Ringo + Fiona 2014-09-11 15.39

Fiona Apple Is An Extraordinary Machine, And So Are You!

Ringo + Fiona 2014-09-11 15.39
The title track from Fiona Apple’s third apple Extraordinary Machine is about how the singer-songwriter enjoys being out of her comfort zone. I enjoy being pushed out of my comfort zone and living to tell about it, which have gone together every time, as I am sitting here typing.

Push yourself out of your comfort zone. It’s how you’ll grow as an artist and a person. You’ll survive it. You’re an extraordinary machine.

Today is Fiona Apple’s 37th birthday. Here are ten of her best.

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Ringo + Barry White 2014-09-11 13.53

It’s Barry White’s Birthday And I Need To Dance!

Sometime in the 1950s, a man named Peter Sterling Radcliffe wrote a country song he called “You’re My First, You’re My Last, My In-Between.” For years he tried to get someone to record it but nobody was interested. Years later, Radcliffe was introduced to Barry White by arranger Gene Page. In the 1960s White was a session musician and producer who worked on records with The Bobby Fuller Four, Bob & Earl, Jesse Belvin and Viola Wills.

One Christmas when White was unable to buy Christmas gifts for his children, Radcliffe stepped in and bought toys for the kids. Relaying this story during an interview, White told the journalist “I was so grateful for that and said I would pay him back one day.”

In 1972, Barry White wrote, produced and arranged “Walking in the Rain with the One I Love” for a female trio named Love Unlimited. The record hit #14 on the Billboard Hot 100. The following year White released his first solo album, I’ve Got So Much to Give, which produced the #3 gold single “I’m Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby.” The top ten single “Never, Never Gonna Give Ya Up” followed in 1974.

Now a successful recording artist, White listened to his friend Radcliffe’s twenty-year old country song. Barry heard potential in the tune. “I changed some words, part of the melody and some of the title, but kept the chord structure.”

Ringo + Barry White 2014-09-11 13.53
“You’re the First, the Last, My Everything” appeared on White’s Can’t Get Enough album. The album’s first single, “Can’t Get Enough of Your Love, Babe,” hit #1. The follow-up single, “You’re the First, the Last, My Everything,” went to #2, kept out of the top spot by Elton John’s version of “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.”

Pay it forward, people. You may be rewarded in more ways than the satisfaction of knowing you helped someone in their time of need.

Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s Barry White’s birthday and I need to dance!

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Winston + Moby 2014-09-11 10.12

The #52 Album Of All-Time

Winston + Moby 2014-09-11 10.12

Ten facts about Moby and his album Play:

  • Moby was born Richard Melville Hall. Said Moby “Supposedly Herman Melville was my great-great-great-granduncle.” He took his stage name from Melville’s classic novel Moby Dick.
  • Play spent five weeks at #1 on the UK album chart; however, it only peaked at #38 on the US album chart, despite selling over two million units domestically.
  • Play has sold over 12 million units worldwide to date. Prior to this, Moby’s biggest-selling album was Everything Is Wrong, which scanned 250,000 units. Moby’s manager hoped Play would equal that album’s sales success.
  • LA Weekly was not a fan of this album upon it release. The paper’s critic wrote “There’s a song on this album which asks ‘Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?,’ and the reason is because I’m listening to this album.” Ouch. However, in the Village Voice’s annual survey of nearly 500 music critics, Play was named the year’s best album.
  • Every track on Play was licensed for use in films, television or advertisements.
  • Nine commercial singles were released from Play. The eighth, “South Side,” was the only one to make the US pop top 40, albeit in a new version with additional vocals performed by Gwen Stefani.
  • Moby wrote “Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?” in 1992. It started out as a techno song. Moby tried it again at a much slower tempo, which morphed into the version that appears on Play.
  • A music journalist friend of Moby received an Alan Lomax box set consisting of field recordings made by the ethnomusicologist and archivist. The friend didn’t want the collection, so he gave it to Moby. Samples from three of its songs were used by Moby on the Play tracks “Honey,” “Find My Baby” and “Natural Blues.”
  • Presently I rank Play at #52 on my All-Time Albums list.
  • In 2002, Moby wrote on his web-site: “Strange fact: best friend in 1973 was Robert Downey Jr…. haven’t seen him since.”

Today Moby turns 49 years old. Here are ten of his finest, with a focus on Play.

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doggies + Otis 2014-09-09 10.59

Otis!

In 2011 I chatted with Zelma Redding, widow of the great soul singer Otis Redding. I was heading up the licensing department at Warner Music Group. A request came in to license Otis Redding’s recording of “Try a Little Tenderness” as a sample in a new track by JAY Z and Kanye West, which they called “Tenderness.” Warner controlled the Redding master recording via a license with Stax Records. Stax is now owned by Concord Music, so my contact for such deals was an executive at Concord rather than the Stax recording artists. We worked out a deal. Being the Redding sample made up a huge part of the new track, we asked that Otis Redding be given a featuring credit.

Days before the new song was to hit iTunes, Island Def Jam, the label releasing the JAY Z/Kanye West collaboration, told my team they wish to change the song title from “Tenderness” to “Otis.” I liked that idea. I relayed this to Concord. Soon, my phone rang. It was Zelma Redding. More than discuss the deal points of the license, she wanted to make sure that this song named after her late husband wouldn’t defame the man. I’m happy to say we hit it off right away. She was a pleasure to work with. Though I am respectful toward all artists I represent, I am a huge Otis Redding fan, which I made clear to her. I wouldn’t do a deal that would disparage him in any way.

The JAY Z and Kanye West featuring Otis Redding track “Otis” broke the US iTunes store one-week sales record when it came out in July of 2011, selling nearly 290,000 downloads. It since has sold over 1,000,000 downloads stateside. It was nominated for a Grammy for Best Rap Song and won the Grammy for Best Rap Performance. Its reception brought Otis Redding to the attention of many younger listeners. Said Zelma, “We are proud that Otis’ legacy continues to inspire some of today’s popular artists. We like ‘Otis’ and thank Kanye and Jay-Z for honoring our Otis through their music.”

doggies + Otis 2014-09-09 10.59
Today is Otis Redding’s birthday. Tunes du Jour pays homage to the man who Rolling Stone named one of the ten best singers of all-time.

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improv show

Becoming F**kin’ Perfect

Tomorrow is the last show of the four week run of my improv troupe on iO West’s main stage. I started taking improv classes in the late nineties. I was performing stand-up comedy at the time and was told by several people that learning how to improvise will take my stand-up to the next level.

I started doing stand-up to get over my shyness. It was never a dream of mine to become a famous stand-up comic. My dream was to be able to converse with people, particularly people I barely knew. My dream was to speak up. My dream was to be heard.

I was a shy kid. Skinny, not athletic, with braces and glasses. My self-esteem was not too high.

Once someone got to know me they would tell me I’m funny. I used my sense of humor as my way of coping. I also used it to develop self-confidence.

The audiences’ response to my stand-up boosted my self-confidence. Being sought by agents boosted my self-confidence. Improvising – thinking on my feet while on stage – boosts my self-confidence. There is still some shyness, but I’ve come a long way.

improv show

P!nk, the artist born Alecia Moore, turns 35 today. A song she started writing about her husband turned into a message for those suffering from depression stemming from low self-esteem – “don’t you ever, ever feel like you’re less than fucking perfect.” “Fuckin’ Perfect” reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. That song is amongst the ten P!nk performances that form today’s playlist.

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doggies + Pretenders 2014-09-07 13.11

The #30 Album Of All-Time

Back when Home Box Office was still referred to as Home Box Office and not by its acronym, the network showed music videos between movies. There was no MTV yet, certainly no YouTube. It was between movies on Home Box Office that I discovered Pretenders.

doggies + Pretenders 2014-09-07 13.11
“Brass in Pocket” was shown regularly and I was instantly taken by this woman playing a waitress, signing that she’s “got bottle” and a “new skank,” she’s “Detroit leaning,” and she’s gonna use her “sidestep” to get a guy to notice her. I hadn’t the foggiest what she was talking about.

In Pretenders’ 2005 box set, the woman, lead singer Chrissie Hynde, explained the lyrics. Having “brass in pocket” means you’re doing alright. “So reet” refers to marijuana. “Got bottle” means “I’ve got front.” “Detroit leaning” refers to an attitude with which people from that city drive. “Gonna use my sidestep” refers to a dance move. I still haven’t the foggiest what she’s talking about, but what a great record!

Hynde didn’t and doesn’t care for the song. The track’s producer, Chris Thomas, saw the band play at a club in London and afterwards told Hynde he especially liked “Brass in Pocket.” He insisted the band record it. After acquiescing, Hynde told Thomas “he could release it over [her] dead body.” She was convinced to let the song come out. It became the group’s first top ten single in the UK, where it hit #1 in January 1980, and their first top 40 single stateside, where it peaked at #14.

“Brass in Pocket” was included on the band’s self-titled debut album, released in January 1980. The album also includes their first single, “Stop Your Sobbing,” a Kinks cover produced by Nick Lowe, who declined to produce the rest of the album, supposedly because he didn’t feel the group were going anywhere. (A few years later Hynde would become romantically-involved with The Kinks’ lead singer, Ray Davies.)

“Kid” was the single follow-up to “Stop Your Sobbing.” Here is what AllMusic.com says about this song: “The Pretenders recorded a fair share of brilliant tracks on their first three albums, but ‘Kid’ is probably the band’s masterpiece.”

Other stand-out tracks on the debut album include “Precious,” wherein Hynde sings “But not me, baby, I’m too precious/Fuck off!,” a line that was supposed to end with “I had to fuck off,” but Hynde couldn’t get all the words out; “I Go to Sleep,” another Ray Davies composition, this one not released previously by The Kinks; “Private Life,” a song covered by Grace Jones, of whose version Hynde said ‘Now that’s how it’s supposed to sound!,” calling the cover a “highpoint of [her] career;” “Tattooed Love Boys” and “Mystery Achievement.”

Presently, Pretenders sits at #30 on my Top All-Time Albums list.

Chrissie Hynde turns 63 today. Here are twenty of her finest.

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Winston + Queen 2014-09-05 11.07

It’s Freddie Mercury’s Birthday And I Need To Dance!

The band Queen released their eighth studio album, The Game, in 1980. The album’s first single, “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” released eight months prior to the LP, went to #1 on the US pop charts. “Play the Game,” released as a single just a month before the album dropped, failed to make the US top 40.

Backstage after a Queen concert in Los Angeles, a fan of the group, Michael Jackson, suggested to Freddie Mercury that “Another One Bites the Dust” should be the next single. The band were initially reluctant to do so, but the track was getting airplay on black radio stations and demand was increasing, so their label, Elektra, put it out.

Inspired by the bass line of Chic’s “Good Times,” “Another One Bites the Dust” went to #1 on the US pop charts. It also hit #2 on the Soul chart and on the Dance chart, the group’s highest-placing songs on those formats.

A few years later Freddie Mercury and Michael Jackson recorded a few tracks together, including one written by Jackson and Randy Hansen entitled “State of Shock.” The pair never completed the track; explanations given or conjectured being they both got too busy with other commitments and couldn’t find time to reunite, Jackson objected to Mercury’s cocaine use, Mercury objected to Jackson bringing a llama into the recording studio, Queen’s record label fearing Mercury associating with Jackson would lead consumers to think he was gay (ahem). Whatever the reason, “State of Shock” was eventually released with Mick Jagger trading vocals with Jackson. It hit #3 in 1984.

Winston + Queen 2014-09-05 11.07
Today is Freddie Mercury’s birthday, so we’ll kick off our weekly dance party with “Another One Bites the Dust.”

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doggies + Beyonce 2014-09-02 11.10

Go Beyoncé, It’s Ya Birthday!

doggies + Beyonce 2014-09-02 11.10
In 1998 Sony Music released the self-titled debut album of an all-female quartet who called themselves Destiny’s Child. They were managed by Matthew Knowles, father of lead singer Beyoncé. At that time I was working at Sony, licensing songs for inclusion on compilations outside the US. As the group’s first single, “No, No, No” (“You say no no no no no / I say yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah / You say no no no no no / I say yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah” – a riveting conversation) climbed the charts around the world, I got an increasing number of requests to license it. I would run the requests by Matthew to make sure he was cool with it. Some managers don’t like their client’s songs to be on compilations. Some feel consumers will then by the compilation instead of the artist’s album. One day Mathew called me. “Glenn, any time you have a licensing opportunity for the girls, just do it. Don’t wait for me to answer. I want them to become household names, so all exposure is good.” His plan worked. Destiny’s Child, which underwent a couple of personnel changes and ultimately became a trio, has sold more than 60 million records. Fortunately, future releases were far superior to “You say no no no no no / I say yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah / You say no no no no no / I say yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah.”

The group released their final studio album in 2004. Members Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams have put out solo releases, while lead singer Beyoncé Knowles faded into obscurity, never to be heard from again. Oh, wait – I’m confusing her with the lead singer of Blaque. Since leaving Destiny’s Child Beyoncé has sold another 75 million records.

Today Beyoncé turns 33 years old. Here are twenty of her best.

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Winston + Bee Gees 2014-09-01 14.35

Ten Facts About Barry Gibb

Winston + Bee Gees 2014-09-01 14.35
Ten facts about Barry Gibb:
• As a member of the Bee Gees and as a producer and writer, Barry contributed to more than half of the songs on the soundtrack to the film Saturday Night Fever. That album went on to sell 40 million copies and was the all-time best-selling album until it was outsold by Michael Jackson’s Thriller.
• The Bee Gees are the only group to have six consecutive singles go to #1, all of which were also written and produced by them – “How Deep is Your Love,” “Stayin’ Alive,” “Night Fever,” “Too Much Heaven,” “Tragedy” and “Love You Inside Out.”
• For twenty-seven of the thirty-seven weeks from December 24, 1977 through September 2, 1978, the #1 singles in the US featured Barry Gibb as a writer. The songs were the Bee Gees’ “How Deep Is Your Love,” “Stayin’ Alive” and “Night Fever,” Andy Gibb’s “(Love Is) Thicker Than Water” and “Shadow Dancing,” Yvonne Elliman’s “If I Can’t Have You” and Frankie Valli’s “Grease.”
• Barry Gibb wrote “Grease” without his brothers. It was Frankie Valli’s only #1 single not co-written by Bob Gaudio or Bob Crewe. At the time Gibb approached Valli about recording the tune, Valli didn’t have a record deal. It was Valli’s last top 40 single.
• For three weeks beginning March 18, 1978, Barry was the lead singer, co-producer or co-writer of four of the US’ top five singles – “Night Fever,” “Stayin’ Alive,” “(Love Is) Thicker Than Water” and Samantha Sang’s “Emotion.”
• Barry and Robin Gibb wrote “Emotion” for the film Saturday Night Fever. It wasn’t used in the pic; however, it was used in the Joan Collins film The Stud the following year.
• Gibb was a co-producer and co-writer of the Kenny Rogers/Dolly Parton duet “Islands in the Stream.” The record was a #1 country and pop hit, the last song to top both of those charts for 17 years. Barry Gibb said the song was written for Marvin Gaye to record.
• Dionne Warwick did not care for “Heartbreaker,” written by the Bee Gees, but she recorded it anyway, as she trusted the brothers’ judgment that it would be a hit. It sailed into the top ten in 1983, her first single to do so in four years.
• The Bee Gees-penned “Chain Reaction” was one of two #1 solo singles for Diana Ross in the UK, the other being “I’m Still Waiting.” Neither are amongst her 27 post-Supremes top 40 hits in the US.
• As a songwriter Gibb has had No. 1 songs in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.

Today Barry Gibb turns 68. Here are twenty songs he sang and/or wrote and/or produced.

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