Roy Head and the Enduring “Treat Her Right”
It's been month of loss in the music world: Toots Hibbert of Toots & The Maytals, Helen Reddy, Mac Davis, Eddie Van Halen. Each song and performance left an indelible mark on our collective musical consciousness. While he wasn't as famous as the above artists, Roy...
Charley Pride: Awards & Recognition
Next Wednesday night, at the 54th Annual Country Music Awards, Charley Pride, the genres first Black superstar, will receive the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award. In Pride’s 50+ year career, he’s had 29 number one Country hits, including his signature “Kiss An...
Do You Ever Want to “Turn Back the Hands of Time”?
Is it not enough that we have a major election in four days, in the midst of a Covid 19 pandemic, an economic meltdown, quarantine fatigue, upcoming holidays and more? No, it is not enough. The American public can take more. In addition to a weird Halloween without...
James Dean: “Too Fast to Live, Too Young to Die.”
On Sept. 30, 1955, when 24-year old James Dean crashed his Porche on a desolate stretch of freeway in California's Central Valley, a legend was born. He was poster-boy perfect for 50s teen angst: ruggedly handsome, moody, with a slight snarl in his smile, he ignited...
Dave Sholin’s Memory of John Lennon’s Last Day*
One of my favorite memories of that fateful day was giving John & Yoko a lift to the Record Plant before racing to JFK for my flight back to San Francisco. John and I connected on our mutual love for Elvis Presley--you can hear that Elvis "quiver" in John's voice...
Happy 60th Anniversary to “The Twist”
In 1958 Hank Ballard wrote and released "The Twist;" two years later Chubby Checker recorded it, taking it to the top of the Billboard Hot 100...twice (again in 1962), and it became a world wide sensation. Tomorrow is the 60th anniversary of that version--named by...
R.I.P.: Ronald Bell, Co-Founder, Kool & The Gang
If you are a Boomer, then it's very likely that you're familiar with "Celebration," Kool and the Gang's festive ode to fun and even more fun! From the 70s through the 80s, when R&B songs were Top 40 staples, Kool & the Gang were super-stars--their co founder,...
These Musicians Are Old(er) BUT They’ve Still Got It!
Motown had its "Funk Brothers" and the West Coast its "Wrecking Crew"-- the session playing super-musicians who contributed and helped craft many of the major pop hits of the 60's and early 70's. Now, it's time for another group of rock's premiere, all star-session...
Be There or Be Square: Sunday Night’s MTV Video Awards
Sunday night MTV airs their 37th annual Video Music Awards and one of the most awaited highlight is South Korean boy-band and K-pop phenom BTS, who'll showcase "Dynamite," their newest single. According to the Wall Street Journal, last week, when "Dynamite" was...