Today, November 17th 2009, is when I started the journey towards being a Vinyl DJ and a more serious music blogger. So in a measure of thanks, I’m speeding up my normal as of the past year trying to post a new mix and accompanying blog as we head into Thanksgiving week so you’ll have…
Never Has It Been So Good As Ashford & Simpson (and sometimes Armstead)
New York of the 1960’s brought us the power of love in the writers booth in a profound way. The Brill Building gave young Jewish Newlyweds like Goffin & King, Greenwich & Barry and Mann & Weil lots of money and respect as they churned out hits for people coast to coast and even overseas….
Season Of The Bliss: An Almost Top Forty Of Swoonful Tunes
People really fucking love Fall. It’s interesting because I commented a few weeks ago to someone that all of the celebration of beauty of this particular season is also a celebration of death. As September folds into Oct to Nov to December vibrant trees and flowers react to the waning sunlight and shorter days in…
For The Venus Retrograde Part II: 36 Faces To Do Love’s Review To
It’s been awhile since we’ve had a Venus Retrograde, and it’s been a long long time since I’ve written extensively at looking at Astrology through music. However, this potent Season of the Witch in which we’ll be dealing with Venus in Scorpio retracing steps back to Venus in Libra, it seemed high time to pull…
Under The Covers: 33 Outsourced Covers From The Golden Age of Motown
Berry Gordy was slightly notorious for being adverse to seeking outside material for hit songs for his singers. Very rare during the Motown classic hit era were any of the major hits for artists from the pens of someone that wasn’t attached to the Motown Family. I can only think of two off the top…
Don’t Trust The Weatherman, And Always Carry Your Umbrella: 35 Tunes For That Rainy Day Feeling
Nobody really warned me that summer ends right after Labor Day in the Pacific Northwest. After a long (short) Summer of 2 months, it’s been mostly rain, rain (please go away) in the Portland Metropolitan area. This is truly bizarre to me, living in the Bay Area, splendid, vaguely summery weather lasts all the way…
What’s New for ’62? Forty Femme Gems For Cosmopolitan Consumption
In terms of Pop Culture, 1962 is an interesting year. In a lot of ways, it’s the first full fledged year of “The Sixties” as we currently conceptualize it. Out were tailfins on cars, up were beehives. Lucille Ball returned to television minus Desi Arnaz. And, as a little nugget, two Aries superstars battled it…
Guys Gone Uptown: 32 Sophisticated Soul Tunes from Stylish Gents
I definitely spend more time in terms of creating mixes that explore the vast contributions that women, particularly Black women, have made to popular music. Every once in a while tho, I feel a bit guilty for ignoring the legacy of the legions of handsome men that worked tirelessly in the studio and stage crafting…
Kenny Gamble & Leon Huff: Brotherly Love In The Recording Booth
Picture it, Philadelphia. 1963. Okay, it’s Leo season, and time for me to round up another pioneering set of songwriters. Given the season of the lion, I had to pay tribute to one member of Royal Soul. But you can’t really go into the spectacle that is the influential career of Kenneth Gamble (born August…
Gone Uptown To Box With Dionne: 35 more challenges to the Queen of Uptown Soul’s Throne
I’ve stated before, and provided evidence, that the impact that Dionne Warwick’s influence on popular music was extremely vast during the 1960’s and Early 70s. The previous time we spent on this topic nearly 2 years ago, seemingly only skims the surface of elegant pop/soul confections that not only emerged from the United States, but…
