BEN E. KING (1938 - 2015)

It's another sad loss in the world of music as Ben E. King, who first made the classic song "Stand By Me" a massive hit, passed away on May 1st.

Born Benjamin Earl Nelson in Henderson, NC, his family moved to Harlem when he was a young boy. He got caught up in the music scene and joined a doo-wop vocal group called The Five Crowns. George Treadwell, the manager of the popular singing group, The Drifters fired all the members (since he owned the name) and brought in the Five Crowns to become a new version of this group in 1958. They began recording on Atlantic Records and with Nelson as one of the lead singers, The Drifters had several hits including "There Goes My Baby", "This Magic Moment" and "Save The Last Dance For Me". After this success, Nelson asked Treadwell for a raise and a share of the royalties but was refused. The singer decided it was time to strike out on his own and began as a solo artist, taking on the name "Ben E. King".

King had a big hit with his first single "Spanish Harlem" in 1961, reaching the top-twenty on the r&b chart and making it to number ten on the pop but it was the follow-up that would make his career. Written by King, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, "Stand By Me" became a world-wide sensation with the song so popular that it reached the US top-ten twice, first in 1961 and again 1986 following the release of the beloved Rob Reiner film that shared the title. "Stand By Me" has been covered at least four hundred times and in all genres of music with memorable versions by John Lennon, Maurice White of Earth, Wind and Fire and Mickey Gilley for the "Urban Cowboy" soundtrack. King had other popular songs including "Amor", "I (Who Have Nothing)", "Here Comes The Night" and "Don't Play That Song (You Lied)" (like "Spanish Harlem", Aretha Franklin covered the song and made it an even bigger hit).

Ben E. King was inducted in to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Drifters in 1988 and honored with a Grammy Hall of Fame Award. Listen to King's first hit as a member of the new Drifters (also providing the lead vocal) and the first charting song with him as a solo act:

"There Goes My Baby" - The Drifters (1959) mp3

"Spanish Harlem" - Ben E. King (1961) mp3

TAKE TWO: ANGELA BOFILL

One artist I think is underrated and certainly under appreciated is Angela Bofill. While the Brooklyn born and raised singer had several songs hit the r&b chart throughout the 1980's, Bofill never reached the heights I think she deserved.

Bofill began performing as a teenager and was selected to be a featured vocalist with the Dance Theater of Harlem. She later caught the attention of executives of GRP Records through her friendship with jazz artist, Dave Valentin. Her debut album, "Angie" was released in 1978 and was a perfect blend of jazz and soul. Thanks to the single, "This Time I'll Be Sweeter", the album was one of year's most popular jazz recordings and the 1979 follow-up, "Angel of The Night" did even better.

By this time, Clive Davis became interested and signed Bofill to his Arista label. He teamed her with producer, Narada Michael Walden and they released "Something About You" in 1981. This album was a departure for the artist as it was much more r&b/pop oriented. While the record did do well (with two r&b charting songs), the move did alienate some of her jazz fans.

With Walden back for her fourth album, "Too Tough", Bofill would have one of her biggest successes. The funky title track hit number two on the Dance chart and number five on the r&b and the beautiful ballad, "Tonight, I Give In" would become one of Bofill's signature classics.

Bofill would release three more albums on Arista but sales were disappointing. She later moved to other labels to record, with her final charting single was a remake of Gino Vannelli's song, "I Just Wanna Stop" in 1988 (reaching number eleven on the r&b chart) and Bofill's last studio album was "Love In Slow Motion", released in 1996.

Angela Bofill proved to remain a popular live act and performed in stage productions but in 2006, tragedy befell the singer. She suffered a stroke which left her partially paralyzed. A benefit concert was later organized to help pay for the uninsured Bofill's medical bills. Sadly, she suffered another stroke the following year. Bofill has worked hard to regain some speech and mobility but unfortunately she will be unable to sing again. To honor this extraordinary talent, here are two of my favorites songs by the incomparable Angela Bofill:

JOHNNY KEMP (1959 - 2015)

This is a tribute to Johnny Kemp, who had a big hit single back in 1987, "Just Got Paid". The Bahamian singer passed away under mysterious circumstances in Jamaica on April 16th.

I loved "Paid" (co-written by Kemp and Teddy Riley) and it was one of the major songs of the new jack swing era, reaching number ten on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the r&b chart. This hit also brought Kemp a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Song. Surprisingly, Kemp only recorded two albums during his entire career but continued to entertain as a live performer over the years.

"Just Got Paid" - Johnny Kemp (1987) mp3

PERCY SLEDGE (1940 - 2015)

Percy Sledge, whose fiery and passionate voice rocked the original version of "When A Man Loves A Woman", passed away on April 14th at the age of seventy-four.

Sledge was born and raised in Leighton, Alabama and worked a series of jobs as a field hand before becoming an orderly at a hospital. It was during this time he was introduced to producer, Quinn Ivy where he went on to impress him with his amazing vocal ability during an audition and was signed to a recording contract.

"Woman" was Sledge's very first single and became an international smash in 1966, reaching number one on the U.S. pop and r&b chart. While he never had another song this successful, Sledge would continue to record and became a very popular touring act. "When A Man Loves A Woman" has since become a classic with it being covered by a countless number of performers. A version by Michael Bolton would become a major success, hitting number one in the U.S. in 1991.

Percy Sledge was honored with The Rhythm and Blues Foundation Pioneer Award in 1989 and inducted in to The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2005.

"When A Man Loves A Woman" - Percy Sledge (1966) mp3

Here are Michael Bolton and the great Percy Sledge performing their number one song together:

MY TUNE OF THE DAY

Today's tune took me by surprise as this great new song comes from an artist I never would have expected. When Carly Rae Jepsen was taking the world by storm with her irresistibly catchy, "Call Me Maybe" back in 2012, I thought it was a fun little tune but she would simply end up being added to the long list of one-hit wonders.

This third-place runner-up on Canadian Idol just dropped some new music last month with "I Really Like You". While it's another solid pop song, most of the attention it's received is due to the music video that features not only fellow Canadian Justin Bieber but movie star, Tom Hanks.

Jepsen made a recent appearance on "Saturday Night Live" as the musical guest where she debuted an impressive new song, "All That", a sexy slo-jam that features a 1980's era Prince vibe. Written by Jepsen and Dev Hynes (or as he's better known Blood Orange), this is an unexpected sound from the singer with a sweet, girl-next-door image but she convinces with breathy, sensual vocals. Now, I don't know if she's actually escaped the dreaded one-hit tag but this song may be a very good indication that her upcoming record (due sometime this summer) should be interesting.

RANDOM SIGHTS + SOUNDS

To kick this off, here are some hot new tracks I'm digging right now:

"Can't Deny My Love" - Brandon Flowers (2015) mp3

"Worship" - Years & Years (2015) mp3

"Alone" - Selah Sue (2015) mp3

"Pedestrian At Best" - Courtney Barnett (2015) mp3

The recent anniversary of "We Are The World" made me think of some of the other amazing musical accomplishments by Quincy Jones. This incredibly gifted musician, producer and humanitarian is probably best known for his work with Michael Jackson but he had a pretty phenomenal career before the King of Pop was even born.

Jones has made several studio albums under his own name with one of his most popular was "The Dude" in 1981. It featured four amazing singles including "Just Once" and "One Hundred Ways" which introduced the magnificent voice of James Ingram to the world.

"Ai No Corrida" - Quincy Jones (1981) mp3

"Razzamatazz" - Quincy Jones featuring Patti Austin (1981) mp3

"One Hundred Ways" - Quincy Jones featuring James Ingram (1981) mp3

Let's hope Brit-pop star, Natasha Bedingfield will be releasing some new music very soon. I think she's one of the more interesting singers out there now and it's been since 2010 since we last heard from her. In the meanwhile, here are a couple of my favorites:

"These Words (I Love You, I Love You)" - Natasha Bedingfield (2004) mp3

"Piece of My Heart" - Natasha Bedingfield (2007) mp3

THE WRECKING CREW

Most people would be surprised to learn that a little-known group of session musicians played a very large part in creating many of the memorable pop songs in music history. A fascinating new documentary out right now called, "The Wrecking Crew", which is named after this band, sheds some light on how these jazz-trained musicians are actually who you hear playing on those popular hits heard throughout the 1960's and early 1970's. They worked with everyone; from Elvis to Sinatra to The Beach Boys to Simon and Garfunkel not to mention performing on many of those iconic television theme songs ("Hawaii 5-0", "Mission: Impossible", "Batman", "Bonanza").



It's been said that these musicians played on over 150 top-ten hits and worked on at least 35,000 pieces of music during their time. Listen to this very tiny selection of classic songs that the Wrecking Crew played on to get an idea of how they helped shape and influence pop music:

"The Pink Panther Theme" - Henry Mancini (1963)mp3

"A Taste of Honey" - Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass (1965)mp3

"Good Vibrations" - The Beach Boys (1966)mp3

"Strangers In The Night" - Frank Sinatra (1966)mp3

"These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" - Nancy Sinatra (1966)mp3

"Something Stupid" - Frank & Nancy Sinatra (1967)mp3

"Windy" - The Association (1967) mp3

"Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" - The 5th Dimension (1969) mp3

"Song Sung Blue" - Neil Diamond (1972) mp3

"Annie's Song" - John Denver (1974) mp3