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‘Tis the season, Day 13
The weekend is upon us — second-to-last one before Christmas! — so here’s an instant holiday party starter for you. Today’s song is 12 minutes of soul, salsa and dance bliss, mixing together “Joy to...
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‘Tis the season, Day 14
Hat tip to my friend JB, who deftly dropped tonight’s Christmas song between Bad Company’s “Can’t Get Enough” and the Bee Gees’ “More Than A Woman” on his “Saturdays at the ’70s” show on WMGN radio is...
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‘Tis the season, Day 15
For holiday songs to be released during the holidays, they must be written well in advance. Many times, that’s led to holiday songs being recorded in the summer. One such song is “The Christmas Song,”...
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‘Tis the season, Day 16
Tonight’s song comes from a program I taped off the radio way back in the late ’80s, just as last night’s song did. The DJ — Willie Wonder — played R&B, soul and jazz on a Saturday night show...
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‘Tis the season, Day 17
Christmas Eve is a week away. Take a deep breath, everyone. Remember to … “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas,” Lou Rawls, from “Merry Christmas Ho! Ho! Ho!,” 1967....
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‘Tis the season, Day 18
Christmas Day is a week away. Here’s the story of a long-ago Christmas in a far-away land. This story was told at a time when many Americans celebrated Christmas as best they could in a far-away land....
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‘Tis the season, Day 19
Season’s greetings from Green Bay. It’s snowing here today. First big snow of the season, complete with a winter storm warning. It started about six hours ago, at mid-morning. It’s still going, powder...
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‘Tis the season, Day 20
Well, we wound up with almost 6 inches of snow yesterday. Today, everything looks like a Christmas card. You know, like a winter wonderland. In 1983, folk singer Steve Goodman released “Artistic Hair,”...
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‘Tis the season, Day 21
“Back Door Santa” by Clarence Carter, from 1968, is considered by some to be the naughtiest Christmas song, complete with the most suggestive “Ho, ho, ho, ho” ever recorded. “Santa Baby” by Eartha...
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‘Tis the season, Day 22
The holidays are a time for wishes. Tonight’s wish … All I want for Christmas All I want for Christmas All I want for Christmas is world peace That wish comes all the way from 1987, when Pat MacDonald...
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‘Tis the season, Day 23
The holidays are a time for wishes. Another night, another wish … Someday at Christmas man will not failHate will be gone and love will prevailSomeday a new world that we can startWith hope in every...
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‘Tis the season, Day 24
On a winter day now more than 50 years ago, Louis Armstrong went to work in the den at his home at 34-56 107th Street in Corona, Queens, New York. On that day — Friday, Feb. 26, 1971 — he recorded...
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‘Tis the season, the last night
Seventeen years ago, when this blog was not even a year old, our new friend Rob in Pennsylvania declared Irma Thomas’ rendition of “O Holy Night” to be “goosebump-inducing stuff.” Ever since, one of...
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‘Tis the season, Day 25
A message that rings true as we go forward, now more than 50 years after it was first heard. So this is Christmas And what have you done? Another year over And a new one just begun “Happy Xmas (War Is...
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Signing off
My friend Bruce Charles Heikkinen died quietly in November. He was 71. A year ago, Bruce asked me to write the story of his life. “My health concerns may be serious enough that my time may be...
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Gone in Threes, 2024
They go in threes. They always go in threes. 2024 was no different. Academy favorites: Louis Gossett Jr. (one Oscar), Gena Rowlands (two nominations), Maggie Smith (two Oscars, four other nominations)...
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My long-ago evening with Styx
50 years ago tonight, on Saturday, Jan. 11, 1975, Styx played a show at the Wausau West High School fieldhouse in Wausau, Wisconsin. It was the first rock show I ever attended. I was 17. I’d hoped to...
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The musicians we love are just like us
Perhaps you saw this picture when it made the rounds of social media earlier this month. What you took away from the picture probably depends on when you came of age. It was taken Saturday night, Feb....
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You still doing the blog?
As we sat in the bar shooting the breeze, getting caught up after not seeing each other for far too long, my old high school and college friend dropped this question: “You still doing the blog?” Yes,...
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Welcome to their nightmare
50 years ago tonight, on Tuesday, March 25, 1975, Alice Cooper came to town. A sold-out crowd of 6,400 saw his “Welcome to My Nightmare” stage show at the Brown County Veterans Memorial Arena in Green...
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