Hi, everyone. Welcome to this week’s edition of Music Monday.

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Seventy five years ago the world met a Beethoven loving pianist named Schroeder.

Charles M. Schulz created characters who represented the many people we would meet in our lives. So it was no surprise when a music loving boy who also played catcher for the gang’s baseball team showed up. Since the date of his arrival was less than eight months after the debut of the comic strip on October 2, 1950, Schroeder has played a significant part in not only the comic strip but also both iconic TV specials (“A Charlie Brown Christmas” & “It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown”), the numerous movies, various merchandising memorabilia and everything else in the Peanuts world. And rightfully so because in addition to all the wonderful messages Mr. Schulz taught us through such a beloved group of characters, one of the best is that a child with an intense love of music inherently understands the transformative power that music & lyrics hold.

Image courtesy of Charles M. Schulz Museum’s Facebook page. (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

One of the most significant and powerful voices in music launched his recording career 65 years ago. The Soulful Moods of Marvin Gaye, his debut album, was released June 8, 1961. It features mostly covers of standards by Irving Berlin (“Always”), Cole Porter (“Love For Sale”) and Cy Coleman & Carolyn Leigh (“Witchcraft”).

By the time Gaye’s 7th album was released 60 years ago in May 1966, Moods of Marvin Gaye, he was recording more tracks written by Motown based writers including Smokey Robinson (“Ill Be Doggone” and “Take This Heart of Mine”) and the prolific songwriting team of Holland–Dozier–Holland (“Your Unchanging Love” and “Little Darling”, which was covered by The Doobie Brothers in 1977).

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Gaye released a second album in 1966-his second duet album, this time with singer Kim Weston-aptly title, Take Two. The first was with Mary Wells in 1964 but his most successful collaborations would begin in 1967 once he teamed up with Tammi Terrell.

His 13th album, I Want You, was released 50 years ago in March 1976. Five years later, he released his final album for Motown-and the penultimate album of his career-In Our Lifetime. His final album, Midnight Love, was released on Columbia Records in 1982.

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Last week the news broke that the beautiful & incredibly talented Daveigh Chase passed away at age 35. She was an actress known to me for her roles as Samara Morgan (the creepy girl in the well) in 2002’s “The Ring” and as Rhonda Volmar in HBO’s series, “Big Love” (2006-2011). I knew her from several TV appearances as well but only just learned she was the voice of Lilo in Disney’s 1998 “Lilo & Stitch” and Jake Gyllenhaal’s younger sister in 2001’s “Donnie Darko”. Her last role was 10 years ago in the 2016 thriller, “American Romance”.

I just finished a re-watch of “Big Love” and thought even during the first time I saw it that it was the performance of Chase’s career to that point at barely 17 years old. Her disturbing portrayal of a sociopathic teenager damaged by the extremism of a secluded life in a cult-like religion was chilling. I had read several online stories that said she stopped working about 10 years ago for a variety of reasons, so I checked her IMDb page to see if she had returned to acting. There were no new credits listed so I hoped that whatever she was doing, she was happy & safe. I hate that the reality was she died entirely too young after a decade of family estrangement and alleged substance abuse.

Daveigh Elizabeth Chase: July 24, 1990 – June 16, 2026.

Daveigh Chase (L) and her “Big Love” co-star, Chloë Sevigny (R) circa 2007. (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

James Burrows, an epic force in television, also died last week. He was 85 years old.

His distinguished career began as a director on some of the biggest shows in the 1970’s including “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”, “The Bob Newhart Show” and “Laverne & Shirley”. Between 1978 and 1982, he directed 75 episodes of “Taxi”. In 1982, he co-created “Cheers” and directed 236 out of 270 episodes of the series. (That show also gave us a fabulous theme song co-written and sung by Long Island’s own Gary Portnoy).

Burrows had a massive number of directing credits to his name. He was also an executive producer & director for the series, “Will & Grace”. He worked with the creators of that show-David Kohan and Max Mutchnick-on 2025’s “Mid-Century Modern”, which turned out to be Burrows’ last show. And all of the work highlighted here is only a fraction of Burrows’ 50+ year career. Many years ago I saw a BTS story about “Will & Grace” where headliner Eric McCormack said one of the most incredible things about Burrows was that he did not watch the rehersals he directed. Rather, he looked at the floor and went with how he felt about what he heard from the actors. According to McCormack, Burrows instincts never missed. What a fabulous assessment of his legacy.

James Edward Burrows: December 30, 1940 – June 19, 2026

L-R: Ted Danson, Shelley Long & James Burrows on the set of Cheers circa 1982. (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Ludwig van Beethoven: “Moonlight Sonata” (1802, written by Ludwig van Beethoven).

Marvin Gaye: “My Funny Valentine” (1961, written by Lorenz Hart and Richard Rodgers).

Marvin Gaye: “Ain’t That Peculiar” (1966, written by Warren Moore, William “Smokey” Robinson Jr., Bobby Rogers, and Marvin Tarplin).

Marvin Gaye & Kim Weston: “It Takes Two” (1966, written by Sylvia Moy and William “Mickey” Stevenson).

Marvin Gaye: “I Want You” (1976, written by Arthur “T-Boy” Ross and Leon Ware).

Daveigh Chase: “The Happiest Girl In The Whole U.S.A.” (Performed in “Big Love” S2 E10. Original air date: August 13, 2007. Written by Donna Fargo).

Gary Portnoy: “Cheers Theme (“Where Everybody Knows Your Name”) (1982, written by Judy Hart-Angelo and Gary Portnoy).

Stay safe & well.