RANDOM SIGHTS + SOUNDS

On the verge of beginning her highly anticipated Celebration Tour which celebrates forty-plus years of making music, Madonna has been busy teaming up with several contemporary musicians for some new music that has all just been released. First, the Queen of Pop appears on "Popular", a song by Abel "The Weeknd" Tesfaye and also features Playboi Carti for the soundtrack of the buzzy new HBO series, "The Idol" which stars Tesfaye and Lily-Rose Depp. Madonna lends her voice for three songs on the new album by Christine and the Queens, "Paranoïa, Angels, True Love". And finally, there is "Vulgar" which Madonna collaborates with Sam Smith on a boldly unapologetic yet disappointingly routine dance track that proudly  proclaims the merits of being fearlessly outspoken.







June is Pride month and what better soundtrack for this celebration than getting your hands on "NOW! That's What I Call Proud!", the latest installment in the compilation album series, "NOW! That's What I Call Music!". What makes this edition stand out is that all the artists involved are out and proud: We have the legendary trailblazers (Elton John, k.d. Lang, Melissa Ethridge, George Michael) and the next generation who were able to begin their careers openly because of these pioneers (Sam Smith, Troye Sivan, Hayley Kiyoko, Lil Nas X). Here are a few of the classic songs on this collection:

Best known for the recording of "The Girl From Ipanema", the Brazilian singer, Astrud Gilberto has passed away at eighty-three on June 5th. This song would become an international hit, helping to popularize bossa nova, reaching the top five on the US Billboard Hot 100 and winning the Grammy Award for Record of the Year in 1965. Astrud Weinert married musician, João Gilberto, who would later be known as the "Father of Bossa Nova", in 1959. João teamed up with American jazz musician, Stan Getz and released the album, "Getz/Gilberto" in 1963. "The Girl From Ipanema" was first recorded for the album as a duet between Gilberto, singing in Portuguese, and his wife performing in English. An edited version of the song with just Astrud was released, becoming very popular and went on to sell over a million copies. Infidelity would bring an end to the marriage of the Gilbertos by 1964 but Astrud continued her career, releasing a self-titled debut album the following year. Gilberto went on to record fifteen studio albums with songs in various languages which impressively included Spanish, German, Italian, French and Japanese. And although she never officially retired, Gilberto said she was taking some time off after the release of her 2002 album. "Jungle" which would become her final recording.

And Cynthia Weil, one half of the songwriting team with her husband, Barry Mann based at the famous Brill Building who together helped shaped the sound of rock & roll throughout the 1960's with many popular songs, died at the age of eighty-two on June 1st. Born in New York City, Weil had studied to be an actor and dancer but not long after marrying Mann in 1961, she discovered her skill at writing pop songs. "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'", "(You're My) Soul and Inspiration", "On Broadway", "Walking in The Rain", "Just a Little Lovin' (Early in the Morning)" and "We Gotta Get Out of This Place" are just a few of the early hits that were written by this songwriting duo. The couple would write as individuals, with other partners as well as team up together with other songwriters. Other popular songs Weil would later be involved in creating included "Just Once", "Never Gonna Let You Go"," He's So Shy", "Here You Come Again", "All I Need To Know" and "Somewhere Out There" for the animated film, "An American Tail" which won the team (along with co-writer, James Horner) the 1986 Song of The Year Grammy Award. With her husband, Weil was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1987 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010.