It's not like we haven't heard from Bruno Mars. He has been busy as a part of some recent, wildly popular musical collaborations with Lady Gaga, Rosé and the super-duo, Silk Sonic with Anderson .Paak. But it has been ten years since his own last studio album, "24K Magic". That is finally about to change as Mars has just announced the upcoming release of his fourth album, "The Romantic" due out on February 27th. There had been rumors of this record coming over the last three years with producer, D'Mile recently joining the project and co-producing with Mars. The first single, "I Just Might" is another blast of retro funk that Mars puts his own special spin on, a sound he has been exploring for some time, particularly with Silk Sonic. Mars has also announced that he will be hitting the road with The Romantic Tour which begins in April and takes the singer through North America and Europe.
Following his recent foray into French pop, the Lebanese-American singer, Mika is back with an upcoming English-language album, "Hyperlove" and the second single, "Immortal Love"; The Swedish pop artist, Robyn has dropped another single, "Talk To Me" from her forthcoming ninth studio album, "Sexistential"; Ari Lennox has another song, "Twin Flame" that will be on the long awaited third album from the r&b vocalist, "Vacancy"; and PinkPantheress teams with Zara Larsson for a new version of the single, "Stateside" from her remix album, "Fancy Some More?":
The legendary Dolly Parton has rounded up fellow artists, Lainey Wilson, Miley Cyrus, Queen Latifah, and Reba McEntire, with a new recording of her 1977 song, "Light of a Clear Blue Morning" to raise money for pediatric cancer research at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital in Nashville. Parton had explained that she had originally written this as a "song of deliverance" when she was dealing with the pain from her break with longtime musical and business partner Porter Wagoner in 1974 in order to further her career. "Light of a Clear Blue Morning" has gone on to be covered by many artists since then including Parton herself who rerecorded this inspirational song two previous times before this recent version.
And finally, I would like to pay tribute to a couple of musicians we lost recently: Carl Carlton, a soul music hit maker, died on December 13th. The Detroit native had been recovering from a stroke he had in 2019. Carlton was seventy-three. He began his professional career as child, first performing under the name "Little" Carl Carlton, a publicity stunt that brought attention to Stevie Wonder who had achieved success around this time. After signing to a recording label, Carlton released some singles with the song, "Competition Ain't Nothing", becoming popular in the UK northern soul scene in 1968.
But his real breakthrough would come six years later with his version of "Everlasting Love" (which was first a hit for Robert Knight in 1967) reaching number eleven on the Billboard R&B chart and number four on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart. A royalty dispute with his new label, ABC Records would prevent Carlton from recording for a period of time. He would join a new label and find his way back on the charts in 1981 with the single, "She's a Bad Mama Jama (She's Built, She's Stacked)". This popular funk song would reach number two on the r&b chart, earn Carlton a Grammy Award nomination for Best R&B Male Vocal Performance and continue to be a staple for soundtracks and music sampling.
Chris Rea, the British blues rocker, passed away on December 22nd at the age of seventy-four. He had been struggling with several health issues since the turn of the century which included pancreatic cancer, diabetes and a stroke in 2016. Born in Middlesbrough, North Riding of Yorkshire, England, Rea bought his first guitar in his early twenties and self taught himself how to play. A fan of the blues and American rockers, Rea became a member of the rock group, Magdalene and would begin singing after the vocalist failed to show for a gig. In 1973, Rea went on to form his own band which lead to him getting signed as a solo artist to Magnet Records. His debut album, "Whatever Happened to Benny Santini?" was released in 1978. The first single, "Fool (If You Think It's Over)" was only a minor hit in the UK but went on to reach number twelve on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and earning him a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist. Rea would go on find greater success in his native country, recording twenty-five studio albums throughout his career with several charting songs on the UK pop chart. But Rea would never tour in North America, preferring to remain closer to his family than away from them for months at a time.
The National Recording Registry has just selected the latest twenty-five sound recordings inducted with the goal each year to highlight what it calls "the range and diversity of the American recorded sound heritage". The Registry is an extension of the passage by Congress in 2000 of the National Recording Preservation Act. Since 2002, the Library of Congress oversees the selection of 25 recordings, which must be at least 10 years old at the time of induction, and deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant". This latest group brings the total number of recordings in the registry to 625.
Some of the selections this year include the breakthrough (and then highly controversial) album by Madonna, "Like a Virgin"; "Imagine", the inspirational anthem by the late, former Beatle, John Lennon; the debut album by hip-hop artist, Queen Latifah, "All Hail the Queen"; "Margaritaville", the laid back ode to the cocktail from Jimmy Buffett; Daddy Yankee’s reggaeton explosion, "Gasolina"; "Wang Dang Doodle", the first big hit from "The Queen of the Blues", Koko Taylor; "Stairway to Heaven", the lengthy, innovative rock classic that progressively shifts in tempo and volume from the blues-rock band, Led Zeppelin; the first recording of one of Bacharach-David's legendary pop songs, "What the World Needs Now Is Love" by Jackie DeShannon; the video game sound of "Super Mario Bros." and Mariah Carey's now traditional holiday song, "All I Want For Christmas".
Here is the complete list of the twenty-five selections entered into the 2023 Recording Registry:
"The Very First Mariachi Recordings" — Cuarteto Coculense (1908-1909)
"St. Louis Blues" (single) — Handy’s Memphis Blues Band (1922)
"Sugar Foot Stomp" — Fletcher Henderson (1926)
"Dorothy Thompson: Commentary and Analysis of the European Situation" for NBC Radio
(Aug. 23-Sept. 6, 1939) "Don’t Let Nobody Turn You Around" (single) — The Fairfield Four (1947)
"What the World Needs Now is Love" (single) — Jackie DeShannon (1965)
"Wang Dang Doodle" (single) — Koko Taylor (1966)
"Sherry" (single) — The Four Seasons (1962)
"Ode to Billie Joe" (single) — Bobbie Gentry (1967)
"Déjà Vu" (album) — Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young (1970)
"Imagine" (single) — John Lennon (1971)
"Stairway to Heaven" (single) — Led Zeppelin (1971)
"Take Me Home, Country Roads" (single) — John Denver (1971)
"Margaritaville" (single) — Jimmy Buffett (1977)
"Flashdance. . .What a Feeling" (single) — Irene Cara (1983) "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" (single) — Eurythmics (1983)
"Synchronicity" (album) — The Police (1983)
"Black Codes (From the Underground)" (album) — Wynton Marsalis (1985)
"Super Mario Bros. theme" — Koji Kondo, composer (1986)
"Like a Virgin" (album) — Madonna (1984)
"All Hail the Queen" (album) — Queen Latifah (1989)
"All I Want for Christmas is You" (single) — Mariah Carey (1994)
"Pale Blue Dot" — Carl Sagan (1994)
"Gasolina" (single) — Daddy Yankee (2004)
"Concerto for Clarinet and Chamber Orchestra" — Northwest Chamber Orchestra, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, composer (2012)
