I guess when you have “doobie” right in your band name, it would make sense that your music gets mellower … and mellower … over time.
Month: November 2014
Donna Summer
There are some things I have an intense and possibly unhealthy passion for. In the food category, peanut butter and plums. In music, Donna Summer. I know, I know—”Adam and Steve” blah blah blah. I said it was possibly unhealthy.
Django Reinhardt
My old roommate Bobby (sorry, “Robert”) was always trying to get me to listen to people like Django Reinhardt. I thought he was just being a snob. Later he became a travel writer, living in places like Paris and Brazil. So I guess “snob” means, “way more cultured than me.” Sorry, Robert.
Disco Vocal
For anyone who thinks disco wasn’t “important, interesting, or influential,” consider the number of rock legends (McCartney, the Stones, Bowie, Rod Stewart, Queen, the Kinks, etc., etc.) who “went disco” in the late 70s. Of course, all those songs sucked—which makes sense, considering that all these “legends” were old white British guys. But still.
Disco Instrumental
As a 6th grader in the late 70s, nothing beat practicing the steps to the “Saturday Night Fever” dances while waiting for the school bus—at least until Mr. Ryan came outside and said to stop acting like a girl. Sometimes being a gayboy-in-training in mid-Atlantic suburbia was not a lot of fun.
Dire Straits
How smart were Dire Straits? They wrote a song mocking MTV for allowing people with no musical talent to become famous—and then became superstars when the video for that same song became one of the most popular MTV offerings of all time. That’s pretty smart.
Dionne Warwick
OK, I know she went all “psychic friend network” weird, and once she connected with the Bee Gees it was all over … but late 60s/early 70s Dionne Warwick is some of my favorite pop music of all time. And if my future husband doesn’t agree to play “Then Came You” as our song at the reception, the wedding’s off.
Dinah Washington
Dinah Washington has this tough, gravelly voice and sang all these sweet, pillowy songs. Proof that back when singers could actually SING, you could surround them with violins and lush production and they still sounded awesome. Don’t get me started …
David Bowie
In the 70s, when he was all druggy and weird, David Bowie made one of the strangest—and coolest—duets of all time: a cover of “Little Drummer Boy” (?) with Bing Crosby (!). In the 80s, when he was all safe and pop, he recorded one of the most atrocious duets of all time: a cover of “Dancing in the Streets” with Mick Jagger. Three guesses which version of Bowie gets the most entries on this list.
Playlist of the Day 