RC3

😢

On Oct 2 2026, surrounded by her loving family, Sass Jordan peacefully crossed over to the other side.

She remains in our hearts, an inimitable force of nature. An irreplaceable being of light and joy!

I’d rather quit this life
Jumping with both feet
Into the-you know what
Without a backward look

I’d rather go running there
Arms wide open,
Than slowly ambling
One foot in
Over the edge
Di**le dangling

And no my darlings
Not the slightest jot of fear
And nothing of regret

But for the rest of me
I’ll stand by laughing
Remembering this body
That served me so brilliantly
Through sunshine and other stuff.

I’ll thank it profoundly
And move on, singing
But this time,
Ah yes, this time,
In perfect tune

In 1970, Marvin Gaye's brother Frankie came home from Vietnam. He described to Marvin what he had seen there — the dehumanisation, the violence, the profound dissonance between the war and the country that had sent him to fight it.

Marvin had already been struggling with Motown's restrictions. His duet partner Tammi Terrell had died of a brain tumour in 1970, after years of illness. He was in a depression and had stopped recording. When he finally agreed to begin again, it would be on his own terms.

He wrote and recorded "What's Going On" — a Vietnam veteran returning to America and finding poverty, racism, and environmental destruction. He called Berry Gordy to play it to him over the phone. Gordy was in the Bahamas.

Gordy told him: the song was too jazzy, too old. He said: "That Dizzy Gillespie stuff in the middle, that scatting — it's old." He called it "the worst thing I ever heard in my life."
Gaye went on strike. He refused to record anything else until the song was released.

While Gordy was distracted with other business, Motown's sales vice president Barney Ales and executive Harry Balk released it anyway — pressing 100,000 copies on 17 January 1971 without Gordy's knowledge.

It sold over 200,000 copies in a week. It became the fastest-selling single in Motown history. It reached No. 2 on the Hot 100 and No. 1 on the R&B chart.

Gordy, faced with the evidence of his error, agreed to let Gaye produce a full album. The result was What's Going On — one of the most celebrated albums in the history of popular music.

The man who called it the worst thing he'd ever heard made it possible by getting out of the way.

&B

Clive Davis, one of the most influential music executives in the history of rock and pop, has died at the age of 94.

He signed and shaped the careers of artists including Aretha Franklin, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Whitney Houston, Santana, Janis Joplin, Christina Aguilera, Alicia Keys and many others.

We send our love to Clive’s family and friends at this difficult time. 🧡