Inspired by the passing of Spencer Davis and the October 21 birthdays of Manfred Mann, The Go-Go’s’ Charlotte Caffey, The Teardrop Explodes’ Julian Cope, The Cramps’ Lux Interior, Elvin Bishop, Doja Cat, Kathy Young and Industry’s Jon Carin.
Your (Almost) Daily Playlist (3-1-20)
Inspired by the March 1 birthdays of The Who’s Roger Daltry, Harry Belafonte, Glenn Miller, Justin Bieber, Manfred Mann’s Mike D’Abo, Kesha, Burning Spear, the Wannadies’ Christina Bergmark, and Chopin; and the February 29 birthdays of the Fleetwoods’ Gretchen Christopher and Ja Rule.
Your (Almost) Daily Playlist (2-24-20)
Inspired by the February 24 birthdays of N.E.R.D.’s Chad Hugo, Manfred Mann’s Paul Jones, M People’s Mike Pickering, George Thorogood, Rupert Holmes, Plastic Bertrand and Barry Bostwick.
Throwback Thursday – 1964
Between the British invasion, the growth of Motown, and the girl group sound, many arguments could be made as to why 1964 was the best year for pop music. Here are twenty:
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Throwback Thursday – The Hits Of 1977
An instrumental performed by then new Eagles member Don Felder was submitted to his bandmates Glenn Frey and Don Henley to add lyrics. The first working title the guys gave the song was “Mexican Reggae.”
Henley was determined to create the perfect song, spending eight months in the studio working on “Mexican Reggae,” which came to be called “Hotel California.” A lyric referring to the band Steely Dan was added (“They stab it with their steely knives but they just can’t kill the beast”) after Steely Dan included the lyric “Turn up the Eagles, the neighbors are listening” on their song “Everything You Did.”
In 2009, music critic John Soeder asked Don Henley about the lyric “So I called up the Captain / ‘Please bring me my wine’ / He said, ‘We haven’t had that spirit here since 1969’,” pointing out that wine isn’t a spirit, as wine is fermented whereas spirits are distilled. Soeder asked the singer/composer “Do you regret that lyric?” Henley replied “Believe me, I’ve consumed enough alcoholic beverages in my time to know how they are made and what the proper nomenclature is….My only regret would be having to explain it in detail to you, which would defeat the purpose of using literary devices in songwriting and lower the discussion to some silly and irrelevant argument about chemical processes.” Insert steely knife here!
This week for Throwback Thursday, Tunes du Jour listens to the hits of 1977, kicking off with Eagles’ “Hotel California.”
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Wild Honey
Stevie Wonder is dating a girl he likes a lot, but his mother doesn’t approve, so he says to her ….
That’s how Beach Boy Mike Love explained the lyrics to the group’s hit “Wild Honey,” named after something sold in Beach Boy Brian Wilson’s health food shop.
The lead singer on this track is the late Carl Wilson, whose birthday is today.