Imagine, if just for a second, that President Obama had ordered peaceful protesters outside a historic church to be dispersed with tear gas and rubber bullets just so he could get a photo op with an upside down Bible. No clergy at the church were consulted, no prayers were made and no passages of scripture…
Tag: R&B
Farewell Bill Withers – You Didn’t Have Many Hits, But Wow, All Of Them Were Classics
Sometimes – and maybe only sometimes – the headline says it all. Bill Withers only had about half-a-dozen hit songs, but those six or so tracks are as essential as any six songs in all of American soul music. Most of the giants of any music genre have significantly more placings in the US top…
Gig Review: A Remarkable, Ageless Gladys Knight At The Civic, Auckland
2 days on and I stand by my initial take on Gladys Knight live in the year 2020: there isn’t a greater soul singer alive, and nor is there a pop star I’ve seen in my 30 years of gig-going capable of a more flawless in-concert vocal performance. The fact all of this is delivered by someone aged…
Farewell To Aretha Franklin – The Heartbreaking Song Her Sister Wrote For Her
10 years ago I was in Melbourne and stumbled into this amazing little vintage clothes shop in a basement somewhere in the central city. Flicking through the stock, it was such a relief to finally find a place that sold music T-shirts beyond the usual suspects of Bob Marley, Led Zeppelin, Metallica and the Rolling…
Music With A Message – My Newstalk ZB Interview On Why Pop Matters
A few weeks back I was interviewed on another Newstalk ZB show, Total Recall, about pop songs that have a message and a conscience. As someone who loves popular music and the possibilities of the format (including when it’s being highly socially charged) this is one of my favourite topics. In the clip below (approximately…
When Aretha Franklin Covered A Song By An Unknown Singer/Songwriter Named Elton John
With Aretha Franklin turning 75 on Saturday and Elton John 70, it makes sense to honour them with the song that has unified these two giants of popular music for almost 50 years. The year was 1970 and a little known 23-year old English lad – real name Reginald Kenneth Dwight – had just had…
The Torment Of George Michael & How He Became 1 Of The Most Successful Brits In The History Of The US Charts
George Michael was just 17 when he co-wrote Careless Whisper and just 53 when he died. He was just 23 when he broke up one of the biggest bands of the 80s, Wham!, and just 24 when he released Faith, amongst that decade’s most defining albums. George Michael was just 24 when he duetted with the…
The Only Station Playing Both ‘Uptown Funk’ & ‘Play That Funky Music’ – Introducing ‘Soul’ On iHeartRadio
Listen to ‘Coast Soul’ by Tim Roxborogh on Coast FM every Sunday from 6pm-8pm. Until the station ‘Soul’ launched on iHeartRadio in April 2016 (created by Tim Roxborogh with David Brice), there was no format in New Zealand playing both Bruno Mars’ Uptown Funk and Wild Cherry’s Play That Funky Music. Two of the most…
The End Of The Purple Reign: Prince Dead At 57
This morning I woke up to a text message that read “Noooooooooooo” and had a link to an article. Half asleep and thinking I’d probably click on whatever the link was and read it later, I felt wide awake as soon as I clicked. Can’t believe it. Prince is dead at the age…
In The Presence Of Genius – Reflections On Prince’s Auckland Concerts, Plus A Live B-Side Classic
Prince at the American Music Awards, 2015. We toss the word “legend” around fairly willy-nilly in New Zealand. I guess if we call our mates “legend” when they buy us a drink or give us a ride somewhere then it’s little surprise we extol far too many musicians with two albums and three hits with…
Aretha Franklin Brings The House Down – And Obama To Tears – At Kennedy Centre Honours
Aretha Franklin at the Kennedy Centre Honours 2015. It’s all about the clutch purse. Aretha Franklin is so relaxed about delivering this ridiculously brilliant performance that she casually walks out to the piano with her purse. She plops it down, starts playing and blows everyone away. I can’t think of the last time a living…
The Commodores 10 Funkiest Songs
The Commodores in the mid 70s. Today is the 66th birthday of one of the funkiest bass guitarists in history so it seemed like a good time wheel out this little top 10 list. Ronald LaPread was the bassist for the Commodores from 1969 until his departure for a new life in New Zealand in…