RANDOM SIGHTS + SOUNDS

Here are a few interesting new songs out at the moment: After dealing with some personal issues he went through last year, Lil Nas X has returned to music with a new song, "World's Greatest!", an uplifting anthem dedicated to his late mother, Tameka Hill; Soulidified, a classically styled, boy band formed on the Netflix reality series, "Building the Band" have dropped a new single, "Man Ain't Me"; Remi Wolf, the alt-pop performer from Palo Alto, has her third album, "Mud" due out shortly and the latest single, "I Won't Cry", a retro-soul ballad, has been released; Cardi B has provided a song, "Don't Chart" for the upcoming "Grand Theft Auto VI: The Album"; Dawn Richard, the Danity Kane pop singer turned neo-soul artist, has a new single out, "Only Fans" from her upcoming album, "Creole Culture" and the Rolling Stones continues to attract some impressive star power with Alexander Skarsgård starring in their latest music video, "Mr. Charm".

The singer/songwriter, Duncan Sheik has died on September 17th. He had begun his career as a rock musician before transitioning into an award-winning composer for motion pictures and Broadway musicals. Sheik passed away from cardiac arrest in New York City at the age of fifty-six. 

Born and raised in New Jersey, Sheik would split his time there and North Carolina after his parents separated. As a child he learned to play the piano and later the guitar. By the time he was a teen, Sheik would perform with fellow high school students in a cover band. Following his graduation from Brown University in 1992, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in music.

After playing guitar for a few bands and making some connections, Sheik was signed to Atlantic Records and his self-titled debut, which he wrote all of the songs and featured production by Rupert Hine, was released in 1996. The first single, "Barely Breathing" became a big hit, peaking at number sixteen on the Billboard Hot 100 chart (staying on the chart for an impressive fifty-five consecutive weeks) and earned Sheik a Grammy nomination for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. While this would remain his only significant commercially successful song, Sheik would go on to record nine studio albums throughout his career with his final album was "Claptrap" in 2022.

In 2002, he would begin to expand his musical horizons by composing original music for the stage, television and cinema. He would team-up with Steven Sater to create the coming-of-age rock musical, "Spring Awakening" which made it to Broadway in 2006 and went on to win eight Tony Awards including Best Musical and its original cast album received a Grammy Award.

And Rosalind Ashford, one of the founding members of the popular Motown girl-group, Martha and the Vandellas, passed away on September 15th at the age of eighty-three. Passionate for music, Ashford was heavily involved in choir groups in high school as well as singing in her church. She became a part of an all-female act, The Del-Phis in 1957 where they performed at local parties and high school functions, By 1960, Martha Reeves joined the group and they managed to get signed to a label associated with Chess Records, recording a few singles that didn't go anywhere.

Their luck changed when they managed to perform background vocals on a couple of Marvin Gaye's singles, "Hitch Hike" and "Stubborn Kind of Fellow". This lead to Reeves (who was working as a secretary for Motown at the time) and the girls recording a demo for Mary Wells titled "I Have to Let Him Go". Motown head, Berry Gordy liked what he heard and offered the group, now called Martha and the Vandellas, a recording contract in 1962 and released this demo as their first single.

Six of the group's songs reached the top ten on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and thirteen of their songs reached the top twenty on the Billboard R&B singles chart which included the hits "Heat Wave", "Come and Get These Memories", "Dancing in the Street" and "Nowhere to Run". Ashford would stay with the group until 1969. She would get married and work at the Michigan Bell Phone company. Over the years, Ashford would occasionally perform with former members of the Vandellas for concert tours.

FREDDIE JACKSON (1956 - 2026)

Freddie Jackson, the soul balladeer who enjoyed success throughout the 1980's and 1990's, has sadly passed away on October 5th, three days after his 70th birthday. The performer had been dealing with chronic kidney disease and had been on dialysis.

Born in New York City. Jackson began his career as a child singing in his church's choir at the White Rock Baptist Church of Harlem. During his time there, he would meet Paul Laurence, who would later go on to become Jackson's record producer and songwriting partner. After finishing high school, Jackson would perform with Laurence's band, LJE before heading to the West Coast to try his luck there. He did join a soul group, Mystic Merlin and did some recording work with them but eventually headed back to New York.

Jackson recorded some demos with Lawrence while singing back up for Melba Moore during her concerts. He was eventually signed with Capitol Records in 1984 with his debut, "Rock Me Tonight" was released the following year. The album was an immediate success with the title track spending six weeks at number one on the r&b chart, followed by "You Are My Lady" which also went to number one on the soul chart and crossed over to the Billboard Hot 100 chart, making it to number twelve. Two more singles, "He'll Never Love You (Like I Do)" and "Love Is Just a Touch Away" also reached the R&B top ten and the album, "Rock Me Tonight" would sell over a million copies. Jackson's follow-up album, "Just Like the First Time" would continue his charting success with the number one r&b hit singles, "Have You Ever Loved Somebody," and "Jam Tonight".

Jackson's next album in 1988, "Don't Let Love Slip Away" enjoyed some success with the singles, "Hey Lover" and "Nice 'N' Slow" but following his 1990 release, "Do Me Again", the singer was no longer reaching the charts. Jackson would continue to perform and record with his last studio album, his fourteenth, was "Love Signals" in 2018.

SONGS IN THE KEY OF LIFE: THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the release of Stevie Wonder's groundbreaking and still influential eighteenth studio album, "Songs in the Key of Life". After a string of highly successful and critically acclaimed albums which included "Talking Book", "Innervisions", and "Fulfillingness' First Finale", the immensely popular, Wonder was burnt out and really feeling ready to call his recording career a day, largely because he had been making music professionally since he was eleven. But the then twenty-five year old artist, whose contract with Motown was up, would end up changing his mind. Although there was high interest from several other labels, Wonder would wind up signing a far more lucrative contract with Motown in 1975. This new seven year contract would give him thirty million dollars upfront, 20% of the royalties, ownership of the publishing rights and most importantly, complete artistic control which was extremely rare with the label.

A year later, Wonder went to work on this new project and would ultimately release this double album on September 28, 1976. This collection featured seventeen songs which focused on a wide range of subjects like love, romance, parenthood, inequality and racial discrimination. With musical contributions from Herbie Hancock, George Benson, Minnie Riperton and Deniece Williams, "Songs" would have four singles released including the number one songs, "I Wish" and "Sir Duke", a track that pays tribute to jazz legend, Duke Ellington who had just died in 1974.

Other highlights from the album that received extensive radio airplay include "Love's in Need of Love Today", "Knocks Me Off My Feet" and "Isn't She Lovely", a song that surprisingly wasn't actually released as an official single since Wonder refused to trim the over six minute track but was still so popular that it wound up charting, reaching number twenty-three on the Adult Contemporary chart. "Songs" would spend thirteen weeks at number one on the Billboard 200 Album chart, was the second-best-selling album of 1977 in the US and would have sales of five million copies worldwide. And "Songs in the Key of Life" would win Album of the Year at the 1977 Grammy Awards, making this his third win in the category ("Innervisions" and "Fulfillingness' First Finale" won in 1974 and 1975).

To celebrate this remarkable musical achievement, Wonder will be taking "Song in the Key of Life" on the road with the entire album performed at each stop of the tour. The "Songs" 50th Anniversary concerts will begin in Europe in October before heading to the US in November and finishing in Los Angeles on December 19th. There has also been a new recording released, "Songs in the Key of Life: The EP" which features four outtakes from the original album recording sessions: "It's Easier" "My Life Story of Love" "I Can See the Sun in Late December" and "I'm Into Livin'".

WESTSIDE WHIMSY

Days after announcing the news on social media, Jhené Aiko unexpectedly released her fourth studio album, "Westside Whimsy". It's been six years since her last album, "Chilombo" and this latest collection by the neo-soul vocalist (which this title was also the name of her personalized smoothie that had been available at the luxury grocer, Erewhon) continues her musical journey reflecting back on her life, relationships and growing up in Los Angeles. Working with an army of producers (which includes Fisticuffs, Boi-1da and PartyNextDoor), Aiko has twenty tracks of smooth, laid back, hip-hop fueled, r&b that features some guest appearances from some well-known so-Cal artists, Ab-Soul, Tyga, Larry June, OHMA and Kendrick Lamar. Here are a few of my favorite songs from the album:

RANDOM SIGHTS + SOUNDS

Victoria Monét has just dropped a new song from her long awaited second studio album, "Frequency of Love" which should be available in October. The single, "Reach Out" from the Grammy award winning songwriter and performer with production by Kaytranada and D’Mile is another sensual r&b jam that looks at a woman tired of waiting for a lover to contact her and deciding to move on. The visuals for this song, filmed in sepia with direction by Dave Meyers and dynamic choreography from Sean Bankhead, is sultry and stylish, filled with impressively imaginative dance moves.



Some new songs I'm enjoying at the moment includes the latest music from Kelly Clarkson, the very first "American Idol" winner who is in the middle of the final season of her popular talk show, with "I'd Be Lyin'" that feels very much like the classic sound from the early days of her pop career; the alt-hip-hop artist, Syd has delivered her third studio album, "Beard" and a highlight is the song, "Callin'" that features Blu June; Orville Peck has returned to music after a brief stint on Broadway with "Too Little, Too Late" that has a more rockabilly vibe and the newest single from his upcoming fourth album, "Mule" due out in September; "Mexico Honey", the latest single from Kacey Musgraves' album, "Middle of Nowhere", is a bit of a departure from the country artist as the ballad features Latin pop and hip-hop sounds; the new single from the progressive soul performer, Steve Lacy, "Doom" is an adventurous alt-rock song with an equally potent music video; and Cardi B has dropped a surprise single, "Ah Ha" that shows she still ain't worried about her haters.

And this year marks the thirtieth anniversary since the release of Mariah Carey's fifth studio album, "Daydream".  There is a new collection, which is officially titled, "Daydream: 30th Anniversary Edition", that will include the original album plus unreleased bonus tracks, rare demos, live performances and remixes. When the record was released, "Daydream" marked a creative shift for Carey as she blended R&B, hip-hop and pop sounds smoothly together for the first time. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart and featured the hit singles, "Fantasy", "Always Be My Baby" and "One Sweet Day", Carey’s duet with Boyz II Men that was on top of the US pop chart for sixteen consecutive weeks. "Daydream" is also one of the best-selling albums of all time, with over twenty million copies sold worldwide.

And Kavinsky, the influential French DJ and producer, has passed away on July 28th at the age of fifty. The cause of death is not known at this time. Born Vincent Pierre Claude Belorgey, he had spent his early years as an actor before deciding to turn to music. "Kavinsky" was a stage persona he had created, a red-eyed, blue-skinned zombie who created electronic music. Belorgey had appeared as an actor in Quentin Dupieux's 2007 feature film, "Steak" and contributed music as Kavinsky for the first time. He went on to release three EPs which included "Nightcall" with the title track used during the opening credits of the 2011 film, "Drive", directed by Nicolas Winding Refn. Kavinsky would only release two studio albums during his career, "OutRun" in 2013 and "Reborn" in 2022.

THE WOMACK SISTERS

The Womack Sisters, the musical group comprised of siblings, BG, Zeimani, and Kucha, are bringing back the sounds of classic soul in their own special way. These ladies have an impressive legacy as they are daughters of Cecil and Linda Womack who were part of the act, Womack & Womack, who were successful singer-songwriters and producers. Their uncle, was the iconic R&B singer, Bobby Womack and their grandfather was the soul and gospel legend, Sam Cooke on their mother's side. With all this talent in their bloodline, it's not much of a surprise that these sisters have the stuff to make some memorable music.

In 2022, the Womack Sisters released a six track EP, the aptly titled, "Legacy" which included their version of Cooke's anthem, "A Change is Gonna Come". Now the trio has signed with the renowned soul preservation label, Daptone Records for their self-titled, debut album due out in August. With Gabriel Roth, the musician and songwriter behind the vintage soul group, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings on production, the sisters utilize their smooth harmonies with a retro girl group sound on the singles, "If I Let You" and "Chauffeur".

Be sure to catch The Womack Sisters on the road beginning next month on The Constellation Tour with Thee Sacred Souls and LA LOM as well as opening for Al Green at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on August 14th.

NEW SOUNDS

Katy Perry has dropped some new music with "Watch It Burn", a hard-driving pop-rock song that recaptures the singer's classic sound. This track details about finally releasing some long, bottled-up anger in order to reclaim personal power after years of holding it back. The music video for the song is a cinematic, high production clip where Perry goes through several dramatic, physical transformations:



Chlöe Bailey and legendary producer, Timbaland have teamed up for a joint mixtape called "Resurrection". This inspired pairing combines Bailey's incredible vocals with Timba's bounce beats and smooth production, creating a classic '90's vibe with a contemporary feel. A highlight from the album is the track, "Better Than She Can":



Sam Smith has new music on the way with his fifth studio album, "Hazel Eyes" due out in August. The record is deeply personal for the singer and very romantic in spirit with the first single, "My Guy", a love ballad which Smith no longer being coy about who he is singing about:



Muni Long has been away for a while but she recently revealed that she had a serious health issue last year, having to undergo a double lung transplant after being told she only had about a week to live due to complications with pneumonia. Thankfully, she has recovered with the singer/songwriter returning to music with a ballad, "Richest" which is about the true wealth in life is being in love:



"Baby, Can We?" is the latest single from Dawn Richard and it's a duet with fellow alt-soul artist, Durand Bernarr. Coasting along lyrics from Aretha Franklin‘s 1972 classic hit, "Day Dreaming", the former Danity Kane member captures the desire to flee from daily life with a potential lover on this track:



"She’s My Religion" is the latest single from Willow's upcoming eighth studio album, "The Thread" due out in July. This provocative song is about using love, spiritual growth, and a feminine spirit as a guide, rather than a formal, traditional religion:



And Jennifer Lopez teams up with the Brazilian musician and DJ, Alok for "Everything's Fine". There are two versions of this song with each offering a different perspective on the same emotional story. Exploring the stories people tell themselves in order to convince themselves to keep moving forward, one take is more intimate and beat driven called "AM" while the other is a clearly dance floor-oriented "PM" version.

CLIVE DAVIS (1932 - 2026)

Clive Davis, the legendary music executive who had an amazing ear for discerning talent, has passed away on June 22nd at the age of ninety-four. The five-time Grammy Award winner and inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame had been hospitalized with respiratory problems late last month but had been released. Davis was largely responsible for signing and nurturing the careers of some of the greatest artists in popular music which includes Bruce Springsteen, Pink Floyd, Sly and the Family Stone, Janis Joplin, Barry Manilow, Santana, Chicago, Earth, Wind & Fire, Aerosmith, Billy Joel and Whitney Houston to name just a few.

Born in Brooklyn, NY on April 4, 1932, Davis began his professional career as a lawyer working for a small firm. He was hired as an assistant counsel for a subsidiary of CBS Records, Columbia Records and later became general counsel. Despite not having much knowledge about music or the business, Davis soon worked his way into the industry going from from general manager of the label to president by 1966. While Columbia Records had been best known for releasing jazz, theatrical soundtracks and pop standards, Davis was interested in moving more heavily into rock and roll. One of the first artists he signed was the folk-rock musician, Donovan. During the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, Davis was advised to attend and was mesmerized by the live performance of Janis Joplin with Big Brother and the Holding Company, signing the band immediately. Other acts that Davis would go on to sign during his time at Columbia included Laura Nyro, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Loggins and Messina, and Santana.

But in 1973, Davis was abruptly fired from CBS Records. It had been rumored that the reason was that he allegedly used company funds to bankroll his son's bar mitzvah. However an article in Rolling Stone magazine claimed he was actually let go due to him supplying drugs to musicians and being a part of an alleged payola scandal, all of which Davis had vehemently denied.

After regrouping, Davis founded Arista Records in 1974. He set about signing well-known artists to his label that either he previously worked directly with at Columbia or had greatly admired their artistry, performers like Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick, the Grateful Dead, Patti Smith, Lou Reed and Carly Simon, with him working to revitalize their recording careers and achieving great success. And Davis developed new talent, helping to establish Alicia Keys, Kenny G, Taylor Dayne, Ace of Base, Air Supply, and most notably, Whitney Houston, who he signed at nineteen and worked extensively towards making her a global pop music superstar. Davis also helped found LaFace Records with L.A. Reid and Babyface as well as Sean "Puffy" Combs' Bad Boy Records.

In 2000, Davis left Arista to start J Records, an independent label that received financial backing from Bertelsmann Music Group. Four years later, BMG merged with Sony Music Entertainment to form Sony BMG with Davis named chief creative officer. He was made chief creative officer of Sony Music Entertainment in 2018 and had remained in the position until his death.

PEABO BRYSON (1951- 2026)

Peabo Bryson, the smooth voiced, soul crooner who would win two Grammy Awards for his work on popular theme songs for two Disney animated features, has sadly passed away on June 2nd. The singer had a heart attack seven years ago but made a full recovery but recently had suffered from a stroke on May 31st and died from complications. He was seventy-five.

Born Robert Peapo Bryson in Greenville, SC, on April 13th, he began his career singing background vocals for a local band at the age of fourteen. Taking on his middle name as his stage moniker and changing the pronunciation to "Peabo", Bryson went to work with other bands before an opportunity lead him to Bang Records in Atlanta and was encouraged to move from the background and into the foreground as a performer. This lead to his debut album on Bang, "Peabo" in 1977 and this recording would capture the attention of a major label, Capitol Records who would sign him.

The song that first helped launch him as a performer was "Feel The Fire" which he wrote from his first album on Capitol, "Reaching for the Sky". This love ballad was later covered by Stephanie Mills in 1979 for her debut studio album, "What Cha Gonna Do with My Lovin'". Bryson would have more hit songs that included "If Ever You're in My Arms Again" (his first top-ten pop single), "Tonight, I Celebrate My Love", a duet with Roberta Flack, "Without You", a duet with Regina Belle for the soundtrack of the 1987 comedy, "Leonard Part 6" and "Can You Stop the Rain" which reached number one on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart in 1991.

In 1991, Bryson was teamed with Celine Dion, a rising vocalist from Canada at the time, to perform a pop recording of the title track for the Disney animated film, "Beauty and the Beast". This ballad would also go on to win the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Original Song. Bryson would later be approached to record a pop music version of "A Whole New World" for the 1992 animated movie, "Aladdin" and would join forces again with Belle to duet on the love ballad. More major awards would be won for this song and Bryson and Belle would reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for this recording.

RANDOM SIGHTS + SOUNDS

Last month, the Brit pop singer, Charli XCX made 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.

2026 NATIONAL RECORDING REGISTRY

The latest twenty-five sound recordings have been selected and inducted into National Recording Registry. Under the terms of the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000, the Librarian of Congress, with advice from the National Recording Preservation Board, selects titles each year that are “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” and are at least ten years old. This latest group brings the total number of recordings in the registry to 675.

Some of the recordings that have been honored include Beyoncé's chart-topping hit, "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" from her third solo album, "I Am... Sasha Fierce"; the original Broadway cast recording of the Bob Fosse directed musical, "Chicago" that featured theater legends, Gwen Verdon and Chita Rivera; the country music tale, "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" that went on to become a crossover hit for the Charlie Daniels Band; Gladys Knight and the Pips' version of the country song, "Midnight Train to Georgia" which became the r&b group's first number one pop hit; Ray Charles' genre blurring album, "Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music" that features the soul music legend's versions of country music songs; the Byrds's cover of folk music singer and activist, Pete Seeger's song, "Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)" became an anthem during the social turmoil of the 1960's; the all-female new-wave rock band, the Go-Go's debut album, "Beauty and the Beat" that reached the top of the US album chart; José Feliciano's bilingual Christmas song, "Feliz Navidad" has gone on to become a holiday classic; Chaka Khan put an early hip-hop spin on a cover of Prince's song, "I Feel for You" and "1989", Taylor Swift's first foray into pop, after first achieving fame in country music, which launched her into becoming an even bigger star.

Here is the complete list of the twenty-five selections entered into the 2026 National Recording Registry:

"Cocktails for Two" – Spike Jones and His City Slickers (1944) (single)
"Mambo No. 5" – Pérez Prado and His Orchestra (1950) (single)
"Teardrops from My Eyes" – Ruth Brown (1950) (single)



"Fly Me to the Moon (In Other Words)" – Kaye Ballard (1954) (single)
"Put Your Head On My Shoulder" – Paul Anka (1959) (single)



"The Blues and the Abstract Truth" – Oliver Nelson (1961) (album)
"Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music" – Ray Charles (1962) (album)
"Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)" – The Byrds (1965) (single)



"Amen, Brother" – The Winstons (1969) (single)



"Feliz Navidad" – José Feliciano (1970) (single)
"The Fight of the Century: Ali vs. Frazier" (March 8, 1971) (broadcast)
"Midnight Train to Georgia" – Gladys Knight and the Pips (1973) (single)



"Chicago" Original Cast Album (1975) (album)



"The Devil Went Down to Georgia" – The Charlie Daniels Band (1979) (single)



"Beauty and the Beat" – The Go-Go’s (1981) (album)
"Texas Flood" – Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble (1983) (album)
"I Feel For You" – Chaka Khan (1984) (single)



"Your Love" – Jamie Principle (1986) / Jamie Principle/Frankie Knuckles (1987) (singles)
"Rumor Has It" – Reba McEntire (1990) (album)



"The Wheel" – Rosanne Cash (1993) (album)
"Doom" Soundtrack – Bobby Prince, composer (album)(1993)
"Go Rest High On That Mountain"– Vince Gill (1994) (single)
"Weezer (The Blue Album)"– Weezer (1994) (album)
"Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" – Beyoncé (2008) (single)



"1989" – Taylor Swift (2014) (album)

MAXWELL'S URBAN HANG SUITE: THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY

This year marks the thirtieth anniversary of the release of "Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite", the debut album by the r&b artist, Maxwell. Inspired by the legends of classic soul, Maxwell took the music he loved and put his own distinctive spin to create a sound that was fresh and contemporary yet also capturing an old school vibe. "Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite", along with D'Angelo's "Brown Sugar" in 1995 and Erykah Badu's "Baduizm" released in 1997, would define the neo soul movement and helped reshape popular black music.

The Brooklyn native born Gerald Maxwell Rivera began creating music at seventeen after receiving a Casio keyboard. While hip-hop was becoming the dominate sound being played on r&b radio at the time, Rivera remained a fan of the soul he heard growing up in the 1980's. As he got older, he continued pursuing music, learning to play other instruments and gaining access to a recording studio where he worked on demos. Rivera had begun performing around in small clubs throughout New York City, which created some buzz for him, while his demos where making the rounds, leading to him being signed to Columbia Records in 1994

Taking on his middle name as his professional moniker, Maxwell went to work on his debut with songwriter, Leon Ware. But after completing the record about a year later, the label put it on hold due to concerns of it's commercial appeal. When "Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite" was finally released on April 2, 1996, the concept album did struggle a bit to receive attention with the first single, "...Til the Cops Come Knockin'" failing to chart. But the mellow collection of funk, jazz, smooth soul did gain some serious traction with the help of the second single, "Ascension (Don't Ever Wonder)" peaking at number eight on the US Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and crossing over to the top forty on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The follow-up single, "Sumthin' Sumthin'" also charted, helping "Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite" go on to sell over two million copies in the US alone.

The album would land on several Top-Ten Album of the Year lists and receive a Grammy Award nomination for Best R&B Album. This success lead to him being featured live on MTV Unplugged (which was highly unusual since he only had one album to date) with the EP being released the following year with his cover of Kate Bush's "This Woman's Work" becoming a hit, reaching number sixteen on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

RANDOM SIGHTS + SOUNDS

We'll be seeing a lot of the actress, Anne Hathaway over the next couple of weeks. First she will be seen on the big screen in "Mother Mary" from writer/director, David Lowery on April 24th. In this psychological-drama musical, Hathaway plays a pop singer called Mother Mary who reunites with her estranged best friend and former costume designer (played by Michaela Coel) on the eve of her comeback performance. The original songs in the film will be available on a soundtrack album, "Mother Mary: Greatest Hits" set for release on April 17th. Hathaway is performing the songs and a couple of the tracks have been released. "Burial" (written by Jack Antonoff and Charli XCX) delivers a "Lady Gaga" vibe while "My Mouth Is Lonely For You" feels like a "FKA Twigs" track and it should since it was co-written by the artist (who makes a screen appearance in "Mother Mary").

Then on May 1st, the long awaited sequel to the 2006 high-fashion comedy, "The Devil Wears Prada" hits theaters worldwide with Hathaway reprising her role as Andrea Sachs along with Emily Blunt, Stanley Tucci and Meryl Streep as fashion editor, Miranda Priestly. An original song for the movie's soundtrack, "Runway" teams up Lady Gaga and Doechii for a euphoric house music song. Andrew Watt, Bruno Mars, Cirkut and D'Mile all co-wrote and produced this track.



The alternative R&B artist, Kelela makes her highly anticipated return after three years with "idea 1" who co-wrote and produced the track with PinkPantheress; Kehlani, who won two Grammy awards this year for her smash r&b single, "Folded", is back with new music delivering "Back and Forth" that features Missy Elliott; Saint Harison, the Brit singer/songwriter, has released a soulful ballad, "Stuck" from his upcoming EP, "Ghost"; another British act trying to gain some traction in the US is Flo, a classic girl hip-hop/soul group, that has dropped the lead single, "Leak It" from their upcoming second album

And I will close by paying tribute to the passing of two artists: Dash Crofts, one half of the the soft rock duo, Seals & Crofts, passed away on March 26th at the age of eighty-seven. Born Darrell George Crofts in Cisco, Texas, he got his nickname "Dash" when he was a baby. Crofts first started playing the piano as child before switching to the drums as a teenager. In high school, he played in a band where he met the saxophone player, Jim Seals. The two decided to try their luck as professional musicians by moving to Southern California in 1958. They briefly joined a rock band, the Champs before Crofts was drafted and spent two years with the Army. By 1969, they started recording under "Seals & Crofts" and by their second album, "Summer Breeze" with the title track becoming a top-ten pop hit in 1972, the duo had a string of popular songs. Seals (who died in 2022) and Crofts would part ways as an act in 1983 but would reunite for a concert tour in 1991 to 1992 and again in 2004 after the duo recorded their first new album since 1980 and also final recording together, "Traces".

And one of the pioneers that would greatly influence hip-hop culture, Afrika Bambaataa has passed away on April 9th. The Bronx native, who was was an originator of breakbeat DJing, died from complications of from prostate cancer and was sixty-eight. Born Lance Taylor, he was exposed to the ideologies of the Black Liberation Movement through his parents as a teen as well as the sounds of their eclectic record collection. After wining an essay contest that earned him a trip to Africa, Taylor was inspired by the sense of community while he was there and determined create one in his own neighborhood. Adopting the name, "Afrika Bambaataa Aasim", he set about creating the "Bronx River Organization" which was a positive alternative to the street gangs that infiltrated the Bronx and that he had once been affiliated. Bambaataa soon turned his attention to music after hosting several block parties and forming the Universal Zulu Nation which brought together socially and politically aware rappers and graffiti artists. Inspired by the emerging electronic music scene, he released "Planet Rock" in 1982 with the Soul Sonic Force that merged electro beats and hip-hop. The single, produced by Arthur Baker, reached the top five on the US R&B and Dance charts.

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.

THIS MUSIC MAY CONTAIN HOPE

With her second studio album, the shrewdly titled, "This Music May Contain Hope", Raye is offering songs of encouragement and optimism, fearlessly using her life experiences and explaining her emotional state on each song. The British artist, born Rachel Keen, dabbles far beyond the current popular sounds of soul and hip-hop on this record by mixing in classic jazz, big band, gospel and orchestral textures to expand her musical expression.

Raye has enlisted inspired collaborators on some tracks which includes film composer Hans Zimmer on the latest single, "Click Clack Symphony" and soul music legend, Al Green on "Goodbye Henry" while on the final track, "Fin", she appreciatively reads off many of the names of the creatives, friends and family who contributed to help in the completion of this album. 

Raye (who co-wrote all the tracks with a variety of writers) has lyrically explored the complexities of human emotion in "This Music May Contain Hope" while digging deep sonically to make a bold and contemporary album. Having stated that music has helped heal her through the most challenging and difficult times in her life, Raye hopes this collection of songs will possibly do the same for listeners.