Ringo + Gaga 003

It’s Lady Gaga’s Birthday And I Need To Dance!

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Ringo + Gaga 003
Every Friday is dance playlist day on Tunes du Jour. This week’s party kicks off with a song about a woman who, while with her man, fantasizes that she is with a woman. The man doesn’t know this, unless he is able to read her poker face.

The song, of course, is “Poker Face,” Lady Gaga’s second hit single. The track was the UK’s best-selling single of 2009, with her first hit single, “Just Dance,” their third best-seller that year. The album from which the two singles were taken, The Fame, was the UK’s second best-selling album of 2009, kept from the top spot by Susan Boyle.

Today is the 28th birthday of the woman born Stefani Germanotta. Start the celebrating with “Poker Face” and just dance!

Winston + Neneh 002

So Don’t You Get Fresh With Me

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Winston + Neneh 002
I’m lookin’ good today. I’m lookin’ good in every way. Lookin’ good’s a state of mind. I haven’t mastered a buffalo stance, though.

Originally recorded by Neneh Cherry as the b-side of Morgan McVey’s “Looking Good Diving” single, “Buffalo Stance” became a worldwide smash for her in 1989.

Two weeks ago Cherry released her first solo album in 18 years. Titled The Blank Project, its reviews have been overwhelmingly positive, as were the reviews for her debut album, Raw Like Sushi, and its follow-up, Homebrew.

This talented artist turns 50 years old today. To celebrate, Tunes du Jour gives you a taste of Cherry.

Britney plaque

Happy Britney Spears’ Birthday!

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Britney Spears was the first recording artist to thank me in her CD booklet liner notes. The album was 2000’s Oops!…I Did It Again, which set a record when it sold over 1.3 million copies in the US its first week. At the time I was running the licensing department at Zomba Recording Corporation, parent company of Jive Records, to which Britney was signed. It was a great time to be at that company. I worked with smart, creative people, and I got to apply my skills to our superstar roster (Britney, Backstreet Boys, R. Kelly, NSYNC), enabling us to increase licensing revenue four-fold during my four years of employment there.

Britney plaque

When I started at Zomba, Britney was 17 years old and was on her second hit single, “Sometimes.” Today she turns 32. To date she has had 23 top forty hits in the US. Her latest album, Britney Jean, was released last week.

Enjoy today’s Britney-inspired playlist.