Sly Stone. Crazy dream stories are much like poetry on the radio: boring and usually vaguely awkward. But I’m going to take a punt and describe last night’s possibly edam cheese-inspired drama in the hope it’s semi interesting. I dreamt I was at a Sly & The Family Stone gig at a nonexistent 1000-seater venue…
Tag: R&B
Alicia Keys Concert Review Vector Arena, Auckland – Plus 2 Of Her Songs Bacharach Would Be Proud Of
Alicia Keys. I tweeted last night that five years ago Alicia Keys at Vector Arena rocketed into my all-time top 10 concerts and that there was no pressure on Alicia as a result. When she was nearly 30 minutes late taking the stage, rumours* started circulating that due to my tweet she was feeling overwhelmed…
When Alicia Keys Turned Vector Arena Into The Apollo Theatre
Alicia Keys. Alicia Keys is returning to New Zealand for the first time in five years and I would still rate that December 2008 concert as one of the top 10 I’ve been to. Auckland’s Vector Arena felt like the Apollo Theatre that night as Keys delivered a show looser, rowdier and more gospel sounding…
10 Years Since Barry White’s Death – A Forgotten Song Robbie Williams Sampled For A #1 Hit
Barry White. It’s 10 years today since soul / R&B great Barry White died, aged just 58. While he only dominated the charts in one decade (the 70s) he continued scoring with occasional songs well into the 80s and 90s and all told had close to 20 US or UK top 40 hits. White was…
The Roxborogh Report Hits 250,000 Visitors – An Extraordinary Stevie Wonder Song For Nelson Mandela
With Stevie Wonder, Ronald LaPread (Commodores) and Clare Healy, 2008. This week the two-and-a-half year old Roxborogh Report had its 250,000th visitor. When I first started this music and travel blog back in Canada late in 2010 it was getting about 1,000 hits a month, making the possibility of hitting 250,000 more of a 20-year…
Nelson Mandela In Hospital – Sam Cooke’s ‘A Change Is Gonna’ Come’
Nelson Mandela. With the news 94 year old Nelson Mandela is back in hospital, I wanted to end last night’s episode of The Two (co-hosted by Pam Corkery, Newstalk ZB Friday and Sunday evenings from 8pm) with a suitably incredible song for such an incredible man. I chose a song which these days is better…
The Genius Of Nile Rodgers – Collaborations With Daft Punk & Paul Simon
The biggest international hit of 2013, Get Lucky, is credited to “Daft Punk feat. Pharrell”, but it’s the rhythm guitarist with the dreads you see in the music video who really makes the song. If those scratchy rhythmic leads sound familiar it’s not just because they’re derivative of classic 70s disco and 80s dance music,…
Robin Gibb’s Death 1 Year On – A Stunning Secular-Gospel Bee Gees Song From The Early 70s
The Bee Gees circa 1981. One year ago today I was lying by the pool in Bali, checking email and realising one of my heroes had just died. If you click here you can link to the piece I wrote later that day in a disastrously a/c-free internet cafe about Robin Gibb’s death and what…
Bobby Womack Live In Auckland – His Most Monumental Song
Bobby Womack. Things have been a bit of whirlwind lately and – forgive me Bobby – but I somehow forgot that soul great Bobby Womack was playing in Auckland tonight. Realising my error just before show time, not surprisingly I missed out on tickets to the man who once played guitar in Sam Cooke’s backing…
President Obama’s Lost Theme Song – The Pointer Sisters Funk Classic ‘Yes We Can’
It’s election season (which is almost a permanent state of mind in the USA) and I’ve just rediscovered a Pointer Sisters song which somehow wasn’t Barack Obama’s theme tune four years ago. With wife Michelle delivering a powerful speech yesterday at the DNC and Bill Clinton knocking it out of the park today with a…
Why Aren’t The Commodores In The Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall Of Fame?
At the moment I’m indulging in one of my favourite past-times which is listening to old Commodores albums. For those who don’t know, Ronald LaPread was the bassist in the Commodores from 1969 until his departure from the band in 1986 when he fell in love with an Iranian / Kiwi and moved to New…
Donna Summer Dead At 63 – Her Finest Forgotten Song
Yet another music great has died and died too soon with Donna Summer succumbing just a few hours ago to cancer at the age of 63. In a refreshingly un-rock star finale, her life ended as a happily married grandmother with a devout Christian faith. But make no mistake, Summer was a rock-star, with a…
