Tomorrow on Fine Tuning I’ll pay tribute to the Detroit-born keyboardist Dave “Baby” Cortez, best known for his 1959 smash hit single “The Happy Organ.” This song was the first-ever instrumental to top Billboard magazine’s Hot 100 singles chart, paving the way for other hit instrumentals like Hugh Masekela’s “Grazing in the Grass,” Paul Mauriat’s “Love Is Blue,” The Edgar Winter Group’s “Frankenstein,” and numerous others. A recluse who vanished from the music business, Cortez died on May 31, 2022, but the news was only made public a few weeks ago. Fine Tuning: Sundays from 4 to 6 p.m. on ann arbor’s 107one .
