…‘out of space, out of time, out of sight, out of mind’... On September 22nd, in 1942, The woman responsible for making the song California Soul a staple Breakbeat-Marlena Shaw was born in New Rochelle, New York City, New York. She’s a Jazz vocalist at heart, but also incorporates elements of Soul, Blues, Dance and Funk music into her singing. She got her start in Jazz clubs, but it wasn’t long before she was working with the likes of Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie and John Hammond.
Marlena recorded for several labels, and she released 15 LPs from 1967 to 1997 (about 2 LPs every 2 years). She’s recorded for several labels: Columbia, Blue Note, Cadet, Verve, South Bay & Concord Jazz. Marlena continues to tour and perform. Soul Brother Records put a nice Anthology of her music together. If you want to get a sense of her sound, but can’t find the time to dig for her LPs, cop this compilation. She’s 76 years-old today.
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On September 22nd, in 1946-World Music innovator, Musician, Bandleader and Singer-King Sunny Ade (Sunday Adeniyi Adegeye) was born in Ondo City, Ondo State, Nigeria. The Nigerian native is a specialist and innovator of the West African Music (JuJu). He also uses Funk & Jazz to make his own unique sound. Sunny’s done it all and then some. He’s put out 4 films of him performing his music. From 1967 to 2004, he’s managed to write and release 123 songs.
He’s won Grammy’s and some say he made a comeback recently within the past two decades, but he himself disagrees, chalking it up to a new population of people that are just now starting to get hip to King Sunny Ade. He’s a practitioner of the Yoruba faith and many consider him to be one of the most influential musicians of all-time (especially World and West African Music). He still performs, and turns 72 today!
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On September 22nd, in 1958, former Singer and guitarist for the All Female Punk Band-The Runaways, songwriter, solo artist and bandleader-Joan Jett (Joan Marie Larkin) was born in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania (Suburban Philadelphia). She migrated West to California as a youth and teamed up with the Runaways. They were one of the first all-female Punk bands from the early 70s that transformed the scene, and made it official for Females to do to their thing. They toured Japan and became a hit sensation with the hot single Cherry Bomb.
She left the group, and in the early 80s formed Joan Jett & the Blackhearts. People consider Joan the Godmother of Punk Rock. She’s been inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame in 2015, and the Long Island Hall of Fame in 2006. She’s recorded over 10 LPs from 1981 to 2013. She’s also been in or depicted in over 20 films from 1981 to 2016. She made Rolling Stones Magazine’s list for top 100 Guitarist of all time. Joan tours and sings currently. She’s 60 today!
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On September 22nd, in 1985, my hometown, one half of the East Central Illinois Twin City, Home of the Fighting Illini-Champaign, Illinois hosted the first Farm Aid benefit concert. I recall how crowded the city was at the time. We couldn’t get across town with ease, as we usually could, and the local News stations were playing footage and commercials about the event, which was organized by none other than Willie Nelson, Neil Young & John Cougar Mellencamp. Over 80,000 people attended the concert which was held at Memorial Stadium.
I believe the concert was in response to the drought of that summer that caused a lot of local farmers to lose a lot of money. It also was a response to Live Aid which was held earlier in the year. Musicians during the 80s were beginning to see that they could raise money for charitable events they were interested in. The concert had mostly Country artists perform like: Charley Pride, Roger Miller, Emmylou Harris, Alabama, Kenny Rogers, Charlie Daniels Band, Kris Kristofferson, Bonnie Raitt and Waylon Jennings to name a few.
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On September 22nd, in 2005, Led Zeppelin’s lead guitarist Jimmy Page was granted honoarary citizenship of Brazil, specifically the city of Rio De Janeiro. Aside from being one of Rock’s Legends, Page gave mad loot to the Brazilian city to help curb poverty and homelessness amongst it youth population. The locals termed them ‘street children’. If you’ve ever traveled in the Americas, you’ve seen this population around, especially in regions with warmer climates.
Page wanted to help, so he opened a facility that would serve as a temporary place for homeless kids in the area to stay. They called it Casa Jimmy, and it was first opened in 1998. Seven years later, Casa Jimmy (Jimmy’s House) had helped more than 300 children in the area. S.O. to Jimmy Page for reaching back to help some kids that most likely had no idea who he was or why he was helping. This is how artists can put their earnings to positive use. Respect Page.
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On September 22nd, in 2007, Westocast representative and fierce Emcee-The Game (Jayceon Taylor) was having some complications with the NYD PD. As the story goes, Game was arriving in NYC for some tour related shows and appearances. He needed a cab, so he hailed one, and shockingly enough, they Parliamented him (let him ride)…Once in the cab, he informed the driver that he was in a hurry and that he was an undercover officer so the Cabby could run all the red lights.
The cabby obliged him and ran the reds, in NYC. Game was given a charge for impersonating a police officer when the NYC PD caught up to the red light running cabby and pulled them over. In Game’s defense, he told the cops that the cabby noticed they were being followed and decided to run the lights on his own. Game replied to the cabby that they were being followed by the ‘Hip Hop Police’. The NYC courts gave him a conditional discharge in Manhattan’s Criminal Court.
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Honorable Mention: On September 22nd, in 1828: Shaka Zulu, the most influential ruler of the Zulu Kingdom was assassinated by his two half-brothers. Shaka was 41 years-old when they took his life. Shaka was a King that would not give in to the British invasion and their gun powder. Instead, he mobilized his troops to fight without fear and valor for the preservation of their culture and land. S.O. to him for standing up when others would’ve folded under the pressure.
…‘The man right cheeeeer!’…On September 22nd, in 1975, No Limit Soldier & All original Emcee Mystikal (Michael Turner) was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He’s recorded for over 5 labels and worked with several Emcees in the game: Snoop, Busta Rhymes, Ludacris, 504 Boyz, Mia X, Lil Wayne, Pastor Troy and others. He put out 6 LPs from 1994-2001, and he’s even acted in some movies. Mystikal is 43 today!
…‘If there’s a cure for this, I don’t want it, I don’t want it…if there’s a remedy, I’ll run from it, run from it’…On September 22nd, in 1999, The face and voice of the Supremes, the woman credited with discovering the Jackson 5-Miss Diana Ross caught a case. She was detained at the Heathrow Airport in Concorde for inappropriately touching a security guard that searched her. Diana claimed the security guard touched her breasts so she wanted to rub them down too…pause…
On September 22nd, in 2004, the artists formerly known as Cat Stevens, who was now going by Yusuf Islam, was refused entrance into the USA by the Feds. I believe this was due to his name and philosophy changes, but it may just have been a fluke. As the story goes, Islam was trying to leave London and Fly directly to the USA. The FBI agents refused to let him into the country off the United Airlines flight 919 that landed in Maine. He was with his 21 year old daughter, and still couldn’t come into the country. They detained and questioned him. F Babylon free Islam.
For more information on any musician or event reviewed in posts, or for additional information on the Wandering Eyes Blog overall, use the search bar and search the artist or event using keywords. It’s like a Google search for the site. A Plethora of information, covering several topics exists on this site going back to 2013 when it was created. PEACE!