Well this has turned into quite a significant playlist. We lost two absolute musical giants over the past week. I found an incredible live performance from an artist we lost nearly 30 years ago. I am also headed back to Kansas City for the weekend, so I have to throw something from the (old) KC scene in there. And then I still continue to have tons of new music that’s worth sharing. Strap in for a long one.

“Hot Fun In The Summertime” – Sly & The Family Stone
Sly Stone was the first legend of the week to die. His peak was cut short by issues with drugs and mental health and the resulting chaos those caused in his personal and music lives, but Sly was one of the towering figures in music when the 1960s turned into the 1970s. As a DJ, he played The Beatles on Black stations in the Bay Area, spreading their reach. His band broke all kinds of barriers of race and gender. Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye were already headed towards more thoughtful, political writing, but Sly opened the door for that to be commercially viable. There is zero doubt that every funk artist that came later in the Seventies was indebted to him. And while Prince was inevitable, I’m not sure he would have been the same artist he was had Sly not paved the way. Oh, and Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation and sooooo much of sample-era hip hop would sound completely different without Sly.

“Good Vibrations” – The Beach Boys
I was never a Beach Boys fan. That mostly comes from their schlocky, late 70s revival when I was first discovering them and then how Mike Love turned them into a conservative, money making machine in the 80s. In time I learned to appreciate how good and inventive much of their early music was, and the impact it had on so many bands, most notably The Beatles. Especially this song.

All the good Beach Boys music came from the mind of Brian Wilson, who passed on Wednesday. He may have been the ultimate tortured genius, forever chasing the sounds he had in his head and never quite capturing them in the studio. Another talent who was derailed by mental health illness and resulting drug use. It’s kind of amazing he and Sly both made it to their 80s. RIP to each of them.

“Say Goodbye, Tell No One” – Kathleen Edwards
My favorite new song of the past week or so.

“East London Hotel” – Broken Fires
My second favorite new song of the past week or so. These lads are from Wales. This weekend I’m traveling to celebrate the life of a great Welsh American.

“Deep End” – The Lemonheads
“Hot Roy” – Peter Murphy
Two brand new songs by artists that were huge 30-ish years ago but have been quiet for a long time. Both of these are fine.

“Glad” – Saint Etienne
I’m not going to pretend I’m a big SE fan, but they deserve respect for hanging around for 35 years. They just announced their final album will come out this fall. The lead single features both Tom Rowlands of The Chemical Brothers and Jez Williams of Doves. Not bad partners.

“Inept Apollo” – Nation of Language
This is some good, mid–80s synthpop, made in 2025.

“Hope I Die Tonight” – Paw
Man, we are about to hit the 30th anniversary of Paw’s second album, Death To Traitors, being released. That was the one that was supposed to launch them into the stratosphere. Only their record label was merging and melting down and they lost their marketing support and it hardly sold at all despite getting terrific reviews. Still one of the best concerts I ever went to was in late July, 1995, when Paw played The Bottleneck in Lawrence. They were a lean, mean rocking machine that night.

“Summer Breeze” – Seals & Crofts
We’ve had those good summer breezes this week.

“Grace” – Jeff Buckley
My God is this an incredible performance. I discovered this on a Bluesky thread. I’m not even sure how that thread landed on this song, but the person who posted it said “GodDAMN he didn’t phone in one single performance.” Buckley really should have been a giant, but the Mississippi River claimed him on May 29, 1997.