Category Archives: Music Blog

Rock Band Fined For Profanity During Live Performance

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The year was 1970 in Oklahoma City. The date was today, Febrauary 27th. The band was Jefferson Airplane. The use of profanity broke a local ordinance. They were fined $1000 for this violation. The ordinance was drawn up due to Jim Morrison of The Doors allegedly exposing himself at a concert in Miami the year before.

 

Imagine an artist being fined today for use of profanity at a life show?

 

When I was growing up, it was a really big deal when there was a song with a curse word. I think about Pink Floyd, The Who and The Rolling Stones. In fact, the Van Morrison song, “Brown Eyed Girl” was banned from some radio stations due to this line, “making love in the green grass.” Just the mention of sex in a song was still taboo in 1967.

 

Early in my career as a DJ working in radio, we received a list of banned songs on a regular basis. One of the college radio stations I was Music Director and then Program Director would have team meetings to determine which songs we deemed OK for airplay from this list. Some of the choices we made were considered controversial. Some of our DJs had their FCC license revoked due to these decisions. Seems funny to reflect back on those years.

 

A little piece of trivia I find humorous whenever I see somebody watching the CSI TV show. The theme song in the show by The Who, “Who Are you”,  album version contains an F-bomb which is very funny considering how much it gets played on CBS during prime-time with the profanity removed. They use the single version of the song released for radio airplay in 1978.

Kanye West and Profanity

 

To bring us back to today, hard to imagine Kanye or Jay-Z making music without profanity. What would the music industry be like today if all profanity was banned from radio and most record labels would not allow profanity on recordings?

 

What the popularity of Rap be what it was has been in the last fifteen years without profanity? Would the genre even exist?

 

DJ Mystical Michael – Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

Motown Great Smokey Robinson Birthday Today! Rhode Island DJ Celebrates

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Growing up, Smokey Robinson was one of my favorite artists with The Miracles. I had many of their ‘45s’ and played them till they didn’t work any more from creating grooves in the vinyl from overuse. When I became a DJ in my late teens, Smokey Robinson as a solo artist became a sensation all over again.  Smokey Robinson & The Miracles solo and as a group are a DJ’s dream since there are few listeners who do not like at least one of their songs. It is common for me to be playing a classic Miracles song like, “The Tears of a Clown” or “Love Machine” at a wedding or party and have a young adult come up and ask me, “What was that incredible old skool R&B stuff you were just playing?”

 

Of course, I smile and share with them “It is one of my musical influences, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles.” They run away excited to tell their friends about this ‘new’ artist that jams.  Before the night is through, one of their friends will come up and request another Smokey Robinson & The Miracles tune, which I will oblige willingly.

Smokey Robinson

Still to this day, one of my favorite R&B mellow songs is “Crusin”. I know that “Being With You” achieved more commercial success globally but I still like it better.

 

The Miracles were the original artists signed by Motown Records. “Motown founder and First President Berry Gordy Jr. said: “Without The Miracles, Motown would not be the Motown it is today”.”

 

In 2006, Smokey was one of the Kennedy Center honorees. The Miracles received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on March 20, 2009 and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on February 9th, 2012.

 

Thanks Smokey for sharing the miracle of your music with all of us!

Smokey Robinson

 

DJ Mystical Michael – Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

David Guetta: Dance Maker: Rhode Island DJ Recognizes

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It has now been enough years of David Guetta producing hit songs that have made it in the American music industry that his body of work gets requests from top shelf artists wanting to utilize his talents.

 

It took several albums before he was accepted in The USA after international success globally.  This is not unusual for many European artists still today. House music is still a growing genre here. It is gaining some strength on the East Coast but still lags behind Dance and Hip Hop for the Club and Pop audiences.

 

David Guetta was initially a Disc Jockey at the Broad Club in Paris at age seventeen. He played Pop hits and was turned-on to House music the following year. He began promoting shows at clubs and creating some mixes of his own. He produced some songs with Hip Hop artists from Paris with local success but still not a big break.

 

He released his first hit single in 2001 with Chris Willis, “Just A Little More Love”. They met while Willis was vacationing in France. In 2003 David Guetta released “Just For One Day (Heroes)”, a remix of a David Bowie song. He has won two Grammys and nominated for several others.

 

Some of the artists he has worked with include Kelly Rowland, Akon, Rihanna, Kid Cudi, Black Eyed Peas, Flo Rida, Pitbull, Usher, Nicki Minaj, Jennifer Hudson, Chris Brown, Leona Lewis, Fergie, LMFAO, Snoop Dog, Taio Cruz, Ludacris, Jessie J and Madonna. A virtual who’s who of dance and pop music. It is probable that over the next few years David Guetta will have his hand in many of the top hits worldwide from varying artists and genres all at once.

David Guetta

 

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

Billboard 2011 Year End Winner From Rhode Island DJ’s Perspective

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It is rare that the same artist wins Billboard year-end #1 for best album, song and artist. It is even rarer that an artist that recorded the album at age twenty-one wins all three. HINT!  HINT! Yes Adele has won all the main categories for a pop artist for 2011. I am not surprised since she is an amazing artist that has dominated the Billboard Charts and the music industry all year. In fact, she may have single-handedly saved the record industry.

 

I remember when I first heard “Turning Tables”. I was blown away and could not stop listening to it. I knew then she had found something special in her work and I made certain to listen to the whole album immediately. I was not disappointed, very impressed. Still am over a year later as song after song tops the Billboard charts. I still sometimes get a tear in my eyes when I hear “Someone Like You”. I realize this is a peculiar thing to add to my blog but true. Great writing and performances can affect me that way.

 

21 is now Billboard #1 for nineteen weeks! The upcoming interview and performance on 60 Minutes her appearance and performance at The Grammys should keep it at the top for #20.  It is refreshing and a statement about her talent that an artist who focuses less on how she looks and more on how she performs can have the kind of popularity and success that she has achieved. I hope more artists will choose to follow her model and infuse the music industry with artists placing their energy into their craft, not their image or appearance.

Billboard Awards Adele 21 with DJ Mystical Michael

Congratulations Adele on an amazing year, album and Billboard success!

 

DJ Mystical Michael – Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

Madonna: Thirty Years of Music And Still Evolving

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I remember as a new Rhode Island DJ when I was turned on to Madonna’s first single, a ‘45’ on Sire Records, “Everybody”.  As a DJ in New Jersey, the song was available regionally before its national release later that year.  Her sound was fresh, energetic and full of passion. We all knew at the time that we were listening to something unique and important. We had no idea that thirty years later she would still be a force in the music industry and the pop icon she grew to become. It certainly never occurred to me that I would be watching her performing at a Super Bowl in 2012!

 

Madonna has been a woman that has guided her life and career in her own way.  She has been willing to take risks and the potential consequences that have at times come with those risks. Madonna redefined what a female recording artist was capable of achieving in the music industry and paved the way for many of today’s female pop singers and performers. She used sexuality, courage and creativity to influence the fashion, music, art and film industries and still being recognized today.

 

“According to Santiago Fouz-Hernández, female pop performers such as Britney Spears, the Spice Girls, Destiny’s Child, Jennifer Lopez, Kylie Minogue and Pink were like “Madonna’s daughters in the very direct sense that they grew up listening to and admiring Madonna, and decided they wanted to be like her.”

Madonna at Live8 with DJ Mystical Michael

Like her or not, Madonna has certainly left an imprint on pop culture for the last thirty years and probably will continue to do so till she decides she is done. Madonna has always done things her way and no reason to believe she will change now. Just like this New Jersey and Boston DJ:)

DJ Mystical Michael – Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

The Day The Music Died: 2/3/1959: A Rhode Island DJ Reflects

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On this date in 1959, a small plane crashed killing three American Rock & Roll legends and pioneers; Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson, as well as the pilot near Clear Lake, Iowa. The song by Don McLean, “American Pie” coined the phrase The Day The Music Died when writing about what most consider Rock & Roll’s most tragic plane crash, and its first.

 

It would have been enough if any of the three stars died, but to have all three of them taken from us in one night was a major blow to the early Rock & Roll movement. They were touring The Midwestern USA as part of the “The Winter Dance Party”, a tour that was scheduled to cover twenty-three cities in three weeks. Also on the tour was Dion DiMucci of Dion & The Belmonts, who was initially asked for the seat on the plane and changed his mind due to the fact that the cost was $36 and he felt that a seat on a plane was not worth being equal to his parent’s monthly rent.

 

Buddy Holly’s backup band; The Crickets were the backing band for the whole the tour for all artists. It is not widely known that Waylon Jennings was a member of his band at the time, although not mentioned int he lyrics of “American Pie”.

 

The legacy of the crash, “American Pie” and Valens’ influence on Latin performers in the Rock genre and Rock & Roll in general was illustrated in the film La Bamba.  I remember at the time before I knew the movie was released people began out of the blue requesting “Donna”, “Come On Let’s Go” and ”La Bamba”. The remakes by Los Lobos modernized the original hits and made them more accessible to the current generation of listeners. “La Bamba” is still a very requested song in many events and situations. My favorite Ritchie Valens song is “Sleepwalk” but am a fan of all his work.

American Pie

 

Even as kid I have always been a fan of Buddy Holly and his sweet mix of Rock, Country and Blues with a tight band and those great big eyeglasses.  Among the very long list of musicians that have expressed his influence on their music include Rock legends The Beatles, Elvis Costello, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton. He was part of the initial group of inductees to The Rock and Roll Hal Of Fame and was #13 on The Rolling Stone’s list of  “The Fifty Greatest Artists of All Time”. He is one of my favorites and always am thrilled when receiving a request to play any of his songs, especially “Rave On”, “Every Day” and “Peggy Sue”. The actual album American Pie by Don McLean was dedicated to Holly specifically, although the song was about all three of them.

 

American Pie

 

For those that are not familiar with The Big Bopper, the one lasting legacy he left us was his mega-hit “Chantilly Lace”. He also wrote several #1 hits for other artists.

American Pie

 

DJ Mystical Michael – Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

First #! Hit By A Girl Group: A Rhode Island DJ Looks Back

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It is on this day in 1961 that the first girl group ever achieved a #1 single. The Shirelles reached the top of the HOT 100 with “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King. Carole was eighteen when she co-wrote this hit single. The Shirelles were from Paterson, NJ and signed a record deal after being noticed performing at a talent show at their high school.

Girl Group The Shirtelles

Girl Group Country Sold (only albums) Genre Studio Albums Members Years Active
1. Spice Girls  United Kingdom 75 million Pop 3 5 → 4 → 5 1996–2001, 2007–2008 (8 years)
2. TLC  United States 50 million R&B/Hip Hop 4 3 → 2 1991–2003, 2008–present (16 years)
3. Destiny’s Child  United States 45 million R&B 4 4 → 3 1997–2005 (9 years)
4. Bananarama  United Kingdom 40 million Pop 10 3 → 2 1981–present (30 years)
5. Speed  Japan 20 million Pop 4 4 1996–2001, 2003, 2008–present (10 years)
6. The Supremes  United States 20 million R&B 29 4 → 3 1959–1977 (19 years)
7. En Vogue  United States 20 million R&B 6 4 → 3 → 4 1989–present (23 years)
8. Morning Musume  Japan 16 million Pop 12 Rotational 1997–present (15 years)
9. Salt-N-Pepa  United States 15 million Hip Hop 5 3 1986–1999, 2008–present (17 years)
10. SWV  United States 15 million R&B 3 3 1990–1998, 2005–present (17 years)

 

Surprisingly, The Spice Girls are the greatest selling pop band in the UK since The Beatles. Surprising in a different manner is the absence of The Dixie Chicks. I wonder if the fact that they are not a typical ‘girl group’ and are actual musicians and writers that they are omitted from the ‘girl group’ genre.

 

It is interesting to note, The Supremes due to the fact of when they were at the height of the success it took 29 albums to reach sixth place on the list where-as The Spice Girls only recorded three studio albums. Clearly if The Supremes were at the peak of the popularity today they would be far and away the best-selling girl group ever. This illustrates how much the music industry has changed in the last twenty-five years.

 

When I was living in South Korea, there were several very popular girl groups. Young ladies idolized them and considered them role models.  The most famous at the time were The Wonder Girls. The rise in popularity outside of their native countries of J-Pop and K-Pop has introduced listeners worldwide to the various girl groups that head the charts in Japan and South Korea. As a side note, these stars are rarely found drunk, drugged, naked or breaking the law as young females celebrities are in The USA.

 

Who is your favorite girl group ever?

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

Two Members of The Monkees Born on This Day

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December 30th brought us two members of The Monkees, Michael Nesmith in 1942 and Davy Jones1945.  The Monkees were a pop group formed by Robert “Bob” Rafelson and Bert Schneider in 1966 for the TV show by the same name. The show had a run from 1966-1968.

 

Initially the members of the The Monkees were not allowed much musical and creative input. They weren’t even permitted to sing live in the beginning. They fought for rights in musical output of the band and eventually were able to tour.

 

The Monkees singles and albums have sold over 65 million copies.  Their first four albums, all went to #1 in the U.S. including three #1 Billboard singles; “Last Train To Clarksville”, “I’m A Believer” and “Daydream Believer”.

 

The Monkees have a peculiar legacy in that they were clearly a pop band created for acting purposes and are still enjoying popular success today.  It is possible that they continue to draw interest as the guys who were not supposed to make-it as musicians but simply a bunch of funny, cute Beatle-like performers.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=XfuBREMXxts

I find it very bizarre they had two members with the same birthday. Happy birthday Mike and Davy.

 

This video was created on December 31, 1966, must have been a birthday present to Mike and Davy.

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

On This Date in 2008: Taylor Swift “Fearless” #1

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On this date, Taylor Swift “Fearless” began a seven week run at #1 on the Billboard Charts. She has continued to demonstrate incredible popularity and critical acclaim.

 

When she was ten years old, a computer repairman showed her three basic chords on the guitar and it lit the fire within her. She claims to have been a victim of bullying in school and felt like she did not fit in. Taylor Swift turned to songwriting to deal with these experiences. She states that her songs are highly biographical and references that they are like reading her personal diary in lyrical form.

 

When she turned fourteen, her family moved from Reading, PA to Nashville, TN to support her musical career. Taylor Swift’s first single released was “Tim McGraw”. She has enjoyed an unequaled run of charting and sales success as a female Country artist and is opening new doors for future Country artists, especially females.

Taylor Swift, Faith Hill and Tim McGraw at Grammy Awards

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

Joe Strummer Of The Clash Died On This Day

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Former guitarist and singer Joe Strummer died on this day in 2002. He was co-founder and lyricist for The Clash.  Joe and The Clash were inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003. Rolling Stone magazine awarded The Clash’s London Calling album of the 80’s.

 

Strummer had hit a violent member of the audience at a performance in Hamburg, Germany with his guitar. This action facilitated reflection, “I nearly murdered somebody, and it made me realise that you can’t face violence with violence. It doesn’t work.”

 

The Clash were given the title of  “The Only Band That Matters “, which was conceived as a promotional slogan by their recording label CBS Records. They were one of the original punk bands and were widely acclaimed for their highly charged, politicized lyrics and experimental instrumentation. They were one of those bands that constantly pushed the boundaries of music for themselves and their audiences.

 

Some of their hits in The USA include “Should I Stay or Should I Go”, “Rock The Casbah”, “London Calling” and “Train In Vain”. Many artists attribute their desire to be musicians to Joe Strummer and the Clash. Their influence reaches far beyond the Punk scene and maybe even beyond Rock itself.

 

Joe, you are missed but not forgotten.

Joe Strummer & The Clash London Calling

 

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ