Sienna Spiro, a rising pop-soul singer from the UK is gaining attention on this side of the pond with her single, "Die on This Hill", The twenty year old has been performing and writing songs since she was ten, inspired by the records of her parents that included Frank Sinatra and Nina Simone and the hip-hop that was playing during her youth, dropping out of high school at sixteen to pursue music full time. As is common these days for aspiring musicians, Spiro posted clips of herself singing covers and original songs on social media. Two years ago, she released her first single, "Need Me". Spiro released more music and began performing around London, making an impression at the All Points East music festival. Last year, she released an EP, "Sink Now, Swim Later" on Capitol Records and went on tour throughout Britain. In October, the power ballad, "Die On This Hill", co-written by Spiro with Omer Fedi and Michael Pollack, was released and has gone on to become an international top-ten smash. Spiro is currently putting together her debut album and is in the middle of a headlining tour in the US.
Here is a round-up of new sounds that I'm listening to at the moment: "American Girls", the second single from Harry Styles' recently released album, "Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally"; Mary J Blige is back in fine form with a soulful ballad, "More Than a Lover"; Another single, "Ride" from Jessie Ware's upcoming sixth studio album, "Superbloom" is a shimmering dance track with the video featuring actor, James Norton; Bebe Rexha teams with Brit electro band, Faithless for a high energy, house track, "New Religion" and the first single by country artist, Kacey Musgraves, "Dry Spell" from her next album, "Middle of Nowhere" due out in May.
The sounds of classic disco, which enjoyed the height of its popularity during the mid-1970's, has climbed back up onto the current music charts. Donna Summer's 1978 version of Jimmy Webb's trippy ode to the Los Angeles site, "MacArthur Park" and Anita Ward's 1979 number one worldwide smash hit, "Ring My Bell" both recently made it back to the top ten of the iTunes music chart. Alysa Liu had skated to Summer’s song during the 2026 Winter Olympics and won the gold medal, helping this disco track receive rejuvenated popularity. A viral TikTok trend with "Ring My Bell" made sales and streaming of this song skyrocket this month. Ward, who went from schoolteacher to overnight disco star, only enjoyed success with this one song while Summer had a far more extensive and influential career before passing away in 2012, still known to the world as "The Queen of Disco". Let's get back on the dance floor and get lost in the beat of these songs with the entire seventeen minute epic version of the "MacArthur Park Suite" (which includes another charting single, "Heaven Knows") and Ward performing her hit on the British program, "Top of the Pops":
Diana Ross is one of our musical treasures who has still been quite active touring across the entire globe. But it has been a very long time since she has recorded any new music. That is about to change with the seventy-seven year old singer about to release her first new album (and twenty-fifth solo recording) in fifteen years called "Thank You" on Decca Records.
The album was recorded at Ross' home studio during lockdown last year with a very unexpected name involved in the production; Jack Antonoff, the musician turned producer behind the recent recordings of pop-rock artists like Taylor Swift, Lorde, St. Vincent and Lana Del Rey. He brought in some contemporary songwriters like Jimmy Napes, Tayla Parx and Spike Stent to help co-write this album. Miss Ross was also very involved with the creation of the project by co-writing all of the tracks, a rare feat by the artist. The title track has been released with the song being a warm message of gratitude to all of the people in her life and the fans throughout her career. "Thank You" is due out in September with a tour planned for next year.
DONNY OSMOND
Since the age of five, Donny Osmond has been an entertainer; first performing with his brothers in a pop act in the 1960's before going solo and becoming a teen idol, then teaming up with his younger sister, Marie for a popular television variety show. While his fame may have cooled, Osmond has remained very busy. He had a television talk show with Marie for three years beginning in the late '90's and then the duo headed to Vegas where they had an eleven year residency that ended in 2019. And he won the top prize of the reality show, "Dancing With The Stars" in 2009.
Osmond had never given up music over the years (returning to the US pop chart in 1989 with the number two hit, "Soldier of Love") but most of his efforts didn't receive much attention. But he has just signed with BMG for his first album in seven years, "Start Again" due out in September. The album's title was inspired by the sixty-three year old's constant reinvention and that involved him co-writing and producing his own album for the first time ever in his long career. The first single is "Who", a slick dance-pop tune that actually fits quite nicely in today's musical landscape. And Osmond will be returning to Las Vegas with a solo residency at Harrah's beginning on August 31st.
And there is the return of the Swedish dance artist, Agnes who will be releasing her fifth studio album after an eight year absence this fall. Her latest single is "24 Hours", a glittery blast of nu-disco that's about the dramatic changes we go through in life, moving through a wide range of emotions in a twenty-four journey.
Forty years ago, disco ruled the airwaves and during this week Lipps, Inc.'s "Funkytown" was on top of the pop charts. This single, which reached number one in an impressive twenty-eight different countries, held this spot for four weeks in the US and remains one of the songs that best represents this dance craze.
This band was created by Steven Greenberg who was a Minnesota musician who wanted to jump on the disco bandwagon. He managed to get the attention of Casablanca Records with his song, "Rock It" which had been a local hit. Greenberg was signed to the label, the song was released nationally and reached the top twenty on the US Disco chart which prompted Casablanca to allow him to make an album. He assembled several session musicians and vocalist, Cynthia Johnson to make up Lipps, Inc.
"Funkytown", from the debut album, "Mouth To Mouth", was an instant hit and would be the group's only charting pop song in America. The only other significant hit for Lipps, Inc was a dance cover of Ace's 1975 hit, "How Long" which charted in a few countries including the US Dance. After Lipps Inc.'s third album "Designer Music", Johnson left the band and was replaced by Margie Cox and Melanie Rosales. There would be a final album, "4" in 1983 before Lipps, Inc. disbanded two years later. Let's get lost in the carefree time of dancing in a disco with "Funky Town":
The Australian rock band, Pseudo Echo did a cover of "Funkytown" in 1986. While it was intended to be more of a fun spoof, this group's version would also became a major international smash, reaching number six in America and number one in their native country, just like the original version. This would be Pseudo Echo's only significant hit and as a bonus, here is their dance-rock take of "Funkytown":
I am sure everyone is familiar with the empowerment anthem, "I Will Survive" made famous by Gloria Gaynor back in 1978. It was released in the glory days of disco and has endured to become a true classic as it was inducted in to the National Recording Registry for preservation and was the only winner of the very short-lived Grammy Award for Best Disco Recording.
While many people love this popular song, I have to admit I've never been much of a fan. I do admire the reassuring lyrics but (and really no shade intended) I think that Gaynor's take of the song is just okay and actually tend to turn the channel when it’s playing on the radio.
There have been several interesting covers of "I Will Survive" that have been made over the years from Diana Ross to alt-rockers, Cake. But my favorite is by Chantay Savage. The r&b vocalist transformed it in to a moving ballad in 1996 and it became a modest success. This version made it to number twelve in the UK, peaked at number twenty-four on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and reached the top-five on the r&b/hip-hop chart.
What in the world would Neil Diamond and Jay-Z have in common? They have both had their music inducted into the National Recording Registry for 2019 with Diamond's first major hit single, "Sweet Caroline" and the hip-hop artist's landmark album, "The Blueprint" receiving this prestigious honor. There were a total of twenty-five recordings selected that have been added to the Library of Congress for their cultural and aesthetic significance. These works range from early phonographs of Yiddish songs from the beginning of the 20th Century to the classic Cab Calloway call and response jazz song, "Minnie The Moocher" to Nina Simone's angry protest to the senseless murders during the Civil Rights era with "Mississippi Goddam"; the original soundtracks to the Broadway musical, "Hair" and the blaxploitation crime drama, "Superfly" and to the glittering disco of "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" by Sylvester.
To be selected, the recordings must be at least ten years old and deemed "culturally, historically and aesthetically significant". The number selected for preservation has now reached 525 since 2002.
Here is the complete list of the twenty-five recordings being inducted in the 2019 National Recording Registry:
Yiddish Cylinders from the Standard Phonograph Company of New York and the Thomas Lambert Company (c. 1901-1905)
"Memphis Blues" (single) - Victor Military Band (1914)
Melville Jacobs Collection of Native Americans of the American Northwest (1929-1939)
"Minnie the Moocher" (single) - Cab Calloway (1931)
"Bach Six Cello Suites" (album) - Pablo Casals (c. 1939)
"They Look Like Men of War" (single) - Deep River Boys (1941)
"Gunsmoke" — Episode: "The Cabin" (Dec. 27, 1952)
"Ruth Draper: Complete recorded monologues" - Ruth Draper (1954-1956)
"La Bamba" (single) - Ritchie Valens (1958)
"Long Black Veil" (single) - Lefty Frizzell (1959)
"Stan Freberg Presents the United States of America, Vol. 1: The Early Years" (album) - Stan Freberg (1961)
"GO" (album) - Dexter Gordon (1962)
"War Requiem" (album) - Benjamin Britten (1963)
"Mississippi Goddam" (single) - Nina Simone (1964)
"Soul Man" (single) - Sam & Dave (1967)
"Hair" (original Broadway cast recording) (1968)
Speech on the Death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by Robert F. Kennedy (April 4, 1968)
"Sweet Caroline" (single) - Neil Diamond (1969)
"Superfly" (album) - Curtis Mayfield (1972)
"Ola Belle Reed" (album) - Ola Belle Reed (1973)
"September" (single) - Earth, Wind & Fire (1978)
"You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" (single) - Sylvester (1978)
"She’s So Unusual" (album) - Cyndi Lauper (1983)
"Schoolhouse Rock!: The Box Set" (1996)
"The Blueprint" (album) - Jay-Z (2001)
I have said that I've never been a huge country music fan but I can say that I have become a big fan of Kacey Musgraves. The twenty-nine year old singer from Mineola, TX. hardly does what would be considered "traditional" country as she embraces classic pop, alt-rock, electronica and even a little disco which has been slyly blended in to her sound. Since the beginning of her career, Musgraves has never played it safe as she has fearlessly tackled subjects like drug-use, one-night stands and same-sex love in her songs which is hardly standard country music fare.
I had heard a lot of good buzz about her fourth studio album, "Golden Hour" that was released back in March but only recently took the time to actually listen to it. And I'm so upset I didn't get to enjoy this incredible record sooner. Musgraves met her future husband, Rustin Kelly while writing the album and the budding romance is reflected in "Golden Hour". The track, "Butterflies" was written with Kelly in mind and the rest of the album is filled with more love songs than usual for the singer. Here are the music videos for a couple of Musgraves' singles:
Here are a few new songs I'm digging right now:
And we close with the latest single from Ariana Grande. While I think "God Is a Woman"(which will be on her upcoming third album, "Sweetener") is okay, it's the music video for the song that I find absolutely breathtaking. The clip is directed by music video veteran, Dave Meyers and incorporates vibrant visual imagery of the cosmos and mythology with Grande interacting with it. And if that female voice sounds familiar during the spoken monologue, it should. It is none other than the Queen of Pop, Madonna who recites a slightly revised part of the bible verse that was spoken by Jules in "Pulp Fiction":
Music and fashion comes together in the most fabulous way with Tom Ford presenting his spring/summer 2016 collection in the form of a music video. The designer enlisted the one and only Lady Gaga (who will be displaying glamour and terror in the new season of "American Horror Story" starting on October 7th) and teamed her with producer Nile Rodgers to do a cover of the disco classic "I Want Your Love", a top-ten hit by his band, Chic back in 1979. Directed by Brit photographer, Nick Knight, the clip was inspired by the line dance on "Soul Train" with Gaga and models strutting on the dance floor while showing off the clothes of Ford's next collection. It's the perfect combination and a wild collaboration. Take a look:
I've been having disco fever ever since I had done a post about Chic, one of the super groups of that time. I was just a mere teenager at the height of the disco era, around 1978 and 1979, so I wasn't able to go out and get my groove on out on the dance floor. I had to sadly settle for just listening to the music at home.
I loved disco and never understood the hostility to the music during the whole "Disco Sucks" phase but the music seemed to disappear from radio overnight. The reality is that disco didn't go anywhere. The sound just evolved and it is now known as "dance" which is even more popular today. The sound incorporates house, electronic and hip-hop.
So here are a few classic disco tunes to enjoy and brighten up your day:
"Super Nature" - Cerrone (1977)
"Shake Your Groove Thing" - Peaches & Herb (1978)
"Dance (Disco Heat)" - Sylvester (1978)
"I Love The Nightlife (Disco 'Round)" - Alicia Bridges (1978)
"Dance With Me" - Peter Brown (1978)
"Get Off" - Foxy (1978)
"Knock On Wood" - Amii Stewart (1979)
"Lost In Music" - Sister Sledge (1979)
"Good Times" - Chic (1979)
Here is a new music video from The Young Professionals (TYP) for their song " D.I.S.C.O." that perfectly captures the crazy fun and carefree spirit of the glory days of disco:
Anita Baker was born in Toledo, Ohio in 1958 and her family later relocated to Detroit, Michigan. As a child, she sang in a gospel choir and as a teenager, Anita performed in several singing groups. Shortly after completing high school, she was asked to join Chapter 8, a popular local r&b group that just signed with Ariola Records. They recorded one self-titled album which was released in 1979 with a couple of singles received some local radio play. Ariola Records later became a part of Arista Records but the executives at the label dropped Chapter 8 because they were not at all impressed with Ms Baker as a vocalist.
Discouraged and humiliated, Anita Baker decided to leave the music business and she got a job as an administrative assistant in a lawyer's office. Otis Smith, a record executive who had worked with Chapter 8, approached Ms Baker about recording a solo album on his new label, Beverly Glen Records in California. Reluctantly, she flew to Los Angeles, made the record and "The Songstress" was released in 1983. The album lacked polish but showed great potential, however, there were two highlights; "No More Tears" and "Angel" (which she co-wrote). Both songs received heavy airplay on Black radio and created some well-deserved buzz for the young singer. Electra Records became very interested in her and signed Ms Baker to the label in 1985.
"Rapture" was released the following year on her new label. She wrote or co-wrote half of the album and teamed-up with former Chapter 8 member, Michael J. Powell to produce the project. The first single, "Watch Your Step" didn't get much play on r&b radio but it was the next single that would completely alter her career.
"Sweet Love" became a huge hit, peaking at number two on the r&b chart and reaching number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Three more singles, "(Caught Up In The) Rapture", "No One in the World"(which filmmaker, Spike Lee directed the music video) and "Same Ole Love " became major hits and "Rapture" would go on to sell over eight million copies worldwide. Anita Baker would win the first two of her eight Grammy Awards for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female and Best R&B Song for "Sweet Love".
Her follow-up album, "Giving You The Best That I Got" was released in 1988 and went straight to number one on the album charts with the title track making it to number three on the pop chart as well as topping the r&b and adult contemporary and would eventually sell over five million copies. With "Compositions" in 1990, Ms Baler became even more involved in the song writing and production while she began to experiment even further with jazz in her music although the album didn't end up being nearly as popular as her previous works.
After releasing the more commercially successful, "Rhythm of Life" in 1994 and touring to support the album, Anita decided to take some time off to raise her two young sons and spend more time with her husband. It was not until 2004, that Anita Baker signed with the Jazz label, Blue Note Records and released her first album in ten years. Fans were very happy for her return as "My Everything" debuted at number four on the album chart and number one on the r&b. It has sold over half a million copies and she released her first holiday album, "Christmas Fantasy" the following year. Rumor has it that Ms Baker is working on a new album that hopefully will be completed very soon.
Anita married Walter Bridgforth Jr. in 1988 and they have two sons, Walter and Edward but the couple separated in 2007
This is the song that began her career:
"Sweet Love" - Anita Baker (1986)
"PARALLEL LINES" - BLONDIE (1978)
In New York City in 1973, Chris Stein joined the punk rock band, The Stilettos as the guitar player. He started dating the group's vocalist, Deborah Harry and in 1974, they left The Stilettos and started their own band with drummer, Billy O'Connor and bassist, Fred Smith. They were first called Angel and the Snakes but by 1975 after a personnel change with a new drummer, Clem Burke, bassist, Gary Valentine and added on keyboards, Jimmy Destri, the band was renamed, Blondie which came from what guys on the street would yell at Ms Harry to try and get her attention.
Blondie performed regularly at the clubs, Max's Kansas City and CBGB before they landed their first recording contract with Private Stock Records in 1976. Blondie released a single, "X-Offender" and their self-titled debut album later that year.Chrysalis Records wanted to sign the band, so they bought out their recording contract and re-released their debut in 1977. The band's first taste of success came when an Australian music television show, "Countdown" played, in error, the B-side of "X-Offender", "In The Flesh" and the song ended up becoming a top five single there in addition to the album.
Gary Valentine left Blondie before the recording of their follow-up album, so they continued on as a foursome. "Plastic Letters" was released in 1978 with the first single, "Denis", a cover of the 1963 Randy andthe Rainbows song, becoming a hit in Britain, reaching number two on the singles chart and the following single, "(I'm Always Touched By Your) Presence,Dear" also reached the top ten. Blondie enjoyed a successful tour in the U.K. with Frank Infante and Nigel Harrison joining as the new bass guitarists.
"Parallel Lines" was Blondie's third release and three is always a charm. The first couple of singles, "Picture This" and "Hanging On The Telephone" made it to Britain's top ten on the pop chart but it was the third, "Heart of Glass" that made the band a global sensation. This song's timing as a new wave-disco hybrid couldn't have been better as it reached number one in eight countries including the U.S. Some critics complained that the band had sold-out, abandoning their punk roots for pop success but Blondie never completely left their original sound, they just experimented and pushed it forward.
"Eat To The Beat", Blondie's next album in 1979, combined pop, punk, funk, rock and reggae with it becoming another major seller but it was their next song, which was never actually on a Blondie album, that would become the band's biggest seller. Blondie teamed-up with producer, Giorgio Moroder, best known for his work with the Queen of Disco, Donna Summer, to do "Call Me", a song for the film, "American Gigolo". It was another world-wide smash and sold over a million copies.
1980 brought Blondie's fifth album, "Autoamerican" which featured two big number one hits; "The Tide Is High", a remake of a 1965 reggae hit by The Paragons and "Rapture" which is considered to be the first number one song to include the new musical genre, rap. After this album, Blondie decided to take a break and various members released solo projects, including Deborah Harry's solo album, "Koo Koo".
Blondie came back in 1982 with "The Hunter" but the album was a critical and commercial failure. Due to personal issues, financial stress, drug use and Chris Stein being diagnosed with a rare skin disease, pemphigus, Blondie disbanded by the end of that year. Deborah Harry had a moderately successful solo career but she did take several years off to care for Stein. The couple ended their relationship some time after Stein recovered from his illness.
In 1996, Chris Stein and Deborah Harry worked towards reuniting Blondie. Clem Burke, Jimmy Destri and original bassist, Gary Valentine agreed and did several live performances before recording a new album, "No Exit" which came out in 1999 although Valentine had dropped out of the band again by this point. Former members, Nigel Harrison and Frank Infante did not participate and unsuccessfully tried to sue to stop the band from using the name, "Blondie". The foursome released another album in 2003, "The Curse of Blondie" before Destri left the band to deal with his drug addiction. The other three original members still tour as Blondie and have just released a new album this year, "Panic of Girls"
Blondie has sold over forty million albums and were inducted in to The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2006.
This is Blondie's breakthrough song:
"Heart Of Glass" - Blondie (1978)
This is the video for the first single, "Backfired" from Deborah Harry's debut album which happens to be written and produced by Chic's Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers:
And here is the latest music video for the single, "Mother" off the band's latest album:
"CHIC" - CHIC (1977)
Guitarist, Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards, a bass player first met in 1970 during a recording session in New York City. They decided to form a rock band together, first called, The Boys and later, The Big Apple and the duo played around the city. Tony Thompson was added to the group as a drummer and he recommended Raymond Jones to play on keyboards. The group wanted to add a female vocalist, so they hired Norma Jean Wright although she insisted that she be allowed to continue to pursue her solo career.
The new group, renamed Chic, worked on some demos and based on those recordings, were signed to Atlantic Records in 1977. The self-titled debut album (with a young Luther Vandross providing background vocals) was released later that year with the first single, "Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)" becoming a hit, going to number six on the pop and r&b charts and their first number one on the dance (but then named, disco) chart. The next single, "Everybody Dance" also did well, reaching the top forty.
Luci Martin, a friend of Norma Jean Wright, was added as a vocalist to the group as Edwards and Rodgers felt it was necessary in order to properly recreate their sound while touring. After the success of that first album, Norma Jean released her own self-titled debut solo album in 1978 which was written and produced by the men behind Chic. The record was only a very modest success but it did create a problem because of the terms of her solo recording contract, Ms Wright was forced to end her participation with Chic. Alfa Anderson, who had done background vocals on Chic's first album, replaced Ms Wright.
Chic's next album, "C'est Chic" was released in 1978 during the height of the disco music craze. The first single, "Le Freak", which Edwards and Rodgers came up with after they were refused entry in to the exclusive disco, Studio 54 on New Year's Eve in 1977, became a world-wide, chart-topping smash and one of their most popular songs, selling six million copies alone. "I Want Your Love" would also become a top ten hit and the album became a million seller.
"Risque" was Chic's third album ,which featured another huge number one hit, "Good Times" in 1979. This song has become one of the most sampled in music history with the most notable being "Rapper's Delight" by The Sugarhill Gang which is considered to be the first commercially successful rap songs.
With all of their success, Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers became in-demand producers and would write and produce other disco classics for such artists as Sister Sledge ("We Are Family") and Diana Ross ("Upside Down").
Because of the anti-disco backlash, Chic's music fell out of favor and had difficulty getting radio play. After their 1983 album, "Believer", Chic disbanded but Edwards and Rodgers continued to write and produce for a wide variety of artists, together and individually, such as David Bowie, Madonna, Robert Palmer, Duran Duran and Deborah Harry's first solo album.
In 1989, Edwards and Rodgers decided to reunite Chic, although this version featured mostly new members, and they recorded an album, "Chic-ism" which was released in 1992. While touring with the band in Japan, Bernard Edwards died of pneumonia at the age of forty-three in 1996.
Nile Rodgers was diagnosed with cancer in 2010 but received treatment and has recovered. He still tours with Chic and has just released, this month, his autobiography entitled, "Le Freak: An Upside Down Story of Family, Disco and Destiny" and currently going around the country to promote it.
Chic has not been properly recognized for it's influential sound and their contribution to music as they have never won a Grammy Award and they have been nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame seven times but still has not been inducted.
This is a sample of the great music that Edwards and Rodgers created:
