Two of the sexiest performers of my (ahem) ‘earlier years’ were Tom Jones and Nancy Sinatra. Do you remember that album cover for ‘Sugar’ – the pink bikini ? Come to think of it – most of her album covers were provocative from those ‘Boots’ to the bulky knit-sweater she wore over boots for ‘How Does That Grab You?’ Then there was Tom Jones – ladies ?

Time marches on and both Nancy and Tom become octogenarians next week – each re-defining what ’80’ means. While Nancy’s recording career was considerably shorter, lasting less than 5 years during the second half of the 60s, Tom’s career ran for over 5 decades, with his recent albums earning some of his strongest critical reviews ever. I’m looking forward to playing you some of their classic hits and some less-known songs as well.

That’s our main spotlight – but we’ll have plenty of birthday cake left over, to salute the late giants also born in the coming week: Jackie Wilson, Dean Martin, Judy Garland and Les Paul – the man who virtually invented the electric guitar. And finally, we’ll tip our hard-hat to our friends down the QEW in Hamilton as ‘Steeltown’ marks its anniversary. ‘The Hammer’ was incorporated June 9th, 1846, and I’ll play you songs by 6 of the most famous recording artists born in Hamilton. The list includes one of the earliest superstars of the 20th century’s first decade, drummers for two of this country’s legendary rock bands, and Ian Thomas.

So I hope you’ll join me this Sunday (June 7th) – there’s way too much birthday cake for me alone – that’s the Big Birthday Bash edition of ‘Vintage Favourites’ from 2:00 to 4:30pm.