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: Stevie Wonder
Goodbye To Joy Ramirez – The Stunning Stevie Wonder Song She Had At Her Wedding
Just over 24 hours ago I heard that one of my oldest and most remarkable friends had died in a tragic accident on her honeymoon in Vanuatu. I will never, ever forget Joy Ramirez and right now I feel very much in denial. Because Joy was always there for me. Though as I’m increasingly discovering, she…
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…
Coast Soul Turns 1! Celebrating 50 Years Of The Greatest Soul & R&B
My soul and R&B iHeartRadio station and Coast FM radio show, Coast Soul, turned one last week. To celebrate, all the featured artists were the greatest of the great – think Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson, the Temptations, Diana Ross, the Commodores, Aretha Franklin etc. One of the joys of creating this station is the balance between…
The 40th Anniversary Of Stevie Wonder’s ‘Songs In The Key Of Life’ – Was It His Greatest Ever Album?
Stevie Wonder in the 70s. This week marks 40 years since the release of the most famous of all of Stevie Wonder’s albums, Songs In The Key Of Life. For something so significant I’ve decided to dedicate four of the week’s 12 featured songs on my iHeartRadio station Coast Soul to the album – create…
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 Launch Of ‘Soul’ – My New iHeart Radio Station Playing The Best Classic Soul & R&B
It’s fair to say I’ve been planning this for a little while. The first time I landed in Los Angeles was in 2006 and I passed a billboard overlooking the freeway in my taxi that I’ve never forgotten. It was advertising a radio station that played “everything from Marvin Gaye to Alicia Keys”. “They’ve stolen…
40 Years Since Stevie Wonder’s ‘Innervisions’ – The Deep Cut ‘Jesus Children Of America’
Stevie Wonder. It’s 40 years this month since Stevie Wonder released not just arguably his greatest ever album, but an LP which is regularly listed as being one of the greatest by any artist of any era. Innervisions was astoundingly already Stevie Wonder’s 16th studio album when it was released by the 23 year old…
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…
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…
Paul Simon Live In Auckland Tonight – His Farewell Song To Art Garfunkel
My all-time favourite lyricist is in town tonight and I can’t wait. About 10 years ago I saw Art Garfunkel solo, in 2009 I saw Simon and Garfunkel together but tonight will be the first time I’ve ever seen a solo Paul Simon show. I say favourite lyricist because I don’t know of any other…