Vintage Allies

Donna Summer Dies At 63

VAV!/May 17, 2012 Disco Singer Donna Summer died Thursday morning after fighting a battle with breast cancer. The five-time Grammy winner was known as the "Queen of Disco" and found stellar success in the 1970s with such hits as "Last Dance," "Hot Stuff," and "Bad Girls." Defining an era...Rest In Peace.

The New York Stock Exchange Was Founded

VAV!/May 17, 2012 {play}images/audio/Stockmarketbell.mp3{/play} May 17, 1792, a group of stockbrokers joined together on 68 Wall Street, NYC beneath a Buttonwood tree, where they would sign an agreement establishing the rules for buying and selling bonds and shares of companies. The agreement is known simply as The Buttonwood Agreement. It's reported, at the beginning, there were five securities traded in New York City with the company first listed on the NYSE as the Bank of New York. In total, 24 brokers signed The Buttonwood Agreement, becoming the first NYSE members.

Chuck Brown

VAV!/May 16, 2012 'It don't mean a thing without the go-go swing.' Chuck Brown, affectionately known as the 'Godfather of Go-Go', has died today at 75 from complications of sepsis after a recent bout with pneumonia.  Brown created a unique go-go sound during the 1970s by combining Latin beats with the African call, response chants and American jazz with a touch of soul.  His trademark music from within the nation's capital, Washington, DC, gained countless fans for Brown.  His musical career began in the 1960s playing guitar with Jerry Butler and The Earls of Rhythm, joining Los Latinos in 1965. Brown's early hits also include "I Need Some Money" and "Bustin' Loose," a song that spent four weeks at the top of the R&B singles chart in 1978 and epitiomized the go-go sound. Brown also recorded go-go covers of early jazz and blues songs, such as "Go-Go Swing" Duke Ellington's "It Don't Mean a Thing If Ain't Got That Swing", "Moody's Mood for Love", Johnny Mercer's "Midnight Sun", Louis Jordan's "Run Joe", and T-Bone Walker's "Stormy Monday". Chuck Brown was born Charles Louis Brown in Gaston, N.C., on Aug. 22, 1936.