WHAT'S TURN IT ON 50

On Wednesday 1/21/2021 the state of Michigan declared the date "What's Going On Day" on state calendars.

50 years ago on one day...there came a LP that I would argue engaged more change and hard-honest discussion than any LP released since.

There were songs that came before...A Change Is Gonna Come by Sam Cooke (1964), Turn Turn Turn by The Byrds (1965), Love Child by The Supremes (vastly under rated and should be written about more from 1968.) I don't recall a soul LP before that had the urgency of What's Going On.

Sponsored By HL Nichols

In 2009 I had the blessing of interviewing Mr. Smokey Robinson shared a story with me. Seems Mr. Robinson was at his California home when the phone rang. It was Marvin Gaye on the online. Mr. Robinson tells me the conversation went something like... "Yeah Smoke. I'm working on this album and God is writing it." Mr. Robinson laughed and said with pride...that album turned out to be What's Going On?

The Good News is that 50 years later...What's Going On continues to inspire classic protest songs and LP's
The Message by Grand Master Flash/Melle Mell, Rhythm Nation 1814 by Janet Jackson, It takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us back by Public Enemy and many more songs and artists.

The Bad News is that 50 years later...we have very few artists willing to approach the legacy of What's Going On by making urgent music about protest in 2021. The worst news is that we need music that challenges the system more than we ever have.