Monday, November 4, 2024

Quincy Jones (1933-2024)

 You know his iconic themes from Ironside and Sanford & Son. You know the hits he produced for George Benson ("Give Me The Night"), Michael Jackson ("Thriller"), USA For Africa ("We Are The World"), as well as Lesley Gore, Frank Sinatra, Count Basie, and much, much more. To his friends and fans, he was simply "Q".

On Sunday, Quincy Jones passed away at 91. The Chicago native was one of a select group to win entertainment's Grand Slam (Emmy, Oscar, Grammy, Tony) in the course of his career. Jones also composed the music for the Roots miniseries, and his 1962 composition, "Soul Bossa Nova", became the theme of Mike Myers' "Austin Powers" movies (1997-2002).

"Soul Bossa Nova" was released on Mercury. Jones then released "The Streetbeater" (the Sanford theme) on A & M in 1973. His final run on the charts came in 1989 when his album, "Back on The Block", produced the hit single, "I'll Be Good To You", sung by Ray Charles & Chaka Khan.

I thought about using a more recent rendition of "Soul Bossa Nova" from The Late Show With David Letterman, but opted for the 1962 recording.....


Jones was one of several celebrity guests who appeared in Jamie Foxx's video for "Blame It" in 2009.

Rest in peace.

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