TONIGHT, Sunday, though there will be much else to focus our eyeballs on, I’m on @axstv’s #TopTenRevealed again, ranking the best 60’s folk songs, all still especially relevant now. Set your DVR starting at 8:30/7:30c. #folksongs #top10folkies #protestsongs #axstv #songwriter#badeya
Elated to announce that The Library of Congress today named my very first hit, “September” by Earth, Wind & Fire, and 24 other recordings that are to be added to the National Recording Registry! These songs are “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant aural treasures worthy of preservation because of their importance to the nation’s recorded sound heritage”. Other titles I‘m most proud “September” is among include Curtis Mayfield’s “Superfly,” Ritchie Valen’s “La Bamba.” Nina Simone’s “Mississippi Goddam,” the musical “Hair”; Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline,” Sylvester’s “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real),” Cab Calloway’s “Minnie the Moocher,” Robert F. Kennedy’s Speech on the Death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., plus LPs like JAY-Z’s “The Blueprint,” and Cyndi Lauper‘s “She’s So Unusual”. Love you forever, my co-writers, Maurice White and Al McKay!
Girls lunch with two of my oldest, greatest friends, the esteemed Ms’s Pamela Des Barres and Cassandra Peterson a.k.a. Elvira, Mistress Of the Dark. None of us have make-up on and photos weren’t meant to be taken, but as an avid archivist I could not let this moment of supreme friendship pass without capturing it.
Great time popping out some demos for Patti LaBelle, who was the first artist to regularly sing my songs in 1978. Had she not started me off like that I’m sure it would have been a much longer road to Earth, Wind & Fire. She also put me in the studio with her friend whose name she didn’t tell me but thought I would make an excellent collaborator for. We were almost two hours into writing before I realized it was Herbie Hancock! Anyway, I had a ball recording Patti demos last Sunday night with (L-R) Jordn George, Andrae Alexander, and Drew L Green.
I wrote my very first song in 1972. The music was SO GOOD that year that despite not knowing how to play an instrument I just started writing because I was so inspired. My very first song was written to the melody of “Alone Again Naturally” by Gilbert O’Sullivan, one of the biggest records of the year and easily one of my all time favorite records ever. Then I called a friend who could play piano and he brought over the sheet music to “Never Can Say Goodbye” and played the chords backwards, from the end of the song to the beginning. I always could sing a melody to anything, the clock ticking, birds singing, anything that forms a rhythmic pattern. And so my first song, “Ain’t No Man Worth It” was born. Which got me a record deal on Epic for my one and only album, Childstar, the title of the second song I ever wrote. This Sunday on AXS TV‘s show The Top Ten Revealed we’re ranking the most epic songs of ’72! It’s an all-new episode starting at 8:30/7:30c.
More from Tuesday night’s Season 3 premiere of Pamela Adlon’s FX show Better Things. First photo’s with Prudence Fenton and our great friends, Monica and Phil Rosenthal. Phil was the creator, writer, and executive producer of Everybody Loves Raymond and Monica played Amy, Robert Barone a.k.a. Brad Garrett’s on again-off again girlfriend on Raymond. Phil’s also been instrumental in Pamela’s TV career, including coaching her on making this season of Better Things. which is BRILLIANT. And if you haven’t caught Phil’s PBS show I’ll have what Phil’s having, it’s one of the warmest, funniest and most charming food-themed shows ever. Second photo is me and Diva Zappa holding our name cards for photographers as we are about to alight the red carpet.
Last night at the premiere of Season 3 of Better Things, Pamela Adlon’s BRILLIANT show on FX that she writes, directs and stars in and has been Emmy-nominated twice for as Best Actress In A Comedy. We’ve been incredible friends for 35 years, even before she started schlepping paint cans behind me as my art assistant in the late 80’s. Also here Alysia Reiner, who was one of the only cast members of Orange Is the New Black who wasn’t at the opening of my musical, The Color Purple Musical, when it reopened on Broadway in 2015, featuring my fave Danielle Brooks a.k.a. Tastee on OITNB starring as Sofia. I really wanted to meet Alysia as her portrayal of Assistant Warden Natalie “Fig” Figueroa was insanity inspired. So I was thrilled when I got on the plane back to LA a few days later and there she was seated directly in front of me. We became friends and I’m so happy I have an in with the warden now! Alysia also plays Sunny on Better Things. Me and the lovely Prudence Fenton fill out the photo. I can’t even tell you how UNBELIEVABLE season 3 of Better Things is. Reviews have been staggering. It starts tomorrow night, Thursday, so set your devices now!
Tonight, on AXS TV‘s show #TheTopTenRevealed, I’m amongst several music notables ranking the songs that remind you of the movie. For example, I would choose The Pointer Sisters – Official ‘“Neutron Dance” and Patti LaBelle’s “Stir It Up” because they remind me of Beverly Hills Cop. Of course the fact that I wrote them and they got me a Grammy for Best Soundtrack back in the day does influence my opinion somewhat! Find out which jams make the list Sunday at 8:30/7:30c.
Had a fantastic time last night being interviewed by the ever-fabulous Mistress of UnCabaret, Beth Lapides, at the WeHo Chamber in the seriously beautiful WeHo Library. Thanks Corey Roskin for getting this together! As the supreme Kitsch lover, I was the perfect interviewee for a blackout to hit West Hollywood. I always enjoy being lit by flashlight. Great audience. Great time. Great photo with my #soulsistah Beth
Looking forward to this coming Wednesday night 2/20 at 7 PM when I’m being interviewed by the Supreme Mistress of #Uncabaret, the ever-wonderful Beth Lapides, in the very chic West Hollywood City Council Chambers in the West Hollywood Library. I will be grilled – in the most loving way possible of course – by Beth about my career, my friends, my records, my everything. And it’s FREE thanks to Visit West Hollywood. So come on down or across or from wherever you’re nesting and we’ll see you there!
