SUNDAY BEST: THE UNTOLD STORY OF ED SULLIVAN

For twenty-three years, "The Ed Sullivan Show" was the popular destination for millions of Americans every Sunday night to be entertained by some of the greatest musical acts of all time on television. It was this program that brought the seductive swagger of Elvis Presley into people's homes and helped jumpstart the British invasion by being the first to introduce The Beatles and other English acts to these shores, creating a heated frenzy amongst teenage girls and helped inspire some young boys to want to play rock & roll when they grew up.

But there was something else that this variety show did that was daring and far-reaching. "The Ed Sullivan Show" would feature African-American musicians performing on the show regularly, at a time when this concept was not widely acceptable. The host fearlessly held firm to his belief of having the best talent on his show despite concerns from the show's producers and threats from sponsors. The riveting Netflix documentary, "Sunday Best: The Untold Story of Ed Sullivan", directed by the late Sacha Jenkins, reveals how this television pioneer was responsible for helping to shift the culture by showcasing these incredible artists in a way that revealed not only their prestigious abilities but their humanity.

Born in Harlem at the turn of the 20th century, at a time when the neighborhood was largely made up of Irish, Jewish and Italian immigrants, Sullivan came from a family that loved music; performing, singing and listening. He was also a natural athlete in school, excelling at playing football, baseball, basketball and track. It was around this time when Sullivan played these sports with Black athletes in the area, never believing that were inferior players and always treated them with respect.

Beginning his career as a journalist, Sullivan wrote a sports column for several newspapers throughout the city. While working for the New York Daily News, Sullivan was dispatched to writing a column, "Little Old New York", which focused on gossip involving Broadway shows which he knew very little about at the time. But he would thrive, moving to radio and producing vaudeville shows to become a powerful force in entertainment news.

In 1948, Sullivan was hired to host a weekly television variety show on CBS, "Toast of the Town" on Sunday nights. Critics were not kind and Sullivan himself would admit he was a bit stiff and uncomfortable in those early days as the master of ceremonies. Yet audiences were drawn to him, appreciating him for his average guy appeal and discerning eye for selecting top talent to appear on the program. Officially renamed "The Ed Sullivan Show" in 1955, Sullivan brought to the show the very best of classical, rock, country, world and Broadway.

But the focus of "Sunday Best" is the impact the show had for the numerous African-American performers that made appearances from the very beginning. Sullivan first had on performers who had appeared on vaudeville (Pigmeat Markham and Bill "Bojangles" Robinson) and popular entertainers of the day (Louis Armstrong, Pearl Bailey, Nat King Cole, Sammy Davis Jr.). He would later have the early appearances of now legendary soul performers (Jackie Wilson, Fats Domino, Ray Charles, James Brown) and virtually every artist who had recorded for Motown, most notably the Supremes who appeared on the show seventeen times. He treated each of these performers like he did with any of his other guests, offering a firm handshake or a kiss on the cheek which was considered highly controversial at the time. Sullivan received plenty of pushback by several Southern CBS affiliates voicing their concerns of having so many Black acts on the show. He always made it very clear that they did not have to air his program if this was a issue for any station. And throughout the entire run of "The Ed Sullivan Show", there were never any cancellations.

Jenkins, who died from complications of multiple system atrophy back in May, has made a brisk and compelling film that highlights the importance of what Sullivan had done by supporting and nurturing these African-American performers. Harry Belafonte, Motown founder, Berry Gordy, Smokey Robinson and Dionne Warwick are just a few who share warm remembrances of their time participating on the show. And while Sullivan did have a reputation for being petty and vindictive if he felt that his guests did not follow his guidelines or disrespected him, "Sunday Best" keeps the genial host in a positive light.

Here are the full performances of sixteen of the artists that appear in the documentary from "The Ed Sullivan Show":

EVERYBODY SCREAM

It's been about four years since we last heard from Florence Welch with her album, "Dance Fever" but she has returned with new music. "Everybody Scream" is the title track from Florence + The Machine's sixth studio album which is due out on Halloween. 

The British indie rocker has revealed that the upcoming collection will focus on themes involving mysticism, poetry and witchcraft. What exactly that will entail for the album is unclear but this haunting single (co-written with Mark Bowen of the post-punk band, IDLES and Mitski) expresses Welch's feeling of power when she's on stage, giving her all to inspire her audience to let loose.

SEX HYSTERIA

Jessie Murph, the provocative alt-country artist, has burst into the mainstream with her strip-club anthem, "Blue Strips" which is a reference to the blue security strip on one hundred dollar bills. This hip-hop tinged song with a country twang about a woman seeking payback for her man cheating on her with a stripper by showing up that club to throw money at her reached number fifteen on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. 

Like many music performers today, the Alabama native, Murph began her career posting videos of herself singing covers on TikTok and Instagram as child. By sixteen, she had built enough of a following to lead her getting signed to Columbia Records. A mixtape, "Drowning" soon followed in 2023 that brought Murph even more attention.

Pushing her sound even further than her debut album, "That Ain't No Man That's the Devil" from last year, Murph's recently released second album, "Sex Hysteria" digs deeper into edgy, country-soul confessional songs dealing with childhood trauma, love relationships and blunt sexuality. Sporting a towering beehive of inky black hair, Murph's image is of a classic '60's styled, sexy bad girl in constant search of a good time. She's even managed to attract rappers, Gucci Mane (who is also the name of a track on the album) and Lil Baby to provide vocals on the album.

The now twenty year old performer continues to push boundaries with the single, "1965". She has received some backlash from the song due to it's lyrics involving outdated gender roles while the video features a graphic sex scene that has raised accusations that she's glorifying domestic violence. But Murph has dismissed the controversy by stating it's all simply satire. 

Here is a sampling of the sounds by the daring, Jessie Murph which includes the controversial, "1965" and a remix of "Blue Strips" featuring Sexxy Red.

VERONICA ELECTRONICA

Back in 1998, Madonna released her seventh album, "Ray of Light", a collection that brought the throbbing beats of the underground electronica scene to the pop music landscape. With producer, William Orbit, the superstar boldly experimented with her sound by incorporating her recent embrace of Kabbalah and the practice of Ashtanga yoga with trip-hop and new-age. "Ray of Light" became an incredible worldwide success, with five hit singles and selling over sixteen million copies and finally bringing her some long overdue critical acclaim with a highlight being winning four Grammy Awards including Best Pop Album. 

Not long after the release of this album, Madonna had planned to follow-up with a remix of the album to be called, "Veronica Electronica" which was the name of her alter-ego she had given herself during the "Ray of Light" recording sessions. But the plan was scrapped and the record was put away in the vault although some of these remixes ended up as B-sides to her singles.

Now "Veronica Electronica" has been officially released twenty-six years later. There are seven tracks from "Ray of Light" that have been given the remix treatment by Orbit, BT, Sasha, Club 69 and Victor Calderone. And the album also features an unreleased demo called, "Gone, Gone, Gone", written by Madonna and Rick Nowels.

CONNIE FRANCIS (1937 - 2025)

Connie Francis, one of the top recording artists during the late '50s and early '60s, has passed away on July 16th at the age of eighty-seven. She was the first woman to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, achieving a total of three and went on to sell well over one hundred million records throughout her career. Francis enjoyed a recent resurgence with her 1962 song, "Pretty Little Baby" becoming a viral hit several months ago on TikTok and other social media platforms.

She was born Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero in Newark, NJ on December 12, 1937. Encouraged by her father, George to show off her gift of singing, she performed as a child at talent shows and other local events. An opportunity to sing on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts in 1950, a variety show that showcased promising talent, lead to the host suggesting that she change her name to the simpler to pronounce, "Connie Francis". She would eventually accept this stage name and worked hard to get her career off the ground. Francis would record demos for songwriters and her father and manager helped finance recording sessions for singles to attract record labels. She even did vocal stunt work as the singing voice for actors in a trio of movies. Francis was signed to MGM Records in 1955 yet none of the singles released gained much attention and she was informed that she would be dropped from the label.

But one final single was released from MGM and it was a cover of a 1923 jazz tune. Francis had not wanted to record the song, feeling it was too old-fashioned, but her father insisted, certain it would be perfect for her. And he was right. "Who's Sorry Now" became a big hit in 1957, reaching number four on the US pop chart and number one in the UK. This song went on to sell a million copies and would become Francis' signature song.

This was the start of a string of popular, international hits for Francis like "Stupid Cupid", "My Happiness", "Among My Souvenirs", "Lipstick on Your Collar", "Frankie" and "Everybody's Somebody's Fool". She would even record albums of favorite songs in Italian, German, Hebrew and Spanish. Hollywood soon came calling and Francis made her acting debut in the 1960 romantic-comedy, "Where The Boys Are" with her also singing the popular title track which became another signature song for the performer. Following this hit film, she would make three more comedies.

The arrival of the Beatles and the British Invasion would cause a seismic shift in popular music and Francis would struggle to reach the charts by 1963. She still remained a top concert draw and would go on to record country albums and reach the adult contemporary chart.

But Francis would suffer some tragic personal situations by the 1970's. Following a concert at a music fair in New York in 1974, she was sexually assaulted in her hotel room, largely due to a lack of proper security at the location. Francis would later sue the hotel, winning over two million in a settlement and with the verdict helping reform security in the hotel industry. Four years later, Francis had nasal surgery and developed complications that caused her to temporarily lose her voice which she would not recover for several years. And her brother, George Franconero Jr, an attorney who had testified against mafia, was murdered by hitmen in 1981.

During this period, Francis retreated into seclusion, suffering from depression and drug addiction. But she recovered enough by 1982 to begin recording and performing in front of audiences once again. But this would be short-lived for Francis as she was diagnosed with manic depression, committed to multiple psychiatric hospitals and even attempted suicide a few years later. Her doctors would later determine that most of her mental health troubles stemmed from post-traumatic stress disorder following her attack. Francis would get her life and career back in order, recording and touring again which included headlining in Las Vegas in 1989. She would retire from show business in 2018 and settle in Florida.

Early in her career, Francis had a passionate affair with singer, Bobby Darin not long before he achieved fame but her father stood firmly in the way of the relationship developing into anything serious. She was married four times, most of them brief with all but one not lasting more than a year. During her third marriage to Joseph Garzilli, a restaurateur, the couple adopted a son, Joey. Francis would meet Tony Ferretti in 2003 and have a long-term relationship with him until his death in 2022.

ADDISON

Addison Rae has successfully taken her fame on social media and done an impressive makeover by transforming herself into a credible pop music performer. Born Addison Rae Easterling, the Lafayette, Louisiana native first gained attention through her dance videos on Tik Tok back in 2019 and amassing well over a million viewers in just a few months. As those numbers grew to millions more on the app (currently at eighty-eight), Rae was lured to Los Angeles, signed with a talent agency and quickly started a podcast with her mother, launched her own cosmetics line and made her acting debut in a remake of the 1999 teen comedy "She's All That".

In between all of that, she had released a song called "Obsessed" in 2021 which gained some attention yet was largely dismissed. An EP, "AR" soon followed and helped people begin to notice Rae's musical abilities. But it was a guest appearance on Charli XCX's remix of her single, "Von Dutch" when people began to really look at Rae in a different light. Then last August, the single, "Diet Pepsi" was released and became Rae's pop music kickstart. The song went on to become a top-twenty hit in several countries and gave Rae her first entry on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Now Rae's debut album, "Addison" has been released. Teaming with Swedish music producers, Elvira Anderfjärd, and Luka Kloser (who had worked on "Diet Pepsi"), Rae co-wrote all of the songs with them on the album. And while the material isn't particularly groundbreaking, the music is perfectly fun and catchy, bringing to mind the rise of Britney Spears back in the late '90's whose career this twenty-four year old seems to emulating whether she's conscious of it or not. Rae has even planned her first concert tour, "The Addison Tour" set to begin in Ireland near the end of August that will take her across North America, Europe and Australia. Despite her dubious beginnings, Rae seems to be the real deal and could have a promising, long music career ahead of her.

RANDOM SIGHTS + SOUNDS

Damiano David, the front man for the popular Italian rock band, Måneskin, has recently released a side project. David, along with fellow musicians, Victoria De Angelis, Thomas Raggi and Ethan Torchio, first came together to form a band as high school students in Rome back in 2016. They chose the name "Måneskin" (which means "Moonlight" in Danish) and developed their skills by playing on the streets for tips. The band soon worked their way on to the Italian version of "X-Factor", finishing in second place. This lead to a recording contract with Måneskin releasing their first album, "Il ballo della vita" that featured a mix of Italian and English-language rock songs. Måneskin's next big achievement was representing Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2021 and creating a bit of an upset by winning the finals with their song, "Zitti e buoni (quiet and well-behaved)". This victory helped to drive even more buzz for the band with their previous recordings receiving some new found interest throughout Europe including their cover of the Four Seasons' 1967 hit, "Beggin'" that reached the top-ten in the UK and even charting in the US.

The twenty-six year old singer's debut solo album, "Funny Little Fears" is a clear shift in musical direction from his band, with a softer, pure pop sound. David began writing for the album in Los Angeles (in part to be closer to his current girlfriend, musician Dove Cameron), working with numerous songwriters and producers, and ended up with about seventy songs. This was narrowed down to fourteen English-language tracks which expressed a more personal and sensitive side of the artist, songs that might not fit as well with his band. David plans to hit the road this fall, beginning in Warsaw on Septemeber 11th, that will take him around the world to promote the album.





Here is a collection of new music that I'm connecting with at the moment: Devonté Hynes, better known as the British performer and producer, Blood Orange, has a new track that features the Durutti Column, Tariq Al-Sabir, Caroline Polachek and Daniel Caesar; Christine and the Queens join forces with disco legend, Cerrone for a cover of his 1977 hit, "Supernature" which is remixed by Purple Disco Machine; the pop stylist, Kim Petras is back with "Polo" that has her in a techno-driven vibe; Tinashe teams up with DJ and producer, Disco Lines for a remix to proclaim she wants "No Broke Boys" and an inspired paring of Norah Jones and John Legend with "Summertime Blue"

I am sad to report that Walter Scott, one of the original members of the r&b group, The Whispers that found fame beginning in the post-disco era and shared lead vocal duties with his identical twin, Wallace, passed away on June 26th at the age of eighty-two. Formed in Watts, CA in 1963 with the Scott brothers along with Gordy Harmon, Marcus Hutson, and Nicholas Caldwell, The Whispers first became known as a thrilling live act. Harmon became seriously injured in a car accident in 1973 and was replaced by Friends of Distinction member, Leaveil Degree. The Whispers would get a recording contract but struggled to gain some traction with their music. By 1978, they signed with Solar Records and finally hit it big with the dance tune, "And The Beat Goes On". The song was their first number-one single on the r&b chart and crossed over to the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number nineteen. More hits followed with "It's a Love Thing", "Keep On Lovin' Me" and "Rock Steady" which became their highest charting on the US pop chart, reaching number seven and their second number one on the R&B chart.

And Calvin Yarbrough of the r&b duo, Yarbrough & Peoples has died on June 19th at the age of seventy-one. Yarbrough and Alisa Peoples both grew up in Dallas, TX, and they had met taking piano lessons as young children. They grew-up to become professional musicians together and formed a group first called Grand Theft. An encounter on the road had them meeting Charlie, Ronnie, and Robert Wilson, who are better known as The Gap Band, and they introduced them to Lonnie Simmons, a songwriter and producer who went on to work with them to help put together their first album. In 1981, Yarbrough & Peoples released their debut, "The Two of Us" which featured, "Don't Stop the Music," that went to number one on the US Billboard R&B chart and also reached the pop chart, making it as far as number nineteen. This would become the most popular song by the duo (who would later marry in 1987) but had four more top-ten R&B hits before heading back to Dallas to start their own music production company in 1986.