The Music's Back

Al Green - Let's Stay Together

2011-05-01T06:43:00.004-05:00

Let's Stay Together
Al Green
Let's Stay Together
1971

"Let's Stay Together" is a song by Al Green on his 1972 album of the same name. Released as a single in 1971, the song reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and remained on the chart for 16 weeks and also topped Billboard's R&B chart for nine weeks. It was ranked the 60th greatest song of all time by Rolling Stone magazine on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

It was selected by the Library of Congress as a 2010 addition to the National Recording Registry, which selects recordings annually that are "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Sade - By Your Side

2011-05-01T05:34:00.003-05:00

By Your Side
Sade
Lovers Rock
2000

"By Your Side" is the lead single from the English group Sade's fifth studio album, Lovers Rock (2000). The track was nominated for the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, losing out to Nelly Furtado's "I'm Like a Bird". The video for this single was directed by Sophie Muller.

The song was featured in an episode of the fourth season of Sex and the City, "The Good Fight", originally aired on 6 January 2002, and in the season finale of the sixth season of The L Word, "Last Word".

This is also a very popular song at wedding receptions as many couples choose it as their first dance song. Celebrities who have used this at their weddings include Jennie Garth and Peter Facinelli as well as Dave Navarro and Carmen Electra.

Pete Kuzma ft. Bilal - High and Dry (Radiohead Cover)

2011-04-25T07:26:00.004-05:00

High and Dry (Cover)
Pete Kuzma ft. Bilal
Exit Music: Songs with Radio Heads
2006

"High and Dry" is a song by the English alternative rock band Radiohead, and was the first single released from their second album, The Bends (1995). It was as a double A-side with album opener "Planet Telex". "High and Dry" was released in the UK on 5 March 1995 and remains one of the band's most popular radio hits, despite reaching only #17 upon release.

Soul singer Bilal covered the song for the Radiohead tribute album Exit Music: Songs with Radio Heads. Bilal, is an American neo soul/jazz singer-songwriter and musician, who is also a member of the loose collective, the Soulquarians.

Gabin ft. Dee Dee Bridgewater - Into My Soul

2011-04-25T07:08:00.003-05:00

Into My Soul
Gabin ft. Dee Dee Bridgewater

Pink Martini - Hey Eugene

2011-04-17T07:44:00.002-05:00

Hey Eugene
Pink Martini
Hey Eugene!
2007

Hey Eugene! is the third full-length album from the band Pink Martini. It was released on May 15, 2007 by Pink Martini's own record label, Heinz Records.

The album is named after the track "Hey Eugene", a fan favorite at the band's live concerts. This album features a song, Bukra wba’do, sung in Arabic. Its title means ‘tomorrow and the day after’ – it describes a lover's anticipation of a first date.

Hey Eugene! debuted at number 30 on the U.S. Billboard 200, selling about 19,000 copies in its first week.

B. B. King - The Thrill Is Gone

2011-04-17T06:29:00.004-05:00

The Thrill Is Gone
B. B. King
Completely Well
1969

The song was first recorded by Roy Hawkins, its co-author, and became a minor hit for the musician. B.B. King recorded his version of the song in June 1969 for his album Completely Well, released the same year. The song's polished production and use of strings marked a departure from both the original song and King's previous material.

When released as a single in December 1969, the song became the biggest hit of King's career (#3 R&B / #15 Pop) and his signature song. B. B. King's recording earned him a Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and a Grammy Hall of Fame award in 1998. King's version of the song was also placed at number 183 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest songs ever.

The Chi-Lites - Living In The Footsteps of Another Man

2011-04-16T07:40:00.005-05:00

Living In The Footsteps of Another Man
The Chi-Lites
A Lonely Man
1972

The Chi-Lites were a Chicago-based smooth soul vocal quartet from the early 1970s, one of the few from the period not to come from Memphis or Philadelphia. They were led by Eugene Record, and scored eleven Top Ten R&B hits in the early part of the decade.
The Chi-Lites were inducted into The (R/B Hall Of Fame) in 2000 and into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2005.

Adele - Rolling In The Deep

2011-04-16T07:06:00.004-05:00

Rolling In The Deep
Adele
21
2010

The song was written by Adele and Paul Epworth and has been described by Adele as a "dark blues-y gospel disco tune". It was released as the lead single on 29 November 2010 in the Netherlands.

The song has been positively received by music critics. It peaked at number one in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Switzerland, and became a top ten hit in Austria, Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand, and Norway. The song debuted at number two in the United Kingdom, becoming Adele's third top ten single. Additionally, "Rolling in the Deep" peaked at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Adele's second single to chart in the United States and her first top-ten hit in the country. As of April 2011, the song had sold over 1,220,000 digital copies in the US.

Gotan Project & Sarah Vaughan - Whatever Lola Wants

2011-04-16T05:56:00.007-05:00

Whatever Lola Wants
Sarah Vaughan (Remixed by Gotan Project)
1955

Sometimes rendered as "Whatever Lola Wants, Lola Gets", the music and words were written by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross for the 1955 musical play Damn Yankees. The song is sung by Lola, the Devil's assistant, a part originated by Gwen Verdon, who reprised the role in the film. The saying was reportedly inspired by Lola Montez, an Irish-born "spanish dancer" and mistress of King Ludwig I of Bavaria, who later became a San Francisco Gold Rush vamp.

Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings - Better things to do

2011-04-07T18:10:00.004-05:00

Better things to do
Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings
2010

Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings are a funk/soul band. They are signed to Daptone Records, where the Dap-Kings are the house band. They are spearheads of a revivalist movement that aims to capture the essence of funk/soul music as it was at its height in the mid-1960s to mid-1970s. Part of the way this is achieved is to shun modern digital recording methods in favour of using traditional analogue recording equipment. The type of instruments used by the band may also be considered limited to those that would have been available up until the mid-'70s.

Nina Simone - Ain't Got No, I Got Life (Groovefinder remix)

2011-04-07T08:20:00.004-05:00

Ain't Got No, I Got Life (Groovefinder remix)
Nina Simone
The Very Best of Nina Simone
2006 (Original is from 1968)

"Ain't Got No/I Got Life" is a single by the American songwriter Nina Simone. The song also featured on Nuff Said (1968). It is a medley of two songs from the musical Hair, with lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot. The song helped Simone gain pop-popularity under a new, younger audience, and became a standard in her repertoire. The 2006 Groovefinder remix of the song charted at #30 in the UK and remained on the charts for 16 weeks. In Ireland the said Groovefinder Remix charted at #9 and remained on the charts for 15 weeks.

Robin Thicke - Magic

2011-04-06T12:35:00.007-05:00

Magic
Robin Thicke
Something Else
2008

"Magic" is a song by American R&B singer Robin Thicke. The R&B jazz-inspired song was produced in 2008 for Robin Thicke's third studio album, Something Else. "Magic" is a R&B uptempo song, with its live instrumentation varied; including conga, horn, violin, and piano. The song's lyrics refer to a someone reversing their lovers past hurts in relationships. The track was released on May 20, 2008 to radio and is the album's lead single.

Another of today's artists bringing the good music.

Marvin Gaye - Got To Give It Up

2011-04-06T09:08:00.003-05:00

Got To Give It Up
Marvin Gaye
Live at the London Palladium
1977

Written by the singer and produced by Art Stewart, it was recorded in three studio dates in 1976 with a final mixing in early 1977. The song, a response to Gaye's label Motown pushing for the singer to record commercially accessible dance music to fit the music industry's embrace of dance rhythms, was released in March 1977. It was an instant success, landing at number-one on three different Billboard charts and helping its parent album, Gaye's live album, Live at the London Palladium, sell more than two-million copies.

Bee Gees - Too Much Heaven

2011-04-01T10:44:00.004-05:00

Too Much Heaven
Bee Gees
Spirits Having Flown
1979

"Too Much Heaven" was Bee Gees' contribution to the "Music for UNICEF" fund. They performed it at the Music for UNICEF Concert on January 9, 1979. The song later found its way to the group's thirteenth original album, Spirits Having Flown. In the United States and Canada, it became the latest in a long line of chart-toppers, and rose to the top three in the United Kingdom, as well.

Imbued with their falsetto style, it is also notable for being one of two songs on the album featuring the Chicago horn section (James Pankow, Walt Parazaider and Lee Loughnane)--the other track with the Chicago members being "Search, Find".

We cannot post the video but we leave you with the link to it on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nREV8bQJ1MA

Mayer Hawthorne - Your Easy Lovin' Ain't Pleasin' Nothin'

2011-04-01T08:35:00.010-05:00

Your Easy Lovin' Ain't Pleasin' Nothin'
Mayer Hawthorne
A Strange Arrangement
2009

Mayer Hawthorne draws influence from the music of Curtis Mayfield, Isaac Hayes, Leroy Hutson, Mike Terry, Barry White, Smokey Robinson and the legendary songwriting and production trio of Lamont Dozier, Brian Holland, and Edward Holland, Jr. (known collectively as Holland–Dozier–Holland). Taking umbrage at the notion that his is a purely "throwback" soul sound, however, Hawthorne also cites more contemporary artists, such as J-Dilla, as significant influences.

He is one of the new artists bringing back the good music.

1st: Stevie Wonder - Sir Duke

2011-03-31T19:03:00.008-05:00

Sir Duke
Stevie Wonder
Songs in the Key of Life
1976

This is our first music post and I think this song couldn't be more appropriate. :)

The song was composed and performed by Stevie Wonder himself. Released as a single in 1977, the track topped the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and Black Singles charts, and reached #2 in the UK Singles Chart, his biggest hit there at the time.

The song was written in tribute to Duke Ellington, the influential jazz legend who had died in 1974. The lyrics also refer to Count Basie, Glenn Miller, Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald. (They happen to be some of my favorite musicians).

And the lyrics are beautiful:
Music is a world within itself
With a language we all understand
With an equal opportunity
For all to sing, dance and clap their hands
But just because a record has a groove
Don't make it in the groove
But you can tell right away at letter A
When the people start to move

They can feel it all over
They can feel it all over people
They can feel it all over
They can feel it all over people

Music knows it is and always will
Be one of the things that life just won't quit
But here are some of music's pioneers
That time will not allow us to forget
For there's Basie, Miller, Sachimo
And the king of all Sir Duke
And with a voice like Ella's ringing out
There's no way the band can lose

Manifesto: Bring Back The Good Music

2011-03-31T18:18:00.001-05:00

Hello :)
This website does not intend to change peoples likes regarding music.
People are free to listen and enjoy any kind of music.
What is concerning is that the fast lane of mainstream music industry is focused on just that: being an industry.
Today's mainstream music, releasing new hit singles week after week, sounds all the same.
It is just the same juice in a new package.
The melody reminds you of consumerist idiots and the lyrics are often about money.
Why is it like this today? Because artists and record companies don't care about music anymore. They care about what sells. All they care about is money.

Luckily, there are alternatives. And the worldwide web is one of them.
We will bring you good music.

So what kinds of music appeal to us... In no particular order: pop, soul, R&B, blues, jazz, acid jazz, bossa nova, 60s, 70s, 80s, big band, disco, funk. Basically anything with groove, soul, jive, ...
You know the music is good when it has that certain je ne sais quois, a touch, a feeling, a vibe.

This is not a Revivalist movement.

There are really great musicians today. They make such good and amazing music, and the public should know about them.

We are people in our 20s and we love music from all the generations.

Music is timeless.