Happy Birthday Daryl Hall. One of the truly great artists of our generation, as a composer, singer and multi-instrumentalist, Daryl can really craft a tune. So many great songs, and Kelly and Dave had to struggle to narrow it down to our Top Ten. Check out our episode: buff.ly/uo902J0

Happy Birthday Daryl Hall. Say it isn't so that this paragon of blue-eyed soul turns 80 today! As the principal vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist for Hall & Oates, he crafted 6 #1 hits, and another 6 top ten hits during the 70s and 80s. Check out our playlist of favorites. buff.ly/msHzscU

El DeBarge wrote, arranged, and produced "Love Me in a Special Way" solo. That's the story people skip when they call DeBarge a "one-hit crossover." Full episode is live now 🎧 buff.ly/QifXylt

Happy Heavenly Birthday to the Master of the Groove, composer Rod Temperton. Rod is responsible for It's the Groove, as his song Razzamatazz is what brought Dave and Kelly together. We've assembled a playlist of a few of our favorite Rod-composed songs. Enjoy! buff.ly/oCakRwH

Our DeBarge episode premieres today on It's The Groove Podcast.

El DeBarge's falsetto, the intricate songwriting, an unexpected Stevie Wonder appearance, and why hip hop producers keep sampling this catalog. Join the premiere: buff.ly/9LsDRoz

It's a Holiday for us today as we celebrate the heavenly birthday of one of the iconic composers of our era, Rod Temperton. Rod gave us the soundtrack of a generation. We devoted not one, but two of our most-watched episodes to his work. Check them out! buff.ly/PvI6jpz

Happy Birthday Guitarist, Composer, Producer and original member of The Average White Band Hamish Stuart. It's ok on your birthday Hamish to "Cut the Cake."

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Happy Birthday to Robert "Kool" Bell, the last surviving founding member of Kool & The Gang. They had so many great funky tunes in the 70s, and then shifted their style and ended up with some fabulous songs in the 80s. This calls for a "Celebration." buff.ly/M0tSelh

Happy Birthday Jay Graydon, songwriter, guitarist, producer, arranger. He has been involved in so many ITG-favorite songs from Steely Dan to Al Jarreau, DeBarge to Earth, Wind & Fire. We couldn't choose so we created a playlist.
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DeBarge's influence on R&B and hip-hop runs so deep. New Short breaking down their signature sound is up now. Full episode Oct 9 on It's The Groove.

What's your favorite DeBarge track?
🔗 buff.ly/QifXylt

#DeBarge #RnBHistory

It's The Groove in Chicago for our quarterly planning meeting. We mapped out our content calendar for the next 6 months & ate some great food!
We went live twice from the road:
👀 Behind the scenes in Chicago: youtube.com/live/nDGSdO6...
👀 Our review of Stevie's new EP: youtube.com/live/BvldHbx...

Listen closely to the harmonica on DeBarge's "Love Me in a Special Way" (1983). That's Stevie Wonder. 🎶 The full DeBarge story is coming October 9th on It's The Groove. buff.ly/QifXylt

Happy Birthday singer Howard Hewett, who was a key member of the group Shalamar, and also had a solo career. His lead vocals for Shalamar were always the "Dead Giveaway" of a great song. buff.ly/eekkbGw

Happy Heavenly Birthday to Soul Legend Donny Hathaway. Where to begin? No less an authority than Stevie Wonder said "When Donny sings any song, he owns it." Gone far too soon. buff.ly/5G7Ovkm

Plot twist in the DeBarge story: the first album didn't go as planned, and "I Like It" (1982) is what came next. 🎶 buff.ly/QifXylt

Full story on It's The Groove, October 9th. What's your favorite DeBarge song?

Happy Birthday to BabyFingers: keyboardist, composer, producer and 2026 JazzMaster Patrice Rushen. We fulfilled a bucket list item by seeing her in concert this year. Check out our concert review video and the episode we did. And don't forget the playlist buff.ly/7KSIcR5

Happy Birthday Basia. Her influences were Stevie Wonder, Aretha, and Antonio Carlos Jobim. No wonder we love her! We are overdue in doing a feature on the band, but here's a playlist to enjoy for Basiaholics like Dave. buff.ly/xuvbbgi

Happy Birthday to Randy Bachman, guitarist, composer and founder of both The Guess Who and Bachman Turner Overdrive, who accounted for so much great music. Dave chose "Lookin' Out for Number One," which is a bit of a departure from the BTO material but shows Randy's jazz chops. buff.ly/hwv9zlM

Every 80s deep dive we've done, finally in one place. 📼

Our new playlist covers Wang Chung, Madonna's True Blue, Peter Gabriel's So, and more: Winwood, Wham!, Anita Baker, Duran Duran.

🎧 Binge it here: buff.ly/uQfh8uj

Watch, comment your favorite 80s album and share to help Groove Nation grow.

Happy Birthday Tracey Thorn, singer, songwriter and one half of the duo Everything But The Girl. As we were reviewing our recent playlist, we realized what we had been "Missing." buff.ly/sMNoeMk