Inspired by May the Fourth and the May 4 birthdays of Nic Ashford, Little Boots, Sharon Jones, Dick Dale, The Angels’ Peggy Santiglia, Green Day’s Mike Dirnt, New Radicals’ Gregg Alexander, and Pia Zadora.
Your (Almost) Daily Playlist (4-13-20)
Inspired by the April 13 birthdays of Al Green, Louis Johnson, Nellie McKay, Little Feat’s Lowell George, Bill Conti, Future Islands’ Samuel T. Herring, Lou Bega and Flamin’ Groovies’ Roy Loney.
Your (Almost) Daily Playlist (4-10-20)
Inspired by the April 20 birthdays of A Tribe Called Quest’s Q-Tip, The Spinners’ Bobby Smith, Eels’ E, Stray Cats’ Brian Setzer, Maren Morris, The Flamingos’ Nate Nelson, Katrina Leskanich, Sheb Wooley, and Poor Righteous Teachers’ Wise Intelligent.
Your (Almost) Daily Playlist (4-1-20)
Inspired by the April 1 birthdays of Jimmy Cliff, Rudy Isley, Henry Gross, Gil Scott-Heron, Tom Shipley and Rachmaninoff, and April Fools Day.
Your (Almost) Daily Playlist (3-14-20)
Inspired by the March 14 birthdays of Quincy Jones, Este Haim, Taylor Hanson, Michael Martin Murphey, Colby O’Donis and Billy Crystal.
Your (Almost) Daily Playlist (3-1-20)
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.
Your (Almost) Daily Playlist (2-24-20)
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.
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.
Your (Almost) Daily Playlist (2-9-20)
Today is the birthday of Carole King, one of the greatest songwriters of the pop era. Chances are you know songs she had a hand in writing: “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” “So Far Away,” “You’ve Got a Friend,” “One Fine Day,” “The Loco-motion,” “Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” “I Feel the Earth Move,” “Up on the Roof,” “It’s Too Late,” and “I’m Into Something Good” among them.
King isn’t the only rock era songwriter celebrating a birthday today. It is also the birthday of her contemporary Barry Mann, who is not the same person as Barry Manilow. As a performer, Mann had one hit – 1961’s “Who Put the Bomp (In the Bomp, Bomp, Bomp).” As a writer, he’s charted nearly 100 times in the US. His credits include “Here You Come Again,” “Bristol Stomp,” “Only in America,” “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’,” “We Gotta Get Out of This Place,” “Make Your Own Kind of Music,” “On Broadway,” and “Sometimes When We Touch,” many written with his wife, Cynthia Weil.
King and Mann feature in today’s playlist, as do others who share their birthday: The Magnetic Fields’ Stephin Merritt, Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s Holly Johnson, Barbara Lewis, and Major Harris. I also threw in some folks who had birthdays yesterday: Daft Punk’s Guy Manuel, England Dan, and James Dean.
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Your (Almost) Daily Playlist (2-6-20)
A 20-song Spotify playlist, inspired by the February 6 birthdays of Bob Marley, Guns ‘n Roses’ Axl Rose, Natalie Cole, Jens Lekman, Rick Astley and Dave Berry; and the February 5 birthdays of Bobby Brown, Three Dog Night’s Cory Wells, Barrett Strong and Christopher Guest.