Classic rock, pop, and soul songs from the '60s, '70s, and '80s
Classic rock, pop, and soul songs from the '60s, '70s, and '80s
We continue our week-long look at music featured in the movie The Big Chill with the Beach Boys’ “Wouldn’t It Be Nice.” This track, released as a single in July of 1966, peaked at #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #7 on the Cash Box Top 100. “Wouldn’t Be Nice,” with music by Brian Wilson and lyrics by Tony…
This week we’re focusing on music featured in the 1983 movie, The Big Chill. That film did a lot for reviving some of the best music of the 1960s and early 1970s, including today’s classic song of the day, “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” by the Rolling Stones. The Stones originally released “You Can’t Always Get What You…
Today’s classic song of the day is that catchy little ode to cannibalism, 1970’s “Timothy” by the Buoys. Yes, the song is about three guys (Timothy, Joe, and the unnamed singer) trapped in a mine cave-in; to survive, the singer and Joe made a meal of their former pal Tim. Definitely not your normal “moon, June, spoon” top forty love…
Today’s classic song of the day is “How Long” by Ace. Released in March of 1975, this track rose all the way to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Cash Box Top 100. “How Long” was the debut single by the band. It was written by Paul Carrack, who also sang lead on this track. You…
Today’s classic song of the day is “Poor Poor Pitiful Me.” It was written by and originally recorded by Warren Zevon but became a hit when covered by singer Linda Ronstadt. It was also a hit for country singer Terri Clark two decades later. As noted, Warren Zevon wrote “Poor Poor Pitiful Me” and included it on his 1976 album,…
Today’s classic song of the day keeps us in the ’80s with the very popular Huey Lewis and the News and their hit, “The Power of Love.” You may remember the song being featured in the blockbuster film, Back to the Future, or from its popular MTV music video. “The Power of Love” was written by Newsers Huey Lewis, Johnny…
Keeping with our theme of phone number-named tunes, today’s classic song of the day is that major earworm from the early ’80s, “867-5309/Jenny” by Tommy Tutone. Released in November of 1981 and supported by massive MTV music video airplay, this irresistible little ditty hit #4 on the Billboard Hot 100, #5 on the Cash Box Top 100, and #1 on…
Yesterday’s classic song of the day had everybody dialing “Beechwood 4-5789” (which is actually 234-5789). Today’s phone number-related song changes the first digit from a “2” to a “6” and gives us “634-5789,” a big hit for legendary soul singer Wilson Pickett. “634-5789” was written by Stax Records stalwarts Eddie Floyd and Steve Cropper. You know Eddie Floyd as a…
Today’s classic song of the day with a phone number in the title is “Beechwood 4-5789.” Back in the days when there were fewer people, fewer phones, and therefore fewer phone numbers, local exchanges were known by their letters rather than their numbers. Take the first two letters of the word and that’s your exchange prefix—which you could translate into…
We finish off our week of 1970s classic rock tracks with one of the most popular songs of the entire decade, Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.” This almost-six minute epic, released as a single in October of 1975, reached #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #6 on the Cash Box Top 100; it went all the way to #1 in Australia,…