Salt-n-Pepa’s Salt was born Cheryl Denton on this date in 1966. A few of the group’s hits are included on today’s playlist.
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Your (Almost) Daily Playlist: 3-18-24
Despite “U.N.I.T.Y.” being her only US pop top 40 single, in 2006 Queen Latifah became the first hip hop artist to be awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Her Majesty Queen Latifah was born Dana Owens on this date in 1970. A few of her tracks are included on today’s playlist.
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Your (Almost) Daily Playlist: 8-8-23
A few Kool Moe Dee cuts are included on today’s playlist in honor of the man’s birthday.
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Your (Almost) Daily Playlist: 11-30-22
Today’s playlist celebrates the November 30 birthdays of Generation X’s Billy Idol, Shuggie Otis, Peter Paul and Mary’s Noel Paul Stookey, No Age’s Dean Allen Spunt, The Pointer Sisters’ June Pointer, The Runaways’ Cherie Currie, Whodini’s Jalil, Luther Ingram, The Beloved’s Jon Marsh, The Grass Roots’ Rob Grill, Des’ree, Frank Ifield, Allan Sherman, and American Bandstand‘s Dick Clark.
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A Martin Luther King Day Playlist
“You deplore the demonstrations taking place in Birmingham. But your statement, I am sorry to say, fails to express a similar concern for the conditions that brought about the demonstrations.” – Martin Luther King, Jr. 1963
“He had a dream now it’s up to you to see it through, to make it come true” – “King Holiday”
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Your (Almost) Daily Playlist (12-24-20)
Inspired by the season, the passings of Whodini’s Ecstasy and Chad & Jeremy’s Chad Stuart, and the December 24 birthdays of Ricky Martin, Lee Dorsey, Ray Bryant and Dave Bartholomew.
Your (Almost) Daily Playlist (11-30-20)
Inspired by the season and the November 30 birthdays of June Pointer, Allan Sherman, Billy Idol, Whodini’s Jalil, Shuggie Otis, Des’ree, Luther Ingram, The Runaways’ Cherie Currie, and Dick Clark.
Your (Almost) Daily Playlist (6-7-20)
Inspired by Black Music Month, LGBTQ Pride Month, and the June 7 birthdays of Prince, Tom Jones, Violent Femmes’ Gordon Gano, Whodini’s Ecstasy, Prefab Sprout’s Paddy McAloon, Chromeo’s Dave 1, Dean Martin, Joey Scarbury, Fetty Wap, George Ezra, Sunshine Anderson and Broadway composer Charles Strouse.
King Holiday
There was a trend in eighties pop music of superstars banding together for a cause. As trends go, it was certainly better than the medley craze of that same decade. Its high points included “We Are the World,” “Do They Know It’s Christmas?,” “Sun City” and “King Holiday.”
“King Holiday” was the result of a conversation rapper Kurtis Blow had with Martin Luther King, Jr.’s son Dexter. The civil rights leader’s birthday was celebrated as a national holiday for the first time on January 20, 1986. To commemorate the occasion, Blow, along with Grandmaster Melle Mel, Bill Adler and Phillip Jones, composed “King Holiday,” which Blow and Jones produced.
To perform the song, they gathered an impressive list of crossover stars of the day. Joining Kurtis Blow and Melle Mel on the record were Run-D.M.C., Whitney Houston, Lisa Lisa, Full Force, James “JT” Taylor (of Kool & the Gang), Teena Marie, Whodini, Fat Boys, El DeBarge, Stephanie Mills, New Edition, Stacy Lattisaw and Menudo (featuring Ricky Martin). The single made the top 30 on Billboard’s Black Music chart. All proceeds from its sale were donated to the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change.
Today Tunes du Jour jumps back in time to sing celebrate sing sing celebrate the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
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It’s Halloween And I Need To Dance!
On the night of December 31, 1977, Grace Jones rang in the new year with a performance at New York City’s Studio 54. She invited Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards of the band Chic, whose hits such as “Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)” were often played at the club, to catch her show. The guys went to the stage door, where the doorman told them to “Fuck off!” They went to the front entrance and told the doorman there they were personal guests of Jones. The doorman told them they weren’t on the list and refused them admission. Though all dressed up, they went back to the apartment where Nile was then staying. Several bottles of champagne and a little cocaine later, the two musicians started jamming on a song they improvised, inspired by the first doorman. “Awww, fuck off – fuck Studio 54 – fuck off.”
Bernard was impressed with the riff they created, though both knew they wouldn’t get radio airplay for a song that went “fuck off.” (How times have changed!) They changed “fuck” to “freak,” though “freak off” sounded lame. Then Bernard suggested changing “off” to “out.” Nile responded “Like…when you’re out on the dance floor losing it, you know you’re freaking out,” to which Bernard replied “Yeah, plus they have that new dance called ‘the Freak.’”
“Le Freak” debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 in the fall of 1978. In December it hit #1, though it got knocked from the top a week later by Barbra Streisand and Neil Diamond’s “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers.” One week later “Le Freak” went back to #1, but one week after that it got knocked out by Bee Gees’ “Too Much Heaven.” Two weeks later “Le Freak” returned to #1, staying on top for four more weeks. It went on to sell approximately twelve million units worldwide, becoming the best-selling record ever for Atlantic Records.
In 1979 “Le Freak” was included on a compilation album entitled A Night at Studio 54.
All sorts of freaks and monsters will be out today/tonight for Halloween. This week’s dance party is inspired by the holiday.