Here’s the weird story of the day.

Diana Ross’s biggest hits with the Supremes were written by Brian & Eddie Holland, and Lamont Dozier.

And then Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson.

And her solo hits came from Lionel Richie, Marvin Gaye, and Nile Rodgers.

Now, at the age of 75, Diana has discovered she’s a songwriter. Or rather, if you stick your name on a bunch of songs you’ll get publishing royalties.

Celine Dion’s late husband, Rene Angelil, understood this concept 30 years ago or more. He made every songwriter who landed a number on Celine’s album give up a portion of the royalties and credit. That’s how Celine got rich.

Only songwriters get paid royalties when a song when is played on the radio. Performers get zilch. There are a few singers who are smart enough to embrace this extortion but of course they’re protecting themselves. Legislation is introduced every couple of years for a performer’s royalty on radio, but then radio squashes it like a bug through lobbying.

So Diana has a new album coming November 5th full of generic songs written by teams of people with her name at the head of the list. Today she dropped one, it’s ghastly, called “If the World Just Danced.” Here’s the group of people credited with this atrocity: Aliandro Prawl, Andre Pinckney, Scott M. Carter, Amy Wadge, Vanessa Wood & Jaquetta Singleton. And Diana.

Stop me if you’ve heard enough.

Please, Ms. Ross, Do you know where you’re going to? Do what you do best: SING with that beautiful voice, great songs, not this.

Drake is back.

The Canadian hip hop star released his first new album since 2018 last night. He was actually a couple of hours late sending “Certified Lover Boy” to streaming services. Wise people on the East Coast went to sleep. But a few on the West Coast and other places kept vigil.

What they got was a long, kind of turgid throwback album with lots of samples and guest stars and not a lot of new ideas. None of that matters, does it? You must recall that Drake’s biggest hit of all was “Hotline Bling,” which relied totally on a sample of Mel & Tim’s R&B hit, “Why Can’t We Live Together.” And so, the kick off track here is taken from the Beatles’ “Michelle.”

What makes Drake’s “Champagne Poetry” a sampling notable is that it’s a double sample. “Michelle” was already sampled by someone named Masego on his own track called “Navajo.” So Drake lifted that sample for himself. It’s a sample sale! What makes any of this original is…nothing!

Nevertheless, “Certified Lover Boy” shot straight to number 1 on iTunes over night, displacing Kanye West’s “Donda,” and taking over the streaming charts.

I didn’t realize this but the Beatles have found themselves in over 1,000 sampling situations over the years. “Michelle” was sampled in 1985 by Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick for “The Show.” So this is not a new idea. But I’ll bet it’s an expensive one. To get “Michelle” now, I doubt Paul McCartney let it go for anything less than a goodly sum. So “Certified Lover Boy” starts with that amount on its Profit and Loss statement.

Who gets the Grammy when Drake is nominated? Paul McCartney. He wrote the song. In 1965.

 Here”s the recipe. You take the Beatles:

add Masego

and you get Champagne Poetry

The great Billy Preston would been 75 years old today. The true “Fifth Beatle” (or sixth after George Martin), Billy was the only artist whose name was featured on a label with the group. “Get Back” is by The Beatles with Billy Preston.

Yet Billy can be heard all over late Beatles recordings. He will also be seen and heard in the upcoming Peter Jackson documentary, “Get Back,” about the making of “Let it Be,” and on the “Let it Be” expanded 50th anniversary album. He’s all over both of them. You can see and hear Billy on the rooftop concert as well.

Billy died June 6, 2006 after six months in a coma because of alleged medical malpractice. Fifteen years later his estate has still not been completed legally. Greedy relatives, and some of who claim to be related, have careened through various courts and judges trying to get their hands on money he did not want them to have.

Some of those relatives were so eager for Billy to die that three days before his death they took out a probate action as if he were already dead. That’s a first. They told a judge recently, they figured he was going to die anyway. What???

Billy grew up playing with Little Richard and Ray Charles, was bffs with Aretha, was recorded by George Harrison, and went on to have major hits with “Will it Go Round in Circles” and “Nothing from Nothing.” He co-wrote the famous Joe Cocker hit, “You Are So Beautiful.”

I was lucky enough to know Billy. He was a sweet soul. One day his whole story will be told. Until then, I wish him a happy birth day in heaven where he is no doubt leading a wild jam with Aretha, Richard, Ray, George Harrison and so many others.

And he knows he will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame next month in Cleveland, where I hope there will be an appropriate celebration.

Benny and Bjorn from ABBA now look like Donald Fagen and Walter Becker from Steely Dan.

Forty years later, they’re releasing a new album on November 5th called “Voyage.” Two of the singles are out today.

It’s cash in to go with their new tour, represented by avatars made by Industrial Light and Magic, a hologram-esque experience.

The album will include a Christmas song, as well. So the cash in is well planned. Good for them.

Their fans have Stockholm Syndrome!

Here are Steely Dan’s Becker and Fagen long ago. And the picture to the side is what they’ve become. ABBA is Reeling in the Years.

Live from Stockholm, ABBA put on a worldwide event for their superfans. They are a rare breed, certainly.

Two new songs, videos– “Don’t Shut Me Down” and “I Still Have Faith in You.”

The group debuted their first new song since 1982, “I Still Have Faith In You,” a ballad mostly sung by the women.

There’s a video made from animated avatars of themselves from years ago. A little creepy.

ABBA Makes their big announcement Thursday at 12:45pm right here via Youtube. New Music? New tour of avatars? Anyone speaking to each other? We’ll get the whole story all together. ABBA fans will go crazy. People who speak Hebrew will think we’re discussing their fathers. Should be fun!

In the meantime, the brilliant Steve Leeds, now a big deal at Sirius XM, told me about booking ABBA on their first American TV show in 1976. He was working at Atlantic Records where they’d been signed by Jerry Greenberg. All Steve could get them on originally was “Wonderama,” the beloved New York kids show hosted then by Bob McAllister. The rest is history.

Here’s the clip: