The Substack Jukebox 🎵🎶🎵
Anita Baker, Bring Me to Life, Kool & the Gang, Tony Bennett & Amy Winehouse... this edition has something for everybody!
Substack Jukebox 7/20/2026
You’ve arrived at a stack devoted to music, artists outside the mainstream and new versions of your favorites, with a little backstory on the work.
What have you been listening to? Tell me and I’ll try to share it!
Now, turn it up!
“Music has a poetry of its own, and that poetry is called melody.” —Joshua Logan
Anita Baker
Who doesn’t like a good love song? Subscribers Rhonda and Charlie approve of this selection… and so do I. Anita Baker is another swoon-worthy artist that we must acknowledge.
Personal notes: Her mother abandon her when she was two years old and she was raised by a foster family in Detroit. She has two sons, lives in Michigan and is now 68 years young.
Early in her career, in 1979, Arista records decided she didn’t have “star potential”. The joke is on them! Anita Baker has won eight Grammy Awards and has four Platinum albums. One of those Grammys was for ‘Sweet Love’.
It still gives me goosebumps.
Chad, a metal music friend of mine, sent this to me and I liked it so much, I wanted to share it with you! ‘Bring Me to Life’ was written by Amy Lee, only 19 years old at the time, from the band Evanescence. Released in 2003, this song won a Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance in 2004, (listen to it here) and was charted in the top 10 worldwide.
Fast forward to Bobby Amaru, who is the lead singer for a band called Saliva. (You read that right. 😂 They’re a solid hard rock band.) Anyway, his daughter Veda can SING! They’ve done some covers together and this is ‘Bring me to Life’. She’s 16 years old here and the video has gotten tens of millions of views.
My friend Ed is a MAJOR fan of funk, R&B, and soul. So for him, I give you Kool & the Gang. They started in 1964, and the only surviving member of the original group is Kool himself. You have definitely heard this. It makes you wanna dance around the kitchen while you’re fixing dinner.
Ending on a slow, romantic note, because I have always adored Tony Bennett. Back in March, I featured Tony and Lady Gaga… listen to that here! This duet is with Amy Winehouse who died in July 2011 at just 27 years old from alcohol poisoning. Her troubled life was the subject of a documentary, ‘Amy’, in 2015. Her big hit, Rehab was a worldwide success and won three Grammys. Her voice is deep and full of character. And Tony? He needs no explanation.
Music can completely turn your day around. What songs help you change your mood… when you’re sad, happy, in love, or just need to unwind. Send me your favorites!
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Thank you for being here with me.
The Anita Baker song has always been one of my favorites. I've been seeing a lot more of Amy Winehouse in my YouTube feeds lately (it's mostly music). So that's cool. I think Tony might have been a bit smitten.
I look forward to these every Monday! Anita Baker is a class act-love her music. And omg…Bobby Amaru and his daughter-perfection and I love that song! Kool and the Gang had a song “Too Hot” which I really liked…(not so disco-y) lol. And always Tony Bennet! Thanks for the memories!!