MARIANNE FAITHFULL (1946 - 2025)

Marianne Faithfull, the British pop chanteuse who found fame in the 1960's before succumbing to drug addiction then recovering and making a comeback in the late '70's, has passed away on January 30th at the age of seventy-eight. She began her career with a melodic, high-registered voice but after contracting severe laryngitis along with years of drug abuse, Faithfull was left with a singing voice that was lower pitched and raspy. The singer had suffered from numerous ailments throughout her life and recently contracted COVID-19 in 2020, causing pneumonia and was hospitalized for three weeks. After recovering, she continued to struggle with breathing issues and memory loss.

The London born Faithfull began performing folk music in bars and cafes. But her career would shift considerably after attending a party for the Rolling Stones in 1964. She met the Stones producer, Andrew Loog Oldham there and, taken in by the beauty and presence of this eighteen year old, offered her a chance to record. Oldham gave her a new song that he, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards had written and "As Tears Go By" would become a top-ten pop hit in the UK (the Stones would record their own hit version a year later) for Faithfull. She would follow this with several more popular singles in Britain. 

In 1965, Faithfull met artist, John Dunbar which was quickly followed by them getting married and having a son, Nicholas not long after. But a love affair with Jagger began the following year with Faithfull leaving her husband and child behind. The beautiful, glamourous couple best represented the free spirit of the mod '60's. Faithfull would continue to make music and would appear in several films including "The Girl on a Motorcycle" and "Hamlet". But by the time their relationship had ended five years later, Faithfull was homeless and addicted to heroin.

After getting herself clean and sober, Faithfull attempted a musical comeback. She released a country album, "Dreamin' My Dreams" in 1976 which didn't get much notice. But four years later, Faithfull teamed up with musician Barry Reynolds who helped produce some demos with her. The results got the attention of Chris Blackwell who signed her to his record label, Island Records. "Broken English" was released in 1979 with Faithfull's voice noticeably different sounding yet still very emotive. The album, which was a collection of new wave with elements of punk and reggae, received critical acclaim and giving Faithfull a first nomination of a Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance.

Faithfull would continue on with her music career, experimenting with sounds, recording albums that featured jazz, blues, standards, modern rock. She even re-recorded her first hit "As Tears Go By" in 1987 which was a more wistful and weathered version. Faithfull recorded twenty-one albums during her career with her last in 2021, "She Walks in Beauty" where she collaborated with Australian multi-instrumentalist, Warren Ellis. They had started this project of British romantic poetry set to music the year before but had to wait until Faithfull recovered from COVID to complete.

RANDOM SIGHTS + SOUNDS

Here is a round-up of new music I'm feeling right now: Khalid and Normani team-up again (following their 2018 hit release, "Love Lies") for the latest single off the deluxe edition of his third album, "Sincere"; the new dance-charged song from Olly Alexander of Years and Years; the quirky sounds of the indie band, Japanese Breakfast and the first single from their upcoming fourth album; Sky Ferreira has finally resurfaced with a contribution to the soundtrack of Nicole Kidman's erotic thriller, "Babygirl" with an electro-rocker, "Leash"; the teaming of two of the hottest artists in hip-hop right now, GloRilla and Sexyy Red; and Adam Lambert is currently on Broadway appearing in the latest revival of the musical, "Cabaret" as the MC and has released his version of the torch song, "I Don't Care" from the show.













And here is a tribute to some music artists we have recently lost:

Brenton Wood, the r&b vocalist and songwriter best known for "The Oogum Boogum Song" and "Gimme Little Sign", passed away on January 3rd. He was born Alfred Jesse Smith in Shreveport, LA but grew up in San Pedro, CA. After deciding to pursue a career in music, he changed his name to "Brenton Wood" and broke through with the novelty song, "Oogum Boogum" he had written in 1967. It cracked the top-forty on the US pop chart and reached number nineteen on the soul chart. Wood would have an even bigger hit later that year with the follow-up, "Gimme Little Sign", becoming a top-ten hit in four countries. These two singles would remain the major highlight of Wood's long career as he continued making music throughout the following years. At eighty-three, Wood had embarked on what was planned as a final tour last year but became ill in May, forcing him to put the rest of the tour on pause.

Alfa Anderson, one of the vocalist for the disco group, Chic and later an educator, has died on December 17th at the age of seventy-eight. She first got into the music business performing background vocals for a variety of artists. Fellow back-up musician and friend, Luther Vandross helped get Anderson work during the recording sessions of a new dance music group created by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards. They both worked on the band's 1977 self-titled debut, "Chic" and are heard on the background of the hit singles, "Dance, Dance, Dance" and "Everybody Dance". Following one of the original lead singers, Norma Jean Wright leaving the group, Anderson was asked to replace her. Along with fellow lead vocalist, Luci Martin, Chic would go on to have many more hits, including the number-one disco smashes, "Le Freak" and "Good Times" and the top ten hit "I Want Your Love" which Anderson performed the lead vocals. Anderson also worked on other Rodgers and Edwards productions at the time for Sister Sledge and Diana Ross. When Chic came to an end in 1983, Anderson continued to work providing background vocals for other musicians during recordings and on tour.

And Sam Moore, one half of the dynamic soul duo, Sam & Dave, passed away on January 10th at the age of eighty-nine. With Dave Prater (who died in 1988), they performed together for about twenty years from 1961 to 1981 and considered one of the greatest live acts of the 1960s. They were best known for bringing the sounds of the black gospel church to pop music with their call-and-response records which included such hits as "Hold On, I'm Comin'", "I Thank You", "When Something Is Wrong with My Baby", "Wrap It Up" and "Soul Man". Moore and Prater met while each was performing individually working the gospel music circuit. After later singing together at a small nightclub, Sam & Dave officially became an r&b act. They signed with several record labels, finding moderate success but it wasn't until they met producer, Jerry Wexler of Atlantic Records that Sam & Dave would go to the next level. Recording with Stax Records (which Atlantic was distributing nationally), Sam & Dave broke through with "You Don't Know Like I Know" (written and produced by newcomers, Isaac Hayes and David Porter) which hit number seven on the US soul chart in 1966. "Hold On, I'm Comin'" reached number one on the soul chart and crossed over to the pop chart, making it to the top-twenty, that same year. The duo would make their final stage appearance together on New Year's Eve, 1981 in San Francisco. Moore went to work as a solo artist performing and recording throughout the following decades, recently appearing on Bruce Springsteen's 2022 soul covers album, "Only the Strong Survive", duetting on two songs.