At 11 years old, Sylvester Stewart had already mastered the guitar, bass, keyboard and drums. As Sly Stone, he and the Family Stone made the big time with one hit after another. Sly also became a big-time drug user, which proved to be his undoing.

"Dance to the Music" was one of their hit songs. Here, you can watch a clip of the band performing it on "The Ed Sullivan Show" in 1968. They began the song with a snippet from another one of their hits, "Everyday People."

And here, you can listen to "Family Affair," the band's last No. 1 record.

Also, check out the trailer for the 2025 Hulu Original documentary "SLY LIVES! aka The Burden of Black Genius."

In the chapters, there's a photo of Stone performing on the program "Midnight Special" in October 1973. It's credited to NBC and is in the public domain via Wikimedia Commons. You can find it here.

The thumbnail shot, which also is in the chapters, is from 1982 and is credited to Mark Sarfati for the East Bay Express. It's available under the license CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. You can access the photo here.

Fun fact: Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's recent ceremony at Madison Square Garden wasn't the venue's first celebrity wedding. On June 5, 1974, Stone married Kathy Silva, an occasional actress and the mother of Stone's child, at M.S.G. (which is how The New Yorker referred to Madison Square Garden in its follow-up article). Reportedly, the marriage didn't last long.

Anyway, back to the thumbnail: The art that frames two sides of the photo was created by Bob Jones.

Credit for this episode goes to Song of the Day creator Sheldon Zoldan, who researched, wrote and narrated this short story, one of 35 tributes to music stars who passed away in 2025. Song of the Day used to be a daily feature delivered to an email list of subscribers. Sheldon ended it in early 2026 which, I suppose, means that Song of the Day deserves a tribute of its own. The good thing is that the tributes to music makers live on. Each is a snapshot of the life of one music maker whose work made an impact on the lives of many.

Send us Fan Mail

This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation®, available on YouTube and in podcast directories including Apple, Spotify, iHeart and Audible.

Rick Derringer and the McCoys had their biggest hit with "Hang On Sloopy," a song that Derringer grew tired of playing even though fans clamored for it. Eventually, he went on to create a career that suited him better.

He sang and played guitar as a solo artist, and he collaborated with a wide range of other artists including Ringo Starr, Barbra Streisand and "Weird Al" Yankovich.

Also a songwriter, Derringer wrote "Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo," which is on his "All American Boy" album. You can see a shot of the cover in the chapters. The album is available on Amazon Streaming or you can listen to an official version of the song here.

Derringer also wrote "Real American," Hulk Hogan's entrance theme.

As for "Hang On Sloopy," which Derringer didn't write, it stays current as the unofficial anthem of the Ohio State University Marching Band. Here's a 1965 video of the McCoys playing the song with one memorable young woman dancing along. Many thanks to my brother-in-law, Bob Jones, for introducing me to this little piece of Ohio history. And talk about intriguing history, here's an interesting video about the song itself and how it became connected with Ohio State.

The thumbnail photo shows Derringer performing in 1974. It's credited to Jim Summaria, http://www.jimsummariaphoto.com, CC BY-SA 3.0. You can find it on Wikimedia Commons. That photo is in the chapters too, along with a shot of Derringer playing with Ringo's All-Starr Band in Paris in June 2011. The more recent photo is credited to Dr. Jean Fortunet, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. You can go here to find it.

The art that frames two sides of the thumbnail photo was created by Bob Jones.

Song of the Day creator Sheldon Zoldan researched, wrote and narrated this short story, one of 35 tributes to music stars who passed away in 2025. Song of the Day used to be a daily feature delivered to an email list of subscribers. Sheldon ended it in early 2026 which, I suppose, means that Song of the Day deserves a tribute of its own. The good thing is that the tributes to music makers live on. Each is a snapshot of the life of one music maker whose work made an impact on the lives of many.

Send us Fan Mail

This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation®, available on YouTube and in podcast directories including Apple, Spotify, iHeart and Audible.

The brother-sister duo Nino Tempo and April Stevens had a Grammy-winning hit with “Deep Purple,” which reached No. 1 in November 1963 and was named the Best Rock And Roll Recording of the year.

Tempo died April 10, 2025; his older sister passed away in 2023. Her tribute, titled "April Stevens was a Hitmaker With and Without her Brother," is Episode 23 on Everyday Creation.

Tempo's music career started early, when he was only 4 years old. In this episode, you'll find out more about the multi-talented performer and what led to his and Stevens' "Deep Purple" success. There are different versions of the duo performing the song. Here is one of them.

You can listen to "Sister James," also referenced in this video, by going here or just searching Sister James Nino Tempo 5th Ave Sax on YouTube.

The thumbnail picture is part of a photo of Tempo and his sister that's credited to KRLA Beat Publications. The original photo appeared in the December 1965 edition of a newspaper produced for KRLA Radio, Los Angeles. This cropped version is available on Wikimedia Commons. In the chapters, there's a shot of a colorful CD featuring "Deep Purple." I found it on Amazon.

The art that frames two sides of the photo was created by Bob Jones.

Song of the Day creator Sheldon Zoldan researched, wrote and narrated this short story, one of 35 tributes to music stars who passed away in 2025. Song of the Day used to be a daily feature delivered to an email list of subscribers. Sheldon ended it in early 2026 which, I suppose, means that Song of the Day deserves a tribute of its own. The good thing is that the tributes to music makers live on. Each is a snapshot of the life of one music maker whose work made an impact on the lives of many.

Send us Fan Mail

This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation®, available on YouTube and in podcast directories including Apple, Spotify, iHeart and Audible.