Inspired by the passings of Helen Reddy and Mac Davis and the September 30 birthdays of The Fifth Dimension’s Marilyn McCoo, Johnny Mathis, T. Rex’s Marc Bolan, Frankie Lymon, Sugababes’ Keisha Buchanan, Patrice Rushen, T-Pain, Butthole Surfers’ Gibby Haynes, Marley Marl and Len Cariou.
Inspired by the July 16 birthdays of The Police’s Stewart Copeland, BROCKHAMPTON’s Kevin Abstract, William Bell, Desmond Dekker, The Searchers’ Tony Jackson, and Live’s Ed Kowalczyk; the July 15 birthdays of Linda Ronstadt, Joy Division’s Ian Curtis, The Buggles/The Art of Noise’s Trevor Horn, Years & Years’ Olly Alexander, Gregory Isaacs, The Heartbreakers’ Johnny Thunders, Alicia Bridges, and Pamela Myers; and the July 14 birthdays of Belly/Throwing Muses’ Tanya Donelly, Woody Guthrie, Jamey Johnson, and Cliff & Claude Trenier.
Inspired by the July 11 birthdays of Suzanne Vega, Lil’ Kim, The Paragons’ John Holt, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s Jeff Hanna, Peter Brown, Red Peters, Bonnie Pointer, Thurston Harris, Peter Murphy, Andrew Bird, the Murmurs’ Leisha Hailey, and Mel & Kim’s Mel Appleby; and the July 10 birthdays of Pet Shop Boys’ Neil Tennant, Mavis Staples, Arlo Guthrie, John Whitehead and Eileen Rodgers.
Inspired by Independence Day (US) and the July 4 birthdays of Bill Withers, Fleetwood Mac’s Jeremy Spencer, The Babys’ John Waite, Post Malone, Gertrude Lawrence and UTFO’s Educated Rapper.
Inspired by Black Music Month, LGBTQ Pride Month, and the June 19 birthdays of Heart’s Ann Wilson, Macklemore, Shirley Goodman, Paula Abdul, Al Wilson, Spanky McFarlane, Lester Flatt, Scott Avett and Hot’s Gwen Owens.
I’m surprised and saddened by the news of the passing of Jorge Santana. I got to work with Carlos Santana’s brother in 2018 on a reissue of his solo work, put out by Omnivore Recordings. I also worked on an anthology of his work with his band, Malo. Just last month Jorge and I were exchanging emails, discussing his new music and how California’s AB5 law will affect his ability to promote it. He was so nice and a pleasure to work with. He will be missed by many.
Today’s playlist is inspired by Jorge’s passing and by the May 15 birthdays of The Furious Five’s Melle Mel, P.M. Dawn’s Prince Be, Eddy Arnold, Mike Oldfield, Miike Snow’s Andrew Wyatt, and Brian Eno.
Inspired by Mother’s Day, the passing of Betty Wright, and the May 10 birthdays of U2‘s Bono, Sex Pistols’ Sid Vicious, Spinners’ Henry Fambrough, Donovan, Traffic’s Dave Mason, Larry Williams, Fred Astaire, Underworld’s Karl Hyde, Young MC, Filter’s Richard Patrick, Jay Ferguson, Craig Mack, Sunscreem’s Lucia Holm and Young Disciples’ Carleen Anderson.
Inspired by the passing of Was (Not Was)’s Sweet Pea Atkinson and the May 7 birthdays of The Crests’ Johnny Maestro, Thelma Houston, Jimmy Ruffin, Jim Lowe, The Tremeloes’ Rick West and Starland Vocal Band’s Bill Danoff.
Inspired by the passings of Millie Small and Kraftwerk’s Florian Schneider, and the May 6 birthdays of Bob Seger, They Might Be Giants’ John Flansburgh, Man Parrish, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, 3rd Bass’ MC Serch, Mary MacGregor and Meek Mill.
2020 seemed like just another year, until this week. Something mind-boggling happened. No, the president of the U.S. didn’t display empathy. Get this: The Village People are presently in the Top 40 on the Adult Contemporary chart with a ballad taken from their 2019 Christmas album. The key terms in that sentence: Village People, presently, Top 40, Adult Contemporary, ballad, Christmas. It’s 2020! The song is called “If You Believe” and it jumped from #53 to #25 this week with a 310% increase in radio airplay over last week. “If You Believe?” More like “Hard to Believe!” Am I right, people?
Today’s playlist is inspired by the May 3 birthdays of James Brown, Frankie Valli, Father John Misty, Soft Cell’s David Ball, Pete Seeger, Christopher Cross, Mary Hopkin and Napoleon XIV.