Della Reese “Ninety Nine and a Half Won’t Do” (RCA 47-7996, 1962) Della Reese didn’t need Roma Downey to get in touch with the angels. Cutting her teeth in Gospel before she crossed over to pop and jazz, she quite often found herself having to get her sanctified on in song. This wonderful take on…
Category: Soul Song Of The Day
The Temptations “You’re The One I Need” (From The LP The Temptin’ Temptations, 1965)
The Temptations “You’re The One I Need” (From The LP The Temptin’ Temptations, 1965) 50 years on, it can’t be under-estimated the vast impact that the glut of Motown acts flooding the nations airwaves and television screens made in 1965. Representing a new, suave and sophisticated Black Masculinity were Marvin Gaye, The Four Tops and…
Walter Jackson “Suddenly, I’m All Alone” (Okeh 7215, R&B #13, Pop #96, 1965)
Walter Jackson “Suddenly, I’m All Alone” (Okeh 7215, R&B #13, Pop #96, 1965) Although Berry Gordy has reservations about launching him as the solo spotlight singer on crutches, the innate power and nuance of Walter Jackson’s vocal stylings. Although not very well known outside of soul circles, his run of singles for Okeh Records in…
Carmen McRae “I’m Always Drunk In San Francisco” (Atlantic 2485-B, 1968)
Carmen McRae “I’m Always Drunk In San Francisco” (Atlantic 2485-B, 1968) Always glamorous with a slightly gutsy glide to her voice, Carmen McRae blurred the lines of what it meant to be a Jazz vocalist in a very Queer way. Today would have been her 95th Birthday, but she left behind a rather epic catalog…
Marvin Gaye “For The Both Of Us I’ll Be Concerned” (1971, Unreleased. From Love Starved Heart: Rare And Unreleased, 1994)
Marvin Gaye “For The Both Of Us I’ll Be Concerned” (1971, Unreleased. From Love Starved Heart: Rare And Unreleased, 1994) It’s perhaps the more bittersweet soulful moments of Spring. Perhaps the most everlastingly cruel April Fools Joke. A Day before his 45th Birthday, the complex relationship between Marvin Gaye Jr. and Sr. was cemented forever…
Dionne Warwick “The April Fools” (Scepter 12249, R&B#33 Pop#37, 1969)
Dionne Warwick “The April Fools” (Scepter 12249, R&B#33 Pop#37, 1969) I think sincerely, the biggest joke I can think of this morning is that this holiday referencing Dionne Warwick record was actually released in May of 1969, not in April as would literally make sense. Anyways, what stands here is one of the prettier and more…
Anita Humes “Just For The Boy” (Roulette 4575-B, 1964)
Anita Humes “Just For The Boy” (Roulette 4575-B, 1964) She’s perhaps one of the most innocent and earnest voices in Soul Music. So it’s no surprise that Anita Humes got singled out to give audiences some of the most angst-ridden pop perfections of the early 1960s. Balancing the strife of love, affections and societal expectations…
Diana Ross “Surrender” (Motown 1188, R&B#16 Pop#38, 1971)
Diana Ross “Surrender” (Motown 1188, R&B#16 Pop#38, 1971) Icon, legendary, mystery and controversy, where would the world be without Diana Ross, who celebrates her 71st Birthday today. 56 years of performing and still touring strong and gracefully, she has a remarkably vast catalog of popular song that one can barely begin to dissect and analyze and…
The Marvelettes “Learning To Forget You” (1965, Unreleased. From The Marvelettes: Forever More, 2011)
The Marvelettes “Learning To Forget You” (1965, Unreleased. From The Marvelettes: Forever More, 2011) The Marvelettes are in heavy rotation as the hours wind down to me taking the microphone at the 2nd ever Queer Astrology Conference where their songs and story will figure prominently in the proto-feminist discussions of the Astrology of the early to mid-1960s….
The Shirelles “What Is Love?” (From The Shirelles Greatest Hits Vol II, 1967).
The Shirelles “What Is Love?” (From the LP The Shirelles Greatest Hits Vol II, 1967). As I get ready for my first ever lecture on girl groups, I’m combing through powerpoint slides and notes and MP3 of who and what mattered most in the girl group era, and I’m humbled that I get to bring Women’s…
DJ Larsupreme 