We enter the dog days of summer. These long, luxuriant days are ruled by Leo, the sign that rules the sun and the heart. So I dive into the heart of the matter, what’s better than a radiant lady of the stage? Fixed Fire lights up the stage with an extended romp with some of…
Author: Laurence Jones
Time Capsule or actual human being, who knows. Laurence Jones has been sifting through ephemera of the past seemingly forever, spinning vinyl for you, taking film photography and entertaining you with instagram posts of the decrepit old cars they own. You can find previous writing by them at djlarsupreme.com and medium.com
The Ambassador of The Motown Sound: Miss Martha Reeves
Calling out around the world, we have one helluva birthday to celebrate. She’s perhaps that singular and that collective all in one. In a lot of ways, she’s always and always will be “Miss Motown.” We’re talking Martha Rose Reeves. She turns 75 years old this July 18th. Her efforts for Motown and beyond have…
Cancer Cares, Summer Stares and Prideful Pairs: Your Playlist at Solstice
Just because I’ve spent the better part of June dormant doesn’t mean I wouldn’t be back to you for this Full Moon Solstice Moment. We close out Gemini Season and welcome the caring warmth of Summer Cancer style as we came in, with a buoyant Sagittarius Moon giving way to a Capricorn one pushing us…
A Girl Named Gladys: The Marvelous Marvelette Gladys Horton
I originally wrote this post 5 years ago when Gladys Horton passed away at the age of 65 in 2011. Horton’s voice on Marvelettes singles had been a profound link into me digging deeper into my experience as an outsider observing the inside, taking no shit from no one, and living a life from steadfast…
The Empress:The Gilded Hickory of Gladys Knight
Gladys Knight’s voice is much like a “Linus blanket” I carry with myself. From childhood to now in my mid 30’s, her voice still offers comfort, safety and understanding. Few other voices feel so essential, interwoven into the fabric of my existence. I’m pretty sure, minus her Fury, Vee-Jay and Maxx years, her discography with…
The Power of Patti: The Gemini Live Wire
You really can’t contain Patti LaBelle. The once Patricia Holte still snatches the spotlight from those decades younger than her at 72 years of age. The thing is that, rarely has the awe inspiring power of her vocal styling and range ever been captured *properly* during studio recordings. She really has one of those gargantuan…
Two Faces Have I: The Mercurial Musical Messages of the Sign of Gemini
We see the sun expand its rays to maximum lighting here in the Northern Hemisphere. Indeed its Gemini Season once again. My home sun sign is an archetype oft misunderstood. Given to stereotypes of flaky, flighty and duplicitous, I beg to offer up some different perspectives through the songcraft of either the Gemini Archetype, Gemini…
The Happening! (Events Spring – Summer 2016)
Hi y’all! This DJing-lecturer thing is going swimmingly (despite Saturn in Sagittarius, HA). There’s a bevy of things that I’m up to these days, so get in where you fit in. Sunset Soul Second Friday (With DJ Larsupreme) Friday, May 13th marks the 2nd Sunset Soul Second Friday. The next ones will be Friday, June…
The Myth and Magic of Mary Wells
It’s oft the story that Mary Wells is the forgotten Queen of Motown. She is that, for sure, but there’s a lot to be said about her career that spanned nearly 30 years past her exit from the label as well. She’s sort of the mythological Lilith of Motown in that way. She made the…
The Four Seasons “Marlena”(Vee Jay 539-B, Pop# 36, 1963)
The Four Seasons “Marlena”(Vee Jay 539-B, Pop# 36, 1963) It might seem weird to feature a group of White men on this blog.In reality, R&B music has always been a rather intersectional venture that’s welcomed other outsiders. I’d make the statement that Italian wasn’t fully accultured into whiteness even by the early 1960’s. In addition,…
DJ Larsupreme 