Inspired by the passing of Little Richard and the May 9 birthdays of Ghostface Killah, Sam & Dave’s Dave Prater, Depeche Mode’s Dave Gahan, Billy Joel, Andrew W.K., Hank Snow, The Housemartins/The Beautiful South’s Paul Heaton, The Crickets’ Sonny Curtis, The Ventures’ Nokie Edwards, Cyrkle’s Don Dannemann, Clint Holmes and Tommy Roe.
Here in California, our governor has ordered all beaches to remain closed to curtail the spread of the coronavirus. Orange County Supervisor Don Wagner disagrees, arguing that going to a beach is good for one’s health. Said Wagner “Medical professionals tell us the importance of fresh air and sunlight in fighting infectious diseases.” Mr. Wagner believes that air and sunlight cannot be found anywhere in Orange County except on crowded beaches. He seems smart.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters said Joe Biden “has no appeal to anybody.” Interesting. Biden has no appeal to anybody, and yet he received more votes than all of the other candidates vying to be the Democratic nominee for president of the United States. Someone needs some education. Perhaps Waters should run for office. I suggest Orange County Supervisor.
Today’s playlist is inspired by the May 2 birthdays of Lily Allen, Foreigner’s Lou Gramm, Lesley Gore, Hot Hot Heat’s Steve Bays, The Vaccines’ Justin Hayward-Young, Shannon, Kevin Morby, Little Sister’s Vet Stewart, Engelbert Humperdinck, Link Wray, David McAlmont, Blow Monkeys’ Dr. Robert, and Broadway lyricist Lorenz Hart.
Inspired by the April 15 birthdays of The Black Keys’ Patrick Carney, Dave Edmunds, Margo Price, Bessie Smith, Samantha Fox, and 4 Non-Blondes’ Linda Perry.
Inspired by the April 20 birthdays of A Tribe Called Quest’s Q-Tip, The Spinners’ Bobby Smith, Eels’ E, Stray Cats’ Brian Setzer, Maren Morris, The Flamingos’ Nate Nelson, Katrina Leskanich, Sheb Wooley, and Poor Righteous Teachers’ Wise Intelligent.
Inspired by the April 9 birthdays of Tom Lehrer, Carl Perkins, My Chemical Romance’s Gerard Way, Jazmine Sullivan, Lil Nas X, Paul Robeson and Paper Lace’s Phil Wright.
Inspired by the April 5 birthdays of ABBA’s Agnetha Faltskog, Pharrell Williams, The Hollies’ Allan Clarke, The Platters’ Tony Williams, Three 6 Mafia’s Juicy J, Wall of Voodoo’s Stan Ridgway, Paula Cole, Crispian St. Peters and Bette Davis.
Inspired by the March 2 birthdays of Lou Reed, Wu-Tang Clan’s Method Man, Karen Carpenter, Coldplay’s Chris Martin, Jay Osmond, Boogie Down Productions’ Scott La Rock, Missing Persons’ Dale Bozzio, Musical Youth’s Dennis Seaton, UTFO’s Doctor Ice, the Kooks’ Luke Pritchard, and composer Kurt Weill (“Mack the Knife”).
Inspired by the February 23 birthdays of Japan’s David Sylvian, Josh Gad, Howard Jones and Broadway composer Robert Lopez; the February 22 birthdays of Sublime’s Brad Nowell, Marni Nixon, Ernie K-Doe, Bobby Hendricks, Oliver and Guy Mitchell; and the February 21 birthdays of Nina Simone, Mary Chapin Carpenter and Manic Street Preachers’ James Dean Bradfield.
I just thought of a great line to use in an improv scene I was in six years ago. I wish I could turn back time (not intending to quote a song title from birthday boy R. Kelly there) and use it. Ironically, the scene was about traveling back in time. I won’t tell you more about it, because describing an improv scene is .00003% as much fun as watching the improv scene, and this scene was no great shakes to start with, though with the addition of the line I just thought of its shakes would be .07% greater.
Today’s playlist begins with songs from two music legends with birthdays today – Elvis Presley and David Bowie. It’s also Little Anthony’s birthday, which led me to lean heavily toward oldies from the early days of rock and roll. Dame Shirley Bassey also celebrates her birthday today, so I threw in a couple of joints from her catalogue. i opted to not include any R. Kelly songs in the playlist, though Mary J. Blige and Erykah Badu are representing 90s r&b.
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In 1979, President Jimmy Carter declared June Black Music Month. In 2016, President Barack Obama, who recognized the month as African-American Music Appreciation Month, said the music of African-American artists helped the country “to dance, to express our faith through song, to march against injustice, and to defend our country’s enduring promise of freedom and opportunity for all.” Today’s Tunes du Jour playlist embodies that sentiment.
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