8:44 pm UTC Feb. 8, 2021
As the National Museum of African American Music opens its doors, journalists from the USA TODAY Network explore the stories, places and people who helped make music what it is today in our expansive series, Hallowed Sound.
Motown Records’ creative ingenuity and commercial prowess made it a hit machine, one that’s still chugging along today indeed, a list of Motown classics could fill a book. For now, here are 50 essential singles from Motown’s Detroit era, defined as 1959-1972, as selected by the Detroit Free Press and its readers to commemorate the label’s 50th anniversary.
in the past couple of years. What sets the songs on the EP apart from the material you previously released?
Sam: We really tried not to put any pressure on the creation process for ourselves for this EP. We wanted to have as little creative barriers as possible and really just let the ideas flow no matter how weird or out there they might have been. I think that really allowed us to explore another side of our creativity that we had never tapped into. Just going for whatever idea we felt rather than over analyzing and judging every bit of it (which is still a work in progress). That was a really pivotal moment for us in the making of this EP.
A FUNKY Bradford musician has claimed one of the top prizes in the world of guitars after providing the best performance of the last 12 months. Danny Sapko, from Saltaire, wowed judges, the public and staff at top music website Guitar World to take the crown as Bassist of the Year. The 27-year-old played a funk-filled piece featuring intricate finger work on his classy Chowny NT4 bass guitar through an Aguilar head and cab in his video submission. Mr Sapko, who runs a successful YouTube channel as well as teaching music and playing in his band Vonderplanetz, said the win was a moment of light amongst the gloom of 2020.
“Charley Pride had to be the best every time he stepped in front of a microphone. It was his burden and his gift.”
When asked what makes Pride’s 1971 release “Kiss an Angel Good Mornin’” one of country music’s timeless anthems, Rissi Palmer another groundbreaking Black country performer answers with a definitive statement. However, Pride’s song isn’t just
any country song by
any country artist.
Digging deeper into who Pride was, what made him a standout and why it affected the way he performed is essential. Ultimately, that songwriter Ben Peters’ tune about how much he loved his newborn daughter became Pride’s signature song an American crossover smash that spurred 11 consecutive Canadian country No. 1 hits and immense global acclaim is an intriguing story with many layers.