Classic rock, pop, and soul songs from the '60s, '70s, and '80s
Classic rock, pop, and soul songs from the '60s, '70s, and '80s
“Everyday People” was the first single by Sly and the Family Stone to hit #1 on the charts and it’s today’s classic song of the day. Released in November of 1968, “Everyday People” grabbed the top position on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard’s R&B charts. Billboard ranked it as the #5 single for all of 1969. Sylvester “Sly”…
Today’s classic song of the day is one of the 5th Dimension’s later hits, and one not as often played today as their earlier ones. The song is “Love’s Lines, Angles and Rhymes” and it was released as a single in February of 1971. It peaked at #19 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #6 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart.…
Today’s classic song of the day is an instrumental written by a Frenchman and recorded by a French orchestra leader. The song is “Soul Coaxing” and, when it was released in the U.S. in February of 1968, it went to #37 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #4 on Billboard’s Easy Listening chart. I’ll admit I wasn’t familiar with this…
Today’s classic song of the day is “You Belong to Me.” You probably remember it from Carly Simon’s hit version, released in August of 1977; her single went all the way to #6 on the Billboard Hot 100, #9 on the Cash Box Top 100, and #4 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart. “You Belong to Me” was written by Carly…
Today’s classic song of the day is an autobiographical journey through the early’60s folk music scene and the formation of the group the Mamas & the Papas. The song is “Creeque Alley” and, when it was released as a single in April of 1967, it went to #5 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Cash Box Top 100. “Creeque…
I’m betting that you know the singer behind today’s classic song of the day, Freda Payne, but probably don’t remember the song. The song is “Deeper and Deeper” and it’s pretty much forgotten today—which is a shame, because it’s a damned fine piece of music. Freda Payne released “Deeper and Deeper” on Invictus Records in September of 1970. It only…
Today’s classic song of the day is a bit of psychedelia from the Summer of Love. The song is “Incense and Peppermints’ by the Strawberry Alarm Clock and it was released in May of 1967. It went all the way to #1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Cash Box Top 100. The Strawberry Alarm Clock were a California-based…
Billy Joel’s album The Stranger was a really big deal during my sophomore year in college. The album came out just as classes started in September of 1977 and spent six weeks in the #2 position on the Billboard 200 top albums chart. It spawned a number of hit singles, including “Just the Way You Are” (#3), “She’s Always a…
Many people don’t know that Neil Diamond got his start as a Brill Building songwriter, a protege of established songwriters Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry. Some of his first successes were songs he wrote for the Monkees, starting with “I’m Believer” and followed up by today’s classic song of the day, “A Little Bit Me, a Little Bit You.” Don…
Back in 1976 disco music was in full swing, which meant it was ripe for parody—which is exactly what up-and-coming disc jockey Rick Dees did. Dees released his humorously duckified disco track, “Disco Duck,” in September of 1976 and it shot all the way to #1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Cash Box Top 100. “Disco Duck,” which…