The Young Rascals’ Felix Cavaliere was born on this date in 1942. A few of his band’s tunes are included on today’s playlist.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6icgYsLWcFdCmZ6QAVPeo9?si=9a63899c125246c3
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“This is a song I wrote for my first album. It was the only song I ever wrote that was a Top 10 hit. It wasn’t for me, it was for a group called Manfred Mann’s Earth Band. They were a great band, but they changed the lyrics. And it pissed me off. Because I have a big ego. And I wanted to hear my words coming out of the radio. But they had a hit, so I was happy about that. But what they did was, they took out one of my lines and they put in one of their own. And their line became one of the most misunderstood lines of all time. In my version, the line went: ‘Cut loose like a deuce, another runner in the night.’ A deuce is a 1932 Ford Coupe, a very hot car back in the day. But they changed it to: ‘Blinded by the light, revved up like a deuce, you know the runner in the night.’ Now that makes no sense. But that’s OK, because it rhymed. But then people started to mishear that line. And they misheard it as: ‘Blinded by the light, wrapped up like a douche, another rumor in the night.’ A douche is not a car. It’s a feminine hygiene product. And it doesn’t even rhyme! So I don’t know how they got that. But that’s what people heard. And that’s what they’ve been singing for 40 years.” – Bruce Springsteen
Manfred Mann was born Manfred Lubowitz on this date in 1940. A few of his hits are on today’s playlist.
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The Spencer Davis Group were under pressure from their manager, Chris Blackwell, to come up with a hit single. He put them in a studio. By around 11:30 AM they had a riff. By noon the song was written and the band headed to a café down the road for lunch. Blackwell was livid when he found them eating rather than working on their new record. His anger subsided when the song, “Gimme Some Lovin,” recorded in just one or two takes, became a worldwide smash. It is now considered a rock n roll classic.
The late Spencer Davis was born on this date in 1939. A couple of the Group’s tracks are included on today’s playlist.
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Today’s playlist celebrates the October 20 birthdays of Snoop Dogg, Tom Petty, Teenage Fanclub’s Norman Blake, Wanda Jackson, The Cribs’ Gary & Ryan Jarman, The Tokens’ Jay Siegel, Eddie Harris, and New Vaudeville Band’s John Carter; and the October 21 birthdays of Dizzy Gillespie, The Cramps’ Lux Interior, The Go-Go’s’ Charlotte Caffey, The Teardrop Explodes’ Julian Cope, Manfred Mann, The Skyliners’ Jimmy Beaumont, Elvin Bishop, Kathy Young, Doja Cat, and Industry’s Jon Carin.
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“I wish that for just one time you could stand inside my shoes / You’d know what a drag it is to see you”
Me-OW, Bob. Me-OW.
Bob Dylan turns 80 years old today. Lots of blogs are making Dylan’s 80 Best Songs playlists. Not Tunes du Jour. An 80 song playlist is a challenge, but distilling Bob Dylan’s career into 30 songs? That’s more challenging! I’m not saying the 30 songs below are his best. This list is a good place to start, though. I threw in a couple of covers of Dylan songs for good measure.
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Nobody would deny that 1964 was among the most pivotal years in rock and roll. Nobody except Lester, a guy I worked with decades ago. He was an idiot. The Beatles and the other artists who stormed the US pop charts during the first British Invasion made an indelible impact on contemporary music and culture. Motown was ascending and producing classic singles. Girl groups were still hanging around creating pop perfection. Bob Dylan was making himself known, messing with the vocals one expected on a hit record. And Dionne Warwick was already the queen of Twitter.
Here are thirty songs that partly defined 1964. Take note, Lester.
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Celebrating the February 24 birthdays of N.E.R.D.‘s Chad Hugo, Manfred Mann’s Paul Jones, Earl Sweatshirt, M People’s Mike Pickering, Rupert Holmes, Plastic Bertrand, George Thorogood, Barry Bostwick, Joanie Sommers, and 16 Horsepower’s David Eugene Edwards; the February 23 birthdays of Josh Gad, Japan’s David Sylvian, and Aziz Ansari; and the February 22 birthdays of Marni Nixon, Sublime’s Brad Nowell, Ernie K-Doe, Bobby Hendricks, Oliver and Guy Mitchell.
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Inspired by the passing of Spencer Davis and the October 21 birthdays of Manfred Mann, The Go-Go’s’ Charlotte Caffey, The Teardrop Explodes’ Julian Cope, The Cramps’ Lux Interior, Elvin Bishop, Doja Cat, Kathy Young and Industry’s Jon Carin.
Inspired by the March 1 birthdays of The Who’s Roger Daltry, Harry Belafonte, Glenn Miller, Justin Bieber, Manfred Mann’s Mike D’Abo, Kesha, Burning Spear, the Wannadies’ Christina Bergmark, and Chopin; and the February 29 birthdays of the Fleetwoods’ Gretchen Christopher and Ja Rule.
Inspired by the February 24 birthdays of N.E.R.D.’s Chad Hugo, Manfred Mann’s Paul Jones, M People’s Mike Pickering, George Thorogood, Rupert Holmes, Plastic Bertrand and Barry Bostwick.