Who is David Guetta?

Club and dance music enthusiasts know DJ/Producer Guetta for his work with Flo Rida, Fergie, Ne-Yo, Lil Wayne, Akon, Jennifer Hudson, Snoop Dogg, Usher and Ludacris. He's s go-to producer responsible for some of the biggest radio and club hits in recent years. One Love and Nothing But The Beat are now in the library's collection: club + dance fans, get your groove on...

Cool Struttin'

Three great jazz recordings from Blue Note Records - these sessions from the late 50s and early 60s represent a high point in the history of jazz...

Hanky Panky

Hanky Panky was a huge hit song for Tommy James and the Shondells, and its also a pretty good description of the business practices decribed by the pop singer in his new memoir "Me, the Mob, and the Music." It's a showbiz classic: young musician is thrilled to be signed, then shocked to learn his career is controlled by criminals. He estimates in the book that Roulette Records owner Morris Levy stole over $40,000,000 from him. Along the way are hit records, tours, parties, stars and the expected excesses of life on the road. Of particular interest is the depiction of mob control in the music industry. James is an unpretentious storyteller and the book is an entertaining look at the pleasures and pitfalls of stardom as well as a sharp picture of the music industry in another age.
On CD: Tommy James and the Shondells Anthology

The UFO Has Landed

I remember hearing Ry Cooder doing a guest DJ spot on the radio in the early seventies. He was known as a fine guitarist and idiosyncratic artist with a resume that included work with Captain Beefheart, the Rolling Stones and Van Morrsion. This day he was playing old 78s from obscure marching bands and municipal orchestras. The lumpy rhythms and slightly out-of-tune horns presaged the music that would become the album "Paradise and Lunch." After that came recordings of Conjunto music, a number of fine film soundtracks, and projects like the hugely successful "Buena Vista Social Club." Looking back over the decades of avant garde music, slide guitar, Elvis remakes, blues excursions, African (and Indian, and Hawaiian) collaborations and tons of great albums it wouldn't be at all unfair at all to ask "Who is that guy?"
* * *
That seemingly unanswerable question is addressed by a new compilation assembled by Cooder's son Joachim. The UFO Has Landed is a two-disc retrospective that samples the decades, styles and bands that have made up Cooder's career. Humor, vitality and great guitar playing weave these diverse recordings into a tapestry of world music, Americana, and film work, and illustrate why Ry Cooder has remained relevant to generations of listeners. Check this one out.

Other Ry Cooder recordings at the library:
Boomer's Story
A Meeting By The River
Buena Vista Social Club
Mambo Sinuendo
Paradise and Lunch
Partners
My Name Is Buddy
I, Flathead

Eyes and Ears

Read:

Street Player: My Chicago Story, by drummer Danny Seraphine, chronicles the band Chicago from its beginnings through Seraphine's firing in 1990. His long residency with the group should make his story appealing to listeners fond of the band's harder, earlier rock sound as well as those drawn to the pop material which followed.

Listen:

Chicago: The Very Best Of : Only The Beginning

Chicago's Greatest Hits

Chicago Transit Authority

The Heart Of Chicago: 1967-1968