Not for nothin’, but, James Taylor was very handsome when he first started back in the day. I’ve been a huge fan of his ever since I can remember. He’s kind of like a new age folk singer; almost like a Jim Croce upgrade 🙂 In my opinion, Taylor wrote and performed some of the best love songs of the seventies and eighties. He always seems to sing about the positive side of love and relationships. It was almost as though his music kept him young and in love with someone special. A perfect song that represented that is one of my many favorites he did called “Your Smiling Face,” released in 1977. Another sweet romantic favorite of mine is called “Handyman,” which was also released in 1977. James also worked with the amazingly talented Carole King for many years. It appeared that they had such a close relationship (both professionally and personally), I’m surprised they never married. I think you should check both of their greatest hits albums. They have some great stuff out there 🙂
Here’s something from way back in the 80s. This is Susan from Apollonia 6, Ricky from New Edition, and Apollonia from Apollonia 6. You know, I really do miss the classy photos we used to get in entertainment magazines back in the day. It’s a shame Apollonia 6 did not receive the same success as when Vanity was the lead. The only thing she had even close to a hit was “Sex Shooter.” Even then, it peaked #85, it only got air play because of the Purple Rain movie I recon.
This new artist has got it going on. I really love his voice. Kane Brown sings the kind of country music I like. I’m not a big fan of country music that is boarder line rock music. I like the easy listening type of country music. His musical style sort of reminds me of Randy Travis. So, recently Kane released a single called “Weekend,” written by Chase McGrill, Will Weatherly, & Kane Brown. What’s interesting is… I also usually don’t like songs where the chorus portion is too repetitious. But, I love the beat of the song and his voice so much, I easily overlooked that repetition. Kane Brown is a true example that Social media works. From the release of his first album called “Closer” over 3 years ago, he’s been boiling hot ever since. His song “Weekend” got over 4+ million plays on Spotify alone. Go head with your bad self Kane!!
I was thinking, I haven’t seen a Time Life infomercial in ages! Remember those? I think they used to come on PIX or WWOR. They used to spread out about 10-15 CDs containing all kinds of classic music for the sale of $120, with 5 easy payments of $23.99. 😀 Although those infomercials may have been annoying to some, one thing’s for sure, it was a great way to rediscover your favorite classic music. I’ll doubt this will comeback ever again, as all we have to do now is stay in front of the TV with our Shazam up and running. I remembered that I recorded a couple of those long infomercials on VHS. I just Shazam’d all the songs I liked. Didn’t need to make one single purchase. Yup… Free & legal….. Gotta love technology!! Now you have people creating playlists derived from those same albums. LOL
I came across an artist named Mac Miller while browsing other music blogs. Although I’ve read quite a few people hailing him as a phenomenal artist, I wasn’t attracted to his style of hip hip unfortunately (that’s just me). However, his partner in music, Austin Marc Flip, I’m assuming he did the background mix for this particular piece called “What’s The Use?” Which was released this month I believe. I much prefer this instrumental version. It has a style of funk, jazz, and disco all rapped in to one. It doesn’t appear that the instrumental version is available on Spotify, however, you can listen to it here on the StereoFox Blog.
P.S. I was saddened to read that Mac Miller has passed away. How ironic that they would choose that photo for his album cover. By the way, doesn’t he look a lot like Sam Smith?
I should have put Suzanne in a “forgotten artist” category, because no one is talking about her these days. There are only two huge hits I remember her for. I think she became most famous for a club mix she did called “Tom’s Dinner,” off her second album called “Solitude Standing.” This must have been a special 12 inch release, ’cause she only sings this song a-cappella on her album. I loved the beat of this song. Although the song only peaked at #5 on the billboard, it was still a considerable hit. The second song you may remember her for is a song called “Luka,” which is on the same album. This was a very important song in the 80s, as it brought awareness to domestic violence towards women. The song hit #3 on the Hot 100 Charts. She has recorded quite a few albums since then, but none has repeated the success of her second album.
Alright!!! I am back with another hit from one of my favorite reggae legends Alton Ellis!! Alton reinterpreted a song from “The Guess Who” called “These Eyes.” I loved that the producers kept the distinct baseline the same, and just instrumentally added their reggae accent. Alton’s version is so sweet, you’d think that he was the original performer. I estimate that this song has been played more than 1.4M times on YouTube. Here is the 1969 original The Guess Who’s version of “These Eyes.”
You know, I’m surprised to read that there are a lot of people who still believe that blogs are dead. This is not exactly true at all, and I think if someone wants to start a blog of their own, they should not be discouraged. What appears to be the core & common belief is that, now with the age of music streaming services like YouTube, Spotify, etc, people can just listen to music themselves without having to read the advice of others. While that is true, there are also other factors. Many people do in fact loose interest in their blogging. It takes a certain amount of dedication that many people just don’t have anymore. Sometimes people have things in their lives that has permanently taken their attention away from blogging. Or, sometimes it’s simply being technically challenged. There is a LOT that is involved in blogging. It’s not just finding a good interesting topic people want to read about; it’s also figuring out how to promote yourself for the least amount of money and time; it’s about figuring out how google works to your best advantage. A lot of people aren’t willing to invest in that kind of time, therefor, some blogs start to slowly die off.
I also considered the possibility that Google is inadvertently shadowing bloggers. Why would I think this? Well, remember that everything is automated, and keywords are used to search your content, and once a string is found, Google/X search engine can do whatever. Understand that a search engine’s algorithms are not perfect, and sometimes they can blacklist innocent sites for just typing the wrong word. This is because today, sites like Google & Facebook have become not only so politicized; they’re being made responsible for blocking “questionable sites.” So despite the fact that many people still think that blogging is dead, there are a ton of new music blogs emerging all over the place. The bottom line is, it’s true you may not necessarily need a blog to get their opinion on music, but we do still need them to help us find new music and playlists that cater to our tastes. Also, if you really are interested in a particular artist, you may appreciate a little more information about that artist, which a blog (made by other music fans) can provide. Please remember one thing, regardless of how good a search engine’s (or music service’s) algorithms are, we still need a human being to help us find quality & historical music.