Celine Dion "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman"

Canadian music radio stations have to play at least 35% of Canadian-born artists between the hours of 6am and 6pm. It's true. It might also explain why certain Canadian crooners released songs that might be considered "deep cuts". In the case of Celine Dion, I'd include her 1995 take on Aretha Franklin's "A Natural Woman". Even though the song never matched the success of the the many predecessors who've belted out the R&B standard, Celine was merely warming up for 1997 when the Titanic Soundtrack would make her a household name -- plus it gave Canadian radio stations another song to hit their 35% quota.

Aretha Franklin & Michael McDonald "Ever Changing Times"

Looking back at the musical legends lost in 2018 include the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin. Her first hit ("Respect") happened in 1967 and, during her illustrious career, she managed to rack up 18 Grammy Awards. Her voice synonymous with the #METOO movement decades before it even began. Another tidbit about Aretha is she performed at the inaugurations of three US Presidents: Carter, Clinton and Obama. After announcing her retirement in 2017, she died of pancreatic cancer on August 16, 2018.

Aretha Franklin "Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)"

Getting fired actually helped open my ears to all kinds of vintage soul music. What? Yeah, it happened at the end of 2004 as WNND-FM in Chicago switched formats from an '80s & '90s hybrid to "Love-FM". Out went John Mellencamp, Duran Duran and Rod Stewart and in came songs from Stevie Wonder, Al Green, and Aretha Franklin. As my role of morning show producer was eliminated, I spent the next six months as the station's board operator until the new jocks joined Love-FM. While I already knew of Stevie, Al and Aretha, this transition exposed me to "deeper cuts" like "Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)" from the late-Aretha Franklin. The heartbreaking ballad was co-written and originally performed by Stevie Wonder.

Aretha Franklin "Who's Zoomin' Who?"

After producing four morning radio shows, I segued to a new evening on-air dating show at WTMX-FM in Chicago during the fall of 2005. With online dating growing in popularity, station bosses sought to capitalize on the trend by having singles find love on the radio every weeknight during a show called "Mix 'n Match On-Air Dating". The premise was similar to the old Dating Game television show: we bring one bachelor or bachelorette into the studio each night and line up three eligible singles on the phone. After a series of questions and getting-to-know-you games, the single person in the studio chooses who they want to go on a date. The radio station paid for the date and we would air updates. Although simple in theory, this job proved to be one of the more challenging of my radio producing career.

Women flocked to sign up for the show whereas men...not so much. At that time, online dating still carried a stigma. Most men wouldn't admit to having a Match.com subscription much less go on the radio to announce their bachelorhood. This led to a challenge for all involved as we had nearly three times the amount of women as men to participate. We still managed to crank out a show five nights a week and hosted numerous singles events throughout Chicago. One challenge was Thursday nights; no one wanted to be on the show on Thursday nights because folks wanted to be home watching the steamy new television show called Grey's Anatomy. I struggled to put quality contestants on the air that night because DVR's and on-demand television shows were still not commonplace, so people watched TV shows live or else counted on their trusty old VHS to record the show. Season one of Grey's Anatomy ended with an episode entitled "Who's Zoomin' Who?"--which shares its title with the 1985 pop song from Aretha Franklin.

Aretha Franklin "Another Night"

Dad wanted one thing for Father's Day: he asked me to convert his old cassette tapes to CDs. In essence, he wanted me to bring his musical technology from the 1980s into the 1990s. No problem (even though it was the 2000s). After handing me a shoe box filled with his old mixtapes that he created by taping songs off the radio, I went to work. At first, I was surprised by his eclectic tastes: Phish, Nirvana, Paula Abdul, and even Heavy D and the Boyz made appearances. One constant among his dozen of mixes: the song "Another Night" by Aretha Franklin. This song (which I had never heard before) make quite a few appearances on his tapes. Perhaps that was testament to my Dad's life at the time because this and several other sad ballads littered his tapes among Motown, Grunge and House music.

My Dad made these tapes shortly after he and my mom divorced in 1992. While my mom, brother and I stayed in the house he built, my Dad moved a few miles away into a dingy studio apartment he rightfully nicknamed "the dungeon" . One particular mixtape contained a handwritten title on the label "Exile on the Boulevard". Once again, this tape contained "Another Night". My Dad wasn't one to show his feelings...much less put them into words, so I believe the lyrics to the Aretha Franklin song revealed what was going on in my Dad's heavy heart...

Another night without you

Another night, I know I can get through

Another night, it's only

Another night, I won't be lonely

Another night

Another night

Another night, it ain't much

Another night without your touch

Bette Midler "The Rose"

Which of the following nicknames sounds the coolest?
Michael Jackson: The King of Pop
Prince: The Purple One
Madonna: The Material Girl
Aretha Franklin: The Queen of Soul
James Brown: The Godfather of Soul
Bette Midler: The Divine Miss M

I'll put my money on Bette Midler.

Basia - "Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)"

The number of remakes of Aretha Franklin's "Until You Come Back to Me" could fill an entire month's worth of blog entries.  Leo Sayer, Cyndi Lauper, Bobby Caldwell, and Richard Elliot are just some of the artists who took Aretha's signature tune out for a drive.  In 1990, Basia found success on the Adult Contemporary Chart with her take on the tune.

Aretha Franklin - "Freeway of Love"

Aretha Franklin's high-octane "Freeway of Love" dominated the music charts in 1985.  The pop song not only featured Clarence Clemons providing the requisite saxophone solo, but also Randy Jackson on bass.  Jackson would later become a household name 20 years later as a judge on American Idol.

George Michael & Aretha Franklin - "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)"

Before Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga, there was George Michael and Aretha Franklin: one emrging pop artist coupled with an established musical legend performing a duet together.  It likely led to years of fans at George Michael concerts wondering aloud if Aretha would show up to perform the duet to "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)".

Elvin Bishop - "Fooled Around And Fell in Love"

How many songs can you name with the word "fool" in the title?

• Everybody Plays The Fool
• Fool's Gold
• Don't Want to Be A Fool
• Foolish Beat
• Kissing A Fool
• What A Fool Believes
• Chain of Fools
• Foolish Games
• Fooled Around And Fell in Love