Song Draft 2021- Round Four Pick – Misery by The Dynamics

As the Song Draft continues, this is one that was on my list, and then I removed it. Then, while listening to my iPod, I decided it was too good not to include it. Once again, it has Detroit roots. This song was also on the list of songs my dad wanted me to record for him when I worked at WKSG in Detroit.

My Fourth Round Draft Pick is Misery by The Dynamics.

The Dynamics hailed from Detroit, Michigan and were formed in the early 1960’s. Misery was their first hit, and their biggest hit on the Billboard Hot 100, where it reached #44. At that time, the group was a quintet made up of Fred “Sonny” Baker, Starling Schafer, Lorenzo Campbell, Samuel Stevenson, and George White. It is interesting to note that the terrific instrumental backing was provided by an all-white combo from Dearborn called The Royal Playboys, featuring guest artists Joe Cyers on drums and Cliff Bramlett on guitar. (Thanks to the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends website for that info.)

The song was recorded at the United Sound studio for Fox Records, a small independent Detroit label, but the master tape was sold to Big Top Records out of New York and distributed nationally. “Misery” was a big hit in the Motor City, spending most of the fall of 1963 in WKNR’s Top Ten on the popular AM station’s Classic Top 30 Survey. (Side note: Keener 13 was one of the coolest stations! When I was at Honey Radio, we often played airchecks and sound clips from WKNR jocks with music. Many of the Honey Radio jingles were WKNR jingles that were re-worked for Honey.) As mentioned earlier, the song also did well nationally lasting 10 weeks on the Hot 100 and peaking at # 44.

I just absolutely love this cut. The intro totally grabs me with that drum beat and smooth little guitar ditty. You can’t go wrong with a pretty awesome sax solo, either!

From Michigan Rock And Roll Legends: The song would become the subject of a still unresolved controversy in 1964 when Pete Meaden, then manager/publicist of The Who, rewrote the lyrics to the song as “Zoot Suit” for The Who’s first single, released in England as being by The High Numbers. Meaden claimed sole songwriting credit for the melody he stole. The truth is in the grooves, however, as The Dynamics’ recording of “Misery” completely blows “Zoot Suit” off the turntable when the songs are played back-to-back.

It wasn’t until I started writing about this song that I found out about the Who song. I gave it a listen and was amazed at the “Note for Note” plagiarism. You may be familiar with the George Harrison/Chiffon’s lawsuit, which claimed that Harrison stole the melody for “My Sweet Lord” from the Chiffons “He’s So Fine.” I have listened to them both, and while I found them similar, I never really felt they were the same. That is NOT the case when I listen to the Who and the Dynamics! They are literally one and the same (except the lyrics). It’s crazy!

I have to agree with the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends website, though. The Dynamics song is far above and beyond the Who song!

Trivia: In the late 1960’s, the Dynamics were managed by Ted White, who was married to Aretha Franklin!

Misery – The Dynamics

If you give me one more chance
I’ll prove my love is true
(I’ll prove my love is true)

And do all the things
That I’m supposed to do
(That I’m supposed to do)

But if I let you down
(If I let you down)
And you set me free
(Set me free)

Oh, I don’t know but I think
I’d just live in misery

There is nothing I can do to
Make up for the
Wrong things I’ve done
(For the wrong I’ve done)

Cause when I met you, pretty baby
I knew you were the only one
(You were the only one)

But I couldn’t see
(I couldn’t see)
Just how it would be
(How it would be)

Oh, I don’t know but I think
I’d just live in misery

Now I sit and cry cause
I lost everything that I had
(Everything I had)

But I have to go on and
Take the good with the bad
(Take the good with the bad)

And I still love you
(And I love you)
Hope you still love me
(Hope you love me)

Oh, and maybe you’ll come back
And end this misery

Give the Who a listen and tell me this wasn’t totally ripped off from Misery!!!

As a bonus – here is the flipside of Misery – another song on my dad’s list – I’m the Man

Baby Waves Hello

For the first time in months, I got to accompany Sam to her OB/GYN appointment today. Up until just recently, they were only allowing the patient into the office. As I mentioned in a previous blog, the pregnancy has been a bit rough on Sam. I have hated not being there for support. I have hated having to hear things second hand. It was hard to not be there with her.

We did an offsite ultrasound early on to find out the sex of the baby, and that was the last time I have been able to see him. So today, I was glad to be able to go with Sam to the ultrasound. As I sat in the waiting room, I could feel myself getting nervous. I’m not really even sure why, but I was.

When the finally called us back, I took my seat in the chair across from Sam. She got up on the table and the tech went through the standard questions and such. She finally put the gel on the wand and began to search for the baby. I sat on the edge of my chair as I watched for his image to appear. I could see he was moving around a bit. One of the first things we saw was his hand. It looked like he was waving to us.

They did a lot of measuring today. This will supposedly will tell you what the baby weighs. As the tech continued to move the wand around, I saw him holding his foot. He is breech, which means his head is up instead of down. Ella was this way around the same time, but she turned, which is what we are hoping he will do.

We were able to see his face pretty good at one point. This is where I wish the doctor had a 3-D machine. I can only imagine how amazing he looks in 3-D.

It was pretty awesome to get him looking right at us.

As she was doing all of this, I kept waiting for her to let us hear the heartbeat. Usually that’s like the first thing you get to hear. She hadn’t done it yet. There is something so amazing about hearing the heartbeat. I was so anxious waiting to hear it and finally, she played it. That’s all it took. I started crying, not an loud audible cry, but tear were falling from my eyes. All the emotions came to a head at that point. Watching the ultrasound, you see the baby moving, you marvel at it all, but when you hear that heartbeat – it becomes real. I thanked God for our little miracle and was so grateful to have finally be there to see him.

The tech then snapped a profile picture, in which you can see his foot up in the air, and finished with the measurements. He is about 4 pounds right now. He will gain 1/2 pound every week from here on out. They are guessing he will be about 8 pounds 8 oz when he is born.

I am so happy that I got to be with Sam today. I am so thankful that the baby is doing well and exactly where he needs to be. I can’t wait for his arrival. I am excited to meet our son.

The Countdown Has Begun

Technically we are about 8 weeks away from the arrival of our baby boy. He is due on October 13th. I have a feeling, though, that he will be arriving earlier than expected.

I have to give major kudos to my wife. Sam has had a very difficult time with this pregnancy, I won’t go into all the details, but we had a few scary moments along the way. She is in much more pain this time around. She hasn’t really been sleeping well. It is much more difficult for her to do some of the things she was able to do when she was pregnant with Ella. It’s been very hard for me to watch some days. I help when I can, but sometimes, there is nothing I can do to help her.

Because of Covid protocols, I haven’t been able to go to any of the OB appointments with her. This in itself drives me crazy. I feel “disconnected” this time around. One of the highlights of the OB appointments was getting to hear the heartbeat of the baby. We have a doppler thingy at home that we can use, but because of the position of the placenta, it is hard to find it.

They literally just lifted those Covid protocols at the OB and on Monday, I will be able to go and see the Ultrasound with her. I am beyond excited. There is something special about seeing our baby on the monitor together. As silly as it sounds, I love being able to be there and watch my wife smile at the baby. It is one of those “moments.” I hope that they will print off some pictures for us to add to his baby book.

The old wives tale is that baby boys tend to be low in the belly during pregnancy. That would certainly be the case with our baby. The doc even said that the baby is much lower than he expected. Now, whether he meant that he is dropping and getting ready to come early, he didn’t say. However, he does seem to want to deliver a week or so early.

In the meantime, we are well aware that the baby will come when he decides to come. So this week, we had the conversation about making a checklist. Not only do we NOT have a bag packed for the hospital yet, this time around, we also have to have a bag ready for Ella. She’ll be staying with Nana a couple days while baby brother is in the hospital. I actually found the “Birth” book they gave us when we did birthing classes before Ella was born. I plan on going through it and making sure I have all the stuff on the check lists!

My wife has been such a trooper through this pregnancy. I can tell she is ready for the baby to arrive. She’s kind of over the pain, the fatigue, and all that has come with this pregnancy. Through it all, she remains beautiful and radiant. She is such a wonderful mommy and amazing wife.

Ella is excited to be a big sister. Mommy is excited to hold her first son. Daddy couldn’t be more excited to have the chance to be a dad again. Thank you, God, for all you have blessed me with!

Color My World!

This is some sort of new trend I guess – Adult Coloring Books! They have been around for a bit, but recently at the store, I saw an entire rack of them – FOR ADULTS! Supposedly this is a big way to reduce stress.

I used to love to color as a kid. I had plenty of coloring books with Bugs Bunny, Hong Kong Phooey, and other cartoon characters of the time. I remember going to my grandmas house and there was an end table that had a door on it. When you opened the door there was a huge stack of coloring books and a big old bucket of crayons. We colored for hours.

If you were lucky as a kid, you didn’t just get the box of 24 colors – you got the big box of 64 colors with the built in crayon sharpener!

This was the only way a kid could get the gold or silver crayons!

It’s been some time since I sat down and colored with my boys. However, now that Ella is 18 months old, we got her the box of Jumbo crayons to color with.

In order to avoid any unwanted crayon on the walls, we gave her some paper and let her draw.

She has always seemed to do things with her left hand, so I have a feeling she will be a Southpaw (which will be good when she plays softball!). She began to draw with her left hand and when she got a second crayon, she began to draw with both. The more I watch her, the more I think she may be ambidextrous.

Watching her color was just a joy! I know she is going to be so creative. I was having as much fun watching her as she was having drawing.

The door of the refrigerator is a place of honor for kids. When your artwork is placed there, you know it is special. Ella produced many “fridgeworthy” drawings the other day. This is the first completed crayon drawing:

This, one, however, will NOT go on the fridge! It will go in a frame for us to treasure for many years to come. Is she Rembrandt? No. Is she Picasso? No. Is she Van Gogh? No. Is she da Vinci? No. But maybe one day she will listed among those famous artists because of her work. I will applaud all of her creativity and encourage her to continue doing whatever she loves to do!

If I am being completely honest, her artwork is more priceless and hold more value to be than any piece of art from the “masters”.

My First Date

I tend not to use daily writing prompts, as many of them I find silly or just stupid. However, every once in a while, one will come in the email that makes me go “I haven’t written about that” or “That might be fun to write about.” Today, the prompt was “Do you remember your first date?”

My first date happened when I was a sophomore. It was the first year that I was in marching band. I wasn’t the one who asked, it was actually a girl who asked me out! A senior!! This, in itself, was pretty mind blowing to me, but it didn’t blow my mind at first … because I thought she was joking!!

Let me say that I never went to dances in junior high school. I suppose if I had a steady girlfriend, I may have went to a dance, but I didn’t.

In high school we had two bands. One was the varsity band, which was made up of all freshman (there were a lot of us) and we all knew each other from being in junior high band. By the time I got to concert band in 10th grade, there were plenty of upper classmen that I hadn’t met yet. I met many of them for the first time when we gathered for Band Camp in August.

Homecoming always happened in October, and I guess it was sometime in late September that I was in the band room after class and one of the French Horn players walked by me and said “So, Keith, you’re taking me to Homecoming, right?!” I remember answering “Oh, sure” or something like that. I kinda blew it off and kept walking. Who in the world would want to go to a dance with me??!!

If memory serves me correctly, she asked me one or two more times after that and I again, chuckled, said yes in a joking way and blew it off. She must have figured out that I didn’t know she was serious and the other French Horn player came over to me one day and said, “You do know that she is 100% serious, right?!” THAT blew my mind!

I could not even imagine that anyone would want to go to a dance with me. Hell, I had never danced with a girl before in my life! My mind was racing with all kinds of things. “What do I do on a first date?” “What do I wear to a dance?” “What if I can’t dance?” You know, typical high school questions….

Once I was told she was serious, I think I asked her – just to be sure! She laughed at me and said, “If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t have asked you!” So now I have a date! I came home and told my folks. I remember my dad saying I needed to wear a nice tie. He had to tie it, because I certainly had no idea how to tie one! My mom said I needed to get a corsage (“What is a corsage?”) for her. I think they thought it was cool that I was going to be going out ….. on a date …… with a girl!

I didn’t have a car, so I am sure we went with a friend. They picked me up at my house and my date was already in the car. I remember my folks with their camera, snapping pictures (which have been lost somewhere, sadly). Once we were able to break away from the paparazzi, we were off to the dance. I remember walking in and feeling out of place, but my date quickly made me feel better by making jokes and making me laugh.

My first dance? I don’t remember much about it, as I was kind of spaced out. I sort of remember the slow song (probably a Madonna song) starting and my date asking me to dance. I told her I had never danced before and she pulled me out anyway. Butterflies?! Boy, did I have butterflies!!!! So there I was, both hands on her back, swaying back and forth to the song. I remember later dancing to another slow song and her laying her head on my shoulder. More butterflies.

You’d think I would have a better recollection of such a big moment in a teen’s life. I wish I did. Outside of those two dances, the rest of the dance is kind of a blur to me. For what it is worth, it has been over 30 years since my first date. What I DO remember about that night is actually very embarrassing.

Our Homecoming happened all in one day. We were up early to be at the Pancake Breakfast. Then we headed to the band room to prepare for the Homecoming parade at 9 or 10. After that we got an hour break to eat lunch and then head to the football game. Kickoff was like 1pm or so. We were there early for the pregame show and then stayed through the whole game, which ended about 4 or 5. The dance would follow that evening in the gym at 8. So it was a long day.

After the dance, my date and I went with the others who drove us to Chi-Chi’s. This would be a very popular “after dance” or “after concert” place to eat. The dance had probably ended at about 11pm and then we all went out to dinner. I was usually in bed by 10pm. So here we are at dinner and I am literally fighting to keep my eyes open. I know I probably put my head down at some point. I was a light weight. I couldn’t hang with the big boys and girls! I probably dozed in the car on the way home, too. It was pretty embarrassing. I know the others got quite a laugh. I was a terrible date for her.

I’m sure one of the others may read this and correct any misinformation or add to the story, but this is what I remember. It must not have been THAT bad, as I remain friends with her to this day.

Song Draft 2021 – Round 3- Look At Little Sister – Hank Ballard/Stevie Ray Vaughn

Welcome to Round Three of the 2021 Song Draft hosted by Hanspostcard. It has been fun for me to pick and share my songs, but even cooler to check out the picks of the other participants.

As I compiled my list of songs to pick from, I had Hank Ballard and Stevie Ray Vaughn on the list with two separate songs. Then, I had some music playing on YouTube at work and changed my Stevie Ray song to this one – just so I could share the video. More on that in a minute.

There are some songs that you can search and find pages and pages of notes and stories about. However, there really wasn’t a whole lot about this song. I removed Stevie’s name from the search and just searched “Look at Little Sister. All of a sudden, there was Hank Ballard.

Hank was born in Detroit in 1927. In 1953, he joined the Doo Wop group, the Royals. Because of the group The Five Royales, the group changed their name to The Midnighters. In 1954, Hank wrote “Work With Me Annie” which was a number one R&B song for 7 weeks. In 1959, he wrote and recorded “The Twist,” which became Chubby Checker’s signature song. In 1960 he had two top 10 records with “Finger Poppin’ Time” and my original Hank song draft pick “Let’s Go, Let’s Go, Let’s Go.”

In a concert clip of Hank singing “Look At Little Sister” he says he wrote the song in 1959 after watching his little sister out in the back yard dancing around. Whether or not that was true, or whether it was just a clever way to intro the song at the show, I didn’t know. I am friends with Hank’s son, Daryle, on Facebook (He is a singer, too) so I reached out to him and asked. He confirmed to me that his dad told him that his sister was indeed the inspiration for the song. I had no idea that the song was originally done (and written) by Hank. I had to find it. After listening to it, I was blown away. It sounds fantastic! It has that early Rock and Roll/R&B/Rockabilly feel to it.

Hank was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.

Look At Little Sister –

Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey mama look at little sis
Out in the backyard….shakin’ like this
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey….look at little sister
Hey hey hey hey….look at little sister

What about the neighbors….what they gonna say
Stop little sister….gettin’ carried away
Hey hey hey….look at little sister
Hey hey hey hey….look at little sister

Shakin’ like a tree….rollin’ like a log
Shakin’ and a rollin’ now….that ain’t all
Hey hey hey….look at little sister
Hey hey hey hey….look at little sister

(Guitar solo)

Shakin’ like a tree….rollin’ like a log
Shakin’ and a rollin’ now….that ain’t all
Hey hey hey….look at little sister
Hey hey hey hey….look at little sister

What about the neighbors….what they gonna say
Stop little sister….gettin’ carried away
Hey hey hey….look at little sister
Hey hey hey hey….look at little sister

What about Stevie’s version??

Stevie Ray Vaughn released Look at Little Sister on his third album Soul to Soul in 1985. I gained a better appreciation for Stevie Ray’s music long after he had passed away. All I really had heard was “Pride and Joy” and “The Sky Is Crying” prior to that. The more I listened to it, the more I appreciated his vocals, and of course, his guitar playing. Which brings me to the video I wanted to share.

It was a toss up between a few of Stevie’s songs for this song draft, but then I saw a video of him doing Look at Little Sister live. What is so special about it? In my opinion, the video of this particular performance shows what an amazing talent he was. During the second half of his guitar solo, at around the 2:35 mark, he breaks a guitar string. Now if you just listen to it without watching it, you have no idea it broke. The solo is flawless. Watching it, you realize that he just improvises the rest of the solo around the strings he has left. I can watch this video over and over again and am amazed at how he never flinches.

What makes the video even cooler, is that his crew knows his string is broke. He looks at them mid-solo, after the solo, the crew brings him another guitar, Stevie keeps singing while the new guitar is handed to him, and without missing a beat, he is back to playing when he’s supposed to. It truly is an fascinating thing to watch.

Check it out:

Stevie Ray Vaughn was killed in a helicopter crash in 1990, the same year Hank Ballard was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Stevie Ray would be posthumously inducted in 2015.

Don’t ask me to pick one or the other as my favorite – I can’t. To me, that is what makes a great song. Here is the same song, recorded two and a half decades apart. Each version having a similar, yet different feel to it. Yet, they both stand alone as fantastic tracks.

So, did I cheat and actually make this about TWO songs instead of one? No. I draft one great song – but feature two different versions! I hope you enjoy this one as much as I do!

Another Weird Dream …

I had to laugh when I opened my work email tonight. Apparently, I didn’t want to forget the weird dream I had today and emailed myself about it. I was obviously half asleep when I typed the email because of the unbelievable amount of spelling errors in it.

To me, there is nothing more annoying that having a detailed dream, wondering about it, and then having trouble remembering it. So I used to keep a notepad next to my bed in case I woke up, so I could write it down. Now my phone is next to me so I email myself….LOL

Anyway, here is the nutty dream I had last night:

My buddy Jeff and I were in a cemetery and we stole the grave stone from actor Boris Karloff’s grave! You may remember him from Frankenstein, the voice of The Grinch in the Christmas special, or hundreds of other horror films. Come to think of it, cemeteries and Boris Karloff kind of go together!

In the dream, we are carrying your typical headstone. It is like 2 foot long by 1 foot wide. It has Boris’ name on it and I have no idea why we take it in the first place. What was weird was that we keep running into Boris in all these various places. He looks much like he does in the picture above and his voice is unmistakably his. He is always friendly and polite. He doesn’t look ghost like, he is very much alive! Even though, we are both aware that he is dead.

Whenever we bump into him he says, “Pardon me,” or “I beg your pardon,” or “Excuse me, gentlemen.” When we see him, we know it’s him and start running away. Hopping busses, cabs, and such to get away. We took a plane that took us out of the country and about 4000 miles away (per Jeff’s observation in the dream). As we are walking out of the airport, we get into a shuttle bus. We take a seat and I lay the headstone on my lap. We are both looking at the year he died and wonder how he was following us.

Side Note: Boris Karloff died in 1969, before either one of us were born. He was also cremated according to his biography. His ashes were spread in a garden and there is a marker there. So he doesn’t even have a headstone!!

Anyway, while we are on the shuttle pondering things, we are both tapped on the shoulder and when we turn around, there is Boris!! That’s when I woke up.

In preparing to write about this silly dream, I tried to find his grave. This was on Pinterest, but I doubt that this is really the marker for his grave:

Whether this is located near where his ashes were scattered, I do not know.

I’m sure that this was just a weird dream and means nothing. It was just so silly I had to write it down.

Boris with “Boris” on his show Thriller.

LIST: Top 50 Overplayed/Hated Songs of All Time

I saw this on Facebook earlier and had to share. I know many of my blog followers are into music and I’d love their opinions on this list.

The list comes from a site called “A Lot Living,” which, from what I can tell, is some sort of entertainment site. I tried to post a link to the original article, but for what ever reason, the link wouldn’t work. Well, at least you have the list below…..

As a radio guy, and a mobile DJ, I agree with many of the songs on the list. Some of them, while overplayed, are still very well accepted by party crowds and radio listeners. Here is the list – YOU tell ME what you agree or disagree with….

Top 50 Overplayed Songs

50. Jam (Turn it Up) – Kim Kardashian

49. Axel F – Crazy Frog

48. Afternoon Delight – Starland Vocal Band

47. Happy – Pharrell Williams

46. What’s New Pussycat? – Tom Jones

45. It’s a Small World (After All) – Sherman Brothers

44. Disco Duck – Rick Dees

43. MMMBop – Hanson

42. Baby – Justin Bieber

41. Barbie Girl – Aqua

40. We Built This City – Starship

39. Call Me Maybe – Carly Rae Jepsen

38. Message In a Bottle – The Police

37. Do My Thang – Miley Cyrus

36. Livin’ La Vida Loca – Ricky Martin

35. My Humps – Black Eyed Peas

34. Sherry – The Four Seasons

33. Ice Ice Baby – Vanilla Ice

32. My Heart Will Go On – Celine Dion

31. Blue – Eiffel 65

30. Copacabana – Barry Manilow

29. Karma Chameleon – Culture Club

28. Macarena – Los Del Rio

27. Wannabe – The Spice Girls

26. I Love You – Barney

25. Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go – Wham!

24. I Want Candy – The Strangeloves

23. Mah Na Mah Na – The Muppets

22. Tequila – The Champs

21. Bread and Butter – The Newbeats

20. Yakety Yak – The Coasters

19. Whip My Hair – Willow Smith

18. Cheerleader – Omi

17. Achy Breaky Heart – Billy Ray Cyrus

16. The Thong Song – Sisqo

15. The Final Countdown – Europe

14. Believe – Cher

13. Honey, I’m Good – Andy Grammer

12. I’m a Gummy Bear – Gummibar

11. Blurred Lines – Robin Thicke

10. All About That Bass – Meghan Trainor

9. Friday – Rebecca Black

8. Marry You – Bruno Mars

7. You’re Beautiful – James Blunt

6. Cotton Eye Joe – Rednex

5. I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) The Proclaimers

4. Who Let The Dogs Out – Baha Men

3. Baby Shark – Unknown

2. It’s Peanut Butter Jelly Time – Buckwheat Boys

…. and the top overplayed/hated song is

1. Photograph – Nickleback

Do you agree? Disagree? What songs were missed? What songs should NOT be on this list? You tell me!

Recipe – Hot Taco Dip

I’m not one that will sit here and post a weekly recipe. As a matter of fact, the only recipe I posted was for Waikiki Meatballs in a blog about my mom. Yet, here we are. Today’s blog stems from the following Daily Writing Prompt: Do you have a favorite recipe from your childhood that you still make today?

The answer is yes. This is one of the easiest things to make and it always reminds me of my mom. She used to make this for parties and get togethers, and at times would make it for dinner! It is such a favorite, that whenever my brother or I make it, we almost always send a picture of it to each other with the text – “MOM’S TACO DIP!!!”

For the dip, you need a pound of ground beef (or turkey if you choose), a packet of taco seasoning, a block of cream cheese (lite cream cheese works too), a tub of sour cream, and shredded cheddar cheese. Some recipes include chopped onions, tomatoes, or peppers – but my mom never used them. Of course, you also need your favorite dipping chips.

Our oven takes forever to heat up, so I usually preheat my oven right from the get go. You don’t need much heat, I set mine for 350. Anyway, first you brown up your ground beef (for meatier dip – use a pound and a half). If you are going to use onions or peppers, brown it all together. Once the meat is brown, drain it and return it to the pan. Next add your taco packet with a little water. Once the meat is seasoned, add the block of cream cheese (cut into pieces helps it mix better) and about half of the sour cream tub. For thicker dip, use less sour cream or more cream cheese. Once it is all melted together and is as thick as you like it, spread it into a glass casserole dish like this:

Once you get it spread out into the casserole dish, sprinkle your shredded cheddar cheese on top. I like a lot of cheese, so I really lay it on there. I know some recipes call for the “taco mix” shredded cheese, but I always use cheddar. If you are so inclined, you can also add chopped/sliced black olives on top. Next, you toss it in the oven and bake until the cheese is melted. Let it stand for about 5 minutes and dig in.

Just remember thicker dips require thicker dipping chips!

Enjoy!

95 and Still Going Strong!

Happy 95th Birthday to a living legend, Tony Bennett! So many people dream about reaching retirement age, but he was still performing regularly until his recent diagnosis of dementia. He has released a whopping 60 albums, 11 live albums, and 33 compilation albums in his career.

He first hit the charts in 1951 with a number 1 song, Because of You and last hit the charts in 2011 with the song Body and Soul. Today, in honor of his 95th birthday, Lady Gaga released “I Get a Kick Out of You,” which you can hear by clicking below:

The song is from their latest studio collaborations “Love For Sale” which is set to hit stores October 1st. Love for Sale, per a release, will be Bennett’s last studio recording.

In a piece in AARP the Magazine, Bennett’s family noted that music has been a key part of the singer’s health regimen: His regular performances up until the pandemic seemed to keep him sharp, while during Covid-19 lockdown he regularly rehearsed at home with his longtime pianist Lee Musiker.

Tony and Lady Gaga are set to perform at Radio City Music Hall tonight and on August 5th.

In high school, I took a Senior Elective class called Life In America. In the unit on pop music, the teacher explained that the song “The Shadow of Your Smile” was one of the most difficult to sing. He also used Tony’s version as the best. If you have never heard it, you have to give it a listen. He does a fantastic job.

Happy Birthday, Tony! I hope to be as active and healthy as you at 95!