Last month, the Brit pop singer, Charli XCXmade a bold proclamation with "I think the dance floor is dead, so now we're making rock music". Many of her fans were taken aback by this statement since she made her name by creating energized music that you could dance to since her breakout single, "Boom Clap" back in 2014. But the singer/songwriter, born Charlotte Aitchison, was actually doing a little promoting for her newest bit of music, "Rock Music". And while this track has an edgy and rough vibe, it's not exactly a hardcore rock song but more guitar-driven with a dance beat driving the tune along. Charli has been busy: contributing music for the soundtrack of Emerald Fennell's adaptation of "Wuthering Heights" and performing as an actor in the films, "The Moment", "Faces of Death" and the upcoming Gregg Araki comedy-thriller, "I Want Your Sex". But she has not abandoned her pop music career with "Rock Music" being the first release from her seventh studio album with no title or street date revealed just yet.
Here's a round up of some intriguing new music: the soul music legend, Chaka Khan is back with "Chakzilla", an oddly titled funky dance track (with production by Greg Kurstin) which also happens to be the title of her upcoming studio album, Khan's first in seven years; the latest single from Harry Styles, "Dance No More" has the former boy band member busting out some serious dance moves in the music video; the Swedish artist, Tove Lo has dropped a raw and edgy new single, "I'm Your Girl, Right?" with an equally oddball video; "Five Past Three" is an electropop single from the Chainsmokers’ newest EP, "Love Is Kind", which is a collaboration with the Swedish performer, Oaks; and Sir Paul McCartney has his twentieth solo album, "The Boys of Dungeon Lane" on the way with the song, "Home to Us", is a duet with his former bandmate, Ringo Starr.
The 2026 Eurovision Song Contest recently concluded on May 16th with thirty-five countries competing for the top prize of the best international original pop song. Held at Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna for the contest's 70th edition, Dara from Bulgaria won the Grand Prize for "Bangaranga", a dance-pop song with the title taken from Jamaican Patois and has been translated as "a joyful kind of disorder". This song, the first win for this country, won both the jury vote and televote, the first entry to do so since 2017. The runner-up was from Israel with "Michelle" by Noam Bettan and in third is "Choke Me" by Romania's Alexandra Căpitănescu. Several countries had declined to participate this year in protest at Israel's inclusion in the contest due to the on-going Gaza war.
Clarence Carter, the blind soul singer behind the hits, "Patches" and Strokin'", passed away on May 13th at the age of ninety. Born in Montgomery, Alabama, Carter (blind since birth) attended the Alabama School for the Blind in Talladega and later went to Alabama State University, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in music. After pursuing music professionally with friend, Calvin Scott in 1960, the duo formed the C & C Boys and recorded several singles but none of them gained much traction commercially. Six years later, Scott was seriously injured in an auto accident with Carter deciding to continue as a solo performer.
His first break came the following year with "Tell Daddy", his answer record to Etta James' hit, "Tell Mama", which reached the top forty on the r&b chart. Carter joined Atlantic Records which began a string of hits on the R&B and pop charts, starting with "Slip Away", "Too Weak to Fight", "Snatching It Back" and the naughty, "Back Door Santa". Carter's biggest hit came in 1970 with his version of "Patches", originally recorded by Chairmen of the Board, which reached number two in the UK and number four on the U.S. pop chart. The record would sell over one million copies and win the Grammy Award for Best R&B Song.
Carter's career would cool down following this but he did have one more hit record with "Strokin'" in 1986. While the song was considered too raunchy to actually be played on the radio, it was discovered by fans with it being played on jukeboxes and later found even bigger success when it was included on the soundtracks for Eddie Murphy's remake of "The Nutty Professor" and the 2011 crime-drama, "Killer Joe". Carter was briefly married to Candi Staton, who began as one of his background singers, in 1970 and they had a son together, Clarence Carter Jr., before divorcing in 1973.
Maren Morris broke through back in 2016 with her song "My Church" which was her first to reach the top ten of the US country singles charts. A recording contract with Columbia Nashville followed and she achieved more hit country singles. Morris dabbled in dance music a couple of years later, teaming with German record producer and DJ, Zedd and having their collaboration, "The Middle" become a smash international hit. After a few more successful albums, Morris has taken a page from Taylor Swift's playbook, moving away from pure country and has just released "Dreamsicle", a collection of modern pop that showcases another side of her impressive talent. Teaming up with a large number of the top producers in contemporary pop which includes Greg Kurstin and Jack Antonoff (who helped Swift on her journey into pop music), the politically outspoken Morris has delivered songs that express where she currently is in her life right now after recently ending her marriage to musician, Ryan Hurd and coming out as bisexual. She has planned to embark on her "Dreamsicle World Tour" to support the record with dates set across North America and Europe.
BARBRA STREISAND
With "The Secret of Life: Partners, Volume Two", Barbra Streisand offers a sequel to her popular 2014 duets album, "Partners". This collection, due out in June, has the legendary performer teaming-up with some of her musical contemporaries (Paul McCartney, James Taylor, Bob Dylan), pop music successors (Josh Groban, Sting, Mariah Carey, Tim McGraw) and current artists (Sam Smith, Laufey, Ariana Grande). The songs they perform range from pop standards to songs written by some of her duet partners. The first two songs released feature Streisand with the Irish rocker, Hoizer on a cover of Ewan MacColl's 1957 love ballad, "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face". And the former Beatle performs with Streisand, "My Valentine", a love song he had written for his album, "Kisses on the Bottom" back in 2011.
Being touted as "the final song by The Beatles", "Now and Then" effectively brings an end to the sounds of the Fab Four, the British rock band from Liverpool that helped shift the culture in the '60's and has continued to be highly influential long after they came to an end in 1970. And the story behind the creation of this track is as fascinating as the idea that the Beatles are together for one last time.
It all began when John Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono gave the three surviving members of the group, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, four unfinished demos by Lennon for an anthology project they were working on. After rejecting one track as unsalvageable, they went to work on "Free as a Bird", "Real Love" and "Now and Then". With Jeff Lynne of Electric Light Orchestra, who had worked with Harrison on their side project, The Traveling Wilburys and Harrison's 1987 comeback album, "Cloud Nine", on board to contribute, "Free as a Bird" was completed in 1995 and "Real Love" was released the following year. But work on "Now and Then" ended not long after when Harrison decided there just wasn't enough there on the track and not worthwhile to devote any more time on.
However, McCartney strongly disagreed and wanted to finish "Now and Then". After Harrison's passing in 2001, McCartney no longer had a dissenter in the band to stand in the way, yet the song still proved to be extremely complicated to complete. That changed last year when technology helped overcome some of these obstacles. Filmmaker Peter Jackson's team had developed a way to isolate specific sounds on an audio track in order to clean up a muddied recording. McCartney along with Giles Martin, son of the Beatles' legendary producer, George, went to work arranging the track with Starr's original drums, McCartney providing an accompanying vocal with Lennon and playing all other instruments while merging elements of Lennon's piano and Harrison's rhythm guitar.
As for the completed song? While it's certainly wonderful to once again have something "new" from this classic band, "Now and Then" simply lacks a vitality that makes this ballad still feel like a work in progress. I certainly understand the attraction that made McCartney want to attempt to finish this song, with a lovely melody and Lennon's wistful lyrics but without the rest of the band available to offer contributions, "Now and Then" continues to leave an impression as a possibility of what could have been. The music video for "Now and Then" reflects the sentiment of the song, featuring the current McCartney and Starr merged seamlessly with past images of Lennon and Harrison and them all together as a band. This final collaboration from one of the world's most popular musical acts is absolutely thrilling in concept yet remains slightly disappointing in execution.
And here are the previous two tracks released by The Beatles:
"Egypt Station" is Paul McCartney's eighteenth solo studio album and his first featuring new music since his 2005 record, "Chaos and the Creation in the Backyard". The seventy-six year old music legend has created a solid collection of songs that takes us on a journey through different musical moods. With production assistance from current pop hit makers. Greg Kurstin and Ryan Tedder, McCartney delivers a gentle piano ballad, a Bossa Nova inspired tune, some hard rocking garage band jams and songs that offer an interesting mix of eclectic sounds. Here is the video for the first single, "Fuh You":
PAUL SIMON
That other iconic singer/songwriter named "Paul", Paul Simon also has a new album out. With "In The Blue Light", Simon is reexamining his past work and giving some of his lesser known songs a make-over. Starting with "One Man's Ceiling is Another Man's Floor" from his 1973 album, "There Goes Rhymin' Simon" and ending with "Questions For the Angels" from "So Beautiful or So What" from 2011, the seventy-six year old has given these songs new arrangements and even some reworked lyrics. Many of the songs have been stripped down to focus on the words and melody, creating a reflective and melancholy mood. Listen to one of my favorite tracks from the album, "One Man's Ceiling Is Another Man's Floor":
And we have Barbra Streisand who has been pretty vocal about her feelings regarding this current Presidential administration. After her last few albums featured classic show tunes and famous duet partners, this legendary vocalist has been inspired to make the rare move to write songs for her upcoming album. "Walls", Streisand's thirty-sixth album, is due in November and will feature mostly original songs with three she was involved with co-writing. The record is designed to explore her social concerns and offer optimism during these troubling times. The first single, "Don't Lie To Me" is one her original compositions that directly takes aim at the President and his controversial policies. Ms Streisand directed the music video for the song and it is not subtle on exactly what she's trying to say with the song:
This week's number one flashback goes back forty years with "Silly Love Songs" by Wings. This group was formed shortly after Paul McCartney left one of the world's most famous rock bands, the Beatles in 1971. The original Wings line-up included Denny Laine on guitar and bass, Denny Seiwell on drums and McCartney's wife, Linda on keyboards. Over the years, musicians would come and go and at the time of their fifth studio album, "Wings At The Speed of Sound", the band featured the McCartneys, Laine, Jimmy McCullouch on guitar and Joe English on drums.
This classic came about after McCartney, who had been accused for years about writing nothing but songs about love, wanted to give a witty and direct response to critics about his music. Sir Paul certainly had the last laugh with "Silly Love Songs" as it has remained one of the singer's most enduring and popular tunes.
"Silly Love Songs" became the band's fourth U.S. number one single and a year after their sixth and final chart-topper in 1980, "Coming Up", Paul McCartney and Wings parted ways after the former Beatle had re-teamed with producer George Martin to work on a new record and mutually decided to use other musicians.
As a treat, take a look at the original music video for the song. It's the perfect time capsule of the wild, chaotic and seemingly a lot of fun life on the road for Paul, Linda and the band:
2015 is off to a great start with some exciting new music hitting the airwaves.
Paul McCartney has certainly been busy. First, the former Beatle plays piano on Kanye West's surprise single, "Only One", a touching ballad about his late mother and new-born daughter. Now, both Sir Paul and Mr. West appear on the just-dropped new song from Rihanna. "FourFiveSeconds" displays an unexpected acoustic sound from the pop superstar. I'm not sure how her fans will respond but I think it's a great creative move:
"Only One" - Kanye West featuring Paul McCartney (2015)
"FourFiveSeconds" - Rihanna featuring Kanye West & Paul McCartney (2015)
Thanks to Daft Punk's tribute to him on their Grammy-winning album, "Random Access Memories", the legendary producer, Giorgio Moroder has decided to stage a comeback. At the age of seventy-four, the man responsible for helping usher in the era of disco music has assembled some of today's hottest vocalists including Britney Spears, Sia, Mikky Ekko and Charli XCX for his first new album of dance music in thirty years. Listen to the sizzling single from the upcoming, "74 Is The New 24", "Right Here, Right Now" which features Kylie Minogue:
Here is the video for the title track from Giorgio's new album:
D'Angelo quietly released his third studio album, "Black Messiah" after a fourteen year absence from the music scene last December. It has received a lot of love from critics and fans alike. The reclusive singer plans to embark on short European tour beginning in February with his band, The Vanguard. Listen to "Sugah Daddy", the track that was given away as a free download a few days before the album's release:
"Sugah Daddy" - D'Angelo (2014)
I'd been wondering what had happened to Stephanie Mills? The theater veteran and popular recording artist hadn't been heard from in quite a while but made a very welcome return at last year's BET Awards performing a stirring rendition of her hit, "Home" that she first sang when she starred as Dorothy on Broadway in "The Wiz" many years ago. She's one of my all-time favorite singers. Enjoy a few of her lesser known songs that I love:
"You Can Get Over" - Stephanie Mills (1979)
"Try My Love" - Stephanie Mills (1980)
"Keep Away Girls" - Stephanie Mills (1982)
Finally, here's a new music video I love from Danish electronic band, Kadie Elder:
Here's a song that I love that takes me back to my childhood. "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" by Paul McCartney and featuring his wife, Linda is a tune that mashes up some wacky sound effects and nonsensical lyrics to create one of the strangest pop songs ever. I didn't have any clue what this song was actually about as a nine year old and now being much older, I still couldn't tell you.
Apparently, McCartney pieced together fragments of several different songs he had been working on to build this one and he did actually have a beloved uncle named Albert. Rumor has it that this song was a veiled attack on his former band mates, particularly John Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono but who really knows?
Taken from his second solo release, "Ram","Uncle Albert" was McCartney's first U.S. number one hit since he left The Beatles and before he went on to form his new band, Wings later in 1971.
"Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" - Paul & Linda McCartney (1971)
It doesn't appear that Adele, one of the biggest (and most unlikely) pop stars currently on the planet will be releasing a new CD anytime soon but there is a new song just out to help ease the wait.
"Skyfall", is title of the latest 007 movie (due out in the U.S.on November 9th) and Adele has been given the honor of performing the theme song of the same name for this movie. The tune (written by Adele and her producer, Paul Epworth) fits perfectly in the tradition of the previous James Bond theme songs yet still feels quite fresh and modern. Let's be honest - most of these songs tend to land more on the cheesy side but I think this is one of the better tracks created for this long-running series which is celebrating it's fiftieth year since the release of the first film, "Dr. No".
Have a listen:
"Skyfall" - Adele (2012)
Here are a few of some other classic Bond theme songs that I luv:
"Live and Let Die" - Paul McCartney & Wings (1973)
"Nobody Does It Better" (From "The Spy Who Loved Me") - Carly Simon (1977)
This is the former Beatle's musical contribution to Christmas in a song that is unusual because musically, it doesn't sound exactly like a Christmas song but that's the same reason why it makes it such a great Christmas song.
I could listen to this song anytime of the year. "Wonderful Christmastime" - Paul McCartney (1979)
I heard the theme song from "Flashdance...What A Feeling" on the radio a little while ago and it made me wonder:
"When was the last time a song from a film became a hit and made it on the pop charts?"
I was struggling to come up with something and I think it might have been Eminem and his rap song, "Lose Yourself" from his film, "8 Mile" (which actually won the Oscar for Best Original Song) but that was eight years ago.
The right piece of music could be an important part of a film that helped create the perfect mood or feeling as well as being just a great song you want to listen to. There is an obvious hunger for this type of music considering the success of the television shows like, "High School Musical" and "Glee" and their multiple soundtracks.
Unfortunately, there is no longer much thought put into creating a distinguishable song for a movie anymore and the songs that are used today tend to be something you would never want to listen to again. It's too bad but maybe this will make a comeback.
For this post, I'm going to focus on movie songs from the 1960's and 1970's. I think this was the golden age of songs created specifically for a film and a time when people actually loved the music enough to buy the movie's soundtrack. These songs were played regularly on the radio and became pop hits.
Let's go back and enjoy a few of the tunes that became just as memorable as the films they were used in:
Alfie - Dionne Warwick (1966)
Theme From "Valley Of The Dolls" - Dionne Warwick (1967)
Mrs. Robinson - Simon & Garfunkel (1967)
Theme From "Mahogany" (Do You Know Where You're Going To?) - Diana Ross (1975)
Night Fever - Bee Gees (1977)
"You're The One That I Want" - John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John (1978)
And here is a selection of the theme songs from the James Bond, agent 007 films:
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" on the radio a little while ago and it made me wonder: 
" from his film, "8 Mile" (which actually won the Oscar for Best Original Song) but that was eight years ago.
