I love me some 70s r&b music, so I took the occasion of the late Al Wilson’s birthday to compile a playlist of some highlights of that era/genre.
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Your (Almost) Daily Playlist: 12-10-23
“Nightshift” was Commodores’ biggest hit following the departure of usual lead singer Lionel Richie. The group’s Walter Orange, a co-writer of the song, sings lead on verse one. Orange also sang lead on Commodores’ hits “Brick House” and “Too Hot Ta Trot.” So there.
Commodores’ Walter Orange was born on this date (or maybe yesterday’s date) in 1946. Two of the group’s songs on which he sang lead are included on today’s playlist.
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Your (Almost) Daily Playlist: 1-23-23
A handful of Pointer Sisters tracks sprinkled through the playlist on what would have been Anita Pointer’s 75th birthday.
Your (Almost) Daily Playlist: 10-8-22
Today’s playlist celebrates the October 8 birthdays of Ramones’ Johnny Ramone and C.J. Ramone, Kool & the Gang’s Robert “Kool” Bell, The Stylistics’ Airrion Love, Average White Band’s Hamish Stuart, BLACKstreet’s Teddy Riley, C.L. Smooth, Bruno Mars, Pigbag’s James Johnstone, and Saturday Night Live‘s Chevy Chase; and the October 9 birthdays of The Beatles’ John Lennon, The Who’s John Entwistle, PJ Harvey, Jackson Browne, Labelle’s Nona Hendryx, Men Without Hats’s Ivan Doroschuk, Heatwave’s Rod Temperton, Ini Kamoze, and Phantom Planet’s Alex Greenwald.
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Throwback Thursday: 1974
In 1974 Grandpa Abe gave ten-year-old me a radio. Very quickly that radio became shy me’s best friend. I hadn’t paid much attention to music previously, only hearing what played in the family care when we went out to eat or to Sunday school or the orthodontist. With my best friend Radio by my side I was exposed to so much more. Mostly I listened to the top 40 station WABC. By the autumn of 1974 I was making weekly treks on my bicycle to Melody Manor to buy whatever single entered the top 40 that week, unless it was something truly heinous like “Cat’s in the Cradle.” It’s a habit I kept up until the mid to late eighties, when “Lady in Red,” “The Final Countdown,” “Hip To Be Square” and Milli Vanilli convinced me to eschew that habit and only buy records that were tolerable. Today’s playlist celebrates the music of the year I started collecting records.
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A Philly Soul Playlist
Not all records classified as Philly Soul come from Philadelphia-based artists, though all share characteristics – orchestral string arrangements married to rhythm and blues with a funk influence that bridged the way toward disco. Here are thirty examples of the genre, with the songwriting-production team of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff working on the lion’s share of these releases.
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Happy New Year!
Happy New Year, y’all! On today’s playlist we reel in the years and sing of making a fresh start. I hope 2021 rocks for all of us.
Your (Almost) Daily Playlist (10-8-20)
Inspired by the October 8 birthdays of Robert “Kool” Bell, Bruno Mars, The Three Degrees’ Sheila Ferguson, Average White Band’s Hamish Stuart, C.L. Smooth, Pigbag’s James Johnstone, and Chevy Chase.
Your (Almost) Daily Playlist (9-27-20)
Inspired by the September 27 birthdays of Lil Wayne, Shaun Cassidy, Randy Bachman, Avril Lavigne, Trick Daddy and Soul Train’s Don Cornelius.