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Consumerism: The Motown Tour
Berry Gordy, Jr. served in Korea, returned to Detroit, got a job at Ford, and started writing songs for his friend Jackie Wilson. Gordy figured out two things. First, there was money in publishing.
Read More »Soul Serenade: The Four Tops, “Ask the Lonely”
Levi Stubbs never left. While Diana Ross split from the Supremes, Smokey Robinson migrated from his Miracles, and David Ruffin took off from the Temptations (ok, technically he was fired, but only after clearly
Read More »Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 76
This week, Dave Steed sets off a chain reaction, goes crazy from the heat, rocks a tricky rhyme, and bangs on the drum all day with Tom Sawyer
Read More »CD Review: Human Nature, “Reach Out”
“In the style of the boy-band vocal bands of the time, Human Nature became Australia’s most successful pop group of the ’90s and beyond,” according to their Allmusic.com biography, “outselling their international contemporaries Backstreet Boys,
Read More »Popdose Interview: Sharon Robinson, The Leonard Cohen Collaborator Not Everybody Knows
Just what the hell is a famous blue raincoat, anyway? Maybe Jon Cummings finds out in his new Popdose Interview with Leonard Cohen collaborator -- and solo artist in her own right -- Sharon
Read More »Future Retro: Jody Watley
A TOUCH OF SHALAMAR Singer, songwriter, and producer Jody Watley first boogied her way to fame at the age of 14 as a dancer on the legendary music program Soul Train. In 1976 the
Read More »Mix Six: “Graduation Day”
LISTEN TO THE FULL MIX HERE This is the time of the year when graduates go through the ritual where they transition from one stage of life to another. It’s certainly an emotional time
Read More »Mix Six: “It’s Disco, Bitches!”
DOWNLOAD THE FULL MIX HERE As Prince said, “I think I wanna dance!” Sometimes in the weekly Mix Six shuffle it’s easy to forget the lasting impact of disco on the culture at large.
Read More »When Good Albums Happen to Bad People: Diana Ross, “Diana”
Berry Gordy is a powerful man. Not only did he found Motown Records, building a musical empire that allowed blacks to crossover into what had pretty much been a white-controlled music industry, but almost
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