Happy Hanukkah Y’all!

Here’s the Maccabeats with “Candlelight.”

RIP Dobie Gray

Singer Dobie Gray died yesterday 12/6. He was 71. No one is exactly sure what his given name was but he was given the nickname Dobie by Sonny Bono. Gray scored two big hits with “In With The In Crowd” (1965) and “Drift Away” (1973). He spent several years on Broadway with the Los Angeles cast of “Hair.” This is Dobie Gray singing one of my all time favorite songs, “Drift Away.”

“Hair” is one of my favorite movie musicals. I really wish I’d had the opportunity to see him performing in it. I bet he was fantastic.RIP Mr. Gray.

A-Z Ladies Of Music Q

Q is for Queen Latifah. Her given name is Dana Owens but she was given the nickname Latifah (which is Arabic for gentle and kind) by her cousin. She started beatboxing for the hip-hop group Fresh Ladies in 1988 and by 1989, at the age of 19, she had her first recording contract.  By 1991 she began making guest appearances on television and in 1993 she starred in the sitcom “Living Single.” Though her primary focus has been on acting, she has never lost sight of her musical roots. After her Academy Award nominated performance in the musical “Chicago” (2003) she shifted her focus from rap and hip-hop to jazz vocals. Since we have no women in hip-hop on the survey yet, I’m going to play Queen Latifah’s first hit “Ladies First.” This song was #35 on VH1’s greatest hip-hop songs of all time.

It blows my mind that there is such a thing as a hip-hop old fogey but there is and I am it. Well, if I’m honest, I should be a hip-hop old fogey but I was always too much of a nerd to ever really be a huge fan. Still, since I was a young person as hip hop became popular, I will claim my old lady right to declare. “These darn kids today with their Puffy Dogs and their Snoopy Daddys don’t know what good hip-hop is.”

Also, “get off my lawn!”

A-Z Ladies Of Music G

G is for The Go-Go’s. They started out as a punk rock band in 1978 but by 1980 they had moved toward pop music. They released their first album, “Beauty And The Beat” in 1981 and became the first all female band that wrote their own songs and played their own instruments to ever top the Billboard Charts. “Rolling Stone” magazine also listed the album at 413 on their “500 Greatest Albums Of All Time” list. Here’s “We Got The Beat” which was one of their biggest hits.

That little Go-Go’s step dance (or whatever you call it) eventually became a national joke but I can remember secretly practicing it in my room for hours. It doesn’t seem that difficult but I never could get it right. I like to think there must have been some kind of impenetrable nerd proof glamour on the dance preventing me from learning it, but the very fact that I even thought that probably gets more at the heart of my problem than a magical conspiracy theory ever could.

RIP Heavy D

Rapper Dwight “Heavy D” Myers died suddenly yesterday, November 8. He was 44. In the 80s, Heavy D and the Boyz was the first group signed by the hip hop label Uptown Records. By the 90s, Mr. Myers was president of that label. In recent years he had also begun acting. His final role was in the upcoming movie “Tower Heist.” I chose the video of his final performance, a medley of his hits shown on October’s BET Hip Hop Awards. I will also post the video for one of his first hits “Mr. Big Stuff” because I suspect the BET video will be taken down.

On the day before his passing Heavy D Tweeted to his fans “Be inspired.” Thank you Dwight, I think I will. RIP Heavy D.

RIP Joe Frazier

Former Heavyweight Champion Joe Frazier passed away from liver cancer on Nov. 7. He was the first fighter to ever defeat Ali and, from what I read, he was a generous guy. I do not follow sports so Frazier may seem like an unlikely subject for a music blog. But I decided to honor his memory here for one reason. In 1976, this otherwise talented man inexplicably recorded this:

It may not be his finest moment but it did give me a smile today. RIP Mr. Frazier.

 

Happy Birthday Frank Conniff!

It’s Frank’s Birthday! I knew I wasn’t going to top last year’s meat cake. But since Frank is a fan of the movie “Singin In The Rain” I thought Gene, Debbie, and Donald would make a sweet treat.  I had this cake made special. Few people know this, but “Julie” was Frank’s stage name back in his Vaudeville days.

Since he is a fan of the show “Man From U.N.C.L.E,” I commissioned this special Beatles powered, Napoleon Solo groove. If you’re wondering why the lady says “Happy birthday Abbey” at the beginning, well only the Sisters at Westminster know for sure and they’re not talking because of that damned vow of silence. By “vow of silence” I mean “court mandated gag order” but you get the idea. The lesson here is, no matter how tempting the invitation, NEVER party with nuns!

Seriously though, Frank, if you’re out there reading (and even if you’re not), thank you for sharing your great taste in music and thank you for the laughter. Happy birthday sir, I hope it’s a great one!

The Wonderful Wizard (World) Of Chicago

Here’s a song from the 1978 movie “The Wiz.” It’s called “He’s The Wizard” and this version is performed by Thelma Carpenter. I post this because she’s an awesome jazz vocalist and because this movie is one of my guilty pleasures. It’s a terrible film and I love it unconditionally.

Hey! Speaking of Wizards, I went to Chicago’s Wizard World Comic Con last weekend! It was awesome! Here’s my highlight reel:

The Buffy Part

I’m a HUGE “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” fan! This con was billed as Buffy-palozza and it lived up to its name. Spike, Xander, Cordy, Harmony, Darla and Glory (not their real names) were all there and they all did Q and A panels! I got to see everyone but Cordy (Charisma Carpenter) because, for some twisted reason, they put her in one of the smaller panel rooms (everyone else got the big room). They were all warm, funny and fantastic but for me the highlights were Nicholas Brendon and his twin brother Kelly Donovan (they closed with the Snoopy dance!), Julie Benz ( Did you know she only did 4 episodes of Buffy? Doesn’t it feel like more?), and James Marsters (The man is a SUPER fan whisperer! When he talks to you, you feel like the most precious and special person in the room.)

A friend of mine also bought autographs from Nicholas and James. I leeched onto his moment so I got to make James laugh and shake his hand and then I got a Xander hug!!!! Just the Buffy part would have been well worth the (very reasonable) price of admission. But wait, there’s more!

The Star Trek Part

Sir Patrick Stewart and Levar Burton were there!! I’ve just started watching Star Trek TNG so I was thrilled to see them both. I was really looking forward to the Levar Burton panel because I’ve been a fan of his since “Roots” (“Club Kunta” is what Levar calls us). Unfortunately they put him in the small room too so by the time I finished the Patrick Stewart Panel and got around the corner to his it was already full. Patrick Stewart, who was in the big room, was fantastic!

The Miscellaneous Awesome

I saw a great panel with the ladies from “Stargate Universe.” I just got finished watching the whole Stargate franchise and I really enjoyed it so it was nice to hear their recollections.

The kids from “Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory” were there! I was really looking forward to their panel and they did not disappoint! I loved watching kids and adults alike line up to ask questions and say thank you to them all. I even got to thank Denise Nickerson for her work on “Dark Shadows” and “Electric Company.” Huge thrill for this big fan!

I also saw a short one on Sunday with Peter Mayhew (Chewbaca) and his lovely wife the their son reading a children’s book they all collaborated on. The panel was so short only one person got to ask a question and guess who it was? Me! I talked to Chewbaca y’all! (Your weekend is officially invalid).

The Marriage Proposal Part

No, it wasn’t me, but two proposals happened that weekend. One I saw with my own two eyes and the other was witnessed by a good friend. The one I saw was at the Bruce Campbell panel which I attended because I couldn’t get in to the one I really wanted to see. The other, ultra cool proposal was this!! (nerdgasm!)

The Cosplay Part

I have “attention seeking issues.” It’s why I blog. When I went to my first Con down in Georgia last year and saw all the attention Cosplayers get I KNEW I had to be a part of that. I wanted something ethnically appropriate and ultra cool so I decided to go with 70s Blaxploitaion cop. I wore crushed velvet paired with red and yellow floral paisley, silver platform shoes and a GIANT afro wig. It was a hit! Some of the famous people even complimented me. I got stopped for lots of pics. My one regret is that I really never took the time to develop a bad ass attitude to go with my bad ass costume. In all my cosplay pics, I look more like my favorite aunt’s family photo album circa 1973 than a bad ass, foxy mama out to kick the man’s ass and take honky names! Ah well, there’s always next year.

The Hero Part

I got to see Pam Grier and Louis Gossett Jr. speak while I was there. Pam was funny and warm and amazing and still smokin’ hot at 62 (Black don’t crack baby!)

Attendance was embarrassingly low at Mr. Gossett’s panel (it was late Sunday afternoon.) But the up side was everyone who had a question got to ask it and those of us with multiple questions (me) got to ask them all. It was wonderful getting to spend time talking with an Oscar winner who was personable, funny and eager to talk about his craft. Seeing him was an unforgettable experience.

The Bad Part

Traffic control around the panel rooms was a nightmare! They had no game plan for lining people up safely and no clearly marked and accessible walkways for through traffic and that made moving from one room to another nearly impossible when the bigger panels let out.

I hope next year they’ll find ways to put all the more popular panel speakers in bigger rooms. I missed Levar, Charisma, and the zombie musical because they were all being held in a room too small to fit all the fans.

The vendor floor really didn’t have much variety for folks who weren’t into comic books (yes I know it’s called COMIC Con). I did find a great sword cane for my cosplay though so I suppose I shouldn’t complain too much.

The Very Very Bestest Part!

At various points during the weekend, I got to spend time with 20 of the best pallies on the planet. All of us came from the MSTie fan base and but, obviously we were there pursuing other interests.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, it’s the people who make these gatherings so consistently groovy. Even without a CT or RT in sight, my MSTies peeps are like a warm plate of cookies for the soul.

RIP Dan Peek

Dan Peek passed away yesterday (7/26). He was 60. Dan was one of the founding members of the soft rock group America. He became weary of the “rock and roll lifestyle” and left the group in 1977. He and his wife moved  to Farmington, MO where he lived until his passing. This is Dan with America singing “Lonely People” which he composed.

RIP Dan

Blog For (Women’s) Access Day

I thought Sunday was Blog For Access Day but it’s actually today! It is pretty tough for musicians with disabilities to gain prominence , but it’s even tougher for women with disabilities! Here are some awesome ladies who made it happen.

First up, Grammy Award winning  jazz singer Diane Schuur who has been blind since birth. Here she is singing “The Very Thought Of You” (Ray Noble, 1934).

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Next up, Peggy Lee who had Meniere’s disease which causes slight hearing loss and tinitus and vertigo. Near the end of her career, complications from diabetes also meant she gave some of her spectacular live performances while using a wheelchair. Here she is performing “Fever” (Cooley, Davenport 1956) which was one of her biggest hits.

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Dinah Shore contracted polio as a child which left her with a lifelong limp. Here’s Dinah with Peggy Lee singing “I’ve Got Rhythm” (Gershwin, Gershwin 1930) and forming a dynamic women with disabilities duo!

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Cher has had the kind of career longevity that most artists can only dream about. She also has dyslexia. Here she is singing her first US hit “Gypsys Tramps And Thieves” (Bob Stone 1971)

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Grammy nominated singer Melody Gardot had a traumatic brain injury which left her with memory loss, chronic pain, and hypersensitivity to light and loud noise. During her recovery, she used music therapy which helped her to discover her amazing talent. This is Melody singing “Baby I’m A Fool” which she wrote herself.

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Finally, rapper Foxy Brown contracted an (unnamed) illness which caused her to lose her hearing for several years. In order to continue recording during that time, she had an assistant tap on her shoulder to help her keep the beat. This is “I’ll Be.”

I’m thrilled to be part of this celebration. Happy Blog For Access Day!!