MICHAEL MCDONALD FEST!!!

From Wikipedia:

Michael McDonald (born February 12, 1952) is a five-time Grammy Award winning American singer and songwriter. Sometimes described as a "blue-eyed soul" singer, McDonald has a distinctive "husky, soulful" baritone voice. He is known for his work as a member of the Doobie Brothers and Steely Dan, and for several hits as a solo artist.

More here.

So this guy I know at work has been grooving lately on Michael McDonald's first solo hit, "I Keep Forgetting." He sings it a lot. And that gets me singing, too. Suddenly, I find that I keep remembering how totally omnipresent McDonald was for about a decade or so--he really was part of the soundtrack of my late childhood and early adolescent years. If he were Phil Collins, such remembering might be a bit painful, but he's not, he's fucking Michael McDonald, member of Steely Dan, my favorite band next to the Beatles, who also fronted the band with the greatest name of all time, the Doobie Brothers.

When was the last time you had a serious Michael McDonald fest? If you're like me, it's been at least twenty five years, back when every day was a Michael McDonald fest. Well that's just too damned long.

Let's start off with some Doobies:



But McDonald, an incredible lead singer, was equally adept as a background man, not an easy task for someone with such talent, playing second fiddle to a usually less talented singer.

You know, like Christopher Cross:



Or Kenny Loggins:



And sure, Steely Dan's Donald Fagen is also a less talented singer, but as an arranger/composer, he was probably the best at understanding how to maximize the McDonald effect:



But it wasn't simply his singing: McDonald was, and still is, a brilliant composer. That is, you were listening to Michael McDonald even when you didn't know you were listening to Michael McDonald.

Like with this Carly Simon recording:



Or even this Van Halen song he co-wrote:



Van fucking Halen. I had no idea until I read it on Wikipedia. He really was everywhere.

Anyway, it's been a grand fest, hasn't it? I can't think of any better way of closing it than with the song that got me started:



God, I love Michael McDonald.

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