The Carpenters - "We've Only Just Begun"

I know they were a bit cheesy, and it’s a bit cliché to use this song as I’m on my way to a wedding, but we forget the magic that these two siblings found. A drumming lead singing sister and composer pianist brother shifted the way bands were thought of in the 60’s and 70’s.

Her talent was truly staggering. There wasn’t a note she had to stretch to hit, and her depth of emotion was incomparable. She captivated young and old alike, and she did it with ease and without changing who she was.

They produced a distinct soft musical style, combining Karen's contralto vocals with Richard's arranging and composition skills. During their 14-year career, the Carpenters recorded ten albums, along with numerous singles and several television specials.

The siblings were born in New Haven, Connecticut, and moved to Downey, California, in 1963. Richard took piano lessons as a child, progressing to California State University, Long Beach, while Karen learned the drums. They first performed together as a duo in 1965 and formed the jazz-oriented Richard Carpenter Trio followed by the middle-of-the-road group Spectrum. Signing as Carpenters to A&M Records in 1969, they achieved major success the following year with the hit singles "(They Long to Be) Close to You" and "We've Only Just Begun". Subsequently, the duo's brand of melodic pop produced a record-breaking run of hit recordings on the American Top 40 and Adult Contemporary charts, and they became leading sellers in the soft rock, easy listening and adult contemporary music genres. The Carpenters had three number-one singles and five number-two singles on the Billboard Hot 100 and fifteen number-one hits on the Adult Contemporary chart, in addition to twelve top-10 singles. They have sold more than 90 million records worldwide, making them one of the best-selling music artists of all time. The duo toured continually during the 1970s, which put them under increased strain; Richard took a year off in 1979 after he had become addicted to Quaaludes, while Karen suffered from anorexia nervosa.

Their career together ended in 1983 when Karen died from heart failure brought on by complications of anorexia. Extensive news coverage surrounding these circumstances increased public awareness of eating disorders. Though the Carpenters were criticized for their clean-cut and wholesome conservative image in the 1970s, their music has since been re-evaluated, attracting critical acclaim and continued commercial success.

So today, with new beginnings floating around me, I choose The Carpenters’ "We've Only Just Begun" as my, find your own truth, make promises to yourself, don’t save the white lace for someday, song for a, love is everywhere you look, look inside yourself first, that’s the best gift you can offer, Friday.

Lauryn Hill - "Doo-Wop (That Thing)"

We forget how prolific she was. Her genius was staggering when she erupted into her solo career after being with the Fugees for so long. She may not still be on everyone’s radar, but she’s still creating incredible music, just not music that’s palatable to everyone’s tastes.

Raised mostly in South Orange, New Jersey, Hill began singing with her music-oriented family during her childhood. In high school, Hill was approached by Pras Michel for a band he started, which his friend, Wyclef Jean, soon joined. They renamed themselves the Fugees and released the albums Blunted on Reality (1994), and the Grammy Award–winning The Score (1996), which sold six million copies in the U.S. Hill rose to prominence with her African-American and Caribbean music influences, her rapping and singing, and her rendition of the hit "Killing Me Softly". Her tumultuous romantic relationship with Jean led to the split of the band in 1997, after which she began to focus on solo projects.

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998), remains Hill's only solo studio album. It received critical acclaim showcasing a representation of life and relationships and locating a contemporary voice within the neo soul genre. The album debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200, and has sold approximately eight million copies there. This included the singles "Doo Wop (That Thing)" (also a number one), "Ex-Factor" (became her biggest solo hit in UK), and "Everything Is Everything". At the 41st Grammy Awards, the record earned her five awards, including Album of the Year and Best New Artist. During this time, she won several other awards and became a common sight on the cover of magazines.

Soon afterward, Hill dropped out of the public eye, dissatisfied with the music industry and suffering with the pressures of fame. Her last full-length recording, the new-material live album MTV Unplugged No. 2.0 (2002), sharply divided critics and sold poorly compared to her first album and work with the Fugees. Hill's subsequent activity, which includes the release of a few songs and occasional festival appearances, has been sporadic. Her behavior has sometimes caused audience dissatisfaction; a reunion with her former group did not last long. Her music and public statements have become critical of pop culture and societal institutions. Hill has six children, five of them with Rohan Marley. In 2012 she pleaded guilty to tax evasion and served a three-month prison sentence the following year.

While she’s had her ups and her downs, you can not say that she isn’t legendary. The kind of artist that others will ever aspire to be.

So today with a nod to the past and an eye to the future, I choose Lauryn Hill’s “Doo-Wop (That Thing)” as my, make something that lasts, create the new classic, learn from the lessons of your past, song for a, begin again, hope a little harder, build a little stronger castle in the air, Thursday.

Blossom Dearie - "Tea for Two"

You’ve Never Heard Of Blossom Dearie? Well, get ready for a delicious little trip. Blossom Dearie created a jazz vocal style that was all her own and ended up as a fixture on the New York Supper Club scene.

She was born, Margrethe Blossom Dearie in East Durham, near Albany in upstate New York in 1924, and with a name like hers it seems only natural that she should become a star; added to which Blossom was a one off.

She studied classical piano as a child, before switching to jazz as a teenager. She joined Woody Herman’s vocal group, The Blue Flames, having moved to New York shortly after the end of the Second World War; she later joined the Blue Reys, the singing group with Alvino Rey’s band.

By 1952, Blossom was living in Paris, appearing in nightclubs with singer Annie Ross. This was also the year in which she had her first – uncredited – hit with King Pleasure’s ‘Moody’s Mood for Love’, on which she sings. She formed a vocal group, the Blue Stars that included Michel Legrand’s sister, Christiane Legrand, and Bob Dorough. In 1954 they had a hit in France with a French-language version of ‘Lullaby of Birdland’, arranged by Michel Legrand. The Blue Stars later evolved into The Swingle Singers.

It was in Paris in 1956 that Norman Granz heard Blossom singing at a club and he signed her to Verve to record her debut in September that same year.

Accompanying herself on piano, her debut also features Herb Ellis on guitar, Ray Brown on bass and Jo Jones on drums, and was typical of what Blossom was doing in cabaret, reworking standards in her unique, girlish voice. Deceptively simple and straightforward, Blossom understood these songs from the inside out, giving them an intimacy matched by few singers.

Over the next four years she made another five albums for Verve, and all are worth seeking out. In 1964, she recorded the album May I Come In?, an unusual album for Blossom as it featured her with an orchestra.

Working the New York supper-club circuit in the early 1960s, she was a popular draw and her popularity once more spread across the Atlantic in the later 1960s, when she began appearing at Ronnie Scott’s club in London and recorded more albums in the UK.

In 1970 she released the album That’s Just the Way I Want to Be that includes the cult song ‘Dusty Springfield’, an ode to the British pop star, co-written by Dearie with Norma Tanega.

She was a fixture in New York clubs right up until 2006 when she became ill, preventing her from performing. She later passed away on 7 February 2009 at the age of 84.

Her elegant arrangements, jewel-box voice, and unique playing style made her an icon, and her performances made her a legend.

So today, with dreams flying around my head like bluebirds, I choose Blossom Dearie’s "Tea for Two" as my, I will bake a sugar cake, we’ll make our garden grow, I’ll build a castle on a cloud, song for a, dream a little dream of me, sing a song to last, lift your heart to the heavens, Wednesday.

I’m giving you both today’s song and one of Blossom’s early appearances of french television. It’s a beautiful introduction to her.

Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes (feat. Teddy Pendergrass) - "Wake Up Everybody"

Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes were an American R&B/Soul vocal group, one of the most popular Philadelphia soul groups of the 1970s. The group's repertoire included soul, R&B, doo-wop, and disco. Founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the middle of the 1950s as The Charlemagnes, the group is most noted for several hits on Gamble and Huff's Philadelphia International label between 1972 and 1976, although they performed and recorded until Melvin's death in 1997.

However, the remaining members of the Blue Notes have reunited twice for two Soul Train Cruises, one in 2013 and another one in 2015, during the fourth sailing. Despite group founder and original lead singer Harold Melvin's top billing, the Blue Notes' most famous member was Teddy Pendergrass, their lead singer during the successful years at Philadelphia International. In 2013 and 2017, The group reunited when The Centric Network presented the Soul Train Cruise, and The Blue Notes reunited for both events, although they only performed during the fifth sailing in the 2017 event.

This line-up of the group, featuring Melvin, Pendergrass, Bernard Wilson, Lawrence Brown, and Lloyd Parks, was signed to Gamble & Huff's Philadelphia International label in 1972, scoring several major R&B and pop hits including million-selling singles and albums over the next four years. Among the Blue Notes' most important and successful recordings are love songs such as 1972's "If You Don't Know Me by Now" (#1 Billboard R&B, #3 pop), their breakout single, "I Miss You" (#7 R&B, #58 pop), "The Love I Lost" (#1 R&B, #7 pop, 1973) and socially conscious songs such as "Wake Up Everybody" (#1 R&B, #12 pop) and "Bad Luck" (#4 R&B, #15 pop), both in 1975. "If You Don't Know Me By Now" sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA on November 21, 1972. "Bad Luck" holds the record for the longest-running number-one hit on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart: 11 weeks. A fourth #1 R&B hit for the group was 1975's "Hope That We Can Be Together Soon" which featured female vocalist Sharon Paige.

A 1976 remake of "Don't Leave Me This Way" by Motown artist Thelma Houston was a number-one hit on the US pop chart; her version is one of the defining recordings of the disco era. The Blue Notes' version on the album, "Wake Up Everybody" was not released as a single in the USA at the time, but proved to be the group's biggest hit in the UK (#5) when released there as a single in 1977. The track was finally issued as a single in the US on 12-inch in 1979, coupled with "Bad Luck". The group recorded four albums with Gamble & Huff, all of them going gold (over 500,000 copies), according to RIAA, including To Be True (#26, Billboard Top 40 albums) and Wake Up Everybody (#9), both in 1975. Wake Up Everybody and a greatest hits compilation released in 1976, Collector's Item, has now sold over a million copies.

Despite the success, the Blue Notes' lineup continued to change regularly. In 1972, Melvin brought in Jerry Cummings to replace Lloyd Parks and Sharon Paige was added to the line-up at that time, providing solo performances on several recordings. While at the top of their success in 1976, Pendergrass quit after an argument over the money he earned. A year earlier, he had gained billing recognition by having the act renamed to "Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes featuring Theodore Pendergrass", starting from the Wake Up Everybody album. Pendergrass went on to a successful solo career, with four consecutive million-selling albums with Philadelphia International between 1977 and 1980. His career was almost ended by a paralyzing 1982 car accident. He made a triumphant comeback in 1984, signing with Asylum/Elektra Records, and recording the hit LP Love Language and then the platinum-selling Joy LP, released in 1988, which featured the Grammy-nominated title song, an R&B number 1; his comeback was cemented by an appearance at the Live Aid concert in 1985.

Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes hits have been re-recorded by other artists, including David Ruffin, Simply Red, Jimmy Somerville, Sybil, and John Legend, while dance music DJ Danny Rampling cites "Wake Up Everybody" as his favorite song of all time. Today, Gil Saunders continues to perform as a solo artist, and still performs all the hits of the past as well as his own material. Several members of various incarnations of the Blue Notes continue to tour as "Harold Melvin's Blue Notes". Melvin's widow, Ovelia currently manages Harold Melvin's Blue Notes, featuring lead singer Donnell "Big Daddy" Gillespie, Anthony Brooks, Rufus Thorne and John Morris. For his album This Note's for You, singer Neil Young named his back-up band, The Blue Notes, without permission from name rights holder Harold Melvin. Melvin took legal action against Young over use of the Blue Notes name, forcing the singer to change the name of the back-up band to "Ten Men Workin'" during the balance of the tour that promoted the This Note's for You album.

The band is mentioned on Snoop Dogg's 1993 album Doggystyle. In the intro for "Doggy Dogg World" Snoop says "Bitch, you without me is like Harold Melvin without the Blue Notes, you'll never go platinum!" Former member, Jerry Cummings, is an ordained minister and has been asked to form Jerry Cummings' Blue Notes but has turned down the offer. As of May 2014 Jerry Cummings became the Music Life Coach and producer of the X Factor superstar Lillie McCloud and Lillie has recorded one of Cummings' songs "The Other Part of Me". Rapper Big Boi uses a sample of "I Miss You" on his song "Shine Blockas" feat. Gucci Mane. "I Miss You" was also sampled by Kanye West on Jay-Z's song "This Can't Be Life", featuring Beanie Sigel and Scarface. Also the R&B singer Pleasure P used a sample of "I Miss You" on his song "Letter To My Ex" recorded in 2013.

Some days you just need a little soul to get you back in the groove.

So today I chose Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes’ (feat. Teddy Pendergrass) "Wake Up Everybody" as my, go on, get moving, things won’t change unless you make change, song for a, wild can be wonderful, accept the little gems that are left at your door, open your heart to the possibility of maybe, Tuesday.

Doris Day - "Que Sera Sera"

She was a legend, a star, an entertainer, the girl-next-door, a philanthropist, and most of all, she was a good human being. Her talent is unrivaled, and while she was often thought of as merely a song and dance woman, her acting chops were strong and she deserved every award they could throw at her.

Actress and singer Doris Day made nearly three dozen films and more than 600 recordings. At the height of her career, she topped both the billboard and the box office charts. Day died of pneumonia on Monday at the age of 97.

Day remains one of the most successful female movie stars of all time. She embodied the "girl next door" even in her 40s, which is probably why her films with Rock Hudson were so successful. A scene from 1959's Pillow Talk shows a split screen with Day and Hudson in their separate bathtubs, only it looks like they're in the same one — with their feet touching. Kind of risqué for 1959.

That was Day at the height of her film success, but her career began as a big band "girl singer," and with Les Brown's big band she had one of the biggest hits of World War II: "A Sentimental Journey." For many GIs, Doris Day represented the kind of girl you'd want to fight for and come home to.

The end of the war brought the end of the big band era and the beginning of Day's film career. Alfred Hitchcock used Day's voice as a plot device in The Man Who Knew Too Much, in which a distraught Day sings a distress signal, "Que Sera, Sera," to her kidnapped son. It became her signature tune and went to the No. 2 spot on the charts.

As an actress, she became the biggest female film star in the early 1960s, and ranked sixth among the box-office performers by 2012. In 2011, she released her 29th studio album, My Heart, which became a UK Top 10 album featuring new material. Among her awards, Day has received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and a Legend Award from the Society of Singers. In 1960, she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, and in 1989 was given the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement in motion pictures. In 2004, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush followed in 2011 by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association's Career Achievement Award.

She is the kind of icon that will never be forgotten. Her light shone so brightly that we will see her effects for years to come.

So today, with grief and happiness bundled together, I choose Doris Day’s iconic “Que Sera Sera” as my, who knows what the future holds, find the joy in the present moment, lift your spirits up from the ashes and look back to sky, song for a, let yourself be light, these are chances you must take, it can be wonderful, Monday.

Calvin Harris (feat. Rihanna) - "This Is What You Came For"

The song might not be new, but that hook is still fresh! While I’m sure quite a bit of the credit is due to Rihanna’s incredibly delivery, the production still has me bumping 3 years later.

It’s been popping up on my Spotify quite a bit lately and each time it gets me in the mood to dance. The image that it portray’s the idea of the one they’re all looking at looking at you, is sultry and sensual, and it makes me want to dance.

Adam Richard Wiles, known professionally as Calvin Harris, is a Scottish DJ, record producer, singer, and songwriter from Dumfries. He is best known for his singles "We Found Love", "This Is What You Came For", "Summer", "Feel So Close", and "Feels". His collaboration single with Rihanna, "We Found Love", became an international success, giving Harris his first number one single on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. He has released five studio albums and runs his own record label, Fly Eye Records, which he founded in 2010.

His debut studio album, I Created Disco, was released in June 2007 whose two singles, "Acceptable in the 80s" and "The Girls", reached the top 10 in the UK. In 2009, he released his second studio album, Ready for the Weekend, which debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart and whose lead single, "I'm Not Alone", became his first song to top the UK Singles Chart. In 2012, Harris rose to international prominence with the release of his third studio album, 18 Months, whch topped the UK Albums charts and became his first album to chart on the US Billboard 200, peaking at number 19. All eight of the album's singles reached the top 10 in the UK, breaking the record for the most top 10 songs from one studio album on the UK Singles Chart with eight entries, surpassing Michael Jackson’s record. In 2014, he released his fourth studio album, Motion, which debuted at number two in the UK and number five in the US. In 2017, he released his fifth studio album, Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1, which reached the top 2 in the UK and the US and became his third consecutive number one album on the US Dance/Electronic Albums chart.

In October 2014, he became the first artist to place three songs simultaneously on the top 10 of Billboard's Dance/Electronic Songs chart. He also became the first British solo artist to reach more than one billion streams on Spotify. Harris has received ten Brit Award nominations and four Grammy nominations, winning a Grammy for Best Music Video in 2013. He received the British Academy's Ivor Novello Award for Songwriter of the Year in 2013 and was named the Top Dance/Electronic Artist at the 2015 Billboard Music Awards. He appeared on Debrett's 2017 list of the most influential people in the United Kingdom.  He topped Forbes' list of the world's highest-paid DJs for six consecutive years from 2013 to 2018.

His music is always uptempo if not always upbeat emotionally. He is able to use electronic dance music to tell a story, which is rare in that industry, and he does it in a way that feels totally natural for the genre.

So today, looking you in the eyes, I choose Calvin Harris (feat. Rihanna) - "This Is What You Came For” as my, lets there be more dancing, right at you, hold my hips, song for a, this is what you came for, letters in the mail, flowers on your doorstep, Friday.

Shallou - "Count On (feat. Colin)"

Shallou is a singular producer/artist that performs live as a duo, touring with many similar artists such as Petit Biscuit, Honne, Blackbird Blackbird, Roosevelt, Basecamp, El Ten Eleven, and Big Gigantic.

Professionally known as stage name Shallou, Joe Boston is a Los Angeles based producer, singer, and environmentalist, who produces ambient, house melodies and soulful vocals that have carved a niche in the Indie and Electronic music scenes. His debut EP, All Becomes Okay, was released in May 2017, followed by EP Souls in April 2018, both through his own label, Sleeptalker.

Boston grew up in Washington, DC, with a family of intense music lovers. His dad was all about music discovery, playing Radiohead and Wilco to him when he was a kid. He was first inspired by singer James Blake and producer Gold Panda when he was around 16, combining elements of those artists into his own sound. After attending college at Loyola University New Orleans, he moved to Chicago to continue producing music, but currently resides in Los Angeles.

His dreamy, ethereal sound helps transport the listener on a journey through the universe, but also through their own psyche. I can imagine this playing both at the beach and at a daytime rave. Just sun-drenched and happy, and holding hands.

So today, with good things on the horizon, I choose Shallou’s "Count On (feat. Colin)" as my, step into the conversation, hold on to what is good, accept the beauty that is given, song for a, flowers on your doorstep, arm around your shoulders, laughter all the way, Wednesday.

Joseph - "Cloudline"

On days this gray and dismal it can be a little harder to see the light. It can be painful to shower in cold water, but when that’s all there is, it’s what you do. Days like today you simply keep going because stopping isn’t an option.

This song has that same driving sense inside of it. It presses onward across stormy seas and through wild forests to find the edge that it’s looking to leap off of. Then it falls through.

I love this band. They are sisters and cousins, and they have found something unique and familiar in their music. Lush harmonies and acoustic structures give them an almost folk, americana, feel, that haunts you as quickly as it makes you smile.

So today, with heavy arms, but a fire in my belly, I choose Joseph’s "Cloudline" as my, keep running, keep leaping, keep falling, song for a, don’t turn back, their eyes were watching the sky, when you have no words left to speak - sing, Tuesday.