I keep forgettin’ why I walked in this room I keep forgettin’ where it was that I parked my car I keep forgettin’ my Wifi password I keep forgettin’ where my phone is, oh it’s in my hand
I keep forgettin’ what day of the week it is I keep forgettin’ if turned the oven off or not I keep forgettin’ if I fed those damn cats I keep forgetin’ that I don’t have any cats to feed
I keep forgettin’ to schedule a haircut I keep forgettin’ the last place I put my keys down I keep forgettin’ my apartment doesn’t clean itself I keep forgettin’ something else about some other thing
I haven’t forgotten that Michael McDonald was born on this date in 1952. You can hear him on a few songs on today’s playlist.
Today is the birthday of the late Marty Balin, co-founder of Jefferson Airplane and lead vocalist/composer of the biggest hit by Jefferson Starship, “Miracles.” A song from each of those bands is in today’s playlist.
Today’s playlist celebrates the October 18 birthdays of Chuck Berry, Laura Nyro, The Association’s Russ Giguere, Wynton Marsalis, The Bluetones’ Mark Morriss, Ne-Yo, Exile’s Jimmy Stokley, Eruption’s Precious Wilson, and The Murmurs’ Heather Grody; and the October 19 birthdays of George McCrae, Fugees’ Pras, Peter Tosh, The Doobie Brothers’ Patrick Simmons, Thundercat, World Party’s Karl Wallinger, Jeannie C. Riley, Gloria Jones, Jennifer Holliday, Billy Gayles, Divine, and Patrick Cowley.
Today’s playlist celebrates the August 13 birthdays of The Undertones’ Feargal Sharkey, MØ, Outlaws’ Hughie Thomasson, Tal Bachman, and Dan Fogelberg; the August 14 birthdays of Crosby Stills & Nash’s David Crosby, Scissor Sisters’ Ana Matronic, Seals & Crofts’ Dash Crofts, Utah Saints’ Jez Willis, Steve Martin, and Graham Central Station’s Larry Graham; and the August 15 birthdays of Deee-Lite’s Lady Miss Kier, The The’s Matt Johnson, Jon Hopkins, The Doobie Brothers’ Tom Johnston, Bobby Caldwell, Diamond Head’s Sean Harris, The Fabulous Wailers’ Mark Marush, Buster Brown, Bobby Helms, and Nipsey Hussle.
Today’s Throwback Thursday playlist revisits the music of 1975. Each of the 30 songs below made the pop top 40. I miss the days before radio became so segmented and one could hear Eagles rubbing up against Minnie Riperton next to Bob Dylan followed by Labelle with Bruce Springsteen’s first hit playing with The Captain & Tennille’s first hit on deck. It satisfies the musical omnivore that I am.
The Grammy Awards are being presented tonight. Woo. It’s billed as “music’s biggest night,” just as May 7 through May 16 is billed as “the biggest week in American birding,” if only because ten days is a lot for one week. Birders. Am I right, people? Performers at this year’s Grammys include Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak doing their new song, because what better way to celebrate the music of 2020 than with a single that was released last week? Performers I’m looking forward to include Miranda Lambert, Cardi B, HAIM, Megan Thee Stallion, Brittany Howard, Doja Cat, Dua Lipa, and Billie Eilish, whose “Everything I Wanted” is up for Record of the Year. That’s my favorite of the nominees, though I think the award will go to Beyoncé for “Black Parade,” and I have no problem with that. However, if the award goes to that record I never heard of until I started typing this sentence, sneakers will be thrown at my television (though that record may be good for all I know). For Album of the Year my vote goes to Fiona Apple’s Fetch the Bolt Cutters, as it was handily the best album of 2020. It probably won’t win, seeing as it wasn’t nominated. What was nominated over Apple’s album? That Coldplay album you forgot about and the Jacob Collier album you never heard of until you started reading this sentence (though that album may be good for all you know). Of the albums nominated, I’d pick HAIM’s. It’s very good. Not Fetch The Bolt Cutters good, but very good nonetheless. If HAIM win I hope they hand their award to Fiona Apple live on the telecast, which would be super impressive, seeing as they won’t be in the same room. I’m sure tonight’s show will include a tribute to dead people done by living people who are no match for said dead people. I’d rather want a montage of clips of the dead people performing when they were living people. <Fill in the blank> screaming is not representative of what made Aretha Franklin amazing. No disrespect to <fill in the blank>, but there’s more to being the Queen of Soul than having a mic and ovaries.
It’s easy to shit on the Grammys, as they are so shittable, but to be fair, not every Record of the Year is as terrible as 1988’s recipient, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” Here are thirty of the better winners:
Nineteen seventy-nine was a very good year in music. In compiling today’s Throwback Thursday playlist focusing on 1979 I had so many very good songs from which to choose. 208 songs, to be exact. That’s how many 1979 cuts bring me much joy. There are another 181 1979 tracks I also like. Somehow I was able to whittle it down to the 30 cuts below. Some years it’s a struggle to come up with 30!
Disco was at its commercial peak in 1979. So many of the disco songs that charted then remain popular today – “I Will Survive,” “We Are Family,” “Y.M.C.A.,” “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough,” “Hot Stuff,” “Good Times,” “Heart of Glass,” “Ring My Bell,” “Knock on Wood,” “Got To Be Real.” While the genre seemed omnipresent, there was more to 1979 music than clams on the half shell and roller skates roller skates. Hear what was going on below.
Inspired by the October 19 birthdays of Fugees’ Pras, Divine, Peter Tosh, Jennifer Holiday, World Party’s Karl Wallinger, Jeannie C. Riley, George McCrae, The Doobie Brothers’ Patrick Simmons, Gloria Jones, and Patrick Cowley.
Inspired by the anniversary of the passings of Elvis Presley and Aretha Franklin; the August 16 birthdays of Madonna, Kool & the Gang’s James “JT” Taylor, Young Thug, Al Hibbler, Eydie Gorme, Barbara George, Court Yard Hounds’ Emily Robison, Ketty Lester, Sheila, and Joe Sealy; and the August 15 birthdays of Deee-Lite’s Lady Miss Kier, The The’s Matt Johnson, The Doobie Brothers’ Tom Johnston, Bobby Helms, Bobby Caldwell, and Nipsey Hussle.
