CAMILA

After it was announced that Camila Cabello was departing Fifth Harmony, the X-Factor created female singing group, at the height of their success to pursue a solo career, my initial reaction to the news was that we would never hear from her again. But how very wrong I was.

She had already begun taking steps to break out on her own while she was still in the group by collaborating with Shawn Mendes on a duet they wrote together, “I Know What You Did Last Summer”. The song reached the top twenty on the U.S. pop chart and then Cabello provided the hook on Machine Gun Kelly’s single, “Bad Things”. This song made it to number four on the pop charts in 2016 and Cabello was soon out of Fifth Harmony and ready to get to work on a solo album.

Cabello first continued working with other artists on their singles including a song for the “The Fate of the Furious” soundtrack which she teamed up with Pitbull and J. Balvin on “Hey Ma” with the Spanish-language remix doing very well in Latin America. Her first official single as a solo artist was “Crying In the Club” and released last May. It was a modest success but didn’t really make her particularly noticeable in the crowded dance-pop field. It would be her follow-up that would cause a major shift in her aspiring career.

Using her Cuban heritage for inspiration, the Miami-raised singer co-wrote “Havana”, a sensual, mid-tempo dance track driven by a Latin-flavored beat. This song became an international smash last year, reaching number one in several countries including Britain and the U.S. This prompted Cabello to alter the direction of her debut album and "Camila" which was released last month, features far more elements of Latin music and r&b than was originally planned. This certainly helped the twenty year old singer stand out and the album debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 album chart. Enjoy a sample of a few of my favorite tracks from the album:

THE 60TH ANNUAL GRAMMY AWARDS

For the first time being held in New York City in fifteen years, the Grammys made a grand point by having U2 perform their latest single, "Get Out of Your Own Way" outside in the frigid temperature in front of the Statue of Liberty, giving the moment a dramatic effect. And to celebrate sixty years of honoring the best in music, the 2018 Grammys surprisingly didn't do much of anything. With the exception of Recording Academy President, Neil Portnow briefly mentioning the milestone in his annual speech on the program (before unintentionally offending many female performers by telling them to "step up"), there was not a single moment throughout the evening of looking back at highlights of the Grammy Awards' rich yet admittedly flawed history.

James Cordon returned as host of the show and continues to be an enthusiastic ringmaster and cheerleader. One of his highlights was a funny bit involving bringing his popular "Carpool Karaoke" to the New York City subway along with Sting and Shaggy (where did they find him ?) for the ride but the passengers were hilariously not having it. But the biggest laugh of the night was about how non-musicians can win a Grammy and imagines a variety of different people reading an audio book of the recent "Fire and Fury", which examines the current White House administration, including a former female Presidential candidate.

Bruno Mars was the unexpected but deserving big winner of the night with his modern take of retro-soul, "24K" taking three of the top awards, Song of The Year, Record of The Year and Album of The Year, and winning a total of six Grammys. Kendrick Lamar didn't do so bad himself winning a total of five for his highly acclaimed, "DAMN." including Best Rap Album. Lamar even kicked off the show with an explosive performance that featured appearances by U2 and Dave Chappelle. Jay-Z did not fare as well, having not performed on the program and went home empty handed. But at least he did have his beautiful family by his side for support.

The evening was clearly not only about awards but about celebrating all genres of music. Some of my favorite performances included SZA making an impression with her brand of alt-soul with "Broken Clocks", a rare tribute to the musical theater on the show with dramatic performances from Ben Platt of "Dear Evan Hansen" and the legendary Patti LuPone, DJ Khaled and Rihanna doing a extravagant production of one of my favorite tunes of 2017, "Wild Thoughts" and Bruno Mars brought Cardi B on stage with him to do my current favorite song of this year, "Finesse" .  A tribute to the Las Vegas shooting victims that featured country artists, Brothers Osborne, Maren Morris and Eric Church didn't have the impact they were hoping for and their choice of song (Eric Clapton's "Tears in Heaven") wasn't exactly right and while the pairing of Miley Cyrus (who looked absolutely beautiful) with Elton John on his classic, "Tiny Dancer" may have been to promote an upcoming Grammy tribute special for the singer, it only came across as a lackluster stunt.

Politics, unsurprisingly, found it's way on to the Grammy stage and that was reflected in some of the evening's highlights. Logic had Best New Artist nominee, Khalid and the eventual winner of that award, Alessia Cara join him to perform a moving version of "1-800-273-8255", his nominated song that brings awareness about suicide prevention. At the conclusion, he spoke out against hatred, bigotry, sexual harassment and even the President's anti-immigrant stance.

Janelle Monáe made a passionate speech that honored the working women in all areas of the music industry and reiterated that "time's up" for the abuse of power against women before she introduced Kesha. Supported by the powerful voices of Cyndi Lauper, Camilla Cabello, Julia Michaels, Andra Day and Bebe Rexha, the singer delivered a fiery version of "Praying" which deals with her experiences with sexual and emotional abuse. After the performance, Cabello, a Cuban immigrant, offered words of support to "the Dreamers" and their complicated struggle to stay in the only country that many of them have ever known.

While this year's awards stressed the support of women, with many people wearing white roses in a show of solidarity, the Grammys doesn't seem to be exactly following through on this message. First, Lorde was the only female nominated for Album of The Year yet she was not given a solo set on the show (unlike most of the other male nominees) and was only offered to be a part of a tribute to the the late Tom Petty to be performed with other artists which she respectfully declined. And Alessia Cara was the only female to take an award during the entire televised ceremony.

Back in 2011 when the Grammys decided to end segregating the categories by gender, I was concerned that men would dominate the nominations and ultimately, the winners. That didn't happen immediately but as we have come to 2018 with only nine percent of the total Grammy Awards going to women over the last six years. it seems my fears have sadly become reality. But as I have seen a conscious shift in gender politics over the previous year, I am optimistic that change is possible and most certainly will come.

Here is a partial list of winners of the 2018 Grammy Awards:

Album of the Year: "24K Magic" - Bruno Mars

Record of the Year: "24K Magic" - Bruno Mars

Song of the Year: "That's What I Like" - Bruno Mars - Christopher Brody Brown, James Fauntleroy, Philip Lawrence, Bruno Mars, Ray Charles McCullough II, Jeremy Reeves, Ray Romulus & Jonathan Yip (songwriters)

Best New Artist: Alessia Cara

Pop Vocal Album: "÷" - Ed Sheeran

Best Pop Solo Performance: "Shape of You" - Ed Sheeran

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance: "Feel It Still," Portugal. The Man

Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album: "Tony Bennett Celebrates 90" - Tony Bennett and various artists

Best Rap Album: "DAMN." - Kendrick Lamar

Best Rap Song: "HUMBLE." - Kendrick Lamar

Best Rap Performance: "HUMBLE." - Kendrick Lamar

Best Rap/Sung Performance: "Loyalty" - Kendrick Lamar featuring Rihanna

Best R&B Album: "24K Magic" - Bruno Mars

Best R&B song: "That's What I Like" - Bruno Mars

Best R&B Performance: "That's What I Like" - Bruno Mars

Best Traditional R&B Performance: "Redbone" - Childish Gambino

Best Urban Contemporary Album: "Starboy" - The Weeknd

Best Country Album: "From a Room, Vol. 1" - Chris Stapleton

Best Country Song: "Broken Halos" Chris Stapleton

Best Country Solo Performance: "Either Way" - Chris Stapleton

Best Country Duo/Group Performance: "Better Man" Little Big Town

Best Dance/Electronic Album: "3-D The Catalogue" - Kraftwerk

Best Dance Recording: "Tonite" - LCD Soundsystem

Best Rock Album: "A Deeper Understanding" - The War on Drugs

Best Rock Song: "Run" - Foo Fighters

Best Rock Performance: "You Want It Darker" - Leonard Cohen

Best Metal Performance: "Sultan's Curse" - Mastodon

Best Alternative Music Album: "Sleep Well Beast" - The National

Best American Roots Song: "If We Were Vampires" - Jason Isbell And The 400 Unit

Best American Roots Performance: "Killer Diller Blues" - Alabama Shakes

Best Contemporary Christian Album: "Chain Breaker" - Zach Williams

Best Gospel album: "Let Them Fall in Love" - CeCe Winans

Best Jazz Instrumental Album: "Rebirth" - Billy Childs

Best Contemporary Instrumental Album: "Prototype" - Jeff Lorber Fusion

Best Latin Pop Album: "El Dorado" - Shakira

Best New Age Album: "Dancing on Water" - Peter Kater

Best Comedy Album: "The Age of Spin & Deep in the Heart of Texas" - Dave Chappelle

Best Spoken Word Album: "The Princess Diarist" - Carrie Fisher

Best Music Video: "HUMBLE." - Kendrick Lamar

Best Song Written for Visual Media: "How Far I'll Go" from "Moana" - Lin-Manuel Miranda (songwriter)

Best Score/Soundtrack for Visual Media: "La La Land"

Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media: "La La Land"

Best Musical Theater Album: "Dear Evan Hansen"

Best Music Film: "The Defiant Ones" - Various artists

NUMBER ONE FLASHBACK

Today's number one flashback, "Together Again" by Janet Jackson held the top spot during this week back in 1998. This poignant dance track pays loving tribute to lives lost to AIDS and was the second single off her critically acclaimed concept album, "The Velvet Rope".  The song would become Jackson's eighth of ten career number one U.S. singles and would enjoy two weeks in this position.

"Together Again", co-written by Jackson with her long-time producers, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and her-then-unknown-now-former-husband, René Elizondo Jr., began as a moving ballad inspired after the AIDS-related death of a friend of Jackson's before being transformed in to a celebratory beat-heavy appreciation to anyone who has lost a loved one. The song traveled the world reaching the top-ten on many international charts and would go on to sell six million copies worldwide.



And here is a little-seen music video (directed by Elizondo, Jr.) of a remix of "Together Again" which turns the tune into a sensual ballad with Jackson clearly singing about wanting to reunite with a lover:

HOT AND FRESH OUT THE KITCHEN

One of the first big songs of the new year is a remix of "Finesse" by Bruno Mars. This single is off his 2016 album, "24K Magic" and has gotten a boost by one of the breakout stars of 2017, Cardi B who kicks off the track with her trademark sassy rap. The song pays homage to the new-jack sound of the late '80's and the music video gives props to the '90's comedy show "In Living Color", in particular to "the fly-girls", the young women who danced in between skits. People are responding well to this version of the song and has already reached the U.S. top-forty in it's first week on the charts.

For his latest single, "Family Feud", Jay-Z has called on some major talent to put together the music video. He has gotten Ava DuVernay to direct this clip and the musician co-wrote the story with her. It begins in the future of 2444 with a dramatic family feud ending in death before going back to 2050 with the U.S. now run by an all-female government who are in the process of rewriting the Constitution. We continue back until we reach our current year with Jay-Z walking his daughter, Blue Ivy through a church. The father/rapper begins the song which he confesses his infidelities and wants to keep his family together. His wife, Beyoncé appears on the track and in the video, dressed as some type of glamorous high priestess, listening patiently to what her husband has to say. And there are plenty of famous faces scattered throughout the video including Thandie Newton, Michael B. Jordan, Mindy Kaling, David Oyelowo, Niecy Nash, Trevante Rhodes, Constance Wu and Jessica Chastain.

MY FAVORITE MOMENTS IN MUSIC IN 2017

2017 has come to a close and it was another year of some great music. I've always shared the tunes that I've loved and enjoyed throughout the year but time didn't permit me to get to everything. So to end 2017 properly, here's a round-up of a few of my favorite songs and videos from the previous year I didn't get a chance to share:



"HUMBLE" - Kendrick Lamar (2017) mp3

"High" - Ledisi (2017) mp3

"Stay" - Zedd featuring Alessia Cara (2017) mp3

"Feel It Still" - Portugal. The Man (2017) mp3



"Shining" - DJ Khaled featuring Beyoncé and Jay Z (2017) mp3

"Sorry Not Sorry" - Demi Lovato (2017) mp3











"Now or Never" - Halsey (2017) mp3

TAKE TWO: TAYLOR DAYNE

With her big voice and even bigger hair, Taylor Dayne stood out during her reign back in the late '80's and early '90's with her soul-inflected pop-dance songs. She was born Leslie Wunderman and raised in New York. After she graduated high school, she began performing with a variety of rock bands before going solo (and billing herself as "Les Lee") and recording a few dance tracks. This helped land her with Arista Records and with a name change to the more dramatic "Taylor Dayne", she hit it big with her first single, "Tell It To My Heart" which became a world wide smash in 1987. A debut album was quickly put together and given the title of her single. Dayne had more top-ten hits from the album including "Prove Your Love", "Don't Rush Me" and the moving ballad,  "I'll Always Love You".

Her follow-up album, "Can't Fight Fate" in 1989 continued Dayne's string of chart successes and featured "With Every Beat of My Heart", "I'll Be Your Shelter", "Heart of Stone" and her first U.S. number one pop hit, "Love Will Lead You Back".  By the release of her third album, "Soul Dancing" in 1993 and despite a dynamic dance cover of Barry White's "Can't Get Enough of Your Love" reaching the top-forty on the pop charts, the album didn't do as well as her previous releases.  Dayne soon departed from Arista and recorded "Naked Without You" in 1998 which she was more involved with the production and writing of the record but the album failed to chart.

It would be ten years later before Dayne would release another album. "Satisfied" was not a major success but she did reach the top of the U.S. dance club charts with "Beautiful" in 2008. Sadly, this has been the last album the singer has released to date. But Dayne has remained active over the years with her appearing on reality shows, acting on Broadway with "Aida" and performing in film and television. Although she never married, Dayne had twins via a surrogate in 2002. Let's look back and enjoy a couple of my favorite songs by the incredible Taylor Dayne:

CHRISTMAS EVERYDAY

One more artist has released a new Christmas album this holiday season and that is Motown legend, Smokey Robinson. His very first solo Christmas record is called "Christmas Everyday" and it's released exclusively through Amazon. This ten-song collection is filled with the seventy-seven year old singer's favorite Christmas classics including “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town", "This Christmas" and “Please Come Home For Christmas” which was one of his mother's favorite holiday songs. The title track is a re-recording of a song Robinson performed with The Miracles back in 1963. Enjoy this new version and have a very Merry Christmas: