WHATEVER'S CLEVER

Charlie Puth has been around making music since 2011 after getting a record deal from his growing popularity posting himself singing covers on YouTube. His first single, "Marvin Gaye", that pays tribute to the Motown legend, was a duet with Meghan Trainor in 2015. And while the song was a popular in several countries, this doo-wop styled track was savaged by many music critics and even found its way on Worst Song of the Year lists.

Puth managed to rebound spectacularly by co-writing, producing, and providing vocals on Wiz Khalifa's single "See You Again" for the soundtrack of the film, "Furious 7". This song, which is in honor of actor, Paul Walker who had died before filming and had been a star in this movie franchise, spent twelve non-consecutive weeks atop the US Billboard Hot 100, received three nominations at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards, a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Song and was the best selling-song of 2015 worldwide.

Puth went on to release his debut album, "Nine Track Mind" which achieved great success as well as his following albums, "Voicenotes" in 2018 and "Charlie" in 2022. And while these albums and the singles went high on the charts and he received more award recognition, I must admit I wasn't overly impressed by his music, finding much of his work far too colorless for my taste.

Now the thirty-four year old New Jersey native has captured my attention with his just released fourth studio album, "Whatever's Clever". Puth has stated that he had charged his approach on how he created his music, opening himself to reveal more and put a personal touch into his songs. And I think it shows with the album feeling far more authentic and I'm able to make more of a connection to him as an artist. Inspired by the easy listening sounds of the 1980's, specifically what is currently being defined as "yacht rock", Puth teamed up with Michael Tucker, who is better known as BloodPop, to co-write and produce this album. "Whatever's Clever" is loaded with guest musicians that range from soft rock pioneers, Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins, jazz-pop star, Kenny G; Japanese pop artist, Hikaru Utada and contemporary r&b vocalists, Ravyn Lenae and Coco Jones. The album closes with the brutally honest, guitar driven ballad, "I Used To be Cringe" where Puth acknowledges that he tried a bit too hard to fit in as his idea of a musician. But with "Whatever's Clever", I think it's clear he has evolved, letting loose and allowing himself to go much deeper as a musical artist.

Puth had previewed a few tracks from the album during a four-night stand at Blue Note Jazz Club in New York late last year and did a follow-up residency at the recently opened Blue Note in Los Angeles. He plans on hitting the road on a world tour that will begin on April 22nd in San Diego and ending in Warsaw, Poland by July.

TAKE TWO: MELISSA MANCHESTER

Melissa Manchester has achieved great success as a pop vocalist with several hits songs over the years but it is her tremendous gift as a songwriter that will be her enduring legacy.

She was born and raised in the Bronx with music in her blood as her father was a bassoonist for the NY Metropolitan Opera. Manchester began singing as a child and learned how to play the piano while attending the Manhattan School of Music. By fifteen, she was singing on commercial jingles. Manchester began performing in clubs around the city which lead to a chance encounter with Barry Manilow, who was Bette Midler's producer and musical director at the time. She would be asked to become one of the original members of The Harlettes, Midler's bawdy back-up singers in 1971. Manchester stayed for a year before moving on to pursue a solo recording career.

Manchester was signed to Arista Records and released her debut, "Home To Myself" in 1973. But it would be her third album, "Melissa" when the singer had her breakthrough with the single, "Midnight Blue" (which she co-wrote with her long-time collaborator, Carole Bayer Sager) with this ballad reaching number six on the US pop chart in 1975. It would be a few more years before Manchester reached the charts in a major way again with her version of Peter Allen and Carole Bayer Sager's ballad, "Don't Cry Out Loud" from her album of the same name in 1978. This single reached number ten on the charts and would earn Manchester her first Grammy nomination for Best Pop Female Vocal Performance.

By 1980, Manchester was unhappy with the label and sued to get out of her recording contract. But Arista and the singer would come to terms and she teamed with producer, Arif Mardin for her tenth album, "Hey Ricky" in 1982. With a radical makeover of her image and sound, Manchester had a smash hit with the synth-pop song, "You Should Hear How She Talks About You". This dance track would become the highest charting of her career (reaching number five) and would win Manchester a Grammy for Best Pop Female Vocal Performance that year.

Manchester would write and perform many songs for film soundtracks throughout her career which includes "Ice Castles" (1979), "Out of Africa" (1986), "The Great Mouse Detective" (1986) and "For Colored Girls" (2007). She would co-write with Kenny Loggins the song, "Whenever I Call You Friend". This would be big hit for him and Stevie Nicks in 1978 and Manchester would record her own version the following year. Another song written by Manchester and Bayer Sager in 1976, "Come In From The Rain" went on to become a popular ballad which has been covered by countless artists over the years.

The now sixty-nine year old Manchester continues to perform and record with her last album in 2017, "The Fellas", a collection that pays musical tribute to some iconic male vocalists. She also released a single, "A Better Rainbow" in 2018. Listen to two of my favorite songs from Melissa Manchester:

2018 NATIONAL RECORDING REGISTRY

"My Girl", the classic Motown love song by the Temptations, has surprisingly just been added to the National Recording Registry this year. This number one tune, written by Smokey Robinson and his Miracles band mate, Ronald White back in 1964, is just one of twenty-five important recordings that will be preserved by the Library of Congress. A few other surprise additions that I thought would have already occurred are the beloved soundtrack to the 1965 Best Picture Oscar winner, "The Sound of Music";  the recording of a song most associated with singer, Tony Bennett, "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" and "Rumours", one of the biggest selling albums of all-time by the rock band, Fleetwood Mac.

Since 2002, the Library of Congress have selected sound recordings that are culturally, historically, or aesthetically important that informs or reflect life in the United States. The selections will feature a wide range of music, commentaries, radio programs, comedy albums and speeches. To date, there are now 500 recordings placed in the National Recording Registry.

Here is the complete list of the twenty-five recordings being inducted in the 2018 National Recording Registry:

“Dream Melody Intermezzo: Naughty Marietta” (single) - Victor Herbert and his Orchestra (1911)

Standing Rock Preservation Recordings - George Herzog and Members of the Yanktoni Tribe (1928)

“Lamento Borincano” (single) - Canario y Su Grupo (1930)

“Sitting on Top of the World” (single) - Mississippi Sheiks (1930)



"The Complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas" (album) - Artur Schnabel (1932-1935)

“If I Didn’t Care” (single) - The Ink Spots (1939)



Proceedings of the United Nations Conference on International Organization - (4/25/45-6/26/45)

“Folk Songs of the Hills” (album) - Merle Travis (1946)

“How I Got Over” (single) - Clara Ward and the Ward Singers (1950)



“(We’re Gonna) Rock Around the Clock” (single) - Bill Haley and His Comets (1954)



“Calypso” (album) - Harry Belafonte (1956)

“I Left My Heart in San Francisco” (single) - Tony Bennett (1962)



“King Biscuit Time” (radio) - Sonny Boy Williamson II and others (1965)

“My Girl” (single) - The Temptations (1964)

“The Sound of Music” (soundtrack) - Various Artists (1965)



“Alice’s Restaurant Massacree” (single) - Arlo Guthrie (1967)

“New Sounds in Electronic Music” (album) - Steve Reich, Richard Maxfield & Pauline Oliveros (1967)

“An Evening with Groucho” (album) - Groucho Marx (1972)

“Rumours” (album) - Fleetwood Mac (1977)

“The Gambler” (single) - Kenny Rogers (1978)



“Le Freak” (single) - Chic (1978)



“Footloose” (single) - Kenny Loggins (1984)



“Raising Hell” (album) - Run-DMC (1986)

“Rhythm Is Gonna Get You” (single) - Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine (1987)



“Yo-Yo Ma Premieres: Concertos for Violoncello and Orchestra” (album) - Various artists (1996)

EDM + POP

EDM (or "electronic dance music") has slowly become a dominant force in pop music over the last few years. At first, these musicians would discover their own vocalists to sing on their dance tracks which in turn created new pop music stars. And as soon as these DJ/producers found amazing success on the charts, established artists began seeking out this talent to help them create their music. Now these EDM artists are attempting to expand their sound, merging with different genres of music to create something fresh.

Calvin Harris was one of the first artists to move successfully from the dance floor to the pop charts. Born Adam Wiles, he began as a DJ in his native Scotland before moving towards creating his own music in his teens. The award-winning Harris has become an international star with his own albums and producing dance-pop tracks for such distinguished acts like Kylie Minogue, Pitbull, Scissor Sisters, Mary J. Blige and Rihanna, who he has helped reach the top of the charts several times with "Where Have You Been", "We Found Love" and with last year's smash, "This is What You Came For". With his latest, "Slide", Harris is actively trying to bring together electronic dance and hip-hop with vocal assistance from Frank Ocean and the Southern-based outfit, Migos, currently riding the charts with their hit, "Bad and Boujee".

"Slide" - Calvin Harris featuring Frank Ocean and Migos (2017) mp3

Stephen Bruner, or as he is professionally known, Thundercat, may not exactly be considered an EDM artist as he has performed and produced wildly eclectic styles of music throughout his career including jazz-fusion, alt-rock, classic R&B, hip-hop and even heavy metal. But the Los Angeles native bass guitarist has an electronic pulse beating through his recently released third studio album, "Drunk", a collection of fragmented, eccentric and musically diverse tracks. One highlight is "Show You The Way", a '70's inspired, funky, slow jam that features vocals from two icons of that era; Kenny Loggins and Michael McDonald. This sensual track will fit perfectly on either the dance floor or in the bedroom.

"Show You The Way" - Thundercat featuring Kenny Loggins and Michael McDonald (2017) mp3

Finally, we have the Chainsmokers, one of the hottest EDM acts of the last couple of years, who have teamed up with one of the biggest rock groups of the last decade, Coldplay.  On the very catchy, "Something Like Like This", the duo,  Alex Pall and Drew Taggart, bring their throbbing beats that blends nicely with Chris Martin's vocals which gives us the best of both bands. This song will appear on the Chainsmokers' debut studio album, "Memories. . .  Do Not Open"  due out on April 7th and on Coldplay's upcoming EP, "Kaleidoscope" which features leftover tracks from their 2015 album, "A Head Full of Dreams" and is expected in June. Here is a clip of this super-team performing the song live at the recent Brit Awards:

TAKE TWO: KENNY LOGGINS

Kenny Loggins was a very popular and prolific artist in his day as he went from rock stardom throughout the seventies as part of a group and solo act to becoming known as "The King of The Movie Soundtrack" in the eighties.

Loggins first began his music career as part of a soft-rock duo with Jim Messina who had played with the bands, Poco and Buffalo Springfield. The team came together by accident as Messina had originally come on board to just produce the first album by the newly-signed Kenny Loggins on Columbia Records but he had contributed so much more with co-writing and vocals that the album was released as "Kenny Loggins With Jim Messina Sittin' In" in 1972. Although not a big commercial hit but the two received plenty of buzz while hitting the road touring college campuses. Due to this potential opportunity, Clive Davis (president of the label at the time) talked them in to becoming an act together.

Loggins & Messina would go on to record a total of six albums together which would sell a total of sixteen million copies as well as write songs for other artists, most notably for Anne Murray who reached the top ten on the pop chart in 1973 with their song, "Danny's Song". By 1976, Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina mutually agreed to end their musical partnership and pursue solo careers.

The official first solo album by Kenny Loggins was "Celebrate Me Home" in 1977. The album was not a major success and the title track didn't burn up the charts however the song would later become a popular holiday classic (and one of my favorite songs). The follow-up release, "Nightwatch" in 1978 would be Loggins' breakthrough as a solo artist. The first single, "Whenever I Call You Friend", a duet with Stevie Nicks (who was just at the beginning of mega-stardom as part of Fleetwood Mac) reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The album is also noted for the first recording of "What A Fool Believes" which was co-written with Michael McDonald who would later make it a top-ten smash with his band, The Doobie Brothers. Many more hits followed for Loggins, particularly with songs he provided for motion pictures such as "I'm Alright" ("Caddyshack"), "Danger Zone" ("Top Gun") and the title track from the hit film, "Footloose".

By the 1990's Kenny Loggins wasn't getting as much radio play but he has remained quite actively involved in music. He has just recently became a member of a country band, Blue Sky Riders and they have released their debut album, "Finally Home" earlier this year.

It was hard to just pick two of my favorites but these are the songs that are timeless and can still be heard today:

"Whenever I Call You Friend" - Kenny Loggins featuring Stevie Nicks (1978)

"This Is It" - Kenny Loggins (1979)

As a bonus, here is Loggins & Messina performing live on "The Midnight Special" one of their biggest hits, "Your Mama Don't Dance":