Inspired by the November 8 birthdays of Bonnie Raitt, Against Me!’s Laura Jane Grace, Eric B., Rickie Lee Jones, Sam Sparro, Wizzard’s Roy Wood, Minnie Riperton, The Manhattans’ Gerald Alston, Leif Garrett, Khia, J.J. Jackson, Diana King, Patti Page, Icona Pop’s Caroline Hjelt and Glass Tiger’s Alan Frew.
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.
Inspired by the October 8 birthdays of Robert “Kool” Bell, Bruno Mars, The Three Degrees’ Sheila Ferguson, Average White Band’s Hamish Stuart, C.L. Smooth, Pigbag’s James Johnstone, and Chevy Chase.
Inspired by the October 1 birthdays of Shalamar’s Howard Hewett, Donny Hathaway, Julie Andrews, Youssou N’Dour, Peaches & Herb’s Herb Fame, Shocking Blue’s Mariska Veres, Richard Harris, Brownsville Station’s Cub Koda and The Capitols’ Samuel George.
Inspired by the August 19 birthdays of Deep Purple’s Ian Gillan, Billy J. Kramer, Johnny Nash, Fat Joe, Nate Dogg, Queen’s John Deacon, Edwin Hawkins, Looking Glass’ Elliot Lurie, Blue Mink’s Roger Cook and Blue Magic’s Ted Mills.
Inspired by the anniversary of the passings of Elvis Presley and Aretha Franklin; the August 16 birthdays of Madonna, Kool & the Gang’s James “JT” Taylor, Young Thug, Al Hibbler, Eydie Gorme, Barbara George, Court Yard Hounds’ Emily Robison, Ketty Lester, Sheila, and Joe Sealy; and the August 15 birthdays of Deee-Lite’s Lady Miss Kier, The The’s Matt Johnson, The Doobie Brothers’ Tom Johnston, Bobby Helms, Bobby Caldwell, and Nipsey Hussle.
Inspired by the July 9 birthdays of Jack White, Hole’s Courtney Love, Marc Almond, AC/DC’s Bon Scott, Modest Mouse’s Isaac Brook, Simple Minds’ Jim Kerr, Lee Hazlewood, Gwen Guthrie and Haysi Fantayzee’s Kate Garner.
Nineteen seventy-five was a pivotal year for disco music. The genre was still very young; the name “disco” as a reference to the music genre was coined just two years earlier by journalist Vince Aletti. Disco music crossed over into the mainstream with more frequency, yet was not as ubiquitous a presence on the pop charts as it would become in the ensuing years of that decade. Artists who had their first top 40 singles in 1975 include Gloria Gaynor and KC and the Sunshine Band. In December of 1975, Donna Summer made her first appearance on the Hot 100 when “Love to Love You Baby” made its debut, having already been a smash in the clubs. The Bee Gees updated their sound in 1975 with “Jive Talkin’,” which became their first top ten single since 1971. Ben E. King, who had hits in the early 1960s as a solo artist and as the lead singer of The Drifters scored his first top ten pop hit since 1961’s “Stand By Me” with the funky “Supernatural Thing.” As the lead singer of the trio named after her, Patti LaBelle scored her first top ten hit in over a decade with “Lady Marmalade.” Veteran acts such as Frankie Valli, The Temptations, The Miracles, The Isley Brothers and Esther Phillips filled the dance floors. And it was in 1975 that the world was doing the hustle.
Today’s playlist is made up of forty disco gems from 1975.
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In 1974, my Grandpa Abe gave me a radio, thus changing my life. That radio became my best friend and music my main interest. I started buying all the 45 rpm records that made the top ten. Soon I was reading the trade magazines, as well as Rolling Stone, Circus, Creem, Song Hits, Hit Parader, Musician, and then some. Who knows what career path I would have chosen had I not latched onto popular music in my pre-teen years?
Tunes du Jour’s Throwback Thursday playlist this week focuses on the music of 1974. It includes the music I heard on the radio back then (eighteen top 40 hits) plus two I discovered later on.
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“I remember writing ‘Earth Song’ when I was in Austria, in a hotel. And I was feeling so much pain and so much suffering of the plight of the Planet Earth. And for me, this is Earth’s Song, because I think nature is trying so hard to compensate for man’s mismanagement of the Earth. And with the ecological unbalance going on, and a lot of the problems in the environment, I think earth feels the pain, and she has wounds, and it’s about some of the joys of the planet as well. But this is my chance to pretty much let people hear the voice of the planet. And this is ‘Earth Song.’ And that’s what inspired it. And it just suddenly dropped into my lap when I was on tour in Austria.”
– Michael Jackson
Today is Earth Day. Our weekly dance party kicks off with Michael Jackson’s “Earth Song,” which spent six weeks at #1 in the UK beginning in December 1995, but didn’t chart on the US Hot 100.
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