westbury Music Fair, she approached one of the show’s actors, Charles “Valentino” Harris, and told him of the song.
In 1975, at age 22, Valentino recorded his only record, a single entitled “I Was Born This Way.” Jones released it on a label she started, named Gaiee. On her own she sold 15,000 copies of the song. This got the attention of Berry Gordy, whose Motown Records picked up the single for distribution.
Valentino’s record got some club play, particularly in the UK where it was a #1 disco hit.
Two years later Motown approached a gospel singer named Carl Bean and asked him if he would record a new version of “I Was Born This Way.” Unbeknownst to Motown, Bean was gay. In early 1978, Bean’s version of the tune reached #15 on the Billboard Disco chart.
The song has since become something of a classic. Two years after Bean’s success with “I Was Born This Way,” Motown released Diana Ross’ “I’m Coming Out.” It would hold the #1 position on the Disco chart for five weeks and have much crossover success at pop and r&b radio as well.
Today Berry Gordy celebrates his 85th birthday. Friday is dance day at Tunes du Jour. Here are twenty of Motown’s best disco/dance tracks from the 1970s thru 1990.
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Today’s dance playlist ain’t for everybody – just the sexy people. It kicks off with “Jungle Love” by The Time, whose lead singer, Morris Day, turns 56 today.