When we hear a song, it can transport us back to certain time or place in our lives. That is most certainly true with a tune that came out during the hot months of summer. Good Housekeeping has looked back to those key songs of summer from every year since 1960. And I have included a few of my favorites from this list for your listening pleasure: Click below to read the article:
Ezra Miller is best known as an actor and delivering memorable performances in such films as "We Need to Talk About Kevin", "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" and "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them". But he has also been a part of the indie queer band, Sons of an Illustrious Father since 2011 as a vocalist and drummer. With Lilah Larson and Josh Aubin, the group just dropped a cover of the Pussycat Dolls' hit, "Don't Cha" with Miller providing the vocals to flip the gender perspective. Their version is much darker than the original and, in many ways, far more interesting. Check out the music video of Sons of an Illustrious Father in action:
Lana Del Rey recently dropped some new music with little fanfare. "Doin' Time" is a cover of Sublime's 1997 song which uses a line from the Gershwin classic, "Summertime" in the hook but that is all it has in common with that tune. She brings a decidedly SoCal vibe to the track which makes it all her own. I really love this tune and let's hope we get some more music from Ms Del Rey very soon.
And we have Léon, who was recently in LA to promote her debut self-titled album which came out in March. Born Lotta Lindgren, this twenty-six year old Swedish vocalist comes from a musical family (Her mother is a cellist and her father is a composer and conductor) and has been performing since she was a child. With a great love for classic soul, Léon sang with several r&b and hip-hop groups as a teenager before deciding to become a solo artist. She released her first EP, "Treasure" in 2015 which brought her some attention and released two more in 2017. I have to say I am shocked she hasn't really blown up yet. I realize much of it has to do with luck and timing but I think Léon has what it takes to easily become the next big pop sensation from Sweden. Time will tell but in the meantime, here are the music videos for a couple of her singles, "You and I" and "Baby Don't Talk" to see for yourself:
It's been over five years since Carly Rae Jepsen exploded on the scene with the song, "Call Me Maybe". This cute pop ditty reached number one in eighteen countries and became the best-selling U.S. single of that year. The Canadian singer's follow-up work hasn't reached the same heights but that certainly doesn't mean that her music hasn't been interesting. Jepsen's 2015 album, "E.MO.TION" received plenty of critical acclaim for it's blend of dance-pop and 1980's new wave and ended up on the top of several year-end Best Album lists.
With her fourth studio release, "Dedicated", Jepsen is still in a dancing mood but she's going further back to disco and using the sounds of Bee Gees, ABBA and Donna Summer as inspiration. She said she wound up writing over one hundred songs for the album before narrowing it down to the album's thirteen tracks. There is the usual army of producers and songwriting collaborators on "Dedicated" but this record clearly has Jepsen's stamp all over it. Have a listen to a few of my favorite tracks including the latest single, "Too Much":
One of the biggest pop stars of all-time is back with new music. After teasing with video clips and images since the beginning of the year, Madonna has finally dropped the first single from her upcoming fourteenth studio album called "Madame X". This Latin pop tune, "Medellín" features Colombian singer, Maluma and takes it's title from the city in Colombia where he was born. A second single, "I Rise" has followed and it's an uplifting anthem about surviving and rising up against adversity. Emma González, the gun control activist and survivor of the Parkland high school shooting, is heard with a spoken intro on the track and the song is also being dedicated to the LGBTQ communities in celebration of the the 50th anniversary of Pride. Be on the look out for two more song releases from the Queen of Pop with "Future" featuring Quavo on May 17th and "Dark Ballet" on June 7th before the album is out on June 14th. Have a listen to the two songs with Madonna and Maluma performing live on the recent Billboard Music Awards and the clip for "I Rise":
TAYLOR SWIFT
And the current Princess of Pop, Taylor Swift has also just dropped some new music. Swift had been teasing the release of the song on her social media since April 13th and "Me!" was finally delivered on April 26th along with the music video Swift co-directed with Dave Meyers. The song is a bubbly confection that features Brendon Urie, the lead singer of Panic! at the Disco and the video is a explosion of vivid color and wild visual wonderment. The video for "Me!" has broken the record for the most views by a female artist in the first twenty-four hours with 65.2 million viewers and the fastest video to reach 100 million views in seventy-nine hours. But the song hardly seems worthy of all this fuss and if it had been released by any artist other than Swift, nobody would have paid any attention due to the weak and juvenile lyrics. "Me!" is a surprisingly underwhelming effort by the twenty-five year old pop superstar. No word on a release date of an upcoming album but let's hope it more promising than this first single:
Lizzo is an exciting voice in r&b/hip-hop who hasn't received the proper attention I think she deserves. After releasing some well-received EPs and albums, the thirty year old singer has just dropped her third studio album, "Cuz I Love You" and this record seems like it may help her breakout in a significant way.
She was born Melissa Jefferson and raised in Houston, TX. As a teen, she learned how to play the flute (which she still plays on her records) and performed with her school's band before becoming interested in rap. Lizzo studied music performance at the University of Houston and formed several bands with dreams of stardom. Major success didn't happen during this time and she decided to head to Prince's hometown of Minneapolis with the hope of igniting her music career. She got involved with some indie r&b groups before launching out on her own and releasing her debut album, "Lizzobangers" in 2013.
Lizzo's latest is a collection of sassy hip-hop and classic soul and perfectly captures her unique vision and big personality. Lizzo proudly represents the "big grrrls" and is a strong advocate for body positivity and self love which is certainly stated with her album cover as she appears gloriously nude. Enjoy a few songs from "Cuz I Love You" which includes a sizzling live performance of "Juice" at the 30th annual GLAAD Media Awards, a collaboration with Missy Elliott on "Tempo" and the music video for the title track which is a moving ballad.
And be sure to listen for Lizzo as she provides her voice in the upcoming animated musical, "Ugly Dolls" out in theaters on May 3rd.
And as a bonus, here is a favorite song by Lizzo from a few years ago, "Good As Hell":
Fresh off his Oscar win for co-writing with Lady Gaga, "Shallow" from the musical-drama, "A Star Is Born", Mark Ronson has returned to creating his own music. "Late Night Feelings" is the British producer/musician's fifth album and he has rounded-up an eclectic group of all female artists to contribute to the project. Some of the talent includes Alicia Keys, Camila Cabello, Angel Olsen and Miley Cyrus who was a part of the first single, "Nothing Breaks Like a Heart", a country-disco track released late last year. The latest single is the title song and features the Swedish vocalist, Lykke Li. It is a shimmering dance track that is elevated by Li's sensual delivery. Look at to the music video for the track and here is Ronson and Cyrus live on "SNL" performing their song:
The one and only Cher was on TheTonight Show With Jimmy Fallon last week which spent the entire show paying tribute and honoring her amazing career. The musical based on her life, "The Cher Show" was recently on Broadway and the three actresses who played her plus the real deal came together to perform one of Cher's biggest hits, "If I Could Turn Back Time". It is an epic battle of the Chers and I'm sure I don't have to tell you who is the victor. Take a look:
I wasn't aware that "country rap" was actually a thing but Lil Nas X, at one point, impressively had his twangy trap tune, "Old Town Road" on the Billboard Hot 100, Hot Country and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop song charts all at the same time. However, Billboard removed the song from the country chart due to it "not having enough elements of today's country music". This move has ignited a serious conversation about what exactly makes something "country music" and how much did race play a part in this decision to remove the song from the chart? Anyway, Miley's daddy, Billy Ray Cyrus loved the song and teamed-up with Lil Nas X for a remix of the track. Have a listen:
Finally I had heard a song on the radio which I thought was a new Adele single. During further investigation, I was surprised to discover that this song, "You Say" was actually from contemporary Christian singer, Lauren Daigle. This song became her third number one on the Hot Christian Songs chart and Daigle's first crossover pop hit. While I do really like the song and admire the inspirational message, it still bothers me how Ms Daigle copies much of Adele's vocal style and production on this record. I guess that's nothing new in the music business but this is just a little too blatant for my taste. Have a listen and judge for yourself:
The year was 1981. After graduating from high school, I had officially become an adult. I was a man-child of eighteen, excited yet apprehensive about of my future. Living in the suburbs and about to attend an art college in the big city of Detroit, I had always wanted to become a great commercial artist. Later in my third year of school, a teacher told me to seriously reconsider my dream of being an artist. Lacking the required self-confidence and being very practical, I eventually decided to drop out of school. This setback forced me to rethink my life plans and hastened my goal to move out of Michigan.
Throughout the disappointments that are inevitable in life, music has always helped me get through and comforted me while I was feeling insecure. The quirky and high-energy sounds of new wave was emerging during this time which I gravitated towards yet this music was not being played on my local radio station. I heard many of these songs on MTV and on a Canadian version called MuchMusic. Here are a few of my favorite songs of this year which covers a wide variety of music of the day:
