ALLEE WILLIS (1947 - 2019)

The Grammy-Award winning songwriter, Allee Willis passed away suddenly on December 24th from cardiac arrest. The seventy-two year old Willis had just been inducted in to the Songwriters Hall of Fame last year.

Some of the music this talented writer helped create includes Earth, Wind and Fire's "September" and "Boogie Wonderland"; "Neutron Dance" by the Pointer Sisters (for the "Beverly Hills Cop" soundtrack which she won her first Grammy), "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" by Pet Shop Boys featuring Dusty Springfield and "I'll Be There for You" by The Rembrandts which was used as the theme song for the still-popular sitcom, "Friends". Willis also co-wrote the songs for the Broadway musical of "The Color Purple" and received Tony-Award nominations and a Grammy win for her work.

Born Alta Sherral Willis in Detroit, she would go hang out outside of Motown Records to listen to the artists record their soon-to-be hits as a teenager. Willis went to college to study journalism but moved to New York after graduation and was drawn to singing and songwriting, She did record an album, "Childstar" in 1974 but it failed to get any attention. Not long after, Willis decided to give up performing, move to Los Angeles and focus on being a songwriter.

Willis was hired by A&M Records in 1977 as a writer and her first chance encounter was an introduction to Verdine White, the bass player for Earth, Wind and Fire. Through him, Willis would meet his brother, Maurice, the founder and leader of the band. They worked together writing "September" and this 1978 now-classic became her first hit song. This opened doors for Willis and she would go to work with a wide variety of artists including Rita Coolidge, Crystal Gayle, Sister Sledge, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Patti LaBelle, Cyndi Lauper and Taylor Dayne.

Willis would later become known for her North Hollywood home, designed by William Kesling, where she threw wild parties and filled with pop culture artifacts which helped her become affectionately referred to as "the Queen of Kitsch". In honor of this great talent, here are a few of my favorite songs written by Allee Willis:

2017 NATIONAL RECORDING REGISTRY

Judy Garland's classic ballad from "The Wizard of Oz", Barbra Streisand's classic ballad from "Funny Girl",  the original version of "Hound Dog", a collection of the greatest hits by the Eagles and the debut album from N.W.A.  are just some of the recordings that have just been inducted in to the National Recording Registry.

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 twenty-five selected this year feature a wide range of music, commentaries, radio programs, comedy albums and speeches. To date, there have been 475 recordings placed in the National Recording Registry.

Here is the complete list of the twenty-five recordings being inducted in the 2017 National Recording Registry:

The London cylinder recordings of Col. George Gouraud (1888)

“Lift Every Voice and Sing” (singles) - Manhattan Harmony Four (1923) and Melba Moore & Friends (1990)



“Puttin’ on the Ritz” (single) - Harry Richman (1929)

“Over the Rainbow” (single) - Judy Garland (1939)



“I’ll Fly Away” (single) - The Chuck Wagon Gang (1948)

“Hound Dog” (single) - Big Mama Thornton (1953)



“Saxophone Colossus” - Sonny Rollins (1956)

"The Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds", announced by Vin Scully (September 8, 1957)

“Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs” - Marty Robbins (1959)

“The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery” - Wes Montgomery (1960)

“People” (single) - Barbra Streisand (1964)



“In the Midnight Hour” (single) - Wilson Pickett (1965)



“Amazing Grace” (single) - Judy Collins (1970)



“American Pie” (single) - Don McLean (1971)

“All Things Considered” - first broadcast (May 3, 1971)

“The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars” - David Bowie (1972)



“The Wiz: Original Broadway Cast Album” - (1975)



“Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975)” - Eagles (1976)

“Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha” - (Gunter Schuller, arranger) (1976)

“Wanted: Live in Concert” - Richard Pryor (1978)

“We Are Family” (single) - Sister Sledge (1979)



“Remain in Light” - Talking Heads (1980)

“Straight Outta Compton” - N.W.A (1988)



“Rachmaninoff’s Vespers (All-Night Vigil)” - Robert Shaw Festival Singers (1990)

“Signatures” - Renée Fleming (1997)

TAKE TWO: SISTER SLEDGE

Sister Sledge is one of many singing groups that not only shared in vocal harmonies but also the same DNA. These ladies hit the height of their fame during a time in America when people wanted to do nothing more than get on the dance floor and shake their groove thang. Their songs are still highly influential and are as exciting today as they were when they first hit the airwaves over forty years ago.

The sisters, Debbie, Kim, Joni and Kathy grew-up in Philadelphia and formed a professional singing act when they were just teenagers. The Sledges recorded their first single, "Time Will Tell" under a local record label in 1971. Although that first song wasn't a major success but they kept on until eventually scoring their first national hit with, "Love, Don't You Go Through No Changes On Me" that hit the top forty on the r&b chart. This lead to the recording of their debut album, "Circle Of Love" in 1974 but the release wasn't commercially successful.

Sister Sledge were teamed with Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards, the musical creators of the group, Chic and "We Are Family" was released in 1979 at the height of the disco music craze. It may seem that the girls were not much more than singers-for-hire as Rodgers & Edwards maintained complete control of the project but the combination proved to be quite magical. The title track and "He's The Greatest Dancer" became international smash hits along with the more modest success of "Lost In Music" and "Thinking Of You" which helped turn this album in to a modern classic. These songs have continued to be remixed over the years and have even reappeared on the pop charts, most especially in the U.K. where "We Are Family" reached number five there in 1993 which is actually higher than it charted when the original version was released.

The subsequent albums from Sister Sledge were not able to achieve the same amount of commercial acclaim although the group had a surprise number one hit in Britain in 1985 with the song, "Frankie". The sisters continue to perform together and separately with their last major appearance was on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" in 2011.

Listen to two of my favorite songs from Sister Sledge:

"He's The Greatest Dancer" - Sister Sledge (1979)

"Easier To Love" - Sister Sledge (1979)

DISCO INFERNO

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:

MIX IT UP

I remember when I was a kid, I would take selected songs off of my albums and 45's and record them on tapes so I could travel with my music on a cassette player. The quality wasn't great and it would take me hours to do.

Now, I have an Ipod which takes minutes to effortlessly put music on it and I am able to enjoy my high-quality music anywhere.

I guess we have come a long way, baby.

I have collected over 4000 songs on my Ipod and so when I use it, I normally shuffle the songs otherwise I just would wind up listening to the same few songs. I love it when a song pops up that I haven't heard in a long time or haven't heard at all in it's entirety.

These are the last songs that played on my pod and it is an interesting mix.

Emotions(Live -MTV Unplugged) - Mariah Carey.mp3

Here You Come Again - Dolly Parton.mp3

Paradise - LL Cool J.mp3

Thinking Of You - Sister Sledge.mp3

What A Good Man He is - Tammi Terrell.mp3