Remembering Carl Anderson

It’s the birthday of the late, great American vocalist and song stylist Carl Anderson (1945-2004). He would have turned 81 today.

In the past I’ve done whole series of posts celebrating Carl at around this time of the year (see, for example here, here and here). This year I’m opting to simply share an example of Carl doing what he did best – singing with heart and soul.

But first . . . I dare say that for most people, Carl Anderson is best remembered for playing Judas Iscariot in the 1973 film adaptation (right) and numerous stage productions of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s rock opera, Jesus Christ Superstar. (For more about Carl’s groundbreaking portrayal of Judas, click here, here, here and here.)

Yet it would be remiss of me not to state the obvious: There is much more to Carl Anderson than Jesus Christ Superstar. Indeed, for over three decades Carl was an accomplished and well-respected song stylist, artfully blending jazz, soul, pop, and R&B influences into his own unique and unforgettable style.

Between 1982 and 1996 Carl released nine albums. In addition, he made memorable duets with other artists and provided solo guest vocals on a number of songs by others.

Artists Carl worked with included Weather Report, Nancy Wilson, The Rippingtons, Michael Paulo, Maynard Ferguson, Gerald McCauley, Eric Marienthal, Brenda Russell, Lisa Deveaux, and Linda Eder.

In honor of the 81th anniversary of Carl Anderson's birth, I share one of his many beautiful love songs – “Still Thinking of You,” a track from his 1985 album, Protocol. It's followed by a review by Chris Rizik of the 2010 reissue of Protocol. . . . Enjoy!

Carl Anderson – Protocol (Reissue)
A Review by Chris Rizik
SoulTracks.com (2010)

During the 1980s, Carl Anderson's immense talent was only matched by the wild inconsistency of the music he released. His debut album, Absence Without Love, was a major disappointment for fans who had waited nearly a decade after his seminal performance as Judas in the blockbuster movie Jesus Christ Superstar. And the follow up album, On and On, was only slightly better. Though he had teamed with first rate talent in making those albums, neither remotely did justice to his vocal stylings. But all the elements aligned in 1985 with Protocol, by far his best album of the decade and one of the most consistently enjoyable albums by a male soul vocalist that year. Teaming with producers Patrick Henderson, Al McKay (of Earth, Wind & Fire) and Gary Taylor, he fashioned an album that made good on the promise that was hinted at in his Superstar performance but was suppressed in his earlier solo work.

McKay brought the opening cut, "Can't Stop This Feeling," to the project and immediately created the greatest four minutes Anderson had ever recorded. The upbeat number was uber-infectious and Anderson tore it up with a a wonderful vocal performance. It was an auspicious opening to the album, but it was by no means the only high point. Unlike Anderson's earlier discs, Protocol included ballads that appeared tailor made for his expressive crooning. "Still Thinking of You" and "One More Time With Feeling" were top notch, and "Saving My Love For You" was a chillingly simple and beautiful coda to the disc. Some of the mid-80s Kashif-like production on "Let's Talk" and "Girl, I Won't Say No" sound a bit over the top now, but are more than offset by the subtler work on the dance number "What Will Happen Now" and the very nice "Love On Ice."

Clearly the material on Protocol was better than Anderson had had before, but there was also an obvious change in his approach to the disc – an increased comfort in driving the music where he wanted vocally – and it resulted in a great ride for listeners. Unfortunately, the album never received the promotion or attention it deserved, as for most popular music fans the introduction to Carl Anderson occurred a year later on the inferior "Friends and Lovers" duet with Gloria Loring and the accompanying slapped-together album. But Protocol did set the stage for the future direction Anderson would take with his career and several strong subsequent recordings over the next decade on MCA and GRP Records [the albums An Act of Love (1988), Pieces of a Heart (1990), Fantasy Hotel (1992), Heavy Weather / Sunlight Again (1994) and Why We Are Here (1997)].

Kudos to the gang at FunkyTownGrooves for reissuing this hidden gem of an album (with bonus cuts to boot [including the awesome "Light Me"). Protocol sounds as good [today] as it did a quarter century ago. It was a welcome addition to the soul world back then but, more than anything, Protocol answered the question that so many had been asking after Carl Anderson's first two album misfires: it showed that Carl Anderson really was a unique talent who could move beyond his Jesus Christ Superstar coming out party to become one of the most enjoyable male vocalists of his era.

– Chris Rizik

For more of Carl at The Wild Reed, see:
• Remembering Carl Anderson – 2025 | 2024 | 2022
• Carl Anderson: “Still One of the Greatest Interpretations of Judas on Film”
• Carl Anderson: “Like a Song in the Night”
• Carl Anderson: “One of the Most Enjoyable Male Vocalists of His Era”
• With Love Inside
• Carl Anderson
• Acts of Love . . . Carl’s and Mine
• Introducing the Carl Anderson Appreciation Group
• Forbidden Lover
• Revisiting a Groovy Jesus (and a Dysfunctional Theology)

The Wild Reed’s February 2021 Celebration of Carl Anderson:
• Remembering an Artist and Vocalist Extraordinaire
• An Electrifying Spectrum of Emotions
• “Fare Thee Well, My Nightingale”
• “He Was Bigger Than Life . . . Very Philosophical, Very Warm and Honest”

The Wild Reed’s February 2020 Celebration of Carl Anderson:
• Carl Anderson: On and On
• Carl Anderson and The Black Pearl
• Carl Anderson in The Color Purple
• Carl Anderson: “Let the Music Play!”

The Wild Reed’s February 2019 Celebration of Carl Anderson:
• Remembering and Celebrating Carl Anderson
• Carl Anderson: “Pure Quality”
• Carl Anderson’s Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar: “The Gold Standard”
• Carl Anderson’s Judas: “A Two-Dimensional Popular Villain Turned Into a Complex Human Being”
• Carl Anderson: “Artist and Vocalist Extraordinaire”
• Playbill Remembers Carl
• Remembering the Life of Carl Anderson: “There Was So Much Love”

Related Off-site Links:
A Profile of Carl Anderson – Part I: A Broadway Legend with Lynchburg Roots – Holly Phelps (LynchburgMuseum.org, May 12, 2015)
A Profile of Carl Anderson – Part II: The Legend Lives On – Holly Phelps (LynchburgMuseum.org,June 10, 2015)
Carl Anderson – Jazz Legend: The Official Website
Carl Anderson Memorial Page
Carl Anderson at AllMusic.com – Ron Wynn (AllMusic.com)
Carl Anderson Biography – Chris Rizik (Soul Tracks)

Become the Sky

By Steve Taylor

This cage you’ve been trapped inside
for longer than you can remember
might seem so sturdy and secure
that you don’t even dream of escaping anymore
like a bird that used to beat its wings
but now just lets them hang limply by its sides.

But the bars of your cage aren’t solid.
They’re a mirage made up of fears and desires
projected by your restless mind
fueled by the attention you give them.

Just for a moment let your mind be quiet
and see how fears evaporate
see how desires withdraw
like the claws of an animal
that’s no longer threatened.

Watch the bars melt away
and let the world immerse you.

Let your mind-space merge with the space out there
until there is only space without distinction –
stretch your wings and become the sky.

– Steve Taylor
From The Calm Center: Reflections and
Meditations for Spiritual Awakening
New World Library, 2015
p. 12

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• The Smile
• “Window, Mind, Thought, Air and Love”
• Until the Light Returns
• What the Wind Says
• Secret Language of the Heart
• Kahlil Gibran on Self-Knowledge
• Jesus and the Art of Letting Go
• Surrendering in Sacred Trust
• I Surrender to You
• The Act of Surrender
• You Are My Goal, Beloved One
• Love’s the Only Dance
• Sweet Surrender
• Saved Me
• Learning to Fly
• “And Still We Rise!” – Part 1 | Part 2

Image: Artist unknown.

For Rep. Ilhan Omar, Silence Is Never an Option

Reports the group Occupy Democrats:

Congresswoman Ilhan Omar isn’t apologizing – and she isn’t backing down.

After interrupting Donald Trump’s State of the Union to confront him over the deaths of two of her Minneapolis constituents, Omar went on CNN and made it crystal clear: silence was never an option.

When asked by Wolf Blitzer whether she should have followed Democratic leadership’s advice to sit quietly or skip the speech altogether, Omar didn’t hesitate.

“No,” she said. “It was really unavoidable.”

Why? Because as Trump spoke about “protecting Americans,” Omar says he ignored the fact that two Americans – Renée Good and Alex Pretti – were killed under his administration’s watch.

“I just had to remind him,” she said bluntly. “His administration was responsible for killing two of my constituents.”

That’s not heckling. That’s accountability.

Omar brought four Minnesotans with her as guests to the address – people she says have lived through what she described as a federal “occupation,” traumatized by aggressive law enforcement actions in their communities. She said it was critical to “bear witness” and “hold the space” for neighbors who have suffered.

When Blitzer pointed out that Democrats previously criticized Republicans for interrupting President Biden’s State of the Union, Omar stood firm.

“I do not [have regrets],” she said. “It was important for my constituents to see me there.”

This wasn’t political theater, she argued. It was personal. Two families in her district lost loved ones. And as the president spoke about safety, she says their names deserved to be heard.

Omar framed her protest as a moral obligation – not a breach of decorum. In her view, failing to speak up would have meant abandoning the people who sent her to Washington.

Whether critics call it disruption or courage, Omar made one thing unmistakable: when she believes lives are on the line, party strategy takes a back seat.

And for her constituents in Minneapolis, she says, being present – and being vocal – mattered more than staying silent.

– Occupy Democrats
via Facebook
February 25, 2026

Related Off-site Links:
In State of the Union, Trump Slams Somalis Over Fraud; Rep. Ilhan Omar Shouts Back – Sydney Kashiwagi (The Minnesota Star Tribune, February 25, 2026).
Ilhan Omar: “You Know Damn Well I Was Going to Respond to” Trump’s State of the Union “Lie” About Somalis – Eric Garcia (Independent, February 25, 2026).
“You Have Killed Americans,” “Black People Aren’t Apes”: Democrats Ilhan Omar and Al Green Protest Trump’s State of the Union – Democracy Now! (February 25, 2026).
Al Green and Ilhan Omar Interrupt Trump’s State of the Union Speech As Democrats Rally Outside Capitol – Rising (February 25, 2026).
Minnesotan Aliya Rahman Arrested and Injured at Trump’s State of the Union – Steve Karnowski and Jim Salter (MPR News, February 25, 2023).
Ilhan Omar Asked: “Do You Think You Violated The Guidelines” Jeffries Set Out For Trump’s SOTU? – Forbes Breaking News (February 25, 2026).
From Minneapolis to Somalia: Here’s Everything Trump Gets Wrong About Somalis – Jordan Liz (Common Dreams, February 22, 2026).
Ilhan Omar Condemns Trump Oil Blockade of Cuba as “Cruel and Despotic” Regime Change Ploy – Jordan Liz (Common Dreams, February 12, 2026).

UPDATE: Trump Says Lawmakers Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib Should Be Removed From U.S. – Erin Hale (Al Jazeera, February 26, 2026).


See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Rep. Ilhan Omar: “These Findings Are Shocking, But Sadly, Not Surprising”
• Dean Phillips: Quote of the Day – February 3, 2023
• Ilhan Omar: “The Coup Attempt on January 6th Was a Warning for What’s to Come If We Don’t Act”
• Ilhan Omar: Quote of the Day – October 28, 2021
• Hadas Thier: Quote of the Day – June 11, 2021
• Ilhan Omar: Quote of the Day – May 29, 2021
• Ilhan Omar: Quote of the Day – January 13, 2021
• Progressive Perspectives on the 2020 U.S. Election Results
• Rep. Ilhan Omar Responds to President Trump’s Authoritarian Threats
• Quote of the Day: Ilhan Omar – August 11, 2020
• Ricardo Levins Morales on the “Deepest Political Fault Line” Separating Democrats Ilhan Omar and Antone Melton-Meaux
• To Whom the Future of America Belongs
• Ilhan Omar: Stepping Into Her Power
• Ilhan Omar: Quote of the Day – April 13, 2019
• Progressive Perspectives on the Ilhan Omar “Controversy”
• Ilhan Omar on The Daily Show
• Juan Cole: Quote of the Day – February 11, 2019

Dayvon Love: “You Actually Don’t Care Where Jill Stein Is”

Dayvon Love serves as director of public policy for the Baltimore-based think tank, Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle. Last month, he spoke to the question “Where is Jill Stein?” and how it functions as a deflection, shielding liberals from confronting the Democratic Party’s long-standing, exploitative relationship with working-class Black voters.

______________

When people sarcastically ask the question “where is Jill Stein” it denotes a desire to deflect their complicity in the exploitative relationship between working class Black people and the Democratic Party.

The “lesser of two evils” analysis is often the pushback that liberals give to those of us who are committed to more radical approaches to electoral politics. The argument they make is that we need to be serious about who can actually win and develop an astute political approach that can deliver concrete results for our community. Additionally, not voting for Democrats – even if they are imperfect – just empowers the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement.

One of the critiques I have of people who share my perspective on the need for more radical approaches to electoral politics is that they often don’t have a serious answer to the concern of ceding political power to Republicans who have no incentive to do anything meaningful for Black people. Both parties are instruments of the White settler colonialism, even when there are non-White people at the helm. But they are not the same, and the differences matter.

The electorate that is necessary for Democrats to be politically viable are largely people of color. We are a captured electorate of the Democratic Party that are mostly pandered to, instead of being treated like a power base that can drive the trajectory of the party. While it may be objectively better to have a generic Democrat in office than a generic Republican, if we don’t simultaneously do the work to build the capacity to build credible electoral threats to the left of the Democratic Party establishment, then we are in effect co-signing a perpetual exploitative relationship to them.

Democrats have generally supported symbolic measures on police reform (ie body cameras, training) and rejected more radical policies like community control of law enforcement. Democrats will market their policies of making public investments in social programs, but oppose progressive taxes on corporations. The Democratic Party is interested in minimal changes to White corporate domination of the world, while wanting to appear to have engaged in the maximum amount of social change. The only way that Democrats have delivered any meaningful progressive/radical policies is with radical political forces outside (to the left) of the party. If the Democratic Party is not challenged by electoral forces to its left, it has no incentive to deliver anything to Black people besides watered down policies.

In a state like Maryland, that will go into the 2026 election cycle with a gubernatorial election that is essentially a one party race, there is an opportunity to test the effectiveness of developing credible electoral threats to the left of the Democratic Party. There is zero chance of Wes Moore losing to any of the other candidates who are running for governor. This means that if Marylanders vote in large numbers for a Green Party candidate it will send a message to Democratic Party that they need to run candidates with more progressive/radical policy platforms.

The leverage from folks voting for the Green Party candidate for governor of Maryland (which is the party on the ballot that is left of the Democratic Party) will be helpful in moving stronger policies that protect immigrants from ICE; the policy recommendations from the Maryland Reparations Commission; taking a stance against the genocide in Gaza; progressive taxation to make corporations in Maryland pay their fair share and other important policies that serve the interest of our community. Again, it is extremely unlikely that the Green Party candidate will win, but a 4 percent or 5 percent showing would be enough to send a signal to the Democratic Party that we are not satisfied with liberal reform, but instead we want revolutionary policies that can transform our community. Individual candidates that run for office as a Democrat will have an incentive to run on a more progressive policy platform if they see stronger than normal numbers of people who vote for the Green Party.

Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle and many other organizations are working during the Maryland General Assembly to pass HB 101. The legislation would require any entity that receives public funding and hosts statewide general election debates (like Maryland Public Television) to invite every candidate that appears on the ballot to participate. This will provide the general public with an opportunity to hear political ideas that typically fall outside of the frame of the corporate duopoly, and provide an opportunity to directly hold Democrats accountable publicly. This would help to put public pressure on the Democratic Party to move further left, while also helping to build radical electoral forces outside of the Democratic Party that can go beyond the watered down policies of the Democratic Party establishment.

For those who are asking “Where is Jill Stein?,” I say if you are serious about a political environment where Black people are more than just figures of incorporated resistance into the American mainstream, then you should be looking to support the Butch Wares and Andy Ellises of the world who are running to build electoral political power beyond the Democratic Party.

– Dayvon Love
“You Actually Don’t Care Where Jill Stein Is”
Afro News
January 30, 2026

See also the related Wild Reed posts:

JILL STEIN
• Jill Stein on What the Green Party Is All About
• The Green Party’s Jill Stein and Butch Ware Give Their First Post-Election Interview
• “We Give Reasons for People to Come Out and Vote”
• Jill Stein in the Twin Cities – October 2024
• We’re Witnessing a Liberal Meltdown Over Jill Stein
• Anti-Genocide Presidential Candidate Jill Stein Reflects on the First Anniversary of Israel’s Genocide in Gaza
• When Democrats Undermine Democracy
• “Americans Deserve Choices”: Jill Stein on Breaking Points – 4/30/24
• “The Next Step Is a Green Step”: Cornel West Endorses Jill Stein (2016)
• Bernie Sanders and Jill Stein: Is a “Historic Collaboration” in the Making? (2016)
• Demolishing the False Narrative About Jill Stein and the 2016 Election


GREEN PARTY
• Meet Some of the “People-Powered” Green Party Candidates for 2026
• An Opportunity for Organizing Against Duopoly
• “It Is Our Responsibility to Make a Third Party Viable”
• Something to Think About – December 8, 2024
• The “Green Smoothie” Option
• Elise Labott on How Third Parties Can Revitalize Democracy
• Something to Think About – August 15, 2024
• Nick Cruse: “‘Vote Blue No Matter Who’ Is the Privileged Position”
• Howie Hawkins: “The Democrats Are Not the Answer to the Trump/Fascism Problem”
• Voting Green: Hope Over Fear

Image: “Jill Stein, Green Party Political Figure” (watercolor portrait art print) by Design Turnpike.

Quote of the Day

The resistance in Minnesota is decentralized. No single leader. No central command. Just neighbors organizing neighbors. Block meetings. Mutual aid. Court support. Rapid response texts. Unions. Faith groups. Students. Elders. This is what scares them. You cannot crush a movement that lives in a thousand group chats and living rooms. The Twin Cities did not wait for permission. We built power.

– Voices Against Trump

Related Off-site Links:
Minnesota Is Still Under Seige – Jonathan V. Last (The Bulwark, February 21, 2026).
The Minneapolis Resistance Will Do Your Laundry – Deborah Copperud (Current Affairs, February 19, 2026).
Minnesota Clergy Sue Department of Homeland Security Over Access to Immigration Detainees – Matt Sepic (MPR News, February 23, 2026).
We’re All Minnesotans Now – William Kristol, Andrew Egger, and Jim Swift (The Bulwark, February 18, 2026).
What We Can Learn From Minneapolis’ Model of Resistance – Gabriel Furshong (Common Dreams, February 13, 2026).
The Rise of the Rebel Loon Logos – The Nerd of The Rings (February 13, 2026).
The People of Minneapolis Will Simply Not Let the ICE Thugs Prevail – Dan Simmons (The New Republic, February 5, 2026).
Anti-ICE Organizing Is Creating Counter-Institutions Based on Care – Rashida James-Saadiya (Truthout, February 4, 2026).
“Backing Down Isn’t an Option”: Minnesota ICE Shootings Mobilize Americans to Join ICE Observer Groups – Lex McMenamin (The Guardian, January 31, 2026).
Letter From Minnesota: Details From an Occupation – Angela Pelster (Literary Hub, January 29, 2026).
Meet the Minneapolis Parents Patrolling Their Schools Amid ICE Operations – Elizabeth Shockman (MPR News, January 16, 2026).
The Women Holding Minneapolis Together – Anna Moeslein Glamor, January 7, 2026).

UPDATE: Former ICE Lawyer Says Agency Is Teaching Recruits to “Violate the Constitution” – Stephen Prager (Common Dreams, February 24, 2026).


See also the previous Wild Reed posts on the resistance to the Trump regime’s fascist occupation of Minnesota:
• Omar Fateh: Quote of the Day – December 4, 2025
• Photo of the Day – December 5, 2025
• Susie Hayward on What’s Happening in Minneapolis
• Doing What We Can to Stop Unjust Arrests of Immigrants
• Great Event, Great Sign, Great Nails
• Christmas Eve Musings
• May We Do Likewise
• “This Is What Fascism Looks Like” – January 7, 2026
• “It Was Murder”: 12 Powerful Responses to the Death of Renée Nicole Good
• Omar Fateh: “Folks Are Waking Up”
• A Good Faith Appeal and a Grim Response
• Why Minnesota?
• Chris Hedges on ICE: “I Have Seen These Masked Goons Before”
• Steven Donziger: “Let’s Get Real . . . ICE Is a Domestic Terrorist Organization”
• Historian Kyle Dekker: “It’s Not Nazi Ideology We Are Fighting. It’s American”
• Knowing Our Rights
• Mike Figueredo on Why Trump Might Be Pushing the U.S. to the Brink of Collapse
• A “Red Alert Moment for American Democracy”
• Dispatches from Occupied Minnesota
• Marianne Williamson on How to Psychologically Endure This Moment
• What Moral Clarity Looks Like in Minnesota This MLK Day
• Nemik’s Eulogy for Renée Nicole Good
• “It Was Never About Keeping America Safe”
• “ICE Out!”: The Minnesota General Strike – 1/23/26
• “This Was a Flat Out Execution”
• “Organized Sustained Systemic Resistance and Self-Defense Are Our Only Options”
• Honoring Alex Pretti
• George Conway: The Trump Administration Is a “Criminal Organization”
• In the Face of Fascist Lies, MN Governor Tim Walz Sets the Record Straight
• Adam Serwer on How “Every Social Theory Undergirding Trumpism Has Been Broken on the Steel of Minnesotan Resolve”
• “Trump Is Scared Shitless”
• “They Were Alive. Then They Were Not”
• Bruce Springsteen and the Streets of Minneapolis in the Winter of ’26
• Craig Mokhiber on the “Imperial Boomerang”: How U.S. War Tactics Abroad Are Now Used at Home
• January Vignettes (2026)
• Honoring Renée Good and the “Astonishing Surge of Courage” of Minneapolis
• A Luminous Celebration of Light, Love and Community
• More Dispatches from Occupied Minnesota
• Memes of the Times – February 2026
• Only the Beginning
• The North Remembers
• “It’s All Lies and Propaganda”
• What This Moment Feels Like in Minnesota

Image: Citizens gather at Whittier Park in Minneapolis on Saturday, January 21, 2026 to mark four weeks since Alex Pretti was fatally shot by federal immigration agents. (Photo: Tom Baker / MPR News)

Classic Dusty

If you’re a regular visitor to this blog, you would know that the late, great Dusty Springfield (1939-1999) is one of my all-time favorite female vocalists.

Years ago I started a series that I called “Classic Dusty,” in which I shared songs and videos of the woman hailed as “Britain’s best ever pop and soul singer.” Dusty’s most sustained period of commercial success was between 1963 and 1970. Many memorable songs and TV appearances mark this time, one which I call her “classic” era. That’s not to say, of course, that Dusty didn’t have both artistic and commercial success after this time. She definitely did. But it wasn’t as consistent or recognized and celebrated as her output throughout the 1960s.

It’s been 16 years since I’ve shared a Dusty track as part of The Wild Reed’s “Classic Dusty” series. I resume this series tonight with its sixth installment, one which shows Dusty, looking utterly iconic in a beautiful gold gown and ornate necklace, singing her rendition of the classic pop ballad, “How Can I Be Sure.” This decidedly psychedelic clip is from a 1970 Dutch TV special that showcased Dusty and her music. . . . Enjoy!

How can I be sure
In a world that’s constantly changing?
How can I be sure
Where I stand with you?

Whenever I
Whenever I am away from you
I wanna die
’Cause you know I wanna stay with you

How do I know?
Maybe you’re trying to use me
Flying too high can confuse me
Touch me but don’t take me down

Whenever I
Whenever I am away from you
My alibi is telling people
I don’t care for you

Maybe I’m just hanging around
With my head up, upside down
It’s a pity, oh yeah, I can’t seem to find somebody
Who’s as wonderful, baby, as you

How can I be sure?
I really really really wanna know
Really really really wanna know, yeah

How’s the weather?
Whether or not, we’re together
Together we’ll see it much better
I love you, I love you forever
You know where I can be found

How can I be sure
In a world that’s constantly changing?
How can I be sure?
I’ll be sure with you

“How Can I Be Sure” was Dusty’s last Top 40 hit in the U.K. until her triumphant return in 1987 with the Pet Shop Boys and “What Have I Done to Deserve This?” In his indispensable book The Complete Dusty Springfield, Paul Howes notes the following about Dusty’s “How Can I Be Sure” recording:

Aware that her American recordings, with the exception of “Son-of-a Preacher Man,” had not been doing well in England, Dusty decided in 1970 to record a song specifically for the U.K. market. “It’s a song I’ve been in love with for some time,” she explained, “and that’s a good sign. I think it should go well because it’s a very European sound, although it is American, and that sort of thing is usually popular.”

The song was “How Can I Be Sure” – yet another number with a title reflecting her insecurities [others include “Where Am I Going,” “Am I the Same Girl,” “See All Her Faces,” and “Mixed Up Girl”]. It was written by two members of the [Young] Rascals and had been a hit for them in the U.S. on Atlantic Records in 1967. Dusty’s treatment of the song is fairly similar. After a quiet start, the whole thing just takes off wih an accordian and string-driven melody that is so infectious it’s hard to believe it never became an enormous hit.

Despite being showered with accolades from the music press (“Dusty’s quality performance,” “Will she ever stop producing these brain-blowing goodies?” and “Another great record”), the disc barely charted. And this time it could not be put down to lack of promotion. The song had received its debut airing on ITC’s Des O’Connor Show [right] a few months before its release and Dusty did numerous television and radio dates when the record actually came out. But the British public was just not interested.

To add insult to injury, it was only two years later that David Cassidy took the song to the top of the UK charts, which must have dented Dusty’s already fragile confidence considerably.

– Paul Howes
Excerpted from The Complete Dusty Springfield
Reynolds and Hearn Ltd, 2001
p. 138

For more of Dusty at The Wild Reed, see:
• Classic Dusty | II | III | IV | V
• Remembering a Great Soul Singer
• Remembering a Subversive Pop Singer
• Dusty Springfield: Queer Icon
• Time and the River
• Dusty: “Wasn’t Born to Follow”
• The Other “Born This Way”
• Something In Your Eyes
• The Sound of Two Decades Colliding
• Home to Myself
• Remembering Dusty, 25 Years On
• Soul Deep

Recommended Off-site Link:
Woman of Repute – My archived website dedicated to the life and artistry of Dusty Springfield.

What This Moment Feels Like in Minnesota

This past Sunday, February 15, my friend Dave and I walked along the Mississippi River from the Franklin Avenue Bridge to the Lake Street-Marshall Avenue Bridge. We first walked along the east bank, and then back along the river’s west bank. Midway, at Lake Street, we had a delicious lunch at Longfellow Grill.

It was a beautiful day to be out and about. But it’s Minnesota in February, so neither of us were fooled into thinking the winter is over.

In fact, as I soaked in the sunshine, the beauty of the frozen river and blue sky, and the warmth of the air, I was reminded of a piece published Saturday by 50501: Minnesota is a non-profit dedicated to “upholding the Constitution and ending executive overreach.”

I share this piece this evening, along with some of the photos I took on Sunday when walking along the banks of the Mississippi River.

In Minnesota, we are all too familiar with false spring. You get a handful of warm days, melting snow, everyone exhales. You think maybe winter’s finally over . . . until the cold snaps back, sometimes even harder.

That’s what this moment feels like. You may hear that ICE is “leaving.” They’re not, they’re shifting, spreading out. They’re moving into suburban and rural areas with less media and thinner rapid response networks.

The quiet isn’t relief. It’s redistribution. Don’t mistake a brief thaw for safety.

Above and left: At CorAzoN Gifts, next door to Longfellow Grill, Dave and I picked up a couple of free decals that honor Alex Pretti and Renée Good, two U.S. citizens shot to death by federal immigration agents last month in Minneapolis. These decals read: “Pretti Good.” Dave put his on the back of his truck once we got back to my place. I need to clean my car first before I put mine on.

___________________

Postscript: Yep, Sunday was indeed a “false spring.” Yesterday afternoon (February 18) and all through last night into today, much of Minnesota has received the biggest dumping of snow so far this winter.

Above: During yesterday’s heavy snowfall, Micah Stewart, a volunteer caretaker and protector of the memorial for Alex Pretti, clears the street and shovels a message in the snow around the area where Pretti was shot and killed by federal agents during ICE operations on Nicollet Ave. in Minneapolis. (Photo: D. Guttenfelder / New York Times)

Related Off-site Links:
Creative Dissent and Mutual Aid: Lessons From Minneapolis for Surviving the Polycrisis – Richard Heinberg (Common Dreams, February 17, 2026).
Minneapolis March Planned for Saturday to Mark Four Weeks Since Alex Pretti Killing – Riley Moser (CBS News, February 19, 2026).
Four Lessons From the Fight Against Trump and ICE in Minneapolis – Sou Mi (Left Voice, February 16, 2026).
Terrorized By ICE, Unable to Pay Rent, Minnesotans Are Getting Ready for a Rent Strike – Rebecca Burns and Sarah Lazare (In These Times, February 19, 2026).
The Sambusa Underground: How Minneapolis’s Somalis Feed Community and Resistance – Kate Nelson (The Guardian, February 18, 2026).
The Inhumane Treatment of Immigration Detainees Requires More Coverage – Dan Froomkin (Press Watch, February 18, 2026).
Courts Have Ruled 4,400 Times That ICE Jailed People Illegally. It Hasn’t Stopped – Nate Raymond, Kristina Cooke and Brad Heath (Reuters, February 17, 2026).
White House Official Says Hundreds of Federal Agents Are Leaving Minnesota, “Small” Security Force Will Remain for a Time – The Associated Press and MPR News (February 15, 2026).
What Minnesota Really Thinks of the End of Trump’s ICE Surge – Jennifer Bendery (The Huffington Post, February 13, 2026).

Above: Tipis stand at Mni Owe Sni (Coldwater Spring), a sacred site for the Dakota and other tribes, across from the Whipple Federal Building on February 10. (Photo: Kerem Yücel / MPR News)

UPDATES: Lawmakers Omar and Craig Describe Empty Whipple Detention Center; Feds Say Less Than 500 Agents Remain – Jennifer Bendery (MPR News, February 20, 2026).
Federal Judge Accuses White House of “Terror” Against Immigrants in U.S. – The Guardian (February 20, 2026).


See also the previous Wild Reed posts on the resistance to the Trump regime’s fascist occupation of Minnesota:
• Omar Fateh: Quote of the Day – December 4, 2025
• Photo of the Day – December 5, 2025
• Susie Hayward on What’s Happening in Minneapolis
• Doing What We Can to Stop Unjust Arrests of Immigrants
• Great Event, Great Sign, Great Nails
• Christmas Eve Musings
• May We Do Likewise
• “This Is What Fascism Looks Like” – January 7, 2026
• “It Was Murder”: 12 Powerful Responses to the Death of Renée Nicole Good
• Omar Fateh: “Folks Are Waking Up”
• A Good Faith Appeal and a Grim Response
• Why Minnesota?
• Chris Hedges on ICE: “I Have Seen These Masked Goons Before”
• Steven Donziger: “Let’s Get Real . . . ICE Is a Domestic Terrorist Organization”
• Historian Kyle Dekker: “It’s Not Nazi Ideology We Are Fighting. It’s American”
• Knowing Our Rights
• Mike Figueredo on Why Trump Might Be Pushing the U.S. to the Brink of Collapse
• A “Red Alert Moment for American Democracy”
• Dispatches from Occupied Minnesota
• Marianne Williamson on How to Psychologically Endure This Moment
• What Moral Clarity Looks Like in Minnesota This MLK Day
• Nemik’s Eulogy for Renée Nicole Good
• “It Was Never About Keeping America Safe”
• “ICE Out!”: The Minnesota General Strike – 1/23/26
• “This Was a Flat Out Execution”
• “Organized Sustained Systemic Resistance and Self-Defense Are Our Only Options”
• Honoring Alex Pretti
• George Conway: The Trump Administration Is a “Criminal Organization”
• In the Face of Fascist Lies, MN Governor Tim Walz Sets the Record Straight
• Adam Serwer on How “Every Social Theory Undergirding Trumpism Has Been Broken on the Steel of Minnesotan Resolve”
• “Trump Is Scared Shitless”
• “They Were Alive. Then They Were Not”
• Bruce Springsteen and the Streets of Minneapolis in the Winter of ’26
• Craig Mokhiber on the “Imperial Boomerang”: How U.S. War Tactics Abroad Are Now Used at Home
• January Vignettes (2026)
• Honoring Renée Good and the “Astonishing Surge of Courage” of Minneapolis
• A Luminous Celebration of Light, Love and Community
• More Dispatches from Occupied Minnesota
• Memes of the Times – February 2026
• Only the Beginning
• The North Remembers
• “It’s All Lies and Propaganda”

Images: Michael J. Bayly, unless where otherwise noted.

A Rare Alignment

Project Nightfall is a Facebook group dedicated to philanthropy. I appreciate the following words shared by the group earlier today.

________________

Three Different Calendars, Three Faiths,
One Rare Alignment
Something unusual is happening right now.

Ramadan, Lent, and Lunar New Year all started within the same window of days, creating an extraordinary convergence of Muslim, Christian, and Chinese traditions around mid-February.

Lunar New Year began on February 17, welcoming the Year of the Horse. Families gathered. Homes were cleaned. Red envelopes were exchanged. Firecrackers lit up the night. Across the world, millions marked a fresh start under the first new moon of the Chinese lunisolar calendar.

That same evening, depending on crescent moon sightings, Ramadan began. The first fast started on February 18. Muslims around the globe are now fasting from dawn to sunset, centering their days around prayer, discipline, charity, and spiritual reflection. For the next month, the rhythm of life shifts toward restraint and devotion.

On February 18, Lent also began with Ash Wednesday. Christians entered a 40-day period of prayer and sacrifice leading to Easter on April 5. Ash crosses appeared on foreheads. Some began fasting. Others gave up comforts. The season of repentance and renewal is now underway.

Three observances. Three faith traditions. All unfolding at the same time.

This alignment is unusual because these holidays do not move together. Lunar New Year follows the Chinese lunisolar calendar. Ramadan shifts roughly 11 days earlier each year because it is based on a purely lunar cycle. Lent is calculated using the Gregorian calendar in relation to Easter after the winter solstice.

They drift independently. For them to begin almost simultaneously is rare and may not repeat for decades.

Yet here we are. Across cities and villages, lanterns glow while others break their fast at sunset. Ash Wednesday services are held while families celebrate reunion dinners. Some people are feasting. Others are fasting. All are reflecting.

Different rituals. Different prayers. Different histories. But the themes feel strikingly similar.

Renewal. Self-discipline. Gratitude. Fresh beginnings.

This week, millions of people across cultures pressed pause in their own way. Some through celebration. Some through sacrifice. Some through quiet prayer.

It is a powerful reminder that while calendars divide us, human longing does not.

Around the world right now, people are choosing reflection over noise, intention over routine. And that feels significant.

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:

THE WILD REED’S 2025 LENTEN SERIES
• Inayat Khan and the Fountain of Happiness Within
• The Alchemy of Happiness
• A Light That Will Always Shine
• A Living Light
• A Perpetual Fire Within
• One Wisdom
• Awakening and Turning

THE LENTEN JOURNEY
• Blessing the Dust
• “This Beloved Quickened Dust”
• Ash Wednesday Reflections
• The Ashes of Our Martyrs
• Lent: A Season Set Apart
• A Lenten Resolution
• Lent: A Time to Fast and Feast
• “Here I Am!” – The Lenten Response
• Let Today Be the Day
• Pope Francis on Lenten Fasting
• “The Turn”: A Lenten Meditation by Lionel Basney
• Lent: A Summons to Live Anew
• Now Is the Acceptable Time
• Lent With Henri
• Waking Dagobert
• “Radical Returnings” – Mayday 2016 (Part 1)
• “Radical Returnings” – Mayday 2016 (Part 2)
• Move Us, Loving God

THE DIVINE PRESENCE
• “Everything Is Saturated With the Sacred”
• The Most Sacred and Simple Mystery of All
• The Source Is Within You
• Michael Morwood on the Divine Presence
• Prayer and the Experience of God in an Ever-Unfolding Universe
• Prayer of the Week – October 28, 2013
• Neil Douglas-Klotz: Quote of the Day – December 29, 2011
• Cultivating Stillness
• Thoughts on Transformation | II | III

Image: “Spiritual Alignment Attained” by Wumples.