Throwback - Sylvia - Pillow Talk (AUDIO)

Sylvia Robinson (March 6, 1936 – September 29, 2011) was an American singer, musician, record producer, and record label executive, most notably known for her work as founder/CEO of the hip hop label, Sugar Hill Records. She is credited as the driving force behind two landmark singles in the genre. The first was "Rapper's Delight" by the Sugarhill Gang, which was the first rap song to be released by a hip hop act. The second was "The Message" by Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five.





Sylvia had originally hoped the song would be recorded by Al Green, who turned it down as he thought it was too risqué and against his religion. She eventually recorded "Pillow Talk" and released it in 1973. The drums on the recorded version seem to have been influenced by the productions of Willie Mitchell for Green.

"Pillow Talk" spent two weeks at number one on the Best Selling Soul Singles chart and peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 and is an early example of prototypical disco music. The vocals are replete with moaning and heavy breathing, predating Donna Summer's orgasmic moans on 1975's "Love to Love You Baby". The drumming rhythm would reappear in 1985 on Kate Bush's "Running Up that Hill", then again in 1987 on Fleetwood Mac's "Big Love".


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Throwback - L.T.D. - Love Ballad (AUDIO)

Back when men weren't afraid to tell their woman that they loved them...

"Love Ballad" was a hit song for R&B/Funk band L.T.D.. Released from their album, Love To The World, it spent two weeks at number one on the R&B singles chart in November, 1976, and peaked at number twenty on the Billboard Hot 100 single chart.

Throwback - Lonnie Liston Smith - A Garden of Peace (AUDIO)

Lonnie Liston Smith, Jr. (born December 28, 1940 in Richmond, Virginia) is an American jazz, soul, and funk musician who played with important free jazz artists such as Pharoah Sanders and Miles Davis before forming Lonnie Liston Smith And The Cosmic Echoes, recording a number of albums widely regarded as classics in the fusion / Quiet Storm / smooth jazz and acid jazz genres.



Lonnie Liston Smith tracks sampled by other artists (incomplete list)
"Expansions" ::Stetsasonic - "Talkin' All That Jazz"
"Devika (Goddess)" ::Digable Planets - "Pacifics"
"A Garden of Peace" ::Jay-Z - "Dead Presidents II"
"A Garden of Peace" ::Mary J. Blige - "Take Me as I Am"
"Bridge Through Time" ::Jay-Z - "Understand Me"
"A Garden of Peace" ::Stacie Orrico - "Is It Me"
"A Garden of Peace" ::Total - "Rain"
"A Garden of Peace" ::O.C. - "You and Yours"
"A Garden of Peace" ::ABN-"I Miss My Dawg (I Gotta Survive)"
"A Garden of Peace" ::Nikki Jean - "Exit Sign"
"A Garden of Peace" ::Grifta (Dubstep act) - "Curbside on YouTube"
"Mystical Dreamer (A Tribute To Miles Davis)" ::Three 6 Mafia - "Smoke If U Got It"
"Quiet Moments" ::Scienz Of Life - "Yikes!"
"A Chance for Peace" ::Shape of Broad Minds - "Let's Go"
"A Chance for Peace" ::La Fouine - "Tombé pour elle"
"Quiet Moments" ::Malcolm Mclaren - "World Famous" (Ft. World's Famous Supreme Team)


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Throwback - Michael Franks - The Lady Wants To Know (Audio)

Michael Franks (born 18 September 1944 in La Jolla, California) is a smooth jazz singer and songwriter from the United States. He has recorded with a variety of well-known artists, such as Patti Austin, Brenda Russell, Art Garfunkel, and David Sanborn. His songs have been recorded by The Manhattan Transfer, Patti Labelle, Carmen McRae, Diana Krall, Shirley Bassey and The Carpenters.






His third album, Sleeping Gypsy (1977), which includes the song "The Lady Wants to Know", was partially recorded in Brazil. Around this time, percussionist Ray Armando gave Franks a cabasa, which became a signature instrument for him to play on stage when he was not playing guitar.

Throwback - Bill Withers - Grandma's Hands (Acoustic Live)

William Harrison "Bill" Withers, Jr. (born July 4, 1938) is an American singer-songwriter and musician who performed and recorded from 1970 until 1985. Some of his best-known songs are "Lean on Me", "Ain't No Sunshine", "Use Me", "Just the Two of Us", "Lovely Day", and "Grandma's Hands". His life was recently the subject of the documentary film Still Bill.




"Grandma's Hands" is a song written by Bill Withers about his own grandmother. It was included on his 1971 debut album Just as I Am, and was also released as a single, reaching number 18 on the Best Selling Soul Singles chart and 42 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The song has since been covered by many other artists, including Al Jarreau, Livingston Taylor, The Staple Singers, Gladys Knight, Barbra Streisand, Francine Bell, Will Downing, Take 6, Marti Pellow, Starsailor, Gil Scott-Heron, Paddy Casey in Today FM's Even Better Than The Real Thing and Ron Kenoly. It is also sampled for the hook of Blackstreet's "No Diggity" and "Shout" by Shout for England.

In 2007, well-known keyboardist Jeff Lorber covered the song from his album "He Had a Hat." The song featured Eric Benét on vocals, Gerald Albright and Tom Scott on saxophones.