Useless Fact Of The Week

Aretha Franklin holds the record for the most #1's on Billboards' Hot R&B Hits chart with twenty hits.

One To Watch: Mayer Hawthorne & The County

Mayer Hawthorne, one of the newest members of the Stones Throw roster, is a pleasant surprise.

With a soulful sound that could have come straight out of the Motown Vaults, Mayer Hawthorne has created a sound that may have long been missing from the music realm as of late. At first listen one would think that the single, “Just Ain't Gonna Work Out” and the B-side, "When I Said Goodbye" are just recreations or remixes. One would be surprised to know that Mayer wrote, played, recorded and sang on these tracks.

I recommend this to anyone who likes to just feel good, relax, and missed that true R&B/Soul sound.

Check it out:

Mayer Hawthorne & The County Bio

Myspace

Buy here: www.stonesthrow.com/store

Dee Dee Warwick Passes

Dee Dee Warwick, a soul singer who won recognition for both her solo work and her performances with her older sister Dionne Warwick, Saturday, October 18th at the age of 63.

Warwick was known for soul and R&B hits in the 1960s and 70s, including "Foolish Fool, "She Didn't Know (She Kept on Talking)" and a version of "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" that was later covered by Diana Ross and The Supremes.

Warwick also was a two-time Grammy Award nominee and sang backup for Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett and her sister Dionne, and many prior to after starting her solo career.

Born in Newark, Warwick was a teenager when she began singing with her older sister in the late 1950s. They performed as The Gospelaires. She also collaborated and sang with the Drinkard Singers, a long-running gospel group that also featured some of the Warwicks' aunts and uncles and was managed by their mother.

Most recently, Warwick provided background vocals for her sister's recent one-woman autobiographical show, "My Music & Me" and also performed on the title song from Dionne Warwick's gospel album, "Why We Sing," released in January.

Lead Singer Levi Stubbs Dead at 72

Levi Stubbs, frontman for The Four Tops, died Friday, October 17, at home in Detroit. He was 72.

Known for hits such as "Baby I Need Your Loving" and "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)", Stubbs and the group performed for over four decades selling over 50million records and racking up 45 chart hits. The group was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame in 1990.

His death leaves group-member Abdul "Duke" Fakir the only surviving original member. Laurence Payton died in 1997, and Renaldo "Obie" Benson in 2005.

Levi had suffered a long series of health issues including cancer and a stroke which caused him to stop performing in 2000.

He is survived by his wife, Clineice, and five children. Funeral arrangements are pending at this time.