Salt-n-Pepa’s Salt was born Cheryl Denton on this date in 1966. A few of the group’s hits are included on today’s playlist.
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Your (Almost) Daily Playlist: 8-8-23
A few Kool Moe Dee cuts are included on today’s playlist in honor of the man’s birthday.
https://open.spotify.com/embed/playlist/6HpgoWEWnPsCjaNy5gTeIB?utm_source=generator
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Your (Almost) Daily Playlist: 11-4-22
Today’s playlist celebrates the November 4 birthdays of Godspeed You! Black Emperor’s Efrim Menuck, Squeeze’s Chris Difford, Diddy, Fat Boys’ Kool Rock-Ski, and Frances Faye; and the November 5 birthdays of Simon & Garfunkel’s Art Garfunkel, The Byrds’ Gram Parsons, Ike Turner, Ryan Adams, Bryan Adams, Inner City’s Paris Grey, Herman’s Hermits’ Peter Noone, A Flock of Seagulls’ Mike Score, Charles Bradley, Loleatta Holloway, Fishbone’s Angelo Moore, and Dominatrix’s Dominique Davalos.
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A Martin Luther King Day Playlist
“You deplore the demonstrations taking place in Birmingham. But your statement, I am sorry to say, fails to express a similar concern for the conditions that brought about the demonstrations.” – Martin Luther King, Jr. 1963
“He had a dream now it’s up to you to see it through, to make it come true” – “King Holiday”
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Your (Almost) Daily Playlist (11-5-20)
Inspired by the November 5 birthdays of Art Garfunkel, Ryan Adams, Ike Turner, Herman’s Hermits’ Peter Noone, Fishbone’s Angelo Moore, Gram Parsons, Bryan Adams, Inner City’s Paris Grey, Loleatta Holloway, A Flock of Seagulls’ Mike Score and Dominatrix’s Dominique Davalos; and the November 4 birthdays of Squeeze’s Chris Difford, Diddy/Puff Daddy, Fat Boys’ Kool Rock-Ski, and Frances Faye.
Your (Almost) Daily Playlist (6-10-20)
Inspired by Black Music Month, LGBTQ Pride Month, and the June 10 birthdays of The Shirelles’ Shirley Owens, The Breeders’ Kim & Kelly Deal, Howlin’ Wolf, Judy Garland, Faith Evans, Fat Boys’ Darren Robinson, Jodeci’s JoJo and Broadway composer Frederick Loewe.
Your (Almost) Daily Playlist (2-19-20)
Dr. Dre’s album The Chronic is not on Spotify. Seems like those brothercluckers forgot about Dre.
Today’s playlist is inspired by the February 19 birthdays of Smokey Robinson, The English Beat/General Public’s Dave Wakeling, Gossip’s Beth Ditto, Dr. Dre, Lou Christie, Falco, and Fat Boys’ Prince Markie Dee.
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King Holiday
There was a trend in eighties pop music of superstars banding together for a cause. As trends go, it was certainly better than the medley craze of that same decade. Its high points included “We Are the World,” “Do They Know It’s Christmas?,” “Sun City” and “King Holiday.”
“King Holiday” was the result of a conversation rapper Kurtis Blow had with Martin Luther King, Jr.’s son Dexter. The civil rights leader’s birthday was celebrated as a national holiday for the first time on January 20, 1986. To commemorate the occasion, Blow, along with Grandmaster Melle Mel, Bill Adler and Phillip Jones, composed “King Holiday,” which Blow and Jones produced.
To perform the song, they gathered an impressive list of crossover stars of the day. Joining Kurtis Blow and Melle Mel on the record were Run-D.M.C., Whitney Houston, Lisa Lisa, Full Force, James “JT” Taylor (of Kool & the Gang), Teena Marie, Whodini, Fat Boys, El DeBarge, Stephanie Mills, New Edition, Stacy Lattisaw and Menudo (featuring Ricky Martin). The single made the top 30 on Billboard’s Black Music chart. All proceeds from its sale were donated to the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change.
Today Tunes du Jour jumps back in time to sing celebrate sing sing celebrate the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Let’s Twist!
On January 13, 1962, Chubby Checker returned to #1 with “The Twist,” a record he previously took to #1 in September of 1960, making it the only record to hit #1 in two separate chart runs.
The song was originally recorded and released in 1959 by its writer, Hank Ballard, and his band, The Midnighters, as the b-side to their single “Teardrops on Your Letter.” A Baltimore DJ named Buddy Deane played “The Twist” on his television dance party program and got a good response. He told Dick Clark, host of American Bandstand about the tune.
Depending on what account you read, Ballard was unavailable to appear on American Bandstand or Clark was wary of Ballard, who previously hit with such lascivious songs as “Work with Me, Annie” and “Sexy Ways.” Either way, Clark had Chubby Checker (born Earnest Evans; his stage name was a take-off on popular singer Fats Domino) record “The Twist.”
Checker’s version is an extremely faithful cover of the Ballard recording. It is difficult to tell them apart; even Ballard thought the Checker recording was his!
In its 1960 release, Chubby Checker’s record launched a national dance craze. On the second release of the Chubby Checker version, “The Twist” became a worldwide phenomenon. Other twist hits included “Slow Twistin’,” “Dear Lady Twist,” “Twist, Twist Señora,” “Twistin’ the Night Away,” “Percolator (Twist),” “Soul Twist,” “Twist and Shout,” “Hey, Let’s Twist,” “Twistin’ Matilda (and the Channel),” “Twist-Her,” “Bristol Twistin’ Annie,” “Twistin’ Postman” and The Chipmunks’ “The Alvin Twist” – and that was just in 1962!
Chubby Checker’s “The Twist” spent one week at #1 in 1960 and two more weeks at #1 in 1962 before it was knocked from the top by…”The Peppermint Twist,” by Joey Dee & the Starlighters.
Here are twenty twistin’ favorites.
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King Holiday
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday was first celebrated as a national holiday in the United States on January 20, 1986. To commemorate this, a group of popular urban music acts of that time collaborated on a single entitled “King Holiday.” The song was written by Kurtis Blow, Grandmaster Melle Mel, Phillip Jones and Bill Adler. Appearing with Blow and Melle Mel on the record are Run-D.M.C., Whitney Houston, Lisa Lisa, Full Force, James “JT” Taylor (of Kool & the Gang), Teena Marie, Whodini, Fat Boys, El DeBarge, Stephanie Mills, New Edition, Stacy Lattisaw and Menudo.
A bill to turn King’s birthday into a national holiday was first introduced to the House of Representatives in 1979, but it didn’t receive enough votes to pass. The following year Stevie Wonder released “Happy Birthday,” a song calling for the holiday, and organized a rally in Washington DC for the cause. Soon, a petition was circulated calling for the same. Six million signatures were collected. Though President Reagan was initially against the holiday, he later signed the bill authorizing it.
Senator John McCain of Arizona was against the holiday, as was that state’s governor, Evan Meacham. New Hampshire didn’t acknowledge Martin Luther King Day until 1999. South Carolina made King Day a paid holiday for state employees in 2000. Prior to then, employees could choose between observing King’s birthday or one of three Confederate holidays.
Today Tunes du Jour celebrates the birthday and the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.