It’s really telling as I searched the wide web of inter that I couldn’t seem to find an image of a Pre-1970’s Van McCoy. Given his parity in age, and his extensive catalog of works he created, it’s a sign that he remained much the constructor behind the scenes, not really becoming of note until…
Tag: Ruby And The Romantics
Spring Fling – A Playlist For Frisky, Frolicsome Fun
Welcome to the heart of Spring and Taurus Season! It’s rare that these playlists have a simple objective these days. This one, however, sort of arrived out of my own aroused interest in Springtime. Ready to hit the garden, plow some fields and plant some seeds, I thought of some of the most fun, coy…
Up Against The Wall Of Sound: 35 Imitations That Stroked Or Deflated Phil Spector’s Ego
I actually think The Wall of Sound as created by Phil Spector is one of the most overrated music trends of the 1960’s. Not only did it borrow heavily from trends already happening in the sophistication blend of 1960’s “Rock & Roll” and popular music, it relied very heavily on the aesthetics of the musicians, arrangers…
Better Luck Next Time: 40 Hits that happened for someone else
Sometimes, it’s like, with a song, dust yourself off and try again. The perfect moment for a tune to become a success entrenched in the Pop Culture lexicon sometimes isn’t its first time up to bat. Sometimes it takes competition and revision to get things right. With this, I’ve gone a bit overboard, giving you…
Swinging Sweet ’63: A Soirée of Sister Soul
As you may know by now, Girl Group and Femme Soul songs are my bible. My first Astrology lecture is dedicated to this particular genre of music and how it unfolded around the Virgo maiden archetype during the 1960’s. Critically ignored by the dominance of white male musicians and music critics, the “girl group” genre…
Lady & Some Tramps: 32 Girlish Gems with Guy Support Systems
As you should know, there’s no such thing as gender binaries in Popular Music. Female and Male singers didn’t stay separate on stage, quite often, the blending of vocal harmonies across gender and range gave us our most beloved soul music. One of the most popular forms of this was having one female lead singer…
So You Wanna Be Dionne Warwick? 30 Tribute Tunes To The Titan Of Sophisticated Soul
The influence of Dionne Warwick is one of the most underappreciated in 1960’s Soul Music. Her smooth, sophisticated work on Scepter Records, especially with Burt Bacharach and Hal David showed a mature, nuanced and complex way that many soul stars imitated. Coast to Coast after she flew in on the spaceship that was “Don’t Make…
Standard Snuggles, Classic Cuddles: Late Summer After Midnight Merging of Classic Soul and Songs of Old
It wasn’t just Berry Gordy’s dream to cross over to the meat of the performance market during the 1960s. R&B singers early as Ruth Brown and Dinah Washington took to covering songs associated with Tin Pan Alley pretty early in their careers. The natural relationship between musical genres has always been an orgy; Jazz informed…
Black Magic: Girl Group Solidarity, Queer Love and Black Lives Remembered – A Mixtape
I’ve said quite often, for little Black Queer Boys 20 something years ago like myself, Girl Group Songs saved a life quite often. Well, mine. I should really speak for myself. In the weird role play between gender expression and having even in the 1990’s so few cultural placeholders to identify with, I grasped full-hearted…
Ruby And The Romantics “Think” (Kapp 773, 1966)
Ruby And The Romantics “Think” (Kapp 773, 1966) In terms of 1960’s R&B, there’s fewer voices more pure than Ruby Nash Garnett. The Chart Topping voice of fortune telling circa 1963 celebrates her 76th Birthday this November 12th. Sadly, as the last surviving member of her group, she carries on the flame alone these days….
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