It shouldn’t be a surprise that there’s a host of vintage soulful scale balancers in the legacy of Rhythm & Blues. We’ve been blessed for decades with the diverse, regal talent of the second Venus Ruled sign. Surprisingly, there’s plenty of people that stood back from the spotlight to be songwriters, and background singers. Some…
Tag: Marv Johnson
Mickey’s Mojo: The Extensive Talents of Motown’s A&R Magician
As Motown continues to roll out celebrations of its 60th anniversary, it’s extremely curious who doesn’t get attention for their hard work and extraordinary talents getting the label underway. There’s plenty of names that get lost today behind the glittering legacy of Diana Ross, Smokey Robinson and the mourning of Marvin Gaye. Indeed if it…
Everybody Sings Smokey: Motown’s Poet Laureate 50 times Over
It wouldn’t be Motown’s 60th Anniversary without visiting their premiere singer, songwriter and producer. As legend goes, Smokey Robinson met Berry Gordy with a notebook of songs, of which maybe one or two Gordy considered viable, yet he was impressed with the teenager’s moxie. So goes the template of who Gordy accepted into the fold,…
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…
Strings And Things Pt.1: 36 Orchestral Soul Gems
I’ve been told by fellow DJs on the soul scene, quite derisively sometimes, that the soul music that I spin is too *sweet.* Not Funky, nitty or gritty, I tend towards pretty melodies, and… frankly, string sections. Violins? Cellos? Upright Bass? Why?!?! As I try to lean back into live DJing in a new town,…
Sylvia’s Work: Sister Soul Songwriter Standing In The Shadows of Motown 1964-1975
The music industry isn’t a kind place to women. Even now, there’s more hurdles that keep women mostly out of control of their artistic output rather than giving them the full creative reign of their male counterparts. The situation is more heightened for Women of Color, especially Black women. Often, and yet still, you are…
Bacharach’s Brilliance: Burt’s Bevy of Beauties 1960-1975
The Post-War world of Rock and Roll and Popular Music didn’t lend itself to the type of standards generated by Cole Porter, Rodgers & Hart and Irving Berlin. Or we’re lead to believe. Of course, we would be remiss not to honor names like Leiber & Stoller, Goffin & King, Holland-Dozier-Holland, Gamble & Huff and…
Everybody Loves a Libra: The Balance of Equity at Equinox courtesy of the sign of The Scales
Not only is the Sun moving onto Libra, bringing us Fall’s grace, we have Jupiter expanding all of the relating through October of 2017. It shouldn’t be a surprise that there’s a host of vintage soulful scale balancers to feature this season as we find those we want to cuddle up next to through…
DJ Larsupreme 