Happy Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day from your friends at the Dog Denizens of Genesee Park (DDGP)!

As holiday aficionados will tell you, Americans celebrate Earth Day to foster awareness and appreciation of our environment and its resources. We could wax about the importance of saving the planet... our we could pay homage to the classic rhythm and blues (R&B) funk band, Earth Wind & Fire (EWF).

Drummer Maurice White named the group for three of the elements of earth, wind and fire. EWF achieved notice when it recorded the soundtrack to Melvin Van Peebles' 1971 movie, Sweet Sweetback's Baadassssss Song. Although EWF became a favorite amongst college campus, all members except White and his brother Verdine left the band.

White retooled the band, which recorded Top-30 hits "Evil" and "Keep Your Head to the Sky". EWF performed at the California Jam, a West Coast jazz festival, in 1974 and played on pianist Ramsey Lewis' Sun Goddess album.

EWF's That's the Way of the World, which Billboard magazine lauded as "a very tightly performed and produced package," generated title hit "That's the Way of the World" and "Shining Star". The group's concerts turned show business on its ear with pyrotechnics, lasers and illusions. EWF spit out hits throughout the late 1970s with "Getaway", "Saturday Night", "Serpentine", "Fantasy", "Got to Get You Into My Life", "September" and "Boogie Wonderland". Released in November 1979, the Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 1 went quintuple platinum in sales.

EWF went techno in the 1980s and released hits "Let's Groove" and "Wanna Be With You". Although White produced albums for Barbra Streisand, Cher and his own solo endeavor in the 1980s, EWF continued to record albums through the millennium. The band was inducted into the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.

Happy Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day from your planet-loving friends at the Dog Denizens of Genesee Park (DDGP!)

Americans first celebrated Earth Day on April 22, 1970. Forty years ago, the inaugural Earth Day highlighted a grassroots movement to spotlight environmental issues involving land, air and water pollution. ("Pollution"... there's a term you probably haven't heard since the demise of the Ford Pinto.) In November 1969, the New York Times observed: "Rising concern about the environmental crisis is sweeping the nation's campuses with an intensity that may be on its way to eclipsing student discontent over the war in Vietnam."

An American day of observance and national service was born.

We could wax ad nauseam about just wanting to celebrate Earth Day. While the world pays homage Mother Earth, we will take this opportunity to give our props to the 1970s rock band Rare Earth.

Motown signed Rare Earth in 1969. A fusion of rock, funk and blue-eyed soul, Rare Earth scored Top-40 hits by covering the Temptations' classics "(I Know) I'm Losing You" and "Get Ready."

Rare Earth recorded "I Just Want to Celebrate", which soared to #7 on the Billboard Top-100 chart in 1971. The Ford Motor Co. and AT&T purchased the rites of the song to peddle cars and telecommunications. Peter Krause lip synced the chorus during the series finale of Six Feet Under.

The group returned to the Billboard charts in 1971 when "Hey, Big Brother" peaked at #19. Three year later, Rare Earth served as the opening act of the California Jam festival in Ontario, CA. More than 200,000 fans attended an eclectic program that included: Earth Wind and Fire; the Eagles; Black Sabbath; Deep Purple; Emerson, Lake and Palmer; and Seals and Crofts.

In 2005, Rare Earth was inducted into the Michigan Rock 'n Roll Legends, an online musical Hall of Fame. Lest you sneer, consider that the initial inductee class included: Stevie Wonder; Aretha Franklin; Smokey Robinson; Marvin Gaye; Temptations; Four Tops; Supremes; Jackie Wilson; Martha and the Vandellas; Alice Cooper; and Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels.

While the group composition has changed, Rare Earth continues to perform. Maybe they'll come to the Emerald Queen Casino or the Western Washington Fair.

Meanwhile, do something nice for the planet and the the Genesee off-leash park: Pick up after your dog. And celebrate another day of living.