Classic rock, pop, and soul songs from the '60s, '70s, and '80s
Classic rock, pop, and soul songs from the '60s, '70s, and '80s
I always liked Creedence Clearwater Revival’s 1970 album, Cosmo’s Factory (named after a Berkeley, California, rehearsal space that drummer Doug “Cosmo” Clifford dubbed “The Factory”), which contained a bevy of standout tracks, including “Who’ll Stop the Rain,” Travelin’ Band,” “Lookin’ Out My Back Door,” “Run Through the Jungle,” and an extended, very swampy cover of “I Heard It Through the…
Here’s one you might not remember from the title but probably will once you hear it. Today’s classic song of the day is “Things I’d Like to Say” by a group called New Colony Six. Released in October of 1968, this single peaked at #16 on the Billboard Hot 100, #13 on the Cash Box Top 100, and #17 on…
Mellow soft rock was a thing back in the mid-70s, and a couple of guys named England Dan & John Ford Coley were two of its prime practitioners. Case in point is today’s classic song of the day, “Nights Are Forever Without You.” Released in October of 1976, when I was a freshman in college at good ol’ Indiana University…
Howard Kaylan, Mark Volman, and the Turtles bring us today’s classic song of the day, “She’d Rather Be With Me.” Released in April of 1967, this sweet little pop tune went all the way to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #2 on the Cash Box Top 100. It was a #1 hit in Canada and South Africa. “She’d…
Paul Simon was Paul Simon’s first post-Simon and Garfunkel solo album, and it and Here Comes Rhymin’ Simon are not only his two best (sorry, Graceland lovers) but also two of the overall best albums of the 1970s, period. The album was released in January of 1972 and immediately found a place on my GE portable turntable. It got very…
The Lovin’ Spoonful bring us today’s classic song of the day, “You Didn’t Have to Be So Nice.” Released as a single in November of 1965, this nice little slice of folk-rock peaked at #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #11 on the Cash Box Top 100. The Spoonful’s bassist, Steve Boone, wrote this one along with the group’s…
Today’s classic song of the day is a pretty much totally forgotten late-70s power pop tune. It’s “Back of My Hand” by The Jags, and don’t be embarrassed if you’ve never heard it. Described by some as “one of the best records that Elvis Costello didn’t write,” the track very much sounds like an Elvis record from that time period—and…
Today’s classic song of the day is a nearly-forgotten pop song by Connie Francis, “Don’t Ever Leave Me.” The song was released in October of 1964 on MGM Records and peaked at #42 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #37 on the Cashbox Top 100. “Don’t Ever Leave Me” was written by the legendary Brill Building songwriting team of Ellie…
Singer Carly Simon brings us today’s classic song of the day, “Haven’t Got Time for the Pain.” Included in her album, Hotcakes (the one with a pregnant Carly on the cover), the single was released in April of 1974 and peaked at #14 on the Billboard Hot 100, #7 on the Cash Box Top 100, and #2 on Billboard’s Adult…
“It’s Not Unusual” was the big breakout hit for Welsh singer Tom Jones, and it’s today’s classic song of the day. Released in January of 1965 in the UK (March in the U.S.), this track went to #10 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Cash Box Top 100, and #3 on Billboard’s Easy Listening chart. The song went all…