On November 11, Simon and Schuster imprint Atria Books will publish Is That All There Is? The Strange Life of Peggy Lee, James Gavin’s comprehensive and immensely readable biography of Peggy Lee, one of the greatest…
Category: Music
Blog posts
20 Essential Aretha Franklin Cover Songs
Soul music is about feeling, not perfection. Though I do listen to younger R&B singers, they generally don’t excite me like Aretha Franklin has during her long, lauded career. Though I love Mary J. Blige,…
Stargayzing Quote of the Day: Pink on Being Imitated
“I don’t think ‘imitation is the highest form of flattery.’ I think it’s annoying.” – Pink on Christina Aguilera’s work with Linda Perry More Pink: Torch Song Elegy, Vol. 4: Pink is the…
A 1978 Olivia Newton-John, ABBA, and Andy Gibb Concert in Stereo
I was doing some research yesterday and happened upon something wonderful: a 19-minute mini concert, the final segment from the eponymous 1978 Olivia Newton-John ABC special posted on YouTube by its original sound engineer…
October 6, 1963: CBS Broadcasts The Judy Garland Show Featuring Barbra Streisand
Frequent Stargayzing contributor Corinna Tormley and David Munk each share there thoughts on the historic performance. Corinna Tormley: I love Judy and I love Barbra and so was very aware of the show’s existence…
Stargayzing Songwriter’s Forum: 20 Questions With…Imani Coppola
As New Yorkers, who among us hasn’t experienced the discordance of entering a filthy corner market with the word “gourmet” boldly emblazoned on its signage? In the hyperbolic, marketing-driven universe we live in, where…
Quote of the Day: Boy George
“I’d got very successful, everyone knew who I was, but I felt very empty.”…
Dolly Parton: The Soundtrack Of My Life
Despite the increasingly snarky vibe of the formerly essential Entertainment Weekly, it still can suggest a flicker of its former cultural primacy when it drops the disaffected tone and uses its grown-up voice (don’t they know…
Pia Zadora “Re-Loaded” (Plus, a Rare Close-Up of Ms. Zadora’s Foot)
One of the highlights of Stargayzing’s four-week “blogcation” came in early August when, at the recommendation of my friend James Gavin, he and I hightailed it down to New York’s Metropolitan Room to catch…
Songs That Should Have Been Top-10 Hits, Volume 5
1. k.d. lang, “Sing it Loud” (2011) k.d. lang is simply one of the best singers currently breathing. An intrepid boundary-crosser and rule breaker, lang has struggled with record labels from the jump. Her…
Songwriter’s Forum: Shelly Peiken
Shelly Peiken is a multi-platinum Grammy nominated songwriter who is best known for her #1 hits, Christina Aguilera’s “What a Girl Wants” and “Come On Over Baby (All I Want is You).” She earned…
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