#chris molanphy

MUSIC MONDAY: “Ain’t That Good News” – a Sam Cooke Birthday Tribute (LISTEN)

by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (@lakinhutcherson) Hey, it’s Lori, GBN’s Editor-in-Chief, stepping in with this week’s Music Monday share. As this past Saturday was what would have been Sam Cooke’s 91st birthday, and since Marlon West crafted such a lovely tribute playlist to the “King of Soul” in honor of his 90th last year, I thought it fitting to share it once again in case anyone missed it: What I’d…

#AAMAM: “The Great Black Way” – Celebrating African Americans on Broadway (LISTEN)

by Teddy Tenenbaum (@teddyt)

We talk about how African Americans invented rock and roll. We talk about the great musicians Scott Joplin and W.C. Handy, the giant of ragtime and the “Father of the Blues.” Before rock and roll was a gleam in Chuck Berry’s mother’s eye, Jazz was the great American music form, a creation of Black artists.

And of course, rap and R&B rule the Billboard charts in the…

Spent my morning at the marsh listening to Hit Parade, one of the few podcasts I still keep up with.

I've made other posts in the past about this program and its host, Chris Molanphy. The premise is simple, Take an act or genre that has a Billboard chart history and take a deep look at it. The show is always great, even if I'm not that interested in the particular subject, for instance, the episode on Britney Spears a few years ago had a fascinating exploration of the Scandinavian songwriting collectives that were responsible for a number of her hits, as well as those of many other similar artists.

I have been doing a little catchup on the show, as my podcast listening has deteriorated with my general lack of a commute, so the episode I listened to today was centered around four Black female artists who broke through on the charts primarily in the 70s - Dionne Warwick, Patti Labelle, Roberta Flack and Chaka Kahn. As always, Molanphy gives a deep overview, going back to Warwick and Labelle's early girl-group days, and how Flack's first big chart hit got an assist from Clint Eastwood, and how Kahn's name came from a brief association with the Black Panthers. I definitely now have a greater appreciation of Warwick and Flack, who I have always considered a little too easy listening (the wilder Labelle and Kahn were always a bit closer to my tastes).

A great episode, and my background music is likely set for the day. What more can I ask?

A look at the history of novelty songs, and Weird Al’s unique career.