Golden Girls theme song - tribute to Rue McLanahan

Actress Rue McLanahan passed away yesterday at the age of 76. She starred in the series Golden Girls from 1985-1992 along with Estelle Getty who passed away in 2008, Bea Arthur who passed away last year and Betty White who is still alive

Fast facts on Neil Sedaka

* Born March 13, 1939 in Brooklyn

* Singer, songwriter, pianist

* One of his earliest Billboard hits was "Oh Carol!" which was written for his then girlfriend singer-songwriter Carole King. The song made it to number 9 on the Billboard charts in 1959.

* Co-wrote with songwriter Howard Greenfield, the Connie Francis hit "Where the boys are" in 1960.

* His most famous hits include "Calendar Girl" (1961), "Breaking is hard to do" (1962), "Laughter in the rain" (1975). He had a hit again with a slower version of "Breaking up is hard to do"(1976)

* He teamed up again with Howard Greenfield to write Captain and Tenille's hit "Love will keep us together" in 1975.

* He wrote "Solitaire" which became a big hit for the Carpenters in 1975.

* Has a star of the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

* Has been married to wife Leba since 1962 and they have 2 children.

* He still keeps up a very active performing schedule.

James BLunt

Former member of the British Army James Blunt became famous with this song "You're Beautiful" which made it to number 1 on both UK and on the Billboard Top 100 charts.

Happy 60th birthday to Stevie Wonder!!

Its hard to believe that the Stevie Wonder is 60 years old. As a child prodigy he burst on the music scene in 1963 as "Little Stevie Wonder" with his first hit Fingertips (part 2). Since then he has had numerous hits that have become standards. Songs like "For Once in my life", "My Cherie Amour", "Signed, sealed, delivered I'm yours", "Isn't she lovely", "Happy birthday" to name a few.

Fast facts on George Benson

* Born March 22, 1943 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

* Started playing the ukelele at the age of 8

* Recorded first single "She makes me mad" at the age of 10

* Became a jazz guitarist and vocalist and recorded his first album "The New Boss Guitar" in 1964. He has since recorded pop and R&B songs

* Played on Miles Davis 1968 album "Miles in the sky"

* "This Masquerade" was a Billboard top 10 hit in 1976 and won him a Grammy Award for "Record of the Year"

* Recorded original version of "Greatest Love of all" for the 1977 movie about Muhammad Ali "The Greatest"

* Other well known singles include "On Broadway", "Give me the night", "Love X Love", Turn your love around"

* Has won a total of 11 Grammy awards

* Still keeps up a hectic touring schedule

Tribute to Lena Horne

Singer, dancer, actress, civil rights activist Lena Horne (June 30, 1917 - May 9, 2010)

I am woman - Helen Reddy (Tribute to mothers)

This song "I am woman" was recorded by Helen Reddy who also co-wrote the song with singer/songwriter Ray Burton. Released in 1972 the song made Helen the first ever Australian to have a Billboard number 1 hit.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!

Message in a bottle - The Police

"Message in a bottle" was the first single by The Police to reach number 1 on the UK charts in 1979. It came off their second album "Regatta de Blanc"

All around the world - Lisa Stansfield and Barry White

English born Lisa Stansfield had a major hit with this song. "All around the world" hit number 1 on the R&B charts making her the second white female to do this. Teena Marie was the first with "Ooh la la". It made it to number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. The song was again recorded with the legendary Barry White for a compilation album of his.

Lisa continued recording through the 1990s and has released musics as recently as 2004. However none of these recordings have matched the success of her first.

Fast facts on David Foster

* Full name David Walter Foster

* Born in British Columbia, Canada on November 1, 1949

* At age 16 became a member of Chuck Berry's backing band

* Was the keyboard player in the Canadian group "Wildflower" which had a number 9 hit on the Billboard's Hot 100 chart in 1972

* Songs that he has written include:
After the love is gone - Earth,Wind & Fire
Got to be real - Cheryl Lynn
The prayer - Andreas Bocelli and Celine Dion
Who's holding Donna now - Debarge
Through the fire - Chaka Khan
Hard to say I'm sorry - Chicago
The glory of love - Peter Cetera
I have nothing - Whitney Houston (co-written with then wife Linda Thompson)

* Wrote the entire film score for the movie "St Elmo's Fire"

* Produced the cast album for the Broadway hit musical "Dreamgirls" in 1982

* Produced Natalie Cole/Nat King Cole album "Unforgettable"

* Has produced for Mariah Carey, Deneice Williams, Michael Bolton, Paul Anka, Kenny Rogers, Brian McKnight, Dolly Parton, Toni Braxton, Al Jarreau

* Has been a judge on reality shows Popstars, Nashville Star, Celebrity Duets and Star Tomorrow.

* Was a mentor on an episode of American Idol in 2005

* Has won a total of 14 Grammy Awards

* Inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame

* Has been married 3 times and has 5 daughters

Detective TV show theme songs

This iconic detective ow starring Jack Lord ran for 12 seasons from 1968 to 1980. The theme music was written by Morton Stevens.



"Rockford Files" starring James Garner ran for 6 seasons from 1974 to 1980. The theme music was composed by Mike Post and Pete Carpenter.

Still searching - Damian Marley (featuring Stephen Marley and Yami Bolo)

"Still searching" came from Damian Marley's album "Half-Way-Tree" which one a Reggae Grammy in 2002.

Remember Tracey Chapman?

Singer-songwriter Tracey Chapman was born in Cleveland, Ohio on March 30, 1964. She came to prominence in 1988 with her platinum selling album "Tracey Chapman which contained the single "Fast Car" which peaked at number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. Other singles "Talking 'bout a Revolution" and "Baby can I hold you" made it to numbers 75 and 48 respectively. Tracey won 3 Grammy awards for this album including "Best New Artist."



Tracey's second album "Crossroads" was released in 1989. However it was not as successful as her first. In 1995 her fourth album "New Beginning" sold 3 million copies and contained the single "Give me one reason" which peaked at number 3 on Billboard's Top 100. That year the single "won a Grammy for Best Rock Song."




Tracey is still active in the music business having released her eighth album "Our Bright Future" in 2008. She does alot of touring in Europe.

Sunday inspiration

"I Need You Now" was a big gospel hit for Arkansan born Smokie Norful in 2002.

Fast facts on Billboard magazine

First issue of Billboard magazine






* Founded in Cincinatti in 1894 by William H. Donaldson and James H. Hennegan as a trade paper for the bill posting industry.

* Started publishing music charts in 1936 in three music genres: Pop, Rhythm and Blues and Country and Western.

* Publishes more than 100 charts in such genres as classical, country, Latin, folk,jazz, gospel

* The Hot 100 chart was first published in 1958.

* Read in over 100 countries.

* Its website has 2.5 million unique visitors monthly.

* Chart positions are calculated based on both sales figures and airplay

* Headquartered in New York

* Owned by e5 Global Media

You put a move on my heart- Tamia

"You put a move on my heart" was Tamia's first single which appeared on Quincy Jones' "Q's Jook Joint" album in 1995. It made it to number 12 on the Billboard R&B charts. In this YouTube video clip, she performs the song at a concert celebrating Quincy Jones music.

American Idol reject performs on results show

On last night's American Idol's results show, the platinum selling country group "Lady Antebellum" performed. Ironically, lead singer Hillary Scott tried out twice for American Idol but never made it past the first audition. She joined the group in 2006.

Random music trivia

1. Garth Brooks was the first country artist to sell 10 million copies of an album.

2. The U.S. national anthem "Star Spangled Banner" was originally called "The Defense of Fort McHenry".

3. Dottie West was the first ever country artist to win a Grammy.

4. Bruce Springsteen was once the opening act for Anne Murray.

5. Wolfgang Mozart began composing music at the age of 5.

6. Billy Joel had his first hit "Piano Man" in 1973.

7. The very popular BBC music programme "Top of the Pops" was first aired on January 1, 1964 and ran until July 30, 2006.

8. In 1964, Louis Armstrong became the oldest artist at the age of 63 to have a number 1 Billboard hit with "Hello Dolly."

9. Barbara Streisand's first album "The Barbra Streisand Album" was released on February 25,1963.

10. Bob Marley and the Wailers album "Rastaman Vibrations" peaked at number 8 on the Billboard 200 charts in 1976.

Aswad had a number one hit on the U.K. charts with this song in 1988. It had been originally recorded by Tina Turner on the B-side of her 1986 hit single "Typical male."

Remember Craig David?

Craig David was born on May 5, 1981 in England of a Grenadian father and English mother. He burst onto the music scene in 2000 with "Fill me in" which made number 1 on the British charts making him the youngest ever person to do this. It was released in the United States the following year and made it as far as number 15 on Billboard's Hot 100. He also had a big hit with 7 days.






Craig has continued over the years to make the British charts over the years with his music even though he didn't become as big in the U.S. as many expected. However he has sold more than 13 million albums worldwide.