In my next other life (clearly, I am planning to have a lot of them), I want a badass name like “Taj Mahal.” I figure, this one isn’t even Indian, so my odds are pretty good.
Month: August 2015
Swing
As you’ve probably figured out by now, I’m hardly the biggest fan of “white people jazz music.” But “Sing Sing Sing” is a great song no matter how you slice it.
Susana Baca
Based on my extensive sample of two (see also: Cesaria Evora), I have determined that the key to being a successful female Afro-Latin singer is a) having a first name that ends in “a”; 2) having a last name that also ends in “a”; and 3) performing barefoot. This one’s for Cedric, whose choice of Susana Baca tickets as a birthday present years ago introduced me to her awesomeness.
Supremes
I could have easily put this list under “D,” and I’m sure Diana Ross has already contacted her lawyers to come after me. But to me the group awesomeness was all about Mary and Flo, even if they weren’t so great in the romantic advice department.
Sun Ra
Of all the jazz legends I didn’t get to see in their lifetimes (Sarah Vaughan, etc.), I did somehow manage to make it to a Sun Ra concert. And I have to say: As someone who likes the weird edge of music, I think I met my match.
Sugar Hill
Round about 1979, on a family visit, my cousin Chris couldn’t wait to play “the best song he ever heard” for my older sister and me. The song was “Rapper’s Delight.” My sister and I, having just spent a summer singing along to “You Picked a Fine Time to Leave Me Lucille,” couldn’t make heads or tails of it. Who knew a white kid from Connecticut would turn out to be so ahead of the musical curve?
Old-School Rap AllMusic page
Stevie Wonder
If you ever want to make your kids feel bad, remind them that if they live to be 100, they will never accomplish as much as Stevie Wonder did by age 20. On the other hand, they will probably never write a song as dippy as “I Just Called to Say I Love You,” so things kind of even out.
Steve Miller Band
“Abra/Abra/Cadabra/I want to reach out and grab ya.” Those are real lyrics, to a real song.
Steely Dan
Steely Dan is two guys and an endlessly rotating cast of musicians. And yet, all their songs sound exactly the same! And when the two leads have released solo albums … they sound exactly like Steely Dan! So clearly Steely Dan is really one guy, a computer, and a bunch of holograms.
Playlist of the Day 