Produced by Mike Chapman

by with No Comment Uncategorized

You may not know the name Mike Chapman. Then again, maybe you do. Chances are I don’t know you, so I have no idea what familiarity you may have with the name Mike Chapman. Even if I do know you, I don’t know everything that you know. I mean, I don’t know how much familiarity you have on certain subjects. Of course, you know things I don’t. Where am I going with this? I forgot. I’ll start over.

Mike Chapman. Even if you don’t recognize the name, chances are you recognize his hit songs. He produced Blondie’s Parallel Lines album. He produced Get the Knack. He produced lots more, some of his earlier efforts with his former business partner Nicky Chinn. The Chapman-Chinn team is also credited with writing many hit songs, as is Chapman without Chinn. Have you ever heard Toni Basil’s “Mickey?” Of course you have. It was written by Chapman and Chinn. Do you know Tina Turner’s “Better Be Good to Me?” That was written by Chapman and Chinn with Holly Knight.

Today’s playlist consists of nineteen songs on which Mike Chapman has a production credit, with Sweet’s “Ballroom Blitz” as a bonus track. Chapman didn’t produce that, though he and Chinn wrote it, as they did Sweet’s hit “Little Willy.” I love both of those records! Chapman and Chinn also wrote but didn’t produce the Huey Lewis and the News hit “Heart and Soul.” It’s no “Ballroom Blitz.” If you want to listen to it, you’re on your own.

Today may be Mike Chapman’s birthday. Then again, maybe it isn’t. It depends on what website you look to to get your information. Either way, the man is responsible for so many great hits, and that’s reason enough to post a playlist of some of his finest work (plus Rod Stewart’s “Love Touch,” which Rod agrees isn’t his finest, but whatevs). Included are the original versions (produced by Chapman) of the previously-mentioned hits for Toni Basil and Tina Turner.

Click here to like Tunes du Jour on Facebook!

Follow me on Twitter: @TunesDuJour

Follow me on Instagram:@glennschwartz

A Hint of Mint – Volume 69: LGBTQ Music From 1976 to 1977

by with No Comment Uncategorized

Twenty songs, some performed by artists who fall somewhere under the LGBTQ umbrella, others with queer lyrical content. During the years covered in this post, punk entered the picture and disco became more popular, while singer-songwriters held their ground and classic British rock acts endured. Performers include Sylvester, Village People and Elton Motello.

[8tracks width=”300″ height=”250″ playops=”” url=”http://8tracks.com/mixes/8321836″]
Click here to like Tunes du Jour on Facebook!
Follow me on Twitter: @TunesDuJour
Follow me on Instagram: @GlennSchwartz

A Hint of Mint – Volume 67: LGBTQ Music From 1972 to 1974

by with No Comment Uncategorized

Twenty songs, some performed by artists who fall somewhere under the LGBTQ umbrella, others with queer lyrical content. It’s all men this time around. Performers include Lou Reed, Tim Buckley and Billy Preston.

[8tracks width=”300″ height=”250″ playops=”” url=”http://8tracks.com/mixes/8288353″]
Click here to like Tunes du Jour on Facebook!
Follow me on Twitter: @TunesDuJour
Follow me on Instagram: @GlennSchwartz

A Hint Of Mint – Volume 65: The Olympics

by with No Comment Uncategorized

I’ve never watched a single Olympics event, so take the idea that this playlist is inspired by the Olympics with a grain of sodium chloride.

Artists include Against Me!, Belle & Sebastian and ABBA.

[8tracks width=”300″ height=”250″ playops=”” url=”http://8tracks.com/mixes/8223170″]
Click here to like Tunes du Jour on Facebook!
Follow me on Twitter: @TunesDuJour
Follow me on Instagram: @GlennSchwartz

A Hint Of Mint, Volume 1

by with No Comment Uncategorized

On our premier episode of A Hint of Mint, we’re celebrating Cinco de Mayo as well as the birthdays of a country music queen, the original Jersey Boy, a synth rock icon, that British woman who sold several boatloads of her last album, and an orange juice pitchman, plus we’re remembering a soul music great who recently passed.

Happy listening!

A Hint of Mint – Volume 1 from anon-764248581 on 8tracks Radio.

Click here to like Tunes du Jour on Facebook!
Follow me on Twitter: @TunesDuJour

Winston + King

King Holiday

by with No Comment Uncategorized

Winston + King

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.

Click here to like Tunes du Jour on Facebook!

Winston + Natalie Cole 002

This Will Be A Natalie Cole Post

by with No Comment Uncategorized

Winston + Natalie Cole 002

In 1967, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences split the Grammy Awards category for Best Rhythm & Blues Solo Performance into two – one for men and one for women. The first recipient in the female category was Aretha Franklin, for “Respect.”

The 1968 winner of Best Rhythm & Blues Solo Performance, Female, was Aretha Franklin, for “Chain of Fools.”

The 1969 winner of Best Rhythm & Blues Solo Performance, Female, was Aretha Franklin, for “Share Your Love with Me.”

The 1970 winner of Best Rhythm & Blues Solo Performance, Female, was Aretha Franklin, for “Don’t Play That Song (You Lied).”

The 1971 winner of Best Rhythm & Blues Solo Performance, Female, was Aretha Franklin, for “Bridge over Troubled Water.”

The 1972 winner of Best Rhythm & Blues Solo Performance, Female, was Aretha Franklin, for Young, Gifted and Black.

The 1973 winner of Best Rhythm & Blues Solo Performance, Female, was Aretha Franklin, for “Master of Eyes.”

The 1974 winner of Best Rhythm & Blues Solo Performance, Female, was Aretha Franklin, for “Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing.”

The 1975 winner of Best Rhythm & Blues Solo Performance, Female, was Aret…wait! It was NOT Aretha. Who broke Ms. Franklin’s chain chain chain? It was a young singer named Natalie Cole, whose debut single, “This Will Be,” won her that Grammy and also earned her the award for Best New Artist, making Natalie the first African-American to win in that category.

“This Will Be” is one of my favorite records of all-time. The music is festive, as a song celebrating the discovery of an everlasting love should be. Cole’s performance is letter-perfect. The part where she sings “huggin’ and squeezin’ and kissin’ and pleasin’ together forever through rain or whatever” works me into a frenzy still, almost forty years later. In addition, the record is under three minutes, so there is not time to get sick of it. It ends while your heart is racing. If it came out two years later there likely would have been an extended version but it didn’t so there isn’t.

By the way, Aretha Franklin was not nominated for Best Rhythm & Blues Solo Performance, Female for 1975. After that year off, she returned to that category in 1976 with “Something He Can Feel.” She lost to Natalie Cole, who took home the award for “Sophisticated Lady (She’s a Different Lady).” Both women were again nominated for Best Rhythm & Blues Solo Performance, Female for 1977, but they lost to Thelma Houston. That’s one for another blog post.

Today Tunes du Jour celebrates Natalie Cole’s 64th birthday. Here are three of my favorite Cole performances.