I just heard on the radio that Donna Summer passed away today at the age of 63 from cancer. Summer, who was born LaDonna Adrian Gaines, begin performing at the age of 10, although her first U.S. break came in 1975 with her song, “Love to Love You Baby.” Other songs such as “Last Dance,” “Hot Stuff,” and “Bad Girls” were some of the biggest hits during the disco era. Her 1983 song “She Works Hard For The Money” is often used as an anthem for women’s rights. Although that song was her last major hit, she released an album of original songs as recently as 2008 with Crayons. Throughout her career, Summer distinguished herself from many other artists because she was both an excellent songwriter and powerful singer.
Although disco was never my favorite genre, regular readers will know that I am not snobby about great pop songs. So, I will admit that in the early 1980s I had a cassette tape of Donna Summer’s greatest hits album that is pictured above. At college, one of my roommates with a powerful stereo liked to borrow the tape to blast “Love to Love You Baby” and its moaning sounds out his window at the other dorms.
I always recognized “Last Dance” as her best song, but the slightly lesser-known “On the Radio” also was one of her best. “On the Radio” was released as a single in 1979, and it was used in the soundtrack for the film Foxes (1980), starring Jodie Foster and Scott Baio. The song has been covered by non-disco artists such as Emmylou Harris. The sad sound of the minor chords give it an unusual twist for a disco song, and the lyrics are mysterious. The singer tells about a break-up but ends with a reconciliation while it is all twisted up with that letter that someone read on the radio.
You have to respect a singer who can sing a disco song while sitting down. Sorry to hear the bad news today on the radio, but rest in peace LaDonna. What is your favorite Donna Summer song? Leave your two cents in the comments.
In light of the recent news about President Obama and Vice-President Biden stating their support for gay marriage, the recent HBO documentary The Loving Story (2011) about a marriage law in the 1950s takes on an added significance.
In 1958, Richard Loving, who was white, and Mildred Jeter, who was black, traveled from their home in Virginia to Washington, D.C. to get married. After their wedding, they returned home to Virginia where after five weeks police roused them from their bed in their home at 2 a.m. and arrested them for violating a law that banned interracial marriages. At the time, twenty-four states had laws banning interracial marriages. In January 1969, a judge accepted their guilty plea for the crime and sentenced them to one year in jail but suspended the sentence if the two left Virginia for 25 years. The Lovings, who wanted to go home, challenged the case all the way to the Supreme Court, which heard the case in Loving v. Virginia.
Although a unanimous Supreme Court eventually ruled for the Lovings in 1967 by finding that the Virginia law violated the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution, the Lovings spent roughly nine years as criminals between the time they were arrested and the time they won the case in the Supreme Court. The documentary tells their story during this time.
One of the great things about the documentary is the amount of video footage that was taken of the Lovings and others at the time the events were happening. Among the many images, the film includes never-before-seen footage taken by filmmaker Hope Ryden while the case was pending before the Supreme Court. It is interesting to see the couple meeting with lawyers and hear Mildred Loving explain why they decided not to attend the Supreme Court argument. The documentary is a fascinating portrait about another time period that was not that long ago, and it brings to life the two human beings at the center of one of the great Civil Rights cases of the 1960s.
Nancy Buirski, who made the film, first had the idea to make the documentary after reading Mildred Loving’s obituary in the New York Times in May 2008. In the February 2012 ABA Journal, she explained, “Not only was this an overlooked story but also. . . you read about them . . but you don’t know very much about the people involved.”
Singer-songwriter Nanci Griffith had a similar reaction when she read Mildred Loving’s obituary in the newspaper. Her response was to sit down and write a song, “The Loving Kind,” which became the title track of an album she released in 2009.
They changed the heart of a nation, With their wedding vows; From the highest court in the land, Their union would lawfully stand; Simply Mildred and Richard, That’s how they’d be remembered; They proved that love is truly blind; They were the loving kind.
Richard and Mildred Loving stayed together until Richard was killed in a car crash in 1975. They had three children and they will forever be linked together. On the fortieth anniversary of the Loving v. Viginia decision in 2007, Mildred released a statement saying that all people, including gay men and lesbians, should be allowed to marry because, “That’s what Loving, and loving, are all about.” Decades earlier, Richard summed up the Loving case too. When lawyers explained the various legal theories to the Lovings, Richard simplified the point, “[T]ell the court I love my wife, and it is just unfair that I can’t live with her in Virginia.”
Conclusion? Check out the film, which is on DVD and on HBO and online for subscribers. While the movie goes at a leisurely pace to let the story unfold in the participants’ own words and you know how the story comes out, it is still an interesting time capsule that reveals the human side of two regular people who quietly stood up to an injustice.
A few days ago, patients and staff of the hemoncology floor of Seattle Children’s Hospital posted a YouTube video of them lip syncing Kelly Clarkson’s song “Stronger.” Be prepared to be moved by the power of music and images.
Twenty-two-year-old Chris Rumble, a patient at the hospital who was diagnosed with leukemia in April, came up with the idea for the video, which was made as part of a creative arts program for cancer patients at the hospital. According to USA Today, the video has quickly gone viral, and staff and patients at the hospital are thrilled with the responses they are receiving. Among their fans is Kelly Clarkson, who posted a video on her own website thanking them. There’s already a short “Making of” video.
For this Mother’s Day, we wish everyone good health toward being a little stronger. What do you think of the Stronger video? Leave your two cents in the comments.
Bono recently joined Glen Hansard, who was taping for Sirius/XM’s The Loft at The Living Room in New York. Together, the U2 frontman and the Once film star sang “The Auld Triangle.” The 1960’s song was written by the brothers Brendan and Dominic Behan for the play The Quare Fellow.
Hansard often plays “The Auld Triangle” on his own and with his band The Frames. Several Irish music artists like The Pogues, The Dubliners, and Dropkick Murphys have played the song. Bob Dylan and the Band also played the song during their recording of “The Basement Tapes” in 1967. Here is the latest take on this Irish classic from Hansard and Bono:
“The Auld Triangle,” which has gone on to a life of its own outside the play, opened the play set in a prison the day that a prisoner is set to be executed. The triangle in the song refers to a metal triangle that was banged to wake the inmates every morning at Mountjoy Prison in Ireland: “And that auld triangle went jingle-jangle / All along the banks of the Royal Canal.”
The play The Quare Fellow, which was loosely made into a 1962 movie with Patrick McGoohan, grapples with a number of social issues, including Ireland’s use of the death penalty at the time. Ireland has since abolished capital punishment.
2014 Bonus Version Update: “The Auld Triangle” appeared in the movie Inside Llewyn Davis (2013). In the movie, the song is performed by The Punch Brothers, Marcus Mumford, and Justin Timberlake. Below is a concert inspired by the movie, featuring The Punch Brothers and Marcus Mumford.
What do you think of the Hansard-Bono duet? Leave your two cents in the comments.
One of my favorite recent CD purchases is This One’s For Him: A Tribute to Guy Clark (2011), which I have had on repeat play since I got it in December. This One’s for Him is a solid 2-CD collection of songs by the wonderful Texas singer-songwriter Guy Clark. Although tribute albums often are hit-and-miss affairs with an uneven collection of interpretations by various artists, this one maintains a nice consistency throughout. One reason the CDs work so well is the consistency of Guy Clark’s writing, although tribute albums usually consist of well-written songs. Another reason that the listening experience is like listening to a CD by one artist is because the producers recorded live with the band and a limited number of overdubs, giving consistency throughout. Finally, the great collection holds up due to the group of artists assembled for the project. Although there are some famous singers on the collection, the producers clearly opted for talented musicians who love Clark’s music instead of just seeking big names, and the love comes through the music.
It is hard to choose a favorite song, but one of mine is Jack Ingram’s version of “Stuff that Works.” In a video no longer available on YouTube, Jack Ingram talked about his love of Guy Clark’s music, noting that the music feels “like the Truth.” The great thing about Clark’s songs is that he writes beautiful words to go with his beautiful music. Stuff that works, stuff that holds up; The kind of stuff you don’t hang on the wall; Stuff that’s real, stuff you feel; The kind of stuff you reach for when you fall.
Artists on the CD include a who’s who of great singers and songwriters: Rodney Crowell, Willie Nelson, Jerry Jeff Walker, Steve Earle, Emmylou Harris, Patty Griffin, Kris Kristofferson, Robert Earl Keen, Ray Wylie Hubbard, John Prine, and many more. [UPDATE: In a promotional video no longer on YouTube, Hayes Carll, who sings “Worry B Gone” on the tribute CD, talked about hanging out with Clark.]
If you are already a fan of Guy Clark’s music, you will love the CD. But if you are new to his music, the tribute CD is a great place to start. One of my favorite songs of all-time is Guy Clark’s “LA Freeway.” Radney Foster does an excellent job covering the song on the CD. I could not find his version on Youtube, so here is the songwriter’s version. He does a pretty good job too.
If I can just get off of this LA freeway, Without getting killed or caught; I’d be down that road in a cloud of smoke, For some land that I ain’t bought — bought — bought.
“LA Freeway” captures the common longing for running off and being free. Even if you cannot make that kind of escape, you might come a little closer if while you’re on the road you pop in this CD.
I just heard on the radio that Donna Summer passed away today at the age of 63 from cancer. Summer, who was born LaDonna Adrian Gaines, begin performing at the age of 10, although her first U.S. break came in 1975 with her song, “Love to Love You Baby.” Other songs such as “Last Dance,” “Hot Stuff,” and “Bad Girls” were some of the biggest hits during the disco era. Her 1983 song “She Works Hard For The Money” is often used as an anthem for women’s rights. Although that song was her last major hit, she released an album of original songs as recently as 2008 with Crayons. Throughout her career, Summer distinguished herself from many other artists because she was both an excellent songwriter and powerful singer.
and on HBO and 
