Had a blast filling in this morning for Rick Allison, out this month for medical upgrades. It gave an opportunity to revive my old Friday Morning Rock vibe from the old days at WRTC Hartford. But but mostly it was an opportunity to mark a bunch of birthdays the Allison Transmission would otherwise surely have marked, including Joe Zawinul, born this day in 1932; Charlie Louvin (1927), Pinetop Perkins (1913), and Mary Ford (1924).
But mostly it was all about Ringo Starr, turning 83 today, and touring as recently as two weeks ago. We played everything he sang lead on for The Beatles and a few of his solo hits. Here’s an interview I did with Ringo for The Washington Post in 2016.
Closed with a salute to Heloisa Pinheiro, celebrating her 77th birthday. The former model and Brazilian businesswoman sued for the right to call her dress shop The Girl from Ipanema, since she in fact was the inspiration for the song. She won. It gave us a chance to replay the vocal debut of Astrud Gilberto, who died last month in Philadelphia at 83.
Here’s a link to the whole show; the playlist follows.