Nickolas Ashford (1942 – 2011)

Nick Ashford and his wife, Valerie Simpson, were prolific songwriters before becoming recording stars in their own right. Together they wrote the Ray Charles hit "Let's Go Get Stoned" which got the attention of Berry Gordy, who hired them as staff writers. This led to such Motown classics as the Supremes' "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell's "Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing".
Later, as independent songwriters, they came up with one of our favorite songs of all time, "California Soul" for one of our favorite groups, The 5th Dimension.

Jerry Lieber (1933 - 2011)

Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller were responsible for many of the songs that have made American pop music what it is. Lieber, who died last night, was responsible for writing lyrics to such classics as "Hound Dog" and "Jailhouse Rock", as well as "Love Potion #9", "Poison Ivy", and this song, "Down Home Girl". The most famous version might be the Rolling Stones', but to us, the definitive version was recorded by the Coasters in 1966.

Fanny - Blind Alley

We really can't say enough about Fanny. Led by the Filipino Millington sisters-- Jean on bass and June on guitar-- Fanny was the first all female band to break into the top 40 with their 1971 hit "Charity Ball"
This performance features the original line up of Nickey Barclay on piano and organ, and Alice de Buhr on drums.

Fanny on the Old Grey Whistle Test

Great back to back live performances by our favorite all-female band, Fanny, from 1971.
"You're the One" and "Special Care".

Celebrity Funk pt 1. - Laura Yager

When we started DJing years ago, we had a loose genre we referred to as "Celebrity Funk". The only real criteria was a crooning lead vocal by a singer who may or may not be known outside of the music world, and an incongruently funky backing arrangement, generally provided by studio musicians who were trying to approximate the psychedelic rock sound.
This indepth study of a made-up subgenre begins with "Where's Your Love Been" by Laura Yager, a relative unknown who delivers her vocals with the swagger and panache of Nancy Wilson or Peggy Lee (both of whom we'll hear from later on).

Rubble Kings

Our friend (and fellow Filipino) Freddy Anzures was involved with the graphic design of this upcoming movie

Yugolslavian Battle Memorials

Our good friend Sarah Krasley recently turned us on to these marvels of cold war architecture.
Their full story here.