Ray Levy Uyeda is a writer and reporter based in the San Francisco Bay Area. 

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Perspective
David Bowie pop art by Gil Zetbase (Wikimedia Commons/Gil Zetbase)

The messages of Ziggy Stardust: Do not believe in endings

Opinion
Culture
Jun 25, 2022

Perspective: We can listen to David Bowie's 1972 "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars" as if it were released this year, as if its messages were precisely of this time, urgent and unrelenting.

Perspective
Eagles in concert Dec. 17, 2010, at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia (Wikimedia Commons/jeaneeem)

50 years later, Eagles fans embrace the romance of the road

Opinion
Jun 4, 2022

"Take It Easy," remains one of the Eagles' most notable songs. Eagles drummer Don Henley once said it highlights Americans' "search of freedom, identity, fortune and this illusive thing we call 'home.' "

Al Green performs during the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans in this July 5, 2009, file photo. Green was 26 when "Let's Stay Together," arguably his most famous album, was released in 1972. (AP/Patrick Semansky)

While Al Green was looking to get to God, he became a star

Opinion
Culture
Apr 22, 2022

Al Green's 1972 album "Let's Stay Together" bisects the point between his own musical traditions, with albums released before 1973 reflecting a life ungrounded and quickly unraveling, and albums released after speaking toward God.

Commentary
Aretha Franklin performs at a sold-out Radio City Music Hall show March 21, 2008. Franklin released "Young, Gifted and Black" in 1972. She died in 2018. (AP/Henny Ray Abrams)

50 years later, Aretha Franklin's 'Young, Gifted and Black' teaches love awakens the soul

Opinion
Culture
Feb 19, 2022

By the time "Young, Gifted, and Black" was released in 1972, Aretha Franklin had released 21 albums, including recordings of live concerts. Church and holy belief is everywhere in her voice.