Throwback Thursday

I’ll Always Love My Mama is a 1973 single by the Philly soul group The Intruders. Released from their album Save the Children, the single is a song commonly played on Mother’s Day. Continue reading

I Want You is a song written by songwriters Leon Ware and Arthur T-Boy Ross and recorded and released as a single by Marvin Gaye. Released as a single in 1976 on the Tamla label, the song introduced a change in musical styles for Marvin Gaye, who before then had… Continue reading

The Whispers are an R&B group from Los Angeles, California. Scoring hit records since the late 1960s, they are best known for their two number-one R&B singles, And the Beat Goes On and Rock Steady. Continue reading

No More Rain (In This Cloud) is by R&B artist Angie Stone. It was written by Angie Stone along with Bert Williams and Gordon Chambers for Stone’s debut studio album, Black Diamond while production was helmed by Stone. Continue reading

Philadelphia native Patti LaBelle work spans genres including gospel, soul, blues, R &B, jazz, Broadway, television and film. Continue reading

The Name Game is a song co-written and performed by Shirley Ellis as a rhyming game that creates variations on a person’s name. She explains through speaking and singing how to play the game. Continue reading

Heaven Sent is by R&B artist Keyshia Cole. It was written by  Keyshia Cole, Jason Farmer, Alex Francis, and Lamont Wilson for her second studio album Just Like You. Continue reading

The Kuumba Singers of Harvard College & Bobby McFerrin perform Hold On in Leipzig, Germany. This gospel song was written by Rev. Cleophus Robinson Jr., and first recorded on his 1980 album Consolation. Continue reading

Every Time I Close My Eyes is a song written and produced by R&B artist Babyface. It was released as the second single from his fourth album, The Day. Continue reading

Aaliyah Dana Haughton, a talented R&B artist and actress, was born on January 16,1979 in Brooklyn,NewYork. From a young age , Aaliyah was passionate about music, beginning voice lessons  shortly after she learned to speak. Continue reading

In 1992, Ever Changing Times was re-recorded by the Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin for her thirty-sixth studio album What You Is What You Sweat with Michael McDonald  having featured vocals.  Continue reading

Here and Now (1989) by music icon Luther Vandross, is from the compilation album The Best of Luther Vandross… The Best of Love. The song became Vandross’ fifth single to peak at No. 1 on the Hot Black Singles, and his first single to chart in the top ten on… Continue reading

Christopher Maurice Brown known as Chris Brown is a Pop artist, songwriter, dancer and actor. A pop and hip hop influenced R&B musician who works in a variety of genres. Continue reading

Frosty the Snowman (1969) is an animated Christmas television special based on the Walter E. Rollins and Steve Nelson song of the same name. It featured the voices  of comedians Jimmy Durante (in his final film role) as the film’s narrator, Billy De Wolfe as Professor Hinkle, and Jackie Vernon… Continue reading

Candi Staton sings her 1976 disco hit Young Hearts Run Free from the album of the same name.  Continue reading

Tamia Marilyn Washington Hill, a R&B artist and songwriter. was born and raised in Windsor, Ontario. In 1994, after signing a development deal with Warner Bros. Records, she was asked by producer Quincy Jones to appear on his album Q’s Jook Joint, earning her Grammy Award nominations for their collaboration on… Continue reading

Thriller, Michael Jackson’s 1984 music video directed by John Landis and written by Landis and Jackson.   Continue reading

Disturbia is by Pop artist Rihanna for  Good Girl Gone Bad:Reloaded,a re-release of her third studio album Good Girl Gone Bad:Reloaded . It was written by Andre Merritt, Chris Brown, Brian Kennedy and Rob. A, with the production of the song helmed by Kennedy. Continue reading

Actor Vincent Price performs the iconic rap from Michael Jackson‘s mega hit Thriller. This was the first and only time performed the verses live on television.  Continue reading

Michael McDonald was born in St Louis, Missouri. As soon as he realized his musical abilities he sought out to play in local bands in the St Louis area until he was convinced to move. Continue reading

Baby Workout by Mr. Excitement aka Jackie Wilson from the album of the same name is about Wilson urging a girl to dance or work out all night long with him. Continue reading

Frankie Beverly was an American singer, songwriter, and producer known primarily for his recordings with the soul and funk band Maze. He formed Maze, originally called Raw Soul, in his hometown of Philadelphia in 1970. He passed away on September 10th 2024 at the age of 77. Continue reading

In 1974, the group issued their album It’s Been a Long Time, which featured hits including their cover of the Skylark song Wildflower. Continue reading

Jingling Baby is the final single released from LL Cool J’s third album, Walking with a Panther.  It was released on January 8, 1990 for Def Jam Records and was produced by LL Cool J and Dwayne Simon. Continue reading

Jamaican superstar Vybz Kartel is up next on the Mixpak roster, delivering the Dre Skull produced Yuh Love, a poppy Dancehall anthem just in time for the end of summer. Kartel gives us his deejay ternt singjay and ‘Yuh Love’ — in which he offers a promise of undying love… Continue reading

Body and Soul is by Jazz and R&B artist Anita Baker, released in 1994 as the lead single in support of her fifth album, Rhythm Of Love. Continue reading

The Jackson 5 performed I Want You Back on The Ed Sullivan Show December 14, 1969. Continue reading

Omar “Tarrus” Riley born April 26, 1979, Bronx, NewYork is a Jamaican-American Reggae artist and member of the Rasatafari Movement. Continue reading

Ain’t Nobody is by Funk band Rufus and R&B artist Chaka Khan. It was released on November 4, 1983 by Warner Bros., as one of four studio tracks included on their live album, Stompin’ At The Savoy. Continue reading

The Ghetto is a socially conscious, mostly instrumental jazz-flavored anthem, released as the first single off Soul artist Donny Hathaway’s  debut album,Eveything Is Everything, released as a single in 1969 on Atlantic Records. Continue reading

June Deniece Williams has been described as “one of the great soul voices” by the BBC. Free was her first music video. Continue reading

Aaliyah Dana Haughton  has been credited with helping to redefine contemporary R&B, pop and hip hop  earning her the nicknames the  Princess of R&B and Queen of Urban Pop. Continue reading

All of Me is a John Legend song from his fourth studio album Love In The Future. It is dedicated to Legend’s wife Chrissy Teigen. All of Me first aired on American mainstream urban radio as the album’s third single on August 12, 2013. Continue reading

And the Beat Goes On is a single by The Whispers. The song was their first of two number-one singles on the Soul Chart and their first Top 20 hit on the Billboard 100. Continue reading

The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly) is the debut solo single by Hip Hop artist Missy Misdemeanor Elliott.It was written and composed by Don Bryant,  Bernard Miller, Missy Elliott and producer Timbaland for her debut album Supa Dupa Fly and contains a sample of  Ann Pebbles 1973 single I Can’t Stand The Rain. Continue reading

Juicy Fruit is a song written by James Mtume and released as the lead-off single from Mtume’s third album, also titled Juicy Fruit.It features lead vocals by Tawatha Agee. The mid-tempo song is Mtume’s most well-known, proving enormously successful on R&B radio stations when first released. Continue reading

Say It Loud – I’m Black and I’m Proud performed by James Brown and written with his bandleader Alfred Pee Wee Ellis was released as a two-part single in 1968. The single held the number-one spot on the R&B singles chart for six weeks, and peaked at number ten on the Billboard… Continue reading

In 1966, The Stylistics was formed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by combining local high school rivel singing groups, The Percussions and The Monarchs. When members from each of the groups answered the then United States draft call and higher education endeavors after graduation, the remaining members under the guidance of English teacher,… Continue reading

With You I’m Born Again a 1979 duet performed by Motown recording artists Billy Preston and Syreeta Wright (credited as Syreeta) and written by Carol Connors and David Shire. The song was originally featured on the soundtrack of the 1979 motion picture Fast Break. It was became an international hit… Continue reading

Singer June Deniece Williams has been described as “one of the great soul voices” by the BBC. Free was her  first music video. Continue reading

Take the A Train is a Jazz standard by Billy Strayhorn that was the signature tune of the Duke Ellington Orchestra. Continue reading

Willie Mae Thornton better known as Big Mama Thornton because of her height (nearly 6 feet), and weight (200 pounds), was an American singer and songwriter of the Blues and R&B.  Continue reading

Kiss from a Rose is by British – Nigerian Pop artist Seal. The song was first released as a single in July 1994 by ZTT and Warner Bros., and included in the film The Never Ending Story III that year. It was re-released a year later in 1995 as part of the… Continue reading

It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World is a song written by James Brown and Betty Jean Newsome. Brown recorded it on February 16, 1966, in a New York City studio and released it as a single later that year. It reached No. 1 on the Billboard R&B chart and No. 8 on… Continue reading

Practice What You Preach is the title of a number-one  R&B single by Barry White, written by Barry White, Gerald Levert, Edwin Nicholas, from White’s 1994 album The Icon Is Love. The hit song spent three weeks at number-one on the R&B chart and reached 18 on the pop chart. Continue reading

Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan [April 7, 1915 — July 17, 1959) an American jazz singer and songwriter Nicknamed “Lady Day” by her friend and musical partner Lester Young. Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing. Her vocal style, strongly inspired by jazz instrumentalists, pioneered a new way… Continue reading

Get Back is by Ludacris from his album The Red Light District.It was released as the first single from the album and reached #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 2005. Continue reading

  I’ll Always Love My Mama is a 1973 single by the Philly soul group The Intruders. Released from their album Save the Children, the single is a song commonly played on Mother’s Day. Continue reading

A Song for Mama is a single by R&B group Boyz II Men. The song was written and produced by Babyface served as the theme song to the 1997 motion picture Soul Food and spent two weeks at number one on the US R&B chart. Continue reading

Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat) is a song by Hip Hop trio Digable Planets released as the first single from their debut album, Reachim’ (A new Refutation Of Time And Space), in November 1992. The black and white music video was directed by Morgan Lawley. Continue reading

  Gladys Knight & the Pips were an R&B, Soul and Funk family music group from Atlanta, Georgia that remained active on the music charts and performing circuit for over three decades starting from the early 1950s. Continue reading

Champagne Life is the second single from’s fourth stud R&B artist Ne-Yo’s forth studio album, Libra Scale. The song premiered on radio on June 5, 2010. Continue reading

The incomparable R&B legend Marvin Gaye shows us he can bring the house down without music. Watch him slay his classic  I Heard It Through The Grapevine. Continue reading

  Baby Come to Me is a 1989 R&B/Soul single by Regina Belle. Released on October 2, 1989 on Columbia Records.The song was written by Narada Michael Walden and Jeffrey Cohen and produced by Narada Michael Walden. Continue reading

Love Unlimited was a female vocal trio that provided backing vocals for R&B artist Barry White on his albums and concert tours. They also found success with their own recordings. Continue reading

In 1988, actress and R&B artist Vanessa Williams recorded the song Dreamin and released it as the third single from her debut studio album, The Right Stuff.On the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart, Dreamin peaked at number eight. Continue reading

Hello is by R&B artist Lionel Richie.Taken as the third single from his second solo album,Can’t Slow Down the song was released in 1984 and reached number one on three Billboard music charts: the pop chart for two weeks, the R&B charts for three weeks. Continue reading

“This movie is a big part of why I’m where I am today. THE WIZ! Sometimes I have to go back and remind myself to believe in what I feel in my heart in my mind and in my soul. I have to listen to God’s voice and not let… Continue reading

Christmas in Washington is an annual Christmas television special that currently airs on the U.S. TNT network. The 2102 broadcast was hosted by Conan O’Brien and starred Diana Ross, Demi Lovato, Megan Hilty, Scotty McCreery, and Chris Mann.  Continue reading

The Jackson 5 appear on Hollywood Palace Special for their first national TV appearance, performing with Diana Ross and Sammy Davis Jr., Oct 18, 1969. Continue reading

Son of a Gun (I Betcha Think This Song Is About You) is by Janet Jackson with Carly Simon from Jackson’s seventh studio album, All For You. It was written and produced by Janet Jackson,Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis with additional lyrics by Simon. An official re-worked version featuring Missy Elliott was… Continue reading

“Torture” is the second single released off the album Victory by the The Jacksons. Written by Jackie Jackson and fellow Motown veteran Kathy Wakefield,  the song is about someone ending a relationship and the torture you feel when you’re still in love with the other person. Continue reading

Ghostbusters is by Ray Parker Jr, as the theme song to the film the same. Debuting at number 68 on June 16, 1984, the song peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on August 11, 1984 staying there for three weeks. Continue reading

On January 19, 1993  Aretha Franklin performed I Dreamed A Dream at the 42nd Presidential Inaugural Gala in honor of President Bill Clinton.   Continue reading

I’ll Be There is the first single released on third album by The Jackson 5. It was written by Berry Gordy, Hal Davis, Bob West and Willie Hutch.The song was recorded by The Jackson 5 and released by Motown Records on August 28, 1970, as the first single from their third album on… Continue reading

Irreplaceable is by R&B artist Beyoncé for her second studio album, B’Day. The song was written by  Ne-Yo, Tor Erik Hermansen, Mikel S. Eriksen, Espen Lind, Amund Bjørklund and produced by Stargate.  Continue reading

Walter Van Beirendonck’s breakthrough came in 1987 when he was touted one of The Antwerp Six alongside the likes of Dries Van Noten and Ann Demeulemeester. Two years later came Hardbeat AW89-90, a hardcore mix splashed with slogans like Fetish for Main Course and Great Balls of Fire and accessorised… Continue reading

The Secret Garden (Sweet Seduction Suite) is by Quincy Jones, featuring R&B singers  Al B. Sure, James Ingram, El DeBarge and Barry White. It was released as a single from Quincy Jones’s album, Back On The Block and peaked at number one on the Billboard Black Singles chart for one week in 1990. Continue reading

Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr.  was an R&B artist, songwriter and record producer. He is noted for his sweet and soulful vocals. In addition to his popular work as a solo recording artist, Luther Vandross was also an in-demand background vocalist throughout his career for several artists, including Todd Rundgren, Judy… Continue reading

Love Shoulda Brought You Home is the debut solo single by Toni Braxton. It was written by Kenneth Babyface Edmonds, Daryl Simmons and Bo Watson. The solo track was produced by Edmonds and Simmons along with L.A Reid. Lyrically the slow groove R&B song is saga of betrayal and infidelity that… Continue reading

I’ll Be There is the first single released on Third Album by The Jackson 5. It was written by Berry Gordy, Hal Davis, Bob West, and Willie Hutch. Continue reading

Earth Song is the third single from Michael Jackson’s album HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I. The ballad incorporates elements of blues, gospel and opera. Jackson had a long-standing history of releasing socially conscious material such as We Are the World, Man in the Mirror and Heal the World. However, Earth… Continue reading

What better way to start our New Year’s Eve Celebration then with Vanessa Williams rendition of Happy Days Are Here Again.  Continue reading

This Christmas is an R&B song by Donny Hathaway and which is covered by Chris Brown as a soundtrack for the movie. Continue reading

On November 19th 1967, a special Ed Sullivan Show took place featuring newly formed Diana Ross and The Supremes and The Temptations. Continue reading

Branford Marsalis born August 26, 1960 is a saxophonist, composer and a bandleader. While primarily known for his work in jazz as the leader of the Branford Marsalis Quartet, he also performs frequently as a soloist with classical ensembles and has led the group Buckshot LeFonque.  Continue reading

The Go All Day video series was conceptualized and written by Nigel Slyvester and Glenn PP Milligan, with support from Gatorade. Shout out to everyone who helped make the series a reality, to Nigel friends who appeared in the videos and to DONNIS, for providing music for the series. Continue reading

Christopher George Latore Wallace better known by his stage names the Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, or simply Biggie, was a Brooklyn born rapper and songwriter. Continue reading

Turn Me On is the debut single by Kevin Lyttle. It was the lead single from his self titled debut album. The song was originally a soca ballad released in 2003, remade into a dance hit for the US release. Featuring  Spraga Benz in the radio remix. Continue reading

The Jackson 5 perform Dancing Machine on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson (1974) Continue reading

Make It Clap is the first single released from Busta Rhyme’s sixth studio album sixth studio album,  released on the following month, which is November 26, 2002.The remix version was released on January 13,2003 as the official single in place of the original, released two months earlier, which is October 22, 2002. It… Continue reading

The late Wilson Pickett recorded his cover of “1000 Dances” at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. “Wicked Pickett” was backed by the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section and the Memphis Horns. Continue reading

Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone is a song performed by Motown recording act The Undisputed Truth. It was written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong in 1971, and released as a single in May 1972. Later in 1972, Whitfield took Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone and remade it as a… Continue reading

I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch) is the 1965 Four Tops classic hit. Continue reading

Say Goodbye by R&B artist Chris Brown.Released on August 8, 2006, from his self titled debut album, the song is also featured in the movie Step Up. It became Chris Brown’s third top-ten single on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number ten on October 31, 2006 and the second single of… Continue reading

Boogie Wonderland is a single by Earth,Wind & Fire with The Emotions, released in April 1979 on  Columbia Records.The song peaked at number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 2 on the Hot Soul Singles chart.Boogie Wonderland was certified Gold in the USA. Continue reading

The song Proud Mary was written by John Fogerty of American roots rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival. The song is about an old steamboat on the Mississippi River — typically “down home” lyrics like so many songs by CCR. Over the years the song has been covered by various artists. Continue reading

Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan (April 7, 1915 — July 17, 1959) was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Continue reading

Beyoncé had a very good Feb. 8, 2004. She won five out of the six Grammy awards for which she’d been nominated, including Best R&B Song with “Crazy In Love” — and she spent five spirited minutes performing with Prince. Continue reading

In the pilot episode of Bewitched (premiered September 17, 1964) Samantha (Elizabeth Montgomery) and Darrin (Dick York) get married and it’s time for Sam to let him know her secret… she is a witch! Continue reading

Patti LaBelle sings her iconic version of Over The Rainbow for president Barack Obama live at the White House on March 2014 as part of the Divas of Soul concert. LaBelle first recorded the song for her 1966 album entitled Somewhere Over The Rainbow. Continue reading

The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater performed two excerpts from his masterwork Revelations on the weekly television variety show The Hollywood Palace (1968). The episode hosted by Diahann Carroll helped give the then fledgling dance company national attention. The cast included Judith Jamison, George Faison and Kelvin Rotardier.  Continue reading

An excerpt from the Marx Bros. comedy A Day at the Races (1937) featuring Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers dancing to All God’s Chillun Got Rhythm performed by Ivie Anderson with the Duke Ellington’s Orchestra. Continue reading

The song was originally offered to Dionne Warwick, who turned it down at the time, saying she felt it was “too country” for her tastes and “too preachy” though she later recorded it for her album Here Where There Is Love.   Continue reading

  Tamia – Stranger In My House Continue reading

The music video for Alright, filmed in February 1990, was styled to resemble a 1930s and 1950s musical, featured Cyd Charisse, The Nicholas Brother and Cab Calloway in one of his last on-screen appearances. Continue reading

Spiral Staircase is best known for their 1969 Top 10 hit single (One Hit Wonder) More Today Than Yesterday. Pat Upton is the band’s songwriter and lead singer who died July 27, 2016 at age 75. Continue reading

Diana Ross- Standing Room Only Live At Ceasar’s Palace, the HBO special, first aired in early 1980 as part of the network’s Standing Room Only series. Continue reading

U.N.I.T.Y is the Grammy Award-winning song by Hip Hop artist Queen Latifah off her 1993 album,Black Reign. The single released on November 9, 1993 in the United States and on January 6, 1994 in the United Kingdom, spoke out against the disrespect of women in society, addressing issues of street harassment, domestic… Continue reading

Atomic Dog is a song by George Clinton from his 1982 album Computer Games. The track was released as a single in December 1982 and became the P-Funk collective’s last to reach #1 on the U.S. R&B Chart. Continue reading