My Funky Year in Music: 18,599 tracks, 4,188 artists, 5,533 albums (according to Last.FM)

Because I am very much into statistics, I still like using Last.FM, a music database which keeps track of the songs I enjoy via iTunes, Internet radiostations and iPod/smartphone. According to Last.FM’s summary for 2016, I listened to 18,599 tracks by 4,188 different artists and from 5,533 different albums. That makes 55 songs a day and a total listening time of 45 days, 5 hours. Top music genres: funk, soul, country, pop, and blues.

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My Spotify Top Songs of 2016 Playlist

My Spotify Top Songs of 2016 playlist is a nice mix of funk, soul, a little country and some surprises. Enjoy!

‚Birthday Boy‘ Steve Cropper (75) on Co-Writing Otis Redding’s Posthumous Hit „Dock of the Bay“

Happy 75th birthday, Steve Cropper (who was part of Stax Records house band The Mar-Keys/Booker T. & the M.G.’s and The Blues Brothers band)!

I just got goosebumps after hearing his story about co-writing Otis Redding’s „(Sittin‘ on) The Dock of the Bay“ which, according to Wikipedia, became the first posthumous single to top the charts in the US:

Otis Redding never heard the electric guitar. I played the acoustic guitar on that track, and then I overdubbed that weekend. On a Friday evening, I overdubbed the guitar licks which I was gonna play him on Monday but he never got back for me to play it to him.

Otis Redding died in a plane crash on Sunday, December 10, 1967.

Favorite Funk of 2015 … Including Glorious Soul by Judith Hill

Judith Hill (Photo: Medill DC / This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. / Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Judith_Hill_crop.jpg)

Listening to entries on fellow funkateers‘ „Best of 2015“ lists made me realize that I missed several great new albums last year. My instant favorite was „Back in Time“, the October release by Judith Hill whose funky soul adds justification to her middle name „Glory“. Her debut was produced by Prince who has a spotty history with regard to picking female protegées who are worth of his musical genius and whose own talents equal their looks.

With Judith, Prince apparently found the perfect match. „Back in Time“ contains many of the elements which I liked during Prince’s heyday (and I am not a full-fledged fan – I am not to keen on many of his greatest non-funky hits; e. g., „Purple Rain“ and „Let’s Get Crazy“). It has raw funk, sultry soul (without the „sexcesses“ we are used to), irresistible grooves, punchy horns annd intricate arrangements.

A Funky Soul Christmas (Playlist & Videos)

My feelings towards Christmas are similar to The Grinch’s (without the greedy aspect). The only thing I like about it are the holiday songs. Therefore I put together a Spotify playlist with great Christmas albums and compilations. Feel free to add yours – the list is shared.

Ahhh, Good Ol‘ Southern Soul & Blues (Internet Radio Tip)

Although I have many stations of various genres in the favorites list of the network music player of my choice (Logitech Squeezebox Boom – review in German) I often listen to the same station for days or weeks whenever I am in my kitchen (where the Squeezebox is located).

These days, my favorite station is Southern Soul Blues Radio. If you are into the same music, the last three songs I just listened to will give you an idea why.

This brilliant version of „Roof Garden“ just reminded me how & why I got into Al Jarreau

R.I.P., Whitney Houston!

It really saddens me to hear that Whitney Houston, one of the best pop/soul singers of all time (IMHO), has passed away at age 48. During my time as a music journalist, I only met her once (for an interview at Arista Records‘ office in New York City). She was 19 at the time and had just recorded a song which, to me, still is one of the greatest performances she ever did: „Memories“ on Material’s „One Down“ album, featuring Archie Shepp on saxophone.

Heute (Heiligabend) noch nichts vor? Mamsie Tsosane bringt Funk, Soul, R&B und Afro-Pop

Wer heute (Heiligabend, 24. Dezember 2011) um 23 Uhr noch keine Pläne hat, dem kann ich ein ganz besonderes Club-Konzert empfehlen:

In der Trafalgar Lounge, Heidenkampsweg 32, 20097 Hamburg, tritt das südafrikanische Ausnahmetalent Mamsie Tsosane auf.

Mamsie ist in Hamburg vor allem als Darstellerin im Musical „Disneys Der König der Löwen“ bekannt. Vorher tourte sie mit dem südafrikanischen Musical „Umoja“ um die Welt, später war sie unter anderem an André Hellers erfolgreicher Zirkus-Show „Afrika! Afrika!“ beteiligt.

Baltic Soul 2011: Das Soul- und Funk-Fest des Jahres

Die Kernzielgruppe muss man mittlerweile nicht mehr davon überzeugen, was für ein großartiges Event der Baltic Soul Weekender am Weißenhäuser Strand ist. Die meisten Hardcore-Soul-Fans werden ihre Reservierung fürs fünfte Mal (von Freitag, 15. April, bis Sonntag, 17. April 2011) schon in der Tasche haben.

Und das ist genau der Grund, warum ich heute diesen „Save the Date“-Beitrag schreibe: In diesem Jahr (2010) war ich so spät dran, dass wegen der wachsenden Popularität des Weekenders keine Zimmer mehr verfügbar waren. Der Besuch klappte nur noch per Tagesticket (mittags per Mietwagen hin, gegen vier Uhr morgens Rückfahrt nach Hamburg).